#(not so much symbolism as it is just me whacking you over the head with the point but it looks cool)

[journey-to-the-attic]

one thing about ik is that she will always reach out

[bbycosmo]

Warning: this is a tangent from a delusion being currently frothing at the mouth for Oathbound so everything said after this statement must be taken with the finest grain of salt because clearly delusion does not = reality but I’m too far gone to understand that lol

Okay, I don’t have any sort of evidence towards this besides an incredibly inaccurate gut feeling and my brain trying to connect dots towards.

So we know that Selwyn is a Gemini

BreeBree is a Scorpio

And Nick’s birthday hasn’t been revealed yet.

Okay, so something kinda tells me what Nick can potentially be a water or earth sign, ( I’m not knowledgeable about astrology in the slightest, but after looking up the compatibility charts for Scorpio I noticed that Gemini and Scorpio has the lowest compatibility with one another, which would probably describe Sel and Bree’s relationship. And then if you look at the highest compatibility it’s Pieces, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer)

And because Oathbound is coming out in March something just told me that like what if she sorta planned it that way? So bloodmarked was originally supposed to come out in July which would be right at the time of Gemini season so it would’ve been a Selwyn birthday book release.

But instead it was released in November on Bree’s birthday which… idk it could just be the way publishers work and small bits of pieces not being 100% but it felt intentional? Yeah this is all a whack a doodle thought but I need to release it into the aether so I can get back to my life and stop this insanity of this series taking over every aspect of my day to day thoughts.

So yeah…. in conclusion, I think that’s Oathbound being released in March might be symbolic for the trios birthdays. As a nerd I feel like having little Easter eggs and stuff like that would be really cute for the fandom and then once the series is over we can pull together all the pieces of the puzzle.

I hope I’m wrong because I don’t want to be dragged further down into my rabbit hole of this craziness any longer by the time we have to wait for another 2-3 years for the 4th and final book.

Also… while I’m here. I don’t really buy into the whole Sel as the ShadowKings son. I think perhaps Valec being related to him is more believable because clearly there is some sort of relationship between the two there; also seeing as how he was prayed that he was dead after meeting up with Sel and Bree in the forest after that whole “ I can still taste you” scene.

Although!!! What I will say is, how interesting it would be if Selwyn’s mother was the Shadow Kings daughter!!! Yes I did say I don’t buy into the whole Sel being the shadow king thing but I do think it’s plausible for him to be related to him. For the regents to be so convinced about that her bloodline is so important that they forced her to sire a child. There is clearly so much more about the Kane family that has yet to be revealed. I sit eagerly at the edge of my seat waiting for the pen to drop and all is reveled.

Again no real evidence to support this besides random hunches and feelings..

I do hope we see more Dragon Bree because dragons have been brought up since legend born and I would love to see some kick ass vengeful dragon fight scenes. I also really want to know how Nick feels. ( in general) His side of this love triangle is hanging by a thread because the readers haven’t been able to peak into his head and understand what he has been thinking and feeling for awhile.

While Nick is being discussed I still haven’t forgiven him for not considering Bree’s safety after that whole Gala incident. Why was Sel more aware of the shitty position he put Briana in !? Even Briana was so overcome with the “ we did it Joe” celebration that she was too busy getting tongued down that I don’t even think she even processes that fact. That part enrages me even now when I think about that man. Because I see so many people shit on Selwyn for being a loose cannon ( which he is!!) but for a loose cannon to be the person making statements like

“ if that is your wish” after she tells him she’s come to say goodbye

Or the whole ‘no other Merlin monologue’ where he doesn’t even confess his feelings to her ( In fact he hasn’t even explicitly said what he wants or whether or not he is in love with her. As a reader we know based on his actions there is something there but who knows if that tree loving cambion will allow himself those feelings) he simply just wants her to be happy and alive so that the world doesn’t break and go dark.

And of course let’s not forget how he seems to see Bree for who she is. And that is someone completely insufferable , stubborn, annoying, while also being remarkable, stunning and beautiful.

Okay I know I am clearly biased but, it’s just hard to see Nick the same way since that scene, and I really want a redemption story for him in Oathbound

Update: just another thought

Since Sel is one of the few if not one of the only Merlin’s who can transform in to a bird. What if instead of the Shadow King he’s more directly related to Merlin than what the Regents have brainwashed him to believe all his life.

Related how? I’m not sure but after sleeping on it I think this makes more sense because how can we as readers completely ignore the fact that during one of Bree’s bloodwalks where she sees Merlin she finds it funny that even Merlin was known for saying

“ I am aware”

Which we know is such a Sel thing to say!!!

Like?!!!!!

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

You don't have to answer this but I wanted to let you know you got me super invested in SunxEclipse stuff.

The way they are in the show has always intrigued me. Like the way those two interacted had always felt different in a way??? And I'd always get all excited when I found little similarities between the two characters.

Rambling a bit but does anyone remember how in the Halloween takeover Eclipse forced Moon to go through the same pain Sun went through when they shared a body? And he just left Sun to chill and nap in his own mind??? (Probably the longest break Sun's ever had btw akskdh) LIKE WHAT HELLO???

And there were plenty of times Eclipse could have just killed Sun but. Didn't? Like when he got into SolarFlare's body. And when Sun destroyed Moon's magic circles, Eclipse explained to Sun how he could fix the problem instead of just letting him walk into the raw magic and tear himself apart? (Think that was the longest and calmest convo they ever had lmao)

The fuckinggg. Symbolic base Eclipse had on the surface of the sun.

Alot more I could say (especially about how similar Sun acts like Eclipse in manyyy instances) but very eepy almost midnight.

Anyway I like SunxEclipse. Would never admit that off anon tho because the world is. Very mean. Sometimes. :/

Glad I got you interested in Sun x Eclipse stuff too. XD

At this point in show lore, Sun is the one who knows Eclipse the most. So who knows where we'll go with that.

And yeah... Forcing Moon to go through the same pain that Sun experienced when sharing a body.... I mean, sure. It was probably to get Moon to suffer. But that also feels so vengeful and purposeful.

It was also worth noting in the early introduction of Eclipse, when he was in Sun's head and leaking out during intense moments of Gameplay Videos. (and I still stand by that Eclipse was the one who said "Chillapachino" that one time and was enjoying being Silly with Sun.)

But whenever Eclipse took over in gameplay, he was always a little more angry.... Sure... But like.... He was also way more assertive, and tended to stand up to Moon more. Something that EARLY Sun didn't really do all that much.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I think he threatened to take away Moon's whacking stick at one point as well. But I might have imagined that and that might not have been a legit thing.

Not to mention GodEclipse kept Sun around of all people. He even killed Lunar in that dimension, but he thought Sun was worthy to live. He even wiped his memories so he wouldn't suffer too much. Even when we see GodEclipse he says "My Sun is dead" His Sun. Not like... "that nuisance" or "idiot" is dead... His Sun.

And Remember, GodEclipse is not TOO Much a Diversion from the timeline.

The only difference is that he won the fight with Bloodmoon and got the Star shortly after then. And he wiped everyone like he said he would, unlike Eclipse 2.0 who got upset cus Old Moon died and he had no one to monologue about his hate boner to.

Eclipse also in early episodes didn't really include Sun much in his evil Plans. His vendetta and focus was solely on Moon. Sun just kinda got twisted up in a lot of it due to circumstance and him being trapped in Sun's head.

But yeah... Lunar says that he knows Moon better than anyone cus he lived in Old Moon's head.

That goes both ways.

Eclipse and Sun know each other better then anyone at this point.

If there is someone to give Eclipse a chance, I hope it's Sun.

I feel Sun would be a hypocrite if he tries with Bloodmoon and doesn't with Eclipse.

But I guess we'll see.

[lilac-hecox]

I have a prompt for Ian's day. Ian had just recently come out and is going on a date with a guy for the first time. Anthony, who doesn't understand why he's so upset about it, makes up ridiculous excuses so Ian won't go

EDIT: ^Ignore the first ask on top, I answered the wrong one. The one above here (2nd ask) is the one this was supposed to go to!

Ian/Anthony - Surprise

This idea is inspired by @xxmoonch1ldxx my best pookie in the world.

--

“You’re smiling too much,” Ian says.

“Can’t a guy smile at his best friend turned boyfriend?”

“No,” Ian says flatly, teetering towards suspicious, “you know I don’t like to make a big deal out of my birthday.”

“I know,” Anthony says gently, and he takes Ian’s hand in his own. They are sitting together on Ian’s couch. It’s Ian’s birthday and they had a nice vegan and gluten-free dinner at Ian’s favorite restaurant and returned to his place to watch some weird movie that Anthony’s never heard of, “I might have a surprise for you, but it isn’t huge, like, Shayne’s not going to jump out of a cake or anything.”

Ian laughs, “Thanks. So, what is my surprise then? A gift?”

“A gift, but not in the traditional sense,” Anthony says.

Ian raises an eyebrow, “A vacation?”

Anthony smiles wider, “Are you going to keep guessing or just actually let me show you?”

“Fine, fine,” Ian says relenting, but he’s grinning soft and sweet.

Anthony moves his hand from Ian’s and then he shifts so he’s facing Ian better as he rolls up the sleeve of his sweater. Ian watches in confusion as Anthony turns his arm face up so that the inside of his wrist is pointed at Ian.

There, small, on the inside of Anthony’s wrist amidst the black swirls, is a small and intricately designed letter ‘I’. It is small enough to be hidden, to not be distinguishable on camera unless you were very close up.

“My birthday present from you is a tattoo you got yourself?” Ian says with a laugh.

Anthony rolls his eyes, “It’s symbolic.”

“When did you get this done?” Ian asks, his tone a little softer.

“Last week, a friend of Courtney’s. Quick and painless compared to the other ones.”

Ian’s surprised he missed it, but he isn’t usually checking Anthony’s wrists and he has so many tattoos it would be almost impossible to notice something so small unless Anthony wanted him to, like now.

“I, uh, wanted to feel like I always had a piece of you with me…no matter what,” Anthony says, a pink color rising to his cheeks. “I’ve already been connected to you my whole life; I figure what does it hurt to have you with me for the rest of it?”

Anthony sounds nervous, as if he isn’t sure whether Ian will appreciate this or not, understand it or not. It’s not a proposal per say, but it is an offer of forever, a promise if Ian is willing to take it as such.

Ian reaches out and he runs his fingertips over the small ink of his initial.

“Don’t expect me to go and get an ‘A’ on my ass or something,” Ian mumbles but he’s also blushing, and his eyes are shining, and Anthony can’t help but laugh.

“I won’t. Maybe it’s whack, but I just…I want you with me all the time, Ian.”

“It’s not whack,” Ian says softly, touching the back of Anthony’s head, leaning in close, “It’s very sweet.”

