#of like probably they're both vaccinated but do we need to get in the personal bubbles of people we don't really know

[nokingsonlyfooles]

The Future is Allistic?

Murderbot is the best thing about All Systems Red, and I think the author knows that. That's cool. The humans don't need much for development, this isn't their story, they're just another thing Murderbot has to deal with. We've only got about 150 pages for this, and it's book one, so we're going to gloss over some aspects of the world to focus on the character.

Murderbot does not wish to exist in the sort of well-meaning institution where the humans would put it, a place where being "cared for" means a loss of autonomy. Murderbot would like the ability to get up and microwave a burrito at 0100 hours. ...Or whatever "passing the burrito test" means in the future, for a robot. So would we all!

But, uh, where are "we"? Where are the autistic humans who would read a book about Murderbot, go "oh, it me" and then talk about it with other humans, autistic and allistic both?

There are "humans," who may be well-meaning but clueless or openly hostile towards Murderbot, and who produce media with happy robots coexisting with humans and some level of personhood. (Either robots do not produce media in the future, most robots are not like Murderbot, or we just never see robot media or robots like Murderbot. Not much time for world-building!) There are robots, all of whom have no autonomy and are hostile cannon-fodder - although Murderbot doesn't feel great about that, it'll still kill them and move on. And there's Murderbot, who appears to be the only autistic thing in the universe.

And, I get that. I get how that feels. I get how someone in the YA audience who masks and passes like Murderbot probably feels like the only autistic thing in a hostile/clueless universe. It was like that for me and often it still is. For a book of limited scope, maybe that's enough. An author can't fix everything, and sometimes you gotta play the ball where it lies. But the real world is so much bigger than how it feels: there are lots of us, we have communities, we are seen, and we talk about ourselves.

We are human beings! We don't have to be created autistic like a robot, because we are naturally-occurring, and you would need to do some serious fucking eugenics to make us go away. (Even then, it probably wouldn't work. Eugenics hasn't been the society-purifying, scientific success so many people wanted/still want it to be.) It's not like you could just stop vaccinating kids, or abuse them a bit less, or abuse them a bit more - just until they're normal! - or any of these other "solutions" that have been floated to deal with us. You'd have to change how we function on a fundamental level as we develop in the womb, or shortly thereafter, or kill us, but I repeat myself.

On some level, in general, I think we do know that "curing" someone of autism, even if nobody physically dies, is a type of murder. Here, I am thinking of another future where autism doesn't seem to exist and nobody knows how to deal with it. Julian Bashir, in Star Trek: DS9, is the closest thing we get to an autistic human being who has a regular job and just gets to exist and interact like another person. And he's the illegal result of eugenic experimentation! His parents didn't like that he was underperforming in school, so they did some eugenics on him, and he calls that murder. That plotline is criminally underdeveloped, but it is there. It was there in the 90s, when the general view of autism was a nightmare disease with no cure that ruins children. We still knew that rewiring someone's brain to make them more convenient was wrong.

(Funnily enough, we do grab children who are underperforming in school and force them to mask better, like Julian. But it involves putting them in a Skinner Box and training them like Pavlov's dogs, with punishments for acting autistic and rewards for acting less so. It doesn't make them stop being autistic, but it makes them easier to deal with. And in so many cases, that's all we care about!)

If the public at large figured out that Julian was created autistic (because autism doesn't just happen), if he didn't mask like Murderbot, he'd go in an institution like the Jack Pack. Like where they wanted to put Murderbot. He clearly doesn't need to be there, but that's where society has decided he belongs, because he should not exist. He's only like that because someone made him that way, and they shouldn't have.

Just recently, I got smacked with the realization that people with complex intersections can't just happen in fiction. If I knew a queer, deaf person, I would write them the funnest queer and deaf character to play. It wouldn't be hard to write that character! They would fit into Hyacinth's house or the Black Orchid just fine! Calliope could've been deaf (along with being GNC, and multiracial, and autistic), instead of just growing up where there's a deaf school with a deaf friend whom we only meet briefly. ...So why didn't I do that? Why didn't that occur to me in the first place? I'm trying to create a diverse world like the real one, but we don't see that person.

Part of it is that I didn't see media with that person. But the reason it's hard to see that media is, it's hard to justify that character. We, the audience, have a default "blank" character in our heads (it's not blank at all, it's cis, het, white, male, and a lot of things the usual protagonist is), and the artist needs to tweak that into an individual with words or paint or a performance or something. The more tweaks someone has to do, the more likely the audience will get bored or confused and wander off. Beyond the privileged default, everything that makes a character has to be relevant, and stay relevant. That's why they say "murder your darlings." The worst sin is boring the audience, so don't involve them in unnecessary shit. Pare down the story until it bleeds.

Now, think how much space explaining something complex like "queer AND deaf" would need. And how much research from someone who isn't both of those things, or doesn't at least have a patient queer and deaf friend. And if, say, they were Black too? In the real world, a person like that can just exist and be seen. Probably they just live their lives without including you, it's not about you. But maybe they sit down next to you on the bus, you say hi, they speak with a specific accent or sign or hand you a card, and they have dark skin and a rainbow flag pin. Existence confirmed! In writing, I have to do pages and pages of work to get you to see them as a whole person, because they need me to create a place where they fit. If they don't have a place where they fit and we need them, why are they there? Real people don't have to justify themselves, they just are, and everyone else better fucking work with it. Everyone doesn't, but they should. You can't just ask someone why they're Black! But in fiction, you do, you must, you're supposed to, and if there's no reason, well, maybe they ought to stop being Black.

So, if I'm going to write a story in which Murderbot is autistic, especially if it's a short and simple one, it fucking well better be ABOUT Murderbot being autistic, or else why spend all these pages explaining what it's like to be autistic? "Autistic people exist" isn't a plotline, that dull and preachy. I need something better than that... Ah! "Murderbot hacked its chip and became autistic!" Yes! That's relevant for the plot and lets me do all kinds of worldbuilding about robots and how they work and how they are seen! There's my elevator pitch and a significant portion of the jacket plot summary right there!

"Autistic people exist in a community" isn't relevant to "autistic robot fights society and other robots." It should be, inasmuch as autistic people are part of society, but it would add pages to the story if the humans who are so clueless and stress-inducing weren't also the nice humans who live with robots and treat them like disabled people. Why add another type of human when we've already got the corporation and the other surveyors and the evil surveyors and a whole world to explain? There's no room!

But that means that, somehow, a group of scientists (!!) living in human society haven't met an autistic person and have no clue how to treat one. There can't be an autistic scientist who goes, "Why the FUCK would you look at someone to PUNISH them, what is WRONG with you?" That would make it less likely Murderbot will wander off to explore the galaxy and find itself! This is Book One! Where's the story if Murderbot finds a community right away and hangs out? That's boring!

So, in the future, there isn't a community among the "free" robots that we just don't see, because it would derail the plot if there were. The world wouldn't look like that if the robots alone talked about their way of being and the humans who lived with them listened. If there were also human beings who existed like Murderbot and they added their voices, it would blow Murderbot's adventure to find itself out of the water, and the point of the story is the adventure. It's not as fun to watch an autistic person look for friends by paging through websites and social media, and then they have lunch and go back to work. That's not a YA novel, that's just life.

If I pick up this series, and I'm not sure I will, I suppose there's room for a Planet Autism. Perhaps as a happy ending, or perhaps as just another place Murderbot doesn't fit in (this would be more realistic, it's hard for us to connect with each other, but much less happy). But they're not out there producing serials and saying they exist and shaping society. They probably hide, so Murderbot has to find them. As one does! One does have to find a community where they fit, and that's hard. But there are lots of us who don't hide, and can't hide. The first time Murderbot mentions a popular serial in a public forum, we ought to come running. Regular autistic people, who are not institutionalized, and who work regular jobs and have lunch. I'm almost positive we won't, though. There's no room. That "darling" needs to die.

It's systemic and it sucks. Like must systemic problems that suck, I've had to spend paragraphs just beginning to unpack it, and probably no one will bother to read it because I don't get seen. If I wrote a whole doorstopper about this, I couldn't get it published because I'm too autistic to navigate the system and too anarchistic to want to anymore. And Tumblr ain't gonna care because they're primarily concerned with short takes that get likes, just look at their app. The world doesn't elevate Murderbots and listen, that much is true, but we find each other and are seen, regardless.

If we want to change what we see in media, we have to change how media works. "The correct way to tell a story is to get from A to B as efficiently as possible and we must create everything that way" is a darling that will have to die, so other darlings can live, and people can just exist as they are without having to cough up a reason. I have no idea how to fix this, but that's how it seems to me.

And this is probably full of typos and awkward phrasing because I got distracted by it and needed to find some way to say it. I'm not gonna go back and edit it until it looks shiny, smooth, and efficient. I exist like this, messily. You may not see me, but I'm here.

#autism #murderbot #all systems red #writing #writblur #long post #characters #media #diversity #representation #inclusion #tell better stories #how do i tell better stories when this is how we've decided stories work? #systemic injustice #systemic ableism #this machine is broken #but i'm not dammit

[hopefull-mindset]

Hello this is my main for @/dazai-on-my-mind I was going through your abuse post (have yet to finish it so forgive me if you've discussed this already) what are your theories for what lies under Dazai's bandages? The main fan theories that I've seen so far is that they're either covering self inflicted injuries or Mori experimented on Dazai at times during his Port Mafia days but again coming from your abuse post this theory seems highly unlikely. So I was wondering if you had any thoughts about that.

Hello! Sorry this took a bit. I saw your other ask, so I'll try to get to that. It's absolutely fine you haven't finished it. I'm personally surprised at how long it is myself. I actually haven't talked about what is under Dazai’s bandages, so sure! I also have some brief thoughts on the bandages itself.

(Edit: that was not brief, it turns out I had a lot of thoughts)

It's an average topic with this fandom, so I don't know how much I can add really!

We do know he has scars from what Oda said in Dark Era:

And we also get this tidbit from Harukawa talking about designing Dazai:

The special thing about this series was that apart from the settings from Asagiri, the characters probably should have certain aspects of the authors they were based on, but I tried to draw them based on the character settings first when doing up the initial drafts. […] For Dazai, I wrapped him up in bandages because of his suicide mania, and took note with other items.

—Harukawa35, Behind The Scenes of The Character Design!

Of course, the intent behind what the bandages are and what is behind them can change over time when they get to know their own characters better! They look like they're implying two different things, but I'd argue it's the exact same thing, even if they come from different places.

Out of all the assumptions, what's under there is probably scars he gained while throwing his life away in the face of danger, even when he doesn't need to. It's no different than the average suicide attempt by him. I wonder if he has a scar from the Old Boss’s scythe, that'd be sick. This is what sounds most likely to me, but I’ll entertain other ideas for the sake of it being too short of a note to end on.

You can obviously tell I don’t dig the idea of Mori committing medical malpractice. Not only is that an insane idea to come by, how does he even benefit from that thought process? The only type of stuff happening is Mori forcing him to take his vaccinations and taking drugs Dazai got from his medicine cabinet out of his young hands. I also think people think this way because of what he said about Mori telling him the shots won't hurt in The Day I Picked Up Dazai Side A.

A doctor is telling a child his shots won't hurt… ??? Sounds pretty normal.

I know people won't like it when I say this, but that was typical teenage Dazai childishness. He does genuinely not like pain of course, so it could be that he's overexaggerating because that's what it felt like to him haha. That scene is meant to be comedic, so this sentiment shouldn't be that serious in context. It's not like this is idk Black Butler.

I remember in Side B that Dazai says pain is what reminds you that you're alive. Maybe that's why he doesn't like it, even if he was a torture specialist. To understand death, you have to understand what it is to be alive because life is both of those things. Dazai prefers the state of being dead rather than the process, but also thinks the attempt is easier than actually committing. Dear god, your commitment issues don't need to go this far.

As for self-harm, it's pretty 50/50 with enough arguments on both sides to make a case. Dazai doesn’t like pain, but people don't usually do it because they like the feeling of the pain itself. They could do it to punish themselves, the feeling of it afterward, etc. I think Dazai putting himself in those situations like I mentioned earlier counts enough as self-harm (you can even count his implicit drinking habits too if you'd like), but this specifically on what I know you mean just depends on whether you think Dazai would do so.

I can't imagine it from Dazai, but if people think so, there's nothing stopping them from it. There's nothing implying he wouldn't, suicidal people don't always resort to this. I’m personally just tired of people using it for their whump narratives, in all fandoms actually.

I don’t care much for it if that’s what they’d like to do because I understand, but it’s not something I like being depicted in weirdly graphic detail for no reason other than the character to suffer. Besides that, there no harm in it. I don’t want to get all “you shouldn’t write this stuff because I said so”, that’s stupid.

(-150 points if it’s for white knighting ship content)

Now I hope you don’t mind me rambling off a bit! It’s been on my mind since last week to talk about the bandages.

Symbolically, the bandages can mean a couple things. All very similar things haha. It’s like what Chuuya’s gloves are to him and how personal it is to take them off outside of Corruption, or how he said he used to put his hands in his pockets because he wanted to protect his humanity while fighting.

Core things they can mean are:

A thin barrier to separate and hide himself from others (including from himself)

To minimize skin contact from his ability aka himself (not as literal as it sounds)

Abilities in Bungou Stray Dogs are apart of the user. No matter if you move your ability on to your child (Kyouka and her Mother), have it be mutilated into something unrecognizable (Verlaine, Chuuya), or to naturally be imbedded into you, you cannot separate it from your humanity. It’s still you, as Atsushi had to eventually accept this fact.

You can say a lot about the nature of abilities and 55 Minutes made some worrying discussion points about Abilities that I wish were touched on more by others, but let’s go with first thought process because it’s the one Asagiri let’s us off easy with.

No Longer Human, as Asagiri told us, is based off of the feeling he got when reading Dazai Osamu’s writing. Functionally, his ability is a bit horrifying to me as something born from himself. Maybe I just overreact, but when you translate what his ability mean functionally against every ability user we know, you can come up with interesting conclusions.

It’s not like how Atsushi can cut through abilities as a Tiger as I’m sure that was meant to imply something about his psychological breakthrough and combating other’s soul born abilities with his own. Dazai just straight up takes away other’s abilities. As long as he’s touching you, you have become a victim to his soul’s vacuum of searching for humanity or lack there of.

That’s not to say others who don’t have abilities aren’t human, I think the difference is that ability users are forced to put a part of their humanity up for show and scrutiny, which makes them appear inhuman to the average human being. Dazai is as paradoxical as his own ability. He’s functionally the average human being, but he also lacks something… human when you put him up against another ability user.

Sorta this middle ground in what to think and how he also tends to be. When I read No Longer Human, it popped out to me too often that Yozo Oba was incredibly human while putting himself in this position of inhumanity.

When Dazai’s ability is in effect, he takes away a piece of your humanity, making your less than who you were before. So when Dazai covers skin with his bandages, he’s covering up the metaphorical cavity that is his ability and inhumanity. When the bandages starts going everything when he’s using his ability, he’s swallowing that piece whole and embracing you falling to his level.

Am I overanalyzing a stylistic choice that usually only appears in official art? Yes, but it’s fun.

You can tell I skipped the first one, but that’s because it has to do with an example that’s been the reason I keep thinking about this and it sounded more fun to talk about. In the Onsen CD Drama, there’s two scenes I want to put emphasis one.

The first one being when Dazai says that they’re all getting closer because of them being in the hot spring, but Kunikida calls out the fact he’s still wearing his bandages. I could’ve passed it off as being not that significant because it’s a joke scene if it weren’t for the next one.

Atsushi wanted to wash Dazai’s back since Kunikida had been occupied and he wanted to help them like they did for him, but Dazai had already walked away. Later when they’re still awake while the others had slept, Atsushi tries again and actually gets the opportunity to do it. Only problem, Dazai still has his bandages on. Dazai just tells him it’s okay and to scrub anyway.

This made me feel… how do I say this… speechless? Not because Dazai was entirely insistent on them being apart of his body like the troll he is, but because of the simultaneous intimacy of the act and abruption of it with the bandages. You can pass it off as a running joke, but we both know Dazai absolutely heard Atsushi thank him and avoided that confrontation by playing it off as being sleepy.

I’ve said this a couple times to people I’ve talked to before, but Dazai is the type of guy who you would talk to every day, invite you everywhere, and always go out with a lot of people, but if you were to be asked what you personally know about him, you’d be able to say nothing but surface level stuff everyone knows.

