#branch q. [ queue ] ;

[spockvarietyhour]

Boombox, "The Living Daylights" (1987)

[dhampir72]

Ahh all of your WIPs sound so intriguing! For the ask game, I would love to hear about “Bloom” and “A Series of Unfortunate Tea Times” if you feel so moved. 👀

Ahh thank you! As you can see none of them have really creative names, because I'm terrible at titles!!

So many people were asking me about "A Series of Unfortunate Tea Times" so I've posted about that one here.

Thanks for asking about "Bloom"! "Bloom" was a story very near and dear to my heart that I started during 007 fest, but never could quite finish. I think it's somewhere around 30k and still unfinished. I wanted to write something very soft, but I think this might be too soft?

Essentially it's another story where Bond is physically and emotionally tired of the job, but he can't quit because he thinks he's not fit to do anything else. And then he happens to meet Q outside of work and discovers that Q has a hobby for botany. And Bond learns that his hands can be for more than just killing.

Here is a snippet under the cut :)

Bond sees it now, why they’re called moth orchids. They have the shape of a Polyphemus moth, but they’re even showier in a rich, luscious purple. Bond reaches out a hand, but stops before he touches.

“You can touch them,” Q says, and, perhaps sensing Bond's hesitation, goes on encouragingly: “it won’t hurt them.”

Q lifts a hand and delicately strokes one of the petals with his fingertips. They’re beautiful, Bond realises. He’s always watched Q’s hands—at his workstation frenetically typing, meticulously fixing equipment, confidently checking the chamber of a gun—and always admired his efficiency, his quickness; the skills needed to go quickly without fumbling or causing error. But now he sees them in another way, the way he’s pretended not to notice for a while now; like how soft they can be, like they are when he applies antiseptic and plasters, the grace of his wrist when he unwinds gauze bandages, and it’s here now in the elegant sweep of his finger across this orchid’s silken petal. What would it be like? To have Q touch him like that? So purely, so purposefully? Is he even deserving of it? That gentleness?

“Go on,” Q says softly.

Bond hesitates again. For the first time in weeks, he thinks about the bomb dogs abandoned in the Middle East. Just like them, he’s been trained to do one thing. These hands are made for killing. And he’s good at it: with a gun, with a knife, with his bare hands round someone’s throat. He’s been doing this for so long that he’s not sure he’s capable of anything else. Gentleness? He’s not sure how to be, not anymore. 

But Q’s watching him, and it’s almost imploring, and Bond can’t deny him. He’ll try.

The back of his finger brushes the soft, purple petal. It’s smooth, and tender; fragile, almost. Like touching the inside of someone’s wrist. He could easily rip it, crush it in his palm. There would be no effort on his part to destroy it entirely. 

Instead, he touches it again, with the utmost care, just to prove he can. And he’s filled with awe and wonder at this, that he can be gentle, maybe even kind. 

It makes him wonder if one of those dogs left to die in the sand dunes of Afghanistan wandered into a village and met the kind hand of a stranger. Someone who put a bowl of water out for him, who shared their fire with him at night. Maybe someone who threw a stick, taught him to play, so that his dreams were not only ones of blood and smoke and IEDs. Maybe, just maybe, one of them got a second chance; a second chance to be something other than what they were made to be.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Q smile. He allows himself to smile, too.

His hands may have been made for killing, but maybe, just maybe, they can be made for something else.

[hyacinths-recs]

Redamancy, by opalescentgold (@opalescentgold) (Mature)

If you write something on your skin, then it will show up on your soulmate's skin as well.

James doesn't quite fall in love over physics discussions and cheeky book quotes scrawled over his heart, coding and riddles inked onto his skin, but he comes close. He does.

And then he actually meets Q.

I am so in love with this fic, it’s pathetic.

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

welcome to the Garbage Dump™

here to provide you with all your trash-producing needs.

🐠 Links (aka where you can find my trash):

~ if you just want to see my art shenanigans, i’ve shoved most of it into my secondary blog here: pile-of-trashley

~ Ko-Fi                  ~ Twitter

~ Instagram           ~ YouTube

🐋 other Things to know:

~ i mainly queue reblogs to my blog cuz i like having it on a schedule, so if you see just a like from me on something of yours, there's a 99.9% chance i’ve reblogged it too! it’s just waiting for it’s turn to post in my queue.

~ ID text for my art posts can be found under the ALT button 👍 (sorry in advance if i forget to do it on any my brain is broken)

~ MY TAGS: my personal ramble posts are tagged as "trash rambles" and my more negative ramble posts as "trash rants." queued posts are tagged as "q." feel free to blacklist these as needed!

🍉 Links to resources to help Palestine:

Operation Olive Branch: google spreadsheet that provides resources & places/families to donate to.

