Mute

hey, i have an issue when it comes to physically writing things down. i've basically memorised all my worldbuilding, and if people call on me to explain a part that i already know, i can explain it. but the problem here comes with writing these thoughts down. every time i go to type up dossiers of my cultures, i draw up blanks, despite not lacking anything to write about. all my ideas take the form of feelings and vibes that i dont know how to capture. anything i can do to fix this? thank you

The blank page writing dilemma is extremely common and regularly trips up many authors, no matter how many ideas they have. I'm not able to write directly on a Word doc. I'm not able to put my ideas in an Excel sheet, even though I can do that for work, and I'm not able to use Scrivener, as helpful as it is. I can use the computer for everything but novel writing.

And yet, despite in my mid-30s with probable ADHD, I've been able to write a number of novels and short stories. I've got a literary agent, and maybe someday will actually sell a book, who knows? But the point is if I can do this, so can you. In order to get anything done, I turn it into an art project.

Now, I'm not an artist. I can't draw, and I don't have much patience for learning beyond the basics of other art forms. But I can take a bunch of differently colored sticky notes, assign each color meaning, and slap them to a huge project board laid out with an outlined plot structure (I personally use Save The Cat as a starting baseline). I can use some macaroni to make a fantasy map. I can create character flash cards and add vital information to each.

Gather Your Tools - It takes some trial and error to find the method that works for you. You can try flash cards, you can try sticky notes, you can try colored pencils or fancy pens (I have to use Uni Power Tank pens, nothing else works). If laying out your scenes on flash cards doesn't work because you don't like things out of order, put them on sticky notes. Give yourself enough room to expand out - on a table, on the floor, on your bed. As long as you're creating something, you are making progress.

Start Small - You have a big whole world in your head, of course it's going to be hard to write down. Pick one thing - a character, a setting - and focus on that. Make a character sheet, create a playlist, spend way too much time on Canva creating a moodboard. Whatever gets the idea out of your head and onto something concrete that you can see helps.

Your notes can be as detailed as you want - Know how a scene goes to the very last detail? You don't have to write it down in full. Alternatively, however, I find my scene notes tend to be what amounts to my first draft - I get an outline in there, some dialogue, notes on setting and mood. But it's entirely up to you and what suits your needs!

Look, just make those playlists and moodboards - It feels like it's wasting time, it's not. You're getting those ideas flowing any way you can. Use every tool that helps.

This is all good and well, but how to get from preparing to write? Well, this is where it gets challenging. A detailed book, like Book In A Month, can help, writing advice is not one size fits all, and writing books are not rigid structures to stick to, but guides.

Make a reward system - I use stickers . Seriously. In addition to my notes, I have another sheet pinned above my desk with each chapter listed, the goals for each (draft, edited, etc), and a spot for a shiny sticker (also, I used to be a teacher, and you never get over the joy of using stickers). But any system will do, as long as you keep it to something that's easy to maintain and won't break your bank.

Chuck your goals - Can't get a chapter done? Focus on a scene. Can't get the scene to work? Focus on a chapter. Write your dialogue in script form, sketch out fight scenes with notes on details to add later. Everything is fixable, as long as you have something to fix.

Can't write on a computer? Try something else - Okay, look, I can't draft anything if I don't do it by hand. Is this the greatest idea? Maybe not, but it allows my brain to slow down and get the words to where I want them to be. I don't draft fast, but I do draft well because I'm handwriting, and my first attempt often resembles the final version.

Form habits and rituals - I have to write with a certain type of pen (hello, Uni Power Tank I have to buy online because they only make them in Japan). I have to write on a certain type of paper, with specific margins, because any size deviance between pages will drive me nuts. Is this stupid and arbitrary? Yes. Does it work for me? Also yes, which is why I do it. Find that kooky writing habit that works for you, and keep to it. If it works, it works.

There's nothing wrong with you. Your lizard brain knows writing is hard and it doesn't want to do hard things if it doesn't have to, so you have to find ways to trick your brain into wanting to do the hard thing (by hiding the fact that it's hard). It won't be easy, and you'll still have a lot of moments of frustration, but creating the right writing habits that work is the first step to getting those worlds out of your head and onto the page. Good luck!

Part 4 of the tension fic. Az x Reader - with Cass involvement. part three here

You waited a week to open the letter.  In between meetings about the threat at the border and training with the Valkyries - and Cass and Az - your busy schedule was a welcome distraction. Until you sat at the dining table with a drink and that letter loomed. No distractions present, you sighed. You downed your drink and opened it. The letter was a summons. A call back to your homeland. Your stomach turned. You stood and ran for the bathroom, chucking the letter in the fire along the way. = Azriel's eyes watered at the cold nip of sea air from where he flew. There was a reason they never took to the northern coast to fly. He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, doing his best to manage in the turbulent winds. The cloudy skies were easy to blend in with, his shadows melting him into the same shape. Far below were ships. Different sails and woods, but all carrying at least one banner. The House of Beasts. Or the Community of Beasts, whatever they had called themselves last. Azriel had heard little of them since his time on the continent, when they were just a small band of outcasts.  Ostracized from their own communities, they formed a legion of their own in the northeastern region of Rask. They presented no problem at the time he heard of them. He cursed to himself at the size of their forces. Fires dotted the entire shoreline, as did several tents. He shuddered to think of why there seemed to be so few tents for so many ships present. He turned back around, heading to Velaris once his aerial scouting was complete. His only saving grace was he had a bit more information on what their threat was.  Rhysand laughed when Azriel informed him their threat was the House of Beasts. He wouldn't have believed it if he didn't look inside Azriel's mind himself. = Your stomach clenched at the new round of nausea building.  You hadn't gotten up since ripping the paper. The invitation. You had left for a reason. Defected because you no longer shared their beliefs. Your worry did not help your stomach. You leaned over the side of the couch and wretched into the bucket again. A soft knock came at the door. You groaned and managed to mutter something along the lines of a 'leave me alone' before Cassian was unlocking it using the extra key under the mat. His eyes were wide with concern when he opened the door. Then his face turned sour. "I know, alright?" You panted, pulling the blanket over yourself tighter.  "I dont think you do. It is putrid in here." Cassian coughed for emphasis. Then he went to the kitchen, filling a glass of water while opening the blinds and windows. You groaned in protest. "Did Az run you too hard yesterday?" He asked. Not challenging, but genuine concern as he handed you the glass.  "No, I'm just sick." You said, words clipped. "He said he'd be at my window if I didnt answer the door." You smiled slightly, as much as you could manage.  "He got busy." Cass covered his mouth and nose with his shirt. It must have been really bad if he wasn't joking. You sighed and sipped the room temperature water. "Should I get Madja?" He asked softly, igniting adrenaline in you.  "No, absolutely not." You said quickly, heart hammering. You set the water down on the side table with shaking hands. "I just-" He began, you interrupted - "Unless I am dying or unconscious are you to bring a healer to me. Just let me endure it." You refused, heart hammering and making your head spin.  "Alright, alright... just- here." He grabbed the blanket that slid off you when you jolted upright to argue with him. "Lay back down. You need rest." He tucked the edges in around you and touched your forehead. A mothering hen. You wished to tell him your joke but you felt like sleeping with his cool hand against you. "I'll be back in a while, without a healer... Dont die." He said with a small smile. It was the last thing you remembered.  ******** Your dreams were muddled and confusing. Beasts dancing in firelight, then to figures flying high above a tall mountain. Then the Illyrian brothers, covered in blood and worried. You awoke with a gasp. To a silver tinted room and a cold breeze coming in from the cracked window.  A note lay next to your water. Correction, both your water glasses. One was a muddled color with a straw in it. "Drink all of this, then the next one. Will be back in the morning. -A" You groaned at the first sip. The pounding in your head had decreased, but your stomach was a mixture of knots and bubbles. Azriel had seen you like this. You refused to think further on it. The medicinal drink was easier to put down. It tasted of mint, soothing your stomach. Which left more room to focus on the pins and needles in your head.  Smashing a pillow over your head, you fell asleep again. The note left by Azriel fluttered softly in a gust of wind. --- "I'm not going to the continent with my trainee sick." Azriel said firmly against Rhys. The high lord leaned against the battle map on the table, exasperated.  He could understand why, it would be backup for Azriel and it would be good training. But time was of the essence in this case. If the forces of the House of Beasts were powerful enough to amass an army of the size Azriel had seen, they must have more tricks up their sleeves. "Az, I'll go with you. It's not a big deal." Cassian put a hand on his brother's shoulder Azriel shrugged him off sharply, narrowing his eyes. "The last time I went on a scouting mission with you, we were in a battle after the first day. One we did not win." He hissed. Cassian opened his mouth to protest, but Rhys cut them both off before the fight could get worse. He had heard this argument time and time again.  "Fine, how long until our Valkyrie is ready?" Rhys ran a hand though his hair, tension building with his power. He wondered if he could take on the entire army alone, if it would be enough against the unknown force. They weren't known for their spies, or their battle skills. They were simply... misfits. And for a good reason.  "Not a Valkyrie yet..." Azriel muttered, "We gave them something to help last night. I checked in this afternoon and they were still asleep." Cassian cut in, giving Az a glare. His temper had grown since you had fallen ill. Azriel was on edge.  "How. Long." Rhys ground out, dark power shuddering in the air. Growing impatient. "Two days, I'll have Madja take a look if they're not better by tomorrow." Azriel said quickly. Both his brothers raised their eyebrows at him. He knew the Madja was a long shot, and you'd rather die before being seen by a healer, but if it had to be done then he would hold you down himself.  After a moment of silence, Rhys cracked a grin and nodded. "If you say so." Cassian laughed, shaking his head. Azriel felt his hope sink.  ------ You willed your body to recover, so you wouldnt have to deal with a damned healer. You drank water religiously, and when you felt good enough, you took a shower. The medicine had definitely helped, but your head still ached. Your stomach couldn't handle more than a few crackers.  Still, you feared a healer looking a bit too close and ate and drank as much as you could. You pulled on a soft shirt after your shower and sighed at the knock that came at the door.  "No." You slammed the door shut in Azriel's and Madja's face.  There was a soft muffled laugh and "I told you." Cassian. They were relentless. Cassian would be your best backup right now though, you knew Azriel was the one with the healer idea. The only one with enough hope to even attempt it.  Azriel knocked again and you didnt even bother to open the door. "I'm doing better, you can go now!" You called, head echoing in pain at the exertion. There were soft whispers outside, and finally you heard small footsteps departing down the stairs. Your lock rattled with the spare key again. It seemed your hiding spot wasn't as secret as you hoped.  Azriel stated in the doorway, his shadows blocking the light. His face was grave, his eyes seemed to be shrouded in something you couldn't place. "You need to come with me to the Continent."  Your stomach dropped.

Hey, youre the only author I follow on this side and I have a big question... For 5 years by now I try writing a book myself. I have everything! Toughed-out characters, a fully developed plot, sideplots, a map of the world, etc. But... I just cant get it on paper. I draw a lot. Some scenes or just the characters to have refs on hand, colors, clothes and stuff but I just cant put down ONE Chapter in words! Maybe its because I'm a perfectionist and struggle too view my work with the eyes of my friends (who all say my writing is really good) I dont know, I'm never happy with my writings and dont wanna put out stuff I dont like. Do you have maybe some tips? I really wanna publish my story! It makes me sad that it takes soooo much time...

“Perfect is the enemy of done.” ― Catherine Carrigan

I wish I had some easy advice for this dilemma, but the truth is that it’s a toughie. It kind of reminds me of when I used to put off doing essays in high school. I’d make my outlines and think about it in my head. I’d plan. I’d wait for the right moment. Then the due date would pass.

If I got a shitty essay in by the due date I was usually good, it was fine, even half-baked essays usually got me B’s (this isn’t a brag on myself, this is just because the American school system lacks rigor). However, if I missed the due date then I was pretty much screwed. The clock was ticking and the task just got bigger and bigger in my head. It was due! I could do it! Nothing was stopping me! I just needed to actually do it.

But I couldn’t. It was too big in my head. It loomed too large. After the due date passed it had to be perfect or else it had to be nothing. And I would just, never turn it in. By college I stopped doing this, but by then I was studying things that I loved and looked forward to reading about and taking tests on.

There are a couple approaches to your dilemma I can imagine:

1. Go do another project: yep, let it go. Set it aside. Forget about it for a while so it becomes less scary. Time and space can do wonders for the creative process.

In the meantime, I recommend honing your craft. Write silly stories, write stories without plot or structure, write fanfiction and terrible prose, write something for the sake of writing. Honestly, there’s a lot of tried and true wisdom around the artistic statement: start small, get good. Painters do all sorts of tiny doodles before they attempt a masterpiece. Begin with doodles. Learn to build a scene before you build an entire house with it, my friend.

However, if that doesn’t help, then here’s option two:

2. Do some emotional exercises: Walking away from projects works, but not always. It’s something I’ve done in the past and I’ve talked to other people where it’s worked really well for them. Some distance from any projects is good.

However, I see a lot of online advise that’s like “if you don’t like it then walk away!” And that stuff frustrates me because I’m like “I don’t want to walk away! I want to fight for this!” Plus, whenever I have just “walked away” I’ve literally never gone back to any those projects. I don’t regret writing them, but I think we as artists need to emphasize the importance of finishing as well. If you’re serious about this then some parts of it are gonna suck so bad. It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna be hard. You’re gonna feel shitty because the story is not how you imagined it. You’re going to doubt yourself. Do it anyway. Do it anyway.

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear” —George Adair

I have a mood swing disorder so I do a lot of emotional exercises that are primed to help me distance myself from my emotions. “But you’re supposed to feel your feelings!” You say, and that’s true. Feeling your feelings is step one-- you have to let in, life is suffering, sit with it, look at it, feel it. However, the next step is taking action. You do the thing anyway.

You are not your emotions. 

You have control of how you react to your self-doubt and fear.

Acknowledge them, feel them, and then let them pass like clouds above your head. Then act. It’s okay to be a little hard on yourself here-- like a kind mother. She loves you unconditionally but she also has you do the dishes and put your toys away. She has you do the necessary and hard things, because she loves you.

By the time I was able to write essays in college and actually turn them in I had been to a lot of therapy and then I just . . . started writing. First I wrote for fun, like a madman possessed by a spirit, and now I write for the challenge of it (but at a much slower pace). Writing still often scares me or frustrates me, but that’s okay. It’s normal. They are just passing clouds-- stormy or otherwise. The clouds can’t touch you, not really, so I do it anyway.

Choose whatever path sounds best for you! Writing is a very personal process. It’s hard, but also an incredibly rewarding process. Good luck!

faceless, nameless - chapter 2

photo credit - unknown 

pairing - kylo ren x reader

warnings - canon-typical star wars violence, torture, fighting, angst. 

summary - You took a moment to examine this guy and that’s when it hit you, FN-2187, a stormtrooper was wearing Poe’s jacket and you could’ve sworn you saw red.

blog rules

a/n - i dont claim any ownership over dialogue pulled directly from the films :) this chapt is like 3.5k so buckle up!!! 

masterlist // read it on ao3 here 

chapter 1 // next chapter 

-----

the stars

Present Day 

Starkiller Base. 

A few months ago, you had given everyone on base a lesson in First Order torture techniques. Personally, you thought it was a rather pointless activity, knowing full well that none of them would ever be even slightly capable of standing up against Ren. Poe blabbed on about ‘hope’ and ‘they need to be able to find comfort’ and other random ‘good guy’ optimism nonsense. At the end of your lesson you stressed that the best chance they had of keeping their mouth shut was to find a memory- a good one-, and latch onto it as tight as possible until the Order was finished with them. 

