#anyway 3 6 and 12 best doctors!

[innitmarvellous]

I recently continued watching the classic Doctor Who series and...I guess I'll forever be angry about how they did the Sixth Doctor dirty. He immediately became one of my top3 Doctors and I would've loved to see more of him. Such a shame...

[sandymybeloved]

what I think it would take to get each doctor to eat dirt

1: Ian (or Steven) tell the doctor he wouldn't eat dirt, blinded at being told there's something harmless but offputting he wouldn't do, he starts shoveling it in his mouth before thinking. Later Susan (or Vicki) consider eating dirt and he suddenly considers it a bad thing to do

2: someone tells Jamie it's customary to eat dirt in the time or place they're in (probably a trick because they think it'd be funny to watch him eat dirt), the doctor is immediately enamoured by this cultural practise and starts to chow down

3: there are two things that could get 3 to eat dirt, first, much like with 1, the brigadier tells him don't eat dirt, so now 3 must eat dirt. second, the master, a clear prolific eater of dirt, tucks in in front of 3, compelling 3 to join his best friend/worst enemy

4: contrary to what you may think, 4 does not eat dirt except for scientific purposes, there'd be no other circumstances (he does eat dirt for science fairly often though)

5: "no Nyssa, we don't eat dirt, that's bad for you look", eats a tiny amount of dirt, passes out

6: now I've not consumed a lot of 6 so I could be wrong, but he feels to me like the type to eat dirt to prove a point, much like 1 and 3, someone says you wouldn't eat dirt, and he's immediately compelled to prove them wrong

7: has never eaten dirt and would never, delegates all dirt eating duties to Ace, naturally she requires very little persuasion

8: literally the first thing he does on any new planet, its vitally important to his exploring process, how can you understand a planet when you don't know what it tastes like

9: is also in the proving a point category with 1,3 and 6, but will also eat dirt whenever overwhelmed with any positive emotion because briefly it feels so good to be alive

10: literally just eats dirt on a whim, it's a fairly rare whim but there is no correlation between when or why he's eating dirt

11: in front of others same as 4, only eats dirt for science, but it's even rarer for him to eat dirt, in private though, he's constantly doing dirt eating science, like enough to disturb any other doctor as well

12: eats dirt under the guise of science, but really he just enjoys the taste, has gotten all of his companions to eat dirt multiple times too

13: all it takes for 13 to eat dirt is to see dirt, and sometimes what she sees isn't even dirt on closer inspection, but that doesn't stop her from eating it anyway

[klausinamarink]

One Kid Gone, Another Up and Vanished (part 13)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 next: Part 14 | ao3

since Christmas is around the corner, I’ll be busy for the next few days so new chapter as a special treat!

It’s an endless cycle of pain. From every heavy breath to the tiniest movement, his leg just pulses in a way that it shoots the numbness through his body and Eddie would see black and white stars. His brain turns into static for what feels like hours. Then once it fades away, the adrenaline comes back, taunting him to get up. But he can’t because he registers his fucked up leg, starting the process over again. 

Eddie hates lying on the floor with all of these creepy vines around, knowing that one can slither to life and grab his ankle, but it’s the best he can do right now. He’s too tired and weak from the fight to bother attempting to sit up. He does thank any god listening for keeping the strength he had for running downstairs to save Will after the demogorgon chomped on his ankle.

He can hear the commotions in the house, both from the Wheeler family trying to restore power and from Will’s scavenging for healing items. 

Healing items. Why did he say it like that? This isn’t D&D anymore, Eddie!

Though at this point and not for the first time, he wishes this is just a very bad dream that he’s gonna wake up from.

Footsteps loudly clamber down the stairs. Eddie lifts his head up to see Will running towards him with arms full of a thick first aid kit, bottles of questionable liquid, some towels, and tons of bandages that could rewrap a mummy.

“Mrs. Wheeler is always prepared for everything.” Will says hurriedly in lieu of an explanation. He drops next down to Eddie with the supplies. He quickly opens the kit and starts pulling a bunch of things out that Eddie can’t keep track of. But then Will freezes, staring between at the items in hand and Eddie’s wounded leg.

“Hey, Doctor Will,” Eddie heaves out a chuckle, “don’t leave your patient hanging.”

It’s a weak joke but emotional distractions are necessary. At least until Eddie sees the absolute panic in Will’s eyes.

“I don’t know how to fix this.” Will says quietly.

Eddie sucks in another breath through his teeth. Looks at the ceiling and makes a quick prayer. He snaps his fingers, catching Will’s attention. “Do- shit, fuck- we have any water left?”

Will stares at him. Then he’s quickly unzipping his backpack, pulling what Eddie’s positive is their last water bottle. It remains uncracked despite how much Will had ran around earlier. There’s about half of precious water left.

”Okay,” Eddie balls the collar of his tee and pulls it to his mouth, “open it and pour it on the wound.”

Will gives him a fearful look, but Eddie’s already biting into his shitty cloth, chest heaving in anticipation. Will looks away, opens the bottle, and pours the water.

It’s not as horrible as Eddie expects, but it intensifies the pain anyways and he screams through his makeshift gag. Fuck, now he can feel the water soaking into the bloody gashes.

“Towel…” He gasps out and Will is quick to delicately dab it on his leg.

It goes on like this for a long time. Eddie quickly pointing to the rubbing alcohol and the bandages while Will follows, his panic ebbing away to tired determination. In the end, half of his leg throbs under the various bandages. His ankle feels much more raw. His jaw hurts from clenching so tight.

But they’re not staying here. Will doesn’t say it, but Eddie knows from his campaigns that spilled blood guarantees monsters. And even though they killed the demogorgon, who the fuck knows if there’s another lurking nearby?

It’s an agonizingly slow process. Every step on his bad leg sends up painful jolts. He’s certain that he can feel the blood draining out of the wound and, boy, doesn’t that make his stomach lurch.

Despite the fragile support of their remaining spear and Will’s own helping hand, Eddie makes it out of the Wheeler house and onto the street. But the strain on his body and the instant awareness of being vulnerable out in the open is making him sweat.

One house down and Eddie falls to the ground. He’s shaking so bad he can’t even hold himself.

“Eddie, no!” Will starts pulling at his arm. “Get up! You can make it!”

Eddie weakly laughs, “N-No-” He stops, feeling his stomach seize and racing up to his mouth. This time, he can’t swallow down the nausea. So he rolls over slightly and throws up. It’s a gross puddle of liquid and uncooked soup, his main diet since he ended up here. He feels a few bits stuck in his throat so he tries to spit, but his mouth is so gross and dry that it makes him gag again. Then it sends him into a coughing fit, rough enough to hack out his lungs.

“Eddie!”

He rolls on his back, staring up at the starless sky while he catches his breath again. A couple of ashy spores kiss the corner of his eyes as if they’re trying to make him cry. Eddie’s certain he can’t cry anymore.

He’s so tired.

“Eddie!” Will leans over him, his bowl cut and tear-streamed eyes blocking his vision. His hands grab underneath Eddie’s shoulders and surprisingly manages to drag and lift him up, though half of his back is still on the ground. “You stupidhead! Move or you’ll die!”

Eddie shudders out another breath, “I really- I can’t get up.”

Will makes a frustrated noise before he punches Eddie’s back and then runs around to his side. He hoists Eddie’s arm over his tiny shoulders and starts pulling him again. This time, Eddie pushes himself through the burning of his body and forces himself up, trying not to lean completely onto Will, given how small and weaker the kid is.

Instead of continuing down the sidewalk, they turn straight to the house right next to them. Eddie makes no complaint to the change of plans, though he struggles to keep his weight from crushing Will.

After too many steps, they finally get through the front door. Once inside, they both collapse right on the spot. Eddie’s chest feels like ice at this point.

He hears Will dropping his things down before getting up and dashing through the hallway. A moment later, he comes back with a bedsheet and some stiff looking pillows. Eddie almost moans with relief as Will places the pillows under his leg and head. Then he diligently throws the bedsheet over Eddie, also covering the space they’re occupying on the cold floor.

Despite the thin bedsheet, Eddie already feels hot under it. He’s not risking in moving his leg again so he keeps perfectly still as Will’s trembling body lies down, pressing close to his side, nestling his face against the crook of Eddie’s neck.

There’s a moment when an array of low barking starts just nearby, making the two of them freeze and hold their breaths. Eddie thinks, Oh fuck, don’t tell me we got wild dogs. Then after what feels like hours, the new pack goes silent. Eddie hopefully assumes the whatever they were, the creatures have left.

Before Eddie can submit to the exhaustion at last, Will suddenly pleads quietly and tearfully, “Please don’t die when I wake up.”

Eddie stops. He stops breathing, moving, thinking. He doesn’t dare to look at Will. This sweet, creative, badass kid who is his only friend in the hell they’re in. This kid who’s hugging him like the demogorgon will appear again and wouldn’t let go anyways. 

Will doesn’t deserve him. Neither does Eddie but goddamn, it hurts trying to convince himself that.

He finally moves, but only his right hand as he fiercely rubs up and down Will’s back. Eddie whispers, “I won’t die, Will. Neither are you.”

Will’s voice cracks, “You promise?”

“Yep. Because we’re the strongest and luckiest sons of bitches in this realm.” 

Will makes a weak laugh before it shifts into a cough. Soon after, his breathing slows to a soft whistling out of his nose. With a small sigh, Eddie closes his eyes and finally sleeps.

It’s a restless one, mostly dreams of being eleven at knocking at Wayne’s closed front door while petal-shaped maws rip his skin to shreds.

-

Taglist: @unclewaynemunson @hellion-child @steves-strapcollection @sidekick-hero @penny00dreadful @hbyrde36 @mmmmwaffles94 @princessstevemunson @sirsnacksalot @tartarusknight @lyriclight @kodaik97 @plsdontdrinkmylavalamp @bookbinderbitch @gutterflower77 @soaringorinthopher @angeldreamsoffanfic @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch @manda-panda-monium @newtstabber @little-trash-ghost @niniel-karenine @tinyplanet95

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 11th Doctor

My favourite of the New Who Doctors. I started with his era and it changed my life.

10. The World Tree

A recent addition to this Doctor's EU canon, I utterly love this little story. It's another winner of the Paul Spragg Memorial, so you can download it for free on the Big Finish website. I urge you to do so.

9. The God Complex

Having previously written School Reunion and Vampires of Venice, I presume Toby Whithouse's reputation in the Who fandom was something along the lines of "he writes the fun, fluffy ones". The God Complex is his first darker and, well, more complex script. And it really, really works. I have a soft spot for most of his episodes anyway, but The God Complex is probably the most ambitious one. I adore the visceral liminality of that hotel, it's so good. (Also, I choose to ignore that nonsense reveal in The Time of the Doctor.)

