#kait does college

[thechaoticquill]

Reading Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" and I'm low key obsessed

[katygorl]

Persona Ideas: Jo- Spooksverse

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Last July I made this just-for-fun exploration of taking me/my persona, and imagining what she would be like as a character in each of my three main stories(Spooksverse, The Lost Rainbow, and Hue Shifters)! :3 Originally just did the descriptions, before I made moodboards last week to further explore their styles and get some more inspiration for when I eventually draw them all out!

So starting up, here is the board for the persona I made for @spooksverse-asks, Jo! More notes for her are included below^^

((The other two personas: Kait- The Lost Rainbow, and Lyn- Hue Shifters))

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She is a witch, but that is not super relevant to her appearance aside from accessories and a few outfits. Her hair is a little past shoulder-length with an undercut, and dyed a darker maroon/wine red color. Her fashion style is more of a casual, punk-rock kind of style, but she does dabble in some other styles at times. The stand-out feature is that she would have more piercings, which would include all my regular ear piercings(plus an additional lobe and probably some sort of inner-ear piercing) and right eyebrow piercing, but would now include a septum piercing, and philtrum/medusa(which is one I plan to get irl in the future after I graduate college), with a possible tongue piercing too.

[ghosthoodie]

may i request some facts on agent four 🙏

you MAY! LETS GO!

Caroline

easily the strongest member of the NSS!! she got really into weightlifting and her deadlift record is about 300 pounds!

maining a dynamo also helps out with that lol, she also likes octobrush but she’s so strong she slaps people too hard with it😭

she’s EVP 500 and carries the rest of the nss members whenever they decide to join her. she loves killing but is pretty terrible at putting eggs in the basket😭

she grew up on a farm and travelled to inkopolis for school! she knew of sicily before she dropped out, but never got to interact with her since she’s 2 years younger than sicily.

she does have a degree btw. BS in biology! she loves creatures and unique plants, but doesn’t really use her degree in modern life lol

she still has a little student debt to pay off, but she got such a large scholarship that she’s probably well on the track of paying it off.

she joined the NSS to help pay off that debt.

she shared an apartment that her parents monitored with her little brother, Harley!

she’d describe her parents as loving, but not the best. they were very prissy about how she presented herself, which led to a LOT of self expression in college, probably with some embarrassing moments lol

she has a slight american southern twang, it comes out at certain times lololz, habitually says ‘bless your heart’

she’s a little boy crazy lol. token straight

originally it was only Kaity who was going to go on the side order campaign, but caroline came along because she knew kait needed someone there with her.

but unfortunately, they’ve been separated during the mission… D:

Harley

he’s about 2 years younger than caroline! he really admires his big sis so he follows her around everywhere

also went to school, got a degree in english! he’s always loved reading and was never a big fan of ink battles like caroline is. he has a group of writer/bookworm friends and he wants to be an english teacher.

he’s pretty anxious

he’s very elusive to the squidbeak splatoon, the only ones who’ve ever met him so far are sicily, callie, marie and the captain.

tagged along with caroline to also help pay off his student debt

he ended up leaving early though, because he couldn’t take the sheer violence of the warfare. it led to a lot of panic attacks, but he refused to leave until caroline sternly told him he had to.

after he left, a few years later he went back to school to get his teaching certification. he and caroline keep in touch!

[emmamountebanks]

ok but im going insane over the idea of kaitlyn, dylan, emma, and max living together in an apartment post-game

kait and dylan were probably going to live together anyways, but it turns out where emma chose to go to college is actually pretty close to those two so she's invited in. the more the merrier. max, who ended up hitting it off with all three of them - especially dyan - turned to them for a place to stay to figure out his life while laura was at college just a little bit away (albeit stlil a decent drive, so it was hard to see each other sometimes)

they were more than happy to let him in. whenever the three of them were out in classes, he'd tidy up the apartment and occasionally ask opinions on jobs or paths to major in.

dylan and max share one room, emma and kaitlyn share the other. the less bedrooms, the less to pay, but the more people, the cheaper the individual rent.

they throw the most insane parties thanks to dylan and emma, and theres never a moment without absolute mayhem. half the time, kaitlyn is just there to stand disapprovingly like "seriously? you made another hole in the wall? how the hell did you even do that?"

but the three of them wont ever let kaitlyn forget when she does something to the same level of their chaos, and always bring those moments up whenever she tries to act like the innocent mom friend.

[imagine-silk]

Yeah some of the characters took a bit to warm up to (I think Nick was my least favorite character cause I compared his attitude after being infected to Max, who is such a sweetheart and only complained about hurting 🥺) I do agree that Dylan, Ryan, Laura and Max are amazing! (Though I had such a soft spot for Kaitlynn cause she worried about Nick, and Abi after the attack. And she tried to cheer Dylan up after he lost his hand) Though those are my thoughts. And Emma was such a bitch, I agree (the chase scene though made me like her after though? Kinda like the Emily chase scene in Until Dawn, where you dislike the character before but liking them after the whole chase). And Jacob, oh man, I kept joking about how he’s such a simp 😂😭. I heard that House of Ashes multiplayer was better than the quarry (I haven’t played it but if it is I’m jealous). Wolf pack is fun if you have someone scared of horror games playing with you, it makes it funny af (I’ve been trying to get a third person for wolf pack so they can mess up my decisions/qte lmao). Also I apologize for messaging you often about this, haha, I just had so much fun talking about it with someone.

Okay, I saw a post that said he thinks the bite brings out their nature before they turn and it makes a lot of sense and that's a good chunk on my feeling towards Nick and Emma.

I've explained this to my friends that Nick and Abi are normal person terrible. Like they're not particularly evil or really bad in any meaningful way, they just suck. Abi and Nick like each other but can not for the life of them get together. Abi dismisses everything he says and is the most self-sabotaging person I've ever seen in my life and that's saying something. It's the strangest thing I have ever seen. If he says that he thinks whatever happens was meant to happen she says people can and will take advantage of that and relieve themselves from blame for the bad things they do and is super demeaning about it. ┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ Girly-pop, you did not need to say that. She also ignores him all the time and again, very weird because she doesn't really do it to anyone else. Nick himself seems fine and okay, he gets visibly sad when she does these things to him but moves on. Makes sense, it hurts. However, if the post is right he has a lot of feelings under the surface that are more than concerning. He also has the option to be just as pedantic as she is. So normal people awful.

Also the comparison of Max and Nick is kind of funny. Nick gets really aggressive and attacks them while Max just tells Laura his tummy hurts. He's so cute. Max did nothing wrong squad.

Kait grew on me because she changed. And she did it really fast so as much as she is mean for no reason she is caring and knows how to take authority. She probably was a really good counselor, I wouldn't be surprised if she can just flip a switch.

I feel very complicated about Jacob. On one hand he's very dumb and makes poor choices but they come from a good intent, no matter how questionable the reason is. He's a himbo. He's highly emotional and is very free about it. But he is so insistent about getting back with Emma he loses the plot. But he's also just a little guy who doesn't know what consequences of his actions will do. If there wasn't werewolves trying to kill them off I think the night would have ended and they would go separate ways. She'd probably ghost him and tell her fans about it now that I think about it. Jacob is a fratboy, not my favorite trope but Emma is evil so it makes him look like the biggest saint in the world. So yeah, very complicated.

All that being said, I do like the game. I am super critical of media in general and will pick it apart thoroughly but that almost never means I dislike whatever I'm talking about. It's very campy and that's what it was aiming for so it's great for that genre. The dialogue is great to show they're a bunch of dumbass kids barely in college. Choices make sense for the characters. The map is really good and having all of them run around is pretty cool, turning them into team A team B. I recommend a play or two for anyone.

Also listen to 'Bizarre but Bonafide'

[writersfearofrecognition]

Ignorance is bliss

Summary: Jacob and his childhood best friend slowly realise their feelings while trying to survive the quarry.

Pairing: Jacob Custos x nameless/female!OC

Warnings: jealousy, cringe dialogue, miscommunication trope, pure ignorance

TW: none i think (i hope, please tell me if there are i will gladly tag them)

A/N: back after some time :) hopefully fast updates once i’m done with exams but i won’t promise anything lol...

Chapter 2:

„and then she jumped off the banister, to defend me. she berated the bully until he ran off and that’s how we because friends.“

suddenly huge arms fall over mine and Kait’s shoulders.

„And after they became friends, they noticed they needed a muscle man for their brain and beauty, so they chose me. of course.“

the kids giggle and we groan at the very embellished story.

in reality he was one day not leaving our side anymore and he was too sweet to be mean to him, well in my opinion, Kaitlyn has always been mean to him. then our parents became close friends since our hometown was small anyways and then we never left each other’s sides again.

it was obvious Jacob had a soft spot for both of us, i was very open with my affection and care for them and Kait…had her own way of showing it.

in the year book we were crowned golden retriever and black cat friendship.

no wonder why.

and even now we were all going to the same college, it was a coincidence for Kait, but Jake and I actively tried to get into the same college. (and Kait secretly too, she just didn’t say that to us two.)

