#But hey I tried and I think it's working

[highspeedhighcarbon]

Pecco/Luca in that sappy style of French novel (La Dame Aux Camélias) because that's what 2am thoughts do to you. Also a big thank you to @topnotchquark for thinking this is a good idea :)))))))

So basically I'm thinking of Pecco as Marguerite, like he is confident but the confidence is not real, just a façade because people think he is. As you can see with Marguerite, because she is a sex worker, she knows her limitation and so does Pecco, and to feed into that stereotype Capricorn characteristics, he is also a controlled (?) person and hate the feeling of losing control, as you can see how Marguerite reacted about how she wanted things to work in her way (her meeting schedule with clients). Pecco, somehow, has that same thought (misinterpretation of him I know). I also mentioned about the feeling of undeserving when it comes to simple little life with the partner (in this case Luca) and run away because he cannot see himself with Luca in the future and thinking Luca deserves someone better. We cannot forget the self-destruction element of the sport and I THINK it suits the plot purpose. After he ran away, he starts destroying himself physically and mentally. So on and so forth, I mean the later part is pretty painful as he has to deal with self denial and also the pain of illness.

Luca, yes, Luca does not really suit Armand but I think the background is justified as Armand comes from a well educated family, same as Luca because his father is a psychologist. Let's just say it's love at first sight, Luca first met Pecco but not really in love with him, just curious about this boy and later in life being a hopeless romantic for him. I don't think he goes through what Armand went through after Marguerite rejected him. The point here is that they knew each other before this, and imo Luca is not a hot headed person like Armand so it's just the phase of self-doubt and not PDA with another person (or Pecco's rival if you think of it)

They had sex, yes and Luca loved it, but I think he is a possessive individual so thinking of Pecco with others make him kind of sick but he cannot do anything because it's not his problem. Realistically, he will promise to provide for Pecco as long as Pecco stops seeing other wealthy clients (we all know Luca is filthy rich himself but it's for the PLOT). At first, Pecco does not think Luca is serious about spending money to afford the luxurious lifestyle that he is currently living but Luca proved that he wants it, like all of it. So they buy that house in the suburb for just two of them (coping mechanism, not working because in Pecco's mind it's just not for him) and they invite the boys (the academy boys I don't know how to put them here). But as we know, it's not enough, mentally, Pecco just has that thought of undeserving of Luca's love and as many scholars on motogpblr said, repress his love for Luca (even deny it if given the chance). So he escaped that little bubble of paradise that they (mostly Luca but whatever suits) created and go back, all the good memories torment him so he just as I mentioned above. They do meet again after all the psychological warfare (Pecco is as sick as a dog but Luca does not know) and they do reconcile (you have to imagine the process).

That's what I can think of for now. I want to reread this novel once again to understand it better.

[melverie]

Sometimes I'm doing well, and then other times Lucifer's level 30 intimacy phone call in Nightbringer suddenly comes back to mind, and I am once again reminded how Lucifer is so utterly desperate to connect with Satan in any way. It doesn't even have to be meaningful; just having his brother despise him a tiny bit less than before would already be more than enough

And when they finally do make the tiniest, most insignficant amount of progress imaginable, Lucifer is so overjoyed about it that he ends up celebrating with a horn of Demonus......or two, maybe three... Might as well finish the bottle. Let's open another one! And another, and another, and another! We've got to celebrate tonight, after all! Hm? No, he isn't drunk MC, what a stupid question to even ask. Here, he'll drink some more just to prove it! Then after that--!

And all that because he and Satan managed to hold a conversation for a minute longer than usual

[tealviscaria]

I read you. I read you like a book.

[meamiki]

Happy Anniversary In Stars and Time!! Have some Friend Quest based drawings :D

(These have specific quote picks related to them! And there's also a long ramble on why I like those specific quotes below if interested)

(And by long, I mean roughly 2k+ words of proper ramble total, so be warned before clicking keep reading this link right here to the rb!!)