8. Apotheosis / The Child of Time

These two basically form a two-parter, so I'm putting them together. Although, for the record, I prefer Apotheosis, contrary to what Jonathan Morris presumes in his commentary at the end of the comic strip collection. Mostly because I love Dan McDaid's art so bloody much, but also because of the atmosphere, setting, clever use of the medium (the stuff with the beard ROCKS), and nuns with guns. But The Child of Time is also pretty great as a big, satisfying finale full of fun twists. I said it before, I'll say it again - Morris is a great chameleon, perfect at writing excellent Doctor Who stories while using voices of other excellent Doctor Who writers. I mean, he admits in the commentary that he wanted to get the strips close to Moffat's style and I think he definitely succeeded.

7. Amy's Choice

It's a shame Simon Nye never wrote any more Doctor Who, because Amy's Choice is a stellar character piece. Toby Jones' Dream Lord is such a memorable presence and the connundrum this episode presents is really fun and unique.

6. Space in Dimension Relative and Time

one best the is it but One Year Doctor's eleventh in one-shot experimental only the not It's. clever really, really it's yet, simple It's. it read go all should you and story timey-wimey unique and fun really a in potential full it's to medium the uses Williams Rob.

5. The Eleventh Hour

The episode that hooked me. The episode that changed my life. I fully believe this is the best episode to show to someone new to Doctor Who.

4. The Rise and Fall / The Other Doctor

A two-parter, with the first part written by Al Ewing and draw by Boo Cook, and the second part written by Rob Williams and drawn by Simon Fraser. I've only read Year One of eleventh Doctor's comics published by Titan, but I strongly feel the story of the Doctor taking on SERVEYOUinc. In a way, the story feels like a conversation not just with Doctor Who's past and present, but also with it's future... It feels like the perfect antidote to Kerblam!.

3. The Day of the Doctor (and The Day of the Doctor)

Listening to Steven Moffat talk about The Day of the Doctor is weird. Everything around the writing and production of the 50th anniversary special seems like hell. And yet, the end result is something that's not just extremely good Doctor Who, it feels like it knows it's good Doctor Who. It looks simple, seems self-assured, appears to know exactly what it's doing. It's a minor miracle. And it's also amazing. Gallifrey falls no more. All thirteen and all that.

Note: This spot is shared between the episode AND the novelisation. I love both of them very much. Go read the novelisation if you haven't read it yet. It's really, really fun.

2. Vincent and the Doctor

Nearly everyone loves this episode and, well, I can't really argue with that. It really is special. I adore it, the greatest celebrity historical the show ever did.

1. The Doctor's Wife

My favourite New Who episode.

So, I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman. That is probably not a shocking take on this website. My collection of his work currently includes 12 books (1 in Czech translation, the rest in English), 6 comic books (1 in Czech translation, the rest in English), and 1 script book. I love Neil Gaiman.

I love the idea of the Corsair. I actually roleplayed as an incarnation of the Corsair in a game of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who TTRPG at a Red Dwarf convention recently. In front of an audience of like four people.

Hell, I even made a fanart of the Nephew like 6 or 7 year ago. I love the poor Ood and I love the horror aspect of the episode, with TARDIS becoming an abject and unfamiliar place when she gets possessed by the House.

But the reason I love this episode the most out of not just the eleventh Doctor's era but all of the 2005 series is... Well, it's the relationship. The Doctor and his TARDIS. Or, the Thief and his Sexy. It recontextualizes the whole mythology, it recontextualizes the entire series in a way that's so moving and poetic and just... perfect. I love The Doctor's Wife.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi, I love love love cuddling, hand holding and kissing before being in a relationship, got any more, please 🙏

Hi Lovely!!

Ah, I don't have a lot of new fics to add, but I need a list for this weekend, so here you are!! Not EXACTLY what you're looking for but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway :)

HUGS, CUDDLES AND KISSES Pt 7

See also:

Tooth Rotting Fluff

Hugs & Cuddles and Tooth-Rotting Fluff (Pt. 2)

Hugs & Cuddles Pt. 2 / .../

... / Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 3 /...

Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 4

Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 5

Hugs, Cuddles & Kisses Pt. 6

Hand Holding (for Comfort)

First Kiss

The Last Room At The End of The Hall by Corporate_cards (G, 219 w.,  1 Ch. || Fluff) – All things can wait, for finally things work, in the last room at the end of the hall. Part 1 of Random Things I've Written In Class -- Johnlock

Bond, Sherlock Bond! by macgyvershe (T, 631 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Kissing, Couch Cuddles, Sexy Talk with No Explicit Sex, Bond Night, Established Relationship) – John is doing a Bond-a-thon. Sherlock is ready for a night of movies and munchies. Washed down with Devil Mountain coffee. Eventually everything comes together in the best of ways.

Octopus by glass_rose_paperweight (G, 705 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff, Bed Sharing, Limpet Sherlock) – A week after Sherlock and John finally get together, and John is finding sharing a bed with Sherlock Holmes to be ... difficult, sometimes. If not downright suffocating.

A Comprehensive Taxonomy of Tobacco-Ash by Silvergirl (E, 11,475 w., 2 Ch. || No TRF AU || Cranky Sherlock, Alternating POV’s, Self-Esteem Issues, Jealous John, Pining John, Confessions, First Kiss, Frottage, Bed Sharing, Sensuality, Cuddling, Touching) – A handsome academic approaches Sherlock about publishing his magnum opus on tobacco-ash in a prestigious scientific journal. Sherlock is quite flattered and flustered, and John’s nose is out of joint.In this little AU there is no Fall and no Mary. Instead, there is humor and smut. Truly a disproportionate amount of smut.

You Might Just as Well Be Blind by ArwaMachine (E, 56,625 w., 12 Ch. || Fake Relationship, For a Case, Bed Sharing, Platonic Cuddling, Jealous Sherlock, Oblivious John, BAMF Hudders, Fluff and Angst, Frottage, Anal Sex, Happy Ending, Case Fic, Flirting, Pining John, POV John, Toplock, Possessive Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Infidelity) – When a serial killer starts targeting couples, Sherlock and John must do what they have to do in order to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, John already has a girlfriend. Surely pretending to be in a relationship with Sherlock won't pose any problems with his relationship, will it?

Bakers with Benefits by Raina_at (E, 88,130 w., 14 Ch. || Great British Bake Off AU || Strangers to Lovers, Switchlock, Friends with Benefits, Mentions of Alcoholism / Past Drug Use, Banter, Flirting, Fluff, Light Angst, Semi-Public Sex, Past Sherlock/Victor, Mutual Pining, POV Sherlock, Obsessive Sherlock, John’s Bum) – Sherlock Holmes has a successful YouTube baking channel, but what he really wants is his own bakery. When an old friend sends him a call for the very first Great British Bake Off, he seizes the opportunity to finally win a sponsor for his bakery. Here's the plan: Win Bake Off, get the bakery, don't fall in love with the handsome Army doctor at the neighbouring station. Easy.

[bottomoftheriverbed]

Get to know me tag game. Tagged by @kitkatt0430!

1. Do you make your bed?

Not really. I spend most of my time in bed so there's no point really.

2. Favourite number?

I don't really have one but probably 22 if pressed because it's my birthday.

3. What's your job?

I don't have one. I'm a student and I'm disabled so I'm not really able to work. I might try and do some tutoring next year but it depends how my health is. Eventually I want to work in heritage.

4. If you could go back to school would you?

I'm at university doing my undergrad right now. I probably want to continue on and do a masters at least. Maybe a PhD as well.

5. Can you parallel park?

My wheelchair? Just about. But not anything else

6. Do you think aliens are real?

I think the universe is so big that it's more probable that there is some form of life out there then not.

7. Can you drive a manual car?

I cannot drive any car. I keep thinking I ought to try and learn but it's very intimidating

8. Guilty pleasure?

Naps. Pretty books. Mumford and sons.

9. Tattoos?

None yet. I'm thinking of getting one over the summer it's just whether or not I can get round to it. I'd have to not swim for a little bit and now I'm swimming regularly again I get antsy if I don't for a few weeks so it's psyching myself up for that.

10. Favourite colour?

Blue probably. Maybe green. I'm not very good at picking favourites but I generally prefer blues, greens and purples.

11. Favourite type of music?

It tends to depend on my mood but if I had to pick I'd probably go folk rock/indie folk that type of thing.

12. Do you like puzzles?

Yes although I do have to be in the right sort of mood.

13. Any phobias?

For all I'm an anxious person and a bit of a scaredy cat I can't actually think of any specific phobias.

14. Favourite childhood sport?

Swimming/artistic (synchronised) swimming. Swimming is the only sport I've ever been even remotely good at. It was very satisfying seeing the look on the face of my dickhead year 4 teacher who choose his favourites based on athletic ability when I was one of the best in the class at it. I ended up doing synchro after I reached the highest level of swimming lessons and wasn't really quick enough for speed swimming. I had to quit when I got sick but I've started up again at uni. I also had a tennis phase (my Opa did it because apparently my grandmother was good at it)

15. Do you talk to yourself?

Yes and I was very offended as a child when people said it was the first sign of madness.

16. What movies do you adore?

Pan's labyrinth, the grand Budapest hotel, 1996 Romeo and Juliet. Sound of music is very nostalgic for me and I do love it very much. The inkheart film is objectively a bit shit but I kind of love it anyway. The paddington films are also up there.

17. Tea or coffee?

I don't drink either.

18. First thing you wanted to be growing up?

An author. I wanted to be a doctor for most of my childhood as well.

Tagging @steeple-sinderby-wanderers @heffer-wen @ontargetmadders

[satans-poptarts]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @mrv3000

1. how many works do you have on Ao3? 195

2. what's your total Ao3 word count? 403 068

3. what fandoms do you write for? percy jackson and the olympians, heroes of olympus, trials of apollo, kane chronicles, magnus chase and the gods of asgard, nevermoor, her royal highness, roots of chaos, x-men (films mostly but some comic bleedover), avatar the last airbender, the legend of korra, the kyoshi novels, marvel cinematic universe, bbc ghosts, a song of ice and fire, doctor who, the locked tomb, star wars (prequels mostly), spiderman comics, rosewood chronicles, derry girls, dc (vaguely, comics)

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

rot with all the burnouts in the cell (dc marvel crossover)

oh my brother, my brother, my brother (who have you become in the wake of all that's happened?) (star wars timetravel)

breezeblocks bricking up my heart (my take on a dadneto reveal)

water into wine (five times percy was the son of dionysus and one time he was the son of poseidon)

5. do you respond to comments? i do my best

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

that's relative and i have so many fics that this probably isn't accurate but by my own measure it's probably don't want to fight the tide (nevermoor fic, being immortal sucks)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

again that's relative but i'd say there's a million roads to rediscover (pjo/hoo five times jason missed his sister, and one time he saw her again)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

occasionally i get like smarmy comments like one on a certain fic that the timeline didn't line up (it did + i had page references + it was tagged canon divergence anyway) but not really

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have one so ig lesbian threesomes??

