#It's not a lot of sauce but I still want a new copy of this book

[starryeyeddreamer21]

I just got pasta sauce on my book this is a tragedy

[redflagshipwriter]

Halfa Cass Chapter 8 Part ½

masterpost

Black Bat got back to Gotham well before flying time. She took a shower to get the stinkyman stink out of her hair and apologetically took the green jacket to the wash. Cigarettes. Yuck! 

She joined the family for dinner. Damibat was there, face like thunder and clearly Not Talking to Alfred or Brucedad. Cass slid into her place and gave him a nod. He returned it. Very civil. We are professionals, Cain, you and I and no one else in this dump.

Cass hid a faint smile.

No Timibird. No Jaybird. Those were rarer birds to fly out to Wayne Manor, so she wasn’t too surprised. Just…

Cass readjusted her body language to be fine and normal. She didn’t need her flock family close for comfort. She was fine and normal! Yes, Stinkyman had said that she’d died. Yes. He said that.

(That fits with the pain of the electrical shock and the voltage necessary to short out bat computer, Cass’s Black Bat brain said sensibly.)

Cass hid a shudder.

But he’d also said that there may be no repercussions! As long as she left it alone and did not think about it. She had permission to pretend it didn’t happen. That was the best thing to try. She would eat her dinner and take her nap and then go flying.

Alfie served dinner. Cass caught herself playing with her fork, winding noodles into a secret pattern that might somehow make her feel better. 

“Is there something wrong with your pasta, Miss Cassandra?”

She looked up at him guiltily through her eyelashes and stopped playing with her food. Big sigh. 

“Will Master Timothy be returning to the manor tonight?” Alfie asked Brucedad.

Brucedad cleared his throat and put his spoon down for a moment. “I expect that he might spend the night with his friends in San Francisco,” he said.

Cass read the words beneath the words. Timbird was with the Young Justice friends. New plan. Not discussed. He’d been sent to Amity Park to investigate the laboratory where Cass had

(died. Where Cass had died.)

Been with Captain Marvel. And if he was out all day, it meant he’d found something.

Her heart jumped in her chest. She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to make sure that no one knew. 

Suspicious, Cass told herself sternly. Suspicious behavior. So she drizzled hot sauce on her pasta and ate a big mouthful.

Damibat copied her after a moment. 

Brucedad and Alfie did not wince, but they made their ‘white man thinks spice is scary’ faces. 

Cass quirked a smile. She put a lot more hot sauce. It was too much sauce. It turned the pasta red.

Brucedad made an unhappy sound and deliberately looked away from her plate. Haha. He was thinking: my stomach hurts just looking at that. Oh god, I'm old. Acid reflux. Heartburn. Acid reflux heartburn heartburn-

Bullying her batdad made her feel a little better. How could she be an undead abomination if she was, in fact, a naughty girl? Check and mate, existential horror. Cass finished her dinner and danced to her room on her toes, feeling the music from the last time she had performed on stage. She did a leap for the sheer joy of movement.

Everything still seemed better when she got up from her nap. Cass stretched on the floor beside her bed, and then flopped into a side saddle stretch to happily drink a bottle of green tea. She took it to the kitchen and into the machine for a wash and stole a peek into the fridge to see the after-flight snack. Protein balls! Chocolate and nuts? Cass stole one and fled to the batcave before anyone could see the crime.

Timbird was waiting in the cave on the big screen. He looked very tense. He and Batdad both looked at her when she came down the stairs.

Oh. There was a rock in her stomach. 

Cass beamed at them and flipped off the stairs to land in a gymnast stance behind Brucedad’s chair. “Hi, Timbird,” she said, acting normally. 

“Hi, Cass,” he said, sparing her a tired smile. “I was just telling Bruce how my trip out to Amity went.” She nodded, waiting for elaboration. Tense. “There were fresh tank tracks.” 

Oh. What. “What?” Cass repeated, because it was worth repeating. “Tanks?” She mimed her mind being blown.

“Yes, I figure that you would have noticed if they’d been there before.” Tim somehow seemed even unhappier. “The running theory is that someone was keeping an eye on the place and something about your trip out there alerted them.”

‘Machine. Electricity.’

“Extremely suspicious,” Cass said on rote. 

“Yes,” Batdad agreed gruffly. “There’s no legal justification for that kind of force being deployed in the continental United States and no record that we’ve found for it.”

“Definitely criminal.” Cass hovered for a moment. “Should I help?”

Timbird and Batdad exchanged glances. “I think that I would be best used in the cave tonight on research,” Batdad decided. “I’ll run comms while I’m here. Cass, can you and Robin handle things? There’s nothing in particular going on, aside from the weapons case. Robin has the information on that. We think that we’ve tracked the gang’s mechanic down.”

Cass gave a double thumbs up, more than a little relieved that she didn’t have to do anything related to Amity Park today. “Okay, I find mechanic and beat peace into them,” she said cheerfully. 

“You investigate and observe them,” Batdad repeated, faux-stern. Hint of smile. Naughty kid, tugging at my cape.

Cass nodded just as seriously. “Robin and I investigate, observe, beat until peaceful.” She smacked a fist into her palm.

Timbird snorted. “It sounds like a plan. I’m with YJ tonight, so I’ll log off.”

“Byebye birdie.” Cass waved on her way to the equipment lockers.

[anulithots]

Link Click hyperfixation

THEY ARE MY EVERYTHING AND PERFECT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW PERFECT THEY ARE.

Website posts

because of restrictions I'm putting things on here first. Analysis and such and I'll copy and paste.

Fanfics (by me)

4am, in Which Exists Time and Time Alone. - The_Land_of_the_Fallen_Fairies - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

Dive back in time (to make cat pastries, and other random thoughts) - The_Land_of_the_Fallen_Fairies - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

Analysis (by me)

I started analyzing Cheng Xiaoshi on this ask (I am wrong I am so wrong the themes here are wrong I am going to fix this)

What if CXS still dies?

Hear me out... this would be worse than CXS and LG breaking up

How my analysis is going

An ask in which I ramble about CXS and Lu Guang's strengths and weaknesses, their dynamic, and rave about the donghua in general

Lu Guang's tendency to infodump at precarious moments... and a general analysis

Cheng Xiaoshi's parents

Theorizing on how Cheng Xiaoshi's emotions work when he's possessing people

Qiao Ling as the present day in a time travel show (+ amazing points and theories that sadden me by @canofholes)

Lu Guang's nervous energy (when CXS isn't there)

little things from season one

doesn't know the genre x genre aware

The tides ---> general link click/CXS analysis (I rambled)

The firsts and lasts

Qiao Ling and her present day parallels

The trio, shiguang and their changing trust dynamic... I ramble a lot here

Chibi short #8 (but make it angsty)

past or future, let it be

Why Cheng Xiaoshi didn't dive back to save Lu Guang

Cheng Xiaoshi's jokes that are foreshadowing and... quite concerning

Lu Guang was freaking out for all of episode 10 (and just in general I think he's freaking out internally all the time /hj)

Cheng Xiaoshi's memories through photographs

Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi

Cheng Xiaoshi analysis... which ties everything together I suppose?v

Cheng Xiaoshi over the course of season one

Headcannons (by me)

Soy Sauce

Cooking

Cheng Xiaoshi's hair

Last words

Earings

Words in general

Is CXS competent? Yes and no

The news

Random scenario #1

Random scenario #2

Random scenario #3

The noodle scene

The siblings

random scenario #4

aroace Cheng Xiaoshi

Photography

Fanart (by me)

in my style

the trio

@snowpoet123 makes me sob and I analyze it with my dwindling sanity /pos

CXS becomming his parents

Making the trio into waldorf dolls because I'm very normal about link click

Lu Guang's finished!

