#I think there may be apps for this where you can get some rando to nag you but I think they also cost some money

[beeapartments]

It's almost 2024, and there are a bunch of things I've wanted to do/learn, but it's been hard to get going of my own accord. I might need to find some sort of goal buddy to stay on task (whatever that may be) next year.

Or maybe adhd meds and the prozac if it works, but last time I took the former I focused on the wrong things.

[gilverrwrites]

I feel like I'm left behind and everyone manage to accomplish things, I want to go to uni and accomplish goals, but I feel as if it's too late for me. I keep self sabotaging and I'm always afraid to start. I keep finding myself in a viscous circle where I'm afraid to start because it might be too late/the courses that will grand me admission to university may end/expire, the opinions of the professors thinking I'm unserious would be present (I already experienced this in the past during a dark period where I was also experiencing a burnout without realizing and the teachers thought I was joking and unserious. One of them comparing me with the class clown, saying that she didn't know which one of us was more like the clown. At the time, I was battling with suicidal thoughts, sleeping 3 hours at night and arriving late to almost every morning class thanks to the bus not stopping at my stop since it was way too full. I was never joking around and was previously one of the best students) and since I'm not starting I'm always anxious about it. How can I even stop this sabotage??? I'm always trying to start and do the work, but at the end of the day, end up with nothing done nor completed NOT even started. I don't know what to do anymore!

I also wish at some point to do a sport and eventually possibly going to competitions, but I'm also an adult and every one began in childhood.

So, I wanna start here by saying I am just a rando on the internet whose experiences and views are not universal. Take what I say with a grain of salt and seek out professionals if you are able to.

If your in the UK, I know the NHS wait list is long, but it’s better to get your foot in the door now, than to keep putting it off.

If you’re in the US or another country that doesn’t offer free health care, please look into volunteer services or even just betterhelp style apps that might help you find coping mechanisms.

From there. You are not the only person to feel like you’re playing catch-up with everybody else. I know it doesn’t seem that way, but I promise, so many people around you are experiencing similar thoughts and issues, and are putting on a brave face.

The best thing I can tell you is, just do it. If the course you’re applying for ends, then it ends, at least you tried. Theres nothing you can do. But what if it doesn’t, and the only thing that has stopped you, is you?

Trust me, I’ve been there. I spent 10 years working retail and hating it because I was always to scared to try uni. I dropped out of college once, and was scared I would do it again. Was worried about being to old, not knowing how to be a student, being behind everybody else, picking the wrong course.

It didn’t help that I too wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t talking to my friends or family. I was just stuck in rut until I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to apply, had to sleep better, had to start working out because it was that or just spend the rest of my life rotting away and hating myself.

It won’t be easy, and it won’t be fixed overnight, but please try talking to people. I’m here if you need it, but if you can, find real life people; friends, family who you can have face to face conversations with. If you’re an introvert, don’t burn yourself out forcing yourself to interact, but I promise just getting lunch, or going for a walk with someone once a week will go a long way.

Just focus on feeling better first, to start. Please drink water, quit caffeine if you’re drinking it, look into sleeping techniques, talk to people.

If you start to feel better, start trying to apply for things you want to do. Courses, sports groups, anything. If it takes 10 years (hopefully not) like I did, so be it, everybody moves at a different pace.

(I don’t know what sports you want to try but;

Unis often have sports societies that you can join, most of which will have a group for beginners.

If you don’t join a course this year, see if you local community groups offer anything?)

I', sorry you're feeling this way, I hope this helps in anyway, and I hope things start to look up for you.

[schraubd]

Help Me Leave Bird App!

Speaking of off-ramps, I am trying to transition my main microblogging app off of Twitter and onto an alternative. But so far, the two sites I have accounts on -- Mastodon (@schraubd@mastodon.lawprofs.org) and Post (@schraubd) -- aren't fully meeting my needs, and each have problems that significantly deter their ability to fully serve as a Twitter replacement.

For example: I use IFTTT to autopost links to my blog onto my Twitter account. This is incredibly important for me, as I'm pretty sure at this point virtually my entire readership comes from Twitter links. But as best I can tell, neither Post nor Mastodon has anything (whether via IFTTT or otherwise) that provides similar functionality. At the moment, I'm getting there sideways by an app which autoposts my Tweets to Mastodon (so my blog autoposts to Twitter, which then autoposts to Mastodon). But I've found no equivalent at all for Post. In general, cross-posting functionality is really important especially in the transition period where I want to be using both Twitter and its alternatives.

I'm also finding it incredibly difficult to find people to follow, especially on Mastodon but to a lesser extent on Post as well. You can get some people via those sites that trawl through Twitter to see who has posted their new social handles online, but that's been limited so far in my experience. The easiest thing (albeit perhaps the most worrisome from a data privacy standpoint) would be one of those widgets where you plug in your email and it tells you all the accounts which are associated with emails in your contacts. I don't think exists yet for either site, and maybe it shouldn't for privacy reasons. The next best move is to go to the people you're already friends with and see who they're following. But Mastodon, in particular, makes this impossibly unwieldy by refusing to show followers from other servers. You can get there via the scenic route if you go to each profile on its own server, but then you can't just click a button to follow (since you're not logged into that server). It's slow and clunky and needlessly frustrating. And I'll note that even Mastodon's basic search bar functionality has, in my experience, been shaky.

Finally, while comparatively minor Post has some user interface problems that are just outright annoying. Defaulting to the "explore" tab, which is not my feed but the feed of a (presumably curated) section of randos, is not what I want and I resent having to swap over to my personal feed every time I go to the site. Also, Post might suffer from having too generic of a name -- good luck finding an answer to any question you have about its functionality online (imagine Googling "how do I cross-post on post")

So what I want is basically (1) ability to cross-post across platforms, especially autolinking to my Blogger posts, and (2) a relatively easy and straightforward way to find and follow my contacts if and when they join the new sites. Whichever site (Mastodon, Post. or something else) perfects that cocktail may well be my winner.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/vWTqHyF

[starshipsofstarlord]

Omg thank you so much for writing my request for tom :) Can I ask for a part two where you try not to read the comments, but end up doing so, and most are good, so it's fine. Until you post a picture of you on your account, and tom's fans start calling you names, and tom's so tired of all that happening that he posts on his account a whole paragraph about how his personal life it's no one's business?

Posted

This is part two, find the first part here

Summary | previously Tom had accidentally posted a picture of the two of you, exposing your relationship. And so, you decide to purposely do the same on your Instagram, though the response is much different than what his post had received.

Warnings | hate comments, some angst, swear and demeaning words

Quick link to my masterlist, if you’re interested in reading more of my crap 😬

Tom was asleep beside you, his head tucked into the crook of your neck, you were able to feel his gentle, slumbering breathing against your skin, and it caused goose bumps to prickle upon the outer layer of your flesh.

The two of you had vastly fallen asleep upon the couch, and your phone was on the coffee table, and to say that you were itchy to reach for it was an understatement. There would be comments on the picture that Tom accidentally put online, and you were hungry to see them, whilst simultaneously nervous.

Tom was a big actor, known for his presence in the marvel cinematic universe upon many other projects, and some of his fans, whilst proven during Comic-Con panels, were borderline crazy. They’d snap if they even so much as saw something that they didn’t like, and this time, you would be on the receiving end of it.

Being motionlessly captured, with your face on show, was certain to bring much attention. You too were within the acting department, but there had been no correlation between the pair of you until now, most of the world weren’t even aware that you knew each other. And not to mention, your span of reaching an audience was smaller, although, certainly not non existent.

You had reprised fame during your appearance on Modern Family, as the friendly neighbour of Phil and Claire, and a classmate of their eldest daughter, and not to mention Luke was crushing hard on the character you played, though, with that said, your character laughed his efforts off due to the age difference, yet still found his pining weird and often uncomfortable.

Another role that you were becoming known for was your character in Netflix’s Irregulars, where you met Harrison Osterfield, Tom’s best friend. Through filming the show, you were introduced to the Spider-Man actor, and the pair of you had hit it off almost instantly, if you didn’t include Tom keeping his amorous distance, wary just in case there was something going on between you and your mutual friend. To his relief, there wasn’t.

And thus, when he received that confirmation, he was far more forward, yet respectful at the same time with his intentions. That was how you had ended up here, as he half used you as a pillow, his arms wrapped around his ribs, and his soft peaceful snores filling the void in the air.

Stretching your arm at its furthest length, your fingertips wrestled with the side of your phone, padding it closer to yourself, so that you could slide it across the small living room table, and closer to yourself. You were victorious in your efforts, and so on you unlocked your screen, going to your camera app, and leaning sideways so that you could snap a few pictures of your predicament with your loving and sweet boyfriend.

Looking at the images that you had captured, a smile arose upon your face; you truly did love this man, and you wanted the whole world to know how much you adored him. You wanted them to see that you cared about him, and that he was in good hands with you, to cool off any of his fans that were processing their hurt feelings for seeing Tom with another woman, show him that he was getting the love that he deserved.

Extreme courage coursed through your veins, focusing within your fingertips as you opened insta, gulping as you readied to post the image. There was no editing required, it was perfect just like him. And so, the caption was something to think about, you didn’t want to make it too obvious that you were dating as the online community already assumed, the priority was to show them that you cared about him.

‘He’s taking a nap, and crushing my hip a little, but I don’t mind 😌’ you typed, your finger hovering over the post button as you chewed your lip. It was easy to press your digit down, and so, taking a breath, you did just that, encouraged by the previous and kind comments on Tom’s earlier post.

Within a matter of minutes, your phone was blowing up, and you were too tempted not to glance at the growing comment section. There were various accounts, some supporting your confidence to show such a domestic version of yourself with Tom, you assumed that they were your followers, and the ones that weren’t so light hearted were those that intently watched anything on the media that involved Tom.

‘He’s too good looking for her, she should be dating someone within her league. Tom is clearly taking pity on this hoe.’

‘Aw look at him, and ew, look at the state of her. He could do sm better 😔’

‘Why doesn’t she look like his exes, they were hot af, and now he’s with some rando that is after his fame and money. Maybe she should just take better roles if she wants to get noticed so bad.’

Your eyes kept reeling through the intentionally hateful words that continued to come through beneath the image. Tears began to fall from your eyes as you tried to stifle the movements and the sound of your gentle sobbing, as to not wake Tom. Quickly, your fingers raced through the social media, and you, knowing that there would still be presence of the image somewhere online, you deleted it, muting notifications and shuffled back into Tom.

The man stirred, tugging you closer by your waist, pressing a kiss to your locks as he awoke. He noticed however the way that you refused to face him, and so he rolled you over with a gentle grip on your shoulder, frowning when he saw the recognisable redness beneath your eyes, and the sad expression floating within your eyes.

“Princess, what’s going on?” He wiped his thumb beneath your bottom lashes, collecting your tears as he worriedly looked down at you. His brown eyes searched every inch of your face for an idea, but found nothing but your broken hearted expression.

“It’s nothing Tommy.” You tried and failed to convince the man, wincing half heartedly as he sat back on his thighs, gripping your hips so that he could pull you up with him, giving him a clearer view of your face. It was clear that he did not believe you, and he hummed, trying to make you give in. Eventually, after much concerned staring, you gave in, slumping your shoulders as you tucked your arms around the back of his neck. “I posted a picture of us, the response wasn’t great.”

Instantly, Tom’s brows uplifted, surprised by your action, though he had a strong inkling of a feeling that the reaction that you had earned was not complimentary. These were not tears of joy, instead they were stricken rivers of anguish and insecurity running down the length of your face.

“Let me see.” He spoke, softly to you, but his intents towards defending you strong. You shook your head lightly, tracing circles upon his knees as you gulped, flickering your guilty gaze up to his watchful eyes.

“I deleted it. I just couldn’t deal with knowing that the longer that it was up, the more hate would be directed at me. I’m sorry.” Tom grasped your face by your tense jaw, his fingers stroking your chin as he sadly stared at you.

“Never be sorry. Now send me the picture you used so that I can give everyone a piece of my mind.” Reaching for your phone, you sent the image to him, and in a second his device pinged, revealing that it had successfully sent to him.

“Cute.” He described the picture, his hands furiously typing away on his phone, his constant unsettling of his rabidly moving fingers drawing anxiousness from you. “And some.” Tom finally breathed, closing his phone as you went to his account, checking what he had posted publicly.

‘This may concern some people, who keep sticking their noses in where it does not involve them. I appreciate you all, the support, the love, everything. But one thing that I do not stand for is people coming at my girlfriend just because they don’t approve of our relationship. If you check mate, I never asked for your opinion, I love y/n, and some online hate, that needs to stop otherwise you are not someone I want to be calling themselves a fan of me, needs to stop. It makes no one happy or feel healthy with spreading such toxicity around the internet, if you don’t like something, then keep your blood mouths shut, this has nothing to do with you, it is just me and my girlfriend. I’d think you’d want me to be happy, because I want the same for all of you, so can people please give my partner some respect, she’s done nothing wrong but bravely chose to reach out to you all, and she had that spat back in her face. It’s not on, and I want this to stop now.’

“Tom...” you were shocked by the paragraph, it came across as aggressive, and very over protective. His action, that could affect how he was cried by people that put him on a pedestal, and that made you feel guilty that he had reached out to them in such a way.

“It’s okay baby, I’d do anything for you, and you know that. No one messes with my girl.” He put his arm around your shoulders as he pulled you close placing a kiss upon your forehead. Not only was he your boyfriend, but he was your protector, your knight on a shining cell phone.

[jamestrmtx]

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Chapter Twenty | Ooo I Ooo I Ooo I Ooo I (Part 2 of 2 | His POV) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]

Song Referenced

• • •

did he give you an exact date?

Unfortunately, no.

At first, I had at least until the end of the year, but…

CPS wants this resolved quicker than he thought.

guessin' you need to finish tourin' the underground first then, right?

Yes.

Would it be possible the day after tomorrow?

Or just… sometime this weekend?

I can go by myself, but…

Asgore won't allow that unless I'm with someone else.

Says I shouldn't be walking so far and so long alone if I haven't recovered yet.

you don't need to go alone, either way.

be it my job or not, I still wanna help out.

so the day after tomorrow's fine with me, bud.

we can discuss those details better when we drive over to tori's school tomorrow.

Are you sure?

And…

Does that 'we' imply you'll be picking us up?

100%

but yeah, i'll drive you guys there.

and pick up paps on the way, too.

it's easier for all four of us.

Mhm.

don't believe me?

Oh, I believe you.

I just don't think that's the only reason why you're picking us up, when I already have the address.

so what's the other one?

Don't get cocky, Serif.

I'm not gonna type that out.

It's a godsend Frisk will be with us, too.

'Cause I sure don't trust being alone with you anymore.

inna bad way?

Nah.

niiice.

pick you guys up tomorrow, then?

Yes.

We'll see you tomorrow.

And thank you in advance.

∆ Sticker | Happy Cartoon Bunny™ waving goodbye ∆

"You've changed, Sans."

He ignores that comment to view (Y/N)'s last two messages again.

While he doesn't know why that particular sticker bothers his mind so much, a few scrolls up to revise his chat history with the human reveal this is the first time they've shown any sort of informality or spontaneity in their typing. (Y/N) came off cold in their texts, though -- based on how they acted outside of a chat app -- that wasn't their intention, but more of an automatic way for them to talk with someone they didn't exactly deem trustworthy enough yet. He grins at that thought and feels his face warm up, something he confirms when touching his cheekbone, cold palm contrasting with that heat.

"You're wasting your time with that human," Drunk Bun says, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

They've sat themselves on the bar stool next to him and slam what looks like their tenth can of cheap, off-brand beer against the counter, crunching it down into more than half its size. He doesn't know how long they've stood there or why he's lost this much awareness of his surroundings. The bar's practically empty and calm now compared to before, though there's loud music blaring from the jukebox, playing an already overplayed song on repeat. There's no excuse for his distracted mind other than having lost himself while texting with the human, so he admits that fault with partial sourness, against accepting he's that smitten with them.

"You're changing for the worse," his company adds, narrowing their eyes at him. "Every time we come here to catch up, you mention something stupid about that (L/N) person, or just text the whole evening away with them. I... I've never seen you worry so much about someone so inconsequential." They scoff and cross their arms tight. "I may understand you caring after Frisk as a way to repay them for rescuing us, but (L/N) is completely useless. They've done absolutely nothing remarkable beyond creating a huge scene at that bus you were both on."

"Being harassed by a rando and faintin' after's them causin' a scene?" Sans asks, quirking an eye socket.

"Oh, screw off, bone boy -- You know what I mean. They've brought you nothing but trouble and needless responsibilities!" The bunny grits their teeth and slams their hand over the table, dragging eyes to their side. "I'm betting you can't go a day without texting them or without you doing something for them."

"You need to-"

Beep-beep.

The phone is snatched from his hands just as quick as that noise rings.

"Give that back."

"No." They keep the phone right above him, taking advantage of his shorter height. "Your fault for not putting a lock on it."

Drunk Bun scoots away and holds the phone tight as they fumble with it. Then, they stop to look at what he assumes is another text message from the human. A grimace shows on their face and they grasp the device tight, enough to make the screen complain and warn them over the pressure they're exerting against it. "Now this is beyond pathetic, Sans," they comment, letting out a loud, burst laugh. "Is this seriously the one you're sacrificing your entire personality for?" They give him his phone back, though not before hesitating when it's time to let go. "That human is-"

"Gimme a sec."

His attention falls on the picture displayed on screen, revealing (Y/N) and Frisk posing in it. The adult wears a suit and tie while the child has Toriel's school uniform on. The former's pose appears forced and awkward while the latter seems to be the reason the picture was taken with how excited they seem about their outfit.

Frisk wanted me to show you this.

It's what we'll be wearing for tomorrow!

There's a three-minute interval between that and the next message.

I know classes still haven't started there, but… They wanted to wear it, so I joined them by trying on something special for, well…

That job offer you told me about.

I don't know if I'll accept or not yet, but…

Thank you for the opportunity, and for believing in me.

∆ Sticker | Happy Cartoon Bunny™ giving a thumbs-up ∆

"You're grossing me out, honestly. What kind of look is that?"

It takes him a while to react, focus glued on (Y/N)'s messages.

"What look?"