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i write so many crossovers i love putting characters in situations. probably rot with all the burnouts in the cell since it involved a ton of drama

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i think one of them but i can't remember which one. (technically this is studying) i'm trying to translate a few of my drabbles into scots gaelic

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

in part like it got started and then i got ghosted before anything else happened

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

the couple i've written the most about is a tie between morridence, fierrochase, and jadie, but i'd say i get the most feelings about ruegard

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Great the Roman is coming up to its third year anniversary this month and i only hit the halfway point a few months ago so we'll see

16. What are your writing strengths?

lesbians. probably emotional stuff if i'm being serious

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plot. its part of the reason i only do oneshots about 1k-3k but i'd like to work on more big fics. part of the reason was i started a bunch back in 2021 and i'm still working on two of them

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

one of my fics has some dialogue in scots gaelic but i cannot remember for the life of me if its supposed to be 'S ann or 'S e form and its haunting me

19. First fandom you wrote for?

fun fact: i originally wrote on wattpad and published a fierrochase fic on the release day of the hammer of thor. it's called fierrochase and it Sucks but it might actually be the first one ever which is fun if not slightly haunting

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

well you don't know me. but i know you it's a asoiaf time travel fic from the pov of people who don't know. i feel like i really pushed myself with characterisation on it

tagging people who i think write fic @tragedykery @lesmiserablol @oh-hush-its-perfect @thebigqueer @aphrodititi @ethannku @speedytherandom

[gods-no-longer-tread-here]

I'm not an economist or a healthcare worker or a philosopher or whatever, I'm barely a college student, but I saw someone talking about a four-hour workday and I have a neat idea:

What if, instead of focusing on how many hours an individual works, we focus on getting more people hired? I don't mean with "job preparedness training" or other shit that pushes the fault on to people who need work, I mean we force companies to hire more. Punish having a skeleton crew, reward having a full staff. This prevents debate about the fairness of some jobs being 6-hour shifts and others being 12, because as long as there are enough people to get everything done safely and effectively, the hours don't actually matter.

Example: doctors and nurses have a high risk of exhaustion, burnout, addiction, and suicide because they work long hours with barely any rest. It is actually fairly necessary to work long hours: surgeries can take hours, giving birth can last an entire day, and even the office work is time-consuming. The solution is not to limit healthcare workers to 6 hour shifts, it's to hire more of them so each individual can have more time to recover. Would you rather the surgeon be swapped out halfway through your operation, or would you rather that surgeon get to go home afterwards and rest, so that on their next shift, they will be alert again and ready to do their best?

(also I cannot state this enough, nurses are the backbone of every clinic, hospital, and office. we have GOT to be kinder to nurses. yes even the ones who you personally think are assholes, because it IS actually possible to be a cunt and also a genuinely dedicated healer.)

Example 2: childcare! It should be safe and affordable and not force someone to cut their hours short! Which means we need more daycare workers, more daycares in general, and more places like youth centers and YMCAs or even library programs for kids who can't be home alone after school but their parents work long shifts.

Anyway, companies should hire more workers and the obscenely wealthy should be murdered with canape forks. <3

[janetbrown711]

I Have a Couple Hundred Thoughts Running Through My Brain

Tang hasn't been doing well since his finals and his doctoral program applications went out, but agreed to go with Pigsy and his family + the kids to see the New Years Fireworks (even though he hates fireworks and is stressed out of his mind). Surely all will go as planned.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 8.5 Part 9 Part 10 Part 10.5 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

Ao3 Link

Tang was the most normal anyone could have possibly ever been in the history of being normal.

He definitely wasn’t sweating through his damn scarf with anxiety as he wandered down to the lobby of his apartment complex four times an hour just to check if he’d been accepted into a doctorate program.

It had been a difficult month– so difficult in fact he actually pondered looking up actual study methods that weren’t just cramming– desperate times indeed.

His finals were a mess, but he managed to scrape by with mostly B+s and only one C, so that was good.

Good enough for grad programs though..?

Tang didn’t know, and he felt mortal terror every time he tried to figure that out.

But alas, that was not the only thing on his mind, because tonight was Lunar New Years, and he was going to meet Pigsy’s parents again, and therefore had to tear through his closet in an attempt to find something that would leave a… better impression than the last time they’d met.

Ugh, Tang still cringed at the memory of it all.

No matter– he was just going to do better this time– simple as that.

…Better was possible, it had to be. Tang could be better– after all, if Mr. and Mrs. Zhu already think he’s rude, then that means it can only go up from there… right?

…

Tang was going to die tonight.

With many breathing exercises, Tang selected the same scarf he always wore, plus the tang suit he had worn on his and Pigsy's official first date because– well– he’d like to say it was because it had some deep meaning, but really it was because it was the only one he owned. Besides, he looked… kinda nice in it. If he combed his hair right– which he would’ve normally but lost too many prongs the other day and the poor thing had to finally be put to rest.

Which meant he was sticking with wild hair tonight.

Yayyyy….

Tang looked himself over in the mirror and almost pondered not wearing his glasses so he wouldn’t have to confront the fact he looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten in three weeks (which he had-! Technically. Most days, anyways). He couldn’t though– he had made a promise to Pigsy and he was going to fulfill it to the best of his abilities dammit– especially after receiving such a cryptic text the other day…

Free Food <3 : When are you visiting the restaurant again?

(Tang) : Have 1 test 2mor so after new years

Free Food <3 : Oh ok

(Tang) : R u ok?

Free Food <3 : Tired.

(Tang) : Want 2 talk?

Free Food <3 : No. See you at new years.

(Tang) : c u @ New Years, <3 u

Free Food <3 : ❤️

It wasn’t helped that Pigsy didn’t stop by for the next three days, and that he messaged it on career day, which was something he’d dreaded. Shame it went poorly, but there was nothing Tang could do now except make this night marvelous and perfect.

Now was the time to relax and enjoy the festivals and all that– this was fine! It was going to be great!

…It was going to be great.

With a sigh, Tang shoved his phone, keys, and barely-not-empty wallet into his pants pocket and headed out of his apartment.

Immediately Tang was bombarded with the sounds of street music, firecrackers, and salesmen trying to give rat themed trinkets and bamboo to burn to any tourist or child who walked by, so naturally Tang just kept his eyes forward as he struggled his way further downtown.

He was stopped by about five dragon dances and three groups of children in rat ears running in front of him, but thankfully the scholar made his way to the subway and was able to jump over the turnstile without getting caught by guards and wait for his train in the overcrowded and absurdly humid underground tunnel.

People bumped into the scrawny scholar about seven times before his train to the upper east arrived and Tang scrambled for a seat to let his ankles rest while they could. There was more singing and loud music on the train, as there was a group with a ruan singing Gong Xi, which was normally fine enough, but Tang found them particularly loud tonight.

Still, after three stops Tang handed a couple yuan over and waved goodbye before heading straight to Pigsy’s place.

…Tang hated rich neighborhoods, it brought back memories he was trying to forget. Not to mention, he definitely didn’t belong, looking the way he did right now.

Deep breaths, Tang, deep breaths.

He was glad Pigsy’s apartment complex was a lot quieter on the inside than the outside, and while he didn’t love dealing with security, he was glad to be in the elevator and riding up in silence.

Be normal, Tang. You are going to be the most normal you have ever been, ever. Simple. Easy. Be normal.

The elevator dinged for Tang’s arrival and so after taking a few more deep breaths, he knocked on the door.

Be. Normal.

The door swung open alarmingly quick, and where his Pigsy should’ve been, a much, much taller–

Ah- yes.

“H-hello, Mr. Zhu,” Tang bowed a little, though didn’t know why and cringed at himself.

Pigsy’s father looked down on him before snorting and stepping aside.

“Haha, thank you– sir,” Tang smiled as he stepped inside, which was when he noticed that Mrs. Zhu was playing piano, with MK by her side singing songs.

“Didn’t bring anything?” Mr. Zhu startled the poor scholar, who practically tripped over himself.

“I-i– not this time– I-i brought the wine and lotus for the mid-autumn festival though-! This time money’s just been not happening because of school and really–”

“Pops, is that Tang?” Tang heard his savior call from the kitchen, and Tang took the opportunity to sprint away.

“Hey you– two-!” He said, regarding Mei standing over a pot of noodles and stirring with a wooden ladle, who smiled at him.

“Tang– it’s good to see you,” Pigsy hugged Tang before immediately letting go and inspecting his face. “What happened to you? You’re practically skin and bone!”

“Ahhh, you’re just exaggerating,” Tang tried to brush off.

“Your hair is– well, it certainly ain’t bad– but it’s different too,” Pigsy noted with a slight blush. “Are you okay? Have you been okay?”

“Y-yeah! What about you– you seem to have a lot going on for promising dinner would just be quick before we head out,” Tang looked around.

“Partly Ma’s fault– but I– well… I dunno, I thought maybe it’d been awhile since– bah, nevermind,” Pigsy shook his head and checked on some spring rolls.

“He missssed youuuuuuuuuuuuu,” Mei ‘whispered’, getting her a look from Pigsy that made her laugh more.

“I– yes. I’ve… missed you,” He half mumbled.

Tang laughed, “It’s okay, I missed you too,” he teased, making Pigsy blush harder as he really really checked on those spring rolls, making Mei laugh more.

Tang paused, looking at her, then at Pigsy, then at her again before shaking his head.

The girl was seven– she couldn’t– like– know. Heck– she probably didn’t even know gay people existed. He was being crazy when he needed to be normal.

Be. Normal.

“So… MK and your mom, huh? What’re they doing playing piano together?” Tang asked, taking a seat on a stool at the kitchen island.

“Ma was talkin’ all about how she and my Nana used to play and how I’d– uh– also play,” Pigsy clearly lied, much to Tang’s suspicion.

“Really?” The scholar decided to push.

“Ha, yep,” Pigsy moved on to checking on how Mei was doing with the noodles.

“What notes and fingerings are in the D Major Scale?” Tang asked, and the demon froze.

