#skye's 100 followers event

[bluskye-27]

Hey Skye!!

I wanna request for the spin on wheel event!! With fem reader pls!!

Thank youu <3

Napping together with Ace

S/O: Female

- Ace asked you out on a date. So naturally, you agreed

- But turns out, the rain wanted to intervene your first date with the freckled man! 🥹

- You were probably pouting on the couch all day long and was very sad that your date was postponed due to the storm brewing outside. You were really excited for this day but no! Stupid storm just have to ruin it! 😭

- "U-uh, Y/n? Do you mind letting me in? It's kinda freezing out here!" Gasping in disbelief, you bolted towards the front door, opened it and was shocked to see a shivering Ace with a bouquet of wet roses in hand.

- "C-can I come in?" The male smiled sheepishly, albeit his teeth were clattering due to the coldness.

- And of course, you let him in and helped him get dry.

"What were you thinking, Ace! There's a storm today yet you chose to continue the date?" You scoffed, angrily scrubbing the towel on the newly-showered male. "You could've gotten hurt!"

Ace let out a soft chuckle from where he was sitting on the couch, his eyes closed as he was enjoying the feeling of your soft fingers threading through his black hair. "Yeah, but I wanted to continue the date, not even a storm can stop me from being with you," he said quietly, his lips twitching upwards.

Your cheeks flushed a bright red and it took everything within you to hold back the words that almost tumbled from your tongue. He had a point there and if you were honest with yourself, you would've done the same thing.

"W-whatever! Just don't get sick, you idiot!" You snapped in embarrassment, walking away to wash Ace's wet clothes. A small yelp came out of your mouth when you felt something wrap around your waist and pull you close against a hard chest.

"Aw, are you mad, babe?" The ravenette chuckled, leaning down to place a light kiss on your temple, the warmth making you feel better. "Well I suppose it would be the best if we cuddle that anger away, right? What do you say, beautiful?"

You nodded slightly in hesitance and allowed him to pick you up bridal style before laying down with you on the couch. Despite the cramped space, Ace's warmth drew you in.

You two stayed together watching TV for awhile longer, Ace occasionally humming under his breath as he played with your hair while gently massaging your scalp. "So, Ms. Y/n, what can you say for our first date, hm?" The freckled whispered, braiding your hair with those long fingers of his. "Good?"

"No, it was pretty shitty. I was actually expecting to eat some good food but somehow a damn storm ruined it! Ugh!" You groaned, faceplanted on the hard planes of Ace's muscley chest. As for the male, he pouted.

"So you didn't like my cuddles??" He looked down at you in horror and sadness. You quickly turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! I love cuddling with you but I really wish you'd think about how fucking stupid of what you did! Like, how could you be so reckless! It's dangerous to be outside in the middle of this storm! Especially without a jacket or umbrella!" You gritted out, poking his chest as you punctuated each word.

"But look at us now, babe!" Ace smiled, grabbing onto your hand and bringing it up to his cheek. "We're cuddling and you still like me!" He laughed triumphantly, causing you to roll your eyes and push him playfully.

"I guess you have a point there." You mumbled under your breath, turning away to look out the window to try and hide your embarrassed blush. And after a minute of comfortable silence, you spoke up again.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you mean what you said earlier? When you told me that you wanted to be with me?"

You were afraid of the answer you might hear. Sure, you knew that Ace liked you a lot, even going as far to declare that he loved you at one point. You didn't doubt that part of the confession but... You have this nagging feeling that he just pitied you.

When you didn't get a response, you looked up and saw that Ace was staring you with half-lidded, loving charcoal eyes. You frowned. "Are you okay?"

The freckled male seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts had taken over his mind and turned his head to smile softly at you. "I'm fine~" He hummed, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. "Just thinking about how lucky I am to have someone like you by my side."

You blushed and buried your face into his chest, trying to hide your embarrassment. "Stop saying cheesy shit like that, you dork." You muttered, though you couldn't help but smile.

You heard him giggle as he pulled you closer to him. Your heart fluttered a bit and you closed your eyes to savor the moment.

"I love you, Y/n. And I will always be here with you," Ace whispered softly into your ear as you slowly drifted into sleep.

"Love you too, Acezzz..."

The freckled male laughed quietly as you struggled to open your eyes and mouth just to reply to him.

You're too cute, you know that? ;)

Hello, @smokecowpear ! I apologized for the very, VERY late answer! But here you go! I don't think I did good though 😞

[kozumesphone]

╭₊˚ BACKPACKING ACROSS GREECE . . . skye’s 200 followers event ! ⋆⭒˚.⋆

ꕀ intro post here !

ᝰ. TRAVEL GUIDE (masterlist) . . .

~ m.list

~ completed: 6 ~ remaining: 32

REQUESTS CLOSED ‼️

ᝰ. TRAVEL NOTES (a/n) . . .

hello?? what?! I only very recently finished my 50 followers event requests (procrastination struck SO hard), and was planning on doing the 100/150 event, but we already hit 200?? this is so so so amazing 💓 thank you all so much!! i’m eternally grateful for the unwavering support and for hyping me up, from my followers, moots, and especially my closer ibfs! i’m so excited for this event 🌸✨ even specifically, a huuuuge thanks to mori for lending me her intelligence to make a very major chunk of this event possible! thanks for brainstorming ideas w me, ilyyy 🫶 (+ spoilers: my favourite ones are volos, crete, and mykonos 🤭) • also, please comment if you don’t want to be tagged in further posts related to this event / want to be tagged from now on, I won’t mind! but pls lmk your decision soon, bc i’ll be using the same taglist as this post’s for every request related to this event! sorry for any inconvenience <3

ᝰ. ITINERARY (everyone) . . .

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 01. VOLOS ⠀ᰋ

i’ll make you a mini playlist based on the aesthetic of your favourite book/movie + your blog, together

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 02. ARGOS ⠀ᰋ

i’ll write you short headcannons of you on the argo II with the seven, nico, and reyna + give me any specific character you want to see mentioned specially

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 03. ACHARNES ⠀ᰋ

tell me about yourself / give me a short description about you, and i’ll assign you to a pjo cabin, hogwarts house, and hunger games district + make you a moodboard with it

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 04. PATRAS ⠀ᰋ

give me your favourite book/movie universe + favourite character, and i’ll make you a moodboard + mini playlist based on that

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 05. CRETE ⠀ᰋ

(different prompt list from thessaloniki) pick a prompt from here + give me a character name (from any book or anime, preferably, but I can try for movies too) and i’ll write a short oneshot for that character x reader (specify gender of reader please—f/m/gn)

∘₊✧ ────── ✧₊∘

ᝰ. VIP ITINERARY (only moots) . . .

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 01. MYKONOS ⠀ᰋ

tell me about yourself / give me a short description + what you think is your greatest strength, and i’ll tell you what I think your fatal flaw would be

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 02. ATHENS ⠀ᰋ

(only applies if we’re closer moots): give me your cabin from camp half-blood + your best friend from the riordanverse, and i’ll write a few headcannons for you, if you were in chb

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 03. THESSALONIKI ⠀ᰋ

(different prompt list from crete) pick a trope/prompt from here + give me a character name (from any book or anime, preferably, but I can try for movies too) and i’ll write a short oneshot for that character x reader (specify gender of reader please—f/m/gn)

ᝰ. SUPPLIES TO BACKPACK ACROSS THE CITY (rules) . . .

i. i’ll only be able to answer your request if i’m a part of that fandom, so I would suggest checking out my fandoms nav here first

ii. only one request per message

iii. only two requests per day

iv. normal requests (non-event ones) will be closed until event ends

v. please include title of the ask (ex. athens) and the character name & fandom (if applicable). if it’s a description request, send your desc in points (if applicable), so it’s easier to read, for me

ᝰ. TRIP DATES (dates) . . .

starts on | 24th july, wednesday

ends on | 14th august, wednesday

> EVENT OPEN !!

ᝰ. TRAVELLERS (mutuals—taglist) . . .

@serendipitous-girl @anyas-shitposting69 @ziasworld-com @urmomabby @sweetnnaivete

@fizzywashere87 @aezuria @gentlehue @mqstermindswift @percabethlvr

@maybxlle @cinemaconrad @riordanness @book-girl4evaaa @flowers-for-em

@starlitszn @skeelly @lauffey @metyouattherighttime @luvusrry

@ssparksflyy @fayvpor @iheartgirlzn @nomournersonefuneral

@over-the-oceancall @seaglass-and-string @strawberryapologist @xoxochb @auroraofthesun1 @pinkdiorluvr

@sophiesonlinediary @solangelotus @brodieland @waitingonher @nqds

@on-starrii-nights @daydream-of-a-wallflower @catastrxblues @rehlie @d4rkdi0rrr

@seasirengirl @lavisenri @daonedaonlyskh @rxry-lxves-jess @cowboycasanovaaa

@thewhispersofthewaves @writtcnbycassie @55kywalker @ravisinghs-wife @yourtwistedlies

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

[kikohao]

hello mia! congrats on 100! here to participate in event 1 with seventeen. so im skye! i love to read, write and like doing creative things. i also like to occasionally bake/cook. im a quiet person, more introverted and a little shy. i'm more of a listener than a talker. i love and food and giving hugs to people i love (i think it's my second love language)

hope this was okay and enough 😭

i ship you with..

HOSHI!

with how you've described yourself, i ship you with hoshi! personally, i know you bias him, but he's just a great match 🤭

imagine; - having cute baking dates with hoshi omg, you'd attempt to follow a cookie/brownie recipe but hoshi ends up getting the both of you covered on flour or accidentally uses salt instead of sugar, bless him </3 - HUGS HUGS HUGS. - 3am convenience store runs with him - talker x listener, hoshi rambling about the most randomest of things that's been a minor inconvenience, gets even more hyped when he sees you nodding - game nights. TIGER HOSHI UNLEASHED.

tropes; introvert x extrovert, talker x listener, high school to college au where you meet each other in high school, but end up dating during college, friends to lovers

a/n ; thank you so muchh skyee <3

taglist ; @nonononranghaee @abodyhasbeenfound @staranghae @prpldahy @starshuas

send an ask to be added to my taglist!

100 event

[schmergo]

The Olympic Trials for gymnastics start tonight and there is one gymnast named Skye Blakely who I believe is under a witch’s curse.

Full disclaimer that although I follow gymnastics and root for my favorite gymnasts for personal/ narrative reasons, I have basically zero technical knowledge of the sport behind being able to distinguish between a good, mid, and disastrous routine. So this post will not get very technical, it’s just more about the story arc.

Skye is a talented young athlete who was too young to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics… until they got pushed back to 2021. She performed so well that she qualified for Olympic Trials, which is no easy feat, especially when you didn’t expect to be training for the Olympics so soon.

At WARMUPS for Olympic Trials in 2021, so not even getting to compete at all, she fell while running to the vault and tore a ligament in her elbow, ending her season and her chances at the Olympics.

Now, you might say, Skye never had a huge chance of making the 2021 Olympics anyway. That’s true, but it gets worse.

Since recovering from her elbow injury, Skye has performed well in national competitions and is especially well-known for her talent on balance beam. But every time she gets selected for an international competition, she falls off the balance beam.

She made the 2022 World Championships team, which is a huge deal. There, she had two bizarre mishaps. For one, her hair ribbon came untied and got in her face while she was competing on balance beam, messing up her concentration. For another, it was stormy outside and there was a leak in the ceiling, leading to A PUDDLE OF WATER on the balance beam while she was competing!

She got her chance for redemption at the 2023 World Championships, which she qualified for again after winning 3 silver medals at the US National Championships (huge achievement).

This time, she didn’t even make the event final for balance beam. During the qualifying rounds, she performed a really good beam routine, dismounted, and literally landed on her head instead of her feet.

But in 2024, Skye came back strong and surprised everyone with an extremely good performance at the USA National Championships, second only to Simone Biles. Never very well-known for her vault, she suddenly came in with a massively upgraded vault that outscored the nation’s best vault specialists (except for Simone).

