#I'm not starting like completely brand new as I can read music

[andresmounts2]

Taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to ask for electric guitar suggestions.

I know it's going to be a huge learning curve, but I really want to learn one & one of my friends has a band that I'd love to join.

Any good starter brands? Or things such as picks that I could use when first starting?

[charmante-mp3]

Easier

-- Day 9; Stockings (Song Mingi x Fem!Reader)

The people called for Mingi, and so I deliver to you, Song Mingi. And yes, this is from my Kinktober prompt from last year- This is also halfway edited, ending might feel a little rushed? Idk I'll come back to this... maybe. - Kinktober ML Main ML Warnings; Fem-bodied reader, she/her pronouns, squirting, m! and f! oral receiving/giving, unprotected sex (only allowed in reading don't do irl!), thigh-riding/fucking, reader flashes Mingi on accident oops- 1.6k

Y/n looked herself up and down in the mirror, not knowing how she felt about the fabric adorning her legs. A few weeks back, she and her friends went shopping just before settling for drinks. A now monthly routine they had slowly accustomed to. On that night, when she was home the girl haphazardly threw the bags in a corner of her room. Only remembering the new items thirty minutes ago. She sat on her bed, pant less, with nothing but a cream colored sweater and a brand new pair of white stockings. Y/n had purchased many types of stockings in the past, ranging from boring long black socks to pink ones with bows adorning the edges. However, her plush thighs spilling over the top now occupied her thoughts. 

The bitter silence was the first thing Mingi noticed when he walked into the girls home. Usually, the TV was playing or maybe music but not one noise sounded through the house. Did she forget he was headed over? Mingi began to think she was gone and headed to lounge on her couch. He stopped mid-way hearing a loud sigh come from the hallway leading towards her room.

“Y/n, you here?” Mingi’s loud voice tore the girl away from her thoughts, completely forgetting entirely what she was just doing. 

“Yeah, I’m in my room,” She yelled back at him, his footsteps now making way towards her open door.

“Hey, what 'cha doin’?” Mingi’s head peaked in, his newly dyed platinum hair shining in the sun that peeked through her window. 

“I forgot about these new clothes I bought, for some reason I don’t know if I like these new socks,” She looked down at her legs with a confused glare in her eyes. Mingi’s eyes trailed down her figure, breath hitching at the white, lacy stockings. The lace at the top kept bunching together as her thighs pushed over the tight section that stopped mid thigh. Mingi’s hands bunched together as he quickly brought his eyes back to her face. Stopping the thoughts of his large hands gathering the soft skin. 

“I think they look fine,” He said after shamelessly clearing his throat. The poor girl was just as clueless as Mingi sometimes. Like in this situation, both are clueless to the effect they have on each other. Y/n’s new item flutters something in Mingi’s stomach and his complement makes way to hers. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. They’re kind of itchy,” The girl lifted her leg to start removing the increasingly uncomfortable stockings. In this process, accidentally flashing the man in her room.

“Oh my god Y/n,” Mingi’s eyes flew shut at what he saw and the sudden air flow in her lower area reminded her, she wasn’t wearing and pants or underwear. 

“Mingi I’m so sorry,” Her legs flew down, a blush flushing her cheeks. In different circumstances she wouldn’t have minded, but this was an accident. There’s no telling how uncomfortable Mingi was right now. 

“Can I please say something, you can hate me, think I'm gross and everything but you have such a pretty pussy,” Mingi’s hands flew to his face, a fire building up his neck as he rambled. Those words dug a deeper pit into Y/n’s stomach. Mingi was always prone to complimenting the girl, it was his second nature, but those words took this situation a bit further. 

“You can get a better look if you’d like Mingi,” Her words came out barely above a whisper. Mingi’s eyes popped open, his pants growing increasingly tighter.

“I can?” He asked breathlessly. His hands grew clammy, his heart pounding at his chest. With a nod of her head and the slow opening of her legs, the tall male quickly walked over and dove down to her. He hovered over her face before dropping to her increasingly wet pussy, shoving his face into her, inhaling the sweet smell of her sex.

“Fuck,” Mingi growled, feeling pre-cum gather in his boxers. He couldn’t worry about that right now, all he wanted was a taste. 

“Can I taste you?” Mingi asked, his breath airing over her cunt. 

“Please,” She whined at the male, one of her hands flying to his hair as his lips came in contact with her clit. 

“Fuck me, Mingi!” His pace was relentless. Her high was coming embarrassingly fast with the way he sucked and rolled his tongue around her clit. The pleasure was numbing her thighs, unable to feel the forming bruises Mingi brought upon them. Cream coated Mingi’s tongue as she came, but he didn’t stop or slow down. She clenched around nothing when his tongue occasionally slipped inside, curling around and slipping out returning to the torture on her clit.

“Mingi!” She gasped at him, her high increasing even after just cumming. Her back arched, pushing Mingi away as a clear liquid coated his face. He let out a loud groan, grasping his clothed cock as she covered him in her essence. His once light grey tee now darkened around his neck, cum covering his face. Mingi looked down at the dazed girl, her breathing labored as she came down from her high. Y/n looked down to see Mingi palming himself and with that she weakly pushed herself up, which caught Mingi’s attention. 

“Wanna make you feel good,” She said, replacing his hands with her own. Her hands softly pulled at his sweats and Mingi lifted himself, allowing her to pull out his desperate cock. A pathetic whine left his lips as her thumb met the tip, running it along the slit and wiping away the pre-cum stuck to it. His head flew back as she slid her hand further and took him down her throat. Mingi was long just as he was thick, popping him from her mouth she allowed spit to fall from it. Using the spit to jerk the other half of him she couldn’t fit in her mouth. His hands found a refugee wrapped in her hair. His stomach clenched as her throat swallowed around him, his high growing near. His hips twitched as he filled her throat with cum, pushing himself farther down her throat in the process. Y/n pushed his thighs, his cock and cum flooding out with a grotesque gurgle. 

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Mingi rushed to the girl, but she grabbed his hands.

“Mingi I need you to fuck me, please,” Her voice was hoarse and it drove him crazy. 

“Keep those on,” He grunted in her ear. Her hands stopped fiddling with the long socks covering most of her plush thighs. Mingi then picked her up and flipped them around. Her bare cunt now flushed against his bare thigh. 

“Fuck yourself on it,” Mingi’s eyes met hers as he guided her hips around his thigh. He groaned at her slick coating his thigh, small mewls now left the girls throat as Mingi continued a slow pace. Then he tensed his thigh, pushing her further into him. 

“Mingi,” Y/n whined, she wanted more unfortunately Mingi wanted to see the girl fall apart one more time before she came on his cock. His lips came in contact with her neck, before deciding he was tired of her cute sweater. He pulled it off and in return she pulled at his while still grinding on his thigh. As she worked herself, Mingi removed his own shirt allowing her to run her fingers down his chest. The action caused him to shiver as her nails scratched his abdomen. Lips had now found their way back to her neck trailing down to her breast. As Mingi kneaded at one, his mouth enveloped the other one rolling his tongue around it just as he did to her clit moments before. 

“Mingi, i’mma cum again,” The girl above him cried, throwing her head back as she continually fucked herself on his large thigh. He could feel her wetness run down his leg and his cock was red and hard all over again from watching her use him. 

“Cum on my thigh baby, you’re doing so well for me,” His deep voice rang in her ears, she chanted his name like a mantra as she chased her next high. Her eyes rolled back and her body seized, cumming on the blonde male once again. Before she was able to regain a normal state, she was placed below Mingi. He had propped her waist on a pillow before pressing himself along her back. 

“You’ll tell me to stop if it hurts, right? I need words baby,” He voiced into her ear. 

“I will,” Y/n’s voice sounded almost gone as she spoke. It was raspy and shaky, Mingi wondered what she’d sound like once he was done filling her. Mingi rubbed his cock through her folds before slowly pushing into the girl. Y/n moaned as he stretched her out perfectly ruining her cunt for anyone else. 

“So full,” She moaned as Mingi bottomed her out. Mingi’s mind was in shambles trying not to move as she clenched around him, but he needed her to move first. It was only mere seconds before Y/n’s body wiggled back to him encouraging him to move. He held himself a little longer letting out a guttural moan he towered over her, watching her increasingly fuck herself on his cock. Mingi’s patience snapped as he grabbed the girl's wrist, pinning them above her as he roughly pounded his cock into her weeping pussy. Y/n could no longer form words, just loud moans as Mingi’s hand made his way to her swollen clit. The constant pleasure building in her stomach caused her to shake at her final orgasm. Her pussy pushed out Mingi’s cock and squirted once again, now coating the male's lower half. 

At this point, Mingi didn’t know if she could handle another one so he pushed her thighs together, using the previous liquids to fuck her soft thighs. Mingi came, his seed running down onto her plush covers and brand new stockings.

“Well, if it makes you feel better I don’t think you’ll be able to wear these stockings again,” -

[tadpoles-and-daydreams]

An intro to my blog; Witchcraft, tarot, and general unhinged energy.

Bare-bones/TL;DR: My name is Frog or Froggo, whichever you prefer, I use he/him pronouns and this is a blog dedicated primarily to my practice as a witch. I do tarot readings over on Ko-FI, as well as some on here that are donation-based (You tip if you want, but you don't have to.) Donation-based readings are temporary to promote the paid readings, and I'll be closing requests once I feel I have a decent amount of people interested (or if i find that it isn't working and I'm just instead giving free readings and no paid readings.) Send in an ask for a donation-based reading, or head on over to my Ko-Fi if you want more of a guarantee that I'll get to your reading/want your reading prioritized. Please check the bottom of this post for what readings I do/don't do before sending an ask.

Me:

I go by Froggo or Frog

He/him pronouns

Trans, panromantic, polyamorous, and just generally queer.

auDHD

20

Quiet sunshine and rainbows type of guy, until you get to know me and then suddenly I won't shush and I keep talking about psychological horror

interests outside of witchcraft include writing, Genshin Impact (I promise I don't associate with the fandom they scare me so bad), music, anime, and "weird miscellaneous facts."

