#guess that's what people meant when they said its normal for adults to not have hobbies

[moonshadow-thoughts]

I realized the older I get, the less I enjoy things. Especially in the last years. Hobbies are not a fun thing anymore but just another thing that needs a lot of energy. My interests used to give me so much joy as a kid and teen, now they are just not that exciting anymore. Its like the magic is gone. Nothing beings joy for any longer than a few seconds. And its nothing close to the joy I had when I was a kid.

As a kid adults often told me about how this happened to them, I just never thought my interest could one day not being joy anymore.

Does anyone else feel like this?

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

One piece modern au, Mama Rouge :)

Happy Mother’s Day :)

Here’s some mama Rouge for the occasion!

Additional info about her 👇(there's a lot.)

Rouge is a bit sickly. Throughout Ace’s formative years, she was in a hospital, sick. Its honestly a miracle she got through child birth alive, but she’s a very very strong woman.

Garp was there when Ace was born because I like to imagine that Garp was Gol D. Roger’s Parole Officer, and so of course he became a family friend. But since he was there for Ace's birth, he was also there when Rouge held her newborn and cried because she knew she couldn't take care of him in her condition.

And look, I don't know how child handling works, but I think it would be really funny if Garp was like "you're okay, girlie, I got the perfect idea." And then he held out a sheet of paper with all the people on his parole list and said like "pick one, this could be part of their community service sentence."

And Rouge was like "might as well, I guess, I don't want to put him in an adoption center or foster home so I guess I'm doing this". Then she picked out Dadan because 'dad' is already in her name, and she's not really given anymore qualifications other than that, so Dadan it is.

Plot twist though because all these convicts just all live with each other so it really wouldn't have mattered, it just meant that now Dadan would be the main guardian of Ace.

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

Because she was in the hospital for so long when ace was growing up, she’s a bit of a mystery to him. Sometimes (like 3 times a year) she would come to visit him at The House Of Dadan and bring homemade large stuffed animals for him made with Ace's old clothes she's patched together. Ace loves them and they're on a high up shelf in his room, practically untouched in fears of potentially breaking them.

Whenever Ace has a day with Rouge, it's usually a bit awkward. Like Ace doesn't know how to have a mother and Rouge doesn't know how to have a son, but she is trying her best to have fun with him whenever she gets the chance to.

I kinda envision these vibes. Not exactly but adjacent.

Very like "what do you wanna do, sweetie :)"

Ace never gets to visit her at the hospital because Rouge doesn't want him to see her in that kind of setting. He tried to once when he became an adult but he was turned away at the door. He may or may not have tried to then find her through the outside of the building through windows and he may or may not have been kicked off the premises by security.

---------

The first day on the job after Ace completes his tattoo artist apprenticeship, he gets a customer who called the day before requesting him specifically, which is a little weird since he had just started that day, normal patrons wouldn't know him.

When it's time for the appointment, he goes to the floor from the back of the shop, and the person sitting in his appointment seat,

Is.. is his mom.

Shes talking to his coworkers and laughing with them! Ahh no nononono. His mom is not supposed to see this part of his life. What is she doing here????

He rushes over to her and asks her what she's doing here for??

"I'm getting a tattoo from my son :) can I get this flower please? :)"

So he starts the tattoo process and Rouge is very cooperative and receptive to when he needs her to move or anything like that.

He's.. he's never actually been this close to her for so long...

He glances up one and he sees her smiling so softly at him.

Ace looks away quickly, hoping she doesn't see him blushing.

For all wondering, the tattoo that she has is very much on her ass and it is very much Roger's name.

That's all I got. I got a couple of people asking about Ace's family situation, so here ya go :)

Oh additionally, Roger died before Ace's birth from Cancer

Thanks for reading if you got this far :)

[stesierra]

Since I'm trying to share something every day to motivate myself to write again, here's the first chapter of one of my adult fantasy books. At one point I loved it but I had a critique partner read the whole thing and now it embarrasses me. So this is probably terrible but give it a chance maybe? Trigger warning: magical seizures.

Please tell me if you want to be removed from the taglist. Or added, I guess.

Stitches and Memories

(WHY DID I PICK SUCH A TERRIBLE TITLE?)

Chapter One

The 4th Day of Spring, 502 King's Rule

Antea didn't spend her thirtieth birthday celebrating with the few people who called her acquaintance. She spent it dying. Again.

A normal woman wouldn't be on the floor of her bathroom, occasionally spasming hard enough to slam her head into the wooden tub. All she was doing was reliving her first kiss at age seventeen. It was just a memory. It was just a memory, brain, get it together.

But her brain did not get it together. It flooded her with memories of the boy's pink lips -- too wet and too large -- at the same time as it slammed a pickax through her eyes over and over again. She'd blacked out too much to see the room around her, but she felt it when her legs spiked straight and slammed her into the wall. She came away with splinters in her arm and cheek.

"Shut up over there!" her neighbor bellowed from the next apartment over. "Keep pounding on the walls and I'll report this to the constables!"

He probably would, too, the bastard.

In her mind, the boy drew back and beamed at her. The memory ended there, but the pickax didn't stop for another twenty minutes.

When the agony died down, she dragged herself over to the chamber pot and threw up.

When she finally eased her eyes open, a partly digested pasty stared up at her. The pounding on her door registered then. Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound raised dread in her heart. Only one type of person knocked like that in Drazen. With that terrible implacability.

When she wrenched the door open, hinges squealing, a broad man in green stared down at her over his posh black mustache. Some seamstress had embroidered his doublet with the king's symbol, a golden lion biting its tail. The gold thread was real, which meant she'd gotten an up-city constable somehow, which was deeply unfair since she lived in the slums.

He frowned at her. She could guess what he was seeing: a barefoot, brown-skinned woman who had just grown out of being pretty, wearing a dress that had been mended too many times. Her golden hair was mashed in a nest on one side of her head. She smelled of a few days of sweat and dirt.

Her black hair had turned metallic gold when she was eighteen. No, she didn't know why. There was a lot about being eighteen that she didn't know.

She bowed deeply. "May I help you, sir?"

He said, "I've had a noise complaint here. Pounding on the walls. Disrupting the peace."

"I had a fit of convulsions in my bathroom."

He frowned at her, his whole face drooping. "We have had a lot of complaints about these convulsions."

Antea resisted the urge to wrap her hands around his fat neck. "Yes. That's because it's a medical condition." And it was true, even if they weren't the normal sort of fits, not normal at all. As far as she understood it, normal people with convulsions thrashed around less and passed out and sometimes forgot the whole thing. She wasn't normal. She was awake through the fire in her head and every twitch and spasm, and she remembered everything.

The constable leaned in close. "Have you been praying for healing?"

"Yes."

"If I go and check your records, will I find you tithing regularly to at least one of the gods?"

"Yes," she lied.

"Because if I check and you haven't, then you aren't really trying to be healed, and you will be held wholly responsible for remaining ill."

"Which entails?"

He sniffed. "After all this commotion, I would think eviction, at least."

Her rentals always ended in eviction, but she had hoped this one would last out the year. "Sir, the Stag God teaches mercy to the infirm and poor. Seeing as I'm both, I would be most grateful for your understanding."

"There are many such deserving citizens in Drazen. But with your extensive record--"

"Of what? Running into walls in the night? That's not even a crime."

The man straightened to his full height, towering over her like the Eagle God over his foes. "If a constable of the law says you have committed a crime, then you have. Gather your things if you have any. I will speak with your landlord, and it will go poorly for you if you are still here tonight."

Antea sagged against the doorframe. "Yes, sir."

He smiled at her, wide and smug. "Oh, and remember the curfew."

It took all her willpower not to punch him. She turned sharply instead and shut the door in his face.

She didn't have much to gather. Her ragged haversack weighed nothing when she slung it over her shoulder. Her leather shoes were hiding under the bed. Even though the seams on the sides were giving way, they covered her toes at least. One change of clothes and a wool blanket lay on the mattress. The blanket served as a blanket, but her extra dress was her only pillow. She wrapped one inside the other and tied them to the bottom of her haversack.

One last thing remained. A letter. When she'd moved in, she had shoved it under the mattress where she wouldn't have to look at it. She pulled it out now and thought about throwing it on the fire. It would burst into flames, burning fast and hot, the dry paper shrinking into black curls before they crumbled away into white ash. If she burnt the letter, she would never have to read those words again. The pain in her head might always be with her, but that pain she could leave behind.

She read the letter. It said:

"My beloved daughter, I write this for my own sake, for you will never read it. Forgive me. What I tore from your mind was necessary, but with that wound, I know that I have killed you. May the gods have mercy on my soul."

She ran her fingertips over his signature. Then she put the letter in her bag and walked out of the tenement never to return.

--

It was two hours before the doleful tones of the curfew bell would ring across the city, two hours for Antea to find shelter for the night. She didn't have the coin for an inn. She had just paid the damn landlord the next month's rent money, not that he would ever consider a refund. If she asked he would laugh in her face, and the law would be on his side, too, like it always was.

With no other option, she headed for the nice part of the city. Not the nicest because that was up near the royal castle and the queen's spire, and people like her weren't allowed there. No, she went to the parts frequented by merchants and the new rich, where no one would care that she was there.

In the dimming light, the nice quarter was all faded stone edges and empty streets. Even the rich had to follow curfew. But even in the twilight, the library stood out as the biggest building in the district. Pilgrims that followed the Crow God visited from all over Ritalia. Its marble facade was hidden under red leather prayer offerings. When it rained the entire building stank like a wet dog.

She slipped between the leaving patrons and headed for the front desk. Zoren, the head librarian, raised his eyebrows at her. He was a pleasantly overweight man in a long black robe, with large spectacles sitting on top of his bulbous nose. The blue mage light beside him shone off his bald head. "Antea? This is quite the departure from the norm. What's going on, then?"

She flushed and hiked her haversack higher on her shoulder. "I got evicted. I was wondering--

"If you can sleep in one of the back rooms tonight?"

She nodded.

The librarian's voice was gentle but unyielding. "If we were caught housing people in a building not zoned for it, we could get into a great deal of trouble with the constables."

"That's a no?"

"I'm sorry, Antea. Good luck finding shelter tonight."

She bowed to him and slumped out of the library. But she stopped on the front steps and straightened up. She wasn't giving up that easily. The constable who had evicted her thought he'd catch her for breaking curfew, and that he'd see her locked up and the key thrown away. But Antea had planned for this, even if she had hoped the day would never come.

All her worldly possessions on her shoulder, she walked half a mile to the Shrine of the Gods.

The Shrine of the Gods was not one shrine but many, all marked by white marble columns that thrust up from the city streets. At its base, each pillar bore the painted statue of one of the gods. When you approached a statue, you were isolated from the others by head-high circular walls around each column. They carved out a little bubble of space so that it was just you and whatever god you had chosen, and anyone else who wanted to pray had to wait in line. Those lines sometimes stretched out for miles, but at this time of night, every statue she passed was alone.

An overnight vigil was the one thing the constables couldn't complain about. She wouldn't get any sleep that night, but she wouldn't end up in jail.

Antea paced around, refreshing her memory about which god's statue stood where. There were thirty-two gods to choose from. Some of them were so minor no one worshipped them, but the Shrine represented all gods. Leaving one out just because they were as popular as moldy cheese was unthinkable.

Antea picked the Dog Goddess because she'd always been fond of bitches, and who didn't need a little guidance in their lives? She sat cross-legged on the braided wool mat spread out before the goddess's marble toes. The Dog Goddess stood in two forms next to herself. One was a rearing limer with floppy ears, painted black and brown, the other a small-breasted naked woman, painted with dark skin and white hair. The woman's hand was outstretched in benediction. It shone white at the tips, the details of her fingers worn smooth from the touch of too many worshipers.

Antea leaned close and said, "Hi."

The goddess did not reply.

"It's been a while since I talked to one of you gods. I'm not very pious, I know."

The dog statue of the goddess had its head tilted as if Antea had done something peculiar.

Antea drew her knees up to her chest. "It's funny, you know. I used to be very pious. Ready to do anything any god asked of me. Thirteen years ago." Thirteen years ago, she'd been a lot of things.

In the twilight, the goddess's expression looked sympathetic, but Antea had had twelve years to learn how little the gods cared.

She said, "I think I'm supposed to ask you for a gift. It's traditional, or something."

Someone passed by outside, and Antea forced herself to stay relaxed. Go away. She was communing with her god, like a good little citizen. Go away.

She stayed silent until the footsteps had faded. Then she said, "So, demanding things. I can't think of what I want. I mean, I want to be healed. But you've all said no to that." Thousands upon thousands of prayers, all unanswered. She'd even tried the gods no one prayed to anymore. And nothing.

Beyond the shelter of the shrine walls, the constables were ringing curfew. They'd start searching the streets soon, looking for beggars and troublemakers and other unwanteds. People like her who hadn't been smart enough to hide out at the Shrine. She needed to look prayerful, but it was early enough spring that the nights were still cold. Surely it couldn't hurt to pull out her blanket and cover her lap. The devout didn't have to freeze, did they?

"I'll ask for food and a place to sleep. That's nice and humble, right?" She undid the ties at the bottom of her haversack and yanked her blanket loose. When her spare dress clung to it, she stuffed it in the bag. And the letter fell out and fluttered to the stones.

Antea froze. She stared down at where it lay, heavy with its words. When she sat back down, blanket hugged against her chest, her movement bumped the letter a few inches away, but it didn't disappear.

She buried her face in wool and said, "You can't be serious. That's not a reasonable suggestion."

It wasn't, but the Dog Goddess wasn't suggesting anything. Antea was just talking to herself again. If the goddess had actually been present, the statue would have lit up with bright light, perfectly white the way mage lights never managed. Antea had seen the gods answer petitioners before. She used to watch her father-- Never mind. Forget it.

But she didn't forget it in time. Stabbing pains made her squeeze her eyes shut.

Someone cleared his throat behind her. She spun around, and the headache and the motion nearly made her vomit.

A Shrine worker stood there in his modest tunic and apron, both glowing white. He bowed his curly head and said, "You're here very late, daughter."

Antea kept her head high and clasped her hands together on her lap. "I'm keeping a vigil."

"I thought that perhaps that was the case. We do permit vigils, despite the curfew, but I must ask what you pray for tonight. The constabulary has us keep records, you see."

Of course they did. And if she didn't tell him something worthy of a goddess's guidance, he would call the constables. And she couldn't say she was asking for healing because the Dog Goddess wasn't a healer.

The letter lay innocently on the stone beside her. She picked it up and held it in her hand. Words flowed from her lips as if someone else was doing the talking. "My father hurt me and left me for dead, twelve years ago. I don't know what happened to him after that. He never came back to the city."

The worker's brows lifted, and his lips pursed as he took a step towards her. "That is... troubling. What guidance do you hope the Dog Goddess will grant you?"

Antea slumped, letting the letter trail against the ground. "I just... I need to know why. Why he did it. But he's the only one who knows, and there's no way I could afford a passport to even leave the city, much less to go to all the places he might be. That's why I've never found him."

The Shrine worker nodded. "That is a difficult problem, and one I fear I cannot help you with. But keep your vigil, daughter, and perhaps the goddess will grant you her wisdom." He swept his hands in a sign of blessing, and he walked on.

Antea let her breath out in a rush. She shoved the letter back in her haversack with shaky hands and wrapped herself up in the blanket.

"Close one, huh?" she said to the goddess's statue. "Maybe give me some guidance if you feel like it. Because I would like to know what he ruined my life for."

