#also forgive the formatting this was all typed on my phone

[slayerlevampire]

Technically Untitled - Almost got burned at the stake for this one lads

Idk a very short written thing I made a while ago about Robotnik becoming a vampire

Or something like one anyway

Since everyone is posting about their monster AU's around here aidnakxnskxj

It was a dark and stormy night, perfect for dramatics, dark magic, and mad science... Even if the "storm" was actually heavy snowfall in the form of a blizzard. Ivo Robotnik delved deep into his own writings, his notes scattered across a table as he took his own advice from each paper. As delicate as this process was, he was frantically scrambling to get it right this time, as it would be his last chance. The power to unlimited life came with human sacrifice, he knew that early on in his work, so with his failed attempts so far? The nearby village had finally figured out what was going on despite how much of a recluse he was in the woods. He knew they would be here by morning, so this was his last chance to get this right before he was most certainly taken and executed.

His human sacrifice was currently tied up, wrapped round-and-round in rope to keep them as still as possible. Alive of course, but unconscious by virtue of getting hit really hard on the head.

From tales of magic to science he's tested to be rooted in fact; he finally found that he compiled the key to eternal life. At least, a form of it anyhow. There was no way of truly knowing if this method was the most effective, but he figured that if it worked, it didn't really matter as long as he wasn't making any demonic deals. As easy as making a deal with some otherworldly being might be, there was no way he'd let himself be overshadowed by or even as much as connected to someone more powerful than him, nor would he allow himself to be put in a debt so deep.

This reasoning of his meant that it required him to do a little extra work, crafting his own demonic sigils rather than using ancient ones, so that he could make his own life rather than summoning an existing demon. Not to mention his dabbling into the science of lightning and its electric properties was something that most people this day and age thought was just things to do with deities of sorts, but he knew better. Variations of demons and maybe even angels might exist - along with other "supernatural" entities such as spirits, fairies, or werewolves - but gods, at least of the "all-powerful" kind, were nonexistent. No, this electricity from the sky was the work of natural forces that could be tapped into by less natural means. It just took skill and know-how, both of which Robotnik had acquired.

He took his various items outside into the blizzard, setting up a large circle in the snow of a cleared out area from the forest, his sacrifice in the middle. It pained him inside a bit to be letting his notes get wet from melting ice, but if this worked, he'd have plenty of time to rewrite them anyway. He followed his own instructions, drawing his symbols in the snow, cutting deep enough down to trace them into the icy mud below. Lightning struck a tree not too far off in the forest as he was doing this, almost as if it was a warning, but he ignored it and kept his concentration, mumbling an incantation that was honestly just him repeating a general idea of what he wants to happen. A form of manifestation, if you will.

Once he's got his magic items carved and laid out, he brings his human sacrifice out and in the circle. Then, he looks up to the sky, and counts between lightning strikes. This is the part he's yet to ever get to… And may or may not be the end of him here. So, admittedly, even through his intelligence and certainty that this was going to work, he was still just a tad nervous.

1… 2… 3… 4…

1… 2… 3… 4…

1… 2… 3… 4…

1… 2… 3… 4…

With each set of numbers, he drank from a new vial, each tasting more bitter or rancid than the last. It was like a waltz, counting the time between crashes of thunder and flashes of light until the electrical storm was dancing around his very circle, making it impossible to hear his own chanting even as he raised his voice louder and louder for nature itself to shy away from. The air was full of static, hot like fire despite the torrents of frozen rain that continued to pound down harder on the two forces of life on the ground. Robotnik raised his dagger high as sweat poured from his brow, melting into the clean snow on his face and running down into the earth, and he soon plunged the blade down dramatically into the chest in front of him. The sacrifice's waking scream from the burst of pain wasn't heard by anyone, not even Robotnik himself as the desire for immortality burned in his eyes while he watched the life drain from the only other pair around.

He pulled the dagger back out, and before he could hesitate or second guess himself, ran the side of the blade along his tongue before the air could freeze the blood or make his mouth stick to the metal. Then he plunged the dagger into the ground and raised his arms to the sky, calling out one last incantation to the clouds above.

That's when the first lightning strike hit the inside of the circle, hitting him directly. The pain was indescribable, like he should have been ripped apart from the very impact, but entirely energizing at the same time. The burn was searing just afterward, as if he had been in a fire for hours in the span of a second.

A second strike, hotter than the last, and Robotnik felt his body convulse as he fell backwards into the snow. He couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't hear, could hardly feel.

