#will still agree with me after this summer

[masonmontz]

heeey, how are you? english is not my first language but i really wanted to write something about mason, so if you see something wrong, i’m sorry ):( hope you like it

funny + hot (just some acts and thoughts)

While on Tiktok you saw again that trend where someone sends a dirty text to their partner in front of family or friends to see their reactions. It's an old trend and you used to watch the videos that people made during the pandemic, but now they are doing again and you laugh so much watching all those videos.

And this is a perfect night to tease Mason.

Just because he likes to tease you. He deserves.

Debbie invited you two for her birthday in London and taking advantage of the fact that Mason has a few days off, you decided to travel from Manchester to his parents house.

You and Mason moved to Manchester and most of the time is just you two there, since your family lives in London too. Tonight you attended your mother-in-law's birthday and tomorrow your parents invited you two for lunch, and you will have no rest until you return home.

You are standing next to Jaz in the stairs, paying attention to what she says about Summer’s new school, and you can see Mila sleeping on the couch while her big sister colors the princess book that you and Mason bought for her.

Debbie is sitting next to Mason talking happily, probably happy because her baby boy is home again after a long time. Tony and Lewis are sitting with them on the couch, and you can see them laughing about something Lewis is talking about, maybe one of his crazy travels.

You pick up your phone when you see Mason taking his, but you can’t see what he’s doing because he is sitting in front of you.

You turn off your phone and put it back in your pocket, looking at Mason to see his reaction.

You can see perfectly when he is reading the message, because he paralyzes for thousandths. You see him gulp and he turns his gaze to you.

You send him a shy - and false - smile, pretending like you didn't send him a dirty text twenty seconds ago while his mom is by his side.

Mason shakes his head and can’t hold back a smile, picking up a pillow and placing it on his lap, so no one can see his hard crotch under his pants.

“What are you doing?” You can see his lips move, but you shrug, still looking inocent.

You turn to Jaz and answer her about Summer’s birthday next month. You look again at Mason and he pretends paying attention about what his mom is saying but you can see perfectly how he presses the pillow against his crotch.

He raises his gaze to yours once again.

“I need to go to the bathroom” You say to Jaz and she agrees, moving herself to the couch with everyone.

You laugh alone because of Mason. He always try to tease you in public or anywhere else, but it's so funny to be able to get revenge knowing that he will be embarrassed for getting a hard-on around his family.

You pass through the hallway and go to the bathroom, knowing that your boyfriend will appear in a few seconds. You stare yourself in the mirror just to check the makeup, and when you are are washing your hands, Mason appears.

“What the fuck you think you’re doing?” He says, closing the door and pulling you by the waist. He presses his hard cock against you and you can't help but sigh.

“Have you lost your mind, Y/N?” He kisses your shoulder and rubs his hips against you again. “I’m so hard, I hope none of them saw my pants tight because of my dick.”

“Well, good luck getting this over with.” You say and move away from him.

“What?”

“You know, just a trend I saw on Tiktok.”

“You better be kidding me.”

“Sorry, Mase.” You smile at him, watching him run his hand over his pants to ease the pain. “I wanna suck your dick and maybe be fucked in the bathroom, but right now is just a revenge for all those time you teased me in public.”

Mason closes his eyes and he lets out a laugh. You approach him again and help him, running your hand up and down his dick quickly.

He's so hard that you get turned on, but you take your hand away when you hear him whimper.

“I have to go” You open the door and smile at him one last time. “Lock the door, please.”

“You will definitely kill me, Y/N.” He says and walk to the door. “You better prepare yourself ‘cause I want to fuck you all night.”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for asking my neighbors to stop partying at night?

This only really happened last night, and I have no intention of interacting with them again.

Our neighbors have a streak of being obnoxious at night, seemingly throwing parties all night long during the summer. They're pretty noisy in other aspects, but this took the cake. None of this would be an issue if our house didn't somehow magically make all the sound they make transfer up into the upstairs, into my parents room and bathroom. I've been told not to interact with them, and I heeded that advice for the most part, but they finally broke the camel's back.

