#i think this is in response to a post from yesterday but either way yes friend marriage is v valid

[nickfowlerrr]

all i want

pairing: andy barber x curvy!reader

words: 1.7k

warnings: 18+ only. cockwarming. little tiny bit of teasing. liiiittle bit of a daddy kink.

notes: shockingly enough, this was meant to be a drabble. it very much is not. enjoy!

inspired by this txt post, this is one of seven characters i’m writing this prompt of sorts for. thank you in advance for reading and as always, reblogs and comments and welcome and so appreciated.

It’s all perfectly innocent to start the night, really it is. Your yearly tradition of watching Miracle on 34th Street after trimming the tree is one that neither of you would want to skip out on. And so far this season, between the trial that has had Andy so stressed and your long shifts at the hospital, there has been quite a bit you’ve ended up skipping.

You paid to have the Christmas lights strung up instead of decorating yourselves, the Christmas tree this year came from the grocery store parking lot Andy passed on his way home yesterday instead of the tree farm you always went to to chop down your own, and your annual Christmas Eve party is a no go this year, too. You’re both too busy, too stressed, too tired.

Andy sits on the couch, getting the movie ready to play, while you’re in the kitchen. You slide the bowl of cookie dough you whipped up into the fridge to chill for an hour or two before baking right as the kettle begins to whistle.

You walk back over to the stove, moving it off the burner before carefully pouring the boiling water into the waiting mugs of coco powder.

“Andy, do you want marshmallows?” you call, knowing your voice will carry into the next room. You stir the powder as you wait for his response, plopping a few mini marshmallows into your mug before your face scrunches up a bit. You turn, ready to peek into the living room to repeat yourself, and jump a bit as you’re met with Andy leaning in the doorway.

His arms are crossed over his chest and you are momentarily distracted by how big his arms look in his sweater. You know it’s soft and you can’t wait to cuddle into him and finally have a chance to relax while you watch the movie.

Your eyes flit to his and then you finally see the look of incredulity on his handsome, bearded face. You’re about to ask him what’s wrong, but he speaks before you can.

“Did you just call me Andy?” he asked, sounding disgusted and a little distraught.

You gape a moment, thinking back to what it was you said, and almost immediately realize that you indeed did. You flounder for only a second before shaking your head, “No,” you lie, “I dont think so.”

“Yes,” he states, pushing off the doorframe and starting toward you, “you did.”

You back up, bumping into the counter behind you as he stalks closer. You fight your smile as a thrill runs through you when he cages you in, his arms either side of you as he stands right before you. He leaves almost no space between you and you can see in his eyes what you’re sure he can see in yours.

Longing, desire, and maybe just a hint of desperation…

It’s been two weeks since you have had anything close to alone time together. Your shifts have been all over the place and you’re either heading to work as Andy is coming home, or leaving just as he gets up to start getting ready for his day. Even your weekends have been taken over. Andy has been working nonstop, but you both promised each other that this weekend would be just for you two. No work, no parties, no distractions. The closest thing to intimate you’ve gotten in two weeks has been your parting kisses. You’ve only shared the bed a few days this past week and you’ve both been so exhausted that the furthest you’ve gotten has been cuddling.

So right here and now, that look in his eyes, you know you’re both thinking about the same thing.

“I’m sorry,” you offer in your attempt to appease him.

“You’re sorry …,” he prompts, waiting for you to address him.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” you press against him, a smile playing on your lips. “Babe…honey…love,” you continue with the pet names, your fingers dancing across his sweater clad chest before you lean in real close, your lips against his ear before you whisper breathily, “Daddy.”

The sharp breath he takes at the title has you biting your lip to stop the smirk threatening to break out.

You let a hand come up, squeezing the back of his neck gently before your fingers find his hair, almost playing with it as you massage his neck a bit. Andy drops his head as his eyes close under your touch, pressing you back against the counter as he leans into you. He lets out a heavy sigh as your other hand comes up to cup his cheek.

“You’re so tense,” you say, leaning in to kiss him softly. He returns the kiss, his arms coming closer and wrapping around you, pulling you flush to him.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs against your lips, your noses brushing.

“I’ve missed you, too,” you kiss him gently once more before letting him go, turning back around to the mugs of coco waiting for you.

Andy doesn’t let you go, just watches as you finish making the cups.

You lean your head back, “marshmallows?” you ask again, earning a smile and a nod from him.

-

The still warm mugs of hot chocolate are on the coffee table before you as you snuggle into Andy.

That tingle you got earlier in the kitchen still hasn’t gone away as you hug Andy, his arm holding you to him in turn.

You don’t want to force anything. You’re both tired, that’s obvious, but god, you miss him. All of him.

You don’t even really want to have sex right now, you just want to be closer. You need him closer.

His eyes are open but you can see the exhaustion in the slightest squint of his eyes as he watches the screen. You lean up, pressing your lips delicately against his exposed throat, once, twice, three times as you work your way up.

“Mmm,” he breathes deeply, holding back a moan under your attention. “Baby,” he warns.

“I know,” you say, a hand rising to stroke his hair as you sit up and move into his lap. “I know, I’m tired, too. We don’t have to do anything,” you let your head rest against his, your noses brushing once more, “I just… I just want to feel you,” you speak so quietly but he can hear the plea in your voice and it squeezes his chest. And he can’t lie and say that the desperation he hears isn’t turning him on a bit, either.

If you want to feel him, he’ll make sure you feel him.

Your hands are lightly in his hair, holding his head as you lean in to kiss him. One kiss, you breathe into him as you pause against each others lips, then another, and another, before your tongue licks into his mouth. He sucks on you lightly before his tongue takes over, his effortless dominance always winning out.

You can feel him growing beneath you and you feel yourself growing slicker in turn.

You pull away from his kiss reluctantly to stand and rid yourself of your pajama pants, while he drags his sweats down. His cock is hard and you inhale sharply at the sight. It’s only been two weeks but you’d almost forgotten just how big he really is.

You hold his shoulder, his hands coming to your chubby waist as you come back to your spot on his lap. You’re on your knees, straddling him as you position yourself above him. One of his hands comes to his cock, the other sliding down your curves as he grips your hip.

He moves his dick up and down your pussy, playing with your wetness as your eyes shut in delight at the feeling, your hands squeezing his shoulders.

He gets himself wet with your slick before he lines the head of his cock up to your entrance. His hand on your hip urges you down, and you slowly sink onto his thick length. You moan in unison as you take him in, a “fuck” leaving Andy’s lips when the first inch of him was finally inside of you.

His hand is holding you, his thumb rubbing the soft, blemished skin of your hip as he urges you to take more of him with his sweet praises.

“You take me so well, baby. Just a little bit more, I know you can do it. Doing so good, sweetheart. Always so fucking good,” he full on moans the last few words as you sit fully on his strong lap with a whimper. He’s seated completely inside of you as you bury your head in his neck.

You feel his lips as he kisses your head, his hand rubbing your back soothingly while the other lightly kneads your thick thigh.

You sigh heavily, relaxing into him as you rest your head against his chest, your velvety walls squeezing his cock of their own volition every so often, earning moans from both of you as he keeps you full of him, the movie still playing as you try to focus on that instead.

But you’re so tired, and so content in Andy’s hold, the pleasure and closeness enough to lull you asleep, you do just that. The cookies can wait until tomorrow.

Andy is smiling to himself as he holds you, he hasn’t been this relaxed since before the start of his current trial. Because with you this close, he’s calm and more than content. This is what he’s been needing. You.

He tenses just a little when your walls squeeze him again, a soft moan slipping past your lips. He moans quietly in turn, still holding you tight.

A moment passes and he has to laugh at the soft snore that leaves you next. He doesn’t want to leave your warmth just yet, he wants to feel you - it’s been too long. So he’ll finish the movie and then he’ll bring you to bed. You’ll cuddle and sleep in each other’s embrace, and all the while he’ll be sure to keep you full of him.

And when you wake up in the middle of the night with his cock still inside of you, your wetness leaking out from around his thick length, he won’t mind one bit about getting woken up by you fucking yourself stupid on his cock. He’s all yours, whenever you want him. And he still owes you for your teasing in the kitchen. He’ll make sure to show you exactly just how much Daddy has missed you.

#i woke up at 6:20 am and this is how i spend my morning? #idk how long the others will be but this def got way longer than i intended lol #andy barber x curvy!reader #andy barber x reader #andy barber x plus size!reader #andy barber smut #andy barber fluff #andy barber

[factual-fantasy]

22 ASK! THANK YOU! :DDD

@a-weird-bean-bag

They are not related by blood, no. (Blood? Frosting..? Filling?? Anyways-)

Red is actually Seafoam's great Nephew. And he joined the crew because of a tradgedy involving his mother,, Seafoam's niece..

When Red joined the crew he was very shy and scared of everything. Coco at this point was a rough and tough pirate gal.. but man, something about that kid.. she just adored him. She took it upon herself to take care of the little guy and be his guardian.

She loves him to bits and has definitely taken the role of "mother" in his world. When ever the ship is under attack, she is the first to swoop in and take Red to safety. She is the one Red goes to when he cant sleep or is scared. She takes care of him when he is sick, she cleans his clothes and feeds him too.

Seafoam has made it very clear that she does not have to do any of this. And that Red is 100% his responsibility. But she just ain't havin' it. She chooses to be involved in Red's care and wouldn't have it any other way. 💖

Its a good thing too, Seafoam has no idea how to raise little kids <XD

(Also thank you so much!! :DD )

👀👀oh?

@yoylecake420

Sorry uh- I don't know that character. I made some OCs for Cookie run but I haven't played any of the games, I don't know the lore and I don't know/remember any of the characters- sorry!

Ah,, I don't know? <XDD I don't know how the games work- are there other types of cookies?? I don't know--

Judging by what I've heard/seen of that game? They'd run for the hills! They're not safe there <XD

<:D Ah sorry- I don't know who that cookie is- remember I haven't played either game and I don't know any of the lore!

@storylover2

.....OH-

THERES MORE??--

Also thank you so much!! You are beary nice :}}}

@universal-hunter

AAAAWE!!! :DDD THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :}}}}💖💖💖

@couchwow

Thank you for the no spoilers!! :DD I have not seen it but I have heard of it :0 perhaps sometime I'll give it a go! :}

@thetiredpenguin

Man, cookie run lore is WILD XDDD

@sparkdrawsstuff

Thank you! My day today was better than yesterday at least! XD

@keakruiser

AAAAA THANK YTOIU SO MMUCH!!! :DDDD 💖💖💖

I've drawn them twice actually that I can remember! Once in my FNAF Recap/Repair part 2, and once in a doodle dump post thing! :00

@elegantjellyfishmemachine

:0 eh? Huh? Til what?

@readeren

I actually haven't thought much about that :0 I worried that the group wouldn't feel very diverse if I had duplicate characters.. but the opposite personalities but same person is genius! But whompst would be duplicated... 🤔

@blissthewolf

Hello! I believe I do write scripts, but if I'm being honest I don't think I can scrape together even one sentence of sound advice for you- 💔😭💔

I am known to be very bad at explaining how to do things. A lot of what I do is just taking random things and stapling them together and ripping off some parts and gluing this here and put that over there and tada! Comic! "How'd you do that" "...Honestly I cant really remember-"

The only think I can think to say is figure out what you want to come from the scene and.. do what ever it takes to make it happen..? Uhhh- for example, "I want these two characters to fight and character A to leave in a huff." Well then give them something to fight about, and make character B say something that would make character A mad enough to leave without saying anything..?? But that doesn't explain how I would figure out what the argument would be about- I

I'm afraid I am of no use to you here-

@neo-metalscottic

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'm glad you like my minecraft guys and my cookie run critters! :DD And not to worry- He'll catch on XD right now the main thing keeping them some what apart is Seafoam's thoughts of "She's a beautiful mermaid, why would she be with an old Captain like me..? :( " And Blue's thoughts of "He's a well respected Pirate Captain! What would he see in a big whale like me..😔" But they get past that eventually-- XDD

And yes! I have drawn them before <XD although those drawings weren't made with my Mario AU in mind.. When they grow up they will definitely be more stylized. :0 Not sure how they'll interact with Bowser as they age, but they are intended to all be his biological children :)

As for the birth order, I haven't thought it through fully,, but I have decided that Ludwig is the oldest and next in line for the throne. And JR is the very youngest with Lemmy being second to youngest. And Larry being 3rd to youngest :00

@solst1ce-sketches

Thank you! And to be honest if the D.A was split and gender swapped, I would just slap on some eye lashes and make them both generally appear more feminine.

Glitchy sun tho.. man, how would Fazbear Entertainment deal with that? <XD

@minnesotamedic186

Thank you!! :DDDD

@rubyplayz12

Wah??

(Post in question)

XD Well? Did it work?

#my response #fnaf security breach #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run ocs #my ocs

[torukmaktoskxawng]

tsamsiyu ta'em - strangers like me

Masterlist - part ten

Summary: Kayla continues to learn about island life with the Metkayina and also learns a bit more about her teachers along the way. Tonowari and Ronal find their student strange and intriguing.

Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character

Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic

posted on ao3

Word Count: 6k+

Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @motheroffae @undeniableadrenaline @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n @amiets2 @slutforsmut4ever @yeosxxx​ @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @sucker4angstt @inolaphoenix @ilovechickenwings tojisleftarm andyfromku @ivysully

A/N: I am so sorry for my absence! I wish I have a good excuse for being absent, but the truth is I'm not doing so hot in the real world rn. My job is cutting back hours and I barely have enough for rent. I'm getting a second job next month so hopefully, things smoothen out.

Here is the long-awaited update that I will kick myself for delaying in exchange for obsessively crying over Good Omens Season 2. Let the montage of Awa'atlu life commence! Again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!

Note: The title is named after the Phil Collins song "Strangers Like Me" because Tarzan and Avatar just go together XD

To avoid having Ronal hunt her down again, Kayla got up earlier the next morning and made her way back to the village to join her brother's family for breakfast before her lessons. Kiri was definitely doing better and Tuk was excited that her aunt had decided to see them off before their busy days. After pleasant conversations and the promise to meet before their midday meal, the kids took off to pursue whatever they planned for the day. Kayla stood up with the intention of going to find either the tsahik or the olo'eyktan and so Jake walked her out of the marui as they talked.

"So Neteyam mentioned that you guys talked about what happened between Lo'ak and Ao'nung," Jake started off.

'Oh, boy, here we go,' Kayla thought as she tilted her head to glance back at him, feigning partial innocence, "Yes? What about it?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that it's already been handled, and it sounds like the boys are actually getting along now. Neteyam also mentioned that you didn't get to meet Ao'nung yesterday so I wanted to make sure you knew this before you went looking for a fight with the kid."

"Jake, how young do you think I am?" When his face twisted with hesitance, she rolled her eyes, "Don't answer that. What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a child, I'm older than I look, and believe it or not, I do realize this. You don't have to worry about me... but you could've been a little nicer to Lo'ak."

Jake refrained from also rolling his eyes, knowing his sister would say this. He wasn't blind. He was well aware that Kayla would always be quick to defend his youngest son, no matter what he did. Jake was half-convinced that Lo'ak could get away with murder as far as his aunt was concerned, "He knew he wasn't allowed to go beyond the reef but he went anyway. He was at fault as much as Ao'nung."

"I get that, but it feels as though Lo'ak received more punishment than the boys who actually put him in danger, and for what?"

"For picking fights."

"No, for defending his sister," her eyes narrowed, "Not that you would know what that means."

Jake took the verbal lashing in stride, internally sighing, "I can't punish the chief's son for what he does against my kids, Kayla."

At first, Kayla had every intention of cursing her brother out, but instead paused and tried rephrasing her response. Her eyes drifted to the reef while she recalled far-off memories, "I remember Mom and Dad were allowed to punish the neighbor kids if they misbehaved with us and no one would bat an eye."

The mention of his old life irked him, and he wasn't afraid to show that in his deep snarl, "Well, Mom and Dad aren't here and we're not on Earth," her posture visibly stiffens but doesn't interrupt. Jake's wave of anger is immediately replaced with guilt, so he opts in taking a breath before he could say anything else he might come to regret, "Things are different here. So be civil and keep the peace. Don't go picking fights with teenagers."

"I won't," she mutters darkly, the coldness in her eyes returning as she side-eyes him, reminding Jake that he still wasn't out of the storm regarding her, "That's what you're here for."

She doesn't stay long enough to hear whatever rebuttal he might have in mind. Instead, she walks down the pathways leading further into the village before calling back, "I'll see you later."

Tail lowered in distress and possibly shame, Jake could only turn back to the marui and try to go about his day as he normally would. He knew he deserved the petty insults and his sister's aggression toward him, especially after all the radio silence she had endured for months while he was here experiencing a new way of life, on top of everything else. He just wished Kayla could manage to let go of all the pain and anger like he did when he first began to learn the ways of the Omatikaya. Physically, Kayla's avatar hasn't changed apart from the new Na'vi trinkets she had added to her standard-issued cargo shorts and crop top. However, Jake had hoped her mentality toward him would change the more she learned how to be Na'vi. 

He knew he was a fool to get his hopes up so soon. 

Walking through the village, Kayla went down the same route Ronal had brought her yesterday, hoping she would catch sight of the tsahik. Again, there were some stares from the Metkayina, but they didn't last as long as the day before and the reef people didn't look as bothered by her appearance. The Na'vi go about their day without much acknowledgment to Kayla, and before she knew it, she had made it to her destination, the craft huts she had met Tsireya just the other day.

It wasn't hard to find Ronal among the crowd of mottled skin patterns. Her accessories, tattoos, and rounded stomach are a dead giveaway, and the tsahik easily found Kayla in the crowd in turn, though it wasn't as hard, given the circumstances. Ronal's eyes visibly squint when her gaze lands on Kayla, then the Na'vi woman pulls away from her task to rise and meet the avatar. Another Na'vi stands to join her, a teenage boy and Kayla had an inkling who it was.

When Ronal approached Kayla, she motioned to the boy behind her, "My son, Ao'nung."

Smiling timidly, Kayla greets Ao'nung as respectfully as possible, though even she could admit her smile was tighter than usual. Ao'nung didn't say a word back, instead deciding to simply nod and avoid eye contact. His ears drooped and his head lowered like this was torture for him. Clearly, he was being coerced into being here with Kayla, but she decided not to fault him for it. Perhaps he's already being punished enough for his wrongdoings that he didn't need Kayla to torture him further about it.

Ronal doesn't appear to notice nor care for Ao'nung's discomfort and sternly stated to Kayla, "We will be teaching you how to communicate underwater. Do not fall behind or you will be left behind."