Help Gaza: another spreadsheet that provides a list of places/families to donate to.

ceasefiretoday: site to help you find your representatives (US/UK/Canada).

article listing Palestinian artists/designers to support

article explaining what companies to boycott

tumblr post by user sulfurcosmos that compiles A TON of resources into a list that’s being actively updated as of now so please check it out!!!

[777wave]

Metro Manila Subway Stations : M17

1. East Valenzuela Station

2. Quirino Highway Station

3. Tandang Sora Station

4. North Avenue Station

5. Quezon Avenue Station

6. East Avenue Station

7. Anonas Station

8. Camp Aguinaldo Station

9. Ortigas Avenue Station

10. Shaw Boulevard Station

11. Kalayaan Avenue Station

12. BGC Station

13. Lawton Station

14. Senate-DepEd Station

15. NAIA Terminal 3 (branch line)

16. FTI Station

17. Bicutan Station

—

With its BACKBONE of INFRASTRUCTURE, the under-construction Metro Manila Subway will help commuters FIT seamlessly into a QUICK QUEUE LINE (QQL), significantly reducing wait times.

B • BGC

A • Anonas

C • Camp Aguinaldo

K • Kalayaan

B • Bicutan

O • Ortigas

N • North Avenue

N • NAIA Terminal 3

E • East Valenzuela

E • East Avenue

F • FTI

I • Infrastructure

T • Tandang Sora

S • Shaw Boulevard

S • Senate-DepEd

Q • Quirino Highway

Q • Quezon Avenue

L • Lawton

—

A dream project of:

N • NEDA

D • DOTr

J • JICA

C • Collaboration

N • N

D • Da

J • Journey

C • Continues

N Da Journey Continues.

And the journey continues.

—

Photo:

CTTO

Image credits:

DOTr

NEDA

JICA

—

#M17

#MNLSubway

#AndTheJourneyContinues

[lgcjinyoung]

「     personal youtube channel  ⇛  a different form of grind   」    

since it had been a while that jinyoung opened his channel, he felt like wanting to branch out with his content a little bit. now that he began creating videos where he sat in front of his pc as well, the male figured that it couldn't hurt to attempt himself at a video of him grinding a big of solo Q in league of legends.

so the video begins with him in his gaming chair, glasses on his nose and waving at the camera like the goof he was. "hello gym rats. since I keep emphasizing how important rest days are in between your workout routines, I'm going to show you today how I spend mine. so instead of hitting the gym after a day of schedules- i game!"

"the tricky part is to remind yourself to stretch regularly though, or your muscles will cramp up and get sore- and since you want to rest them, that's the opposite of what we want to achieve." he boots the game up, the set up one he actually figured out himself and quite happy with his simple but compact layout. "I play a lot of games but I like league of legends because I can pace myself well and take a stretch after every game," he reasons.

"they usually go from 30 minutes to an hour so I can do one, two games and then stretch," the model continues on as he queues himself up, silently wondering how many friend requests he'd get once this goes live. throughout the video he does his best to explain how the game works, what role he plays, what his champ does and what rank he currently is. a humble diamond 2, due to the lack of time he invests in playing the game.

and true to his word he includes a section where he shows his stretching routine in between games, being thorough in his explanation and execution to stay on brand with his original intended content. he concludes the video ultimately with a final victory, arms stretched above his head with a tired groan.

"okay. i think that was enough de-stressing for now. it's time for dinner now. make sure not to skip meals, even on rest days! i'll see you back on the next video. goodbye~" and with a wave to the camera the scene fades to black, concluding this episode of muljjingi's gym.

[daemonusdea]

MEET THE MUSE

► Name ➔  ❝ Zero. Just...Zero. ❞ ► Are you single ➔ ❝ Yep. ❞ ► Are you happy ➔  ❝ Nope. ❞ ► Are you angry? ➔  ❝  Only about 99.99% of the time.  ❞ ► Are your parents still married ➔  ❝ Pretty sure my mom never even knew my dad’s name. ❞

NINE FACTS

► Birth Place ➔ ❝ A poor, shit-sack village on the outskirts of the Land of Shut Up. ❞ ► Hair Color ➔ ❝ White. ❞ ► Eye Color ➔ ❝ I was told they were rose-- pink. Whatever. ❞ ► Birthday ➔ ❝ Hell if I know. ❞ ► Mood ➔ ❝ Irritated. ❞ ► Gender ➔ ❝ Pissed off with a side of tits. ❞ ► Summer or winter ➔ ❝ Who even cares? They come and go every damn year. They’re both boring...But I guess summer’s less annoying, don’t have to freeze my ass off then. ❞ ► Morning or afternoon ➔ ❝ Uh...morning? ❞

