#geometry hates cars

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Lies, damned lies, and Uber

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in PHOENIX (Changing Hands, Feb 29) then Tucson (Mar 10-11), San Francisco (Mar 13), and more!

Uber lies about everything, especially money. Oh, and labour. Especially labour. And geometry. Especially geometry! But especially especially money. They constantly lie about money.

Uber are virtuosos of mendacity, but in Toronto, the company has attained a heretofore unseen hat-trick: they told a single lie that is dramatically, materially untruthful about money, labour and geometry! It's an achievement for the ages.

Here's how they did it.

For several decades, Toronto has been clobbered by the misrule of a series of far-right, clownish mayors. This was the result of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris's great gerrymander of 1998, when the city of Toronto was amalgamated with its car-dependent suburbs. This set the tone for the next quarter-century, as these outlying regions – utterly dependent on Toronto for core economic activity and massive subsidies to pay the unsustainable utility and infrastructure bills for sprawling neighborhoods of single-family homes – proceeded to gut the city they relied on.

These "conservative" mayors – the philanderer, the crackhead, the sexual predator – turned the city into a corporate playground, swapping public housing and rent controls for out-of-control real-estate speculation and trading out some of the world's best transit for total car-dependency. As part of that decay, the city rolled out the red carpet for Uber, allowing the company to put as many unlicensed taxis as they wanted on the city's streets.

Now, it's hard to overstate the dire traffic situation in Toronto. Years of neglect and underinvestment in both the roads and the transit system have left both in a state of near collapse and it's not uncommon for multiple, consecutive main arteries to shut down without notice for weeks, months, or, in a few cases, years. The proliferation of Ubers on the road – driven by desperate people trying to survive the city's cost-of-living catastrophe – has only exacerbated this problem.

Uber, of course, would dispute this. The company insists – despite all common sense and peer-reviewed research – that adding more cars to the streets alleviates traffic. This is easily disproved: there just isn't any way to swap buses, streetcars, and subways for cars. The road space needed for all those single-occupancy cars pushes everything further apart, which means we need more cars, which means more roads, which means more distance between things, and so on.

It is an undeniable fact that geometry hates cars. But geometry loathes Uber. Because Ubers have all the problems of single-occupancy vehicles, and then they have the separate problem that they just end up circling idly around the city's streets, waiting for a rider. The more Ubers there are on the road, the longer each car ends up waiting for a passenger:

https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Uber-Lyft-San-Francisco-pros-cons-ride-hailing-13841277.php

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. After years of bumbling-to-sinister municipal rule, Toronto finally reclaimed its political power and voted in a new mayor, Olivia Chow, a progressive of long tenure and great standing (I used to ring doorbells for her when she was campaigning for her city council seat). Mayor Chow announced that she was going to reclaim the city's prerogative to limit the number of Ubers on the road, ending the period of Uber's "self-regulation."

Uber, naturally, lost its shit. The company claims to be more than a (geometrically impossible) provider of convenient transportation for Torontonians, but also a provider of good jobs for working people. And to prove it, the company has promised to pay its drivers "120% of minimum wage." As I write for Ricochet, that's a whopper, even by Uber's standards:

https://ricochet.media/en/4039/uber-is-lying-again-the-company-has-no-intention-of-paying-drivers-a-living-wage

Here's the thing: Uber is only proposing to pay 120% of the minimum wage while drivers have a passenger in the vehicle. And with the number of vehicles Uber wants on the road, most drivers will be earning nothing most of the time. Factor in that unpaid time, as well as expenses for vehicles, and the average Toronto Uber driver stands to make $2.50 per hour (Canadian):

https://ridefair.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Legislated-Poverty.pdf

Now, Uber's told a lot of lies over the years. Right from the start, the company implicitly lied about what it cost to provide an Uber. For its first 12 years, Uber lost $0.41 on every dollar it brought in, lighting tens of billions in investment capital provided by the Saudi royals on fire in an effort to bankrupt rival transportation firms and disinvestment in municipal transit.

Uber then lied to retail investors about the business-case for buying its stock so that the House of Saud and other early investors could unload their stock. Uber claimed that they were on the verge of producing a self-driving car that would allow them to get rid of drivers, zero out their wage bill, and finally turn a profit. The company spent $2.5b on this, making it the most expensive Big Store in the history of cons:

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/infighting-busywork-missed-warnings-how-uber-wasted-2-5-billion-on-self-driving-cars

After years, Uber produced a "self-driving car" that could travel one half of one American mile before experiencing a potentially lethal collision. Uber quietly paid another company $400m to take this disaster off its hands:

https://www.economist.com/business/2020/12/10/why-is-uber-selling-its-autonomous-vehicle-division

The self-driving car lie was tied up in another lie – that somehow, automation could triumph over geometry. Robocabs, we were told, would travel in formations so tight that they would finally end the Red Queen's Race of more cars – more roads – more distance – more cars. That lie wormed its way into the company's IPO prospectus, which promised retail investors that profitability lay in replacing every journey – by car, cab, bike, bus, tram or train – with an Uber ride:

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1RN2SK/

The company has been bleeding out money ever since – though you wouldn't know it by looking at its investor disclosures. Every quarter, Uber trumpets that it has finally become profitable, and every quarter, Hubert Horan dissects its balance sheets to find the accounting trick the company thought of this time. There was one quarter where Uber declared profitability by marking up the value of stock it held in Uber-like companies in other countries.

How did it get this stock? Well, Uber tried to run a business in those countries and it was such a total disaster that they had to flee the country, selling their business to a failing domestic competitor in exchange for stock in its collapsing business. Naturally, there's no market for this stock, which, in Uber-land, means you can assign any value you want to it. So that one quarter, Uber just asserted that the stock had shot up in value and voila, profit!

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-twenty-nine-despite-massive-price-increases-uber-losses-top-31-billion.html

But all of those lies are as nothing to the whopper that Uber is trying to sell to Torontonians by blanketing the city in ads: the lie that by paying drivers $2.50/hour to fill the streets with more single-occupancy cars, they will turn a profit, reduce the city's traffic, and provide good jobs. Uber says it can vanquish geometry, economics and working poverty with the awesome power of narrative.

In other words, it's taking Toronto for a bunch of suckers.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/29/geometry-hates-uber/#toronto-the-gullible

Image: Rob Sinclair (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Night_skyline_of_Toronto_May_2009.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #uber #hubert horan #fraud #toronto #geometry hates cars #urbanism #ontpoli #olivia chow #self-regulation #transport #urban planning #taxis #transit #urban theory #labor #algorithmic wage discrimination #veena dubal

[artist-fan146]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

CURSE MY SCHOOL RESTRICTIONS!!!

I CANT PLAY MY ALL TIME FAV MOVIE ON MY SCHOOL COMPUTER

AND ITS ON DVD

Let me expirence

*explain

I have Cars 2 on DVD

And on my regular home computer my portable DVD player that my family got years ago wouldn’t work on that computer

So I asked my mom what can I do

Over the summer she suggested I try it out on my school computer

Today I chose to finally try it

I finished my homework so I called this an award

So I connected my DVD player to my school computer

It worked

I put the dvd for Cars 2 in

It doesn’t work and I couldn’t play the movie

Instead my computer broke it up into smaller files of code

Not an actual video file for me to play the movie

So I’m highly disappointed

Do computers hate me?

(Read the tags and You will know why I’m so disappointed)

#the fact that I spent 4 and a half hours working on my geometry and chemisty homework only to find disappointment in 5 minutes #I put my worth into that homework #do computers hate me? #idk anymore #pixar cars #pixar cars 2 #cars 2 (2011)

[gummie-cat]

Pizza and secrets.

Desc: Charlie finds you diary and reads what you wrote about him in it.

warnings: Kissing, making out, closeted feelings, fluff, crushes

—————————————————————————

After school you normally had Charlie over. it was a basic routine you've had in place since the 6th grade. And its now your senior year in high school and you're still doing the same practice. Today your guys agreement was to study. You both knew you wouldn't end up studying and you'd just get distracted but you enjoyed the company. Especially when its a guy you like.

You guys finally got out of school and were rushing to your car which was parked in the student lot off to the side of the school. You were so excited to get home. You absolutely HATED your school. "soooo what did you need help studying with again?" Charlie asked as soon as you guys sat down in the car. "just some homework shouldn't take long." You say as you start up your car and put some music on.

When you guys finally make it to your house the shut off the car and go inside. Both you and Charlie make a b-line to the kitchen to pig out. You see your mom sitting at the kitchen table doing some work (you assume) and say hi. "honey, me and your father are going out in a few for our anniversary. we probably wont be back until late can you please let out and feed the dog?" your mom said following slowly behind you guys as you made your way to the kitchen. "Yeah sure thing mom." You say opening the fridge and pulling out the lemonade. Charlie grabs 2 cups and slides them over to you. "Oh and by the way Charlie can stay over if you want because its a Friday." Your mom adds as she walks away going to her room to get ready.

You nod and you and Charlie walk up to your room with your stuff. "so what class is the homework for? or did you just fool me." Charlie says taking a seat at your desk and turning to face you. "I do actually have homework thank you very much. its for fucking geometry." you say sitting criss cross on your bed. "here lemme see if i can help." He says as he rolls your desk chair next to your bed. You pull out the paper and hand it to him and he takes one quick glance at it and says “yeah fuck no.” as rolls away back to your desk. “ughhhh” you exclaim as you toss the paper to the side. “ya know what. im gonna go order pizza. you stay here loser” You say as you get up and leave your room. “REMBER TO GET-“ you cut him off before he can finish “HALF PEPPERONI GOT IT.” you say marching down the stairs.

You pick up the phone and dial the local pizza place number and place your order. You then walk slowly upstairs and when you get to your bedroom door entrance you see Charlie flipping though and reading your diary. ‘SHIT. i left it out’ you think to yourself as you walk up and snatch it out of his hands. “Jesus y/n…” He says clutching his chest like you just scared him. “Stop snooping around in my room.” You tell him hitting him on the head with it. “Correction, i wasnt snooping. It just so happened to be on your desk.” He said puffing out his chest a little. You roll you eyes dramatically “are you done?” you say crossing your arms. “not yet… did you mean what you said about me? like all the ‘being jealous of kirby because im obsessed with her’?” He replies looking at you seriously. You blush and curse yourself for allowing you to leave your diary out and for this situation to happen. “Maybe…” you say nervously. Afraid of loosing a life long friendship. “So you meant what you said when you said you would kiss me?” He says. Now getting up from your desk chair and inching closer to you. “i- uhm… maybe?” You say obviously blushing even harder. You just wanted to die because of the embarrassment. If he told anyone you would never hear the end of if. “so would it be okay if i kissed you now?” He said slowly walking up to you and stroking your arm gently waiting for your response. But you’re dumbfounded. You can barely think. “y-yes…” you say growing redder and redder by the second.

He pulls you in by the jaw and kisses your lips passionately. Then he pulls back and smiles at you. “w-why’d you stop?” You say looking up into his eyes. “because i wanted to make sure you were okay and i didn’t want to assume you wanted to make out… which now im sensing was what you thought was going to happen.” He said smiling softly chuckling lightly. “I mean I did but like only if you wanted to because i want you to fee-“ you’re cut of by his mouth making contact with yours again. But a lot more aggressive this time. You quickly gather a rhythm and he starts to slip you his tongue. God you’re melting and your core is starting to become soaked just from getting touched the tiniest bit. He bites your lip and you whimper. He quickly swallows your whimpers and grins against your mouth. He starts to walk you back towards the bed and you fall on your back. He pins you to the bed and he starts kissing you. Slowly moving down to your jaw and then you neck to find your sweet spot. He knows he finds it because you whimper his name weakly. And once he finds it he abuses it. He starts sucking and nibbling quickly relieving the bite with his tongue. Meanwhile your whimpering his name as you become needy and sensitive. Suddenly you hear the doorbell. The pizza. He lifts his head from your neck and turns back around to face your bedroom door. “That must be the pizza huh?” He says looking back at you and grinning. “yeah uhm we should probably…” you say gesturing to your guys’s position. “Oh yeah right.” He says getting up and stumbling a little bit. Scratching the back of his next nervously he has a stupid look on his face. You cant help but give him a little smile before running down and paying for the pizza and bringing it back up to your room. You find charlie waiting on the bed for you. You bring the pizza box over and pop a movie on your tv. But its just background noise as you snuggle up into his arms. “ya know… im not obsessed with kirby.” He speaks up over the stupid show you guys are watching. “huh? what do you mean?” You say lifting your head to look at him. “I mean i wasn’t obsessed with kirby this whole time… i was obsessed with you. It was just a cover up. I love you” you snuggle up more into his side. “ I love you too Charlie.” You slowly close your eyes and fall asleep.

————————————————

word count: 1200 words

A/N: okay so it wasnt really smut but this is what i wanted to start it off with. I’ll work on one thats a lil more smutty next time but yeah hope you enjoyed :) I know this is a bjt short but ive been having sum writers block so i hope you enjoyed!!

this was also posted to my wattpad @Alex66035

#charlie walker x reader #charlie walker smut #scream #scream 4

[astrobei]

prompt from @strangeswift: "literally anything madwheeler. them bonding, them in the future being besties, them arguing... whatever you want. just them."

It might only be her first week of high school, but Max is already so over it. 

It meaning everything. The cramped desks, the giant textbooks, the smell of the locker rooms after third period gym. The way that there had been some plausible deniability, in middle school, about the inherent repulsiveness of teenage boys– and now any minute trace of that is gone, because holy fucking shit, it’s like all of a sudden, deodorant has just totally ceased to exist.

Which isn’t great for someone like Max, by the way, who stands a glorious five-foot-three– also known as the perfect armpit height for the average pubescent boy.

Yeah. She’s so over it.