A third strike, and he knew no longer. Nothing but electricity and heat as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Into death.

~~~

Everything was too much. Way too much.

Robotnik was already trying to pull himself off the ground, but the snow piled on top of him was oddly sticky. The wind was too loud. Smells too strong. Everything was heavy. He couldn't have possibly been out for long, it was still dark out. However, he may have woken up just in time: The torches and lanterns were already sputtering in the distance. He had to try his best to block out as much as possible. No matter how weak he felt, how overwhelming it all was. He had woken up from a short visit from Death themself, and he was already on the run. He could hardly lift them, but his pure determination got him to pick up what was left of his notes after being in the pounding blizzard so that he could stumble his way back to his house. He needed to hurry, but he needed to change, as he wasn't getting anywhere far like this.

He slammed and barred the door behind himself, and had to continue pushing forward to refrain from just sliding down the wall.

He didn't even realize he wasn't breathing. Wasn't blinking. Wasn't shivering despite the cold, but his hands trembled as he shoved as much of his life's work as he could into a bag. That's all he cared about. No other possessions mattered other than that of his notes. He could hear the mob approaching as he shed his outer layers of heavy clothing, only having enough time to throw on a dry coat before banging sounded at his front door.

A lantern crashed through his window as he lifted his bag over his shoulder, and when the oil spilled it didn't take long for the old, wooden floors to catch fire, along with all the other flammable objects that were nearby. He went to escape out the back door, but it was blocked. They had trapped him inside.

At least, they thought they did, but Robotnik wasn't about to let that stand. He sidestepped what he could around the fire to make sure it didn't catch onto him as he made his way to a ladder, climbing up it and to the roof above in order to escape. It was hard to open with all the snow, but he managed to climb out and look around. His little house here is mildly surrounded, in a sense that if he hits the right spot, he could probably book it. So, that's what he aims for - knowing they'll gather too close if he waits too long - and hopes the snow is deep enough to break his fall somewhat as he jumps from the quickly burning building.

He hits the ground harder than anticipated, pain shooting up his legs, and thus he collapses then and there with all the rest of the pain he has going on. He shakily tries to stand, but before he knows it he's being lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall, the heat from the fire inside burning at his back. He grits his teeth as the man who lifted him up shines a lantern near his face, illuminating both of their angry faces. Though the anger on the man's face changes swiftly to one of disbelief, even mild fear.

"Глаза демона!"

The eyes of a demon.

While the man was distracted, Robotnik took the opportunity to reel back and send a punch as hard as he could muster, which - surprising even himself, with how weak with pain he's been feeling - manages to knock him reeling, dropping Robotnik in the process.

That's when he could smell it.

Another look up from both parties, and that's all it took. The sight of fresh blood pouring from the man's nose, less than a meter away.

Everything else seemed to go hazy, time felt slower. All he could think about was the warm, red flow of life.

Something he no longer had for himself.

Everything went out of focus. Everything, including what was right in front of him.

When he came to, the mob was gone. The snow was red. He was covered in red.

Robotnik felt temporarily satisfied.

[total-mkulia]

please do u have any mkulia headcanons i am starving

Ah fuck, I’m typing this on my phone so forgive if formatting is weird

I don’t think MK doesn’t know how to flirt but I don’t think she’s tried before so she’s probably not the best at it. But also I don’t think Julia cares because she’s so head over heels.

MK helps Julia cyber bully people from her sock puppet accounts. They think up insults together.

I kinda alluded to this in the tags of an rb but I believe with my whole heart that MK can carry Julia.

Julia steals MK’s beanie sometimes, but, like, affectionately.

I imagine Julia to be very touchy and affectionate (like social girls in high school are) but like half of it is leftover from her influencer habits and the other half is intentional and flirty. Good luck figuring out which is which, MK

I can imagine Julia wearing MK’s jacket, like, once and neither of them recovering

Julia takes selfies of them all the time but MK doesn’t particularly like posing for photos so Julia’s stealth about it

They don’t let each other live S1 down. “You got me voted out” or “You outed me as mean to all my followers” gets brought up regularly

Admittedly, I think this one is a little cliche but I do think MK is the big spoon, if only because she insists on it

[webslingingslasher]

jjjjjj okay so i have a bit of a problem

so for some context I was childhood best friends with this one girl (but we don’t talk anymore), and she was dating this guy (who I had a crush on before they dated). but they’ve been broken up for like almost a year now and I really like him (like more now than before)

and like I’ve been spending more time w him bc we have a few mutuals and we’re sat together in one of my classes (but nothings happened) and like idk what to do bc like I doubt he likes me like that, and even if he did like my ex bsf would find out and I can’t do her like that 😭

and like there’s been instances where I thought he may like me bc for example I was at his work and left right before he got there, and I think he saw my location or something right as I was leaving and was like “wait no come back”. and we have that kind of teasing type of shit (but idk i think he may be like that w everyone) and we have some inside jokes 🤷‍♀️

and tbh he kinda reminds me of Peter in a way bc he like acts like he does like you (but rn idk if it’s platonic or not???) but he DOES (at least to an extent)

so anyways idk if im being delusional about him liking me or not, and even if im not being delulu i can’t do anything about it cause i can’t do my ex best friend like that (she didn’t do me wrong or anything like there’s no drama between us we kinda just fizzled) (she also lowkey has ditched me for another childhood friend i introduced her to but that’s irrelevant) (also for a bit more context as far as i know their breakup was civil - and i know for a fact (cause she told me) that she broke up with him because he was too CLINGY (he wasn’t, she’s just not a relationship girlie))

ANYWAYS Im sorry for the freakishly long ask, but i needed to tell someone because i can’t tell anyone i know (small campus)

i hope that makes sense! and like advice would be appreciated if possible 😭

(oh also forgive the formatting (on this and all my other asks) cause I send these through my phone lol)

-🦋

tbh. if you guys aren't friends anymore but still respect each other and this guy likes you, i'd ask her if she's okay with it.

if it helps my best friend did this with her old best friend (it was a little different tho. it was very messy only bc og gf cheated on said bf.) and they've been toegther for 4 years now. (yes. i set it up. SUE ME.)

but if you won't do that, fuck it, we ball. feelings fade.

((also, how long did they date? cause if they only dated for a few months and it's been a year....))

[dodger-chan]

I had been thinking that Dracula in Istanbul felt so much faster paced than Dracula because of the difference in format (book at my own speed vs. emails by date). This absolutely effects my perception, but Dracula in Istanbul also cuts some of the story down.

For example, there is no Demeter log. I thought at first I might have simply forgotten where it showed up when the entries are not strictly chronological, but I have now read as far as Sadan's* (Lucy's) death and not seen it. There is no explanation of what mode of transit Dracula used.

*please forgive the spelling, I can't find the special character used in her name on my phone's keyboard.

It's also important to note that the book is set post World War One. I had forgotten or missed that information before starting, and while I didn't notice anything in Azmí's chapters that made it relevant, Resuhî Bey (van Helsing) makes reference to blood types when giving Sadan transfusions and all three of her suitors know each other from their military service during the Turkish war of independence.

One thing that particularly interests me is that the characters are not constantly bringing up god. Resuhî bring garlic flowers, but no religious protections are mentioned. I'm not sure if this difference is more due to the time period (1920s vs 1890s), local culture (English vs Turkish) or specific to the religion (Christian vs Islam). Of course this may change once they start killing vampires, but it was such a part of Dracula it's absence is notable.

[monstermoviedean]

seen a few friends job-hunting lately and wanted to offer a few potentially helpful tips! disclaimer that i am not an hr professional and have limited formal training and experience with hiring. that being said, i have served on a few hiring panels lately and wanted to share in case this helps!

during the application:

double-, triple-, quadruple-check all your documents to be sure there are no errors or typos.

clearly title your documents. it's not a dealbreaker but it could make someone's life a little easier when they're sorting through documents! "name - type of doc" is safe and easy.

make sure any documents you're submitting are in a standard format that others can access. i think pdfs are the safest bet.

submit everything you're required to submit!!! it's a huge reason people get disqualified - attaching a cover letter but not a resume, for example.

check your resume again. just to be safe :)

regarding formatting/style, your resume is most likely fine so long as it's readable and the formatting is not distracting.

apply for jobs even if you don't think you're fully qualified for them. yes, really! a lot of businesses are in flux right now and that could lead them to be more flexible in hiring people who don't meet all the qualifications.

email and phone number are fine for contact info unless the employer specifically requests something else. you probably don't need to include your address. you definitely don't need to include your entire academic record or your full unredacted social security number (yes people did this, no they did not get hired).

interviews:

digital asynchronous interviews are weird and awkward for everyone involved. i think a lot of people will be more forgiving towards candidates who seem a little nervous or stiff during a pre-recorded interview. worry less about body language or mannerisms and more about the content of your answers (see below).

answer the question. answer the entire question. as thoroughly and accurately and specifically as possible! i cannot emphasize enough the importance of answering a question when asked. a lot of people will meander through an answer, touch a lot of related topics, and not address the full question. sometimes we'll prompt them to answer it again and they still miss. this is a problem! it becomes unclear whether the person forgot the question, is purposely being vague, or is a poor communicator - but none of those are good.

you can ask interviewers to repeat a question! you can also ask something like "did that fully address the question?" at the end of your answer. only speaking for myself here, but i wouldn't mark someone down for that - i'd be glad they cared enough to ask.

seriously, answer the question. again, only speaking for myself here, but the only thing my company scores candidates on is the quality of their answers. you could be the most likable, genial, enthusiastic, conscientious, hardworking person in the world and give the best interview we've ever seen, but if you don't answer the questions, you won't score well.

emphasize growth, flexibility, adaptability, responsiveness, etc. this can absolutely suck to do as a candidate but interviewers will appreciate it if you acknowledge that you aren't perfect! as an example, we usually ask a question about when you made a mistake and what you learned. some people's "mistake" is actually a mistake someone else made that they responded to, or a time that someone they supervised made a mistake and they took it as a failure to "manage someone." it doesn't suggest a lot of self-awareness or ability to be reflective when someone names a mistake that's actually someone else's. so be honest and identify a mistake, but emphasize what you've learned and how you have improved as a result.

interviewers are just people. mostly people with regular jobs who are not trained interviewers. they most likely will not notice that wonky hair you couldn't get right or if you're fidgeting a little.

if you are looking at notes during the interview (especially if you get questions to review in advance) you can let people know! it's okay to say "if you see me looking down at my desk it's because I'm looking at my notes." again, I can only speak for myself, but i wouldn't penalize anyone for that.

you can also prepare answers even if you don't know the questions! most employers will ask some general questions that you can anticipate - about your organization skills, ability to work individually and with a team, ability to stick to deadlines, experience with responsibility for a project, how you communicate, when you made a mistake and how you learned and grew from it. you can have "stock answers" for these and even come up with a few examples in advance.

when possible and relevant, explain why the work is important to you. you don't have to give explicit detail, but you can say things like what interests you about the work, what prior knowledge you have, what you'd like to learn, or a personal connection (if you want to share). i think showing enthusiasm/care for the work can never be a bad thing.

that being said: if you don't care about the work/the field, don't fake it. instead, try to find something in the work you can care about and latch onto that. maybe you don't give a shit about customer service but you do enjoy talking to people, or making people's lives easier. maybe you have a knack for answering questions or recalling the right resources you can share with people. maybe you're just looking for a paycheck (fair!!!), but try to find something to care about within that job.

ask good follow-up questions! everyone asks technical questions like salary, hours, day-to-day work - and there's nothing wrong with that. but asking a thought-provoking question that shows interest in/connection to the work can help you stand out. here are a couple i've used (no guarantee they work but feel free to try!): what do you love most about your job? what do you think is most important for a candidate to know about this job? what is the most important trait/skill for you in the candidate who fills this role? if you had unlimited money and resources to spend on one project related to the work of the organization, what would you spend it on/what kind of project would you create?

post-interview, a follow-up email saying "it was great to speak with you, thank you so much for your time" never hurts :)

good luck friends!!!!!! let me know if you need any help ❤️

[ellemany]

Yokye Week #6 - Apocalypse / Good Omens Au

Words: 500 (non-edited)

 TRIIIIM

 Yoru basically jumped with the ring of his phone. Even though the hell legions were always noisy, a human ring calls a lot of attention.

 TRIIIIM