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

► Are you in love ➔ ❝ Oh, we’re telling jokes now? ❞ ► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ ❝ Okay that’s pretty funny. Hell no, there’s attraction at first sight, love doesn’t exist. ❞ ► Who ended your last relationship ➔ ❝ I wouldn’t call it a relationship...but I guess I ended it when I killed him. ❞ ► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔  ❝ I’ve stabbed a few of them. Pretty heartbreaking when you realize you’re dying. ❞ ► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ ❝ The hell does that mean? ❞ ( Yes. ) ► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ ❝ Gross.  ❞ ► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ ❝ I’m sure there’s lots of people out there thinking happy thoughts about stabbing me, with a dreamy look on their faces. ❞ ► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ ❝ I’d need to have one, first. ❞

SIX CHOICES

► Love or lust ➔ ❝ Ugh. I guess lust. ❞ ► Lemonade or iced tea ➔ ❝ Doesn’t matter. ❞ ► Cats or Dogs ➔ ❝ They’re both annoying. ❞ ( She likes both, tending towards cats. ) ► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ ❝ No friends. ❞ ► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ ❝ You mean with other people? Ew. Both by myself is just fine. ❞ ► Day or night ➔ ❝ Night, there’s less annoyances then. ❞ ( And the stars are nice. )

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out ➔ ❝ Uuuuh...once? ( yikes. ) ❞ ► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ ❝ ...Fuckin’ stairs... ❞ ► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ ❝ ... ❞ ► Wanted to disappear ➔ ❝ Only every day of my life. ❞

FOUR PREFERENCES

► Smile or eyes ➔ ❝ Eyes. You can tell when a fucker’s lying. ❞ ► Shorter or Taller ➔ ❝ Doesn’t matter. ❞ ► Intelligence or Attraction ➔  ❝ Choosing between a fuck-ugly smart-mouth or an attractive moron? Great options. Neither. ❞ ► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ ❝ Hook-ups are less of a pain, though still a pain in the ass to deal with... ❞

FAMILY

► Do you and your family get along ➔ ❝ Oh yeah we’re great pals. Had a reunion not too long ago with my sisters, my sword was pretty happy to see them. Haven’t heard from mom in a long time. Maybe she’s dead. ❞ ► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ ❝ It’s fucked a thousand ways to Sunday. ❞ ► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ ❝ I think maybe a handful of times when I was very young...that was ended pretty quickly, though. ❞ ► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ ❝ Does getting sold to a brothel count as getting kicked out? ❞

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ ❝ Bold of you to assume I have friends. I hate everyone very openly. ❞ ► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ ❝ Even bolder. ❞ ► Who is your best friend ➔ ❝ No one. ❞ ► Who knows everything about you ➔ ❝ ...No one. Not even me. ❞

Tagged by: @soaringheart​ thANK YOU BABY <3

Tagging: @sanctiichor, @reiivusu, @dekirukoto, @destructivour, @fragilefated, @xdelinquentdevil, @jjillekkot, @geometragic, @infiniitas, @estrifes, @xkuja, @fractempyreal, @ofwhitechapel​, @trashkingizunia​ , holy m o ly okay anyone else who sees this and wants to do it steal it please skhjdjkf

[astudyinfic]

Holiday Writing 2020, Day 18 - Party

Title:  Two’s Company

Fandoms: James Bond

Relationships:  James Bond/Q

Words: 1259

Rated: T

Summary:

Bond has to seduce a mark. Q has to listen in.

Tags:  mission, Seducing a mark, coms, Established Relationship, Not Beta Read

Prompts can be found here.

[kitkatcubed]

intro post woo!!

- call me kit!

- she/they/it

- masculine terms are a-okay and in fact welcomed! in general i dont really mind what pronouns or terms are used for me, she/they is just what i 100% know im comfortable with and enjoy

- likes and follows come from @innovative-detritus since this is a sideblog

- i welcome interaction and try my best to interact with content i enjoy

- ill mostly post/reblog stuff relating to hermitcraft, dream smp, 3rd life or empires smp. feel free to give me more mcyt recommendations (smps or ccs) i enjoy branching out

- technically a writer but very amateur. i welcome constructive criticism on any of my writing or any writing tips you feel inclined to give

- asks are always open and anon is always on. feel free to ask me about things but dont bring drama or discourse (exception is if i reblog something discourse-y and the ask is related to it)

- all posts are ask to tag

- i do have helsmits if you're curious and want to ask about them!!

- this is a buildmart positive blog <3

mcyt content ive seen!!

