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melishade · 1 month

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Attack on Prime: What if the TFP War continued on the world of Attack on Titan? AKA The War Timeline

Main Story

Peaceful Timeline Pilot

Beloved Timeline Pilot

TFP Optimus in Episode 1 Pilot

Summary: A spacebridge accident happened on Earth, launching both Autobots and Decepticons to the world of Attack on Titan. And while the Autobots are willing to do everything in their power to protect humanity, the Decepticons will stop at nothing to destroy and conquer whatever is let. The war rages on, and if one wants to live, they must fight.

So the fourth pilot fully written out as asked in this previous poll. This is based upon the War Timeline as posted in my masterlist if you want more information! Please read this and give a comment while also looking at the other pilots and my main fanfic story!

Roll it!

Optimus groaned in pain, his helm feeling like it was spinning. His body ached as he moved his servo to rest it on his forehelm. His optics slowly opened, and he winced at the streams of light that came into view. When his vision cleared, he found himself under a partly cloudy sky. The sun was high in the air, and he could see trees out of the corner of his optics. What had happened?

“Is everyone okay?” Optimus’ optics snapped open and he immediately sat up. He looked at his surroundings and saw the Autobots slowly getting up and looking just as delirious as he felt.

“Ay, okay.” Optimus turned his gaze to where Bulkhead was seated and saw Jack, Miko, and Rafael waking up and rubbing their heads.

“I need to scan everyone.” Optimus saw Ratchet forcing himself to stand, ignoring his own pain kneeling down to scan Bumblebee.

“What were you three thinking?!” Arcee yelled at the human kids.

“We were trying to get Miko out of there!” Jack retorted.

“Miko, we talked about this! I thought you were past this!” Bulkhead exclaimed.

“You said it was simple recon!” Miko retorted.

“That’s not an excuse!” Bulkhead and Arcee shouted in unison.

“The damage is done,” Ratchet declared as he finished scanning Bumblebee, “And at the very least we’re still operational.”

“Are we in the Shadowzone again?” Rafael asked as he rummaged through his backpack to grab his phone. Miko turned her attention to Jack before pressing her hand on his face.

“Wha-! What was that for?!” Jack yelled as he grabbed her wrist.

“If we’re in the Shadowzone, we can’t touch anything,” Miko recalled.

“We can all see and touch each other!” Jack reminded.

“Then the spacebridge malfunction the Decepticons were having launched us somewhere else,” Ratchet surmised as he finished scanning Bulkhead. He was about to scan Arcee, but she waved it off.

“Go scan Optimus first,” Arcee suggested, “He still looks out of it.”

Ratchet immediately kneeled down towards Optimus and started to scan him. Optimus didn’t pay attention to him, and merely tried to recall what had happened. There was a scouting mission, they found energon, but the Decepticons had ambushed them. Jack, Miko, and Rafael had somehow gotten involved. The Autobots tried to get them out, but the groundbridge and the spacebridge had crossed streams? Or there was a malfunction in the spacebridge? He couldn’t remember. His helm was pulsing in pain.

Optimus rubbed his optics and grimaced a little. Something was wrong. Why couldn’t he figure it out? What was wrong?

“Optimus are you alright?” Ratchet asked as he placed his servo on his shoulder, “Your vitals appear normal, but if you don’t tell me-!”

“I still function,” Optimus reassured as he forced himself to stand up.

“At the very least, it looks like we’re still on Earth,” Jack proclaimed as he looked at their surroundings. Optimus took in his surroundings as well, and found that they were surrounded by similar views of that on Earth: pine trees, green grass, blue skies. It all looked normal for the planet. But something still felt off. Optimus’ gaze fell to a footprint that was hidden in the forest, and noticed how it was much too large to resemble that of a human.

“No one is at base; however, which means that we’re going to have to explain to Agent Fowler how to operate a groundbridge,” Ratchet groaned in irritation.

Bumblebee responded to Ratchet in his binary code, trying to reassure him.

“Yes, I know, it’s just going to be a hassle to hear him scream at us and talk about his human affairs,” Ratchet waved off before activating his comm. link, “Agent Fowler, we need assistance.”

Ratchet blinked in confusion when he was only met with static. “Fowler?”

“No response?” Arcee asked him.

“Yes,” Ratchet answered, “Odd.”

“Let me try.” Bulkhead placed two digits against his audio receptors, “Agent Fowler? Hello?...Static.”

“Did the spacebridge malfunction scramble with our comm. link?” Arcee asked, not noticing Optimus walking towards the footprint. The Prime kneeled down to examine it closer. It looked like a human footprint, but why was it so large? Humans couldn’t reach a size similar to that of a Cybertronian. It didn’t make sense.

“Uh…guys?” Rafael called out with worry as he showed the Autobots his flip phone, “I’m not getting any bars.”

Jack and Miko were shocked at that and quickly pulled out their phones to find what Rafael was saying to be true. They had no reception either.

“So we’re not in the Shadowzone?” Miko chuckled nervously, “Because we had reception last time we were there!”

“Look, maybe it was the spacebridge malfunction!” Jack reasoned, “That could explain it! Right?!”

“Maybe if we can figure out where we are we can find a place with a working phone,” Arcee suggested.

Something was wrong. What was wrong? Optimus’ helm shot up, when he heard a low growl like an animal. Optimus stood on his pedes and scanned the area as the Autobots continued discussing what to do next. Where was that sound coming from? Optimus looked past Bumblebee and saw something crawling towards them. It was a four legged humanoid figure, but it was significantly bigger than the humans they had with them. It had no clothing and no reproductive organs, but it had a multitude of teeth. And it looked hungry. Its gaze fell to the humans and it lunged for them!

“Bumblebee, behind you!” Optimus called for him.

Bumblebee snapped his head to the creature that lunged for the humans. All three screamed out in fear, but Bumblebee quickly kicked the creature in its open mouth, shattering all of its teeth and knocking it into a tree.

“What the frag?!” Arcee exclaimed. They all looked on in horror when the four legged creature was clearly not dead. Steam arose from its mouth and the back of its head. Its teeth began to grow back and the jaw stitched itself back together. The creature shook its head to shake off the injury as it finished regenerating its wounds.

“Bumblebee!” Rafael screamed as it lunged for them once more, but Bumblebee quickly pulled out his blaster and shot it multiple times in the head. The creature skidded forward from momentum before slowing to a stop. The energon seemed to do the trick, as the body began to decay and evaporate into steam, leaving nothing else behind to examine.

“By the Allspark!” Ratchet gasped in terror.

Optimus could only stare in horror as well at the sight, mirroring Ratchet’s expression. All the Autobots didn’t know what to say to this sight, but Optimus knew one thing for certain.

“We are not supposed to be here,” Optimus declared.

Bulkhead snapped his helm to a creature taller than Optimus emerging from the forest and running towards him. “Optimus!”

Optimus activated his battle mask and pulled out his own blaster, aiming his weapon at the center of the creature’s chest. Before Optimus could fire, he caught a blur of green followed by a trail of smoke. The next thing he knew, the nape of the neck was sliced open and blood spewed out everywhere. Optimus followed the direction of the blood splatters and the trail of smoke as the creature fell to the ground, and his optics fell onto a human. The human was covered in a green cloak with an emblem of wings in the center of it, holding swords in both hands. He wore gray pants with brown straps and boots, and around his waist was a strange contraption that was allowing him to fly. The human turned in the air and stared back at Optimus, and Optimus saw that he had black hair trimmed to an undercut. His gray eyes stared back at his blue ones with a mix of fear and surprise. That expression faded as the human grit his teeth before shouting.

“Enemy forces! Don’t break the formation!” he commanded.

The Autobots heard the sounds of clopping hooves and high pitched whirs and saw an army mirroring what the human was wearing emerging from the forest. Some rode on horses and surrounded them on the ground, while others were flying in the treetops and above them. The three humans yelped when the Autobots formed a circle around them, their backs towards each other to cover their blind spots. Ratchet quickly pulled out his surgical blades while Bumblebee pulled out his other blaster. Arcee pulled out her blasters while Bulkhead pulled out one blaster and one wrecking ball.

The Autobots found that they were completely blocked off from any clear exits, and the humans on the ground stared at them in absolute fear and anticipation. It was a tense standoff, with the Autobots not sure on how to confront this. But the humans looked ready to attack them at any moment. They were just waiting for someone to give the order. Optimus knew it would be a losing battle for those humans, but they had humans that they needed to protect. They were clearly not on Earth anymore. Those creatures tried to kill the humans, and humans that surrounded them now had the technology and knowledge that the Autobots clearly lacked. Optimus made a choice, one that would hopefully get them answers and get the humans to safety.

Optimus stood up straight before transforming his blaster into his servo and raising both of them in surrender. “My name is Optimus Prime, and I do not wish to cause conflict. I only ask for assistance and guidance.”

Erwin’s day went from normal to absolute insanity in a matter of minutes.

It had been five years since the fall of Shinganshina and the loss of Wall Maria. Much had changed since that fateful day. The Survey Corps had been granted more funding and resources, although not that much. Weaponry had finally been cleared to be attached to the top of the wall, much to the Wallists’ protests, and the discovery of Ilse’s notebook had spearheaded titan capture and experimentation.

The Survey Corps had left Wall Rose and started their expedition to try and reclaim the land lost in Wall Maria. They had managed to find an abandoned town with no titans near the area and decided to set up camp there. Erwin noticed the way that Hanji was giddy with excitement, proclaiming that it was going to be a big day. However, the Survey Corps had already suffered the loss of five lives before finding this place. How many would they lose on the way back to Wall Rose?

However, Mike was acting…off. His best friend and humanity’s second strongest always had a knack for sensing titans. A blessing to have in the Survey Corps. But the man had proclaimed that the air was off, that there was a smell of metal and gunpowder, and that something was coming. Erwin didn’t understand the cryptic warnings. Mike wasn’t even too sure what he was sensing, but he told everyone to be on high alert.

Mike’s prediction turned out to be true when they spotted a blinding blue light off in the distance, sending a shockwave that blew their tents out of the ground. Erwin immediately ordered everyone to get on their horses and investigate the source. As they rode towards the source, going through the trees, Erwin could’ve sworn he heard someone speaking. He was hearing a conversation. Erwin then heard someone screaming before a blue light suddenly illuminated the forest and disappeared. Erwin ordered Levi to go ahead, and the captain quickly through the trees, headed towards the titan that was running towards the source of the blue light. As the edge of the forest came into view, Erwin thought his eyes were deceiving him when he saw something so bright and colorful, like it didn’t match the colors of their world.

“Enemy forces! Don’t break the formation!” Erwin heard Levi shout. When the Commander’s vision cleared, he gasped in shock at the sight of five metal titans standing together in a clearing.

“Surround the titans on the ground and in the treetops!” Erwin ordered. Erwin remained on his horse as they emerged from the forest. He quickly directed Mike to guide the others to the right while he surrounded the titans from the left, being sure to avoid the titan Levi had just killed. Levi’s squad and a few others had quickly taken to the trees as these titans stood back-to-back in a circle. Erwin could feel his hands trembling as these titans pulled out glowing weapons before getting into fighting stances. Erwin had pulled the reins on his horse to a stop and found himself in front of the tallest of the five titans, and this titan had a giant gun for a hand that looked ready to fire.

Erwin didn’t know what to do. For the first time in a long time, he was actually visibly terrified at the sight before him. Never in the history of human kind did any of them expect to see five metal titans! What happened?! Did the titans evolve?! Why the hell did they look so different?! Erwin narrowed his eyes at each of the titans before him.

The one he was in front of was massive compared to the others. Its head and legs were painted blue, while its torso and arms were colored red. Its right hand was that of an advanced rifle, but the left hand looked normal, save for it being the color black. It had no mouth to speak of, as it was clearly covered by some kind of mask, and its eyes were such a bright blue. Erwin’s gaze fell to the titan on the first one’s right. Its appearance was starkly different from the other. It was shorter, with broader shoulders and a larger waist. Its skin was a mix of white and orange, and it had a mouth which was a cause for concern. It appeared to have some sort of orange backpack, and both hands were replaced with blades. Erwin turned his attention to the titan on the left, and his worry grew exponentially. This one was the same height as the second one, but it was big. The titan had a round body, with large arms and legs. It had a gun for one hand and a boulder in the other. It looked like a heavy hitter and it unnerved him.

The other two, he could only peer through the gaps of the first three in order to get a decent look at them. The shortest one was adorned in blue with accentuated pink markings. Erwin was confused at the sight of…wings? But he elected to ignore them for now. It looked like both arms were guns as well, and it looked…female?! Was that titan a female?! Titans were known to lack reproductive organs! They had no idea how they were able to reproduce, but this one clearly had the features of a human female! How was that possible?! Erwin’s eyes darted towards the last one. It was yellow with accentuated black markings. It had wings similar to the female titan, and even though it had guns out, its hands didn’t disappear. They were still visible. Erwin saw the titan turn it head, and he couldn’t help but think how comically large its blue eyes were. But this titan had no mouth? Was it a type of mouth guard? It was vastly different from the first titan.

But this…this was surreal. How did they get here? Why were the titans like this? What did that mean for humanity? He could tell everyone wanted to attack these things. He managed to catch Levi perched on a tree with his blades in hand, ready to strike if need be. He could feel Hanji gasping with excitement, and glanced behind to see the section commander with the widest, gapping, smile. He turned his attention to Mike, and his friend nodded his head to him, ready to follow his command whenever he gave it. Erwin was ready to give it. He didn’t know if they were going to live or die, but as members of the Survey Corps, they had to dedicate their heart and soul to the cause.

He opened his mouth, ready to speak, but paused when the red and blue titan slowly stood upright. Its gun transformed and changed right back into a hand. It raised both hands in surrender, stunning Erwin. It knew what surrender was? But the biggest revelation came when the titan spoke.

“My name is Optimus Prime, and I do not wish to cause conflict. I only ask for assistance and guidance.”

Erwin couldn’t help it. His mouth hung agape while sounds of worry and bafflement echoed throughout the Survey Corps. The only exception was Hanji who merely squealed with delight. But how could the rest of them not break face? Five metal titans had just shown up, and now one of them just spoke! Could all of them speak?! How was this even a possibility?! The only recorded evidence of a titan speaking was from Ilse’s notebook! And now…!

“Boss, I think that was a bad idea.” Erwin heard the green one whisper to the being, Optimus.

“Definitely was a bad idea considering what we just saw,” the female titan had hissed.

“They’re all talking,” Mike mumbled.

Erwin didn’t know how to respond. This was madness! However, the yellow one began to speak in a slew of strange noises that scared the soldiers near it, demanding what it even said.

“A new language!” Hanji squealed with delight.

“Oi, calm the hell down!” Levi shouted at them, but Erwin could tell even Levi was shaken by the yellow one speaking. However, while the soldiers looked afraid, Levi was…bewildered. Levi had managed to spot Erwin through the titans and mouthed something to him.

‘Fight or run.’

Fight or run? Erwin’s words almost got caught in his throat. Did Levi…was Levi able to understand the yellow titan?!

“Optimus, I would strongly advise getting the humans out of here before engaging in anything drastic,” the orange titan warned.

If Erwin’s mind didn’t break, it definitely shattered in that moment. Humans? What humans? What the hell was that titan talking about? Erwin’s gaze darted around, trying to see any humans. There’s no way that there could be-!

Erwin’s train of thought screeched to a halt when he spotted them. He spotted humans. Three humans. Three human children. There were humans with the titans, hiding behind the yellow titan’s foot for protection. There was a tall male with black hair and a long face. He wore a long sleeved gray shirt and blue pants, but the material was clearly not native to the wall. He could tell that much. His gray eyes stared on in concern at the sight of his men, as he gestured for the youngest of the three to remain behind him. The youngest looked afraid as he put his black backpack on. He wore an orange vest and white undershirt with blue pants as well. His brown eyes were less noticeable compared to his red glasses, and his orange hair was standing upright, practically defying gravity. The sight of that child paled in comparison to the girl, who was clearly not native to the walls. Her clothes were an eyesore. A clash of green, pink, purple, and blue. Her hair was…pink! How was her hair pink?! Erwin noticed how excited the girl looked as she peered over the titan, making some sort of comment, but the oldest of the trio quickly grabbed her by her collar and yanked her behind the yellow titan’s foot.

“…holy shit,” Mike swore as he finally noticed the children. And Erwin couldn’t help but agree with his friend’s sentiments. How could he not? There were three humans hiding behind titans for protection. They didn’t run or cower in fear at the sight of them. They trusted them. Erwin’s gaze shifted upwards, and he froze when he noticed the titan, Optimus Prime, staring directly at him. The titan’s eyes then darted towards the children in their circle before landing back to him. Did…did the titan know if he was the Commander? How was he able to target the chain of command so easily? But Erwin could tell, the titan was silently pleading with him. Begging him to call off his men so that they could get the children to safety. A million thoughts swirled through Erwin’s mind. He was trying to determine the risk and the reward with the decision he was about to make, but…his gaze fell to the children. The reward was higher than the risk.

“STAND DOWN!” Erwin commanded, causing everyone, both titans and humans, to snap their heads at him.

“Commander, what the hell?!” someone screamed at him while Mike stared in shock.

“STAND DOWN! THAT’S AN ORDER!” Erwin repeated. Erwin’s gaze fell to Levi, and the Captain was clearly questioning his decision like the rest of them. But Erwin gave one simple nod to Levi, and the Captain relented. He lowered his hands before placing his swords back into his holsters. One by one, the rest of the Survey Corps followed suit.

“Autobots, stand down!” Optimus immediately ordered. The titans glanced at each other before standing upright and raising their arms upwards. They showed to them their weapons transforming back into hands.

“Mine-!” Hanji squawked when Mike quickly grabbed the squad leader by wrapping his arms around Hanji’s arms and abdomen. “Mike! Let go! You asshole!”

Erwin climbed down his horse, and Optimus Prime had lowered his hands to his side. “You lead these men.”

It wasn’t a question. “Yes. My name is Erwin Smith. I am the 13th Commander of the Survey Corps.”

“Not U.S. military,” the green one had commented, “We’re not on Earth.”

“And where exactly are we?” The orange one had demanded, clearly annoyed by what has been happening.

“Wall Maria, which had fallen five years ago due to the powers of Titans,” Erwin explained, “We have been findings ways to reclaim what humanity had lost. We are humanity’s last line of defense against the titans, and we are doing what we can to prevent our species from becoming extinct.”

Erwin heard a gasp from the circle and saw the girl grinning with excitement. “We’ve been isekai’d!”

“Miko, shut up!” the eldest quickly covered the girl’s mouth, but the damage was done.

“Are those kids?!” Oluo exclaimed, causing the female titan to slap a hand over her eyes.

“Scrap, Miko,” she had groaned in irritation.

Erwin turned his gaze to Optimus. “You must be…confused at what is happening, and we have questions of our own. If you would be willing to come with us-!”

“Yeah, absolutely not,” the female titan cut him off, earning protests from the yellow titan. Erwin’s eyes darted to Levi, and the Captain gestured his head towards the kids. The yellow titan was talking about the kids. It had to be about their safety. He could use that.

“You are all unfamiliar with our terrain,” Erwin calmly reasoned, “But we know this place, and we know that titans are roaming the area as we speak. You all might be fine in defending yourselves, but how long will your human companions last before a titan sneaks up on you and tries to eat them.”

The titans grew tense at Erwin’s words while Miko removed the eldest’s hand from her mouth. Erwin then gestured to the titan that was still slowly turning into steam.

“The titans do not eat for survival,” Erwin continued, “They only do it for the thrill of it. And there are a multitude of titans that are unpredictable with their behavior. Those three are not going to last out here very long.”

Erwin gestured to the direction they came from. “If you come with us, we can guarantee their safety behind the territory that we still have left.”

The orange titan glanced over at Optimus, waiting for the Prime to make the call. Optimus seemed to come to a decision before turning to the others. “We will follow the humans to their territory.”

“You sure about that?” the green one asked.

“We cannot risk the humans getting hurt,” Optimus reasoned, “And if we want to return to Earth, then we need to forge alliances.”

Erwin raised an eyebrow at that as Optimus turned to him. “If you would be will to guide us, then we will follow.”

Erwin nodded his head before mounting his horse once more. “We’re returning to Wall Rose!”

“With five giant titans?!” Someone shouted, “The canons will fire before we even reach the gate! How the hell are we supposed to-!”

Everyone took steps back when the five titans’ bodies practically fell apart before reshaping and putting itself back together. They had all transformed into…strange carriages, each of their own texture, design, and size. Erwin didn’t know how else to describe it. The colors still matched the titans he had just seen but when the hell could titans do this?!

The yellow one had open the side door, and Miko and the youngest of the children quickly climbed inside. The eldest was about to climb in, but noticed the stares directed towards them all.

“Um…robots in disguise,” he had shrugged before sitting in the front and shutting the door himself.

“Not a very good disguise,” Levi commented as he and the others hand lowered themselves from the trees and mounted their horses.

“I want to touch it.” Hanji vibrated with giddy, but Mike grabbed the reins of the horse Hanji was sitting on before pulling it along.

It was a tense ride back to Wall Rose, with the Survey Corps surrounding the titans with a simple circle formation. The horses were running at full speed towards the massive structure, but the Survey Corps were stunned to find that the titans were keeping up with them in these strange forms. Hell, some of them were even driving past the horses, specifically the female titan. She was riding on two wheels instead of four. It looked like there was supposed to be someone on top of her form, and it looked odd without it.

“Erwin, what the hell are you thinking right now?” Levi demanded as he pulled up next to him at the front of the formation.

“I’m thinking about how we can keep these titans here to help us,” Erwin answered truthfully.

“They might not appear to eat humans, but it looks like they know how to kill,” Levi retorted, “We bring them in the Walls. Then what? There’s going to be chaos and questions. Some could be asking for them to be destroyed. How the hell do we spin this to have it benefit us, even if they aren’t dangerous?”

“…I don’t know,” Erwin confessed, “But there must be something that they can do.”

“…I saw the yellow one kill a titan without hitting the nape,” Levi informed him, “It killed them with those guns on its arms.”

‘The blinding light,’ Erwin realized.

“Prime guy was ready to blast a hole in the chest of the other one before I killed it,” Levi explained, “They’re trained soldiers, Erwin. With the power to kill titans without cutting the nape.”

“All the more reason to try and get them to stay here with us,” Erwin declared, “We’ll finally be able to turn the tide in this war against the titans.”

Levi grimaced in response.

“Also, have you been able to understand the yellow titan?” Erwin asked, baffled.

“Every third word, it’s been creeping me out,” Levi explained.

“No, that’s good,” Erwin proclaimed, “If they’re planning something else and are trying to hide it, then you’ll be able to figure it out sooner.”

“Optimus, are you certain that this is the right decision?” Ratchet asked him as they drove side by side.

“It is one of the few options that we do have,” Optimus answered, “We do not know our surroundings very well and we cannot risk the humans getting hurt. There is also the matter of the Decepticons.”

“Right, they could still be on Earth,” Ratchet recalled, “Or they could have very well come to this strange place with us. We have no idea.”

“All the more reason to gain knowledge from the natives in order to determine our next steps,” Optimus declared, “We need to return back to Earth as soon as possible if the Decepticons are still there. I don’t know how long Agent Fowler and the military will be able to last without us.”

“So…we’ve been isekai’d to a morbid place,” Miko began as she continued watching the soldiers ride through titan territory.

“Yeah, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just stayed at base,” Jack scolded Miko.

“Look, we’ll find a way out of this!” Miko reasoned, “Besides, it can’t be all bad! They have medieval spidermen!”

“Miko-!”

“Medieval Spidermen, Jack!” Miko shook his shoulders, “That’s literally the best thing ever! It can’t get better than this!”

“How long are we going to be stuck here for?” Rafael finally asked, “What about our parents?”

“Raf, don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Jack reassured, “Right ‘Bee?”

Bumblebee chirped and beeped in response, causing Rafael to smile. “Yeah, I guess we’ve been in worse situations and still got out of it.”

The three humans blinked when they suddenly heard a knock on the window. They turned to see someone waving at them with delight.

“’Bee, lower the window,” Jack ordered as he approached the window the person was waving at. Bumblebee lowered the window a little bit, and Jack was met with the grinning face of...a woman, maybe? They didn’t look too much like a woman.

