#going to a specialist next week so maybe they can tell me what to do . as long as it's not like . stop doing things <3

[sungtaro]

[wisteriagoesvroom]

helloooooo :)) sliding in with a generic marvel-esque vaguely criminal organization landoscar au with background lestappen because I am nothing if not predictable

Oscar is their resident poison specialist (he makes new poisons, tests them, makes antidotes, etc. for the organization to use). His preference is plant based poisons, like belladonna and nightshade, because he graduated college with a botany degree and therefore has a lot of knowledge about them that he can put for use. He spends most of his time in his greenhouse full of toxic, beautiful plants that he tends too very, very carefully. They’re his babies.

There’s a whole backstory involved with how he came to join the organization that involves him accidentally killing his college roommate

Lando is a former gymnast turned espionage guy who also does theft on the side for funsies that works for the organization. Like vaguely cat woman-y? Obviously he’s super flexible and super good at his job because duh.

His favorite hobby is breaking into Oscar’s greenhouse via the windows and watching him work. Oscar is super fascinating to him, and he’s enamored with how absolutely brilliant this quiet, stoic boy, with maybe five facial expressions total is.

Lando sits there and listens to Oscar ramble about his complex science things. He doesn’t understand most of it ngl, but he loves the way Oscar’s face lights up when he goes on a long tangent about the chemical properties of cyanide and why it’s superior to arsenic.

Also sometimes lando brings Oscar random pretty shiny things that he stole that he thinks Oscar might like and leaves them on his desk, kind of like a crow. Oscar keeps all of them in a box under his bed. He looks at them when he feels down (he doesn’t tell lando that)

Oscar is equally obsessed with lando but this is already wayyyyyy too long so 😭 you just gotta trust me on this one

And then eventually, the rest of the people in the organization pick up on the growing landoscar feelings situation. Alex and George give lando a bunch of (loving and caring) grief about it. A bet between them is born. “$50 lando is too chicken to confess to Oscar by the end of the month”

Yada yada time skip a week or so and lando and Oscar FINALLY do something about the tension between them one night late in Oscar’s greenhouse, lando freshly back from a mission. Boom they kiss and then lando, being the idiot that he is, as soon as they pull apart, goes “lol George and Alex owe me $50 now”

Cue misunderstanding trope. “Oh you only kissed me for a bet?? You don’t actually have feelings for me 😔 I knew it was too good to be true.”

Lando realizes his mistake but Oscar’s already out the door, disappeared into the night.

And then Oscar gets kidnapped by the enemy 🤗 because he’d normally be more aware and vigilant and stuff but his emotions are really going through it so. The ransom note comes through the next day.

Gonna leave it on that because otherwise I will spiral into a full blown fic when I already have too many wips to finish

I'M SO????? HOW DID U JUST RANDOMLY SLIDE IN HERE WITH THIS???? i am so obsessed with these details my god the POISON? CATMAN ESPIONAGEGYMNAST? christ. and then lando leaving him little gifts like a crow. OSCAR ACCIDENTALLY K-WORDING HIS ROOMMATE (and possible guilt)?? the classic misunderstanding thingy "but oscar gets kidnapped" leading to a climactic rescue oh oh oh this is the stuff of dreams.

idk what to do with myself exactly cus this is so gorgeous. anyway have a moodboard for your efforts cus like my goodness this was lovely to read.

[howlingday]

jaune is spiderman au) jaune confronts the red huntress while having to be on a call with his grandpa who keeps telling him that since he's a superhero he should be pulling more bitches, like that red huntress lady! she's hot as hell and totally into him. or that iron fist girl with the gauntlets! she's stacked as hell! or even that reaper girl, she's cute enough! maybe the mercenary chick weiss? or that asguardian girl nora! he could totally pull a goddess of thunder! he just needs to have confidence and ask them out. huntsman is regretting answering the phone on speaker mode

Chapter 3 - Greater Responsibility

Today was not Jaune's day, for more than one reason. To start off, he found out he was failing some of his classes. Adding to that, he was caught up in some schoolyard teasing and was forced into a curfew, wherein he was to stay on schoolgrounds for the next two weeks. Thankfully, Professor Ozpin was kind enough to allow Jaune to attend the school fieldtrip to the Vale Police Department, which was perfect because although Jaune Arc was grounded, the same could not be said for

THE HUNTSMAN SPIDER!

Sneaking off from the group to go to the bathroom, Jaune was able to sneak his way around to find the evidence room. Now he just needed to figure out how to-

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE?!"

"Ack!" Jaune whirled around to find a woman in a white uniform, glaring down the hall at him. "S-Sorry! I was just looking for the bathroom!"

"Bull!" She spat. "This isn't some playground, kid! This is a police station, and unauthorized access is punishable pretty severely!"

"Um, I-"

"Just let him go, Bree." A man behind her said with a shrug. "Not like he was hurting anyone. Here, kid, I'll tell ya where to go."

The woman sneered, hissing under her breath. "You got lucky, kid."

'Lucky is right.' Jaune watched the woman stomp away. He looked to the man who had a more relaxed visage. 'These uniforms don't look like police.'

"Um, excuse me, but are you not police officers?"

"That's right." The man nodded. "We're specialists from Atlas. We're here on a special project with the police. You didn't hear it from me, but there's a lot of nasty business going on in town, and Atlas is itching to get in there and help out our friendly neighbors in Vale." Suddenly, the man's eyes took on a darker tone to match his words. "So don't go starting any trouble tonight."

Jaune gulped. "Er, yes, sir."

"Great! See ya round, kid!" Having completed escorting Jaune back to the restrooms, the man walked away with the same grin he wore when he met Jaune. Something about him made Jaune's spider-sense flare up. Though not as much as-

"MISTER ARC!" Professor Goodwitch shouted. "Need I remind you that you are on CURFEW for your misconduct?" A couple of student giggled at how Jaune shrunk into himself. So far, the only win Jaune had was the location of the evidence room. It wasn't much, but it was at least something to start with, right?

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

"You're going out tonight, too?"

"Yeah." Pyrrha nodded, pulling out her new outfit. Black wasn't able to convince her to stop, so the two agreed to help The Red Huntress become a proper vigilante. Tonight, Pyrrha would begin another night of patrolling with Black and learn the ropes. Whether or not ropes were actually included, Pyrrha wasn't sure. "Just for a few hours."

"Are you sure you can trust this guy?" Nora asked, watching Pyrrha put her arm into the sleeve. "For all we know, he could be a pervert trying to kidnap you."

"I don't think so." Pyrrha shook her head. "Something about the way they spoke about the White Fang made me think that they meant what they said."

"Well, if you need me, I'm gonna be hanging out with Ren tonight." Nora shook her scroll. "Just give me a call and I will drop everything to come help you!"

Pyrrha giggled. "I appreciate the offer, Nora, but I don't think I'll be needing it."

"Buuut~?"

"But if I do need help, you will be the first one I call."

"Aw, thank you~!"

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

"Is Jaune going to call again tonight?"

"Mhm."

"You should really tell him the truth, you know."

"Mm."

"Will you at least tell him his grandma loves him?"

"...'course, honey."

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

"Hey, Grandpa!" Jaune said into his earpiece.

"Evenin', Jaune," his grandfather replied, "you just missed your grandma. She love you, y'know."

"I know, Grandpa, and I love her, too."

"So, what mischief are you up to tonight?"

"I'm not up to any mischief, Grandpa." Jaune answered. It wasn't so much mischief tonight as it was a misdemeanor. Or maybe it was a felony. He hoped it was the former.

"Oh, really? So there's no plan to break into police headquarters at all?" Jaune was quiet all of a sudden. "I'm retired, Jaune, but I still have friends on the force. They said there was a kid who went wandering away from his class. I take it that was you?"

"Um... I please the fifth?"

"Plead, Jaune, and that's only in court. Y'ain't been arrested yet." The two Arcs shared a laugh. "Speakin' of pleasin', any chance of you bringing a girl over for the holidays?"

"I'm not really looking for a date, Grandpa."

"And that's why you're up to mischief in the middle of the night. Wouldn't happen if you had a girl to keep you company."

"That's not true."

"Oh, yeah? Where's your roommate?"

"He's back in the dorm, hanging out with his-" Jaune stopped talking, partially because he was unsure of the two's relationship status, and also because he knew he was walking into a trap. He didn't need spider-sense to see that. "Back in the dorm."

"Uh-huh. Y'know, I hear there's a vigilante group out there. Maybe you could join up with them?"

"Really? This is the first I'm hearing about it."

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

"I'm in." Black softly said as Pyrrha dropped in behind them. "...Roger." They turned to their red-headed pupil. "Your form could use some work."

"Any pointers?" Pyrrha asked.

Black placed a finger to their covered mouth. Pyrrha's eyes widened and pursed her own mouth shut. Down below, a few police officers milled about, working the late shift on little more than coffee. Pyrrha followed behind Black, noting how they walked with big strides starting on the heel and rolling to their toes. Pyrrha noted how her costume, no longer her normal fit of just red goggles and a cape and now tightly hugging fit of a red body suit covered by light yet sturdy polymer that flexed as she moved, all courtesy of Black's partner, Fencer.

Fencer, for their part, seemed much more animated than Black, making gestures and vocally exasperating. They wore a white fencing outfit that made her digitally camouflaged while moving, completed by a shaded helmet and voice modifier. She was polite to Pyrrha, but would often chide the other members, notably the other two on communications with Black. She'd yet to meet them, but Pyrrha assumed she had yet to earn her keep on the team. Less chance of exposing everyone that way.

Black came to a stop at a corner, holding up her hand with the palm facing out. A low growl came from them, putting Pyrrha at unease. She leaned a bit closer out and saw someone moving around in the evidence room. Black gave Pyrrha a glance then shifted her hand into a pointing two fingers and waved the pointed digits at door. Pyrrha nodded and approached.

Getting close to the door, she tenderly touched the door handle.

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

'Spider-sense going off?' Jaune thought, his body tensing. 'But I don't see anyone.'

Jaune knew better than to doubt his ability and ducked down.

He'd found what he needed already. Since the murder was recent, Snipe Hunt's evidence was readily available. The bullets found at the scene of the crime came from a 500 magnum, more hand-cannon than pistol, but still easy to carry concealed. His grandpa had one, and he even let Jaune fire a couple rounds. Guns were never his thing anyways. It couldn't have been him, but who else could have fired a gun like this? This was a question to ask later when he wasn't under attack.

"No point in hiding." A familiar voice came. "We already got your little friend."

'Little friend?' Jaune thought. Nobody was with Jaune when he came in. That meant...

"I'm gonna count to three, and I want you to walk out, nice and slow. One. Two."

Jaune opened the door, finding the man from before holding a tied-up woman under his boot. She was wearing a red cape, red bodysuit, and red goggles. The only thing that wasn't red was the light brown armor on her chest. Keeping his hands up, he pushed the door and walked out.

"Oh, so you're that vigilante that's been skulking around lately?" The man said with a bemused grin. "Was wondering when I'd get to see ya." He pressed down on the woman, making her grunt. The wire wrapped around her pulled taut, making her whine.

"Stop!" Jaune stepped forward, holding his hand out.

"Stop?"

"Look-" Before Jaune could speak any further, he felt something tug against his leg.

"Look? Stop and look? Sounds like something you should have done a long time ago."

Spider-sense throbbed like crazy. It felt like there was danger everywhere now. He noticed a gleam and realized there was wire everywhere, thin strands all closing in on him. Keeping his arms up, he was ironically nabbed in a web like spider silk. However, the way in which was caught only surrounded his upper body, thanks to him ducking just in time with one leg bent and the other extended behind him. It started to burn as muscle began to stretch like they hadn't been before.

"Hm." The man hummed. "Wasn't expecting you to be that quick." Jaune pushed himself to both feet, wires sliding up and digging into his gut. "Good thing I've got a friend who's quicker."

Jaune charged, arms held up to cover his face, only to be knocked down by something moving as fast as lightning. He rolled on the ground and stood up, only to be knocked down again. Roll, stand, knock down. He rolled a third time, stood a third time, and turned on his heel catching the lightning bolt off-guard. Turning his body in mid-air, he crashed into the woman in the white uniform from before.