"That lovesick look on your face." Tears form on their eyes -- almost abruptly, hadn't their voice shaken right before that. "I- I've been flirting with you for years, and yet you've never once looked at me like that before." They stand up straight, stare down at him, and rest their hands on the table, blinking their tears away throughout. "I've known you for so damn long, and yet you fall for the first human you see up here? I-"

"So that's what this's about," he says, chuckling. "You're-"

"Don't you dare brush everything off as me having a crush on you, Sans." They hiss. "You're not the same as before, and that's as clear as day. You worry a lot more now, and… And you actually seem to care more about other stuff beyond your job and sleeping on it. Y- You-"

"Aren't those good things?"

"Maybe, but your entire personality changing isn't. I liked you better when you were less worked up with stuff that's none of your business." They stop to grab his phone again; a grin breaks the sorrow on their face. "But hey, y- you're just doing your job, aren't you? You should set things straight with that human and remind them you're only with them because Asgore told you to in that agreement letter you gave them."

"Won't work if I flirted with 'em first. Pretty sure they'll see right through my lies."

"Y- You flirted with them first?!"

"Yeah."

He dodges a punch aimed right at his face.

"Wait-"

They throw a second punch -- this one turning out to be a spoof -- and laugh at the sight of him falling for it; they then toss the phone high over his head after he's finished dodging that fake attack, and aim yet another punch right after.

He salvages the device, though at the cost of taking the blow right on his left eye socket.

"How can you admit that so easily? You're awful!"

"'Cause you're only a close friend. I don't owe you an explanation about who I'm dating, and even less if you're gonna be actin' this way."

Drunk Bun springs at him, only to be held back by the rest of the regulars sitting near the scene, sufficiently fast enough for them not to wrangle Sans in anything major. They struggle and thrash at everyone around, trying to break free, but failing each time. It takes a fully-armored guard dog and a buff bear for them to be fought back into their rightful place, and yet another strong monster for them to let go of a wine bottle they insist on downing when seated.

Grillby intervenes as well by warning them to calm down, unless they want to be kicked out. Meanwhile, Sans turns on the camera and looks at his reflection through it, revealing a faint soreness already forming around his eye socket -- right where his companion had punched at. Being primarily made out of bones brought advantages, but having magical properties often led to him bruising easily.

Another regular approaches him and offers him a first aid kit, one he brings back to his seat to heal himself there.

While he takes out an antibiotic and some cotton pads with one hand, he uses the other to busy himself with (L/N)'s messages, against leaving them on read for so long.

no probs.

here at your service.

frisk looks great, btw.

and you? hot. 😘🔥

awkwardly hot.

hotwkward.

Frisk is reading the replies, you know?

damn.

i mean…

darn.

don't tell 'em i said that.

∆ Audio | 0:46 ∆

He clicks on it to hear Frisk giggling along with (Y/N) commenting they won't. It later continues with them asking if he's alright, specifying what they mean by highlighting a picture, this one sent by him. Blurriness makes up most of it when he clicks on it and zooms in, yet he can identify what looks like his companion from earlier, who'd apparently snapped and sent the human a photo by accident.

that's a friend o' mine.

they're, uh, kinda tipsy, so they got inna fight with me.

Really?

Are you okay?

yeah, just a lil' sore where they punched at.

What?!

i'm fine, puddin'.

dw about it.

Where's that bar at?

I'm near the mall, so I can drop by if you need anything.

aren't you still shoppin'?

take it easy.

I'm almost done.

Just trying out one more outfit.

can I see?

👀

Sure.

∆ Attachment | 2 images ∆

To his surprise, they're not only posing much more freely now, but they've also made the effort to strike another pose from a different angle. The human's outfit is composed of a dark green, semi-formal (suit/dress), fit for a night out. They've gone as far as to edit a wink emoji and some hearts at the corner of one -- the most flirty of the two.

So...

What do you think?

*jaw drops to floor, irises pop out of sockets accompanied by trumpets, soul beats out of rib cage, awooga awooga sound effect, pulls chain on train whistle that has appeared next to head as steam blows out, slams fists on table, rattling any plates, bowls or silverware, whistles loudly, fireworks shoot from top of head, pants loudly as tongue hangs out of teeth, wipes comically large bead of sweat from forehead, clears throat, straightens jacket, combs skull* ahem, you look real lovely.

*bwushes* Thank uwu kindwy, handswome. I'm vewy fwattewed.

...frisk ain't there anymore, right?

If they wewe, duwu uwu twhink I'd be twyping wike thiws?

faiw poiwnt.

Anyway…

I noticed the changes you made in that copy-paste, and…

You didn't edit the tongue part out.

So…

What that tongue do, baby?

😳

…lick…

...ice cream.

🔥🔥🔥

Ah, that's hot.

Or should I say cold?

And speaking of cold…

I'm gonna get you an ice pack or something.

You should take care of where it's sore, if you don't want it to bruise more.

whatta way to change the subject away from our moment, puddin'.

but uh, thanks in advance.

Anytime, teddy bear.

uwu

owo

• • •

"Am I really changin', Grillbs?" Sans asks, emptying his beer in three long gulps. "Be honest with me."

The one questioned takes the empty can from his hands and shakes his head in what looks more like disapproval rather than him answering that question. He first warns the skeleton about getting drunk, and reminds him to stay sober if he wants an answer as well as prevent himself from drunk-texting the source of his lovelorn self. When receiving a promise from him in response, he later answers with a 'no' and that he's still the same whenever he came to visit the bar.

"So I'm only different when I'm talkin' about 'em?"

Grillby nods.

"Inna bad way?"

He shakes his head.

"Then…"

Sans is stopped with a hand over his and faced with a stern look, despite the owner of it having no eyes or mouth.

"If they make you happy, then it's alright for you to show it," a regular states, intervening in the conversation. "You're not a lifeless machine. And nobody's one-dimensional either, so you shouldn't force yourself to act the same, strict way all the time. If you want to be all mushy with that human, then so be it. Aren't you the one who always says stuff like 'nothing really matters; in the end, we'll all die'? What's stopping you now of all times? Where's that hardcore nihilist I've known since years ago?

Sans rubs the back of his neck and huffs.

Clearly, neither the regular nor Grillby understood what he truly meant to say with his questions. He didn't mind his relationship with the human, but he also didn't want his old self to be replaced by someone he wasn't, as a result. There were things he didn't want to change about his old self -- things he feared would fade away now that he seemed to be getting into something as complex as a romantic relationship. There were parts of him he needed to keep in case the world were to start over again -- in case something went wrong. He couldn't allow himself to grow soft.

A pat on his shoulder lets him know he's lost himself in those thoughts.

"It's alright to fear change, but don't let that hold you back. If you like that human and they do, too -- Then what's there keeping you from going for it?"

It's not that easy.

Still, he keeps that thought quiet and replies with, "Thanks, but I'll probably have to give that more ti-"

The door of the bar opens to reveal someone new to it, but not so much unknown to Sans, who already finds himself distracted by them. (Y/N) stands in front of the entrance, looking this way and that. Frisk holds on to their hand, while a reusable shopping bag's hung over their parent's arm; a pharmacy's logo and name can be seen stamped on it. The eldest human approaches the area with caution, until their child assures them -- once, twice, and then thrice -- they've been to this place before and that it serves other purposes beyond that of providing alcohol and provoking fights. When they look forward, he meets their eyes and tries to glance away quickly, only to be called out by them soon after. They don't take long to smile wide and bright, wave, and -- finally -- approach his side after he waves back at them.

Rather than giving him whatever's in the bag, they instead let go of Frisk's hand, ask them if they want anything to eat, and give them some money when they sign the word 'fries'. Then, they sit on the stool next to his and settle the bag on their lap. "Come closer, and close your eye sockets," they say, still smiling. "It's your left one, right? It looks really sore already."

He nods and tries to ignore the warmth in his soul when they place a hand over his.

In his favour, they let go of him not long after to disinfect their hands and slip some gloves on when these dry out.

"I-"

"Shh."

(Y/N) holds his chin with their hand and grazes their fingers against his injury, their touch slow and careful as they apply some antibiotic over and around it. They then slide an eye patch on him and assumedly check around for any more bruises, based on the feeling of their hands grazing against his torso, arms, and neck. "The ice pack's in the bag -- Remember to throw it in the freezer when you get home." They touch his chest again, even more gentle this time. "So..." He notices some hesitance when they pull their hand back. "You're not hurt anywhere else?"

He shakes his head, words caught in his throat.

"Alright, but don't look yet."

Doing as told, Sans waits for whatever comes next. He stays still and stiff, until he feels their lips brush close to his eye socket, where they lay a soft, ticklish kiss at. They do the same with his other one and finish it off by kissing his nose cavity.

"Now you can."

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

• • •

...

......

🌋🔥💥 ANNOYING NOTICE TIME 💥🔥🌋

So, here's a summary of all the events happening this month, which will affect Fairytale Complex's update schedule in various ways:

1. I will be rewriting all my other fics that aren't FaiCom, since I'm pretty darn happy and proud of the new writing style I've developed with this fanfic, and so I want to implement it into my older stories (with the exception of the Tom Nook x Reader one -- I'm rewriting that one despite being recent because it started off as a wild, 3 am energy project after finishing with finals, but then I actually had way more fun than I originally anticipated, so I'll be turning it into a long fic just like this one, lol). This means FaiCom will be taking a short, 1 to 2 week break after Arc 2 (Chapter 25) ends, to dedicate some time to all 4 of these stories.

2. I'm taking extracurricular classes/hobby workshops this summer, so I need to tweak my schedule again. This means FaiCom will be changing its schedule back to the old one, composed of weekly updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and/or Fridays.

3. As mentioned previously, Pride Month is here, so I'll be making some one-shots and drabbles related to it, meaning updates might be slightly less frequent this month. BUT, a good majority of them are FaiCom related ones (and they will be posted on a different book to avoid conflicting with regular updates, too). More on that later on!

• • •

Tag List (Comment or message me if you want to be added to [or removed from] it!)

@the-simp-express

@nektotersh

@disastrous-l0vebug

@therealchickenjoe

@mintyflakes025

@pandaquick

@timelock97

@candle-creeps

@paperb9gs

@merak0

[onetuffbunny]

"So you're meeting up with some rando you met on the Internet?" R.A. says over the phone in the tone of voice that implies that meeting up with some Internet rando is not, in fact, a wise course of action.

"I'm pretty excited. I haven't seen another person in, like, awhile. I mean, I know we've been doing the video call thing lately but it's not the same, you know?" Bunny says, completely oblivious to the hints she is throwing out.

"Dude. You are going to meet up with some rando. That you just met. On some alien site for aliens. Which you don't really have the first clue about. You're meeting some random person on the Internet."

"Yeah, basically!"

R.A. audibly sighs.

"Okay, Bun, let me put this into terms you can understand. If Lucy told you that she met someone five minutes ago on some app she just signed up for and she was fucking off to the nearest city to meet them, would you say "wow, have fun" or would you go "Lucretia, don't do this, they're definitely tricking you to harvest your organs?"

"Dude, Lucy's way smart. She'd never do that. I raised her better than that, man."

"If something is bad when your adult daughter does it, then it's also bad when you, an adult-aged person, do it, jackass. You're tall, dude, not invincible," R.A. says and oh, okay, when she puts it like that, maybe there's a point there.

"I'll be careful."

"Will you?" she replies. "Look, tell me you're at least meeting this Internet weirdo in public, right? Someplace well-lit? You didn't invite them to your house?"

"...We're meeting in public."

There's a muffled sound on the line, almost like R.A. is cursing but trying to cover it up so the kids don't hear.

"Oh, fucking great, either you were about to invite an actual, real vampire into the house where you live so they could eat your vital essence or you were going to invite someone you just met to your house out in the middle of nowhere with no one around. Dude, would you go to someone's house in the middle of nowhere with no one around if you just met them? Most people think that's a good way to get serial killed, dummy. You gotta think about this shit. I love you, man, but what the fuck, dude, why do you not think about shit when it comes to yourself?"

This is a bad question because Bunny would, in fact go to the house of someone he just met, especially if they were a hot 'werewolf' guy with huge fucking fangs, and that's how he got into this whole mess to begin with (remember kids: think a second before you make out with someone who clearly isn't human because then they're just going to get real confused when they realize that you are, in fact, a human even though of course you are, you never said otherwise.) so clearly that was a bad idea. This may be because he has the self-preservation instincts of a lemming but despite everything being stacked up against his favor, has still lived to 30-something. He should probably not do shit like this.

"...I'll be careful, I promise," he says sheepishly.

"Dude. Literally every time I've talked to you lately, you've about given me a heart attack. I can't afford an ER trip. Geeze, first you tell me you met a vampire in the woods, then you tell me a fish made you a shapeshifter or whatever, now you tell me you don't know basic Internet safety. Look, once you got all this shit sorted out, I'm not letting you leave the house without adult supervision. I'll put a GPS tracker on you, swear to god, I'll do it."

He's not sure if R.A. is joking or not.

"Just get everything figured out, okay?" she continues. "The kids miss you. I'm not good at this shit, dude. I don't even know how you get Avery to eat."

"I just leave little bowls of snacks around the room and if he wants to eat them, then he'll eat them. I...I really miss everyone. Even you and you're an enormous asshole and I can't wait until we get divorced, you heartless wench, counting down the days as we speak. The fish goddess said it'd be alright but I don't...I don't know, okay? They can make you forget. Just talking to you about this shit is space illegal, I guess, but you already know, so...I'm kinda scared."

"Well, it's going to be fucking fine, everything's going to work itself out, you just focus on alien shit and I'll focus on normal people shit and whatever happens is going to be fine," she says and she does not feel fine, he knows that, and neither does he. "Hey, you want me to bring you over some cookies? They had the good shit in the clearance aisle today."

"Nah, I'm good, it's fine. Prudence needs all the cookies she can get."

"Your loss, bitch, they're amazing...oh shit, you still can't taste, can you? Aw, fuck you, now I look like an asshole."

"You always did, mate," Bunny says. "Can you tell Pru & Avery I love them big bunches, big time? I mean, I know I already said that to them earlier, but they have to know, you know?"

"Of course I'm going to tell them that."

"Okay, thanks! I don't love you big bunches, big time. I don't even love you small bunches, small time."

"Fuck you, man."

"Fuck you too~<3"

[nonnui]

Review: Time Princess

Genre: Dressup choose-your-own-adventure

Intrusiveness: 3/5.  Lots of packs for sale, occasional need to dismiss an ad beg, but mostly possible to play uninterrupted.  Does routinely warn you of the file sizes of various subcomponents you can download, and it does this fakeout in some tutorials where it guides you through spending resources it pretended you actually had when really you were just holding them for a second till you spent them as directed.

Generosity: 5/5.  I never felt particularly strapped for the main resources, though if I had been trying to play for the long haul I would have needed to be more strategic.

Aesthetic: 4/5.  Many of the dressup articles are very pretty, and the art in other areas is also lovely; but I am dinging the game one aesthetic point for having the dressup mechanics have absolutely no interaction with how nice anything actually looks, so you routinely wander the gamescape dressed like a five year old who got loose in an estate sale.

Writing: 4/5.  I can tell they hired at least one person whose non-farcical job description is in fact "writer", and I am willing to grade on a curve.

Interface: 2/5.  Little floral sparkles erupt whenever you touch the app, loading times are slow, it can be hard to follow all the little exclamation points till they go away, several actions are redundant with others, a lot of things that could be batched aren't, and search among the clothes isn't great and I could tell it would be worse if I'd played long enough to accumulate more.

Coherence: 1/5.  Between the interface problems and the absurdity of putting on plastic sunglasses in eighteenth century France, and the total disconnect of most minigames and events from each other, the game doesn't hold together well.

Gestalt Experience: 3/5.  Occasional moments of genuine charm and prettiness and a steady flow of all the game's essential resources made it a pretty painless way to earn some imaginary money.

Time Princess is a game where your character can enter the worlds of individually downloadable stories, taking on the roles of female protagonists such as Marie Antoinette, Christine Daaé, or Some Rando, and changing outfits to various specifications as the situation demands.  I was playing to level 15, which requires surprisingly little interaction with the stories since there are faster ways to get XP, and I did not finish any of the ones I tried, though I got several stages into three.

The game's standard dressup mechanic (all articles are tagged with a couple of adjectives, such as "warm" or "elegant", and you must maximize one or two scores of those adjectives) could have been executed better.  The score of an outfit, once any attention is paid at all to the target adjectives, has nothing to do with how good it looks.  If the powers that be have tagged a ridiculous wedding-cake dress "grand" and a stupid-looking hat "formal" you may have to combine them to pass a stage.  If you have five necklaces with the right adjective, but the one that looks good is worth two stars and the one that looks absurd is five stars, you will do better to choose the latter.  I think the game must have some sort of basic style recognition beyond these tags, because it has a minigame where you try to match an outfit by sight, and it's capable of scoring you highly if you have none of the exact articles and go "okay, hat with a feather in it, green earrings, tall boots, green clothes, carry a sharp object" or something along those lines.  Yet this basic style recognition is not in evidence in outfit scoring, whereas whether you choose to invoke your possession of a flintlock pistol can increase your score by a substantial percentage.

They have a genuinely decent minigame (which costs game currency and has no mechanical rewards that I discovered, but still) where you alter clothes by changing their colors and adding textures and “stamps”.  The level of customizability is pretty high, or at least it would have been if I’d stuck around long enough to unlock more colors and buy more textures and stamps, but I only found two dresses that I could alter in this way.  Two!  Maybe there are more in the depths of the game but it was pretty disappointing to find the good part and only be able to do it twice.  You can’t even use multiple copies of the same dresses they have this set up for in order to make them in different palettes or whatever.  And, of course, since none of the colors, textures, or stamps affect the adjectives attached to the dress, when you go on to wear the damn things it doesn’t matter in the least whether your alterations were attractive.

Several submechanics remained opaque to me by the time I put down the game (for instance, it was never clear how I could combine "fragments" into a whole object).  It rewards but does not pathologically beg for daily attention (some things recharge over time, some things are available once a day, but in a general atmosphere of abundance it doesn't seem inclined to make you suffer for missing a day).  For some reason the game wishes you to own and breed virtual cats.  The cats affect your outfit scores.  No, I don't know why.

