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#this was a good reminder for me to register and vote actually
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Hey guys, so I know a lot of people are freaking out about Project 2025 (and rightfully so) but I want us all to take this as a call to action, rather than a defeating hopelessness.
Look, I know that “vote” isn’t going to magically fix everything, but in this case, it can seriously help. When you see the goals of Project 2025, I want that to serve you a reminder to GET OUT AND VOTE. VOTE in the presidential election. VOTE for your senators and house representatives. VOTE for your mayors. VOTE for your school board. VOTE for people who are in favor of trans rights. VOTE for people who are anti-censorship. VOTE for people who support access to abortion. VOTE for your own best interests. Vote for America.
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sidecar-shaman · 1 year
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MASSIVE OUTER WILDS SPOILERS AHEAD
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Please do not click this if you haven’t completed the whole game yet
Ok, just us who beat the game now? Good.
I saw the start of a video game soundtrack tournament poll featuring Outer Wilds vs Sayonara Wild Hearts and it reminded me of a detail from the OW soundtrack that I haven’t seen anyone else mention. But before I get to that, I want to point out that I was hesitant to vote in this poll. 
For some reason, the OW soundtrack doesn’t really come to mind when I think of good soundtracks. My first thought if someone asks what my favorite video game soundtrack is would be probably either Celeste or Hotline Miami, both great in their own right, but they both function fundamentally differently from the music in Outer Wilds. Those, and many others, follow the simple function of being background music to set the mood for each level. If you took them away, each game may feel a little more hollow, but would still play pretty much the same.
What struck me about Outer Wilds’ soundtrack is how much the songs are baked into the gameplay. Travelers is played by all the Hearthian astronauts themselves, End Times signals that the sun is about to go supernova (and in my headcanon is the actual signal being sent back in time to launch the probe cannon), Final Voyage fades in to tell you that the time loop is over and you need to Get Your Ass To The Vessel Now, and the songs for Timber Hearth/flying in space/the Sun Station/inside Ash Twin Project/etc. fit so well with the vibe of each area that they just felt like background noise that each place had naturally drifting around. 
Hell, the game ends with a song. Music is so fully immersed in the experience that I didn’t even register it as separate from gameplay. So for that reason it doesn’t come to mind when I think of my favorite soundtracks. Because I don’t think of it as a soundtrack. I think of it as ambience, a trail to follow, worldbuilding and a warning to fucking gun it. 
Which brings me to my little detail. When everyone is gathered around the campfire at the end of the game, and everyone plays their part in Travelers, you are of course also joined by Solanum (and The Prisoner if you completed Echoes). Solanum’s part is new to the song you have been hearing during you journey, as she points out herself: “This song is new to me, but I am glad to be a part of it”. 
But what I noticed is that while everyone else is playing either long whole note chords or simple eighth note rhythms, Solanum is the only one playing with syncopation. 
A traveler from beyond the stars, beyond time, an explorer like the rest of us, eager to join in and play a song with us simple but curious Hearthians, can’t help but add her own flair. Add in rhythms that would likely be foreign to the Hearthians. 
And the song is so much better for it. 
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hey y'all, that guy who reminded y'all about the primaries back in like november back with another one! I didn't actually know the primaries vary in date from state to state, so keep that in mind!! south carolina just had theirs today, I hope their turnout was good and we'll see some different than new hampshire results. next up is nevada on the 6th (feb), then michigan on the 27th (feb).
march 5th is still the big bulk of the states, including the one I'm in, but if you're not voting on super tuesday, still keep an eye out! you're voting in the next coming few weeks or months!! look up when your state's voting in the primaries, and make sure you're registered with your current address, especially if you moved recently (this one got me last time), just turned 18, or will be turning 18 by the time of your primary!!!
make your voices heard everybody!!!! let's not put another genocidal maniac into power if we still have a say in things!!!!
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Bonus review: Migration! The episode where Luka knowing the identities is finally acknowledged in the most disappointing way possible.
We start the episode with my SO being shocked that Luka knows. In his defense, Wishmaker aired over a year ago and Luka's knowledge has been ignored since then, so I can't exactly blame a casual viewer for forgetting. So it's seriously a good thing that the episode spends so much time reminding us that he knows.
SO was excited to see where this went and then very unexcited when it led to Luka being voted off the island and nothing else. But, hey, at least someone knowing the identities actually led to consequences! It won't happen again, but this was a brief moment of narrative competence where they gave real weight to the "identities have to stay secret" BS that they've been undermining since Queen Bee and straight up butchering since Gang of Secrets.
If people kept having to leave Paris like this, then the lack of a Love Square reveal would feel logical. Especially because, in theory, Marinette is right about it being risky. Doubly so since they don't know that they know each other, so they think that they'll have to make up a story about how they met and such.
SO called bullshit on Anarka letting Kitty Section sign Bob Roth's contract and, yeah, did anyone buy that she'd allow that? Come on, let there be at least one competent parent on this show! Also, Luka's a bit of a pushover, but he's not stupid. I don't buy him telling the gang to sign those papers. (Also, can minors even sign a contract like that in France? I'd assume parents would need to be involved.)
It was at this point that Bob Roth' name registered with my SO. He paused the episode to go: "Wait, isn't that the painting guy?" Which, yes, the names are super similar and hard to differentiate when you hear them. Bob Ross is who most people would think of. Not sure if that's as true in France, but we changed Noel to Chris for localization! Why not this one, too?
(I know he's named after someone on the production team, but still. I would have chosen another name.)
The real standout moment of the episode? The duck getting hit with Bob Roth's magical golden record. Not because it was a particularly funny moment, but because it meant that I got to introduce the SO to Disco Duck! Yes, this is a real, serious song. It hit the top 10 in multiple countries. The 70's were a wild time.
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SO countered with this thing, which pales in comparison to the glory of disco duck, imo, but feel free to tell me if you disagree
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(I'm not going to post reviews for every episode, only the ones where I have something funny to say or a criticism that I haven't seen before. Originally, I skipped Migration, but someone asked about it and I realized that I did have some funny stuff to add in retrospect. Everyone deserves to experience Disco Duck at least once)
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vyvesvi · 5 months
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(copying this over from my twitter)
pd101 japan s3 mdh steal list + where i want various trainees to go
yoshida hana would do well at starship
yamazaki mitsuki will probably quit music but in my head she could be in a ninemuses-esque group with ando chiharu, koyama mana, tanaka yuuki
i follow a talent scout/trainer who's actively trying to get moro anon a kpop job so
motohashi meika mdh steal list first inductee
i dont care for mizukami rimika. she should start a yt channel if she hasn't already
matsushita miyu isn't for me but maybe she could join the ninemuses reup
fujimoto ayaka was well-liked enough to have a future somewhere. idk where, but somewhere
hatta mena has some issues but i do think she can still debut somewhere
i have no idea where nakano kokona can go but that's baby sister so i want good things for her. maybe the chanmina show? that's the only japanese survival show in the works that i can think of, plus she suits the vibe
i was convinced that takahashi hina and abe nagomi were gonna be 12 & 13 and be frontrunners for the lapone spin off group but they usually dont bother with people who don't make the finale...my non fact based opinion is that a group with these two and a couple others who were eliminated would still do better than a group of the finalists. as it stands, hina should try for the next korean season of pd101, and nagomi will have a future in jpop, even though the idea of splitting them hurts my head.
i loved takagi mayu but her brief foray into the entertainment world is over i fear
sutani yurara would probably hate it conceptually but im zapping her with my ninemuses ray. sorry.
i don't know what to do with sasaki tsukushi but she needs a win and bad. chanmina show? if keiko and rinon weren't fighting for top 11 id say debut them as a trio, i enjoyed their team's balance on bijin a lot
saito serina...i really like her but idk what to do with her. she has great idol potential and fits kbeauty standards more than jpop standards...maybe the next korean season of produce? she's like 45% mdh steal list but that's my bias talking
kano kurihara ninemuses beam
i kind of love kitazume sakura, she's cute but extremely intense & she tries to hide it by simply not saying anything but it still shines through. i think she's great. produce 101 korea just to see, she shouts instead of sings but honestly she gives izone
kikukawa aki...she's fun but she gives flop group, like majors or something tbh
no idea how nogizaka works but kawabata ranka should aim for something like that
kamio ayano reminds me so much of zhang zining it's crazy. if she had a storyline i think she would've debuted but she just never caught on. she would be a great gg member but im not sure where
oda aruha my beloved disappointment. if she had held on a lil longer she couldnt made lapone trainee status but alas. i could see her just working in dance moving forward
okabe nana could be scouted by someone, maybe akb idk
uchiyama rin might not have a future in music but it's kind of a shame since she has such a nice lower register
ando yui my little sister...idk what to do with her so im gonna blindly put her in mdh jpn ngg and say it makes sense because having 2 yui's would be cute
aramaki joa's push was too obvious and she paid the price, but there's no way she's not being kept on as a lapone trainee or getting offers, finals or not. i actually think her vibe sort of suits tripleS although im not expecting anyone from this show to join
i quite liked akiyama ema, something about her reminded me of jihyo but she never fully caught the audience's attention so unfortunately she might just dance from here on out
to be very real i hope suzu fans dont panic vote her into the top 11. she definitely has a future at lapone.
honestly some company is gonna take half the finalists and throw them in a group together regardless of fit so given they dont make top 11 but disregarding that...
sorry i want shizuku to go back to opera
momoka should go on chanmina's show and then transition into an iri copy, she'd actually do sooooo well with that but if she wants a gg...my ninemuses team is only at 7 rn
haruka will get an offer somewhere
koto & rio lapone, kagura too but i want her for the gg im building in my head
in sum:
discount nine muses: yamazaki mitsuki, ando chiharu, koyama mana, tanaka yuuki, sutani yurara, kurihara kano, kamio ayano, kenmotsu nano, kato kagura
mdh: motohashi meika
sorta mdh but not really: saito serina, ando yui, aramaki joa
final top 11 in my brain: momona, miu, rinon, ran ayane, tsuzumi, kokona, kokoro, rin, keiko, and rino (im delusional)
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hydralisk98 · 10 months
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Pseudo-historical project about 1912 unit record equipment computation aka the "Symbolic Analyst Processor" full stack!
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(above pictures emulate the looks of what this tech stack documentation and actual use may look like, still very early in the process though)
It is still coming together by my head as I write infodump notes and research various aspects of the whole time, (including the WIMP & MERN/MEAN stack) but yk, things are coming together nicely to give some milestone project mid-way between my current phase in life and the next where I go develop a fully alternative INTJ lively stack of tools. Explanations, history dives, lively reaction studies and a couple more content suggestions related to it are on the way.
