#because someone can do all of these fucking things. follow all the do's and don'ts. and still end up poor. and still end up homeless.

[goldsbitch]

Hypochondria

The emotions and glimpses of daily life of this random girl followed Lando throughout his whole. Whenever she's sad, he knows. Her celebrations sort of become his celebrations. For him, it's like breathing - just another part of his life. That is until he meets her.

soulmate au

Lando knew the moment he saw her. And it was at that point when he thought he was truly going crazy.

For his whole life, he thought it was just some fantasy that he planted in his mind in early age and was impossible to get rid off.

He froze completely. Panicked, went into fight or flight mode, these two fighting each other so hard that he just stood there, staring like a creep. Thank god she was far away enough and probably did not notice.

His second immediate reaction was anger. Did she really not notice him? The audacity? How can she roam around his brain for his whole life and then not react when she sees him? Her being in the paddock meant that she definitely knew who he was, people don't just end up by chance there.

Except maybe she did. Her outfit gave away that she was one of the medics from the medical team. Of course she would be. Saving lives, doing something proper meaningful. Not driving around in circles and making a big deal out of it, like he did. Never in his life did he feel as selfish and sort of shameful for his choice of career.

He began to insert ideas into her head, despite not having spoken a single word to her. She was probably someone who valued intelligence, people who were book smart, humble heroes in the society who were focus on dedicating their lives to saving others.

Not those who were recklessly driving around in circles. There was no way she'd see him fit to her. That was not going to stop him. Her being one of the medics provided a great opportunity. Hypochondria? So be it.

His mind was spiraling out of control.

//

For as long as he could remember, he had dreams (and something he would not dare call visions) about this one girl. As if he was watching glimpses of her life, little moments, bits and pieces. But it was almost constant. He was so used to it at this point that he found it relaxing. It was very confusing growing up. Every adult around him was freaking out when his childhood imaginary friend phase would just not go away. So once he realized that people were thinking he's weird, he just stopped talking about it. It was also a big revelation to him when he found out that other people did not have these visions in their head so intensively. When he was 17 he had an obsession phase, where he researched the fuck out of how brains worked, but nothing seemed to match. His dreams did not provide him with anything specific, no details about place, vague signs that this person he kept seeing at least lived in the same time frame as he did. It was little things he saw and felt, as if her emotions traveled to him. He'd seen her happy, laughing with friends while she tried weed for the first time, getting nervous by her exams and debating whether to brush her teeth in the evening. Her becoming a medic now finally answered few questions. Often he would wonder why was she studying so much. His blurry dreams blocking these specifics out, just to make it all more frustrating. Observing her having a a crush on someone was unnerving and eventually, seeing little things from her romantic relationship just made him supremely mad. He was glad that was over, because at one point, it had started to seriously mess up his mood. He genuinely celebrated the break up. Incredible amounts of little moments and details that were conveyed to him, but no idea on where or who she was. He just had this knowledge in his head about someone who he doubted actually existed.

And now she was probably standing right across the track. It was a lot to take in.

//

Most of the medical team traveled with them, as far as Lando was aware. Never really paid that much of attention to that department until then. So he figured he's only have few days to capture her attention, she might have been local. He was already contemplating moving here to join her life. That's when he decided to get a full medical check up upon request.

He complained nonstop about a pain in his stomach - vague enough for many possibilities having to be ruled out.

It quickly started feeling like playing a video game. Having to jump through levels in order to get to his "boss".

He spent an hour in the medical centre, where he was taken immediately after his first comment about his fictional pain, because everyone still had in fresh memory the saga of Carlos's appendix. "This is gonna be easy" he thought to himself, because one of the first people he saw passing by was her. He was not even trying to hide when observing her. The way her hair fell out of a messy bun. A concentrated look as she was attending one of the staff members, listening attentively and taking care of their wound. The whole place seemed to glow up by her presence. He wondered how it felt when her fingertips touched the skin of another person and was almost jealous of the person she was treating. On par with his bad luck, the drivers had a dedicated doctor on call, so he was taken to a different private room where he had to undergo a full medical scan, with of course nothing being found. When he got out, she was no longer there. All for nothing.

//

The rest of his day was covered in a brain fog, he sort of floated through the media day, feeling like he was not really there. He let Oscar totally step up to be the main star this time. As if he could give a fuck.

Over the years of having to life with this strange connection, he managed to block it out temporarily for moment when he really need to focus. This time, he was doing the exact opposite. Trying to somehow "connect" to this personal bluetooth he had in his head.

Finally, after few hours he felt something. A light wave of anxiety, as she opened her email. Then a wave of disappointment, despair and her giving up. He was more than able to not get affected by her emotions - usually. This time it was sort of in tune with his own mix of emotions, so if he was a downer before it progressed perfectly into him shutting off completely.