Poe was really glad he talked you into giving that lesson, seeing as your advice had helped him withstand the past few hours of near constant torture at the hands of the Order. Various troopers and officers had come and gone, all failing in their attempts to extract what he had done with the last piece of the map to Skywalker. 

Around hour three his body began to give out and all he could think about was how you certainly hadn’t been lying in your constant complaints about how cold Starkiller was. As he faded into unconsciousness, he silently prayed you weren’t having a full blown breakdown and that BB-8 had somehow managed to find you on Jakku. 

When he woke again, no clue how much time had passed, he was greeted with a deep modulated voice from the other end of the room. Ren. 

“I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board.” Ren stated, voice flat. “Comfortable? 

“Not really.” Poe responded, voice equally as flat. Behind his mask, Ren was staring quizzically down at him. Ren was more than used to the feelings of intense hatred that his prisoners projected towards him- if anything it was the expected response-, but there was something so different about the emotions Poe was projecting, unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It was so... personal. 

“I'm impressed, no one has been able to get out of you, what you did with the map.” 

It didn’t take a genius to know what was coming next. Not bothering to respond, Poe started to slip back away into his happy memory. In his mind, you were there, back turned to him but he could still hear you laughing as the two of you ran through the field by his childhood home 

He was forcibly removed from the memory when Ren reached outwards, slamming Poe back against the chair, with the Force. “I see.” Ren said darkly, twisting his hand ever so slightly, watching in enjoyment as Poe began to strain against the pressure building in his brain. 

Poe’s mind was panicked, trying in vain to hide the memory of you, but it was too late, as Ren had already caught the tail end of it. 

“Is it a girl that holds the last of the map Dameron?” Ren taunted, forcing his way deeper into Poe’s mind. 

Poe’s face was scrunched up in agony, desperate in his attempts to shield your identity from Ren. Ren mistook the admirable struggle as proof that it was this girl who held the key to the map, rather than Poe’s personal attempts at keeping you safe. Ren continued his mental assault, breaking down every mental wall Poe tried in vain to put up. 

A flash of your masked face. Ren was getting closer. 

Then there it was, you- unmasked, no disguise-, staring up at Poe in his memories. 

Poe in his panic started thinking of every single thing he could- what he ate for breakfast before he left, the color of his favorite shirt, the list of chores he had to do on base-, anything to try and divert Ren from you. 

It was like time stopped, the mental probe retreated only for an instance before Ren was back in Poe’s head with a new unrelenting force, pulling up Poe’s most recent and clear memory of you. 

“I don’t like the idea of this.” You said quietly.

“Have I ever let you down Princess?” Poe said with a grin. When that didn’t seem to amuse you, he put a hand on your cheek, angling your face up towards him. “Three days, I’ll see you on Jakku then. I promise.” 

And then the memory was gone. 

----

Jakku. 

It had been two years since Poe and blondie- you later learned his name was Leokai-, had stumbled upon you bleeding out in the sand. Adjusting to Resistance life had been difficult and for months you thought you’d never gain their trust. It wasn’t until you had accompanied Poe to a Resistance ‘recruitment’ meeting and noticed a First Order operative slinking around the crowded room. You had quite literally dragged Poe as far away from the building and off the planet in a matter of minutes, effectively saving him from giving a ‘we’re right here’ speech directly to the Order. After that, the general opinion about you among Resistance members turned positive. 

You still donned a disguise for their safety, lest their mind was ever blended up by Ren. It was incredibly simple, a well designed wig and different colored contacts. Natural enough that you’d never attract undue attention, but still enough that unless Ren had specific intel to look for this version of you, he’d never double check a fleeting memory that might include you; luckily no one had been unfortunate enough to test this theory. During any official Resistance business or battles you donned a plain white mask that wrapped securely around your face. 

When you first got the mask, you and Poe had had a field day with it, trying to figure out how much movement it could handle before falling off; Leia had actually caught the two of you trying to tie yourself to Poe’s X-Wing to see if that would finally get the thing to move. 

All in all, life with the Resistance was treating you pretty well. Except for right now, as you anxiously waited for Poe in a small nondescript ship on the outskirts of the Niima Outpost in Jakku. Poe, you had quickly learned, was one of the biggest idiots you had ever met. You weren’t exactly sure how he had talked you into splitting up for this mission. Splitting up was never a good idea, how had every horror HoloNet show not taught him that already? But Poe had made an undeniable point, the First Order- the Knights of Ren specifically-, were hot on his trail for the last piece of the map to Skywalker and you couldn’t risk being caught up in that fight. 

So, you agreed to split up. But Poe was late.  Late enough to warrant the uncontrollable worrying. Ever since ‘the incident’ you had developed a horrible case of ‘abandonment issues’; everyone reassured you it was a perfectly reasonable response, but you hated it, the complete lack of control over your own brain drove you nuts. You were pacing back and forth, doing your best to calm your nerves. Wherever Poe was, for his sake, you prayed he had a damn good reason for being late. Knowing that you were full of nerves,  Poe had even given himself a very wide arrival time so you wouldn’t worry. But here you were, worrying . 

Unable to wait around any longer, you decided to gear up and make your way to the outpost. If you were lucky, maybe someone had seen him or maybe you’d even find him yourself. You pulled your hair tight to the back of your head, clipping it in place, before sliding your mask on. As you headed out the doors of the ship you grabbed your staff, slinging it around your shoulder. A year ago, you managed to finally access funds that you had left behind on your home planet. Not only did it help purchase a lot of life saving supplies for the Resistance, it also meant you were able to buy and build a brand new staff for yourself. It wasn’t as advanced or sleek as the one you used in the Order, but it did the job just as well. 

The trek to the outpost would only take less than an hour, giving you adequate time to try and calm your nerves. You made a list as you walked, you made a lot of lists these days, having found it greatly helped in controlling your anxiety. 

Poe was just a bit lost, his sense of direction was never as good on the ground as it was in the air. 

Poe was being his charming self and chatted up someone a little too well and lost track of time. 

You still had your ship and if he wasn’t back by the end of the day you’d be going back to D’Qar and putting together an official search party. 

You struggled for a solid fourth item, but by then you were just reaching the outpost. It was loud and dirty and unlike anything you’d ever been to before. No one gave you a second glance, which you were grateful for. As you made your way through the many stalls you were growing more and more antsy, none of the people you saw being Poe. 

Nearly two hours had passed and you had thoroughly walked through the entirety of the outpost, not that there was much, at least ten times. Just as you were about to turn around and head back to the ship, a familiar shade of orange and beeping caught your attention. You almost fell to your knees in relief when you saw BB-8. Except he wasn’t with Poe, but rather a...scavenger girl? It was like BB-8 could feel your eyes on him, because he turned around to look at you and began beeping excitedly. The girl beside him turned to face you as well and without thinking you got a better grip on your staff and ran at her. 

The girl’s face morphed in confusion, but quickly put together what was happening and got her own staff into position, giving you one last look before she turned and started to run as well. Her hesitation and your own speed meant you easily caught up, swiping at her legs which sent her topping down. She hit the sand hard, not letting it stop her as she rolled to her back and instinctively pushed her staff upwards, expecting yours to come down. 

What she definitely didn’t expect was the electrical end of your staff, on and buzzing, pointed straight at her face. 

“You stole this droid.” You hissed. 

Before she had time to respond, BB-8 was rolling up to the two of you, beeping like hell. It was a funny mix of ‘I’m so excited to see you’ and ‘please don’t hurt this girl’ and ‘I’ve got so many stories to tell you’ and ‘I promise this girl did not steal me’ and other random beeps. He was talking so fast and your head was still clouded with adrenaline, so it took you longer to process what BB just said. As soon as you realized the girl hadn’t just not stolen him, but rather saved him, you turned the electrical current off and pulled your staff away from her face. 

You stuck your hand out, glad she was unable to see the look of pure embarrassment on your face. “I um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have chased you like that, I just saw BB and…,” you trailed off, unsure of how to explain yourself. 

Luckily, the girl grasped your hand and lifted herself off the ground. “I would’ve done the same, I think.” She replied, giving you a tentative smile. 

You still had so many questions unanswered, but before you could say anything BB-8 started beeping like crazy again; saying something about how he could see a man up ahead-staring at the three of you-, that was wearing his master’s, Poe’s, jacket. 

Not bothering to apply any of the lessons you had just learned from storming the girl, you switched the electrical end of your staff back on. A quick look at the girl told you she had the same idea, both of you getting better grips on your staffs. Both of you took off in a sprint towards the man and you  almost  felt bad for him- you were clearly taking him by surprise, the way his eyes widened like saucers-, but he was wearing Poe’s jacket. 

His attempt at escaping was short-lived. The girl swung out in front of him, shoving him to the ground- quite similar to what you just did to her-, and you quickly took up the rear, positioning the electrical end right at his throat.  

Everyone was breathing heavily, no one had expected to do so much running today. You took a moment to examine this guy and that’s when it hit you, FN-2187, a stormtrooper was wearing Poe’s jacket and you could’ve sworn you saw red. You pressed the tip of your staff to his chest, not enough to seriously hurt him, but enough to send a shock through his body. 

“I’m only going to ask once,” you started, glaring up at him from behind the mask, “where, did you, get that jacket?” Punctuating each pause with the lightest of electrical taps. 

“Ow! Ow! Quit that! I’ve had a pretty messed up day, alright? I’d appreciate it if you stopped accusing me-” 

“Liar!” You yelled, putting the end back in his face. “You stole it from his master,” you said, tilting your head towards BB-8 who was beeping in agreement, “I’ll give you one more chance to answer honestly.” 

FN-2187 raised his hands up in surrender. You studied his face for a moment, searching for any signs of deception; there weren't any, but that explained nothing. “I swear! I swear, his name is Poe. That’s right? Poe Dameron.” 

At the sound of Poe’s name your shoulders relaxed a little bit, but the relaxation was short lived as you FN-2187 continued. 

“He was captured by the First Order.” 

No. 

“I helped him escape okay, but we crashed a little further out,” FN-2187 was silent for a moment, “Poe didn’t make it.” 

No No No No No No No No No. 

“You’re…, you’re lying.” You said angrily, unable to accept that as truth. When all FN-2187 did was give you a look full of  pity, you hit the switch on your staff, pulling it back to your body. “You’re lying…” You repeated, much weaker this time, glad that they were unable to see the tears forming behind the mask. 

“I’m sorry. I really am.” FN-2187 said quietly, in a voice that was just the right amount of sincere to be true. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw BB-8 start to roll away, you couldn’t let him get lost now. “If you even, think, about running away while I go get the droid, you won’t live to see another day.” You threatened, quickly turning on your heel to go catch up with BB. 

In your absence, the girl and FN-2187 were both still quite winded. At least you had gone into the outpost knowing there was potential for action, the two of them were completely caught off guard. 

“Are you with the Resistance too then?” The girl asked. 

A fleeting look of confusion appeared on FN-2187’s face before he jumped up and nodded. “Yes, yes I am. I am part of the Resistance. A Resistance member.” 

“I’ve never met a real Resistance member before. And now in one day, I’ve met two.” The girl replied, with a gentle smile on her face. 

By the time you managed to get BB and ‘drag’ him back to where the other two were standing, they had finished their conversation. FN-2187 tensed up when you reappeared, something you were okay with, not wanting him to feel too comfortable around you. 

No one had time to say anything before the sound of blaster fire diverted all of your attentions. A quick look up at the sky confirmed your one of your worst fears, the First Order was here. FN-2187 grabbed both of your hands and started pulling.

“Don’t grab my hand!” You and the girl both shouted out, but running alongside him anyway. The three of you weaved your way out of the Outpost, doing your best to avoid the unrelenting fire of bullets and bomber shots the Order was raining down on you. 

“They’re gunning for me!” FN-2187 screamed, causing you to roll your eyes. 

“They’re gunning for all of us, especially the droid. Now keep up!” You yelled back. It didn’t take much mental strain to understand that if Poe had really been captured and had really crashed on Jakku after escaping, that the Order would’ve followed him here. Your feet pounded the sand, pushing yourself ahead of FN. 

“We can’t outrun them!” FN-2187 called out from behind you. 

The girl was ahead of you and she pointed out towards a quad jumper. “We might! In that quad jumper.” All of you running towards it as fast as you could. 

Of course, as soon as the words left her lips, the TIE fighter tailing you blew the thing to smithereens. All three of you seemed to pause for a moment before the girl started running towards a hunk of,- oh my god was that the Millenium Falcon-  junk to her left. 

“Hey! We still need a pilot!” FN-2187 screamed, still running a few paces behind you. 

“I can pilot anything!” You yelled out, not bothering to look at him over your shoulder. The three of you, plus BB, raced up the walkway of the ship, slamming the door shut behind you. 

“Gunning position is down there.” Rey said hurriedly, pointing at a set of stairs. She didn’t look back as she rushed ahead to the pilots seat. 

Just as FN-2187 got ready to mount the stairs you grabbed him by the back of Poe’s jacket and yanked him around to face you. 

“Not the time-”

“If you do anything down there to make me believe you’re still working for them, FN-2187, I won’t hesitate to come down here and gouge your eyeballs out myself.” You spat, relishing in the way his eyes widened at the use of his official call number. You didn’t give him the chance to reply, just let go of his jacket and made your way to the front of the ship to co-pilot. 

The girl was already pulling the ship into the air by the time you made it up there. You wasted no time, quickly throwing yourself into the chair beside her. Both of you fumbled to pull on headsets as you worked the controls. “Stay low.” You ordered. 

She gave you a confused look. “What?” 

“Stay low,” you said more urgently, “it confuses their tracking.” 

The girl went low and you were glad you were strapped in. You didn’t expect the smoothest of rides, but it was certainly  jerky . 

The constant sound and feel of blaster shots hitting the exterior of the ship were making it difficult to focus. “What are you doing down there!” You screamed into the headset. “Shoot back!” 

“I’m trying,” FN screamed back up, “are the shields up?” 

You blindly reached over and smacked a button. “Yes! Now shoot !” You yelled. 

Where FN-2187 was lacking, the girl was making up for it tenfold with her piloting ability; this girl was good. Internally, you knew you were being unreasonably hard on him; it wasn’t so far fetched to believe that someone would defect from the Order, hell you defected- even if it wasn’t necessarily your choice-, and your position and relationship to the Order had been much more intimate and substantial than a ‘trooper. Pushing those thoughts to the back of your head, you focused on helping the girl pilot the ship. The two of you working in unison to attempt to shake the TIE’s trailing you.

“Hold on!” She shouted and in the background you could hear FN asking what for. The girl pulled on the steering hard and you went veering to the right before she rolled the ship around, giving FN the perfect shot at the last TIE. You internally promised yourself, that if he missed this fighter you’d be fulfilling your eye gouging promise. Luckily for all of you, but especially FN-2187, he blew the TIE fighter right out of the sky. 

“Wooo!” In the rush of the moment, you weren’t exactly sure who was whooping and hollering, it might as well have been all of you. 

Once you felt the ship was out of imminent danger and safely gliding through space, you relaxed back into your seat. Looking over at the girl you smiled, even though she couldn't see it, you hoped she was able to read the emotion from your eyes. You think she could, by the way she smiled real big back at you. 

She stuck her hand out and said, “My name is Rey. The guy downstairs said he’s Finn and he’s with the Resistance too.” 