Behold, the infodumps
"Top-bottom and back up workflow" 1910 / 1912 Unit Record Equipment Tabulator Computation "Bundle" Project (Pflaumen & Utalics' SymbolicAnalystProcessor)
Information Processing Language / LISP 1.5 / Bel, A-BASIC / DIBOL, Spreadsheets, Cellular Automaton, COS-310, magnetic tape storage too, TECO / VIM, Assembly, Wirebox, Tabulator, Alphanumeric Interpreter, Printer, RTTY device, Data Recording, Bulk Data Processing Indexed Cards, 60-64 entries Deque, 4K Direct-use RAM, 12K * 24 storage devices, Phonebook, Timeclock, DateTime Calendar, Programmable, Statistics, Demographics, Voting, Ledger, Journal, Logging, Rolodex, 12 Generic-use Registers & 4 Special Registers, Catalog, ~16 Keys Pad, Customized Hexadecimal Numeric Representation for "MachineCode" Hexdumps, 4*12 bits per page of data, Macros, Paracosm, may be useful for Military & Civilian Uses, Electrical Energy (and possibly incorporates some mechanical energy too), Nouns & Verbs, "Vector" XY plotter, Lambda Calculus / Panini Grammar / Universal Turing Machine Thesis, Rotors, Ural TriodeVaccumTube "Mainframe", Interactive-Use, Hypertext Interactive Video Terminal, Memex, Modem, Electric + Radio Telegraphy, Document-processing, Word-processing, Orange Plasma Touchscreen Terminal, Time-sharing, Cash Register, Bank, Automatic Teller Machine, Vending Machine, Oracle, Typewriter / Selectric, IBM 701, IBM 1440, IBM 403, IBM System/360, OpenPOWER, F#, IBM Tellum, MUD, TextWorld, solo text-adventures, Email, AIX, z/OS, Linux for IBM mainframes, Symbolic Processing System, Autocoder, modular, IBM Lotus Suite, interface with KDE or CDE, paper handling equipment, Addventure, 12-bit basic data unit as designated word, Distributed Interactive System, VeneraFS (cladogram Parade+DolDoc), GNU Hurd / MINIX3-style Microkernel, either permissive FLOSS license or public domain waiver, extensive documentation, printed illustrated booklets, music-playback, emulator / compiler / bytecode / interpreter, analog media-friendly, mostly for didactic tinkering educational uses, multilingual reconfigurable programming, HTML+CSS, Markdown, Argdown, DMA, hardware-friendly, software development environment for direct-access programmers and aesthetic designers, sub-version control system like Git, various hardware & software implementations, museum / observatory Toymaker story, constructed languages / imaginative paracosm influences around the immersive in-world lore of the "16^12" pseudo-historical setting…
Back to the point
The list is far from exhaustive or finished, as life is so much more than meets the eye. But this should be a good start to remind myself what I am working towards, a full revamp of the last ~120 years of history with much attention and care put into making it as satisfying to me as possible, despite the very probable scenario where people take the ideas and incorporate only some of such "modules" in their own workflows. Which is fine but not taking the whole package (and only specific modules) is eventually gonna be a major learning experience for me considering the reason I revamp it all beyond control freak stuff is literally to provide less exclusive / less invasive tools that anyone can learn and customize despite being very... idiosyncratic yk.
Still welcoming suggestions and constructive criticism for such big time, I hope those textual infodumps I do every so often don't bother you too much... Cya soon!
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rotationalsymmetry · 2 years
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This election season I’m not waiting for the “a vote for a third party candidate is a vote for a Republican/if you don’t vote because you don’t like either major party candidate then you’re the problem and also clearly swimming in privilege (because there’s totally a correlation between being privileged and not voting)” thing to start up, I’m just going to preemptively unfollow anyone who posts anything GOTV-ish that rubs me even slightly the wrong way.
Ahem. Voting is a choice, and for the system to even halfway sort of kind of function it has to be. If Democrats cannot possibly lose votes on the left no matter what they do, but can lose votes in the center, they will inevitably drift right. The only way we can mitigate this is if there’s some penalty in the voting box if a Democrat is too fucking centrist for words. Moreover, there are tons of people who intend to vote Democrat but might not if not given a little bit of a push/reminder to register/ride to the polls/etc, so please focus on those. Like the people who are actually paid to get out the vote (or who even just volunteer a few hours of their time with the Democratic Party, rather than independently posting whatever makes them feel superior on social media) do, you know? I understand text banking is a big thing these days, and for people who like a bit of creativity there’s postcards.
There is, also, especially for national elections, a sense in which voting is…how do I phrase this? You know when you give a young child a choice of doing their math homework with the pencil with unicorns on it or the pencil with the spaceships on it in hopes that they won’t notice you’re not giving them a choice about the homework itself? Voting can be like that, a way to get people to feel like the state represents them, and if there’s an asshat in power it’s other people’s fault, so that they will follow the rules and not, idk, unscrew the middle bar on park benches with an Allen key so that homeless people can sleep there or whatever. Or lie on their resume. Or refuse to rely on the cops when something goes wrong. Or hire people for odd jobs without asking for their social security number and paying them under the table so they don’t have to pay taxes/report their earnings and possible lose their disability money/whatever. Or look the other way when they see someone shoplifting baby formula. Or pirate movies, whatever.
The state functions largely by getting people to believe that it is good and that following the rules is good, and elections (where we all get to pretend that a politician’s constituents are the people who voted for them, and not the institutions that funded the campaign) are part of that smokescreen.
You will notice the unicorn pencil/smokescreen interpretation is not actually incompatible with the results of the election having a great deal of importance on people’s lives. Indeed, it would be quite difficult to get people to buy into the concept if the election results didn’t matter.
There is power in deciding the system is not just and you are not morally obligated to play by its rules. There is power in saying “the decisions made by my government are not made with my consent and are enforced against my will.” There is power in saying “not my president” about every president.
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altr5312916195 · 4 years
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Highlights from Jack's Among Us stream with AOC and Ilhan
(specifically from Jack's stream I was not on AOC's)
You server muted a Congress woman?
You guys can call me AOC, Mike Pence cannot call me AOC
Corpse might join later *chat blows up*
AOC played pink with the plant top
You're in the wrong game, with other people. You need to leave the game. I mean unless you wanna slap them around a little
Vote Toast first
I'm a disco ball baby, everyone loves disco balls
Round One
AOC was first reporter on first game
Well no one's gonna kill AOC first right?
Myth tried to pin it on AOC her first round
Just AOC's laugh
Are you really gonna do this to me Ilhan?
AOC calling Ilhan her ride or die
AOC was imposter first round
Round 2
Poki mcfucked Jack in medbay
Myth's crying "No" when he found Jack dead
"The body.. I have a name Myth! It's Jasean!"
"Oh my God! Toast~"
"Hasan can you stop being such a little baby?"
"Hey Poki, that's called murder and it's illegal!"
AOC- "So can we get back to the game now?"
I can feel the sweat from Hasan all the way in Canada- Toast in ghost chat
Ilhan being incapable of imposter
Round 3
"I found Toast, but only the bottom half of Toast" Lupo
"You saw me on the right side, you don't know what you've been doing Hasan." Ilhan
"I'm not saying it's smart.." Hasan
"I give you permission, Charlie." Charlie proceeds to merk Jack
"Wait it's Ilhan? Really? What have we created?"
"She learned." Poki about Ilhan being imposter
Myth being genuinely enthused by Ilhan merking him
"Um.. Charlie do you have anything to say?" Maia
"Ladies and gentleman, she got him." Jack on Maia catching Charlie
AOC using her debate skills to get Charlie's ass out of there
"It has to be a professional, I don't think it's Ilhan." AOC says, the round Ilhan is another imposter
Ilhan merking Maia
Hasan having to chose between AOC and Ilhan being imposter
"I WILL NEVER TRUST AGAIN" Maia on Ilhan merking her
Ilhan getting four kills on her second time of imposter
Round Four
AOC changing to the flower for her hat
"You beautiful boy, you know my strats?" Charlie to Jack
Jack and Charlie being imposter
Toast nearly catching both Charlie and Jack merking Hasan
Ilhan still not muting herself
Toast and AOC stacking all the time
Jack feeling guilty about even thinking about killing Ilhan
"Toast are you marinating AOC?" Jack
"No AOC would be able to see through such deception." Toast
AOC blaming Ilhan in the middle
"Nah.. nah.." Ilhan to AOC
"I-i love you." Lupo
"No you don't you just want me dead!" Jack
"I can have both!" Lupo
"I'm extremely trustworthy how dare you?" Lupo
"Bye Jack!" AOC when he got voted off
AOC and Ilhan arguing about which one of them is imposter
Poki calling imposter a venter and both AOC and Ilhan being confused on what it is
Charlie merking Ilhan by the end
"I think everyone's a little afraid of killing the Congress women." Myth
Round Five
"Oh! Sweet Lord.." Myth
AOC struggling to say Spedicey
Ilhan giggling
Just Jack and Hasan's friendship the entire round
Lupo trying to pin Ilhan
Ilhan saying it's Lupo
"It's good enough for me!" Myth on Ilhan blaming Lupo
Ilhan still getting kicked
Lupo calling emergency and trying to kick AOC next
"Lupo's gonna get rocked and get arrested on call." Charlie
It actually was Ilhan and AOC
AOC admitting to being scared and making Ilhan do all the work
Round Six
Ilhan actually just sitting in a corner of elec
Ilhan giggling maniacally unmuted
Ilhan's kid making fun of her for playing slow
"What do you have to say about killing Myth in cold blood up there?" Charlie to AOC
"Me? No." AOC to Charlie on killing Myth
AOC pinning Ilhan for venting
"What??" Ilhan on venting
Round Seven now on Poki's stream
Charlie calling Jack his baby boy
Jack dropping out
Corpse joining and everyone getting excited
Ilhan still not muted
Isra, ValkyRae and H joining
"always vote." Corpse in his scary man voice
"Are you accusing CORPSE of killing and reporting the body?" Toast
Corpse giggling "It's Toast."
Corpse is now dead
Toast trying to get Ilhan to be on his side
Ilhan laughing at him
"It's Ilhan! We got it!" H
Everyone voting each other
"Toast is a bad man!" Lupo
"Once again democracy fails us!" H
"Why are we trusting my mom?" Isra
"I would never lie!" Ilhan
"You think it's your mom?" H
Toast merking Rae and Ilhan hesitating to report
Toast near clutching that
Round Eight
Corpse explaining his name origin "It's cause I'm dead inside."
"I think that's very fitting!" Rae
Gustoonz joining
Ilhan dropping as soon as Gus gets there
Him excitedly talking to her unknowing that she left
Poki calling Ilhan a sweety
Poki and Gus being imposter
Corpse reporting and instead of talking about it asked AOC how her day was
"Gus was standing there, eyeballs to the wall." Corpse
Gus calling Corpse Edgar Allen Poe
Poki dying because she and Hasan were fighting over one switch at the lights
Corpse's little "Hmm.."
Hasan calling it on Corpse over reactor and Poki happy giggling now that she wasn't sus
AOC blaming Isra surprisingly
AOC being Poki's winning kill
Poki winning by herself!
Gus calling Poki a pro gamer
H reminding everyone to hydrate, eat, and vote
Round Nine
H asking to be auctioned off to gain citizenship to he can vote
"It has to be for love." AOC
"I think I just committed a crime then!" H
Twitch giving me 5 ads in a row, I hate them
Toast susing AOC for being quiet
Gus catching Rae vent
"That's absolutely impossible because I'm iNnOcEnT" Rae
Gus still on Rae venting
"This is absurd!" Rae
Everyone grouping together accept for Gus
Poki getting bodied by Toast in the meeting room
"Lupo is 100% innocent" Rae
"Horray.." Lupo
"This is so sad.." H in ghost chat watching everyone argue on who to vote
Them speed running Gus and loosing
Round Ten
Poki and Rae being imposter
AOC finding Hasan's body
"Toast has been following me the whole game!" AOC
"Yeah I'm protecting you!" Toast
"No you're not!" AOC
Everyone getting on Toast's ass for marinating
Poki not wanting to kill AOC cause she's too precious to her
Poki and Rae winning
AOC drops here and everyone offers to play with her again
Everyone complementing her before she leaves
Please make sure you are registered and ready to vote wether it's mail in or in person. It's so important this year.
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Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (10)
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(technoblade x fem!reader)
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(a/n: y’all seemed to like chapter 9 so here’s chapter 10! I know, I know. still no technoblade! BUT! he WILL be arriving soon~ very soon. >:3c but for now just enjoy the rest of the utter nonsense that’s the election. and remember! reblogs and comments REALLY make writing the next chapter possible. if y’all lose interest then so will I. so reblog and comment y’all! <3)
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There was an eerie silence hanging over everyone in attendance. Nobody quite knew what to say, or even how to react to this startling new information. Not a soul spoke as a few people on stage and in the audience shared confused glances, not even whispering their questions to each other lest they shatter the heavy stillness. At least that was the case before HBomb hopped up out of his chair and gave a loud and cheerful “WHOO! NEW PRESIDENT!” that successfully slam dunked everyone back into the moment at hand. 
