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#and it’s been fine so far mostly because we either talk about the project or classes or nothing at all
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I’m so tired of my physics lab group because it’s me and then a bunch of guys who went to the same Christian high school in the same town as my university and they just talk about guns all the time.
Today one guy was telling a story about his cousin who’s in Communications so the professors are more liberal so she has to deal with them “talking about pronouns and crap.” Same guy has a sticker on his phone that says “I support FREE SPEECH not ~POLITICAL CORRECTNESS~”
Of course they were all talking about the Citadel shooting in Nashville too and how the shooter was trans.
@the-starlight-papers
#idk if it’s better or worse than my engineering class with the professor who makes a decent number of off color jokes#and is constantly toeing the line of what would get him reported to administration#some guy in engineering class today literally said ‘I’m racist’ and even that professor was like 😬#engineering ​professor also told some kid who was mouthing off that ‘you make me wish I wasn’t pro life’#engineering professor then started joking that he was going to snap one day because of said kid and then asked us where we would run#I hate engineering sometimes because it’s majority male and majority white#so some people feel like they can just say anything#idk if I’ve mentioned this but I got to college in the south and my school has literally stopped naming residence halls after peopld#and also buildings#they’re all named after their geographic locations#ie Hilltop East and Hilltop West or South English Building#(those are all made up btw but the real ones are basically the same idea)#it also sucks sometimes because sometimes I’m in a student engineering team lab working on a project#and then the guy I’m in the lab working with alone is looking at a flyer for a transphobic speaker coming to campus#in the groupme for the organization that’s bringing him#and then I have to worry about is it safe for me to work on this project with this guy#and it’s been fine so far mostly because we either talk about the project or classes or nothing at all#and I don’t want to join the women in engineering clubs because I’m not a woman#and for my engineering team I’m worried I’ll be the token trans person and they’ll want to put me in their social media outreach or somethin#which maybe if we were back in my home state I’d agree#but here heck no#like I’m fine 95% of the time and then there’s the 5% of the time that makes me realize that what’s acceptable here is fucked up sometimes#and I should probably start standing up to some of these people and saying something#but also I have to keep working with these people and I want to make working with them as painless as possible#there’s been other things lately that have been fucked up too that are kinda specific to the point where I can’t share them here#but yeah#anyways psa to any NMS reading this#if you’re looking at going to a college that offers really generous full rides to all NMS#think about why they’re so desperate to get good student to come to their school
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phasesofpencils · 2 years
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Ok so one more post i wanna say to the rise fandom, and forgive me if i get something wrong I've only been here for 2 weeks.
1) Remain CAUTIOUSLY optimistic! Keep your expectations in check. Hope for the best but don't expect much, if something does come of this I'd imagine it might take longer than a week to hear any definitive news on the fate of the show, good or bad. I'd give it a month and that might still be a little early.
2) i know we all want the show on Netflix, damn I do paramount sucks, but there's probably some legal hoops they'd have to go through to make that happen if they even could. Paramount is now officially Nick's hosting service for their shows for streaming. Pretty sure the only reason Netflix got the exclusive rights for the movie was because at the time of development i don't think paramount plus even existed yet. Now that it does, and it's the only legal place to watch season 2 (in the US) if we get more seasons i think its more likely it'll be on Paramount.
3) if the show does get renewed expect at least about a year for it to return or to get trailers. I know we got boards out there but idk how far into development they got on those deleted episodes. I also don't know like who has like custody of those boards ya know? I imagine Nick but i also feel like the artist who worked on those boards have been releasing them i think? Either way the point is those episodes aren't finished. And the show has been on pause for like what, 2 years right? It would be pretty difficult to get everyone back. I garuntee a large number of the people involved have moved onto other projects and don't have the time to return to the show. Plus what was already developed might still need to be edited or cut due to the sudden change in dynamic at the end of the season 2 finale (mostly leo being dubbed the leader)
4) who is this man??? (/srs /lh)
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And why does it seem like we're taking his word as gospel on the fate of this show? Unless I'm getting people confused here, Everyone seemed to be talking about him talking about the show. So much so i assumed he was one of the creators, but i looked into it and he's not? Idk i kinda just glanced at his info but it seemed like the only involvement he had in Rise was creating a calendar (?) And i think creating the krangified challenge? I even asked my friend who got me into the show who was following it when it was airing and even they don't know who he is. Genuinely who is this person, just let me know if he's even a credible or reliable source. Cus unless it's coming right from the creators themselves im not convinced.
5) last thing. Please do not harrass people about the show! I've seen people try and pressure at least one youtube reviewer into reviewing it like he was the only thing standing in the way of season 3 like Nick was holding thw show at gun point til he reviewed it. (Not like that dramatic but also i don't think its going to make that much of a difference. Pretty sure these studios don't look at who's reviewing their show unless they're trying to copyright strike them) and please don't bug the people who were with or on the show. They probably can't tell you anything anyways cus ya know NDAs are a thing. Just please be civil 🙏 (but the Nick and Maybe Netflix and Paramount that's fine probably. It is always morally correct to bully corporations /hj)
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alexissara · 2 months
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Unicorn Overlord Demo - Quick Review
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Unicorn Overlord is a game I was not interested in but given the demo was taking over my feed I decided fuck it I'll give it a shot like I did for the Project Triangle Strategy Demo. The presence of a dude main lord already is a massive turn off for me so I did go in with a negative feeling about the game and the game managed to not turn me around at all.
The story of this game is just bad, it's not good, it's not great, it's not good. We got no sense of conflict really, we get a fridge cool battle mom and then the good boy prince who is good and pure and perfect goes out to go fighting the bad evil emperor who took over the world. Turns out people betrayed his mom not because there was complicated politics or anything but because they were simply mind controlled. The game right away damsels another woman and then constantly fills it's plots with serious big boys. On my playthrough it took a long time for me to get any women at all to join my army outside of my starting character Chloe.
The game provides a choice system but the choices do not tell you what you get from either choice and the choices are simply "Do I murder this guy or do I let them live". It would really benefit from letting you know what it is your gaining on the gameplay side instead of having you go in without knowing as a means of trying to push or pull you in different directions.
These are paired with how boring Alian is as a protag. He is a proper good noble boy with proper good noble boy morals. You get to make choices for him but their either being a good boy who believes in people or being like a lawful guy who is still seen as good maybe more good who punishes enemies more often. He talks and has his own personality kinda outside of that but honestly he is so low impact he could have been a blank slate Persona protag who never speaks and it make no real difference. There was really no reason this character couldn't have been a selectable gender or customizable player avatar and kept basically all the work on the character already done, hell he is just ando enough you coulda just picked pronouns on him.
The other characters writing is not particularly exciting either the lesbian angel and her girlfriend are cute but they are no Aylain and Isobel even if they are functionally the same classes and similar dynamic they lack the passion and talent behind them. No one else really stood out to me, there were characters I thought were fine but no one felt stunning or particularly exciting.
Gameplay wise it's not super great it reminds me of so many better games. The RTS elements brought into an RPG make me think of Yugioh Falsebound Kingdom only idk for me it's less exciting. The maps so far are pretty boring lanes that don't get me to imagine a set piece very much with these wider war scaled battle it's painfully real of a setting for a plot that gives me no investment in the horrors of war, it's just fields and shit. There isn't a lot going on but also there is a skill system to dive into and honestly that seems like it's too in depth for me to give a shit about either since it wasn't really given the kind of slower introduction it should have been given to get used to adding skills and getting an idea of how that might improve a unit.
Overall, I guess it's fine but I really do not see what the hype is about. I'd play this game and probably do a full review if I was given a copy but mostly because I simply don't have other video games I'm looking forward to in the near future and I enjoy having something to passively do on my switch when I am feeling icky but I could also idk play my backlog or random gachas so idk. This could be a lot better.
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alarrytale · 8 months
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I agree that homophobes already dislike Harry so if Harry was to CO nothing would change there. Republicans and UK conservatives despise him. A while ago on twitter they were trying to get him cancelled for being a gr**mer, which they do with all gay men, and coming up with all kinds of conspiracy theories like him being a pawn to brainwash men into becoming more feminine. I think they turned on him when he went to the Met Gala and looked 'too feminine', and even more so with the Vogue photoshoot. I do worry that him CO will put his life even more in danger, as a public figure, and that he and his fans will be the target of homophobic attacks from the far right. Especially if he makes a huge impact. As they see him as 'brainwashing' others. That really scares me. I don't know how he can get around that other than increasing security and being really careful where he goes on tour. I agree that Harry's target audience is ready for him to CO. Like you said, he is a trendsetter. That's why people love him. He's always been ahead of everyone else but now he risks falling behind. If he continues stunting he's going to hit a wall. He'll either have to CO because the queerbaiting accusations will get too loud or go deeper into the closet. If he goes deeper into the closet I think that'll be more damaging to his career. People will see him as just another 'straight' male artist. Like you said, he's losing a lot of his older fans because of his stunting and his image. The superficial fans will eventually move on. I think HSHQ/Columbia greatly overestimate how damaging a CO will be. I don't think his fans are homophobic. They fantasize about him with women because they're led to believe that he is interested in women. If he was to CO then sure some fans will continue with their fantasizing but most of his fans will adapt. Bradrry was really popular on TikTok. It shows that there is potential there. He needs a complete image change to keep people interested.
Hi,
So, first of all it's important to remember that in regards to the far right, even though their voices are loud and sometimes seems overpowering, they are in the minority. Most of them talk a good game, but they are keyboard warriors, and they will never hang out in MSG, oxford street or in that little italian village where harry seems to spend his time. Outside of that Harry's got bodyguards with him. So the chances of a homophobic physical attack happening to him is slim. Okay? So i don't think you need to worry about that happening. Harry is also very good at responding to things like that. For example his speech to westbor**gh baptist church and his 'bring back manly men' ig post. So he's got that handled. I don't think any of this is what's stopping him from coming out. We as fans are also good at handling people like this. We've been trained to wrangle antis since we were baby larries. So i think we'll be fine.
To your second part. I agree that the fandom is ready for him to come out. But as i've said before, we don’t know what's currently holding him up. It might be louis (and bg), if they plan to come out together. I think harry being in a real and committed, long term relationship would please mostly everyone. We've had our time to project upon him. You can still do it, just understand that he also must be allowed to just live his life and be happy. He's almost 30 years old.
I think it will be such a weight off his shoulder when he does come out, that we might see a whole new man. In a good way. He'd be so much happier, free and joyful and i think all that would be infectious. Fandom would be ecstatic seeing him like that. I don't think he needs a complete image change, but i do think eventually he has to pick a side. He also needs to connect with fandom again, and i think coming out would fix much of that. If he gets closeted further i think it would harm him, his creativity, fandom and his career. People will move on from him i fear. So i hope they don't go there.
