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jeeno2 · 7 years

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Frigid

Written for Day 2 of @jonxsansafanfiction‘s Twelve Days of Shipping Challenge: “Keeping each other warm.”

Jon grits his teeth as he gingerly lowers himself into the steaming bath Tormund drew for him.

Under normal circumstances a warm bath is a luxury. But right now Jon does not welcome it. Just the opposite. He was so cold for so long today the water’s heat is almost unbearable, stinging and biting at his chapped skin.

He’d been outside, exposed to the elements, for more than ten hours before Tormund and Gendry found him in that cave north of here. By the time they got him back to Winterfell his body was so cold icicles were forming inside his beard.

Tormund wouldn’t allow Jon to do anything else until he promised to spend the rest of the night in a tub full of water as hot as he could stand.

As much as Jon hates the idea of soaking in a hot bath all night while there’s still so much to be done, he’d grudgingly agreed to do as she’d instructed. Tormund knows better than anyone how to keep a person alive after nearly freezing to death. Besides – as reluctant as Jon had been to agree to this, he knows his dying is the last thing anybody needs now.

Wincing against the pain in his side, Jon leans forward to grab the damp cloth Tormund draped over the opposite side of the tub before leaving.

But even that small movement is too much for him. As soon as he inches towards the cloth Jon can feel the fresh stitches in his side pulling taut against his raw flesh. He shuts his eyes against the pain and groans, easing himself gently back against the tub’s edge.

He knows he’s damn lucky to be alive. He reminds himself to focus on that as he struggles to tamp down his frustration over everything else.

But he also needs to find Sansa. Soon. She wasn’t there when they brought him back to Winterfell. He needs to let her know he’s all right. That he’s alive.

Especially given how he left things this morning.

No sooner does he think it than Sansa, as if on cue, materializes inside the doorway to his small room. She stares at him, eyes so wide it’s like she can’t believe she’s really seeing him, in the flesh, and not a ghost. Her jaw is clenched – from nerves, or worry, or anger; or maybe some combination of the three – and her lips are pressed together tightly in a thin line.

Someone must have found her and told her he was back. And then she must have come to him immediately, straight from her bedchamber, because it’s nearly midnight and she’s wearing a thin cotton nightdress and nothing else. It only goes down to her mid-thigh, and despite the fact that Jon nearly died on his stupid mission today his eyes still linger just a beat too long on her beautiful, bare legs.

By the gods, he is pathetic.

After what feels like an embarrassingly long time Jon finally manages to tear his eyes away from her body. He glances down at his hands, slowly turning into prunes in the water, and opens his mouth to say something. But then he closes it again when he realizes he has no idea what to say. Or what she even wants to hear from him.

To his relief, Sansa jumps first. Just like she always does. “You’re back,” she says simply. Her words are so quiet he almost can’t hear them over the thudding beat of his heart.

He nods. This, at least, is something he knows how to answer. “Yeah,” he says. “I am.”

The right corner of her mouth quirks up into a half smile. Jon decides that’s probably a good sign. Or, that at least it’s a sign she hasn’t just come here to kill him herself.

“Can I…” she begins, but then trails off. Her eyes dart to the far corner of the room. A faint blush starts to rise on her cheeks, and she fidgets with the hem of her nightdress. “Can I… um. Come in?”

Jon’s stomach does an odd, but not entirely unpleasant sort of flip at her question. His eyes go wide in surprise.

“You want to come in? Here?” His voice is much squeakier than it usually is. He can’t help but cringe at the sound of it.

It isn’t that Sansa’s never seen in him in various states of undress before. It’s just that it’s been about ten years. And Sansa has certainly never seen him like this before: half-frozen, filthy and exhausted, soaking in a bathtub wearing nothing at all. Jon is completely exposed to her right now, totally vulnerable – and legitimately terrified for the first time all day.

If Sansa is half as surprised by her proposal as Jon is she doesn’t show it. She only shrugs, though she still won’t look at him. “Yeah. I thought I could… I don’t know.” She goes back to fidgeting with her nightdress. “I thought I could maybe… help you. Or something.”

Jon blinks at her. “You want to help me?” he asks. “How?”

She sniffs and looks a little offended. She still won’t meet his eyes. “They told me you were hurt,” she says, by way of explanation. “And I can smell you from here. Didn’t they clean you up when they brought you in?”

Jon looks down at his legs. They’re completely submerged in the warm water but they’re still covered with thick splatters of dried blood. And not just his. “Pretty sure their only goals were to get my body temperature up and my wounds sutured.” He chances a glance at her. “They wanted me in hot water the rest of the night and probably figured I could take care of the cleanup myself.”

She takes a tentative step into the room. And then another. There’s less than three feet of space now between where he sits and she stands. His eyes widen again.

At last, she looks at him. “Can you, though? Take care of the cleanup yourself, that is?”

Jon looks towards the damp cloth at the other end of the tub. He closes his eyes and sighs resignedly. “Um. Probably not all of it, no.”

That’s all the encouragement Sansa needs. She closes the short distance between them in two strides and kneels beside his tub. She grabs the washcloth with ease and dips it into the warm water. “Then let me help you.”

She brings the cloth to his bare legs, but he lets out an involuntary yelp before it reaches him. She freezes, hand suspended in midair less than an inch from his body. “You don’t need to do this, Sansa,” he says, his words tumbling over each other in a rush. He knows he probably sounds like he’s panicking, but in the moment he is panicking, and he’s doing it far too much to care what he sounds like. “I’m sure Tormund will be back any minute now. He… he can help me.”

Sansa sits back on her haunches and regards him carefully, one eyebrow raised. The way she’s sitting causes her nightdress to inch up dangerously, and Jon has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his eyes on her face where they belong. “Tormund is out patrolling the grounds,” she says. “With Gendry. There’s no one here but me.” Apparently deciding the matter settled, Sansa dips the cloth into the hot water again and wrings it out. “And besides. I’m better at this sort of thing than they are.”

Despite the knots of nervous tension roiling in his stomach Jon can’t help but chuckle at that. “Oh? Is that so?”

“Mmm,” she confirms. Jon suspects she’s trying to look, and sound, haughty. But she’s smiling in spite of herself. “I’m definitely better than they are.”

Without another word, Sansa presses the warm cloth in her hand to one of Jon’s legs and begins to gently scrub away the visible remnants of this horrible day.

Jon has, of course, washed his own body many thousands of times before. Until now he’s always thought of bathing as a perfunctory chore; a thing that must be done before he can get on with more important things. Never in his life has he thought of bathing as something pleasurable – but right now, as Sansa gently scrubs his legs clean with the soft washcloth and runs the palms of her small, calloused hands over his highly sensitized skin, he has to dig his fingernails into his palms to keep from groaning aloud.

She is thorough and methodical with him, and yet gentle, leaving no part of his legs untouched. As her palms brush over the skin behind his knees with the washcloth it feels like every single nerve ending in his body is centered beneath her fingertips.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she says quietly, but no less forcefully for that as she slides the warm cloth up, skipping over his torso completely and finding his forearm.

She doesn’t clarify what she’s talking about. But there’s no need. He closes his eyes as she works and moves over him, the dual conflicting sensations of physical pleasure and guilt over his earlier actions tangling together unpleasantly in his gut.

“Sansa…” he begins, weakly.

“Just… don’t,” she says again. More sharply this time. “All right?”

He’d left Winterfell this morning like a coward, not even bothering to find her to tell her he was going on this dangerous mission. Not even bothering to say goodbye, even though he knew there was a chance he would never come back.

Doing this sort of thing – leaving before anyone who might care he was leaving woke up and discovered him gone – was a common enough thing for him to do before he came back to Winterfell and everything changed.

But everything is different now, somehow, with Sansa here, though they’ve never discussed it. The way he acted this morning was a strange, new kind of betrayal, and he knows that. It terrifies him, if he’s being honest, the way Sansa’s somehow wormed her way into his life, into his heart, without either of them ever planning on it happening. She’s gotten by every one of his defenses just by being herself, and he’s never been more scared of anything in his life.

It was this fear that led him to slip out of Winterfell before dawn this morning, before he’d have to risk seeing her and saying goodbye.

But how can he explain any of this to her when he hardly understands it himself?

So he doesn’t try.

“I won’t do it again,” he says instead. Resigned to it now, though the thought of having this inexplicable connection to Sansa worries him no less now than it did this morning. “I promise.”

Sansa’s hand pauses briefly on its journey across his clavicle, but that is the only sign she gives that she understands the significance and weight of his words. She recovers quickly, and continues to run the damp cloth over his neck, across his shoulders. Down his back. The water is still very warm but the press of her hand to his skin causes a trail of gooseflesh to rise up on his arms all the same.

“Good,” she says, nodding, as she continues to move. “I promise I won’t either.”

As she pours a cup full of warm water over his head, and threads her dexterous fingers through his dust-matted hair, he decides that for now, it’s enough.

#jonxsansafanfiction #jon x sansa #jonsa #actuallyjonsa #gotdrabble #this will probably be my only contribution for this week but yay! I did one!

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classic80sand90smovieloves2 · 4 years

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Meeting and Dating Zeke Tyler

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(I have a lot of thoughts about this greasy little man and the way he acts with girls)

- Zeke Tyler had been driving you nuts for as long as you could remember. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. He’d been driving you nuts for as long as you’d known him; that was more accurate.

- Freshman year, that was when it had all started. You were a year younger than him and had been the target of his harassment since the day you met him. You couldn't go a day without him blatantly making fun of you, trying to embarrass you or making suggestive comments towards you just; what you could only assume was, to make a fool out of you.

- You tried your best to either avoid or ignore him, mainly staying quiet since you were on the shy side; something that probably contributed to his eagerness to mess with you. Anytime you tried to respond, he found it amusing. Any curses or insults you’d give him back, or your telling of him to leave you alone, we’re all delivered in vain.

“Come on y/n/n, when are you gonna let me take you out?” He’d tease with a smirk and you’d just know that he was only messing with you.

- The thing is, you couldn’t have been more wrong. All his propositions and invitations were genuine, Zeke just didn’t know how to deal with his feelings for you.

- It was easier for him to be a jerk and sarcastic with you, that way he could have an excuse to be around you whenever he wanted and pretend like he wasn’t hurt when you’d inevitably reject.

- Because of course you’d reject him. He was a burnout before he even had the chance, a drug dealing senior who’d been held back a year. Hell, his parents didn’t even like him. Why would you?

- Funny thing is, as much as he tried to be a dick to you, even you could notice the occasional cracks in his façade, though you’d tend to try to write them off.

- An increasingly obvious crack was the fact that no one else was allowed to treat you the way he did. The minute someone else tried, he’d jump to your defense and turn on them, giving them shit or just telling them to leave you alone. He was possessive over his victims, yay!

- Okay, to be fair and honest and all that: You didn’t hate Zeke. You didn’t necessarily like him or the way he treated you, but you didn’t hate him. There was even a part of you that felt a strange attraction towards him; as much as you didn’t like admitting it.

- Which is something you ended up making known to him one day after school when you happened to be the only people left in the building. You were at your locker, he’d approached you and after he teased and once again “asked you out”, you finally spoke up.

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” He’d grinned in response, waiting eagerly for your reply.

“Act like a jerk and then try to take me out. Why would I go out with you after you mess with me all day?”

“So you’re saying that you’d go out with me if I was nicer to you?” He’d asked lowly, taking a step closer as the two of you locked eyes.

- You stuttered out an objection before saying a flustered goodbye and making your exit. He should probably thank you for that advice one of these days.

- Taking your advice, Zeke “acts nice”; in his own special way. Instead of being a total jackass, he acts teasingly kind to you: always greeting you and asking how you’re doing, exaggeratedly opening doors for you, all but pleading to help you with things. He’s obviously still sarcastic but it’s …less obnoxious. It’s after a week or so of that, that things finally come to a head.

- You were sitting outside in the hot sun, trying to do your chemistry homework while having no idea what the fuck it was talking about. Finally, you'd just about given up, putting your face in your hands while trying to get a grip before you completely lost it. That was when a quiet voice rang out from in front of you.

- Obviously, it was Zeke and before you knew it, he’d taken your pencil and done the problem for you, telling you how to do it in a few easy steps.

- A bit shocked but more than grateful, you thanked him quietly. He gave you a small smile and began to straighten up again, but just before he did, he met your eyes once more and asked if you wanted to hear something funny.

“I could have graduated last year, you know? …I mean if I wanted to, I could have, …but I didn’t. And I mean, I guess it was for a bunch of reasons but one of them ...one of them was you,” He’d started, looking away from you and to his hands which were resting against the table. “And I’m sure that sounds really stupid, but it’s a fact. …I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like you ..a lot, and I want to know, in all seriousness, if you would go out with me.”

You froze for a moment but just as he was about to leave; figuring you were going to turn him down like always, you’d responded with a “I’m free on Friday.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll pick you up at eight.”

- The two of you go and watch movies at his house for your first date. His parents are rarely ever home and that day was no exception so the two of you had the whole house to yourselves.

- It was just after the first movie ended that the two of you shared your first kiss. He was settling back on the couch after popping in the second film when the two of you locked eyes. He slowly leaned in, his hand moving to gently brush against your cheek before his lips met yours, soft at first before becoming more passionate.

- The movie was quickly forgotten about as he lowered you back against the couch. It was only until a loud scream erupted from the television that you were snapped out of your daze. You finally pulled away, gently holding his face in place and shyly mentioning that you should “probably leave it at that”, causing a grin to spread across his face.

- It’s safe to say that after that, the two of you were officially addicted to each other.

- Zeke really doesn’t whether people are watching or not, if he wants to hug or kiss you in public then they “can look away like normal fucking people”.

- Handholding. Well, you’re sorta just holding his sleeve most of the time but that’s just how Zeke is.

- Hugs from behind. He usually ends up nuzzling his face into your neck whenever he does.

- Hairline kisses. He’ll pull you closer and give you one whenever you're leaving for class.

- Soft kisses. As cocky as he acted, when you first started your relationship, he was always really nervous when going in for a kiss.

- Cheek strokes. They’re the barest, featherlight touches you’ll ever feel but they’ll still make your heart race.

- Getting swept up in makeout sessions.

- Hickeys. He doesn’t really care about placement but if you protest, he’ll leave them in more hidden areas.

- Zeke takes it personally when you don’t want him being affectionate with you. He’s the boyfriend that asks what your problem is when you keep letting go of his hand or shrugging off his hugs/arm.

- Please cuddle him. He likes to occasionally pretend like he doesn’t like it or is annoyed by it but he sure as hell doesn’t let you go when you go to pull away.

- Him falling asleep on you. He’ll lay his head on your lap with his arms wrapped around your waist while you run your fingers through his hair or down his back.

- You get a few nicknames and pet names from him, usually things like sweetheart, Princess, and babe.

- He genuinely likes when you call him pet names. He’ll usually roll his eyes at you but then he’ll look away and try to hide his shy little smile afterward.