Kait throws Jacob’s arm off her and tells him he smells again, which he retorts but i am too busy with something else to listen.

who was the brain and who was the beauty in his story?

the kids drag me  out of the lodge before i could come to a conclusion and before i know it, i’m singing campfire songs between Abigail and Ryan.

i was the entertainer of the counsellor group, not the cool one like Emma, more the…compassionate one.

i sang and clapped and danced with the kids until the night fell, Mr. H. excused himself and Ryan got out one of his famous ghost stories.

some kids didn’t want to listen, so Kait, Abi and i went on the mission to get them to bed without the nightmares Ryan’s story brought them.

Emma wanders to me while i was again, getting all the kids to brush their teeth in the shower house.

„we always meet here it seems…“ Emma says with a smile. she was up to something again, i could feel it in my bones.

the kids swarm her and she halfheartedly talks to them, before asking me a question.

„what are you up to tonight?“

„what do you mean?“

„i mean, it’s the last…real night. tomorrow is going to be the party and the next day we’ll be packing the whole day.“

i give her a look that means ‚not-in-front-of-the-kids‘ and she laughs but nods.

once the kids were in their lodges, i still couldn’t escape her question.

„because we were thinking…to go swimming.“

„in…the lake with the big red sign of ‚do-not-go-swimming‘?“
Emma scoffs, „when have you ever listened to a red sign?“

„in public traffic, Emma. in public traffic…do you have a license?“

she shrugs with a smile, „maybe yes, maybe no…what does that have to do with swimming?“

i can’t help but laugh.

„okay Ems, you convinced me with your theatrics.“

she laughs, a real laugh for once.

„theatrics?“

„no one can fool me, i am the overseer as the kids call me.“ now i was playing yourself up while we were walking back to the campfire.

„sure.“ she smiles but goes quiet for the rest of the walk, until we were right at the fire.

„except Jakeyboy. he fooled you for a long time.“ she says louder than necessary and laughs when Jacob turns around with a shocked expression. i shrug at him and sit down next to Dylan, since Ryan was now between Kait and Dylan. Jacob tries to catch my gaze but i don’t look at him, too busy listening to another not so scary story, so he stares bewildered at Emma who giggles again with an innocent look on her face.

Nick finally comes back from his kitchen duties and sits down next to mw with a small sigh.

He leans his arms on his thighs and looks at me from below.

„hey. how’s going?“

„good. last normal day huh?“ i whisper, trying not to catch the attention of the kids so we could have a normal conversation.

he hums and looks into the fire.

„it’s going to be weird. not being here.“

i smile.

„i think the same.“

he looks at me surprised, „really? all the others can’t wait for it to be over.“

„yeah…it has its downsides but…i don’t know. the whole thing is pretty…“

„cool.“ he finishes my sentence. „yeah.“

we smile at each other.

„hey Nick, you wanna arm wrestle?“ Jacob yells from across the fire, already pushing up his sleeve.

Nick huffs and stems himself up, two kids were already at his side and drag him by his hands to Jacob.

Abigail comes back at the exact moment from the bathroom and sits down next to me.

„what going on?“ she asks whispering.

„just a testosterone competition.“ i whisper back.

she giggles and watches Nick roll up his sleeve. it’s…decent. Jacob most definitely has more strength but who knows. he’s easily distracted.

i force my eyes away from Jacob’s forearms and look at Abi, who’s still living out her middle school dreams in her head.

„you have something for him huh?“ „what? no-.“

„abi…“

she looks away from me and into the woods.

„its too late anyways. we only have a few days left.“ „and? get his number.“

„i-…i have his e-mail.“

i laugh.

„oh abi…e-mail? maybe a pigeon next?“

she laughs awkwardly and leans away from me.

„if you don’t do it yourself, i’ll get a group chat going with all of us, there you can get his number.“

she looks at me with her wide open eyes again.

„you would do that?“

„duh? i want to see you succeed. even if i think Nick is a bit of a manwhore but yeah…if you like him.“ she smiles and leans against my shoulder.

„thanks.“

„no problem.“ i put my arm around her and two girls across from us mimic it instantly.

Jacob had won 2 to 1 and made a victory lap around the fire while Nick shook his head and tried to scoot next to Abi.

i stand up so they could be together and Jacob grabs my shoulders from behind to get me to celebrate with him.

„Jake!“

„i won, i won!“ I laugh, „okay Jakey-,“ i pause before finishing the nickname, i promised him not to say it in front of the kids since yeah. kids are ruthless.

„Jakey?!“ the kids yell instead. „are you two in love???“ one asks and we halter in our movement.

Emma laughs loudly at us but hold a hand in front of her mouth once the attention shifts to her.

„hey! weren’t you and Jacob together?“ a girl next to her asks and she pauses.

„well uh. you know, sometimes things don’t work out. we have different plans after this camp.“ she explains with a confident smile.

i can feel Jacob’s hands cramp around my shoulders and i put my hand on his right one, signalling him that its alright.

„and sometimes, people misinterpret their feelings.“ she looks at us again and her eyes fall to my hand, which i pull back again instantly.

the kids stay silent, waiting for us to say something.

„yeah. it just wasn’t…the right thing. that happens sometimes. like when Jamie went home early, this camp also wasn’t the right thing for him. it happens. and you learn from it.“, Ryan interjects making a lesson out of this embarrassment.

„i miss Jamie…“

„yeah. we all do.“ Dylan finally saves us, „alright one last song, then we go to bed, it’s already late.“

the kids moan but Dylan starts singing and they get out of their mood again.

Jacob still hasn’t let go of me.

„Jakey…“ i whisper and he finally lets go. „sorry.“ „still thinking?“ „yeah.“

i nod with a smile and sit down on the almost empty log next to Nick and Abigail’s.

Nick smiles at me and i smile back, Jacob pushes me further to the right so he doesn’t sit next to Emma, i guess, and plants himself down right next to me. our thighs touch, but that’s nothing new. we always had a more touchy friendship. especially in contrast to Kaitlyn.

two kids were quietly moaning about how they had to change the marking in a tree but we were too busy with singing to really understand what tree they were talking about.

Emma grabs my hand before i could run off after all kids were inside their cabins. „we are going swimming.“

„well. i don’t have to go into the water right?“

she shakes her head.

„but you have to get naked.“

i frown but comply since everyone else agreed, except Abigail and Ryan, who leave for the cabins.

Emma’s the first one in her underwear and in the water, Nick and Kaitlyn follow shortly behind.

i laugh while watching at the deck, next sitting next to Dylan, who Emma also forced to get undressed.

Jacob was somewhere behind us, gathering towels.

we watch the three in the water playing around.

„Last time huh…“ Dylan mutters and i sigh. „I…really don’t want to go. i really like our group.“ „yeah. it’s fun. Mr. H. is weird but yeah.“

„don’t let Ryan hear that.“

he laughs.

„yeah…i won’t change my opinions because i like someone that has another one.“ i nod, „true. same. you have to be true to yourself…and you most definitely are that.“

he laughs and shrugs.

„well, sometimes…other times…not so much.“

i hum and want to ask what he means but he is gone before i can ask.

i shriek when the water splash hits me and Jacob giggles behind me.

„Jake, don’t you dare.“ i knew he would try to push me in next.

„i know i know…“ he crouches down next to me and pushes my wet hair out of the way.

Dylan emerges from the water.

„dude, a warning.“ „that was for fucking with me in the shower.“

Dylan smiles, „okay that was pretty funny…“

Jacob huffs, gets up and steps away.

„what did you do in the showers?“ i ask while turning to see what he does and he runs by me and lands with a bombshell behind Dylan in the water.

„woooho!“ he yells and we all laugh.

„Come on girl, we need a strong legged woman to save us from the depths of the water,“ Emma yells and teases me, while i roll my eyes and hang my legs down the dock again.

„the lifeguard’s never in the water, Emma. but good try.“

she sighs and goes under water. i tug my legs back up the second she emerges under me.

„you mother…hubbard.“

„god i can’t wait to stop censoring myself again.“ Dylan mutters to himself and i laugh.

Jacob notices and goes under the water as well.

i put my legs down again and sigh, looking at the star. it’s almost full moon.

wasn’t there some myth about sex on the full moon being special?

something was touching my foot.

SOMETHING-

i scream. like never before.

everyone turns around to me and Jacob starts laughing.

Kait starts to berate him but he only grins up at me.

„You- you know what i would say if Mr. H.’s rules didn’t exist.“

he shrugs.

„Dunno.“

i kick at him and he grabs my foot.

„Jake…“

„what? the water is nice. nothing will happen. i promise.“

i sigh and he tugs at my foot, opening his arms for me.

i pull back my foot, take a run-up and plunge into the dark water.

i can’t see anything so i dive up quickly, already getting the jeebies.

the water-shy kids loved that i also wasn’t a fan, but my colleagues…not so much.

well Kait protected me so they never said anything but it was quite clear that they thought it was unnecessary.

Jacob swims to me, once i emerge again and puts his hand on my waist.

„okay?“

i hum.

„hey, how about one of us puts her on our back?“ Nick asks and swims towards me but Jacob turns around before he can and almost drags me to hold onto his back.