Cheng Xiaoshi's hair

Lu Guang's hair

The trio

Skin sac

Edits

Playlists

Favorite Analysis

Lu Guang is a hypocrite by @briebysabs

Cheng Xiaoshi's backstory

Everything from @chubphoe-linkclick, so much analysis. I loveee it all so muchhh

Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's powers

S2E9

What kind of story is Link Click by @oceaniche

Lu Guang's plan in s2, ep 8 (IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE HOLY HERBS) by @snorlaxlovesme

Lu Guang's non existent socializing skills /aff and how CXS helps with that by @noot-nootie

The side affect of timelines by @muninnhuginn

The side affect of diving by @g1ngerbeer 

A metaphysical argument for why Lu Guang was the one who risked his intestines falling out to go save his little meow meow by @sarshles-cheescake-li

Favorite fanarts

Lu Guang sicfic manga by @intothefrisson <-- all their art is soooo goood 1000/10 reccomeded

To this pitiful me by @doublxpresso

CXS blowing hearts by @dorea80-blog

This guy's been clingy by @doublxpresso

whimsy angst by @zychimixx

The silliesss I lovee themmm by @ghostlyenola 

SOBS by @lucreciaart 

(If I like a fanart I'll reblog it a million times... but I should really save them more... I'll get to that.)

Favorite fanfics

& despair has the knife at your throat, but hope will kill you first - Chapter 1 - sunslants - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @sunslants

Only Your Heart Beats The Sound (Keeps Me Awake So I Can Fight) - RStar6709 - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @ravs6709

Talk Me Through One More Night - Cruel (Crafty_and_Cruel777) - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @celestialsun123

Memoriam - JordannaMorgan - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

Three time's a charm - Chapter 1 - SnowPoet - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @snowpoet123. (I love this I love this I love it so much. I love it.)

lonely bones - wait for me - cat soda (bestofwaifusbestofwomen) - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @cat-soda

Fluid Like The Water - RStar6709 - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @ravs6709

Afternoon Nap - SnowPoet - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @snowpoet123

I'll recover if you keep me alight - SnowPoet - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @snowpoet123

Would you take a break for me? - SnowPoet - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @snowpoet123

Life tastes like cardboard - clinicallyfine - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @addled-egg

Cats are Basically Children - Chapter 1 - Cruel (Crafty_and_Cruel777) - 时光代理人 | Link Click (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] by @celestialsun123

Extra

the wonderous @starryeyeddarlings translated the link click ads! (*gets so excited that I explode*)

Link Click OST for season one *excited screams* by @starrywangxian

CXS's vouge modeling days (season 2 spoilers) by @mylee-sketches

CXS's extra backstory from the audiobook

fics to read

A song written for you

timeline of season one and season two by @just-prime

ranting about the link click OST

Lu Guang and his besties in the hospital

The timeliness (s3 cannot come soon enough) by @rashslinging

fanfic idea from @rainibao

more fanfics to read

[robogart]

Lengthy ramble for potential tier/restructure post! But if anyone has insight or feedback or advice, I'd be so grateful to hear it! Thank you for your time! 🥺🙏💕💕💖

*copy/pasted from my patrons post!

*Stressing potential again because I might just try to workshop maybe a couple of these tiers?? I'm editing this after a couple responses so far! So thank you everyone for reading and sending your insight in! It's SO helpful and valuable to hear, thank you!! 🙏💖💖

Hey lovely people! 🥳💖 So lengthy and candid post time, but I'm thinking about restructuring the tier prices (specifically the higher tiers, like the Sauce and Honeybear and maybe sketches too)? Currently I am making very little money, so while that is scary it is also sort of the perfect time to test out some change in how I structure things on here! So I'm sort of excited to potentially try something new! The tough thing with selling your own work is always how to price things - and it's the gentle balance of pricing for what you're worth, but also making a good price point that is accessible to more people! So while prices might be lower, the hope is that they bring forward more patrons and therefore I can make more money as well! SO! A Price Restructure of what I'm thinking (and a couple rewards movements from the $2 Tier to the $4 Tier, specifically) (Also the Sweet Pea Tier will be removed) :

✨ $2/month Tier (Buttercup : same rewards, updated here for clarity (bc I need to update them as well))

Access to ALL artwork and their process GIFs as I finish them! (currently only sharing crops on social media and select, older work)

Commission and Adoptables Priority (You get to access slots/designs first!)

Access to Fanart Friday Suggestions + Polls (we try to do them once a month!)

Access to Coloring Pages (as I make them! this is infrequent)

Access to the Patron-Only Discord (it's very chill and just for you and other patrons! And you can share art, music or just hang out if you want!)

✨ $4/month Tier (Cutie Pie : same rewards!)

Access to my sketchbook pages and the bundled pdfs! I post sketches in batches of 10 on here! When I have enough pages, I'll be uploading the pdf of the sketchbook for free for you to download (100 pages per Volume)! 

Access to videos! (I'll do speedpaints/timelapses from time to time!)

15% off adoptable designs while they are posted on patreon! (before moving to ko-fi!)

Access to all Licensed Character Designs I make (under the LC tag!) (These are for Personal Use Only - intended for DnD and similar RPG situations! ^ w ^)

✨ Access to Archived Works (this is access to all previous work I've shared for the Buttercup tier that you would be able to see on my website all in one place! Goes back to 2019!) 

✨ Early Access to Brushes

Plus all previous rewards! 

✨ $6/month Tier (Honeybear : same rewards!)

Access to the Honeybear Discord! A creative motivational group for artists! (I will be active in this discord!)

Activities for personal motivation and fun! There will be blob doodle pages, monochromatic challenges throughout the month, along with a monthly design prompt and a selected study piece!

Channels for just sharing personal work/wips and a critique corner as well for anyone looking for feedback on their pieces!

Plus all previous rewards!

✨ $8/$10/$15/month Tier (Sauce : same rewards!)(edit: $10 maybe? Or even keeping at $15, based on some comments from patrons)

18+ ONLY! 

Access to ALL NSFW pieces! Sketches and finished paintings alike!

20% off Store Discount! (For my Print Shop and INPRNT!)

Plus all previous rewards! (this includes the Honeybear Tier Discord and Activities access)!

--- So this an idea of what I'm thinking!

