#I paused it to write this

[crimeronan]

god i wish i wouldn't have to explain the intricacies of the neopets economy to you guys to give the full context for this but. the new neopets team that took over from jumpstart pledged that they were going to curb the inflation of rare items, which is great because a lot of rare items are worth literally hundreds of millions of neopoints, they are unbuyable unless you've been playing actively for 20 years. they did this earlier with a site festival that included random loot boxes, some of which had Unbelievably Fucking Rare And Precious items worth 200 million neopoints apiece.

well.

today they have gone a step further. by releasing this year's trick-or-treat bags. and having the trick-or-treat bags be stuffed to the brim with unbelievably fucking rare stamps, weapons, paint brushes, defense magic, and other unbuyables. (all prohibitively expensive and in-high-demand types of items.)

jellyneo, the premier neopets website, has recorded prices of some items plummeting from 2,000,000 neopoints to 4,000 neopoints IN THE LAST THREE HOURS. this is when most people haven't even heard about the event or OPENED THEIR BAGS YET.

and of course. cherry on top. 20-year-old account holders are crytyping on the site events neoboard about how mean and cruel it is to make rare stamps part of the prize pool, because their entire identity hinges on being part of the neopian bourgeoisie, and they are having MELTDOWNS over their assets being devalued until they're part of the lowly proletariat.

this is a children's game for children btw.

none of the money is real.

i'm having such a good time.

[justsalpals]

it was played as a joke but

there's something genuinely harrowing about gorgug and kristen on the deck of the ship, pelted by rain, swarmed by dragons, these two teenagers looking at each other with wide eyes trying to bury the fear down deep, and

do you remember when we died?

they were freshmen, they were children, they were two years younger but it feels like a hundred hundred years ago

it feels like yesterday, because deep down they're still that boy hiding his too large frame behind a metal flower and a girl stuffing her too large personality into the pages of her bible

do you remember when we died?

the ship rocks violently with cannon fire, hands of fear and divinity and loss creeping from the clouds

do you remember the day you lost your faith?

do you remember a forest so sharp it cut you clean through?

do you think we ever woke up?

[bamsara]

I love writing again. Except for that One Paragraph

[mallahanmoxie]

someone keeps beaming these straight into my brain while im asleep. anyway, mel meets abby first AU. okay so probably not first first, but langdon's at rehab and mel's not seeing him around, and she gets into a book club that is not so much of a book club and more like an excuse for middle aged moms to meet and complain about their lives which is. okay. (mel can't leave, alright, she paid the subscription fee and becca keeps asking about her book club friends and it's nice to have something to talk about that's not strictly under doctor-patient confidentiality and you know what, most of the time they do read the books, so there's that. she's getting her money's worth.)

abby is there and mel doesn't not like abby, but it's a kinda hard to grow closer to a person you don't really understand much, and abby keeps complaining about her doctor husband and every little barb does feel a little pointed, after a while, because mel's told them she's a doctor a good five times already, but it's whatever. abby doesn't tell them about rehab or her job or her kids' names. abby doesn't really tell them much at all about her life, really, only her feelings, which might perhaps have been a clue all along but not one mel was about to pick up. (frank texts her once i could not tell you what the last thing she ate was but i sure could tell you how she felt about it.)

and then one time mel catches her at the tail end of an outburst, all on her own, and abby takes it out on her in that passive agressive, insidious way some people have that is all the more annoying for how roundabout it is. and mel calls her out on it because it is unfair and it's not mel's fault that abby's husband doesn't have the time or energy to be around her, and it's not just because they're both doctors because mel makes the time to be here, she is here right now with abby so!!! it's unfair!!! and then suddenly mel blinks and she's got an armload of wailing abby whose incoherent, tipsy mumblings (of course there's wine at book club) amount to half apologizing, half asking mel why her husband can't be a little more like her which is NOT a question that mel can answer.

so she does what she can which is she puts abby on an uber home and before she can think better of it, climbs in with her because, well, the woman is drunk. and on the drive home, abby gets very quiet and eventually goes my marriage is in shambles and i think my husband might be cheating on me with a woman at work and so when mel drags abby up to her front door, the uber waiting for her on the driveway, the only thing mel's thinking is thank god this conversation is over and not hey this garden patch looks awfully familiar so she gets utterly blindsided when abby's husband opens the door and it's... frank. frank who'd she'd been texting all afternoon. frank who she'd grown extremely close with in the months since he came back from rehab. frank who, apparently, hasn't been spending time around his wife because he's been spending it with mel.