“You can lower it a little bit more,” Jack said to Bumblebee, and the scout reluctantly complied until Jack’s face was completely in view, “Can I help you?”

“Yes! My name is Hanji, and I have a multitude of questions I need you to answer before my friend, Mike, comes back to grab me!” The statement came out in rapid succession.

Bumblebee immediately spoke up, causing Hanji to stare in confusion.

“Bumblebee says that we can’t give away too much information,” Rafael explained as he peered over the open window.

“You can understand him?!” Hanji asked with excitement.

“Yeah,” Rafael answered.

“And you have a name!” Hanji cooed with joy, “Bumblebee’s a cute name too!”

Bumblebee started beeping again, and Rafael translated. “He says thanks.”

“So you’re Bumblebee, and the big, tall, one is Optimus Prime.” Hanji pointed to the truck, “What about the other three?”

“The one driving next to Optimus is Ratchet,” Rafael began, “The blue motorcycle looping around us is Arcee and the green hummer is Bulkhead.”

“And he’s my partner.” Miko pointed to herself, “So watch it, or he’s gonna wreck you!”

“Oh this is so exciting!” Hanji clapped. The squad leader grunted as Mike grabbed the reins of the horse and pulled them aside, “Thank you!”

“Bye!” Rafael waved ‘goodbye’ before turning to the others. “They seem nice.”

“A little bit energetic for my tastes,” Jack asked, “Kinda like you, Miko.”

“Ha,” Miko drawled out.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mike hissed at Hanji.

“Gathering Intel.” Hanji yanked the reins back from Mike in annoyance. The squad leader let out a big grin, riding over to Erwin and waving to Mike, “I have names~.”

Erwin deadpanned as he heard Hanji creep up behind him on horseback. He could feel the grin radiating from her skin. “This better be important.”

“Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee.” Hanji pointed to each vehicle with their respective name.

Erwin and Levi glanced back before turning back to Hanji.

“They all have names?” Erwin asked in surprise.

“Yes, those children were very nice in giving me that information,” Hanji explained before sighing in defeat, “I would have asked for more information, like the names of those kids, but Mike pulled me away before I could ask.”

“Anything else you might have gotten from them?” Erwin asked.

“The youngest can understand Bumblebee’s language,” Hanji listed, “And the girl referred to Bulkhead as her partner. I think those children might be assigned to individual titans as protection. The girl to Bulkhead. I assume the youngest to Bumblebee since he can understand him. I don’t know about the eldest.”

Hanji noticed the way Levi’s face turned sour. “What happened to you? Looks like you’re about to take a shit.”

“He can understand every third word of…Bumblebee.” Erwin felt weird addressing a titan by name.

Hanji gasped with joy as her smile grew wider to the point where it would break her face.

“If you fucking touch me, I will-!” Levi froze as everyone was alerted to the sounds of screams and destruction. The Survey Corps looked ahead and stared in horror at the sight of the southern gate to Trost being destroyed and two titans slowly making its way inside.

“Shit!” Levi swore.

“Everyone, scale the wall!” Erwin ordered.

The Autobots were stunned to see everyone jumping off of their horses and hooking onto the side of the massive wall before scaling it with relative ease. Miko had opened the window and peered her whole body out to see the amazing display.

“Wow.” Miko pulled out her phone and started recording the Survey Corps. She yelped when Jack immediately grabbed her belt and pulled her inside Bumblebee’s alt mode.

“Autobots, head towards the breach!” Optimus commanded as he revved his engines. When they had reached the breached and transformed into their bipedal modes, excluding Bumblebee, they were horrified at the titans running rampant in the city. They destroyed and toppled buildings. They grabbed human soldiers without a care in the world, and they started to eat them. It didn’t even matter what age they were. Some looked like teenagers, like Jack, Miko, and Rafael, but they were still being devoured. They let out horrified screams of terror as they were either devoured in one gulped or chewed to pieces.

“What the frag did we just get ourselves into?” Arcee swore.

The Survey Corps landed atop the walls and examined the chaos below.

“It’s only been a few hours and shit’s already going to hell,” Levi remarked.

“It feels like it was almost premeditated, considering there was a titan invasion right after we left,” Mike proclaimed before turning to Erwin, “Orders!”

Erwin was about to give the command, but-!

“Bumblebee, keep the humans safe from the threat!” Optimus ordered the yellow titan.

“Wait, hold on!” the girl cried out, but Bumblebee had quickly driven deeper into Trost before he could continue.

“Autobots, focus all efforts on eliminate the threat and protecting the humans!” Optimus ordered as he pulled out his guns.

“Got it!” Bulkhead said as he pulled out his blasters.

“With pleasure!” Arcee snarled as she pulled out her own blasters.

“Roll out!” All three Cybertronians fired in rapid succession at the titans closest to them, scaring some of the other soldiers. Erwin managed to count twenty titan deaths from that volley of attacks, and none of the titans that were killed were struck in the nape. The remaining for titans split up to cover more ground, with the orange titan, Ratchet, running by Optimus’ side.

Ratchet noticed a titan coming up on his right and quickly pulled out his medical blades before slicing it’s leg off. As the titan lost its balance, Optimus shot it in the chest, causing it to disintegrate. Meanwhile, Arcee had jumped onto one of the buildings and ran along the rooftops, firing headshots at each of the titans that she spotted. Bulkhead, despite being the slowest runner, had tackled a titan much larger than him into the ground before shooting it in the face.

“…I think we just became useless,” Mobilt commented, baffled at the sight before him. However, every one of them heard sadistic giggles before it evolved into unhinged laughter.

“IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED!” Hanji shouted, cackling to the sky, “The pinnacle of titan evolution has been reached! We have witnessed the sheer might and battle power of what titans can do, and I have finally been blessed to see this day! IF THERE IS A GOD, THANK YOU FOR KEEPING ME ALIVE THIS LONG TO SEE THIS GLORIOUS DISPLAY!”

Hanji continued cackling like a madman while Levi turned to Erwin. “Hanji’s broken.”

“Everyone, assist the titans in eliminating the threat and help out any wounded or injured soldiers!” Erwin ordered.

“Yes, sir!” they all shouted.

“Dedicate your hearts!” Erwin recited their mantra as they all jumped down from the top of the Walls to attack the titans.

Marco continued flying around the city, trying to lure titans to the other side of the town so that Eren could plug the hole in the wall, but he spotted no titans in his line of sight. Maybe he should regroup with a few others and come up with a strategy then. That seemed like a good idea. Marco’s gaze fell towards a rooftop with two other soldiers on it. He sighed a little with relief. Reiner and Bertholdt. They were still alive. Marco landed on the rooftop, ready to call for them, but-!

“There’s no way that they can plug that hole in the wall,” Bertholdt proclaimed, “They don’t have the resources, and Eren might get eaten in the process. We won’t be able to find out anything else if that happens.”

“I might have to figure out a plan with my Titan somehow.” Marco paused in his step at Reiner’s words. Titan? What did Reiner mean by that? What did he mean by ‘my Titan’?

“But if they find a way to plug it, then it’ll undo the work we’ve done to open it!” Bertholdt retorted. Marco was baffled at Bertholdt’s words. Open it?! What are they talking about?! Marco was about to speak up to ask what they meant, but stopped when he saw a blue light coming their way. All three yelled in surprise when the light flew directly above them, almost hitting them. Reiner and Bertholdt ducked in opposite directions while Marco ended up falling off the roof. Marco yelled in pain when his back hit the ground fairly hard, but when he sat up, he didn’t feel that anything was broken. Just bruised. What was that? What the hell was that?!

Marco’s gaze went up to the sky and he saw a few more blue lights shoot across the area. Marco was about to call for Reiner and Bertholdt, but immediately stopped himself. Those words the two uttered, the fact that Eren could transform into a titan at will. That meant…

Marco quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbed his blades and latched onto the buildings with his grappling hooks to get as far away from the two as possible. Reiner and Bertholdt…they were hiding something. They couldn’t be trusted, and Marco needed to get as far away from the both of them as possible! But what the hell was that blue light!-any…way.

Marco could see from afar the sight of metal titans running throughout the city, killing other titans left and right. What the hell was going on?!

“Armin!” Mikasa called out for her friend just as Armin was ready to stab his blade into the nape of Eren’s titan form. Armin noticed that Mikasa was staring on in horror, forcing him to abandon Eren and fly up next to her. The cadet gawked at the sight of four metal titans within Trost, shooting and killing titans with ease, without even touching the nape of the neck!

“What the hell is happening?” Mikasa found herself trembling. Armin couldn’t help but be terrified as well. Eren had been eaten right before him, but came back to life with the ability to turn into a titan. He was supposed to lift the boulder in order to plug the hole in the wall, and now, metal titans were roaming around the city killing titans left and right! It was madness! It was insanity! It was…Armin’s attention turned to the unconscious titan that was Eren, his face still regenerating. If Eren couldn’t lift the boulder, then…

“Armin!” Mikasa tried to grab Armin, but he had already flown off to a pair of those titans nearby, forcing Mikasa to quickly follow after him.

“Optimus, how else can we kill these creatures?!” Ratchet demanded, “Energon is effective, but is possessive regenerative abilities!”

Ratchet sliced open the stomach of a titan about to eat a human, but the wound was already regenerating, even after the titan dropped the human. “My blades are useless.”

Optimus recalled the titan he was just about to kill earlier before one of the humans intervened. He had cut in a particular spot: behind the nape of the neck. Optimus replaced one of his blasters with his blades and quickly stabbed a titan that was his height in the nape of the neck. When Optimus released it, the titan fell to the ground and its body began to decay.

“Autobots!” Optimus activated his comm. link to speak to the others, “Destroy the nape of the neck! That is another way that we can kill these creatures!”

“Got it!” Bulkhead said as he took out his wrecking ball before crushing the nape of the neck of the titan with it. Arcee replaced her blasters with her arm blades before jumping and carving her blades into the nape of another titan.

“They figured out the titan’s weak point,” Mike commented as he flew with Erwin.

“They’re hyper-intelligent,” Erwin declared.

“Do you think that we can still convince them to still be on our side?” Mike asked, “And can we convince the public that they’re not dangerous?”

“I don’t think we need to do much in either of those categories,” Erwin proclaimed as he noticed the green titan holding back an abnormal titan, allowing a few cadets to flee on foot. Erwin couldn’t help but admire the strength and power of all the titans. He couldn’t help but admire the way that Optimus commanded his soldiers with such ease. It was a marvel to watch.

“HEY!” Optimus froze when he heard someone calling out…calling out to him. Optimus turned his helm to the source of the noise and saw…a boy waving to him. A soldier. He waved both arms high in the air to gesture for both titans to come to his location. A female soldier came up behind him to try and deter him and get him to run, but the boy merely pointed to a boulder a little ways off from their location.

“THIS WAY!” the boy beckoned before flying towards the boulder. The other soldier quickly went after him, and Optimus went after the two of them.

“Optimus, we have to focus on the task at hand!” Ratchet reasoned as he ran after his leader and friend.

“Those two need help!” Optimus explained, “I believe they have a solution to stop this carnage!”

“Wait, Bee, we need to go back!” Miko exclaimed as they continued driving down the war torn street, causing Bumblebee to speak a retort.

“We don’t have any way to defend ourselves! We’ll be killed and eaten alive if we don’t run!” Jack retorted.

“But can we even hide in here?!” Rafael asked, “Where are we even supposed to go?”

“I don’t know, but-!” Jack stopped when he noticed someone on the ground, pulling the strange equipment off of the corpse of their comrade before throwing his own off. He quickly strapped the new one on before looking behind him in horror. Jack noticed a titan coming up towards him, and the soldier trying to get away, but the equipment still wasn’t working.

“Bee! Open your door!” Jack slammed his hand on the passenger door, “Miko, help me grab him!”

Jean tried hard to pull the handles of the 3D gear that he had gotten from his fallen comrade, but it still wasn’t working! Why the hell wasn’t it working?! Did this guy’s 3D gear get destroyed too?! Shit! Shit he was going to die! Why did a titan attack have to happen before he went to the inner Walls?! As the titan reached out for him, he yelled in surprise when something yellow rode past in between him and the titan. Two pairs of hands grabbed him and yanked him inside the vehicle before the titan’s hand slammed into the ground.

“Hey, hey are you okay?!” someone shouted at him. Jean screamed in fear at his current location. What the hell was this thing?! Who were these people?! Were they civilians?! Did the carriage just beep at him?! What the hell was-?!

Jean grunted when the oddly dressed girl suddenly slapped him across the face before grabbing his collar.

“Get a hold of yourself man!” she screeched at him, “You’re an awesome medieval spiderman and people need you right now!”

“What the hell’s a spiderman?!” Jean shouted at her before a young boy took a look at the 3D gear around his waist, “And why the hell is your hair pink?!”

“Whoa, this is wild,” he remarked in awe, “Is it damaged?”

“I don’t know! I tried pulling the trigger!” Jean answered as he tried to examine the handle.

“Let me see,” the youngest said as he looked at the handle and pressed the trigger, “I think this handle needs a lot more pressure to activate.”

“What?” Jean stared in bafflement before pressing the trigger as hard as he could. The grappling hook shot out of the open carriage door and hooked itself onto a building.

“Deuces, spiderman!” Jean yelped as his grappling hook yanked him out of the moving carriage. Jean held onto the building he latched onto for dear life before looking back at the strange carriage. He had the perfect opportunity to flee. Why the hell didn’t he?

“This way!” Armin beckoned the two titans as they got closer to the boulder and Eren’s titan.

“Armin, whatever those things are could hurt Eren!” Mikasa retorted as they ran side by side.

“But they could also help him, or help us!” Armin retorted, “The bigger one could help move the boulder if Eren can’t! Eren is also vulnerable! Titans could come and devour him!”

Mikasa still stared at Armin with concern, but…decided to trust Armin’s decision.

“Optimus, we have to return to help the others!” Ratchet exclaimed, “We-!”

Optimus skidded to a stop when they arrived at the boulder, and Optimus’ optics widened when he saw a massive titan slumped against the boulder. The side of its face slowly releasing steam, but not healing fast enough.

“What in the Allspark is this?!” Ratchet demanded as he stood next to Optimus.

“This is Eren!” Armin explained as he and Mikasa landed on the roof, “He’s a human that can turn into a titan!”

“How?” Optimus demanded as Ratchet began to scan the massive titan for vitals.

“We don’t know how, but we need him to carry out our plan!” Armin declared, “Most of the titans have been lured to the other side of Trost so Eren can carry the boulder to plug the hole in the Wall! But Eren’s just learned about his powers and he doesn’t know how to control it!”

“They’re actually telling the truth!” Ratchet exclaimed as his sensors picked up a life signal in the nape of the neck.

“Please, we need your help to get him to move the boulder!” Armin begged, “Or have one of you do it! We don’t have much time!”

Optimus thought it over. He could probably lift the boulder, but there were other factors he needed to consider. Based on the information he observed, the titan was human, and he was probably around the same age as those two humans on the rooftop. The boy was trying to plead his case, but he could see the terror in his eyes. The girl looked ready to attack and defend the titan, but her face displayed moments of concern and worry.

This was a power no one knew about. No one knew how it could be controlled. But one thing was certain: if the titan couldn’t find a way to prove that it was useful, then the human inside may very well be executed out of fear. Optimus glanced back at the humans on the rooftop. They had to try and rouse the titan for their sake.

“Ratchet, can you resuscitate the titan?” Optimus turned to the medic.

“Resuscitate the titan?! Are you mad?!” Ratchet shouted, “I am barely just starting to understand human anatomy to avoid the situation that happened with Rafael! This is entirely different from any organic that I have seen! It’s healing itself, there is a lack of organs compared to humans, and a human is controlling the body?! It’s like one of Miko’s monster movies!”

“Ratchet, if there are more allies that can help against the titan threat, then it would be beneficial to acquire them,” Optimus retorted before whispering, “And those humans are concerned for their comrade.”

Ratchet glanced back at the two soldiers on the roof.

“They need your help,” Optimus declared.

Ratchet’s face contorted into a grimace before groaning in frustration. “Slag everything!”

Armin and Mikasa saw Ratchet open the medical kit on his back before he pulled out a set of defibrillators. Ratchet adjusted the knob to the highest setting and rubbed the items together to create friction and electricity.

“If this doesn’t work, then you can carry the fragging boulder by yourself!” Ratchet shouted before placing the medical devices against the titan’s pectorals. “Clear!”

Armin and Mikasa yelled when a shock of electricity ran through Eren’s body. His body jolted to life and his good eye snapped open before he roared in pain. Eren’s eye fell to Ratchet and he immediately swung his arm to smack Ratchet to the ground. Optimus quickly grabbed him before the strike could hit and pulled the medic back. Before Eren could strike again, Armin and Mikasa quickly flew forward and latched onto his hair to look him in the eye.

“Eren, it’s okay! They’re here to help!” Armin reassured; however, Eren still looked uncertain, remembering the pain he just felt in his chest. He looked behind the two of them to see Ratchet scrambling to get one of the defibrillators and put the device in his medical kit. The other side of his face completely healed, and he was stunned to see two metal titans staring back at him.

“We mean you no harm,” Optimus reassured as he raised his servos in surrender, “My name is Optimus Prime, and my comrades and I are here to help you deal with the titan threat.”

Eren blinked in disbelief as Armin and Mikasa sat on Eren’s shoulders.

“Do you remember your mission?” Optimus asked him.

Eren stood up before looking back at the boulder he was just sitting against. Eren clenched his fists before kneeling down and grabbing the boulder from the bottom. He sunk his fingers into the massive rock while Armin and Mikasa flew off of Eren to gain some distance. Eren grunted in pain as he heaved the boulder onto his shoulder and back before standing upright. Steam radiated off of him, but Eren ignored it as he began to walk.

“He’s doing it,” Mikasa sighed with relief.

“Arcee! Bulkhead!” Optimus activated his comm. link to contact the others, “Protect the titan carrying the boulder!”

Arcee jumped and spun in the air before slicing through the nape of the neck. She grunted as she jumped off of that titan before taking out her blaster and shooting another titan in the head.

“I thought the whole point was to kill these things!” Arcee shouted.

“Well one of them is apparently a human that can turn into a titan!” Ratchet explained.

“Oh, no way! A Kaiju?!” Miko screeched through Bumblebee’s comm. link.

“His name is Eren and he needs protection so he can seal the hole in the wall!” Optimus explained before shooting a titan that almost got too close to the titan shifter. “Do not let any of the other titans get near him!”

“On it!” Bulkhead shouted as he grabbed the legs of a titan and spun in around before throwing it at another titan blocking Eren’s path.

Optimus went to follow Eren to provide him some cover, and Ratchet quickly stood up to follow.

“Wait!” Ratchet looked back to the two humans that called him there in the first place.

“Thank you!” the girl told him before the both of them flew off to protect Eren.

“Sir!” Petra called out to Levi as he sliced the nape of two titans with ease. She pointed to the sight, and Levi witnessed a massive titan carrying a boulder just as big as it towards the hole in the wall. Levi then turned his attention to Optimus protecting the titan from behind, shooting any titans that got too close to it. Meanwhile, the blue and green titan converged onto the scene and killed any titans that got in the way of the one carrying the boulder.

“They’re going to seal the hole in the wall,” Levi muttered before calling out to his comrades that were near him, “Everyone! Kill any titans that might get too close to it!”

“Yes, Captain!” they followed his command.

“THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!” Hanji cheered, flying through the air with reckless abandon.

“Launch!” Arcee ordered Bulkhead as she bolted towards him. Bulkhead quickly lowered his servos for Arcee to stand on before throwing her into the air. From her aerial view, she aimed and fired at five titans that were too close for comfort. She then managed to jump on the back of a titan much larger than her before shooting it repeatedly in the nape of the neck.

“Holy shit! Is that a female titan?!” Connie pointed to the sight of Arcee jumping off the corpse before hitting the ground. Annie couldn’t help, but gulp at the sight of her.

“There’s more of them?!” Jean demanded as he landed right next to Connie and Annie.

“Get your asses up and kill the titans getting to close to the one holding the boulder!” a Survey Corps member shouted as a squad flew directly above them.

Marco continued to fly around the area, unable to stop his admiration at the sight before him. He watched as the metal titans killed the regular ones with ease. He saw how well they worked together. He saw how they were going out of their way to protect other humans. It was…incredible. He’s never seen such comradely and bravery. Not like this.

Even so, Titans were defying their innate nature to protect a species significantly weaker than them. But there were also humans that could become titans at will. Everything that he had ever known was a lie, but he wanted to do good works. He wanted to do good services. He wanted to serve the king, but many go to the interior in order to run from the titans. That’s exactly what Jean wants to do. And even if he explained this information to the government, would they listen? Would it fall on deaf ears and mean nothing? He wanted to be devoted and do what was right, but he also couldn’t run away when people were in danger.

Maybe…maybe the Military Police wasn’t where he belonged.

Eren couldn’t help but be overwhelmed at what was going on. He was met with the sight of metal titans helping humanity. He saw a flurry of soldiers swinging around on their 3D gear to eliminate titans. He could feel the pain from holding the boulder above his head, but he still pressed onward. His legs burned, the ground shook under his every step, but he still kept going. Fight. Fight!

Eren stumbled a little as he reached the hole, but it didn’t stop him. Titans stood in his way, but they were quickly shot down. Eren could hear Armin shouting his name, cheering him on, and he roared in determination as he slammed the boulder against the hole, sealing the entrance into Wall Rose. He could feel that there was a moment of quiet, of shock and disbelief at what humanity was able to accomplish, but he wasn’t able to relish in the victory as his body collapsed against the massive rock.

“Eren!” Armin and Mikasa called out for him, racing to the nape of his neck together to cut him out.

“The hole’s been sealed,” Connie muttered, “Holy shit. We actually stopped the titans!”

Reiner and Bertholdt landed closer to the now sealed gate and did their best to conceal their terror. There was so much to process. The gate had been sealed, and there were metal titans clearly never been seen before helping out the walls. They had no idea what they were supposed to do now!

“Autobots, continue assisting humanity in eliminating the titans!” Optimus ordered before they all continued eliminating the titans.

Pixis’ hands were behind his back while everyone watched on in concern. However, everyone was stunned when the yellow smoke signal shot up into the air, signifying that the operation was a success.

“Everyone! Assist in eliminating the titans and finding survivors!” Pixis commanded, and soldiers immediately heeding his command and jumped down the wall to help.

“Sir, there is the matter of…those titans,” Gustav chose his words carefully as he handed Pixis a telescope.

The Commander of the Garrison extended the device and looked through the lens. “It is something that we will have to watch closely. However, this will prove beneficial if we play our cards rig-!”

Pixis froze when he spotted…her. He spotted a female titan, slicing through the nape of a titan’s neck before extended both arms and shooting two titans on her side. The titans collapsed to the ground, but the female titan didn’t bother to look back as she bolted towards the next threat.

Pixis’ mouth dropped at the sight before his face morphed into a wistful smile.

“Sir,” Anka called out. “Sir!”

Pixis held the telescope close to his chest and giggled. “God does exist, and he has blessed me for all of my years of military service.”

“What are you talking about?” Anka snatched the telescope away from Pixis and used it to scan the battle field. When her gaze fell to the blue, female, titan, all she wanted to do was curse god for his incompetence.

“God does exist, and he is a cruel bastard who enjoys sick jokes,” Anka declared in frustration.

On Earth

Wheeljack stepped off the Jackhammer and examined his surroundings. There were crumbs of energon abandoned on the ground. The trees were knocked over and the ground was leveled. There were clear signs of blaster fire, and he checked the pulses of the vehicons to determine if they were dead or not.

What had happened? He was only on Earth for a little while, but he wasn’t expecting something as severe as a massive energy spike resembling that of a spacebridge. At least not yet. What was-!

“HEY! OPTIMUS! RATCHET! SOMEONE PICK UP THE COMM!” someone had screamed in the Jackhammer. Wheeljack walked inside of his ship and pressed a button.

“What do you want tiny?” Wheeljack demanded. He couldn’t forget that annoying aft voice no matter how hard he tried.

“Where in the Sam Hill are Optimus and the others?!” Agent Fowler demanded.

