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skyeblue8 · 8 months

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𝓐ɳԃ Ɲσɯ ᗯҽ Ԩαʋҽ 𝜏ԋҽ Sɬσ𝜏ԋ Ꮢιɳց... 💤

-> This was arguably one of my more easier headcanons to come up with as a lot of the Ring's aesthetic, and its overall theme is inspired both by my favorite indie character/game, Albert Krueger from Dream Therapy With Dr. Albert Krueger.

-> Some of the inspo for this was also taken from fellow Tumblr user @gravcore and their design of Belphagor (who may be female in my headcanon going from her brief mention in Episode 8, Season 1):

-> For those who haven't played or seen the game, be sure to refer to that as I'll be referencing a lot of what happens in the game into this Ring.

-> Honestly, something about the main guy being a demonic dream doctor/therapist just works perfectly for Sloth's central themes with medicine and demons. Plus, the world's set in a futuristic-esque scene so it just fits like a glove.

Now, onto the usual world development...

·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

┊ ┊ ┊ ✧

┊ ┊ ✦

┊ ✧

✦

Sloth's Environment:

✧ Now, contrary to what I just stated above, there were a few minor difficulties in deciding how I wanted to world of the Sloth Ring to be laid out. For starters, I didn't want to reuse the cloud-like atmosphere I used in Lust cause that would just make it less unique to the environment.

✦ To counter this issue, I headcanon that the skyline and general atmosphere in Sloth is always dim and always patterned with stars and large, oval-shaped portals within the sky that look like planets from a far distance. The ground beneath the demons' feet in this Ring is entirely non-existent, being little more than a permanent pitch-black copy of the night sky on Earth.

✧ The Ring's color scheme will be directly similar to that of DTWAK in the aspect that it will be blue, light blue, hot pink, and magenta. I'd also accept things like light blue, deep blue and turquoise like the picture above as it reminds me of the Aurora Borealis which has its own dream-like feel to it. Despite the general time of day in Hell, it'll almost always resemble night in Sloth.

✦ As for the general layout of the Ring, I wanted to make it a technological dreamscape world with a semi-city-esque environment like some of the Envy and one of my other future Rings. Moreover, I believe Sloth would coincide with the whole deception theme that we've seen in Envy and Lust:

✧ Again, with reference from @gravcore, Sloth will essentially resemble a rather sleepy, but widespread environment, namely in the residential areas with bright, sparkly wires stringing from the buildings.

✧ In the notably more city-like areas, however, it'll establish just how heavily advanced in technology the Ring is. The notably tallest structures will be places like hospitals, shopping centers, cell-towers, companies, advanced arcades, and relaxation centers.

✦ Actually, now that I think about it, I'll be keeping the aspect from Vivzie's version of Sloth that the place has various floating islands & buildings in the environment that'll reside atop various microchip-ridden clouds that drift near the floating portals mentioned earlier. (Said portals only lead to various locations within the Ring itself, btw).

✧ I'm aware I gave the floating island idea to Envy as well, but that just goes along with Envy's propensity to steal ideas from other Rings.

✦ Moreover, the Sloth Ring in itself looks like a futuristic paradise where people don't need to move, grow, develop/change for the better, or utilize a great deal of effort in their day-to-day lives. The technology here is by far the most advanced in Hell, and the Ring is often praised for its frequent new developments in the general STEM field/Entertainment field.

✧ In terms of entertainment, it specializes in its constant creation of new apps, video games, phones, laptops, TV's, VR simulations, and all the good stuff people like to indulge in.

✦ In terms of medical STEM advancements, it's a wide and unashamedly mass producer of various drugs and narcotics unique to Hell that makes the masses happy/content. (Said drugs are referenced to the Joy drugs in "We Happy Few")

✧ Now, what all these hospitals, drugs, relaxation centers, and various technological devices being massed produced by Belphagor all have in common is that they function more as "Soul Suckers" much like the succubi in Lust. For instance:

★ Hospitals/Drugs = Soul Suckers -> Rather than helping sinners w/ physical or mental illnesses, they actively work to either numb the sinner via Belphagor's special "Happy Pills" or straps them in and allow their condition to worsen so their souls drain away while in the Hospital

☆ Screens = Soul Suckers -> They do the same thing, though with a person's laziness and procrastination that makes them ignore their own needs until they waste away from lack of regulation

★ Relaxation Centers -> You get the jist. They turn too much relaxation and exploit into soul-draining under the guise that you're "getting better" or "de-stressing"

✦ Now, for the sinners who get their souls sucked within any of Belphagor's establishments, they have a relatively decent chance of becoming one her Dream-eaters (DTWAK). It's not a paradise, though, as their minds and bodies are lost and they become devout drones until she "relieves them" of their duties. You'd have to go through some pretty tough shit in order to get actual Healthcare in Hell, well, in Sloth, anyway.

·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

Sloth's Residents:

✧ To keep this from getting too long, here are our Hellborns/Sinners:

-> Dreamcatchers (@gravcore); Cyborg/Normal Candlehead Goat demons (I know that's Bephomet, pls just roll with it) [Hellborns]

-> Dream-eaters, Hell-born/Sinner cross-mutants, anyone else [Typical Sinners]

·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙★•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

✦ Nothing much left to say about the residents except that they're fairly lazy due to their environment. Those who are cybernetic are fairly a little more energized and useful to Belphagor moresoe than those who aren't, ironically. For more about the Dreamcatchers, check the link above.

✧ The Sinners here are really anyone who wasn't mentioned as Hellborns, and are also closely associated with either the night or laziness. Their color schemes differ from the Ring and those from it.

✦ The High-class is really made up of whomever has or spreads enough laziness or leisure to affect the rest of Hell (i.e. Vox or highly successful pro-gamers or manufacturer). The "low-class" would essentially be those too lazy and unmotivated to even leave their houses, thus developing a rather sloppy, poor visage; Dream-eaters; and the Dreamcatchers (sry Mx. Creator) as they're seen as pests given how they like to affect dreams and (in my headcanon) feed off the dreams and, in turn, the souls when people are sleeping. No one knows how they keep getting into houses.

....

-> Also, can anyone please give notes if my headcanons don't make any sense? Please! The feedback is greatly appreciated 😊

#Sloth Ring #helluva boss critical #vivziepop critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #hazbin hotel critical #helluva critical #helluva boss #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel critique #Skye Blue's 7 Sins #helluva boss rewrite #rewrite #DTWAK

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depressedbagpipe · 1 year

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Ka-Chaow (Charles Leclerc x female!reader)

Chapter one

Words: 3310 Warnings: mentions of alcohol and being drunk (guys, please, don't drink alcohol), some anxiety thrown in there, a couple of bad words, google-translated italian A/N: it's lights out and away we go! welcome to my crazy world in which i got into f1 right when the season was ending and now i can't wait to see every race. also, cause I'm still kinda new and I'm not Italian, any mistakes that i make in regards of *everything*, feel free to correct me, and be nice about it ;) A/N (II): italics are thoughts and phone calls and the email, bold and italics are messages, just bold is the location ;)

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Chapter one

London, November 18th, 2022

The weight of my bag was the only thing preventing me from sprinting to my desk. Several manuscripts I had yet to finish, together with my laptop, and all my personal items, hung from my shoulder as I made my way into Mr. Williamson’s wing. I cringed at the sound of my heels over the polished floors, making various heads turn my way as I sprinted by as fast as I could.

Eventually, I got to my desk, conveniently placed just outside Mr. Williamson’s office. The slight clutter was hastily thrown away with a flick of my wrist, making space for my bag, and turning my computer on at sprint time. A quick glance at the office before me told me Mr. Williamson hadn’t arrived yet. Thankfully.

Checking my wristwatch, I sighed in relief at the time.

9:32 am. New record.

Now relaxed, I took a seat in my uncomfortable chair and started typing away on the keyboard, going over all the emails and meetings I had to schedule for the day.

Half an hour later, Mr. Williamson showed up.

‘Good morning,’ he said in his usual hoarse morning voice.

‘Good morning, Mr. Williamson, would you like your usual coffee order?’ I asked in rehearsed practice.

‘Yes, please,’ he responded, struggling to open his office's glass door.

‘You gotta push,’ I noted while I grabbed my coat and my wallet, trying not to laugh.

‘Right,’ he grumbled, finally opening the door and leaving it open.

He stumbled a bit over the expensive rug, looking around before taking a seat on his bigger and far more luxurious desk. His briefcase fell over when he placed it on it, dangling over the edge, and only once he was fully seated, I left my post.

That’s how every morning went for the past year. I would arrive in time –usually–, be ready at my desk until Mr. Williamson came in late –usually–, make sure he got to his seat in one piece, and go down to the ground floor where the company’s private Starbucks had its own space.

One Americano, and one iced vanilla latte to go, please. Once again, those words were deeply burned in my memory.

‘How is he doing this morning?’ Jeremy, the morning barista, asked as he took the order.

I shrugged, swiping the company card over the payment terminal. ‘Still pissed off drunk.’

‘So, the usual?’ he chuckled, motioning me to the end of the bar while Amanda, his workmate, made the drinks.

We both leaned over the counter separating us, talking in hushed voices, so the other customers wouldn’t listen to our conversation.

‘Honestly, I don’t know how much he can go on like this. I’m starting to feel bad for the guy.’

‘Girl, he cheated on his wife, and she rightfully left him. If he deals with his own mistakes by getting wasted every night, it’s up to him,’ Jeremy sent me a pointed look.

I bit my lip. ‘I know, but you should see him. It stopped being funny eight months ago. Do you know how many meetings I had to reschedule because he wouldn’t even pick up his phone? And I don’t mean his personal phone, I mean the company phone in his office. All he has to do is press a single button and talk,’ I winced at the memory.

‘Here you go, have a nice day!’ Amanda gave me the drinks, and I smiled gratefully at her.

‘Well, as soon as he keeps ordering Americanos, I’m not complaining. I’ve doubled my hours here solely based on his caffeine ingest. And you know how much I need the money, so he better keep those orders coming,’ Jeremy winked.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. ‘If he ends up in rehab, I’ll blame you.’

He shrugged. ‘Fine by me. He’s an asshole.’

I laughed with a small shake of my head. ‘Bye, Jeremy! See you in a couple of hours!’

Getting back into the elevator, I made a mental note of everything that had to be done that morning. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings, until either Mr. Williamson got fed up and left, or I dropped in exhaustion for a quick nap.

The walk back to my desk felt longer than usual, the hefty workload of the week finally catching up to me as it normally did every Friday. I left my own coffee on my desk and quickly gave my boss his Americano, to which he merely responded with a grunt. He had his sunglasses on and was massaging his temples as if his life depended on it.

Making a face at his state, I bent down and took off my heels, knowing the constant clicking would be painful in his hungover head, and went back to my desk, making sure the door to his office was closed. Grabbing the phone, I was quick to cancel the first meeting he had in ten minutes.