- dream smp (not as active but i enjoy the content still and occasionally watch vods or videos if posted)

- hermitcraft (grain s6. many povs for s7. about every pov for s8. joe, tango, gem, doc, impulse, cleo, xisuma, zedaph, pearl, tfc, grian, scar, mumbo, bdubs, wels for s9)

- empires smp (joel, lizzle, pixl, shubble and jimmy are povs im mostly caught up with. attempting to watch the rest of the povs as well)

- x life (scott and lizzie povs. on hold but there are a few more povs i want to watch)

- evo smp (grians pov. wanting to watch other povs as well)

- 3rd life (every pov. still crying)

- yhs/ts (only watched the episodes with grian. watched only for grian lore)

- last life (every pov)

- 100 hours of hardcore (every pov)

hyperfixated/favorite mcyts!!

hyperfixated - italics

scott

grian

zedaph

impulse

bdubs

scar

tommy (previously hyperfixated. still kinda am, but not to the same extent)

jimmy

lizzie

tag system time!!

#kit purrs is for art or writing or just content in general i Really enjoy and want to tag jic i wish to look back on it

#s obbing is for art or writing or just content in general that made me feel or made me sad

#kit meows is for personal posts or responding to asks

#kits q is for my queue

#kit writes is for any writing i post

#kit ships is for shipping content. feel free to block/blacklist this tag. i dont reblog much of it and any content i produce myself wont include it

[spockvarietyhour]

meanwhile at Q-Branch....

[spiritofcamelot]

Tron AU snippet

Because @dhampir72 asked what this Tron AU was. You've also now revealed a bigger mystery which is where did the rest of it go?? But here's a bit for you.

<br>R

One of the newer Q branch employees brought his tablet over to R. He had security camera footage pulled up. “This doesn’t normally move, does it?”

The video was of the display case in the main lobby of the building. It had some old typewriters and encoding devices and a telegraph. The telegraph was moving. R didn’t even think it was connected to anything. Then again, the previous Q had liked old things like that and he might’ve hooked it up once to play a joke on someone and left it connected. “Can you translate it?”

He nodded. “I’ll have it in your email as soon as I do.”

Although R didn’t actually read the email until much later. Multiple alert systems started pinging to notify of suspicious activity. Sudden bulk sales of security stocks, rapid power drains in Marylebone, and an increase in probing attacks on their firewalls.

She was exhausted when she finally saw the translated message from last night. It said: “Trapped. Warning. Oddjob. Q.”

She sighed. If he wasn’t back by now, there really was a big problem. And she couldn’t even help.

EDIT: I FOUND IT! Longer snippet so it's going below a cut.

Q 1.9

At long last, they reached the root system of the grid. It looked like a large quarry with a black mirror at the bottom. But it was no mirror. The sizzle of electricity that shot across the surface just then belied that.

“What is that?” Tish asked.

“It’s a doorway,” Q answered. “Albeit a strange one. It feels like you’re drowning when you pass through even though you can still breathe.”

“Hold on,” Niko said. “I thought you said you’ve never been here before?”

“I haven’t,” Q replied, shrugging off his backpack. In the root system, he would travel light. “My father took me to the root system of his computer once though. And at the heart of all computers, the root is structured identically.”

Niko rubbed his hands together. “Alright, so what can we expect? Any more of the goldfingers?”

The others looked at him, all very confused. “The what?” Smerl asked.

“The goldfingers. The bad guys.” He glanced at all of the still confused faces. “Come on, they needed a name and the really bad ones have gold colouring on their light suits.”

“No, we got that,” Q said.

“Its the finger part,” Tanzy finished. “Why goldfinger?”

He shrugged. “Well their like parts of the hand reaching out for us, but goldhand didn’t sound as good and besides there’s many of them so fingers.” He wiggled his own as if that would help his case. “So tell us, Queue. What’s waiting for us in the root?”

“There’s no us. You’ll wait here.”

All the programs protested that.

“You wanna know what’s through there? A laser grid. No way to turn it off. Designed to keep out programs. It touches any small part of you and you are instantly derezzed. No second chance. But I’m a user. Doesn’t affect me at all.”

“So we have to build--”

“No. Its too dangerous. I won’t let you die foolishly.”

Tanzy raised a hand. “You said Oddjob got into the root system and locked you out. He’s a program. How did he get in?”

“I don’t know,” Q admitted. “I don’t know how many cycles he’s been planning this for. Maybe he did build something to allow himself safe passage. Or maybe he hired programs to jump in as a protective ring around him. Used them as shields.”

Smerl gasped. “That’s horrible.”

“Yeah, it is. But I’ve fought against his type before and it wouldn’t surprise me.if he did it.”

There was some more arguing, but Q had been expecting the argument for a while and he had an answer for all of their counter arguments. So as the light faded on another cycle, he double checked that he had all the things he needed and then he took a running leap into the black mirror.