[iidsch]

also more codelyokoposting but I really really dig XANA as a villain. It's not a person with a complex background that led them down the path of evil, it's not a morally grey character you sympathize with but condemn. It's a powerful AI capable of controlling almost anything in the real world. It doesn't have a face or a body, we only know it for its symbol and for the monsters it controls in the virtual world. It's willing not just to kill people through various methods (poisoning, drowning, car crash, fucking space lasers too?) but also Earth as a whole (it tried to blow up a NUCLEAR PLANT and crash two trains with toxic chemicals in them). And we don't even know why it does this, at least not for now. It may not even have a particular reason, just some sort of virus or malware in the form of an AI that seeks nothing but destruction without any goals in mind. This "pure evil" characteristic doesn't come off as childish, like in some children cartoons, it's just kind of scary to think that such an incomprehensible and destructive force exists, almost feels like a natural disaster

[onpie]

Noodles and Tea’s work inspired me fr

[puppyeared]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[muchmossymess]

okay but the unexplored potential of a revali and purah dynamic

revali is so keen to be the best of the best and push himself past all conceivable limits, and purah wants to find the limits of sheikah tech and magic only to barrel past them and nearly become god

so one day, purah comes to revali "how high can medoh fly?" and he pauses bc he hasnt thought about that much, which he realises is asinine how has he not thought of taking her higher "well her resting altitude is x but its possible to go higher, though i dont know her limits" and they just look at each other bc well now they have too know-

and it continues like that, purah coming to revali with questions about medoh or the rito or his wind magic or eventually just requests for assistance "i need you to fly this up there for me, clear out this monster camp, ect ect" and revali loving the attention and the chance to show off, and that hes able to prove himself as truly better (he often tries to rope in the other champions to compare) and purah is loving all the data and the chance to work so closely with a pilot and they both compliment each others personalities quite well, both sassy and intelligent and where purah is overbearing and bubbly revali is insecure and sulky

anyway this is all pre calamity stuff, i want them to be very good friends and cause chaos together and push each other to constantly better each other, and purah would scoff at revalis creative insults but internally laugh and file them away to use later, and revali may act uninterested when purah talks for hours about conclusions shes come to and different approaches they could take hes actually paying complete attention and thinking of ways to use this knowledge in piloting or training

[it-came-autumnally]

Why did nobody tell me that the plot for Tsukasa4 was so funny. "Tsukasa your acting is mid unless you're in hysterics. please go try to be normal" (cue 2 weeks of Tsukasa failing until he realizes the answer is to work with another guy to write a fanfic backstory for his side character with 3 lines. and even then he tries too hard and accidentally fails to keep his side character a side character)

[dannyphannypack]

i know we all love our perfectly evil Ghost Investigation Ward, but i was rewatching the second Men in Black movie with my dad a while ago and I couldn’t help but feel like an AU in which the Guys in White’s motivations and morality more closely resembled their namesake could be really interesting … i’d love to see a fic in which danny works alongside the ghost police/border patrol/detective squad instead of being kidnapped and tortured by them

[emily-mooon]

Nancy Wheeler the shoujo manga protagonist you are what with your love triangle and everything about you my pookie <3

[forbidden-interlude]

Like when black people first got the right to vote, do you think their options were ideal …. Let’s build a time machine for you guys so you can go convince them not to vote in the name of political strategy. I’m sure you have a lot of wisdom to impart.

[pearl-kite]

So I came to the realization today that I am not going to get anymore work on this trunk done this year. I still need to finish stripping the paper inside and redoing that, but it's just. Not happening until spring. With that realization, I decided it's time to finally bring it back inside, put all the junk on my floor that used to be in it back in it, and guys

It looks good.