With a sigh, I grabbed one of the manuscripts and resumed my reading, reading every page twice and making sure no typo was missed.

It was both a blessing and a curse, working at Ink’n’Paper. We were one of the world’s leading publishing houses on all sorts of literature, and consequently, the huge workload that we bore was overwhelming. Ink’n’Paper had been my first and only real job in the publishing industry, starting as an inexperienced intern and working my way up until I became the assistant of a household name in Historical Non-Fiction. It hadn’t exactly been my first option, non-fiction, but the pay was good, and I was desperate to prove myself. Next thing I knew, it had been three years since I’d started, and I was pretty much the only one making sure the whole department didn’t burn down due to my boss’ sudden neglect.

It was a few hours later, still sometime before the end of my workday, that I –or rather, Mr. Williamson– received the email. I had been managing all his accounts ever since the very first day he stumbled into the office completely drunk, Vodka bottle in hand, and screamed how much of a cunt everybody was on that floor, and then passed out on his rug, not before puking all over himself. After the embarrassment and degrading task of cleaning, not only him, but his rug too, I had taken over his entire life, managing even his dental care appointments for him, knowing he wouldn’t even be showing up to half of them.

I was surprised at the sender, for the name was oddly familiar. Maurizio Arrivabene.

Frowning, I quietly opened the message.

‘Buonasera, Stephen. I know it’s been a while, but as you’ll understand, these past few years have been a rollercoaster here. I was actually thinking about your past offer, and I know I’m a year too late, but I would love to look into it more. I’ll be in London next week after the season’s over, maybe you’d like to have some coffee (or tea, whichever you prefer), and talk about the book? I know here at Ferrari we need some push, whatever results we get this weekend. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Take care, Stephen. Sincerely, Maurizio.’

I widened my eyes at the email. Maurizio Arrivabene. Ferrari’s old team principal. I quickly gathered my planner and a pen and pushed open Mr. Williamson’s office door. Thankfully for me, he now seemed much better.

‘Sorry, Mr. Williamson?’ I took a few tentative steps toward him.

‘Yes?’ he lowered his spectacles, halting his typing on his keyboard.

‘You’ve received an email from one Maurizio Arrivabene,’ I pronounced his name in a heavy accent, the same way my dad would whenever he talked about his homeland. ‘Something about a book offer, maybe?’

His face broke into a smile. ‘Oh, Maurizio!’ he stood up from his seat. ‘I haven’t spoken to him in a while! How is he?’ he asked me. He still reeked of cheap alcohol.

‘I don’t know, sir, but he wants to meet with you next week.’

He clapped. ‘Fantastic, schedule a meeting with him.’

I coughed. ‘Well, the thing is, he sent an email to you, directly. I believe he’d like something more casual,’ I said, yet I opened my planner to check his schedule.

‘Well, then, I shall phone him immediately!’ he grabbed the phone on his desk, and rapidly frowned. ‘What’s his number again?’

I pursed my lips. ‘He didn’t write any, sir. I think you shall write to him directly.’

‘Of course! Let me just…’ he sat back down and typed something on his computer. ‘What was my email again?’

I groaned soundlessly, quietly making my way to him and fastly typing his correct credentials. Standing closer to him, I noticed the many wrinkles in his suit and the many hair strands that fell on the wrong side of his side part. Shaking my head, I pointed at the email.

‘There it is.’

‘Okay, when am I free for tea?’ he responded after a few seconds, his eyes reading over the words.

‘Well, you did cancel three meetings with the entire Editorial Department so… I rescheduled them for next week, but you should be free Friday afternoon after work,’ I checked all the time slots available, scribbling down the possible dates.

‘Why couldn’t we meet on a weekend? We don’t work on weekends,’ he said.

I paused. ‘You don’t work on weekends. I do. And I’m guessing this is a possible job offer, therefore counting it as part of the workweek at least allows you a free meal covered as company’s expenses,’ I recited off my head. Too many times I have said that.

Mr. Williamson widened his eyes. ‘That’s brilliant! You’re right, let’s schedule for next Thursday.’

‘Friday.’

‘Friday. Wow, who taught you that?’

‘You did, sir.’

‘Well, I’m a genius, then.’

‘If only you were sober enough to realize that,’ I muttered as I finished writing on my planner. Louder, I replied. ‘Remember to save the day and respond to the man. Don’t keep him waiting.’

I walked back to the door. Mr. Williamson nodded his head. ‘Will do!’

With another sigh, I sat back on my chair, cracking my fingers before typing in the response to Maurizio Arrivabene on behalf of Mr. Williamson, and making sure to set reminders in his calendar for every day of the week until his tea date.

The pay is good, at least.

—

‘You should have seen him. I mean, he’s like a toddler!’ I complained from my spot on the couch.

‘I don’t know how you keep working like that, you’re basically a babysitter at this point,’ my mother said from the other side of the phone.

I hummed in agreement, looking up at my feet. They dangled from the other end of the couch, as I took up the entire space by laying down. ‘Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I told Rosanna from Human Resources to notify me whenever there was a new vacancy, but it’s been months.’

‘Honey, I can’t tell you what to do, but do you think head editor is the right job for you?’ she asked.

I stopped. ‘I think so. I mean, I’m good at it.’

‘Yes, but do you like it?’

I paused again.

That question had been roaming in my mind for months. At first, the job had been nice. Reading manuscripts for a living, correcting the mistakes, meeting with the authors, and getting to know them first-hand… Again, maybe historical non-fiction wasn’t what I originally envisioned my future like, but the pay was good enough to get me my own apartment and to live independently. At the rate the economy was going, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

But then Mr. Williamson had suddenly neglected his own job when his life started spiraling down, and I had been the unfortunate soul to try and collect the pieces of his broken person. I was suddenly managing, not only my life, but his, and needless to say, he wasn’t an easy person to handle. Despite the many conversations to get him to sober up, every morning was a complete wild card, not knowing whether he would even show up, and if he did, would he be conscious enough to work.

On the bright side, thanks to his many absences, I had learned how to manage the editorial department pretty much completely on my own. I knew the names of every single worker, even the janitors and the night guards working late shifts. I had written, rewritten, corrected, presented, contacted, hired, fired, and despite knowing I was perfect for said role, my heart still longed for something different. The reason why I even had studied Creative Writing all along.

‘But only writing doesn’t pay the bills’, Mr. Williamson had said one morning, a month into my newly appointed role as his assistant. And ever since then, I had almost forgotten about my own dream of becoming a novelist.

‘What do you think I should do, then?’ I asked her.

‘Honey, you’re old enough to make your own decisions,’ she laughed.

‘Mom, I need your advice! I know I’m old enough but right now I’m at a crossroads!’ I complained, lifting my arm and covering my eyes with it.

‘You know what I think about writing for a living,’ she mused.

I groaned. ‘Yeah, I know it’s not your cup of tea, but I promise, I’m good. Great, even.’

‘I wouldn’t know, you never let me read anything.’

‘Well, yeah, it’s embarrassing.’

‘You need to get over that eventually, honey.’

‘It’s easier said than done,’ I sighed. ‘Besides, everything I have written so far was just reports and boring commercial synopsis for historical books, unless you really wanna read that…’

‘Honey, whatever you choose to do, just make sure it makes you happy. And that at least you’re getting money out of it.’

I took a deep breath. ‘I think I need to sleep this one over.’

‘It’s probably for the best. Let me know, whatever you do,’ my mother said. ‘I gotta go now, book club starts in fifteen minutes and I still gotta walk by Linda’s house to return her copy. Will you be fine?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good. Wait, your dad wants to talk.’

‘Great.’

‘Hey, chicken pie!’ I chuckled at my dad’s voice.

‘Hi, dad,’ I smiled.

His tone was excited. ‘You’re seeing the practice?’

I nodded before answering, my eyes glancing at the TV, where the first day of race weekend was airing from the Yas Marina circuit. ‘Of course, I am. Not paying much attention, though.’

‘Well, nothing interesting so far. You wanna FaceTime tomorrow for quali?’

‘Yes, please,’ I groaned in delight. ‘I wish I could be there to watch it with you, though.’

I could hear his smile through the phone. ‘It’s alright, chicken pie, I know you’re busy lately. Everything alright with your boss?’

I could hear my mom yelling at him in the background of the call.

I bit my lip. ‘Ask mom, she got all the details. Shouldn’t you be leaving for book club too?’

It was his turn to groan. ‘Don’t remind me.’

I laughed. ‘What was it?’

‘To Kill a Mockingbird. No bird in it.’

I audibly laughed at him. ‘Please, don’t say that out loud, you’ll be banished from the club.’

‘Oh, what a pity would that be,’ he said in his most mischievous voice possible. ‘Wish me luck, Principessa.’

‘Ciao, Papà!’ I laughed, finally ending the call in a fit of giggles.

Shaking my head, I leaned my head back on the pillow and continued watching the practice, remembering the puzzling email addressed to Mr. Williamson.

Multiple explanations littered my head as to how on earth Mr. Williamson knew someone as Maurizio Arrivabene, both from such different spheres, but then again, Stephen Williamson had always been a renowned author and an even bigger editor. It was possible that both men had coincided at some point in history, but I tried not to dwell much on it. I had a week until I found out what the fuzz was about.

Groaning again once the free practice was over, I finally stood up from my couch and walked towards the small kitchen, opening the fridge in hopes to find something available to eat. Some leftovers caught my eye, and with a shrug, I took them out, threw them in the microwave, and sat down back on the couch once the food was warm enough to eat.

Browsing through HBO for something to see, I settled on my annual rewatch of Parks and Recreation, anything to get my mind off the horrible week I just had.

My phone pinging broke me out of my daze. Wiping my hand clean on my dirty pajamas, I quickly read over my friend Angela’s message.

‘You shouldn’t check Alec’s Instagram story, but I also think you should.’

With a frown I opened the app, seeing the familiar purple-ish circle around my ex-boyfriend’s face. The video was enough to bring a few tears to my eyes. His arm was around some other girl, and her crimson-painted lips left stains all over his cheek. His smile was wide, and he looked quite happy, wherever he was.

I rapidly closed the app off, throwing my phone to the other end of the couch, now in desperate need of a glass of wine just to forget what I had just seen.

Breaking up with Alec had been hard, but seeing him off with someone else was even harder. Not only two months ago we were talking about living together, and now it felt like I was seeing a stranger through my screen. My job had been slowly taking over every aspect of my personal life too, and while I couldn’t blame Alec for feeling neglected all of a sudden, especially after three years together, it still hurt. I still missed him every night, morning, and any other time in between. He had been my best friend for so long, and one of my main pillars ever since I stumbled out of college, completely lost, and in frantic need of guidance in the adult world. We were both still kids that had become adults together, and I was having a harder time than I wanted to admit to trying to forget about him.

Taking a big breath, I closed my eyes, touching the soft couch in an attempt to ground myself.

