#its kind of weird that you sent this ask a few days ago and then my friend asked me to draw this.. SMALL WORLD EH....

[taiyami]

Have you ever drawn art of your selfships before?

I actually drew this quick one today ...

No further comments please .... (rolls around on the ground kicking my feet)

[srjlvr]

ENHYPEN

,, enhypen’s reaction to their partner commenting on their live ! — <3

OT7!enhypen X idol-fem-reader | genre fluff | warnings mentions of food ! | not proofread | note. with all the seriousness im a sucker for these kind of reactions. | also yes, i know it’s hard but PLEASE imagine that their interaction with their partner is allowed and fans totally love it and live for it.

— 희승 ✶ (heeseung)

you had your free time in between your very tight schedule, you decided to text your boyfriend and ask him how his day is going so far. you waited about ten minutes which was weird—he has a free day today.

that was when you noticed enhypen is on live! you quickly got in and saw your boyfriend smiling at the screen while talking to his fans.

“what’s this bracelet? oh that! y/n gave it to me, look at her wrist she has a matching one” he smiled. you tapped your keyboard and sent your comment, ‘that’s why you didn’t reply to my text!’

“oh? y/n’s here!” he smiled widely this time, “i’m sorry i’m having too much fun here” he answered your comment, “everyone please give lots of love to y/n while i reply to her text”

just like that, he grabbed his phone to answer your texts, regardless of his 1 million views on live.

— 제이 ✶ (jay)

jay decided to go on live today and play some songs with his guitar while talking with his fans. he was so busy focusing on his guitar to notice your cute comments which adores him so much.

you were almost about to give up after commenting more than any other fan on the live when he finally looked at the screen, “huh? y/n’s here?” he asked the fans.

when he noticed your comment, ‘you look so cute today, my cute boyfriend😙’ he giggled while staring at it.

“i’ll be playing the next song for y/n,” he suddenly said and grabbed his guitar again, “it’s our favorite song! you should listen to it”

you then stayed until the end of his live, not minding the fact that you’re a bit late to your next schedule.

— 제이크 ✶ (jake)

he was busy putting his favorite songs on youtube and singing his heart out to notice your song recommendations.

“lately, i’ve been spending my time with y/n while listening to our favorite songs, i really recommend you to do it with a person you love and cherish” he pressed his lips together and smiled.

fans noticed that speaking about you always made him smile and feel better.

he was searching for song recommendations in the comments again and noticed yours, “oh? wait a minute!” he reached to the phone to search your comment again.

“it’s y/n!” he said and immediately went to youtube and put your song, “its her favorite song, i hope you’ll like it too” he smiled proudly while pointing at the screen.

— 성훈 ✶ (sunghoon)

sunghoon was answering some questions and talking about his previous schedule.

you decided to comment on his live random questions to see if you can get noticed, questions like ‘sunghoon!! how’s gaeul doing?’ and more.

without even noticing that it was you, sunghoon replied to all of your questions. “people are saying that y/n is here” he reached his phone and searched through the millions of comments.

after noticing your questions that he answered just a second ago he giggled and smiled, “i didn’t even notice it was y/n”

you then commented ‘you don’t even text your girlfriend lately’ and he just sat there for a few minutes and just asked for your forgiveness after his own fans told him to apologize.

— 선우 ✶ (sunoo)

sunoo was playing some songs while sharing with everyone a few stories that happened lately.

“right! y/n came to our photoshoot and gave us some homemade food! i think she had a lot of free time that day considering the tight schedule she has” he frowned.

he then read a few more comments until his eyes fell on yours, ‘i’d make sure to pack you homemade food everyday’ and smiled widely.

“since y/n is so free today, let’s call her!” he grabbed his phone and face-timed you. “y/n say hello to my lovely fans” he turned his phone and your face showed up.

“hello!” you giggled, “please give a lot of love and support to my sunoo” you waved. sunoo then turned his phone back and sent you a flying kiss before hanging up, “that was my girlfriend everyone”

— 정원 ✶ (jungwon)

as soon as jungwon sent you a text that his food arrived, you also got a notification that enhypen is live, and of course it was going to be jungwon.

he was talking and putting some songs, making a little mukbang for his fans. fans went crazy when they saw your comments, ‘jungwon said he was going to buy me food too but he went on live😒’

he noticed your comment only after his fans told him that you’re watching the live. “y/n….?” he asked and searched for your comment.

he chuckled to himself, “wait i’ll order you something now” he grabbed his phone and tapped some things.

“i’ll be ordering this for y/n” he showed his phone screen with a lot of food in the list, “eat well~” he smiled and continued to talk with his fans and enjoy his food.

— 니키 ✶ (niki)

he opened the live to casually talk about whatever with his fans. he likes to put songs at the background and give some song recommendations as well.

he was all dressed up today and was explaining where he’s heading after this live. you two barely talked that day since both of you are having a really tight schedule.

“i’ve been wanting to tell y/n this but we don’t have any time to talk lately” his smile dropped, “i miss having enough time to talk with her”

that was until he found you in the comments, ‘i miss you too! promise to video call you today🤍’ BOY WAS A BLUSHING MESS PFFFFFFFF

he spent the rest of the live sharing some cute memories of you and him together when you had the time to spend.

••• copyright © srjlvr all rights are reserved.

[rassicas]

We are getting playable Cuttlefish in Splatoon 3.

i dont like saying im totally certain about predictions, but the evidence is so subtle, yet so very intentional in the exact way that the splatoon team would do if they were trying to hint at something. (under the cut because long post)

I’m sure some of you have seen PandaUniverse’s tweet introducing the cuttlefish evidence. first two images are from that tweet, putting it out there that i cant take credit for those.

exhibit A: train station gates

the splatoon team foreshadowed OE before release with a blocked off train station in inkopolis square....this seems even more obvious? no entry for squids, mysterious 2 finned squid thing can enter? exhibit B: weird hat

again, two finned squid thingy like in the ticket gates. i saw some ppl saying “its just a weird octopus” but like. why would the splatoon team purposely model an octopus hat super weirdly? also @sprousprou​ sent me a better image:

that is not an octopus lol After i saw the tweet, i remembered a thing that me and my friend dodo were scratching our heads at a few months ago while we were reconning all the s3 stages for details, because... Exhibit C: that’s a fucking cuttlefish

again, 2 fins. found in Mincemeat Metalworks, it’s in the same style as the Angry Squid and Angry Octopus graffiti that’s been seen before.

So how do I feel about this? well... not even a month ago i thought it would be weird to expect a new playable species, but the evidence feels so undeniable now. but i also mentioned in that ask, cuttlefish are pretty much the only species that would make sense with current lore. being ink-producing cephalopods in real life, unlike nautiluses or dumbo octopuses, i would expect cuttlefish to be ink-based shapeshifters like the inklings and octolings. and we have seen cuttlefish in splatoon’s canon before... albeit only once in the japan-only octo expansion artbook....and they look a lot like inklings. However i find it a bit... weird... that they’d be introduced like this with next to zero build up, unlike the playable octolings which were hinted at from the first game. i’m also deeply concerned about the idea of this truly becoming a pattern, like the splatoon team potentially introducing a new species in each DLC, leaning on "play as this New Guy” as the main selling point and not “play this cool story.” I also would prefer if they just expanded on customization for octolings and inklings and not added a new species. but i guess it’s splatoon 3, gotta have 3 species too. and ill take it any day over salmonlings also in the aforementioned ask, the only justification i could think of for a sudden introduction of cuttlefish would be that they happen to live super far away outside of inkadia/splatlands. combine that with the knowledge that the DLC is more than likely going to be a world tour of some kind...well, that’s probably gonna be the reason for their introduction: they just live far away. tl;dr im feeling 100% sure cuttlefish are coming to splatoon whether we like it or not

[angel-sweets666]

Sweetheart~

The creature x fem!reader

a frilly pink outsider from New Orleans finds a undead love sick man, and doesn’t know what to do with him! chapter one Warning: swearing, possible drug use, murder.

word count 1,325

A/N HIIIIIII, I sent an ask to a writer on here a few days ago and I had the idea to write the fanfic myself! just thought it would be cute and I wanted to try and write it in my own style! This is gonna be in multiple parts in a series! Hopefully about ten parts maybe more with some one shots in between while writing (by the way I haven’t watched Lisa Frankenstein yet because it’s not out in Australia so im obviously going to be missing a few parts, I’ll try to fit them in as flash backs)

It had been a few days since *name* had found The creature, he broke into her room after leaving her mother’s rosary on his grave. Since then *Name* had been keeping him hidden away from her family in her closet, however trying to hide him from her snoopy step sister, taffy; seemed to be easier said then done. change of pov

“I mean! Is it so weird to drink milk from the carton?” You asked this zombie thing, he stared at you then shrugged “your soooo much help…” you rolled my eyes. “So like… is it peaceful down there? In the grave?” You questioned him, he slowly groaned and shook his head; his way of saying no “I would ask what’s it like but I’m far too lazy” you giggled, placing a joint into your mouth then turning your head to look at him. The creature looked disapproving, but as of right now he couldn’t show much emotion; he didn’t have eyebrows and was missing a hand and his ear. “What? People smoked cigars in your day. You probably smoked cigars!” You exclaimed, he groaned and reached his good hand to try and “confiscate” your joint “ah! No. This was a good $30.” You pulled your hand away “I’ll quit, trust. Anyways, WHAT DO I WEAR TO SCHOOL” you groaned

You ended up finding an outfit that both you, taffy and the creature agreed on. A light coloured (your choice) wool sweater, a black mini skirt, some black leggings, white leg warmers and black Mary Jane’s with little bows on them with your hair curled and in a half up half down with a bow. This frilly pink style often got you picked on and snickered at by your peers, you looked like THE biggest girly girl in the whole world. It was 1989 and you weren’t exactly the most popular.