My craft:

I've been practicing off and on for about four years, but I've been around witchcraft my whole life. I no longer consider myself a beginner, but I wouldn't consider myself a beacon of knowledge either lol. I know enough to be comfortable practicing on my own, and giving others a few resources. If I ever post something with inaccurate information, something that appropriates any closed practices, or something that is otherwise not advisable, PLEASE let me know!

My interests in witchcraft include Tarot/oracle cards, deity work, crystals, and working with dragons. (Although, that last one is very new to me so I have very little experience to share so far.)

My work as a witch has begun to shape out as involving things that others fear and reject. I personally find this hilarious considering that I used to be so scared of everything.

I work with Persephone, Hades, Medusa, my familiar, Loki, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Khaos. They appeared to me in that order, with Aphrodite and Khaos being fairly recent additions as I'm typing this. (5/12/24) Note that this is a list of EVERYONE I work with at all, and some of them (like Medusa) only rarely show up in my life currently while others are more active.

I have a sideblog about my work with dragons, @officially-other, but it's so heavy on UPG, identity talk, feelings, etc. that I keep it separate from this blog. It's brand new as of editing but I plan on it being completely transparent.

Things to expect from me: An unreasonable amount of witchcraft memes, lots of fun little stories about my guides/deities and interactions with them, general stories about my craft. My asks are open, but I may not always have an answer to any questions! See the "not a beacon of knowledge" bullet point earlier.

DNI: Racists, misogynists, trans/homophobes, ableists, bigots of any kind, pɘdo, I feel like I'm forgetting something but overall just don't be an asshole okay??? Plz???? Thank you. 16+ minors are okay, below that you can follow and lurk just please don't start a proper conversation. (/lh, lighthearted)

TERMS FOR READINGS

Yes I know this is a bit long. I don't require that you read this but I don't answer asks with problems that could be solved by just reading this. I am no longer doing readings for anon asks, so please be off anon. Paid readings and any Tumblr readings that tip/donate beforehand will be prioritized, but other than that please be patient- when I post readings, I often get a lot of asks that takes weeks to get through.

Readings I will do:

General readings

Love readings (PLEASE check that it doesn't fall under "won't do" first)

Readings with a specific deity or entity (Paid readings get channeled typing,)

Pretty much anything that isn't on the "wont" list. (I reserve the right to say 'no' if something is brought up that I'm uncomfortable with but didn't think to put below.)

Readings I wont do:

Physical health readings (go see a professional)

Anything that constitutes "mind reading" (instead of "how does [person] truly feel" try "what's left being unsaid" or "what do I need to know" type questions.)

Sexual readings

Readings on a voice chat/call (yet)

Deity Identification readings (just not confident in them)

future spouse readings for free (I will do them paid, I just do the free readings to promote + for fun, and future spouse readings aren't fun for me)

[lgcxjasper]

NOW PLAYING: We're All In this Together from the High School Musical Soundtrack SOLO | NEW KIDS NEW DREAMS wc: 503 jasper moves into the new dorms, and welcomes everyone in his own unique way.

of course, he hadn't actually planned on going anywhere. he may have been a little(read: extremely) frustrated, quite a bit disappointed, and somewhat worried about what the future may hold, but it wasn't like he was going to leave. that had never even crossed his mind, and he had hoped, even the dark cloud hanging over his head-- that none of the others had felt like they had, too either. after all... they were team in this. all eight of them.

right?

so, of course, he moves into the dorms. cut-off shirt on his body, camera in his hand. when he had asked the staff for a camera a few days after the meeting, he hadn't actually expected to be handed one-- but there are almost no questions, and simply a quick tutorial on its many functions for he finds himself in the temporary possessive of what would turn into a semi- visual(and very public) diary.

and it starts pretty simply. he introduces himself with his standard 'ello, a growing signature of a intro, before he offers a soft smile. "so, i'm going to be packing up with little bit of my things i've got and we're setting up at the new place. don't know who i'm quite roomed with yet, but i think it's going to be fun." which was-- well, true.

he doesn't speak to the camera much once things get rolling; but its easy enough to keep himself into frame, hoping the editor will speed up with process of him packing things away, taking the short drive, and moving up and down the stairs umpteenth times. it's only his third or fourth time holding the camera and trying to speak to it, but like riding a bike... it somehow gets easier each time.

the way he shows his appreciation(and perhaps the way he shows he's not a complete asshole currently), was with dinner. after all, they were all moved in by now-- and there was nothing that made anyone hungrier than moving. somehow, he didn't feel like pizza was quite going to cut it. so, he's silent as he places the order for fried chicken, udon noodles, kimbap, and some rice cakes.

he silently counted seven others when he was moving in, seven familiar faces and seven people he had grown closer with than he ever imagined he could have. maybe the method was unorthodox-- filming nearly each second-- the good and the bad, the growing pains of not only making sure you can debut, but you debut as a unit. and perhaps that was the most frustrating thing about it all.

it wasn't just about him, anymore. the camera doesn't really stop rolling until he's moving to get ready for bed, a sigh of exhaustion leaving his lips. "well, you saw a full day of me moving into our brand new dorms. we moved in, set up our spot and had a nice supper, and if you'll excuse me, i'm quite tired, so-- i'lll see you in a bit."

[myloveforhergoeson]

hold on.... just thought of an online songs au where daisy put in the link to a performance by brand new day instead.... out of the three which would daisy be most enamored by and what would her dynamic with each of them be?

oh... oh wow.... my friend i love you and your big beautiful mind... this is such a cool little concept. a foray into original fiction LMAO

first, to share something slightly on topic, roxy exists in the os universe lmao. she's with james because i made her and i said so!!!!!! in this world, the thing with bnd still happened, so they're not together anymore, she moves schools and she's focusing on her own thing :)

so au of an au, daisy accidentally finds a brand new day video. right off the bat i think the music is entirely too much for her unfortunately; even though kendall sings pop punk music too, she's kind of micro-dosing with his acoustic versions. it's going to take some time for her to be like "oh wow, okay this is cool" because like all the music she listens to comes from her grandparents and church...

if she were to find herself interacting with roxy, mag, and dani i think her dynamic with each of them would be pretty different!

roxy and daisy would be friends, i like to think, but the two of them don't really have much in common. they both like to read, so that's a nice start. roxy doodles in her notebook sometimes and daisy loves to draw. but other than that... rox is super into pop culture and the latest happening and daisy lives in a completely different world. so i think their dynamic would mirror the one she and kendall will have in online songs when they first start seriously talking; just kind of showing her the ropes of tech and pop culture and whatnot. i don't think either of them would be romantically attracted to the other, but i do think secretly they'd each think the other was so cool and sweet and nice in their own special ways. daisy has traits roxy wishes she did and vice versa!

mag and daisy... look. i'm a sucker for good girl x bad boy. gotta be one of my fav tropes. but... bnd's music is still too much for dais right off the bat so i think that mag wouldn't really fuck with her after he learned that lol. his one goal in life is breaking the music industry and he's not really wasting time interacting with or talking to people that don't really slot into the future he's set up for himself. but i mean he wouldn't be dick to her or anything. i can see him like joking around with her about her lack of pop culture knowledge and telling her the crazy celebrity conspiracies he def believes in. maybe if they were older and mag mellowed out a bit more, he could find himself attracted to her if they had more in common. i don't see a world where daisy ever really finds herself attracted to him though.

dani and daisy is interesting to me... she'd probably find herself enamored with them more than the other two. there's still the music barrier i fear, but, dani comes from a pretty traditional and religious family like daisy does. i think that despite their religious upbringings being different, they could relate to each other on that front! i do think she'd find the drums more interesting to play than guitar just because it's so much more animated - so if she found a really good clip of dani drumming i could see her watching that a lot like she watched kendall's video :) i also imagine that of the three, dani is most chill. they're slightly more introverted than mag and roxy are so their energy level would also be way better for daisy to handle!! i think given time they could find themselves in a little something-something :p dani is pretty fond of nature too, just like daisy is too. they can have some sweet hikes all around minnesota and virginia

idk what do yall think? maybe i just don't like mag so much i'm not able to see his similarities to kendall lol. because, i mean, daisy is going to learn that kendall has a mean streak eventually so... hm. interesting!! tysm for this cross-over question i just ADORE IT <3

[contreparry]

Hello, happy Friday/DADWC! For a prompt, may I submit: “You wrote me a song?” from the Soft Sentence Starters.

Here's some JosephinexLeliana for @dadrunkwriting!

Josephine loved music.

She was no musician herself. Her hobbies, few that they were, tended towards the practical. She enjoyed knitting when she had the time, and reading was her favored pastime. And she loved a math game or two when she came across one. But music was prohibitively expensive: the instruments, the tutors, the sheet music, the books, the repairs- far too expensive to get into, and by the time she had the opportunity to learn Josephine was far too embarrassed to start. She hardly wished to be compared to her peers at school who had been playing instruments since they were children.

But Josephine loved music. There was rarely a concert or assembly she did not attend when she lived in Val Royeux, and she had a handful of favorite musicians who busked at various street corners in the city. One of her favorite pastimes was to find a musician or band playing in public and settle in at a nearby cafe or shop to listen to a full set before departing. It was a small indulgence, but one that Josephine held onto through her school days. She would listen to one set of music and a purchase a treat of some kind (a cup of chocolate or coffee, a brand-new pen, a nice block of wax to seal her letters). And sometimes, in her more romantic moods, Josephine wondered what it might be like to listen to a song that was all her own- written for her and with her in mind. But that was a girlish dream, and a woman grown like herself was far too practical to continue dreaming-

"Josie, dear, would you listen to this? I'm having trouble puzzling it out," Leliana asked. She had climbed through the window into her office again, which was her favorite method of entry. Josephine was tempted to keep the window unlocked, but Leliana insisted that she continue securing her windows and doors. It was more fun that way, she claimed, and Josephine wouldn't dream of ruining Leliana's fun. But today Leliana climbed into the window with her lute strapped to her back before she flopped down on the couch and tuned the instrument (which was perfectly in tune to begin with, Josephine couldn't help but notice).

"Of course! You know I love to hear you play," Josephine insisted, and she didn't even attempt to mask her eagerness to hear Leliana play and sing. She was one of her favorite musicians, one of the ones Josephine went out of her way to listen to even before they met- though she only knew her then by her wonderous voice and whispered reputation as a Bard. A private concert from Leliana was something Josephine couldn't have even imagined when she was a schoolgirl! She was delighted to get to experience it now.