-----

a/n - im having so much fun with this yall dont even know. likes/replies/reblogs always appreciated and if youd like to be tagged just ask! 

taglist: @egguuuu​ @sunflowersandotherthings​ @clarizuliani10​ @kylorendrip​

no permission is given to copy or republish my writing on any other platform or account. if you see this story outside of my blog or my ao3 it is stolen work. i do not own nor claim to own star wars or any of the character involved in it. 

oh if you dont mind saying, what did you not like about the game? i thought it handled some issues pretty well, i liked it better than the first one

Okay this is about Life is Strange 2 and I’m gonna have to include spoilers so WARNING LIFE IS STRANGE 2 SPOILERS AHEAD WEEOO WEEOO WEEOO:

The thing I liked least about the game ultimately is that there are really no good endings. It’s clear that the ending that is supposed to be the best one is you surrendering to the cops and going to prison for 15 years, and even at then end of the cut scene ending on that when you’re back camping with your brother when you get out, for some reason they felt the need to throw on Sean leaving for somewhere who even knows where or why and Daniel crying. I get that this series is like anti-happy endings but COME ON.

Then there are so many things that either aren’t believable, don’t make sense, or aren’t explained. 15 years for a Mexican teen who they think killed a cop on top of many other crimes? He would have gotten life, if tried in Washington. 

I think a big part of the problem for me is that I really wanted to play the game as the world’s best big brother. I focused on protecting Daniel and doing everything I could to keep him safe. I didn’t refuse to steal money from a drug lord because Crime is Bad, I refused because it’s morally wrong to put a nine-year-old in that kind of danger, because the drug lord clearly had no qualms about killing people, and because no amount of money is worth exposing my little bro to that kind of danger and potential trauma.

But at the same time, knowing what I know and feeling like this was SUPPOSED to be a realistic game, I really wanted the brothers to escape to Mexico and live out their lives together way from the US police and government. This resulted in me initially getting the ending that was the opposite of what I wanted. Oh and can we talk about Sean’s sudden undetected stroke that made him drive to a fucking normal border checkpoint after escaping the border patrol instead of the hole in the wall they got caught at in the first place??? Or anywhere else to make another hole???? I know Sean’s not naive at that point Square Enix.

Oh and the other really unbelievable thing is that the government would ever leave Daniel alone after so many people witnessed his powers. Like, by chapter 4, I felt like no way staying in the US was an option because they would have disappeared him to some government black site for experiments and shit, right? Nobody would have ever seen that kid again. Omg it would have been Beyond: Two Souls 2.

And all that is only the complaints I have outside of the game’s political content. I really had high hopes for it after I played season 1 like a year ago, but it totally went fighting cops and racists = bad, following the law and helping racists = good. You can practically map out the liberal attempt to make the game somehow politically neutral, not realizing that what is neutral to them actually has a political agenda. The message ends up being that you have to surrender to the system, no matter how unjust and awful it may be. I hate it.

Now keep in mind that I am an anarchist who wants to abolish the police. I’m also white. Those with different perspectives may still enjoy the game, or absolutely hate it. My desire to protect Daniel above all else may have been a large part of the reason why the game didn’t work for me, and someone with different priorities might have a different experience. But I can’t personally recommend it to anybody, especially people of color. Really for anybody vulnerable to abuse by the police and the state, there’s a lot of potentially triggering content and just a lot more potential political cliffs to fall off of than the other Life is Strange games. 

That being said, I’m playing it again to try and get the “Blood Brothers” ending. Fuck the USA.

Song of the Dragon

big shoutout to liz for giving me this idea since we were talking about whether or not volga would play an instrument because boy do we love some dragon sirens

obv this is part 1 of however many i feel like writing which i am unsure of but!!! its a start and slowly building to volink i promise

song is based on this because im uncreative and i dont know how to write in hylian im sorry

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

The word of the usually docile lizard tribes rampaging across the villages near the base of the mountain spread like wildfire, which is how Link found himself within the darkest caverns of Eldin Caves.  He was appointed by the princess herself to find the cause of why the lizaflos and dinolfos were terrorizing the villages on the borders of Hyrule; they were practically defenseless against the onslaught from the reptiles, and losing their allegiance was not an option.  Going off the rumors and stories he had heard from the townspeople affected by the attacks -- and even members of his own army who have had prior experiences -- it seemed like his chance to prove himself to the army of earning not only the title "Captain", but "Hero".

He didn't quite feel like a hero right in this moment. Something was off.

"They're scary, but the lizards are nothing compared to their largest and in charge, the red one!" "With a single roar, the red dragon could cause a landslide -- no -- an earthquake!  It can shake the whole mountain!" "What if wakes the dormant volcano of Death Mountain?  What happens to the village then?"

Link wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand as he reminded himself there was a good reason to brave the heat.  It wasn't just hot in the caves -- it was boiling.  The hero realized he wasn't as well equipped to venture into the caves as he believed he was.  Sadly he had left his companion fairy (and his only voice of reason) back at camp.  Proxi wouldn't have fared any better than he was right now.

Luckily for him, there weren't as many of the lizard foes straggling about inside the caves as he had imagined compared to the few he had seen at the entrance.  Or was it that he had missed them?  The first few were probably there to prevent intruders, seeing as no one (except a hero) would be foolish to enter the caves.  The entry opened into several tunnels, which seemed to open like a hellish labyrinth.  He couldn't really be lost already, right? "The caves are mostly undocumented, as no one has returned to accurately map out their paths for the scholarly archives," Impa warned him.  The princess laid a hand on his shoulder in support, a small smile pulling at the end of her lips. "You will be going in blind, but with the blessings of the goddesses at your disposal, we believe you can bring peace to the villages below." "Some blessings,"  he thought to himself as he made another turn around from a long corridor. He had silently prayed he had made some sort of progress for heading deeper into the caverns and away from the heat, but he was only met with the same pools of lava he had seen before countless times.  He paled as the unforgiving heat radiating from it only confirmed his worst fears -- he was definitely, and thoroughly, lost. The Hylian was sure the scream that bubbled in his throat would have rivaled the supposed dragon's if he had the strength to let it escape from his lips.  He kicked the earth underneath his boots in a fit of frustration before lowering himself into a crouch, pulling his knees to his chest.  It was futile task with all of his luck turned against him.  Without so much as a decent map or an indicator of how much time has passed, Link wasn't sure how long he had been battling against the heat; all he knows is that it was slowly starting to break him.  Even another dead end would have been better than staring at the endless pit in front of him. The bubbling magma seemed to taunt him while he pulled the sticky scarf from around his neck.  It was only a few meters away, but temperature was unrelenting and making the tunic he wore slowly stick to him uncomfortably like a new layer of skin.  He squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the beads of sweat trickling down his brow from blurring his vision as he dug his fingers into his hair.  This wasn't the time to panic.  Leaders, captains, heroes don't panic!  He urged himself to breathe slowly; inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth in an attempt to calm himself.   "The goddesses are on my side," he reminded himself quietly, flexing the fingers on his left hand.  "They aren't cruel enough to let me die in a cave.  They chose me!  They've given me this chance to save others for the greater good.  I just need a sign!"

æ d   ɪ d ə m   æ d   ɪ n f ɪ n ɪ t ə m

The goddesses must have heard the captain's prayer.  As if on cue, a low sound ripped through the silence of the bubbling rivers of lava.  Link stilled to listen closely while the sound reverberated off the walls.  It sent a shiver up his spine.

"As I've heard it from generations past, there's a dragon that lives in the Caves of Eldin that possesses the tongue of man.  It still roars like a beast, but capable of speech, and even song!"  The soldiers laughed at their fellow knight.  Another soldier joined in.  "I remember this! I heard that it lures those who get lost in the caves to their deaths with its song." He nodded in agreement with the knight while the others' laughter became silent.  "It's got to be a cunning predator to lure even the bravest of men with a false sense of security.  If the lizards don't get you, it will!"

The goddesses are surely playing a sick joke on him.  Link's blood ran cold as his ears strained to listen for the sound as it had gone silent again.  This couldn't be the dragon that he had heard many fables about, could it?  He could only hear the sound of his heart thrumming in his ears as he tried to convince himself that it wasn't the same dragon.  With the little knowledge he did have of them, Link was sure they weren't very fond of sharing the same territory together, much less a labyrinth of caves.

æ d   ɪ n f ɪ n ɪ t ə m ɪ n   m e m ɔ: r ɪə m  

After finally taking a minute to collect himself (when was he holding his breath?), Link willed himself to bring himself to stand despite his limbs protesting, fighting him to stay frozen in place.  He had asked for a sign; this was no doubt his only chance of getting closer to finding out why the villages were being targeted.  He swallowed thickly as he trudged back along one of the tunnels leading out of the central chamber.  The adrenaline was running coldly in his veins, but the back of his left hand burned as he ran his fingers over the walls of rock.  

k   ʌ n ʌ m  

The heat slowly was starting to melt away as the scenery changed around him; sheets of bright red rock slowly turned cool to the touch, colored obsidian.  Stalagmites turned to stalactites, hanging low from the ceiling and nearly grazing the top of his head.  It had gotten a lot darker he soon realized he wasn't staring at searing lava.  Instead, the soft luminous glow of blue crystal formations provided him with an odd sense of comfort.  The cavern was at least a tolerable temperature now, but his hand still burned with an intensity that kept pushing him forward.  

v aɪ   i: t   ɑ: m ɪ s

The song was becoming less of an echo and more of a clearer sound.  It was chilling to the bone with the ghostly whispers filling his ears.  He would have believed there were many voices than just one if he were none the wiser.  The haunting notes rivaled the beautiful sound.

Link paused as the ominous tune came to another stop. The tunnel looked to open into another large cavern of crystals that shone brighter than the ones pressed against his back.  The Hylian listened closely for any sort of sound.  He was only gifted with a few seconds of peace before the screech of sharpened metal scraped against the earth.  The Triforce began to burn through the leather of his gauntlet as Link quickly rounded the corner, drawing his blade to take down the beast.

Another pause.

This was no beast.  It was a man.  No other ordinary human could have survived the heat for this long, he mused. His brows knit together in concern as he kept the blade drawn and pointed at the stranger, whose back was turned to him.  

v eɪ l 

A low chuckled filled the room as the Hylian faltered a bit as realization struck through him.  The man turned, pike in hand, and stared him down from underneath the brim of his helmet.  He grinned with too many pointed teeth.

"Have you come to strike me down, boy?"

jc/lwj fic snippets

this one was called ‘im just a housewife’ 

-- 

“North,” Lan Wangji says, “Near Qinghe.”

Jiang Cheng taps his finger on the table as he looks down at the map. “That’s not even remotely close. You really can’t let it go this one time?”

It’s a rhetorical question. Of course he won’t let it go. It’s not in Lan Wangji’s nature to forget about something just because someone asks.

He watches as Lan Wangji bows his head to this. Even though they both know that he’s going no matter what, they always have to go through this first— Lan Wangji will always come asking for permission.

“I’m not your keeper,” Jiang Cheng says, a feeling of deja vu washing over him. They’ve had this discussion very often. “You can come and go whenever you want.”

That’s not what Lan Wangji wants him to say. He keeps waiting.

“If you want to go, you should go,” Jiang Cheng says.

“...”

He clicks his tongue. “Lan Wangji, don’t make this difficult.”

He still doesn’t answer. 

Jiang Cheng frown turns even deeper, and even Lan Wangji’s unhappiness is beginning to show on his somber, handsome face. Neither of them like the situation.

“The request came from the north watchtower in Yunmeng Jiang’s territory,” Lan Wangji says. “But not to Qinghe Nie, or even Lanling Jin. If even such a faraway sect was called, then it must be important.”

Perhaps, but importance is relative. If no other sect has answered this plea, then it must be so incredibly unimportant that none were willing to take care of it. Jiang Cheng certainly won’t be sending anyone to resolve this issue. But Lan Wangji is the type of cultivator that puts no interest in scale of calamity. He’ll go wherever he’s called.

It’s easier for Jiang Cheng to deflect, or say go if you want. That way, it’s still Lan Wangji’s choice. He has to make the decision. But Lan Wangji never accepts it when he says that. He always makes it Jiang Cheng’s choice, and they both already know what he’s going to say in the end.

If you leave now, you won’t be back in time.  I’ll send someone else. Just stay this once.

He says, “You can go.”

“But tomorrow,” he adds quickly. “It’s already evening. You’ll have to stay the night.”

—

They eat a meal together in relative silence. Jiang Cheng sends the attendants away, and Lan Wangji quickly gets up to sit beside him, so that their shoulders brush and their knees bump once. They’re both squeezed right in front of one small, square table meant for one person.

“Use your own table,” Jiang Cheng says, annoyed. “Do you want to share a bowl or something? If you have to sit right there, just bring it over with you.”

“Alright.”

Sitting facing one another is ideal when one wishes to have a conversation. It’s easier to see each other’s faces. But Lan Wangji dislikes small talk, and Jiang Cheng just isn’t very good at it. So it’s fine if they sit like that, close enough that they’ll brush past each other.

The food is good.

Before nine, they take a small stroll through Yunmeng. The town is bustling; everyone preparing for an upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. The mood is light, cheerful. The Yunmeng Jiang disciples are fooling about in the streets and making a nuisance of themselves, yet Jiang Cheng doesn’t even have the heart to tell them off.

Lan Wangji sees it, too. He begins to call for their attention, but Jiang Cheng grabs him by the arm. “Don’t.”

“... Why not?”

Jiang Cheng ignores the question. His hand slips downwards, from Lan Wangji’s bicep to his hand, and walks on, dragging the other man behind him.

They walk along the near side of the lake perimeter, where fishing boats line the dock and lanterns bob up and down in the water. They take their time.

“You think I’m upset,” He says waspishly, after a moment. “I’m not.”

Lan Wangji squeezes his hand.

“I said you could go, so you should go without regrets. You’ve been frowning the entire evening. Don’t look so unhappy all the time.”

“Mm.”

Of course, it’s not like Jiang Cheng is unbothered by it either. But Lan Wangji doesn’t point it out, because he’s kind in that way. All that would that would do is cause irritation.

“They haven’t put up much of the  yet, but it’s close enough,” Jiang Cheng says. “You kept your promise, alright? I’ll accept this.”

“Mm.”

Their evening ends like this: they slip into bed together, somewhere between pleased and unhappy and warm— it’s no longer summer, and the nights are cool enough for them to lay a bit closer.

“Jiang Cheng,” Lan Wangji whispers.

“What?” 

“Sorry.”

Jiang Cheng pats his shoulder in the dark and replies gruffly, “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

—

(\\uh flashback begins i guess)

While the husband heads off, the wife stays behind. She manages the home and the children, and waits for her husband to return to her.

More than three years before this, Lan Wangji is to leave again, and Jiang Cheng has this particular though cross his mind. Leading a sect is nothing like managing a household, but still he blurts out, “I’ll come with you.”

Lan Wangji turns to him in surprise, and he forges on, “You said it was close to Gusu? I needed to see your brother anyway.”

In truth, he was going to go in about a month, but Lan Wangji doesn’t need to know that. When he fails to respond, Jiang Cheng arches a brow and says pointedly, “Unless you’d prefer to go alone, then I’ll find some other time.”

“Please.” Lan Wangji walks up to him and grabs him. He hugs him, and perhaps that’s the first indication that he’s as unhappy with this development as Jiang Cheng.

It’s three years ago, see, and they’re new to this. Still in the process of trying to explain oneself to the other, but Jiang Cheng is beginning to note that it just won’t work with them— they’re both incapable of explaining their thoughts clearly.

The only solution is to simply let their actions talk for them. Lan Wangji is very good at this step.

Jiang Cheng brushes him away carefully after an appropriate amount of time. “When were you planning on departing?”

“Tonight.”