“I– uh… d-.... D?” Pigsy tried, and Tang laughed.

“You never played piano! What are you hiding from me?” He laughed.

“Nothing-! Er– nothing important, anyways, I don’t really– it’s not relevant– maybe some other time,” Pigsy waved that off and Mei jumped off her stepping stool to join Tang.

“He wouldn’t tell us either. Said he hadn’t been around a piano in years so no point in bringing ‘it’ up now since he was out of practice,” Mei informed the scholar.

“Interesting,” Tang stroked his chin just to tease his easily flustered partn–boyfr–

Shit– Did they have a label yet??? Or were they just “dating”? Has it been long enough? It had been five months– that felt kind of long. But was it enough….

“So… why’s MK interested?” Tang switched back the conversation to his original curiosity.

“Oh, well… I don’t know,” The chef scratched the back of his neck. “I think kid just likes the sound and feeling of pressing the keys, and of course Ma’ll take any opportunity to try and revive her piano teachin’ days.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Tang commented. “What about you Mei? You got any instrumental interests?”

“I can play the guqin, erhu, and a little bit of dizi,” Mei shrugged. “Wasn’t really my thing, but if I had to pick, guqin was the most interesting.”

“Ah– parents force you into lessons?” Tang pitied as the girl nodded. “It’s okay– my parents made me learn guqin when I was a kid, and guzheng when I was older.”

“Yeesh– I don’t think I could handle that many strings,” Mei shook her head.

“Oh trust me, I couldn’t either– that’s why they kicked me out of the orchestra,” Tang laughed. “I did always fancy the erhu though– you’re gonna have to give me tips one day.”

“Oh– okay!” Mei seemed pleasantly surprised by the suggestion, meaning Tang had won at least one conversation today (something normal to want and possible to achieve), meaning he could relax a bit.

Only a bit though, as Mr. Zhu walked in and went to the couch shortly after.

Pigsy noticed this and scoffed, “Don’t mind ‘im, he’s just here cuz Ma’s here.”

His father huffed in contempt before lighting a cigar that had been in his coat pocket.

Pigsy growled, but said nothing.

“Sooo… you excited for the fireworks, Mei?” Tang asked, successfully changing the rapidly declining energy in the room, as Mei rambled and rambled and rambled until Pigsy announced it was time and dinner was served.

And wowza– Tang thought he was going to pass out at the large swarms of food around him– everything from spring rolls to duck to dumplings to the yi mian looked amazing, which he of course expected from Pigsy but… yeah, wowza.

“Jiejie, your little guest looks like he’s going to faint,” Mrs. Zhu teased Tang as she grabbed herself some spring rolls.

“Ma, please,” Pigsy gave her a look.

“No, no– she’s right– this is– wow– it looks amazing sw– Pigsy,” Tang panic smiled.

“I– uh– thanks,” Pigsy blushed a little before clearing his throat, “Anyone want the yi mian?”

“I do!!” MK waved his hand excitedly.

“Too bad,” Pigsy winked and served himself some.

“Ah beans,” MK crossed his arms.

Tang laughed, “MK, it’s a lazy susan, just grab what’s in front of you.”

“Oh right yeah,” MK face palmed and scooped some rice for himself then Mei.

The second food was able to hit Tang’s lips, he just about melted into a puddle in his seat– right before his hunger kicked in and he started just about scarfing it all down.

Mrs. Zhu laughed at that again, this time asking, “Pigsy, are you sure this fellow of yours isn’t actually a pig demon?”

“M-ma!!” Pigsy exclaimed while Tang choked on his food.

“Oh! Right– that’s rude isn’t it? Hm,” His mother shook it off jovially while Pigsy patted Tang’s back.

“Fellow? What’s a fellow?” MK looked at Pigsy and Tang.

“Friend, MK. It just means friend,” Pigsy sighed as Tang regained composure.

“Oh right– my mistake,” Mrs. Zhu looked at Pigsy and Tang once over before shrugging to herself, sending a wave of panic down Tang.

Normal, Tang. Act normal, think normal, be normal.

Especially because Mr. Zhu is looking right at you ahahahahhaahahhaha—

Tang kept his eyes forward and ate at his best attempt of a normal pace to eat food (though certainly chugged a bit of the jiao wine).

Tang sighed a massive breath of relief when dinner finally came to an end, and Tang could excuse himself to the restroom, where he promptly stared at himself in the mirror.

“Okay Tang, you survived dinner,” He whispered to himself. “Now all you gotta do is survive fireworks. Easy peasy. Totally chill and normal and pbbt– whatever.”

Oh god, he was totally tipsy.

Well… it was better than completely drunk, so Tang would just have to roll with it.

“Tang? You–uh– alright in there?” Pigsy knocked on the door, causing Tang to jump and knock over some soap.

“I-i– yes! It’s fine! I’m fine! Thanks Pigsy,” Tang panicked to fix it before looking at himself in the mirror.

What a mess.

He cleaned his glasses, mumbling the whole time before seeing if that made him look any better and– yeah, nope. Nothing could save him now.

Welp. Here goes nothing.

He opened the door, greeted by a worried looking Pigsy, who examined him up and down.

“Are you okay?” He asked bluntly.

“Of course, Pigsy. Now c’mon– I don’t think I heard Mei say she wanted to see a lion dance,” He took Pigsy’s hand with zero hesitation and headed for the door.

“I– uh– okay,” Pigsy laughed but only a little.

“UGH– can we go now? I don’t wanna miss a lion danceeeee,” Mei complained.

“Told ya,” Tang snorted, stumbling a little.

“Right– everyone got coats?” Pigsy rolled his eyes with a smile. MK and Mei nodded, but that made Tang pause because he most certainly did not.

Tang thought perhaps Pigsy wouldn’t notice, but then MK loudly pointed out he didn’t and all eyes were on him.

“Tang– it’s new years, where’s your coat?” Pigsy looked around.

Mrs. Zhu tilted her head. “Do you not have one, dear?”

Mr. Zhu just looked at him.

“Ah– it’s fine, it’s all fine– I don’t need one– I am very resistant to cold actually,” Tang lied with the kind of confidence that could only arise with intoxication.

“Then why do you wear a scarf all the time?” MK tilted his head.

“That is purely a… fashion statement,” He lied again.

“Ah geez, I’d offer you one of mine, Tang, but uh… I don’t think they’d fit,” Pigsy scratched his neck.

“It’s fine, Pigsy, really,” He smiled at the demon.

“If you say so,” Pigsy looked him up and down again before shaking his head. “Let's roll out then.”

And roll out they did, right into the bustling and unreasonably loud streets of uppercrust Megapolis. Lights and lanterns and fire were decorating nearly every corner, as well as people selling flowers, jade souvenirs, and rat themed memorabilia, just as it had been on his way up, but these ones were even more overpriced.

“Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Can I get a rat plushie Pigsy? Can I? Can I? Can I?” Mei jumped up and down and pointed to a stall.

“I– uh–”

“Oh I’ll buy one for you dear,” Mrs. Zhu interrupted her son and suddenly she and Mei were off.

“Uh… okay,” Pigsy blinked. “You want anything MK?”

MK looked around and shrugged. “Call me when it's the year of the monkey.”

Tang laughed. “That won’t be for awhile, MK.”

“Ah beans,” MK crossed his arms and looked at the stuffed animals again before shaking his head again. “I’m fine. Don’t need one.”

“Alright, let me know if you change your mind,” Pigsy accepted and they waited for Mei, who returned with not only a plushie, but rat eats, stick on whiskers, a keychain, and two sparklers.

Something about that… struck Tang. He couldn’t say what or why, but there was now a void in his chest he hadn’t previously been aware of.

Normal, Tang. Be normal.

“Sooooo– anyone interested in seeing any–” Tang was interrupted by the deafening sound of teenagers lighting firecrackers on the street nearby, causing Tang to run his fingers against his scarf and wince.

“Ooo! I wanna light firecrackers!” MK shouted. “Can we get some of those Pigsy?”

“Yeah that’s gonna be a no,” Pigsy cringed and guided them closer to where a lion dance was getting started.

The kids seemed satisfied, but all Tang could think about was all of the loud instruments and cracking and screaming as it all started to just swirl in his brain. That, combined with the half-frozen rain beginning to fall, and a bad feeling in his stomach made for a rather unpleasant experience for the poor scholar. Not that he’d let anyone know this, of course– that’d be just beyond rude. And Tang wasn’t rude. He was pleasant. He was nice.

He was normal.

Besides, it was still fun to watch the truly admirable talent of the dancers as the tail ends would lift the heads to show the lion “standing on its hind legs” and then watch it jump from platform to platform, while moving in perfect sync. Heck– it brought back memories to when he had told his mother he wanted to be a lion dancer when he was older, but she had said–

…

Tang kept watching.

At one point, a bubble machine turned on and suddenly MK and Mei were both running around trying to pop them while also cheering on the dancers, and Tang just kind of looked around to see if there was anywhere to sit, as his ankle was starting to flare up. However, before he could get a chance, confetti poppers went off as the lions unfurled banners in their mouths calling for good fortune and for a prosperous new year, which made everyone clap and cheer. Tang wanted to pull his ears off, but clapped along nonetheless.

At least it meant the dance was over and MK and Mei arrived with fistfulls of confetti.

“Pigsy! Can I keep this?!” MK showed the confetti to his guardian.

“Kid, you aren’t gonna remember where you got that from in a week,” Pigsy shook his head, “it’s best to just toss it out.”

“Awww, but it’s so pretty! And it’ll just go in the trash!” MK whined.

“That’s the life of confetti for you,” Pigsy shrugged. “C’mon, the fireworks are gonna start soon and I want us to find a good spot.”

Finally sitting down, thank goodness.

“Oh-! But first…” Mrs. Zhu winked at the children before running off to another stall, making her husband roll his eyes.

MK blinked. “What’s she getting?”

Pigsy sighed, “Probably somethin’ nobody needs.”

Tang didn’t know if it’d be rude to agree but he sure wanted to with how much he was starting to get a headache and ankle ache and everything ache. But no, Tang was trying to make a good impression and just kept running his hands on his scarf over and over and over again.

He really wanted this night to end already.

Mrs. Zhu didn’t seem like she would return for awhile though, making Pigsy on edge while Tang tried rocking back and forth to see if it would relieve any of his anxiety or aches, but nothing was working which only caused it to increase while they all just stood there wishing they could be sitting down.

When Mrs. Zhu returned though, it was clear what took her so long– as she was holding two bouquets of chrysanthemums with either a little jade monkey and dragon attached and a little note card with fancy calligraphy.