[the-ss-zemyx]

PVP(umpkin Spice Lattes)

Zexion and Arpeggio are Discord friends. They chat in private messages, raid in Verum Rex together, and may or may not have feelings for each other.

Ienzo and Demyx are college roommates. They hate each other, for the most part. At least they can both agree on pumpkin spice lattes.

Happy 2nd Zemyx Day of 2020!!

Specifically for today, the S.S. Zemyx Discord Server hosted a collaborative fic-writing event! Over the course of the past five days, four of our writing members teamed up on a Google Doc in one glorious, inspirational, chaotic, frankenstein-esque fic-writing bonanza! That's right, the fic you're about to read is the product of -four- people's efforts!  Enjoy!! :D

(A HUGE thanks to my co-writers: Aliceslantern, Ennarcia, and Carbonpixel. This was a hell of a lot of fun to do and I'm immensely proud of us!! - Mod Arxsia)

Also available on AO3!

__________

      Demyx hated his roommate. Okay, no, hate was a strong word, and Demyx did his best to be a friendly, outgoing sort of guy, so ‘hate’ was definitely too strong a word. He liked to make friends. Having friends was nice. Having friends was very nice, and so, he tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But his roommate was a different story, and Demyx did not like his roommate very much at all.

At least he was easy on the eyes, because everything else about him got on Demyx’s last nerve. His name was Ienzo, but his name might as well have been "Jerk," with a capital J. When he wasn't hogging the Internet bandwidth doing God-knows-what on a chunky Alienware laptop, he was lecturing Demyx on the virtues of keeping the floor free from dirty clothes and giving empty soda cans a proper burial in the plastic wastebasket by the door. Lame. Also, he was a little condescending. That jerk . 

One day, Ienzo burst into their dorm room with the gusto of a hurricane aiming to speak to a manager about a botched coffee order. He swung his laptop bag onto his mattress. It bounced when it landed. "Out," he commanded.

Demyx looked up from his phone. He sat with his legs crossed on his own bed, his Discord app open to a private message thread on his phone. In a few minutes, one of his server friends, a guy with the display name "The Cloaked Schemer" but going by his Discord handle, Zexion#1309, would be starting a voice call with him. It was kind of a big deal--they had been chatting in their shared server for almost a year, and in private messages for almost as long, but they had yet to actually speak to each other. "I'm actually busy," Demyx said.

"I don't care. Out."

It turned into an argument, of course, neither yielding and probably disturbing their neighbors with the yelling. Yep, Demyx didn’t like his roommate one bit. 

He ended up in the lounge by the kitchen, utterly fuming, cursing his idea to “go rando” with a roommate all the while. It’s the best way to make friends, Demyx , his mother had told him. What better friend than a roommate?

Very funny.

At least he’d been able to grab his phone. Of course, Zexion was wondering where the hell he was. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you need to reschedule?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: roommate’s being a dick and kicked me out. Sorry!

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, I too am having roommate troubles. I can sympathize. I know too well what it’s like when one’s privacy is denied.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: he’s driving me NUTS! 

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you tried talking to him about it?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: He didn’t exactly uh seem receptive to talking

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s always a good idea to try for maturity first.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I did! Not my fault the guy wasn’t having it.

Anyway. Id hate to let that guy take up any more time.

Hru?

The Cloaked Schemer: Doing as well as I can, I suppose. I’m enjoying my classes so far. It seems a little easy, but then again, it is only one of the first weeks. Things should pick up more by midterms.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ure too smart zexy. And didnt you skip a grade?

The Cloaked Schemer: A year, yes. I don’t think they call them grades in college.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Considering some of the people ive met, couldve fooled me.

The Cloaked Schemer: If I’m hoping to have a grad degree within five years, I have to fast track it. I’d rather not spend much more time in undergrad than necessary.

Though I am especially resentful that, despite the fact that I am technically a sophomore, I’m considered enough of a freshman to still be required to dorm.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: That blows

But dude, ure here. Might as well try to enjoy the journey, yaknow?

The Cloaked Schemer: Oh, Arpeggio. Your naivete is too obvious sometimes. It’s sweet, I think.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: har har

The Cloaked Schemer: I am disappointed though. I was looking forward to meeting you--in a manner of speaking. You’re probably one of the most sane people from our Verum Rex server.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Issa game, bro. Some of them, idk, take it a little too seriously

The Cloaked Schemer: Well, aspects of it are worth being taken seriously, but I understand what you mean.

Though the ship wars are grating.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha! Yeah.

The Cloaked Schemer: We’ll have to find some other time, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Mann i was hoping to see if you sound as smart as you type

The Cloaked Schemer: You flatter me.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do you think if we lived near each other we would hang out?

The Cloaked Schemer: If it’s all the same, I’d prefer to keep my location anonymous.

At least for now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know. Just a hypothetical question

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d like to say yes.

But for all I know, you’re actually a forty year old serial killer who lives in his mother’s basement.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: harsh

You listen to 2 many true crime podcasts 

Anyway, I g2g. See if the roomie will let me back in. Got homework.

The Cloaked Schemer: Enjoy your night, Arpeggio.

Hopefully one of us has a good one.

Demyx closed the app and repocketed his phone. He flopped back on the lounge couch, eyes squinting at the fluorescent lights above and his limbs ragdolling in uncomfortable directions. A good night, huh? It’d be better if he could spend time in his own room without having to engage in guerilla combat whenever he wanted to exist in his own space. Wishful thinking, he thought.

__________

      Ienzo stared at the chatlog open on his computer screen. The circle next to Arpeggio’s icon turned a dull gray, and the remaining bits of Ienzo’s hope for decent conversation dulled with it. He had finally caught up enough with his classwork to have some free time to spend, finally arranged to voice chat with Arpeggio, finally gotten Demyx to leave the god-forsaken room so he could have the one conversation he’d been looking forward to for weeks , and now… nothing. All that planning, gone to waste. Another wave of irritation hit him, and suddenly he was out of bed and grabbing his keys. He needed some tea.

Ienzo didn’t get tea at the coffee shop, despite his plans. The alluring, hipster scent of pumpkin spice hit his nose instead, and he caved before he could stop himself.

The college employed students as baristas in the campus coffee shop, as part of the work-study financial aid, so it wasn’t uncommon to see one’s peers at the shop. “Hey, Ienzo,” Riku said. It was getting late; chairs were already on top of all the tables. They’d met in Ienzo’s anthropology class.

“I’m not too late, am I?”

“I can bend the rules for you.” He went back behind the counter. “What’ll it be? Your usual?”

He blushed guiltily. “Pumpkin spice. Please.” Curse that glorious, wonderful scent.

He smirked. “Coming right up.”

“I know it’s dreadfully popular.”

“Yeah, cause it’s good ,” Riku said. “As long as you’re not one of those “half-caff, no whip, vanilla and almond, five shots” type of people.”

“Why complicate coffee so much?”

Riku handed him the paper cup. “At that point, just drink coffee-flavored syrup.” There was a pleasant lull for a moment. Riku began cleaning the espresso machine. “So why are you out so late? Don’t you have an early class tomorrow?”

Ienzo grimaced. “My roommate and I got into a fight.”

“...Again?”

“We are not well suited for each other.” A sigh. “I went to the Residence Life office to try and apply for another room, but the period for that is over. I was told, and I quote, “unless he’s hurting you, tough it out.””

Riku chuckled. 

“He is simply-- obnoxious ,” Ienzo continued, the pressing need to vent taking over. “Slobby, loud, and always around at precisely the most inopportune times. I was supposed to have a call with a good friend of mine, and it took some doing just to get him out.”

“Right, your Discord friend.”

“You have a good memory.” Ienzo swished the coffee around a little; it was slightly too hot to drink.

“The one you have a crush on,” Riku said with a grin.

Ienzo flushed painfully. “I do not have feelings for him,” he said.

“Dunno. You managed to bring that call up in almost every conversation we’ve had. If he was really just your friend, would you be that excited? Enough to hype about it for weeks?”

Ienzo shrugged. “I do not know where he’s from, I don’t know his real name, I don’t even know what he looks like. For all I know, he only uses he/him pronouns online.”

“And?”

“I just… see no reason to desire something I cannot have.”

Riku wiped at the counter. “Oh, don’t be so doom and gloom,” he said. “If the call matters so much, it’s going to happen eventually.”

“I know.” He smiled. “Well, thanks for the tea and sympathy. Er, coffee and sympathy.” 

“Any time.”

“Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“You too. Play nice.” 

“Just promise to bail me out if things go awry, will you?”

“Ha, on my salary?” Riku winked.

Ienzo left the coffee shop. He didn’t want to return to the dorms yet, but the fall night was calm and quiet. He checked his phone (maybe Arpeggio was free? Though he did say he had homework…).

As a stroke of luck, he had a message waiting for him.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I have a room again! \o/ 

the jerk was gone when I got back!

The Cloaked Schemer: How fortunate for you. I assume you’re flying through your homework now?

Mel0d10us N0cturn3: nope! :p 

this science paper is kicking my ass!

Im really no good at this sort of thing

The Cloaked Schemer: Do you have any tutors available? Ordinarily I’d love to help but it might be easier and more private to go there instead.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: \o/

We actually do have one of those tutoring centers I think! Thanks for the idea!

Don't want you to waste your special brain-powers on little ol’ me lol

The Cloaked Schemer: I’d hardly call helping you a waste of my “special brain powers.”

It’s not a bad idea to check your local resources though.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7

Don’t think I’m gonna make any progress on this paper tonight tho lol

The Cloaked Schemer: Giving up already? I didn’t have you pegged for a quitter.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww, come on! Don’t guilt meeee

My poor brain!

It’s mush!

;-; will you not spare some mercy for my poor mushy brain?

The Cloaked Schemer: I suppose just this once, provided you use your resources and go to the tutoring center.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: o7 Yes sir !

First thing in the morning!

My mushy brain thanks you for your mercy and endless kindness!

Ienzo’s cheeks grew warm, but whether it was from the message on the screen or the sip of pumpkin spice coffee currently running down his throat, he neither knew nor was willing to explore.

Despite the late hour, there were plenty of students milling about campus, taking up their little spaces. It had taken him some time to find an empty bench to sit on, but one eventually caught his eye and he claimed it immediately, sitting down with his coffee in one hand and phone in the other.

The sky was inky black, dotted with stars, the sun long gone by now. Nights were starting to grow just a tad chilly, the beginnings of autumn seeping into the atmosphere. It was Ienzo’s favorite season and the aroma of pumpkin spice wafting past his nose was just what he needed to make up for the disappointment of having his voice call with Arpeggio abruptly cancelled.

Well, maybe not entirely. He’d been really looking forward to hearing Arpeggio’s voice for the first time, but this did nicely enough, he supposed. It was better than sitting around stewing in annoyance over his damned roommate anyway.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so what are you up to right now?

The Cloaked Schemer: It’s a lovely night out. I needed some tea. Got coffee instead.

What is it about pumpkin spice that’s so irresistible? 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Never wouldve pictured YOU as a devotee of the PSL.

The Cloaked Schemer: Guilty pleasure. 

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: theyre so good. I can’t have that many of them cause caffeine makes me SLEEPY

The Cloaked Schemer: Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: whats that supposed to mean?

The Cloaked Schemer: Nothing derogatory, I assure you.

Though the idea of you being hopped up on caffeine amuses me.

You seem like one of those people who has energy all the time.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: i wish

The Cloaked Schemer: I should--begrudgingly--head back to my room.

You should try working on that paper.

I mean it about the tutor.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: yeah, yeah. I hear ya

Hopefully your roommates not being a dick anymore

The Cloaked Schemer: Fat chance. M3l0d10us N0cturn3: enjoy your coffee~~

__________

      Demyx sat for a long time looking at that exchange. He could’ve heard Zexion say those words. He was just so painfully smart, but Demyx could listen to him say anything. About anything. For hours.

He showered and got ready for bed, hoping that Ienzo would stay gone. But as it was, he was back. Ienzo scowled in greeting.

“Nice to see you too,” Demyx muttered. He noticed the coffee cup Ienzo had set down. Ienzo seemed to live on caffeine and spite. 

“I needed to clear my head, as I do not have the luxury of privacy.”

“Well I gotta sleep somewhere,” Demyx said. He crawled into bed. Ienzo rolled his eyes. Demyx saw him grab his own shower caddy and head out to the communal bathroom. He thought he smelled--he blinked. Slowly, ever so slowly, he got up, crossed over to the cup, and sniffed it.

Of course he likes pumpkin spice lattes, Demyx thought bitterly. Ugh.

He went back to bed and fell asleep listening to music.

__________

      The universe thought it was just so funny. Demyx had taken Zexion’s advice and the tutor he’d met with was his jerk of a roommate. At least Ienzo was unhappy too, if the scowl on his insufferably nerdy face was anything to go by.

“What are you doing here?” Demyx blurted before he could stop himself.

“I work here,” his jerk of a roommate answered in response, “as a tutor, for my work study. I take it your procrastinating finally caught up to you and you need some last-minute help?” Did he really have to be so damn condescending though?

Demyx hiked his backpack strap a bit higher on his shoulder and rapped his fingers on the tutoring center's reception desk. Ienzo could glare daggers at him all he wanted from his seat at the computer behind the desk, but the curious eyes of the other tutors and students around meant that he would have to maintain decorum. They both would, lest Ienzo lose his job and Demyx lose his tutoring privileges. He took a deep breath. "I need help with a biology paper."

Ienzo's expression tightened. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

"No? You said it yourself: this is last-minute." Demyx tapped on the desk. "I need to talk to the science tutor on duty, please."

"It seems like we're both out of luck tonight, then," Ienzo replied dryly, absently clicking at something on the computer monitor. "I'm the science tutor on duty at the moment."

"You? Gross." 

"I'm not particularly happy about it right now, either."

Demyx considered his options, and cringed at his conclusions. His paper was due in two days, and it was only half-drafted. Without a passing grade on the assignment, he would set himself up to fail the class. Petty squabbles were not worth the hit to his GPA. He sighed. "Well, can you help? I'm kind of desperate, here."

Ienzo returned the sigh. "Fine. Follow me."

Demyx followed Ienzo around the reception desk to a square table in the far corner, a plastic chair on each side. Ienzo alighted onto the seat closest to the wall. "This better not be a waste of time."

Demyx pulled his laptop out of his backpack before sitting down across from Ienzo. "Has anyone ever told you that you have excellent people skills? Because if they did, they lied to you."

Ienzo rolled his eyes. Yep , Demyx thought, amazing people skills. They were off to a great start. Getting through this paper was going to be agony. "I'm paid to tutor, not practice social niceties."

The laptop screen lit up as Demyx swiped one finger over the trackpad. A screenshot from one of his more memorable raids in Verum Rex guarded the rest of his files behind his login password. Demyx typed his password as quickly as he could, shooing the image of his and Zexion's avatars away before Ienzo could ask any unwanted questions. Evidently, he did not type fast enough. 

“Verum Rex? You're familiar with it?” 

Demyx nearly jumped, shoulders tensing. He knew Ienzo was there; that shouldn’t have startled him as badly as it had.

“Duh? It's only the best MMO on the market right now. Not that you would know, since you're so committed to the whole 'smug asshole' thing,” He snarked on reflex, feeling slightly guilty about it afterwards. Ienzo was being friendly for once, or was at least making something of an attempt at it. Yikes. Demyx wasn't usually one to make low blows like that. He opened the Biology folder on his computer and selected the draft of his paper, making an effort to get along with Ienzo while they were forced to sit together. "Please help me with this? If you would be so kind, please?" Demyx made praying-hands in Ienzo's direction in apology.

Eyebrow rising - was it just one, or both? - Ienzo shot him a look, obviously unamused in the slightest. “If you’re trying to be cute, it’s not going to work.”

Demyx pouted and opened up his biology paper, turning the laptop toward Ienzo. “Fine, fine, just help me?”

Rolling his eyes yet again, Ienzo was just about to lean in to read what Demyx had so far, when the familiar sound of a Discord ping had Demyx scrambling to turn the laptop back toward himself. Shit. He’d forgotten to close his Discord window before showing up at the tutoring center.

While Demyx closed the Discord app, Ienzo watched him carefully, contemplative. “You use Discord?”

Turning the laptop back, Demyx gave him a look, half in disbelief because surely Ienzo was too much of a nerd, but not in the cool way, to know what Discord was, and yet he did. Shit, it would be really awkward to end up in a server together. “Yeah, who doesn’t use Discord these days? I mean, especially if you play games or are into, I dunno, any fan community stuff.”

For a moment, Ienzo said nothing, slowly turning to look at Demyx’s biology paper on the screen. “Alright, let’s see what we have to work with so far, if anything.”

Demyx sighed. Asshole.

__________

      Was this some kind of joke? Ienzo was being pranked, wasn’t he? Any moment now Demyx would start laughing about wasting his time and walk out, like the lazy slacker he was. Halfway through, he half collapsed on the table.

“This is impossible,” Demyx whined. “You don’t really understand this stuff, do you? You’ve gotta be lying.”

Ienzo felt his eye twitch. “Not all of us are lazy fools who give up after 15 minutes. Why are you even here?”

“Because my friend said I should, and I trust his advice. He never leads me wrong, so even if I have to spend time with you , I’m gonna do this.” 

"Your friend sounds like he has the sense that you very much lack," Ienzo deadpanned, scrolling through Demyx's paper. He took stock of the misformatted section headings, missing in-text citations, and the off-center data table in the middle of the mess. The topic of the paper did not appear in any of Demyx's written work. "Can you tell me what this assignment is supposed to be? I can't tell from what you've given me."

"It's…" Demyx shrank back in his seat. "I don't know what it's supposed to be. My professor gave us all a table of data-results-things and told us to organize and analyze them. I don't know what he wants, exactly."

Ienzo huffed, and almost slammed Demyx's computer closed on the spot. Thankfully, his better faculties kept him from breaking Demyx's laptop. "There's your problem. You can't complete an assignment if you don't know what the assignment is . Email your professor for clarification and request an extension. If you do it early enough, they might grant you leniency."

"Really? That's your advice? Beg my way out of it?"