The goddess's statues stayed dark. If the goddess intended to guide her, it wouldn't be directly.

She sighed and rocked back and forth. "I know I'm very stupid. What am I hoping for? To remember? Trying to remember makes it worse." Even remembering something near to that day threatened to tear her mind apart.

The cloudy heavens overhead split and spilled out a thousand stars, winking and sparkling like candlelight seen from far away. Her brain throbbing with its usual rhythm, Antea sank down in her blanket, shut her mouth, and closed her eyes.

@anonymousfoz

@moremysteriesthantragedies

@elizababie

@sm-writes-chaos

@bellascarousel

@palebdot

@Hyba

[foggystarrs]

Saw you did headcanons! Any way you could do headcanons for the Glamrocks??

Ofc!! Since you didn’t specify what kind of headcanons, I just did general ones! Hope u enjoy!

Freddy:

☆ The father figure. I feel like he’s always lecturing the others (in good nature ofc!). He just wants them to do the best they can!

☆ I feel like he would deffo be a facebook dad. Like if he had social media he would be like: “Performed today! #fun #music #happy”

☆ Literally everyone loves him, he’s the most loved animatronic out of the main four in the pizzaplex.

☆ He usually hums to himself when he is alone or waiting. Quietly humming and tapping his feet to the beat.

☆ Super polite. Will literally never interrupt you while you are speaking. He’s a great listener and gives great advice when needed.

☆ He’s great at comforting others and gives amazing hugs.

Roxy:

⚡︎ She’s always brushing her hair or taking care of it. She has to look the best always. She’s the best.

⚡︎ She’s actually deeply insecure. Since she was made as a replacement for Foxy, she feels like she doesn’t live up to him, that’s why she’s always fussing about how she looks.

⚡︎ She’s kind of sassy to adults, often giving them attitude or completely ignoring them. If you want to befriend her, you’ll have to earn her respect.

⚡︎ She’s a sweetheart to kids though. She cares about them deeply.

⚡︎ One time a kid told her they thought her hair looked goofy and she played it off at the time, acting all confident like she didn’t care. She cried about it in her room later.

⚡︎ She often gets into fights with Monty, nothing too serious. Just teasing each other and annoying each other. She makes fun of his sunglasses.

⚡︎ She often hangs out with Chica after hours. She’s got a soft spot for her but DON’T tell her she said that!

Chica:

♡ The sweetest ever, she’s nice to everyone.

♡ I feel like she paints her nails in her free time, she uses normal paint to do it so that it stays longer during her shows. They always end up getting chipped though because of how often she plays guitar and rummages through the trash.

♡ Her and Roxy hang out the most, they often have sleepovers after hours. She sneaks out of her room to go to hers.

♡ She’s literal besties with Monty. She’s probably one of the only people that can calm him down when he gets super mad. They sometimes hang out and have jam sessions together.

♡ She also hangs out with Freddy, but those ones rarely happen since he’s always super busy with performances, photo ops or rehearsal. I guess being the face of the franchise has its down sides.

♡ If she isn’t sneaking out to hang out with one of the other Glamrocks, she’s sneaking out to find any leftovers in the trash. She loves food! One time a security guard caught her but thankfully they were either not paid enough to care or nice enough to not snitch.

♡ Her food escapades often lead to a trip to Parts and Service though. She gets into accidents often, with the trash compactor or her wires malfunctioning due to the food getting stuck in between them.

Monty:

✧ Anger issues. Like really bad anger issues.

✧ He’s trying to do better though, but sometimes it’s like he can’t control himself. He tends to have tantrums in his room.

✧ He absolutely hates being compared to Bonnie due to what happened.

✧ He’s also insecure, he can sympathize with Roxy in that aspect since they were both meant to be “replacements” of sorts.

✧ He doesn’t like anyone going in his room, mostly because the staff gave up on trying to clean it. So, seeing it in its messy state reminds him of those tantrums and he doesn’t want anyone to see him and associate him with that. The only exception is Chica sometimes but he just prefers going to the other’s room when they hang out.

✧ He’s terrible at comforting people. He tries but he always gets super awkward. Like, what are you supposed to do when someone is sobbing and stuff? He can barely comfort himself as is, imagine with someone else.

✧ He has beef with the Daycare Attendant. Don’t ask him how it started, don’t even mention that little clown dude in his presence. It won’t end well.

✧ If you befriend him he’ll have your back no matter what. This man is LOYAL. Will literally fight for any of his friends.

And that’s it! I got tired TwT

But I hope you enjoyed!! Thanks for reading!

[angnimations]

You see, I've been thinking

HOW PHINABELLA COULD'VE BEEN!

We all know how Phineas and Ferb was extended long by its expiration date, but I mean, the expiration date of that summer. We still could've had so much content about the other summers, all through their highschool graduation!

And we all know by now that well, Isabella left the friends group in highschool and inconveniently enough, that's when Phineas develop his crush.

I've always thought that episode was so rushed, their friendship and romantic dynamic had so much to explore that just by 1 episode it couldn't be enough.

You mean to tell me Phineas never reach out in highschool, at least to invite all the scout girls (or ex scout girls, idk how it works lol) to some crazy adventure?

You mean to tell me Isabella never missed Phineas so much that she could settle for a friendship in highschool if it meant to see him?

You REALLY telling me that!?

So, I the crew could've done a better job by dividing their season on multiple summers instead of just one. And make the story have more continuity that way, grow their characters, develop them while they navigate multiple adventures in each summer and while they are going through their teenage years.

COME ON! THAT WOULD'VE BEEN SO COOL!

It could've teached us about growing up and so many lessons that come while your becoming a teenager and young adult (that's right, the last episode of this could-have-been-P&F ends in them going to college >:] )

I think we could've had this phinabella arc, though several episode ofc, in highschool summer season (or seasons?)

> Unfortunately, Isabella left the group in highschool like in the episode. So the summer where that happened we are introduced to this girl in Phineas class, she's a total nerd like him, but really shy. It's stablished she has a crush on someone and Phineas teases her and tries to guess, but never finds out how it is.

This girl is lesbian, but doesn't tell anyone out of fear because, well we all know the world is sadly not normally kind to LGBTQ+ people.

> Isabella finds out through the (ex?) girl scouts that Phineas has this new girl in his backyard helping him and the guys in their adventures.

> At first she tries to play it off, as if she doesn't care what he does anymore because she "is past him".

> Meanwhile, we get to know how they met. Maybe it's something cheesy like Phineas was drawing Isabella and the girl noticed it lol. Or maybe... he was making multiple sketches of what invention he would do to impress Isabella on her birthday as to have an excuse to talk to her, and the girl noticed it and pointed it out. Phineas, flustered, just said it was for an old friend of his and the girl offered to help him if he teaches him all about inventions and how to make them, because she also has something in mind to give to a "special someone".

> Isabella tries to figure out her feelings of jealously and "betrayal", and the scout girls are trying to tell her to just go to his place. She doesn't want to get hurt of he sees them together, or if Phineas didn't even missed her, all the if's keeping her from talking to him.

> Meanwhile, the guys keep on making their respective inventions for their special someone's. Phineas has run out of classmates names to ask her about, and she straight up tells him it's not someone from school, rather someone who lives in the same apartment complex she does. Phineas resorts to just ask her how they look, "Do they have brown hair? Do they have blond hair? Are they tall? Short? What do they like?" Meanwhile he also teases him "Are they from school? From this neighborhood? Are they blonde?..." The list goes on. They enjoy helping each other and talking about this mysterious persons they like, and which they don't disclose the name- but how they look, act, and what they like about them. They also are total nerds so expect multiple geek and science talk- Phineas and Ferb practically adopted her as their little sister now lol.

> Going back to Isabella, we also get to see why she has been pretty busy too. Perhaps she's making some charity work, helping her mother around, things like that. She keeps telling herself she can't go and see Phineas cause she has "XYZ thing to do", and she's running out of excuses, while her longing just grows and grows.

The one of the girl scouts (her bff I can't remember sorry) tells her that at least she should go and talk to him as a friend, that if she lets time pass and doesn't talk to him, they'll grow apart till she can't recognize him, as friend or lover. "Are you willing to lose your friendship with Phineas?".

The girl scout even asks her if she knows what invention he's up to lately, and Isabella is like "Of course! He's up to... Uh..." Isabella can't even remember the last invention he showed her.

This realization- that even she is forgetting things, shocks her and saddens her. "I don't want to lose him. I want him in my life, any way he wants...". She runs to his house to talk to him after so many months and half summer.

> Phineas has to leave for some reason (props the place where he wants to give Isabella her happy birthday invention) and the girl and Ferb are left in charge with the 2 inventions (Phineas' and the girl's). Ferb goes to the house to get them something to drink, and the girl keeps working.

> "HEY PHINEAS WHATCHA- doing...? Hi I'm Isabella, you must be _____" (yeah haven't thought of her name). The girl greets her and identifies her.

"Oh, you are Isabella, Phineas neighbor, the super cool pretty and intelligent girl scout, right?" Isabella is obviously flustered at this description. "Oh, you know me? How so?" The girl, not wanting to blow the Phineas cover, makes some dumb excuse and says that Ferb described her like that. Just as he comes with the lemonade- and awkward funny moment ensues lol. Ferb just downright leaves the backyard back for some "cookies".

> The girl talks to Isabella, and they soon start bonding over Phineas adventures and crazy inventions. She tells her Phineas is a super helpful guide, and has been helping her with this gift she wants to give to someone special, but the girl seems hesitant "It's not even that cool of a gift, really, I'm not good at this. I just hope it doesn't break in h... their hands right as give it, even if I do give it to them..." Isabella sees the cute invention, it's a sort of small robot that seems to analyze the soil, help planting seeds, keeping up with plants needs. Surely, someone that loves gardening would love a gift like that.

"I bet that she'll love it." Says Isabella. The girl is flustered, but happy, and gains some confidence now that she sees how she has such a lovely friend group. "Yeah. Maybe she will. She lives in an apartment, so she doesn't have a gardening space of her own. but since she volunteers on community services aimed to gardening, I thought this could help her. She is a bit forgetful, so this could help her keep track of every garden she takes care of."

> Isabella is really impressed by the girls skills and courage- she feels she has little courage, ignoring and evading Phineas this whole summer, breaking their friendship bit by bit. A sad look shows in her face. "You are really brave, I don't even have the guts to see the person I like in the eyes lately". The girl questions, and Isabella admits "He's really inteligent, and kind, and helpful, a total cute nerd that has the biggest heart ever. I miss him". The girl smiles as she starts guessing- but as clueless as her mentor, she doesn't get who she could be referencing (she would bet it's between Phineas and Ferb lol).

> "I'm sure he misses you too, is it...? Oh hi Phineas!" Phineas arrived "Hi ____, so look I checked with the mayor, he says he can get us both the park free for... Isabella? Long time no see! Hi!!" Clearly shocked and happy, he hurries to their side.

> "Yeah, long time no see. Watcha doing Phineas? Something in the park? What about?" Phineas, a but flustered tries to change the topic "oh is nothing, it's uh- a thing _____ wanted me to go check for her... I mean sure is for us both- I mean, I'm going to use it too, but uh... it's a surprise... How have you been?" The girl chuckles, now fully aware who Phineas has a crush on, and Isabella talks about all her adventures in her part of summer. Ferb comes with the cookies, and they all sit and enjoy the sunset while talking and getting to know what the other has been up to.

...

SO THAT COULD BE SOMETHING! Aw man, it would've been so cool if P&F was like that. Imagine growing with them, seeing how they mature and they finally getting together.

Maaaaaan it could've been so cool hadn't they beat to death the only summer we watched.

Anyways, yeah, that's my small idea. Anyone, feel free to write it better than I did and maybe even making a series of what P&F could've been like if the showed had some sense of continuity and growth.

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the typos, English is not my native language.

[forevermore-quoth-the-kitten]

Curse Of Reincarnation 2

Leigh had just returned from work at the bakery, entering quietly as always, and she quickly realized you were on the phone. She paused in the door to take her shoes off to be quiet, smiling as your laughter reached her ears. “Guys! Guys, oh my gosh you didn’t!” who were you talking to- “Mammon oh my gosh, move! I can’t see- ASMO NO!” you shrieked, sounding so happy, and she’d stopped cold in her tracks. It couldn’t be, there was no way- “Lucifer, no, leave the baby alone!” you yelled, sounding upset and she clenched her hands, nails digging into her palms to avoid saying anything. Something must have been said back because you gasped dramatically. “I don’t care if he’s a giant three headed hellhound, and I don't care if he’s supposed to be yours or anyone else's! That’s just a puppy! He’s my good little baby, isn’t he?!” you start cooing, obviously at the hellhound in question, calling him ‘mommy’s baby’. She doesn’t listen to much more of your words, anger filling her ears with static.

Lucifer? Hurting anyone, much less any sort of animal? It was utterly unthinkable. ‘That bastard’ she thought, beyond furious. Her brother would never, meaning he’d been changed. Knowing him, it had to be that bastard’s fault. If even Lucifer had changed, then it meant all of them had. “Damn you Diavolo.” she whispered under her breath before steadying herself and her emotions. “Hey! I’m back from work!” she called, using the silence in your conversation she waited for to call out, pretending as if she’d heard nothing.

“Just a minute, Leigh!” you call back and she quickly leaves her shoes by the door before walking over toward the kitchen for a drink. “Sorry, I had to finish up the call I was on with a few friends.”

“Oh? Who was it? You don’t really talk to anyone from highschool anymore.” Leigh says nonchalantly, forcing herself to act normal, be curious, even as she still seethed.

“Ah, it was actually some of the students from RAD.” you said carefully, trying to be gentle on the topic that still got a reaction from her. She hated how she couldn’t hide her reaction to you about RAD or those demons, she further cursed herself as she flinched.

“Ah, I see. Well I’m glad you were having fun.” you looked relieved at her calm acceptance, a bit pensive but happy you believed her and were growing used to the fact.

“Actually, we were talking and I was hoping that it would be ok since you seemed ok now when i talk about it-’ she froze, horror filling her, water at her lips. “-but we were hoping that they could come over for dinner? They’re really good friends and I’d love for you to meet them. They want to meet you too, I talked about you all the time when I was in the Devildom.” she looked at you, hiding bubbling anger behind a wall of shock. How dare they. How dare they even suggest leaving that wretched place and coming up here!

“The- demons? Up here? That’s a bit hard to believe.” She managed to laugh after a moment, it was weak and nervous, but it was the best she could do to avoid breaking her glass in a fit. You look nervous, but hopeful, so hopeful and concerned for her.

“I know, and I know how you feel, but please. They’re nice, so give them a chance?” You two agreed as very young adults when your parents died in a house robbery while you two were at school that you would never let any man into your house for safety reasons, and other guests still had to be approved by you both before being allowed over. You never quite understood her caution, sometimes why she wouldn’t let certain people over. But magic users were her greatest fear, she’d been found out by several magic users by accident over her many lives and none of those lives ended well. She can’t even imagine what it would be like letting demons into your house. . . but- something else pushed its way through her 

“I- well, I haven’t met them, but I guess I wouldn’t meet them until they came over.” she finds herself whispering. “Give me a little time to-” she can’t even finish her sentence, but you’re beaming and too happy to notice the weight to her voice. “Excuse me, I'm headed to my room for a bit.” you look a bit sheepish and guilty, but you nod and she darts out past you. The rushed walk to her room is a blur, only coming back to clarity when she’s leaning back on her closed door. Your friends. You’d just been talking to her brothers- she could see her brothers again? Even if they were different, she needed to make sure they were ok. 