This is going to be a summary post of the project, so let's go back and remember what I started with. Back in, like, 2015 or something, I bought this dome-top steamer trunk at a missionary shop for $65

Yeah. Rough. But underneath that paint it was sturdy, and the only thing missing was the lock and the right-side hasp. While I lived overseas this sat in my parents' house, and when I got back I kept meaning to do something while storing all of my yarn and cat food in it. When I finally got my own space (almost a year ago now!) with my own garage, I finally decided: it was time.

Heads up, this is a long post under the cut.

Did a lot of research online, grew to hate how generative AI has even permeated niche topics like how to refinish a vintage steamer trunk, WHY is there generative AI for that, PLEASE stop, went to Lowe's and bought some supplies (I used Citristrip for the paint stripping, it worked VERY easily), and started stripping that hideous brown* away.

Almost instantly I could tell how good it could be. The tin looked amazing, and for most of the stripping process I wondered why on earth someone would cover it with any color. It took multiple layers of stripping, and I got better at it over time.

I did also start to see some oxidation issues with the tin that made the purpose behind the paint job a little more understandable.

One side was particularly bad, but I will never forgive the decision to paint the entire thing one single color.

At first, the flat metal seemed okay, but the longer I worked on stripping, the longer it was exposed to air, the rustier it started to get. I had already planned on coating it, and I ended up getting some Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer spray paint. Instead of removing the rust, it bonds to the oxide and stops the process from continuing. It also happens to leave it a nice matte black that didn't need additional painting. I taped everything off, then sprayed.

Then it was time for the tin. I looked for ideas, and the best one I found was Rub'n'Buff. It's not so much a paint as a pigmented wax, with the idea that you can buff it to a higher shine. As I was stripping paint, I found a spot under one of the slats that the painter missed, and the original tin had been painted a gold color, so I used that to decide on color. I decided on Grecian gold, though I used the antique gold as a kind of base to make sure the Grecian stretched far enough.

I originally started applying it with some craft foam brushes, but they didn't really want to work for me, so I ended up buying a pack of makeup sponges, the little disposable wedge ones, and the finer texture worked much better. I had to trim them down pretty frequently, because the wax would build up and stop applying as nicely, but there were more than enough in the pack to finish the job.

The coverage is amazing for this stuff. This side was the worst of them, and one layer of the stuff was almost perfect. The Grecian gold was almost a bit runnier, though, and ended up needing a second layer to cover some patches that were almost too thin, thus the other underneath.

This tin is so pretty though. I still kind of regret that it needed it; the places that weren't oxidized were so bright in a way that the Rub'n'Buff had no hope of emulating. There are some places you can still buy the embossed tin for rehabing trunks like this, but I haven't found one with a pattern quite like this, and this one is so much nicer than the ones I've seen. I'm very glad that it was all intact except for where the lock goes.

After the tin came the slats. I knew from sites like Brettun's Village that I wanted to use tung oil, so I had bought what I thought was tung oil. Turns out Minwax gets to call their tung oil finish that even though there's. No... tung oil. in it. ? So uh, if you want actual tung oil, do NOT listen to Minwax, they're lying, I don't understand why it's allowed. It still looks nice enough, but quite annoying.

Speaking of Brettun's Village, they not only do their own restorations AND provide a guide, they have a very extensive supply of recently furbished and original parts. They happened to have a nearly identical hasp to the one that was missing (so nearly identical I only noticed after my dad pointed it out) and an old lock also similar to my original, made in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

The next step was to tackle the inside. Instead of just adding more paper on top (like the last people did, so now there are two layers, one of which hides some original stickers ;3;), I decided to try to scrape that out, and I've found some structural issues that the metal and slats outside have held together and kept hidden.

The top split in the wood is an actual crack on the front that needs fixing. The middle split is just the gap between the planks. The bottom is also a crack, but not as extensive as the top one.

So the final steps, when I get the motivation again come spring, is to finish getting as much of the paper off as I can. Then my dad is going to help me use some bondo to hold the cracks, and I'll find a removable wallpaper I like. Then I can sort out what I'm going to do with the lock. That top split runs right through where the lock should go - you can see some of the wood filler we already put in from where the original was ripped out - so we can't try to put anything there or it'll crack worse.