Big breath in, big breath out.

After a few minutes, I felt myself calm enough, resuming my dinner and my binge-watching, now more than ever desperate for sleep after the intense day. Technically I had every weekend off, but I still had many manuscripts and emails to send the next day, thankfully from the comfort of my own home.

It was only in bed that I allowed myself to relax, turning off my phone, and grabbing my crochet set. It was a habit I had picked up lately, something so far out of my field of expertise, yet so relaxing once I got the hang of things. Working on my silly bucket hat every night before sleep was pretty much the highlight of my existence. And I was so invested in it, that only after I was finally done with it I realized I had been sitting for three hours in the same position, my eyelids dropping and my back hurting. Getting the needles out of the way, I finally laid in bed, and it only took a few minutes to fall soundlessly asleep.

—

A week later I found myself in the same position, crocheting a summer top in my bed, late in the evening after yet another exhausting week, when I received Mr. Williamson’s message.

‘Book a flight to Italy. We’re going to Maranello.’

Next chapter

General Taglist: @angiewhoohooo, @azaleaniath

#charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x female!reader #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x y/n #charles leclerc imagine #formula 1 #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 fic

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compusever · 6 months

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Hi there! Bit of a weird question, and I’m not sure if this is the right blog for this, but… best laptop for privacy? I’m going to go to uni in a year and my parents have said that they’re going to buy me a laptop, which is awesome, except— I don’t know which one to chose? I’ve never had a laptop before but I try to take being private online as seriously as I can, and so I don’t really care… well, like, I do care that the laptop has good storage and works and stuff, but I care mostly about how private it is. Which one supports adding privacy-related stuff the best? Which one steals your data the least? I… am actually not sure what kind of questions I should be asking, since… again, never had a laptop before, and I don’t know what about its make makes it private (other than like general online privacy practices across all devices), so I was just wondering if you had any recommendations for me? Tldr: don’t care about fancy features, just want a laptop that more or less works, but would love privacy to be the main focus. This can sort of come at the expense of convenience - I don’t care it if’s harder to set up, use, etc., so long as I can connect to the internet with it.

So the hardware is pretty agnostic on this, the place where privacy is going to become an issue is in the software.

Windows loves to track you and send your data back to homebase; Apple is a walled garden that doesn't let people get deep into configurations; linux is intimidating for a lot of people.

Your actual best bet on privacy would be to get a laptop with no OS and install a linux distro on it, but it sounds like that's probably not something that's terribly approachable for you. So in that case I'd recommend getting a Windows laptop (mac prices aren't worth it) and going through this list to change the settings to ensure better privacy.

HOWEVER please note that you should be getting a laptop with a full OS. Windows has an option for "windows 11s" or "windows 10s" and first off you should be going with 11 at this point but second that "s" means that there are pretty strict limitations on what you can do as a user in terms of configuration and installation.

If you are willing to pay a bit more for Windows 11 Pro instead of windows 11 Home, the pro license cuts off some of the more annoying tracking that Windows does automatically, but I'd say you're better off simply getting the home license and really digging into the settings and getting to know it and setting it up for yourself.

BUT if it's at all possible, honestly I'd say get a bare metal laptop (that means it's just the hardware, no software, you need to install an operating system before you do anything) and install linux. HOWEVER keep in mind that there are some significant downsides to using linux as a student, mostly that you'll likely run into software at some point that you won't be able to install. Also if you're not already pretty good with computers it can be difficult to keep a linux machine running (but very easy to make it private; that's the tradeoff - you can make it more secure more easily, but you really have to know how to fix your own computer if something goes wrong.)

For your situation, again, I think a Windows 11 Home laptop with the settings adjusted is your best bet.

Absolutely positively don't get a chromebook (you've got no control of the settings on a chromebook and the thing is made to feed information to google) and don't get a mac (you can get better specs on a PC at a lower cost).

For an idea of budget on this, I'd say you can probably get something from Dell, Lenovo, or HP for around $650-1000 dollars that's got decent specs (12th gen or newer i5 processor, 16gb RAM, 512GB SSD) and maybe something more like $500-800 from acer, asus, or samsung. Whatever computer you end up getting, you should get the added drop protection warranty because that means the manufacturer will fix your laptop if you drop it, something that is a bigger deal for college students than most people (because of your environment you're more likely to end up with drop damage than a lot of people AND because you're a college student you probably won't be able to afford to fix or replace the computer)

Good luck!

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wanda-little-baby · 1 year

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Twin Surprises - Wanda Maximoff x romanoff!Reader

Summary (pt. 2) : The second half of a particular day, you have a party to prepare and probably perhaps you will succeed

Warnings: very light swearing, culinary messes, alcohol and what follows, maybe there's more?

A/N: There you go, it took me longer than expected, because among other things a week ago my laptop died and this moron that I am was unable to access the account, so here it is with some delay <3

Words: <6K

(⬆️*spoiler*⬆️)

Honestly, the only reason why you took today as a day off is because today is Wanda's birthday, also Pietro's, calculating that they are twins, but in any case she doesn't know that you know this vital information and until tonight you would prefer her to stay Like this.

In fact, if you hadn't seen the date on the files at the time of Ultron, and then subsequently asked Pietro for confirmation, most likely you wouldn't even know when your girlfriend and her brother was born.

The curious case of the strange family bartender never seen who probably (surely, by now a fact) could have super speed now no longer pushes the strings of your curiosity, you could ask advice from Vision later for a guess you would have made, but still Wanda's birthday is more important.

You have start with your little group of friends, Pietro would have had to keep Wanda away from the compound for at least two hours, just long enough to put the decorations, the cake and everything else, and you and Kate would have taken care of that everything else plus decorations and cake. Exceptional case you did it with Natasha, you texted her in her absence about everything you were putting together and luckily she's back just in time.

Trembling with excitement you had a hard time masking your incoherent happiness which suddenly appeared out of nowhere, especially when dealing with a telepathic girlfriend, but still you made it, finally Pietro and Wanda are officially away from home for the next two hours (hopefully). Now all you need is your team.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

You and Kate walked around the compound, abruptly interrupted everyone from what they were doing and as if nothing was there you both dragged everyone into the kitchen/lounge.

In addition to the thousand questions, which both you and the archer will rightly answer in right time, time plays his part. "So, you're all wondering why Kate and I dragged you here..." with dangling hands, you push to get to where you want them

"Nah I'm more terrified of that crazy smile Kate has"

"I might have an idea" Vision as always, try to express, an idea about everything could almost say. "No Vis trust me you don't have it" absolutely certain, Kate denies any idea, the secret information for weeks only you, Kate and Pietro knew.

"thus... we gathered you here because... it's the birthday of the twins" in the end you blurt out the fact. "and we are planning a surprise party!!!" with so much enthusiasm, much more than you, Kate almost bursts with happiness.

"We need your help, basically only you are not involved, yet" you ask very kindly, gesturing as usual in a very hurried way.

Through shared looks, brief moments of non-verbal (not even mental) communication, you could say that if these here don't accept, Kate would most likely make them accept so much that she trembles to organize this party.

"they are setting us up" silently, not quite, Sam whispers to the poor synthezoid next to him. "it's called team spirit!!!" Kate, which unfortunately overheard, exclaims indignantly.

"I think it could be a bonding activity, it wouldn't hurt to try" so as not to miss, this time in your favor (yeah <3), from its crammed corner in the kitchen, the ai in an almost indestructible body makes one of his comments. "thanks Vis" happy, you thank him.

Thank god, as a good gentleman of the 40's Steve is always available to help where possible. "so what should we do?"

Following another nod of glances between you and the archer you begin to give the tasks. "Okay. Cap, you take care of the decorations, you are a super soldier use these powers" you turn to Steve, explaining to him in detail what he has to do.

Once you're done with the super soldier, you move on to the person who at the same time knows how to be the most annoying and supportive in this huge building, better known as Sam Wilson. "Second, Birdman, you have the drinks, no booze, I don't want it to end like most of Tony's parties, it's a party birthday" you communicate passing over the grimace that comes to you at the mere sound of the word 'Birdman', obviously from the birdman himself.

And third but not third, you pass to the dear synthezoid willing to understand human emotions. "Lastly, Vis, I need some help in the kitchen, you'll be my assistant cook. All clear?" you conclude, looking for further doubts, mostly clarifications because you were very specific.

"And what is the archer up to here?" very pretentious, almost as if he wanted to insinuate something, Sam beckoned to the brunette across the room, a sigh escaped your lips. "Kate will take care of the music, in short, general entertainment, we don't want it to be a funeral home, and if you have any doubts, ask her, she's in charge while I'm in the kitchen" you reiterate, also pointing to the friend in question right next to you, a succession of looks and confirmations between you and her, while you overlook the 'little' puff you heard.

Full of charged emotions as well as tasks to do, you are ready to start this operation, or rather to finish it because it started already weeks ago. "Good. Avengers, let's start the birthday party operation in less than two hours" with folded hands you finish your speech, thrilled by the final result.

"It's terrible name" and "Shut up Sam!" it could be the phrases that followed the name of the operation, and you might even have rolled your eyes at the bickering between Kate and Sam, but surely in the end you know that everything will work out.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

"Vision, how much do you know about Sokovian cooking?" taking quite a few ingredients out of the fridge and various pantries, ask more for general knowledge, to the synthezoid in the role of assistant chef.

"In the Sokovian cuisine as in most of the Slavic peoples there is an abundant use of spices" following you like a dog with its master from one end of the kitchen to the other, it provides data that one cannot fail to notice its robotic nature.

You nod and as you get some bowls and a whisk and the eggs, you mumble. "Hmm it's useless anyway, we need the sweet side of the kitchen. Sokovian pastry that's what we'll do today" placing the objects from your clumsy hands on the island in the center of the room, you begin the plan for the next two intense hours of preparation.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

Meanwhile in evening New York

Convincing Wanda to go out on her birthday was complicated enough even for her twin. The fact that no one, or at least Wanda believed so, knew that today was in fact the birthday of the Maximoff twins, especially the girlfriend of a certain green-eyed brunette, only gave her more weight, and now it was never too late to say something like "Hey it's my birthday today, sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I didn't want to rehash all my destroyed childhood", but really Wanda wants nothing more than to be not intrusive.

The more or less complex key was getting a short loan of Lucky, the golden retriever that Kate had found on the street during a cold December night, before meeting all your merry gang. Of course, Kate loves Wanda very much but his pride put a lot of pressure on the speedster, but in the end Pietro gave in and took courage, after all she is his sister.

Having a dog running around in a billion dollar facility is (probably) not a good thing but hey at least Lucky is quiet, plus he likes pizza and that's a big plus. That's why under the guise of a walk with the literal Avengers mascot, just to de-stress, there were now twins and a dog on the loose on the streets of New York.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

There have been many attempts, really many. So many cakes and various desserts that came out wrong, it would be the fourth time you'd be trying to redo the dough.

