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glitches-and-bugs · 2 months

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The State Of The Community (From an outsider)

Let me preface this by saying that this is all based on information I could gather on my own from the Discord and the various blogs involved. I will do my best to be as accurate as possible but since nobody involved in the situation came to explain, I'm quite limited. Thank you to the two of you (Aside from my main contact) that approached me to tell me what was going on, even though you were both distant from what was happening. I wholeheartedly appreciate you.

Let's get started, shall we?

The Server

This will address both the previous state of the server, the current state, and the demands presented in order to reform the server.

Firstly, the previous state. It's abundantly clear that none of you involved in the management of that server 1) know how to run a server with a mixed age range, 2) Have enough emotional control to not abuse moderator positions, and 3) Know what to include and not to include in a server in order to provide a healthy environment. This is not calling you out, this is a statement of fact because this community is mostly children. Yes, yes, some of you are close to 18. But I'm fucking 25. You're children to me.

The current state. Though the NSFW channels seem to be removed (Which they shouldn't have even existed in the first place without proper age verification and a moderator group of adults), there's still aspects present that should NOT be in a healthy server. Let's break it down. The Trigger Channel. Though I understand that it might be seen as necessary for you to make sure that people don't misstep, you do realize that people can use those against you, right? You should NEVER discuss your triggers publicly. The sheer amount of Vent/Mental Health chats. Look. It's clear that you're all trying to take responsibility for each other and that's nice and all, but none of you have boundaries. These types of discussions are fine to have with friends, it's important to have a supportive net of friends, but you should NEVER have a vent chat unless it is in private. These discussions you're all having in there are things that should be brought up to medical professionals. Some of you should be going to HOSPITALS. The fact that there were NSFW chats at all. This is a community of mostly children. I know nothing can stop you kids from exploring on your own, but there should never be a place where adults and children can go at the same time that has sexual connotation. I know y'all might not think this is serious but you kids can get adults into trouble, or end up in compromising situations yourselves. I pray nobody's groomed or grooming any of you.

Now the demands, reviewed by someone that worked as a professional Twitch/Discord moderator for a few years. Things I understand why you want to change it: The sheer amount of moderators. Too many cooks spoil the stew. By having so many people with that much power, you cause confusion and disarray. Limit your moderation team to 1 moderator per like, 20-30 members, with a good spread of time zone variance. Transparency of moderator decisions. Sorta. This should always be a given. Any rule changes and major events should be publicized, but things like rule violations, bans, and things as such should stay in the background. You are not entitled to every piece of information. No-nonsense moderator applications. Being a moderator is something to be taken seriously. You're ensuring the safety of your peers, not making a secret club. Things I do not understand: Public moderator applications. This isn't necessary. Sharing applications with the moderation team is all well and good, but it's not a public affair. You aren't voted on like parliament or the senate. "Collectivized" server ownership. A server should be made up of one trusted owner and a team of moderators. This isn't a government, it's a leisure activity. A big server I'm in has one moderator per 50 members. YOURS has at LEAST one for every FUCKING EIGHT. That's oversaturation. Any further collectivization and you may as well just make everyone a moderator. Server owner rotates between moderators. This isn't going to work. I promise you with all my little rotten heart that this isn't going to work. You're either going to give up or someone is going to just... Not give up the server owner position. You do realize that can happen, right? That they can just not give up the Server Owner role? What happens then? Did you have a contingency plan? Opt-in Mental Health channels. It's better than just leaving them free and open, but having them at ALL is still not good. Like I brought up before.

Phew, and that's all just the SERVER.

The Tumblr Community

As some of you may know, I was one of the handful of founding blogs in this project.

It has gotten way out of hand.

We have lost the spirit of what we started as, and as a result we have become a very toxic, disorganized community built on the backs of people who cannot support it.

People are being exiled from the community left and right for reasons I cannot figure out but am certain are petty in spirit. You're all great kids, but you're ruthless. You're going to cannibalize this community someday. I pray it happens soon, so you can all get over the grief that much sooner. I pray it rips off like a bandage, quick and efficient, a grand hoorah that leaves this place etched in the annals of Tumblr history. But we all know it won't. You'll all slowly cannibalize the community, ousting any member that stands up against whatever in group is most popular at the time, and you'll slowly decline in number until it's just a handful of you all bickering with yourselves about what went wrong. You'll look back and wonder what happened to change this community so much and there won't be anything to pinpoint because it's not just one event that caused its downfall. It's dozens.

If you know what's best for you, you'll leave on your own terms before that day comes.

Go touch grass. Stay in school, go to college, follow your dreams, and go to fucking therapy. All of you.

I promise you, as someone who was once in your shoes; young and stupid with a big RP blog and a lot of moxie, I know how this ends. Godspeed Tem-ily, you beautiful Undertale blog.

Final thoughts

I'll give a summary of Glitches' and Bugs' storyline tonight or tomorrow or something. Feel free to send me asks through the day, maybe tomorrow. but after that I'm gonna abandon the blog for good.

As an adult of my age, I shouldn't have even stayed when I realized how young some of you were. This is me rectifying that mistake. Any adults are free to hit me up, but i don't wanna deal with y'all being so young compared to me. It's just not right for us to interact.

Goodbye and good luck.

Glitches.

#dev log #important

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nintendoni-art · 11 months

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So the Night Terrors.

Since by the time of this circulating around there's gonna be at least 2 of these guys in tournaments, with one of them being in one already, it felt about the time a post should be made about each of them with a bit of info attached. As a group, the lot of them are from a Sonic Chronicles AU-ish timeline where the Nocturnes didn't get pulled into the Cage, and the Knuckles Clan successfully got the Master and Chaos Emeralds, causing both groups to eventually fizzle out into a centuries long cold war, and causing untold damage to the environment as they gathered up resources. [And then it rolls into the OTHER AU I've been working on...] Fair warning, this is gonna be long under the cut, so heads up! [Also, a quick thank you to @galactirabbit for all the art I'm using!]

Tabi - Currently in @sonic-oc-showdown 2!

The leader of this motley crew of ragamuffins, Tabi is a fearsome little critter who's brain is just as terrifying as their brawn. Though most of their deeds are more legend than fact, their ability to keep those under their watch safe out of the hands of those who may want to exploit the abilities of their species [or worse, used to recharge and power devices with the chaos energy they're made out of] is second to none. Originally a healer to a group of mercenaries who got dumped in a forest after a terrible injury, their views on Mobians are dim at best, to outright despising them on their worst days. Still, they refuse to confront them directly, instead robbing them blind and using said resources to keep their actions hidden as much as possible from prying eyes, keeping anything they find "interesting" to themselves. Also after another incident, they have a bit of a complex when it comes to "helping" other species they come across by bullying them until they lash out, mostly to make sure they're tough enough to survive if something bigger attacks them. They'll also swear up and down they're in the right about it, which has caused some...issues. Serious, driven, is just ...so very, very tired.

Trackball

When the village they were raised in was evacuated, and everyone except the old, infirm, and "pets" were left behind in order to slow down an advancing army, Trackball refused to back down when Tabi came to scavenge what they could find for themselves. After a battle that lasted until sunup, they ended up gaining Tabi's respect, friendship, and services in protecting those who were left. After the last of the Mobians who lived in said village passed away peacefully, Trackball pledged the rest of their life to Tabi's service, and to follow them wherever they, or "the demon in their employ" would go. Granted, this action and Trackball's wording slightly weirded Tabi out a bit, but as the Night Terrors grew, Trackball eventually became second in command, and the defacto leader if Tabi isn't around. Always the first one awake, they're usually found double checking heist plans, arranging scouting and salvage teams, and making sure things run like clockwork behind the scenes. Quick thinking, dependable, Is far more adept than what they think they are.

Shortfuse

As the environment was collapsing around them, some factions tried to replicate species that were dying out, to...mixed results.

Shortfuse here is one of those said artificial lifeforms, and the only one out of all in the project that made them that ended up anything close to stable. Alas, the rest of their fellow A-Life constructs proceeded to go feral and tear apart the scientists that made them, so that left Shortfuse alone. All who loved and wanted them, dead. Cast to the Wilds with no defense, or support. You know, besides the warp powers. And the immunity to any and all toxins and poisons. And the sheer amount of explosive devices they could just summon at a moment's notice. Honestly, most of the Night Terrors don't even remember when Shortfuse showed up. When other members pointed that fact out, Tabi just said they are a chao, they think Shortfuse is cool enough to stay and if anyone had an issue with it, they could take it up with them, and that stopped most questions. Shortfuse generally has their trademark smile plastered on their face, and aside for a few giggles with different tones, is pretty much mute, which, crossed with their generally silent movement can badly startle those unused to that. It's also sometimes hard to tell if they're paying attention, and the fact they can use their stomach as extra storage space has left some a bit disquieted at their actions. Still, they're an integral part of the heads of this gang, if not with their explosives expertise, then with their ability to quickly write down and organize records, and making medicines and helpful compounds by breaking down what components something is made out of by....licking it. Ok, so they're a little off. And they're well aware of this. But the Night Terrors, despite their eccentricities, accept Shortfuse as their own, construct or not, and are more than willing to be patient with them. And that's something Shortfuse will absolutely fight for, no matter what.

Eccentric, a lover of the arts, a bit of a sad clown some days.

Rime

Driven by rumors of a treasure guarded by a fearsome monster that lived deep within the aqueducts of a fallen city, when the Night Terrors went to check out these claims, Rime was the only living thing there. Mutated to twice the size of a regular chao, with a cast iron stomach, keen sense of smell, Rime was also more adept to living in more aquatic climates, fresh water be damned. With the rest of their pack not evolving fast enough to survive said toxins, the joy of finding others of their own species was enough to follow the rest of the Night Terrors anywhere, really. Though they may play up their size and ferocity, and they'll keep quiet to seem like a brick wall both physically and mentally, Rime's a tenderhearted creature who gets lonely easily, and can get a bit awkward when they want to interact with others, easily getting flustered and getting self conscious about being a big fish in such a small pond for so long. They're in charge of training regiments, aquatic scout work and underwater salvage. They're also super picky when it comes to food, and uses their sense of smell to help prevent spoilage from overtaking food storages, and knowing the best time to covert fruits into seeds. Stoic, hardworking, really just wants a hug most days.

Slight -

Currently applied to @chao-race-tournament !

Forced to flee for their life after their more aristocratic family fell out of favor with those more in charge, Slight was basically left to fend for themselves on the street with only their security blanket. Still, their drive to survive, and their ability to talk themselves out of [or into] most situations, Slight managed to rule the streets of the city their owners used to run until one too many lies caught up to them and Tabi decided to see exactly who'd been saying they beat them in a fight. Still, Tabi couldn't help but be intrigued by this upstart who had the sheer audacity, and after securing Slight's territory firmly under their rule, allowed them to stick around, allowing them to work their way up into the organization. Currently, they're team treasurer and keeper of all the warehouse keys. That being said, they aren't the most moral chao, and don't quite have the same qualms the others may have with selling, say, chao eggs they "found." Wicked cultured, mildly neurotic, will sell you for one corn chip.

Zori - Previously in @sonic-oc-showdown, out in round 3!

Zori is the most....unique, of the Night Terrors, and possibly the second oldest member of it all. They don't really deal much with the day to day minutia of running a crime syndicate, generally preferring to patrol any gardens under the groups protection, testing out defense systems, or digging up neat ore or rocks Tabi might like. More of a mascot, despite their attempts to seem more ferocious, they also take care and do upkeep of any bases the Night Terrors are operating from unless their expertise in umbrakinesis or electromagnetic manipulation is needed. Deeply curious, loyal to a fault, great with younger team members.

Jika

An unofficial leader of the Night Terrors, Jika was a wanderer and a scholar, and did their best to keep ancient traditions and rituals alive, using their travels in gather and write down stories and histories before they were gone forever. Seeing how the world was slowly but surely driving itself to entropy, however, they started working on plans in order to try and save the rest of their species, working with Tabi, who'd by that point, they'd known for ages, and who Tabi saw as their closest confidant. Yet... Before they could see their plan to save the rest of their species to it's completion, the actions taken drew the ire of a raptor hawk using falconer. Frankly, they had to choose between fleeing with the chao that were starting to scatter despite everyone's best efforts, or drawing it away from keeping Tabi cornered, and hoping that what they wrote down was enough for the rest of them to keep going. ... It was, but you know how it is with choices. Sometimes even with the best of intentions, ones sacrifice can cause such consequences. Trickster, academic, The most doomed by the narrative

#Galaxy Spiral AU #Chao OC #Sonic OC #Sonic AU #Tabi #Shortfuse #Trackball #Slight #Rime #Jika #Zori #Zori the Zeti #Zeti OC #chao #sonic #zeti #I'm MORE THAN WILLING to elaborate more when asked.

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lanabeey · 1 month

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Kylo ren x Reader

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓

A/n: Sorry for the delay, I ended up being swamped with work and a bit of a creative block, please take it as a joke in certain parts 🤍🙏 Sorry for any spelling mistakes, English is not my first language.

Summary: Working for The First Order is scary, and your only moment of peace is dinner time, but maybe you need company...

1665 words

2/3

Despite all the lost hours of sleep, sore muscles, and a tired look, the good mood remains. I'm already very used to some places on the ship, with just a few months working in this place I can guarantee that there are incredible places, cleaning some sectors gives you the advantages of cleaning interesting rooms, such as training rooms, or even bedrooms. from some superiors.

Cleaning the rooms takes a certain amount of time to ensure there are no mistakes, patience and a lot of attention is required to avoid valuable objects and belongings disappearing, despite this work it is gratifying to see the environment so clean. But one place that piques my curiosity is the Supreme Leader's room, although the man is scary, his mysterious nature is considerably captivating, isn't it a perverted desire and just genuine curiosity, why hide behind the mask? Maybe convey coldness, superiority, or hide your true form? I'll never know for sure, but I don't intend to lose nights of sleep, so curiosity must be put aside for my own good.