 About five other incubus turned to him, looking suspicious. 

 TRIIIIM

 Yoru smiled awkwardly. He thought he changed that ring a long time ago.

 - You know how it is. Humans always want our attention, even at the end of the word. - He picks up his phone, seeing the image of the last creature that should be calling him at that moment. He dismisses the call, sending her a message.

 "What??"

 "Meet me at the tree"

 Yoru pressed his lips and looked around. A few demons were still paying attention to his movements..

 "Now?"

 "Now"

 Yoru signed, swinging his head with horns. Something exploded next to the legions, calling everybody's attention.

 He hoped that nobody notice that it was a "miracle" of his while he was sneaking away from the formation.

…

 In the human world, demons and angels must hide their true form. But a whole transformation lends quite of a time so Yoru keeps his armor and parts of his form, such as the wings and horns. He assumed that nobody would care with a half dragon boy messing around since the world was ending.

 Skye had the same idea. It had been a long time since he saw any part of her seraphin form. The six wings were closed behind her, with the feathers moving by the wind. And there were two eyes on each cheek. She hid the others.

 -You're frightening. - He said, approaching her.

 She looked at him, giving a corner smile.

 -You're too… - Her completely white eyes passed by him, nodding. - Cool armor.

 He analyzed the shining sword on her hand, so pure that made him want to give a step away.

 -Cool sword… - He muttered, looking at her with his completely black eyes. - So… Why did you call me?

 She turned herself to the horizon, looking far away.

 -That two idiots are delaying the final battle… - She snuggered. - I thought it would be cool to wait for it together.

 Yoru wanted to laugh. They've been enemies since he fell. A strange type of enemies because everytime they meet they just… Chat. What often gets too philosophical. After all, she represents Love while he represents Luxury. It was obvious that sometimes they meet. Whispering at the same ears.

 -Okay… - He stood by her, holding his hands behind his back. - Not afraid that I stab you in the back before the time comes?

 -Naah. You wouldn't. - In thousands of years, he never tried that. She knew what she was saying - And even if you dare, I will win it anyway.

 Yoru smiled, raising an eyebrow.

 -Yeah, you wish.

 Skye laughed, making her cheek eyes close. It was really… Interesting.

 -Oh yes, happy Apocalypse day. Hope that your defeat be fast.

 Yoru rolled his eyes.

 -Happy Apocalypse day. Your defeat will be slow and painful.

◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆

+ Bônus: Ok, this bonus will be bigger

I'm missing Good Omens (The ineffable husbands interactions are my everything ) but a little bit afraid of the new season (I'm the type of person that saw that news and got like "Is it really necessary?")

And I didn't want to write some usual Zombie Apocalypse Au so I combined business with pleasure

Skye is a Seraphim, one of the highest ranked angel (this means she is really badass). In some traditions, Seraphims are represented as the angels who spread the love and the message of the Lord. For this Au, Skye is a type of Seraphim whose work is based on making people falling in love, in the most pure and essencial kind. She is also responsible for maintaining this feeling between the persons, advising them to forgive and keep patience (and Lord knows how this is essencial for a durable relationship)

Yep, she is basically a cupid.

Yoru is a Incubus, a type of demon who invades persons dreams to have sex with them and suck all of their energies. It is ligated to luxury. His job is to avoid that people fall in love, closing them in disposable relationships, with superficial sex. If he fail in this task, his job is to ruin the relationship.

So yes, because of their jobs, Yoru and Skye meet multiple times over the centuries. One is the voice who says that someone is unworthy of love while the other is the one who says that they're worthy.

(What voice you have been hearing most?)

Skye and Yoru aren't really the Crowley and Aziraphale of this Au. In fact, that two dorks are Breach and Sova, respectively.

Gabriel is an exclusive character from the show and I don't really remember if Beelzebub is in the book but, anyway, Sage is Gabriel and Chamber is Beelzebub (yes)

Famine is Reyna, War is Fade, Pollution/Pestilence is Viper and Death, of course, is Omen

The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Prince of this World and Lord of Darkness is Raze, and her friends are Jett, Neon and Phoenix.

That's all folks

Thx for reading (๑ > ᴗ < ๑)

[burning-basilisk]

And now for something personal and somewhat dark that is also completely different.

This is a long one.

Yesterday, I woke up in my car at 5 AM outside of the house where I helped throw a wild celebration for firedancers and various other types of performers. A wild, wonderful crowd.

Tried the door, but it was locked. My firedancing and juggling props were all inside, but I said "fuck it" and left them there to drive an hour back home. I'll come back for them another day.

Later that day, I got a call from a friend who had a falling out with my ex-wife, though I was able to forgive her transgression, and still consider her a good friend.

She confessed to me that she had, the previous day, seriously contemplated suicide. The thoughts were so loud that she nearly checked herself into a hospital. She said her "meds kicked in" and she was feeling better, now, but just needed someone to talk to. Holy fuck do I still feel deeply honored that she chose to reach out to me.

We talked at length about her current struggles with suicidal ideation, and related them to my own from around a decade ago. She's a very accomplished person whom I admire greatly for the structure and discipline with which she lives her life. She showed me her personal journal, once, and the sheer immaculateness of her handwriting and formatting, let alone the elegant structure of her ideas, made me green with envy. Alas, the mind of such a craftswoman has evidently turned against her to a degree that she could no longer handle on her own, and I am so grateful that I was able to help her feel validated and heard... because the absence of that is what brought her to this dark place, peering into that Abyss that emerges from the deepest depths of depression and, after a while, becomes so insidiously familiar and inviting.

Talking about one's own suicidal ideation is extremely difficult, not just because it's because a very heavy and unpleasant topic, but because those who haven't experienced it can, despite the absolute best of intentions, cause more harm. Loved ones too often panic and lash out, calling the suicidal person selfish. "Don't you care about how much suffering your death would cause? You're being so selfish!" They don't intend to cause more guilt or shame, but they also don't know what else to do. Expressing suicidal ideation is very emotionally risky. My friend was right to be hesitant.

I validated her feelings, because I had experienced so many of them as well. And she also deeply validated me, just by reaching out to me about this, because helping someone in this way is the best possible consequence of my own experience with suicidal thoughts. Being the person who people can trust for that kind of support... that is someone that I absolutely want to be.

Partying and celebrating is easy. But holding on to each other through the dark times... that is far more important. Only through the darkness do we realize who is willing to keep a light on for us, and who might trust is enough to seek refuge in our care.

But my story doesn't end here.

While I was on the phone with this friend of mine, I got a couple of calls from my mother. I ignored them, because this phone call was very emotionally sensitive, but called her back afterwards.

Her aunt had passed away hours prior. I immediately drove to her and accompanied her on a 5 hour drive to where her cousins, three children of the deceased, are gathering to make funeral arrangements.

And now, here I am, waiting for my mother's cousins to decide on the next round of changes they want to make to the funeral flyer. I've already made 5 versions, on a laptop that isn't mine, using software that I am extremely unfamiliar with, and figuring it out as I go. Occasionally, they need me to make a phone call to arrange travel or lodging for another party who is trying to attend a funeral that is scheduled for New Year's Eve. It is not easy, and I normally would absolutely hate doing this kind of work... but I feel a deep clarity of purpose, here.

I can't relate to them much, culturally. Generation gap, and all. And there's nothing here "for me" except that it feels important for me to be here. As always, I question my own intentions and wonder if I'm just being some kind of sadistic emotional voyeur... but I just want to help. This feels important, even if I don't feel much of the loss directly.

These three siblings, the youngest in her 50s, are reminiscing... often cracking jokes and laughing, staving off the grief so that they can just get through this... and I see the cracks behind their eyes when they repeatedly express their gratitude for my presence.

Their mother just died literally yesterday, and they are just... holding themselves and each other together, sometimes very literally. I rarely see strength and vulnerability expressed together in such an intense way.

Despite being far and away of everything else in my life, right now, both physically and mentally, I feel less restless than I have in a long time. I'm not questioning what I "should" be doing, which has been the the most frustrating persistent background noise of my mind for a long time, now.

Again... only through the darkness do we realize who is willing to keep a light on for us, and who might trust is enough to seek refuge in our care.

I want to get better at caring for people... but I don't trust myself to do it right, most of the time.

I think I'm slowly figuring it out, though.

[fanfoolishness]

whitewater

The future is an endless field of rivers, and Garnet floats, mapless, through the delta.

She has encountered this directionless miasma many times before, but it never fails to be unsettling. It is always this way when something serious is in flux. The rivers grow rough, their borders blurred. She can sense unlikely pools between them, but not see them. And while her day-to-day and moment-to-moment predictions are as sharp as ever, she knows that something looms.

She does not share this with the others. There is not enough information to help any of them prepare for what it might be, and besides, not all of these upheavals have been bad. Garnet meeting Rose and Pearl on Earth’s surface had been the first such state of flux, and without that, she would not still be herself now. She knows it is not always something to fear.

Still, though, she feels on edge.

She sorts through the data in the background, calm and collected on the surface. At Little Homeschool she encourages other Gems to view their life in the moment, but to simultaneously stretch for a future they can finally name as their own. She cherishes small victories, like old friends finding a measure of peace in work on the boardwalk, or Gems investigating fusion for friendship instead of battle. All the while she analyzes. Perhaps this interaction, or that, will trigger the potential energy of the state of flux, and her future vision will clear again —

She spends time with Pearl and Amethyst, sometimes a little, sometimes long days together like they used to. She is so proud of them both, and herself as well. She remembers the early days after corruption, when the future seemed so bleak and endless; she remembers the grief of missing Rose, and she thinks of how far they’ve come with a smile. She suspects they will not be the trigger.

She spends less time with Steven than she likes. He worries her, but she cannot say why. He smiles, broad and cheerful as ever, but there is something behind his eyes that makes her pause. Or maybe there isn’t. He has changed so much, so quickly, in the world, the universe, himself. She reminds herself of that day in the woods in the rain when they found her kitten. Perhaps it’s only that she is still viewing him with outdated parameters.

“Steven,” she says one morning. Dawn is still a hint in the sky, red light flowering slowly against the velvet dark. He used to sleep so late. Yet he comes quietly down the stairs in his pajamas, hair and clothing rumpled but his eyes alert.

“Oh hey, Garnet,” he says. His smile flashes, long-practiced. “I was just about to make some breakfast. You want any?”

“Not today,” says Garnet. “Perhaps tomorrow.” She studies him as he starts the water for his coffee. “You went to bed rather late, too.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, I mean, I’m pretty busy these days.”

“Steven... you know you can always talk to me.” Ahh, no. She hadn’t meant to put it so baldly, but she’d gotten impatient. The rivers swirl in her mind’s eye.

There is a clatter. Steven drops the spoon he’s been holding, flinging coffee grounds everywhere. She’d seen that in multiple futures. Wrong choice. She sighs.

“Oh, come on,” Steven mutters under his breath, dropping down to his knees and trying to clean the coffee with a paper towel.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s just — that came out of nowhere.” He stands up, tossing the coffee-smeared paper into the trash, and quickly gets more ready. “I’m just hungry, that’s all. Not really in the mood for talking right now. I’m fine.”

“Of course,” says Garnet, shaking her head. She’s lost the moment. He busies himself with breakfast, a dance of smells and sizzles and steel on steel. She watches the blood-red sunrise through the window, the future frantic like whitewater in her mind, and she wonders when he started lying.

[strawberryhmilk]

Hi! Can I ask for a Dreamcatcher reaction to their girlfriend crying and being depressed because of family problems?

It wasn’t that you always argued with your family. Yelling and anger weren’t common - quietly talking things over so that no one went to sleep upset was usually the outcome. But, there were times when they spoke over you.

Always listening, but not really hearing.

And, those times seemed to affect you more than anything.

JIU

she knew as soon as you called her

your voice didn’t have to wobble, change, or anything

she just knew when you were upset

the type to baby you when you’re upset

“can i get you anything?”

“another tea? want to try a peppermint one to help calm you down?”

literally pouts as you cry on her

“seeing you hurt makes me hurt, you know this.”

stays with you until she’s certain you’re not hurting anymore

and even after that she’ll still check on you

SUA

was frowning as you spoke to your family on the phone 

grabs your comfort blanket when she heard the sigh

you know... the one where you’re just tired

rolls you up into a big ball of sadness

quietly just gives you all of your comfort items

favorite movie; favorite stuffed animal; any and everything

“love, if you don’t cuddle me, i will scream.”

“you need sad cuddles!”

“no, they are not for my benefit.”

[they are]

SIYEON

the one that gets mad at your family

like gets mad that they made you cry and that they continue to do so even after you’ve explained your feelings

“i can wax their eyebrows off painfully, just say the words.”

started out kinda serious but the threats got more ridiculous when she realized it was making you laugh

“-and i will pour salt in their coffee! i will! don’t test me!”

smiles as she watches you finally laugh again

but is still secretly planning ways to get back at them

HANDONG

panic central