- Honestly, Zeke is really cute with you most of the times; especially when you’re alone together. Nose boops or rubs, forehead presses, sweet teasing comments. On the inside, he’s just a softie who really wants to be loved.

- One day, he just took off his ring and slipped it onto your finger while he was playing with your hands. He told you to keep it when you asked about it ...so consider that a promise ring because that’s what he secretly considers it.

- Massages. He’ll use any excuse to touch you honey; especially if it can lead to something more.

- Wearing his jersey. That is ...a kink, and that’s all I’m saying about that.

- Sitting on the bleachers and watching him practice after he joins the football team.

- Sharing food.

- He likes hearing you talk; it doesn’t even matter what about. You could be talking about completely meaningless bullshit and he’d be perfectly content with listening to it. He’s sort of just happy that you want to tell him things, and he just likes your voice.

- Book talk. He may or may not have found a secret love for literature purely because you were interested in it and in his English class.

- Zeke’s a smart guy, he just doesn’t try, so you tend to make sure he studies and actually does his assignments.

- Jokingly teasing him about his glasses.

- Hanging out in his lab with him.

- The two of you frequent school storage rooms and closets. You occasionally help him steal things but more often than not, the two of you just makeout in there.

- Going to junkyards and smashing stuff.

- Lighting off fireworks with each other.

- Bonfires.

- Watching somewhat amused as he plays pranks on and makes fun of people. You keep a bit of a leash on him and make sure he isn’t too much of an asshole.

- Sitting on his car in the parking lot together.

- Keeping him company as he smokes.

- Free drugs and free *all his other inventory*. That being said, he’ll occasionally refuse to give you something because he cares too much about you and doesn’t want to fuck up your life. He’ll usually say something like “you don’t want this” or laugh and tell you he “isn’t giving you any” when he does.

- I’m convinced that Zeke would actually be really good at calming people down from panic attack purely because of his history with drug users. If he can handle a doped up tweaker, he can handle you.

- Getting little surprises left in your locker, he may or may not pick your lock to put them there. But hey, if you ever need to get into someplace, he’s got it covered.

- He sort of thinks it’s funny to scare you, usually with his driving.

- Going on death rides in the middle of the night.

- Sneaking out to see him. Given the way Zeke is and; likely, his general reputation, your parents probably aren’t fans of him, and even if they were, they probably wouldn’t let you go out with him at midnight.

- Honestly, he sort of likes when you insult him; as long as it doesn’t hit too close to home. If you call him an asshole, he’ll probably just pull you into a kiss as he smiles.

- He makes sure that no one walks all over you; especially if you have a habit of apologizing for no good reason, he won’t let his girl be anyone’s doormat.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to no one. Just get in the fucking car.”

- I’m sorry but your boyfriend is a really jealous guy; mainly because he’s insecure and oftentimes feels like he isn’t good enough for you. He’ll ask what you were doing whenever he sees you with other guys and won’t forget about it unless it’s obvious that you aren’t interested in them and they aren’t interested in you.

- Zeke would wholeheartedly fucking ice an entire room full of people for you and that is the honest to god truth. The minute someone acts even the slightest bit antagonistic towards you, he’s on there ass like he’s your guard dog.

- Surprisingly enough, you and Zeke rarely ever have serious fights. More often than not, you just bicker with each other before settling things fairly quickly.

- When things are more serious, he’ll argue and curse but he hardly ever yells, unless he’s raising his voice for emphasis. The only problem that really arises when you’re fighting is the fact that he thinks it’s amusing or hot when you’re angry so he just can’t take you seriously a lot of the time.

- Zeke’s a bit of a jackass so he’ll corner you/pull you into secluded places and not let you leave until he speaks his peace when the two of you have had a fight. That being said, he does offer you a genuine apology after doing so, and usually pulls you in for a kiss once you’ve forgiven him.

- He tells you he loves you quite a bit, albeit really casually, like when you’re saying goodbye and he just says “love you” without thinking. He does get a bit embarrassed when it’s in front of other people though.

- He likes to imagine that the two of you will stay together no matter what happens but when he thinks about the future and all that comes with it, he gets a bit nervous. He thinks he’d make a shitty father; because of his own parents, even though he’s sort of really cute and good with kids.

#zeke tyler imagines #zeke tyler imagine #zeke tyler headcanons #zeke tyler headcanon #the faculty imagine #the faculty headcanons #the faculty headcanon #the faculty imagines #90s movie headcanon #90s movie imagine #90s movie headcanons #90s movie imagines

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mrslackles · 4 years

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what do you think are gg's biggest flaws?

Ooh, Anon! It’s like you’re in my head.

I’m busy making a video (that will probably never see the light of day) about this -- my distance from the show has really helped with some super objective clarity -- so I’ll use my notes from that to help me answer.

I’ll preface this by saying what I was most shocked by after putting down all the points was that Rio isn’t even mentioned until really far down??

Anyway, let's get into it.

These are Good Girls' greatest flaws in my opinion (and relative to season 1 -- while I think it had its flaws too, the list is far smaller and I think that's a separate post)

1. It didn't stick to its guns

What set this show apart from others in the 'Everyday person does crime (poorly)' genre was its comedic lightness, strong friendship element, relatability and emphasis on girl power.

a) By season 2, the lightness was already slowly disappearing to make way for season 3's darkness. (Quite literally; this show said sunlight scenes for WHO.) It also stopped being as fun. Remember how it genuinely used to be fun? I mean let's not forget The Best Scene Ever where Ruby shoots Big Mike by accident and we all laughed our asses off. (Compare and contrast to a similar-in-tone-and-context scene -- or even the whole episode -- like Boomer popping up behind them as Rio's package in season 3.) I think season 3 had some great lines and laughs, but in general, the fun element was completely missing for me.

b) As was the friendship. We already know Annie and Ruby basically became Beth's backup dancers in season 2, but at least then they still seemed to have some type of agency. In season 3, they rarely question Beth's (truly questionable) decisions, don't talk to her about shit like why she's still with her horrible husband and have very few true friendship moments as they did in season 1.

c) Which made it less relatable, but what also contributed was the major plot holes (it's less easy to relate when you're constantly having to remind yourself to suspend your disbelief). And, to be honest, their stupid actions. Just the most common-sense things weren't followed, like not taking your children to a crack den or not putting a hit out on a gang leader. It's frustrating watching a TV show -- where characters are supposed to learn things, have arcs and improve over time -- and feeling like you have more logical sense than all the main characters in every scene. (WHO would think a hitman was going to use a sniper rifle on people in broad daylight on the side of the road???)

d) You don't have to look any further than the title or the stans who shout "THE SHOW IS ABOUT THE GIRLS" -- or, hell, the first 10 seconds of the show where Sara is literally talking about the glass ceiling -- to know that the main characters being women is very important to the show. If not formally feminist, it was at least supposed to be empowering or feel like "girl power" (a term I hate, but we won't get into that now).

And I think it did it pretty well in season 1 -- it actually played on my favourite theme of the show, which is the world's perception of these women being what ultimately allows them to get away with so much. (Rife with opportunities for commentary about white privilege, but also a genius way to upend patriarchal beliefs.) But more and more it seemed like the show was asking you to accept empowerment as simply "these things are being done by women, yay".

And, well.

2. Its marketing

I'll keep this one short because I think we all know how messed up this situation is. Basically they're selling a show (every week!) that they're not making while ignoring all feedback on every social media platform. Which brings us to...

3. The marriage of Death

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times -- Beth's character development starts with getting rid of Dean. Her growth is stunted by him on multiple fronts and it's frustrating to viewers since she's constantly put forth as the main character. Not to mention how the audience, separately from Beth, was originally conditioned to see Dean as the scum of the earth (think of scenes like him crashing his car because he was perving on a woman jogging) so keeping them together is really... a choice. To actively root for this marriage (which seems like what the show wants, at least for the protracted moment) means either thinking Dean is a great person (which, as I said, we've only seen the opposite of) or believing he's all Beth deserves. Which leads me to...

4. Beth's (socio)path(y)

Is sociopath a 'good' word? Probably not. Have I seen dozens upon dozens of posts talking about whether Beth is one? Yes. And I see it from a huge variety of people -- from viewers who just binged the show last weekend to those who've been watching for years, the question keeps coming up. And I entirely blame the writing of the show that, by the way, I don't believe is deliberately creating Beth to get this reaction. I think she's written (and, to an extent, acted) in a way that is much too aloof and I'm not convinced it's meant to come off as cold and unfeeling as it does. Everything else leads me to believe that the audience is supposed to root for Beth, but it's just so difficult.

Beth does a lot of messed up shit that requires dialogue to sympathise with her and the inner workings of her mind, but in the later seasons Beth rarely gets to express herself verbally. And every time she does get to speak about her emotions, the dialogue is a pick-your-own-adventure between "She's in so much denial", "This person feels no emotions" and "I'll go find an analysis/fic later to explain this" (scenes like "Nothing" or "I was just bored"). Compare and contrast with some of the great scenes in season 1 where she emotes, like her paralysing shock after they first rob the store or admitting she enjoys crime, or (one of my favourites!) the one in the park where she's mimicking the other mothers beside her.

5. Brio

I said in the beginning that I was shocked Rio doesn't get mentioned until this point and that's because I've always felt like he was an integral part of the show. When people say the show is about the girls, they're truncating -- the show is about the girls getting into crime. That crime is represented by Rio over and over again -- they never bring in another criminal at his level (which is another one of its flaws, but that's also a different post); Rio is it.

And though I stand by Rio's importance, the truth is that Brio isn't as essential to the show, by which I mean that if all of the above were done well, it wouldn't be as sorely missed. In lieu of riveting plot, a fun friendship, character development and empowerment, most viewers have glommed onto Brio like a lifeboat (or ship, heh).

Unfortunately it's also what the show has most stubbornly refused to develop significantly.

It's honestly a toss-up for why I feel Brio is a flaw: is the flaw that they got together? That they never got together well enough? That the writing keeps bringing in these 'chemistry-filled' scenes that are ultimately filled with air?

I don't know. Maybe all of them; maybe just one, depending on the day.

6. Its criticism falls flat without intersectionality

This is a big one because Good Girls is *trying* to do something very clever. As mentioned previously, my favourite theme of the show is how the women's apparent innocence/vulnerability in the eyes of society is their biggest strength. The show plays with this and other interesting themes with varying levels of success, but ultimately they all fall a little flat when they don't feel intersectional.

When Ruby gets sidelined. When Turner, who sees and all but calls out by name Beth's privilege, is portrayed as the villain. When Rio is told he's gonna "pop a cap" in his young child's "ass". When the racist grandma becomes a sympathetic character whom we must later grieve. (And she really didn't have to be racist, now that I think about it? It was just that one line for laughs and that was it.) When, despite the real-world implications, Dean can loudly announce in a store that he's buying a gun to kill someone with and the show just glides past it. When Ruby has to grovel for forgiveness from Beth for trying to protect her husband and family from the system, with no acknowledgement from Beth about how their realities are different. When Rhea gets booted off the show as soon as she's done serving Beth's plot. When Rio gets treated like a prostitute for absolutely no reason. (Oh, and is accused of raping Beth and is literally spoken of as an animal and starts only existing in zero dim lighting as a one-dimensional stereotype... the list goes on.)

7. PR/The actors

I'll risk my life here to sprinkle this in because I do think it's a massive problem. The Manny/Christina of it all is just the tip of the iceberg (although wtf Good Girls? There's nothing you could do to get these two into an interview together??). The main actors do the bare minimum to promote the show and it's weird. I also think it's the height of unprofessionalism to keep characters on the show against the wishes of the majority of the audience just because you enjoy their actors (Boomer confirmed; Dean highly suspected). While, on the flip side of the coin, limiting a character's screentime because you aren't best buddies with them. Having less and less Rio when he's such a fan favourite is dumb; as is not including him in any series marketing material. It feels personal and that isn't how a TV show should be run.

8. The entire hair and wardrobe department needs a stern talking-to

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skvaderarts · 3 years

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Devil May Cry OC Week Day 4!

I’m actually really excited for @dmc-oc-week day for because it gives me the opportunity to talk about Sirrus without delving into spoilers! Yay loopholes!

This contains slight spoilers, but nothing super important. Just keep that in mind. it won’t effect anything, but if you want to go in totally blind, tread carefully.

Dislikes:

Note: if your wondering why I did dislikes first, it’s because that’s just how Sirrus is lol! He’s not a downer, but he likes to think of himself as a realist, but he’s slightly closer to being a pragmatic nihilist, and that lack of optimism lingers in his day to day life because he’s naturally going to have his guard up at all times. He can’t be disappointed if his expectations are nonexistent. Big mood, Sirrus.

1. His father. As previously mentioned, Sirrus is not on good terms with his father. At all. In fact, he’s actively waiting for his father’s hubris to catch up to him along with some of the enemies he’s made along the way so that he himself doesn’t have to confront him and possible end him because he knows he has it coming, but he doesn’t have it in him to do it himself. He’s probably powerful enough, but he just doesn’t have the heart. Despite everything, he’s still got a small ounce of compassion in his heart towards his father that he can’t let go of, something that he loathes about himself. It’s pretty unhealthy.

2. People that abuse power, authority, or social standing. This is actually a large issue in his own immediate family, and that’s part of why his dislike for it is so powerful. He genuinely believes that you should positively contribute to the lives of others if you have the means to, and if nothing else, that you should not detract from them. As a result, he’s developed a dislike of a large portion of people in power because, I mean, fair enough. But his family does not escape this designation, and that’s a large part of why he does what he does. Not because he believes he has superior judgement or standing over others, but because he cannot solve a problem that he does not understand. So as a result, he has to go out into the field and learn from those his work effects. Assuming that he knows what’s best for everyone while simultaneously never having met those people is literally what he hates most about most people in positions of power, and he strives to not do the same. Being powerful doesn’t mean that your smart, and he knows that first hand. I feel like Sirrus would be into the “eat the rich” thing if it was a thing in the DMC universe. Very into it.

3. His mother. I feel like this one may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you who know more about him from the fic since he’s literally only mentioned her once, and doesn’t speak of her in any broad sense, but Sirrus isn’t on the best of terms with his mother, either. He doesn’t harbor any negativity towards them for splitting up when he was young. In fact, he considers it the best thing that either of them has probably ever done. But he has his reasons for not being on good terms with him mom. Day 6 will cover family and background, so I’ll get to go in depth on that day! For now, lets just put it under the broad but totally accurate category of “extremely toxic and codependent relationship” and go from there. Maybe I’ll make a family tree you you can see how messed up everything is! Yea, that would be fun! Would you like to see that?

4. Extreme heat and sun. In truth, while he does in fact become more powerful in bright sunlight, he still hates it. Why? Simple. It gives him migraines due to one of his existing (but not yet disclosed) abilities. And he just hates to be hot. He’s on the pale side (Ok, he almost makes V look like he has a tan.) so he gets sun burned. And because he’s used to a cooler climate, hot places drive him NUTS. I suppose you could say that “Discomfort” is a dislike of his, too.