[gideonloser]

Chapter five: The night's just begun

Once the stress of the cow monster trying to fight was over, the three found themselves in a pickle. Ash hopped down from the car and Farrah was able to get to her feet without help and seemed more or less steady, but then they were three kids, on the side of a road through a forest, next to a stolen and wrecked BMW, and a cow patterned pelt. The pelt was easy enough to deal with- Ash explained to Teddy that some monsters left behind trophies for the heroes that slayed them. She thought he should take it, as it was his quest, but he and Farrah both agreed it was hers, as she shot the Hail Mary that saved the day. Perhaps under different circumstances she would have argued more, but instead she just shoved it into her backpack and turned her attention back to the problems that weren’t so easily solved.

It was a quiet road, but someone was still bound to come by eventually and the three agreed it was best that they not be there when they do. A compass Farrah produced from her bag told them which way was West, and they started walking. That part seemed a little stupid to Teddy, as they weren’t exactly going to walk all the way to Salt Lake, but he didn’t object as he didn’t have a better plan. Eventually they found a place that was deemed far enough away from the crash to be non-suspicious- even if investigators did find them, Farrah would undoubtedly be able to come up with some kind of bluff that would explain why three teenagers were out in the middle of nowhere, and deny hearing or seeing anything about the crash, and at the distance they were, it would (hopefully) be believable.

After all the excitement, Teddy would have been perfectly happy to just flop down on his sleeping bag and sleep for days, but Ash insisted they all needed food first, and he couldn’t deny that a warm fire did sound nice. While Farrah sorted out what they could prepare with the skills they had, Ash insisted Teddy make the fire. She said since Apollo was the god of light and fire created light, he could have a special bonus there. Still, try as he might and with Ash right over his shoulder walking him through it, he couldn’t do it. When Farrah declared they could do hot dogs and had everything all ready but he still didn’t even have so much as a spark, he threw it all down in frustration and yielded to Ash.

As he watched her make the fire (which she got quickly, because of course she did), it occurred to him that he really didn’t know very much about her. As her face lit up dimly in the sparks, he thought about how he didn’t even know where she called home when she wasn’t at camp. This girl called herself his sister, and was willing to put her life on the line for his quest without even being asked. Once she sat back, satisfied with the blaze, and Farrah had distributed the hot dogs, he asked.

"Ash, what is your real life like?"

She turned to him and quirked an eyebrow.

"My what?"

He made a face at himself when he realized he had worded it a bit weirdly, and took the time in his head to make sure his internal translation wasn't lagging, as he sought a better way to word it.

"Like, where do you go when you're not at camp? What's your human family like?"

"I go to my mother's in Los Angeles. She, her husband, and my stepsister Zoe all live there. I do not have any half siblings on that side, though I do have one full sister, Q."

There was a lot to unpack there. First was that she had a full sibling, did Apollo like her mom so much that he came back? Second was that any full sibling of hers was also a half sibling of his, but he had never even heard of this Q, or seen her around camp. Third was the name Q. Was that supposed to be, like, Queue, or was it a nickname? And if it was a nickname, what was it short for? Quin, maybe?

He wasn't sure where to start with all his thoughts, but luckily Farrah seemed to sense his confusion and jumped in.

"Tell him more about Q."

"Q is my twin sister. It's short for Queenie. She joined the Hunters of Artemis a few years ago."

Farrah nodded along as she spoke, evidentially already knowing the story, but meanwhile Teddy was a little lost.

"The what?"

"They're an asexual immortal girl gang." Farrah answered in a helpful tone, but Ash shot her a glance warning her that it was not helpful, and Ash knew damn well that Farrah was aware of it when she said it.

"You know who Artemis is, right?"

"Apollo's twin sister. Goddess of..." That gave him a moment of pause. What exactly was she the goddess of, after all? He was still so new to all of this, and trying to keep everyone straight was hard. "...The moon?"

"Yes, among other things. Including the hunt and chastity." Ash started her answers quickly, almost as soon as Teddy finished speaking- probably just to cut off Farrah before she could contribute any more technically true but confusing nonsense. "So she has all these attendants- girls who pledge to serve her and to forsake the company of men, and in return Artemis makes them immortal. The only way they can die is being struck down in battle. Those are the Hunters."

"And Queenie is one?"

"Queenie is one." Ash confirmed. She suddenly busied herself with her hot dog, and what part of his face he could see while she did seemed sad.

"Do you ever get to see her?" He wasn't sure why he kept asking, especially since he could tell it was a sore spot, but she kept answering.