Suddenly you were surrounded by noise as everyone started talking at once. 
Meanwhile you remained mostly unaware of it, well more like distantly aware of it.
You stared up at the stage, locked in place from how floored you still were.
What in the absolute hell was Wilbur talking about?? 
You can’t have won! Because you weren’t running! 
So there’s no way for you to WIN something you were never actively competing for! 
There had to be a mistake. Maybe this was just some more of their silly pranks and japes before they read off the real winner, which actually wasn’t that huge of a stretch for this SMP if you were being honest. Or at least that’s what you were telling yourself anyways. Vaguely you could hear voices talking all around you, but it seemed far away, so you weren’t really registering what was being said. You were mostly just staring blankly at the stage, not really seeing any of the people up there as you tried to process what just happened.
It took Tubbo grabbing your elbow and shaking it to snap you out of the almost trance like state you'd slipped into. You looked down and he actually looked excited, but you could also see shock in his expression as well. You looked behind you to the rest of the crowd and some were clapping and cheering while others stood silent, shocked like you if you had to hazard a guess. You looked back up at the stage when you heard Tommy calling you to come up with them. You were still sorta frozen but thankfully Tubbo nudged you forward, reminding you that you needed to move. Silently you made your way up to the podium, mouth feeling dry and stomach feeling like it was full of stones.
Now that you were zoned back in you could hear the arguing coming from the podium. You were sort of dreading coming face to face with Wilbur, already knowing how… not great he took Schlatt winning from the original timeline. And he apparently knew and was friends with the ram hybrid. So you couldn’t see him being happy you won.. But when you got to the stage where the others were you couldn’t focus on Wilbur because all at once your vision was overtaken by Tommy, who was babbling about how you won! And how the hell did you win?? You weren’t even running! And how he’s pretty down they lost but at least Quackity and George didn’t win! (that got a ‘fuck you!’ out of the Spanish speaking young man) You gave a weak chuckle and said you’re not sure how or why you won but it was crazy indeed. 
Quackity, Schlatt, and George were the most vocal about not thinking the results were fair. Though to be clear, Wilbur didn’t look thrilled either, but he was doing his best to look professional or put together you guessed. Or at least not blow up in front of literally everyone. You kept an eye on him while Tommy led you up to the mic and told you to give your first decree as president. But you sorta… didn’t want to be president. You hoped you wouldn’t upset anyone by not accepting the job. But you didn’t think you’d make a good leader. So you turned away from the mic, hoping nobody but the ones beside you on stage would hear when you asked if you had to accept the role. 
This caught all the mens’ attention and Wilbur was quick to give you an out, saying no you didn’t technically HAVE to accept the presidency. In fact if you weren’t ready or willing to fill the role then the runners up, aka him and Tommy, would happily do so for you. But then Quackity, Schlatt, and surprisingly Fundy said that wasn’t fair either since both Pog2020 and Schlatt/Swag2020 were tied with the amount of votes. And you had to admit, that didn’t seem fair. But Wilbur perked up and you’d swear in that moment he was the embodiment of the ‘lightbulb above head’ phrase. Then he grinned and turned to Fundy and Niki and asked to speak to them before urging them and Tommy off the stage, leaving you and Schlatt/Swag2020 on the stage alone.
Not wanting to leave everyone in the audience hanging, you gave a polite smile and assured them that the others just wanted to…. recount the votes! They weren’t sure Wilbur counted them right so they figured recounting with some other witnesses there would clear things up! The crowd shared confused glances but it was Tubbo who yelled out that that sounded sus as hell! And if he were you he’d think they were trying to cheat or something! You snorted a laugh but assured him it was alright and you didn’t think they’d be that ballsy~
-0-
Fundy and Niki followed behind Wilbur and Tommy, the latter of the two males just as confused about what Wilbur was up to as the pair behind him. But then they all gathered in the white house and Wilbur turned to the members of Coconut2020 and said he had a proposition for them! The brunet said that since it was clear that you weren’t really up to being president, his tone derisive like your refusal of the position was tantamount to spitting in his food, then if Fundy and Niki agreed to combine their votes with Swag2020 then Wilbur could be president again and things could go back to normal!
But the blonde woman and fox hybrid didn’t look convinced.. Niki said they’d just be giving them their votes so they could win, while they got nothing? Fundy frowned and asked what positions he and Niki would have in the Pog2020 cabinet if they joined their votes with theirs. Here is where Wilbur hesitated, unsure what positions he could give them. But then he smiled and said Niki would be the First Woman, since she was the first woman to join L’manberg! And Fundy would of course be everyone’s Little Champion! He couldn’t help but baby talk his son, he’d never been able to take Fundy seriously, not really anyways. What with his alert little triangle ears, furry face, soft little paw beans, and fluffy tail. He was just too cute for Wilbur to take him seriously. Even now. But it was this attitude that would be his downfall. Because it’s what caused Fundy to snap.
“No, Wilbur! This is serious! I’m not some baby for you to dress up and prance around! I’m a fucking adult! I have my own house, I pay taxes, I fought in a war for fucks sake!” the hybrid shouted, clearly upset.
Wilbur was shocked but tried to calm Fundy down, not fully realizing how mad his son was until the red haired male practically snarled, 
“I’m not going to sit here and hand over the votes Niki and I earned just so you can treat me like a child!”
Without another word he turned on his heel and stormed out of the white house, leaving three stunned people behind. Tommy looked up at Wilbur, opening and closing his mouth, wanting so badly to say something, maybe lighten the awkward mood but not knowing what or even if he should speak at all. Meanwhile Niki just sighed and gave Wilbur a soft disappointed look. She knew Wilbur loved his son, and that often translated to him babying the hybrid. But she’d warned him, as kindly as she could, that it seemed to upset Fundy that his own father wouldn’t treat him like anything but a kid. She’s not a parent herself, so she figures it must be hard for a parent to see their child as anything but a child, even after they’ve grown. 
But she can see Fundy’s side too. It must be massively frustrating to be looked upon like you’re just a kid. Especially since Wilbur doesn’t even treat Tommy, his own younger brother, as a child as much as he does Fundy. And she’d seen first hand how Wilbur’s attitude towards Fundy, whether or not the brunet intended for it to happen or not, did in fact influence how others treated the red furred hybrid. She’d seen Tommy, Tubbo, Eret, Sapnap, and even herself a couple times sort of not treat Fundy with the respect you’d show to a fellow adult. She tried her best to kick that habit, and her and Fundy’s friendship had really blossomed thanks to it, she thinks. But she believes Wilbur just pushed his son to his breaking point…
“He’s right, Wilbur. You can’t keep babying him. He’s a grown up now..” Niki said neutrally.
Then she let out a tired sounding breath of air and turned to follow after the fox hybrid, saying she would go check on him. But she also said Wilbur needed to talk to him later, man to man, and make things right. Said brunet looked rather flummoxed, not sure what the hell just happened. It was Tommy who broke the silence by giving an almost weak sounding ‘holy shit’. Wilbur turned his perplexed gaze to his brother and asked what the HELL that was all about! Said blond winced and gave a sigh while awkwardly scratching the back of his head, not thrilled with the weird turn this conversation took, but answered Wilbur,
“Ehh… looks like you and Fundy have some unresolved personal issues, bud..”
Wilbur barked that this wasn’t the time for Fundy to let some personal vendetta against him cloud his reasoning! They were in the middle of the do or die of the election! If they couldn’t get Fundy and Niki to agree to join their votes with theirs then they won’t win! And they’ll be in a tie with Schlatt and Quackity! Wilbur jerked his hands down, like he wanted to slam them against a table or something. But instead he just viciously scrubbed his fingers through his curly hair, feeling embittered with everyone around him. All he’d wanted was to lead HIS country! Like he rightfully should have been able to! All this election bollocks and now he was having to try and convince HIS OWN SON to help him stay president?! If it were him and Phil needed help he’d give it! Well he would if Phil were ever fucking around..
The sound of a crowd cheering caused the two to whip their heads towards the area where the stage was before they looked at each other. Not a word was spoken between them as they both took off in a run towards the stage, wondering what happened and what they were missing. They rounded the corner of the building to the left of the stage to see you smiling and waving daintily to the crowd. Not sure what they’d missed, Wilbur rushed up to Niki and asked what happened. Did you accept the presidency already?? 
Niki raised an eyebrow at her friend and nodded, saying you’d finally relented and accepted the role as president after she and Fundy came back from ‘recounting the votes’. Niki hummed and said she figured that you finally accepted the results after it was made clear that if you didn’t then everything would be stuck in a tie. But then Niki’s reflecting mood brightened and she said she really thought you’d do a good job as the new president. Even joking that you had to be better than Schlatt. 
Niki never voiced it out loud but she’d been worried Schlatt and Quackity would win. Schlatt was the biggest worry for her. To his credit, he was actually a really funny guy and she could see why Wilbur was friends with him, they just had a good chemistry and their senses of humor bounced off each other well. But… Schlatt could also be blatantly power hungry and hateful if not kept in check from the few times she’d met him or heard stories about him from Wilbur. Niki felt like giving him the amount of authority that came with being president would only end poorly. And Quackity was an alright guy in her opinion but he could be vindictive and petty too. She got the vibe that any amount of power given to him would instantly go to his head and turn him into a jerk.
But again, these were just her personal (and not spoken aloud) opinions…
She always hated being mean to people and saying hurtful things. So she kept her opinions to herself more often than not. Unless it was super important anyways. So instead of elaborating on Why she was so relieved that Schlatt and Quackity hadn’t won she instead flashed the two members of Pog2020 a smile and said it had been a fun race, and despite all the drama she really thinks Tommy’s friend will do a good job. Then with a keen raise of her eyebrows the blonde suggested with a cute smile,
“Oh, maybe you could be a member of Reader’s Cabinet! I’m sure she’ll be needing a vice president, secretary of defense, treasury, and other positions!”
Niki was honestly just trying to cheer up her friend, but the cheerful smile slipped off her face at the dark look that crossed Wilbur’s. She grew concerned when she saw how hard he was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. His behavior over the last few weeks had been slowly worrying her, but this was starting to make her anxious. And when he started marching towards the stage she shot a panicked look to Tommy, who could do nothing but give her an equally worried and confused face before they both tried to hurry after their brown haired friend. But he got up onto the stage before either of them could grab his arm, and Niki was about to call after him but he reached your side, clearing his throat and alerting you to his presence. 
You looked down and saw him standing at attention next to you, hand outstretched for a handshake and a polite but serious smile on his face. You were surprised, thinking he was handling this with more grace than you’d expected, but a feeling deep in your gut was still on edge. You knew the destruction Wilbur Soot was all too willing and capable of doing in the selfish pursuit of keeping power over the country he made. The lives of his friends and family be damned. So while you really really wanted to hope that Wilbur will be better since you won over the other parties… you’re also highly skeptical that he will manage to keep his sanity. 
But instead of showing any of your reservations you instead simply smile and shake his hand, thanking him for congratulating your win and promising him you’ll do your best with the presidency and taking care of L’manberg. And if you noticed how his smile looked a little too angry at the edges then you didn’t say anything..
So instead of dealing with the mess that was Wilbur Soot you focused on the crowd and let go of Wilbur’s hand to stand at the sort of comically short podium and spoke out to the people you were now responsible for,
“Well, this all was certainly unexpected..”
Chuckles erupted from the crowd at that, making you feel a bit better about all of this. At least you weren’t the only one to see how wild all of this mess was.