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SO's Bookclub : The Haunting
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Title: The Haunting Author: Joan Lowery Nixon Genre: YA Mystery
Goodreads Summary :
The walls whisper. The ceilings shriek. No one can survive a night of terror inside Graymoss. The old plantation house has been in Lia’s family since the Civil War, but it’s been possessed for generations by a malicious spirit, and Lia’s family has always stayed far away. Now her parents have decided to move into Graymoss, and Lia must either change their minds or chase away the horror lurking inside the old house. Using clues from her great-great-grandmother’s diary and an old copy of Favorite Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Lia must discover what—or who—the evil wants.
Review:
This is the first one of the four that I haven't read that I picked up a few months ago when I started doing this project. So, this is my first read through. And, you know, it's not that bad. I'd say it's on the upper end of these kinds of books, but ooff, still issues.
The plot revolves around Graymoss -- an old home in Louisiana belonging to protagonist Lia's family. Lia's mother wants to turn it into a foster care home for kids. But everyone else on the planet is like -- you crazy, place haunted.
On the one hand - meant to be a lot like Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House. Having the story built on a creepy atmosphere and psychological terror instead of cheep jumps scares and gory slasher tactics. But... the novel spends so little time away from the house that it never really gets that spooky. Which is odd - because JLN is usually pretty good at setting a tense atmosphere.
A lot of her normal tropes are somewhat subverted. We're not in Texas because this was clearly inspired by something she discovered in Louisiana (the dedication points in this direction). Lia is fine as a protagonist and I really didn't feel like punching her at any point. The family is mostly decent -- except Grandma is a little weird, but not matriarchal. And, there is a guy who is involved but only for about two seconds, he's barely around to even be considered a love interest, and he's discarded just as quickly.
Oh - and there was mention of cell phones. Which I found interesting for a book set in the late 90s. These books almost feel out of time when they start mentioning modern technology.
The book does have a pretty decent premise, and there were pieces of the mystery that were intriguing but it never really gets off the ground. Plus - we spend a lot of time (especially for a short book) talking to people who don't really matter, who don't really tell us anything, or don't move the plot forward. (There's an entire chapter where they spend time with kids at an orphanage just to remind you that they want to put little kids into foster care using the haunted house.)
This entire novel could have worked better as a short story - one that took place in a single night -- kind of like A Deadly Game of Magic did. The clues that are sprinkled throughout the novel kind of point in an obvious direction -- especially the use of the Edgar Allen Poe book (which really, if anyone had been thinking - the whole mystery would have been solved easily way back when).
Overall, it's fine. There's nothing egregiously wrong with it, nothing made me want to throw it against the wall. But, she just didn't make great use of a haunted house trope, and you can tell a lot of why this book was written was because she was inspired by different parts of Louisiana culture.
Rating: 3.25 Stars
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pbandjesse · 9 months
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I'm walking in the woods right now. I'm on my way back to my building from riding horses which was fun but now my allergies are going crazy. I've decided that even though it's 8:00 I'm going to go home. I would like to take a shower and sleep in my own bed. Because while I love sleeping in the hammock I think being home has become a little bit more important to me this year. But today was a pretty good day overall even if I'm still pretty sore and I was very nauseous for a lot of it.
I slept okay last night. I did not get enough sleep for some reason. I don't even remember not falling asleep early last night I just didn't sleep good. And when I woke up it was 6:30 and I didn't need to be awake yet but I was and for some reason when I get to lay in bed for a half an hour just being awake I tend to feel better when my alarm does finally go off. And beyond being nauseous this held true.
I left for work and was in a pretty good mood. I had a nice drive and got here before 8:00. There wasn't a lot for me to do today. Like set up-wise. I had done a really good job of getting everything ready already So I just made sure everything was clean and then I went for a little walk. I went to talk to Chris and make sure that buying adhesive at home Depot would be a reimbursed. And he said it was fine. So I will do that either tomorrow or Saturday. And then I just did a little walk around camp until I went back to the art building where I hung out in the hammock inside.
I was already really nauseous but I was also very anxious. Specifically about my hammock. Anton is a very great help but he loves laying in the inside hammock and I want to lay on the inside hammock so I put a wash on my stuffed animals in it and my book and hoped that if he came while I was walking to the nurse that he would not be inside of it but he ended up not coming today. So it was fine. But my anxiety was still very high.
I was going to work today working on my blanket. All 12 rows are completed and now they are sewed together in pairs. And tomorrow I hope to work on sewing the Paris together. And so far Louisa has been a huge help making sure that none of my pairs or rose were incorrect. We laid them all out and made sure and pinned and put notes on things so that things were being laid and sewn in the right direction and it was nice.
And the kids today made pretty good artwork. They were mostly on time which was surprising. And we didn't have any like great masterpieces today. Not to say they weren't wonderful but none like blew me out of the water. I think some of the problem is we have too many white socks. I think if I was to do this project again next year I will get way more colorful socks. Because we ran out of those like on Monday and those ones just look so much cleaner.
But the kids were good and they made good work and while I didn't feel very good everyone was really kind. And I had the counselors helping with the hot glue and while there was one or two small burns nobody was seriously injured which is always my concern.
I did not go to lunch because I had brought my Chipotle from yesterday with me. And I ate half of that and then I just turned off the lights and hung out in the inside hammock until my next class. I just really it did not feel good today and was happy to be alone.
I honestly wasn't sure it was going to participate in the counselor ride tonight because I was feeling so unwell. But I knew that if I didn't I would feel bad about that too so really there was no winning. My neck also just really hurts still and I would love for it to stop hurting so much but nothing seems to be helping. I'm hoping that going home tonight and taking a hot bath will help at least a little bit.
The afternoon groups were great. My day campers really seem to like the sock project even if they have to keep starting over over it over again. And when the stockade boys came a few of them even made some puppets including Jorge. Jorge always makes walruses and I thought it was very sweet when he made a walrus. I was not feeling great still though. And I was trying my best to not let everyone know how bad I was feeling but it was hard. I was talking to Louisa a lot about it today because she spent literally the entire day with me. And she worked on her embroidery and we just chit-chatted while the kids worked and during our breaks we both read Dear America books while laying in the hammocks. She's reading the Titanic one but I don't think she's going to finish it because she says it's already too sad. Which is true.
But she just wants to chit chat I had to be one point be like Louisa please let me read my book I only have 20 pages left. And I really didn't love this one there was a lot of parts where I felt like I missed something because she was skipping big sections but it was still enjoyable at the end and I'm excited to read my next one which is going to be taking place in 1919 which is a nice change of pace because I've been doing a lot of 17 and 1800s.
My last day group camp group left and I still had one more group which was my late pioneer group. I was not thrilled about having such a late group but they were very sweet boys and they did a good job. And they had lots of questions about my blanket which I was finally finishing sewing out the last pair row. And I was able to lay everything out and get it all rolled up and folded.
While we were folding it Elizabeth called me to ask if Louisa was with me and I was like yes she's been here all day do you want me to send her down and at first she said no but then Alexi let us know that her dad was there and wanted to say hello so I sent her to the office. And then the boys finished up and I got my stuff and went to dinner.
Dinner was not good. It wasn't that it tasted bad because I didn't eat any of it. What they had for people who do eat me it was jerked Jamaican chicken and some rice and vegetables. Which is fine. Except there was a very unclearness of about what was vegetarian what wasn't and then they finally brought the vegetarian option out which was like a vegetarian chicken and rice Jamaican inspired dish. Which I'm sure would have been fine not my thing but fine. Except I scooped up and it was still frozen. So I gave it back to the chef and then he said it would be a few minutes in the oven and I waited like 15 minutes but it didn't come out so I just had a couple pieces of broccoli and gave up and left.
Mostly because we were getting ready for the trail ride at 7:00 and I wanted to get going to ice first. So I went and waited by the office and read my book a little bit. And then the people that work up in horses. Braden, Laney, and CC from the pool were up there waiting for Kona ice as well. And they were running a little bit late so we were jokingly like yelling about Jimmy not being there when he was supposed to be. Jimmy is the man that runs the Kona ice truck. And once he was there we got our things and I walked up with them. And they walk so fast. I have little legs guys and I'm old. But I did my best to keep up with them and it was nice hanging out.
I got to watch them tack up the horses. And put all of the things together and then everybody else who was coming on the trail ride would slowly start coming through. Ty was coming as well as Antonio. Tony was there as well. Candella who I love. And I specifically loved that she kept yelling at the horses in very very fast Spanish. I got to ride on Denton. And he was a very well behaved horse.
Which was great because I don't know if you remember my ride last year when I was on Little bolt and he rode me into Elizabeth's car and then into a bush. Denton was a very good listener. And he let me pet his face and his ears and I even gave him some of my snowball. It was mango flavored.
When we did finally get to ride I was all the way in the back because Denton likes to kick. He did not kick anyone but he kept biting the horse in front of us. And I think I did a lot better with controlling the words this year. Specifically because the saddle fit me better and I was not in excruciating pain the entire time. My neck still definitely hurt but there wasn't a lot of looking all the way backwards so it didn't bother me too much and I was able to just kind of be chill about it.
There were like three times where I screamed. The first one was because I thought it was so funny when we were going downhill and he started to trot. I can't imagine what a cancer feels like because trotting seems so fast. And you don't really have anything to hold on to so at one point I started slipping off the front of the saddle because I was writing an English saddle that has no horn. And that was very scary. And then another time I almost fell off and my feet fell out of the stirrups and I started sliding and then I got a crane up in my leg and I thought it was going to die. It was very scary. But I was laughing the whole way through and honestly it was a really nice time. I like to talking to Laney who was riding behind me as our trail guide. And I'm really glad that they cut the trail rides from an hour to a half an hour though because by the time the half hour is done my thighs hurt so much. Thankfully they don't really hurt too much anymore as I'm driving home. But I still have a good time.
Once the trail ride itself was done we went into the ring and we were allowed to just kind of ride in circles and try things out. I got Denton to trot a few more times and I felt a little bit more in control and I got him to turn the way I wanted him to and I felt a lot more secure. I still don't know how you don't slide off the saddle but I was having a good time. Eventually though I did just want to get off of the horse. He kept trying to walk over the jumps and I did not enjoy that and I didn't know how to make him stop trying to do that. And I was very afraid he was going to jump for real. I was very much ready to be done.
Lady wouldn't let me use the stairs to get off of him and I was very afraid of sliding off the horse to get on the ground because my likes keep giving out but I was able to slowly slide down and get off and I did not die. I watched Denton back up to his little house and one of the other girls help me take his tack and saddle off. And then I gave him the rest of my snowball and said goodbye.
That is when I decided I was going to go. It's not as late as I thought it was going to be and I really still do not feel good. And I really think that me and showering and being clean and then being in my own bed will help. I really hope it does. At least emotionally.
I am writing this in the car while I drive home but I'm using talk to text so I feel like it's fine. I'm not looking at my phone at all so hopefully most of this is coming out and it's not nonsense.