//

He managed to completely forget that his latest girlfriend, if that was the right word to use, was coming over. He only realized when he saw a pair of female shoes thrown by the door of his hotel room. A wave of guilt washed over him. He was being an asshole again. As they greeted each other, he tried to kiss her as much as he could, trying to avoid unnecessary conversation. Maybe this reality check was good. He often got lost in his own head, listening sad song to fill this strange void - or he would party too much. Now, there was a real person standing in front of him, a super hot girl who liked him and was not annoying. He figured there was no point in drowning in his own delusions.

Letting her fuck his brains out worked, at least until the next morning.

[iamasimperyk]

Just a little help -Rafe Cameron

Warnings: Corruption, Anger Issues, Not proof read, English is not my first language

Pairing: Grumpy!Rafe x Sunshine!Reader

You hated Rafe. He was a grumpy guy while you were a ray of pure sunshine. The fact that he was a Kook while you were a Pogue didn't make things any better.

You couldn't go to the other side of the island without him making rude comments. Of course, they hurt you, but by now, you were pretty much used to it.

"Where are your little friends? After our last encounter, I thought they understood that letting you walk home all by yourself is not a good idea." Rafe grinned like a maniac.

"It gets boring, you know. Everything you can do is insult the Pogues and me. If you have something new, please let me know." You smiled at him, patting his chest. 

You have always followed your instincts without hesitation. And right now, it felt right to pat Rafe's chest.

"Don't touch me with your dirty hands, Pogue." He hissed, turning around to leave.

You took a deep breath, not believing what you were about to do, "Rafe?"

After you called out his name, he turned around quickly, clearly annoyed, "What?"

"Who hurt you?" You asked carefully, to not make him even more upset. You knew it was a cliche moment, but you loved all this corny shit.

Rafe looked at you for a few seconds before he started to laugh. He was laughing directly in your face after you tried to be nice to him for once.

"I suggest you go back to your fucking side of the island and stop asking me shit." He said after calming down his laughter, his tone dangerously low.

"Come on, Rafe, you can tell me. I am actually a very good listener." You tried once again, wanting to help him.

He walked to you as fast as he could, "Listen, Pogue, I know what you are trying to do, and I can guarantee you, it won't work. Did your friends send you to me? Did they think I would go easy on you because you are known as the sunshine of the Cut?"

You quickly shook your head, "I just came from work, so it was a total coincidence that I met you."

The tension was so thick that it seemed like it could have been cut with a knife.

"Look, Rafe, you hate me, and I don't even know why. Everybody told me I was supposed to hate you as well, so I did it. I promise I am here to help you." You looked into his blue eyes, finding some sort of comfort in them.

Rafe Cameron was speechless. Never had anyone wanted to him, and now you, a Pogue, stood in front of him.

"You want to help me to get rid of my anger?" He asked, to which you nodded. 

That was all Rafe needed to see before he pressed his lips onto yours. Your eyes widen in disbelief, not expecting something like this. 

"Now, I feel better." He smirked after pulling away.

"Why would you do that?" You raised your voice at him.

The answer was he didn't know it. He never thought about you in any sexual way, but the way you looked at him, he just had to corrupt you. And that's exactly what he did.

A year later

"Here," You smiled down at Rafe, handing him a glass of whisky.

He pulled you onto his lap, kissing you roughly, "Thank you, what would I do without my little ray of sunshine."

It was like he brainwashed you. You did everything for him, just like he wanted it all those years. He finally had someone who didn't say anything against the things he did. And he intended to keep it that way.

[drdemonprince]

I've noticed a pattern in anticapitalist books I read (specifically I'm talking abt Mark Fisher here, in Capitalist Realism). They do this great anticapitalist analysis etc and then go on to critique their students? and sometimes it's a bit ableist? it's like all the critical thought goes out of the window and they cannot understand the situation because for once suddenly they are in the authoritative position. It always gives me this "I don't understand these kids, back in my day-" vibe, and I see this with lecturers at university too. like Mark Fisher maybe we can think outside the box about your student who "needs" headphones to focus in class "even though no music is playing". and maybe it's not to do with the "Matrix"(????) I'm well aware this was written in 2008 but it's weird that I see this pattern continue today. Not to mention Mark Fisher took part in some ableist studies, and was a guy with questionable intentions on occasion.

it's like you Just said that reducing labour is good why are you calling your students lazy, that's so unprofessional and privileged. I wonder of coincidence that he is anti-meds when his right wing, pro-eugenics, accelerationist friend was addicted to amphetamines.

Or even just the amount of people who have written books about laziness and anticapitalism (excluding you) and just saying the most contradictory shit ever?? or not following their own ideology???

Anyway, I wonder if, when writing Laziness Does Not Exist, you came across any of this and were equally as baffled.

