#actually yknow what not just classic lit just anything

[slocumjoe]

Some questionable actions of Augustijn Lodewijk Theodoor Eduart Reinier in no particular order

I feel like it's very common for people to go "my oc is such a disaster, they're such a mess, they're such a shithead" and then that oc never does anything, so here's my essay on why Gussy is an asshole until the main plot, where he finally starts understanding what's wrong with him and what to do about it

Was a pickpocket to pay for his drug habit through high school and college, hated both the habit and the stealing but unfortunately, his addiction didn't care what he felt about the whole thing

Similarly, would befriend fellow rich people in Harvard, go to their house parties, and nick valuables to pawn. Regardless how you feel about Harvard people, he was still using them, forming emotional bonds based on lies so he could steal their shit. They thought he was a friend to confide in, and he was betraying that trust.

Married his childhood friend Lotte when he returned from China. Lotte had always loved him and had just left an abusive marriage, and he wanted to feel better about himself, so he married her to be the husband she deserved. Problem; he's gay. And never actually loved her like that.

Failed to understand why she was so upset when she found out. He wasn't cheating, and he was taking care of her and treating her very well. Perfect husband, if not for the lying and using her. And he didn't get that being lied to like that is traumatizing and humiliating

Accepted a promotion in the military that he really didn't deserve, that was due to go to Isadora, actually. Failed to realize why she was upset. This caused a schism between them but while Isadora got over it the promotion itself, she never got over that he didn't get why that was a problem

Was generally terrible to his stepmother, largely out of unresolved trauma with his biological mother, who was severely mentally ill after her own Catholic upbringing.

Joined the military to redeem himself, thinking that the military was A Good Thing, full of Honor and Glory. Bad start dude

Ended up committing war crimes, being another cog in the war industry. Such crimes include; hostage taking, attacking civilians, firing upon medics, killing a surrendered combatant, and pillaging. All done under orders. Cool reason, still FUCKING AWFUL.

Again, the cannibal thing. Justifiable, sure, I guess, but still Oh Good God.

Various actions under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, such as General Nuisancery, the aforementioned theft, paranoid aggression, trespassing and destruction of private property, and multiple accounts of harassing wildlife over rights to particularly bountiful dumpsters.

Slept with people morally questionable to sleep with. Yknow. Cops. Homophobes. People who you should look at and go "nope, not doing anything with that"

Would give sexual favors in exchange for food. Understandable? Sure. But at some point it's prostitution, and that's fine, but that exchange rate is fucked. A BJ is not equivalent to a Big Mac, large fry, and fountain drink. You're underselling yourself

Pushed his religion onto other people...not trying to convert, just bringing up God and such frequently, usually when its not the fucking time or not the person to talk religion with.

Have said before, read a lot of classic lit and poetry and shit like Protestant musing on the human condition. Now he talks like Victor Fucking Frankenstein, and he intentionally brings up obscure references or concepts, hoping that he gets to explain it to the other person. Maybe the worst thing about him. Wretched.

#ss; alter

[looneymooney]

a little push

neil perry x fem reader

"he's staring again" charlie shoved todd and tilted his head towards neil. neil was fixated on her. the only girl in their literature class. y/n. he never flat out said the words, but all the poets knew he had feelings for her. she made him act like an idiot even with a simple glance. she turned him into putty.

"its been 2 months since she enrolled, its getting kinda pathetic." knox leaned in, grabbing cards out of the pile on the table.

"we should help him out" todd said, glancing back at neil.

"and how do you suggest we do that?" pitts reached out and grabbed his drink, then handed cameron a card

"we intervene." charlie smirked, dropping his cards. "come here, huddle up. ill explain."

-

it was 6:30 and the boys were gathered in the common room doing their respective activities. todd was studying, bouncing his leg. charlie was drawing a battle scene between aliens and cowboys. meeks and pitts were working on their transmitter. knox was boring cameron by talking about his ploys towards chris. and across the room y/n was reading a book whilst sprawled out across a chair. then in came neil.

charlie looked up at todd and raised his eyebrows.

" hey neil, can you come over here a minute" todd breathed out, he was very noticeably nervous but in a way it was working to his advantage.

"hey bud, whats up? need help with your math?" neil asked, pulling out the chair next to todd.

"well actually, i was hoping i could have your help with something else?" his eyes darted before meeting neils.

"anything, what is it?"

"well theres this girl..."

"MY LITTLE TODDY HAS A CRUSH!?" neils eyes lit up, he seemed super energetic and bouncy

"shh!!!" todd pulled neil down and covered his mouth

"well spit it out, who is the lucky girl who caught your eye?" neil playfully shoved todds arm earning a smile from him.

"its the girl from keating's class. y/n. have you met her yet?" todd noticed a slight shift in neils face, but he fixed it in a moments time.