“I thought they were with you?” Wheeljack raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well there’s no sign of them!” Fowler declared, “Did the Decepticons capture them?!”

“No…,” Wheeljack trailed off, “But I think something else happened.”

“Well then get to Jasper, Nevada so we can talk about it!” Fowler ordered.

Wheeljack looked back at the battlefield before taking off towards the Autobot Base. What in the Allspark was going on?

(So a few notes:

-This timeline takes place right before Season 2 Episode 7 of Transformers Prime, so many key players would still be alive and active. -I didn't want to introduce the Decepticons in this chapter. If I were to introduce them, I would probably put them at the end of the 2nd chapter. I ended with Wheeljack because I thought the mystery aspect would be fun to set up. -Hanji does have a revelation that they are non-binary in this timeline, but they don't know what that means until Jack, Miko, and Raf bring it up because the trio were defaulting to they/them pronouns for Hanji when I made them interact with each other. However, I did try my best to avoid using she/her pronouns for Hanji unless I absolutely needed to do it because at this point in this timeline, Hanji does still go by those pronouns. I just didn't want to cause too many issues since I did say I would continue to refer to Hanji by they/them pronouns for the rest of my writing. It feels like I might be offending someone or breaking a promise. (Once Hanji changes their pronouns in this timeline, Levi does still threaten people with violence if they misgender Hanji). -Marco does live. I thought it would be fun to spice things up. -Because Levi is an Ackerman, I wanted him to be able to understand Bumblebee, but not that much because binary code is still new to Levi. -I was not originally going to have Ratchet resuscitate Eren, but the thought came to me as I was writing this and I wanted to have some fun with it. Lol. -I finished this damn thing in like two days. I'm really trying to get all my side projects done before I start my new job. -Anyway, be sure to show some love!)

32 notes · View notes

stergeon · 1 month

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HOW TO PLAY

Last updated 5/3/2024

What is this?

This is a collaborative story about Hubert von Vestra from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The goal of the game is to help Hubert have a perfectly normal day without too much excitement or fanfare.

The story progresses based on the results of the poll at the end of each chapter. The gameplay is intended to emulate old text-based adventure games (and, yes, Homestuck).

Mostly, this is an excuse for me to draw silly stuff and make stupid websites.

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What do I do?

Be Hubert.

Vote for the action you want Hubert to take.

????

Profit

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OK but seriously how do you play this?

I'll draw a panel and write a post. The end of the post will contain a poll or other question to decide where the story goes next.

You can help direct the story by:

Voting in the poll

Providing a custom response in the post tags or replies

Asking for clarification or details via ask or by replying to the post, ex. in the replies on this post

In each post, words that appear in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS have definitions in Hubert's JOURNAL. The first time a defined word appears in a post, it will link to the part in the journal where the definition appears. Any subsequent time the word appears in the post, it will only be BOLDED AND CAPITALIZED.

The post may also contain links to minigames I've made (ex. the coffee game) or to other pages on my website that are related to the game (ex. Hubert's inventory, aka his pocket). I don't intend to link to any other websites, but if I do end up linking to another site in the post, I'll give a heads up.

Depending on the choices made in the story, Hubert's mental state may be affected. You will want to keep that in mind when voting. Remember: YOU are Hubert. And you want to have a perfectly normal day.

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How does voting work?

Options for Hubert to take will be listed in a poll at the end of each post. The poll duration will be one day. When the time has elapsed, Hubert will take the highest-voted action. I'll write/draw how it plays out, then post a new poll to choose the next action.

Polls will have a minimum of four options representing potential actions for Hubert to take. Three or more will be preset options, and the last will be an "Other/Write-In" option for a custom response.

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How does the Other/Write-In/Something Else option work?

If you vote for Other in the poll, please provide the action you want Hubert to take by leaving a reply on the post or in the tags.

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If the Other/Write-In/Something Else option wins, how will a response be selected?

I don't know yet! We'll find out together. Either I'll take the most common response, I'll pick one at random, or I'll just choose the one I think is funniest.

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How will the story play out?

I have an outline for the story. To the best of my ability, I'm going to try and keep it on track, but I'm leaving most of it to the winds of chance. If things start to really get off-track, I may eliminate the write-in option and just give three preset choices, but here's hoping it doesn't come to that.

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When does the game update?

The game will update after the current poll has expired and whenever I get around to drawing and writing the response. I'm making an attempt to turn things around in 24-48 hours after the poll ends, but who knows how long I'll keep that up.

Note that many of the pages for game mechanics, such as the JOURNAL and Mind Wasteland, are updated almost as often as new posts are made, depending on how the story plays out. You might want to keep an eye on those.

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Something is broken/not working on one of the webpages.

UH-OH! That's not good!

If you run into any problems with the site(s), please refresh the page and, if it's still not working, check back in 5-10 minutes. I'm coding this like a lazy person (read: rawdogging it without version control—yeehaw!) so it's entirely possible that if something is busted, it's because I'm actively tinkering with the site.

If it stays busted for more than 5-10 minutes, or if you run into responsiveness or accessibility issues, please shoot me a DM or an ask and I'll try to get it fixed shortly. Your help is appreciated!

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I have a question about the current poll options/a game mechanic.

Send me your question via a reply on the post or an ask and I'll get you an answer :0)

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STORY DETAILS

What knowledge do I need going into this game?

The game is set just over two years after the end of Fire Emblem: Three House’s Crimson Flower route. Consider that route utterly spoiled.

There may be references to events that have happened in my post-war fanfic series, In the Days After. However, you don't need to have read the series to know what's going on in the game. Hubert will also keep notes on anything that is relevant in his journal and you can reference the information there.

(FYI: the journal, minigames, and related tools are not hosted on tumblr and are instead on my own website for formatting/organization purposes. I'll give a heads up if linking to any pages not on this blog or my own website.)

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Does this include DLC or FEW: Three Hopes content?

Sorry, I’m a fake fan. I haven’t played Three Hopes or the FE3H DLC and have a child’s knowledge of what happens in either of those games. I’m sticking with my area of expertise.

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What ships appear in this game?

It's my story and I'm gonna make it gay. As of, uhhh, right now, these are the confirmed ships:

Hubert / Ferdinand

Edelgard / F!Byleth

Dorothea / Petra

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RESOURCES

Links

Beginning of the story

All posts up to this point

Tools and mechanics

The tools listed below are updated almost every time a new post is made, depending on how the story progresses.

Hubert's Journal

To-Do List

Mind Wasteland

Pocket

Games

Games probably won't get updated again unless I get a sudden burst of inspiration or if there's a bug. If there's a bug, please let me know via ask or emailing me at [email protected].

Dress-up

Make a cup of coffee

#sterge.rtf #hpnd #don't reblog - reference

8 notes · View notes

tommybaholland · 3 years

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helping their sleepy s/o remove their makeup

featuring: 4/5 bakusquad (aka bakugo, kirishima, kaminari, and ashido)

1.5k special writing event poll is still accepting responses. it’ll be up until haikyuu night on thursday so there’s plenty of time to get everyone’s votes in! enjoy <3

bakugo

he notices that you’re practically falling asleep while you two are having a meal together

your head is drooping so low that he has to catch you from falling face-first into the food

“hey, watch it, idiot! your hair’s getting in it.”

declares that you’re too tired to eat and wraps up your food for you so you can eat it later

if it seems like you’re so tired that he has to drag you to bed, he’ll just go right ahead and pick you up to carry you the rest of the way there

but don’t think that he won’t still put a stop to your mumbling protests

“it’s obvious that your dumbass is too tired to walk so shut up and let me help you.”

he places you down in bed and begins to tuck you in before he notices that you still have makeup on

he looks around the room briefly for whatever you use to remove it

“hey, don’t get too comfortable yet. how do you take that stuff off your face?”

after deciphering your vague pointing and mumbled directions, he finally locates the bottle of micellar water and the little reusable pads

you giggle as he begins to clean your face off and tickles your skin

“hey, hold still for a minute, you idiot. i thought you were tired.”

peeling off your fake lashes is probably his least favorite part

they’re so annoying because he always finds them stuck to him or in a place they shouldn’t be and he’ll mistake it for a spider

“i’m going to put these stupid things in your desk drawer where they WON’T get STUCK to ME.”

tries to be gentle when rubbing off your eye makeup but he wants to make sure he gets everything off so he finds himself scrubbing a little harder

but he makes sure he doesn’t get anything in your eyes

his favorite part, though, is cleaning off your neck

he’s got this weird hyper fixation about it...he just thinks you have a nice neck okay

once he’s done, he takes a clean pad and does one more pass over your whole face and eyes to make sure he got everything

“okay, there. now you won’t get that shit everywhere in the bed.”

puts the remover stuff away and gets into bed with you

finds his favorite spot, resting his head on your shoulder with his face hiding in your neck

“i love you. now get some rest, dumbass.”

kirishima

he returns from class or training and unexpectedly finds you in the same spot as he left you

“oh, hey, pebble! didn’t expect to find you still here.”

class was canceled so you were just trying to catch up on some work

he observes your slumped figure and droopy expression

this was seemingly not the cute and smiley s/o that he knew

he always thinks you’re cute but you just looked especially fatigued, that’s all

once he watched you sigh, yawn, and rub over your face and eyes all within a few seconds

that’s when he sees that you seemed to forget that you were wearing makeup and smeared it a little around your eyes

he couldn’t continue to hesitate from saying something

“babe, i think you need to sleep. why don’t you take a little nap and i’ll get us some food and you can eat when you wake up?”

but first, he’s gonna clean your face off so you can relax

you’re barely conscious at this point, luckily he knows where you keep your makeup wipes

after a few swipes across your face, he’s amazed as he sees all the product coming off onto the wipe

“whoa, babe, i think it’s working!”

he’s acting like he just discovered gold or something

“that’s so cool. isn’t it crazy that it’s taking off all the dirt and stuff-- i mean, your face isn’t dirty but, like, it’s getting rid of the stuff that could make it dirty. gotta make sure my pebble has clean pores!”

unlike his exploding friend, he’s more gentle around your eye area

lets you know when he’s going to put more pressure and tell him if he’s rubbing too hard

but now he understands why you rub your eyes raw to get all your mascara off

he does the best he can without causing you any discomfort

when he thinks he’s cleaned it all off, he lets you know he’s done by kissing your cheek many times which makes you giggle

“all clean! are you ready to get some sleep?”

insists on carrying you or at least helping you to bed

he isn’t someone who likes to take naps but he’ll lay there with you and rub your back until you’re fast asleep

kaminari

the day had been long and hard, one that left you exhausted both physically and emotionally

your muscles ached and your eyes felt strained from being awake and alert all-day

but if you want to take a nap, your boyfriend would love nothing more than to be lazy and chill with you

and once denki gets into a cuddly, sleepy mood, he’s glued to your side

literally follows you everywhere until you’re relaxed in bed or somewhere comfy with him

he goes to the bathroom with you so you can remove your makeup beforehand

he likes to stand behind you, hugging you from behind but his close presence is only making it harder to stay awake

he sees that your movements are becoming more sluggish and you’re beginning to lean back into him more

“do you need some help, gorgeous? here, sit down for me.”

he’s kinda nervous about using the putty balm stuff that you use to remove it because he’s never seen anything like it

he’s seen you take off your makeup a few times but he checks in with you to be sure

“okay, so i can just put this right on your face, right?”

once he starts, he gets into it and enjoys rubbing the stuff onto your cheeks

“haha this is so fun! you have such cute cheeks, babe.”

even though it’s kinda messy, the balm actually does a great job at taking off your makeup easily

but he’s kinda hesitant about using it on your eyes and doesn’t want it to get in them

luckily there’s not much left on your eyes, having been worn away from the day’s events

“whoa, your eyelashes feel weird with mascara on. very pointy.”

his observations never fail to amuse

when he’s done putting it all over your face, he realizes that he doesn’t have anything to wipe it off

has you keep your eyes closed as he washes his hands off and locates a towel

“sorry, babe. hang on one second. okay, here we go. now you’re getting clean!”

he’s amazed that, despite being a thick balm, it wipes off your face real easy

“huh, i guess that’s why they call it a ‘makeup melter--’ okay, all done!”

rinses out the towel and hangs it to dry then holds you from behind again, steering you out of the bathroom and into bed

places a small kiss on the corner of your mouth before spooning you

ashido

you love learning new dance moves from mina but there are days when you feel like you don’t even have the energy to watch her dance

which is sad because you love watching her more than anything

but she’s the greatest girlfriend and understands as she promises she’ll show it to you later

(next, she’ll have to show you how to keep up sheesh)

for her, being tired is not an excuse to skip skincare before bed

or at least taking your makeup off before bed

“babeeee, you know that’s, like, so bad for your skin. not to mention that it’ll get your pillows dirty!”

she grabs the micellar water and methodically swipes over your face, not pulling or pressing too hard

this is the time when she likes to pay you the most compliments, even if you’re half-asleep

“oh my god, you have to tell me what lashes these are. they’re so fluffy and pretty!”

“your skin is so smooth and glowy, sweetheart.”

“i love this shade of lipstick on you. makes your lips look so kissable.”

takes every chance that she can to kiss you

in fact, every spot she cleans off, she’ll kiss

it’s like a secret code that it’s clean

and that’s every spot because she doesn’t want to miss any

she’ll even clean off your lashes by picking off the glue and letting them soak in micellar water for a few minutes

“i like doing your makeup but this is so much more satisfying.”

like bakugo, she’ll do one more pass all over your face, placing final kisses in some spots as well

but even when she’s done, she’s not done

first, she’ll get you comfy into bed, lying down on your back

she’ll grab that stone she uses to massage her face, the gua sha

she absolutely swears by it and credits it to her killer jawline

and she’ll lightly massage your face with it while you fall asleep

it’s the epitome of relaxation, especially when she rubs it over your jaw and does little circle motions at the end

she’ll lay down with you when she’s done and you’ll usually turn over to spoon her, pressing your face to rest between her shoulders

behold, it’s bnha night! inbox is ready for requests..

#mha x reader #bnha x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo fluff #bakugo headcanon #kirishima x reader #kirishima fluff #kirishima headcanon #kaminari x reader #kaminari fluff #kaminari headcanon #ashido x reader #ashido fluff #ashido headcanon #tommybaholland

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17yearcicada · 2 years

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anyway, MY opinions on frankenstein (aka the correct ones):

victor's actions are bad and he's a rich kid but a) he was like 20 when everything went down, b) he doesn't actually seem to hate or have a bad opinion of the people he's hurt in his life, c) i like pathetic men and mad scientists

victor does seem to care for elizabeth, but definitely not in a romantic way. they are Family

there are many ways you could describe victor and the creature's relationship and i think all of them provide an interesting perspective. lovers is pretty weird though i would only accept that in VERY loose adaptations. the incest undertones are just a bit too weird otherwise lol

i'm more ambivalent on the creature's morality but i think he fully knew what he was doing was Wrong, at least. it really bothers me when people try to make the creature stupider that he actually is to excuse what he did like i promise he's sympathetic enough already

if you genuinely, like, hate either of them die actually

there were a couple "right" answers on the adaptation questions i was mostly just judging you if you liked a stupid one. lots of victor frankenstein (2015) fans on tumblr, i'm learning

i don't necessarily take issue with calling the creature adam (especially in speculative works where he kind of needs a name) i can just tell that you're a Certain Type Of Guy if you do. if you call him a monster die alone

victor did NOT make the creature out of dead bodies i feel SO strongly about this. my proof is a) he was eight feet tall but had normal proportions (iirc) and b) it took victor several months to make him & considering the fact he wasn't doing anything else i think it's more likely he had to start from scratch.

i will admit i like creature designs where he's stitched together i am not immune to good character design

my main purpose behind the bride of frankenstein question was that a lot of people on tvtropes really wanted the bride to be completed/elizabeth to be reanimated, apparently. i don't have super strong feelings about this that question was mostly just a poll

also YES i know i didn't include every possible nuance in the answers. this is a uquiz i made in like an hour get off my back

(also anyone with two braincells can tell it's a Nuanced situation, so i was worried everyone would just pick that answer if i included it and i couldn't Judge them properly.)

#so many people being pissy in the notes like shouldn't have had bad opinions then 😐!!#i admit the way the it was set up made it easy to get the bad result even if you only chose like 3 bad answers but #most people had bad opinions anyway so i don't feel that bad #.txt

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anika-ann · 3 years

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Attached: The One Word

The Three Times Steve Didn’t Get to Hear the One Word He Wanted and the One Time He Did

Type: series, modern-college-professor Steve AU… aka the wrong attachment AU ;)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 7700 👀

Summary: In which Steve really, really wants to ask you the question, but the odds are always against him – absurdly so. Maybe it’s fate and he shouldn’t ask. Or maybe the universe just hates him and punishes him for tainting a girl like you and wanting you all for himself officially.

Warnings: lots of swearing, crack-ish, briefest smut so 18+ only please, sickness and fluff

A/N: I say this to you, my friends – I do not at all envy men in a heterosexual relationship for being expected to pop the question. I would chicken out every time, I’m sure of it. Enjoy!

Story masterlist

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Steve liked to think important things through. He liked planning. He liked to have all the facts and view things from different angles before making a decision.

Therefore, wanting to marry you was something he was perfectly certain of and two months after he received your mother’s blessings – two months of slowly reducing costs, preparing to lower incomes, not that they had ever been glorious ever –, Steve had a feeling that the time was finally right and that he was ready to pop the question. He was.

The only problem was that the universe started plotting against him.

Big time.

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Palmeri was a relatively new restaurant, but quickly gaining reputation. Steve had heard Carol talking about taking her girlfriend there for the fun of trying a new spot and getting a taste of fancy Italian. Clearly that had a good time; the moment he learned, he started considering it. Two days later, he had to make a reservation for a week later, because the word of the delicious food travelled fast.

That was fine with him, even if he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin before the date finally arrived. Still, he advertised the fact to you that he would like to celebrate your early wrapped up exams already foreshadowing that you would obviously slayed the one you were supposed to have a day prior Friday.

When you heard the name of the restaurant, your eyes twinkled like fairy lights, a squeal of delight escaping your lips before they swiftly found his to kiss him crazy. Steve’s heart thundered in his chest as you ran off back to your books with newly-found motivation, his nerves mingling with the satisfaction that you appreciated his idea – even if you couldn’t have no clue about what he was about to do.

He could only hope that you’d be as delighted at him sinking to one knee.

But he would have to get out of this fucking interfaculty meeting FIRST!

“Seeing as the satisfaction of the students apparently took a nose dive according to the university poll last month…” Fury continued rambling, his serious and mildly snarky voice carrying through the conference room, as if mocking Steve who anxiously eyed the clock, again.

The reservation was for seven thirty.

It was five to seven.

Half an hour ago, Steve hated the idea of not taking a shower and looking his absolute best while proposing to you.

Now? Every option looked better than this. He would arrive to the restaurant all sweaty and catching his breath if he took off right this moment. And even that seemed impossible; president Fury, that son of a bitch, was nowhere close to ending the meeting.

51 weeks. 51 Fridays Fury could have called the meeting.

Nope, that bastard picked this one, the one Friday Steve was planning on sweeping you off your feet and asking you to be his for the rest of your lives.

Fucking asshole.

“Got anything to add, Professor Rogers?” a gruff voice asked him and Steve jumped in his chair and nearly dropped the phone he was pulling out of his pocket to text you with his deepest regrets – but he had to, otherwise you’d already be on your way.

Best if he saved you the embarrassment; best if you stayed home at least, all dolled up and pretty and smiling for him to show off.

Goddammit fuck.

Steve’s eyes snapped to Fury, meeting a glare that seemed even sterner with only one functioning eye.

Steve gritted his teeth and determinedly gripping his phone.

“No,” he shot back, biting his cheek when Fury’s eyebrow rose at his snappy tone. “I mean… I need to make a phone call. If you’d excuse me, it will be just a minute.”

Likely story. He would have to be apologizing for at least three minutes straight and then crawl on his knees when he finally got back home; not because you’d be so unforgiving and angry, but because it would be the right thing to do after disappointing your precious heart.

He was about to make you sad. He fucking hated making you sad.

“Make it three tops,” the president grumbled, but luckily didn’t pry what was so important for him to leave the room.

“Stevie!” your bright voice greeted him from the speaker and Steve’s heart seized in his chest, his fist automatically clenching in anger. He was about to crush you because of a dumb-ass useless meeting. He brought the fist to his mouth to stop himself from greeting you equally delighted way and fleeting the university grounds. “I’m just about to take off! I was getting worried you wouldn’t make it. Did Fury give you a hard time? … Steve?”

Steve, much to his horror, found his eyes prickling with tears of frustration as his name on your lips sounded suddenly unsure.

Fuck. This.

“Hey babygirl,” he said finally and the roughness of his voice must have been everything you needed to hear to understand.

“You can’t make it.”

Steve wanted to tear his hair out at the defeat in your voice. Talk about a nose dive of your mood. He was gonna fucking scream.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered instead, the apology so pathetic in comparison to what he wanted to say.

But that was the irony – you couldn’t even begin to guess how much it sucked for the two of you to not being able to go to the damn Palmeri. You didn’t know the main tragedy, only a part of it. You didn’t know he had been about to propose.

Silence stretched between the two of you and Steve tilted his head back, blinking against the sting in his eyes, his stomach sinking to his feet.

“It’s not your fault,” you sighed eventually, sounding as if you were trying to convince him as much as yourself.

Steve could imagine precisely the disappointment on your face, the fall of your expression, pretty features no doubt having been accented by make-up just the right amount twisting. He could see clearly how your lips made for smiles turned downward, lower lip maybe even trembling a bit.

Steve was gonna murder Fury.

“But it is. I’m so sorry, I know how excited you were and so was I and— I’m just really sorry.”

“I know, Steve,” you breathed out weakly and he could hear the attempt of a smile in your next words. “Come home soon, yeah? I’ll wait for you.”

Steve’s heart grew in size so rapidly it actually hurt.

“I love you, sweetheart. I know--- I know you might not wanna hear it now and that it doesn’t mean much, but I really do,” he creaked.

“It does. Bye, Steve.”

Steve’s fingers clutched at the phone, eyes falling shut in defeat.

You were nice about it, sure, but the fact that you didn’t say I love you back didn’t escape him as didn’t the switch from Stevie to Steve; the subtle hints sat heavily in his gut as he returned to the room.

He met Bucky’s compassionate gaze – of course Buck knew about why Steve was distracted during the assembly – and quickly looked away, once again excusing himself for the interruption even if there was nothing sincere about his words.

His chest ached for the rest of the meeting – and would for the rest of the night.

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He did not come home soon – in fact, it was nearing eleven when he finally opened the door, trying to make no sound when he found the apartment plunged into dark. He grimaced, jaw clenching; you were already asleep.

A fresh surge of anger shot into his veins; the university hated him, he was certain of it – and the other way around. He had missed his shot because of a meeting that was literally about nothing. Fuck his life.

He grumbled, the only sound he allowed himself to make when moving around the apartment, switching the dimmest light he could as not to wake you – because disappointing you was enough, the least he could do was not to disturb your sleep.

Frustrated, tired and hungry, he tiptoed to the kitchen to grab a bite. He was starving and even though he was exhausted and craved nothing but to wrap his arms around you and sink into the cushions, he knew hunger would wake him up a few hours later if he went to bed with an empty stomach.

Upon opening the fridge, a surprise welcomed him; a ham & cheese sandwich ready on a plate, a small Tupperware box with pieces of tomatoes and cucumber on side, a sticky note simply reading ‘Stevie’.

His breath got stuck in his throat, heart hammering in his ribcage – that was how moved he was by your gesture. He knew that you must have been as upset as you had been excited to have the fancy dinner with him, but here you were, pushing your sorrows and anger aside and preparing him food, a possible olive branch.

The sandwich was nothing fancy by any means; but God, Steve loved you just a little bit more at that moment for he didn’t have to move a finger to eat so late and you even took care to set his vegetables aside, because you knew how much he hated when the bread got squishy with the juice.

Gratefully biting into his late-night meal, Steve swore to himself he would spend the rest of his life spoiling you rotten.

When he finally got to cautiously cuddle you from behind – eyeing the absolutely stunning dress you were supposed to wear hanging outside the closet as if there to mock him – you stirred at the dip of the mattress.