5. Desk work. This one probably seems pretty random, but as an adjudicator, he actually has to occasionally file reports, and he ABSOLUTELY HATES EVERY SECOND OF IT. He’s good at what he does, no question there, but it’s kind of like being good at sending corporate emails when you hate the fake corporate politeness that you have to maintain, and you basically despise half of the company you work for. Why does he keep the job? Simple. Because no one can abuse the power of the position he’s in if he does it himself. And for him, that’s worth hating a large aspect of his job,

Likes:

1. V. Yup you read that right. Sirrus absolutely adores V, something that he himself is not used to. At this point, he’s not entirely sure what he feels towards him since they haven’t known one another for very long, but he does realize that he means quite a bit to him. After V saved his life in the fic, he really started to pay more attention to him. Before, they were friendly and he had to admit that he actually did find both V and Nero (and Nico, for that matter) really cute, but that was about it. And then as they started spending more time around one another, Sirrus realized that perhaps he liked being around V for a reason. He’s still working on understanding what he feels, but with everything going on in the fic, for now he’s just there to help and figure out what’s going on so that everything turns out alright. Then he can worry about everything else. But for now, he’s just working it out as he goes and trying to distract V from everything going on in the fic. He realizes that he’s got a lot going on, and he genuinely just wants him to be happy for a few damn minuets.

2. Being around equally strange people. Sirrus feels like an outcast most of the time, so as a general rule, he tries to associate with people as little as possible. That being said, the DMC crew makes him feel right at home, and the supreme otherness that he feels much of the time dissipates when he’s with them. It’s a welcome feeling to be sure.

3. Wine. Sirrus actually enjoys wine quite a bit! It’s something he likes the taste of, and due to his biological inability to drink, it’s something he can basically enjoy without consequence. That being said, his favorite wine is absolutely disgusting to basically everyone who’s ever tasted it (aside form V, much to his surprise) and that may be because of a certain added ingredient that was put into it for flavor. What can I say, he has unorthodox tastes!

4. Cooking good food. Sirrus doesn’t actually need to eat, but he does like to entertain those around him. If he likes you, he will cook for you. It’s that simple. It’s something from his own culture that’s been instilled in him; the idea of taking care of those that show kindness to you. And believe me, that doesn’t happen to him very often. He’s largely ostracized in most social interactions despite the fact that he says and does nothing to cause this. Its a key reason as to why he doesn't talk about what he is. It makes people... uncomfortable. And to add to that, he has a sort of aura to him that unnerves people. The way he tends to look at people at though he’s looking through them instead of at them doesn’t help.

5. Fine arts. Something that doesn’t come up much in the books is that Sirrus has hobbies. And a love for the fine arts. All of them. The more unorthodox, the better. Sirrus is that person who is dead inside and will stare at a piece of artwork for ridiculous amounts of time, pondering it’s meaning. Not in a pretensions way, but in a “what the hell am I doing with my life” sort of way. He’s a walking essential crisis, but he’s nothing if not self aware. But in regards to the arts, if it’s a form of expression, then he’s all for it. And he will probably ask you to teach it to him or become a financial patron to your work. He thinks that art and the people that make it are under appreciated, and the idea of art dying out genuinely scares him to death. He doesn’t think a world without art is worth living in. As an extension to this, he loves history. He considered much of it distasteful, but he recognizes it’s importance.

Bonus: Sirrus likes to send extravagant gifts. This is partially due to the fact that he has a very large sum of money and nothing to spend it on. It’s a regular occurrence that you will mention liking something in passing and then end up having it sent to your house out of nowhere. Sirrus did this to V with basically an entire house of furniture, and V is still trying to process it. But this isn’t the only time he’s going to do something like that. Not by a long shot.

Let me know if you have any questions! I love answering them :D And if you have any input, I’ve love to hear that, too!

#dmcocweek #Sirrus #My OC #Devil May Cry OC Week Day 4 #DMC #OC #Devil May Cry #My Devil May Cry OC #My Post Devil May Cry 5 OC #Fic

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aal-archaeology · 4 years

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Summary of my first term of my Ph.D. at Stanford during a global pandemic and an extremely controversial election year (Anthropology, yr. 1, she/they, 25y/o) with some toggl data analysis

Well this year was a doozy if I don’t say so myself. But we survived it, and its okay if that’s all you were able to do this year because that’s enough. As an offical 18th grader, I feel like I can speak pretty well to the toxicity of the academic environment. There is always a pressure to be working all of the time, people compete with each other with how few hours of sleep they got, every conversation with fellow students is just listing off all of the different assignemnts you have to do by the end of the week. On top of all of this, this is 2020. So, I decided that this year I’m going to give myself some mental slack.

I decided that this is the year that I’m not going to try to impress anyone. I’m just going to survive and do what I have to do to move onto the next term. I think I did a pretty good job at that for the first term, so I’ll share a bit about what I observed in myself and those in my cohort. Coming into term one having to choose classes, many of my peers were packing their schedules full of 5 Unit seminars. For those who don’t know, theoretically, a 5 Unit course is supposed to take about 5-6 hours of work outside of class hours. For Stanford Anthropology, most PhD students take as close as they can to 18 credits, and anything over that you have to pay extra for the courses. Taking more courses doesn’t really put you any further ahead in terms of completing your degree, and you’re expected to complete about 45 Units each year for the first two years of the program.

I decided to take 2 seminars (typical), a language course, and a couple filler credits that we are given the option to use if we need 1-3 units to hit 18 total. I, fortunately, tracked every hour spent outside of the classroom working on each course using toggl (i highly reccomend):

In a typical week, I spent about 5-6 hours/week outside of class on my Anthro seminars, and about 6-7 hours on Japanese. Japanese was a “for-fun” class so I would usually study more of that when I didn’t feel like reading dense archaeological theory.

Toggl was a really cool way to see where I was spending too much, or not enough, time on my classwork. If it was taking me more than 1.5 hours to get through a single article, I knew I was probably spending too much time on it and should move on to the next thing. My goal for the term was to stay true to the 5 Unit idea of 5-6 hours, and not over-work myself.

Toggl was also useful in tracking my mental health throughout the term, as it is very obvious to see when I just was not physically capable of ingesting 400 pages of reading. For example, election week:

Election week was really hard for me, and everyone else in the world honestly. I had various family things I was dealing with, typical existential dread, plus it was week 8-ish of the term when everything was already on fire in terms of workload. For one of my seminars (purple), we had to read a book for the following week which I was able to do the sundar after election day. However, for the days leading up to and surrounding the 4th, the only thing I could mentally handle was mindless Japanese vocab studying. One of my seminars really sufferend this week, and I straight up just didnt show up to the smaller Anth 310G class because I had only read the title of the pdf. Fortunately, I emailed my professor of my Theory class and was like “yo dude I cannot” and he replied that he understood and wouldnt call on me during that day of class.

I didn’t do a whole lot of journalling at all this term, but for this week I just wrote “pain” on most days and then YAY BIDEN at the end of it.

Weekly Schedule

Above is what a typical week looked like, some were a lot lot lot more dense, others not so much, but this was pretty average. Not all things on the calendar are work related, some are extra lectures from visiting professors that sounded interesting, or “Free Boba & Snacks Pick Up” put on by my residence. Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday were my big work days last term, where I didn’t have a whole lot of classes so I would do most of my reading then. On Tues and Thurs I had one 3-hour seminar, and M-F I had a 50 min Japanese class.

I woke up every day around 7am-ish, made a green tea, and sat at the computer to work, filter through emails, etc. On particularily open days I would go grocery shopping, go for bike rides/walks around campus, go buy food/boba.

On class-heavy days, I wouldn’t leave my computer for 8-12 hours, which is extremely ridiculous but that’s the new norm in school in 2020. This kind of stunk because all of the socializing was also on the computer, so even if I wasn’t working I was doing screen related things.

EVERY day I stopped working at 6pm. Rarely did I do readings past 6pm unless I was really slacking somewhere. From 6pm onwards I would do things like play Among Us or League of Legends with my discord friends, eat, watch movies with my partner, etc. And then most nights I would try to be in bed by 12am at the latest.

Social Life

Despite the online nature of things this term, I was suprisingly able to meet a lot of great people on campus. We were all being tested at least once a week, which made in person gatherings with 1-4 people a little less scary, especially when half of the people lived together in one household.

In the first week of school, some of the grad programs put on a “speed friending” zoom event, where I was able to connect with two people really well. We ended up doing a “slow-friending” zoom event afterwards and then created a FB group chat and added all of the people we had met into it. The group ended up being about 15 people, and we would message the group for park hangouts, going to get food, or going on walks on campus. We also had a huge get together in a park for Mid-Autumn Festival, where we sat in a socially distanced circle, chatted, and ate mooncakes.

Most of my socializing came from my online friends, and amongus was a huge savior to my mental health this term wher emy group would play literally every night. I also made a really good friend off of Bumble BFF this term, who I’ve hung out with a good amount for plant shopping and board games.

I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where I can get tested for COVID on a days notice, and very grateful that I could use that to stay a little sane. My Biggest Accomplishment this term, was not school related. but instead I hit my 365 DAY STREAK on duolingo. This was celebrated with cake. This streak has lived through literal hell and for that I am very proud.

Overall reflection:

This term was super rough, there were a lot of days where I just napped through it and a lot of days where I couldn’t bring myself to do any work. However, I think the courseload that I took was very manageable and I’m going to continue to go light on myself in that regard.

I really liked the boundaries that I set for myself this term, not working after 6pm and making time to do some fun things in the midst of chaos. I never felt like I was too far behind on work, or that I wasn’t doing enough, because I had a literal reminder in front of me that I had already put x amount of hours into something with toggl.

Sometimes in class I would feel like I didn’t know how to productively contribute to conversation, but I think thats a skill that will get better over time and not being so great at it should especially be expected in the first term of a program.

Socially I met a lot of wonderful people who also made me feel more comfortable will myself. I started using She/They pronouns which feel really comforting to me. I made a lot of little origami cranes every time I was feeling sad. I drank a lot of boba. Watched a lot of She Ra. Played a lot of games. It all ended up being okay despite the weight of everything around me.

I’m proud of all of you for making it through this year, I know it was really difficult for a lot of people in more ways than it was for me, but we’re still here! Sometimes all you can do it make it to the next day and thats such a big accomplishment on its own. Please feel free to reach out with any questions about time-management, toggl, phd stuff in general, archaeology, etc! Always happy to help out. :’) Thanks for reading! Lyss

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johannstutt413 · 4 years

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(requested by calligomiles)

“Hey, General, can you try something for me?” Gummy came home one day with a box from the kitchen. “My friend made a cake, and it’s really good, so I brought you a piece.”

“Huh. Thanks, Rada.” Zima took the box and the fork the chef provided and popped it open. Inside was a rather...strange-looking slice of cake. The form itself was essentially perfect - two layers of cake with some strawberry jam or something like it gluing them together and evenly frosted along the outside - but the deep shade of purple on everything was rather disorienting. What flavors were the components supposed to be? Were the black flecks in the cake itself fruit or chocolate? Nothing in Ursus, or even Rhodes Island, looked like this…

Still, she knew better than to take appearances at face value, and if her gourmand friend thought it was good, who was she to refuse trying it? Sonya stabbed into it, pulled off the front corner, and took the bi- WHOA. “Your friend made this?” She asked, coping with the rapturous delight with her usual composure.

“Yeah! Do you like it?” Gummy came back from putting away her vaul- shield and fighting pan, but as soon as she did, she knew the answer. “I’ve watched her cook, and I don’t know how she does it. It’s like nothing else, right?”

“...I want to meet her. Who is she?”

Rada smiled, but it was rather strained. “Um, well, I think you’ve probably heard of her...Blue Poison, the Sniper?”

“The toxicologist?” Zima looked at the fork in her hand and swallowed. Hard. “She bakes?”

“Yeah, and she’s really sweet as a person, too. I don’t get why people are so scared of her...well, I guess there’s rumors that go around, but they aren’t true.”

The general thought about what she’d heard, for the first time from a critical perspective - that her saliva was a critical component in her darts’ poison, that she coated anything she touched in toxins that could kill a person in moments, that she asked people to touch her so she could eliminate her competition and finally be with the Doctor...and realized just how much bullshit she’d accidentally swallowed without thinking about it. “They couldn’t be, and even if they were, I’m sure the baking takes care of any lingering toxins. I want you to introduce us - invite her over for dinner or something before the end of the week.”

“Yes, General!” Rada’s smile brightened; she loved when she got orders she was going to act on anyway. “If she’s free tomorrow, would that be too soon?”

“No, if she’s free, that should be fine. Thank you, Rada.”

The chef saluted her. “Конечно, товарищ генерал!”

“...Is this whole slice for me?” Zima looked at the rest of it, wondering if Anna or Rosalind might want some. “There’s enough to split.”

“As you wish, General! I’ll go ask them.” With that, Gummy went off, leaving Sonya to her thoughts...and another bite of the cake. It was given to her first, after all.

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

Blue Poison sighed, watching the dessert table with the normal degree of disappointment. Usually, only two or three portions were taken from her contributions - those being the Doctor’s, Gummy’s, and Glaucus’ - which meant she often had leftovers, and it always made her dream of the days her cakes barely lasted half an hour after she made them. One of a few things she missed from home, if she was honest, but there was no point in thinking of going back there…

There was a tap on her shoulder, and she jumped. “Oh, Gummy. Sorry, I was just...thinking. Do you need something?”

“I took a piece of your cake to my friends like I said, and they all loved it! Leto and Istina had to go on a mission, but the General and I were wondering if you’d like to eat dinner with us tonight. I’m making waffles!”

“Waffles for dinner?” The Anura smiled; Gummy had a way of making that happen. “That sounds delightful. What time are you expecting me?”

She shrugged. “I’ll start cooking 1800ish? But really any time after work is fine; if you come earlier, it’s just more time for us to hang out!”

“I think I’ll head over after I change out of this...Have I met ‘the General’ before?”

“I don’t think so.” The Ursus replied. “I’m pretty sure she’d remember meeting you.”

Blue raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”

“You remind me of her favorite UFC fighter, so I think you’d stick in her mind pretty easily. Oh, actually, I also came back here for some scones. Gotta run, talk to you tonight!” And there she went.

“Hmm...Dinner with Gummy and her friend.” The Anura looked at her muffin tin before nodding to herself. “I know just what to bring.”

A few hours later, after helping with dinner and heading to her room for a change of clothes, Blue Poison found the USSGG’s suite and knocked. A bright Ursan voice called from beyond it, “I’ll be right there!” Sure enough, Rada was less than a minute later. “Hi, Blue! I’m glad you showed up sooner rather than later~”

“It’s been awhile since someone’s invited me somewhere, so I got kind of excited. Is your General-”

“Hey, Rada, is she-” Zima emerged from the back room, already in her pajamas, and standing in the doorway across from her was one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen. “...Evening.”

Blue waved with her fingers, as there was a tray of cupcakes in her arms. “Good evening. I hope I’m not overdressed.”