Leliana strummed a few idle chords on her lute before setting off on a pretty melodic tune. The tempo was lively and playful. There was one particularly tricksome run that had Josephine holding her breath until Leliana managed it, and by the time it was over she was breathless with delight.

"That was simply marvelous! Whatever made you think it isn't suitable, dearest?" Josephine asked. Leliana smiled, though Josephine detected the faintest flush to her cheeks.

"It is always gratifying to be so praised by one's muse," Leliana replied, and she reached out and took Josephine's hand before pressing her lips to her knuckles. "But it isn't complete yet. The lyrics aren't finished, and the tune is rough at best. But I'm glad you approve." Leliana quickly returned to playing idle notes on her lute, echoes of the song she had just performed.

"You wrote me a song?" Josephine asked.

"I've written you dozens. This is the best of the lot. The rest are simply dreadful," Leliana said with a laugh (a rather nervous laugh). "Horribly sappy and immature- I believe the first one was about the 'charming yellow rose growing on the cafe windowsill.' Amateur as can be, and you weren't even wearing a yellow dress that day- it was pink!"

"A pink dress... Leliana..." Josephine said as a smile crept up on her and a laugh bubbled in her throat. It would be just like Leliana to have noticed her on the street all those years ago, long before they were properly introduced. Only Leliana would have attempted to woo her through song only to grow frustrated by her imperfect efforts and abandon the projects altogether. But now Josephine wished to hear these 'dozens' of dreadful, immature works.

"Oh, do not tease me so!" Leliana cried out. "You'll hate them, they're appalling!"

"I'll love them," Josephine promised, for she knew she would.

[postgamecontent]

Galaga '88 (TG-16 Mini)

One of NEC and Hudson's luckiest strokes came from the video game business version of the jilted ex. Namco had been one of the earliest supporters of the Famicom and was arguably integral to its initial success in Japan. As one of the first third parties on the platform, it had enjoyed rather favorable terms with Nintendo. After a few years the time came to renew that deal, and Nintendo was now in a very different position of power. Namco was going to get the same terms as any other Famicom third-party publisher. This did not go down very well with Namco. While it couldn't afford to abandon the Famicom or Nintendo completely, it would from this point on throw a fair bit of weight behind just about anyone willing to compete with the new market leader.

The PC Engine was the first beneficiary of this. In 1988 Namco released a whopping five titles for the platform. Two of them were enhanced entries in their popular baseball and tennis franchises, while the other three were home versions of some of its recent arcade hits. Of that trio, two were also ported to the Famicom. We'll be talking about one of those soon, so I'll leave that there for now. Instead, we're looking at the one that for a time was exclusive to the PC Engine: Galaga '88.

Galaga '88 is the fourth game in the Galaxian series, a brand that was seeing its global star fading a bit as the 1980s wore on. Galaxian and Galaga had been major successes in multiple markets, but Gaplus couldn't make much headway outside of Japan against the more advanced scrolling shooters that Namco stablemate Xevious had inspired. Galaga '88 sadly suffered a similar fate, finding a great deal of success in the Japanese market and very little outside of it. This was a good get for the PC Engine in Japan, at least. When it arrived in North America the following year under the Galaga '90 name, it was understandably not seen as the same level of system seller.

Let's be frank: following in the immediate wake of R-Type, Galaga '88 doesn't come off well at first glance. It appears to be a slightly prettier version of Galaga, and not much more than that. Single screen after single screen of enemies flying in and making their formation. Shoot them as you will, get captured and rescue your ship for a double ship, and so on. Is this really what the next generation has to offer? Ah, but that's just the surface read.

It is true that at its core Galaga '88 is very much the game its grandfather was. You can move your ship left and right along the bottom of the screen (no vertical movement) and you can shoot. In most stages you are looking to clear out all of the enemies, and you even get those bonus stages where you get points for shooting down fly-by creatures. The double-ship trick is indeed back, and you can even choose to sacrifice a life at the start of the game to begin in double form. And yes, it's prettier. More colorful, fancier music.

But then the differences start piling up higher. Your double-ship can be captured too, and if you rescue it? Triple-ship. The enemies have more tricks up their sleeves too, with new attacks and surprising behaviors. You'll occasionally have to deal with boss-style encounters. There are some actual scrolling stages, which is always a deeply weird thing to see in a Galaga game. You can also pick up warp capsules, and if you manage to collect enough of them in each zone you'll warp to a different branch in the Darius-like tree of stages. There's a lot of game here, basically.

Well, this wasn't a very short entry at all, was it? I love the Galaga series, so I hope you'll forgive my going long. The upshot is that Galaga '88 is an excellent shooter, as well-made for its sub-category as R-Type is for its own. The PC Engine port is just about perfect. Would this have been the best choice to dazzle your friends with back in the day? Maybe not. But after they went home, this is probably what you were playing. I'm really glad Konami convinced Namco to license some of its games for the mini-console. It just wouldn't have been the same without them.

[thegreatimpersonator]

speaking of 1989... i really hate that swifties on twitter and some on tumblr are making so much of that era about taylor's eating disorder, saying that she was constantly miserable and talking about how it must be so awful for her to relive that era. in advance i'm sorry if this causes a flurry of anons in your inbox, i don't mean to start anything, i just want to share my experience and i'm not comfortable to do that on my own blog right now.

i have had an eating disorder for a few years now, but i've usually been able to keep it in check. this past year, though, i've been struggling much more than normal. i don't want to share too much but there were many times that i didn't eat anything for 48-72 hours either because of other mental health reasons or because i didn't think i deserved to, as is very common. however, this past year has also had some of the best moments of my life, largely because of the people i surrounded myself with. i made a large group of friends where i don't feel like i have to put on a fake persona to get along with them. i was able to get out of my comfort zone and go to social events and gatherings i previously would do almost anything to avoid. and in many ways, despite the struggle i had i would not want to take back this year because of how many happy moments i've had.

and i view taylor's 1989 era in a similar way. yes, she was struggling with an ED but she was also breaking records right and left with her album, moving to a brand new city, and making such a large impact on the general public as well as the music industry. she perhaps was not doing well in private on the eating front, but i am positive there were other bright moments in her personal life at this time too, that she may have not chosen to share with the public (and understandably so).

all this to say, it's very naive and harmful to reduce a person's life at any moment to the mental health struggles they are going through. as humans, we should give each other grace to be more than our lowest moments and this applies to people like you and me as well as taylor.

i really didn't mean for this to get so long, but thank you for reading and i hope you're doing well sarah 💙

YES YES YES! i've said this before and completely agree! im so sorry you're dealing with that and going through a particularly rough patch rn, sending you love and always remember to be patient with yourself.

fans have always had a very black and white view of taylor (bc they dont see her as a person, rather a character or solely a form of entertainment etc etc), so when she mentions one bad thing, they assume the entire era was miserable and a terrible experience, the whole time. not a moment of happiness or anything. which just lacks so much common sense because you can struggle in one aspect of your life but that doesnt affect all the other aspects of it. plus she has said she's struggled since she was a preteen, so she had her ED when she was in debut era, fearless era, speak now and red era, but they never said she was miserable and awful it was to relive those? so why only 1989? it just goes to show swifties always want to see her struggling in some capacity because it makes her an interesting story to them.

[starkskypines]

writing pattern post

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able and see if there are any patterns! (from most recent to least recent, starting from the top)

Thanks for the tag @the-13th-battalion

be like the love that discovered the sin: Dean can only stare at the man in front of him, so similar to the person he once called friend. (SPN)

lavender blood: “That’s monstrous,” the criminal says, fear hopping along his expression after Jason describes what he’s going to do to the man. (Batfam)

when i break pattern, i break ground: Obi-Wan’s never thought of himself as old until this moment. (Star Wars)

in my hour of need (you were there): Stephanie falls to her knees, using the alley wall to keep her from completely falling forward. (Gotham Knights)

i'll spend forever wondering if you knew (i was enchanted to meet you): “No, but when she smiles…” Harper trails off just thinking about the way Stephanie’s smiles make her entire face take on a brand new kind of light. (Gotham Knights)

truth in the angel's garden: Sam breathes out a quick breath and then another and another and tries to get a handle on his raging emotions. (SPN)

meet me in a different dimension: Arthur blinks awake to the phantom touch of hands on his chest. (Merlin)

but for some, it was paradise: Cas moves his hips in beat with the music as he washes the dishes. (SPN)

reflected wounds: Jason hears the panicked screams before he sees the sight. (Batfam)

sunrise at the altar of a dead god: Cody’s been through this before. (Star Wars)

the trend I'm noticing is that I tend to start in the middle of some dialogue or action. I'm not a fan of beginning exposition that doesn't at the same time put me in the middle of it. these are also shorter fics that don't need any scene setting or plot building that's more than a few sentences long and I hate for that to be my very first sentence. I feel like all of these first sentences make you want to keep reading. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the goal when I write and I don't post unless I think the first line met that goal.

tagging: @imadetheline @peachgummycandy @giggles-and-freckles

[transsexula]

I keep accidentally holding the button on my phone that summons their new AI assistant and not only do I not use this, I don't have it set up, so it just asks me if I want to set up voice commands and it takes up the whole screen when it does this and it makes me think about all the times recently browsing general web on my phone where pop-ups would completely overtake the screen, or ads will clutter over what I'm trying to read, or the (90+) seconds on an ad that takes multiple skips, or the billboards lining the roads so bad you can't go a mile without seeing an ad for a place that's weathered and ugly and unkempt, or those ads they started playing on streaming services even if you have an account with them and you are actively giving them money not to see commercials but those aren't too bad when you like listening to music and the easiest/quickest access to that which u can afford at the moment has 1 to 2 ads between every song, every song which is now like 2:32 long and also somehow manages to squeeze in some product placement type namedropping of brands—

[stepfordgoth]

I keep trying to make goals/resolutions for the new year but I'm stuck. I've never been very good at making goals. Last year I think I kept it completely abstract like "in 2024 I want to continue improving myself in every possible healthy way", which is, of course, not really a goal. Goals have to be specific and have to have a time limit to achieve them and a way to measure your progress. Among other things. Im referring to the SMART goals system right now btw:

However I will say, despite it not being a goal set scientifically, I do think I did improve vastly in the last 12 months and I certainly wouldn't call that goal a failure! Compared to where I was last year, here are some of the things Ive achieved:

I am drinking way less frequently (and way less in general) now since this time last year (I was becoming messy tbh)

I joined a gym for the first time ever in my life in august, and I fell in love with it fast. What a confidence boost to not only be going to the gym regularly at all, but to commit to it after the idea of it has scared you for so long. And then to fall in love with the gym too! I'm giving myself lots of praise right now, thats a brand new set of several skills I acquired when I decided to walk into the gym! Compare that to the girl I was a year ago who was drinking way too much and not eating healthily and getting enough exercise and gaining weight because of all of these things. I've definitely lost a little bit of weight and I look a lot better/sexier/healthier now too

I've got my chronic physical issues more or less under control. Some weeks/months are better than others. I spent a lot of time this year trying to understand and fix my gut health and I can proudly say that a year ago I kinda thought I was going to die because of the terrible flare up I was experiencing, and today I have a pretty decent handle on it. January 2024 was the worst flare-up I've had in my life, and it has never approached that level since then. And it still flares up and it's awful when it does, but they're fewer and further between now, and they aren't nearly as painful or damaging. I'm really proud of how I've done the research and tried things until I found something that helps.