"Get off me!" She shouted, trying to push Jaune off. In the struggle, the wires slid up over Jaune's arms but caught themselves on each other, making the strands tighter and harder to move than before. Jaune suddenly felt his spider-sense go off again, this time focusing on behind. He tried to move, but the woman underneath him kept him held in place.

SHIKT-KREEEEEE!

Something sharp tore through Jaune's bindings, almost digging into his suit. He heard an awful screech against the back-plate of his armor. However, this was Jaune's chance as shoved both arms out, smashing his fists into the woman's chest, knocking her hard into the ground and Jaune to his feet.

"Finally, some breathing room." Jaune sighed. "Next time, try pizzas WITHOUT anchovies."

The woman, furious, spun to her feet and bolted for Jaune. However, as she charged head-to-head, he was able to dodge to the side. There was a loud crash as the woman tripped over something and slammed into the wall. He looked behind him and winced.

"Sorry about that." He offered to the unconscious woman. He turned his attention to the man in white. "So, was that enough for you?"

"Yeah, it was."

"Huh?" Then the man let go of the wire and backed away from the vigilante woman. The wires came loose enough for her to pull off. "That's it? You're just... letting us go?"

"Yeah. I've seen enough." He reached to his collar and spoke into it. "This is Specialist Ebi. Exercise complete. Recovering Specialist Bree for treatment." There was a beep and a response from the other side of the radio. "Looks like it's your lucky day, kid." The man known as Ebi said as he walked over to the woman known as Bree. "But that lucks gonna run out in about three days."

"Three days?" The red woman said. "What happens in three days?"

"Nothing too special, but, uh, if I were you, I'd hang up those costumes and let the big kids have their fun."

"Big kids?" Jaune asked. The woman then gasped.

"Atlas..."

"Lucky guess." He picked up Bree. "Hopefully your luck keeps rolling. Because eventually," he turned the corner, but not before saying, "your luck's gonna run out."

Jaune stood there, his body tense. There was no spider-sense to warn him of danger. No, this fear was something far away, yet close enough to bypass his senses. Shivering out his fear, he reached down and helped up the woman.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She said. "He just... caught me by surprise."

"Careful with the puns." Jaune jokingly warned. "I know... a guy who likes puns enough to fight for them."

"I'm sure you do." She brushed herself off. "You seem... familiar. Have we met before?"

"Uh, nope, I can't say I've ever met a woman in a red skinsuit." Then a thought came to his head. "Say, uh, do you want to team up? This Atlas thing in three days might be some big trouble. Y'know, strength in numbers and all that?"

"Well-"

"Red." Jaune turned to see his 'friend' from the bank.

"Oh. So you're with them?"

"Do you... know each other?" The woman asked.

"Now." The figure growled.

"I'll... let you go." Jaune stepped away. Walking down the hall to the room with the window he entered. Along the way, he passed the mysterious figure in black. "Go easy on her. It's her first day, right?" Jaune got a glare in response, making him walk faster.

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

"And what happened next?" Nora asked, interrupting herself to scrub her teeth.

"Then Black was quiet for 20 minutes." Pyrrha said, from the doorway. "You ever have that friend who's mad at you, but doesn't say anything to let you know they're mad?"

Nora spat into the sink. "Nope~! Renny and me are so close, we can practically read each other's minds~!"

"I can almost believe that." Pyrrha said with a giggle. Her mind then began to wander. The vigilante who saved her. He was sturdy, but there was also a kindness to him. Something of a gentle giant. A smile crept to her face as she imagined teaming up with him.

"Ooh~! Thinking about Jaune again~?"

"Huh?" Pyrrha blinked. "Er, y-yes. Yes, I think I was."

[playertwotails]

I have a very funny idea about Sonic that's gonna require me to go into a bit of a tangent on a funny personal story for it to make sense but stay with me. (I do not personally have any memory of this story but my mom likes to retell it sometimes cause it's funny)

So to the story time. When I was a toddler my parents were worried I might be mute or partially so because I would either not talk at all or just say one word and no complete sentences. This kept up until I was 2 years old and after taking me to specialists one finally realized there was nothing actually wrong with me but my older sibling was talking for me so I just didn't. (Sidenote, my older sibling is not much older than me, a bit over a year apart so it's all toddler v toddler at these ages, just saying this so no one thinks my sibling is like mean or something, they were about as much of a baby as I was )

Fast forward after the "diagnosis" and I'm still 2 not talking and up until this point my older sibling has been getting away with stuff cause I wouldn't talk.

Well one day our mom comes back to me crying and my sibling not saying what happened and our mom out of habit just starts asking me "Oh what happened?" She was not expecting a response but according to her I pointed to my sibling and said in a very clear sentence "They hit me with a broom!!" To which my sibling in the shock of the moment just said "THEY CAN TALK??!!"

(Apparently baby me had impeccable comedic timing on when to snitch on my sibling)

Moving on from personal story back to my obsession with the Sonic series. So I'm a big fan of mute/selectively mute younger Sonic, it's *chefs kiss* for me.

I had a funny scenario in mind where Sonic has been battling Eggman for a while and Eggman is well aware that Sonic does not talk. And Eggman has a new cannon fodder accomplice in what ever new scheme he's got cooking up for the week. And he tells this new meat shield not to bother really talking with Sonic cause he's not gonna say anything back.

Maybe this is sometime after Sonic got Tails and they were fighting Eggman and his new chump of the week. Eggman and Sonic are alone and Eggman starts ranting about how he was going to 100% betray his new sucker of a partner in like the next hour. Cause to Eggman, Sonic is pretty good sound board since he doesn't talk back so why not tell him his petty schemes.

Cue a bit later they're all back together all out brawl style and Tails gets hurt or captured or something just enough to piss off Sonic and immediately Sonic turns to the new Eggman stooge and just goes "Eggman said he's gonna betray you here in like 5 mins."

Eggman is too shocked to deny it, just immediately shouts "SINCE WHEN DO YOU TALK!!!????!!!"

Which not a great defense against the betrayal accusations and Eggman now has a new problem of fighting a, as of 5 seconds ago, new enemy.

Idk I was just thinking about the story my mom likes to tell again and brain rot connected the dots back to Sonic lol.

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Chapter 3

Pairing: Platonic Steven Grant x Reader (for now)

Rating: T

Word count: ~2600

Story Summary: Steven meets a beautiful woman in the Egyptian exhibit at the British Museum...

...Too bad she's his new boss.

Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergent since Steven still works for the British Museum post-canon, No Jake Lockley, developing friendship, boss/employee relationship (of sorts)

A/N: Here's chapter 3! I'm still not quite sure how long this will be, but hopefully I'll have an idea soon since I know where the plot's going.

If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this or any of my stories, please let me know!

Title from the song of the same name by The Police.

“...So, what do you think?”

Steven turned as Christina walked up next to him. He had been in his new position for a few weeks and was attending his very first members-only museum gala. “There's quite a lot of people here, isn’t there?” he replied.

Christina shrugged. “Usually it’s the same bunch of trustees and benefactors wanting to brag about their ‘generous’ donations while simultaneously making sure of where said donations are going, but yeah, there’s definitely more members here than usual.”

“Have you seen Dr. Y/L/N yet?” 

Christna shook her head. “No, but I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.”

She waved at someone. “Oh, if you'll excuse me, I just saw one of my old professors from uni. I'll catch up with you later, okay?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah. Laters, gators.”

Once Christina had left, he continued looking around the room. Maybe I should walk around, see if I spot her.

Good idea, Marc replied in his head.

Steven took a single step before someone moved out of his line of sight, revealing Dr. Y/L/N.

She had traded in her usual business attire for a silky floor-length purple dress with a shimmery beaded bodice and a pair of high-heeled shoes. On her left wrist was a wide, flat, silvery bracelet that reminded Steven of the bangles that Egyptian queens were frequently depicted wearing while a double-layer teardrop diamond necklace rested at her throat.

Steven’s breath caught. Gods, she’s beautiful.

Stunning, Marc agreed.

Dr. Y/L/N was engaged in conversation with an older gentleman that Steven vaguely recognized as one of the museum's trustees -- or from what Steven could tell she was actually being talked at while she discreetly looked around for an escape route.

She smiled as Steven caught her eye, then while the man speaking to her was briefly distracted by a passing waiter she made a face before quickly schooling her features back into a blank mask.

Steven chuckled and shook his head as the man turned back to Dr. Y/L/N and began speaking again while she pretended to be interested.

Go help her, Marc said.

How?

I don't know, make something up. Say you need to talk to her about something important.

Steven downed the glass of champagne he had been holding just to have something in his hands and set the empty glass down on a nearby table. “Right, off I go then.”

He walked over towards Dr. Y/L/N. “Dr. Y/L/N, there you are!”

“Ah, Steven!” Dr. Y/L/N replied, looking relieved. “Cohen, this is Steven Grant, our absolutely brilliant Visitor Engagement Specialist here at the museum. Steven, this is Cohen Robbins, one of the museum's benefactors and member of the board.”

“How do you do,” Cohen said, shaking Steven's hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” Steven replied. 

“Steven has been instrumental in improving the museum's visitor numbers,” Dr. Y/L/N continued. “Just in the past month that he's been in the position we've more than doubled our guided tour numbers and increased memberships by 20%.”

Steven’s face flushed at the praise. Dr. Y/L/N had loved his revamped tour and had approved it as the new standard as soon as Steven could train the rest of the Programming staff.

“It's all been thanks to Dr. Y/L/N’s incredible leadership,” he replied. “I'm just grateful that she's given me the opportunity to show her what I can do.”

He cleared his throat. “In fact, I actually have important museum business to discuss with her now, so unfortunately I need to steal her away. Quite urgent, you see, can't wait till tomorrow.”

“Apologies, Cohen,” Dr. Y/L/N said. “I'll see you at the next board meeting.”

Steven began to lead Dr. Y/L/N away. “I was thinking about what you said regarding our next special exhibition and I've come up with something that I really think you'll --”

He dropped the act as soon as they were out of earshot. “Everything okay? You looked like you were in need of a bit of a rescue.”

Dr. Y/L/N nodded with a smile. “I was, actually. I knew that events like this require a lot of schmoozing benefactors and listening to them talk about their art and car collections, which totally isn't my scene but unfortunately came with the job description, but I swear if I had to listen to Cohen blather on about his prized Vermeer painting for one more minute I was going to go insane. You're a lifesaver, Steven, thank you.”

Steven huffed out a laugh. “Happy to help, ma'am.”

“Are you enjoying the gala so far?”

Steven nodded. I am now. “Yes, ma'am.”

He had been surprised to see the invitation to the gala in his email inbox a few weeks before and in questioning Christina, he had learned that while the galas were open to all staff (which he never knew since Donna had never bothered to let the gift shop staff know) the Curation and Programming department heads in particular were encouraged to attend in order to show solidarity and support for the museum -- and to be on hand to answer any questions about the exhibits. It's not actually required, she had said, but we get overtime for it so it's worth it.

Dr. Y/L/N smiled. “Good. I'm glad.”

Steven gestured towards the table that was acting as a makeshift bar. “May I get you something to drink?”

Dr. Y/L/N nodded. “Yes, a glass of champagne would be lovely.”

“Be right back.”

Steven walked over to the bar and requested a glass of champagne and a bottle of water, then headed back over to Dr. Y/L/N once he had received them.

He handed her the glass of champagne. “Here you are, ma'am.”

“Thanks so much, Steven.” Dr. Y/L/N grinned. “The one upside to these parties… getting paid to dress up and drink fancy champagne.”

Steven took the opportunity to admire her once again. “You look lovely tonight, by the way. Very reminiscent of an Egyptian goddess.”

“Thank you.” Dr. Y/L/N briefly glanced down at her outfit. “That's actually kind of the look I was going for.”

She paused. “You look really nice as well.”

“Thank you.” Steven had "borrowed" a tux that Marc had stashed in the back of their closet after a mission. It had been a bit wrinkled when Steven had pulled it out but luckily there were no bloodstains, so after a bit of dry cleaning it was as good as new.