Materialism is just *so* true that high-status academics don't have a vested class interest in seeing their student struggles as legitimate or in recognizing the struggles of disabled people in general. For many edgy academic leftists having the correct opinions is just a way to flex one's intellectual status, not a lived experience they give a shit about. I'm not shitting Fisher in particular in saying this, it's more that it's a really widespread problem in the culture of these kinds of (very white, very academic, very cishet) leftists communities. You see the same kind of thing among some of the Chapo stan types, too, you don't have to be specifically an academic to do it -- lots of people throwing around the r-slur and flexing on how much they have read and doing fuck all for the oppressed people around them. I tend to find it especially common among people who inherited leftism from their (often academic) parents? Whereas leftist communities populated by Black & brown anarchists and working class people tend to fare a lot better in this particular respect.

Note that I'm not saying a person's identities are a guarantee of them being any more radical -- there's lots of liberals lurking in our midsts of all identities for instance -- more that someone's orientation toward power tells you a lot. and unfortunately there is an approach to leftism that puts a lot of stock in either institutional power via the academy, or in a kind of soft power of intellectual authoritativeness that tends to punish anyone who is supposedly less well read, less intelligent, lazy, needs disability accommodations, has trauma triggers, or what have you.

The simple answer is that power and privilege obscures other people's challenges from you, and the desire to preserve one's power (be it actually institutional academic authority or just the status of the person who supposedly knows the most in the room) leads to a lot of oppressive behavior. a lot of these guys that you're talking about believe in communism sincerely but they don't have humility, they believe themselves to be superior to most everyone else. and they tend to be white guys from wealthy families who either do not have any disabilities of their own, or they have the undiagnosed intj mastermind rational flavor of autism that makes you feel incredibly alienated from others but interpret that alienation as a sign of your intellectual superiority. (i had this type but i got better. a little)

[space-matt]

Jokes in life - death

chris.sturniolo x fem.reader

summary: One joke too many could cost the life of someone…maybe.

request: yes -> anon

cw: use of y/n, fake chocking, fake death, swear

author's note: after a long time I'm back with a small part that I managed to write between commitments. I hope you can enjoy it all the same. Tell me your opinions! ♡

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚༺

English is not my first language, if you see grammar and typing mistakes, I apologize in advance! I just ask you not to be rude to me ♡

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚༺

''Oh for your information it's not true,'' you say, pointing your finger at Chris's chest as you walk the streets of your neighborhood with your favorite ice cream.

Almost every night you ended up heading to your hiding place, the roof of a building abounding along the end of two streets further on. But this one, in particular, you just wanted to walk and look around.

''So it's not true that you went out with Mike the other day?'' Chris asks stopping in place to see how your expression changed from calm to surprise ''Yeah we went out but only because we're lab partners, that's all Chris'' you reply continuing to eat the ice cream from the cone that was melting in the meantime.

''The fact is it's not that I don't trust you but-'' in the middle of the sentence you start coughing but Chris continues to blink not caring about the noise coming from his beside.

‘'C-Chris'' you pronounce with difficulty and only at that moment the boy realize that you are choking ''OH JESUS'' he exclaims starting to pat you on the back but it seems to have no effect 

< Stay calm Chris > you hear pronounced from his panicked mouth, and only then do you decide to end your charade.

'' Gotchaaaa'' you exclaim laughing as you see his bewildered face '' Are you fucking kidding me y/n?! It's not fucking funny, at all'' he says waving his arms and shaking his head.

From this episode, you have inaugurated the session of jokes for years, from the obvious to the serious ones.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Chris had been meticulously planning the ultimate prank for weeks, determined to pull off the prank of the year.

He wanted to recreate a home invasion robbery, a prank that was both extreme and daring but would undoubtedly earn him the top spot on the leaderboard. 

As it stood, he was currently in first place, followed by Matt, Chris, and finally Nick.

Chris spent hours preparing for the prank, carefully plotting every detail to ensure its success. He knocked over chairs and moved furniture, creating a mess that would make it look like a real break-in had occurred. 

With everything in place, all he had to do was pretend to be hurt to make the prank look authentic. 

As he made his way upstairs to Nick's room, he remembered the fake blood that Nick had used for his Halloween costume and decided to use it to add to the realism of the prank.

You, on the other hand, were at the supermarket with Matt and Nick, picking up the necessary items for their next video titled < Let's Try the Odd Pairings > As you walked through the aisles, you noticed a Reese's bunny on the shelf and thought it would be a nice treat for Chris. 

You picked it up and added it to the cart, continuing to gather the other ingredients needed for the video.

As you pulled your car into the driveway, you noticed something strange. The front door of your house was slightly ajar.

You quickly parked the car and grabbed your grocery bags, approaching the door with a sense of unease. As you got closer, you could see that the door was open just enough to let someone slip inside.

With confusion etched on your face, you cautiously pushed the door open and stepped inside. That's when you saw it - the house was in a state of utter chaos. Furniture was overturned, drawers were pulled out, and things were scattered everywhere.

