recksistrying

[recksistrying]

….more EoD??

Indirect part two of this

Tag list- @cowcowwow :>

~~~~~~~

Lina pushed herself up onto the kitchen counter. “Ugh, how much longer are we gonna be here? There’s nothing to do.” She groaned. 

Emmett sighed. “At least until Flynn and Esther get back from scouting, but hopefully Alex can make some progress on the car, which might take a bit longer…”

“Yeah…” Lina looked down, “is he… okay? He won’t really talk to me. Has he said anything to you?”

“He… he’s going through a rough time. I mean, we all are… but I think he’s got some things he’s trying to work through right now. All he’s really told me is that he’s not sure how he feels… about all this.”

“Yeah. You know,” Lina pushed down and began pacing, “I know it’s a bit scary up here, but honestly… I love it. There’s adventure and excitement around every corner, no one judging us, and no dumb rules or schoolwork.”

Emmett smiled. “It does feel freer for sure.”

Just then, Alex burst in from the garage. His face and hands were covered in grease and he was grinning. 

“Guess what!”

“What?” Lina and Emmett asked in unison.

“The car is officially usable again! Now does anyone know how I can wash up…”

“That’s amazing!” Lina began jumping up and down. “Does that mean we’ll finally be able to get out of here?”

“Yep! As soon as Flynn and Esther get back.”

Emmett smiled softly at Alex. He hadn’t seen him this excited in… he wasn’t sure how long.

“I’ve got some wipes in my pack if you want those,” Emmett offered. 

“That’d be great! Can you help me get them though? I wouldn’t want to get grease on everything.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Alex followed Emmett back to one of the bedrooms where their stuff was and sat on the empty bed frame while Emmett grabbed a couple of wipes. 

“Here you go!”

“Thanks,” Alex took the wipe, “Hey do you think you could clean my glasses for me?”

“Sure thing!” Emmett gently removed Alex’s glasses and wiped them down while Alex wiped himself down.

“How do I look?”

Emmett laughed. Alex looked strange and a bit dazed without his glasses, but handsome as always. 

People say brown eyes are the dullest; the least interesting. You can’t compare them to the ocean, trees, or whatever else people like to compare eyes to. But Emmett loved Alex’s eyes. They glittered like gold, and, in this moment, seemed to betray every thought going through Alex’s head. 

Emmett cleared his throat and looked away. “Uh, you missed a spot.”

“Ah, dammit,” Alex said as he took back his glasses, “could you get it for me?”

“Sure.” 

Emmett took the wipe and gently wiped away the last bit of grease. He tried so hard not to look at Alex too intently, but he couldn’t help but see the stunned look in his eyes.

“You think this is going to become a habit?” Emmett laughed, backing up shyly. “I mean, didn’t I just do this, like, last night?”

Alex smiled. “I certainly wouldn’t mind if it did.”

Emmett froze. 

Then the front door burst open.

#the edge of dawn #they're gay your honor

[recksistrying]

……..Edge of Dawn bit??? whaaattt??? who could have seen this coming???? Okay here take it-

Alex slammed the door behind him as he stormed into the garage. Maybe he was overreacting, sure, but whether this level of anger was justified or not, he didn’t plan on leaving the garage tonight. 

He popped open the hood of the car and continued “working his magic” as Lina had put it. 

Sometimes he wished he didn’t take after their dad. Sometimes he was glad he knew his way around all sorts of machinery. 

Alex couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Flynn was right. He’d never admit it to anyone else, of course, but he had started to wonder if maybe he really could be happier in the Above than he was back in the bunker. 

But the bunker was safe. In the bunker, he could make sure Lina grew up safe, and he could get a good job. He had planned to take his dad’s old job as Med-Bunker’s mechanic, and then, maybe even move him and Lina to the nicer, specialized bunker.

Above there was no guarantee they’d make it to the next day. Above, all his skills could do for them was, well, this. Tinkering with Old World tech and hoping that someday it would pay off. 

All he could do up here was hope any of this would pay off. 

For all they knew, The Town was just a myth, and they were on a wild goose chase. For all they knew, just around the corner they’d find a den of thieves or be eaten by wolfbears. For all they knew, the food they’d been eating was poisonous.