[gwenniesart]

"oh hey that's a completely normal fanart for crk, let's see-"

PSYCH MOTHERFUCKER I PICKED THE COLORS (almost) ENTIRELY FROM THAT FUCKING DRESS FROM 2015

yeah the dress that's black/blue but looks white/gold in brightass sunlight. i do commissions if you want more psychic damage.

Directors commentary below the cut.

took liberties w/ the Jams obviously, nilla wafer's cloak interior, and yogurt clown's eyes. if nilla wafer's eyes weren't Closed during the Scene i would have fudged his eye colors too.

i actually broke out burne hogarth's anatomy books to make sure i did the hands good

havent done fanart outside of pokemon in like, years and years.

i took amusing wips pretending i was threatening yogurt clown with the Dress.

its getting CLOSER, BLUEBERRY BOY, YOU'D BETTER RUN.

this is what smilk gets for playing the We Are One In The Same card so hard. bet you'd look white and gold too if i obliterated you with the full power of the sun.

im so fucking cooked. there will be more crk content.

[starbiology]

The neopets leaders are doing well i think,,

[ethosiab]

[25] IM BACK. here is a messy team canada for beef day

The fundraiser for Gamer's Outreach is still ongoing! Don't forget to donate and get in on some of the incentives before it's too late :D

[sapphosdirtyhoe]

the most enjoyable part of DAI is watching the advisors cuntily arrive at the war table like it’s a rupaul’s drag race season entrance. cullen did a sheet mask beforehand, josephine’s eyeliner is as sharp as the tip of that quill, & leliana’s been waiting three games for her moment to truly serve. morrigan guest stars - thirty, flirty, & no longer homeschooled

[thatlenguy]

haven't seen anyone draw these 2 as much in the, like, one full day i've looked at corru.observer fanart. anyways, it's a fun game. play it!

[gilly-moon]

I am BEGGING society to start using the oxford comma again. I have misunderstood too many sentences in recent memory all because someone couldn't put ONE extra comma in.

[alex51324]

OK, you know the part edit where SecUnit disgustedly narrates that the PresAux people are LeeBeeBee calls the PresAux team /edit amateurs?

And we all know the etymology of amateur, right? From the Latin, amator, or lover. It's someone who does or studies or practices whatever out of love for the field, rather than as a paid profession, and only later shifted to mean someone who isn't good enough to do it professionally.

And Preservation does not have a currency-based economy, so nobody there is getting paid.

Preservation is a place beyond the wormhole, where only lovers go.

[soukokuforthesoul]

when chuuya finds his car in flames, in pieces, no longer discernible as a vehicle, it feels like a message of sorts. that something else is burning down. so when a meeting is called, and mori informs them of dazai’s departure, he can’t find it in himself to be properly surprised. because of course that’s what happened, what else? he ends up running his fingers over the bottles of wine in his collection, pausing at a particularly expensive one at the end of the row. the rest of the night is lost in the way he drinks straight from the murky-green glass, tipping it into his mouth and drowning in what he calls celebration.

[justsalpals]

And in this moment I became obsessed with G13

what if I was a shitty little oily hacker guy, looking out only for myself. what if I had a small ring of like minded cyber criminals, maybe my friends, maybe willing to stab me in the back at a moments notice, maybe that's what friendship means to us. what if I worked for the feds and the criminals and above all for myself.

what if a world of explosions fell flat with static. what if chosen family spat the same predictable lines. what if I was a hacker, and the world was code. what if.

what if a little old woman fell right into my brain, sweet and useless and real. real real real.

and if I reached out -let the code of my mind fill in her blank spaces- and tasted what it meant to be real.

[toyboy-molloy]

"Sir, wait..." Henry ran to keep up with Hans, grabbing the door to his quarters before it could slam in his face. He ignored the panic he felt building inside him as he stepped inside, rushing to clarify the rather tense situation they suddenly found themselves in, "I-I can explain. Bartosch and I were-"

"Henry, please," Sir Hans held up a hand as he paced around his chambers. He tried to look casual despite feeling anything but, "don't lie to me. I know perfectly well what I saw!"

"I'm not about to apologise," Henry said defiantly, watching as Hans paused at the window, keeping his back to him. He continued, "so if you want to send for the executioner-"

"You think that of me?"

"I don't know what to think," Henry admitted since Hans still wouldn't look at him, "you ran out of the baths like the hounds of hell were at your heels!"