It's all still very much up in the air because part of me wonders if I just need to promo more as well? I also have had patrons tell me in the past that I make a lot of work (even if I panic and feel like I'm not making enough @ w @;;) and that the monthly subscription is reasonable for the rewards already? Ahhh it's just difficult figuring this stuff out, especially while stressing about things! So I appreciate feedback if you're feeling up to sharing! 🙏💖💖 Thank you all so much! 💖💖💖

[khywren]

Sorry for overloading you with these, but I adore you!

3, 11, 16, 17, 23, 28, 38, & 49! 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

don't apologize, my friend! i love doing these (and you!) - the more the merrier!!

3: do you like pasta? listen, i am a slut for pasta. there is almost nothing i wouldn't do for a good bowl. had it last night for dinner, actually. carbs, cheese, herbs, and maybe some meat? red sauce? white sauce? all of it, IMMACULATE. but you gotta do it al dente, because mushy pasta is like soggy cereal and a textural nightmare. i know everyone dunks on it, but the olive garden absolutely SLAPS and i will die on this hill. unfortunately, i moved to a part of canada that very rudely does not have them, so every time i fly back to the states it's always one of my first stops.

11: bass or drums? ooh! okay! see, this is almost impossible for me, because when i was younger and thought about learning an instrument, bass and drums were the only two that ever appealed to me. i love the deep sound of a good bass guitar, but going to town on a set of drums sounds like such a good time. unfortunately, i have little baby hands (they fit comfortably in the gloves costco sells for five year olds, no i am not kidding 😭) and no rhythm, so playing either would be difficult. all this to say that i still haven't made a decision and i like them both equally, i think!

16: a netflix series that's your favorite? oh no, this is where i out myself as an uncultured heathen. i haven't had netflix in a while because i mainly watch video essays on youtube or anime, and when i did i wasn't watching all the popular stuff like stranger things and stuff. BUT. i would say my two favorites are squid game (dystopia is my favorite genre in general) and nailed it, which is a cake competition show where all the contestants are absolutely awful at baking. i've only ever seen the first couple seasons, but my god some of the things these people made had me howling. you can see what i mean here.

17: an early obsession you remember? oh god. pokemon. i was born in the early 90s so i was the perfect age when pokemon hit the US. i had the games, i collected the cards, watched the show, had merch, the whole nine yards. i vividly remember buying a random pack of cards outside of the 7-11 down the road and losing my mind when i pulled a first edition holographic blastoise. i was so obsessed that i convinced my dad to buy me a japanese copy of pokemon silver we found in a game shop before the english versions had even come out. truly my first hyperfixation.

23: five words that describe you? anxious, overthinker, stubborn, shy, and nerdy.

28: an unusual song that's your favorite?

AH. YES. okay, so, even though i have no affinity for playing or making music, i LOVE listening to it. i listen to almost anything and everything. language is irrelevant, and i really do believe music is its own language. there's a mongolian metal band called the hu that i randomly stumbled upon on tiktok after they posted a cover of metallica's through the never. i was immediately obsessed with their sound and wanted to check out their other stuff. their favorite song of mine is called wolf totem, and the first time i heard it, it literally gave me chills. this band was my introduction into mongolian throat singing and i can't get enough of it. the song itself isn't really weird, per se, but it's definitely a unique sound i don't think a lot of people are familiar with. it's been on my spotify on repeat playlist for three years now and i love it to pieces.

38: what's the meaning behind your url?

it's an alternate version of my ffxiv character's name! the original version was taken when i was making a new character in WoW, so i was trying to figure out how to make it different but still sound the same without looking ridiculous.

49: what scents do you like? *laughs in collection of bath and body works lotions, sprays, and soaps* so, so many. i have a preference for fruity, floral, and fall smells. apple is my absolute favorite and i have every one of bath and body works' apple variations in some form or another. currently i have their honeycrisp apple plugin in my room and it smells just like i shoved my face into the apple display at the grocery store.

[blckbarbiedoll]

Ghost Of You (M.B./R.J.)-Chapter 2.3 Team

2022-Chicago, Illinois

"Hey, it's Mikey. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message, and maybe I'll get back to ya."

Whenever she was missing Mikey the most, which was almost every day, Angie would repeatedly call his phone and let the voicemail play. Today was one of those days. Well, nights.

"Hey, it's Mikey. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message, and maybe I'll get back to ya."

"Mom?"

Angie quickly hung up the phone and turned around to see her daughter half awake walking towards her. "What're you doing up, princess?"

"I heard Daddy."

"Oh." She sighed. "I'm sorry, honey. I was playing his voicemail again."

"Are you smoking?" Sophia sat on the couch next to her mother.

Angie looked down at the cigarette in between her fingers before squashing it in the ashtray in front of her. "Not anymore."

"I thought smoking was bad."

"It is." Angie wrapped her arms around Sophia and cuddled with her on the couch. "It's a nasty habit that I shouldn't be doing."

"Then why do you?"

"Because, it helps with stress, and it reminds me of your dad."

"So it's okay?"

"No, it's not. I don't want you copying the grownups. We're not very good examples. Okay?"

"Okay." She reached over and picked up the phone. "Can we listen to Daddy?"

Angie softly smiled and dialed the number again. "Sure, baby."

"Hey, it's Mikey. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message, and maybe I'll get back to ya."

🤍

Angie had dropped Sophia off at Donna's a little earlier than usual. Not that she was anxious to get to work. It was more so that she was anxious to get out of the house.

"Did we all just decide to clock in early?" Angie asked as she walked into the office where Carmy and Sydney were standing.

"I couldn't sleep." Carmy told her. He picked up a green can of tomato sauce and held it up. "Any reason Michael wasn't ordering number tens of these?"

"What?"

"This is a twenty-eight ounce can. Why wasn't he buying number tens? They're a hundred and two ounces. They're cheaper per ounce."

"Carmen, I was married to him for fifteen years, and I still didn't get half the things he did or didn't do."

"Whatever." He sighed, setting the can down on the desk. 

"What's that?" She pointed to a large box on the floor.

"That is our new uniforms."

"Is this apart of your French thing?"

"What French thing?" Sydney asked.

"It's called a brigade."

"First the computer, and now this?" Angie crossed her arms.

"You said you liked the computer."

"I do."

"You said it makes orders easier."

"It does. It's just a lot of changes to get used to all of a sudden."

"They're just aprons." He handed one to both the women before he picked up the box.

"Hold on." Syd interrupted. "We're doing a French brigade?" 

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"He thinks it'll give them some structure."

"And we definitely need structure." Carmy responded.

"I agree, but not this way. It'll turn things into a toxic hierarchical shit show."

"I gotta go with Syd on this one, Carm. This whole thing sounds sorta..."

"Insane?"

"Nazi-esque."

"I've thought this through, chefs." Carmy stated. "I think this'll be good. Just trust me on this one."

Angie and Sydney gave each other a look before nodding.

"Yes, chef."

He grinned and walked out to the dining room.