I walked back up to the car after and enjoyed being in the woods. And now I am in the car and most of the way home. Tomorrow is going to be a long day but I still think it will be good. My plan is to work and then after my last program I got to get set up for next week and then make sure everything is put away from this week and then I'm going to help with pickup and the ceremony directions. And then I will get out of there. I'm going to go to home Depot and get the adhesive I need. And hopefully you'll be home around the same time and I'm getting home today. It's going to be a long day so I really hope this nausea goes away because it sucks.
I hope you all sleep great. I promise not to post this until I'm actually home. I love you all. Good night!
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💝, 📍,💋,🎉
😁
💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?
Goodness, I'm gonna have to talk about several right now lol. Honestly, I was shocked at the response to At Your Service. Just so many kudos and hits on the first couple of chapters (it's been such a long period since I last posted that I can't say about now, but that doesn't matter). IDK why I was so surprised, because porn with plot does well. It happened with Twenty First Times, which was my pet project but I didn't think it would be that popular either, and yet for a while, it was my most kudos-ed fic. Anyway, insert pikachu shocked face lol.
On the flip side, I was really surprised that Spirits and Specters flopped as hard as it did. I thought it was cute! But I suppose it sounded too bittersweet, and gen fics don't do as well. As far as ship fics, I was a little surprised High Tide didn't hit the same stats as my other PWP fics. At first, I wondered if maybe it was written worse than those, but then considering that the other PWP from Tomoe's POV didn't do as well as the ones from Nanami's POV, I think maybe we just all want the story to be told from the POV of the hot fox's love interest. 🤣
🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?
(Sorry! ;3; I couldn't find📍so I grabbed the closest one in appearance!)
I don't think it changes too much in style. Any adjustments are based on the genres I'm writing for, but I still have my quirks and I still have my preferred flows and syntactical structures. I have a few fics that I've tried to be more minimalistic about (which I struggle with, because I feel like I won't be understood if I don't beat a dead horse LOL). I think, again, it depends on the subject matter and genre, though. Like, for instance, Arranged Marriage is a much more complicated fic than Twenty First Times. Plus, I have multiple POVs in the former. It's going to be a lot longer.
For the future, though, I'd like to limit to one POV and that will affect it a bit. Mostly I need this change because the amount of editing I've been doing is unsustainable. I need shorter chapters to work with.
💋when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?
Not gonna lie -- I do! It goes back to fostering community and opening dialogue with other fans. But I also understand if someone doesn't have the spoons or doesn't know what to say, and it's totally fine not to reply. I don't feel ignored if someone doesn't respond to me and I'll keep commenting. The only time I might feel a bit weird is if everyone else gets a reply but me. Then I wonder if I'm overstepping some boundary I didn't know about. I would 100% rather know if I've made someone uncomfortable so I can adjust my behavior.
🎉how often do you celebrate completing & posting a work? how often do you give yourself the credit/validation that you seek from others when you post? (if you don't, you should!)
Honestly? Not enough these days LOL. I don't think it's a secret that I've been very frustrated lately. And it's really no one's fault but my own! I have a tendency to chop things up because I fret over how it comes across, or if it's actually "bad" (even when I enjoyed writing it), and I've been putting unnecessary pressure on myself. I will say I have a huge sense of accomplishment and relief when I finish the first draft of a chapter fic I worked on, especially if it went on for a while. I typically enjoy reading the first draft way more than what ends up being posted (probably because I've read it to death by that point LOL).
Thanks for the ask, @liz8080 😁💕
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stregoniconiconii · 1 year
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about the siblingification of friendships, sorry im totally about to make myself a stand in for steve here, but im an only child, i have felt v lonely, and i have this one friend who calls her close girl friends sisters,, and i just do not feel it, i love her, and she is one of my best friends, but i just do Not see her as a sibling. and i think steve would be the same way tbh, also my most sibling adjacent feelings have been for ppl around 5 years younger than me (just like Steve & the kids/teens<3) but unlike steve, i haven't had any intense trauma to increase the chance for sibling bonding.
idk i just think that it would take More for steve to feel sibling feelings for ppl around his own age or older.
i also think that when u have been on ur own a lot it's like, sure u want ppl around, but also u need ur space bc u're used to it, idk maybe thats just me lol. i also have an intense need for personal space and like my things are my things and no one better fucking touch it, (i mean u can but if u pick stuff up I'll be annoyed, sorry) but also i Crave physical affection, and sorry i think this is just a "why i relate to steve/things i project onto steve" list, oops.
but like i guess what i probably wanted to say is, steve is, as far as we know, an only child, and while i think we all want him to have good family times, i don't think that equals sibling type relationships with everyone, and i think it would be interesting if ppl took into account how living as an only child would affect him, and not only in the "his house was always empty so now he is filling it w the sound of his friends 24/7" way. like maybe its just me, and im projecting or w/e but if I had friends over All the time, even my very best friends(except maybe my best best friend<3) i would go insane i think
sorry for talking so much about myself, it's just things that makes me think about steve, and this is the best i could manage to express it at the moment <3
this just made me think of something very funny which is that Steve and robin DO think each other as siblings but because they're both only children they just. genuinely have absolutely no idea how siblings are supposed to act around each other and so they do things together that would make ppl sing 'sweet home Alabama' or go 'wtf' if they were actual real life siblings. like it genuinely is all completely platonic but it's still a line that siblings wouldn't cross lol (idek what kind of things yall can figure it out)
HOWEVER two only children who are very used to doing their own thing suddenly being very clingy with each other?? oh I just know there were growing pains. like they want to be around each other but also being around someone means Being Around Someone. they definitely had to figure out a system to make sure they dont murder each other lol
but yeah I do see what you mean about Steve maybe either not needing or necessarily even wanting?? a sibling relationship with everyone he knows (that isn't somehow a parental figure either lmaoo) the type of person I could see filling that sort of role for Steve might be likeeee an almost queer older sibling? like someone he meets in his 20s who takes him under a gay wing. I know ppl like to imagine Eddie doing that for Steve but that's definitely not a sibling framework with them lol and also Eddie's dead </3 but I can see it happening when Steve and robin move out of hawkins and get involved with the gay scene. or maybe him getting into a line of work that ends up forming these close sibling like relationships. idk lol
idk mostly im fine with Steve being an older brother to dustin and max you know?
alsoooo it's totally fine to talk about urself <333 it helps inform ur head canons!! I mean im the absolute opposite of Steve I have siblings and I grew up so close with my cousins they’re practically also siblings, so hearing the only child side of living Does make a difference you know 
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While it's tempting to assume that the surface level appearances of winston's fantasies (the brutal thoughts he has regarding Julia, which are the most violent and foul) are just twisted projections of orwell's mind, as well as the sex-crazed layer scenes. However, when we hear abt Winston's wife and her 'duty' to the Party it's clear he didn't want or enjoy what they were doing there.
Pleas please go to hereforthelizardsex's post about 1984, it's so good, it's just what im saying but better. Im not gonna talk about the deeper things behind winston's fantasies, but I'll briefly try and defend the 'sex-crazed' scenes.
Winston and Julia's rebellion comes through the sex they share. Because their love is beyond any 'duty to the party', the euphoria of love is infinitely more powerful than the Party as it tries to limit sex to something undertaken only for reproductive purposes. Winston, who was a victim of r/pe when his wife, and by extension, the Party, forced this copulation upon him. Through his lovemaking with Julia, he is free.
Julia's promiscuity is her liberation. In a society that has removed her agency and her sexuality, she finds freedom through her relationship with Winston.
you had a real good set of points, but my brain pokes me until I've defended 1984's handling of julia and winston's fantasies. Remember, a book should never be hated for covering sensitive subject matter. Otherwise the booktok authors will win haha
Good talk!
(You were correct, orwell was unhappily married.)
Okay okay first of all, I totally agree with the BookTok author thing because books these days are getting shittier by the copy and many people have already talked about this with much better words then I can possibly come up with but it’s definitely an issue in the current online reading community
About 1984, I am fully aware that the whole sex crazed part of the plot was their form of rebellion. Had it been well written, it could have been immensely good for the story. But the fact remains that Winston and Julia still hate every single woman for not being like them or agreeing with them. The fact remains that Winston, who works for the Ministry of Truth and knows what happens and what is wrong with the Party, only decides that the Party is bad when he wants to get his dick wet.
The whole storyline with his wife was bizarre, I’ll give you that. Although going as far as saying that he was raped… I’m not sure about that one. Winston likes sex, it was only when he realized his wife only did it to fulfil their duty to the Party that he stopped enjoying it. It’s fucked up for both him and his wife, mostly for him considering that we only get his perspective on this and don’t even know what happened to his wife.
Writing characters that love and enjoy sex and find liberation through it is fine, writing characters that have some weird desires and fantasies is okay if you’re into that kind of stuff. For characters like Winston and Julia, living in a world like this one, sex crazed fantasies can make sense. Mostly, my issue is that Winston wasn’t just fantasising about having sex with a woman he couldn’t have, it was the entire smashing her head in and basically fucking her corps, or whatever remained after that brick smash, that bothered me. The fact that Julia was in love with him all along doesn’t make any sense either. They work in different departments, live in different places and have different social lives (as forced upon the by the Party, I’m very much aware) yet she’s crazy in love with him without ever having said a word to him and only seeing him in passing. I get that sex was their way of rebelling against the system that oppressed them, but I think there could have been a much better way of writing that.
There were many ways they could have rebelled against the Party. The liberation through lovemaking would have been a great asset to the story had it been written better. Julia wasn’t a young woman whose promiscuity liberated her, she was a young woman who was obsessed with man and belittled everyone else in order to gain his favour. Winston wasn’t a man who found freedom by sleeping with Julia, he was a man who rightfully hated the system society had forced him into and he coped with violent fantasies both before and after meeting Julia. Neither of these things make either of these characters likeable or sympathetic in my eyes.
Winston is the product of a messed up world qnd my issue is that, in the end, he is a fictional character in a fictional world who has fictional problems created my a man who could have made slight changes to make the story less misogynistic and more about what it should be about: the consequences of totalitarianism.
This is also why the last part of the book, after his relationship with Julia is found out and they are both arrested by the Thought Police, is the best part of the book. Only then we learn how truly messed up thid society is and how it works. It was amazing snd the obly part of the book I genuinely enjoyed, probably because Julia and their relationship was barely in it. Of course, this part of the book only worked because of their relationship, I’m fully aware, and I honestly think that, had their relationship been better, that part would have elevated the book to a whole other level. There is a way to convey the message Orwell wanted to share in a way that wouldn’t have been as misogynistic. Orwell chose not to do that, most likely because things were different in that time.
In this time, I don’t like this book for all these reasons. I like the critiques it gives on society and I like the way the world is constructed and how all of it works. It is purely Winston and Julia’s relationship that ruined this for me. Had it been better written, I would probably have loved thid book as much as you seem to do.
In the end, 1984 is just a book that you happen to like and I don’t. I get your points, I really do, but they don’t change how uncomfortable this book made me feel. Not because of what it had to say about society, but because of what it said about women.