I have been strong and supportive and helpful as much as possible for my husband while he's been going through a lot of changes in his (and our!) life. I am so proud of him! It's been a crazy ride but it feels so good and I know he's got this, he's a fucking rockstar.

I have given so many new things chances this year. Specifically, new music. I've really allowed myself to be more open minded musically this year than I have in a very long time.

I have persevered this year. In so many ways. I have navigated lots of situations and always come out of it okay.

I have stuck up for myself. I have spoken up and stuck to my guns for what's right for me while also being proactive and trying new techniques and ideas to deal with my life issues. I have been assertive and I've spoken my thoughts and wants and feelings. Somtimes I have made big choices or changes and stuck to them even when others around me weren't huge fans of it.

I've gotten closer to truly loving myself. I'm still working on it though, but I made some big breakthroughs this year. I've put conscious effort into being more feminine and attracting more feminine energy to myself this year, and I've done a lot of reading/changing experimenting with different hair and makeup techniques and products and clothes this year!

I went to a Caribbean island (that alone is a first) and I saw so many more stars than I've ever seen in my life and I learned to boogie board and i started to realize that it's time to let go of that "I was raised as a prisoner" mentality that makes me forget that I'm a free, grown adult and I can do whatever I want. And I got the cutest little whale tail tan line! And I learned that my husband is more in tune with "the cosmos" (so to speak) than I gave him credit for.

I finally put some things into motion regarding some stuff around the house that has been bugging me for a while but I kept getting put off for whatever reason.

I was finally able to recognize the root of an issue I've had in my life on and off since I was 14, and accept it for what it is and make peace with it. It no longer obsessively plagues my thoughts as it did for many years, thank god!

I shyed away from fewer social engagements this year than I did last year (i think?) and I tried a little bit harder to make friends, or at the very least build some sort of personal familiarity with a few new people.

I was not perfect with it, but I made HUGE strides in my not abusing my stimulant meds journey. Yes I did indeed have slipup moments but I think overall I probably took the least total amount of stimulants in 2024, that I have since 2018.

[cartograffiti]

August '24 reading diary

Lots of novellas and lots of fantasy this month, mostly continuing series!

Sheine Lende, the prequel to Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe, was just wonderful. "Shane" is a Lipan Apache teenager in the 70s in an alt Earth setting with fairy rings and animal ghost magic. Shane helps her mother run a search and rescue operation, but when her mother vanishes while searching for a pair of missing siblings, Shane steps up to find all three with the help of her friends and family, no matter where in the world, or beyond it, they've been transported. Little Badger writes with a lot of beauty, effective emotion, and specificity in characters and worldbuilding. I wolfed it down.

Novella o'clock started with Seas and Geetings by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. They've been doing a series together of books about people in entertainment falling in love through the social hub of a producer who makes both porn and feel-good Christmas movies for a cypher of the Hallmark Channel. The mains of this novella are a bit peripheral to that, the best friend of one main (a lifestyle brand goddess) and the bodyguard of another. Lots of fun, they manage to be both a power couple and very messy, it's screwball comedy and they're obsessed with each other in a fun way. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I understood more of the Twilight jokes in the plotline of a parody musical being staged on the cruise ship, and it took a while for me to warm up to the sex scenes because mommy kink does nothing for me, but intellectually I really appreciate it in an f/f book.

A very long book: Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, a cryptic, sometimes dense, horror novel about... Well, it's about a family in Virginia that discovers their new house keeps gaining rooms, and doors into a seemingly endless labyrinth, and it's also about the history of the home videos they took there, a blind man who wrote a manuscript analyzing the film, and a young tattoo apprentice who analyzes that. Some of the text exhausted me with the sheer volume of citations (I think mostly or entirely fictitious) and self-analysis between the different layers of the narrative, and I was a lot more interested in the house than anything else. The unusual formatting completely worked for me, though, with pages of text placed to physically enhance the experience, sometimes forcing me to rotate the book. I can see why it has a large following of fan analysts, and I'm glad to have formed my own impression of it!

Two Penric & Desdemona novellas from this year that I hadn't gotten my hands on yet, Demon Daughter and Penric and the Bandit. Excellent new installments dealing with the problems of very young sorcerers and very young demons (paired together accidentally, naturally), and Pen and Des doing a little fetch quest with a soft-hearted criminal who doesn't realize he's not the one with the upper hand. You can read these chronologically or in pub order, but either way, not starting here.

A really solid disappointment this month in Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. I'd been interested in her books for a while, but I won't be picking up any others now. This was inoffensive, but remarkably predictable, and the characters in their late 20s and early 30s consistently read to me as people 10 years younger. It was also imho far too long for the amount of plot.

I was also very minorly disappointed in The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older. This is the second Mossa and Pleiti mystery about Holmes and Watson-ish girlfriends in space, and I liked this case, but the personal storyline was about Pleiti feeling insecure in their rekindled relationship, which I didn't find as fun as book 1.

Picked another Agatha Christie to read at random, in the ongoing project to read/reread all her stuff. This one was By the Pricking of My Thumbs, a particularly creepy Tommy and Tuppence case in which they try to hunt down an acquaintance of a recently deceased aunt, only to be drawn into retirement home gossip, organized crime, cold cases of murdered children, a quest for a location in a painting and its artist, and a secret room. Not in my top tier of Christies, but very fun.

And two more of the very silly and very scary cosmic horror detective adventures about Whyborne & Griffin! This time Fallow, which is about fungus horror (yay! yippee!) in Kansas, exploitation of people who hit rock bottom, and homophobia; and Undertow, which is another f/f novella about Whyborne's secretary Maggie having an adventure with Persephone the fish-woman while they're away. It's about whaling and xenophobia and murder, but it's also very much about monsterfucking, and JL Hawk had the vision to make in monsterfucking from both women's perspective, which is simply correct and ideal, thank you.

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 11

February 2024

Hello hello! 2024 is already almost 1/4th of the way done right? That's pretty nuts. It's been a ROUGH month so far. But we'll keep trucking along!

I played a good bit this month but honestly I'm kind of feeling some burtnout so I haven't been blazing through anything seriously recently. So even in March I will probably play a little less than usual. But we'll see. In the meantime, there's still a good bit to talk about in February!

Also I just wanna mention... these are all a LOT longer than the usual length. I just keep having more and more to say about different games I play, and it might seem like I go on for a LONG time with some of them, but I promise I had less to say than I would with larger games that get their own post. Don't feel pressured to read ALL of it, right? lol

As always these aren’t reviews, just my thoughts, please play anything and everything I talk about if it interests you!

Sonic Rush (November 15, 2005) - DS

FINALLY breaking my way into the DS Sonic games! Rush is actually a game I played a loooong time ago, but I straight up could not beat the last boss of Sonic's run. I beat the whole game but got seriously and completely brick walled there. So I had to give it up, but, thanks to the power of cheating, I was able to finally overcome Sonic Rush!

Sonic Rush is, in my opinion, a SUPER cool game. Absolutely stylish as hell in a way only Sonic and the Nintendo DS could possibly be. It's got nice charming graphics, good models for the characters and good sprites for the enemies, some solid level aesthetics like Water Palace and even duller metal stages like Huge Crisis (GREAT name for a stage) felt unique and cool. The game feels good to play, everything works nicely, boosting is actually a huge help in 2D Sonic I feel like, and I thought the boost bar system where you can trick and hurt enemies to raise the meter was cool. I actually felt like there was a lot to this mechanic I didn't even fully explore, I liked it! Music is, of course, fantastic. This soundtrack is pretty popular and I totally get why. I ADORED the sampling in it, and pretty much every single song is a hit in this soundtrack. Some personal favorites were Wrapped In Black, Raisin' Me Up, and A New Day, but again they're all really good. I also really like the story, it's kind of simple, but I think it's really effective. I'm particularly really impressed with how it handles the parallel universe concept. Rather than having just Nega Sonic and the Nega Emeralds or something basic like that, you get a brand new character to be the alternate reality Sonic. She's completely unique in powers, personality, design, no connection to Sonic aside from being his AU counter. It's REALLY cool and way more interesting than just a purple girl Sonic which is what you would expect right?

However, I have one big complaint with Sonic Rush... It's that the game is HARD!! I have NO idea how I got through it as a kid! Some stages are filled to the brim with irritating death traps, and some stages can get a little long in the tooth, and those special stages felt impossible without the pause trick. But where the game really shows its true colors is in the boss fights. They are TOUGH and they are LONG! Like, seriously, I'm starting to think 8 hits is actually an INSANE number of hits for bosses in a 2D platformer. Some are easier than others, but some are just dementedly hard. I'm sorry to my younger self, I was NOT gonna beat the last boss of Sonic's Story. And if I did? I'd have to do it again in Blaze's. So die, I guess! They're not even bad fights, they're just way too long and expect way too much from you and can sometimes be a little annoying to land hits on. Like the Blaze vs Sonic fight (despite how bad ass it is) or the final boss where you have to knock the drones into Eggman. I also think the stages can be a little boring when they're too similar to each other, even if the game is short it is noticeable when you play the same stage twice.