They followed him and sighed as they replaced their old white aprons with the dark blue ones.

"The hell are these?" Tina asked Carmy.

"Aprons. Everyone grab one."

"Mine is better, Jeff."

"Okay, listen up." He spoke to the group. "I don't wanna fuck with your system, guys. I wanna harness it. I wanna organize it. But we can't keep operating like this. We got a fucking C. That can't happen again. Which is why we are gonna start operating like a French kitchen. This was developed by Escoffier, and-"

"Oh Scoffi-gay? I fucking love that guy." Richie laughed as he walked in. "What's up? I dunno what's going on."

The sudden ringing of the phone in the distance was causing Carmy's stress to go through the roof. "We're implementing a French brigade."

"Fuck that."

"Yeah, it's bullshit." Tina agreed.

"I was in a brigade once." Ebra spoke.

"What happened?"

"Many people died."

"See, Jeff?"

"Okay, I am gonna go get that phone." Carmen sighed and went back to the office to pick up the persistently ringing phone. "Ange, you're up." He handed her a stack of flash cards.

"Oh." She looked over the cards. "Okay, listen, guys." Angie chimed in. "Carmy's right. Kinda. Michael and I let you do whatever you wanted for so long, and clearly that's not working anymore. And now that I'm staying for good, I want us to be less...shitty. That being said, take it away, chef Sydney." She took the cards and held them out to Sydney.

"Why me?"

"I don't know what that shit is."

"Hey. So, uh, as you heard, we are implementing a French brigade. Carmy, he's gonna be the chef de cuisine, or the CDC. That makes Angie and I the sous chefs. Tina-"

"No inglés."

"Tina, you're the garde manger." Syd irritatedly said. "Ebra-"

"Meat prep!"

"Yes. You're now the Chef de Partie."

"I accept!"

"You really didn't have a choice, but great. I love your enthusiasm." Angie nodded.

"Okay, Marcus is the patissier, I'll be saucier, and Angie is entremetier."

"And Richie can keep doing whatever the fuck Richie does."

"I don't know about this, Ange." Tina spoke.

"I know it's a lot, and it seems kinda annoying, but Carmy, Sydney, and I have discussed this...sorta, and we think it'll be super helpful."

"It'll make things run smoother, and calmer-"

"I gotta run an errand!" Carmy yelled as he ran through the room towards the door. "Hold down the fort for me!"

"Just like that."

🤍

'Knock, knock'

"Come in!" Angie begrudgingly shouted.

Richie opened the door to the office and leaned against the wall. "You okay?"

"Me? I'm fucking great." She sighed. "I left my job, my very good job, to run my dead husband's failing restaurant with my brother in law who makes decisions without asking me. And because of that, I have to scrap together just enough to feed my kid. Plus, and here's the kicker, I owe Cicero three hundred thousand dollars."

Richie scoffed and nodded. "That'll do it."

"Whatever." She huffed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Why'd Carmy leave?"

"He got a call from one of Michael's friends, and he started tripping out."

"What friend?"

"You don't know him. Names Nico."

"He mentioned him once or twice. How'd they know each other?"

"Uh...I dunno. He never said."

"Fuck!" Sydney cried.

Angie quickly got up and walked to the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened." The girl wrapped her finger in a napkin. "I'm fine. I just wish people would close the fucking box cutter."

"Hey, go sit on the bench."

"I don't have time to sit on the bench."

"Sydney."

She rolled her eyes at the older woman and walked over to the bench. Angie went into her locker and pulled out a bandaid and a small bottle of neosporin.

"Why do you just have that?"

"I'm a mom." Angie kneeled and unwrapped Sydney's finger, squeezing the ointment on the cut. She wrapped a bandaid around it and kissed it out of instinct. "Oh my god, I'm sorry."

"No, it's-"

"That was fucking weird." She got up and sat on the bench next to her. "I used to do that with my husband and daughter, so it's just a habit I guess. I'm sorry."

"Seriously, it's fine. Thank you for the bandaid."

"No problem. You good?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She hesitantly turned towards Angie before speaking again. "How can you stand it?"

"Stand what?"

"This place. No disrespect, but it fucking sucks."

Angie chuckled. "It does."

"So how do you do it day after day for over a decade?"

"Sydney, I hate this fucking place with every fiber of my being. It completely sucks the life outta you. But, it's my home. I can't help but stay."

Before she could respond, she heard her names being yelled.

"Syd! Yo!" Carmy yelled from the kitchen. "Your stock's boiled!"

"Shit!" She shot up and ran towards the stove.

🤍

"There you are." Angie said with relief as she stepped out into the alley. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Carmy sighed, taking a puff of his cigarette. "Hit me."

"Why did you go to a church today?"

"Because,- wait, how do you know I went to a church?"

"I have you on Find My Friends."

"No you fucking don't."

"Bitch, yes the fuck I do."

"For how long?"

"That doesn't matter. The point is that you left me in the middle of the day to deal with this stupid brigade."

"The brigade isn't stupid. It's gonna help us."

"This is exactly my point, Carmy! You're not listening to me!" Angie huffed. "Today was a fucking shit show because we were on different pages. If we're gonna do this together, we have to listen to each other."

The blonde man sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah. You're right."

"I know I am. For this to work, we need to be partners, Carm. Michael didn't leave the restaurant to you, and he didn't leave it to me. He left it to us."

"I hear you. I'm gonna do better. I'm trying so hard to figure all this out on my own, so I guess I forget that I don't have to."

"You don't. I'm always gonna be there for you, bear."

"I know. I'm here for you too."

Angie smiled and crossed her arms. "So...why were you at a church today?"

"Um...I went to an al anon meeting."

"Did Sugar convince you?"

"She did. I like it though. I think you'd like it too."

"The last thing I wanna do is talk about it with strangers."

"Just think about it, Ange. That shit helps."

The metal door quickly swung open and hit the brick wall. "I need to talk to you." Sydney spoke.

"I already talked to him." Angie told her.

"Oh, good." She sat next to them. "Listen, the way you just kinda made a decision without talking to me-, to us, that was kinda fucked up."

"I know. And I'm sorry. I shoulda listened to you, and I shoulda ran my ideas by you. We're a team, the three of us. We should act like it."

Angie smiled. "Hell yeah we should."