The conversation quickly turned from “Skye has a good chance of making the Olympic team” to ”Skye is a 100% locked-in, sure thing member of the Olympic Team.”

Yesterday, the athletes chosen for Olympic Trials got a chance to practice on the equipment they’ll be competing on this weekend. While practicing a floor routine— so again, not even getting a chance to compete at Trials— Skye fell and injured her leg so badly that she had to be carried off the floor. Obviously everyone was super worried.

Today the news came out: it’s an Achilles’ tendon tear. She won’t be competing in the Olympic Trials this year. For the SECOND TIME in her short 19-year life, Skye qualified for this major honor only to miss out on her chance to compete at the very last minute.

It’s a witch’s curse, I tell you.

[scotianostra]

April 11th 1882 we saw an incident during the Highland Clearances happened on Skye that has become known as The Battle of the Braes.

Lord MacDonald sought help from the law to evict the stubborn crofters, and in April 1882 the locals woke to the sight of a sheriff officer. Charged with issuing eviction notices, the sheriff was met with an angry reaction and forced to burn the notices.

Following this initial confrontation, reinforcements were requested from Glasgow. 50 police officers travelled to Skye with the intention of evicting the crofters, who once again stood their ground.

Arriving at Braes, the police were faced down by a mob of around 100 men, woman and children from the local community, many of whom were armed with an array of primitive weapons. Wielding clubs, sticks and stones, the Battle of the Braes erupted and the crofters clashed with the police.

Several people were injured in the Battle of the Braes while others were arrested and subsequently fined for their involvement. Despite the outcome, the crofters still stood firm in their refusals and military intervention was considered.

The Battle of the Braes sparked similar unrest elsewhere in Skye, with locals in Glendale incensed at the treatment of other islanders.

Notably, the incident prompted a public outcry. Sympathetic press coverage of the dispute galvanised widespread support for the crofters. Sensing the mood, the government refused to authorise military intervention and a commission was launched to examine the plight of the crofters.

The Napier Commission, chaired by Lord Francis Napier, ultimately led to the introduction of new legislation aimed at improving security for crofters via the Crofters Act of 1886.

The Act was modelled largely on the Irish Land Acts of 1870 and 1881 and granted crofters security of tenure.

Today, the Battle of the Braes is a celebrated event in both the history of Skye and broader Scottish history. A monument commemorates the efforts of the crofters while a popular folk song also celebrates the event.

[capellilavita-blog]

INTRODUCING JACK@SKYE ROOFTOP BAR AND RESTAURANT

The First Ever Rooftop Wine Tasting Centre in the Mother City

Bruce Jack, legendary winemaker extraordinaire, has opened a cellar door in the Mother City, the one-and-only, first-ever rooftop wine tasting centre with a pool deck and spectacular 360° views.

Perched atop the 6th floor of The Hyde Hotel in London Road Sea Point, Jack@Skye boasts a stunning panorama that showcases Cape Town in all its glory, encompassing Table Mountain, Signal Hill, Lion's Head, the Atlantic Ocean, the vibrant city skyline and of course the most beautiful sunsets. There’s no better way to soak up all that Cape Town has to offer than to sit on top of the world, sipping on your favourite Bruce Jack wine.

Embrace the splendour of the ocean and mountains while knowledgeable brand ambassador Awonke Tyumse expertly guides you through your choice of the various wine tasting flights on offer across over 37 different Bruce Jack wines, and the Cluver & Jack Single Estate Cider. Or opt for a selection of delicious wine and canapé pairings. Some of the favourites include the Bruce Jack Lifestyle Sauvignon Blanc complemented by white fish tataki with fennel and apple salsa, the Bruce Jack Reserve Viognier accompanied by a smoked salmon blini with crème fraîche, pickled red onion, lemon pearls and dill, and Bruce Jack ‘Flag Of Truce’ Pinotage enjoyed with a mini charcuterie skewer incorporating salami, parmesan, olives and sundried tomato on a slice of baguette.

Jack@SKYE offers both chic and relaxed seating indoors, or on the open-air terrace, and a mix of sleek dining tables, casual cocktail nooks and comfy loungers perfect for a night out with friends or a romantic evening for two. Watch the glorious sunset and stay for dinner.

The SKYE restaurant’s delectable summer menu is Spanish tapas in style and offers something for everyone, including an impressive selection of pintxos for sharing. Jack@SKYE promises a perfect pairing of delicious food and exceptional wine, with a choice of 37 highly acclaimed Bruce Jack wines to perfectly complement your dish of choice. SKYE restaurant and Rooftop Bar is open seven days a week. Bookings are recommended to secure a nice table, walk-ins are welcome. Bookings via 021 434 0205 or @dineplan_app or reservations@thehydehotel.com.

Saturdays are especially festive on the rooftop, with live music events elevating your experience to new heights between 17h00 and 20h00. For the romantics Tuesday Date Night celebrations are a must!  Follow Jack@SKYE on social media to keep abreast of upcoming sunset sessions and events.

Bruce Jack, winemaker, writer, poet, philosopher, philanthropist, surfer and lover of life, believes and that wine is an historic, sophisticated, intriguing and joyful staple in an otherwise confusing and chaotic world, and that value is the master of wine. He specialises in making little bottles of joy, believing that wine crafted with love adds joy to the world, and that opening his cellar in the city will ‘Jack up Joy’ in Cape Town.

So Joy’n the Fun at Jack@SKYE where it is always Joy O’Clock. Indulge in a delightful journey through Bruce Jack’s carefully crafted wines, and food and wine pairings: Tuesday to Saturday from 12h00 to 19h00. Don’t miss this unique and unforgettable rooftop experience, embracing the magic of Cape Town!

JACK@SKYE ROOFTOP BAR

6th Floor, The Hyde Hotel, 13 London Road, Sea Point

Hashtags: #JackAtSkye, #BruceJackWines

Bruce Jack featured in the 2023 Drinks Business Master Winemaker Top 100

and is the only South African winery to be featured in Drinks International Top 50 Most Admired Wine Brands for 4 years in a row.

Website: https://brucejack.com/

[author-morgan]

thoughts on the AC crossovers?

First, let me preface this by saying Ubisoft’s quality control before releasing new content is absolutely horrendous. Every update with free content for Valhalla, this crossover included, has crashed the game back to my Xbox home screen, made loading times three times longer (it literally took 9 minutes and 24 seconds for the River Raids to load —yes, I timed it), and corrupted saves. Also, I think the autosave may be malfunctioning, but I am not 100% sure of that yet. But if I’m being frank, Valhalla has been a steaming pile of shit since launch with all the bugs, glitches, and corrupted saves, but that’s another rant for another day. I will never be buying another Ubisoft game at full price, though.

And to make things even better for the crossover, throughout my entire playthrough of the Isle of Skye arc, Kassandra’s lips never moved once for her dialogue, so that was certainly a bummer.

On to the actual crossover. I thought it was extremely lazy. It’s no secret Ubisoft’s storytelling capabilities have been in an exponential decline since the change to RPG and the loss of Desmond (Origins is still very good, though), and I couldn’t help but feel the entire time this was just something ripped from fan theories and thrown together rather hastily. To substantiate the importance of this arc to the continuation of Odyssey, I think there needed to be more content in Odyssey’s base game. The Korfu questline? Definitely should have existed in the main game and not as additional content tacked on almost four years later without ceremony. That said, I did enjoy the Korfu quest and the explanation for what happened to the Leonidas Spear for it to end up being buried with Herodotus. And at the end of the day, I just want more from Odyssey and its protagonist because there is so much potential to explore history than just doing crossover events.

I will say one of the prime reasons I did not like the Valhalla arc was the lack of emotional stakes and attachment I have toward Kassandra as the Eagle Bearer. At this point, it should come as no surprise if you’ve been following my Assassin’s Creed stories for the past three years, but I played as Alexios. He was my first choice and will continue to be the character I prefer no matter who Ubisoft says is ‘canon.’ The same goes for male!Eivor, I picked to play solely as him without a second thought. Neither of these was a hard choice.

If Ubisoft is going to continue giving us choices as to which gender we can play as the protagonist, then they need to make good on those choices for the duration of the series. And yes, this is entirely possible. My nemeses from Shadow of Mordor transferred over into Shadow of War. I have spent 300+ hours with Alexios. I have only done one 28-hour speed run with Kassandra through the family storyline for the sole reason of seeing Alexios as Deimos. It’s very jolting to have invested that kind of time into a game only to be told the character I chose is completely irrelevant because of ‘canon.’ Like cool, great job Ubisoft, you just alienated over 2/3rds of players who picked Alexios.

This same sentiment carries over with Valhalla. If you are going to give us a choice, then carry through it. It was so jarring to have male!Eivor misgendered (can you imagine if it had been the other way around 💀) repeatedly and then to have one of the final cutscenes of the main story feature female!Eivor, regardless of the 200 hours I just invested into the game playing as the other choice? It makes me wish they would go back to only having one protagonist with a fully developed story (like Bayek or even Ezio) or continue with what was set up with Jacob and Evie in Syndicate —both genders are canon and their storylines.

[pokemoncreepypasta]

Forever Mine

[STORY SOURCE]

I live in one of those small towns with a big community. It feels like everyone knows each other, and parents would visit their friends and leave their kids to mess around with each other. Classes in school weren’t very large.

So when there’s news about a kid dying, it travels at god-speed. 

Everyone at school kept talking about the death of this girl who was probably a year behind me.

I didn’t know her personally. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you her name if everyone wasn’t talking about her.

I didn’t want to pick up gossip about how she died. I decided to attend her funeral myself. Not because we were friends or anything, but I did want to show my respect for this girl and her family.

The local funeral home was within biking range of my house, so I set off.

I sat awkwardly as I noticed her parents. I’m not usually very good at picking up feelings from people, but I could tell that beyond their grief was disappointment and maybe even hostility.

They made me wonder what she was thinking about before she died.

After she was buried, I hung around the cemetery. I’d wished I brought flowers with me, but decided I’d give her some the next time I stopped by.

Around this time, I had been aiming to get a Sky Forme Shaymin, since it was one of my favorite Pokémon back then.

I had caught a wild Shaymin using the "Pokémon Modifier" cheat code. I was terrible at coming up with creative names. But then, I remembered the name of the girl and thought it would suit a Shaymin rather well.

“Skye.”

Little did I know that this would invite strange things to start happening to my game.

I wanted to keep this Shaymin in its Sky Forme whenever possible, so I planned on keeping it in my team 24/7, only playing during daytime, etc. I was a dirty cheater who liked putting illegal moves on my Pokémon, so I taught Skye to use Fly.

At the time, I didn’t know you needed to catch the Shaymin in Flower Paradise to receive the Gracidea Flower, so when I talked to the blonde girl NPC in Floaroma Town, I had no idea why she wouldn’t give it to me.

So I was stuck with a Shaymin that knew Fly. It was weird, and I never really grew all that attached to it. Eventually I boxed it, forgot I had it, and released it without thinking.

The next time I booted up the game, I got this message.

“The save file is corrupted. The previous save file will be loaded.”

My first instinct was panic. I didn’t have any time to think or process the initial message, because all my hours were gone. With nervous anticipation, I started up the save file to see what the damage was.

To my surprise, I found myself on an incomplete Seabreak Path. The south path to Route 224 was cut off, with a featureless Shaymin staring vacantly over the edge.

I checked my party, and found none of my team members.

Only a level 100 Dusknoir with the move Follow Me.

Very useful, I thought. I’d have to boot up my Action Replay to teach this thing Fly in order to get off the island later.

Checking my items, I noticed everything was gone, save for a single PokéBall and an Escape Rope. Neither of which seemed particularly helpful for getting me off this island.

Out of curiosity though, I decided to see if Shaymin would be at Flower Paradise. I started my trek north, lamenting the loss of my bike.