“I’m actually really shocked! I wasn’t intending to run for president but I suppose life has other plans for me. But regardless, I’m honored you’ve all put your faith in me to lead you. I swear to do my absolute best for you and help L’manberg flourish.”
Applause from the crowd made you give a genuine smile. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad?
-0-
In the audience, watching this all unfold behind a mask and tapping his foot, stood the familiar looking figure in a green hood. Hanging around next to him was Sapnap in all his black and white dressed glory. And at some point George had gotten bored with the drama on stage and had left Quackity’s side (not that the duck hybrid had even noticed or cared) and wandered over to stand with his two friends. They watched Wilbur hand over the presidency to you and George made an off hand comment that Wilbur sure didn’t look pleased with losing, a smug laugh in his sleepy tone. Sapnap snickered but stared at you and elbowed his taller friend, asking in a curious tone while subtly gesturing to you,
“Speaking of, why didn’t you tell us you’d let someone new on the server, Dream?”
His friend glanced at him for a second longer than normal before replying with a tense tone to his voice that he hadn’t let her on. That caused both Sapnap and George to jerk their heads up to look at him in visible confusion. While George stammered through a series of ‘what’s’ and ‘wait hold on-’ Sapnap was loudly questioning what the hell he meant. The mask wearing player shushed them both before looking up to see if anyone had heard them or looked over at the twos’ loud exclamations. Thankfully nobody had. So he sighed and led them a bit further away from the crowd and explained that he’d not authorized any new members to the server. and it was true, he hadn’t. But both hybrids still looked confused and George asked, clearly puzzled,
“Well then how did she get on the server?? Nobody else can let people on, right, Dream?”
Sapnap nodded but stopped when their taller friend let out a flat hum before shaking his head ‘no’. That caught the shorter twos’ attention so he elaborated by asking them,
“Who on this server is known to have Creative Mode?”
The two blinked before it dawned on them and they looked even more shocked than before, only now it was coupled with anxiousness. Sapnap harshly whispered to the two, asking why the hell fucking GOD himself would actually let someone onto the server?? DreamXD never bothered with players and stuff, only being rumored to be seen by players if they broke server rules. George added on that this all sounded really weird. And an idea hit him and he couldn’t help but voice it. 
“You don’t think… she’s linked to DreamXD.. do you? Like working for him or something?” he asked a touch nervously.
The other two didn’t say anything, not really knowing what to say to that. Sapnap could only shrug while the tallest of their group remained silent, none of them having any answers to the string of questions they’d just let loose.
They would just have to wait and see it seemed.
-0-
@lady-bee-fechin @kacchasu @putridjoy @lunawritesstories @galaxypankitty3030 @paradigmax @zachariethememerie @killmewithafanfic @trinity-1002107 @hufflepuff-demigod @truthdaze @exorcisms-with-elmo @redbloodtea @heythereimhaylz @olyink @jackalopedoodles @nikkineeky @artsimatsu @hufflepuff-demigod @corpiet @beepa99 @anxiousnarwhale @bananaaddictmilkshake @realitycanbeajerk @lostandsouciant @thegeekisheere @sparkling-gayyy
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medusinestories · 3 years
Text
Onwards to the episode in which we get to see Flint and Silver each having a very bad day (as well as two literal dicks that nobody had asked to see).
Black Sails VII (s1 ep07)
- We open on Pastor Lambrick's sweaty face as he intensely rehearses the Easter sermon and he’s obviously eaten up by what he did with Miranda. His sermon, unsurprisingly, focuses on sin, keeping sin hidden, and the hell that awaits the sinner. Which leads us nicely onto Flint, who’s distracted (by his own sin? by thoughts of Miranda? both?) during a meeting with Eleanor. Eleanor is pissed that Miranda let Richard Guthrie send a message to the Andromache and then waltz into town to close up his business; Flint tries to take the heat off Miranda, once again protecting her (at this point, he may not know the contents of the letter).
- During this meeting, Flint is startled when Silver first speaks up to say that the mob in the street was bad - clearly Silver is a sort of intruder in this meeting. But Eleanor, after Silver reminds her by unsubtly clearing his throat, tells Flint that he’s not to harm Silver because he was instrumental in setting up the Consortium. Silver looks so pleased with himself in these scenes, and Flint quite defeated when he tells Silver to follow him back to their camp. I love it.
- To parallel Flint/Miranda’s Sulky Sex scene from ep4, we have Anne/Rackham’s frustrating/disconnected sex scene. It shows us a few things about them mainly that Anne wants to keep a lot of control over what happens, hence Rackham being tied up (though of course this might also be his kink), her wearing a shirt that covers up most of her body, and the reverse cowgirl position that means that she’s both in control of what happens and completely avoids eye contact. The position reminds us of the Flint/Miranda scene, where Miranda was also on top, but their scene involved more eye contact (yes glaring counts, he’s still intensely focused on Miranda), gentle touching (on Miranda’s side) and her being naked and open to him. Another parallel is that both Flint and Rackham aren’t in the right frame of mind for sex, Flint being angry and Rackham lost in a sea of worries (and probably also somewhat angry/disappointed at Anne for forcing him into the plot to kill their crewmates). The difference between Flint and Rackham is that while Flint doesn’t seem to have any trouble performing, Rackham is miles away and doesn’t even notice that he’s lost his erection - again. Anne is frustrated by this, and apparently knows him well enough that she offers to put something up his arse, but he’s clearly not in the mood, and she leaves in a huff, abandoning him all tied up as a sort of revenge for his performance problems. Whatever the problem is between them isn’t put into words (because Anne can’t yet, for starters), unlike the one between Flint and Miranda. The intimacy between Rackham and Anne, so often described as close partners, seems much more distant to me than the one shown between Flint and Miranda. I’m not sure whether it’s because of anyone’s sexual orientation, or just the fact that they’re fucking but they’ve never discussed the big important things, such as Anne’s identity/feelings/etc.
- In this episode, Dufresne gains a lot of power: with a freshly (and badly) shaved head and a new tattoo, he’s been promoted to Quartermaster on the Walrus in Billy’s place. And very quickly he has a problem to deal with: Randall revealing that Silver stole the page. Gates had actually already told this to Dufresne, as is revealed at the end of the episode, which might explain why Dufresne is relatively calm during the whole conversation, while DeGroot wants Silver and Flint hanged and Howell is surprisingly ruthless: he brings up the idea that it may be better to kill off Randall in order to get to the treasure, if they can’t make sure he’ll keep quiet about Silver being the thief. Dufresne is actually quite kind towards Silver in the scene where he puts Silver’s memory to the test - a test that could result in his death if he fails it and that Silver constantly grumbles against (I love his grumbling!). Basically, at this point Dufresne remains quite a sympathetic character, which will change a lot as the show goes on, especially after Jannes Eiselen had to leave the show (such a sad story, RIP Jannes).
- In the meantime, the Flint and Gates relationship is crumbling. It's sad to see, especially since they're shown sharing chuckles as they talk about Dufresne's appointment in the beginning of the episode. But then Gates brings up the subject of Miranda and demands explanations about the letter Billy found. We're not shown exactly what Flint answers, but it's clear that he's actually trying his best to give him an explanation without incriminating Miranda too badly. The sad thing is that Flint is actually telling the truth: he actually wasn't involved in any betrayal of his crew and and can only guess at Miranda's motivations. But the fact that he's lied time and again in previous situations, including on the Maria Aleyne where he claimed Lord Alfred drew a weapon on him (and Gates secretly verified that this was a lie), and used men as pawns to advance his and Miranda's plans, is now catching up to him. Flint seems truly hurt when Gates accuses him of using the men for his own purposes, and turns spiteful, telling Gates that he should have been "a better father" to Billy and helped him "understand the world he was living in" (suggesting that such a forthright character as Billy can't really survive in a world of pirates who are all ready to stab each other in the back). After that slap in the face, Gates says he's exhausted from Flint and threatens to take it to the crew. Somehow, this pushes Flint to bare all: he tells Gates about his plan to keep a part of the treasure and use it to build up Nassau, depicting himself as a sort of saviour, doing it for the men's good: they'd rather be rich men in a safe place than dead thieves hanging from a noose. Gates sees this as delusions of grandeur, and tells him that while he'll see the Urca plot through, after that they're done. I actually think he sees Flint’s point, since he doesn’t just throw him to the crew, but won’t admit that out loud. The whole of this scene hurts bad, because you can tell that Flint is desperate and sad to be losing his closest ally and friend, and that Gates is hurting from the loss of Billy and exhausted from the toxic relationship he has with Flint, where he's played enabler to his manipulations for years.
- While Flint and Gates’ alliance is breaking, Silver has to forge one with Randall or die. Randall finds out in the beginning of the episode that he’s been voted out of the crew. This is apparently due to DeGroot’s fears that Randall could be a fire hazard, which the crew took disproportionately to heart. Randall is furious with Silver, who smugly tells him that in these situations, a setback often comes with a new or unexpected opportunity. He’s right, but at this point he doesn’t know that he is the opportunity Randall’s going to latch on. Randall reveals that Silver is a thief, and Silver denies it, saying that Randall is both a halfwit and was in a haze of opium when he heard what he thought he heard; he even tries to convince Randall that he was mistaken (this, my friends, is gaslighting). However, by revealing that Silver was the thief, Randall sets a chain of events into motion which could either end with his death (if Howell has his way, since Randall is an inconvenient witness) or Silver’s (if DeGroot tips the balance, not trusting Silver to remember the coordinates and not wanting to sacrifice Randall for nothing). Silver figures out that these are the outcomes, and tries to talk sense into Randall by making a deal with him: he’ll care for Randall and make sure he can stay on the ship. But it’s only when Silver finally admits that he is the thief and that Randall was right, that Randall accepts the deal. Later, Silver realises that Randall might have orchestrated the whole thing: he’s now got Silver to serve him, doesn’t have to take any risks on the ship, and gets to remain with the crew. Silver wonders if Randall is a genius rather than a halfwit (a word thrown about a lot to describe him). And it seems quite obvious, considering what happened, that Randall still has strong survival skills (an amputee with impaired cognitive skills doesn’t stand a chance of survival outside a crew and he must be aware of it), that he still has a good memory and an ability to pick out useful information and that he’s aware enough of what’s going on to be upset by the crew’s rejection and Silver’s attempt to gaslight him. I think it’s important to recognise that Randall is more than a comic relief or a grotesque character: he’s a disabled man who's lost parts of his cognitive ability and is struggling to survive.
- This episode focuses on Vane facing his past. He seeks out the island where he grew up and its master, Albinus. I’d forgotten or never really registered that Albinus was a pirate and that the men who work for him were mostly his crew - and likely slaves (or children, hence Vane?) that he managed to capture/press into service. He’s retired from pirating and set up a system where his men cut down trees for timber all day, without wages. It’s not clear exactly how he holds so much power over these men, although it seems that everyone is terrified of him. He’s extremely strong physically, seems shrewd, speaks rather well, and his tattoos suggest that maybe he’s involved in some kind of ritual (truly religious or just for show?) which would make him all the more scary to superstitious people. Vane is clearly still frightened: he barely makes eye contact and practically stutters when he first tries to make the deal with Albinus, which is that he’ll take some of Albinus’ men as crew and send Albinus part of their earnings as tribute. It says a lot about Albinus that Vane, after years of having run away, is still so scares that he’s willing to pay him a tribute. But he changes his mind as he stares at a boy bearing the same brand as he does: he tries to persuade the men that Nassau is a pace of pleasures rather than hard labour, and confronts Albinus. The fight is brutal and ends with Vane buried naked, just after Albinus tells him that he’s proud of him. But of course Vane wouldn’t be Vane if he didn’t rise from the dead at the last minute and kill Albinus, goaded on by his inner Eleanor voice.