Dr. Y/L/N took a sip of her champagne. “Oh, I meant to tell you, that teacher from the school group you gave a tour to on Wednesday emailed me this afternoon and absolutely raved about you, said it was the most engaged she's ever seen some of her students and that they were still talking about it yesterday in class.”

Steven grinned. “Oh, they were a fun group, asked some good questions.”

“She also wanted to know if she went ahead and booked another tour for next term if she could request you as her class's tour guide.”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, that's not a problem. I'll make a note when she sends in her tour reservation to schedule myself for it.”

“Okay, I'll email her back on Monday and let her know.”

“Okay, great.”

“You know, that was actually the fourth message we've gotten about how great your tours in particular are just in the past two weeks alone. I need to watch out -- another museum might get wind of how amazing you are and try to steal you away.”

Steven grinned and shook his head. “No chance of that, ma'am. I plan on staying right where I'm at.”

Dr. Y//N nodded with a smile. “Good to know.”

“--Ah, Dr. Y/L/N, there you are!”

Dr. Y/L/N turned as Helen walked up. “Good evening, Helen.”

“‘Evening, ma’am. ‘Evening, Steven.”

“Good evening,” Steven replied. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for your welcome speech, Dr. Y/L/N.” 

“Oh, it is? I'm sorry, I had no idea of the time.” Dr. Y/L/N turned back to Steven. “Would you mind holding my champagne for me, please? I'll be right back.”

Steven nodded and took her glass. “Absolutely, ma'am.”

He watched Dr. Y/L/N head over to a makeshift stage and clear her throat as the music that had been playing softly over the museum's intercom system faded into silence. “Hello, everyone,” she said. “For those of you that don't know me, my name is Y/F/N Y/L/N and I’m the director here at the British Museum. On behalf of myself and the entire museum staff, I'd like to welcome you to this evening's members’ gala.

“For years the museum has been the cornerstone of enlightenment and knowledge and it is only with your continued support that we are able to present such a large and wonderfully diverse collection of artifacts for exhibition. It's an honor and a privilege to be part of the growth and development of the museum and its collection, and from the bottom of my heart I thank you all for being here. Enjoy your evening.”

Steven politely applauded along with the rest of the crowd, then watched as Dr. Y/L/N made her way off the stage back towards him.

He handed her her glass of champagne. “That was a lovely speech.”

Dr. Y/L/N smiled. “Thank you.”

“It really is fascinating, though, innit? I mean, the history of the museum.”

Dr. Y/L/N nodded. “Oh yeah, very. And to think it started with someone's private collection.”

Steven took a sip of water. "So you never did say what brought you to England, if it was strictly for work or..." He trailed off.

Nice segue into finding out if she's single, Marc said in his head.

"Well, the short answer is strictly work," Dr. Y/LN replied. "But the long answer is that I got a dual Master's degree in history and linguistics before getting my doctorate in Archeology and had originally planned on being a real-life Indiana Jones, but then the university museum offered me a position as their director and I almost had to take it. I enjoyed it immensely but I’d always wanted to come to England, and a couple of months ago a museum job board I’m part of had posted that there was an opening for the director of the British Museum, so I figured why not at least apply? Honestly never thought I'd actually get it, although I'm really glad I did."

Steven gave her a small smile. “I am too.”

Dr. Y/L/N shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve been blathering on about myself for too long. Tell me about you.”

“Oh, er, well…” Steven licked his lips nervously. “There’s not much else to know besides what you’ve read on my CV, really.”

“Nothing? You don’t have any family? Friends? Things you do for fun?”

“Well, there was my mum, but she’s…” Steven trailed off. “She’s gone now.”

 Dr. Y/L/N gasped softly. “Oh. Oh, Steven, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright. It was a while ago.” Steven shrugged. “I’ve got a goldfish, at least. Gus. Gus the goldfish.”

“Gus the goldfish…” Dr. Y/L/N nodded with a smile. “I like that.”

Steven took another sip of water. “I don’t suppose you have any pets.”

“No, I considered getting a pet of some sort, but my hours at the university museum were always so long that I would’ve felt bad leaving whatever sort of pet I chose to get home alone for hours on end.”

Steven nodded. He wasn’t exactly sure which iteration of Gus he was on thanks to Marc. “That’s understandable.”

“Maybe one day. We’ll see. So, what do you do when you’re not working?”

“Actually, I’m studying hieroglyphics at the moment.”

“Oh wow, that’s so cool!”

Steven grinned at Dr. Y/L/N's enthusiasm. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to see if I can translate whatever’s on Akhenaten’s coffin so I can add it to the information on the display placard, although it’s probably just something like ‘here lies Akhenaten, who died from eating spoiled lentils’.”

“Want to go find out?”

Steven blinked at Dr. Y/L/N in surprise. “What, really? Right now?”

“Yeah, why not? I don't think anyone will even notice we're gone.” Dr. Y/L/N gave him a cheeky grin. “Come on, I promise I won't tell the boss.”

Steven chuckled, then nodded. “Okay then. Let's go.”

They quietly made their way upstairs to the 3rd floor and into the Ancient Egyptian hall.

Steven crouched down next to Akhenaten’s sarcophagus so he could read the inscription that had been etched onto the side. “Alright, let's have a look.”

“Well?” Dr. Y/L/N asked. “Does it say he died from eating some bad lentils?”

Steven chuckled. “Actually, no. It says ‘Here lies Akhenaten, beloved of the Aten, great of kingship in Akhetaten, who has elevated the name of the Aten, the perfect one of the manifestations of Re, who is beneficial to the Aten.”

Dr. Y/L/N crouched down next to him. “So he was a sun worshiper.”

Steven nodded. “Specifically the sun disk, Aten. He tried to force monotheism and make Aten the only worshiped god, which backfired spectacularly. He wasn't very well-liked and is sometimes referred to as the ‘heretic pharaoh’.”

Dr. Y/L/N winced. “Ouch. No wonder his sarcophagus isn't as nice as some others.”

“It appears that it wasn't even made for him originally -- it was made for a woman and was either second-hand or retrofitted to him.”

Dr. Y/L/N turned towards him. “So what happened after his death?”

“Polytheism was slowly reintroduced, and he was largely forgotten about until the discovery of his tomb in 1893.”

Dr. Y/L/N shook her head. “Geez. Imagine going from being an all-powerful pharaoh to getting stuffed into a second-hand coffin upon your death and left to the annals of history.”

Steven nodded as he stood. “Yeah.”

Dr. Y/L/N went to stand as well, but wobbled as she straightened.

Steven instinctively grabbed her hand to keep her from falling. “Woah there. Are you alright?”

Dr. Y/L/N looked down at their joined hands then back up to Steven’s eyes, an unreadable expression on her face.

She blinked a few times then nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay. Thank you.”

Steven was filled with relief. The last thing he needed was to have Dr. Y/L/N be hurt, especially while they had snuck off to go look at an exhibit. People would talk. “Oh, good.” 

He let go of her hand and took a step back. “We should um, we should probably get back downstairs, yeah?”

Dr. Y/L/N cleared her throat. “Right, yes. Yes, of course.”

They headed out of the Ancient Egyptian exhibit and back down to the gala on the first floor.

Dr. Y/L/N paused at the foot of the stairs. “I um, I probably should go speak to some of the benefactors since the gala is almost over, but just so you know, I really enjoyed our conversation tonight.”

Steven smiled. “I did too. Enjoy the rest of your evening, ma’am.”

“You too, Steven.”

Steven watched as Dr. Y/L/N walked away. If he got to spend every gala like he did this one… he definitely wouldn't mind having to attend.

[specialagentlokitty]

Saul silva x student!reader - important

Hey, so glad you are back! Could I maybe request something for Saul Silva and a depressed specialists student? Maybe he figured out that something is wrong, confronts then and then comfort? Totally understand if not, hope you have a good day! - Anon💜

TW: mentions of depression

You were a good student.

You didn’t cause issues, you tended to stick to yourself, you trained on your own, did what you had to do and usually slipped away before everyone else.

It was one of the things Silva picked up on when you started, but since you were content he would leave you to it.

He didn’t see the point in messing with something that clearly didn’t needed to be messed with, you did your work and that’s what he wanted.

So when you began to blow off training, or you showed up and put very little effort into what you were doing he noticed right away.

He spent a few days just watching you, and when you ditched the rest of the week he finally decided to confront you.

Silva went by the hall to see if you were with the others as they ate, but you were nowhere to be found.

Frowning to himself, he made his way to the dorms and knocked on your door.

“I’m coming in.”

He pushed it open and stepped into the common room and looked around.

It was slightly messy, mostly papers and books everywhere, and he noticed only one door was shut.

Walking over, Silva knocked on it.

“(Y/N)?” He asked.

He heard a mumble that the door was open, and he pushed it open.

You were laid on your bed, arm over your eyes, the curtains closed and the lights off.

“We need to talk.”

You sighed and pushed yourself up, gesturing for him to sit at the desk.

“We can’t talk in here for safeguarding reasons, come to my office in half an hour.”

You nodded and he left.

Closing your door, you dressed in some cargo pants, and a hoodie, you grabbed your phone and made your way to your headmasters office.

You knocked on the door and stepped in, closing it behind you.

“Take a seat.”

You sat down quietly and looked at him.

“I want to talk to you about your attitude during training and the fact you’ve been ditching sessions.” Silva said.

You nodded a little.

“Do you want to tell me anything first?”

“No sir…”

Silva sighed heavily.

“I’m fine with you training on your own, you know this. But over recent weeks I’ve noticed a massive decline in not only your training, but your school work, your attendance.”

Silva looked up at you and you turned away, turning to face the window.

“Now, I know this isn’t your usual behaviour. So, I want you to tell me what it is. Is it other students? Lessons? Change of heart? Change of job interest?” Silva asked you.

“No sir.”

“Then I need you to tell me what it is.”

You glanced at him.

“Nothing, I’m just tired is all.”

“Tired?”

You sighed a little and looked down at your hands.

“I don’t know some nights I sleep, and I sleep all the time… sometimes I just can’t sleep… I just feel tired…”

Silva nodded his head and he got up, walking around his desk he sat on the chair next to you and turned to face you.

“Can I tell you what I think?” He asked.

You nodded.

“I’ve had my suspicions for a few days, but I think you suffer from depression. Don’t you (Y/N)?”

“Most of the time it’s not an issue…”

“Well, talk to me. Tell me about it.”

“It’s like.. it’s like I want to do all of this stuff, you know? I want to train, I want to actually put effort into my work, but I can’t…”

You clenched your jaw a little.

“Go on.” He said gently.

“It’s not just in your mind you know? You feel it in your body, it makes you feel tired, makes your body ache, makes you feel sick.”

You took a small breath.

“It’s being scared of failing, but no effort to do anything. It’s wanting to be alone, but not wanting to be lonely. Like no matter how much I sleep it’ll never be enough… I’m hungry, but I’m not at the same time… I’m tired, but I can’t sleep… i.. I feel everything but at the same time it’s like I can’t feel anything..”

Your hands were trembling as you spoke, and you tried to hide them.

“I want to be here, but at the same time I don’t, I want to hide away in my room, I don’t want to leave…”

You looked at the teacher.

“I don’t know what to do… it goes away you know? Like I can be on top of the world… then in a matter of minutes it’s like I’m drowning… like I’m lost at sea and I’m breathing in water…”

Silva slowly nodded his head, and he took a small breath.

“Have you tried speaking to anyone about this?”

“I’ve tried it all, doctors, therapists, councillors. Nothing makes it go away… it’s not something you can cure just by talking, and medication doesn’t just take away depression it takes away everything I feel…”

You buried your head in your arms, balling your hands into the fabric of your hood.

“I hate it… I don’t want to feel this way anymore… I just want to be normal…” you whispered.

Silva reached out, carefully placing his hand on your shoulder.

“Listen to me (Y/N), just because you have depression doesn’t mean you aren’t normal. It doesn’t make you any less of a person, any less important. In fact it makes you really important.”

“How…?”

“Because the fact the you fight this every day and you’re still here is absolutely incredible, it shows how strong you are.”

You sniffled a little and looked up at him.

“Maybe we can’t make it go away over night, but we can do things to help you get back on your feet. Like eating, just a small snack is a start, right?”

You nodded.

“Do you like chocolate?”