If walking the hallways hadn’t been abhorrent enough because of this and this alone– which it is, mind you, it’s plenty bad enough– there’s everything else. Everything else meaning the looks. The stares and the glances and the whispers following her as she walks from first period English to second period Geometry, trying her hardest to not get violently lost in the hallways like a total freshman. It’s embarrassing enough being a freshman, right, because you don’t know where your classes are and you have to run to the cafeteria to get a good seat and you’re not completely jaded yet, so people can one hundred percent tell that you’re new.

Max is used to being the new girl. She’s used to holding her head high and marching down the hall like she knows the school like the back of her hand, when in reality, she’d never stepped foot in it before that morning. So the being a freshman thing is a certain kind of clumsy spotlight that she doesn’t mind.

What she does mind, however, is the dead brother thing.

Stepbrother, technically. As if that makes it any better, the way that her mom won’t look at her and suddenly there’s beer in the fridge where her mom never used to keep any before. If that makes the pitying glances and whispers as she passes by any better. As if that takes away from any of it.

She knows what the girls, especially, are thinking. So few casualties at Starcourt, and Billy Hargrove– the cool new boy from California, the one with the cool car and the charm and the hair and the lifeguard job at the pool– Billy Hargrove had to be the one to die.

Max supposes she can’t really blame them either. It’s easy to get caught up in someone from afar. Easy enough to get too caught up on the ridiculous amounts of body oil and the gross open front shirts and the hair they spend hours on every day to really see the small stuff.

Like how they’re an asshole, maybe. An asshole who caked the whole house up with the stench of cigarette smoke and stale beers and sweat. An asshole who liked to push people down to lift himself up. An asshole who bullied little kids just to make himself big again, who–

The girls didn’t see any of that, of course. Max is happy for them, despite the glares and the whispers and the pity. No one deserves to see that. Let them remember Billy as a hero. The king of Hawkins High.

Don't speak ill of the dead, et cetera. It's fine. This is a secret she can shoulder on her own.

Max swings the locker door open, shoving her Geometry textbook into her bag with a soft grunt. Another reason to hate high school– or maybe love it– is that she’s going to get so scary jacked by the end of the year.

“You’re not going to tryouts today?”

The voice behind her makes her jump, even though the hallway is just as crowded and cacophonous as it always is. Mike Wheeler is looming over her, one hand clutching tight at the strap of his backpack, looking, for all intents and purposes, like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

Max frowns. “Tryouts?”

“Lucas has tryouts today,” Mike explains, slow and condescending like he’s trying to explain long division to a toddler. “Remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Max says immediately, which definitely makes her sound guilty of not remembering. But she had remembered. Of course she had remembered. It was all Lucas talked about for the last month. Basketball tryouts for the high school team. He’d said high school team like it was the big leagues that were personally recruiting him, as if he weren’t going out for JV.

“Right,” Mike says. Predictably, he doesn’t sound like he believes her. “You’re really not going?”

Max bristles. “What’s it to you?”

“Because Lucas is my friend,” Mike huffs, “and I’ve had to listen to him mope all week about you being too busy to see him at tryouts.”

“Yeah, so?” Max leans down to zip her backpack closed, the zipper catching momentarily on a stray notebook corner. She heaves it onto her shoulder and tries to pretend like it’s not as heavy as it is. Jesus H. Christ. “I can’t help being busy, Wheeler.”

“You’re not busy.”

“Yeah? How would you know?”

“Because you don’t do anything,” Mike scowls, falling into easy step beside her as she speeds down the hallway to class. The bell is going to ring any moment and– damn it.

She’s definitely lost.

Whatever, it’s fine. Geometry is, uh. It’s here somewhere. She just has to get Wheeler off her trail and then she’ll be free to be lost and confused in peace. Do not engage, she thinks. He’ll never shut up if you engage.

“You– I do things,” Max protests, despite herself. “I– I have homework.”

“Bullshit,” Mike scowls some more. He’s been scowling a lot lately, ever since summer ended. It doesn’t take an idiot to figure out why. El isn’t talking to him and the For Sale sign in front of the Byers’ just got taken down and replaced with an obnoxiously happy Sold! sign, and now Mike Wheeler’s got a dark little cloud of rain and gloom following him around like a lost little puppy. “It’s the first week of ninth grade. We have no homework.”

Max grits her teeth. “What do you want me to say? You want me to get down on my knees and grovel for forgiveness? I’m allowed to be busy, okay, Mike, I don’t owe Lucas anything, we’re not dating anymore–” 

“Yeah but you’re still his friend!” Mike exclaims, throwing his hands up and nearly smacking someone walking towards them in the face. The boy scowls. Mike ignores him.

Max looks away. Was it a right down this hallway or a left? Whatever. She goes right.

“Whatever,” she says. “Of course we’re friends.”

“Friends show up.” Mike jabs her in the shoulder with one finger, and she bats his hand away. “Friends show up. You know he’ll be so sad if you don’t–”

“Yeah?” Max spins around to face him, and jabs him in the chest with one finger, just for good measure. Mike makes an offended noise and rubs at the spot with his other hand. Not so nice, is it? “Yeah? Well if friends show up, when was the last time you went to Will’s?”

Mike blanches. “That’s– different,” he gets out. Max feels a guilty rush of satisfaction at his expression, at striking a nerve. Not so nice, is it?

“Friends show up,” she parrots gleefully. “But I know you’ve been avoiding him, so why can’t I avoid–”

“Me and Will aren’t you and Lucas,” Mike splutters, face going from a ghostly sort of white to a splotchy red all in the span of one and a half seconds. “Me and Will aren’t–”

Max waits, raising an eyebrow. “You and Will aren’t what?”

Mike ignores her. “Don’t turn this around on me,” he says. “This isn’t about me.”

“Feels an awful lot like the pot calling the kettle black, Wheeler,” Max says anyway. “What is this? Some sort of intervention? Did Lucas put you up to this?”

“No way. He doesn’t know.”

Max lets out a sigh, not bothering to hide her frustration. “Then why do you care? Why can’t you just screw off?”

“Because Lucas is my friend,” Mike presses. The scowl on his face has given way to a stubborn, almost-pleading look. “And you know how much this means to him, and–”

“Well, tough shit, okay?” Max snaps, and Mike’s mouth falls blessedly shut. “I can’t do this right now. I have to go to class and– you can stop following me now, by the way. I don’t need another stalker.”

Mike’s upper lip twitches. “We have second period Geometry together, asshole,” he says, yet somehow not unkindly. “I literally sit next to you.”

Oh. Maybe he does. Max feels a little bad for not noticing, but she hasn’t been noticing a lot of things lately. She’s spent most of the first week focused on drawing as little attention to herself as possible. Getting in and out of class as soon as she can. Running home before anyone can corner her and– God forbid– rope her into hanging out or whatever.

And see, that’s the thing, is that a different version of herself– months ago, when things were good and simple and fun and wonderfully uncomplicated– would have gone. Of course she would have gone. She can’t remember the last time she had friends like this. Definitely not back in California, definitely not right before the move. The summer had been some of the best weeks of her life. Before the– you know, before the shit had totally hit the fan and Billy died and Hop died and El was moving away and she and Lucas broke up. Again.

They’d broken up before too, and they’d always gotten back together, but it seemed like a finality this time. It wasn’t the sort of thing he could make up to her with jewelry and teddy bears and chocolate from Melvald’s with the price sticker scratched off (and Mrs. Byers’ employee discount no doubt utilized).

It was different this time because he didn’t need to make things up to her. Because it wasn’t his fault, and she wasn’t dumping his ass because he’d been immature and loud and thoughtless in typical thirteen-year-old fashion.

He’d been the opposite, actually.

She turns away from Mike before he can see her face.

Lucas had been so composed about it, so mature. He hadn’t rolled his eyes or scoffed or been frustrated when she’d said it. He’d been– quiet. Sad. Accepting. If that’s what you want, he’d said, and she’d nodded quietly before stepping off the bleachers and walking away. 

It was what she wanted, because it was easier this way, but something still made her frustrated and keyed up at the way he’d said it. Quiet and sad and without a fuss. 

More than anything, Max wants it to be April again, when things were simple. When he’d win her back and deep down she’d be secretly pleased that he hadn’t gotten tired of this inane push and pull. That he wanted her enough to spend his allowance on that teddy bear or those roses. She’d never really been mad at him. That’s just who she was– someone who pushed and pulled on the slightest of whims. Someone who dragged everyone else along with her, just because she could.

“Max?” Mike prompts. “The bell’s going to ring, and we’re in the wrong wing, so–”

The scowl has disappeared from his face a bit. He looks strangely contemplative.

Not angry. Not pitying. Just– looking.

Max takes in a deep breath and crosses her arms. “And you didn’t tell me this before?”

“You were all– all angry and stomping around and– it didn’t seem like the time!”

“Like you’ve ever cared,” she huffs, then spins on her heel and sets off in the opposite direction.

“No, Max– go left.”

“Oh. I knew that.”

She didn’t know that of course, but it’s not like she’s going to say this out loud. Mike catches up to her in three long strides, his bag bouncing obnoxiously against his back. “So?” he prompts, and Max wants to slam her head into the wall and yell. “Are you going?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re insanely persistent? Like annoyingly so?”

Mike grins. “I consider it one of my better qualities.”

“You remind me of poison ivy,” Max grumbles, as they turn the corner into the east wing. The bell rings sharply, the sound shrill and tinny through the hall, and she startles. “Oh shit–”

“So you’ll come, right?” Apparently Mike Wheeler doesn’t care about racking up tardies in his first week here. It’s not like Max does either, but she does like to hold the moral high ground.

She shakes her head, almost smiling despite herself. “Why do you want me to so bad?”

“It’s important to Lucas,” Mike insists, “and he’ll want you there. I don’t know how many more times I can say the same damn thing.”

“I don’t think Lucas wants to see me, Mike. I broke up with him, remember?”

At this, Mike stops abruptly, right in the middle of the hallway. Max collides roughly with his shoulder with a shocked gasp.

“Hey! What’s your deal?”

Mike grabs her shoulders, frustrated. “It’s because we– I’ll kill you if you repeat this to anyone, Max, I swear– but we miss you, okay? All of us. We miss you. It’s not that complicated, seriously.”

We miss you.

If she’s being honest, Max hadn’t been aware that there was anything to miss. She visited El, sometimes, after school when the trailer park got dark and lonely and way too quiet. It wasn’t the same as before, though. Things were heavier, sadder. Too many things unspoken, hanging in the air. 

El lived with the Byers now, and sometimes Will would be there too. There was something heavier and sadder about him too, but Max couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. But surely there was nothing to miss in her absence. The four of them did just fine before she came along– Lucas and Dustin and Mike and–

She glances down at his hands on her shoulders, and gets a brief flash of phantom pain– hands gripping her wrists, too tight, angry. Being pushed against walls, wrestled and manhandled and shoved into the car. Road rage.

So much anger. God, there was so much anger.

She was tired of the anger, but now she doesn’t know what to do without it. Maybe that means there’s something wrong with her. Normal people don’t think like this.

She pulls away sharply. “Don’t touch me.”

Worry flashes across Mike’s face, a split second and then it’s gone. His hands fall limply to his sides. “I– sorry.”

Max feels bad. Really, she does. She wants to go. Really, she does. She wants to laugh and tease Lucas as he misses free throw after free throw, and then congratulate him when he inevitably makes the team anyway, because of course he will. He's a shoo-in, and she wants to run down to the gym after school and shake the nerves out of him and tell him that. She wants to go.

She wants–

Mostly, though, she just wants to be left the hell alone.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and Mike’s face falls, ever-so-slightly. The guilt swells up inside her and she looks down at her shoes. They’re getting even more late with every second she waits here, unmoving, and yet– “I really can’t.”

Mike doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then he sighs, and reaches for the handle of the door to the classroom, pausing for a moment before opening it. “Next time?”

It’s weirdly hopeful. Max swallows the guilt back down. “Next time,” she lies, and follows him inside.

#i can't believe i've never written madwheeler before #this got sadder than anticipated #sorry abby #i hope this still scratches that itch #i have a max character study brewing in my mind so this is like. dipping my toes #testing the waters #god i love them #two sides of the same coin for real #fun sized fics #madwheeler #mike wheeler #max mayfield #ficlet #alexa play midnight rain #fic

[mystellenia]

chapter 1: chit chat

summary: in the bustling atmosphere of the field, amidst sports activities and the warm october weather, you bond with phoebe, sharing gossip about school cliques and observing the dynamics of your fellow classmates. later, during spanish class, a chance encounter with Abby leads to an unexpected exchange, marking the beginning of a potential friendship

content warnings: none

now playing: chit chat by beach weather

(wc 3.8k) (read time 12-15 mins); bet on it masterlist

The field was bustling with noise, with yells and claps coming from cheer practice on one side of it, track runners stretching on the other, and the girls' soccer team doing drills in the middle. The sun had started its slow descent into the mountains, painting the clouds and everything below them a pink-orange color. Even though it was mid-October, it was still more than warm enough for shorts and tanks, overpowering the ocean chill of the Pacific. Thanks, global warming. 

You sat at the very top row of the bleachers with your books out, Phoebe by your side. She was new to Oak Ridge, and you took it upon yourself to make her comfortable after your meeting in Physics class. You were glad, to be honest, that you two became friends so quickly after a freshman and sophomore year of only surface-level friends. It was refreshing. 

The two of you waited at the field every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Phoebe's twin brother, Theo, to finish basketball practice. After finding out you and Phoebe lived in neighborhoods connected by a park, you guys started carpooling to and from school, with Theo driving you all in his car. It's not that you couldn't drive, or that you didn't have a car—you could, and you did, but gas was expensive, damnit, so why not save money and mooch off of her brother? The righteous and honorable thing to do, obviously. 