But I brought it in today!

It looks so good, I glance over and get to feel so satisfied; I did that.

*I don't like to call any color hideous, because a lot of the time it really depends on the context, and it's an okay brown. But for THIS? It was probably the worst brown they could have picked. Mixed with the orange of the paint stripper it looked like I was scraping diarrhea.

[fluffypotatey]

*puts on my Professor glasses* Macky really knows EXACTLY how to talk to Wukong, let's dissect it! M: Looks like things are going smoothly. W: I say, you've been here the whole time, haven't you? M: FFM is your home, but it's also mine. W: Did you find anything? M: Still nothing, however. Now the Jade Emperor is no longer present. The Celestial Realm already gives me an unsettling feeling. M: Wukong...that kid. W: I understand. M: You have to go and talk to him. W: I know! But...he still isn't ready. M: I see. You're the one who isn't ready, yet. How did you even become a teacher! M: He has to be. We all have to be realistic. W: He's just a kid. We can't let him... M: Who says he's just a kid! Why is it him? When you chose him, did you know? W: I didn't know, I really didn't know! I just followed...a feeling. M: Are you not the least bit worried?! This child has all of your special powers, and he always runs into trouble. Have you never questioned this before? Not a single person knows where he came from. Is it not strange?! M: We still have no clue as to whoever let out Azure Lion. All your old foes returned in one swoop. Are you not even a little- W: Then what about you? You also suddenly came back. M: Argh- M: I say, someone must be manipulating us behind our backs. Especially Xiaotian. But they still haven't succeeded. W: Then tell me. What about you? M: Tell me do you want my help or not?! / W: Not long ago you were still against me! / M: I see, you're just a- / W: ...after I assume you'll teach me how to train my own disciples? ~ Xiaotian Interupts ~ M: Look. That kid has made you his idol. You're his one true hero, but you... W: But I what? M: He has to understand, he doesn't need to carry these burdens. You have to do better. You can really tell whose the chatty one in this relationship XD Wukong might be a lil annoyed, but he's tolerant. And Macky is a little playful turd as always. Where Wukong gets gloomy and concerned, Mac swaps between teasing and serious in a blink. Then things get a lot more strained and tense, but unlike their previous fights, it never escalates into violence. Never a growl, never a raised fist. They're right at the edge, and they drop it. I'm very much interested in the psychology of arguments and when it comes to people latching onto (1) thing a person says and relating it slightly off topic to avoid talking about that other thing, like Wukong is doing here. It's so cool seeing how physical they are in trying to visibly control their emotions around each other, and how they keep trying to hold themselves back from tearing in further, always pausing and halting, and switching to another thing. They're TRYING. Ugh. I think Mac was trying to give a comforting smile at the end, but it's kinda warped by the whole ~ everything else. ~ Anyhow, I like how this starts with Wukong establishing, or rather cementing to Macaque that he believes MK is a kid. And while Macaque argues against that, he did also say before that Wukong should talk to him. And they have their squabble, with Mac pushing Wukong's buttons to get him to say something, BUT the fact this gets resolved with he needs to understand he doesn't need to carry these burdens. YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER. Like of all things Mac could have chosen. He's playing right into what Wukong himself believes, that will overwrite the "MK isn't ready" thing. Because let's face it. Mac is right when he says Wukong also isn't ready for that talk yet. He's so down throughout all this, Wukong probably feels himself that he needs to be better. AND by appealing to the fact MK is a kid, without explicitly stating that, just a statement that cannot be denied, BUT is a subject that undoubtedly, even Wukong cannot avoid. Because he wants better for MK. For him to not walk down the same path as him. Macaque has basically nudged Wukong into having that talk he wanted with MK by reframing it differently from what Wukong wasn't ready for. Thoughts? Critique?