_________

Now, this time of night is one of the calmest shifts, at least no more serious incidents have happened at this time, and cleaning takes place more calmly and without people to disturb our work.

"Finally, it's the last room.." Honestly, today was extremely tiring, several sectors needed cleaning and apparently they laid off a good part of the cleaning team, thus doubling the work for us, the team I'm part of doesn't big but it is enough to hold for now due to the lack of demand. So we face the last one of the day, it is a large hall of high level equipment and devices, containing equipment for battles, maps of the sectors, some trackers and something that seems to me like others are for torture, it seems like something specific to really hurt someone.

"So shall we start cleaning?..Korys?" I think the little old lady isn't feeling so well, she seems so tired, despite being great at work lately, the hours have been very inflexible for her, the demand is very high making her work twice as hard for someone that age. "Korys, are you okay? If you want, you can go and rest, we've been working since early in the morning, you need to rest."

"I think this time, just this once I'm going to accept it, my legs are killing me from walking so much, darling" the weak voice is a sign of fatigue and his drooping gaze forms little bags.

---------

Now I realize how big this room is, and probably thousands of equipment to clean and organize, I honestly don't think I could handle it alone, but I said I could do it and I don't intend to call Korys who is going to rest.

On a panel with several buttons, something tells me that it is to see the cameras in this place, maybe seeing a little wouldn't hurt just to satisfy curiosity, these buttons have the names of some sectors and specific rooms and some green lights are on and others are on. red. Pressing the cafeteria button in sector 2, thus turning on one of the screens, just a few people from the kitchen team arranging the next day's meals; How about the hallways, just to see who's there.

In the corridors, some are empty, others are with people going to the dormitory, and then the corridor of this sector is with some people are coming in this direction...they are coming to this room, THIS ROOM.

It seemed automatic when pressing the buttons to turn it off, the automatic doors opened, luckily the screens turned off in time.

"I don't think those prisoners are useful, the best.." now his eyes are on me, with the mop in his hands looking at the floor.

"Who are you? What do you think you're doing here? This place is restricted to employees without permission."

"General Hux, I have permission, I mean, I'm cleaning and I'm... I'm just doing my job"

"At this time? Cleaning doesn't work at this time." "Of course we work with just a few employees, so the shifts are being divided until they find more employees, do you think the rooms can clean themselves?"; the last part sounds more like a joke to try to ease the tension but it doesn't seem to please him.

"Are you making fun of me? Do you think I'm kidding you?" From the tone of the voice you can see the anger building up, the face easily turning red, it looks like I'm arguing with a spoiled child who doesn't understand a joke.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you,.." "I don't care about your intention, or your apology, I just want you out of this room immediately."

The shiver down my spine is painful, perhaps the tone of voice or the angry look is the reason for my extreme fear at the moment, it only takes a few seconds to return to reality. This is not the first time I have been warned, I have already been called to attention a few times. Sometimes for making comments at inappropriate times or speaking without thinking.

I leave the room abruptly, and a little embarrassed, I wouldn't like to hear more words from Hux, I understand his warnings but always his venom in his words, sometimes I've heard unnecessary comments being directed at other people, variations like "useless, stupid , idiots, imbeciles" even... "even a tapir knows how to do that, and then you, someone with your rank doesn't know how to do that, pathetic".

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

Despite the quick steps, I was far from the dorms and today I'm not in the mood to go to the warehouse for dinner, work exhausted my brain and fried my neurons like scrambled eggs. Without thinking that tomorrow I will have to tidy all of this up again, and again, without even receiving a compliment or a thank you for cleaning and organizing the damn ship, still being paid very poorly. Honestly, if it could get any worse, I'm sure I would cry in the fetal position.

It's just a few corridors to the cafeteria, in the meantime I hear footsteps followed by voices, maybe it's Hux again, if I'm being honest I even think the Supreme Leader is running away from this man. With quick steps I turn the first corner to perhaps escape the annoying presence of that demon.

It's possible I'm wrong about fearing Hux's presence, without even realizing that the man I should fear is the one in the hallway walking with long, heavy steps, with that damned mask that gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. As much as the Supreme Leader is intimidating, scary, and a little enraged at times, I can't deny that he is enigmatic, always with that robot voice. Well, she really would be easily enchanted if she weren't a little scared at the moment.

Maybe with the heavy footsteps making noise, or the loud ventilation turbos, you didn't notice that something fell to the floor, a strange object even looks like a strange little hammer. The rush really makes him not realize that something is missing, now passing me without noticing my existence. Deep down something tells me to leave that object there, maybe someone will find it and return it to him but on the other hand if someone doesn't return it. The leader would be without his toy hammer, maybe it's something sentimental.

With light and quick steps I pick up the object, and now in my hands it is heavier than I imagined, it no longer seems like a toy. Now I just lack the courage to face him, it's no big deal, just hand over the damn object and leave. I quicken my pace to get closer, but not enough to get in the way of what he's doing.

Being much taller than I imagined, and his clothes don't help improve his image, it doesn't match kindness, just darkness.

"Ex..excuse me, I'm sorry to disturb you.." [..a deer ready for the feast, not even to notice that it was shaking, it's very humiliating, it's your leader, not an animal that will moderate you...]

"..Yes?"

That robotic voice, no matter how human it seems, is not his real voice, that's what gives me goosebumps.

"Eh.. while he was walking he dropped this, I don't know what it is but I assumed it was.. important"

Reaction was somewhat surprised, the hand checking where his saber was and now realizing that he had lost it until now. Taking it from my hand quickly, behind that mask I can feel the eyes watching me, trying to see any trace of a lie.

"Eh... I ask permission to leave, I need to go to my quarters, my lord, to rest" Trying his best to remain calm, so maybe he can put this small inconvenience aside and go back to his tasks, Hux's humiliations are enough , just thinking about what the Supreme Leader would do would be suffocating.

"..Of course, you're free,..thank you for giving me back" So he turned around and started walking again, really as if nothing had happened, being a huge relief for his heart that was about to explode. Now maybe you can sleep better, without too many worries on your mind.

-------

As normal as the gesture of returning something lost to someone may be, it was unusual due to the normality of the situation, for so long trapped in the dimension of being someone so important and being feared by the people around, perhaps it was that night the great leader wouldn't be able to sleep for the night. stupid situation that left you embarrassed; Maybe it was his busy day that didn't make him realize that something was lost; Maybe it's the shame or maybe it's your gesture, it was you who left him embarrassed, it was you.

#kylo fanfic #kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren #Hux is a brat

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csuitebitches · 1 year

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Hello ma’am,

I’m a senior manager who leads a team of full time staff and interns. This is gov work so it’s heavy stakes. Lately the interns have been extremely rude to just me, but they act nicely to my co-lead who is a) an assistant director b) of the same race as them. Where I come from, this is something that happens too often. Today one of them didn’t even look at me when I was giving her instructions, kept on doing her work and gave one-word, dismissive answers. She’s only 21 and acting up. How do you put bratty interns in their place without outrightly saying “you’re rude and I do not appreciate this behaviour”? She’s far too green and young to be acting like this and I’ve been nothing but kind and respectful to her. Our office is extremely non confrontational so if anyone has beef they just fake it and never call the other person out to the face.

I understand that your office is non confrontational but trust me, putting an end to this can only be done through confrontation.

If I were you, I would talk to my co-lead about this - have them handle the situation. Explain to them that this behaviour is absolutely not okay and if they could have a small conversation with that intern about this, it would be great. Otherwise you’ll have to talk to the intern yourself and the situation might get more serious than it ought to have been.

If your co-lead refuses or you’re not thrilled with the idea of doing that, you’re going to have to have that talk with her. Think of it this way: this girl still has her whole life ahead, if you don’t nip it in the bud, she’s going to act up even more so it’s better to just have that conversation.

Besides, you’re senior to her- what do you have to be scared of?!

You need to have a talk with her that’s similar to “gentle parenting.” Start by telling a story of you being a teenager/ early in your career and how you made a similar mistake (make something up tbh so that the conversation can be led to the main point) and how you realised that it was wrong and you learned your lesson. Tell her that when a senior talks, there’s a certain acknowledgment/ amount of respect that you should be giving to that person - that’s basic decency.

Be prepared for backlash. Teenagers and young adults are highly sensitive, defensive and will not see your point unless you break it down very gently. You’re going to have to play a big sister role here.

If this still doesn’t work:

1. You talk to your co lead again

2. You start acting strict. It’s difficult to not acknowledge someone when they’re stern. Stop being overly lenient and kind. Start becoming no-nonsense/ no-bullshit type of a person because sometimes when adults try to be too friendly with the younger lot, they aren’t taken as seriously or they’re seen as the “fun adult.” You seem to be working in a very serious environment and you have to exhibit those behaviours too.

#q/a

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badmusejail · 2 years

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How To Interact !

Please don't reblog but I encourage you to create your own!

Let's start with your muse.

--> I have ... Right off the bat, Mysterio, Major, Gaster, and Rainbow Rocket!Giovanni all travel the multiverse and can interact with almost any muse regardless of who or where they are. Or if you’re looking for something less serious, Weird Octopus defies all known laws of reality and will find a way to your muse. Giothornéc can also be found in virtually any environment where magic does or could conceivably have existed some time in the past.

--> I have a muse set in reality as we know it, an urban fantasy setting, or some other reasonable facsimile of earth, such as Marvel, DC, BNHA, etc. Check out the Modern Verse page.

--> I have a fantasy muse that doesn’t fit into a modern world. Check out the Kings and Knights Verse. This verses is adaptable enough that it can fit into any universe that has a reasonable amount of leeway, but I might not necessarily be familiar with the specifics of your canon, sorry. :(

--> I have a muse that primarily exists in space or on a non-earth planet, in a world specifically involving space travel, such as Star Wars or Star Trek. I’m not the most familiar with those two fandoms, but I do have a generic Space Verse.

--> I have a Pokemon muse. Check out the Pokemon Verse page. Please note that my takes on these characters are inspired by various canon influences and do not seek to abide by any one canon source.

--> I have a muse that doesn’t fit any of these categories or has a specific reality / universe that these won’t work with. You can reach out to me for plotting; if I’m familiar with your fandom I may be able to come up with a verse, if not, it might be up to you to adapt to one of these categories.

How about genres / themes?

I don’t like to ban topics entirely--I fully believe that whether or not a topic is ‘appropriate’ depends on context, how the writer approaches it, and whether its in a public or private space.

That being said, the one exception is any sexual activity that isn’t between two consenting adults. It’s fine if this occurs in the background of a thread or in the history of a character, but I have no intention of writing it explicitly with my muses.

Virtually everything outside of that is fair game; including torture, injury, illness, mental illness, suicide, self-harm, murder, death, kidnapping, drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, infidelity, bullying, bigotry, etc. These topics will be tagged if they come up in detail, and I will check your rules regarding said topics before introducing them.

It’s not easy to make me squeamish or uncomfortable with RP topics and it’s unlikely that anything you suggest will do so.

This includes the other side as well, fluff, romance, casual friendship, comedy, etc. are all fine.

In other words, I’m open to most anything and eagerly accept any ideas you may have.

That being said, I’m not the best at adversarial relationships; even though some of my muses are villains, I find those relationships tricky to roleplay as most likely my muse would either just kill / imprison yours (Ozai, Oak) or appear and disappear too quickly for any development to occur (Giovanni). Enemies-to-lovers is not a strong suit of mine; but theoretically possible in the right scenario; namely political/otherwise non-violent enemies.

In general, I do prefer long-term plots of friendship, but for drama I will most likely I will recommend an NPC third party that our muses can team up against, or internal conflict between muses.

What’s the best way to start interacting with you?

There are four very simple questions that can kickstart any interaction.

Does my muse know anything about yours?

How many times, if any, have they spoken in the past?

Where are they?

(Optionally) Why are they talking?

The part where I think a lot of people get tripped up is that these answers don’t have to be complicated. “They’re talking for the first time, they don’t know anything about each other, and they’re having a passing conversation on the street” is a completely valid answer.

But I need this context in order to figure out how my character will react to a situation--or there’s a decent chance I’ll panic and drop the ask/thread. I don’t have an issue with memes themselves, but I do struggle with the lack of context. It’d much, much easier on me if you answer these simple questions.

Some other answers that are perfectly valid:

“They’ve met a few times and know some basic facts about each other and are meeting for coffee.”

“One muse fell out of a portal and landed in front of the other muse--who may know some version of them but not this version.”

“They’re coworkers that know each others name but are having a real conversation for the first time.”

“They knew each other twenty-some years ago and are just now meeting again--but things have changed.”

Etc.

I’m all for both plotting and winging it interactions--but, seriously, those four questions are lifesaving when it comes to initiating interaction between two muses.

You’re more than welcome to send a meme, an unprompted ask, a DM, tag me in a starter, or add me on Discord: FlourTheCat

Or if you want me to just figure something out? Send something from my starter call. It’s always open.

How about some specific plots?

I have a variety of muses and I’m more than happy to mix and match who I’m writing with, or write with more than one muse at a time, and I encourage you to do the same! Truthfully, if you think one of your muses that I don’t know would work or if you want to try an AU but don’t have much developed for it, I’m more than willing to just give things a shot and see where they go.

Feel free to send in the [bracketed] text for a starter in that scenario. Please note that these are specific to my muses because, well...they’re my muses! If there’s something you’re interested in specific to your muse, please let me know!

More to be added as I find the time.

Modern Verse

[TRUST] -- Your muse has known Giovanni for some time; albeit not of his criminal activities. This is fine. Right?

