#she didn’t want to influence my and other friends running decisions but

[leclercsredhelmet]

Everything Has Changed ♡ Oscar Piastri

A/N: Hi I'm back (again) with a new blurb. This is an Oscar x Sargeant reader blurb with a childhood friends-to-lovers vibe! I hope you all enjoy it

“Cause all I know is we said “Hello” and your eyes look like coming home” 

Excitement can be felt all around, everywhere you go you hear chatters of excitement and the advertisements are everywhere. There are still a few days for the main event to start, but everyone is thrilled that Formula One is back in The Magic City. Oscar had decided to fly down to Miami earlier and enjoy some downtime, his decision might’ve been partially influenced by the Sargeant siblings. The twins have persuaded the young driver to fly with them earlier and stay at their place. 

Turning down an offer made by the twins always proved to be an impossible feat throughout the years, so Oscar has no choice but to accept it gladly. Being childhood friends with Logan also means having a friendship with his sister. Sometimes the “what if” floats around Oscar’s brain and he wonders about the different nature his relationship with Y/N could take. Sure the young driver is best friends with the girl and over time he has been developing feelings for the girl but never acted on them for two specific reasons. The first one is that she’s his best friend’s sister and the second is his fear of ruining a great and meaningful friendship. 

Over time his feelings for the American girl have developed into more and he simply chalks it to being a fleeting childhood crush but as they grow Oscar begins to realize his assessment is entirely wrong. He still likes her and lately the “what if” keeps turning into a more permanent thought. Her voice breaks him out of his thoughts, “Earth to Osc,” she says a little loudly and he looks at her.  “What is it Mione?” he asks, using the nickname only reserved for her. She smiles at the use of the nickname, he still refers to her as Hermoine Granger and she can’t deny that she loves it. “Where did your brain run off to, you were zoned out,” she says looking at him. “Just thinking,” he replies but she arches her brow and he knows she doesn’t buy that answer. 

“About what exactly?” she counters, poking his side and he chuckles. “Nothing important,” he lies, “What do you need?” he asks her. “Do you want to get burgers?” she asks. There’s a familiar glint of happiness in her eyes and Oscar smiles. “Great, let me get Logan,” she says and Oscar laughs. “I didn’t say yes, Mione,” at this the girl laughs, “I don’t need you to say yes, I know you Osc, and that smile says it all,” she says. “Logan hurry up or we’re leaving you here!” she shouts. Oscar laughs and Logan’s reply comes through. “Don’t you dare leave me here!” he yells back and she quietly laughs. “Then hurry up, we don’t have all day Sarge!” she shouts, and Logan rushes into the room. 

The girl beats her brother to the driver’s seat and he groans in frustration, Oscar laughs and climbs in the car. Most of the car ride is spent with the twins bickering over little things and putting Oscar in the position of picking sides in every argument. 

“Now that she’s not here, what’s up with you?” Logan asks him. Oscar sighs, “Nothing,” he answers. “C’mon man, something’s bothering you and I think I know,” Logan says. “It’s Y/N,” he says and Logan looks at him intently before grinning. “You like her,” he says. “N-no I don’t she’s your sister and my best friend,” Oscar answers. “So, you like her,” Logan says matter-of-factly. 

“Hold on, you’re not mad?” Oscar asks. “Man, why would I be mad? It’s you we’re talking about,” Logan answers. Oscar lets out a relieved breath, “How long have you known?” Oscar asks him. “Always, none of you have had the guts to admit it to each other but I’ve always known, and you gotta change that Osc,” Logan says. He looks up and quickly changes the topic. The smell of your perfume indicates your presence and Oscar looks over at you as you talk. 

He has no idea what you’re saying because all he can focus on is the way some strands of hair have fallen out of your low bun. Everything about you is an indicator that you’re home, it’s as if your  Europe persona has retreated to make space for the home persona. Your skin is tanned and the floral dress fits you perfectly and makes perfect contrast with your tan. 

Logan catches him looking at you and nudges him under the table. He laughs at the joke and tries his best to focus on the conversation. 

Reader’s Point of View

“All I know is a simple name and everything has changed” 

Oscar has been a little out of it today and I can’t help but wonder why. Part of me hopes that the possibility of him thinking and feeling the same as me is there. Now that I’ve been to more races with Logan thanks to my last semester of uni ending I get to be around more and can spend more time with him and Oscar whenever the three of us are free. 

We convinced Oscar to join us in flying down earlier to Miami to enjoy some downtime before the race week starts and the “what if” has been a more constant thought. I haven’t told Logan but I know he knows, maybe it’s the twin thing but I’m certain that Logan is aware of my feelings towards our best friend. 

I bump into Logan on my way out of my room, “Lo I need to tell you something,” I say. Logan flashes a knowing smile, “It’s about Oscar,” he says. I nod, “Is it okay?” I ask and Logan hugs me. “Of course, you’ve always liked him, go and tell him because I’m sure he might have something to say,” he says. Smiling I hug my brother and he kisses my cheek, “Go on and say what you’ve been feeling for years,” he says and I laugh. 

Oscar is in the backyard playing with Coco and I smile, “Hey Osc, I’m gonna take a walk around with Coco do you want to join us?” I ask him. Oscar scoops her up and walks over to me, “Yeah let’s do it,” he says. “Great,” I say smiling while clipping the leash on her collar. 

Closing the front door I walk down the steps and he sets Coco down. “It’s been really lovely out today,” he says. “Yeah, it’s so sunny. I missed this,” I say. “Of course you did,” he says with a laugh.”What’s that supposed to mean Osc?” I ask teasing him. Oscar shoves me lightly and laughs, “We’ve spent almost every waking hour in the water thanks to you, you’ve put on a tan already and there’s a happiness around you that wasn’t here before,” he says. “The home kind,” he adds and I smile. “Never stop nailing things so perfectly,” I say and he laughs. 

“Let me get my metaphorical hammer then,” he says and I let out a giggle. “Are you excited?” I ask him. “Yeah, the atmosphere for this race week is different than others and there’s a lot of fans here,” he says. “Would be better if you were added to the list of fans,” he says. I gasp, “You make it sound like I’m not,” I say and he flushes. “Well, we both know your loyalties are elsewhere,” he says and I laugh. “Finish that sentence because you’re purposely leaving things out, you jerk,” I say bumping his hip with mine. 

Oscar laughs, “It’s so amusing to tease you about this,” he says. “Just because I don’t like the team you drive for it doesn’t mean I’m not rooting for you,” I say.

“I know that Mione, your team loyalties might be with Ferrari and Williams but I’m well aware you root for me always,” he says and I press a kiss to his cheek. There’s a faint blush on his cheeks and I pretend to not notice it. 

The breeze makes the leaves of the palm trees sway and other people walk their dogs around the neighborhood. “I have to tell you something,” we both say at the same time. “You should go first,” Oscar says. “No, no it’s fine you can go,” I say. “Okay well uhm,” Oscar starts. 

“What I’m about to say might change things for the best or the worst… but I have to say it so hear me out please,” Oscar says.  Nerves fill the pit of my stomach and I nod. “Ever since I met you it’s been nothing but great and chaotic at times,” he says with a small laugh and I smile. “You’ve been here through the highs and lows. Sunlight just follows wherever you go and having you as a friend has been like having the sun,” he says and I’m fighting the urge to burst out crying. 

“Mione, you know me like the palm of your hand, and ever since you walked into my life I’ve wanted to share everything with you; and we have.” “A thought always lingered and I never acted on it because I was afraid it would change things between us and maybe I was also scared of Logan’s reaction,” he says with a small smile and I chuckle. 

This is finally it, this finally the day in which the Australian boy I fell for says the words I have been wanting to hear. “Y/N I have loved you ever since I knew what the concept of love was, I have loved you since the first time we fought and you gave me the silent treatment for two days,” he says and I laugh. “I have loved you since the first summer you and Logan spent with us when we were fifteen and I still do. You don’t have to say anything and if what you have to say is different from my expectation then-” Oscar is speaking but I cut him off. 

“Osc, hear me out,” I say. His face drops, “Oh, it’s okay if you don’t-” he starts to say. “For heaven's sake Piastri, let me finish!” I say and he laughs. “I feel the same way, I’ve loved you from the moment you brought me and Logan the fairy bread on our first birthday spent in the UK,” I say and he smiles. “You do?” he asks me, “How could I not love you, Oscar?” I reply. 

Laughing he grabs my waist and pulls me in for a sweet kiss, Coco’s leash is securely around my wrist, and one of my hand's thread through his hair. His lips are soft and inviting, kissing him feels like a million fireworks have erupted and sparks fly around us. Pulling apart I hug him, “This went way better than what I expected,” he says and I laugh. 

“I would have never turned you down, Oscar you know that,” I say. “Are you my girlfriend and papaya fan now?” he asks with a grin. Playfully I roll my eyes, “If you want me to be the first thing, that’s a yes. As for the second, I’m your fan and not the team’s that won’t change I’m sorry,” I say with a laugh. “I could never have it any other way,” he says. 

“I’m a firm believer of doing this properly which is why I have a question,” he says. “Y/N Y/MN Sargeant, will you be my girlfriend?” he asks smiling widely. Throwing my head back I laugh at his smile, “I’d love to be your girlfriend Oscar Jack Piastri,” I say. Oscar pulls me in for a sweet kiss and laces his hands with mine as we walk back home. 

(all photo credits go to the respective owners)

[sijetaismoi]

First sentence game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

Thank you @mamadoc for tagging me. I was planning to post this a few days ago, but I guess life happened...

Also, I'm going to twist the rules a bit, and will choose from all of my stories, not just the most recent ones. Well I guess they can all be considered recent, as I just started writing this year. I hope you guys enjoy some of them ❤️

I heard you

"She won’t be coming tonight."

He takes in Angela's words and their implications. Whether she’s trying to reassure him or spare him from needless waiting, his friend doesn’t beat around the bush. She knows him well enough to know he keeps glancing toward the patio door, hoping to see her arrive.

Tim accepted the Evers' invitation to an early summer garden party, and whether Lucy would be there or not didn’t influence his decision. He’s already discussed with his therapist how important it is to make choices for himself, and only for himself. So, he’s here mainly because his best friend asked him to, because he’s always warmly welcomed by her and Wesley, because the other colleagues present are also friends, because he needs to see people, and because he’ll probably have a good time.

If Lucy’s there, it’ll be a bonus, the cherry on top. And if she’s not, it won’t ruin his evening. He’ll be disappointed, but he’ll enjoy the conversations with the others.

He’s making progress, step by step. And simply being aware of that is already a huge achievement.

2. Heatwave

The temperatures have been skyrocketing for three days now, and it's supposedly the hottest summer ever. Lucy is drenched in sweat as she parks her shop to go for lunch, despite the air conditioning.

Nolan signals for her to join their table, where he’s already eating with Tim, Angela, and Nyla. She heads straight to the food truck to grab a salad before they run out and then sits in the only available chair between Tim and Nyla, letting out a long sigh. She loves summer but hates the heatwave. The thought of another sleepless night, tossing and turning in bed while hoping for a slight refreshing breeze, puts her in a foul mood.

All her colleagues around the table have noticed this, and none of them dares to ask how her day is going. She stabs at her cucumbers with her fork as if to make them pay for what she's enduring.

Her eye is drawn to the dessert waiting for Tim. She starts to salivate at the sight of his slices of watermelon—fresh, juicy, sweet.

"Where did you get that?" she asks.

He gestures to the food truck behind them with his thumb.

"There wasn't any when I passed by."

He shrugs. "Must be popular."

She lets out a grunt. Now that she's seen it, she can't think of anything else. And it only makes her mood worse.

3. Another wedding with you

Nell Forester is a bundle of positive energy that reminds him of Lucy. When she stands all excited in front of his desk, he restrains himself from rolling his eyes and merely raises an eyebrow.

"Anything I can do for you?"

She hands him a pale pink envelope, her smile lighting up her face and nearly the entire floor.

"You don’t have to open it right now. I really want you to be there, so I hope you RSVP. I’ve gotta go, see you."

And just as quickly as she appeared, she disappears down the hallway. He can’t help but chuckle. He opens the envelope and unsurprisingly finds an invitation to celebrate the union of Nell and Ellroy on June 15th in San Luis Obispo. He puts the invitation and the RSVP card (which he promises himself to return promptly) back into the envelope and places it in his desk drawer, waiting until the end of the day.

4. What's in a name?

Lucy Chen is by far the most beloved officer at Mid-Wilshire. Sincere and wholehearted, she deeply cares about people, trusts them, listens attentively, consoles, and shares moments of joy. Smiling and radiant, she has certainly earned the nickname some have given her: a true ray of sunshine. Human and altruistic, she helps whenever she can without expecting anything in return. Switching a night shift? No problem. Taking a twenty-minute detour to help a breastfeeding colleague who ran out of storage bags? She makes it her mission. Giving up her last granola bar when she hasn't eaten in eight hours? She'll manage. Welcoming new recruits at the station? It's the task no one wants and everyone delegates to her, and she takes pleasure in being the friendly face for new rookies or freshly transferred colleagues.