in the car

Taffy grinned to you “soo… anyone you think is hot yet..?” She giggles “Uhm…. No” I chuckled “oh.. that one guys kind of cu-” “WHO TELL ME RIGHT NOW, NO WAIT DONT TELL ME, NO WAIT DO. DO TELL ME” she squealed into your ear “that uh.. micheal Trent guys kind of cute” she made a face “eaugh….” (Honey you slept with him…..) “what..?!” You yelled “WHY HIM?” “CAUSE HES A CUTIEE” “whatever you say” “I do say, I do” you rolled your eyes “yk most sisters are supportive right?” You told her “Mkay, they support good decisions” she said as she turned a right the car “schools to the left taf’” you reminded her “I wanna get some iced coffee” she said like it was nothing “WERE GONNA BE LATE” “SHUT UP NO WERE NOT JESUS H CHRIST”

after school (sorry for all the time skips but this is a creature x reader not let’s watch taffy and reader argue about coffee)

“uGHhhHhH school suckeds” you groaned as I walked into your room, slumping against the wooden door resulting in it shutting, the creature looked at you with furrowed brow, confused by the statement “yes they let girls go to school. It’s 1989 get with the times” the creature groaned and lifted its hand or rather lack there of “I can’t.. I can’t just get you new parts…” you told him, shrugging. He threw a little zombie tantrum, groaning and flopping onto the bed“calm down calm down!” You yelled as you tried to hold him down, grabbing his upper arm to hold the undead man in place “look I can’t get get you new pa-“*NAME LAST NAME*” a horrible screech came from your step mothers throat, clearly trying to pick yet another fight. “Go go go” you said quietly as you ushered the creature into your closet, shutting the wooden door in his face. “…yes..?!” You replied to her, she opened your door “what.. the hell.. is wrong with you?” She gets into your face “what I do?” You looked confused to her “you’re talking to yourself, throwing things. You lied to us telling us our house got broken into! That was fine china you threw!You’re going crazy aren’t you? Trying to get the towns attention because you had your old towns attention? Your nothing but a joke, a mentally ill joke.” She snaps “huh?!” “You know what I’m going to throw you into a mental facility, just to get rid of you…” you gasped, shook your head and backed away slowly “no…” you whispered, trying to avoid such misery “yes.. impatient lock down!” You gasped again “special socks n all” suddenly, a loud smack and a sickening cracking noise. The creature had grabbed the old sewing machine and slammed it onto Janet’s head “oh good lord..” you backed away and began to whimper, the creature waddles towards you and tried to hug you to calm you down, wrapping his strong but cold and dead arms around you. You whimpered and cried since now you felt like your responsible for a dead woman. He pulled away from the hug, made a groan then twisted his body towards the night table and grabbing the scissors off it. The creature leaned down and slowly, sliced off Janet’s pierced ear. The red blood poured down her makeup caked face, going down with the blood she was already gargling up and onto the carpet. The creature stood up, and held up the blood covered ear, offering it to you. With shaky hands you slowly grabbed it “d-do you want me to Uhm.. uh.. oh god…sew it back on..?”

The creatures cold and curly haired head laid in your lap, as you secured Janet’s now amputated ear to the left side of his head, double checking it was inline with the rest of his head and in the right spot for his side burns. “I don’t think.. can you hear out of it..?” You asked, yanking at the ear “can you feel it?” You questioned the undead man again, he groaned “okay yeah I forgot you don’t have a tongue.” You sighed

(flash back)

“maybe you wanna try laying in my tanning bed? Get some colour in ya?” Taffy suggested as she pat your cheek “I’m good, that thing would electrocute me.” You chuckled as you applied lip gloss, trying to get ready for a party that taffy was going to drag you to then have to take you home early like she always did. “Cmon! You’ll look good.. trust me” she smiled comfortingly “okay fine.. pass the sunscreen” you decided to humour her, holding your hand out for the plastic bottle of spf. As you went to lay down in the tanning bed, a spark hit you, then two, then three. Then…. Crack . It electrocuted you “TAFFY!” “okay I’m really sorry you got electrocuted earlier, I didn’t know it would do that .”, you huffed disappointingly

you ended up getting harrassed that night by a short guy called Doug, he kept trying to hit on you and sexually assault you. He made you incredibly uncomfortable

end of flash back

“Didn’t you say you were killed and brought back by a lightning strike, maybe electricity can add things to you!” You squealed in surprise as you rushed him down the stairs and into the magenta tanning bed. Your hand reached towards the crank, putting it into a certain level and then stepping back to see if it would work. Sparks flew in all sorts of directions, left right and centre. “Please don’t be hurt please don’t be hurt” you begged quietly, then a ding! Like an oven saying it’s finished baking, our little zombie boy was finished baking! As you opened the lid and he slowly, but hilariously sat up like a vampire. You decided to see if he could heat “can you hear me!” You yelled and he groaned “can ya?! Yeah!?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” you kept yelling and he kept groaning. “OH MY GOD IT WORKED! HOLY SHITTTT” you clapped excitedly.

a/n sorry it’s short it’s one of my first fanfics, I hope you enjoyed and tell me if you want some more!

[katareyoudrilling]

Hi Kat

'Shared Document' has its Fan Fiction Birthday on 28th August 🎂

Happy birthday!

Tell us something about that fic, anything you like, and we'll help blow out the candles and wish it many happy returns!

You can save this ask until the actual date or reply whenever you like.

Omg, really?? It’s been two years??

It feels longer ago, honestly lol

To celebrate Shared Document’s birthday, I’ll tell the true story that inspired it…

In early 2021, I had just started writing smut and just started falling for the one and only Pedro Pascal. We were still a year away from me joining tumblr. Also, I was in my second year as treasurer for my kid’s elementary school PTA (don’t worry, we weren’t *that* kind of PTA)

One day, I’m just minding my business when I get an email from another PTA board member. The email says “Katie, what’s this?” followed by a couple of sentences from something I was writing.

I’m sure you can all imagine the full body panic that took over me. I immediately wrote her back explaining that I had taken up “creative writing” over the pandemic and it was from something I wrote (the sentences weren’t explicit but it was pretty clear what type of thing they were from). I apologized profusely and said how I had no idea how I could have emailed that to her.

She responded back that it was ok and not to worry, but that I hadn’t emailed it her… I had put those sentences in a shared google doc she had sent out the night before

☠️☠️☠️

Cue hyperventilating.

Here’s what happened— she was getting everyone in a leadership role with the PTA to fill out our job descriptions in a Google sheet so that we could start recruiting volunteers for the next school year. I had quickly filled in my responsibilities and remember doing some cut/pasting and the doc being weird about it. Turns out I had cut those sentences from my fic earlier in the day and had accidentally pasted them in the doc.

I was MORTIFIED. She had deleted it from the doc but I was able to see who had been in the document during the time it was there… and it wasn’t just me. No one ever said anything, but I was panicked for a while. She ended up moving out of our district that summer and I haven’t seen her since, which is a shame, I really liked her. She did say that she would like to read more, so I sent her Reunion later that year when I finished it and she enjoyed it.

I was able to laugh about the whole incident pretty quickly and knew it would make a great story one day. Fast forward to spring of 2022– I am finishing my time on the PTA board, we have resumed in-person meetings, and I have been on tumblr for a few months. Four of us go out for drinks after a PTA meeting and start talking pandemic hobbies. I revealed mine. They all wanted to read my stuff but I wasn’t sure they were ready for it. (I didn’t tell the shared document story until I was officially done with the PTA and then only to a few people. It definitely got a good laugh and some dropped jaws when I did)

My writing is an open secret now among my extended friend group. My closest friends (2 of which were at that table when I shared my pandemic hobby. That night was in many ways the start of our friendship) have read some of my stuff and so have some who weren’t there that night.

The third at the table wanted to read but he is a dad and I told him I wouldn’t send smut to another woman’s husband lol, but if he had his wife ask me, I would send it to her and she could decide. That hasn’t happened yet lol. She and I are getting to be friends now and I can’t imagine him admitting to her that he knew about my hobby years ago and wanted to read it. He told me he tried to find my tumblr, but as you all know finding anything on tumblr is a fools errand. He’s never going to find and I don’t think he’s tried since right after that night.

I wanted to use the story as the base of a fic but really struggled with how to do it until one day I had the idea that became Shared Document! The story is a funny one for me, but reader gets a much more satisfying ending 😏

Thanks for helping me celebrate!

[lotus0kid]

I've seen many posts about people missing how common asks used to be so I have been trying to send about an ask a week. Now I send this ask first anytime I follow someone as I really don't want to bother anyone, so I'd love to know if you enjoy receiving asks and if so what kind of asks. Not having energy for asks or being comfortable with them is perfectly okay.

The categories I have in my ask notebook that I file under are in colour. Please feel free to make your response as long as you want or private (the asker cannot directly respond to private responses).

Self, Job/Work: please let me know what you are comfortable with from eh idk just ask it to nothing personal at all.

Baggishield/Tolkien, Dragon Age, Johnlock/Sherlock, ineffable spouses, other fandom: Please let me know what fandoms. I think my main fandoms and ships are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ships I don't engage with the canon of at all are: Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie , The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier.

OC's, art/drawing, their writing, blog specific only

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Do you like receiving them?

Pets: I'd love to know all about them

Garden and Hobbies: What type of gardening and/or hobbies?

Like being tagged in things: If so what kinds of things?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

Hello! Hm, well, let's see...

Self, Job/Work: I don't post anything identifiable, but I don't mind discussing relatable/weird bits of my life as long as it's not too specific.

Fandoms: Bagginshield, for sure. I'm starting to think I should just go ahead and read LOTR, but I haven't yet. I suggest you do engage with the canons for Good Omens and Stranger Things, because they're pretty good canons (despite current revelations regarding the co-creator and showrunner of the former).

OC's (I don't have OCs- well, none that didn't just serve their purpose in whatever fic I need them for), art/drawing (I've done some of that- tagged "lotus0kid art" if you're interested, there might be new stuff coming since I leaped bodily on that steep Clip Studio sale a bit ago), their writing (sure, I can probably yammer all day about writing, my own or the concept), blog specific only (I'm not sure what this means)

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Argh... uh... I'm going to have to say no, I really don't need any more distractions from the ideas I already have. Though, I dunno, maybe one-word prompts where I can write a drabble response, just to get the wheels moving? That could be nice.