Your mind immediately went to Chris. You called out his name ‘’Chriss..?’’ your voice trembling with fear. As you searched each room, your panic grew.

There was no sign of Chris anywhere. Your heart racing, you finally entered his bedroom, where you found him lying on the floor, his eyes closed and a red spot on his chest.

‘’CHRIS’’ You rushed to his side, shaking him and calling out his name, but he didn't respond. You started to panic ‘’GUYSS CALL AN AMBULANCE NOW!!!' you shouted to get the attention of the other two, who were rightly part of the prank and knew full well what was going on. 

Chris was doing nothing but holding back his laughter, and being as calm as possible to get completely into the part

''Oh my god what have they done to you? Oh god I can't lose you, what am I going to do without you? I didn't even have the guts to tell you how much I've liked you since we were kids, how safe you make me feel and how much I love your dimple when you smile'' you say all in desperation as salty tears roll down your face 

''WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS? WE NEED HELP!'' You scream starting a real hysterical cry, only at that moment do Nick and Matt enter, who seeing you in this state decide to put an end to the joke, realizing that this has gone a bit too far

''C'mon Chris get up'' exclaims Matt coming towards you and placing a hand on your shoulder noticing your trembling.

You find yourself in a state of confusion as your vision remains hazy, and it takes a moment for you to realize that Chris has opened his eyes and is staring at you. You rub your eyes with the sleeve of your sweatshirt and whisper, ''...what?''

Chris, sensing your disorientation, informs you that it was all a prank. He pulls you in for a hug, but you push him away, still reeling from the shock of the experience ’’It's a fucking joke, what's wrong with you idiot’’ you express your anger and frustration 'I thought something bad happened to you and the stain-'' you say feeling more tears streaming down your face pointing on his chest ''-you went too far’’ You explain that his prank had triggered your anxiety.

As you sit on the edge of your bed, you feel a wave of emotions wash over you. You feel overwhelmed and suffocated, and the only thing you can think of doing is hiding in the bathroom.

You slowly make your way to the bathroom and shut the door behind you, hoping to find some solace within its walls.

Once inside, you lean against the sink and let out a deep sigh. You can feel the tears welling up in your eyes, and you know you won't be able to hold them back for long.

You rest your hands on the sink and let the tears flow freely, trying to release all the pent-up emotions that have been building inside you.

As you cry, memories of the past come flooding back to you, making you feel even more vulnerable and exposed. You can't help but think about the people you have lost in your life, and the thought of losing someone else fills you with dread.

You find yourself caught in a vicious cycle of bad thoughts, unable to break free.

Suddenly, you hear a knock on the door, ''Y/n can I come in?'' Chris asks from behind the door. You hesitate for a moment, not wanting to let anyone in, but the sound of his voice is enough to break through your walls. ''I don't want to see you'' you say try to compose yourself, wiping away the tears from your face.

''Please'' Chris pleads, his voice full of sadness and regret. You know he's crossed a line, but you also know that he cares about you deeply. With a heavy heart, you snap the lock so he can enter, preparing yourself for whatever comes next.

As he wraps his arms around you, you can feel his warm embrace, but you remain stiff at first. However, when his hands start caressing your back, you can't help but give in to the moment and relax. You let out a deep sigh as you feel his fingers trace gentle circles on your skin.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into your hair, his voice filled with remorse. "I shouldn't have pushed myself any further"

He pulls back slightly, looking deep into your eyes. You can see the concern etched on his face as he takes in your tear-stained cheeks.

After a few moments of silence, you finally speak up. "Don't ever do that again, please...I seriously thought the worst" Your voice is soft and shaky as you try to hold back more tears.

He takes a deep breath and continues "I swear, in fact, let's get rid of the prank contest...we're old enough for these things now. Are you in?" He takes your hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm in" you reply with a little smile. "They're not for me anymore" he can't help but smile back, and you’re feeling grateful for his understanding and support.

After feeling overwhelmed and needing to calm down, you took some time to freshen up in the bathroom. Once you were ready to rejoin the group, you found Chris waiting for you outside the bathroom, ready to change his soiled T-shirt.

You both made your way up the stairs and into the living room where you were pleasantly surprised to find that Matt and Nick had taken it upon themselves to clean up the mess that had been created earlier.

As you settled into the comfortable surroundings of the living room, Chris reached out and took your hand, leading you out to the balcony where the sun was setting. You both sat down on the footstools and with your legs resting on the coffee table, you looked out at the beautiful view.

After a few moments of silence, Chris spoke up, saying, "What a day" you couldn't help but chuckle at his remark and responded with "For me we can also eliminate"

Chris then turned to you and asked "So... what you told me before is true?" you played coy and asked "Which of the many things?" knowing exactly what he was referring to, he replied with a pointed, "You know what”.

It seems that Chris is highly perceptive when it comes to your body language, even when you try to hide things.

You may have believed that he never pays attention to you, but the reality is quite different. The two of you have had feelings for each other since you were young, yet you both seem to be oblivious to this fact.