- In the meantime, Mr Scott returns to Eleanor, apologising for what he did, telling her he betrayed her out of love. However he also reminds her of his slave status: technically, he belongs to her. The argument upsets her, and he quite cleverly uses this moment to ask her to free the slaves who were on the Andromache. And it works: by the end of the episode, she’s made arrangements for the men to work on ships and has bought the women’s freedom and found them jobs in her tavern. But Mr Scott has still decided to leave Eleanor to join Hornigold’s crew, to refrain from meddling with Eleanor’s affairs, since he disagrees with her so strongly re: the Urca. Hornigold approached him earlier in the episode, and the introduction to that scene is quite interesting: Hornigold says to Mr Scott “I’ll need to know your secret” and Mr Scott looks startled and frightened. It seems that he’s startled because he’d been giving food to the slaves, but in light of S3, it could be a much greater secret that’s being referred to. Mr Scott is relieved when he realises that Hornigold is simply talking about tolerating Eleanor, who he clearly can’t stand.
- Flint’s bad day continues, of course, with the big confrontation he has with Miranda. He’s furious about the letter (of which he now knows the contents thanks to Gates), telling her that it could have got him killed, or destroyed the plans they’d made and asking her whether she was trying to embarrass him. This sounds so weirdly petty, and yet it also sounds exactly like the kind of argument that would come up in a bickering couple. Miranda answers that she was trying to help him out of that life, because she wants to move on. This is where Miranda utters the famous “there is no life here, there is no joy here, there is no love here”. I noticed that, covered by Flint yelling at her, and distorted because her voice has gone very shrill, Miranda says another line, which sounds like “you used to love, then”. If that really is what she says, it’s extra-extra-extra heartbreaking to hear (if someone wants to check it for me, it’s around 35:40). It’s obvious that Flint and Miranda’s views on life are very different, and I can’t help but think back to the fact that, as a carpenter’s son from the country, Flint has had to struggle all his life to become who he is. So when he says that you can’t get a life without having a war, and Miranda tells him he’s wrong, she’s speaking entirely from the point of view of her privilege. She’s never needed to fight as hard as he has to be happy, because she got extremely lucky in marrying Thomas. And when she says that Thomas would agree with her, I’m certain she’s right. But life has never been like that for Flint, and there’s no way he’ll ever entirely agree with their point of view. Rewatching this scene is tough, btw, because they both have great points, they’re both hurting so much, and there’s so much to take in between the body language, the facial expressions, the tones of voice and the actual words that it’s a whole whirlwind. And it feels very, very real.
- It’s absolutely hilarious to see Rackham get robbed by the whores taking advantage of his lack of knowledge (and research). He should absolutely have done a better job and has no clue how to run a brothel. He’s lucky Max takes things in hand after having heard from Idelle that the girls were taking advantage.
- Then we have the beautiful Drunk Flint scene. Eleanor notices him feeling very sorry for himself after Gates has pretty much broken up with him and he’s still reeling from fighting with by Miranda. I think Flint feels very misunderstood here. He thought that he was doing something good, to save Nassau and avenge Thomas, and doesn’t understand why they can’t see it, why they only see the terrible methods he uses to reach his goals. So he’s full of doubt, clearly wondering if he’s the villain of the story, and puts the question to Eleanor: is their plan worth it? Eleanor is the only person who still believes in him, which leads us to the only scene that I would ever call straight-baiting. Flint hovers near Eleanor, breathing heavily, and a variety of emotions play over her face during this moment of tension, as she seems to think this is leading to a kiss. It does, he gives her a chaste little forehead kiss and leaves. All the elements are in place to make your average viewer start shipping these two. I actually find it hilarious that the ship barely exists in the fandom (though I wasn’t there in the beginning of the fandom and I guess the viewership changed a lot between S1 and S4).
- The scene with Flint and Gates glaring at each other from their respective ships and Parson’s Farewell playing in the background... epic! We know this is the beginning of a big struggle between them, especially since we find out that Gates has pretty much decided that he’ll hand Flint over to the crew once they get the money. But nnnnggh that scene! The ships leaving on their hunt! Awesome and heartbreaking!
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astro-rain · 3 years
Text
delicate; b.barnes
chapter ten - “retching and realizations”
delicate masterlist
word count: 1.3k
synopsis: y/n encounters some nausea and the experience reveals a couple alarming realizations.
pairings: bucky barnes x fem!reader
warnings: caveat lector emetophobia - mentions of vomiting
[A/N]: what songs remind you of this story and the nature of the relationship? i wanna start making a delicate playlist!
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The sound of vomit slapping the bottom of a metal bucket was horrid. But, what was more horrid was the sound her body made while it was happening. The gagging, heaving, and retching wouldn't normally bother her. However, when there was someone else with her, holding her hair out of her face, it was of utmost embarrassment. She pitied poor Bucky's ears.
"I'm sorry," Y/N groaned, resting her forehead on the rim of the bucket. The metal was cool on her otherwise overheated skin. She was sweating and her breath was heavy.
"Don't be sorry," he soothed, rubbing the nape of her neck with his thumb. "It's not your fault."
"Yeah, but this is gross, and now I'm gross. I wouldn't wanna be near it." Her voice was hoarse from the rawness in her throat.
"Oh, stop it. It's fine, it happens to everyone. But to be frank, you're the one putting your face in it right now..."
"I don't wanna throw up on you," she muttered. "I'd rather have my face in the bucket than be cleaning my stomach acid off of you and the floor."
"Eh, I'd forgive you," he shrugged, then held out his wrist to her, revealing an elastic band. "Here, this will help. I'd do it, but... you know."
She coughed, taking the elastic and putting her hair up out of her face. "Thank you. I wish I brought sunglasses."
"Sunglasses?"
"Yeah, this is definitely from sun glare. I had a headache while we were outside and kept squinting. I should've known."
"Why didn't you say anything?" his voice was tender.
"I don't know."
She really didn't.
"Is it any better now?" Bucky inquired after a few beats of empty air.
"I think so. I don't think I even have anything left to throw up."
He chuckled. "Okay, come get your face out of it, then. You don't wanna be smellin' it."
He guided her up slowly with a hand on her back.
She stopped him. "Nope. Nope. I can't. I'm just gonna sit on the floor. I'm not standing now."
He obliged, helping her back down. She leaned against the table, a foot or two away from the bucket. She looked at it miserably.
"Ew."
He squatted down in front of her, looking at her directly and earnestly. "Are you good for now? I wanna go dump the bucket outside, but not if you're still feelin' it."
He was tender, and looked so concerned. It almost made her nervous, being attended to like that; it made her feel exposed. She covered it with humor.
"I think I'm okay now, doctor," she said dryly.
He shook his head, grabbing the bucket and heading up out of the bunker to empty it outside.
"You're the doctor!" he called out.
She closed her eyes to try and keep the nausea at bay. It was then when the world slowed back to normal pace, and she finally felt his thumb on the back of her neck, the sensation ghosting over her skin even after it was physically gone.
Y/N placed the tips of her fingers to the spot, a feather light touch on a searing mark of benevolence and compassion. She wasn't sure what to think of it, logically. Her body seemed to want the warmth to spread like a burn, but her brain wanted never to be that close to him again. Not after that moment at the waterfall.
The reminder almost made her wince; she thought back to it.
-
She floated over to the stairs, and leaned her elbows on the second highest step so that the water settled just below her shoulders.
In response, Bucky sat down at the waters edge, removing his own shoes and socks, rolling up his pant legs and resting his feet in the pool.
"There, now we're meetin' in the middle."
His voice was soft but his eyes were softer. Looking at him felt like silk. She feared if she allowed herself to gaze for too long she'd erode. How could something so gentle make her feel like she'd been shaved down to nothing, reduced to something as mellow and faint as the very water she was floating in.
His skin was dewy from the heat, but it just gave the illusion of a glow. She wondered if everything looked this good on him, if everything about him looked this good. The thought was fleeting in the back of her mind. She tried to ignore it but then she saw his hair and how it framed his face in modest charm. Although the angles softened him further, they gave him an edge that captivated her. Velvety yet sharp. Was the water pushing her closer? She felt bewitched.
What was happening? This is not right. This is definitely, definitely wrong. Such thoughts are innately inappropriate for a doctor-patient relationship. How could she let herself think like this? Y/N was malfunctioning, she was sure of it. This must be some sort of transference effect.
This can't continue. She can't let it. She felt the smile dissipate from her face as she made the realization. This had to stop. Y/N pushed away from him, slowly feeling the magnetism drain from her hazy brain.
"Can we go back now?" she asked. "I think the sun is giving me a headache."
That wasn't a complete lie. She did have a headache, but she didn't necessarily want to go back. She had to.
-
Y/N rubbed her forehead, disappointed in herself and her error. How embarrassing. Being friends with him was fine, but this? These feelings? Unacceptable.
To be honest, she wasn't completely sure what exactly these feelings were. All she knew was that they were wrong. And all she could think about was how wrong they were while she stroked the back of her neck, trying to reignite the feeling from before.
No. She removed her hand.
"You still good down there?" his voice came from the stairs.
"I'm alright."
"I left the bucket outside for the smell, but tell me if you feel like you need it again."
It felt so odd to have him caring for her. It was usually the other way around. Don't get Y/N wrong, he wasn't psychoanalyzing her (not that she'd allow it due to her hatred of Freud) but he was tending to her. Then it struck her.
"Did you used to take care of Steve when he was sick when you guys were kids?"
"All the time, yeah."
Of course. He was a natural. The whole neck thing was just automatic to him.
"Why do you ask?"
"'Cause you're practically a nurse," she snickered.
He smiled, so on principle, Y/N did too.
"Happy to be of service. Is the care up to par?"
He leaned down and sat next to her on the floor.
"Perfect, thank you doctor."
"There you go again just throwin' the doctor title around as if you aren't one," he laughed.
"I'm not a medical doctor, though."
"Might as well be."
"I don't know. Medical school is a lot."
“I wouldn’t know. I never went to college when I was a kid.”
“That’s a shame. I think you would’ve made a great scientist.”
He seemed surprised. “What, like Shuri?!”
“Sure! If you wanted to! You told me you like techy stuff.”
“I like it, but I don’t think I could, ya know, actually do it.”
“Well, maybe Shuri could teach you.”
“I would fail on the first day,” he deadpanned.
“Likely.”
He bumped her shoulder with his. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, doctor.”
The searing feeling was back. It felt good to burn.
She bumped his shoulder back in an over exaggerated fashion. “It’s not good practice to hit your patients doctor.”
“Yeah, well it’s not good practice to threaten to drown your’s.”
She gasped. “Smartass!”
“Uh no, I didn’t go to college, remember? That title is reserved for you only. It’s tied to your name, sorry.”
Laughter began to bubble out of her chest as she forgot all about the nausea and the transference and the ever-present collapsed regime. For a moment, Y/N lived in laughter with Bucky, the only thing registering in her perception being her proximity to the super soldier. Briefly, the world paused for them, and she felt a little infinity within that fleeting moment.
He was not supposed to make her feel this way...
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delicate taglist: @bakugouswh0r3 @thefridgeismybestie
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doomedideas · 3 years
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Mcytblr 2021 Elections
Hello again, Mcytblr! We’ve got another round of elections coming up, run by @mcytblr-elections-2021, and once again reported on by Main Journalist DoomedIdeas. To those of you who don’t know about the elections, consider this a good introduction! We’ll be going over what they are, what’s happening, and some information on the team running this whole event. Hope to see you running, and as always, don’t look back. The elections are coming up, and this time, the best we can do is keep moving forwards! First of all, keep in mind that these are not the same elections as before. This cycle is run by new people, with new candidates, and let’s treat them all with respect, please. If you’d like to join, it’s really easy- find yourself between 1 and 7 other runningmates, make a campaign, register with the mods of the elections, and go wild. Posts about the election run from propaganda, to slander, to bystander memes, and even some amazing fanart- keep on the lookout for that! 