It took her a minute to realize she was crying, the hot tears on her cheeks the signal that made it register. “My big brothers.” she whispered to herself before she wiped her eyes and heaved a breath. Diavolo and the royal family were the only ones who could open the portals to the human realm, so knowing him and his arrogance, whatever he actually had planned with the ‘program’ of his, he’d be coming too. “I can do this. I can handle being around him for them.” she told herself before opening the door to go to the bathroom. She needed to wash her face and clean the small wounds on her hands from her nails.

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

To Be Continued

Part 1

[thekingofwinterblog]

An Easy Step

Grime and Kisses

<Chapter 4--- Here --->

---

Over the course of half a year, Sasha had quickly become one of the most frequent civilian visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific in quite some time.

Though most people with a year-long pass tended to actually visit the park's many exhibits, as opposed to almost always beeline for one specific part of the complex.

One of its less popular ones at that.

It wasn't that Sasha never went to any of the other parts of the park, she did sometimes, especially if she came early.

It could be nice to visit the other parts of the park, to watch the sharks, the seals, and the other animals.

But the simple fact was that there was only one thing that brought Sasha here, time after time.

Today though, Her Beau was talking to a group of school kids as the last part of her shift, and showing them the various amphibians here.

That meant she'd have to wait all the way until the shift was done and the kids had left before talking to her.

And so, Sasha took an independent look around the section of frogs, olms, Salamanders, and… Toads.

There was a reason she rarely visited this part of the park, except when coming to pick up Anne.

She usually got melancholic when going around this place.

It was something she and Marcy had in common. Unlike Anne, who was able to draw not only strength from these creatures, but enthusiasm, all Sasha felt was melancholy as she watched these, smaller, unnatural versions of…

God that was a weird way to think of them. But it was how she now saw it.

To her, it was now the Toads and frogs of Amphibia who were the usual versions of their respective races, while it was these Earth-based ones, so infinitely lesser in size, intelligence, and worth that were the abnormalities.

She had similar issues with birds after coming back, but since the only giant birds on Earth were currently in a government lab, probably being cloned, or whatever the hell U.S.A's scientists were doing with them, she'd eventually gone back in her head to think of regular-sized birds as the "normal" sized ones.

Not so with Amphibians.

For her, the only regular ones were the ones like Braddock, Percy, the Wartwood Gang, Beatrix… Grime...

Her eyes went over the room, and its exhibits, noting the artwork she knew Anne had designed herself to make it seem energetic and interesting.

Finally, her eyes went to the exhibit that she'd put off the longest, the Toads exhibit with-

She froze. Then looked again to make sure she hadn't misseen. Then she burst out laughing. Not hysterically so, but if Anne and the kids hadn't been in another room of the overall section it would probably have disrupted the tour.

As it was, she was only glared at by a couple of other, unaffiliated adults.

She didn't care. She had a big grin on her face, one that remained when Anne finally came over, her shift at its end.

Anne immediately noticed what Sasha was looking at, and in turn, gave her own grin.

"I see you're fond of Grimothy, Sash."

Plastered below, on the side of the Toad exhibit, was another one of Anne's cute artworks. 

This one featured an adorable looking toad, with a comically serious expression, a scar across one eye, and his other one a bright, pure green. 

It was absolutely adorable… And for Sasha, absolutely hilarious.

"He would murder you if he knew you represented him like this."

The tone made it clear Sasha found it all absolutely hysterical.

"Yeah, probably. I think he once threatened to eat Sprig alive if he called him Grimothy again. At least that's what Sprig said."

She hesitated.

"You… Really do like it then?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, I actually tried to get him on board with a stylized picture of himself to get the Tower Toads more accustomed to him."

Anne chuckled.

"I'm guessing he wasn't on board with the awesomeness of a stylish selfie?"

"Nope. In the end, I just ended up using my own face. Actually, we made a crap ton of merch with that design."

"You're kidding."

She flashed her a full-toothed, cocky grin.

"Nope. I was REALLY popular in the tower, everyone wanted a piece of me, and we plastered my face on pretty much everything."

Anne smiled at her, but Sasha could tell she wasn't sure if she was joking or not. However, rather than question her account of events, she decided to pounce.

"Well… It is a pretty amazing face. I can see why they'd want it… but… I'm not sharing you..."

As she spoke, her grin was a playful one, the kind she used when she was in control, and both she and Sasha knew it.

Her hand went up to Sasha's cheek. 

"With anyone~♡"

Then, still stroking Sasha's cheek, she leaned in, their lips meeting in a kiss that Sasha instantly melted into.

Anne was more than capable of kissing Sasha in a way that made it feel like lightning was going through her spine, that incredible passion flowing through both of them… But truth be told, Sasha had always preferred the other kind of kisses. 

This kind. The more subdued, but no less affectionate kind, where she could take her time and savor the feeling of just how wonderful it was to be truly loved and love someone in return.

Eventually, the kiss did end though, and the two young women left the aquarium together, though reminiscing on the world of frogs, toads and other amphibians weren't quite over yet.

---

"Oh yeah, it was a brutal training regiment. I'd start with teaching everyone Tai-chi each morning to get them all stretched and ready for the meat grinder."

When it came to Amphibia, Anne had come to notice a pattern with both Marcy and Anne.

Neither of them liked to talk about it and generally avoided speaking about it if at all possible.

Then, something would get them in the mood, and they would just talk, and talk about that world that was now lost to them.

They all had their own ways to deal with she supposed.

Then I'd run them ragged, having them follow me for a jog for 4 hours, before we moved on from that to frog jumps! Man… And back then I didn't even question how it was that I always lasted the longest. By the end, when everyone was completely winded from the training, I was still fresh and ready for more."

As Anne listened to Sasha talking about running the toads ragged, there was… Something in the back of her head stirred. Hadn't she seen that once? A whole horde of toads running across a field?

That vague memory though was immediately washed away by the image Sasha was describing.

"Really? You frog jumping?"

"Yeah. It's actually the best method toads have for training their legs and arms, and I had to lead by example and all that."

It took her a few seconds after she was done until she realized what Anne had actually been talking about.

"Ohhh… Right… Yeah, it did look preeetty silly."

The image Anne had in her head of Sasha frog jumping across a field, followed by a horde of tired, out-of-breath toads did indeed, look very silly.

Sasha quickly changed the topic.

"But man, can you believe we didn't notice any of the gems' powers at the time?"

"Well… To be fair Sash, me, and Marcy didn't really go out there and really push ourselves to the limit like you did."

"You still broke an arm." 

Sasha pointed out.

"That healed in two days."

True enough.

"Alright, you've got me there."

Anne, Marcy, and Sasha had all gone through Amphibia while carrying the power of the 3 gems inside of them, which Anne had made great use of at various times after fully unlocking them, and Sasha and Marcy had both embraced their parts of it during the final battle.

All 3 girls had assumed that was the end of it. Well, at least until they got back home, and started really going into detail about said stories to, amongst others, Anne's parents.

At that point, her parents had noticed some… Things about their stories in Amphibia.

Like the fact that Anne and Marcy had both broken bones(Anne her arm, and Marcy her leg) during their times in Amphibia, that had healed completely and cleanly in less than a week, as opposed to the two months such injuries would usually take.

Or that none of them had really gotten truly sick during their time in Amphibia, despite all the unclean water meaning they should have had constant health problems from said water.

Or the fact that Sasha was strong enough that she could kick through stone.

That last one was what had clinched it for all 3 girls that the gems' effect upon them had been way more thorough than they had initially assumed.

Once she'd realized that this was a thing, Anne had originally assumed that this kinda stuff would have gone away with the gems.

But it hadn't. And if that was the case, Sasha and Marcy would have lost this aspect after their respective temples anyway, which they had not.

On the contrary, Sasha had reached her absolute physical peak only after her separation from the powers.

One part of this aspect that had disturbed all of them once they realized it, was that one of the reasons they hadn't noticed it, was that in the moment, all of it had seemed completely natural to them.

Andrias had sent Sasha slamming into a wall so hard, that the stone around her had cracked. Why shouldn't she just walk it off with no issues, that was natural right?

Marcy had fallen down hundreds of flights of stairs, and only broken a leg, and gotten some bruises? That's to be expected.

As for Anne, she could distinctly remember a time when she'd had to carry all the plantars on her back and run through a field of steam vents at a speed that any pro-athlete runner would envy. Back then, it had seemed so… Natural.

There were many more of those instances. Moments of a surge of power, endurance, and agility that Anne frankly hadn't even noticed as odd.

Like her brain had been rewired to think of it as normal.

But the absolute cake was the kind of injuries Sasha and Marcy had recovered from.

In Sasha's case, during Sasha's big duel with Darcy, the mechanical abomination had inflicted two massive injuries on her that by all accounts should have drastically crippled her ability to move.

It had almost completely severed one of her Achilles' tendons with a thrown laser knife, which by all accounts should have meant many surgeries, and years and years of physical therapy.

Sasha, despite the insane pain from the injury, had not only managed to fight on in spite of it, but internally, the muscles had eventually healed perfectly.

And then there was her back… The damage from the scythe had been 2-3 Inches from inflicting what on any normal person would have been permanent, irreversible damage on her spine.

Even as it was, the damage should have left her with chronic back pain, and massive problems bending over for the rest of her life.

Instead, she'd pushed through, and it had healed fine internally, just like her leg.

And then there was Marcy… Anne did not want to imagine what sort of horrible tortures they must have done to her, to replace her red blood with a green liquid that no one had been able to identify.

But whatever it was, Marcy had survived it and was now just as functional as any other, healthy young woman. Other than having a green liquid in her veins instead of blood anyway.

Either way, none of them had any answers to the details of how this had worked.

Was it some trace of the power still residing in them even after the main power was gone? Had being vessels for the gems changed them on the basic level?

The truth was they didn't know. They didn't know how it worked, the limitations, or anything about them really. And it wouldn't be until she was 91, that she would get the chance to ask the only one who could have explained it, about anything.

As she reminisced about this weird aspect of her life, she thought back to all those times she had a massive burst of strength when she needed it.

Holding back the giant red killer Mantis, running across the steam field during the trek to the spring at the top of the mountain, running from the giant rooster…

"The chicken!" Anne suddenly exclaimed, taking Sasha completely by surprise and making her jump in her seat.

"What? A chicken? Where?"

Anne almost laughed.

"No, no, not here. Back in Amphibia, there was this chicken, and… Well, It was during the first couple of months, and I was sooo tired of eating bug meat and vegetables, so when I heard there was this chicken hanging around nearby with eggs, I thought to myself, why don't me and Sprigg go over there and get ourselves some eggs to make delicious omelets out of?"

Sasha glanced over at her, frowning.

"Chickens in Amphibia grow 10 meters tall. Their roosters almost twice that."

"Yeah… I wasn't really all that familiar with how birds in Amphibia were all huge, evil monsters back then."

"Okay, but… I… Really don't see how this is related to what we were just talking about."

"Well, here's the thing, when me and Sprig inevitably had to run for our lives from the monster, we ran through this giant, open field… And there, on the other side of it? There was this giant horde of Toads running in a jog."

She grinned sheepishly.

"It was such an odd sight, even for Amphibia, but I'd completely forgotten about it until you mentioned training Toads with Jogging!"

Sasha's expression was one of shock.

"Wait… I REMEMBER that! Yeah, we were running, and on the other side of the field, there WAS a giant chicken running through it. Like, I don't recall seeing it chasing someone, but yeah, I remember that! Holy crap, if I'd just looked left, I'd have seen you!"

"Man, imagine that. We could have met WAY earlier. Man, can you imagine how different it could have been?"

Sasha didn't immediately reply. In fact, her expression turned sour.

"What's wrong?"

"You almost died… You almost died, and… I was right there… And I didn't even see you. I didn't even know you were there."

Oh, right. When you looked at it from that angle… Yeah, she understood Sasha's expression. It was one of regret.

"Eh, it's fine Sash. I "almost died" about twice a week back then."

"It really isn't Anne. You could have… I wouldn't have..."

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to be calm, obviously still conscious of the fact that she was driving.

"Well… You are right about the fact that things would have been different. For one… Well, Hop Pop didn't really become a symbol for the rebellion against Grime until after he ran for Mayor. That was the big turning point. Before that, he was just another frog not paying his taxes. And there were plenty of those."

"Um… He did pay his taxes. I know. I was there."

"Okay, so bad wording. The fact is that he was Seen by the rest of the valley as not paying his taxes. No one actually cared if he did or not. The important thing was that he stood up to the tax collectors, and that's what people cared about."

"So, political nonsense you mean."

"Yeah pretty much. My point is that if we'd met then, this would have been before Hop Pop became this big symbol of resistance when he stood up to Toadstool. Which in turn means Grime wouldn't have had any reason to kill him. Which means… Well… We wouldn't have had that big fight on top of Toad tower at the very least."

"Huh… Yeah, that… Makes sense."

The two of them drove the rest of the trip home in silence, each thinking in their own way, about how things could have gone so, so differently, had Sasha just turned her head left on a morning in Amphibia so long ago.

[khaleesiofalicante]

“Magnus. That was fifteen years ago.”

I’m sorry what ? He had 15 years to tell Shinyun before it got to a boiling point, and he didn’t? Like I thought their trying to figure out Edom heirdom or whatever started happening way before this ?

Also I’m confused about the ‘adopt her’ situation? I don’t know if its just that I am not picking up on a social cue there or what? Like it seems like the most beneficial solution to both Magnus and Shinyun, and I didn’t think Alec was saying like unadopt her after passing it on, was he? like I thought “that’s it” meant Magnus is done with Edom, why would it mean with Shinyun? He already has stuck with her, why wouldn’t he continue? but he jumped straight to Alec is saying drop Shinyun.

All I can think about is Shinyun right now so continuing. How often did her and Magnus see each other/talk to each other prior to Asmodeus dying? Cause like, they’re best friends (ish) but they don’t really tell each other anything?? or I guess Shinyun doesn’t, I don’t know.

Oof. Okay. There is a bit to unpack here. I'll give it a shot.

Yes. He found out 15 years ago and he didn't tell her. I understand his hesitation (even Shinyun says it's good that he didn't tell her because she would have reacted badly at that age) but still, he could have told her SOMETHING to kind of soften the blow. It's Magnus' fault here. So, yeah. I agree.

2. Alec did mean to "drop her". I think that was clear. Because he didn't deny it when Magnus questioned it. Also, just before this talk, Alec also said he doesn't care about Shinyun at all. You can't adopt people you hate like that. It will be so messy. I think that's another thing Magnus was worried about.

I think it's different for Magnus. If he "adopts" Shinyun, it's something he has to live with forever. I don't think he will take such a decision lightly. So, even if he gives up on Edom, he will be responsible for Shinyun. I don't think he wants that - which is fair. Also, not to mention, how this would affect Magnus and Rafe. So, I don't think it's a "simple" solution as Alec claimed it to be. I feel like it would make things worse tbh.

3. This is where it's a bit complicated. Idk maybe not. I wanted Magnus and Shinyun's friendship to be a little unconventional, but relatable for adults in their last 20s or 30s. For starters, let's remember they both live apart in diff countries and have incredibly busy lives. But that's just one thing. There are a lot of close friends who care for each other very much but barely talk to each other. For eg, my best friend and I (who also live in diff countries) only talk to each other once every four months. But if she calls me in the mid of a night saying her bf broke up with her (and she did) I will legit pack my bags and run to her (which I also did). I feel like these kinds of relationships need to be normalized. Where you don't talk all the time and tell each other everything but you are still very good friends. I would like to see more of this in media tbh.