[liauditore]

for some reason ur ask is cursed by an evil spirit and webbed site spilled spaghetti sauce all over itself when i tried to answer it so ig we're doing this now @sharksome-nen

half the board being coloured in but no bingo sums up me and this ship perfectly i think.

me being REALLY unhinged below the cut about toxic!fh (a teeny tiny bit neg/discoursey on empires if u squint). gets rlly abuse-y.

ohohohohohoh ur trying to get me killleedddddd.. :D

they're so special to me i hate them so much.

ok so uh i wrote a Whole Thing but it was getting way too ramble-y but basically uh. not a fan of romantic!fh. empires writing is very understandably not perfect and i saw some disturbing implications between the lines and couldn't help but fixate on them and it kind of soured any fluffy!fh fan content for me. sorry im a grinch and i was born with hate in my heart🙏🙏

but uh... if u take those disturbing implications out of the lines, x500 their size and severity, apply a dash of self-projection and start associating songs sung from the pov of abusers with it?? oho. ohohoho. oh that's. that's the good stuff.

i have this rlly cursed notepad doc where i basically vomit Ship Thoughts tm onto so here's the entire fh section copy+pasted. 👍

probably the most explicitly romantic and the most explicitly toxic. They DO love each other a lot. Jimmy looks up to Scott (he's so cool!) and would do anything just to live a happy life with him. I imagine that he's had a crush on him for the longest time from a distance, but didn't approach him until 3L because he didn't think Scott would look in his direction. Scott loves Jimmy deeply too but in the way someone might love a pet or a toy. "How's this poor thing going to survive on his own?" is probably what he uses to justify alot of what he puts Jimmy through. I imagine that Scott is someone who's lived a very monitored and controlled life (he gives me royalty vibes) and probably doesn't understand the extent of the abuse he's been put through or the way it's warped his perception of love. Love is a conditional commodity for him at this point in 3L and right now he's using it to buy some protection (never a good idea to go solo in a death game arena). So everytime he scolds or hits Jimmy it's always out of love, always for his own good, if he doesn't learn how to act now then someone will kill him for running his mouth eventually. Especially in the 3L Death Game. And Jimmy puts up with it and believes him because he hasn't learnt to respect himself yet. But as the games go on I do believe Scott begins to fall for Jimmy in a more genuine, kind way. Still not wholesome but he's very much not just extra numbers for safety anymore. He feels scorching regret for what he did after Jimmy dies but won't admit it to himself or anyone else. It's a selfish kind of regret, he hates himself more than he loves Jimmy, but it's still there. Post-3L Jimmy has some time away from Scott during LL before meeting Tango in DL, a partner who respects and even admires him, who gives him the space to grow and the trust to take risks that would better the both of them. Jimmy gains newfound confidence and a new perspective on his previous relationships, culminating in him actually standing up to Scott in LimL and refusing his offer to get back together. He's grown up. Scott, on the other hand, fares much more poorly. He is offered genuine love, unconditional love and it frightens him because he can't understand it (he doesn't think he's love-able). What does she want from him? He can't control Pearl the way he could with Jimmy and she Scares him. It doesn't matter, he can manage by himself (he always has) and he has an eye for finding kindred spirits. But it's not the same (he misses him). (he needs his Pet back) (he needs his Control back) He doesn't get it. final diagnosis: what should have been a beautiful love story twisted into something awful, divorced and should not re-marry even if Scott wants to.

ngl there is that.. little part of me that really wants jimmy to relapse and go crawling back cus old habits die hard, right? but on the other hand i. i want my son to be happy. sometimes.

I like writing characters with super messed up warped perceptions of love and hurt themselves and others in the process with it. its evil and sexy.

if we're gonna get into the whole song lyrics thing i really really love using mahiru's milgram songs for fh (even tho i associate scott more with muu). they just make sense to me. lyrics from haruko because i adore their covers.

(also uh these songs are about an abusive relationship and the second one has not so subtle suicide imagery in the mv so know that if ur gonna seek them out)

I'll love you till you fall And won't feel bad at all, Because I still get worried Could you please forgive me? Every little thing I only say to get to you Every little thing I do when "you and me are through" That's me loving you

Do my feelings drive you crazy? Sorry I don't care you baby. Tell me please, Tell me please, Why don't you ever love like me?

I just... i think scott genuinely caring for jimmy and wanting to keep him safe but like.. scott's brand of 'safe' is guard up at all times and manipulating those around you. and jimmy's useless at it/doesn't even catch on at all and it just ends up frustrating scott more.

Told you I loved you and then did what I did The right is gone and we're done, I'm crossed and covered in sin My love, it got it's lick back, Destroyed me, I deserved that, Tell the truth, Tell the truth, Why can't I ever love like you?

i LOVE the idea of scott regretting how he treated jimmy too late and still being in denial about it oufhlsdfhfls

so uh yeah it's an okay ship 👍

[irrigos]

12, 20, 24 for the complaining ask game

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

theophilius is the best (and imo. only.) character from mask of the rose. i think his arc is incredibly good and interesting- the Fall shakes his faith so deeply (one of my favorite lines in the game is him pointing out that, while st albans is a wreck, the synagogue was totally undamaged by the fall, and that kinda thing makes you wonder if maybe you backed the wrong horse!), he thinks theyre in literal Hell, and then when he finds out they're just in a cave and the Surface is still up there, he sells his soul out of like. spite?? what kind of god would toy with him like this? how can he believe in something that would make him suffer and then reveal actually everything was fine and his suffering was pointless???

when i gave him his soul back (after recovering it from milton) i dont think he even put it back in. he just like. kept it. in the jar. and then carried on being a vicar even though he's essentially an atheist

thats so juicy!!!!! fbg, why did you save all your sauce for just this middle aged balding guy who i cant even romance. and then make all the actual main characters INCREDIBLY dull. why would they do this to me!!!!!!!

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

every year, people vote in the fate-locked content survey and say they really loved Flint. donate now to my new nonprofit to help these poor souls (i use the donations to fly to their houses and buy them an unannotated copy of The Wasteland by TS Eliot, since thats what they actually want anyway)

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

its gotta be AK stuff, right? i mean, a lot of people thought he was the spring from which all the goodness of fallen london flowed. or at the very least, they enjoyed his writing, and then it came out that he (ALLEGEDLY) was a really shitty boss and colleague.... especially to women.... so a lot of people feel compelled to come to his defense and say fbg cast him out because of spite or woke or whatever, cutting off their nose to spite their face. and all this is really funny because AK is a fucking hack. all my favorite stuff in the game was written long after he left.

choosing violence ask meme

[irkedisaac]

get to gnome, like know me but it's gnome.

tagged by @whalefossils like four days ago or sth

last song?

i keep rotating the deathloop frank spicer songs around because they fuck hard but the last not that song was copeland's good morning fire eater which ill be super honest i just love humming to

favourite colour?

orange. so easily orange. the violently bright one on maple leaves at just the right time of year.

currently watching

ive been keeping up w/ the percy jackson show - it's pretty good! i, and i mean this with every ounce of shameless carnality you can read it with, want to fuck ares.

last movie?

everything everywhere all at once is the last one i really remember watching, because it really struck a chord with me. as someone with extravagant adhd and a flirtatious relationship with self-loathing, i felt very seen.

sweet/spicy/savoury?

savory. i copied this so the question still has that ink-wasting u in it, but for SURE savory. especially salty and savoury. line me up for whatever fucked up vinegar sauce you got going on

relationship status

single and ready to be hit with a balloon mallet a few times.

current obsession?

literally the fuckin same as wf's, dishonored and deathloop. ive been playing deathloop almost literally every day for several months at this point and continue to find brand new shit to me. scratches all my itches for roguelites and story games. ive been thinking about doing some kind of dishonored-spinoff shadowrun ripoff game after reading all of the endearingly mediocre books and seeing they went all the way to wizard hyperfuture.

last thing you googled?

listen. im not smart always. i smoke a lot of weed. so when i look up "words for not porous" because ive run into a complete vocabulary blank spot trying to describe something impenetrable (that's one of the words, maybe the most obvious one) it's not actually my fault

im tagging @blaruu because 1) i think its funny that this is the first thing ive said to her in literal months and 2) shes like a cryptid or something. btw heres three completely random urls that i was just tickled by @globsgoblin @bogsauce @hardboiledkittens

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Take a Taste: with delicious meals at the Valenzuela Food Fiesta Christmas Bazaar 2023 [Recorded: Dec. 10th, 2023]

Hello! It’s time for another “Take a Taste”! The series is about delicious food with my two paper dolls.