Alex threw his wrench across the garage as his anger finally bubbled over. 

For fucks sake, Flynn and Esther could be leading them into a trap and they’d have no way of knowing. 

He stood there a moment, breathing heavily. Then he fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. 

God, he had to stop having outbursts like this. Sooner or later, it was going to result in hurting someone he cared about. Someone like Lina or…

There was a soft knock on the door. 

“Alex?” A welcome voice called from inside the house. “Are you okay? Can I come in?”

“Yeah.. come on in.”

Emmett stepped inside the doorway and stopped, looking at Alex kneeling on the floor. “Are you… looking for something?”

He walked over and joined Alex on the floor, peering under the car.

“No, no, I just… needed to sit for a minute.”

A look of concern crossed Emmett’s face. “Do you need water or anything?”

“I’m fine… thank you.”

Emmett reached up and rubbed a bit of grease off Alex’s face. “You know, it really is getting late, you sure you don’t want to come sleep?”

Alex startled and backed up a little, then immediately regretted it when he saw the look on Emmett’s face.

“Sorry, I- I didn’t mean to… you just had a little grease on your cheek…”

“It’s… fine. Thanks for getting it for me,” Alex stood and offered Emmett a hand up, “I don’t think I’m nearly ready for bed though.”

Emmett nodded. “Do you mind if I hang around for a bit? I’m not sure I’m ready for bed either.”

Alex paused a moment, then shrugged. “Sure. I… I like your company.”

Why did he say that?

Emmett smiled and leaned against the car. “How’s this thing coming along?”

“Uhh,” Alex tried hiding his face by bending over the engine, pretending to be fully engrossed in a task, “it’s… coming.”

Emmett laughed. “That’s good I suppose.”

They were both silent for a moment. Alex almost said something several times but kept deciding against it. 

Finally, Emmett asked the one question Alex had been hoping to avoid.

“Alex…”

“Hm?”

“Why… why are you so against staying up here?”

Alex let the question hang in the air a moment, and Emmett seemed to take that to mean he needed to explain himself. 

“I mean, I get it, my mom’s still in the bunker, and I’d give anything to see her again but… the truth is, I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am up here… And I know part of it has to do with Lina and wanting to protect her, but even you must see how much happier she is up here too! And… you don’t have someone in the bunker like I do… So… I guess I just wonder… what makes you so attached to it?”

Alex wasn’t the crying type. At least he tried not to be. But somehow, Emmett had known all the things to ask. All the things he had been asking himself. And now…

Emmett saw Alex’s shoulders start shaking, and the next thing he knew, Alex was hugging him so tight, he almost couldn’t breathe. Emmett hugged Alex back with all his might, and let Alex bury his face in his chest. He gently rubbed Alex’s back as he quietly sobbed.

“I don’t know…” Alex finally said, still leaning his face against Emmett’s chest, “I don’t know. I mean, for one, it’s safer down there… but is that really worth it? What’s better,” Alex let himself risk a glance at Emmett’s face, “being safe and unhappy your whole life, or happy and this close to death every day?”

Emmett stared at Alex for a moment, something unreadable in his eyes. “I… I don’t know either. I think we’re all trying to figure it out. But the truth is, right now we don’t have much of a choice… so maybe… we should just make the best of this?”

Alex leaned against Emmett again, closing his eyes and letting himself melt into Emmett’s arms. “Yeah… maybe you’re right… How about we sleep on it?”

#gay screeching #they're so precious #keep slaying

[recksistrying]

#38 states gang #accidental gay date gang

[recksistrying]

As @staff further refine the polls while they're rolling them out (still haven't gotten mine sadly), here's a suggestion of mine: Polls with a ten year time limit.

As of right now, it's impossible for polls to turn into long-running legendary posts. You can try, sure (see the bug race), but it's a week and then it's locked, fixed, done, and all that's left is for people to reminisce about that time there was a poll.

On the other hand, if a ten year poll gets popular, it can become part of Tumblr lore while still being updated. People can write passionate appeals for their vote and fight in the notes. Others can make graphs to show how the poll's majorities shift with each different US president or Taylor Swift album. People can make memes about "remember 2025, when option 3 was in the lead? That was a crazy time".