Pets: Ain't got 'em. -_-. Unless you count the spiders in my windowsill.

Garden and Hobbies: My current icon is a picture of my itty bitty succulent that budded off a bigger succulent a while ago. Another bud is coming off that bigger succulent- I'm waiting for the stem to be long enough to cut so I can plant it on its own. That's all the gardening I do currently. And fanfiction is basically my main hobby, aside from occasional art stuff (*eyes stalled embroidery project guiltily*). Maybe cooking too, I think certain aspects transcend the "chore" category, like the opposite of the way my art pursuits can feel a bit chore-ish.

[kpchrs]

warren is creepy though. he thinks snuff films are funny. he says to max's face that he's disappointed she won't have sex with him within 3 weeks of knowing him. he plays max and brooke off each other by lying about the tickets for the drive in. he knows how to build pipe bombs. he almost beat nathan to death because he was angry.

I was so surprised seeing this LOL I didn't know that that reached people because I thought my hashtags never worked. Not that I expected it to or that I'm great at writing them down either tho. (Turned out seeing the few likes, it did reach people lol). But, well, obviously I didn't go to law school, Anon, you haven't given me time to do it (heh, and also because obviously that's a joke).

I read this on the day you sent the ask to me btw (which was months ago), but it took me a long time to write this because I got distracted so BADLY. So, sorry for the wait... if you are waiting xD I won’t expect anyone, even you, Anon, to read this. I genuinely don’t give a shit if no one reads this, but I still want to try to argue back. My mindset throughout this eSsAy will be as open and fair as I can.

1. "he thinks snuff films are funny."

Okay, let's pull up the script.

Warren: Haha. Make sure you watch Cannibal Holocaust. Max: No fucking way will I watch that. My mind is twisted enough... Warren: I laughed my ass off. (Episode 1: Crystallis)

Okay, first off, Cannibal Holocaust is not a snuff. That’s false. It is a cult classic horror film. It’s one because it’s (one of?) the first of its kind. Also, while it IS controversial and violent and there ARE something inside that are SO BAD WHYDIDTHEYHAVETODOIT, the film actually has an interesting and legit message. I think it’s not weird if Warren, being a fan of disturbing films or obscure films in general, will be interested in watching the so-called “cult classics”.

So regarding why he laughs, a possibility is that he laughs to pretend/show off to Max that he is tough. I mean, he literally shows off his car in that scene, to impress her. Weird flex but okay, bro.

Another possibility which is more probable is it’s because Warren has a dark sense of humour. Max knows this the day she meets him for the first time, that “he’s dark”. You can read it from her diary.

I think he has a higher tolerance than the average person after getting desensitised watching too much horror, which is why he laughs. Because he sees the comedy somewhere. And I think I have an idea where it is. Hint: It’s connected to the message of the film.

The message is the irony of how fast the characters adapt to savagery and exploit the tribe and their culture for the media, which raises the question: “So which one is the savage one? The tribe who people think should have been the ‘uncivilised’ or the characters who should have been the ‘civilised’ ones?” That twist can be funny with a dark sense of humour. Or it can be as simple as how the climax is satisfying/amusing with the characters getting what they deserve after all they have done fucking with the tribe. Hell, if you want to be meta and look into the background story of the filming, you can laugh too at the hypocrisy between the message and the film’s status as an exploitation film.

2. "he says to max's face that he's disappointed she won't have sex with him within 3 weeks of knowing him."

Hmm, that got filtered by your interpretation so let's go back to the root again aka the script to be objective.

Max: So you're sensitive... Warren: Ouch... That sounds awful the way you say it. Max: How so? Warren: Sensitive usually means "won't be having sex with you." Max: Oh, gawd! You need a sensitive woman to kick your ass. (Episode 1: Crystallis)

I want to confess. I had to think hard about what this means, maybe because I didn’t get the reference, because I’m not a native, or just because it’s a bad dialogue. I mean, of course, it sounded bad but I didn’t know EXACTLY what it meant. It took me 6 months to get it… somewhat… From my understanding, he means that “sensitive/nice guys finish last”, no? So the concern is about Nice Guys™?

I won’t wave this off, Anon, it’s still a distasteful comment to say, I admit. But I believe it’s a bad joke made by Warren, an awkward kid, who tries to hit on the girl he got a crush on. The whole scene is about him trying to be smooth, but failing miserably because (1) as I said, he’s awkward, you are not smooth enough, bro; (2) that’s the wrong thing to say, bro; (3) Max is not interested in you, bro (unless you make her be, I guess).

Warren is cringey. I have facepalmed a lot of times listening to him or reading his texts to Max, but we are all cringey in our teenage years. I don’t want to elaborate on my cringey-ness but I want to at least tell you that I did have a Warren, Anon. I rejected him hard and harshly (which I regret but I was also a teenage kid). But he was ultimately a good kid and we are still close friends. He’s matured and thriving now and I have no doubt if Warren were real, he would mature and thrive too now.

3. "he plays max and brooke off each other by lying about the tickets for the drive in."

Okay, let’s search for those. 

Warren: BTW, the drive-in is actually popular so I'm buying the tix now. Warren: I'll have an extra one. In case you change your mind. [Wed; morning] (Warren’s text messages in Episode 3: The Chaos Theory if you decline the invitation.)

Warren does talk about two tickets but the drive-in charges per car, not per person (based on the poster). What’s the subtext of this dialogue? It’s saying that Warren still hopes that Max comes with him. Even deeper is Warren nudging Max to convince her subtly to go with him. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I don’t know why these inconsistencies happen, but inconsistencies are not uncommon in the game. So let’s rewrite the text message dialogues to remove the inconsistency, but keep the subtext.

Warren: BTW, the drive-in is actually popular so I'm buying the tix now. Warren: I’ll keep your spot open. In case you change your mind.

Nothing is different. The subtext is still the same. So if his narrative is to… I don’t know, to manipulate Max to go with him, I don’t see why he has to lie in the first place. Because my rewrite does the same job of the subtext. Maybe it is a development mistake.

These are the dialogues that are relevant, right after Max accepts or declines the invitation:

If Max accepts: Warren: I have to tell Brooke I'm going with you to the movies instead. I'll text you later? If Max declines: Warren: Uh, I have to see if Brooke wants to go to the drive-in, Max. Maybe I'll see you later. [Tue; morning] (Episode 2: Out of Time)

Okay, the first one sounds like Warren has invited Brooke first before Max with that “instead” and the second one sounds like Warren hasn’t invited Brooke at all. Weird, isn’t it? This is why people say Warren is playing off both girls. But there’s this dialogue:

Brooke: That's so ironic that Warren asked Max to the drive-in. Brooke: It's not like I don't own all the original "Apes" films. Brooke: Maybe I should've asked Warren to go... [Thu; afternoon] (Episode 4: Dark Room) [Max accepts Warren’s invitation route]

“Maybe I should’ve asked Warren to go”? In the narrative of if like you say, Warren playing them off, this dialogue doesn’t really add up, does it? It sounds like Warren never invites Brooke at all, or at the very least, they talk about wanting to go but never commit to doing it together. Does this make sense?

So what is this? Which one is right? Are these inconsistencies again? Maybe? Am I wrong? Tbh, my head hurts already LOL Tell me what you think. I’m so tired of this game’s inconsistencies.

Brooke is the second choice here. I don’t deny that. She always is even in the alternate universe, poor girl. Even after Warren says that he will ask Brooke instead after Max declines that morning, I think he still procrastinates on that and keeps hoping Max will change her mind until the next day. That’s why later he says: “I’ll have an extra one” (or “keep your spot open” in my rewrite) [Wed; morning].

And then, there’s the scene where Max is dared to kiss or not kiss Chloe [Wed; morning] (Episode 3: Chaos Theory). Regardless of whether Max kisses her or not, Chloe will text Warren later [Thu; morning]. In the route of Max declining Warren’s invitation, it sounds like he finally gets that Max is either not interested in romance or is interested in Chloe. So Warren gives up and he finally invites Brooke to the drive-in (Episode 4: Dark Room) [Thu; afternoon].

Just like Max is not interested in Warren and prioritising Chloe, Warren doesn’t seem to be interested in Brooke and he prioritises Max. Insensitive? Yes lol But, they are teenagers having a crush.

I hope all this makes sense.

4. "he knows how to build pipe bombs."

Because he's a nerd. A nerd who spends his time experimenting with chemistry. Pipe bombs are simple to make too. Max can even make it with his instructions. It's not weird if he knows how to build a lot of stuff. When you are passionate about something, you will want to learn more stuff, right?

Also, Anon, in high school, we begged our chemistry teacher to put potassium inside the water after we heard it would explode. She reluctantly yielded and yeah, it exploded and we screamed and laughed. She immediately regretted her decision. My point is explosion is exciting, Anon. There’s a reason why teenagers like to play with fireworks. Dangerous? Duh. It’s exciting tho, said a lot of teenagers.

God knows I got knowledge on weird stuff just because of some morbid curiosity or because one of my interests gets me interested in researching weird stuff. But my point is, it’s the same with Warren in this case. It’s not weird at all that a science nerd knows how to build a pipe bomb.

5. "he almost beat nathan to death because he was angry."

This, is my favourite point you made. Because despite all the people who decided to let Warren beat up Nathan, you use this point to imply that this isn't right, which weirdly makes me happy to see that it's acknowledged. Because it IS not right! Sorry, I'm just a Nathan trash (who wants to punch him too ironically but of course, I wouldn’t do it lol Sorry, Nate). Of course, you may say this with the intention of “there is something wrong with Warren based on this scene, some anger issues or something which is… dangerous.” Well…

You know, Anon, the thing with Warren is, the game subtly told us that he is bullied. And I was spending time trying to find evidence but I’m frankly so tired of combing the Wikia HAHAHA Turned out, someone has talked about it already.

There’s no confirmation on who bullies him (eh), but my guess is having a room across the kInG oF bLaCkWeLl's (I hate that dumb cheesy nickname lol) is not a good time for him. People can interpret it as him being angry because his crush is getting attacked by Nathan again, but I don't really see that tbh. Maybe it starts off as that, but later it explodes because of the pent-up anger he feels inside after all the bullying he has experienced. That’s the first time he beats up someone. He doesn’t even know he could do that.