You were throwing in the trash with a funeral face when you turned to see an atrocity in progress (yet another of the day). "No no no. Stop!" quickly you run trying to stop the massacre, yet another almost failed attempt, then you remember that you have powers and forcibly remove the spatula from the hands of the cake-killer synthezoid.

"Want to tell me what the hell you were going to do?!" taking the bowl out of your hands, and removing this still undamaged dough as far as possible, you scold Vision for the umpteenth time. "At this point the recipe called for mixing and I was doing it" he replies confused, if the recipe calls for this why are you angry? Human emotions are still a partial mystery to him.

You sigh at his statement, indeed it's true, he had to mix, only that's exactly what he did the other three wrong times, so maybe that's where the mistake is. "You're right. But what do you say if we put a little more flour and maybe this time I'll check if we put sugar instead of salt?" you propose exhausted, placing the bowl on the counter again, with your hands on your hips and already all covered in flour on your arms and bits of your face. "It is a mistake not to be repeated, perhaps adding some more flour could give the required result" comments the red robot thoughtfully, surely inside his mind full of vibranium circuits and the strange gem he has set on his forehead he will be calculating the variable billions possible from this choice, he always does.

"You flour, I sugar. Do you think you can do it?" handing him the bowl, you nod questioningly. "I can try," he replies, optimistic as a human would say, given his previous failures.

While you make sure you have taken the sugar and not the salt, not like the first cake which was practically perfect, just one small detail, it is salty to die for, you hear a thud and then a kind of poof, and when you turn around what you see is exhilarating.

Vision covered head to toe in flour, green and yellow clothes, red skin and everything else completely whitened, only the luminous gem stands out among all the rest. Such a show gives you what out of three failed attempts in the kitchen you deserve, a good laugh. The fact that Vision then looks at you curious as to why you're bursting with laughter only adds to the hilarity of the moment.

"I-if… if you're going to say 'do I have something on my face?' I swear I may never stop laughing" holding back more laughter just so I can talk, you warn him, you really may not stop laughing. Just at this moment, between laughter and another, your best archer enters the chaotic kitchen, who is also amazed by the condition of the synthezoid.

"Oh my god Vision! Did you by any chance give the body a whitewash?" jokingly, Kate makes fun of the white condition covering a Vision quite confused by your reactions. "No no it snowed a few seconds ago!" you join the line of jokes, really in need of this kind of rest. "Miss Bishop, Miss Romanoff, I don't understand the reason for these laughs" naked and raw, as only he knows how to be, in his confusion, still covered in flour to make him look like a vibranium Everest, the synthezoid observes. "It doesn't matter Vis, i-it was fun anyway" still recovering, between a few muffled giggles you wipe some flour off the robot's shoulders.

"Alright, I didn't come here to laugh but anyway... there's a problem there" Kate too with a roll of eyes tries to go on, underlining the problem. As if you felt a ghost pierce your body you turn and your eyes go wide, not ready to know what went wrong.

"I found my favorite pair of 'missing' shoes all gnawed away in the recesses of my closet" pulling the pair of shoes now only to be trashed from behind her back, she says again bewildered that she has been betrayed by her furry pizza-loving dog. "And then, and this is the worst part, from there I think Sam really didn't respect the no alcohol fact and Steve doesn't seem to understand that he has to do the exact opposite of what he's doing" with an air of just exhausted, Kate puts her hand to her forehead, this party hasn't even started and it's already a catastrophe.

You dramatically bangs her head on Vision's chest several times, desperate from the situation, the kitchen sucks, ditto over there... it would take a miracle.

"News from Clint? Tony? Someone, tell me at least something is going according to plan" you complain, continuing to bang your head on Vision's vibranium chest, some lumps of flour fall on you. Kate sighs "Clint is out, the little one is sick, and the whole family is basically in quarantine. Rhodey, as I was telling you he is still on a mission... while, yes Stark he is actually coming soon, nay he should be here considering you know 'him' " one by one she fills you with bad news, the air gets more and more depressing with everything in pieces, but at least there is still Tony left... yeah Tony, you aren't thrilled with what might happen as they're not yet in good shape relationships, but hope dies last.

"Ура! Could you please go over there and fix it, Katie?" almost pleading-eyed, amidst the mess in the kitchen, you speak to your friend. "I would have already gone to lend a hand but, anyway, if you don't mind I need Vision, could you lend it to me?" coquettishly, approaching your position, from the entrance, she puts her arm in arm with the synthezoid looking between you two and with a brief exchange of glances absolutely without even thinking about it you mutter a 'yeah, no problem at all'.

Surely it's not that he really needs Vision, she needs him to stay away from you that's all, the kitchen is an example and Vision really doesn't know how to cook, it's not his fault it's just that he's a robot and has literally never cooked nor eaten before, and then surely to keep him busy it won't hurt them to listen to human relationships, after all he wants to understand us.

As Kate literally drags Vision away from the battlefield that has become the poor kitchen, you lip a 'thanks' directed at her so she can get the message. Now with the free kitchen, you literally have to do it all over again in much less time and you probably also have to write to Pietro to keep Wanda away a little longer, even if she might get suspicious.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

With a flick of the wrist you change your clothes to some less floury ones, tie a quick knot in the apron around your waist and roll up the sleeves. Give your floury hair a good clean with a few shakes, and style it into a bun so it doesn't get in front of your face, and you're ready to go.

Not knowing literally how much or what specifically should be consumed at a birthday party, and with time running out, you improvise.

From what you have understood in recent years, anything, whatever power you have, is greatly influenced by emotions, the stronger they are and the greater the power they release, in short, you have had examples of it.

With a huge din, with a flick of the wrists, all the pots, ladles, spoons, loads of other objects come out of their closets and in an orderly dance on a reddish river they float through the kitchen. One by one, commanded by the co-pilot, they are set aside in sections, various pastries being prepared at the same time, while only the cake remains for you, the fifth one this time to be made again.

As you predicted, or as Kate had told you, Tony arrived shortly after your accelerated preparation starts and almost gave you a heart attack, causing a culinary catastrophe, so you dismissed him with a red-eyed gaze that could rival those of an angry Natasha.

Speaking of the redhead, your mother didn't fail to arrive quite later, but this time it will have been for feeling or because you are practically almost coded to hear even the smallest detail that makes you feel the presence of her you were prepared.

She'd asked you if you'd like a hand in the kitchen, seeing four different groups of reddish flying things plus you all sweaty and busy, but you literally begged her to go check the living room and how the party preparations were because you weren't going to make Natasha "I can burn even water" Romanoff cook for no one reason at all, especially not now.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

Finally, after about an hour and three quarters, according to someone *cough* Vision *cough*, you were done.

Three trays of pastries, various sweets and all particular stuff, mixed from international and Sokovian cuisine. Your greatest pride is the cake, this time it's a masterpiece, finely decorated with the symbolic colors of the celebrated, a typical Sokovia recipe was the background.

It's also true that you trashed your initial project and took something else but you still have the corpses of past havoc laid on the counter, there were four deaths on this day, all newborns died, and sooner or later you'll have to get rid of them unfortunately.

You've just finished taking everything out of the stove and you should go to the living room to see how to place the food, before coming back and plating everything, and the anxiety is a lot.

You were ready for something, definitely not what you found when you came out of the kitchen and went looking for the rest of the team. The living room is breathtaking, all lit up, streamers hang from the lights, the sofas moved to make room for some tables with paper plates and cutlery on them in a row and plastic cups next to them, there are also chips and various crap, things that absolutely they had slipped your mind, the decorations scattered throughout the room that recall a little sokovia everything is great and you are... you are simply speechless.

It didn't take long for y'all to put the finishing touches, sure, you don't know who did the magic but flush wire you did it. Throwing a party may not have been one of the skills you would have expected to have to get the job done, but when you're dealing with someone like Tony Stark, you see a lot of parties and you know what to do and what not to do to avoid inconvenience (yes, you know about that party at Malibu :-| ). As luck would have it, just shortly after you've just finished everything, the robotic female voice of FRIDAY warns you of the imminent arrival of the twins, this was the time to disappear.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

In a deep silence, the lights at least not too much "help something abnormal is going on", dimmed to preserve the surprise effect. Seven of the mightiest heroes on earth have hidden themselves in the most disparate places in one of the relax room which has officially become (under your "acute observation") the living room of the compound, shortly waiting for the speedster and his beautiful sister, the celebrated.

"- yes anyway I don't believe you, surely you're plotting something" in the lobby of the floor, just outside the lift, the two Sokovians argue. "Сестра (Sestra) I would never allow myself" with his hand on his chest, as if offended, Pietro teases his sister.

A small meteorite, wearing some rings, hits the shoulder of the speedster, apparently not too fast to dodge his sister's punches. "Глупо" she murmurs at the same time as the blow, followed by a not at all serious ouch, in practice it's always the same Pietro, with his usual behavior.

Crossing the hallway, the atmosphere absolutely still if it weren't for the few lights deliberately left on, Wanda is starting to believe that something has happened, it's never so silent in here. And most of all she misses her nocturnal koala, it was a crappy day for her and she just wants to be with her favorite person, maybe this birthday mess of hers can fix it next year.

"Wait Lucky!" Wanda exclaims suddenly when the golden retriever she was holding on her leash snaps and escapes from her hands running towards the dark living room. "Why is this room so dark..." the girl gropes into the open space, looking for the light switch, the pitch dark doesn't help with the fact that Pietro suddenly seems to have disappeared, when only a few seconds ago Wanda was sure he was behind her.

All the lights in the room come on revealing the magnificent sight. "Surprise!" all the voices of the team, even Pietro, exclaim together, surrounding Wanda.

Quickly her eyes become bright with emotion. Seeing the room decorated, this group of people, with some of her she bonded more than others, all this they organized for her and her brother's birthday, she just didn't expect it.

It's pure madness that you've somehow managed to keep someone you've been plotting for so long on the back burner, considering you literally live together, but it has to be a testament that someone up there loves you.

The disbelief she feels when she finishes looking around the room and she stops right in front of you is such that even with her mouth closed in her hands she can't concentrate and speak. "Would you like to say something, Wands?" you look into her eyes that she tries to hide with her hands. In order not to show her, seized with shame, she closes the short distance between you two and hides her face against your chest.

"How did you know that?" she mumbles against your chest, sheltered a little from the outer ears.

I may have had some tips

You look towards Pietro and Wanda also follows your gaze up to her brother, several unsaid speeches you exchange. "Happy Birthday девушка из ситкома" you kiss her hairline, the last part elicits a few giggles from a certain redheaded russian, and an awww from someone corny and a close friend of yours when your mom told her what were you saying. "Well how about we start this party? Or get a room because we don't want to see this all night" pointing between you two, Tony broke that bubble you had created. And so it was that an elbow hit the side of the genius, all for a little joke about her daughter.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

Before long, the party was in full swing. If there's anything we're good at besides saving the world, most of the time, it's rocking a party. As you predicted, the polite no-alcohol request, completely trampled upon. Did you expect it? Of course. If there is Tony Stark at a party it's impossible that there isn't alcohol.