“Ah– Ma, that’s… very kind,” Pigsy grimaced.

���Jiayi, you’re going to spoil them,” Mr. Zhu said his longest sentence of the night with a huff.

“Oh you hush now, Hangleng,” Mrs. Zhu waved him off and handed the bouquets to the children, leaving poor Mei struggling with all her merchandise.

Pigsy sighed. “Here Mei– I’ll carry some,” he offered, and the girl sloppily handed over literally everything except the unlit sparklers, which she noticed.

“Piggy, can we light these?” Mei asked.

Pigsy was clearly prepared for this, looking up in dramatic thought before suddenly sucking air through his teeth, “Sorry kiddo, but you need a lighter for those and I don’t have one on me.”

“Ah nuts,” Mei kicked the ground.

“Sorry kiddo, maybe next year you can use the dangerous sparklers,” Pigsy patted her back when suddenly Mr. Zhu reached into his pocket and brought out his lighter.

“Woah– really?” Mei’s face lit up, meanwhile Pigsy looked like he was going to kill his dad, to a still sort of tipsy Tang’s amusement.

Mr. Zhu just rolled his eyes and Mei took the lighter.

“Ack– here– how’s about I just–” Pigsy sighed in frustration over his own lack of hands.

“Here– hand it to me Mei,” Tang offered instead, which Pigsy still wasn’t loving but Mei handed it over and Tang flicked it on with ease.

One by one MK and Mei lit their sparklers, and the pair instantly became mesmerized.

“This is the coolest thing ever!” MK’s grin was so wide it looked like it might fall off his face, making Tang laugh.

“Just don’t touch it– it’s still fire,” Pigsy warned.

“Psssssshhhhhhhhhhh, I’m a dragon, I think I’ll be fine,” Mei proudly proclaimed, trying to draw a star with the light.

After that the two of them tried spelling their names and drawing animals, but mostly just drew scribbles while the adults tried to usher them to a designated firework watching area– though they were already starting to get rather full.

“Ah nuts!” Mei cursed as her sparkler went out and she immediately turned and ran to her guardian. “Piggy, can I get another one?”

“No.” Pigsy huffed, giving a look to his parents.

“Man,” Mei kicked rocks and MK did too as his also went out.

“Oh come on, Jiejie, it wouldn’t hurt them,” His mother disagreed, looking around.

“Ma, please don’t run off again,” Pigsy gave his mother a look.

“Don’t back talk your mother, Bajie,” His father fought back and alarms started ringing in Tang’s head.

“Ah– guys, maybe let’s just go sit down and–” Tang tried to intercede, but Mei interrupted him.

“Oh! oh! They’re selling fa gao! Pigsy can we–” Mei loudly proclaimed before MK interrupted her too and soon it was all just a hot mess of everyone talking at the same time except Tang who was standing around like a total dolt and was completely out of touch for where his role was supposed to be in the dynamic. It was like he could hear but couldn’t at the same time– especially as drums were blaring and kids were yelling and people were talking on microphones and–

An ear piercing whistling sound broke above all the noise though, interrupting Tang’s train of thought/panic until a loud pop arrived, with many crackling sounds afterwards– meaning the fireworks had started.

Great– great, great, great, great was all Tang could think as he suddenly started rocking back and forth as he pulled harder and harder on his scarf. It at least stopped the arguing (thank the great sage) but that didn’t stop the chills from running across Tang’s body and his burning desire to somehow get out of here– but he couldn’t because he was being normal, dammit.

“That’s what– ugh,” Pigsy rubbed his forehead, before turning to Tang and having to take a step back. “Woah there– are you– okay?” Pigsy immediately worried.

“What? No– no, I’m fine! Really, haha,” He lied, his hands moving faster as his eyes darted to the sky where another firework went off, causing him to cover his ears instinctively.

“Ma? Pops? Can you watch MK and Mei a second? Pigsy asked.

“What-?! No! I’m fine Pigsy! Y-you don’t– your parents are guests! Th-they should be–” Tang was going to protest more but more fireworks went off and he wanted nothing more than to shrivel up and die.

“We’ll watch them dear, you take him back home,” Mrs. Zhu patted her son's arm as Mr. Zhu looked Tang over for the fifty millionth time.

“Whaaaat? You’re leaving?” MK looked at Tang with childlike heartbreak.

“I-i– ah–” He tried to remove his hands from his ears, but another firework went off.

“C’mon Tang,” Pigsy tried to take his arm, but Tang snatched it away– before realizing that wasn’t normal and he was being a freaking weirdo right now and– he was supposed to be impressing Pigsy’s parents– why was he like this-? Why couldn’t he just–

Another boom had Tang nearly jump out of his own damn skin, which was followed by a bigger headache and more pain and confusion and Taang knew he needed to go home if he didn’t want to make a complete and total embarrassment out of himself.

He looked back at Pigsy, who didn’t know what to do– he even looked a little heartbroken, which only made Tang feel worse, but well– he needed his help– he was not going to make it through these crowds alone, that was for sure.

“Tang..?” Pigsy asked though, and Tang managed to focus on him– though his hands returned to running along his scarf.

“L-lets– uh– go home,” Tang managed to say, wincing as another firework was set off. Pigsy more carefully offered an arm this time, and Tang took it and clung to it like a lifeboat.

The pair didn’t talk, even as they got further and further from the group, as Pigsy just silently patted his arm whenever another firework went off or a gong crashed or any other sudden noise occurred. Tang felt like such a child for needing such comfort, but was thankful to have it anyways– he didn't deserve Pigsy sometimes.

When they arrived at Pigsy’s place, the bright lights made Tang hiss as he entered, and out of instinct he went straight to the bathroom, closing the door and turning off the light to just sit in the dark for a little bit, trying his best not to worry about Pigsy pacing just outside the door.

After a minute or so though, Pigsy knocked quietly.

“Y-y-yes?” Tang managed to talk despite feeling too exhausted for speech.

“Do you– uh… want tea or something? Pigsy asked.

“Yeah that sounds… nice,” Tang agreed and he heard Pigsy shuffle away and in and out of rooms.

Ugh, Tang was such a loser. What was this? A highschool party? He should’ve been over all this– whatever it was. He was an adult and doctoral program applicant. His parents said it was just nerves when he got like this– was this nerves? It was nerves, right? Nerves plus alcohol maybe. But nerves for sure.

It took about five minutes for Tang to realize his heart had stopped pounding and his thoughts were mostly normal– if far and few between– though that also made him realize he was exhausted.

Fun.

He remained in the bathroom for another five or so minutes before he decided it was time to emerge from the cold dark bathroom and back into reality.

When he opened the door he was surprised to find the lights were a lot dimmer than before– maybe Pigsy had one of those fancy dimmers right people houses could have.

Either way, what a relief.

It was also rather toasty, which was good because while the bathroom was refreshing, his sweat mixed with rain water made his clothes cling to him and he was absolutely freezing by now.

When he got to the kitchen, he saw Pigsy had taken off his own jacket and Tang suit, revealing just a thick white tank top that he wore under, making Tang blush as he stared for just a moment.

After a while he shook out of it and noticed the demon also had a thick fluffy blue robe laid over a stool along with a bottle of ibuprofen.

“Is… that for me?” Tang asked curiously.

“Oh-! I– uh– thought you might want to take off your shirt since it’s all– uh– wet and stuff– but only if you’re comfortable,” Pigsy confessed, which made Tang laugh a little.

“Thanks,” he smiled at Pigsy tiredly before going over to it and taking off his shirt (which had no tank top underneath) before instantly regretting it when he heard Pigsy make a worried noise.

“Ah– um– Sorry– it’s just– how well have you been eatin’ these three weeks? You’re– skinnier.” The chef apologized as Tang quickly put on the robe.

“Well it's– um–” Tang didn’t turn around, even after he was very wrapped up in the massive robe that was a borderline blanket on him.

Tang sighed. “It’s harder during finals because I don’t have time for surveys or whatever when I need to cram for exams.”

“Tang, you should’ve told me,” Pigsy said softly.

“I know, I know– I… know,” Tang fiddled with the robe’s belt. “It’s just… embarrassing, sometimes.”

“Yeah, I can get that. But still, I’m nothing if not your free food supplier, so you shouldn’t feel bad for asking– especially if you really do need it,” The demon pointed out as Tang took a seat at the island once more.

“You’re more than a food supplier Pigsy,” Tang defended himself.

“I didn’t mean it like that– I meant it more like ‘you can always ask’ kind of way– you know?” Pigsy’s face flushed.

“Yeah, I do,” Tang chuckled a little, making Pigsy blush more before he finally took in the sight of the human in his robe and laughed.

“That thing is swallowing you alive,” He said as the kettle started to squeal and he quickly turned it off.

“Ha– yeah,” Tang noticed it too. “It’s nice though– makes me feel all cozy,” he hugged himself a little for emphasis.

“Glad my size could be of service to you,” Pigsy joked, pouring hot water into two mugs.

“Oh please, your size is always serving me,” Tang wiggled his eyebrows, making Pigsy turn red as a tomato in seconds, making the scholar burst into laughter.

“You really do get flustered easily! That’s fun,” Tang laughed more as Pigsy rolled his eyes and looked through his tea selection.

“Yeah, yeah– what kind do you want?” He asked, clearly trying not to think about the comment.

“Oolong.”

“Smart,” Pigsy winked and pulled out two bags and promptly began brewing them.

Silence filled the kitchen, and Tang was left back with his more… uncomfortable thoughts.

“Do you… think your parents like me?”

Wow Tang, really smooth. What a question. You are the king of self confidence.

“I think I’ve certainly dated far worse people,” Pigsy snorted, before adding– “not that I’ve told them we’re dating, of course.”

“Right, yes,” Tang laughed a little, though tension still didn’t leave his shoulders and he rubbed the robe belt between two fingers.

Pigsy looked at him and brought the mug over. “Does their opinion matter to you?”

“I– well– this sounds really stupid, but all day the only thing I’ve been really thinking about is impressing your parents but right now everything is just such a mess– especially back at my place– so I–” Tang sighed. “Yes. It matters a lot.”

“Oh…” Pigsy half-whispered as he sat next to him on a stool. “I… they do like you, I’m sure of that much– Pop’s is just like that around everyone.”

“Oh I can believe that,” Tang joked and took a sip of tea, embracing the warmth as it traveled through his body.

“Yeah, and Ma– well… she just kinda says things a lot and I’m pretty sure she only ever means twenty percent,” Pigsy shrugged and took a sip too.

“Better than a mom who rarely talks at all,” Tang shrugged.

“Yeah, probably,” The chef agreed.