Now that the introduction is complete, I’d like some of the moderators themselves to tell you about what’s going on. I was able to get an interview with @braveboyhalo (ginger) and @kiwilovescitrusfruit (kiwi), two admins of this year’s elections. Here’s what they had to say. (Quotes taken directly from source, with slight editing for clarity and comprehension.)
Did you have any involvement with the 2020 elections, and what do you think about them? Ginger: “I was involved in that, yeah. I did pretty okay and I enjoyed them a lot! I’m not much into roleplay but there were a lot of other reasons it was fun, I made a couple friends.” Kiwi: “I actually had zero influence at the time! I was just getting into the mcyt community after several years without, so it was around that time I started originally getting into the fandom. I saw a few posts about it on and off, but I never participated or really followed through on it!”
Do you think the past elections will influence this one, and if so, how? Kiwi: “They definitely have a huge influence, a lot of people have been nostalgic for the ways things used to be. I’ve heard several comments already that this season of the election reminds them a lot of the original! Besides, our inspiration to start this was the original elections and our desire to improve upon the second ones.”
What do you think of some of the currently running parties? Ginger: “We have a lot of them. Most of them have pretty, uh, funny names, which sets the tone for the election. A couple of the parties already have posters and such, so they’re pretty passionate, which is surprising.” Kiwi: “Well, they’re… a lot! [UNNAMED PARTY] kind of scares me. A lot of the parties kind of scare me! There are a lot of funny, cool, popular and talented people in the running, and I encourage everyone to go through our blog and check out each and every person who’s up to doing this. It takes a lot of courage to run for president.”
What do you expect to see in the upcoming weeks? Ginger: “The mod team and I are midway through setting up the official discord and making it able to hold enough people. We have a couple parties forming already, so we’re trying to keep it going while making sure everyone gets what they need.” Kiwi: “I expect to see [TRANSCRIPT PARTIALLY LOST]. The planning discord is full of sparkly banners [LOST], big runners have [LOST], and the tags are fuller than ever! This is going down hard in the community, and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m also hoping for cool art. I’m always hoping for cool art.”
What is the modding situation like? Ginger: “We’re planning to add a lot more regulation and modding so it stays friendly. Our bot coder is setting up a ticket/report system, and we’re going to have a lot of pretty active people modding to keep chats safe. We don’t want a lot of drama or hurt feelings, so I myself and some people I trust to be impartial and fair will be actively modding for most of it.”
Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers? Ginger: “I’d just like to thank everyone for giving us a chance, and i’m glad we can get a lot of new or shy people into the active mcytblr community.” Kiwi: “I’d like to say that I’m very proud of everyone who’s come together to run for the elections, I’m very excited for what’s going forward. Also, hermitblr, please feel free to join. You guys know elections and corruption, and are really cool. I just think it would be fun!”
Overall, this election is absolutely full of new faces, and trying to draw more in. It’s well set up, the candidates are raring to go, and everything will turn out just fine. Feel free to run, vote, and get involved in any way you wish- The Mcytblr 2021 Elections welcome everybody, and we’d be glad to see you here!
(Please remember that the Journalist is unbiased, and these statements are relatively unedited. If you have any questions or concerns, our inbox is always open, and we are happy to accept anything from slight corrections to letters to the Editor.)
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taeyongdoyoung · 3 years
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summary: you are a mermaid and you save a handsome man from drowning but little do you know it’s not his first rodeo when dealing with mermaids. seonghwa, a former prince, is currently hongjoong’s first mate and boyfriend. hongjoong is the captain, the pirate king of the most savage crew across the seas. and you want nothing to do with them. not because they’re pirates, but because they’re humans…
ship: mermaid!reader x prince/pirate!seonghwa x pirate!hongjoong
genre: little mermaid!au, pirate!au, angst, romance, humour, fluff
author’s note: once again i apologize for not updating regularly, uni takes up so much of my free time, hope you guys enjoy this new short chapter!
warnings: some jealousy, the usual antics, joong not getting any sleep because of y/n and hwa not getting any sleep because of joong, affection ew, wooyoung being a brat
word count: 1.4k
chapter one ☠️ chapter two ☠️ chapter three ☠️ chapter four ☠️chapter five ☠️chapter six ☠️ chapter seven ☠️ chapter nine ☠️ chapter ten ☠️ chapter eleven ☠️ chapter twelve ☠️ chapter thirteen ☠️ spotify playlist
You waited until everyone went to sleep and it got dark enough. You knew Hongjoong had seen Seonghwa kissing you and you needed to talk to him. From what you gathered earlier when speaking to Yeosang, Seonghwa and Hongjoong were on something of a break. You knew that you were largely responsible for their arguing but you still hadn’t heard the whole story. 
Despite not meaning to hurt anyone, you still felt like you owed Hongjoong some sort of explanation. But you felt like it’d be wiser to approach him without Seonghwa around. Yeosang had informed you that he was currently residing in his room so that was good for you. As much as you cared for Seonghwa, you feared that he would get into another fight with Hongjoong and you wouldn’t be able to pull them apart. 
So you waited. When you were fairly certain that you had located the window of Hongjoong’s room, you set your plan into motion. You started catching random fish and throwing them at the window to capture the captain’s attention.
“Sorry, pals,” you apologized to your sea friends after they returned back into the sea with a loud splash, swimming away in a hurry, obviously shocked by being mistreated in such a way.
Soon enough, Hongjoong was woken up by the noisy attacks on his window and opened it. Noticing that it was you, he groaned in frustration.
“What do you want from me in the middle of the night?”
“Come out of your room and into the sea, we need to talk.”
“Seonghwa doesn’t sleep in my room anymore,” he didn’t want to give you the satisfaction of knowing that but did so anyway, even though you were aware of that already.
“Yeosang told me,” you shrugged. “Now come out. I promise I won’t lure you to the sea bottom.”
Hongjoong rolled his eyes and closed the window. A couple of minutes later, you were pleasantly surprised by the fact that he did as you asked.
“What is it, then?” he repeated.
“I wanted to thank you for saving me and my sister from Mingi. If you hadn’t arrived on time, we both would have died without water…”
Hongjoong sighed guiltily.
“It was my fault you were there to begin with,” he confessed.
“What do you mean?” you whispered in confusion.
“I mean…I lied to Mingi, told him that you mermaids had killed the sea witch. And we both know who’s actually responsible for that.”
“You did that to protect Seonghwa, didn’t you?” you nodded thoughtfully.
“Well, yeah, but mostly because of my jealousy. In any case, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Regardless…I’m grateful you came for us. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you. Considering how you feel about Seonghwa…and how he feels about me.”
“Are you here to rub salt into my wounds?” Hongjoong chuckled coldly.
“No, I’m here to let you know I’m going back home. I’ve caused enough trouble as it is.”
Hongjoong furrowed his brows.
“Why are you telling me this? Seonghwa is in Yeosang’s room…”
“I can’t bear to say goodbye to him,” you shook your head.
“You don’t have to,” Hongjoong insisted. “He’s happier with you around.”
“But you aren’t,” you pointed out. “And I hate to see anyone suffering because of me. Even you.”
“Why would you give a shit about me after the way I’ve treated you?” Hongjoong asked in utter disbelief.
“You still came for me, didn’t you? Despite your jealousy, you came for me. That’s gotta mean something, right?”
Hongjoong visibly disagreed.
“I came because of my crew. They voted to save you and Soojin. I was the only one against.”
“But you could have ordered them not to go,” you argued, still eager to give him the benefit of the doubt. “As their captain, they would have been forced to obey you.”
“I guess…” Hongjoong sounded unconvinced. “Look, I’m happy you’re alive and stuff, but if you leave without saying goodbye, Seonghwa will think I killed you.”
“Fair point,” you laughed. “So what now? Are you willing to tolerate my existence?”
“I can try. For both our sakes and Seonghwa’s.”
“Will you come closer?” you asked.
“Why? So you can drown me?” Hongjoong eyed you suspiciously.
“Come on,” you giggled.
And despite his reservations, he swam closer to you. Before he could register what was happening, you quickly kissed his cheek.
“Thank you,” you repeated.
Hongjoong was so flustered he simply stared at you. A couple of moments later his unexpected promise came.
“I can build a pool in the ship. So that you can stay there from time to time. If you wish.”
You nodded gratefully and kissed his cheek once again.
He was even more flustered.
“You gotta stop doing that,” Hongjoong chuckled.
“Three times for good luck,” you joked and kissed him once more. “Go back to sleep. And sorry for waking you.”
“It’s alright,” Hongjoong replied. “I didn’t mind.”
And to your amazement, he meant every word.
☠️☠️☠️
Seonghwa’s POV
No sooner had I seen the sunrise than I distinctly heard loud noises of…repairs? It was too early for this. Who had the audacity to disturb everyone’s peaceful sleep? We’d been through so much yesterday, what with confronting Mingi, as well as saving Y/N and Soojin. 
I could really use a break but someone had decided to make this despicable hubbub for whatever reason. I angrily got out of bed only to find that Yeosang was not sleeping soundly. Was he responsible for the noise? Despite his hospitality, I was going to murder whoever deemed it an appropriate time for fixing the ship or whatever that mysterious scoundrel was up to. 
Once I was out of the room and onto the deck, I saw Hongjoong squatted, working on something with a bunch of tools.
“What in Blackbeard’s name are you doing?” I yelled at him, not at all caring if I woke anyone else up. It seemed highly unlikely that Hongjoong’s loud antics had not brought everyone out of bed.
“I’m making a pool inside the ship.”
“What for? If you want to go for a swim, be my guest, we’re surrounded by the vast sea, you idiot!” I hissed sarcastically.
“It’s for Y/N and Soojin. So that they can stay here whenever they want and not have to go back to sleep at the bottom of the sea.”
My angry expression suddenly disappeared off my face.
“Oh,” I managed.
Hongjoong just gave me an awkward smile and continued working on the pool.
“Why are you suddenly being nice to them? I thought you hated mermaids,” I was being suspicious of his motives but I figured I had every right to be, after everything he had done.
He shrugged.
“I figured they’re not so bad.”
“Did anything happen in particular?” I pressed him further for information. “To make you have a change of heart?”
“Y/N kissed me,” Hongjoong whispered, a look of longing apparent in his eyes, as if he was still in disbelief.
“She did what?” I accidentally raised my voice.
“Oh, please, you don’t get to be jealous. I saw you kiss her, too, you know? And besides, it was just on the cheek.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not jealous. Just surprised she would do that.”
“Why? Am I not handsome enough to deserve her attentions?” Hongjoong groaned.
“You’re handsome, alright,” I scoffed. “But not nearly nice enough to her.”
“I’m trying, okay?” Hongjoong sighed, pointing at the mess he’d made in the attempt to build a pool.
“You need help with that?” I suggested gallantly.
“I thought you didn’t want to stay in the same room with me?” Hongjoong reminded me of my own words.
“Well, technically, we’re not in a room right now,” I pointed out. “But let’s just say I’m willing to reconsider.”
“Does that mean you’re going back to our bedroom tonight?” Hongjoong blinked hopefully.
“Don’t push your luck,” I warned. “Let’s get to work.”
“Hey, we want to help, too!” Yeosang interjected out of nowhere. Wooyoung and San were peeking right behind him, curiously observing us.
“For how long have you been standing there?” I grumbled in annoyance.
“Long enough to know Mom and Dad are getting back together!” Wooyoung teased.
“We are not,” I tried to deny it. “Not yet,” I added, barely audible.
Hongjoong was the only one who heard me and gave me a grateful smile, only reserved for me. And honestly, that was all I needed.