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life-with-geo · 4 months
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January 8th
Hi, I’m back (almost started with hi guys, then remembered I have no followers lmao). It's been a week since I posted last, and I think I'm going to start posting every Sunday at 9:30 PM, essentially right before I go to bed. To be honest I don't know how long I’m going to be able to keep that schedule up, I might be taking on too much, but hey, we shall see, things change all the time. 
In the week thats passed, not too much has happened. School started back up on the second, unfortunately, and I’m already drained. Ever since my visit to the hospital, everything is so much more draining than before. I hope eventually I’m able to pick myself back up from this burnout, but apparently, the time it takes to recover from burnout is about 3-5 years. I don't have 3-5 years to heal from all this lol. 
We had a project due the day after we came back to my AP Lit class, our personal portfolio. I had a lot of fun writing it over the semester, but I also hated it. It took me through a lot of emotions and lore related to my past. I talked about my mom, my most recent failed relationship, and my failed friendships, all of which made me sad. I also talked about my grandma though, and my wonderful stepmom, so I think overall it kinda works out in a way. I think the worst part was putting the pictures into the binder. Pictures of my biological mom (you'll hear about her eventually) as well as pictures of my grandma. I may have been a little petty and attacked my ex in the portfolio, which is funny considering hes in that class and everyone can read them. I wonder if he will approach me about it, I doubt it, he's kind of a coward. 
On a much more positive note, things have become slightly more serious with this guy I’m talking to. Some might say it is FAR too soon to be talking to another guy fresh out of a relationship, but it’s been over a month now since the last one, and I’m too much of an all-or-nothing person to be hurt by one guy for too long. Or girl. I just struggle with attachment stuff. ANYWAYS. He’s way different than any guy I've ever talked to, and tbh, its refreshing. He's kind and gentle, but also ambitious and driven. It's something I've always wanted in a partner. I really hope it goes somewhere because he is genuinely so amazing lol. 
This week in the mental health section we have…journaling. Now I know a lot of people just say journal to get your feelings out there but people don't actually talk about the psychology behind journaling, the benefits of it, and WHY it helps. I know this is a pretty basic thing to talk about but its my first post with this little section added so bear with me, it's fine. 
There are a lot of different ways to journal and different kinds of journaling, and it really doesn't matter which one you do, it varies on your needs and what you’re trying to prioritize. I personally bullet journal and have another separate journal for my thoughts and feelings. So a lot of people wonder how journaling can actually be beneficial and I did a lil bit of research and fouuuuund… depending on the kind of journaling you do, it can be either just a release of emotions, it can help track symptoms of mental illness (or physical illness if you suffer from medical conditions, you can track if it’s getting worse or not, especially helpful in cases of people with chronic illness, but again, it varies person to person). Journaling can even help to identify negative self-talk that you may do unknowingly, and you can put in the work to change those negative thoughts into something positive. (All of this information is from a study posted by the University of Rochester Medical Center).
So to focus on the benefits of regular (“regular”) journaling, I’m mostly just going to talk about how it can be done and what to recognize in your journal entries (ITS ALWAYS HELPFUL TO GO BACK AND REREAD THEM EVEN IF IT HURTS, you can see how far you've come, and see what’s changed and whats benefited you throughout your writing journey). Journaling can be instrumental in the progression towards certain goals, as it is an internal reflection, slightly different from a diary, which can be defined as writing about the events of a day, and is mostly a daily thing. Journaling doesn't have to be a daily thing, it can be something you do more often when you’re having a rough time, with long entries full of crossed-out words and scribbles, versus the times you’re doing okay and when the entries are shorter and the words are neater. Either way, journaling is very good for self-reflection, helping you identify triggers and other things that may cause you any amount of emotional stress.
I think my favorite kind of journaling is bullet journaling, which I’ve only been doing for a short while but it’s very different from my thoughts and feelings journal. My bullet journal is something I use to keep track of assignments and also my habits, my reading, and things I've watched, I might start using it to track screen time. I also use it to track the story I’ve begun and this blog as well. It’s becoming very helpful when it comes to the planning of my future and the progression of my goals. I personally never found my thoughts and feelings journal to be very helpful when it came to goal progression, but it’s different for everyone.
One of the best parts of a bullet journal is the creative freedom that comes with it, of course, that’s not for everyone, and some people may simply choose a more minimalistic setup, or they may just not bullet journal at all, but that’s seriously one of the most therapeutic parts. Its a very chill process, I personally stole my setup from a YouTuber who I like, so it’s not my own creativity, but thats something Id like to do someday. 
Anyway, that wraps up this week's post, we shall see how this does, I might mess around with the length of posts, as this one got pretty long. See you next Sunday :)
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niennandil-me-writes · 11 months
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Fragments of a Cybernetic Mind: Chapter 9 - Daddy Issues
Summary Half a year has passed since the events of Christmas of 2064. The world is slowly adjusting to sentient ROMs. But Turing is distracted from their task as ROM-kind’s leader and ambassador by another obligation they carry. They want to deliver Leon Dekker’s last words to his daughter. But first, they’ll have to find her, which doesn’t prove easy. They ask their journalist friend for help, who seems less than thrilled.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 10 (final) Epilogue
cn: family problems, bigotry
Turing spends the next weeks combing through the memory data, but without any success. Any leads they find just terminate in dead ends as the data becomes eaten up by glitches, corruptions or the memories just cut off at the wrong point. What they do find in new information - mostly more insight on Sarah - doesn’t lead anywhere substantive either, not even when they cross-reference the mesh.
I asked Lexi to keep her eyes and ears open, since she is meddling with extra-legal activity as part of her job. She finds some people claiming to have contact to military androids who are willing to do dirty deeds for the right pay, but it all seems very dubious. The same results from Crow’s side.
I continue searching the mesh for mentions of Dekker and other combat androids, reading my way through accounts of violent crimes attributed to them. For some reason, it doesn’t trigger my trauma as much as even the happiest of Dekker’s memories did. 
None of this gives us any information on Dekker’s family. It’s like his entire existence has been scrubbed of the mesh, and the world at large, which seems a particularly cruel fate for him. If it weren’t for my own pride, I would consider talking to Flores again.
At least my writing is going well. My editor has been sending me notes the last weeks, and together we give the text the last polish. I’m particularly proud of the chapter describing the events in Parallax’ server room, though I still have to think of a good pseudonym for Dekker. While most of what Flores said left me bitter, I do agree with her that his full name doesn’t need to be known, especially now that we might involve his daughter. So far all I got is his name with some letters shuffled around.
It's one of the last days of summer, though the heat is not any less intense for it, burning down on the market street and making the air flimmer. That’s Neo San Francisco for you. Turing, Lexi and I fled inside the Hassy bar, where we ordered some of Ramona’s newest creations: the Iced Hassy Hot Cup.
We are surprised to see Chad and Oli here as well, who are enjoying one of the last days of their summer break before it’s back to school. Oli is having a deep conversation with Ramona about a new VR drama, while Chad leans cooly against the counter and pretends he doesn’t care, though he keeps chiming in with opinions on one particular character he seems to identify with a lot.
“Hey, no loitering!” Lexi calls over to him as a joke.
“What?” Chad yells. “What are you, a cop?”
“Chad...” Oli puts a hand on his arm. “That’s the lady who arrested us for spraying graffiti in November.”
Chad flinches back.
“Relax, I haven’t worn the badge for months now,” Lexi says, leaning back against the cushioned seat with her Hassy.
“Oh, yeah,” Chad says. “So you can’t do nuthin’ to us. We could trash the whole place, and you couldn’t stop us!” He climbs on the nearest empty table, garnering looks.
“I could,” Ramona interjects. “And I will.”
“Chad, please don’t get us banned from this place,” Oli pleads. “I like it here. And I like Ramona.”
“Fine, I’ll not trash this place,” Chad gives in. “But not because I’m scared or anything. I just like hanging out here. You don’t piss where you drink.”
“Especially because after this performance, I’m not letting you use the restroom,” Ramona says.
“Come off that table, Starfucker, and sit with us,” I call up to the boy.
“Hey, you called me it.” Chad grins and jumps off the table that starts dangerously teetering. “Oli, you haven’t called me it in ages.”
“Do you sign like that on your college applications as well?” Oli asks as he walks over to our table, rolling his eyes.
“For the art schools, yes.”
“Wait, I thought your dad was against art school?” Oli says.
“Yeah, he wants me to go to law school, so I can do the HR’s work in court,” Chad explains. “Which sounds boring as fuck.”
“I’d love to see you face off against Jess,” I say. “That would end in a cat fight.”
“The only way you should ever be in court is as a defendant,” Lexi notes.
“I’m sending out applications to art schools anyway,” Chad says. “And even if Dad won’t support me, I know Mom’s got my back.”
“Wait, I thought you weren’t in contact anymore?” Oli asks. “After the whole, uh, gene splicing thing?”
Chad looks embarrassed. “She, erm, actually reached out to me last month. So we met up. Kept it secret from Dad, he wouldn’t understand.”
Oli’s face lights up with a wide smile. “Chad, that’s amazing!”
“No big deal. We just talked,” he scoffs. “Caught up a bit. I was never really into the HR stuff anyways.”
“That’s sweet,” Ramona says. “I can’t believe your father would separate a family over some bigoted ideas about purity. That’s straight up evil.”
“I am very happy for you, Starfucker,” Turing says.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re all happy for me.” Chad blushes, brushing his hand over his face in a way that makes it look like he’s trying to punch the tears out of his eyes. “Anyways, we talked a bit about my plans for the future. And Mom said she supports my decisions, and that she’d pay for art school. Said that’s what parents are for, after all.”
There’s a loud crashing sound as this time, a table does fall over, drinks flying through the air and to the floor. Oli has to dodge out of the way.
“Damn it, I just cleaned there!” Ramona cries out. “And it’s my shift as well! The ROM’s on break.”
“We are so sorry,” Turing says. “We will help you clean up.”
“Hey, is everything okay?” Lexi asks me.
I’m staring ahead, my mind racing. Then I turn to Lexi: “Can you get us access to Fairlight’s finance accounts?”
“What?” She looks at me in confusion. “Did your drink have too much caffeine?”
“Did you figure out a way to track Fairlight?” Turing wants to know, their face a question mark.
“But some of the brightest minds in the country already looked through everything he left behind,” Lexi explains. “And they didn’t find anything. TOMCAT included. Besides, the accounts are all frozen.”
“They weren’t looking for this,” I say. “And it’s not Fairlight I am trying to find. So can you give me access or do I have to ask TOMCAT?”
“I can try to call in a few favors,” Lexi says, still confused.
“What did you find out?” Turing asks.
“It’s what Chad said,” I explain. “A good parent secures their child’s future, even if they might not be able to be there for them.”
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goron-king-darunia · 1 year
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Problem...
Annon-Guy: I had to use Submission to say and ask something important.
Apparently, I NEED a tumblr account to ask anonymously from now on and that's stupid!