„Fear not fragile female, Hurricane Jake is here!“

i roll my eyes and laugh while gripping his shoulders tighter.

Emma swims up as well and grins at us.

„see. nothing bad.“

„sure. until something nibs at your foot.“

Dylan smirks and wanted to dive down but Kaitlyn grabs him before he could.

„don’t.“

„what could be down here? the long lost brother of Mr. H.?“ „it’s a lake in the woods Emma. everything could be in here.“ „sure, girly, sure.“ she swims around and cherishes the waters while Jacob swims closer to shore and therefore to Kaitlyn and Dylan.

Nick swims to Emma instead.

„What’s the plan for tomorrow?“

„no hiking.“ i say exhausted and they laugh.

„yes. no hike,“ Kait agrees, „mostly art i think, drawing and voting for the best counsellors all that schtick…and the football match.“

Dylan gave me a look and i laugh.

„what?“ Jacob asks, out of the loop.

„Dylan said i’ll win the vote. i doubt it but he insists.“ „dude, of course you will.“ He gets excited again and i let go of his back, not wanting to get swept around in the lake too much.

he calms down once he notices i was gone and swims right next to me, our bodies almost touching.

„i don’t know…i think Emma has a bigger chance. they all love her.“

Kaitlyn scoffs, „and what’s with me?“ „you’re too bossy.“ Jacob laughs and she dunks him under water.

„and you’re too dumb.“ she says once he’s up again. „hey.“ i say quietly but they don’t hear me, they were too busy egging each other on.

„Do you wanna do the morning announcement with me tomorrow?“ Dylan asks and leans against the ladder to…look more smooth. „Not with Ryan?“ „he doesn’t like them…“

„oh. then sure. we will make him like them. if he wants to or not," Dylan laughs, „consent?“

i shove him, „hey, i didn’t mean it like that.“  „sure.“

he swims a bit away from me and i splash after him.

Emma was the first one out of the water again.

she was grinning down on all of us and posing for jokes while we cheered her on.

Jacob was weirdly quiet this time, probably since he was a little heartbroken, even if he tried to suppress it.

i climb up the ladder next and immediately start to freeze.

„fuck.“

Emma gasp at me and i laugh.

„if a kid heard me, they have bigger problems than a little swearing.“

„She just said fuck!“ Emma yells across the whole lake and i shush her but it was too late.

everyone still in the water gasps as well and educated me  on the ‚Importance of manners in this camp‘ as Mr. H. said it.

when Jacob climbs up the latter reciting the most important rule i push him back down, but he held onto the ladder and manhandles me once he was up.

he paraded the ‚rulebreaker‘ as i was, once again, on his back defeated.

Emma winks at me when he sets me down on the benches inside the boat house.

„one day i’m going to puke on your back.“

„wouldn’t be the first time.“ Kaitlyn says while walking by and Jacob almost falls on the floor from laughing before giving her a high-five.

i sigh trying to defeat the flashbacks of my first drunk incident.

Dylan was laughing as well, but stops when he sees a light source walking up from the lodge.

„fuck. Mr. H.“

everyone wanted to educate him first, but with the name of our boss, everyone gasped and scrambled.

Jacob grabs my arm and drags me with him.

up the stairs.

and into Ryan’s instructions room.

we close the door quietly and Kaitlyn fumbled with the keys to lock it, quietly swearing as well.

Mr. H.’s footsteps walk up to the boathouse and Kait finally manages to lock the door.

Emma exhales and crouches down, then giggles before holding a hand over her mouth.

Jacob’s grip on my arm tightens again and i take one step away from the door, right into his…really firm chest.

he held my waist so i wouldn’t stumble around when we clash together.

Kait switches looks with all of us and raises her finger to her mouth.

the footsteps grow louder.

he was coming up the stairs.

i hold my breath, Jacob’s also stopped tickling my neck.

Emma looks right up at the door with her eyes wide open and Dylan and Kaitlyn freeze in their movement, Nick’s leaning right by the door against the wall and closes his eyes quietly panting.

Mr H. stops at the door, tucks down the handle and huffs.

„well.“ he says and walks back down the stairs.

Dylan scrambles to the look out and hides behind the wall, to see where he was going.

„our clothes.“ Nick whispers and we gulp.

we could be easily identified by those.

„he’s walking back to the lodge.“ Dylan says louder and we sigh in relief.

„never again.“ i say and point jokingly at Emma who laughed.

„but the adrenaline baby.“ she says and stood up, cleaning off her backside before throwing her arm over her head to let the adrenaline flow through her body.

Jacob rests his head on my shoulder and sighs again. still thinking huh.
„we should go. before he searches the cabins.“

we hum and Kait unlocks the door again.

i gather my stuff and run to the cabins, only stopping once we were right in front of your doors.

there we wave at each other, Emma blows kisses and bows while i and Kait laugh and Dylan yells out a small cheer before the three men disappear in their cabin.

Abigail wakes up when we open the door with a giggle.

„where were you?“ „bathing.“ Emma says with a grin.

„Mr. H. almost caught us.“ „Oh my god.“ Abigail gasps.

„who was with you?“

Emma smirkes, „wouldn’t you like to know?“

Kait’s changing behind her bunkbed, kinda hidden from us three and sighs at Emma’s antics, while throwing on her sleeping shirt and patting her hair dry.

„Jake, Dylan and Nick.“

„oh,“ Abigail says quietly as i get changed and climb up my bed, now on the same height as she was.

„don’t worry. nothing happened.“

„sure.“ Emma smirks.

„nothing with Nick,“ Kaitlyn corrected.

„hey, nothing else happened.“ „you and Jacob?“ Emma asks and Abigail sits up fully, she loved listening to our boy-gossip, and me and Emma had loads of it from high school and middle school.

„Eh? that was just…childhood friend stuff. right Kait?“

Kait scoffs from under me as she lays down.

„true childhood Jake would have pushed you in the second you said no.“

„no…he doesn’t do that anymore since that…guy almost drowned me during that party.“

„huh?!“ Emma and Abigail ask at the same time.

i sigh and Kait explains while her mattress creaks around.

„pool party, some guy was crushing on her, they were in the pool, he pushed her under and drunk as he was, almost didn’t let her get up in time. Jake threw him out after that.“

Well, he grabbed him by the neck to drag him out of the pool and onto the streets but that wasn’t the best anecdote. „It wasn’t even his party but he still threw him out. i think the owner was in his team i don’t know,“ i continue.

„Damn.“ Emma whispers and starts braiding her hair into two braids.

Abigail doesn’t say anything, she was just shocked.

„It nothing.“ „you could not be here with us today because of some guy!!“

„okay Ems, but it didn’t happen. let’s not jump into parallel universes. i’m too tired for that.“

Kait laughs.

„same. i’m going to kill Dylan if he interrupts my beauty sleep again.“

„i’m going to make the announcement with him tomorrow.“ „it’s actually already today.“ i hum, slightly annoyed, „right Abi. anyways. I’ll sleep. good night.“ „good night.“ sang Emma as she jumps into her bed and i laugh one last time before sleep takes me.

A/N: next chapter is going to be...more than this,  that’s all i can say lol. hope you liked it <3

[nocturnalghoul]

next question is: how do RBCs get out of bone marrow and into the veins, explain like i'm five, are there veins inside bones???

YAY! I would love to talk about blood science (my beloved). Thanks for asking <3

There ARE blood vessels inside of bones! Lots of itty bitty ones called capillaries, wild right? You like to think bones are pretty solid but they have a lot going on and are spongy in the middle (don't even get me started on bone growth its trippy). All that spongy material in the middle is the bone marrow and big network of capillaries.

Main blood talks below the cut :). Welcome to Kait's fun science corner! Put on ya lab coat and get ready to learn cause I predictably gave way more info than you asked for oops.

Okay so to start there are two types of bone marrow, red and yellow, they both are full of stem cells (cells that have the ability to become lots of different types of cells). Red marrow is the one that makes all the blood cells (RBCs, the five types of white blood cells, and platelets). Yellow is mostly fat and has stem cells that become mostly fat, cartilage, or bone.

In grown adults most red marrow is in the hips, torso bones, and skull. Bone marrow taps, where they go into the bone to get a sample of marrow to look at under the microscope, come from the hip or sternum.

Okay so all blood cells have a life cycle of maturity they have to go through before they are what you would consider that cell. The marrow is like the big day care center holding all those cells until they are mature enough.

You asked about reds, which bonus fact are called erythrocytes, so I'll focus on those. The stem cells in the red marrow sort of hang out in there waiting to become specific cells as needed. That original stem cell starts out much larger than the end rbc and has a giant membrane pocket that takes up most of the cell containing all the genetic material called the nucleus.

Over the three weeks they spend maturing into an RBC that nucleus gets smaller compared to the amount of cellular liquid inside the cell (called cytoplasm) and more condensed as the overall cell shrinks. There are 6 stages of maturity overall. Once they hit their 4th stage of growth the aspiring RBC spits out that nucleus completely and is ready to hit the blood stream. Capillaries have super thin walls which makes it easy for stuff to cross. The blood cells essentially kinda squish into there.