"Okay, so you've already told me about track," Phoebe said. "How about the soccer girls?" 

Ever since you two started talking, you made it your mission to fill Phoebe in on everyone and their personalities and lives, telling her who was cool and who was an ass. 

"You see the brunette with the black and pink cleats? She has a red shirt on." She nods, so you continue. "That's Alyssa. Myers. She's super nice. She was my lab partner in Chem last year, but she got shit-faced drunk at a party in summer and made out with, like, three guys in the hour. All of whom had girlfriends. So overall, she's pretty liked, but the girlfriends of those guys she tongued hate her guts." 

"Oh, that's cute," she laughed, her voice laced with sarcasm. 

Your eyes trail to the girl next to her, a soccer ball ping-ponging between her legs as she shoots down the field. "Then, next to her, dribbling the ball, is Dylan Hernandez. Brown, curly hair in a bun. Bright blue shorts. You see her?" 

She scoffs as if she can't believe what she's seeing. "What do you mean, do I see her? Yeah, I see her, and she's hot." Phoebe drools over Dylan a little while longer before you start again. 

"She is the fuckboy of the soccer team. I've never seen someone pull so much. But everyone knows that right now she's messing around with Adri." 

"I don't know that," she argues, her brows furrowing in curiosity. "Who's Adri?" 

"Well, now we move on over to the cheerleaders. Adrienne Newport is a flyer—yes, the flyer who just went thirty feet up into the air. She's really sweet, actually. The nicest out of Lizzy's bitch pack, for sure." 

Phoebe just purses her lips into a tight line before you realize that she doesn't know any of these names. "Oh, sorry, sorry. Lizzy, Liz, Elizabeth—whatever you wanna call her—is the captain of the cheer team. She's the red head lying on the grass with that ice pack next to her. I bet you it was for her 'sprained ankle' that she so conveniently forgot about once she got the okay to sit out." 

"I have her in my geometry class," she hums. "God, that girl is dumb as a doornail when it comes to proofs. 

"Yep," you sigh, "that's Liz. Adri and Liz are friends, but they got into a huge fight last year when Adri got to be a flyer, but Liz was just a tumbler. I mean, Adri's probably flyer because she's 115 pounds soaking wet, but Liz just wasn't having it. She can be nice, but she prefers to be a brat. She threw a tantrum in front of Principal Grey, who is her dad's golf buddy. Well, another spot magically opened up, because they were both able to be flyers that year. Since her dad knows Woods, she's virtually untouchable here." 

"Ugh," Phoebe groans. "I hate mean girls." 

"No," you counter, "she's nice, she's just... catty." 

Phoebe squints and tilts her head. "So... just mean, then?" 

You chuckle. "Yeah, you're right. Just mean." 

"Wait..." Phoebe starts before trailing off. You follow her eyes to see what she was staring at. "Who's the blonde walking up to her, to Lizzy?" 

You finally spot who she was talking about. Toned, buff arms, short soccer shorts on her chiseled thighs, and one neat, blonde braid falling down the middle of her back. Abby Anderson.  

You admit, she was attractive. Anyone with eyes could see that. She just wasn't your type, and you were almost positive you weren't hers. She was popular and always surrounded by a big group of friends, while you kept to yourself most of the time, save for when you were with Phoebe.  

"Oh, that's Abby Anderson, captain of the soccer team. Abigail, but no one calls her that. Just Abby." 

You see Liz throw her arms around Abby's neck, pulling her down into a hug. Abby loops her arms loosely around Liz's waist before Dylan playfully slams into Abby's back, breaking them up. 

"Are Liz and Abby dating?" Phoebe questions. 

"Nope," you say, popping the p and grinning at her. You turn back to the field, your shoulders dropping in an inexplicable slouch. "Doesn't make sense with how tight they are. And Liz is supposedly straight, too, but then she goes and drapes herself over Abby and no one bats an eye. Like, it's so painfully obvious that you even noticed after seeing them for literally ten seconds." 

"Oh, you feel quite strongly about this," she pokes. "You jealous?" 

"Oh, please. I only have Abby in three classes, and I would rather kiss a toad than date Liz." 

Phoebe throws her head back in laughter, clapping her thighs and trying to calm down. The two of you settle into a comfortable silence for a moment until Phoebe turns to you to say something. 

"How do you know all of this about everyone, anyway?" she prods. 

You shrug. "Adri and I were friends for about three minutes in freshman year before I realized she was just using me for answers. Like I said, she's a brat."  

You squint down at Adri and the ponytail sitting tightly on the crown of her head, secured by a blue and black bow with a ram on it. "Two years later, and I don't even think she remembers it. Sure doesn't act like it." 

Phoebe hums and checks her phone. "It's almost five. Theo should be getting out soon." 

You start to pack your things and zip your Physics textbook into your bag, quietly laughing at how you two came to study but ended up gossiping the whole time. Playful shouting suddenly comes from the gym, and you look up to see who was there.  

A rowdy group of boys file out of the gym, whooping and still dribbling basketballs. Theo walks out talking to a teammate, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a towel draped over his head. You and Phoebe stand up with your bags and begin walking down the bleachers to meet him. 

Theo finishes up with his teammate, clapping him on the back before addressing you. "Hey, y'all ready?" 

"Hey," you respond. You think back to Phoebe checking her phone and realize there's still time to stop for food. Your lips curl up in a smirk, getting ready to nag Theo. "Wanna get us food?" you ask with a mischievous grin. 

"I was just about to ask—you're lucky I already wanted some. Practice was long today. How do you guys feel about In-N-Out?" 

Phoebe claps her hands together and shakes them, mirroring a prayer pose. "God, you're the best, Theo. Can I drive?" 

Theo immediately starts walking, responding with a "No" without looking back at Phoebe. 

Phoebe puffs her lip out in a pout, feigning disappointment and grumpily mumbling, "I take it back." 

The two of you follow Theo, walking past the end of the field where Abby, Dylan, Adri, and Liz stood and chatted. You felt someone's eyes boring into you, so you turn to their group to find Liz burning two holes into the side of your head. 

Liz has always been loud—be it from cheer or just her need to be the center of attention—so you overhear her statement as you walk by her. 

"Do you guys know those two girls walking with Theo? They've been staring at us all practice." Her voice fades out as you walk towards the parking lot. She pops her hip and crosses her arms tightly over her chest, listening to Dylan's indistinct response. 

"Dude, come on, where you at?" Phoebe asks, noticing your far-out stare. 

You shake your head and tell her it was nothing, and you all reach Theo's car and begin loading in. 

Soon enough, the three of you pull into the drive-thru, and you order what you always do—a plain double-double, fries, and a strawberry shake. After receiving your food, you, Theo, and Phoebe now sat in the parking lot, talking and eating your burgers with music blasting in the car. Phoebe and Theo were bickering about something in the front row—what it was, you didn't know. In these few months, you'd learned to tolerate their sibling catfights, zoning out or ignoring their jabs at each other. 

"Theo," you cut in. "Do you know Liz? Woods?" you ask, thinking back to her stare on the field and wondering the cause. 

"Yeah," he nods, "I have her in Physics. We sit next to each other." 

"Really?" you say surprised, looking at him through the rear-view window. 

"Yeah." He turns back to look at you, speaking around his bite. "Why do you ask?" 

"It's nothing," you brush off. Phoebe then turns to look at you, too, squinting her eyes in suspicion. "Okay, she just looked at me weird when we were leaving school. Like I said, nothing. I was just curious." 

Theo turns back to face the front, grabbing his Coke and taking a sip. "Liz has a staring problem," he dismisses. "She's always looking at me in Physics." 

"Yeah," Phoebe adds. "We have Student Aid together for first period, and every time I use the printer, she stares at me, no doubt." 

You stare out the windshield, thinking about what Phoebe and Theo said. You glance down and see 6:18 on the clock, the numbers blinking before the time changes. 

"Guys, it's getting late," you say, remembering the pile of Spanish homework you have waiting on your desk. "Let's go home." 

"You're right," Theo says, wiping his hands on his sweats to clean them and starting the car. 

He pulls out of the parking lot and starts towards the highway to your guys' neighborhoods. Putting your earbuds in, you shuffle your playlists, landing on an old Bruno Mars song and humming as you look out the window. 

San Diego was always busy, no matter the time or weather. If it was cold, club goers threw on jackets and danced through the night. In the early hours of the morning, teens skated through the streets, laughing and talking until the sun rose. 

You lift your head at the sound of the numbers of your gate code being punched in, the gate beeping as it swung open. Gathering your stuff, you unbuckle your seatbelt as Theo pulls up to your house, saying goodbye and telling you to let your mom know that he said hi. 

"I will," you promise, waving at Phoebe through the window while you pull your key out. 

Turning the key, you push the door open and are met by the TV still on, evening news discussing the week's weather. Your dad lay on the couch, passed out and softly snoring. Your mom was a banker and worked fairly late, so you figured she was still at work. 

Heading upstairs to your room, you open the door and drop your backpack next to it. Slipping off your school clothes, you change into an oversized shirt and shorts and plop into your desk chair with a heavy sigh. 

Your desk was messy with papers, worksheets from Spanish and English splayed across it. You cleared an open space to begin working on your Spanish work that was due tomorrow. 

Mrs. Ortiz, your Spanish teacher, was pretty chill, but she hated nothing more than late work. If your work is late, then my grading is late, too, she'd say.  

Luckily, late work wasn't an issue for you. Spanish had come easily to you, and it was always one of the easier classes you took.  

Your phone buzzes on your bed and you lean over to grab it. A notification from Instagram showed up on your screen, and you unlock your phone to see it: newp.adri03, who you may know, is on Instagram. 

Clicking on the notification, you open up Instagram and see that it was Adri's account, her feed filled with pictures of family vacations, beach trips with friends, and selfies. What a coincidence, you think, her account being recommended to you after what happened on the field today. 

A highlight called life!! catches your eye, and you tap on it to look at the pictures. You skip through them, tapping past a blur of colors, and you slow down to tap back and find a picture of girls in dresses.  

Adri, Dylan, Abby, and Liz all were dressed formally, and you recognize the date as this year's homecoming.  

Adri wore a corseted light green dress, her straight hair partially pulled up into a half-up half-down ponytail as she posed in a shrug. Dylan looked charming as ever, donning a black button down with the sleeves rolled up, her hand draped over Adri's shoulders with her hair pulled back into a braided bun. 

Abby stood next to the pair grinning with a thumbs-up, her hair cascading over her shoulder in a loose braid, wearing a white button up with a navy-blue suit vest overtop it. Liz leaned her head on Abby's shoulder, her eyes closed, and her lips lifted in a soft smile. She posed with a peace sign out in front of her for the camera, a pretty golden slip dress accentuating her hips. 

Your lips curled up in a smile at how cute the picture was, at how everyone seemed so happy.  

You noticed small tags over all the girls, quickly clicking on Abby's username. She only had two posts and one highlight up, all of them either about soccer, friends, or her volunteer work at the childrens' hospital.  

You knew she had parents in the medical field, and she always talked about her dream of getting into med school in Spanish class. 

The thought reminded you of the packet you have yet to complete. You flip it open, starting to fill in the past tense conjugation tables. Your eyelids quickly grow heavy, though, so you eventually set your head down on your arm and fall asleep. 

Your alarm goes off right in your ear, making you jump up and scramble to turn it off. Your phone reads 5:30 am, so you get up to start getting ready for school. 

Heading to the bathroom, you put your hair up to wash your face and brush your teeth, patting your face dry with a towel. Returning to your room, you sit down at your desk to put on makeup. You don't wear much—just some concealer under your eyes, blush on your cheeks and nose, and some mascara.  

As you start, you notice your Spanish packet open and about to fall off of your desk. You close it and place it on your backpack to make sure you won't forget it. 

Ten minutes later, you finish your makeup and quickly throw on a college crewneck and some jeans, packing your homework and throwing your bag over your shoulder. 

Theo texts you at six-oh-nine. 

theooo: We're outside 

theooo: You ready? 

You don't respond, instead just grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen and walking out to his car. "Hey, Theo," you say, opening the passenger door to sit down, putting your bag between your legs and buckling your seatbelt. 

"Hey," he responds. "How'd you sleep?" 

"I slept—" a loud and groggy groan from the backseat interrupts, "—well."  

You look over your shoulder at Phoebe laying down across the seats, a fluffy sleep mask covering her eyes. "It'stooearlypleasebequiet," she slurs, her voice still thick with sleep. If you looked up "not-a-morning-person" in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of a snoring Phoebe with drool dribbling down her chin.  

You listen to her and stop talking, turning the already inaudible music down. Instead, you take out your phone and see a notification from Clara. 

claire bear: it's snowing again. i hate new jersey weather :( 

You and Clara have been friends since elementary school when she stood up for you while a group of boys spat spitballs at you. Clara responded by saturating a ball of paper the size of her hand in gutter water and chucking it at a boy's head. Safe to say, they stopped immediately.  

The two of you were inseparable. Well, that was, until she moved to New Jersey in freshman year for her stepdad's job, and while she settled in well and made friends, she absolutely hates cold weather and is quite vocal about it. Two years later, you were still best friends and texted almost every day. 

you: haha sucker 

you: it's still 70 degrees here 

claire bear: enjoy your melting icecaps and deteriorating ozone layer 

you: whatever 

You scrolled through your feed until you got to school, Theo heading to his basketball buddies while you and Phoebe got breakfast and sat in the quad. Phoebe still didn't speak—she usually defrosted by the end of her first period, Student Aid, after running errands and texting you while she wasn't busy.  

You spot Abby and Dylan together laughing with the rest of the soccer team. Although school wasn't overly cliquey, all the sports teams usually stayed together. 