With anyone and everyone, there’s always this level of personal separation between them and Dazai, and they know it. Even if you are closer to him like Oda and Chuuya are and Dazai had willing shared stuff usually wouldn’t (mind you, it took Mimic for Dazai to share more about himself to Oda and Ango), he doesn’t let himself be that vulnerable or let himself go.

I’m arguing that the bandage are a more literal barrier between him and the world. Either to protect himself or to protect others from what they’ll realize about him. He hides himself because of what he is…or something like that at least, I don’t know what goes though his head. Im still trying to figure out his perception on things thoroughly and if he really cares about it.

The eye bandage has been talked to death by now. Yes yes, Dazai left his eye covered for depth perception in the dark and Oda uncovering it for him to see the light as well. We all know it. Still, I think it’s quite meaningful that when he’s finally having an heart-to-heart with Odasaku, he’s the one to open up that bandage. It doesn’t fix everything, but he’s been opened up to that possibility.

For Beast, Dazai having a bandage on the other eye can be seen as a misguided attempt of seeing everything with Oda in mind by seeing it all in the eye he uncovered, but still needing to cover the other to guide himself in the dark. He’s also a mirror image of the original Dazai if you’d like to see it like that.

In Side B, Dazai covers his whole face up. Ironically, while I called the bandages on his body a cover up for his inhumanity, the face bandages cover up his emotions, suppressant of himself. Dazai is not typically that emotional, but Side B Dazai is going through a lot when it comes to Odasaku… so while he’s covering his face to hide it from Oda, he is also hiding the overwhelming feelings he has.

In the ending of Side B where he takes off the dirty bandages, he’s so wracked with emotion he almost fails himself in his plans, and presumably forces himself to cover up his one eye again. When he falls to his death in the ending of Beast, bandages fall when he’s able to let himself go.

In the manga, Hoshikawa was evil and drew the bandages falling into Oda’s hands. Let’s say… they’re a symbol of his protect of Oda and remembrance of the scene where Oda pulls them off. You can even say they where still taken off with Oda’s influence!

OKAY ENOUGH, I’m talking you ears off. It seems I like the sound of my own voice and wanted to share as much as I could.

#/ discussion of self harm #bsd #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #bsd meta #bsd analysis #bsd beast #me writing this post: Dazai’s bandages mean *throws dart* …..*squints* the protection of his own disappointment against the face of the #world’s predictability and in turn being…? #okay let’s start over.. *picks up another dart*

[possessionisamyth]

I agree on your post about fandom with Leon. I like him but the way fandom treats him and acts if he's the only character that has gone thru the most hell, it makes me not want to see him in any further content for awhile. Don't me get started on the shipping aspect of him whether it's self-shipping or his relationships with other characters.

I'd really love it if people who ship leon with themselves or reader or whatever would choose TWO ways to tag it as a group so I can block it en masse and not see their boring ass fantasies generated from character ai play out the same way 500x a day no matter how many variants of the tag I block.

Every time I think it might be a character analysis it's slapped with "He Wouldn't Fucking Say That" but for every sentence, and I get to decide whether I'm going to block or scroll faster.

Shipping aside(because woooo do aeon, cleon, and jilleon shippers love showing their misogyny as much as people who ship leon with other boring white men), seeing people baby him incessantly as if he's not a grown ass man is a different level of fury. Yes, his job fucking sucks. Yes, he was suckered into it. He's not special actually. How many people have the option to not work a shitty job for an uncomfortable period of time in their lives without suffering immediate financial consequences? I'll tell you who. Rich people. Who I don't respect anyways. You know who else has a shitty job? Literally the entire recurring cast of characters we see, majority of whom are women.

You know what usually makes a job shittier? Not having a dick. I cannot fucking imagine the hell that Jill, as much of a paragon in her field as Chris is, has to experience from the men higher ups questioning every single fucking decision she makes on top of dealing with bioweapon bullshit. Her only reprieve? Probably Chris or Barry stepping in for her to shut them up, and if not that, she can get some of that anger out through the gorey, visceral violence some people dream of having as an outlet when dealing with shitty customers in retail.

And don't even get me fucking started on Rebecca and Claire who don't have the mercy of that much of a reprieve! Both of them have to deal with politicians from multiple countries, majority men, also questioning and second guessing their every plan while they try to provide life-saving medicine and resources to people who need them. You know what Leon has to hear from politicians? Arrest or kill this guy and go home. Escort this person and go home. They dont' question his competency. I know for a fucking fact Claire and Rebecca get the third degree if they so much as even suggest a faster way to supply necessary footwork in order to rebuild a neighborhood or save lives, meanwhile Leon goes home and does, uh, fucking nothing until he's called onto the next job.

But oooohh ooohh woobie baby pookie puppy daddy waawaa googoo gaga leon kennedy has a dwinking pwoblem. He's soooo babygirl and needs to be cuddled and protected and loved because his job is sooooooo stressful, and he's a victim.

You know who's a fucking victim in this situation post RE2? Sherry goddamn Birkin who apparently has zero fucking contact with Leon for 15 whole years after the government snatched them. YOU KNOW? THE GUY WHO SAID HE'D KEEP AN EYE ON HER FOR CLAIRE. THAT ONE. Did I mention she is a sudden orphan after watching her mom die in front of her? Oh, and her upbringing can be considered questionable at best due to RE6 being a genuine shit show. Oh and she also let doctors experiment on her body in order to A)Fuck around with the G-Virus, and B) figure out cures and vaccines, WHICH MOST OF WERE MADE BY REBECCA ANYWAY WITHOUT HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION? So like!!!! If I want to separate it further by saying who has the worst shitty government job dealing with Umbrella after it's shut down, it still isn't fucking Leon! Can you imagine the hellscape assignments they send Sherry into with her super healing ability??????? I know they're worse because she can survive egregious injury without them using money to provide medical supplies! And you know governments everywhere love cutting corners when it comes to money.

But Leon is blonde ONCE, in ONE GAME, a good game yes but is apparently so iconic his pain magically takes precedent as the worst above everyone else's. And I hate that so fucking much because even Leon doesn't think this about himself! Leon literally doesn't think he has it the worst out of everyone! He just kinda wants to die sometimes which is not the same thing! Yet, the unfortunate amount of fans with little to no media literacy believe otherwise.

#resident evil #re #leon kennedy #jill valentine #rebecca chambers #claire redfield #sherry birkin #anonymous #heh nothing personal kid #re analysis

[papabearbobbynash]

9-1-1: Season 6 Death Theme.

So did anyone even thought about why this season is focusing so much on death?"

I mean, it's not something that started with season 6B. The show is beating on this theme quite strongly since the beginning of season actually.

We had in 6A:

6x02: The guy at the happiness convention dying and this had an impact on Buck

6x03: Tanya's murder being solved Bobby's first dead body of the season

6x06: Karen also had a death experience too as her heart stopped and Hen had to do compressions

6x09: Wendall's death Bobby's second experience with a dead body in the season

Then in S6B:

6x10: Buck's death experience as he got hit by a lightning Bobby's third and hopefully last experience with a dead body in this season

6x11: Buck's respiratory distress once he learned that Bobby was dead (Coma Dream)

6x13: Denny's worry for Nathaniel as he was bothered neither Hen or Karen ever thought on the possibility Nathaniel could die after the car accident

6x14: Chimney's struggle with leadership having roots on Kevin's death

6x14: Ravi mentioning he is haunted he couldn't save one of the kids and what bothered him the most was that he was thinking the dad didn't deserve to be saved

6x15: Eddie and Chris having a picnic in the cemetery as they visit Shannon's grave

6x15: A funeral going wrong.

6x15: A Death doula.

6x15: Domenic guy faking his death and then actually dying.

6x15: The death of the lady who's the funeral was being done.

With that pointed and very obvious, why is death so strong in this season? What are the writers intention here?

I saw someone on Reddit worried this might mean a MCD is coming, specially for Chim (because it's confirmed he will get heavily injured), Eddie (because of the ominous signals his scenes had lately together with Chris) and Bobby (because he was setting Chimney as leader almost like it was preparing the audience)

Particularly, I don't think the writers have balls to kill anyone of the main cast also they're no allowed. If an actor ever wanted to leave, I believe the writers would probably chose the "retire", "leave voluntarily" or at maximum "character is incapacitated of doing his duties" routes before killing their character. They did that with Marcanthonee Reis (Harry Grant) who suddenly is not around and they came up with the excuse he is living with Michael, who btw, is still mentioned from times to times, even though Rockmond Dunbar left the show due not following vaccine protocols and then sued. They had plenty of opportunities to kill off someone and didn't.

Also I believe the build up of these events makes it unlikely any character death:

In Eddie's case, he just recovered from a trauma, so it wouldn't make sense to give him another trauma, what also includes not putting Chris in severe danger (that would be traumatic not only for Chris, but for Eddie too), so the ominous tones of their scenes most likely are a foreshadow to a relative death (even because the latest episode was focusing slightly in his grief for Shannon).

In Chimney's case the writers just set up a Madney marriage potential, they wouldn't do that only to kill him off, so it's not likely they have intention at all, this might serve as the "I almost lost you, life is too short" realization to kick both of them (mostly Maddie, as the one insecure about it) to actually marry.

In Bobby's case, if we think about it, in this season he basically opened way for three characters path on leadership. He pointed Hen to be interim captain while he was on Florida, He reassured Buck that he was great leader potential and could turn out into a great captain with some really needed personal growth at first and last but not less important, he gave a kick on Chimney to overcome his inner fear of leading. Bobby's actions might be more about him being a good leader (as he incentive his subordinates growth) than a sign he is leaving, even because he already had a major story line this season (putting him almost on a safe place together with Buck who just died).

With that said, I have to yet figure out why are the writers focusing so much on death in this season that was supposed to be season sex fun and playful.

Any guesses on why?

#911 on fox #911 spoilers #911 speculation #bobby nash #eddie diaz #chimney han #evan buckley #hen wilson #karen wilson

[roses-in-the-shade]

What DO the public masses and the government think and do about Ingo now? Please tell me they are told the truth the sheer hilarity would be incredible. Would Ingo be considered his brother's age or three years old.

...Would Ingo have any problems interacting with people, considering he never really interacted with anyone outside of Emmet in his formative years and he lived on a mountain for the first 3 years of his life? That can't have been good for his development. Even when he did talk to people he just needed to act like Emmet and now he needs to be his own person (yay! But that seems like it would seem terrifying at first.).

OOH how do the depot agents react? They already interacted with Ingo, though they had no idea.

This is probably one of my favorite asks so far, because it gave me so much to think about. Which is also why it's taken me a bit longer to answer. I am trying to answer asks on a first come, first serve basis. To the best of my ability! Thank you for the ask!

Anyway, this post is VERRRRRY long, absolutely monstrous by my criteria, so under the read more it goes. You have been warned. I apparently can not shut up, lol.

So, the government. It doesn't take long for everyone to realize that Ingo, legally, does not exist. Without any identifications, there's a lot that you can't do that is important for thriving in modern society. So, yeah, they need to tell Unova's governing body the whole truth so that they can get Ingo on the fast track to the living life.

And unfortunately, the first destination on that journey is the hospital. Because Ingo spent the first three years of his new life in Sinnoh, a few centuries in the past. Man's health is either Not Good, or it's about to be. Which creates a lot of confusion for the health department, because. Well. Because. The explanation that this random haggard man needs all of his vaccines because he lived in the past for three years and didn't even have a corporeal body before that is a lot to take in, you know? And then there's the fact that the only existing documentation for this Mr. Ingo is a death certificate dated back to 28 years ago(?!?!?!).

The first solution they come up with to solve this conundrum is to do a DNA test and compare to other living family for proof of relation, and to just. Make sure they're not being made a clown.

Fun fact. When Arceus created Ingo's new body, he basically copy pasted Emmet's DNA, attached it to Ingo's soul with cosmic super glue, and called it a day. They're already twins, it's fine. :)

Yeah, they weren't ready for it when the results for Ingo's and Emmet's DNA results came out as a definitively exact match. Actually, they don't know what they were expecting.

During the few weeks that Ingo spends hospitalized for both acclimating and quarantine purposes, the identifications services go into a flurry of action to create documents for this new human adult person that spawned into existence from Arceus knows where. (See what I did there.)

Fun times. The government workers will literally never forget this for their entire lives. They will remember it as the most bizarre event they've ever experienced, bar none.

As for his official age now, since Ingo's body is physically 28, same as his brother, and he is mentally the same age, they just kinda shrug and say, yeah, sure, he's 28 years old. Never mind the fact that he's only been alive for three. Actually, don't think too hard on it. Don't.

Now, the depot agents. lmao

The day Emmet brings in Ingo for retraining and to "reinstate" him is a day of absolute chaos.

Emmet's first instinct, when he's formally introducing his brother to their employees during a meeting, is to gaslight them all into thinking Ingo had been their other boss the entire time three years ago. (When going into technicalities, it's hard to say if that's true or not. Which is the best part.)

"I am Emmet. I am getting down to business. Today, we will welcoming back Ingo to our work force. He went missing three years ago. He is back now. We will be resuming standard operating procedures with Ingo as the Subway Boss on the singles line again. Any questions?"

(Ingo, not having been forewarned of Emmet's plans, blinks and stares at his brother for a few moments, before mentally sighing and face-palming. He quickly decides to let Emmet get away with this, however. He's not immune to following along Emmet's whims, and he's not disinterested to see how this falls out.)

...

...

"A NEW SUBWAY BOSS?!

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN AGAIN?!"

"HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE YOU, WHO IS HE?!"

"How rude! I am offended for Ingo. You forgot about him! Unforgivable. Yup! This is verrrry sad. Terrrrrible. Ingo is my twin brother. I was in grief over his absence for three years. I am disappointed you did not notice."

"I didn't forget, Boss Emmet! I've never set a foot out of Gear Station my entire life, so of course I remember Boss Ingo! We loved working with Boss Ingo, I don't know how anyone could forget a kind and jovial man like him!"

(Depot Agent Jackie is most definitely in on it.)

All of the depot agents are reeling at this new reality that they have to force their brains to get used to. Some would keep swearing up and down that there was never a Boss Ingo, but then Emmet would wave around the proof of employment (that he typed up literally an hour before the meeting) and they'd just be reduced to a state of mental sputtering and questioning reality. Many are a flustered mess whenever they end up interacting with Ingo himself.

Emmet and Ingo let the depot agents stew in this prank for just the one day, at least until Ingo finally convinces Emmet to hold another meeting the next day to tell the agents the full truth and allow the poor guys some peace of mind. (Ingo does scold Emmet a little for being so mean-spirited with this particular joke, though it doesn't last too long when Emmet points out that Ingo didn't stop him.)

Funny enough, the truth ended up being even more of a bombshell than the prank had been. Who woulda thought.

From then on, the twins and the depot agents do their best to stay professional and help ease Ingo back into the work routine as something like a Deputy Subway Boss, and they're pretty successful! It doesn't take too long to get Ingo fully instated as an official Subway Boss, Ingo being as enthusiastic and dedicated to the job as he is, and, over time, the agents slowly realize that they did miss him without ever knowing it. Three years ago, they really did notice his disappearance, ironically enough. Ingo's "personality" was suddenly gone, Emmet was never the same, and the work environment changed. It's weird, but in the end, they all end up thinking, "I'm glad he's back."

The day of Ingo's official promotion, the depot agents throw him a party and make sure to tell him this:

"Welcome back. We missed you."

The public's reaction to Ingo is a mixed bag, predictably.

The day of Ingo's reintroduction to Gear Station, the official Battle Subway PokeTwitter account announces: "Attention all passengers! Starting today, a new Deputy Subway Boss will be conducting us to our destination on the Singles Line! Deputy Boss Ingo looks forward to future travels with challengers. Will you go on to victory or defeat? All aboard!" (Attached is a picture of Ingo in the signature point and call pose, right hand pointing forward and left hand out to the side pointing down.)

Most responses to the announcement are basically either, "isn't that just Emmet?", or "I had no idea Emmet has a twin brother!". There's a lot of chipper "Welcome!" and "All aboard!" comments and some competitive "Can't wait to see what he's made of!" remarks, so the reception is generally a mix of confusion and enthusiasm.

And then it all came crashing down when one person says, "Isn't this the same guy who ran the singles line years ago, tho? Did he come back?"

One person unintentionally does what Emmet did to the depot agents to an entire social media community. Thus restarts the conspiracy theories again, much to Ingo's and Emmet's exasperation. If they weren't already practically celebrities by this point, then they definitely are now.