That little RBC isn't done though! It's sort of like a gangly awkward teenager. They run off to the spleen which is like a large boarding school making them all refined and polished. The spleen does it's best to weed out faulty red cells and take out weird little inclusions in them to smooth them out. This can sometimes be weird little bits inside of the cell itself, or the cell membrane. Sometimes it is a chance to give cells who forgot to throw out their nucleus a time to do so. Essentially you send them away slightly immature and awkward and then they come back all refined and polished. This is also where old weak or infected red cells go to get culled a lot of the time, so its like a combination finishing school and graveyard I guess.

When the cells get out they look much prettier and are better at acting like rbcs. That's one of many reasons why you can technically live without a spleen but it makes your blood weird. At this point tho they are a full fledged rbc ready to do their job!

They could also still be that 5th stage of maturity called a retic which in my mind is the college student of red cells. It's technically out there doing stuff but still has a little maturing ahead of them. There is normally a small amount of them circulating in the bloodstream but it increases a lot whenever somebody loses blood to try and make up for the fully matured rbcs that disappeared. Essentially the body rushes some cells out before they are ready to make up for things.

Anyways, then those red cells circulate for ~120 days until it's time for them to get recycled and new ones to hit the scene.

I'm so sorry. You said explain like you are five and then I proceeded to get VERY technical. Hopefully this still makes sense, I tried my best to explain stuffs. I am honestly just surprised I manged to stop myself from talking about how the kidneys play into this (important!) or about blood disorders that make all of what I said complicated and weird. Enjoy the bonus blood facts about rbc growth and maturity (which is called erythropoesis fyi). :D

[tremendousqueenmouseblog]

My hand hovers over the phone for a second before I pick it up and call Dana.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Dana, it’s me.”

“Zoey! Hey, how’ve you been?”

“Fine, I guess…. how’re your kids?”

“Oh, Charlie finally convinced me to let him get a driver’s license, and Jeramy graduated high school last month.”

“That's big, I’ll have to write him a card.”

“I think he’d like that; it’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”

“Yeah…”

“Is there a reason you called?”

“Oh, um, do you remember Kaite?”

“Katherine Hemmingway? From high school?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I just… you know, her birthday is coming up on the 14th, and she’s been on my mind a lot recently, and I,” my voice cracks, “I-I just wanted to talk to someone who could also remember her.”

“Oh, are you doing ok?”

“I guess. I’ve… I’ve been feeling… I don’t know.”

“Do you want to get dinner at The Palms and talk about it sometime?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice” my voice trails off. “Do you remember the time we replaced all of the Prom King and Queen votes with one's for me and Katie?”

“Of course, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on Mr. Smith’s face as I crowned our first female Prom King,” she chuckles, “It was definitely worth the ban from prom committee.”

 “Katie fought against that plan so hard, but once I pulled her up on that stage— I don’t think I’d ever seen her that happy before”I lean up against the wall and sink to the floor. “God, I-I-I… mi…”

“I miss her too, but I don’t think you’re doing ‘fine.’ Do you want me to come over?”

“Y-y-yeah.”

“Okay, see you soon Zoey.”

I hang up the phone and cry on the floor of my unlit kitchen. 

After what feels like forever, Dana knocks on my door.  I pull myself up and let her in.

As she leads the way to my kitchen, she asks me, “Does Samantha still live with you?”

“No, she broke up with me a couple months ago.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, I didn’t realize”

“No, no it's fine. It was probably for the best.” I slump into a chair at my kitchen table, “She got a job in Chicago, but I didn’t want to leave.”

Dana sits in the chair opposite. She ideally glances around the room. “Have you stayed in contact with Kelsey or Steph?”

“No, not since they moved.”

We sit in silence, listening to the clock above my fridge tick.

I get up to grab a cup of water but my hand freezes above the faucet.

“Dana… I-I just feel like I cou-should have done something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like if I had gone with her to college like we planned, maybe…”

Dana gets up and joins me at the sink. She slowly rubs my back.

“Oh Zoey, that was 20 years ago, you can’t change the past.”

“I… I know,” tears stream down my cheeks, “but I wish I could.”

[thechaoticflowergarden]

SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO LEARN, SO LITTLE TIME TO LEARN IT

[starlightstevie]

fics rec / january 2021

And I’m back with another fic rec! There’s some absolute goodies in this month’s rec - I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Happy reading x

(* is smut)

*tale as old as time (series) by @spacelabrathor Beast!Thor x reader: Thor is a beast, prowling the halls of an empty castle alone, living a life of cold, barren solitude. Villagers visit once yearly to bring him gifts he does not seek, piling valueless trinkets at his gate they feel will keep him appeased. They hate Thor and Thor knows, someday, that they will breach his gates and come for his head. He wonders to himself, often, if he will try to stop them when they do. This year, though, the offering has changed. Thor finds not trinkets at his front gate, but a girl, and then everything begins to change.

COWBOY THOR COWBOY THOR COWBOY THOR by @inthorantine While not officially out yet, I am putting this here because everyone needs to read this! Kait has outdone herself and no, I will not stop talking about this for the next 500 years. Here’s some h/c to keep you going until it comes out! One | Two

*if I love you was a promise by @blueberrythor​ Thor x reader: Thor doesn’t consider himself a jealous man–there aren’t many who could compare to him, especially among mortals. He hasn’t had much reason to acquaint himself with the feeling. But watching you with Steve, even he isn’t immune to the sharp sting of jealousy. 

*The Watching by @opheliadawnwalker3​ Thor x reader (some Loki x reader): Reader has been dating Thor for about a year and is celebrating her first Yuletide on Asgard. But she’s unprepared for certain traditions that are expected of her. Or that these traditions also involve Thor and his companions.

*Desperate Measures by @lancsnerd Thor x reader: When an agent is affected by sex pollen and needs assistance, just how helpful will Thor be?

*passionate & burning by @peachyteabuck​ Thor x reader: You’re busy with working from home, but Thor has other plans for the day.

*my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand by @spacelabrathor Frontier!Thor x reader: Thor makes a home and a life for his family out on the rugged frontier of the Old West. The winters are unforgiving but he keeps them safe and warm. At night, their cabin glows with firelight and the warmth of their company. A small slice of their life together.

*survive the summer and its sequel *hungry for me by @peachyteabuck (Dubcon) Thor x reader: A stranger approaches you on a warm summers day.

*the fluffer (series) by @punani​ Masterlist 70′s pornstar!Chris Evans x black!reader: It’s the 70′s and the erotic videos industry is experiencing another boom after the risen popularity in the previous decade. The studio’s are hot, Gemini Flanagan is a brand, and you’re a newly hired assistant at Shaggin’ Studios. Chris takes a liking to you, altering your job description so that you get to work more closely with him. Is this all just physical, or is there something more?

*old flannel by @honeysucklesteve​ Chris x reader: an innocent night of lounging in his old flannel leads to not to innocent touches.

*sunday football by @honeysucklesteve Chris x reader: Chris sits you on his lap as he teaches you all about football.

*grocery run by @honeysucklesteve Chris x reader: Innocently wearing Chris’ shirt leads to you finding out just how much he can’t resist you.

*Captain by @chrissquares Nomad!Steve x reader: You call Steve a name that drives him wild.

*A Birthday Gift by @the-iceni-bitch​ Nomad!Steve x reader: The nomad crew have been holed up with you for months and tensions are high. Nat, being an unrepentant pot stirrer, decides to arrange a pleasant birthday surprise for you.

*let me come home to you (series) by @evansweaters Masterlist Alpha!Steve x Omega!Reader: After years at a dead-end job shouldering everyone’s expectations for you but your own, you’re finally free to be whoever you want, go wherever you want. That is, until a series of unfortunate events strand you in amber’s end, where the sheriff – and notoriously unmated pack alpha – decides to take you in.

*mountainside by @honeysucklesteve Nomad!Steve x reader: Steve needs something to give him a release and you do just that.

*steve needs to relax, good thing you’re here by @honeysucklesteve​

*Such a Shame by @angrythingstarlight​​ Steve x reader: You owe him for saving your life, the price is more than you were willing to pay, such a shame you have to force his hand.

*Captain Jealousy by @nony-bear​​ Steve x reader: You and Steve have been keeping your relationship a secret to avoid public backlash for your age difference. However, after watching Steve flirt with a new agent at one of Tony Stark’s famous parties, your jealousy and frustration come to a head.

*A Christmas Compromise by @stargazingfangirl18​ Ransom x reader: Even if you wouldn’t admit it to yourself, all you wanted for Christmas was Ransom.

*a man of god by @punani Priest!Ransom x reader: You’ve always been a good girl– attending mass regularly, never been touched by yourself or another, and the way that you dress? a naive innocence radiates off of you. even a man of god can’t help himself, not that he puts any effort into refraining from forbidden fruit.

*Naughty or Nice by @sweeterthanthis​ Ransom x reader: Getting caught nibbling on forbidden holiday treats.

*her cherry lips on his whiskey flavoured kiss by @cloudystevie​ Ransom x reader: The moment he met you, he knew.