Liz and Adri lingered close by with the other cheerleaders, the other girls forming a semi-circle around Liz and Adri, intently listening to Liz talk about boys or another topic in her catalog of trivial issues and gossip. 

The bell rings, and everyone stands up to hurry to their class. You walk Phoebe to the library as you always do, then head to AP US History for first period. 

You go through the motions of the pledge, executing them almost robotically after ten years of practice. The morning announcements catch your attention, though, and you focus on trying to hear Mikey on the crappy intercom over the morning ruckus of the class. 

"...get into the Halloween spirit with Ram's boo grams! They will be sold on the stage during both lunches for just three dollars. Attached to the candy is a card—you can either leave your boo gram anonymous or write a spooky note for a special guy or ghoul. That's gonna be all for today's announcements. This is Mikey, your basketball team captain, signing out. Go Rams, Hoo-Rah!" 

The scrambled clicks of the office announcement phone trying to hang up rattle through the intercom before it cuts out with a click. 

Mr. Greyson stands up with a sigh to move to the front of the room. He fixes the cufflink of his perfectly pressed button up, then pushes his chestnut hair out of his face. He's one of Oak Ridge's younger teachers, and he's well-loved by students for his chill approach to teaching. 

After his short lecture, you open your laptop to complete today's even shorter assignment and set a reminder to do the reading he assigned. 

Once you finish the assignment, you open Netflix and watch your show, occasionally stopping to text Phoebe. APUSH always goes by fast, so you're not surprised when the bell rings. You quickly pack up and head down the hall to Mrs. Ortiz's room for Spanish.  

You notice Abby slouched in her chair, tapping away on her phone and bobbing her head to a song playing through her over-ear headphones. You walk past her desk to sit at your own, one desk forward and to the right of hers. 

Your feet stop as you pass her desk, looking back at it to confirm. Her completed conjugation packet sat on top of her folder, her neat script filling the page. 

Rushing to your seat, you rummage through your bag and pull your folder out with the packet. You must've fallen asleep before you finished it. Great. 

You glance over at Mrs. Ortiz at her desk. She was still putting attendance in, so you had a little time before she came and collected the packets. 

You flip to the second page and start scribbling down answers, another page behind it that you still had to do. 

A silvery voice fills your ears, asking, "Do you need the packet?" 

You look over your shoulder and see Abby Anderson staring back at you, her eyebrows raised in expectance. Her eyes flick between your own, clocking your panicked stare as you look back at her. Her gaze falters a bit, jumping from your eyes to your cheeks and nose, then back up to your eyes. 

You stumble over your words, finally ekeing out, "Yes. Yes, thank you." 

She hands the packet to you, and you thank her again and start copying her work down. You finish just in time, turning back to return her packet just as Mrs. Ortiz claps her hands and stands up. 

"Hola, chicos. ¿Cómo están?" she addresses, nodding at everyone's half-assed biens. "Have your packets out, I'm collecting them now." 

She collects all the packets from the first row, then passes you and Abby to grab both of yours. 

You turn back to Abby and notice her fidgeting with a piece of hair above her ear that must've fallen from her braid. "Thanks again for the packet." 

"No worries," she replies, shaking her head and curling her lips into an upside-down smile.  

You introduce yourself, and she extends her hand for you to shake, making you snort at the gesture as you accept it. 

Your eyes lock onto her forearm, noticing her muscles rippling as her hand clasps around yours.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Abby." 

yayyyy chapter one done!! i hope u guys like it :))

@picklesarenice69 @naoblack87

click before scrolling! takes 10 seconds :)

#bet on it by mystellenia #ellie #ellie tlou #tlou ellie #ellie the last of us #ellie x reader #ellie x you #ellie x y/n #ellie williams #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams the last of us #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x y/n #ellie williams x you #ellie williams fic #ellie williams fluff #abby #abby tlou #tlou abby #abby the last of us #abby x reader #abby x you #abby x y/n #abby anderson #abby anderson tlou #abby anderson the last of us #abby anderson x reader #abby anderson x female reader #mystellenia 𐑂°‧₊

[beesmygod]

JJBA PART 5, VENTO AUREO IS THE UNDERBAKED MESS I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT FIXING...PART 2

FIX 2: WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A PROBLEM LIKE GIORNO?

thats the homo photo of my dad

answer: i dont know.

the unfortunate and honest to god truth of the matter is that the protagonist of JJBA part 5, giorno giovanna, fucking sucks.

what if that little shithead from the twilight zone episode "it's a good life" was gay and watched "goodfellas". you might think "wow that sounds great" but, well, somehow it's not.

it is months later and i have been struggling with writing this for a bazillion reasons: i got sick, real life events occurred, i had to work on comic, i died, etc. but the most strenuous reason of all in the end was facing the impenetrable, tangled, and deeply complicated gordian knot that is the little ladybug loving bitch named giorno and not knowing where the fuck to even begin.

i had to think long and hard about how to approach the problem of "giorno giovanna". he is like a diamond of sucking ass: multi-faceted and beautiful in his perfection but is, ultimately, just a stupid fucking rock from the dirt. he completely lacks the innate charisma and personality inherent in previous jojo protagonists AND antagonists; despite having both the joestar AND brando gene pools to pull from, he manages to snag a net total of 0 personality traits. this problem is multiplied 100 fold once he starts actually doing things to move the plot along and the universe repeatedly bends itself like a pretzel in order to gift him undeserved and unrewarding (to us, the audience) win after win after win.

his theme goes hard as hell tho

if you were to ask me what is wrong with giorno, i would have no problem making a long and detailed list of why i want to slap the little cinnamon rolls of his head. i have no idea how to organize that list into a more coherent form of criticism that points at the overarching structural weakness of part 5. part 5 really, really wants you to like and root for giorno. it hinges on it. his victories are explicitly supposed to be emotionally and morally gratifying. they are instead trite and annoying.

for years, YEARS, my only experience with the entirety of part 5 outside of infamous panels and the most basic information about the story, was this incredible, evergreen and laser targeted tweet:

i thought this was a funny shit post. all i knew giorno had some kind of "life creation" power. what i didnt know was:

giorno says this exact line and then turns cars into frogs so that they (the bad guys) cant catch them (they do catch them)

giorno's power IS fucking stupid

i fucking hate him

he should stop using it

abbacchio was right. he was right about everything

how DO you talk about giorno? giorno's blandness permeates any situation he has the misfortune of attending and the parts of the narrative where he's missing for one reason or another are significantly improved by his absence. in comparison with the deuteragonists (bruno bucciarati) and tritagonists (the members of bruno's squad in the mafia family passione), he has all the flavor of a communion wafer. his character arc is non-existent. emotionally, he might as well have just gone to the store and back by the end of the story.

and, look, araki likes to play fast and loose with how powerful a stand is or what its abilities are. im not here to measure power levels or fucking whatever stupid shit people get up to. the more wild and insane he gets with his incredibly "unique" ""understanding"" of science and geometry, i'm 99% on board for. but giorno's stand, gold experience, is whatever the narrative needs it to be at any given time with no consistency. it's OP as hell long before he gets the 11th hour power boost; his stand has the extra trans-dimensional ability to remove any tension from a fight scene. through this, gold requiem can destroy the psyche of the audience, truly making it the most powerful stand of all time.

people used to love to bitch about not understanding how the villain's stand works in this part, but if anyone tells you they understand what the fuck THIS means they're lying to you.

anyway, there is only one solution i can think of when it comes to how to approach this: assess the major story beats in order. i think jumping around in the progression of events to highlight individual flaws in the character will not adequately impart the suffering one feels as an audience member while the narrative yo-yos between being rollicking good fun and being at the mercy of the little 15 year old twink with god mode on.

and so, having made it past koichi's tiny ass role (and his tiny ass) in the story and addressing how we can proceed, we can cover bruno (a genuinely wonderful character), polpo, and the wasted character building opportunity of the piss drinking scene, which vexes and infuriates me to this day. [thinking about the piss scene and getting mad again] ooooh!!!!

#essay #jjba

[the-teddy-roosevelt]

Let me tell you a little thing about cars.

I have had a gripe against modern car design, at least here in the States, for the longest time. Recently I have seen the utter abominations of the 21st century be more and more common and finally decided to share my stance to the wonderful world of the internet! So, be prepared for a lot of reading because this is a full scale rant with the occasional photo.

And now: Why Modern Car Design is Going to Kill Us All.

I have been doing much research these past months as I continued to observe more of these "newer designs" I have spoken so much about, and there are a few things I need to delve into.

The Flat Front

Supersize Me 2: Not so Electric Boogaloo

Elon's Bastard of a Car

1

The Flat Front

So, these cars I have been talking about, just to be more specific, are SUVs and Light Trucks/Pickup Trucks.

You see that massive, flat front in the image above? Well, believe it or not, that is causing more deaths in car-related accidents yearly! Due to being so boxy, when a pedestrian is hit, they are more likely to break bones around the torso/head, then pull the person UNDER the car rather than how a car normally would hit the person's legs, then they would hit the hood of the car.

These can also create massive blind spots/zones where you can't see what is right in front of you.

I shall dive more into this in the next section.

2

Supersize Me 2: Not so Electric Boogaloo

So, onto the next section. As you can see above you, this is a comparison of two cars, only 24 years apart(end of Escort to start of F-350). Only 24 years, and it had a 246% increase in weight, was 91.7 in. or about 7.64 ft. longer, and 26.8 in. or about 2.2 ft. taller.

This is a dramatic increase for little to no reason other than to "protect the drivers". As we have discussed in section 1, this is not the case. In fact, if one of these larger SUVs were to hit another, usually smaller car, it is more likely for the smaller driver to be killed, or at least seriously harmed by the bigger vehicle.

Speaking of smaller, children:

Children are one of the biggest victims of these larger cars with them being run over either in frontovers or backovers, most often by their own parents in a driveway.

If you don't fully believe me that these cars are truly big enough to run over the younger side of children, an entire experiment was done, putting kids in front of parked cars, and just look:

Terrifying.

I addition to this, the larger frame of these cars means that they create more pollution. Let me explain: The bigger cars needed more fuel, that means more fossil fuels being burned, and due to the US's car based infrastructure, there are more cars being produced, that is even more fossil fuels for both production and upkeep, and more pollution.

But oh dear reader, these SUVs and Light Trucks are not even the worst of it...

3

Elon's Bastard of a Car

Gentlemen, women, and all of you folk in between, I give you: The Tesla Cybertruck.

This... Thing, is the bane of everything I hate about modern car design, from the boxy shape going throughout the car, to being an "indestructible" vehicle, and its ability to kill anyone.

Okay, that is a lot I am claiming, so lets break it down.

We have already talked about how dangerous the box design is, but the Cybertruck appears to be a geometry problem found in high-school. This is unbelievably dangerous, making any crashes with other cars much more likely fatal.

The fatalities can also be helped by the fact the damn car is made of STAINLESS STEEL and "indestructible" according to advertising. Most cars are made to be able to crunch in order to let the force of impact be more spread out throughout the vehicle. Yes, it will cost quite a bit to fix, but hey, you're alive. Meanwhile when it is made out of such a hard material, such as steel, that crunch isn't going to happen and only kill the people inside the vehicle, and the people crashing into the giant steel block.

The company claims it can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.6 seconds, which, if true, would mean it has a faster acceleration than most NASCAR and Formula 1 vehicles, with none of the accompanying engine roar to warn anyone that it's coming. The headlight, meanwhile, is one single bar of light, which some experts are already worried will blind oncoming drivers.

There are so many other things about this utter abomination that I would love to talk about, but I think this is where I'll leave off.

One last thing, I just want to say how this is mostly my experience and research from the United States of America, and not the rest of the world. Also, I do not see these things getting much better unless somehow the US removes all of its car based infrastructure.

Thank you for reading my friends, and remember, fuck monopolies.

#rant #cars #cybertruck #rant post #fuck cars #elon is an idiot #this took way too long

[love-triangles-au]

Gotta know, which Triangle is needier?

(Mod Minty let me steal her art for today's edition of the gay geometry channel. Say "thanks Minty for letting us see your gorgeous art!")

Bill, by a longshot!

Y'see, when he eventually realized that he actually does kind of give a crap about Venuz, he became aware of something: oh, no, a whole lot of people want my loved one dead. Sound familiar?

With that realization comes an immediate (and in his mind extremely embarrassing) trauma response. The last time he loved someone, they were taken from him brutally and unfairly, and the very nature of Venuz being the Gun God means that he is destined to eventually be succeeded.

Now, rationally, what happened to Liam was not at all Bill's fault -- his big brother was basically doomed from the moment he was born -- but as we all know trauma loves to make no sense. Because Liam was taken away while Bill was out, a part of him feels like if he had just been there maybe he could've done something.

And so we begin what we've dubbed the "separation anxiety arc".

He tries to bottle it up, god knows he does, because if Bill's good at anything it's pretending like everything's okay, but the moment Venuz goes to walk out the door it's like being hit with a bolt of lightning made of "what-if"s.

Luckily for him, the first couple times Venuz can just stay home or take him with him. Frankly, more often than not he goes to work as more of a way to keep the day interesting than anything else, but eventually it becomes clear that this is a serious problem.

The more the behaviour is enabled, the worse it gets, and the worse it gets the less Bill's excuses for his behaviour add up. Eventually, he lets it slip.

Once Venuz is aware, it begins to stress him out because there's nothing he can really do to help and he hates seeing Bill so uncharacteristically afraid. All he can really do is distract him at best, because he doesn't know any other way.

And then, one day, he has a lightbulb moment: vacation time! Far away planet (I dunno why but I've leaned towards Io, one of Jupiter's moons), no mortals, no guns. Bill really, really likes this idea, and so they hop in one of Venuz's 50 cars and, when they arrive, Bill finally feels a little better again.