So, it's with habit and ease that she introduces herself to the new officer in uniform at the back of the meeting room, offers to show him around the facilities later and explain how the coffee machine works, invites him to the new recruits' get-together she'll organize at the end of the week even if he's the only new one, and wishes him a good day.

5. Practice makes perfect

“I'm hoping that we're good at certain other things, as well.”

“Oh? Want to find out right now?”

So they did find out some time later. Lucy clutches the sheet to her chest and stares at the ceiling of her bedroom, her breathing gradually calming. Tim is lying beside her in the same position, eyes fixed on the same point.

“You okay?” he asks her.

She nods and bites her lip.

“You?”

“Good.”

Their first time was much like their first date. Hesitant, awkward, clumsy. She feels ashamed to think that, but she had imagined stars, sparks, fireworks, like when they first kissed before leaving on the mission to Las Vegas. They had waited weeks for this moment, and she feels terribly disappointed and guilty for even thinking this while having the person who means the most to her in her bed.

She turns her head to face him and he seems just as embarrassed as she is. Neither of them falls into a euphoric post-coital haze.

And yet that's exactly what they should be doing.

She bursts into laughter, and he turns his head towards her, very surprised.

6. 7 stages

She watches him walk away, and she remains rooted in place, unable to follow him, unable to call out to him, unable to get back into her car.

She sees cars and uniformed officers coming and going, entering and exiting the building, joining a vehicle or stepping out of one.

Life goes on while she is frozen in place.

Eventually, she opens the car door and slides into the driver's seat. In autopilot mode, she starts the engine and leaves her parking spot, driving away from the police station, mechanically stopping at lights and stop signs, using her indicators when necessary, adjusting her speed, and parking in front of her building.

The journey to the apartment unfolds in the same manner: every movement, every step, is so ingrained in her that she doesn't need to think.

She turns the keys in the lock, turns on the light, sets down her bag, kicks off her shoes. She doesn't realize that the apartment is empty, that Tamara isn't there. She heads to the bathroom, sheds her clothes, steps into the shower. Again and again, the same actions, the habit, the routine, that render her thoughtless.

She's not in a state to think.

7. Nineteen days

She walks towards her car, ready to head home and open a bottle of wine that she might be able to finish without Jackson's help when what sounds like a bark makes her stop and turn around.

"Hey, Chen!"

She furrows her brow and waits for her training officer to catch up in a few strides.

"Have you decided where you're going to meet?"

She smiles, touched, because behind all his cynical and sometimes sharp remarks, behind his indifference, behind his sometimes brutal words, there is also the need to protect her. She told him she planned to go out with Dave tonight, and he wants to know where she's going, just in case her date turns out to be - again - a serial killer about to abduct her. He wants to know where she's going, with whom, and she's grateful for that. Coming from anyone else, she would find it unbearable.

"Nowhere. I'm going home. "

"Really?"

"And alone!" she emphasizes.

“Do you want to grab a beer?"

8. Without a word

It's an evening like any other, spent in the comfort of their home, each occupied with different tasks as mundane as clearing the table or emptying the washing machine.

He passes by the door of their bedroom, and the sight is enchanting. She wears her silk kimono, her hair pulled up and secured with a clip, humming along to the music filling the room. The candles she loves to light to relax cast a soft, natural glow that illuminates her features. She moves with calm and grace, and he marvels at each fluid relaxed serene gesture.

She hears him approaching but doesn't stop what she's doing. She's not surprised to feel him against her, behind her, to feel his lips on her neck, his hands on her hips, his fingers along her arms. She shivers.

He presses the clip, releasing her hair into cascading waves, and runs his fingers through the silky strands flowing down her back.

She bites her lip and forgets about the laundry on the dresser. She turns to him and sees his hand moving towards the belt of her robe, which he slowly undoes, the two silk panels opening to reveal what little she wears after her shower.

9. Lucy's personal box of personal things

"And this is the very last box!" Lucy exclaims, depositing her burden on the floor, concluding the final trip from her old apartment to their house before returning the keys to the landlord.

She looks around and realizes it was only the first step; they still have to unpack everything and find a place for each item. In their home. She's so excited that she's certain she'll spend part of the night on it.

"I'll take care of the bedroom, you take the living room?" She nods and grabs a box cutter to cut the sealing tape, then puts on some music. The first box contains books. She takes several at a time and places them on the shelves of the bookcase they assembled the day before.

Feeling light, she starts humming along to the music. She empties one box, then another. She looks at the labels on the boxes before opening them, trying to do it in order or to limit herself to one area of the living room to avoid getting overwhelmed. Sometimes it's her handwriting, sometimes it’s Tim's. She makes sure to mix what comes from his house, what comes from her apartment, to make it not his stuff and her stuff anymore, but their stuff.

10. What if you say no?

It all starts one morning when the three of them find themselves exactly at the same moment in front of the bathroom door, ready to draw straws, if not for Tamara who proclaims herself the chosen one and rushes in before he or she could react. Lucy then looks at him with pleading eyes, and seeing the way she bounces on herself while bending her knees, he knows he has definitely lost the game. He will have to tame his bladder.

*

He decides to get up earlier. They are still asleep, and he has all the time to start the coffee maker and have the bathroom to himself. Of course, this is without counting on Tamara, who has an exam that morning, got up earlier, thought she would be the first in the bathroom, entered without knocking just as he was undressing and about to step into the shower. It will take them weeks to dare to look each other in the eyes after this incident.

*

He comes home in the middle of the night after an intervention with Metro, and he trips over the shoes piling up next to the door, he catches himself as he can, barely muffling a curse, and can only admit defeat when he sees the light underneath the bedroom's door, a sign that all his efforts not to wake her up have failed.

I'm sorry if you've already been tagged, I'm not following a lot of writers, all of them being Chenford, and well... chances are you've already done it. Tagging : @zadien, @imperiumwifestrikesagain, @ao3sostarry, @arch78 (if you feel like it, no pressure), @romantashas, (but everyone should feel free to participate).

[galaxy-of-cats]

Theories About Ruin :)

I've read a lot of people commenting about Ruin, their theories, and opinions on how the DLC ends, I think I may as well make my theories about it. :)

 Prepare yourselves guys, this is going to be long:

So, the basic stuff first, Cassie arrives at FNAF 6 Pizzeria and releases the Anomaly (Mimic, Glitchtrap Afton, whoever really) (I'm going to call it "Anomaly" for now because in The Ultimate Guidebook in the glossary they call it that) Cassie discovers that the message from "Gregory" has a fake trap, Roxy gives her more time and Cassie has to run for her life.

 1: The elevator ending: called by me the "Why Gregory... Why?" ending :(

There are a few things that make me think that the Gregory who guides Cassie to the elevator was not the real Gregory... I'm not going to completely rule out that it was the real Gregory who made that decision because it may as well be, if so, I'd like to recognize Gregory as (depending on your reasons) as the most pragmatic or practical kid I've ever met...doesn't sound like a good thing to me, but anyway. As I was saying, let's go investigate:

Gregory takes us to the elevator by leading us down the dirt tunnel (adding that he has a friend with the plans to the place) tells Cassie to run and all only to have her at the last minute decide or realize that it's dangerous for the anomaly to come out of the Pizzaplex and start tracking him and I guess, his friend. (Vanessa?).

But it's a little curious that right after the Anomaly was released and out of sight that Gregory was able to communicate with Cassie, plus how did Gregory know that Cassie was in the Pizzaplex?

Check the ending guys. When Gregory speaks to her, he almost instantly says "I'm not at the Pizzaplex". Soon after Cassie doubts whether the voice she hears on the radio is the real Gregory, now a good well known test to prove someone's identity, especially if you are friends would be to say something you both know, like an inside joke or some memory (Maybe it doesn't work 100% but it's something), but "Gregory" just says "do you have any other options?" ...doesn't really confirm anything for us, does it?

You could say you can confirm it's Gregory by the subtitles, for example. But the game kept telling us that about the voice coming from the Roxy-Talkie when it really wasn't true, what's to stop the game from fooling us again, we weren't seeing the Anomaly when there's the "Gregory, we also know the Anomaly's influence is stronger underground thanks to Security Breach" dialogue. ��The Anomaly managed to send Cassie a message even though she was supposedly trapped underground, what was stopping The Anomaly from controlling a simple elevator with technology that didn't seem new in the place?

Another important point is how on earth could Gregory see where Cassie was in the present moment if he was not in the Pizzaplex? In the tunnel , I mean it’s possible that he knew the way, but he never told Cassie something like "when you get to the first intersection, go right then at another  intersection right again" no no, the supposed Gregory indicates us as if the Roxie-Talkie had a built-in camera, which we don't see.

If we remember, when we encounter the blue antivirus the first time we encounter a parent node "Gregory"(the fake one) knows exactly why Cassie freaked out and tells us to stay away from that thing. The Anomaly knows where we are in the entire Pizzaplex and what we are doing in the present moment, which gives us another point to suspect the Gregory that guides us to the end.

If you want to rely on the books (GGY) you will know that Gregory was possibly controlled by the Anomaly at some point, it may be that when Cassie removed the security system the control was back and that's why Gregory left her there, but I'm not too sure about this for the reasons explained above that the Anomaly could already communicate with the outside.

 Now, following my explanation Gregory is never present in the dlc is he? ...well not exactly.

When you use the mask turn up the sound and pay attention to the sounds, you can often hear a woman laughing, screaming and from time to time at specific times and places a voice gives us advice or tells us things (this voice is not recorded in the subtitles, but it’s understandable) if you have already heard it you will know that this voice...is Gregory's voice.

Gregory's voice with the mask on sounds different, it's not very loud, it sounds like he's talking close, and the voice is somewhat blocked by the mask. As far as I could tell Cassie never reacts to the sounds of the virtual world. But what if they are more important than they seem? This brings us to focus on the second ending....

 2: The Happy Ending (... I mean, is it really a happy ending? Aren't they still in the Pizzaplex?).

In this ending we don't follow "Gregory's" lead and we come across a large cardboard cutout of Fredbear mode the posters we see of the cartoon character, we put on the mask and find ourselves in a place that looks virtual giving us a very pretty sunset with balloons and the whole thing where Vanessa, Helpy and Gregory are standing there smiling, but they all look like cardboard cutouts and it looks obvious it's fake, however, Gregory's voice rings out and says "Cassie! I'm ok. I found a spot to hide"...to finally hear Cassie's agitated (and probably confused) breathing...We have a lot to unpack.

First, if we play along with the game that Gregory is not at the Pizzaplex, why does he have a hiding place, that is not outside?

You can take it as him finding a place for Cassie to hide, but Gregory doesn't say that. He says he found a hiding place and assures Cassie that he's okay...shouldn't he say something to reassure Cassie that there is a safe place for her? ...Gregory seems according to his voice happy to see Cassie...like he hasn't talked to her before... (Plus it seems a lot like a Happiest day for Cassie, don't you think?). (There are balloons for a party or a celebration…you know)

Already in the DLC there are crazy and strange things like being able to pass things like walls and doors with the mask and blocked places, although it's supposed to be only virtual reality, plus in some parts of the Pizzaplex we can see with the mask that Princess Quest's lantern and sword are present. Everything seems to tell us that the digital world and the real world merged somehow in the Pizzaplex. Anyway, while this merging between virtual and real world may be somewhat obvious, we have to analyze what it really means in the world of FNAF.

One of the endings of Security Breach seems to indicate a relationship to Vanessa and Vanny's thing, if an arcade game can be connected a person's consciousness, what prevents in an already merged place, that Cassie has escaped to a virtual hideout (do the endings ending with sunset indicate not a real escape but a simulated one?).

Something that supports the issue of consciousness transferred to a virtual place can be proven in Help Wanted, in Fazbear Entertainment's security notice we are warned that the transfer of consciousness and the manifestation of digital characters in the real world is not the responsibility of the company, indicating us that this kind of things were already possible, and if we know that Security Breach is after Help Wanted, that this technology is present at the time of the game doesn’t seem so hard to believe.

(Another thing that we can see in Help Wanted is the Anomaly's power to copy voices...in the books too, but I say this just in case. On tapes 1 and 15 the girl shows up 2 times with somewhat contradictory messages, plus we know that on one tape the girl says something the Anomaly also says "Hello, can you hear me?").

Arguing that Cassie needed to be connected to something to enter the virtual world, we have the mask and the neural chip that was placed in her when she put the mask on in the first place, so an entrance to the digital world she already has, remembering the sounds of the mask and that technically there may have been more murders at the Pizzaplex, we could explain these sounds and Gregory's voice if Gregory is in a limbo and maybe the others as well (along with how both worlds affect each other).

So in this ending Cassie's consciousness was transferred to the virtual world thanks to the hiding place and she found herself in a sort of limbo with Vanessa and Gregory, maybe I mean, Helpy is there and how could Cassie imagine Vanessa if there was never any indication that she knew her in the first place? Which leaves the questions Vanessa and Gregory were dead with their consciousness hidden in the Pizzaplex and Cassie joined them? Where the heck is Freddy? All are good questions and my answer to them, would be yes; but this is a theory, so who really knows?