Despite your attempts to conceal your emotions, it appears that Chris can sense what you’re feeling, and perhaps he feels the same way.

As you bask in the warmth of the sun, lost in your thoughts, you hear a familiar voice calling out to you. You turn to see him standing there, his hand waving in front of your face. "Y/n, are you there?" he asks, his eyes meeting yours. 

You feel a jolt of surprise at the sudden interruption, but quickly compose yourself and respond with a smile. "Yeah, sorry about that" you say, taking in his appearance, which seems even more striking than usual.

‘’It's true... but you don't have to feel sorry for me, even if you don't have the same feelings as me there's no problem at all, on the contrary, there are better girls than me and-‘’ as you begin to speak, he cuts you off with a gentle kiss on the lips. 

At first, his lips feel firm against yours, but then they soften, and you can feel the warmth of his breath mingling with yours. In that moment, all your doubts and fears melt away, and you find yourself lost in the pleasure of the kiss.

You feel a warm sense of contentment and happiness wash over you as the kiss comes to an end. Your heart races as you hear him whisper on your lips

"I've always liked you Y/n and couldn't wait to kiss you" your mind is filled with a flurry of emotions as he kisses you again, and you can't help but feel grateful for this moment with him. 

The softness of his lips against yours, the gentle touch of his hand on your cheek, and the warmth of his embrace all make you feel alive and loved.

You cherish this moment and hope that it's just the beginning of another journey together.

--------------------------------------------------------

Taglist:  @sturniolosreads @mayhem-72 @dracoflaco @lyzsaphrodite @ifilwtmfc @xoxo4chrisss @soimightlikeoldmen69 @inlovewithmattstur @sturniolobendystrawsposts @tillies33ssss @junnniiieee07 @blackhorses-posts

[66sharkteeth]

Weekly thoughts!

Hooboy, the big episode! First off, I think everyone knows by now that you probably shouldn't read these if you haven't read the latest episode, but I ESPECIALLY mean that this week! Talking about some way bigger than usual spoilers.

Phew, this was a big one, both from a writing and drawing perspective. I actually spent a full day on that last panel alone, but writing it took way longer than usual too. Going back and forth between Bell's speech and Jericho's backstory played perfectly like a movie in my head, but it was really hard to portray it as a comic and it was one of the few times I was struggling with the limitations of the format. I think I pulled it off though, since everyone seemed to follow along fine! So while it was probably just a neat scene to everyone else, I'm rather proud of that haha.

As for the actual contents of the episode, I'm also glad everything hit w/ the majority of the audience for the most part. I know a handful were confused about if that was Bell or Jericho who did that, but to those people, I remind you it's been loooong established Jericho can control his extensions (Bell, Charlie, and Claude. Remember, they all took injections of Jericho's blank space?). Also on that note, Bell does not have her own scion... Only Rex and Jericho do. Bell, Charlie and Claude all took injections of Jericho's blank space, thus get to borrow some of his power. I recommend re-reading ep 80 if you need a refresher.

I do consider this ep kind of a big reveal of Jericho's true colors. I mean, you guys have known he's the main villain for ages now, but this is the ep that reveals his "better world for blanks" act is kind of a façade and what he's really seeking is a worse world for humans. The fall of humans benefitting blanks is just kind of a bonus. I'm glad a few people caught onto this with the fact that one of the worst horrors he experienced was having his autonomy taken away from him, then he proceeds to do just that to Bell.

And speaking of Jericho's horrors- Before this season launched, I dropped a bunch of hints about upcoming things. One of them was that the most disturbing scene (in my opinion) was coming up. I was actually referring to what happened to Kallie. I'm not sure if it was as disturbing to everyone else (I totally get like if Claude's leg thing fucked people up more), but being evaporated into nothingness but not dying was an existential dread that really fucks me up haha. If it fucked even a couple of other people up, then I did my job.

I don't have too much else to say about the contents of the episode. It was so hard to bite my tongue for weeks as everyone predicted pretty much every character but Desmond was gonna get it. I'm sorry I don't have too much else to say about him right now given what happened, but I definitely will in the upcoming weeks.

I guess the only other note I have is I might as well address something that bugs me slightly- It's definitely a minority but there's a handful of people who seem done with the series because "too many things go wrong." To which... I'm not sure what to tell ya. I'm fine with critique and criticism to be clear, but honestly, this is one thing I'm actually really confident I'm good at balancing. I'm not sure where people are coming from with "nothing good ever happens in this series" when this season alone has had probably the cutest and fluffiest scenes. Rex has a canon girlfriend, he had his first kiss with her, Desmond was reunited with his sister and learned to accept himself, Lyss learned to move past her trauma and accept blanks, Rex was reunited with Shnee, Rex's scion turns out to be a puppy dog w/ a crush. I'm aware a lot of these got kind of crushed with this latest ep...but that's.. kind of. the. point??? That's how you write tragedy and impactful scenes??