Pokémon Verse

[SUSPECT] -- Interpol suspects your muse of some crime and Peter is being friendly with them, trying to find evidence. Whether or not your muse is actually guilty is up to you. [INCARCERATED] -- Similar to the previous, Interpol has captured your muse, and Peter is assigned to their care and observation. Again, whether or not your muse is actually guilty is up to you.

Kings and Knights Verse

[LOYALTY] -- Your muse is a visiting royal / noble / etc. that King Oak thinks needs to be watched over, so he sends his most loyal Knight, Giovanni, to ensure they behave.

SciFi Verse

[REFUGEES] -- Our muses have crash-landed on a foreign planet. This isn’t exactly abnormal, but why does it seem like the ship was sabotaged?

Muse Specific Plots

[FALLEN] -- Your muse has ended up in Peter’s canonical universe. It’s fine, they’re used to this, they can get you home, it just might take 1-3 years.

Other/Generic Plots

#|| OOC | out of character.#|| RULES | should always listen.#((gonna add this to my pinned #((like i said i'll add more plots but i really wanted to get this done

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fahrni · 3 months

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Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

It’s been an interesting week at the Fahrni household. Kim and Taylor are visiting family in California and I’m holding down the fort. There are of course benefits to this, I can eat whatever I want. But, there are also downsides. I can eat whatever I want. Needless to say, I’ve done a horrible job of eating the right things, the healthy things I should be eating. 🍔🍟🍕🍰🥧🍦

Richard Goldstein • The New York Times

Willie Mays, Baseball’s Electrifying Player of Power and Grace, Is Dead at 93

Perhaps the best to ever play the game. RIP.

Mansee Khurana • NPR

Donald Sutherland, who starred in more than 200 movies and TV shows, died Thursday in Miami, Fla., after a long illness. He was 88.

We’ve all seen Donald Sutherland in movies and perhaps you may not be able to name many?

The films I most remember him in were Space Cowboys, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Salem’s Lot.

RIP.

Sinem Akinci �� Microsoft C++ Team Blog

This blog post was written in collaboration with Philipp Jeske and Rainer Bauereiss, a software engineer and a software engineering lead we worked with to deliver on these improvements, who shared their story and experience with C++ development while adopting Visual Studio 2022.

Neat interview with a couple engineers from Bosch about their use of Visual Studio in a cross platform environment.

I’m so jealous of this! I’d have loved to have had this in 2005 or even 2009 while working at Pelco.

I used vim, KDevelop, and eventually settled into Eclipse while working on our Linux products. Windows was easy, we used Visual Studio.

Heck, I’d have loved to have had VSCode at that time! 😃

Reading this article brought back some great memories and made me want to ask Bosch if they needed any old crusty C++ devs. 🤣 I do miss it.

Rain Noe • Core77

If you’ve worked in structural package design, you may have noticed recent changes to Starbucks' cups for cold drinks. If not, here’s a look at the new design features, added to make baristas' lives easier.

While it may seem mundane or boring to some it’s not to me. There is a designer living inside me, but he sucks. At least with sites like Core77 I can live vicariously through amazing designers of all kinds!

There is one glaring problem with these Starbucks cups. Know what it is? Yes, they’re made of plastic. How in the world can we divorce ourselves of it? 🤔

Filipe Espósito • 9to5Mac

Apple this year announced a series of changes when it comes to the App Store in the EU, as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation came into force in March. However, the European Commission doesn’t seem satisfied with the changes Apple has made. For the EU, Apple has some “very serious” issues with not being fully compliant with the new legislation.

Well, it sounds like Apple may be at the “find out” part the ever popular statement “F*ck around and find out.”

Of course I’ll be keeping an eye on this. Will I participate in another store? I kind of doubt it. 🍿

Daniel Golson • Jalopnik

Do You Think Honda’s $15,000 Electric Kei Van Would Actually Work In America?

I don’t know but this is the sort of pricing we 100% need here in the States if we want to get folks to buy electric vehicles. I’d buy a lesser expensive electric car for commuting — if I had a commute — even if it had a 100 mile range. I could charge at home and at work. ⚡️

Nick Hodges • InfoWorld

Software developers started having to think not only about how the program was going to get the job done, but also about how the user was going to interact with the program to get the job done. It became clear that a good user interface was something that would sell more software.

This is one of those things that bothered me about web apps. They’re all over the place as far as UI design goes. With native Mac and Windows apps you at least expect, and get, a certain amount of consistency across applications. 👨🏽‍💻

Allan Rose Hill • Boing Boing

The team members decided to spend the night in the cells of D Block. However, one of the fellows was a loud snorer so they banished him to crash in the room where mughots were once taken. The next morning, they found him, and his gear, outside the room.

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story?

It makes me want to go spend the night there to find out what’s going on.👻

Mark Moran • UPI

Excavation unearths cherries in cellar of George Washington’s Mount Vernon

This is pretty nifty. I wonder what else they’ll eventually find? I love American history, the good and bad, and have often thought of becoming a History teacher or historian.

I wonder what those dissolved cherries taste like? Probably really disgusting. 🤣

Dave Winer • Scripting News

One of the cool things about the way I designed FeedLand internally is that there are various levels of feed stuff. If you want to start over at any level, you can, and today I’m doing exactly that. But first here’s the stack

A little insight to Dave’s FeedLand service stack.

Andy Kalmowitz • Jalopnik

The Tesla Cybertruck is possibly the most look-at-me vehicle on sale today with its bizarre shape and stainless steel bodywork, but what if you wanted something that stuck out from the crowd even more (in a bad way)? Well, folks now is your chance to do just that, because I’ve just stumbled upon the most attention-seeking Cybertruck to date. Listed for sale in Lincoln, Nebraska is a completely polished Cybertruck. Who knew the center of Hell was Nebraska?

I personally don’t see the attraction to the Cybertruck. I’d imagine they’re mostly purchased by macho men and Space Karen fanboys.

Of course I’d never own on but I will admit I kind of like the way this highly polished version with aftermarket wheels and tires looks. Way better than the factory mess Tesla ships.

It’s gonna be dangerous as heck on the road. Can you imagine getting hit in the face with the glare off of one of these? 🪩

John Gruber • Daring Fireball

By My Count Trump is Batting .900 on the Ten Commandments

Yeah, the Orange Menace couldn’t tell you the Ten Commandments much less live by them. He’s a fraud when it comes to religion, just like he is at everything else.

Kelly Crandall • Racer

Gene Haas to continue in NASCAR with new Haas Factory Team in 2025

This is good news for NASCAR fans, I think? When Stuart Haas announced their closure folks thought there’d be four charters up for sale. Now it looks like the Cup side will be reduced to one team and the Xfinity side will retain both of the existing teams.

I’m really interested to know which team and charter will they keep? E.G. It could be the four car with a different team and driver.

That still leaves three Cup charters and drivers looking for new homes.

I’d love to see these charters go to new homes and see their drivers go with them. I’m especially curious about where Josh Berry and team land. He’s had a good rookie season and he has a legendary Crew Chief. 🚘

Samuel Axon • Ars Technica

Business Insider claims it has seen internal Dell tracking data that reveals nearly 50 percent of the workforce opted to accept the consequences of staying remote, undermining Dell’s plan to restore its in-office culture.

Dell employed an interesting tactic and it kind of didn’t really work.

So, if you choose to work remotely you’re basically stuck at your current job and salary. It turns out 50% of the company was fine with those terms.

Travis Gettys • AlterNet

A former U.S. Supreme Court clerk cast suspicion on the lengthy delay by justices in rendering a decision in Donald Trump’s immunity case.

This doesn’t surprise me given what we’ve been hearing about the court recently.

The thing in most concerned with is their upcoming decision on the Orange Menaces claim he has full immunity. Apparently some group of judges are leaning toward a limited set of immunities for the President. That seems insane to me, unless it only applies to Presidential duties. The Orange Dude didn’t commit his crimes as part of his official Presidential duties. They were the selfish acts of a cruel, narcissistic, rapist, felon.

Besides, the justices need to be really careful. If they give free rein to Presidents the Orange Dude may mysteriously disappear, and if Dark Brandon were behind it, well, wouldn’t that be something.

I know it’s pathetic of me to say stuff like that but at this point I’m hoping the guy just goes away never to be seen again. I don’t care how.

Charles R. Davis • Salon

The story, in a way, is that there is any story at all: On Thursday, two sources told The New York Times, in effect, that every liberal critic of Judge Aileen Cannon — every legal analyst who says she has mishandled Donald Trump’s classified documents case, displaying incompetence and prejudice — is absolutely right.

This judge is something else. By all accounts she has no clue what she’s doing, unless of course she really does and it tilting her decisions to Trump.

In other words, Cannon’s own colleagues are openly talking about her bias and inability now that both have been ably demonstrated in case that still has no trial date, a year after she was assigned it, largely due to the fact that she has agreed to hold hearings on just about every issue raised by the defense. On Friday, even outside right-wing attorneys will be given time in the courtroom to argue that it was actually illegal for Smith to even bring the case.

I keep hoping the 11th Circuit will replace her. Regardless, Trump won’t see trial before the election so she will have achieved her goal.

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birminghamlawattorney · 1 year

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How to Report a Case to a Sexual Harassment Attorney in Los Angeles

It’s one of the most disheartening and unfortunate truths in society, but sexual harassment is something that many people (the majority, of women) have to deal with at some point in their lives. Whether in a professional or personal context, sexual harassment can be hugely damaging both physically and mentally for the victim, and an alarming amount of cases go unreported and unpunished. There has been a climate shift in the way that society views and treats sexual harassment and this is something that everyone needs to continue to support in the days, months, and years going forwards. Although it is still a difficult decision to take, here is some key information regarding how to report a workplace case to a sexual harassment attorney in Los Angeles. The Avoidable Consequences Doctrine Under Federal Law In the context of federal law defense, an employer who is at the center of a claim like this is required to prove a couple of things, which are important to understand from your point of view to let you know what kind of tactics you might be subject to in opposition: They have to prove that they exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any inappropriate behavior. They have to prove that you are the employee who unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities that were offered to avoid harm. The Avoidable Consequences Doctrine Under CA State Law In terms of specific CA state law, some of the requirements are slightly different: The employer needs to prove that it took reasonable steps to prevent or correct any harassment in the workplace. That the employee was unreasonable in their failure to use corrective and preventative measures. That reasonable implementation of the employer’s procedures would have prevented the harm caused by the harassment. Be As Prompt As Possible With this information in mind, it is absolutely essential that you be as prompt as your emotions and mental health allow you to be in reporting your harassment case. With so many legal hoops to jump through, the more time your representation has to build a base, the better. Do not wait for a long period between reporting your problems to your employer and consulting with a legal representative, because you don’t want to put yourself in the position of being on the back foot when it comes to evidence gathering and any potential covering up of misconduct that could be undertaken by opposing forces in your workplace environment. Speed is key to any successful sexual harassment case. If you should ever find yourself with the unfortunate and serious need for a sexual harassment attorney in Los Angeles, then one of the best places to go for empathetic and expert representation is Belal Hamideh Law. Do not hesitate to contact any of our dedicated team members and they will be able to guide you through all the steps in this process. We value discretion and will always make sure that you feel comfortable with every element of the legal case being built.

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lizseyi · 2 years

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What Are The Risks Of Allowing Your Office Desk To Become Dirty - Nationwide Property Clean

There can be a temptation among many of us at times to imagine that a lack of cleanliness in the office would be largely an aesthetic matter, or even one of simple pride, rather than necessarily something that should be a top-of-the-line priority for company bosses and workers.

Yes, when there are constantly new and stressful assignments coming in, and deadlines to contend with, you might easily forget to wipe down your office desk – never mind undertake a more substantial clean of the space as a whole.

But below, we have set out some of the risks of allowing such deterioration in the cleanliness of your office desk, and why you must therefore take it seriously.

It can pose a real risk to your health

Did you know that the typical office desk hosts over 10 million bacteria? On its own, that might seem like a relatively meaningless figure, but it amounts to 400 times more dirt than can be found on a toilet seat.

This, combined with the fact that bacteria can remain active for months on surfaces and equipment in the office, should worry you if you haven’t cleaned your office desk for a while. The germs from such surfaces can easily transfer to the person using the space – probably you – causing illnesses such as flu, food poisoning, and diarrhoea.

And illness, of course, brings with it such risks as forced absences from work, and the capacity of your company’s team being reduced. It’s one reason why arranging for your office desk to be professionally cleaned isn’t just something you might do for the sake of maintaining a pleasant appearance.

Your workspace becomes an off-putting sight

We have mentioned in this piece already that the cleanliness of an office workspace isn’t just about aesthetic matters.

Indeed, that is because even the visual factors that do exist can have real knock-on practical effects. A classic example is a potential client or stakeholder coming into your office, seeing the dirtiness, and perhaps suddenly not being so confident about being associated with your company.

You might imagine that a would-be client is hardly likely to withdraw from a relationship with your company simply because of a dirty desk. However, it might be a signifier of a bigger concern; that a company that doesn’t even keep its office desks clean might not be one that takes pride in itself, or that values the health and wellbeing of its employees.

You are less likely to want to spend time at your desk

When a survey was carried out several years ago – covering some 1,500 workers in 300 offices – it was found that in offices where workers felt there was a lack of cleanliness, 72% of respondents said their working environment damaged their productivity.

Meanwhile, almost half – 46% – of those respondents said they took longer lunch breaks and didn’t spend as much time in the office as a result of such dirtiness. A quarter of those polled even said they took sick leave due to finding their unclean surroundings depressing.

These are statistics that should worry employees and employers alike. As a worker, you will naturally wish to have a pleasant and inspiring place in which to work. And if you are reading this as a company boss, the implications that unclean office desks could have for such things as employee sickness rates and staff retention should be causes for concern.