Kayla refrains from the small smile that threatened to escape her. Ronal's words vaguely reminded her of Neytiri's way of teaching Jake both from the stories she heard and the video log Jake had recorded. As Jake had once phrased it, 'Learn fast or die.'

With that in mind, Kayla doesn't complain and silently follows Ronal and Ao'nung away from the craft huts and further down the pathways. It didn't take long before they brought their guest to a large marui. It wasn't as big as the communal pod for the feasts, but it was significantly taller and wider than the normal ones Kayla has seen, including the Sullys' marui. She took note of the different colors of weaving and decorations adorning the home, such as the totem and skimwing skull hanging over the front entrance in greeting, a small windchime of shells softly dancing in the warm breeze. If Kayla had to guess, this was the olo'eyktan and tsahik's pod. Soon after stepping inside, both Ronal and Ao'nung lower to the ground, sitting back on their legs and Kayla does the same, proceeding to listen as Ronal starts off the lesson.

Nothing eventful happened as Kayla learned the Metkayina equivalent of sign language. Ao'nung never said a word regarding Lo'ak or any incident that happened with Kayla's nieces and nephews prior to her arrival. In fact, Ao'nung didn't say a whole lot other than chiming in a time or two to help Kayla with the lesson. Perhaps he never said a word outside of the subject of his people's sign language because his mother had been giving him sharp looks throughout the whole lesson. It was hard to miss. Ronal wasn't exactly a subtle creature. She openly expressed whatever she was feeling, unafraid of hurting someone's feelings, not even her son's, it would seem.

It was amusing to find all the similarities between the mother and son, both physically and spiritually. Their glare, eyes, and even their pout were the same. Kayla even dared herself to look a little closer without getting caught and noticed that Ao'nung inherited the same mole as his mother's, both spots found above their lip, on the top right side.

She must have lost track in time as the suns rose higher in the sky. Before she knew it, her next teacher had shown up to take her to her next destination. Tonowari stepped up into the marui, his large frame blocking the majority of the light coming in through the entryway. His gaze brushes over Kayla and Ao'nung before his eyes land on the tsahik, "Ma Ronal. Is this a good time?"

One of Kayla's ear flick to the side at the term of endearment, glancing over to the woman in question who only firmly nods and stares back at Kayla, "Go on. My mate will continue your riding lessons from yesterday."

Kayla mutters her thanks and stands up to join Tonowari. As they turn toward the exit, the olo'eyktan points back to his son, "Ao'nung. Remain with your mother."

"But, Father--"

"Do not question me, boy," the tone in Tonowari's voice was a little louder and stronger than normal, and even Kayla could feel her spine straightening up, despite not being under his scrutiny. Kayla briefly glances back at Ao'nung and notes the way he shrinks in on himself, still unable to look her in the eye, clearly embarrassed. Kayla looks away and follows Tonowari out of the marui, shadowing his footsteps as he addresses her, "I apologize for my son."

For the moment, Kayla had the empathy to pity the teenager and decided to soften the blow against Ao'nung, "There's nothing to apologize for. He was a pleasant enough teacher."

His voice had reverted back to its normal tone, significantly smoother and kinder on the ears, "Did you learn well?"

"I think so. It's not that different compared to what the Sky People have," when he flashed a questioning glance over his shoulder at her, she further explained, "They have a language that requires hand motions, too."

He doesn't question it further, instead looking back ahead and leading Kayla down to the docks. The ilu anxiously await their arrival in the water below, clicking and calling excitedly as Tonowari pulls a harness over one of their heads. The two adults get into the water and stand beside the earnest ilu, Tonowari trying to calm the creature whilst Kayla makes tsaheylu. She mounts the creature with ease, remembering yesterday's lesson and dreading the idea of falling off again as Tonowari begins reassuring her, "You need to exude confidence. Tell the ilu that you will command them and you will be respected by them. Do not give them space to come up with their own ideas."

She takes a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and nodded, waiting until Tonowari steps away before commanding the ilu to move forward using only the bond connecting them to each other's thoughts. The creature obliges and all appears to be going smoothly. Kayla manages to instruct the ilu to swim faster before eventually sinking underneath the water's surface. The ilu picks up speed and even as she clings on for dear life, Kayla could already feel her grip loosening. Angry and determined, Kayla tightens her thighs around the saddle of the creature and demands her bonded steed to leap out of the water and let her breathe, no room for nonsense.

To her shock and delight, the ilu chirped happily and sprung out of the water like a bullet, briefly flying through the air and allowing Kayla to take a breath before diving back in. She was so shocked that she almost lost her grip before regaining composure and asking the ilu to do it again, in case she had only imagined her success. The ilu was ecstatic to leap out of the water again and did so without a fuss, and this time, Kayla laughed as the shock wore off.

On the surface, the woman is met with a small audience. Lo'ak, Neteyam, and Tsireya were out riding their own respective ilu that afternoon before briefly pausing to watch a school of fish swim all around them, tickling their feet. Just as Kayla appeared to finally be getting the hang of riding an ilu, the teenagers caught notice of her as well. Lo'ak is the first to spot her, cupping his hands over his mouth as he crows in encouragement, "Go, Auntie! Woo-hoo! Yeah! You got it!"

Kayla laughs as Neteyam and Tesireya begin to cheer her on as well, their voices carried by the winds as Kayla and her ilu dive into the water and back out again. By the time Kayla remembered herself and returned to her teacher, Tonowari had his arms crossed but otherwise appeared pleased by her improvement, tail leisurely swaying behind him with curiosity.

~~~~~~~~~

Weeks go by since Kayla first arrived in Awa'atlu, and despite having to adapt to yet another completely different culture, Kayla had to admit that it was getting easier as time went on. She originally thought the ways of the Metkayina were a cakewalk compared to the Omatikaya, but maybe it was because she learned from the Forest People first that made learning from the Reef People easier than she originally thought it would.

She makes sure to reiterate this to Norm and the other humans every time she sees them. When everyone in Awa'atlu is meant to be resting, Kayla retreats to her campsite and secures her avatar form before closing her eyes and breaking the neural link. The next time she opens her eyes, it's within the link gurney back at High Camp.  Norm and Max are always there to greet her, asking about her headaches and other health problems. There were days even Kayla had to admit were rough. After spending so much time in her avatar form, it's starting to strain the link connecting herself to her human form and it causes massive headaches every time she breaks a new record of not reporting back for days on end. To distract her friends from lecturing her, Kayla just updates everyone on Kiri's condition and relays any messages Jake or the rest of the Sully family wanted her to bring. In return, the scientists or even the Na'vi, such as Txe'la and Meui, would update her on any information regarding Ardmore or any Sky People activity. 

She's always left disappointed when they say the same thing. No one has seen Spider. 

Trying not to let the news discourage her, Kayla always wakes back up in her avatar form in better spirits so as not to worry Jake and his family. Kayla continues to treat the days as normal, continuing her lessons and helping out in any way she can so as not to overstay her welcome. When she wasn't following Tonowari or Ronal around, Kayla was usually in the company of her nieces, nephews, and their new friends.

Tsireya was one of those friends, and she was such a sweet girl who would happily entertain Kayla in any endeavor. When she wasn't busy, one of Kayla's favorite pastimes was helping Tuk and Tsireya find seashells for their hair and any jewelry idea they had in mind. Tsireya, as Tuk said, knew all the best spots where the shells were always fully intact and not crushed into pieces by the harsh tides. During these little adventures, Kayla, Tuk, and Tsireya would learn more about each other, bonding over the fact that they were all their families' younger sisters. 

The sign language was easier than the verbal language, but Kayla felt as though she had a rug pulled from beneath her feet when Ronal knowingly stated that she was going to be teaching her student a third language. The tsahik, with the help of other Metkayina, began to teach Kayla the language of the tulkun, the sea creature Kayla learned to be the spiritual animal and companion to the Reef People, as the ikran is to Forest People. Apparently, not even Kayla's nieces and nephews have progressed as far as learning the tulkun language yet, and they became ecstatic to realize that they would be learning this alongside their aunt. Joining Ronal in these lessons with Kayla and the Sully kids would also be Tsireya and Rotxo, which only excited the forest kids more. Ronal wasn't as pleased with her own student when she caught Kayla fondly watching the children interact more than once. 

Kayla had to learn this extra language on top of her breathing lessons, the latter of which was taught by both Tonowari and Ronal. Sometimes they would teach her separately, and other times they would do so together, but whatever the case may be, it didn't matter to Kayla. She would carefully listen to whoever was teaching her, and sometimes she listened so intently that she caught herself observing her teachers a little too closely. 

Like Tonowari's eyes for example. Kayla noted they were a light blue at first as she sat cross-legged across from him while they practiced breathing exercises. But upon closer inspection, Kayla noticed specks of green engulfed by those blue orbs, like clumps of islands surrounded by warm sparkling oceans.

He was a clenched fist with a gentle touch. Kayla greatly admired him for being someone who could easily take advantage of his strength and position above his people but chooses to be kind and soft-spoken instead.

 It was fascinating for Kayla to see just how different the Metkayinas' eyes were compared to the Omatikayas'. Whereas every Na'vi of the Forest had orange or yellow cat-like eyes, the ones who live off of the reef had rounder and bigger eyes, not to mention they had a variety of different shapes, sizes, and colors. 

Like Ronal's eyes. The opposite of her mate's, Kayla noted that Ronal's eyes were more green than blue, with specks of a warm, gold color, like a sunset reflecting off the ocean surface. 

She was orphic, but that's as far as Kayla allowed herself to describe the tsahik.

There was plenty to say about Ronal, but Kayla thought it best not to linger on any of the words bouncing around in her head. It was clear to her that the tsahik will always disapprove of Kayla and her presence among the Metkayina, so Kayla didn't want to compliment the Na'vi woman too much, especially since she doesn't intend on staying for very long.

Her stay was still very much temporary, at least in Kayla's eyes, as she still intends on going back to the forest to find Spider. For now, however, she was content with her small campsite just inside the treeline of the Metkayina island, a campsite that Ronal appears to disapprove of along with everything else about Kayla. The tsahik still has to occasionally venture out and find Kayla among the trees if she is in need of the avatar woman, like today when Ronal had the mind to take the time to find Kayla. It wasn't hard since the demon had kept her promise and never moved her campsite so she would be right where Ronal could find her. Still, Kayla was apologetic when Ronal found her and the tsahik begrudgingly told the foreigner to follow her back to the village.

Ronal brings her to the shoreline and recruits her to help fix an ilu pen that had begun to wither with age. Tonowari was already hard at work on it and briefly looked up to greet the two women when they sat down on the edge of the pathway and gracefully slipped into the water with him. After a brief instruction from him, Kayla gets to work in silence, and Ronal isn't opposed to doing the same. The silence wasn't as awkward as they were in the past, but out of the corner of her eye, Kayla could clearly see that something was bothering the tsahik, as Ronal wasn't ashamed of openly frowning while watching Kayla work. She didn't appear to be glaring in disapproval, but she looked... frustrated. It was as if she was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle. Kayla briefly glanced at the Na'vi positioned on the other side of her and noticed that Tonowari was much more subtle than his mate. Unlike Ronal, he only snuck glances at Kayla and her work here and there and did his best to hide whatever expression was on his face.

"Am I doing it wrong?"

"No. You're doing well," a compliment was not what she was expecting and it shows as Kayla's ears perk up and her eyes briefly widen. Ronal pointedly ignores the reaction and blatantly asks, "Why do you not stay with your brother's family at night?"

Kayla looked at Ronal, nose scrunched slightly in confusion, all the while completely unaware of the stare Tonowari sent to his mate from above Kayla's head, "Why would I?"

"Group sleep is also customary in the Metkayina."

"What's a group sleep?"

By Eywa, did the Omatikaya teach this alien woman anything? Ronal huffs out an irritated sigh, "Families sleep in large groups, usually in their swaynivi. Some clan members will sleep alone or with their mate just as long as they return to their family's nivi in a short period of time. Otherwise, they're deemed spiritually unhealthy. It is unsafe for one to sleep alone."

"I see," Kayla's ears pin back and her posture straightens, understanding the question now while pointedly staring down at her work on weaving the ilu pen together instead of addressing Ronal, "Well, where I'm from, that's called an invasion of privacy. I would assume that the families who sleep in large groups mostly contain parents and their children, correct?"

She doesn't wait for a response as she further explains with a small distaste in her mouth, "Since I'm neither of those, I don't want to invade my brother's and his children's privacy. Thank you for your concern, but I've been alone for a very long time. I can assure you that I am just fine with the sleeping arrangements I have now."

Even Ronal can sense a dismissal when she hears it in Kayla's voice. It was clear that the alien woman didn't want to further discuss this topic and so the tsahik didn't push it. Returning to her work, Ronal now briefly shared a glance with Tonowari but he pointedly kept his mouth closed during the whole conversation and after.

Luckily, the silence is saved by Neteyam as the teenager arrives with a purpose, slightly bouncing over the pathways above the adults' heads, "Auntie. My father is looking for you."

Kayla's discomfort visibly melts before Tonowari and Ronal's eyes. She looks up and smiles at the Na'vi boy, "Tell your father he can come and get me himself next time instead of sending you out. You should be elsewhere, enjoying the reefs and hunting with your friends."

She briefly turned back to the clan leaders, silently asking for approval to leave with her eyes flicking between the two Metkayina. Both nodded and openly watch as Kayla turns back to Neteyam, smiling up at her nephew as she rises up onto the pathway and follows him out, gently shoving him once to get him to pick up the pace so she didn't trip on his heels.

Neteyam huffed a small laugh as they walked, but the sound falls in replace of shame. He was visibly acting a little shy as he avoided eye contact, "I am sorry that I told my father about our conversation. I should have asked for your permission."

"Hey, no harm," she nudged him, "It's not like our talks are meant to be a secret or anything. It's nice that you can trust your father with everything; trust him enough to talk about whatever you want. As long as you're comfortable, kiddo."

"Was your father not like that?"

Kayla bit her tongue to refrain from visibly wincing, staring directly ahead instead of at her nephew, "No. I don't think he was. Not from what I can remember. Mostly I relied on Tommy and your dad growing up."

"What was my father like as an older brother? Am I like him?"

Kayla briefly grew quiet as they walked, pondering about how she could best word this to her oldest nephew. She tried seeing Jake in Neteyam, she really did, but whenever she tried comparing the teenager's best traits, they only remind her of Neytiri. And when Kayla thinks about Jake, all the pain and other torture he had put her through both intentionally and by accident, she couldn't even fathom Neteyam doing the same thing to his own siblings. Physically and mentally, deep down she knew that Neteyam was nothing like his father, and she was secretly grateful for that.

So instead of agreeing, Kayla simply smiled while staring the teenager in the eyes so he could see her sincerity, "No, 'Teyam. You're like Tommy. He was the older brother. When it comes to how you treat your siblings, you remind me of him, and I think your father sees it, too."

~~~~~~~~~

When Ronal isn't busy with her duties as tsahik or teaching Kayla, she is making sure Neytiri also adapts to their way of life. Although the former tsakarem had been comfortably accustomed to island life by the time her sister-in-law joined her family, Ronal still takes Neytiri into the jungle for a second pair of hands to gather the needed plants and herbs for her stock. Today was no different as the two women stumbled across a large jungle tree, larger than any of the others around them. Instead of following Ronal's suggestion to skip this tree and its healing fruits in exchange for a shorter one, Neytiri stops and shakes her head. Ronal was adamant about moving on since she was in no condition to climb and wasn't built to climb trees even if she wasn't currently pregnant. 

Neytiri still shook her head in defiance and simply said, "You need Forest People."

The Forest woman opens her mouth and calls out at the top of her lungs, causing Ronal's ears to twitch in response to her whooping and cawing. Notifying her family about her location, it didn't take long for Jake, Kayla, and all the Sully children to come running to Neytiri's call. 

Neytiri proudly smiles at her family while explaining why they had been summoned, "Our tsahik needs the fruit from the top of this tree and the ones surrounding it."

The others take a moment to look at one another before Kayla breaks the silence, briefly tapping Tuk's shoulder before running off, "'Last one to the top is a rotten egg!"

Tuk squeals and immediately chases after her aunt. The older Sully kids smile and break into fits of laughter, following suit and running after Kayla and their little sister. They all leap up, grabbing onto the lower branches before lifting themselves up, climbing expertly higher without their arms protesting the weight of their bodies. Ronal watched them climb higher and higher, keeping her expression stoic while observing the way Kayla makes the collecting and scavenging into a game for her nieces and nephews, challenging them to see who can gather the most fruit. In the corner of her eye, Ronal could still see Neytiri standing beside her, also watching the trees and smiling fondly up at her family. Jake soon stands beside his wife, hands on his hips while watching his sister and his children with a careful eye.

It was then did Ronal address Toruk Makto directly, flashing a face of disapproval, "Does your sister always act so childish?"

Jake's posture stiffens and he struggles to find the right words under the tsahik's watchful eye, "Well-! Uh..."

"No, only with the children," Neytiri answers for him, eyes hardened when they meet Ronal's as if daring her to speak again, "She plays with them because she wants to remind them that they are still just that. Children."

~~~~~~~~~

Kiri woke up bothered about something and everyone could tell. That girl didn't know how to hide her feelings no matter how badly she wanted to, the definition of an open book. Even though no one knew why she was upset, they could clearly tell that whatever it was, it had something to do with her aunt. Kiri wasn't necessarily cold to Kayla, but the teenager would go quiet and only speak in one-word responses whenever the older woman spoke directly to her. 

Kayla decided that she needed to fix whatever was going on between herself and her oldest niece, so she offered to take the children out as the afternoon slipped into the evening. Neytiri suggested bringing them swimming through the reefs to collect barnacles and other underwater plants for tonight's supper, a passing time a lot of the villagers tend to do. Kayla takes up the idea and presents it to the Sully kids, who all agree to go, some more enthusiastic than others.

Tuk immediately splashes into the water and her brothers chase after her. Meanwhile, Kayla and Kiri linger on the beach, watching them disappear into the ocean. Kayla had tried breaking the tension with a small smile, "So when are you gonna show me how to use those underwater fairy wings?" 

She was hoping for a small laugh or even a smile, but Kiri does neither. Instead, she looks sad and distracted, looking out over the horizon where the sky meets the sea, daydreaming of other lands... of home. Kayla bravely touches the girl's shoulder, and when Kiri looks up, her aunt could see the concern plain on her face. The avatar woman squeezes Kiri's shoulder, "What is it?" 

Kiri bites the inside of her cheek before giving in, letting out a small sigh, "When are you going back to the forest?" She quickly understands how that could easily be misinterpreted and corrects herself, "It's just that-- you promised you'd look for Spider. And yet, you're here and he still hasn't been found yet."

Kayla relaxes both in posture and touch, removing her hand from Kiri's shoulder and instead letting it fall to her side, "I'll likely be gone by the end of the week, but for Norm's peace of mind, I'm going to be running a few tests on you so he and I both know you'll be okay," silence follows and Kayla reaches out once more, letting her hand gently grasp Kiri's arm, "Kiri, look at me."

The teen does so, a little belligerent at first. Upon staring up at her aunt, Kiri could see the determination in her eyes that closely matched Kiri's father's. Kayla tilts her head down to try and stand more at Kiri's height before softly explaining, "I haven't given up. And you might find it pointless to keep an eye on you after what happened, but I don't, and I don't think Spider would either. Think about it, kiddo. Spider would want us to make sure you're alright before we ever went looking for him."

Kiri ducks her head and watches her toe make shapes in the sand beneath her feet, "I know... but that doesn't mean I have to like it. He deserves to be put first for once."

Silence lingers between the two of them before Kayla simply says, "You're right."

Kiri doesn't wanna look up to see whatever expression was on her aunt's face. Instead, Kiri takes her arm and drags her to the water, "Come."

"'Where we going?"

"You said you wanted to learn how to use a txampaysye."

Kayla's nose scrunched up, testing the word on her tongue with bitterness, "How do you even spell that??"

Kiri manages to loosen up and laugh before they both held their breath and sank down into the water, sinking until they joined the rest of the Sully children. They introduce Kayla to txampaysye -gill mantle- and instruct her on how to use it in order to breathe underwater. Kayla wasn't far off. The gill mantles really did look like fairy wings, but other than maybe a few comments or stories, none of the Na'vi children would know what exactly a fairy was. The children and their aunt spend the evening doing as Neytiri suggested, gathering underwater plants and barnacles alongside other Metkayina, most of whom all wore the txampaysye. By the time the communal dinner rolled around, the Sully family was exhausted, but content all the same.