"Not begging. Requesting. It shows forethought, self-awareness, and emotional maturity, even if you don't actually possess any of those things. The adage of faking proficiency to gain proficiency has some truth to it." Ienzo pushed the laptop over to Demyx. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

Demyx's arms crossed, and his expression took on the quality of a betrayed toddler. "You didn't even help me with what I came in for, asshole."

Ienzo waved away Demyx's indignation with a dismissive hand. "There's only so much I, or any tutor, can do without having a good idea of what your professor expects. Emailing is the best advice I can give right now."

"So if I email my professor, you’ll help me?” 

“I give you my word.” A promise made in haste, if only to appease the barest responsibilities of his job. Hopefully Demyx wouldn’t make him live to regret it.

Not long after Demyx was gone, Ienzo checked his Discord app, surreptitiously on his phone behind the reception desk, to find a message from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy, this worst thing ever just happened!

My roommate is my tutor!

Save meeeeeee

The Cloaked Schemer: That is peculiar. Though colleges are small worlds, so I hear.

What did he have to say re: the paper?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Ugh he couldn’t even help

Because I had licherally no idea what the professor wants

I mean, the dude has an F on ratemyprofessor so

He said to email and beg for clarity and an extension

The Cloaked Schemer: ...That is sound advice, actually.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Youre taking his side???

The Cloaked Schemer: Not exactly.

But in academic situations, it always looks good on you to take the initiative and seek help when you need it.

I guarantee the professor will work with you, and perhaps be able to refine that same assignment in the future.

If he’s worth his salt, he’s seeking to improve himself the way you are.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I GUESS

You wanna do a raid tonite? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Alas, I, too, am a college student with coursework.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: RUDE

Ienzo leaned back in his chair in the campus library. How coincidental, he thought. He’d just given Demyx the same advice. Then again, college papers--especially in the sciences--were not always diverse on the gen ed level. He recalled Demyx’s paper; he should’ve asked him to see the email, or post, or handout with the assignment on it. Chances are the moron had merely misunderstood.

Demyx liked Verum Rex. Perhaps they could have this to talk about. Ienzo wondered who he mained. Probably Yozora, he thought with a sneer. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Actually, I can do one raid.

ONE. Brief. Raid.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Thats more like it! \o/

One raid turned into two, then Ienzo ended up staying in the library, at the tutoring center, until it closed.

__________

      Demyx begrudgingly took Ienzo’s advice. After his marathon raid session with Zexion, he sent a brief email--agonizing over the wording--to his professor, who responded almost instantly with an apology. Several students had already asked him about the assignment, it turned out, so he was going to extend the entire class’s deadline. But if Demyx needed a few days after that, he could have it.

“You were right,” Demyx murmured out loud, as he read the email the next morning. 

“Of course I was,” Ienzo said, not looking up from his desk. “See? All it takes is a little maturity.”

The irony. Demyx grimaced. He looked over at him. “So you’ll help me?”

“When--and only when--I am on duty,” he said. “I have a life outside of work, you know.”

Demyx wondered how true that was. Ienzo spent a lot of the time in the room if he were not in class or in the library. Did he have friends? Did he go to societies? He nearly asked. Then he looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in weeks. He had bags under his eyes, and was washed out, books spread in a circle around him. “Outside of studying, too?”

Ienzo opened his mouth, then shut it. “I am not here to socialize. I am here for a degree.”

“But don’t you… have any friends?”

“Of course I do,” Ienzo said, just a little too quickly. 

Like he would honestly tell Demyx. “Sure,” he said, shutting his laptop and tucking it into his bag. “Well. I got class. I’ll see you at the center later?”

“Much to my chagrin,” Ienzo responded evenly.

Demyx’s day was ordinary other than that. After the professor clarified what he wanted in class (and, to Demyx’s immense relief, it was much less daunting than what he’d thought), he stopped by the library to check out some books which might point him in a vague direction. Ienzo could tell him if they were any good. He stopped by the coffee shop to grab a croissant and a coffee, and, on impulse, got one for Ienzo as well. The idea of it made him nervous. Maybe I’ll say they made an extra by mistake, he thought. He already knew Ienzo drank them.

There Ienzo was, sitting in the office. “It’s you,” he said in an unreadable tone.

“It’s me.” He cleared his throat. “Um…” He thrust out the coffee without saying anything else.

“Is this for me?”

“Uh, yeah.” He felt his face heat--though why? 

Ienzo took it, looking confused, and sniffed the small hole in the lid. “Oh,” he said softly.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked--”

“No. I do. That was kind of you.” He blinked, his expression odd, slackened; Demyx realized it was without malice. “Let’s get to work, shall we? I don’t want this to take any longer than it has to.”

Ienzo helped him structure the paper, and reviewed proper citations with him. It would take a little work, but seeing it outlined, Demyx felt a lot less overwhelmed. Something he thought was a mammoth project would maybe take an hour or two to write.

“Once you have it written, come back and I can help you with grammar and syntax,” Ienzo said.

“Awesome.” He took a deep breath. “I feel… a lot better now.”

“One typically does when one stops procrastinating,” Ienzo said. He leaned back in his seat. For a second--but just one--he sounded like Zexion, all firm and proper, genteel without being rigid.

__________

      "You got your grade back already?"

Demyx beamed as he held his laptop screen-out, his browser logged into the university's online grading system. One score was listed under BIO 101, labelled "Paper 1." The percentage displayed next to the assignment name was higher than Ienzo expected from Demyx. "I didn't completely fail!" he practically cheered.

"So you didn't," Ienzo agreed, nodding slightly at the number from his desk. "It's amazing what a bit of work will do."

Demyx dropped himself onto his bed and turned his laptop. He bounced on the mattress a few times while he looked at the number. "This is the best news I've gotten all semester and it's the best feeling. Is this what it's like to be a genius and get good grades all the time?"

Ienzo returned his attention to his own laptop, where a half-drafted essay mocked him with its blinking text cursor and nonsensical thesis statement. He clacked another line of bullshit into the document. It was for English class, he reminded himself. Any answer was correct if it could be argued well. "No, not really. You get used to it."

"I… I should thank you," Demyx said, after a beat of silence. "For your help. I wouldn't have had anything to turn in at all if you hadn't told me to email my professor."

Another line of bullshit trailed across the screen. Ienzo squinted at it, unsure of what he had typed. "Don't mention it. It's my job."

"But still. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ienzo could hear Demyx shuffling on his bed. "So… you play Verum Rex?"

"Fairly regularly, yes."

"Do you do raids or multiplayer at all?"

Ienzo shot Demyx a warning glance. "I already have a raiding group. I'm not looking for another one."

Across the room, Demyx had tucked himself into bed, his Star Wars sheets pulled all the way up to his chin. He blinked at Ienzo unceremoniously. "Jeez, forget I asked. No need to be snippy about it."

Demyx's head disappeared under the covers, and Ienzo returned his attention to his essay. At least, he tried. The Discord notifications in the corner of his screen kept distracting him.

Eventually, Ienzo admitted defeat and opened Discord. All of the messages were from Arpeggio.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: hey, do we have an opening on our raiding party?

Zexion?

Oh nvm he said no

What are you up to?

I'm taking a victory nap after getting a good grade on that paper I had to 

write a while back

My roommate is typing something and he's so loud

What is he writing that makes him so angy

The Cloaked Schemer: I am also typing angrily at something

It is a universal collegiate experience

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: still so angy tho

Are you angy atm?

The Cloaked Schemer: I am… frustrated

I'm meant to be dissecting the themes in a short story but I feel like I'm only spewing garbage on the page

Perhaps if I present the garbage with enough conviction, I will be able to maneuver through this class

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: if youre writing it, it's definitely not garbage :P

you need to have more confidence in yourself, Zexy

The Cloaked Schemer: Ha. I think my roommate would disagree

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: well then he's a bum

Tell him that

Arpeggio says so

Ienzo looked back at Demyx, cocooned in spaceship bed sheets and doing who-knows-what under the cover of bed linens. He thought he saw the flash of a phone screen through the fabric, but the light disappeared as quickly as he caught it.

The Cloaked Schemer: I'll pass. He seems busy.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Busy doing what? Bum things?

The Cloaked Schemer: I certainly hope not. We're in the same room right now.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: oh. Awkward

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ll say.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: so you know ive been thinking

The Cloaked Schemer: Have you? What a concept.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: ha ha.

Its been a while since we tried voice chatting

Maybe we could try again?

The Cloaked Schemer: You would want that?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I want to hear your voice. To see if youre actually as smart as you write

Maybe youve got, like, a transatlantic accent, or something. Thatd be cool

Ienzo blinked, staring hard at the screen. His heart beat a little faster. It was so hard to determine tone through text. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Maybe I’m not as cool as I seem.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: highly, HIGHLY doubt it

Youve kept me sane

I really appreciate our

Ienzo saw him type “thing” and then frenetically edit to “friendship.” He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

The Cloaked Schemer: The feeling is mutual.

A long, long pause. Ienzo did not know what else to say. His face was burning.

The Cloaked Schemer: Normally I’d rather be caught dead than admit this.

But it does get somewhat lonely here.

It’s nice to have someone to talk to.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: I know what u mean

Sometimes i feel like i dont really know who i am

And like college is supposed to be about finding that

But its hard.

The Cloaked Schemer: You don’t have to tell me twice.

Part of why it’s so easy to exist in online spaces, in games. Appearance doesn’t matter. It’s like being a more concentrated version of oneself.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Do u feel like a more concentrated version of yourself?

The Cloaked Schemer: When I talk to you.

Ienzo’s heart was pounding. He thought he heard Demyx sigh across the room. Was he typing too hard?

Arpeggio started and stopped typing several times, just making Ienzo more nervous. What is he going to say? Did I push it too hard? Was I too forward?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Me too, Zexion

I wish we knew each other. Like, irl

Getting to do raids in person

That would be so fun

And i dunno, maybe do other things

Go out to eat. Go to the movies. Maybe go dancing.

Do u like clubs?

The Cloaked Schemer: I’ve never been.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: it takes some getting used to

But the energy of a crowd is electric

Especially with people you know

Oh god oh god oh god , Ienzo thought. His hands were trembling. 

The Cloaked Schemer: Where would we go to eat?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: anywhere you want

Well. on a college students budget anyway

-laughs in poor

The Cloaked Schemer: Ah, so, five star cuisine, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Just dont order the lobster

In all seriousness. We need to vc sometime

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes.

There’s going to be a raid event on Saturday. Perhaps then?

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Depends on if i have the room :/ 

Wanna say yes so bad

The Cloaked Schemer: I know the feeling.

I suppose if I get desperate enough I can rent out a study cubicle in the library.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Awww you’d do that for little ol’ me?

The Cloaked Schemer: Yes, I

His finger slipped, hitting the enter key a moment too soon before he could even finish the thought in his head. His hands felt almost clammy, the inner mechanizations of his mind working on overdrive, as if trying to race against the pitter-patter beat of his heart. Shit. Perhaps… Riku was right after all? Had Ienzo, usually so level-headed, actually developed a crush on Arpeggio? It was utterly nonsensical, and yet he couldn’t deny that he felt a comfort with Arpeggio that he didn’t feel with anyone else he knew, online or offline. Was it possible to fall- ...to develop a smattering of feelings for someone based on typed text alone?

Well, wasn’t that a theme in literature? Two people falling in love over written letters? For all Ienzo knew, there could very well have been instances of it happening in real life, in the days of old, long, long before the age of technology and the internet. A pair of penpals, miles and miles of distance between them, communicating through the written word; it could happen, couldn’t it?

Hold on. When the hell did he turn into a sap ? Frowning, Ienzo ran a hand over his face, feeling like a lovestruck fool.

No. No, this couldn’t be a crush. Just because it was so easy to talk to him, just because they’d been talking for a year or so by now, it didn’t mean-

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Zexy?

You ok?

Shit, how long had he zoned out for? 

The Cloaked Schemer: Sorry. Got distracted.

But regardless, I think we should aim for Saturday.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Great!

Hoping we don’t get interrupted by our dick roomies

The Cloaked Schemer: Quite. It’s a date, then.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Yes :3

Ienzo took a deep breath. Regardless as to whether or not this was practical, it seemed that Arpeggio reciprocated his flirting.

Wait. Ienzo looked at the screen, cheeks heating up as he realized he’d typed the word ‘date,’ and Arpeggio said ‘yes .’ He couldn’t deny the little flutter of his stomach in that moment.

__________

      Demyx set his phone aside, his heart beating heavily in his chest, his face bright red. He swallowed. There was no way sleep would come easily now, and it probably wouldn’t be until Saturday.

He thought about the nature of crushes. He’d never seen Zexy’s face, or heard his voice, but he was so adept at weaving words in the way Demyx wanted to be with music. He tried to imagine him, what he might be like.

He rolled onto his back. Ienzo’s frenetic, noisy typing had stopped. Demyx sat up, rubbed his eyes, and pretended he’d been napping the whole time. “You good?”

Ienzo shut his computer quickly, like he’d been doing something questionable. “Yes. Fine.” He was a little out of breath. What the hell had he been writing?

Demyx blinked. “I’m gonna go get a coffee,” he said instead. “Want me to bring you one back?”

“Sure,” Ienzo said, his face flushed.

Demyx shook his head. Well. If Ienzo needed to take care of that he had at least a few minutes now. “Cool.”

The whole time he was at the coffee shop, he kept thinking about Zexion, all their little conversations. It was evolving, and evolving fast. Demyx knew from brief experimentation with dating apps that just because a person sent you some flirty words didn’t mean anything would come of it. For all he knew, Zexion lived in New Zealand, or something.

That didn’t stop him from wanting it.

He drew a deep breath, exhaled. Well. Saturday he would find out.

Demyx wasn’t going to let Ienzo ruin his chances of meeting Zexion. He decided to strike preemptively, pausing at the door of their dorm room and sucking in a breath, steeling himself. He could do this. He could ask his roommate for the room for one night, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Hey, so, I have a thing Saturday,” he said vaguely. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t coming off as strongly as he intended, but he could still try. “Mind if I hang here alone for a few hours?”

Ienzo glanced up. The flush was gone, and he seemed much more composed. “Yes, that’s fine. I was going to go study anyway.”

“Study? Don’t you ever have any fun?”

“Perhaps I find studying fun,” Ienzo said.

“Suit yourself.” As he passed on his way back to the bed, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Ienzo had Discord open.

__________

     Friday night, Demyx barely slept. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. Crushes didn’t usually… hit him this hard. It’s dumb. It’s so dumb. His loneliness was getting to him. Even Saturday morning, there were some hours until the events started. He looked at his DM history with Zexion. They’d spoken briefly, only to confirm a time and place for their characters to meet and chat. He sat at his desk, his hands trembling, as the game booted up.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: You ready?

The Cloaked Schemer: Of course.

M3l0d10us N0cturn3: Cool.

My mic isnt like great

But you can still hear me

He was shaking. He was shaking. “Get it together,” he muttered to himself.

The Cloaked Schemer: You’re a broke college student. I’m not expecting a professional setup here.

Though I will say my booth is pleasantly soundproofed.

Let me connect.

And Demyx thought his heart might stop. I’m so gay, he thought. A second later he heard that familiar call connection. He twitched a little, and his mic clattered loudly on the floor. Shit!

“Arpeggio? Are you alright?”

“I just dropped the--”

A long, long pause.

He knew that voice.

“Zexion?” He picked up the mic and set it down.

“Arpeggio?”

“I dropped the mic.” Demyx swallowed.

“You…” Zexion fumbled for words. “Speak a little more, please.”

“Is that really you?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re in a library right now.”

“And you had an event… Saturday.” 

“Ohh my god,” Demyx mumbled. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, just that he was feeling a lot of it. “Ienzo. You’re Zexion?”

“It’s an anagram,” he said, his tone numb.

“Seriously, this whole time--”

“Evidently.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but at the same time, there was something warm in his chest.

Wait, no. No. This was Ienzo, and they hated each other--

Demyx realized he was panicking. He also, vaguely, in the back of his mind, realized the call had disconnected.

Demyx spent the next few minutes desperately trying to control his breathing, trying to not focus on how Zexion- No, Ienzo- was so disgusted it was him that he’d immediately dropped the call.

Of course. Of fucking course. The universe hated him. The universe had it out for him, surely. Why else would this have happened? He finally meets this sweet, smart, wonderful guy who takes him seriously and actually likes talking to him, on a regular basis , and then… And then… It turns out to be the very same roommate who hates him. That would just be his damned luck, wouldn’t it?

Grabbing his pillow, Demyx face-planted into it, pressing it furiously against his eyes to stop them from burning, to stop the tears that threatened to spill. Of all the people it could’ve been. Why Ienzo ? 

Demyx had been nervous enough as it was, afraid the person on the other end would think him annoying - his voice, his tone, the way he just couldn’t fucking shut up sometimes when he got excited about something. Alternatively, the filter between his brain and his mouth was immensely weaker than the filter between his brain and his fingers, and he could’ve said the wrong thing, unable to stop himself in the same way his hand can catch itself on the enter key before hitting it, or quickly delete the message before Zexion could read it.

But this was so much worse, because Ienzo already knew him, already had an impression of him, and that impression was far from good. It’s no wonder he disconnected the call so suddenly. He likely couldn’t stand hearing the truth any longer, stomach churning with disgust, head filled to bursting with regret, and not just regret over the voice call, but everything .

An almost entire year’s worth of conversations, soiled now, because Demyx was, well, Demyx . A slob. A slacker. An idiot. He wasn’t worth Ienzo’s time, and now he knew he wasn’t worth Zexion’s.

A sharp ache spread over his chest, cold and numbing, all of him tense with it. He… liked Zexion. He very genuinely liked him, so excited to get to talk to him, his bristling nerves aside. All week he’d thought about it, daydreaming, wondering what the person on the other end would sound like, if he’d love that voice as much as he loved the text on his Discord screen.

It no longer mattered, not when it was now clear that Zexion - no, Ienzo , was utterly disgusted with him.

It was over. It was all over - their friendship, a year’s worth of personal conversations, these budding feelings he was beginning to have, or that he’s been having for a while now…

On the flipside, was Demyx disappointed that it turned out to be Ienzo? He… didn’t know the answer to that, still reeling in the fact that Zexion, his dear friend and crush, hated him. The pillow was starting to suffocate him and he instinctively pulled it away from his face, eyes still burning. He sucked in some deep breaths and just when he was finally on the cusp of calming down, his door swung open so fast Demyx feared it’d break off the hinges. 