Hopefully, all the above will have made clear to you that a dirty office desk can bring risks far beyond the workspace being less pleasant to look at. Certain detrimental effects can be serious ones for a company and its workers, particularly given the potential accumulative impact of the aforementioned factors combined.

So, one thing your organisation should be aspiring to do in 2023, is get its office cleaning regime right. Enquire to the team at Nationwide Property Clean today, and we can help make that a reality for your business, for the right price.

#office cleaning

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dream-wrecker-blog · 2 years

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A little bit of this! A little bit of that

I have to say that I'm doing a bang up job of overwhelming myself here. I thought that I would have, a lot more down time than I did. Well no! This is not true! As an ARMY cook with my first deployment I had a full team of people who are. Like minded and knew what I knew so the job was not as difficult as it is now!

Now! I have a team but they are contractors who are not American, that are from all over the world. And these are people who are not aware nor do not care about our American culture. So when it comes to food quality or how a dish is made. It's all about getting the job done!

I had to stop one of them from killing us with salt the other day! He used a teriyaki concentrate on one of the meats and I lost my shit! I'm borderline hypertensive. So usually I watch what I eat. One of the things I cannot eat, is surprisingly BBQ sauce. The Amount of salt thats in there is truly crazy to me. Part of my job in the kitchen is to ensure that the food is up to par and that its eatable. But! I'm not the type to make sure that you can just! consume it! Which separates me from the straight men here! They fucking kill me with there sub standards for things that are rather serious. Vers little things like there toys. AKA weapons.

However, I began to get bored with the menu. When you eat weeks and weeks of the same shit, it gets boring really quickly and since well.... I'm the food manger here! I get a say in what happens. I get to deviate from this terrible subpar menu created by a guy who considers cooking "ordering food." Yuck!

The Team that I work with are a team of 5 guys. lol Yes five guys. Not the burger joint but a team of physically small men! which is kind of weird. B/c all of the American men, including myself are gigantic. I'm a wopping 230 pounds and 6'1 . While the average hight among them are 5'4. I do at times feel bad when I get upset with them because they physically look like children to me. But! come on! You can literally taste how salty it is! Then, I had to take a really good look in the mirror and remind myself that not everyone is as aware as I am.

In my years of cooking i had to learn what people do! As in what people do on their down time effects them int here personal life. so if a person works out, they are more likely to be proactive in some areas where physical needs are needed. If a person is artistic, and they paint write and draw on their downtime. That effects how they view the world and will see reality from a more cynical harsh perspective. which at times can create a hostile or rough environment. But! this guy says he has been working in food service for over 2o years. yes! 20 years. which i was surprised by. For a man who's so small and that resembles a child. he's older than I am. I'm currently in my early 30's. but! Him! no he's pushing 50 something. Which is weird as to why he could not taste the salt in the food.

Now! don't get your panties up in a much! Pull them out your asses, he's not the 50 year old who looks, acts or moves his age. So if I say I get on him. It’s because of professional reasons. Not every elderly person is that image of a bag of sand.

What I happen to realize is that, his habit on and off of work is that he's a smoker! Which I should have picked up on from when he smiles. I need to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. Quick tangent. I one time went over my god mothers house to hang out with her. I happen to be in the kitchen waiting for her to com e out of the bathroom and her man at the time was cooking himself some ramen noodles. So! If you have ver cooked that 25 cent packet of death you know that the little pouch of seasoning it comes with is salty enough. So no! her man adds one of the little red pouches to it along with some soy sauce. Yes soy sauce. I tried my best to hold back the " What the fuck are you doing" look on my face.

I had to ask though. Well...... state that it looks well seasoned. lol he laughed and said he can taste it that way. I figured that it was because of his diabetes. But! he's not the only smoker who has made food that I have seen, over salt things. So in the end when I realized that I had to let him know that he could not use the teriyaki concentrate the same way he uses ketchup. that it needs to be diluted with water. & that I did not care how he used it before, but while i'm here he's not going to do that! because hat they do not realize is that there's a pecking order here! & when the food is good or bad, I get the blame and I get the praise. Not them. I tried t be humble but! they say I make a difference here so I'ma just run with it.

#foodies #lunch #defac #defacfood #92g #culinarylife #food service industry #food Service #deardiary #dear diary #vlog #blogging #gay #gay cook #yemaya #ochun #self healing #dear listeners

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sigurdjarlson · 2 years

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Pokémon opinions coming in

Here’s the thing I do like what I’ve seen so far in terms of content and such. It has some neat new mechanics and content. It would be great if not for some serious problems overshadowing the good

The problem is it’s at best annoying to play and at it’s worst borderline unplayable at times because of the enormous amount of technical issues.

I’m legit going to wait till they (hopefully) patch the game to play any more of it because I got that annoyed with the frame rate and general glitchy, buggy gameplay.

I’m just gonna go play some of the older Pokémon (on switch) games. Fresh start baby, starting with Let’s Go Pikachu! :)

But seriously it’s inexcusable to release a game in this state. I genuinely think they need to let go of their release a game every year model.

I get that they want to keep content for all Pokémon media (the card games, anime, other games spin-offs etc) flowing but it’s just not working anymore.

They need more time or they need a bigger team (or both). It’s irritating because people would be willing to wait longer for a polished game that works rather than getting a game that doesn’t more quickly.

They’re a billion dollar company. There’s no excuse.

I don’t think it’s necessarily the Switch’s fault. I agree the Switch needs an upgrade in general but I don’t think that’s why it’s struggling to handle Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It handles games that are a lot bigger and more detailed fairly well all the time.

It’s just poorly optimized, rushed and unfinished because of time constraints.

That’s not most of the team that’s working on the game’s fault of course. It’s whoever sets the damn deadlines and makes it into one Big Crunch fest.

The pure potential Pokémon has now that it’s on something that can handle so much more than a 3DS can…they’re wasting it.

I loved Sword personally. Unpopular opinion I know. It had its issues but I genuinely found it fun and really liked the characters. I was able to mostly ignore the bad because I enjoyed the good so much.

I can’t do that with Scarlet at this point in time.

I could also talk about the graphical fidelity and animations in Scarlet which is a lesser issue but one that’s noticeable. It just doesn’t..look great in a lot of places. Pokémon games have never been games you constantly fawn over the graphics in but I would enjoy a visually pleasing game nonetheless

I don’t mean hyper realism or anything obviously. I just mean a rich, detailed world that looks good.

Some of it is so low quality I’m like how can you put this out without being ashamed, Gamefreak? (The Sandwich eating animation haunts me)

There are games that look gorgeous on the Switch, so again there’s no excuse. Pokémon Snap is so goddamn gorgeous and I get it’s a spin-off game and they don’t have to focus on as many mechanics, the gameplay, etc as main series games…but they /could/ look like that if they put the damn time and effort in.

Imagine a rich beautiful world with Pokémon running around and interacting with the environment, with each other, with you like in Snap in the main series game.

Also I know I know people are tired of hearing about the National Dex but personally I think they should have all Pokémon in there (I thought this with Sword and Shield too) I don’t care if it takes longer because they have to animate and create more models. I’m willing to wait.

(I don’t mind if some pokemon come in later expansions either as long as they do make it into the game. That’s actually probably the best way to do it so it isn’t overwhelming)

I admit I’m not a big fan of the crystallizing gimmick this time around or whatever it’s called. I think it’s kinda underwhelming? They should have kept dynamaxing imo. The different forms were neat and who doesn’t like giant Pokémon?

People complain about the gimmicks but they’re usually pretty neat it’s just annoying how they’re thrown out never to be seen again next generation? I mean obviously we can’t have them all in one game that would be convoluted, overwhelming and overpowered but still. Maybe some should stick around.

Also In the list of issues this is pretty low but I think it’s time to introduce voice acting too. It’s starting to look weird lmao. (Flashbacks to Piers in Sword visibly singing with no sound coming out of his mouth) Again this would lengthen production time and be expensive but it would also be a nice improvement. (Billion dollar company they could definitely afford it)

There’s lots of other features and improvements I’d love to see but more than anything I just want a game that’s playable.

They really did take a good step in terms of content and gameplay but it’s overshadowed by the technical issues

#Pokémon blogging

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yelenabelovasbxtch · 3 years

Note

Hi! Just read ur Emily Dickinson X Reader fic, Jealousy. It was AMAZING!! Could u write a Kate Bishop X Reader smut fic? R and Kate are at a Tony Stark party (they r new avengers). R has had a crush on Kate since they met. Maybe R does something to make Kate jealous? (I'm thinking Kate could be Dom and R is Sub). idk, u can go where u want with this. Ur writing is brilliant! Byeeee

Stark Party

a/n: Hi! First off, thank you so much! Second, sorry this took a bit, been super busy this week but I loved this idea! I hope you all enjoy this one too!

Word Count: 3320

Concept: You and Kate are best friends. You go to a Stark party together and end up making some decisions that come back to bite you later...(literally).

Warnings: SMUT, 18+, oral, fingering, strap-on, some minor dom/sub stuff. NOT proofread

Taglist: @imapotatao @kacka84 @sofisnn @hoeforwandanat @variant-l0852 @mellowladyangel @violetwitchmcu @m-zne237 @laaurrel @chloe7076 @miphas-trident @chickenlittlsblog @sapphic-girl @simp4haiz @hardwastelandbread @thorya22 @kassies-take @imnotgoodwithimpulsecontrole

LMK If you wanna be added to by Kate Bishop Taglist!

It’s been about 3 months since Natasha scooped you up and around the same time, Clint found Kate. The two of you are both new Avengers and the youngest ones on the team, aside from Peter and Yelena. Tony’s Avengers compound is HUGE, there’s an insane amount of rooms but he chose to put you, Kate and the rest of the younger Avengers in one wing. He mumbled something about it having to do with how loud you all are. Because of this, your room was right next to Kate’s. Being in a new environment with new people can be intimidating but it’s definitely helpful when there's another person there going through the exact same thing. Because of this, you and Kate naturally became great friends in no time at all. You are a former black widow that Natasha and Yelena rescued from the Red Room and naturally, you had a bit of PTSD from that. Kate lost her whole family when Clint found her and she also struggled to transition to living at the Avengers compound. Luckily, the two of you had each other.

“Hey y/n!” You hear Kate say as she enters the kitchen where you’re eating your breakfast.

“Hey, what’re you up to today?”

“Ohh not too much, probably going to eat some breakfast then kick Yelena’s ass in some hand to hand.” She says in an overly confident tone.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Yelena says entering the room.

Before Kate had a chance to make up another sentence you chime in with, “Oh Kate was just saying she was going to kick your ass today in the ring.”

“Is this true?” She says with a super serious look on her face.

The three of you just pause as you watch the two of them have a staring contest and before you know it they both burst out in laughter.

Yelena was always super serious and Kate was almost always energetic, the two of them together were probably one of the funniest duos you’ve ever seen.

“So, is this showdown really happening? Because if so, I would like a front-row seat and a big bag of popcorn.”

“Well, as much as I would love to have the chance to kick your butt again Kate, I can’t. I have plans with Nat to go out looking for an outfit for tonight.”

“2 things, 1, I take this as a forfeit therefore, I win the match, 2, what’s tonight?” Kate says.

“Stark is having a party as a welcome home for Sam and Cap from their mission taking down a rogue Hydra base. You didn’t hear about this?” Yelena says.

“Umm no. Y/n did you know about this?”

“Uhhh yeah, I think I heard Peter mention it once or twice.”

“Well shit! We need to get outfits! Omg, I have the perfect thing. Crap. It’s back at my old apartment downtown. I’ll have to run out there for the day and I’ll be back in time for the party. Shoot. I got to leave like now! I’ll see you guys tonight!! Send me the details!” Kate says running out of the room.

You and Yelena look at each other and chuckle. Kate had all sorts of golden retriever energy. She gets so excited and will quite literally run when that happens.

“So, do you have an outfit for tonight?” Yelena asks.

“Ah, I’m sure I’ll be able to throw something on from my closet.”

“Well, there is an open invitation to come shopping with Nat and me if you’d like, we leave in 30 minutes.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll have to pass as I skipped my workout yesterday and have some ice cream to work off.” You say with a chuckle.

– Fast Forward To The Party –

You found a black dress in your closet that was fairly tight-fitting but you knew you would look great in it. You threw on some heels, did your hair and some light makeup and were on your way. You showed up to the party a little earlier than anticipated, you hated being late to things, it stressed you out and being on time just never felt like enough. Natasha was already there manning the bar and there were a few of the other employees walking around. Steve of course was helping do literally anything he could do, whether it was setting up tables, chairs or serving drinks.

“Hey beautiful, can I get you a drink?” The redhead says from the bar.

You blushed even though you knew Natasha was playing around with you. Besides, she was more like a big sister/role model to you. You never saw her the way Steve and Bruce did. However, her sister, that was a different story. Yelena is one of the most amazing people you’ve ever met. She’s gorgeous and kind and gentle but could also kick your ass. Funny. You must have a thing for chicks that are beautiful but could kill you if they wanted to because you have been having an internal conflict for the last couple of months over her and Kate. Kate is just as wonderful. She is much more energetic and full of joy compared to Yelena but she has one of the biggest hearts you’ve ever seen and when she’s in the purple archery suit…oh god, she just looks amazing.

You chuckle as you look up at Natasha. “Hey Nat, uh yeah actually could I get an old fashion please?”

“Coming right up!” She says with a smile, “so, you’re here early tonight.”

“Uhh yeah. It’s kind of like this thing that I do, I can’t really be late to things, it’s just not my style.”

“Ah, I see. I can respect that. Anyone you are looking for?” She asks as she sees you scanning the room.

“What? Oh no, no. Just here by myself.”