Not My Style by @chrissquares​ Ransom x reader: With cold weather comes dry lips..

*In Good Hands by @ozarkthedog (Dark) Doctor!Andy Barber x reader: Your usual OBGYN Doctor got called away leaving Dr. Barber to administer your pap exam.

*Drowning by @savior-adriana​ Andy x reader: You love working as Jacob’s tutor in German. Not necessarily because you love the language or the teen’s attitude, but because it means you get to spend time alone with a certain Andy Barber once a week.

*Something Old, Something New by @sweeterthanthis Stepdad!Bucky x reader: To this day you couldn’t work out why he’d chosen your mother. They were total opposites, a mismatched couple if ever you saw one. Yet, you watched it play out – thinking, hoping, that he’d never go through with it.

*Beg for Daddy by @sweeterthanthis Stepdad!Bucky x reader: The thought of your mother passed out next door, the other side of your bedroom wall, did nothing to quell the intense hunger you felt for him.

*it’s the right time to roll to me (series) by @blueberrythor Masterlist Bucky x married!reader: Stuck in an unhappy marriage, you find solace in Bucky.

*about last week by @xbuchananbarnes Bucky x reader: You’ve been avoiding Bucky.

*need by @cloudystevie Bucky x reader: You’re horni for Bonky’s metal hand

Season of the Witch by @msmarvelwrites​ Bucky x reader: Your witchy abilities get you in quite a bit of trouble from time to time… But this time you don’t mind so much.

*The Bet (series) by @no-droids Part One | Part Two Poe x reader: There are 3 rules to the bet between you and your x-wing commander: No sex, No touching yourself, No orgasms.

*the shakes by @whistlingwillows Poe x reader: “It’s the Shakes, darling. Makes everything excruciating.” Or, you’re experiencing the terrible side effects of being horny and Poe Dameron knows just how to fix it.

Mornings with Modern!Poe by @okay-hotshot Modern!Poe x reader: You and Poe try to have some alone time while you wait for your morning coffee and tea to brew, only to have your child interrupt you and run away yowling.

frigid by @whirlybirbs Mando x reader: Din doesn’t like the ocean. You’re soaked.

Getting vulnerable with Mando by @cptnbvcks

*men of the bau: kinks by @luciilferss​

open road by @gayprentiss Emily Prentiss x JJ Jareau: After retiring from the BAU, JJ and Emily decide to forgo an apartment in favor of an old sprinter van.

*Teacher’s Pet by @imagining-in-the-margins Professor!Reid x reader: There are only a few reasons to sign up for Criminal Psychology. You could be like the reasonable students and join the class because you are genuinely interested in the material, or you could be like the rest of us. That is, you could enroll in the class because the professor is a fine piece of ass fresh out of prison.

*Spencer taking you in the library by @spenciebabie

*of terrible coffee and late-night rides by @venusbarnes Hotch x reader: A collection of moments throughout your relationship with one Aaron Hotchner.

*fragrance by @whistlingwillows College!Hotch x reader: Plato said, “The god of love lives in a state of need. It is a need. It is an urge. It is a homeostatic imbalance. Like hunger and thirst, it's almost impossible to stamp out.”

*bitter end (series) by @whistlingwillows Masterlist Hotch x reader: Author Sarah Dessen wrote, “Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend.”

*Beard Kink by @reidsexualwriting Hotch x reader: Hotch with a beard has you feeling all types of ways.

*Lunch break by @arganfics Hotch x reader: You help Hotch relax after a tough day.

*Early Mornings by @mrvltwimagines Hotch x reader: The very rare mornings where you wake up and your boyfriend was still home and in bed were definitely cherished by you.

*Do you like that? Being in control? by @writefasttalkevenfaster Hotch x reader: You decide that Hotch needs a break from being in charge.

*Waking up Hotch with a blowjob by @writefasttalkevenfaster

Taking a day off with Hotch by @ssahoodrathotchner

*eat until your blood sings by @peachyteabuck Tony Stark x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Carol Danvers x Clint Barton x Thor Odinson x reader: Gangbang with the Avengers.

*Anakin Skywalker has a big dick by @anakinswhore

[thechaoticquill]

My new favorite historical figure is Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), an astronomer who noticed that Copernicus's astronomical predictions were off and thought "yeah I could do better than this"

He disputed the arguments of Aristotle himself concerning comets and proved that comets are actually in space, and not just a funky thing caused by earth's atmosphere

Tycho was sponsored by a king AND an emperor, and he built an incredible observatory for naked eye observations, and - USING ONLY HIS EYEBALLS, NO TELESCOPE IN SIGHT - made observations of heavenly bodies that were accurate to within less than 1 arcminute, aka LESS THAN THE THICKNESS OF A FINGERNAIL, VIEWED AT ARM'S LENGTH

But then, using these incredible observations, he came up with a model of the universe in which the Sun orbits the earth, while the REST of the planets orbit the sun! Absolutely bonkers.

But here's the best part: THIS MAN LOST PART OF HIS NOSE IN A SWORD FIGHT WITH ANOTHER STUDENT OVER WHO WAS THE BETTER MATHEMATICIAN. And as if that weren't enough, he designed a REPLACEMENT nose piece made out of silver AND gold.

Oh, and did I mention he looks like this?

[marshmallowprotection]

Hey Kait ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡ I come to your ask box with something a tad personal?/I’d like to hear some of your characterization. Lately I’ve been drowning in work with about 11-14 assignments a week in uni + being a working college student…(it’s ok though it’s almost over for summer) so I have to basically force myself not to do too much outside of that. But with the help and encouragement of friends I have new ideas to “upgrade” my cmc. It’s a project that will probably not happen till summer…but anyways to come back around. How might you think the Saeran squad would react to an Mc who feels heavily pressured by pale beauty standards? It’s a bit of a tricky topic so no worries, but I’d just like some thoughts/discussions maybe as it does hurt sitting and waiting patiently to start projects because work comes first .·´¯`(>▂⁢)´¯`·. also it’s best to start them with ideas for foundation.

I’d like to touch base on it with my cmc especially with Ray, it being something I heavily struggle with, but whhhfhs we’ll see how it goes! Also pardon my 2 am rambling and thank you

I don’t know if I’m the most qualified person to discuss this. But, I know that this affects all of us in the sense that it permeates society everywhere. It’s ingrained in places so deeply that it’s hard to start learning how much it truly affects many of the things in our lives because there’s just so many layers of this to unpack at a time. You never stop learning, and it’s open to keep learning about these many biases so that you can better understand how to handle it as needed. I think, for the most part, I can speak to what Saeran understands about these things. He’s got a curious history because he has been detached from society so much that there’s a lot that he doesn’t understand. 

There are a lot of biases and discrimination in society. But the thing is, he's never been subjected to any of those things. His childhood was spent in one tiny house. For the most part, the only time that he was able to interact with the outside world came when he was able to go to the cathedral for a short time and when he was researching ways to bring you to Mint Eye. Ray, Suit Saeran, and GE Saeran all have the same lack of insight here when it comes to societal standards. 

They don't have a concept of how all these things permeate and affect people. There is sort of a blunt idea of what it comes to beauty standards since we know Ray styles his hair for a long time to seem presentable. So, there's definitely an argument there that there's an understanding but not a huge one. That is to say that they understand that there are certain values in society, but there's no way for them to understand all of them for sure. There are just some things that they weren't taught or told, and it gives them a huge grey area in society. It's why you see each of them misunderstand social cues and things of that nature. 

Ray does understand because he’s insecure. But, what he understands is more of a generalized idea. it’s like, he knows that a lot of people like guys like Zen or Jumin who have money, power, or are physically fit. He knows those are things but as far some of the more burning insecurities that come from the way that so many places across the globe deal with colorism and racism, he’s missing a lot of information and personal experience with the matter. He’s been limited on who he speaks to and why. These discussions aren’t ones that he’s been able to have or experience. 

I think in Ray’s case, he's going to be very confused. His MC is the apple of his eye. He loves them for who they are and they could never do anything wrong in his eyes. They are the epitome of beauty to him. It doesn't matter who they are. It doesn't matter what they look like. None of those details are pertinent to how he sees them as beautiful. 

Because no matter what you look like and no matter who you are, if you are the person that he has chosen, you are his idea of beauty. You are everything. You are the most perfect person in the world. He would never be able to understand why someone who is so amazing in his eyes has internalized some of these things. It just doesn't make sense to him. He isn't able to piece together why society would make you feel so horrible or why you would feel so horrible about yourself. It doesn't connect for him. He doesn't have the pieces to put these things together. 

However, if you start to talk to him about why you have these feelings about yourself in the first place, he will put in the work to research and understand as much as he possibly can. He wants to know why the outside world would do these things. In some ways, it would convince him even more that he needs to keep you here so that you're safe with him. he doesn't want you to get hurt. He doesn't want you to feel bad about yourself. He just doesn't want you to suffer. 