I dunno, maybe this is personal to me because it's ALWAYS bugged me when someone tells me they think a show is bad because it's "too dark." Like no... It's not *bad* because it's too dark, you just don't like dark themes, and that's okay. I TOTALLY get if CoB has gotten too dark for some people- it's definitely hit some hard themes and subjects, but I don't like to accept that as a critique. It just means it's not for you and that's okay. There's a ton of other great comics that are more light-hearted! I think the TLDR of this is it will always annoy me when people say something is bad just because it's not their taste.

Now. That said... everyone is completely valid in their hate of Jericho. I, however, still love him.

[theheartofthestar]

Prompt 25 - Criminal AU

@wolfstarmicrofic - April 25th, 835 words

He climbs deftly through the window. Recon had been correct. Remus has no problem getting into the house and up a flight of stairs, protected by the night and its silence. Get into a room, out through a window, climb the little stretch of wall and into the next window. A room, shockingly different from the others he's seen so far. Not in dimensions, but in decoration. Posters thrown up the walls, music ones, movies, a couple from festivals Remus himself had wanted to attend.

He walks slowly to the bed, in complete silence. Steps light, he wills his heart to beat slower, breathing so low you'd have to know what to look for in order to hear him. They don't call him The Wolf for nothing.

He pulls the gun out of its holster, a silencer already in place. Remus lowers the gun, closer, almost touching the shape of a man under the covers. The man is lying facing the door, as Remus knew he would. James had been observing the man's habits for weeks now, determining the best moment to strike, and he was the best at recon. But the client had decided to rush them, saying it had to be done tonight, so here Remus was. Bullets were not his preferred method for assassination, but in a pinch, it would have to do.

Slowly, Remus lowers the safety lock. Time seems to stop, there's a rush in his ears, one he's familiar with by now. The Wolf closing in on a prey, so close he can already taste blood.

"Can you hurry up? This wait is killing me" the man on the bed speaks and it startles Remus so badly he almost shoots blindly. He doesn't, because he's a professional, but it's a close call. Remus huffs behind the mask that cover the lower part of his face.

The man sits up on the bed, and Remus is surprised to see him with his hair done, eyeliner sharp, and dressed in a fucking tuxedo of all things. Sirius Black looks back at him with a thunderous frown, but fear glints in his eyes. Remus doesn't lower his gun.

"You've come to kill me, I know" Sirius says. His eyes flicker to the window and back at Remus. There's the faintest breeze coming in, making a few strands of hair dance against his sharp cheekbones.

"If I say no, would you believe me?" Remus says it before he can think better of it. He shouldn't have, he never speaks on the job, silence is his oldest and best ally. But again, never has a target been able to see him coming. Sirius snorts in response.

"Before you- kill me, would you tell me who it was?" Sirius asks, and there it is again, Remus notices, that quick flicker of his eyes.

"A gentleman never tells" is all Remus says, narrowing his eyes. But now he needs to know something himself. "How did you know I was here?"

"Oh, believe me, I've climbed enough times through that window to know exactly how it sounds when someone climbs in" Sirius laughs, but there's no humor. "Was it Father?"

Remus lowers his gun minutely. Licks his lips behind the mask.

"Your Mother" Remus says. He sees Sirius eyebrows spasm, as if in sudden pain, but his body remains calm. Remus is impressed, he would make a good agent yet.

"Do it fast, yeah?" Sirius says. And lies back down. But there's something about it that doesn't sit right with Remus anymore. Maybe it's the glint of fear in those eyes, maybe it's the posters on the walls, all the same bands Remus listens to, maybe it's the three piece suit he is wearing, the proof that this man knew he was going to die today, and wore something appropriately dramatic.

"How much do you like your life as it is now?" Remus asks, and he finally lowers the gun. Sirius eyes follow the movement.

"Not much, yet thankfully I won't have to endure it much longer" Sirius replies, but there's a note of doubt in his tone. Remus can see straight through that bravado.

"Come with me" he says. Sirius' eyes snap up to his face. A question. "Come with me now, and you'll live. Not this fancy life you've had, but- a life. A life of your own"

Remus offers it the same way it was offered to him, what seems like ages ago, by the man who taught him most of the skills he is now known for. It's a crude offer, but it's honest. And suddenly, he wants nothing more but for Sirius to accept it.

A beat of his heart, the click of the safety lock back on. A flicker of eyes towards the door, then towards the window. Remus extends his gloved hand, and long, pale fingers reach him halfway.

James is going to laugh so much when Remus gets back with a target in tow and a story of a man climbing out of his own house in a tuxedo.

[tac-the-unseen]

Pebble

König x reader fluff

A pebble.

A single pebble lay on your desk.