like seeing tears form in your eyes and hearing your sniffles makes something in her break

so now her brain is in a hyper state 

and she’s panicking

panic baking; panic eating; you name it

“did you want vanilla cupcakes? or chocolate? i can make cheesecake instead!”

“please have this scoop of icing It Helps.”

a bonus: you get tons of sweet treats

downside: now you both need to calm down

but that in itself is nice - the both of you being jittery and shaky with emotion

so yeah your hand-holding is sweatier and trembley

but! now you’re feeding each other tiramisu so

YOOHYEON

as soon as i saw this ask i knew she’d be the distract type

like you lay your head on her shoulder as she plays video games

asks you random game questions to keep your attention

“should i go left or right? oh, good idea.”

little forehead kisses to soothe both of you

she kinda just... lets you cry

“you feeling any better, beloved?”

will only ask what happened if she feels like you’re too upset about this

like if a particular argument has left you sobbing hours on end, she’ll ask what happened

her presence alone is comforting enough tbh

DAMI

the talker!

asks you all of the important questions

“how badly did this situation hurt you? i need to know.”

talks you down enough so now you’re not sobbing

will lay with you if thats all you want

“if you cry too hard, you’ll make yourself sick.”

makes sure you don’t talk to your family for a while

they hurt you this bad, you can’t forgive them too quick type thing

GAHYEON

i see her being kinda awkward

like sometimes seeing someone cry makes you feel []: you know

but tries her best!

will offer to talk about it

“you don’t have to tell me everything, just what you want.”

plays with your hair

“still crying? oh you are. uh, okay-”

also just lets you cry if she feels like you need it

you do end up telling her everything, just because it feels so nice to let someone know your innerturmoil

and she listens to every bit

-- i hope this was alright! not everything i write will b in this format lmao no worries there ♡ thank you for requesting! and thank you for reading, ♡

[genesisrose74]

Believe It, Baby

AHH HELLO I LIVE!! I am so sorry about my lack of publishing content besides some general community posts as of late - I’ve probably said this before but school is a buttface sometimes :// I’ve been really enjoying the new episodes of Haikyuu so I decided to finish a self indulgent fic to try getting back on track! Kinda like how it worked out so here it is!! Yes, it is Hinata again, how did you freaking know???

Pairing: Hinata Shoyo x Fem!Reader

Words: 2122

*******

“I don’t believe it for a damn second.”

The ginger under scrutiny groans for what seemed the eighth time that day, shooting his friend an exasperated look as they walk into the practice gym. “I swear, Kageyama! She’s in the college preparatory class with Yachi!”

At this, said blonde turns her attention to the entering duo with a curious tilt of her head.

“What’s this about someone in my class?” she inquires politely.

Kageyama glances at Yachi. “Hinata says that he’s dating one of your classmates, which I say is a bunch of crap.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Bakageyama? I’m her boyfriend!”

Tsukishima scoffs from across the gym.

“Sounds like someone had too vivid of a dream last night,” he jeers, Yamaguchi snickering beside him.

Even Tanaka and Noya doesn’t seem to believe the aspiring ace, the former clapping a hand on Hinata’s shoulder with a philosopher’s air about him.

“It’s alright to be single, little man. You don’t gotta go and make something up to look cool.”

Hinata huffs before shuffling to set up the court for practice, while Sugawara takes his position as mother crow by smacking the troublemaker second years upside the head.

“I for one believe you, Hinata,” the silver haired setter declares, smiling when the first year boy beams with happiness.

“Thank you, Suga-senpai! At least someone here does.”

“Mind telling us what she’s like?” Daichi chimes in.

Hinata’s grin blossoms even wider, and his gaze turns excited. “She’s amazing, and really smart, and super competitive! And she’s...also really pretty…” he trails off in embarrassment.

Suga gushes at his flustered state, ruffling his kouhai’s mop of orange hair. “Look at you, all affectionate. She must be special.”

Yachi follows up with a nod of agreement at Sugawara’s statement, joining Hinata on the court for set up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s her name?” the manager in training questions.

When the middle blocker tells her proudly, the remaining first year boys all bust out in laughter.

“Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Yamaguchi guffaws. “Isn’t she like one of the smartest students in our grade?”

Hinata nods affirmatively, and Tsukishima shakes his head with a dry laugh. “Try picking a more believable person next time, Hinata. There’s barely even a chance that you’ve ever crossed paths with her before, let alone dated the girl.”

Yachi, on the other hand, takes a moment to ponder on Hinata’s words, not even close to giggling like the rest of her fellow first years.

“You know,” she mumbles to herself, “that’s honestly not that far of a stretch, considering how outgoing she is.”

The orange haired boy offers her a weary half-smile for at least thinking he had a shot with who he claimed, but made no further attempt to emphasize that he was in fact dating said girl. It was clear that nearly none of the team would believe him without solid proof.

Coach Ukai grabs the team’s attention, and from then on leads a rotation of digging drills to help improve everyone’s foundational abilities. This format of training continues for most of practice, such routines making it easier for some of the boys (namely Tsukishima) to laugh about Hinata’s “attempt'' at having a girlfriend in line. Said middle blocker remains in a pouty mood due to such circumstances, but decides to keep it quiet for the time being - lest he dig a bigger hole in which his teammates could tease him.

Soon enough, practice for the day is over, and the Karasuno boys organize their things in the club room before filtering outside. As Hinata waits outside for the rest of his team to come downstairs, the whole team planning on making a stop at Ukai’s store, his phone screen lights up with a soft chime.

Hi sunshine! Did your practice just finish?

The first year smiles, knowing that you must have snuck him a text during your student council meeting, and quickly opens his phone to type something back.

Hi angel!! Yeah, we’re gonna get something at Ukai’s rn

Hinata playfully raises an eyebrow at your fast response, the chat bubble popping up right away. Usually you’re pretty invested in your club meetings, so today’s must be a pretty boring topic.

Wanna save me a meat bun pretty please 🥺

If there’s an extra I will <3

:D hehe thank u love

Tanaka’s voice breaks the ginger’s focus from his texts, the second year shouting about food as he ushers the team towards the school exit. Hinata tosses his phone into his practice bag and catches up with the walking group, his mood significantly improved from just minutes ago.

*****

The town is basked in the soft glow of street lights as the team makes their way down the hill to Ukai’s, currently unaware of a presence in a sprint to get to them.

Your fellow Student Council members had shot a bewildered look in your direction as you scrambled to pack up and hustle out the classroom door. You ushered a quick goodbye to them before stuffing your phone in your skirt pocket, determined to surprise your boyfriend after the council meeting ended early.

Maybe you were starting to regret the idea of running in the god-awful flats Karasuno High enforced in their dress code, but you pushed past the irritation in favor of keeping pace. That meat bun wouldn’t stay hot forever, you reasoned, but in reality the opportunity to see your shining boyfriend truly drove your motivation.

After finally getting a glimpse of a large group near the base of the hill, a spark of victory flames in your heaving chest at your persistence. With a heavy sigh, however, you realize that your competitive ball of energy was likely at the head of the bunch, racing that setter with whom he always argues. Your plight was not over yet.

So, attempting to reign in your eagerness to see the ginger haired boy of your affections, you continue the path down the quite steep hill, this time using the art of determined speed walking. The soles of those forsaken flats on your feet would not be forgiving if you started running again, anyways.

When you finally manage to close in on the team, Sugawara is the first to notice you, observing for a moment before nudging Daichi on his right. The Karasuno captain looks confusedly at his vice captain, the latter’s eyes holding a parent-like intuition.

“I think that’s her,” the silver haired third year murmurs, nodding his head in your direction as you make your way closer.

“Who’s her?” Daichi whispers back, and Suga looks like he’s about to karate chop him in the side.

“Hinata’s girlfriend, Dai!” he hisses. “Look at who she’s focused on.”

Daichi follows your gaze to find the little decoy first year at the end of it, causing him to raise an eyebrow in surprise. “So he really wasn’t pulling Kageyama’s leg.”

The two third years of Karasuno watch you with great interest as you inch your way to the front of their group, more of the boys taking note of your presence with the passing moments.

The only few who don’t seem to notice are the gaggle of first years in the front, many of whom are bickering with each other. Yachi is the only one in your grade to see you as she walks beside Kiyoko, and you give her a small wave before putting a finger to your lips. All she can do in response is nod, mouth slightly agape at the fact that you even acknowledged her in the midst of your pursuits.

“-If there’s an extra bun in the bag today I call dibs!”

“And since when have I ever listened to you, pipsqueak?”

“Who’re you calling pipsqueak, you giraffe!?”

You have to conceal your chuckle at the group’s antics. You’d been told a handful about the first years known as Hinata’s teammates, but had yet to formally meet them due to your consistently busy schedule. Today, you felt it was about time for that to change.

Yamaguchi picks up on you, followed quickly by Tsukkishima when his freckle-faced best friend notifies him with a tap on the shoulder. Even Kageyama, who somehow managed to get into yet another argument with Hinata, slows his banter as he gazes at you, completely bewildered.

The last person left in the dark is - of course - none other than your dumbass of a boyfriend.

“Why did you get so quiet all of a sudden?” the aspiring ace inquires. “It’s ‘cause you realized that I would win the argument anyways, huh?”

The boy jumps when he feels you sidle up next to him, brushing your arm against his own.

“Yes, sunshine, that’s surely the reason.”

The first year whips his head to face your playful smirk, before practically launching himself into you and trapping you in a bear hug.

“You surprised me!” he exclaims with a giddish grin, nuzzling into your figure.

“That was kind of my plan,” you laugh. “Student council meeting ended early, so here I am.”

Hinata didn’t seem to want to let go of you any time soon, so you resorted to taking his face in your hands and pecking his cheeks.

“You gonna introduce me or not, silly?”

The middle blocker was blushing like crazy at this point, reddening with the realization that his entire team was a current audience to the little show taking place.

“Guys, this is my girlfriend,” he gestures to you awkwardly, and you couldn’t hide the small smile that curls on your lips. “You’ve probably seen her with the Student Council before.”

You wave enthusiastically to the team, many of whom are still recovering from the newly confirmed discovery (namely, some very skeptical first years).

“So, he wasn’t joking?” Yamaguchi spoke up, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Aw yeah, Hinata!” Tanaka whistled, “Sorry that I ever underestimated you!”

“Good job, Shoyo!” Nishinoya affirms, jumping on his second year best friend in excitement. “She’s a cutie too!”

The first year squeezes your midsection tighter to your surprise, seeing as his face was practically steaming from previous team comments.

“She is cute,” he mumbles, and the unexpected statement elicits a laugh from your lips.

You tap the ginger’s nose playfully, bringing his attention to your content smile. The sight of it causes him to grin right back giddily, momentarily forgetting the larger group beside him once more. “Saved me a meat bun, Sho?”

He was like this whenever at the other’s house or on a date: mushy, cuddly, affectionate, the whole nine yards of fluffiness. Public spaces involving acquaintances, however, was a bit of a different story, as Hinata got very easily flustered in front of teasing friends. Even without meeting the other team members of Karasuno before, it was quite obvious.

“I always manage to when you ask,” he responds proudly, although a faint frown briefly appears on his features for a moment, “but Tsukishima’s being a bit of a jerk about it today.”

The blond in question sends his fellow middle blocker a look of annoyance, before his expression melts into a cheshire grin as he turns to you.

“Just didn’t want him eating too much, that’s all,” he explains. “Overindulgence isn’t a great habit for athletes, you know. But since you’re actually here and not a figment of Hinata’s imagination, that’s absolutely fine with me.”

“Hey! You saying I’m a pig or something?” the first year pipes up with a glare.

Tsukki smirks. “Or something.”

Sugawara steps in to lessen the obvious tensions between your feral ginger and the smug beanpole, giving them both a deathly glare that practically screamed, ‘don’t make me whoop your asses in front of a student council member’.

You giggled at the team’s dynamic, one that clearly resembled a rambunctious family on their nightly outing together. It really was just as you had imagined the first time your boyfriend described it to you - with maybe a bit more emphasis on the rambunctious than you had previously inferred. But it was actually quite enjoyable to be around.

As the group finally started on their way again after your surprise introduction, Hinata came up beside you once more with a curious glint in his eyes.

“What are you smiling all giddishly about?” he inquires, head tilted a fraction.

You can’t help but chuckle a bit at the question. “I just really enjoy being around your team is all.”

The aspiring ace of Karasuno interlocks his fingers with yours as you stroll along together down the street, his teammates in tow as they observe the situation before them with some remaining bewilderment.

“Good, cause I think they might like you too.”

[oikawasass]

IM A BAKUHOE CAN U PLS DO 74 OR 76 WITH BLASTY ASS 🥺🥺🥺 - midoriya anon

hi I did both cause they were cute.

also new posting format baby lets goooo 😎

its also like almost 3am and this is half-ass edited so forgive me but I hope its alright

prompt 74 : “You’ve shown me what love can feel like.”

prompt 76 : “I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

reassurance.

‣ pairing : bakugo x fem reader.

‣ oneshot.

‣ synopsis : bakugo finally confronts his girlfriend on why she’s been so distant.

‣ wordcount : 2.1k

‣ warnings : swearing, angst if you squint.

a series of heavy knocks could be heard on the other side of her door, immediately alerting her of who exactly it was. there was only one boy in the u.a dorms who could knock like he was about to punch straight through the wooden panel, and that was, of course, bakugo katsuki.

(name) shut off her phone and pulled her pillow over her head, dreading the conversation she knew would come about if she let him inside. so naturally, she ignored the knocks in hopes that the blonde who was about to start throwing down with her door would go away.