You nodded again and Silva smiled, getting up he went to his desk and pulled out a small chocolate bar and gave it to you.

“It’s a start, right? That’s what everything is about, a start. Think of it like training, but instead of learning how to fight with swords and your hands, it’s learning to fight a different kind of monster. Depression, but I’ve seen what you can do, and I fully believe you have what it takes to defeat it.”

You looked at him.

“And it’s my job to make sure you do, I want to make sure you fight this and you come out on top, so one day you can stand up proud, and you can say you made it.”

Tears ran down your face and silva smiled softly.

“I know it’s harder then it sounds, but you’ll get there, I promise. Because you are strong, and you are important.”

[popcornforone]

MARCH

From the Marcus Pike Fan Fic Diary

Masterlist

February

How are we already in March? Must be time for another diary entry from our writer about her exploits with Marcus.

Synopsis:- Marcus is working away on a case & you just want to chat to him on a Saturday night.

Word count:-1900

Warnings:- DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! Phone sex,masturbating, innuendo, talk of piv & oral, sexual video, swearing, drinking, pining. remember this is a diary so from the readers point of view.

Thanks as always for the read peoples. All feedback is always welcome. I hope you enjoy.

I hate it when Marcus is away. It not that I don’t like doing my own thing, but I miss the cuddles. I love that I can watch what I want, can eat what I like at a time that’s good for me & not have to worry if he’s going to randomly message going he needs dinner, or planning something & then him last minute saying actually. But I miss his little smile. I miss little suggestive winks. I miss the way he makes me cum. I miss the taste of him spilling down my throat. I just am missing him so bad.

I know it’s only 10 days & it’s important for his job & career but it’s just a huge hole in the bed next to me. I can starfish all I want, but I’d much prefer to be sinking into the mattress with my feet on his shoulders as he asks me if I can take more. Don’t tell Marcus this, I mean you’re a diary so you won’t, but I use his pillow to sleep on when he’s not here. I always make sure the bedding is fresh for when he is back but no I want to smell my man. I have needs & his scent helps me with some of them.

It’s not like we don’t see each other though. We face time & text & send photos to each other, but he’s often tired & a little grumpy. Works stressful when he’s home let alone working on something else where.

I knew he had Sunday off last week so I asked him to have a chill Saturday night & get ready for a phone call. I wanted his soothing voice to send me asleep. But I also wanted to see if he was up for something.

First call he doesn’t answer at 10pm. Maybe he had already fallen asleep. But the second call he answers.

“Hey sorry was in the middle of cleaning my teeth baby”

“I hope you didn’t swallow”

“No swallowing toothpaste isn’t that good for you” I am glad it’s not face time. I rolled my eyes. I wanted to see if things could get spicy. But clearly he was being practical. Yep that was my man there, not taking a hint unless it’s bleeding obvious to him.

“How was today?”

“Good, we think we might be on the red eye on Tuesday if we’re lucky. Latest is still Thursday night which is meant to happen” I can hear a tap turn off in the back ground & the bathroom light button click. I know he’s got ready for bed. I am already in bed. I need to clean my own teeth once the call is over but it won’t take me long. I’ve got a glass of wine on the bed side table which I’m sipping. I’m also in just my dressing gown, & I know I have something to pleasure myself with after hearing my man’s delicious voice.

“What about you beautiful, what did you do today?”

“Saw my mum took her shopping, she wanted a new handbag, she treated me to lunch & then I decided to start sorting out junk in the study”

“junk?”

“Yes junk” I giggle”you know all the stuff we said we’d sort out when we moved i together nearly 18 months ago that we didn’t need or were duplicates”

“Please tell…”

“Don’t worry don’t worry” I hear the panic in his voice “I didn’t touch the comics or anything that wasn’t mine, that’s still for you to sort”

“Oooh thank god…” I hear a sigh of relief down the phone & hear him sit on the bed “because”

We then say in unison “some of those comics are limited print”

“I know Marcus I know, you need to have them valued for insurance purposes” we talk about this every now & then. I have a couple of original art pieces that I got insured last year, after they had just sat in a corner & told Marcus he could do his comics & collectibles at the same time but he said he’d need to go to a specialist. He’s never been.

“So what are you going to do on your day off?” I ask as I sip more wine.

“I want to go to that new art exhibition that’s here…” Marcus has always loved weird art & he knows I appreciate it but not to his tastes it’s a bit to gloomy what he likes, not what you should put up in the house, not that we could even afford it. I let him talk about a few other things too.

“Well on Sunday im going to write in my journal & then I’m going to get on with building those Lego flowers you got me for Christmas, I can’t kill them can I” he giggles down the phone at me.

“Oooh no you can’t murder those. Thank god. I recon you could try tho”

“Would you have to investigate & come home if I did?”

“100%”

“Then I’ll go commit some crime” we both laugh & then sigh. The silence between us on the phone for a few seconds is just perfect. Hearing him breathe is a joy.

“Marcus…”

“Yes baby” I smirk as his voice seems deeper for some reason. I’m going to try something.

“What are you wearing?” I lick my lips as I say it.

“My jammies… you know the blue & black striped ones…I’ve also…” he then goes on to talk about if it’s okay to wear socks in bed or not as his feet feel cold. I’m a little bit gutted. I know he takes things literally but I wanted more or maybe something sexy. Also Marcus only wear his Jammies when he’s away incase he’s woken up at 3am to go look at something. He’s shy at times & doesn’t want any work colleagues to walk in on him hanging out, or with his naked arse in the air. What a peach they would see. I sigh a little which he picks up on.

“Was that the wrong answer?”

“No I just… I wanted something more adventurous.” I’m always honest with Marcus.

“Okay so then what are you wearing baby”

“Well…”I then untie my robe “say the words baby & I’ll start to moan for your listening pleasure”

“Why are you hurt?”

“Marcus!”

“What”

“Is your line tapped?”

“No”

“Well I’m just taking my robe off & am going to enjoy myself in bed” I slip the robe off. “Imagine if we were face timing baby” I whisper “you wouldn’t be seeing my face”

“Well erm…” I can tell he’s flustered & trying to work out how to say some spicy stuff. “Ermmmm… I”

“It really is a good thing we aren’t looking at each other” I smile trying to reassure him that it’s okay if he doesn’t want to.

“No I… I’m just having a moment” the phone line falls silent for a second before Marcus speaks. “Does the bed still smell of me”

“Yea baby”

“Then sleep on that side when you have fun later, I want my side to be a little damp” he’s getting into it even if shyly.

“Do you think of me?”

“Yes baby” he’s dropped his voice it’s getting sexier.

“In the shower?”

“Why do you think I’m always so clean when I come back from a job?”

“It’s not as good as me though…”

“Oooh fuck no!” Is his abrupt response “I might moan & fist harder but it’s not like your bending over in the shower is it”

“I always like to wash your chest, lather you up, caress those broad shoulders…”

“& then drop to your knees like the naughty little slut you are”

“I…” I was not expecting Marcus to get into this so quickly. All it had taken was a few back & forth & he was now calling me a slut down the phone. “Do you like me on my knees?”

“I like you in any position, begging for me”

“The way you face fuck me…”

“…oooh when I can’t tell if it’s spit or my cum or shower water…”

“Getting clean is always such a dirty task”

“Oooh baby” I hear him moan.

“Yes baby, my fingers in my cunt, my lips at your base, in your pubes, steam building up in a hot shower, you gripping my chin thrusting away”

“Down your throat, good thing you had your tonsils taken out, they’d be so swollen” as this conversation goes on, I’ve starting pleasuring my clit, I’ve not used my vibrator yet I think I will need that when the call ends.

“Marcus, tell me I’m a good girl”

“No…” he’s panting”you so naughty, good girls wouldn’t be masturbating on the phone”

“& what does that make you…?” I gasp, arousal is seeping.

“A very bad boy, a bad boy who wants to get on the next flight & wishing his penis was satisfying you instead.”

We moan down the phone at each other getting off to each others seduction.

“I need your mouth”

“So do I”

“69?”

“Oooh baby i’ll get on a plane to you”

“Naked?”

“If it meant quicker pleasure yes”

Eventually we both finish out sexual discussion. For a man who was shy to start with Marcus got into it. He screamed my name as he obviously climaxed & spilled into his hand.

“I think I need a shower” he says breathily “I’ve made a right mess”

“Hmmm” I reply back, I’m contemplating do I clean my teeth now or do I hang up & use the vibrator. “I’m so glad you got into that Marcus”

“I am too, we should try that again sometime”

“Maybe next time we do face time in”

“& me see your pussy gushing without me being able to taste it?” He scoffs “that’s not playing fair.”

“Well finish this case quickly & you can come home for all the shower sex in the world.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that sexy” I know the face he’s pulling even without seeing it it’s a soft but sexy smirk.

“I’m gonna go clean my teeth & actually go to bed now Marcus” I say “thank you for everything baby”

“For once I’m gonna ask you to spit not swallow, it’s not my cum that will be foaming at your lips” I gasp. Marcus finally got my line from earlier.

“I only swallow what’s good for me”

“Oooh you’re so good being bad”

“Night Marcus I love you”

“Not as much as I love you”

Yea that was a fabulous time on the phone to my Marcus. Someone so shy then got so into being so naughty. & I think I unlocked a sexual beast, because once my teeth were clean there was a text on my phone. An encrypted video. With a message underneath.

“Because your vibrator won’t be enough” & the video in question was Marcus handling his throbbing penis, angry & wanting to be buried somewhere soft & warm. It gets me off on both Saturday night & Sunday morning.

April

[redhairedgirl95]

Friendship Friday

For today's impromptu winx week content, let me share with you some friendship moments between different winx characters from my fics <3

From Looking at the stars, but only seeing one - chapter 4 - Technomagic and friends

Stella takes Timmy to a Tech event

She had conjured a shield over her head, and she had run – run – from the school’s entrance to the gates, passed them and then teleported right into the Mall. Not one raindrop had got her, her mother would’ve been proud. When Timmy arrived, five minutes late and already beyond worried, he was soaked. He had left the bike in the underground parking lot and got to the first floor, where Stella was waiting for him. “P-Princess … I’m sorry …” “No worries, Timmy. And it’s Stella to you.” She said, while using her powers to dry his clothes. “Better?” “Much better, thank you, Pr … Stella.” “There you go.” She smiled. “Okay, so … I figured you’d be better than Sky at this.” She pointed to a nearby tech store. “They’re presenting the newest Technomagic phone, and I wanted to you to help me see if it’s worth the money.” “The newest …” He gasped, looking at the crowd in line outside the store. There could have been half a thousand people. “We’ll never get inside.” “You bet?” She smiled and walked straight to the entrance.

From Enchanted Moments season 1 - chapter 3 - By your side

Flora, Musa, and Stella having a little fun

Flora and Musa helped her up so that she didn’t have to put all her weight on her hurt feet, then made her sit down on the grass and sat next to her. They looked at the two Specialists training with their phantoblades. “Mmm … I bet I can get them to take off their T-shirts.” “Stella!” It was Flora. Musa giggled. “How?” “I can … make it hotter.” She suggested, grinning. “Stella, you shouldn’t use your powers. Faragonda said …” “I’m fine, Flora.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s my last day in prison. I can do a little magic trick … and it’s not even magic, it’s just the weather. Right, Musa?” She shrugged. “If you say so …” Stella looked up and focused on the sun. Her father had taught her she could cause small changes in the weather if she concentrated hard enough. Her powers stemmed from the sun, she had a special connection with it, it was easy. The temperature increased by five degrees and soon the guys’ T-shirts were all sweaty. It didn’t take long before they ditched them. “What did I tell you?” She asked, proud of her work. “Wow, Riven is ripped!” She said a little too loud and the Specialists turned to look at them, who were undoubtedly staring. Especially Stella. And Musa. Flora immediately averted her eyes, red in the face.