To my surprise, Shaymin was there, despite never having Oak’s Letter or triggering the cutscene with it. Its face was obstructed by flowers, but it seemed like its pink flowers were missing just like the one I saw before.

I spoke to the Shaymin, and a message appeared.

“I remember you.”

“But… You don’t remember me, do you?”

The wild Shaymin attacked, and my heart stopped at its name.

“Skye appeared!”

Featureless, like before.

I felt a knot in my stomach, not even caring about the game. Something was very clearly wrong with it, and I wanted to stop playing. But I decided I was already taking pictures of the weird stuff that was happening, and I wanted to document it in full.

Steeling my resolve, I went about my options.

Dusknoir only knew Follow Me, so it was useless to weaken the Shaymin.

Remembering the PokéBall I had, I tossed it at the Shaymin.

Most people would be ecstatic to catch a Shaymin with full HP in a PokéBall on their first try, but I got the feeling that the game was rigged. There wasn’t any triumphant music playing either, which didn’t help my feelings about it.

I tried checking my newly caught Shaymin, but my game froze upon checking my party.

Upon restarting the system and starting the game up, this message appeared.

“My heart is corrupted. Please save me.”

My save file was gone for real this time. The trainer’s name was “SINNER”.

I live in a pretty religious community, so reading this made me ill at ease.

Starting up the game again, I found myself in the Lost Tower, playing as a featureless Shaymin.

My only Pokémon was the same Shaymin, named SINNER, knowing Fly, Scary Face, Fake Tears, and Spite.

A text box appeared when I tried to leave the tower.

“Today’s the day.”

It pushed me back, preventing my exit. The only option I had was to ascend.

No random encounters happened, and all the trainers wouldn’t interact with me.

It went this way until I went to the top floor. I’m pretty sure there isn’t supposed to be a man and woman NPC standing in this spot.

"There’s nothing left to say.”

Interacting with them just prompted this text.

It was here that I noticed a staircase that wasn’t supposed to be there.

I found myself on the top of the tower. I stepped into a scripted event, and the Shaymin faced the edge without my prompt.

"It's a long way down... Are you ready?"

Hoping for some way out of this, I wanted to say “no”, so I could cheat my way out of the tower and get my game back to normal. However, upon selecting it, this text appeared.

"You've held back for long enough. It's time to go."

“SINNER used the Escape Rope.”

A battle started against the same Dusknoir as before. I was intimidated to go against a level 100 Dusknoir, but then I remembered its only move was Follow Me, so it was harmless.

I realized that if I let SINNER faint, I could go to the last Pokémon Center and escape the tower.

I used Spite, thinking that if I reduced Follow Me’s PP, the Dusknoir would use Struggle and OHKO my Shaymin.

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER used Spite!”

“But there was no target...”

Dang it.

Deciding to experiment, I came to the conclusion that there was no harm in screwing around with SINNER’s attacks until DUSKNOIR ran out of PP. I chose Fly.

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER used Fly!”

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER kept going and crashed!”

Not the KO I was expecting, but I took it nonetheless.

The game, of course, crashed as soon as my Shaymin’s cry played, leaving nothing but pleasantly ear-grating screeching sounds.

I decided to take a break from playing for a moment to process what I just witnessed. I had a lot to digest.

The only conclusion I came to was that ghosts are real and this was the same Skye as the girl who died. Which would sound insane if I didn’t have the pictures to prove it.

I choked back tears. I was afraid. Why did Skye want me to see this?

I wanted to put the game down and be done with it. But if she had a message to give me, then I felt like I had to see it through to the end.

I guess I vainly hoped she’d pass on and find peace if I listened to what she was trying to say.

Another message when I started the game up again.

“I can’t fly. I tried to.”

I found myself at Spear Pillar. The staircase to the Hall of Origin was in front of me.

My exit was gone, so I just went straight to Arceus.

A level 100 Arceus stood before me.  

Instead of sending out my Shaymin, it stayed in the field. It was now bleeding. Its status said it was fainted, but it was still able to battle somehow.

I felt cornered. There was no way a level 14 Shaymin could take on something like this. I tried to use Fly, hoping it would give me the same result as before.

“Can’t use that here.”

It wouldn’t let me use the move. Instead, I just outright try to flee.

“Can’t escape!”

“ARCEUS used Judgment!”

I braced for impact...

“The wild ARCEUS’s attack missed!”

...But was pleasantly surprised to see it miss.

“I’m not ready yet.”

The game made me flee automatically.

The screen faded to black.

“I’m not ready. I’m not ready.”

“I’m scared.”

When the screen faded back to the overworld, I found myself in the Distortion World. The portal that takes you back to the main world was gone, so the only thing I could do was explore.

I found another Escape Rope while looking around.

It was the only thing noteworthy I could find, so I started trying to think of ways to get out of here.

I tried using Fly, since SINNER still knew it.

“There’s nowhere to fly to.”

Figures.

Trying to test my other options, I went to my bag and tried using the Escape Rope.

Of course, the “There’s a time and place for everything” message still appeared.

Deciding to mess around until I got results, I went to give the Escape Rope to SINNER.

“Don’t suppose you know what to do with this?” I muttered.

The game crashed again, and it assaulted my eardrums once more. I sharply inhaled, wondering if I touched a nerve.

I took a deep breath and started the game again.

My character’s name was now Skye.

I started in Floaroma Town. The first thing I did was rush to the Pokémon Center to check on my Pokémon in the PC. Of course, they were all gone.

I’d grieve for them later, though. Maybe Skye would be nice to me and give them back.

While I was in the center, I figured it might’ve been good to heal the faint status off of the Shaymin.

Sure it is. Glad you can tell when something is suffering, nurse.

Heading outside, I talked to the blonde NPC.

“You should always give flowers to someone who has passed away.”

“It’s rude not to.”

“You got the Gracidea!”

I was suddenly feeling very guilty for not leaving flowers before.

Wondering if I could fix the poor Shaymin in my party if I used the flower on her, I went to try it.

“It won’t have any effect.” 

Of course not.

The blonde NPC turned into my Shaymin. I spoke to her.

“That won’t help me.” 

Yeah, I thought not.

At a loss of ideas on what to do next, I absentmindedly made my way to Valley Windworks and walked around in the grass.

A wild Sky Forme Shaymin appeared.

I sent out Skye, of course.

I chose the fight option, and the battle continued without me selecting a move.

“The wild SHAYMIN used Reflect!”

“Skye’s rage is building!”

“Skye used Cut!”

“She hurt herself in her confusion!”

The Sky Form Shaymin was knocked out in one hit, despite the game telling me Skye had hurt herself.

Back on the overworld, I found the mangled parts of the Sky Forme Shaymin lying in the grass. I inspected them.

“Please put me back together.”

It gave me another prompt, and I chose yes.

The screen faded to black.

And then Skye appeared again in a black abyss, with Skymin ears and flower. My trainer was nowhere to be seen.

I checked my party to see that Skye had changed again. Her cry sounded like a distorted mix of Shaymin’s two forms.

I went back to the overworld and was unable to move. Instead, a dialogue box appeared.

“Can you hear me?”

"Thank you for caring about me.”

"I can fly now.”

“Because...”

“I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat. My hands began to shake.

“You must care about me too, right?”

“So... I’m going to stay with you.”

“I won’t leave, not without someone who loves me.”

“Will you fly away with me?”

My shaky hands went to say no. I didn’t want to be like her.

"...”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“I’ll change your mind.”

“You’re mine now.”

“You’re mine forever.”

With that last line, the game froze.

The first thing I did was take the game out of the system. I decided to drop off all my Pokémon games at the nearest GameStop. I didn’t want her talking to me anymore.

So why do I feel like she’s still here?

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Books: The history of Scotland's influence in the world and the world's on Scotland

Rosemary Goring

Sat, 30 July 2022

In this article:

Murray Pittock Scottish academic

The Battle of Glen Shiel in Scotland, during the Jacobite Rebellion, 10th June 1719. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images).

Scotland: The Global History – 1603 to the Present

Murray Pittock*

REVIEW BY ROSEMARY GORING

Such was people’s desire to learn about Scotland’s past that, at one point in 1999, Tom Devine’s History of the Scottish Nation outshone Harry Potter on the bestseller lists. Historian Murray Pittock, who is Bradley Professor of Literature at the University of Glasgow, cites that remarkable fact towards the end of his own broad survey. While it remains to be seen if his work reaches such dizzy heights, Scotland: The Global History certainly deserves a wide readership.

Beginning with the Thirty Years’ War, shortly after the Union of the Crowns under James VI and I in 1603, it stretches to the present day. Offering a sweeping overview of the major events and currents that have formed modern Scotland, its core thread is “the paradoxical and powerful yet partial nature of Scotland’s ability to project itself as an international actor” when it was no longer an independent nation.

Whether it’s on matters of governance or finance, education or culture, industry or business, every strand of this assessment is viewed through the prism of sovereignty, or its diminishment. From the late middle ages through the Covenanting era and the Clearances, to the rise of Empire, industrialisation and its decline, the issue of Scotland’s independence and political integrity is to the fore. In Pittock’s hands, what followed after the Union of Parliaments in 1707 is as severe a test of the concept of nationhood and centralised state as a political theorist in a laboratory could devise.

“Scotland is a country, but not a state,” he writes; “one of the longest-lived of all global nations yet hardly counted by some to be a nation at all.” Among the oldest of European countries, its borders have barely changed since the middle ages, with the exception of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which switched hands countless times, and a few miles of wild and ungovernable “debatable lands” in the Scottish borders.

There are many pitfalls to be avoided when writing Scottish history and, as Pittock draws together themes that touch on several of his previous works, he is keenly aware of them. Too many political and cultural analysts treat this country as innately special, a one-off case unparalleled elsewhere. Adopting this tack can be undignified, sounding boastful, self-pitying, or both.

Yet, as Pittock points out, since in many ways Scotland has been an exceptional case, or at least has had a very different experience from the rest of the UK, he cannot avoid treating it as distinctive. What he signally does not do, however, is wear either rose-tinted spectacles or historical Ray-bans, where the refrain is of the nation’s poverty, oppression and mistreatment.

To read his chapters on Scots’ involvement in the slave trade, for instance, is to feel profound shame and disgust at the depths of merchants’ complicity and greed. “Scots were heavily implicated in chattel slavery”, he writes. The slave trader Alexander Allardyce of Dunnottar was said to have sold as many slaves as the population of Aberdeen. On one occasion 100 residents on Skye were kidnapped, to sell as “indentured servants” in America, while in Aberdeen – clearly a dangerous place in the 18th century – 500 boys were abducted in the years 1740-5 and subsequently sold. The same fate awaited captured Jacobites.

So much for the trumpeted Scottish ethos of egality and fraternity, and supposedly innate democratic tendencies. From the pages of this book Scots’ ability to prosper at the expense of others rises like the smell of drains. Across the Empire, from India to the Caribbean to the plantations of America’s deep south, Scots heartlessly enriched themselves. Back home, meanwhile, many of their fellow countryfolk were toiling.

Pittock’s project is as much intellectual as historical. Discussing the concept of Scotland the Brand, as promulgated by the likes of Sir Walter Scott, James Macpherson and Robert Burns, he places the brand’s origins in the failed Jacobite rebellions: “Romantic Scotland thus preserved the bravery and grandeur of the defeated politics of its native dynasty and sovereignty in a displaced and fossilized form”.

Thereafter, the British Army co-opted fearsome Highland soldiers, taking this once destabilising force within Great Britain and turning it into an icon of British military prowess.

Scotland: The Global History is told around the complications of surrendered political agency, and the compromises, sorrows and grievances this entailed. While the Union of 1707 and the subsequent dominion of the British Empire, into which many Scots gladly bought, was to the country’s economic advantage, the loss of self-governance and national distinction was a sore that has festered in some quarters ever since.