Emmet ends up using his personal account to address questions and clear it up as much as he can, while skirting around the full truth as much as possible, sometimes even outright dodging certain inquiries altogether. Ultimately, he and Ingo had decided it was best to keep it private knowledge that only certain people would know. Emmet's best efforts certainly couldn't stop rumors from sprouting all together, but it did help to placate the internet riots and calm them down. It only took about a week before the twins were no longer all PokeTwitter could talk about.

Now, interestingly enough, Ingo himself isn't doing too bad, socially. Sure, he did live on a mountain for a few years, but he also visited Jubilife Village often! He assisted at the training grounds, helped teach the villagers to befriend and battle with pokemon, often did any needed shopping there. He made sure to check in with the Pearl Clan regularly, it'd be rude to essentially go AWOL on them when they took him in and bestowed him a position as important as warden of their Lady Sneasler.

Point being, Ingo got past most of his social struggles during his displacement in Hisui. Learning how to human when in an entirely unfamiliar setting and without his memories was a huge challenge for Ingo, but he gradually settled into the new experience. Which is why going to modern day Nimbasa is such a huge culture shock. There's so many more people, ranging from incredibly kind to brutish in behavior, sometimes critical, sometimes indifferent. Despite this, Ingo has been able to be himself without question, without backlash, without fear, and it's a marvel.

The people that Emmet and Ingo had surrounded themselves with never failed to make Ingo feel encouraged and supported, including Emmet himself. Especially Emmet. Ingo has no idea what he would do without Emmet. He loves and appreciates his brother immensely. With all the assistance Ingo has, he may be nervous about meeting his new future, but he's determined to do it. Stubbornly optimistic, even. No matter what set backs or adversities Ingo may face, he has the greatest safety net holding him up.

(If Emmet ever finds anyone antagonizing Ingo, he will most definitely give them a traumatic beat down in a pokemon battle, and terrify the living daylight out of them by promising them eternal despair if he ever sees them near Ingo ever again.

Basically, Ingo: sunshine, Emmet: sunshine protector.

I am right, and I should say it. Luckily for everyone, it doesn't happen often. Nobody in their right mind would want to be mean to Ingo.)

#submas #ingo #emmet #subway boss emmet #subway boss ingo #subway master ingo #subway master emmet #pokemon #born by death au #holy WOW this took me hours to type out #it was fun! #i sure hope i didn't miss anything #im tired from a long day at work too so i hope there's no major typos #late night posting GO

[initiala]

Do you have any tips/recommendations when it comes to looking for a chiropractor? I know you've mentioned going to one before, and between my desk job and general skeleton weirdness, I'm starting to think a visit would probably be a good idea on my end. Or if you recommend a different kind of professional, like a physical therapist instead, that'd be great to know too. Thanks for any advice!

I don't have that many tips, just because I feel like I got really lucky with my old chiropractor and she was the first one I visited and felt like it was a good fit.

Definitely look at their website, make sure they're actually a chiropractor that will do stuff and not just some "vaccines are bad, try these essential oils while we do bone restructuring". My chiro specifically has on her website that she practices the Gonstead method, which means she took X-rays of all the areas where I was pointing out pain, using different tools to see if I had any disc problems in my spine, and did a lot of palpation when I was both sitting or laying down and moving to make sure things were where they were supposed to be. I feel like that helped me more, because she could pull out an X-ray to make sure we were focusing on the right spots, and it looks like (on the internet, anyway) it's generally regarded as the most effective method for pain management.

There's also six other kinds of chiropractic care but this one's the one I felt worked for me.............and also I haven't experienced any other kind.

Other people have said that a better alternative (their words, not mine) is physiotherapy/physical therapy, because it's helping teach you how to move and flex your body around in a better way than you currently are to improve your quality of life, and also there's more focus on muscles and tendons, whereas chiro focuses on bones.

Here's a couple of good comparison articles about the differences and benefits of each, while not trashing each other.

I honestly can't say which is going to be better for you specifically, because only you know where your pain radiates from. If you feel like you're not able to move as well as you should for a person of your age and health status, then you might need physiotherapy more. If it's more centered on your torso and neck, it might be chiropractic care. And hey, who says it can't be a little of both? (well. your insurance might. but that's them)

I first went to a chiro because I, a full-grown adult, kept getting double-ear-infections, which is not a thing adults should get (I blame the water in Texas) and my mom suggested a chiropractor because it helped some of her coworkers' kids. (idk. I'm not a scientist or a bone specialist or whatever, I just know it worked) And while I was there and getting looked at, I was able to get some ongoing chronic pain issues treated as well. I didn't know it was my hips being slightly displaced that was causing my lower back issues, just like I didn't know that my upper spine had been curved because of all the books I had to carry in my backpack in high school and college, so we were able to start correcting that! And now I'm not like, chugging a bottle of ibuprofen every other day.

[megan-loves-surveys]

Gimme more.

Where were your parents born? My Mum was born in Scotland and my Dad in NZ.

Have you ever used public transportation to get to work? Yep, most of the time. The only I don't is the rare time my boyfriend drops me off.

Who in your family has the coolest job? Not sure tbh.

Have you found your first gray hairs yet? No.

What is your favorite food to put gravy on? Potatoes xD

Do you know anyone from Canada? I know a few people online from there.

What’s your opinion on astrology? It's fun, but I don't take it that seriously.

Do you use TikTok? No.

Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now? Good lord no.

Do you prefer to be friends with girls or boys? I have equal amounts of both as friends.

Are you good at hiding your feelings? Depends.

Can you drive a stick shift? No.

Do you care if people talk badly about you? Not really, but I guess it depends on who it is.

Are you going out of town soon? I wish.

Does anyone hate you? I hope not, but who knows.

Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years? No, unless my boyfriend changes his mind and proposes LOL.

Think back 2 months ago; were you in a relationship? Yep.

What’s the best part about school? -

Do you have any pictures on your Facebook? Thousands lol.

Do you ever pass notes to your friends in school? I did all the time in intermediate school, by the end of one year I had an entire bag full of them lol.

Don’t tell me lies, is the last person you texted attractive? Yep, he is. It's my boyfriend hehe xD

Do you have a good relationship with your parents? Definitely, I'm close to both of them.

How do you want to die? Old age.

When was your last physical fight? The closest I've been to a fight is slapping some dude at a club who wouldn't stop harassing me once lol.

Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? Yep.

Ever made out in the bathroom? Probably.

Are you scared of spiders? YES.

What is/are/were your best subject(s)? Computers/IT, Legal Studies and English.

Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? Probably.

Do you have trust issues? It depends.

Favourite food? Mac & cheese.

Do you believe everything happens for a reason? I hope not, cos then why did I get hit by a car and break my shoulder?

Is cheating ever okay? I cheat on video games, but that's it LOL.

What makes you happy? Lots of stuff.

Is there anyone you would die for? Hmm...

What’s the best news you’ve gotten lately? Not sure, but it's not like things have been going wrong lol.

^And, the worst? Hmm.

Do you like getting dressed up? Sure.

Would you be embarrassed to find out you snored loudly in public? Probably, but I know I don't snore, cos my boyfriend has never said that I do lol.

Are you reading any books at the moment? Yep - Reach For The Stars, it's about British pop groups of the 90s and 00s. It's so good.

When was the last time you had a tick on you? Never?

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? I have! It's breathtaking and totally worth the trip. We went on a tour thing and they included lunch cooked by the Native Americans who reside there, it was so cool. It's a super long drive from Las Vegas (where we were staying) though, we had to get up at 4am lol.

Do you like grapes or raisins better? I love them both!

What is the picture on the desktop on the computer you’re using? It's a photo of The Shield from Super Showdown in 2018 where they're in masks. It's been my desktop pic since then, I haven't changed it in over 5 years, it even followed me between laptops, I got a new one and immediately put it as the pic xD I can't change it at this point, it would be too weird.

Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? No.

Do you believe in ghosts? Maybe? I need proof.

Would you ever stay overnight in a haunted house? Oh yeah probably.

When was the last time you had an injection? What for? Covid vaccine booster.

Is there anything you cannot wait to be over? Dunno.

What was the last thing you had done at the dentist? Cleaning.

Does your best girlfriend have any talents that you don’t? She can drive, I can't lol.

What color eyes does the last person you kissed have? Blue.

Did your parents ever read stories to you before bed? Yep.

What are you listening to? Scribe - Stand Up (a NZ hip hop artist, this song has the best instrumental)

Do you like hickeys? Haha not really.

Do you hate the person you fell the hardest for? No, I'm still in love with him lol.

Do you have any summer plans yet? Our summer just ended.

Has the last person you kissed ever seen you cry? Oh yep.

Are most of your friends guys or girls? Both about equal cos I have loads of wrestling friends who are mostly male, but I also have lots of female friends from school and that.

Who do you text the most? My boyfriend.

Would you get involved with someone if they had a child already? My boyfriend has two grown up sons haha, so I have to say yes. One of them is only 5 years younger than I am! LOL.

Do you miss your last sweetie? Not at all.

Would you rather be anorexic or obese? Neither, thanks.

Do you know anyone who is pregnant right now? No.

What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage? Jim Beam, Malibu or Long Island iced tea.

Do you play any games on your phone? Pokemon Sleep, Pokemon Go and BitLife. I've played both Go and Sleep since day 1.

Have you ever shaved your face? I use tweezers to get any stray hairs lol.

What was the last vaccination you got? Covid.

Do you have a brother? No.

Would you ever have a bird as a pet? No.

Have you ever had to speak at a funeral? No.

When was the last time you saw your father? Last night, he picked me up from the Five concert. Usually I'd ask my boyfriend to do it but he was hanging out with his son, so my Dad did it instead.

Any time when you need to search something on the Internet, which search engine do you use? Google.

Do you believe in saving your virginity for marriage or no? LOL, I don't want to get married, so obviously not.

When you open your web browser, what is your home page set to? Why did you select this? I have it set to reopen my tabs from last time.

Have you ever accidentally sent the wrong smiley? Definitely.

Are you more likely to go drive-thru or actually walk in to get fast food? Walk in, cos I don't have a car. Even when I'm with people in a car, we still go in.

How many times have you had a nosebleed? I have no idea.

If you were to make a lot of noise right now, would you wake anyone up? No, it's 9pm lol.

Do you need to have a shower right now? No, I showered this morning.

How many vowels are in your middle name? Two A's.

Do you have all of the vowels in your full name? No, I'm mising U cos I have A, E, I and O.

Are you currently crushing on anyone? Yep.

How do you feel right now? I'm pretty good, cos the headache I had earlier today is mostly gone now.

Do you talk in your sleep that you know of? No.

Have you ever been on a road trip of more than 10 hours? No.

Are you waiting for anything right now? A few things.

How far away is the nearest KFC? About 10 min drive, it's up by the train station.

Do you use reusable bags when you go grocery shopping? Yep.

Have you ever met someone online and then met them in person? Oh yeah, quite a few people.

Do you tend to wake up in a different position you fell asleep in? Yep.

What does your perfume or cologne smell like? I don't wear it.

Is there a bookshelf in your bedroom? I have a bookcase.

Have you ever seen Flight of the Conchords? No, which is funny cos they're Kiwis xD

How many hours away is the next sunset? The sun only set about an hour ago, so about... 23 hours? LOL.

What was the last flavour of ice cream you ate? Chocolate.

Do you want to move out of your current house any time soon? Why or why not? No, I like my house!

Are there a lot of noisy birds around your house? Sometimes haha, cos there's loads of trees.

Have you been to a fancy restaurant in the past year? I'd say Porterhouse Grill is fancy cos it's expensive haha, I was there in January.

How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? I never learnt.

Do you follow recipes carefully or just skim over quickly? I don't cook.

What colour are your favourite cousin’s eyes? Dunno.

Have you ever nearly fallen asleep behind the wheel of a car? I don't drive.

Are you hungry right now? Yes.

Do bugs bother you or not? They definitely bother me.

When was the last time you played a board game? Who did you play with? I go to a games night every 2 weeks with my friend David, a whole bunch of us play board games. So 2 weeks ago cos the next games night is tomorrow xD

Don’t you hate having to call banks and insurance companies? Most of my banking stuff is done online now.

Do you know anyone named Harley? No.

Are there any dints or scratches on your car? -

What’s your favourite place to shop for bras and underwear? Kmart, Warehouse, Bendon etc.

Have you ever thrown someone’s stuff away on purpose? No.

Do you have any cool or cute keychains? I have two on my bag - a Seth Rollins logo one and a little Converse sneaker haha. On my keyring I have a NYC one and one from the Grand Canyon with my name on it.

Is your mailing address different than your residential address? No.

Are there any farms near your house? What animals do they have? I live in the suburbs, so no, no farms.

Do you ever write in cursive? I don't even know how to.

Have you ever had a computer virus before? Most likely. I used to download loads of random shit from Limewire and Kazaa, it could get dodgy.

Are you dependent upon anyone? I try not to be.

Are there any book characters you’d like to portray? Dunno.

Who did you last text? David, we were confirming games night tomorrow.

Is there anything on your bed right now? All my plushies, my handbag (which I meant to put on the floor, I'll do it when I next get up), a book, a magazine and my hairbrush.

When was the last time you went to the grocery store? Saturday.

What way would you like to die when it’s your time? Old age.

What are you most afraid of in the world? Spiders.

Have you ever been caving? No.

Do you do well in math related things? I have that dyscalculia thing, I'm pretty sure. My Maths skills are absolutely horrendous.

What is your favorite fruit? Banana or apple.

If you had to choose, which sibling would you live with? I'm an only child.

Do you have any tattoos? No.

Are you planning on getting any in the near future? Probably not.

When was your last date? A few weeks back.

When did you get Facebook? 2010, I think?

Are any of your family members in jail? No.

What was your first pet’s name? Piglet.

Are there any people at your job who absolutely hates you? I don't think so, our team is small and everyone is chill with each other.

What was the last book you read? Reach For The Stars.

Have you ever read any books in one day? Yes. Used to do that all the time as a kid.

What was the last thing you bought? Some fries from Burger King, lol. Before that, it was a flag banner thing at the Five concert.

What are your plans for tomorrow? My Mum and I are going to Botany to shop and have lunch, then later on I'm going with David to games night. Damn, just realised I won't have time to see my boyfriend tomorrow :/

Is there any jewelry you wear constantly? Yes - my Pandora charm bracelet and my rings.

Are your fingernails painted at the moment? No.

Do you prefer cool, warm or neutral colors? All of them.

Have you ever taken art classes? Only when I was forced to at school.

What’s the most boring movie you’ve ever seen? Dunno.

Do you know how to work a cash register? Not really.

Fact or fiction novels? Fiction.

Have you ever suffered from depression? I don't think so. I've been sad, but not depressed.

Do you think you’re a clingy person? I can be, my boyfriend jokes that I am but I'm really not xD

Have you ever been in a physical fight before? Kinda, I've slapped a few people. One of them was another girl and she slapped me back LOL.

How often would you say you disagree with your parents? We disagree on occasion.

What color shirt did you wear yesterday? I wore a playsuit lol. But today I'm wearing a black Mox shirt.

Do you have a job? Yes.

If so, do you like it? Yes.

Have you ever been called a slut before? Yes lol, both welcomed and unwelcomed.

What’s something you’ve been craving? KFC lol, even though I had it last week.

Have you ever slept with your window open? Used to all the time in the last house I lived in, but I can't do it here cos my room faces the main highway so it's way too noisy.

Can you play violin? No.

What was the last desert you had? A chocolate ice block thing.

Have you ever had a wild animal as a pet? No.

Do you know anyone you talk to on Facebook but won’t talk to in person? Well yes, cos we've never met lol.

What color are your mother’s eyes? Brown.

Do you have a best friend? Yes.

If so, how long have you been best friends? Since 2002, so almost 22 years now.

Do you cry easily? Depends.

Have you ever been into a court room? Yes, I've served on juries 3 times.

How many necklaces would you say you own? None.

Do you plan on being strict towards your children? I don't want kids.

Do you own any tie-dye shirts? No.

What would you say is your favorite day of the week? Probably Saturday, but Friday is good too.

Do you ever wear lipstick? No.

Do you own a pool? Haha no.

Do you have a Tumblr account? Yes lol, I'm using it right now :P

Would you say you’re overweight? No, but I do need to lose a bit of stomach fat.

How many colors are in your hair? Three technically - blue, purple and my regrowth which is dark haha.

Do you flirt with a lot of people? No, only my boyfriend xD

Have you ever been falsely accused of starting drama? Yes.