I'm also not sure about a tumblr page, but are there benefits to having a Page. It would destroy my anonymous persona and I'm don't wish to run into problematic people despite having a YouTube and Fanfic.Net account
GKD here! That does seem weird. Maybe it’s to cut down on anonymous hate messages?
I enjoy having my blog and my page, personally. But I have been here for 10+ years. Honestly, I’ve never had trouble with people being mean to me or running into “problematic people.” Honestly, any time there’s a confrontation, I’m usually the one being the asshole/ unnecessarily aggressive.
Honestly, especially if you intend to lurk/not post original content often, Tumblr is pretty chill. For me at least. I got, like, exactly one piece of legitimate anon-hate thrown at me exactly one time. I’ve talked with people on Tumblr who have the exact opposite political opinions to me and not had explosive dragging drama fights about it.
Granted. Most of the stuff I do on Tumblr is gush about Legend of Zelda, DotNW, a few other fandoms, and then repost a bajillion memes. But I’m pretty openly political with what I reblog, and fairly opinionated. Though most of my opinions are about a game that most of the USA fandom HATED. So my bubble here is pretty niche. But, like. Most of the people in my immediate circle are excellent people and all the people in their circles have so far been delightful. I can honestly only think about exactly one time that someone random searched up a post of mine to get irrationally angry at. And yes I drafted several pages of clap back and then just... the fire of anger fizzled and I never posted it because their irrational hatred just wasn’t worth my time.
I can’t promise you a drama-free experience on here. But I’ve got this blog and a side blog where I mostly talk about my writing or my experiences with video games. And neither of my blogs are lightning rods for anyone’s ire. Hell, when I started this blog, my about section on my page was basically giving people ammo to harass me with. Unless your blog becomes massively popular, I think you’re going to be fine. And if assholes do come knocking for whatever reason? We have the handy little block feature.
That said, you don’t really have to provide any IRL info when you make a blog here. My real name isn’t associated with either of my accounts. You could theoretically just whip up an account with the handle “ThatOneAnnonDude” or something generic, set up your blog title to be “I’m just here to talk games and read memes, and I’m all out of memes.” and just... post absolutely nothing or absolutely anything. And I think you’d generally be okay. I dunno if I’m just lucky, but my experience with Drama™ on Tumblr has mostly been as a spectator. At arm’s length. More like looking over to the mountains on the horizon with binoculars and seeing some smoke rising and thinking to myself “Glad that’s not me, wow.” and continuing with my day.
Personally, I like being able to curate my blog. Gather up a bunch of things that I like and categorize them with tags so I have my own little scrapbook of goodies I can look at (I literally have a tag that’s just “#for the sad times” so if I feel sad I can just pull up that tag on my blog and find all sorts of cute puppy and kitten videos or recipes, or nature photos, or whatever I saw that made me smile once so that I can feel better again. It’s nice.) It’s nifty to be able to tag a bunch of things so that if I want art inspo or a nice reference photo or a knitting project I want to emulate, or whatever, I can just search it up on my own blog and find a bunch of stuff I liked before. It’s nice to be able to search through my Richter tag and see pictures of him that other people drew or re-read some of my own opinions (all the while nodding along like “Yas, I agree so much!” while fully knowing that’s my own damn post. XD) It’s fun to follow a bunch of cool people and get introduced to stuff through osmosis. (I have, like, one person I followed on here for their exquisite taste in ramen art and I am learning so much about the “The Last of Us” HBO show. I have another friend who I followed for DotNW stuff and it turns out they’re just mostly into birds, and it turns out I enjoy learning about birds.)
Honestly it does suck that Tumblr is removing a feature that makes it easier to communicate with me. But Tumblr has been an enjoyable experience to me. I’m just a young whippersnapper practicing for the granny years, sitting on my metaphorical porch with a glass of metaphorical wine, sipping and scrolling through memes, knitting a hat for one of my buds, deciding on a new recipe to make for dinner, listening to goth icons talk about Tumblr culture or a politics video or a Archie Sonic Comics deep dive, procrastinating on my novel. I’m just vibing. I’m having a good time. And occasionally new people with DotNW icons will start following me like I’m a mother duck and I’m like “yes, good, even if we ship different ships, you have impeccable tastes. Welcome to the DotNW table, here are 900 memes, the rare fanfic, and occasionally some opinions. Also here are a billion other memes about irrelevant things, enjoy your stay.”
I’m like an old man at the swap meet. I’m sitting here with a table full of bootleg Yugioh cards (memes), Random DVDs (gifsets of things I like), old classic literature (the really good memes that get passed around a lot) and Slim Jims (opinions, curated art, and idea prompts about specific characters and games.)
It’s fine if you’re shy or prefer not to have a Tumblr for any other reason and I understand if we might have to communicate only through submissions from now on. But honestly, Tumblr is a pretty chill place to be as long as you don’t go picking fights on purpose and block anyone that makes you even remotely unhappy. It takes a little getting used to, since Tumblr as a site has its own sort of culture. But hey! Tumblr also has resident meme historians.
youtube
If you want to give Tumblr a try, I think it’s worth a shot. My only gripe is that I get major FOMO, so I compulsively scroll Tumblr every day and then overwhelm myself by drafting an infinite number of posts that look neat but I want to read and tag properly before posting and WHOOPS now I have 300,000 drafts to comb through instead of just deleting them all because “what if there was something good in there that I’ll miss?”
But if you have even an ounce of self control and don’t have to compulsively read or reblog everything, then congrats! Tumblr’s probably worth a shot.
It’s also worth noting that I’m a massive mother hen, so I will keep you nice and cozy and tucked under my wing and if anyone gives you a bad time I will peck the shit out of them for you.
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korasonata · 3 years
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I think this is just what my blog is now. Model streams have taken over. Sorry, not sorry. Favourite moments of Joe and Cleo paper model streams part 5! (Featuring a heavily sleep deprived Joe)
Cleo (talking to her cat): Ok. You have had attention. Are you— are you going to go? *pausing* This is the sort of thing I ask Joe. Umm… *laughing*
Joe: Constantly!
Cleo: *laughing* You’ve had your attention, can you go now?
Joe: Can you just not be here. *both laughing*
Cleo: Yeah, I have to start gluing things to other things. Badly. And, uh, realizing where I’ve messed up. Which is EVERYWHERE!
Joe: Uh oh.
Cleo (totally not fine): Its fine. It’s fine. I’m fin— how are you Joe?
Joe: It makes about as much sense as anything else I do? So…
Cleo: I mean yeah. I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it cause I’m not rude. But, you know.
*both laughing*
Joe: Now you’re just lying to me!
Cleo: *laughing* WOW!! Joe!! My heart is just hurting! Now.
Joe: Mhm.
Cleo: You can tell can’t you, I’m deeply— intensely wounded by that statement that you just made.
Joe: I was gonna say, we’re gonna have to call whatever the British version of an ambulance is.
Cleo: Um, I think— and I could be wrong here, the British equivalent of an ambulance is…an ambulance.
Joe: oh, ok that’s really good to know. Cause like, not that I’m planning on getting injured while I’m over there, but like—
Cleo: I mean, if you carry on talking that way you might.
Joe: I mean if I meet you, then there’s a chance that somethings gonna get shoved in my eye or something.
Cleo: Somethings gonna get taken off.
Joe: I mean, they say it’s the shotty carpenter that blames his poor tools, but I mean look at this.
Cleo (about her bisexual tags on twitch): Hold on, hold on, I need to explain what “visibility” means to bisexuals. Bisexuals are often— um, hidden in the community. They are often, um, not treated as either part of the gay community and the straight community doesn’t really appreciate them either. So, having visibility for bisexuals is very important. As it is for any other place. Also having those tags on your stream show that you are a safe place for those people to go. So, you know, actually labeling those things is important because it shows people that they are not alone. And not being alone? Really important. (To Joe) Sorry, am getting frustrated.
Joe: As somebody who’s been alone for the last year and a half with this stupid isolation, uh, yeah.
Cleo: Yeah! Being alone and not feeling alone is really important.
Joe: If you need to be explained at this point in the pandemic why feeling alone is not good, like I don’t know what to say.
Cleo (reading chat): What’s my favourite minecraft mob? Do people have favourite minecraft mobs?
Joe (very tired): Just say whichever mod’s here. Who’s got a sword *scrolling through Cleo’s chat* umm… yeah it’s AnnaBomBanana. Is everyone’s favourite minecraft mod.
Cleo: …moB.
Joe: …MOB! OH!
Cleo: *continuous laughing*
Joe: This is gonna go off of the rails further and further. There’s no— there’s no rails anymore! It’s just, somebody has scrawled “here there be dragons” on the ground.
Cleo: I mean, isn’t that pretty much how you live your life anyway?
Joe (high pitched squealing): It kind of is. *laughing continues*
Cleo: You know. Here there be dragons— Sometimes it’s not dragons. Sometimes you might be lucky.
Joe: So, like, one thing you can do is after this project you can build tiny dollhouses. And create like a bedroom for each of your tools. And so the knife can just be in the knife room. In the dollhouse. And it can have a knife day.
SILENCE
Cleo: Umm…I’m gonna pretend like what you said made sense.
Cleo: I could have said something really nasty then, but I’m not going to. See? I’m growing as a person Joe.
Joe: You know what? Hold on, we’re gonna— we’re gonna— at the point where NJ is concerned about my caffeine intake, I’m gonna go get a red bull and I’m gonna take my headphones off before anybody can tell me otherwise, byeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Be right back!!!! *leaves*
Cleo (calling after him): Well done Joe! I believe in you! *narrating* She did not in fact believe in Joe, and was very concerned.
Cleo: I know when there’s a bad idea. It’s when Joe has made it. Joe has suggested it, that’s— that’s when you know it’s bad.
Joe: I know that there are ways to have computers automatically send invites, but that’s a good way, like, I know there’s a saying like, to error is human, but to screw up like a hundred thousand things all at once—
Cleo: That’s the Joe Hills Difference.
Cleo: Ugh, I feel like poop today.
Joe (genuine): I’m sorry.
Cleo (tiredly): No, that’s ok…(groggy) I’ll torment you…later…it’ll make me feel better…
Joe (equally as tired): Yay!
Joe (about Cleo and Xisuma): But Cleo, you’re the responsible adult in this scenario, so yeah you probably should have some answers.
Cleo: X is almost as old as I am.
SILENCE
Joe: …it’s a maturity gap?
Cleo: *laughing* Is that why I’m here with you?
Joe: …no.
Cleo: *laughing*
Joe: I say very confidently.