Of course, this is just a different interpretation. Some people choose to interpret something from this side of the spectrum and there are people who choose to do it from the other side of the spectrum. I chose “this side of the spectrum” to give you a different interpretation to ponder upon.

People could scoff and say, “Now you are just being biased.” Well… That’s what Warren haters do too. Being biased. Because Warren has so many positive things too, you know? It’s just the same as how Chloe haters are biased and ridiculously bash her hard outside of the fandom, when she has so many positive things.

People could scoff again and say, “You are using ‘him being a teenager’ too much as an excuse.” I believe we are too hard on teenagers. Yes, even the 18-year-old kids. You don’t magically mature and know everything about yourself or the world once you are 18 years old (or 19), even if society deems them as young adults. I sure didn’t when I was 18 (or 19). I only knew what my favourite colours are in my 20s! (Answer: the shades of pink, red-purple, and true red.) Everyone has their own pace. Warren is approximately a month before 17.

Also, I believe in mental growth. If people love the idea of flawed Warren as a character and then they write a fanfiction about him maturing and growing as a person and Max is in the picture, is that a bad thing? Of course not, it’s just them believing in the potential inside a character and character dynamic and using it as a creative outlet. Characters in “Life is Strange” are created to be in the grey shades. From the almost-white (like Kate and Samuel maybe) to the almost-black (like Jefferson). Max is grey. Chloe is grey. Rachel is grey. Warren is also grey. It’s not a bad thing to love fictional grey characters or even villains.

Lastly, let this be a reminder, not only for Anon, but for people in general, that… you don’t know why someone loves something. They may have nuanced reasons that they can’t explain fully if they don’t write long-ass essays and even if they do write one, sometimes people don’t even care about reading it. But if you keep an open mind and listen, maybe you won’t agree, but at least you understand a little bit and respect the opinion. Like, for example, hell, if I hear someone seriously loves Jefferson I will be so baffled (I hate him), but I will be so interested in hearing it and I'll still be so baffled but I’ll respect that, you know? Maybe I'll laugh a lot but only because I’m entertained and happy that they explain it to me. (I’m seriously interested so hit me up if any lol)

But that’s only me and my mindset. The general rule is just please be respectful.

Maybe after this, more people will come to my inbox and point out more things to argue. While… um, okay, I did say I claim to be Warren’s personal lawyer (and I was obviously joking) but until when will you people do this? xD Okay, I can’t stop it, or I can but I don’t want to block the few anonymous asks to my inbox, but since my lawyering is not paid by Warren, whether I will write an essay like this again or not will depend on my time and mood hehehehe xD

Thank you for the ask. I enjoy writing this! For Warren sympathisers, I hope I do him justice. If not, I’m sorry, but let’s hear it.

I'm shocked if someone is actually reading this, but if so, thanks for reading.

Kris

[jheselbraum]

Hi! Im really sorry for coming across like this and i hope im not stepping out any boundary, just in need of dire help right now as my cat needs some emergency treatment and im on financial bind. Im trying to raise some funds for him and I’m hoping that you’d be so kind to help us even by just spreading the word out. I made a post about it on my blog and pinned it, i know times are tough right now for and its a few days before 2024 starts, just wanted to atleast get the care he needs before its too late. I feel so bad 😭 i hope you would consider, also pls if maybe answer the ask privately or send me a message instead? its just that people sometimes tend to get weird on these things. 🙏😭 merry christmas 🙏

Wowie gee an ask about a poor unspecified cat from a three day old blog that does not follow me with the same profile pic, "stepping out any boundary" typo, and emojis as a different tumblr user who also sent this same ask five days ago, on December 26th, the day before your cat's supposed emergent vet bill was invoiced to you? At least, according to the completely unedited picture you posted of the vet bill, which includes "your" full name, address, and phone number. Boy oh boy, I should transfer all of my assets into your paypal dot me link, which is mysteriously not in the paypal dot me slash name format that paypal dot me links usually are! Of course tagging it as friends and family, so I have no recourse should I get wise.

And "answer the ask privately" I have thousands of followers are you sure you don't want me to signal boost your ailing cat?

Come on dude. Warnings about this scam have been circulating for months now, you're gonna have to try harder than that.

[canyouhearthelight]

Nihilus Rex 8: Opener

Finally getting into the technical side of things, and I will attest: @baelpenrose and I decided that the next several chapters are probably the only time the really technical stuff happens on screen.

It was all, undoubtedly, an absolutely nightmare to get right, simply because I am a subject matter expert in one of the areas, he is in the other, and... yeah. It got complicated very quickly. But hopefully that pays off!

Say you have a little faith in me

Just close your eyes and let me lead

Follow me home

Need to have a little trust in me

Just close your eyes and let me lead

Follow me home

To where the lonely ones roam

Digital Daggers, “Where the Lonely Ones Roam” 

For the next handful of days, I heard from Nils sporadically.  The first couple of days consisted of just being updated that he was still alive, promises that he was eating something other than drugs and coffee, and one celebratory announcement that he had showered without drowning - which, admittedly, was kind of gross since that was around day three, but I didn’t have to smell it, so I left it alone.

It was around the fifth day that he sent me an address.  Not the hacker cafe, and nowhere in my neighborhood.  I was warned to bring my own coffee under threat of instant and strongly suggested to bring a change of clothes.  Part of me started to type back a quip about the kind of girl he thought I was, before sense won over and I deleted it.

“Not for anything weird - well, not for anything that isn’t our kind of weird, anyway. This is gonna take a while.” 

Totally reassuring, I thought as I started throwing stuff into my bum-around bag. Toothbrush, water bottle, battery bank for my phone… after a bit of consideration I tossed in extra socks, because there were few things I hated worse than wet socks.  Laptop and all its gear went into my backpack, and I headed to the front door.  Mama and Baba weren’t home from work, so I left a note taped to the fridge and one on my bedroom door just in case. Heading out to a friend’s for a school project. Probably going to be there overnight, took clothes just in case. I’ll have my phone. Love.

A bus, a subway trip, and a hour and a half later, I was walking to the address Nils had sent, suppressing the urge to look around suspiciously.  The address was in an area I generally avoided on foot, and if something brought me here I took a taxi - even if I was only going a couple blocks.  I muttered prayers to any deity listening as I arrived at the location, a tall building covered in graffiti, with what windows were still intact covered in makeshift grates or bars.

Nils was standing right outside, looking around for me, and spotted me as I approached, waving me over. He had slight circles under his eyes, and a slight five o’clock shadow, but he was intent, grinning slightly. “Lash, good to see you!” 

“Yeah, good to see you’re alive and I haven’t been getting messages from your ghost,” I joked drily before glancing around. “Although, I’m still not convinced I haven’t somehow taken a bus to some underworld. You do know my kidneys aren’t worth as much as you think, right? AB neg blood, terrible for donation.”

“I assure you you are more likely to be solicited for drug purchases or asked if you’ve considered sex work than you are to be black bagged and have your organs sold here. I say this having had both happen to me within a week of moving.” His voice was annoyingly casual. “I do apologize for the walk though. Come in, I made tea.”

My eyes widened. “Wait. ‘Moved’. You mean you live here?”

“I mean, we’re not doing the thing where I live. We are talking where I live. We’re doing the thing at this old mall that still has power where I set up a router in the crawlspace a while ago. But I figured we’d talk here first? But yeah, I live here.”

“Doing this thing at an old mall, cool, cool…” I responded, laughing in something like relief. “But you want to talk where you live. Which is here.” I waved a hand at the half blown-out street lights and nearby sewer grate before waggling it at the graffiti and boarded up windows. “You live here. Voluntarily.”

“My apartment has snacks. And coffee. And tea. If I leave those things in the shitty ‘Doing super illegal L33t Hacker Shit’ den I set up in an abandoned mall, my not-home evil lair gets overrun by vermin. So yeah, talk here. Probably come back here for like. Netflix or some shit to celebrate.” He paused for a beat. “Also, yes. I live here. Away from the really rich friends of my parents who would potentially see me and tell my family what shit I’m up to and what kind of trouble I’m getting into, then I hear about how much I’m screwing up our reputation, how could I be so ungrateful, blah, blah blah, it’s easier to stay as far away as possible from any of their friends. Besides,” he said, slowly. “This is a lot more real than anything I saw when I was a kid.” It felt like there was more he could say, but wasn’t going to - a refreshing change from how he’d been the last several days. 

“Your family, your cow, etc,” I muttered, looking around again and resisting the urge to wipe my hands off against my pants. “Still, I feel like I need to introduce you to our lord and savior ‘Any Deity Who Will Convince You Self-Flagellation is Not Penance’ or something.”  Before he could respond, I waved my hands in a shooing gesture. “Come on, let’s go inside and you can introduce me to your six-legged roommates.”

Ushering me forward with a comically formal sweep, Nils buzzed me into his building - I was honestly shocked it was needed, but it calmed me somewhat. We made our way up a couple flights of grungy-looking stairs, and I instantly felt guiltier the further we went: for all that the stairwell looked filthy, it was extremely well lit, bleach-scented, and not a single stair creaked thanks to what looked like various ages of patches.

The city may not care, but the residents certainly seemed to.

On the third floor, we exited the stairwell and made our way to a very nondescript door.  All three deadbolts and the hinges moved without a sound, and Nils stood to block my entrance, drawing himself to his full height, chin up. 

“Lash, O caller of bullshit, expert at puncturing egos, enter the portal to the domain of the greatest hacker and dumbest bitch of the age, and see if you can find a roach in sight, for nothing enters here without my permission. I am Nils Andover, lord of this tiny apartment and a terror of cyberspace. Enter, and enjoy my hospitality.” He spoke with a ridiculous faux-accent to top it off, which wasn’t quite British but might have been his attempt at doing a Victorian Crackhead. 

No amount of self control could keep me from giggling and cursing myself for doing so. I stepped through the door, surprised by how clean and pristine it was on the inside.  Still, I reminded myself that I brought spare socks as I toed my shoes off and set them beside the door before taking another step. “Masala chai?” I asked, sniffing carefully.