How old are you? 36.

Do you attend church regularly? No.

Have you ever found a song that describes your whole life? Dunno.

What time did you wake up this morning? I got up at 7am, but I'd been awake since about 5:30 cos I wasn't feeling well.

What time do you plan on waking up tomorrow morning? 8:30 or so.

What kind of car do you drive? No car.

What kind of car would you like to have? Dunno.

Have you ever been to Dairy Queen? No.

If so, what’s your favorite thing to eat from there? -

How old did you turn on your last birthday? 36.

Ever felt like falling apart? No.

Have you ever been in an ambulance? Yes.

Do you tend to worry a lot? Not a lot, but some.

How old were you when you lost your first tooth? Pffft, not sure.

Do you remember your first time on the internet? Not really haha, I have no clue what sites I even went to.

Which website do you email from? Hotmail/Outlook. It's technically Outlook but I have a grandfathered in Hotmail address cos my email was registered in 2001, I got to keep it. I also have a Gmail I use for 'professional' work stuff lol.

#survey #surveys #personal survey #random survey

[templeofshame]

Idk why I’m saying this to you, I just usually like your takes on this kind of stuff, so I’m going to ramble for a second.

I’ve been seeing a few people mentioning that this new video phil did for google, specifically the parts where he’s playfully snuggling up to his co host, made them really uncomfortable, and I… don’t see why. It’s a video. It’s a professional setting, it was all in good fun, so what’s the problem? Is it just because it’s not Dan? Would it be less uncomfortable to see phil snuggling up to Dan? Is it just general homophobia? I don’t get it. Not to mention that most of the people I’ve seen being uncomfortable with it are totally fine with Dan making horny jokes on Twitter. Why is it okay for Dan to go online and talk about wanting a daddy to beat him up or whatever, but phil even jokingly leaning on a man crosses some sort of line? Phannies are weird.

End ramble, thank you for your time

I don't know what you're seeing, but the only thing I've seen is the but-what-about-Dan discomfort (not that there can't be homophobia in the phandom, but I haven't seen any on this topic), in a way that I see very similarly when Dan makes jokes about looking for casual sex. I honestly barely noticed anything cuddly in the vid (I just noticed the head-on-shoulder bit) because the vid did not attract much of my attention, but the responses I've seen have been what I would predict. Obviously there's a lot of variation within a fandom of this size, but a lot of us are here at least partially because of the appeal of D&P's relationship and chemistry, and especially now that they've acknowledged that, seeing them joke-flirt/pretend to be single/etc. is likely to set off some not totally happy sensors in our brains. (Obviously there are some people who panic like D&P must have broken up every time something like this happens, but I honestly don’t see that in my corner and I’m very much not that.)

For me, it's a giant eyeroll. It just feels forced and awkward and I don't really get why they still do it (I know it's at least part about different audiences, but we're there for all of it and there's whiplash there). To me it seems extra weird how Dan doesn't get mentioned in these very performative Google-promotes-boring-stuff videos and in Phil's other content, he tends toward bringing Dan into things where he kinda isn't even that relevant and without explanation. (It's forced in both directions in this one, with the thing of Harold being overly complimentary about watching Phil's stuff all the time, but then he's unfamiliar with the word "yeet" and also with the fact that Phil doesn't upload very often in terms of Youtuber norms.)

Fwiw I am definitely team they're grownass men who can do what they want with their brands, and Dan's hookup jokes are more annoying because they're more played out, but I generally find any humor that leans on any level of pretending like they're not in a committed relationship just feels really fake and kinda reminds me of closeted times in a way I don't enjoy.

#tw negativity? #besides the discomfort of it feeling awkward and fake #i think the discomfort should probably come from a covid place #of like probably they're both vaccinated but do we need to get in the personal bubbles of people we don't really know #and know their level of exposure or caution

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart 14 + Illustration Book Release Date

Hello again everyone! ❤️💛💜

It's finally here... chapter 14! In all its glory! 😍🥰✨

Before we get to our takeaways, just some news I missed in the last post!

🎉 SENSEI'S ILLUSTRATION BOOK WILL BE RELEASED AROUND THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER! 🎉

Image taken from this Twitter post from Dear+!

It is titled "日ノ原巡イラスト集　DARLING" and boasts a collection of illustrations from Sensei's works so far: Secret XXX, Therapy Game, and Kamisama no Uroko.

The current price is ¥2970 with tax (¥2700 without tax). If you'd like to preorder it on your proxy shopping service, I've found it on the Comi Comi Studios website here! The bonus for purchasing it on this website is a B5 clear file~ I haven't seen it on Animate just yet, so fingers crossed it'll appear on their website soon with another (different) bonus! ❤️💛

Alright, with this amazing news done, let's move onto our takeaways, the long awaited takeaways! Thank you for being so patient with me! 💜

My short life update: currently in week 8 of lockdown and I haven't left my house in a long time other than for exercise or groceries. But I do have my vaccination appointment booked so YAY! 🎉

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Oh man, we pick right up from the last page of chapter 13. MINATO, BB, YOU LOOK SO PAINED! 😭

Sensei is the BIGGEST tease... that's all we got of that Minato and Shizuma scene...👀😭

The female staff at the veterinary hospital have really mellowed out! They're not bad, after all. ☺️

Oh dear, Nakajou-sensei, please get better ASAP!

Whoa... did Onodera just...?? I'm starting to think back to that Onodera discussion we had a couple of months ago... 🤔

Poor Shizuma, always roped into Onodera's workplace stuff! IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS, SHIZUMA! PROUD OF YOU! 😍🙌

Man, Onodera has a really... blunt way of saying things to her human clients. Wow, brave. 😲

But I will say, Onodera really is good with animals. 🙌

Yet again, I think about that Onodera discussion we had... 🤔🤔

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or two) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~  😉✨

Our chapter begins where we left off in chapter 13--Minato pinning Shizuma down on the bed. Shizuma looks up at Minato and reflects on his actions that caused the pained look he is seeing.

Image taken from this Dear+ Twitter post!

On the next page (title page), the dialogue reads: Shizuma wants to understand what it is about his director (Onodera) that is making Minato uneasy. // However, that beautiful liar hides it well...

(I believe we are taken back to the morning before Shizuma and Minato meet up for their date.)

The title page features Onodera walking back to the clinic, bread in hand, with a cat cozying up on her leg. We are then brought to the clinic's lunchroom, with the female staff and Shizuma on break. The roster in the room shows that Onodera is extremely busy, Nakajou-sensei has afternoon house call appointments, Tatsumi is Nakajou-sensei's support for these appointments, and Shizuma has a half day and finishes in the afternoon in lieu of working on his scheduled day off.

Shizuma asks his coworkers what presents they like from their partners and takes note of their answers. One of the female nurses asks if it's Minato's birthday. Shizuma confesses that their relationship has been affected by the various things happening lately, so he wants to get Minato a gift before seeing him later that day.

The nurses quickly pick up that the gift is a "tribute" of sorts as this line of work means a lot of missed appointments and dates, and Shizuma confirms their suspicions. While the nurses realise male-male relationships and male-female relationships aren't that different in this aspect, everyone in the lunchroom is alerted to someone shouting Nakajou-sensei's name.

Shizuma and a nurse see Tatsumi with Nakajou-sensei, who has collapsed on the floor. While the staff are concerned about Nakajou's well-being, she brushes it off as a dizzy spell. Before they can help her up, Onodera sweeps her off her feet and carries Nakajou to her (Onodera's) office. While Nakajou asks Onodera to put her down out of sheer embarrassment, Shizuma and Tatsumi are in shock, with Tatsumi commenting on Onodera's manliness in that moment. One of the other nurses gently smacks Shizuma's shoulder and tells the two to grab a blanket and a drink for Nakajou.

In her office, Onodera asks Nakajou why she's been overworking herself to the point of collapsing. The nurse (who gave the gentle smack) very obviously hints to Onodera that it is her fault. As Nakajou calms the nurse by saying that's just how the director is, Tatsumi asks Nakajou about their afternoon appointments. She says she'll be fine to go after a little rest, but the nurse says she mustn't overexert herself.

After a few back and forths about who should go and the clients' needs/personality (picky about the vet, had a pet that doesn't like men, etc), Onodera says she will go. The nurses are shocked and reminisce about all the issues they've had when Onodera interacts with the owners. Tatsumi and Shizuma stand there, and can very clearly imagine those situations happening.

While Onodera rearranges and informs the nurses of the shift changes to accommodate Nakajou-sensei, Shizuma has a terrible premonition that unfortunately comes true: he is appointed as Onodera's support for the afternoon house calls.

Wearing a sulky expression, Shizuma packs the necessary equipment in Onodera's car and reminds her that he has a very important engagement that night that he cannot miss, and as such will leave immediately after the house call appointments are done. Onodera bursts his bubble, and tells him to give up on those plans while he can since this is the line of work he's chosen.

As Shizuma reads the client files, he questions Onodera on why he is her support when he's never attended to these clients before. While Onodera tells him that good coordination is important with a physician's support and that he's the only one she can rely on to give her an honest opinion and calm the clients, Shizuma realises that he's basically the mediator between her and the owners. She confirms that this is his strong point, has great expectations for him, and proceeds to drive. Shizuma then reads the patient files at lightning speed, realising there's a threatening 'something' that Minato has sensed, but that's just how the director is. He then vows to make it to their meeting tonight, no matter what.

The first three house calls, as expected, involve Onodera insulting and angering the owners--Onodera tells the first client that his insistence on seeing Nakajou rather than a 'young' director is having a negative effect on his pet who needs immediate medical care; Onodera offends the second client, inferring from their conversation that her pet's appearance is more important than the need to shave their fur and get an ultrasound done; Onodera accuses the third client of being irresponsible in caring for his exotic animals and asks for more effort on his part. In all three scenarios, Shizuma awkwardly smiles while trying to ease the tension.

The scene skips to Onodera and Shizuma arriving at their fourth and final house call for the day. Just as Onodera explains to Shizuma that she must check a whole host of things at house calls (and indirectly be too blunt about it with the owners), Shizuma asks her to consider the owner's feelings and change when and how she says things. She glares ahead in silence, and Shizuma is just glad that she is now aware of it. He again reminds her to talk with the owner nicely and gently as he probably won't be able to help with the next client as their pet dislikes men. Onodera tells him to just sit in the corner and witness the client become furious while he doesn't help, making him feel slightly guilty for saying that. He is now adament on not helping her.

They reach the owner's home and we meet an elderly woman named Shiratori and her 9-year-old male cat, Tono. Shiratori apologises to Shizuma as her cat doesn't like men. Tono hisses at them as Onodera opens his cage, but is then coaxed into submission by Onodera who covers his vision with a towel and takes him into her lap to calm down. Shiratori and Shizuma are surprised at his sudden docile nature, with Shizuma witnessing how well she deals with animals.

As Shizuma looks on at Onodera while she completes a check on Tono, he sees she is crumbling at the friendliness and talkative nature of Shiratori, who sings nothing but praise for Onodera and how her family must be proud to have such an amazing daughter. Aiming to ease her troubles and remembering the earlier guilt-trip she gave him, he redirects Shiratori's attention to her broken fly screen and offers to fix that plus everything else that needs repair in her home.

Onodera watches as the two leave the room for a bit before apologising to Tono for ignoring him. Tono looks on at Onodera happily while she asks him how he can live with such a lively human and to tell her his secret to this. She brings him into her arms once more to check his limbs, and as Tono looks up smiling at Onodera, Onodera sees her reflection in Tono's eyes, and both seem to realise something.

BG Text: Stare...

Suddenly, Shizuma and Shiratori, who are busy fixing the window, hear a loud crash and rush into the room to find Tono atop the cabinet and Onodera on the floor, with her hair in disarray. In the next panel, Tono is shown to be hiding in the bookshelf, looking on irritatingly at the humans. Shiratori apologises to Onodera, who shakes it off and says it's nothing to worry about and no harm's been done.

Shiratori asks if Onodera will fix/tie her hair up again, but when Onodera says her hair tie was broken when Tono used her as a launchpad to get on the cabinet, Shiratori runs to get her a new one. As Shiratori gushes over the 3 piece dopey looking character hair tie set she received as a present from her grandchild (and lets Onodera pick one), a greatly displeased look is plastered on Onodera's face. Shizuma, in shock, notices her displeasure and hopes she just thanks Shiratori for it. And Onodera does, bringing a great big smile to Shiratori's face.

As Onodera and Shizuma leave, Shiratori says she's glad to have talked with Onodera and invites her to come over again. As she says this, we see Onodera looking back with a blank look in her eyes.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 While I was surprised at the lack of Minato in this chapter (Sensei legit is such a tease, LOL 🤣), I'm happy we can learn more about Onodera. Ngl, I'm starting to really question if Onodera is male or female now, given what transpired in this chapter. I guess we shall see in the next one!

I also changed the formatting a bit and removed the bullet points. Please let me know which format is better/easier to read! Ahah!

EDIT: Spelling and grammar checks are done! Didn't change a lot, but hope it reads better! 💜

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won't be a chapter in next month's (September release) Dear+, so I shall see you in two months for the next chapter (Dear+ November Issue, to be released in October).

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

#therapy game #therapy game restart #ikushima shizuma #shizuma ikushima #mito minato #minato mito #mito itsuki #itsuki mito #ikushima shouhei #onodera akira #akira onodera #shouhei ikushima #セラピーゲーム #セラピーゲームリスタート #生嶋静真 #三兎湊 #三兎樹 #生嶋翔平 #小野寺昌 #case 14 #chapter 14 #wow what a chapter #really curious to read more on onodera #but legit minato #minato my sweet child #i promise you it isn't what you think #please explain it to him shizuma #god i seriously love these dorks #hinohara-sensei is the biggest tease #thank you hinohara sensei

[ashiemochi]

About chapter 57!! First can I say that I was mad and sad that so ah couldn't stay with leon :') like no hunnigan it wasn't just a mission to leon they're in love!!!!

I really loved the interaction between leon and diane, the way she was trying to make him feel better about so ah leaving </3 love her for that

I can't believe they don't see each other for months omg </333 btw it was so funny how leon accepted so fast to go to the gala djsjsj and that part where he's calling chris at 3am 😭 love that so ah is also asking him about leon <3

And ahhh I missed minji <3 and I'm so happy she's pregnant dhshsh this is so cute ok!!!

That part where leon is in the art gallery watching so ah's paintings, I found it so adorable when he saw that painting and he instantly felt love like??? I LOVE THAT and when he went against mr baldy to win the auction jdjsjs it was so funny when he said "I like the colours" when he asked him why he wanted the paintings 😭 dude literally spent one million over a painting damn I wish I could do that too........... (and I really loved that whole part where he was just gazing at the painting thinking about the meaning of so ah's art please he's so in love)

Loved when leon, minji and jaehyun were waiting for their father's speech it's so funny how minji is defending him while jaehyun couldn't care less 😭

And omg I absolutely wasn't expecting Claire to appear!!! But I really liked it's great to see her <3

And so ah playing the piano <333 that whole part was so well written I loved it!!! She was so cute at the end with her little speech :(

The switch to her point of view was great, I liked that we could see how she was feeling bc it must have been nerve wracking!! And when leon comes up <333 they're finally reunited <333

It's so great that she doesn't have the plaga in her anymore!! Her condition made me think so much of sherry's and jake's djsjsj (they need to meet) tho I can understand how frustrating it must be to not be able to get hurt or sick.... that whole thing is literally life changing :/ but leon trying to make her feel better <333 damn they're so great together

I'm so excited for their date!!! Finally!!! I feel like it's gonna be one of my favourite chapters!!!

As always thank you for such great chapters <333 and I'm probably a tad ahead but happy new year <3

this chapter was kind of a PAIN to write😭 I never looked up actual gala invitations and rules of an auction so much so that I had a dream I was hosting an auction like NOOOOO!!!