It's 3 in the morning. I can hear their music blasting from the hallway and decide I've had enough. I got cold feet at first, but I gathered the courage to confront them about it. They were in their backyard, in a hot tub. It was too dark, so I couldn't actively tell they were drunk at all. I asked them if they could keep it down, implying that I don't mind them partying if they do it a bit quieter. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement for it, aside from the main guy.

The guy explains how his grandmother died recently, and how he's partying it out. I don't mind that, of course, and my previous sentiment still stands. However, I didn't exactly care too much for this, as this wasn't something I needed to know; I just wanted to get some sleep. After assuming things were winding down I entered the house again and went into my room.

My mom immediately found out I confronted them, as the guy from earlier started yelling threats toward us outside to his friends. The only threat I recall is "I'm going to shit on their lawn". I tried to argue against it, saying that I wanted to put my foot down and how I didn't know they'd be drunk, but then she mentions how they were going to deal with it in the morning, something I didn't know. Our bickering wakes my dad up, and we stay up at around 4:30-5 listening and assessing the damage. By the sounds of it, the main guy wasn't too happy, but was possibly pulled back into the house.

Things settled down between me and my parents, ultimately agreeing that yes, it was a bad idea to confront them, standing my ground and putting my foot down wasn't the worst thing I could've done. To me it is, and that's why I'm throwing this to the wind.

Am I the asshole?

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Mess at Con

Part 2 of my piece for @cloudcountry's Sweet Shroud Summer 2024 event!

That's right, a continuation of Mess in Chat >w^

Content; Gender-neutral reader, convention shenanigans

Word Count; 1.3 K

Please do not put my work into AI. If you would like to see more of my work check out my masterlist!

You didn’t have many plans for summer, and working whenever you could barely counted as ‘plans’ save for your extremely bare and somewhat depressing calendar that just had your schedule up. But, that had changed when you met your previously strictly online bestie in the flesh, so, hey, maybe the barren dates of your calendar would finally have something written on them besides Work: 9 - 6.

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess How’s that sunburn treating you?

You knew you were being a little shit, but hey, Idia didn’t wear sunscreen on your venture in the swan boat and he was paying the price. Maybe you should get him one of those oversized sun hats?

Gloomurai Are you enjoying yourself with my suffering?

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Just a little bit >w^

You had been a bit shocked when you saw the infamously introverted Ignihyde housewarden at work only then to find that he was also Gloomurai. But, you were also kind of relieved that he was someone you knew and not some creep.

Gloomurai Despite the peeling skin, I had … fun

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess GASP! Hehehehe my ways are winning you over

Gloomurai Gremlin

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess And proud of it!~

You hovered your fingers over your keyboard, trying to think of something.

Idia had seriously gone out of his comfort zone agreeing to meet you — well, more like having the occasion thrown at him — and you wanted to hang out again. Grim was … okay company, and Ace and Deuce dropped by every so often to give you a migraine. It was nice having a calmer person around (even though ‘calm’ may not be the best descriptor, but compared to the other company you keep, Idia is calmer).

Gloomurai YOU SHOULD TOTALLY TAKE IDIA TO A CON!!! ORTHO- Sorry, ignore that PLEASE

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Nuh uh

Gloomurai WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘NUH UH’?!

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess I mean NUH UH NOT IGNORING THAT (say hi to Ortho for me) … when’s the con? [convention right? anime? comics? Both?]

Gloomurai … both You don’t have to though-

You sighed knowing full well that Idia wanted you to go with him. 

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Are you cosplaying anyone?

Gloomurai … I wasn’t planning on it …

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess COWARD! DISHONOURING THE SANCTITY OF THE CON! … I’m joking

You could almost imagine Idia flinching away from the screen from you ‘yelling’ at him, but you couldn’t help but teasingly ruffle his feathers.

Gloomurai I didn’t peg you as the type to be passionate about these things

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Tsk tsk tsk YOU FOOL! I TAKE THESE MATTERS VERY SERIOUSLY! Plus, who else could stop you from spending Sevens knows how much money in artist alley?

Gloomurai So You actually want to come?

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Y E S

Gloomurai It’s on Wednesday … where do you want to meet?