From Imagine me and you - chapter 8 - Time flies

Young Sky and Brandon hiding from Diaspro

“Girls are the worst.” “Princess Diaspro is not so bad.” They were lying on the grass in the Palace gardens. It was summer and King Topaz and Queen Amber had come visit, they had brought their daughter too, a nine-year-old girl with long blonde hair and gemstones all over her dress. She was a nightmare. They had gone to the gardens to hide. Sky didn’t want to play dolls with her. Ehw! He wasn’t a child! He was nine! Like her, but she was a girl, and he was taller! So, it was like he was older than her. And Brandon wasn’t nine yet, but he was fun and they played with swords, fought monsters and rescued princesses. They didn’t want to play with dolls. “Not so bad? My father wants me to dance with her tonight. Dance, Brandon! Do you understand?” Brandon laughed. A little too loud. “Prince Sky? Where are you?” She had found them. The boys stood up, trying to find the best escape route. Brandon pointed to a puddle, and Sky nodded. They ran and jumped right into it, covering themselves in mud. Maybe Diaspro wouldn’t want to play with them now that they were all dirty and wet. “Boys are the worst!” They heard her say as she headed back to the Palace.

From Enchanted Moments season 2 - chapter 1 - Back to the beginning

Cyrus and Samson training Stella

“We’ve got a problem.” “I know.” “She’s getting good.” “I know.” “The King is going to reassign us.” “I know.” Cyrus sighed, as he and Samson watched the Princess practice with her new sword, a birthday gift from Eraklyon’s Head of the Royal Guard, who happened to be her boyfriend’s father. Less than ten days had passed since they’d started training her, under her own request. When she’d voiced it, they had thought she was joking. Even Cyrus, ever so serious, had laughed, but then she had repeated her wish in the presence of the King and Queen and they had almost choked on their breakfast. After the first shock, it was impressive how well the King had taken to his only daughter learning to use a blade. But then, she had already mastered fighting with her scepter, and it had been Radius himself the one who taught her, so …  “I can hear you, you know?” Stella put down the sword to catch her breath, and looked at her guards, who were looking back at her. “We know.” They answered as one. She smiled, sheathed the blade and secured it to her side, then she adjusted her ponytail and reached them, who were standing under the shadow of a nearby tree. “So? Are you afraid of me yet?” Stella joked. “We’ve been afraid of you since you were ten, Princess.” Samson answered dramatically, to which Cyrus added, “Once you can hold your guard for more than three seconds, I’ll start to worry.” Both Stella and Samson rolled their eyes in sync, just before they burst out laughing and the Princess went to hug the grim soldier, who rested a hand on her shoulder. Samson smiled at them, but a second later his eyes widened, and he started laughing so hard his belly ached. The Princess was lying on the grass, where Cyrus had left her, just a second before. “First rule about being a soldier: never let your guard down.” “I-I’ll try to remember it.” She babbled, and then Cyrus laughed too, helping her up. “I think that’s enough for today, don’t you, Princess?” Samson suggested, joining his friend, and offering an arm to Stella, which she gladly took and let her guards guide her back inside the Palace.

From Enchanted Moments season 2 - chapter 10 - Pressing matters

Riven helping Brandon blow off some steam

“Ain’t it a bit late to be up, future heir to the throne?” “Not now, Riven.” Brandon threw on a t-shirt and grabbed his gym bag as he made a beeline for the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took a couple of energy drinks, but when he closed it, the other Specialist was right in his face. “Move.” He didn’t have time to deal with Riven’s bullshit. He was sleep deprived, he couldn’t call Stella because she needed to sleep more than him, he’d just received a text message from King Radius – how the hell did he get his number? He was sure Stella hadn’t given it to him –, Sky was snoring like a bull, and all he wanted to do was punch something – or better someone. And now Riven seemed like a good enough option. “And what the fuck are you doing up anyway?” “I’ve seen the articles … wanna talk about it?” “I’d rather beat the shit out of someone.” “I’m up for it. Gimme a second.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “Feel better, yet?” They were lying on the ring, panting heavily, t-shirts off, both covered in sweat and bruises. “I want a re-match.” “Another? Do you want me to swoop your almost-royal ass once again?” “Can’t end in a tie.” “I agree. And you’ll lose.” “You wish.”

From All that glitters is not gold - chapter 4 - When war play turns into war day

Radius and Helios suffering Cassandra's constant presence

“Radius? Radius, have you been listening to me?” “Of course. You were talking about …” He turned to Helios for help and his friend made some signs. What did they mean? Fortunately, Cassandra’s attention was totally focused on Radius, so she didn’t see Helios frantically gesturing. He had put his hands in front of his chest and was moving, kinda swaying. He couldn’t mean that. No, boobs wasn’t the answer. “Ehm …” “The ball, Radius.” She rolled her eyes. “Tonight’s ball. I was saying that we could dance together.” “Oh, yeah!” Of course it wasn’t boobs. Not that Cassandra had any. And he didn’t even like her! She was just a friend. Like Helios. Well, not like Helios. Helios was his best friend; Cassandra was … someone who always found a way to be wherever he was whenever he was there. It was annoying sometimes. (Most of the times). “Wonderful! I claim first dance!” “What? No!” He exclaimed, and then had to find a way to make up for his rude answer. Cassandra tended to cry, a lot, and Radius never knew what to do when she cried. “I mean … I don’t like dancing.” Lie. He loved dancing, and he was good at it. His father said he had inherited the talent from his mother, Queen Suna, the sun dancer. He thought of her whenever he danced, he hoped she would be proud of him, looking down on him from the Light of the Suns.  “But it’s a ball. You have to dance!” And she knew he was lying. She had seen him dance. He was good! Unlike Helios. Besides, she had already danced with him a couple of times, and he’d never stepped on her feet. And he was the Prince, while Helios … Helios was just a noble, and not even an important one. Not like her. She would be Countess one day, and, given that the Prince hadn’t yet chosen a bride, she could hope for a higher title. King Radius and Queen Cassandra of Solaria, what a nice couple they would make! “I don’t. Father says I don’t have to dance if I don’t want to.” He replied. “And I’ve gotta beat Luna. She won last time.” In the gardens of Linphea, during some kind of fair, they had found a quiet spot and she had asked for a chessboard. Her Queen had checkmated his King in less than ten minutes. Twice. The third time he had resigned halfway through the match. “But I’m gonna destroy her tonight.”

[littleraeofsunshineda]

the state of the NHS after fourteen years of Tories is a terrifying and miserable capitalist hellscape

case in point, me, the last week or so:

have uti, picked up from a partner's infection. Very simple easy thing to treat. This one is a nasty little bugger, I feel like shit.

call gp. Ask for appointment.

No appointments.

At length told a pharmacy can prescribe 3 days of antibiotics without you seeing gp. Excellent!

Receive antibiotics. At this point we are ~3-4 days in. That's also how long it's been since I had a proper night's sleep because I HAVE TO GET UP TO PEE FOUR TIMES.

Antibiotics produce great improvement, but (surprise) perhaps not 100% by the time I finish the course. Nevrthless, am told by pharmacy I can't get any more from them. I must go to gp.

Call gp. Come down at 8am physically to surgery next day.

Arrive at 7.47. 12th in the queue. Total queue reaches >20 by 8am. For a cool parallel, they run out of appointments at person 8. The poor receptionist looks like if she has to tell one more person there's nothing she can do, she'll cry.

Receptionist tells me I can try again tmm (arrive at 7.30? I wonder thoughtfully) or try submitting a request through The App. Someone will call me today. I thank her and submit it in the car before I leave.

3.55 (GPs generally close at 4pm). No call. I squish down the fear that I am Karen-ing and call in. "I'm so sorry," I say, "do you know if I WILL be called today?"

She says I might get one up to 6pm, but that will only be a receptionist who will be booking an appointment in the next couple of weeks. "This can't wait two weeks," I say. "Your own guidance says so."

"There's nothing I can do," she says, and: "You shouldn't be using the online system for things that are urgent, anyway." "I tried to get an emergency appointment and there was nothing: I was TOLD to use this," I say, helplessly. "...Well anyway," she says, "the receptionist might call you by six."

AHA! I think. I am immensely lucky and have some small health insurance through work - including virtual gp. Maybe they can help! I book an appointment through that platform, relieved.

The appointment is over the phone within an hour - phenomenal. She tells me that she is not allowed to prescribe me anything: the uti not fully clearing up in 3 days of antibiotics means I need specialist urine testing as there is likely resistance. It needs to happen immediately, today, tonight, because I am at risk of a kidney infection. She can only refer me back to the NHS.

I say "but they don't have anything, and I can't argue - the poor receptionist can't do anything about not having appointments."

"You have to fight," she says. "You have to be seen. Go to urgent care if you have to."

It is now 6.05pm. The receptionist has not called.

Guess I'm spending the evening in a&e.

This is the struggle to get basic healthcare in the UK right now, and there is very often NO OPTION other than A&E. I HAVE some level of "private healthcare", and they could not do anything. Imagine what it's like for most people who don't even have the tiny level of access for a virtual GP to tell them that they ARE right, and they DO need to make a fuss.

I have been crying on and off all day. This is just not having healthcare. I wish I had any confidence at all that we'll change how we vote as a country.

[skuldsbane]

I may be in trouble

I’ve not been saying much, because that’s generally not my way (if I can help it). There’s been mention on my discord, and the people there have been incredibly supportive. But I’ve not said much here.

Today I can’t even knit socks. Not because I’ve forgotten how, or because it takes too much brain power, or my hands aren’t working or anything like that. It’s because there’s something very wrong. We don’t know what it is yet.

Pinning it down is going to be difficult at best. It’s completely inconsistent, so being able to get a diagnosis will be... something less than straightforward. We think it started when I was put on one medication and taken off of another a week later. (The doctor who removed the medication never bothered to ask why I was on it, whether the numbers in the blood test should be slightly high for a reason, etc. He just decided I didn’t need it anymore. He’s also not going to be getting any more referrals from my primary care doctor’s office anymore.) The effects of the added medication were not exactly welcome, but expected, and I had started evening out. Then the other was removed and the world went sideways.

They put me back on the one that was removed, and took away the new one. But that’s been two weeks ago and there has been no significant improvement. There are appointments with various specialists scheduled for the next month and a half to see if anybody can figure out what happened. I’ve been put on medical leave from work until the end of August - and thank goodness for short term disability insurance, but they’re not paying 100% pay rate for that full time.

I’m sleeping between 12-14 hours a day, and am still exhausted. A train of thought will board at the station, and I can hold a brief conversation, but somewhere something just breaks down. Out of nowhere the thought just disappears - sometimes mid-sentence. Or partway through a word. It’s just gone. I’m unable to do much of anything today because of dizziness and mental fatigue. I can’t even go lay down and take a nap because I was able to strip the bed to wash the sheets (for the first time in over a month) this morning, but physically can’t put other sheets on again.

Why am I telling you this?

Well... Because I miss streaming. I miss sharing crafts, and playing video games, and just hanging out. Even if only one or two people would show up to watch, it helped me feel less alone. That’s a difficult thing to face when necessity means you can’t see many people.

Because I had planned to try to stream today, even if it was for an hour. Maybe two. Since it’s nearly impossible to keep focus and keep up enough energy to do anything for much longer than that. Even without the energy output of streaming, the most I’ve been able to stay awake at a stretch for weeks is about a 6 hour stretch.

Because I want everybody to know I’m still here, and still fighting, even though it’s hard.

So. There we are. I’m doing what little I can. Part of that is trying to figure out pricing for quilted coaster sets, since that’s something I can work on (almost brainless) for a couple of hours at a time on most days. And with the summer months here, and the US turning into a red, white, and blue smear... there are some sets in that color scheme which will be going up for sale as soon as that pricing gets figured out. (Then Halloween ones, and Christmas ones, then probably more Halloween/goth ones because that’s my jam.) Part of that is trying to use what little brain power exists to deal with insurance companies. And part of that is watching terrible youtube videos and staring off into space. It’s a rough thing to do, but somebody’s got to.

[umbrella-ghost-bones]

Long vent post incoming:

I'm so f*ing annoyed right now. I have eczema and I'm going through a bad flair up on my neck and face currently.

I wake up every morning frustrated and embarrassed about my skin and the way I look. But every day I go into public because I have to work for a living. Despite the fact that I know at least one stranger will have the audacity to ask me "what happened to your face" like it's any of their business.

I swear it's only a matter of time before I snap and yell at them about it. But of course then I would be labeled the a-hole for yelling at them. This has literally been going on for years. Like clock work every few months I have a flair up, usually it's on my arms, but once every 2 years my neck freaks out.