“You said become your Uncle’s best customer.” 

“Tch,” I clucked. “I did.” Suddenly, I realized what he said. “Wait,” I gasped, “you think Mr. Yildiz is my uncle??” I covered my mouth to hide a smirk.

Nils paused with embarrassment. “Maybe. You don’t seem the type to call people uncle unless they’re related by blood, marriage, or adoption, so…”

I managed to sit on the arm of the couch before gasping for air. “Nils… Oh my… hooo culture difference, okay…” With a more controlled breath, I composed myself.  Poor guy looked something like a wet cat in his confusion. “Lots of cultures use the term Uncle or Auntie as a term of respect. Something…less formal than Sir or Ma’am is the closest I can explain. So, he’s not my Uncle, he’s just Uncle. Every young person’s. Baba and Mama call him Brother, blah blah blah.”

The look of shocked embarrassment was replaced with complete comprehension. “Ah. Gotcha. That makes perfect sense. Sorry about that.” He blinked and absorbed that for a moment, setting a steaming cup of tea in front of me.

“Now, I’ve been reflecting on what you said, managed to look at what I’d have to do to get the liens out on homes, vehicles, and businesses. Will say this - there’s a little layer of complication for how they hold onto liens for state compliance. We can release most to the holders outright, but some of them its going to be required for us to release them to both the holders and to their city or county halls at the same time for archiving. That is, just barely, on this side of being possible.” 

He took a breath and waffled his hand as he took a sip from the tea. “The trick is that we have to have all the malware and spyware to do it ready to roll well in advance of the attack, and we have to be able to shoot it all in, operating, and releasing all liens simultaneous to the attack itself, to be able to use the attack as a smokescreen for what’s happening. If we do it before the attack, the bank can use physical records to re-upload the destroyed digital ones, and if we do it after, we’re going to cost a lot of innocent people their cars, homes, businesses.”

I was more shocked than I should have been that he thought it through to such a degree.  Yes, I had practically screamed this at him less than a week ago.  No, I was not used to people actually listening to a word I said.  It was kind of flatt - no.

Sounding somewhere between exhausted and frustrated, he added. “There’s…probably a lot of reasons this hasn’t been tried, to be honest. Did I mention that even if this goes right we need to be able to punch in, get the worms loaded, and then databomb the shit out of everything within a few minutes?”

“Oh, joy…” I responded with what I hoped was very clearly fake enthusiasm before draining my tea and grabbing my bum-bag to dig through it. Without looking up, I admitted my shortcomings. “I don’t think you and I can make that happen in… what, twenty-five, thirty minutes?”

“Twenty.”

“Even better,” I grunted as I grabbed my thermos. Unscrewing it, I refilled my cup with high octane ambrosia before offering it to Nils. “No matter how good you are, I don’t think the two of us are going to make that happen in twenty minutes.”

Nils took the coffee and sipped, smiling slightly. “Yeah. There’s someone in my network who may have an in, if only because he’s worked on and off at vendor sites in a lot of banks, but I’m not sure how down he’d be with the overall plan. He’s really good, but he tends to avoid extremely high-risk stuff. Rather keep the “racist hicks as pawns” bit out of it, when we talk to him. And if there’s anyone in your network who might be able to join, I’m open to suggestions. The QAnon cannon fodder stays between us.”

I thought it over. “There is… well, I’ll admit. He’s older, one of those ‘I wrote the internet’ types, so the social con part probably won’t go over well, but thankfully he likes knowing as little as possible outside of what he needs to do.  I’ll reach out to him, worst case, we have double the help.” 

“Let’s see whose guy answers first?” Nils said, not really asking and already picking up his phone.

I had the good grace to take a deep inhale of caffeinated goodness before savoring the flavor.  Then I grabbed my phone and messaged Bishop.  Nils’ got a response before I had even typed the message, but I chalked that up to my habit of messaging Bishop more details than most, knowing he wouldn’t go to the police if he turned down the job.  The man had a whole ass hydroponic set up in his basement, and I’d seen it - he wasn’t going to the cops on me unless I killed someone.

“Lash, is there some reason you and Nothing are messaging me on the same day, at the same time, about what I’m pretty sure is the same job?” 

I didn’t move my head, but looked through my eyelashes at Nils, who wasn’t showing any signs of being called out. Carefully, I texted back. “I didn’t know you were acquainted.  Now I’m intrigued. U n or not?”

“I didn’t know you two were acquainted. And I’m in mostly to see what that’s going to look like, Baklava.” 

“Did you already tell Nothing?”

“Yeah, I told Creampuff I needed to see this. I’ll be there in ten. Try not to blow anything up between the two of you before I get there. And if you brought coffee, save me 2.”

I smirked and slowly screwed the cap on my thermos. “My guy will be here soon. He’s pretty excited.”

“Mine’s on his way, should be here in ten.” Nils paused. “He seemed more concerned.”

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, I reminded myself. “I have dirt on my guy, so I’ll admit I gave him more info up front than I do most.” Seven more minutes…

“Yeah, makes sense. So, in the meantime, uh. If I were to order pizza, anything you’d want on it? It’s uh. Gonna be a long day and we’re gonna want something to eat.” 

“Small with anchovies,” I said automatically. “I’ll eat it in the hall, don’t worry about the smell.”

“Absolutely the fuck you will not - you’re a guest. I’ll handle the smell if it’s a problem.” Nils was smiling, faintly again, as he pulled up the Mountain Mike menu. 

“I am going to guess you’ve never been in the vicinity of an anchovy pizza, so when you change your mind, let me know.” I was used to it… as much as I loved the opportunity to have one, I was well aware of how long the smell clung to anything in the room for days at a time.

“I have not, it is the principle of the thing.” He moved, clearly feeling awkward. “We don’t have much to do but kill time until he gets here, so like. What do you do for fun?”

“First, if it’s not too late: order extra lemon wedges with whatever you can,” I added. Least I could do. “Second… I watch a lot of anime, doodle, and sit on a bridge scaring people into thinking I’m a jumper.  There really isn’t anything else, unless you consider a semi-unhealthy relationship with music.”

“Requesting a few lemon wedges. I also watch a lot of anime, listen to a ton of music, sometimes a bit of gaming. Not a lot of fun in person, to be honest. Used to have a friend I’d hang out with, but you met me the day of that funeral, so, yeah, I’m fairly boring now.” He leaned back on the couch and offered me the spot further away from him, presumably to make me more comfortable. “How’d you get into voice acting?” 

“Deliberately,” I surrendered, looking mournfully at my thermos and wishing I had brought a larger one. “It took a ton of effort and practice, and a lot of voicing my own animations - “ I was cut off by the buzzing of someone requesting entrance. Bishop? Or Nils’ person? It wasn’t nearly long enough to be the actual food.

Nils buzzed the person in, and within a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. Nils opened it and grinned. “Harvey, been a while. You’ve been quiet. It’s good to see you again man.”

Bishop was standing there, glowering between the two of us. “So. One more time. Why the fuck are you two hanging out, and what are you contacting me for?”

[kikkieabby]

The Saints: As We Rise from the Ashes, Part 1

Summary- Basically, the Sents entered into a new dimension where the OG saints of that world is gone. So, what is a girl to do but pick up where the OG had left! Rated M for cursing (in this chapter)

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

“What in the fuck is happening, Kinzie!?”

A red-haired woman shouted on the top of her lungs as she stared out at her friends and colleagues. Wearing nothing more but black shorts, a black mid-cut tank-top and white sneakers. She paces around a table inside of an abandon warehouse. Kinzie, who was no longer a red head, but rather a brunette without glasses, looks up at her friend to say:

“So, I think I’ve might have made a mistake when we jumped through the portal, boss.” Kinzie says as she types away at her laptop. The only thing she was able to bring with her when they jumped.

 “Mistake?” The boss asked. “I am fucking bus driver, WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU MAKE A MISTAKE!!”

“To be fair, we were kind of in a rush when we jumped.” Kinzie tells her boss as she begins to remember the events that happened, well, three days ago.

(Three days ago, original universe timeline)

“Uh, how long until the portal is ready?” The boss asked the red haired woman that was typing away on her computer as a blue haired young man was screwing in a couple more bolts into a large circle shape machine that had a bunch of weird writing on it. In another room, the rest of the gang were preparing to leave.

“Of course the Zin would try and over thrown us. We should have known better than to trust the aliens that blew up our planet.” The blue haired male growled as he screwed in the last bolt. Dropping the wrench, he reaches deep in the machine and began to unties some wires to connect them to different wires.

“Less complaining, more fixing Matt!” Kinzie growled. A second later the rest of the remaining crew ran into the room, covered in blood and alien guts. Looking tired with torn closed and damaged weapons. The Zin had decided to turn on the saints after being ruled underneath them for a couple of months. Much to the Saints dismay, especially since they blew up the remaining pods where the rest of humanity was sleeping in. Now that 90% of what was left of humanity was gone, the Boss and Kinzie decided it be best to leave this dimension and go to another one where the Zin didn’t exist. Which surprisingly, there were a couple of dimensions.

Keith, having just fought a mini army of killer robots, threw down his weapon before letting out a sigh of tiredness before taking a seat near Kinzie to look at the computer that she and Cid were working on.

“How long do we have before they break into this area?” The boss asked the tall male wearing sunglasses.

“I’d say 10 minutes.” He responded.

“Tops.” The woman with a long breaded hair responded. “They are surrounding us. How long until the portal is up and running.”

“A few minutes.” Kinzie says. “Cid is almost done with the hack. He’s found a dimension that is 85% similar to ours.”

“Wait a minute!” A brunette woman shouted. “What if we already exist in that world? Will we like meet our…double-gangers?”

“Its called doppelganger, Shaundi.” A black male with a white hate responded.

“Fuck you Pierce.” Shaundi growled before looking back the two geniuses fixing the portal. “And I know what I fucking said.”

“The machine will just place us into their place.” Kinzie said.

“That sounds risky.” Matt muttered.