Now, Bill doesn't have very much. As far as he's concerned, he's got his Veeny with him and they're perfectly safe right here. So, he basically pitches that they just stay there forever and live happily ever after.

But, they can't, and here's where another piece of our Gun God lore pops up.

The Gun God's power is tied to Venus itself, and he can't be away from the planet for too long without his powers fading. This prevents the Gun God from just dipping and living out in the deep recesses of space for all eternity, keeps the machine running so to speak.

So, they have to eventually go back.

We haven't got much further than this, but the current thoughts are that anxiety does get better with time (I have an anxiety disorder and know this firsthand), so that will likely ease him a little eventually.

BUT, where things get muddy here is that what Bill's afraid of isn't entirely irrational. Venuz is gonna get into gunfights, people are gonna come try to kill him, it's unavoidable. Thankfully, each Gun God tends to rule for a longer period of time than the last, because his skills only get better with each iteration. So, Venuz is very likely to keep his position for a couple thousand years at the least. But, the chance of him meeting an early demise is never zero.

I think the only way he's gonna get through this is if Venuz helps him through it, and even then I don't think it ever entirely goes away; dude's got like a trillion years worth of suppressed trauma, that doesn't just heal overnight. I think if Venuz is able to consistently prove that he's the best gunman on the planet that will gradually make Bill feel a bit better, but it would need to be consistent, like maybe Bill watches him train every day.

And, okay, when I said we hadn't gotten much further than this, that was kind of a lie; Bill's post-marriage activities very much revolve around this anxiety he feels around losing the fabled Only Guy He Cares About™.

With inclusion into the Yung family, he also becomes immortal and gains Venuz's powers. So, what's the logical thing to do with this newfound power, then? Begin an underground criminal organization dedicated to snuffing out possible competition before it can get to Venuz, of course!

The return of some of his power gives him the confidence that he can protect Venuz himself and that's when he forms his whole mafia operation. And, of course, Bill always thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, so he's often able to fool himself into thinking his plans are air-tight and cannot possibly fail and that suppresses his anxiety as well.

However, he does still sometimes have the occasional moments of doubt that result in full little kid meltdowns. He still needs occasional blanket time to calm down.

~ Mod Emily 🦇

P.S.: Sorry for the slowness on asks right now! It usually means we're wanting to draw something for it, so sit tight; we see you! :D

#love triangles au #mod emily #ask box #yungbill #bill cipher #yung venuz #nuclear throne #gravity falls #gun godz #art #minty's art

[shipskicksandgiggles]

dialogue prompts

for those who don't know, my life is bonkers and I cope by making prompt lists out of the more bizarre things I say/people say to me/I hear by being in proximity of equally weird people. send a number with a character/ship/dynamic of your choosing and I'll do what I can

“So I may have accidentally recruited your ex to help me move.” “I’m so sorry, was he awful?”

“How’s living next to a construction site?” “I prefer the sound of people playing pool.” “That bad, huh?”

“You’re the main character!” “Stop saying I’m the main character, I have been the snarky, comic relief my whole life and I’m not stopping now.”

“I can’t quit my job, I can’t quit my job-” “What happened?” “Some guy wanted to talk to me about his prostate.” “Don’t you work at a library?”

“So because I’m me, I made a spreadsheet about it.” “You’re incredible.”

“You signed me up for a job interview?” “Yeah.”

“You’re not going to believe what he said.” “I find that hard to believe, try me.”

“I accidentally gave you so many traits.” “Hey, I had autism first.”

“I let you kiss me one time-” “It has been more than one time.”

“Were you here for the male model thing?” “No?”

“Have fun!” “Kill me.” “Or just don’t kill anyone I guess.”

“If you call Latin a dead language one more time I’m going to throw myself across this desk at you.”

“I’m going to ask you a question and you’re going to feel attacked.” “Fine.” “Why does it have to be that way?”

“I just took a quiz for fun and accidentally did geometry by hand.” “Nerd.”

“I’d wear shorts.” “It’s snowing.”

“You have a very expressive face.” “I don’t like that you noticed that.”

“When do you leave?” “In like an hour, why?” “Can you build things?” “Yes, but I repeat, why?”

“So here I am, sitting and talking about amputations-” “I have absolutely no idea where this is going, but I love it.”

“Did the raccoon get into the attic again?”

“It’s 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday, something better actually be on fire.” 

“Is a potato a vegetable?” 

“Everything you do is calculated.” “You make me sound like a robot.”

“I’m so sorry, I’m going to be late.” “Everything okay?” “Yeah, no, I’m fine, I just may have broken my foot and I need to go to urgent care.” “That is… the opposite of fine.”

“Don’t question why I know how to pop the screen out of a window.” “Our fucking door won’t open, as long as we can get outside, I don’t care.”

“So Thursday was a bad day for you then?”

“You used to be buff.” “I thought you were going to say something entirely different, but I guess we’re going this way then.”

“How are you not freaking out right now?” “I’ve been living with this for months now dude, this is just entertainment for me.”

“I was elected most responsible at summer camp when I was five.” “Some things never change.”

“I had a chemistry teacher in high school who could write with both hands at the same time. She needed an exorcism.”

“The age of the child you hit with your car determines the number of points you get.”

“How’d the meeting go?” “I think I came out as gay to the entire board.” “What the fuck.”

“This is probably the only dick pic I’ll ever get and that’s okay.”

“Oh my god, I out-autismed the whole group chat.”

“No more kisses until you stop apologizing for being human.” “That’s not fair, you know that’ll work on me.”

“I can feel my bones.” “That’s not ideal”

“You dumb bitch.” “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Good news, you've just unlocked my niche special interest that I can and will talk for at least ten minutes straight about. Are you ready to learn?”

“You know what I’m talking about, you do not have the moral high ground.”

“I’m going to be so real with you, I literally hate this. Like this sucks.”

“I don’t think you understand that this is the greatest news I’ve ever been given. Like genuinely, this is the happiest I’ve been in weeks.”

“Good to know you would have died very early in the Middle Ages.”

“Is that a mosquito bite? Dude, it’s March.”

“You know you’re going to have a good day when the maintenance guy says ‘well that’s different’.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, the last time I cried I think it was December.” “It’s April?” “Hey, the time before that it was July, so.”

“No wait, turn up the music. Never mind, I thought it was the Law and Order theme.” “Do you think I have the Law and Order theme on a CD in my car?”

“Please don’t assault my boyfriend.” 

“Would you like a new best friend? Because I think I found your new best friend.”

“Guess who had a baby.” “No.” 

“What is the purpose of nipple rings?” “Decoration.” “Like a Christmas tree!”

“I honestly don’t know how to be a person anymore. Please don’t contact me for 3-5 business days while I sort that out.”

#ellis writes #prompts #writing prompts #dialogue prompts #send asks #if I can remember the context for half of these it will be a miracle

[askii-your-girly]

That Sketchbook of Yours

Teddy Pierce X reader

Warnings: Fluff, a bit of mention of his fathers passing, Cussing and violent language, Teddy acts like a bully for a paragraph, making out, and parent interrupting making out. Let me know if I missed any!

Word Count: 1.2K not including title

I saw some in need for Christmas chronicles X readers and being someone who thinks teddy was attractive here we are. I'm sorry if some parts are wrong, I barely even had my first kiss (I'm a loser for my age). Also if you have anything else you want don't be shy to ask! Now enjoy!

FYI, it's really late for me and I should be studying for finals but I'm not so if you see a mistake, please let me know and honestly, I kind of hate this but whatever.

After Teddy's father died, he didn't really have anyone to turn to before he met you. You were a nerd as people saw it, you read and wrote, hell you could draw really well too. He thought you were quite pretty too. He only saw you in one class and that was geometry, one he recently failed, but boy was he glad he failed.

You were a shy thing too, not talking much; sitting in a corner seat; head down and always drawing something. He knew of your artist skill from having to sit away from his "gangster" friends and next to you. He always did sneak glances at you how could he not? You were so easy to fall for. Nodding or shaking your head when people talked to you, when you did talk your voice was adorable.

Randomly one day before Christmas break he took your sketchbook, he stood a few inches taller than you. Flipping through the pages mostly filled with cats or sometimes a friend or too. You panic and desperately try to grab the notebook. He stood his ground, looking at each page for a second.

He came across a page, filled with drawings of himself. He laughed before leaning down to your height. "Does this mean you have a little crush on me?" You blush a bright red, he laughs again. "I'm taking that as a yes, am I right? Sweetheart." You stumble on your words, trying to make up a lame excuse to why you had those drawings which consisted of "Your easy to draw," "You sit next to me and are an easy reference." There were a few more but he didn't really bother to listen. The blush that was darkening on your cheeks was more than an answer.

But before he or you could say anything else, you grabbed your notebook and ran off; embarrassed. Running home straight away not stopping till you were safe in your room, cooped up in your feelings for him. Christmas break the rest was a blur for you until a day or two after Christmas...

~Flashback for Teddy on Christmas Eve With Santa~

"If you know what everyone wants, tell me what I want." Kate looked up at him "Teddy! Stop it, you don't have to do that Santa." Santa looked at Teddy a bit annoyed and a bit; prideful? "Her." He fell silent for a long while, knowing exactly who he was talking about. Kate was just confused "Who?" Nobody answered her though.

She very quickly forgot about that when she was asked to find the reindeer. The boys sat in the car for a minute in silence, still running from the police. "She asked for you for Christmas, you know." Teddy smiled a bit, he knew exactly what to do when he saw her again. He even thought about finding you himself.

~End of Flashback~

A day or two after Christmas you were sitting in your bedroom before a faint knock at the door, thinking it was your mother, you politely say that they could come in. You turn to ask 'your mother' what she needs and your face to face with Teddy Pierce. Honestly he doesn't know whether to laugh or walk out with the look of surprise on your face. He spoke before you had a chance to, "Listen I know I was kind of an asshole last we saw each other and I just want to tell you that well. Damn it this is harder than I thought. I like you. I did all that teasing because I liked you."

You stood there, not really being able to muster up any form of words. "Say something please. Yell at me, tell me i'm a dick and kick me out, do anything!" You worked up as much courage you had in many years, got on your tip toes, leaned in and kissed him. Now it was his turn to be surprised. Your kiss was short and sweet your lips tasted like candy-canes and sugar cookies, his tasting like milk and maple syrup. Pulling back from kiss and him you look away a bit sheepishly and quietly speak, "Were the drawings of you not enough, do I really have to say I like you too?"

He was staring at you, "No they weren't. Say it again. That you like me." He was a bit in disbelief I mean hell Santa is always right about that kind of stuff but, he needed to hear it from you. "I like you too, Teddy Pierce." You smile shyly looking back at him, when you feel a tug. Pulling you closer he speaks quietly a bit embarrassed, "Can I?" You don't know for certain what he is asking but you whisper out a yes.

Almost evidently he kissed you, rougher than you kissed him but still soft. He turns you both around having your back to the door, pressing you against it; his hands on your waist teasingly moving up and down, testing the waters to see if he should go down any farther. You, your hands moving to his hair, tugging a bit; trying to get some type of oxygen. He bites your lip not hard just enough to shock you a bit into opening your mouth, his tongue sliding in slowly. Not wanting to rush or scare you.

Seeing you were fine with it he started to get a bit more greedy. Taking a breath he leaned into you more, his body competently covering yours; his leg moves in between your legs, for "More space" as he phrased it in his head. Lightly moaning, you hungrily pull more on his hair; as his tongue takes the more dominant control. He perks up at your little moan.

He made you do that. Not that loser kid that tries to walk you home everyday, not the kid in geometry who tries to get you to look at him, not the kid always asking for homework answers to start a conversation, not even that kid who would compliment your drawings all the time. HIM. Just when it's about to go farther, his hands moving to your ass, you hear a knock. More like he heard the knock. He leaned back, you leaned to him. He gently grabs you and opens the door face to face with your mother.

"You two alright I didn't really hear any talking or anything, do you guys want some cookies?" Your mom spoke, you honestly have never been more mad at your mother for ruining the moment. Teddy smiled at her "No, maybe next time my mother would get worried." Your mother being the kind lady she is smiled back and told him she would let you two say goodbye before he left.

"We are dating now right," you asked questioningly. He laughed, "I wouldn't kiss you and do all that for you not to be my girlfriend." You smile at him, and he opens your bedroom door to leave. Pulling him back you give him a kiss, a soft and quick one before walking him outside. Walking back to your room you realize something.

Teddy Pierce a guy who stole cars, hung around gangsters, and has failed a class was not your boyfriend he was just a random guy. Your boyfriend was kind, loved photographing and had a passion for it. He loved the snow and would never admit enjoying baking and how much he really loved his sister. To think it all happened because he took that sketchbook of yours and maybe a bit of help from old saint nick.

I hate the ending, but I didn't want this one-shot to be over 1.5K words. Well, I hope you like this, please if you want to re-post this somewhere you give me credits and permission. If you want any more of Teddy Pierce don't be shy, I'm always open to suggestions and as well as help in making my writing more enjoyable. Please let me know your opinions!

#Teddy Pierce #fluff #christmas chronicles #i actually wrote something #shy reader #i actually hate this #i actually love him so much #light angst #making out #kiss me #kisses #i need a miracle #someone save me #someone help #christmas #love him #he is so fine #marry me #i need a life #i love men #gif #ahhh he’s so cute

[mostlysignssomeportents]

$100 billion later, autonomous vehicles are still a car-wreck

Autonomous vehicles were always a shell-game. The last time I wrote about them was a year ago, when Uber declared massive losses. Uber’s profitability story was always, “Sure, we’re losing money now, but once we create self-driving cars, we can fire our drivers and make a bundle.”