Amid his scrupulous recounting of a vast swathe of history, Pittock offers fresh insights. “It was to be no coincidence”, he writes, “that the decade the British Empire ended was the first decade in which Scottish nationalism achieved significant support”. It is as if money and opportunity were sufficient compensation for loss of patriotic soul; but when that treasure chest disappeared, minds belatedly turned to upholding Scotland’s heritage and inheritance.

As far back as 1792, the journalist and pamphleteer John Thomson Callender wrote, “To England we were for many centuries a hostile, and we are still considered by them as a foreign, and in effect a conquered nation.” Some would agree with that sentiment today. Sentimentality, however, is one thing Scotland does rather too well. As Pittock acknowledges, bringing the story through the 20th century’s wars and into the present day, “support for ‘indyref2” or “our precious Union” is increasingly expressed in forms as passionate as they are limited.

Everything about Scotland: The Global History is directed towards the political settlement we currently face, and in what direction that might turn next. Although sympathetic to the nationalist cause, he is not uncritical. A great deal of what he outlines is of crucial significance in helping delineate how Scotland has reached its current position, and assessing how best to move forward.

While in places his writing can be academic and chewy, the engine behind this history is running at full throttle, and its momentum carries the reader on at speed. Whatever side of the constitutional argument one stands on, this is an invigorating assessment. It might not outsell Harry Potter, but as the provisional date of Indyref2 approaches, it should be regarded as an essential tool in the debates that will soon be raging.

Prof Murray Pittock of Glasgow University 🎓

*Murray G. H. Pittock MAE is a Scottish historian, Bradley Professor of Literature at the University of Glasgow and Pro Vice Principal at the University, where he has served in senior roles including Dean and Vice Principal since 2008.

Yale University Press (28 July 2022) Language ‎English, Hardcover 512 pages

#1 in History of Scotland

📕 The engagement in which Scotsmen and women have had an impact on the country and its material resources. This is not a romantic image of Scotland as a place of “bagpipes, mountains and tartan” but came to be the same Scotland that provided the finance, technology, and innovation that drove the steam age. An intellectual book that makes you want to see more about Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿📚

#UniversityofGlasgow #MurrayPittock #Scotland #ScottishAcademic #HistoryofScotland

[lifeofkaze]

An Art of Balance #21

Orion Amari x MC

Warning: use of alcohol, underage drinking

A/N: Fabulous Judith belongs to @judediangelo75, KC is the creation of my favourite @kc-needs-coffee and Ira belongs to the queen of OCs @slytherindisaster

Word Count: ~ 3.000

_______________________________________________

Chapter 21: Seizing the Chance

Even behind the closed flaps of the changing room tent, the roar of the crowd was deafening as McNully fired the students gathered on the stands up for the match. Orion had seen the masses of making their way down to the pitch from high up above as the teams had warmed themselves up for what was to come.

It was almost time for the game to begin and Orion gathered his team around the blackboard with their key manoeuvres for their moment of vivification.

“My friends, the time to prove to ourselves of what we are capable of in the face of adversities has almost come. But before I will enlighten you with the wisdom I want you take with you into the air, one of ours has something to unburden her mind from.” He stepped aside and Skye, who had been tugging at the hem of her Quidditch robe while he had been speaking, stood up and took his place.

She took a deep breath before she tried to bury her hands in her pockets as she would often do with her signature jacket; when she realised her robe had none, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I’ll make this short,” she said brusquely. “I know I didn’t act the way a teammate is supposed to and I want to apologise. I’m not the only one with stuff on my mind, I see that now. It was wrong to let it out on you guys. Said some things that were not my place to say,” she glanced at Lizzie, who would have had every right to be mad at her, but she just smiled encouragingly, “and I hope that you accept my apology.”

She turned to Orion and rubbed her neck with her gloved hand. “Orion, you are a smashing captain and you’ll know what to do to make us win today. And if anyone is as stupid as I and disrespects you again,” her eyes flickered to Everett and her nostrils flared with indignation, “I’m going to shove a Beater’s bat right up their- “,

“Thank you for your heartfelt words, Skye, I think you made your point,” Orion cut her off hurriedly. Skye glared at Everett one last time before she sat down next to Judith, who muttered “As long as you don’t take mine, go ahead,” under her breath, making Skye grin.

Orion took his place in front of the semicircle of his teammates once again.

“There is little time left before we have to depart, so I, too, will make this shorter than usual. Every one of us knows what is at stake today. I don’t need to set your minds because I can see the fire burning in every single one of you. But beware, my friends, a single flame is not enough to build a fire; I ask you to join our flames together and make our fire blaze brighter than ever before. Let us show Slytherin that our House is not to be messed with.” He gripped the handle of his broomstick tighter as he looked at every single one of his teammates. “Let our fires burn as one, for we are one team!”

“One team!”

*

The team had taken Orion’s vivification speech to heart. Despite all of the problems they had had to deal with beforehand, the Hufflepuff team finally managed what had always been their greatest strength; they moved as one conscient being, every position complementing the others perfectly.

It hadn’t taken them long to carve out a comfortable lead; the tactic Orion had chosen was working splendidly. He had decided to take Skye’s concern into consideration and had assigned each Beater a specific task. Everett was perfectly suited to bang the Bludgers into the Slytherin Chasers with his brutish strength. As soon as they formed anything resembling a formation, he was determined to scatter them.

Judith, on the other hand, had an eye for the flight paths of the Bludgers and was a lot more experienced, so she was set to clear the path for their own Chasers to score.

And score they did; the Slytherin Keeper was known to be the strongest asset of their team. But fortunately for them, he didn’t seem to be in the best of forms today. More than one shot, that he usually would have deflected, found its way past him, the enchanted rings lighting up along with the roar of the crowd.

“And Amari scores with a spectacular off-hand throw!” Murphy shouted from the commentary box, “The score now stands at 100 to 40 for Hufflepuff! If the Slytherin defence doesn’t get these Chasers under control very soon, our chances at a new record score for this season lie at an impressive 68.9 %.”

McNully was right; the rut of their best player had unsettled the Slytherin performance gravely and Orion and his teammates were ruthlessly using their opponents’ disorder to their advantage.

Orion himself had scored quite a few times already. But Lizzie and Skye were a force to be reckoned with today; they were tearing around the pitch on their Comets and every Bludger sent after them was immediately deflected by Judith, who seemed to have her eyes everywhere.

It was unbelievable how well she and Everett were working together despite their differences. Everett had just beaten an attacking Bludger in Judith’s direction, who diverted its flight path into the forming formation of the Slytherin Chasers.

McNully completely lost it as he commented on the events unfolding in front of him. “What an incredible display of teamwork! The Hufflepuff Beaters show off their newest attack: Everett sends his Bludger over to Harris with force; Harris deflects with a well measured swing of her bat! The Bludger changes direction and oooh- “ he winced audibly as the crowd erupted in cheers, “that must have hurt! The Bludger’s change of direction was 82.5 % unpredictable and hits home as it scatters the wavering arrowhead formation of the Slytherin team! A tactical masterpiece if I might say so!”

Orion suppressed a laugh; as if McNully hadn’t made sure Judith and Everett had his new manoeuvre understood to a tee before letting them test it out in a real match situation.

One of the attacked Chaser had dropped the Quaffle and Orion raced towards it, snatching it out of the air only moments before the Slytherin Chaser reached for it again. They nearly collided mid-air, but Orion managed to lean sideways at the last moment; half hanging sideways of his broom, the other player zoomed over him without contact.

He swung himself back into an upright position and gripped the Quaffle tighter as he whipped his broom around on his way to Slytherin goalposts once more. But this time, the Keeper had guessed the ring Orion was going for and managed to block the Quaffle. He sent it back into the game with a well-practised kick of his foot.

It was too far away for him to reach in time, but he saw Lizzie react immediately. As the Quaffle flew over her head just inches out of her reach, she pushed herself off her broomstick and hopped onto the handle without giving it a second thought. Standing up, she was able to interject the pass and claim the Quaffle for herself.

Still balancing on her broom, she ducked under the Bludgers sent in her direction and started surfing back towards the goalposts at ridiculous speed. The Keeper looked surprised at her attack, but steadied himself as she approached.

Lizzie knew exactly what she was doing, though; crouching down low, she shifted her weight just enough for her Comet to change direction at the last moment. She held her stance as she performed a barrel roll, using the momentum to shoot the Quaffle through one of the rings.

With complete trust in her footing, he heard her cheer as she surfed past the screaming Hufflepuff stands. With a grin, Orion remembered how many times she’d fallen when he had taught her his favourite move all those years ago; unbelievable how far the tenacious girl with no idea about Quidditch had come.

“Jameson scores for Hufflepuff, raising the score to 110 to 40! And what a show she’s giving us!” Murphy jubilated as Lizzie zoomed past the commentary box.

“According to my facts, we haven’t seen Jameson score that way for seven House matches in a row. This marvellous feat of flying even sends the master of this technique into daydreams it seems,” McNully’s voice was vibrating with badly contained laughter before it grew serious again, “but they could quickly turn into a nightmare as a Bludger is headed on its way to see whether Amari can hold onto his broomstick quite as well as Jameson.”

Orion snapped out of his musings and had just enough time to dodge the Bludger that zoomed past his head. Judith followed it immediately to get hold of it; however, the Slytherin Chaser she directed it against still had the time to pass his Quaffle onto his teammate.

Before he could set after it, Lizzie shot past him, her hair trailing behind her in the wind. She turned around for a split second, her eyes meeting his.

“Focus, Captain!” he heard her snap at him before she concentrated on bumping into her opponent to relieve him of his charge.

Right she was; Orion cleared his mind as he set after her, catching the Quaffle she passed him with one hand. They had a game to win.

*

It only got worse for Slytherin as the match progressed. Although they did manage to score a few goals against Hufflepuff eventually, with every goal they received in turn, the confusion grew between them. They had been off track before, but trailing so far behind a team they had deemed an easy win had their own players turn against themselves.

Their youngest Chaser, a brutish boy named Marcus Flint, was on the verge of picking a fight with his Beater for allowing a Bludger to hit him, when all eyes on the pitch suddenly turned on Lucy and the Slytherin Seeker, who were in a head to head race for a tiny golden spec glittering in the sunlight below the Gryffindor stands.

“This match could find a preliminary end as the Seekers of both teams appear to have spotted the Golden Snitch!” Murphy exclaimed. The Slytherin Seeker was slightly in advance and if she were to reach the Snitch first, all their scoring would have been for nothing; Hufflepuff had a comfortable lead, but it wasn’t enough to cushion a boost of 150 points.

The stadium had fallen completely silent as everyone’s eyes were glued to the two girls racing for the Snitch. The Seeker in the emerald robes already had her hand outstretched, when all of a sudden a Bludger from Everett hit the handle of her broomstick, knocking her clean off. Luckily, they weren’t high enough to do her much damage as she fell to the soft lawn underneath her.

Lucy didn’t miss a beat as her opponent fell; she was lying almost flat on her broom to get all the speed out of it that she could. When her fingers were only inches away from the Snitch, she pushed herself against the footrests of her broom to give herself the reach she needed.

Orion couldn’t see properly what she was doing but was spared further guessing when Lucy’s scream of triumph carried through the air and the whole stadium went into a frenzy as she presented the gleaming Snitch in her raised fist.

“O’Connell gives it her all and succeeds! The match is over!” Murphy’s voice almost cracked as he shouted over the noise of the crowd. “Hufflepuff gains 150 points and wins with a crushing score of 310 to 70. Dear spectators, if you allow me a calculation on the top of my head, I’d say we have a new contender for the Quidditch Cup!”

*

To nobody’s surprise, Murphy’s calculation had been completely right. They had been able to score so many points against Slytherin that Hufflepuff was back in the game for the Cup. As Gryffindor had been able to rack up a spectacular victory against Ravenclaw in one of the shortest matches Lizzie had ever seen, their last game of the season would simultaneously be the final showdown for the priced trophy.