Ienzo leveled him with a determined stare. “You.”

__________

      Ienzo sat.

And sat.

And stared, and sat some more.

He was dizzy. Slowly, so slowly, all the pieces clicked together. The coffee. The references to Verum Rex. How they were always just missing each other. The whole tutoring scenario. Good god . So this person he’d been harboring feelings for this whole time was--

He pressed a hand to his forehead. And yet, a small part of him… was relieved?

It could be…

No, it couldn’t be anything! They hated each other! They’d complained to each other about each other more times than Ienzo could count. They had--

Ienzo felt the walls of the study booth begin to close in around him, pushing the breathable air out of the room. His ribcage constricted around his lungs, and his heartbeat pounded at his temples. He gathered his laptop and microphone in his arms and burst out of the room, chest heaving.

He braced himself against the outer wall of the study booth and willed himself to breathe normally, his head tilted all the way back to rest on the door. This was real life, and he was fine. He would be fine, anyway, with a bit of finessing. Okay, perhaps a little more than a bit.

Ienzo retrieved his backpack and stowed his equipment inside as he analyzed the situation. Arpeggio and Demyx were the same person. A strange revelation, but not world-ending. He could find another raiding party. He could join another server. There was more than one person with whom to play Verum Rex.

But--

Ienzo caught himself zipping and unzipping the top pocket of his backpack, more forcefully than necessary each time. A new server didn't sound appealing. A new raiding party, even less so. He would have to chat with new people, learn their idiosyncrasies and fighting styles, learn their pseudonyms and remember how they differed from their usernames. It all sounded so… hard, and boring, and unnecessary. 

He zipped his backpack closed for the last time and held it at his side by its tiny top handle. Its back straps kicked at his calves as he raced out of the study area, through the main lobby, and into the courtyard. His mind was set. His choice was clear. The only thing to do was follow through.

Ienzo made a beeline back to the room. He found Demyx sitting cross-legged on his own bed, his computer accessorized with a small budget microphone and his face awash with something that looked like guilt. His eyes widened when Ienzo crossed the threshold. 

"You." Ienzo's statement rang out like a gong.

Demyx swallowed. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk." Ienzo shut the door behind himself. It slammed closed, though Ienzo had not intended for that. 

"...yeah." Demyx turned back to his computer, fiddling at the USB port where his microphone connected to the rest of the machine. "Ienzo, I--"

"Shut up." Ienzo stalked into the room, single-minded. He stopped at the edge of Demyx's bed. "Shut up and listen, for once."

Demyx's shoulders rose to his ears. He stayed quiet.

Ienzo dropped his backpack to the floor. Though his fingers trembled, his resolve held firm. The moment of reckoning was upon him. "Did you know?"

Demyx shook his head.

"Did you want to know?"

He responded in a whisper, pained and hushed. "I wanted to meet Zexion."

Ienzo's hands trembled faster. He balled them into fists to compensate. "And now that you know," he said, "do you regret it? Wanting to know? Learning the truth?"

A tear trailed down Demyx's downcast cheek. "No."

Something deep inside Ienzo wanted to reach out and wipe away the tears that followed, while Demyx's breath caught in gasps over his laptop keyboard. Ienzo steeled himself. "I… don't regret it, either."

"You don't?" Demyx looked up and met Ienzo's gaze with caution. Aside from the red tinge at their edges, his eyes looked almost hopeful. 

Ienzo softened, relaxed his fists. "I don't want to find a new server, or a new raiding party."

Sniffling, Demyx nodded. "I don't, either."

"I don't want to stop talking to Arpeggio," Ienzo continued, his heart playing timpanis in his chest. "He is a close friend of mine."

"He's also your lazy roommate." Another tear escaped, this time going down the side of Demyx's nose. Demyx wiped at it with the heel of his hand. "Ienzo, I--"

"We've had differences. We've also had commonalities, albeit in virtual space. There's no reason we cannot bring the two together."

"Ienzo--"

"There's no reason we should be at each other's throats. We--"

"Ienzo!" 

He blinked. The drum performance in his chest missed a beat, then started from the top at full speed. "Yes?"

Demyx unplugged the microphone from his computer, sighed, and tossed it to the far edge of his bed. "I don't think that will work."

Ienzo frowned and crossed his arms. He was beginning to remember why he and Demyx didn't get along in meatspace. "Why, pray tell, is that?" he asked.

Demyx swallowed again, more conspicuously than before. "It's just… I…"

Ienzo leaned forward, his head cocked to the side. "You what?"

"I, um, I…"

"Go on. I don't have all night."

Demyx pushed his computer aside and drew his knees into his chest. "I… shit. I had a thing for Zexion." His shoulders hitched with sardonic laughter. "Shit. Fuck. This sucks." He reached behind himself for his pillow and buried his face in it. "This is so embarrassing," he whined, his voice muffled.

Ienzo's budding anger deflated. "You… you did?"

Demyx nodded into his pillow. "Uh-huh. And now you know, too."

Ienzo opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't make the words in his head form coherent phrases. His throat sputtered with half-formed consonants instead. Words. For fuck’s sake, wasn’t he good at words? Why was this suddenly so damn hard?

"This is the worst," Demyx groaned. "Just kill me now. Make it look like an accident. Tell my family I loved them. Don't let my sister take my bedroom at home."

Ienzo's faculties returned in the bumbling, clumsy way that drunkards stumbled home from dank local pubs. "I... don't think that will be necessary," Ienzo managed, through his own confusion.

"No?" Demyx put his pillow back in its place, and faced Ienzo with dried saline clumping in his eyelashes. "What, are you gonna torture me instead? Make me regret being born? Because you're a little late on that front, buddy, I already do."

Ienzo took a deep breath. His crossed arms dropped to his side, then held each other at the elbows. "I may have developed… similar feelings. For Arpeggio." Ienzo's mouth went dry. The drum performance upgraded itself to a full marching band drumline, twenty-five snare drums pounding paradiddles and rolls in synchronized sweeps. 

A silence consumed the space between them, interrupted only by Demyx's sniffling and Ienzo's heartbeat. It stretched into the abyss and the stratosphere in equal measure, and stung more acutely than the idea of never speaking to Arpeggio again.

Demyx broke the silence by clearing his throat. "So…"

Ienzo coughed. "So..."

"Are we…" Demyx unfolded his legs and swung them over the side of his bed. His hands grasped at his mattress, and his head hung from his shoulders  "Are we, y'know… do we still, like…"

"Do you want to be?" Ienzo shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Friends, cohorts, party members, server mutuals? Or…"

"Or what?" 

"Or…" Ienzo trailed off. Or what, indeed? Friends with benefits? Significant others? Boyfriends? The mere thought made Ienzo's palms sweat. "Or…"

In the moment between Ienzo's efforts to name his emotions and act on them, Demyx had sprung up from the bed and slipped his hands around the sides of Ienzo's face, his thumbs resting just below the apples of Ienzo's cheeks. His breath tickled at Ienzo's nose and lips. "Or… this?"

Heat seared at every inch of Ienzo's face. If he could feel Demyx's breath, Demyx could feel his as well. "...I suppose, yes."

"In that case," Demyx murmured, somehow purring and wavering at the same time, "tell me no." He rested his forehead on Ienzo's. "Tell me no, and we won't. I promise. Things can go back to normal."

A whimper, wholly undignified and unbidden, escaped from Ienzo's higher register. "I can't," he whispered.

Demyx leaned forward, and Ienzo followed. At some point, they met in the middle, and the world's axis shifted two degrees to the left. It was a tentative press of lips, but Demyx’s hands on his face kept him anchored. It didn’t feel like Ienzo thought it would, and self-consciousness invaded. Suddenly Ienzo felt very young and immature; vulnerable .

But… after a moment or so, not so much. Demyx was so warm against him, and Ienzo realized it was a learning curve, one he was picking up with his usual speed. He was shaking a little in disbelief. It was so-- nice.

Demyx pulled away and brushed his fingers across his cheek. "You're trembling."

"Forgive me. I--" He swallowed.

"No, it's cool." Demyx pulled away and smiled, brighter than Ienzo had ever seen someone smile before. "Do you… want to go again?"

Ienzo did, very much so. "I'm not opposed, per se, but I think we should… explore our relationship a bit. Perhaps starting with our mutual interest in pumpkin spice flavors." 

“Sounds like a plan to me, Zexy,” Demyx grinned.

__________

      Riku set the pair of pumpkin spice lattes down on the little square table in the back corner of the coffeeshop, glancing at Ienzo, then Demyx, then back at Ienzo, one eyebrow shooting up into his hair. ���Is the world ending? Did I miss a memo on the corkboard in the back room?”

Ienzo coughed. He was vaguely aware of the heat rising in his cheeks. Damn it all to hell. Of course Riku was here, why would it have been anyone else? Sighing, he gestured to Demyx, bracing himself for the inevitable bit of humiliation, courtesy of the one friend who knew about his very apparent crush on his Discord friend. “Riku, meet Arpeggio.”

Riku’s other eyebrow shot up into his hair. “You’re shitting me.”

Demyx looked across the table at Zexion, clearly trying to fight the incoming of a shit-eating grin. “You talked about me to people?”

"Only the unimportant ones," Ienzo said, picking up his cup and sipping loudly.

“Psh,” Riku spat with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, and every damn minute of the day. If I had a dollar for every time you made heart eyes at the ceiling while talking about him, I could quit this job and pay off my tuition.”

Ienzo balked at that, nearly choking on his latte. “It was not that often.”

Waving a hand, Riku corrected himself, looking pointedly at Demyx. “Wait, no, he’s right. I’m forgetting that half the time, he’d be complaining about his horrible room-”

“Shouldn’t you be behind the counter?” Ienzo hissed, glaring at Riku. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Demyx’s gaze flicking between him, like he was watching a game of ping-pong. “Or should I text Sora and Kairi about all those little hearts you like to draw around their names on the garbage receipts every time they come in?”

"Go ahead. I'm ninety percent sure they're both into me, anyway."

Ienzo pulled his phone from his pocket and brandished it at Riku. "Are you willing to test that theory?"

"Make sure you write it down," Demyx chirped, blowing into the hole in his drink's lid. "If you write it down, it's science. I learned that in Biology this semester."

"I'll do more than that," Ienzo said, tapping on his phone screen with both hands. After his phone played a short 'whoosh' sound, he placed it face-down on the table. "Images sent. Now we wait for our results."

Riku scoffed, then balked, then turned beet-red. "You're an asshole," he hissed through his teeth.

"Relax. I was just kidding,” Ienzo said with a glint in his eye that Demyx barely caught.

"Forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical." Riku scowled for a moment, but eventually softened into a smirk. "Whatever. Enjoy your Discord date, Casanova." He knocked on the table once before returning to the checkout counter.

"Discord date?" Demyx asked, taking a swig of his pumpkin spice latte. "I thought we were hanging out in real life."

"Let's not split hairs. We're about to see a show." Ienzo jutted his chin in the direction of the cafe's front door. As if on cue, Sora and Kairi burst through it like a duo on a mission.

“Oh Riiiiiiiiku!” they chorused in sing-song at the top of their lungs.

"Sometimes," Ienzo said, turning back to Demyx, "I like to watch the world burn."

“Yeah, I know. That’s actually kind of hot,” Demyx admitted, taking another sip of his latte. "Remind me not to piss you off again, though."

[rizzizzsins-blog]

From the Ashes, Ch 8

Wanna read this on Archive? Click here.

 The shopping trip was a success. Asher rediscovered his love of cyberpunk, and he looked like an extra out of      Akira    . After he and Cinn had lunch at the food court, much to Edge’s dismay, everyone piled into Edge’s Jaguar, and they were off.

 “You both have such nice cars,” Asher marveled a bit.

 “Don’t compare my brother’s hunk of junk to my marvel of nature!” Edge frowned a little.

 “Listen ‘ere, that Pontiac took me an entire year to restore. I’d like to see ya try it,” Cinn smirked.

 “That’s not fair! You know I’m not a tinkerer like you!” Edge protested.

 “Then quit throwin’ shade at my baby. She’s perfect the way she is, save fer a little dust from this one,” he nudged Asher with his elbow.

 “Oh, sorry,” Asher apologized; Cinn shook his head. “I’m just jokin’, princey. It’ll be alright. ‘S a memory, that’s for sure.”

 A memory, huh…

 “This may be a bit of a drive, so feel free to fall asleep,” Edge remarked, adjusting his mirrors a bit before driving off.

 “You got it, bro.”

 “I’m not talking to you! I need your help with the directions! The place doesn’t appear on my map apps, since it’s technically a closed business.”

 “Yeah, alright. Make a left, then stay on 64 for about 10 miles.”

 Asher slowly sunk into the Jaguar’s leather seats. He hadn’t realized how tired he was. The shopping trip had left him completely drained.

     Asher was in the community garden; the sun was slowly coming up. Dew dotted all of the leaves, and the tulips were lazily opening, one petal at a time.  

     It was around the time to harvest the dandelions. Apparently humans treated them as pest plants, but they were quite a good food source, so his glen grew them. It was best to pick half while they were flowering and half afterwards.  

     As he reached out to them, they shrank away. Asher moved his hand closer, and the plants leaned further away. Frustrated, he reached out and snagged an apple off a tree. As he was about to put it in his mouth, he felt something wet and sticky in his palm.  

     The apple was decomposing rapidly in his hand, until it melted into a viscous, black sludge. Asher turned to see where he’d walked; the grass was dead in every area where he’d stepped.  

     “Samara! You’re ruining everything!” His mother shouted, her hands in her hair.  

     “Mom! I’m sorry! I----” The rot spread faster and faster, crawling up his mother’s roots.  

     “You ruin everything, Samara. Everything.” Her flesh rots, and her teeth fall out one by one.  

 Asher screamed himself awake.

 “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Edge pulled over hard, turning off the ignition. “WHAT’S HAPPENING?” His eyelights glowed intensely, and the magic of battle brewed in the air.

 “I’m sorry, mom… sorry….” Asher mumbled. He was awake. It was over.

 “I shoulda fuckin’ warned him about the nightmares, Boss. It was my fault.”

 “No, I could have done so as well.”

 Asher shook his head. “Don’t worry… I can’t remember the last good dream I had. They’ve just never been that bad.”

 “Yeah… our dad never talks about his. Makes sense, though, since he doesn’t fuckin’ talk about anythin’.”

 “Hmph, it is frustrating. I can tell that it’s bothering him. He has the same microexpressions as I do when I’m upset. But he just shoves it all down and acts like an asshole. That’s going to blow up in his face some day.. I hope I’m not around for that,” Edge sighed.

 “So… we almost there? Sorry for scaring you.”

 Edge restarted the car, and they were off. They were pretty out of the city; the interstate was mottled with wildflowers and tall grass. Large houses with acres of property made up most of the landscape.

 “Yes, just one more turn off this exit and it’s the first place on the left.” They rounded the hill next to the exit and…

 Jesus Christ. The house was an absolute horrorshow. It looked like the kind of place that a church would run a haunted house in to raise money for charity. How it hadn’t been condemned or demolished was beyond Asher. The shutters were slowly sliding off their windows. Some windows were missing panes altogether, covered by plywood instead. The parking lot was full of luxury cars and retrofitted antique vehicles.

 “This is… a little worse than I expected, Edge.”

 “I know it looks a bit haunted on the outside, but that’s simply because they don’t feel like fixing it. The inside is a lot nicer,” The captain assured him as they pulled into the lot.

 He checked his phone. Goddamn it, a whole bunch of them had dipped out of lunch. Including Vanilla.

 Fuming, Edge smiled at Asher. “Excuse me for one moment, Asher.”

 “Easy, bro.”

 “NO! THEY SAID THEY WERE COMING! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY?”

 Edge basically slammed his fingers into the keypad as he dialed someone Asher didn’t know.

 “VANILLA! WHAT THE FUCK GIVES?!”

 “What can I say? Not interested.” Looks like Edge hit the speaker button in his hurry.

 “YOU COULD APOLOGIZE!”

 “I’m not the one doing something wrong. You’re introducing some decomposing rando into a house of already half-functional skeletons. And now the queen wants to throw in that psycho? Count me the fuck out.”

 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT PSYCHO.” Edge’s eyelights went out.

 “Oh, you haven’t heard? He just got released from prison, and that’s what Fafriel wants to do with him. You should probably make peace with your old man before he’s wiped off the face of the earth.”

 “RIGHT. AS IF YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO LEAVE HIS HOME JUST BECAUSE OF TWO NEW PEOPLE. NOT EVERYONE THROWS IN THE TOWEL WHENEVER THEY FACE ANY LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY, SANS.”

 The line went quiet.

 “If I have to drag my dad out of that building by force, I will. I’m not losin’ him after just getting him back.”

 “OH, YOU’RE GONNA DRAG HIM OUT? HE’LL JUST TELEPORT BACK. OUR FATHERS ARE EVEN BETTER AT TAKING ON CHALLENGES THAN YOU ARE AT RUNNING AWAY FROM THEM. GOOD DAY, SANS,” Edge hung up with a wicked grin.

 “Who was that?” Asher asked, wrinkling his nose.

 “Vanilla. Cinn’s Tale Kingdom counterpart. We’ve both been on the Surface for the same amount of time and he hasn’t evolved or matured one bit in that time. I for one, am proud of all the progress my brother has made. Vanilla and Honey just seem to go backwards, frankly. I feel sorry for Papaya and Azure.”

 “There’s no need to feel sorry for me, Edge! Sans is just going through a rough patch!” A skeleton in a suit jacket, leather elbow patches and plaid orange dress pants put his hand on Edge’s shoulder.

 “NYAAAGH! DON’T DO THAT, PAPY!”

 “See? You don’t like it when you’re talked about      behind your back    , do you?” the other chuckled. “Don’t worry! I would have dragged Sans by the ear here if I had to. Brother, come out of the car!”

 A dark blue-eyed skeleton skulked out of his brother’s Ferrari.

 “Coming.”

 “Hello, little dryad! My name is Papaya Aster, Esquire. It is truly an honor to meet you!” He seemed so excited he could barely contain himself, pulling out a fidget spinner to burn off the extra energy.