As soon as you say that you see Kate walk through the door. She is wearing an all-black suit with a skinny tie and her hair done. Fuck. You were falling for her and falling hard. You’re best friends though, you probably shouldn’t mess that up. But did she ever look hot in that suit, your jaw was practically on the floor drooling.

“y/n? y/n? Y/N!” You hear.

“Wha-what OH! Sorry! I didn’t mean to um-”

“Uh-huh, sure. Are you sure you aren’t looking for someone in particular? Maybe someone who just walked in?” She says as she clearly can tell you were pining over your best friend. “Here,” Nat says handing your drink, plus one more. “Bring this to her.”

You give Nat a smile and mouth thank you to her as she shoots you a wink.

“Kate! Hey!” She turns around and looks at you, her eyes widen and she freezes in place for a second.

“Wow, Kate, I must say. You look extremely hot.” You say.

She starts to blush a little as she realizes you're complimenting her meanwhile you look just as amazing. She decides to go with a more confident approach to the conversation which you must say, was definitely working for you. She is usually the more eager type but as she is presenting herself to be more confident…it was…sexy. Especially in the suit. For the next hour or so you two talked with a fair amount of banter back and forth alongside some pretty heavy flirting. Kate was acting like she already had you and boy was it working. You were fairly certain she could tell but then her confidence wavered. Her whole mood dropped when she glanced over your shoulder and saw Yelena walk through the door. Kate wasn’t dumb, she knew that you were clearly unsure about who you liked more, her or Yelena. As you see her facial expression changed, you turn around and see her, standing there. Yelena had just walked through the door in the most gorgeous turquoise dress that you didn’t think you’d ever see her wear. She isn’t really the “girly” type and this was for sure not her vibe but boy was she killing it. You immediately walked over to her totally forgetting your conversation with Kate, this wasn’t on purpose you just got excited. Kate followed behind you closely.

“Wow. Y/n. You look…hot.” She says in her thick Russian accent.

Your cheeks turn red and Kate notices, she starts to get frustrated…even a little mad. The three of you talk for a bit and during that time you have many drinks. You and Kate have decent alcohol tolerance but Yelena’s was definitely much better and could out drink you any day. The three of you had some great talks and both of them were being extremely flirty with you all night but you’d have to say that it was more so Kate than Yelena. For some reason though, you were making eyes at Yelena the whole time even though you felt more towards Kate. The whole situation was extremely confusing, especially because you were drunk.

At this point, Kate was definitely drunk and she was 100% giving you fuck me eyes. You couldn’t help but feel a little turned on by this but just to be sure you moved your hand to her thigh as you sat next to her in the booth. At first, she jumped at your touch but then realized exactly what you were doing. Yelena started talking to you and you pulled your hand off Kate, she was not happy about that. She didn’t like the way that Yelena took your attention away from her, she wanted you all to herself and she was definitely going to make sure you knew that.

“Looks like we’re out. I’ll go get three more.” Yelena says as she gets up to go over to the bar.

Kate leans towards you and whispers something in your ear. “I know you’re flirting with Yelena to get my attention.”

A small smirk comes across your face because at this point that is exactly what you were doing.

“It’s working.” She says.

Your smile widens.

“Meet me in my room in 10.” She says as she gets up and walks away.

“Hey, where’s Kate going?” Yelena asks as she sits back down.

“Oh, she wasn’t feeling too well, something must be going around because I’m feeling pretty lousy myself, I might have to turn in soon.” You say with a frown, trying your best to sell your lie.

“Ah shoot, that’s no good. Yeah, you definitely want to get some rest then. Want me to walk you back to your room?” Yelena so kindly offers.

“Oh, no, no, I don’t want to bother you. You should still go and have fun for the rest of the night!”

“Okay love, well I hope you feel better soon. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” She says.

“Goodnight Yelena.”

“Goodnight y/n.” A small part of you was upset that you did that to Lena after everything you’ve felt for her but almost all of you craved Kate right now. You needed to know what she had in store. After the way she had been talking to you all night, and the jealousy she clearly showed when you talked to Yelena, you couldn’t help but only want her touch. You took off your heels and practically ran to her room, stopping to take a breath when you got there.

*knock knock*

She opens the door still looking sexy as hell in that suit. Before you even had a chance to speak she grabbed your wrist and pulled you right against her into the most amazing kiss of your life. Your lips crashed into one another after feeling the tension and anticipation build all night, this was a huge relief of that torture. She continues to kiss you as she walks backwards so that the door can be shut and then immediately shoves you against the wall. Pressing her hands into your hips, one comes up to the back of your neck as she runs her fingers through your hair. She breaks the connection between your lips to start a trail of kisses down your neck and takes a little nibble out of the bottom of your ear.

“You’ve been extremely bad tonight. Teasing me by running your hand up my leg and flirting with other women.” She whispers in your ear as she then sucks on your neck leaving a huge mark so that people would know she’s yours.

Your mouth opens and a moan felt like it wanted to escape. Her mouth on your neck was sending shivers down your spine accompanied by her hand pulling on your waist to ensure you were as close to one another as possible. When she’s done leaving marks on your collarbone, she pulls away and brings you over to her bed.

“You know what happens to naughty girls who do what you did tonight love? They get punished.” Kate says as she starts undoing the zipper on the back of your dress. Your black dress drops to your feet as you feel the clasp on your bra be undone which is then thrown to the floor too. She pushes you down onto her bed and climbs on top. As she is kissing down your chest she sucks on one nipple, then takes it between her teeth causing you to moan out in a mixture of pleasure and pain.

“Oh, you like that baby girl?” She whispers, locking eyes with you.

You nod as you stare into her beautiful eyes and one of her hands comes up to cup your cheek. She starts kissing you down your body until she makes it to your panty line. You were squirming, ready to beg for her to touch you where you craved her most. There was a heat growing in your stomach and fuck did you want to feel her inside of you. She started leaving hickies on the inside of your thighs which hurt like hell but felt so good at the same time. Her fingers were playing with the lining on your underwear. All you wanted was for her to rip them off of you but fuck she would not stop playing around. “Kate…please.” You whimpered.

She immediately sits up and comes to where your face is. “What’s that princess? Did you want me to do something?”

You just nod your head after being intimidated by her.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you say anything. What did you want?” She says with a smirk.

“I want to feel you inside me.” You say quietly.

“Okay, princess. If you’re a good girl, there I think I can grant you that wish. Are you a good girl?”

“Yes, daddy.”

Kate smirks at you. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Kate slips off your underwear and starts teasing your clip with one finger, drawing painfully slow circles. Although she was teasing you, her touch just felt so amazing anyways, you let out a throaty moan. You could hear her smile when this happened.

She started drawing faster circles and all of a sudden you felt one of her fingers slip inside of you with her tongue replacing where her finger just was. You let out the loudest series of moans. You needed her so badly that the build-up made her touch 10x more powerful and made you 100x more sensitive. You felt like you were about to cum and Kate could tell.

Because she teased you so much, she felt like you deserved to orgasm this time.

“Cum for me princess.” She says as she continues to thrust her fingers in and out of you.

“Fuck I’m close, I think I’m going to–” It feels like everything is rushing to your head as your back arches up with her fingers still inside of you. You slowly lower your body back down as Kate is still pumping in and out of you, only slower to let you ride out your high. When your body is fully down on the bed and relaxed she comes up next to you. “That feel good baby?”

You just nod your head rapidly because you couldn’t get out any words you felt drowned in love and all sorts of other feelings and emotions. “Good. And since I let you cum, you need to be a good girl for me one more time.” You turn and look at Kate with a slightly confused look on your face. She gets up off the bed and pulls down her pants to reveal a big silicone strap that she was wearing underneath, this whole time. Your eyes widen at the thought of taking something that big but you were still so horny, you knew how badly you wanted this. You get up and scooch to the edge of the bed where you start sucking her dick. She loves watching you take her length down your throat. After a few minutes, she pushes you back so you land on the bed again and grabs both of your legs to pull them up in the air. She slowly teases your entrance with her tip. You were very clearly enjoying the feeling of her teasing you with her dick, you looked almost relaxed at the feeling. Then all of a sudden she thrusts her entire length into you, giving you no time at all to adjust she quickly pulls out and thrusts back in again. As she continues to do this, watching you moan out her name she can see you clearly getting close again. Kate spits on her hand and starts stimulating your clit as she fucks you with her dick.

“Oh Kate, please…go faster.” You whimper out.

You didn’t think it would be possible but she picks up the speed and her hips are thrusting into you as you scream her name. Your eyes roll back into your head and your chin lifts up as you let out a loud moan showing you’re reached your climax. As you come down from your high she pulls out of you and shoves herself back into your mouth making you taste yourself.

“You’ve been such a good girl for me princess. I hope this has taught you a lesson though.”

“It has daddy.” You say taking a breath from sucking your juices off her strap.

Kate smirks at you as she pulls away and goes to the bathroom to undress. She comes back in comfortable pj’s/sweats to you lying naked on her bed still calming down after the best sex of your life. She pulls you up and puts one of her T-shirts on you and some sweat pants accompanied by a kiss on the forehead.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do that.” She says to you.

“Me too.” You say with a smile as you lean in to kiss her.

*Knock knock*

She pulls away from the kiss with a confused look on her face and checks her watch to see that it’s 2am. Kate goes to open the door.

“So, now that you two are done being “sick” can we watch a movie?” Yelena says holding popcorn and candy.

Kate turns around and looks at you as you both turn bright red in the face and try to hold back laughter.

“Ha ha. Like I didn’t know c’mon you two. I practically pushed you two towards one another. Anyways…movie?” She says with a smile.

Kate gestures for her to come in.

“Uhhh, how about in Tony’s theatre room and not somewhere my two best friends just had the loudest sex that both Peter and I heard all of by the way. Isn’t that right Peter?”

Peter peaks his head around the corner, “umm…yes ma’am.”

You and Kate just laugh as you put on some slippers and follow them out the door to the screening room.

– The End –

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randomwritingguy · 3 years

Text

The Myth of Y/N (Korra x Reader UNREQUITED) Part 3

A SINISTER THREAT

Y/N'S POV

It has been a day since Korra and I forgave each other from that "incident". It turns out whilst we were avoiding each other for a few hours, my best friend joined the Fire Ferrets and even played a match, and won! Imagine being able to say to someone that you are the Avatar AND a pro-bending player. Biggest flex of the century right there. Speaking of the Fire Ferrets, Korra told me she is heading off for practice and asked if I wanted to come with her, which I naturally accepted. It would be nice to spend more time with Mako and Bolin, they're pretty cool.

Right now I'm watching the pro-bending team practicing, and it seems like Korra is pretty annoyed that training is pretty early in the day.

"What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning? The morning is evil!" she says dramatically. Korra was never a morning person. Try to get her off her bed early and she'll show you no mercy.

As Bolin and Mako explain the reasoning on why Korra has to be separated from her beauty sleep, I begin to lose myself in my thoughts. I've been thinking a lot this past day, specifically about my feelings. And not just any feelings, the ones I get whenever something happens with Korra and Mako. I don't get it. It isn't suspicion or anything, from the short talks I had with Mako, he seems to be an alright, albeit blunt and kind of an ass at times, guy. It's clear he cares for his brother, and he just wants to make a living for themselves. Nothing odd or anything at all.

So why I do get mad whenever I see Korra smiling at him?

My thoughts are interrupted by a voice.

"There are my little hardworking street urchins."

I turn to look at the origin of the voice, and see a man wearing fancy clothing which doesn't really fit the environment we're in. Who is this guy?

He approaches the Fire Ferrets, confidence in the steps he takes.

"It's an honour to finally meet you, Avatar." he says to Korra.

It is clear my best friend shares the same confusion as I do. "And you are?" she says, hesitance in her voice.

"Butakha" the man says, taking off his top hat and lowering it as a form of gesture. "I run this whole pro-bending shebang."

Butakha then proceeds to pull out some money and hands it to Mako. "Here's your winnings from the match."

Damn, that's a lot of money. You can get that from being a pro-bender? I wouldn't know what to do with all that mon-

"Ah, ah, ah. But not so fast." Butakha says slimily, as he proceeds to take all of the money from the firebender's hands whilst listing all of the excuses for doing so, leaving Mako's hand as it was before he arrived: Empty.

But it appears the guy isn't done.

"Oh, and one more small item of business. The Fire Ferrets need to ante up to 30,000 yuans for the championship pot."

30,000 yuans?! Sprits, why is it so much?! And without it they can't enter the tournament? Oh come on!

And just like that, Butakha leaves. Great, just great.

Bolin turns to Korra, desperation in his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?"

Korra empties her pockets, and, ta-da, nothing.

"I've never really needed money. I've always had people taking care of me." she said, a charming smile on her face.

However, just before I could make a teasing comment on how spoilt she sounds, Mako becomes serious.

"Then I wouldn't say you had nothing" he says, bitterness in his voice.

Korra becomes aware of the situation as she is quick to apologise. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's all right" Bolin interrupts, "It's just...ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own."

A great amount of sympathy flows through me, as I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

A sad smile forms on his face. "Thanks Y/N."

"So anyway," Mako says, quickly changing the topic of the conversation, "how are we going to come up with the money?"

Ah...that is going to be difficult.

I put my hand on my chin, stroking it. "Maybe we could all do some odd jobs here and there? They won't give us huge amount of money, but it's a start." I suggest to the rest.

Mako hums in agreement. "I think that's the best we got so far."

"Oh, oh! I got it, I got it!" Bolin excitedly says as he crouches down. "I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks. Now people would pay good money to see that!"

Oh spirits, Bolin is too pure for this world.

Mako doesn't seem to be amused by his brother's suggestion. "Come on Bolin, we need serious ideas." he says, shutting the idea down entirely.

Bolin drops his head. "I was serious..." he says, complete disappointment in his voice.