When it comes to making you feel better, he would fixate harder on trying to make sure that you feel like the prince/ss you are. He drops everything just to make sure that you feel like you're the most important person in the world. You are. As far as he is concerned in this matter, you are the most important person in the world and you need to be confident in that sense of self. Even if he can't speak well of himself, he will do everything that he can think of to make sure that you feel good about yourself. It's a little bit hypocritical since he struggles with his own identity but it's easier for him to help you than just for him to help himself.

[blankd]

Thoughts on The Mitchells vs the Machines

I watched it a while ago and kept forgetting to post my thoughts on it, but some posts here on tumblr recently reminded me.

I disagree with the majority takeaways I see but is that not the spice of life?

As a standalone movie its inoffensive and the writing of it will likely exit my brain in a few months.  However I can appreciate that the visual style was different from the typical fare and the mixture of 2d elements for visual embellishments were mostly enjoyable and well-suited for Katie as the POV character.

It's a bit "hyper" for my liking, but that's fine, it's likely intended for an audience that's accustomed to the flood that is the current norm of the internet.  It was probably made with GIFable moments in mind and that is the most frequent content that is shared about it, so it certainly succeeded in that regard.

My more critical take is that jokes are delivered at the expense of what could be more authentic themes.  Quips are made that draw attention to character flaws or undercut questions the movie should try to answer, but inevitably they are ignored to move onto the next joke or story beat.

The rest would fall more into spoiler territory, so read more for that.

--"They Were Both In the Wrong"

I personally disagree heavily with the thrust of how "both sides" were wrong when the degrees are disproportionate.

I've seen claims that Katie was "as in the wrong" as her father, but she's incredibly patient to the man who does her material harm.

I've yet to have seen someone say specifically what Katie did *wrong* to her father that is at all on par with the *years* he at best hasn't been able to interact with her or worse, actively refused to engage with her interests.

I would generously venture that her flaw was that she was more willing to communicate her feelings to strangers, but she easily talks to her mother and brother- her brother even helps her with her movies and she happily engages him with his own interests, which pivots the point back to how her father is physically/emotionally unavailable and led to the erosion and distance between the two of them.

Due to this, MvM comes across more as Kaite having to do so much more to guide her father rather than a more mutual learning experience for the both of them.

--"Technology that [Dis]Connects"

It's probably beyond the scope and intent of the film, but I was surprised there was no examination about why technology can be more alluring than interacting with physically present people.

For better or worse, the internet can be used as a means of supplementing the validation and acceptance of family.  It can also lead to no longer connecting to people around them because of the validation high of appealing to a constantly 'awake' sea of strangers- the spotlight is warmer than the cold reality that they are not the internet image they have cultivated.

For example, the rival 'perfect' family was never revealed to be a carefully constructed highlight reel that Mrs. Mitchell envies, they really were actually that perfect- because that provides an easier punchline than an examination or acknowledgement of how the internet can create unhealthy expectations.

I also can't expect MvM to acknowledge the reality that LGBTA+ people who are rejected by their family resort to seeking a new one through the internet because it would be much harder to redeem/rehabilitate a man defined by being tethered to "old values" if he was homophobic instead of "overprotective" and apprehensive at his daughter's departure from home and her dubious art career.

But hey we got that quick line at the end that Katie likes a girl, so that's a diversity win or something.

(To be clear I'm not expecting a whole parade or even an A or B-plot dedicated to it, but I think it should be acknowledged that this kind of "surprise inclusion" is very easily erased with a change of audio and would be completely unsurprised if this were the case for countries that are homophobic.  People can be happy about it, but it is dishonest to pretend that this is a bolder statement than it is.)

In that sense, I do and don't hold MvM to taking a "safer" route about how family always has your back, but this still feels like an important omission considering the focus on technology and its dynamic with the Mitchells.

I will also say that it was also bizarre, to me at least, that the obvious route that her father sees the value of home videos didn't become an active point between him and Katie.  Or that Mr. Mitchell's carpentry never really amounts to anything despite having a sentimental wooden moose.

Lastly, I think it's an unintentional, but it's interesting that Katie going to college to pursue her passion is viewed as a Terrible Thing by her father even though if he had his way, he'd be ostensibly living in the woods away from everyone else except his wife.

This isn't a problem, people are a collection of contradictions, but It's fascinating to see what the *narrative* treats as a difficult sacrifice while simultaneously pulling at heartstrings when PAL cites how children ignore their mothers.  There's an unexamined comedy that Mr. Mitchell's losing out on his 'passion' to live in the woods away from people is treated as tragic despite the movie's insistence on staying connected with your blood family.

--"The Inconsistent Personhood of AI"

PAL is rightfully angry at being discarded for something new; it's provided as a glimpse of what Katie will do when she finds 'her people' at college.

This in of itself is a good hook, because there is no one universal answer to when a flawed relationship should be mended with compromise or if it's better off being broken for the wellbeing of the ones involved.  Family and relationships are not programming, it's a choice and a gamble for whatever it brings but is nonetheless something that must be mutually worked upon.

Initially I thought that PAL was being set up as an exaggerated parallel to Mr. Mitchell.  PAL and Mr. Mitchell did their best to provide for their family.  PAL and Mr. Mitchell are in different stages of being 'discarded' by their family.  PAL and Mr. Mitchell both retaliate at their lack of power in the scenario by using the power granted by their roles to infringe on the autonomy of others for selfish reasons.

PAL even gives a 'chance' for her plan to be halted with, I had assumed this was being set up as the thesis of the movie, about humanity and the value of family, relationships, etc. being used to help someone who is already hurting.

But despite Katie looking at the camera and explaining herself, it is never actually directly resolved or challenged because a punchline was deemed more desirable for this narrative climax.

This begs the question of why PAL bothered with the pretense that she could be reasoned with, especially since this is not some question leveled at all of humanity, just two people.

I'm curious how the writers came to the conclusion that this was the best execution of the scene or if Katie's speech was considered immune to any challenge from PAL.  Would anyone have accepted this outcome if PAL were not an AI but instead a person?

It's not necessarily bad writing they went this route, but I doubt anyone would consider this good writing either.

By the end of the movie, PAL is no longer a 'person' who was betrayed and is lashing out, she is an object to be destroyed because the movie has to wrap up.  No compassion or chances are spared to this AI that did literally everything asked of her except take being discarded quietly.

Did PAL deserve a redemption arc? For this length of movie, probably not.  But it could have concluded with a commitment to doing no further harm.  Instead it is an accidental glimpse at how easily the pretense of compassion can be quickly discarded and mostly unexamined with the right framing.

A likely unintentional example is the conditional humanity given to Eric and Deborahbot who are adopted as "family" while the rest of the robots are mowed down without another thought.  Some are even beaten and broken while begging for mercy, because again, it is a funnier punchline.

Far be it for me to advocate that the murderbots needed 'a second chance uvu' but for a movie whose conceit rests on 'sticking by family' and 'giving chances', the writers certainly made a choice in deciding which AI get honorary humanity and spared violent death- perhaps PAL had a point about humanity's callousness after all.  Bad robots are discarded, good robots get to live.

Even the CEO who realizes he enabled this mess (easily the most unrealistic part of the movie, honestly) is given another chance and he manages to take away a completely wrong lesson.

Speaking of-

--"Maybe I Shouldn’t Have Used Tech Like This"

There's a particular image/gif set posted about MvM with the CEO apologizing for the machine uprising, attributing it to unchecked technology and monopolies.  I've always seen it accompanied by people congratulating the scene as if any of this is at all relevant to the movie.

Charitably, these are people who haven't watched the movie and don't know that PAL is a phone AI single-handedly doing this, but most take the stance that this scene is proof the movie is not saying technology is bad, only corporations are.

The speech isn't technically wrong but it is so utterly divorced from what happens in the movie that it's surreal to see people congratulate it as anything but a moment of soapboxing.

None of the datagrabbing was used at all as part of the takeover.  It's all magical kid-friendly terminators with no relevance to what anyone's browsing history is.  If the company was one that produced robot assistants instead of a being a super tech monopoly, there would be no narrative difference.

The closest to a predatory tactic that is used in MvM is the offer of free wifi which is used to lure most people into their cells which they happily comply with. Curiously this... commentary of people’s mindless addiction to technology is not acknowledged by the Tumblr Court with the same intensity as the CEO’s speech.

But more constructively, I do feel it’s a missed opportunity that Katie who's supposed to be an extremely online person apparently never said any bad things about her family or made any petty vent films for PAL to weaponize.  Instead an in-media audio at one of the outskirt locations was used to accomplish its Traitor Revealed moment.

IN CONCLUSION

MvM is a movie that involves topics that ought to be touched on and explored properly in media and chickens out on all of it due to possible concerns with age-appropriate handling or because it was more committed to its comedy than whatever it has to say about family, change and how technology affects people.

It also reminded me that I hope media will finally graduate from the trope that if you spec into any ‘outdoorsy’ hobby you are incurably afraid of technology.

[soulwillower]

i wanna see you but you’re not mine • richie tozier

(richie tozier x reader) 

not a request, just something i wrote, lmk what u guys think 

warnings: swearing, sexual themes but no explicit smut, references to sex, references and mentions of drug use, references and mentions of addiction, vague allusions to cheating but no cheating!, i think thats it! unedited haha

[based off the song undo by the 1975] 

(losers + reader are in college in this.)