but we all know katsuki is far too stubborn for that.

another series of much louder knocks erupted from the doorway, as bakugo grew more and more impatient from the lack of response.

“oi, open up already dumbass, I know you’re in there.”

truth is, (name) had found herself in a bit of a rut, and had been feeling rather insecure for the past few weeks. the first little while she’d been begun feeling that way, she was able to bite the bullet and keep going about her life, pushing most of her negative thoughts aside as best she could. but now, for the past 5 or so days she’s been completely cut off.

talking to her boyfriend about things wasn’t hard for her. she trusted him and didn’t find it too difficult to open up when something was bothering her, but this was different.

insecurity was something bakugo typically didn’t acknowledge and quite frankly, looked down on most of the time. (name) didn’t wanna find herself bothering him with something she knew he most likely would think is annoying, hence the multiple weeks she had kept quiet about it, hoping it would go away on its own or she’d be able to figure it out herself.

unfortunately for her, things didn’t go quite according to plan when she continued to spiral downwards.

she’d been quiet in her classes, noticeably dodging bakugo and her friends, not sticking around for lunch or after training like she normally would, and everyone noticed she was off. everyone including katsuki.

he wanted to give her space to ‘sort her shit out’ before he began pestering and questioning her, as normally he’d want the same thing, but now it was coming up on a week and they’d hardly spoken. a few mutters of (name) saying “cant, homework.” or “sorry, I’m tired.” was all that had been said that week.

so naturally, bakugo got tired of all the silence and went to do what he did best. confront her. he wanted to know what the hell was going on, he was tired of pulling his hair out trying to figure out what he did wrong.

(name) didn’t answer the door once more. she knew she had fucked up pretty bad by ignoring him, but she didn’t know what else to do. and now she had to confront whatever problem she may have caused, which only made her want to curl up and hide more.

alas, when she heard a much softer, much quieter,

“please?”

coming from the hallway, she broke.

standing up with a heavy sigh, the (colour) haired girl stood up from her bed, rubbing her eyes and walking over to unlock the door, immediately going and flopping down into her mattress afterwards.

katsuki walked inside, shutting the door behind him and shoving his hands into the pockets of his black sweats. scanning over her figure, he took note of her tired eye bags, messy thrown up hair, and these fuzzy black penguin patterned pyjama pants which he knew she only wore when she was upset. paired with one of his hoodies she had stolen, of course.

“you look like shit.” bakugo grumbled, going and sitting down on the end of her bed, sinking into the soft (colour) duvet on top.

“good to see you too, babe.” (name) replied sarcastically, turning and shoving her face into a pile of her pillows.

there was an uncomfortable silence hanging over the room for a moment as katsuki figured out what he wanted to say, and it was obvious that (name) wasn’t gonna say anything first. with a heavy sigh, the blonde ran a hand through his thick, spiky hair and spoke up.

“did I- did I do something or whatever the fuck?” he asked, his words a bit harsh but his much quieter tone helping to deliver them much easier.

(name) bit the inside of her cheek gently, keeping her face hidden in the pile of sheets and freshly washed pillows.

“what makes you think that?” her response was mumbled by the fabric practically eating her face.

“don’t play dumb, shithead. you’ve been dodging me all week. you’re normally all- all clingy and shit and you never cancel plans.”

clingy. that one stung a bit.

“so if I did something to piss you off just- just fucking tell me already cause I’m getting really damn tired of-“

“you didn’t do anything, alright? chill out.” (name) cut him off, rolling onto her back so now the couple was making eye contact once more.

bakugo tsked, throwing his hands in the air a bit and letting them fall onto his lap.

“so then why the hell have you been blowing me off all week, huh?”

(name) sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes and sliding her hands down her face as she struggled with how exactly to articulate that she’d been feeling incredibly insecure and didn’t wanna be a nuisance to him without sounding like an absolute moron.

“I just- I’ve just been feeling shitty lately and I didn’t wanna bug you with it while I sort things out, okay?” she explained vaguely, nervously fidgeting with her fingers while she avoided his gaze.

when she mentioned she hadn’t been feeling well, bakugo softened up a little bit. he knew sometimes she got like this, having periods of time where she just wasn’t herself, but normally she came to him herself and told him what was up. so he couldn’t quite understand why this time was different.

bakugo sighed and stood up to go lay beside her, propping himself up on his elbow while resting his cheek in the palm of his hand.

“well why did you just say that in the first place, dumbass?”

he wasn’t a great advice giver, and he wasn’t great at comforting, but when it came to things like this he was a pretty good listener, so he always offered up his ears when (name) was feeling down.

“what’s got you down, huh? talk to me already.”

the girl beside him continued to fidget and play with her fingers, debating on whether she actually wanted to explain to him her feelings, or just shrug him off and do her best to convince the blonde it was something else.

she was ping-ponging back and forth. lie and most likely not get away with it but still not sound stupid, or tell the truth and have your boyfriend think you’re an idiot. a wide variety of lovely choices she had to choose from.

yet, in the end, she decided it would be best to be honest with him. oftentimes, nothing good came out of lying in these types of scenarios, and she surely didn’t want to fuck up more than she already might have. sure, katsuki wasn’t mad for the time being, but that boy’s temper can switch on and off like a light sometimes. so she still approached the situation cautiously.

“I feel just- annoying and like I’m a bother to you with this shit all the time so I didn’t wanna throw all my problems or whatever into you again, alright?

you’re practically this idol student who’s so damn cocky and confident in himself, so when….”

she sighed, trying to find the words once more.

“when I start feeling gross and insecure, or when I’m starting to completely flop in some of my classes, I just- i feel like I just become this huge weight on your back and..” she swallowed, slowing herself down as she felt herself begin to rant.

“…and it’s embarrassing! you shouldn’t have to deal with me feeling like an idiot, you have enough on your plate as it is and- and I should be able to deal with this kind of shit on my own, not immediately run to you whenever I feel-”

(name’s) midoriya-muttering speed ranting was cut off when a familiar pair of plush lips were pressed up against her own, immediately shoving all her worries into the back of her mind. she hadn’t realized how much she missed something as simple as a kiss from her boyfriend in the week she’d been distancing herself from him.

after a moment or so, when bakugo was sure she would be shut up enough for him to speak, he pulled away.

rolling onto his back, bakugo waved her over to him, using his other hand to prop up his head from behind.

“come here, just be quiet and listen for a sec will ya?”

(name) was not hesitant to cuddle right up into his side, tangling her legs in with his and resting her head atop his toned chest. after wrapping an arm tightly around her shoulders, rubbing her back slowly, the boy began to speak.

“it’s my job to be here for you, okay idiot? as sappy as it sounds, when you’re upset, I’m upset too. I don’t like seeing you down, it makes me feel like a shitty boyfriend for not bein’ able to help.” he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“you shouldn’t be embarrassed to tell me shit, doesn’t matter how stupid you think it is.

nobody’s perfect, alright? get that through your head.” bakugo said, flicking her forehead gently. (name) chuckled quietly.

“even you?”

“only sometimes, but that doesn’t leave this room.” bakugo answered, smirking to himself.

“listen, I know you’re a badass, and you can get through shit on your own. you’re strong as hell.

but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it. speaking from experience, sometimes it’s better to just bite your tongue and accept the help from people that care about you.”

(name) listened to every word that he said very carefully, letting them sink in as she processed them. it was rare that bakugo got like this, but when he did, it was rather impressive how easy he was able to make her feel better. his advice sucked half the time, sure, considering “blasting the fuckers to hell” isn’t always an option, but this kind of advice was something she’d keep with her always.

“you’re damn special, you know that? you’ve done somethin’ even better than getting a decent grade on your stupid chemistry test.”

bakugo stated, leaning his head back so his gaze was fixated on the ceiling, closing his eyes with a sigh. (name) furrowed her eyebrows together slightly, tilting her head up to look at her boyfriend.

“wait, but what did I do exactly?” she asked, curiosity lacing her tone. bakugo placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair a bit.

“you’ve shown me what love can feel like. somethin’ I thought i’d never know or go through. so to do that, you’ve gotta be pretty fuckin’ incredible.”

(name) smiled up at him and leaned up a bit more to kiss his jaw, returning to her comfy spot on his chest right after.

“I’m sorry that I get like this. I’ll work on it, ‘kay?” (name) said quietly, still feeling a bit bad that bakugo had to go and tell her all this, though she can’t deny that it made her extremely happy to hear.

“shut up with that already, will you? you know I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you.”

and that was enough to reassure (name) almost completely, that her negative feelings and emotions weren’t as bad as she had been painting them out to be.

with a soft smile, and a slow close of her eyes, (name) nuzzled closer up into bakugo, her cheek squished up against his chest.

“I love you, you big softie.”

“yeah yeah, whatever. I love you too.”

[lovieebby]

dreaded corner

a/n: i know this isn’t the oneshot/fic i promised but here’s something i whipped up! i thought since i’ve imagined for a hot minute that id just spit it out. thank you @viking-raider for rereading this for me 😂 ily & also i apologize again bc im posting this thru my phone so im sorry if the formats funky!!

summary: you thought you could be a big girl, instead its sassy and rude and daddy is fed tf up.

word count: 2.2k (wowza)

pairing: henry cavill x reader (y/n)

warnings: um henry himself? implyed smut, sub!reader, daddy henry is fed up, description of readers pussee, i made a bad pun, that cursed blue tank top

tag list: @hell1129-blog 😘

you and henry have been dating for some time now and your sex life was off the charts, but about six months ago you both had started dabbling in the bdsm dynamics as a couple. henry already knew what he was doing, you, not so much. you had an idea but you never really completely understood how to be a submissive, you where naturally that way in the bedroom but anywhere else outside of that felt off to you and plus you never had a dom that was as strict and as serious in this lifestyle as henry, your past partners just in it for the hype of the kinky sex.

you loved being his submissive but it was hard at first, you had always looked out for yourself and so it became a habit to take things into your own control and set up walls. but after time and love henry slowly took down those walls and you where able to trust him with your whole being. after a while, you really loved being taken care of and being able to hand the control over to someone else, it feeling like you could finally breathe.

you felt like you where a genuine good submissive, theres never really a right or wrong way either, henry had told you, easing your mind when you had gotten concerned. most days you listened, wanting to please him and get praised for it. you lived to be a good girl for him, but some days where more rough than normal. some days you just wanted to be independent and in charge of yourself, doing what you please, and more often than not, henry caught on to it fast and put you back into your place.

you stood in the kitchen, standing by the fridge trying to figure out what to drink. you rubbed your ass, stinging still from the spankings you got earlier. ten hard swats on each cheek and you didn’t get to orgasm once the first punishment was over, no orgasm was your second punishment.

bummer.

henry sat in the living room, on his laptop replying to an email. he wore his blue tank top with his sweat pants, feet perched up on the ottoman. he had started an email once he had given you the much needed aftercare and reassurance. you both had cleaned up taking a shower together and getting into your lazy day clothes.

henry heard the fridge being closed roughly and the shelves within it shaking. he had talked about this with you time and time again, you used to do it at your own home, but now you two lived together, so that meant respecting your surroundings. what was so hard about that?

“don’t slam it, please.” he had said, making eye contact with you when you spun around to look at him.

“i didn’t! it was the suction from the door!” you explained, getting a little snappy with him, not wanting to get caught that you did, in fact, do it again. you turned around, not wanting to be called out, and made yourself busy looking in another cabinet for something to snack on.

henry looked at you questionably that quickly turned into a stern disapproving glare, “don’t talk back to me,” he sighed out, turning back to his email. he thought your attitude dissolved, clearly it just doubled.

“i’m not, im just defending myself,” you sassed out quietly, making a mocking face while you searched in the cabnet.

“excuse me?” his voice boomed out. he pressed hard on the send button, sending the email, he didn’t bother double checking if everything was typed out correctly. henry moved the laptop over to the empty seat. he crossed his arms, frowning at you, surprised at your returned attitude.

“did you fart?” you sassed again, closing the cabinets, you spun around and crossed your arms. coping him while leaning on the counter arching your eyebrow, biting the inside of your cheek.

bad move, bad move (y/n).

henry was baffled, you just got done with a punishment not even an hour ago. he had beaten your ass pretty well, and he rarely had to do that. he thought if you wanted a challenge, you would quickly lose. he stood up from the couch, and slowly walked to you, once he got the the kitchen island he put his hands down, spreading his fingers out. he towered over you even if it was a couple feet away, his eyes piercing into you, daring you to continue your attitude.

he’s never had to punish you multiple times in one day, but if it was needed, he was going to.

“little girl,” he started, his voice dropping an octave, “drop the attitude, i won’t tell you again.”

“fine.” you snapped, you where definitely not going to. “but i didn’t slam the door.”

“(y/n), i don’t care,” he punctuated each word, leaning forward.

“i didn’t though! i’m not lying!” you threw your hands down, almost stomping your foot on the floor.