Lazily blinking your eyes open, you welcomed him with a raspy hey and he had a half mind to just take the ring from the safety of its velvet box and slip it on your finger right there.

“I’m sorry, babygirl. I’m so so sorry,” he whispered, tentatively wrapping his arm around your midsection, unsure if he wasn’t in disgrace after all. You just hummed and rolled over to face him, burying your face in his chest, heavy limbs wrapping around him as if you were an octopus – the most adorable, precious, beautiful and perfect octopus in the world. His octopus. “I love you so much. I promise to make it up to you.”

“Uh-huh. Looking forward to it. Now sleep,” you mumbled to Steve’s sleepshirt, half-grumpy half-sounding as if not caring for what he was saying at all, causing him to feel warm all over.

Oh he was so going to show you just how he could make it up to you. He would marry the shit out of you.

Just you wait.

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Because of a water incident, Palmeri closed three days after Steve’s first failed attempt – and assumptions were that it would remain so for a month, because they needed to redecorate.

That meant a new plan for Steve, because he could not wait that long. Out of question. He needed to hear you say yes as soon as possible. Yesterday had been too late.

So, he asked Sam for a recommendation – casually, he believed – and somehow ended up with the man looking at him for a few seconds before realization dawned on his face.

“Oooooh, I see how it is! Need something real nice, huh?” Sam whistled, a teasing grin on his face as he patted Steve’s shoulder for support. “Relax, I gotcha, man. All you need; cosy atmosphere, but classy, white table cloths and everything. The right place to take her to in order to butter her up and make her all putty.”

Steve didn’t manage to quite hide his embarrassment at being so obvious, but he knew that Sam was a friend and all his shit-talking was good-natured, always knowing where the boundaries were; he wasn’t a counsellor for nothing.

And Steve had to give it to him – the place he recommended was just what he promised it would be and exactly what Steve needed.

You were all smiles and some giggles, little tipsy on the second glass of the wine, eyes shining in the dim lights, somehow lighting up more whenever you caught him staring at you. It was the perfect display of all the good things you were, ones he adored about you, the light of his life and gazing at him as if he was yours too.

Downing some of the liquid courage himself and with you so gorgeously giddy, Steve felt his confidence building up during the night and was just about ready to get on one knee once you finished your shared dessert.

“This is good!” you gushed, digging the fork if into the cake to get another bite and Steve grinned, unable to help himself as he agreed.

“Uh-huh, sweet. But not as sweet as you.”

You stopped mid-chew, eyes meeting his and he felt his face burn hot with embarrassment at such cheesy comment.

You swallowed, gaze still fixed on him as he busied himself with the sweet treat, and then you chuckled, causing his face to turn entirely red.

“You, Steve Rogers, are so corny sometimes,” you mocked him lightly, but when he looked up, sheepish and with his confidence bruised, he found you all starry-eyed still, watching him adoringly as if he hung the moon – and he would, for you – and Steve felt himself settle again. “But I still love you. Maybe even more for that.”

It was a wonderful opening, things really going his way – but he hesitated a second too long, like an idiot, and the next thing he knew, a string quartet, a damn string quartet, walked straight to the elderly couple two tables over, one of the group congratulating them to their thirtieth anniversary and at that moment…

Well. At that moment, Steve really fucking hated them.

Who fucking cared they were a sweet elderly couple?! Steve could only dream about you two becoming them one day as of now, because they ruined just another of his fucking shots!

He couldn’t believe that he missed his window again.

And what more, you cooed under your breath, a silent aww falling from your lips and Steve knew that anything less than a string quartet accompanying a marriage proposal when delivered in a restaurant was a no-go.

So scratch that one off the list.

All guests clapped their hands, more of awws coming from different directions and you proceeded to take his hand, gentle fingers stroking over his knuckles and Steve knew one thing with absolute certainty; he needed to propose tonight otherwise he might burst.

At home then, he would ask you at home. Who even wanted something as cliché and public as he had planned? Lame. You were a private pair, some people still judged you upon seeing you together; a little intimate proposal in your home after a fancy sweet dinner would be just the thing.

Steve just had to figure how exactly and at what moment to ask. He’d be fine. You’d say yes. Right?

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts and plans that he barely noticed you growing skittish during the taxi ride, but he certainly noticed when you started practically jumping by his side as he was unlocking the door to your apartment, confused by your antics.

The second Steve opened it and stepped inside, he found himself being shoved back-first towards a wall, your hands on his chest, sliding up and down his coat and blindly undoing the buttons as your mouth assaulted his, a soft mewl vibrating against his lips, wandering hands appreciative when they slipped under the lapels of his coat and jacket.

Steve’s head spun at the display of desire, a sudden pleasant dizziness overtaking his body, all rational thoughts vaporizing as you rocked against his crotch, his cock twitching in excitement at the friction and at the way his tongue had to fight against yours. His brain grew foggy at the faint taste of wine and the cake you had shared, his hands automatically grabbing your waist to keep you close, fingers squeezing your hips and ass to urge you closer when he rolled his hips against yours, eliciting needy moans from your lips-

You withdrew for just a second to catch your breath, lips skimming over his jaw, revelling at the feel of his beard on your skin he knew you loved, hasty words whispered into his flesh.

“Dammit, Steve, you look so fucking hot in this suit--- oh Stevie,” you whimpered when his hands slipped under your backside to tease your clothed weeping core, the sensation setting his blood on fire, the delicious friction and your dirty mouth everything that mattered in the world. “Let me suck you off-“

Steve nearly choked on his own spit upon hearing that, almost losing his balance with his legs turning into jelly and all his blood rushing into his dick.

Yeah, Steve might be a professor but he was a simple guy.

When his girl, in those stunning hot as hell dress begged him to let her get on her knees to blow his dick and his mind, he really couldn’t find himself refusing, the coil in his belly searing hot by the time you looked up at him from under your eyelashes, so pretty, doe-eyed, lips kiss-swollen and willing and so fucking devilish as you freed his cock and licked the drop of precum already forming there.

“Fuck, babygirl, what’s gotten into you-“ was all he managed to ask before all he could think off was the velvety heat of your mouth, taking him all in and making him see stars, the jewellery box in the pocket of his coat long forgotten.

And fuck was also his first coherent thought in the morning, when he realized that once again, the proposal attempt ended up being an utter failure.

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Steve had established after his two and half failed proposals that he wouldn’t make any reservations in some dumb restaurant. Just no. Privacy it would be; something personal, accompanied with a simple and yet big enough gesture, him doing something just for you, following with words of you being his world or something.

Yeah.

And for once, it seemed that the universe that had seemed to hate him, finally started playing in his favour.

The weather was going crazy, sun and spring in a middle of February and Steve had a revelation – he was going to take you out for a picnic. It was going to be perfect; he’d take you outside the city, find a quiet corner, just you and him, nothing in your way and more importantly, in his way to pop the question.

Steve was certain that you’d prefer this to anything else anyway, loving when he made an effort to create something for you. He still remembered when you first discovered he enjoyed drawing and you practically melted into a puddle when you found drawings of yourself too, allegedly displaying you prettier than you were – as if.

So, picnic it was.

Except on Friday, the day before THE DAY, Steve woke up with a splitting headache, his whole body hurting, nose full and lungs as if stuffed with cotton wool. He blamed the crazy weather, but it didn’t really matter where this sickness came from – he felt like shit.

He groaned and downright punched the alarm on his phone, startling you awake.

With bleary gaze, he registered you rolling over in his arms, squirming at him sleepily as he let his eyelids slip shut again.

“Steve, hun, are you okay?” you asked him softly, voice husky as he loved to hear it when you woke up, too adorable for him to keep his hands off you.

He sure as fuck wasn’t thinking about sweet and filthy morning loving now; he would have coughed out his lungs if he tried to move too much and some parts of him might fall off judging by how much everything hurt.

“Yeah,” he rasped, throat scratchy at the single word and as if from a distance, he heard a noise of sympathy, your palm instantly finding his forehead, gentle touch soothing against his burning skin.

“You’re absolutely not okay. Stevie, you’re burning up,” you whispered compassionately and Steve blinked his eyes open, the little light in the room causing him to snap them close again immediately. Ouch.

“Fuck my liiiiife,” he groaned, prolonging the last syllable, which proved to be a wrong thing to do, sending him into a couching fit due to his scratchy throat.

Your hands roamed his shoulders and back as he rolled over to his side from you, hoping to suck in some air to continue coughing.

“Oh Stevie, I’m sorry. I’ll bring you some medicine when I’m back from school, yeah? And I’ll make some soup,” you assured him kindly, dropping a kiss to his shoulder before your pleasant warmth disappeared, leaving him too cold and hot at the same time.

Seriously. FUCK HIS LIFE.

Grunting, he fell to his back, exhausted by one stupid coughing fit, whole body heavy; and he must have fallen asleep too, because the next thing he knew, soft lips were touching his forehead, tender fingers brushing messy strands of hair away. He stirred, forcing his eyes open to be greeted by a sight of that angelic face of yours, complete with a halo of light around you.

“I already called Bucky. He’ll sort out your classes today, alright? There’s a tea on your nightstand along with some last Tylenol we have.”

Steve squinted in the direction of the piece of furniture you mentioned and sure enough, there it was, everything you said it would.

What a pretty dutiful nurse you were. God, he loved you.

As he eyed you then, deep sense of longing settled in his swimming stomach, more so as he didn’t miss the gorgeous thermo leggings and long sweater hugging your figure, reaching your mid-thighs.

All Steve wanted was to pull you back to him so he had a human furnace in bed with him, the soothing smell of your shampoo to comfort him – even though he probably wouldn’t be able to smell it. But his hands would still be able to explore your delicious body, grope and hold it close to his and you could maybe ramble about everything and anything, lulling him to sleep.

But no, you were leaving to school, leaving him alone in the apartment.

Just him, himself and his fucking flu.

He eyed you wistfully, lips pursed at your concerned expression.

“When you’ll be back?”

The wrinkle between your brows smoothened, a smile playing in the corner of your mouth.

“I have class until eleven. I see what I can do. I’m gonna have to hit the pharmacy and make some shopping,” you explained patiently, casing Steve to groan. Too long. So so long… Your smile widened, another kiss landing on his temple this time. “But I’ll be back before you know it. Get some rest, Professor Rogers.”

Your teasing tone made him growl, the action effectively sending him into another coughing fit and through glassy eyes, he saw you disappear from the room with one last glance over your shoulder.

Steve closed his eyes and breathed in deeply – oh, the delicious air – and then buried himself in the covers, praying that a decent sleep would make him feel better.

It didn’t, not quite. What did make him feel much better was the Tylenol and the sirup you brought along.

The absolute best was when you were there for him to cuddle you to sleep in the evening; somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that he was being a giant baby and was being utterly ridiculous, but God help him, this was all he needed the whole day.

He sighed blissfully as he hugged your midsection while you were sitting propped on the back-rest, soft light from the nightlamp illuminating the pages of the book you were reading. You were warmth, the gentle kind and Steve felt you seeping into him, fingers of one hand raking through his hair; he felt himself getting high on your loving care and cough sirup.

“I love having you here,” he muttered into the fabric of your pyjama, feeling you shift in your position a little, probably as you looked at him.

“Yeah?” you asked, sounding as if you were smiling, maybe even laughing at him; but he couldn’t care less, already drifting off to sleep, just content to have you.

“You’re warm and nice… and the prettiest nurse. And I love you. You’re my everything.”

“Oh Stevie,” you cooed sweetly, kissing the crown of his head and he preened at the sensation, smiling lazily. “I love you too.”

His heart skipped a beat as he nuzzled into your flesh and heard you gently toss the book away, your other hand now caressing his cheek.

“Yeah? Will you always be here? I want you to always be with me,” he admitted sheepishly, drawing a soft giggle and earning a kiss on his forehead.

“God, you’re adorable like this…”

Steve grunted, discontent with your reaction. “Not an answer.”

“I’ll always be here if you want me to, Stevie,” you answered dutifully, causing warmth fill his chest even if your body was shaking with hushed laughter; he felt it, but didn’t care. For your words however, he did; phew, as if he ever wanted something else, as if you had the right to question that!

He really needed to propose soon… just not tomorrow. You’d probably say no if he asked you, blaming his request on the fever. Naively.

“I wanna,” he mumbled, trying to squeeze you tighter. “Mine. My pretty girl. My babygirl. Forever.”

“Forever is a long time,” you noted, smile once again lacing your voice, along with an emotion, oh so soft one, he didn’t have the capacity to identify anymore. “But that’s what it’ll be if that’s what you want.”

Finally satisfied and with determination in the back of his mind, Steve let your love bridge him over to the dreamland, distantly aware of your fingers still playing with his hair.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Steve’s mother used to say his that flu lasted a week under a doctor’s care; and seven days without it. Of course, when he was younger with many health issues, it was more complicated than that, but he got the message.

Under your care, he felt considerably better after five days, only a mild case of a runny nose remaining. On a Thursday morning, he even found himself awake before you did, before your alarm went off.

Contemplating whether he should stay in bed with you or get shit done, he lazily scooped away a bit and propped himself on his elbow to feast his eyes on his pretty nurse.

Your hair was a messy halo around your head, your brows were lightly crooked as if you were having an unpleasant dream, your lips parted just a fraction, the softest snort escaping you.

Steve felt himself grin, a love-sick lift of the corners of his lips.

You were so freaking cute.

And seeing you, relaxed, but clearly catching up with sleep to beat your exhaustion to which he abundantly contributed, he knew he couldn’t stay in bed; in fact, he had to make you breakfast to bed, for all the troubles he put you through and for the attentive care you lavished him with.

Sure, when he was getting overly needy and whiny or cranky, you weren’t shy to call him out on his shit – which only made him love you more – but otherwise you were admirably patient.

As if he hadn’t already known that you were a keeper before that; this only solidified his conviction. If everything about you didn’t scream put a ring on it, then he wasn’t Steven Grant Rogers.

Hell, he had a half-mind to propose you just at that moment, all domestic atmosphere and sweet gesture like breakfast in bed, but he wasn’t certain it wouldn’t look like the past few days were what pushed him over the edge. That would only be a half-truth--- quarter-truth?

Shaking his head at his own dumb thoughts, he gathered the pancakes, yogurt, various pieces of fruit and obviously, a coffee, laying it on a tray he had nearly forgotten he owned and tiptoed to the bedroom, honestly surprised that you hadn’t woken up yet with him fumbling around.

He stopped dead in his tracks when you sighed and stirred, rolling over and stretching out a hand as if in a search for him, only to find the space empty. Something between a hum and a damn meowl fell from your lips and Steve had to remind himself what it was he wanted to do besides trying his best to find out how exactly he could make you repeat that sound.

So precious. Absolutely adorable. Beautiful. Tempting.

You clutched the empty sheets, but didn’t wake and Steve crossed the distance to the bed, carefully setting the tray on the nightstand as he went to sit on the bed next to your waist, a dopy smile on his face.

Laying a hand on your thigh, he squeezed a little, attempting to wake you gently; he knew you got jumpy when something tickled your face, so this was the safer option.

You stirred once again, but didn’t wake, your eyes only fluttering open when he called your name a few times, alternating with your favourite term of endearment.

You squinted at him, appearing confused and groaning. Steve grinned.

“Morning, sunshine,” he hummed, finally allowing himself to run the pads of his fingers from your forehead to your cheek and jaw, leaning into drop a kiss to your lips.

He froze, his brain on alert as he registered how hot your face felt.

The faint snoring. Squinting against light. Not waking up sooner than him. Your face pretty much burning to touch.

Oh no.

“Babygirl… are you feeling sick?” Steve whispered hesitantly, met with a bleary gaze and a pout.

“Wasn’t feeling great even yesterday evening…” you said, voice hoarse – whether from sleep or the flu Steve had managed to infect you with, he couldn’t tell.

But he certainly felt guilty, even if it was inevitable, really; with all you sweet care and constant proximity, it was only a matter of time. Not that it made him feel any better.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry-“

“Not your fault-“

“Kinda is-“

“Steve dammit!” you hissed, your eyes flying open fully and Steve knew what was coming; still, he grimaced as you coughed. “Shit. I hate flu.”

“Tell me about it. You think you can eat something?” he fussed, snapping into his nurse mode right away, ready for your roles to reverse.

You hummed and tried to sit, your gaze falling on the nightstand for the first time. Your expression, having been twisted in a grimace, softened instantly. As you turned to him, he suddenly felt sheepish. Was he acting like a love-sick fool?

“You made me breakfast to bed?” you cooed, snuggling into the covers before gesturing for him to help you sit up. “You’re the best.”

“I’ll be better if I make you some tea to go with it… and bring cough sirup… and stuff, yeah?”

You smiled like a loon – well, you tried, the result kinda faint, a testimony to your exhaustion – and Steve quickly rose to his feet.

“You’re the best.”

“Nope, that’s you. Eat your breakfast, babygirl.”

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Steve could tell you still didn’t feel exactly alright and the idea of eating wasn’t thrilling to you, but the pleaser you were, you tried your best for him to see that you appreciated his effort to make breakfast. When he brought you the tea, the medicine and water to down it, you were hallway through the pancakes, even though you seemed to force yourself into every bite.

“You don’t have to make yourself sicker just because you feel like you have to eat this, you know,” he hummed nonchalantly, causing you to grimace and take another two bites before sighing and pushing the tray away.

“It’s really yummy though… I think,” you stated, a wry smile playing in one corner of your lips. “Thank you.”

And you sounded so honestly grateful, clearly attempting for the smile to look real even with your eyes blazed and your features undeniably displaying tiredness, that Steve had to chuckle as he handed you the pills.

“Glad you liked it, sweetheart.”

You went to drop a careful kiss to his cheek when a coughing fit took you by surprise, starling him and resulting in you clutching both your chest and head, wide hurt eyes looking up at him as he smiled, tight-lipped and compassionate; he knew exactly how you felt.

And you were still kinda adorable, pouting a bit, looking at Steve as if he could save you from the evil flu monster.

“I hate flu… but I really like you. Thank you for taking care of me,” you said sincerely, emphasizing your point with an obviously unplanned sneeze.

Steve lips twitched, but so did his heart. His hands went to caress your hair, earning a pleased hum.

“Just returning the favour.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t think I was that nice.”

“You were,” he assured you, feeling need to add a little piece of important information, just to show how much he meant it. “Just made me fall in love with you all over again.”

“Sweet-talker. I bet that’s all gone now, seeing me about to go through a box of tissues a day,” you chuckled weakly, nearly sinking into the cushions.

Steve wasn’t sure what was it he was suddenly overcome with; how or in which exact moment it sneaked into his conscience, a crazy insane thought and the untameable feeling in his gut that nudged him to do it.

To do it right now. To tell you, truly and from the depth of his heart, how much you meant to him. How much he was sure you always would.

“No, it’s not. I want to take care of you,” he whispered, hesitantly taking a hold of your slightly clammy hands and gently squeezing. You reciprocated the action, even if weakly.

“I want to take care of you and I want you to take care of me. I want to have you by my side every day, in our home, in our bed,” he continued, for once not talking only about different ways of making you moan his name when mentioning a bed. “I want to kiss you stupid whenever I get the chance, I want to laugh with you when you’re happy and hold you when you feel like crap. I want us to fight the whole world if they tell us that our love is wrong, because I know there’s nothing more right than me loving you and you loving me.”

The words spilled from his lips without much thinking, just one following other, somehow making sense, he hoped.

The strange buzz of nerves in his ears was so loud that he barely registered you breathed out his name.

“Steve-“

His eyes never left your face, watching it crumble under the weight of his declaration, already glassy eyes turning wetter, breathing ragged almost as much as his was from the rapid fire of words. Your lips parted in beautiful awe, that beautiful awe he had seen before, whenever you seemed to be shocked by how deep his need for you ran.

There was no questioning what should come next. Only half-aware of doing so, Steve had already prepared the ground.

“Stay right here,” he blurted out, giving your hands another quick squeeze before straightening rapidly and nearly tripping over his feet as he rushed towards his desk, opening the third drawer. Your voice, laced with both confusion and overwhelming emotion, followed him.

“I- I’m not going anywhere. What’s-“

“Sh-shh,” Steve hissed distractedly and took a deep breath as his fingers finally met with the box, gripping it tightly and his palm covering it as he stalked back to the bed, heart hammering in his ribcage.

This was the right moment, right? It seemed ridiculous, but god, so so right.

“You’re lucid, right?” he asked just to make sure, wavering only for a bit; you might be sick, even have a headache maybe, but you certainly appeared lucid enough a moment ago. But maybe that would be the reason you’d say no?

Shit, he felt like teenager about to ask his first crush to sit with him at lunch.

“I—I think? I’m just hella confused…“ you stuttered, causing his already wild heart to skip a beat upon hearing the nerves in your voice.

Your eyes, wide with confusion and yet slightly narrow because light hurt, watched Steve carefully as he dropped to his knees by your bedside and he didn’t think he ever saw you looking more endearing.

Steve had never been more certain of the fact that he wanted you to be his wife; and yet, and maybe precisely because of that, a lump formed in his throat. He took a deep calming breath, bracing himself.

“I love you. I love your mind, your body, your soul and everything that’s you and I—I think you’re the most wonderful woman I have ever met and had the luck to fall for. So I…”

With another heartskip, loud pounding in his head and maybe a tiny bit of a shake to his hands, he rose to only one knee, not missing your expression turning into a picture perfect of shock when he held out the box he had been thinking about for too long.

“Oh my god, Steve-“

“Please let me do this,” he whispered, barely audible, mostly because while you seemed absolutely stunned, you didn’t look angry or horrified, so he sensed a chance.

“I’m running a fever, my nose is running too and I’m--- ew all over-“ you protested weakly, a tear actually running down your cheek, but then you chuckled, a hand flying up to cover your mouth and Steve felt his confidence rise.

“You’re not, and even if you were I wouldn’t care. You’re my everything and wish nothing more than to make you mine officially.” Unable to wait any longer under you attentive and entirely adoring gaze, he opened the box and said your full name, nearly choking on it under the overwhelming joy of the moment – because he already knew. He knew what you were gonna say; you had it written all over you face. “Will you marry me?”

Steve knew. He was so sure that he knew--- and yet. Yet. As the silence prolonged, lasting seconds, minutes even – hours, it must have been – Steve felt the nervous coil in his gut twist painfully.

He watched you with torturous anticipation as you were; semi-sat up on a bed, hurting, probably beginning to sweat through your pyjama and drinking chamomile tea to get rid of the bug you had caught from him, and here he was, proposing.

In sickness and health indeed; and in some absurd way, this all made perfect sense to him… well, it had, a minute ago.

You looked like a million thoughts were racing through your head, and Steve felt his heart sink to his stomach. What if you truly were thinking he was crazy-

“Yes,” you said at last and Steve released the breath he was holding, endlessly relieved, the heaviness weighting a ton finally falling from his shoulders. Oh Chirst, thank fuck—he really had been getting worried- “Yes, I-“

Relief blended into delight as he heard you speak the beautiful word again.

Yes. Yes, you wanted to be his wife.

Yes, you wanted to marry him!!

An incredulous chuckle spilled from his lips and he tossed the box on the bed, swiftly moving up and grabbing your face to kiss you stupid as he wanted and had said that he always would.

You made a startled noise, but you giggled too, grasping onto his shoulders and his nape and kissing back with all you got—and then you were pulling away, fighting for breath, because flu, duh, he needed to be careful with you, but-

You agreed to marry him!

Keeping you as close as possible while allowing you to breathe, his eyes happily roamed your face, so pretty and adorable and the knowledge of him being able waking up next to that face for the rest of his life sent his heart into frenzy, sparkles of pure joy filling his chest.

“I love you! Thank you, babygirl,” he exclaimed, kissing you once more, a short but intense encounter of lips that caused you to giggle again—but he didn’t give a shit if he was being ridiculous. Your eyes, even if tired, seemed to glow now, happy twinkles dancing in your irises, telling him you were just as excited and delighted as he was. “Thank you-“

“You’re so crazy-“ you mumbled, dropping a kiss to his shoulder as you still shook with laughter and Steve simply climbed on the bed fully, wrapping you in his arms tightly.