~~~~~~~~~

A peaceful morning where the Sullys invite Kayla over for breakfast goes uneventful until they're rolling up their nivi after a good night's rest. Their peace is interrupted by a horn, followed by whoops and hollers of celebration coming from outside. Confused and on edge, Jake and the kids emerge from the marui, looking around as the Metkayina jump around and dive into the water, making the newcomers curious as to what was going on.

Their answer came in the form of Tsireya, astride an ilu as she waved down her people from the water below their homes, "The tulkun have returned! Everybody! Our Brothers and Sisters have returned!"

Kayla looked up toward the atoll wall protecting the village from less docile nature. Emerging from the tunnels and pathways underneath the wall were rolling waves indicating something large below the water. Spurts of seaspray spring out like geysers from beneath the ocean's surface. It was a large pod of whale-like creatures, massive and slow. Their descent onto the village was graceful and one that brought much joy to the Metkayina as they couldn't get in the water fast enough.

The Sully kids couldn't wait either, jumping from the walkway around their home and into the water below. They scatter, exploring the new creatures one way or another. Tsireya had grabbed Lo'ak when she spotted him and pulled him onto her ilu, swimming away to introduce him to her Spirit Sister. Jake summoned his tsurak and both he and Neytiri take off to observe the sacred animals themselves. Rotxo had come around and pulled Kiri and Tuk away too, leaving Neteyam and Kayla to wander. Ao'nung was not far behind his friend, however, and invited Neteyam to come along with him to find his own Spirit Brother. Earning a small reassurance from his aunt, Neteyam doesn't hesitate to jump in and both teenagers each grab an ilu and take off, making a game of chase with Ao'nung in the lead.

Neteyam kept close to Ao'nung the entire time. The chief's son leads Neteyam through the chaos expertly, the two of them swimming quickly around a particular tulkun. Kiri, Tuk, and Rotxo were hanging onto the bull's fin and gliding peacefully through the water, the tulkun likely the reef boy's Spirit Brother. Neteyam was only able to catch a glimpse of this as they swim by, keeping close to Ao'nung's tail and playfully chasing him.

Jake had been leisurely swimming his skimwing through the maze of tulkun and Metkayina before glancing off to the side and perking up. Reaching back and tapping Neytiri's thigh to grab her attention, he waits until her eyes are on him before pointing out the sight he stumbled across. Following her husband's gaze and finger, Neytiri spots a mother tulkun and her calf, the smaller whale-like creature keeping close, mostly under its mother's fin or belly. Neytiri smiled with delight, her heart melting at the picture.

Kayla had been floating above the surface, watching the vast sight of tulkun from up top the back of an ilu she had successfully summoned. She didn't venture very far until the olo'eyktan sought her out. She noticed his tsurak first, flying above her head before gracefully sinking into the water, folding in its webbed fins. Tonowari brings it back around and swims up to Kayla's side, a determined smile on his lips, "We must put all that you learned to the test. Come meet my Spirit Brother and see how well you can understand and communicate with him."

She nods and dutifully follows him into the water after taking a deep breath. They submerge and take off, weaving through and around the large bodies of tulkun, dodging other ilu and Na'vi while Tonowari keeps his pace slow for Kayla's ilu to catch up. Underwater, Kayla can get a better look at the tulkun, and to her amazement, she realized that most of them were tattooed like their respective Na'vi. Eventually, they come across a large bull and Tonowari slows to a complete stop, disengaging from his tsurak and openly swimming the rest of the way to the heavily tattooed tulkun male. Kayla disengages from her ilu and watches it swim away before swimming in the same direction as the olo'eyktan, keeping a small bit of distance while he approaches the tulkun, greeting it like an old friend with a wide smile before gesturing Kayla to come closer.

When Kayla swims close enough to float near the large eye of the creature, Tonowari motions to the bull and makes rapid hand movements, "This Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. She is of the Forest People and has come to learn our ways."

"Greetings, Makayla te Suli." The tulkun sings, and Kayla is delighted that she can understand him.

She quickly signs back, just as she had practiced, "I See you, great and mighty tulkun."

"Have you learned much since your arrival?"

"Yes, many things. I have excellent teachers in the olo'eyktan and the tsahik."

"Indeed. You are in good hands with my Brother and his mate. Ro'a speaks highly of her."

Curious, Kayla turns to the olo'eyktan in question, hands slowed by the water as she asks through the Metkayina sign language, "Is Ro'a Ronal's Spirit Sister?"

Tonowari nods while further explaining with his hands, "Yes, and I believe Ro'a has just given birth to her first calf."

"Indeed." The tulkun calls softly, the beautiful sound muffled in Kayla's ears like a song trying to pierce through cotton, "We are very proud and happy for our sister. What of Ronal's child?"

Tonowari beams, "Growing fast. Halfway there."

Kayla faintly smiles as her lungs begin to faintly burn, then quickly makes the appropriate hand motions to signal, "Forgive me. I need air."

She tilts her head upward and kicks her arms and legs to plunge up to the surface. Kayla immediately gasps for air the moment her head broke through the ocean waves, taking deep and calm breaths while looking around at all the joyous reunions going on around her. Laughter and cheers are still clinging to the approaching afternoon air, not a single Metkayina worried about the day's chores as they are too busy reacquainting themselves with their Spirit Brothers and Sisters. Kayla fondly watched these interactions, her heart warm and yet... sad as she watched the Na'vi swim around her without a care in the world. It's not as though she expected anyone to notice her, but it was a brief realization that today she was invisible and an outcast compared to these beautiful tulkun creatures. It was just another reminder that she didn't belong here and she had no Spirit Sister of her own, feeling out of place among an entire lagoon full of tulkun, Na'vi, tsurak, ilu, and other aquatic creatures.  

Once she caught her breath, Kayla inhaled deeply and stuck her face back into the water to check out the activity going on beneath her treading feet. Looking around, she managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar Na'vi, a woman, adamantly communicating with her hands toward another tulkun, a female and her calf. Kayla recognized Ronal's ornaments that expressed her importance among the other Metkayina, along with her rounded belly. Without those traits, however, Kayla wouldn't have recognized her because the tsahik was smiling, broadly, unbothered by anything going on around her as she spoke to what had to be her Spirit Sister, Ro'a.

In all the weeks Kayla had been living here, she had never seen Ronal smile, let alone smile like that.

A/N: Please remember that I can't reply to any comments below every chapter because I'm using a secondary account. So if you have questions about the series you would like answers to, please put it in the ask box, thank you!

If you have a request, check the rules first! Much love!

Buy me ko-fi <3

Just a brief notice that updates are gonna be spotty from here on out as summer is coming to a close and I'll be working two jobs next month (Sept). Keep the love and support coming and I hope to update for y'all soon!

#tsamsiyu ta'em fic #ronal x reader x tonowari #tonowari fanfic #tonowari x reader x ronal #tonowari x reader #tonowari #ronal x tonowari x reader #tonowari x ronal x reader #ronal #ronal x tonowari x oc #ronal x reader #tonowari x oc #tonowari x ronal #ronal x tonowari #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #avatar 2009 #atwow #avatar #james cameron avatar #avatar imagine #atwow imagine #atwow fic #atwow fics #atwow fanfiction #avatar fic #avatar fanfiction #avatar fanfic #james cameron #atwow imagines

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Two independent terrorist attacks against Israelis took place over the last 24 hours. Yesterday, a Hamas terrorist stabbed in the back a 49 years old Israeli reserves soldier, who stopped to buy something at a shop in a gas station, on his way home. The soldier turned around and, despite being injured, pursued the terrorist, shot and wounded him. The terrorist was later arrested, he had a permit to work in Israel. In the second one, a terrorist started shooting at civilian vehicles passing by, and ended up injuring a 27 years old woman. Thankfully, a baby who is 1.5 months old, who was in the car with her, was not injured, despite at least 10 bullets being retrieved from her vehicle. The IDF is searching for the terrorist.

Israeli soldiers have found and confiscated suitcases with 5 million shekels in cash from the home of a senior Hamas terrorist in Gaza. I want everyone to understand that this sum is currently 1,369,507 $ (yes, I checked with professor Google), and that most Israelis will never see that kind of money. I imagine a majority of "privileged" westerners never will, either. And this kind of money was just lying around in this terrorist's home...

The IDF has exposed and is now in control of what is likely the biggest Hamas terror tunnel. It is about 4 kilometers long (roughly 2.5 miles), and it is wide enough for vehicles to comfortably drive through it. Israeli soldiers have also found footage showing Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, doing exactly that, in addition to footage showing the construction of this terror tunnel...

I don't post every single day about the Israeli soldiers injured and killed in Gaza, because the truth is that it has become technically difficult and emotionally painful to keep track. Yesterday, five more soldiers were confirmed as killed, one of them having been injured last week, and he has now succumbed to his wounds. So far, 128 soldiers were killed in Gaza.

Last month, there was a cyber attack on Israeli hospital Ziv, trying to derail its medical activity. Israel has confirmed today that it has traced Iran and Hezbollah as responsible for the attack. If we count the cyber war (and in terms of requiring manpower and resources, as well as in terms of the potential loss in human life, there is no reason not to count it), then Israel has been defending its citizens on no less than six fronts.

The Iran-funded terrorist Houthis in Yemen have been attacking ships unconnected to Israel, for simply passing through territory close to Yemen. A lot of shipment companies from around the world have announced they will not be sailing through this area for at least a time, which means they would have to sail all around Africa, to pass goods between the far east and the western world. This will hurt the entire world's economy, as shipment prices are expected to rise (think of the Evergreen ship blockade of the Suez Canal... these ships will not be trying to get anywhere near the canal. Symbolically, Evergreen is one of the companies announcing they will no longer sail through the Red Sea due to the threat of the Houthis). This will financially hurt so many countries, including Egypt (which operates the Suez Canal), the US and China (this means Iran's move has created a rare moment when American and Chinese financial interests align). The biggest question is, when will the world fully take in the fact that the biggest threat to world peace is the Islamist regime in Iran, and start acting accordingly?

This is Haj Amin al-Husseini.

Out of all of the people who helped shape the Israeli-Arab conflict, he's probably the most influential one, an antisemite, a Nazi collaborator, and a believer in pan-Arab nationalism (he didn't want to fight Jews to establish a Palestinian state, he wanted to exterminate the Jews and establish a greater Arab Islamic state, a new chaliphate, if you will. There is a FASCINATING docu series in Israel, dedicated to the Arab and Muslim leaders who have fought Jews and Israel, interviewing intelligence agents from many countries. The ep dedicated to al-Husseini is unbelievable, and I wish everyone could watch it. It's available online, but sadly, only in Hebrew. The truth is, I don't think anyone can understand the Israeli-Arab conflict without understanding the role of al-Husseini in it, and how different things could have been, if only the more moderate Arab leaders in the Land of Israel at the time had managed to squash his influence, or if the British hadn't tried to "tame" him by appointing him to the position of Jerusalem's grand mufti.

This is the Belchassan family, 31 years old Yuval and Ofir, and their two years old son Tai.

On Oct 7, Yuval left Ofir and Tai to hide in the bomb shelter, and went out to fight off the Hamas terrorists. He and his friends saved their kibbutz, but now, as Ofir is due to give birth to a daughter, they have no home to bring her back to.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #Youtube

[all-things-jily]

Ok but we get harassed for tagging ships that are in the post too just because there’s other ones mentioned

The fandom is supposed to be fun! You guys support harassment and bullying over fiction! The problem that needs addressing is the people who harass not the people who tag! There’s a way to get people not to tag btw it’s tell them nicely! Not act horribly! Jily fans been sending jegulus writers hate & writing “if you wrote jily maybe you’d get treated better” the problem lies with the way jily fans act & people will start biting back because people can only take so much.

OK so I was looking at this for some minutes, truly dumbfounded. Because it's like no matter what we say we're not being heard.

Rant below for those who want to avoid it lol

"You guys support harassment and bullying over fiction!"

I'm ?????? Where in the world have either of us who have spoken up done that? When have we ever said anything other than "tag your posts properly"? Don't these two sentences have completely different meaning? Who are these people that are harassing? Because harassment is never ok and we have not encouraged that. But if you think that simply telling a person who used incorrect tags to remove the extra ones is harassment, I'll have to tell you that no, it is not, it is a very normal thing to do actually.

Yesterday there were a few posts about asking people to tag properly and in response we got that "Jily fans are horrible and inhumane, they harass and bully, they're the worst people ever" and actually got harassed in response. Do you think there's anything normal and fitting in what happened and in that reaction?

"Jily fans been sending jegulus writers hate & writing “if you wrote jily maybe you’d get treated better” this is actually wild because NONE OF US in our community have done that or WANT that, we want to stay as far away from all of that as possible. If you have some anon trolls going around in the community, that has nothing to do with us, most of us are grown people who have been fans since books came out and ain't nobody got time for that, I'm sure most of us don't even know who your writers are or their accounts. In fact, you can tell just by wording of that message that it's clearly a troublemaking troll and not a serious fan, no normal human talks like that.

As for fandom being fun, YES, it's supposed to be fun! But this is where my words about it not being a group project come in, because what's fun for you is not fun for us! In fact, it's the opposite of fun, we dislike it immensely, it upsets us and puts us in a bad mood and it doesn't even belong in our tag. So why should we be upset every single day, going into our tag that's supposed to be a place of comfort and fun, seeing things that are not supposed to be there, when people can simply --- tag properly according to Tumblr guidelines? And this is not new, we've been put through this for years now, and we've been asking politely over and over and over and nobody is listening, and now that we've gotten louder - in our own tag - suddenly we're the bad guys and harassers. When should it be enough? So this part of the ask "people will start biting back because people can only take so much" was incredibly ironic, because we've been taking it for YEARS and now we aren't even biting back, we're simply asking to tag and posting silly memes in our own space but are still getting vilified.

I will also address the first point because I think it causes a lot of general confusion about tagging:

"tagging ships that are in the post too just because there’s other ones mentioned"

A ship tag is for posts that have positive mentions of that ship. If a post mentions multiple ships and is "X is great, Y is good, Jily is bad, I don't like it anymore" - this is not for Jily tag; If a post has "Jily were together for 2 minutes, broke up and then *insert 3 paragraphs gushing over another ship that were true loves*" - this is not for Jily tag; If a post has a poly ship that includes James and Lily - this is another ship, not Jily; If a post is a huge fanfic dedicated to another ship with James or Lily and then has the last sentence about Jily basically settling together - this is not for Jily tag, though I see how there could be arguments about it; There are many other instances too that I can't think of right away at this moment, but basically there's nuance here and just because Jily is brought up in a post doesn't make a post about Jily and the tag is for people who love the ship and want to celebrate their love, and the last thing they want to see there is completely unrelated posts with random Jily cameo in them that do not even portray them in a good way. This last topic is a bit of a complicated one with slippery edges, but I hope it was still comprehensible.

#imagine how tired we are

[one-flower-one-sword]

alright, I'm going to start a new post because I'd really like to continue this discussion but my post about the contrasts between Jun Wu and Hua Cheng that started it all has been getting too long to keep adding to it. me and @illuminatedferret were discussing whether or not Jun Wu knows Hua Cheng and Wuming are the same person. I'm also going to tag @csilla-nocturine because you had also commented with similar points but I forgot to tag you yesterday, I'm sorry T_T. this was my response to both of your very interesting points on my last reblog on the original post, which I've copied over to this post:

First of, I think Hua Cheng being right there ready to voice his own feelings on the matter wouldn’t take away from Jun Wu's satisfaction in reminding Xie Lian of what he almost did while at his lowest - and what happened to Wuming as a consequence of that. In fact, Hua Cheng revealing then and there that he is Wuming might have played right into that - regardless of Hua Cheng stating that it's an honor for him to die for Xie Lian and that he never blamed him and so on - Xie Lian would still feel like he's caused his beloved's second death. like you said though, interpreting that scene precisely is difficult!

the second thing is that if Jun Wu has no idea who Hua Cheng is and thinks he and Xie Lian have basically just met, it doesn't really make sense to me that he'd immediately and repeatedly try to separate them, the specific ways he goes about doing that, and that he'd call Hua Cheng "a very faithful believer" of Xie Lian's, as he'd have no evidence that Hua Cheng sees Xie Lian as his god and worships him as he knows Wuming did:

"Do you know who that ghost was?" White No-Face asked.

"A... A soul of someone who died on the battlefield?" Xie Lian tried.

"Yes," White-No Face replied. "But he was also your very last believer in this world. And now, he's no more. [...] Oh yes, that's right. This wasn't the first time you've met him," White No-Face continued. [...] "That ghost had been following you for a while. At first, I thought he was simply deeply resentful, so I caught and interrogated him; his answers were quite interesting. The Zhongyuan Festival. A night of lanterns. A wandering ghost fire. Do you remember? [...] In life, he was a soldier under your command," White No-Face lazily hinted. "In death, his soul followed you, turned into a wrath ghost because you were pierced by a hundred swords. And now, his soul has been obliterated because you unleashed the plague of Human Face Disease."