you where acting out, you knew he was getting back in his dominant role, but you where serious too! you didn’t want to be dominated at the moment. you didn’t want to say your safe word, it wasn’t needed, you were just being a brat. you just wanted to be you for two seconds, not henry’s baby, you felt big.

“alright, get over here.” he stood up straight, walking away from the counter, clinching his jaw. he was fed up, you had no reason to act this way and he was quickly going to put you in your place.

you suddenly realized that you became a big mean brat more than a big girl, now you wanted the floor to eat you whole, like right now. utterly embarrassed that you thought you where so confident about yourself and your actions. you didn’t want to move, frozen under his glare, you where already thinking of what he was going to do, and you where praying he wasn’t going to swat your ass again, his spanks weren’t light and your ass was as rosey as ever.

“move it missy,” he said, snapping his finger down in front of him where he wanted you, “now.”

you slowly moved to him, your confidence completely leaving your body as you tried to swallow the lump in your throat. you stood in front of him, not making eye contact, his eyes too intimidating. if you looked at him, you’d beg for forgiveness, but at the moment you where still trying to hold on to a useless lie.

henry breathed in deep and let it out slow through his nose, he knows its hard for you sometimes to comply and completely listen but you both agreed to the rules henry had set. he let you stand there, making you think. it also gave him a moment to calm down, he didn’t want to just lash out and show his frustration, but he still wants you to know who’s the boss.

he honestly just wanted to sit down with you and junk out after getting his business done, but clearly he needed to punish you again because apparently you didn’t get the memo the first time.

“we agreed on the rules, did we not?” he questioned you, crossing his arms. he looked out at you, you looked anywhere but him.

you nodded your head, agreeing with him.

“oh, now you have nothing to say?” he taunted, ticking his jaw. “you had so much to say earlier.”

“we did.” you whispered, looking down at your fidgeting hands.

“look at me when i’m talking to you,” henry gripped your chin, tilting your face up to him. you whimpered dropping your hands to your side, his grip making your bottom lip jut out.

“if you don’t agree with the rules, you know what to say, if not, shut it,” he sternly watched you, waiting for you to say something, putting a little more pressure into his grip, shaking your face a bit, waiting for you to say the word. when you didn’t, he continued, “now i don’t know what got into you, to think you can speak to me like that, but that needs to end. quit your shit and stand in the corner, hands behind your back.”

you frowned, opening your mouth in disbelief, now you where upset all over again, the submission leaving your body. you’ve been put in time out a couple times but right now you weren’t feeling it, this is dumb!

“like a kid?!” you loudly questioned.

“yes! because you’re acting like one!” he let go of your face and with one hand he pushed you to the corner by the breakfast table with his other, he pointed to the known corner.

you picked up your feet and scoffed, this was unfair, you weren’t a child! you clinched your jaw when you got the corner, so frustrated you screamed in your mouth.

once henry heard you whining and carrying on he walked up behind you and smacked you ass, harder than he intended but it worked, he needed to make a point. you gasped and jolted forwards, bracing your hands on the wall, your ass was still tinder. he stood behind you, putting his hands up on the wall caging you in. he put his mouth right next to your ear.

“you did this to yourself, so take your punishment like a big girl and shut up. i don’t want to hear you.” he said, leaning into you, making himself known, “you don’t run shit here missy, and i’m here to remind you of that.”

he pushed off the wall, backing up from you and smacked your stinging ass again, giving a warning. you held your whine in and closed your eyes tight.

he turned around and stood by the counter, he looked down at his watch and set a timer for twenty minutes, he could probably get some small chores done, so he could waste time waiting on you. he didn’t want to stand there and watch you because you’d notice and probably say something and he just didn’t want to hear it. you where always so good, but when you got bratty and sassy, he nipped that shit quick, not wanting it to happen again. as he was leaving the room and gave kal a quick pat to follow him, he doesn’t need you petting him while you’re in your corner.

you were embarrassed to say the least, you were in a corner with your hands behind you, flustered in an uncomfortable wetness from your arousal. henry made you flustered on any given day but when he became daddy, it was so much more worse. you where still soaked from the first spanking and from the rough sex you just had earlier.

you moved side to side discretely, you only wore an over sized cotton tee with your soft sleep shorts with no panties, not wanting any extra material on your bum, the shorts already a little scratchy on your bruised cheeks.

regretting your attitude, you wanted to apologize, but you knew if you spoke up, you would get reprimanded from henry. so you stood there, trying to pass the time by trying to find shapes on the textured wall.

after some time you noticed you haven’t heard henry, you perked up and peeked over your shoulder, you didn’t see henry anywhere not even kal. usually if you tapped the wall kal would come over and you could at least have some type of company. you tapped the wall a couple times, but no response from the pup. you turned back around to the corner, trying to patently wait, wanting to be good for your daddy.

what felt like hours, you finally heard henry come back into the kitchen, pulling a chair out from the breakfast table and assuming, sitting down in said chair. you wanted to apologize so bad, you weren’t ever bad like this before, you felt terrible for being snappy and bratty at him. but you stayed and waited for him to tell you, you could come out.

“come here baby,” he said, patting his thigh.

you looked over your shoulder, shrinking into yourself a little apprehensive about moving, “you sure daddy?” you softly asked, you didn’t even know if you wanted to leave the corner, you where rude.

he chuckled softly, he patted his thigh again, “yes i’m sure baby, come on.”

you turned around and stood between his legs, you put your left hand over your shoulder, messing with the hem of your tee shirt. “i’m sorry daddy, i was rude and i really did close the fridge hard.” you said as you rose your head to look at him.

“i know, you don’t lie very well,” he smirked, rubbing the back of your thigh, loving the feeling of your warm skin. “you know why you went into your corner, right?”

you breathed in, sighing, “because i got snappy with you,” you said, henry blinked and gave you a knowing look, waiting for you to continue, “and that i lied.” you quickly said the rest.

he hummed, nodding his head, “good job baby, you did good.” he squeezed your thigh, as you relaxed and put both of your hands on his thighs leaning into him.

you smiled sheepishly and leaned all the way down to give him a kiss. when henry kissed back, he put his other hand on the back of your head, softly intertwining his fingers to massage your scalp.

he pulled back, looking at you intently, “don’t lie again, i like having my good baby.” you nodded your head and gave gave him another kiss.

a/n: thank you guys for reading, feedback is always nice so dont be afraid to say something 🥰

[forabeatofadrum]

Mendacious (28/31)

Notes: Home stretch, home stretch, home stretch! Updates are going to be a bit more sporadic, but we’re nearing the end! 

Reblogs on Tumblr help writers, but here’s another reminded that the formatting on AO3 for this fic is much nicer. Click the link, my friends:

AO3

–

CLAIRVOYANT

Kurt Hummel: I want to be your friend again. So badly. But I also know what I’m asking of you.

Kurt Hummel: I walk around with all this shame and guilt, yet I selfishly want us to become friends.

Kurt Hummel: You said that you’re fighting with yourself over this. So am I. I shouldn’t accept your forgiveness, but I want to.

Kurt Hummel: Look at me, dumping this on you at 3am. You’re probably asleep. I’m sorry. I just can’t sleep. I haven’t slept since you told me that you miss me.

Kurt Hummel: That, and I’ve had 5 cups of coffee. I’m not a smart man.

Kurt Hummel: But apparently coffee makes me delirious and it makes me word vomit and I will def regret sending you all of this in the morning, but that’s a problem for me in the morning.

Kurt Hummel: I miss our daily chats and the photos we sent each other and our talks about music.

Kurt Hummel: I wish we had gotten to know each other under different circumstances, but I fucked it all up.

Kurt Hummel: I don’t believe in higher powers. I’m not spiritual, or clairvoyant or religious in any way. But right now I wish I could just use a wand and make everything go away so that we can start anew.

Kurt’s in the middle of typing his next message when the screen changes. Blaine is calling him. They have each other’s numbers through glee. They’ve never used them before.

“Hello.”

“Blaine. It’s 3am.”

“I’m aware. My phone’s been blowing up with messages, so.”

“Sorry, I’ll let you sleep-”

“Kurt, chill, I called you. You didn’t wake me. I also have been losing sleep over all of this.”

“Oh.”

“And maybe we should talk, like this, not over Facebook. I didn’t expect it to be at 3am though, but it’s fitting after all these sleepless nights.”

“Blaine.”

“Sorry. Not funny. I know. I do hope that we can move on from this and that we can joke about this one day.”

“How can you say that? I did something despicable!”

“I know. I was there.”

“Blaine.”

“…”

“Blaine?”

“… Look, I told my gran what happened.”

“Does she hate me now?”

“She is mad at you, but since I forgive you, she’s trying as well. She does regret giving you the extra salted caramel chocolate bar.”

“I still can’t understand how you can forgive me-”

“Stop. Hey! I am already fighting myself over this. I don’t need your shit as well!”

“…”

“Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out, but I told you at the mall that I don’t need you to understand. All I know is that this is what’s good for me and I’d rather not have you question my life like that.”

“I wish I was that knowledgeable about myself.”

“Trust me. It’s new for me as well.”

“What do you want? With us, I mean.”

“…”

“That’s a long sigh.”

“We miss each other, yeah? We were great friends and I have forgiven you for the catfishing thing because I want to move on from that bad part in my life. Like how I moved on from my parents. But this time I don’t want sacrifice something that brought me joy.”

“You’re comparing me to your old clothes?”

“In a way. I lost something I loved when I tried to move on. I don’t want to do that again. But I’m also still angry. I told you, I’m fighting myself.”

“No, I get that. I want to be your friend again but I also hate myself for asking that of you. A part of me feels like I don’t deserve your friendship at all, but another part of me also wants to give myself some slack and move on. After all, you’ve forgiven me. It’s me who can’t forgive… me.”

“...”

“…”

“Maybe… Maybe we can try. To be friends, I mean. If you want to.”

“Yes!”

“…”

“Sorry, that was too much, wasn’t it?”

“No. I am also kind of excited about the idea. I shouldn’t be, but I am. Maybe I should just let myself feel. Same goes for you, I think. Tell our inner turmoil to shut up. We don’t owe each other shit, but yeah, we can try.”

“A second chance, but with honesty this time.”

“I’ve always been honest. At least on Facebook. To you, I mean.”

“I know.”

“But I get what you mean.”

“…”

“Also, even if I can’t fully trust you yet, I do trust Mercedes.”

“Wise.”

“She wouldn’t nudge us towards reconnection if it were a bad idea. I think she has our best interests in mind. I… I am really happy that her brother came home for the summer, got into chocolate making, and that we became friends over the summer.”

“I am too. If there’s one good thing that came out of this mess, then it’s that the two of you are friends now.”

“She would’ve helped me with my homework even if you hadn’t catfished me.”

“Hmm. True.”

“If there’s one good thing that came out of this mess, then it’s that the two of us met.”

“Blaine.”

“Okay, yeah. Sorry, God, I just- this is what I meant. I don’t want to fight myself right now, though. Let me just say that, even if I might regret it tomorrow.”

“For what it’s worth, I feel the same. I just wish we’d become friends under different circumstances. But maybe with this new start… Well, who knows where this ends.”

“Yeah. No promises. We try, that’s it.”

“…”

“That’s quite a yawn, Kurt. We should sleep. With this kind of resolved I might finally have a good night of sleep again.”

“Hah. Same.”

“Goodnight, Kurt.”

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

--

Things aren’t magically fixed, but it’s a start. Kurt and Blaine start to talk more at school and they hang out afterwards as well. The two of them go to the Lima Bean with Mercedes and Tina and it’s a lot of fun now that Kurt and Blaine no longer try to avoid talking to each other. They go thrift shopping for new clothes and after Kurt profusely apologised to Bubs for hurting Blaine, he’s welcome at Blaine’s home all the time.

Kurt used to have movie nights with Rachel and Mercedes, but Rachel’s been replaced. She still acts as if Kurt’s betrayed her and now that it’s obvious that Kurt and Blaine are becoming friendly, her grudge has worsened.

They get noticed outside of glee club too, but now Kurt and Blaine have each other’s backs in the hallways.

Kurt’s still fighting himself. One part absolutely adores having Blaine back in his life, but the other part has the guilt. Kurt really tries to let go of his guilt. Blaine basically insists on it. But they’re not the same. Blaine needs to move on from this. Kurt can’t and Blaine knows that. Guilt is not the best foundation for friendship. Or any kind of relationship. Kurt’s this close to breaking down.

Unexpectedly, Blaine’s the first one to break down.

They’re in Blaine’s room. There’s tension and suddenly, Blaine blurts out: “I can’t do this anymore!”

“What?”

Blaine keeps rambling. “I thought I could. I thought I just could get over myself and be friends with you, but every time I look at you…”

Kurt hangs his head. This is it. This is the moment all his efforts are going into vain. Blaine is going to tell him that he can’t stand looking at Kurt without feeling angry.

But then Blaine surprises him again.

“… every time I look at you, I am reminded that I am really in love with you.”

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 111: 7x14, 10x13, 11x13

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

February 10, 2022

7x14: Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie

Written by: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin

Directed by: Mike Rohl

Original air date: February 10, 2012

Plot Synopsis:

Sam and Dean are stumped. Somehow, a group of children's personal fears are becoming a reality and killing off a parent that each child has a certain hatred for.

Features:

Sam’s fear of clowns, Dean’s germaphobia, vamptopus, killer unicorn, evil Chuck-E Cheese, death by ball pit,

My Thoughts:

This is a genuinely quite fun and sweet monster of the week episode. I love when Dean gets to interact with kids and the monster was really creative and fun to watch. The effects weren’t terrible except for the rainbow coming out of the unicorn’s ass, and I can forgive that for being a big swing.