Then Ian kisses Anthony, nothing overly passionate, but still tingling with feelings underneath. Ian is very show rather than tell, even when it’s the two of them, but he’s getting better at the telling part every day.

When they pull apart, Ian’s eyes are closed and he’s close enough that when he speaks Anthony can feel the words ghosting warm on his lips and cheeks.

“I love you, and we will be together forever…tattoo or no tattoo.”

Anthony tries his best to fight back the tears that want to well up in his eyes and he thinks he mostly succeeds, but Ian is laughing and kissing him again.

“I love you too,” Anthony says, “happy birthday, Ian.”

[mercymermaid]

oh boy shadows of agony was a wild wild ride

here’s my insanely long live reaction

warning: spoilers

OKAY SHADOWS OF AGONY

SAW THE COMMENTS

ONLY PNE COMMENT

BUT MARK CAMEOOO

APAPRENTLY

afton sweetie i think the guy is dead

oh! i see!

ykw won’t judge everyone needs a helping hand sometimes

oh a bomb

down goes freddy fazbear’s

YEAHHH MARK ‼️

someone get bonnie his sprinkles

what is he doing 💀

is he gonna sing some emo song about “wow look at what i’ve become goddamn i hate life ilove life” because that’s what this scene is looking like

IS HE SLICING OFF HIS OWN HANDS?

HUH

HELLO

AGONY YEAH VERY

oh yeah no explanation thanks

IS THAT NATEWANTSTOBATTLE 😱

BRO THEY GOT THE WHOLE GANG UP IN HEREEEE

YEAH NATEEEE

chew on that pizza hut

and then he drops it

foxy you dumb bitch where are you going

OH HE DID SLICE OFF HIS OWN HANDS

WTF 💀

WHY

GOOD LORD WHY

I WISH WE HAD THE EMO SONG INSTEAD

how are you gonna edit out the messy parts without hands

also that is not matpat’s voice hello

WAIT DID THEY LET BABY OUT

WOOHOOOO

YEAHHH BABY BOSS FIGHT

wait

hold on

hold on

so if

in the fnaf musical

which comes after this whole fucking mess

he has hands

whose hands is he using

WAIT.

im thinking too hard about this

he either stole the inspector’s hands and connected them to his own, so when he’s taken in for interrogation if anything, his fingerprints are different than the ones that killed the inspector

but he’s wearing gloves??

did he get prosthetics later on or did they just not plan ahead

did he get so emo he decided to take his own hands

good lord

oh that is not matpat’s voice 💀

“who left all this garbage in my office?” glitchtrap: 🧍

“two miserable monsters” kys glitchtrap

“what are you?!” funny that both times he’s yelled this phrase (og musical and agony) he’s being assaulted by a psycho rabbit

WHY IS GLITCHTRAP KILLING AFTON HELPPP

WHAT DID BRO DO TO YOU HE LITERALLY MADE YOU

“you’re not william afton”

huh

glitchtrap is your memory ass

or have we been trolled this entire fucking time

hollddddddd onnnnnnn

YEAH GO BABY

how is bro gonna use a chainsaw while lacking hands

HE’S SO FUCKING HILARIOUSLY PATHETIC HELPPPPPPPPPPP

this is why we don’t cut off our hands chat 🥰

the tech’s face of :O right before being whacked is golden

“he has too much to hide” so this IS william afton?

what if this is michael afton

and all this time michael just went “oh yeah killing people? family business, dream career”

but

elizabeth

she’s william’s niece

and called him william in web of lies

and everyone else calls him william afton

did william die and michael coincidentally looked enough like him to take his identity?

NO MORE CRYING ONLY CHAOS

GOOOO SWEETIEEEEE

the glowing eyes still have me gagged

are we sure we wanna do this ☝️🤓

im sorry im being mean

bring back non voiced-over scenes

bb being used as bait :(

YEAH GO LIZZIE

can’t wait to see the blooper reel for this tbh

oh sorry *lizzY

oh and then not-voiced-over?

pick a type random encounters please

vanny!

*vanne!

magic scissors and chair is crazy

INVISIBLE VANNYYYY

“everyone is my enemy” okay edgelord

okay so vanny does not like glitchtrap

who would’ve thunk it

“escaped?!? ?!?” web of lies: 👁️👄👁️

therapytrap

HELPPPP SHE’S SO GUILTY

OHHH

or she doesn’t remember a thing from web of lies somehow

the actor change doesn’t symbolize a new character bc she escaped through the window

so she’s quoting afton as a cute little callback orrrrr they both know lizzy let him escape (in that case vanny would be beating her ass nvm)

probably a callback

okay so i’m just dumb

yeah she regrets the entirety of web of lies

lizzy is an icon

YESS GIRLBOSS VANNY ILYYYYYYY

“not if i get into his head��� YES EAT EAT EAT OUGHHHHJJJ YESSIRRRRR

or

is she manipulating lizzy

bc we all saw what happened in monster in your head

unless that was vanny being manipulated by glitchtrap and now she’s repaying the favor

why is this so fnaf lore core

what is he pondering so heavily about

she doesn’t even care that she killed eggs 😭 she’s here for her silly robots

i love how animated and expressive glitchtrap is

is this all a joke to you

icon

“fear is like a hammer. with a hammer and a couple nails, you can build an empire, or pry away the pieces that just won’t fit. the nails don’t know what they’re making, whether it’s good or bad, they only know the weight of the hammer.”

okay i hate to say it but that line ate

“i’m a results-oriented kind of guy” oh fuck off

a twisted bear monster

bear?

as in afton’s suit?

toxic grudge with the humans

bro who did what to you glitchtrap

glitch maybe you were entrapped bc your shitty therapy made things worse idk tho

NO VANNNYYYY

also SONGGG TIMEEEE

VAMMY GLOTCHTRAP DUETTTTT

OHHHH THIS SONG SLAPSSSS

BUNNY BOSS FIGJT

OUGHHHHHHJHH THIS SOMG GOES HARDDDDDD

NO VANNY

okay op

famous last words glitchtrap

NO

VANNY

DID HE JUST FUCKING KILL HER

ASSHOLE ASSHOLE ASSHOLE ASSHOLE

BTDKUGDIUOGEROHITEBNOL

lizzy get his ass please

DAMN

THAT IS NOT A FUN CLIFFHANGER

okay that’s an interesting installment

how do i feel about that

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 s02E08 Soul Mates

s02 Table of Contents • previous episode

oh god. All three of Londo Mollari's wives. Minus two. Sounds very slightly more manageable. To watch.

What kind of mind trick was that? Stoner, lol. Maybe it’s the scent of dank weed floating off him.

No. I just made a very weird noise. Talia's ex husband Matt Stoner has arrived on B5. This is going to be an episode of all time. I can just tell.

Timov: "I won't bite, Vir." Vir: “With all due respect, madam, that's not what I heard." Timov: “All right....that one time." Vir: “It was...it was twice..."

Oh, Centauri. why. Them Being Like That is, so far, kinda funny, kinda repelling. While being unfairly interesting, actually. I'm getting to be fond of complaining about them. And I also realized today that part of what repels me about them is that I feel unwillingly voyeuristic whenever they get heterosexually dysfunctional.

^ actually me whenever the Centauri whip out a tentacle or overshare about their painfully hetero sex lives

Another wife has arrived! I quite like these two women interacting.

John Sheridan, my heart just grew three sizes. That's so sweet! Friends and allies!

ashfdsjhfd. OK. I have to pause and quote this Ivanova and Delenn interaction because I just put my hands over my face and scream-laughed for a minute over Delenn's hair.

Delenn, all but vibrating in rage: "Commander. I want you to understand. I acquired human characteristics to bring your people and mine closer together. To symbolize our mutuality! It is supposed to be a dignified, inspiring transition for both humans and Minbari. So will you, please, explain to me, why this - this - this *rips at hair*" Ivanova: "Hair." Delenn *rips at a trapped hairbrush* "...refuses to cooperate?!"

This is also everything I ever wanted. And also why my hair is never allowed to grow longer than my chin before I whack it off.

Delenn: "Please. I trust you."

my heart

Oh, Talia. My heart again, for totally different reasons. PsiCorps are shits.

And G'Kar!! I've missed G'Kar. His armor is getting prettier and prettier I swear.

So shimmery and shiny!

I could watch Daggair and Timov all day.

Daggair: "Your problem, Timov, is that you've never known your place." Timov: "My place? You once threatened to break a vase over his head." Daggair, laughing: "Well, that...that, was the impetuousness of youth." Timov: "That was last month."

Timov definitely has Londo's number. I agree with her, Daggair is definitely up to something.

Timov: "The secret of our marriage's success, Londo, is our lack of communication. You have jeopardized that success, and I would know why."

This is absolutely, hands down, the funniest, most engaging, and delightful Centauri episode so far. I love Timov so much. She can come back whenever she likes.

Happy 30th Ascension Day, Londo.

Wow, a two-out-of-three divorce is a great 30th Ascension Day gift from the emperor. Well, any one wish within his power is a great gift, but it totally tracks that Londo would use it to get out of as many arranged marriages as possible (while insisting that it's a valid way of life and other people should just shut up and take the marriages).

I like the staggered introduction of Mollari wives.

I bet the props department had a ton of fun coming up with alien artifacts.

Lennier is back!!! He's so sweet. Checking to make sure the hair curlers aren't painful. I must disagree with Delenn: they may not be physically painful, but they're a psychological torment.

This tension between Garibaldi and Matt Stoner is delightful. He's clearly a shit, but he and Garibaldi have banger chemistry.

Londo: "Be careful. I should have warned you. On Earth, you have these creatures - insects attracted to flames?" Sheridan: "Uh, yes. Moths. They're drawn to flames and bright lights, and get burned." Londo: "Mariel is drawn to men of power in that same way. But trust me - she burns them."

I like her.

My most insistent inclination right now is that Londo will stay married to Timov. But I could also see him staying with Mariel just because she's the youngest, or he admires her zest for burning powerful men. Or Daggair, since she's flattering his ego on this trip. It'll be interesting to see how this goes! Perhaps this divorce is a fake-out and he'll end up using his favor for something completely unrelated.

Fuck U Matt. Leave her alone.

This is definitely a case of the cure being worse than the sickness. Losing telepathy after a lifetime of having it sounds traumatic. Losing it to get out of PsiCorps grip if there's no other option - potentially worth it, depending on the individual. Having your creepy ex arrange for it, thus giving his obsessed and gross self something to hold over you? Nooo. No thank you.

Talia, to Garibaldi: "Please, keep out of this. It's not your concern." Garibaldi: "I...I feel it is." Talia: "Feel differently."

TELL HIM SIS. Fuck yes. Talia telling men to fuck off instead of appeasing them and de-escalating is a glorious thing to behold.