It truly drains me. I have considered unaliving myself over it. If it's not acting up, then I'm spending every moment in fear of when the next flair up will start. It has ruined my mental health. It has destroyed any self confidence I might have had. It has demolished my quality of life.

Every time I go to a doctor for it they prescribe my steroid creams. And like I'll use them for the amount of time you're supposed to. But then when I stop my eczema immediately comes back. Then after a while of fighting my skin with that specific steroid cream, my eczema gets used to it. So it stops working. So the doctor has to prescribe stronger steroids. And its just a constant downward spiral of worsening my skin.

Last year I was so fed up I decided I would quit the steroid creams because that wasn't sustainable and I felt I wasn't being listened to by doctors. Especially when I would go to the doctors office and would ask for advice and they would tell me basic stuff I was already doing, and it was clear that I knew more about eczema than them.

But then my skin got really bad, so I started seeing a naturopath (holistic medicine stuff) to see if there were more natural ways to fix my skin (don't come for me and tell me there's no cure, I know 🙄). I was really hoping to maybe learn more about living with my skin, and work closely with a doctor that actually could oversee me specifically. But unfortunately as a broke university student, this got very expensive and I had to stop going after 3 sessions.

So my next move was going to be getting into a dermatologist, because my stupid health coverage i get through my university would cover that. Unfortunately you can only see a dermatologist if you are referred. But the walk-in clinics i was using dont refer you to specialists. So I applied to find a family doctor, as I didn't have one at that point.

That fall my skin freaked out. Worse than I had ever experienced. Something got into my skin and after 3 days from when I first noticed something was wrong, my hands, up my arms, my back, my neck, my face, (and it kept spreading) was covered in pus filled sores. I left work because I couldn't bend my fingers anymore, and I had shooting pain in my arms and hands. I went to the closest walk in clinic to me and they prescribed me antibiotics, and a pill version of the steroid creams. In the past, whenever I take the pills it buys me a few months without my skin freaking out.

Over the winter I was seeing the same doctor every 2 weeks to check up on my skin, and he would change my dosage. My skin was feeling normal and I felt like I got my life back. Then I was unable to schedule my next visit one week and so I was unable to see him again.

Then over spring break my skin came back with a vengeance. This time the pus was up and down my legs, all over my face, back, arms, hands - literally everywhere. It got so bad so quickly I was unable to walk. Everything hurt from it. I went to the hospital and they saw me within 15 minutes (if you have any experience with Canadian hospitals you know that never happens).

Apparently I had picked up a nasty staph infection (lol 🙃). And I was referred to a dermatologist, as well as the infectious disease unit. Unfortunately the I could only get an appointment with the dermatologist in May, and infectious diseases in late June. This is unfortunate because I had already signed my contract with an international school in Thailand (where I live now), and I was leaving Canada 8 days before infectious diseases could see me.

So now, I live in constant worry that it'll come back because I never truly got cleared by someone saying my staph infection was gone. And now my eczema is acting up, and I caved and tried using steroid creams again because I just needed a breather for a second, but it actually made my skin noticeably itchier. So I officially absolutely cannot use steroid creams.

All this to say that I'm very tired of living with my skin, and every time someone asks me about it it makes me very angry.

And if you've made it this far, if you have any tips about working with eczema I will gladly take them. Maybe you'll share something that I didn't know about.

[the-graves-family]

7. Radio Silence | "Can you hear me?"

“Mister… ah, Graves?”

The nurse’s voice breaks him out of the mess of spiraling thoughts that had been consuming him ever since he’d heard the news.

As he always does, Adrian smiles, an easygoing thing that hides his thoughts well enough from those who don’t know him. Everyone at the hospital is overworked and underpaid, they’re not going to look twice at one of the many patients’ visitors.

“That’s me. You had some paperwork for me?”

It’s a very long thirty minutes of looking over documents and signing off on things that needed to be signed. The staff is well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful. Not that he’s asking for help. Adrian doesn’t care about any of this, really. He wants two very simple things: to talk to the doctor, and to see his little brother.

The doctor, a middle-aged and tired-looking woman, doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Not really surprising, given that this is, in fact, a military hospital, and she must have done this song and dance with families thousands of times.

Adrian lets her words register in his brain, but keeps his emotions at an arm’s length. He has a job to do. He can process later.

“It’s been forty-two hours since the specialist last regained consciousness. I wouldn’t get my hopes up, Mr. Graves.”

“Right. May I see him now?”

Maybe she can tell Adrian’s not really listening, or perhaps she has more to do than humor him for much longer, so she just nods, shakes his hand and leaves him with a nurse. He’s sure they’ll have more to talk about in the coming weeks.

He knows it’s going to be bad when he’s asked to put on a gown and gloves before he’s allowed into the room.

There are a solid thirty minutes after entering Adam’s room which he doesn’t remember. He’s not sure if it was the sounds of the machines, the smell of blood and hospital, or just the sight of his little brother laid out on the bed looking dead that took him out. The next thing he knows, he’s sitting on a chair next to the bed, looking past the man laying on it, out the window.

He’d known what Adam looked like, in theory. He’s seen Aaron recently, and they’re still reflections of each other.

Adam’s more built than he’d been expecting, although he’s sure that’s not going to last long, now. He’s glanced once at where his arm and leg used to be, and that was enough to make him feel ill-at-ease. 

Despite the burns, and the bruising, and everything, it’s still his brother.

The brother he’s pretty sure ran away because of him.

He hasn’t thought about that night in years. And now it’s back, staring him in the face. He wants Adam to wake up, wants so desperately to tell him he’s sorry. That he’d never wanted it to end up like this. But his brother is not waking up. Not now, and perhaps not ever.

That’s the part that’s scaring him the most.

Thinking about the future, as always, is not agreeing with Adrian in any way. He doesn’t want to think about the possibility of Adam never waking up. Or what will happen if he does. He’s built a life away from them in the years they’ve been apart. Surely he’d want to go back to it. Never see them again. All because of—

Adrian needs a smoke.

Talking to someone in a coma seems so cliché. Especially since Adam would certainly not want to hear from him if he were awake. ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t really cut it. Still, Adrian finds himself wanting to. Wanting to tell Adam, unconscious or not, of everything that’s been going on for the past few years, with him, with Dad, with Aaron—

Maybe not that last one.

“Just wake up,” he murmurs, settling in for a long night as he watches the sun outside dip beneath the horizon.

[twistsandtwizzles]

Stars on Mars: Episode 10

Welcome back to Mars! We are down to our final three episodes, with just seven celebrities remaining in this deranged “experiment.” Where did the summer even go?? 

(On a personal note, I entered into this recap project planning to only write recaps until Adam was eliminated, which I thought would be maybe three episodes, tops. Well, Adam played Andy Richter and he also played me, because not only is he still on Mars . . . I have somehow written more than 30,000 words about this ridiculous show.)

Last week: Lance sent himself home, which sent his closest remaining ally, Cat, into a bit of a panic and had her proposing an arrangement to Paul: “If you want to be Base Commander, I’ll nominate you. And I’ll be your mission specialist.”

Tonight, according to Shatner: well, you know how this goes by now. Twenty minutes of personal stuff and jockeying for Base Commander, fifteen minutes of mission time, and five minutes of mission fallout. This is: Starssssss on Marsssss.

Morning, Sol 15. The robot dog that was found in the vents last week is saying hello to the crew. “Did we give it a name?” Adam wonders aloud. Porsha asks what the smallest planet is, and is told that it is Pluto. (What’s Pluto’s status these days? Planet or no? I feel like science can’t decide. You’ll always be a planet in my heart, Pluto.) Porsha says they can’t just call the dog Pluto, and so dubs it “Plutoto.”

In the kitchen Adam asks Ariel about her “fleece booties” (most people just call those “slippers,” Adam) and Ariel explains that her sleep clothes are specifically chosen to prevent germs: pants tucked into a fresh pair of fuzzy socks, shirt tucked into pants. Everyone is a bit taken aback by this, Adam is especially shocked that anyone would sleep in socks.

Adam tells Ariel, “I feel like this whole thing has been probably really good for you, to push you . . . “ He pauses and searches for the right phrasing. “Period. To push you.” I like when we get a little glimmer of Coach Adam.

Ariel says in her confessional that she was a bit discouraged by being in the bottom three last week, especially since it was a challenge she thought she did well on, and that she is hoping to be Base Commander or Mission Specialist this week, because she does really want to stay in the experiment.

We get a cut of Plutoto the robot dog wandering around outside by itself.

Cat offers to make Marshawn and Paul some eggs. Cat throwing herself in with the remaining members of the Jock alliance makes for some good visual gags because she is a TINY tiny person (google tells me she’s not even five feet) and when she stands next to Paul (former NBA forward) or Marshawn (former NFL running back), it’s pretty comical. 

Paul tries to get Marshawn to have some of what he is snacking on, which is ketchup and mustard on potato chips. Marshawn is revolted. Paul makes the point that a chip is just a crispy potato and therefore not any different than fries. My sister used to dip her potato chips in ketchup and while I prefer a good French onion dip, I can confirm that it’s really not THAT bad.

Cat finds Paul and tells him again that she wants to be his Mission Specialist when he is Base Commander. He once again says, “okay.”

And so it’s leadership decision time again - the group gathers in the command center to figure out who is going to take the reins from Porsha. 

“Well, I would like to do it -“ Ariel begins, just as Paul puts his hands in the air and voices his interest in the position as well.

“Paul’s got two hands up,” Cat says, eager to throw her support his way.

“I’m the only one who hasn’t had a shot,” Paul says, as Cat nods along. “I would like to be Base Commander.”

“Why?” Porsha asks.

“I’ve been in the bottom two ever since I’ve been here,” Paul says. “I’ve had a chance to watch and learn from everyone, and I think I’m ready.”

Adam asks if there is anyone else who wants to throw their name in the mix, looking at Ariel. She softly confirms that she is, “but . . .”

“It’s all good either way,” says Paul.

Cat looks mildly panicked and starts to say “I think it should be Paul” but catches herself right before she says his name and instead asks, “Who else hasn’t been Base Commander, besides Paul?” Adam confirms that Paul is the only one who hasn’t done the role yet.

Tinashe has thoughts, mainly about Paul’s ability to communicate the messages he receives from Shatner. Paul says he’s fully capable of following basic instructions. 

Tinashe turns to Ariel and asks if she’s nominating herself. Ariel answers, “I mean I did nominate myself but, well, I mean . . .  we could take it as a vote?” (Google tells me that Ariel was born in Virginia, but I know midwestern behavior when I see it. That girl never takes the last donut in the break room, either, I’ll bet.)

Porsha hands out ballots. Paul and Ariel, as candidates, are not allowed to vote so we’re waiting on the results of five people.

Porsha breaks down Ariel’s strategy for us: “Ariel putting her hand up is just being smart - she knows what she’s good at, she’s not good out in the field … I would also want to be put at the place where I’ll look the strongest.”

Porsha counts the votes: one for Ariel, two for Ariel, one for Paul, two for Paul. And the last vote goes to … Paul. He looks satisfied, Cat is absolutely thrilled.

The group claps, and Ariel does a decent job of hiding her disappointment, even as her talking head tells us that she doesn’t have much confidence in Paul. I’m curious as to whether it is Porsha or Adam who flipped on Ariel - my gut says it was Porsha, who has done a good job of making friends all over the hab and not throwing herself TOO overtly into any one particular alliance. I feel like Adam’s loyalty to Ariel is too strong at this point for him to vote against her. 

As the crew leaves the command center, Marshawn picks up an empty bowl from the table. “Oh my god, are you almost about to clean up something?” Porsha asks. When Marshawn rolls his eyes and carries the bowl with him out of the room, Porsha gasps and calls other members of the crew over. Adam and Tinashe also watch in astonishment as Marshawn disposes of some garbage in the trash can and puts the empty dish in the sink.

Paul tells them they are being a little extreme, and Adam says, “No, you don’t understand. We should find a patch for that.” Ha!