“Oh, it’s fine! The General doesn’t really have anything else that’s really casual-”

“Rada, could you take the cupcakes to the table for her?” Sonya, in spite of herself, was blushing from the combination of awe and embarrassment. “Do you want something to drink, Miss Blue?”

She nodded. “Water will be fine, General.”

“You can call me Sonya; I’ve told Rada she doesn’t have to call me that anymore, but she insists.”

“You’ll always be my General, General!” Gummy sing-songed. “I’ll get the drinks; feel free to sit anywhere, Blue!”

After standing awkwardly for a moment, the Anura sat on the couch. “Thank you. My friends called me Azure back home, if we’re using first names here.”

“Azure, huh? That’s a pretty...cool name.” For some reason, Zima found herself leaning into the tough girl persona she’d perfected in her school days. Maybe once dinner started, she could let it drop.

“Thank you.” Now they were both blushing. “Sonya is, too. Gum- Rada said you liked my cake?”

Thank God, something to talk about. “I’ve never had something so sweet that tasted so natural. Most of the desserts we had back home were just fruit, but chocolate and strawberry together was something I’ve never tried. I’m glad you brought more with you.”

“Guests usually made dessert for the evening where I’m from. It’s how I learned to bake as well as I did.”

“I imagine so,” she agreed. “You seem like someone who’d have a lot of friends.”

Azure sighed. “I did, but...some things happened.”

“Ah...” Shit, she’d made it awkward.

“I have water!” Gummy emerged from the kitchen with glasses for each of them. “Oh, and something a bit stronger, too, just in case!”

The general blinked. “Rada, isn’t that the vodka Natalya got you for your birthday?”

“Yep! I thought tonight was as good a night as any to try it, don’t you think?”

“Vodka?” The Anura looked from one Ursus to the other. “That’s a popular Ursan alcohol, yes? I’ve never tried it before.”

The chef set the tray she was holding down, opened the bottle, and poured each of them a shot. “Yep! It doesn’t do a lot for us, but apparently other people think it’s really strong!”

“Interesting...Cheers.” They clinked shot glasses, and Blue drank it like a normal drink - which meant she very quickly started coughing.

“Are you okay, Azure?” The name really did roll off her tongue...hmm. Come to think of it, didn’t Anura have- No, brain, not the time to think about that. “The idea is to get it as far back into your throat as possible so it burns less.”

She nodded, downing half a cup of water soon after. “Guh~ I’ll know for the next one.”

“You want another?” Gummy cocked her head, already filling another round.

“I do.” Azure lightly slapped her face on both sides. “But only one more.”

Clink! Round 2 went down much better, although she immediately felt it as Rada went back to the kitchen to start cooking. Zima noticed when she picked up her water and was visibly shaking. “Feeling okay?”

“Mmhmm. Just a little woozy...”

“Alright. Let me know if that changes.” The general stretched her arms above her head and yawned. “So uh...” Damn, what to talk about?

Blue was already two steps ahead, apparently. “Gummy told me that I look like your favorite fighter. ‘Zat true?”

“She said that? I don’t think so; your hair’s similar, but outside of that, not seeing a resemblance.”

“Aww.” The Anura pouted. “That’s a shame. I thought you’d think I was cute.”

...Sonya only had one response to that. “I never said you weren’t; you just don’t look like Jolanta.”

“So you think I’m cute?” Azure leaned towards her, holding herself up with her arms and tilting her head to one side. It definitely looked like a frog poised to jump.

“Yeah?” Sticking to her guns. “I like your pigtails.”

She giggled. “Thanks~ You’re pretty cute, too.”

“Well, that’s a first.”

“Whaaaat?” As it turned out, Blue held alcohol about as well as a sponge as it’s being squeezed. “Your girlfriend hasn’t told you that before?”

Sonya shook her head. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Oh...Does that mean you’re single~”

“I’m not dating anyone.” The Anura hopped towards her. “Azure, what are you doing?”

More giggling. “Your voice cracked.”

“Hey, do you guys want your waffles thick and fluffy or flat and crispy?”

“Flat!” Both called back in unison. Blue hopped forward again, now only a cushion away. “Just like us~”

Zima sighed. “Look, Azure, you seem nice and all, but I’ve known you like five minutes, so slow your roll.”

“You don’t like me?”

“What? No, I do, I just think this isn’t the way to start.” The Anura retreated, hopping backwards. “Azure...Come back.”

She did. “I just want a hug~ Is that too much?”

“No, a hug is fine.” The Ursus stood up, and Blue leaped to her feet and into her arms.

“Yay.” Azure rested her head against Sonya’s shoulder. “You didn’t ask if I was gonna poison you~”

Zima smirked. “I know that’s a bunch of bullshit.”

“You do?” Her arms settled a little lower along the general’s back.

“It’s obvious you wouldn’t.” One of the Ursus’ hands found its way to Blue’s hair. “You’re not the type to endanger your friends like that.”

Azure nodded. “I’m not...You’re so sweet, Sonya~”

“I’m just being honest with you.”

“Yeah, but...” A tear found its way to Zima’s shoulder. “I miss having friends to hug.”

The general patted the back of her head. “Well, you know where to find us. Rada’s a hugger, too.”

“Mmm. You’re willing to share?”

“I-” The approval caught in her throat. “I...hmm.”

Blue’s eyes, still a bit watery, lit up at the hesitation. “Is that a no?”

“...Maybe. You don’t mind, do you?” She smelled the way a candle called ‘birthday cake’ would, somehow.

“One’s enough for me.” The Anura pulled back to look her in the eye. “Sonya...”

The Ursus smiled back at her. “Yes, Azure?”

“Waffles are ready!” Gummy called from the kitchen.

“...I’ll tell you after dinner.” She poked her nose with a finger. “Shall we?”

Zima let go of the embrace, but immediately after doing so she took her hand and led her to the dining room, both smiling more brightly than they had since arriving at Rhodes Island.

#arknights #blue poison (arknights)#zima (arknights)#gummy (arknights)#we uh...we might come back to this #there's a twist i was thinking of pulling #but it can wait while we knock out some other requests #calligo i think you'll know what i mean #arknights fic

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dramallamadingdang · 5 years

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My mind is blown.

I’m totally serious. And this is a seriously long post, for which I apologize, but you might think it worth it in the end.

I did some fiddling with my Simming computer while solving the mystery of the super-lag/abysmal FPS rate in my TS3 game. While I was reading up on things to do that might improve that situation, I ran across this MTS forum post. It's about NVIDIA graphics settings (meaning, settings outside of the game, controlled by the video card itself) that improve the appearance of TS3 in-game. Now, maybe among the more gamer-types out there, doing this kind of stuff is common knowledge. But I didn't know, and my gamer husband never saw fit to inform me of these things, for which he’s gonna get a whuppin’ :), and my mind is blown, so I thought I'd share info for other non-gamer-types like me who don't know about this stuff. :)

After I fixed my TS3 game and tried out the NVIDIA settings and they made my TS3 game look awesome, I wondered what would happen if I applied the same settings to TS2. I had to test the game anyway because part of my problem-solving in TS3 was to update my GPU's driver to the version that was released about two weeks ago instead of a 5-year-old one. *laugh* I feared this would screw up TS2, but Mustang Valley and my creating set-up, at least, are fine with it. (Might be a totally different story when I play a regular, active, populated neighborhood, of course!) But I figured, what the hell, let's make a profile for TS2 with these settings, too. The worst that could happen is the game freaks out and I have to revert back to the default settings.

Well, the game didn't freak out and, in some ways, it looks a lot better. I'll go into more detail about that, via many pics, behind the cut. In front of the cut I'll say this:

You need an NVIDIA graphics card. I mean, I'm sure there's ways to do the same things with AMD cards. I just don't know how. You can't do this stuff with Intel integrated graphics.

Moreover, you need a decent NVIDIA video card. In the linked MTS post, the OP has a 700-series card and the guy who posted the settings was dubious about whether or not the OP should mess with this stuff because it might cause lower FPS rates and lag in TS3. But I'm gonna venture a guess that you could do this with a lesser card for TS2, since it's a much less demanding game even when it's all tricked out. And either way, there’s no harm in trying. (For the record, my card is a GTX 1050Ti. It's decent, the best card I can put in my Simming machine without needing a stronger power supply, and it’s more than adequate for both TS2 and TS3, but it’s certainly not high end.)

You need the Nvidia Profile Inspector, if you don't already have it. It's freeware, and you can download it here. Note that it's a program for Windows; I have no idea how you’d go about doing this stuff on a Mac.

Once you've downloaded/installed the Profile inspector, open it up. It looks like this when you open it:

Under the drop-down at the very top (circled in red in the pic), there's a huge long alphabetical list of games and programs, old and new, that you can create an individual graphics profile for using this program. This means that the settings you choose will affect only that program and no others. So, if you play other games, Sims or otherwise, or use other programs (my CAD program's on the list, yay!), you might want to fiddle with those, too. But anyway, for TS2, find Sims 2 (with no "The". And it lists all the EPs, too, but just pick the base game) on the list and choose it. Then, plug in the settings in the post I linked to above. They’re all in the drop-downs for each setting, so all you have to do is click and choose the right setting. When you're done, click "Apply Changes" in the upper right corner of the program window. Done. Easy-peasy. It'll take you two minutes to do, if that.

Then load up your game, and in your graphics settings you can (and probably should) turn off the game's native edge smoothing. It's being overwritten with much stronger anti-aliasing, so there’s no point in having it turned on. In the pics below the cut, all of my graphics settings are at max except that edge-smoothing is turned off, I have no lighting or shader mods installed, and the game is in windowed mode. (It tends to look better that way.)

Now as to what it looks like... There’re a bunch of pics behind the cut. I'll say up front that the changes are subtle. Don't expect miracles in a 15-year-old game! :) But for me -- since I'm pretty damn picky about how my game environment looks, what with wanting high-res and stuff - they make enough difference that I'm definitely keeping these settings in place.

I don't see much difference in neighborhood view -- including skyboxes/horizons -- aside from meshed stuff having smoother edges and a bit (not a lot, just a bit) better texture quality/clarity. Rather, the main difference that I see is in the on-lot textures. There is better clarity and more depth, even in things like basegame carpets. It affects objects, walls/floors/terrain paints, hair textures, everything. (Well, OK, I didn't notice much difference with clothing and other non-hair CAS stuff, but all I had available to look at was my defaults and Maxis clothing, and...yeah.)

Overall, you get a higher level of detail and more depth, even close-up, without having higher-res textures. (But if you do have high-res stuff, it looks even better than it did before, with no further increased resolution.) Which means that you get better-looking textures WITHOUT contributing to pink flashing at all.

So! On to the pictures, none of which are edited in any way except for cropping/resizing and adding text. No sharpening, no fiddling with brightness/contrast. Nothing. I wish I could give you “before and after” pics, but...nope. You’ll just have to take my word that there is a difference. Which you can verify by fiddling with your own settings. (Don’t worry about breaking your game or anything. Since these are settings that exist entirely outside the game, there’s no way you can hurt the game with them. :) ) So, pictures...

And now for some hair...

Unfortunately, all I have to show you are my own hair textures, which are neither Maxis-match nor Pooklet-y. However, this graphics profile does tend to bring out extra depth in all textures, including hairs, and with hairs specifically it does nice things to hair ends so that they aren’t so stringy-looking. I’m assuming other textures would also gain extra definition/depth.

One (and only, so far) bad thing about using this profile: It gives you better transparency. Unfortunately, this means that if you use hairs with transparency issues, the issues will be more noticeable, not less. I’m slowly weeding out such hairs in my collection, but I noticed that on the female hair in the first hair pic, there’s a transparency that wasn’t noticeable before, right next to her neck, about half-way down it, on the viewer’s right side. It’s hard to see on the sized-down pic, but it’s the bit that appears to be a blue-ish dot. So, if you do use a lot of hairs with transparency issues, you might want to use a not so high transparency sampling setting. That might help.

As for other stuff that goes on a Sim’s body, I didn’t notice any huge difference in the stuff I looked at, but what I had to look at was limited since I didn’t fire up my full game with all the CAS CC. :) I think my default skintones and the body meshes themselves might be a bit smoother/less pixellated...but that also might be my imagination. :) I do think accessories like glasses and jewelry would probably see some improvement.

So, um, yeah! If you made it through this post, I hope you found the info relevant to your interests. :) I wish that I had learned that you can do this a looooooong time ago!

#sims 2 #better graphics without pink flashing #tutorials

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tarithenurse · 4 years

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Skinny Dipping - Challenge

Pairing: Thor x fem!reader Contents: The title gives some away...but not all. Expect: pining, bit of insecurity, incredulity, some nudity and sexual details, mostly hinting at smutty thoughts, implied smut. Probably some grammar/spelling/writing errors too. A/N: This is my contribution to wonderful @firefly-in-darkness‘ Summer Challenge using the prompt “Skinny Dipping”. Technically not due ‘til the 2nd of September, but maaaan, it’s impossible to tell when the summer really is in this wet country. Was it last week when we had 15-20 degrees celcius? Is it a month from now? Or maybe we’ll have a heatwave in October. Who knows?! I don’t, so let’s create our own summer right now.

Skinny Dipping

... Reader ...

The buzzing of insects is overwhelming, at night the cicadas are the worst, and the only moment where there seems to be some sort of silence is in the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest, burning down on the already scorched grass. Not even the trees can grant much relief from the rays as the leaves have started shrivelling up after weeks and weeks of no rain.

“Why did...I...agree to this?!”

Your voice is raspy, dry from the exertion of running and the dust that’s constantly picked up with the lightest breeze or disturbance. At least you brought plenty of water – it’s just not enough to soothe the sensation of getting the liquids slowly squeezed out of you by an invisible force. You’re not wearing much (shorts and a tank top over your sports bra) but it’s too much and you’re soaked.

“I have faith in your prowess, my friend,” Thor smiles back to you.

The Asgardian is leisurely jogging a few meters up ahead, apparently unbothered by the extreme conditions and unknowingly adding to the frustration bubbling inside. Still it’s the sight of him that keeps you moving because the man really is endearing when he cheers you on and – oh boy – the look of him is enough to keep anyone moving: shirtless, his skin has tanned to contrast the rose golden hair and beard, and even if he isn’t worn out like you, the man still has pearls of sweat running down the perfectly sculpted muscles. Not that you ever would admit to thirsting for him.

Never going running with an Enhanced or whatever again!

Somehow – at the moment you can’t recall how – Thor had cajoled the you to follow him along a new path. A long path. You are used to running with Sam: together with Clint the three of you make up the completely human core of the Avengers while everyone else has something amazing going on. Well...maybe not Tony, but he refuses to go jogging like this. Smart man.

Pulling out a water bottle for the umpteenth time, it’s a brief relief to feel the lukewarm liquid running down your throat (both inside and outside) and one you make sure to use while you can.

“Tho-o-or,” you moan with a pout, “can’t you...like...make it rain or som’thin’?”

“That is not in my power, little one,” he laughs, smiling almost as brightly as the sun, “I can brew up thunder and lightning, yet the rain is not within my realm of command. But fret not, there is a stream not far ahead.”