Londo: "You haven't changed." Timov: "You have. You've devolved."

Your honor, I love her.

:( I'm sorry you're apologizing to Gaibaldi, Talia.

And that you're considering leaving with Matt!

Understandable feelings, F- risk assessment.

Londo and G'Kar's fighting is as delightful as ever! Londo could do so much with his brainpower if he devoted it to anything worthwhile, and this is obvious because he's so good at fucking with G'Kar.

Lennier is so fucking cute. Londo is going to cheat so hard with those marked cards.

Murder via ancient, Centauri artifact is a pretty interesting way to take someone out.

Obviously Matt Stoner sucks, but I continue to love him and Garibaldi interacting.

Awwww, Timov.

"Whatever you think of me, doctor, I have some principles that even twenty years with Londo can't erase."

oh my god. hahahahaha I love her.

Security Officer: "There's just something about [Matt] that makes you wanna like him."

Hmmmm. Residual PsiPowers?

Franklin: "Ambassador Mollari, do you mind if make one personal observation? Londo: "No, not at all." Franklin: "Stick it." Londo: "How odd. I didn't even know we were married."

That's a pretty good one. I tolerate the Centauri Boomer Humor a lot better when it's less hetero.

Matt definitely has some latent PsiPowers. Shake it off, Talia! Kick him in the nads!

Well, setting him up to being hit by Garibaldi is OK too, I guess.

I did wonder if Mariel was responsible for the poisoning. Love her. And G'Kar! He continues to be a total delight and I love seeing him interact with new people.

Matt: "Look into my mind. No shields. No tricks." Talia: "No chance."

Good plan. A+ risk assessment. That's character growth!

It is slightly laudable that Londo prefers to have honestly over flattery in his stable relationships.

:( oh fuck, poor Delenn. Menstruating is not something you wanna pick up, especially when it comes with cramps. :(

next episode

[l3tterk]

NEW MUSIC: Carmen Caska ~ To Be Plugged

NOTE: I originally posted this to AOTY, but thought I'd drop here as well

I have been really excited for this project, ever since it was first mentioned all the way back in 2019/2020.

Over the last few years, it has been relatively quiet on Caska’s front regarding their musical output; a couple demos here and there but otherwise not so much.

In 2020 there was “WHACK” - a more classically hip-hop styled track complete with chipmunk vocals and a real sense of Spaß (to appropriate a Brechtian term) in both Caska’s vocal delivery and lyrics as we learn about the artist’s personal convictions and how they navigate through the world.

In 2021 there was “220 - 2” an interesting listen that with hindsight, due to its pitch shifting and glitchy, yet serene drops, could be viewed as a forecast for the musical direction Caska was headed.

These aside, the last substantial offering Caska was the 2019 mixtape, “ARI”- a project that saw the artist take a dramatic leap forward from their early days of Acoustic-y Lofi Hip-hop (under the alias Toph, or Topshiba) into a world of more industrial/Alternative hip-hop. On “To Be Plugged” however, we see Caska take yet another step - this time incorporating flavours of hyper-pop and electronic music into the mix, yielding a more ambitious, confident and engaging listen.

Over this span we’ve also seen several artist name changes for this project, starting with Ari Mori, moving to Aari Mori finally arriving at Carmen Caska - a fact that is useful to note as they are the literal stages of Caska's devopment.

Context aside, the review begins below

The album opens with “through me” an electronic, shoegaze-y number that sets the sonic stage for what we are about to listen to. Lyrically, Caska establishes a recurring theme of snow - something that is referred to again later on the project. As a listener, you very much “descend” into the world of this project during it’s runtime and it definitely feels so beginning with this track.

“You will drop everything” is an uptempo track that could have fit in on “Ari” - not that this is a bad thing. Instrumentally, this song feels like you’re travelling in a race car, with bending synths, glitchy drums, and a roaring bass.

“Lil Hoe” - is an alternate version of what was the lead single titled “Gutted” released with an accompanying mv in 2020. Due to this song, or at least the idea for it being in the ether for so long relative to the rest of the tracks, I feel most attached to this one. Though I miss the clearer original’s lyrics, in particular section in the original with the lyrics “Made into an addict but I loved her” I appreciate this track for what it is, which at the end of the day is still a hyper-pop banger.

“Have Mercy” is probably one of my favourite songs off this album, there is a fantastic sense of progression throughout its run, the “This is like this many rings” part just goes HARD and I also love the line “all the angels have fallen”

“Last Dance” is an apocalypse party anthem, with fluttering/growling arpeggios - which echo Portishead’s “the rip”

On “Heart Ate Whole” Caska flexes their fantastic production talents - its just a marvel to listen to.

“Tear” is a powerful, yet serene stroll down memory lane, as Caska manages to express the feeling of growing up - I have already written a review for this so I won’t go on much longer- but I wanted to note that it is my thinking that the reference to snow on this record could be a symbol of purity, or innocence, which becomes more powerful considering its use on this particular song

“Kill Me now” - feels Jpegmafia influenced in the best way, especially with the gang vocal chops - there’s a great sense of balance between braggadocio and vulnerability, which reminds me specifically of Peggy’s song “Kenan vs Kel”.

“Valhalla” is another banger - nuff said.

The project ends on “East River”, which I think is one of Caska’s best penned songs. I LOVED the passage “What did he think about?/In those very last breaths before the air ran out/Was it someone/Who gave meaning to every bubble/Who made his heart more than a muscle”. Instrumentally, I liked the distorted guitars and the way the whole composition builds is immaculate. - A truly epic closer.

All in all, I believe that this project is very well conceptualised/executed. Fantastic production, Unique vocals, some decent to brilliant lyrics as well. Would highly recommend. My only critique is that the lyrics are still buried in the mix, of course this is in no small part a stylistic choice, however I still feel that it obfuscates what could otherwise make for a more engaging listen.

This also happened to release on my birthday, so thank you for the amazing gift and keep up the great work, Caska!

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Hacienda. By Isabel Cañas. Berkley, 2022.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Genre: historical fiction, Gothic

Series: N/A

Summary: In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: disturbing imagery, rape, blood

OVERVIEW: Even though I was lukewarm on The Vampires of El Norte, I was intrigued enough to want to read more from Cañas. So when I saw this book was available at my local store, I snatched it up. But just like the first book I read, my reaction was a little mixed. While I love Cañas's imagination and some of the spooky descriptions of the hacienda, I ultimately felt like this book lacked strong characterization and didn't so much build suspense as it did whack you over the head. So while I enjoyed the Gothicness of the story, the quality of the craft puts it at about a 2.5 or 3 star read for me.

WRITING: Cañas's prose is not as smooth in this book as I would have liked it to be. There seems to be an imbalance of showing versus telling, and Cañas leans a bit too heavily on rhetorical questions in order to drive suspense. She also repeats a few key phrases often - things like "I was a general's daughter" and "I was going to die in this house." It wasn't always bad, but it was enough to draw my attention.

The narrative also flips between Beatriz's and Andrés's points of view, but because Andrés's chapters are so few, the shift felt a bit random. I think the entire book could have been from Beatriz's POV with more things about Andrés's past revealed over time, or else a more even distribution of chapters.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Beatriz, the 20 year daughter of a Mexican General who marries her political enemy for security. Beatriz's husband brings her to his hacienda, where Beatriz meets his sister, the staff, and a mysterious priest named Andrès. But when her husband departs for the capital, Beatriz becomes plagued by a malevolent spirit who seems connected to the history of the house.

I really loved the Gothic vibes in this book. The hacienda was unsettling and the power play between Beatriz and Juana was all the delicious stuff of a great Gothic story. I also really loved the blend of Catholicism and witchcraft that made the "magic" of Andrés's family feel complex. Cañas also has a knack for creating disturbing images associated with the supernatural, and I loved all the creepy moments.

However, I do think Cañas kills the suspense of her narrarive in a few ways. First, Cañas goes from 0 to 100 fairly quickly so that rather than building up this mystery associated with the house or causing the reader to doubt what Beatriz is seeing, we pretty much understand that the hacienda is haunted and unsafe right away. Second, events didn't seem to build very much, and moments of tension were interrupted by moments of downtime that killed the buildup. For example, there are multiple instances when characters see something scary or get hurt, but instead of motivating them to act right away, these events are followed by things like cooking or going out to hold unrelated mass.

Finally, I thought the romance was rather weak. Without spoiling too much, I will say that I think the lack of chemistry is due to the writing style and one character not being very agentive. Honestly, the romance could have been left out and the book could have focused on family ties - that might have felt more cohesive.

I also had a hard time being engrossed in the plot because character motivations and actions were never quite clear. For example, Beatriz is so afraid of the hacienda that she can barely sleep; but she never seems to consider leaving for her own safety, and she's not stubborn or agentive enough as a character to convince me that she stays in order to show the ghost who is boss. Juana's motivations are equally baffling; though I understood her end goals, I couldn't see how her actions were supposed to align with them.

On top of that, I felt like the central mystery of the house was something of a letdown. Given all the focus on race and colonialism, I thought some of those themes would play out (and to be fair, sometimes they did), but in the end, the big reveal was a bit underwhelming.

TL;DR: Despite some delightfully creepy images and a good Gothic base, The Hacienda doesn't quite deliver due to its lackluster characters, tell-heavy prose style, and bland central mystery.

CHARACTERS: Beatriz, our main POV character, is a little hard to root for. Though I'm sympathetic to her plight, there wasn't enough to her character to make me want to see her succeed. She states that she just wants stability and a house represents that, but when she encounters the supernatural, she's not exactly stubborn or determined to get to the bottom of things. Instead, she seemed to flip back and forth between wanting to run away in terror and wanting an exorcism, and I couldn't quite pin her down the way I wanted to.

Andrés, the priest/witch, was a little more interesting in that he had family ties to the area and grappled with his abilities. I liked how Catholicism and witchcraft were blended together seamlessly, and I liked how Andrés struggled with the responsibility of being his grandmother's heir. However, I also didn't feel like his motivations were as strong as they could have been, though this was probably due to the writing style.

Side characters were kind of confusing. Rodolfo, Beatriz's husband, seemed poised to be the "dark love interest" from Gorhic fiction, but he is barely present enough to feel like a ge uine threat. Juana, Rodolfo's sister, has moments where I liked her contention with Beatriz for authority, but towards the end, I felt like she disappeared for a while and then came back acting nonsensically. My favorite supporting character was Paloma, the housekeeper's daughter. Though she didn't exactly have an arc of her own, I appreciated the kindness she showed to Beatriz and the love she had for her family.

[thebibliosphere]

While I do sincerely believe that all prior Batmans could work with the Muppets, and you are free to headcanon whatever Batman you like, I'm now firmly in camp Battison because, let me tell you, Robert Pattinson would serve absolute fucking cunt next to the Muppets.