Hans finally turned away from the window, his arms folded, "forgive me for being just a little bit shocked."

"Aye," Henry said sheepishly, nodding, "sorry."

After a moment, Hans came to sit upon his bed, still deep in contemplation as he rubbed a hand over his face. Henry wondered if he should leave instead of standing in the middle of the room, anticipating the worst.

"I just have one question," Hans eventually said, leaning to rest his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped. Henry nodded slowly, waiting. Hans looked up, "why him?"

"Bartosch?" The question confused Henry. Surely even Hans could see what was appealing about the mercenary. The noble still stared at him so Henry cleared his throat, "erm, well, he's handsome, charismatic, competent-"

"Oh, is he? Is he indeed?" Hans was shaking his head, rubbing at his forehead. He stood from the bed and resumed pacing, "well, what the hell are you still doing here, then? If he's so much more compelling and clearly means that much to you-"

"Hold on," Henry interrupted, stopping Hans in his tracks by grabbing his elbow, "I never said anything about it meaning something. It was just a bit of fun."

Hans scoffed, attempting to shrug Henry's firm grip from him, "you don't have to pretend with me, Henry."

"What's your problem with him, anyway?" Henry said with a shrug. Hans scoffed, answering far too quickly to be casual.

"I don't have a problem."

Their eyes met but before Henry could say anything more than his lord's name, Bartosch caught up with them. He entered Hans' quarters as if nothing had happened. He leaned against the door frame, observing the situation."

"Lord Capon," Bartosch smiled charmingly, gesturing vaguely between Henry and Hans, "I trust Henry has explained everything adequately?"

"Yes," Hans stepped away reluctantly, wondering if he was foolish to challenge Bartosch to a duel, right here and now. Deciding that it was, he settled for balling his fists behind his back, "I'm sorry for disturbing your evening."

"The night is still young, my lord," Bartosch not so subtlety glanced at Henry who blushed. Hans pretended not to notice, "so I shall bid you goodnight..." he waited for Henry who was rooted to the spot, his gaze wandering over to Hans. Bartosch couldn't help but notice the looks he was also pretending not to give to Henry. His eyebrow raised and he stood upright from the door frame, "unless..."

"We're done here," Hans said firmly, turning away with a certain finality, "you two enjoy your evening."

"Night, sir," Henry muttered. Business as usual, then. He turned to leave, taking Bartosch by the elbow as he left, "come on."

Hans waited until they were out of earshot before he moved to the window, watching the two of them cross the courtyard towards Bartosch's room. Hans had never felt so alone.

[bodhrancomedy]

Being a kid who loved police procedurals and cop dramas and crime shows, even the flashy American ones, who grew up to be anti-authoritarian, pro-defunding the police, ACAB makes trying to watch films you liked when you were eleven really weird.

[musashi]

Fandom: 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney, 大江戸戦士: トノサマン | Ōedo Senshi: Tonosaman | The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo, The Pink Princess: Warrior of Little Olde Tokyo, Samurai Series (Ace Attorney) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ayasato Mayoi | Maya Fey/Karuma Mei | Franziska von Karma Characters: Karuma Mei | Franziska von Karma, Ayasato Mayoi | Maya Fey, Himesaman | Pink Princess, Tonosaman | Steel Samurai, Wakasaman | Iron Infant, Original Characters, Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Post-Gyakuten Saiban 123 | Phoenix Wright Trilogy, Slow Burn, Pre-Relationship, Metafiction, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fanfiction, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Emotional Constipation, No Sequel Trilogy Spoilers, AU where the 7YG doesn't happen immediately, nor does AAI, my attempt at countering the 'franmaya are hypercompetent' trope, where they are emotionally mature & wingmanning for nrmt, click here if you want to see them be fucking messes, Post-Case 3-5: Bridge to the Turnabout, We Introduced A Federal Prosecutor To The Concept of Fandom, what happens next will shock you!, excessive amounts of steel samurai lore, (aka shit i just made up)

Summary:

Since the day they met, Maya and Franziska have been nervously hovering near one another, dancing around a connection they just can’t seem to make. An off-kilter sick day spent binge-watching Pink Princess changes all of that, as Franziska finds herself thrust into the strange new world of fandom and fanfiction with Maya as her enthusiastic guide. A metafiction-y love letter of a story about the two of them slowly falling for each other—all they will say, all they will not say, and the catharsis and perils of escapism through fandom.

Written by myself & @pictureswithboxes

[READ ON AO3]