He could sing at how you fit into his arms.

“I am. For you.”

“I can’t believe you proposed to me while I’m lying sick on a bed,” you mumbled over his shoulder, sounding as if you were complaining a little.

“In sickness and health?” he offered nervously, holding you tighter just in case you were going to back out now. Which was not an option.

He had to physically put the ring on your finger. Right now. Then you wouldn’t be able to change your mind.

In the back of his brain, an annoying voice told him that this was not how it worked, that there was no guarantee. But Steve shushed that voice and withdrew only enough to reach for the box and with a grin so wide he could feel his cheeks hurt from the strain, he took a hold of your left hand, slipping the ring on.

He didn’t miss the way your breath caught and he didn’t think the flu was to blame for that; the ring looked lovely on your hand. And Steve was a smidge proud of how he managed to make it fit perfectly.

“Steve… the ring-”

“You don’t like it?” he worried in an instant as he detected a new emotion in your voice.

You went to lightly slap his shoulder, rolling your eyes – an action you apparently regretted by the silent groan that followed; just another reminded of your sickness.

“Shush, you dummy. It’s--- breath-taking, but-“ you bit down on your lower lip, clearly hesitant to speak your mind and Steve didn’t find it at all comforting that you said you did like then ring. Not with the but. You sounded almost guilty, which was… strange. “But must have been so expensive and we still haven’t really-“

Oh. Oh.

Steve felt his lips spread back into a smile.

His sweet, sweet girl, responsible and perfect. He hated the reminder of your father’s behaviour, of the fact that you were ashamed on his behalf and felt guilty.

Steve didn’t want that.

“If I tell you it wasn’t, will you be mad?” he offered, watching carefully for your reaction, and your thoughtful expression turned into a confused one.

“Wasn’t?“

“I just had it cleaned and re-sized.”

You blinked, eyelids heavy, and tilted your head in bewilderment—melting into a brief panic and Steve realized what must have crossed your mind.

His stomach clenched in horror at you even considering it. You might have thought it was meant for another woman from his life.

Which it was, but not the way you thought!

“It was my ma’s!” he blurted out in panic, causing you to flinch a bit in fright of his suddenly louder voice. Steve shook his head – he was so messing this whole proposal thing up – clearing his throat, he observed your face, now full of emotion he couldn’t read. “…is that okay?”

There were tears prickling in your eyes, no words leaving your mouth as he had managed to render you speechless and he could punch himself for making you feel whatever you were feeling.

He had to fix this, fast.

“We can absolutely pick up something else if you don’t like the idea!” he was quick to offer, his heart speeding up when you still didn’t say a word. But you didn’t seem… that mad. What was happening in your head though, that was a mystery to him. “It’s just… she always told me that it was the second most precious thing she had left after dad, right after me, and that she wants me to give it to-- please don’t cry.”

Yes, he made the tears spill. There were a few rolling down your cheeks and Steve… he was starting to recognize the emotions playing in your expression, but he couldn’t entirely put his finger on it.

Honestly, he couldn’t tell whether you were so touched by the whole inherited ring gesture or if you were hating him with your very being for ruining some picture-perfect proposal you had been dreaming about since you were five; angry and disappointed that he didn’t even have the decency to buy you your own ring.

Probably a bit of both.

“Steve, you romantic idiot, come here,” you choked out, by a miracle not coughing for once and before he could even react and let the relief sink in, you grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled hard.

You had a surprisingly a lot of strength for someone coming down with a flu – actually, being down with a flu.

He landed on you, barely catching himself before he could crush you, a surprised laugh spilling from his lips, delight once again lighting up his world.

“I love you, Steve,” you whispered, pecking his lips, fingers sinking to his hair and that moment, Steve was in heaven. “So much.”

He grinned wide, wrapping his arms around you and holding you to his chest as tight as he could, feeling both his own heartbeat and yours, tumbling happily and together.

“And I love you… future Mrs. Rogers.”

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Tied to you (next in timeline)

S.R.masterlist

Attached masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Not gonna lie. Thought of posting this in four parts of maybe at least two (3 and +1), but then I thought, screw it, let’s post 7,7k words at once. I hope you made it through all of them.

What’s coming next? I have no idea... maybe it’s who’s ‘coming’ next 👀

Thank you for reading!

214 notes · View notes

blueroan-equestrian · 4 years

Text

Natural

Eskel and oc

Warning talk of miscarriage and pregnancy slight smut

I have always been stronger than most if not all people I have ever met. I have been trained to fight by various people along my way through life. I have never met my father he died according to my mother protecting her and their unborn child aka me from some kind of monster she could not identify. She said that, and I severely doubt that he’s a Witcher from the cat school like my mother said he was. I think she’s just trying to cover up the curse she no doubtedly somehow got put on me so that I have many similarities to the Witchers.

My mother is a sorceress and raised me to be trained in it too so my aging is nonexistent and unsurprisingly so. I don’t serve any kingdom, I don’t belong to anyone but myself. I was walking around the woods collecting herbs for pain medicine, when I heard something... someone coming through the woods towards me, I climbed a tree. Not because I was afraid but rather I prefer to avoid people if I can. A man with muddy brown hair on a horse that matched the mud in his hair. ‘What was such an unkept man doing in such fine quality armor?’ I thought to myself. I followed the man with my eyes curiously, his eyes were much like my own, cat like, only his eyes were yellow and mine a deep ocean blue like my mother’s father. He kept his eyes on the path ahead of him, unconcerned with any dangers that could be around him. I watched him until he was out of sight. I climbed down from my place and finished my gathering and headed back for my current home. It was in the perfect spot on the edge of town, right next to the woods were I can find the best herbs. I had been home crushing herbs and mixing potions for a few hours when a knock could be heard at the door. I answered the door to a local who runs the local inn stammered out “He’s your kind he should stay with you!” He gestured to the handsome but dirty man or rather the Witcher from the woods.

I raised my brows, “Doubt that... what’s wrong with your inn? Full?”

“He’s not welcome.” The local man grumbled before turning and stomping off.

I roll my eyes but step aside, “Come on, it’s going to rain.” He steps in and I close the door.

“I don’t want to be a burden, I thought he was just taking me to another building apart of the inn .”

“It’s fine, he’s a rude ass bitch and I’m not going to leave you out in the rain. I just ask that you clean yourself up. I’ll show you to the wash room and then find you some clean clothes, I don’t need dirt being dragged all through out the house.”

He nods and followed me to the wash room and waited patiently for me to bring him a towel some spare clothes I had from a previous lover and soaps. I showed him where he could leave his dirty clothes and armor before I left him to bathe.

I returned to my kitchen where I continued to work on my potions and spells. I had gotten so preoccupied with my work I hadn’t noticed the Witcher had finished his bath and had stepped into the kitchen until he cleared his throat giving me a bit of a start. I look him over and with his dark wet brown hair and cleaned up appearance, he was even more ruggedly handsome man. “Oh uh Mr.....”

“Eskel, you can call me Eskel.” He smiled.

“Eskel... I’m (y/n) and let me show you the spare room and then you can roam freely about the house.”

I led him up the stairs and down the hall to the spare bed room. He nods and turns to me and says “Thank you Miss. (Y/N). Your hospitality is greatly appreciated. If there is anything I can offer or do for you, I will gladly repay your kindness.”

“There is no need for that, if you require anything I will either be in my room which is right across the hall or the kitchen where you last found me. If you are hungry, feel free to help yourself to anything in the pantry. If you’ll excuse me I need to finish my work.”

I walk back and start to finish up potions and spell work. He soon appeared in the door way, standing awkwardly “Um pantry?”

I point him to the door that is currently to my left. I mill about and he sat down with an apple in hand. “So... you’re a sorceress huh? Is that where you got your eyes?”

I turned swiftly on my heels with a snarl, “I was born with these eye! They are not an accessory to be flaunted! I don’t judge others for their decision with what they do with their own bodies but I was born perfect as is!”

He raised his eyebrows, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you... but you are a sorceress aren’t you?”

I nod cautiously still guarded, “I am...”

“So I could possibly run into you in a decade or so as if time had sat still.”

Was he... was he flirting? No he has to be talking to me like he thinks I’m some kind of loon... right? Keep calm, put on your your poker face girl, “I suppose...”

“Well l don’t want to get in your way... but uh thank you. I guess I will be going to bed...”

He went back to his room but I could still hear him due to my sharp hearing. “Way to make the girl think that you’re a creep Eskel... god I would fuck her so hard. The only thing that could better is if she had some horns to grab onto... damn way to go she wouldn’t want to touch ya with a ten foot poll now Eskel... we could have had some good times.”

He was flirting... my cheeks turn bright red at the thought of him having his way with me. I clean up and retire to bed for the night. When I woke up I went into the kitchen to make breakfast for both myself and the Witcher but I found that he had already done it. He smiled widely when he spots me, “Good morning, I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of making us breakfast.”

“You cook?” I asked surprised, I wouldn’t have expected him to be able to do much more than out door survivalist type cooking.

He smiles again, “I do, just a bit.” He hands me a plate and sat down with me. We ate together, side by side.

“So are you just passing through or are you going to stay a bit?”

“Would it be wrong to say I would like to stay?”

“Not at all.”

He chuckles, “Well I was just passing through looking for work, had heard there was a bruxa problem hear but from what the man from the inn has said I have been miss informed.”

I glance at him nervous he’d find out it was me who took care of it and then get weird about it just like everyone else, “Oh? Well I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time.”

He clears the counter saying, “I wouldn’t call meeting you a waste of time.”

I smiled and we continue to flirt throughout the day till I was called out for a family with a sick son. When I came back however, I found him holding my silver sword, the one my mother had said belonged to my father... the very sword I learned to slay monsters with when needed like the Bruxa. He turned to me with fire in his eyes, “Where did you get this? This belonged to (your dad’s name)! I knew him and he was last seen with... what did you do to him?!”

He was beginning to stalk towards me and rather than backing up and explaining, I found myself ticked with him accusing me of harming a man who died before I was even born. I stomped towards him with matching animosity “He died before I was even born!” I snarled taking advantage of his ignorance and floor him before disarming him and pinning him, I throw a solid punch to jaw throwing my weight behind it causing him to groan. “You know nothing about me!” He dislodges me and it’s an all out brawl till my mother like she had been watching appeared.

“Enough! (Y/N) stop messing around and either finish him or let him go enough playing!” Mother growled.

I threw one last hard punch before shoving him away. Eskel is now watching my mother in some kind of way, “(your mother’s name) you know this woman?”

“I ought to she’s my daughter. Now why have you made a mess of my daughters house?”

“He saw the sword.” I mumbled pointing at it,

“You’re father’s sword? What happened to it?”

“He thinks I killed him for it.” I scoffed.

“Eskel,” mother says as if he hadn’t accused me of murder. “I assure you that (y/n) had nothing to do with my late husband’s death. I was pregnant with her when he died insuring that his daughter could come into this world safe and sound.”

He gives her the same look I give her when she retells the story to me, “But how?”

“Carefully planned alchemy, and a bit of luck.”

I roll my eyes but Eskel seems intrigued, “So if I ever wanted to have a child with someone I could?”

She smiles, “If that day comes you just let me know... or (y/n) I taught it to her not that she believes me. Now clean this up.”

I roll my eyes yet again and snap my fingers so that it fixes itself. We sit down and mother babbles on to Eskel until it’s late and turns to me, “Well it looks like you are doing just fine I’ll see you next time alright?”

“Okay mother see you next time...” and she’s gone.

Eskel stood up and cleared his throat, “Well I’m sorry for what I accused you of I just need to grab my things and I’ll be out of your hair.”

I get up and stretch, “don’t be stupid it’s late there is no reason to be going out. You need to sleep just like the rest of us.”

He smirks, “Damn girl you are something else.”

I smile and shake my head and without saying another word I go to bed.

I don’t see him again until a decade passed and I had moved towns.

I was gathering herbs from my personal garden when I heard him call out, “Well look who it is!”

I look up at him before returning my eyes back to my garden. Eskel leans over the fence, “What’s with the silent treatment?”

I pick up my basket and rise up with a straight face and then simply walk out of the gate and over to my house’s door pausing to look at him deadpanned and then stepped inside leaving the door open for him to follow behind me. He does and he follows me into my kitchen much like an awkward duckling, sitting at my kitchen table while I busied my hands as I tried to work out my thoughts. “...so... Why are you here? What do you want?”

He smirks and leans back, “I was just passing through... headed to Kaer Morhen for the winter but I saw you and figured maybe we could have a little fun now that we already got the awkward things that could go wrong out of the way.”

I roll my eyes, “Your here for a booty call? Such a typical male.”

“Oh come on! How can you an imortal being, be such a prude?”

“What? Okay(sarcastically) I am a prude because I won’t spread my legs for some guy I met once and spent most of the time accusing me of shit like with my eyes and with my dad’s death! Yeah total prude! Fuck you.” I chide.

He raises his brows, “Alright Alight, then why did you let me in?”

“Because! Because ... before you all I knew about my dad was that he was a Witcher from the school of the cat. That’s literally it. You put a name to it! I don’t know I was kind of hoping you could tell me about him.” I say bashfully.

He smirked “Well first and foremost, he was sterile.”

“And yet here I am.” I know I said I didn’t believe my mother but that doesn’t mean he can! Besides he didn’t question my mother so why is he now?

He paused, “Okay moving on... (y/d/n) he was... I don’t know but I know he was a good guy to get a drink with and a good guy to team up with when dealing with certain jobs.”

I look at him and I can see he’s feeling uncomfortable so I decided that would be enough for now. “Thank you... um so if you are just passing through then where’s your horse?”

He smirks, “Okay you got me there.” He shifts, “I know you’ll be mad but when I heard about where you were I couldn’t help but... well you know.”

I step closer to him, “I’ll admit I have thought about it...”

He too stepped closer so that we were only a breath away, “playing hard to get, I like that.” But then abruptly he turned and began to walk about the house like were friends or something. “Nice place, do you always settle down?”

“I only have three places and they are quite far apart.” I grumbled as I followed him about.

“Oh? Tell me about them.”

“Well... this one was where I was raised so I guess that doesn’t really count but still it’s home, then there’s the one in the Far East and that’s the one you met me and I got it because the other was the house I had with Lance and when he passed away I needed some space....”

He stops and looks at me, “Were you married?”

“Yes...I was.”

“I’m sorry for your loss...”

“Don’t be, I loved him and I knew from the start I would lose him but what can I say, he was the first to teach me to wield a sword... and I had asked a lot of people and all said no. Lance was the son of one of the men I asked, I was almost out of town when he chased me down and offered to teach me in exchange to travel with me...he was something else. Mother never liked him she didn’t want me in my father’s world but I always was.”

“I could teach you to use that silver sword you got.” He bounced his eyebrows up and down with a cheeky smile. I playfully swat at him.

After that he would stop by before he would go back to Kaer Morhen. Slowly but surely we became friends and some times with benefits.

“So did you ever have any children?” He asked.

I look at my feet, “No... I honestly don’t know if I can... I kept miscarrying.”

“I’m sorry... If it helps I can’t ever have any of my own.”

“Unless.... mother was telling the truth about my conception.”

“I knew it! You don’t believe it either. Want to try and see what happens?” I give him a look, “Oh come on, it’s not like you will get pregnant. Just a bit of fun and a bit of experimenting.”

I smirk, “Alright but if it turns out to be true you’ll be on the hook, I’m not some farm girl who can’t track your ass down.”

“You can track me down when ever you want, little one.” He practically purred (It’s the closest word to what I am trying to say but I can’t think of a better one).

I kissed him firmly and with unrestrained passion that I have never been able to do before him. “Tonight it’ll be just for practice, it takes a few hours to cure, so let’s get it going before we go to bed.” I hummed.

He stood behind me, hands on my hips as I created the supposed fertility potion.

Eskel was a dominant lover. He was the kind who liked to take you from behind. He had me with my ass in the air and face planted in the sheets, but every once in awhile he’d reach down to tug me up by my hair so he could nip at my neck only to push me back down again. He doesn’t ever finish until I have had three of the best orgasims in my life and he was a snuggler after he too came down from his high which surprised me the first time he did it.

When I woke up his arm was still wrapped firmly around me and his nose buried in my hair. He hummed happily when he realized I was awake, “Good morning little one, how are you feeling?”

“Mmmm satisfied.” I giggle as I stretched.

He smiled and turned me so that I was facing him, “Good I’m glad.” He kisses my shoulders before hopping up and walked to the door, “How about a bit of breakfast before we do some experimenting?” His eyes were dancing and his smirk seemed to have a softer meaning to it.

I smile and followed him completely bare. “What are you in the mood for I can make anything.” I hummed as we stepped into the kitchen.

“Hmmm.... surprise me.” He hummed happily.

I made us breakfast and we ate while we chatted. “So do you want kids? I mean if you truly believed this could work would you want them?” I asked.

He looks at me very serious, “Yes... I wouldn’t play at this if I didn’t. Because stranger things have happened and I am not going to nock a girl up and abandon my child. Plus we could make some beautiful babies.”

I smile, “Then let’s get started. I first find the potion I need to start my ovulation again and then handed him the potion we made the night before.

He picked me up and took me to bed, laying me down on my back, “I’m going to make love to you like never before.” He smashes lips into mine before moving down my body, kissing my skin as he moved his way down my body until he reached my most intimate place sucking and licking until he deemed me wet enough for him to enter me with ease. This was different than any other time we’ve had sex. We have only fucked before but today he was making love to me. Kissing me gently and ghosting his fingers over my stomach, “You would look so beautiful swelled up with my seed. You feel so good.”

I clawed at his back as my walls squeezed around his cock. And with one last squeal of ecstasy I reached my peak pulling him with me over the edge filling me with his seed. “Oh Eskel, is wrong that I want it take?”

Before he pulled out he rubs my belly, “I don’t want you to get your hopes up... but I would like that too.”

Eskel left a week later and I was left not knowing if I was pregnant or not. It wasn’t until my stomach started to protrude was I sure. “Lord what have I done... do I go find him now or do I just wait for him to return the following winter?”

I ended up deciding I could use portals and educated guesses to find him; and after a few failed attempts, I found him.

I stepped into the local bar where he was already pretty buzzed when he spotted me. He smiles, “Look who it is! There’s my girl!” He cheered.

I smiled at him claiming me as his even though his tongue was loose from the drink. I stepped up to him and whispered “Can we talk in private?”

He smiled widely, “I am getting lucky tonight!” The bar filled with hoots and hollers.

I roll my eyes and dragged him out, “Where are you staying at?” He stumbled to the inn and into his room and almost instantly tried to jump me. “Eskel! Eskel! Stop it.” I say as I swat at his hands.

“What’s wrong little one?” He kissed drunkenly at my head.

“I’m pregnant!” I blurt. Now that seemed to sober him up real quick.

“Your what?”

“Pregnant... it worked...” I gasp as I stepped forward reaching for his hands but he pulled away and sat down on his bed.

“I can’t believe it actually worked... now what?”

“Well I would appreciate it if you came to stay with me until the end of the pregnancy... I can’t be alone when I miscarry this one too.”

His eyes snapped up as he looked up at me, he gets up and takes me into his arms and whispered, “You don’t know that, maybe this will be the one. Let’s go grab my horse and goat then we can go.”

“You got a goat?”

“Yeah...” he says as he gathers his minimal belongings and leads me to the stables to pick up his animals and then through a portal back to my childhood home.

The larger my stomach grew the more protective Eskel became and the more I held my breath waiting for it all to fall apart. But I made it well into the third trimester.

“I want to call Geralt and have him bring Yennefer over. I want her to check you out again.” Eskel fussed as he “helped” me from the couch to the bathroom for the umpteenth time.

“Eskel, she checked me last week. And I can walk around myself.” I mumbled as I waddled into the bathroom.

“But she said you looked like you were ready to pop!”

“Eskel she didn’t mean it like that I have two more months. We’re having twins so my stomach has stretched out farther than it would have for one. It’s okay. I know you are scared, I am too... but we made it into the third trimester. I have never made it past the first trimester before so I think it’s safe to say that it is going to work out.” I say as I emptied the blatter the twins had been dancing on.

Eskel never stepped hovering even though we all agreed that the pregnancy was going well. And when it became time he was most definitely not ready. “Oh it’s happening what do we do?!” He asked in a panicked voice as he grasped at my shoulders.

I stood square and firm and an unwavering face, “Now you can call Yennefer. Tell her that the babies are coming and I’m going to go lay down in bed while we wait.” Yennefer came gave me something for the pain and helped me deliver the twins. I was blessed with an easy and quick labor for a beautiful baby girl and boy.

“Wow look at them they have your eyes.” He whispered.

“You said you had blue eyes as a boy maybe they are yours and look at them, they are going to look so much like you.” I coo, “come and hold them.”

He stepped back, “I can’t... what if I hurt them? They look so fragile.”

“Come take her they are like sponges they’ll be fine. Come take her, I’ll bet she will be a daddy’s girl.”

He cautiously lifted our daughter out of my arms and cradled her in his arms, “What’s their names?”

“Well I would like to name him Theo, because it means gift of god... and well he’s a gift alright.”

“And her name?”

“Why don’t you name her?”

Eskel smiles down at the baby girl in his arms, “I don’t know... I think Aiyana... eternal flower and I think it was my mother’s name.”

“It’s perfect.” I cooed.

#witcher #witcher fanfiction #witcher smut #eskel #eskel x reader #eskel fic #eskel x oc #eskel smut #eskel imagine #eskel fanfic

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daddysfangirls-marvel · 4 years

Text

Polyamorous: The Boy

Steve Rogers x reader x Bucky Barnes, Stucky x reader

warning: fluff

The party was really an excuse for Tony to turn up the music and everyone else to eat as much junk food and sugary sweets with out Steve scolding them about dieting and health. The hanging banner saying 'It's a Girl' was a nice touch putting a smile on everyone's face.

Although everyone tried to talk to her she wasn't really responsive and didn't seem comfortable with all the attention on her so they eventually just let her be sitting quietly in the corner observing everyone.

"Hey" Peter called out as he came off the elevators " Party! what for?" " A new addition to the family" (Y/n) called out as she handed him a glass of champagne and dragged him over to her " come meet my daughter. Hey, Hey, Pretty Penny this is Peter Parker aka Spider-Man-" "Dude!" "Oh please, she was going to find out anyways. Now and days he spends most of his time at college but he does come visit most weekends. Peter this is my daughter, isn't she beautiful." She blushed a bit at (Y/n) compliant " You know you guys are around the same age you're 20 she's 18. You guys are going to make good friends. Talk" And like that she introduced and left them. At first Peter didn't know what to do she just dragged him here and left him taking a small breath he took a seat across from him . " Hey, I'm Peter-Wait she just told you that. Um.... I don't think- I didn't catch your name." she shook her head " You don't want to say your name?" she shook her head again " you don't ….have a name?" she nodded " You don't have a name. Wait, you don't have a name? How does that happen?" Being away at college now left Peter out of the loop with most missions now. While he was aware there was a new female in the tower that the Avenger were taking care of it that was about it. Where is Tony did message Peter every day he never shared any information about their missions, projects, or jobs over the phone if Peter wanted to know he'd have to come find out. Seeing as she had decided to be selectively mute and showed no signs of knowing sigh language Natasha had given her a notepad and pen to make things a bit more easier for everything. She hadn't used it until now. Pulling it out she wrote 'Hydra' and showed it to him. "Hydra? they got you. I'm sorry to hear that..." Peter didn't really know what else to say he was still clueless to her situation and didn't want to talk about it in case it was sensitive topic but then again he didn't know what he could talk about " Hey, do you know Star Wars?" she shook her head 'no' and Peter gasped dramatically leaning back and clenching his chest you would have thought she told him she kicked his dog. " We need to fix that. What else don't you know?" And that started them having a long conversation, well Peter talking and her listening, about what she has missed out on what she need to know and catch up on. Peter had planned out the next five weekends with her already. He was going to educate her on pop culture and everything else nerd. "Look at them" (Y/n) whispered to Bucky as she leaned on his shoulder they both watched Peter and her in their corner ignoring the rest of the party. " They're getting along well. They're becoming friends isn't that nice." "I think you're looking too much into it he's just talking." "They're best friends now. shh don't ruin the moment" they too she creepily watched them together in their corner. Peter talking excitedly while she listened hanging on to every work. He had her full attention and (Y/n) could imagine he'd have it for a very long time. Steve came by and gave the two things a plate of cakes and sweets the conversation then switched from Stars Wars to baked goods and all she hasn't tried. "They're getting along" "That's what I said" (Y/n) said to Steve. "You're really happy aren't you" Bucky asked "Yes, Yes, I am" "Sorry to interrupt the moment then" Steve said " But I don't know how to take care of a teenager especially a girl. All the books I read were on babies. Although I'm pretty sure I read an article that said boys were bad so …-" Bucky smacked him upside the head and pulled him back before he could go torture poor Peter. "I think it's a bit early to play the protective dad card. Give it a few more months, yeah" Bucky said pulling him by his collar and into a kiss " Don't worry about it right now. Let her make friends" Polyamorous Poll Take this^ survey and choose the name and gender of the child ....or children. Her name will be revealed in the next chapter.