But, yeah, while this game absolutely tested me and got under my skin sometimes, overall I'd say I had a very good time with it. I totally get why people are so obsessed with it. Is it my favorite 2D Sonic? Maybe not. But is it the worst? Not even close. I'm excited to try Rush Adventure cause I love pirates! And that's the only other non-port Sonic game on DS! Yep! No others! Cool stuff!

Mario + Rabbids : Sparks of Hope - The Last Spark Hunter (June 21, 2023) // Rayman in the Phantom Show (August 30, 2023) - Switch

2 for 1 deal here! I FINALLY got my hands on the Mario + Rabbids DLC! I was very impressed with the base game, so I wanted to try these side stories for a while. Let's start with The Last Spark Hunter!

The less interesting of the two, the Last Spark Hunter kinda was a little odd in my opinion? It's placed right before the final boss of the base game, which was odd to me as I feel like this should've been something that happens AFTER the game? You also go back to a previous planet, which was a bit of a bummer rather than seeing a new planet. I was kind of unimpressed with some of the overworld puzzles, and I personally thought the final boss, while good in concept, just didn't work. Or at least I couldn't figure out how to get it to work. The boss is immune to all damage unless you use bob-ombs to blow up switches, but the bob-ombs only spawn next to the boss, but if you're close enough to reach the bob-ombs, the boss will hit you typically sending all the bombs away, or worse all the bombs will walk up to you and instakill you. Idk I just couldn't figure it out. It's not all doom and gloom though, as overall I did enjoy this DLC. It's got a new warden who is really cute and hot, and even though it takes place on the melodic gardens again it felt very unique to itself. The battles felt good, the new enemies are absolutely annoying as hell but they look cool and I thought they weren't that bad. And Kanya... She's so hot, dude. I love girls with giant sharp teeth and eyebrows, and for some reason I just LOVED Kanya. She's also for some reason a character they decided to give panty shots of, and her underwear has a unique design on it. Sure. Why not. Thanks for the rabbid panty shot, not sure who came up with that but god bless 'em. And speaking of Kanya, while I didn't like the final boss I did actually really like the phase leading up to it where you had to run away from her mech, it didn't have the same issues with the bob-ombs like the last fight did and I actually really enjoyed it. Overall this DLC was good but I personally feel like it needed some slight changes to make it feel more impactful. Kanya deserved to really be her own villain rather than like a random footnote that takes place before the final boss of the base game.

Then we get to the Rayman DLC. I'm not a huge Rayman guy, I've only played one of his games (that I mostly played to get ready for this.) But... damn dude, this DLC blew me out of the water. The story isn't anything mind blowing, and the overworld puzzles were still nothing much to write home about, hell the villain of this one was full on recycled. But, I'm not kidding when I say this, Rayman is SO much fun to play as that this genuinely might be the better DLC just for his inclusion. All of his moves really play around with the gameplay of Mario + Rabbids in really unique ways. From summoning in items, to not being able to equip sparks to make room for alternative forms (which combine nicely with the summoned items) to having CRAZY movement with his ability to grab hooks, Rayman allows for some REALLY interesting gameplay. I was doing some NUTS shit with Rayman, and some enemies I actually beat in 1 turn using all his tools. I think Rayman might be one of the most fun teammates in the Mario + Rabbids series so far, and I genuinely would not mind seeing characters in the 3rd game take some inspiration from his moveset for how to shake up the formula even further. I think this one's story is also just a little better even if it's less exciting and lower stakes kind of. It actually takes place in a new planet, it takes place post game, I really think the movie set concept is funny and works well. And overall I had a great time with this one especially despite not being a Rayman fan!

Overall, both DLCs were good! There's certainly stuff I would have done differently, but both stories were fun and absolutely worth my time. Allegra and Kanya were hot if nothing else.

Kiwi 64 (December 30, 2014) // Macbat 64 (July 3, 2015) // Tasty Ramen Episode 1 (December 15, 2019) // Silver Trigger 64 (August 21, 2016) - PC

A 4 for 1 deal! A whole collection of games!! To prepare for Kiwi 64 : Doomsday, I wanted to play through all the Siactro games I hadn't tried yet so I could properly understand the deep lore when going in. They're all pretty short though so I'll just write a short thing about each!

Kiwi 64 : It's simple, but it's fun. Basically a tech demo but it was cool to go back to Kiwi's origins. You can absolutely see how they've improved in game making since this. Kiwi 64 massively improves the graphics, levels, and especially Kiwi's movement. But for one of their first games? This is impressive, and it's short enough that it's worth coming back to.

Macbat 64 : This one is a bit more interesting. It's also very short, and Macbat doesn't have as satisfying a moveset as Kiwi 64 still. But this one certainly feels like a more full game. It honestly feels on par with other indie 3D Collectathons I've played! And it's even got a pretty neat final boss battle which I wasn't expecting! I also appreciate them keeping all the super creepy shit as bonus post-game content lol. If you only play one of these 4, this is the one I recommend!

Tasty Ramen Episode 1 : This one was very interesting. It's a short horror game where you have to put all the comically oversized batteries hidden around the store back into the generator to return the power without getting killed by the cute bowl of Ramen. It's a little stupid, but honestly I was very pleased with this one. Death doesn't reset progress, and it's not actually scary which was HUGE for me! Where this one really shines is with the super nice PS1 graphics, and of these 4 I think this one does the retro low poly style the nicest. Even the anime cutscenes look scaled down to be on a PS1 disc, very cute.

Silver Trigger 64 : This is a Jam game and as such, is the shortest one. But a game is a game so I still wanted to shout it out. This is an on-rails shooter styled after Goldeneye, but I thought it actually has a pretty interesting gimmick to make the game a little more difficult. You're encouraged to shoot as little as possible, meaning you really have to pay attention and not have an itchy trigger finger. It's simple and really easy but I had a good time with it and I wouldn't mind another light-gun game attempt from Siactro in the future honestly.

Super Kiwi 64 : Doomsday (January 26, 2024) - PC

But all of that pales in comparison to the most important game release in 2024! Super Kiwi 64 was a pretty fun game I played last year, so I was VERY excited to learn it was getting DLC! A whole free story line no less! You love to see it!

Doomsday is very similar to the base game. You're still running around and collecting collectables in small maps with the same nice controls and graphical style. In fact the first level REALLY feels like a level from the base game. But I was pleasantly surprised with the new cowboy level! In addition to giving Kiwi a cowboy hat, it has new mechanics like swinging from a lasso and is a BIG level. Larger than any of the stages in the base game, with a lot to find. I was pleasantly impressed! I also REALLY liked the final boss! I think Siactro actually makes some really nice boss battles and I'd love to see them do more especially in the upcoming Toree Saturn.

But where this DLC really shines is the story. It's got nice cutscenes, and even full voice acting which is very surprising! And it even gives a nice little ending to the King Melon Saga which has played out over the course of Kiwi 64 and Macbat 64 (play them if you can!) The story is quick, this DLC is very short, but it gets a little crazy honestly lol. I won't spoil it, but it's just neat that there's like cosmic stuff in these games? I'm genuinely interested to see if the ending of this will tie into a potential Kiwi x Macbat crossover game where they... yknow... do what's teased at the end of this.

This DLC actually even goes back and corrects problems with the main game. Such as actual cutscenes like some actual context to the game and a satisfying ending. But even smaller stuff like voice acting and time trials! I particularly REALLY appreciated those new story scenes though because that was a BIG issue with the base game.

My only main complaints with this DLC are the complaints I had with the base game. Mainly, no maps for the areas, and no hints for the missions. Again, I get it if you don't want it in the first playthrough, and the worlds are mostly small enough that maps aren't required. But I feel like giving hints and maps as a post-game reward would be really nice and appreciated.

Other than that? Another Siactro banger, this DLC is free so if you haven't played it, or were waiting for a reason to pick up Super Kiwi 64, this is your chance!

Megaman Legacy Collection Volume 2 (August 8, 2017) - Switch

It's Mega Madness once again! I've finally played through Legacy Collection 2 and, with the exception of 11, have played all the Classic Megaman games! Unlike Legacy Collection 1, these are actually different enough that I feel like I can give thoughts on each on their own. So let's start!

Megaman 7 : Fun fact, this was my first Megaman game ever! I used to play it on the SNES when I was a kid, and even though I actually could beat the opening stage after enough practice, I never beat any of the robot masters lol. But now I've come back and beat the whole thing! I've heard this is the worst Megaman, but honestly? I thought it was fine. The sprites are nice (though Megaman's sprite is forever a Smash Kingdom character to me lmao) and the music is nice. I'll be honest though, I actually don't remember most levels in this game, so maybe that's not a good sign! I do remember the one that had Ghosts N Goblins references in it? And I remember the Wily Stages being really really annoying and the Wily Capsule being needlessly hard in this one. One thing I particularly REALLY liked was the ending, where Megaman genuinely wants to kill Wily but just can't bring himself to do it. I think this conflict of Megaman seeing that the only way to truly keep people safe is by killing Wily, and his very fundamental coding saying he can't kill humans is FASCINATING. But sadly, it seems to be a weird translation quirk because it's never really followed up on lmao. Bass is cool though.

Megaman 8 : I gotta be honest, I was actually kind of impressed with this one! I remember feeling like Megaman X4, even though I liked it, didn't FEEL like a Playstation game to me. This one though, kind of did. It's more of the same, and the anime cutscenes have some NUTS voice acting, like, more than the memes make you believe. But the actual in game sprites are NICE. Like, the mets have so many frames of animation. I think this game looks pretty cool! And I think having the robot masters actually talk was kinda neat even if it's a little pointless. I think the plot is neat too with the weird evil energy and what not. I do think some of the levels had pretty irritating gimmicks sometimes. Like the snowboard sections or the parts where you press buttons to get a little platform through lava. It's maybe not groundbreaking for the first Megaman on Playstation, but I thought it was neat. Getting to see the fan made designs for the robot masters in the credits RULED, by the way. I loved that. Also why was Aqua Man gay coded?