When the team had entered their Common Room after properly celebrating among themselves first, they had been greeted by thundering applause and chants. Contrary to the last post-match party, everyone was pumped and the atmosphere exhilarated. Tulip and a few other Ravenclaws had decided to join their celebration as well; it wasn’t particularly difficult to gain entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room after all. She and Tonks had wasted no time and had poured some Firewhiskey into the gigantic, self-refilling bowl of punch in the middle of the room.

Lizzie had already drunk more than her fair share of it. They had celebrated with a round of butterbeers in the Changing Room directly after returning from the pitch and by now, her head felt fuzzy and her cheeks were flushed from both the heated air in the room and the Firewhiskey warming her from the inside. She was glad the alcohol numbed the countless bruises and cuts littering her body; it was no secret Slytherin knew how to play rough and the frustration at the course of the match hadn’t improved their physical gameplay.

Ira, one of the other Hufflepuff girls in Lizzie’s year, had lectured Lizzie, about her carelessness when she had patched her up, like she always did. She had a natural gift for Herbology and healing and often took care of the minor injuries all of them brought back from the pitch. Her abilities and Penny’s secretly brewed Wiggenweld Potions had more than once spared Lizzie a trip to the Hospital Wing.

Lizzie and Penny were standing near the refreshment table with Skye and a few other Hufflepuffs. All the attention was fixed on Skye, who was recounting the highlights of the match under full usage of her body; just like Lizzie, the combination of adrenaline and alcohol had gone straight to her head.

She was just now replaying the way Lizzie had scored her goal whilst broom surfing, mimicking McNully’s commenting style as she re-enacted the scene. Feeling embarrassed at the praise, Lizzie dropped her eyes.

“You’re exaggerating, Parkin,” she mumbled.

“Only a little,” Skye shrugged, before resuming the show for her onlookers.

“She’s right,” Penny agreed, “you were amazing today, Liz. Rowan and I were screaming our heads off when you scored that goal.”

Lizzie blushed. “Where is Rowan anyway?” She hadn’t seen her friend since lunch.

“She’s got prefect duty tonight,” Penny answered. “She left before you guys came back.”

To say she wasn’t a little bit glad that Rowan wasn’t here would have been a lie. For whatever reason, Rowan had been in a particularly good mood ever since yesterday evening. And while it was good to see her so happy, Lizzie wasn’t in the mood for her ramblings right now; especially if they revolved around Orion, like they so often did these days.

She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and was really starting to feel the effects of the alcohol; she felt lightheaded and wondered if it was a good idea to get as wasted as she already was. Lizzie knew she was prone to rambling about things better left unsaid when she was drunk and she had amassed quite a collection of things that had better stay a secret. It took a lot of concentration from her side to not lose track of what version of the truth she had told to whom and her hazy mind didn’t make things easier.

But Rowan not being in the Common Room tonight meant she could relax just a little bit more and Penny was right; she had performed really well today and earned herself a bit of laid-back fun with her friends.

Her eyes scanned the crowd for Orion without really thinking about it. The last time she’d seen him, he had been with Murphy and KC, who had been amongst the Ravenclaws that had arrived with Tulip. A smile tugged at Lizzie’s lips as she saw the red haired Beater sitting on Murphy’s lap, engaged in a little bit more than a heated discussion.

As the door leading out of the Common Room opened, the movement caught Lizzie’s eye. She could just make out the familiar figure of Orion before he vanished in the darkness of the tunnel that connected Hufflepuff House to the rest of the castle.

Penny had seen him leaving as well. “Seems like Orion needs a break from the adoring masses.”

Lizzie only hummed in response, her eyes still fixed to the now closed door.

“Maybe he’d like some company,” Penny suggested with a smirk.

Lizzie tore her eyes from the exit and turned to her. “What do you mean?”

Penny only raised her eyebrows in response.

Lizzie gripped her cup tighter. “I’m not sure that’d be a good idea.”

Gently prying her cup out of her hands, Penny nudged her in the direction of the door. “Just go.”

She stared at the encouraging expression on Penny’s face. It was a bad idea; she should really stay here where she couldn’t do anything stupid.

With an inward curse, she grabbed her drink back from Penny’s hands and downed the remains of it in one go. She shuddered from the strong taste as she put the empty cup down on the table.

Such a bad idea.

Before she could change her mind, Lizzie pushed herself away from the table and through the crowd, slipping quietly through the round door.

[bluskye-27]

"Hey, Skye! Can I please request for a spin on the wheel? With a fem s/o please! Thank you~"

Watching the Sunset with Sabo

S/O: Female

- You, Sabo, Koala and Hack recently docked at Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) (tell me if I did this wrong (⁠｡⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)) for a new mission

- You guys need to stalk this snotty-nosed noble for information and it's probably the easiest shit you guys have ever been XD

- Seeing this opportunity for a date, Sabo insisted that you guys should pair up, you and him while Koala's with Hack.

- The ginger haired girl was skeptical at first but agreed nonetheless, knowing you were more responsible than your boyfriend XD

- Now that you guys split up, Sabo excitedly tugged you with him to explore the island. And you let him, he deserves to have a break after all <3

"Sabo! Where were you and Y/n!? We got the information while you guys were nowhere to be found!" Koala's angry voice yelled out from the den den mushi that you held, you and Sabo wincing at the shrill sound.

"Geez, calm down, Koala. And you already finished the mission? That's good!" Sabo cheekily smiled at you, his arm securely wrapped around your waist. You couldn't help but smile back at him.

But Koala didn't seem very pleased with the answer, her face scrunched up as she frowned harder than normal. "You didn't tell me where you two were going!" She cried out again.

"Well... Would you look at that! It's time for us to go, bye Koala!" And then Sabo hanged up, cutting off the scream of a certain ginger from the den den mushi. The blond then looked at you for approval but you just shook your head at him in disappointment, making him frown.

"What?" He asked.

"That was so rude, Sabo." You sighed, ignoring the man's whines as you walked off without him. "Wait up, love!" Sabo yelped and immediately walked after you, speeding up once you started running away.

"Hey! Come back here!" Yet you just laughed at him, breaking your angry facade.

The two of you ran out of the city, passing by buildings and small shops. The streets grew emptier the further you went until they were practically deserted as the sun slowly began to set. A cool breeze brushed across your face as you and Sabo continued running through fields.

You stopped running once you reached the cliff, overlooking the sea and the setting sun.

"Beautiful, right?" Sabo said behind you before he wrapped his arms around your waist. You hummed in agreement, leaning into him with a content smile. "I'd like to come here again someday," you whispered, closing your eyes.

"Me too." Unbeknownst to you, Sabo reached out to his pocket and took your hand, slipping something on your finger.

After sensing the cold touch, you opened your eyes to look at Sabo and then on your left hand, gasping at the luxurious sight.

"Sabo!" Your smile widened as you admired the platinum band that rested delicately on your finger, decorated with a simple diamond cut into the shape of a crescent moon. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe this happened!"

You jumped excitedly, wrapping your arms around his neck as you peppered kisses all over his face, successfully making him giggle.

"It did. I'm so happy I finally have you..." He chuckled as he leaned in for another kiss, pulling you closer as one hand tangled itself in your hair.

When you finally pulled away and looked at each other, Sabo cupped your cheeks softly, pressing his forehead against yours as he gazed into your beautiful eyes.

"So L/N Y/N, do you take me as your future husband?" He grinned, his cheeks brightening at your gorgeous smile.

"Hm.. I don't know?" You feigned, frowning fakely as you tried to keep your smirk from rising upon seeing Sabo's pout. His hands fell from your face and instead landed on your shoulders, shaking them playfully as he pushed your upper body away from his and placed both hands on either side of your face.

"Come now, Y/N~ Don't tease me like that!" You giggled at his dramatics and decided to peck his nose instead.

"Yes, I gladly accept you as my annoyingly dorky yet cute future husband, Chief of Staff Sabo." You nodded seriously, earning a laugh from the blonde before you felt his lips meet yours. He was warm, soft, and loving and even though it may seem impossible, he made everything worth it.

As the two of you kissed each other deeply, you failed to notice an angry shout from afar.

"SABO! Y/N! THERE YOU ARE!" Koala yelled from across the field, shaking her fist angrily. "You two better start running now or else..!"

Sabo pulled away from you, looked at the approaching ginger before grinning at you. "You heard the lady, run!" And then he promptly scooped you on his arms and proceeded to dash off, laughing with you as you guys run away from Koala.

Meanwhile, Hack was shaking his head in disappointment, his palms covering his face. "I don't get paid enough for this."

Hello, sis @kazenomegaminowanpisu !!! You got Sabo lol 😆 Thank you for participating, sis!

[fischerfrey]

HPHM character profile

Identity

Name: Verna Aelia Malinda

Gender: cis female

Age: Depends on the timeline

Birth Date: December 15th, 1972 (Sagittarius)

Species: Human witch

Blood Status: Half-blood but thought to be pureblood by the Wizarding community.

Sexuality: Lesbian

Alignment: Chaotic good

Ethnicity: Mixed (black mother, mixed father)

Nationality: British

Residence: The Malinda Manor, somewhere in the English countryside

Myer Briggs Personality Type: The Protagonist (ENFJ)

The Mage

1st Wand: Hornbeam, 11 inches, dragon heartstring, unyielding

2nd Wand: Ebony, 11 ¼ inches, dragon heartstring, unyielding

Animagus: Calico cat

Misc Magical Abilities: -

Boggart Form: Evil!Jacob turning against her.

Riddikulus Form: Evil!Jacob transforms into a tiny, angry kitten.

Amortentia: (What do they smell like?)

Fleetwood's High-Finish Broom Handle Polish

Caramel apples

The orchard behind her childhood home

Amortentia: (What do they smell?)

Nailpolish

Old books

Coffee

Patronus: Calico cat (same as animagus form)

Patronus Memory: A summer day at the Malinda manor when Verna was young, Jacob is teaching her to fly while her parents watch from the sidelines, happy and carefree.

Mirror of Erised: Her family back together again, everyone is safe and content.

Specialized/Favourite Spells: Depulso (the banishing charm), Incendio (the fire-making spell)

Appearance

(I don’t really 100% vibe with her in-game appearence since the hair selection for natural hair is not the best but I make do.)

Height: 5′10 (178cm)

Weight: like normal weight for an athletic girl that tall ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Physique: Athletic

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Black

Skin Tone: Brown with warm undertones

Body Modifications: Earrings, nose ring (6th year onwards), a few tattoos as an adult

Scarring: -

Inventory: Wand, Merula’s gift necklace (5th year onwards), some cat treats for Osborn, random old homework and other pieces of parchment discarded at the bottom of her bag at all times, a bag of apple rings (her favourite sweets).

Fashion:

It’s 1984-1991 and I want jam city to let it show in their quest reward items!!!

Allegiances 

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

Ilvermorny House: I don’t really vibe with Ilvermony so I have no idea xD

Affiliations/Organizations: Gryffindor house. Gryffindor quidditch team, Malinda family, Circle of Khanna, The Order of Phoenix

Professions: Worked as a Defence Against Dark Arts substitute teacher for a year shortly after Hogwarts, trained to be an auror for a while but dropped out due to disagreements with Ministry policy

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: A

Charms: O

DADA: O

Herbology: A

History of Magic: P

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Muggle Studies: E

Quidditch:

Verna is the chaser of her house’s quidditch team for most of her Hogwarts career.

Extra-Curricular: Duelling club, Dragon club

Favourite Professors: Minerva McConagall

Least Favourite Professors: Severus Snape, Patricia Rakepick

Relationships

Brother: Jacob Aurelius Malinda

Growing up, Jacob was Verna’s hero. He is five years older than Verna but nevertheless they spent a great deal of time together as children, Jacob often babysitting his sister. Although he was never as much into Quidditch as Verna, he would spend hours teaching her to fly and even take her to watch matches a few years before his disappearance.

Although otherwise short-tempered and rash, Jacob had endless amounts of patience for Verna. With very absent parents, Jacob all but raised Verna from a young age and Verna trusted him to look after her more than their parents, which is why it was shocking to her when he disappeared without a word.