... Thor ...

The air hangs heavily even here in the shadows of the only green vegetation left for miles. He has slowed to a walk, allowing [Y/N] to spare herself a bit, but now finds that her scent is filling his lungs and clouding his mind with the sweetness of her sweat and the saltiness of her breath...or is it the other way around? The words he had picked carefully days ago are gone. Dried up like the drops of water that had run from her lips, along the neck, over the collarbone before delving between her breasts and disappearing with his courage.

“Oh, Thor!” Her revitalized cry shakes the God back to reality and he finds that they have arrived at the once thundering river – the drought has reduced it to a lazy flow. “It looks so...so...yay!”

Hurrying to the river bank, she quickly sheds backpack, shoes and sock before wading out into the shallows where the stones are rounded from centuries of streaming water. He can see the rush of goosebumps spreading along her limbs.

“I’m glad you approve of this place for a few minutes of rest.”

“Few?!” Water splashes as she spins to confront him. “I’m not getting out ‘ntil I’m cooled down, sir! In fact -” Thor holds his breath as sparkles of mischievousness adorns her eyes –”I’m gonna enjoy this to the fullest.”

Nimble hands start to pull the top she’s wearing off. Thor’s gaze becomes fixed on the bared skin of her belly even as the abandoned fabric lands by his feet and his throat instantaneously dries when she reaches for the clasps of her intimates. I shan’t. Forcing himself to turn away, every instinct is trying to fight Thor’s upbringing each time a discarded clothing item flies past him.

One.

Two.

Three.

He shivers when realizing nothing can be left, the waves of excitement planting themselves in his groin to grow rapidly. A splash. A sigh – one he echoes unwillingly due to the images the sound conjures up.

“You’re just gonna stand and fry in the sun?”

“I...maybe you...” Why is this so hard? “It would be a shame to impose.”

“It’d be a shame to miss out on this, Thor.”

And I do not want to miss a thing. Like a siren’s call, she draws him in with simple orders sent skidding across the water’s surface from where [Y/N] has lowered all but her head below water. Clear eyes never leave his face as the Asgardian, self-conscious for once, frees himself from the restraints of his clothing and wades into the water. A shiver runs through his body as his sac meets the cool, clear stream before lapping around the entirety of his manhood.

“Ahhhhhh!” Thor sighs with delight, lost to the surroundings the moment he submerges to the neck.

Sweat and dust is lifted from the body, leaving him re-freshened, and he understands [Y/N]’s stubborn joy.

A small splash behind him indicates where she is. “Not bad, eh?”

“It is truly wondrous...” Still, it could be better. The thought throbs through his cock with a will of its own. “I...is this a normal custom for Midgardians?”

There’s a pause in her movements through the water and it’s as though the air stands still, like the world is holding its breath. “I think it might depend on where...different cultures you know.” She inhales deeply. “Here it’s generally not something anyone would do with random people or...or even...friends unless they’re...” The awkward tone in her voice dies as she tapers off into a groan.

Yet here we are. “Then I will not bring any shame on you.”

When there’s no answer, Thor peeps over his shoulder to see what’s going on only to find that [Y/N] has submerged fully. And stays submerged. Puzzlement grows into worry, and in a few swimming strokes the god hurries to her, carefully aiming through the blurring water for the woman’s arms and lifting her to breach the surface, making her splutter at the shock.

“[Y/N]?”

Still coughing, [Y/N] doesn’t pull away from him, not even as he brings her a bit closer to support her through the fit. Her skin...she is... Subtle, cooled by the water, and carrying a scent unlike any other her body leans back to fit against his chest, curve of her ass positioning perfectly against his pelvis to allow the cock to nestle between the butt cheeks – it isn’t until a tiny sigh slips between her lips that Thor realizes what he is doing but by then she’s already reached behind her to pull him closer.

... Reader ...

It’s a dream. Gotta be a dream. I probably drowned when I swallowed that water and now I’m dead and in some sort of heaven. The only problem with your theory is how strikingly real it all feels: Thor’s body (and certain parts thereof) are pressing hard and warm against you, his hands drifting from your shoulders to let him wrap his arms around your chest. Muscles bunch, cocooning and tempting, under the tanned skin.

“If you tell me no,” you whisper, too afraid of that to happen, “then I’ll stop.”

“And if you accept my yes,” the deep voice is husky as he nibbles at your ear, “then know you have all of me for as long as you wish. I’ll be yours.”

Maybe your heart just stopped beating. It doesn’t really matter because these seconds would be enough to fill you a lifetime. “Yes, please.” Twisting slightly in his arms, your lips finally brush against his and his stubble prickles teasingly. “That sounds perfect.”

Next second, his mouth kick starts your heart but steals your breath away.

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elliethesuperfruitlover · 3 years

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tw/venting

ayo the thought of having to go back to school in a little over a month is fucking wild. like.....i feel like i just got out of school and binge watched invincible for the first time. IT FEELS LIKE YESTERDAY. it’s extremely scary thinking about how fast time is passing by because i keep doing the same thing everyday. there’s barely any change in anything. not allowed outside. my IRL friends arent vaxxed yet, and even if they were, my mom’s suspicious of my intentions when going out. and lets not get into the fact that school doesnt stress me out as much, but i’ll be damned if i dont have awful test anxiety still. i feel like everything is fucking passing me by and that sucks ASS. my classmates are going out to beaches and shit, and posting on insta (good for them, i probably need to touch some grass) but like?? i feel like im just being robbed of my life. and teen years and all that.

i know the pandemic has been hard for LITERALLY everyone. (if you said 2020 was a good year, hush, you’re alone in that regard bestie, dont wanna hear it) but i just......im finally recognizing feelings and all that (shit’s scary man) my thoughts dont match my body whatsoever (not dysphoria, its derealization, or something similar). thats so scary to me. sometimes i catch myself in the mirror and im talking and im like...”thats not me.....oh fuck, it is me.” so i dont look in the mirror and talk aloud, is what im saying. i’ll have a breakdown. but im extremely extroverted. i love people, and seeing people and hugging people. and not feeling like every day that i spend inside of my fucking house is a waste of time because time travel doesnt exist and i cant get any of these days back. at all. it is a never ending cycle. i just want a hug, dude. i’ve never experienced cuddling before either. i would love to platonically cuddle someone. but i got rid of toxic friends (still not over it) and got very radicalized...but for what. my own knowledge and betterment.....but eh. plus i traumadump, nobody wants to hear my sob story, i need to hush. and get in contact with my therapist. and discuss my anxiety issues. and possible depression. and PTSD and so many other things because it’s really not cute. anyways.

also heyy, my body issues are back. like?? hello. not that they ever went away, they just steep for a bit, then start boiling back. and that’s torture for me. having a generally okay body is fine, but then i realize that when i do wear pants, they’re either my overalls (comfort and queerness) or jeans. and yay those are tighter than they were last time. and i know weight fluctuation is a thing that happens, but i really feel like i could do more to not feel as bad. (i mean, sure, i could, but exercising makes me feel horrible mentally so). i see classmates thin and everything (i know thin isnt always healthy, but a part of me wishes that i was bone thin, we wont talk about it) and i know “every body is a bikini body” and i support that initiative 1,000 percent, but A. i have no idea if my parents would even let me get one if i wanted one (i dont) and B. i dont have the confidence to wear something like that. i even hate the fucking swimsuit that i have. i want the fucking full length victorian swimsuits with a shirt and fucking shorts because i cant stand being exposed. my stomach pokes out too much. my arms arent muscly like they were some years back. i just feel....so weird. and the “oh she’s smart, she cant be hot.” one or the other type shit that my brain keeps trying to tell me is real ia NASTY. like heyyy i have a brain, and i use it most days, but my body also shouldnt be fuckshitted like this. this collection of skin and bones keeps me safe (but not from my brain, its on some different shit)

another thing is that i can not wear exposing things. ugh, i would feel so just....out in the open. im literally scared of someone coming behind me and fucking groping me, or slapping my ass. (valid fear) but i literally fucking HATE feeling like that. one, I AM UNDERAGED, and two, ITS NASTY EITHER WAY. and if i went to school, and wore something mildly form fitting, i’d be pushing my body forward to look less noticeable (i dont trust seniors), or pulling my jacket down (i always wear jackets in school) so people arent looking at me. that sucks. and i wish i didnt make my anxiety that bad as to where it just sucks to exist. with a human flesh prison that looks a certain way. i kinda just want to hide my body. permanently. (not dysphoria related, my tits are fine, if they stay, cool, if they don’t, cool) but like...ugh.

and this is where it gets EXTREMELY dark, trigger warning for suicide mention.

yeah last year on the first week of school (virtual) i really wanted to kill myself. which like..isnt okay. i havent really told anyone about that either. because it was an extremely low point for me. i just didn’t think that i could fucking make it through the entire year. all those assignments, and all those days, wasted. im not learning anything valuable (besides maybe science and finance)...i dont know what the fuck i want to do with my life. there’s no such thing as ethical consumption so i’m gonna be contributing to something fucked up, no matter what i do. im weird. and political. and opinionated. and into so many different things. which, y’know, should be cool and fun and fresh. but it terrifies me to know that other people arent like me. that they many never understand my interests. and i feel like this with EVERYONE in EVERY class. unless i see a similar interest. or a tiny flag. but the thought of introducing myself again and again. to more people. who i may never fucking see again. who probably dont care about me. kinda discourages you a bit. so yeah, i really wanted to off myself. it seemed so impossible to get through everything. and then heyyy, near the end of the year, something really shitty happened. was depressed. told my mom i may be autistic... “okay...well....getting diagnoses takes a lot of money. so unless you have 700 bucks laying around....then no.” (who says the person who may ALSO be autistic along with me) few weeks back, talking about my therapist who wanted to talk through the DSM-4 with me “you really think you’re autistic huh.” of course mom. why else would i have written a paper about it, followed actually autistic accounts, and done research on it.

then near the next year, i sucked even more ass. friend shit broke me down and i felt....like i fucked up. which i did. and like i cant keep people in my life. (which is partially true) and i felt more physically exhausted than i had in literal years. i feel very deeply, and especially with negative emotions. so that really fucked me up. (may be something more serious, i have no idea) so there’s that. i just....i’ve never felt like i had been so awful in some time. like i let everyone around me down. so no more of /those/ situations. i dont sleep correctly when my hair is wet, so you can imagine how my dreams were THAT night.

but yeah, i dont feel like wanting to kill myself again. because i know it’s not worth it. but something just keeps pulling me deeper into these disgusting pits of awfulness. like there’s no other way out. (wrong) and gritting my teeth and willing myself to do things is going to hurt, but it’s quite literally the only choice i have. i cant give up. so there’s that. my thoughts and everything. yeah.....it’s 5:10 in the morning, im going the fuck to sleep.

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smartguyreviewed · 4 years

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2x5 - Dumbstruck

Original air date: October 8, 1997

Yay, an episode where TJ is actually acting like a kid! And also an excuse for me to rant about how much I despise group projects.

A very over it Lisa Simpson (played by Yeardley Smith) is handing back tests to her dumb ass students save for TJ and this annoying white kid named Clark that we’ll be introduced to briefly because Mackey ended up being the lead token white on this show, right next to Yvette’s cute friend Nina.

Clark asks how TJ did. He humble brags and Marcus snatches his test to gloat about his brother finally not doing well at something. Sike! TJ got a 110 on his assignment. Marcus is dumbfounded since he clearly doesn’t even put in the bare minimum.

Lisa has to remind Marcus that demonstrating how you actually studied will get you more points. She gives her lazy, remedial students a chance to make up for their piteous attempts with a makeup assignment, an oral group report on WW2. Now everyone is mad at TJ because he fucked up the curve of the grading system, facilitating the need for a makeup assignment. Mackey is pissed.

Marcus and Mo of course decide to stick all the work on TJ while they go to Dawgburger. TJ, now wanting to fit in with his cool brother and bestie, agrees but is promptly thrown into a garbage can by Mackey and his 30 year old goon when they give him shit for being smart. Because the plot calls for it in this episode, TJ isn’t masterminding a plan to put fudged up charges on Mackey’s record or flunk him out of school forever.

At the Henderson crib, TJ is attempting to do the assignment but the boys are watching The Three Stooges with non-copyright stock sound effects and can’t be bothered to lower the volume. Even Floyd stops scolding Marcus and Mo to join them. Apparently, TJ thinks being a genius and being entertained by slapstick are mutually exclusive.

Yvette is in the kitchen frowning at her fruitless yogurt when TJ comes in to whine about feeling left out. Yvette, as usual, is there to provide motherly advice and reassure TJ that he’s too brilliant to relate to simpleton humor. She even suggests that he’ll be the only non crooked black politician on the Supreme Court. Aww. TJ will revenge porn her in the future.

Just then, a truck pulls in with daddy Floyd’s wood--hehe--and the boys, including Mo, gather in the garage to bring in Floyd’s wood--last time, I promise--to wherever it needs to go.

Yvette comes in after the gang delegates how the work flow will commence and then commands the plot for the episode when she tells TJ his shoe is untied while Mo and Marcus are handing boards to each other. This ended well.

After passing out, Marcus, who is terrifyingly not alarmed, just calls for Floyd and then we end up at the hospital where it seems that TJ’s relatively light board smack has now rendered him dumb. Not only dumb but more childish than usual.

Marcus cares nothing about TJ’s prognosis, however, because he is a horny teenage boy and the doc is hot. Yvette has to literally drag him out of the room by his ear.

The doctor tells Floyd that this strange concussion could leave TJ acting like this for weeks. Of course Floyd is concerned since TJ is gifted. The next morning, TJ is so forgetful and delayed at breakfast that Floyd and Yvette have to play charades to help him navigate feeding himself.

Marcus comes in and asks if TJ is back to normal because he doesn’t want to do anything that makes him use his own damn brain for a change. After Flody sees this because Marcus did it right in the kitchen where he was about three feet away, he of course takes Marcus aside to tell him to quit badgering TJ to get well again.

At school, Mo thinks it’s a good idea to simply undo TJ’s problem by hitting him in the head again. Since we’re working off corny sitcom logic, he’s not exactly off base here. I mean, it did only take two light hits from a wooden board to turn TJ into an imbecile so why not do the same to get him back to normal, right?

During class, TJ is wowing everyone with his diminished IQ that was announced to everyone in the class for some reason. Eh, it’s Piedmont so I really shouldn’t be surprised that all of his business is out there.

Lisa is pissed because now that TJ is dumb and she hates Clark for some reason, teaching will be damn near impossible because nobody participates. I think I feel her pain because she asks a super easy question (what naval base did the Japanese attack) and nobody but annoying ass Clark answers. Poor thing. She probably came into this profession bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to change students’ lives and become the next Erin Gruwell but ended up becoming nothing more than a de facto babysitter.

TJ is taking advantage of being one of the guys by making fun of the more deadly effects of dropping bombs and says it led to radioactive monsters. The boys laugh but Lisa is aggy that nobody is taking this seriously. To spite her idiot students, she makes the reports worth half of their grade. Mackey blames Clark instead of the teacher who literally just assigned it. For some reason, this tickles Clark even though he’s going to end up in the garbage soon.