Joe (teacher voice): Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles—
Cleo: *flipping him off*
Joe (blissfully unaware): Now classical physics! The collection of theories that existed before the advent of quantum mechanics—
Cleo: *trying to ignore him*
Joe (carrying on): Quantum mechanics differs from classical physics in that energy, momentum, angular momentum, and other quantities of a bound system are restricted to discreet values—
Cleo: *fingers drumming impatiently*
Joe (still going): Now! Quantum mechanics arose gradually from theories to explain observations which could not be reconciled with classical physics—
Cleo: *physically going through all 5 stages of grief*
Joe: (insert continuously long string of rambling science here)
Cleo: *mutes Joe*
Cleo (responding to her partner in chat): You have the movie poster for Dora the Explorer? Cam, I’m suddenly questioning our relationship now.
Joe: Uh oh.
Cleo: *laughing*
Joe: Yeah, I knew I was gonna get blamed for that eventually.
Cleo (frustrated): I’m gonna kill someone. And since the person who made and designed this castle isn’t here…(trailing off) Hi Joe.
Joe (accepted his fate): Hello.
Joe: Have you ever officiated a wedding?
Cleo: No I haven’t. Why, do you want me to?
Joe: Oh! Oh! I found my cross stitch the other day!
Cleo: Oh cool!
Joe: *rummaging in the background* Yeah, so, I don’t know if you’ve seen this before—
Cleo (excitedly): ShowMeShowMeShowMeShowMe!!!
Joe (reading chat): Am I excited for Minecraft Live? Umm…
SILENCE
Joe: You know, so much of life is minecraft, but you know, maybe this is just a step too far. You know? Um, I think Mojang asked if they could and never stopped to ask if they should. Um, you know, I think their decision in particular to clone dinosaurs at the event as part of their Jurrassic Park, uh, map thing that they put out— which, also, it’s not even like the Jurrassic Park movies are really for kids, but here’s— here’s Minecraft with Jurrassic Park in it, and also we’re gonna clone a bunch of dinosaurs for this livestream, it’s like *groaning*. I dunno. I’m dubious. I think it’s gonna backfire. Ya know, there’s like 4 cautionary films about why you don’t clone dinosaurs. And they’re just jumping in feet first. So…but, you know, I’d like to be wrong about this. Maybe it’ll go great.
Cleo: …are you having a moment Joe?
Cleo (reading chat): “when the arts and crafts streams become Cleo with a scream mask” I am not X. I am not X, I promise you I’m not X. I just don’t have a face.
Joe: Heh
Cleo: And if I was— hang on I’ll be back in a second.
Joe: …wait, did you just realize that you do have a scream mask?
Cleo: No, I have a better mask. *leaves*
SILENCE
Joe: *watching Cleo’s stream intensely*
Cleo: Are we seriously doing guillotine jokes right now? I’m not saying I disapprove, but
Joe: yeah, we say “Giatine”
Cleo: That’s ok, you can be wrong.
Joe: …It’s a french word.
Cleo: And? You’re allowed to be wrong.
Joe: …*deep sigh*
Joe: It’s funny too. Because people will tell me that I don’t seem like a very— like, mostly my coworkers. Like, would tell me that I didn’t seem like a particularly emotional person.
Cleo: *bursts out laughing*
Joe: Yeah, I feel like I didn’t make a lot of…visible progress today…but…it’s fine…
Cleo: I made progress for both of us Joe.
Joe (tiredly): Thank you Cleo… (resting head against the ring light)
SILENCE
Cleo (tenderly): …You’re welcome.
245 notes · View notes
lazyliars · 3 years
Text
/rp
Before I get into it, I want to state that is EXPLICITLY an analysis of the Characters, and is not intended to touch on how the cc’s played them in a meta sense unless specifically stated otherwise.
Also, this is technically a part two to my other post, which took a more in depth look at Techno and Phil’s reactions to Tommy’s death. It’s not necessary when reading this post, but I don’t address their reactions here.
So. The question must be asked.
Are we [the Syndicate] the baddies?
Yes.
The End.
 Why are the Syndicate the baddies?
They got damn logo is a wither skull.
The End.
That's not how this works.
Yeah, yeah. You’re right.
The Syndicate's goals as an organization are not inherently bad. They seem to have good intentions behind them, and the focus on the freedom of it's individual group members is important to remember when talking about it; It is not a government. There is no hierarchical power system. No one is forced to do anything against their will, or surrender any of their rights or power to remain a member. It is not a government.
I also want to address Techno and Phil backing Ranboo into a corner – I see them getting a lot of flack for this, but I personally do not think it is relevant to the greater discussion, or necessarily representative of any contradictions within the organization. It was clearly played for laughs, and after they back off they clarify to Ranboo that they won't force him. Then later when Phil and Ranboo are alone, Ranboo feels safe enough to express that he felt like he was pressured into it, and Phil assures him he is allowed to leave whenever he wants; He is not being forced to do anything, and he is not being coerced or blackmailed.
None of the Syndicate members have done any wrongs against each other in the context of the Syndicate, OR gone against any of the Syndicate's core principles.
That, said, holy shit are they the baddies.
Listen, there's trying to telegraph a meaning or message to the audience and then there's having your logo be wither skulls on blackstone. That is straight out of the skit I keep referencing, seriously.
Okay, but, they laughed at it! It was played as a joke, just like the Ranboo thing!
The Ranboo thing was improv, the Syndicate's headquarters were planned – the artistic choices that they made reflect on what role they want the build and the organization inhabiting it to play in the future storylines.
Wither Skulls kind of have some CONNOTATIONS. Techno is an English major, I don't think he chose the most threatening imagery possible on accident, and then joked about the way people would interpret it just to stir the pot. This reads as hugely intentional.
And beyond that, the jokes they make during this part aren't “haha yeah, we look bad but we're actually good!” they're “you can tell by looking at these that we're the good guys wink wink, this is good guy stuff right here :)” It is a joke about how they are definitely not the good guys. This isn't even a case of unreliable narrators, this is one step down from flat out saying the meta intent.
But okay, I hear you, I'm talking about things that haven't happened yet. The Syndicate hasn't used any Withers, they could be an aesthetic choice.  Lets look at what they do in practice.
So, they barge into private property, assess Snowchester's right to continue existing based entirely on their own ideals of what Freedom is, and then only once Tubbo assures them that they have no standing leader do they grant the place their approval to, and I gotta stress this part, continue existing.
 In my Quackity meta, I already talked about how Government in the context of a M1necraft RP cannot be compared to IRL Governments on a one-to-one scale. They don't serve the same purposes or have the same type of power. What I didn't talk about was Agency in the context of m1necraft governments.
In an irl government, if you are born into one, you can't really leave without committing a massive overhaul on your life, which can be expensive and difficult, if not impossible for many people. Even in a “benevolent” government, the simple physicality of where you were born can prevent you from leaving it easily.
The same hurdles do not exist in the Dream SMP. People who join M1necraft governments choose to. They want to, either at the beginning when they form one, or later on when they join up. So far, no Government has just Sprung Up and forced the current residents of an area to become dependent on them, except maybe the Eggpire, who's status as a government is... shakey.
And even when people want to leave or separate from the government, they have been historically able to do so without any trouble or any effort from said governments to stop them. Jack Manifold emancipated from Manberg. Fundy and Quackity both left to start new nations. In all cases they were allowed to do so without any attempts on the part of the governments to stop them, either through force, or institutions preventing them from doing so.
The most anyone has lost when leaving a government is their house, which is still usually their property anyway, and is something that is easily rebuilt elsewhere and is inconvenient to move anyway.
The only exceptions to this might be Schlatt exiling Wilbur and Tommy - but even then, they weren’t trying to leave, they were trying to get back in, and of course the original L’manberg revolution, where Dream attempted to force L’manberg back into the Dream SMP, which wasn’t even a government at that point in time.
I don’t consider Phil’s house arrest an example of a government forcing someone to stay a citizen - that was treated less as a matter of a citizen wanting to leave the country and more as a threat to national security. Still pretty fucked up, but it’s a different issue.
What I'm saying is, If Tubbo wants to create a government out in the middle of nowhere, threatening no one, forcing no one to join either through force or desperation, and allowing people to join willingly because they want to, then he should be allowed to do that.
The Irony of the Syndicate, a group of people consisting of some of the richest, strongest people on the server, going around and enforcing 'Freedom' that entails no one person having more power than any other, is absurd. 
It shows an extreme lack of self-awareness and/or self-righteousness, as they seem to think that they deserve to be the ones who decide what constitutes a government.
Snowchester is a small independent nation - they shouldn’t have to live in fear of being obliterated if they don’t walk on eggshells to meet an arbitrary standard decided by people who’s only authority on the matter COMES FROM THEIR PERSONAL POWER. No one elected them! No one chose them! They were not “approved” by the server at large to enact this kind of law.
The Syndicate are not a government, but they are an unsupervised power structure exerting their ideals on a land that did not ask for them. Like, These people have invented an actual Authoritarian-Anarchist faction. How the hell did they manage this?????
Back on topic.
Tubbo shows them the crater left by his nukes. The reaction is oddly positive – the nukes are fine by the morals of the Syndicate, apparently. I'd argue that they come across as more impressed than anything else; they seem to respect Tubbo for having gotten ahold of “real” power.
(There's a few good memes out there about “We can excuse nuclear weaponry, but we draw the line at Government!”)
So. By the Syndicate's standards: A single person or group of acceptably equal persons with weapons of mass-destruction are only worth “keeping an eye on” because they might provoke other people.
Like, I consider Project Dreamcatcher to be one of, if not the most morally ambiguous thing Tubbo has ever done, largely because it was all on his own initiative. He holds some culpability for The Butcher Army and Phil's house arrest, but they weren't his ideas and he was mostly following Quackity at that point.
And Phil tells Tubbo, IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEING THE NUCLEAR CRATER:
“Looks like you've reformed a little bit Tubbo, I'm proud.”
And it's fine. Crimes against nature? Fine. A sign of healing in fact!! Tubbo is having a sweeeelll time and he definitely didn't make these nukes specifically in fear of being attacked by these exact people! Tubbo is doing great. Tubbo is doing fine. Tubbo. is. FINE.
Anyway.
I don't think this presentation of the Syndicate was an accident. Looking at the greater lore of SMP right now, after the Egg is done, their list of enemies is slim, and considering that they seem solely invested in taking down governments, that leaves maybe Snowchester, Kinoko Kingdom, and Eret and the greater Dream SMP.
Snowchester has not been shown to be corrupt, evil, or have any intent to go down that route. The most ambiguous thing they've done is, again, is the nukes. Other than that, it's pretty much your average cottagecore snow village.
Kinoko is presented in an even more morally 'good' light, Karl having founded it specifically for his Time-travel library purposes, which are currently being treated by the narrative as a selfless act, if not downright heroic.
Eret is also a fairly 'good' aligned character atm. He's been on that redemption grind since the og betrayal, and doesn't seem keen on backtracking. He's actively tried to leverage his position as king to make things better, and hasn't been quiet about that. He was also 'validated' by Tommy*, a character who has been described both by his allies and enemies as “the hero,” so take that as you will.
What I'm getting at is, all of the current potential enemies for the Syndicate aside from the Egg, are currently being cast as 'good,' and if they were to be attacked, they would undoubtedly have the moral high-ground, unless something drastically changed.