 A separate point is the Cassidy theory in Princess Quest, I wouldn't mention it if it weren't for the cut-out at the end, I mean why Fredbear of all characters, why not Glamrock Freddy? This would be a more obvious Gregory reference, if you argue that it's because we're in FNAF 6 pizzeria territory, it might as well have been Rockstar Freddy or something.

We all know that Fredbear and Golden Freddy are among the most mysterious animatronics in FNAF, so the appearance of their character may be a reason to investigate more references or why it is the entrance to the ending.

  3: Scooper 2.0? Yes please.

Where had that machine been all this time, forget about the machine, the place itself, I really have no idea and the same could be said for the aggregates underground in general, but let's get some points to investigate.

Does Cassie survive this ending, the game ends with the Anomaly (at least her physical body) being destroyed or captured by the claw or whatever that thing was, but we don't see if Cassie makes it out Will she be able to use the elevator, did the monster really leave, I mean Gregory says it's free and so on, but it seems he meant the physical body because we know it at least had a way to communicate with the outside (M.X.E.S has its flaws).

Another point if he really left in this ending, shouldn't Gregory say something, that they don't confirm anything is not a good sign either, with Gregory saying, "nice try" or "that didn't work" or maybe "well done, now run that way". If there is no way out at that point it could also have been said by Gregory, didn't Gregory and his friend have the maps of the place, didn't they know about him, couldn't they communicate at that point in the place, Gregory's voice is not heard again in that ending and the villain is held back. I find it a bit odd that the kid who was able to destroy several animatronics didn't have a plan that is...destroy the enemy. Another point for the theory that the real Gregory has nothing to do there, I guess.

One last point I'd like to make is that, if we notice, the blue character chasing us around the virtual world technically was good in a way. The animatronics were attracted to our position and attacked Cassie, but their function was to enclose a bigger evil.... eh little details, right?

 Uff well I think I'm done telling my theories, what are yours? :D

[bethanydelleman]

The Times Women Don’t Know Their Hearts

I was thinking about my proposal analysis and it occured to me that there are two instances in Jane Austen’s novels where women don’t know how to respond to a proposal, and in both, cases, the problem is actually the influence of other women.

Emma has already been trying to turn Harriet off the Martins and on to “real gentlemen” by the time Harriet gets the proposal from Robert Martin. She ends up not knowing her own mind:

She [Harriet] was so surprized she did not know what to do. Yes, quite a proposal of marriage; and a very good letter, at least she thought so. And he wrote as if he really loved her very much—but she did not know—and so, she was come as fast as she could to ask Miss Woodhouse what she should do.—” Emma was half-ashamed of her friend for seeming so pleased and so doubtful.

Emma then clearly influences Harriet’s decision and it is implied that she also supplies her with the words of refusal. (One high point of Emma 1972 is that she actually begins to dictate Harriet’s response). So Harriet’s inability to know her own heart was Emma’s doing. It’s pretty clear by the end that if Harriet had not been led astray by Emma, she’d have accepted.

We also have Janet Ross in Mansfield Park (a friend of Mary’s):

Poor Janet has been sadly taken in, and yet there was nothing improper on her side: she did not run into the match inconsiderately; there was no want of foresight. She took three days to consider of his proposals, and during those three days asked the advice of everybody connected with her whose opinion was worth having, and especially applied to my late dear aunt, whose knowledge of the world made her judgment very generally and deservedly looked up to by all the young people of her acquaintance, and she was decidedly in favour of Mr. Fraser.

From Mary’s overall behaviour (the wish to marry for wealth and consequence), we can infer that the late Mrs. Crawford said from Mary’s words: “We were all delighted. She could not do otherwise than accept him, for he was rich, and she had nothing” What Mary doesn’t seem to grasp is that Janet must have known on some level before accepting the proposal that she wouldn’t have been happy with Mr. Fraser. Yet, she is able to be influenced and all her friends assured her it was a good idea so she went for it.

And then we have Anne Elliot, who does accept Wentworth’s first proposal, but then on the advice of Lady Russell (we know that Sir Walter didn’t have a huge hand in this), was convinced to break it off. This decision is a little trickier because in all honesty, I think Lady Russell was giving good advice. Like, maybe don’t marry a penniless sailor at 19, you might be a widowed mother in the next year... but it is ultimately a decision that Anne regrets. In hindsight, we know she would have been happier if she married him.

I also want to mention Maria Bertram, who raised by aunt Norris, has been taught to value wealth above her own happiness. We are not directly told that Mrs. Norris influenced the match, but she was instructed by Sir Thomas to conceal the engagement until he returned and then did the opposite, making it harder for Maria to call it off the marriage if that was her preference.

The only man who influences a marriage decision is Mr. Brandon Sr., who locks Eliza Brandon away until she agrees to marry his eldest son (Colonel Brandon's older brother). Jane Austen never really shows a heroine father manipulate their daughter/ward so directly, forcefully, and obviously. The closest is Sir Thomas with Fanny but even he isn't ruthless. The bigger danger for women in these novels is much more subtle influence.

I feel like the overall message here is that you need to be careful who you let influence your decisions. Or who you befriend. Anne is able to reject her father’s disapprobation, but she has more trouble with her mother figure. She forgets, perhaps, that Lady Russell is also a little too conscious of rank. Harriet and Janet both have friends who lead them down the wrong path. Fortunately Harriet gets back on track, but Janet ends up in a very unhappy marriage. 

And the worst part is, all of these influencers, Emma, Mrs. Crawford, and Lady Russell (and even Mrs. Norris), think they are doing the best thing for their friend. They cannot see their own folly.

[emeraldart]

Fanfic of Odalia finding out Willow was technically recruited to the EC (about 1k words, takes place after Any Sport in a Storm but before Hollow Mind)

Having Willow Park over in the Blight household was always a risky decision. Fortunately, Odalia Blight won’t be home for a little while longer. Amity Blight savors the final bit of time she gets with her friend before she’ll have to shoo her home and pretend it all never happened. The two paint each others’ nails. Willow decorates Amity’s with a bright pink, a pleasant change from her usual black polish. Willow insists on choosing a soft red. Interesting, Amity notes, I didn’t know she liked red. It was really no surprise that the plant witch would gravitate toward the color green. The green continue their peaceful moment when there was a knock on the door.

Amity opens the door to find an intricate uniform and golden mask. Willow, standing behind her, runs and tackles Hunter in a hug. He removes the mask while Amity smirks, happy that her friend is finally branching out. 

“Hunter!” Willow cries, happily.

“Oh, hi, Willow. I wasn’t aware you’d be here,” he replies. Amity coughs. “Right. Hi, Amity.”

“Hi. How’re you doing?” Amity asks, genuinely curious. 

“Me? Fine,” he seems surprised she asked. “I kinda expected you to be more, uh, mad. At me.” Willow winces. 

“I was never mad at you,” Amity says, flatly. “I was-” She trails off. I was worried about you. 

“Oh, um, thanks good, I guess.”

“So,” Amity inquires, “what are you doing here, then?”

“The abomatons,” Hunter explains, “I’m supposed to check with your parents on the progress.”

“They’re not here right now,” Amity says.

“And thank Titan for that,” Willow scoffs, causing Hunter to tilt his head in confusion.

“Why’s that?” he asks.

“They don’t really like Willow,” Amity frowns, “They think she’s too weak to be my friend. A bad influence or whatever.”

“Willow?” Hunter looks confused. “As in, Willow Park. The strongest plant witch I’ve ever seen?” 

Amity laughs, noticing the small flowers sprouting in Willow’s hair. She hadn’t seen that happen since they were kids. She fiddles with her scroll, wanting to take a picture of their faces for Luz, when she notices the flyer derby photos Willow had sent her. She smirks. Amity may have an opportunity here. She starts planning her idea, while still spanning a photo of her flustered friends to show her awesome girlfriend. 

“Mom’s always saying that I only should associate with ‘witches of higher status,’” Willow and Hunter turn to look at her. “That people of ‘lower class’ would never get opportunities in the Emperor’s Coven. What if we showed her how wrong she was?”

Both her friends grin. She leans in to tell them the plan, laughing at their silly additions. Titan, she missed this. Being a silly, weird kid. Amity texts Luz to let her know what they’re doing, promising to send her a picture of Odalia’s reaction. What are girlfriends for if not to show each other your pranks, right? After today, she’s positive Willow can agree. 

Before they know it Odalia is on her way home. The girls sneak Hunter around to the corner until his cue. Amity and Willow resume chatting, laughing about when Boscha humiliated herself at school the previous day or that silly game Luz taught them a few weeks ago. The door creaks open. Odalia Blight, stern, uptight, rude, and downright awful, storms in. She looks exhausted, probably from watching Alador do all the work while she just stands there. Amity scoffs. 

“Amity Blight!” she cries, making Amity look up so fast she fears she hurt her neck. “What is the Park girl doing here?” She says it with so much disgust Willow looks equal parts angry and ashamed. Amity holds back the urge to apologize. She’s done nothing wrong. 

“We’re friends, Mom,” she says bluntly, “We’re hanging out.”

“Nonsense, Mittens,” Odalia responds, “Blights only associate with a select few. Half witches are not in that group.”

Amity sees red. “She is not half a witch! She’s my friend and you will respect her!” Amity shouts. 

“Oh, please, Mittens, this rebellious streak of yours has gotten out of hand,” Odalia says.

“Rebellious?” Willow challenges. “What’s rebellious about hanging out with a friend?”

Odalia is about to retort, stooping so low as to argue with a couple of children when there’s a pounding on the door. Odalia rolls her eyes at the girls and opens the door, completely missing their twin smirks behind her. Amity watches as she immediately drops to a knee at the sight of the Golden Guard. Seeing her mother grovel was surprisingly satisfying.

“Sir!” Odalia exclaims. Willow holds back a giggle. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Mrs. Blight,” the Guard addresses her. That’s all Amity can call him because that

doesn’t feel like her friend. He sounds like the boy she’s mad at, not the one she’s worried about. “I’m here looking for Ms. Willow Park.”

“What, to arrest her? I always knew that one was trouble,” Odalia grumbles, “Please, take her away. And don’t blame my family for any of her transgressions. My daughter was merely-”

The Guard cuts her off. “I’m not here to arrest her. I was going to see if I could get her to rethink my proposal.”

“Proposal?” Odalia inquires. Willow blushes.

“I had invited her to join the coven personally, but she declined. Even if I can’t get her to join I’m trying to get Ms. Park to show the coven her remarkable powers.”

“B-but…” Odalia stutters. “She’s simply half a witch! She can hardly do magic at all!”

“Nonsense. Ms. Park’s magic took some time to appear, but it’s amazing, it’s beautiful, it’s-” he coughs. “Anyway, just call her over and I’ll be on my way.” Amity doesn’t miss how red Willow was getting.

Willow strolls up to the door. “Hello, sir,” she says with a little curtsy.

He bows to her, making stifling laughter at Odalia’s shock. “Ms. Park! Have you considered my offer?”

“I have,” Willow says, struggling not to giggle, “And I’d love to accompany you to learn more about the coven. If the Golden Guard, himself, wants to personally invite me to the castle to convince me to join the prestigious Emperor’s Coven, who am I to refuse?” Willow sighs dramatically. 

Amity winks at them as Odalia turns to face her, mouth wide open. “Have fun!” 

Amity doesn’t miss the way their hands join as the door closes. Odalia looks pale, her already light skin gone paper white. She shakes, muttering nonsensical phrases.

“But, I, she, I, what-?” Odalia gasps before passing out in shock. 

Amity finally lets herself laugh, wild and reckless and childish and stupid. She feels better than she has in a long time. She takes a picture of Odalia, sends it to Luz, and smiles, walking back up to her room. 

[shadow-says-hello]

Not So Tough Now

Summary: After Jojo’s “dramatic change”, she wants to act more edgy and tough. So you prove that she’s still as adorable and delicate as she was when she was younger. (Not me trying to actually write good 💀 this was a dare btw)

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Jojo was your best friend. You have been close with her ever since Nickelodeon. You couldn’t help but notice how much she’s changed. She went from being an adorable little girl with rainbows and bows to a tough and so-called “edgy” 21 year old.

Though you’ve missed your best friend, things do change. And Jojo changed drastically, but not so much for the better. She’s been acting way more spazzy and somewhat rugged lately. Ever since she released “Karma”.

Jojo was impressed with herself. Clearly NO ONE could love Jojo more than Jojo, and you dared not to tell her Karma wasn’t as good as she thinks it is. But she was your best friend and though she’s changed a few things, you wanted to make her happy. She already refused to read her TikTok comments…

Not only was the Karma music video not the best…but it was also a little inappropriate. Jojo didn’t mind it, she was lesbian after all…but it was not very impressive to see her doing doohickey with another dancer. But you swore you’d always support her through her decisions.

Jojo was your roommate, housemate, etc. So after going out into Times Square and filming herself doing her famous choreograph, which wasn’t bad, she walks in somewhat excited.

“Heyyyyy!!!!” She greets you, it was annoying and a little too enthusiastic.

“Hey!” You greet back. “Such a spaz.”

Jojo lets out a LOUD laugh, echoing throughout the room. It was somewhat raspy. “Just living a good life! You know, when you’re both an influencer AND a singer…”

“Mhm. We get it, Jojo.” You cut her off with a nervous laugh.