The change from the outbreak to normal days was probably one of the most difficult yet relieving thing to write, I had to remember how the neighbourhood was, what's Diane's personality like- i actually reread some previous chapters to remember those days and write em <3

THE GALA, bro as much as he's such a minor character, Michael (the douche) was fun to write and Patrick too (man i need to see more of him!! I need more Patrick!! He's so attractive in Infinite Darkness😭)

Once again, Leon is rich and no one can convince me otherwise-

It's ironic........ that so ah's condition is similar to both jake and sherry that them meeting up at some point would be almost funny yet interesting to see👀 Since the vaccine came from her and the dso along with the bsaa own her case, there's bound to be few very specific people who now know about her👀👀 and that's all imma say-

I'm so glad you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter was actually one of my favourites to write! So I hope you enjoy it and please look forward to it! <33 happy new year!!

did you know my bday is 22/02/2022 this year- just a lil fun fact because I think imma wake up with superpowers or sumn-

link to fic!💕

#leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy #leon s kennedy x reader #resident evil #resident evil infinite darkness #leon kennedy #dbd fanfic #resident evil fandom #resident evil fanfiction #leon kennedy imagines #resident evil memes #dbd memes #leon kennedy x you #leon kennedy fanfic

[addictedtostorytelling]

How do you think Sara feels about Grissom’s age and COVID? Do you think she felt safer with them on the boat versus being in Vegas? I think I read somewhere that she is a germaphobe, but maybe that is just a fanfiction story I read and not canon.

hi, anon!

so here's the thing: in the rebootverse, the pandemic appears to have concluded by the time the events of the hodges case take place in mid-2021.

when the grissoms show up to vegas, no one is wearing masks or social distancing, and though folsom and allie are shown using hand sanitizer in episode 01x01 "legacy," they do so not necessarily because they fear covid-infection but rather because they're in a sex club that they seem to feel is skeezy and they want to get the skeeziness off of themselves. the pandemic itself isn't even confirmed to have been a thing which actually happened within the fictional universe of the show until episode 01x08 "pipe cleaner," and even then it's spoken of in the past tense, as an event that is now concluded. the only other mention comes from episode 01x10 "signed, sealed, delivered," where we learn that the hotel where hodges is being held captive shuttered during the pandemic and has been closed ever since. however, again, there is a very much a sense that the pandemic itself is a thing of the (distant) past.

how the pandemic supposedly ended in the csiverse—whether because of a different course of public policy or higher vaccination rates or just sheer dumb luck—the show doesn't specify. regardless, it's clear that by mid-2021, life has basically "returned to normal" for everyone in that world, the grissoms included.

all of the above so, while i imagine that sara was very protective of grissom during the pandemic, given that his age placed him in a higher-risk category, the canon of the show says that she and grissom spent the entirety of the actual pandemic itself on their boat.

by the time they're called upon to go back to vegas, in their world, the pandemic is over, so it's safe for him to be there, and she doesn't have to really fret about potential dangers to his health any more than she might usually do. there is no inherent risk associated with him being on land versus at sea, covid-wise, because covid functionally no longer exists in their fictional world.

now.

had covid actually still been around in the csiverse at the time when sara first realized that she needed grissom's help on the hodges case, i'm not sure what she might have done. depending on how bad the pandemic conditions were, she might have opted to seek grissom's help via teleconferencing with him rather than having him come to her in person. alternatively, maybe she would have sought aid from another one of their former colleagues, like nick or greg, rather than from grissom himself, in order to spare him having to come ashore.

for as much as she does love both brass and hodges, there's no way she would be willing to endanger grissom's life for the sake of the investigation, so if the pandemic had been bad at the time, she probably would have found some way to work without him physically present with her. she wouldn't have wanted to put him in harm's way.

as for the germophobe thing, it's canon: in episode 02x11 "organ grinder," she talks about how hotel rooms are teeming with germs, so she always carries nonoxynol-9 with her when she stays in them in order to kill off microbes. there are also a few times throughout the show when we see her act freaked out about "unclean" stuff like clothing with parasites on it, buckets of saliva, etc.

while it's not a debilitating fear for her—she couldn't be a csi if it were—it is something she is concerned with.

that so, i'm sure that during the pandemic, she's extra careful about that kind of stuff, particularly where grissom is concerned.

anyway.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

#answered #anon #asks: csi #** #my meta #meta: vegas #hypothetical scenario #speculation csi #let's talk shop #csiverse

[bellezzamortale]

haven't been keeping tabs on the whole tennis drama scene for a while, what tennis players can we still support re: not being anti vax idiots except for Rafa

tbh i haven't been very diligent in keeping track of everyone's stance on vaccines either (and if i have i've probably forgotten again, bc my memory is terrible these days), but have mostly good news for you, because while some players dragged their feet and/or said they didn't like the idea of vaccine mandates, according to the ATP, 97 out of the top 100 are vaccinated. one of the 3 guys who aren't would obviously be novak as we now know, one is tennys sandgren, no clue who no.3 is and it would feel a bit gossipy to speculate.

i think a bunch of them were huffy about it and took their time (note the part of the first article that says only 48% of the ATP top 100 were fully vaccinated in october) and to an extent i get why it would be an inconvenience to a pro athlete who competes almost every week to potentially miss a couple of valuable days of practice to side effects, and a hassle to organise if you're never in the same country for long. but ultimately they all came to the conclusion that missing a whole grand slam (and possibly more tournaments in the future) is even more of a hassle, lol.

a few high profile players whose names are thrown around by novak fans as other vaccine "skeptics" on the tour are dominic (who's vaxed now but waited a long time holding out hope for one particular vaccine that didn't get approved in time), daniil (also vaxed but made comments about wanting to keep his vax status private bc he wants to keep everything medical private to not give opponents any advantages), and stef (who's... yeah there's no caveat here he's just being a bit of a moron, but has also since gotten vaccinated for convenience).

they're not enthusiastically pro-vax or pro-mandates, granted, but at the end of the day they all held their nose, did the right thing, got jabbed and are now competing.

the real hardliners are mostly at home sitting out the tournament voluntarily. both sandgren and pierre hugues-herbert were very clear about not even trying to go bc they knew they didn't have a case for a valid medical exemption. john isner is at the AO so we know he has to be vaccinated but, well, you know. he's john isner

and personally i think i can live with the rest. i don't need them to be enthusiastic about getting vaccinated, as long as they do it and don't actively spread misinformation. it's nice if a player uses their platform to urge people to get vaxed, yes, but ultimately we shouldn't take some full time fuzzy-yellow-ball-hitter's medical advice either way, you should take that of real medical authorities. (and wouldn't it be nice if our governments could form a coherent strategy to end this pandemic rather than us having to worry about tennis players helping to advance a public health campaign. 🙃)

#i feel like i should also note for everyone who isn't as active in and around tennis twitter that tennys sandgren is... uh. #a real piece of work in general #used to be a regular in the replies of white supremacist holocaust denier nick fuentes until he had his run to the AO18 QF #and the heightened media scrutiny that came with it and made him ''clean up'' his social media act to some degree #he now follows neo-reactionary ''luminaries'' like 0 HP lovecraft so his political leanings may be more vague and pseudo-intellectual #but definitely not any less horrific #so yeah i'm a bit more concerned with a guy like that getting interviews over his anti-vax stance than someone like stef #who was stupid and misinformed and by virtue of having the platform that he has passed that misinformation along to lots of people #but who we know isn't a knowingly malicious person and who actually acknowledged the blowback he got for it and reminded people #that he's not fit to give medical advice #am i letting players like stef off the hook? maybe but what can i say at this point i've lowered my expectations considerably #these are just some dudes with no qualifications whatsoever that we keep asking for their opinions on extremely complex stuff #how did we THINK this was gonna go 😭 #anyway here's wonderwall #asks #anonymous

[ask-a-vetblr]

Hey, I saw a post - I think it was on here, but it might have been directly on gettingvetted or vet-and-wild? But it mentioned bringing your pet in to a vet (not during quarantine of course, and I think it was about dogs but said "pet" so I think it was meant to apply to cats also) just for like, socializing and getting pets and getting acquainted with the staff, and that sounds like an awesome idea, and I'd like to do that with my cats. After covid becomes less of a threat.

Could I ask for some practical advice on how best to go about that? I'm just not sure how to ask. Can I call my vet, and ask when a slow day/time is that we could come in, or schedule to come in? Would I have to schedule a checkup appointment, and pay the related fees, or could we just walk in and say hi if they're not busy?

I'm not expecting you to be able to answer for every vet's office, but I'm not great at talking to people, so do you have any suggestions on how to ask about something like that?

Thank you all for running this blog (and your personal ones), I and many others have gotten a lot of valuable advice and info from you, and the enthusiasm for good pet care is infectious!

vet-and-wild here.

It was mostly meant for puppies, but there really isn’t a reason you couldn’t do it with kittens too! In fact, cats would probably be a lot better off if we could get kittens used to their carriers and the vet’s office. It may be a little harder to coordinate with a kitten, just because they come in carriers and can’t really just be let out in the lobby. But you could definitely call your local clinic and tell them what you want to do and they may be able to work something out.

Something I feel like people don’t necessarily take advantage of is yearly wellness exams. Rabies and distemper are 3 year vaccines for both cats and dogs (adults that are already up to date). A lot of people take this to mean that their pet only needs a vet visit every 3 years. Not only are yearly wellness exams important, but it’s also an opportunity for us to interact with a pet and not give them a shot. For the animals that also get 1 year vaccines (i.e. lepto, lyme, FeLV) they also don’t necessarily have to be done at the same time as the exam. Most clinics will have tech appointments where you just pay for the vaccines themselves (and possibly a small tech fee) rather than a whole exam. The pet needs to be up to date on their yearly exam first, but you could spread them out a bit if you wanted. That way, not every visit involves being poked. That may not be practical, but it’s an option. Really the best thing is early desensitization. Practice body handling with both puppies and kittens!

#puppies #kittens #behavior #vet med #weirdo-with-a-nametag

[emma-nation]

The Devil In I - Bela x OC (Resident Evil Village AU) - Chapter 9

“Step inside, see the Devil in I”

Summary: Aleena Novak is a 19 years old orphan who desired more than living in a village in the middle of nowhere. A talented artist with a big future ahead, she gets the scholarship of her dreams in United States. But everything changes when her twin brother, Auryk, steals an important artifact from Castle Dimitrescu.

In this adventure, Aleena will find way more than she expected.

“You’ll realize I’m not your Devil anymore”

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x f!OC

Genre: Between T and M (Trigger warning: for violence, blood, abuse and eventual smut)

Tag List: @nydeiri

Castle Dimitrescu, Lady Dimitrescu's Bedroom - Present Days

What did dying feels like? Bela couldn't remember the day she died, before she was turned. For many and many years, she wondered how it even happened. Maybe she was incurably ill. That would be the only plausible explanation on why Lady Dimitrescu decided to transform her into a vampire. Having an illness herself, she must've felt sorry for Bela being so young and already losing her life.

But that night, after being drugged by Mother Miranda, the memory from that tragic event returned to her memory stronger like never.

It was a cold night in the 1950's. Alcina threw a special dinner and invited her three favorite and most loyal servants. Three young girls. They felt honored sitting at the same table as their mistress. They were chatting and giggling but then... something started to feel strange. Starting by the fact none of the servants were around.

It began as a burning sensation in Bela's stomach. She tried to ignore it but it'd only grow stronger. She dropped the silverware she was holding. She attempted to swallow another sip of tea. By her side, she noticed one of the other two girls, the brunette one, starting to show signs of discomfort too.

"What's wrong, my dear?" Lady Dimitrescu asked when the red haired girl, the youngest of the three, started coughing.

"I can't..." she tried to answer, but the words got lost in her throat as she began to suffocate, "b-breathe..."

Bela tried to stand up and help her, but her surroundings started to spin. She held on the table for support. At this point, the brunette girl was already lying on the floor, having some kind of seizure. She looked at Lady Dimitrescu again, but she didn't seem to be worried. She seemed abnormally calm.

"W-What have you..." before she could finish the question, her lungs could no longer fill with oxygen. Her throat and her airways started to burn. She tried and tried to breathe, but it seemed impossible. The weakness started on her legs and spread to the rest of her body really quickly. In fact, she barely felt when she collapsed on the floor. When the seizures started, she was barely conscious. Her vision was already going black, but she still had time to see the Countess staring at her body, almost lifeless, as she said:

"Don't worry, daughter. Everything will be alright."

Poisoned. She was poisoned.

When Bela woke up it was already morning. She could tell by the rays of sunlight entering through the windows. She hadn't died this time, but the sensations she experienced were quite similar. Her head was aching intensely and her vision was still blurred. Whatever Miranda had injected in her blood had affected her senses very badly.

"Aleena," she finally remembered. She tried to get up but her legs were still weak. "I need to find her."

She kept moving slowly, using the walls and furniture for support. If only she could transform into flies, it would be a lot easier, but it hurt to even try.

"Fuck!" Bela cursed, frustrated. She threw herself on a couch for a moment. She needed to rest.

Her eyes analyzed her surroundings. Although Bela was in her mother's chambers, Lady Dimitrescu was nowhere to be seen.

Hours had passed since she was drugged. Anything could've happened during this time. She wondered if Aleena was still there and if she was okay. She had to be. But what if she slept for days? What if the ritual had already happened? Aleena could be dead in that exact moment and she wasn't there to protect her. That thought made her stomach feel sick. And rare were the occasions she felt sick after being turned.

"Bela!" Daniela opened the door, she seemed so confused and scared as she was. "There you are, sister! Oh my god, I was starting to think you were dead."

"You wish..." Bela moaned sarcastically. She couldn't miss the opportunity. "What the fuck happened, Dani? Where's that bitch?"

"Who? Cassandra?"

Daniela handed her a cup full of human blood. Bela drank it all in one sip. That was the only thing able to restore her body from the damage Miranda caused.

Cassandra. She remembered her middle sister being the one who told her to go to her mother's office. Traitor! She should've known when she appeared to be so supportive of her relationship with Aleena in the previous day.

"No, Mother Miranda."

"Mother Miranda was here?"

Before she could answer, the door opened with a slam. It was Cassandra, looking completely fine. She had blood around her mouth and all over her dress. In a blink of an eye, Bela lunged forward, pinning her against the wall.

"How could you?!" She yelled. "You sent me directly to a trap!"

"What are you talking about?" Cassandra argued. "Somebody caught me on a corridor and stabbed my neck with a needle, then I passed out."

"Come on, don't lie to us," Daniela shouted. "You entered my room last night and drugged me."

"And why I would even do this to both of you?"

Realizing what happened, Bela immediately let her go.

"Mother Miranda," she huffed. "She must have shapeshifted into you and attacked us all."

It was time to tell her sisters what she learned from Heisenberg. Miranda had already started to proceed with her plans and it was a matter of time before she attempted to kill them.

"This bitch is going to die!" Cassandra punched the wall. "Nobody pretends to be me and lives."

"This is the least of our problems," Bela said. "She can be anywhere right now, pretending to be someone we trust and ready to kill us all."

"Where's mom?" Daniela asked. "I couldn't find her anywhere."

Lady Dimitrescu was the last person Bela wanted to see. She lied and betrayed her, besides helping Mother Miranda to drug her.

"I don't know, I searched for her everywhere," Cassandra told. "On the bright side, there's fresh breakfast spread all around the castle."

"What do you mean, Cassandra?" Bela wanted to know.

"The servants. They're all dead."

"What about Aleena? Have you seen her?"

"No, I thought she was with you."

Bela transformed into flies and went straight to Aleena's bedroom. It was completely empty. The bed was still made as in the previous night. She went to her own bedroom next. The diary was opened on the bed, right on the pages where her father confirmed what Miranda told her in the office, Aleena was indeed the vessel.

Mrs. Volkov corpse was lying on the corridor and not so far away, there was a trail of blood, Aleena's blood. She froze in place, too terrified to even think.

"It doesn't mean anything," Daniela placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe she managed to escape."

"She probably did, that girl is fierce," Cassandra added, noticing how disturbed her older sister looked. "I mean, she's not one of the Lords or a servant. There's no reason for that crazy bitch to murder her."

"There is," Bela sighed deeply. "She's the vessel. Miranda was playing us like puppets. The goblet thing was already intentional, to bring Aleena to the castle where she'd be safe until she prepared the ritual."

"Oh fuck, this is bad."

"I... I'm going to the village. Maybe she's hiding in her house."

----------

Eastern Europe, Village - Present Days

When Bela left, she didn't even bother to check the temperature or to mount one of her horses. She transformed into flies and started to fly to the village as fast as she could. Everything that mattered was finding Aleena. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. They were going to California together and they'd start a brand new life.

She stopped by her house first. The door was locked and the extra key hidden in a vase at the entrance, just where Aleena placed it before they returned to the castle.

"It doesn't mean she's not here," Bela tried to convince herself. "She must have found another way in, to not make it obvious she's hiding here."

She used the key to open the front door. The house was dark and silent. There weren't any signs of somebody's recent presence. She checked every room, the basement, the secret weapon storage... Aleena definitely wasn't there.