"Yes. Occasionally the Hunters visit camp, and we do try to Iris message once a month or so." She said, somewhat sadly. "It's just... weird. I mean, I keep aging but she doesn't. And for so long, she was always right by my side, and now she's just... gone."

Teddy went quiet. He understood that, probably more than anyone thought he did. His thoughts turned to his own private grief, which Farrah picked up on. In response, she did something very impulsively, that was also strangely selfless: she threw out her own pain that she had been carefully hiding for all to see, to distract him from his own.

"Ashley," She announced, shifting her body to fully face Ash, but still keeping an eye on Teddy out of the corner of her eye. "I think it's time we talk about Luke."

Teddy didn't need to know who Luke was to know whatever this was was bad news. The temperature seemed to drop and Ash sat up straight, raising her chin and looking at Farrah evenly. She crossed her arms, a gesture that Farrah mirrored, but when Farrah did it, it looked petulant and childish. When Ash did it, she held herself with an air of nobility and carried herself confidently.

"My name isn't Ashley, but okay. Let's talk about Luke."

"Who's Luke?" Teddy asked, hoping it would break the thick tension that had settled, but the girls didn't even break their eye contact.

"Why don't you answer that?" Farrah asked, feigning politeness. "He's your boyfriend."

"He was my boyfriend." She replied, stressing the past tense. "He is your brother."

"I don't care who answers it, can someone just do it?!" Teddy snapped, a little harsher than intended, but whatever had just come over the two girls freaked him out. Finally Farrah forfeited the staring contest, looking over at him.

"Remember the counselor I told you about when you first got to camp? The one who snapped last year and attacked another camper?" He gave a small nod- he didn't remember the details, but he did remember the gist. "That's Luke."

"Why do we need to talk about Luke?"

"What did you know about what he was planning?" Farrah asked, turning her attention back to Ash and ignoring the question.

"Like I already told Chiron," Ash replied, a hint of restrained anger in her voice. "Nothing. I wasn't a co-conspirator. He didn't even say goodbye before he attacked Percy and left."

"Which you didn't know about?" The question was somewhere between an accusation and a confirmation, but Ash nodded.

"Which I didn't know about."

"Wait, Percy Jackson?" Teddy interjected, and both girls nodded. "You hate Percy. You told me yourself that you hate Percy."

This time Ash looked over at him, irritation on her face.

"I think he's annoying, but that does not mean I asked or wanted my boyfriend to try to murder him." She replied, which did seem like solid logic. He nodded, and she looked back at Farrah. "What did you know about what he was planning?"

"No more than anyone else!" She said, immediately defensive. "He complained about our father all the time, but I didn't think he would actually do anything about it!"

"Why does anyone have to know anything about Luke?" Teddy interrupted before Farrah started full on screaming, which got both of them to look at him.

"What?" One, or possibly, both asked.

"Why does anyone have to know anything? Why couldn't Luke have just acted alone and nobody knew anything?"

That idea seemed to calm both of them down considerably and when they looked back at each other, there was sympathy.

"I'm sorry that you lost your brother." Ash offered, her voice still a little guarded, but overall kind.

"Thanks." Farrah said, a bit measured but overall offering an olive branch. "...Do you still love him?"

Ash went quiet, and both the younger teens couldn't help but wonder if Farrah had overstepped as she stared into the flames. The shifting light cast sharp shadows that accentuated all the emotions, of which she seemed to have many, across her face. It seemed odd that she could all but accuse her of conspiring to murder a twelve year old and that was fine, but when she asked about an ex, that was off limits.

"I don't know if I ever loved him." She finally answered, still staring into the fire. "He was my first... Well, my first everything. I can't make that ever go away. And I would always rather be behind his shield than in front of his sword."

Suddenly she looked up. It seemed a second fire had been lit behind her eyes, which glowed with intensity as she looked at them.

"But if I'm called on to defend my home or my family, I won't hesitate. I'll fight to his death, or mine."

[stinky-and-the-pain]

& then there was one

my parents finished renovating our house my freshman year of high school. i was 14 and finally had my own room...a place i didn’t have to share with my 11 year old brother or my 3 year old sister. i painted it green & a couple of months later painted a tree on one wall and filled the branches with lord of the rings quotes. it was my sanctuary. 

my grandma gifted me my first laptop around the same time. she won it in a company sweepstakes and gave it to me because she had one already. it was the coolest thing. we had a family computer in the office (nee playroom) that i had played both sims 2 and 3 on. but now i could take the sims to my room! 

amongst other things. 

i played skyrim religiously after my brother got bored of the xbox, as he was also gifted a playstation 4 along with GTA V. i also adored several creators on youtube, at that time a bastion of comedic skits and random tangential clips lasting no more than 6 minutes or so. i felt deeply invested in the community -- not so much with fellow audience members but with the youtubers themselves; as if these videos were a two-way conversation. shane dawson led to desandnate led to smosh led to kalel cullen led tobuscus led to pewdiepie led to cryaotic, etc., etc. they were great! 