As Mako walks away, Korra and I begin to part ways with the earthbender who, judging by the look on his face, is planning on ignoring his brother's harsh words and going to make Pabu do some tricks. Well, as long as it's earning money, I'm not complaining.

As Korra and I make our way back to Air Temple Island, my thoughts about her and Mako begin to invade my mind once again. For spirits sake, not again.

I turn to Korra, who is unusually silent but has a small smile on her face. I wouldn't be surprised if she's daydreaming about Ma-stop that.

That's it. Might as well be blunt about it to her.

"Korra?"

"Hm?" She hums to me.

Well, here it goes.

"Do you like Mako?"

Her face falls immediately and shifts to panic.

"Yes, of course I like him, he's a cool guy and our friend." she says, desperately trying to be ignorant of my question.

I chuckle. "Korra, you know that's not what I meant."

She sighs heavily, accepting her loss. "Is it that obvious?"

A sharp pain attacks my heart. I feel like all of my life is drained away until I'm nothing but a lonely spirit, cursed to wander the depths of the world forever.

Woah, where did that come from?

Luckily, I manage to hide the sudden pain I felt, and put on a teasing smile. "It was obvious for me. I've known you for like what, 14 years now? Never in our friendship I see you go all googly eyes like you do for Mako."

She puts her hands on her face as she groans. "What should I do?"

Crap. What should I say?

I stay silent for a bit and then give my response. "Well, the last thing you want is to rush it right? I mean, you two just met. Maybe wait and see if you really want to be serious with him, and then ask if he feels the same?"

Korra thinks about my advice, and then gives me a big, beautiful smile. "Okay, I'll do that. Thanks Y/N."

I send a smile back to her. "Don't mention it. What are friends for?"

Friends...I wish we were more than that.

My eyes widen for a split second as the thought quickly leaves as it entered.

No...no way. It can't be...right?

I think I do.

I think I have a crush on Korra.

I force my face to remain neutral as the realisation crashes down upon me. How did I not notice this before? I mean, I know Korra is beautiful, but that's like stating the obvious. It's simply true, like saying the ocean is blue. With her charming, wide, pretty smile that always cheers me up, her confidence bordering on arrogance half the time bringing a massive grin of my own onto my face, and her humorous comments that always make me laugh no matter what. Not to mention how kind and noble she is, always looking out for others. She's perfect, simply perfe-

-Holy shit, I really do have a crush on Korra. Did I have one all this time and just didn't know? Spirits, I am so stupid.

A small smile forms on my lips as Korra and I keep on walking.

I have a crush on Korra.

A crush on my best friend.

My best friend who likes someone else.

Someone not me.

The small smile quickly vanishes.

Oh no.

A FEW HOURS LATER

Korra's POV

Y/N and I have been practicing with the airbending gates for a while now, to the point where it has gotten dark. I'm so grateful for Y/N, they have really helped me with this exercise.

I'm in front of the gates now, as Jinora and Ikki blow gusts of wind to make them spin again. I take a deep breath and begin the exercise, dodging and twirling around the contraption, until I finally end up on the other side. I did it!

"Well done Korra!" Y/N says, joy in their voice.

I bend down on my knees as I catch my breath. "Thanks Y/N".

As my best friend is congratulating me, I notice the airbending kids look at something behind me.

"Ooh, he's cute."

Huh?

"Korra, is that the handsome firebender boy that drives you crazy?" Jinora asks me, curiosity in her voice.

Oh crap, it's Mako!

And of course, Ikki decides to join in. "Does he drive you crazy in a bad way, or does he drive you crazy, like you like him?!"

NOPE! Now is not the right time! I can't let Mako hear this!

I earthbend the children away before they could say anything else, as I see Y/N snicker beside me. I quickly turn around and see Mako approaching me.

I put my hands on my hips in an attempt to look nonchalant. It's okay Korra, play it cool. It's just the boy you like coming towards you at night. No big deal. Just act natural.

"Oh, hey, Mako." I say, attempting to act normal.

Mako cuts straight to the point as he says "You guys seen Bolin?"

"Nice to see you too" I teasingly reply. "And no, I haven't seen him since practice."

"I haven't seen him either." Y/N speaks up, concern in their voice. "Do you think something's wrong?"

Mako shakes his head, beginning to look worried. "I don't know. Bolin has a knack for getting into stupid situations." He sighs, clearly frustrated. "See you guys later."

He begins to turn away. I can't just let him find Bolin on his own. I want to help.

"I could, uh, help you look for him." I say to him as I follow behind. My main priority is finding Bolin, don't get me wrong, but it would also be nice to spend more time with Mako outside of practice.

"Nah, I got it." the firebender replies, clearly trying to act tough or something.

His "lone wolf" act won't work on me though, as I grab his arm. "Hey, cool guy, let me help you. We can take Naga."

Mako looks at me, confusion on his face. "Who's Naga?"

Oh yeah, he hasn't met Naga yet. I wonder if he'll like her.

"My best friend, and a great tracker" I simply say.

I hear a cough behind me as I turn to see Y/N, with them looking at the night sky. They then began to whistle nonchalantly.

Huh? What's that about?

I then realise what I said.

"Oh! Sorry Y/N, I meant my best pet friend." I apologetically say to them.

I then hear Mako's voice behind me. "Wait, I thought you two were dating?"

What?! Where did he get that from?!

I turn back to Mako with a shocked expression. "What? No! We're just friends! Best friends! Where did you get that crazy idea from?"

Mako opens his mouth, ready to reply, but then shuts it. He sighs. "Nevermind. Lets just meet this "Naga" and start tracking Bolin."

I smile at him. "Sounds like a plan."

"Can I come too? The more the merrier am I right?" Y/N speaks up.

Normally I would love for Y/N to come with, but I was really hoping to spend some alone time with Mako. But I guess they can help us find Bolin, so they might as well join.

I sigh. "Yeah, Y/N. Let's go." I say as I try to hide the disappointment in my voice.

LATER

Y/N'S POV

Korra, Mako, and I have been trying to find Bolin for a an hour now. We asked this kid called "Skoochy", and apparently Bolin was approached by this "Shady Shin" character who offered him money, and proceeded to get into his car with him. Not only that but it seems like a turf war is going to happen with all of the gangs. We are currently on our way to the Triple Threat Triad's HQ to investigate more, and hopefully find the earthbender.

I really should be focused on finding Bolin, and I am really. I hope nothing bad happens to him. But a small part of me is still a bit irritated from earlier when Korra said that the idea of her and I being together is "crazy". I'm not mad at her or anything, but it still hurts. It also doesn't help with Korra flirting with Mako and calling him "City Boy". Oh man I sound so jealous. I wish I could just travel back in time a few hours ago, when I didn't realise I had a one-sided crush on my best friend.

After running into Pabu, we finally made it to the gang's headquarters. Something's not right though, it looks empty.

"Uh, guys, this feels a bit weird. There's no-one here." I suspiciously say to them.

"That's just what I was thinking." Mako agrees, "We better be cautious."

The firebender and I carefully sneak to the front doors. I don't hear any movements or talking going on inside.

Korra doesn't get subtle, however, and just walks right up to the entrance and kicks it open. Luckily no-one seems to be here, but the place looks a mess.

"Looks like a fight took place in here or something." I point out to Mako and Korra as I observe the scene.

Mako hums in agreement and looks around the place. "Bolin? You in here?"

Suddenly, we hear an engine revving up. We all run outside and see a van and motorcycles driving away. The doors of the van are still left open, long enough to see Bolin and others tied up and gagged!

Before we could do anything else, the two remaining drivers, wearing black and mysterious costumes, throw tear gas at us as they drive away. Shit! We need to catch them!

"Korra, call Naga! We need to catch them!" I shout at her.

"Naga, come!" Korra yells, and we all hop on Naga.

And the chase begins.

I can feel the wind on my face as we chase the kidnappers. Mako throws fireballs them, but they manage to dodge them with minimal effort, which then motivates Korra to earthbend some rubble in front of one of the motorcyclists, only for latter to roll off it and perfectly land back on the ground. Dammit. I really wish I brought something with me. If only I was a bender.

Not long afterwards, we all arrive at a open area where suddenly one of the drivers throws something at Naga, resulting in all of us flying off her and landing onto the hard floor.

I struggle to get back up, scratches on my legs and arms. I look up and see three of the dark figures flip towards us. There is a split second of silence. I've never actually fought someone before, I don't know if I can take one of these guys.

After that intense silence, they all charge at us. One of them runs specifically towards me. I throw my fist at one of them, only for the figure to effortlessly dodge it and place light jabs on my right arm, resulting in it going numb. I can't move my arm! I throw my other fist, desperately hoping it will connect with my attacker, only for that one to be dodged too. Before I could respond, my opponent places light jabs all over my other arm and kicks me to the floor. How is this possible?!

Korra and Mako had the same luck as I did, as I see them being kicked towards me. I can feel my heart beating rapidly as the three figures approach us.

Fortunately, Naga comes to save the day as she charges towards the three figures and brings out a loud roar...followed by Pabu coming along and doing a tiny impersonation of it (so cute!).

The three attackers look at each other and jump away, throwing tear gas and speeding away on their motorcycles.

As we all get back up, I can feel the numbness of my arms fading away as I regain control of them. What the hell was that?

I turn to look at Mako and Korra, the latter attempting to bend but...she can't do it. What?!

"Are you guys alright?" I worriedly ask them.

"No! I can't bend!" Korra says, fear dripping into her voice.

"Calm down, it'll wear off." Mako says, "Those guys were chi-blockers. They're Amon's henchmen."

Chi-blockers? Like that circus girl in the Hundred Year War, oh what was her name, Ty Lee? And Amon's henchmen? That creepy mask guy?

"Amon? That man with the weird mask?" I ask him.

"Yeah, he's the leader of a anti-bending group known as the Equalists." Mako quickly replies.

Damn. Korra and I saw that there were anti-benders in the city, but I didn't know it was this serious.

Korra speaks up, "What do they want with the Triple Threats?"

Mako begins to look worried and buries his face in his right hand. "Whatever it is, it can't be good. I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess."

Korra walks up to the firebender and puts her hand on his shoulder, concern and determination on her face. "Mako, we are going to save your brother. I promise you that."

I put a hand on my chin and start stroking it. Think, Y/N, think! There's got to be a way to find them!

Wait a second!

"Guys! That anti-bending protestor gave me one of their flyers when Korra and I first arrived in the city, maybe they might have a clue on where Bolin is!" I say, as I pull it out from one of my jacket's pockets.

I scan through the writing on the flyer, hoping to find a clue. "Witness the revelation" I say aloud. The revelation? What could that mean? I look under it and I see a date and time. "It's happening tomorrow at 9:00!" I say with surprise.

"That's great Y/N! We just have to find out where it is!" Korra says excitedly.

Mako frowns for a second and focuses his attention on the flyer. "What's on the back?"

I turn the paper around and my eyes widen. "It looks like a piece of a map of the city, but we need more sections before we can pinpoint a location for this "revelation"."

Korra's face becomes serious. "We need to find that protestor again."

I nod.

Here we go again.

ONE HOUR LATER

We all rode to the park where Korra and I saw that protestor on our first day in the city. Since it's still pretty late there's no-one around, so now we just have to sit and wait. We are all lying back on Naga, Korra in the middle and Mako and I by her sides.

And spirits is this awkward.

Seriously, no-one is saying anything. I feel like a third-wheel with Korra and Mako, which makes me even more frustrated.

Eventually, Korra speaks up.

"So, why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threat Triad, anyway?"

Huh, now that I think about it, that's a good question. Why is he with them?

Mako begins to look embarrassed. "Well, we-we used to do some work for them back in the day." he says, attempting to sound nonchalant.

Oh, wow, really?! I did not see that coming...

Korra, though, has a accusatory look on her face. "What? Are you some kind of criminal?!"

My eyes widen. "Korra!" I say sternly, "You can't just accuse people like that!"

Korra turns to me and points at Mako. "He just said he used to work with-"

"-I'm not a criminal!" Mako interrupts. "You don't know what you're talking about. I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street! I did what I had to do to survive, and to protect my little brother!" he explains to her angrily.

Damn. That must have been a very tough life.

Korra looks down in shame. "I'm sorry. It must have been really hard. Can I ask what happened to your parents?"

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to Mako." I say to him cautiously.

Mako sighs. "It's fine Y/N. They were mugged by a firebender. He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight. Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything happened to him..."

"We're going to find Bolin, Mako. He's going to be fine" I say to him with determination. "I'm sorry about your parents but, from what I've seen, I'm sure they would be proud of the people you and Bolin are now."

Mako looks at me and a small smile forms on his face. "Thanks Y/N."

I send him a smile back. "Anytime. We should all get some rest before that protestor shows up."

Korra and Mako nod and close their eyes. I do the same, hoping for a nice and peaceful sleep.

LATER

"EQUALITY NOW! EQUALITY NOW! WE WANT EQUALITY NOW!"

I shoot up, gasping in surprise. I shut my eyes for one second and I fall asleep like a rock? Seriously?

I turn to look at Mako and Korra and...oh spirits. They are leaning against each other like a romantic couple. I can feel knots inside me tighten, as a spark of jealously appears.

No! Bad Y/N, now is not the time.

Korra and Mako wake up too, only for them to jump back in surprise of how close they were.

Good to know I'm not the only one who was surprised.

I point towards the protestor. "That's the guy. You two stay here. I'm going to trick him into giving me some of the flyers.

After recovering from what happened earlier, they nod.

I take a deep breath and begin to approach the protestor.

The skinny man notices me and points at me. "You again! The Avatar's friend! Traitor to all non-benders alike!"

I put my hands up to calm him down. Time to use my lying skills "No, I'm not! Listen...I thought about what you said and looked around the city...and you're right. Non-benders are being oppressed. I want to help the Equalists, and I'm really curious about the revelation. Can I please have more of those flyers?"