"Maybe she's at the pub or at one of her friends' houses," Bela concluded.

There was no way. She had to do that. She took a deep breath, gathering enough courage to enter the pub. There were only three people in there, a middle aged woman behind the counter, a blonde young male cleaning the tables and a girl, who was strangely similar to Cassandra, chatting to both of them. Bela recognized them from the pictures Aleena showed her. They were Olga, Gustav and Elena.

"Hello," she announced her presence. They all stopped to stare at her, but none of them had freaked out yet. Maybe they hadn't noticed the tattoo.

"How can we help you, darling?" The older woman asked. "Are you a foreigner?"

"I... uhh... I'm looking for Aleena Novak."

"She isn't here," it was the boy who answered this time. He had a lot of anger in his voice. "She was taken to Castle Dimitrescu a few weeks ago. We don't even know if she's still alive."

"She is," Bela told. "I've been taking care of her."

They finally understood. Their expressions all changed to pure terror and panic. The two younger adults hid behind the counter, together with the woman. The male grabbed a shotgun.

"Get the hell out of here!" He ordered. "And if Aleena escaped, don't you even dare to touch her again or I'll kill you. I'll find her and bring her home."

"Trust me, manthing. This is exactly what I'm planning to do. Mother Miranda has kidnapped her. She has been planning to sacrifice her in some kind of sick ritual tonight."

"Liar!" Cassandra's doppelgänger shouted. "Mother Miranda wouldn't do such a thing! She's always guiding and protecting us. Everything she does is for the best of all of us."

"Listen, little one," Bela exhaled deeply. She had no patience for humans. That was the reason why she avoided them. They'd usually annoy her to the point they became her prey. "I have proof. Aleena's father has left this diary, reporting everything."

"That man was insane. Most of the villagers hated him."

"But he never lied," Gustav spoke. "Adrian had some crazy theories nobody ever believed but... I've never seen him lying before. He was a man of his word."

"This is true," Olga added. "We grew up together. He was absolutely nasty, a real bastard, but not a liar. He wouldn't invent such a thing, especially when it came to protecting Aleena."

Olga locked the door and the group reunited in one of the tables, analyzing the notes Adrian Novak left.

"Fuck," Gustav cursed, while trying to speak on his phone. "Auryk must've gone after this contacts. I can't reach him."

"Do you have any ideas of where Aleena could've gone to, if she was trying to hide?" Bela asked.

"Other than our houses and the pub? Well... we had this fort in the woods when we were children. Maybe she's hiding there."

"Show me the way, little man."

But Gustav wasn't the one who was most familiar with the path to Aleena's childhood fort, it was Elena. The young woman followed them, complaining about literally everything and praising Mother Miranda.

"Mother Miranda would never do that!" Elena protested. "I'd trust her with my life."

"I was about your age when she did this to me, without my consent," Bela took off the hat she was wearing, exposing her scar. "And do you think immortality is a blessing? Try spending your life locked inside a castle, without being able to go outside most of the time."

"Why are we even trusting her, Gustav? She feeds on human blood and now we're alone with her in the middle of nowhere."

"If that makes you feel more comfortable, I've already had breakfast. Besides, I prefer drinking men's blood."

"Can we just focus on Aleena?" Gustav scolded both of them. Bela had finally found a man she respected. That boy was completely loyal and protective of her girlfriend, so he deserved some credit. "God knows why Bela is searching for her but... we have the same goal here."

"We're dating," Bela informed them of the latest news. "I love her. For real."

Both of the young humans stared at her in shock.

"It seems like we'll have a lot to catch up when I see Aleena again," the boy shook his head in disbelief. "I thought the vampire thing was just a phase."

They finally found the small wooden fortress in the middle of the woods. It was mostly destroyed, but it still could fit one adult person inside it.

"Aleena!" Gustav called. There was no answer. Still, Aleena was hurt. Maybe she was unconscious.

"Go," Bela poked Elena and ordered. "You're the shortest of us. Check if she's in there."

The girl rolled her eyes, but obeyed, ducking and entering the small fort. But there wasn't even a sign Aleena was there recently.

"Where do we search now?" Elena asked.

"I'll go to the other Lords," Bela told. "Maybe one of them is keeping her for Miranda. Thank you for your help, little humans. It was a pleasure to meet you."

Bela walked away from them. Maybe in another life, they could've been friends. The priority now was to find Aleena. She wondered if the girl went to Heisenberg seeking for protection or if Miranda had captured and taken her to that creepy cave. There wasn't much time to think, she needed to act.

She followed to Heisenberg's factory. As usual the man was swearing and torturing human beings on his basement.

"What brings you here, kid?" He asked. "Did you find the diaries?"

"Yes, but too late unfortunately," she answered. "The information we were searching for: all the women in Aleena's family have some kind of immunity against the creatures and their mutations. They healed after getting bitten by Lycans, Aleena healed when you attacked her... she's the vessel."

"We have to kill her immediately. Before Miranda puts her hands on her. If that happens, we're fucked."

"She already did. She showed up in the castle last night, drugged me and my sisters, killed the servants and now... I can't find Aleena anywhere."

"Girl, you had the opportunity in your hands," he clenched his fists. "If you had killed her, like you freaks do to every single human that steps into that castle, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Shut up, Heisenberg!" Bela grabbed a piece of metallic scrap from the floor and threw in the man's direction. "I had no idea. Even if I did, she's my girlfriend and I have to save her before she's sacrificed on Miranda's ritual."

"Good luck with that. The crazy bitch is very good hiding things."

And Bela knew that. Next, she went to Moreau's, Miranda's most loyal follower. She didn't reveal any information, she simply tricked him by inventing an excuse, that stupid freak was easy to fool. But Aleena certainly wasn't there either. Using her flies, she checked the entire place. She did the same at Donna's house. While she entertained the woman and her creepy doll having a tea party with them, her flies inspected every corner of her eerie house.

She was about to follow to Miranda's cave when she ran into Cassandra, in the middle of the way.

"What are you doing, Bela?" She asked. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?

"I'm searching for Aleena. She's gotta be somewhere and the last place I must check is the cave."

"Mother is home," her sister announced. "She wants to talk to you."

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Living Room - Present Days

In Bela's imagination, Lady Dimitrescu would apologize. Admit she had made a huge mistake and promise her they'd find Aleena together. That was who her adoptive mother was, she'd always do anything to make her daughters happy. But at the same time, she was also that same woman from her memory. The selfish Countess who killed three young girls to have them as her adoptive daughters. She killed, violated and turned them into monsters. What kind of mother was that?

The three sisters were sitting on the couch, waiting as their mother brought a tray with tea and some other treats. That would probably be their only food for days, as Lady Dimitrescu and Mother Miranda had killed all the servants.

Lady Dimitrescu sat on an armchair in front of them, looking at Bela mostly.

"I understand you're confused, daughters. But I'll explain everything."

"Where's Aleena?" Bela quickly asked. That was the only thing that mattered. Who cared about Mother Miranda's child who died ages ago? "What have you two done to her?"

"Bela, daughter... I understand you're upset and frustrated. However, Mother Miranda has been searching for the perfect vessel to bring her daughter back to life for many and many years. This vessel happens to be Aleena. It's her fate, her purpose."

Bela eyes were burning in pure rage. How could Alcina be so blind? Even Heisenberg, that scumbag of man, was smarter than her mother was.

"Her fate is to live her own life, to go to California and achieve her dreams. Her fate is to be with me!"

"I apologize for having to get rid of all of our servants," she clearly ignored her daughter's objections. "They wouldn't understand what's to come. Once Eva is back to life, things will change. I'd like to ask you girls to behave and treat her well, like if she's a new sister of yours. We'll be throwing a party to welcome Eva to our family and I'll need your help to organize it."

"Party?!" Bela let out a sarcastic laugh. "Are you naive or only stupid? Miranda is going to kill you before this ritual is even finished! It has been her plan all along."

"Bela!" Lady Dimitrescu's eyes narrowed and she raised her voice. "I'm your mother! You owe me some respect, little lady."

"I don't! Not when you drugged me and let Miranda kidnap my girlfriend. I want to know where she is."

"Daughter..." Alcina grabbed her by the shoulders and lowered her voice. An useless attempt to help her to calm down. "Aleena is gone. She's dead."

The world seemed to stop. As well as the clock. The voices. Everything. Not even Bela's brain was capable of working and processing the words she had just listened. Dead. Aleena was dead. Her Aleena. Her girlfriend. The woman she loved. She stopped breathing. Her stomach ached as much as in the night she was poisoned. She felt she was about to collapse and die again. Her heart was beating in a strange manner. It was out of control. She was out of control.

Bela raised her golden yellow eyes, filled with hateful tears and stared directly into Lady Dimitrescu's eyes.

"You..." she clenched her fists. "You lied to me... You betrayed me..."

"I was willing to let her live, daughter," the woman tried to excuse herself. "Until the last meeting. Mother Miranda told me the truth and asked me to give her the vessel."

"HER NAME WAS ALEENA," using her strength, Bela grabbed the heavy coffee table and threw it across the room, shocking her mother and sisters. "She had a name! She was NOT a vessel."

Very rare were the times Bela actually cried after being turned. She cried when she first woke up in excruciating pain, with that huge wound on the side of her head. She cried later, when she felt lost, without knowing who or what she was. And she was crying now. Without Aleena, she felt lost again. She had nothing left. She no longer wished to live. A life without that girl's contagious joy, optimism and bravery was meaningless.

"Bela..." Lady Dimitrescu tried to touch her, comfort her somehow, but the blonde girl slapped her hand away.

"I always did everything you asked me... I always tried to be the perfect daughter for you... AND FOR WHAT?" Bela sobbed. "The only thing I ever ask you, you denied me. You took Aleena from me. You chose Miranda over your own daughter!"

"I had no choice, daughter! She'd turn against us if I refused to give her Aleena. Who knows what she'd be capable of doing?"

"She's doing it anyways. She's going to kill us all now she's gotten what she wanted."

She started to walk away. She had to be alone. As far away as possible from that woman, from that family, from that stupid castle. That small bed & breakfast at the village seemed like a good option.

"Daughter, wait," Alcina went after her, as she entered her bedroom.

"Don't you ever call me daughter again, Lady Dimitrescu," Bela angered. "I'm not your daughter. You kidnapped, killed me and turned me into a monster. Who knows what you've done to my real parents. We're not your daughters, we're only your toys, your dolls. You're not that different from your sister, Donna, after all."

She slammed the door and locked it. The bedroom was still the same way they left in the previous night. The candles, the flowers, the discs... Aleena's perfume was still on her pillows. Bela threw herself on the bed, holding the pillow against her body as she cried uncontrollably.

This was all her fault. They should've finished reading the diaries earlier and found out the truth before Miranda's visit, but she distracted Aleena, wishing to spend as much time with her as possible before she left to California. She should've been there to protect her, she promised it. She shouldn't have trusted the woman she used to call 'mother'. She was an idiot and now, Aleena was gone. Forever.

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Guest Room - Present Days

Memories. Only a few days earlier Bela was afraid memories would be everything she'd have left from Aleena and now, it really was. Without anybody noticing, she went to the guest room the girl had been staying during those weeks in the castle. She obviously wasn't there, but traits of her presence were still all around.

Her clothes were still in the closet. Some where lying on the armchair or even around the floor. Bela grabbed one of her t-shirts, one from Aleena's favorite TV show. It still had her perfume on it.

"I miss you, love," she inhaled deeply the sweet fragrance. "So much it's killing me."

Then, she took the sketch book from the desk. Aleena was the most talented artist Bela had ever met. Her sister, Daniela, was a good artist, but she wasn't so creative, so expressive and precise on her traces. Bela had many classes with Lady Dimitrescu, and though she could paint decently, it wasn't her strong suit.

The drawing was still there. The one Aleena where was drawing her face. The reason why they kissed that night in the library, when she said Bela was worth being remembered.

"And now I'm the one who have nothing to remind me of you, Aleena. Remind me of every detail of your perfect green eyes, your smooth brown hair and those sweet freckles all over your body."

Her cell phone was still inside the bedside table's drawer. Bela turned it on. Aleena had set a picture of them together as her lockscreen. She smiled. In the gallery, she found many and many pictures of all the days they spent together, since the lunch Bela threw on her birthday when she arrived.

There were videos too and as soon Bela heard Aleena's voice, she couldn't help but start crying again. Why did her mother betrayed her like that? She could've helped her to save Aleena. She could've helped them to take down Miranda. That was what a real mother was supposed to do!

"Hey," she rolled her eyes, noticing she had forgotten to lock the door again. Cassandra was standing right behind her. "I'm came here to check on you."

"Leave me alone, Cassandra," Bela angered. "You didn't even like her."

"This isn't true. Aleena wasn't my favorite person in the world, not that I have one by the way, but still... I didn't want her to die."

Bela ignored her. Cassandra didn't have maturity enough to understand how she was feeling. Sometimes she wondered if her sister was even able to feel empathy for another being. But then, she was surprised by her next move.

"I'm sorry," her middle sister touched her shoulder slightly, tenderly. "I know she made you happy. Deep down, I was rooting for you both."

She forced a small smile before pulling her sister for an embrace. It was probably the first time they exchanged such a genuine moment of affection.

"We'll make her pay," Cassandra stroked her hair. "Let's kill Bitch Miranda."

The three sisters gathered together in the library. Lady Dimitrescu couldn't be aware of their plans. Daniela revealed her sisters she once heard about a dagger their mother possessed, one that was able to kill any monsters and demons.

"Are you sure about this?" Bela asked to confirm. Daniela had a creative and delusional mind after all.

"Yes," her youngest sister said. "I stole one of her diaries once. She was reporting everything about this dagger, except for its location."

"Then I'll keep her distracted while you search for it," Cassandra suggested. "I'll pretend to help her with her party for Miranda's daughter rebirth."

"What about me?" Bela wanted to know.

"You're not okay, sister. Let us handle this. Save your strength for when we stab the bitch and end her for good."

"As long as you let me do the honors, it's fine by me."

That was it. Bela would pretend to be alright. She would pretend to forgive her mother. And when the time came, she'd get her revenge against Miranda.

But then... there was nothing left for her in this world. With Aleena gone, she lost her only chance of living a new and normal life. She lost the only thing that made her feel happy and human. And if the dagger could kill any monsters and demons, well... it would be able to kill her too.

Still holding Aleena's shirt against her body, Bela lay on the bed and fell asleep, thinking of the moment they'd be reunited again in death. However, she had a terrible nightmare. Aleena was dying in her arms and there was nothing she could do.

She got up and drank some water. It had been hours since Daniela left the room to search for the dagger. She wondered if something had gone wrong. Lady Dimitrescu would never agree with that plan. She was about to leave the bedroom when the red haired girl entered the room so excited she could barely breathe.

"Bela..." she panted, "I found her!"

"The dagger?!" Bela asked. "Where is it?"

"No! Aleena. She's alive in the dungeons!"

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Dungeons - Present Days

I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. The environment around me was different from everywhere I had been in the last few weeks, the air was humid but still suffocating. It also smelled terribly, like rotting flesh and blood. I tried to stand up but my leg was still badly injured. I wondered how long it'd take for the amulet to heal my body again. Maybe it only worked once. Or maybe it had to do with the fluid Cassandra injected on me before she threw me inside that nasty cell.

Speaking of Bela's sister, I was pissed. Truly pissed. It was no secret she never liked me, but I never thought she'd be able to betray her own sister like that. Telling Bela to go to their mother's office only to bring me to the dungeons was a low blow, even for her. And there was Mrs. Volkov too. I couldn't believe she was dead.

"H-Help... somebody help me..."

I tried to scream but the blood loss and the drug made me too weak. I had to find a way out. A way to regain my forces and escape that place.

It didn't take long for me to lose my conscience again. As much as I attempted to stay awake and hear any signals someone could be around, I just couldn't. I was trapped in that endless cycle of waking up for a few minutes, moan in pain and passing out again. That was it. The Mother Miranda bitch was certainly behind it. When the right moment came, she'd come and take me for the ritual. Drugged as I was, I wouldn't be able to fight it.

"Aleena!" I heard Bela's voice, approaching. Maybe it was just another hallucination. "Oh my god!"

The cell's door opened, allowing some light to enter. I was able to distinguish my girlfriend's beautiful face among all that darkness.

"It's okay, love. You'll be okay, I promise you."

I forced a small smile as she placed my head on her lap. Using a blade, she opened a small gash on her wrist and forced it into my mouth.