“You can stay here and die.” The Boss responded to the blue haired male. Causing him to nod his head in agreement before pressing two wires together and twisting them. The circle sphere begins to emit a purple color before opening a purple portal for all the saints to see. Just then, Cid fell to the ground, the light in his eye turning black as his life was removed from the metal machine.

“Well!” The Boss started. “It was great! Lets hope its great on the other side!”

The boss shouted before running into the portal. Soon an explosion could be hear nearby. Without hesitation, Johnny follows behind the boss, and soon the rest of the remaining saints entered into the portal. Leaving behind a now empty husk of a machine that was Cid. Soon the purple portal light faded away just as the Zin broke into the room that the last bit of humanity in.

“Their gone?” A zin asked with a smile on his face, not noticing the detonator on Cid’s back counting down a number. Before the aliens could let out a gleeful cheer, the room was engulfed by fire. A sending off gift, courtesy of the Saints.

(1 day, in the new dimension)

Eyes popping open, The boss lets out a gasp of air before sitting up from what appeared to be a bed. Looking around, she notices that the area she was in wasn’t that of luxury, or even common living space. It was a dirty room, the wall paper was barely hanging on, there was a rug with multiple stains, near her was a night shelf with multiple beer bottle. Looking confused, she crawls out of bed to examine her surroundings a bit more. Walking barefoot on the rug that might have had mold on it, she begins to walk towards what appeared to be a window with blinds covering the outside light. Walking over, she opens them to see that she was currently on the north island side of the Steel Port.

“Steel-Port?” She asked herself before hearing a groan coming from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a large black man laying in the bed she had just crawled out of. Looking around the room, her eyes stopped at a certain picture that was hanging from the wall, it was picture of her in her younger years in a wedding dress…with the large man.

“I’m married!? FUCK!” The boss shouted loud enough to wake up the man in bed.

“Ngh!” He groaned as he begins to open his eyes to see The Boss stripping off her sleeping wear to grab clothes.

“Grace, what are you doing?” He asked as she looks to the clock on his side of the nightstand. “Its 4am in the morning, comeback to bed.”

“Grace!?” The Boss shouted. “My name is fucking Grace!?”

She shouted just as she opens her close to pull out some clothes. As she does this, the man behind her, or rather her husband stares in shock as she gets dressed.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked his wife, but the Boss did not respond. Once she had put on some shoes, she immediately runs out the bedroom and into a messy house and smelly house. Something that made her gag at, especially the sight of an overly full trash bag full of bugs. But what got to her the most was a picture of her near the front door. She was smiling ear to ear, wearing a white nurse dress uniform, much to her shock.

“Imma nurse?” She muttered to herself before looking around the house. “Why the fuck do I live in a pig-stye?”

“Baby?” The man asked again as she walked out of the house. The Boss didn’t even bother to acknowledge him, she grabbed some keys from a bowl near the door and walked out the house. However, the man follows behind in haste as she unlocks what appears to be her truck. Climbing into the driver's seat, the man quickly climbs into the passenger seat.

“Grace, what the fuck are you doing, you cant drive!!” The man shouted, causing the Boss to let out a low chuckle.

“How pathetic of me.” The boss tells the man before backing out of her driveway, into traffic. Stopping the cars on the road, and causing a bunch of people to honk and scream at her as she drives down the road. The man, her husband, stares in shock on how well she is driving.

“I thought you couldn’t drive.” He said, causing the boss to roll her eyes.

“I learned.” She growled. “So, who the fuck are you?”

“Grace…its me, Lenard.” The man said in confusion. “Your husband, we’ve been together for ten years.”

“Gross.” The Boss growled, and its not because she found Lenard disgusting or anything. It’s the idea of her being married is what made her sick to her stomach. She didn’t like the idea of being held down by a man. That’s why in her world, she had her ovaries removed so she wouldn’t have to worry about having a baby or a period. However, in this world, everything was rest.

“Who you calling gross?” Lenard growled, The boss was about to respond until she looked at the man she was married too. And frankly, he didn’t look that great to her. A large guttered man with beard whiskers, wearing a stained wife beater shirt and stripped sweat pants. The boss was somewhat disappointed at her previous self for what she married.

“You, Nigga!” (My boss is black woman!) She growled. “Why is our house so fucking dirty?”

“Cause you don’t clean.” Lenard growled back to her. Just then, The boss rammed her foot down on the break petal, stopping in front of a certain building, the HQ of the syndicate, much to the boss’s annoyance. Until she had realized something.

“MATT!!” She shouted. Stopping the car in front of the tall building, she hops out of the car and approaches the entrance where two men were standing guard. Just as she was about to enter the building, one of the men stopped her. He appeared to be a morning star goon.

“I’m sorry ma’am, visiting hours are at 9 am.” He said, causing The boss to chuckle.

“Funny, I am looking for Matt Miller. Call him down, we need to talk.” The boss spoke, but the two men stared at her in confusion.

“Matt…who?” One asked, before The boss could say anything, it had clicked into her mind that maybe Matt’s name was not the same as her in this new world.

“Oh…uh…” She begins to think. “The guy in charge of the Deckers. Tall, British, blue hair, shy, wears purple lipstick.”

The two men trade even more confused glances at one another, causing The boss to realize that maybe Matt wasn’t here. For once, the boss began to feel doubt and confusion.

“Alright lady, jokes over. Time to go home.” The Morning Star goon tells her before placing a hand on her shoulder. Without hesitation, The boss grabbed his wrist and twisted it before side kicking the other goon in the stomach. Surprisingly she still had her strength and mobility, because she swiftly threw the goon she was restraining into the wall, before heel kicking the other man chin onto the ground. Lenard, who was still in the car, saw this and gasp before The boss went back into the car. But not without grabbing a gun from one of the goons pocket.

“What the hell…” Lenard muttered before the Boss packed away and drives all the way back to her house. Once there, she begins to search the house for a computer. One that Lenard points out to her in shock, once she finds it, she begins to type in a lot of stuff in google. Much to her husband horror.

“Babe?” He asked, but the boss ignored him as she tries to research what exactly is happening. The first thing she searched was her home, Steel-Water. And to her surprise, the place didn’t exist anymore! Apparently, from an article she found, there was a zombie break that caused the military to blow the island. Killing 23 million people and/or zombies. It was also where the resting place of the saints as the Boss would read about the death of her old friends. However, her main homies were not on the list of pictures she saw located under saints. That did not stop her fear panic over the situation she was currently in.

“Oh fuck.” She muttered as she stared down to the ground. Realizing that not only was she in a new world, but she couldn’t even find her friends because they all had different names.

[tozettastone]

I know I've been posting about other stuff today, but I've actually been working on the SPN Sabriel fic: 'Be Not Afraid, Behold'.

here's a little bit from the start of the next chapter:

-----

Sam woke with a jolt.

"You okay?" Dean asked, only halfway paying attention to the road that rose endlessly on ahead of them. Its sinuous shape snaked behind them, too, a long stretch of black asphalt that drifted off into the horizon, swallowed by a greenish mass of forest in the distance. There wasn't a lot on either side, and the only other vehicles were freight.

"Um," said Sam, squinting. The impala was a familiar rumble around him. He sat up. "Yeah... Weird dream?"

He rarely dreamed when he slept beside Gabriel, but now that he was back on the road with his brother, he was making up for lost time.

"Sounded like a nightmare." Dean was suddenly really attentive to that empty road, avoiding even the potential for eye contact with Sam.

It was fading now. What had been so clear and reasonable in the landscape of his dreaming mind was now confused and impossible to grasp. The tatters that remained of it were only an uneasy memory...

"Might've been." He fumbled for his phone beneath his seat belt, realised he didn't actually have Jess's number since she'd got a new phone, and then messaged Gabriel instead.

Hey, is Jess still on campus? She doing okay?

A response came three minutes later: Can't believe the first time you message me in a week is about a girl you dated last year. smh. She's fine btw. [Attachment: IMG_1101104].

The photo was a candid snap from one of the libraries at Stanford. Jess looked like she'd been surprised, looking up from her book only to be captured in digital media. She was as pretty as ever, but all Sam felt looking at the picture was—well, it was nice of Gabriel to go out of his way to check on her.

Gabriel? Wasn't really a library kind of guy. It was kind of odd that he had even been close by enough to take the photo—a lucky coincidence, he guessed.

Thank you, Sam sent, and then shoved his phone away.

"Sooo..." Dean drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. "That a girl?"

"Uh." Sam rubbed his nose. "A friend. Weird dream was about her? I guess. I don't even remember it really. I was just... checking in."

A long pause. "Does 'uh, friend' have a name?"

"Jess? She's really a friend though. We went out one time and I broke it off." And hadn't his recent experience with the Woman in White, Constance, really made him feel good about that choice to sit down with Jess and talk about it? One date didn't have to mean a commitment, of course, but now in hindsight he was pretty glad to have left no expectations behind him.

"Huh," repeated Dean. "What, was she ugly?"

"Was she—? No, Dean." He sighed deeply. "Jess isn't ugly. We... Just didn't fit."

This was a highly editorialised version of events, and he could almost physically hear Gabriel interrupting in the back of his own mind: Is that what they're calling it? Do you remember what did fit? It was my—

Sam hauled his train of thought back onto its rails. Fortunately, his mental image of Gabriel was a lot more manageable than the real one.

He already missed him. It ached like an absent limb. The last time he'd felt like this was years ago, leaving Dean behind on his way to California.

Gabriel typically drifted in and out of Sam's life every second day or so with what now felt like surprising ease. For Sam, few relationships had ever been easy. He'd moved around too much growing up for that. For more than a decade it had just been Dean, Dad and Bobby. Those bonds were important—even when he didn't really want them to be—but they sure weren't easy.

...At some point, Sam was going to have to talk to Dean about Gabriel. He thought this thought intellectually, but even as he did, a less cerebral part of his brain—one which dealt with feelings like anger and fear and disgust—wondered if it was true. Maybe he could just ...avoid talking to Dean about anything Gabriel related, ever.

It wasn't that Dean was homophobic. Not... really homophobic, anyway. But they weren't the kind of touchy-feely people who talked about their feelings. And god only knew Sam didn't want to finally find their Dad after dropping that particular bomb on Dean. He could already see that playing out.