“That works for me.”

Despite being brushed off, Lan Wangji leans forward again and takes his hand. He doesn’t seem to inclined to let go anytime soon. Clingy. He must be happy.

Jiang Cheng hadn’t realized it mattered to much to him.

They leave that evening quietly, without much fanfare. 

—

Lan Wangji is the sort of person that leaves no traces where he walks, quite literally. Traveling by sword becomes monotonous, eventually. They both take a moment to travel on foot— to which Jiang Cheng notices that even Lan Wangji’s footprints seem light, like they’ll fade in minutes, or at the slightest blow of the wind. There’s not a trace of dirt on his boots.

There’s no visible dirt on Jiang Cheng’s either, but that’s just because his boots are a far more sensible color.

“Is there something wrong?” Lan Wangji asks when Jiang Cheng spends too long staring down.

“No,” he responds brusquely while looking up. “Nothing.”

Lan Wangji doesn’t seem to believe him, tilting his head inquisitively. He reaches out to pat Jiang Cheng on the cheek.

“What are you doing.” It’s more of a statement than a question.

Instead of answering properly, Lan Wangji brings up both his hands and pulls Jiang Cheng’s lips up with his thumbs. He holds the position for a bit, looking at him

“Of course,”

(\\ i dont remember what they were doing here probably like bridal carry on a sword like a real couple but unfortunately jiang cheng is allergic to pda)

It’s absolutely juvenile. He feels like a youth fooling around, and he makes it clear to Lan Wangji. “This is ridiculous,” he says through gritted teeth.

Lan Wangji states, “You don’t like it.”

“Obviously. I feel silly,” Jiang Cheng says. “Put me down, we’re not doing this.”

Lan Wangji gently lowers him back onto the ground, and Jiang Cheng grimaces when he looks a bit crestfallen. Perhaps he’s made things awkward, by protesting. 

(\\ flashback finale, they found the bad guy and tricked him through a lot of self-indulgent disguising themselves as each other aka. the wearing your s/o’s clothes trope)

“You— you aren’t Lan Wangji!”

“Should I congratulate you for having eyes?” Jiang Cheng snaps, and pulls out Bichen. 

(\\bad guy should say “if ur not lwj who are you???!!!

(\\ and i have no idea what led up to this but jc is somehow so pissed he ends up saying “im his fucking wife!!)

(\\ i think jcs being like “time to torture him lol”)

Jiang Cheng says very evenly, “Go wait outside.”

“No.”

“Lan Wangji,” he warns, “You won’t like it. You should wait outside.”

Lan Wangji shakes his head. “I’ll stay.”

(\\ uuuh idk just wanted him to say “would you like for me to step on you”)

“You?” Jiang Cheng sneers. “And who could you possibly be? If you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re no one. You’ll never be anyone. You’re trash at my feet. Why should I pay you any mind?”

The man sobs as he screams, “I made you! I was the one! I made you bleed! I wanted it, and it happened!”

“And what would you like next, for me to step on you?”

(\\end flashback)

In the morning, they wake. It is not yet dawn, and Jiang Cheng is roused by Lan Wangji moving the covers.

He pulls himself upright. His back is stiff; he fell asleep in an odd position. While he arches and stretches wearily, Lan Wangji dresses himself, then hands Jiang Cheng’s own neatly folded outer robes over.

“Thanks,” he mutters as he hurriedly puts it on, moving on to tying up his hair, only for Lan Wangji to carefully remove his hands from their work, and taking it for himself.

The first time Lan Wangji had done this, Jiang Cheng had snapped at him to leave it alone. He really doesn’t need someone to tie his hair for him. Now he doesn’t even bother to complain. Still, it doesn’t stop him from attempting to braid it himself first.

Another meal. It similar to the one from the night before. And as soon as it is over, Lan Wangji will go.

Jiang Cheng takes him to entrance of the Lotus Pier, then gestures outwards. “Go on. I’ll see you in a week.”

Lan Wangji turns to him, carefully watching him. He could say, I’ll miss you. He could apologize. Neither of those things will be accepted by Jiang Cheng, so nothing is said. But still, he pauses, as if feeling that “nothing” will not suffice.

“Lan Wangji, are you a cultivator or not?” Jiang Cheng demands. “Go off and do what you need to do.”

Lan Wangji visibly hesitates once more, and he almost smacks him. So ridiculous! It’s not a big deal, what’s wrong with him?

Instead of smacking him though, he fixes up Lan Wangji’s already neat appearance. Smoothing out his smooth hair, untwisting his untwisted forehead ribbon, un-creasing his un-creased clothes.

“Don’t be such a fool,” he says, a bit softer than he intends. “I’ll still be here when you get back.”

—

Jin Ling arrives a few hours after Lan Wangji’s departure, ready to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Yunmeng. He finds his uncle working through a pile of papers, and upon looking around he says, “Uncle, I’m here. Where’s Hanguang-jun?”

“He left,” Jiang Cheng replies shortly. “The Qinghe Nie Sect is slacking off, as usual. He went off to go resolve some incident with a yao there.”

Jin Ling opens his mouth to protest, But that’s so far away! He’ll miss— but surely his uncle already knows. He thinks on it for a moment, trying to find something to say. “... You went night-hunting with Hanguang-jun before, right? Why don’t you go again?”

“Do you think I’m so free that I can just flounce off to wherever I want like him?” Jiang Cheng retorts. The fact that he’s still working even now is only further testament.

Jin Ling knows him too well to miss the wistful undertone, so he says cautiously, “Then… why won’t Hanguang-jun just stay here?” With you? “Half of the things he goes off to eradicate, they’re not even a big deal.”

Jiang Cheng looks up sharply from whatever report he’s been given to sign, and Jin Ling ducks his head and fiddles with nothing. They both know he’s thinking about what a family should be— a mother, father, maybe a child, living together, happily.

However, that doesn’t even remotely resemble the life Jiang Cheng has.

“If he’s happy not settling down in a single place,” he says, “Then it’s fine that he should do that.”

“But—” Jin Ling cuts himself off when Jiang Cheng glares at him.

“He’s the sort of person who hates sitting still when there’s still more he can do,” he says with finality. “If I really told him to stay, he’d be unsatisfied.”

Lan Wangji will always go wherever he needs to go. He’ll always do what he thinks is right. Jiang Cheng can respect that.

Perhaps he even loves him for it.

-- 

when i say rereading fma made me write this it wont make much sense (i wanted jiang cheng to be the unholy combination of izumi curtis and winry rockbell) but anyway welcome to zhancheng hell

@rexcrystallis​ okay this has been in my drafts for literal months apparently

i dont remember writing it but pain is inside

Prince Prompto sui Besithia Izunia should not have sat on the throne.

He was not the direct heir, people argued. That title belonged to his older brother, Loqi Tummelt - but that marriage had been annulled when it saw it’s end. The boy, his claim, all had been discarded to the winds in favor of his safety.

Prompto was a bastard. Born of a torrid affair between his noble father and a lowly scientist. Born sick, and small and neatly ignored the second Verstael deemed the boy unfit. Were it not for the Chancellor, well -- the child may well have died down there in a forgotten crib.

But when Iedolas passed he left no heirs. Verstael had abdicated his claim years ago and had no intention of reclaiming it  - he had only one son with a standing claim.

There was no civil war, though those who opposed the changes made to the Empire threatened to make one. They would get the distant relations in other countries to stake their claims, they would take the Tummelt boy and rail against his disinheritance, they would rend Niflheim in twain in order to have their way.

But then Chancellor Izunia had presented his choice for the future. A bright eyed boy of four, who clung to his pantleg and shivered in the chill of the Throne Room. The Chancellor spoke of the boy as if he were his own, introducing him with a soft smile. And the people feared him, the stories that were told behind closed doors of a man who commanded monsters, so they did not argue.

The people easily grew to love him. He was a sweet boy, a kind boy. The world needed more of those.

The warmongers grew to hate him. He was a sweet boy, a kind boy. The world had no more need of bleeding hearts.

They hated him when he was old enough to interview and be asked his opinion. They hated him when he shifted focus from warfare to welfare, focusing on the citizens the Empire had rather than the ones it did not. Prompto’s poor health meant he never enlisted in the service, as his father and uncle had before him. Instead of a sword he was given history books, science as a shield. They hated him because he was not a warrior, he was a scholar, and he ran his country with this in mind.

They loved him no better when a true peace treaty with Lucis was brokered at age sixteen. Ardyn had stepped aside and allowed his son to take the charge, for he had no love for the country and would rather see it blighted from the map. The young prince had locked eyes with the Prince of Lucis and scrapped and fought with him for a fair agreement, one that would not leave either side feeling like they’d won or lost too much. When the tabloids caught the two of them spending time outside the meetings, talking, laughing, bonding.

An attack comes a few days before he’s to leave for the first time. Prompto flattens to the ground with practiced ease, sweating bullets and shaking. Aranea’s already charging off, and he shudders.

( they miss the slow burn of a romance forming. their connection had been instantaneous and passionate, but their will to act on it had taken far longer. )

Nor when he began spending summers abroad with Lucis’ Prince. When the papers ran rumors that the young men were too close, and perhaps they should fear a wedded alliance. When Lucis’ king took a bride, they held their breaths and waited for their leader to make the mistake as being lesser. To marry him, to become subservient to the Lucians he seemed to love so well -- yet they never married.

( not in the public eye, at last. the emperor wears a ring on a chain under his clothes. a symbolic wedding, not a legally binding one. they love each other too well to allow that love to destroy all they’ve worked for )

Still, he turned down potential brides that came courting. Rumors flew that he was in love with his Shield, a woman ten years his senior and twice as unruly, but that proved a moot point when she married another, producing her heir well before his. They assumed then that perhaps this would be like it was with Iedolas, that their Emperor would take no bride and have no sons. Up until he turned up with a son he named his heir, a boy with dark blue eyes and unruly blonde hair. A boy every bit the bastard his father was.

 They tired of it. They no longer waited silently.

They sewed sedition in the minds of the weak. Spoke of greater times to the disenfranchised soldiers and the young, who knew not how bad things once were and could instead take their word that the problems with the nation were problems that their leader caused, not remnants of things he had fixed. They watched, and they waited.

And they waited.

 Ardyn died. Prompto took the title formally took the title.

The young Prince became unruly. Difficult to manage at times. The people within the palace knew it came from dealing with a father who was sick and another who lived half a world away, but the citizens only saw a sullen child acting out.

 Then the people drew comparisons between him and the children of the Lucian King, comparing his baby pictures with that of the press photos of Prince Orion and Anne Marie. They do not know the truth - that the boy is yet another product of his grandfather’s science, that he is how the Emperor cured the plague - but they know enough of it to make their decision.

Emperor Prompto sui Besithia Izunia should not have sat on the throne, and in their eyes he will die for sullying it. And Prince Aurum Liber Besithia Izunia will die before he has the chance to ruin their legacy further.

-

Prince Aurum returns from his school in Lucis in the summer months. Prompto laughs as his son grumbles about how he doesn’t need to go back, fourteen and thinking himself a man. That he knows enough not to go back. That he doesn’t need his father doting over him - either of them - but there’s a gentleness to him now that wasn’t there when he’d last set off. He doesn’t throw his bag into Prompto’s arms, he carries it himself. Only when he’s unpacked does he seek out his father for a hug, holding him tight. Prompto grins and ruffles his fingers through his hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his forehead. Laughing when the boy scrunches up his face and tries to pull back.

“Oh no you don’t,” he teases, locking his arms around his son with a laugh. “You owe me six months worth of hugs, buddy! And I intend to cash in!”

He tolerates it with only mild protesting.

No doubt this was a product of the latest hospitalization.

A grim realization that his father, young though he may be, was a very sick man.That he wouldn’t be around forever - and there was a very real chance that it could happen at any time. This time, he’d fallen and simply could not get back up. Aranea had found him on the floor of his study, confused and half-waking, unable to so much as lift himself onto his elbows. Noctis had abandoned whatever he was set to do to come to his side, afraid this may be the last time - but he’d pulled through, brushing it aside as though it were nothing, continuing to march stubbornly ahead.

Yet Aurum knew. His eyes are on the stylish cane that his father now carries as he pulls back, reaching out to hold his hand.

He calls Noct a few hours later. Lets him know Aurum got home safe and all is well. There’s an unspoken apology that Noctis couldn’t go with him -- an emergency had cropped up in the outskirts of Leides, something about the old mines and some old bases being filled with daemons. 

It’s no matter. They plan to reconvene later in the month. This is old hat, they’ve long since grown used to having their plans ruined by some emergency or another, such is the life of a leader. Distance no longer means anything to them, they’ve been doing this for decades now and knows that home comes before all else.

---

The palace is under siege when he wakes.

Some of the new housing staff has killed the more loyal retainers. Rigorous background checks cannot read the minds and hearts of those easily swayed, only see where it may happen. Aranea bursts into his room, covered in blood and burnt from getting there, and he knows from the expression on her face that this is more than a mere assassination attempt.

He yells at her for coming to him. Even if her daughter is to be his son’s shield, she should have gone to him.

He’s out of bed in seconds. Foregoes changing, instead charges through the fray to get to his son. His staff are experienced, they know what they’re doing -- but the doors to the Keep are being battered by battering rams, there is an army waiting outside their doors and his own simply won’t mobilize fast enough.

They haven’t reached the boy’s quarters yet. Aurum is wide-eyed and frightened, Arache looks no better off. Both have enjoyed a time of peace and don’t know what it means to fear war. He gathers the children into his arms briefly, tells them it will all be okay and then they’re hurrying through one of the many secret exits. 

The way is blocked. Men bigger and stronger than Prompto is, even in his prime. They laugh as they step forward, intending to shove backs to the walls and slay the whole royal family in one fell swoop.

They’d talked about this nightmare scenario, he and Aranea. On late nights when the unrest threatened to bubble over, when there seemed to be no end in sight to the protests or the vicious whispers of rumor.

They’d talked about what to do.

There’s a sound like shattering glass as he calls forth the magic of the Empire’s cracked and broken crystal. The men reel back, narrowly missing a round of fire that leaps where they stood. Prompto’s eyes glow a dull red, his breathing quickening with the strain of the magic.

She grabs the boy and her girl and leaps over their heads. In an instant a shield blocks off the path, leaving Prompto trapped on the other side with the enemy. Aurum stops short and tries to turn back, the color draining from his face.

He’s a smart boy. Smart enough to see a suicidal distraction for what it truly is.

“Aurum, go,” Prompto shouts, digging his heels into the ground.

“Dad-!”

“I said go!” He thunders, louder than he’s ever yelled at his son in his life. “I’ll be okay! Your old man has a few tricks left up his sleeves yet!”

He doesn’t need to see him to  see the disbelief in his eyes. The terrible knowing of what is to come. But Aranea hauls him forward (you’re supposed to be his shield! he shouts, desperation wining out over that carefully crafted stoicism) and he has no say. The Emperor would only slow them down -- he’s not yet an old man, but he’s a sick man. And he knows all too well the limitations of his body.

And if his life is cost of letting his son live, it’s a price gladly paid.

Come dawn, the castle has been left in ruins. 

The Emperor lays on the floor of his home, unable to lift himself up - unable to move at all. There’s a sword through his side, rubble across his chest - and he can do nothing but listen to the sound of it burn around him. 

So this is how it ends.

To his left, his phone is ringing. Frantically. Has been for nearly an hour now. The cracked phone sits just outside of his reach - he’s tried to reach for it, to answer, but he’s tired. The air is thick with smoke and he knows it doesn’t matter who comes now, it’s far too late. The magic burned him from the inside out, eating away at the unnatural parts of him and leaving the human parts too weak and broken to survive on their own.