 “Go on, Papaya. It doesn’t hurt to ask,” Edge clapped him on the back.

 “A-ARE YOU A HUGGER? E-excuse me, I tend to be a little too clingy sometimes!” Papaya smiled apologetically.

 “Oh? Sure. Haven’t been hugged too often, but I like trying new things, hahaha.”

 Papaya scooped Asher up and spun him around, before setting him down carefully, making sure he landed properly.

 “Jeez. Can’t say I’ve ever been hugged with quite so much enthusiasm. Thank you, Papaya.”

 “It’s no issue! If you’re ever wanting a hug, I am always ready to give!”

 “Yeah, and that’s just the issue,” his brother muttered. That must be Vanilla.

 “Nice to meet you,” Asher smiled, offering a hand.

 Vanilla takes it. The others seemed to have expected something to happen, since they were all cringing. But nothing happened.

 “Nilla’s the name. I’m one of your landlords, I guess.”

 “Right,” Asher swallowed.

 “Is anyone else planning on showing up?” Edge sighed, pinching his nasal bridge.

 “I believe Azure is coming in. Honey’s… a little impaired at the moment.”

 “You can say      drunk    , Papy,” Edge spat.

 “I don’t want to make a bad impression!” Papyrus responded. They weren’t upset, not with each other, at least.

 “Considering the unpleasantness that was the phone call with your brother, I think that we can drop all pretenses.”

 A car braked hard in the parking lot. A pair of heels stuck out of the door, as well as… a riding crop?

 “ESPRESSO! CORTADO! GET OUT OF THE CAR, THE TENANT IS ALREADY HERE!” He shouted, a curt rasp in his voice.Two thumbs up popped out of the windows, before two long, yellow eyed skeletons stepped out of the car. The one yelling stepped out last, needing assistance from one of his brothers to get down from their enormous Lexus GX.

 The smaller seemed to be in charge, the other two trailing behind him. One of them was hunched as he walked, his hoodie dipping just a little over his eyes. Headphones sat squarely on his shoulders. The other was much dressed like his brother, walking straight, in a rather futuristic black trench.

 “ESPRESSO! PICK UP THE SLACK! WE ONLY HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME TO ASSESS THE TENANT BEFORE YOUR THERAPY SESSION!”

 The hunched one nodded, running a little to catch up with his brothers.

 The two militant ones squinted at Asher hard.

 “CORTADO. HIS STATS.”

 Wait, Asher’s stats?! What the hell did they need those for? Were they about to fight him or something?

 “Illegible. Nothing but VOID-garbled gibberish, Captain.”

 “THEN GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE!”

 “Uh… do I need to do something here?” Asher asked Edge.

 “No. This is just… their routine. Riesling, do you intend on wasting all of lunch staring at our tenant, or will you introduce yourself like a normal person?”

 “THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL! CORTADO, I GROW IMPATIENT.”

 “DEF 50. ATK 30. HP 30/30. Soul of Justice.”

 “PATHETIC! A COMPLETE AND UTTER WEAKLING! GOOD. YOU ARE OF NO THREAT TO OUR FATHER AND MAY PROCEED.”

 “Al...right?” Asher wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or insulted. Maybe a little bit of both. He wasn’t a complete weakling, right?

 “WE MUST WAIT FOR THE LONE COMMANDER, AS WELL AS OUR COUSIN AND HIS PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A COMPANY,” Riesling sighed.

 “You know Scamp and Sliv are always late. Let’s just go inside and get this over with,” Nilla sighed deeper. Cinn gritted his teeth.

 “You’se guys go on ahead. I’m gonna need a moment.”

 “Fine,” Edge nodded. “Asher, would you mind staying for a moment with my brother? I would like to make sure our fathers aren’t doing anything abnormally dangerous, and set up a bit, before you enter.”

 “Alright, sounds good.”

 Everyone except Cinn and Asher went into the house. The door practically screeched whenever it was open and shut.

 Cinn pulled out a cigar and sat on the hood of the Jaguar. “Y’ want one?”

 “I can’t smoke. It’s really bad for plants. Even though I’m more rot than plant, I still don’t want to risk it,” Asher declined.

 “Suit yaself.” He snapped his fingers and the tip of the cigar lit up. So he knew a little fire magic…

 “.... So that was… a lot. Are you all related? Or what’s the story?”

 “We’re all counterparts. It gets kinda messy. Our names started out as nicknames, but eventually we had ‘em all legally changed. Got sick of gettin’ ‘calls for Sans and Papyrus’. How was we supposed to know which pair people wanted?!” He chuckled a bit.

 “But, yeah… I’m sorry yer havin’ to go through all this. I’d hoped this would be a little easier than you livin’ on yer own, but all I’ve done is complicate the shit outta your life. This one’s on me, princey.”

 Asher shook his head.

 “You know, it’s at least been different. I got so used to my routines with Theo that I kind of forgot what life was like outside of that. Sure, not everything’s fun, and certainly not Vanilla, but it’s been different, and in that sense, refreshing. It helps me keep my mind off… this,” he smiled, gesturing to his broken body.

 “Yeah. That’s what velcro shoes an’ jackets are for. Ya look right outta Blade Runner.”

 Asher’s smile grew a little bigger. “I have mixed feelings about that film, but the aesthetic is top notch.”

 “Yeah…” Cinn drew in a big puff, before blowing it out in the shape of a heart. “Hehehe, I still got it.”

 “Can you blow it out your eyes?” Asher had to ask.

 “Hell no! Shit burns like a motherfucker. Who showed ya that?” Cinn shuddered.

 “Me. Nyeh heh, didn’t mean to set the bar too high for ya, shorty,” Scamp popped in and noogied Cinn mid inhale, giving him a coughing fit and stealing his cigar.

 “You sack of fuckin’ shit, you planned that!” Cinn growled. Asher could kind of tell they were playing around.

 “Brother. Please. We arrived with a duty, and we must perform it.”

 “DON’T TREAT IT LIKE A DUTY, TREAT IT LIKE AN ADVENTURE! WE GET TO MEET A NEW FRIEND! HOPEFULLY CRIMSON WON’T INSULT THEM SO MUCH THAT THEY LEAVE CRYING THIS TIME!” It was odd. The two voices sounded like they were from the same person, yet one of them was heavy and flat, and the other was bouncing off the walls. Eventually, Asher was able to see the two skeletons talking. They had showed up in a sporty motorbike and sidecar, removing their helmets before coming to say hello.

 “Nyeh heh, you Blue’s      side    piece now?” Scamp joked with the quieter one. The two motorcyclists looked almost inverted. The quieter one with muted purple eyelights robotically shook Asher’s hand, before the bright-eyed one grabbed Asher’s other hand and shook it vigorously.

 “HELLO! I DON’T BELIEVE WE’VE MET! MY NAME IS AZURE ASTER, AND THIS IS MY FRIEND, SLIVOVITZ ASTER!”

 “Yeah, here’s my big bro. Well, big metaphorically.”

 “Hardee har har. Because I’m short. Very original, brother,” Slivovitz sighed. “I would at least like to supervise Edge making the food, even if he will no longer let me assist.”

 “MAYBE IF WE’RE LUCKY WE CAN SNEAK MAKING A FEW SIDE DISHES. COME ON, SLIV!” Azure grabbed Sliv’s hand and basically Naruto ran to the door.

 “Well, princey, whatcha see is whatcha get. You still wanna go in that house?” Cinn checked. “Y’ can say no. I’d fuckin’ say no.”

 Asher shook his head. “I’m ready. I want to give this a try.”

 Without realizing it, Asher took Cinn’s hand, and they walked inside. It was lunchtime.

[incarnateirony]

Ratings Talk Masterpost.

It's about time I just try to masterpost as much of my crap as I can as a general answer to recurring questions, as I'm typically Beetlejuiced at least once a day to have to explain the same shit over and over again and I, at least, would like a one link drop involving common issues that are often interwoven in one big, wanky pillar of misunderstanding in the fandom.

Topics include, via headers:

“Is the show in danger of cancellation from bad ratings? I read an article/post-”

“But the demo on this last episode was-”

“I don't get it. Where are people going?”

“When you say classic ratings are dying, that has to be some kind of hyperbole, right?”

"But Supernatural ran a 1.9 average on its first season!"

"Well, maybe it was just, you know, ratings decline effected it until then. I mean, can anybody track this?"

And just because I’m psychic: Spring Decline

“Misha’s fanbase is just kids!”/”Only teenagers want to watch this new crap!”

Character popularity, etc, wahhh

“I STILL call bullshit on ratings decline/curve!”

“Something something baseball”

And more.

This post will probably be updated as I go along and realize rando things I should have included, but if I put it behind a handy-dandy cut I can pull that off. 

Also, don’t be afraid to send asks about anything here, or frankly, about anything NOT here that I didn’t think to include.

Also this is gonna be a bitch to update come next year by loading in more modern resource links by season but whatever.

So. Cut below.

Is the show in danger of cancellation from bad ratings? I read an article/post-

Simply, no.

Clickbait is clickbait, and earns people money. They do it on a lot of shows, knowingly drop a hot line or whatever to make people either hate-click or sling it around to bash people on the head with and boost their rates. And/or sometimes they just have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about, which is why ratings savant sites like TV Grim Reaper drag the fuck out of them sometimes. And before you think the first tweet proves your point, please read the following two which expand and clarify.

The show's ratings aren't bad compared to normal. The show isn't anywhere near a danger zone line of cancellation based on ratings. People who have no idea what they're looking at have been screaming that the show is dying and about to get cancelled from bad ratings for ten years, ironically only after the show became safe and after Kripke himself stopped worrying about cancellation. (x) (x) (x) To link a few. I could keep going. But this falls squarely into the “just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t true” area, and I’ll continue to show why, below, chart after chart, source after source, on the why, and just how fragile SPN was, and when it shifted. The shorthand is here, but as that’s just a microcosm of the discussion I’m fully aware some asshat will try to argue points the rest of this  post will discuss.

We are more at risk of J2(M) deciding they're just tired of it, tired of being demanded of, and just... tired. It's not coinkidink that has J2 taking less screen time, Misha getting more screen time (rather than a few minutes per episode) and even when we have brother episodes, a few later in the season where they're mostly working independently. These guys only want to work a few days a week. Which is fair. They've been at this for 14 years. Splitting up the workload onto a larger cast clears their schedules. The spinoff to keep the franchise alive got dropped (mostly due to network drama re Plec and CBS)  So guess who wants to help their friends stay at work on something they all love, and their franchise stay alive? But they also want family and time off. Expect more of this if the show is bound to continue, and expect them to throw up their hands and say "nevermind" if there's too much bitching or recoil about it.

But the demo on this last episode was-

It looked low, right? So what this is going to take is a general explanation of the decay of ratings. But the "too long, didn't read" version is that ratings are on the decline and have been since the dawn of television.

A simple google search will tell you this, and that it's a problem well above and beyond Supernatural. 

Feel free to re-search it by adding words like "by year," "marketing," or "causes of."

Similarly, CW has quite literally never targeted the 18-49 demo as a whole. They specifically target the 18-34. They can sell this as a targeted demo to get better money, even if other shows outside of Supernatural (which I’ll cover charted out and sourced below) have experienced a level of primetime ratings collapse that even makes that a bit spotty. It’s the same marketing trick that invented the 18-49 to begin with, when ratings were originally one big fucking vat. Now, you can track multiple marketable subdemos like 18-49, 18-34, and 25-55, to name a few. It’s become globalized to target the 18-49, but marketing and ad space sales are decided by things more refined than that.

I don't get it. Where are people going?

DVR (+3/7). Apps (like the CW app). Amazon. Hulu. Firestick. Roku. Most of these things didn't exist 14 years ago, and the few that did were far from popularized. By 2020 there will be 4x as many viewers watching via digital methods as there are watching classic TV. As of 2016, it was 3.4x~.

Here's a discussion where multiple charts sourced from the Nielsen company, who manages ratings, about it. 

Digital ratings are not tracked by Nielsen, and there's a variety of discussions about it. In fact, there was a day when Executive Producer Matthew Federman from CBS Blood and Treasure gave Kelios a good shake about her bad ratings narrative and why Nielsen is a legacy system, poorly maintained, and about people in power that benefit from it staying out of date.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't keep her from talking more bad stuff about ratings afterward. But what we do know is that for two years running (and only in recent years), SPN has been in the top 20 digitally called shows in the world. Because while we don't see these reflecting in our Live+SD ratings, networks do. (Link is to when it ranked 18th, when in 2018 it ranked 16th. Having a hard time finding that link at the moment, I may edit it back once I find it again, but if you want an idea, 2016, 19th;  2017, 18th; 2018, 16th; noticing a trend?) This puts it in the same running of the ilk of Game of Thrones, the Walking Dead, Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Big Bang Theory, and a variety of DC properties.

CW has never been a classic primetime leader. It's target goal has typically been 1/3 to 1/4 of the big 4 network's numbers, ish. That actually varies since CW handles their WB and CBS properties differently due to a variety of contractual reasons. WB properties have to score higher. CBS can slog bottom of the barrel because they fund CW with minimum airing requirements to make use of CW's deal to vomit products out onto Netflix to continue making money even if Pedowitz laments the ratings of a CBS product.

Similarly, while CW has never-ever-ever been a competitor in live primetime TV (which I’ll further eviscerate below), it has been a leading competitor in digital, as above. They also base their marketing on digital performance rather than classic Q scores. The audience they want is online. Their primary audience is online. In the world, online is almost 4x the size of classic. But CW, a back end network show always and forever, is one of the leading competitors. SPN’s presence is a nearly completely digital one. So if you’ve ever tagged “it’s just online!” @ TPTB you may want to not do that. Because it’s dumb. Stop that.

CW does have one specific target for live TV: the 18-34 demo. And that's how they stay swinging and keep the ad-lights on in live, by marketing that. But that takes a discussion about Demo. This is the digital section. I'll talk about demo and classic TV ratings later. But if you want to know where people are going - digital is booming, and classic TV is dying.

When you say classic ratings are dying, that has to be some kind of hyperbole, right?

Not really, and Dabb's assistant brought it to light here.

Of course, again, antis that have no reading comprehension or idea what she was talking about acted like she was talking specifically about SPN despite her talking about network TV and the season. But classic TV is in fact going extinct, as per the article I linked you above.

But to illustrate how bad this is, have a website that tracks several hundred modern shows 

Demos Year to Year 

Breaking down Live + Same Day 

The Myth of Thursday Premiums, but the discussion of ad rates per demo class 

The Collapse of CW's advertisement rates, based on ratings decline - which you'll notice, SPN didn't even make the chart on gaugeable decline 

On young skew and better ad rates 

Demo is more Important than raw viewers

Just to link a few.

I mean honestly, ratings are complex as hell. It's not a matter of waving around a number and thinking you sound like you know what you're talking about, except to other people that don't know what you're talking about. Lots of shit effects things. Day, timeslot, other events (is there sports airing?), type of show (scripted, not?), and yes - most importantly - time. You could make it a full time job to browse a resource site like SpottedRatings for a WEEK and still not entirely get what the hell you're looking at, but at least you have a few indicators.

But the real indicator is our state of affairs. Take a look at this Sunday's ratings.

Notice anything... weird...?

Mostly that the only thing green at all is Sports? Notice that not a single show that WASN'T a live sporting event broke a 1.0? Not one.

And even if you go to, say, Thursday, when there was only ONE big live sporting event,

ahHhHhh Supernatural only got a 0.4 18-49!!!

And... only one show even broke a 2.0.

That show was running a high 3.x last year.

It ran a 2.3.

The others? Well, non sporting, you have two shows that did above 1.0. 1.0 and under? 12. 12 shows. 12 shows did not even hit 1.0.

"But Supernatural ran a 1.9 average on its first season!"

I promise you Supernatural was not the fucking king of the pool back in its day. In fact, just by a list of raw viewers, Supernatural was tied with Malcom in the Middle and Kitchen Confidential in 2005, at #127  King of Queens was bigger. Supernanny was bigger. Martha Stewart's Apprentice was bigger. Are we getting the idea? And yes, demo matters more than raw viewers, but raw viewers is part of what pans into demo.  But that was at its peak, before spring decline in 2006 that it never recovered from. Here's the season with demo.  84 shows were bigger than it. SPN was the #85 show of the 2005-2006 fall season, with only 10 shows performing worse than it. Malcolm fell under it by the end of the year in demo.

So let's take a minute to reel that in and process it. SPN was in the BOTTOM 9% of shows, even after its first season got early premiere buzz. Do you want me to really paint out to you where it was by season 2 or 3? Cuz here you go, here's the TV season of season 3.  #111. Five shows performed worse than it. Let's take a moment to wrap that up in our braincase. By season 3, Supernatural was the sixth worst performing show on television out of 116 tracked. But yeah, let's all smoke crack and pretend we have no idea what the fuck Kripke was talking about when he talked about riding the bubble and being in fear of cancellation.

For giggles, let's check out the TV year of season 4!  #107... out of 129.

So for people being stubborn that don't think "#111 to 107 isn't huge!" let's scale that SPN just went from being in the bottom 10, then bottom 6, into there now being 22 shows performing worse than it. Now, it's only in the bottom 17% of shows. Not the bottom 9%/5% of season 1 and 2. Do you notice that launch? That's a big assed launch. And because the WB and CW had always been a smaller network than the big 4, that was actually enormous.

"Well, maybe it was just, you know, ratings decline effected it until then. I mean, can anybody track this?"

Yes and no. Because if nobody could, things would just be getting randomly cancelled all the time. If you listen to TVByTheNumbers' Gunsmoke Rule, you can't compare the ratings of a season to any season other than the immediately previous one (and, when not shorthand in a tweet, even that isn't wholy reliable for all the above crazy reasons.) However, that's even shorter shorthand for "please stop using ratings when you have no idea what you're fucking looking at, we're tired of seeing people in every fandom talk about the golden days because they don't comprehend their early seasons were actually in the ratings toilet."

Other places, like SpottedRatings, have developed methods of tracking this. For example, SR created the Plus System. (Master Page - but if you navigate the site you can learn the formula for it yourself.) The TLDR is they do a mix of averaging the results of ratings each night and evaluating the rate of decline the same time of year for the last two years to try to set a projected rate of decline that they then measure the results against in the scales listed in the link for general value of the show.