Father: Mervyn Malinda

The sole heir to the Malinda estate, Mervyn is an important character within the Wizard society. However, what the general public doesn’t know, is that he is, in fact, an illegitimate child with a muggle mother. This has been kept secret by his grandmother, father, and step-mother throughout his whole life. The only other person to know the truth since his birthmother’s passing is Juniper, his wife.

Mervyn works as the Head of The Department of Magical Transportation. He is not a very affectionate father, but he tries his best to support his children. Mervyn used to be a Gryffindor.

Mother: Juniper Malinda, née Raeburn

A prominent witch from the pureblood Raeburn family, Juniper married Mervyn Malinda out of love. She is a little eccentric and spends a lot of time working on her potions. For a time, the Malindas had a relatively peaceful life with their two children, up until Jacob went missing. After that, Juniper and Mervyn grew distant and started to argue a lot.

Juniper works as a potioneer and values learning, diligence, and holding onto what you believe. She used to be a Ravenclaw.

Love Interest: Merula Snyde

Verna and Merula start out as rivals but due to having to work together during their search for the cursed vaults, they are forced to spend time together. Both start to develop a crush on the other but are in complete and utter denial about it. Verna is the one to realize her feelings first, and she starts to antagonize Merula just to have tension-filled moments with her, which is a completely normal and rational approach to letting your crush know you like them.

Merula and Verna date in school and a while after it but eventually break up in the turmoils of the war. Depending on the version, they might end up together later on though.

(also, as a sidenote, i headcanon merula as like, really short so this dynamic is so much fun when verna is TALL)

Best Friend: Charlie Weasley

They both like Quidditch and are complete dorks. Worst pair of prefects Gryffindor has ever seen, totally incompetent at their job.

(Is this me projecting my love for Charlie into my OC? Absolutely yes and I have no regrets.)

Rivals: Merula Snyde, Patricia Rakepick

Enemy: Voldemort, R

Dormmates: Rowan Khanna, Skye Parkin, Eloise Montague, and  Yasmin Wakefield (the last two are my ocs just to fill the dorm for my fic but these spots are up for grabs if anyone wants to be dormmates!)

Pets: A black cat called Osborn

Closest Canon Friends: Charlie Weasley, Rowan Khanna, Ben Copper

Closest MC Friends:

Farrow Raeburn @threeon1match​

Verna’s cousin from her mother’s side of the family. He is a year younger than Verna and in Slytherin. They are nevertheless close, and Farrow has a huuuge crush on Verna’s cool, dragon-loving friend Charlie.

Background/History

Pre Hogwarts: 

Verna had a wealthy childhood in the countryside at the Malinda manor. She had a close friendship with her older brother who taught her to fly her first broom. Verna had a keen interest in learning spells even at a young age, and her parents would often find her using magic before she was allowed to (often with disastrous consequences). The year Verna was meant to start her studies at Hogwarts, her brother went missing and her mother became very distant, while her father acted as if nothing was wrong. Verna became determined to find and rescue her brother.

Hogwarts Years:

If I would get around to publishing my fic maybe you guys would find out!! But the basic skeleton of the storyline follows the game’s events, just modified to suit a different medium and sans all the dumb stuff!!

Order of the Phoenix / 2nd Wizarding War:

Verna works as a substitute teacher in Hogwarts for a year, after which she trains to become an auror. However, she doesn’t like the way things are run at the Ministry, so she quits and moves home to the Manor for a while, trying to figure out what to do with her life. Before she can come to any conclusions though, the Second Wizarding War starts to pick up speed and the secrets her family has kept all these years transform from dangerous to fatal. Verna is recruited into the Order of the Phoenix by her old friend Bill Weasley.

Verna reunites with many of her old friends from school while working in the Order. Her father is killed during the war and her relationship with her mother goes through a lot of turmoil.

Her ultimate fate is not set in stone and in some versions she dies during the war and in others she makes it.

Post-War:

Depends on whether she survives or not. If Verna lives, she will eventually find her path to a teaching position at Hogwarts OR a curse-breaking job with the (much-changed) Ministry.

She also reconciles with her ex Merula, and the two of them get together.

Personality

Positive attributes: caring, brave, selfless, confident, passionate, protective, resourceful. Negative attributes: impatient, impulsive, stubborn, cocky, reckless, competitive, short-tempered.

if you made it this far, wow! congrats! thank you!!!! i love you forever!!!

[princetonsjp]

More Than a Hashtag: Generation Z and The Impact of Internet Activism

By Jennifer Alvarado and Layla Hussein 

Image Credit: Megan Li

“Before the pandemic, we weren’t as involved and we were young. We knew what was going on, but we did not have a say. Now, everyone is becoming fearless during the pandemic,” Ebony Riley, a high school student in New Jersey explains.

As the coronavirus pandemic skyrocketed across the nation, the world witnessed a new age of activism, especially among Generation Z. With quarantine limiting opportunities to express our voices, the tech-savvy generation worked with what they already have: social media. 

Online activism did not originate during the pandemic or with Generation Z, though. During the 1990s, the U.S. experienced its early stages of internet activism with the Lotus MarketPlace and its email-marketing database that contained information of over 120 million U.S. citizens. Although the internet was not as advanced as it is today, people used mass emailing as a campaign method to advocate for their privacy concerns. 

In recent years before the pandemic, online activism was also seen with instances of police brutality. After 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, people used social media as an outlet to organize protests and disseminate information, with #Ferguson calling global attention to bring accountability to repressive forces. In the summer of 2020, online activism was at its peak with the murder of George Floyd, where people cried for justice through virtual petitioning and campaigning.

The pandemic amplified existing issues of systemic racism, climate change, mental health disparities, and more that awakened many people out of a state of normalcy and engaged more teenagers to activism. The nation witnessed a racial uprising following high-profile killings of Black citizens during the pandemic, some at the hands of law enforcement. In the midst of social distancing and quarantine, there was nothing left to do for most individuals but to utilize social media to express their voices. 

Known as a casual posting platform, Instagram grew into a medium of social change to share information and action resources with visually engaging, condensed infographics. Additionally, TikTok flourished into an app that still preserves meme culture and viral dance trends, but acts as an opportunity for BIPOC creators to speak on issues, educate others, and bring radical change through 15 to 60-second videos. 

Jackie James, an 18-year-old TikTok influencer with over 2 million followers, uses the app as a creative outlet to fight for social justice through satire. Indigenous TikToker Shina Nova similarly uses the app to educate her audience about Indigenous history, culture, and experiences. 

The Impact of Online Activism on Generation Z

Due to social media and online activism, 16-year-old Skye-Ali Johnson has learned more about social justice and the Black community. She recently learned about the case of Tamla Horsford through an infographic on Instagram. “It’s unfortunate how this world is because there's plenty of unfortunate events going on around here that are really tragic, so I just find that every day that I go on social media, I'm always learning about something new,” she says.

However, with so much content on social media, many teenagers expressed pressure to always be politically active.  

“I feel pressure to be in-the-know all the time,” Mmachukwu Osisioma, a student from Tennessee, tells us. “Sometimes, I do not know 100% on a topic, but when people I know are engaged in the topic, I feel like I have to know a lot about that certain topic to be able to be friends with them or engage in conversations with them. That’s kind of hard, especially when the news is hard to read.”

17-year-old Yasmin Mustefa shares a similar feeling. “Through social media, there are always people who say ‘Why is nobody talking about this?’, ‘We need to speak up now!’ And I am like ‘Do I have to repost this?’, ‘Do I have to be vocal about this right now?��� And at those times, I step back and realize that I do not have to. But it is my responsibility to educate myself on a certain topic.”

When it comes to the individual perspective on internet activism, feelings can be much more internal, and the motives for spreading information may not be as calculated. “If I were to repost something, would it make a lot of a difference to my followers?” is a question Yasmin asks herself while dealing with the pressure of disseminating information. However, this is not something most big corporations ask themselves before posting something. Rather, they ask if it is something that will influence their portrayal in the media.

Blurring the Lines Between Performative and Genuine Activism

Social media has become a pivotal approach for not only Generation Z, but reputable companies, celebrities, politicians, and more to speak out on issues. However, many people argue that digital activism shared among reputable figures and companies is for the sake of conserving their public image. 

This was seen in June of 2021, when members of the LGBTQIA+ community celebrated Pride Month. Many companies traditionally decorate their logo with rainbow-like colors, but transition to their original logo when pride month is over, suggesting that celebrating LGBTQIA+ folks occurs once a year. This is known to be rainbow capitalism, where companies contribute to the commercialization and commodification of LGBTQ+ movements, as well as the capitalization of queer struggles. 

Many companies contribute to rainbow capitalism, despite being anti-LGBT. CVS, for example, decorated its logo with rainbow colors in an attempt to express allyship for the LGBTQ+ community, yet supports sponsors of anti-trans legislation in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. What’s more, AT&T once pledged to a Human Rights Campaign letter against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, yet made approximately 327 donations to 133 anti-LGBTQ+ legislators. 

Along with the LGBTQ+ community, this is seen with the Black Lives Matter movement. Osisioma noted, “The NFL was in support of BLM, but they were not in support of the people taking a knee. I am like ‘you say one thing, but it is another.’ GAP supported BLM but very few percent of the company were actually Black. And they get money from this [supporting BLM]. People are like ‘GAP supports BLM, I should buy from them.’”

Teenagers have also expressed how infographics can be more focused on its aesthetic rather than the actual content, contributing more to performative activism.

“The pretty design and the fonts [of the infographics] make it hard for me to focus on the actual content. Sometimes the aesthetic is prioritized over the content. People spend hours on the infographics, trying to make the design feed into the feed, to make it look cute, to make people stop and read,” Osisioma shared.

Your Guide to Combating Misinformation

Due to the freedom that social media instills, it has become increasingly easy to upload and discuss information that is not completely truthful or accurate. This can, unfortunately, come as a big disadvantage for those who make no attempt to fact check and cross-reference.

As seen during the earlier stages of the pandemic, many were making an attempt to find a feasible cure for COVID-19 through the use of traditional medicine. This resulted in a series of rumors surrounding antidotes for the disease that only functioned to misinform people and create false speculations and hope. 

Student journalist Skye-Ali Johnson provides advice for combating misinformation: “I do sometimes try to make sure that I go directly to the source and I look at, you know, what's their expertise in this field? How knowledgeable are they on the subject? What's their experience with the subject?” Having access to social media likely means equal access to search engines where you can conduct personal research that will lead you to a conclusion based on facts and evidence. 

As a community that has grown at the same rate that technology evolves,  Generation Z is on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. Generation Z has managed to battle against the constant cycles of misinformation in the media. “I started following those accounts [that share infographics], and that’s how I know more about social justice,” says Osisioma. This generation is making a successful attempt at managing both their future and the mental toll of so much tragedy. Access to information on current events is now at its peak thanks to online activism.