Since TJ is one of the guys again, he manages to tag along with the crew at Dawgburger, a place he wasn’t invited to earlier since he was going to do their group assignment all by himself. In hindsight, I hated group projects because I did all of the work anyways since my cohorts were dumb as rock boxes, so this wouldn’t have bothered me at all. Abolish group projects!

Post Dawgburger, TJ is in bed reading a comic and shooting the shit with Marcus. This is sweet. I like seeing siblings bond on TV shows because the regular narrative always seems to involve them all hating each other. Here, there’s no drama, just Marcus actually being responsible because he’s studying for the oral report and TJ, in what would be his natural state if he weren’t a genius. They even have a heart to heart when TJ asks if he’ll be okay and what would happen once he’s back to normal. Marcus says he’ll still stick up for him. Aww.

In geometry the next day, TJ’s intelligence just comes right back after he flawlessly recites the Pythagorean theorem when the dorky teacher asks. Once he realizes this, and after having probably the few easiest days in a while, TJ understandably commits to pretending to be a dolt. That is until pops sees TJ’s quantum physics magazine inside of a comic book!

Floyd traps TJ by making up a pretty damn good scenario in the Jughead comics but later confirms the lie by letting TJ know that wasn’t in the comic. He goes into how he likes being dumb with the guys because they like him more. Makes sense! TJ has nothing in common with them outside of attending their school but now he’s intellectually on their level. He knows this would change once he goes back to his regular self. Floyd should know this too but alas. I do love how he tells TJ he won’t rat on him. TJ returns the favor by telling his dad that he should write for the Jughead comics because that story he made up made him LOL super hard.

We cut to school where Mackey is just finishing up his group presentation about the X-Men invading Iwo Jima. Lisa Simpson isn’t impressed. Marcus and crew are up next and poor Marcus is struggling. I think it’s so funny that Marcus, a singer with a whole ass band, has stage fright upon trying to remember everything he studied for but just goes to show that music comes easier to him than school.

The internal monologues of everyone come up. Marcus is trying to remember what he studied. TJ contemplates bringing his brain back. Mo is...fucking beatboxing in his head. This shit had me dead when I first saw this episode.

However, Lisa ain’t having it. She is two seconds away from using the dreaded red pen before TJ saves the day and begins talking about WW2. The boys are shocked but it helps trigger Marcus’s memory and then he’s able to spew out the facts. Mo doesn’t contribute but he will definitely take the credit!

Later in the Henderson crib, Marcus is pissed because TJ almost let them fail. Although TJ is reminding Marcus that he put his effort into something and it paid off, Marcus is still annoyed leading TJ to think he doesn’t like him anymore.

Marcus explains that he enjoyed TJ’s company when he was dumb because he finally felt like what he is: his older brother. Kind of hard to feel that way when your younger brother is better at everything you do and a major know-it-all. He even admits that he can’t even pretend now that TJ is smart again because it won’t feel the same. I like when Marcus is doing more than chasing girls every episode because he shows maturity at times that is pleasing to watch.

He offers to instead be an older brother in other ways like threatening other people with violence if they make fun of TJ. Cute, but we all know Marcus is scary. Nice gesture though! Floyd comes in and tells the boys good night. At the end, we see Floyd took TJ up on his advice and is submitting an idea to the Jughead comics. Aww Floyd. I wish we’d gotten a subtle nod to if his idea was used because he seemed really happy with himself afterwards. Eh, whatever. Parents aren’t people so who cares.

Things I noticed:

- Clark being oddly satisfied that he knows Mackey and his fellow middle-aged adult friend are going to put him in the trash. Clark either has a crush on Mackey and didn’t like TJ for the attention he got from Mackey or he has some sort of a trash fetish. Or both. Maybe that’s why Lisa doesn’t fuck with him.

- “Okay students, now watch as I turn left to a right triangle.” I’m a dork and this actually made me laugh. Tough classroom, though.

#smart guy #mo tibbs #tahj mowry #yvette henderson #marcus henderson #jason weaver #essence atkins #omar gooding #john marshall jones #disney #90s #nineties

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daesungindistress · 4 years

Note

Oh wow chickbang have gotten so big! Is anyone a troublemaker? What are their personalities like?

No one is really what I would call a troublemaker. Barring some minor squabbles here and there, just pecking order stuff, nothing serious, nothing dangerous, everyone is getting along nicely. Yay! I suppose the only one I would have considered a troublemaker at any point was GD, who I... um... don’t have anymore.

I’ll put this one behind a cut.

This was my last photo of him. GD went to a new home back in July. New home, new harem. Months of trying to manage the feather picking by the other chickens that contributed to his baldness was just not working out, plus it eventually reached a point where I could not handle the constant crowing. He crowed all day long, every hour of the day from sunup to sundown. Hearing voices would set him off -- my voice, neighbors’ voices, visitors’ voices, whatever. And in the final few weeks I had him, as he reached sexual maturity and was becoming protective of “his” flock, he took to crowing nonstop any time I was around, only settling down when I would leave them and go back inside the house.

Roosters crow to announce their presence and establish dominance. He probably saw me as competition. Maybe even a mild threat? He never attacked me, in fact he always seemed to fear me (lol), but he was really ruining my enjoyment of my own chickens. He was beautiful and interesting but the little dude had to go. And while it was hard to go through with it, to finally do it after months of thinking about it, once he was gone, to be honest, I found I didn’t really miss him 🤷‍♀️

...because the very next day after I rehomed him I got my first egg! And that began a whole new “chapter” of Chickbang’s story. Within the next week several more hens had begun laying, and by the end of the month, all seven. I suspect GD was causing them stress and slowing down their development because he matured earlier than they did and was mounting and trying to mate with them before they were ready. All in all, they seem happier and more at ease as an all-female flock, and they’re friendlier and more attentive toward me now than they were before, probably because I’ve replaced the rooster as head of the flock. I’m happy with my decision. I’m also happy I kept and raised him for as long as I did because I feel I learned a lot about the physical and behavioral characteristics of cockerels/young roosters and will be better able to identify them at an early age in the future.

As for everyone’s personalities... gonna turn to bullet points for this one.

Dae

Is now something of a lap chicken despite wanting nothing to do with me when young. All on her terms, of course.

Quacks like a duck.

Very noisy, has a big voice just like her namesake.

Her breed (Buff Orpington) tends to “go broody” (mothering instinct kicks in and she’ll want to sit on a clutch of eggs and hatch them), and in August she actually went what I call “half broody”, meaning she would spend hours on the nest and would puff up and screech at other hens when they came near, guarding “her” eggs, even though the eggs she was sitting on weren’t actually hers. She didn’t spend all day there, however, which meant she wasn’t fully broody. I got into the habit of retrieving eggs from underneath her, gently. Thankfully, she never pecked me, just made unhappy clucking noises at me for the egg thievery.

Doesn’t bully Gwisun anymore, or anyone for that matter, so that’s good!

Bae

Gets a little nutty when she needs to lay.

Runs back and forth between the nests (I now have two separate structures inside the run that contain nests for the chickens, just giving them options and trying to cut down on the crowding), is extremely indecisive and kicks up such a fuss until she finally, finally settles on a nest she deems suitable.

Wrecks the nest before laying an egg in it.

Talkative, but that’s nothing new.

The only hen who I’ve never actually seen lay an egg... what’s up with that?

Is still curious about everything but doesn’t peck me anymore so that’s good (she tore my eyelid once, thanks Bae).

Is regularly dominated by Gwisun, which is a fairly recent development. Gwisun was always bottom of the pecking order but one day decided to have it out for Bae. They started out leaping in the air and bumping chests, but it wasn’t long before Bae was submitting, squatting when Gwisun stood over her, and just plain running away when she pursued her. Gwisun still takes it upon herself to reminds Bae who’s boss from time to time, chasing her and occasionally even mounting her!

VIP

Big Momma (not actually a momma, just big... biggest of them all)

Doesn’t handle the heat well and was the first to learn that standing in pans of water helped cool her off! Smart girl.

Lays large eggs.

Is pretty chill overall, takes most things in stride, not easily bothered.

Doesn’t sit back down on her egg after laying it or otherwise hang out in the nests any longer than she needs to. Does her thing and leaves pretty quickly afterward, which is great! It means I can collect and go if I happen to be out there with them when she does the deed.

Tabi (on the left)

Head hen (I think)

Seems perpetually ill-tempered, the sounds she makes are IMO a little grumpy. Kinda whiny? IDK. I get the impression that half the time I'm with them she's giving me the stink eye.

Pecks at my hand when I try to pick up feed off the ground to give to her. As a warning? It's not especially painful.

Is very businesslike about her egg laying. Gets in, lays her egg quickly, gets out.

Rarely sings the “egg song” after laying. Is she not proud of her accomplishment?

Is extremely punctual and reliable when it comes to eggs. Lays at almost the same time every day, usually early. First in the nest, first out.

Lay pretty blue-green eggs!

SHOUTS her egg song.

Is super sweet toward me. Funny, considering she was terrified of me when she was just a chick. She’ll hover nearby and stare at me quietly, and when I raise my hand, without fail, she squats submissively. Heck, all I have to do is look at her and she drops. So I pet her a lot. Why not? And she picks at my clothes gently, something hens are known to do to the feathers of roosters they like. I think she’s smitten with me lol

Is occasionally challenged by Gwisun but stands her ground.

Also lays pretty blue-green eggs, but not as regularly as BB. I never really know when to expect eggs from her.

Tends to produce weak eggshells, might have a defective shell gland.

Sings the egg song often and quite loudly when other hens are laying, along with BB. Both my Easter Eggers like to flex their singing voices...

Aside from that, very aloof overall. Was friendlier as a baby but has become distant as an adult.

Not sure what else to say about her. She’s kind of... off in her own little world most of the time. She doesn’t interact much with me or the other hens.

Gwisun

Has changed the most!

Not the best picture, I know.

Egg song could be mistaken for a barking puppy, it's hilarious.

Is the best flyer in the flock. Has sailed clear over the fence a few times, meaning I had to chase her down and catch her. Since she started laying, however, has not attempted to escape again.

Surprisingly noisy... starts screeching 30 minutes to an hour before it’s time to let the chickens out in the yard each evening.

So much for Polish being a docile breed. Despite being a total pushover when she was younger, Gwisun is feisty these days. She still gets bossed around by some hens who are highest in the pecking order, such as Tabi and VIP, but she’s had enough of being bottom rung and seems to be working her way up.

Is my only white egg layer at the moment. Consistently lays 3 days on, 1 day off. We’ll see how long that lasts as the days shorten with winter’s approach.

#ask #anon #chickbang

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shadowthrone-ammanas · 5 years

Note

I SHOULD BE ASLEEP BUT I WAS REREADING YOUR VALENTINES DRABBLE AND I HAVE A REQUEST! Grooves and Conductor are going out on a date (Firat one Or a later one your choice.) And Hat Kids sees them and it takes her a few moments but realizes that: "YES! They ARE Dating! FINALLY!!" How Embarrassed each one of them is, I leave in your capable hands! ^-^

Thank you for the request!

Fancy

The greeter gave Hat Kid a funny look when she’d told them she had a reservation for just herself. The exact same thing had happened at the last fancy restaurant she’d gone to. But just like that time, she had the proof that she’d paid for the reservation which led to her getting seated at a table.

It was fancy with a pretty table cloth and candles and nice chairs that were mostly comfortable. It made her feel fancy and cool. And because she was an unattended child in an expensive restaurant, everyone seated nearby or passing by glanced her way in confusion. The fact that she was the only non-bird in here probably also contributed to that which only made it better. She smiled and waved at all of them, making them quickly look at anything that wasn’t her.

With a satisfied smile, Hat Kid picked up the menu and started perusing it. She had absolutely no idea what anything listed was, it was her first time eating at a place meant for birds. Alas, even with how much money she’d gained in her adventures she didn’t have enough to justify trying everything, might not even be able to afford it with how large the menu was. So instead she was going to go with something that had a cool name and was expensive because she could.

A few minutes into this she became vaguely aware of the greeter sitting someone/s at the vacant table closest to her. She almost looked up to see what kind of birds they were but didn’t yet. She had an important decision to make about what she was going to order and she needed to decide before her waiter came back.

“This place seems pecking expensive, are you sure about this?” … That voice, quiet as it was, was still recognizable.

“Don’t worry about it darling, I know you like to be frugal but we can splurge a bit sometimes. Besides, this was my idea and I set up the reservation so I’ll gladly pay the bill.”

Hat Kid looked up to see DJ Grooves and the Conductor seated at the table next to her. Grooves was wearing a fancy suit instead of his normal getup, he still wore the star sunglasses though because apparently that was his thing. The Conductor of course wore a suit as well as he always did, but instead of his usual hat he wore a little top hat, making him look fancy too.

“Like peck I’m going to let you pay the full bill,” the Conductor said. “We’re splitting it fifty/fifty like we do all the other bills.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Hat Kid folded her menu and hopped out of her chair and rushed over to stand by their table. “Hey guys!” They both flinched. “You guys are on a date, right?” What else could it be?

“Uh lass what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to eat new food and feel fancy. But you guys are here on a date. I knew you’d start dating eventually, you’ve been all kinds of in love for ages but never wanted to admit it. It’s been adorable to see but also kind of frustrating because I wanted you guys to just kiss so bad. But you guys are finally together, yay!” Now Snatcher owed her a pony because she’d made a bet with him about the directors starting to date when in the next few months a couple weeks ago.

The Conductor groaned and lifted his menu to hide his face behind it. Grooves grimaced and looked around. “Look darling,” he said, almost whispering as he leaned in. “We uh… are on a date but we’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about us like that, especially so loud, it’s uncomfortable. Also, we’d like to be left alone please.”

Of course they wanted to be alone, they were on a date. It had been rude of her to interrupt them but she’d been so excited, who could blame her? “Sorry! I’ll leave you be now. Have fun on your date.” She ran the short distance back over to her table and sat down, placing herself so her back would be to them, minimizing the temptation to spy on them. They’d probably also talk quieter now that they knew she was here so she might not be able to listen into their conversation either with was a shame but would probably be for the best.

Before she left she was totally going to get a quick pic of them though to prove to Snatcher she’d won that bet. So she had two reasons to be excited by them finally getting together. She was mostly just happy for them though, they were good for each other so she wished them the best in their new relationship.

For this request event.

#My Writing #ahit #A Hat In Time #DiscoTrain #the conductor/dj grooves #hat kid & the conductor #Hat kid & dj grooves

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dayenurose · 4 years

Note

1, 3, and/or 5 from the End of the Year ask meme

@portraitoflajeunefilleenfeu Thanks for the asks. Let’s try this...