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess … I still live at the school, so Ramshackle works for me

Gloomurai F

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess That’s it No Grim privileges for you

Gloomurai NO WAIT GRIMMY-

You closed your laptop, trying to think of a low budget and preferable closet cosplay you could work with. Maybe you could snoop in the film club to see if they have any spare fabric or costumes that you could borrow? 

Low on funds and time, but when were you not? You would make this work.

…

…

Idia stood outside Ramshackle, yes, he could have waited in the nicely air conditioned car, but he felt weird about it. Fidgeting with his blue robes and wooden staff that was actually just foam, he waited.

He felt kind of bad at first, since making a cosplay last second is a hassle, but also because he felt like the outing was just thrown on you. After seeing how much you were shouting at him in chat though, Idia felt a bit better. He knew you were a nerd, after all, the two of you bonded online over a fairly popular anime adaptation of a manga.

Finally, you stepped out of the formerly dilapidated dorm, and Idia turned his head to look.

… you were both cosplaying characters from the same anime the two of you bonded over, him as the anxious magic user and you as the peppy paladin, complete with armour (thank you Film Club~). You guys didn’t even plan it out, which was weird but not too weird since you both kinda had brain rot about it.

“HA!” You exclaimed, adjusting the foam sword resting on your side, “we match!~”

Idia fixed the pointed ears he was wearing, “... I guess we do.”

Your face went serious for a quick moment. “You still don’t get to see Grim though.” You then flashed him a wink and got into the car — the faster you did that, the more likely that you didn’t waste time trying to find Grim and wasting time.

Idia pouted a bit but also got into the car, leaving a seat between you two. “I get dressed up with a wig, but no Grim,” he grumbled.

You sighed, “Next time.”

“Promise?”

You placed your fist over your heart, “I swear on my life.”

Idia just looked at you, most likely questioning his life decisions. “You’re weird.” Maybe they should be on the same weird list as Trey and Rook?

“Meh,” you shrugged. “That’s a compliment for me, plus,” you smiled at him, “it fits the character I’m cosplaying as!”

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, but not an awkward quiet, more … content? Yeah, content. Plus, knowing how cons went back at home, this was about to be a very busy day.

…

…

Somehow, you had managed to lose Idia. You had stopped several other people who were cosplaying the same character but hadn’t managed to find him yet. 

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess Where are you?

You had been in the food court, tempted by the pizza but your soul had nearly left your body seeing the jacked up prices. You had been up and down the different voice actors meet and greets, but still nothing. You had even checked the bathroom lines and sat outside them for a solid ten minutes before calling that venture a quits.

There was no sign of Idia.

Finally, you got a message back.

Gloomurai … artist alley

Friendly Neighbourhood Mess … how much did you spend?

Message seen

“DON’T LEAVE ME ON READ!” You coughed, realizing that you had said that out loud. Taking a breath and ignoring your stomach that was starting to growl, you made your way to artist alley, where many a con goer had gone in saying they would spend nothing, only to leave with many a thing (totally worth it, support artists and small businesses, folks).

Finally, after nearly two hours of being missing in action, you found Idia, who was carrying a copious amount of bags.

“This is where you disappeared off to?” You crossed your arms over your chest and raised a brow in question.

Idia offered you a wobbly smile, offered his hand and then opened it. “I got us matching phone charms…”

In his hand were the characters you were cosplaying. Sighing a bit, you took the charm of his character. “I was just worried about you,” you mumbled, trying to put the cute charm on your ancient phone.

“Sorry-”

“Don’t apologise,” you grabbed some of the bags from him to lessen the load a bit. “But for my own well being, please do not tell me how much you spent today.”

Idia looked at the charm connected to his own phone and then looked back at you. “Deal.”

“However,” you said with a sly grin, “since you put me through so much anguish, you do owe me dinner.”

Idia huffed, but he was starting to get peckish too. “What do you feel like eating, my knight,” he said sarcastically.

You wiggled your brows, “Pizza. Convention pizza.”

“So, regular pizza but just with jacked up prices?”

“Yeah, basically.”