"yeahh yeah, shes really nice. good for you man, what is it exactly you needed my help with?" neil could sense it but he was praying that todd wasnt about to ask him what he though he was.

"well actually i was hoping you could go talk to her for me, yknow get a feel for her. see if shes single, if shes even looking. i dont want to talk to her until i know if its even worth it." annnd, there it is. neil was clenching his fist under the table, he had newly formed crescent moons in his palms.

"id be happy to, next time i see her ill talk to her." neil smiled trying his hardest to keep his cool.

"shes there now. i really appreciate it neil." todd looked to her, giving him an encouraging smile.

"she sure is. ill be right back." he stood up, and turned towards you. his heart was pounding so loud. the world was quiet, his love for you was all he could hear. but he couldn't think about it. todd likes you, so he cant. he kicked himself for not making a move faster.

"well ive gotta say you have amazing taste." he said nodding towards your book

"ah yes, pygmalion. a classic. who doesnt love to read about financial corruption."

'she, shes funny.' he thought, a huge dumbfounded smile on his face.

"im neil perry" and extends his arm to her.

"y/n, its nice to meet you neil." she smiled warmly

'god shes adorable'

"not that im not enjoying your hovering, but would you like to have a seat? we can talk some more if youd like"

his heart sped up, as if it were possible.

"ye yeah id love to." he stumbled over his foot on his way to the couch next to her.

they talked for about an hour, he laughed with her more than he has the rest of the year combined. they worked so well together, the conversation never felt forced or difficult. it was just, easy. he was more in love with her now than he was before, unbeknownst to him she felt the exact same intense emotions for him. before they knew it it was curfew time, so they parted ways, "i look forward to seeing you again, neil." she smiled, leaving him weak at the knees. and with that, she was gone.

he felt like he was floating, he had had the most amazing night. her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and her laugh. god dont get him started. and the way she scrunches her nose when shes embarrassed about something, she was everything.

he swung his dorm door open and threw his bag onto the bed. it was then he was faced with the crushing realization that was todd sitting on his bed. 'my best friend is in love with her. hes in love with her so i cant be.' he felt small.

"hey neil, howd it go?" neil swears hes never todd smile so big.

"it was great. shes hilarious. you two are gonna get along great." neil turned his face away from todd because he couldn't force himself to fake a smile anymore.

todd laughed, moving over to sit at his desk. "neil dude, for someone with such a high gpa you're really taking a long time to figure it out."

"what do you mean?" neil darted his head towards him. "whats there to figure out?"

"it was charlies idea, but we knew you werent gonna talk to her by yourself. not without a little push. so i pushed you" todd was grinning so widely, amused by neils confusion.

when neil finally reached the conclusion, he was a smiling idiot. he spun around and jumped on todds bed, "YOU SNEAKY BASTARD" todd erupted in laughter. "to you, im forever grateful" neil said, bowing, tipping an imaginary hat. "shut up" they laughed.

the next morning neil received pats on the back, and a few on the butt, complements of the dead poets. they all walked in the dining hall for breakfast when they saw you sitting there, reading.

"if you'll excuse me boys," neil smiled heading towards you.

"mind if i?" neil asked smiling, "mm yes! i read those poems you told me about last night. theyre genius." she smiled at him, they began to talk about any and everything. and a few days later they began dating. neil played it off as a joke but he really would always be grateful for what the poets did for him and y/n. they helped him get the girl who would save him.

#neil perry #neil perry x reader #dead poets society #dead poets in nyc #dps boys #robert sean leonard #welton academy #neil perry imagine

[grendelsmilf]

mythic quest characters + favorite villain in fiction (can be classic lit or myths, can be adventure time, anything that strikes ur fancy)

just off the bat zack stans iago specifically because he finds him to be aspirational. he thinks that if not for iago's bitch wife he would've won easily. fuck you emilia

david loved that joker movie because he thinks the joker is soooo sympathetic. a poor little meow meow :( or whatever the fuck ppl are saying these days idek if i'm using that correctly

ian loves fight club for all the wrong reasons. obviously. he also thought darth vader was badass until it turned out that he was actually fugly. ew, whyy

as a kid, rachel was horny4maleficent. dana was horny4ursula

jo obviously thinks every ayn rand protagonist is #life goals

poppy loves lady susan bc she was such a girlboss. she never actually read it, but like, she's assuming?

brad thinks its fucked up that they humanized cruella de vil and made her not skin puppies in the new movie bc the fact that she was so unapologetically cruel to animals in pursuit of material possessions is what made her so based & redpilled in the first place, yknow? (also he stans patrick bateman obviously)

cw loves grendel's mother because she was a fucking milf!!!!!!