Xie Lian seemed to vaguely recall something, but he hadn't even seen his believer's face, he didn't even know his name - what could he recall?

TGCF Volume 6, page 339

then @illuminatedferret your response to this was:

Those are some good points! I could definitely attribute the kinda weird feeling of the dialogue to Jun Wu being increasingly unbalanced and desperate, rather than him not knowing about Wuming. The 'faithful believer' bit, I just figured he saw Hua Cheng as a threat to his plans for Xie Lian. You're right that his immediate actions to separate them make more sense if he already knows their history together. But, by this point(the initial dialogue from Book 5, I mean), he has explicitly seen the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, so no matter what he definitely knows Hua Cheng is a believer of Xie Lian.

First of, I want to thank you both for being so interested in my original post and taking the time to write down and share your arguments! like I said in my initial response, I can see both your lines of reasoning as well :) for me though, there's too many scenes throughout the whole novel that either hint at Jun Wu knowing or that don't make sense to me if he doesn't. Like the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods... isn't that actually more evidence that he knows Hua Cheng is Wuming? Because from the above quote I included, Jun Wu knows exactly where Wuming had met Xie Lian before, which are also things Hua Cheng depicted in the murals in the cave. Now, the murals were covered by butterfly silk, but iirc it's not clear if they always were or if Hua Cheng just ordered the silk to cover them once Xie Lian, Mu Qing, and Feng Xin started to investigate the cave. in any case, they tear it down. plus, in addition to the murals, the statues depict Xie Lian in situations that would also match what Jun Wu "interrogated" out of Wuming. Even if we assume (which personally I don't) that Jun Wu didn't know before this point, I can't imagine him seeing all of that and not realizing that Hua Cheng is Wuming, not with everything he already knew about the latter.

also... the irony of Jun Wu knowing all this but not Xie Lian. and not just that, from the fact that Xie Lian wasn't aware of any of this until he lands in the caves, Jun Wu also knows that Hua Cheng has not told Xie Lian any of this, even with how much time they've been spending together, because Hua Cheng either doesn't want or doesn't dare to tell him - the latter being correct, as we know:

"San Lang, what kind of person is your special someone? Why haven't you won them over yet?"

[...] "It's alright if gege finds it funny," Hua Cheng replied. "But, truth is, I'm afraid. [...] That person saw me at my worst." (Vol 4, page 181).

also, from certain murals and/or statues that are implied or outright stated to depict things of a more sexual nature, he would know that Hua Cheng not only worships but desires Xie Lian - information he then tries to use to, again, drive a wedge between them and provoke Hua Cheng into hurting Xie Lian, like when he disguises himself as Mu Qing and Feng Xin:

"Hua Cheng! What do you think you're doing to his Highness?! You're disgusting! [...] Keep your filthy hands off him. Does the ugly toad want a taste of swan meat?" Mu Qing sneered. "Never mind dreaming of it for eight hundred years - you can hope for a thousand more, but don't even think of touching a single one of His Highness's fingers!"

Xie Lian's heart dropped. But while the comments annoyed him, he could sense that something was amiss.

What was wrong with those two? [...] It seemed that they were purposefully trying to provoke Hua Cheng. But there was no reason for that; they knew they couldn't beat him, so what did they want? Moreover, their tone subtly pointed the spear in Xie Lian's direction. It was like they wanted to stir up confusion - as though they wanted Hua Cheng to do something to Xie Lian in a fit of anger.

TGCF Volume 6, page 72

Hua Cheng has been dreaming about being with Xie Lian for eight hundred years - so this barb feels way too pointed and knowledgeable for Jun Wu to just randomly be accusing him of this, especially with this exact number.

This has gotten quite long again, so I'm gonna cut myself off here (I could talk about this topic for hours as you can surely tell by now, I think it's super fascinating). feel free to reply to this post/reblog with a response, but I also completely get if you're not as into this discussion and want to be done with it by now, no hard feelings! also, if we have to agree to disagree after all, that's also fine, and I'll thank you both again for your interest :)

okay one last thing I swear - since this was all spawned by comparing and contrasting Jun Wu and Hua Cheng, I also just realized how poetic it is that to Jun Wu, Mount Tonglu is where he releases all his hate, whereas Hua Cheng literally carved out a place there where he pours out all his love. damn do I love this novel

#tgcf #tgcf meta #jun wu #hua cheng #hualian

[ingravinoveritas]

Hey, have you heard/seen that Georgia has deactivated her X/Twitter?

(Grouping these Asks together for ease of answering.)

Hi there! Yes, I have heard and seen that Georgia has deactivated her Twitter page. For those who may have missed out on what happened yesterday and today that lead to this, you can read the whole backstory in @thetardisisblueandroseistoo's post and my reblog here.

I think this entire situation is a mess, and that no one on either side handled themselves particularly well. The attacks on Georgia were and are overblown and do nothing to help innocent victims of war, but at the same time, the counter-response of hyper-praising Georgia and saying how "amazing" she is entirely overlooks and ignores her own problematic behavior.

As I mentioned in my other post, this is not the first time Georgia has searched her or David's names, passive-aggressively replied to a tweet from a fan in which she was not tagged, and subsequently sent her followers after the OP to subject them to harassment and death threats. And it incenses me that there were about a hundred reasons to call Georgia out before now for things having nothing to do with this situation--including when she drive-by commented on another fan's tweet two years ago--but people only suddenly care because it's something that affects them. (Which, ironically, is the same thing these fans are accusing Georgia of when it comes to her own social activism/LGBTQ+ issues.)

What a lot of fans ultimately seem to want to ignore is that Georgia started this by picking a fight, and I can think of few things cringier than a grown woman fighting online with a 16-year-old. I know folks will say "That teenager was talking shit and calling Georgia a Zionist and she was correcting their lies." The problem, however, is the way she went about doing it:

Georgia left this comment up for an entire day before responding, likely under the assumption that her trademark snark on a random fan's tweet would earn her praise and adulation, as has happened so frequently in the past. It was only 24 hours later, when it became very apparent that this was not the case, that she chose to add the additional comments and continue digging a rather massive hole for herself.

That said, the subsequent response to her new comments today proved another source of frustration, as I witnessed multiple fans chastise Georgia for not making a stronger statement, fans saying things like "Just say you want a ceasefire, that's all you have to do!" Yet Michael said exactly this back in October, and he was ripped apart for it. What I seem to keep seeing over and over again is a willingness to forgive and defend Georgia because she is a woman and young, and a willingness to spit on and denigrate Michael because he is a middle-aged man. And what no one seems to get is that neither one of these are good, but instead dehumanize Georgia and Michael from both directions.

To your comments, @hunterofartemisblog, I agree that this entire Twitter feud is pointless and a witch hunt. It is the apex of parasocial relationships for these fans to make demands on celebrities they don't know and cast aspersions on their character when said celebrities don't "perform" perfectly to these fans' expectations.

Equally as troubling, however, is what I am seeing now, which is fans acting as if Georgia can do no wrong, and even calling her a "saint." I really do not understand why it is so difficult to treat Georgia and Michael as normal, flawed human persons. Attacking and tearing down Michael only seems to serve to obscure the good he has done (having more than proven his commitment to activism as a UNICEF UK ambassador and working with victims of war in multiple countries), and deifying and excessively praising Georgia only obscures the problematic things she has done and continues to do to fans while shielding herself from any accountability.

Most importantly (and what seems to have fallen by the wayside in all of this), fans engaging in the above behavior does absolutely nothing to help those who are suffering, and instead serves to bolster these fans' assertions that they are doing something "good." I'm left wondering, then, what people think Georgia deactivating her Twitter accomplished. Or in what way two sets of bullies trying to "own" each other did one single thing to help refugees, or displaced persons, or those without access to basic necessities. Because it did nothing. It accomplished nothing, except to prove that neither side can handle one ounce of criticism and will never be willing to listen to each other.

Maybe that's exactly what the people in power want: Performative outrage. Misdirection. Giving vulnerable and emotional young people someone around them to attack and blame, instead of looking at the actions of those above. And maybe these fans played right into it, to the point where some of them are even bragging about getting Georgia to deactivate.

As I said in my previous post, I don't know what the answer is. I am the last person in the world to defend Georgia--and I do not think it speaks highly to her character that the first time she ever faced any controversy and not being worshiped by fans, she turned tail and ran. But I also think that whatever cause these fans started out supporting has become an excuse to hate on Georgia and Michael, and a shield behind which to hide because these fans are so afraid of being hated on themselves.

Earlier this evening, I saw someone say that Georgia only appears supportive because she is afraid of being called unsupportive, but the same seems to be just as true of these fans. I think it would be insanely helpful, then, if everyone involved in this stopped caring so much about appearances and started caring more about honesty. Honestly about the people we admire, and about ourselves. Maybe then we might finally start to get somewhere...

#ourtubahero-blog #hunterofartemisblog #reply post #georgia tennant #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #fandom woes #i can't even with this nonsense #i also can't imagine being so used to praise that you think you are untouchable #actions do have consequences however #and no one stays beloved on social media forever #trying to provide a balanced perspective #because going to extremes on either side is not the answer #but i will let my followers make up their own minds #can i please go back to writing about Michael and David making out now #thoughts #fandom drama #discourse

[copperbadge]

So I had therapy yesterday and I was kind of holding off on responding to all the very welcome and helpful commentary about therapy on the "what do you even do" post, so that I could just have the meeting and then process all the data when I'm not quite so sleep-deprived. Which was a good plan, that went fine. This morning I thought I'd answer the emails I got and the asks I could answer privately, and then do a writeup of the rest as a response (there's a long explanation for why I would do it that way but it's in the writeup so I'm not going to replicate it here just yet).

Upshot is I did the writeup but I realized it's mostly just me talking about me. Yes, I do break down the various reasons people have for attending and benefiting from therapy, but mostly as it relates to my situation, and I'm not sure that's something people want to read, like I'm not sure what the point is. The desire is to acknowledge you guys, to say thank you and that I appreciate all the information, especially because it's hard shit to talk about, but I don't know that it does that either. I suppose in a sense it provides people with a kind of closure because they were speaking To Me and presumably have an interest in my response, but I'm not sure if dumping all my thoughts on therapy back at you is optimal.

In any case it could use some proofing, so I've got some time to think about it, but if I don't end up posting it I do want to say thank you and I appreciate the time everyone took to share their thoughts. And I did get homework for this week so at least there'll be something to talk about next week. :D

[w1ldthoughts]

The Forgotten One Chapter Eight: Dear Diary

Series Masterlist

A/n: Two chapters left!!! Thank you again for reading, I love you all.

“I’m going to murder that fucking little weasel. I knew I didn’t like him.” Cleo spits out.

You ignored her threats and focused on the task at hand. “We need to get to Churchill Downs now and tell Jack what’s going on before Ben comes back from visiting his family in California. And before you say what I think you’re about to say, yes, he’s in California for sure. My doctor cleared it so I dropped him off at the airport yesterday and he posted on his Instagram story from Cali this morning. We’ll get Jack’s lawyers on it and bury these bitches and their fuckass baby.”

You covered your mouth after you spoke to stifle a laugh. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t say bad things about an unborn child, they have nothing to do with this.”

Cleo sighs, “fuck them and fuck that baby. I do not care.”

The two of you erupted with laughter, until you were reminded of reality. “How did I forgive the cheating the first time? Back when I thought that he cheated I mean.”

“It took a minute and emotions were high but you did agree to give each other space and your relationship was pretty much hanging in the balance.” She sniffs a little. “There were a lot of tears shed and a lot of honest conversations. But at the end of the day Jack’s story from that night was just full of holes. He had no memory of sleeping with the girl and he’s too powerful and influential of a figure to put himself in such a compromising position and deep down I think you knew that. He might have gotten too comfortable with another woman who just caught him at his worst but I don’t actually think that you thought for a second that he would cheat on you. You were more upset about fighting with him.”

Oh yes, the fight. Another thing you were still trying to piece together. One battle at a time, you tried to remind yourself.

You had to practically run around Churchill Downs in order to keep up with Cleo’s long strides. She’d been waiting for the moment that you and Ben ended things and you knew she is and always will be team Jack. His assistant Sadie was sitting at her desk with a weird look on her face.

“Mr. Harlow is out of the office until next week. And he also told me that he did not want to see either of you. So I suggest you move along.” She gave the two of you a smirk, her condescending tone would have bothered you had it not been for the mission you were currently on.

“Well can you tell him that we need to speak to him…it’s an emergency.” Cleo demanded, urging Sadie to pick up the office phone after she rolled her eyes. It rang a few times before the woman relayed the message, waiting patiently on the line for a response.

There was that smug ass look again. “He asked if it was work related.”

You and Cleo looked at each other before she spoke, “um, not exactly. But—”

“If it’s not work related then he says there’s nothing for you to talk about. Please shut the door on your way out ladies, have a wonderful rest of your day.”

Cleo mocked her and they stared each other down as you walked out the door to figure out your next move. You immediately called Jack on your phone. There were a few rings and then a busy signal. Cleo tried on her phone and was met with the same results.

He had blocked the both of you.

“You did tell him to forget you. This is definitely a solid way of doing it.” Your best friend tries to reason. This whole thing was all your fault and now you had to find a way to fix it.

“We need to take care of this ourselves then,” you began as you walked back to her car, more determined than ever.

Cleo started driving off with a confused look on her face, the last few hours had really blown her mind. “We already have all the files from Reed and the video footage from the room. It’s a pretty clear cut case of extortion, what else is there for us to do?”

“We have pictures of Quinn, pictures of Jack and pictures of them together. Then we have pictures of Ben and Quinn together and a weird video from a hotel room that was likely not legal activity and will probably not be admissible in court. It’s pretty much their word against mine and all they have to say is that I’m mentally incompetent because of my brain injury. And now that Jack is out, I have no solid leg to stand on or a team of powerful lawyers at my disposal.”

She let out a groan and a deep sigh, you were right. “So what the hell are we going to do?”

“I’m going to get Ben to confess. Pretend to be on his side and use whatever feelings he has, real or not against him. He faked it with me for months, I can do it for a few hours. And I have time to prepare. In the meantime, I need to focus on recovering memories.” You walked back into your apartment and pulled out a journal in your desk drawer. “Everything that I know so far has gone in here, I’m going to put all of the pieces together from this and put it on my laptop so I have it all laid out in front of me.”

“They messed with the wrong bitch, I love it. I will let you get to work and I will figure out how to build a solid case and get exactly what we need.” You hugged her, thanking her for everything. “I love you, you know I got you…always. We’re going to make them regret ever doing this to you and Jack, okay?”

“Okay. And I love you too, always.” Cleo locked the door behind her and you got to work.

A few months earlier…

Finding a work-life balance was becoming more of a struggle. There was work y/n who was early to every meeting and knew the history of the company like the back of her hand as well as having a clear cut vision for the expansion of Churchill Downs Inc. in the future. Then there was home y/n, who had been adjusting to living with her boyfriend full-time and figuring out how their lives actually worked together. Like who was doing the dishes at night and little shit that really didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but was suddenly super important. And then there was Jack Harlow’s girlfriend y/n, the public figure who everyone wanted to dissect…all the fucking time. It was slowly killing you and your boyfriend couldn’t see that.

“I just don’t understand why you can’t come to one more event this week. The mayor will be there and all of these people that I need to get cozy with so I can continue to have their respect. It’s gonna look kind of ridiculous if I show up there without you.”

It felt like you’d been having very similar little arguments all month and this was just the final straw. “There is no just. It’s always going to be ‘one more thing’ and I’m tired of being paraded around as just the girl on your arm. I’m your Director of Operations, I present in front of the Board of Directors once a month,” you paused to collect yourself, pinching the bridge of your nose with a sigh, “Jack I need to be respected at work. Not just be the girlfriend who slept her way to the top.”

“Nobody is saying that about you.” He says, sounding exasperated.

“They don’t have to. It’s written all over their faces. And when I nod and smile like I’m supposed to? Everyone keeps looking at me like I’m this ungrateful bitch. Like you’re some grand prize that I won and I’m supposed to sit there and celebrate. I’ve lived an entire life without you and now I’m just supposed to live the rest of my life for you? Fuck no.”

Jack shakes his head, “maybe sometimes you can just pretend that I am the fucking prize! Not everything has to be this huge fucking deal, I just need you to do this one thing for me, take a few stupid pictures and we’ll come home and relax.”

“You don’t get it because this has been your entire life. My god, you have no idea the pressure that I’m under because I spend so much time reassuring you that you’re doing amazing and that you’ve earned everything you have, but where’s my reassurance? I don’t want fucking extravagant gifts all the time. I want my partner to see for who I am, fuck the optics.”

Love is hard sometimes. But you don’t fight for something—someone this hard unless you love the shit out of them. That’s what the fight was about. Two people who are experiencing opposite sides of a very public relationship while simultaneously trying to keep the company they love afloat. Sounds melodramatic when you really sit and think about it but when emotions are running high and you mix business with pleasure, things are bound to get messy. But then you take a step back, realize that no fight is worth losing the love that you worked so hard to nurture and then everything just kind of falls back into place. You woke up from that memory recognizing that things really were so much simpler than you thought. You and Jack had a normal, loving relationship and when there were inevitable disagreements, you communicated through them and found your way back to each other. Nothing that happened between the two of you was actually life altering, except the time you were living in now.

Suddenly needing some comfort from him, you went back through some of your old texts. Jack was cracking jokes of course and you delivered witty responses. There were days when he was out of town and would text you just to tell you he loved and missed you. But there were things in there that he said that felt so familiar.

Everything about you makes me want to be better, try harder, do more.

God, you’re the most powerful woman I know. I can’t get enough of you.

You laughed to yourself, out loud in the living room. These were all things Ben had said to you. Everything you thought you liked about him actually came from the person you were trying so hard to let go of. You pulled out your laptop to put in a new entry to include in your timeline of events.

Dear Computer Diary,

I have been dating Jack the entire time.

Five days later…

Jack was hiding out in his parent’s house ever since he got back from New York. He couldn’t keep going back to that big, empty house alone for another night. Fuck that. All he wanted to do was eat his feelings and for everyone to stop asking him if he was okay. So that’s what he’d been doing…the last three days.

His mom barged into the guest house early in the morning on day four of his personal retreat. “Sweetheart, you can’t keep going like this. It’s depressing.” Maggie sighs.

“Can’t I just mourn my relationship in the comfort of my childhood home in peace? What’s so wrong about that?” He willed himself not to cry. Not this time. Not again.

“What’s wrong is that my son is willingly letting the most important person in his life walk away without a fight. Since when do you do that?”