Too late.

His eyes slowly drift shut.

They meet Noctis in Tenebrae. The king warps there through a dagger left in King Ravus’ care and his eldest son throws his arms around him, weeping into his chest.

Talking about road trip fic led me to the concept of Athena: Actual Cryptid Hunter and then I took that a step further into veritable crack fic concept of “Athena with a youtube channel dedicated to cryptids and ghosts and her attempts to capture an actual ghost on camera by shouting ‘FIGHT ME, GHOSTS, I’M READY’ in allegedly haunted locations’”

A video, newly posted on the 14 of January, 2028, to a three-year-old youtube channel that has amassed a decent following despite its amateurish production value:

UPDATE: NOT GHOSTS

A young woman with long red hair sits in front of the camera, wearing a yellow “Suns Out Guns Out” tank top. What of the room is visible behind her shows an unmade bed and some colorful posters, the subjects of which are difficult to make out.

“Hey everybody! Happy New Year! I know, I know, it’s been nearly a year since I last posted anything, but a lot’s happened! I had to buckle down and study for the bar - I passed! Go me! - and then I came back home to Los Angeles - I’ll have to drop all of my open European investigations, but I swear, Nessie, I’ll find you someday! And I’ve been busy with, you know, working as a defense attorney! It’s… it’s been a ride, there’s been a lot of good and bad, but it’s mostly calmed down now, and I’m ready to resume.

“So the biggest thing that’s - well, not the biggest thing at all, not even close - but the biggest thing that’s relevant for you all is that I’ve met a bona-fide spirit medium! So I talked to her about this and everything and she says that ghosts can’t just hang around without being summoned by a spirit medium, and then are confined to the body of the summoner. I’m pretty inclined to believe her - she’s an expert and I’ve seen her do some weird stuff, no spirit-summonings yet, but my boss has seen her do that and he trusts her and I trust her. So I might’ve been wasting some of our time every time I went chasing ghosts these past years, but there’s still a lot more than ghosts out there!

“First up: with all the intensive studying I did, I never had time to make it out to the Himalayas to search for yeti like a lot of you suggested I should do, but you know what we’ll be doing now?” The young woman pauses for dramatic effect. “Bigfoot! We’re going Bigfoot hunting!” She claps her hands together. “I’ve gotten my license and a car since I’ve gotten back, since Amercia’s not as big on public transit” - she makes a face - “and if I ever want to get out of the city I need a car, and none of my friends drive.”

She frowns again at the camera. “If any of said friends found this channel somehow, I don’t love you any less but, uh, seriously, Boss please learn to drive. Your daughter is gonna get her license before you do.

“Anyway what was I saying? Right! Bigfoot! 

“You know, there was actually a sighting last month right here in Los Angeles county, so I’ll be looking locally and then I’ve got some time off so I’ll be driving north towards the prime Bigfoot real estate. It’s gonna be some long hours of driving in between stops I’ve checked off, but we’re gonna maximize our chances of finding Bigfoot by driving through the area. Like maybe he comes south for winter! We don’t fully understand his habits and with limited evidence I might be doing a little bit of guesswork. And two: since I’ve come home, I’ve… reunited with an old friend, and we haven’t really had a chance to catch up and all, yet, so I was gonna invite him along. Wish me luck, and I’ll get back to everyone with my game plan. Probably post a map on tumblr and link it in the next update.”

She grins and flashes a peace sign before the video ends.

*

“Repeat what you just said, but slower.”

Athena rolls her eyes. “Do you” - she jabs a finger into Simon’s shoulder - “want to come with me” - she points at herself - “to go Bigfoot hunting?”

“The final portion is where I find myself having difficulty understanding.”

“Bigfoot!” Athena throws her hands in the air as though attempting to pantomime the size of the creature. “Sasquatch! The cousin of the yeti and abominable snowman! You have to know what Bigfoot is! Everyone knows Bigfoot!”

Simon closes his eyes. “I know,” he replies, “what Bigfoot is.”

“So then what’s the problem?” Athena puts her hands on her hips and tries to pretend that she doesn’t know that Apollo, halfway down the stairs ahead of them, isn’t trying and failing to stifle his laughter.

“It is not real.”

“You don’t know that!”

“There is a nigh-impossible chance that it is real.”

“Those are the same chances as a lot of cases that Mr. Wright takes on, so I think it could happen!”

“Athena’s a huge believer in this kind of stuff,” Apollo says, having stopped and waited for them on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. “Bigfoot, Mothman, all that nonsense.”

“Do you not remember the lesson of the Nine-Tales Vale case?” Simon asks.

“Well we know now that Tenma Taro specifically isn’t real, but the Nine-Tailed Fox still could be, and all those other yokai, like sure what Jinxie saw wasn’t real monsters but there still could be real monsters lurking around! You don’t know! Bigfoot’s real and there was an article that one was sighted around where Junie lives last month, and I’m gonna find him!”

Apollo raises his eyebrows and looks at Simon. Simon looks at Athena. “This is her hobby,” Apollo says. “This, and running, which I think are both proof that she’s a madwoman.”

“I’m gonna get Bigfoot pictures and tape them to your forehead,” Athena says. She turns to Simon. “So, want to come?”

She waits until Apollo has gone to get his bike and is out of earshot before she adds, “And when he says it’s a ‘hobby’ he doesn’t know about my youtube channel.”

Simon sighs and even in that sigh Athena can hear a conflicted mixture of exasperation and resignation. “Your what.”

-

A thread of comments on a tumblr post, beneath an embedded youtube video titled “BIGFOOT SEARCH: THE BEGINNINGS”:

> everyone please watch this video i dont care if you dont care about bigfoot or cryptids just watch this video

> I’ve been following this girl since basically she started and this is the funniest thing she’s ever posted

if you want background she’s this kid from Europe who started at 15 just doing these stupid videos camping out overnight in haunted places and making compilations of herself shrieking at every sound or sometimes you can’t even hear anything and she’s still screaming

and from there she started doing like cryptid hunting, she spent like two weeks at Loch Ness complaining about the crowds and then started researching more obscure cryptids and haunted locations and all

anyway she’s been on hiatus the past year. said she was taking the bar exam so either she’s a supergenius or lying but anyway this is the second video she’s made since she came back saying she’s gonna take a road trip thru Bigfoot territory and please watch this video

> she’s actually not European, she’s from LA and is back in Cali now and that’s why they’re going after Bigfoot

> god the way he says “it’s for fighting off the bears” I’m screaming

> did she dig up an actual fucking ninja in this year of our lord 2k28 like what is with this dude

> what are they gonna do if they get pulled over for speeding or smth and the cops find an actual fuckin katana in the car

> I mean she said she’s a lawyer so presumably she will lawyer herself out fo it

> how has no one mentioned the hawk in the backseat yet

> holy shit I didn’t even see that

> it’s not a real katana guys, it’s called acting

> you obviously have not watched her old videos because she’s a fucking godawful actor like look at her face when he says the katana is real she couldn’t act that

> they’re gonna get pulled over and have an actual fucking hawk and an actual fucking katana in the car

> if this video series doesn’t end in them actually fighting a bear I’ll be so disappointed

Kaminoans are awful scientists and have horrible business sense, pass it on

Alternatively - It is possible for phenotypically and genetically female clones to have existed because Jango Fett was human and human DNA is weird enough already, the existence of the Force notwithstanding.

This is a rant about how the Kaminoans are horrible scientists, have really bad business sense, horrible ethics in general and a series of head canons about mutations in the clones.

I would like to preface this by saying that everything I know of the Kaminoans comes from both wookieepedia pages, and the rest of this is based on what I know of real world genetics, how science is actually done (trust me I’m a scientist), and a vague understanding of the Force

Known things about the Kaminoans

They’re cloners but before that they’re scientists

They have a caste system

They’re amoral scientists

They're xenophobic to the point of racism

They apparently have no issue with slavery as they clone slaves for spice mines occasionally

They're perfectionists

Before Jedi inspection (or whatever the hell you want to call Obi Wan rediscovering the facility) they culled most of the clones that did not meet standards (whatever the hell those were)

They had a fully mapped genome from Jango Fett, which means that no mutations should have occurred

They somehow managed to fix the issue of telomeres 

What This means

Ok, so I don’t actually know how much the internet knows about science but I'm going to assume nothing as I explain things.

So, as the cloning tubes were initially set up for a lot of different species’ requirements. Per the Republic order for the GAR those all had to be converted, reconfigured and cleaned from their initial species’ designation to human. The quickest way to get something of that size to happen is to get a lot of help, which in the Kaminoans case meant that it was probably reassigned to one of the lower castes. The Kaminoans also needed to have much larger quantities of whatever their substitute for amniotic fluid was. This was also something that was probably delegated to a different caste because mass producing amniotic fluid was probably not high on a scientists to do list.

Good science means that you have trials and replication. This is to ensure that any weird instances in the data are truly random occurrences and not part of a larger pattern.  Yes, you can technically argue that every clone was a replication and that every batch produced was a different trial, but that is not actually the case. The replicant thing sure, but for trials to be counted as separate trials, something in it or about it needs to be changed. The Kaminoans didn't do this. After experimenting with the Nulls and the Alpha ARC commandos they went straight into producing the rest of the CT series. Hell, they didn't even try for more than 2 trials when they were experimenting with what would make the perfect combination of genetics to create their super soldiers. That is not a good idea when faffing about with DNA, as human DNA likes to mutate. It does this randomly, and that’s normal, as most mutations are either corrected naturally or simply don’t change anything and thus are not problems.

Good science also has clear communication. The Kaminoans did not quite have that. There are two instances of this. The first is in their directive. The Kamonians had a simple directive of “Make an army of one man”. No one knows how this was determined. Was it just based on genetics? Or did the genetics not quite matter provided they all looked the same? Just because something is phenotypically (looks) the same does not mean that its genetically the same. Look into the insect (butterflies have great examples) and animal kingdoms (Dolly Varden and Bull trout are completely identical unless you look at DNA) for examples of this. Look at twins if you need an example in humanity. Twins can look exactly the same and be very different people. Twins can also look vastly different and effectively be the same person to the point of creepiness. The second instance of poor communication comes from the clones’ designations. When doing science, labels are important. They tend to designate several things from the trial number, the trial type, the actual sample number and occasionally the date depending on the experiment. For the clones this means that their designation should reflect the type of clone, their batch number and then their number within their batch. While this is done to some extent, as seen as the differences in the numbers of the ARCs, the CC clones and the CT clones it is not consistent and does not actually tell us anything about the clones nor the order they were decanted.

Good science also means that you don’t discard data. Outliers are noted and included in the final presentation of the data. They are included in a results section. More often than not the anomalies are not discussed unless the scientists potentially have an explanation for said anomaly. But my point is that they are still there and not swept under the rug. Instead they are studied. More often than not, an anomaly in the data is the lead for someone else’s project. In other words if you're basing your standards off of a genetic match, then anomalies would have been allowed to grow to completion as they were interesting but irrelevant. It also might have allowed the Kaminoans to identify any potential harmful mutations that could possibly appear in normal clones. Instead the Kaminoans chose to cull (kill) them because they didn't fit their standards.

The Kaminoans also have horrible horrible business sense. Do you know how much money it takes to clone a person? Its a lot of money. Right now, IRL it takes about $20,000 USD to clone a cow. In June of 2001 Forbes estimated that it would cost about $1.7 million USD to clone a person. Adjusting for inflation that would be over $2.3 million USD today. I know that we’re dealing with a fictional universe here but can you tell me that you think cloning would have gotten any less expensive over time? If thats how an entire species supports itself the answer is probably not. And so what do they do with defective clones? Canonically the Kaminoans kill them. Which makes no sense given how much money it theoretically takes to produce a clone. Even if the Kaminoans are only being payed for every “perfect” clone they produce, having a “defective” clone is still a waste of resources on their part. They could have simply trained the clones in administrative or maintenance work as they did once the Jedi “found” Kamino again. Hell, slavery is already a problem in the Star Wars verse, and the Kaminoans already cloned slaves, so for them selling defective clones would be a reasonable way to recoup some of their financial losses. 

What does this have to do with mutations in the clones and the ideas of genetically and phenotypically female clones? 

Everything. It was a well known fact among the cloners of the galaxy that cloning Force Sensitive beings was a bad idea. This was due to the fact that those particular type of clones ended up being highly unstable. Kaminoan society also disliked the idea of Force Sensitives. Their distaste was so severe that the one historically recorded member who was Force Sensitive was made outcast once she started displaying her Sensitivity despite her high caste birth. The Kaminoans also regularly killed off green eyed offspring due to the fear that they posed a threat to their well ordered society which suggests that green eyed Kaminoans may have been naturally Force Sensitive. This also means that they had no real idea of how the Force would have effected the cloning processes. The Jedi confirm that all of the clones were individuals within the Force. The Force also has a habit of messing with physical/genetic things (see Anakin’s entire existence), so it stands to reason that the Force caused some measure of mutation in the clones. 

Theres also the problem of human DNA being weird. As I mentioned earlier human DNA likes to mutate and mutate a lot. Most of the mutations are benign and are corrected by ones own DNA. Others simply don’t change anything and thus do not show up in physical characteristics at all. Which means a clone may not look like a mutant if the Kaminoans are just judging based on appearance, but is definitely a mutant based on genetics. Some physical traits in humans are controlled by multiple genes and we still dont quite know how to change them from one thing to another. This includes things like height, hair color, eye color, body type and numerous other traits. Depending on what standards the Kaminoans were attempting to meet, any of these benign mutations could have been enough to make the Kaminoans call them defective. 

Some other mutations are not quite so simple. There are random mutations at different stages that can cause mirrored organs or others that affect the sex chromosomes. Depending on when in development these mutations occur, you can occasionally end up with genetically male but phenotypically female clones through things like Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or Swyer Syndrome, or even genetically and phenotypically female clones through Turner syndrome or identical twins where one has Turner syndrome (effectively creating different sex identical twins).

Initially, the mutations were probably attributed to screw ups due with the mechanical systems as most of the scientist kamonians would have considered that work beneath them and reassigned it to one of the other castes.  Alternatively this would have also been attributed to mistakes made in the amniotic fluid. As mentioned earlier mass producing amniotic fluid could have been easily handled by another caste. Just hand them a recipe and hope that they do not screw up. Either way, the Scientist Kaminoans would have declared themselves to not be at fault because their science is perfect. Which its really really not. Either way once the Kaminoans realized that the mutations were not actually random and that there might have been a pattern, occasional “defective” clones were probably allowed to survive provided that they managed to meet the Cuy’vul Dar’s military standards, and remained available for further study upon reaching “adulthood”.

In conclusion the Kaminoans practiced horrible science, had really bad business sense and there were probably phenotypically female clones, if not phenotypically and genetically female clones, running around with the trans female clones and the rest of the vode during the Clone Wars.

9/26/2018, Part 1

Last night we had taken the boat back here, weakly hobbled back to our room and climbed into bed. Our head was terribly sore from being slammed into the resort building by the explosion that Dust Sans made at the beach. Returning to our room, only to be greeted by the sight of "ばくばくばくばくばくばくばくばくばく" written on our walls from weeks ago, did not help matters. We did our best to disregard the colorful wall writings and go to sleep.

We dreamed about a man wearing a shirt I didn't like. I couldn't help but wince in revulsion at the sight of it. We wake up, feeling more rested than we did for the past two days, but our head still feels a bit tender from yesterday. We don't really want to stay in our room today, though, so we get out of bed and go out the door.