1. What’s your personal favourite thing you wrote this year?

Personal favourite. … When I back look over the ten fics I posted this year, I think I will go with ‘Risk and Reward’ ([ao3] [ff.net]) The story kind of took on a life of its own, far expanding what I thought it might be. I started brainstorming/outlining it about one and a half/two months after I read my first Romy comic and the story grew from there. As I wrote it, I started to understand Gambit better as a character and the more I understood him the more I liked him. And then, I neared the end and the story stalled. I didn’t know how I was going to finish it because there was so much more that I wanted include and I wasn’t ready to let it go.

Which brings me to this year. I wrote the ending—the ending being seven chapters instead of one. It was an amazing feeling to complete the story. To have it out there and share something that came to mean a lot to me. To watch Rogue and Gambit’s relationship progress from their uncertain flirtations to a sense of stability and rightness. And yeah, I was also very glad to have it finished. I can move onto new stories now and as I continue to write, I take everything I learned from ‘Risk and Reward’ with me. Hopefully this means the stories will keep getting better.

I also have a bit of a runner up for this category. It’s probably more along the lines of favorite writing experiences, but that’s not a category so I will include it here. This year, I had the opportunity to write for a BatFamily fanzine—’The Holy Coloring Zine’. In my contribution, ‘You are Cordially Invited to the BatFamily Book Club’, I was able to write an Oracle era Babs (yay! my favorite version of Babs) bonding with Jason over books and a love of reading. It’s fun to write their friendship dynamic. Overall, it was such an amazing experience to be part of something like this, and to be able to see something I wrote get published.

3. Which of your fics was most different from what you usually write?

‘Indigo.’ Most definitely ‘Indigo.’ ([ao3] [ff.net]) Okay, the story itself probably isn’t unexpected from me, but the writing process was definitely not the normal way I write. It’s an ATLA fic and I’ve only watched the entire show once. I liked the show, but it’s not something I would normally have considered writing a fanfic for. But, I was talking to a friend ( @hinaoyamas ) and she challenged me to write a Zutara fic. So I did. In less than 24 hours. Without research. That was a strange sensation. I think it turned out decently, but it’s definitely something I don’t do often.

5. Which of your fics do you wish was more successful?

Hmm, well, I would love to see more interaction with ‘To Carry My Heart’ ([ao3] [ff.net]) While I wrote it as part of Rogue/Gambit Week for the prompt ‘What does Gambit keep in his pockets?’, the pieces which make up the story were things I wanted to explore in writing them for a while. Particularly Chapter 4, ‘Security, Part Two.’ I would love to hear what people think of the story, the writing, etc. I love to make allusions and references in my stories and I often wonder if anyone recognizes them.

Of course, that does seem to be a familiar refrain of writers—wishing for more people to interact with their stories. It’s amazing the amount of encouragement a comment gives me and will bring me back to a story I’ve stalled on.

Speaking of stalling on a story….I suppose finishing ’To Carry My Heart’ might help with that since I know some people won’t read a fic until its finished. And that makes sense. Hopefully I can get that last chapter finished before next years’s Rogue/Gambit week.

From the “End of the Year Fic-Writer ask meme’. Feel free to ask more.

#writing asks #my writing #writing #fanfic #response to portraitoflajeunefilleenfeu

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pandawritespoorly · 5 years

Text

With Time: Chapter 12 - Coolest Dad

Author’s Note: Double update, like I said! I'll be back Saturday as usual, though. Reference slide for akuma here!

Chapter Summary: Ladybug deals with an akuma at Marinette's new school.

First | Previous | Saturday

Marinette woke up much later than normal. She could immediately tell that her fever had gone down some. Her memories of the day before were hazy at best, but she was pretty sure Allan, Claude, Allegra, Felix, and Adrien had come over. Maybe Chat Noir too?

Her parents had clearly decided to allow her to stay home from school, which was probably for the best. She sat up, drawing the attention of her Kwami.

“Marinette! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” Tikki flitted up to her face.

“Uh, a little tired? But I think that’s just from the cold…”

Tikki handed her a thermometer so she could check her temperature. As they waited for the reading, Tikki crossed her arms and looked at her disapprovingly, “Marinette, you overworked yourself on Saturday. You probably gave yourself a fever. You have to take care of yourself more!”

The thermometer beeped and Marinette looked at it, 37.7 (100℉). Her fever wasn’t as serious now. That and the heaters that seemed to have been set up probably contributed to the fact that she is lucid now.

When did the heaters get set up?

“Speaking of taking care of yourself…” Tikki draws the girls attention back to her, “Chat Noir told me what you said when you got hit.” Her voice is serious.

“W-what did I say…” How much of a disappointment did she end up being?

“A bunch of nonsense, that’s what! Marinette you are a wonderful and talented girl who deserves every opportunity you’ve gotten! How long have you felt like this?”

“L-like what?”

“Oh Marinette. You called yourself useless. You said all your old friends treated you the way you deserve and are right to hate you. That’s not okay Marinette.”

“O-oh.” Marinette had been dedicated the past few weeks to committing those things into her mind as fact. Tikki might as well have been trying to convince her that 2+2=5. Something just doesn’t add up. “But-”

“Marinette. None of that is true. None of it. I think you should talk to someone.”

“But they can’t know about Ladybug…”

“You still need help.”

“It feels wrong to keep something like that from a therapist. They’re supposed to know everything right? I don’t like the feeling of it…”

“Alright. If you don’t feel comfortable with therapy at least speak to your friends. They care about you.”

“I don’t know…”

Their conversation is interrupted when Sabine opens the trapdoor carrying a tray with a small lunch of soup and water - with some cookies because her parents have noticed her sudden hunger for the treat. Tikki hides behind a pillow.

“Hey sweetie, are you awake?”

“Yeah. Uh, what time is it?”

“Time for you to eat lunch. What’s your temperature? You were pretty out of it yesterday. Your friends were really worried about you.”

“37.7 (100℉).” Marinette accepts the tray, setting it safely on a flat surface. She hears a ‘ding’ from below. Her Maman looks over to her desk.

“Oh, you’ve got messages from your friends! Here!” She handed the phone up as well, “It’s good that your temperature has gone down. Be sure to eat!”

When she’s exited the room, Tikki floats back into view, looking at the phone, she gives Marinette a meaningful look, “You should talk to your friends!”

She floats to sit beside the bowl of soup on the tray. She munches on a cookie and watches the girl.

“Okay…” She opens her phone. There hadn’t been much activity in their group chat because it was a school day. Beneath Claude’s good morning text was another message from the actor. Another appeared just as she opened the chat.

Kid Mime: hey mari are you up yet

Kid Mime: its fine if ur not but we misssss uuuuuu

Patisserie Princess: I’m up

Kid Mime: yayyyyyy!!!!!!!!

Kid Mime: allan sayd to ask wat ur temp is

Patisserie Princess: 37.7 (100℉)

Kid Mime: thats better!

Kid Mime: hey can we facetime? Itll be easier

Kid Mime: neither of us can eat if were typin

That’s a good point. She’s got nothing against it, but maybe she should warn Tikki.

“Hey Tikki, I’m going to facetime them. Is that alright?” “It’s okay Marinette. I won’t show up on camera and they won’t be able to hear me either!”

Right. She’d forgotten about that. She nods, and starts a call. It doesn’t take long for Claude to pick up. She props her phone up so that she doesn’t have to hold it.

“Yay! Hi Mari! Alright I’m at the table now, so I’m going to prop- oh no you fell over - okay there you are!”

The camera clears as Claude moves back. She can see Felix and Allan there too, Allegra is probably still in line.

“Hi guys!” She waves at them in view of the camera.

“Hi! How are you feeling?” Allan sounds concerned, which, given what had happened last he’d seen her, made sense.

“Uh, a little better. I’ve got food, and the fever isn’t as bad as yesterday. I’m a little tired but that’s normal.”

Allegra arrives at the table halfway through her talking and waves at her when she notices the girl.

“What do you mean by that? I recall Adrien mentioned something similar yesterday, but did not have a lot of information.” Felix looks up questioningly from his lunch.

“Oh yeah. I meant to tell you guys when it became more relevant, but uh, then I kind of overworked all my stamina away? Heh. Basically, last year I got diagnosed with a ‘yet-to-be-identified’ medical condition’” She scoffs at the air-quoted words, and the others get the distinct feeling that there’s an inside joke that they’re missing, “The general gist of it is that my body tries to go into hibernation? I get hungrier in the fall and once it gets around November I get really tired - the colder and later into winter the worse it is - and forget to eat and stuff.”

The others look a little alarmed at this and she quickly adds on,”I mean, it’s really not that dangerous for me. As long as I have food I uh, generally remember. And the tiredness isn’t really a problem as long as I stay warm. I probably won’t actually hibernate unless I fall into a snowdrift or something-”

Just as she finishes speaking a school bell rings. It’s from Françoise Dupont, and it’s a reminder of the consequences of staying home today. She tenses immediately, thinking of all of her old classmates who are right there. Right across the street and heading out for lunch. They’re probably with Lila and-

“What would happen then?” Allegra’s voice draws her back. She blinks as she jolts out of her thoughts.

“W-what?” Oh, right, the snowdrift thing…”I would uh, probably just fall asleep and stay there. My parents don’t really want me to go outside alone after there’s snow on the ground.”

“Can’t blame ‘em.” Allan jumps in. So far none of them have mentioned her little ‘moment’ after the school bell. “We can keep an eye on ya’. Don’t want you to freeze.” He sounds distressed, probably at the prospect of Marinette freezing to death.

“It’s really not that likely! I’ll just be really sleepy, so I’ll probably fall asleep on at least one of you by the time winter is over - whichever of you is the warmest in the room. Sorry in advance?” She says the last part sheepishly and shrugs apologetically. She hates to think that she’ll be such a bother to them, but there isn’t much she can do. She’ll try her best to avoid it.

“It’s all good! As long as you’re not in any danger, we don’t mind!” Allan speaks again and the rest nod in agreement.

“Mariiiiii! You haven’t been eating!” Claude calls her out as he swallows some of his own food.

She smiles in apology as she brings her tray into her lap. She can see that, as Tikki reminded her, the Kwami doesn’t show up on camera. Her phone dings as she sits back. Squinting at it as she reads, she flips it away.

“Adrien says he can’t get away, so he won’t be joining us. Uh, do you guys still need his number?” She looks at them questioningly as she starts on her soup.

“Nope!” Claude chirps, “I got it yesterday!” The others give him some odd looks, but she brushes them off. It probably doesn’t matter.

“Yeah, sorry about yesterday. I don’t really remember much. I know you guys came over - I think?”

“Yeah, Adrien thought we should check on you because it was November, and when we got to your place you were pretty out-of-it.”

“You didn’t like we were interrupting your sleep, it took some convincing to get you to actually drink something.”

“Are the heaters set up now? I recall that we did not do so because Allan feared it may cause you to be too hot.”

She nods, though she isn’t entirely sure when that happened. Maybe her parents? Her fevered mind clearly didn’t think it was important enough information to remember.

Their conversation continues as they all eat theirs lunches together. After a little bit she starts to droop. It’s a clear reminder that she isn’t entirely recovered, and that winter is on it’s way.

She doesn’t plan on saying anything because it would be rude to cut off the conversation. Marinette tries her best to seem alert, but the others aren’t fooled.

“‘Nettie, you doin’ okay? You’re looking a little sleepy there.” Allan smiles at her, cocking his head.

She shrugs and any words she was going to say get cut off by a yawn. She blushes.

“We’re going to let you go now. You need some rest.” Allegra flutters her fingers at the camera.

“Rest well my priceless pigtailed pal!” The group waves as the call ends.

Tikki floats up to her,”Marinette, I know you’re tired but you can’t sleep with the tray on your lap.”

“...right” She moves it safely away before she lays down again. It doesn’t take long for her to doze off.

---

Marinette manages to arrive at school the next day at a reasonable time. She gets to their regular spot in the library and lays her head on the table. The only problem with so many heaters in her room is that it makes the outside seem that much colder, especially when she’s still got a (very) slight fever. She isn’t in her heaviest winter gear because she doesn’t want to seem weird and it’s only November anyways, she’ll manage. Her mom gave her a doctor’s note to show all her teachers to remind them of her ‘condition’.

Honestly the most annoying part of it not being that cold is that she feels tired, but she isn’t sleepy to the point where she can actually sleep. She just feels like she didn’t get enough sleep, even though she spent plenty of yesterday resting.

“Oh my good golly gosh, did Marinette beat us to school?” She hears Claude as he approaches the table and forces herself up to look at him.

“Hi guys.” She can’t muster up the energy to add in the appropriate excitement. Maybe they won’t hate her if she’s still friendly. They put up with her through September…

“How are ya’? I wasn’t sure we’d see you today.” Allan sits at his usual spot and the rest follow suit.

“Yeah. I’m basically back to normal. Just tired.”

“It is good that your fever seems to have passed.” Felix says as he gets out his book as usual.

“It is good to have you back!” Claude gives her an excited hug. He glances at Allegra who is finishing her math homework, “Hey, why do you think math books are so sad?”

Marinette is too tired to try and stop him, but Allegra glances up.

“Don’t you da-”

“Because they have so many problems!” He finishes excitedly, giving no heed to Allegra’s pleading.

Allegra drops her head onto the table and sighs heavily. Felix pats her on the back consolingly.

“Did you hear about that guy who got his left side cut off?”

Marinette sighs. At least when she was feverish she couldn’t remember the puns.

“He’s all right now!”

“Claude.” Allegra pleads, “I can’t do homework in the midst of this.”

“What gender pronouns do you use for chocolate bars? Her/she!”

“Marinette I’m sorry that you had to return to this. There’s no end to his madness.” Allegra has yet to remove her head from the table. Claude’s grin only continues to grow. Allan is smiling as he watches. Felix is focusing intensely on his book.

“Ah, ‘legra. Look on the bright side. At least your music class is your last hour.”

The braided blonde finally sits up and glares at him suspiciously.

“That way you can end your day on a high note!” Claude’s looks at her, the pinnacle of innocence.

“No. Nope. I’m done.” She pushes herself up and packs up quickly. Felix glances at his watch and follows suit, “It’s close enough to first hour. Come on Mari, let’s leave these crazies to their insanity.”

“Let’s.” Marinette pushes herself out of her seat, and waves as they leave the library.

---

Allan and Marinette arrive at the lunch room together and claim the group’s usual table. Felix joins soon after.

“Greetings my great, glorious, and grand group!” Claude and Allegra arrive together, taking their seats.

“Please spare us the puns.”

“We’ll see…”

Marinette is about to say something when something catches her eye. There seems to be a girl in a heated argument with her father. She turns from him and returns to her seat, but that’s not what drew her eye initially. She could have sworn she saw…

There.

A purple butterfly floats near the man’s head. Before she can say anything, it makes contact with his glasses.

Marinette stands immediately, drawing the attention of her group.

“Is everything o-”

“Ineedtogonowbye!” With that rushed excuse she hurries off to be out of sight. As she transforms she hears the screams as people realize what has happened. She sends a text to her partner and heads to the roof to await his arrival. It would be strange for Ladybug to show up so soon, especially when there had never been an attack here before.