[kaimactrash]

Okay first and foremost: if this flag is wrong lemme know! I have been googling but obviously, it can only go so far in trustablity since pages can be boosted.Anyway, heres my crew of lesbian OCs,

realise I have very few gay men ocs bc I've been in a real drawing fems mood lately, but theres a few there

info below on the ocs

other than Lith none of these women were born on earth, or even lived on it, so they don't have the exact same gender and physical sex rules we do, so this is more the closest term that fits all of my ladies who love ladies&enbees.up in the top left we have Lottie, she's not really into sex that much, but shes all about the romance, shes a very loving person, but deeply scared from several events leaving her with intense PTSD. She's a Frenrar native would was recruited as a demon, she was much more anthro as a human, but lost some of it on the transition to demon. She starts her story being rescued, while greatful, within a few months of world trecking she realised that this isn't what she wants to do anymore, she decides to hang out at Valentino, Skye, and Pipers traveling bar, called The Turkeys Tail. There she studies endlessly to solve a few magic issues on Franrar with the help of Valentino, it takes time but she ends up being the demon to be able to break the Elders curse, in the form of cuffs binding all lower (Hokey) demons, which prevents them running of flying away. She's a pacifist & would really like if there were no wars going on, but since she can't stop them herself, she tries to do so with her experiments. She's growing a lot as i write her and get to know her which is cool, I love when you can just almost hear a character coming together in your mind. all the inspo! Sorry for the ramble! it's good to get this stuff down when I'm in brain storming mind! Across from Lottie, top right, is lith! If you've followed me for years you know lith a bit, she was once a middle aged woman from earth, she made the transition over to demon at the end of a long fight with respiritory illness. Shes very busy lady being one of the two first primary protagonists, while she has some time to adjust to demon life, it didn't come with its own issues, and she ws soon through into a resistance for a place she arrived in not that long ago, she works it out over time. She also works out her sexuality, as a human, she pretty much burried her sexuality but the freedom of a while new world, one filled with many more queer people like her, haha.below her the giant elder Galo stands, due to her bullish attitude and hard headed focus, she struggles with this and the power battles in the Demon realm, often failing to see the wider issue as rilo refocuses her everytime she get close to figuring them out. Shes a bit new so a little under developed but shes going to be apearing quite a lot at the start of the story, then return later, so I'll have some time to get to know her. that tiny lil green triclops like thing, is Shihosu, my most precious and special baby, I wanna protect her even thou i'm the one writting the conflict in her world. She actually dies before she even apears, but shes brough back by octo ( the gold and purple octomaid lady.) and this essentially makes her speicies see her as some blessed chosen one, she has a big repuatation and after seeing and hearing other members of her speices die, she goes on the hunt for octo to find out why she was chosen...she has plenty of fun nights out during  this, so she has a good life work balance.   Shihosu is checking out Elviras butt. Elvira is basically an effigy brought to life by her father Emesh, She's a romantic at heart and can't help but coo and awe at any acts of love. Her father is very over protective and it takes a long time for her to be given true free reign of her life, shes thousands of years old by that point, so she gets out and finds the area outside her home is a semi-apocolyptic waste land filled with strange speicies and creatures, she quick decides she has left because she's to help. Her father is actually aware that he was to let her go off on her own as soon as she'd ask. He was inspired to create her while tripping hard, and the voice told him how to make her, and why he should....*mystery music.*Lastly we have the aforementioned Octo, and her wife, Beefy. By the time we meet them, they've been married a few years and they are obnoxiously in love. Beefy was earth child some how snatched onto Frenrar, she doesn'y know who did it, why, or even how, even though she meets others like her over time, none of them seem to know who did this, and no one on frenrar seems to know who could even do that. She was found in a box in the woods, no older than a year, and the Fleetfoots, a rabbit like spieces with multiple varients across frenrar, the spieces are known for strength, mentally and phsyically, hardiness, and determination, which ended up feeling perfect for Beefy, until Octovar arrived, Not immediately though. Octo was there over a summer at her father request, as she had gained a reputation for making scenes at big public royal family events, so as it is so oftem the rebelious princess is sent off out of daddys way, while he does his old boring bussiness. Beefy spent a lot of her time building and training physically, and Octovar would often be around. She's very curious as someone who lives mostly in the sea, being so far from the ocean, the lifestyles felt completely alien to one another. Over time awkward stares and little comments evolved in to longing looks and full on flirting. Always very opinionated, Octovar opened up to beefy about why she was here, why she was fighting them, and why she needed to leave before her father came back to collect her, Beefy agreed and talked about a Fleetfoot called Piper who had been here, but left after a visit from a powerful mage, beefy had kept contact via letters, so was now aware, Piper was an active member of the resistance. Beefy said her goodbyes, their culture never saw one set of parents, everyone raised everyone basically, so it was scary, but the elders reccomended beefy go try it out, reminding her, her burrow will always be there for her when or if she ever comes back.While we meet them at wives I'm 100% planning a prequel comic on them from meeting each other, to when they meet lith landon and the crew.OOf woops sorry these are meant to be silly cute lil pieces but I get all focused on lore! I'm still planningon doing more even though pride is over, I'm planning on doing one with gay men, then aro/ace. I may also do one with other mspec idnetities, but I do not have many ocs in those categories, YET! I will defo have more as more characters are created, I gotta make a whole planet of people. so theres gonna be variety.I may try and put all my trans characters together for a trans flag, but i may use the art I already made of them! Happy pride Lesbains*! (*and all the groups simailir or under that lable)        

[mochilici0us]

One New Message | jjk (1)

➳ 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: angst, thriller, stalker!au

➳ 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀:Skye realizes she has to deal with a ruthless stalker when the messages she’s constantly receiving are getting more and more threatening. A stalker that makes her recall memories of the past she swore she would never rake up again

➳ 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 2,5k

prologue, part one, part two, part three, part four

January 2013

''Skye we're leaving in an hour. Please start getting ready'' I had already drifted off when my mother's voice outside the door ruined my sweet sleep. The clock next to my bed says 8 o clock. As it seems, no matter how much I tried to get away with tonight’s dinner my mother is not having it . I ignore her and just slump into my warm bed again.

''Skye I'm talking to you. Get up.'' this time she enters the room and agressively pulls the bedspread. Her voice never fails to get on my nerves.

''What happened?'' I rub my eyes pretending to be clueless

She grins humorlessly “You’re coming to the dinner whether you want it or not. I won’t tolerate your stubbornness again” her long thin arms are now crossed in front of her chest, the whole body posture appears quite aggressive.

“Again?” It’s my turn to laugh. As if she’s less stubborn....

The cocky smile falls from her face revealing a disturbed woman. She chokes back her reply and changes the subject

''I left your dress inside your closet. It's kind of tight you better fit into it'' she chuckles

''I'm not fat mum” I hiss in annoyance

''I didn't say you're fat'' she raises her hands defensively

''Whatever'' I quit trying, an argument with my mum is always lost. My hands make their way to my rumbling stomach and rub it softly ''Mum... Can you please tell Ruby to fetch me a snack? I haven't eaten since five''

''No. We're going for dinner anyway'' she denies shaking her head, her soft blonde curls moving from side to side

''But I'm hungry''

''Sounds like your problem''

Very mature answer from a 47-year-old woman. And they act like I’m the stubborn one in this family. Her words hurt me, I swallow my tears and speak my mind openly, I can’t always behave kind as my parents expect me to

''I'm going to pass out for fuck's sake''

''Watch your mouth!'' she shouts ''This dinner is important to your father, to us, we have to look flawless. I've put so much effort into finding the ideal dress for you. It would be very unfortunate if your stomach seemed bloated or even worse if you didn't fit into it.” She shoots me a threatening look “To conclude, no food till the dinner, get ready please''

After finishing her monologue she leaves my bedroom hurriedly, she has to finish her preparations as well. I'm used to her insults, I always feel hurt whatsoever but it's nothing I can't cope with. What annoys me the most right now is my poor stomach that's begging for some food.

''Hey Skye'' I hear a small voice realizing it's Ruby

''Hey'' my eyes flash when I lower my gaze and see what she's holding

''I overheard your conversation with mrs Westbrook, looks like it's your lucky day'' she smiles and hands me the bowl filled with milk and cereal

“It's light but enough to satisfy your hunger I guess''

''You're an angel'' I whisper and dive into my cereal. They taste better than I thought, when you’re hungry everything tastes better. Indeed Ruby an angel. She always appears right when I need her.

''I have to go now, your parents are probably looking for me''

''Please stay'' I extend my hand and grab her upper arm.

''I wish I could... We'll catch up tomorrow morning''  she pats my hair sympathetically and excuses herself.

Ruby is 8 years older than me. I'm sure you're wondering why a 26-year-old young girl works as a maid instead of exploring the world and living her dreams. Well let's say that life didn't go easy on her as many unfortunate events took place and forced her to leave her dreams behind and work hard. She's been working for us for 3 years and because of her young age and amazing, bubbly character we grew closer to the point I consider her as a best friend. And these small gestures make me love her even more.

8:10. I devour the rest of my cereal and run straight towards the bathroom to take a quick shower. We've got a long night ahead of us...

Present

''What do you mean they didn't agree?'' I question dryly, my eyebrows raised in blatant disbelief

The man across my desk gulps “No matter how much we tried to convice them they clarified they're not interested in cooperation''

''We need this cooperation. If we gain their shareholders trust so that they invest in our company too the success is guaranteed.'' I tap my nails against the table attempting to collect myself.

''I know. What are we doing now?''

''I'm not sure. Just tell Taehyung to get his ass over here right now''

He chuckles ''Do you need a coffee?''

''Right now I need a few tranquilizers with whiskey'' I rub my forehead exhausted

''That's easier to find than your weird coffee. Dairy free coconut milk creamer?''

I crack a smile ''You know that I'm lactose intolerant. I'm not a weird person''

''So what about your odd stevia sweetener instead of sugar?'' he remarks quickly crossing his arms across the chest

''I'm on a diet. Women have to take care of their body, you understand don't you?'' I bat my eyelashes innocently

''Yes but decaf cappucino? For God's sake Skye''

''Hoseok it's time to go now'' I act serious but hardly keep my laughter

''You have no idea how the barista looks at me every time I say all these shits you drink'' The desperate look on his face makes the situation even funnier

''You have no idea how your mother's gonna look at you when you announce you got fired''

''It's time to leave, I have so many errands to run'' he gets up pretending to study his wrist watch ''See you Skye''

''That wasn't smooth Hoseok. Let Taehyung know I want to meet him''

''Okay boss'' he gives a salute and finally exits my office.

I lean back on my chair and gently rub my temples. Last night I had nightmares that didn't leave me to rest.

It sounds weird but I've noticed that I have warning dreams, I found that out when I was 20 years old. I usually don't have dreams but when I do, they are always giving me signs.

Attempting to quench my curiosity I did a little research in order to interpret them and found something called precognitive dreaming but I'm not sure if this is what I have because I still haven't figured whether my dreams can predict the future or they just convey a subconscious message. What I know for sure is whenever I have a bad dream something unfortunate happens whereas whenever I have good dreams luck seems to be on my side. It's been so long since I last had a blissful dream, so many years... I don't believe in dreams however, I'm a business woman that depends on actual evidences and not on my sixth sense or whatever.

But last night you had a nightmare and today we didn't make the important deal with Kim Enterprises, the voice inside my head comments.

''You wanted to see me'' Taehyung interrupts my stupid thoughts

''Maybe I wouldn't dislike you that much if you knocked the door''

''Maybe you would have someone to screw with if you weren't so annoying'' he laughs and takes a seat

''You're laughing? I'm glad because after our conversation you won't''

''I suppose you're referring to the deal with Kim Enterprises right?''

''What happened Taehyung?'' I ask seriously this time

''They are not interested. I tried hard to make them agree but they weren't having it'' he grabs a pen and fiddles with it

''They weren't content with our terms?''

''No, no Skye we both know our offer is very tempting and they really appreciated that. However, they are planning a launch of a brand new product which they developed on their own that's why they're busy and not capable of following our terms''

I nod noncommittally and bite my lower lip deep in thoughts ''What kind of product?'' I finally ask Taehyung

''They didn't say. They made clear though that it's gonna be a revolutionary tool. I suspect it's a cellphone with the new mobile operating system they created last year.''

''You suspect? Based on what?''

''Let's say that some information leaked, you know how these things work. We're not 100% sure though''

''And they declined our offer? They declined an offer from a marketing company like ours? We could have increased sales dramatically. Stupid people.'' I hiss and take a sip of my strawberry infused water, the cool liquid soothing my throat

''We shouldn't push them more, we put a future cooperation at risk''

'' I know.'' I hide my face with my hands

''Hey, don't let this bring you down. We had so many beneficial projects and cooperations this year, we don't need Kim that much''

''It's just... forget it'' I shake my head and Taehyung leans forward and captures my hand.