Between various chats, light music in the background and Lucky wandering from one person to another, a good part of the evening is already passing. It's right here that between a talk about uranium decomposition (I don't have a clue how we got to this) and how fast Tony's armor can go just to keep up with Pietro that Kate brings an avalanche of board games and stuff like that.

After the umpteenth game of scrabble, interrupted because you really can't play against a living dictionary, Sam's words, you have given fruit to your improvisation skills with the game of mimes.

To say it was exhilarating is an understatement, you had to guess among other things which team member one of you was imitating. Obviously there were the classics, the robot for Vision, the slightly more creative one, the right hand to the chest as if to sing the national anthem, obviously for Steve. Couldn't miss a bird, it was hilarious, it always is when it's dealing with Sam, tying the shoes is a clear tip for the team sprinter according to Steve, yet he had to give another hint.

Sam played it hard miming Natasha, he got on his knees and stayed that way until y'all understood and burst into laughter, well at least not all of you. Then it was your turn, or at least someone had to imitate you. She took revenge, your mother took revenge for laughter by imitating when you sit down you take a book in your hand and absolutely angry you start leafing through it without even reading and lightning with deadly looks anyone who approaches you even by mistake, needless to say that among all those laughing you were a little ashamed.

Wanda had a classic from her twin, the usual hand gestures and go, Tony too did it quite well of course only people who are quite night owls remember his lightning naps. Vision's imitation of Kate in one word: "pure gold". Okay maybe there are two but this is the gist, robots don't know how to mimic people and when they do it's too funny.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

In a brief moment of pause, you went to the kitchen to get more glasses and napkins, and Wanda followed. When she saw the mess in the kitchen her heart melted, she lingered on the savory pie, you had decorated it out of depression, she was almost successful and since it was salty you just put a "who cares?" because nobody would care about the pie. Instead she put her foot down and wanted you to take a picture of her holding the cake.

"Seriously?! Do you want a photo with this cake... this cake here?" amazed you look at Wanda holding the plate of cake in her hand.

The girl sighs, she will have to fight for this maybe. "Come on, it's a very good cake even if it's salty! Take this picture come on..." with two big sweet eyes, plate held in front of her, she want to bribe you with sweetness.

You raise your eyebrows, you know too well what she's doing, and she's winning... as always. "Like always, we end up doing what you want" you raise your hands theatrically along with your eyes.

Initially she doesn't seem to react to your answer but when you pick up your early 2000s instant camera and snap the picture she raises an eyebrow and satisfied, after the shoot she sticks her tongue out.

"Thank you that you're pretty" you make a fake face, when the photo is developed you shake it and look at the result.

Cute even when you make faces, or make fun of me

As a teenager, Wanda blushes from cheeks to ears, and as you look at the photo she takes your arm. "Come on cakes girl let's go enjoy the amazing party you threw for me"

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

Head back to the party, Lucky nearly knocked you over as hard as he lunged at you. "Hey puppy, you almost showed me the stars" you scratch him behind the ear, he wags his tail happily.

Having a pet isn't something you've ever done, but since Lucky's been here you've become a dog lover in a snap of your fingers. Although the first time, he peed on Vision's leg.

"Oh girls, we've been waiting for you" sitting on one of the sofas, Steve greets us. Well yes, in the few fifteen minutes perhaps, Pietro had decided to do karaoke, he had arbitrarily taken and brought a microphone with all the rest of the equipment in a flash, and there was a discussion between him and Sam about who should start.

"OH MY GOD. Like OH MY GOD. Where did you get this from!" when you turn around and see all the equipment in plain sight and Pietro handling it, you're too excited.

"Apparently someone here is full of surprises" Tony refers to the boy, surprised you might say.

After the whole Sokovia incident, even before, he feels responsible for everything that happened to the twins, if only he had realized sooner. Relationships are almost always electric between those three, he tries, you try, but it's simply too early; they spent their whole lives hating the big bad Tony Stark for killing their parents, some things are not easy to forget forgive and move on.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

After a couple of minutes you decided who started first and unfortunately few participate.

"You can't stay there and let just humiliate the four of us..." you complain talking to the four sitting on sofas, more with the three humans, for Vision it can be enough with ridiculous acts to do. "five!" Sam corrects you, he's the only one besides the four of you who wants to sing.

"Yeah, though... that's not right!" you huff angrily, if you have to fall at least they have to fall with you. "Life isn't fair" Tony retorts loudly, now you can only glare at him.

"Well I haven't sung since 1944, I wouldn't mind trying" a little joy ignites at Steve's words, even if Kate's stifled giggle makes you think it's going to end badly, but anyway you thank him. "Thanks Steve"

In a last ditch effort, you cast a questioning glance at the billionaire, so much is the question in the air. "I pay for the house, food, water, electricity and all the technological gadgets, basically I'm more of a mother than this one, isn't that enough for you?" giving a futile future to your efforts, he liquidates you by putting your mother in the middle as well.

It's normal that you pay for everything here! Who among us is a billionaire?! Literally, I don't know which of us has income in our bank accounts! Then we've got a robot, one guy that's supposed to be old and death, and a lot of other people that I don't think people would want to hire. Paying is your job

"Ты была бы очень плохой матерью в этом случае, так как мы справляемся сами" arms crossed, you grumble sulkily, he doesn't understand you anyway, so he has no reason to hear. "Ты же знаешь, что он подумает, что мы плохо о нем говорим?" Natasha answers your words with curiosity, mostly with amusement.

"Вот почему я учу языки, мама" you smirk, and slowly knowing you've got everyone's full attention basically, you spell out. Your mother rolls her eyes, gives you a smile and slowly shakes her head, she could be your accomplice "Ах да, верно, Тони Старк - негодяй" finally she says, only to alarm the interested party's ears

During the short conversation in Russian, a matter of less than a minute, you had everyone's eyes on you. And when you're done, Tony's face is almost indecipherable.

"I have no idea what you said thus in advance I feel deeply offended, so I will stay here, enjoy this delicious cocktail and your performance" obviously finding an excuse, he settles down on the sofa and sips from the glass. You give him one last look and then roll your eyes

A cough gets your attention. "Can we start?" Pietro nods to you, and you shrug.

"Kate, the stage is yours" you sit down and Kate scrolls through the song list.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

If Kate hadn't thrown herself into sports, technically into being a superhero but sport was a means, yes, however, she could devote herself to singing. Of course, the song she chose was completely wrong, but the voice is there, at least you hope.

Running away from the stage of shame, you relieved her, and after a bit of searching you found the perfect song. You dedicated it to Wanda, after all it's her birthday, and you might have gone a little too far with the saccharine stuff because you made her cry, in fact, after your performance, complete with applause, you reached her and you probably won't move from there because Wanda has no intention of letting you go from her arms.

The performance plus, something, is that of Pietro, with his behavior you could not expect otherwise, at least he made the atmosphere even lighter.

Strangely Sam's went well, no one laughed, everything perfectly. In your nerdy searches you may have found old footage from WWII, and some may even have been on Steve (*cough*A Star Spangled Man with a Plan *cough*) , but you were definitely not expecting what you got, an excellent performance.

You: Wow this went better than I expected. Hmm... Wanda?

Wanda: Yes?

You: You know it's your turn right?

Wanda: I don't want to go... come on you know I'm shy about these things. Isn't it better if I'm here with you?

You: Come on!!! At least if you don't want to make a random song take your guitar and play something with it... please?

Wanda: Don't even talk about it! I have no intention of playing... and... and then who was it that said we always do what I want?

You: I warn you, your guitar is arriving in your hands in a few seconds

Wanda: Now I hate loving you

While your girlfriend muttered to herself, and sincerely even when she pouts you want to kiss her nose, you still announce her entrance.

"Guys, you will never believe it, but now Wanda will delight us with a sweet melody played by her" absolutely convinced you announce, Wanda would like to sink into the sofa in a while and not re-emerge so as not to do it.

Wanda: Ugh... God... please bury me now

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

In the end, between grimaces and some not very serious threats, you managed to get Wanda to stand up, the guitar in your hand, and lots of love (also teasing) in her eyes.

Well if she sings like the first time I heard her then... wow

You are walking quietly in the hallway, thought you were going to the library, or maybe you were walking down to go to training, when a sweet melody caught the attention of your ears, it was Wanda. You stood for a couple of minutes at the door jamb, enchanted by the way Wanda was singing, almost angelic.

Lying on her back, on the edge of the bed, when she looked up and saw your shape, a wave of shame and embarrassment hit her.

She almost threw a pillow at your face if you didn't dodge, and then you might have apologized for scaring her.

The fact is that in the end while Wanda was singing you were there for her. And at the end of the performance, there were whistle and applause, you basically cheered Wanda.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

There was the cake after, candles and all, and the compliments you might have gotten might have boosted your foodie ego even more, but hey if you're making the cake for your girlfriend birthday it makes sense you put all your effort into it yourself.

But now, from that precise moment on, your memories are fuzzy, it must surely have been the alcohol you ingested and it didn't help the challenge between you and Pietro to see who gets the most shots; and you already a little tipsy you overlooked the fact that his accelerated metabolism makes it literally impossible for him to get drunk, obliviously like a dumbass that you are you accepted.

For some reason you're shooting yourself a shot one moment, then you go dancing for some weird reason with *hazy mist*, but you think it's Wanda, and then you don't know how but you're watching a dance competition and your mom and Steve are dancing great, and for some reason you're rooting for them.

On top of that you believe, in the drunken haze you've blown a hole in someone's foot with Kate's arrows, and you definitely need to check that tomorrow, if you ever get over that giant hangover.

After the memory of dragging each other, perhaps in threes, with Wanda, between giggles and drunken conversations, down a hallway, you hope that of the bedrooms, you have a gigantic scary darkness, the most scary thing after a party... the day after.

ᗢ⧗── ･｡ﾟ⧗: *.ᗢ.* :⧗. ───⧗ᗢ

The blinding light from the window, that thing so painful it hurts your ears. The head that feels like it's about to explode, and you probably don't think you can get out of bed, maybe you wouldn't even be able to raise a hand let alone all of yourself.

Too much light, too loud, too drunk

At sloth speed, you turn face down in bed, and with what little energy you have you close the curtain with a few red threads.

You don't feel like moving, or doing anything else, especially talking or seeing, you could fall into depression if you do.

Screams suffocated in the pillow, even if there is very little to suffocate, you complain.