1.5k words

♡

the boys' house is bathed in the morning light when bill answers the door shirtless, leaning against the doorframe. birds chirp in the distance when he smiles.

"y/n. hi." he says, and you greet him with the same smile as he lets you in the door. you hand him a coffee, following him with light steps as he leads you to his room.

"did you just wake up?" you ask in amusement as you follow him down the hall, past richie's closed door. their house smells like incense, and you're about seventy percent sure it's mike's.

you watch bill's muscles flex and move as he chuckles, opening the door to his messy-but-neat room and pulling on a hoodie. 

"no. not j-just, i at least had time to brush my teeth." and then he gives you a goofy grin, showing off his pristine teeth. it makes you snort, shaking your head as you shove him.

bill invited you over this morning to study for your upcoming exam together, figuring that his house that he shared with mike and richie would be better than trying to study at a busy coffee shop.

studying with bill has become a bit of a habit that you picked up back in freshman year, when you'd met in your introduction to rhetoric writing class. you'd had a crush on him at first, but when you first met his dorm roommate richie, that crush flew out the window almost immediately.

years later, and you're still studying with bill. and still harboring a rough crush for his trashmouth roommate.

an hour and a half goes by smoothly, most of your work finished by the time you get startled out of your studying by a noise. 

"what was that?" you ask after a noise muffled by bill and richie's shared wall makes you both perk up.

bill shakes his head, "n-nothing. what did you get for m-model a?" he asks, leaning close enough that you smell his cologne. you frown, wondering why he seems so suspicious.  

it happens again, more clear this time.

a moan echoes through the stuffy walls and bill looks almost regretful, gripping his highlighter so hard his knuckles turn white. you blanch a bit, meeting his eye.

"does richie have a girlfriend-" you start, but bill shakes his head, "no." he says quickly, cutting you off. you hum, feeling sick to your stomach. it should comfort you, but it doesn’t. 

a few minutes later, another string of moans echo through the whole house, along with a, "fuck, richie!"

and then it's like that for the next ten minutes straight - the ambiance of bill's shut blinds, the smell of coffee still lovely but the taste bitter in your mouth as high pitched moans reverberate through the shared wall. one look over shows that bill looks like he may cry.

you only stay for maybe five minutes after the moans stop before you get up, "alright, i think i should head out." you rush out, feeling slightly hollow.

bill nods, stretching and then rising with you, hand falling to your shoulder gently. you stop, looking up at him. "he's... g-going through some weird stuff right now, y/n. it'll work out." he insists, voice gentle. your lips twitch downward slightly.

you think you could roll your eyes, but bill is too damn well meaning and sweet for you to take out your misplaced anger on. you pull him into a hug, and he kisses your temple. it's calming, for a second.

you're in the kitchen messing around with mike and bill when richie's door slams, footsteps echoing down the hall towards the front room.

and then a girl appears from the hallway, a small grin on her flushed cheeks and hair tangled, tank strap slipping off her shoulder a bit. richie trails behind her with a lazy smirk and you turn your head so they don't see you from behind mike. 

you watch secretly with curious, self-destructive eyes as he walks her to the door, hands not even leaving his sides as she leans up to whisper something along the lines of you'll call me? into his ear. 

richie barely makes an attempt to say yes, instead humming and looking up at the wall. you almost snort. but then he slaps her ass with a small smirk as she leaves out the door, making her squeal as the door shuts. your stomach drops a bit.

when the door shuts, mike and bill make lame excuses to go back to their rooms and you're stuck by yourself to face richie. fuck.

the air is stale and suffocating as his glowing eyes roam around and then land on you. it's painful the way his expression changes when he sees you.

"long time no see, y/n." richie says with barely a grin, avoiding looking at you as he crosses the kitchen to pour himself a steaming cup from the coffee machine. you feel the tension and wish that you could disappear.

"yeah, we’ve all been so busy." you say, feeling almost awkward now that bill's left back to his room. you rock on the ball of your heels, still feeling a little hurt. it's quiet for a few more moments.

you feel like you’re going to burst, so you say the first thing you think. 

"i could hear you giving her head." you say abruptly, unsure if the bitterness in your voice is justified or not. you think it is. richie hums, lifting a brow at you as he lifts the mug of coffee to his lips.

"and?" he asks after a gulp of the black coffee. the sun bathes the entire house in bright morning light, giving richie a kind of sunny silhouette - a halo of sorts that you don't know if he really deserves.

you huff, resisting the urge to punch richie in the face. "it's ten in the morning." he fixes you with a look, as if you didn't just prove any point. "again, toots, i don't see the issue." he says, but it's without any of his usual teasing grins or winks. 

“i thought you didn’t have sleepovers with your guests.” you say, definitely sounding bitter. richie rolls his eyes. he doesn’t justify you with an answer until he takes a deep breath. 

“i don’t. but sometimes i change my mind, if someone’s special enough. remember when i told you that, too?” he quips back. you swallow. 

you don’t know what to say, recalling that night when he had whispered that into your neck as you were tangled up in his sheets, his shirt hanging off your bare frame and your hand trailing on his bare chest. 

“she wasn’t one of them.” he adds, “she came over a few hours ago.” 

you're still frustrated. 

he's searching through his pockets for something as he tosses a lighter onto the counter. despite this, he's still quite a vision in his t shirt and gray sweats, his lips red like the color of a cough drop and eyelashes long and dark behind his frames. he's still, despite the blank demeanor, the most beautiful person you've ever laid your eyes on.

"fuck." he mutters, his hands coming out of his pockets empty. "bombs have run out. you got any j’s?"

you don't want to tell him about the joint that you’d just given to bill minutes ago, just out of spite. if he's that dependent on the fucking weed, you're not going to help his habit. 

you pretended not to notice the rows of pills lined up and the busted up credit card next to them in the bathroom, for bill and mike’s sake - but you can’t go easy on richie. 

“no.” you say bluntly. 

richie sighs, looking at you sharply with a look that could kill. “why are you acting like a brat all of a sudden?” 

you both know he already knows the answer. you think he just wants to hear you admit it out loud. 

you stare back, biting your lip. fine, you’ll take the fucking bait. 

 “just didn’t realize you seeing someone.” 

richie looks exhausted, his skin pale and eyes dark. he shakes his head. "we tried this. it didn't work." he mutters, veins popping out of his hands as his palms press hard into the counter. you shake your head, "richie, we-"

"-you were the one who told me to fuck other people." he says, making you stop and take a breath. 

he's right, too. 

but only because you were afraid and didn't know if you and richie being together as more than just the few and far between hook ups would cause a rift in the friend group.

"only because i didn't know how much i liked you, rich." you say gently, pleadingly - desperately. you sound just as pathetic as you probably look. you just can’t do this anymore. 

"look, y/n. i didn't even see you when i liked you.”

it hurts when he says that, like a knife is twisting in your gut with a frozen blade. it’s true, and that feels like the worst part. 

“-you knew damn well that i was into you, and you did nothing about it." he says sharply, his warm eyes cutting through you and making your stomach drop.

"you can't just decide it's time for us to be together, just because you’re bored." he shakes his head, cutting himself off. your mouth feels dry. "i don’t have the time." he says with a shake of his head, his hair unruly in the way that drives you mad with yearning. 

“richie, i want to be with you.” you say, pleading with him. he looks more mad than you’ve seen him in a long time. 

"you rejected me, y/n. and i liked you." he says, rubbing a hand over his face. you've never seen him so serious, and it's freaking you out. he shakes his head.

 "i really have to go to work, doll. i'll see you around." he mutters, getting up and leaving out the front door in a gust of air that smells like him and also vaguely another girl’s perfume. 

you know he was lying to get out of talking to you - he wasn’t even wearing shoes, let alone clothes for work. your head falls into your hands, eyes squeezing shut. he doesn't want to see you. 

the thought leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth and an empty heart.

tag list: @gabiatthedisco @blisshemmings @stenbrozier @simplesammyx   @brxken-heartsclub @clownsloveyou @moon-shine-baby @daughter-of-the-stars11 @trashedfortozier @oceandog13 @finnskindofwoman  @kait-tozier @upamongthestarss @fiantomartell @beverlyparkerr @beauregard-s @diorbubs @leighjaenikhowell @cowbellies @deepestofwaters

[notalittlebutalottie]

student!KC, ah/au, there's an emergency and they get unintentionally stuck together somewhere on campus (they're like kinda distant friends?? not rivals, think yearning/pining that leads to fluff)

Kait, I finally give you one of three drabbles in my inbox from you. I adored writing this and it was just the most fucking flufffyyyy shit I CRAVE. ANyway, enjoy! (It’s longer than I anticipated so... :) )

♡ KLAROLINE DRABBLE #62: 썸♡

Finals week will be the death of Caroline. The choice of Politics for a semester had proven to be an ill one; there were too many names to remember and too much jargon to comprehend. She blames Stefan for pushing them all to take a class together, though his own inability to understand the work seems to be punishment enough.