I can't decide if he'd do a Michael Caine and treat it like he's in Shakespeare or pull a Tim Curry and become an honorary muppet, but that feral bastard would bounce off them so well you'd think he was made of rubber.

And it's even funnier in-universe because, unlike other iterations, this is not a smooth-talking playboy who smiles easily and dons the glitz and glamor like a sparkling facade of misdirection. This is a sopping wet, shut-in, scrungly cat of a man who isn't even trying to hide the several shades of mental illness plaguing him or the dark, sleepless bruises under his eyes. (Maybe he's born with it; maybe it's Maybelline trauma.)

And then all this shit happens with the Riddler, and Batman becomes a symbol of hope instead of vengeance (although criminals still very much piss themselves at the sight of him. Like yeah, the dude carried civilians out of the flood zone while holding up a literal rescue flare to light up the night, but he's still the dude who punches like a fucking freight train. The violence might be leashed, but the threat very much remains.) and hey, look at that Bruce Wayne has come out of hiding!

Poor guy... bet it was hard finding out all that shit about his parents after he's spent so long mourning them. That and his house got fucking blown up. I mean, like, fuck 'em, he's still a billionaire but heeeey, look, he's getting involved! He's funneling money into the city at a rate that the relief workers can't spend it fast enough. He's meeting with the mayor, going to events, and giving interviews and actually, okay... okay, Mister Smooth-talker. Where has that smile been hiding all these years?

Did Brucie fucking Wayne go to therapy?

Good for him. Good for him.

Y'know, maybe he's all right. He certainly seems to be trying to bankrupt himself with all the charity work he's doing. Did you hear about how he paid off everyone's student loans at the bar that one night? Yeah, offered everyone jobs, too. Not to mention all the pro-union stuff he's implemented at Wayne Industries against the wishes of the board. Maybe Gotham can have one good okay rich person. As a little treat.

Luthor et al. can go fuck themselves, though. This is our billionaire playboy. We found him in a dumpster. Look at the bags under his eyes. Certified trash panda. (Y'know that tiktok meme of the raccoon coming out of a dumpster while Frank Sinatra plays over the top? That's their version of Bruce.)

Meanwhile, Bruce is in Hell. It's torture being this extroverted, but the mayor's got a point. Someone's got to do it, and if Batman has pivoted to bring light into the dark, then Bruce Wayne has to get involved in the city, too. And it's so much easier to affect change if people like you, so here he is. Being likable. (Aaaaaaah)

Inevitably more shit happens because it's Gotham, and not even the circus being in town can be normal. And suddenly Bruce Wayne's got a kid, and it's super cute even if the trauma parallels are a little on the nose, but maybe that's what they both need, y'know? Someone who knows what it's like to have your parents whacked by the mob so they can't go to the cops. Hey, did anyone else notice that Batman's suddenly got an eight-year-old dressed like a stoplight running around with him? What the fuck is up with that?

And then, one night, Bruce Wayne is scheduled to be on the Gotham Tonight show. He only glances briefly at the line-up, not putting much thought into it when he sees the words "Muppets." He's aware there's a film coming out because Dick desperately wants to go see it. But other than that, head empty. No thoughts. He's just going to sit on a couch next to some puppets for a few hours. How hard can it be?

I mean, it's not like it's going to alter the entire structure of his life.

That'd be ridiculous.

I'm doing *motions vaguely at Ao3* stuff with the BatMuppet universe to get some enrichment in my enclosure and ended up looking at the OG post again.

I caught a glimpse of some of the tags, and I don't want to single you out, friend, but just know I saw your '#it's funnier if you headcanon it as Battinson' tag, and I need you to know you just rewrote a significant chunk of my brain chemistry because yes, yes, yES.

[auroradivine]

As people of the Sun y’all really be sleepin on the big homie Sol ☀️ He just be up there chillin in the sky givin us life when he could be giving your work life. Don’t get me wrong I love me some Luna. Big feminine energy 😌Ijs the moon as a anchoring symbol in spell work and ritual is so ingrained in our thinking that we tend to forget the sun's energy can be used as well. Father Sun is the natural balance to Mother Moon. If you do it in the moon you can do it in the sun. Duality 🤌🏿 Rather than offering opportunities that can take several weeks to manifest according to the moon phases…the Sun presents us with five different phases every single day and an additional phase we call a year.

��� Sunrise,Dawn: Infant/Child Sun– Basically when the sun wakes up and peers over the horizon. This phase is all about new beginnings, changes, health, employment, renewal, resurrection and finding the right direction. It can also be very cleansing.

☀️Morning: Adolescent Brother/Lover Sun– This is when the sun is growing in strength, so it brings the magical power for growth, positive energy, resolutions, courage, harmony, happiness, strength, activity, building projects and plans, prosperity and expansion of ideas.

🌞Noon: Father Sun – When the sun reaches its peak in the sky at midday – work magic for health, physical energy, wisdom and knowledge. It is also a good time to pop your tools or crystals out that need charging. (Note: some crystals can fade in strong sunlight so check first before putting them out).

☀️Afternoon: Sage/Warrior Sun – The sun is heading back down, and the energy now is good for working on business matters, communication, clarity, travel, exploring and anything professional.

Sunset – As the sun takes itself off down below the horizon, work magic for removing depression, stress and confusion, letting go, releasing or finding out the truth of a situation.

🌄Sunset: Grandfather/Sacrificial Sun

Because the energy of this Sun phase is much akin to that of the Waning Moon, His appearance makes it a good time to simplify or tie up loose ends, and provides the perfect atmosphere for work that involves dieting; getting rid of bad habits; and eradicating stress, confusion, and poor health. Efforts designed to uncover deception work well at this phase too, as do those related to divinatory skills and psychic activity.

And just like the moon you can charge your crystals 💎 in the afternoon sun, make sun water ✨, sun salutations 🙇🏿‍♀️ meditate 🧘🏿‍♀️ , allat.

AND! It’s almost summer time so the sun is just growing in strength so summer rituals are exceptionally powerful. Harness that Cancer ♋️ energy for love work and emotional healing , Leo ♌️ energy for fertility and business, and Virgo ♍️ to get organized and goal planning.

I also lean more towards working with the sun when the retrogrades have Lunar energy chaotic and out of whack or when I need to manifest something faster than the moon phases would allow.

Oh yea let me not forget the sun correspondences because like the moon there’s herbs, stones etc that work particular well with Solar energy

Colours: Gold, Yellow, Orange, Red

🌿 Herbs Marigold, heliotrope, sunflower, buttercup, cedar, beech, oak, St. Johnswort, bergamot

💎 Crystals Diamond, amber, carnelian, citrine, sunstone, topaz, red agate, goldstone

Metal: Gold

🗓 Weekday: Sunday

🧠 Intentions: Strength, Victory, Creativity, Growth, Love, Prosperity, Hope, Money, Exorcis

Chakras: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus

But yea, balance out your work with some Sol ☺️

[wisteriastranger]

hi hi! could i request an eddie munson x fem harrington reader soulmate au please? eddie and reader don't get along well and always make fun of eachother but after the lake scenario they start to get along with one another and find out that they are soulmates? like, they have matching symbols or something ?

Hello! Thank you for being my first requester, I hope this lives up to any expectations you may have had. I wasn't sure what to do for the soulmate symbols/marks, so I used a leaf, hope that's okay!

Eddie Munson x fem! Harrington! reader

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down! Slow down guys!” Nancy exclaims suddenly, making you jump. The paddle in your grasp suddenly slips out, falling into the lake as you scramble to get it back.  

“Ha.” Eddie snickers, watching your attempts to reach the paddle with a shit eating grin on his face. 

Hissing at the male under your breath, you grab the paddle and pull it back, placing it down inside of the boat as you turn your attention to Nancy who was staring at the compas in her grasp very intensely.   

“What’s up, Nance?” You ask, trying to resist the urge to whack the hellfire leader beside you. It just felt too tempting, he was right there!  

“Whoa...” Steve comments as he joins Nancy in intensely staring at the compass.  

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin’s voice cuts through the silence that had befallen the boat, startling Robin who frantically scrambled for the walkie-talkie. 

“Come on guys, talk to me.” He continues.  

“Uh, Dustin, your-your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘aah!’” Robin replies, her eyes still focused on the compass as it spun wildly out of control.  

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy’s voice snapped your attention away from the compass and towards your dumbass of a brother. 

“Ay, Steve, what are you doing? Put your feet away.” You comment, frowning at your brother as he removed his shoes. 

He only throws a disappointed stare your way as he continues stripping himself of his shoes and socks. 

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins high swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... It’s gotta be me. No complaints, alright?” 

You open your mouth to object but Steve just throws his sock at you. 

“Aside from you, (Y/N).” 

“Ew.” 

“Hey, I’m not complaining. I do not wanna go down there.” Eddie murmured as he peered over the side of the boat, staring into the dark waters below.  

Noticing this, you silently moved a hand behind him and gave his back a hard shove, making the brunette jump out of his skin and latch his hands onto the side of the boat. His head snapped around to look at you, eyes wide as you cackled away.  

“You-you...” Eddie grumbled the rest under his breath as he crossed his arms and slouched, shuffling away from you as much as he could. 

Your attention is drawn back to Steve as he abruptly stands up and begins removing his shirt, much to your dismay. You couldn’t help but notice how hairy your brother actually was and decided to use this to annoy him. Lovingly, of course. 

“Wow, Donkey Kong has some competition. Good on ya, Steve.” You mock. 

“Oh, shut it.” Steve fires back, not enjoying your current sense of humour. 

Loud rustling sounds come from Eddie as he pulls a plastic carrier bag out of his pocket and begins wrapping up one of the various torches on board, ready for Steve to dive down with. You would have thought it sweet if your thoughts weren’t leaning more towards why he had a bag in his pocket in the first place. 

“Hey.” Eddie calls out as he hands the torch over. “Good luck.” 

“Thanks.” Is all your brother say’s.  

“Steve!” You suddenly call out, drawing his attention back to you. “If you aren’t back up in two minutes flat then I am coming down for you, okay?”  

Steve opens his mouth to argue but seeing the look on your face, he decides against it.  

He just nods in understanding before placing his foot on the edge of the boat, readying himself to dive. You may act like little shits towards one another at the best of times, but at the end of the day he is your brother and you’ll always worry for him. 

“Steve, be careful.” Nancy added, offering him a wary smile. Just as he did for you, he offers her a nod and then dives in, not giving anyone else a chance to say anything.  

As soon as you see his feet vanish under the water, you begin a mental countdown. 