The two of you got your pizza, and proceeded to enjoy the rest of your day. You both managed to see the manga artist of the characters you were cosplaying as — yes, tears were shed — and made some good memories.The two of you were happy, and you were looking forward to filling your calendar with Idia Time, you even knew the perfect blue marker to use.

~~~~~~~

Tags; @edith-is-a-cat, @eynnwwyjth, @inkybloom-luv, @ithseem, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

[yourlilkaiju]

Here is the Reason Why I Am Not A Destiel Fan Anymore:

And the reasons I refuse to go back to being one:

So in retrospect, the SuperWhoLock fandom has been by and large a pretty big fandom that has been running a good while. I don't think it's stopped. I have always loved Doctor Who, as that- alongside the works of Mr.Henson and the brilliant creations from his creature shop, were my first introductions to all things weird and other worldly. Horror was another story. I will be more than happy to talk about that another day. So as time went on, in abouts the late summer/early fall of 2005, right before I turned 13, I was introduced to Supernatural. Starring Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles. The person I was watching it with was bouncing up and down, all excited because "Oh my gosh, it's so nice to see you watching something other than anime." (The cow.), and because it was nearing Halloween time and it was both of our favorite time of year for two very different reasons. This would end up being the start of my enjoyment of a long running series that had a good premise, but a very confusing story line after season five. (Sorry but it felt...skewed after that point. But I stayed loyal.) In any case, I eventually started shipping Destiel because of the constant queer baiting. Which didn't exactly, idk help the situation? And with that I ended up being a shipper for a good seven and a half, I repeat, SEVEN AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS. Hardly anyone sticks with a shop that long. (But being autistic you kind of stick with a lot of things for a long ass time. *Mumbles something about a certain one winged angel from the nineties*.)

My enjoyment of the ship came to a close when I was at a fantasy convention the spring of 2016. I was at one of the Double tree locations with an ex of mine and dressed up as a fae queen, laughing, having a good time and just having good conversations with the people at our table. I was with a troupe that my ex and I had started and we were initially responsible for acting out as "hosts" for the opening and closing for these events, and even "opening the portals to the realms" 🙄. When out of character we were still expected to be gracious hosts....well, more like I was. The man could get away with spilling a punch bowl over his head while mooning an entire audience, yet still somehow do no wrong. If I complained, or made a peep in my defense, the whole world would come crashing down. Even with some of the people we spent time with. And some of the people we spent time with were Destiel shippers who liked to bring strangers into our space without asking, or without any given warning or invitation. At that time, it'd been Supernatural fans who were not only Destiel shippers....but also Cockles fans.

[I am going to pause for a moment here because I feel the need to emphasize that shipping is fine. Shipping is a great way to escape reality for a period of time and even let loose the pent up need for some sort of intimacy in ones life, regardless of the type that is needed. But to allow it to interfere with reality, to force real people into seeing each other and actually make it so that it can't be left alone for years after? That's where there is an issue. And people who can't see that need to re-evaluate themselves and get some fucking help.]

There were few things that my ex and I agreed on, and one of them had been that uninvited guests had been a nono. However, the rules at play prevented me from saying anything while in costume. He had to dismiss the person. He had to tell them it was time to go and that "appreciated the travellers journey, however it was time for the court to take it's respite." . And yet he didn't. So as these people went on, our troupe laughed and carried on with the conversation. I did my best to segue into a different topic, and tried my hardest not to show discomfort. Because to do so would be breaking the rules. The uninvited guests went on....and on...and on. They ignored my attempts and ignored the fact that I had requested two glasses of wine and a white Russian. They carried on about how Destiel was technically canon, and how Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins were secretly dating behind the scenes. I looked for any reason I could to get the hell out of dodge. And I found my salvation when I found a friend of mine standing over by the bar.

"Pardon me, my dear..." I said, with a soft lilt in my voice. "As compelling as this conversation has been, I find that I have urgent business with a friend of the forest." As bewildered as my poor guest was, I immediately left before they could say anything more. I hated the conversation. I hated feeling trapped. It felt draining and honestly, going to my friend was the best decision I felt that I could make. And when I got to him, he mentioned that I looked like I needed help. And for a man like my ex to not say anything, he was a little disappointed.