A dark Grey stone with little clear specks giving the illusion of sparkles. Not terribly unusual if not for the fact that rocks in all different smaller sizes keep showing up around your stuff. You have a jar filled with them. You had no clue why they keep showing up. Everyday one pebble just appears.

Its became routine. Wake up, get dressed, find the pebble, go to work.

You're pretty sure someone's fucking with you. Like 80% sure. You told your supervisors and higher ups. They've sent some to the labs and each time it was simply just a rock. Then will hand you back the shattered stone.

It puzzles you and everyone who knows about the mystery stones. You've asked night sift if they know anything and they just shrug their shoulders.

Some people think a bird of some kind trying to court you. Others think someone is pranking you. And you leen to the latter here. Someone has to be joking with you. Why else would anyone do this? At least the pebbles make you somewhat happy.

To König the pebbles were a simple act of affection without having to get to close to you. Every morning he would get up, go outside and find a rock he likes. Then after putting all his love into it (squeezing the pebble in-between him plams and say nice things to it) he places it somewhere you'd notice.

He's mesmerized your routine so you never catch him in the pebble-placing act.

He thinks that because the pebble makes him happy it will in return make you happy.

Sometimes he finds the rocks on his missions. The pebble catches his attention for a brief moment and then it's in his pocket.

He thinks the rocks are beautiful and wants to give you that beauty.

He would love to tell you it him gifting you pebbles but he's terrified you'll call him weird and file a harassment claim. So he just keeps it up.

He even found tomorrow's pebble.

Tonight was the night. Tonight you finally had the night shift. Tonight you were gonna catch the pebble-placer.

Buuuuut you forgot one thing......the night shift was sooooo boring. Your eyes bore into the green lit monitors. Watching for intruders who dared to step into the base.

Coffee slowly became your best friend. You and the other poor soul on grave yard duty alternated making rounds about the base.

You read the clock....0200....2 AM....Mina stood from her chair. She stretched like a she was praying to a God and then made a hum. " my turn then." You nod as she swayed to the door. She stopped then turn to face you "Should a bring back a snack?" You nod again "Fuck yeah. Anything is good." She smiles lightly at you." alright, see ya."

"see ya." You repeat.

You watch on the monitors as she wanders around. Then you foot steps outside the door. You look down at the screens once again. Only to see the person just out of frame. Just barely out of sight.

You grab the gun from your hip. While the chance of an intruder are slim it will never be zero. You point it at the door and stayed there.

The door knob slow turned. A tall figure pushed into the dimly lit room then it paused.

There stood König. Eyes blown wide from what little you could see under his sniper hood. His shoulders tensed and hitched up. His arm slowly come up as to look non-threatening.

"König? what are you do here this late??" You whisper shout as you put your gun back in the holder on your hip. He seemed to relax for a moment. You and König have been friends for a few years. Not super close but close enough to hang out sometimes.

He started to panic trying to find an excuse. "I-I...got lost...." he stuttered out. You don't buy it. Before you can say something, Your eyes travel to one of his hands. it looks like he's holding something. He follows your gaze and snaps his hands to his chest. "I'm sorry I'll leave." He scrambled to the door. Out of instinct you grab him.

"König get back in here!" You yank at his shoulder. He freezes again then turns to you. His eyes are filled with fear but he listens and steps back into the room. You close the door behind him and take a breath.

You move to look in his eyes. "König why are you actually here?" He responds with the shaky breath. He looks around and then looks at the door, planning his escape. He looks down at his hand. "Can....Can I show you something and you not make fun of me?" He says softly.

You nod your head. "of course König. What do you want to show me?" He trembles and slowly holds out his hand to yours. He grabs your hand and opens it. softly a little light Grey pebble fall out onto your plams.

Your eyes blow wide as you stare at the pebble. You look up to meet König's eye only to see him make a run to the door.

He's gone before you have the chance to say anything.

 ∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

Minor editing to format!

This was my first post and it blew up on AO3. So if you've ever wondered who wrote the pebble head cannon, that me!

[mxtxfanatic]

sorry if you're done talking about it and don't want to discuss it anymore, but for me the 'trolley problem' post was just a sad note about how xie lian's attempts to stop "the trolley" (who always has a name and we very well know about it) end up in a disaster. not because xie lian did it, but because the trolley is actually an unstoppable force with malicious intent and no one else gives a fuck or doesn't have resources to help

but xie lian also shows us that even if things end up like that, it's worth trying. it's worth it, because you might not save everyone, but might save a child. a village. a little boy. a little girl. but if you don't do anything, you'll never know

I’m gonna go ahead and link this addition to my original commentary plus this response that I had in the notes to someone else with a similar reading of that post:

All I can say is that some of y’all are nicer readers than I, because I took that post to mean exactly what op said. If op came back and clarified something, I didn’t see it; I’m only talking about the original post and how inappropriate it is to 1) victim-blame a victim of the events in question for apparently having the audacity to not passively accept events he could influence for the better and 2) say this as a “joke” (because the blasé tone, minimalization of the actual events, overexaggeration of the victim’s responsibility for how said events turned out, and the flat-out avoidance to name what was the actual cause of everything that happens to make it into a meme format was fully meant to be taken as a “joke”).