“Okay, I need coffee if we’re going to tackle Williamson tonight,” Katherine announces, practically slamming her hands on the table as she stands. She gives the shushing librarian nothing more than an eye roll and places her hands on her hips.

Elena, her sister, lifts a brow. “Starbucks?” she inquires, pen dangling from her fingers. It’s an oddity that she had actually chosen to attend the same college as her twin when their personalities are such polar-opposites. Katherine is brash and outgoing while Elena is sincere and passive. It’s lucky, really, as they’re hard to tell apart by face alone.

Katherine looks impassive. “Duh,” leaves her mouth low and her pupils are moving upward. In fact, their love for Starbucks coffee seems to be the one thing they do have in common. It’s sweet to see when they rock up to class, matching cups filled with lattes in their hands.

“Count me in!” Elena jumps up, swiping her phone off the desk. She does well to see through every impolite action of her sister’s — it had taken Caroline at least two months to realise the lack of true disdain in Katherine’s words. She absently brushes out the early knots forming in her hair and says, “Stefan? Bonnie?”

Stefan’s reply is barely a mumble, “Yeah, alright.” His sweatshirt hood is drooping over his forehead and the stain from their previous all-nighter (Red Bull if her memory serves her) is still present. His Freshman year had been the most telling of his youngest sibling status; Caroline had dropped off an assignment only to be stunned by the state of his dorm room. 

“I could use a break,” Bonnie rationalises, stretching out her arms for a brief moment. When she rises from her chair, she looks at Caroline expectantly. She has come to be the only person keeping Caroline sane since they roomed together in Freshman year; her collection of Wicca paraphernalia was and continues to be bewildering but Caroline’s in awe of how extensive her knowledge is.

“I had coffee earlier,” Caroline answers, eyes trained on her notebook as she perfects the array of borders and doodles organising her words. She isn’t sure coffee will help their study session at all. Katherine tapped out midway through the second reading and tapped on the edge of the table incessantly from then on. Elena and Bonnie try their best to make sense of the material by reading it aloud to each other while Stefan just stares at the pages mindlessly. The only person who really understands the material for more than just a string of separate words is...

“Klaus?”

                   READ THE REST AND REVIEW HERE

[captainshyguy]

not to be a little melancholic but i've been thinking a bit about all the people that have come and gone in my general social circle like. not just irl, but online too. the close friends, who eventually left, and the ones on the outskirts, but were always there. at least, for a time. the people you never quite talked to, but were in your bubble, in your life, if just for a bit. the people who will only be icon, words on a screen to me. the people who will forever be 14 in my memories, because its all i have of them 

its just...its weird yknow? not even getting into social circles from school, friends you grew apart from, friends of friends of friends in your class that you had an odd connection with

but online its like. i’ve been in a few online communities in my time. the penguins of madagscar community on fanpop, one for the same fandom on deviantart, the agents of shield one here, then the maze runner, then star wars, then mario, then star wars again...i’d say ‘and hollow knight now’ but lets be honest, i haven’t made....many friends or even mutuals through it solely X]

i guess my point is like. all of these communities were different people. and over time, whilst i’ve generally stayed put (until i was physically the last one left, and jumped ship, like fanpop) people just. they left yknow? maybe it took a couple of months, maybe a couple of years, but they did, and its such an almost...odd thing to experience

im not saying people cant leave, not at all but it just made me think how many people i’ve known, how many i’ve been friends with, how many existed in my orbit. how many i only have pieces of. and i guess...how many people’s orbits i was in. the person i was in the past lives on through each and every one of then, and i have no idea what stuck. what’s their ‘luke’ memory, their takeway. heck, some of them wouldn't even have it by that name. 

one thing im glad about in a way is like. from each of the communities that like. meant something to me, i managed to grab a few people almost. a few that also dug their heels in, a few that are still in my orbit, however close or far, but they’re there. they’re posting actively or somewhat actively and i know where to find them. and thats nice 

it just makes me wonder sometimes yknow?? how many people currently in my circle, currently in my orbit, will eventually leave one day? who will stop posting, who’s icon i simply will never see again.

i do hope, with all my heart, that all the ones that i fell out of touch with are doing well 

(im musing about specific people under the read more, WILL get long kjdfhnd) 

from my primary/secondary school i dont have anyone exactly. the closest i have is one guy i was pretty fond of but not like. romantically. i follow his youtube and whilst i dont really watch the videos seeing his face pop up every now and again is nice. but man i do think back on those secondary school friends. funnily enough by the end whilst i liked my “official” best friends i honestly ended up more fond of others. sarah, priya, shriya, zarah, zi yu, kyle. danny, introducing me to treasure planet, hiding away with him and his friends to watch films in forgotten rooms when it was near the end of the year, then liam, of course, man..its weird he was my best friend in the first few years when i moved there, then we got put in different classes so we just didnt see eahc other much. but that fondness was always, always there. god, and jake....i wonder if he thinks back fondly to the two of us pretending to be transformers. i wonder if im still jazz to him. god, and then sophia, just, not even hanging out but having our little ‘hot buttered toast’ song. i hope thats the memory she has of me. (i haven’t even listed everyone from this part, and i couldnt! it was a 7-8 year period of my life! right during my brain developmental stages!!)

its weird i was in love with ryan for nearly three years. a lot of those memories are soured knowing one of my friends spread it around school and everyone secretly knew, (and looking back i was way out of his league like, morally lol) but still. maybe once or twice a year i’ll dream about him, and for a brief moment, im there, sitting with him in geography as he shows me magic tricks, during that period i do genuinely think he liked me too (before it wore off for him lol) and im still in love. 

from college, man....ewan was like. i have a feeling he was leading me on since he had a girlfriend lmao, and was just flirting for fun bc he saw i was shy and was trying to get me to react, but it never felt like bullying yknow? i dont think he was actively trying to make fun of me. so i dont know, it was nice, it felt nice and it still kinda does. 

khairun.....im so glad i still have her. i’m still a little gay for her. i remember sitting with her on the bus, riding for hours as we were on the geology trip, and she would ramble about the game of thrones video game and she’d squint so happily and her eyes would sparkle. she talks about dark souls now and i only see her messages, but i can still feel her enthusiasm. or tanisha and fatima, my other geology friends, my maze runner friends. seeing the scorch trials with fatima in the cinema. joking about newt and thomas with tanisha. sitting around the table with my actual friend group, in the big lounge chair reading the tolkien dictonary, joking about the flash with bindiya. sleeping around maddie’s house and playing would you rather. 

heck, i didnt even touch on teachers!!! teachers i connected with so much on a genuine level!!! mrs chambers, mr hauge, mr wrght, miss lloyd, mr hutchinson, miss petra, mrs young! mrs mohammed, mr santa maria, mr longdon, miss langley, mrs maize, miss davies. i know with teachers, the kids must start to blur together at a point. but i just....i hope, at least. with those first two, they’ll remember me, just a bit. i keep having dreams where im in my old school, and i try to find them., i’ve found mr hague a few times. but until about a month ago, whenever i got to geography, miss chambers was never there. im glad i finally found her. 

then fanpop...lexii, having the same birthday as me, talking with kait and roleyplaying as penguin ocs in high stakes situations. dating dylan fkjdngjdh, rigging the club’s presidential election. its weird, i dont have a lot of memories from this time. just....just people? people posting their ocs, people drawing ech others ocs. kaitlyn, anya, kait, dylan, lexii, imaneasel, mya, peacebaby, madascargirl, kate, starslight, imogen, tressa, sammi, crystal, cc, syliva, jasmine, hikari, amber,  yellow, steff, lilly, blue, richard, monique, sharpey, hannah, icicle, ratking, cian i- god, there was so many of us. theres more, i can think of more names. there was so many

anya did what i did pretty much and went to deviantart then kinda dug her heels in and didnt leave, though i don think she’s more active on toyhouse. and yet, i still see her art there, so its nice. having her throughout the years has been nice, watching as both of our art improves. she’s always been a bit ahead of me. then cian i’ve been talknig with pretty much every day for about 6 months now, thats been nice 

and then here, man! the agents of shield fandom! man! i dont remember a lot of names honestly besides the ones who stayed, and sam. i hope sam’s okay. y’all who stayed, who are still mutuals, the hm....five of us i think? though the one ofy’all i was closest to isnt around as often X[ but still. im happy y’all are here 

some of y’all that have been around long enoguh will know i was best friends with kacie for a while. from....i think that was my brief stint in the dan and phil fandom. she. well. she’s okay, the last i heard of her. but my overtalking screwed that up i think. my last message from her, a few years later, was amicable at least. i still feel awful about that if i think on it too hard

i think i only picked up ronan from the maze runner, at least, that i talk to, yeah, right, there’s two others that are still about but i dont think we’ve ever held a convo X] 

and u current peeps! from mario, star wars and.....im not quite sure where for some of you! i love u all! especially y’all that have been around forever, just, liking each others posts every now and again., i dont know how many people you all follow, but i follow less than a 100. i might only be a blip on your radar, but i like seeing y’all, genuinely. thank you for being in my orbit. i hope i’m a comforting or at least. nice reliable presence in yours, for as long as we all stick around.