Over the next few years, I ran into several more of these shippers at events that I'd helped run. I insisted that the rules be changed, and while he did not like it, he knew that I would not back down on the issue. The same people tried joining our gathering by one of our troupe members behest, and without warning. Upon recognizing me, they grew excited and hoped to continue the conversation from the last time they'd seen me.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" I groaned. I recalled the unpleasant experience I had with them last time as they hardly allowed a word in edgewise.

There was a long pause.

As if summoning a great storm, I was suddenly accused of being homophobic and told that I only played a queen because I whined and sobbed my way into it. And I stood there, allowing the insults to continue until they couldn't anymore. I figured it was just best to let them kick dirt at a statue and smile at them exhausting themselves.

I'm sure some of you may think me a horrible person fo this. I am sure some of you are thinking "why are you telling us this? There's no point."

Because some of you need to know the extent of how some fandoms and their shippers behave.

Back then Destiel and Cockles were as bad as LDS's. Now...well they're still just as bad. But twice as aggressive. And while I was one, I don't think I ever went that far. I would often ask things like "Aren't those two married?" When it came to the Cockles fans. Or say "I'm from way south Alabama and experienced ISA, please stop." To the Wincest shippers. Every single time I would say something like this, some would try to come directly for my throat. Literally. Hell, someone grabbed me by the hair once. All because I dared to disagree.

It's a fucking series.

With fictional characters.

Played by actors.

And all the special effects are done by the crew.

But some people can't seem to grasp that.

I refuse to entangle myself back in that sticky little web and I would rather watch it burn itself out. I would prefer to see it go up in flames as it gets rejected by the fandoms it tries to infect, JUST because it is politely disagreed with.

Because it doesn't leave people alone after being told no or receiving the sense that, maybe, a person is uncomfortable.

[boltlightning]

“I want you to be happy.” and Norribeth? please and thank you!

request me a drabble!

James stands at the window of the Black Pearl’s stateroom, watching the waves surge in the wake. The last Elizabeth had seen him as such, it was in a kinder light, in a better place—on the Dauntless, returning from Isla de Muerta, an engaged man with but one weight on his conscience.

Elizabeth sits at the table and examines him in glances between fussing with Jack’s ever-spinning compass. James does not resemble himself these days: Jack is relentless, and keeps James working grueling shifts to which no other crew member is subject. Repeatedly scrubbing the deck of a pirate ship in the summer sun, with naught for protection but a tattered uniform, does not become a navy officer of many years, and he does not waste his energy bearing the indignity with anything resembling pride.

This afternoon, Elizabeth has stolen him a reprieve, and he, too, spends it thinking, staring at the water, utterly still but for the rise and fall of his breath.

Abruptly he breaks the quiet. “Why do you trust him?”

“Who?”

James turns his head so she sees him in profile. The light casts him in silhouette but for the suggestion of a gleam in his eye. “Our benevolent captain; who else?”

“He’s a good man, James,” Elizabeth says shortly.

James laughs, a low and reluctant sound from the belly. At her frown, he returns a sardonic smile, and presses, “You truly believe that, don’t you?”

She narrows her eyes. “You cannot blame him for your own mistakes.”

“This is not about me. You should consider this—” he says, gesturing around the cabin, “—with more caution. Sparrow has more at stake in this deal with Davy Jones than you might realize.”

With careless ease, James pulls a chair from the table across her and drops into it. Elizabeth catches his eyes, and he holds her gaze, unwavering and with the clarity of a man long-since sober. Who is this creature before her? He is not the commodore from Port Royal, nor the drunk she scraped out of the pigpen in Tortuga.

“And you would know? Piracy alone does not make him suspect.” Elizabeth folds her arms over her chest in an absent gesture of defense. The flush across her face is from anger and embarrassment both — and something else, whatever keeps her eyes from holding his eyes any longer, keeps them flitting back to the compass.

“Yes, because we both know Jack Sparrow has never lied. Not once.”

Angrily, Elizabeth snaps, “He saved my life, you’ll recall. And Will’s. That is more I can say of you.”

“Oh, forgive me for following the law,” he says, voice dropping dangerously. “I lost everything letting them go. Everything.”

“Then what do you stand to gain here?”

“What did you stand to gain by bringing me here?”

“I could not leave you in the filth,” she says, still scowling. “You cannot think me so heartless.”

“No,” he agrees, “but I have not known you to be kind.”

Elizabeth stands so abruptly she nearly stumbles with the shifting of the ship. James does not flinch, either at the violence of her movement or to aid her balance. He stares up at her with stony intensity, his hands clenched into fists where they rest on the map table.

They stand at a stalemate. Slowly, James releases his tension. He allows his hands to relax, his shoulders to slacken. The needle of the  compass on the table wheels slowly, unceasingly.