The issue both with the trolley problem and the likening of it to the events of tgcf is that neither the trolley nor anything Xie Lian experienced are “unstoppable forces.” The trolley is not a natural disaster or the act of an omnipotent god: it is just a trolley. And not only is it just a trolley, it is a trolley that was made, owned, driven, and maintained by people. Everything that goes into a scenario where a trolley is on track to run over a crowd of people (tied to the tracks, another thing that is decidedly not a natural occurrence), is one that is 100% manufactured by multiple different people.

Likewise, while the Yong’an drought was a natural disaster, everything that led to the fall of Xianle was 100% the machinations of multiple different parties, from the rich nobility of both Xianle and Yong’an hoarding their wealth, the corrupt officials who stole aid, the corrupt religious officials who blocked Xie Lian’s followers from praying to him, Guoshi and the king for keeping all of this from Xie Lian, and to the other heavenly officials who withheld help with the intent to prey on the victims of the disaster. Jun Wu’s contribution could honestly be considered the least in this conversation, merely serving as the wind fanning the flames of a fire that had already started. None of that was a coincidence nor the fault of anything Xie Lian did or attempted to do.

Yes a big part of tgcf is recognizing that Xie Lian’s steadfastness to helping should be a personal goal, but another big message that mxtx pushes in all her works is that 99% of all societal problems can be tracked down to a few select individuals choosing to do evil because they don’t think that their greed, selfishness, insecurities, fears, or entitlements are a bad thing while most everyone else either looks the other way because “it’s not my problem,” tries to benefit because “why let opportunity go to waste?” or actively participate because mob mentality. Mocking good people for doing good under these circumstances will never be funny, sympathetic, or relatable to me.

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

fucking bullshit how when a member of the working class isn't thriving in a system meant to exploit them it's somehow their fucking fault because one way or another they've somehow Done Something Wrong.

"you should have asked for more hours" what if you're working all you fucking can while still being able to stay awake on the job. which we shouldn't have to fucking do.

"you shouldn't have spent too much on things you don't need" you should be able to spend on one or two nice fucking things without being broke

"you should get store brand instead of name brand" getting the store brand of everything still amounts to hundreds of fucking dollars for a week's worth of groceries

"you should have listened to the financial advice you got as a teenager" we did. we fucking did.

"you shouldn't have spent so much in loans" we did so we could get those Good Jobs You Need Degrees For like you fucking told us to

"you should have gotten a better degree" I shouldn't fucking need one to have a job that I can live off of

"you should have started working sooner so you could have saved up" not every teenager has parents that will fucking let them work and even then you should not have to work on top of school as a fucking child

"you should have listened to this financial coach" I am not fucking poor because I didn't listen to some grifter trying to sell me a fucking "course" that I can't afford. I fucking promise you that.

"you should have" "you should" "you shouldn't have" "you shouldn't" you should maybe fucking consider that this is bullshit. jumping through these hoops is bullshit. trying to do everything you were advised to just to still end up in shitty circumstances is bullshit. trying to prove you've made all the choices you were told were the right ones just to try to get people to believe your struggling isn't your fault is bullshit. still being told it's your fault because you didn't do this Secret Financial Life Hack or whatever is bullshit. it's all bullshit.

[minorfamilysupremacy]

quick note: if you're turning on build due to the most recent chat leaks, do me a favor and unfollow, then learn critical thinking skills and ask yourself why you're happily playing into the hands of a known liar and abuser.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I still very loathe the Media Trope of ‘’cold genius man doesn’t feel emotions and never has relationships... UNTIL.. one random relatively bland Preddy Woman comes along and warps his entire personality and ability to think, his heart has grown and his seeming asexuality has evaporated, he is now Normal :)” or whatever like... AS a walking generic hermit archetype myself.. we would NOT act like that .... just let people be detached weirdos in peace, you cowards .. OR, don’t bother to write one in the first place if you find us too boring to exist realistically in our natural state lol.. pathetic 

[dimonds456]

hey tumblr, thanks for recommending me a TERF post "based on my likes." I hope the hour I spent blocking as many people as I could bear in the notes is enough of a hint for you.

[abyssal-luka]

that reminds me, have you ever seen how weird they got about stimboards on tiktok? fucking wild

[dreaminginsteadofsleeping42]

It’s so interesting to me that the big, like, ~reveal~ of both Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall concern one of the main love interests already being - surprise! - married, but they are such VASTLY different circumstances with totally different connotations and consequences. Just Bronte girlie thoughts.

[charlattehotte]

denial is a river in egypt I probably definitely have autism, dyslexia and ocd lol

[bredforloyalty]

i don't think we do luv i don't think we do