“Good!” Jojo smiles widely. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

“Very, and you know it.” You try your best to act positive for her.

Jojo giggles and then looks at the direction of your home speaker. You two really like listening to music and sometimes doing karaoke when you are in the mood. But today you were not. And Jojo does not care what you think of her, she does not get insecure. So she scrolls on her phone and puts on Karma.

“Watch this!” Jojo giggles again, running through the entire Karma dance. The part in the song, aka her favorite part comes on…”Karma’s a bitch, I should’ve known better”...Jojo did the dance so loud and obnoxiously the entire ground shook as she stomped her foot. You groaned.

“Jojo, please…I’m not in the mood today for you to do this…”

Jojo didn’t listen and continued dancing, which made you sigh loudly and turn the speaker off. Jojo looked at you a little puzzled and smiled sheepishly.

“Why’d you turn it off?” She asks, fixing her gold chain.

“Because it's loud and obnoxious and you need to calm down. Some of us had a long day. I mean, how long can you go doing that stupid dance until you just get sick of it?” You ask, annoyed.

“I can go forever! It’s called having fun. Sometimes I think you don’t like the new me…but guess what? I do!” She smiles, her blue eyes piercing into yours.

“I’ve done nothing but support you. All I ask is just not today.” You lick your lips, standing up from the couch to get leveled with her.

“But I want to have fun.” Jojo’s smile fades slightly. “You’re just jealous I’m living my best life.”

You huff. “Absolutely not. You need to tone it down significantly.” You warn, getting a little more frustrated.

“I don’t change for others, I change for me.” She frowns ever slightly as she notices how upset you’re getting. “I’m sorry but I like the new me and this is just a small part of what it looks like.”

You sigh. “What ever happened to the adorable sparkly bow girl?” You raise your eyebrows.

“Pff, adorable? Maybe. I’m just more mature.” Jojo says proudly, her smile returning.

“Mature is NOT the right word. You’re not as cute as you used to be.” You cross your arms.

“Excuse me!” Jojo drops her jaw slightly, still smiling. But she soon remembers she’s trying to act tough and not seem cute. “And it’s not like I want to be cute…”Jojo lies.

You bite back a smirk. “Almost feels bad, once in a while you need a reminder how cute you can become. You say you’re so tough…” You trail off. Jojo looks up at your eyes, slight anticipation building up as you tell her she needed a “reminder.” What did that mean? She can only wonder.

“I am tough.” Jojo puffs out her chest, she was going to be put in her place. Easily.

“But what's under that tough shell?” You say, smirk coming back fully as you grab your friend, pull her into a bear hug and tackle her down to the couch. Giggles erupted from her mouth, betraying her from trying to remain arrogant and stubborn.

Once you had her waist straddled, she looked up at you and tried to push you off. You grabbed both of her arms and pinned them above her head. She let out a yelp in surprise.

You held her arms up with one hand and clawed at her armpits with the other. She busted into giggles immediately, her face turning red.

“STOHOP!” She squeals, raspy cackles overcoming her as she squirmed underneath your grasp, her body tossing and turning.

You began clawing at her ribs, alternating between her armpits and ribs. She laughed LOUDLY and shook her head. “Why? You have a well known weakness and I’m exploiting it to make sure you’re not so egotistical.”

Jojo cackles underneath you. She was becoming redder than the time she sang “Traitor” in her car…

You pause quickly and take her arms again. Grabbing her by her wrists, you pin her hands under your knees. She could not pull them back even if she tried, being pinned by your body weight…so she had no choice but to endure what spots were going to be targeted next.

You began scribbling your fingers all over her sides and belly, occasionally drilling into her hip bones with your thumbs. She squealed and laughed wildly underneath you, thrashing and kicking her feet. She was really, really, ticklish…maybe even a little more than she used to be. You had playful tickle fights with your roommate often for the shits and giggles…but to fully pin her and expose her? This was gold.

“Oh my god, Jojo…” You chuckle.

“SHUHUT UP AND LEHET MEHE GOHO!” Jojo thrashes, whining. Sure didn’t look like she was upset…she was smiling real big.

“Look at how ticklish you are…” You snarked.

“NONO-”

You knead your fingers into her belly, really digging in and tickling her soft flesh over the fabric of her shirt. This elicited a series of squeals and little shrieks from her. Her laugh was grating, but making her laugh so hard from a few tickles was just so adorable.

“Looks like the big bad tough edgy rebel Jojo Siwa has a soft underbelly after all.” You tease, tracing the word “karma” on her tummy with your finger, pretending she was a canvas. This made her quiver and giggle lightly.

“For the record…I am all of those things…” Jojo says, trying to keep her tough demeanor. Which was not a good idea seeing the position she is being put in right now.

“Absolutely not, bow girl.” You exhale, your face dropping the smirk. “You’re still my silly and childish best friend. Drop this bad-bitch attitude you’ve been pulling off and give me back my friend.”

Jojo scowls in denial. “Oh, no no no. This is who I am…and if I want to flex it to you then so be it! You’re still my best friend, but I wanna take things up several notches!” She smiles haughtily.

“So that’s the game you wanna play, hm?” You unpin her arms and get a firm grip of the hem of her shirt.

“Yes, in fact. It is the game I am willing to play, and win!” She pauses, feeling her shirt being lifted and cold air waft across her now slightly exposed tummy. “What are you doing…?”

Jojo grabbed your wrists, but you were not letting go of the hem which you held a few inches above her belly button.

“You indulge yourself in the game. So, let’s play.” You smirk, gaze wandering from Jojo’s blue eyes to her belly.

Before Jojo could protest, she kept her hands on your wrists, but you had outsmarted her. You blew a massive and messy raspberry on her belly and she didn’t know how to take it. So she laid there and let out a scream of laughter.

Jojo squirmed and giggled in delight, feebly pushing your head away from her belly, but you kept blowing and she soon gave up on squirming. She was enduring it. Never had she felt so weak…she felt like she was a baby in your grasp…

“PLEHEASE NOHO MORE!” She begged, desperately trying to push you away and pull her shirt down.

“Oh but Jojo, you’re acting like a child right now.” You poke her tummy in one area, then you blow a raspberry on it.

Jojo squealed again. “I-I’M NOHOT A CHILD! I’M-”

“If you say edgy big girl then I swear to GOD.”

“EHEDGY BIHIG GIRL- AHHHHHHHHHH!” Jojo shrieks, you punished her with the biggest raspberry you could blow on her tummy. Damn, this girl really knows how to laugh.

Jojo was so flushed, redder than a tomato. So you blow another to really torture her.

With further begging and pleading, Jojo starts getting really out of breath.

“Alright, alright. Let’s cut to the chase. Say you’re sorry. I want my bow-girl back.” You blow another raspberry right above her belly button. Jojo, out of breath, decides to give in.

“I surrender…!” She says.

“Good!” You pull her shirt back down and get off of her, she’s breathless on the couch, but at least you’ve won this round. Sadly, due to her energy she gets right back on her feet and is now standing inches away from you.

“I may be your stupid…bow bestie…” You and Jojo cringe slightly at that. “But I will repay you for that unnecessary torture!” She giggles and starts chasing after you, you both giggling the entire time.

Jojo then got you cornered and wrecked the shit out of you, doing everything you did to her back to you. At least she was…still spazzy…? Oh, fuck.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

THROW ME IN THE TRASH NOW 👺💀✋🙏

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #68: “But Not In That Way” | February 1, 2009 - 11:30PM | S04E09

Time for the Robot Chicken program that we all know and love. I will do my best to talk about this episode in a way that it deserves; dashed off and under the influence of marijuana. 

To be honest, the only sketches I hated in this were really short. The Peanuts “I got Iraq” joke really made me irrationally mad. Hulk Hogan voices a black guy at one point, which isn’t great. Not only is he a white dude, but he’s also a racist white dude! Why can’t people be pissed off at this? Terrible to think about: He has dropped far worse bombs.

Last time I covered Robot Chicken, I made the decision to go soft on it and try to focus on the positives. That’s for two reasons: the joke I hated most was the phrase “rape shoes”, and I was really struggling to figure out a way to complain about it without sounding woke. Most of the sketches I merely didn’t like and I wasn’t feeling very inspired trying to come up with ways to bury them, because they were bad for reasons I normally cite over and over again. In other words: I was being lazy. I literally just didn’t feel like coming up with words, and knew “focusing on the positive” would yield a shorter, easier write-up.

It is an unfortunate coincidence that, on the evening I decide to pledge myself to being more savage with the show, I managed to LAUGH TWICE at this episode, putting it in the running for maybe the strongest Robot Chicken episode of all time. The Inuyasha sketch was decent and had some funny lines that made me smile. Also, I legitimately perk up when Seth MacFarlane is on this show, as insane as that sounds. I must have Stockholm syndrome or something. But this was a funny idea for a sketch, and it was decently executed. The ending was lame, but usually the endings of Robot Chicken sketches are VERY BAD, so I welcome lame. 

A Punky Brewster sketch was almost good, but I really do dislike Robot Chicken’s penchant for overly jerky characters being overly jerky. I’m pleased anytime I'm asked to think about Soleil Moon Frye breasts. I simply don’t know why! 

The two actual laughs: the ALF cutaway where he calmly observes the birth of a litter of kittens and asks “is anyone here gonna freak out if I eat that afterbirth?” got me. For Robot Chicken, this is remarkably restrained. Another sketch would be about ALF trying to eat the kittens, then the mom cat fighting ALF in a zany kung-fu fight, and then when she returns to the kittens she finds they've all been smoked by Willie, mistaken for crack for some reason.

The lengthiest sketch of the show is Shawshank Redemption but set at Arkham Asylum. Lord help me, I liked the stupid detail that Batman is personally overseeing the Asylum like a prison guard. Also the poopoo humor actually caused me to laugh out loud, however briefly. There was a couple moments in this episode where the punchline was farty noises, and I hated them, because they just sounded like overused sound-effects to me.

Also, lucky for the show, one of my all-time favorite things to do when I played with action figures was to make them shit on each other. This tapped into some seriously primordial stuff in my id. 

MAIL BAG

I've heard a lot of hype on reddit and CNN about you being "the funny man of Tumblr." Any tips & tricks you want to share?

Very simple my dear girl; first 1) you gotta make funny friends then two 2) you gotta steal from those funny friends

[astererer]

🧶 🦊🍑 For Vernon and Kaz??

🧶 — are you tangled up? a headcanon about a time my muse has felt internally ‘tied up in knots’ with a decision or emotion.

Vernon

Letting his sister leave home. Vern was always a protective older brother, so when Aster left Galar to escape being champion to travel across different regions, he had extremely mixed feelings. On the one hand he knew this was what Aster wanted, she hated the role she had been given so much she quit after only a couple weeks, and she needed room to grow on her own terms free of scrutiny. On the other, he was worried sick — if anything were to go wrong he couldn’t be there to help her — during the first couple months he would constantly be catastrophising about different scenarios Aster may have been running into on the road. She was fine lmao

Kaz

You think this man has the capacity to get tied up in knots about anything???? Jk, one time he got temporarily kicked out of his band and home for starting a fight with a record label scout. While Kaz didn’t have trouble finding somewhere else to stay in the meantime he was extremely anxious about whether he’d actually be allowed back. Usually his fights would have a blind eye turned on them, but this one cost a record deal and consequentially their band’s potential big break. And Kaz put all his stock into making it as a musician. Probably the second most awful experience of his life (being kicked out the band, that is)

🦊 — a quick orange fox! for a headcanon about a time my muse had to be stealthy or sneaky in their life, and why.

Vernon

Tried out smoking when he was like 15. Got into it because a friend had already started, and Vern wanted to fit in. Kept it secret because he didn’t want his parents to find out, nor did he want to be a bad influence on Aster. Would walk around with baccy and papers in his coat pocket lol. Was caught by his mum after about a month, she wasn’t particularly mad or disappointed, used to smoke as a teen into mid-twenties herself but did laugh at him for being shit at rolling. Vern promptly quit out of embarrassment.

Kaz

Man does not do stealthy, the clap of his asschee— no he’s just real heavy footed and loud and obnoxious. But he has been sneaky in that he has lied a whole bunch throughout his life. As a teenager he would lie about his age to sneak into bars and clubs — usually successfully due to his appearance, was one of those high schoolers that looks like a 20 year old. Reason for doing so was simple: he wanted to get drunk and start a fight.

🍑 — you’re a peach! a headcanon specifically about a physical aspect of a person they are attracted to.

Vernon

Vern is into people shorter than him — something about a height difference activates his protective instincts and the urge to hold the person he’s into close. Easy for him to kiss them on the top of the head hehe

Kaz

their holes Kaz is generally speaking not particularly picky about appearances beyond are you hot yes or no. However, he does Ever So Slightly favour people who have a bit of ruggedness to their appearance over those who look frail and/or delicate. Rough hands and a bit of muscle as opposed to all over softness you could say.