You, Robin, Eddie and Nancy all sit in silence aboard the boat, waiting for something to happen. You sneak occasional glances over at the shore to see how the kids are doing, and from what you can tell they are fine. They haven’t radioed to signal that anything is wrong, nor have they used a torch to get your attention or started screaming like mad men, so that’s a good sign. 

“Where we at, Wheeler, Harrington?” Robin pipes up, breaking the silence. 

Nancy speaks before you do. “Closing in on a minute.” 

Silence resumes on the boat as you start removing your shoes. Eddie was the first to notice this. 

“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing??” This catches the other’s attention. 

“Getting ready if we hit two minutes.” You state, continuing to remove your socks.  

“It’s not been two minutes yet, (Y/N)” Nancy comments, checking the watch on her wrist. “In fact, it’s just over a minute.” 

You hum, leaning forwards to remove your jacket from your body. 

“It’s better to be ready early than ready late.” You state. 

You were kind of glad that you had worn shorts even though your legs ended up getting cold a little while ago – it meant that there wouldn’t be as much waterlog to deal with when swimming.  

“Yes, but I didn’t know you were being serious!” Eddie admits. 

“What, you think I was bluffing? That I wouldn’t go down after him? I have the same lifeguard qualifications as him, I know what I’m doing. Don't underestimate me.” You hiss. 

Eddie’s mouth opens and closes repeatedly like a gaping fish, completely at a loss for words. 

Silence is once again the filler for the boat as the four of you sit there quietly. Robin tries to ease the awkward tension by bringing up soulmates. 

“So uh... anyone found their soulmate yet?” 

Multiple “no’s” fill the boat and just like that, the silence is back. 

“Nance.” You call. “Where are we at?”  

The female in question looks down at her watch for a couple of seconds before looking back up at you.  

“Roughly fifteen seconds left.” 

“Alrighty then.” You comment as you grasp the hem of your tee, preparing to pull it over your head when spontaneously loud splashing snaps all of your attention towards it.  

“OH CHRIST!” Eddie screams, clearly startled. You pay him no mind and instead focus on the male who was currently treading water while taking deep breaths. 

“I found it!” He pants.  

“You found it?” Nancy repeated, scrambling towards the edge of the boat where Steve was. 

“I found it. Yeah. I found it.” He confirms, swimming towards the boat. 

Robin lifts the walkie-talkie to her mouth and begins speaking to Dustin. 

“Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate and-” Robin stops abruptly after hearing what sounded like a siren ashore. You make eye contact with her and you both realise something is up. 

“It’s pretty wild, it’s more a snack-sized gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.” He chuckles, only to abruptly stop when he suddenly vanishes underwater, only to reappear. He goes quiet as he makes eye contact with you before turning his attention back to the water. He stares at it for a few seconds before looking back up at you. 

With that, he once again vanishes, seemingly dragged down by something as his arms flail about wildly, water being kicked up everywhere. 

“STEVE!” You cry, standing up and ripping your tee off, leaving you in your bra and shorts, before diving straight into the water, not waiting a second longer to swim after your brother. 

A sudden wave of cold covers your body as you begin your descent down, eyes straining through the darkness of the water. You could faintly see some bubbles, so you followed them as closely as you possibly could. The sound of something splashing above you threw you off for a moment, but you had a feeling it was Nancy or Robin coming down behind you so you paid it no further mind. Soon enough, you could see a large red light towards the lake floor and your brother being dragged through it. Panic filled your core as you began swimming faster than you thought you could, the only thought on your mind to reach your brother. 

You had arrived in the upside-down only a matter of seconds after your brother and were the first to come to his aid, stabbing at the demobats that were attacking him with a small commando knife you had tucked away in the waistband of your shorts. Unfortunately, within the span of time from you arriving to the other three arriving, you had been given a nasty bite on your right ribs by a demobat, but it was quickly removed when you had plunged your knife right through its skull and ripped it off.  

At the moment you were all hiding out underneath a rock in a woodland to avoid getting mauled to death by a huge swarm of the bats that were still flying around manically trying to find the five of you.  

Robin was currently talking to your brother about rabies, Nancy was tending to his injuries and Eddie was climbing a rock. You shivered as you sat a little way away from the group, holding a bandana that you had in your shorts up to your ribs as you waited for Nancy to finish up. Pulling it away, you could see how the navy bandana was a few shades darker, the white patterns stained red. You hiss lightly and place it back where it was sat beforehand.  

Eddie started making his descent down from the rock as the rest of the group were talking about weapons, not that you paid much mind at this moment though. You were cold, in pain and sore.  

“-I have guns in my bedroom.” Whatever Nancy had been talking about, you’d only clocked onto the tail end of it. 

There was a pause before Eddie spoke up. “You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”  

Nancy just smiled as you giggled lightly. 

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin jokes, a big grin on her face as she spoke. 

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” Nancy confirms.  

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” Steve added. “(Y/N) too.” 

Eddie just stares at Steve, unblinking. “Your sister and girlfriend-ex-whatever, nearly shot you?” He checks. 

Steve nods.  

Hearing your name, you stand up slowly with a groan and walk over to the group.  

“I heard my name.” You say, looking between everyone.  

“Yeah, you- Oh my god! You’re bleeding!! What happened?? Where is your shirt!? WHY ARE YOU IN YOUR BRA?!” Steve had only just noticed your lack of clothing and the wound on your ribs, much to your surprise. How had he not realised that sooner?  

Eddie, only now registering the same thing, adverts his eyes away from your half naked form for your decency.  

“... Steve, how have you only just noticed? I’ve been in my bra since I jumped into the lake after you. Idiot. And I got bit by a bat, but it’s nothing major.” You reassure.  

Nancy takes the bandana that you had pressed against your ribs away and examines your wound. After some inspecting, she straightens the bandana out and folds it over to tie around your ribs. Unfortunately, the bandana cut short, meaning it wouldn’t tie around your ribs. Nancy searched her brain for other ideas when Eddie stepped forward, still keeping his eyes adverted as best as he could.  

“I uh, use mine. To tie with the other, I mean.” He says, holding his bandana out.  

Nancy thanks him and begins tying the two together before tying them around your ribs.  

Steve opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off when Eddie’s denim jacket was thrown at him.  

“For your modesty, dude.”  

Once Nancy had secured the bandana-bandage around your ribs, she stepped back and stood next to Steve. She was about to speak when a sudden rumbling and shaking shook the place, making you tumble backwards. You placed your hand over your head, bracing for the impact of falling over, only to feel someone pull you into their chest, their arm around your waist holding you securely. You placed your hand on the persons arm, trying to brace yourself against them. Almost as soon as the shaking started, it stopped. A second passed in which no one moved, just taking a moment to process what had just happened. You glance down at arm around your waist and see the leather sleeve and ringed hand holding you firmly. Looking up, you meet the brown eyes of Eddie staring right back at you. 

“I-uh... thank you.” You awkwardly look away, not really knowing what to say.  

“Don’t you be getting all handsy on my sister, Munson. I can see you.” Steve warned, Nancy being held in his own hold. You groan at that. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever man.” He released you from his hold and you step forwards, looking over to Robin who was currently sat on her butt.  

“You okay Robin?” You call over to her. She just groans and gives a thumbs up in response.  

The loud, drawn-out roaring of something in the distance caught everyone’s attention and shook you to the bone. That did not sound friendly. 

“Yeah, so guns sound like a good idea to me.” The metalhead comments, being backed up by Robin. 

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve asks, letting go of Nancy.  

“Just hold on a minute.” Eddie says, sliding off his leather jacket. Once it was off of him, he stepped over to where you currently stood, lightly chatting and helping Robin back up.  

“Hey.” He calls, holding the jacket out to you. 

“Huh- oh, um, thank you.” You say, taking the jacket off of him and sliding it on. It was nice and warm inside from him wearing it just moments before. You grab the zip at the bottom and try doing it up, only to struggle. After a few attempts you give up and just wrap the front around yourself. Eddie, noticing this, points at the zip of the jacket.  

“May I?” He asks. 

“Yes.” You release the jacket and watch as the brunette bends down slightly, grasping either side of the jacket. He starts doing the zip up, only to freeze in place, his attention caught on something. You assume he’s looking at the bandana around your ribs, so you apologise for it. 

“Sorry it’s getting ruined, I’ll make sure to clean it as best as I can once we are back, or I’ll just get you a new one, promise.”  

You wait for him to reply, but he doesn’t, he just remains quiet. 

“Eddie?” You call. 

“Show me your hip.” He blurts, lifting up the jacket on the right side to view your hip better.  

“W-what? Why?!” You gasp, ripping the jacket out of his grasp and stepping back, not expecting him to say that.  

“Just- your soulmate mark, I saw it, show me it again.” He whispers.  

Going along with it, you warily move the leather out of the way and pull the waist of your shorts down slightly, revealing your soulmate mark on your hip. It was a light brown leaf of sorts, thin but long, simple and yet pretty. It’s not very noticeable unless you go searching for it, it blends in just nicely. You look at Eddie’s face and see him staring at the mark with wide eyes. 

“What? Do you know someone with the same mark?” You questioned, eyes drifting towards your own mark.  

“Of course, I do!” Eddie states, releasing the jacket and standing upright abruptly, making you jump. A small smile is on his face as his hand shoots to his hellfire tee and lifts up the right side of it, revealing the same mark on his hip as the one on yours.  

“Wh-I... you’re my...”  

“Soulmate.” He finishes, releasing his tee, and letting it drop back down.  

He holds a hand out for you to shake, the smile still on his face.  

“Why don’t we try and start over? On civil terms?” He offers. 

A smile of your own winds its way onto your cheeks as you take his hand, giving it a firm but gentle shake.  

“Of course, soulmate.” 