I also wanted their friendship to reflect the canon friendship between warlocks, which is unique as we know. They don't meet all the time. They only meet each other in a few decades or even centuries. For example, take Magnus and Catarina. That woman legit raised a baby and watched him grow up and Magnus was not part of any of that. He didn't even know Ephraim. But he was there for her when Catarina lost the child. Same with Raphael and Magnus too. They don't see each other often but they are when shit gets real.

That's how I wanted to portray Shinyun and Magnus in TLND. It's a very diff friendship from what Jace and Alec have. But no less important. Just wanted to capture that :)

[kindkline]

June 24, 2022

Today was a great day.

Grayson was a great host, no bad dreams, and I got a lead on our case.

It turns out, Grayson’s aunt owns the B&B we’re staying at. He ended up joining me for breakfast instead of meeting in town. This, of course, meant Sam and Dean got nosy and treated breakfast like an interrogation.

“How’d you two meet?” “been in town long?” “popular with the girls at college?” — At that point, I kicked Dean under the table and glared at him and Sam to shut up. Grayson knew what they were doing, ugh, but he answered all their questions, smiling and cheerful the whole time. Since we had a head start, we finished up breakfast before the boys and booked it to town before they could insist on joining us.

Grayson showed me around the town square, the gazebo standing proudly in its center; the white painted banisters and supports untouched by the nature around it, every shingle intact, and brick base a deep red. It was all so pristine, clearly well cared for, and inviting. We spent quite a bit of time there before heading out to the woods.

At the library I had asked about weird sightings or stories, and after much.. persuasion Grayson admitted to odd happenings in town.

The first few people to go missing had been acquaintances of Grayson’s, all attending the only college in town. They’d been hanging out in the woods, he said. And apparently they found a playground on one of their outings. They were making it their new hangout spot, and the night they went missing they’d agreed to meet there; Grayson knows this because he was invited to the it last hangout, but couldn’t make it. Now he thinks something happened out there, but the police think the four adults just skipped down—they had reputations. The other adults who have been going missing had similar reputations.

That’s small time charm for ya.

Grayson did my research for me. It turns out the playground was a part of the town’s original church. A fire was said to have destroyed everything out there, but it seems that’s not the case. It doesn’t make much sense to me that the church was buried so deep in the woods in the first place, and Grayson is just as foggy with the why.

Small towns are weird like that, he said. No kidding…

Grayson deserves a normal, monster free life. I tried to tell him to stay out of the woods, but he’s persistent and I know the look. He’s in this for the long haul, and I guess I have no right to stop him. We’re going to look for this playground together tomorrow and while I can’t stop him, I can make sure he makes it out of this mess alive.

Jack was kind of quiet when I got back, but I think he was just tired. Probably had a long day after having to put up with Sam and Dean on his own.

The four of us will be doing our own searches of the woods at night. Here’s to hoping we find this place first.

song of the day:

[bakugohoex]

Can you do Jean x reader where they are both undercover at Marley 💕💕💕

part one: “this isn’t a date jean, we’re undercover”

paring: jean kirschtein x female reader

cw: season 4 spoiler but there is no manga spoiler at all, fluff, language 

word count: 2600+

a/n: i had to read so much for this fic, but i got the jist of it, again making sure you guys know there is no spoilers for the manga in here and onlt a season four spoiler do if you guys havent watched the latest episodes be warned

summary: in which you and jean are undercover doing reconnaissance in marley, want turns to investigating a local bar leads to feelings finally being brought out from the two of you

part two  | part three 

↞ back to attack on titan masterlist 

The dress you wore covered your thighs and knees, it hugged you, the soft material being a drastic change from your normal attire. It was a warm mid-day, birds chirped and the sound of Marleyans engulphed your ears. In the 6 years in which you had known Jean you hadn’t ever expect an undercover mission taking place in Marley of all places.

He walked with your hand in his own, you smiling softly as you spoke nonchalantly to one another. It was unamusing and more a distraction than anything else. He picked the newspaper up on the stall, paying quickly as he walked back, you followed which felt more like being dragged along by his strong grip.

The way the top of his fedora sat on his now long hair, he heard about the victory of the Marleyans from a passer-by and with his hand in your own he opened the newspaper up. It was reconnaissance, you and him both knew you were supposed to act like one of these people even if they did think of you both as devils.

“I think we should visit that bar that woman told us about, a lot of the men there get drunk and reveal a lot.”

He looked down at you, your hands still connected. He had grown so much in all these years now reaching over 6ft, his long hair and scattered hairs along his chin making gorgeous. He had become the leader both you and Marco knew he would become.

“They’ll all stare at you, why would I want that?” he mutters.

You laugh at his antics, “you’re such an idiot.”

“You’re the one holding my hand.”

“Jean it’s a mission we have to pretend to be together for the performance.”

He raised an eyebrow you had full view of his face; his eyes were tired from the late nights working on the next plan of action. But most importantly, the fact that the two of you had to share a bed. He couldn’t even touch you as your small frame would sometimes push against his chest.

You smiled at the boy getting him out of his trance before skimming through the newspaper again. “We’ll go tonight after the meeting.”

You nod as the two of you walk towards the docks of Liberio. Both you and Jean were in the internment zone, a nice old woman allowing you to stay on top of her shop. Even with her being nice her opinions on titans and those within the walls were a lot cruller than u had expected.

It had been awkward the first time sleeping beside each other, you both looked up. Not facing each other but instead watching as the clock ticked away until one of you fell asleep. You both woke up wrapped in each other’s arms, and an awkwardness had set between you two from that night. You both would try to face away from each other but one way in another you ended up touching each other in some way.

He helped you up the stairs to where the little shop was kept, you both had gained some currency mostly from stealing it, but you never expected to stay here long. Only to find information until the true invasion would begin. Of course, the others were already here in their own recon missions, but you and Jean had been the first ones and had found out the most about this stupid town.

The biggest thing being that they hated Eldians of any type. You both walked through the double doors the woman smiling at how pretty you both looked together.

You had a meeting with the rest of the survey corps, Hange leading it, you got changed into what you’d wear to the bar knowing it was going to be a long night.

Jean stood at the door watching at how you easily took the dress off. You both didn’t care about changing clothes in front of each other, you’d seen worse from each other and it meant nothing after the tortures of titans.

The short dress fitted you perfectly and as Jean eyed you up and down, he craved any touch by you. He had taken the blue tie off and the suit jacket and waistcoat off leaving him in the white button up and trousers.

You smiled at how his hair stuck to the back of his neck, when he had first started growing his hair out you had loved it seeing the boy turn into a man. You both had changed since your cadet days and as much as you missed it you couldn’t say that being an adult didn’t have its perks.

“You know Y/n, I’d definitely accept any date proposals from you.”

You rolled your eyes at him, he always tormented you with the flirting. “Jean you really are a pain in my ass.”

“Such vulgar words from a pretty woman.”

You wanted to stab him with your ODM gear but instead stuck with jabbing him with your knee into his stomach. Normally when he was a lot younger it hurt him easily, but he seemed unfazed by the action almost finding it cute.

“Why did u have to grow so much? Short Jean was better.”

“Are you saying 15-year-old me is better than now me?”

You think back at the boy, bringing your finger to your chin. “Both you and 15-year-old you are pains to be around.”

He moves his face to your ear you could feel the hairs brush against your cheek from his chin as he spoke, “it’s okay Y/n we both know how you really feel.”

Rolling your eyes, he grabbed your hand almost out of instinct, you both leaving the shop as quickly as you came. Turning the many corners that Hange had told you to take after each different meeting.

The amount of walks you both went on should be unnecessary but the people of Liberio barely batted an eyelash at the two on you.

The dress was low cut and having all these new clothes made your heart warm up. You hadn’t worn different clothes in years, always the same uniform which you grew to dislike.

“Hange really sent us on a fucking expedition.” You mutter as you lean against Jean’s side.

He leads the way walking towards an unknown battered up building. It looked like it was being constructed and you were met with the scouts.

They eyed you both up your outfits standing out. “running late per usual.” Levi mutters.

As much as you had grown on Captain Levi, he still had a discomfort towards most of you. Both Jean and you let go of hands with ease standing beside each other. Before the meeting begun mostly talking about what had occurred and most significantly the defeat of Marleyans against the Mid-East.

“You know what that means, sometime soon is our time to act.” You professed, the new knowledge coming as a relief as it would soon be time for your plan to truly occur.

Armin and Mikasa spoke, the whereabouts of Eren being unknown due to his consistent disappearances. Watching these people grow you truly understood the mutual torment you all felt. As you were all dismissed all you could think about was the consistent opposition you all faced.

“I think the bars down here.” Jean retakes your hand as you smiled at him.

“Once this is over what do you think will happen.” You ask him softly.

“I don’t know.”

“Remember when we first met, and you were adamant on becoming an MP.” He listened raising an eyebrow. “Look at you now Mr Commanding Officer.”

You were proud of your friend he had worked hard to achieve this status. “You really are proud of me aren’t yah.”

You rolled your eyes gently hitting his side. “I’m telling the truth I’m proud of you.”

You had been timid in your choice of words you were proud, and he knew you were proud of him. Walking into the bar, the significant smell of alcohol mixed with sweat made you grossed out.

It was a rule to not drink under the survey corps and you hadn’t really cared for drinking. So, the sight of so many drunk people drove you mad, how easily a night of drinking could lead to a failed future.

Jean pulled out a chair for you before going to the bar, “I’ll get your favourite.”

You nodded playing with your fingers trying to listen in on the conversations that were occurring. Many Marleyans chatting shit about the Eldians and most specifically those of paradise island.

Your fist clenched as Jean brought two drinks out. “What is it?” You question looking at the red drink in front of you.

“You told me you liken cranberry juice once, i got you some”.

Your eyes widened at the boy, “Jean i said that like years ago.”

“Shows you how much i do care about you.” You rolled your eyes sipping on the drink. You both conversed but remained consistent with your spying on individuals.

“Those guys are talking about you.” Jean coughed out sipping his drink.

“I should go up to them i might get some information.”

“Don’t.” You raise an eyebrow going up to his ear. “They might steal you away.”

“This isn’t a date Jean, we’re undercover.” The way you spoke his name made him melt, he wanted to hear more of your voice specifically moaning his name out.

You stood up ready to go speak to them before you heard something come from their mouths. “If i ever saw one of those island folks I’d slit their throats and make their kids watch.”

You felt sick to the stomach by the comment and wanted to leave. Jean hadn’t heard it and as you stood frozen, he called out your name.

“Let’s get u outside.” He whispers taking your hand as you silently followed. “Are you okay?”

You nod, “I guess it just hit me we’re hated here the way the act towards us is the way we used to act against titans.”

You felt his arms wrap around you. He knew you hadn’t spoken much about the comments and that now you hit the realisation you’d confide in him more.

“I want to go back to the shop.” He nods as a comfortable silence settled in.

You cling to his arm wrapping your hands around his own. He loved the way you cling onto him like he was your protector, and you were his queen.

Walking down a long alleyway, you see some Marley men smoking and drinking. They’d be easy targets if you wanted to kill them, hearing them speak and whistle as you both walked past. Before one of them grabbing your wrist made Jean’s instincts kick in.

He punched the guy who had touched you, his filthy hands still lingering close to your body. The way Jean with ease was able to put down the two men who looked bruised and battered.

He put his hand out for you to take, he didn’t speak. Just bringing you the comfort you needed from this whole new world experience. Everything was so much bigger outside the walls and you couldn’t ever imagine putting innocent people in walls to keep them trapped.

The events of the night led to an uncomfortable silence once you arrived back to little room on top of the shop. He stripped his shirt off due to the excessive dirt it had got on it. You admired his body, the way each muscle sat perfectly on his abdomen.

You sat on the bed fidgeting with your clothes, you played with the hem of the dress which Jean could see your upper thigh from you doing.“Do you want to talk more about it?”

“I just… i guess it’s the reality.” You muttered as Jean sat beside you his shirt off. Titans seemed less scary than any of these indoctrinated Marleyans any day.

In the years Jean had known you seeing you vulnerable and passive made his heart ache. He took you by the hand letting you attach yourself to his side.

You were scared about the upcoming invasion and even worse you didn’t even know who you’d be fighting. The uncertain of it all being too much.

He walked up to you, moving closer to your smaller frame. “You didn’t have to punch those guys, I...I would’ve said something.”

“Y/n, you’ve been silent all night, you expect me to believe that you would’ve done something.” He bends down his knees touching the ground as he kneeled in front of you. His hands moving to your own stopping you from playing with your dress anymore.

Bringing your hands up to his mouth he kissed it as you could see some bruises, you stroked your thumb against the bruises hopefully it would settle down with some ice later. “What you said back in the bar?” You start to speak but you really had nothing to say, “about not going to those men.”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt if you talked to them and…” He trailed off.

“And?” You question.

He looked up at your bright face filled with love and happiness something he hadn’t seen in a very long time. “And you bring joy, in a shitty world like this I guess you’re the only one who truly brings a smile on my face.”

“Jean when did you get so sappy.” You giggle at his flustered look.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Make me.” The tone in your voice was begging him to take you.

He rolls his eyes, his tongue flicking against the inside of his mouth as he stood up looking at you. He was even taller than before. You were a mouse compared to his frame; he bent his back bringing his face closer towards yours before a hand was placed on your cheek.

He closed the gap between the two of you, making your back hit the bed. His other hand moved to your side as he was on kissing you whilst he was on top. Your back arched at the movements wanting to feel his body on your own, as you deepened the kiss. Your hands in his long hair pulling his body closer to your own, as you felt the hardness come from his trousers.

“This was your plan all along, wasn’t its baby.” He spoke stoically a cocky grin plastered to his face.

You smirked as he let go of your lips, moving his mouth to your neck as he moved your dress down your body, with your collarbone and neck revealed for him. He left marks and sucked on spots making you moan his name loudly.

“I’d…I… would n…never.” The moans engulphed you, you craved him even more.

He had never expected to hear you moan his name, and the sound of it, with you underneath fuelled him even more to continue the act. You closed your eyes as he bit and sucked on your collar before licking the side of your neck. The saltiness it brought making him lick his lips before he went back to kissing you.

The kiss was deeper, quicker than it previously had been, you placed your hands on his exposed chest. The way a single touch from you sent shivers down his spine, “I’ve always like you, y’know.”

“I assumed so.” You giggled, his body was on top of you trapping you between his broad arms and shoulders. It was a sight and you loved it.

You brought yourself up leaning up with your elbows, your dress was half off you and the way he looked at you knew that what would happen tonight had been long awaited from many many years ago. 

proceed to part two here

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[borhap-au]

Stargazing with Ben. 

“So what’s that one?” Ben pointed at the sky, showing you a random set of stars. It was well into the night, you were lying on a blanket, on a hill. You wanted to show him everything uncle Brian taught you about cosmos when you were a little girl.

“You’re looking at it all wrong,” you chuckled quietly, shaking your head. “Those are two different constellations. They’re called Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Look, there is its head, and the rest is its body.” You got closer to him and pointed with your finger exactly where the stars were. He nodded his head, understanding more or less where they were located.

“What’s an Ursa?” he asked, looking at you. He smiled, but it was one of those smiles reserved only for people whose view makes one’s heart skip a beat. His eyes were full of love and devotion.

“It’s a Latin word for a bear. They’re basically two bears, a small one and a bigger one,” you explained and Ben looked at you shocked.