So uhh... So sorry for the long delay. I have SO MANY photos that need to be upload by the end of 2023. But, because I'm using my mom's laptop and not my custom PC, my life's change... 😟😞 But c'mon, I need to turn my frown upside down because its the spirit of the Holidays 🎄😊, so I want to wipe my negative thoughts away. Nonetheless, maybe January 2024 will be start uploading my 2023 photos once I have my new GPU is equipped, so I can get back we're I left of. Except these photos, so let's go! 😁

If you haven’t seen my previous episode, then please click here → [CLICK ME!].

So, without further ado, let’s get started:

1st to 3rd Image(s): ↑

• So, here we are at the nicely busy night street! 🌃💡 You may wondering, why are the people gathered here?🤔Because of the annual "Valenzuela Food Fiesta Christmas Bazaar" 🎄🍗🍴😋, and on top of that, its my mom's 59th birthday! 🥳🎂🎁👩 So, happy birthday, mom! I love you! 🥰🤗 (From me and my paper dolls) So, in this food bazaar, we can choose any delicious meals from a selected independent food stands before someone else to seat down on the table to occupy. Luckily for us, a lot of people we're leave from the table after their done eating and we're occupy it. Isn't it beautiful lights, you two? 😊

4th & 5th Image(s): ↑

• Hours later, our meal has finally arrived and I ordered a delicious 'Texas Cheese Burger' courtesy of 'Lucky Garage Burger' 🍔😋 (Price: ₱95), and a refreshing 'Graham Mango Shake' from a random shake stand! 🥤🥭😋 Yum-yum! My paper dolls are mouthwatering to see what's inside?! 🤤 Sure thing! Let's open it! 😁

6th & 7th Image(s): ↑

• Whoa! 😮😋 This burger looks scrumptious! 🤤 Let alone, that the sauce was a bit mess but that's alright; It is still scrumptious!😋Don't ya, you two!? Okay, let's not waste our time, and let's dig in! 😄

8th to 15th Image(s): ↑

• [8th & 9th Images] Here's a closer look at my 'Texas Cheese Burger'. It may sloppy because of the packaging, but the BBQ spicy sauce never disappoint my taste buds! 😛 Yeah, I tried their sauce and they used a legit Texas sauce 🤠. My paper dolls certainly tried to taste the sauce, as well. And its pretty BBQ hot! 🍖🌶️ Okay, enough for that, let's have a bite! 😁

• [10th & 11th Images] Mmmmm! Wow! 😋 My tongue sensed that their patty was grilled (which is nice than a traditional flat surface), with their juicy fresh mushrooms, and their smoked bacon spot on! Also, I didn't realized, that their using signature style Pandesal buns for their different burger variants, which is fitting for us. What do you think. you two? Have you taste it? Sure you are, and I know you're enjoying it! 😁

• [12th to 15th Images] Here are more snapshots after numerous bites from my mouth! So tasty, I could have another try, or any burger variant that the restaurant has to offer! Yum-yum! 😋🤤🍔

16th to 19th Image(s): ↑

• [16th & 17th Images] Next, time to washed up my mouth with a sweet refreshment of 'Graham Mango Shake'. It was ordered by my lil' bro and my mom, so thanks a bunch! 🥤🥭 Time to sip! 😋

• [18th & 19th Images] Mmmmm... This ain't bad. Not too sweet, but pretty good! My paper dolls attempts to sip, as well. And they say, they want it add a little pinch of sugar, and some more graham dusts. 🙂 Okay, I get it. You want some adjustments for the mango graham shake, I see. Don't worry, maybe someday we could find the perfect 'graham mango shake'. Promise! 🥤🥭😊

20th to 25th Image(s): ↑

• [20th & 21st Images] You thought, that the graham mango shake is the end of our meal? Nope! My fam ordered us two pizzas from 'Krusty Bites'! 🍕🍕😋

• [22nd to 25th Images] Tada! We have Hawaiian 🍍🍕 and Garlic Cheese Pizza flavors 🧄🧀🍕! Unfortunately, my paper dolls dislikes Hawaiian pizza, despite some mixed reactions after eating it. 🤔😕Yeah, still debacle to this day. But c'mon, let's give another chance, okay? 😉

26th to 30th Image(s): ↑

• [26th & 27th Images] Here, let's have a slice per each pizza flavors! You're gonna love it! 🍕🍕😋 Let's try the Hawaiian, first. 🍍🍕😄

• [28th to 30th Images] Mmmm... Okay... You know, I have no problem eating Hawaiian, but this is bland. 😕 Yeah, I don't think that you're gonna eat it. So, its all mine now (I guess). 😅 As for the Garlic Cheese Pizza, this is decent. 🙂👌 I think, my paper dolls should stick with the latter than the bland Hawaiian one. However, we've ended up take these pizzas to our home as our midnight snacks. 🍕🌙🏠

Overall:

• Bland Hawaiian ✌ Piz-aside ✌(I made confuse pun here), hanging out with my fam at the annual food bazaar while celebrating my mom's birthday was quite relaxing, and enjoying our delicious meals (except one, that I've mentioned). 😋🥳 We wish, that we could do this, not just every year, though. After all, the quarantine is over (for now), and restrictions we're already loose, so we can explore different places. 😊🏙️ Also, the only satisfy my appetite is the 'Texas Cheese Burger' from 'Lucky Garage Burger' 🍔😋, and that 'Graham Mango Shake' 🥤🥭😊. The latter was just right for me, and I promise that we'll find the perfect G.M.S. for my beloved paper dolls, very soon. 😉

SIDE NOTE: Although... Rumors, I have a funny feeling that there's another harmful virus that will approaching, very soon. It'll be much harsher than the OG corona virus. So, be prepared for much tighter pandemic lockdown, when another virus hits the world (, ONE MORE TIME).🦠🤒😷

Well, that's all for now. And Happy Holidays! 😊🎄🎅

If you haven’t seen my previous episodes, then I’ll provide some links down below.↓😉

Take a Taste:

○ 2021 Food Reviews: ○

• Popeyes U.S. Spicy Chicken Sandwich [Dec 6, 2021]