*squishes you* anon…anon, you’re telling me..that this was the actual dialogue between SWK and Macky in 5x01. that what i just read is the translated version of the Mandarin dub. correct?

ok ok cool. i’m cool. gucci. feeling fantastic lemme just

WHAT THE FUCK LMK

ok so i ranted in the tags but realized i forgot to say more things (also i was worried i’d exceed the tag limit bc that is a real thing what do you know!)

so, anon, you said Macky knows how to talk to Wukong and yeah agreed but for me it’s for of the sense of “Macky knows how to get his words under Wukong’s skin”

he knows how to let his words sink in and fester in Wukong’s mind, making him reconsider things or another to help speed up certain decisions or choices Wukong is hesitating on. and ain’t it fascinating how despite how long it’s been since either character have talked or interacted with each other, they still know the ins and outs of their behavior and thoughts.

Macky knows Wukong needs to talk to MK but is holding back. Macky after one answer from Wukong realizes that it’s Wukong who isn’t ready for that conversation and switches tactics to try and breach that mental block

Wukong, in a need to avoid the conversation, brings up the questions surrounding Macky’s reason for even being alive again because that is information neither have talked about and oh hey! Macky is avoiding that conversation too! and it’s an important one to have so he pushes for it, but Macky knows it’s being pushed to avoid their original discussion and is annoyed bc “classic Wukong, never wanting to delve too deep into topics where he’ll need to be vulnerable for” (especially when said vulnerability is with his newly re-allied ex friend Macaroni himself)

god i love them

[good-beanswrites]

Remembering how Futa said in one timeline that there’s no way a woman could beat a man in a fight and got his ass beat. Can you do a crackfic of the girls beating him up for that?

Ahahaha thank you for the request!! This was really fun to write omg -- and well deserved, there was no need for all that in the timeline convo 😤 He was too busy thinking of leverages and forms he failed to consider the fury of a woman scorned..... may he rest in peace......

Fuuta didn’t even know what he did to earn himself an ass-beating.

“Oh, you know what you did,” Yuno said. She closed the cell door behind her. 

Whatever it was, it had managed to anger every woman on the premises. He thought it took a lot to get girls riled up this much – something like cheating on them or calling them names, you know? But without a single action on his part, he found himself facing Yuno, Muu, and Amane. All three had a fire in their eyes that Fuuta was not liking the look of. 

Mahiru had pointed him to his cell, saying Es was looking for him there. She spoke strangely as she did it, and waited awkwardly outside as he went in, but everyone around here was a little odd. How was he supposed to distinguish when people were being murderer-in-a-supernatural-prison weird from setting-a-trap-to-corner-him-in-his-cell weird?

He waved his palms in front of him. “Listen, listen! Let’s just talk, okay? Let’s slow down.”

Muu cracked her knuckles.

Amane began rolling up her sleeves in perfect creases. “You have doubted our abilities. We will make you a believer.”

Fuuta took a few steps back. His voice came out loud and frantic. “What are you talking about? If you’re looking to pick a fight, you better think twice, because I’m not gonna hit a girl or anything.”

“Oh, good!” Yuno’s voice was as bubbly as always as the three closed in. “That will make our job a lot easier.”

He felt his back hit the wall. “I mean it, let’s just talk about this for a sec! Hey!”

Mikoto’s voice came from outside the cell. 

“Mappi? What’s going on in there?”

“Yes!” Fuuta called, “Mikoto! Help! They’re gonna kill me in here!”

“Oh, no need to worry~ The girls are just teaching him a little lesson about not saying awful things.”

“Isn’t this going a bit too far…? What did he even say?”

“Nothing! Come on, get me the fuck outta here!”

“I believe his exact words were, ‘there’s no way a girl could win in a fight against a man.’”

Fuuta paled. He did say that, didn't he...

“Oh crap. Yeah, that’d do it. Carry on.”

“Wha–? Mikoto!” 