#'based and redpilled' is a thing my brother says and i hate it but i also think the image of brad saying it is rly funny 2 me #he probably does use reddit frankly #jo DEFINITELY does #ian and poppy probably do #david and dana are casual reddit readers #and rachel avoids reddit like the plague #but tweets constantly #cavehags #ask #o.tv #cw is right btw :)

[billhaderlovebot]

i love you - aaron conners drabble

summary: you're in love with him, but you've been hurt before. every base instinct is screaming at you to get the hell out of dodge, but you can't bear to push him away.

tags: @a-second-hand-sorrow @gazebros

a/n: this is more of a drabble than anything because i couldn't be arsed to fully flesh it out and make it better but i wanted to wire for aaron yk. mm. so enjoy, anyway.

---

whatever strange cafe-bar aaron had dragged you into to have this talk was nearing closing time, and the oddly shaped paper lamps hanging from the ceiling were the only source of light. you resented him for how good he looked under the pale yellow glow. 

"you have to promise me that you're not in love with me." you sniffed, pointedly avoiding his gaze. 

you swirled your paper straw around absently in your long since abandoned gin and tonic, and aaron tried not to focus on your lips and how soft they looked as they closed around it every once in a while, pretending to be interested in the contents of the glass. 

"i can't." said aaron. and for the first time since you'd sat in the booth, you met his eyes. 

"you have to." it was barely more than a whisper, your throat not willing the words any louder. "you have to, or i can't-" 

"i know what he did to you." said aaron, drumming his fingers lightly on the table the same way you swirled your straw around. looking for something, anything to focus on, that wasn't this. 

"then you know why i can't let you-" 

"please." the despondent plea that fell from his lips shouldn't have cut you as deep as it did. but here you were, your chest constricting as his watery blue eyes bored into your own. "just, please, let me love you." 

"i can't, aaron." 

the first time aaron had confessed, it was hushed whisper in his car as you were speeding down the highway at night, the city lights faded to small white pinpricks dotting the curtain of black draped across the sky. you remembered distinctly the warm night air on your face and everybody wants to rule the world filtering from his car radio. aaron hadn't thought you had heard him until you started to cry. 

"take it back. please. don't say that."

"why?" 

"because i can't see you anymore if you do." 

---

he showed up the day after the cafe-bar encounter at your place of work, shuffling into the office in one of his infuriatingly cute polo shirts, coffee in hand, soft smile on his face. 

"i've thought a lot about what you said, and, while repairing a kneecap today, i reached some conclusions." aaron placed the coffee on your desk next to the ever growing pile of classic literature you had. the cover of the great gatsby faced up at him, and he remembered fondly the night, not too long ago, when you had called him up, practically vibrating with praise for this book and the wonders it presented to you. he bought his own copy the very next day. he hadn't liked it so much, but he wouldn't tell you that. 

"and what conclusions would they have been?" you smirked, closing your google search for "do penguins have knees" before he could see it. 

aaron cleared his throat. 

"number one, we really like each other." 

"no." you shook your head. 

"you weren't saying that last weekend when i was going down on you in that starbucks bathroom." he quipped, settling into the spinny chair opposite you, his eyebrows shooting up a fraction. 

"dr conners, do i have to ask you to leav-" 

"number two! you're scared of being hurt again." 

"was me leaving your ass in that bar not evidence enough of that?" you sighed, sipping the coffee he had brought despite yourself. 

"number three." 

"there's more?" you groaned. 

"number three! all you do is smoke weed and ignore people who like you. which i think is a shitty way to deal with your trauma, if you don't mind my saying so." aaron rolled the spinning chair right up to your desk, stopping inches away from your face. 

"i do, actually." you said. 

"also, i love you. but, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." 

"we'll burn that bridge when we get to it, aaron." 

---

you slept with aaron again that night. he was falling for you, and you couldn't bear to push him away. 

to say that you didn't love him back would be a lie. blasphemous, almost, but you wouldn't admit it. 

as much as you reveled in the warmth of his body pressed up against yours, your back against his chest and your legs tangled together, as much as you wanted to kiss the socks off him, as much as you loved him back, you would not admit it. 

"why do you let me do this to you?" you asked, toying with the seam of his sheets and allowing him to wrap his arms around your waist. "doesn't it hurt?" 

"i can't be close to you any other way." he confessed, pressing his lips against your bare shoulder. "i take what i can get. i know what it's like to be broken by someone." his breath fanned over your cheek. you turned to face him. "and i know what it's like... when you don't feel like you'll ever be able to trust anyone again. you need to break out of it, for your own happiness."

your eyes were trained on the way his lips moved around the words, and the sharp curve of his jaw, and the way his hair fell perfectly even though he hadn't done anything to it. oh, for the love of all things holy, you loved him. 

so you relented. "look, if i give this a go, like, a real, honest shot--" 

"wait, are you saying--" his eyes lit up, suddenly alert. 

"will you please just be patient with me--" 

"holy shit, you're really--" he broke out into a sparkling grin, and you found that allowing yourself something you'd wanted ever since you'd met wasn't so hard after all. 