[occult-roommates]

I’m putting my baby for adoption (not clickbait)

In the middle of the night, Akva couldn’t sleep, and just felt bored. Great, as if the rest of the time she didn’t felt constantly exhausted! At this hour, Kino was studying for their upcoming sociology exam, Charlie was at the vampire blood/food bank, Dawud was working night shift, while Rudi and Daniele were sleeping. She tried texting with her friends living outside the apartment, all of them were offline...

Speaking of her friends, first of all, none of them knew she was pregnant. This was out of fear one of them would tell her ex-boyfriend behind her back before she’s ready to tell him. She should do that soon, her second trimester is coming, same thing with making a decision on whether she’s raising the kid or putting it for adoption, since she decided to keep the pregnancy in general. That’s when a video popped up in her recommended, a random influencer crying about her recently found infertility, which make sense, she had watched a bunch of those in order to guilt-trip herself into not getting an abortion which...is honestly an awful idea but ok. Why is it always the one that want a baby that can’t and those who don’t want one who end up knocked up while actively trying to avoid it? Anyway, that one random influencer was different though, cause she remembered one of her friend was obsessed with her back in high school. 

That woman was named Paisley Cox, she was your run-of-the-mill fitness/lifestyle influencer, mostly known for also being the daughter of a Hollywood producer...And also for causing a power outage all across Del Sol Valley by partying too hard on her 21st birthday. 

Paisley: And so the doctor said it quite bluntly. I’m infertile. Even if I managed to conceive, odds are I wouldn’t be able to carry to term safely. And you know, I’m an Italian Cath, I spent my entire life thinking I’ll be a mommy some day. Akva: Ok, yeah, the classic.

Akva kept on watching, the video was like 20 minutes long and she had nothing better to do...

Paisley: My husband and I have talked about adoption. The other day, we were walking around the beach and we saw a family of mermaids with their toddler, and that toddler was so freaking adorable. Damian joked we could get ourselves a little mermaid, if we can’t have our own might as well get something cool like that.

Akva ignored that red flag of a phrasing and ran straight to the part about adopting a baby mermaid. She was a track-star back in high school, running is what she does. But like, she is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a merman, which means their baby has a 100% chance of being born with gills and a fish tail! Without thinking, Akva opened Instagram and slid into Paisley’s DMs, with an offer you normally don’t randomly make by sliding in someone’s DMs.

The next morning, she went to the café a block away with Charlie, to have a little girl to girl talk...And then Dawud walked in, having just finished his shift, and blissfully unaware of what was going on, he invited himself at their table. 

Charlie: Please Dawud, this is not the time we are talking about women stuff. Dawud: Well sorry, I wasn’t intending on making you fail the Bechdel test. I just wanted a coffee. Akva: No, it’s fine, he can stay. I mean, it’s not really that womanly of a topic anyway. We’re talking about adoption. Dawud: A sweet, we’re getting a cat!? Akva: I am literally pregnant and you know it but somehow this is the conclusion you jump to?? Charlie: Anyway, as I was saying, putting your child for adoption is not a decision you should talke lightly Akva. It can mess up both the mother and the baby, and you’re already so young and a bit messed up. We all are in our apartment.  Akva: And you know what can mess a young mom? Raising a child she does not want! Which also, surprise surprise, will mess up the child too. Dawud: I don’t understand why you don’t just get an abortion. Charlie: She doesn’t want one. You can’t force someone to carry a baby but you also can’t force someone to abort. Dawud: I’m not forcing her, I’m just confused. You were right, this conversation is too womanly for me I guess. Akva: Anyway, it’s pretty obvious Charlie you don’t want me to put the baby for adoption because you want to raise it. Dawud: By the way, my friend Ralf was adopted and he turned out perfectly fine. Like he’s married and has kids and stuff.

Maybe not the best example though, cause at that very moment, at barely 8:30 AM, Ralf was busy uh...drinking whiskey while crying in his underwear...yeah...

Prev - Next

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Anon with the "GW not bad for Faerghus" ask. I couldn't read your full response bc your other blog is private but yes, there are people who say that the Kingdom is not in a bad position. Mostly those who think Claude's "scheme" will force Edelgard to end the war bc he could ally with the "still strong" Kingdom to crush her if she didn't, and that GW is some kind of "golden ending" for the three nations. Some even argue that Claude freed Faerghus/Dimitri from the Church's chains - or whatever.

I don't know if you saw my post where I mentioned you should be able to read it now, but if you didn't you should still be able to. I think I switched off the setting for that because I didn't realize it would prevent you from seeing the whole ask. :o

That's wild to hear though that people think the Kingdom isn’t in a bad position. They've lost a lot of military power regardless of whether or not they lose influence. Like I mentioned in the previous ask, it's basically up to Claude whether or not they retain their influence (regardless of what Petra wants in GW or what she thinks she knows about Fodlan lol). If they do, they still have no military might. If Sreng invades they're fucked if Claude doesn't treat them like a vassal state of Leicester and help them under the pretext that Faerghus is now part of Leicester.

In other words, they’re at best a vassal state and otherwise left alone, and at worst they’re left to rot.

Technically, Claude could try to get them to help him fight against the Empire, sure, but they won’t have the military might to help him very much, and like I mentioned in the last ask, the chances of it working are slim. Gautier won’t help and I can say that with pretty much full certainty, and if Gautier won’t help then Fraldarius probably won’t either (remember, it’s Felix who makes the final decisions now and not Rodrigue, so if Felix sees Sylvain is still upset about his father and won’t help the Alliance because of what they did, Felix won’t help them either. Felix is extremely emotional about his friends - especially his childhood friends. If you fuck with them then he’s going to fuck with you).

So now, Claude can either decide to try to force them to help, which would invoke another fight between him and Faerghus and cause more deaths, or he’ll just have to accept that he’s not getting help/a lot of help from Faerghus (I detailed it more in the other ask, so hopefully you can access the rest of it now!).

Post GW, Faerghus won’t be helping anyone in a war, I can tell you that. It’d take everything they had to keep Sreng out and to fix any damages from the Alliance’s attack. Even if Claude called on them, they just... couldn’t help.

Unfortunately even in GW they imply that Dimitri is “freed” of the Church, so of course most people take that at face value and don’t look any deeper than what’s told to them. Dimitri isn’t really free or not free of the Church. He was never in a situation where he was being controlled by them. They’re on friendly terms, but that’s really it. Rhea doesn’t tell Dimitri what to do or how to run Faerghus. It’s just that the people there are very devout because of their good relations with the Church and because Rhea helps Faerghus when they need help. It’s give and take for them just like any political situation. Faerghus isn’t in a bad position because they’re around. They’ve only really benefitted from the Church if anything, because Rhea doesn’t personally involve herself with their political decisions.

The whole “we have to free Dimitri from them” thing sounded more to me like Claude needing to find something “good” to hang onto to excuse himself for making those choices. As it was he was grasping at straws to justify their invasion to begin with. He already didn’t have a good pretext for attacking them. Saying “we’re freeing you” is like... his lowkey way of saying he needs to make himself feel better about it, because Dimitri didn’t need his or anyone’s help to begin with. If they were left alone, Faerghus would’ve been fine. Edelgard in GW is struggling on both sides of the war, so if Faerghus hadn’t been attacked by the Alliance, I can guarantee the Empire would’ve just lost.

Really, if Claude teamed up with the Kingdom in the first place and took down the Empire, they would’ve spared themselves more lives and bloodshed in the long run. Claude caused even more battles to happen and got more innocent people killed. I think by the end of the game he did figure out that he made the wrong decisions, but by then it was too late and he couldn’t take back what he did so he needed to find ways to justify all of it to himself.

I just wish they actually came out and said that though instead of running around it in circles while trying to make us believe he actually believes that the Kingdom was just better off without the Church. They weren’t doing badly with the Church involved or not involved. It was the invasion that hurt them. If Claude skipped around Fhirdiad and killed Rhea, regardless of plot or context or anything, just like, imagine he didn’t invade Faerghus and they just passed through and killed Rhea, then Faerghus’ situation might get a little more complicated for inheritance, but I think just with Dimitri’s temperament that they’d be able to stave off any legitimacy issues pretty quick. That is, people liked him in power so the populace would still be in favor of having him as king whether the Church was there or not. Rodrigue was well liked, so he’d be a perfect public figure to calm down any potential anxiety and worry with the loss of the Church. They could’ve actually made it without the Church, but it was mostly the invasion that really hurt the country and dug them into a hole for the future.

[90s-neon-rat]

Fearsome Five Next Gen AU

I’ve had an DWD AU rattling around in my head for a while where in the future a new Fearsome Five forms with the descendants of the original group. This is a run down of the characters so far (bare with me, some are more developed than others).

MegaByte (Tessa Sputtershock)

Parents: Megavolt and Lexi (biological)

Pronouns: She/They

Sexuality: Bi

Species: Rat/Opossum hybrid

Age: 15

Powers: Inherited Megavolt’s electrical powers, however instead of stealing light bulbs she uses them to hack and manipulate machinery. Also controls an army of electric-powered robotic rats she designed/created herself.

Weaknesses: Much like her father, water is the easiest way to take Tessa down. She is also quite inexperienced with her powers and tends to get over emotional.

Personality: Geeky, scatterbrained, awkward, tech savvy, sensitive, insecure, shy

Appearance: Physically Tessa is more rat-like similar to Megs but has grey fur/white hair like her mother. Quite tall and rather scrawny. Her villain outfit generally consists of a black tank top, yellow combat trousers, purple boots, gloves and goggles. Like Megavolt she wears a battery pack but hers is fashioned after a square battery. Her hair is rather choppy and often worn in a short ponytail.

Random facts:

-Megavolt’s powers were passed down to her, however they didn’t properly manifest until her early teens. She hasn’t quite gotten the hang of controlling them yet.

-She tends to spark randomly whenever experiencing strong emotions

-She’s easily spooked and rather skittish

-Has a sister-like relationship with Quackerjack’s daughter, Harleen.

-She speaks with a mix of British and American slang, often in the same sentence.

-Her main robo-rat companion is named Sebastian (shout out to anyone who gets the reference 😉)

-She has very poor eyesight and needs glasses.

-Has a personal grudge against Quiverwing Quack.

Harley Quack (Harleen Quackson)

Parents: Quackerjack (adopted)

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Lesbian

Species: Duck

Age: 17 (same age as Gosalyn in this timeline)

Powers: Has no physical powers, but is an exceedingly skilled gymnast. Also very experienced with an array of weapons. The absolute best at disguises. Very convincing actress.

Weaknesses: Her cockiness can lead her to making rash decisions. She also tends to run into situations without a plan.

Personality: Talkative, sassy, fearless, girly, outgoing, energetic

Appearance: Slightly shorter than Tessa. She has a rather muscular build due to being athletic. Her main outfit is similar to Harley Quinn’s gold dungaree outfit in Birds Of Prey, but in a more pastel colour palette. Has split-dyed pastel blue and pink hair.

Random facts:

-Quackerjack’s adopted her when she was seven.

-She’s a very skilled weapon/trap builder, having been taught by Quackerjack from a young age.

-Makes all her own costumes.

-STRONG. Seriously, she could carry the entire fearsome next gen if she wanted to.

-Has an unsettling obsession with horror stories.

-She can be a bit snobby, especially in regards to fashion.

-Good friends with Tessa since they’re a similar age and basically grew up together.

-Has a one-sided crush on QuiverWing Quack and often flirts with her during their encounters.

-She’s really good at pulling off different accents.

-Considers Megavolt her second dad, but refers to him as ‘Mega Mom’ just to wind him up.

Buster Flud

Parents: Bud Flud and an unnamed mother (biological)

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Unspecified

Species: Canine

Age: 20

Powers: He can con his way out of anything, a very smooth talker, street savvy, great strategist

Weaknesses: Physically he’s not a good fighter, usually choosing to stand back and observe from afar.

Personality: Controlling, persuasive, distrustful, rebellious, bossy.

Appearance: I don’t have a fixed design for him yet, but in contrast to pre-mutated Liquidator’s formal style Buster has a more punky, rock-influenced look.

Random facts:

-He has a very strained relationship with his parents, especially Liquidator.

-Budding musician. He’s been trying to put a band together since he was a teen but no one can put up with his control freak tendencies.

-He’s been conning people ever since he was a kid.

-Has been put in juvy more times than all the other next gen villains combined.

-His parents wanted him to go to business school.

-He comes up with a lot of the group’s plans.

-Absolute compulsive shopper. He can go to the mall without coming home with at least five new band T-shirts.

NegaGos (Goslynnda Mallard)

Parents: NegaDuck and NegaLaunchpad (adopted)

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: AroAce

Species: Duck

Age: 17

Powers: NegaGos’s power lies in her deceptiveness, she looks sweet and innocent but can turn into a nasty psycho in an instant. Tiny but mighty, she can wield weapons with just as much confidence as Negaduck.

Weaknesses: Doesn’t like being called by her full name (only NegaGos is acceptable). She struggles with her morals.

Personality: Manipulative, vicious, deceptive, cold, teasing.

Appearance: Not too different from her cannon design, however obviously older. Her outfit is also full-on creepy pastel goth aesthetic. Think skull hair clips, striped tights, bows, etc.