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/30/death-to-all-monopoly/#pogo-stick-problem

But Uber never came close to building an AV. After blowing $2.5b, the company invented a car whose mean-distance-to-fatal-crash was half a mile. Uber had to pay another company — $400 million! — to take the self-driving unit off its hands.

It’s tempting to say that Uber just deluded itself into thinking that AVs were a viable, near-term technology. But $2.5b was a bargain, because it allowed the company’s original investors (notably the Saudi royals) to offload their Uber shares on credulous suckers when the company IPOed.

Likewise Tesla, a company that has promised fully self-driving autonomous vehicles “within two years” for more than a decade. The story that Teslas will someday drive themselves is key to attracting retail investors to the company.

Tesla’s overvaluation isn’t solely a product of the cult of personality around Musk, nor is it just that its investors can’t read a balance-sheet and so miss the fact that the company is reliant upon selling the carbon-credits that allow gas-guzzling SUVs to fill America’s streets.

Key to Tesla’s claims to eventual profitability was that AVs would overcome geometry itself, and end the Red Queen’s Race whereby adding more cars to the road means you need more roads, which means everything gets farther apart, which means you need more cars — lather, rinse, repeat.

Geometry hates cars, but Elon Musk hates public transit (he says you might end up seated next to “a serial killer”). So Musk spun this story where tightly orchestrated AVs would best geometry and create big cities served speedy, individualized private vehicles. You could even make passive income from your Tesla, turning it over to drive strangers (including, presumably, serial killers?) around as a taxicab.

But Teslas are no closer to full self-driving than Ubers. In fact, no one has come close to making an AV. In a characteristically brilliant and scorching article for Bloomberg, Max Chafkin takes stock of the failed AV project:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-10-06/even-after-100-billion-self-driving-cars-are-going-nowhere

Chafkin calculates that the global R&D budget for AVs has now exceeded $100 billion, and demonstrates that we have next to nothing to show for it, and that whatever you think you know about AV success is just spin, hype and bullshit.

Take the much-vaunted terribleness of human drivers, which the AV industry likes to tout. It’s true that the other dumdums on the road cutting you off and changing lanes without their turn-signals are pretty bad drivers, but actual, professional drivers are amazing. The average school-bus driver clocks up 500 million miles without a fatal crash (but of course, bus drivers are part of the public transit system).

Even dopes like you and me are better than you may think — while cars do kill the shit out of Americans, it’s because Americans drive so goddamned much. US traffic deaths are a mere one per 100 million miles driven, and most of those deaths are due to recklessness, not inability. Drunks, speeders, texters and sleepy drivers cause traffic fatalities — they may be skilled drivers, but they are also reckless.

But even the most reckless driver is safer than a driverless car, which “lasts a few seconds before crapping out.” The best robot drivers are Waymos, which mostly operate in the sunbelt, “because they still can’t handle weather patterns trickier than Partly Cloudy.”

Waymo claims to have driven 20m miles — that is, 4% of the distance we’d expect a human school-bus driver to go before having a fatal wreck. Tesla, meanwhile, has stopped even reporting how many miles its autopilot has mananged on public roads. The last time it disclosed, in 2019, the total was zero.

Using “deep learning” to solve the problems of self-driving cars is a dead-end. As NYU psych prof Gary Marcus told Chafkin, “deep learning is something similar to memorization…It only works if the situations are sufficiently akin.”

Which is why self-driving cars are so useless when they come up against something unexpected — human drivers weaving through traffic, cyclists, an eagle, a drone, a low-flying plane, a deer, even some pigeons on the road.

Self-driving car huxters call this “the pogo-stick problem” — as in “you never can tell when someone will try to cross the road on a pogo-stick.” They propose coming up with strict rules for humans to make life easier for robots.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/3/17530232/self-driving-ai-winter-full-autonomy-waymo-tesla-uber

But as stupid as this is, it’s even stupider than it appears at first blush. It’s not that AVs are confused by pogo sticks — they’re confused by shadowsand clouds and squirrels. They’re confused by left turns that are a little different than the last left turn they tried.

If you’ve been thinking that AVs were right around the corner, don’t feel too foolish. The AV companies have certainly acted like they believed their own bullshit. Chafkin reminds us of the high-stakes litigation when AV engineer Anthony Levandowski left Google for Uber and was sued for stealing trade secrets.

The result was millions in fines (Levandowski declared bankruptcy) and even a prison sentence for Levandowski (Trump pardoned him, seemingly at the behest of Peter Thiel and other Trumpist tech cronies). Why would companies go to all that trouble if they weren’t serious about their own claims?

It’s possible that they are, but that doesn’t mean we have to take those claims at face-value ourselves. Companies often get high on their own supplies. The litigation over Levandowski can be thought of as a species of criti-hype, Lee Vinsel’s extraordinarily useful term for criticism that serves to bolster the claims of its target:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/02/euthanize-rentiers/#dont-believe-the-hype

Another example of criti-hype: the claims about the risks of ubiquitous drone delivery — which, like AVs, is half-bullshit, half self-delusion:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/05/comprehensive-sex-ed/#droned

Today, Levandowski has scaled back his plans to build autonomous vehicles. Instead, he’s built autonomous dump-trucks that never leave a literal sandbox, and trundle back and forth on the same road all day, moving rocks from a pit to a crusher.

$100 billion later, that’s what the AV market has produced.

Image:

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

Gartner (modified): https://www.gartner.com/en/research/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle

[Image ID: A chart illustrating the Gartner hype-cycle; racing down the slope from the 'peak of inflated expectations' to the 'trough of disillusionment' is the staring eye of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, chased by speed-lines.]

#pluralistic

[scenesofobx]

Guilt Ridden Consciences

Illicit Affairs: Part 3

Summary: Reader takes a maths test, spends time with friends, and then deals with an apologetic and jealous boyfriend, and the fallout that jealously brings. She also finally admits her feelings to a certain Kook.

AN: Apologies that this took so long to be posted, really happy with how it's turned out though & happy to say that part 4 is in the writing process <3

Warnings: mentions of cheating, hurt, a toxic relationship, sex, underage drinking.

Word Count: 4k

-

After my date with Topper, he'd dropped me at home, giving me a kiss goodbye before I hopped out of the car and headed in. The entire time with Topper, the only person I could think of was Rafe.

I spent the rest of my day just binging random 2000s romcom movies, had dinner with my parents and got into bed early enough to be rested for school tomorrow morning.

-

I woke up early, getting done in record time and grabbing a bottle of water on my way out the door, I stopped at Starbucks on my way to school, getting a hot chocolate and a breakfast meal, grabbing a cup of tea for Sarah and a muffin for Pope, as a thank you for the geometry help.

When I finally pulled into school, I grabbed my breakfast, the muffin and the tray of drinks, locked my car and walked to the bench under a tree that Sarah and I always sat at.

"Hey!", I greeted, her eyes darting up to meet mine.

"Hey buttercup", she eyed the two takeaway cups in my hand, "What you got there?", she queried.

"Oh you know, just your favourite morning Starbucks drink....", I gave her a teasing smirk, handing the drink over to her.

"I love you!", she exclaimed, "So... not to be cheesy but spill the tea", she teased, holding up her cup of tea.

"I would tease you but I'm so used to this I'll just let it slide", I laughed at her antics, taking our my breakfast and started eating, I was delaying my next sentence, she'd been quite the entire time I'd eaten my breakfast, silently giving me an expectant stare, "....We're back together", I finally revealed.

"Oh!", Sarah's eyes went wide in shock, I don't think she expected me to say that, "I didn't expect that", okay I was right, she wasn't expecting that..., "I expected an official breakup especially after, you know..."

"I know Sarah but he apologised, he recreated our first date. I was going to tell him, break the news but he kept being so sweet and apologetic and honestly, the last thing I want to do is hurt him!", I exclaimed, sighing out of desperation for my best friends guidance right about now.

"No. Immediately no Y/N/N, you can't stay with him just because you don't want to hurt him!"

"It's not only that Sarah, I love him, okay? He's not always the best but surely right now he's been a better person than I have and that's... I love him"

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself of the fact not that you're stating a fact..."

I hate when she's right..., thankfully before she had time to expand more on her thoughts, the bell rang, signalling the start of school, and the test I'd been dreading. Even though I was more prepared than I've ever been, I stilled had a knot of stress in my chest. I stopped at my locker to drop my books I didn't need off and as soon as the door to my locker opened I saw a bouquet of my favourite flowers staring back at me. I opened the little note tied to the stems, "Good luck on your test babe, you've got this!", what a sweet thing for him to do... I tried to ignore the memory of him saying I shouldn't even try because I'd fail anyway and just pretended everything was alright and carried on walking to class.

I finished the test before the hour was over, I double checked my answers, packed up my things, dropped the test on my teachers test and walked out, going back to the bench where Sarah and I were this morning.

I texted Pope, who I knew would be writing now too.

"Meet me after you're done? I'm by the bench that I always sit at with Sarah"

Not a minute later I got a text back,

"On my way!"

I heard his footsteps and looked up from my tiktok fyp.

"Po!", I got up giving him a big hug which he glady returned, "I did it, I was confident and it's all thanks to you!"

"I'm so proud of you! Seriously though, you've got to give yourself credit too Y/N/N, you're smart even if some asshole Kook says different", his tone was serious, he cared so much and I was beyond grateful to call him a friend.

"Thanks P, I got you a muffin to say thank you!"

"Chocolate chip?"

"Of course", I gave him his muffin, which I knew was his favourite flavour and he immediately dug into it, making me let out a short laugh, "Oh and uh... the asshole Kook is still my boyfriend", I was praying he wasn't disappointed in me.

"Firstly, thank you for the muffin, secondly... sorry for calling your boyfriend an asshole", he gave me a teasing smile, I was grateful for his sweet, playful side and I grateful that even though my boyfriend was one of his least favourite people in the world, he still apologised about calling him an ass, that's Pope for you.

"You're welcome and... thanks, I uh- I appreciate that, really!"

"Sure... so anyway, I should go, I've gotta meet JJ, but thanks again for the muffin Y/N/N"

"Anytime", giving him a kind smile which he mirrored before walking away, sending a small wave my way before he turned the corner, going out of sight.

It was weird, sitting here waiting for Sarah, my brain kept travelling to a certain Kook and it wasn't the one my brain should be fixated on but you can't control your feelings I guess...

Before I could get even more in my head about how much of a terrible person I was, Sarah joined me at the bench, we chatted about the test and then headed off to English together.

Little did I know that the certain Kook I was thinking of was thinking of me too.

"Hey babe!", Sarah pulled me from my daydreaming and back to reality, "You okay?"

"Hey, yeah, no yeah I'm... I'm good!", I reassured her.

"Okay then... how'd you find the test?", she moved on to a different topic even though I knew she didn't believe me.

"Really good, Pope helped a hell of a lot"

"See, ditching your ass of a boyfriend was worth it", she smiled at me, reassuring me I'd been in the right about the whole Topper situation, and also mirroring what Pope had called Topper mere minutes ago.

"Yep, definitely was! Uh anyway... how did you find it?"

"You know we, I'm a pro at this math stuff!", she joked and we both laughed at her silliness, "So I'm gonna pretend that you weren't daydreaming about my brother, and you're going to pretend that I'm good at maths so I don't have to feel like a failure, yeah?"

"Yeah", I laughed, "And for what it's worth, I aren't a failure honey, far from!", I pulled her in for a comforting hug which she gladly accepted.

-

The rest of the school week dragged on and on. I found myself daydreaming about Rafe more than once, thinking about him in class, on the rides home from school with Sarah or Topper thinking about how I wished Rafe was the one driving me home, thinking about him when I looked at the empty table next to me at dinner, or the empty space in my bed where he should be laying. Let's just say that my mind was completely and utterly consumed by any and everything Rafe Cameron. I'd been doing my best at avoiding Topper as much as I could this week, wanting to avoid the guilt I felt when I was with him, the guilt that I'd been with someone that wasn't him (even though we on a break, it still just felt like cheating), been thinking nonstop about someone that wasn't him, been wishing I was with Rafe and not him... the guilt just kept building up every time he was near and I hated it. So when Sarah invited me to a party, I knew that I had to go.

"Is Topper coming?", I asked her while getting ready in her room.

"It's a party Y/N/N... on a Friday night, of course he'll be there!", she laughed at my weirdness, of course Topper would be there, along with Kelce and, well Rafe.

"Right, duh!", I physically faceplate myself, "I don't know why I even asked"

"It's okay, really, I get it", she gave me a reassuring smile, she'd always have my back and I was thankful for that. "It's not exactly fun seeing your boyfriend and the guy you're in love with in the same vercinity"

"I don't love him Sarah! I just-"

"You just can't stop thinking about him, your time spent together, how much you wish you were with him when he's not around, and you don't want to call that love? Y/N that's exactly how I am with John B, and I love him so... sorry to break it to you but that's love!"

"Oh my God, I love him", I placed my hands into my palms, she's right I really do love him!

"Yep, as you can tell, I clearly saw this coming"

"Sure you did honey, sure you did", I rolled my eyes playfully at her.

"No, really I swea-", she was cut off by a knock on the door, "Come in"

The person we'd literally just been speaking about showed his face.

"Hey, uh- you guys ready to head out? Topper and Kelce are waiting downstairs", his eyes connected with mine as my boyfriend's name slipped out of his mouth.

"Yeah, we'll be there in a second", Sarah chimed in.

At that his eyes were off of mine and the door was closed again. His footsteps gradually fading away.

"Thank you"

"No stress, figured you needed a second after your.... uh, your realisation and that you'll have to share a car with the two of them, but hey, I'll be there!"

"You're the best... let's get out of here"

We left hand in hand, walking down the stairs to my inevitable doom.

"Hey babe", Topper said, pulling me into him by my waist, placing a kiss on my cheek.

I smiled timidly up at him, looking over at Rafe, wishing he was the person I was standing this close to and not Topper.