“Bears?” he asked, the way he’d normally say ‘are you joking?’ and looked at the sky once more, trying to figure it out. “They don’t have any legs!” You chuckled at his remark. He was in fact right, but it was still adorable how little he knew about the sky that he could observe every single night.

“You have to use a little imagination, Benny. They’re stars, not one of these connect the dots worksheets,” you got closer to him and rested your head on his chest. He put his arm around you and pet your back. “Plus, some people say those smaller stars can be viewed as the legs of Ursa Major. One way or another, you have to know they were named centuries ago. People used to draw a few lines on the walls of a cave and called it art. Things have changed,” you explained, moving your hand slowly on the side of his body.

“Alright, alright, I get it now,” he nodded his head. “But you have to admit, it takes a lot of faith and imagination to believe they are in fact two bears,” he chuckled and you agreed.

“Maybe it was easier for me to understand and accept it because I was a little girl then. Children have more imagination than adults, or at least they’re more skillful at using it. I just looked and believed.” You looked at his face smiling. He put his hand under his head to get it higher and see you better. Then he smiled as well.

“So Brian taught you, huh? I guess that’s like the best thing ever. Being taught about stars by an astrophysicist who’s also a rock legend,” he chuckled softly, and then he added, “second best, of course. After being taught by you.” He leaned towards you and kissed your forehead. You blushed a little and looked down, being surprised by such a sweet and unexpected compliment.

“Well, thank you, but trust me, he explained it much better. He’s the one that got me hooked on the topic. Did you know my old room had the Solar System stickers on the ceiling? They glowed in the dark. He bought me them,” you smiled under your breath remembering that. You didn’t know uncle Freddie personally and you didn’t remember uncle John. So Brian was the closest to your heart from the band, apart from your dad of course.

“That’s so cool. And now you can share your knowledge with an ignorant like me,” his smile uncovered a little embarrassment he must’ve felt because of it.

“Can you see that one? Those stars form sort of a snake, do you know which ones I mean?” You asked, trying to point him in the right direction.

“Yeah, yeah, I think I know what you mean,” he squinted his eyes, examining the sky.

“That’s called Draco. Do you know what Draco means?” You asked, kind of already expecting the answer.

“Of course I do. I grew up in the 1990s in England, everybody knows Harry Potter,” he smiled proudly. “By the end of the 90s I already knew how to read and it was my favorite book. Draco means a dragon. And these stars kinda look like one… Just slightly malnourished,” he joked and you chuckled with him.

“I just love how judgmental you are towards the people who named these constellations,” you chuckled some more.

“I can totally be judgmental, I know so much about the universe already,” it was obviously a joke, but on second thought, he was right.

“Much more than the people who named them, for sure. For example, what’s in the center of the Solar System?”

“The Sun. And the Earth circles around the Sun, not the other way around. I’m so knowledgeable I cannot deal with myself,” he laughed and then kissed your head.

“And what’s the name of the Polish astronomer who discovered that?” This question was met with silence, so you smiled under your breath and answered it yourself. “Nicolaus Copernicus. His work was titled ‘On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.’ And you should at least know Galileo!”

“I do, I do! But I cannot sing that high, for the life of me,” his laugh once again filled up the quiet atmosphere.

“Well, can you at least sing that low?” You asked, and he, of course, had to try it. It was quite funny, hearing his attempt, but also quite cute. He tried so hard to impress you. “Very well. Almost like the original.” He smiled proudly when he heard that compliment and hugged you.

“Thank you,” he kissed your head again. Maybe he liked the smell of your shampoo.

“So, what’s our galaxy called? You know, the one Solar System is in,” you asked, not giving up on the plan to teach him about the universe. He hesitated, trying to remember.

“Bloody hell… I didn’t expect a test, I might’ve prepared better,” he smiled apologetically.

“There’s a chocolate bar named like that… It’s a very good one, and it looks completely different in the US and in the rest of the world. You probably know it in the blue version…,” you tried to direct him to the right answer.

“Milky Way! Man, I used to love them as a kid,” he smiled remembering. “I’d love to eat one now. Damn, the list is getting bigger and bigger,” he chuckled, and you looked at him curiously.

“The list? What list?” you asked him, looking him in the eyes, interested.

“Of things I dream of. Something I’d love to do, you know,” he shrugged, smiling. You raised your brow.

“So, what else do you dream of? Anything I could help with?” You asked him, smiling.

“Well… I always wanted to be kissed under the stars,” you smiled widely hearing that. “You know, I’m not very romantic, but that’s just something that seems like fun-“ he wasn’t able to finish, because before he did, you kissed him. He smiled kissing you back. Ben leaned in your direction and put his hand on your cheek. You prolonged the kiss as long as you could because secretly you dreamt of being kissed under the night sky too. Or just of being kissed by Ben. When you stopped kissing, he softly kissed your forehead.

“That was nice,” he said, smiling at you. You smiled back, as he brought you closer to himself. You rested your head on his chest. “We should do that more often,” he added.

“Yes, I also think you need many more lessons,” you smirked, looking at him.

“I meant the kissing,” he explained and winked to you.

“Oh, I know,” you muttered under your breath and looked at the sky again, being grateful for that one shooting star you made a wish to. It certainly came true that night.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Vicious

Part VII

Pairing: Steve x reader, Bucky x reader, Thor x reader, Loki x reader, Peter x reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, stalking, possessiveness, theft, mention of blackmail, all characters are adults.

Words: 1864.

Summary: Transferring to Stark Academy that has only allowed to take in female students last semester, you realize you are just one of three young women among hundreds of students. Your things are constantly being stolen, and soon you begin fearing for your safety.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

________

You wanted to slap yourself. What the hell was wrong with you today? Why did you tell Peter that?!

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...” Completely baffled with you behavior, you were deeply ashamed, unable to look the guy in the eyes and wanting nothing but fall into the earth.

“Ah, I got it. It’s Steve, isn’t it?” All of a sudden, Peter let out an irritated sigh, rolling his eyes skywards and rubbing his neck. “Of course, who else would say such nonsense. Blackmail, really? Funny he didn’t call me a stalker or anything.”

“Listen, I didn’t mean it, I’m really-”

“It’s ok.” He closed the locker, slamming its door loudly and making you jump. “It’s not your fault. If I heard that from somebody, I’d be scared too.”

He spent a couple of seconds staring into the wall until he rubbed his neck again tiredly and huffed. It took him less than a minute to regain his composure, and you heard him murmuring, “What a freak.”

He didn't return to the corridor, heading to the sports hall for his PE class, instead moving to the bench in the locker room and motioning you to sit. Feeling terribly awkward, you hoped he wasn't going to do anything out of anger, even though he had every right to be upset at your stupid behavior.

"About what he said," Peter took a deep breath, "it's nothing like that. I don't dig up some nasty stuff in the web to blackmail people. I've never done it. The reason why Mr. I-am-better-than-you said that is because I've made him take me into his little bodyguard group when I heard him talking to Loki. You're nice, and I wanted to help. Of course, Steve started acting like I was some creep, so he refused, and I had to remind him that, technically, he had to report your issue to the administration, not play a hero. I said that if I go and tell the whole story to the dean, Steve's gonna be in trouble because he knew who thieves were and didn't report them."

It was a loud off your mind. Goodness. Rogers called this a blackmail? Really? Just because Peter pushed Steve into taking him into their group?

You were less and less sure Rogers was sane. You definitely had to be careful around him.

"I can't believe he called it a blackmail." You admitted quietly, and the guy sent you a tired smile. "Peter, I'm so, so sorry. It was so stupid of me."

"Nah, don't worry. I'd freak out too if I didn't know the whole story."

You knew your apologies weren't enough, but you hoped Peter didn't take it to heart - if you can take such an accusation easily, that is. Shit, shit, shit, why did you believe everything these guys were saying? You didn't even know them in the first place! Why on Earth did you go asking them their opinions on others if all of them were biased, and every guy could twist the truth the way he liked? You shouldn't have let their words affect you that much.

"Whatever. At least now you know what Rogers is like." Peter sent you a grim smile and got up, picking his bright yellow sackpack from the floor. "Shit, I gotta go if I don't wanna be late. Let's meet in a library later, alright?"

"O-of course." You hurriedly stood up and left the lockers room after him, turning to the library: your Lit class was cancelled, so you decided to go study right away. At this time, the library was usually full, and you felt safe there.

Your thoughts were all about the guys again even when you were staring at your laptop, trying to focus on Excel numbers. Why did you feel like the atmosphere between them was so dense? If they were at such terms with each other, why did they group together to help you? What, because all of them loved you so much? It was ridiculous. There was something else to it, and you didn't know. You had a feeling no one was going to tell you the truth until you figured it all out by yourself.

Weird. It was all so weird. Steve's plan, their behavior, the relationships between them, and your nagging feeling they all were hiding something. Was it them who were actually following you?

The thought scared you to the point you started shivering. Oh shit.

"Hi there," the guy appeared behind your back so suddenly you almost jumped, looking at him wide-eyed, "sorry, did I startle you?"

"H-hi Jake! No, it's ok, I was just... studying." Both of you were talking in hushed voices, knowing the librarian would kick you out immediately if she heard some noise. "How are you?"

"I'm great, how're you?" You could hear concern in his voice: he was one of Thor's friends you met yesterday, and although you spoke briefly, Thor definitely told him more about you. "You look a bit worried."

"Oh, it's Math, I didn't really understand the topic, and we're having an exam on Monday... guess I'll be studying the whole weekend." You gave him your best smile to reassure you were totally ok, and the guy relaxed a little, smiling at you, too.

"I'm sure you'll pass. Thor said you're very smart."

What, he said that to all of them? Was he simply boasting about his girlfriend to his friends or was there something more to it?

"You're too kind. Thank you."

His smile grew wider, and he landed on the next seat to yours, resting his hands on the table. Apparently, there was something he wanted to talk to you about, and you grew uneasy.

"Listen, about these incidents... Thor told us all about it, so if you see any freaks following you around, you can message any of us, and we'll come right away." Looking at his serious expression, his bushy brows furrowed, you hoped he eas being sincere with you: you had enough with people you could no longer trust. "And also... that kid, if he's giving you troubles or anything, just let me know, and I'll tell him to keep his hands to himself"

Oh, he was talking about Peter, wasn't he? He had probably seen that silly photo. Wow, you though, Peter was totally right about Instagram: it was the best news source in the academy.

Thanking him for his concern, you laughed a little, convincing him there was nothing serious except for the theft and promising to tell him if anything weird would be going on. While it should have made you feel safer, in fact, you only grew more frustrated with this situation. You wanted to forget about these freaks and just spend you day like any normal student would, but everywhere you went people were staring at you as if you had a horn; one boyfriend or the other was always close to protect you from some unknown danger, and although you believed they tried to help, you hated the feeling they were hiding something from you. Why did you have to be going through all this? Wasn't it really better to drop off school, spend a year working and then apply to a better place?

Thinking of the faces your parents would make once you returned home, you realized it wasn't. This school with all those creeps wasn't worse than home that never felt like a safe place you wanted to come back to. Besides, all money you saved up until now were only good for buying food and things like that: you'd never afford to rent a decent place unless you found a well-paid job. It meant staying with your parents, and it wouldn't be much better than here, just different. If you wanted to drop off, you had to find a good place to stay.

Well, you could at least try, right?

When Peter met you in the library, the two of you no longer talked about anything important, simply studying together to prepare for the exams next week. It didn't feel off: from time to time you met his gaze, and the both of you smiled. You were thankful he didn’t talk about Steve or other guys or that weirdo in the lockers room.

Once you returned home, you went straight to bed, completely exhausted. Luckily, you did much more than yesterday, so you could rest now, but then you thought of Thor kissing you and bit down the pillow, angry at yourself. Why did you keep thinking of him right now?

______________

When you woke up the next morning, you felt like something was off: your body ached, your throat hurt, and your headache was only making it worse. Dammit, you caught a cold, probably. And that’s when it was finally the day to meet Steve, the guy you thought was a mastermind behind all these manipulations that were making you sick to the core. 

Anyway, it’s not like a mere cold would prevent you from doing everything you had planned. You left your bed and went to the bathroom, moving the dresser before again. 

Honestly, it felt terrible. It was definitely because of that flimsy dress you wore to school yesterday when the weather was becoming chilly. Argh. Watching your puffy eyes and swollen nose, you sneezed. Today you had to apply way more makeup to look decently.

Steve showed up earlier than either Thor or Peter: you had to skip your breakfast, hoping to buy something cheap in the cafeteria.

“Good morning.” He said with his everyday polite expression that soon shifted into a concerned one. “Are you alright?”

What, was it that bad? You did your absolute best to apply enough makeup and do your hair. Did you still look so sick?

“Good morning. Yes, I’m ok, just feeling a little sleepy.” You yawned on purpose, covering your mouth with your hand, and Steve’s face softened.

“Did you study all night?”

“Yep, exams are driving me a little crazy.”

“I understand. I also stayed late last night.”

Of course, the student council president studying all days long to be number one student in the academy. If you didn’t know of his twisted nature, you’d think he was the most typical nerd.

You spent most of the time either in silence or talking about studies, the academy, and everything related to it. Steve acted like a gentleman and a scholar, albeit a little too demonstratively. Walking with you as if he were a king of the place, he constantly replied to greetings of others, waved to his acquaintances and smiled. You felt so off you wanted to find Loki and walk with him: unlike Steve, he was considered unpleasant by the prevailing majority of students.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” America golden boy asked you for the last time, and you forced yourself to smile.

“Of course. Thanks for coming, see you later, Steve.”

As he finally left you in peace, you almost fell down into your chair, your fever only getting worse despite the fact you took some painkillers. It was going to be a long day.

_________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   ​@helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin ​@inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherub @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @sarge-barnes-sir @buckybarnesplumwhore @jaysayey @megzdoodle @gotnofucks @lux-ravenwolf @ximebebx @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @sourpatchspinster @biiskuitx @stupendouslovegardener @iheartsebandchris @lovelydarkdaydream @soleil-dor @illyrianprincess @vampirestrawberries @goodgodimaweirdperson @frontmanash @freya-heya @yandematic @mariatietacapitu @d3monslust @maybesandohnos @ibeatuptwinks @mangobangi @nectav @whatever-happened-to-the-ducks

[spencerspecifics]

HI HI HI PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE MOREID AT PRIDE AND SOME PINING AND SPENCER THINKS DEREK IS STRAIGHT BUT HE ISN'T AND THEY KIIIITTTTTHHHHH

I absolutely love your energy fuck yes!! I’m so sorry this took forever, ive got school, work and some other personal things happening so I appreciate your patience!

No TW, B u t, a creep hits on Spencer at pride, so if that is upsetting please note that! Thanks :)

———————————————————————

Pride

———————————————————————

Garcia had been pestering Spencer about going to pride for the past week now, and it was slowly driving him insane.

He used almost every excuse he could think of. When he first turned her down, he had simply said, “Sorry, I’m going to be busy that week.” And of course, Garcia being Garcia, she stole his calendar to see what he was busy with (spoiler alert: he had nothing. Except a reminder to go grocery shopping, and email some professors and research scientists back).

So, she persisted, and he came up with a dozen more excuses; “I was considering flying out to see my mom”, “The local museum has a new interactive archeology exhibit for adults, and I want to learn more about ancient structures”, “I have to do a presentation on thermodynamics”.

None of those excuses work, as she sniffed out every lie, “Spencer, you hate flying to Vegas last minute, that archaeology exhibit has been open for months, and your calendar is empty!”