Megaman 9 : The shining return to form for the series after so long and... man... idk about this one. Some people told me they really loved this one, but idk man. I understand why they went back to the NES style, these games came out in an era founded on nostalgia bait. And I imagine it made the games WAY easier to make. And I was hoping these games would be visually REALLY good. Because Megaman 4/5/6 are true NES games, but looked so good I actually thought they were SNES games playing a trick on me. Sadly though, MM9 doesn't have interest in taking the graphics style of the NES games into insane heights with the new technology, and instead plays it safe with simpler aesthetics. It's a shame in my opinion. Also, the gameplay is massively stunted here in favor of trying to be more like MM2. That means no dashing, and no charging, and worst of all, no quick weapon selecting. It makes the game feel clunky after playing the whole series right beforehand. I think this game could've been more interesting if it tried to use the simpler style to push Megaman forward, rather than bringing it backward. I will give it genuine props though, they don't remove any characters from canon and all the bosses/stages are fully original. Which rules! Compared to something like Sonic 4, which was made with a lot of similar goals in mind, MM9 isn't totally soulless, at least. Though I think its story brings up some HORRIFYING implications about how robots are treated in this series, especially after stuff like the Robot Museum in 7. Idk.

Megaman 10 : That was a lot lol. 10 I have a little less to say about. It's very similar to 9, I have a lot of the same problems with it. But thank GOD there's a quick weapon select this time. THANK YOU. It also does do some interesting unique stuff with the series as it lets you play as Protoman in the main story, and even Bass if you beat the game. Similar thoughts with the bosses and stages. Very similar game. I think the story in this one is more interesting though with the Roboenza, I liked the plot of Roll giving up her medicine, I do think it's a little lame that Wily is the villain cause while his plan is REALLY good and evil. I think having Wily genuinely have to help you for real would've been cooler. This one is fine though.

WOO, that was a lot. Apologies. Overall, these games are fine but I did think they were a little tedious in ways I didn't find any of the other games. And I think that comes down to this collection just... Not being as good? There's so few accessibility options, the only one is more health, and this is the ONLY collection that actively shames you for using it as it puts a little logo on the gameplay, not even on the border. It's so frustrating and NO other MM collections do this. Similarly there's no rewinding, no save states, you're at the mercy of the game's checkpoints which can be really far apart. And you can cheese this system just as hard as it can screw you over. I'm not sure why this collection just randomly doesn't feel as nice as the others, ultimately I feel like I could've just emulated these 4 and gotten more ease-of-access options. Oh well. Still glad I got to play them I suppose.

Nickelodeon Allstar Brawl 2 (November 7, 2023) - PC

This game got a free weekend this month, so of course I HAD to jump on it and give it a shot! I enjoyed the first one, but was so burnt by how barebones it was that I barely stuck around to try any of the free DLC (and especially didn't bother buying any of the payed DLC lmao). So I was really not confident in this one despite how much better it looked. And when I first played this free trial, I felt like my worry was justified. I did NOT enjoy it when I first played it. I thought it felt odd, and the story mode was too hard and a roguelike (a genre I dislike) so I just was thoroughly unimpressed. But I wanted to try it with a friend of mine who was into it, and decided to play it with them for a few matches. And I'm SO glad I did. Because playing it with a friend made the game CLICK. And it clicked HARD!

NASB2 is a little difficult to figure out at first, but once I got the hang of it, I was actually REALLY impressed with it. For starters, it makes a TON of improvements over the first. Actual voice acting, actual items, actual stages with actual stage hazards, and actual costumes for the characters. It's a HUGE step up over the first. And this also really shows in the unique gameplay, particularly the Slime Meter. This mechanic is INCREDIBLY cool. It allows you to roman cancel and burst, I'm not kidding, just like Guilty Gear. This game feels like Rushdown Revolt with Spongebob. But it also lets you use the slime meter to upgrade your moves to give them alternate effects, which reminds me a lot of Killer Instinct 2013's shadow meter. And of course, it also has final smashes when the Slime meter is full. I actually LOVE this concept of bringing in universal traditional fighting game mechanics into a Platform fighter. It's fun, and it feels GREAT! It can make this one feel confusing and daunting, I personally still feel like I don't fully grasp the extent of this mechanic, but it is GOOD and makes the game feel GREAT. The game also just looks better with some AMAZING models and animations, there's nothing that really sticks out as being super ugly unlike certain animations in the first game like Spongebob's taunt. The animations and references here are seriously SO good and this one feels like it was allowed to be a labor of love way more than the first one was.

The story mode is, yeah, a roguelike. And I'm still not super fond of that. But I actually did have fun with it. I feel like I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've just because it's REALLY Danny Phantom focused and I've never seen that show. But it is neat and I was really impressed with the fact there's actual minigames, as well as the amount of upgrades you can unlock for your fighters, and the amount of enemies that appear in the story mode. Like, even Chum Bucket slaves from the Spongebob movie, really random, but cool! Where the story really impressed me was the fact that EVERY character has unique dialogue for the cutscenes, and Clockwork and Vlad (and maybe the other characters?) actually have unique dialogue in response to each fighter. This is NUTS! Like, I played as Reptar who only talks in roars, but the characters always addressed him as Lizard and would be like "Somehow you make yourself perfectly clear" and other silly jokes like that. It's small but it's neat!

The roster overall is cool but it's a little hit or miss. Both games have tried to be a little out of the box rather than just picking the big names, which is great. But you do get some odd choices like Azula being there but no Toph or Zuko being pushed to DLC so there's 3 fire benders and no Toph. Overall though, I do think their approach to odd choices works well like Grandma Gertie makes a TON of sense. They bring in some much needed series like Angry Beavers and Jimmy Neutron, and a lot of the characters are pretty fun. Spongebob is great, I think Jenny was neat. And of course, Reptar, who was my main in the first too, is back and is still FANTASTIC! But my favorite newcomer, by far, is Plankton. He is SO interesting to play as and has a ton of really unique moves. Like his up smash being a grab? Or his down smash being a projectile? It's SUPER random, but it's cool! This game is cool and Plankton and Reptar are genuinely fun and are so much more fleshed out from the first. Also, as a side note, I actually secondaried Garfield and Korra in the first but I don't like their moveset changes this time lol.

But yeah the game isn't exactly perfect. There's still only 3 costumes per character without unlocking anything. Meaning 4 player dittos will just require 2 people to be dressed the same. It sucks. The items also are not that interesting honestly? I'm glad they're here! But I feel like they could be forced into the match a little better? And similarly while it's GREAT to have Final Smashes, the animations in them are easily some of the least polished parts of this game. I wouldn't mind an update that really fixes them up. And while the roguelike mode did grow on me and you can make it easier with upgrades, I still think it's REALLY brutal especially if you don't play as your main. I straight up could NOT beat story on texas tough even though I was able to beat Arcade on it no issues. Each run is also just a bit too long for my taste. I think maybe instead of 3 individual worlds, maybe one world that's long but shorter than all 3 worlds separate would've been nice? And maybe some different world themes so you're not always fighting the same bosses and enemies. Idk. Also, still forever salty that they only use the 80's TMNT stuff. I get that it's nostalgic but it's also maybe the worst of the 4 cartoons and has so little to work with when compared to any other series. I appreciate that a lot of it is inspired by the beat em ups this time. But idk if you have to make April's final smash the spirit bomb, maybe just consider using things from outside the most limiting TMNT series thusfar.

But yeah! I actually ended up having a really good time with this game despite my initial feelings! I was actually kind of sad when I woke up on the 19th and the free trial was over lol. I'm not a huge cartoon watcher but I do enjoy them. I used to watch a lot of Spongebob on DVDs I rented from video stores and Rugrats on VHS tapes my brother had. I used to watch a lot of bootleg episodes of Invader Zim and Angry Beavers online. And genuinely, Avatar and TMNT are some of my favorite things ever created currently. And similarly to Smash Bros, playing this makes me interested in some of these other shows I've never seen. I've never watched Danny Phantom but Ember is SOOOO hot I might honestly have to check it out.

I talked too much about this one. Mr. Meaty for DLC thanks

Killer Instinct (October 28, 1994) - SNES

Oh of COURSE I had to play this the nano second it got added to NSO lol. For anyone who doesn't know, Killer Instinct is my favorite original rareware series, by a long shot. Killer Instinct 2013 is not only one of my favorite fighting games but one of my favorite video games period, and I have TONS of fond memories playing the original SNES version with the black cartridge when I was a kid. So I was very excited to play this version again even though I own the way superior Arcade version on my Xbox lol. Originally I wasn't gonna write anything about this but I just had to gush about KI for a bit.

I still love this game. Yeah, it's pretty inferior to the Arcade version. Yeah, it's been completely outdone by 2013 (play KI 2013). But there's still something so magical about this one. I still think it looks very impressive, the 3D is cool, I like how weirdly chunky all of these old designs are even if they are very 90's and not as good as the 2013 designs (play KI 2013). I love the crunchy audio from the announcer, voice clips in old games are always SO impressive to me. The music is awesome, even back on the SNES before Mick Gordon got here, the soundtrack is just so damn good! I played as Sabrewulf as a kid and I kind of hate myself for that cause he has so many charge moves which I suck at using lol. But I also found myself really liking Glacius! My main in 2013 is Spinal and I think he's better to use in that game (of course it's way more modern) but similarly my other 2 favorite characters (and probably the 2 I'm better with if I'm being honest) are still Sabrewulf and Glacius! Some things never change!

My only real issues when coming back to this version is that it's SO HARD! I played on normal difficulty cause... I'm cool. I like KI. I know what I'm doing. But DAMN, later on into the arcade ladder they will knowledge check the fuck out of you. If you don't know how to Combo Break (something I can't even do in 2013) (play KI 20-) you WILL get destroyed. And of course, I don't like a lot of stuff in it as much as I do 2013, but like it's from the 90's of course the design sensibilities are very different.