"because i need to heal, yknow--" 

"can i kiss you?" he breathed. aaron was near vibrating with joy at a frequency that could shatter every window in his penthouse apartment. "not to invalidate your outpouring of truth, here, but i just... really wanna kiss you." 

"aaron, you had your head between my legs not ten minutes ago, i don't think you have to ask." 

---

being aaron's girlfriend wasn't that much of an adjustment. it was the same as you'd been doing for months now. aaron, however, relished in the fact that he was able to present you to the world as his, and tell you he loved you every hour of the day, eagerly awaiting the moment you would say it back. 

until then, your various creative responses never failed to keep him on his toes. his favourites so far were: "oh, worm?" and "bet." 

despite all the doubts you had about committing to someone again after him, it was so natural. it was automatic. he moved, you moved. like an invisible force coordinating your actions. it was so blissfully easy to be with him and you found yourself wondering often why it took you so long. 

"do you still think about him?" aaron asked one night, while you were curled up together in his bed, just about to drift off. "is this still hard for you?" 

"it actually surprises me every day how easy it is." you admitted, yawning and tracing your fingertips across his bare chest. "because you're nothing like him, and i feel safe with you." aaron's heart swelled in his chest at that. 

"i won't let anyone hurt you again." he whispered, his words burrowing deep into your chest and fixing themselves there, next to your heart. 

"i love you." the admittance rolled off your tongue so easily that it seemed silly that you'd ever held it back from him. 

aaron audibly gasped. "holy shit-" 

"goodnight, bitch."

#trainwreck #aaron conners x reader #aaron conners #bill hader

[rinatouin]

So I know you said don’t ask but… like how compatible do you think Kaito and Rina would have been? (Ignoring the whole Kaito is in love with mermaid Luchia and what not) like purely hypothetical I just rewatched the fireworks episode where Hanon asked her if she likes anyone AND I FELT FOR HER

you know anon! i think the main thing that makes me yearn about them is that i feel like they would be (and are tbh!) good friends, and having someone be a great friend to you is so important in a relationship! aside from the first few episodes where she hates him for looking like gaito, rina and kaito have this weird intrinsic knowledge of how to deal with eachother because of their personalities! more under the cut shfs 400 paragraphs as usual...

they’re both very level-headed and from the very beginning, as early as ep 16 kaito knows how to get through to rina and make her listen! lucia and rina struggle to get through to her and get her to open up because they don’t understand fully what she’s been through and what she’s dealing with, and of course kaito doesn’t either, but rina wants to protect lucia and hanon in a way that just doesn’t happen with kaito! she’s very straight up with him (honestly if he knew about mermaid stuff i feel like they’d confide in eachother in a very like, classic we need to protect the easygoing ones in case anything goes wrong way yknow?)

ep 16 is the episode where rina starts getting feelings for kaito and of course she’s flipping out because that is very much Not her man, and she’s acting like nothing’s wrong so as to not worry hanon and lucia, but kaito picks up on it! they’re both very perceptive and that can be an advantage in a relationship, platonic or not, people that can pick up on subtle cues like that and try to help you through it. but yeah kaito realizes she’s getting sick and is looking out for her cause she’s a friend kind of and he’s a caring guy!

by that one scene where he shows up to her house to check up on her, she’s all flustered cause she’s been caught looking weak in more ways than one and she’s being all stubborn but he really - breaks through that (which is kind of tough with rina ngl) and makes her really Listen to him because he knows that hanon and lucia would be worried about her if they saw she was pushing herself too hard for their sake.

and that scene actually makes rina think about him more kindly! right after that she’s all blushy in the ocean lol. i think she admires that he’s so - straightforward and brave and just...himself no matter what. kaito never really tries to be something he’s not (except human dgsfds) and rina haaates liars (remember when masahiro lied about his family life? that was the craziest little fight) so thats a point in his favor! kaito’s a very dependable guy in general, i think, and thats always a great trait in a person!

so okay- rina definitely could and definitely did like kaito, but all this stuff that kaito does for rina we see rina does for kaito, too! we see this especially well in pure, ep 14! this is the episode where rina takes kaito to the cave where he protected the pink candle lucia lit for her and kaito’s love in season 1. it’s actually a really neat episode because we learn that rina and kaito are actually closer than they show on screen! kaito mentions when she asks him to come with her that it’s rare for them to talk one on one (his memories are wiped at this point, of course) and rina’s actually corrects him by saying that the two of them used to talk very often!