He licked his teeth. This was pretty clearly not the time to talk to Dean about any of the, um, gay stuff.

Can't even say it in your head, huh? sneered a little voice inside him. This one didn't sound much like Gabriel. Sam's meanest and most self destructive impulses never did. The, um, gay stuff, he mocked.

He set his jaw and tilted his head until his neck popped, with the sound of synovial fluid stretching, releasing gases between joints. Pop-pop, soft and satisfying, like a release valve for the tension in his spine.

Dean pulled a face at the noise and turned the radio up.

Silently, Sam turned towards his window, watching the road stream endlessly by. He didn't check his phone.

[robinplayspokemon]

pokemon anime 1x13 "mystery at the lighthouse"

ash catches a krabby and is shocked when it's sent to professor oak because he already has six pokemon. brock & misty tell him that pokemon trainers can only carry 6 pokemon at a time, which directly contradicts stuff that happened with other trainers a few episodes ago, but whatevs! it's the pokemon anime, y'all. i don't think they had a continuity editor.

ash & friends head to a lighthouse where they meet the famous pokemon researcher bill. ash asks to use bill's phone to call professor oak & check on his krabby, and there's this weird... joke???... where both bill & oak have been eating nothing but tofu for days because their... cooks? are on vacation? idk if this is a localization thing (i forget if i mentioned but i'm watching the english version because that's what i watched as a kid so it hits the nostalgia better) or what, but as a former vegetarian i gotta say tofu isn't always super easy to work with? so idk why that's what they'd eat when their cooks are on vacation. (they also both imply that they don't like tofu, but like, fuck you man, tofu is great!)

and they talk about how cool pokemon are, which y'know, fair. bill reveals that he's been trying to meet an unknown pokemon that's "the last of its kind," but when that pokemon shows up (conveniently timed with ash's visit what were the odds) it's pretty clearly just a dragonite? which, there's gonna be several other dragonites in the show? like, i know it's dark & foggy but aren't you a famous pokemon researcher, bill?

anyway, this episode is alright. it has an interesting melancholy tone to it that i wouldn't want every episode to have, but i think it worked for making bill's optimism feel very distinctive and like it has a different vibe than ash's himbo optimism.

b-rank

new pokedex entry

[aguywithoutaface]

A story for my filipino girlfriend

This story is dedicated to my beloved girlfriend.

Midnight at the beach

It was already dark when Adhika went to the beach to be close to the ocean. She had always loved the sea, its endlessly rolling waves and its wide horizon. She liked the fresh air and the smell of freedom. She had never left the little island, where she lived with her family. Of course she knew about places like Europe or America, but what she learned about them in the Internet made them seem very far away.

It didn’t take her much time to reach the seashore. Her family’s home was close to it and she would have found her way blindfolded. When her naked feet touched the still quite warm sand she smiled and stood still for a moment. She made some small movements with her toes to enjoy the feeling when the sand trickled between them – a sensation she loved.

After a few moments Adhika walked to the water which was high up the beach and looked down because she saw something odd.

It was a glass bottle with something inside. Adhika took her phone and turned on the torch. Now she was able to see that there was some kind of paper inside the bottle.

That’s weird, is there someone in danger on the ocean who sent this message in hope to get rescued?

She tried to open the bottle and was a bit surprised when it worked easily. After enfolding the paper she began to read. Luckily it was written in English and not in a language she couldn’t understand.

Dear Adhika!

You must be very confused because I know your name, but I heard it when you were talking to someone on the phone while I was walking past you at the beach a few days ago. It seems super weird what I am doing right now, but please take it in good humour and the knowledge that I saw you the first time a week ago.

The matter I want to tell you in this letter and also the request I have are based on my feelings. To explain it I have to mention that I fall in love very easily. This does not mean that I have many relationships which never last long, but that I (when I meet the right girl) fall for her right away.

Now, first what I want to tell you:

I fell in love with you!

And the question:

Would you please meet me tomorrow at the beach when the sun sets, right where you found the bottle?

I hope so much you will be there tomorrow and talk with me. Perhaps we are meant for each other?

Love

Fritz

After finishing the letter Adhika stood up and looked at the dark ocean and the clear sky. There were no clouds so she could see hundreds of stars that seemed to glitter in different colours. She was lost in thought. On the one hand the letter sounded sweet and romantic but on the other it was definitely weird. Falling in love with someone you had just passed by? What kind of person could that be?

Of course, perhaps he is just too shy to talk to me right away?

She smiled when thinking about a shy man who fell in love with her.

Shall I meet him tomorrow? It could be a trap to bring harm to me …

After a few moments of thinking she decided to ask her parents what they thought about this. She folded the paper and put it in her pocket. Then she turned around and startled. There was a man standing just a few steps away. Adhika stood still for a second and waited whether he would do something.

Are you Fritz? Did you place the bottle here for me?

After a few seconds the man started to walk towards her. For a brief moment she thought about running, but she was not a good runner anyways. So she decided to just wait for him and see what he had to say. After all, it might easily be someone complete different, there were a lot of people living on the island.

Now he stopped and said awkwarkly “Adhika! You have read my letter?”

So you are Fritz. Hmm…

She nodded and observed him with curiosity. He looked somewhat European … and a bit sheepish when he now smiled and said: “Sorry for coming back after placing the bottle there! I should have waited until tomorrow. But I was too nervous. I couldn’t wait!”

His voice sounds nice and he has a sweet smile.

Fritz put his hands in his pockets and asked: “Did you like the letter?”

A few seconds Adhika waited, then she answered: “I think the letter was nice.” He nodded, seeming embarassed. “Okay, and ahm … Would you go on a walk with me right now?”

On a walk with a stranger … Hmm, I am not sure.

He added hastily: “Not a long walk, just maybe half an hour or less. I only want so much to get to know you a bit!” Adhika hesitated a little longer, but then she agreed and they were on their way.

- xxx -

More than one and a half hour later they came back to her part of the beach. The time had flown by and Adhika had really enjoyed the time she spent with Fritz. Suddenly she said something without even thinking. “Would you like to kiss me?” Fritz gaped at her, his eyes wide open and asked: “Really?” She nodded and blushed a bit.

Come on! Don’t hesitate any longer and kiss me!

Fritz seemed suddenly quite nervous. “I am not a very good kisser. Frankly, I have never kissed a girl before. Adhika smiled and opened her arms.

This is not the slightest problem. I like it even and I, too, am very inexperienced. I never kissed a boy in my life.

He came closer. A few seconds later she felt his arms around her.

He is hugging me right now ...

It felt much better than what she had expected. She closed her arms around him and looked up to him. He smiled with red checks and whispered: “I fell for you even though not knowing anything about you!” She, too, smiled and said: “Now you know a bit more about me… And maybe I also fell in love with you during our walk.” He leaned closer and their foreheads touched. She felt a weird new feeling in her stomach and a desire to feel his lips on hers.

Please kiss me …

A few moments they both just looked into each others eyes, then he came even closer and finally she felt his mouth on hers.

Wow… I never would have thought that kisses can be soo wonderful and taste so delicious.

The kiss lasted a while but in time they had to end it to get some breath. Adhika was surely very very blushed now, but in this moment she didn’t care. Fritz, too, had a red face and said now: “This was so awesome, I love you soo much!” She laughed and whispered: “I think I love you, too!” They kissed again.

Adhika asked: “Do you want to come with me and have dinner with my family? I would love to present them my new boyfriend!” Fritz seemed a bit nervous but he said: “Okay, so you really want to try it out with me? One date and being together?” She nodded and kissed him again. “Yes, I want it this way! Do you need more time?” He shook his head. “No, I would love to be with you!” Adhika took his hand. “Well, come with me and stay tonight with me, tomorrow we are going to visit your family if you want!” Fritz smiled and said: “This might not be so easy… They are in Germany where I, too, come from. I am just on vacation here in the Philippines!” Adhika laughed and said: “Okay, we will visit them later! Now come with me, I can’t wait to tell my parents about us.”

After a last kiss they left the beach hand in hand. This is how Fritz and Adhika became a couple.

[freezethebeez]

Not to get all sappy on New Year's Eve, but after replying to a couple Catalyst comments, I've decided to give a public thanks rather than one contained within a comment thread.

-

Catalyst has been just as of much of an experience for me as it has for you, the Catalyst Enjoyers (as I've dubbed you, and as I refer to you to my irl's)— if not more.

Syzygy was my first multi-chapter fic, as well as the longest thing I had ever written before Catalyst. It clocks in at 43k words spanning over the course of 6 chapters, and was written during my summer holiday. There wasn't much engagement with the readers during the Syzygy experience. I would respond to the comments, of course, but that's all I got. No fanart, no world analysis, no asks, nothing (absolute no shade to the Syzygy enjoyers. They are my little guys. My skrimblos. My day 1's).

Comparing it to the Catalyst experience, it feels almost sad. It feels as if I've built a small community with Catalyst— one with talented artists and talented writers— and just having this little community feels so freaking cool. It's everything I ever wanted as a fanfic author and more.

When I started writing fanfic 6 (nearing 7) years ago, interacting with my readers and seeing them create ideas and works of their own based off my writing was always my dream.

You have made that dream a reality, and I thank you all endlessly for it.

The Catalyst experience has genuinely been wild for me in the best ways possible. I was temporarily living with one of my friends when I started writing it— in fact, he even helped me choose the title 'Catalyst'— and to this day, whenever I see him, he asks me how Catalyst is going and reminds me of my humble beginnings— my first comments, my first fanart, all of it.

Catalyst has evolved substantially within its lifetime, starting at a projected finish date of sometime in early September, then late November, and now hopefully sometime within 2023. It's been so interesting to reminisce on the past evolutions and look at it where the story is now— which I can say I'm actually proud of.

Catalyst is more than just my silly little summer writing project now. It's an experience that I've been able to share with all of you, and one that would certainly not be the same without you. Seriously, I can't imagine Catalyst without the enjoyers.