He gaped at the three in front of him. 

He remembered a hero in a video game who had faced off against an unbeatable foe; a glorious knight who came to understand that he could never conquer the world-razing dragon before him. After giving his all, and seeing his fate was sealed, the hero had no choice. In a manly show of valor, he’d lifted his chin, closed his eyes, and accepted his impending, gory death.  

Yuno's gaze was cold as she raised her arms. Muu had a hungry look in her eyes. Amane clenched her fists, her posture perfect.

It wasn’t a dragon, but Fuuta would argue this was a good deal more dangerous. He lifted his chin and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Get ‘em, girls!”

—

Kotoko approached just as the other girls filed out of Fuuta’s cell. They had giddy looks on their faces. They giggled and whispered in a huddle as they walked around the panopticon. 

“Wow, Muu!”

“Haha, I didn’t know you had it in you!”

“That felt amazing…”

Kotoko didn’t know what kind of game they were all playing in there, but Fuuta was in for a big surprise now. The fun was over. Today was the day she acted out her responsibilities as Es’ fang. Today was the day she delivered justice. 

She swung the cell door open. Her eyebrows shot up. 

Her head whipped around to take a look at the girls, still complementing one another and laughing lightly.

Hell, her work here was already done.

[happyk44]

Thinking about Carter trying to help Percy go out and do things again as he slowly gets better so he tries to figure out stuff that Percy likes that's not just swimming. And Percy says he likes skateboarding so Carter get himself a skateboard and protective gear and gets ready to make an idiot of himself at a nearby skatepark and Percy's decent but he's so. Unengaged with it. They go out once and then never again. But when pressed Percy insists he does like skateboarding.

So Carter tries again. What else. What things did he do as a kid? What did he do when he had free time? What made him happy? And of course there's swimming but even with a pool right across from him, Percy doesn't really use it. At some point he admits he didn't swim as much as people might expect as a kid. For a long time, he needed an adult with him to have access to the public pools and his mom was busy and Gabe wasn't going to go with him. But he likes swimming. He does!

Contrary to popular belief, he was quiet kid. A homebody. He didn't have friends. He didn't have money. He didn't go out. He didn't do things. He had two video games for a GameCube console that he never got to use because Gabe hogged the TV. He had a box of cheap PC games no one ever heard of that were kinda fun but the computer took ten years to load and when Gabe came around, he hogged that too.

Outside the house, he sorted through trash for recycling to donate for coins. Hung out at the candy shop with his mom when he could. Bought a macrame set and made ornaments to sell to neighbors for the holidays. Picked up skateboarding because it looked cool, it was free, the board was cheap, and he needed a reason to not go home because Gabe was there.

He never really considered the question before. Maybe because, like now, he knew deep down asking himself "what do I like" would open up a can of worms he didn't want to sort through. He didn't need to know. He knew the reality. There was nothing good in that can. Just worms all the way down.

"Annabeth and I would go to museums," he says, flicking a piece of lint on the carpet.

Carter doesn't even look up from his computer. "Do you like going to museums?"

"Annabeth likes it," Percy says.

"But do you like it?"

Percy pauses. Then, "The tours are okay."

"So no." Carter clicks his tongue. His brows furrow. Percy wants to smooth it out. Make it go away. How can he make it go away? He put it there, he needs to make it go away.

He flicks the lint again. It tumbles once. "Sorry."

Carter's gaze flickers. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know." Because I'm stupid and empty and a burden, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Without looking away from his laptop, Carter reaches out and pinches Percy's cheek. "You said you sold macrame a couple times. What about that? What if you picked it up again?"

Percy rolls his finger over the lint. It balls up. Fuzzy. Gray. Small. Flattens smooth and thin as he presses down. "Sure." Maybe he could make a tiny cactus for Grover. He moves his hand but the lint stays flat. Thin. Unable, unwilling to separate from the curls of the carpet. Pathetic. "Let's try it."