So with her persistence, and legitimate bullying, Spencer found himself finally agreeing. “Fine, but come over to my apartment before we leave so you can help me.” After all, he wasn’t really familiar with pride parades, and what the scene was like there. He was going to be a fish out of water, he already knew that for certain.

~

True to her word, Garcia showed up an hour before the pride parade was set to start, carrying a coffee in each hand- how she possibly knocked on his apartment door, Spencer didn’t know.

“I brought you a pick me up, that way you have no excuse to be in a bad mood!” She spoke in her signature sing song voice as Spencer let her inside, she barreled in like a hurricane. God, Spencer wasn’t ready for this.

“Thanks..” Spencer decided to reply with that lame response, and not with what he was actually thinking. He took the coffee from her wordlessly as she stepped in further, going to sit down on his couch.

“You excited?” Garcia asked as she set her cup down on his cluttered coffee table. Reid just shrugged, “I don’t know. I don’t do great with crowds.”

“But you do great with disarming murderers?” “You know that’s different-” Spencer said, doing his best to argue, “Reid it is literally not. Both are anxiety inducing, but one is life or death, and it’s not pride. So you can do this.”

Spencer sighed, resigning himself to not arguing with Garcia. Because she was right, though at times her arguments sounded wild. He just had to get over this anxiety and show up at pride, he could do this, right?

~

Wrong. So, very, wrong. They had left his apartment with thirty minutes to spare, deciding to walk over to where pride was being held- as it was only a few blocks away in a public park.

And as soon as they got there, Spencer wanted out. There were so many people, more than he estimated (and his estimations were usually spot on.), and there was just chaos everywhere. Music, dancing, shouting, singing, drag queens running around happily. Spencer wasn’t sure what to do. He was out of his element.

Garcia seemed to sense that, though, as she dragged Spencer over to some stalls that sold pride flags, pins, and other miscellaneous pride related things.

“C’mon Reid, why don’t you look around and find something you like?” She offered up, something for him to do- something for him to stay busy with. He could do that. Spencer nodded simply, Garcia stayed by his side- looking at pride related wear for herself.

~

Spencer ended up deciding on a small pin that simply said; “love all”, planning to stick it on his messenger bag strap. Garcia bought a pin as well, but hers just had her pronouns on them; “she/her/hers”.

Looking at all the pride apparel was a good distraction for Spencer, he felt a lot more calmer now- though that didn’t stop him from feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb. He’s just not familiar with this world, and it’s awkward to suddenly be in the middle of it.

Spencer was in the middle of looking at another booth that sold flags, possibly considering buying himself a small one to stick in his pencil cup at work, because Garcia left him to go compliment a drag queen- when a voice broke through.

“Hey, pretty boy!”

That was a voice all too familiar, what on earth was Morgan doing here? Spencer looked up at him as he made his way towards him. “Hey,” Spencer spoke awkwardly. Not sure what to say.

Spencer was gay. He was fine with admitting he was gay, but he hadn’t really told the team. He thought they figured it out on their own. And they probably had, but still, having his coworker see him at a pride event- it was anxiety inducing.

“What’re- what’re you doing here?” Spencer asked, stumbling over his words as he dropped the small flag he was holding back onto the vendors table.

“Oh, well I’m on the local PFLAG committee. I’m just here to hand out flyers and stuff. But I’m glad to see you’re here, I’m guessing Garcia’s here too?” He asked Spencer casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Spencer.

He was on the PFLAG committee? Why? To help queer people, obviously, but that had to mean he was gay or something- Spencer couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with every possible answer to why Derek was on the committee.

Spencer just nodded in response, he moved himself back from the vendors table to get out of the way, so other customers could look at the flags being sold.

“Yeah, she’s- there.” Reid pointed her out, as if on cue she came out of the thick crowd that had started to gather back up, the parade portion of pride had concluded by now, and people were coming over to the vendors section.

“Hey, Babygirl!” Derek called over to her, and Garcia somehow lit up with a smile brighter than the one she was wearing before, “Well, hey!” She responded enthusiastically, walking up swiftly to give Derek a quick embrace, which he happily returned.

“I wasn’t sure how long you were staying for, but I’m glad I caught you!” Garcia started rambling to Derek, about how the drag queen she met was so nice; “Her name was Mysteria Hysteria. Isn’t that genius?”.

~

Spencer just stepped back from them both, not sure what to do, not sure if he fully belonged. Pride was a nice event, it was. But the longer he stood around, the more he felt like he should be leaving. Everyone was laughing and smiling, everyone was just happy. And Spencer couldn’t stop racking his brain. In the beginning, he couldn’t stop thinking because of his anxiety, but now he was searching his brain for a reason why Derek was here and what it meant.

Of course, a stupid large portion of Spencer’s mind went to “maybe Morgan likes men”, and then an even larger and stupider portion of his mind had the absurdity to think; “maybe he’s interested in me”. Which Spencer did not even want to remotely entertain, because if he fell down that rabbit hole, he’d never climb back out.

Because yes, he did like Derek. He liked him a lot, the start for his liking towards the man was innocuous enough- which is why it was a problem for Spencer. He didn’t realized he liked Morgan until it was too late. And now he had been battling these feelings for years. Spencer wasn’t ever going to act on them, he just had to live with them- which he had been doing, which he has been content with. But this new information, about Morgan being here, being part of PFLAG- it was going to make Reid’s mind implode in on itself.

~

Reid decided the best thing was to say; “I’m gonna get some water, I’ll be back.” To which Derek and Garcia both nodded to, and Spencer was off, away from the vendors stand and the only two people he knew at pride.

And while that was a good thing, it was simultaneously not so good. Because now he was alone, overwhelmed, and thinking too much. And now he had a task to do, find himself some water.

~

That task seemed to be more difficult than anticipated, as the prides layout was a confusing maze, spencer had to pass in front of a group of drag queens in order to get to the food trucks that were on site- but he eventually got there.

He walked up to the first food truck he saw, it didn’t matter what they sold, he wasn’t getting it.

“What can I get for you?” The cashier asked him, “Just a water, please.” He ordered, the cashier nodded and pulled a bottle out from a cooler that was nearby within the truck, handing it over to spencer as they told him his total, a dollar twenty five. Spencer paid quickly, stepping back and away from the food truck, as he wasn’t sure where else to go now. He didn’t want to go back towards Derek or Garcia, he honestly wanted to go home.

He just needed a minute, some space and time to breathe and relax. He was stressing himself out. And about what? Nothing of goddamn importance, just a stupid crush he had been living with for a while now.

~

Spencer had been leaning against the back the food truck for not long, only a couple of minutes as he was absorbed in thought as he fiddled with the cap on the water bottle.

He was doing his best to follow the grounding techniques he had learned, something to help him calm down, when suddenly- a stranger emerged out of the crowd.

“Hey there, handsome.” The man said confidently as he strode up to introduce himself Spencer. Spencer looked up to meet his eyes, the man in question was a fine looking guy, chiseled jawline, long shoulder length hair, a bit of facial stubble. He was handsome. “Hello,” Spencer answered hollowly in response. In an ordinary situation, he would try and seem more lively- but he wasn’t in a normal situation, not at all.

The anxiety of attending pride was stress enough on its own, but now knowing the guy he had been drooling over for years was here- and worked as a PFLAG volunteer? It was enough to make him lose his mind.

The man didn’t seem to notice Spencer’s empty response, however, as he answered suavely in response; “I couldn’t help but notice you from across the way. I’m Fabian,” Thankfully, the man- Fabian, didn’t stick his hand out for a handshake, instead casually pushing his hair back a bit.

“I’m Spencer,” Reid replied simply, knowing it was best to ride this odd social interaction out, rather than try and fight it. “That’s a lovely name,” Fabian complimented, “Is this your first time at pride, Spencer?” He asked him casually, taking a step forward, closer to Spencer. He was all too confident for Spencer, he too comfortable with invading Spencer’s space. If Spencer could’ve, he would’ve stepped back.

“Uh, yeah. My friend dragged me along.” Reid explained, twisting the bottle cap back onto his half empty water bottle. Fabian nodded, “Your boyfriend didn’t take you?” Fabian asked him. That was a leading question, Spencer had alarm bells ringing in his head the second he heard it. “No. He- um- he met up with us here.” Spencer replied unconvincingly, Fabian obviously did not believe a word he said.

“Well,” Fabian took another step forward, practically blocking Reid in against the back of the food truck, leaning in farther to whisper in Spencer’s ear; “I don’t see him around. So, why don’t you and I get out of here? Hm?”

Spencer wasn’t sure of what to do. He wanted to kick this guy in the crotch and just book it, but he wasn’t sure if his FBI status would protect him in this scenario. He wasn’t sure what could protect him in this scenario.

“Pretty boy! There you are!” A saving grace broke through, and suddenly Fabian was stepping back, and Morgan was walking up.

Thank god, thank fucking god, that’s all Spencer could manage to think as Derek came to stand beside him. “Hey, babe.” Spencer said, cringing at his voice, at what he just said. But that feeling only lasted for a moment as Fabian was still standing right there, staring them both down now.

Spencer could only throw his wish in the sky and hope Derek caught it coming down, ‘please catch along to why I’m calling you babe’ Reid was trying to say.

And Derek caught it, “Hey, baby, was worried about you. Who’s your friend?” He said in his smooth voice, a voice Spencer couldn’t forget. He especially couldn’t forget now, being called ‘baby’ was something Spencer especially could not forget.

“I’m Fabian, you’re Spencer’s boyfriend?” Fabian asked, as if them both calling each other ‘babe’ counted for nothing. “Yeah, I’m Derek.” Morgan responded simply, sliding his hand around Spencer’s waist as if to prove a point. Fabian just nodded, looking between Spencer and Derek one last time before talking; “Well, it was nice to meet you, I’ve gotta get going. See you.”

And then, he was off, fast walking away from Derek and Reid, escaping the terrible situation he had created. Fabian quickly disappeared into the thick crowd, and by then Spencer had his hand squeezing his water bottle all too tightly- as evident by the terrible crunch sound it made. He was too anxious to let go.

“Hey, are you okay?” Derek asked him softly, pulling his hand away from Spencer’s waist. “Can we find somewhere else- can we go sit down?” Spencer asked him quickly. Reid didn’t want to talk about it right this second, right where it had happened. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave pride and never come back.

~

Derek didn’t ask a single follow up question as he led Reid away from the food trucks, taking him back towards the vendors stands, and then a bit further back, into the normal-not-so-pride-parade-filled park area. Somewhere less stressful, less scary.

“What did that guy want?” Derek asked Spencer casually as they made their way towards a bench that was sat under a large oak tree. Spencer didn’t speak right away, instead he waited until they were seated to start talking.

“He was trying to flirt, but then he wanted me to leave with him.” Spencer explained as he took a deep breath in, just being away from all the loud sounds and sights was helping him calm down. Derek rubbed Spencer’s back in slow, circular motions as Spencer kept talking.

“He was a classic example of a narcissistic personality, it just made me so uncomfortable- he invaded my space.”

“He was a creep, Reid. Simple as that,” Derek kept rubbing Spencer’s back slowly, Spencer nodded. “I know. Sorry, it shook me up.” Spencer attempted to apologized, and Derek was immediately having none of that.

“Reid, no. Don’t apologize for that, don’t you dare. He was a creep, I’m sorry you got caught up with him. It’s okay if you’re shaken up. We can stay here until you feel up to going back, or we can leave. But I’m not leaving you.”

~

And so they sat for a good amount of time on that park bench, at one point Derek stopped rubbing Spencer’s back, instead just keeping his arm stretched out against the back of the bench and against Spencer’s back. Spencer loved it, but he knew if he thought about it for too long he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking. That was his biggest problem, he couldn’t stop thinking.

He had to know, he decided, he couldn’t just wonder why Derek was on the committee for PFLAG. He wanted to know, he had to.

“Derek?” He spoke up softly, sounds of laughing and shouting and music were still heard in the distance, but they were safe from the sounds under the tree. “Mhm?” Derek hummed in response, looking up at the aforementioned tree that was providing shade for them.

His eyes were tracing the way the branches curved and bent around each other, it was something he did to pass the time. Spencer thought he was extraordinary for it, Derek loved to see where things went; he was curious- after all these years, and all the bad they had seen together, Derek still loved to search and find the beauty.

“Why are you on the PFLAG committee ?” Spencer asked him, it was thankfully an innocuous enough ask to not draw too much of Derek profilings side out to pry apart his question. Derek shrugged, and was quiet for a second before responding, “I know what it’s like to be a scared kid, unsure of his identity. If I can help someone through that, that’s all that matters. Same reason I’m in the BAU, to help people.”

Spencer stayed quiet, Derek’s reason was so sincere and so sweet and kind- and only driving him to think further. Was Derek still unsure of his identity? Was he an ally? Why did he have to make Spencer swoon so hard without even trying?

“So, you’re just an ally?” Spencer approached Derek carefully with that question, not wanting to impose or be rude- but just feign simple curiosity, praying Derek wasn’t using his profiling skills right now to decode Spencer’s fake motive.

Derek didn’t notice, thankfully, as he chuckled lowly in response; “No, pretty boy, I’m bisexual. I don’t really tell the team, but it’s not confidential information. Plus, Garcia found Grindr on my phone. Can’t hide anything from that girl.”

Spencer nodded, mumbling something in response about how Garcia had hacked his email to make sure he was free for pride. And then, the two fell into silence again. But it didn’t last for long, because Derek wanted to know just as much, why was Spencer here?

“What about you, Reid?” Derek asked him cautiously, the way you approach a puppy you find on the side of the road. Calm and slow, trying to get him to trust him bit by bit. “What about me?” Spencer asked, not wanting to answer anything about himself unless Derek was specific.

“Are you an ally?” Morgan asked him, leaving the question open ended. Spencer could say as little or as much as he wanted. This is how you get him to open up, Derek knew that for a fact. “Um.. yeah, I mean- who isn’t? I just- I have to be. I’m.. gay.” Spencer admitted all too awkwardly, not at all in a normal fashion. But nothing about Spencer was in normal fashion.

Derek nodded slowly, not responding as he stared back up, tracing his eyes over the tree branches yet again.

~

A few hours had passed, Spencer and Derek eventually left their peaceful bench under the large oak tree, and instead moved back towards the parking lot.

“Garcia’s got a ride home already- I think she got that drag queen to get her home.” Derek explained as they approached his truck, Spencer nodded as he followed Derek. “Anyways,” Derek continued speaking, “I can give you a ride home. Let’s get going.”

“You don’t have to-“ Spencer started, Derek immediately shut him down. “I want to, c’mon. It’s late, you’re tired. I know you are. Let me take you home.” Spencer just nodded in agreement, he couldn’t argue with Derek, even if he did try. Morgan was a stubborn man.

So, Spencer followed Derek into his truck, and they sat in comfortable silence as they started on their journey back to Spencer’s safe space, his apartment.

~

By the time Derek pulled his truck into the apartments parking lot, Spencer knew something was just the slightest bit wrong. Derek had barely spoken for the entire ride, and usually he loves to say something, to make Spencer smile or laugh, or even just nod and mumble in agreement. But he had done none of that on the way to Spencers.

“Are you alright?” Spencer asked, turning to face Derek as he put the vehicle in park. Derek didn’t meet his eyes, staring at the steering wheel instead as he spoke; “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Spencer pried, absentmindedly unbuckling his seatbelt as he spoke, “About today.” Derek said, not explaining further. “Was today bad?”

Derek shook his head, “No. It started weird, it’s ending pretty good, though. But I’m gonna regret today forever if I don’t do something right now.”