We ride a boat to Port Town since the Island's not open, and step off.

"so wat u wana do today, hooman Cookie?"

"i dunno, just get some fresh air, i guess."

Hopefully Sans hasn't chased us all the way here. The exploding Sans, that is. We don't need another skull explosion knocking us off our feet and into a building. Our head's still a tiny bit sore from yesterday.

We start to make our way down the boardwalk... but as soon as I see who's there, I turn us around and walk us right back the way we came, in the direction of the harbor. Nope, we are not ready to deal with him again just yet. Sorry, Temmie, but Baku's going to have to wait.

"Temmie, my head- uh, our head still isn't feeling 100% better after we hit it yesterday. I don't want to deal with Baku giving me another headache right now."

"wat u mean??"

"i mean i dont wanna talk to him rite now."

"wy not???"

"yu kno he makes me feel weird, right?"

"ya, but wy??"

"remember a cuple days ago, wen we found out he new my name?"

"o ya... dat was weird. u got realy scared wen he did that! wat was dat all about?"

"cuz he likes freakin me out. an i dont really feel like bein freaked out rite now."

"aw, ok, hoomin..."

We would like to explore Port Town, but I don't want to risk attracting Baku's attention by passing through the boardwalk. So for now, Temmie and I sit on a bench and watch the boats.

[Johan] In the distance a boat is inbound, distant but coming in fast. The distant whirring sound becoming louder and louder before slowing down. By the time it’s close enough to the dock for the driver to start trying to park it, one of the passengers becomes painfully obvious. A skeleton with a bright shirt and sunglasses. He seems to be carrying a jacket that also seems bright in color, possibly more-so than the shirt itself. When the boat parks he thanks the driver and hops off, looking around for a map or something.

[Rave Witch Temmie] Wait a minute- is that another Fresh-possessed?!

Temmie notices my concern and thinks, "watsa matter, hooman??"

"Well, uh... it's just that... that skeleton that just got off the boat kind of reminds me of... y'know..."

But before I can object, she waves to him and calls out, "h0I! im Temmie!1!"

[Johan] The skeleton flinches a bit before looking in their direction before looking behind him. Who are they talking to? He nervously goes back to what he’s doing, trying to find a map and trying to be invisible. Dang these clothes. He eventually realizes there’s a map near where the others are but... something about them... actually no it’s just that he doesn’t want to be noticed, along with the tem being really social with that call out. He hesitates to walk towards them and eventually just stands there awkwardly, trying to find another way.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "wats ur name?? imma Temmie!1! and i gota human SOUL!!1 im da strongest tem!! wat about yu??"

[Johan] Johan watches the tem for a moment before looking around again. It really is talking to him isn’t it? Johan can’t help but sigh to himself as he decides to just walk past, pretending he didn’t notice as he goes to read the map. He really needs to find new clothes.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "u like pretty colors to?? i like pretty colors!1! u like my hat? i got it from da hoomans SOUL!1!"

[Johan] For the most part, Johan continues to ignore them, believing that maybe they were just rambling nonsense. He leans towards the map before him, trying to find some sort of clothes store, muttering under his breath as if to remind himself what he’s trying to find. The moment the other mentions a human soul he stops. His expression becomes one of concern as he looks over. “...what?? Wait wait... what???” He soon becomes extremely shocked and confused seeming, as there are many things about that statement that’s really worrying to him. He goes to put his jacket back on, the fluff on the hood and various other collar-like parts becoming obvious. That jacket, despite the colors, may seem familiar to those familiar with a certain blaster taming universe. He probably just wants to hide his face at this point. The tem is scaring the poor kid.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "watsa matter? u dont like my hat? its so pretty!! i got it cuz of hooman!1 my hoomans a witch!!1 i gota nice hat and a magic wand!! i can use hoomins magic and tems magic1!! its da best!1! also human helps me talk bettr!1! rite, hooman??"

We glance to the side for a moment.

"...yea, i do. cuz we use first person pronouns."

We look back at Johan. "yayaya!1 i talk in first persons!1! isnt dat cool??!"

[Johan] Johan can’t help but shiver. Something about this interaction was... unsettling. He begins to walk off despite not finding directions yet, and seems to smack something against the map. When he lets go what’s left is a weird peep-like creature. It’s neon blue and appears to be a bit dazed from the sudden smack. It shakes it off before going to read the map now that Johan has walked off.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "ooo!! who are yu???"

[Johan’s parasite] The parasite looks up at the tem and tilts its head to see better before looking around. Johan is gone and getting lost, leaving the parasite here with the tem. It seems to think for a moment before letting out a really quiet squeak and continuing its mapping. He slowly slinks around on the map as to continue its search. A clothes store, right?

[Rave Witch Temmie] We get up from the bench and walk over to the map to get a closer look at it. That thing... oh no, it isn't what I think it is, is it? Temmie, we probably shouldn't- too late, we're already standing right in front of the blue thing, and staring at it.

[Johan’s parasite] The tiny peep with its beady black eyes continues scanning the map, not noticing the tem before realizing it suddenly got really dark. It turns around only to be startled, resulting in the stickiness wearing off momentarily and the parasite falling off. It wiggles for a moment before getting its grip on the world again, soon trying to find a way back up. Parasite does its job when it has a job to do. Mostly just retrieve something. This time it’s information and direction. Maybe it could get a bit of magic in the meantime? Probably not though.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "aww, its so cute!1" We reach out a paw to touch it...

"Temmie, i dont think we should touch dat..."

"but its so cute!1!!"

poke

[Johan’s parasite] The parasite doesn’t react to the poke, mostly just confusion as it looks up to the tem, beady black eyes pleading “why” to the other. With that poke alone they may be able to tell it’s very squishy. It continues trying to climb up, soon to find the map again. Pathfinding! Yay!

[Rave Witch Temmie] "hey, dont run away!1! i think yer cute!1!!"

"Temmie, it doesnt like us touchin it!1! lets just-"

We clasp the squishy blue parasite between our paws and try to pull it off the map. Temmie, I'm telling you, this is a very bad idea...

[Johan’s parasite] The parasite seems really confused as it starts to look around. It soon becomes obvious it’s scared as it begins to wiggle, trying to get upright again. It tries to look at the map from their new viewpoint but now all of the words are tiny. It freaks out more and soon tries to be free from their grasp, attempting to scurry up their arm if possible.

[Rave Witch Temmie] "ooo, its so wiggly!1!"

"eeeeuuuuugh, Temmie, it doesnt like- ACK!!"

The squirmy little thing just slithered out of our paws and onto our left arm!

"g-get it off, get it off!!"

As I am fairly certain I know exactly what this thing is (though, notably, I've never seen one that had eyes on the outside of its body before), I have no desire to let it cling onto us, lest it try to worm its way inside us...

I frantically shake our left arm up and down, trying to fling it off. If that doesn't work, I'm going to have to pull it off.

[Johan’s parasite] To their advantage, the parasite uses the shaking to give it a boost. It jumps off right when there’s the most momentum in the arm to fling it back into the map. It lands with a smack before going to find its place again. It crawls back to the “you are here” mark and begins inching around from there. Back to business!

[Rave Witch Temmie] Oh, thank god, we got it off. That was way too close. I can't risk letting one of those get inside us.

...Then again, if it really is a Fresh parasite, then even if it did manage to get inside us, it might not necessarily be able to take control of us, since we have two souls, one of which is far stronger than the other. It would have to subdue both of us in order to gain complete control over our body. Perhaps it may be able to overtake Temmie's soul, but if it did, that would only give it partial control- I'd still be able to resist it.

[Johan’s parasite] While the human is monologuing to itself the parasite continues trying to find the shop. It soon slinks over to the key to try and find some sort of indication or symbol of sorts. It finds something of the sort so it squished back up to the marker. It looks like it’s starting to get frustrated as it can’t find anything. It decides to figure out which way Johan went for now to have some sort of area to go off of. So for now it’s just looking around and trying to figure out how to read a map.

[Rave Witch Temmie] ...I don't want to stay here any longer while there's a Fresh parasite in the area. Yes, technically there was another Fresh parasite hanging around the boardwalk the last time we checked, but, y'know... this one's a free, hostless parasite. And I'd rather not stick around, just in case it decides that it would rather not pass up the opportunity to take us as a host.

...Not after what happened two years ago during the camping trip.

Not again... Not again...

We walk to the boardwalk.

[Johan’s parasite] After some time, now that there’s no distraction or anything, the parasite gives up. It looks like it has a headache. Soon it drops off the map and begins making its way to wherever Johan is. It takes some time but it will get there eventually.

How Many House Seats Did Republicans Win

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-house-seats-did-republicans-win/

How Many House Seats Did Republicans Win

Florida Vs California: How Two States Tackled Covid

2018 House Midterm Election Results Update – House Voting Results – How Many Seats? Blue Wave?

The researchers theorized that one reason for the change is that Democrats were in charge of states where people who had the virus first arrived in the country but Republicans were less stringent about safeguards, which could have contributed to their states ultimately higher incidence and death rates.

The early trends could be explained by high Covid-19 cases and deaths among Democratic-led states that are home to initial ports of entry for the virus in early 2020, the researchers wrote. However, the subsequent reversal in trends, particularly with respect to testing, may reflect policy differences that could have facilitated the spread of the virus.

The study, which which was published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Preventive Medicine, examined Covid-19 incidence, death, testing, and test positivity rates from March 15 through December 15, 2020, when there were 16 million confirmed cases in the U.S. and 300,000 deaths. It focused on per-capita infection and death rates in the 26 GOP-led states and 24 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., and made statistical adjustments for issues such as population density.

But policy differences between the Republican and Democratic leaders emerged as a big factor for the reversal of the states fortunes, the study suggests.

One of the most concerning things last year is the politicization of public health restrictions, Lee said. Theyre not opinions, theyre based on evidence.

Opinionhow Can Democrats Fight The Gop Power Grab On Congressional Seats You Wont Like It

Facing mounting pressure from within the party, Senate Democrats finally hinted Tuesday that an emboldened Schumer may bring the For the People Act back for a second attempt at passage. But with no hope of GOP support for any voting or redistricting reforms and Republicans Senate numbers strong enough to require any vote to cross the 60-vote filibuster threshold, Schumers effort will almost certainly fail.

Senate Democrats are running out of time to protect Americas blue cities, and the cost of inaction could be a permanent Democratic minority in the House. Without resorting to nuclear filibuster reform tactics, Biden, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be presiding over a devastating loss of Democrats most reliable electoral fortresses.

How Did The Gop Gain In The House While Trump Lost Its Actually Pretty Simple

One of the increasingly prevalent arguments spun by President Trump and his allies when it comes to supposed voter fraud in the 2020 election is this: Republicans had, by and large, a pretty good election below the presidential level. They gained significant ground in the House and probably held the Senate as long as they dont lose both Georgia runoffs. So how on earth did Trump lose?

The answer is actually pretty simple: Our elections increasingly look more like parliamentary ones, and given that, the results make a ton of sense.

New data from the election-reform group FairVote sheds some light on how the battle for the House played out. The big takeaway: Our politics are increasingly less about people and incumbents and more about party. Weve been talking about increased polarization for many years, but the 2020 election really drove it home. The results for Congress affirm the fact that Republicans writ large lost the election, even though it might have been closer than many expected.

FairVote has for years studied an issue called incumbency bump i.e., how much an incumbent benefits relative to other members of their party thanks to already being in office. The conventional wisdom on incumbency is that its a big advantage that people might not like a politicians party or Congress as a whole, but if they know that politician well or have any doubts, theyll revert to supporting the person in the seat.

Recommended Reading: Why Are Republicans Wearing Blue Ties

Oc Supervisor Michelle Steel Defeats Rep Harley Rouda Flipping Socal Congressional Seat Back To Gop

Still, Republicans are buoyed as they look to 2022, when Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to seek another term. A U.S. Senate seat will be on the ballot along with other statewide offices, all held by Democrats.

Republicans see a target. Newsom is struggling with an economy battered by the virus, there is widespread discontent with the states shifting COVID restrictions and his credibility has been dented: He broke state rules when he and his wife were caught dining with 10 others at the toney French Laundry restaurant, sitting close together, mask-less. Newsom repeatedly has told Californians to stay home and wear masks.

We have a real opportunity, I think, to win statewide again, Patterson said.

Biden, despite his dominating win in the state, did not have coattails in key House races.

In the 25th District north of Los Angeles, Republican Rep. Mike Garcia held on for a 333-vote win over Democrat Christy Smith while running as a Trump apostle in a district with a 7.5-point Democratic registration edge. The son of a Mexican immigrant father, the former Navy combat pilot won the seat in a May special election after the resignation of former Democratic Rep. Katie Hill.

Young Kim defeated Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros in a rematch in the Democratic-leaning 39th District, anchored in Orange County. A former state lawmaker, she was born in South Korea and grew up in Guam.

Who Controls State Legislatures In States With Changes

Thirteen states were affected by the 2020 Census’ shift in congressional seats.;

States are given the task of redrawing districts when;they gain;or lose;seats.;

Michael Li, senior counsel for the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program,;said;the country could be poised for a battle over;gerrymandering, the practice of redrawing district lines to favor one party over the other or to suppress the vote of communities of color.

In some states, the process is fairer than others, he said, because they are not controlled by just one political party or they have instituted an independent redistricting committee, such as in Michigan. But for other states, the party in power stands to control the map.

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How Republicans Pulled Off A Big Upset And Nearly Took Back The House

Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN

There seemed to be one safe bet when it came to the 2020 election results: Democrats would easily hold on to their majority in the House of Representatives. Not only that, but the conventional wisdom held that Democrats would pick up more than the 235 seats they won in the 2018 midterm elections.

Why Did House Democrats Underperform Compared To Joe Biden

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The results of the 2020 elections pose several puzzles, one of which is the gap between Joe Bidens handsome victory in the presidential race and the Democrats disappointing performance in the House of Representatives. Biden enjoyed an edge of 7.1 million votes over President Trump, while the Democrats suffered a loss of 13 seats in the House, reducing their margin from 36 to just 10.

Turnout in the 2018 mid-term election reached its highest level in more than a century. Democrats were fervently opposed to the Trump administration and turned out in droves. Compared to its performance in 2016, the partys total House vote fell by only 2%. Without Donald Trump at the head of the ticket, Republican voters were much less enthusiastic, and the total House vote for Republican candidates fell by nearly 20% from 2016. Democratic candidates received almost 10 million more votes than Republican candidates, a margin of 8.6%, the highest ever for a party that was previously in the minority. It was, in short, a spectacular year for House Democrats.

To understand the difference this Democratic disadvantage can make, compare the 2020 presidential and House results in five critical swing states.

Table 1: Presidential versus House results

Arizona

Read Also: Republican Senate Seats

Election Analysis And Context

All 435 seatsincluding seven vacancieswere up for election, with Democrats needing to add 23 seats to win majority control of the chamber.

The Democratic Party was well-positioned to gain seats, according to a 100-year historical analysis of House elections conducted by Ballotpedia and political scientist Jacob Smith. From 1918 to 2016, the presidents party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections. The Democrats matched this pattern in the 2018 midterms, gaining 40 seats for a total of 235 seats17 more than was needed for a majority.

One undecided 2018 race was decided in September 2019 when Dan Bishop won the special election. The state board of elections called a new election following allegations of absentee ballot fraud in the 2018 race. for more information on the aftermath of the 2018 election.

In 372 of the 435 seats, an incumbent was seeking re-election on November 6. There were 52 seats where the incumbent was either retiring or otherwise not seeking re-election18 Democrats and 34 Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and seven vacant seats. In four other seats, the incumbenttwo from each partywas defeated in a primary before election day.