''What?'' he mutters softly

''I don't wanna fail''

''You didn't fail sweetheart. It's something we both want so much but unfortunately things  don't work out every time. Let's focus on the rest of our responsibilities'' he massages my fingers and wrist softly, with care and smiles.

''Ok''I simply reply

''You look tired''

''I didn't sleep at night. And your massage doesn't help, it makes me more sleepy'' I lean back and close my eyes

''You didn't sleep well huh?'' I'm sure he's smirking

''Taehyung shut up''

''No answer. That's suspicious''

''With Grace sleeping in the room next to mine your assumption is invalid. Sorry''

''Hm...Ok. What time are you picking her up from school?''

''In 3 hours''

''Go home, I'm taking over for you'' he stops massaging for a moment''Ugh don't stop'' I plead. A breathy laugh escapes his lips and he starts rubbing again

''I have to come back and pick her up so there's no point to leave'' Grace's school is a block away from the company so it's convenient to pick her up once I finish my work.

''I'm picking her up don't worry, you need to rest''

''You don't have to drive that much, don't worry I can stay''

''You're dead on your feet. Go home please'' he insists

''Are you sure?''

''Yes'' he places a small kiss on my hand and stands up

“Can you drive?''

''Gosh, Taehyung what has gotten into you? Don't be so kind because I may grow fond of you and that's disgusting'' I sing playfully

''I promise I'll start knocking the door from now on. Is this reason strong enough for you to like me?''

''Do it and I'll think about it. Give me my coat'' I smirk

He looks at me and hands me my pink coat, the familiar, boxy smile never leaving his lips.

''See you in 3 hours'' I greet him patting his back

''See you'' he greets me back. Once I step away he stays still, hesitantly yet intensely checking out my back figure until I reach the mirror covered elevator.

Stupid men...

''See you next week girls. Take care'' the ballet teacher says and the small ballerinas slowly make their way to the changing room. There walks the familiar tiny figure, some strands of hair fluttering in the wind although she has a sleek bun secured with a pink scrunchie matching her tutu.

She raises her eyes and when we make eye contact she waves excitedly and whispers something about me in her friend's ear. She's so proud of me, always raving about me in front of her friends and teachers. That's the main reason I always behave so well when she's present, my priority as her role model is to make sure I have a good influence on her.

A few minutes after she appears holding her bright fuchsia backpack.Pink is her favourite colour.

''Hey Skye''

''Hey sweetheart, did you have fun?''

''Yeah but I got tired, my feet hurt''

''Aw, don't worry tomorrow you'll be fine'' I zip her puffer jacket and bid her ballet teacher goodbye as we exit the studio.

''Have you been watching me dancing? I couldn't see you from the ballroom'' she asks while we're walking towards my car

''I watched the entire show''

She simply hums trying to conceal her surprise but I can see her cheeks getting flushed

''Get in darling, it's cold'' I suggest and unlock the car. She sits in the back seat, fastens her seatbelt and waits patienly for the next step.

''Here you are'' I hand her her favourite chocolate cookies along with an orange juice, it’s a part of her post work out routine. She cheers and dives into her snack right away.

It's 7pm, dark sky but the car lights illuminate the busy road

''Skye...''

''Yes sweetheart'' I check the mirror as soon as I hear her voice

''Today we're having a Looney Tunes marathon, you didn't forget did you?''

''Of course not'' I shake my head ''Maybe I have some pizza waiting for you''

''Really?''

''Only if you take your vitamins of course'' I offer and finally turn left into the familiar street. We're almost home.

''No...they taste terrible''

''They don't, they're really tasty in fact'' my eyes land on the mirror to take a look at the road behind

''If I have to do it for pizza, I will.” She nods with a pout on her lips

“You should get me a different flavor, I hate mango”

''I thought mango was your favourite fruit''

''I like it only in my shampoo''

''Okay then'' my gaze travels back in the mirror just to see what I've been afraid of. This car. This red car that has been following us for the last 5 minutes.

''Skye I'm talking to you''

''What?''I reply thinking of what I should do now

''Tomorrow our teacher said we must wear sport clothes because we're playing volley''

''Ok''

''My baby pink set is washed isn't it?''

''Yes''

''Don't lie I saw it in the dirty laundry this morning''

''Grace can you please stop talking for a second?'' She doesn't answer but I'm sure she's pouting annoyed. My house is a kilometre ahead and the red vehicle is still two cars behind.

My heart beats so fast but I can't panic now that my sister is here. I stop in the closest parking lot and wait. Grace examines the place and I'm sure she's dying to ask why we stopped but she doesn't speak.

My heart stops when the red car passes by me but instead of stopping as I thought it would, it keeps moving with the same speed. I stay and watch till it disappears.

Once I realize everything is ok I blink hard, gulping for a breath.Well, I probably have misunderstood things.

My mind is running wild, why would someone follow me? I'm such a scaredy-cat...I start my car and drive back home.

Maybe I should stop watching Criminal Minds...

[ryder616]

Rewatching Ragtag

I have a deep fondness for the final stretch of episodes of S1 because - among many other great things they do - I think they also give an idea of the different route the show could have taken if it had been an original property and not something with a long history in a different medium

Like, say, following a small band of vigilantes, holed up in cheap motels, no fancy tech or backup, still trying to save the world. And not until early season 5 our heroes will be this strapped for resources.

For Skye, none of this is new: she’s used to hack secret government agencies and tail shady corporations all alone in a smelly (sorry Dais, you’re never living that one down😁) van on free wifi and a laptop, so a motel room with a real bed,  surrounded by friends it’s actually an improvement. Everybody else, to their credit, adjusted rather quickly and, I want to say, with a certain gusto, at least if we go by the delight with which Fitz savors his new vigilante status.

We’re cursed, part 1 of 47:

Ward drops Fitz and Simmons at the bottom of the ocean and triggers one of the most pivotal events in the series with ramifications that will still be felt 5 years later. It also, of course, leads to Fitz’s declaration of love but that’s next episode.

Father’s day:

You said it yourself, Skye’s a soft touch. Just like you. [... ] Stop being weak!

I should have let Mike finish him when I had the chance. I'm stupid and weak. -- You weren't weak. You had compassion. That's harder.

There’s a very obvious contrast highlighted between the two “father figures”: one - Garrett - who berates compassion and feelings as weaknesses, the other - Coulson - who values them as a strength.

Hate-Fu Master:

You think I don't feel anything? [...] I'm furious. But I'm sure as hell not gonna waste it on a tantrum. I'm gonna mine it, save it. And when we find Ward, I'm gonna use every bit of it to take him down. -- Wish I knew how to use that hate-fu. -- I'm up most mornings at 5:00. We get a May’s life philosophy lesson straight from the source and I’m not entirely sure this is what’s best for Skye, long term. But she definitely needed something to focus on other than her misplaced guilt (story of Daisy’s life, uh) over letting Ward live. So, May has an apprentice now. And the force is strong with her😎.

Quake Rumblings:

Raina fills in some blanks of Skye’s orphan story and it’s rather chilling: the baby’s parents were the monsters. Our favorite flowers’ enthusiast also gives us an implicit clue that Skye’s DNA might be...different.

I hate undercover:

Coulson and May dress up like FitzSimmons, including itchy sweaters apparently, to infiltrate CyberTek. Philinda undercover always gives me a Chuck feeling and this particular mission also finishes mending their rift over the little spying May did for Fury. We simply didn’t get enough undercover work with these two. Over 100 episodes, show. For shame.

Bringing the Funk:

Trip comes through with his grandad suitcase of vintage spy gadgets and shows himself to be just as much of a nerd as Coulson where these things are concerned, which is quite the feat. Needless to say, he’s now officially adopted😂. Welcome to the family. His field partnership with Skye also starts in this episode.

Stuff that crossed my mind:

Did you know your brother was in the house when you set it on fire? -- No, sir, I did not. Do we believe him? The first thing he will do after escaping S.H.I.E.L.D. in S2 is killing his brother and his parents. So I believe him because his parents weren’t there. He would have waited for them to be there if the plan was murder, I think.

You can spend the next few years locked up in a cage, blaming mommy and daddy and mean older brother for your problems or [...] you can spend the rest of your life bringing misery and death and still blame mommy, daddy and mean older brother for your problems.

Skye left them a little surprise. She did! *hearts Skye*

And I want my plane back. Poor Coulson. That little thing he’s left with doesn’t even have a bar. The hardship.

Well, I'd like to think we all enjoy our work. And why not? These are exciting times full of rewards. Which reminds me Zeller. Yeah, it's me. Stream Mike Peterson some video of his son this afternoon. Don't mention it. How about that guy? I've turned him into a new man. How despicable is Garrett, there are no words strong enough. Which makes me angry at Ward even more because, fine, you owe him (you really don’t) but there’s no loyalty for perceived debts that justifies helping someone that does this to people. How can he not see how wrong this is?

It's Ward. What if Garrett put an exploding eye into him, to control him? Maybe that's why he betrayed us. -- I'm pretty sure there's a much simpler reason. He's evil. -- Well, I don't believe that people are born evil. Something must have happened. Heh. Interesting debate you guys are having. Nature vs nurture, you might say. It might come up once or twice again in the future 🤫 And yes, Fitz, something did happen, quite many somethings really. But see my point above. And stop saying to the girl he kidnapped and terrorized maybe 24 hours ago that he’s a swell guy, please?

And here comes Trip with his grandad’s suitcase and a smile. The world is a beautiful place once again.

We should systematically take a full inventory of ev- Oh, my god. Is that a handheld hypno-beam? Nerd Coulson=Best Coulson.

Skye hits the EMP - thankfully her laptop wasn’t anywhere near it! - earning a Mom’s look(tm) and Fitz sets the drapes on fire, prompting an eyeroll and a “Ugh, Fitz”(tm) from Jemma. Bus Kids buskidding and I love it.

I’m gonna retire out here one day. A thousand acres of Wyoming woods and meadows, already paid for. Back to nature and playing conquering the west in his elder years, that was his dream? I don’t see it.

May looks barely a day over 30. You’re gorgeous. She’s not wrong...

The sleepy-sleep gun. I think. How dare you. It’s called the night-night gun. It’s still lame, but it’s OUR lame😁

I don't know if I've said it enough, but I'm glad you're back. Nope, you definitely hadn’t said it enough. We could all stand to hear it a few more times. Well, mostly May. I’m good.

Skye, I think I know why you couldn't find the mainframe. There isn't one. -- What do you mean there isn't one? -- All the files are hard copies. We don’t see Skye’s expression at this news but I can just imagine it mirroring mine when I heard him say it. I mean, she’s a millennial kid *and* a computer geek. Files are digital. Hard copies😲? Are we back in the middle ages?😋

Skye, Trip, get ready for a large file transfer. -- How large? This will never not be funny.

How do we know Garrett didn't do that to Ward, too? [...] We don't know all the facts. Fitz. I get it, but stop talking😩

The biomechanics are fine. It's my organs that are failing. [...] I’m dying. Oh, I am *so* sorry. Let me get my nano-violin or better yet a big drum to celebrate.

I know we’re not supposed to engage [...] I can’t handle square one again. No, no, no, no, no...get out of there now! You stupidly brave idiots!😱  

That’s when I realized I was more loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. than S.H.I.E.L.D. was to me. Yes, well, S.H.I.E.L.D. can suck like that. But Hydra is much, much worse. So spare me your pity story. You’re still a dick.

Looks like the joke’s on you. HA! That was awesome. Possibly a little reckless, but awesome.

Now take care of Buddy and we’ll get out of here. This was your cue, Ward. Who tells you to kill a dog who had been nothing but a loyal friend to prove your “strength”? EVIL PEOPLE. Bah. Ruby won’t kill her dog. Bred and raised to be a weapon and she still had better sense than Ward.

I know that you're a good person, Ward. And you can choose right now to be good. It's a choice. Choice. Another *very* interesting concept. We’ll get back to this as well.