He laid his head in her lap as she ran his fingers through his hair and it made him feel like a kid again. Safe, cared for and protected from the harshness of the world. “I don’t want to fight for someone who has specifically asked me not to. Getting kind of tired of having the door slammed in my face over and over.”

“Honey, what you and y/n have? That shit doesn’t just grow on trees or fall out of the sky. It's the kind of love that takes work, you cultivated and watered it carefully for so many years. And now you’re ready to just…throw it all away?”

Jack knew his mom had a point. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying…” she gave him room so he could sit up and look her in the eye, “you took a backseat. Moved at her pace which was sweet and admirable. But you showed her friendship, you didn’t show her romance. You didn’t show her love. You placed her in situations to stimulate her memories. And instead of actively pursuing her as who she is now, you tried to get her to be the person she doesn’t remember she was.”

She was right, he had been so focused on getting you to remember what was, that he didn’t even appreciate what is. He knew you were placing so much pressure on yourself to hurry up and recover and get back to normal that he hadn’t realized his part in it. And when you ran away from your pain in a frenzy…he let you go out of the immense hurt the two of you had been causing each other. He felt those familiar tears brimming his eyes and his mom gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, giving him some time to himself. It was a quick cry, just so he could get that final weight off his shoulders. After he collected himself, he grabbed his phone and knew exactly who to call.

“Urb? Hey. Yeah I’m good bro, I’m good. Listen, I need your help with something. Can we meet somewhere in two hours? All right brother, I’ll see you there.”

They had some fucking work to do.

Taglist

@jackharloww

@killatravtramp

@middlechild404

@harlowcomehome

@itsyagirljaz

@iknowdatsrightbih

@earthtoharlow

@alimaythings

@rosie-posie08

@heavyhitterheaux

@hoodharlow

@jackiehollanderr

#jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow au #jack harlow angst #jackman thomas harlow

[softdedue]

Honestly as a Jewish person I understand that it’s easy for a lot of Jewish people to feel defensive right now—we have been raised to feel persecuted at every turn, after all, and why should this situation be any different—but it is so important to step back and take stock of the actual events that are occurring.

The actions of Israel are not justified. The creation of Israel was never justified. Any Jewish person who disagrees with either of those statements on any level, any Jewish person who still believes that the situation with Israel is in any way “complicated” with regard to morality, is complicit in this genocide and deserves to face the consequences of that. Jewish people who support genocide do not deserve to have their hands held any more than any other person who supports genocide. Having suffered through a genocide as a people ourselves should only make us more horrified by what these monsters are claiming to do in our people’s name.

I saw a post yesterday that said global antisemitism made the actions of Israel “understandable”. How could we expect Jewish Israelis to feel safe anywhere other than their own country if the rest of the world hates them? Well, I challenge you this: how could you live with yourself if you felt pride for a country that could do such things?

I am an American. I am hated by many people for being an American. I think those people are entirely justified in hating me for being an American, and I agree with their criticisms of my country, because I know my country fucking sucks. Any Israeli who doesn’t feel critical of their country deserves my hatred. That’s kind of the point.

Obviously we need to talk about the spread of antisemitism in response to this horrific tragedy. We should not hate Israelis for being Jewish, and we should not hate average Jewish people around the world for being Jewish. But we also need to acknowledge the Jewish role in this tragedy as well, and to keep the true victims—the people of Gaza—at the forefront of our minds. It is understandable that there would be antisemitic backlash at this time. We must have grace with a world who is reeling in the horror of us—yes, us—slaughtering their children by the thousands.

This is not our moment to speak out about injustices done against our people. This is our moment to apologize, and to distance ourselves from the monsters who have condoned this, and to speak out in support for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are facing adversity that makes the acts currently being committed against us look like nothing.

Free palestine

#israel #palestine #free palestine #I don’t know how many times I’m going to say it but We Are All Complicit In This #Americans and Jewish people both tbh but ESPECIALLY American Jewish people #with our fucking birthright trips #every Jewish scholar I know has spent a term studying in israel lol #‘oh but I’m not a Zionist’ Are You Sure

[smilesrobotlover]

Ok so now I’m gonna post a fic lol. I wrote this a while ago and reread it yesterday and I actually think it’s good enough to post! So uh, here!

Miss Vai Battle Pageant

Based after a battle from Age of Calamity with a lot of creative liberties added in! In Zelda’s pov! Enjoy!

Zelda was admittedly concerned when she got a message from Lady Urbosa, telling her to arrive in the Gerudo Desert as soon as possible. She didn’t know why Urbosa needed her so quickly, but too many possible scenarios plagued her mind. Was there something wrong with the Divine Beast? Were there too many monsters for the Gerudo to handle alone? If either of these things were to be true, then why did Urbosa specifically tell Zelda to not bring Link, and only to bring Impa? That made her think that Urbosa was planning something, which scared her even more. Urbosa was a wise and focused Gerudo chief, but she gave herself moments of mischief when she desired it. Either way, Zelda didn’t know what to expect.

When they arrived at the desert, Urbosa led them to their rooms where they would be staying, and Zelda immediately noticed that it wasn't just her and Impa that were invited, but Mipha and Riju were here as well. Oh dear… it was something mischievous wasn’t it?

“Get some rest girls,” Urbosa told them before she left, “You’re gonna need it for tomorrow.” and with that, Urbosa left with a little skip to her step.

The first thing everyone did was interrogating Riju, she was the one always near Urbosa, she should know what she was up to. But alas, not even the young chief from the future knew what was happening.

“I guess we should get some rest as Urbosa suggested then,” Zelda sighed. Whatever was happening, they’ll have it figured out tomorrow.

When tomorrow came, Urbosa gathered the ladies into an empty Gerudo town, and the girls anxiously awaited whatever was coming their way.

“Hang on, where is everyone?” Impa asked, after noticing the empty town.

Urbosa smiled and tilted her head, “why, they’re all hunting for molduga guts of course.”

“All of them?” Riju asked with concern in her voice.

“Yes. You see, I brought all you vai here together because I wish to uncover something.”

“Uncover what?” It was Mipha’s turn to question the Gerudo chief. Urbosa smiled at her in response.

“I wish to uncover who is the mightiest vai. You will all fight each other, and I will watch and see who is the strongest. If you get knocked off your feet out of the area, you are to stand by me, if you come out on top, well…” Urbosa gave a slight giggle, Zelda knew what that giggle meant. “I guess we’ll see what happens after.”

Zelda sighed. Just great, if there was one thing that she wasn’t, it was a fighter. She’s gotten better at defending herself but she wasn’t raised as a gerudo warrior like Riju, she wasn’t a Sheikah guard like Impa, and she wasn’t raised to fight with a spear like Mipha. She wasn’t gonna win this.

The others stared at each other awkwardly, they certainly didn’t know how to begin to fight each other, which gave Zelda some hope. She knew that Urbosa wasn’t going to stop this, but the other girl’s reluctance could be used in her favor. She didn’t know about Riju, but she knew that Mipha was too gentle with her friends to make the first move on them, and she knew that Impa wouldn’t do any harm to her. She was too protective, so if Zelda were to use the reluctance that Impa and Mipha had against them, she could easily come out on t–

A sudden gust of air blew at her sides and she almost fell over. She stood up and gave Impa a shocked expression. Oh yeah. She forgot that Impa was very competitive, and would do anything to come out on top if it meant winning, no matter what they were doing. So, With that, Impa attacked Mipha, who responded in an annoyed cry.

“Impa!” She shouted, and Impa shrugged.

“I want to win! Sorry Mipha!”

With the first move made, the four girls fought each other with Urbosa watching. It was difficult for Zelda to keep up with what was happening, she landed a few good hits on everyone, but there was only so much she could do with her Sheikah slate. She simply wasn’t strong enough against the three warriors in front of her, and she finally was hit out of the boundary.

“Zelda! You’re out! Come over here!”

She stood up with a huff and went to where Urbosa was. Just as she expected, she lost.

“Nice work little bird,” Urbosa said gently.

“I lost, Urbosa. How did I do good? I’m not strong enough against them.”

“You’re strong in more ways than one. And besides, you haven’t lost. Not yet.”

Zelda looked up at Urbosa confused, and the Gerudo chief gave her a mischievous grin. She looked down after a moment and watched the rest of the battle. What else was Urbosa planning?

It didn’t take long for Riju to get knocked out of bounds as well, and she glumly walked over to where Urbosa and Zelda sat. It was now just Impa and Mipha. Zelda knew who would win, Impa was far too competitive for her own good, and Mipha was too gentle, Impa would easily take her out.

And as the battle commenced, it was as Zelda expected. Though Mipha fought back well, she didn’t want to hurt Impa, so in a moment of weakness, Impa was able to kick Mipha and push her straight out of bounds.

“WOO-HOO! I did it!” She cheered, with all the others watching her glumly. “I won!”

“Not yet.”

The girls looked at Urbosa confused as she stood there with a big smile on her face. “That battle wasn’t the only test. NOW!”

Urbosa leapt out of the way only for a girl they’ve never seen before to appear and begin attacking them. Zelda yelped as her shield hit against her, and she fell backwards.

“Oh come on!” Riju yelled angrily.

Impa went straight to Zelda and pulled her out of the way before the girl could do anything else. She wore blue Gerudo clothes with a veil over her face, though she clearly wasn’t Gerudo. She had fair skin, blond hair and bright blue eyes. Who was she? Have they seen her before?

Impa helped Zelda to her feet and the four of them stood before the strange girl. Riju in particular looked angry at her.

The Mystery Vai looked around, as if looking for someone, uncertainty in her eyes, which slightly confused Zelda. Why did she look so unsure of herself?

“That veil that she is wearing belongs to a dear friend of mine,” they heard Urbosa say from Din knows where. “Try to take it from her.”

They looked back at the Mystery Vai, and Zelda almost saw a hint of fear in her eyes. Impa yelled a battle cry and started charging towards the girl, and the Mystery Vai fled. Riju yelled as well and followed after them, leaving behind a baffled Zelda and Mipha.

“This is getting out of hand!” Mipha sputtered, and Zelda laughed in response.

“We might as well play along! I haven’t seen Urbosa this happy in a long while!” And with that, the two princesses ran after the other three.

The Mystery Vai led them all throughout Gerudo town. She was fast, and when Impa would get her hands on her, she was somehow able to get her off, and she would continue to outrun the group.

“We won’t get anything done if we keep chasing her like this!” Zelda yelled. They all slowed down and looked at her for guidance. “We need to corner her, me and Mipha will go one way, while Impa and Riju will lead her to us!”

“Where will we corner her?” Riju asked.

Zelda thought for a moment. “How about the sand seal station? Not a lot of places to run.”

The others nodded, and Riju and Impa ran to find the Mystery Vai, while the two princesses ran to the station. The plan worked perfectly, it didn’t take long for Impa and Riju to herd the girl into the sand seal station. Impa chased after her, and when she tried to dart out of the way of the station where Zelda and Mipha waited, Riju came by to hit her with Patricia. The vai gave a (surprisingly deep) yelp and landed into the sand seal station, fumbling to her feet, only to run right into Zelda and Mipha. She was cornered.

“GRAB HER!” Riju shouted, and Impa jumped in and wrapped her arms around the girl, holding her down. The mystery Vai lurched forward, and Impa almost lost her grip, but Mipha and Riju were able to help Impa hold the girl down. She struggled for a bit, but gave up when she realized it was no use.

“Let’s see who this mysterious Vai is, shall we?” Zelda asked the girls. They all cheered in response except for Riju.

“It’s Link, guys,” She simply said.

The other three froze.

“What?”

“It can’t be!”

Zelda grabbed the veil off the girl only to reveal a very annoyed looking Link.

“I don’t believe it!” Mipha cried, and immediately let go, looking embarrassed.

“Told you guys.” Riju let go as well, crossing her arms with a playful smirk.

Impa let out a loud laugh and gave him a little squeeze. “No wonder he was so hard to catch!”

Link let out an oomf as he was squished by Impa, “You lot are terrifying when you’re chasing after something, you know that?”

The girls all laughed.

“I guess we were a little intense…” Mipha said softly, looking down.

“Say Link,” Zelda started, stepping closer, “Why are you here? I didn’t think you’d agree to do something like this!”

“I didn’t agree to do anything! I was just walking around when I got bagged and carried all the way here!”

Zelda sighed. Oh Urbosa. “I’m sorry Link, but it’s done now.”

“Heh, thank Hylia, I wanna go home.” He let out another noise as Impa gave him one last squeeze before letting go. They all laughed again before walking to the main plaza.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you Link?” Mipha asked, almost bashfully.

“My pride is a little bruised, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine.”

Mipha smiled and Impa patted his head. They were glad that they didn’t seriously injure Link.

“Wonderful!”

The girls stopped at the loud voice of Urbosa, who was standing outside the throne room.

“You vai did the second challenge with ease! Good work.” Without warning, Urbosa sprinted towards them, grabbing Link before they could even react. She was standing at the entrance, her sword drawn in one hand and a shocked Link in the other. “Your last challenge to determine who’s the mightiest vai is to fight me, and rescue the hero.”

“Urbosa I didn’t agree to any of thi–”

“Silence Link, you’re my hostage now.” She gave a laugh and ran off with Link being dragged behind.

“Oh great,” Impa pouted, “We lost Link.”

“We must find him! A-and rescue him!” Mipha stuttered slightly, if she could blush, Zelda would assume that her face would be as red as her scales right now.

“Where would Urbosa even take him?” Zelda wondered out loud, she went out of Gerudo town, but it would be dangerous to venture out into the Gerudo desert with the Yiga out there, not to mention the moldugas that are being hunted by the rest of the Gerudo.

“I bet she’s taking him to the throne room, or to her bedroom…” Riju said, staring at where that would be.

“And why would she do that?”

“To throw us off. There’s an entrance to the side where she could enter through, without us seeing.”

They all stared at the throne room for a moment, Zelda nodded.

“I think Riju is right. I don’t think Urbosa would want to lead us out into the desert. Come on, let’s try to intercept her.”

The others nodded and ran towards the side of the throne room. It was empty, but they heard noises, so they ran up to where the bedroom was. Sitting on the bed was Link, he was slouched over with his head resting in his hand.

“Hey,” he greeted, and the girls smiled, until Urbosa ambushed them.

Impa, Riju, and Zelda jumped out while Mipha lunged straight for Link. Ok, Link was accounted for… good.

“Don’t let Urbosa grab him!” Zelda yelled after her, and Mipha nodded in response.

“Alright, let’s see how strong you vai really are!” Urbosa shouted, glee spread all over her face. It was a difficult battle being in such a small space, but they fought back hard. Urbosa swung her scimitar and Riju deflected it with her shield. They fought with each other for a moment, Urbosa pushing down on Riju.

“I cannot fail!” The Gerudo chieftain yelled.

With a loud cry, Riju pushed as hard as she could and ducked under the weapons, slamming into Urbosa as hard as she could. Urbosa nearly fell over but stopped herself, and in one swift motion, she charged after Zelda, and although she was tasked with keeping Link safe, Mipha jumped in the way, blocking the attack with her spear. She never could stand to let anyone get hurt.

“We need to get her out of this room, I think there’s a boundary drawn that we don’t know about!” Zelda yelled at the girls fighting.

“Leave it to me!” Impa yelled back, and used a gust of wind to push Urbosa back. She stumbled for a bit, and when she got her footing back, Impa vanished and reappeared suddenly above her. Impa kicked her in the shoulder,and was able to push her further.

“Everyone, push!” Zelda shouted, and they all ran towards Urbosa to shove her out of the room.

With enough force, Urbosa was pushed out of the room and down the stairs. When she stood back up, the four vai blocked the path, ready for her to fight back, but she didn’t. She laughed out loud and put her weapons away.

“Good work you four. I’m impressed.”

The girls relaxed and gave Urbosa room as she walked up the stairs. “Now follow me, I know now who the mightiest vai is.”

The girls were buzzing with excitement as they entered the room, sitting at the bed where Link stayed put. Though Zelda didn’t know who it could be, she knew deep down that it wasn’t her. She didn’t do much of the fighting. Sure, she came up with ideas, but that was nothing compared to the strength the rest of them had. Either one deserved the title of the “mightiest vai”. She smiled slightly, she would be happy for whoever got the title, regardless.

“So… Link… I’m curious about your opinion, who do you think was the mightiest of them all?” Urbosa leaned against the wall, eyeing the group on the bed.

Link’s head rose and he got a nervous look on his face. He fidgeted his hands and looked at each girl. “I-I’m not sure… they were all pretty strong.”

“Oh come on Link! You gotta pick one!” Impa blurted out. “It was me, wasn’t it? I was clearly the toughest wasn’t I?”

“No! I fought harder than you!” Riju protested and the other girls laughed.

“I won the first challenge!”

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

Urbosa raised a hand to quiet them all.

“Well his opinion doesn’t influence what I have determined…” She assured them.

Zelda looked down.

“And what I determined, the mightiest Vai… was all of you.”

Zelda’s head shot up.

“What?” Mipha exclaimed .

Urbosa smiled at all of them. “I watched each and every one of you during those challenges, and to simply put it, you are all mighty and strong in your own ways. Impa, your fighting was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, your physical prowess was admirable, even to a Gerudo warrior, and your undying loyalty makes you dependable. Mipha, your compassion and kindness towards others makes you fiercely protective, you help everyone however you can, that is a trait that I do not see often. Riju, your determination and unwavering spirit makes you a powerful leader when you are needed, you refuse to give up, which is an important mindset to be in. And Zelda,” Urbosa stared at the princess of Hyrule with the most warmth and love in her eyes. “Your wit and ability to see the world differently helps you find ways to win, ways that may seem hidden to others. It makes you a natural born leader.” Urbosa stared at her for a long moment, just to make sure the message was sent, before looking away, “You are all strong in your own ways, and you shouldn’t compete against each other or anyone just to see who is better. You’ll only focus on your weaknesses, instead, you should work together to win, to strengthen each other. Which is exactly what you did today. You girls used your strengths and made up for your weaknesses and won against me. That is the sign of a mighty vai. So that title does not belong to one, it belongs to all of you. I’m so proud of you all.”

Zelda couldn’t help but smile. It was nice hearing that from her. She tries so hard not to compare herself to everyone around her, but it is a difficult challenge that she can’t seem to overcome. Impa and Link would always fight so valiantly while she did nothing, Mipha was a beloved princess for her people while she felt like a failed and hated princess, and Riju was so young yet wise beyond her years. Zelda felt as if she couldn’t compete with anyone, since she was so below everyone else. But Urbosa was right, she must only compare herself to… well… herself. She looked at her hands, she truly has come a long way. Maybe, her power will awaken within her if she’s kinder to herself.