Now, Spencer was confused. Not sure at all what Derek could be talking about, “What do you mean?” He asked, voice quieter than before.

Derek said nothing as he unbuckled his own seatbelt, turning to face Spencer as well, and then he leaned in- closer than they had ever been before. Their noses were almost touching, and Spencer didn’t move. Instead, he watched Derek’s eyes expectantly.

Then, Derek broke through, they were no longer intersecting each other’s personal space- now they were fully destroying each other’s atmospheres. Derek’s lips were on Spencer’s, a chaste, soft, quick kiss- something Spencer would have wanted to go for a lot longer. But then, he pulled away just as fast.

“...That’s what I meant..” He mumbled after a second, looking back towards the steering wheel, looking away from Spencer- and more importantly, not seeing the smile on Spencer’s face.

Spencer couldn’t help it. He knew it was terrible to be smiling right now- he should jump and say something to fix what was happening. But he had to smile, he couldn’t believe that had actually just happened, his brain was still computing and re-circuiting, trying to savor the memory and not forget how Derek’s lips felt against his.

Spencer dragged himself out of his own head quickly, though. He did all he could think of to do in the moment, get Derek back. “Morgan.” Spencer said, tugging on Derek’s sleeve as he did so, forcing him to look back at Spencer and meet his eyes again.

But Spencer didn’t say anything, and he didn’t give Derek the chance to speak, either. Instead, he leant forward, pressing his lips against Derek’s. This is all he had wanted to know for the longest time, and now he had it.

~

Maybe pride wasn’t so bad after all, you just have to be with the right people for it to work out.

———————————————————————

[creatingnikki]

What 2020 has taught me

1. Those things that seem like content for sci fi or pure fiction are actually things that can happen. To the entire world. Like a pandemic. And to you. Like a seizure.

2. Everyone is sad. Everyone is struggling. In different ways and in different measures. Makes no one special. But you still get to feel sad for yourself and be compassionate towards others. But it's also okay to draw boundaries because you're everyone too. Remember, not special? You're sad and trying to deal with it too.

3. Every job you have will not add value to your life. It will not teach you new things or give you people you'll want to stay in touch with. Sometimes some jobs will only be a season of your life. Even if the season lasts for over a year. It's okay.

4. You know how you thought picking a college and picking a major and picking your first job and picking a specific industry were all the career decisions you had to make? Yeah, no. It's never a one time thing. You could have a job as a marketing strategist for two years and then want nothing to do with it. And then you'll have to make another decision and work towards it. So I'd like to call it moves. It's like chess. You always have to make a move. And it always has to be strategic, yes. But the truth is in your 20s it probably won't. Even if you try. And as long as you're trying, you'll be fine.

5. You may have different sorts of friends like the one you only talk to about kdrama with or the one you met when you went book shopping alone and the friendship is all about books really. That's normal. But irrespective of why and how you became friends with them, if you consider them a friend then there has to be this basic sense of care, respect and empathy for each other. I don't care what people want to say. If you're faced with the worst trauma of your life, the least your friends can do is check up on you regularly. On text. And if they don't even do that then guess what? They aren't friends. They are acquaintances. Social media and quick promises make everyone seem like your friend. But they are not. They are just nice people who will be nice to you for specific periods and then wander away like you are a speck of dust floating in their journey.

6. You speak a lot and write and you express yourself and you’re emotionally mature but oh my god. You still hold in so much. You’ve known that at a subconscious level and over the last year people - experts - have told you that. You have also realized that you make your pain and sadness about pettier things because dealing with them, admitting about them, sharing that with your friends, is easier. You do that so that you don’t have to deal with the real stuff. Because it’s so damn painful. And you don’t know how to do it. Yet. Acknowledging is the first step anyway right? I know you’re confused about how exactly to let go of all this pain and sadness and feel lighter, and you know that talking to people really isn’t the solution, but I also know you’re smart enough to figure it out. 

7. Talking about being smart...you know you’re different than others. Better. Special. Smarter. None of these are the right words. And you never voiced this out until this year because you knew it would make you come across as narcissistic. Some would say it’s because you’re an INFJ. But my mother once said that this may be the first time we are consciously living life but our souls are old and so our instinct and the things we know but can’t explain are because this isn’t the first time for our souls. The connections we feel with certain people, the reason we are so different from our siblings who grew up in the exact same environment with the exact same opportunities, our sense of right and wrong...it’s all because our souls learn and grow with each time and that’s why we are who we are. I think that’s probably how I can explain what I have always felt. That I am living in a different universe than everybody but I have to pretend to be in this one and dumb my emotions and thoughts down. Maybe that’s because my soul has lived through thousands of years while most around me are living their 100th life. Or maybe I’m just narcissistic, who knows?

8. You shift between talking in first person and second person but that’s because that’s how you think in your head and talk to yourself and live your life. You ask yourself things and you accuse yourself of things and you apologize to yourself and you comfort yourself. I think that seeps into your writing and the changing of the voices. 

9. You always genuinely thought that you’d not be afraid of dying. And then what happened this October proved you shockingly wrong. I know it’s not so much being afraid of dying but the unbearable pain of knowing what that would mean to your family. So you have to be more prudent and less reckless with your life and the choices you make. 

10. Regret is not something that plagued you but this year the realisation and pain of giving away your favourite books from your own personal collection to people you care about as a show of affection and them turning out to be ass holes or losers has hit you so hard. So, yes. No more of that shit. I really fucking want my copy of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower back. UGH. With the childhood picture of me inside it! 

11. Sleeping at 5 am in the morning stops being fun or romanticised when you realise just how much harm it does to your body and mind. Literally every single disease and disorder can be traced back to a shitty fucking sleep schedule. It’s not just the hours you sleep but also the quality of sleep and the time you sleep at. So yes sleeping for 8 hours is healthy but not if that 8 hours is from 5 am to 12 pm. ‘Not a morning person’ is just another construct of capitalism and you don’t realise how many industries profit from having you believe that and staying up late or all night. Entertainment. Food. Alcohol. Pharma. Biologically and naturally you are a bloody morning person. And you don’t need 3 cups of coffee to begin your day or your phone notifications to get you to open your eyes and brain to wake up. 

12. Sometimes you really have to stop taking people so seriously. I know the idea of treating people as casual friends or entertainment makes you want to fight that concept but you know what? Some people like Pineapple are ever only going to be good for that. No matter how much they ‘grow and change’. So keep them in the background for whenever you want some entertainment or drama. But please don’t clear up your busy schedule to meet them or send them gifts on their birthday. 

13. If you don’t have the fruit juice or green juice within half an hour of making it then you are losing out on its most optimum health benefits. Or when you remove the white stringy stuff from oranges. That’s where all the actual nutrients are.

14. I am privileged and so are most of the people I interact with. The global pandemic has been hell for a lot of people around the world. Health wise. Financially. Losing people they care about. But I was blessed enough to be safe at home and have a job that I could smoothly do from home and not have a pay cut or 4-hour long Zoom meetings. So honestly when my friends tell me 2020 has been bad I have to stop and ask them why? Yes, the crippling uncertainty and anxiety is not something that can be undermined. But most people I know had very great positive life-changing milestones this year like moving away to another country for college or taking their first solo trip or getting married. So I have to ask them. Because I am not going to agree that everybody’s 2020 and pandemic narrative is the same. 

15. Money gets spent really quickly. When I left my job earlier this year because of personal issues, I thought I had enough savings to last me a year. Full disclosure - I mean to last my personal expenses because I live with my parents. But it didn’t even last me 3 months. And so to use money wisely and buy things that provide utility than instant gratification is something to follow. Also buying one pair of really expensive but quality shoes is better than buying 5 pairs of affordable but low quality shoes that will have a very short life and force you to buy more. I know that higher price doesn’t always mean better quality but sometimes it does. And as an adult now I want to do the whole quality > quantity thing even with things and not just people. 

16. Everyone in their 20s went through a crisis of what they should do with their lives and their careers and it’s not unique to the 21st century and the challenges of today. Whether it was Vincent Van Gogh in the 19th century or Sylvia Plath in the 20th, every single person, as brilliant as them went through the torture of making these decisions and living with their consequences. You may think I picked wrong examples for they both killed themselves but you know what? They were the people who really want to live more than anyone. They knew what life meant. And maybe if mental health help was more accessible back then their lives would be longer and more peaceful. 

17. Telling people everything is overrated. You don’t have to talk about every single thing that’s on your mind or that’s going on in your life. The good and the bad and the mediocre. You have to be mindful about how much of yourself you’re giving away. 

18. Re-watch Suits when people at work feel intimidating because the confidence + negotiation tactics that they show can actually work irl cos at the end of the day no matter in what position you’re dealing with people who have emotions and fears and insecurities and desires. You understand how to leverage that nobody can get the better of you. 

19. You belong to yourself. No matter how much you love someone or how much they have done for you or how much you owe them - you belong to yourself. You can’t live your life for someone else. Everyone belongs to themselves first. No relationship, no promise, no circumstance should make you feel like you have to give up your life and make it all about them. If and when the time comes to die for them, go ahead. Take a bullet. Donate that kidney. Write them in your will. But live your life for yourself. And let them live theirs. 

20. Twenty three was a challenging year. When it started you claimed the age 23 sounds boring and insignificant. Guess it proved you wrong. It hurt so much now. But that only means you’ll look back on it later and see how it added so much wisdom and resilience to your being. It doesn’t mean that it makes all the bad things that happened to you okay. Or that you should be grateful to them. Fuck no. It means that you should be kinder to yourself because at the end of the day, your mind and body find it in themselves to deal with whatever is thrown their way. They have your back. It’s time you learn to sit straight. 

[spxllcxstxr]

Date Night • The Marauders

(Gif not mine)

Request: Maybe like a poly!marauders x (she/her) reader where they just spend a day together :) like you can write smut If you’d like, but yea maybe they can go out to eat id like to see a dynamic in a poly relationship w them. Thank you!! Love your writing <3 — anon

Summary: Date nights are rare, but tonight, you go out for ice cream with your partners

Warnings: Food and eating!! The entire fic is about eating, so please stay safe! If you have a peanut allergy no you don’t. Also, if you’re lactose intolerant like me, uhhhh pretend there’s a potion for that I guess, kinda implied first Wizarding war, smallest hint of steaminess

Word Count: 1.6k

A.N: Remus=Ross, James=Chandler, Sirius=Joey, right? This took me like weeks to finish...but overall I kinda like it. Let me know what you think, and love you all ❤️

****

The four of you very rarely had free time.

Between missions and meetings, you and your partners almost never had time off, and even when you did, one of you would still be busy. One of you would still be undercover or stuck debriefing the latest mission with Mad-Eye for hours.

So it’s weird to find yourself situated on the couch, Sirius’ head resting on your lap and Remus on the other end, stuck with his feet. James shuffles around in the kitchen behind you, stuck with dish duty after almost setting your flat on fire.

Sirius snuggles deeper into your thigh, evidently still exhausted from the previous day’s mission he was tasked with.

The flat is mostly quiet, the only sounds coming from Remus turning the pages of his novel and the ceramic plates clashing together as they get put away. The sun slowly sets outside, basking your living room in glowing orange in light.

You run your fingers through the mess of dark curls splayed out on your lap, always lustrous and soft to the touch. He hums deeply in approval.

A sharp clap from behind jolts you out of your peaceful thoughts.

You crane your neck to watch as James throws on his denim jacket.

“I believe that we,” He starts, eyeing the three of you. “deserve a date night.”

Instantly, a smile grows across your face. The last time the four of you had a proper date night, it was 1979 and Queen had just released a new song, which meant that Sirius needed to celebrate with all of you at the pub getting absolutely pissed.

Since you all joined the Order, all your free time has been sucked down the drain.

So that’s why the mere suggestion of the normally elusive date night makes you feel all giddy inside. You would’ve gotten up from your comfortable position to throw your coat on if it wasn’t for Sirius practically securing you to the cushions.

“But James...” He groans.

“Oh c’mon, Pads, we haven’t been on a proper date since—“

“Last year.” Remus interjects, shutting his book before placing it onto the coffee table. “But then again, you were too drunk for it to actually be considered a date.”

“Don’t blame me, blame Freddie and his Merlin given voice.” Sirius muses, still laying on your thigh. His fingers dance around your kneecap.

Remus slowly eases himself off the couch, joining James by the front door.

“Fine.” You hear James shrug. “We’ll just leave you here to suffer while Remus, (Y/n), and I go out to Florean’s.”

This seems to grab his attention, because he perks up just enough for you to slide out of his grasp.

You end up at Remus’s side, clinging to his grey jumper as you excitedly pull on your shoes.

“Ice cream?” Sirius asks, pushing his hair behind his ears. “Without me?”

“It doesn’t have to be without you, Sirius.” You retort, sandwiched between James and Remus. “If you get your arse over here, we won’t have to leave you.”

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.” Sirius huffs, hands raised in mock surrender, dragging himself over to the front door.

He waves his wand, boots zipping out of the closet and slipping onto his feet, his dark leather jacket covering his white shirt on its own.

“What, are simple tasks too hard for you now?” Remus teases, lightly bumping his shoulder into Sirius’.

“We’ve got magic for a reason, Moons.” The shorter of the two rolls his eyes. “Might as well use it.”

Remus opens his mouth to retort but James swiftly interrupts their bickering.

“I swear to Godric Gryffindor himself, (Y/n) and I will leave both you gits here.”

There’s grumbling from the two of them, but it becomes garbled once James throws an arm around you and Apparates you to Diagon Alley.

Your brain feels like it’s spinning in your skull and your stomach tugs familiarly at your naval. Sure you’ve Apparated many many times before, but it’s simply not fun no matter what.

As per usual, Diagon Alley is loud. Children and drunkards laugh, spells and fireworks whizz passed your ears, people in heels trot across the cobblestone path.

It’s places like Diagon Alley that remind you why you love magic so much.

James’ arm is still heavy on your shoulders as you watch people in cloaks and tall hats rush by you.

There’s a startling crack behind you and you and James turn around to see your other partners. Sirius might have a few new purple bruises littered across his collar bones and Remus might have a smug look plastered across his face, but no one says anything. Remus throws the two of you a silent wink as Sirius hangs off of him.

“Gonna hold my hand, Moony?” James questions, his arm outstretched.

Remus eagerly takes it, fingers interlocking.

So the four of you are connected as you stroll down the street. Your face is buried into James’ denim jacket, the faint smell of grass stains and broom oil an already welcomed scent. In the middle, James and Remus have their shoulders rubbing together as they walk, James’ thumb most likely tracing figure eights between his knuckles like he always does. Lastly, it seems like Sirius had changed his position enough to stick a hand in Remus’ back pocket.

The sun continues to dip lower below the horizon, resulting in candles and lanterns being lit in every dark corner. Children are ushered inside homes and adults start to flock towards the pubs.

With the looming threat of dark and dangerous wizards, people aren’t taking their chances, safety in numbers and safety indoors being popular within the village.

Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor is lit up in a rainbow of colors as always, and the sweet scent of ice cream drifts through the air. People sit in crowds outside the shop, enjoying their treats on the sidewalk or some even spread out on the street.

“So what’re you going for today, Jamie?” You ask as your little group enters the shop.

A little bell sounds from above you, barely heard over the boisterous laughter and rowdy conversations that surround you.

Unlike you, Sirius, and Remus, James doesn’t have a signature flavor. He had to have a different kind every visit. So while Remus had already ordered his strawberries and cream in a waffle cone and Sirius is eyeing his peanut butter ice cream, James is still perusing his options like a little kid.