The only potential shakeups I can think of is are a Dream escape and/or a Wilbur revival, both of which could draw the Syndicate's attention and ire, depending on how things go. That said, it's just as likely that either or both of them would join the Syndicate – Dream still has that favor, and Phil and Techno both seemed to think Wilbur would've agreed with their blowing up L'manberg.
Both of those characters are currently **villains – the fact that they're both prime candidates for the Syndicate is a huge indication of the direction it's going to go as the plot moves forward.
((*I know some people are gonna come at me for painting Tommy as the “deciding factor” of what is morally good, so lemme just stop you there. I'm not talking about Tommy somehow having the 'right' to decide who is and isn't good, and definitely not the right to decide who should and shouldn't be king. I'm saying that Tommy, a character who the narrative treats as, if not a good person, then a person who is trying to be good, was in support of Eret, a character who has also been trying to be good.
Eret doesn't gain the moral highground because Tommy said so, he gets it because a character who the narrative treats as trying to do better, acknowledged Eret's earnest attempts at doing the same.
**I'm referring to Wilbur here as a villain because Tommy seemed convinced he would be if he were to be brought back. There is always the possibility that he's wrong.))
So, to summarize this: I read the Syndicate as being intentionally positioned as future antagonists, if not outright villains of a future arc. They are NOT a Government but their goals are contradictory with their means, and it is important to keep in mind that they plan to enforce their own brand of freedom on people who did not grant them either the authority or permission to do so.
So, uh. Can you tell I loved these streams? They were seriously so good. I kept switching between Ranboo and Techno's POV's trying to keep up with everything. I still have to watch Niki's!
All in all, I'm super, super excited for whats coming next, egg stuff, Syndicate stuff, Tommy stuff, all of it.
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wonlouvre · 3 years
Note
Yayyy i absolutely love your writing!!
I would like to request a Hoshi × gn!idol! Reader angst+fluff imagine where Soonyoung cheers/takes care of his reserved s/o who has been having a hard time and has opened up to him about it for the first time. S/o is someone who can't say no easily and because of that their workload had increased a lot. But in the end they can't hold themselves any longer and breaks down.
strength | k. sy.
pairing: hoshi x gn!idol reader genre: fluff, angst, then fluff again warnings: mentions of anxiety, physical and mental tiredness (please tell me if i missed anything!) word count: 1.8k+ (i honestly don’t even know anymore)
💌: thank you very much for requesting! i made some tweaks here and there and i hope you still like it! thank you for loving my writing as well :’( it really means a lot that <3 i hope you like this!
Soonyoung was aware that you’d be coming from Japan for your collaborative magazine photoshoot. He just didn’t know that you’d be going straight from the airport at four o’clock in the morning. 
He thought he read your message wrong saying that you’re on your way to the assigned shooting location. As far as he’s concerned, the call time was at seven a.m. He had to do a double take while squinting his eyes over the brightness of his phone but when he saw another bubble pop out saying you’re already there, he immediately jumped off his bed to shower. 
He misses you. You’ve been going in and out of the country because of promotions and the chances of getting to see you has been slim to none. If he ever meets with you, it will be short because either one of you has to go back to work or has to go back to bed because there is a flight to catch the next day. It’s obviously tough. But your relationship perseveres. 
Soonyoung will do everything to make it work and you are together with him on that. So if it means he has to shower half-asleep and wear his boxers backwards just to see you, he’d never mind.
Your Japanese album tour started and ended successfully but work didn’t stop from there. You were just getting started. Before leaving the said country, you were fully booked for live television performances, interviews, variety shows and the like. It was exhausting but, it was an opportunity that you couldn’t miss out on for the world even if you wanted to. 
Soonyoung is proud of you and he will always be. Heart eyes were formed whenever he got the chance to watch your performances whether it be from a paid livestream event or from kind fans sharing and uploading their videos or photos on Twitter or Instagram. He’s even more in love when it’s in person and he gets to watch your performance plus enjoy it with your never failing supportive fans. 
However, Soonyoung is also worried because he knows you’re also tired. He knows how fulfilling it is to do what you love the most, but he’s no stranger to the physically and mentally tiring part of it. He wasn’t even surprised to catch you asleep on the couch when he arrived at your dressing room. 
Your manager’s eyes brightened when they saw him, quickly standing up from the chair to give him a hug. 
“They told me they just need a fifteen minute nap,” they whisper against Soonyoung’s shoulder as he hugs them back. “But we both know they need more than that.”
Soonyoung sadly smiles while his eyes never leave your curled form. He mutters a simple “I’ll take it from here” while your manager excuses themself to buy everyone breakfast. 
It’s a challenge to take you into his arms without disturbing your sleep because he doesn’t want that from happening. He just wants to hold you for the remaining time without interruption from other people. He just wants to hold you and share this moment of calm before the lights and camera get into action later. 
Soonyoung’s thankful you didn't, although he still felt your lips lightly ghost against his jaw, telling him that you know that he’s here. He brings your legs over his lap while he cradles your head close to his neck. He wishes to lay down, but the couch is too cramped for two bodies so he’d have to settle with this position. He guesses it’s fine with how you deeply inhale his scent and snuggle closer and closer, locking your arms around his waist with no intentions of letting go. 
Just like you, he falls asleep, completely comfortable and content in finally having you in his arms again. 
Your tangled bodies were shaken to wake up at least an hour later. Both of your managers have food in their hand, ready to energize the two of you up before moving forward with the hair and makeup. The agenda for today includes a photoshoot with several changes of outfit, a short shoot for an audio video presentation and lastly an interview or question and answer of some sort. 
Your relationship has been publicly known for two years already. Some fans have been supportive while some have been angry. It’s nothing new and it’s nothing the two of you could care about at this point. 
Countless projects have been offered to the two of you during the course of those two years whether it be a song or dance performance, a guesting on a famous variety show and even a three second cameo appearance on a drama. They’re all lovely offers and you would love to participate, but the two of you made a decision to keep the relationship private. Sure, you’ll accept it from time to time. But, it’s still very limited to one to two songs to sing or dance to together and some magazine photoshoots. Just like now. 
By far, this is the third time the two of you would be featured on a magazine cover. Your respective publicists already know how to communicate to the publishing company your terms and conditions. Questions about your relationship are allowed, but to a certain number only. The rest will be about what’s mostly seen by fans and the rest of the public which is automatically your music. 
The concept is not necessarily daringly romantic. After all, what you’re trying to promote here is the clothes. But your chemistry is maintained with a few fleeting touches here and there. In one shot, you two were holding hands and the other has his arm is loosely wrapped around your neck. 
You and Soonyoung are careful to not get lost in each other’s eyes during the short breaks in between because the cameras were still rolling. Although, his soft touches on your hand and arm still lingered. On the other hand, you help him fix his hair whenever he gets excited and jumps from time to time. You could kiss him right now, but again, you want to be careful. 
The shoot concluded faster than you thought and the next thing you know, the two of you are sitting side by side with a camera blinking red in front, ready to record the interview included in the contract. 
The interview consisted of questions that’s nothing out of the ordinary. The magazine asked about your favorite go-to styles lately, your look inspirations, a little bit of this or that, your recent music releases or favorite music releases at the moment and of course something about your relationship that you're comfortable and willing enough to share. 
But one particular question caught you off guard that you had to hold your tears and brave through the rest of the interview without showing any signs that you’re about to cry.
“How have you guys been lately, individually?”
“I’ve been great,” you quickly answer with a smile that didn’t even reach your eyes. The camera may not have noticed, but Soonyoung did. It took a lot of patience and restraint for your boyfriend to stop himself from cutting the interviewer off to ask you again how you really have been. 
Everything that was in store for the two of you today ends and when the cameras are gone, you and Soonyoung hand in hand walk back to your dressing room. It’s a relief that this is the last project for the day and you’re glad you could get some rest for the coming week.
Your body slumps on the couch while the staff pack up. You puff out a breath before closing your eyes. You wish you could yell out how tired you are lately. Work piled up over the course of six months and you couldn’t have at least two days away from the makeup and flashing lights. 
Soonyoung bites his lower lip as he settles beside you. He’s contemplating whether he should ask you now or later because he doesn’t want you to grow conscious and shut yourself away. He knows how brave and strong you are. But he also wants you to know that you can trust him and that if you ever need a shoulder to cry or at least lean on, his are more than welcoming. 
“You okay, babe?” He asks in the quiet as the staff leaves one by one. “Anything bothering you?”
You surprise him by sitting up straight and opening your eyes, welling with tears. That makes him shoot up and instantly hug you close. “Oh baby.”
You finally cry and set free the tears that you’ve been locking deep within you. You thought you could brave through this pain and anxiety without having the need to shed any vulnerability. You thought this shall pass soon. You thought you could do this. 
But here you are now letting go with sniffles and shaking shoulders as Soonyoung gently caresses the top of your head. 
He hates to see you cry. But it’s only right to let you. 
“I just feel like I’m going to miss out on everything if I turn down any project offered to me.”
Soonyoung pouts when he hears what’s been bothering you. It took a while for you to calm down and finally talk, but it’s okay. He doesn’t mind. He will never mind. 
“I understand, honey,” he assures you and wipes your tear stained cheek. “And there’s nothing wrong with feeling that way.”
Your lips shake again and crying makes you want to hide. Without hesitation, you crawl to your boyfriend’s lap and wrap your arms around his shoulder. Soonyoung doesn’t complain and just keeps you close, protective arms around your waist.
The dressing room is empty except for the two of you. The staff got the message once Soonyoung pleaded with them through his eyes to give you some time with him since you’re already done for the day.
“It’s also okay to work and work,” he continues, soothing hands rubbing against your back. “But at some point, it’s also okay to take a break for them.”
You pull away and rest your hands on his neck. “Even though I’m going to miss out?”
Soonyoung nods and leans his forehead against yours. “Yes and there’s also nothing wrong with that.”
“I seriously want to go on a trip with my family,” you say and sigh. “And of course, with you too.”
Soonyoung can’t help but giggle. “I’d love to. How about next month? Let’s go somewhere with your family or friends. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?”
Your boyfriend’s enthusiasm puts a smile on your face and this time, the smile reaches your eyes. “Let’s go somewhere quiet first. I want to take a long nap before we proceed to do anything that needs an awake body.”
“You got it, babe,” Soonyoung promises and kisses your lips.
169 notes · View notes
ohheyitsokay · 3 years
Text
nicknames
Pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) x reader
Wordcount: 2.3k
Warnings: none to my knowledge, just a silly thought I strung out
Summary: the things we call each other are an intimate look into how we regard them
>>
“Why do you call him Mandalorian?” Cara was never subtle with you. You had been friends with her for years, and you should’ve known she would notice something after only a few days of your traveling with the three of them.
Shrugging, you looked at her. “I never told you?” You’d completed a lot of tasks together, as a very well balanced pair. And honestly you’d become close quickly, so it surprised you that she didn’t know you inside and out yet.