"I will never drink again"

A bad hangover awaits you to deal with today

#wanda x fem!reader #wanda x reader #wanda x romanoff!reader #wanda x y/n #wanda maximoff x romanoff!reader #wanda maximoff x female reader #natasha x daughter!reader #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff x platonic!reader #wanda x pietro #pietro maximoff x romanoff!reader #kate bishop x platonic!reader #kate bishop x romanoff!reader #avengers x platonic reader #avengers x reader

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mamadarama · 22 days

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your madarei textposts r so good they are like my life support and honestly i have almost all of yours saved in my laptop's gallery and i open them every time i am down. thankyou for them. for real. also may i ask what made you like them?? (like for example what you like from their interactions or stuff like that)

YAAY thank you im happy you like them !!!!!!!!

a lot of why i like them is that rei and madara two of my top favs , but also cuz theyre so similar but so different . its like theyre different species that diverged from a common ancestor only 300 generations ago . theyre noticeably the same thing but just as noticeably different at the same time , so much so that when keito had to get rid of them during the war he used the same methods for both of them . also the successor thing ????? sorta gay if you ask me. and madara explicitly stating he would kill a man if rei asked him to immediately after walking through the door even though rei didnt even say anything .... also after madara got back on his feet after being disowned he still visited rei a lot for "successor business" which sounds to me like a thinly veiled way of saying they were fucking without actually saying it outright . also theyre best friends and on madaras relationship chart it says rei is somewhat scared of him which i find hilarious considering who rei is and what hes capable of . its very "i wouldnt want to meet the animal that wolverines would run from" if that makes sense. both of them are too stubborn to ask each other for help when they need it but having the option available makes it easier for them to tackle problems on their own more confidently , because they know they have backup . unfortunately them being together is also the worst thing for almost everyone else because theyre both a monumental headache to deal with individually , let alone together .

#ask #anon #whiteboard

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miasfoxxden · 11 months

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I use Arch, BTW

I made the switch from Ubuntu 23.04 to Arch Linux. I embraced the meme. After over a decade since my last failed attempt at daily driving Arch, I'm gonna put this as bluntly as I can possibly make it:

Arch is a solid Linux distribution, but some assembly is required.

But why?

Hear me out here Debian and Fedora family enjoyers. I have long had the Debian family as my go-to distros and also swallowed the RHEL pill and switched my server over to Rocky Linux from Ubuntu LTS. on another machine. More on that in a later post when I'm more acclimated with that. But for my personal primary laptop, a Dell Latitude 5580, after being continually frustrated with Canonical's decision to move commonly used applications, particularly the web browsers, exclusively to Snap packages and the additional overhead and just weird issues that came with those being containerized instead of just running on the bare metal was ultimately my reason for switching. Now I understand the reason for this move from deb repo to Snap, but the way Snap implements these kinds of things just leaves a sour taste in my mouth, especially compared to its alternative from the Fedora family, Flatpak. So for what I needed and wanted, something up to date and with good support and documentation that I didn't have to deal with 1 particular vendors bullshit, I really only had 2 options: Arch and Gentoo (Fedora is currently dealing with some H264 licensing issues and quite honestly I didn't want to bother with that for 2 machines).

Arch and Gentoo are very much the same but different. And ultimately Arch won over the 4chan /g/ shitpost that has become Gentoo Linux. So why Arch? Quite honestly, time. Arch has massive repositories of both Arch team maintained and community software, the majority of what I need already packaged in binary form. Gentoo is much the same way, minus the precompiled binary aspect as the Portage package manager downloads source code packages and compiles things on the fly specifically for your hardware. While yes this can make things perform better than precompiled binaries, the reality is the difference is negligible at best and placebo at worst depending on your compiler settings. I can take a weekend to install everything and do the fine tuning but if half or more of that time is just waiting for packages to compile, no thanks. That plus the massive resource that is the Arch User Repository (AUR), Arch was a no-brainer, and Vanilla arch was probably the best way to go. It's a Lego set vs 3D printer files and a list of hardware to order from McMaster-Carr to screw it together, metaphorically speaking.

So what's the Arch experience like then?

As I said in the intro, some assembly is required. To start, the installer image you typically download is incredibly barebones. All you get is a simple bash shell as the root user in the live USB/CD environment. From there we need to do 2 things, 1) get the thing online, the nmcli command came in help here as this is on a laptop and I primarily use it wirelessly, and 2) run the archinstall script. At the time I downloaded my Arch installer, archinstall was broken on the base image but you can update it with a quick pacman -S archinstall once you have it online. Arch install does pretty much all the heavy lifting for you, all the primary options you can choose: Desktop environment/window manager, boot loader, audio system, language options, the whole works. I chose Gnome, GRUB bootloader, Pipewire audio system, and EN-US for just about everything. Even then, it's a minimal installation once you do have.

Post-install experience is straightforward, albeit just repetitive. Right off the archinstall script what you get is relatively barebones, a lot more barebones than I was used to with Ubuntu and Debian Linux. I seemingly constantly was missing one thing for another, checking the wiki, checking the AUR, asking friends who had been using arch for even longer than I ever have how to address dumb issues. Going back to the Lego set analogy, archinstall is just the first bag of a larger set. It is the foundation for which you can make it your own further. Everything after that point is the second and onward parts bags, all of the additional media codecs, supporting applications, visual tweaks like a boot animation instead of text mode verbose boot, and things that most distributions such as Ubuntu or Fedora have off the rip, you have to add on yourself. This isn't entirely a bad thing though, as at the end if you're left with what you need and at most very little of what you don't. Keep going through the motions, one application at a time, pulling from the standard pacman repos, AUR, and Flatpak, and eventually you'll have a full fledged desktop with all your usual odds and ends.

And at the end of all of that, what you're left with is any other Linux distro. I admit previously I wrote Arch off as super unstable and only for the diehard masochists after my last attempt at running Arch when I was a teenager went sideways, but daily driving it on my personal Dell Latitude for the last few months has legitimately been far better than any recent experiences I've had with Ubuntu now. I get it. I get why people use this, why people daily drive this on their work or gaming machines, why people swear off other distros in favor of Arch as their go to Linux distribution. It is only what you want it to be. That said, I will not be switching to Arch any time soon on mission critical systems or devices that will have a high run time with very specific purposes in mind, things like servers or my Raspberry Pi's will get some flavor of RHEL or Debian stable still, and since Arch is one of the most bleeding edge distros, I know my chance of breakage is non zero. But so far the seas have been smooth sailing, and I hope to daily this for many more months to come.

#linux #arch linux #foss #linux distros #unix #unixporn #gnome #gnome desktop #wayland

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littlemisssquiggles · 4 months

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LittleMissSquiggles’ Summary of Art 2023

Honestly folks, I don't got much to say about this year. This might just be my shortest art summary to date since I don't have much to comment on this year's events.

2023 was a general mix of highs and lows but overall, not a bad year. You could say that this was the year I was more work-oriented.

I focused more on work especially during the early half of this year, between January and July and therefore didn't spend much time on personal projects; specifically 3D. That being said, I did end up getting back up to my art. Since I've been more focused on 3D for the past two years, I chose this year to get back into my 2D art doing illustrative work since I missed it.

More than that, I took this year to spend some well needed time improving my drawing skills, using tools and techniques from my 3D workflow in an attempt to improve my illustrative work and needless to say, I think it worked out great, even if the end results wasn't much.

---

Some squiggly good accomplishments I achieved in 2023:

Started the year employed and while I had to juggle two job opportunities which had its fair share of ups and downs in more ways than one, at least it allowed me the chance to earn the funds I needed to obtain my new workstation: a Lenovo Ideacentre 5 Gaming PC.

Learned about the almighty power of networking and remote desktops thanks to my contract job which allowed to me to transform my current setup into one that fully connects and maximizes the full use of all the devises in my arsenal. Basically I figured out how to connect my previous laptop to my new PC so now I work with a setup where my laptop acts as a third monitor for my PC while I'm able to access all my files from my laptop from my PC. Ontop of that, I also learnt how to connect my PC to my Ipad Mini, not just for transferring files for art but for also using it as a proxy computer device to remote into my main PC workstation. This may not seem like a big deal to most but for someone who didn't know a thing about most of this stuff up until this year, it makes a huge difference to this squiggle meister.

Gained a new four-legged member to the squiggle meister family household. A playfully mischievous yet adorable Husky-mix pup fittingly named Alaska or the "Wee Las" as I like to call her.

Experimented a lot with my art this year and while I may not have shared all of the fruits of my labour to social media, I have been making quite a few strides. ---- I spent the last couple of years pushing my social media presence and while I have benefitted from it from time to time, I missed out on just taking some time to myself; getting back to indulging in other activities that brought me joy; particularly the ones that involve truly honing my craft.

I hope to maintain this type of vibe moving forward towards the new year.

Even if my social media activity won't be as frequent as previous years, I do hope that those who have been following and supporting me and my work over years still continue to do so, even if it's to simply just check in from time to time.

To conclude my post, as always, I'm wishing everyone all the very, very best in their respective lives and daily endevours for the upcoming new year.

Let see what we got in store for 2024! Happy New Year folks!

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♦ PREVIOUS ART SUMMARIES ♦

2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

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LittleMissSquiggles (2023)

#art of littlemisssquiggles #art summary #art summery 2023 #artists of tumblr #onward to 2024

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boxwinebaddie · 3 months

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yoooo so Ive read that one post about how you work with kids and I was like "omg literally same !" and I was wanting to lyk that even though some kids can be little shits, a lot of the time if youre patient with them, joke with them and, heres a big one, talk to them like theyre friends and not just kids theyll treat you wayyy better. I also know you said you work with first to second graders(at least Im pretty sure you said that) and I work with fourth to fifth graders so there probably is a difference. I thought youd wanna know just in case you needed advice or anything. My question is how has that been going so far? Like are you enjoying it, regretting it, that typa stuff.

P.s. im not a really old guy who's a teacher sitting at my laptop, im in my last year of high school and Ive done a lot of volunteer work with kids in it. Hope youre doing amazing!!!<<333

hello, my dear!!! no, thank you so much for the advice -- tbh i have been Struggling lately...this job is stealing the light from my eyes.

( this is a long ass post that is probably too personal but i am honestly not vibing At All so i'm answering this honestly. you do not have to read this message, it is me bitching for several paras. :// </3 )

but i digress!

that is not to say that i dont love working with kids/teaching, but the particular job i work is not...totally within my wheelhouse and is not that fun for me...per say. also, as far as first and second graders go, 1, 2 and kinder are actually the grades that i want to work w/ the most! and are unfortunately the kids i get to work with...sigh...the Least.

my particular position deals mostly with middle school and high school students which is NOT!! what my teaching credential is in btw. so i am suffering, omg. please free uncle nina from high schooler hell.

i also took this job because i weenie hut jr'ed out of taking an Actual Teaching position at a school because i got really nervous ( bc kids in 1st grade have to read A LOT, like without context, they start at the begining of the year reading a level books and have to finish the year reading i level books WHICH IS A LOOOT OF LEVELS )

and that bc ur first year of teaching is the hardest year ( a lot of ppl drop out/quit ) i would fuck up bc idk what i'm doing yet and a bunch of kids would end up behind bc i didn't teach them how to read correctly. like, when i tell you that sitting here in the lounge typing that literally makes me want to cry like...that would Devastate me. :(((

but anyways, i am...trying to be chiller w/ the older kids. bc i came out the gate being Strict ( because no jokes, every other school i worked out the kids had to be HELLA quiet like they could not talk or be rowdy ) but i guess…the school i'm working at is not like that? and a lot of my coworkers...don't press the kids that hard? WHICH!!!