forget the boy bands of the 90s and early 2000s....which youtuber did you want to date? SMASH + fuck, marry, kill in the back of the chilly and damp bus driving home from a scholastic bowl meet. my heart ached for these people. they appealed so deeply to me and i fell madly in love with them all. and i wasn’t alone; we all fell in love. 

i’m not sure how i found out about omegle. at a slumber party or birthday, someone pulled out their laptop & we could see and chat with strangers. live. no supervision. we were...14? 15? had to be 14 because i succinctly remember laughing a while later when i told a grown man i wasn’t 18 but actually 14 after he had finished for me. all while sitting in my new green bedroom. 

for the longest damn time i thought i had an extremely average adolescence. i was lauded as independent and mature, and took pride in that. maturity meant i was better but also inherently prepared for what life was throwing at me. plus independence meant that i could effectively do whatever i pleased. and to that extent, i never attended a party (though i did sneak over to a boy’s house when i said i was going to a friends’ but that was later figured out and actually excused) but i pursued other exploits. 

another piece of the puzzle is that youtube around 2010 appealed to people exactly my age. and was simultaneously extremely sexual. the mass cancellation of shane dawson is ultimately rooted in his behavior around this time. and this behavior was broadcast to us, 12-14 years old, which signaled to us what could be deemed appropriate. queue me believing that men around the ages of 19-25 could find me, a barely there 14 year old, attractive. and boy did i run with that. 

i spent immeasurable time on omegle. it was thrilling, especially when men’s faces would light up as my video appeared. “finally, a real person and not just a dick!” i remember one, zach herzog (sp?). he was so kind, introducing me to imgur which rounded out my early internet diet. he had a girlfriend but at one point admitted to me that she was not as pretty as i was. we would message on kik for hours. he graduated college a year after we met (my junior year of high school). jake was around that time too. but honestly jake was special in that we met through omegle chat (no video). and we actually chatted for about 3 years, at one time making sure to watch the weekly game of thrones episode (freshly downloaded off pirate bay) together and discussing what went down afterwards. after we skyped with video on, we slowly stopped communicating. 

another, stephen i believe. he was from the UK and i only remember that because of his accent and that i had him say my (fake) name multiple times. i never once used my real name nor talked aloud to these men. always text. but does that matter? over skype, he would send videos of himself jacking off...which would have been pleasant save for the fact he liked smacking his penis near the end and i couldn’t take that seriously. 

the first man i reciprocated for -- that is, i obliged requests to show parts of my body -- was sam. i don’t remember anything too striking about him save he did his business to me while we were still on omegle (only strange because the fashion then was to move to somewhere more ‘private’ and stable like kik or skype) and then promptly ghosted me. somewhere in my hs junior year planner, there are notes to sam asking him if he would ever come back. 

then senior year. so stressed with college applications (i applied to one school) i spent most of my time in my bedroom alone, indulging in a healthy diet of top gear and youtube, by this point dominated by cryaotic and pewdiepie. but i always had time for my dear favorite, capndesdes (of desandnate fame who later made his own solo channel where he published several q&a’s and apartment vlogs). october 2013 and i was wearing his blue ‘crescent moon face’ shirt (referencing the photo booth video). i met Anthony, Mike, and David on omegle. i immediately picked out Anthony and sure enough he was interested. him being in a group, i knew we wouldn’t be doing anything that night but the video chat was fun. the connection even died at one point but we got back in contact as i had shared my twitter (and my real name, though for months he believed my fake name was my middle name because i felt bad telling the truth). i guess i should’ve known this time was different when he insisted on skying the next morning before i went to work. i felt embarrassed for how i looked but he said i looked beautiful. and was so earnest i had to believe him. 

we skyped everyday. every day. essentially right as i got home from school because that’s conveniently when he got off work. oh and i eventually had to admit that my microphone was not in fact broken. we played minecraft and gta on the xbox. he said he planned to visit me one day. but that’s absurd, right? i would laugh and say ‘you’re too much.’

he visited november 9 2013. drove all the way up. i was at my friend’s birthday party. we had just woken up and he revealed he was in our town. i gave him directions to the park so we could meet. i remember running to him from my car, friends sitting in the back seat. we walked about two miles around the park, chatting. he was even more beautiful in person. the sight of the freckles on his nose are still so vivid. even after all these years remembering, my naiveté still strikes me. a day later, he asked me to be my girlfriend as we walked to his car after dinner. i said yes, that i would do him the honor of making him the happiest man on earth. a day later, he took (but i also gave) away my virginity. he met my friends and then we said goodbye on a rainy and cold afternoon. i still sometimes smell the sweet mustiness of that room. 