Random Facts:

-Once Negaduck was gone, Gos went off the deep end. She wanted to do him proud, so became a vicious criminal despite her conflicting feelings.

-She has a soft spot for animals but keeps it a secret from the rest of the gang.

-She’s more diplomatic than Negaduck when it comes to the gang, but can be just as cruel if provoked.

-Wields a chainsaw similar to the one used by Juliet Starling in Lollipop Chainsaw (It was a custom made by Harleen).

-After everything that’s happened she’s come to despise the Negaverse and spends most of her time in the primeverse.

Vinez (Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Bushroot)

Parents: Bushroot (creator)

Pronouns: They/Them

Sexuality: Pan/Ace

Species: Mutant plant duck

Age: Physically only around 2-3 years old, mentally a teenager (being a plant he ages differently)

Powers: Like his creator he has the ability to control plant life, however he specialises more in poisonous plants.

Weaknesses: Weed killer, buzzsaws, fire, basically anything that can kill a plant.

Personality: Quiet, brooding, moody, solitary.

Appearance: Like Buster I don’t have an official design finalised for him yet, but I’m thinking a rather dark colour palette in contrast to Bushroot.

Random facts:

-Created by Bushroot by accident.

-Going through a constant emo phase.

-Very reserved and quiet, but has a sweet, caring personality.

-He uses a lot of dark and self-depreciative humor. The others are rightfully concerned about this.

-Not really that interested in being a criminal, he just does so to fit in with his peer group.

-Has a crush on Tessa (she is unaware).

-Has a nice singing voice.

-Bushroot is a bit of a over-protective helicopter parent, which gets on Vince’s nerves.

[luvvsoft]

THANK U SM FOR THAT CONNOR FIC it made my whole month fr now i feel complete.

anyways i’m here to suggest another idea 😝😝 enemies to lovers somehow. ur writing style could make it work it’s just too good

pairing: connor lassiter x reader

contains: angst + fluff, enemies to lovers, rivalries, some violence, jealousy, mutual pining but you’re both too stubborn to admit it

word count: 2.9k

author’s notes: tysm for the request<3 i hope its what you wanted !

also, thank you to ml @salaimoi for helping me write the kissing scene ! <3

You were simple, as simple as a teenager could get. You liked going outside, drawing, reading, all things people around your age did. Maybe you were too simple sometimes but it wasn’t a bad thing.

Your parents thought otherwise though. Costs of living were going up: food, clothing, housing, everything. They were forced to make hard choices, and when push came to shove, they signed your unwind order. An order that would take away all your rights — primarily your right to live as a whole human being.

Cry as you tried, scream as you tried, nothing would get them to change their mind. In the end, they stayed firm on their decision, deciding you out of all your 6 siblings, were to go.

You were forced to bow your head and accept your fate. There was nothing you could do but give in, or at least that’s what you thought until Roland convinced you otherwise. Roland, who was one of your closest friends, was also sent to be unwind when he retaliated against his mother’s boyfriend.

At least you wouldn’t be alone in your final moments. Your final moments wouldn’t come as fast as you thought though.

“Roland, what are you doing?” you asked as you saw him packing a bag.

“Changing my fate. Now, come with me.”

Roland had made the rash decision to run from his fate, and you, scared of being alone, went with him. You would face all that was to come together. You just weren’t ready for what that meant.

Your “small” detour brought you to Sonia’s basement, a kind old lady who took in AWOLs. For her you were glad; she sheltered and fed you, what more could you ask for?

It would seem Roland wasn’t satisfied with that. He thirsted for more, never being satisfied with what he had. You didn’t always understand his motives, but you stayed by his side, acting as a right hand for him.

He slowly rose up, being a voice for the kids and taking control of the situation. No one challenged it, they simply didn’t care enough or were too scared. Of course they would be, Roland was big, buff, scary: a person someone rational wouldn’t mess with. But, the coming of a girl and a boy changed that.

The boy dared to challenge Roland, starting a rivalry that seemed to heat up the room whenever they were near each other. Connor, as you learned, was impulsive, worse than Roland, and seemed to care too much about the girl who came with him. The girl, Risa, was someone Roland used to toy with Connor. Roland tried pinning her in the restroom once, flirting with her, trying to get close to her, all in order to get Connor angry and irrational. It worked sometimes, other times it didn’t.

Roland was difficult, wanting full influence over the basement kids. Connor, on the other hand, wanted Roland to back off. This power struggle between them erupted in many ways, oftentimes leading you to intervene, and others to get caught in the crossfire.

It was late, too late to deal with Roland being a pain in the ass. You should have expected this, of course he would pull something deep in the night. He was messing with Risa, and now, Connor was pissed off, leading them into a stand off.

You only came to know of this when one of the little kids woke you up, whispering “Roland and Connor are at it again.” You were forced to get up after that, once again having to settle their nonsense.

It was definitely too late to be dealing with Roland. You didn’t get paid enough for this (or at all).

When you arrived at where they were in the kitchen, you saw Connor hiding Rida behind him, while Roland stood across from him with his arms crossed and a smirk lining his lips. You could see Connor’s rage boiling in his eyes, threatening to erupt and burn everything around him, including his friend. You took that as your cue to intervene.

As Connor was about to open his mouth, you stepped in, “Do you guys really have to do this so late?”

All three of them turned, not even surprised at your appearance. They knew this would happen, it was a routine at this point.

“I didn’t do anything, simply wanted something to eat,” Roland said, keeping the smug look on his face, which only seemed to irritate Connor more.

You sighed, you didn’t get enough sleep to deal with this. “Come on, Roland,” you said as you walked over to him and pulled him by his arm, walking away.

You shot Risa a look on your way out, silently telling her to deal with Connor and calm him down before he scared the other kids.

“You need to learn to leave them alone, it’s annoying dealing with this drama this late at night,” you scolded Roland as you left the kitchen, heading to the sleeping area.

Roland didn’t say much at first, settling with an “I barely touched her.”

“You know anything you do sets him off, he’s like a fuse waiting to blow, and you’re not helping.”

Back in the kitchen, while Risa tried to calm Connor down, he thought about you — about how you chose to involve yourself with someone like Roland. He was sure you were no better than him, maybe worse than Roland, as you tried to act sweet.

Sweet you were, he was sure you made cavities grow on everyone’s teeth. He saw how you tended to the kids, how you patched up people when needed, how you made new kids feel welcomed and at home. It led him to wonder how you ended up at Roland’s side, highly treasured by him. He could understand why Roland kept you close, you were like caramel, sweet and inviting, even your lips were inviting him to press a soft kiss on them.

Connor shook his head, he shouldn’t be thinking of you that way. You were someone to be thought of as an enemy, someone he couldn’t align himself with. He had to hate you.

Time passed, and you all stayed the same. Roland and Connor squabbled, while Risa and you tried to stop them. The kids were lively, not as much as before though.

Soon enough, you’d end up stuffed in boxes, being shipped somewhere no one knew. It was a long trip, and your circumstances didn’t help. You were, unluckily, forced into a box with Connor and 2 other boys.

It was dark inside the box, but someone kept their gaze on you, staring daggers through you. You were sure it was Connor, why wouldn’t it be? You knew being friends with Roland would lead you two to be enemies by association.

You sighed, it would be a long trip after all.

Connor, on the other hand, tried to distract himself from your presence by talking to the other boys in the box. It was always nice to make friends, especially if they’re be in there for however long. They’d try to involve you in the conversation, but you didn’t respond much, opting to keep to yourself.

You were strange, Connor thought. He didn’t understand you try as he might, which only led him to more questions about you and your motives. How’d you end up here? How’d you end up stuck to Roland’s side? How’d someone like you be sent to be unwind?

As much as Connor wanted to voice these questions outside of his head, he knew he couldn’t. It was strange to talk to you, you only gave short answers to anyone but Roland. He wondered if you and Roland had something else going on.

Thinking of Roland only seemed to make him tense and anger to vibrate inside the box. He was losing himself in his thoughts about Roland till he felt a hand on his arm. A soft, warm hand that interrupted his thoughts, and made his mind dizzy and his head cloudy.

“Calm down,” he heard from a voice in the dark: your voice. The voice he longed to hear. Connor settled his thoughts and tried to turn to you, sitting across from him. He couldn’t see you in the darkness, but he could feel your warmth. It was comforting.

“Thank you,” Connor whispered, as he felt your hand retreat back into yourself. He was weirdly disappointed by it, though he tried not to show it.

It was only hours later that movement stopped and someone opened the crate they were in, letting sunlight in and rushing them to get out. It was chaotic and loud, airplanes could be heard and seen everywhere, along with tons of kids.

Connor learned later on they were in the Graveyard, and were to reside there until they turned 17 or they managed to get them fake identities. It was a new setting, but they didn’t have to live in fear of being unwound and think out their next plan to survive.

After, Connor looked for Risa, instead finding you and Roland alone. He didn’t know why, but his blood boiled at the sight of you and Roland hugging. He could hear you asking him if he was okay and if he was injured.

Connor hated you. He was sure he did, yet why did this feeling arise when you were near Roland? Why did he feel like he was suffocating when you got too close and clutched onto Roland like your life depended on it?

He couldn’t be jealous, no. He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was actually jealous of Roland. He couldn’t admit that he wished you were hugging him and not Roland. Connor, not knowing how to deal with these feelings, instead chose to distract himself with other things, like helping kids around the Graveyard and being the Admiral’s helper.

Eventually, everyone got acclimated to their new environment. Every kid had a job to do, with you being in the infirmary. It seemed like the best option since you were used to patching up your siblings and kids in Sonia’s basement. It wasn’t everyday Connor came though.

“Alright, all you needed was some alcohol and a bandage. Don’t worry dear, you’ll be fine to play, just be careful,” you said as you finished tending to a little girl who scraped her knees. She got up, thanking you and then leaving.

You looked at the time, lunch was soon and you were starving. You had no time to eat this morning, and your mouth threatened to water at the thought of food.

As you were tidying up and getting ready to leave, the door slammed open and revealed Connor, an injured Connor, to be precise.

“Connor?? What happened, are you okay? Come and sit here,” you said as you hurried to get supplies for him.

The injury looked deep and was bleeding a lot, you definitely wouldn’t be eating any time soon.

Connor looked out of it, so you grabbed him and sat him down, pressing a warm cloth to the wound. He hissed, murmuring a small ow before settling.

“I’m sorry, bear with it for now while I try to find some stitches,” you whispered to him.

You found them, taking a small second to “Aha!” yourself before returning to his side. You took the cloth, and instead tried to disinfect the area around the wound, “How did this happen?”

“I wasn’t careful enough, I got distracted by someone else and dropped a part of the airplane on my arm,” Connor whispered, opening his eyes and staring straight at you.

“Hm, be more careful. I’m gonna try to stitch it now.”

Connor looked at you while you worked; you looked focused, your eyebrows furrowed as you worked to stitch up his wound. He liked your facial expressions, they were full of life. He saw a piece of your hair slide down and cover one of your eyes, moving it with his other hand.

“Thank you,” you murmured, continuing on with what you were doing.

Once you were done, you stood up straight, and looked right into his eyes, “You’re done now, good job. Try not to strain that arm and don’t put pressure on it okay?”

He nodded, thanking you. You moved away so he could stand up, but he stayed. Connor grabbed your arm, pulling you back in front of him and almost making you fall on him in the process.

“What are you doin—“ he cut you off in the middle of your sentence and brought you closer.

“I like your eyes. They shine like the sun, so bright and glowy,” Connor said before getting up and leaving. Leaving you with your swirling thoughts. He was confusing.

What he said stayed in your head, leading to many thoughts you knew you shouldn’t have.

His eyes had stared deep into you, making you feel like he could see into your soul. His hands were calloused, yet soft at the same time. You wondered what it would be like to hold them close to your face at night.

You knew you shouldn’t think of him that way, but you couldn’t stop it. The little acts he did tricked your mind into thinking what it would be like to be his.

You used the newly brought piano as a way to distract your mind from Connor. You played a few tunes when you were a normal kid, and not an AWOL.

The piano keys felt familiar under the pads of your fingers, inviting you to play. It was dark and everyone was asleep, so you saw no harm in losing yourself in the music.

You pressed one key, then another and another, till you started remembering a tune you played frequently for your friends. You vividly started to remember when you played for a school concert, in front of your mother and father for the first time, and when you played just for Roland.

You missed your old life. It was a life full of love and friends. It might have been mundane, but it was something you grew accustomed to — something that comforted you. Now your life was full of fear and paranoia, impeded by that Unwind Order. You longed for times to return to how they were, simple yet fun.

While you played and thought about your old life, Connor thought about you. He was laying in bed when he heard the piano. He thought it was Risa at first, but he knew she’d be asleep at this time. Regardless, there could be a chance that it was, so he got up and went to the courtyard.

There Connor didn’t see Risa, instead he saw you, playing the piano with tears streaming down your eyes. He stayed there, waiting for you to finish. He busied himself with admiring you, taking a moment to look at all your features from the shadows of your face to the curve of your lips while you played.

You suddenly stopped, spotting him, “Connor?” You wiped your tears and stood up, getting ready to apologize for waking him.

“I like when you play; it’s like listening to an angel’s melody. You should play more often,” he said, stepping closer to you.