But again still it's so magical to come back and play this game I was so obsessed with as a kid and just remember how important it was to 2013 which was a game so important to me as a teenager. 2013's ost wouldn't be as good if Mick wasn't a HUGE KI fan. The designs for the characters wouldn't be some of my favorites of all time if the original hadn't made some crazy as hell character designs. And KI 2013 wouldn't be potentially one of the most creative fighting games ever made if some weirdos at Rare weren't like "hey why are there no raptors and aliens in fighting games?" way back in the 90's. This brand of creativity stuck through all the generations to give us crazy shit like Aganos and Hisako years down the line.

Idk where I'm going with this. I love this series. If you haven't tried KI because you're not an xbox guy, but you do have NSO, I IMPLORE you to check it out. It's still fun, it's still cool, it's still creative, I still think it holds up surprisingly well. I would love to trick some people into playing online with me sometime soon. Please get into Killer Instinct, it deserves your attention! The raptor can eat an ice alien, for crying out loud!

[malusokay]

Things I do when I'm bored

Being bored sucks; maybe you can find some inspiration in the things I like doing when I don't have anything else to do! <3

Organizing my Pinterest. I love Pinterest :)

Browsing on Sephora. My favorite brand's atm are The Ordinary, Too Faced, Dior, and Laneige.

Looking for antique furniture online. I'm moving soon, so I'm keeping an eye out for cute things, haha.

Playing the Piano. I've been playing since I was 6!

Taking pictures on my Mac. We all know the Macbook Photo booth aesthetic, lmao.

Sending cute anonymous asks to people on Tumblr. Who doesn't get happy receiving lovely messages?? Spread more love.

Cleaning my room. Might as well do something productive, right?

Reading. I've always loved books. Do you guys have any recommendations for me?

Argue with people on Twitter. It's a guilty pleasure of mine, don't judge me, okay?! my Twitter is malusokay, follow me, I'm famous.

Go on walks and pick flowers. I like putting them between book pages to dry and find later. <3

Playing animal crossing. I have always been a Nintendo girl.

Going on late-night walks with my dog. I have a great Pyrenees so walking with him at night, being completely safe, makes me feel so peaceful. :)

Making playlists. Confessions... I use apple music.

Cooking or baking. I just made Strawberry Jam!!

Adding things to my Christmas wishlist. It's never too early to start making a wishlist. I love Christmas.

Making bucket lists. Currently working on my Autumn one! should I upload it when it's done?

Making little vlogs. It's a little hobby of mine; maybe ill start a youtube channel one day..

Cleaning out my closet. I love shopping, so I regularly donate old clothes to make room for new stuff!

Today I hit 36k on my Twitter and 3k here on Tumblr, so I just wanted to leave a quick thank you! I'm so glad people enjoy my content <3

✩‧₊*:・love ya ･:*₊‧✩

[spencerspecifics]

Here’s links to chapter one, two, and three :)

TW// conversations pertaining to dead victims/descriptive imagery of stab wounds and death caused by stab wounds, as well as blood is mentioned. I would like to specify, however, that this is a completely fictional case the team is working on within my fic. I'm not trying to make anything too gorey or crazy, this is purely to further the plot line for moreid (but I find it important to tell a good story in all ways, and that means I will go into details this case for better story building and immersion) thanks!

~

Technical Analyst (ch.4)

~

Derek had left the round table room almost immediately after the meeting was over, he had to grab his things- and he didn’t want to be in the vicinity near Emily after the meeting. She was sure to say something, and Derek didn’t want to hear it.

Thankfully, he caught a break, as he got his bag, and was able to take the elevator alone.

~

As he rode the elevator down, he decided to call Garcia- for no other reason other than he was missing her, “Hey babygirl,”

“Hey there, handsome!” Garcia answered in her famous over the top, peppy manner. “You just got a case, right?”

“How’d you know?” Derek asked curiously, fiddling with his bags straps as the elevator continued to whir downwards into the parking garage, he was going to drive himself to the airport- he got free parking since it was federal business, after all.

“I get cc’d on all new cases J.J. accepts,” Garcia explained, “Well, that, and Reid just sent me a worried email.”

The elevator arrived at the garage, the doors sliding open slowly after a moment, Morgan stepped out; “Worried how?” He asked, he wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Oh, it’s just first day on the job jitters,” Garcia waved off any of Derek’s concern. “Spencer’s not done technical analysis work before. He went from being on the field of domestic terrorism, to off on the sidelines. It sucks.”

“Yeah, tell me about it, I’d leave the bureau if that happened to me.” Derek mumbled into the phone as he got to his car, loading his go bag into the passenger side before moving his way around the vehicle, to the drivers side.

“Mhm, anyways, I’m off to see a musical! I got a front row seat, I’m so excited. I think it’s an off brand version of wicked, or something!” Garcia continued on excitedly about the musical that was or wasn’t a rip off- Derek didn’t understand musical theater very well, but he listened happily as he pulled his car out of the garage and started his drive over to the airport.

~

Spencer was a bit worried, absolutely he was. That’s why he had emailed Garcia in the first place. He went back to his incredibly too small office and it was the first thing he did. The email wasn’t anything too crazy- subject line just read “Help”, and Reid didn’t allude to his fear of making a fool of himself; instead he focused on clear objective truths, asking for a reminder on how to crack through sealed records and files incase needed, as well as where he should even start with the shower curtains used to wrap the victims. Because in his opinion, that was a pretty solid lead.

Garcia responded to his email not long after, telling him not to worry- she knew he was capable and able to handle these kind of challenges. She gave him her two cents on the shower curtain angle, see if crime scene unit found any label or identifiers on it, and also see if there’s any large suppliers to the area that make that specific kind of curtain. She ended her email response with “you don’t gotta worry! I’m only a call away. And Derek can help too (*^▽^*) you got this!”.

Of course Penelope ended her email on such a sweet, positive note, with an emoticon as well. Reid smiled as he read the message out on the screen. She was always so optimistic, at times he had to wonder if it was all a facade- but Garcia was so positive, if she was faking this she would’ve cracked by now. Reid loved her energy, he needs to follow in her footsteps in the ways of positivity and become more optimistic. He shouldn’t dwell in the negatives, even though it was easy for him to do.

Reid moved on, exiting out the particular email chain and starting on the search for the shower curtains, he emailed the crime scene unit asking for any identifiers they might’ve found on them, as well as he looked through the crime scene photos again to see if he could find anything, which was hard since the victims blood was all over them. He couldn’t see much, so while he waited for crime scene to message him back, he started on his own research.

He wanted to look into the two victims card activity, last seen whereabouts, maybe they were in the same restaurant or bar before their death. There had to be a clue around there somewhere.

~

“Okay, what did the two victims have in common?” Rossi asked the group as they were sat in the plane, it hadn’t even taken off yet- the pilot was still checking whatever had to be looked over before they could safely get in the air.

Derek was still getting comfortable in one of the lounge chairs sat around one of the tables in the plane, Rossi was sat across from him. J.J. and Emily were sat on the couch behind them, and Hotch was sat alone at a table across the row from Rossi and Morgan, each was settling themselves in; taking their jackets off and pulling the case file out of their bags.

“Both are white men, late twenties early thirties. The first victim, Jakob, has more stab wounds than the second.” Hotch started, Rossi nodded. “Do we know why the de-escalation in the amount of stab wounds?” Prentiss asked curiously, “There’s a witness who walked up on the unsub midkill,” J.J. explained,

“police already questioned her, but the story was that she was with her boyfriend in the bar next to the alley where Andrew Pullin was found. She stepped out for a smoke break and heard a commotion, she walked a few steps down the alley and yelled when she saw the body, the unsub was already running off by then.”

“Shows a lack of foresight- immaturity even, to kill in a public place and run off the way the unsub did.” Morgan speculated aloud. The team stayed silent in agreement, and the plane started rumbling down the track, ready for takeoff.

~

They’d only been sitting in silence for about ten minutes before J.J. piped up inquisitively, not about the case, but about Reid. “So our new analyst has experience with Gideon?” She asked Rossi curiously. Rossi nodded, he had the most information on the matter, everyone knew he would, so he was the one leading this conversation- even if J.J. prompted it.

“He does.” he answered simply, Prentiss chimed in, also equally interested; “So, how did he meet Gideon?” Everyone was listening in intensely, even if they were acting like they weren’t. J.J. and Emily were listening for similar motives, legitimate curiosity on a guy they had barely met before. That, and Emily would use whatever she learned as a way to throw back at Derek as proof that he must think the young doctor is cute or something. Derek would deny all of that, obviously. He was listening for simple curiosity, someone who worked with Gideon and he hadn’t heard of seemed atrocious to him. Hotchner was listening for the purposes of shutting down the conversation. He didn’t want the team interested in the wrong things, he needed them focused.

Rossi cleared his throat before continuing on, “Dr.Reid’s some kind of genius- kid’s got something like two or three PhD’s to his name. From my understanding, from Jason, he met him at some lectures the bureau hosted and Jason was a guest speaker at. They kept in contact and worked together.”

“So, he’s got probably years of behavioral science experience?” Derek asked, Rossi gave a curt nod and Morgan kept speaking; “So then why do we not work with him? The guy’s probably smarter than Prentiss and I combined,” that earned a harsh “Hey!” Out of Emily as he spoke, but he knew she wasn’t actually offended (as that was how they rolled.), and he kept going. “It just seems weird we haven’t worked with him.”

Derek’s comments caused Hotch to laser in on him, putting a stark end to the conversation. “Morgan, Dr.Reid’s professional career choices are not a speculative manner. His work with Gideon may be useful in our case, but if you have questions about his own career, you can ask him. Same for everyone else here. We need to be focused on the case.”

That shut Derek and the rest of the team up. Derek looked back down at the case file, imagining his eyes could burn a hole through the manilla envelope. He was sure if he looked up and made any kind of eyesight with Prentiss or J.J., he’d see their matching stupid smirks.

Sue him for being curious, he wasn’t trying to do any harm. But he doubt he’d learn anything from the mysterious doctor he had somehow never seen before.

~

The crime scene unit responded quickly to Spencer’s inquiry on the shower curtain identifiers. Unfortunately for him, it was a bit of a dead end- it was a generic shower curtain brand, sold and supplied at almost every retail store in the area. No way to track where or when it could’ve been sold. He emailed them back a thanks anyways, just to be polite.