When we return from commercials, Adam is folding some bedsheets and the Lady A.I. asks him why humans do that. Adam says his biggest nightmare is things that aren’t folded, and anyone who has watched any of his videos on instagram knows that this is actually probably true.

It’s time to assign base duties. Today’s duties include some biodome inventory and measuring out an enclosure for their robot dog outside. Tinashe and Ariel are sent outside to measure an enclosure, and the rest of the crew does inventory inside.

The biodome has gotten VERY green since the last time we saw it, and I’m relatively certain there are different plants in here then there were last time. But I’ll just play along and pretend that all of these plants have grown from seed since the fake poop mission. Cat and Adam are going through the plants while Paul mostly observes.

Adam tells us that at this point in the experiment, everyone in the hab wants to be there, and everyone wants to make it to the very end. He adds that he and Cat have worked together several times, and that he knows that she’s going to go “balls to the wall” to get to the end. Cat reminds us that she made a deal with Paul to be mission specialist, and she “hopes he remembers that.”

Marshawn and Porsha are inventorying the food in the kitchen. Porsha says she’s worried about the rations because “we could die” (again, I always appreciate commitment to the bit that they are actually out in space) and I have to compliment the editor for their immediate cut to Marshawn mindlessly munching on some food as he counts things in the freezer.

Adam comes in and Porsha informs him that “we’re gonna starve in about a day.”

Adam: “Cool. I’m ready.”

Porsha explains that they have no fresh food and Marshawn, exasperated and clearly saying this for about the sixth time today, says, “All the fresh food is in the biodome!”

Porsha tells the camera that she has been trying to avoid the biodome because it smells in there. (Also I want to note that each of Porsha’s talking heads this episode have been with a different hairstyle, so we are clearly getting some interviews out of context here.) Adam escorts her into the biodome where Porsha is shocked to see so many fresh vegetables: “We’re going to live!”

Meanwhile, Paul asks Marshawn if he’s interested in being mission specialist. Sorry, Cat. Luckily for the chef, though, Marshawn declines. “Hell, no. I’ve gotta be outside. Otherwise I’m going to lose my mind.”

Porsha walks in at the tail end of this conversation. Marshawn asks her if she wants to be mission specialist, and Porsha says it’s too early for her to do that, since they still have to get rid of two people. “Oh, so you’re trying to save that for an ace in the hole?” Marshawn asks. Porsha explains that strategy wise it makes the most sense to be in that safe role later on, when fewer people are on the chopping block.

“Porsha’s gonna do some shady ass shit at the end,” Marshawn tells Paul, over Porsha’s protests. As Cat walks in the room, Marshawn says, “I think you might just have to go to Cat, bro.” 

Paul still does not seem totally thrilled by this concept, but asks Cat if she wants to be mission specialist. She says of course she does, and says that she would crush it, and also that she showed her loyalty to Paul that morning by nominating him to be Base Commander. “Choose wisely,” Porsha warns Paul.

“What if I choose no one?” he asks.

“Then you’re gonna fail,” Porsha answers. Lady AI jumps in to confirm that it is required that someone be a mission specialist, and that she will replace Paul if he can’t choose.

Before commercials, we cut to more footage of Plutoto wandering around outside - and then falling into a hole.

When we return to commercials, Porsha (wig on, so this is likely old footage), Adam, Tinashe, and Ariel are reading Mars facts out of a manual. This has happened in several other episodes, as well, but I haven’t written about it in the recaps because random Mars facts don’t advance the plot and how long do these things need to be, really. I’m already far too verbose. But as we near the finale I have a feeling that these Mars facts are going to play into some final challenges, so it seems important to note that there is in fact a manual, and that these four, at least, have been studying it.

Anyway, the group talks about their interest in actual space travel. Adam wants no part in it: “I won’t even drive to Santa Monica. I’m not going to the moon.” They chat about the current going rate for a ticket to space. Porsha asks if there’s a groupon.

Emergency time! Shatner is here to inform everyone that their dog has run away and fallen into a “deadly Mars shaft.” The crew has to go rescue it, and they’ll get a bravery mission patch if successful.

Paul chooses Cat to be mission specialist, to her relief. Marshawn, Ariel, Adam, Porsha, and Tinashe head outside and pile onto the rover while Cat and Paul take their positions at the command center. Paul is told to direct the rover to their destination using the satellite feed.

Marshawn is behind the wheel of the rover and you can tell that the five remaining members of the original crew are having a pretty good time being all together on this mission. They chat about how they are basically going into this mission blind, with no information other than “find the dog.”

As they approach the last known location of the dog, Paul starts giving them directions that sound like this: “You are coming up on a right turn. Don’t turn. Keep going straight.” Marshawn asks for clarification that he is NOT supposed to make the turn, and Paul confirms that he should keep driving straight.

Of course, a minute later: “Oh shoot. You guys passed it. Turn around.”

Deep sighs from everyone on the rover. Marshawn turns the rover around and you can tell he is just having the very best time driving this thing (which is a little bit funny considering how furious he was about bumping into a rover a couple of days ago). He’s also, I should note, a good driver, and he takes care of his crew by warning them about turns and hills and when they should brace for bumps.

Paul finally tells them to stop . . . right in the middle of the road, with nothing on either side. You can kind of see where Paul is coming from - on his satellite, they are right next to the hole they are supposed to find - but the cave entrance is not accessible from the road, so the crew needs to backtrack even further. (If you are thinking this means that they have to make the turn that Paul originally told them not to make . . . you would be correct.)

Tinashe and Ariel both give talking heads about how Paul’s bad directions cost them a lot of time. Eventually they find their way to their destination, but only five minutes are remaining on the clock when they finally disembark the rover. (Ariel gets stuck trying to get out, to her embarrassment and the mild amusement of her teammates.) “Do not air that!” she says.

The group splits up into two crews: a rappel crew, and the search crew. Tinashe and Marshawn are assigned to the rappel crew - Tinashe will be the one rappelling into the mouth of the cave, where she will then throw a flare into the hole. This flare will be the beacon that Ariel, Adam, and Porsha should use to guide them to the missing robot dog.

Cat tells the search crew that they will want to stay to the right once they enter the cave, and Adam sums up their assignment: “Got it. Down the hill, turn to the cave, stay right, find the flare, get the puppy.”

There are three minutes to complete the mission. “Haul ass,” Paul says.

Adam, Porsha, and Ariel begin their sprint toward the cave while Tinashe and Marshawn get to work up top. Adam is FLYING down the hill, and is the first inside of the cave. 

Tinashe and Marshawn move slowly and steadily but are able to get the flare deployed just as Adam enters the cave. Adam reminds us that he has a terrible time seeing in the dark, but he continues on as Porsha enters the cave not too far behind him. “Where are you?” she asks. He stops and turns around so she can track him by the lights on the front of his suit. “Let’s go!”

They get slightly turned around in the cave, Adam bumping into a dead end in his attempt to stay to the right as instructed. Porsha and Adam are together but Ariel is still quite a ways behind - she trips and falls as we go to commercials.

Porsha spots the flare, and she and Adam jog together into the cave where the flare and the dog are just as time expires. Mission success. “Ariel, are you okay?” Porsha asks.

“Yeah, I just fell over,” Ariel says, as Adam and Porsha circle back and help her to her feet. Marshawn and Tinashe are celebrating by doing donuts on the rover. Cat and Paul congratulate each other - “You’re safe and I’m safe,” Cat says - and Paul is especially happy that he finally got a chance to “prove his worth.” 

The mood has gotten serious by the time the crew returns to the hab, as the fact that one of the original crew is about to go home hits everyone. Cat and Paul begin to figure out who is going home - Cat notes that Ariel fell and seemed to be struggling. Paul says that having Porsha and Ariel to do endurance stuff is a tough assignment for them. He notes that Tinashe rocked it once again, “definitely mission critical.”

“It’s never an easy decision as to who comes and who goes,” Paul begins, back on comms to the rest of the crew. “This first person showed tremendous bravery, and I’d like to give mission critical to Tinashe.”

We then cut to a few different talking heads. First, Adam: “I know that I’ve said that I’m not competitive but I am also I guess a huge liar, because I’m hoping I’ve done enough to be mission critical.”

Then Porsha: “It’s just simple. I was the one who found the fire flare, and I was the one who found the dog.” (This is both true and untrue - she and Adam were together when both of these things happened, and while she was the one to say she saw the flare first, they found the dog at the exact same time.)

Paul calls the next person in: “Because of the urgency and their taking control of the situation, Adam - come on in.”

Porsha says that this was a shock: “Adam deserved to be in the bottom three instead of me. Yes he hauled ass to the cave, but he did not know where to go once he was in there. And we could have lost the mission if I didn’t find the dog and the flare. So . . . it’s just factual.”

So this week’s bottom three is Marshawn, Porsha, and Ariel. Marshawn immediately starts picking on Porsha: “Oh, it’s your time to go.” She rolls her eyes.

When asked about why he should stay, Marshawn says, “I did the task that I was asked, and then, uh. You know what I mean? That’s what we’re supposed to do so that’s what I did.”

Cat is . . . unimpressed by this plea, to put it mildly. She looks at Adam and Tinashe and asks them what they thought about Marshawn not having a lot to say. They both agree that it’s just Marshawn being Marshawn. Cat tells us that she has concerns about Marshawn’s tendency to goof off.

Porsha says that she is mission critical because she was able to locate the flare and the dog. Paul asks Adam and Tinashe what they think about who is most vital to the team, looking beyond today. Tinashe says that she thinks Porsha is the most versatile person in the bottom three. Adam agrees and says that in the entire course of the experiment, Porsha has never let them down. Then he acknowledges that Ariel’s strength is really back in the hab, and that she is a little less versatile. Tinashe doesn’t disagree, but says that Ariel is a great communicator, very thorough, very decisive. 

It’s Ariel’s time to state her case, which I will just transcribe in full: “I’m not usually an emotional person, but like, I’m feeling a little bit emo so . . . basically, when I came here, I didn’t even think I’d pass mission number one. I’ve overcome a lot of things. I never thought I’d rappel down a cliff. But I loved being on this team.” We cut to Tinashe and Adam, who are both smiling at Ariel fondly. “I even enjoyed the missions in this stupid ass suit. But, as you know . . . I love the word fair. I was not mission critical today. And I feel like I deserve to go.”

“So, are you saying you’re ready to go?” Paul asks.

“Yes.”

“That sucks,” Tinashe says. “But I guess all I can do is respect it.”

And with that, Paul calls Marshawn and Porsha inside. They both give Ariel big hugs before coming in, and Adam tells us that he’s in shock. “In this mission, she fell short. But in my eyes she’s one of the most mission critical people in this entire experiment.”

He runs over to tell Ariel goodbye through the closed door. “We love you,” he says. Ariel is crying: “I’m so much more sad than I thought I was going to be!”

In her exit interview, she says that she got a lot of great friendships and personal growth out of this experience and that she’s really happy she did it. “Even though it was a little bit of hell.”

This elimination feels a little bit like Ariel quit before she could be fired, but I do actually wonder if she would have been the one sent home if it had been left to the crew to make the final decision. I guess we’ll never know!

And so we’re down to six. Porsha wanders into the living room where Marshawn and Paul are hanging out, and Paul asks Porsha if she really was the one who spotted the flare. “Yeah,” she says.

“Hell no,” Marshawn replies. “She lying.”

The three of them get in a bit of a tiff, Porsha telling Paul that he could have asked that question before he decided on a bottom three. “Bottom three isn’t a penalty though,” Paul tells her. She says she was just giving him a critique.

Porsha asks Paul what would have happened if Ariel hadn’t eliminated herself. Paul says, “You was gone” as he and Marshawn burst into laughter.

“Marshawn treats me like I’m his little sister, and Paul feels like someone I grew up with in high school or something,” Porsha tells us. “They can say whatever, but it’s a competition show, and I’m gonna beat your ass.”

Next week: with only six crew members left, a shake up! Lady AI informs the crew that there will no longer be base commanders and everyone will participate in every mission going forward. Plus a rescue mission for an unknown person or thing that has Adam looking delighted. See you then!