“I just feel like nicknames are too affectionate. On my home planet they're…” you searched for the word, not wanting to offend her, “intimate? Soft, maybe?”
Cara's dark eyebrows drew together.
“Mando… it sounds like a word some use for ‘dumpling',” you laughed, and her confusion broke - she grinned at you. “Mandu,” you offered, trying to explain. The words were similar under your tongue, thus the core of your problem.
“I cannot walk around professionally and call a warrior I just met dumpling.” And she nodded, laughing along with you.
It was too ridiculous, too cute, and far too intimate. Even without the double meaning, you didn’t want to be overly familiar with the Mandalorian. After all, you would only be traveling with him a few more days, and you’d hardly talked.
The mission went smoothly, however, and you were surprised to find that they offered for you to continue to team up with them. Another set of skills was welcome, and another pair of eyes on the little child was even more so. Your resolve stuck, though. It just didn’t fit, to call him anything other than the title he had given you. And you liked him a bit too much to open that door for yourself.
-
Din Djarin knew there was something special about you from the very beginning. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, at first, but certainly he had been very aware.
You were interesting, for someone in his field. Not at all the large, muscular fighter that he was used to seeing. But also not a seedy assassin. He’d learned quickly that your skill set came primarily in observation. You had no need to manhandle or shove your way to your bounty, instead choosing to melt into the background and watch until you’d identified the perfect strategy.
It made the first week of the job so much easier, he was content with the idea that you would travel and work with them. But then:
“How did you even know that corridor was there?” Cara was clearly excited by your field work, too. She was hardly paying attention as she walked through his ship into the cockpit.
Shoulders rising slightly, you followed her. “Micro-glitch in the holo-projection shield. I’m sure the Mandalorian's helmet identified it too.” You looked at him.
You looked right at him.
Effortlessly, your eyes found his through the visor. You were smiling a little bit, unaware of his state of shock.
Din had been wearing this helmet long enough to be used to never truly making eye contact with people. Sometimes a person got it right at random, but he could feel the difference – they couldn’t tell. But here you were, your gaze in his casually, like there wasn’t a solid layer between you.
He shrugged, reminding himself to get it together. As you turned back to Cara, he felt like he could breathe again.
Din had heard stories, children’s tales, of catching your soulmate’s eyes across the cantina - or maybe a palace room?, and being drawn together by fate. They were ridiculous, of course, but the very idea that you could bring up the memory was more than jarring.
Still, surely this was a one time thing, and he could forget about it.
For the first few weeks, it seemed like he was right. You rarely directed your gaze in his direction, anyway, being very professional and what he could only assume was shy.
You were more than happy to help with the child sometimes, and you talked freely to Cara, but in his presence you were polite and quiet. All your tasks were completed with efficiency and you would often complete other’s just because of who you were as a person. Normally, this was ideal for him - useless chatter had never been something he was good at. He was more than occupied making sure something was not breaking or mysteriously floating away, or they weren’t in danger. When you offered him silence, he should have been content to do the same, and watch the stars race by.
But… well, Din wasn’t sure he liked that either. Certainly it was strange to feel seen by you, but it felt worse that he could be making you uncomfortable, particularly as his comrade. And the more and more your eyes met his, the more it became exciting, and if maybe he wanted you to be even more than that.
So how could he get more if you hardly ever talked to him? Din shook himself, feeling silly for having zoned out in these thoughts. After all, he didn’t really talk to you, either.
-
After two months traveling with this strange little group, you were more than settled.
It took no time at all: you had hung up a spare scrap of fabric and made a little room for yourself, and the team functioned like a well oiled machine.
You got up before anyone else, this particular day, and were happy to enjoy the quiet sounds of the Crest as you checked everything needed for the day.
“Good morning, Mandalorian,” you heard the weight of his footsteps through the quiet halls. You didn’t even need to turn around, focused on correcting the flight pattern of the ship.
He had not questioned the use of the full title, had hardly questioned you at all. Outside missions, you two had only had a couple of actual conversations which seemed at first to be just fine. But there was a small nagging in the corner of your mind. His armor and helmet made reading his behavior hard, but you couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was off between you two. His body language was … almost gentle with you, not the same as he was with the little one, but as if he was afraid you’d startle if he wasn’t.
Unbeknownst to you, he had grown to like the way you said Mandalorian. It rolled off your tongue, as if it really was his name, as if you liked to say it. Din had been increasingly nervous about making you feel uncomfortable, awkward in his efforts to learn about you enough to make you stay. The prospect of sharing pieces of himself with you had become an indulgent fantasy, if only he could figure out how to talk to you.
“Good morning,” you could hear the sleep at the edges of his voice, and the softness you’d learned to recognize.
You hummed for a moment, thinking, before adding, “Good morning too you, too, little one.”  You were rewarded with a sleepy little noise, and you smiled as you finished your task before turning towards them both. Thank goodness the child was awake, and you hadn’t caused any problems. His wide eyes were staring at you from above his father's armored forearm, and you smiled. It was these moments you were reminded of mandu – he was being soft.
You looked up to the Mandalorian, half wanting to tell him, but he stiffened: his shoulders rising and back straightening. Biting your lip, you averted your gaze.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?” you turned back towards the stars, letting him think in silence for a moment.
“No,” he said, and you both relaxed. Whatever it was between you was gone for now, and you sat together, listening to the child wake up fully and begin to babble. It occurred to you that maybe he relished these moments, the times in which there were no expectations weighing on his shoulders. You wanted to give him more of those, if possible, to thank him for accepting you into his fold. Besides that, you spent much of your work life manipulating people, and you certainly wanted to establish that you weren’t like that here.
“How did you do that?” his voice, clearer now, interrupted your thoughts.
“Do what?” the Mandalorian rarely initiated conversation with you and it caught you off guard.
“How do you know what… is happening? What is going to happen?” he tone was genuinely curious, and you had to think before you responded. Of course, he knew you mostly just took the time to be more observant, instead of throwing yourself in head first. That’s not what he was asking.
“People are the same wherever you go. The more you watch and the closer you listen, the easier they are to predict,” you said, trying to be both brief and candid. “I was almost no one where I come from. One day, I decided instead of hating that, to use it.”
A small, deep, thoughtful hum came from the helmet beside you.
Silence settled over you for awhile before he quietly begin to talk.
Din told you of his people, his creed, and for the very first time you felt as though you were actually getting to know him. It was nice, not being professional.
“Do you ever want to be seen?” the conclusion of his talking was another surprise for you. Of course, this man who had sworn not to have his face shown would wonder at your apparent comfort with it.
The question felt as if it was seeping into your mind as you pondered it. It occured to you that this conversation had made you ache to be seen by him.
“I think everyone wants that, in their own way,” you said, and as you finally turned towards him, he held your gaze and nodded.
-
For someone so smart, it was infuriating how you seemed to completely miss the way he was around you.
Din Djarin, a warrior, had finally mustered up the courage to ask you to help him with a bandage on his lower back. The gentle touches and soft brush of your skin against his were foreign, but wonderful.
Unfortunately for him, you had noticed his awkwardness and assumed it was your fault. Ever the problem solver, you’d found a piece of mirror and rigged some wire to hold cleaning pads. It effectively made it easy for him to patch himself up on his own – and ruined the chance for him to steal your touch.
His previous fear had been wrong – you were not soulmates across the room, instead comrades sharing the same space. You were not exactly story royalty, but in spite of that, he was still falling hopelessly for you.
The way you talked to people – who weren’t bounties – with care and kindness. How good you were at your job, and how nice you made their shared space. How you laughed and rolled with the punches that came with this lifestyle. Din had never met anyone quite like you, and beyond all reason, he wanted to know everything about you, share all of himself with you. But you were so clever and polite it made him want to bang his head against a wall.
He couldn’t stop trying though, to get closer to you. Previously, you and Cara had left him and the child occasionally for a personal missions, and it left his feeling strange the entire three days. When you came back his heart had felt light and he wanted desperately to hold onto that feeling.
It wasn’t the same, when Cara went out for the afternoon a day or two after the patch up incident. In fact, he quite enjoyed the jolt of excitement that came with a whole few hours of potential.
Din couldn’t finish his tasks fast enough, even putting the child down for an early nap before nervously setting out to find you.
As expected, you were settled in the common area, reading through articles on your upcoming bounty. He sat next to you, willing himself not to betray his heart with his behavior and scare you away.
He said your name, his blood pumping even before you met his eyes.
“Yes, Mandalorian?” he had no idea why he was so nervous. He’d rehearsed this moment in his mind, it had been aching to be brought to life.
“You… you can call me Din… Djarin.”
It was not exactly as planned.
You’re eyes, ever in his, were wide.
“Din Djarin,” you said it reverently, before saying, “I promise I will keep it safe.”
He held back a small groan. There you went again, being so considerate he was afraid you’d never actually use it.
The frustration overwhelmed him, filling him with boldness and he pressed into your space insistently.
“No,” he said, “Well, do, but use it, please. I cannot stand you calling me Mandalorian like nothing has changed since we first met. I trust you, use it.”
You were adorable, the fear of his confession was damped by how intoxicating it was to be close to you. His hands found you, turning your body in your seat so you were facing him, and settling on the tops of your shoulders. He gently tugged you into him, encouraged that you didn’t pull away, but relaxed into his touch.
“I don’t want to slip,” you said, your voice barely audible.
The forehead of his helmet was so close to yours, you could feel your breath bouncing off of the mask.
“Please,” he said, and it smashed through all the walls you had created.
“Din Djarin,” you said again, tasting it on your tongue. You felt metal above your eyebrows and realized your eyes had closed, savoring the intimacy of the moment. You didn’t open them, allowing your heart to beat at lightspeed, and the tingles radiating from his gloved hands flow through you.
He was being soft with you.
“What if we compromised?” you could hear the smile in your own voice, and he gave a rumbling hum. You wondered if he was as absorbed in this moment as you were, unable to think straight.
“Mandu,” you murmured.
He was silent for awhile, the only indication he heard you being his palms, which slid to where your shoulders curved into your neck.
You could almost hear him thinking.
“I don’t understand,” he finally said, nearly inaudible. Your hands had reached out for him, one wrapping around the armor on his forearm, the other in the soft fabric on the side of his neck. He was distracted, bliss clouding his brain.
“Dumpling,” you said, and if it were anyone else, he would have thrown you across the room. “When you are being my strong and capable leader, you will be Mandalorian,” you continued, unaware that your words and actions were making his whole body fill with warmth and pride. “When you are being yourself, at home with us, I will call you Mandu – it sounds enough like Mando that no one will know it’s because you are truly soft.” He found himself smiling, despite his embarrassment. For you, he was soft. “And I will call you Din when it is just us, and I can be with you as you are now.”
There was no question that these moments would come again. He had made you give in to reading him completely, without any personal doubts.
“Okay, cyar’ika.”
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