02/07/22

[actualbird]

the nxx boys and what presentation medium they use but i purposely picked crummy ones because everybody needs flaws

wc: 656

artem wing: the most boring microsoft powerpoint templates

artem would be straight to the point. he wants the information on the slide, it's readable, it exists, and Thats It

we all know hes got close to no talent in anything visual arts related so he relies on templates. and thats fine, everything is clear, but it's also like getting a slice of plain white bread projected onto the board

hell, sometimes he wont even bother with a template. he'll just use a blank slide

maybe purgatory is artem wing's powerpoint presentations

-

vyn richter: prezi

for those of you who dont know, prezi is a presentation software that i had to endure so many of my high school teachers using and i frigging hated it, i hate prezi so much, if there is a presentation method that is the unsexiest on this list, it's prezi, and im giving it to vyn partly to balance out how pretty he is. but why do i hate prezi?

because it induces MOTION SICKNESS

gif above taken from prezi's official support site and this is the zoom function. looks cool but lemme tell ya! opening a box and then realizing in that box is 7 other boxes gets confusing as hell and also just all this nyooming around makes me feel like im on a rollercoaster but it's not fun

vyn would probably love this function because oooohhh, it's symbolic, inside every mind is more and more information that can be delved into deeper. vyn is making prezi presentations that feel like theyre going into the mariana's trench, once youre down there, youre deep, youre not getting out, also you are so, so dizzy in his class

-

marius von hagen: nothing but stage presence

nothing. hes using nothing. he stands up, says his shit, and uses no presentation aid AT ALL.

he learned he liked this method best back when he was studying in florence cuz listen, when youre an art student surrounded by art students, the tendency is that everybody relies on the visuals to get their point across

not marius. he wants to set himself apart from the crowd with sheer verbal presentation skill, with GRAVITAS, and he pulls it off

but jesus christ, he sends NOTHING the others can use as reference

when he becomes PAX CEO, thankfully making presentation decks wont be his job, i think. for the most part he'll write and present the info but presentation decks r usually done by graphic designers, something i think PAX would have a bunch of

but if hes presenting on his own with no ppl to make a deck for him? his method is this:

-

luke pearce: the overhead projector

i like to think luke's love for antiques started when he was young. he was drawn to old trinkets and then moved onto outdated tech and then incorporated as much of these objects into his life as his love letter to the beauty of objects from the past

i also like to think luke and mc's classmates back in high school fucking hated when he was gonna present stuff because he'd wheel in this dinosaur from the school's storage room

afrigging plastic sheet projected thru an orange light. it's hard to read. i couldnt frigging read anything from it when i experienced this in grade school and for the teenagers of tot's future-ish setting? this is hellish

to make things worse, luke adds onto the printed text on the plastic sheets with his own handwritten notes in permanent marker.

and his handwriting

sucks

he uses overhead projectors even when he gets into the NSB until aaron whacked him over the head, annoyed that luke was making him relive the 90s. the overhead projector gives aaron flashbacks of when he was as stupid idiotic as luke. he shudders...

[phoenixyfriend]

Anakin and the Jedi Babies: Where There’s a Whill, There’s a Windu

Context: original post, chrono

(Summary of the AU: Disaster lineage got tossed back in time. Anakin stayed 21-ish, but Obi-Wan and Ahsoka got deaged, took new names for time-travel reasons (Ylliben and Sokanth, or Ben and Soka) and have been officially adopted by Anakin.)

----------------------

“You’re attached.”

“You’re just now noticing?”

Master Windu eyes him for a few long moments, and then joins him on the ground. Anakin can’t help but smirk. There’s something gratifying about having respect from the man, in this life.

“The other members of the council are concerned.”

“And you aren’t?”

“I am, but for other reasons,” Windu says.

Anakin doesn’t meet his eyes, doesn’t even respond for a long minute. He just looks out over the Room of a Thousand Fountains, spread out below them like hundreds of jungles pieced together in a jigsaw of flora. It’s been his favorite room in the Temple since he was a child, and it’s always overwhelming.

“Most of them have accepted that you adopted them because of Mandalorian customs, and that you stayed where you were due to the will of the Force,” Windu continues. “But they are… uncomfortable with how blatantly your attachments show.”

“Mandalorians are loud and refuse shame. It rubbed off.”

“You said you would kill for these children.”

“I’m their father. That’s kind of expected.”

Windu’s expression is tired. A little tired of stress, but mostly tired of Anakin’s shit. “You know what I’m trying to get at.”

“Do I?”

“Skywalker.”

“No, I’m serious. I need you to spell this out. I’ve had a million slightly-contradicting lectures on this topic, and I’ve been told pretty clearly that I misinterpreted a solid half of them. If you want a constructive conversation, you can’t be vague. I’m thirty-three years old and a father of two, Master Windu, so yes, I’m attached. What you mean by that word is going to change where this conversation goes.”

It’s gratifying to see the Master actually think it over.

“Ylliben’s tattoos have been causing the most recent stir,” Windu finally says. “They nearly all relate to family, whether new or old, and the symbolism is concerning to those who are already upset about the Mandalorian upbringing. They worry that he’ll remain too tied to people he grew up with, and unable to maintain neutrality in future diplomatic ventures, or at risk of a fall if one of the people he’s seen fit to memorialize is injured or killed. The assume a similar state of mind may be applicable to your daughter and yourself, especially given the off-color jokes about how possessive your children are about each other.”

“They’re worried about emotional immaturity,” Anakin summarizes. He offers a wan, unimpressed grin. “They do realize he’s fourteen, right? Nobody’s emotionally stable at fourteen. The hormones are out of whack.”

“I’m aware,” Windu grinds out. “And I’m aware that your histories, of war and all such things, make your ties much stronger, but you can see why the Council worries, especially those who are wary of the memories your children carry but won’t explain. I’m the only one you’ve told, Skywalker.”

“Plo and Depa know.”

“Plo and Depa aren’t on the council.”

“Yet.”

“Skywalker.”

He relents. “It’s not about Mandalore, Master Windu. It’s about Tatooine.”

Windu lets that sit for a few moments, and then sighs. “I don’t know enough about Tatooine to parse that.”

“Shmi and I are former slaves,” Anakin says, as bluntly as he can. “I was freed at nine, she at eleven, and for all that we are free, we’re not freeborn. We were born slaves, and raised slaves, and we were freed too late to forget that life. The way we think is always going to be affected by the way we grew up. That applies to all sentients, more or less, but it’s… the slave mentality is completely at odds with Jedi teachings, because Jedi teachings can only be taught in a safe environment.”

Windu nods slowly, and says, “That does make sense, but it’s… forgive me, but that’s why we don’t normally take children older than four.”

“From the perspective of teaching cultural values, that makes sense,” Anakin allows. “Teaching a Jedi child that’s cared for with communal resources that they do not need material things to be happy is fine; trying to convince a slave child of the same, someone who grew up being told they do not deserve material things, and that their owner can take anything at any time, including family? I lived that life, trying to adjust to ascetic Jedi values that coincided poorly with slave rules. I know exactly how poorly that transition can go when the person caring for the child doesn’t know how to handle the points of conflict.”

“Do you regret joining the Jedi?” Windu asks.

Anakin shakes his head. “My Jedi master, bless him, cared, and tried very hard, but he wasn’t ready to handle a kid like me and in hindsight, I know that. He needed grief counseling, and I needed therapy, and neither of us was getting it. I don’t… I don’t believe anyone in the Temple would have known how to handle a kid like me.”

“But you don’t regret it.”

“I was meant to be a Jedi,” Anakin says, as firmly as he can without getting unnecessarily bitchy about it. “My struggles with the Code aside, I was meant to be here. But the Temple doesn’t have any resources for children who come older, and I think… I think you do need that.”

“You just outlined why a child can’t follow the Code if they come from a different enough background,” Windu says.

Anakin shakes his head. “No, that’s not—I think a kid like me can learn to be a Jedi, if a little unconventional, if they’re taught correctly. The desperation to cling to anyone and anything you have can be unlearned. It takes time and effort, but it’s possible. Soka and Ben are good at balancing Tatooine care with Jedi control. If you talk to Ben, you get an entire philosophical breakdown about it, but I’m more concerned with the child psychology, because that’s what could have broken me.”

Windu frowns. “You’re building up to something.”

“I think the Jedi need programs for children found older who can’t become full Jedi,” Anakin asserts. “Even those who cannot reconcile what they absorbed growing up with the Code and Jedi tradition… they, we, need guidance. The Council tried to reject me for being too old, and now that I’m grown I understand why, but… Master Windu, what do you think would have happened to me if I hadn’t had my Master to fight for me, and had been turned away?”

“We’d have looked into placing you back with your mother and, upon finding out that she was still enslaved, secured her freedom,” Master Windu says. “Qui-Gon Jinn had taken responsibility for you, and thus you were a ward of the Temple until such a time as you were safe again. It would have been cruel to keep you from your mother if we were not to raise you a Jedi, and crueler still to allow you to return to slavery.”

“And you think I’d have been safe with her?” Anakin asks. He needs Master Windu to understand this. “You think that would have ended well?”

“You don’t?”

“Ventress,” Anakin says. “Maul. Aurra Sing, even.”

Windu considers that. He looks across the grand, green room of the garden, and finally speaks. “You think you’d have been found and corrupted by a Sith.”

“I’d already helped Naboo win a battle. I was a powerful child with no support system in this respect, eager to please,” Anakin says. “Ventress and Maul both got twisted into Sith Apprentices. Aurra Sing was just a bounty hunter, but… even if the Jedi had never found me, and the Sith remained unaware, do you think I’d have ended up better than Sing? Or would the pressures of slavery have led to my Fall anyway, eventually slaughtering my owner, the Hutts, the entire system of Tatooine’s hells?”

Windu rubs a hand over his forehead. “I understand what you’re getting at.”

“It’s not just me,” Anakin says, as carefully as he can. “Even without the Sith, there are plenty of Force-Sensitive children in terrible situations that are liable to Fall just because of how power is wielded by those at the bottom. Refusing to take on students who are already at risk… the Jedi are meant to monitor Force users to prevent Sith and other dark-aligned people from harming the galaxy. It’s one of our primary duties. If the Jedi are allowing darksiders to rise just because of an age limit…”

“I get it,” Windu says, just a little aggressive. “I understand. Give me a minute.”

Anakin tries to wait. He’s older now, he can do that. He can be patient.

He tries to convince himself that it’s true.

“You have a point,” Master Windu finally allows. “And with the knowledge that the Sith are out there, still, it’s a more salient point than most would think. The EduCorps already has a subdivision for teaching meditative techniques to low-level force users who need to learn shielding but aren’t sensitive enough to be Jedi, or are just too old, but I see your point about encouraging a program for powerful Force-Sensitives that aren’t discovered early enough to integrate into the community in full.”

“And a more comprehensive Search pattern for the Outer Rim?” Anakin suggests. He shrugs at the look he gets. “What? You’ve seen my midicount. I was on Tatooine for almost a decade, and the only reason anyone found me was that Qui-Gon had to crash a ship in the middle of nowhere. I’m sure the Force led him to me, given all the coincidences, but that’s still a solid nine years that nobody did, despite how I apparently ‘shine like the sun’ or whatever.”

“Humble.”

“The last time I took a midichlorian test on a portable counter, it literally broke the device. That’s not arrogance, that’s just absurd.”

Windu looks exhausted by the comment. Anakin can’t bring himself to feel too bad about it.

“What about Jedha?” Anakin suggests instead. “Jedi find the kids, but if they’re too old to be Jedi, we could coordinate with one of the temples at Jedha to see about having them raised in the traditions of the Whills? They’re a little less orthodox, aren’t they?”

“In some respects,” Master Windu says. “More constrained in others, but… it’s a possibility. Most of the overlooked children, yourself included, are from parts of the Outer Rim that aren’t part of the Republic, Skywalker.”