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odinsblog · 4 years

Note

Hello! I super appreciate this blog! Also so like. If I could ask for some advice if you have time. There’s a lady I know (she’s progressive leaning so like ???). She was like ‘Bernie always makes excuses for his losses’ and it’s like. How does she believe supporting sanitation workers, fuck billionaires, etc but also milquetoast conservadems? Like she honestly doesn’t think Bernie can beat Trump? I have literally zero clue what to think or how to respond to that? Thanks! S

@saoirse-callaghan-blog

Whew boy. I kinda sorta wanna outsource this for someone else to answer, like maybe @politicalsci or maybe @politijohn

BUT.....

Before I do that, I just want to say that when the 2016 primaries rolled around, my aunts were initially going to vote for Clinton, but I talked to them for about 15min outside of the polling place just telling them about Sanders. I even showed them a youtube video of all the stuff Bernie has been right about for the last 30 plus years. My aunts aren’t dumb, and they aren’t easily swayed once they’ve made up their minds ...... but at that point in time, they hadn’t even heard of Bernie Sanders. And I was able to convince them that Sanders was a stronger candidate against Trump and they cast their primary ballots for him.

I’m hesitant to dole out advice here because if you want to convince your friend on a personal level, there’s things about your friend and her personality that only you know - so the convo that you’re going to have might need to take on a whole different flavor than me talking to my black, over 50yrs old aunties.

I’ll be 36 this year and two things stood out to me back in 2016: all of my family and friends who were roughly 35 and under were already Sanders supporters, and they didn’t watch a lot of MSNBC. As that age gap increased, so did their support for “establishment” (aka corporate) Democrats and they were more likely to ... not be news/politics junkies like me, but they definitely were also heavier watchers of MSNBC for their source of news.

(hint: MSNBC is the neoliberal/centrist arm of the DNC, if you don’t know)

Anyway, please forgive me for not taking a minute to scoure through your blog to answer this question, but Idk if you’re white or a NBPoC. If you are, that conversation might look much more different than mine went four years ago. And if your friend is over 35 and financially well off, then there’s another variation. iMho, older people generally seem to have had the hope beaten out of them? And now they’re just happy to “pragmatically” conform to the status quo?

If I could give you one or two pieces of advice, it would be this:

1) try phone banking for Sanders. I did it for the last Democratic primaries, and it gave me sooo much practice for talking extemporaneously to a wide assortment of people from different backgrounds than mine. They give you a script to work from, but after the 30th or 40th call, you basically have it memorized and can start riffing. You need to hear the “No” people without interrupting bc it helps you overall in refuting anti-Sanders arguments you will hear again. Once you’re really comfortable with the calls, maybe let your friend watch you make some calls? It might be an eye opener for her.

2) listen to news sources other than CNN, WNYC and MSNBC. And get them to listen to other outlets. Actual progressive outlets are out there, but they’re a bit harder to find because they aren’t as well funded as their (neo)liberal counterparts. I don’t always agree with them, but I’m currently listening to Brie Joy on Twitter, AOC, Nina Turner, Thom Hartmann, Tim Black, David Packman, and Ben Dixon. (I know I’m leaving out many others, but your ask caught me off guard. Just be sure to include balance - the sources shouldn’t be all male, nor should they be all white). If your friend is like a lot of “progressives,” then she probably watches a ton of MSNBC. If you can’t turn her off from that bad habit, then maybe you can watch with her and point out their constant anti-Sanders bias?

3) make it personal and keep it personal. I don’t mean that you should start name calling or anything, but what I dO mean is this: if you have a personal connection with this person, then you have a better chance of convincing them.

4) Finally, you might just have to accept that you may not be able to change her mind. And that’s okay too. Free country ‘nshit right? Sometimes we need to know when to cut bait.

Anyway, good luck. Please get back with me and let me know how it goes.

Sorry to be so long winded.

#ask #answered #saiorise-callaghan-blog #politics

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letshaikyuu · 4 years

Text

𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 (𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 ;))

I have gotten the results from the poll and I can’t say I’m really surprised? I’m more surprised by the comments on ‘how to improve my blog’ and ‘if you have anything else to say’, and it’s the cutest shit ever omg-

So, under the cut will be all the comments and my answers. Most of the comments are really cute and supportive, while some are constructive. I don’t want to ignore such comments because I’m not that type of person so ;3 have fun reading this!

𝟏. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠

I’m trying to be as aesthetic as possible because it hits different when something is aesthetic yk? I like when things are neat and cool, and I feel like people appreciate it more when something isn’t all over the place :3

𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

I rarely do imagines and when I do, ye they’re pretty short because I really suck at doing longer work...Especially back then when I first started and didn’t feel that confident in my work. I still don’t feel confident lol but oh well. I don’t think I have any imagines in my ask box currently, but I will try to have your comment in mind when I end up writing some imagines!

𝟑. 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐝𝐨 𝐢'𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐬𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐞 - 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢

omg bby T^T please do because feedback from you would mean the world to me ;)

𝟒. 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇

I DRINK 3L OF WATER A DAY HOE SO BEAT THAT

𝟓. 𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡!! 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬? 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐲. 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠!! <𝟑

Ok, first of all you are amazing at what you do and I would like to read some of your content, so feel free to stop by my PMs or tag me in some of your work! I’m definitely up to doing songfics and I have a lot of inspiration for them. The problem is, I listen to a lot of Asian songs and songs that are generally not in English. I don’t know if you guys are up for that or how I’d do songfics with such songs, so if anyone has any advice please come and tell me uwu

𝟔. 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲

Excuse moi, but I don’t really know what this means T^T. Shouldn’t you guys be the ones that have like special emojis and such on my blog? I can’t really adopt you people lol. But, tbh even though I want to have more interactions with you guys (I think I had more interactions when I was just starting out than now), I feel like I will overwhelm my dash and that would most likely annoy people. I, for one, know that it can sometimes annoy me very much as I scroll through my dash and just see tons of convos going on. That’s why I hardly scroll through my dash-

But, if this were to actually happen, I’d gladly post your guys’ comments and talks while trying not to overwhelm by own feed!

𝟕. 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

I really don’t have a schedule, do I? I usually post after 5pm CET time and randomly after that until midnight/1am. I don’t have anything drafted, so what I write in a day gets posted almost immediately!

𝟖. 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐊𝐔𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅

I READ FLUFF AND I’M SAYING YES TO BOKUTO FLUFF

𝟗. 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 :)

Got it honey! I have this really big problem with not proof reading my stuff before actually posting it or I just overlook the mistake because while I’m rereading it, I always read it correctly and not the way it’s written lol

I’ll keep an eye out on that uwu

𝟏𝟎. 𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬!! 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐩𝐬.

The thing I started doing with ‘Plan for today <3′ is something I’m very glad you people enjoy because I want you guys to know what to expect from my blog. Yes, sometimes I don’t do all the things planned, but I always try to do as much as possible! I’m only human as well :3

And matchups are so interesting to do! I’m happy you guys feel comfortable enough to tell me all your personal stuff and I really want to write the matchups in a way that you actually feel like it’s the real deal. So thank you so much for liking them <3

𝟏𝟏. 𝐢'𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐔? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝟏𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 <𝟑

I already did a rant on this, but maybe the person who wrote this didn’t see it. I’m going to say this again, but please don’t do something you don’t want to just because other people are doing it! If writing SMAU isn’t for you then don’t force yourself to do it! I only know of one SMAU from a really close friend and that’s basically my knowledge on all the SMAU that’s currently going on.

𝟏𝟐. 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐬 𝐛𝐯𝐛 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐯 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡. 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Dammit sweets, you’re making me cry T^T

𝟏𝟑. 𝐢 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠!! 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐚!! 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐯 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲!!!

My writing still has a looong way to go and a lot of improvements to go through, but I can’t thank you enough for such sweet comments omg-

Suna is now one of my main babies and I still have a lot prepared for him, so be ready ;) And owo. If I’m pretty then my other friends must be goddesses and I will be broke from buying so much glasses T^T Trust me, baby, I’m really not anything special

𝟏𝟒. 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝!!! 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫!!! 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦!

This. This is the comment that means the world to me. When somebody says I nail characters. I want to give you content that when read perfectly describes said character and I can’t stress enough how much this comment means to me, so thank you <3

𝟏𝟓. 𝐇𝐈 𝐊𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐘𝐔 𝐇𝐑𝐔 𝐁𝐁 𝐈𝐋𝐔

I just wanted to add this from the sweetest person ever (aka @miyulovestowrite) and what a better way to end this long post then with this?

HI MIYU BB ILU TOO VERY MUCH

#1k?????#kat rants #pls wait while i officially prepare my special uwu #you will know everything by the end of the week ;)

9 notes · View notes

snkpolls · 5 years

Text

SnK S3E20 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 287 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 279 Responses

This episode was another hit with most viewers, with 74.6% of participants ranking it 5 out of 5.

Just brilliant. Best series.

This was the first episode I’d been excited for in weeks. With the serum bowl I was dreading the last three episodes but the Marley Arc is my fave and I’m super super excited for what comes next in the anime.

The music was incredible and Grisha's VA stole the show.

The best of this season yet!

This season has now given us 2 (two) episodes WITHOUT openings and both times the episodes blew me away. I’m so stoked for the fourth season

I'd say it was a pretty solid episode. I can't believe we've finally made it to Marley, I am so not ready for the nonstop angst that is to come…

Anime quality was ass again, but the plot and voice acting make this a fantastic episode overall

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE? 282 Responses

There were several informative and memorable scenes. 45.7% of participants thought Kruger’s big reveal was the highlight, while 12.1% can’t decide what stuck out the most. 9.9% of participants felt Dina becoming the Smiling Titan made the biggest impression.

DO YOU THINK GRISHA’S FATHER WAS RIGHT IN EASILY DEMEANING HIMSELF AND GRISHA TO GROSS? 270 Responses

Though Grisha’s father yielded to the Marleyan police regarding Faye’s death, 77.4% of participants believed he was right to prevent the rest of his family meeting a similar fate. 15.6% thought he should have shown a bit of resistance towards Gross’s accusations. Many in the comments agree the situation is simply not that black and white.

It's not whether it's 'right' or 'wrong' in these situations - if your options are the death of your family or satisfying your own feelings of dignity, then I think it's up to the individual what their priority is. But I think it is not a sign of weakness to put your family first.

He probably hated himself for doing it (at least I'd do), but losing another loved one would be horrible for anyone in his situation, so I can understand why he did that.

I can't really answer with clear 'yes' or 'no'. On one side, He was right to protect the rest of his family, on the other... He could try to comfort Grisha in a better way (you know, not yelling at him to be silent)

No, but I think he could’ve dealt with Grisha more privately. He didn’t have to continue with his indoctrination of Grisha.

I think it's complicated

no one is right or wrong here.

SERGEANT MAJOR GROSS STATED THAT “PEOPLE LOSE TOUCH WITH LIFE AND DEATH AND START TAKING THEIR LIVES FOR GRANTED." DO YOU THINK THERE IS TRUTH TO WHAT HE SAYS? 283 Responses

Gross told Grisha that people took their lives for granted when losing touch with life and death. 60.4% of participants think there is truth to his words even if his actions are morbid. 27.2% believe he just said this to excuse his cruelty.

Idk but him staring into my soul made me unconfortable

That is true, but it doesn't actually justify or support his position. We're SUPPOSED to all have the luxury and privilege of 'taking life for granted', as he puts it - that's why humanity has worked so fucking long to improve society to this point! We shouldn't have to think in life-or-death terms to consider ourselves worthy of living.

There is truth, but it's obvious that it's more words for him justifying his horrible actions more than a maxime which guides his life. If it were so, he wouldn't have been scared and screaming when the titan eat him.

Yes, but he's just making excuses for his sadistic mind.

DO YOU THINK HUMANS IN GENERAL BECOME INTERESTED IN VIOLENCE? 284 Responses

The episode observes humans and their reaction to violence, Gross saying he finds it interesting. 49.6% of participants believe that most people are interested in violence, while 40.1% specify that it depends on how violent the event is.

The most interesting part of the episode is Gross addressing the viewer over making his victim dance. Part of SnK is watching some victim being devored by the lions. Be it Faye to the dogs, Mike to the titans, Eren's squad to the titans in Trost, Carla to Dina, Marco to Araki Titan, Bert to Armin... the reactions however differ. Some of us came to see characters fighting and get eaten by giant monsters, but as the story progressed, our point of view differed and it became disgust for the most part.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT GROSS'S DEATH? 281 Responses

Gross’s death was a gruesome one, but 53.4% participants were satisfied he got what they feel he deserved. 17.1% were less comfortable by the irony of the situation, and 13.2% found his struggle enjoyable.

Watching reaction videos where people cheer on Gross getting his face chopped on kinda unsettled me, I'm not gonna lie.

IS FAYE’S DEATH THE CRUELEST MOMENT IN THE SERIES? 282 Responses

Being torn apart by dogs is a disturbing way to go and 46.8% of participants felt it was the cruelest moment of the series thus far. 45.4%, however, believed there were crueler moments worthy of mention.

I didn't think Faye's death was the cruelest because let's face it, Mike's was the absolute worst. :(

GIVEN HOW HE TREATED ZEKE, DO YOU THINK GRISHA IMPROVED AS A FATHER WHEN IT CAME TO EREN? 280 Responses

Though Grisha didn’t show a lot of compassion for Zeke as a son, 55.4% of participants believed he learned to be a better father for Eren as a result. 24.3% would rather have more information before saying for sure, and 20.4% of participants felt Grisha didn’t quite change his ways.

GRISHA STATED THAT YMIR “BROUGHT BOUNDLESS PROSPERITY” TO THE WORLD. WHEN GRICE QUESTIONED THAT, GRISHA RETORTED WITH THE FACT THAT HE “BELIEVED IN YMIR”. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED? 282 Responses

There was a mix of histories regarding Ymir Fritz. 50% of participants believed Ymir may have brought prosperity but that Grisha was also jumping to conclusions without context. 40.4% of participants thought Grisha was just seeing what he wanted to see.

Grisha’s va knocked it out of the park this week. The episode made me re-think whether grisha actually could read any of the sacred texts. Was he just BSing the whole way through? Will we ever know what they say in that case?

BEST ROGUE TITAN DESIGN? 282 Responses

Out of the three Rogue titan designs, a majority 62.8% of participants thought Eren’s was the most physically appealing.

Best Rogue Titan design? That's not even a question. ITS ALWAYS ERENS. LOL

HOW FAITHFUL WAS THE ADAPTATION TO THE ORIGINAL MANGA? 276 Responses

A majority of manga readers believed the episode was mostly faithful to the original chapters, with 54.3% believing it was nearly perfect. Others felt the episode could have been more accurate.

Great, pacing was a little quick but I think the anime adaptation explained everything a bit better than the anime. I had to go back and read those chapters like 3 times to fully understand everything lol. I do wish they didn't cut lines from the warrior selection announcement though. Overall great though!

Great adaptation. They should've cut the ending too, so they wouldn't need to cut some parts, but it was as close to perfection either way.

I'm sad that they omitted so much when Marley announces the Marley warrior program. Besides that I think it was an amazing episode.

Was thoroughly impressed with how they managed to adapt two of the most dense chapters into a single ep without any significant cuts. The artwork for the Eldia/Marley lore was gorgeous, and the performances were as expected, phenomenal. Kruger's transformation was breathtaking, as was the OST. Definitely one of the best episodes of the season. Also, Marina Inoue saying "Shingeki no Kyojin" in the preview gave me chills.

KRUGER'S HAIR: BLOND OR BLACK? 282 Responses

Kruger’s hair was colored dirty blond in the anime compared to the darker shade in the manga. 47.5% of participants felt that either color choice worked well for him, while 39.4% preferred his black hair.

kruger is a dirty blonde colour imo ;p

I’m just over the moon to finally see The Owl aka Kruger animated with a voice.

The color scheme in this series has always been weird. Not that Isayama himself is limited palette-wise, but the colors have been much sober than WIT's multicolor fest. Kruger's hair are meant to be black or dark brown. Isayama draws blonde/hazelnut hair with full lines. Same goes with the uniform: Isayama uses frames for dark colors (the SC's green coat ie), ink for black and dark blue. Anime already made odd choices with Mikasa's scarf (black in the manga) or Armin's eyes (brown).

Always thought Kruger was brunette

After last week's preview I thought Kruger with blond hair was weird but having watched this week's episode I think it fits better with the blue uniform and the show's colour palette. Besides, he still looks hot so all is fine lol

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE APPEARANCE OF MARLEY? 282 Responses

A majority 60.3% of participants believe Marley’s appearance was just as modern as they expected it. 29.4% of participants thought it appeared more lavished.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP FOR SOME OF THE GRAPHIC SCENES? 283 Responses

Some of the more graphic scenes were censored in the anime, but 53% of participants aren’t bothered by it. 35.7% of participants were disappointed that some parts weren’t shown as a result and 11.3% felt it was appropriate to censor the more graphic scenes.

I don't mind Grisha's penis as well as the gory parts being censored (it's NHK after all), but the censorship comes across as convenient for the series. They omitted some marleyans officers saying Gross was going too far, or masked the details of the warrior program: no full confirmation of RBA being trained into infancy to be promoted at the status of Honorary Marleyans. Conbine that with the RBZ+Pieck scenes from this season being watered down and you have the anime making it even more black and white than the manga.

ISAYAMA ASKED THE ANIME TO HIGHLIGHT GROSS’ SPEECH TO BREAK THE 4TH WALL AS A “CALL OUT” TO THE VIEWER. WAS THIS DIRECTION SUCCESSFUL? 277 Responses

Gross’s 4th wall break was a request made by Isayama to address the viewer as he spoke. 65.3% of participants felt the direction made them feel more called out than when they originally read it. 24.9% can’t relate to what Gross is saying in the first place.

His eyes that never left the spectator's gaze froze my blood, it was really very successfully made.

I get what Isayama was trying to do but there's a huge difference between being sadistic knowing that it's fictional and being sadistic in real life

Honestly I didn't even know that he broke the 4th wall until I took this poll.

I didn't feel like what he was saying pertained to me because I've always been repulsed by his mentality and justifications.I think it says more about Isayama that he felt this was something that needed to be broadcast to society.

The speech wasn't as well done in the anime. I think he broke the 4th wall in the manga pretty well.

The Gross 4th wall break didn't really deliver in the end. Wish it was more obvious (eye contact, zoom in, voice acting)

It would have been a lot more successful if he'd written the call out to come from someone less sadistic and despicable. It's hard to reflect like that on words that came from a character that had a nine year old child eaten alive by dogs.

considering i had no idea it was meant to be a callout, i'd say it failed

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN WITH YMIR’S BACKSTORY FLASHBACK NEXT EPISODE? 280 Responses

Since Ymir’s backstory was moved to Season 2, 39.3% believe that Historia reading the letter will show Ymir’s death instead of the entire flashback. 35.7% of participants think the scene will just show a cut down version of the backstory with Ymir’s narration in the background. 21.1% believe that the backstory will be shown again with some tweak to the narration.

Fuck man I dunno, maybe they'll play some interval music and Ymir will tapdance

I feel like the one disappointing thing about this part in the manga is that Ymir died offscreen. This would be a good change and I wouldn’t mind a teaser of Galliard also.

The backstory shown in season 2 wasnt the letter 1/1 right? Then just have the letter read out and have slightly altered images of her story

I got no idea which way they'll go, but WIT will do her story justice, no doubt about that

They will recycle s2's animation and that's it. If they show Ymir's fate, kudos to them, considering they've been pretty lazy with additional content so far.

THE ANIME ADAPTED EREN'S LINE AFTER WAKING UP AS "WHO AM I?" WAS THIS A MORE APPROPRIATE PHRASE THAN THE TRANSLATIONS ABOUT EREN USING DIFFERENT JAPANESE PRONOUNS OR HAVING A DIFFERENT VOICE? 280 Responses

In the manga, Armin comments on Eren’s change of pronouns when he first wakes up, but the anime changed this line to “Who am I?” 38.6% of participants thought this change made more sense in context. 30.7% of participants didn’t realize there was a change, and 21.4% thought the manga made enough sense for it not to warrant a change.

I feel like this episode is where we lost Eren as he once was. The change wasn't immediate, but this is the impetus. All that information, all those memories. The boy has started to become a man.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 284 Responses

Of the scenes that were shown, a majority of 52.1% of participants are most looking forward to more conversation between Kruger and Grisha.

Historia is lookin fine in the preview

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Just a nitpick but I wish Kruger’s attack titan was animated more in destroying the boat since it felt more like a colored panel; I’m still happy how it turned it though! Maybe there might be additional animation next episode but I can only hope :’D

This episode was beautifully done. The voice acting really knocked it out of the park, especially Grisha's. His screams, holy shit. I got chills. Kruger's voice was also brilliant, just that perfect blend of nonchalant and forbidding. What I found interesting was the VA for young Grisha sounded so much like Kaji Yuuki! I saw in the credits that it wasn't actually him, but what an excellent casting choice!

Needs more Floch

KRUGER!!!!

This S3P2 has to have the weirdest pacing I've ever seen: the 2ch1ep formula doesn't work at all for backstories like Grisha's, considering the whole worldbuilding is unleashed. That being said, the preview from last episode's accustomed the anime-onlys to the outside world, but combining chapter 86 and 87 leaves no time to breathe properly.

Thinking back on it, wasn’t this Grisha’s first time seeing Titans in the flesh, and eating a person right in front of him?

I had hoped Kruger's hat toss would be more dramatic, but alas, t'wasn't. Other than that, went pretty good

They pronounce 'Zeke' completely different from how I imagined it would sound.

Perfect, especially the final scene. I knew what was coming, but seeing the restorationists become the Trost Titans, the Dina reveal, and Owl transformation was something else. That sequence is on par with Reiner/Bertholdt reveal and Erwin’s charge as best scenes in the series. At least for the anime so far.

I thought this episode was kind of disappointing. Maybe it's just because I really dislike the tone shift that came with the Marley stuff, but I thought the manga handled all this exposition kind of awkwardly and was hoping for better from the anime. Nope, the only thing improving it is that it won't be drawn out for months between chapters this time.

Bby Zook my boi, must protecc at all costs, so innocent, so pure

In one episode all this information WAS WAY TOO MUCH! poor anime-only fans lmao

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 265 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

#snk spoilers #snk s3 #snk poll #snk polls #poll results

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nigeiadigitalmarketingcompany · 5 years

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Trump Promised Massive Infrastructure Projects—Instead We’ve Gotten Nothing

Digital Elixir Trump Promised Massive Infrastructure Projects—Instead We’ve Gotten Nothing

Yves here. In a bit of synchronicity, when a reader was graciously driving me to the Department of Motor Vehicles (a schlepp in the wilds of Shelby County), she mentioned she’d heard local media reports that trucks had had their weight limits lowered due to concern that some overpasses might not be able to handle the loads. Of course, a big reason infrastructure spending has plunged in the US is that it’s become an excuse for “public-private partnerships,” aka looting, when those deals take longer to get done and produce bad results so often that locals can sometimes block them.

By Tom Conway, the international president of the United Steelworkers Union (USW). Produced by the Independent Media Institute

Bad news about infrastructure is as ubiquitous as potholes. Failures in a 108-year-old railroad bridge and tunnel cost New York commuters thousands of hours in delays. Illinois doesn’t regularly inspect, let alone fix, decaying bridges. Flooding in Nebraska caused nearly half a billion dollars in road and bridge damage—just this year.