• Jollibee Chick'nwich & Crisscut Fries [Dec 21, 2021]: Part 1 [CLICK ME! #1], Part 2 [CLICK ME! #2]

○ 2022 Food Reviews: ○

• Mini Stop Chicken Fillet XL Sandwich [Feb 7, 2022]

• Minute Burger Cheese Burger(s) [Mar 1, 2022]

• Pepper Lunch Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice w/ Egg (& Honey Brown Sauce) [Mar 5, 2022]

• Bacsilog’s Sulit Combo Bacon-Tocino & Samgyup Day’s Pork Herbs [Mar 12, 2022]

• Burger King Whopper w/ Sides & Drink [May 6, 2022]

• Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca-Cola Zero [Aug 26, 2022]

• Cheesy Burger McDo with Lettuce & Tomatoes Meal [Recorded: Sept 16, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s PH McSpicy & Apple Pie (featuring their World Famous Fries) [Nov 14, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s McCrispy Hamonado Sandwich [Dec 31st, 2022]

○ 2023 Food Reviews: ○

• Foods from Delicious Restaurant & 1919 Grand Cafe [Jan 8th, 2023]

• Homemade Churros by my lil’ bro [Feb 12th, 2023]

• Lugaw Sisig from Mang Boy Alfredo Lugawan Restaurant [Recorded: Feb 18th, 2023]

• La Prato Stakehouse [Recorded: Apr 10th, 2023]

• Salt ‘n Light Snack Shack’s Cheesy Bacon Burger & Fries [Recorded: Apr 14th, 2023] (Published on May 5th, 2023)

• Delicious burger meal at Tokyo Tokyo Restaurant [Recorded: May 6th, 2023]

[cozysimschallenge]

Dear diary,

It's Winterfest! I remember celebrating it ages ago and a lot of traditions still hold today. We decorated the tree in the morning while listening to music and drinking hot drinks (or hot spiced plasma in Stash's case), and gave the animals a good Winterfest pampering.

Pistachio also managed to somehow befriend a rabbit, I have no idea how. But it's adorable hopping around the farm and even sleeps in a tree stump by the pasture, and Stash thinks that it may be able to help deter pests in the garden in the summer. I hope we can make more friends of them.

We called Kim over for a grand meal of ham and vegetables with a lovely honey glaze and honey-mustard sauce. Pistachio for some reason joined us for the meal - he said that it's traditional and he wants to partake! It did just end up making him sick, but her never complained once and seemed in quite good spirits.

Kim introduced us to a tradition I'm not familiar with, which was... Her wearing a paper bag on her head. I have to ask her about it another time, I didn't want to question is there and then especially when she agreed to spend the holiday with us!

Kim's gift to us was a copy of her signed lease in a basket full of treats - she's moving to Finchley before the year is over! I'm so happy for her - and us too to be honest! It was the best news she could have given us!

Speaking of Kim and news - or rather accidentally uncovered news - Kim seems to have a crush on our dear Beast Keeper! I accidentally found this out when I delivered a rose from her to him and he agonised over whether he should send mushrooms back or if that would be easy to misunderstand as a romantic gesture. To me, mushrooms are mushrooms and I told him I can make sure it's not going to be a miscommunication.

I'm not sure I succeeded even after telling her that there was nothing behind it, just returning a favour. Oops. Hopefully that doesn't lead into trouble for either of them...

Nathan put some hatchable eggs in the coop so we're hoping that we'll have some chicks again soon! More chicks means more chicken to lay eggs. Everyone in town seems crazy shit eggs for some reason and Kim (jokingly) calls me a hater when I say that I don't get it. She suggested experimenting with recipes but I can't currently smell eggs without feeling sick. Just one of those fun pregnancy symptoms.

I've been helping Kim collect some grocery orders - she's been very busy around Wintersday with everyone coming to her for their holiday foods - and it's been nice, except the one time I went to the bar to ask people if anyone needed anything. The bar was full of bears at the time. Or people dressed as bears, rather. It was strange and I didn't like it. I prefer seeing the faces of people I talk to.

I also took a little walk by myself and found this snail statue! I found Death Metal in the bushes around it and left a little gift there myself!

Anyway, it was a lovely Winterfest! We didn't catch Father Winter delivering presents, but that's alright! Perhaps next year.

Ps. Stash said that a plasma bag broke on him this morning when he came from outside when I was just waking up. He had to do some laundry first thing in the morning because it was all over his chest. It makes me laugh imagining him stabbing a straw into a plasma bag and the whole thing popping!

Pps. Bella is afraid of the toilet. I have no idea why. Maybe because it's loud? Because I've spent so much time next to it being miserable? Who knows.

[therecordconnection]

Playlist: A Ship of Fools Connected or, the "What a Fool Believes" Riff Repeated Through Time

Expanded Youtube Edition Featuring Bonus Non-Spotify Tracks Can Be Found By Clicking Here!

Cover Photo Created By The Record Connection // Record border Created By: @saradika-graphics

Playlist Description: Like Prometheus defying the gods and bringing fire to humanity, so did Michael McDonald when he delivered yacht rock's most powerful and enduring riff and bounce with one single song. Upon hearing this, an entire ship of fools believed that was the most secret of sauces and repeated it through time with direct ripoffs, variations, and accidental and direct references.

This playlist was born after I watched the new Yacht Rock Dockumentary on Max. I got fascinated during the section where they covered the sheer amount of songs that "What a Fool Believes" birthed. That documentary covers a few of the songs on this list, but I've since found that they could've covered and shown so many more. This playlist is in chronological order, with the first half mostly covering the legion of blatant ripoffs and copies in the late seventies and early eighties. Some of them are just songs inspired by the Doobies hit and simply wanted to capture it's overall vibe ("He's So Shy" and "(Want You) Back in My Life Again" are good examples of this.) In Nicolette Larson's case, she had experience working with the Doobies and Michael McDonald on previous work, so "Talk to Me" is just a case of being connected and having an artist's style rub off on you. In other cases, such as Roger Voudoris' "Get Used to It" and Ronnie Milsap's "If You Don't Want Me To", it's borderline plagiarism and McDonald definitely could've sued if those had been bigger songs. The Reigning Champion of the "What a Fool Believes" Ripoffs is still Robbie Dupree's "Steal Away" and you best believe that's here ("Hollywood" Steve Huey even jokes in the documentary that "steal" is right there in the title).

Towards the end are a few modern songs that use the "What a Fool Believes" groove, but unlike most of the songs on the first half, the modern songs featured are more accidental cases where it just happens to pop up (and in the case of "Tokyo Night", it pops up as a self-aware reference/homage).

If you choose to listen via Youtube, you get the benefit of hearing three more imitators with songs so obscure that I don't even think their next-of-kin could recognize them.