To be continued…
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i-like-plan-m · 3 years
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Could you do a modern au with famous parents Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and baby a-yuan being adorable and being loved by their fans?
this was fun, thank you! [Posted to Ao3]
The video was short and packed with Wei Ying’s rapid-fire chatter, a response to his recent fan-selected award after a landslide of votes had catapulted him to the top of a long list of very accomplished actors. He’d spent the last hour trading off between screaming into a pillow and wandering around in dazed disbelief until Wen Qing, acting in her capacity as his agent, had bullied him into making a quick thank you video.
Wei Ying kept it quick and crammed as much of his gratitude and excitement into it as he could, though he was careful to keep the screen confined to the office space Lan Zhan had designed for him. It was a live video, since that seemed to be what fans preferred these days, so he angled the camera carefully away from anything incriminating.
And by incriminating he meant “any sign that Wei Ying had a life outside of acting.”
The door was closed, and the room held no identifying pictures or objects. Wei Ying had come to treasure his privacy, and was fierce about protecting the details of his personal life out of the hands of his thousands of fans. Enough that no one outside of their families even knew they were friends, much less married with a son.
Lan Zhan, of course, hated the riot of noise and flashing lights that accompanied Wei Ying anywhere in public. As one of the foremost violinists in this hemisphere, he had his own level of fame, but his fans were less likely to screech like a banshee upon seeing him. And they had A-Yuan to protect now, and keeping him out of the spotlight was the safest way to do so.
His oversight was not locking the door. A rookie parenting mistake.
A-Yuan burst through the door like the Kool-Aid Man about ten seconds into Wei Ying’s final thank you speech, his damp hair sticking up in downy tufts and his little body swamped by one of Wei Ying’s softest threadbare t-shirts.
“Baba!” He shouted at the top of his tiny but incredibly powerful lungs. “There’s a bird in the house!”
Wei Ying watched the dismay cross his face in real time on the phone screen, followed by alarm when his son’s words finally registered. “There’s a what in the house?” He asked as he whipped his head around, the live stream momentarily forgotten.
“A bird!” A-Yuan said excitedly, hopping over to him when the shirt got tangled around his feet. Wei Ying scooped him up before he tumbled face-first to the floor. His son gripped his shirt and leaned in until their noses were nearly touching, eyes wide and bright over the commotion. “Can we keep it?”
There was an angry shriek from the kitchen that suggested the bird would not appreciate such an invitation.
“Where is your dad?” Wei Ying asked instead of answering, phone shoved hastily into his pocket when a crash sounded in the house.
“He’s hiding Popcorn and Jelly Bean,” A-Yuan reported. Wei Ying’s smile was fond; of course Lan Zhan would stash the bunnies safely away. “He told me to wait for him, but I didn’t want you to be scared! It’s okay to be scared, though,” he said earnestly, his little face solemn and so reminiscent of Lan Zhan that Wei Ying had to stop and shower kisses all over his face.
“When’d you get to be so smart, huh?” Wei Ying asked when A-Yuan was breathless with laughter and squirming so much he nearly dropped him.
“Baba,” he complained, flopping over his shoulder with a huff. “That’s what you said.”
“Ha! Of course you’re smart, then, if you’re learning from me!”
“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan’s low voice had him turning and tightening his grip on A-Yuan when he wriggled happily at the sight of his other father.
“I hear we have an intruder,” Wei Ying said, grinning widely at his husband.
Exasperation crossed Lan Zhan’s face. “It flew in by mistake,” he said, but then he glanced at A-Yuan with a wry smile.
“By mistake, huh?” Wei Ying bounced his son in his arms, grinning when A-Yuan giggled and fisted his hands in his shirt to cling to for balance. “And what, pray tell, were you doing when this bird wandered into our home?”
A-Yuan blinked big, dark eyes at him with utter innocence. “Playing!”
“Mhm. And what were you playing?” Wei Ying leaned cautiously around the corner to peer into the kitchen, wincing when the unfortunately large bird spotted him and screeched furiously.
“Um.” A-Yuan thought for a moment. “The bunnies wanted to see outside.”
“Did they?” Wei Ying asked, trading a glance with Lan Zhan, who then scowled at the bird now stabbing its beak angrily at the plants on top of the cabinets.
A-Yuan nodded seriously. “Yes, they told me.”
“So you took the bunnies onto the balcony?” Wei Ying prompted.
“They aren’t allowed outside unless someone is with them,” A-Yuan repeated, which, okay, at least he remembered some of the rules. They’d have to work on ensuring he understood the rules were for him, not their fuzzy little pets. “I carried Jellybean outside so she could see the clouds! One looked like a dinosaur, baba. She wanted to see.”
“Oh, well, in that case.” He had a good idea of what had happened here. The ‘not going outside without someone to watch you’ rule had somehow been transferred into ‘you can go outside alone as long as you’re watching the bunnies,’ because that was the logic of a four year old.
“And then the bird?” Lan Zhan asked, clearly also aware of the chain of events that had led to them cowering in the hallway as a baffled and irate bird rushed around their kitchen in a destructive-sounding temper tantrum.
A-Yuan cuddled closer to Wei Ying as though sensing an impending punishment. Wei Ying rolled his eyes; Lan Zhan would fold in a heartbeat under that big-eyed stare, and it would be left to Wei Ying to remind them both why humans under three feet tall weren’t allowed on the balcony alone.
“The bird wanted to play with Jellybean,” A-Yuan said. Wei Ying’s jaw dropped.
“The bird wanted to play with Jellybean,” Lan Zhan repeated slowly.
“Yes! It flew down super fast! And it landed right beside me! Then we went inside, because Popcorn was all alone, and the bird came inside to see him too!”
“Okay,” Wei Ying said in a strangled voice, and it took a heroic effort to keep the laughter at bay. “A-Yuan, why don’t you go check on the bunnies, okay? We’re going to go help the bird get back home.”
A-Yuan craned his neck around to peer into the kitchen. “It sounds pretty mad,” he said doubtfully.
“We will talk to it,” Lan Zhan assured him, and they waited until A-Yuan had scampered out of sight to stare at each other with wide eyes.
“Oh my god. Oh my god.”
Lan Zhan pinched the bridge of his nose. “The bunnies were almost eaten.”
“Our son was almost traumatized for life,” Wei Ying said, choking on a laugh. “Lan Zhan, he almost witnessed a double homicide on our own balcony.” He wheezed with laughter, clutching his ribs.
“We will install higher locks,” Lan Zhan said grimly.
“Either that or buy a baby backpack leash,” Wei Ying agreed, and grinned widely at Lan Zhan’s sigh. “I’m just saying, the kid is going to keep on growing. He’s too smart for his own good, too.”
“What do we do about the bird?” Lan Zhan asked, absently stroking a hand along Wei Ying’s spine when he leaned against his side.
“Hell if I know. Maybe Wen Ning will know what to do. He knows things like this, right?”
“He is a vet,” Lan Zhan said dryly. “I should hope so.”
“I’ll call him,” Wei Ying decided. “We should probably feed him while he’s over here. As payment, you know. Not many friends would come wrestle with a wild bird on a Friday night for us.”
“I think the bird would object if I tried to cook,” Lan Zhan said, surly. He made a sound of distress. “Wei Ying, it’s in the pantry.”
“It’s deciding what it wants for dinner, Lan Zhan. Better pay attention or it’ll go for the bunnies again!” Lan Zhan looked at him, appalled, and he couldn’t bite back the tide of laughter.
“Ridiculous,” Lan Zhan muttered.
“You married me,” Wei Ying pointed out. “No take backs.”
Lan Zhan softened like he did every time Wei Ying brought up their marriage. Pressed a kiss to his forehead and agreed, “No take backs.”
And then a moment later— “But leave the bunnies out of this.”
His Lan Zhan was so soft hearted, Wei Ying thought, so full of love he could burst.
“Yeah, yeah, I know where I rank,” Wei Ying said, entirely teasing. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, still grinning up at Lan Zhan as his husband gave an exasperated sigh.
The grin fell right off his face at the sight of his phone screen, which was open. And recording. And so full with rapid-fire comments that the actual video screen was barely visible.
“Oh no,” he said. “Oh no. Lan Zhan.”
“What’s wrong?” Lan Zhan asked, glancing worriedly at him and then down to the screen when Wei Ying couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.
Wei Ying looked up slowly, so guilty he felt sick with it. “It’s been recording this whole time,” he whispered.
He must have looked really bad, because Lan Zhan ignored the phone entirely and pulled him close, holding one of Wei Ying’s palms flat against his chest and breathing slowly and deliberately until he matched his own breathing to Lan Zhan’s. The familiar routine soothed the edges of anxiety that were rapidly blooming into a panic attack, and he swallowed hard and dropped his forehead against Lan Zhan’s shoulder until he could think straight.
“I’m—“
“No apologies,” Lan Zhan reminded him in a murmur so low against his ear that the phone couldn’t have picked it up. “It was an accident. We knew this wouldn’t last forever, and I’m not ashamed of you or A-Yuan. It’s okay  Wei Ying.”
“But I fucked up,” Wei Ying mumbled into his neck, clinging like A-Yuan after a bad dream.
“You had an intruder to welcome,” Lan Zhan said, amused. Wei Ying risked a glance up and found that Lan Zhan was smiling, not even a hint of worry on his face.
“Might as well run with it, I guess,” he said with a hesitant smile.
Lan Zhan pressed a kiss to his hair. “Might as well.”
Wei Ying smiled for real now, bright and unrestrained as he lifted the camera away from the floor. “Uh. Hi, everyone! Wow, there are a lot of you. Lan Zhan, this is like, triple the people who were watching it at the beginning. I think I’m offended.”
“Wei Ying.”
“Right, right. So… surprise!” He laughed at a few of the comments, and then they winced in tandem at the loud bang and squawk from the kitchen. “There’s another surprise for all of us tonight, it seems. Look who showed up and just let herself right in!” He flipped the camera around just in time to catch the bird’s beady eyes glaring at them from atop the fridge.
“Can you believe this?” Wei Ying slipped into his usual stream-of-consciousness chatter, free hand tucked into Lan Zhan’s as the pitter patter of little feet trotted down the hall towards them, announcing A-Yuan’s return.
He segued into talking about his husband and son, hesitant at first from years of absolute silence on the topic. Half an hour, a miraculously unscathed Wen Ning and a freed bird later, Wei Ying ended the video and set his phone aside, feeling a little wrung out from the evening’s events.
His phone buzzed. “Jiang Cheng wants to know why we’re trending on twitter. Ha! Get a bird stuck in your house and maybe you’ll become a twitter sensation, A-Cheng!”
He glanced over at A-Yuan, who had his face pressed to the glass door to the balcony in a futile search for the bird. “Time for that talk?” He asked, nudging Lan Zhan with a pointed nod.
Lan Zhan looked shifty. “The bunnies weren’t actually hurt.”
“So… a lecture about the dangers of balconies, but not about the bunny jailbreak and near-execution?”
“That seems fair.”
Fair. Yeah, right. Lan Zhan just couldn’t handle a few distraught tears from their child who absolutely realized this weakness and happily exploited it. “You realize we’re a couple of suckers, right?”
Lan Zhan shrugged. “I’m okay with it.”
Yeah, Wei Ying thought, giving in with a sigh. So was he.
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swan-of-sunrise · 3 years
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The Winter Soldier (Chapter Six)
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Summary: (Y/N) and the others successfully abduct a high-level Hydra operative, who provides them with information on Hydra’s bone-chilling plan.
Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader
Word Count: 1.9k
Warnings/Disclaimers: Brief description of a panic attack
A/N: Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Six (Previous Chapter)
“How in the hell did you come up with this plan?”