OKAY FUN FACT NO ONE TRAINED ME HAHA!!! they just dropped me in the middle of this goddamn school and were like good luck! so no one gave me insight onto the kids, where the classes were or how they were interacting with them...so...HSLDLSKH SIIIIIGH.

this...job.

like i said though, i'm trying to chill more with the kids because HOOOOOLY SHIT SOME OF THEM ARE SO MEAN!!!! WHAT THE FUCK OHHHH MY GOD!!!! when i tell you i saw 17 boys on their phones, walked past them 3 times and only took ONE PHONE???? BECAUSE ITS LITERALLY MY FUCKING JOB????? and all 17 boys like twice as tall as me heckled the SHIT out of me??? :'((((

like made fun of my dye job and Everything abt me??? </3 for taking One Cellphone that a kid wasnt supposed to be on Bc If I Didn't I Would Get In Trouble that the kid could have probably just begged to get back and would be gotten back immediately?!!! thats how UNSERIOUS they are about bustin the kids at this school!!

WISH SOME1 WLD HAVE TOLD ME THAT! LOL THX!!!!!

but like it was sooooo....it made me so stressed out and it was so awful, i also had really gnarly experiences w/ bullying in high school and middle school, so being back in it is honestly kinda triggering? needless to say, i did spend the rest of that period crying in the teachers lounge like it seriously sucked; i was rlly embarrassed. :c

that's so fun ur working a lot with 4th/5th though! i student taught in 5th this time last year and it was sometimes hard ( i am so stupid like i can only teach k-2, i'm too dumb to do any math harder than that ) academically and socially but i had a lot of fun!

when i wasn't dying!

i am not dying as much rn as i was doing that, but it was certainly more rewarding? like tbh this position is basically me being a human punching bag for middle and upper kids all day long and is really kind of...demeaning? which is annoying bc ( not to be like that ) but bc i literally have my teaching credential i could Be A Teacher In An Actual Elementary School Class, but bc i took this job/chickened out...

i am doing this lowk whack job that i'm both underqualified and overqualified to run. i Do get to work with the littles very early in the day & in the evening and thats...worth getting my shit kicked in by 14 year olds all day long. truly love the k-2 kids; its my happy place.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THOUGH!!! this is unprofessional, obvi, hopefully will not bite me in the ass later but at thiiis point? idk. respectfully fuck this job lol. i am so tired every single day and there are only brief moments of sunshine. i would not wish this on anyone.

high school boys stop being mean to me challenge! very whack! however, elementary school children! you are so lovely!!! i had a girl make me a little origami flower and give it to me <3 like okay little pep stan! i see you! there is like a kgarten boy who gives me a hug every day, a girl whose shoes i tie every morning -- all of them remember my name which is more than aaaaa lot of the older kids will do for me.

( which!!! they're just kids you know!! its not their fault that they're being a lot!!! their brains are still forming and u know!! i was in mid/hs and it does suck and its hard and stressful! i am not really even mad at them its just...unfortunate. it's also not an age level that i rlly connect w/also discipling them or...not ig idk, is not really something i'm passionate about...like man i just want to sing the fucking calendar song and clap call and response and count on my fingers again. ;-; )

i'm sure as the semester goes by i'll feel better but right now, i am having a pretty rough time and wish i just bit the bullet and started teaching because this is seriiiiiously humilitating, fml. <///3

-uncle nina who is really bad at my job ig? lol i hate this

p.s. this isn't even really a request because every single one of you is kind and wonderful to me, but idk if i seem stressed or it's annoying that my asks are building up/i'm not updating my fics, know its bc i am here from like 6am until like 4:30pm, get my shit rocked, and then go home and sleep for like three hours and repeat every day. just b gentle w/ me if u can; i'm Very Depressed. :(

p.s.s. also unfortunately i cannot take a different job; i signed a contract that keeps me here until june, so i gotta tough it, smh.

#i'm sorry this is probably too personal and upsetting #ALSO SOMEONE STOLE MY FUCKING MUG #W MY COLLEGE LOGO ON IT AND MY UNDERGRAD DEPARTMENT LIKE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING #no but seriously no one checks these kids and i did it one time and every single one gutted me it was seriously brutal #a bunch of the other adults were like oof yeah ur braver than me like HELLO??? DO UR FUCKING JOB MAYB? IM SOOOOO #and like it gives me no joy to take a phone that was the first one i ever took and i was sick to my goddamn stomach :(((#not enjoying this job where i have to terrorize the kids and they terrorize me back its v whack im legit scared 2 do my job #i do have a lot of kids that do what they need to and are kind to me so i appreciate them a lot #and i think that respect is gathering for the other kids but when i say no one trained me or gave me any perspective #AND STOLE MY FUCKING MUG LIKE PLEAAASE CHOKE #it is nice working w the tiny people later in the day tho im love them so bad theyre so cute like i love u my lil people #i seriously should have just taken a k-2 job i really just got nervous and its BECAUSE I CARE NOT BC I DONT which UGGGGH #but yeah lol i am crying i'm sorry if this was too personal or is too whiny but thank u for asking this was building inside me #put uncle nina back in elementary school challenge FAILED SEVERELY middle and hs is so unchill i am sooo tired :(((#fml i'm gonna cry again

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seerofmike · 1 year

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something im starting this year is a very self-indulgent, "my year in review" thing where i list 7 video games i enjoyed this year + 7 movies from this year that i liked because as time goes on i feel like i'm getting worse and worse at determining what i did and when i did them so this is basically just a place for me to journal the things i enjoyed this year for future reference.

all the movies are 2022 releases but since i'm hardly ever on top of current video game releases. my games list is gonna be all over the place. im mixing them up. feel free to read if you want yippee it's meant for me but since its being posted publicly ill write em all up as little recommendations. going in no particular order other than alphabetical and alternating between a movie and a video game i liked this year. also why 7 of each ? because 7 is my favorite number fuck you

The Batman

-hmmm. thoughts. congratulations to our second gay batman, robert pattinson. ok this is only half a joke. i love the riddler being a twitch streamer terrorist i like when media modernizes older characters it's funny. gotham truly felt like a shithole in this movie. soundtrack fucked. can't fight city halloween was on my spotify 100 wrapped

Inscryption (2021)

-i fucking suck at this game, i still have not beaten the trapper and as i understand theres like 2 whole other parts of the game to go or something??? so no i have not beaten it yet. but i have also sunk an unholy amount of time TRYING to beat it and i didn't get sick of it. it's a very dark but very entertaining card game and it has a free demo. even if you don't like card builder games i think you should try. it has a very unique atmosphere and premise

Bullet Train

-yes i liked the cringe brad pitt action movie. fun fact this was actually specifically tailor-made for me in a factory! it has a large cast of assholes trying to kill each other and it's funny and wacky and i love the directing. that sounds so fucking nerdy to say but i want to be a film director so im gonna say it. the directing of the action sequences especially was really impressive to me because there's only so much space/movement your camera can (believably) achieve when filming in a small, rectangular, ever-moving box like a train and i think mr david leitch did it very well. also tangerine and lemon funniest characters in an action comedy ever

Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk (2020)

-i kind of don't want to say much about this on the off chance someone reads this and also decides to play a game on this list but. listen. play it. it's like a dollar. it's very short, it's about a girl dealing with mental illness, and that's all i'll say about it.

Glass Onion

-mr benoit blanc u are so fruity. but ohg this was fun. it was fun! and it was especially more fun to rewatch it and see all that i missed and the small moments that they weren't really trying to hide from you. i enjoy the concept of being gaslit by a movie. also janelle monae is always so fun to see act

Paradise Killer (2020)

-honestly, there is so much i hate about this game. the sprites are awkward. the voice acting is bad. the platforming is abysmal. yet it's still here because i think its world is genuinely insane and unique and it knows the exact type of vibe its going for with all these terrible people in a vaporwave reality and it achieves it and also its a murder mystery and i like those. give it a try

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

-yeah we all know her pussy slaps. there really isn't anything new for me to add. it's funny. it's got good action. michelle yeoh best actress award NOW!!!!!

Pathologic Classic HD (2015)

-yea this one is kinda cheating. i started it last year and got like 2 hours into it and gave up and then did a bunch of other things but i finally figured out how to get my controller hooked up to my laptop this year and i played it. 100%'d it. its proudly displayed on my steam profile.

look at that. awful. horrible terrible plague walking simulator 0/10 am playing again

Nope

-i love jordan peele. i love keke palmer. i love daniel kaluuya. this movie was made FOR MEEEEEEE it was very slow and tense and i know a lot of people complained about the slow pace of it but the build-up made (SPOILER) reveal all the more terrifying. speaking of terrifying, the scene where everyone (SPOILER) is the scariest thing ive seen in years and i think i have claustrophobia now :) also akira homage <3

A Short Hike (2019)

-this one was soso cute and relaxing :) it was very funny and had a cute artstyle and i beat it in like 1 hour. not a very big commitment but its charming enough to want to come back to

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

-ummm. so. puss in boots??? that shit slapped????????? it had NO reason to be that good. like obviously the animation has been spiderverse'd which SLAPS but the they put their whole puss(y) into this movie and they didn't have to. it's good. all the characters were SO fun, literally all of them. i love the stupid little dog. he is my scrimblo. go check it out if you haven't it is NOT the soulless cash grab i thought it would be

Slime Rancher (2017)

-so like, conceptually, this game is weird as fuck. a first person shooter where you suck up little jellies and feed them and harvest their poop. its insane. its also very relaxing but also very ...management-y, like the way stardew valley is where its technically very relaxing but you are doing SO much to maximize ur profit for the day. i love that shit. look at those things. theyre adorable

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

-ohg. knumckles

SOMA (2015)

-ok so i don't actually get scared that often BUT here is a mike secret. ocean shit SCARES me i do not like anything set under the ocean and the fact that this game takes place underwater freaks me the fuck out. i dropped my 3 hour save file to switch to little baby for bitches mode after 3 hours not because the monsters themselves are scary but because emotionally i cannot handle monsters on top of a deep sea setting. also the story was really good you should play it

#mike 2022 year in review

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unpretty · 2 years

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Can you recommend a good ebook reader for pc and android? I'm bedridden and bored out of my skull most of the time and recently decided to get a digital library card, but I don't actually do much reading outside of ao3 and you seem pretty knowledgeable on book stuff, and it would be cool to have something where I could maybe swap between reading from my laptop in bed to reading from my phone while I'm at my doctor, and be able to pick up where I left off, if possible. If not, still anything easy to use on my computer and phone would be great!