[krakenjoy]

I'm 6 hours into the Pale Beyond on Steam and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's a survival management game where you balance resources and maintaining loyalty. It's got the Terror vibes, since the Franklin Expedition and the Endurance expeditions were direct inspirations. There's a character who I think looks like Cornelius Hickey who's background probably isn't the cleanest, and the doctor has Goodsir vibes. Someone says 'this place wants us dead'. The characters and narrative are intriguing. Also you get to pet dogs (I have a bad feeling about this).

It's difficult to not reset the game every time you mess up, and the game would prefer you not do that, since you have to restart the entire week. It's not just because of a more beneficial choice, but I also don't want to upset the characters.

Speaking of the characters, I did not expect to get attached this much. Even though you mostly interact with the specialists, the majority of them are given enough characterization to make them stand out. It should be quite easy getting a good/neutral response once you have a grasp on their personalities, generally just respect them and don't pry too much. Just do what they want you to do or find a neutral point.

Moving onto resource management. The most common resource you'll get is food, but besides eating, you also have to burn them for warmth. It's not hard to keep the crew happy so far, so you could alternate between half rations and half heat each week and be fine, which is what I should've done. If people get sick, there are ways to immediately heal them, or if you don't want to waste resources, send them to the doctor and they'll be fine next week. But it's still a hard choice if you like the characters as much as I do.

There are some bugs, like resource cards turning black when I click them even though I can add more and a few letters extending far beyond my screen (might not be wide screen optimized yet). I also experienced a loading problem besides the game screen popping out. It's not a huge issue (or I'm just used to Fallout New Vegas), and devs are fixing them.

Even if you're not a Terror fan, give it a go if you like narrative-driven strategy games with an interesting cast and brilliant art style.

SPOILERS up to Act 2, maybe beyond!

I have a tendency to spoil endings for myself. I didn't watch any youtube videos, but I did go on the steam forums and read some reviews. But first:

I thought Templeton was definitely going to stab me in the back somehow (judging from one reviewer), but up till now he's just being pragmatic and giving sound advice, if not a little suspicious. It's not hard to get on his good side. And wow, the plant metaphor really suits him! Please don't stab me in the back.

Grimley, on the other hand... it's ok if you don't completely trust me, but you don't have to sing about it to everyone, especially if we're going to be stuck together for a long time. Seriously, everyone is loyal to me but him. What the hell do I have to do to make him at least tolerate me? Cool song though.

I knew Hammond was going to fight someone sooner or later. Great work ethic borderlining on obsessive, but if I tell him to take a break he'll be pissed. Hopefully with Timmy helping, he'll worry less. Nice sense of humour.

Kurt is fine, surprisingly not that arrogant for a celeb. He's definitely insecure about his age and use of a cane hindering his ability to help, but he's still knowledgeable.

Junior is more sociable and receptive, but I'm still suspicious of him, considering his closeness to Captain Hunt and his brother.

Kasha is nice and super helpful for morale. It's great that she warms up to the crew, especially Arthur and Kurt.

Speaking of warming up (heh), Arthur's relatable with his social anxiety and need to be reassured. He does start bonding with the others. Besides that, there's Cordell with her love of singing and theatre and dogs.

The character development is amazing. The most heartbreaking part for now is when all the characters say they might not make it back and tell you to look after their family/tell their family etc.

Other memorable characters include science couple, science gun guy, Thomas Blanky vibes, the gymnast, and Timmy and his da. Also Grips who told me was in the military (because I picked colonial).

Leave the ship a week after announced, before dinner.

Get the medical supplies for the expanded bed space, one set of digging tools, and the guns to get more food and defend against the seal asap. Use the shotgun if you don't wanna die!

Don't hesitate because you want to please both characters.

Theory:

The expedition is funded by the canned peach company. (Huh. Tins.) Templeton and most of the science staff are botanists. Why would you need botanists in the cold?

Captain Hunt said something like 'if I don't take this then others will'. Then he got drunk and left. It's definitely related to the expedition.

On the forums and in the achievements, I saw something about a 'tree' and 'fruit'.

The Viscount went to look for the Tree five years ago and vanished. The peach company hears about this and wants to find the tree and make money off the fruits, or the fruits are magical somehow and they want to exploit it. They organize the expedition in the name of finding the Viscount and send Templeton and the scientists to study the Tree. Hunt hears this somewhere, doesn't agree. He takes the job, deliberately choosing the path so we would get stuck in the ice, ignoring Kurt's advice. He sets off with some trusted crew members and leaves to find the Tree so we don't get to it. The rescue ship is to bring the harvested fruits back.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update October 6, 2023

I’ve been very volatile this week, which may continue next week or may not. I don’t know yet. I’ve been on weird cycles of doing a ton of art then doing nothing for a few days. It will probably continue.

So October is started and I’m an impulsive little greedy fuck so I decided to do three different prompt sets, but I’m doing them all differently. OG inktober is getting priority, because I feel bad about failing inktober 52 earlier this year. Maybe I’ll ink or digitize the few of those sketches that I never finished once I’m done, or maybe I won’t. Anywho I’m trying to do inktober daily, more or less. Second priority is goretober, because I need practice and also with life stuff being still weirdly volatile despite all I’ve done, bloody pictures are really cathartic. I’m tagging everything to be extra safe, even though I’m honestly probably over tagging. Idk day one was mouth stuff which really sets some people off so maybe I was overly cautious because of that, but I’d rather be over cautious than get in trouble. Lowest priority prompt set is cringetober, because even though I just kind of avoid most of the stuff on the list naturally due to personal distaste, I still appreciate the spirit of it. Cringe always has a place, even if that place isn’t on my monitor specifically. I’m not doing every prompt from that list because some of them I really can’t figure out anything Oc related (deadass almost gave up for ‘overly complex fit’ and drew Shulk Xenoblade and his ugly ass outfit instead, but decided against it because that’s against the spirit of the prompt set). I still want to fit in as many as I can, and even though most of those will be late, I’m still going to try. At a minimum I want to do the MS paint one that sounds fun.

Also I threw in a random drawing of Stitch this week. Maybe I’ll do other random drawings too, probably not. I’m already pretty behind on stuff.

So I’ve mentioned I’ve been slacking off with TRGA the past couple weeks but I’m trying to get myself back together with it. I’m trying to figure out timing a bit better, and I did finally get some assets I’ve been procrastinating on done. Jon now has actual soles to his feet, and soon Emile will have the sketch lines I’ve been trying to lean into with my art. I can recolor the foot sole asset for Tim and Emile also, although they won’t need it for this animation. I’m mostly at this point messing with actual movement timing and strategies to make the boys more distinct from one another, although I’m probably overthinking it admittedly. The current shot, 1-4, is by far my most complex in this regard, and may be the most complex of the animation, so chances are I’ll post a WIP once the ‘main’ character animation is done. Or maybe not. I’m not sure.

This week hasn’t been the best for personal life so my mood is extremely volatile, so there’s no guarantee anything will be consistent. My plan is to do one inktober drawing and one keyframe/batch of tweens/chunk of work a day for TRGA done every day, and then the additional prompt sets and/or general drawings done whenever possible, but I’m such a mess I can’t guarantee anything. I’m trying to get stuff together with doctors, since they have been telling me pretty good news, but my primary today said something that, while it would be great news, contradicts what a specialist told me. She did outright say to double check with the specialist since they were probably right, but you know how hard it is to get ahold of doctors for that so now I need to worry about that. I’m a mess this semester isn’t going very well, and tomorrow I’ll probably end up doing music instead of art which will suck because I probably won’t have anything to show for that for a while yet.

[blocksruinedme]

Okay so this is what I decided not to post on an ask about Jimmy's namemc skin spoiler

but then left some of the text there!!!!! Incredibly embarassing! so now that i've accidentally put part of this out... here you go.

Scar loves Buff Scar, right? We all love Buff Scar. But I get emotional about the buff scar skin, for bummer reasons??? I would up talking about Buff Scar on the ask post and it turned into me finally writing out thoughts I've been having about myself and my health and... what I feel when I think about Scar? I say I "have health issues" and I have no looked up any definitions of "disabled" and idk that I do... physically it's mostly chronic pain and bad GI stuff (seeing a new specialist next week!)

But this personal and it's kinda heavy and I wasn't sure if I was going to post this, and it's... talking about another person's health while talking about my own, so I'm going to put this behind a cut. I don't want this thrown in anyone's face, and I think it's the most vulnerable thing I've posted on this account. And the first time I've ever turned off reblog.

I often get weirdly emotional about buff Scar, cause that image? That is something he must have have and lost. From hearing about his swimming career as a kid/teen, fuck. My dude would have been BUFF in the chest and arms and also shirtless a ton.

He was only 16 when he first got sick, I had thought it was 18 for some reason. It's nothing compared to Scar's situation, but I have a lot of health issues and... I don't think I project, I emphasize but it's more, idk that it's representation but maybe a little, honestly I don't know what it is, but I expected hearing him talk about his stuff hits different for me than most people who are fully able bodied. It just does stuff to me.

I watched part 2 of his imp & skizz podcast recently, and it's the most I've ever heard Scar talk about himself. People can get really weird when talking/thinking about other people's health, and I don't want to be doing that, but it was very emotional to listen to him talk about his dreams and plans that his health got in the way of. It's not like I'm in a wheelchair, but there's a really major thing in my life I can't do because of my health and I'm grieving it still. It's only been two years, and I'm doing my fucking best to not dwell and live the life I can have instead, but fuck. It's genuinely a really big deal (that I am not at all ready to talk about outside close friends.)

mood shift! i wrote this out of order and i'll cry if i keep dwelling on it.

A friend told a little anecdote about people (lovingly) commenting on Scar's choices about health and his creative work, and I did not react as they expected. I go (internally) ballistic when people say that kind of thing to me, like how I shouldn't write if I have a bad pain day?? Do not tell me how to manage my pain! This is my life and my body and you can never understand it, I barely can. I do not want to be infantilized, ever, but especially when it comes to managing the parts of my life that suck the most. Sometimes we take risks with our health because we decide it's worth it, because you have to have joy in life, not just life. Every time I get in the car I'm risking my life, y'know? If writing gets me through pain, that's what it does! And that's not even risky. (I spent 6 hours in the ER working on "whatcha gonna do?" because i was going to go insane sitting there waiting to find out if I had a stroke (i didn't)).

So we people with ill health have to figure out how to balance things. There's no "I'll wait till I'm healthy to do that", it's not like we're got a stomach virus. Everything is a compromise. If someone wants to finish uploading a video before they go to the hospital, maybe it's because of an skewed life/work balance, or maybe they're putting their self worth in places-some-people-would-call-wrong, or maybe they just don't want to worry about the fucking video and get the joy of "i've just put up a thing" while going off into a shit situation. I don't know! You don't know! "Put your health first" is pretty complicated, actually, when your health is *never* going to be "good" and there's too many options and you can't know what might work. People will sometimes hear something that's going on and say "are you going to go to the doctor?" and it's like... I can't go to my pcp everytime something like this happens cause then I'll be in all the damn time. It's not worth it. I am getting some kind of medical care every week.

When I went to the ER... so I had a really weird episode that might have been a migraine but the symptoms didn't quite match up with the general list and were concerning. All the symptoms went away after I laid down. I eventually got convinced to go to the ER to get checked out - and then, do I run out the fucking door in my workout clothes? Do I pack up stuff I want to have? Do I do that but also take ten minutes to eat something? What's the right choice? In the end everything was fine, but I'm always happy to get some clean imaging to have in my file. (in this case, brain mri and brain ct scan, w/ & w/o contact. the mri tech said i should get a frequent customer punch card when i said it was my 5th time in that mri. lost my shit. it's been <1/year but still.)

Scar talked about how early on they were chasing the cure and then you get to the point where... doesn't look like there's going to be a cure, this is fucking forever, and it fucking sucks. A friend just got that yesterday with a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis, and... now they know this is it. I'm still chasing a cure, or a way to keep things in remission, with my god damn gut biome. My current GI MD said "this is all i can do" and for some reason I let that stay? I never would have let a friend just give up - but I wasn't thinking of it that way. It is SO HARD to go and advocate for more medical care when you have so many things going on.

To be super clear i 100% think of myself as "barely in chronic pain" and "not really chronically ill" and "definitely not disabled".

Anything can become normal. For good, for ill, for weird.

Anything can become normal.