Rafe gave me back the same look I was giving him, a look of longing, and by the look on Sarah's face, we weren't doing a very good job of being subtle.

Sarah cleared her throat, "Anyway, we should should get going so we aren't late"

At that we all headed out and to Topper's jeep. Topper drove, Sarah insisting I sit next to her in the back, leaving Rafe to take the passenger seat, again... I'm so thankful for her!

We got to the party within five minutes, it being on The Eight made travel times quick.

The first thing I spotted when I got inside were the infamous Pogues, the people I'm lucky enough to call friends and the people my boyfriend, well... doesn't exactly like, at all.

"I thought this was a Kook only party Sarah", Topper grunted, the annoyance of having to share the party with Pogues evident in his voice.

"I never said that Topper, you assumed... that's on you champ", I snickered at her nickname for him.

"What's so funny, huh?", his grip on my waist tightened the tiniest amount, unnoticeable to anyone but me.

"Nothing", I smiled sweetly up at him, God he's just such an ass sometimes, she made a joke, I laughed, it's not that deep Topper.

"Anyway", she looked at Topper and I awkwardly, I'm gonna grab a drink, so..."

"I'll join you", anything to get out of this annoying interaction.

"Be careful", now sure he meant it to be careful in general but it went further than that, he was warning me not to cross a line tonight. Well...

"Messaged received", and... ignored Top, I thought while I smiled up at him again, my smile as sweet as honey.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Good, we don't need another fight, now do we babe?"

I leaned up to meet his ear, "No... we don't"

He kissed my cheek and let his grip on my waist loosen until it disappeared completely.

Sarah and I got to the kitchen, pouring two rounds of shots and downing them in seconds. She then requested that I make her a random mix of whatever looked good while she went to the bathroom.

"Well if it isn't my favourite Kook", John B's voice pulled me from my focus onto the cups in front of me and to his welcoming smile.

"I thought Sarah was a Kook", I teased.

"Nah, she's an honorary Pogue"

"Aah, and I'm what, just a Kook then?"

"Yeah, but with some super awesome Pogue friends", JJ chimed in as he walked into the kitchen and have me a quick hug, clearly having overhead part of our conversation. He grabbed a beer and was out of my sight as quickly as he was in it.

"He's right...", John B backed up our blonde friend, I laughed at both boys comedic nature, "You having fun?"

"I mean we just got here so... not really but I'm sure I will, you?"

"Yeah it's been goo-"

"-Oh shit wait... I'm so sorry to interupt you JB, but isn't this 'Shake It Off'?", both of our eyes widened in realisation of our song being played over the radio.

A few years ago, when I was at a bonfire party, I'd been super drunk and had started playing Taylor's song Shake It Off, relating to the lyrics, relating more than ever to the line "I'm dancin' on my own, I'll make the moves up as I go", and before I knew it John B had joined in to dance with me and ever since that night, whenever it came on, we'd drop everything and dance together, it was the one thing we had that made our friendship as strong as it was, it kept us bonded.

John B laughed before grabbing me by the arm and gently leading me to the dance floor, we immediately started goofing around and dancing completely randomly, just doing our own thing.

"I'M JUST GONNA SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE IT OFF, SHAKE IT OFF", we both screamed along to the iconicness that was Taylor Swift lyrics.

I'd failed to notice Tooper's eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.

"And to the fella over there with the hella good hair", I pointed at John B, "Won't you come on over baby", I pretend to reel him in, both of us laughing away as he pretended to be caught on my line, "We can shake, shake, shake", Jb and I both moving crazily on every 'shake'. Now I get that to anyone who didn't know the strictly sibling like bond John B and I shared, this could seem sort of flirty but everyone knew that John B and I were strictly platonic friends, that we always had been and always would be. The Pogues knew, Sarah too, and I assumed Topper did too because when the song came on in the car a few weeks ago I told him all about the silly routine John B and I had made up when we drunk off our asses and I assumed he'd listened to me, his 'aah that's cool babe' being the reassurance I'd needed that he did, in fact know about it. Sarah had returned from the bathroom and was recording our dance, laughing at our goofy antics.

I can now only assume that our dance had pissed Toppper off because next thing I knew my arm was being harshly pulled and I'm being dragged into the mostly secluded kitchen.

"Everyone out!", Topper demanded to the few people hanging out in the kitchen, when they made no direct move to leave he raised his voice to a shout, "NOW!", which caused me to flinch slightly.

"What the hell Topper?"

"What do you mean "what the hell, Topper?" huh?", he mimicked my voice, "I'm the one that should be asking that Y/N, you're dancing with your best friends boyfriend like it's nothing, like you don't have a boyfriend yourself!"

"Oh my God Topper, do you have to be so fucking jealous all the damn time!? His is literally the closest thing I have to a brother, we made up that routine years ago at a bonfire and we always do it when the song plays, I literally told you this!"

"How am I supposed to remember everything little thing you tell me, huh? I don't have some photographic memory or some shit Y/N!"

"You act like I tell you trillions of random things all the time", I was feeling a bit defenseless because of his harsh tone of voice.

"Because you do! You say so much useless crap and it's tirin-"

"-Woah, let's all take a breather okay?", Rafe's voice broke the heavy tension present in the kitchen.

"She's flirting with another guy right in front of me, Rafe!"

"I wasn't flirting, fuck Topper how many times must I tell you that John B is like a brother to me!?"

"Okay you two, let's just stop, alright? Top, to clear this all up, she wasn't flirting with John B, it's their thing, they've always done it"

"What the fuck Rafe, you're gonna defend her right now? What happened to bros over hoes?"

"Now I'm a hoe", I laughed unable to believe the shit coming out of his mouth at this point.

"She's not a hoe Topper, just... just go home, okay?"

"No, you know what... I have to ask, what was that look you two shared earlier, hmm? In the foyer at Tannyhill, I saw it, Sarah and Kelce saw it, I mean you'd have to be blind to not see it, so... what was that?"

Okay two options here, we come clean right here and now and cause a huge public fight or do some light lying and delay the inevitable fight for a more private location, preferably where alcohol isn't involved. Yeah no, definitely the latter.

"Nothing..."

"Really? So I was just seeing things then?"

"I don't know Topper, but that look was nothing", I defend.

"Just tell me the truth"

"I am telling you the truth", I am such a terrible person!

"Tell me... No. Cut the shit, just tell me the truth"

"Okay, fine. I can't do this right now", I threw my hands up, completely over Topper's constant interogration.

"Is that like your go to line every time we fight or...?", Topper mocked me.

"You know, that's soo funny Topper!", I rolled my eyes and walked away, going to the bathroom to take a minute to be alone to calm down.

-

Thankfully the bathroom on the second floor was empty so I quickly went in and locked in behind me. Staring at myself in the mirror I tried to find the version of myself who didn't lie and gaslight people, this wasn't me, this wasn't who I was meant to be, I'm meant to be better. My spirarling thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I swear Topper if this is yo-", I rambled while walking over to the door, opening it, 'you're definitely not Topper"

"No, I hope that's okay", Rafe's sweet voice filled my ears, "I just wanted to check on you"

"It's definitely okay, more than okay", I smiled kindly at him.

"Good. I was hoping you'd say that!", he mirrored my smile like he's done numerous times before.

"Uh, come in", I gestured for him to enter, causing me to laugh at my statement. You're inviting him into a bathroom not your house Y/N, internal face palm moment right now. He laughed too, the sound making the butterflies in my stomach flutter. The sound of the door locking behind him did not go unnoticed but it did go unmentioned, we both knew from the look in the foyer earlier today that we would be spending some alone time together one way or another.

"You know, I really thought alcohol would explain Topper being such a dick but he said that he's barely had any so, I'm sorry he's been such an ass... again!"

"Thanks Rafe, it's uh, it's okay, you know? I just... Topper's jealous of me and John B literally just goofing around and us making eye contact, imagine his reaction to finding out that we had sex!", I exclaimed.

"You feel guilty?", Rafe asks.

"Don't you?"

"I do, I just didn't know if you did too"

"I do, but not because I did it Rafe, I feel guilty because I loved every second of it but I know that you didn't and that's okay but I I had to te-"

"-I did too"

"What?", I asked taken aback by his statement.

"I tried to tell you that the other night but you interrupted me saying it meant nothing to you either so I chickened out of telling you"

"If you loved every second of it then why would you help Topper plan a date to win me back?"

"Because silly, I'd helped Topper with the idea before you'd come over. He'd texted the group chat right after you left and I'd helped him, not knowing that I'd be having the best night of my life with you mere hours later"

"The best night of your life, huh?", I asked him with a teasing smirk on my face.

"You see I could play what I said off but I'm tired of hiding my feelings for you. That night meant everything to me and not just because of the sex, which was incredible, but what's even more incredible is your personality, your intelligence, your mesmerising laugh and your completely flawless beauty. I love you with every fibre of my being YN!"

There was a moment of deafing silence, all I could focus on was Rafe's captivating nervous smile. I took a small stride toward him and connected our lips, the pace starting slow and filled with nothing but love, trying to convey every emotion I felt into this kiss. He was quick to fasen the pace of it, deepening the kiss.

I eventually pulled back for air and took the opportunity to do some confessing of my own, "I love you too Rafe, more than I could ever put into words"

His infamous smirk made its way onto his perfect face and he lifted my up effortlessly and placed me onto the counter, going in to kiss me again before I even had a second to catch my breath.

In no time my dress was ripped off and was lying on the bathroom floor, along with his shirt. His pants came next, leaving both of us in just our underwear, kisses being exchanged in a needy manner.

Rafe and I have this tenancy to not be able to stay away from one another, since Saturday evening, all I'd been dreaming about was this... this exact moment with him. The second my eyes connected with his in the foyer at Tannyhill I knew that I was done for, that one way or another I needed to spend time with him, and while this isn't exactly how I'd expected us spending time together, I was not going to complain.

Before any more items of clothing could be removed, there was a knock at the bathroom door causing both Rafe and I to tense up and try communicate with our eyes that clearly only one of us could open the door and that we were praying that the person knocking had seen Rafe and Rafe alone go into the bathroom, as he was the only quickly pulling up his pants and walking over to the door, ready to face whomever was on the other side.

♡

Taglist for the series:

@storytellingwitht @dreamsinshadesofblue @katsu28 @itsmytimetoodream @ailee-celeste @id0ntcare-br0 @rafeslineofcoke <3

(comment, send an ask or message me if you'd like to be added to the series taglist)

#obx #obx fluff #obx angst #obx imagine #obx netflix #rafe x female!mc #rafe x reader #rafe x you #rafe x y/n #rafe cameron #rafe obx #rafe imagine #outerbanks netflix #outerbanks rafe #outer banks #rafe outer banks #outer banks imagine

[squirmydonnie]

Do not feel like a person. I am just things I watched at the time.

Without my imaginary there isn't much.

I am a very slow worker. I don't understand. And I also take too long.

1st time that there isn't much in here. Its mostly just me.

Every once in awhile something slips out, but I've managed to stop it.

If I finish my work now, I can sleep for 4 hours.

School doesn't start until 8:30, but someone has to drop me off to another house 1st.

Gives me time to sleep when I get there, but normally I have a hard time sleeping there and I stay awake.

Next I can sleep in the car.

Then in the 2 red chairs outside the office.

And after I can sleep before class if I have enough time, or have no questions.

I have not had enough sleep lately and I keep sleeping through my first class, which is geometry.

No one woke me up for the test so I missed some a lot of minutes.

I tried to stay awake today, so I'd be able to finish my paper, but I was too tired.

I draw myself with this kind of chibi-like head, but in reality my head is quite small. It's easier for me to draw myself with a larger head because it helps me balance out the body.

I had my pictures taken for the passport and my head did not even fit in the circle.

I never really believe it when people say my head is small.

People also say that I have a baby face. My NBB loves to remind me that a look exactly the same as when I was younger.

When I say "my NBB" its sounds like I'm saying my girlfriend or something.

It reminds me of BFF as well.

I hate calling people my best friends. I try to avoid those kinds of statements. I'm to scared to hurt someone's feelings. I did this when I was little too, and I wouldn't say that they were all my best friends either. I would just say friends.

If someone called me their best friend that was fine, but I can't say it back. Too scared.

I had art stuff for 2 summers. This art stuff was not the governor school.

Art stuff was nice the 1st time, but the 2nd time my NBB was there.

It made me very stressed.

If she did something nice I would get frustrated and confused. I was freaked out by it.

I left my phone so she called my mom for me. I cried because I felt like I was being a bad friend. Because she had done something for me.

But I do things for her all the time, I'm being unfair.

Now I think I may only have 3 hours. I cannot do work. My mind is thinking.

ADHD has a lack of dopamine. This work gives me no dopamine. I don't care.

It just makes it harder for me to do.

I don't feel sleepy now, I don't exactly feel tired either. But I know I will in the morning. I'm not sure how I'll deal with it.

#cheeseburgerboy #cookie12 #i slipped up on daydreaming for less than a minute today. it was gelatin #gelatin is one of the foods that Janiah eats often so i looked it up after hearing the word in a video #and then i daydreamed for maybe 5 seconds. it wasn't really a nice 5 seconds because i removed myself from it. but it was familiar #janiah

[vamp-stamp-fics]

Night walk

Tags: monster/monster hunter au, steddie + ronanace, Vampire! Eddie, werewolf! Robin, monster hunter! Nancy + Steve , Demogorgons & vecna still exist In this au just supernatural monsters are now added to the mix lol, fluff ig

Summary: while Eddie & Robin go on a walk in the woods, Nancy warns them about staying out at night

A/n: this fic's based off a Twitter post I saw lol. also most of my future monster hunter au fics are probably not gonna be connected and be standalones. Yes they're probably gonna have Steddie + Ronance centered around most of (if not all!) The fics. The most I might have them connected is if I make a pt 2 to one of them.