but anyways, in this episode she takes him to that same cave him and lucia had that really important moment with the candle in, and she mentions she brought  him there because she knows the type of person he is, and she knows he would want to recover those memories with lucia! i think it kind of shows the depth of how well they know eachother because it would have been very easy to let him try and work out those memories on his own, or stay out of it and let lucia do the work, buut

the same way that kaito goes out of his way to help her when she’s sick in season 1, she’s going out of her way to help once he’s in trouble, too! it’s really sweet imo on both sides- they’re both trying to be a little stubborn in both of these scenes, but the other insists when they push back. in that episode in pure kaito’s like uhm what are we doing here exactly? because to be fair she did bring him to an isolated cave thats only accessible by boat but like sgdhfs yknow? and she explains and once he remembers a little something hes all frustrated and she’s like it’ll come back, don’t push yourself too hard. and hes like oh.. shes trying to help. and and in episode 16 rina thinks kaito’s hitting on her and shes flustered and yelling and hes like Dude! hanon and lucia are going to worry about you... don’t push yourself too hard. and shes like oh.. hes trying to help. You Know? aaaa

i just think there was a lot of potential there!!!!! rina and kaito play off eachother really well, they’re similar in a lot of ways that and thats a big plus in a strong friendship usually, and it can be in a relationship! they’re both very considerate- and sometimes not, lol. they’d have to work on that dfgfs

the whole mermaid situation, though-- hm..... rina is very duty-bound, i’m not gonna lie to you. like yes, rina didn’t pursue kaito because of lucia but at the same time she also did it for her country and their mission to find gaito. love can be very distracting from the things they were dealing with, and can lead to a lot of pain, anyway. yes kaito was her first crush (as far as the series lets us know) but you can see in the way she carries herself that she loves her people more than anything. a big setback for rina confessing to him if lucia wasn’t interested would be the whole mermaid princess thing, tbh.

i have to think about how they might meet tbh anon....  kaito and lucia are just so fated its hard to separate them from eachother in the narrative sgfdsg rina would never be in the pacific ocean to save his life, but how do you not fall in love with a pretty mermaid who saves your life? a lot to think about here sdgfsgd

#zgfsgafsga im so sorry anon i talk so much #asks #i want to elaborate more but i really have to brainstorm sgdhsfgd this is.. a little difficult with how the story works

[mortuarybees]

1 and 52

Historical Fic + Marriage of Convenience

it would absolutely have to be the classic ~oh we’re on more or less the same job we might as well work together it’s the Arrangement after all~ i’m thinking regency and they’re meant to be tempting/preserving the virtue of someone in the village who’s supposed to become a saint but tbh that doesn’t matter what matters is that aziraphale’s assignment is to take up a living as the parish priest. and an unmarried gentleman at his age would be very unusual,,,,and since crowley is meant to be on the same job, why not team up? no greater motives at all. so aziraphale poses as a priest and crowley poses as his wife, and the parsonage is small and old and could do with more land for grazing and growing, but it’ll do just fine for a few years, and crowley enjoys putting the house together and planning and tending the garden aziraphale enjoys expanding the library. and every night, even though neither of them have to sleep, and they have two spare rooms, they sleep together, without fail. it wouldn’t do for people in the village to notice that the candles are always lit in the priest’s house, after all; and they have servants, as befits their income, and what if they notice that the priest and his wife never sleep together, and talk? it’s purely utilitarian, of course, of course. except obviously they end up cuddling every single night.

they spend years on the assignment; except, well, they have to keep up the appearances of humans near-constantly, given that they have human servants around, and visitors, and in some ways they just–fall into it. the girl they’re meant to be influencing visits often, but frankly aziraphale hates ‘sermons for young women’ and really, he finds constant religious advice and guidance very boring and ineffective, so more often than not he’s just letting her read in his library and chatting about books and history with her; and crowley is really just trying to persuade her to run off to paris and become a scandalously single philosopher, so they just hang out and garden together and get on famously.

and one night, at a ball, they drink a bit more than they mean to, and crowley persuades him to dance (i firmly hold that crowley knows the fashionable dances of yesteryear very well, he couldn’t very well be a fashionable young man in the 18th century and never dance) and it’s absolutely horrible and they leave the floor early, laughing like idiots, and aziraphale says they ought to return home, it wouldn’t do for the whole village to see their priest and his wife completely drunk, and they stumble home together, and somewhere between their gate and the house, they’re kissing, crowley pressed against the door and his expensive shawl discarded onto the porch, and they’re interrupted by their housemaid opening the door in confusion at what all the noise is about. and they hurry up to their room and look at each other for one terrified moment that says we have to talk about this, don’t we, and crowley is preparing his excuses, but aziraphale just. undresses and gets in bed, and when crowley hesitantly follows him, he kisses his cheek, and pulls him in to rest on his chest, and they don’t talk about it. for the next several years, they are every bit the married couple they’ve been for a thousand years, and they don’t talk about it, about the fact that this can’t go on forever, they’re pushing it, they’re really pushing it, the arrangement was bad enough, this multi-year charade was bad enough, actually being married in every sense besides an outright wedding, might be too much. but yknow theyve always taken risks to be together however they can, and if this is their one chance to act like real people living a good and simple life, they’ll take it, and they won’t spoil it by actually talking about it.