I like the rapport between the brothers in this episode, especially at the end. The fact that Sam wasn’t there when Dean was trying to get a giant slinky but still knew that he would want one was genuinely very lovely. Dean laughing his ass off at Sam covered in glitter and then throwing a clown doll at him was very realistic behavior for siblings.

The format of cutting back and forth in time was fun, although the time card “right friggin’ now” is stupid as hell.

Unfortunately I am the victim of extreme second-hand embarrassement so watching Sam’s bad-cop routine was very terrible for me. And since the rating is subjective I get to deduct points for cringe.

Notable Lines:

“Seriously, Frank, pay phones? I mean, come on. I – I'm getting the clap off this thing just touching it.”

“Just know that 99.99% of all clowns can't hurt you.”

“I'm sorry for... psychologically scarring you.” “Which time?”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.6

IMdB Rating: 8.3

10x13: Halt & Catch Fire

Written by: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder

Directed by: John F. Showalter

Original air date: February 10, 2015

Plot Synopsis:

To take his mind off of the Mark of Cain, Dean goes hunting. They track down a ghost that is killing college students through electronics and the internet.

Features:

Killer Siri, death by computer power cord, hit-and-run murders, very stupid teenagers, the philosophical implications of humans as electrical impulses, the world’s most depressing online relationship.

My Thoughts:

I mostly found this episode boring. Big difference between this and the season 7 episode today. I get annoyed when they write Cas out of an episode, especially when the reason is either stupid or more interesting than what the brothers are doing, and this episode somehow managed to do both.

The dialogue was weak, and Dean staring at all the college girls comes off as pathetic rather than suave when he’s 10 years older than all of them and lying to put himself in a position of power over them. There was a light sprinkling of slutshaming over the whole scene with the first sorority girl. It’s also very clear that the writers have apparently never spoken to a female person between the ages of 8 and 30. No one is typing out “#curious” or “#confused” unless it’s ironic to your friends. I was literally a girl in college when this episode came out and I promise we were not doing that.

It bums me out that they got the rights to play a Hozier song in this episode and they wasted it on background music for a scene that none of the main characters were in. Missed opportunities abound.

The connection to the season plot at the end of the episode was weak. Even Jensesn’s acting, usually my lifeboat in a bad-but-not-awful episode, wasn’t enough to keep me invested.

Notable Lines:

“How do you deal?” “Whiskey. Denial. I do my best to make things right, whatever that may be.”

“But take it from me…the more you kill, the crazier you’ll get. The blood fuels the rage.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 4.4

IMdB Rating: 7.4

11x13: Love Hurts

Written by: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: February 10, 2016

Plot Synopsis:

Sam and Dean investigate a set of murders on Valentine's Day and discover they are dealing with an ancient curse. Once kissed by the curse, the person is marked to die.

Features:

The babysitter/mistress getting her heart ripped out, nanny cam footage, a Return to Love spell, a Qareen, a manhating lesbian hairdresser,

My Thoughts:

This episode was written by the same duo as Halt & Catch Fire, above. Kind of funny that they were both homages to (rip offs of?) older TV/movies. Halt & Catch Fire is based on a TV show of the same name and this one was clearly inspired by It Follows, a horror movie that came out two years before this episode.

For most of this episode I was a little bored (not nearly as badly as the last episode, at least), but I actually thought the end was interesting in a meta sort of way. Possibly it’s one of those things that’s better with the context of Chuck literally writing the story in season 15.

Everything about Dean being attracted to Amara is written as a coming out narrative. He’s keeping his true feelings trapped inside while hooking up with random women in bars, he’s cloaked in shame, he has to have an earnest conversation about his feelings with his brother, who literally responds like someone whose been waiting for you to come out so he can tell you he isn’t surprised. And then in the greater metanarrative, it’s wrapped up in this compulsory heterosexuality that the narrative is forcing on him. He’s not in love with Amara - he doesn’t actually know anything about her other than that she’s dangerous and she eats souls. He’s drawn to her because supernatural forces are making it so. @meg3point0 said, “they’re trying so hard to comphet him, and everything they do makes him gayer. I’ve never seen a character fight the narrative so hard”.

It helps that there’s no chemistry between Jensen Ackles and Emily Swallow, which is almost embarrassing when they’re both so hot. But it does really drive the metanarrative point home that their connection is not a true emotional one. Dean acts like he’s a puppet whenever he’s around her.

The rest of the episode was fine. I don’t love that the way younger employee was the one in the romantic relationship implied to be the one with power in that situation, and no one has ever said “buxom” in the last 30 years with a straight face, but it wasn’t terrible. Some things don’t make a lot of sense, like how Melissa somehow knew what motel and what room they were staying in instead of calling them, but I liked the pink in the window for that set so I forgive it.

Also, the rock-paper-scissors scene near the end was endearing enough to win back some points. I liked that Dean was so happy to have won that he took the basement anyways.

Notable Lines:

“Wow. You’re practically a feminist.”

“You’re a mystery. I can see inside your heart. Feel the love you feel. Except it’s cloaked in shame.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.2

IMdB Rating: 8.1

In Conclusion: We're just about 61% through Stacked, going by the number of episodes watched., and 60% based on the date.

<< Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[ontowanderlust]

Erase., v.

[You have 1 message.]

Beeeeeeeep.

Heeeeey Miss Chips, guess who???? Okay so I probably gave myself away since I greeted you Miss Chips- I mean, I’m the only one who calls you that, right right?? You can not let anyone call you that but me!

Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I’m calling your house phone instead of your cell and you might be wondering why I’m calling you now when I know Savin must’ve told you about my disappearing act and knowing you, you’re probably-no- you’re definitely scouring the city trying to guess where I am. I know you’re worried and at the same time I think you’re cursing me in your head- gahh, I think my back hurts- ease up with the curses will ya?

I’m fine, not harmed nor kidnapped for a ransom and I- I’m actually waiting for you at the TV tower. Don’t worry, I’m still here so take your time. I’ll wait for you however long it takes.

*sighs shakily* I- you know, Miss Chips, sometimes I wonder if the flowers and applause I receive from my fans are really for me and not just made up thing brought by my evol. Sometimes I wonder...would they still like me even if I don’t possess my charm? Would you still like me even if I’m not Kiro the superstar?

Yeah you would, you told me that over and over that I lost count. And haaaah. You have no idea how much your words made my heart at ease. Because you know, the only person that matters to me is Miss Chips and only you, Miss Chips.

And so I made up my mind. When you get here, I’ll let you know about my retirement and I’ll promise that I’ll be fine- I need you to wait for me and I’ll tell you everything that’s happening.

Miss Chips, you won’t hate me right? Even- even if I- wait, I see you. Isn’t that great? I can see you all the way up here! Miss Chips look up! Ah wait, you won’t see me. You’re probably wondering how I can see you. Well, in the sea of thousands, I will always- always be able to find you, Miss Chips. And ooooh you’re that worried, huh. Don’t frown or else you’ll get frown lines in an early age! Okay okay- I’m sorry, you’re not old, and yes ma’am I’ll remember that.

I only have a few minutes before you reach the top so I better hurry up! I still need to figure out my pose when you get here! Uh... *heaves out a sigh*

Miss Chips, will you wait? Ahh, wrong wrong Kiro wrong thing to say!

Miss Chips, I think I’m gonna break one of my promises to you and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive your not so super- superhero Kiro.

*furiously typing in the background*

Miss Chips...

[Deleting message.]

...Goodbye.

[Message deleted.]

[You have 0 message.]

Beeeeeeeeep.

Okay so as you all can see from the photo, this was done in my phone so please forgive the rushed words and if the format is a bit messy, you know why! Lol. The reason I rushed this is because I had thought of an angst piece and I need to share my sufferings with you guys. I even had to stop typing in between cause the feels are just too much.  Oh! And I’ve hidden an easter egg somewhere in there. I borrowed a line from an anniversary PV soooo ^^

Right-o. I’m in the mood for some angst tonight and I picked Kiro because I was reading this analysis and it hurt me in the heart okay? Also, I really need to see more Kiro stans in my inbox or even Gavin and Lucien stans. Wherefore art thou, people??? 

Aight so update! I've linked all linking linkiness in the links. The analysis is there, the prompts link is there, and the masterlist link is there so yay for that. 

Send in some prompts! 

MLQC DICTIONARY; Masterlist

[litttlesilkworm]

Is it true that Gorbachev never supported Valery Legasov? Did he have a "court" as they say, or did he realize that Legasov was an expert one should listen to?

Thank you for a great ask, Comrade! 💜💛💚 And please forgive me for such a belated answer! And the same goes to all the authors of all the other anon asks I received but have yet to answer - I deeply value each and every one of them and promise to respond to them very soon! 

I do think that David Dencik’s Gorbachev, though not without charm, comes across as this kind of annoyed and needy monarch in the show. The real Gorbachev, with all his shortcomings, was a lot warmer - in a folksy kind of way - and much more personable. Look at this photo for example, of a room from which the Politburo meeting room was modeled in the show, and how Gorbachev sits together with the rest of the members, and not at the head table like a king:

And as to your question more directly - I actually have just the kind of a fascinating text here that I think, will speak for itself as far as the extent to which Gorbachev listened to and trusted Valery Legasov. The text is a transcript of the Politburo meeting that took place in the morning of May 5th in 1986 - merely a week after the accident. It actually is kind of a riveting read - a glimpse into how all those decisions had to be made in real time, with only meager - and constantly changing - information available. 

I wanted everyone to enjoy it, so I translated the discussion section from Russian (please see below).

Legasov really shines in this meeting and one can easily see just how much respect he instills in people around him. There is a rather amazing passage where Legasov voices his disagreement with Velikhov’s plan on how to drain the water from under the reactor. Gorbachev immediately takes Legasov’s side and approves his plan. He then sends Shcherbina out of the room during the meeting to make an immediate phone call to Chernobyl to instruct them to ditch Velikhov’s plan and start implementing Legasov’s. That was my favorite part.

Legasov also consistently sounds like the calmest person in the room. Just calmly and intelligently doing his job, solving what is essentially a scientific problem. Even from the transcript it is easy to extrapolate how much respect he commands around the table. 

I took the liberty to include some of my own notes/comments in the translation as well. And I am happy to answer any questions I can!

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SHCHERBINA: We found ourselves in front of a situation that has not been considered before, which is why there hasn’t been any protocols in place for this type of an occurrence. The very project itself is built upon never allowing such a situation. There was an uncontrollable speeding up of the reactor. Immediately after the accident, there has been a lack of preparedness on-site to evaluate the situation. The Civil Defense did not warn people. Until the evening there were weddings being held in the city. The fire had to be smothered as soon as possible, and the radioactive fallout had to be reduced. 4 thousand tonnes of materials have been dumped at the reactor. We were able to knock the surface temperature down from 500 to 200 degrees. What shall we do beneath the reactor? People have approached the pool. It is possible that there is an opportunity now to release the water.

LIGACHEV: Don’t get ahead of yourself.

RYZHKOV: We’ll need to see about that. The most important thing is to avoid the explosion.

SHCHERBINA: The most difficult thing is deactivation.

(Note: Deactivation refers to the clean-up and burial of contaminated soil and water, etc - LSW)

GORBACHEV: The most important is to deal with the danger that is below.

SHCHERBINA: People are working selflessly.

(Note: It seems like they might all be talking over each other in an agitated manner. Wish we could hear a recording of this - LSW)

LEGASOV: The work is organized the following way: Comrade Shcherbina is in charge of organizing, Comrade Meshkov studies the reasons of the accident and I work on recommendations regarding prevention of the further spread of the fallout. There are also groups in Moscow conducting the analysis.

(Note: Legasov truly shines here, stepping in calmly and intelligently to get the discussion back on track. - LSW)

The considerations regarding prevention of the consequences of the accident that are being voiced in the West should be taken into account. These aren’t just guesswork, but a result of studies, conducted with other past NPP accidents taken into account. We had to do all the calculations on site, because we didn’t have any established protocols in place.

GORBACHEV: Plus in this case, there is water under the reactor.

LEGASOV: This was done to save money, otherwise one would have to build two separate buildings. Minsredmash did not agree with that. If we had 4-5 pipes that would be stretched away from the reactor and into some distance, this would not have been a problem. This is a miscalculation of everyone working in the energy industry.

GORBACHEV: What about the containment structures?

LEGASOV: Considering the force of the explosion that took place, a containment structure would not have saved anything.

GORBACHEV: We need to focus on what comes next.

LEGASOV: 10 hours later, we were able to stop the reactor. But it continues to emit radioactivity, because after a year of being in operation, it has accumulated a lot of isotopes. The heat output of those debris has been 14 megawatt in the first 24 hours, while today it is 8.5 megawatt. This is like burning 60 tons of coal every 24 hours. Besides that, graphite is burning, too. There is 2.5 thousand tons of graphite there in total. One ton burns up every hour. This equals 24 tons per day. The graphite will burn up completely in one-third of a year.