He did have more luck with the victims last bank statements shortly before their death- and he knew it would be worthwhile to call the team and let them know about this. Garcia told him to as well, she said it wasn’t worth waiting for them to land to get them the information. The sooner, the better.

So, Spencer fired up the small, somewhat low quality camera for a video call, and sent the team a call.

~

The team was still sitting in amicable silence when a ring broke out through the comfortable quiet, Hotch leaned forward to press the accept button, and Spencer’s face appeared on the monitor in the plane.

“Dr.Reid,” Hotch spoke once the call was securely connected, Spencer gave an awkward half wave to the camera before starting,

“I got started on the shower curtain front,” he started “And?” Rossi asked curiously. “Not a whole lot there, they’re a generic brand, practically sold at every retail store in the area. It wouldn’t be a worthwhile use of time to track everyone buying them.”

Hotchner nodded, “Anything else?” He asked Reid.

~

Derek couldn’t help but notice how nervous Spencer looked over the video call. Granted, he got the nervous kind of energy from the doctor in real life. Not nervous as in Spencer wasn’t sure of himself, because Derek didn’t think that was the case. It seemed more that Reid just was a bit socially awkward- and maybe for a valid reason. From his file, Derek knew the domestic terrorism unit didn’t socialize with him much. They ostracized him. For what good reason? Who knows.

Morgan thought there probably wasn’t a good enough reason to cast this guy aside, then again, he didn’t know the doctor nearly well enough.

“I looked into the last known bank activity of both victims, I used their last known purchases as well as where they were found to start a geographic profile.” Spencer spoke, the speaker of the monitor adding a grainy warmth to his voice that wasn’t in his natural octave.

The screen layout within the monitor changed, now half of the screen was camera feed of Dr.Reid, and the other half of the screen was a map with four distinct markings. One orange, one red, one blue, and one green.

“What’re we looking at here?” Hotch asked, his voice monotonous as always. Reid continued, looking down at his own screen now, no longer making eye contact with the camera; delving into his explanation.

“The orange is the first victims last card purchase, the red is where he was found dead.” The orange mark on the map was northeast, it was incredibly, a few miles away from where the body was found. The red marking was in its respective position, more central on the map and in the middle.

“What was the last purchase for the victim?” Hotchner asked, “A bar, his tab had a few drinks on it.”

“Bar, just like the one Andrew Pullin was found next to.” J.J. speculated aloud. Spencer heard her and nodded, “The green marking is the same thing, card activity for the second victim- it was a bar and grill restaurant.” He said. The green marking was more southeast, lower than the red and orange. There was a noticeable stretch of distance between the first and second victim already. And once added in where the second body was found, they were almost at the border of the city. The blue marker was towards the southeastern border of the map.

“So, what is this map telling us so far?” Morgan asked Reid curiously.

“Not enough,” Reid said with a clear, small tone of dejected in his voice, “it seems that right now, the unsub’s picking from the more eastern side, but he started in the north and went south. There’s nothing to say he’ll stay on the eastern side, even. I need more data to find a midpoint.”

“More data, you mean more bodies.” Rossi said tightly. Spencer nodded, looking down at his keyboard with an unfortunate tone about himself.

“It’s still good work, thank you Dr.Reid. Just dig into the victims personal online lives now, see if there’s anything that connects them.” Hotchner said to him.

~

Spencer nodded in response, he felt ashamed for not being able to provide even the smallest bit more on maybe anything geographical for the team. He didn’t want them scouring through the entire town. He wanted to help narrow things down, find the solution. Hopefully, he would. But he just wasn’t there yet.

Spencer had to do something more though, he knew he did. His hands were practically shaking as he started speaking to the team, through the video call.

“If I can, though, sir-“ Hotch gave him a look of interest, he was ready to wish Reid off and end the call.

Hotchner nodded in stoic silence, giving Reid a signal to continue.

“I think the unsub is young, there’s a lack of foresight with how the murders so far have gone. And I know there’s only two, but I got the witness report from agent jareau, and this girl almost caught him. He’s either not thinking ahead, or,” Spencer took a second to take a breath in.

“Or?” Hotchner asked, “Or he’s wanting to be seen, or almost be caught. It feels like there’s a layer of voyeurism present. He’s leaving the bodies out for public display, he’s killing in public. It’s a pattern.” Spencer stated.

That was the end of Reid’s thought, and he carefully watched the expression of the BAU team through his computer monitor. J.J. and Emily weren’t in his visual line, only Derek, Hotch, and Rossi were visible to him. Hotchner’s expression didn’t change, Derek had a thoughtful expression on his face, as did Rossi.

“Thank you Dr.Reid, we’ll consider it for the profile.” Hotchner said, Reid just gave a nod in response and pressed the ‘end call’ button. Cutting off all communication with the BAU for now.

Reid hoped he wasn’t overstepping by saying what he just did, he was praying he wasn’t burning any possible bridge with the BAU. He wasn’t trying to show them up or anything of the sort. But he’ll be damned, he knows a lot about human behavior and sciences, and he’s been dying to use it.

Reid’s hands were still the smallest bit shaking as he reached for his mouse again, starting on the online background checks of the two victims, like Hotch instructed him to do.

He was just trying to do the best job he could, after all. He’s hoping the BAU can see that.

~

“Voyeurism and voyeur like behavior could be a reason for the somewhat public locations of the kills.” Prentiss said after Reid had ended the video call, once again leaving the team in silence before she spoke.

Hotchner gave a small nod of agreement, “It’s certainly a possibility. But let’s not attach ourselves to any ideas quite yet, we have very limited information to go off of. When we land, J.J. will come with me to set up at the police station, Prentiss and Morgan go to where the most recent victim was found. Rossi can interview the witness again.”

Everyone understood their assignments, not speaking anymore, just nodding to Hotch. They had work to do when they land, after all. And it seemed the team needed a second to sit without anything being spoken aloud. They needed to think, what the case means for them right now, what information they have. They just had to collect their thoughts. Nothing else was heard except for the hum of the jets engine.

———————————————————————

Taglist: @electricsockhead @cm-whoreee @ropoto @dakka123 @sterekawesomeness @so-society-compels-to-fall @psychoanalyzing-fiction @spideypooloser (if these usernames are old/accs no longer in use plz lmk!)

If you would like to be added to my taglist, comment or message me!

[captainsupernoodle]

*looks at my bookmarks and to read list* *looks away* I'm gonna need to do themed rec posts huh. So here's what I've been reading recently - these are wips that are currently updating, altho at varying speeds! Most of these are steddie 😂

wouldn't it be nice (if we could wake up) by kissesforcas, 70k - they finished destroying my heart with soft fluffy low stakes nerdy loveliness in the shire is NOT on fire and decided to come for me from the other direction with some Delicious angst with their take on immediate post-Vecna fallout. Ymmv if you're squicked by imprisonment and/or medical experimentation but it's clearly tagged and there are chapter content warnings! (Light spoiler but) I wanna give a big hand for Steve getting to join in on the monster shenanigans and an absolutely stunning take on the upside down. Almost complete!

I'll Hear You Scream by whileawaythehours, 50k - AUGH. Vampire!Eddie but it's mostly aftermath, and WHAT an aftermath, ooh boy. Definitely a heavy angst start, but proceeded to lovely softness at this point. Features Steve with a big-ass sword, unfortunately overshadowed by circumstance, but a cool image nonetheless.

Lacking Substance Not Fear by ItCanBePalped, 10k - Steve does music! It's Steve & Robin centric so far (possibly my favorite relationship in the show, and excellently done here) with the adventures of keeping Steve's head in one piece. Tackling IRL consequences of things like head injuries can get heavy fast, but so far this is mostly fluff! Steve Is Okay. Robin, I love you.

(something happens and I'm) head over heels by GibbousLunation, 30k - I did two vamp Eddie fics so here are two "Steve gets hit in the head a lot" fics. Steve is uuuuh less okay in this one but at the current chapter they DID find him from where he wandered off and he's gonna be alright.

keds and tube socks by littlelansky, 15k - they watch Nausicaa!!! No upside down drama, all fun group dynamics, some of that we-saved-the-world-together-but-we-dont-really-KNOW-eachother developing friendship/pre-relationship stuff with Steddie. Excellent.

to be cut adrift by cydonic, 18k - some of those fun old PTSD coping mechanisms! Midnight drives and Eddie trying his best to help out the chronic helper. Steve cooks!

Let us Dwell in Fair Ithilien and There Make a Garden by materialism and sparklyslug, 60k - this is a series rather than a singular fic but it is updating with one shots and things. Some similarities with "the most remarkable thing" by greatunironic in that it's a "five/ten/many years later" of how everybody's lives go after the upside down is done for good, Extensive Steddie Pining, and they both made me tear up with MANY feelings.

hellfire (save my soul) by philomendron, 30k - so far it's a pre-season 4 alternative mundane first meeting of Steve recruiting Eddie to help him put on a surprise party for Robin, which I would read the heck out of all on its own, but it's tagged "alternate universe - demons" and "Steve has powers" so I'm Extremely 👀👀👀👀👀

Punishers, Pretenders by beetlesandstars, 4k - a brand spanking new adventure by the writer of Feed On You and To Be Loved For No Reason At All. Only one chapter so far, but the tags imply it's gonna be a doozy (possibly with cuddles 👀) and I always love seeing the songs and band names people come up with for Eddie's rockstar career. Hang in there, Steve!

Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Or at Least Milwaukee) by disastardly, 40k - LAST CHAPTER COMING UP!!! Steve takes the nerds to gen con and has just now registered his own crush and I am LIVING for the gentleness.

standing up the dead by heartofwinterfell, 30k - just an epilogue coming up!! Max pov of Max and Eddie hopping realities together, I Love Them and I love the creativity around the premise, and the execution is A++++

Oh Boy, You’re the Devil! by prettydizzeed, 11k - I really can't describe it better than the summary: "A campy, satirical take on the Satanic Panic, featuring undercover missions to the local church service, falling for the antichrist, and engineering an Easter miracle." Incredible. to unsettle the foundation by the same author has me SO excited, Eddie and Kali is a combination bound to explode.