No problem, though. President Donald Trump promised to fix all this. The great dealmaker, the builder of eponymous buildings, the star of “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump, during his campaign, urged Americans to bet on him because he’d double what his opponent would spend on infrastructure. Double, he pledged!

So far, that wager has netted Americans nothing. No money. No deal. No bridges, roads or leadless water pipes. And there’s nothing on the horizon since Trump stormed out of the most recent meeting. That was a three-minute session in May with Democratic leaders at which Trump was supposed to discuss the $2 trillion he had proposed earlier to spend on infrastructure. In a press conference immediately afterward, Trump said if the Democrats continued to investigate him, he would refuse to keep his promises to the American people to repair the nation’s infrastructure.

The comedian Stephen Colbert described the situation best, saying Trump told the Democrats: “It’s my way or no highways.”

The situation, however, is no joke. Just ask the New York rail commuters held up for more than 2,000 hours over the past four years by bridge and tunnel breakdowns. Just ask the American Society of Civil Engineers, which gave the nation a D+ grade for infrastructure and estimated that if more than $1 trillion is not added to currently anticipated spending on infrastructure, “the economy is expected to lose almost $4 trillion in GDP, resulting in a loss of 2.5 million jobs in 2025.”

Candidate Donald Trump knew it was no joke. On the campaign trail, he said U.S. infrastructure was “a mess” and no better than that of a “third-world country. ”When an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia in 2015, killing eight and injuring about 200, he tweeted, “Our roads, airports, tunnels, bridges, electric grid—all falling apart.” Later, he tweeted, “The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me.”

Donald Trump promised to make America great again. And that wouldn’t be possible if America’s rail system, locks, dams and pipelines—that is, its vital organs—were “a mess.” Trump signed what he described as a contract with American voters to deliver an infrastructure plan within the first 100 days of his administration.

He mocked his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton’s proposal to spend $275 billion. “Her number is a fraction of what we’re talking about. We need much more money to rebuild our infrastructure,” he told Fox News in 2016. “I would say at least double her numbers, and you’re going to really need a lot more than that.”

In August of 2016, he promised, “We will build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, seaports and airports that our country deserves. American cars will travel the roads, American planes will connect our cities, and American ships will patrol the seas. American steel will send new skyscrapers soaring. We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation.”

In his victory speech and both of his State of the Union addresses, he pledged again to be the master of infrastructure. “We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, school, hospitals. … And we will put millions of our people to work,” he said the night he won.

That sounds excellent. That’s exactly what 75 percent of respondents to a Gallup poll said they wanted. That would create millions of family-supporting jobs making the steel, aluminum, concrete, pipes and construction vehicles necessary to accomplish infrastructure repair. That would stimulate the economy in ways that benefit the middle class and those who are struggling.

That contract Trump signed with American voters to produce an infrastructure plan in the first 100 days: worthless. It never happened. He gave Americans an Infrastructure Week in June of 2017, though, and at just about the 100-day mark, predicted infrastructure spending would “take off like a rocket ship.” Two more Infrastructure Weeks followed in the next two years, but no money.

Trump finally announced a plan in February of 2018, at a little over the 365-day mark,to spend $1.5 trillion on infrastructure. It went nowhere because it managed to annoy both Democrats and Republicans.

It was to be funded by only $200 billion in federal dollars—less than what Hillary Clinton proposed. The rest was to come from state and local governments and from foreign money interests and the private sector. Basically, the idea was to hand over to hedge fund managers the roads and bridges and pipelines originally built, owned and maintained by Americans. The fat cats at the hedge funds would pay for repairs but then toll the assets in perpetuity. Nobody liked it.

That was last year. This year, by which time the words Infrastructure Week had become a synonym for promises not kept, Trump met on April 30 with top Democratic leaders and recommended a $2 trillion infrastructure investment. Democrats praised Trump afterward for taking the challenge seriously and for agreeing to find the money.

“It couldn’t have gone any better,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., told the Washington Post, even though Neal was investigating Trump for possible tax fraud.

Almost immediately, Trump began complaining that Democrats were trying to hoodwink him into raising taxes to pay for the $2 trillion he had offered to spend.

Trump and the Republicans relinquished one way to pay for infrastructure when they passed a tax cut for the rich and corporations in December of 2017. As a result, the rich and corporations pocketed hundreds of billions—$1 trillion over 10 years—and Trump doesn’t have that money to invest in infrastructure. Corporations spent their tax break money on stock buybacks, further enriching the already rich. They didn’t invest in American manufacturing or worker training or wage increases.

Three weeks afterthe April 30 meeting, Trump snubbed Democrats who returned to the White House hoping the president had found a way to keep his promise to raise $2 trillion for infrastructure. Trump dismissed them like naughty schoolchildren. He told them he wouldn’t countenance Democrats simultaneously investigating him and bargaining with him—even though Democrats were investigating him at the time of the April meeting and one of the investigators—Neal—had attended.

Promise not kept again.

Trump’s reelection motto, Keep America Great, doesn’t work for infrastructure. It’s still a mess. It’s the third year of his presidency, and he has done nothing about it. Apparently, he’s saving this pledge for his next term.

In May, he promised Louisianans a new bridge over Interstate 10—only if he is reelected. He said the administration would have it ready to go on “day one, right after the election.” Just like he said he’d produce an infrastructure plan within the first 100 days of his first term.

He’s doubling down on the infrastructure promises. His win would mean Americans get nothing again.

Trump Promised Massive Infrastructure Projects—Instead We’ve Gotten Nothing

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#Digital Marketing #SEO #Social Media Marketing #Nigeria Digital Marketing Company #Lead Generation

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voldiebuns · 6 years

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HalLUDOween!!

So last weekend I went to HalLUDOween, aka Ludo's one night only, first time in six years concert! They're my favorite band and since I didn't think I'd ever get to hear them again in concert, of course I had to go. Even if it was in St. Louis, an approximately 11 hour drive from home lol But @biffelderberry and I figured it would be worth it, and it so was :D

We started out early Friday morning since it was going to be a long drive and we had to pick up a rental car since neither of our cars was up to such a drive. Of course we found out like an hour into the drive that the model we got had had a recall put out that very morning, but thankfully we didn't have any problems with it. The drive was actually not too bad, despite being so long and being mostly a drive through boring wilderness. We'd put together an approximately 13 hour playlist, so we had plenty of music to sing along with. And we made lots of stops at Taco Bell so I could get their potato tacos bc I'm apparently obsessed lol I ended up eating Taco Bell for every meal Friday, which was probably not a good idea, but it tasted fucking awesome.

(Me, left, and Biff at the beginning of the drive.)

Made it to the hotel around 8 maybe. There were two guys from Chicago in the check in line in front of us who we think may have been there for the concert as well, but the cool part was when we went down to breakfast in the morning, we met two other ppl who were there for the concert! They were from Wisconsin and California, so it was cool to talk to them for a bit about how much we all love Ludo and were so happy we were getting to see them again. We'd planned to use most of Saturday to explore St. Louis, since we'd come so far anyway. We'd wanted to do a ghost tour, but that didn't end up working out, but we did do a few other cool things. We went to an antiques store where we couldn't afford anything, but it still had some really interesting stuff. Then we went over to Grand Street, which I gather is kind of the popular downtown street. We ate at Lulu's Local Eatery, which is a small, hippster-y vegan place. I got the mac n cheese and Biff got the sliders, both of which were fucking delicious. Also very filling, which was a little disappointing bc we'd hoped to share the carnitas loaded tots after lol After that we went to a nearby comic book store. The owner was super nice and we talked to him about Ludo a bit (I was wearing my Ludo shirt) bc apparently everyone in town knew about this concert lol He'd had some other ppl in earlier who were going, I think from New York? Or maybe Arizona. We basically spent the whole weekend hearing from ppl in town about ppl coming in from out of state for the concert. Anyway, after that we did a little more walking around, mostly bc we wanted to look at all the pretty trees, and then went to Walmart to pick up some food (they have a So Delicious cashew milk chocolate cookies and cream ice cream that is to die for!). And crosstitching stuff bc Biff wanted to do an AO3 inspired bookmark design, and I thought it sounded fun as well. Also got some face masks bc why not. Which actually turned out not to be the best idea... When we got back to the hotel, I tried out my clay mask and it didn't go well. I did put a little too much water in it, but I don't think that accounts for how I apparently had an allergic reaction to it. Seriously, when I took it off, I looked like I had a rash all over my face. Thankfully my makeup skills were enough to cover it up, but I did end up sitting with a cool cloth on my face for awhile just to be sure the only reaction was the rash. Here's a picture of me post concert with half my makeup wiped off (the red side was waaaay better than when I first took off the mask):

So got ready, blah blah blah. And then it was time for the concert!! Costumes were encouraged, but since we didn't actually bring any, we just dressed up. My outfit of the night, which I loved bc I'd been waiting for an excuse to wear that crop top:

We took a Lyft to and from the venue since we didn't want to deal with parking or driving back at who knew what time. Which was probably a good thing bc the whole area around there was packed. More so for the second show, where the lines were literally down the block, but even for the first show. Bc of my trying to deal with a sudden allergic reaction rash, we were running a little late, so we got there like halfway through the opener. He was pretty good from what we heard, so I'll probably look up his music at some point. We had assigned seats in the balcony, which I was really glad of even if they cost more than GA down below. We would have had to get there hours early to get a good place there and would have had to stand, which I really am not up to for long amounts of time. But our seats were actually really good and we had a fantastic view of the stage. Except for the railing being right at eye level lol Since the concert was Halloween themed, they of course had some Halloween elements for the stage and their costumes. There were a couple of big, glowing blow up ghosts on either side of the stage. When the show started, about a dozen ppl came out in sheet ghost costumes and ran away around for awhile until it was just the band and they took off the sheets to show they were wearing skeleton onesies. Which I really really want one of now tbh.

Here's the vid I took of the intro. It was honestly so so awesome to see them in concert again. The first and only time I saw them before was in 2011, which was right before they basically broke up (ie they all just drifted away to other things and the band was no more). They did pretty much the song set that I'd been expecting, though there were a couple of things they sang that I hadn't expected. (They'd done a poll on twitter with Topek, Girls on Trampolines, and a couple of others, so since Topeka won I wasn't expecting them to play Girls on Trampolines.) And they did my top three favorite songs of theirs! Including Andrew going solo on my absolute favorite, Horror of Our Love! I took a vid of that too of course, which you can prob hear both Biff and I singing along to. They ended the concert with a cover of the Ghostbusters theme song and having a bunch of kids come out to throw candy to the crowd, which was a fun way to end it. There was no new music, aside from the two covers they did, which I think all of us had been hoping for. Even though we knew it was unlikely since the week before was the first time they'd all been in a room together in years. Still, the music and the experience of being part of the crowd was just as fantastic as last time. So yeah, the concert was amazing all around and totally worth the ridiculous drive :D After, we went down the block to the merch store, bc there was definitely no way I was leaving without something. We stood out in the cold for an hour waiting in line, which was fine except for the couple behind us was being really critical of the show and really annoying. We found out the reason it was taking so long was that the band was in the merch store talking to fans and signing stuff and taking pictures, which I hadn't expected. Of course their handler started telling them they needed to leave basically as soon as we got up to the front of the line. But! They were being pretty slow about it bc they wanted to keep talking to the fans, so Matt, the drummer, ended up at the door at the same time we were and he gave us hugs! He also said thanks for coming again, which made it sound like he recognized us? But idk. Anyway, as awesome as that was, the best part was apparently the girl behind us really wanted a hug from him and we were the last ones he hugged before leaving. Vengeance is sweet :D Anyway, I ended up with a t-shirt and a poster for the concert, plus a couple smaller ones from previous tours that they were giving away for free. There was a really cool tree print that I wish I would have gotten, so I hope they put that up online. There was a vinyl of the last CD as well that I wanted, but I really didn't feel like I could justify that as well. Maybe they'll put it up online too.

We took a Lyft back, which was a bit of an experience bc we had to cross the street to get to our ride and some asshole apparently was tired of waiting in traffic and tried to speed around while we were in the crosswalk. He stopped in time, but Biff really thought he was going to hit me :/ But we made it back to the hotel safely and met the lady from breakfast again. We ended up talking to her for awhile, which was fun bc she's been following the band for a long time and is apparently knows them personally bc of that. Sunday morning we slept in a bit bc we'd been out so late. We were both very glad we had decided not to drive home that day lol We went back out to Grand Street and had lunch at Lemongrass, a Vietnamese place there. I got the tofu summer roll and sesame tofu, and the sesame tofu was seriously good omg. After that we did some more walking and went to a bookstore we'd seen on Saturday. It was really cool and had a pretty fantastic variety of stuff spread out over three levels. We met a local Ludo fan there (we were both wearing the shirts we bought) who hadn't gotten to go to the concert and talked to her a little. Afterward we went over to the St. Louis Art Museum since they were supposed to have a textiles exhibit that sounded really interesting. We didn't end up finding it, and we only got to stay about half an hour before they closed, but it was still really fun. Plus they had some gorgeous views out front, some beautiful fall maples, and a statue of, apparently, Saint Louis.

We thought about going to the zoo after that, since it was literally across the street, but they were having some Halloween event and there were hundreds of small children everywhere. We decided that wasn't something we wanted to deal with lol So we went and picked up lunch from Fred and Ricky's Plant Delicious Foods, a lttle vegan grab and go place, instead and took it to eat at the hotel. The food was pretty good, though probably the best part is that I found out they ship nationwide, so I can order from there sometime if I want. Which is nice bc we really don't have many vegan places here. Monday it was time to leave. Because the drive home was long and we had to get back before the rental place closed at six, we got up at 5 am to head out. It wasn't too terrible, but we were definitely still tired. And I fell coming down the stairs with my suitcase and bruised my ass. It still hurts :/ Drive home seemed longer than the one there, probably bc I didn't really want to be going home lol It's so interesting how every time I go away for a fun weekend, it hits me when I get back how much I hate living at my house and in my city and in Texas in general. So I guess good motivation to try to find a way to move out sooner rather than later. So the weekend was fantastic! There were a few other places we would have liked to go, like the City Museum and some more vegan restaurants, but overall we hit some good places and had a lot of fun. Plus just the landscapes up there were so so pretty. We don't have trees like that in Texas lol But we're definitely thinking of going back to St. Louis sometime to see some more stuff. And maybe see Ludo again, if this concert was a sign of things to come! But of course it coudn't be all good. My throat was feeling a bit scratchy on the way home Monday, and by Tuesday I was pretty sick. Thankfully I had the whole week off plus Monday and Tuesday this week (I'd been hoping to go to a Star Trek meet up this weekend, but I couldn't afford it after all). I'm hoping I'm well by the time I go back to work, but it's been kind of a sucky way to spend my time off! But still worth it for Ludo lbr :D

(If you want to see the food pics I took, they’ll go up on my food blog: @foodandmind)

#Ludo #Ludo Rock #HalLUDOween #Night of the Living Ludo #personal #literal GPOY #image heavy #long post

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faucetdouble51-blog · 5 years

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72 Hours in Seattle

Hi, it’s Abby. My mom asked me to write an introduction for this post about our last-minute trip to Seattle a few weeks ago. I was invited to play in a soccer tournament there and this one was different than most because there was only one game a day, which means there was plenty of down time to explore a city. (That is how I convinced my mom to go.) We flew out the morning after my last final and stayed with her college roommate, Jenn for three nights and three days. Mom already told you that the culinary highlight of our trip was eating a Dutch Baby with backyard raspberries in Jenn’s kitchen nook, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t pound some pavement in search of great food around town. Here, Mom and I take turns giving you a run-down of our packed 72 hours.

DAY 1: THURSDAY

1:00 [Jenny] I am forever in search of counter-service spots when I travel, especially for lunch, when you don’t want to spend an hour-plus lounging around while the sun shines on a brand new city that is calling for you. That’s why we dropped our bags at my friend Jenn’s house (in Ballard) at 12:45, then headed straight to The Fat Hen, a sweet, bright fast-casual spot that served avocado toasts, ricotta toasts, freshly squeezed juices, and good coffee. It killed us to forgo Frankie & Jo’s, the vegan ice cream shop sensation right across the street (they have multiple locations around the city) but we were saving room for dinner. FYI: Delancey — remember Delancey? — was right there, too. [Photo credit: Seattle Magazine]

2:30 [Abby] We walked from Fat Hen down 15th Street to Ballard Avenue, the main drag in Ballard, a neighborhood that reminded me of Brooklyn. There was a ton of stuff to do and a lot of fun shopping including a cool second-hand furniture store called Ballard Consignment, an aesthetically pleasing succulent store (I can’t remember the name, can someone help me?), and a trendy clothing place called Prism where my mom tried on a thousand dresses but ended up just buying my sister an iron-on patch for her jean jacket that said “Stay Wild Child.”

4:00 [Abby] We met up with my mom’s friend Jenn, who got out of work early for us, and headed to Golden Gardens Park for a walk. It was so beautiful! I got a virgin pina colada at Miri’s, a new cafe right on the beach. Also, even though everyone says Seattle weather is not so great, look at our sky! It was like that for most of the time we were there. (Here’s a tip to future travelers: Go there in late June, early July.)

5:30 [Jenny] I think the only reason why I agreed to take Abby to Seattle was so I could try to snag a table at The Walrus and the Carpenter, the original Renee Erickson French-style raw bar in Ballard that opened almost ten years ago and that I tried to get into during my last visit, only to be turned away by the long wait every time. This time I wasn’t messing around. At the very un-glamourous hour of 5:30, I dragged Abby, Jenn, and Jenn’s 15-year-old daughter Stella to dine on fried oysters and small plates in their bright happy space. FYI: Erickson has opened a bunch of other places in Capitol Hill, including a steakhouse Bateau, another oyster bar with the greatest electric mint color scheme (Bar Melusine), and stuffed doughnut mecca General Porpoise, which, for Abby, might’ve been more of a reason to go to Seattle than her soccer tournament. (More on that below.)

7:30 After dinner, we walked back up Ballard Avenue to get ice cream at Salt & Straw, the Portland-based makers who have won over legions of fans with their artisanal concoctions…think Fresh Sheep’s Cheese and Strawberries or Oregon Wasabi and Raspberry Sorbet. But the line was too long, and even though it was still early, we were on East Coast time, so we headed home to bed. (For those of you interested, here’s an interview with Salt & Straw founder Tyler Malek on the always awesome Bon Appetit’s Foodcast.)

DAY 2: FRIDAY

10:00 [Abby] I had a soccer game in Redmond (we won 4-0!) where the most exciting food moment of the morning was a pretzel that came with that fakey nacho cheese that is so delicious. We didn’t get to start exploring again until lunchtime and decided we wanted to spend the afternoon checking out Capitol Hill. First stop…

12:30…Rocket Taco for lunch, where we ate some of the best carnitas tacos I can remember.

1:45 It was Pride Month! We loved the rainbow crosswalks which made for especially good instagram posts. (That’s me with our friend Maylie. And this was at the intersection of East Pine and 10th Ave.)

2:30 [Abby] And of course, we had to hit Elliott Bay Books. My mom bought me a paperback copy of The Handmaid’s Tale — I’ve been watching the TV show and it’s very disturbing, but she said I’d like the book. (She wants me to tell you that for school I also had to read Hiroshima and Take the Cannoli)

3:01 [Abby] Then the funniest thing happened. I had been looking forward to going to the iconic General Porpoise Doughnuts from the moment we booked our flights — we practically planned our entire Capitol Hill outing around it — but when we got there at 3:01, we tried to open the door and it was locked. It closed at 3:00! For about ten seconds we were all super disappointed but then, out of nowhere, an employee walks outside and asked “Does anyone want a dozen free doughnuts?” I guess they like everything to be fresh, so at the end of the day, they give away what hasn’t sold instead of selling them the next day. That might’ve been the highlight of the trip. And those doughnuts were some of the best I’ve ever had– the vanilla stuffed ones especially!!

4:00 [Jenny] We hadn’t planned on it, but we decided to hit Pike Place Market (because: of course!) on our way home to Ballard from Capitol Hill. We bought fruit and a lovely flower arrangement for our lovely hosts, but for the most part we just walked up and down the long hallways and gaped at the offerings. Maybe the most amazing part was that I got a parking spot on Pike Place right in the middle of everything (across from the flagship Starbucks.) I kept looking at the spot and looking at the sign saying This is too good to be true (once a New Yorker always a New Yorker, I guess) but it was actually true. Over a month later, I’m still on a high from it.

6:30 [Jenny] I know this is hard to believe, but we still had more to eat. I’ve written about this before, but the way Abby and I go about planning where we want to eat in a new city is completely different. I go to tried-and-true sources like Bon Appetit City Guides or Eater’s Heat Maps. She goes right to instagram, searches by locations, then studies the grid until a particularly inspiring pastry or bowl of ramen shows up. That is how she landed on Fremont Bowl where we went with Jenn’s family. Abby’s review: “Crazy good Japanese bowls, with fish, chicken teriyaki, and so much more. I’m not really a tofu fan, but according to my mom she had the best tofu she’d ever had in her life at this place. Fremont’s a fun area to walk around, too.” She’s totally right, the fried house-made tofu that our friend Maylie ordered was off-the-hook delicious. I was psyched because right next door was Book Larder, a store that specializes in cookbooks and community culinary events, but sadly they were closed for a private event. I guess that’s as good an excuse as any to return to Seattle in the very near future.

DAY 3: SATURDAY 9:00 [Abby] Mom, Jenn, and Jenn’s husband, Ben went for an early run around Green Lake Park (about a 3-mile loop she says) then we all gorged on Jenn’s now legendary Dutch Babies and plotted the day. Ben pointed us in the direction of the giant Asian Market Uwajimaya which was awesome (Oh, before that, Mom stopped for another cup of coffee at Anchored Ship in Ballard) but we ended up eating around the corner at at Dough Zone due to some intense soup dumpling cravings, aka the best food in the world. It’s a good thing my next soccer game wasn’t until 4:00 that afternoon. We pretty much rolled out of there. Those dumplings were amazing.

6:00 [Abby] After my soccer game (lost 2-1) we drove to Mulkiteo and caught a ferry to Whidbey Island, about 25 miles north of Seattle across the Puget Sound, where Jenn and Ben have the sweetest cabin. The ferry was only about 25 minutes, but involved spectacular views of islands and huge mountains in the distance.

7:30 We only had about 12 hours to hang on Whidbey, but we got a good taste of it, snacking on their porch (above), chilling out by the campfire for an epic sunset; Ben grilled some local salmon and hot dogs for dinner. The house only had two bedrooms so my mom and I got to sleep in a tent listening to the crackling campfire.

. Side Note [Jenny] Those of you who follow me on instagram might remember this photo. Jenn and Ben were torturing themselves trying to decide what color to paint the cabin — they were going for a dark Scandinavian cottage look — so I conducted an insta poll asking which combo you all liked. Most of you were in favor of the navy/white palette, the third one down. Last week, she sent me this pic:

How beautiful is that?!?!?! They went with Sherwin Williams Inkwell for the house and Benjamin Moore Oxford White for the trim.

DAY 4 SUNDAY

8:30 [Abby] We had an early afternoon plane to catch, so didn’t have a ton of time to explore, but we did manage to squeeze in a walk on the beach and a quick trip to Langley, where we ate eggs and cinnamon rolls at Useless Bay Coffee, then took a walk to a dramatic sandbar called Seawall Park. The town was so charming! From there was a convenient shuttle from Whidbey to the Seattle Airport, and we were on our way home.

Boy you fed us well, Seattle. We miss you so much!

Related: 36 Hours in Austin; 36 Hours in Portland, Maine; 48 Hours in Montreal.

Source: http://www.dinneralovestory.com/72-hours-in-seattle/

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biofunmy · 4 years

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21 Things BuzzFeed News Tried And Loved In 2019

As the tech and business team at BuzzFeed News, we love stuff. Gizmos, gadgets, games, and gear. So here are some of the many things that we tried this year and wholeheartedly recommend.