“Ah, thank you, and I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“Dance with me if you’re really sorry.” Connor held out his hand, waiting for you to take it.

You didn’t deny him that, and took his hand. He immediately pulled you closer, while his other arm came and wrapped around your waist. He then started swaying with you despite there being no music.

Connor could feel your breath on his, it intoxicated him. He was sure your presence was his drug. He could feel the way your hand grabbed onto his shoulder, while the other was intertwined with his own hand.

“Why are you doing this?” you took a moment to ask Connor as he spun you around.

“Doing what?”

“Dancing with me, telling me these things, complimenting me; it messes with my brain.”

“Because I like you.”

You pulled away from him, flashing him a shocked face, “What?”

“I mean it, I really do feel something for you. Even if you’re friends with Roland, I don’t care. It makes me feel jealous and angry when you’re close to him. I want to be the one you hug and patch up, not him,” Connor said as he pulled you closer to him and cupped your face in his hands.

“Really? You mean it? Tell me you mean it please, Connor,” you said as you brought your hand up to his, and caressed his hand.

“I mean it, I promise. Let me prove to you I do.”

The room was devoid of sound, but when his lips finally met yours at last, you swore you could hear a million different melodies being sung. An angelic tune rang in your ear, erasing the uncertainness that plagued your minds beforehand.

His lips latched onto yours, his tongue seeking entry almost immediately in a desperate search. Your tongues danced to a certain rhythm, a perfect translation from your dance movements from a moment ago.

You were finally his, and he was finally yours.

[undercaffeinatedgeek]

My Eternal Project...

I started this one when I went remote for work, and found myself hoarding tarot/oracle decks about as much as I do plants.

I wanted to make one based around DnD given how much it's meant to me over these years. It felt natural to combine my three passions. Art, DnD, and my love of Divination. However, since I'm only planning on making this a very limited run, it might not hit for all DnD fans. Given all the inside nods.

When I say limited run, I mean it. I'm only making this for myself (and all the characters I've been let's be honest they need this). As well as for a few others from parties past and present, or friends that have contributed beloved characters and settings. This will NOT be sold in my current or future shop.

But I will happily continue to share and stream when I create new ones! Anyway, click below if you want to know more about each card. This one was getting a bit too long. 💜

So for all these I think I'll list the Tarot card, with it’s general meaning. Just in case someone who isn't familiar with Tarot wants to know why I picked the people or images I did. I won't bother with the Reversed meaning, because it didn't influence my art in any way soooo...

I'm probably overthinking this...

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The Sun - a joyous and happy outcome. Success at last! The freedom to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Celebration and pleasure. The clouds are finally lifted and you can proceed with confidence. Overall positive sign in a reading.

The Card - Meet Phallyn. (Fae-Lynn) This character belongs to a friend of mine that I have yet to play in a game with, but I just adore her characters. The backstories are just a delight to read. She is a cleric, devoted to Sarenrae (yes she's a Critter).

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The Lovers - can often indicate a relationship coming into your life. Although usually romantic in nature, this relationship can be any sort where good communication is involved. If you are considering getting involved with someone for love or business this is a good card to see.

The Card - This card is particularly special to me because it meant a lot to my sister. So I didn’t want to overload it with details, I really wanted to focus on the characters themselves, and their love. She has had these characters for the long haul, playing them past lvl 20. Yes both of them lol, and they are super important to her. So please enjoy Jocelyn and Houston in a loving downtime embrace. Jocelyn here was born an aasimar and Houston became one later through… circumstances.

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The High Priestess - trust your own instinct. Got a hunch about something? Go with it. This is the time to really listen to that nagging voice in your head sometimes referred to as your “gut”. Before making a decision of meaning or with an power to it, look inward first. The answers are all there within you.

The Card - This one is an old character of my own, and when I say old I mean old. I was still in school, when I last played her. I won’t age myself too much by giving too many details, sorry lol. But she’s a priestess of Ioun, you should see some iconography in the card dedicated to her. Her name is Morwan, named for my fav character from The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She has a cat familiar named Pea, and I just adore her to bits even now. Maybe I should rehash her for a new game one day.

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The Magician - a card of talent and power. You’ve got the skills to accomplish your goals at this time. It’s time to make the most of your abilities. Proceed with confidence. Know that you have everything you need to manifest whatever it is you have in mind right at your fingertips.

The Card - This was so much fun to make! This is the first card to feature one of my current party members. Woo Magical Menagerie finally being represented! In such style as well, by our golden boy and reluctant/in denial leader Raja. He’s the bard of our group and also somehow an unintentional musical superstar thanks to playing at one festival. That’s all it takes folks. So here he is, depicted playing in his final concert in Calendor. I made those glow sticks with vials and phosphorescent mushrooms. Our DM is very “rule of cool”. It was such a fun moment for all of us. I love this card the most so far. 💜

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And lastly we have the card back, which is just a revamp of a magical circle I created previously with a ton of DnD iconography included. I postedpreviously about that if you want more info on all the little bits and bobs I snuck in.

Anyway hope you enjoy! I’ll post new ones as I finish them!

[laurenceslife]

Chapter 65

              Montana’s time had run out in rehab, and in March, during the hearing, the judge used her pending armed attack to contest her probation, and he doomed her to 15 days in jail or communal work, and she had to go to AIDS education. The girl didn’t fight for a lower penalty so even though her father didn’t believe her, he would see that she bore the responsibility of what she did.

- Now that I got my penalty, will you treat me normally? – she asked Laurence after going home and telling him what happened. He and Gina didn’t go to the hearing so they wouldn’t be recognized, and people wouldn’t get to know whose daughter she is.

- When I see that you go to the communal work and to the education, I believe it – the man said coldly in the future too. It seemed like his daughter also lied about being a prostitute so he couldn’t trust her anymore.

- And then are you gonna treat me normally already?! – Montana shouted indignantly.

- Until you commit your next crime. When are you gonna stop this? – Laurence asked furiously.

- You’ll see that any such thing won’t happen, even though you don’t believe me that I was never a prostitute! – his daughter shouted on, and ran upstairs to her room.

              Montana went to the communal work and to the AIDS education, but Dennis was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and it seemed that it was too late; the doctors thought he had only some weeks left, as an addition, he had serious financial problems, and was just divorcing from his wife, but it seemed like he wouldn’t even be able to go to the divorce because he was in so bad condition, so Laurence still didn’t have energy to kindly talk to his daughter. He didn’t even talk to her too much, he knew that he couldn’t conduct himself normally to her, anyway, but he rather constantly visited their friend with Jeremy, to take leave of him.

- At least he’s still alive. It’s already May, and the doctors said he had only some weeks left – Jeremy said after one of the visits. It meant much for Laurence that he was with him, too, on the other hand, Gina constantly complained that he was hardly at home with her and Delilah again, on the other hand, of course, they didn’t even want to go with him.

- I don’t understand why Gina doesn’t understand that I just wanna take leave of my friend – the man said angrily. They hadn’t gone home yet because they had never seen Dennis in such a bad condition so they sat in a bar to drink something.

- We’ve been visiting him already since March. It’s still a long time… - the sixty-one-year-old actor answered carefully.

- That’s right… - Laurence reflected – From now on, we’re better to visit Dennis more rarely – he looked into space with the glass in his hand.

They were also talking about their joint memories with Dennis, and then, when Laurence had gone home, he told Gina that from then on, he was going to visit his friend more rarely, but the woman didn’t believe him because he was pickled so she thought he would forget it tomorrow. They were fighting about it until they had gone to sleep.

              Next day, the man remembered that from then on, he was going to visit Dennis more rarely, but he didn’t completely remember the quarrel.

- What were we fighting about last night? – he asked wonderingly – Exactly last night I decided to visit Dennis more rarely! – he continued, frightened.

His wife was ashamed of she didn’t believe him – Although if he was under the influence when he made the decision, maybe he didn’t want to comply with it anymore when he was sober – she thought – Although if he would have been under the influence when he made the decision, he wouldn’t have remembered it…

- I’m sorry – she said shamefacedly – You were under the influence, and I believed you didn’t mean it – she admitted repentantly.

- Of course I was under the influence. We’ve never seen Dennis in such a bad condition – he sat down on the sofa angrily.

- And how should I have known it?!  - the woman stood in front of him with arms folded, firmly.

- You could've realized it. Usually I’m not under the influence, and I was just at his place.

- I’m sorry – Gina sat down next to him – It’s also better for you if you don’t visit him so much – she embraced him and fondled his arm.

- I didn’t regret visiting him so much. We had to take leave of him properly with Jeremy. But Jeremy made me realize suddenly that we’ve been doing it for too long – her husband said grievously.

              That day, he didn’t go to his friend’s place but spent the rest of the weekend at home, memorizing his lines, playing with Delilah, talking to Montana, and watching TV and cooking with Gina. For a while, Montana was grumpy to him because nowadays, they only talked a little bit, and Laurence couldn’t be kind to her then either, and then she understood him.

- I got the part in that movie which I very much wanted to play in. An intelligent movie at last. Its filming’s gonna start in September – her father told her enthusiastically. After a long time, it was the first time that it was possible to see him cheerful, because his daughter forgave him. By choice, Montana would have told him that she was going to be an actress soon but she couldn’t tell him how she wanted to achieve it because he just would have talked her out of it.

- It's about a pandemic that quickly spreads in the world. Even five Oscar winning actors play in the movie; I love playing with such talented people! - the man continued enthusiastically. 

The girl couldn't comment on it. She wasn't interested in talented people, and she didn't even want to be an actress because of her actor's talent. She rather just told him about her boyfriend and girlfriends until they had gone to sleep.

- How will you have time for this movie part too, beside your series role wherein you're the co-star? - Gina asked bluntly the next night, while going to sleep.

- I'm not a co-star in every episode. Moreover, in some episodes, I barely play or don't even play - Laurence answered emphatically. 

- And now what to expect? From now, are you gonna have more or less time for us than when you visited Dennis more often? – the woman asked strictly.

By choice, her husband would have been sleeping already. He worked from the morning to the evening.

- We’ll talk it over tomorrow – he said angrily.

- When? You work all day – his wife continued strictly.

- I work all day, my friend’s dying, and you’re also on to me! Instead of supporting me.

- And till when is this gonna be? Till when are you also gonna undertake movie roles beside your series role?

The man didn’t understand what possessed Gina – She should know that he undertakes roles in movies then when he likes a movie or a role – he thought – And nowadays, he was the one who would have had something to complain about, that a friend of his was dying who they had been friends with since he was a teenager!

- If you dealt with your family more, Montana wouldn’t have become a criminal, either! – his wife continued emphatically.

- It’s interesting, Mike and Langston became normal! Then what do you think, by what did Montana become like that?! – Laurence asked furiously.

- You weren’t the one who mostly raised Mike, like you weren’t the one who mostly raised Langston recently, either! Montana was the one who you raised recently!

- And I could say that she was the one who you raised recently! Couldn’t we postpone this all for when I finish mourning my friend’s death?!

- And how should I know till when it’s gonna be lasting?! – the woman asked, troubled – You said that you two had been friends since you were a teenager! – she continued emphatically.

- Don’t say that losing my friend’s wearing you more than me!

- You still shouldn’t be taking care of yourself only!

- I started to visit him more rarely because of you guys! – the man was indignant.

- And you immediately undertook one more role!

- It’s not my fault that this chance now came! Tell me what you want! You can’t tell me not to undertake the movie role’ cause I’ve already signed the covenant, and you can neither tell me to quit the series ‘cause I’ve already signed the series’ covenant too, for the next season! Until I told you that from then, I would visit Dennis more rarely, you haven’t had a problem with my new movie, while I got the role already in April!

- You could spend at least your free time with your family! When you’re not working, you constantly go to ride the motorcycle, to matches, to your man cave, to have cigars, to scuba diving and to jazz festivals!

- It’s not true. Then why would I have married you, why would I have kids, and why would I keep dogs? – her husband asked firmly.

- Good question – Gina answered furiously.

- It’s interesting, till now, you haven’t come forward with this. Until I constantly visited Dennis, you haven’t said that I spend my free time with others too much!

His wife got tired of the quarrel so she didn’t answer. Already she wanted to sleep, too.

              Next day, it was the weekend so Laurence didn’t go to work but he was only memorizing his next week’s lines, and went to walk his dogs with the children, and the next day, he went to Langston’s place with them. He didn’t feel like taking Gina along – She had only herself to thank for it. She wanted him to spend more time with her too, and she achieved the opposite – he thought - She would learn the lesson from it. Like she would also learn the lesson from she could see that he dealt with his children – he thought.

              After they had arrived home, Gina didn’t continue the quarrel. She thought she would continue it if she saw that she would have a reason. By that time, she treated the man normally again so he would also deal with her too, but she didn’t apologize and didn’t admit that she was wrong.

              From the next day, he worked almost every day again, but started to deal with his wife too. In the beginning, he mostly dealt with her because he was missing her, but later, he mostly dealt with his children and his father because the woman still hadn’t said that she was wrong. He still hadn’t been able to completely forgive her that she blamed him for Montana becoming a criminal.