There were 46 seats that changed party hands, both open seats and those occupied by an incumbent, and 30 of the 372 incumbent U.S. representatives lost their seats in the general electionall Republicans.

Gubernatorial And Legislative Party Control Of State Government

Midterm elections: Do Republicans have a chance of keeping the House?

Top 10 Closest Primaries: January to June 2020

Wave elections

Gubernatorial and legislative party control of state government refers to the role of political parties in the power dynamic between state legislatures and executives. Below, we examine the partisan affiliation of the 1,972 state senators, 5,411 state representatives, and 50 state governors across the United States.

Partisan breakdown of state governments

Below, Ballotpedia presents our information on the partisan breakdown of state senators, state representatives, and governors as well as the state legislature and state executive branch as a whole. We also examine state government trifectas, which occur when the state house, the state senate, and the office of the governor are each controlled by one political party. Trifectas are important to highlight since unified partisan affiliation between the branches of state government can impact a states legislative process.

The following maps display current state government trifectas as well as historical trifectas leading up to the 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections. Use the buttons below to select a map.

Read Also: When Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

Eric Holder: There Is Still A Fight For Democrats Against Gop Gerrymandering

In McConnells Kentucky, for instance, Republicans are divided over how far to go during the upcoming redistricting process, which they control in the deep-red state. The more extreme wing wants to crack the Democratic stronghold of Louisville, currently represented by Rep. John Yarmuth. More cautious Republicans like McConnell are willing to settle for smaller changes that reduce Democratic margins while stuffing more Republican voters into hotly contested swing districts.

Make no mistake: McConnells caution isnt rooted in any newfound respect for the integrity of our electoral process. Instead, Republicans are mainly worried about avoiding the costly and embarrassing court decisions that invalidated their most extreme overreaches and potentially turn the line-drawing over to the courts. So McConnells approach doesnt reject partisan gerrymandering it just avoids the type of high-profile city-cracking that could land the Kentucky GOP in federal court.

States With Republican Governors Had Highest Covid Incidence And Death Rates Study Finds

States with Democratic governors had the highest incidence and death rates from Covid-19 in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, but states with Republican governors surpassed those rates as the crisis dragged on, a study released Tuesday found.

From March to early June, Republican-led states had lower Covid-19 incidence rates compared with Democratic-led states. On June 3, the association reversed, and Republican-led states had higher incidence,the study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Medical University of South Carolina showed.

For death rates, Republican-led states had lower rates early in the pandemic, but higher rates from July 4 through mid-December, the study found.

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The House’s Balance Of Power Is Tipped Toward Democrats

The Democrats;have a narrow six-member margin in the current House of Representatives, meaning if just a handful of seats flip, Republicans can regain control of the House.

Democrats’;advantage;will grow to seven when Troy Carter is sworn in;to fill a seat in Louisiana’s delegation left vacant;by Cedric Richmond, who left the House to join the Biden administration as the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.;

United States House Of Representatives Elections 2018

17Footnotes

The Democratic Party won control of the U.S. House from the Republican Party on . Democrats gained a net total of 40 seats, 17 more than the 23 seats they needed to win control of the House.

Heading into the elections, Republicans had a 235-193 majority with seven vacancies. All 435 seats were up for election. Special elections were held earlier in 2018 and in 2017 to fill vacancies that occurred in the 115th Congress. Democrats flipped one seat when Conor Lamb won a to replace Tim Murphy in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.

Ballotpedia covered every state and federal primary in 2018 to highlight the intraparty conflicts that shaped the parties and the general elections. Click here for our coverage of Republican Party primaries in 2018, and here for our coverage of Democratic Party primaries.

Also Check: Republican Vs Democrat Indictments

Isan Composition Of State Legislatures

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming See also

The partisan composition of state legislatures refers to which political party holds the majority of seats in the State Senate and State House. Altogether, there are 1,972 state senators and 5,411 state representatives.The breakdown of chamber control after the November 2020 election is as follows:

37 chambers

One chamber with power sharing between the parties

The breakdown of chamber control prior to the November 2020 election was as follows:

39 chambers

See also: Partisan composition of state houses and Partisan composition of state senates

state government trifecta

As of August 15, 2021, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

Districts That Flipped In 2018

The map below highlights congressional districts that changed party control in the general elections on November 6, 2018.

The following table lists congressional districts that changed party control in the general elections on November 6, 2018. It also includes 2020 general election race ratings from three outlets.

Flipped congressional districts, 2018 Kim Schrier

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Republicans Introduce 253 Bills To Restrict Voting Rights In States Across The Us

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Republican lawmakers in 43 states have introduced a total of 253 bills aimed at restricting access to the ballot box for tens of millions of people. Republican-controlled states, including Southern states that employed lynch law terror to block African Americans from voting during the decades-long period of Jim Crow segregation, are flooding their legislatures with measures to effectively disenfranchise working class, poor and minority voters.

The laws largely focus on tightening voter ID requirements, purging voter rolls and restricting absentee and mail-in ballots.

In the United States, state governments have the authority to oversee elections and determine election procedures and rules, including for national elections. Within each state, individual counties have a great deal of latitude in the conduct of elections.

Republicans control both the lower and upper legislative houses in 36 of the 50 states, and both the legislatures and governorships in 23 states, making it very possible for far-reaching barriers to the ballot box to be imposed across much of the country.

Despite opening the door for a return to restrictive and discriminatory voting practices, the 2013 ruling met with little resistance on the part of the Democratic Party. Neither the Obama White House nor the congressional Democrats mounted any serious effort to reverse the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act by enacting new legislation in the years since the reactionary Shelby ruling.

Texas

Gop Women Made Big Gains

Democrats win House, Republicans keep Senate in US

While the majority of the Republican caucus will still be men come 2021, there will be far more Republican women in Congress than there were this year. So far, it looks like at least 26 GOP women will be in the House next year, surpassing the record of 25 from the 109th Congress. Thats thanks in part to the record number of non-incumbent Republican women 15 whove won House contests. And its also because of how well Republican women did in tight races. The table below shows the Republican women who ran in Democratic-held House districts that were at least potentially competitive,1 according to FiveThirtyEights forecast. As of this writing, seven of them have won.

GOP women have flipped several Democratic seats

Republican women running for potentially competitive Democratic-held House seats and the status of their race as of 4:30 p.m Eastern on Nov. 11

District D+22.1

Results are unofficial. Races are counted as projected only if the projection comes from ABC News. Excludes races in which the Republican candidate has either a less than 1 in 100 chance or greater than 99 in 100 chance of winning.

Also Check: Who Is Right Republicans Or Democrats

Klance and a visit to the zoo

turned into an aquarium visit too... but i hope you dont mind!

pls suggest more fluff prompts ill love you forever if you do

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“Keeeeeith,” Lance whined like a two year old as Keith dragged him like a dead weight through the crowd of excited children and less excited parents. “It’s hot out! What are you even looking for? And why aren’t we using a map?”

“Because you were so impatient to get through the gates that I didn’t have time to grab one,” Keith grumbled, going up on his tippy toes in an attempt to see over the heads of zoo visitors with little success. God, he’d never realized just how short he was. Was this how Pidge felt all the time?

Keith was beginning to regret not bringing anyone else along with them to the zoo. They would have forced Lance to slow down, or at least distracted or entertained him enough to allow Keith to apply his sunscreen. But this was also supposed to be their first real date together of the summer, alone. They’d gone on a few ‘dates’ in June and July, but could you really consider it a real date when their friends almost always tagged along or? Or if Allura or Shiro practically chaperone them? Keith had just wanted a time where he and Lance could just be together, not that he didn’t enjoy the others. He just wanted some time when he could kiss Lance (more than a peck) and not have Shiro gently remind them that Pidge was still kinda young and then have Pidge not so gently remind Shiro that he was literally six years old. He would gladly slather aloe vera all over his body for that.

“Well, what are you looking for?” Lance asked impatiently. “And also when are we getting dinner? It’s like, 7:30, I don’t even think the zoo is open for much longer and… we haven’t stopped by the aquarium yet.”

“The zoo closes at 8,” Keith said with a bit of a sigh. “And the aquarium is still under renovation, remember? It won’t be open for a week or two. I don’t think we’d be able to see anything even if we did have time to stop by.”

“It’ll be okay, we can come back again soon, right?” Keith reminded him hopefully. “Our apartment is only a 20 minute drive from here. We can come up over the weekend sometime.”

“I know,” Lance sighed, discouraged. “But I really wanted to just see it before we go back to school and get swamped with homework and have to be adults again. There won’t be a lot of time to make day trips just to see the aquarium, you and I both know that.”

Keith bit his lip, feeling guilty. He hated seeing Lance disappointed. That face was almost enough to make him spill the other big reason they couldn’t go to the aquarium yet just to make him feel better. Almost.

Keith knew Lance had practically grown up going to this aquarium pretty much every weekend. He could make maps on it from memory. He knew where every exhibit was, he knew the names of every dog shark and stingray in the touch pools. He was best friends with the head of the marine life care department at the zoo, Coran. This aquarium was actually where Keith and Lance first met. It meant a lot to both of them. That was why it was bitter sweet when the zoo announced they were closing the aquarium last year to make some (very much needed) renovations on all the exhibits. On one hand it was sad to see the aquarium that meant so much to them change, but they were both excited to see the new additions. Today was supposed to be the opening day and Keith and Lance had planned this day trip months in advance, which was why Lance was disappointed when the zoo suddenly announced last month that the aquarium would need another week to finalize all the renovations, but there was nothing they could do about it.

They met 2 years ago when Lance was working with the zoo and Keith was here doing research for his architecture final project. Fortunately Keith’s teacher, Allura, was Coran’s niece, and Keith had been Allura’s favorite student, so when he asked if he could be allowed to look behind the scenes Allura had pulled a few favors. Keith remembered the first time he’d ever met Lance had been standing in a pool of baby sea turtles, inspecting them for shell rot. They’d gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but since they both practically lived in the halls of the aquarium that year they soon became very close.

“Hey,” Keith said, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “We’ve still had fun today, right?”

And it actually had been a really great day so far. They’d went in a clockwise circle around the zoo, taking their time to look at all the animals, and occasionally stopping to compare each other to said animals. They’d compared their arm-span to the wingspan of giant bats, fed granola to budgies, and watched the new baby elephant romp around in a mud puddle. Lance was having a blast, reading all the facts and goofy signs out loud in an attempt to make Keith laugh, and it worked. They’d decided to eat lunch in the aviary and a beautiful macaw had landed on Lance’s shoulder and kept wolf whistling at him until a zookeeper came over with a little cup of nectar and showed Lance how to feed it without spilling the cup.

“His name is Frederick,” The zookeeper had informed them as Lance held up the cup for the hungry lorikeet to eat. “And he seems to think he can flirt with everyone that passes by him.”

“Wow,” Keith grinned at Lance slyly. “I can’t believe I found the embodiment of you in a bird.”

Lance had flicked a french fry at him in retaliation.

After lunch they’d seen tigers prowl around their enclosures and red pandas doze peacefully in trees. They ended up spending a lot of time in the enclosed desert area where they got to watch meerkats scamper in and out of their burrows and fat tortoises waddle their way across the sand. Now they were going through some of the last outdoor exhibits and Lance was getting a little tired. In fact, Keith was pretty sure the poor guy had crashed about halfway through the lemurs, monkeys, and apes exhibits. Keith didn’t blame him, they’d been here since 9 in the morning and the entire time Lance had been running around and chittering excitedly about every single thing.

“Well, if we can’t see my favorite animal,” Lance huffed, leaning into Keith. “We can see yours, what is it anyways?”

“That’s actually what I was taking you to see,” Keith said, continuing to walk towards the exhibit. “My favorite animal is a hippopotamus.”

“A what?” Lance said, incredulous.

“You heard me.” Keith’s cheeks burned a bit. “I like hippos. They’re uh… big and uh… kinda cute.”

“Cute?” Lance laughed a little bit, seeming to perk up. “I mean, the baby hippos are, but aren’t hippos like, one of the most dangerous animals in the world?”

“They are the most dangerous animal in the world.” Keith corrected as they approached the hippo exhibit and leaned against the railing. “But they’re still cute as fuck, look at them.”

Lance did, laughing a bit as the baby hippo swam circles around its mother. “I guess in a way they’re like you then: big and mean looking, but actually just adorable softies once you start digging.”

Keith turned to look at Lance, and was struck dumb for a moment. His boyfriend was leaning against the railing, watching the baby hippo dive in and out of the water as its mother stayed submerged beneath, ears flicking occasionally when a fly landed on them. The soft light from the setting sun cast an orange glow over his tanned skin and reflected back from his blue eyes. His sunglasses were positioned up in his soft, mousy brown hair. He looked… beautiful.

Wow.

That was gay.

“Attention zoo visitors.” A voice called out through the loudspeakers and startled Keith out of his gawking. “The zoo will be closing in 15 minutes. Please make your way towards the exit now. Thank you for visiting today!”

Lance sighed, pulling away from the railing. “Well, thanks for taking me out today. I had fun.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to see the aquarium,” Keith said, taking one of Lance’s gangly arms and slipping it around his shoulders. “I know you really wanted to see it.”

“Nah,” Lance waved him away with his free hand. “You’re right, we can come back on a free weekend. It’ll be a good date idea, right? Well, what are we doing for dinner. It’s kind of late, but I could look up a couple restaurants in the area on my phone.”

“I’ve already made arrangements for dinner,” Keith grinned as he pulled Lance by the waist away from the throngs of families pushing strollers and couples holding hands and towards a gated off path.

“Wait, Keith the exit is that way.” Lance protested, trying to tug them back. Lance may be bigger than Keith, but Keith had a strong grip on his waist. “What are you doing? We can’t go back there! It says employees only!”

“Does it?” Keith said, tilting his head at the sign in mock confusion. “It may be because I dropped out of High School and had to retake junior year, but I think it says ‘Keith is the best boyfriend ever’.”

“What are you tal-,” Lance stopped as Keith pulled out his key ring. He looked up at Keith and raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing, mullet?”

“Taking you out to dinner, and don’t try to pay me back, it’s my treat.” Keith replied, searching for the key labeled ‘AQUA’. “I wanted to scale the fence, make it like old times, but Allura wouldn’t let me.”

“What do you mean Allura wouldn’t let you?” Lance asked as Keith pushed the gates open. “Keith, you know we aren’t allowed back here, and I thought you left your life of crime in the past! And isn’t this the path to the old aquarium?”“Yup.” Keith confirmed, grabbing Lance’s hand and pulling him along. “Just shut up and trust me.”

Lance was probably going to argue some more, but then he saw the impressive shiny new entrance to the aquarium and his mouth fell open. He gaped in stunned silence, allowing Keith to pull him down the lantern lit mosaic pathway. The tiles were the color of soft sand with shell shapes embedded inside to give it the impression of a beach. The tiles faded into blue with specks of iridescent stones to resemble the rolling waves of the beach. As they ran down the path, lights (controlled by Pidge in their tech room) flickered on in the reflection pool and fountains shot jets of water high into the night sky.

They stopped a few feet in front of the large new glass doors to get a good look. The old weather worn marble exterior had been replaced by a sleek modern design meant to symbolize the way water ebbed and flowed over the shore. Their had been a contest to find the design for the architecture, and the winner’s name was to be kept a secret until opening day. But Keith already knew the winner, and now Lance did too.

He turned to Lance grinning, waiting to see his reaction. Lance’s blue eyes were blown wide as realization dawned on him.