Why ten years, though, instead of a hundred or just no time limit? Because that way, the end becomes an event. People who voted in the poll when it was just a few hours old can watch the final countdown together, and there's a new point in Tumblr history: That day when we finally all agreed on the best option, and presumably also some important political stuff happened.

Now, granted, most ten year polls would never reach this level of notoriety. But it only takes a few polls like this to be worthwhile. Maybe this shouldn't be an option for users to select, but something the Tumblr website grants/pushes on you at random?

So, yeah. Ten year polls. They should be a thing.

#this is a mistake #and i love it

[recksistrying]

girls love me for my wit, charm, and microwavability

#microwave for 3 hours

[recksistrying]

Me: it’s 2023!

Also me: 2025 has been quite the year…

Also me: Wait wasn’t 2019 last year?

Also me: 2030… that’s next year right?

Also me: what do you mean the 90s weren’t ten years ago? What do you mean I wasn’t even alive in the 90s?

[recksistrying]

give me one reason why i should not pick up my short friends and carry them in the crook of my arm all day so we can double the amount of intimidating eye contact we make with strangers

#every time i open tumblr (infrequent) #i find at least one notification where my partner just tags me in smth to roast me for being short #someone save me from this menace #i love them tho

[recksistrying]

[recksistrying]

star trek actors are so strong for doing technobabble with a straight face. if you asked me to talk about how the technicron particles are mainlining the quantum blorbonator I would fall apart immediately

#the phasers initiated a mass quantum electrofield that's going to destabilize the hyperquark photon emitter! #we need to find a bio-lock hex wrench and fix the magnarotor before it overheats and evaporates us all on the spot!

[recksistrying]

Weapon idea: a retro-causality pistol, loaded with bullets made of justification. When you fire it at someone, it changes history to provide a reason for you to have shot them.

Finally, you've killed the man who murdered your wife. But was she dead before you pulled the trigger? You will never know.

#skitters away to start writing a new story #my wips are crying

[recksistrying]

[ID: youtube comment from Hal Sawyer:

My favorite relic English still used everywhere is the word "the" used in phrases like: "the more I look at this, the stranger it seems, or "the bigger they come, the harder they fall". This "the" is not the article of any noun, it is a different word, a conjunction descended from the old English "þā", pronounced "tha" which means either "when" or "then". Back in early Middle English the structure "if - then" had not taken over and if you wanted to express an if - then relationship you said "þā whatever, þā whatever", meaning "when such-and- such, then such-and-such". "þā" sounds almost the same as "the" and the spelling of the two converged, but the meaning remained totally different. "the more, the merrier" literally means "when more, then merrier" or "if more, then merrier'; same as centuries ago.

end ID]

this is so cool

[recksistrying]

my brothers share special interests and my favorite thing to do is walk in a room and be like "hey guys can you tell me about the mariana trench" and then sit there for an hour while they both infodump to me about the ocean it's extremely entertaining

#pls listen to me ramble about kpop #we can trade valuable information

[recksistrying]

Sometimes I tell my mom I don't like something and she goes "No!!!! You used to LOVE this thing!!!!!" And I ask When. When did I last express desire for this thing. And she goes "When you were four you could not get ENOUGH of this thing" and I say Mother. I am Twenty Six

#mother #i do not want the disney princess chapstick

[recksistrying]

all these posts that are like *flips hair* hi newbiesss tehee welcome to Tumblr..... we're not like the Other Social Media Sites 😝😘 and then proceed to unironically describe tumblr like the shangri la of social media where we all live laugh reblog and have long ebony black hair and flip off preps as if every fucking day on here for the last ten years hasn't been a bloody trial with innumerable casualties like we don't weekly see the most hilarious drama and indescribable dysfunctionality. you're all like acclimated deep sea organisms enticing soft photic zone invertebrates to come down. they're going to fucking die.

#:)

[recksistrying]

when they hold you and you just feel your entire body relax into them >>>>

[recksistrying]

every morning i wake up and make the worst possible time management decisions anyone has ever made

[recksistrying]

just saw a girl with "5'1 with tattoos" as her tinder bio and I desperately want to match with her solely and only because I want to ask "how tall are you without tattoos?"

#both of the people here are me