Your own ice cream starts to melt a bit while you’re waiting.

James squints his eyes at the names, despite his glasses already resting on the bridge of his nose.

“You haven’t done toffee apple in a bit, Prongs.” Sirius points, his finger making contact with the cool glass barrier.

“You’re right.” James hums. “Thanks.” He presses a quick kiss to Sirius’ stubbled cheek before ordering his ice cream.

There’s a small open table across the way, lit up by a few lanterns, which the four of you claim.

There’s a very slight breeze that makes you cuddle up to Remus’ soft jumper.

Desperate to talk about something other than the current state of affairs, James gets caught up talking the Wimbourne Wasps and their new Beater, Ludovic Bagman.

You watch Sirius, tongue poking ever so slightly out of the corner of his mouth, try to sneak a scoop of James’ ice cream while he’s distracted.

Attempting to hide your amusement, you bring a hand up to cover your mouth, feigning interest in the Quidditch talk.

You watch the spoon make an indent and it’s halfway to Sirius’ mouth before—

“Oi!”

The silver spoon freezes abruptly, and grey eyes widen significantly.

“Is that why you suggested toffee apple? So you could nick some of my bloody ice cream?” James gasps dramatically, mouth agape in shock.

“Where’re your manners, James?” Sirius retorts, licking his spoon. “Sharing is caring.”

His hazel eyes narrow. “I don’t know, Black, that looked more like thievery to me.”

“Well let’s take it to our very own Wizengamot, then.” Sirius loudly gestures to you and Remus.

“Well I’m sure that for a wee bit of ice cream, (Y/n) and I, as key witnesses to the whole event, can clear the air.” Remus smirks, biting into his cone.

Sirius swiftly pushes the rest of his ice cream across the table, not even trying to be discrete about his offering. You and Remus start to dig in.

“Bribery!” James shouts, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation. “This trial is a load of bullshit!”

“Sorry James, can’t hear you over how good this is.” Remus remarks with his mouth full.

You lick your spoon, watching the theatrics.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” James straightens his glasses and runs a hand through his hair in playful frustration.

“Aw, Jamie...you want some of mine?” You pout, offering some of your own frozen dessert.

“At least someone at this table loves me.” James grumbles, sticking a spoon into your bowl.

Sirius sticks his tongue out.

“Hey, I never said Sirius was cleared of all charges.” Remus raises a scarred brow.

“What?” Sirius snaps. “But I bribed you!”

You snicker at his balled up fists.

“So you admit to the bribery, you might as well admit to the thievery while you’re at it.” He finishes the bowl, licking the last of it from his spoon.

“Oh how the tables have turned.” James smugly points out.

Sirius childishly pouts, opting to pick at his black painted fingernails.

“We should have date nights more often.” James chuckles, clinking your spoons together.

•

All Character Taglist: @aspiringsloth20 @amourtentiaa @cherie-draco @mullthingsoverinthehotwater

[qqueenofhades]

Re: the post you reblogged about Bush. I'm 21 and tbh feel like I can only vote for Bernie, can you explain if/why I shouldn't? Thanks and sorry if this is dumb or anything.

Oh boy. Okay, I’ll do my best here. Note that a) this will get long, and b) I’m old, Tired, and I‘m pretty sure my brain tried to kill me last night. Since by nature I am sure I will say something Controversial ™, if anyone reads this and feels a deep urge to inform me that I am Wrong, just… mark it down as me being Wrong and move on with your life. But also, really, you should read this and hopefully think about it. Because while I’m glad you asked this question, it feels like there’s a lot in your cohort who won’t, and that worries me. A lot.

First, not to sound utterly old-woman-in-a-rocking-chair ancient, people who came of age/are only old enough to have Obama be the first president that they really remember have no idea how good they had it. The world was falling the fuck apart in 2008 (not coincidentally, after 8 years of Bush). We came within a flicker of the permanent collapse of the global economy. The War on Terror was in full roar, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, we had Dick Cheney as the cartoon supervillain before we had any of Trump’s cohort, and this was before Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden had exposed the extent of NSA/CIA intelligence-gathering/American excesses or there was any kind of public debate around the fact that we were all surveilled all the time. And the fact that a brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama was elected in this climate seems, and still seems tbh, kind of amazing. And Obama was certainly not a Perfect President ™. He had to scale back a lot of planned initiatives, he is notorious for expanding the drone strike/extrajudicial assassination program, he still subscribed to the overall principles of neoliberalism and American exceptionalism, etc etc. There is valid criticism to be made as to how the hopey-changey optimistic rhetoric stacked up against the hard realities of political office. And yet…. at this point, given what we’re seeing from the White House on a daily basis, the depth of the parallel universe/double standards is absurd.

Because here’s the thing. Obama, his entire family, and his entire administration had to be personally/ethically flawless the whole time (and they managed that – not one scandal or arrest in eight years, against the legions of Trumpistas now being convicted) because of the absolute frothing depths of Republican hatred, racial conspiracy theories, and obstruction against him. (Remember Merrick Garland and how Mitch McConnell got away with that, and now we have Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Because I remember that). If Obama had pulled one-tenth of the shit, one-twentieth of the shit that the Trump administration does every day, he would be gone. It also meant that people who only remember Obama think he was typical for an American president, and he wasn’t. Since about… Jimmy Carter, and definitely since Ronald Reagan, the American people have gone for the Trump model a lot more than the Obama model. Whatever your opinion on his politics or character, Obama was a constitutional law professor, a community activist, a neighborhood organizer and brilliant Ivy League intellectual who used to randomly lie awake at night thinking about income inequality. Americans don’t value intellectualism in their politicians; they just don’t. They don’t like thinking that “the elites” are smarter than them. They like the folksy populist who seems fun to have a beer with, and Reagan/Bush Senior/Clinton/Bush Junior sold this persona as hard as they possibly could. As noted in said post, Bush Junior (or Shrub as the late, great Molly Ivins memorably dubbed him) was Trump Lite but from a long-established political family who could operate like an outwardly civilized human.

The point is: when you think Obama was relatively normal (which, again, he wasn’t, for any number of reasons) and not the outlier in a much larger pattern of catastrophic damage that has been accelerated since, again, the 1980s (oh Ronnie Raygun, how you lastingly fucked us!), you miss the overall context in which this, and which Trump, happened. Like most left-wingers, I don’t agree with Obama’s recent and baffling decision to insert himself into the 2020 race and warn the Democratic candidates against being too progressive or whatever he was on about. I think he was giving into the same fear that appears to be motivating the remaining chunk of Joe Biden’s support: that middle/working-class white America won’t go for anything too wild or that might sniff of Socialism, and that Uncle Joe, recalled fondly as said folksy populist and the internet’s favorite meme grandfather from his time as VP, could pick up the votes that went to Trump last time. And that by nature, no one else can.

The underlying belief is that these white voters just can’t support anything too “un-American,” and that by pushing too hard left, Democratic candidates risk handing Trump a second term. Again: I don’t agree and I think he was mistaken in saying it. But I also can’t say that Obama of all people doesn’t know exactly the strength of the political machine operating against the Democratic Party and the progressive agenda as a whole, because he ran headfirst into it for eight years. The fact that he managed to pass any of his legislative agenda, usually before the Tea Party became a thing in 2010, is because Democrats controlled the House and Senate for the first two years of his first term. He was not perfect, but it was clear that he really did care (just look up the pictures of him with kids). He installed smart, efficient, and scandal-free people to do jobs they were qualified for. He gave us Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join RBG on the Supreme Court. All of this seems… like a dream.

That said: here we are in a place where Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners for the Democratic nomination (and apparently Pete Buttigieg is getting some airplay as a dark horse candidate, which… whatever). The appeal of Biden is discussed above, and he sure as hell is not my favored candidate (frankly, I wish he’d just quit). But Sanders and Warren are 85% - 95% similar in their policy platforms. The fact that Michael “50 Billion Dollar Fortune” Bloomberg started rattling his chains about running for president is because either a Sanders or Warren presidency terrifies the outrageously exploitative billionaire capitalist oligarchy that runs this country and has been allowed to proceed essentially however the fuck they like since… you guessed it, the 1980s, the era of voodoo economics, deregulation, and the free market above all. Warren just happens to be ten years younger than Sanders and female, and Sanders’ age is not insignificant. He’s 80 years old and just had a heart attack, and there’s still a year to go to the election. It’s also more than a little eye-rolling to describe him as the only progressive candidate in the race, when he’s an old white man (however much we like and approve of his policy positions). And here’s the thing, which I think is a big part of the reason why this polarized ideological purity internet leftist culture mistrusts Warren:

She may have changed her mind on things in the past.

Scary, right? I sound like I’m being facetious, but I’m not. An argument I had to read with my own two eyes on this godforsaken hellsite was that since Warren became a Democrat around the time Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, she sekritly hated gay people and might still be a corporate sellout, so on and etcetera. (And don’t even get me STARTED on the fact that DADT, coming a few years after the height of the AIDS crisis which was considered God’s Judgment of the Icky Gays, was the best Clinton could realistically hope to achieve, but this smacks of White Gay Syndrome anyway and that is a whole other kettle of fish.) Bernie has always demonstrably been a democratic socialist, and: good for him. I’m serious. But because there’s the chance that Warren might not have thought exactly as she does now at any point in her life, the hysterical and paranoid left-wing elements don’t trust that she might not still secretly do so. (Zomgz!) It’s the same element that’s feeding cancel culture and “wokeness.” Nobody can be allowed to have shifted or grown in their opinions or, like a functional, thoughtful, non-insane adult, changed their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary. To the ideological hordes, any hint of uncertainty or past failure to completely toe the line is tantamount to heresy. Any evidence of any other belief except The Correct One means that this person is functionally as bad as Trump. And frankly, it’s only the Sanders supporters who, just as in 2016, are threatening to withhold their vote in the general election if their preferred candidate doesn’t win the primary, and indeed seem weirdly proud about it.

OK, boomer Bernie or Buster.

Here’s the thing, the thing, the thing: there is never going to be an American president free of the deeply toxic elements of American ideology. There just won’t be. This country has been built how it has for 250 years, and it’s not gonna change. You are never going to have, at least not in the current system, some dream candidate who gets up there and parrots the left-wing talking points and attacks American imperialism, exceptionalism, ravaging global capitalism, military and oil addiction, etc. They want to be elected as leader of a country that has deeply internalized and taken these things to heart for its entire existence, and most of them believe it to some degree themselves. So this groupthink white liberal mentality where the only acceptable candidate is this Perfect Non-Problematic robot who has only ever had one belief their entire lives and has never ever wavered in their devotion to doctrine has really gotten bad. The Democratic Party would be considered… maybe center/mild left in most other developed countries. It’s not even really left-wing by general standards, and Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates for the nomination who are even willing to go there and explicitly put out policy proposals that challenge the systematic structure of power, oppression, and exploitation of the late-stage capitalist 21st century. Warren has the billionaires fussed, and instead of backing down, she’s doubling down. That’s part of why they’re so scared of her. (And also misogyny, because the world is depressing like that.) She is going head-on after picking a fight with some of the worst people on the planet, who are actively killing the rest of us, and I don’t know about you, but I like that.

Of course: none of this will mean squat if she (or the eventual Democratic winner, who I will vote for regardless of who it is, but as you can probably tell, she’s my ride or die) don’t a) win the White House and then do as they promised on the campaign trail, and b) don’t have a Democratic House and Senate willing to have a backbone and pass the laws. Even Nancy Pelosi, much as she’s otherwise a badass, held off on opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump for months out of fear it would benefit him, until the Ukraine thing fell into everyone’s laps. The Democrats are really horrible at sticking together and voting the party line the way Republicans do consistently, because Democrats are big-tent people who like to think of themselves as accepting and tolerant of other views and unwilling to force their members’ hands. The Republicans have no such qualms (and indeed, judging by their enabling of Trump, have no qualms at all). 

The modern American Republican party has become a vehicle for no-holds-barred power for rich white men at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone else, and if your rationale is that you can’t vote for the person opposing Donald Goddamn Trump is that you’re just not vibing with them on the language of that one policy proposal… well, I’m glad that you, White Middle Class Liberal, feel relatively safe that the consequences of that decision won’t affect you personally. Even if we’re due to be out of the Paris Climate Accords one day after the 2020 election, and the issue of climate change now has the most visibility it’s ever had after years of big-business, Republican-led efforts to deny and discredit the science, hey, Secret Corporate Shill, am I right? Can’t trust ‘er. Let’s go have a craft beer.

As has been said before: vote as far left as you want in the primary. Vote your ideology, vote whatever candidate you want, because the only way to make actual, real-world change is to do that. The huge, embedded, all-consuming and horrible system in which we operate is not just going to suddenly be run by fairy dust and happy thoughts overnight. Select candidates that reflect your values exactly, be as picky and ideologically militant as you want. That’s the time to do that! Then when it comes to the general election:

America is a two-party system. It sucks, but that’s the case. Third-party votes, or refraining from voting because “it doesn’t matter” are functionally useless at best and actively harmful at worst.

Either the Democratic candidate or Donald Trump will win the 2020 election.

There is absolutely no length that the Republican/GOP machine, and its malevolent allies elsewhere, will not go to in order to secure a Trump victory. None.

Any talk whatsoever about “progressive values” or any kind of liberal activism, coupled with a course of action that increases the possibility of a Trump victory, is hypocritical at best and actively malicious at worst.

This is why I found the Democratic response to Obama’s “don’t go too wild” comments interesting. Bernie doubled down on the fact that his plans have widespread public support, and he’s right. (Frankly, the fact that Sanders and Warren are polling at the top, and the fact that they’re politicians and would not be crafting these campaign messages if they didn’t know that they were being positively received, says plenty on its own). Warren cleverly highlighted and praised Obama’s accomplishments in office (i.e. the Affordable Care Act) and didn’t say squat about whether she agreed or disagreed with him, then went right back to campaigning about why billionaires suck. And some guy named Julian Castro basically blew Obama off and claimed that “any Democrat” could beat Trump in 2020, just by nature of existing and being non-insane.

This is very dangerous! Do not be Julian Castro!

As I said in my tags on the Bush post: everyone assumed that sensible people would vote for Kerry in 2004. Guess what happened? Yeah, he got Swift Boated. The race between Obama and McCain in 2008, even after those said nightmare years of Bush, was very close until the global crash broke it open in Obama’s favor, and Sarah Palin was an actual disqualifier for a politician being brazenly incompetent and unprepared. (Then again, she was a woman from a remote backwater state, not a billionaire businessman.) In 2012, we thought Corporate MormonBot Mitt Fuggin’ Romney was somehow the worst and most dangerous candidate the Republicans could offer. In 2016, up until Election Day itself, everyone assumed that HRC was a badly flawed candidate but would win anyway. And… we saw how that worked out. Complacency is literally deadly.

I was born when Reagan was still president. I’m just old enough to remember the efforts to impeach Clinton over forcing an intern to give him a BJ in the Oval Office (This led by the same Republicans making Donald Trump into a darling of the evangelical Christian right wing.) I’m definitely old enough to remember 9/11 and how America lost its mind after that, and I remember the Bush years. And, obviously, the contrast with Obama, the swing back toward Trump, and everything that has happened since. We can’t afford to do this again. We’re hanging by a thread as it is, and not just America, but the entire planet.

So yes. By all means, vote for Sanders in the primary. Then when November 3, 2020 rolls around, if you care about literally any of this at all, hold your nose if necessary and vote straight-ticket Democrat, from the president, to the House and Senate, to the state and local offices. I cannot put it more strongly than that.