It's just been fun for me, and hopefully fun for you. Seeing the reblogs on the Catalyst link chain tagged with "#catalyst saturday" never fails to make me smile. Every notification I receive telling me that I've been sent an ask makes me jump a little with excitement, and every piece of artwork (whether it be in the form of visual art or writing) sends me over the moon.

You guys are cool, and I appreciate your continuous support throughout this year. Thank you for sticking with me through all these Saturdays, and I look forward to your support in the future.

Also, to anyone who's made it this far, here, take this paragraph from chapter 19 (don't read if you don't want spoilers heehee hoo):

They don’t speak to one another— not with words, at least. There are some shared, knowing looks, sharp exhales through the nose, and fond smiles. And then there’s pinkies linking together in the miniscule gap between them, and Tubbo feels like the dumb teenager he is, fumbling through this weird world of relationships that are more than platonic but less than romantic, trying to find the acceptable middle ground that may or may not exist. He laughs to himself a bit— because this really is kind of stupid, I mean, for all the time Tubbo spends thinking about what it would be like to kiss the guy, you’d think Tubbo would have at least tried to ask. But no, he’s still struggling to hold Ranboo’s hand like they used to, and he thinks that getting back to where they once were might involve a few baby steps, too.

Again, thank you all <3

Sincerely,

freezethebeez

(no bees harmed in the process. beez, not bees. do not freeze bees please)

[weaversoffate]

sorn's letters to yesphyra

First letter - sent as Sorn and Calli left Maturana

to be decided -> either its joever or we are so back

(depending on how the prequel ends)

Second letter - written as the party was leaving Mato Alto, still not sent

Dear Yesphyra,

I hope you are well and things are as uneventful as ever at the manor. I know you must be bored out of your mind trying to cover for my absence. Has Arqwe or the twins turned up for a visit? I wouldn’t think so, but if they did I hope our planned excuses were enough to keep you out of trouble. Either way, know that you have my gratitude now and forever for doing all of this for me. I hope to one day repay you in kind. 

A lot has happened since my last letter. I’m not traveling with Callith only anymore, to begin with. Two more have joined our group: Halazia, a half dragonborn (maybe?) pirate and Ashana, a warlock. Please do not worry too much - I don’t know them well, but I’m confident that they don’t mean to harm me in any way and their assistance has been invaluable so far. I’m quite sure we both overestimated my abilities when I set out on this journey, if I’m being honest. It’s clear to me now that I wouldn’t have gotten very far without help. In fact, I dread to think of losing this small party and much of my attention - and effort - is going into securing my place within it. I believe they are my best chance of finding the artifact. 

And speaking of it, we arrived a few days ago in Mato Alto, a small town in the middle of a frankly strange forest, where we were able to glean a few clues about its whereabouts - rather, about where we hope we might be able to learn more about its location. Have you heard much about Três Pontas? I know it’s across the sea, but you’ve been to so many places, so I figure it’s worth a shot. I’d appreciate any information you might have.

As for Mato Alto itself… things were… well, weird there. I won’t pretend to understand what exactly was going on - it’s enough to say that monster attacks are becoming more common near the town, and that we managed to get involved in a fight with a few of them (please don’t ask me what events led to this situation. You probably wouldn’t approve of any of it). Don’t worry, though - we are all fine. 

We are preparing to leave the town now. The plan is to go through the forest and make our way to Ponte Negra, where hopefully Halazia will be able to get us on a ship to Três Pontas. It’s strange to think I might actually board an actual ship soon. I’m trying not to think too much about it - I can’t quite decide if the idea excites or terrifies me. 

There is much more I’d like to tell you, but this letter is already long enough and I don’t even know if I will be able to actually send it before leaving. Either way, I hope we get to see each other sooner rather than later.

Regards,

S.

Third letter  - written either on the journey to Gramacho or right after arriving there. 

Yesphyra, 

I’m afraid I might have made a mistake. We are not going to Ponte Negra anymore - or at least not right away, and that is, I admit, mostly my fault. I’m in the company of someone who knows who I am and who my family is - have you heard of a woman by the name of Jullya in Varre-Sai? Probably a noble of elf descent. I can’t quite place her, but her presence makes me uneasy and quite worried about you. One word from her to the wrong person in Varre-Sai and our cover is blown. I’m honestly quite unsure of how to proceed.

But I’m getting ahead of myself and rambling again. Sorry. Let me backtrack a bit: the trip through the magical forest around Mato Alto was short but eventful. Suffice to say, we had to fight our way to what (eventually) turned out to be an equally magical tavern. I’d rather not speak of how we secured our stay there through a letter, but it was a trial of sorts, and one that was unpleasant and might have thrown me a bit off kilter. I’m sure I can still blame it, at least partially, for how unsettled I still feel.

But I did get a magical lyre out of it. I might finally put all that time spent reading about music theory to good use. 

The following day, we ended up mingling with another group of adventurers also staying at the tavern. That’s where this Jullya comes in. She recognized me immediately, apparently. She’s also very much into Ashana, which would be interesting and even amusing under other circumstances. It certainly isn’t now. You see, her party was called to Gramacho to try and solve an ogre problem the city is having. Well, I say her party but I mean our party now, because we are also going to Gramacho to help them solve their ogre problem. 

Our deal with them is simple: we help them and after all is solved in Gramacho they take us to Ponte Negra without the need to go through the much maligned magical forest again. It is a bit of a detour, sure, but I admit I was not eager to face the rest of the forest after spending only one day inside of it. So that isn’t the problem - the problem is Jullya, the fact that many of her companions are spellcasters and that I’m afraid we don’t have this much time to waste. Not anymore.

We will certainly be out of our depth in Gramacho - I’m trying to get myself acquainted with the history of the place, but there is only so much I can learn before we are thrust into its politics at what seems to be a very delicate moment. Whatever help we can provide - if any - will probably not solve the city’s problems in a timely manner. And with another sorcerer, two wizards and a cleric around, I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to hide the source of my powers from the group. They might even know it already. I don’t know. Sometimes I think they do, sometimes I’m sure they don’t. The uncertainty is maddening. 

And then there is Jullya. She seems nice enough but I can’t trust her. Have you heard anything from Mother lately? Yesphyra, I’m afraid this was a mistake. All of it. I’m not sure how Mother will react if she finds out you were covering for me this whole time. Be careful. I will not blame you if you chose to leave. 

The worst thing is, this is mostly my fault. Calli, Halazia and Ashana seemed inclined to spend more time with Jullya and her companions so I made the deal with them. I convinced them that “hiring” us was a good idea. You are familiar with my people-pleasing ways, of course, and I did mention I wanted to secure my place in the party. I just couldn’t help myself. So I don’t have anyone but myself to blame for whatever happens next.

I wish, more than anything, that we could talk again but wasting a sending stone charge for this feels wrong. I put myself in this situation. I need to get out of it on my own.

Be safe, S.

[blankfairy]

Oooo I want to hear about your “weirwood” wip👀

tysm for the ask!! !! from this post.

!! i just started working on this a few days ago! most of my wips are just one-shots, but i think this'll become a chapter of my hotd fic, all things devour.

it'll go in one of the beginning chapters, when the main character, samsa waters, is about thirteen. she visits the king's landing godswood and finds her eight year old (did not realize he was that young until i just calculated it) half brother, trystane strong. he gives her some things to think about. but because samsa is thirteen and thinks she knows everything (including that her little brother is weird), she just kind of ignores what he has to say.

i ALSO was mistaken, because i named this weirwood, even though the heart tree in the kl godswood is an oak. oops.

snippet under the cut :3

One foggy morning after losing Aemond to his mother, the godswood called, and Samsa answered. Chimera’s Nest had no godswood. It cradled more faiths than Samsa could count, thickets of worshipers and prayers were to be found wherever she went. The ramshack sept never housed more than a handful of candles at each aspect, but something always burned; shrines were everywhere, strewn in incensed alleyways, sitting atop merchants’ counters, nestled in private crooks of shops and homes. Even Valyria’s still stood, deep in the caverns beneath Arlior Ānogrion, crusted with salt and worn by the thousands of high tides past. But they were as dead as Old Valyria itself; Vhagar and Balerion and the rest sat buried in the smoldering rubble that once revered them. When Samsa visited the old faces of her ancestors’ gods, wading in sea water up to her knees, she felt more divine than any of them. She didn’t feel any less powerful in the sept, or standing before the gods of Essos and Yi Ti and beyond, but here, in the godswood, the unease burned in her belly like a bubbling wound. Samsa stepped into the crisp air, heard the whisper of the wind in the trees and the intrusive thunk of her own footsteps, and shivered, but not for the cold. Disquiet blossomed here. Rage shot up from the soil like weeds. No amount of moonblooms or dragon’s breath or blood red malvales could mask it. The heart tree watched her as she approached, weeping red sap. Samsa’s stomach clenched under its strangely thoughtful gaze. A jolt of disbelief struck her the moment she met its eyes. “What am I doing?” Samsa shook her head, then the rest of her body, trying to rid herself of her nerves. She pulled her heavy wool cloak tight around her shoulders. If this was the curiosity that called, she drew her eyes down and felt sated. This was no godswood, it was a garden, the singular weirwood in Chimera’s Nest was more impressive than this thick oak, and she didn’t need to waste her time looking at trees and smelling flowers… A soft voice called to her. “Lady Waters?” Samsa curled her lip. Even with her hearing, she wasn’t sure where the voice had come from, and spun around. There was no one behind her. A heavy gust of wind pushed at her back and sent her cloak whipping at her legs. “Don’t call me that.” She turned back around, squinting. Trystane Strong, heir to Harrenhal, crept out from behind the massive oak, a hand pressed to its pale bark. “You’re a lady, aren’t you?” Somehow, amongst the greens and reds and blues of the godswood, Trystane looked taller than he had in the training yard. His streaked hair of curtained his face in white and brown and fell in loose curls to his shoulders. He wore a plain doublet of his house colors, and a rich red cloak that turned his eyes into depthless pools of blue. It seemed to swallow his wiry body whole. Beneath its embroidered edges his twisted foot stuck out, jutting against the grass covered roots. Before Samsa had a chance to snap at him, Trystane spoke again. “I saw the way you watched me in the yard. You hate me too, don’t you?”