“THIS IS YOUR DESIGN!” He shrieked incredulously. “OH MY GOD! KEITH! YOU WON?”

Keith nodded. He’d been dying to tell him since he found out from Allura, but decided to keep it a secret so he could surprise Lance. “I won the contest, and got an A on my project.”

“YOU-” But whatever Lance going to say he stopped when he pulled Keith into a harsh kiss. When they finally pulled away Lance spluttered wordlessly finally giving Keith the opportunity to explain.

“They emailed me at Christmas time saying I had won the contest,” He said, “And I was going to tell you, but I decided to make it into a surprise. It’s been killing me.”

“I cannot believe this.” Lance said, covering his face with hands as Keith swiped a card and the electronic doors unlocked themselves and opened to reveal the brand new interior. “This has to be a dream. There is no way this is- THE DOG SHARK POOL!”

The minute Lance saw the small, sleek bodies of dog sharks moving effortlessly through the water he was already running. Keith laughed, chasing after him. Lance knelt reverently by the edge of the pool, looking into the crystal clear water, then looking up at Keith.

“Can I…?” He began, and Keith nodded. He reached out with two fingers and let his fingers graze against a shark near the water’s surface. The shark glided past him, fin cutting a gentle wake behind it. The blue lights from the water cast a glow over Lance’s face. “I can’t believe they kept this exhibit. When I was working here they were considering removing it because of the stress.”

“You remember that rest area idea you suggested last year?” Keith said casually, petting a dog shark.“Yeah,” Lance nodded, not taking his eyes off the water. “But the old tank didn’t have the resources for it.”

“This one does,” Keith said, pointing towards the end of the pool where natural looking rocks blocked off a section of the pool and a sign stood that read:’ Dogshark rest area, please do not pet!’. “When I designed this tank I put one in so the zoo could keep the dog sharks.”

“Oh my God,” Lance managed, sounding a little choked up. “You are… just…”

“I’m glad you like it,” Keith smiled, pecking Lance’s cheek.

The rest of the night was spent holding hands and kissing underneath the tropical reef and watching jellyfish float lazily through the clear waters and being totally, tragically, sickeningly in love.

Why did you close the door the last time you closed one? I last closed my bedroom door. We have to keep the bedrooms and the bathroom doors closed to keep our pup out. Stripes or polka dots? Polka dots. Do you care if people touch you when they’re talking to you? I don’t mind like a tap on the shoulder or arm. What is your gender? Female. Do you think that people think its obvious? Yes.

How long did your first date last? The duration of a movie and dinner. Is your favorite color within 10 feet of you? One of them is, yes. Highlight of your day? I had pizza for lunch. ha. Would you rather be on a boat or a plane? Plane. Can you tell when girls (or guys) have eyeliner on? Yeah? That’s an obvious thing. Can you cook? Nope. How high is your ceiling? I don’t know. Whats the worst job you can think of? Surgeon. I’m much to squeamish for that. I can’t handle the sight of blood or other bodily fluids. I can’t imagine cutting into a body or doing anything with organs. I just couldn’t do it, but I am so thankful that there are people who can! Do you swear a lot? No. Does the last person you texted have an O in their name? Yes. Her first name does, but also so does “mom.” ha. Is everything working in your house? Yeah. Would you rather have a pool or a trampoline? Pool. Does pop give you energy? No. TV show you love with a passion? I have a lot of favorites. Do you think you learned anything from the worst night of your life? Not sure what I would consider the “worst night of my life.”

Perfect age to get married? I don’t think there is a “perfect” age.

Is it safe to say you own over 20 pairs of shoes? No. Name a career path that women are known for taking. Nursing. Favorite type of cookie? Sugar and shortbread. A quality you look for in choosing a significant other? Sense of humor. What would I find if I looked in your pocket? No pockets. I don’t use them anyway. What was your first word? No idea. A musical instrument you wouldnt mind learning how to play? I would just like to get back into piano and really take it seriously and put in the practice. Last time you went to 7-eleven? It’s been awhile. I actually live really close to one, too. I missed free Slurpee day today, too. A fast food restaurant that you hate with a passion? I don’t like KFC at all. I’m not big on Wendy’s, but I can eat it. Does everyone in your family have a job? No. As far as my immediate family goes, I’m the only one who doesn’t. Going anywhere this weekend? No. Is your room ever clean? It’s always clean. I sometimes have unfolded clothes on my bed, but that’s it. What does it mean when youre being quiet? It can be anything or nothing. I’m just a quiet person. Last person you had a face to face conversation with? My dad. Wheres your phone? To the right of me. Do you know the difference between your and youre? You’re*, yes. How late did you stay up last night? I dozed off around 330ish,  woke up again at like 5:45, fell asleep again around 6, and slept until almost 1. Anyone youre ready to kill? Um, NO. Do you need to get a tan? I could use a little tan, sure. What do you want? Good health. Favorite TV show as a kid? Barney when I was really little.

Whats a show that you absolutely refuse to watch? 2 Broke Girls and The Big Bang Theory. How many times have you been in love? Twice. Go camping or go to a party? Neither. Do you remember how old you were when you started swearing? The most I would say as a teenager was like “hella.” Haha. Yeah, real rebel over here. I didn’t really start to cuss until after high school, and it was only around friends. Now I don’t really cuss at all. I just never was a big cusser. How many years older than you would you date someone? Not sure, honestly. Not too much older. What was the last thing you pinky swore on? With my doctor that I would do something I’m supposed to be doing. Would you consider yourself a nice person? I think so. Are there a lot of mirrors in your house? No. Has there ever been a serial killer in your house? Uh, no.

Do you know anyone who looks like Adam Sandler? No. True or false: Glee is annoying. I didn’t watch it. Last thing you cooked? I warmed up something in the microwave. That’s about the extent of “cooking” for me. lol. Do you use slang often? I don’t know if I’d say often. Maybe I don’t notice. Wear glasses? Yes.

About how old was the last person that hit on you? I don’t recall the last time I was hit on. What color are your headphones? Pink and white. Would you make a good teacher? Why? No. Dont you hate those commercials that try too hard? So all commercials? Is the fan on? Yes, of course. Any special reason why youre taking this survey? Nope. There’s aren’t any special reasons why I take a survey lol. I just do them. What does the last text message you sent say? “Pizza.”

Your friend needs you to run to the store to get a pregnancy test. Do you? Sure. Do you log out on facebook when you leave the site? No. That would be annoying to have to sign in every time. It’s my laptop, so I don’t have any reason to log out of anything. What color are your underwear? Black. How short are your nails? Short. Basically not there. Do you like the opposite sex to be dominant or you the one in control? I like them to be dominant. Favorite holiday? Christmas. If I asked you to point to Ohio on a map of the US do you think you could? Yes. Youre locked in a room with spiders. Do you have an issue? UM YEAH I HAVE A HUGE ISSUE WITH THAT. Do you wear your most expensive item of clothing often? No. Do you eat a lot of food? Not like I used to.

Have your parents ever tried to control your relationship? No. Have you ever had to give someone directions before? Yeah, well more like attempted. I’m the worst person to give directions. Don’t ask me. Speaking of which, are you good at understanding driving directions? I don’t drive. How many people do you text daily? I don’t text daily, and if I do text it’s either with one of my parents or my brother. Do you play any instruments? Which instruments do you play? No. Is there anyone who you call by their last name? No. What did you do on your last birthday? Dinner, cake, and presents with my family on my actual birthday and then we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant the next night with my older brother and his boyfriend. Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you commit the most? Envy. Has anyone ever told you that you’re incapable of whispering? No. What is your least favorite subject in school? Math. Have you ever been involved in a custody battle before? No. Do you know a couple who constantly sucks on each other’s face? No. When was the last time you watched a YouTube video? Yesterday. Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before? No. When was the last time you held someone’s hand? I held my dog’s hand earlier. ha. How many meals have you eaten today, so far? One. I’m about to eat dinner, though. Do you think it’s stupid for people to call others “hot?” No... Do you personally think Wikipedia is a reliable source? I check it for some things, mostly regarding celebrities. Have you ever shopped at Wet Seal before? Did you like it? I have. It was okay. Do you care about spending money if it’s someone else’s money? Yes. What is your favorite Disney movie of all time? Alice in Wonderland. When you were a child, did you ever want to become a wizard/witch? No. Would you rather have hardwood floors or carpet? Hardwood floors except for the bedrooms, in which I would want carpet. Who was the last person you yelled at? Why? My brother. As a kid, did you ever go to camp? It was a thing where I live for the 6th grade class to go to science camp, so I did that. I also went to a Girl Scout camp thing. Have you ever made out in a movie theater before? No. Are you currently trying to learn to play any instrument? No. When was the last time you went somewhere you thought was haunted? Never. Who was the last person to compliment you? *shrug* How old were you when you got to go on your first date? Twenty-two. Would you call your parents over-protective or under-protective? Over protective. Did your parents ever let you play in the pits of those multicolored balls? Yeah. Have any of your siblings ever had a crush on your significant other? No. Are you the jealous type? I can be. When was the last time you felt like you were high on life? Never. Do you know someone who cares about themselves more than their child? No. Do you still watch cartoons on television? I sometimes watch Rugrats, Doug, and Hey Arnold. What do you usually order at Taco Bell, if you go there? Bean burrito, no onions, extra sauce. Is there anyone currently annoying you? Nope. Do you have freckles? Yes. How many dogs do you have, if any at all? One. Have you ever witnessed someone being beaten up? No. Do you think biting is weird or sexy? It can be both, depending on the situation. Would you rather be called hot or beautiful? Beautiful. Have you ever had a pet turtle before? No. Do you still sleep with your parents when you’re scared sometimes? lol it’d be a little weird if I, a twenty-seven year old, did that. Have you ever met someone with two different color eyes? No. Have you ever felt like someone was following you? Yes. What color shirt are you wearing at the moment? Black. Do you enjoy going school shopping? That was the only thing I looked forward to when I was in school. haha. Do you think Pug dogs are adorable or just plain ugly? That reminds me of that creepy Mountain Dew commercial with the pug and it has like baby doll legs instead of its real legs and it goes around saying, “Puppy monkey baby.” It’s so weird! Have you ever met someone who completely resembled their pet? No. I’ve seen pictures of people who resemble a dog, though. What was the worst substance you’ve spilled on yourself before? Hot coffee and hot food. Have you ever made out with more than one person in one night? No. Do you think there is a soulmate out there for everyone? I’m not sure. I don’t think there is for me.

Do you like short or long surveys the best? Long. Have you ever bought fake money and tried to make it pass for real? No. Are your siblings nice the majority of the time? Yes. Do you freak out when a thunderstorm comes along? I do, but I also love them? How often do you shower? Every other day. Have you ever had to sell something for a school fundraiser? Yeah. How many sodas do you usually drink in one day? One. Have you ever met someone who was completely weird all-around? lol :X Do you ever watch any soap operas? No. They’re just so cheesy and over the top. Also, in my opinion, the acting isn’t good at all. Have you ever met someone who was mean to everyone? Yes. Do you usually have a low tolerance for pain or high tolerance? Low. Would you rather eat or sleep? Sleep. Are you one of those die hard Twilight or Harry Potter fans? I was at one point.

Do your parents ever force you to talk to your grandparents? No. They wouldn’t have to, I was close with my maternal grandparents when they were alive and I’m close with my paternal grandma, so. I like to talk to them on my own. Do you think long surveys are boring or entertaining? They can be either, it depends on my mood. <<< Same. Sometimes I just get annoyed. Have you ever learned that someone had lied to you all along? Yeppp. Have you ever wanted to be a lawyer? No. Have you ever had to bail someone out of jail before? No. Is there anyone in your immediate family who was adopted? No. Do you know anyone who doesn’t have any common sense? I’ve known people who seemed to lack in that department. When was the last time you bought something? Today. Do you think you look anything like your parents? A little. What are your plans for this weekend? Nothing. What color is your significant other’s hair? I’m single. Have you ever applied for a job at Walmart before? No. Would you ever become a foster parent? I don’t know if I’ll ever become a parent at all. Are you ashamed of anyone in your family? No. The only person I’m ashamed of is me. Would rather talk to someone on a landline or a cell phone? I don’t like talking on the phone regardless. Has anyone ever given you a psychiatric assessment? Yes. What is your favorite amusement park? Disneyland. Did you ever have braces? Yes, but not for my teeth. What is cuter: kisses on the forehead of the cheek? Forehead. Do you believe in evolution or creation? Creation. Would you rather take a bath or a shower? Why or why not? Shower. Does it bother you when people touch your personal items? Depends what it is. When was the last time you did something sexual? Never. Do you collect anything? What? Giraffe stuff. Are you better at hand-drawing things or painting? I’m horrible at drawing. I don’t have any creative or artistic talent. Have either of your parents ever called you a failure before? No. They would never. I call myself one, though. Have you ever suspected someone of cheating on you? No. When you get married, will you convert your last name? That’s a “if” not a “when”, but I like my last name so I think I’d hyphenate. Are your parents divorced, married or separated? Married. Has someone ever left a relationship with you for someone else? No. What’s the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced? Losing my grandparents and my dog, Brandie. When was the last time you went shoe shopping? It’s been a long time. My last new pair of shoes was a Christmas present. Are you a part of any clubs at your school, if you still go to school? No longer in school. Do you know someone who wears a wig? No. What is your best friend’s last name? Mom. ha. When was the last time you cried? For what reason? A couple days ago. Just life and frustration. What is your favorite shop to go to at the mall? I like to check out a few different ones. What time do you usually go to bed on the weekends? I go to bed around 4/430 everyday. Weekends and weekdays don’t make any difference to me. Have you ever considered suicide? Yes. Have you ever been raped before? No. Would you ever consider becoming a marine biologist? No. Did you carry a lunchbox as a child? Yes. What is your favorite ‘sweet’ to eat? Donuts or cupcakes. Are you someone who usually eats when you’re bored? Yeah. Have you ever eaten your way through a breakup? No. Who was the last person you texted? My mom. Do you usually buy popcorn when you eat at the movie theater? Yeah. Did you sleep alone or with someone last night? Alone. I always do. What kind of dressing do you eat on your salad, if any? Ranch. Are you someone who constantly likes to wear hats? No. Have you ever seen a Lifetime movie that relates to your life? Yes. What is your Myspace URL? Oh Myspace. Are you someone who likes to wear dresses more than pants? No. Have you ever dated someone who was way overprotective of you? No. What was the last thing you touched besides your keyboard? My phone. When was the last time you witnessed a fist fight? *shrug* Do you know anyone who lives in the state of California? Me and most of my family.

Are you waiting for a text right now? Nope. Is it your summer vacation right now? I’m not in school, but it’s summertime, yes. Do you like traveling? I do. What color are the walls of the room you’re in right now? White. Do you still make mix cds? No. Are you eating or drinking anything right now? Coke.

Do you go to church regularly? No. :/ Who’s your best friend? My mom. Are you determined? No. I used to be.

Are you always looking for/in a relationship, or do you like being single? Neither. Ever had your heart broken? Yes. Even broken someone else’s heart? Yes. :/ Are you confident? No. When’s the last time you smiled? Today. Are you tan? No.

Any big plans for today/tonight? No. What’s the background on your computer? Alexander Skarsgård with his arms around a Husky and a German Shepherd. It’s very cute. Do you have days where you just want to listen to sad songs? Yes. Don’t you hate when your plans fall through? I used to, but now I kinda hope for it. Ever maxed out a credit card? No. How old are you? Twenty-seven. Who’s the last person you kissed? Joseph. Are you hoping they will also be the next person you kiss? No. Do you ever actually go on dates? Nope.