The number one task is to create a way of filtering out the radioactive isotopes. Right now the amount of them that gets emitted into air is 100-fold less than there would be without taking measures to drop sand and other materials on the reactor from the air. The area located in the vicinity of the reactor has been sacrificed, because dumping the materials from the height of 200 meters raised dust, which increased radioactivity near the power plant.

Currently, the mass that has been melted in the reactor is moving downward. This is difficult to control, because there hasn’t been monitoring devices installed that would allow doing that. This is my fault, too. But, not a single NPP in the world has something like that.

(Note: Remarkably, Legasov accepts blame for something he hasn’t even designed. Only that he hasn’t voiced his concern about this highly improbable scenario. Or maybe he did but doesn’t think he did it strongly enough? - LSW)

On the first day after the accident, the temperature of the melted mass was 1100 degrees, while yesterday at 18:00 it was 20 degrees. It goes up by 135 degrees every day.

(Note: “20 degrees” is clearly a typo and should say ~2000 degrees, as a quick calculation can confirm: 1100 + 135 x 7 days = 2045 degrees. - LSW) 

Last night, an experiment was conducted: the melted mass fell into water, and there hasn’t been an explosion. However, if the melted mass from the reactor reaches the water below, there will be powerful formation of steam.

The situation continues to be troubling. The reactor needs to be cooled from below. An underground tunnel needs to be created, and liquid nitrogen needs to be delivered via it. In 2-3 days, we need to allow the circulation of air. Yesterday, there were no air drops to enable the draft.

Regarding the potentially dangerous zone. It cannot be larger than 250 kilometers. Within which the active zone would be 30-50 kilometers. Our institute has previously considered a “Backstop” scenario, concerning this problem. So we have exact calculations on that account.

GORBACHEV: What would happen if the fuel reaches the ground water?

LEGASOV: This is where Velikhov and I could not find common ground. The pool needs to be emptied of water by pumping, not by shooting at it to pour it out.

GORBACHEV (to SHCHERBINA): We should let the site know, so they don’t shoot at it.

(Comrade SHCHERBINA steps out)

LEGASOV: And as for adding the concrete layer, that’s the final operation.

GORBACHEV: What about the remaining three blocks?

LEGASOV: The first two are in working condition. Barring another explosion, they will be fine. As for the third block, it might catch fire if there is another emergency.

GORBACHEV: Should we invite the foreigners? We shouldn’t do it in vain. But if we have to, then don’t be deterred by it.

LEGASOV: We were shown the cipher telegrams regarding this. Only two things were unknown to us: the French foam and the remote controlled robots from West Germany. So there is no need to send a general SOS message, whereas all the ideas originating overseas should be sent to the group for consideration.

RYZHKOV: If the strategy with pumping the water out via a pipe works, can the same pipe be used to pump the liquid nitrogen in?

LEGASOV: Yes. But it doesn’t cancel out the idea of a tunnel.

RYZHKOV: We should do both.

SHCHERBINA: I was just informed that the water pumping has begun.

(Note: looks like Shcherbina returned to the room after calling the site with this information. So, within this brief time span, Velikhov’s plan of shooting at the bubbler pool (with some sort of a projectile?) was rejected and Legasov’s idea was not only approved by Gorbachev, but actually started being implemented in real time. Amazing. - LSW)

(Note: another interesting takeaway is that they were arranging to bring Joker from West Germany way earlier than it was portrayed in the series. - LSW)

ALEXANDROV: Legasov reported everything correctly. Regarding the foreign assistance: it would be good to bring doctors who specialize in bone marrow transplants.

ALIEV: This type of a specialist is already working. 

(Note: this must be Robert Gale. - LSW).

LIGACHEV: Is there a possibility of a chain reaction?

ALEXANDROV: There is. But not an explosion, i.e. a momentary process. But there would be major steam generation.

SLAVSKY: Our Ministry is participating in limiting the consequences of the accident. My first deputy is there on site. One of the reasons for what has happened is that the Atomnadzor (Note: a nuclear watchdog/inspection agency - LSW) has done zero work. What is being done right now is correct. No further suggestions.

BREZHNEV (minister of transport infrastructure): Together with Comrades Shchadov and Usanov we went on site yesterday to survey the situation with approaching the water through drilling. The start of pumping is eased by its location. After the pumping, one must start pumping the clay-concrete mix. The drilling is complicated by the fact that the reactor cannot be approached to a distance closer than 250 meters. We have arranged with the military for them to deactivate the area so we could approach to a closer distance, 50 meters.

GORBACHEV: We should be picking up the pace. We should be working not only as if this was a wartime situation, but a nuclear one - around the clock.

RYZHKOV: Comrade Brezhnev should return on site and organize this work.

GORBACHEV: Yes.

GROMYKO: What’s the percentage of the fallout that enters the atmosphere?

LEGASOV: The SO is exceeded 22-fold. There will be zirconium. First, there was iodine coming out, and now it’s the rare earth minerals. The zone in the radius of 30 kilometers is dangerous. Iodine decays halfway in 8 days, and after 80 days there will be nothing left.

SEDUNOV (Deputy Chairman of Goskomgidromet): We are watching the situation with radiation from airplanes and the land sites. The spread of radioactivity depends on wind direction. First, the cloud went north, then west and south. There was a spread of radioactive air into Poland, Scandinavia, then into Romania and Bulgaria, yesterday - into Turkey. In Kiev, its level increased 80-fold above background, this morning it is 45-fold. A norm for the public is considered 10-fold above background over a year. In Minsk and Lithuania it’s 3-fold. In the North Caucasus, 2-fold. We suppose that in Kiev, it will start receding. But if the wind changes, the cloud can head toward Moscow. 

(Note: Goskomgidromet is the weather forecasting agency. - LSW).

SHCHERBITSKY: Someone confused roentgens and milliroentgens.

(Note: not sure what he is referring to? - LSW).

SEDUNOV: It is important to watch the isotope content of the precipitation. Iodine goes into milk. Today that’s where most of the danger is coming from.

GORBACHEV: What to do with the cattle?

SEDUNOV: No need to destroy it. The Kiev water reservoir may become polluted.

LYASHKO: The water probes are being taken every hour. Radioactivity was only found in upper parts of the Pripyat’ river. We banned the public from drinking water from open sources there.

SEDUNOV: In Moscow everything is normal so far.

SHCHADOV (minister of coal industries): It is dangerous to break through the wall. Water should be pumped out and then the mix should be pumped in. If necessary, we’ll dig under the building. 

(Note: Shchadov circles back to talking about the water problem and backs Legasov’s strategy. - LSW)

AKHROMEEV (deputy defense minister): Task number one is controlling the radiological situation. We started the deactivation of roads and other sites. Three thousand people are working on it. Today we will finish preparing the deactivation plan and report to the working group.

SOLOMENCEV: How effective is the cleanup?

AKHROMEEV: It reduces radioactivity by a factor of 3 to 4. We have to create burial sites for topsoil and water. We also have set up medical facilities at 7 thousand person capacity.

LIGACHEV: What does Akhromeev think about approaching the water under the reactor?

AKHROMEEV: My opinion is to break it with a cumulative projectile. 

(Note: I think this means an anti-tank missile. A true military man’s response, and one vote for Velikhov’s plan. - LSW)

RYZHKOV: There are enough people.

AKHROMEEV: If needed, we will bring more.

LYASHKO: The Dnieper system provides water for 32 million people. The water samples are taken every hour. Yesterday there was no alarm until the evening. But today, there is. On smaller rivers, radiation levels have increased and are now 10^-4, with 10^-8 being the norm. (Note: Units? - LSW). These areas were instructed to switch to water from closed sources.

Luckily, there are artesian wells here. If need be, we will bring water tanks. What would be more difficult is if we would have to dump the water out of Kiev Reservoir. There is already a water shortage in the South. We need Gosomgidromet’s recommendations on how long we should hold the water in Kiev Reservoir.

GORBACHEV: How are the evacuated people?

LYASHKO: Evacuation was carried out in 3 hours in place of planned 6. One bad thing was that we had no protocol in place for this kind of scenario, no training has ever been conducted. The food for the evacuated has been organized. There turned out to be a disconnect between the services of the 3-rd Minzdrav group and the regional medical services. (Note: Minzdrav is the Ministry of Health Services - LSW). They were kept too secret. I spoke to Comrade Burenkov about it. The situation is getting better now.

The census of the evacuated has been complicated by the fact that there were many who have left on personal transport for the holidays to other towns, to visit family, etc.

Construction workers were sent to other objects. 3.5 thousand people were assigned to the “Mayak” factory. Many went to work at agriculture jobs. They will receive medium wages. Because of property loss, people will have to be paid a compensation out of Gosstrakh (Note: a state insurance agency - LSW). The people from the countryside should be given a one-time amount of 100 rubles for the head of the household, and 50 rubles for each family member. The public insists on being provided more information and guidance: what to do in the situation they are in.

SHCHERBITSKY: It is very important right now.

GORBACHEV: I thought we have already decided to provide such information locally.

LYASHKO: We need the minister of health and the scientists to speak and broadcast these regionally. Water from under the reactor should not be let out into soil, even if it goes into a pit. A pool should be built. We can build this type of vessel. We also need vessels for the deactivated soil. But places like that should be guarded.

VLASOV: We will do that.

LYASHKO: The school year continues. The primary school needs to be let out in a week, the tenth graders should finish as usual. All the children, evacuated ones, should be taken into summer camps. I am requesting openings for them. The milk gets doubly checked. If there is contamination, it is being sent for butter and cheese production.

GORBACHEV: We have got the project of the resolution. What should we add? We should take into consideration that the situation is very difficult in all aspects: radiation, an enormous territory. There will be no definitive answers from scientists as far as the future goes. That’s why we need to work by the worst-case scenario. The top priority should be the reactor with all the options considered. The working group must consolidate all the necessary resources and mechanisms.

At the same time, the work with the public needs to be underscored: living conditions, jobs, healthcare, etc. Water is a special question. What should we do? We should carry out all the calculations, all the forecasts. Especially planning all that needs to be done in the danger zone.

Separately, we must decide how to be with the outside world. Information must be provided in a calm and balanced manner, without overconfidence but firmly. Panic is the luxury of the subordinates, and not of the Politburo or the government.

The local channels in Ukraine should broadcast more expanded information. Across the Soviet Union, primarily the facts should be broadcast. Maybe the informational frame can be expanded to the outer world, as well. Our adversaries are asking us questions that would on one hand, allow them to judge us as a whole, and on the other hand - smear us with mud. If we add more information now, it will be natural, because the time passes, and with that the amount of facts. But we should not create a picture of overconfidence. We are facing the fact that this situation is a signal to everyone. The public’s opinion should be turned toward the steps we are taking towards nuclear disarmament. This accident, on a nuclear object, tells us that a nuclear war should never be allowed to happen. We should talk about this at a press conference. So, the information needs to be added to, but responsibly.

As for bringing the foreign specialists? As I understood from Legasov, there is no need for it. If there will be a need, then we’ll decide. 

DOLGIKH: This is written in the next to last section.

GROMYKO: I agree with what Mikhail Sergeevich had said. It is correct that the situation remains serious. In the second section of the project it says: to consider.

GORBACHEV: It should say: approve the proposed measures and intensify the work.

GROMYKO: Section 10. We raised this question at the United Nations. We should use what we’ve already talked about previously.

SHCHERBITSKY: Section 9 needs to be expanded, to mention informing the populace regarding the situation.

GORBACHEV: Add this.

MEDVEDEV: Perhaps we should make a mention of periodically informing our friends.

GORBACHEV: It is already in the project. I suggest incorporating these suggestions and approving it.

POLITBURO MEMBERS: Agreed.

GORBACHEV: Boris Evdokimovich, you said that the analysis of the causes of the accident has been completed.

SHCHERBINA: Yes. On 25th of April, the power plant started conducting an experiment to test the reliability of its functioning, which has been approved by the Chief Engineer. It has been a crudest mistake to conduct such a test without taking the reactor functioning into account.

GORBACHEV: What kind of experimenting was it? This is a nuclear power plant.

SHCHERBINA: These kinds of experiments are conducted at power plants. But the nuclear watchdog agency should have been informed of that. The first scientific deputy hasn’t been there.

GORBACHEV: What about the version with hydrogen?

SHCHERBINA: No. There were two explosions inside the reactor.

GORBACHEV: What about the automated systems?

SHCHERBINA: None of the three systems worked.

GORBACHEV: There has already been resolutions regarding the improper operating procedures at Chernobyl NPP.

SHCHERBINA: The personnel have not been properly chosen.

CHEBRIKOV: We have two reactor systems - two-line (the more reliable ones) and the single-line ones. This is a single-line reactor. It doesn’t tolerate fluctuations in the operating procedure. Unplanned things lead to adverse circumstances. There are three systems in place to stop the reactor everywhere, but this one only had two. Capturing the extra heat output - that’s what the experiment was for. Its planning was done without involving the reactor designers.

SHCHERBINA: The hydrogen version was discarded right away. The problem was with the reactor vibrating and speeding up.

DOLGIKH: We should wait for the results of the final analysis.

GROMYKO: We should start discussing this in Central Planning. A big misfortune had struck us. Someone made an oversight, committed a crime and must be punished. What sort of thing they decided to experiment with. The decision should be such that many generations would not forget about this fact.

GORBACHEV: I suggest approving the resolutions regarding the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at Chernobyl and inviting Hans Blix to the USSR.

POLITBURO MEMBERS: Agreed.

The resolutions are approved.