Tang listened a bit more to the distant sound of fireworks and crowds cheering below as he took another long sip of tea.

“I’m sorry for acting so weird today. I swear it was just because I wanted to impress your parents– no other reason,” He said, eyeing the ibuprofen.

“Yeah, no, I get it,” Pigsy smiled softly. “Plus I get weird around lights and sounds sometimes too. Heck– my ma used to complain about how I wouldn’t like particular blankets or pants because I said they “felt yucky” – whatever that means,” he snorted.

Tang laughed too. “Yeah– I’m normally better though, but I guess today– holidays like this in general, too– are just… difficult sometimes.”

“Yeah, maybe next year we’ll just stay inside,” Pigsy suggested.

“Next year?” Tang blinked.

That made the chef sit a little straighter. “What? Do you think you won’t want to be here next year or–”

“Oh– heavens no-! I just mean– I– you’d want me here next year?” Tang quickly clarified.

“Of course– Tang, I want you to visit every year,” Pigsy placed a hand on Tang’s shoulder, stroking it with his thumb.

“O-oh– then– yeah, that’d be nice,” it was now Tang’s turn to blush a deep shade of red and he quickly went back to his tea, which he swore felt like was healing every fiber of his being.

“...Tang?” Pigsy asked, tapping his fingers against his mug.

“Yes?”

“Do… do you like dating and being with… me?” Pigsy asked quietly.

“Of course I do! I love every second being with you– you’re so wonderful and brave and strong and handsome and– heavens, I’m rambling,” Tang caught himself as Pigsy chuckled.

“Good, I was just– wondering,” The demon looked away.

“Why?”

“You… I dunno, you seem to think you won’t be around here long,” Pigsy shrugged.

“Oh– I didn’t mean it like that– I just–...”

“...You just what?”

‘I just don’t know what the heck we are yet.’

Tang drank more of his tea before glancing at Pigsy, who was looking back at him worriedly.

With a deep breath, Tang mustered all of the courage inside himself to ask– “Are we… like… boyfriends?”

“What? Of course,” Pigsy blinked. “Did… we not agree on that before?”

Tang blinked before bursting into laughter, almost spilling his tea as he did.

“Oh heavens me– here I’ve been all worried about if you wanted to be ‘official’ and here you are already thinking we are,” the scholar had to hold his sides.

“Fuck– we really didn’t say that then, did we,” Pigsy was deeply embarrassed. “Man, I’m sorry– I have no idea where I got that from.”

“No-! No, it’s fine, really,” Tang assured with a big smile. “I just– it’s funny now that it’s in retrospect.”

“Ah, that’s good,” Pigsy relaxed and laughed a little too. “Had me scared there for a second too.”

“Now we’re even,” Tang grinned as he took another sip.

“That’s for sure,” The demon laughed a bit more.

Tang smiled at the sentiment for only a minute, before something else crawled to the forefront of his mind.

"Pigsy–” Tang blurted, instantly getting the chef’s attention.

Fuck– he hadn’t meant to actually get his attention, but now…

“Do you think I’m… normal?”

"What… do you mean?" Pigsy tilted his head a little.

"I-i… I don't know," Tang looked down at his half empty mug. "Sometimes I just– I feel like somethings wrong with me but I can't say what or why or how– it's like I can't help it…"

"Tang, I don't think anything's wrong with you," Pigsy reached his hand towards the scholar.

Tang winced a little. “I… thanks, but… I don’t know,” he sighed.

Pigsy chewed on his lip a bit before sighing. “Look, even if you aren’t “normal”, that doesn’t make you less than, you know? You’re every bit a person as anyone else, and anyone’d be lucky to have you in their life,” Pigsy’s hand inched closer.

“Like my parents?” Tang muttered.

“Like Me n’ MK n’ Mei, Tang,” Pigsy finally touched Tang’s hand.

“I-i don’t know– I’m not really– like– you’re a total natural at this parent thing, you know that?” Tang tried to brush off.

“Tang, the kids are lucky to have you in their lives. It’s good for them to have a human in their life that’s a bit odd– it’s healthy,” Pigsy insisted.

“I… guess,” Tang shrugged. “I just– I’m not– I wish things were just… easier, sometimes. Like– even doing things like talking or looking people in the eyes– it’s al stupid difficult and it isn’t for most people and I just–” Tang took a breath.

“I just wish I could be normal so that your parents would like me and I wouldn’t feel like a dolt around the kids so often and even around you sometimes,” He sort of chuckled, but it was more out of anxiety than anything.

“But that’s what makes you you, Tang, and I wouldn’t change that for the world,” Pigsy gave his hand a squeeze.

Tang squeezed right back, but didn’t say anything, drinking more tea with his free hand.

Another thought.

“What if one day, I– I just– what if it’s too much? What if even you don’t wanna deal with it– what if I-i just end up driving you crazy? What then?” Tang’s voice cracked.

“That won’t happen, Tang.”

“You don’t know that,” He let go of Pigsy’s hand.

He seemed to successfully corner Pigsy at that for a moment, as the chef went quiet in contemplation while Tang waited to see what he’d say next (if anything at all).

Probably not. Tang usually ruined these kinds of things– mostly unintentionally. Great.

“Tang, I’m not normal. You realize that?” The chef suddenly asked.

“I– what?” Tang was set back.

“Tang, I’m literally a demon.”

“I– yeah, but–”

“No ‘but’s. If you’re weird, I’m weird,” He argued. “And weirdos like us belong together.”

Tang looked at Pigsy, taking in his soft expression before kissing his cheek, which Pigsy responded to by kissing him on the lips, which Tang responded by hugging him tight, which startled the demon.

Pigsy didn’t say anything though, stroking his back in a soothing rhythm as Tang felt himself begin to melt in his arms.

Pigsy always felt so safe– Tang didn’t know why he tended to hesitate. He loved him– he loved him deeply.

He wanted to stay like this forever.

“Pigsy, I don’t want to go home,” Tang confessed.

“You don’t have to,” Pigsy instantly assured.

Tang kissed him again.

“I want to stay here tonight, Pigsy,” Tang repeated.

“Okay,” Pigsy kissed him again.

“Can I..?” Tang asked and it was then the chef’s face lit with recognition.

“O-of course-! If you–uh– want to,” Pigsy cleared his throat a bit.

Tang laughed a little, kissing him once more and trying to get off the stool, only to be instantly reminded of how much his legs– more specifically his ankles– hurt.

“Ah– are you okay?” Pigsy backed up.

“I’m fine, just my stupid weak ankles,” Tang shrugged.

“Well we can’t have that now can we,” Pigsy got an idea and smirked.

“What are you– oh my–!” Tang exclaimed as Pigsy suddenly scooped him up.

“I don't want you on your feet more than necessary. Lying on your back is more relaxing,” Pigsy explained himself, moving towards his room.

“Oh?” Tang smirked with a raised eyebrow.

Pigsy smirked right back before kissing him and carefully opening his door with one hand, and the pair continued to kiss until Pigsy kicked the door shut carefully with his foot and even long, long after that.

What a night.

[foundtherightwords]

The Road Forgotten - Epilogue

Pairing: Arthur Havisham (Dickensian) x OFC

Summary: A few years after his plan to swindle his sister ended in tragedy, Arthur Havisham is a shadow of a man, living in guilt and fear. When Elsie Bradford, a young woman also wronged by Compeyson, enlists Arthur's help to hunt down his former partner-in-crime, Arthur must face his demons and other strange, new feelings, to redeem himself.

Warnings: slow burn, angst, guilt, revenge, psychological trauma, mention of prostitution, mention of suicide/suicide ideations, some violence, a bit of smut

Chapter word count: 864

Chapter 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13

Epilogue

Six months later

Elsie stepped off the wagon and looked at the cottage in front of her. Under the steel-gray sky, it didn't appear very promising. The whitewashed wall needed a new coat, the roof was sagging, and the garden was choked with weeds. But the rambling roses and wisteria around the front door would bloom, the apple tree in the back would bear fruits, and all around, as far as her eyes could see, was the beauty of the Surrey Hills, breathtaking even on that cold winter day, and her heart swelled at the sight of it.

"Well, it's not Mr. Wemmick's castle," she said. "But it would do, don't you think?"

"Yes," Arthur replied, tucking the scarf she had finally finished into his coat before wrapping his arms around her, as they both took in their new home. "It would do nicely."

Arthur had survived his wound, though it took six long months, and his health, which hadn't been very robust in the first place, never quite recovered after that. Officially, Elsie was the one that perished in the house in Brentford. Once the doctor had dug the bullet out of Arthur's shoulder and Elsie had regained her wits, she had convinced the others to carry her out on a stretcher, covered in a blood-stained blanket, accompanied by Arthur, who was able to stand at that point, though only just. She knew Cyclops and the Chimney wouldn't dare enter the house when there were so many people around, but they had heard the gunshot and the screams. She had no doubt that the moment they saw the stretcher leave in an undertaker's carriage, they would report back to Mrs. Hill, and that good lady would mark it as another loss in her book and move on. 

Compeyson was arrested when he was trying to get on a ship to France. As no witness to the shooting could be found, he was put on trial only for forging and counterfeiting. Magwitch was also arrested soon after. Despite Jaggers's best attempt to defend him, Magwitch was no match for Compeyson's charms in front of the jury, and he was sentenced to fourteen years, while Compeyson only received half that.

All this Elsie and Arthur learned from Jaggers. They were sorry for Magwitch, who had tried to do the right thing, but in the end, they decided to stay away from it all. They had found out the hard way that seeking revenge could harm as much as it promised to heal, and now they only wanted to heal.

While Arthur was convalescing, Elsie had found this cottage for sale within walking distance from Marianne's asylum. That, and the fact that it was cheap, had made it quite appealing in her eyes, and she had bought it on impulse. When she'd asked Arthur how he would like to live in the countryside, he had replied, "I'd live anywhere as long as you're with me."

They didn't marry - Elsie couldn't anyway, since she was supposed to be dead - but both agreed that they didn't need a ceremony or a piece of paper to prove their devotion to each other. They moved into the cottage and repaired it as best as they could. With the little money she had left, and with advice from Jaggers, Elsie invested in Havisham Brewery. It only earned a modest interest, but along with Arthur's allowance, it was enough for them to live on and to keep Marianne in relative comfort. Now that Marianne was so close, they could visit her almost every week, though Elsie would only watch from afar while Arthur gave Marianne the little gifts she had prepared, never revealing who they were from. For Elsie, the simple joy of seeing Marianne's face light up was enough.