“I do not want to be your enemy,” James says, when it is clear Elizabeth will not leave. He lifts his face, and there is something like his old, earnest compassion in his expression. “I have nothing to gain, Elizabeth, nor anything to lose. You do. Is it so unbelievable to think I want to see you survive this? That I want you to be happy?”

Something catches in her throat. She swallows hard to avoid choking on her next words. “After everything?” she asks in a small voice.

“After everything.”

He holds out his hand and rests it on the table palm up. This is not a concession—it is an offering of peace. Elizabeth hesitates, but after a moment, she steps forward, touching his palm with her fingers, feeling the familiar calluses and scars. He does not close his fingers around her hand until her palm is fully settled against his.

“Now, tell me. What’s wrong with his compass?” James asks. “Why must you navigate? Does anything on this forsaken ship work as intended?”

“At least one crew member, however reluctantly he may do so.” Elizabeth shoots a sideways glance at James, who snorts and rolls his eyes. “No, I must confess, I don’t understand it myself.”

She gathers the compass in her other hand, tilting it to catch the light. For a moment, just a moment, she swears the needle flickers towards the man across the table. Then it returns to its stuttering course towards Davy Jones’ heart.

[kohamarsonist]

pov: you've spent 3 months in southern europe after years of british vitamin D deficiency and you are so dense that it took putting your usual lipstick on and realising it doesn't suit your skin tone/shade anymore to freaking see that finally you have a tan

[savrenim]

not to be another donations post but you may remember how over the summer we had massive amounts of plumbing problems and other unexpected moving costs? well. after proceeding to work every single hour available to me for six months, take no holidays whatsoever, and budget the hell out of every aspect of my life, I was actually on track to pay everything back and maybe have a little bit of wiggle room by the time summer came around!

and then we got a call from the vet about routine labs saying that if we didn't take Suzy in to an emergency specialty hospital immediately, she would die within in a week, she might die anyways if we took her there, but it was our only chance to have a few more months with her. after an extremely difficult household discussion, we decided that we needed to do as much as we could for her. she's been a beloved member of the family for 18 years. we were not going to abandon her in her hour of need.

with two days at the specialty hospital, the prognosis was better than we could have possibly hoped! the most important thing is she does not have heart problems at all, which means that we can treat her chronic kidney disease with normal IV fluids and with careful treatment she could easily be with us for years to come. the timely intervention also may or may not have saved her from acute kidney failure too, we'll know when we go back to the vet on Wednesday to get her blood checked where her levels have stabilized at.

two days at the specialty hospital means we are also down $3652 , and no longer are on track to pay back everything by July when it comes due unless a couple of uncertain things going forward Go Right, I do not trust everything to Go Right, and we're also still uncertain about what long-term treatment going forward is going to cost.

I still have my ko-fi and my patreon, but honestly, I'm aware that everything is tight for everyone always and there are also a lot of causes that need money right now and in the face of that "hey my family went super out on a limb to try to save our cat and would love some help not falling off" feels kind of shallow. but like. not to sound dumb or like a youtuber or podcaster, but, like. honestly I think the Most Helpful Thing that anyone could do for me right now is take a fucking HelloFresh link that will send you a "free" box for cost-of-shipping ($7ish?) if you Sign Up For An Account that you can then cancel Immediately After The Box Has Shipped and Never Give Them Any More Money Than That and get Six To Ten Meals Out Of It, and for getting someone to "sign up", they will give me a free box too. like. if 13 people are willing to take a link then I don't need to worry about food for the next three months. which would be. HUGE.

so I guess.... dm me if you want a link? otherwise expect to see a lot of promotion of my writing/ patreon as I scramble the hell to try to make this money up

[justanotherfanartist]

.

[waitinqroom]

thinking about when i had a boyfriend but before he was my boyfriend and we were just talking i tried to tell him about how this one girl led me on really badly (i still have a buncha posts on here from fall 2021 about liking her, lol) as friends confiding in friends . but then after i told the story he tried to convince me that she didnt actually lead me on and i was just delusional

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: March 25

"Groovy Little Summer Song" by James Otto

[likeabxrdinflight]

I have a friend who's still highly cautious around covid because she's high risk but she keeps posting all these screenshots of tweets about covid studies on her instagram in an attempt to convince people that covid is still very dangerous