Anakin shrugs. “And many of them would have been happy to be found and collected by a Jedi, even if they couldn’t become Jedi. Not the Dathomiri, since they’ve got their own thing going on, but… from what I know about Ventress, she actually did have a Jedi Master before the situation on Rattatak became… what’s the word… untenable? He died and she was left alone, and she’d been a slave already and it just… did not end well for her. But that was a planet overrun by pirates and warlords, and would have been approved as a planet the Jedi could help without it being a weird colonialism thing… if the Senate weren’t made up of cheapskates, at least.”

“Skywalker.”

“My name isn’t actually a reprimand, you know.”

“You’re not supposed to just say that,” Windu groans, running a hand over his face. “The Senate’s choice in funding is not optimal, but insulting them in that way, even in private—”

“They’re assholes,” Anakin says, and doesn’t let his humor show. “Except my late wife, but she’s not part of the Senate in this time, so I feel no shame in accusing the entire shitshow of being cheapskates.”

Windu looks about ready to push him off the ledge.

“You’re never allowed to go on diplomatic missions, are you?” Windu mutters.

“Unless it’s to Mandalore,” Anakin clarifies. “Also, never send me to Tatooine. Ever. Please. I kriffing hate that planet.”

“I’m going to assume you have plans to kill a Hutt if we ever send you to—”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Windu sighs. “I’ll discuss this with the Council, see how they feel about reaching out to Jedha for your suggestion regarding the Whills.”

“And you’ll tell them not to worry about my kids?”

“Skywalker, they are never going to stop worrying about your family,” Windu tells him.

“That’s fair.”

[the-lady-general]

Insomnia essay about LDS, Reflections, beware of heavy spoilers. Terrible spelling, very rambly. I'm not getting any sleep and neither will you :p

Tl;dr: latest lds is one of my new favourite episodes overall, they're showing that geniune nerd passion that makes star trek so amazing. also i love where this season is going and i love that the showrunners are catering to me personally specifically. (lds is The Most Trek.)

i think it's telling that what gets mocked in both plots are the uniforms and the optics and the whack fringe bs that starfleet have to deal with (the delta flyer as the culprit for threshold, the brain worms from conspiracy). it's also telling that cadet rutherford has some of the most vicious criticisms against starfleet. but look at him and the passion he has for making space hot rods! rutherford-of-the-present is so shocked at how angry rutherford-of-the-past is, but they both care SO MUCH. they just want to build spaceships and go fast and make friends! present rutherford can see that past rutherford's anger is infantile, and he's lashing out because he's scared and hurt, presumably by the institution he trusts. there are still entirely benign options for the line "he'll think it was elective" - it might have been a traumatic accident and a next of kin decided to take the chance and not saddle rutherford with the memory for example. of course "starfleet was problematic" does make for the more compelling story. but considering how this season is going ("trust the system!" and it works! because this is the utopian future!), it would surprise me if they did it in any other way than "starfleet was problematic, and the problem is going to get fixed".

the archaeologist and mariner likewise is a super compelling subplot. because mariner wants to be the Bad Boy so badly, but she saved the contact after the archeologist revealed she's a good guy - just stealing the elgin marbles from the british museum/those toras from the vatican museum rather than doing it the long-winded paper-based way that starfleet would have done. and i can't remember right now and i'm too lazy to look it up, but was it mariner who complained about federation scientists always "taking the shortcut & not going through the academy" and then needing starfleet to rescue them in minding the mind's mines? we also don't see the archeologists motivations at all - does she geniunely care about returning the grand nagus staff because it's the symbol of office for the head of the ferengi theocracy? or does she just want to be the Big Damn Hero who Doesn't Play By The Rules? and does it even matter to rom and the ferengi?

(as an aside: does rom care about the stick. does he have a new one. is the old one in any way significant to him or his people. was zek's stick auctioned off for his funeral. rom's the fucking nagus, he could have hired a ferengi crew to steal it back and wouldn't have needed to rely on a human.)

and can you imagine getting mocked for "aren't you guys a military" not even a decade after the dominion war? when you're representing ALL peaceful interests of ALL member species? because the mission isn't just about expansion or border protection or w/e:

the presumption is that the universe is enormous and full of friends, life that we don't even understand, amazing phenomena that make you reconsider your place in life/society/the universe, technologies and cultures that can elevate the standard of living on a massive scale - and then you constantly come across, like, abandoned drones that destroy planets, lifeforms like the horta or the space amoeba that are dangerous to the unwary, parasitic life that destroys entire cultures on purpose, expansionist empires, cultures that choose outright fascism or slavery or personal gain over societal welfare. and your own people are constantly running away to the fringes and settling somewhere to found Weird Cults without legal oversight. And ultimately, the Federation has its problems, because how WOULDN'T you have problems, but there is such an emphasis on self-determination of members and neighbours that the result is a massive collection of cultures who enjoy such a high standard of living that even participation in society (work, military service etc) is entirely voluntary for billions of people.

And it's all so incredibly fragile. so when there's a cemented windsock or a cube or a romulan with ambitions or fucking butt parasites are headed for earth, who are you going to call? THE GUYS WHO JUST WANT TO STUDY QUASARS. and then you laugh at them because their sincerest wish is to not be a military, but they are the ones fulfilling that role when necessary.

(because they put themselves into that role on purpose. but that's the set up, isn't it? what if the military'a first mission was humanitarian and scientific? what if they tried to protect everybody regardless of membership status?)

I think for fans and official writers it's always tempting to look for the grimdark in starfleet because on the one hand, that's what's missing from the original vision (not really, there's plenty of grimdark right from the start, but they're optimists about it.). on the other hand the whole thing is coming out of american exceptionalism, which isn't the worst basis for speculative fiction. and on the third (?) hand, there has been this fashion since the early 2000s (and i blame 9/11 and shrek, whomst i love) of doing everything ironically and deride the kind of passion that makes star trek so great.

So the last episode was SO GOOD and very cathartic. They just want to study quasars and protect the right to self-determination of all sentient life! that's what they care about! and it's so easy to point and laugh and call them nerds because, to steal from tolkien's lotr foreword, they've bared their heart for all the world to see and take a shot at.

[katsukikitten]

Aight yall know the rules. 18 PLUS. Minor DNI, this was written for and helped to be dreamed up by @kingkatsuki who is always down to simp over Bakugou with me. Drummer!Bakugou x kindagroupy fem reader. Warnings include lots of smut and impact play. 💋🐱

Welts and bruises were hardly seen beneath the black swirling ink that snaked from a thick wrist all the way up a banded arm to nestle itself just barely over a normally guarded heart. Your fingers grip at drumsticks as you look over a certain hot head, unsure of your relationship status other than the fact that he used you to bring himself down from the height of the show. 

Just like he did a month ago at a meet and greet. Glaring at your stupid rare band shirt that featured him instead of his band mates. "No one gives a fuck about the drummer. It's why I'm the fucking drummer so I don't have to deal with mindless extras."  

To be honest it was his first time seeing that shirt since production, signing all 70 in existence half heartedly. You recall how agitated he was, obviously forced to this meet and greet when normally there were rumors that he never shows. He twirls his drumstick in his large fingers to keep from exploding as Kirishima, Jiro and Denki entertain the snobby VIPs. You had been lucky enough to win your ticket in a radio drawing and even though Bakugou wasn't talking much, not that you expected him too, it was nice to be there. 

Nice to have his garnet gaze cutting into your skin even if it was just harsh glares. It takes Kirishima a minute to figure out just why Bakugou hasn't left yet. His own glistening rubies roaming the small group of five until they land on you. The devil settles himself in Kirshima's skin as he stands, a rare and cocky smirk adornes his lips. He sits next to you, practically on top of you and your cheeks flush from the closeness of your second favorite band mate. You can smell the linger sweat from the show, musk and dark pine needles tickle your nose as you swallow desire whole. Choking just a bit as he leans closer. His calloused digits finger the hem of your shirt, pulling it away from your body a bit to inspect it more closely. 

"Ah, that's a sight to see." He chuckles, eyeing the shirt that has a shirtless Bakugou in action, sticks raised as he sits over his precious drum set, "This is from one of our first real gigs." 

"I know. The drumming interlude while Jiro rested her strained voice was so energizing. After that amazing show I had to buy a t-shirt of my favorite member! But they didn't have any at the show. It was hard finding this." Suddenly Bakugou's gaze becomes too much, leaving you feeling hot and bothered as the room seemed to smell like spiced caramel. What little ease you felt by Kirishima was devoured by the brooding blonde sitting on his throne of well worn leather. Gulping, you turn to face Kirishima a bit more as he chuckles again. 

"You don't want sour puss as your favorite. How about I make you a deal huh?" The room goes a little quiet as the other VIPs feign interest to hear. After a moment you nod a bit nervously fighting to keep your gaze on Kirishima. Meanwhile Bakugou tongues his lip ring with irritation.

"Why don't we trade shirts? I'll give you mine for yours?" He says, large hand gripping at the fabric at the nape of his neck. Pulling it off in one swift motion, setting it gently in your hands. The fabric a bit damp from the show, tingling pine masks your senses as you grip at the black fabric. 

Would it be rude to turn down a rock star? 

Just as you're about to find out the blonde stands, all eyes wide and set on his godly figure. His abs peeking out from beneath his infamous sleeveless and tattered black denim vest. 

The same one you wore now. You remember how he dragged you from the room and showed you just exactly who your favorite band member. Not knowing he played right into Kirishima's hand. 

Even now he still gets possessive when Kirishima comes too close. Pushing the guitarist and side vocals harshly away as Bakugou comes to close to you, cornering you against a sidewall backstage. 

"Hey Brat. Are you flirting with fire engine again?" His face says pissed but his tone is all tease. He nips at your ear before gripping your hair to tilt your head, exposing your neck to him. He licks a stripe up the column relishing how you taste before leaving a gasp inducing bite. Pink indents and a beautiful bruise bloom in his wake. Absentmindedly his thumb swipes over the mark gently. 

"Did you hurt yourself Suki?" You ask softly, hands having discovered just how raised those welts were. He watches the worry stain your features, pulling your bottom lip into a delightful pout. He leans down to your face, pulling at the jutting lip and giving it a small bite. Your skin erupts in heat, surging through your body until it settles in between your legs.  He pulls back, giving you his signature arrogant smirk. 

"Oi, don't get so worked up Princess. I'll show you how I got them after this set." He takes the drumsticks from your grip giving you a final, searing kiss before he makes his way on stage. Always the first to get the crowd hyped up as everyone else got situated. 

Anyone who had seen the same set of songs performed twice weekly for a month might have used the word bored to describe how they were feeling as they waited for the band to finish. 