It would also be for the best. Akumas in smaller spaces could be extra difficult, especially when the duo didn’t know anything about their powers. It may be for the best to just wait for Chat Noir.

“Hey Bug!” Speak of the devil, here’s her partner. He seems tenser than usual. Probably because the last time they’d spoke- no, that isn’t for Ladybug, that’s for Marinette. Ladybug doesn’t need to feel.

“Hey Chat, I haven’t seen much of the akuma yet. I figured it would be best to wait for you-”

An explosion shakes the building they’re standing on. They meet each other’s eyes and move to enter the building. When an akuma causes damage they prefer to finish it quickly to lessen any risk of injury.

They arrive in the mostly empty cafeteria to see a hole blown in the wall and a few… interestingly dressed stragglers wandering about. Some have leaked out into the street. The akuma is in another part of the school, they can hear his voice echoing down the halls and follow the sound. Soon enough, they find him.

The man Marinette saw earlier has doubled in height, and has had an extreme outfit change. He’s donned an oversized hoodie covered in various emoji prints. He’s wearing rainbow tie-dye converse shoes that double as pants and seem to be denim. There are rips in various places up the pants but the lace cross over them, tying near his hips. On top of the shoe-pants he’s wearing Shrek crocs, and is wandering around on a gold light-up hoverboard. Around his neck is a glowing set of headphones with lights and animal ears. He’s got airpods in and pizza hat on his head. He’s wearing oversized glowing neon shutter shades that shift between different colors - much like the other light-up pieces of his ensemble. The source of the explosion becomes clear when he makes finger guns at the wall and an emoji shoots out and explodes it easily.

They remain some distance away, and he hasn’t noticed them yet. Ladybug sighs tiredly, she almost wants to cry looking at this mess, “Sometimes I wish Hawkmoth was some sort of fashion designer because these designs are just…they’re honestly almost the worst part of this.”

“My eyes.” Chat stares, “As a teenager, I don’t know if I should appreciate the effort or feel insulted someone thinks that is an accurate summary of my age group.”

The emojis that are being used as projectiles don’t just get rid of walls though. Ladybug and Chat Noir watch as an unfortunate student get hit by a fire emoji and and gains the akuma’s ridiculous sunglasses. He announces he must go hunt for ‘pokey-mans’ and heads off, passing a group of bottle flippers.

A teacher gets hit and gets an even worse makeover. She gains ripped jeans and a black hoodie that says ‘I didn’t choose the dank meme life, the dank meme life chose me’ and has a dabbing hot dog on it. She has the same headphones as the main akuma but is actually wearing them on her ears. There’s a golden light-up fidget spinner in each of her hands, matching the gold light-up heelys on her feet. Some of the affected students notice her and begin following her around.

“We must stop this.” Ladybug nods at her partner’s statement, immediately moving to get the akuma’s attention.

“Ah! Ladybug and Chat Noir my broskis!!!! It’d be very dank of you to hand over those swag miraculouses you’ve got!!!1!”

“Sir-”

“Why so formal??? I’m the Coolest Dad - so lit!!! No need to call me anything but your bestest bro!!1!” he gestures around him, “Look at all these Cool Dudes!!! Aren’t they sooo hip with the kids now?? IKR!!! So great! Look at all these savage Broskis, so happy to have people who understand!!”

“Oh dear Kwami what is this?”

“Anyways, if it’s all good with you fam, I’m just going to be on my way!!!” a purple butterfly mask appears over his face, “Nah, chill my mothy pal!! These hip teens will get with the program eventually! It’d be very uncool of me to take from them!!! I can get you your Gucci jewels in a moment!!!! For now I’m going to spread this fetch coolness around Paris!!!! #SquadGoals!!!1!!1”

As he rolls away they hear, “Paris will be the fleekest city around!!!”

“Uh, Is that it…?” Chat Noir turns to her.

“Yeah. I think so.” Ladybug hops down to the ground, looking around. There are several ‘Broski’s around, and some ‘Cool Dude’s. She sees a few dabbing and doing Fortnite dances and turns to see if there’s any civilians left in the area.

“Ladybug…?” She turns at the voice, beside her Chat seems to relax.

Allegra stands in the doorway of a classroom, she’s glancing around nervously, but when she can’t see the Coolest Dad she decides to take a few steps toward the heroes. Behind her are Allan, Felix, and Claude. Chat seems to look at the doorway as if waiting for another person. His worry returns.

“Yes? Is everything alright?”

Allegra nods, leading the duo back to the classroom. Inside are several students and staff, hiding from the akuma.

“We helped all of these people to hide, and we were wondering if it’s safe for them to come out now.”

“It is, though the akuma is still around the school, so it would be best to stay close to a hiding spot.” Ladybug assures her. Chat keeps glancing around at those in the room, seemingly checking for something.

“But, actually we had another question. Our friend disappeared just before the attack and we were wondering if you’d seen her.” The worry of the group is clear and Ladybug wonders who they’re talking about. Marinette didn’t see anyone else when she was sitting with them.

Claude speaks up, “Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’ve only known her for a few months, but I’ve already fallen deep in platonic love for her!” His usual theatrics do nothing to hide his clear anxiety over- wait.

She’s their friend?!

They considered her their-

Focus.

Chat has stiffened beside her, and she jumps in before he promises to find the ‘damsel in distress’,”I’m sure she is fine. After the cure you can find her.”

“She’s hasn’t been answering her phone. We just don’t know if she’s ever been in an akuma attack before.”

“Oh, she has, though I typically don’t see her much.” She really doesn’t want them to be worried about her alter ego. How can she reassure them? “If I recall correctly, she went on a date with an akuma once so I’m sure she is perfectly capable-”

“She what?!” Allan speaks for the first time.

“Wait you know her?” Allegra sounds surprise. Ladybug doesn’t know how to explain, but Chat helps her out.

“Oh that class…” He has a point. Even if she hadn’t been a student in it, her old class has a concerningly high rate of akumatizitions. The school as a whole really, “My partner is correct. Ma- Ms. Dupain-Cheng is a perfectly capable individual, I’m sure she’s fine She took over City Hall one time, so I trust she’s safe.” He sounds as though he’s trying to convince himself along with the group.

Yelling is heard near the front of the school, “I’m sorry miss, but we have to go now.”

They nod uneasily, and the heroes jump away. At the front of the school the Coolest Dad is shooting emojis at several passer-bys. Alya has arrived, but remains out of sight.

When the akuma notices them, “Sup my dudes!! I have got to ask, have you seen my hip daughter??? I wanted to show her how swank I am!!!!”

“No, uh, we haven’t

“Well let me know if you do!!! I’m like high key worried, and that’s the tea!1!!!”

“Oh I forgot how bad it was…” Chat looks so done already, and this akuma hasn’t even been around an hour.

“I will just have to finesse my search!!!! I feel so uber-not-blessed with her missing!!! I wish she hadn’t yeeted away!!1!!”

As he rolls away, Ladybug is suddenly struck with an idea. She catches up to him, grabbing his attention.

“Uh, actually, TBH, my dude-” The akuma looks to her patiently.

“Oh Bugaboo not you too. Please.”

“-I was thinking that your glasses were just so lit. They’re, uh, so swag my guy, could I maybe get a lit-er look at those, um, dope shades? It’d be very chill of you...”

The man looks delighted, and takes them off and sets them near her. Chat lands nearby, not wanting to leave his partner alone so close to an akuma.

Up close they’re nearly blinding, and Ladybug avoids looking at the Akuma’s face, fearing what his eyes may look like under the glasses. Turning slightly to her partner, she hisses, “Chat, now!”

He nods, and before the akuma can do anything, he rushes forward touching the shades, “Cataclysm!”

A butterfly is released, and Ladybug wastes no time in purifying it.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

As the Ladybugs wash over the city, Ladybug hears a call of “Ladybug! Care for an interview?” The voice says more, but Ladybug can’t hear.

Alya. No no no.

Not here. She’s not supposed to be here.

This is where Marinette came to get away from her.

No no no nononono…

Chat’s ring beeps, bringing her back to reality. The two fist bump quickly, and leave to detransform. Ladybug doesn’t see where Chat goes, solely focusing on getting back to her school.

To her friends.

She lands in an alley, and after a minute of making sure there is no one around, she speaks, “Tikki, spots off!”

The Kwami groans, landing in her purse to eat a cookie. Marinette spots her group and is about to join them when she sees her.

It’s not really a surprise, she knew Alya was here, but she didn't know that Alya isn’t alone. She brought her.

She brought Lila.

The pair are talking with her new friends and nonononono. Now they’ll like Lila too. They’ll turn on her too. She’ll be alone again, she’ll have to leave, just as she was adjusting. Oh they’ll hate her, they’ll hate her.

They hate her, they hate her, they hate her nonononononono.

---

Adrien is standing in Chat Noir’s place. He knows he’s not allowed to miss school and should really be on his way back, but he needs to check on Marinette.

It was worrying enough to have Ladybug tell him that there was an akuma here, but then he saw Alya, and she brought Lila.

She probably thinks bringing the heroine’s ‘best friend’ will land her an interview.

If either of them see Marinette here- oh he hates to think what will happen.

Just when things were looking up for her too. If only her new friends knew what happened, this wouldn’t be so bad. He understands why she doesn’t want to tell them, but he wants her to realize that they care about her and won’t be upset at her for what happened.

“...but actually we’re looking for out friend-” He hears Allegra talking as he approaches the front of the school.

“Come on! Just a quick interview! A first-hand account of Ladybug’s first battle here!”

“No, we’d like to find our friend.”

“What’s her name? I used to work with an international search and rescue group, I could help!”

Before any of them can answer that question, he hops in, “Alya, Lila! I didn’t think you’d be out of school.”

He can see the confusion of Allegra, Allan, Claude, and Felix. They have no idea what he’s doing over here in the middle of the school day. Lila and Alya on the other hand look delighted. Lila latches onto his arm as usual, he stiffens slightly, but she only continues to hang off of him. Allegra’s eyes narrow.

“Adrien, what are you doing here? I thought you had a photoshoot?”

“It was in the area - got canceled ‘cause of the akuma attack.” He scratches the back of his neck. Lila rests her head on his shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye he spots Marinette and oh she’s seen Alya and Lila. She looks like she’s having an attack. He can’t do anything without alerting the girls in question, but she is not okay.

“Well, if you’re out of school then you can hang out with us!” Alya seems delighted by this stroke of brilliance, “Nino can skip and we can all go on a double date!”

“Doesn’t that imply that I’m bringing a date?” Adrien knows where this is going.

“She means me, silly!” Lila giggles and runs her hand through his hair.

“Lila, for the last time, we’re not dating-” He tries to pull away, but she’s got an iron grip on his arm.

“Sureee, lover-boy~” Alya winks at him, dragging them away.

He manages to extract himself and sends a couple texts to the OMMAM chat, before excusing himself and heading back to school. He hopes Marinette will be okay.

---

Allegra is seething beside him, “Did you see how she was clinging to him?! Who does she think she is?! He was so clearly uncomfortable! Ugh that little-” Claude drowns out her angry muttering when his phone dings.

Adrien: You guys need to check on Marinette.

Adrien: Now.

He sees that the others have noticed the message. They’re looking at each other in confusion, worry clear. What’s happened?

“Oh dear, look.” Allan is the first to see the girl. Claude turns to where he points, his heart stops when he finally spots her.

The girl is crouched in an alley, her hands digging into her scalp, and breathing erratically. He could see her tears from here. The akuma attack hadn’t been that long, but in the time they’d been separated something had happened.

They all rushed to her immediately, crouching by her side.

“Marinette, hey, can you hear me?” Allan speaks clearly, gently resting a hand on her shoulder.

To their surprise, she reacts immediately, looking at all of them panicked.

“I’m so sorry!”

“What?”

“I don’t know what she said, I don’t know what she told you-”

“Marinette, hey-”

“Just- just- just- tell me and I’ll-I’ll-I’ll”

“Just breathe with me okay?”

“Marinette, we don’t know what you mean dear. Everything’s okay.”

“I’ll find sources, I’ll back it up this time, I’ll-I’ll I’ll call Jagged, please believe me-”

“Marinette-”

“Please, oh no no nononono.” She covers her eyes with her hands, finally breaking her frantic eye contact. Curling into herself tighter, “Oh please, not again, not again no no no-”

Her nails are digging into her skin, and Claude worries she’ll draw blood, but she doesn’t even seem to worry. She entirely distracted by whatever has consumed her.

“Marinette!” Allan stresses her name, gently trying to take her hands off her face before she hurts herself too bad. She doesn’t even notice what she’s doing, “Marinette, listen, it’s alright, just breathe okay? Do it with me…”

Marinette doesn’t seem to notice initially, but eventually her breathing evens out. She looks around at them tearily, wiping at her face. She opens her mouth, but Claude beats her to it.

“Don’t apologize Mari. You were upset, nothing’s wrong with that.”

“But-”

Allegra hugs her gently, “No. No buts. It’s okay to be upset.”

But she’s a hero. A hero who fights akumas. Being upset means failing.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Talk about it? Then they’d know. She wants to trust that they’ll believe her, but that’s what she did last time. They don’t hate her currently, so she shouldn’t do anything to risk changing that. She shakes her head.

She feels her purse move strangely at her side. It’s subtle enough that she isn’t worried that they noticed, but when she hears a tiny cough she begins worrying for Tikki.

“Could I, uh, have a moment? I need to, um, call someone?” They nod at her and walk a little ways away. She ducks out of sight to check on her Kwami.

She opens her purse to see Tikki curled up in an uncomfortable ball.

“Tikki? Are you okay?”

She coughs, “Sorry, Marinette, I think I’m sick again. The Revealer…” she trails off into a coughing fit.

Right. If there are consequences to Marinette overworking herself for an all-day akuma, then the same can be expected of Tikki.

“I’ll go to Fu’s…”

Tikki nods at her, quieting herself as best she can. Marinette doesn’t want to delay helping the Goddess, so she prepares herself to lie to her friends again. She hates to think what they’d say if they found out just how much she lied to them.

Stepping out of the alley, she approaches them carefully and they turn to her patiently.

“Hey Marinette. How are you doing?” Claude speaks to her attentively.

She holds up her phone, pasting on a sheepish smile, “Uh, I have to go talk with my, um… mentor? If I come back late, can you let the teacher know?”

“There is no need to rush yourself. They have cancelled the remainder of the school day due to the akuma attack. Take your time.”

“O-oh. Okay.”

“We’re going to my place now, so you can come over when you’re done!” Claude holds up his own phone, “I can text you the address again if you need it.”

“No no. I’ve got it saved.”

They say goodbye, walking in their respective directions.

---

Author’s Note: Poor Mari. So, uh, that akuma... I, uh, it's... unique? Reference slides here? Suspension of disbelief means believing a school's wifi would allow for a glitch-free facetime call. It also allows me to tweak the climate of a major city somewhat. Thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed in the comments below! See you Saturday!

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#miraculous ladybug #transfer #with time #fanfic #chameleon salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #quantic kids #allegra #allan #claude #ml felix #original akuma

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