I know it sounds complicated, but bear with me. Pretend shows A, B, and C get ratings 3.1, 2.8, and 1.9 (average 2.6 - total 7.8) one year, and then the next year they all go down about 18% total between them (1.4 demo goes poof!, total of 6.4, so average between them should be 2.13), even if we shuffle what numbers end up exactly where, and the next year 20% (1.28 goes poof! Total 5.12, so the avg should be about 1.71 between them). That means next year, the annual decline will be speculated at about 19%. Which means we expect about 0.97 of demo to go poof! and leave us with a total of 4.15, or 1.38 between the three. 1.38 becomes our average performer line. Whoever is closest to 1.38 between the networks scores 100. Based on the formula in the link, if your ratings are lower, you score lower, and if you score higher, it's higher.

Due to the nature of the CW it sorta gets its own bracket for what's considered good, even. Based on the results of this scoring, they've put a few hundred shows into this interactive comparison chart where you can see how the industry average among them balances out year-to-year despite decline in every wing. Their score grades them.  

For example, you'll see the dip in SPN after its premiere year, the dragging those bottom slots I mentioned, then the boost up which, if you only chart Supernatural, looks freaking huge. Similarly, the S7 plummet back into the bottom of the barrel on TV show performance. Then the S8 recovery, and the fact that since S9 we've been riding a high the likes of which the early generations have never seen. Again, scaled in equasion with these hundreds of sourced shows you've been linked to refer to above, and you can continue to navigate the annual charts by the links in various headers and footers.

You’ll notice SPN 14 isn’t in that yet (1-13 are) because, well, we’re only 3 episodes in at the point I’m writing this chart, Jan, and due to the complexity of ratings it’s a fool’s errand to chart in how it competes with other seasons, that early. Notice the big light lavender reaches of the highest/lowest episode value each season (for example, S13′s low dip was the Thanksgiving burnout everyone had a panic attack about THEN, too).

Now, Supernatural season 14 has slipped. A BIT. But this episode everyone was hollering about the ratings of, which could very easily be a one-off? Just like we get one-offs every year? Ranks in the same category as seasons 4, 5, and 8. At the same time, even with attempted year-to-year adjustments on SR, *EVERYBODY* is cripplingly down. The ONLY SHOW not utterly devastated on our night is the one outstanding half hourly that aired right before all of our sports kickoff garbage.

You'll also notice things have been installed that lets you see the lowest and highest brackets of each season alongside the average season value line. But that's just it. This big 14.3 crisis where stans from every corner started bawling about bad ratings because (standom reason)? Congrats. You found an episode from a solid season like 4, 5, and 8, above late S1, 2, 3, and 7. I don't include 6 in the numbers as it was on Friday which is a trash TV day. So was 7, but by forces we'll pretend not to understand, despite them both being on Friday, S7 fell into the toilet well beyond industry decline and boom! Like magic, bounced back in season 8. Again, for reasons we'll pretend not to understand.

Our current renewology for Supernatural is at 97%. Of the many things on the chopping block, that isn't it. Even if Dynasty is protected by their CBS deal, everything from Legacies (which even by power of its PREMIERE runs only a 41% renewal chance so far), All American - those are quicker coming up. Crazy Ex Girlfriend is already on the way out. Charmed, despite premiere power, is running lower, but is under CBS protection. Legends of Tomorrow is considerably closer to cancellation. Black Lightning is closer to cancellation. Do you notice a trend here?

And again, off of... a bad episode. Which can easily bounce back. Especially minding the impact of sporting events. Dare them to try to move any of those performers into Thursday, see how that goes for them. Sports eats us alive. Did you know the premiere gained another 50% demo and viewers off of +3s alone, much less +7 or digital?

And again, we roll back to digital: SPN is one of the top performers in the world, which many of those doing better than us aren't. So unless you think CW is gonna ax like 95% of its lineup at once, we’re pretty safe on ratings, guys. Again, it’s J2(M) getting sick of the bullshit that we have to worry about.

And just because I’m psychic: Spring Decline

This is a mighty warcry of ignorance that happens every year too. It is common, if not standard, for ratings to decline in the spring. Happens every year. To almost every show. Any show that *doesn’t* decline is an exception, and should be considered doing fucking fantastic. For example, season 8 is an outlier where our ratings kept going up in spring, whereas our other years went down. Us going down in spring wasn’t the show failing. It’s normal. There’s March Madness and TV premieres and all kinds of chaos blowing in the door that affect the actual GA on live viewership, and we generally get catchup in +3/7 or digital as a result, same as sports. 

“Misha’s fanbase is just kids!”/”Only teenagers want to watch this new crap!”

Well, the shorthand version is to just read both parts of this post.

You’re super wrong

But even if you weren’t wrong, that’s not a bad thing.

As I’ve covered devoutly above, CW’s primary marketing niche is the 18-34. The younger their audience skews, the better they get paid - even more than normal with most networks. That rule pretty much sings true everywhere even on 18-49 target shows but even more firmly when it’s a network that deals with companies that target the 18-34 and pay based on that. 

Also, due to women dominating primetime TV, and being a sort of double-yield view for the same demo, they’re also a demo that is more sought after. Even in demo the gender skew is also shifting female, ignoring that the demo itself is worth more heads. Also, it’s just a known thing that in non-sports genre, women engage more in digital fandom regardless of the viewer percentile. Between these two effects, we get a fuckton of girls online in this fandom, with males being the shiny pokemon kept as treasures in people’s pockets.

The linked post has all sorts of charts and sources linked in it so I’m going to leave this here, with the simple note of “If you ever @’d TPTB ‘Misha Collins’ fans are all teen-twenty-something-girls!!!’ “ ... Thank you? You’re better marketing and PR for him than his own agents could be. On the other hand, trying to convince the CW to listen to 35-49 or even older women probably isn’t gonna work out well for you. In fact, that is deadass a way to get quick, hard ignored, and if you’ve wondered why TPTB have stopped listening to you, you might want to turn on your thinker-box.

Character Popularity, etc, wahhh

Things like the size of different demographics beyond this (such as fans of different parts of the show, or actor/character popularity) are things I’ve covered in independent posts, but I may make a masterpost for it, too, at a later date. It’s really not directly relevant to immediate discussion beyond The Castiel Effect.

“I STILL call bullshit on ratings decline/curve!”

Really? Cuz when y’all made the Silent Majority boycott on goss and pretended it wasn’t a bunch of gossers making it, you guys were using the curve internally. Or trying to. You had your own semi-ratings-wizz person you called for help! (Helpful link.)

Funny how that disappeared when it completely stopped working for you. Probably were trying to over-value season 7 to talk yourself out of realizing your dumb shit had trashed the show, since your base averages for calculation were fucked up and that wasn’t worth a 2005 1.4. I sure as fuck wouldn’t want to feel responsible for my noisy opinion bringing the show down to being #200 on the season when it was #107 only 2 years prior. Yikes.

And people sit here wondering why Gamble doesn’t run the show anymore no matter how much bro-onlies beg her to come back. Like it was magic she was removed.

Look, for the record, I feel like Gamble was handed a bad deal. Manners had died, Kripke the creator left, Carver the head author left, she got thrust upon by a bunch of newbies that were so scrambled the newbies were copy editing their own work. Singer didn’t fucking help. She got given a tied up story of perfect poetry and told to make more under these conditions. Social media was new, mobile phones were just becoming a platform, and 100 assholes yelling a lot online was really loud when everybody at TPTB only had a few thousand followers. Thing is, that never really scaled up. As per the link, even at its peak, tricking the middle lane about their ambitions, they hit like 240 people. The fandom census hasn’t been any kinder to them either. They just hit capital asshole mode, yelled a lot and seemed huge when there was nothing to gauge it by, essentially cost a woman her job and have no real comprehension of that much less remorse. She did what she thought was the right thing, and it bit her. I can only imagine how it irks her to get tagged to come back now. She’s doing great with the Magicians. She does good work. Leave her be.

“Something something baseball.”

I heard some sort of fandom crack before that my source site (even though I use multiple?) is something about baseball leagues, possibly because of the use of the word “league average.” Luckily, as most people are literate, one look at these resources will tell you that’s a bold faced lie, so I’m just going to laugh and leave that desperate spin there.

OTHER STUFF

If you’re still confused about ratings, digital inflation or more, the ratings curve or whatever else past these links, check out my initial Ratings For Dummies post. It’s a little raw because I was new to tumblr, but the content is there. Similarly, just check out my #ratings tag. Adjacent, But not immediately related, is my #demographics tag as well, which covers a variety of things from Nielsen subdemos, fandom censuses, google trends, twitter trends, tumblr, pretty much any social media and how they’ve vertically integrated into our audience over time. I’ll probably do a master post for demographics stuff later, but this should do for now.

And I’ll also probably realize other stuff I should have added to this, especially as I receive asks. So it’ll get rolled in down here somewhere.

DON’T be shy about sending me asks for any clarification, or parts of this topic I just haven’t touched on. I don’t bite if you’re not a trolling douchecanoe. Curse of Knowledge is a thing, wherein you kind of think everyone knows certain things that you know, and it turns out they don’t, and it’s okay to ask questions.

[ashleyjacksonblog]

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

In the age of rampant identity fraud, now more than ever, it’s become super important to keep any personal security information on the DL. Even if you’re the type of person who is super cautious with sensitive information, it can be difficult to not let horror stories involving stolen information make us all paranoid AF. But where exactly should you be drawing the line when it comes to sharing your passwords with your significant other? Should your boyfriend have your passwords?

Well, there’s obviously no right or wrong answer. On the surface, it may seem like the answer to this question simply depends on how long you and your partner have been together and how much you trust them. Unfortunately, anyone who’s been through a nasty breakup knows how quickly the tables can turn if and when you decide to part ways. When it comes down to it, a more productive question to ask yourself would be how many of your exes would you trust with sensitive information? If you’re asking me, then not many.

Although concerns about personal security vary from person to person, there are most definitely a few do’s and don’ts you should keep in mind before handing over the keys to your entire virtual life.

Do Think About The Worst Case Scenario

michela ravasio/Stocksy

I happen to think sharing access to phone and computer logins is totally fine because, assuming you don’t have anything to hide, this access is conditional. Unless you’re cohabiting the same space, then the times when your partner would be accessing these things would probably be when you are around to supervise. Also, you don’t need to get all paranoid if your partner asks for your Netflix, HBO GO, or any other login that is obviously indicative of an imminent binge-watching bender. Hell, we all know we stayed logged into that rando’s Hulu account.

But just like my mom always says, hindsight is 20/20. If you’re in relationship bliss right now, then I bet it’s probably pretty hard to imagine your partner doing something to completely psycho like logging on to your Facebook account and posting your nudes for the whole world to see. Sadly, though, this isn’t unheard of.

Before sharing the password to anything that could come back to bite you, like your social media logins, take a moment to really think about if this is someone whom you trust deeply and see yourself with for the foreseeable future. And if you were to have a nasty falling out, are they the type of person who would lash out and do something crazy? Even if you trust this person, you still may not be able to predict future situations.

Do Make Sure They Are Also Willing To Share

Marija Savic/Stocksy

If the person you’re in a relationship with is hounding you for passwords from the jump, then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that something is definitely up. Especially if they’re at all hesitant to return the favor.

Although there’s no need to arrange a dinner to discuss each of your boundaries when it comes to personal security, I can’t think of a single reason you would want to be with anyone that hounded you about your HBO GO login, but got super stingy when you asked for their Amazon Prime Video details.

Do Change Your Passwords After A Breakup

Paul Schlemmer/Stocksy

Like I said, breakups tend to bring out the worst in people. If, for whatever reason, you gave a soon-to-be ex access to anything that they may be able to use against you, then please please don’t forget to change those passwords STAT. Honestly, if they are the impulsive type, then I’d consider changing it before you break the news that you two are no longer an item.

Also, keep in mind that it may be a good idea to keep your primary email password to yourself, mostly because who would ever want access to your email? But also because you will definitely need access to it to change any important passwords just in case your SO does a complete 180 and tries to hi-jack your email with the hopes of locking you out of all of your other accounts, which would truly be insane.

Don’t Ever Share Passwords To Your Finances

Marcel/Stocksy

I can’t think of one legitimate reason your partner would ever need access to any online banking logins. Thanks to Venmo and a bunch of other really awesome money sharing apps, it’s so easy to send and receive money. If they really want to get all up in your finances — which, unless you live together, is super weird — then suggest opening up a joint bank account.

Again, unless you live together, then I have no idea why this would be necessary, but hey. However, if, for whatever reason, they ever tried to clean out your bank account or even just “borrow” money without asking, it would be almost impossible to prove that what they did was fraud because they had access to your login information. It’s also important to realize that certain accounts that may not seem “financial” are also connected to your finances. I kid you not, one of my friend’s exes logged into her Seamless account and straight up ordered roughly $400 worth of late night snacks over the course of two months. Be careful.

Don’t Share Your Facebook Password

Urs Siedentop & Co/Stocksy

Now, opinions may be divided on this one, which is totally understandable. If you have nothing to hide, then why is giving your partner access to your social media account so terrible? I’ll tell you why. Because Facebook is way more public than you might think.

This is another situation where having access just doesn’t seem necessary. If you’re hanging out and your partner glances through your feed, no harm done. Again, this type of access is conditional on you being around to supervise. If you’re dating a jealous type who wants your Facebook login to police your activity, then this is pretty messed up and a red flag that they may have some serious control and/or trust issues.

Ultimately, it’s up to you whom you feel comfortable sharing personal security information with. But it never hurts to be cautious, especially in the early stages of a relationship. If someone is pressuring you about getting access to that don’t really need access to, regardless of how “good” their reason is, then it never hurts to be safe rather than sorry.

Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Subscribe to Elite Daily’s official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don’t want to miss.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

from Meet Positives http://ift.tt/2hK2uFd via IFTTT

[chadpetersondatingblog]

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

In the age of rampant identity fraud, now more than ever, it’s become super important to keep any personal security information on the DL. Even if you’re the type of person who is super cautious with sensitive information, it can be difficult to not let horror stories involving stolen information make us all paranoid AF. But where exactly should you be drawing the line when it comes to sharing your passwords with your significant other? Should your boyfriend have your passwords?

Well, there’s obviously no right or wrong answer. On the surface, it may seem like the answer to this question simply depends on how long you and your partner have been together and how much you trust them. Unfortunately, anyone who’s been through a nasty breakup knows how quickly the tables can turn if and when you decide to part ways. When it comes down to it, a more productive question to ask yourself would be how many of your exes would you trust with sensitive information? If you’re asking me, then not many.

Although concerns about personal security vary from person to person, there are most definitely a few do’s and don’ts you should keep in mind before handing over the keys to your entire virtual life.

Do Think About The Worst Case Scenario

michela ravasio/Stocksy

I happen to think sharing access to phone and computer logins is totally fine because, assuming you don’t have anything to hide, this access is conditional. Unless you’re cohabiting the same space, then the times when your partner would be accessing these things would probably be when you are around to supervise. Also, you don’t need to get all paranoid if your partner asks for your Netflix, HBO GO, or any other login that is obviously indicative of an imminent binge-watching bender. Hell, we all know we stayed logged into that rando’s Hulu account.

But just like my mom always says, hindsight is 20/20. If you’re in relationship bliss right now, then I bet it’s probably pretty hard to imagine your partner doing something to completely psycho like logging on to your Facebook account and posting your nudes for the whole world to see. Sadly, though, this isn’t unheard of.

Before sharing the password to anything that could come back to bite you, like your social media logins, take a moment to really think about if this is someone whom you trust deeply and see yourself with for the foreseeable future. And if you were to have a nasty falling out, are they the type of person who would lash out and do something crazy? Even if you trust this person, you still may not be able to predict future situations.

Do Make Sure They Are Also Willing To Share

Marija Savic/Stocksy

If the person you’re in a relationship with is hounding you for passwords from the jump, then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that something is definitely up. Especially if they’re at all hesitant to return the favor.

Although there’s no need to arrange a dinner to discuss each of your boundaries when it comes to personal security, I can’t think of a single reason you would want to be with anyone that hounded you about your HBO GO login, but got super stingy when you asked for their Amazon Prime Video details.

Do Change Your Passwords After A Breakup

Paul Schlemmer/Stocksy

Like I said, breakups tend to bring out the worst in people. If, for whatever reason, you gave a soon-to-be ex access to anything that they may be able to use against you, then please please don’t forget to change those passwords STAT. Honestly, if they are the impulsive type, then I’d consider changing it before you break the news that you two are no longer an item.

Also, keep in mind that it may be a good idea to keep your primary email password to yourself, mostly because who would ever want access to your email? But also because you will definitely need access to it to change any important passwords just in case your SO does a complete 180 and tries to hi-jack your email with the hopes of locking you out of all of your other accounts, which would truly be insane.

Don’t Ever Share Passwords To Your Finances

Marcel/Stocksy

I can’t think of one legitimate reason your partner would ever need access to any online banking logins. Thanks to Venmo and a bunch of other really awesome money sharing apps, it’s so easy to send and receive money. If they really want to get all up in your finances — which, unless you live together, is super weird — then suggest opening up a joint bank account.

Again, unless you live together, then I have no idea why this would be necessary, but hey. However, if, for whatever reason, they ever tried to clean out your bank account or even just “borrow” money without asking, it would be almost impossible to prove that what they did was fraud because they had access to your login information. It’s also important to realize that certain accounts that may not seem “financial” are also connected to your finances. I kid you not, one of my friend’s exes logged into her Seamless account and straight up ordered roughly $400 worth of late night snacks over the course of two months. Be careful.

Don’t Share Your Facebook Password

Urs Siedentop & Co/Stocksy

Now, opinions may be divided on this one, which is totally understandable. If you have nothing to hide, then why is giving your partner access to your social media account so terrible? I’ll tell you why. Because Facebook is way more public than you might think.

This is another situation where having access just doesn’t seem necessary. If you’re hanging out and your partner glances through your feed, no harm done. Again, this type of access is conditional on you being around to supervise. If you’re dating a jealous type who wants your Facebook login to police your activity, then this is pretty messed up and a red flag that they may have some serious control and/or trust issues.