But you were not like most people, see these 90 minutes that sometimes stretched into two hours was equivalent to a strip tease for you. Always having to shift your weight with the passing of each song, trying to get some friction for the heat that he caused at your core. His ash blonde hair would become darker, losing his spiky nature as it drooped from the weight of caramel scented bliss, the stands sticking to his skin causing him to push it back, exposing his forehead. His black shirt would darken as well, agitating the hot head as it clung to his muscles, sticking to skin and trying to throw off his rhythm. Between a song he places one of his drumsticks in his mouth, letting his large hand tear at the shirt until he can shed it off as if it were a second skin. 

The crowd always roars with excitement as the camera zooms in on him. On his dark eyes and glistening pecs. The ink of his arms and just barely over his pectorals sends a jolt of electricity through you, mouth salivating as you remember them hovering over you the night before. 

You clench around nothing, underwear becoming uncomfortable in your pleated skirt as you pull the well worn denim closer to you as you wait. 

Finally the show ends with Jiro giving all of her love to the crowd, to Kirishima and Denki rifting notes off of corded strings as Bakugou guides them with his ever steady beat. Slamming onto the symbols, foot bass and the drums, sweat flying from him as he moves. 

"Until we meet again!" They scream and the crowd echoes back their famous saying. 

Bakugou practically runs off stage, damp with caramel bliss as he rushes to you. Hunched over so he can scoop you up, giving you a twirl as he hoisted you into the air. Banded arms resting under your ass. 

"Did you see me out there, kitten?" His voice is rasped as he pants, laced in rare and genuine excitement. His skin sticking to your skirt and shirt as he brings you down to your black converse. He kisses you hungrily, gasping between kisses trying to catch his breath as he clings onto you with shaking fingers. 

"I'm always watching, king." You reply between swipes of his tongue. 

"Skipping the meet and greet again Bakugou? Manager Todoroki won't be happy." Kirishima comments, his voice softer than normal, his own dyed hair sticking to his skin. 

"Fuck him. It's an hour from now anyway dick head. I'll be in later." Bakugou growls back, as you push hair from his face to better see his eyes and his forehead. He lifts your giggling form again as he takes you back to his room. 

Neither of you hear Kirishima's comment to Jiro. 

"Have you ever seen him so in love?" 

The darkness of the room and the smell of you are soothing to Bakugou, his body still a live wire from the show as he tries to get a second wind so he can please you. He knows what his performance does to you, having come back to you soaking through your panties. Just as you were now, still his endurance was tested this week with three shows in a row. 

"Maybe you should-" 

"No." It comes out as a growl as he slowly begins to strip you of your clothes. Leaving you in nothing but his favorite skirt, he pushes you to lean over the futon, flipping up your skirt so he can see your bare sex. 

"God you're such a dirty slut." He sees your sex and thighs glistening with your slick, he lets his fingers collect your essence before swirling over that sensitive bud. 

"F...fuck Katuski." You cry out, hips bucking against him already before he leans over your body, his hard on poking your through his black jeans. 

"Still wanna see how I got these bruises baby?" He pants, even fingering you was taking effort but he wanted, needed to see you panting, begging beneath him. 

"Y..yes yes please!" His fingers still working as he's pressed against you, the coil in your stomach snapping as you see stars. Shaking beneath him as he puts you through two more. Slick pulling away from your sex in strings causing him to lick his fingers dry, holding eye contact with you as you shudder. 

Eye liner already starting to smudge as your mouth falls open into a mewl. He reaches for the wooden sticks in his back pocket. He removes one, the stick nicked and scuffed in various spots from the intensity of tonight's show.  He rubs your ass with his large palm before letting a harsh smack land on your supple cheek. Repeating the process until your cheeks glowed bright red. He lets the smooth wood run across your burning ass before he tests it with a light whack. Trying to remember how it felt against his own skin wanting to keep the damage at a minimum.  The precise impact causes you to jolt and whine. 

"More, I need more." You cry again and again as he let's the wood impact on your tender cheeks. Alternating sides while rubbing where he just hit  

"Yea? Such a greedy slut." Getting lost in your begging he brings down the drumstick a little too harshly, his mind hazed from the lingering show and from the pull of you. The stick snaps in half causing a bruising welt to rise at an alarming rate. Growling he tosses the stick aside, coming down to kiss and bite at your ass tenderly. You push your hips in the air. 

"Katsuki, baby. Please, please fuck me." You beg as tears fall down your perfect cheeks. 

"Fine, but." He pants slowly freeing himself as he lets the head of his cock stretch your sentence, "But only to cockwarm." 

"Noooo!" You whine, squirming as he plunges himself into your velvety walls, already setting a slow pace just to feel you clench against him if anything. 

"Please, please King. I want more. I need you to fill me, Katsuki, please." 

"I'll fucking give it to you brat." He snaps, the sight of you was too much.  Peering over your shoulder, eye liner smeared, hair sticking to your face as your mouth formed that perfect O. He throws caution to the wind and gives in to instinct, to you. 

He sets a harsh pace, his body shaking from exertion as he pounds into you with sloppy haste. Being much more vocal than usual as he grunts and groans allowing your tight cunt to pull him in. The sounds of your arousal echoes through the room as your feet come off the floor, squeezing your thighs around Bakugou to keep him close. Slowly you become limp letting him fuck into you before tensing as he hits that damned spongy spot. Causing stars to catch in your vision and the sounds of his groaning send you over the edge. 

"I'm gonna-" But you never finish it as a scream rips up your throat causing your voice to go hoarse. Your spasming cunt sends the hot head into a groaning tangent. His hips pistons into your soaking heat sloppily before they stutter. His hands gripping at your hips, body shaking the way yours normally does after a heavy session. He pants your walls in ropes of delicious hot cum, the action causing you to whimper.

In what feels like too a short time to Bakugou but the perfect amount to you, he withdrawals from you. Watching you twitch as his seed slips out. Gently he pushes it back in, before gathering some on his digits determined to make you cum a few more times until he is ready to go again.

Bucking and crying trying to squeeze your thighs to shut him away but he spreads you out until his fingers pull something special from you. Body so tense that if touched wrong you might shatter. 

And shatter you do as a silent scream escapes your lips, a clear liquid squirting onto his inky arm and black clothes.

"Ah, kitten I wanted you to squirt on my cock." He coos, rubbing slow sensual circles to bring you down slowly. Rubbing your ass, sure to check on your battered cheek, damning himself for losing control. He lifts you up, turning you to face him as you cling to him, arms crushing him to your smaller frame. 

"You okay Princess?" He asks, peppering kisses atop your head causing tears to burn your eyes. You choke out the question you had been meaning to ask since that first night. 

"What am I to you?" Your voice shakes as badly as your body, as if you were freezing from a chill. He tenses beneath you and you think you've crossed the line. Before you can backtrack he pushes you away from him to grab your chin. Leveling your face to his as he stares into your soul. 

"My fucking everything." He growls out, voice worn from overuse, "How else can I show you?" 

His thumb wipes away a few stray tears as you process what he has said. 

"I gave you my lucky vest didn't I?" You giggle at his question, nodding in agreement. He pulls you into a hug, eyes glaring at the clock. 

"Stay." He commands rushing to the sink to dampen a rag in warm water. He starts with your face, clearing it of the black eye liner. Slowly making his way down your body until he gets to your sticky sex. Wiping away his essence and yours before pressing a soft kiss to your hair line. He tosses the rag into the sink and rummages through your duffle bag returning with the shirt that started it all. A kiss is pressed to the black fabric before he slips over your head, sliding his lucky vest onto your strong shoulders before he adjusts your skirt. Twirling you in a mock dance to check for stains on your skirt, when he sees none he dresses himself pressing a water into your hand. You bite your lip thinking he's going to leave you here. 

"Sorry but you gotta come with me to the meet and greet since you've got this on." He tugs at the black denim causing you to giggle. Relief floods his aching body as your lips curl into a bright smile. 

True to his word Bakugou slips into the long meet and greet with you in tow an hour and a half after he started. 

"Here's your fucking sticks kid." He says, shoving a set of drumsticks into some snobby kids hands. The man scoffs with a retort. 

"I paid for the ones you used tonight. These ones are brand new." 

Bakugou narrows his eyes at him, leaning in close as if you share a secret but he speaks at a normal volume. His face suddenly changing to a cocky, knowing smirk. 

"Guess I broke tonight's pair kid. Tough fucking luck."

He sits in his normal spot, away from others. Pulling you onto his lap, reminding the room that he was taken. 

[munsons-maiden]

Really hoping this goes through, and I apologize for sending this in several times but my internet was out of whack for a little bit. So if you get this more than once, I’m sorry for that.

So here’s another interview snippet with Amy, and once again, I don’t know how to feel.

@strangermunsons I'm terribly sorry it took me eternity to reply to this but I'm still contemplating what I think about this tbh.

I've been mussling this over for weeks, just like the interview with Amy about the tattoos, and...I don't trust her. She's the head of makeup department on this show. She has to know some things.

What's still rattling around in my mind is that she changed her initial IG caption for the first pics of the wounds from "Intentionally not too deep and unneccessarily gory" to "Intentionally not too unneccessarily gory" and I'm still trying to figure out why the hell she should have done that if she didn't have a moment of "oh shit did I say too much?".

And I still don't really believe her about the tattoos being all coincidences. The bats? Metal, very Ozzy, yeah. Okay. I can believe that. The puppet master? Makes sense. A weird coincidence but I buy it.

The Wyvern for Dungeons and Dragons? Makes sense. The demon face? Yup, Hellfire Club has a demon face as its logo which Eddie designed so makes sense. But...it even has bloody lips. Demons don't have bloody lips. Vampires do. And so did Eddie when he died.

BUT THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER?! That's NOT a coincidence. I mean, five tattoos are a lot, and we don't even really see the spider. But this very spider is VECNA'S ultimate symbol. That's not a coincidence and it's not foreshadowing for enything that happened in ST4.

All the other tattoos tie in with Eddie's arc in season 4 and that's why the spider stands out.

Sorry to bring up the tattoos but it goes hand in hand with the wounds - they are not deadly. I said it after the finale, I've been saying it for the past months and I'll say it in eighty years, those wound are not deadly. And her IG caption or rather the change of it somehow proves that point. Instructions have been given. They fucking let the costume department taylor the shirt Mike is wearing because nothing else felt right. They got their hands on every minor detail, for every character, and they keep saying that nothing in this show is ever coincidence - something we all agree with because they've foreshadowed things seasons before.

Nothing. Is. A. Coincidence.

And then Amy L. Forsyhte wants us to believe that everything about Eddie was a coincidence? The tattoos, the quality and quantity of the wounds? Hell no. I don't believe a single word fshe says 👀