and eventually, the young girl moves to london, and writes pamphlets on women’s suffrage, and marries a whig politician who would one day be instrumental in the 1832 reform act; ultimately, she lives a good life that is not satisfactory to either heaven or hell. crowley and aziraphale have known since she came to tell them she’d be leaving for london that they are on borrowed time, but eventually the reprimands for their failure come, as do the new assignments, and they have to leave their little parsonage and go their separate ways, though both their hearts break for it, and they don’t talk about the fact that they were married for like a decade until after the apocalypse, because they are stupid. but also because they know that if they acknowledge it, they’ll have to admit to themselves and out loud how they feel; they’ll either have to defy heaven and hell aloud, or deny it, lie and say it didn’t mean anything, it was just an assignment, and they’re not ready for the former, or willing to do the latter. so crowley sleeps for a century, and aziraphale rebounds with oscar wilde, you know how it is.

#oof an actual fic could be shorter #thank u hallie im love historical omens #good omens #crowleyraejepsen

[basilandthym]

Chapter 3: To Teach and to Learn

"But why New London-" Thym asked for the eighth time in half as many days "When there are keeps all over Europe?" 

Basil sighed.  Thym's incessant questioning was starting to wear him down, and he found that despite his usual reluctance to face the end of a trip, he was ready to not be trapped on a ship with his to-be apprentice. 

"Thym, I live there." Basil insisted bluntly, tired of explaining himself.

"Exactly, aren't you ready for a change of pace?" 

Thym rocked backwards on the ship railing that they'd insisted on sitting upon, and Basil gulped, fearful that they would plummet off the edge.

“It’s not as simple as that. I have responsibilities. Speaking of which, there’s work downstairs I need to finish and pack away." he muttered, heading to the back of the ship.

The Draco burst through a small cloud and Thym, attention diverted by mist and cold, wandered to the stairs near the mast.  They laid out on the deck, head rested on their arms, and peered down the warmly-lit stairway.

"Chive?  How's it going down there?"

A few heavy footfalls sounded below and then Chive was staring up at them.  

"Still good." he chuckled "Yknow, you don't have to check up on me every hour." 

"Well, no one else is." Thym observed. "C'mon, admit it, it'd get lonely if no one said hi!"

Chive redirected his smile towards the floor, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Well I can't say I don't appreciate the company."

Thym nodded knowingly.  "So what are you working on down there?"

"The engine." Chive answered offhand.

Thym put their ear to the floorboards and listened to the humming thrum below.

"The engine doesn't need it." They said confidently "What else you working on?"

  Chive frowned up at Thym, but his eyes sparkled mischievously.  

  "I have my own projects." is all he answered.  

  "Show-" 

  Thym was cut off by Rosemary as she glided across the deck.

  " We're about to reach Orion, come see!"

  Thym sighed and stood, following the captain to the bow.  The ship was lowering through layers of mist, the familiar skyline of New London now rising up into view.  

  The city was beautiful, no doubt, but Thym only frowned down at it.  Ahead, the three levels of Uptown London hung suspended.  The ship took a sharp turn before reaching them, sailing away past the main hub of the city.  Thym popped their ears and looked to Rosemary with curiosity.

  “Where are we docking?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at them.

  “At Orion, of course.”

  “There’s no way you have a dock….there….”

  Thym regretted their hasty judgement as the Orion campus finally shifted into view.  

  For every measure that Virgo had been beautiful, Orion was vast.  The main campus alone, with its classical brick, stone, and iron architecture, its columns and corridors, rivaled the largest colleges in the country.  A wide grassy courtyard set apart the mass of study halls and office spaces from the dorm rooms, connected only by covered outdoor walkways.  And it was all shadowed by the two ornate towers that rose into the sky.  Towers that, to Thym’s joint amazement and embarrassment, hosted a small, private airship dock.

 Rosemary didn't speak, but the twinkle in her eye said all.

  “Okay then.” Thym admitted “I gotta see this.”

  Rosemary nodded, her attention split as she guided the navigator’s way to a safe docking.

  “Where’s Basil?” Thym asked, mostly to themself.  They knew how protocol dockings went.  Despite being close, they wouldn't be able to actually disembark for at least another twenty minutes.  

  Searching below deck, Thym found him sitting, staring at a project but preoccupied massaging his arm above the prosthetic.

  “You good?” Thym called.

  Basil startled slightly before lowering his hand and going back to his work.  

  “I’m fine.”

  “It’s the altitude shift, isn’t it?” Thym asked, softly, but without any traces of doting.  Matter of factly.

  Basil shrugged.  “It’s nothing.”

  Thym gave a nod and changed the subject.  “So, guess we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together soon.”