              On the weekend, he visited Dennis with Jeremy. Then already Gina also went with him to bid her farewell to him, too. Sometimes she went for their motorcycle journeys, too.

- How come you're coming only now? - Jeremy asked the woman.

- Laurence just said that he had never seen him in such a bad condition - Gina said furiously.

It seemed her husband also set him against her - she thought. 

Jeremy was appalled by the style of how she answered, then it came into his head that he could deal with sensitive issues - Accordingly they still hadn't made peace completely - he thought - But at least this time they were coming together, that was a start...

They were wordlessly going on by Laurence's car. The man was angrily driving on because of his wife's reaction. 

When they had arrived, they wordlessly got out of the car, and rang the bell.

- Hi guys - Dennis' nurse answered the door mournfully – Good afternoon – she looked at the woman wonderingly.

- Dennis can’t even answer the door anymore? – Laurence asked, frightened.

- He’s very weak so he asked me to do it. Come in, he was already waiting for you guys very much because he thinks he has no longer to live anymore.

All of them went through the door, terrified and mournfully. They were already afraid that this would be the last time to see him – It was also possible that he would die this day, before their eyes – Gina thought.

- Is it sure that it’s a good idea that I came, too? – she asked her husband in a low voice.

- Why? – the man was surprised.

- Isn’t it possible that this is his last day? – his wife asked with fear in her voice.

- How can you say that?! – Jeremy rebuked her, then they had arrived in Dennis’ room.

- I was already waiting for you guys ! – he began to speak instead of saying hello.

- Hi! Are you feeling very unwell? – Laurence sat down to his bed.

- I’m not competent in it but I feel like I’ve got at most a few days to live! – their friend complained loosely.

- You’re right, you’re not an expert – his old friend said firmly – You’ve also felt very unwell a long time ago, you’re still here! – he continued encouragingly.

- The doctors also said that you had at most a few weeks to live, they were still wrong! – Jeremy added.

- I don’t even understand why Vicky divorced from me! – Dennis chopped at the bed grumpily – She should know that I’ll die soon, and she would have come into everything! While she wanted my money! She even said to a million of alimony a month that it was ridiculous!

- He didn’t believe the doctors, either, and she was right, you could be there in court – Gina soothed him.

Dennis reflected.

- It’s good that you two made peace – he smiled – This way I can calmly turn up my toes, otherwise I’d be maxed out that I should have pacified you two!

- You still overestimate yourself, it doesn’t matter what their relationship is like, you’re not the only one who can pacify them! – Jeremy grinned not to embitter him.

- I still would have been getting nowhere without you! You were the one who made me the boyfriend of even two of my partners! – his other friend grinned, too.

Dennis noticed that he didn’t stress Gina who even became his wife and who he even had a child with.

- And with Gina, you also should stay together – he said strictly – Don’t make that mistake which I did, that I fled from one marriage to the other.

Laurence realized that his friend sensed the tense between them, and looked at his wife.

- From now on, I’ll spend more time with her – he said seriously, still looking at her.

- I’m sorry I said you spent too little time with your family – the woman also said, tensely, not knowing if it was just a farce on the part of both of them.

The two men tensely watched them to see if they told the truth.

- You could've seen it since then too, that it’s not true – Laurence answered emphatically.

Jeremy and Dennis were considering whether it was the quarrel’s continuation or an attempt to make peace and whether this all was only for the ill man’s sake.

- I just apologized. What do you want, too? We should make peace at least because of Dennis – Gina said indignantly.

- Don’t make peace only because of me! It’s too late for me! – Dennis said loosely.

- What do you think, we don’t wanna make peace? Neither of us haven’t even mentioned divorce – Laurence soothed him – It hasn’t even come into our heads. Right, Gina?

- Of course not, we’re already starting to make more and more peace! – his wife also said in a reassuring voice.

- To me, it still seems that you two just wanna persuade me. Even if you two are speaking true. Don’t play it before me but wrap it up for the two of you! Anyway, you two are actors; how should I know if you two are putting on show?! – the seventy-four-year- old man continued grumpily.

- Now let’s stop talking about it! We’re not here for it – Jeremy began to speak nervously.

Laurence also wanted to promise to make peace with Gina but he let his friend show up, too.

- Imagine what happened, we shot that super drama-thriller within seventeen days which shows one day of the key people at an investment bank during the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis! - Jeremy said enthusiastically. 

- That's good. But then is it sure that this movie's gonna be so good? - Dennis laughed.

              They saw Dennis then for the last time. Next day, Jeremy called Laurence, saying that he died that day, in company with his family.

Laurence’s joint memories with Dennis, were flashing before his eyes, from filming Apocalypse Now; during it, he didn’t even hear that the radio was left on. He also looked out the window in vain, he didn’t see anything; he was only seeing and hearing his memories.

When Gina got to know it, too, they just hugged each other, and even forgot their game till then, it seemed to be so insignificant after Dennis died.

              Later, it came into the man’s head that they owed his friend so much that they should make peace but then he wouldn’t even have had heart to continue playing the peeved husband with his wife, anyway. He only dealt with surviving this period for what he needed Gina. He realized only then how much he was missing her. He loved being with her, and never neglected her anymore.

[colorfulchaosanchor]

The Twenty-Tens, a Decade in Review

Based in Los Angeles, California, the ABCs of Attraction team features coaches of Asian, African, Hispanic, and Caucasian descent, and has been entrusted with the dating lives of students of every ethnicity. Unlike the other reviews you find online, our team has extensively used more than 100 different apps in the past year, including buying the paid memberships. That put pressure on the Hinge team to matchmake with greater accuracy, which required them to extract more meaningful data from the app to determine what made relationships last, and how to predict them. A good dating app for international matchmaking knows that people have different needs. I would want someone good with money. You want to send a message that your match can relate to, said Ray. The app is free, but you only have 24 hours to send a message to a potential match unless you sign up for a Boost membership, which will run you $11.99 per month. Like anything online you need to be aware and keep yourself safe while using this app. No, I don't respect women like that. No, she loves me.

No, not as long as we like each other. I don't think about things like that. I don't think women are funny very often. Site popularity: Niche dating sites are great for narrowing down your potential matches - but if there are barely any users, trying to find quality matches can become tedious. The casual fonts and modern design layout make this template easy for casual websites like the dating site. Narayanan et al. (2012) investigated failures in decentralized personal data architectures-a specific form of decentralized Web project-and find that values have been conflated with design decisions. One of the driving forces of scientific knowledge was to gradually lift this curse, transforming unobservable matter/waves into an observable form. She is also one of the few born-and-bred West Angelenos who has prolifically dated in LA. Эскорт работа Израиль Have one more with me then call a cab. Dating simulations have been, traditionally, heavily associated with the anime genre, but in recent years there have been a variety of different styles to these games. This series is an interesting look at love and breakups and how those connections can last over the years. I want to meet a woman, love of my life.

Sure, they say she is the life of the party. The company is your public life. As long as she has enough to buy me drinks. Sure, if she is hot enough. It would be fine as long as they were good looking. Good luck in all your dating endeavors. Make sure your first message is not too short, generic and broad, said dating coach Hayley Quinn. Bumble, for instance, only lets women message first, whereas OkCupid and Grindr offer pronoun options. This always left me confused, sad, and heartbroken after things didn’t work out when the red flags were in front of my face the whole time--I just chose to ignore them. Slap me in the face and say she never wants to see me again. No, they say my girlfriends are too bossy. I should also say that when I first began I used “duplicate” on the dialogue and music tracks, to make sure that when I started cutting and pasting, I’d still have the original version of each track in case I didn’t like what I had done. Keep in mind that the changes you make on your Dating profile won’t influence the information on your original Facebook profile.

Keep pictures updated, and even information of your whereabouts or any new-found details about yourself (avoid putting in work/home addresses and numbers for the sake of safety. What does that even mean? Not even a little bit. Well, maybe a little. Well, look no further than your relationship itself. The aim of the Easter Dating Method is to maintain, for each Easter Sunday, the same season of the year and the same relationship to the preceding astronomical full moon that occurred at the time of his resurrection in 30 A.D. But a source at the time claimed that they were “just friends” saying, “They hang in the same circles, so they will be together from time to time. It depends on who is more sober at the time. Neutral. I mean, who cares? Who cares about problems? It depends on who she is. Going out to dinner. Going out and getting bombed. No, she just chills out around the house, just like me. No, she is in the palm of my hand. Well, when we go out at least. Well, it certainly helps. Well, I could deal with it if I really liked them. Well, she looks good, but I don't know if she is in shape.

[many-thoughts-little-memory]

a bit about tallis

this is the backstory of Tallis de Lacy, a tiefling fighter, my current d&d character  (as of November 2022). i always enjoy reading other character backstories, so i wanted to start sharing mine too!

typically my backstories follow a structure of childhood to adolescence to young adulthood to adulthood and so on. occasionally i will add some extra tidbits at the end, but mostly i try to include everything in one go. later i’ll ‘respond’ to this story with my own criticisms and praises (tagged roses&thorns), but would love to hear any input you may have too!

note: i have edited out specific references to the other player character and some game/campaign specific details, as i don’t have their permission to share and don’t want to step on any toes. everything else named in the story is something i created and has been (or will be) included in our game.

Tallis was raised by a village - not literally, but in the sense that when you have 4 families living in one building, everyone just looks out for each other. Tallis’ parents loved her dearly, but they struggled to maintain a steady income due to her mother’s health and father's disability. As such the other families in the building would step up and help out when they could, but they weren’t exactly well off either.

Tallis and her friends, were a part of a group children who were recruited by some teenagers to panhandle for them out in the popular/tourist areas of the city - the older kids would let them keep a small portion of their takings if they made enough. Tallis would take the coin she had ‘earned’ and bring it back home, much to the dismay of her parents, who didn’t want the burden of providing for the family to fall on her shoulders. They wanted her to go to school and make an honest living, to have a hope filled and bright future. Wanting to make her family happy, Tallis would go to school in earnest and honestly try her best. On the occasions when she would be asked to panhandle, she would secretly sneak the coins into her parents (and the other families) purses.

As she grew up and her parent’s conditions worsened, Tallis would shirk school more and more in favour of panhandling and running errands for anyone who would pay her. She started working regularly for one particular faction, the Onyx Crown, who ran all their business (legal and illegal) out of a tavern (the Bumpy Fiddler). At first she was exclusively employed to take on the clean/legal jobs (waiting tables, cleaning, running messages for guests, etc.). But as the faction began to trust her more, she would start to be asked to do some jobs on the down low (running packages, acting as a lookout, etc.). Around the age of 15, Tallis’ mother passed away. This was devastating for Tallis and her father not only emotionally, but also financially, as her mother had been earning most of their money as of late. It was around this time Tallis officially stopped going to school and working exclusively for the faction. 

The Onyx Crown adopted her into their ranks (low ranks, but she was able to use their name/influence if need be), and she was trusted with jobs that were more dangerous but more profitable. Her friends would poke fun at Tallis, claiming she’s “going corporate” working for an established gang, rather than joining them in forming a crew of their own. Tallis stood by her decision, as the work and money were more consistent, but on occasion would join up with her friends if they needed some extra muscle or a lookout. As she got more ingrained with the underbelly of the city, she did occasionally get into trouble with the local law enforcement and rival factions. During her scuffles with rivals, she found herself coming into some surprising strength, able to handle herself physically, even when she appeared to be at a disadvantage. The jobs she did for the Crown also had her coming into “wealth” unlike she has experienced before. Tallis’ inexperience with life overall, led her to abusing her newfound strength and money via fighting and gambling.

After a particularly rough run of bad luck, Tallis found herself in more trouble and deeper debt. She went to one of the heads of the Onyx Crown, Jezu, who directed her to help ‘escort’ some people out of town. This would achieve a couple goals - 1. she would be out of the city for a couple days, so the heat around her would die down and 2. It would earn her some money to help her pay off a bit of the debt. Sometimes it was a matter of transporting ‘packages’, other times she would be escorting people. Typically the people she was traveling with were criminals trying to avoid prosecution (coming to CITY to avoid the laws of other cities/regions or vice versa). Multiple times she was smuggling her friend (and sometimes the rest of his crew) in and out of the city. Her route(s) usually just took her to the first checkpoint out of the city, leaving goods/people to be taken further and picking up anything/anyone to be brought back to CITY. These were usually 8 - 10 hour round trips depending on which route she was taking and who/what she was smuggling. Occasionally (depending on how much trouble she was in or how much money she needed) she would take the routes further, spending an entire day or two travelling. 

Her most recent job was to meet up with her friend and his crew, to smuggle/escort them back to CITY. But he was the only one to show up, saying something had gone wrong, he was separated from the crew, and he is in a ton of trouble. Tallis, not wanting one of her friends to get in trouble for something that wasn't their fault, decides to stick by his side until everything is cleared up (or the problem is “taken care of”, whichever comes first and pays more).

the campaign begins with tallis and her friend meeting the rest of the party as they are travelling away from CITY with the goal for them to figure out how to clear her friend’s name and what happened to the rest of the crew..

this character is currently ‘in play’, so i can’t really change much of the story at this point... but i would love to hear any constructive criticism or advice you have!