and it's not that covid isn't still potentially dangerous, but one quick google search has allowed me to find every study that she has referenced, and without fail, every single one of them has been working with pre-vaccine, pre-omicron data. the most recent one she's posting about is about cardiac conditions post covid, and wouldn't you know, the entire sample was taken from people who caught covid between march 2020 and january 2021.

this was pre-vaccine, pre-omicron, hell, it was pre-delta variant (remember that one). this was the wild type covid, which our bodies were least immune to. it was the type that was most known to be causing cardiac symptoms and blood clots. besides delta, it was the most deadly. and no one was vaccinated.

so yes, in that group of people, who were unfortunate enough to catch covid during that period, the results of this study are likely very valid- they are at increased risk of heart disease. and that should be talked about and studied more and if those people end up with cardiac symptoms they need to be receiving proper care.

but we should not be assuming, without further study, that these risks are still the same for those who've been vaccinated, or who only caught covid after the omicron variant became dominant (the omicron lineages have been pretty different from the wild type and other pre-omicron variants, so it's worth noting that). like this is a study that must be replicated with a post-vaccine, post-omicron sample before you will even remotely convince me that those cardiac risks are the same as they were before.

and it is driving me crazy that my friend, who is also fucking trained in how to read science, is posting this shit seemingly without looking at the actual papers or thinking about the context at all. like it is driving me absolutely bananas. these posts aren't even like, direct quotes from the papers, they're screenshots of randos on twitter talking about these papers, as if twitter rando knows jack shit about what they're talking about. like it's all well and good to still care about covid but could you at least do it with less of the fear mongering?

[nerdie-faerie]

This has got to be the worst move out yet

[sophiamcdougall]

I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again

I mean, I am. But still.

So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.

So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.

At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.

Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell

So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.

I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.

This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.

Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.

I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.

Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.

We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.

"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."

"A what," he asks.

"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"

"Oh! A turtle!" he says.

"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.

The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.

"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.

"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.

"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.

"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??

The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?

I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.

"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."

"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.

"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!

So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.

(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)

[cascadianights]

Holding out my heart

A friend told me the other day

I was holding out joy and warmth,

Fun and the fruits of my garden,

Offering them to you freely.

It's the story of us.

I offer myself again and again

Knowing! Knowing you will balk!

Knowing you will let me fall

Again and again and again.

You offer yourself,

On your terms.

In your space.

In your time.

You offer yourself in small moments

Rambles in between the masks

A smile that fills my entire chest with warmth.

You offer yourself with

Asterisks

With warnings not to get too attached,

Not to expect too much

Not to expect... anything.

You call at 3am when you're exhausted of all other company,

You stay up all night talking on the couch,

You're still talking and smiling and wanting me to stay even as I leave after 24 hours together.

It was always that way,

10 hour shifts together, followed by hours watching the sunrise on the back of your car.

Staying out hiking and watching the stars so long the rising sun lights the way home.

There was a time you felt like home.

It drives me crazy how easily you felt that way again.

But

You offer yourself with fear,

With the certainty that everyone leaves and therefore no one is worth your commitment.

So when the choice is presented,

You always choose to run.

You always run.

You

Always

Run.

I offer myself, I offer my heart,

I offer my garden and my affection and my time.

I offer myself

And you run

And I fall

Again and again.

[genderfreakxx]

Letting myself become emotionally invested in a school crush like

[boygirlctommy]

ok i really need to rewatch these games bcus i dont understand what half of these notes are referencing but me and my brother decided the order was 4-> 5-> 2-> 1-> 3-> 6