The room felt warm and comfy as the girls felt pride within them. Even Link had a small smile, though he wasn’t addressed directly.

“Come on vai, there is a prize for this, a great Gerudo feast. I’m sure you all will love it.” Urbosa said with a smile.

“Oh thank goodness, I am starving!” Impa huffed while leaning back.

“Link is invited to right?” Mipha asked, “I think he deserves it after what you put him through.”

Link scratched the back of his head bashfully. “It’s no big deal, really.”

“No, Link, you’re invited to feast too. Thanks for helping me with this.” Urbosa gave him a wink, and he smiled back. They talked for hours after that until the rest of the Gerudo returned, a stronger bond between the group forming. They all saw each other in a different light, strong and powerful women who could lift each other up with their own strengths. Even the princess of Hyrule saw herself a little differently. Maybe, she wasn’t a failure after all…. But until Calamity Ganon is sealed away for good, she’ll never be fully convinced otherwise.

#legend of zelda #age of calamity #hyrule warriors age of calamity #I don’t like how I wrote some of the characters #Impa and Link in particular #but the lesson of the fic turned out really well! #I enjoyed it! #smiles writes

[suratan-zir]

Remember I shifted the responsibility to you? Y'all got me into trouble.

this is yet another post about rats, I'm sorry

About a week ago, I was feeling exceptionally anxious and overall unwell, so I did what I typically do to make things even worse. I looked through the rat ads online and found what I was looking for. In a city next to my town, a classic case of a rat in a tiny prison cell. Most likely bought for a child who got bored of it, either because it's not as cute anymore, its claws are too sharp, it smells bad or whatever the reason is. I've rescued quite a few of such unfortunate rats in the past. My most beloved rat of all times, Bambook, the little guy on my user icon, once was rescued from these conditions:

(yes, I keep the old screenshots because I'm sentimental like that)

So when I saw this post, my brain went like "this will be Bambook number two, same age, same conditions, even at the same price! I'll save him, love him and finally, after over a year of grieving, will let Bambook go"

(mind you, this rat is only 4-5 months old, very skinny and weighs 300 grams. Adult males can weight from 600 to 700 grams on average. Yet in this cage he looks big because of how small it is)

I went to that city, two teenage girls, who were looking kinda scared for some reason, handed me this tiny boy. I was asked to bring "a box or something" because "the cage is sold separately". I brought a carrier that was probably bigger than the torture devise they call a "cage".

I could barely talk to them, they started almost running away immediately after handing me the rat. Initially I didn't think much of it, I'm sort of used to people being scared of me. I'm told that I have a weird gloomy, unfriendly look on my face. But they probably wanted to get rid of him before I notice...

On the way home the rat was sweet and gentle, licking my hands and enjoying being petted. But when we got home…oh boy. I always knew that male rats can exhibit hormonal aggression, especially at the age of 6-8 months. But in the years of keeping rats, I never ever encountered such aggression towards humans. Guess I was just lucky.

At first he's cute and cuddly, calm even, then something switches inside his brain and in an instant he goes into killing mode. He attacks not only hands, he bites even knees and thighs, basically every body part he can reach. Then he calms down and demands pets again. He not only bites, but thinks I'm his bitch. After what he did to my hands and knees, they might be pregnant… The girls mentioned that he lived with another rat before they moved him to that cage. I assume it was a female and he mated with her, which made him even more hormonal.

So, everyone, meet Skritch. He went to horny jail and they stole his balls.

Also, the photo where he's stoned is the best photo I have of him, because he won't stop moving.

Skritch is smart, sweet and very friendly whenever he's not attacking me.

He was neutered only yesterday, so it is too early to judge the changes in his behavior. But he no longer bites my hand in the cage, even when we wrestle, which is a huge improvement. But unfortunately, he still didn't pass the couch test. (couch is the place where he gets most aggressive, probably because of the smells of other rats)

He attacked me only once today, the result you can see on the video, it's not nearly as bad as his bites were before. And after that, as always, he acted all innocent and affectionate and fell asleep by my side.

I already love him so much, even if he's a menace. But I am so not looking forward to introducing him to my other boys. Something tells me it's not gonna be easy.

#Skritch the rat #my rats #personal

[meraki-yao]

You don't have to post it if you don't want to, you can also block me or delete it's ok, I just need to vent because this situation is hitting rock bottom and I can't stand how people don't want to see the problem:

In short: there is a video of the q&a where the female producer gets Casey pronouns wrong when talking about them. It's totally ok to point this out and give respect that Casey deserves BUT who was given the main blame? Taylor obviously, despite him also using the right pronouns during the panel, is guilty of not correcting the woman in front of everyone so he's bad again.

But this time we're not talking about that handful of idiot Nick fans, we're talking about the rwrb fandom that says they love him so much but once again for the umpteenth time they threw him under the bus without thinking twice even though he had no fault. And it will be the third time that the same fandom has exaggerated something against him, subsequently causing serious problems ( like racism and homophobia and doxxing which took place in december where everyone then washed their hands of it pretending nothing happened and they did nothing wrong)

And I'm so tired of reading that we just have to ignore that social because that social is the most active and followed and we know Taylor a few days ago saw stuff and posted and today Casey saw and posted a story. That social causes damage and everything they bring there is seen and affects all of them. So no it's not enough to ignore and put our hands over our eyes and just talk about how beautiful the sky is and I'm so tired and sad and heartbroken because every day even unconsciously they make it more and more evident that there isn't the same affection and respect for both, it's not true, one will always be seen with a critical eye "yes you are beautiful, perfect, so sexy, wow how beautiful these photos BUT you are a bit problematic, BUT you should be better than that, BUT you should learn better, oh disappointed but not surprised" and it is obviously always the poc man who has to be better who has to do better even when he does absolutely nothing wrong.

And this comes from the people who say they follow him and love him. It's no longer possible, that man has been attacked every single day for months, now he must also fall into the transphobic category because he didn't correct another person in front of everyone even though HE had used the right pronouns. But do we realize that this shit fucks up your mental health in the long run? But why doesn't anyone realize how serious the situation is? I cannot take it anymore and I feel like I'm screaming into the void and witnessing the moment when everything will get worse and fall apart and then we will be here sad because it didn't have to go that way for him

…Woah.

Jesus Christ what the fuck.

Okay um, here we go. This is a monster of response to write but here I am.

I’m gonna start by saying I am not a direct witness of any of this. I didn’t know about the misgendering issue during the Q&A, I didn’t really notice it when I watched the Q&A myself yesterday. I’m not on twitter and I don’t follow or look at Taylor or Nick’s tags. All insults I seen regarding the boys are either from assholes trying to bother me or from people who want to talk about the phenomena, both in my inbox.

Regarding misgendering Casey:

Firstly I’m gonna state the obvious and say of course it’s a bad thing to misgender someone. Don’t do that

However I will also say this.

In regards to the extent of reaction: it’s not always done in malice. And in this case, I think it’s a genuine slip up, which happens. I had to consciously remind myself to deliberately use the right pronouns after my friend came out to me as non-binary. I had to correct my friend using the wrong pronouns when talking about our mutual non-binary student. It’s not ideal, but it happens. It’s not mean, it’s just careless. And please note that I’m not saying it’s ok to misgender someone, no it’s absolutely not but I also don’t think this case calls for a big reaction.  If someone maliciously, deliberately, publicly and repeatedly misgenders someone, that’s problematic, that should be called out by the masses to this extent. This, we should acknowledge, make a note, and move on. I think there’s some cases where the reaction to certain issues are massively disproportional, this is one of them.

In regards to Taylor not correcting Sarah and being targeted for it: Firstly, Taylor didn’t misgender them, Sarah did. Taylor used the right pronouns. In fact when they hung out in New York last August, Taylor used the right pronouns on his Instagram story. Secondly, he might not have picked that up. Thirdly, even if he did, it’s awkward to suddenly cut off a monologue, let alone one from friend or not, is someone on a higher level than you, to correct a mistake that doesn’t directly affect comprehensive. Fourthly, bystanders are encouraged to step into situations, but they’re certainly not obligated to. So placing the blame or putting so much blame on Taylor is ridiculous and unfair.

In regards to Casey’s Instagram story: I understand where the connection comes from but honestly… I think there’s also a possibility that that’s just a post that Casey saw and wanted to share without reference to this issue. They don’t have Twitter, and it’s been several days since the screening. Truthfully, everyone involved seems really friendly with each other, and how this very project is advocating for LGBT rights, I don’t really believe that if they were aware of the misgendering, they wouldn’t apologize to Casey.

So replying to the “You don’t have to post it…” anon, I agree that putting any blame on Taylor is kind of ridiculous in this case, just like what happened in December. I think there’s a portion of “fans” that are fucking around with this and genuinely hurting him, but there might also be a portion of people who have a problematic/complicated perception of this type of situation, and it’s not targeted specifically towards Taylor. Either way I disapprove with what they’re doing, but here’s a hypothesis.

Regarding the damage these stuff causes:

I’ve addressed the insults thrown at Taylor multiple times by now. And I kind of agree with “I hate that there are idiots…” anon that really disgusting insults thrown at Nick tend to be overlooked, it’s not like there’s no Nick haters, there is. But because of the inherent racism, attacks on Taylor are much more obvious. Either way it’s cruel and disgusting and the boys don’t deserve to be thrown insults like that, nor do they deserve to have people enact cruelty in their name. Rarely is anyone deserving of that, and in the case of these two boys who have been proven to kind and wonderful people, it’s definitely wrong.

I’m tired of reading and seeing these bullshit on social media as well, which is why I actively avoid it, but “You don’t have to post it” anon, I definitely understand and share your worries of this fucking up the boys mental health.

But the sad truth is that we can’t decide what he can see and what he can’t. We’re just gonna need to trust him, to believe that he knows how to regulate the exposure of response he gets, that he knows what comments matter and what don’t, that he knows how to take care of his mental health. He actively avoids twitter, so I think he has an idea on what he can engage with an what he shouldn’t. Same goes with Nick, all we can do is believe he knows his mental health and how to regulate it. Meanwhile, those of us who aren’t assholes, we’ll show them all the love we have for him. I think public figures all struggle with this to some extent, so when they stepped into this career, I believe they saw this as a possibility, so they’re prepared to some degree. That doesn’t make any of this okay, but again, ultimately, we’re not people directly in their lives. We can’t do anything else practical.

Ultimately I want to say, be kind, compassionate and considerate. We can’t control what others do, and truth be told when it comes to the majority of the haters, I don’t think calling them out will change anything. They have their mind set. So the best we can do, is manage and control what we say and do, and to some degree, what we see and engage with.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #nicholas galitzine #casey mcquiston #anon ask #answered #oh god this took a lot out of me

[galvanizedfriend]

hi, yokan <3

I read that in Brazil there's a week-break because of carnival, therefore I hope you're finally having a bit of rest!

I was wondering if you could post an outtake with the klaroeve scene? from you comment I understood that there was more than that little scene in the latest chapter, and I would LOVE to read it!

sorry if I sound rude or pressuring, it's not my intention at all :(( I'm just Eve's third parent, I need more scenes with my babygirl being adorable 😭😭

I totally get why you don't put more of her in the main story. I ALWAYS say that babyplots are terrible due to a lot of factors, one of them being the constant present of a baby who basically does nothing (rightfully, since, yk, it went out of the whomb last year) and that adds nothing to the plot but just terrible fan service.

I think most people would agree with this, maybe even you!

HOWEVER, my little wolf/fish/mermaid is THE exception and I would love to see more of her, and, since u have a series dedicated to those fluffy moments that don't exactly fits with the plot, I really wish you will post something there 😭😭

sorry for bothering you, I hope you'll have a good day!

P.S.

totally off-topic but I also read some of your comments in Portuguese (AT LEAST I think it's Portuguese 😭) and I understood like 80% of it, privileges of being Italian ‼‼ so lol now you really can't escape me >:)

Yes, it's Carnaval right now! It's a nearly weak-long holiday, but it sadly ends on Wednesday. 😢 And I was technically on call yesterday, so 😂 But I am very much enjoying not doing anything 🤷‍♀️

About the baby thing, yes. 😂 I've been so lucky to get some passionate readers almost from the start with this fic and to have people who are still reading it a ton of years later, but I've also had to read some very mean things over the years that have stuck with me. It has made me extremely self-conscious about this story. I sometimes find myself almost apologizing for writing it, like I'm commiting some kind of crime against fandom or like I should be banned for inflicting this upon people for as long as I have. I wish I could be the kind of person who just doesn't care and remains blissfully unbothered, but I'm not. I'm not a naturally confident person in any way, and that kind of thing does get to me.

It's gotten better, of course. I care a lot less now than I used to, and the fic is not as popular as it was a few years ago either, so there's that But some of that stuff has just ingrained itself into my brain. Objectively I know this is stupid and I don't owe anybody anything, I don't have to apologize for writing a fanfiction for god's sake. There's room for everyone in fandom. I can have a corner to rewrite the show and have a magical Klaroline baby, fuck it. Who cares, you know? But it's almost stronger than me sometimes, I don't realize I'm doing it. I get this feeling that I need to be more critical otherwise people are going to think it's ridiculous and OOC and nobody's gonna want to read it anymore and etc etc. It's exhausting. And it's obviously nobody's fault, it's just me in my own head, but that's how it goes.

The scene you're talking about in particular. I had it written years ago. Literal years, maybe 2021 or early 2022. Some of my friends had even already read it a loooong time before the chapter was finished. And I was convinced that it was so cute and totally fine. Then as I wrapping up the chapter, I started getting this itch that it was actually ridiculous and the folks who had read it didn't say anything because they were being nice, they didn't want to hurt my feelings, and I had to get delete it. So I did. In all truth, I think the chapter is more polished like this. But then I removed a family scene and ended up writing smut that also had no place in the chapter, so. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, I'm sorry for the rambly response. 🥲 I'll tell you this: I will read the deleted scene again and if I feel it's not dumpster-fire bad, I will post it here. But I need to check it first, because there is chance that it's not just my paranoid head telling me to get rid of the baby scenes and it really is just that bad. 😂

And as for the last part, yes, it's Portuguese. It's my native language. And it's so funny how Italian, Spanish and Portuguese can be so similar. I understand Spanish much better than Italian, but I do get some of it as well. Latin languages 🤜🤛 (except French, I don't understand French at all 😂)

#yokan answers #feat-peach

[0oolookitsme]

Picnics and Fist Bumps

Type- One-Shoty Blurb!

Verse- Artist!Harry x Housewife(tuition teacher)!Y/n

Word Count- 1.2k

Warnings- Only fluff and slight financial description.

A/N- I hope this one gets some attention. I get I didn't post for a while, but I've been so active recently, at least show some interaction... No matter how much I try and convince myself that I write for myself, the appreciation is something that's in your hands. Hope you like this <3

"Harry are you ready with her?" Y/n shouts from the kitchen, wiping her hands in the kitchen towel. Leaving the towel hanging from the fridge handle, she picks up the two basket-lunches and places them on the table, tying the two white handkerchiefs on their handles.

Out of instinct, she wipes her hands on her jeans once again. Just as she rushes inside the room, Harry shouts back a 'yes' to her, fixing the headband on Opal's head.

When he does notice her, a slight jump makes him stumble back a bit. Breathing out as he gladly takes in the fact that she didn't notice.

"Bangs really do still suit you, huh."

"Mhm. I'm glad they do- they always made me look good," she laughs sheepishly, setting up the hair strands on her forehead for the last time. "Remember when I let them grow for the first time in your sight and you were really fascinated with my forehead?" She wheezes as soon as she finishes.

Red creeps up Harry's cheeks as some laughter skips out from his nostrils. "I had seen your forehead for literally the first time!"

That explanation just makes the duo laugh more, awing when the baby also squeaks to join them.

Picking up Opal and securing her against his chest with his arms snaked around her, Harry bounces her up and down on his hips for a bit. "I'm seriously very excited for this picnic. This is the first time she's going right?" He asks, moving out of the room behind his wife, who only hums back in response.

They used to do picnics and cliche dates a lot but ever since Opal came into their lives like sunshine, they couldn't help but get more tied down with life.

Harry started painting more and more, pulling up all nighters to finish one and sell it to bring in money. Y/n, who had to already look after a newborn baby and the also house (partially), started taking tuition classes in their house itself. It wasn't long before they recognized their path which led a straight way to burn out one day.

Although they couldn't leave those activities, they decided taking breaks every once in a week would be nice. That could either be taken by just sitting doing and doing movie marathons or taking long naps in the afternoon. It was just today that Harry remembered about their picnics and decided that it was time to take Opal on her first one too.

He stops making funny noises to the little bundle of joy as he picks up the house keys from above the fridge.

Waiting for y/n to fully get out of the main door with the two lunch boxes, he takes the tote bag from the chair and retraces her steps.

"Oh, I had totally forgotten about it!" Y/n shrieks, taking the tote bag from him. While it had some of her own essentials, it also had two water bottles, Opal's milk bottle and some honey in a small glass jar. "You've become smart living with me, I see," she smirks teasingly at him, laughing when he rolls his eyes at her.

He takes back the tote bag from her and lets it hang down from his other shoulder. Intertwining his fingers through hers, he starts rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand, at the very spot she had gotten a small cut yesterday.

He thinks back to when Opal was still very young, not older than a year and they'd take her to their college campus. Everyone out of their friend group managed to pull some time out from between their classes to look after her when both Harry and Y/n had to go attend classes at the same time.

"Good Ol' times," y/n smiles beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder when they come straight under the sunlight and on the final street they have to walk through to get to the park.

"It's like the campus was her playground. She was so happy around everyone... Wait! She learnt how to fist bump there only!" She laughs out loud at the memory.

Harry's brain again rolls back to that time period. She's sitting on a highchair someone had arranged from somewhere on the campus- probably stole from a lecture room, and all the boys are standing in a crew, all sweaty from their game practice. As their turns came, they pressed their fists against hers and cheered loudly, making her flap her arms happily and make baby noises.

"She was such a happy baby, I mean- she still is. Very good at socializing," Harry chuckles hoarsely, letting y/n take ahold of Opal as he takes the cloth out of the tote bag and spreads it out on the slightly dying grass- winters really are approaching now.

Y/n places Opal on it first and the little girl immediately sprawls out her limbs on it. Harry follows and takes the lunch boxes from y/n as she sits down opposite to him. Opal laughs in her baby voice as Harry drags her closer to his self, giving her a light cheeky.

"It feels so good," she moans, stretching her back under the sun and smacking Harry's naked knee when she sees him squinting at her.

She watches as he continues to serve the lunch, cheering as he sees his favourite snack inside the tote along with two Oranges.

He keeps on showering her in compliments and cheers throughout the lunch, sharing a few more of his childhood memories with her for the thousandth time. She loves listening to him, he knows it and makes proper use of it.