They never went back to Satis House, though Jaggers occasionally sent them news about Amelia. Last they heard, Jaggers had arranged for her to adopt Magwitch's little daughter, whom she named Estella.

"Do you think she can learn to love again, your sister?" Elsie asked Arthur as she put down the letter from Jaggers. They were in the garden, sprawled on a blanket under the apple tree, Elsie's head resting on Arthur's shoulder, her hair spread on his chest, jet black now without any hint of blonde. Soft pink and white petals drifted down over them like warm, fragrant snow. April mornings were still too cold and too thick with mist for Arthur to go outside, but in the afternoon, when the sun was warm, they would stay as long as they could in the garden, working together, tending to the herbs and the vegetables and the flowers, or just sat, soaking in the sunlight and the fresh air that had been missing from their life for so long. It was their favorite time of day.

Arthur was thoughtful. "I don't know," eventually he answered. He took Elsie's hand and laced his fingers through hers, a gesture he'd always found to be more eloquent than a thousand kisses. "But I did. Learn to love, that is. And if I could, then perhaps she could as well."

THE END

A/N: My apologies to everyone who wants Compeyson dead. I want him dead too, but I also want this to align with "Great Expectations" (think of it as the bridge between the end of "Dickensian" and the beginning of "Great Expectations"), and Compeyson has to be alive for that. Don't worry, he's in jail, and Magwich is going to get him. And Arthur and Elsie are happy together, and that's all that matters, right?

Anyway, thank you for reading!

[dragoneyes618]

“From the river to the sea…”

Let’s talk about such a scenario in which Israel is erased.

7:00 a.m.: You wake up and try to unlock your iPhone to read email, but it won’t unlock.

Why? Because Face ID is Israeli tech. It was invented by PrimeSense, and acquired by Apple.

7:30 a.m.: Before heading to work, you go into your garden to make sure your grass is being watered.

Nope, can’t use drip irrigation. That’s an Israeli invention.

8:00 a.m.: You get into your car and try to turn on Waze so you can know where there is traffic.

It won’t open because Waze is Israeli.

8:30 a.m.: On the way to work, you almost lose control of your car because it didn’t notify you that you were swerving out of your lane.

That’s because Mobileye is based in Jerusalem.

9:00 a.m.: “Fine,” you say to yourself, “I don’t need Waze or Mobileye anyway. Soon my car will be autonomous.”

Nope. Innoviz is Israeli.

9:30 a.m.: You get to work and get ready to have your first meeting on Microsoft Teams. It won’t work.

All the AI on Teams? Built in Herzliya.

10:00 a.m.: You try to use your USB thumb drive on your computer. No go.

Thumb drives (a.k.a. flash drives or memory sticks) were invented by Dov Moran at Msystems, and acquired by SanDisk.

11:00 a.m.: You need to access some classified information but it’s behind a firewall. No way around it.

Firewall technology? Invented in Israel.

12:00 p.m.: You look out your office window and the sky is so beautiful, you want to take a photo.

Nope. Smartphone dual lens technology was invented by Israeli company Corephotonics.

1:00 p.m.: You have a lot of work to do. You fire up your PC but it won’t boot up.

Is it running on an Intel processor? Oh, yeah, that was designed in Israel.

2:00 p.m.: You’re getting really frustrated. Nothing is working! So you turn to Google, but even that won’t work.

Google builds many of its products in Tel Aviv.

3:00 p.m.: You decide to FaceTime your wife to vent your frustrations. Why won’t it work?!

Because voice over IP was invented in Israel.

3:30 p.m.: You’re really losing patience, so you go to your favorite instant messenger program to speak to a friend.

Nope, instant messaging was invented in Israel.

4:00 p.m.: You give up and decide to focus on work exclusively – you need to build a website.

Sorry, Wix is Israeli. You can’t use it.

5:00 p.m.: You get a call from your doctor. He wants you to come in because he saw something troubling in your last check-up. He wants to use the PillCam.

You have to inform him that’s a no-go. That’s Israeli tech.

6:00 p.m.: Since your car is unreliable, you decide to take public transportation. But your Moovit app won’t load for some reason.

It’s Israeli.

6:30 p.m.: You decide to do some shopping for a new car because it’s time to go electric.

Sorry. Better Place CEO Shai Agassi pioneered the infrastructure for electric cars in 2012.

7:00 p.m.: You get a call with bad news – your relative was recently diagnosed with cancer. He needs your help finding the best treatment.

Unfortunately, you can’t help him because many of the leading cancer treatments were developed in Israel by companies like Novocure and Vascular Biogenics.

8:00 p.m.: You’ve had a hard day and just want to chill out in front of your social media feeds. But none of your feeds will load.

Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has many offices in Israel.

9:00 p.m.: Time for a late dinner. You want to prepare alternative meats or dairy products.

Your supermarket doesn’t sell them, however, because Redefine Meat and Remilk are Israeli startups.

10:30 p.m.: You decide to read your book, but you can’t find your glasses anywhere.

That’s because you bought them on GlassesUSA, an Israeli company.

11:00 p.m.: Your last resort: Watch some TV. Wait – your Samsung TV won’t turn on!

Samsung has many offices in Israel, including Samsung Next, a fund that invests in tech.

You go to sleep and hope tomorrow will be a better day.

Here, try this new rhyme instead: “From the river to the sea, if Israel is gone, what will be with me?!”

[gogandmagog]

Okay, cute! Tagged by @batrachised! Thanks so much for thinking of me, you’re the actual best!

1-How many works do you have on AO3? 

Aw, man. Not a single one. I’m on fanfiction.net, because I feel like it’s the best spot to find fellowship with other likeminded or book-based Montgomery readers. (At least for the Anne series.) 

2-What's your total AO3 word count?    Not a lot! I’ve written four weency sketches that don’t actually even count fully as stories, because there’s scarcely any plot, only niceties and overall sweetness. My word count is something around 6.7K, which is piteous, following batrachised! 

3-What fandoms do you write for?    Lucy Maud Montgomery. I’ve done a lot of Anne, and little of Emily. 

4-What are your top 5 fics by kudos?    I haven’t even written five! I’m probably unqualified for this whole list of questions. Is a kudo interchangeable with a follow? My most followed is the Smugglers Jug.

5-Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?    Yes, of course! If anyone has a fanfiction.net account, and they left me a comment, I’ve responded over private message, which is the vehicle that ff.net allows for such correspondence. It never feels like enough, though! In a perfect world, I’d be able to take you out for coffee or tea, as a way of saying thanks. Comments or reviews mean so much. 

6-What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?  

Angst? I don’t know her. 

7-What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 

Sincerely all of them. Anne and Gilbert are happy in canon, and all I even do are canon expansion/inserts.

8-Do you get hate on fics? 

Mercifully, no. I’d probably cry. I can’t imagine what inspires people to leave hateful comments. It’s fan fiction! It’s supposed to be fun!

9-Do you write smut? If so what kind? 

Please, I’m blushing. I’m actually writing something right now (when I say ‘right now,’ I just mean that it’s a Word document I’ve glanced at in the last six weeks) that I’ll have to label as M! But it’s not all that explicit, and it’s really just something seen by a third party. And anyway, we’ll see if I can ever summon the courage needed to post it.

10-Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not yet, sorry!

11-Have you ever had a fic stolen?     I don’t think so! Small potatoes. 

12-Have you ever had a fic translated?    One time someone asked me if they could "podfic" one of my works, but this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to such a thing. 

13-Have you ever cowritten a fic before? 

I didn’t even know that was a thing! I love it.

14-What's your all-time favourite ship? 

Walter/Una? Walter’s parents, too.

15-What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? 

I mean… speaking of crossovers! I have about 2K words done of an Ingleside/the Alienist (they exist is the same time period, and only 1200 KM apart; in my brain this is totally feasible) crossover that sees an awful murderer land in Glen St. Mary, and Doctor Blythe being relied upon by Doctor Kreizler for professional assistance throughout. I might have the time to complete this when I’m 85.

16-What are your writing strengths? 

I think it’s a strength that I always want to be writing, isn’t it?

17-What are your writing weaknesses? 

I can’t stop writing run-on sentences. Like… think an entire paragraph that’s one sentence. I’m wholly aware that I do it. But I still can’t stop. I’m out of control, really. In other places, while it’s true I always want to be writing, I also can’t write unless I have the right pen the exact environment and circumstances that I feel are conducive to my best writing. (A desk, my favourite lappy, an empty house, pink noise, and a coffee.) If one small thing is off, I’m useless to my own endeavours.

18-Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? 

I could do it in Lushootseed?

19-First fandom you wrote for? 

Lucy Maud Montgomery books. First I read for, first I wrote for, first I ever cared enough about to seek ‘more’ of. We can add ‘only’ here too.

20-Favorite fic you've ever written? 

Awoo, I don’t know! They all stress me out equally? No matter what, I’ll always think to myself, ‘yikes, I could have done that better.’ I wish this had asked for recs, though! I have a bunch of those.

21-Tagging:

@dandelionsandderivatives! 🫶🏻

[rainbowfic]

Today's prompt list is: TARDIS Blue

Theme: Television 1. You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies. 2. There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick. 3. Well, I'll tell you something that should be of vital interest to you: that you, sir, are a nitwit! 4. Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. 5. An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. 6. That is enigmatic. That is text-book enigmatic. 7. No second chances. I'm that sort of a man. 8. Oh, come on! Did you have to? "No turning back", that's almost as bad as "Nothing could possibly go wrong", or "This is gonna be the best Christmas Walford's ever had!" 9. Maybe that's what the Devil is in the end: an idea. 10. We're always in trouble! Isn't this extraordinary: it follows us everywhere! 11. I am not a student of human nature. I am a professor of a far wider academy of which human nature is merely a part. 12. He sometimes talks to himself, mostly because he's the only person who knows what he's talking about. 13. That's the trouble with ideas: they only come a bit at a time. 14. Now listen to me, you young idiot; you're not so much gullible as you are idealistic. 15. For some people, small, beautiful events are what life is all about! 16. Well, if it doesn't, I shall beat it into submission...with my charm. 17. Guns can seriously damage your health, you know! 18. Love has never been noted for its rationality. 19. I love humans. Always seeing patterns in things that aren't there. 20. Go on, do what you've got to do, save the world. 21. Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could? 22. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant. 23. Allow me to congratulate you, sir. You have the most totally closed mind that I've ever encountered. 24. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway. 25. Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically...run.

from Doctor Who

--

RainbowFic is an original fiction (and more) community on Dreamwidth. The pinned post has more information.