The man's eyes widen in shock.

Please buy it please buy please buy please buy it please buy it please buy it.

Eventually the protestor relaxes, and a grin forms on his face. "I am glad to see you have come to your senses my friend! Here you go!" he says excitedly, as he hands me a few more flyers.

"Thank you. Hopefully this revelation will be a breakthrough for true equality!" I say with fake excitement.

I walk away from the man and flash a thumbs up to Korra and Mako, who then proceed to shoot smiles at me.

"I got the flyers. Lets go to a map of the city and see where this event is taking place. Tonight, we're going to save Bolin." I say with determination.

A FEW HOURS LATER

We managed to locate where the revelation is taking place, and we've gotten ourselves prepared. We are wearing simple clothing, with me having cap on my head, pointed downwards to hide my face.

As we walk towards the entrance blocked by a guard, Korra grabs Mako's arm.

"What are you doing?" Mako says, sounding confused.

"We'll attract less attention this way." Korra replies.

I roll my eyes and resist a scoff. Subtle Korra, really subtle.

We approach the guard, a tough and worn look on his face. "This is a private event. No-one gets in without an invitation."

I pull out the flyer from my coat. "Here you go sir." I reply, handing the poster to the man.

He looks at it for a second, and his lips form a smile. "The revelation is upon us." he says, gesturing his hand towards the door.

As we finally reach the main room, my jaw drops at the swarm of people in the building. This is much bigger than I thought it was. Looks like there are hundreds of people here!

Mako seems to share the same thought as I do. "I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I've never seen so many people in one place."

Despite this, I remain determined. "We need to keep our eyes open for Bolin." I simply say, a frown on my face.

We all walk down to the rest of the people, as bright lights appear out of nowhere.

"Please welcome your hero, your saviour, Amon!" a commentator proudly shouts to the audience, as figures rise from the stage. At the back I see the chi-blockers standing menacingly, bright yellow eyes peering into my soul. I also see what looks like to be their commander, standing proud with his face in a neutral state.

But what really haunted me was the man in the front.

A tall, hooded man standing above us like he's our god. His face is hidden, concealed by a bone-chilling mask that looks like it came from the darkest corners of the human mind.

Amon.

He walks towards the microphone, and begins to speak.

"My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the firebender who extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did...that firebender took my family from me...then he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since."

His voice sends shivers down my spine, as does his tragic story. He speaks in a cold, calculated way, as if he's one step ahead of everyone. Still, I feel sorry for him. No-one should have gone through that. Plus, he was just a kid.

Amon continues speaking. "As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City."

As he finishes his sentence, we hear a large amount of booing from the crowd. I glance at Korra, and see her pulling up the scarf to hide her face.

I lean towards her. "Ignore them." I whisper. She looks at me and a beautiful, small smile is on her face.

Amon's voice breaks the tender moment. "And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world, but she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era, but that is about to change."

I mean, he has a point. The Hundred Year War is proof enough. But you shouldn't blame bending alone for that, and besides, bending is what ended the war as well. However, what does he mean that it is about to change?

"I know you have been wondering, "What is the revelation?" You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity, that is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance!"

What? What is he talking about?

"They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality."

A power?!

"The power to take a person's bending away...permanently."

What?! That's impossible!

"What?! I thought only Avatar Aang could do that!" I whisper shout to Korra and Mako. I glance at my best friend, and I see a horrified look on her face.

"Yeah, this guy is insane." Mako agrees.

However, it appears the revelation has just begun.

"Now for a demonstration. Please welcome "Lightening Bolt" Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City."

I look at Amon's right, and see a middle aged man dressed in expensive clothing. The chi-blockers then bring in more people and-is that Bolin?!

"Guys! Bolin is over there!" I whisper.

"Lets get him!" Korra says as she starts walking towards them.

Nope! That is definitely a bad idea!

Mako and I stop her before she could do something foolish. The firebender speaks up. "We can't fight them all. We need to be smart about this."

Korra seems annoyed by his comment. "Then come up with a game plan, team captain."

Their bickering is interrupted by Amon. "Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non-benders, but his reign of terror is about to come to an end. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending."

As one of Amon's goons releases the crime lord, he puts on a arrogant smile. "You're going to regret doing that, pal!"

Zolt throws fire after fire, even attempting to fry him with lightning, but Amon dodges them all effortlessly, swaying side to side like a spirt. He grabs his arm, twisting upwards as the lightning goes up into the air. Then he grabs the back of Zolt's neck, and places his other hand's thumb on his forehead. In a matter of seconds, the bolt shrinks to fire, which then fades into nothingness. Zolt collapses to the floor, only for him attempting again to firebend at his opponent...but nothing happens.

He did it...he actually did it.

"What-what did you do to me?" the crime lord asks, shock and fear in his voice.

"Your firebending is gone...forever." the masked man proudly replies. "The era of bending is over! A new era of equality has begun!"

My shock is quickly replaced with worry, as the chi-blockers drag a man to face Amon. Soon enough what happened to Zolt will happen to our earthbending friend.

"We can worry about this later, we need to save Bolin!" I say to my friends.

Mako looks deep in thought, but then snaps out if and looks at Korra and I. "I got a plan. See those machines? They're powered by water and steam. If Korra creates some cover, Y/N and I can grab Bolin without anyone seeing. Then we duck out of here."

That actually sounds like it could work. I nod in agreement.

Korra seems to like the plan as well. "Works for me. Good luck guys."

"You too" Mako and I say simultaneously. We both look at each other for a split second and then begin to move closer to the stage.

A few minutes go by, and then there is only Bolin left. Come on Korra, where's the cover?

Suddenly a small explosion occurs, as steam begins to fill the room. Bingo.

Mako and I rush to Bolin, knocking a chi-blocker off the platform.

"Bolin, you all right?" the firebender asks his brother, concern in his voice.

A wide grin forms on the earthbender's face. "Yes! Mako! Y/N! I'm so glad you guys are here!"

"We're glad you are alright, but we need to get out of here!" I shout at them as we run to the exit. We leave the building through the back entrance, but as we are climbing down the ladder the chi-blocker's commander, holding some sort of electrical weapons, zaps us off it.

We scream in pain as we fall to the floor. I feel like my body is on fire, but I have to get up. I need to get up.

The commander drops down as we all create space between us. Recognising me as the weakest link, he charges to me first, attempting to shock me again. I dodge with a great effort, even managing a quick punch to his face. The attack has minimal effect, however, and he zaps me once again. I fall to the ground, my insides feeling like they are engulfed in flames.

Mako rushes to my aid and throws a fire kick, only for him to dodge it too and quickly shocking him. The commander runs to Bolin, the latter trying to block his path by creating a wall between them. Despite it, the enemy jumps over it and zaps him too.

He defeated us...without even breaking a sweat.

"You two benders need to understand there's no place in the world for you anymore." the commander coldly says to his fallen foes.

Only for him to be sent flying towards the wall.

I look to my left and I see Korra in her fighting stance, proud and confident.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet."

She whistles and suddenly Naga appears. Korra, Mako, and I hop on her, with the polar bear dog grabbing Bolin by the mouth as we make our escape.

We did it...we saved Bolin.

LATER

We all finally made it back to the pro-bending arena. After healing our injuries, Korra and I begin to make our leave.

"Wait!"

We turn and see Mako and Bolin, the latter running and pulling us into a hug.

"Thank you guys so much for rescuing me!" Bolin says, his voice full of gratitude.

"Yeah, thank you for helping me save my brother." Mako calmly says, a smile on his face.

"Don't mention it." Korra simply replies.

"Yeah, what are friends for?" I add on.

After finally making it back to Air Temple Island, we approach Tenzin and a couple of White Lotus guards.

The airbending master rushes towards us, relief painted on his face. "Thank goodness. I was just about to send out a search party. Are you two alright?"

Korra and I look at each other, disturbed looks on our faces.

"Korra, Y/N, what happened? Did you find your friend?" Tenzin quietly asks.

Korra wastes no time in replying. "Yes, but...we were at an equalist rally. We saw Amon. He can take people's bending away for good."

Tenzin's eyes widen in shock. "That's-that's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability."

"It's true Master Tenzin." I speak up with fear in my voice. "We saw it with our own eyes."

"I believe you both." Tenzin assures us. "I don't know how Amon has achieved this power...but this means the revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe."

A FEW MINUTES LATER

Korra and I are walking back to our respective rooms. We do not say a word. As my best friend opens her room's door, I speak up:

"Korra...are you okay?"

She sighs but doesn't look at me. "I'm fine, Y/N."

She's lying.

"Korra, do you want to talk about it?" I ask her in a calm tone.

She sighs heavier this time. "I said I'm fine, Y/N." she says with roughness in her voice, and proceeds to slam the door shut.

I stare at the door for a few minutes, before taking a deep breath and start walking to my room.

I'll talk to her about it tomorrow.

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thewildwaffle · 3 years

Text

Humans are Weird - Helium

It's been a while since I got a new story up. I'd been working on some other projects, then had some pretty unhappy life events happen. I am doing fine, so don't worry. Hopefully, now my muse is back and will stick around a while :)

This story is from a prompt ao3

*** *** ***

When you bring together a wide variety of races from different planets and environments, you tend to have an equally wide variety of needs that need to be met from species to species. Ships were typically staffed by a food and nutrients safety team. Custodial teams were careful about residual chemical and oil cross-contamination between particular races. Sections of hab suites had controlled ventilation systems that could be set to various atmospheric needs. Outside the hab suites, at work stations or in communal areas, some species have to be fitted with atmospheric filters. Over the years, these devices have gotten less uncomfortable, thankfully. They weren’t the best, they were a bit bulky, noisy, and in some cases obstructive to the wearer, but hey, being able to properly breathe on a ship with beings who had different atmospheric needs than you was more important than comfort. When the humans joined the galactic community, the newer filters started becoming noticeably smaller and less obtrusive. Many were concerned that the changes would make them less effective, but leave it to the humans to tinker around and invent the impossible when they really wanted to. The latest models were supposed to be so small and comfortable, you could sleep with them on. Heck for some races, you could barely tell they were wearing an atmospheric filter at all. Not only that, they were up to 40% more effective at filtration and gas delivery for many species. This opened up crew rosters for ships. Species who couldn't reasonably be stationed in the same ship due to the gases they breathe being dangerous to others, or vice versa could now be on the same crew.

That included duibs like Marvi who breathe large amounts of helium. She’d been serving aboard Galactic Coalition ships for more standard solar rotations than many of her fellow crewmates had been alive. It helped that duibs were long-lived, of course, and in her time, she’d seen many new technologies come and go. If you pressed her hard enough, she’d likely say that the atmospheric filters the humans developed were by far her favorite. Being able to safely and comfortably pass through different atmospheric biomes was an important ability when you had a long list of custodial and maintenance duties each rotation. Marvi huffed a deep sigh as she rounded another corner. Lighting beam replacements weren’t heavy, but maneuvering them around corners like this was a bit of a pain. “Need a helping paw Marvi?” Marvi turned to see a dark gray priso steadying the end lighting beam she was carrying. The furry face was relatively expressionless, but a clear look at his flicking whiskers and triangular, alert ears and bright eyes told her that he was holding back laughter. He must have just come up from around the other corner and seen the small duib struggling. “Oh, hello Aurrin. I definitely would appreciate some aid, though I would understand if you are busy right now,” Marvi replied politely. Honestly, the help would be very nice and she hoped the offer was serious. “I’m waiting for Human Karl, I can help until he gets here,” Aurrin rose to his back paws awkwardly and grabbed the ends of the light beams in his dexterous front paws. Priso were normally quadrupedal on flat ground, but the forested terrains of their homeworld meant they were at least somewhat adept at grabbing and climbing. He followed along, holding on to the light beams and kept them away from the walls and corners as the pair walked. “I was actually just installing something by the hab suites over there,” he tilted his head back to gesture behind them, “I’ve got something I wanted to test before I go off duty. After that, I’m looking forward to two whole cycles of rest and whatever I want to do.” The corridor here was darker and Marvi stopped walking. This was where she needed to replace the light beam. “Two whole cycles, huh?” She set down the light beam carefully, Aurrin following suit. She pulled out a tool from her hip pack and started working on opening the control panel. In order to open the panels to install the new light beams, she had to make sure power was redirected for safety. “What are you going to do with your time off? Any fun plans?” “A few plans. They might change depending on how my experiment goes.” Marvi worked quietly, waiting on the priso to expound, but other than chuckling to himself, he didn’t say anything more on the topic. Well, Marvi supposed it was not really her business, so she changed the subject and chatted cordially until the new light beam was installed and she rerouted power back to the panel. The darkened hall was filled with bright, cheerful light and Marvi let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, that’s that. Another task down.” The old light beam would need to be taken back to her shop for a repair and gas exchange, or refill, or whatever it ended up needing to get it up and running again. “Thank you again for your help. I should be able to get these back alright myself, I don’t want to take up too much of your time if you’ve still got your experiment to run.” From around the corner of the corridor, the distinct sound of a hab suite door opening was followed by approaching footsteps. A light on Aurrin’s comm device flashed and the priso’s long tail flicked excitedly back and forth. “No worries, it looks like my experiment is already underway.” Marvi felt the frills all along her body perk in curiosity, but before she could ask anything else, Human Karl rounded the corner. He grinned without showing his teeth, as it would have been a sign of aggression to many species on the ship, and gave a small wave as he approached. “Hey Karl,” Aurrin started. Marvi only partially listened as he started in on a spiel about his upcoming off-duty