libby works great for library cards! you install the libby app on your phone, and while there are apps for your computer, i usually just log in to libbyapp.com. it automatically syncs your location between all your devices. it works with any library that uses Overdrive for ebooks and audiobooks (which in the USA afaik is most of them)

if you want to use your own epubs, the easiest way (as in, doesn't involve calibre and calibre companion and cloud storage etc etc) is to go to play.google.com/books and upload the epub there, then you can read it in the browser or on your phone in the google play books app and it will all sync up. however if you hate google that could be a problem.

here's my referral link for a two month free trial of scribd: https://www.scribd.com/g/200fnv just like the others, you can read in a browser or a mobile app, and there are SO MANY BOOKS (just note that audiobooks aren't actually unlimited, i've hit the monthly cap a few times)

kobo.com has mobile and desktop apps, i haven't used it much but i assume it should sync pretty well. however that's going to be all books you've purchased, and its primary advantage as far as i can tell is not being amazon. i've heard their e-readers are pretty good.

if you aren't morally opposed, kindle apps are basically all about syncing. i have an old version of the kindle app on my computer so that i can crack the drm on all my books, but you can also just use read.amazon.com to read all your kindle books in a browser (i do this at work). and, honestly, no one else as far as i can tell has matched whispersync functionality when it comes to syncing your reading location between an ebook and an audiobook. i have LOOKED. i would LOVE an alternative to whispersync. i don't have many kindle books with matched audiobooks (sometimes i find deals using matchmaker) but when i had a kindle unlimited trial being able to seamlessly switch between reading the text and listening to the audiobook was so fucking nice. i know amazon sucks and i know the library is better (and i DO use the library as well as buying, so many goddamn books) but a lot of self-pub authors distribute exclusively through kindle unlimited and i'm not going to pretend it doesn't bring useful functionality to the table.

if anyone else is weak for free trials i want bezos money so here's an affiliate link for a kindle unlimited trial: https://amzn.to/39g7ehd

but using your local library card with libby is obviously cheaper and better long-term, and you can get a lot out of the scribd free trial if you're reading a lot

#original #affiliate links jsyk #god i hadn't looked at the amazon affiliates page in a while #if i were smart i'd put amazon prime free trial links every goddamn where #they pay three bucks a pop on those #... but the free month of scribd i get when someone signs up is worth more to me lmfao #*kicks 2000 unread ebooks under the bed*

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boysbellyrubs · 2 years

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hello! could you write your male character of your choosing got sick on the way home after he decide to go home because he felt sick (from school/work/event) then he called caretaker to help him went home? thank you 😊

an amazing prompt anon, thank you so much lol. incorporated something I wanted to do myself hehe

this story hits a little close to home, me and Lincoln suffering with the curse of chronic headaches. however, I very much like this fic, I hope ya'll do too :)

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Lincoln knew today was going to be bad when he felt the early signs of a migraine as soon as he opened his eyes. Prone to getting headaches, he brushed it off and continued with his day. He had an important lab to go to and he really didn’t want to miss it, so he ate breakfast, drank an entire bottle of water and had two paracetamol.

In all fairness, it probably didn’t help in the long run. Migraines could never be quelled no matter how hard he tried.

But, he powered on and found his way to his lab at exactly 2pm and sat in his usual spot at the back of the class. The overhead lights did not help at all, the pounding in his head seemed to triple as soon as the tutor came in with her squeaky, enthusiastic voice.

Only 3 more hours to go.

He resigned himself to listen and not move his eyes. It seemed to help, instead of glancing up and down from his lab notes he kept his head firmly in place. He almost felt like falling asleep. The first ten minutes were just listening to what they were going to do today, and it was also the time where Lincoln questioned why the fuck he chose biology as his major.

When the practical side came, he stalled moving for a good minute. Thankfully, in second year they sat on individual tables and worked on their own experiments so he could be as slow as he liked. He knew his headache would get worse, there was no denying it, especially when the full bottle of water sloshed dangerously inside him.

Getting started, he slowly got his station ready and began the experiment. Honestly, it could have been worse. He was just thankful that they weren’t dissecting anything today. He got through his work without issue, the tutor came over once to make sure he was doing it correctly, and he couldn’t wait to sit down and write up his results.

Normally, he would have fucking hated that, but all he wanted was to sit and stop the room spinning so much. When he finally did sit, the magnitude of his headache caught up to him. All that moving and working had his mind occupied, but now that he sat he realised he had been frowning the whole time and worsened his headache unintentionally.

He stifled a groan, instead putting his hand on his head and squeezing. Normally that helped, but he was a lost cause it seemed as all it did was make the pain worse. He blew out a breath, why today of all days did this have to happen.

He ignored the pain and got to writing. He was glad that he didn’t have to use his laptop, he didn’t think he would have been able to handle that. The lights were bad enough, he swore he could hear the fucking LEDs sizzling away in their little casings, making his day ten times worse.

Cursing at Thomas Edison, he got through the slog of writing. The final sentence, he felt his hand shaking and his stomach beginning to swirl. The migraine was ripping its way through his skull, filling every crack and causing pain to spill out his eyes. He rubbed them aggressively, and kept his hand locked on his face, relishing in the darkness.

With no other external factors, the pain amplified. He didn’t want to look up, or walk home, or even get up from his seat. No matter how many times he would get a headache, he never had any way to deal with the pain even a little.

With a sigh, he dragged his hand heavily down his face and looked at the clock. 20 minutes. He didn’t even know how he had done 2 and a half hours already, but he was thankful. All he needed to do was clean up and hand in his work. Shouldn’t be too bad.

Although, when he stood, the room spun once again and he quickly grabbed on to his desk. Trickles of searing pain rippled through his eyes, forehead, and neck. His stomach churned, angrily grumbled once and he suddenly felt how sick he actually was. How in the world he was going to get home was beyond him.

“Hey, are you alright?” Great, now everyone was probably looking at him. He tried to open his eyes and raise his head, but he couldn’t. Stumbling backwards, he thankfully collapsed into his chair and let the world reset.

Two strong hands landed on his shoulders, “Young man, are you okay?” Now that he was sitting, he could decipher whose voice it was and his tutor came to mind.

“Migraine.” His voice was croaky and shaky. God, he hoped there was no one looking. He just wanted to go home.

Her hands kept him grounded. He opened his eyes slightly, and her face melted with relief, “Alright. How about you get yourself home and get some rest. I’ll clean up here.” She smiled and he didn’t hate her as much anymore. He nodded and pushed himself up so slowly he felt elderly.

He somehow managed to make his way to his locker outside, collect his phone, jacket and bag and exit the building. He wished he had brought sunglasses or something, he could barely see. He knew his way home, but he was really debating calling Caine to come get him. He was the one with the licence.

He tried to at least get to a spot where Caine could get him, but even that was awful. The migraine was rendering him absolutely deaf and blind, and the swirling of his thoughts combined with the swirling of his stomach acids was making him weak. He felt light as a feather yet heavy as a fucking boulder. The spikes of pain felt like knives digging into his temples, and his eye sockets ached and he wondered if ripping his eyes out would hurt less than this.

He tried putting one foot in front of the other, feeling drunk and trying to walk in a straight line for a cop. Lincoln shielded his eyes and looked up. The path looked like it did when it was 30 degrees, mirages coloured his vision. He frowned, this had never happened before.

Standing still was his downfall. The world tilted sharply and he fell to one side, he didn’t fall but he did come dangerously close to face planting into a lightpost. His stomach sloshed as he stumbled and he groaned, one hand coming to cradle his head and stomach.

The more he stood there, the worse he felt. His condition just got worse and worse until he turned to lean on the pole, sighing as he turned away from the sun. He took zero notice of the people around him, this was the worst migraine he had ever had. He clutched his head, shut his eyes and groaned.

The pressure however, sent up huge waves of nausea. His belly gurgled and he stopped every movement. No way was he going to throw up in public. Business men will be leaving work at this hour, university students will be going home, after school sports would be wrapping up. Overall, he was going to be seen by anyone and everyone.

Pressure built in his head, like it was coming over a mountain. It reached the peak and as it went down, it brought nausea and everything he had eaten that day in one foul swoop.

His stomach was gurgling, he had his hand clasped tightly over his mouth and he was gagging with every breath. His lips stayed tightly sealed. His stomach was making the same noises as when you shook a hot water bottle, squelching and tossing, and he was losing the battle. His mouth opened slightly and a gross sounding heave left his mouth before he quickly slapped both hands over it to stop the inevitable.

His belly churned once more brutally and he couldn’t hold it back. He heard the rumbling of vomit gurgle up his oesophagus and he burped up a wave of thick puke that splattered the footpath. He doubled over, hands now dripping with sick and heaved up another round. His head swam, the migraine coming back in full force and he stumbled over to the grass.

Collapsing on to his knees, no longer caring about anyone around him and spat the saliva dangling from his lips. He groaned once, tried to breathe but was interrupted with yet another strong gag, gurgling and ripping up his throat and chunks of his undigested lunch fell to the ground. He wiped his soiled hands on the grass, and clutched his head.

The sunlight killed, the spots dancing in front of his eyes were making him panic, and the pounding of his heartbeat beating in his ears in time with the pain of headache was unbearable. He needed to call Caine. He burped again, this one not bringing up any vomit and his stomach sent out one last gurgle before the nausea dissipated. He sighed, sniffled and sat back on his heels.

What a fucking ordeal that was.

His bag was hanging off his shoulder so he grabbed his phone from the side pocket. With shaky hands, he scrolled to Caine’s contact. Sniffling once, cleared his throat and cradled his still pounding head.

“Yo! Where are you dude?” Caine’s voice was so fucking loud.

He winced, “Migraine. Can you come get me?” He knew he didn’t sound very coherent, but the pain was too much.

“Oh, shit. Where are you, man?” Lincoln heard the clink of his car keys in the background.

Lincoln realised he had no idea where he was. He avoided looking at his vomit and tried to take in his surroundings. There were people, but none even glanced in his direction. Glad to know people will help others in need.

By some miracle, he realised he was near the library. Hopefully Caine could find him with that small amount of knowledge. Telling Caine in a small voice, he hung up the phone and sagged into himself. The pain was excruciating, but at least his stomach was better. Always, once he threw up from a migraine, he would be able to sleep.

He waited on the grass, not caring what he looked like and heard rather than saw Caine’s car pull up next to him. He was too busy counting the blades of grass to distract himself to notice.

For a second time that day, hands gripped his shoulders and helped him up. Caine said nothing about the vomit, or the fact he was still covered in it, and helped him into the car. Lincoln fell into his seat, shut his eyes, and let his exhaustion take him to sleep.

#headaches #migraine #stomach ache #vomiting #emeto #emetophilia #Lincoln #Caine #sickfic #nausea

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