  Basil nodded.

  “We should get to know each other better.”

  “I’m sure we will.”

  “C’mon, give me something.”

  Basil sighed and rubbed his temple “It’s been a long trip.”

  “Do you have a favorite subject?”

  “Alchemy.” He offered dryly. 

  Thym plopped down next to Basil.

  “Guess I knew that.”

  They waited for a return question and got none.

  “Mmmmm how about favorite color?”

  “Does that matter?”

  “Fair enough.” Thym leaned back “Okayyyy, birthdays.  What’s yours?” 

 Basil froze at first. “Ah- er, November 28th.”

  “I’ll remember it!” Thym promised.  They leaned on the desk. Basil stared down at his hands, looking increasingly uncomfortable. 

  “I should give you a nickname.”

  “Please don’t.” 

  “Not anything dumb.  How about teach’?  

  Basil shot Thym a confused glance.

  "Yknow, short for teacher?”

  Basil scowled.

  "You're right." Thym grinned "It's bad.  I'll put a pin in it."

  "Let's... just get inside." Basil said, collecting his things with a sigh "There's something I think you'll enjoy seeing."

#basil and thym #steampunk #steampunk comic #victorian #original story #webstory #webcomic #original characters #industrial #illustration #art #oc #sci fi #fantasy #ficlit

[alexconfusion]

1-100 please (I’m serious... or at least do like 20 of em. The first twenty. But I’d prefer them all)

Is this a challenge

1 Middle Name- Katherine

2 Age- 13 (yah I know I’m a baby blah blah blah shut up guys djskdjjd)

3 Birthday- May 8, 2006 (8:29am, to be exact)

4 Zodiac- sun: Taurus moon: Virgo, I believe

5 Fav Color- blue is my aesthetic but purple is my fav

6 My Lucky Number- five

7 Pets- two guinea pigs (ginny and lily), two dogs (bailey and maya) [i will provide pics if you want]

8 Where I’m From- Massachusetts

9 Height- 5’1

10 Shoe Size- eight

11 How Many Pairs of Shoes I Own- three

12 My Last Dream- Shane Dawson fixed my family issues and helped me come out to them (it was awesome, 10/10 would do again)

13 My Talents- piano (I have soundcloud check it out if u want), writing

14 Am I Psychic- HELL YEAH I AM shoot me an ask if u wanna know more cuz it’s kind of a long story (ok maybe not actually psychic but it’s a fun story)

15 Favorite Song- Amnesia - 5sos (it makes me cry every time and I don’t even care)

16 Favorite Movie- Into the Spider-Verse

17 My Ideal Partner - idk u tell me

18 Do I Want Kids?- potentially, but if I did I would adopt

19 Do I Want a Church Wedding- nah they look boring. I was part of the wedding party for my cousins wedding and it was absolute torture

20 Am I Religious- not really

21 Have I Ever Been to the Hospital- yeah, I was seven and stepped on glass at the beach (huge gash, kinda gorey, wouldn’t reccomend) anyways I didn’t know I cut my foot open at first and walked around the beach and a fuck ton of sand got in it (I had a very rough summer)

22 Have I Ever Been in Trouble With the Law- fuck no who do you think I am??

23 Have I Met any Celebrities- nope

24 Baths or Showers- showers duh, they’re good for so many things: crying, hair washing, pretending you’re standing in the rain,

25 What Color Socks am I Wearing- striped gray with blue owls (yes they are lit)

26 Have I Ever Been Famous- uh no

27 Would I Like to be a Celebrity?- sometimes I think it would be cool because if I make a lot of money I could help a lot of people, but usually no because having privacy is important to me

28 What Type of Music do I like- pretty much anything but acoustic versions have always had a special place in my heart

29 Have I Ever Been Skinny Dipping?- no gross

30 How Many Pillows do I Sleep With- one on each end of the bed so I can flip upside down and still have a pillow

31 What Position do I Sleep in-

(It’s comfy)

32 How Big is My House- two main floors, attic, basement

33 What do I Have for Breakfast- usually nothing, either because I slept through the normal breakfast time or because I didn’t have time to eat

34 Have I Ever Fired a Gun- no

35 Have I Ever Tried Archery?- Hell yeah I did, summer camp was a wild time almost shot someone in the face

36 Fav Clean Word- twilight

37 Fav Swear Word- fuck

38 Longest I’ve Ever Went Without Sleep- forty eight hours (those were two of the best days of my life btw)

39 Do I Have Any Scars- yeah

40 Have I Ever Had a Secret Admirer- nope but I wish

41 Am I a Good Liar- fantastic, actually

42 Am I a Good Judge of Character- what,, what does this mean??

43 Can I do Any Accents- I can do a really terrible British accent but nobody likes it

44 Do I Have a Strong Accent- nope

45 What is my Favorite Accent- Australian

46 What is my personality type- on the Myers Briggs test I’m an Adventurer (it’s creepily spot on, I highly recommend taking it)