"Drink it," Bela ordered. "My blood is going to heal your wounds and the drug effects."

I felt my stomach twisting from the metallic taste of blood going down my throat. I definitely wasn't born to be a vampire. For a second, I thought I was going to throw up.

"Shhhh," she held me still as the nausea struck. "Just breathe. Hold it down and you'll be okay."

I did as she told. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, the nausea was slowly going away. Bela started to caress my face and I felt as some warm tears dropped on my forehead.

"Hey, I'm just a little beaten up," I assured her. "But I'm starting to feel better."

"I... I thought you were dead. My mother told me you were dead."

Why would Lady Dimitrescu do such a thing? Of course, she needed to make sure Bela wouldn't ruin Miranda's plans. She needed to convince her to not search for me.

I was already strong enough to sit. I hugged Bela very very tightly. She was sobbing desperately. Her heart was beating so fast inside her chest, it seemed like it'd explode at any moment.

"I'm so sorry," I kissed her forehead. "I'm here and I'm not leaving you ever again. I promise."

"You're the vessel, Aleena," Bela told me. "Your body is immune to the attacks of any creatures in the village. And now Miranda wants to use you to bring her daughter back to life. She believes your body is going to accept the mutation."

She also told me about my amulet. Miranda was the one to sell it to Auryk. I immediately ripped it off from my neck.

"I knew about being the vessel. I discovered it right after you left the bedroom. My father knew it and Auryk did too, this is why he wanted to get me out of the country so badly."

Bela wasn't listening to me. She was still staring at my face in disbelief, her eyes glistening with tears from the relief of finding out I was still alive. She cupped my face between her hands and pressed her lips on mine multiple times.

"I'm going to fix this," she was still crying. "I promise you. We have a plan to kill Miranda. There's a dagger hidden here in the castle, it can kill any monsters or demons. Daniela is searching for it, while Cassandra is distracting my m-," she hesitated to say that word, "my mother."

"Okay, but Cassandra was the one to kill Mrs. Volkov to capture me. We can't trust her at all!"

Of course. The bitch had more tricks I wasn't even aware of. She could shapeshift. Now I finally knew how my father was probably killed or how Auryk obtained that amulet from her. It was also obvious who attacked the castle that morning, Miranda was willing to test my healing properties again.

"She didn't. Mother Miranda can shapeshift into any person, this is why we need to be careful. We have this safe word, to know we're the actual Dimitrescu sisters. It's 'blowfly'."

I sighed and attempted to break the tension.

"And how do you know I'm the real Aleena?" I smiled.

"Trust me, love. I know," Bela kissed me, slowly and passionate. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this. Imagine how disgusting it would be to kiss that crazy bitch."

We both broke into laughs. Then, she took my hand and helped me to stand up.

"We need to get you out of here. My mother can't know I've found you. Miranda is coming to pick you up at midnight for the ritual."

Through the secret passages we made to the stables, where Bela had already left my bags and a horse prepared to take me to the village.

"Once you get there," she told me. "Just drive as far as you can. Go to the city, find your brother and fly to United States."

And then I realized.

"But Bela... what about you?"

"I'm staying here, love. I'm going to kill Miranda, together with my sisters and Heisenberg."

"And then you'll meet me there, right?!" I raised my voice, fighting hard against the tears that insisted falling down. "You'll go to California."

She was in silence for a moment, trying to find the right words, but I already knew what she wanted to say. First, she handed me my cell phone.

"You said you wanted something to remember. Now you have plenty of pictures of me in this device of yours."

"Bela... what are you saying?"

"Let's be honest, Aleena," she looked down. "It was never a possibility and you knew it. We'd have to stop at the first temperature drop we came across. We probably wouldn't even make it to the airport."

"I said I'm going to find a way! It's Summer, dammit. It's not so cold away from the mountains and once we arrive in California, it'll be even hotter."

"You know your world would never accept me, love. Look at me, I have this nasty scar, this weird tattoo, I need to drink human blood to live..."

"STOP MAKING EXCUSES TO BREAK UP WITH ME! I'LL FIND A WAY! FOR ALL OF THIS. IF THEY CAN'T ACCEPT YOU, THEN FUCK THEM! I LOVE YOU AND IT'S ALL THAT MATTERS."

"I love you too," Bela kissed my forehead. "And this is why I'm letting you go."

"Even if I go, Bela," I argued, punching her shoulder slightly, "it doesn't have to end! I'm going to call you. I'm going to write you. And I'll come here to visit you too."

"In the first few weeks, love. Then, you'll become too busy to write. Our phone calls will become shorter because you'll be too tired. You'll disappear for a few days. We'll start to fade, little by little. And finally someday, you'll meet somebody new. Somebody who can make you laugh and distract you from your tragic past. Somebody who can take you to an actual date. Somebody you can introduce to your family and friends. Somebody who actually deserves you. Who can give you a future with marriage and children. Because she isn't dead. Because she isn't... me."

"I don't want any of this! I want you and only you. This future? We can have it! Here in this fucking castle or in my old small house. I don't care if I have to serve tables for the rest of my life, as long as I have you."

"You deserve a lot more than that."

"And so do you. What are you going to do, huh? To keep playing house with the woman who killed and turned you into a vampire? Serving her every wish and pretending you love this life? Or sleep with a different servant every week to hide the fact you're completely lonely and miserable?"

"Yes, Aleena. It has been this way for six decades now and it's not going to change. I have no choice, I'm sorry."

She vanished into a swarm of flies and disappeared, leaving me completely alone in the stables. I fell on my knees again, sobbing and screaming my lungs out.

"Bela, come back here!" I cried. "I love you! Please... come back..."

I still waited for a few minutes, but as I knew and as Mrs. Volkov always warned me, when Bela made a decision nothing would change her mind. Not even her mother or her sisters. Not even me.

----------

Castle Dimitrescu, Bela's Room - Present Days

"I'm hungry," Cassandra complained from the couch. "Pretty please... I'm helping you with the secret mission. A scrambled egg is enough."

"Tell Lady Dimitrescu to cook," Bela remained unmoved on her bed, staring at the ceiling while wearing Aleena's jacket. The one she borrowed her when the castle was attacked. It was the only memory she'd have from the woman she loved. "She was the one to kill all the servants."

Bela was listening to an old love song from the 60's. It was the one thing she was actually capable of doing in that moment. She couldn't even manage to create different scenarios about how she could kill Miranda inside her mind, or even wander around the castle searching for the cursed knife.

She knew Aleena had safely arrived in her house at the village. She sent one of her flies to follow her and observe her for how long it was possible. The girl was completely devastated, heartbroken and it killed her to see that. She could she glimpses of the moments where she sobbed while packing her bags and taking them to her old truck. But it was the best for both of them. She'd never be safe by Bela's side. Especially while Miranda was still around.

"This music is making me nauseous," Cassandra went to the disc player and turned it off. "You should've gone with her then."

"It was the safest for her. Mother would come after me immediately and take her back to Miranda's claws."

The brunette sister went to her own bedroom and returned with a book in hands, what surprised Bela because Cassandra wasn't much of a reader.

"Check this out. I asked the Duke to get you the sequel," and she started to read, adopting the same dramatic tone as usual. "As much as I struggled not to think of him, I did not struggle to forget. I worried — late in the night, when the exhaustion of sleep deprivation broke down my defenses — that it was all slipping away. That my mind was a sieve, and I would someday not be able to remember the precise color of his eyes, the feel of his cool skin, or the texture of his voice. I could not think of them, but I must remember them. Because there was just one thing that I had to believe to be able to live — I had to know that he existed. That was all. Everything else I could endure. So long as he existed."

"Ha ha, very funny," Bela rolled her eyes. Deep down she absorbed those words. She feared someday she'd forget all those small details about Aleena too, but knowing she existed someday, and that she loved her back, was enough for her to be able to live for the rest of her immortal days. "Next time, get us something useful. Like that fucking dagger."

The door opened and Daniela walked inside, pushing a food cart.

"I brought us dinner," she announced.

"Did you kidnap a villager to cook for us?" Cassandra asked, immediately grabbing a plate.

"Of course not! I cooked it myself. If Bela can do it, I can too."

The two eldest sisters exchanged a suspicious glance, before deciding they were not so hungry after all.

"And here is the main dish..." Daniela said, lifting the lid and revealing the content inside the silver pan. "A poisonous dagger."

"You did it!" Bela exclaimed, surprised and proud.

"Yes! Let's chop that bitch to pieces."

Daniela hugged her eldest sister again. It was happening too often lately, for Bela's discomfort. But this time, she accepted the hug.

"Where's mom?" Cassandra interrupted the moment. "I haven't heard from her since I left her alone in her bedroom."

The castle was way too quiet. It wasn't the first time the servants had to be gotten rid of and they were completely by themselves. Or maybe sometimes, Lady Dimitrescu would lock herself in the Opera House to play the piano or even read a book alone in her bedroom, but that wasn't the case this time. That was a different kind of silence. A silence that indicated danger, a threat.

"Mother?!" Cassandra called, followed by her two sisters. "Where are you?"

There was no answer. They were about to reach the library when the power went out, as well as the heating system. A wave of panic instantly spread over Bela's body. She feared the cold, more than anything.

"What the hell?!" Daniela yelled. "Who's there? I'm starving and angry, so don't mess with me!"

"Shhhh," Bela silenced her. She had a feeling, a hunch about who could it be. As they approached the office, her suspicions were confirmed by the argument coming from inside the room.

"Where is she, Alcina?!" They heard Miranda yelling. "You promised me to keep her safe!"

"Mother, I swear... she was in the dungeons! There was no way she could escape. The drug was supposed to keep her down until now."

"Your daughters... they must've helped her to escape. Decades trying to find the perfect vessel and they ruined it all. They'll deal with the consequences!"

"Mother, no! Don't hurt them, I'm begging you."

In that moment, the sisters witnessed as a powerful flock of birds started to fly around the caste, shattering all the windows. As the cold air of the night in the mountains filled the entire place, the three sisters knew their ending was imminent.

----------

Eastern Europe, Aleena's House - Present Days

The tears blurred my vision as I followed my way back to the village. Sometimes, I'd stop for a minute, hoping Bela would change her mind and come after me. Why would she assume I was safer without her? If there was someone who could protect me, that was she.

As soon as I arrived, I went straight to the garage, getting my old truck to come back to life. Then, I followed to my bedroom to pack my bags. There wasn't much I actually needed to take, mostly my clothes, my laptop and a few other important belongings. I didn't plan to sell the house anyways. I could come back and take the rest later, if I had to.

My books. I would definitely take at least my favorites. Most of them were gifts from my mom. I couldn't leave those precious treasures behind. As I grabbed one of them to place it inside of my luggage, a small piece of paper fell on the floor:

'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. It is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom'.

I recognized it. It was an excerpt of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. Bela should've left it there when she was alone in my bedroom. In the end, she wrote: 'Please, think of me sometimes. I love you, forever'.

Of course I would. There was no way I'd ever stop loving that girl, or even forgetting about her at all. I could never forget about the girl who threw me the sweetest birthday party or made me the best pancakes in the world. And especially, the first girl I ever loved. I pressed the note against my chest, letting out a few tears. I placed it among my belongings, those I was going to take with me to California.

I heard the front door opening and I immediately grabbed my rifle and my blades too. Something had to at least cause some harm to that bitch. I was slowly going down the stairs in an attack position, when I heard a voice.

"Leena? Are you home?" That was my twin brother, Auryk. "I'm back."

"Auryk," I finally revealed myself. My first impulse was running to his arms, before I remembered all the lies and the betrayal. "You knew it. You fucking knew it and you hid it from me!"

"I'm sorry, okay? I was trying to keep you safe from Miranda. I planned to get you out of here before it all came to surface, but that bitch was already one step ahead."

"We have to go, right now. She's coming after me. I just escaped Castle Dimitrescu."

"Leena, no..." he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought I was clear when I asked you to stay in the castle until I returned."

"Auryk, she drugged me and locked me in the dungeons!" I yelled. "She was going to sacrifice me in a sick ritual tonight. Which part haven't you understand yet?"

"This was the plan, Aleena. When she was vulnerable, during the ritual, the agency would take the opportunity to explode this place and all these freaks."

"WHAT?! What about the village... and the people, their houses? What about ME?! What if I got killed in this process?"

"They're going to evacuate the village in a couple of hours," he explained. "And then, they'll help them to rebuild their lives or something... I don't know for sure. But they would protect us."

"Stop them!" I ordered. I couldn't let them hurt Bela or her sisters. Or even put the villagers in danger. Some of them, such as Olga, Elena and her father would never abandon that place and its traditions. "Right now! You're not going to hurt them. You won't!"

"Aleena, what the fuck? They're monsters! They're going to kill you!"

And then, I did the first thing that came to my mind. It was stupid, unplanned and completely reckless. I knocked my brother's head with the rifle. As soon as he fell unconscious on the floor, I tied him up and locked him inside Adrian's secret storage.

"I'm sorry, Auryk. But I must save my girlfriend."

#resident evil village #residesnt evil 8 #bela dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #bela x f!oc #bela x oc #resident evil fanfiction #the devil in i

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

TLDR: even when Democrats win, they still concede defeat and let Republicans take the W

The senate just voted 52-48 to block Biden's vaccine mandate, and even though it will be defeated in the House it raises a lot of procedural questions as to how we even got here in the first place.

It was passed with all 50 Republicans, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Jon Tester of Montana, so why did Chuck Schumer bring this to the floor if the majority of Democrats were against it? Mitch McConnell never let the senate vote on anything unless he personally approved of it, he gave himself the unilateral veto, so why didn't Schumer block this in the same way? Furthermore, why didn't any Democrats filibuster it?!? They didn't even TRY to block it, not a single one, they just let it sail through with 52 instead of 60 votes, handing the Republicans the majority on a silver platter! What the literal fuck?

Why is this party so useless?

Why do they get off on losing?

It's like they're masochists who can only function when the Republicans hold all the cards and can punish them.

"Please sir, can I have another?"

They're gonna get their asses kicked in 2022. The House is as good as gone because of gerrymandering; the Democrats don't seem concerned enough to nuke the filibuster to ensure fair and free elections, so they're just giving up on that front. They're not fighting it, and they're not even claiming to be fighting it, they're just letting it happen in full view of the public and acting shocked, SHOCKED, when it happens and they find themselves out of a job because of it. The Senate could go either way, but I have a strong feeling it's gonna be a bloodbath, with Republicans sweeping. They'll pick up Georgia and Arizona easy because of state level election fuckery to disenfranchise voters of color, and they stand to pick up New Hampshire solely from demographic shifts under governor Sununu (even though he said he's not running, the Republicans were able to flip both chambers of the legislature, so they have a statewide advantage), and I'm also predicting Nevada and Colorado could be very close. Maryland and Vermont are deep blue states but both have "moderate" red governors, so if we're talking worst-case-scenario nuclear apocalypse landslide, that's two more seats that could flip.

Republicans only need 5 House seats to take it, but with gerrymandering and the expected midterm bump for the opposition I'm expecting them to take well over 60. They picked up 63 seats in 2010, and that wasn't even a redistricting year, so they're absolutely gonna give themselves DOZENS of safe seats in 2022, and they'll probably pick up a bunch of competitive seats as well just by happenstance; I'm guessing they'll get 280 seats, but they could easily break 300, and 2024 isn't looking too good for Dems either so the House is gonna be solid red for the foreseeable future.

Republicans only need 1 Senate seat to flip it, but I'm guessing they'll get 3, maybe 4. It probably won't be the nuclear apocalypse, so 56 seems like an upper bound for them; I don't see them getting there, much less surpassing it, though Democrats won 60 seats in 2008 so it's not impossible for the reds to flip some strongholds like California and New York just to rub salt in the wound as the Democratic Party collapses around them. On top of however many seats they win, they'll also have West Virginia and Montana on their side, "blue" senators who will almost certainly vote red to try and save their skins going into 2024, which is gonna be an even bigger bloodbath because Democrats stand to lose the ENTIRE Midwest in one fell swoop; Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and possibly even Minnesota, as well as some east coast states like Virginia and Maine. It's looking REALLY bad for them, and I have NO faith that they'll be able to fix things before then.

We need election reform, and we need it NOW. Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer need to stop FUCKING AROUND and get their goddamn party back in line. If Trump told a Republican to do something, they did it under fear of retaliation. They were afraid of him, but nobody is afraid of Biden. Biden is a laughingstock; he keeps extending an olive branch to the Republicans and they keep slapping it out of his hand and spitting in his face. He never learns! He's betting that they're not as evil as we know they are, and it's gonna cost us everything! All the courts are already rigged, backed by McConnell and Trump, but it's not good enough for them and they'll keep packing it even more so it'll never go the other way again, unless we do something to stop them!