[princessofxianle]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

well THANK YOU for asking, you are the first to!

tbh ive been meaning to do this on my main blog bc I take these wayyy too seriously lol but ANYWAY heres my top 10 faves (in no particular order) that I can think of (tbh theres prob more i forgot about, or i wanted to keep only 1 per fandom... except tgcf)

Huge Spoiler Warning: for ALL of tgcf, 2ha, aot, AND JJK MANGA!!!

1. Feng Xin (tgcf)

do i even need to explain this one? loyal to a fault, just a cute lil puppy, one hell of a sculpted archers back, and he's head over heels in love with Xie Lian (but tbh same) i have a lot of thoughts about him on a daily basis on this blog (and also theres the #fx backstory au tag)

2. Noé Archiviste (the Case Study of Vanitas)

MY BABY

the absolute bestest boy of EVER... with a LOAD of unprocessed trauma (yknow the typical stuff like seeing your childhood bff get decapitated in front of you) and a lot more to come once we find out how he kills his boyfriend best friend, Vanitas...

i ALSO think about him a lot but over on @noes-pillow

3. Sejanus Plinth (The Hunger Games: tbosas)

hated reading as a child... HATED it... picked up the og trilogy when i was 12 and i was a goner. The funny thing is i still hated reading for YEARS up until i picked up the prequel novel then in 2020, and now ive read all of tgcf, 2ha, and more fanfic than i could ever imagine... all because this stupid boy (i love him) chose to trust the WORST person as his friend, rip sejanus my baby

the movie is v good btw, if you havent seen it you should

4. Xie Lian (tgcf)

*Taizi Dianxia Fang Xin Guoshi General Hua Xie Lian*

how this man survived 800 years of being physically unable to die and never went insane is a mystery i will never be able to fully comprehend (aaand im in love with him... hmm i wonder why...)

5. Mihael "Mello" Keehl (Death Note)

the chocolate-addicted blonde boi that was my first anime crush... by proxy I must also add Mail "Matt" Jeevas because they are a package deal

these two are also the reason i started writing fanfic so they will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart

6. Xue Meng - (2ha)

*sigh* he's just everyone's fav peacock (yes technically the image is XM 0.5 but he had a cool ass bird so im using this photo bc its COOL anyway...) mengmeng is another one of my trauma bois who has lost next to everything and yet is STILL kicking ass and taking names #thatsmyfuckingsectleader so proud of you my son

also this might get me into hot water here but imma go ahead and say it...

this is what i wanted Jiang Cheng to be... (i LOVE my angy grape but...) through thick and thin, despite EVERYTHING, and even mo ran fucking abandoning him he will still call mo ran his "ge"...

fgjhdfhfdg THEYRE BROTHERS, OKAY???

7. Howl Pendragon (Howl's Moving Castle)

ok this one i just simply do not need to explain... if you think i do, go watch this whole movie and then there ya go thats your answer...

GENDER

8. River Song (Doctor Who)

aside from being the character that unlocked my unhealthy obsession with :) Main Character Death :) at the ripe ol' age of 8 YEARS (although Will Turner from POTC also helped on that front... Orlando Bloom my beloved) River's story was a stroke of absolute GENIUS from start to finish and i simply love how Alex Kingston played her...

"You don't expect a sunset to admire you back."

I just love the doomed ones, okay...

9. Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

look... theres *gojo girlies* uwu and then theres GOJO GIRLIES... i couldn't give 2 shits about how he's fan-serviced (tho im not complaining) but have you SEEN the amount of grief pumped into that man? he could explode in a fit of fucking insanity at literally any moment and take the whole goddamn world down with him bc what happened with suguru WASNT FAIR to him and satoru has more than enough power to go apeshit... but he DOESN'T... even after losing so many of his co-sorcerers... he still puts on a brave face to the end in order to protect the childhood of his students even tho his own youth was stolen from him during hidden inventory...

SEE? The DOOMED ones!

10. Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

i read the manga during my last year of uni and when i tell you i SOBBED at the end... yes ofc for obvious reasons, but mostly bc my little Levi loses EVERYTHING. He is the SOLE survivor of the veteran scouts. He's missing multiple fingers, an eye, and the ability to walk. He was the strongest (yowaimo) but wasn't even granted the mercy to die at the end of his narrative! Broke my fucking heart.

BONUS: Morph (Treasure Planet)

he's a morph!!! nuff said <3

fin

[primeministerofantarctica]

so. turns out this was easier than i thought

ignore the two generic smurfs after smurfette they're just there bc the formatting sucks :/

also i couldn't find a finance smurf but he belongs in the "burn in smurf hell'' category <3

also i have time to kill so. list below the cut!

1. Clumsy - sweetheart. doesn't have a mean bone in their body. very autistic.

2. Lazy - i don't know how to explain lazy being an unintentional allegory for people with invisible disabilities that are considered a burden and. lazy under capitalism. but he has a big heart and cares about his friends even when they're less than considerate towards him (seriously, WHAT was the slumber party episode? were they like, intentionally trying to torture him?)

3. Jokey - "Oh, the folly of a clown, masking his loneliness with a joke!" <- person who definitely doesn't have any internal issues :). Also can we just appreciate the fact that he has ONE main prank and everybody still falls for it. (not to mention that the prank is. giving people bombs)

4. Timid - he BABY

5. Scaredy - he baby 2

6. Smurfette - specifically lost village smurfette cuz that was where she peaked. you go girl give us an identity crisis and journey of self-discovery only to find the answer was with you all along!

7. Greedy - comics/ 2021 specifically, because him and chef being distinct characters is funny as hell. he's so cute i would totally give him a muffin if he asked.

8. Harmony - he sucks so bad at what he's supposed to be best at! and i think that's so interesting and criminally underexplored! and every time he gets the other smurfs to like his music it ends badly :(.

9. Painter - dramatic ass bitch (affectionate). why was he the only french person in belgium.

10. Doctor - i assume that one's doctor at least. it is now. anyways he's funny as hell, like harmony he's also...bad at his passion. he doesn't have a reason to be a quack, he's just. Like That.

11. Reporter - I like his voice.

12. Poet - there is NO need to speak in couplets all the time, he's so extra.

13. Tailor - "*terrible Kip King impression* EVERYBODY STOP COMPLAINING OR I'LL SCREAM." He's really nice, he made Smurfette that dress in one episode even though he was busy, and he made Tracker a fur coat out of the scraps he gave him and Vanity a scarf with his face hand-embroidered on it just because? AND more importantly, he's very blunt. i like that :)

14. Hefty - no no you didn't see my love for strong muscular guys that are kind and caring and totally whipped for that one girl. ok he's not maws level but like. if you can put "she's so high" by tal bachman in a ship playlist then you've got a valid m/f ship

15. Grouchy - let him say hate again oh god please i will tear my ears out if i have to hear "me, I don't like x" again. fuckin WEAK. also the grammar i wanna curl up on the floor and cry.

16. Farmer - remember when all the smurfs only wore white pants so to distinguish farmer from the others he would just be randomly carrying a hoe for no reason. also his accent is SO silly in the new cartoon i love it.

17. Vanity - just...watch this.

18. Brainy - i'm sorry for putting him so low brainy fans can you ever forgive me /hj. with all fairness i do think he's an interesting character! he's just...interesting in a way that doesn't really appeal to me specifically.

19. Handy - i feel like he would build a doomsday device if he got bored one afternoon and honestly? i respect that.

20. Papa Smurf - sometimes he's a good father figure. sometimes he's a terrible "father figure". it depends on the medium. and the direction of the wind.

21. King (pretentious) Smurf - made a whole authoritarian regime in like. two days. what the hell man.

22. Finance - capitalist :/

[scienceoftheidiot]

TAG GAME: EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

I was tagged by @shutterbug-12 thank you !!! Weirdly we do share a show, how surprising 😁❤️

Here's a thing : I do not watch that many shows. Partly because I don't have time, partly because I am bad at watching shows because I need to be emotionally invested to get into them, and once I am ???? I can only watch that show in particular, on repeat. Yeah I'm a grown ass adult fight me.

Ripper Street : end all be all the best show on this list that is not at all in order of good from bad for real but this one tops everything. Period drama, awesome characters, delicate treatment of issues we are still struggling with nowadays with actually sometimes more decency from these 19th century Victorian men than 21st century people 🙃. Also misery misery misery feels and a fine dry humor that makes it the perfect match. Oh, and. Dead bodies and gore happens. Also there is something to the dialogue than I just absolutely love.

Daredevil (netflix) : of course this one has to be on the list, and I love it, and I love Matt and Karen and Foggy, and I wish S2 didn't exist. All this can coexist, you know (and I love Elektra and Elodie Yung she is absolutely NOT the problem). Please do not talk to me about She Hulk or the Disney reboot, thanks (gif to make people watch it, I like my men sad and guilty they can't save everyone and covered in blood, thank you). So yeah overall a show I love and have rewatched many times but nowadays... I feel kinda bad about it and it makes me sad.

Band of Brothers/The Pacific : you know me, you know why I like these shows (no it does not stop at "men in uniforms"). We did a rewatch of BoB recently and I think it's an easier watch than the Pacific, but I think I like the latter better even if everytime it makes me feel so bad. Anyway a gif of Webster because (hard to chose between him and Leckie I admit)

Doctor Who : just. Love it. Especially RDT era. Can't chose between 9 and 10 but the best is Jack Harkness

Good Omens : I need a rewatch. Just love it. I have nothing more to say, it's great.

Scrubs : probably one of these shows I shouldn't rewatch in case I cringe a little but when we first got together with Benj 11 years ago we just watched Scrubs on a loop. I don't especially like the characters but the show itself, which is kinda weird for me (except Dr Cox. I love him)

The Sandman : last show that blew my mind. Just love everything in it. Can't wait for S2. I had read some of the comics and loved it, too. Just realized that it's the second Neil Gaiman thing in this list (3 if we count that he wrote for Doctor Who lol) and I guess it says stuff about me too

Pushing Daisies : I have loved the contrast between the whole death thing and the colourful and happy sets and stuff. This show is cute and dark and funny and I love it and I need to rewatch too when I can. (Also? Tall cutie that meddles with the dead and bakes awesome pies? did I use Ned as a template for my OC without realising ??)

I don't think it counts as a show since it's an anime so it's a bonus but if you've been following me the last 6 months, you need to hear about Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood but not necessarily excluding 03. At all. Just watch it back to back. That'll do it. I love both.) (Yeah oddly enough I'm not crazy about the title character there but about THEM and of course you must have noticed)

I tag @heirsoflilith @rancid-butter @qs63 @littleragondin @dairogo @musing-and-music @magipies @goneadrift @smoothshine if you want to do it !