47 My Most Expensive Piece of Clothing- Are vans clothing? If so my blue high top vans that I fucking adore. If not, probably my adidas shorts or something

48 Can I Curl My Tongue- I can do the classic fold in half one and the three leaf clover. look it up, it’s cool as hell

49 Am I am Innie or an Outie- innie

50 Right or Left Handed- right, but I’m ambidextrous when playing golf and I play lacross lefty

51 Am I Scared of Spiders- a little, not a phobia

52 Favorite Food- pears or frozen yogurt

53 Favorite Foreign Food- sushi

54 Am I a Clean or Messy Person- tbh it fluctuates but mostly clean. Like I myself am clean but my room is a wreck yknow

55 Most Used Phrase- “oh shit”

56 Most Used Word- oof

57 How Long do I Take to Get Ready- ten minutes, fifteen tops and five minimum

58 Do I Have an Ego- I don’t think so?

59 Do I Suck or Bite Lolipops- bite

60 Do I Talk to Myself- sometimes, it’s usually just strings of curse words

61 Do I Sing to Myself- yeah on occasion

62 Am I a Good Singer- no but my friends seem to think so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

63 Biggest Fear- losing everyone I care about/everyone I care about hating me

64 Am I a Gossip?- only if it’s not something serious and only to my closest friend

65 Best Dramatic Movie I’ve Seen- schindlers list, haven’t seen the whole thing (I’m kinda scared to) but it looks incredible even though it’s so horrific

66 Do I Like Long or Short Hair- I don’t really care, but I do kind of like longer hair on other people (i.e I like girls) (yes girls with short hair are awesome too but long/medium length hair is just.. yeah.)

67 Can I Name all 50 Stares of America- I could when I was 8 but now I can only list like 10

68 Favorite School Subject- English

69 (haha) Extrovert or Introvert- introvert

70 Have I Ever Been Scuba Diving- no and I don’t think I’d want to

71 What Makes Me Nervous- talking to people I don’t know

72 Am I Scared Of The Dark- not really. unless I like hear a noise and start imagining all the possible causes of the noise and freak myself out

73 Do I Correct People When They Make Mistakes- yeah sometimes, but I try to do it as nicely as I can (unless I don’t like the person *cough* my brother *cough*)

74 Am I Ticklish- yes. very.

75 Have I Ever Started a Rumor- no, but people thought I did and that was a whole mess

76 Have I Ever Been in a Position of Authority- I mean I was a captain when we played kickball in gym (does that count)

77 Have I Ever Drank Underage- nope, and I don’t intent to

78 Have I Ever Done Drugs- nope, and I don’t intend to

79 Who Was My First Real Crush- olivia, fifth grade. I pretended I had a crush on the guy next to her so I could stare at her and pretend I was looking at him

80 How Many Piercings Do I Have- none

81 Can I Roll My Rs- no matter how hard I try I can never seem to get the hang of it. and I’ve tried, believe me, I sound like an idiot every time but I still try

82 How Fast Can I Type- 135 wpm

83 How Fast Can I Run- Moderately fast, but not for very long

84 What Color is My Hair- dirty blonde

85 What Color Are My Eyes- they switch between gray, green, and blue, but they’re mostly a combination of all three with green being the most noticeable (I ask people this question a lot and they usually say blue or green)

86 What am I Allergic to- nothing I’m invincible.

87 Do I Keep a Journal- yup, eight years and counting. fun fact my first entry ever was a full two and a half pages about dolphin facts, complete with a picture

88 What do My Parents do- my moms a vet, idk what my dad does (it’s something with pharmaceuticals I think)

89 Do I Like My Age- eh on the one hand I can say I’m a teen but on the other people are like “omg!!! babey???? ur a babey omfg..”

90 What Makes Me Angry- when people are condescending or hypocritical

91 Do I Like My Name- I hate my first name (irl it’s not alex but I’ll probably end up changing it) and I hate my last name (long story) but I kinda like my middle name cuz it reminds me of Six

92 Have I Thought if Baby Names, if so What Are They- idk I’d probably name them after my friends (i.e hailey, lander, flan, drew, finn, that’s about it)

93 Do I Want a Boy or Girl For a Child- first of all when did I say I wanted a child and second of all I don’t care

94 What Are My Strengths- shitposts

95 What Are My Weaknesses- dealing with emotions, controlling anger, handling criticism, there are definitely others but I’m tired okay

96 How Did I Get My Name- first name: bible, middle name: my great grandmother, last name: my dad

97 Were My Ancestors Royalty- not that I know of

98 Do I Have Any Scars- see #39

99 What Color is My Bedspread- I don’t have one but my sheet is dark blue

100 What Color is My Room- a light blue teal-ish color