We need a new constitution, an entirely new court system with fresh faces at every level, an all out Revolution to take out the red bastards who are trying to destroy our democracy as well as the blue bastards who are standing idly by and letting them. I'm so mad I could spit.

#2022 #politics #Congress #2024 #elections #house #senate #bloodbath #red wave #it's gonna be bad #really bad #unthinkably bad #worse than we can possibly imagine #I'm afraid #the future is bleak

[sokkadora]

tattooed heart; an ellie williams x fem!reader

chapter 3: a cold morning

masterlist here.

part summary: a tad bit of backstory on how joel, ellie, amelia and you met, seth being annoying, y/n and dina escapades, ellie apologizing for the kiss.

trigger warning: none .... i think

a/n: enjoy! and please check out my book safety net on wattpad! my account is @/CATRAMITYS <3333

- ☽ iii ༓ iii ☾ -

                life in jackson could be described as fairly easy - slow and consistent. the people who were living there never actually left and there weren't many people that would move into the city. most people you've known since they were the ones living inside the walls ever since you had come there.

some of the children were born there, yet most of the people came to the settlement as the time passed, seeking protection from the fireflies, infected or bandits. and so far, so good. the settlement was started by maria, tommy's wife, and her father a long time ago. when tommy left the fireflies in search of a normal, peaceful life, he ran into wyoming, finding this place. before their hard work, it was quite hard to manage - they needed to protect the settlement, build walls around it and make sure the people in there were safe, yet the young married couple was way more ambitious.

they wanted to make the old hydroelectric power station work again and that was one of the settlement's biggest projects to date. and to the wonder of everyone, they made it work again, so jackson had a stable supply of electricity almost every day. except for huge storms, which you all were waiting for to end sitting in the dinner, telling each other stories in the light of candles and so. these occasions were fun.

the city was independent - you had your cattle, horses, hens, and pigs, you had women who could sew clothes and make fabrics, you had a few men who were capable of making a gun. also, your mechanics were capable of making a few old cars work if the things would get really bad. in spring and summer, you always made sure to harvest vegetables and fruits, hunting throughout the winter mostly. you had a school and a kind-of-a-cinema when you were bored. for existing in a post-apocalyptic world, jackson was fairly normal.

and though you never got to know your parents, you had amelia. this lady was pretty old in the time she found you — she wasn't that kind of a brutal survivor who would bash someone's skull, twist her knife inside someone's body, or shoot them dead. she was the quiet traveler who was purposely avoiding big cities, who was traveling through woods and walked among rivers to see where her road will lead her. from the moment you bumped into each other, you became friends. family even. but once you got bit, she almost shot you. until she found out you were immune.

you and amelia didn't know what to do, but once amelia caught word of an old man and a 14-year-old immune girl traveling to the fireflies in salt lake city, you two went to find them. it took a few months to find them, the two of you almost giving up after taking shelter in what you thought was an abandoned apartment in pittsburgh.

SUMMER OF 2033:

"y/n, in here." amelia called for you quietly, gesturing to the apartment inside. you nodded, glancing behind you before quickly moving inside and locking the door.

you let out a sigh of relief, readjusting your ponytail and checking out the apartment. amelia jumped in front of you, pulling out her handgun, "get behind me, sugar." she whispered, softly moving towards the bedroom where she heard noises.

once she opened the door, the two of you aimed your guns at the people inside, two dark skinned boys, one around your age at the time and an older man with a red haired girl also around your age.

"amelia, they're not bad." you say, lowering your gun slowly to look at them better. the older woman glances at you before putting her gun down too.

the young man steps forward with his hand outstretched towards you, "i'm henry, who are you?" he asks nervously, glancing

you look up at him, then glance at amelia. she nods, signaling that it's okay, "i'm y/n." you respond with a small smile.

henry grins a bit, gesturing to the others, "we all just met but, this is joel," he starts, gesturing to the older man in the flannel, "this is ellie, and this is my little brother sam." henry finishes, gesturing to the girl and the boy.

"amelia and y/n." amelia introduces, gesturing to her then you. "sorry for the, uh, abrupt entrance. we thought this apartment was empty." she laughs nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"no worries. we were about to head out anyway." henry starts, beginning to walk out. "wait, would you two like to come with us?" we're planning on getting out of this city tonight."

you and amelia look at each other before she turns her head towards the henry again, "i don't thi—"

"amelia, c'mon! safety in numbers, remember." you remind her, crossing your arms over your chest and looking at her knowingly.

the woman scoffs and shakes her head, looking at her lap for a moment, "fine, okay, we'll join you guys."

upon leaving the apartment, you, sam, and ellie began to talk to each other. once you found out she was 14, like the immune girl, you went up to amelia while you were waiting in henry's "office".

"amelia, can i talk to you for a second?" you whisper to her, gesturing to a quieter spot. amelia's eyebrows furrow in confusion as she looks away from the outside to you, nodding.

once in a quieter spot, you tell amelia your hypothesis about ellie and joel, them being the two you’ve been searching the country for, "no, no way. they're probably just father and daughter."

"don't daughters usually call their fathers dad instead of their actual names?" you ask her, irritated while your arms fold over your chest. amelia stares at you blankly, hands resting on her knees. "this is the man and the immune girl we're searching for, amelia. we have to tell—"

"guys?" a voice calls into the room, making yours and amelia's head shoot towards the sound. it's sam. "henry says it's time to go." sam tells you two awkwardly.

amelia sighs heavily, rising from her place on the desk and looking at you, "you and i will finish this conversation later."

that conversation never went as well as you hoped, you and ellie finding out that you both are immune in the radio station during a slow game of truth or dare. neither of you knew what it was, but henry gave you the basic gist of it.

ellie was thrilled to know she wasn't the only immune person, and she wasn't alone in that area. after losing henry and sam the morning after, you four headed off to find joel's brother, tommy in wyoming after finding a car.

after finding tommy and heading to the university of eastern colorado, things only got more rough from there. joel and amelia both got impaled, barely making it out of the science building alive before getting on their horses and passing out. resulting in you and ellie panicking before getting yourselves together and finding a nearby town to stay at for the winter.

during that winter, you encountered david, and his friend carl. you and ellie almost lost your lives after getting captured by them, then joel and amelia swooped in saving you and ellie from becoming the monsters you both fear.

the rest of the journey carried into the spring, you, joel, ellie, and amelia becoming much closer during the time from winter to spring. once you all got to the firefly hospital and joel and amelia found out what the cost for the vaccine was, they saved you and ellie.

you both had become to loved and valuable to them, neither wanting to bear the loss of another child. and they lied to you both to keep you safe. so after they took out most of the fireflies in the hospital, including their leader, marlene, you all headed back to tommy's, to jackson.

you and ellie both stopped the elders before entering jackson, "hey, wait." ellie called, looking to you for a bit of comfort.

amelia and joel turned around, looking at the two of you. you bit your lip as ellie started talking, "back in boston — back when i was bitten... i wasn't alone." she reveals, glancing between joel and amelia.

"my best friend, riley, was there and she got bit too." ellie tells everyone.

"and i was with my best friend, carly." you tell the group, fidgeting with your fingers. "we didn't know what to do. so, she says 'let's just wait it out. y'know we can be all poetic and lose our minds together. we're still waiting for our turn."

"then it was tess." ellie states, fidgeting with her fingers anxiously.

"then henry and sam—" you continue the statement for her.

"none of that is on you." amelia states, stepping a bit closer to you and ellie.

"no, you don't understand." ellie says sadly, rubbing her face.

joel suddenly steps forward, "i struggled for a long time with survivin', and you-" he briefly clutches his watch. "no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. now, i know that's not what you want to hear right now but it's—"

you shake your head, looking away before turning back at joel, "swear to us." you interrupt, looking between the two adults seriously. "swear to us that everything that you said about the fireflies is true."

joel and amelia look between you and ellie with a hesitant look, "we swear." she says to you two, placing a hand on joel's shoulder.

you and ellie take a pause, processing everything before looking back at amelia and joel, nodding, "okay." you say together.

MARCH 2ND, 2038:

that was how you got into jackson. the first months there were pretty weird to you - the city had rules, schedule and they gave you food every morning, midday and evening, calling it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. the first week, you spent with vomiting since your food wasn't used to eat regularly. it was also pretty hard trying to trust strangers before you realized they don't mean you any harm. amelia was immediately capable of working at their farm with their animals, while you were getting the jobs like cleaning up mess or help in the kitchen - which meant that you didn't see each other that much.

- ☽ ♡ ༓ ♡ ☾ -

but after last night you and ellie went your ways after the talk with joel and amelia. there were many exchanged glances as she walked you home although you insisted you were fine. when you stood in the doorway of your house, ellie kissed your cheek before waving goodbye shyly.

a knock wakes you out of your sleep, groaning as you sit up and walk to the door, "just a minute! geez." you call out, walking to the door while scratching the back of your neck tiredly.

once you open it, you see dina. your other best friend, "hey dina." you yawn, squeezing the door handle as you look at your friend who's already dressed. "oh shit-"

"yep. hurry up and get ready, stupid." dina grins, stepping inside and sitting on your couch as you head into the bathroom with a new set of clothes. "maria also wants to talk to you."

stepping out of the bathroom, you reload your pistol and grab your switchblade that joel made you, "alright, dina, let's go."

she nods, opening the door as both of you step out into the cold air, "are joel and amelia up yet? or ellie?" you ask curiously.

"tommy and amelia went out early for patrol. something about a herd or infected up north, i don't know where joel is, and ellie, is still asleep. like ellie." dina tells you as you nod in understanding, chuckling at the last part of her sentence. "are you four... good?"

you glance up at her, sighing, "yeah, i guess so." you shrug, looking away and itching your nose.

once you and dina get downtown, she leads you into a restaurant, "this way." she says, motioning towards the nearly empty restaurant.

once you two enter, dina walks away to socialize with the others. you glance at her anxiously as she just smirks, shooing you in maria's direction.

"hey, y/n! over here!" maria calls from across the bar, making you groan and walk over unenthusiastically.

you walk to maria, "yes?" you ask, rubbing your face with your gloved hands.

"seth has something he wants to say to you." maria tells you, glancing towards the kitchen.

you glare at maria, irritated, "i don't wanna hear what that bigot has to say."

maria looks at you with an unreadable expression, "do it for me, please?" she asks gently.

you scan her face over, and sigh, resting your foot on a small crate, "fine."

"seth! seth, come here." maria calls towards the kitchen.

"fuck me." you mutter under your breath, as you look up.

seth walks out of the kitchen sheepishly, with something in his hands, "hey. look last night, i was drinking too much." seth starts, making you scoff quietly.

"sure." you say in disbelief, crossing your arms as you rest your right leg on the stool next to you.

"i'm trying to say i'm sorry!" seth exclaims, getting more irritated with you. "maria tells me that you and dina are heading out." he tells you, making you glance back at dina. "i made you two some sandwiches." he reveals.

seth places the sandwiches on the bar counter, giving them a pat before scooching them towards you.

"okay." you mumble, staring at him awkwardly.

"they're steak." seth informs you, gesturing towards the sandwiches you haven't taken yet.

maria gets tired of the awkward silence as she takes the sandwiches as she shoves them into your chest, "thank you, seth." she says assertively, scaring seth back into the kitchen.

turning around with the sandwiches, you bump into dina, "what've you got there?" she asks curiously as you shove the sandwiches into her hands.

"some... surprisingly decent looking bigot sandwiches." you scoff, dusting off your pants while looking around the outside room.

dina lifts them to her nose, taking a whiff, "they smell absolutely scrumptious." she says in a fake posh accent, making you laugh as she secretly throws them away.

"come on you two, time to go." maria calls from the doorway of the restaurant, gesturing to the outside. "y/n, i need to talk to you for a minute before i head back inside."

you stop next to maria, gesturing for dina to go ahead without you as she closes the door, "are you amelia and joel good?" maria asks quietly, making you roll your eyes. "they seemed to be in a better mood this morn—"

"we're fine maria." you interrupt her, your eyes closing in annoyance as you're getting tired of this question.

the blonde woman puts her hands up, "just wanted to make sure. i worry y'know." she chuckles, bringing you into a short embrace. you nods, pulling away, "go find dina." she tells you heading into the restaurant as you head on your way.

you find dina and overhear how she's about to start a snowball fight with a bunch of the kids. you sneak up behind the kids, snowball in hand. dina glances up and spots you, making you put a finger over your mouth to shush her. she looks back at the kids, egging them on as you come up and headshot a girl named, isabella.

this made the kids go feral, sending them to one side of the playground as you and dina hid on the other side, laughing your asses off.

you and dina played with the kids for around fifteen minutes before you heard ellie's voice. you turned around and saw jesse, waving politely at him before returning to the game.

"dina! come on! you and i are paired for patrol today." jesse calls out to his ex, making her roll her eyes before heading out of the playground, following jesse.

"hey, y/n! can i talk to you?" a familiar voice called, you turn your head to see ellie. you smile and wave at her before putting the snowball fight on a pause so you could talk to her.

"hey." you say breathlessly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

"hey." ellie responds awkwardly, tapping on the wooden fence.

"i just wanna say sorry for ditching you after the... thing last night." ellie apologizes, making you tilt your head in confusion.

"oh, no, it's okay. i totally get it. i- i just- i felt bad." you tell her, looking at her apologetically while fidgeting with your fingers.

ellie shakes her head lightly, "why?"

"because, i started the whole thing and i... i just shouldn't have kissed you in front all those people and—"

"no! it's okay, you were drunk." ellie says, laughing off the light embarrassment.

"well, still i don't want you to think—" you start before ellie interrupts your once more, making you chuckle lightly.

"no, i'm not reading into it or anything." ellie tells you, making you shake your head.

you look up at ellie, smiling softly, "you know what i love about you?" you start, making ellie blush a little. "how you let me finish my sentences."

ellie chuckles, shaking her head, "alright. well, we should probably get going." you nod, before a snowball nails ellie right in the shoulder. "ow!"

you turn around angrily, glaring at the kids, "what the fuck?!" you exclaims at them, making them giggle.

"i'm not even playing!" ellie yells at them.

"cause you're a chicken?" one of the kids yells out, making the rest taunt ellie playfully.

"i hate those kids so much." ellie mutters to you irritated, making you look at her mischievously.

"you wanna fuck 'em up?" you ask evilly, giving ellie a side glance.

ellie looks to see if anyone's coming before nodding, "yeah, i do." ellie leaps over the fence as you both start playfully shouting at them.

"you asked for it!" you yell at them.

"you better run you little shits!" ellie exclaims, you and her taking cover behind a structure.

the game was the first to ten hits wins, it took you and ellie a minute, but you beat to little shits 10/3.

"no fair!" isabella whines, wiping the snow off her coat.

you spread your arms out victoriously, "eat it shrimps! how's it feel?" you brag to them, making them all run up and tackle you. "you'll never get away with this!" you yell happily as they dog pile on you before ellie comes and rips one off.

"get off of her you little monsters!" the red haired girl exclaims, making them scurry away before helping you up.

"i guess i asked for that huh?" you ask your friend, heading towards the gate.

"yep." she deadpans at you, making you smile. you both exit the playground, heading to the stables. "so, jesse wants us to do the creek trails. he's gonna relieve amelia and tommy."

"oh, okay. that's nice he assigned us together." you tell ellie, greeting the lady at the front of the stables. "you're gonna like this one."

someone yells to you and ellie they'll take your horses in so you can grab them. yelling out a quick thanks, you head over to grab your horse, moon. walking to the east gate, you pet his neck, greeting him.

"look who decided to join us." jesse tease you and ellie, making you roll your eyes.

"ha ha, you're so funny." you tease back, elbowing him gently in the side and taking your rifle from him.

"open it up!" he yells up at the gate keepers. "settle down. alright. you all know the drill." he assumes, looking to all the patrol groups. "run your routes, mark your logbooks, clear any infected you see. you run into anything you can't handle, you come back." jesse tells everyone. "be smart about it. alright, get going."

you and ellie glance at each other with a small nod, getting on your horses and riding off towards the creek trails.

#the last of us #ellie williams #the last of us part 2 #joel miller #tlou2 #gamingedit #the last of us 2 #tlou #tlouedit #elliexreader #oc #joel x reader #dina x reader