(Y/N) and Natasha were using binoculars to stare out the window of an abandoned apartment at a small courtyard situated between a tall building and a crowded outdoor café, where Sam was currently sitting and enjoying an iced tea; Steve was sitting in Sam’s car and parked around the corner, at the ready just in case the plan didn’t work. Once (Y/N) told the others her plan to abduct Sitwell and they’d taken a quick trip to Fort Meade for the EXO-7 Falcon pack, Natasha had hacked into the Hydra operative’s digital planner; she discovered in his itinerary that he’d be in a meeting with Senator Stern all morning in the building across the street, and then she’d managed to remotely clone Director Pierce’s cell phone.
Glancing away from her binoculars, (Y/N) flashed Natasha a bright smile. “It wasn’t that hard; part of it’s from a scene in my novel, actually. This is how Amelia – she’s the main character, by the way – tricks an enemy agent into giving her important information on her case.” She pulled the laser pointer integral to their plan out of her pocket and twirled it around her fingers. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“You’re in the wrong line of work, (Y/L/N). You’d make a good spy.”
(Y/N) chuckled bashfully and turned back to her binoculars. “Thanks, but I think I’ll stick to writing. Less of a risk of being shot at, you know.”
“Well, not many writers would just up and volunteer to try and take down a covert terrorist organization.” Although she said it in an off-hand manner, (Y/N) could tell that Natasha was genuinely curious about her off-the-cuff decision.
“I’m not usually an impulsive person, but what I said earlier was true: I have no right to do any less than what the three of you are doing. I won’t sit by and watch as Hydra destroys everything we know, especially knowing that there are ways I could help stop them. Besides, Sam and I are a team, have been for over a year now. I can’t let my best friend put himself in danger without being by his side.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes at herself and gave the spy an embarrassed smile. “But please don’t tell him I said that, Nat, it would only inflate his already-enormous ego.”
“Secret’s safe with me, hot-shot.” Natasha paused for a moment. “You remind me a lot of Rogers. To tell you the truth, I think that’s half the reason why he let you onto the team.”
(Y/N) frowned at her comment, her eyes still looking through her binoculars. “What’s the other half-?” Just then, a group of men walked out of the building across the street. “Wait, is that Sitwell?”
Natasha looked through her own binoculars and nodded. “Yeah, the bald guy with the glasses.” She quickly set down the binoculars and typed out a quick text on her phone. “Time to see if your plan works, 007.”
Through the binoculars, (Y/N) saw Sam glance down at his phone and dial a number from his seat at the café. The group of men headed towards the parking lot, leaving Sitwell alone on the building’s steps. (Y/N) smiled to herself as she watched him pull out his phone and press it to his ear; he became skittish as he listened to Sam talk. Watching Sitwell’s lips, she carefully aimed her laser pointer and pressed the button just as he asked, “And why would I do that?”
She let out a triumphant laugh when Sitwell glanced at the red light on his tie and looked around in fear before hanging up the phone and walking towards Sam. “Yes!” She punched the air and put down her laser pointer and binoculars. “Dynamite with a laser beam!”
“‘Killer Queen,’ yeah?” Natasha grinned and nodded appreciatively. “Steve was right, you’ve got a great taste in music. C’mon, we’d better head down to the car…”
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Fifteen minutes later, Steve was throwing Sitwell across the rooftop of an apartment building; Natasha strode confidently after him, and (Y/N) tried her best to hide her unease as she trailed behind them. Although she’d thoroughly researched torture methods for her novel, she wasn’t quite sure she could stomach seeing them performed in real life. Stay calm, Captain America wouldn’t do those things to someone else, she thought to herself, fiddling with the edge of her grey leather jacket, although he did mention that they might do that one thing if Sitwell doesn’t talk. She looked up from her combat boots in time to see Steve say, “Tell me about Zola’s algorithm.”
“Never heard of it.”
“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?”
“I was throwing up, I get seasick.” Steve grabbed Sitwell roughly by the collar and forced him to the edge of the rooftop, but the man only smiled condescendingly up at the super-soldier. “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you’re gonna throw me off the roof? Because that’s not really your style, Rogers.”
(Y/N) couldn’t see Steve’s face, but she assumed that he was smiling as he smoothed out the crumpled lapels of Sitwell’s jacket. “You’re right. It’s not. It’s hers.” After quickly stepping aside, Steve watched calmly as Natasha kicked Sitwell directly in the chest and he toppled off the roof, screaming the whole way down. Despite (Y/N) knowing what their plan was, she still felt her stomach lurch uncomfortably as the man’s screams grew fainter the longer he fell; she’d never mentioned her extreme fear of heights to any of them, but in that moment she wished she had.
Natasha turned to Steve. “Oh wait, what about that girl from Accounting, Laura…?”
“Lilian. Lip piercing, right?”
“Yeah, she’s cute.”
Steve shook his head and looked down. “Yeah, I’m not ready for that.”
(Y/N)’s confusion and slight jealousy at their conversation shifted to awe as Sam suddenly flew up and threw Sitwell back onto the roof while he landed gracefully on his feet. (Y/N) rolled her eyes in amusement as her best friend flashed her a wink, his wings quickly folding back into his pack as he approached them.
Sitwell, no longer composed and condescending, was shaking with fear on the rooftop as he held his hands up. “Zola’s algorithm is a program for choosing Insight’s targets!”
“What targets?” (Y/N) asked, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.
To her surprise, Sitwell sneered. “And who the hell are you? The personal assistant?”
Steve grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and squeezed until he began wincing. “What targets?”
“You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, a first-time novelist writing about the Cold War in D.C…” Everyone’s eyes snapped to (Y/N)’s, and she could feel the blood leaving her face as she fully registered his words. “Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to Hydra! Now, or in the future.”
Natasha, her face grim, drew closer to Sitwell. “The future? How could it know?”
“How could it not? The twenty-first century is a digital book. Zola taught Hydra how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola’s algorithm evaluates people’s past to predict their future.”
“And what then?”
Sitwell rubbed his temple agitatedly. “Oh my God, Pierce is gonna kill me.”
Steve shook him again. “What then?”
“…then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time.”
A heavy silence hung over the group as they all absorbed what Sitwell had said; millions of people around the world are going to be killed by Hydra if we don’t stop them, (Y/N) realized in horror. She tried to avoid thinking about it, but she couldn’t help but replay Sitwell’s words over and over in her head: A first-time novelist writing about the Cold War in D.C., a first-time novelist writing about the Cold War in D.C., a first-time novelist writing about the Cold War in D.C…
“Okay, time to head out.” After yanking Sitwell roughly to his feet, Steve turned to Natasha and Sam. “You two mind escorting him back to the car?”
“’Course not, Cap,” Natasha smirked as she and Sam grabbed Sitwell’s arms and dragged him towards the rooftop doorway, Sam throwing a concerned glance at (Y/N) as he went.
“You okay, (Y/N)?”
As Steve’s words left his mouth, (Y/N) registered the ringing in her ears and that she was taking rapid and shallow breaths; her heart hammered in her chest and through her clouded vision, she could barely make out Steve’s worried face right before her. “Can’t…can’t breathe…”
“Okay, it’s okay, um, here,” Stepping forward, he reached for her hand but stopped himself short. “Is it okay if I hold your hand?” (Y/N) gave a short nod and he took her hand, gently placing her palm against his chest so she could feel his strong heartbeat. “You’re okay, just try and slow your heartbeat to match mine. Can you do that for me? Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, like this.” He began doing the breathing exercise, and she shakily began copying him. “You’re doing great, (Y/N), just keep breathing.” To her surprise, he stopped the breathing exercise and began quietly humming a familiar tune; it was so faint beneath the dim ringing in her ears that she could’ve dismissed it as her mind tricking her if not for the feeling of reverberation in his chest. (Y/N) gradually felt her body responding positively; her breathing began to even out and as her heartbeat returned to normal, her vision cleared and the ringing faded away into nothing.
Once his humming came to an end, she looked up at him with an insecure smile. “‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,’ The Platters. Thank you. I-I don’t know what came over me, I was fine until…well, you know. All at once, everything suddenly became very…real for me.”
Steve nodded solemnly. “No one will think any less of you if you decide to go home. You’ll be safer, and-”
“No, no way.” She firmly shook her head, her mouth set in a determined line. “I’m staying. Just because I found out I’m a possible Insight target and had a panic attack doesn’t mean that I’m suddenly okay with sitting back while Hydra plans to kill millions; if anything, I’m even more invested in this fight than I was before.” She felt the corners of her mouth lift into a smirk. “If you’re trying to get rid of me, Rogers, then you’re going to have to try a little harder than that.”
When she finally stopped talking, she registered something akin to admiration in Steve’s small smile, and she willed herself not to blush. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few more moments, and that’s when (Y/N) realized that one of Steve’s hands was still resting on her waist and the other was gently holding her hand against his chest, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing small circles over her knuckles.
Steve seemed to realize the same thing because a moment later, he quickly let go of her and took a couple of steps back. With a pinkish tint to his cheeks, he glanced toward the rooftop doorway and replied, “Well, if you’re sure that you’re okay then let’s go. We’ve got a launch to stop.”
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A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy! 
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4BenknAqQQnOWY8NmSa23V
Tagging: @mrs-obrien @lahoete @awkward117​ @cminr​ @momc95​ @awkwardnesshabitat​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @khuang3​ @supersouthy​ @benakenalove​ @brooke0297​ @hufflepeople​ @becausewelie​​ @outoftheregular @supreme-tantrum​
Chapter Seven
“The Winter Soldier” Masterlist
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rotationalsymmetry · 8 months
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I think I should take a moment to explain why you won’t see me going on about how the Dems are our only hope or whatever.
I posted about this in the 2020 election, and I did dislike the posts then but for somewhat different reasons than I do now, so it’s time for an update.
In 2020 I talked about how screaming at people online isn’t activism and it specifically isn’t GOTV activism, how Get Out The Vote means contacting people who you have good reason to think want to vote Democrat (eg they’re registered to vote as Democrats) and you look for any barriers to them voting and you pester I mean gently encourage them to vote until you do. (There’s also voter registration drives, where obviously you don’t target people who are already registered voters but you also don’t harass people who just pass your table by, and you have to accept that some people who register aren’t going to be Democrats.)
There’s a number of ways to do GOTV. You can do it informally by talking to people that you know personally; most people do this kind of indirectly by asking friends and family who or what they’re voting for and just assuming they will vote, which does by itself function as a reminder to do election research, reinforcement for doing election research, and a reminder to actually vote. Going around with an “I voted” sticker the day of (or before if you voted before Election Day) is also a very low key low conflict form of GOTV, which is why polls hand out the stickers.
You can also do it though your local Democratic Party organization, or whichever party you want to work with (eg I did GOTV for Matt Gonzales’ campaign for San Francisco Mayor in the early 2000’s (2003? Don’t remember) as a Green Party candidate. He nearly won. Instead we got fuck the homeless Gavin Newsom instead. Ah well.) This can be done by physically going to people’s homes and knocking on their doors, or by text, or by postcards (see postcards to voters.)
None of this looks anything like getting mad at strangers online for saying they’ll do something you don’t want them to do. It is about finding people who want to do what you want them to do, and giving them some encouragement and/or logistical assistance like a ride to the polls or information about how to vote.
Emphatically disagreeing with people who have said they are going to do a thing you don’t want them to do, online, does what it always does online. It divides people into opposing, vitriolic camps on each of two extreme ends. Which might not be a bad end result, except that all you’re asking people to do on the voting end is to, well, vote, which is a pretty low bar and you shouldn’t have to spend a year plus building up an in-group identity of people who vote Democrat to get people to dot what. It’s also a really stupid thing to organize the other side around.
(except it doesn’t actually stop with voting, it also goes on to refuse to say anything critical of democrats at any time in case that will reduce voter turnout. Because heaven forbid people let their decisions be affected by information. It’d be nice if team vote actually believed in democracy.)
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