plans. Instead, she was more interested in a quiet hissing noise and was trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like… well it sounded almost like an atmospheric filter, one beside her own. Hers was in light operation since she was in a sector of the ship that was tuned to a generalized setting, but this noise sounded like a filter at full power output. Did Human Karl hear it? Could he hear it? Surely Aurrin could? She studied them, they didn’t seem to notice. The noise had started when Karl arrived, did that mean…? Her suspicions were confirmed the moment Karl opened his mouth to reply to Aurrin. “I’m actually on my way to…” What. The. Frewan? Human Karl’s voice, which was usually a calming deep tone, was disturbingly high and unnatural. The surprised expression on his face made Marvi’s core freeze. That meant this vocal change wasn’t some weird human thing? What was going on?! “I, woah,” the squeaky voice stuttered, “is this… helium? What is this? What’s going on?” He looked at the comm device strapped to his wrist and pulled up the readout. Sure enough, it was an increase of helium output from his atmospheric filter. The skin on his forehead wrinkled as he looked from the readout to Marvi and Aurrin, his eyes finally locking on the latter who was fiddling with something on his own comm device readout. “You punk! How did you do this? Change it back!” Karl started laughing a bit, Marvi wasn’t sure if it was directed at the ridiculousness of his voice or if it was because the helium was affecting his cognitive functions. She worried it was the latter. Panicking, Marvi approached to see if there was some sort of override. She had to act fast! Humans didn’t breathe helium, he could die! Before she could do anything though, Aurrin spoke up while trying to muffle his laughter. “Okay, okay, hoooo… I’ve deactivated it, you’re good. Keep talking though while your voice turns back to normal, you’re hilarious.” Karl gave him a look that Marvi couldn’t interpret. “What was that? How did you do that?” His voice was already back to normal and it sounded like a mix between annoyed, intrigued and amused. “When you came out of your hab suite, you passed a sensor I set up that overrode your atmospheric filter controls. My latest invention. Imagine this: a ship gets attacked and boarded. Normal defenses prove insufficient and the crew is in grave danger. As the hostiles pass hidden sensors, their atmospheric filters are overridden and they fall asleep, get loopy and confused, or simply pass out before they can get to and harm any crew.” Marvi and Karl blinked in unison while Aurrin’s tail swept side to side proudly. Marvi was the first to find words. “Your… your experiment?” Marvi glanced between Aurrin and Karl worriedly, “Is this what you were experimenting with? You ran it on a crewmate?!” “Well,” Aurrin’s ears pulled back slightly, but his whiskers still kept their amused look, “I say experiment pretty loosely. This was more of a field test. I ran all the actual experiments long ago. I knew exactly what would happen. And I did research on humans and I found out what effects helium has on them and I had to see it for myself. That’s why I was waiting for Karl.” The human in question was still laughing a bit - of course, a human would be able to laugh after nearly being asphyxiated, they’re crazy - before he ran his hand over his head to compose himself. “So this was a prank?” “For science.” “Of course. For science.” Karl’s smile suddenly morphed into a thoughtful frown. “Wait. Is this payback for the soap thing I pulled on you last week?” Aurrin’s face was statuesque and solemn as he stared silently at the human for a moment. “Yes.” “You’re the worst.” “Thank you.” “Want to go do this again in front of Aylin? She and Maruti-kar would think it’s hilarious.” “I had been planning on it. But only if we can get video evidence of it.” “For science?” “Naturally.” Marvi watched, hearts still beating rapidly from her panic, as Aurrin and Karl deactivated and retrieved the sensor to reenact the stunt she had just been a witness

to. Almost reflexively, she started tracing the side of her atmospheric filter. The quiet hum and hiss were calming. Helium to her was life. She’d thought it was toxic to others. And yet Aurrin thought it fine to use it on a human, and Karl was not only unworried about it but found it funny. Was it not dangerous?! And his voice? Why did it do that? She pulled up a search screen on her comm device and searched in the human database. Helium. Breathing. Voices. Apparently, helium took up space in their lungs that normally would be filled by oxygen, so yes, it was dangerous because they could asphyxiate. It also amplified higher-pitched tones of their vocal tract while simultaneously dampening lower tones because of the gas’s low density. That explained the voice change. And for some reason, the funny noise was enough of a reason to play around with deadly materials. Well, if anything, she supposed humans did keep to their MO pretty well. She picked the spent light beams back up and headed back to her shop, careful to not hit the ends on any walls or corners.

#humans are weird #space orcs #humans #aliens #helium #science #writeblr #original writing #space #spaceships

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littlemixnet · 3 years

Quote

To me, a good ally is someone who is consistent in their efforts – there’s a difference between popping on a pride playlist or sprinkling yourself in rainbow glitter once a year and actually defending LGBT+ people against discrimination. It means showing my LGBT+ fans that I support them wholeheartedly and am making a conscious effort to educate myself, raise awareness and show up whenever they need me to. It would be wrong of me to benefit from the community as a musician without actually standing up and doing what I can to support. As someone in the public eye, it’s important to make sure your efforts are not performative or opportunistic. I’m always working on my allyship and am very much aware that I’ve still got a lot of unlearning and learning to do. There are too many what I call ‘dormant allies’, believing in equality but not really doing more than liking or reposting your LGBT+ mate’s content now and again. Imagine if that friend then saw you at the next march, or signing your name on the next petition fighting for their rights? Being an ally is also about making a conscious effort to use the right language and pronouns, and I recently read a book by Glennon Doyle who spoke of her annoyance and disappointment of those who come out and are met with ‘We love you…no matter what’. I’d never thought of that expression like that before and it really struck a chord with me. ‘No matter what’ suggests you are flawed. Being LGBT+ is not a flaw. Altering your language and being conscious of creating a more comfortable environment for your LGBT+ family and friends is a good start. Nobody is expecting you to suddenly know it all, I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect ally. I’m still very much learning. Even recently, after our Confetti music video I was confronted with the fact that although we made sure our video was incredibly inclusive, we hadn’t brought in any actual drag kings. Some were frustrated, and they had every right to be. You can have the right intentions and still fall short. As an open ally I should have thought about that, and I hadn’t, and for that I apologise. Since then I’ve been doing more research on drag king culture, because it’s definitely something I didn’t know enough about, whether that was because it isn’t as mainstream yet mixed with my own ignorance. But the point is we mess up, we apologise, we learn from it and we move forward with that knowledge. Don’t let the fear of f**king up scare you off. And make sure you are speaking alongside the community, not for the community. Growing up in a small Northern working-class town, some views were, and probably still are, quite ‘old fashioned’ and small-minded. I witnessed homophobia at an early age. It was a common thought particularly among men that it was wrong to be anything but heterosexual. I knew very early on I didn’t agree with this, but wasn’t educated or aware enough on how to combat it. I did a lot of performing arts growing up and within that space I had many LGBT+ (mainly gay) friends. I’ve been a beard many a time let me tell you! But it was infuriating to see friends not feel like they could truly be themselves. When I moved to London I felt incredibly lonely and like I didn’t fit in. It was my gay friends (mainly my friend and hairstylist, Aaron Carlo) who took me under their wing and into their world. Walking into those gay bars or events like Sink The Pink, it was probably the first time I felt like I was in a space where everyone in that room was celebrated exactly as they are. It was like walking into a magical wonderland. I got it. I clicked with everyone. My whole life I struggled with identity – being mixed race for me meant not feeling white enough, or black enough, or Arab enough. I was a ‘tomboy’ and very nerdy. I suppose on a personal level that maybe played a part in why I felt such a connection or understanding of why those spaces for the LGBT+ community are so important. One of the most obvious examples of first realising Little Mix was having an effect in the community was that I couldn’t enter a gay bar without hearing a Little Mix song and watching numerous people break out into full choreo from our videos! I spent the first few years of our career seeing this unfold and knowing the LGBT+ fan base were there, but it wasn’t until I got my own Instagram or started properly going through Twitter DMs that I realised a lot of our LGBT+ fans were reaching out to us on a daily basis saying how much our music meant to them. I received a message from a boy in the Middle East who hadn’t come out because in his country homosexuality is illegal. His partner tragically took their own life and he said our music not only helped him get through it, but gave him the courage to start a new life somewhere else where he could be out and proud. There are countless other stories like theirs, which kind of kickstarted me into being a better ally. Another standout moment would be when we performed in Dubai in 2019. We were told numerous times to ‘abide by the rules’, which meant not promoting anything LGBT+ or too female-empowering (cut to us serving a four-part harmony to Salute). In my mind, we either didn’t go or we’d go and make a point. When Secret Love Song came on, we performed it with the LGBT+ flag taking up the whole screen behind us. The crowd went wild, I could see fans crying and singing along in the audience and when we returned it was everywhere in the press. I saw so many positive tweets and messages from the community. It made laying in our hotel rooms s**tting ourselves that we’d get arrested that night more than worth it. It was through our fans and through my friends I realised I need to be doing more in my allyship. One of the first steps in this was meeting with the team at Stonewall to help with my ally education and discussing how I could be using my platform to help them and in turn the community. Right now, and during lockdown, I’d say my ally journey has been a lot of reading on LGBT+ history, donating to the right charities and raising awareness on current issues such as the conversion therapy ban and the fight for equality of trans lives. Stonewall is facing media attacks for its trans-inclusive strategies and there is an alarming amount of seemingly increasing transphobia in the UK today and we need to be doing more to stand with the trans community. Still, there is definitely a pressure I feel as someone in the public eye to constantly be saying and doing the right things, especially with cancel culture becoming more popular. I s**t myself before most interviews now, on edge that the interviewer might be waiting for me to ‘slip up’ or I might say something that can be misconstrued. Sometimes what can be well understood talking to a journalist or a friend doesn’t always translate as well written down, which has definitely happened to me before. There’ve been moments where I’ve (though well intentioned) said the wrong thing and had an army of Twitter warriors come at me. Don’t get me wrong, there are obviously more serious levels of f**king up that are worthy of a cancelling. But it was quite daunting to me to think that all of my previous allyship could be forgotten for not getting something right once. When that’s happened to me before I’ve scared myself into thinking I should STFU and not say anything, but I have to remember that I am human, I’m going to f**k up now and again and as long as I’m continuing to educate myself to do better next time then that’s OK. I’m never going to stop being an ally so I need to accept that there’ll be trickier moments along the way. I think that might be how some people may feel, like they’re scared to speak up as an ally in case they say the wrong thing and face backlash. Just apologise to the people who need to be apologised to, and show that you’re doing what you can to do better and continue the good fight. Don’t burden the community with your guilt. When it comes to the music industry, I’m definitely seeing a lot more LGBT+ artists come through and thrive, which is amazing. Labels, managements, distributors and so forth need to make sure they’re not just benefiting from LGBT+ artists but show they’re doing more to actually stand with them and create environments where those artists and their fans feel safe. A lot of feedback I see from the community when coming to our shows is that they’re in a space where they feel completely free and accepted, which I love. I get offered so many opportunities to do with LGBT+ based shows or deals and while it’s obviously flattering, I turn most of them down and suggest they give the gig to someone more worthy of that role. But really, I shouldn’t have to say that in the first place. The fee for any job I do take that feels right for me but has come in as part of the community goes to LGBT+ charities. That’s not me blowing smoke up my own arse, I just think the more of us and big companies that do that, the better. We need more artists, more visibility, more LGBT+ mainstream shows, more shows on LGBT+ history and more artists standing up as allies. We have huge platforms and such an influence on our fans – show them you’re standing by them. I’ve seen insanely talented LGBT+ artist friends in the industry who are only recently getting the credit they deserve. It’s amazing but it’s telling that it takes so long. It’s almost expected that it will be a tougher ride. We also need more understanding and action on the intersectionality between being LGBT+ and BAME. Racism exists in and out of the community and it would be great to see more and more companies in the industry doing more to combat that. The more we see these shows like Drag Race on our screens, the more we can celebrate difference. Ever since I was a little girl, my family would go to Benidorm and we’d watch these glamorous, hilarious Queens onstage; I was hooked. I grew up listening to and loving the big divas – Diana Ross (my fave), Cher, Shirley Bassey, and all the queens would emulate them. I was amazed at their big wigs, glittery overdrawn make-up and fabulous outfits. They were like big dolls. Most importantly, they were unapologetically whoever the f**k they wanted to be. As a shy girl who didn’t really understand why the world was telling me all the things I should be, I almost envied the queens but more than anything I adored them. Drag truly is an art form, and how incredible that every queen is different; there are so many different styles of drag and to me they symbolise courage and freedom of expression. Everything you envisioned your imaginary best friend to be, but it’s always been you. There’s a reason why the younger generation are loving shows like Drag Race. These kids can watch this show and not only be thoroughly entertained, but be inspired by these incredible people who are unapologetically themselves, sharing their touching stories and who create their own support systems and drag families around them. Now and again I think of when I’d see those Queens in Benidorm, and at the end they’d always sing I Am What I Am as they removed their wigs and smudged their make up off, and all the dads would be up on their feet cheering for them, some emotional, like they were proud. But that love would stop when they’d go back home, back to their conditioned life where toxic heteronormative behaviour is the status quo. Maybe if those same men saw drag culture on their screens they’d be more open to it becoming a part of their everyday life. I’ll never forget marching with Stonewall at Manchester Pride. I joined them as part of their young campaigners programme, and beforehand we sat and talked about allyship and all the young people there asked me questions while sharing some of their stories. We then began the march and I can’t explain the feeling and emotion watching these young people with so much passion, chanting and being cheered by the people they passed. All of these kids had their own personal struggles and stories but in this environment, they felt safe and completely proud to just be them. I knew the history of Pride and why we were marching, but it was something else seeing what Pride really means first hand. My advice for those who want to use their voice but aren’t sure how is, just do it hun. It’s really not a difficult task to stand up for communities that need you. Change can happen quicker with allyship.

Jade Thirlwall on the power, and pressures, of being an LGBT ally: ‘I’m gonna f**k up now and again’

#jade thirlwall #lgbt

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