It was quiet night in the woods. Around 3:00 am. Witching hour is what some would call it, but for Robin and Eddie it was the perfect time to walk in the woods.

Robin stretched as she looked over to Eddie "so how's it going with Steve?" He shrugged "well there's some slight progress. One time I called him "big boy" and man you should've seen his face, all flustered. Took him a back I say. How's things going with Nance? You made a first move yet?" Robin sighed. "Not really. I mean Christ sake Eds I have a crush on THE monster hunter"

"how'd the hell that happen?"

"well it's kind of a long story. Me and Vickie were at band practice and our teacher needed to get something from somewhere so he asked me to do it so I went to where I was supposed to and then bam! The most prettiest girl I'd ever seen right there in the newspaper room. Who so happens to be the person trying to find me"

"wow" Eddie scoffed. "You are fucked"

"Exactly! If she knew I was the thing she was hunting I'd be dead fucking meat"

Nancy had been hunting a certain werewolf for months now. She had been called in for a complaint of a wolf like creature terrorizing Hawkins. When in reality Robin just accidentally slammed into someone's car while it was a full moon. She didn't know how it happened.

Maybe she tripped on her tail, she was prone to doing that. Though maybe it was because she was more clumsy on a full moon in general. She didn't really know, half the time she couldn't remember what the hell happened when she turned.

"So how's it with Jason? Has he found out you're the big mean scary serial killing vampire that's terrorizing Hawkins? Because y'know playing a board game with a bunch of high schoolers is just what's gonna kill us all" Eddie snorted "okay smart ass look who's talking, Hawkins thinks a giant dog is what's terrorizing it's citizens. But other than his usual name calling I don't think he suspects anything"

"he's stupid for that one. Calls you a freak but doesn't suspect a thing"

"Exactly, and I'M supposedly the dumbass"

"I mean c'mon Eds what it's your 2nd? 3rd? Year at Hawkins?"

"listen, geometry is really fucking hard. I hope whoever invented it is burning in the 7th ring of hell as we speak" Robin hummed in agreement.

People and monster hunters alike stereotyped Eddie and Robin to be sworn enemies due to the myth of vampires and werewolves constantly at each others throats. It was called a myth for reason. Robin didn't know what it be like without Eddie. Just like she didn't know where she'd be without Steve.

Steve

It'd been a while since Robin had told him she was a lesbian and he immediately accepted her. She wondered what he'd do if he knew she was...her. if he found out that she was the supposed creature of the night destroying Hawkins and hurting innocent people. That's what the paper said at least. She'd barely hurt a fly. Ok well that was a lie Robin hated bugs but it's a metaphor alright?

Would he treat her the same way he'd treated her when she first came out to him? She doubted it. Being a lesbian and being a werewolf were two completely different things. She could already imagine him with shock and fear in his eyes, grabbing some kind of weapon to defend himself, Screaming at her to get away from him-

Robin closed her eyes. Trying to shake the horrifying vision of the possible truth if Steve found out. "You okay?" Eddie questioned. She shook her head "yeah, yeah everything. Everything's fine" he knew she was lying and probably worried about something. But he didn't push it, not wanting to upset her more than she already seemed to be.

Snap!

Eddie and Robin became alert at the sound of a twig snapping in half. "Did you here that?" Robin asked. "Uh yeah I heard it. Maybe it's max-"

"max wouldn't be out here this late at night. She's usually at home by 10 at least" Robin said, petrified at what was out there. Another snap. Robin turned her heel, ready to run when the barrel of rifle was in her face. She fell as she screamed "PLEASE DON'T KILL US WE WERE JUST GOING ON A WALK-

"a walk? Why the hell are you two going on a walk this late?" Robin recognized the voice immediately. It was Nancy Wheeler. Hawkins most famous monster hunter. "Shit Nance you nearly scared us half to death, thought you were A monster or something" Eddie exclaimed. Nancy threw her rifle on her shoulder and lended her hand to Robin, who quickly grabbed it as she scrambled to her feet. She dusted herself off "yeah Nancy, thought you were that werewolf Hawkins complaining about"

"real smooth" Eddie mumbled. Robin elbowed him. He grunted in response. "No it was just my turn to look over this area of the woods tonight. Now can you tell me why exactly you two are out here?"

"Well like Robin said we're out here for a walk" Eddie said.

"this late at night?"

Robin looked to Eddie then back to Nancy "what Eddie is trying to say is that me and him were pulling an all nighter and I kinda started getting a migraine because y'know geometry is just so hard-"

"really hard" Eddie added

"Extremely hard! So I suggested hey why don't we go out for a walk?"

"at 3 in morning. While its dark outside?" Nancy questioned, starting to get suspicious. "We both wanted to get fresh air. Y'know where Eddie lives it's extremely dusty, and I have really bad allergies" Robin said hoping it make an convincing case.

It did (somehow) because Nancy sighed in relief. "Alright, well I'm glad you're both okay. Been having more reports of monster sightings around in these woods. Anyways you two stay safe out here. Maybe go back inside, can't be too sure what's out here" Robin nodded to her as she waved as Nancy left. Once she was out of sight both of them sighed in relief, Robin leaning on the tree "holy shit I can't believe that actually worked"

"yeah I thought it wasn't considering you were talking a little too much"

"what does that mean?"

"it means if someone questions you, you keep it short as you can" Robin scoffed "you're one to talk. Kept interrupting me. She was starting to think something was up"

"yeah well good thing miss monster hunter didn't right?" Eddie smiled in a smug manner. Robin rolled her eyes. "Whatever suckhead"

"rude"

"she was right though, We should probably get back. Don't know until another monster hunter comes along and isn't convinced by our terrible lying"

Eddie pointed at Robin "I'm not a terrible liar. If anything you're the shitty liar" saying as he walked off. Robin quickly slugged him in the shoulder as she followed him back to the trailer park.

#Vamp-Stamp-fics #Stranger things monster/monster hunter Au #stranger things season 4 #stranger things s4 #stranger things #eddie munson stranger things #ronance fic #steddie fic #fanfic #fanfiction #new fanfic #fanfictions #fanfiction community #new fanfiction #fan fic blog #gay fanfiction #gay writer #fanfics #fanfic community #fanfiction blog #fic blogging #ficblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #eddie stranger things #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x yn

[aclosetfan]

parasomnia bonus content

a/n: this is an extra scene that I wrote to get out of my system and isn't totally "canon" with the main story, but I thought it was cute!

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

“So, like,” Buttercup started, leaning on the hood of Bubbles car, enjoying her blue slushy from the gas station, “uh, ya know that new kid or whatever.”

Bubbles, who was close to finishing her own blue slushy, looked up with wide eyes and tilted her head in question, “Who?”

“You know, the new guy, uh, like the tall one? He’s in our lunch hour.”

“We have a new kid?” Bubbles asked as Blossom smiled, her teeth stained red, “Wait the guy who hangs out with those freshmen?”

“Yeah,” Buttercup nodded, playing with the straw of her slushy, trying not to make eye contact, “dark hair. Green eyes.”

“Wait, who?” Bubbles pouted, “Why don’t I know him!”

“You do,” Blossom snorted, rolling her eyes, “remember that freshman who had the meltdown in lunch two months ago? Long red hair? Won’t take the hat off? The one who jumped up on the table?”

“Oh yeah!” Bubbles nodded, “Poor lil’ guy. He was cranky.”

“The tall one who yanked him off the table, that’s the new kid she’s talking about.” Blossom explained, “Well, all three of them are new, but you get it.”

“Yeah,” Buttercup nodded, smiling, “Him—wait there’s three? Who’s the third?”

Blossom shrugged, “He’s like blond or something, I don’t really know.”

“Wait!” Bubbles snapped her fingers together, slamming her slushy down, “That really cute guy who like never talks! Mei and Rob have geometry with him.”

“Yes!” Buttercup pointed at Bubbles, “Him! His name’s Butch. He’s in my gym class!”

“Ugh, you’re so lucky! What’s he like?” Bubbles jumped up and down, and Buttercup’s cheeks warmed.

“I dunno. He’s just quiet, but he can run. We ran the mile today and he was only like half a field behind me by the time I finished.” She shrugged, and Bubbles cooed, “And he’s cuuutttee!”

“Why are you getting all blushy?” Blossom pointed out with a toothy smile, knocking her shoulder into Buttercup.

Buttercup covered her face with her hands, “I’m totally not.”

“You totally are!” Bubbles squealed, “Oh my gosh, dos’t my eyes deceive me? Does Buttercup-ith have a crush-ith?”

Buttercup groaned from behind her hands, slipping down the hood of the car, “Noooo.”

“She does!” Bubbles cheered and Blossom giggled.

“He’s literally all the other girls in gym talk about.” Buttercup mumbled, “They’ve just infected my mind!”

“Oh please,” Blossom snorted, “you always have a thing for the mysterious types.”

“And he’s athletic,” Bubbles giggled, “a mysterious jock. Totally your type.”

Buttercup was quiet behind her hands until an embarrassing giggle escaped her mouth, “Oh, shut up. Anyway, me and the new kid, like, made eye contact today.”

“Shut up.” Bubbles gasped, slapping Buttercup’s arm, “What kind of eye contact?”

“It was just eye contact!” Buttercup dropped her hands from her face, “It wasn’t anything big, but he’s never done that before with like anyone.”

“Oh my god.” Bubbles eyes went comically wide, “He loves you.”

“No.” Blossom rolled her eyes, “It was eye contact.”

“Okay, but maybe, right?” Buttercup ignored Blossom, “Like it could mean something?”

“You’ve never talked to him!” Blossom argued.

“Oh, it definitely means something.” Bubbles nodded quite seriously.

Blossom shook her head with a scoff, “You two are ridiculous.”

“You’ll understand when you’re older.” Buttercup patted Blossom on the head, who quickly slapped her hands away.

“Now you shut up!” Blossom pouted as Buttercup and Bubbles laughed, “That has nothing to do with anything.”

“You’ll go through puberty one day, Blossom. You’re just a late bloomer.” Bubbles teased.

Buttercup nodded, ribbing the red head, “Yeah, you’re going to really blossom, just give it another year or so.”

“Ugh, I hate you both.” Blossom sniffed, turning away.

“You love us!” Bubbles reached around and gave Bloss’s ponytail a playful tug.

“Okay, for real though,” Buttercup looked at her best friends seriously, “want to know the bad part?”

The smiles slipped off their faces.

“Bad part?” Blossom asked.

Bubbles sighed, “He has a girlfriend?”

“No.” Buttercup shook her head, “Worse. He’s friends with Mitch.”

There was a sympathetic groan from her friends.

“Mitch Mitchelson?” Blossom deadpanned, “I literally forgot about him. Eck, what does that say about Butch?”

“Mitch is so annoying,” Bubbles nodded, “and mean, and gross, and I—ugh Butch is totally less cute now. Definitely tainted by association.”

Buttercup took a long sip from her slushy, and then sighed with a shrug, “Yeah, it’s whatever. He probably doesn’t even know I exist anyway. Still, a nice face to look at, right?”

“Definitely!”

“Mm-hm!” 

#parasomnia #bonus content #ppg greens #my writing

[sketch-mer-6195]

Most know me as a rather fun and happy person here on tumblr. And you’re right... somewhat. I try. I really do. And I can put up that mask that I treasure the most to hide behind as none of you can see me physically. It makes me feel protected in a sense that none of you can read my face or look into my eyes, or read my body language.

I think many of you would read me pretty well at first glance. I’m not a happy person, I don’t smile; if I do, it never feels genuine anymore. I cry so much more behind the screen and alone in my room. I’m so far behind on life that I know as soon as my father passes, I will too. I know I can’t make it. I’ve accepted that. I have so much hatred towards life now that I never had before.

I was so optimistic and curious with everything and anything I can get my hands on. Now... I’m lucky to keep a small hobby for a month before my family starts calling me out to do something better with my life.

And to a point, they’re right. I have no goals, no college degree, a dead-end job that I hate, no real money to call my own, and no place that is under my name. Not even a car that is under my name. I’m just a fucking thing. Nothing special. Yeah my dad says it, yeah people say I’m great at what I do. But it doesn’t help me. It’s bullshit to me. 

I have no looks. I’ve been called a man, lesbian, transgender because of my looks. And it’s getting to the point where I don’t want a significant other. Before, I was craving for it. Now, I’d be lucky for a guy that is not a fucking hick crazy asshole who’s already has kids from a previous shit relationship with a crazy ass ex, looks at me and doesn’t see me as a sister. Or “that friend.”

I just want my time to be done now. I’m 27 and I’m exhausted with my life. I have nothing to live for. Except my brother who’s already ahead of me! My little brother is going to be more successful than me!! I Hate Knowing That! I want to be the one.... not number two. Am I selfish?! I’ve been the one who has been fucking berated and gotten my own confidence shot down to hell. Pushed and pushed with my studies and everything. I know I fucking suck at mathimatics! I have a fucking C in Geometry and just passed the exam by the skin off my teeth. And yet my brother is a fucking A-B Honor Roll... Meanwhile I’m just here... 

Just...here...ranting and venting because I have no one to talk to unless they get to point out all my goddamn flaws. I just want to be left alone. Or have someone physically here that won’t judge me. Just listen...

I want to scream, I want to turn someone into a bruised mess, I need to blow off steam. But it’s not lady like to be this way. I can’t be frustrated, I can’t be mad, I can’t do this, I can’t do that. I’m fucking tired of feeling all this. I’m tired. I’m done... and I can’t go to anyone... I have no friends here at home.

So, I put on my mask and try to numb my pain and hope I can smile. Even just a little just to make my day bearable....

#mercedes rant #i just hurt #and i'm tired