Ultimately, it’s up to you whom you feel comfortable sharing personal security information with. But it never hurts to be cautious, especially in the early stages of a relationship. If someone is pressuring you about getting access to that don’t really need access to, regardless of how “good” their reason is, then it never hurts to be safe rather than sorry.

Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Subscribe to Elite Daily’s official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don’t want to miss.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

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[soiturnonthetelevision]

the 100 4.05 feels recap

oh man. here i am. at it again. having feels about the hundred.

as always highlights up top the rest down below the cut

HIGHLIGHTS

IT’S MONTY TIME

Bellamy + O reunited in the prettiest shot of the season

honestly i can’t remember what else was a highlight i’m tired now

Raven Reyes

i’m sad becca’s computers don’t have a better name than ‘computer’ where did siri and alexa go??

AUGGHHHH i saw the preview i know something is happening to raven someone helpppppp herrrrrrrrrr (but also this is exciting)

maybe raven’s just had too much caffeine or something cause i too feel like i’m floating in space when that happens

Abby is such a hero and Jackson is the best nurse of all time

someone give raven a cupcake please

get some protein Octavia ur not gonna make it!

i just want someone to feed these kids, ok? do they eat? we don’t know we never see it

oh dang i thought this rando walking out of the woods was gonna be jaha

lolllllllllllll monty sassing clarke. so beautiful.

the subtext of that clarke/niylah scene: clarke- hey remember that time i gave you a really great orgasm? niylah- yeah it was really great thanks

that was a nice moment

is anyone else expecting jaha to show up at some point in this episode to let everyone know he’s rediscovered apps and now they can all find people to bone by using an app? no? just me?

aw the tender way harper said ‘monty’ :)) they’re in love

what animal are these grounders killing to get all the furs and leather they wear? bears? cows? it seems like no ones really tending to farms or anything so like what’s the deal?

IT’S BELLAMY CLARKE IT’S BELLAMY i scream to the four walls of my apartment

calm down echo. be more like ur hero, roan. he’s so chill

WHY IS RILEY SUCH A PROBLEM HOLY SHIT

roan’s just, like, good at walking, you know?

BELLAMY’S HAVING AN IDEA AND KANE KNOWS IT. such a beautiful moment of connection

bellamy believes octavia’s alive so easily bc he NEEDS TO BELIEVE OCTAVIA IS ALIVE OH MY GODDDDDDD

O GOD. i knew this ilian kid was gonna cause trouble

ABBY REASURRING RAVEN THAT SHE’S NOT CRAZY BEFORE ABBY EVEN UNDERSTANDS WHAT RAVEN’S SAYING OMGGGGGGGGGG this is the best

Jackson don’t doubt Raven i want to love you

lol Jackson can’t decide how he feels until he knows how Abby feels. i mean, i get it, Abby’s the best

O FUK RAVEN’S GOING BACK TO SPACE I LOVE THIS 

wow wow wow then Jackson pulls out the true believer face and i love him again

‘we have to give clarke time’ oh monty i knew you still loved clarke

I’M LOVING MONTY GETTING SUCH AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THIS EPISODE!!!!!!!

riley, i love you like a brother bUT RIGHT NOW I HATE YOU LIKE MY ACTUAL BROTHER LEVONDRIUS. WHO I HATE

clarke’s so beyond tired of everybody’s shit

ah yes the sky people’s endless supply of bullets 

oh shit, roan pulls out the dead mom trump card

MONTY WHATTRREE UUUU DOINGGGGGGGGG

DON’T HIT HIM HE’S PRECIOUS GOODS!!!!!!

echo is slow on the uptake and bellamy has no time for this (except he’s actually super chill about all of it and i feel like it’s cause he’s at peace cause he knows octavia’s alive <33)

Raven’s joy is giving me soooo much liiiiiiiiiife

GOD ABBY LOVES RAVEN SOOOOOO MUCHHHHH

omg Jackson touched Abby’s arm- how long do you think he avoided washing his hand afterwards? i bet at least two days

just grab the gun out of his hand bellamy!!!! why are you trying to talk to this whack job??????

ughhhhhhhhhhh bob’s delivery of “war made me a murderer” was sooo greaaat. how is he so good even when he’s in a scene with riley, an underdeveloped mentally unstable slice of moldy american cheese?

omgggg get out of there Octavia goodness gracious

how is Octavia alive honestly? is she made of steel?

the lighting in this scene is really really great

clarke asking people fleeing a fire ‘how did this happen?’ lol how should they know clarke

it’s actually pretty devastating to see arkadia burning down like this

that shot of bellamy and clarke and octavia <333333333333

from the dirtiest set in the world to the cleanest one

honestly it’s refreshing to see them all in this bright lighting

oh no clarke got acne

thanks for reading along you guys! bummed that there’s no new episode next week- right when i caught up lol. <3 may we meet again <3

[viralleakszone-blog]

Facebook should actually be Tinder too

http://www.viralleakszone.com/facebook-should-actually-be-tinder-too/

Facebook should actually be Tinder too

dating, Facebook, Facebook Meetups, Tinder

There’s beauty in the double-blind opt-in. That’s the way you match with someone on Tinder. You like them, they like you, you both find out and get connected. But to date, the feature’s largely been trapped in dating apps that match you with randos or that not everyone wants to be on. That means this anti-loneliness technology is leaving some people out.

Facebook, meanwhile, is on a newfound quest to stimulate “meaningful interactions,” not just passive content consumption. Its latest attempt is a ham-handed Meetups feature. It surfaces big groups of friends saying some might want to hang out with you, and asking if you’re interested. If you both say yes, it connects you over Messenger.

The idea behind Meetups is smart, but the execution is a mess. Because Meetups ambiguously shows multiple people at once, sends aggressive notifications to participate and encompasses all kinds of relationships, the results are meaningless. You don’t know if someone “chose you” because they actually like you, want to chill platonically, actually were approving of another friend shown at the same time or were just mindlessly clicking through after getting an alert to try the confusing feature. For years I’ve been writing about how Facebook and Messenger should build an offline availability indicator for finding out who’s free to spend time with in person. Messenger’s new test of “Your Emoji,” where you can put a beer mug, or dinner plate, or briefcase on your profile pic for 24 hours to indicate what you’re up to or interested in doing, is a much better approach.

But it’s not designed for dating. And let’s be real. Finding a significant other is the source of some of the most meaningful interactions you’ll ever have. If Facebook can be the matchmaker, it will accomplish its mission while earning tremendous good will from those paired up. And unlike dating apps that become needless to people once they successfully get into a relationship, it doesn’t matter to Facebook if you never use the feature again. That’s why Facebook should build a “Matchmaker” feature into its profiles.

It’d be completely voluntary from the start. If you’re romantically interested in someone, you could hit a button on their profile that they’ve opted in to displaying. If they hit the button on yours too, Facebook lets you both know.

Here’s the tricky part, or technically, the simple part. Facebook shouldn’t blast you with tons of notifications teasing that someone likes you. It shouldn’t try to get you to guess who it was from a short-list of people. And it shouldn’t push you to swipe through all your friends. It should be subtle. Otherwise, some users, especially women who typically get the majority of inbound interest from men on dating apps, may feel pestered, ogled or even objectified. That’s why many people stray away from sleazy dating apps like Bang With Friends that try to match you via your social graph.

Some will surely cringe at the idea of Facebook getting more deeply involved with our romantic lives. Others might think it’s redundant with Pokes, walls, messages and other ways to connect, even though those are either unclear signals or lack the privacy and protection against unwanted advances of double opt-in. And, understandably, some just wouldn’t want to mix romance into a friendship platform. There’s certainly the risk of creepy dudes following up via message like “I right-swiped you…” Getting this wrong could drive people away from Facebook all together.

But done right, Facebook Matchmaker would hardly exist for anyone who doesn’t want it. It wouldn’t generate tons of unrequited “Yes” swipes. And it’d only result in rare matches. But those matches would be meaningful, because they weren’t coerced, and they didn’t occur on an app designed for finding one-night hookups. They’d be people from whom you already accepted friend requests, in your network, with whom you might already have a lot in common. I’m increasingly hearing from friends over 30 that they’re anxious they won’t ever find a partner. But we’ve lost many of the other cultural institutions that used to pair us up 100 years ago.

Globalization of opportunity leads people to leave their home towns. Secularization and the rise of science mean fewer people are connected through places of worship. Multi-generational housing has fallen out of fashion so young adults don’t live with parents and grandparents who could match them with a partner. The positive shift toward women pursuing their own careers leads some to push marriage to later in life. People are spending longer on higher education and prioritizing jobs over family.

And now when we feel lonely, when we might have sought in-person companionship, we have phones full of feeds, memes and games to keep us company.

Facebook’s made it easier than ever to “feel connected,” endlessly scrolling through friends’ photos, while actually allowing us to isolate ourselves. Matchmaker is its chance to fulfill the most fundamental purpose of what we used to call “social networks.”

[ashleyjacksonblog]

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

In the age of rampant identity fraud, now more than ever, it’s become super important to keep any personal security information on the DL. Even if you’re the type of person who is super cautious with sensitive information, it can be difficult to not let horror stories involving stolen information make us all paranoid AF. But where exactly should you be drawing the line when it comes to sharing your passwords with your significant other? Should your boyfriend have your passwords?

Well, there’s obviously no right or wrong answer. On the surface, it may seem like the answer to this question simply depends on how long you and your partner have been together and how much you trust them. Unfortunately, anyone who’s been through a nasty breakup knows how quickly the tables can turn if and when you decide to part ways. When it comes down to it, a more productive question to ask yourself would be how many of your exes would you trust with sensitive information? If you’re asking me, then not many.

Although concerns about personal security vary from person to person, there are most definitely a few do’s and don’ts you should keep in mind before handing over the keys to your entire virtual life.

Do Think About The Worst Case Scenario

michela ravasio/Stocksy

I happen to think sharing access to phone and computer logins is totally fine because, assuming you don’t have anything to hide, this access is conditional. Unless you’re cohabiting the same space, then the times when your partner would be accessing these things would probably be when you are around to supervise. Also, you don’t need to get all paranoid if your partner asks for your Netflix, HBO GO, or any other login that is obviously indicative of an imminent binge-watching bender. Hell, we all know we stayed logged into that rando’s Hulu account.

But just like my mom always says, hindsight is 20/20. If you’re in relationship bliss right now, then I bet it’s probably pretty hard to imagine your partner doing something to completely psycho like logging on to your Facebook account and posting your nudes for the whole world to see. Sadly, though, this isn’t unheard of.

Before sharing the password to anything that could come back to bite you, like your social media logins, take a moment to really think about if this is someone whom you trust deeply and see yourself with for the foreseeable future. And if you were to have a nasty falling out, are they the type of person who would lash out and do something crazy? Even if you trust this person, you still may not be able to predict future situations.

Do Make Sure They Are Also Willing To Share

Marija Savic/Stocksy

If the person you’re in a relationship with is hounding you for passwords from the jump, then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that something is definitely up. Especially if they’re at all hesitant to return the favor.

Although there’s no need to arrange a dinner to discuss each of your boundaries when it comes to personal security, I can’t think of a single reason you would want to be with anyone that hounded you about your HBO GO login, but got super stingy when you asked for their Amazon Prime Video details.

Do Change Your Passwords After A Breakup

Paul Schlemmer/Stocksy

Like I said, breakups tend to bring out the worst in people. If, for whatever reason, you gave a soon-to-be ex access to anything that they may be able to use against you, then please please don’t forget to change those passwords STAT. Honestly, if they are the impulsive type, then I’d consider changing it before you break the news that you two are no longer an item.

Also, keep in mind that it may be a good idea to keep your primary email password to yourself, mostly because who would ever want access to your email? But also because you will definitely need access to it to change any important passwords just in case your SO does a complete 180 and tries to hi-jack your email with the hopes of locking you out of all of your other accounts, which would truly be insane.

Don’t Ever Share Passwords To Your Finances

Marcel/Stocksy

I can’t think of one legitimate reason your partner would ever need access to any online banking logins. Thanks to Venmo and a bunch of other really awesome money sharing apps, it’s so easy to send and receive money. If they really want to get all up in your finances — which, unless you live together, is super weird — then suggest opening up a joint bank account.

Again, unless you live together, then I have no idea why this would be necessary, but hey. However, if, for whatever reason, they ever tried to clean out your bank account or even just “borrow” money without asking, it would be almost impossible to prove that what they did was fraud because they had access to your login information. It’s also important to realize that certain accounts that may not seem “financial” are also connected to your finances. I kid you not, one of my friend’s exes logged into her Seamless account and straight up ordered roughly $400 worth of late night snacks over the course of two months. Be careful.

Don’t Share Your Facebook Password

Urs Siedentop & Co/Stocksy

Now, opinions may be divided on this one, which is totally understandable. If you have nothing to hide, then why is giving your partner access to your social media account so terrible? I’ll tell you why. Because Facebook is way more public than you might think.

This is another situation where having access just doesn’t seem necessary. If you’re hanging out and your partner glances through your feed, no harm done. Again, this type of access is conditional on you being around to supervise. If you’re dating a jealous type who wants your Facebook login to police your activity, then this is pretty messed up and a red flag that they may have some serious control and/or trust issues.

Ultimately, it’s up to you whom you feel comfortable sharing personal security information with. But it never hurts to be cautious, especially in the early stages of a relationship. If someone is pressuring you about getting access to that don’t really need access to, regardless of how “good” their reason is, then it never hurts to be safe rather than sorry.

Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Subscribe to Elite Daily’s official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don’t want to miss.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

from Meet Positives http://ift.tt/2yvG7GU via IFTTT

[chadpetersondatingblog]

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

In the age of rampant identity fraud, now more than ever, it’s become super important to keep any personal security information on the DL. Even if you’re the type of person who is super cautious with sensitive information, it can be difficult to not let horror stories involving stolen information make us all paranoid AF. But where exactly should you be drawing the line when it comes to sharing your passwords with your significant other? Should your boyfriend have your passwords?

Well, there’s obviously no right or wrong answer. On the surface, it may seem like the answer to this question simply depends on how long you and your partner have been together and how much you trust them. Unfortunately, anyone who’s been through a nasty breakup knows how quickly the tables can turn if and when you decide to part ways. When it comes down to it, a more productive question to ask yourself would be how many of your exes would you trust with sensitive information? If you’re asking me, then not many.

Although concerns about personal security vary from person to person, there are most definitely a few do’s and don’ts you should keep in mind before handing over the keys to your entire virtual life.

Do Think About The Worst Case Scenario

michela ravasio/Stocksy

I happen to think sharing access to phone and computer logins is totally fine because, assuming you don’t have anything to hide, this access is conditional. Unless you’re cohabiting the same space, then the times when your partner would be accessing these things would probably be when you are around to supervise. Also, you don’t need to get all paranoid if your partner asks for your Netflix, HBO GO, or any other login that is obviously indicative of an imminent binge-watching bender. Hell, we all know we stayed logged into that rando’s Hulu account.

But just like my mom always says, hindsight is 20/20. If you’re in relationship bliss right now, then I bet it’s probably pretty hard to imagine your partner doing something to completely psycho like logging on to your Facebook account and posting your nudes for the whole world to see. Sadly, though, this isn’t unheard of.

Before sharing the password to anything that could come back to bite you, like your social media logins, take a moment to really think about if this is someone whom you trust deeply and see yourself with for the foreseeable future. And if you were to have a nasty falling out, are they the type of person who would lash out and do something crazy? Even if you trust this person, you still may not be able to predict future situations.

Do Make Sure They Are Also Willing To Share

Marija Savic/Stocksy

If the person you’re in a relationship with is hounding you for passwords from the jump, then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that something is definitely up. Especially if they’re at all hesitant to return the favor.

Although there’s no need to arrange a dinner to discuss each of your boundaries when it comes to personal security, I can’t think of a single reason you would want to be with anyone that hounded you about your HBO GO login, but got super stingy when you asked for their Amazon Prime Video details.

Do Change Your Passwords After A Breakup

Paul Schlemmer/Stocksy

Like I said, breakups tend to bring out the worst in people. If, for whatever reason, you gave a soon-to-be ex access to anything that they may be able to use against you, then please please don’t forget to change those passwords STAT. Honestly, if they are the impulsive type, then I’d consider changing it before you break the news that you two are no longer an item.

Also, keep in mind that it may be a good idea to keep your primary email password to yourself, mostly because who would ever want access to your email? But also because you will definitely need access to it to change any important passwords just in case your SO does a complete 180 and tries to hi-jack your email with the hopes of locking you out of all of your other accounts, which would truly be insane.

Don’t Ever Share Passwords To Your Finances

Marcel/Stocksy

I can’t think of one legitimate reason your partner would ever need access to any online banking logins. Thanks to Venmo and a bunch of other really awesome money sharing apps, it’s so easy to send and receive money. If they really want to get all up in your finances — which, unless you live together, is super weird — then suggest opening up a joint bank account.

Again, unless you live together, then I have no idea why this would be necessary, but hey. However, if, for whatever reason, they ever tried to clean out your bank account or even just “borrow” money without asking, it would be almost impossible to prove that what they did was fraud because they had access to your login information. It’s also important to realize that certain accounts that may not seem “financial” are also connected to your finances. I kid you not, one of my friend’s exes logged into her Seamless account and straight up ordered roughly $400 worth of late night snacks over the course of two months. Be careful.

Don’t Share Your Facebook Password

Urs Siedentop & Co/Stocksy

Now, opinions may be divided on this one, which is totally understandable. If you have nothing to hide, then why is giving your partner access to your social media account so terrible? I’ll tell you why. Because Facebook is way more public than you might think.

This is another situation where having access just doesn’t seem necessary. If you’re hanging out and your partner glances through your feed, no harm done. Again, this type of access is conditional on you being around to supervise. If you’re dating a jealous type who wants your Facebook login to police your activity, then this is pretty messed up and a red flag that they may have some serious control and/or trust issues.

Ultimately, it’s up to you whom you feel comfortable sharing personal security information with. But it never hurts to be cautious, especially in the early stages of a relationship. If someone is pressuring you about getting access to that don’t really need access to, regardless of how “good” their reason is, then it never hurts to be safe rather than sorry.

Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

Subscribe to Elite Daily’s official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don’t want to miss.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Letting Your Partner Have Your Passwords & Logins

from Meet Positives http://ift.tt/2yvG7GU via IFTTT