Every once in a while, Harry has to lunge forward to prevent Opal from crawling out of the cloth though. But they knew it'd happen, so they continue chatting away in the warm sun.

Wiping his hands off the same handkerchief as y/n's, he lets out a small burp while stretching his legs out.

Slowly but surely, Harry completely lays down after very normally taking off his t-shirt. He turns on his stomach, his feet touching the cold soil, but he doesn't seem to mind one bit. He's well aware of the dumbfounded look on his wife's face but proceeds to ignore it and close his eyes- not being able to keep the smug smirk from pulling up.

Y/n looks at him as he cushions his head on the folds of his arms, while she cradles Opal, feeding her the bottled milk after mixing in some honey in it; because she. is. a. honeybug. When they thought they'd teased her enough by calling her a 'honeybug', Harry had passed her the tote bag to let her fetch out the needed bottle.

Opal seems to have dozed off too, her lips shut around the mouth of the bottle and her eyelashes resting atop her cheeks. Y/n cautiously pulls the bottle away and places Opal against Harry's body, smiling as his body involuntarily curves against her tiny one.

Before she can control it, her wandering eyes land on her husband's back. It looks quite toned and slightly tanned, looking way too good under the golden sun light. Wishing she could write her name on it because of the random strangers that walk by every once in a while, (especially the women) eying him up.

Sighing, she pulls out her phone and clicks a picture of her most beloved ones and uploads it on her private Instagram for the boys -now grown men- who taught her how to fist bump, to see how she still remembers how to do it; because in the picture, Harry's almost fisted hand is pressed against Opal's lightly fisted ones.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurbs #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shots #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x fem!reader #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #dad!harry #husband!harry

[androidcharles]

Learning the Truth (Chapter 1)

Yesterday (more like last night but details), I was on a writing FRENZY. And... I managed to I think write most of Chapter 2 instead of going to bed on time SOOOO

I will be posting the first chapter of this. This one isn't as lighthearted as the last filler story, but coming from me, it'll probably be still just as hammy. Either way I hope you enjoy.

The Triple Threat, along with Rupert narrowly escape yet another android attack, thanks to the CCC. And Rupert manages to find out the truth about something that had been kept from him for over twenty years...

There aren't too many things in the way of TWs, just some robotic injury and swearing of course.

In West Mesa, Minerva Price was sleeping as she turned over in bed, dreaming about something. She stood in an empty room, her eyes concentrating on a figure on the other side of it as it turned around, dark hair flowing behind him. His eyes were both a piercing red and blue, filled with dread as his lips started to move. Minerva tried to step towards him, but found herself unable to move.

“Jaques? Jaques what are you trying to tell me?” Minerva asked. She tried to speak again, but it felt like her lips were sealing shut as dark clouds started to surround them.

Jaques kept talking, his lips moving but no sound coming out. Minerva felt a cold chill down her spine as she tried to regain control of the dream somehow, hearing whispering voices all around her and the sound of an irritating beeping noise…

Was that her alarm clock? She shot up, looking and seeing that it was still night time outside. It would be hours before she had to report for duty, so…

Oh no…

Oh yes…

Minerva jumped at the sudden voice in her head, but she wasn’t about to waste any time. She jumped out of bed and headed towards her closet, inputting a secret code before heading down the stairs to the basement of her house. There, she sat at a huge computer console as she began to type in various codes before she felt a pit in her stomach.

Accessing the surveillance cameras, she could see a massive android fight had broken out in the main part of the city. There were a few Toppats in the area trying to take advantage of the situation while a young android girl ran at the androids full force. The iconic Triple Threat team was leading the charge and of course, her own son was in danger as well. She had to act fast; she had to quell this chaos somehow and give these kids a chance to escape.

So you need some options? I’ve got some for ya.

There was that voice again. She looked down at the console at her possible options.

Anything that will keep my son and his friends from being hurt would be fantastic…

A gravity pump? She pushed the button and watched in horror as everyone started to skyrocket up into the air. No… no no no!

Alright, let’s reset! Also, talk about taking the problem sky high.

“Who are you!?” Minerva shouted, glancing around.

That’s not important. Consider your next option, you don’t have much time.

Had the world reset? The same scene played out again and she had to consider her options. Immediately she activated sonic pulse. This would deactivate all the androids and put them out of commission… wait… all of the androids…

Congratulations, you Defeated the Androids!

That boy is very important to my son. I’d rather not be responsible for his death.

Maybe the best way to handle a robot attack was with another robot. She immediately activated the mecha-dino as it crash landed in the city with a huge roar. She watched carefully, trying to monitor the situation as it slashed at a young android with pink streaked pigtails as they shrieked, trying to escape from the clutches.

Meanwhile, Charles was on the ground helping support Ellie and Henry as he helped them escape the situation and he gasped when saw Amelia get flung against the wall, her arm coming off in the process. He gritted his teeth as he charged towards the dino, trying to fight it off as he was slammed against the wall as well. He felt static filling his vision as he looked up to see Rupert in the path of the dino…

“Shit!” Charles shouted as he activated his speed booster, practically barreling towards Rupert as he pushed him out of the way, tripping in the process and letting out a horrible cry as both his legs were crushed.

Meanwhile, the remaining androids, seeing Charles and Amelia incapacitated decided to flee the scene as the mecha dino deactivated, slamming hard on the ground and leaving a sizable crater in the process. Rupert was able to pry Charles from under the dino’s foot as he winced, seeing the damage it had done to his legs in the process.

“Scrape up what’s left of his legs and follow us. If we can get him to Dr. V, she’ll be able to repair him in no time!” Ellie shouted.

“N-n-n-n-n-no… Amelia…” Charles said, shakily pointing to her. Amelia was currently powered off, having taken another blow that knocked off her leg in the process. Henry and Ellie exchanged uncertain looks before Henry ran to grab her and her missing parts.

Meanwhile, back at Minerva’s house, she breathed a sort of sigh of relief, leaning back in her chair as she began to type on the console to report this to HQ.

Well, how was that?

...Hello?

Minerva glanced from left to right before sighing, wondering if she should include this in her report… before remembering what happened to the last person who reported a strange voice in their head telling them what to do.

“It’s best if I leave that part out,” Minerva muttered as she continued to type.

- - - - -

Charles sat in the virtual space, staring up at the ceiling as he watched a couple of videos to take his mind off of the repairs that were currently happening right now. He had managed to save Rupert, but where had that mecha-dino come from? It was certainly strange.

A door suddenly appeared on the side of the room as Amelia opened it, her blue eyes shining.

“May I come in?” Amelia asked. Charles waved for her as she went inside and lay on the floor with him. He let out a sigh as he glanced at her while she watched the video.

“Hey, are you OK? That dino really gave you hell didn’t it?” Charles asked.

“He stepped on your legs. In all honesty, I can’t believe the androids were right there… I wonder what they wanted,” Amelia asked.

“To cause trouble probably. But I can’t understand why. It’s not like attacking random humans is going to get them anywhere.”

“It’s strange. First their stealing children, then they steal mechanical parts. And now they’re attacking people? Just what are they trying to do?”

“Maybe they’re trying to make us look bad.” Amelia shot up as Charles said that, her eyes wide.

“You think?” Amelia asked.

“Probably. If I was in their position, I would do the same thing,” Charles said.

“That really sucks… what if they succeed? But wouldn’t that detrimental to them? Why would they do that?” Amelia said.

“Hmm…” Charles hummed, trying to figured it out as he heard a tapping on the glass. He looked up to see Rupert on the screen in front of them and smiled as he bounded towards him, pressing his head against the screen to nuzzle it. Rupert nuzzled back the best he could, a little wary of Amelia in the process.

“Hi Charlie,” he said softly.

“Hi RooRoo!” Charles said, giggling a bit, “I miss you!”

“I miss you, too. I’m sorry I caused so much trouble back there. You’d think that I wouldn’t be such a burden, but between those damn Toppats and those androids.” Rupert let out a small sigh as he glared at Amelia, who shrunk back a bit.

“Yeah, Amelia, way to be a jerk and try to rob the place anyway!” Charles said.

“Hey, don’t take your boyfriend’s side just because we have a job to do!” Amelia shouted, “It’s not our fault that there’s fancy jewels that need to be stolen!”

“Ever heard of a thing called self control?” Rupert asked. Amelia rolled her eyes as she summoned a door to leave.

“When you’re done swapping spit, let me know,” Amelia muttered, slamming the door behind her as it dissolved into pixels.

“There’s a screen between us, doofus, we couldn’t kiss even if we wanted to!” Charles said, “But… but I kinda want to…”

“I know…” Rupert said, smiling at him softly, “Say, how long are you going to be out of commission?”

“Longer then Amelia unfortunately. I’ll be done being repaired by this weekend…” Charles said.

“Oh, well that’s perfect! I figured maybe we can go see my mom after you’re done being repaired!” Charles’ eyes widened at this sentiment. He had met Minerva before, but not when he was dating Rupert. Now that he was dating Rupert though, it was going to be extremely awkward, if not strange.

“Are you sure? I don’t know how your mom will react to me dating you,” Charles said.

“Aw, c’mon! She already knows you’re an android, so it’s not like it’s unfamiliar to her in anyway. Besides, I think she’ll like that I’m dating you,” Rupert said.

“I don’t know, it’s not like I’m an official government helicopter pilot anymore,” Charles said, “What if she thinks I’m a bad influence because I hang around Toppats?”

“I think she’ll still like ya! She already likes ya!” Rupert said, “C’mon, don’t be so scared!” Charles twiddled his fingers, pondering it a bit before he nodded his head.

“Alright, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her, so I would love to see Minerva again,” Charles said.

“Great! I’ll pick you up when you message me and we’ll head to her place. We’ll even have dinner there and stay the night. It’ll be like a fun event thing you know,” Rupert said, “I love you. Take care, OK?”

“Love you, too, RooRoo. See ya later!” Charles said as he waved at Rupert. As soon as he was out the door, Amelia entered the scene again, letting out a small sigh.

“Sorry…” Amelia said.

“For being a thief?” Charles said smugly.

“No. For giving your boyfriend lip. You don’t give Dave a hard time, so I shouldn’t be giving Rupert a hard time either,” Amelia said.

“Well, even if Dave could be smart with me, I highly doubt he could be brave enough to actually do it,” Charles chuckled, somewhat joking.

“SHUT UP! Just because he’s not brave doesn’t mean he’s not loyal and caring and sweet and- Ah… I saw red for a second…” Amelia muttered.

“I was just kidding! Dave is a nice guy and I think I like him like that. May the greater ones protect whoever gets on his bad side though…” Charles said.

“What do you mean?” Amelia said, her eyes filled with curiousity.

“Nothing,” Charles said, “It’s just that there’s an old saying: always beware the nice ones.”

“Hehe, yeah… he’d be pretty handsome if he got all steamed… wait why are we talking about this!?!?” Amelia shouted as Charles laughed a little more.

“I hate to interrupt…” The two of them turned to see Dr. Vinschpinsilstien standing over the monitor, smiling a bit fondly at them.

“Amelia, your repairs were a bit simpler so you’ll be free to go by tomorrow,” she said. Amelia looked a bit forlorn as she gazed at Charles before nodding her head.

“I’m sorry Charles, you’ll be here by yourself for a while…” Amelia said.

“It’s OK! Dr. V can keep me company and… I can always message people and play games and stuff to keep myself occupied!” Charles said.

“Barring that sentiment, is there anything else you want me to do while I have you on the table Mr. Calvin?” Dr. Vinschpinsilstien asked. Charles was about to tell her that wasn’t necessary when he suddenly thought of the incident with Amelia and her voice box. He would probably need a new voice box soon too, as it would probably give out at the worst time eventually.

And then, as he ran his hands up his legs, he suddenly thought of something else. Something that had been bothering him since he met Ellie and Amelia…

“Yeah, I do have a few… requests…” Charles said softly. Amelia tipped her head to the side as Dr. Vinschpinsilstien took out a clip board, getting ready to take notes.

- - - - -

Amelia was about to finally leave in two hours. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien just had to run some diagnostics and she would be out of her hair. But there was something itching in the back of her mind while she was waiting. And it concerned Charles’ boyfriend.

The name Rupert sounded very familiar. Almost a little too familiar, like she had heard the name before in conversation or in passing. What about it was so familiar that she felt like it warranted a bit of further investigation?

So she decided to ask her dad about it. He’d been running the clan for a few years and had been in it for a lot longer. So he would know something about this Rupert person.

GlitterToppatGirl: Hey dad can I ask you a question?

ToppatKingReg: Yes, what’s your question dear?

GlitterToppatGirl: Do you know who Rupert is?

ToppatKingReg: You’re going to have to be more specific.

GlitterToppatGirl: I think his last name was um Prince or something?

ToppatKingReg: Price

GlitterToppatGirl: So you do know him!

ToppatKingReg: And I babysat him when he was quite young. Though I highly doubt he recalls it. Rupert Price, along with his mother are two very valuable people.

GlitterToppatGirl: How so?

ToppatKingReg: In the fact that Rupert and Minerva both share blood with a Toppat. An agreement was signed that in the event that if one of the two got into law enforcement, for better or worse, they shall not be captured.

GlitterToppatGirl: Really? Is that why we always ignore him?

ToppatKingReg: Yes, indeed. There are a few more people like that, your little boyfriend for instance, but Rupert is one of them. Which may become a problem later if he becomes captain. Although, back in the day, the government did sometimes rub elbows with us for information…

GlitterToppatGirl: Does Rupert know about this?

ToppatKingReg: That’s only if his mother told him. But for the last few years of that certain Toppats life, she kept him as far away from the clan as possible.

GlitterToppatGirl: Why?

ToppatKingReg: A multitude of reasons I can’t get into right now. Just know that if Rupert doesn’t know, then he has to find out through his mother. And she hasn’t told him well I can only hope he takes the news well.

Amelia sat in silence before thanking her dad for the information and signing off. She read over the chat log over and over again, trying to think about the best way to bring this up to Charles as a door appeared in her room. It opened and Charles peeked in, grinning really wide.

“Hey, Amelia!”

“No you can’t borrow my body.”

“Like I’d want to! I just wanted to see how excited you were to get back out there because-”

“Charles did you know that Rupert is related to Toppats?” Charles’ eyes widened as he glanced from side to side, as if someone was going to come and sedate him.

“Who told you that? Wait you’re a Toppat so of course you’d know…”

“Yeah, obviously!” Amelia lied, “So you knew too?”

“Um… it came up in conversation at the base when Rupert was being recruited. I was doing background checks for his mother in case she was up to no good and she still had connections to the Toppats. But apparently the only connection she had was the fact that she was related to a former leader,” Charles explained.

“Which one?” Amelia asked, her voice a bit wary.

“Jaques Kensington,” Charles answered.

“HIM!? The guy with the really creepy painting, oh my greater ones, aaaah…” Amelia covered her ears as Charles chuckled.

“It’s true, he’s related to him. Apparently it’s his uncle,” Charles said.

“So does he know he’s related to Toppats?” Amelia asked.

“Uh, no… I mean when he first joined, I asked him if his mom talked about the Toppats, but he just gave me this sour look. If his mom talked about it, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything good,” Charles said.

“So you never told him…” Amelia said, “Doesn’t that feel wrong?”

“No, not really. I highly doubt the government forces even care if he knows but… I know they’ve really been keeping him under a microscope because of me. I’d hate to be the reason he doesn’t become a captain, but if he finds out he’s related to a Toppat…”

“Maybe he’ll be fine with it! I mean, as annoying as it is, he’s still a good guy, right? There’s no way he’d go nuts because he found out he’s related to a former Toppat leader. I think he’ll be fine. Maybe you should talk to him about it,” Amelia suggested.

“What? Why?” Charles said, “I know that it’s not technically secret and I don’t HAVE to keep it secret, but what if he finds out and he spirals?”

“He seems a lot more mentally stable then Dave. And he still jumps every time he sees my dad,” Amelia said before looking at her UI, “I gotta go plug in. But think about it! I mean it can’t hurt to let him know right?” Charles summoned a door and exited Amelia’s headspace, heading back to his own quickly as he sighed, pondering what Amelia said.

Maybe he should talk to Minerva about this first. So he could get a good idea of how to approach this...

- - - - -

The weekend had come just like that as Rupert approached Dr. Vinschpinsilstien’s office, opening the door and sitting in the waiting area, trying to relax as he waited for Charles to be relieved. Charles had been pretty excited to get out ever since yesterday, talking about how he hoped Rupert would like what he saw.

He didn’t really understand, in all honesty. Was Charles getting a new pair of legs? Or was he going to be taller? Oh greater ones above, he hoped he wasn’t about to be taller, he could already barely reach him as it was-

“ROOROO!!” He heard the familiar excited voice as Charles opened the doors, running excitedly towards him as Rupert stood up, being wrapped up in a big hug.

“Oh I missed doing that so much! And looky! Do you notice anything different?” Charles asked. Rupert squinted at him as he tried to figure out what Charles was talking about and his eyes widened when he saw that he definitely was different. While they weren’t prominent or noticeable, on his chest were a pair of breasts. He also looked a bit curvier then usual, his figure almost soft and serene compared to the stocky body he once had. Rupert was stunned as Charles turned over and over, smiling widely at him.

“Don’t I look great?! Dr. V gave me a whole makeover and everything! Now I look just how I feel!” Charles said.

“Uh, great? Any changes on the gender front?” Rupert asked.

“I’m still using the same pronouns. As for my gender… today’s Saturday right?” Charles said.

“That never mattered in your process of picking genders,” Rupert said as Charles giggled.

“Yeah, yeah I know. Um… do you think your mom will be uncomfortable with it?” Charles asked.

“Why do you care? Mom was always about this kind of stuff,” Rupert said. Charles thanked Dr. Vinschpinsilstien for the repairs as they headed out onto the street, being assaulted by the heat as Rupert put his hand over his eyes.

“Hell, I think she’ll like your new look. Speaking of which, and you don’t have to elaborate if you’re not comfortable, but was there any reason in particular that you wanted this kind of change?” Rupert asked as he took out his phone to call a cab.

“Oh, um, well…” Charles’ shoulders slumped as he thought about it.

“Like I said, it’s OK if you don’t wanna talk about it,” Rupert said.

“No, it’s fine! It’s just that after I met Ellie, I started thinking about this kind of stuff more. I thought about it a bit whenever before I met her, but it was more of a recent development that made me realize I really hated the way I looked,” Charles said, “Sometimes I would go out wishing no one would look at me because I felt so stupid looking in my current body. I would sometimes hide in my room because I just didn’t want people to look at me.