1. Forest App — Free

Can you go half a minute without checking Twitter, or TikTok, or Facebook? I bet you didn’t make it through that sentence without gazing longingly at another tab. How does one get work done in such a distracting world? Some of us have given up. For the rest of us, there’s Forest. No, not the one with trees. Don’t get carried away. I’m talking about Forest, the app, and also a browser extension, that helps you concentrate. When you use Forest, you can choose to block certain websites, or stop using your phone, for 25 minutes intervals. When you start your countdown, Forest displays a small shrub, which grows until it’s a fully mature digital tree at the 25-minute mark. If you try to navigate to your forbidden websites — which you can whitelist or blacklist — you will kill your tree. And since you don’t want to be a tree murderer, you will concentrate and enrich your life, or your company, and live happily ever after.

—Alex Kantrowitz

2. Google Doodle Polls — Free

Toward the end of 2018, I attended my first meeting for what became the BuzzFeed News Union. When it was time to plan when we’d meet next, there came that inevitable murmur of everyone pulling up their calendars, throwing out a bunch of dates, and then someone else saying they weren’t free — but how about this day? Rather than let that agony go on any longer, I volunteered to just make a Doodle. “What’s a Doodle?” someone asked. “What’s a DOODLE?!” I probably shrieked back, stunned that so many people didn’t know about the productivity tool I’ve been loyally using for at least six years.

Doodle is pretty simple: It’s a scheduling tool that makes planning meetings ridiculously easy. You select a bunch of possible dates and send them to the attendees. They check off which dates they could do. At the end, you have a neat little tally showing which day most people are free.

But Doodle isn’t just for meetings! It’s also how I kept my book club a well-oiled machine this year. And there’s truly no better way to plan a dinner with that group of friends you’ve been meaning to catch up with. Maybe I sound like a square using a productivity tool to manage relationships, but it’s the simplest way to push past the “I’ve just been so busy!!” excuses and find time to see the people you love. I often find myself wondering what else I could be using Doodle for: A family reunion? A weekend trip with my college friends? And when will Doodle integrate with dating apps? Can it please be now?

Several months — and more than a dozen Doodle polls — later, we officially formed the BuzzFeed News Union. And while that was mostly thanks to the hard work of my colleagues, I like to think Doodle deserves a little bit of credit as well.

—Julia Reinstein

3. Apple EarPods — Free With an iPhone

At the end of 2017, I said that Apple’s AirPods were my favorite gadget of the year. At the end of 2019, I am retracting my opinion. AirPods are trash — after about two years, when the tiny battery in each one begins to die, and your $159 pair of earphones start sputtering out in minutes. Your only recourse is buying an expensive, out-of-warranty replacement or a brand-new pair from Apple.

So earlier this year, I abandoned my AirPods for something a lot less sexy: the simple white wired earbuds that came with my iPhone.

Sure, I can’t plug EarPods, which is what Apple officially calls them, into my MacBook, something that drives me nuts, and sure, I have wires dangling out of my ears like we all did not that long ago. But they also NEVER die on me in the middle of a podcast because the battery died, and I NEVER have to charge them, and if I ever lose them, new ones are $29 a pop, far less than what a single replacement AirPod costs. And they don’t sound any worse than AirPods.

When AirPods work, they are magical. But when they flake out, as AirPods inevitably will, they make the simple act of listening an experience fraught with anxiety — I could never predict when I’d hear the telltale chirp in my ears that meant the battery was depleted, sometimes just minutes after a full charge.

Now, I shove my trusty little EarPods into my ears and just go. Around me, millions of human beings swirl freely, unencumbered by wires, but hours later, my EarPods keeping playing and playing and playing. It’s magical — and it works every time.

—Pranav Dixit

4. Google Home Mini — $14.99 on Amazon

This year, for me, has been about investing some energy into making the devices and apps I regularly use fit into my life better. It’s weird that the technology’s default mode right now is changing human behavior rather than adapting to it. After moving to a new apartment, I realized the Google Home I’ve had for about two years really couldn’t cover multiple rooms, so on a lark I picked up a Google Home Mini and threw it in my bedroom. The two devices work seamlessly together. I bought a bunch of cheap Wi-Fi outlets and plugged some lamps into them in different rooms, which lets me turn lights on and off like I’m living on the starship Enterprise. I can move a song on Spotify around my apartment, from one Google Home to another. The Mini’s speaker is just the right size for a bedroom. In the morning, it tells me the weather and plays a few headlines. This all sounds extremely basic and it is, but it’s also exactly the right relationship I think we should have with smarthome technology — add a little bit at a time when you feel like it, see if you like it, casually adjust accordingly, have fun with it.

—Ryan Broderick

5. Feedly and Pocket Apps — $6/month and $4.99/month

Over the last four years, my personal internet had mostly shrunk down to just Twitter — which is by all accounts an irredeemably awful website full of the worst kind of content being created by the worst people on Earth. To fix this, I started paying for the RSS reader Feedly ($6 a month) and the read-it-later app Pocket ($4.99 a month). I mainly use Feedly for work. The paid version supports Google Alerts and works really well on mobile. Pocket, according to my phone’s screen time, is regularly in my top three most-used apps. I’ve used the free version for years, but the paid version has a really powerful search function, which means that whatever I put in there is easily findable, online and off. Pocket also has a Spotify-like algorithm that is always recommending me stuff to read based on what I’ve previously loaded in there (it used to be better, but sadly now it mostly just recommends Pocket originals which I’m kinda meh on). Both apps have helped me focus better, follow the news more easily, and actually enjoy the long-forgotten feeling of digging into something interesting on the internet. Read more websites in 2020!

—Ryan Broderick

6. Nintendo Switch — $298.99 on Amazon

I’ve technically had a Switch for about a year and a half, originally buying it for a European vacation with lots of train rides. In the last year, I really dove into its catalog of games. I’m by no means a Real Gamer — I’m 30 and the last system I owned was a Nintendo GameCube. That means I mainly just want to play a bunch of cartoony RPGs, remakes of old games, and a bunch of party games for when friends come over. I also travel a lot. All of these things make the Switch one of my favorite devices. Big games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Astral Chain, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and this month’s Pokémon Sword and Shield are genuine joys. And the Nintendo store has all kinds of cheap mid-sized games that you can just jump into whenever you want to kill some time, like Untitled Goose Game, Sonic Mania, and Hollow Knight. The console is also incredibly portable with a shockingly good battery life. Plus, Nintendo has for the most part avoided the toxic cultural wars that follow other video games. Instead, I can come home, lay around with my Switch, and spend a mindless couple hours trying to catch a shiny Galarian Rapidash in peace.

—Ryan Broderick

7. Instagram’s Close Friends Stories — Free

As someone whose private Instagram account is PG-13 at its absolute most risqué, I initially brushed off Instagram’s “close friends” stories feature as unnecessary. But Instagram has become my main means of sharing and communicating, my followers now include my boss, colleagues, aunts, married high school friends, acquaintances — as well as several dudes from Hinge who will apparently continue watching my stories until one of us dies. So the close friends feature has become my go-to. Whether I want to deliver an update while perhaps being a little drunker than advisable, share a meme without individually messaging it to seven different people, or just generally be a little sad/weird/vulnerable online, close friends has become both a micro version of a finsta and the realest version of myself I share anywhere on the internet. It’s some small comfort to take back a bit of privacy on social media — as much as privacy exists there at all, of course.

—Olivia Niland

8. Scam Goddess — Free

The summer of scam may be over, but scam springs eternal — and Laci Mosley keeps us informed on Earwolf’s Scam Goddess podcast. She’s tackled everything from Anna Delvey, aka the Soho Scammer, that nationwide Airbnb scam, and the absolutely bonkers Ukrainian orphan story since the podcast began in September. Mosley’s guests have included Paul F. Tompkins, Lauren Lapkus, and Nicole Byer, so while the show can’t help being hysterical, at least once per episode she delivers a line so strikingly, memorably, out-of-left-field funny that I find myself rewinding to listen over and over again. Scam Goddess is true crime without the ick factor, a bubblegum fun listen with a dose of education, and a breath of fresh air in my podcast feed.

—Olivia Niland

9. Silicone Case for Apple TV Remote — $7.45 on Amazon

This was the year I finally cut the cord on cable television, which meant I used the Apple TV remote a lot more than before. I have a fourth gen Apple TV (the 2015 release that was the first model with Siri), and my chief complaint is that the remote is incredibly slippery. Not only do I find it slippery in terms of trying to scroll with my thumb on the trackpad, but the damned thing flies out of my hand like a bar of soap in the tub. I literally marvel at it sometimes wondering how Apple sells something that is impossible to hold. Steve would never!

Here’s where the silicone sleeve comes in. It’s anti-slip, and it gives a tiny bit more girth and bulk to the remote to make it easier to hold. My only regret is buying it in black. I’d recommend getting a bright, easy-to-see color, because you know the Apple TV remote is always getting lost.

—Katie Notopoulos

10. Idagio Classical Music Streaming App — Free or $9.99/month

A few years ago, I wrote an article about the current state of the used CD market and discovered that one genre that still thrives on CD is classical. It isn’t just the better sound quality or that it’s for old people (OK, maybe that’s part of it), but rather that streaming apps like Spotify are terrible at organizing classical music. Unlike pop music, where Spotify’s algorithms and playlists can create amazing guesses on what you’d like to hear, classical is quite different.

The metadata is different — do you want to search by composer or conductor, orchestra or soloist? Also, many classical “albums” have several composers — a CD might be one orchestra’s concert of Mozart and Beethoven together, making an album search confusing. And there are dozens of versions of specific pieces recorded by different groups.

Idagio was recommended to me by a few people on Twitter after I tweeted complaining about the lack of good streaming for classical. The paid version (I signed up for a free week trial) was great — interesting curated playlists, good search, and recommendations — everything you’d want from a dedicated streaming app for classical. You can browse by composer, ensemble, conductor, soloist, genre, period, or even instrument. There are curated playlists from composers and soloists and even things like highlights from the London Symphony’s 2019–2020 season.

That said, I didn’t feel up to paying $9.99/month for yet another streaming service. I already pay for Spotify’s family plan, plus SiriusXM (which is soooo expensive, but I need my Howard Stern). So I canceled it after the free trial.

But this fall, Idagio released a free version. Not all the features of the paid version are available on the free version, crucially the ability to play a specific track. For example, you can’t play an exact Richard Strauss song, but you can play the Essential Richard Strauss radio playlist. Even so, it’s still the best free classical listening experience you can get.

––Katie Notopoulos

11. Curology — Subscriptions From $24.90/Month

Perhaps it was naive of me, but I assumed that once I got out of my teenage years, I wouldn’t have to worry about acne. And then I hit my late twenties, and BOOM — some sort of cursed second puberty, complete with painful cyst-like zits that I couldn’t remember having as a youth. I tried every “miracle” mask, face wash, toner, acne cream, oil, etc. Nothing helped.

In May, after years of extreme self-consciousness every time I had a flare-up, I stumbled across a thread on the /r/SkinCareAddiction subreddit about Curology, a subscription mail-order acne medication service. Since I had nothing to lose, I gave it a try. A week and a half later, I got a little white bottle in the mail that literally changed my life.

It’s been six months and the hormonal acne on my chin that I thought I’d be cursed with forever is all but nonexistent. The discoloration marks on my chin and around my nose have begun to fade and my skin tone is even in a way that it’s never been before. When I get a zit or two, they aren’t painful and they’re gone after a few days of my normal cleaning and Curology routine. My prescriber has answered every question I’ve had promptly and I have yet to have any problems with my shipment — and I still can’t believe I’m only paying $40 every other month for something that’s had such a profound change on my skin and day-to-day existence.

—Ellie Hall

12. SoFi Banking App — Free

Banks suck. I like money just fine, but I’ve always resented the institutions that hold onto the money for me. For years, I had a checking account at Wells Fargo, which, thanks to a massive scandal in which the company opened at least 3.5 million “potentially unauthorized” accounts, I now very much regret. Then I put my money in a local credit union, which somehow meant I was never able to access it unless I went to one specific office in San Francisco that never seemed to be open. So when I needed to open a new account earlier this year, you can imagine my trepidation — send my money to an evil empire with a UX from 1995 or to a rickety storefront in some basement, which also somehow had a UX from 1995?

Enter SoFi, the startup lending company which launched a mobile banking and investment app in February. I opened an account and now do all my finances from the free mobile app. It’s great. It’s a money market account, so I earn a small amount on my deposit and can easily pay bills, transfer money (similar to Venmo), and invest in the low-fee index funds dear to my heart. The UX looks like it was designed in this decade, and the investment side isn’t cluttered up with a bunch of unintelligible quant gibberish. (Looking directly at you, E-Trade.)

My eyes aren’t closed. SoFi seems to have previously been a terrible place to work. I sincerely hope the culture is better for employees under new CEO Anthony Noto, because I really like this app. Now if I could just convince my boomer psychotherapist to let me pay him on it instead of writing paper checks.

—Scott Lucas

13. Frogstagram — Free

Frogs: They’re usually small, sometimes green, and always delightful to follow on Instagram.

I stumbled upon Frogblr, the unofficial community of frog-owning Tumblr users, in early 2018. In the months following that, I realized many of my favorite frog blogs also had frog-themed Instagram accounts. So in 2019, I fully committed and now follow more than a dozen Instagram accounts operated by frog owners.

There’s @stickyfrogs, which features frogs named Gumby, Jeans, Voight, and Tiny. I also love @moonnight.17, which has wonderfully TINY frogs, as well as small snakes and geckos. I’m also a fan of @frog.wizard_, which has extremely earnest frog-themed memes. Also, @the_froggy_momma is great. She features dozens of different amphibians and reptiles, including frogs named Buttercup, Bertha (who has three legs), Norman, and Darla.

Of course, the frogs are incredibly cute. I love their big eyes and oddly shaped little bodies. But it’s equally joyful to watch their owners livestream the frogs, call them goofy names, and brag about everything they do (which is, in all honesty, not very much). It’s very sincere. I’d highly recommend going through the #frogsofinstagram tag and findings some accounts to follow.

—Caroline Haskins

14. Nuking All the Digital Evidence From Before My Haircut — Free

Bangs are not just my haircut. They are a crucial part of my personality. There are two stages of my life: before bangs and after. If you ever have the misfortune of glancing at my giant forehead, you will understand.

I got bangs in January 2017. Tragically, that is not very long ago. So I decided this year to delete and untag myself in any Instagram or Facebook photos before bangs. I also deleted all of my tweets in January 2018, which would have included any images of me from before I got my haircut.

This may sound dramatic. However, I promise it is not. If I’m honest, this isn’t just about liking my current haircut. It’s about having some control over the ways that I’m seen online. I keep the number of public pictures of me to an absolute minimum, and exercising some private control over my image feels like a natural extension of that instinct. Now with bangs.

—Caroline Haskins

15. TikTok — Free

It’s more than just funny, although it’s funnier than almost anything on television. TikTok is as much a portal into the everyday lives of other people as Chatroulette ever was, but without the expectation to engage with what you’re seeing. It’s the only social app on which I follow only delightful strangers, don’t consume content from anyone I know, nor feel pressure to post content myself. TikTok shows me a greater diversity of race, class, and, yes, age than any other platform I currently have access to. I’ve watched videos made by Mennonite teenagers, by hippie grandmas, by immigrant families. TikTok isn’t all jokes; I’ve watched girls do interpretive dances to the soundtrack of abusive boyfriends and screaming parents. I’ve watched videos expressing queer pride, native pride, ethnic pride. I’ve watched hours of TikToks; I’ve watched TikToks about being a 30-year-old woman addicted to TikTok. I conceal the extent of my TikTok watching from my partner.

I used to be addicted to Instagram, scrolling endlessly and closing the app only to immediately reopen it seconds later. But now, that pink and orange neon square doesn’t beckon the way it used to. I’d rather be watching TikToks, which pass no judgment on my baking, never make me wonder if I’m taking enough vacations, buying enough candles, or wearing fuzzy enough sweaters. What TikTok offers is comedic, absurd, and intimate. The only problem is now I need headphones in public, and I might be under surveillance by the Chinese state.

—Caroline O’Donovan

16. Send to Kindle for Google Chrome — Free

I’m trying to spend less time looking at my phone and have become obsessed with looking at my screen time stats (in the iPhone’s settings app). My most-used app, other than Instagram, is always Safari or Pocket, because that’s where I read long articles — actually, where I try to read long articles, but never finish in one sitting because some news alert or push notification has pulled me away from the story.

In an attempt to create a more distraction-free reading space, I’ve started to send any article of length to my Kindle, which has a black-and-white screen that’s more comfortable on the eyes. This Chrome extension makes it so easy. It grabs all the text on the page and zooms it right over to my e-ink reader in less than a minute. And it really works! I plowed through an entire ~3,800-word piece without reading one incoming WhatsApp and loved every minute of it!! (BTW, the fantastic, multithousand-word story is by my colleague Katherine Miller, and you will not regret spending 15 uninterrupted minutes on it.)

—Nicole Nguyen

17. Tile Pro — $35 and Tile Sticker — $40 2-pack

I’ve been yelling at people to get Tile’s Bluetooth-enabled thing finders, for years, but with the caveat that the device’s biggest flaw is the way it handles its battery, which is glued onto the device’s circuit board and can’t be replaced. Not great for the environment.

Well, the latest version of the Tile Pro finally has a replaceable battery!!! This is huge because the Tile really is a wonderful little doodad for helping you find keys, your kid’s fave toy, etc., and now you don’t have to throw away the entire device when it runs out of juice a year from now.

There’s another new Tile, called Sticker, which unfortunately doesn’t have a replaceable battery, but it lasts three years, which is very good for an always-on Bluetooth device. It’s also small enough to put on my AirPods case and stick discreetly on my bike. I haven’t lost either yet — but I am a huge fan of these tiny things.

—Nicole Nguyen

18. Streaming Co-Op — Free

It has been active for years, but in 2019 my streaming cooperative really began to shine. The idea is so obvious that you may be in one already: a group of friends — comrades, one might call them — who each subscribe to one streaming service and share the login details with all the others.

As it currently stands, I pay for Netflix, a friend in San Francisco pays for Hulu and another here in New York pays for HBO Now. We all pay for Amazon Prime, because Amazon. The co-op is currently onboarding a fourth member who will pay for Disney+. Scale!

Sharing passwords like this might go against the fine print of the average streaming user agreement, but it doesn’t seem to be against the spirit of them — most allow two and sometimes four seperate devices, in completely different locations, to be streaming simultaneously. Unless we’re talking about a situation where every member of the co-op is watching the same service at the same time (Does this really happen in a post-GoT world??), you should be just fine.

And given the trend, this might be the only workable model for watching stuff in the 2020s: Apple, Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Hulu will all have exclusive shows you can’t see anywhere else, while Disney and its fellow content mega-giants will be using their vast libraries to funnel people into their own platforms. In a world with 8 to 10 streaming services each demanding 12 bucks a month — and we’re not even including cable channels, for those who want live sports or CNN or whatever — a co-op is the only game in town. Viewers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your passwords.

—Tom Gara

19. Buy Nothing Project — Free

On Jan. 1, 2019, Netflix released Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, a reality series consisting of eight episodes of sweet lifestyle porn. The smiling, soft-spoken, petite host gently floats into people’s messy, cluttered homes, like an organizational Mary Poppins, and — from the shambles — helps them create a peaceful space to live and breathe and be joyful. Deep. There were moments during the show, however, when I wondered what exactly happened to all that perfectly usable stuff that Kondo helped them thank in a moment of ritual silence before tossing it into a trash bag in the driveway. Is it all headed to the landfill before ending up in crushed shards in some whale’s guts or up some turtle’s nostril?

One answer to this problem is the Buy Nothing Project, a network of local groups on Facebook started in 2013 “to quickly get rid of things that are cluttering their lives, or simply to save money by getting things for free.” The groups — which have popped up around the world — are organized by city, sometimes even by neighborhood. Some members post items they’re ready to “gift” to their neighbors, and others post things they need, in case anyone happens to be looking to expel that object from their house.

People gift clothes they no longer want or that don’t fit, furniture that doesn’t work in a new apartment (even a fireplace), storage and packing boxes, cosmetics and other beauty products that aren’t exactly the color or scent they were looking for, kitchen gadgets and spices they don’t use — the list goes on. One popular member regularly gives away extra bagels (local hero!). My most recent acquisition was a bunch of baby spider plants from an indoor gardening enthusiast who is propagating her plants and who — it turns out — lives across the street from me. It can be a nice way to meet neighbors with shared interests, which is part of the project’s ethos: “A gift economy’s real wealth is the people involved and the web of connections that forms to support them.”

I’ve found it to be an especially fabulous resource for new parents like me, since babies grow out of (or grow tired of) everything in just a few short months — onesies, shoes, toys, feeding gear — and a Buy Nothing group creates a pipeline to people in a similar life stage as you and who also live near you. It’s way easier than holding a yard sale and preferable to plopping a box of stuff on the sidewalk with a “FREE” sign and hoping for the best.

Life is fluid and ever-changing, but most of our stuff outlives its utility. I’ve really embraced the idea of letting things go when I no longer need them. My place isn’t Marie Kondo–level tidy — and probably never will be — but a Facebook group that facilitates free, no-landfill decluttering really can spark joy.

—Venessa Wong

20. #great-tweets — Free

This feels kind of like cheating because this isn’t a product that normies can access. Also it’s not new: I’ve been using it for the last two-and-a-half years at BuzzFeed News, when in my first week here someone showed me its greatness and my world perspective was forever changed. With this product — or more aptly place — the 473 people who can see it will on any given day find memes about Baby Yoda, a listing for a toddler’s (unused) Minion coffin, wedding photos from the holy matrimony between two water coolers, and screenshots of an influencer tanning their perineum, a.k.a. “buttchugging sunlight”. And that was all just on a random Monday in November.

This wonderful watering hole of content is known within BuzzFeed as #great-tweets, a Slack channel open to everyone at the company where folks pop in to just share really good tweets. There’s little conversation — save for the emoji reactions that fellow great-tweeters use to express their gratitude or disgust — and each day it’s a continuous stream of hits, 10 to 15 of the funniest, weirdest, nastiest things taken from the blue bird hellsite that most of us here spend too much time on. Maybe the tweets have been ripped from another platform (TikTok is a pretty popular source these days). Maybe the tweets have already gone superviral. But they are our great tweets, and we love them.

While I feel a little dirty sharing the existence of my colleague’s secret space with the public, #great-tweets is just that good. After spending some pretty terrible days online at work, I’ve spent many a night lying in bed laughing my ass off because someone shared a tweet with a hypothetical conversation between a cat and an octopus in a standoff, or a cow wearing a VR headset. It’s one of the few things that I know can consistently bring me joy on the web and I hope when I go, I too will be memorialized in the channel.

—Ryan Mac

21. Neato Botvac D7 — $599.99

One of the best things to happen to my family in 2019 was Kevin, the robotic vacuum cleaner. Kevin is a BOTVAC D7, and he is a cleaning monster in a household of 4 sloppy humans, 2 sloppier dogs, and a cat aghast at their collective sloppiness. When my home is dirty, I summon Kevin from my phone. Kevin is always ready to clean. He is very good with dust and dirt, and — crucially — his blade-and-bristle brush makes short work of dog hair, which is in issue in home with 200 lbs. of doggo, where things can go from relatively clean to dog park very quickly. When Kevin gets stuck or encounters an insurmountable obstacle, he messages me asking for help. It feels stupid to say it, but I find this adorable. Part of this is because that help typically involves picking Kevin up like a baby and relocating him to an easier navigate area. And part of it is because afterwards Kevin will message me again noting — like a dorky little grade school cartographer — that he has updated his map of my home. Two things here: 1. Kevin uses exclamation points! 2. I can use this map to create zones for targeted cleaning (kitchen, dog bowl area) and also out-of-bounds areas for Kevin to ignore (dog bed, dog). My home is a small one, so Kevin’s advertised battery life of 120 minutes has always been plenty. He automatically switches cleaning modes when running on wood, carpet, or tile. Typically, there is no (to little) visible dog hair on those surfaces when Kevin is in town. Kevin’s lone flaw, as best I can tell, is that his dirt bin can be easily overwhelmed during spring “blow,” but in a house with these two, who wouldn’t be.

—John Paczkowsi

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