a handful of memories that are still striking after 7 years:

washing the strawberry lube off myself in my parent’s bathroom, praying they did not ask why i had spent the last 5 afternoons and evenings staying so late at a friend’s house; forcing myself to connect to Lorde’s music after he said he enjoyed her first album; saying that thin mints were my favorite after he admitted to buying too many; taking my adventure time backpack to the hotel room and filling out my cheatsheet for my physics test the next day while he watched and eventually rolled me over to kiss me; feeling too insecure to lead him around town so instead opted to stay silent as he chose what to have for dinner; eating at my favorite local mexican restaurant after losing my virginity; showing my friends the pictures we had taken in the hotel room and them losing their minds. 

after he left, i was devastated. and essentially remained devastated for the next 7 months. i cried the morning after he left, while driving to work and listening to ribs. 

there’ll be more, when i have strength. 

[stormofsharpthings]

First Line Challenge

The rules are, post the first line of a WIP, and tag as many people as it has words. I was tagged by @usersoph (thank you so very much) 😶🧐🤩

I’ve got so so many things on the back burner, but Alec Trevelyan is being a bit of a queue-jumping berk at the moment, so a JAQ fic is next after I finish my current running Inception beast (On My Knees I Think Clearer - currently at 16 chapters and nearing the finish, so does it count as a WIP?).

“So that’s the new Quartermaster,” Alec murmured into James’ ear, the muscular warmth of him pressed all along James’ back as they stood at the railing, looking down at the Q branch testing floor.

34 words, because I am a hopelessly wordy writer and way too addicted to adjectives.

And as far as I can tell, almost everyone I’d love to tag has already been tagged, so aside from below, I will open the floor to anyone who sees this post and would like to participate!

@cumberhardhiddlesbitch

I do need to specifically tag @alittleoblivion (foxtales on AO3), because Dammit Woman, More! (yes, I know you are actually writing but...whine)

[captain-magicalkitty]

“Berserk?” Bond repeated. “This is our Quartermaster you're speaking of?” Eve could hear the man's eyebrows rising. She sighed as another crash rattled the door and an inarticulate screech followed it.

“He opened his eyes, grabbed the instrument tray and tried to throttle the dentist with the drill cable. When I intervened, he threw the mouthwash bottle at me and broke the overhead light. The dentist ran into the other treatment room and locked himself in. So far as I know, he's still there. After Q tried to stab me with a dental pick, I closed the door to the waiting room and called Q branch to block any outgoing calls but mine. He's confined to the corridor behind me for now.” Yet another ringing impact. “And is trying to get out.”

“What aren't you telling me, Eve?” Bond sounded highly sceptical.

“You need to see for yourself. I have no intention of giving any description of the visuals over the phone. Q will eventually be aware of all this and I would like to keep my ATM access and Netflix queue.”

[dumbkallura]

Dumb Kallura HCs

Can be pre or post s7 (i’ve honestly been working on this list since s5 but put it in the back burner cuz of s7). All are very domestic.

Keith and Allura are both impulsive, a little reckless, and also in peak physical form so they continuously do the really extreme type of sports if they want to try smt new in a new planet. Like bear wrestling or Cliff diving.

Keith can draw but Allura can’t. But shes really good at other crafts-y stuff like felting, knitting, crocheting, calligraphy, flower arranging etc. 

They both can’t cook past basic dishes and this became painfully clear when they started living together and had to eat macaroni and green goo 5 times a week. (Allura isn’t able too because she never had the time to learn before she lost her parents and Keith never had anyone to show him how, queue the tears).

Keith and Allura are a level 5 couple so they help each other with their personal gooming

Keith helps cut, file and paint Allura’s nails. Hes very slow with it however but the product comes out perfect.

Allura helps Keith q-tip his ears but shes so gentle he falls asleep on her lap.

Allura is the ‘‘big’’ spoon in bed, which means she hugs Keith from the back but because shes so small compared him it ends up more like a koala hugging a tree branch.

keith doesn’t mind because this way he can tell when Allura is having nightmares at night as she will tighten her arms around him and he can then do smt about it.

Keith introduces Allura to anime and he lowkey regrets it cuz she now does the naruto handsigns whenever she wants to use her alchemic lightning attack (think s2ep12)

“Chakra is basically quintessence! Naruto is just an altean with ugly ears!”

Allura is really taken with earths bunnies because of their cute paws and long ears.

She dressed up as one when they went to a Halloween party on earth and Matt jokingly said to Keith that Allura might be a furry (Keith nearly fought him).