“Eventually when I found out Amelia got her height changed because she wanted to appear taller, I thought to myself, if she can change her body to suit her needs and how she felt on the inside, why not me? So I asked Dr. V to go off a sketch I made a while back and she was able to do it for me. I mean, it’s not much, but I feel so much happier now. I want people to see me now and see how I look, because how I look on the outside now finally matches how I feel on the inside…” Rupert felt like he could relate to this.

For the longest time, when he was younger, he had always felt the same way. That he didn’t like the way he looked and felt about himself. Even the gender that he had been assigned at birth felt awful and wrong. When he wanted to make the decision to transition, his mother was in full support. His step-father, however, wasn’t and even after he was kicked out when he turned ten he harassed them for almost three years before they moved from Greenwich to West Mesa.

He wondered, sometimes when he felt truly awful, if his step father would ever find them again. Would he even recognize Rupert, the way he is now?

“Are you OK?” Charles asked.

“Uh… no not really but…” Rupert tried to force a smile, “I’m not gonna let the past get me down you know. Let’s just go see my mom now.”

“Um, OK! I hope I haven’t said anything to upset you,” Charles said softly as the cab approached the curb.

On the car ride there, they decided to change the subject and talk about various things and in about a few minutes they were in front of Minerva’s house. Rupert opened the door as Charles ran out, almost tripping over the curb as he bounced up and down. Rupert chuckled as Charles beckoned for him to hurry up, as if he wasn’t nervous just a few moments ago. He rung the doorbell as Rupert approached the door himself.

Finally, the door opened and Minerva smiled as she saw Charles and Rupert.

“Rupert, my boy, come here…” Minerva opened her arms for a hug as Rupert practically barreled into her.

“And Charlie, my you’ve… changed a bit actually!” Minerva said, “Honestly, I wish I was an android. Then I could something about this extra weight, woof…”

“I think you look perfect just the way you are, Minerva!” Charles said as they headed inside.

“See, that’s why I like you!” Minerva said, as she allowed them to enter as Charles took a seat on the couch and Rupert sat next to him.

“You haven’t come to visit in a while, Rupert. It must be important if you’re here though,” Minerva said.

“Oh it’s nothing. I was picking up Charlie from his repairs and I thought while I was in town, I would stop by and see you,” Rupert said.

“Well, that’s wonderful. I’ll have some tea and snacks ready in a bit. And Charlie, I have some old cups that I need to get rid of that you can snack on as well,” Minerva said.

“Thank you, Minerva!” Charles said as she left to prepare said dishes. Charles glanced at Rupert, who had taken it upon himself to lay on his shoulder. He smiled as he wrapped his arm around his shoulder as Minerva re-entered the room, pausing at the scene and smiling a bit.

“I see you two are a bit comfortable, aren’t ya?” she said as she set down a tray onto the coffee table. Charles reached forward and grabbed an old cup before taking a bite out of it.

“Well, it’s just that… Rupert and I, we’re um…” Charles started to say.

“We’re dating now. We’re a couple,” Rupert said.

“Oooo, I knew the minute you walked into this house for the first time you would be the one! Rupert was always friendly with Dave, but I could never see them getting along like that. But you two… you two are like the perfect couple!” Minerva clapped her hands together as Charles giggled and Rupert blushed.

“I’m glad that you understand all this, despite the fact that Charlie is an android,” Rupert said.

“Well, as long as you’re comfortable with him living longer than ya, I don’t see why it’s a problem,” Minerva said, “But maybe you’ll figure out a way to live forever soon. Maybe…” Minerva got a sort of forlorn look in her eyes she said this as Rupert cleared his throat.

“Eheh, anyway, we’re gonna be staying the night, so I hope you don’t mind cooking dinner for two more,” Rupert said, “I figured since it’s been a while since I’ve been home, I would at least come and visit.”

“Oh, how thoughtful of you. Charlie, will you be staying as well?”

“Duh!” Charles said, “It’s a sleepover!”

“That sounds lovely! Your room is all made up still. Well, it’s a guest bedroom now, but it was your room,” Minerva said.

“I know what you mean mom. Call us downstairs when you’re ready to go shopping,” Rupert said, as he got up to head upstairs.

“What do you want for dinner then?” Rupert thought about it for a moment, before he leaned over the railing of the stairs.

“I want shephard’s pie!” Rupert said, “You make the best shephard’s pie in the world!”

“Aye, then I’ll make shephard’s pie. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go,” Minerva said as Rupert practically skipped up the stairs. Charles suddenly thought of something. This would be the perfect opportunity to confront Minerva about what he described as “you know what.” The question was, however, what was going to stop Rupert from deciding to come back downstairs and actually interrupt what they were talking about.

“Hey Charlie,” Rupert said. Charles jumped as Rupert tipped his head to the side curiously.

“I was just gonna let you know that uh… geez my mom’s gonna hate me for this, but I’m gonna take a nap for a bit before we go to the store,” Rupert said, “I know that it’ll be a bit lonely, but maybe you can find something to do while you’re waiting for me to wake up!”

That couldn’t have been more convenient, Charles thought as he smiled at him.

“That’s fine! I’ll let Minerva know that you’re sleeping,” Charles said. Rupert chuckled sheepishly as he headed back to his bedroom.

“Sleep well,” Charles said, silently thanking the greater ones above that Rupert picked now to take a nap. He had about forty five minutes if he was correct which meant that he could at least ask Minerva about it. He started down the stairs as he saw Minerva cleaning up the coffee table.

Minerva glanced up to see Charles smiling at her and she chuckled nervously as Charles helped her out.

“I’m surprised you’re not upstairs with Rupert right now,” Minerva said, “I wish I could entertain ya a bit more, but I’m behind on a bit of… gardening… so I can’t-”

“Minerva, it’s me, remember?” Charles said, raising an eyebrow. Minerva glanced to the side before leaning forward.

“How long do we have?” she asked.

“About forty five minutes,” Charles said.

“Yes, I was gonna do some CCC work,” Minerva said. Charles sighed as he helped her carry everything to the kitchen to be washed up. A while ago, he had pestered Minerva about her career and found out that she was, indeed, a CCC employee. Many of the employees were very secretive and reserved, but thanks to some good word from Ellias Bahtchin, he was able to have clearance to at least know that she was an employee. As for her coworkers, they were still a complete mystery.

“I’m glad you’re at least understanding about it. Though considering you were going to become a CCC ‘employee’ yourself, of course you’d understand,” Minerva said.

“Well, I’m not, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about Jaques,” Charles said. Minerva nearly dropped the cup she was holding as her eyes grew distant, feeling a wave of discomfort wash over her before she shook her head.

“I don’t know that guy. I don’t talk about Jaques,” Minerva said.

“Why?” Charles said. Minerva pursed her lips as she took a shaky breath before she shook her head.

“My son… he doesn’t even know who his uncle truly was. As far as things were concerned, his uncle was secret agent of some kind. He wanted to be like him when he was older. He didn’t know that he wasn’t a secret agent but a Toppat!” Minerva said, “I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Greater ones above, I don’t even know if he remembers talking to those kids or even interacting with everyone. All things considered, he probably thought it was just a dream he had or a memory he made up,” Minerva said.

“The CCC has a lot of interesting tools. Maybe one of those tools could erase the memories of someone…” Charles said.

“I never stoop that low. Rupert just ended up pushing those memories out of his head on his own,” Minerva said, “Cross my heart. I would never, EVER mess with my son’s head. Even if I had a good reason to.” Charles narrowed his eyes Minerva but she didn’t seem to be lying.

“Alright, I believe you. But that still doesn’t change one fact,” Charles said, “You haven’t been completely honest with him.”

“Trust me, I want to tell him. I really do,” Minerva said, “I don’t feel right keeping it secret from him, but if he found out, he wouldn’t… come out the same.”

“Rupert is a lot stronger then you think, Minerva. Maybe he’ll take the news well,” Charles said. Minerva shook her head.

“He loves to do that, you know. Bottle his emotions and act like such a big shot, even though he isn’t. He gets it from me, honestly. Just bottling emotion after emotion and not letting them out in a healthy way. There are times when he’s…” Minerva suddenly turned away as if not to reveal something before she sighed.

“Either way… he’s not as emotionally stable as you think he is. I don’t know how he’d react to it, but I don’t think he’d react very well. Especially considering how long I kept it from him,” Minerva said.

“Have you considered telling him?”

“Every damn day, Charlie, every damn day! But greater ones above, every time I think about telling him, something inside of me just crawls out and stops me from doing it! I don’t know what to do or how to approach it. I already know how badly he’d react if he heard from you. But if he heard from me… oh greater ones above he’d probably hate me,” Minerva said, “He’s said it before, when he was young and didn’t know better but if…” Minerva started to tear up as Charles hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her the best he could.

“I care about him so much… if anything happened to him... If anything happened to him at all…” Minerva said.

“It’ll be alright. Look maybe we should do it together. At dinner, I mean. He’ll be in a good mood anyway because he’ll be eating his favorite food, so maybe it’ll soften the blow a bit,” Charles said.

“You mean you know?” Minerva asked as she wiped her tears.

“I was a former government agent. They didn’t erase my memories,” Charles said.

“Oh no, you got kicked out? What happened?” Minerva said.

“I… met a friend in the Toppats. They didn’t take it too well,” Charles said. Minerva shook her head as she patted him on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry to hear,” Minerva said, “It must have been really devastating.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s fine! I’ve got a band now and I’m actually happier now then I’ve been before!” Charles said, “So I’m not gonna worry too much!” Minerva smiled softly to herself as she let out a small sigh.

“Well at least one of us will be happy after tonight.”

- - - - -

Charles decided to help Minerva with a few chores after she had a good cry and by the time Rupert woke up, he ended up helping Minerva clean out the fridge, which had earned her some scolding from him.

Either way, by the time the three of them were done, they both piled into Minerva’s car to go do some shopping. Once they got back, they helped Minerva prepare dinner together before they sat at the table in the kitchen, getting ready to eat. Rupert was practically bouncing in his chair as Minerva passed him some shephard’s pie, his mouth water as he took a huge bite.

“Mmmmm… mom you make the best shephard’s pie, I swear!” Rupert said, his mouth half full.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Rupert,” Minerva scolded as Charles took a bite of his own, being careful not to bite the fork in the process.

“I’m surprised you can eat food like this without short circuiting, Charlie,” Minerva said.

“I can eat anything as long as my nanites can digest it. But I can’t drink stuff,” Charles said, giving her a look. Minerva knew what it meant. She was trying to dodge the obvious as she glanced to the side, almost a little ticked off.

“Mom? What’s going on?” Rupert asked, noticing the behavior immediately.

“Ah, well…” Minerva took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to word what she was going to say.

“Charlie, did mom say anything to you after I told you about my nap?” Rupert asked.

“Not anything important apparently,” Charles said, a bit of ice in his tone as Minerva glared at him.

“Charles!” Minerva hissed as Rupert shrunk back. Minerva flinched when she saw the look on her son’s face as she shook her head rapidly.

“I’m sorry, but I have something very important to tell you about our family!” Minerva said. Rupert tipped his head to the side before gasping.

“My uncles back from his long mission!?”

“What!?” Charles was almost shocked to hear this as Minerva tried to look innocent before gently laughing.

“No… no dear, not that,” Minerva said, “Uncle Jaques… never went on a long and dangerous mission. He never went anywhere, t-technically.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Rupert asked.

“You see, your Uncle Jaques was a very, very intelligent man. He was clever and wise, but above all else he was kind and charitable. But… he was also not a part of a secret government organization,” Minerva explained. Charles almost bit into his fork when he heard this, feeling a wave of disbelief as Rupert chuckled, glancing to the side nervously.

“I kinda figured. I mean, I guess you can’t talk about secret organizations if they exist, but I asked some people around the government base and-”

“Your uncle was a Toppat, Rupert!”

The silence that fell over the table was deafening, as Charles glanced away awkwardly and Rupert had a look of disbelief on his face. Suddenly he started to laugh, almost forcibly so as Minerva looked at him in shock.

“Bahahaha! Mom, that was a good one! Seriously, you’re telling me that Uncle Jaques along with Reggie and Terry-” Suddenly it all clicked into Rupert’s mind as his mouth gaped open. Charles felt himself overheating from all the suspense as Rupert glanced at the table, then at Minerva, then at Charles.

“Wait… you weren’t kidding? Reggie… was… Reginald… and he was… he was my…” Rupert put his hands into his head as Minerva sighed.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you for the longest time, Rupert, I promise, but I didn’t know how to tell you. And then when you started going on about being a police officer and trying to be something so you potentially join that secret government organization, I didn’t have the heart to tell you. I don’t know, it’s just-”

“Have you been talking to them?” Minerva stopped speaking as Rupert looked up, a dark look in his eyes.

“No… well, yes, but not really. I mean-”

“So you’re a Toppat too!”

“I’m not, I just talk to them!”

“You might as well be!” Rupert shouted.

“Uh, Rupert I hate to interrupt but by that logic I think I’m a Toppat, too,” Charles said meekly. Rupert suddenly threw his fork as Charles as he dodged it, his eyes wide.

“Rupert!!” Charles and Minerva shouted.

“YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THIS FROM ME AND ACT LIKE IT’S SOME BIG JOKE ONCE YOU TELL ME?!?” Rupert shouted, “I can’t believe this! My own mom… rubbing elbows with Toppats!”

“If it wasn’t for the Toppats, we wouldn’t have a damn roof over our heads!” Minerva shouted, “You should be lucky that you uncle Jaques was the leader of them at one point otherwise we’d have been on the streets for a huge chunk of your life!”

“I would rather be homeless then rely on Toppats! They’re the scum of the earth, mom! They were literally going to build a SPACE STATION so they could rob WHOEVER THEY WANTED! Is that what you want!?”

“IT’S THE CYCLE OF LIFE, RUPERT! Everything exists in a balance!”

“SCREW THE BALANCE!” Rupert shoved his plate forward, causing a huge mess as he stomped out of the kitchen up the stairs and slammed a door as Charles peered up from under the table.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s not your fault, it’s mine. If I had told him sooner, things wouldn’t have turned out like this…” Minerva said, sitting down.

“Maybe… maybe I should talk to him,” Charles said, “Do you want to come with me?”

“I think the last person he wants to see is me right now. But if you wanna become pavement in his war path, then be my guest…” Minerva said. Charles squinted his eyes at her before heading up the stairs, walking towards the bedroom door and knocking gently as he heard a pillow being thrown at the door.

“Rupert, it’s me,” Charles said softly.

“Go away,” Rupert said loudly from the other side.

“I’m coming in anyway, no matter how many pillows you throw at me!” Charles said. He opened the door as Rupert threw another pillow at him. It missed and hit the wall next to him, nearly knocking down a portrait as he closed the door behind him.

“I know this is a big shock to you, but I don’t think there’s anything bad about being related to Toppats. You’re still you and you’re still a great soldier and you’ll be a great captain too,” Charles said. Rupert kept silent as Charles went to sit on his bed.

“It’s not really a big deal, honestly! I’m not saying that you should be honored, but the Toppats are pretty strong. Having relatives like that doesn’t seem half bad honestly, I mean it could be worse!”

Rupert was silent as he lifted his head up, a torrent of rage in his eyes.

“It’s not a big deal huh… it’s not a big deal to be related to scummy Toppats… That’s the most BULLSHIT THING I’VE EVER HEARD CHARLES!”

“But, but I-”

“BUT WHAT!? I’m supposed to think that you saying all that is some kind of cure. ‘Oh, so you’re related to Toppats, get over it already!’ That may have worked for you when you found out about Project SAI but some people are different Charles!”

“Because you’re letting something like this determine who you are, Rupert! Are you seriously gonna be bent out of shape because you’re related to Toppats?!”

“You don’t know anything about who I am! We’ve been dating for what, a few months? And you’ve known me for longer then that, but you never grew up with me, you never had a damn childhood to begin with because you’re a machine!” Rupert suddenly heard what he just said as Charles’ eyes grew cold, his hand reaching for the door knob.

“I’m gonna ask Minerva if I can sleep on the couch tonight,” Charles said softly, “Because clearly you don’t need a ‘machine’s’ company.”

“Wait, Charlie, I didn’t-”

“GOOD NIGHT RUPERT!” The door slammed as Rupert suddenly felt cold all over. His mind raced with thoughts as he felt sick to his stomach, placing his hands over his head as he knelt, trying to keep his breathing even.

He’s right. You should just get over it!

Oh come on, it was so unnecessary for him to act like that, and besides, you’re right he’s just a machine!

But he was only trying to make you feel better! After all, he’s right, this doesn’t change who you are!

Do you even know who you are?

Rupert suddenly had an epiphany, enough to make him feel queasy.

Do I even know who I am?

- - - - -

Morning rose over the Price household as Charles found himself waking up at exactly nine AM, feeling proud that he managed to wake up despite the time he actually fell asleep. Most of the night was spent comforting Minerva and reassuring her and as it turns out, he ended up falling asleep in her bedroom instead of on the couch she had set up for him. It didn’t matter to him as much as he stretched and headed out the door.

“Good morning,” Minerva said, “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better. I’m gonna have to apologize to Rupert,” Charles said.

“Let’s go up there and apologize together. Then we can have breakfast and talk about this like adults,” Minerva said as she followed Charles up the stairs. Charles knocked on the door, opening it gently as he peered in before his stomach dropped.

He saw the window open in the bedroom, along with several blankets tied together to make a rope. And Rupert, obviously, was gone.

“RUPERT!?” Charles shouted, “RUPERT!?!?”

“WHAT!?” Minerva practically bowled him over as she ran inside and ran towards the window, grasping the window sill as she stared out in horror.

“Oh my greater ones above… oh no no no no NO!” Minerva shouted, covering her head as she knelt down.

“Who knows where he might have gone…” Charles said, “I’m gonna try to message him.”

xXBold_Action_ManXx: Rupert?

TheFinalBastion101: I can’t chat right now! I’m probably busy with something important, so just tell me what you need and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

“He’s not answering…” Charles said.

“Did you hear a ping just now?” Minerva asked. Charles suddenly messaged Rupert again and along with getting the “I’m busy” message, he heard a small ping in the room. Charles glanced over the room and saw that Rupert’s cell phone was sitting on the side dresser.

“He used to do this all the time. He’d sneak out to see friends, cause trouble, and such, but for some reason… for some reason I didn’t think he’d do it now. Where would he go?” Minerva said softly.

“Ask some of the neighbors if they’ve seen him. I’m gonna contact everyone I know and see if they’ve seen him,” Charles said. Charles got to work messaging everybody he could while Minerva steadily walked out the door, looking forlornly at the open window.

How did it come to this?

#the henry stickmin collection #rupert price #minerva price #charles calvin #amelia copperbottom #the narrators stories #fan fic #fan fiction