Anyway, it's fascinating how one major hit song can inspire a legion of ripoffs and imitators and it's doubly fascinating how this kind of thing can never happen again in a post-Blurred Lines world, where music copyright law is so fucked that if anything even sounds remotely close to something else that already exists, there's a court date scheduled. Sure, a lot of these songs are ripping off one specific thing and some of them are wholesale plagiarizing McDonald's original riff, but a number of these artists are jacking that groove in different ways and doing their own variations on it. Nobody is going to confuse the Doobie Brothers with the Pointer Sisters, but it's fun to look at the common musical threads they have.

It's also wild to think that McDonald almost didn't make this song. The dockumentary (that's how they spell it, by the way) covers McDonald playing around with that "What a Fool Believes" piano groove right before co-writer Kenny Loggins showed up at his house. Michael reveals that he originally wasn't going to play it for Kenny. Meanwhile, Kenny reveals that he heard Michael playing that while he was outside the door of the house and immediately asked him to play it again because, "I think I know how the next part goes." Michael then says that if Kenny had rolled up ten minutes later, Michael would've forgotten about that song and it probably wouldn't have happened. If "What a Fool Believes" doesn't exist, then most of these songs don't exist either, and that's wild to think that one song can have such a ripple effect.

Track Listing:

The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes (1978)

Roger Voudouris - Get Used to It (1979)

Nicolette Larson - Talk to Me (1979)

Ronnie Milsap - If You Don't Want Me To (The Freeze) (1980)

Robbie Dupree - Steal Away (1980)

Dave Raynor - I Can't Take It (1980) [The "We have Michael McDonald at home" of guys] (Youtube Version Only)

Pointer Sisters - He's So Shy (1980)

Rita Lee - Lanca Perfume (1980)

Dick St. Nicklaus - Bye Bye Baby (1980) (Youtube Version Only)

Joe English - Midnight Angel Choir (1980) (Youtube Version Only)

Carpenters - [Want You] Back In My Life Again (1981)

Marty Butler - I'll Cry Like a Man in Love (1982)

Finis Henderson - Making Love (1983)

Ronnie Laws - In the Groove (1983)

Kirk Franklin - Love Theory (2019)

Magdalena Bay - Hysterical Us (2021)

Jonas Brothers - Waffle House (2023)

Vulfmon, Jacob Jefferies, and Evangeline - Tokyo Night (2024)

[thisaintascenereviews]

Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods

Justin Timberlake has had an interesting few years, whether he’s been involved with the Trolls movies, or just touring nonstop, but after six years, he’s putting out a new record. The album’s called Everything I Thought It Was, and he released the single “Selfish,” which is a nice little “throwback” to his early 00s sound, but not quite as “experimental” as FutureSex / LoveSounds. It’s a smooth R&B / pop song, but it sounds like he’s in a good place. It seems like a lot of people love the song, and it debuted in the top 20 of the Hot 100, so that’s a good sign. With that said, I wanted to revisit JT’s last album, 2018’s Man Of The Woods, ultimately wanting to see if the album has aged well, because I remember it being successful when it came out, yet its critical consensus was more so mixed. The album did well on the charts, and he sold a lot of copies of it, but no one’s really talked about this album since its release. Let’s change that, shall we? Justin Timberlake is one of my all time favorite artists, especially I listened to FutureSex / LoveSounds back in 2012 for the first time, and it was one of the first pop albums I listened to that I fell in love with (which made me realize that pop music has a lot of merit behind it). I also really loved his 2013 comeback album, The 20/20 Experience (which I like more, but that’s a discussion for another day), so Man Of The Woods had a lot to prove.

I’ve been looking at my old posts about the album, because it came out around this time in 2018, and even looking at my first review of it, this album was one of those that took some time to grow on me. Man Of The Woods is a record that takes more simplistic forms of music, such as soul, funk, R&B, pop, and Americana / folk to make for an amalgamation of Timberlake’s sound. He wanted to have a sound that best represents his native Tennessee, as a lot of other styles of music exist other than country exist in the south. This album is definitely his most “simplistic,” because its songwriting isn’t very expensive, experimental, or as interesting in comparison to his last couple of albums, but I would make the argument that this album has aged relatively well, especially in an era when genres are being blurred. This album is a lot of sounds at once, and in a few cases, the album combines some of these sounds together, such as a few songs having an R&B meets folk sound, but it works. This album isn’t perfect, mind you, but it has its moments that I really like. Chris Stapleton pops up for the big single “Say Something,” and that song still sounds great all of these years later, and songs like “Sauce,” “Midnight Summer Jam,” “Wave,” and a few other tracks, are a ton of fun. The album slows down a bit, too, especially on tracks like “Flannel,” “The Hard Stuff,” and “Young Man,” and those are a few of my favorite tracks. They’re more of the emotional epicenter of the album, as this record’s main theme is family, whether it was to celebrate his son or his wife.

Where this album works is in the music itself, and the instrumentation, but the album falters a bit with two things — the lyrics and the length. The lyrics aren’t horrible, or anything close to that, but JT was never known as being a lyricist. Both FutureSex / LoveSounds and The 20/20 Experience aren’t well-regarded for their lyrical prowess, but they have their moments, as this album does, too, but a lot of the lyrics just aren’t interesting, or they’re downright forgettable. That wouldn’t be too much of an issue it the album was shorter, because there isn’t a lot that he’s saying, let alone even doing, so this album didn’t need to be an hour and six minutes. It’s as long as his other albums, but this should have been around 40 minutes, give or take, as that would have trimmed a lot of the fat. This album isn’t bad, or offensive, in any way, and that might be another issue with it: it’s too sanitized and simplistic. On one hand, I like that, because it’s a very pleasant and accessible album, but it doesn’t push any boundaries, or do anything unique, so it’s almost like, “What’s the point?”

I don’t know, I’m a sucker for his stuff, so it doesn’t bug me as much, and JT has a great voice, so I really enjoy this album. I’d say revisit this album if you haven’t listened to it in awhile, because it’s held up rather well, especially if you’re a fan of his. It’s nothing revolutionary, and the album does have some filler, but it’s a lot of fun, and JT does sound great throughout. I’d say this is his most underrated album. It has some merit to it, even though a lot of people have thrown it under the bus or just forgot about it. I’m really excited for his new album, Everything I Thought It Was, especially if it has the same sound as the new single. I love its smooth R&B sound, and it seems to be more on brand for him than his last album. Man Of The Woods was both an experiment and his most accessible album to date, and that could be why the album didn’t perform as well as it should have. I was sort of conflicted on it when I first listened to it again for the first time in years, but you know what? I love this album, warts and all. I’ll take any JT, and aside from the second part of The 20/20 Experience that I honestly forget about, saying that this is his weakest album still isn’t bad, because it has its moments that I really enjoy.

[cafalla]

Dorothy, Volume 1 (2005) Background // Part 1 of 3

Today I wanted to talk about and show off Dorothy, Volume I (2005). 

This book is my biggest scanning project to date (148 pages). So it took quite a while to scan and edit this book. Same goes for writing this post. For tumblr's sake, I've broken it up into 3 parts.

This is Part 1 of 3. See the end of the post for links to the other 2 parts.

Part 1 will focus on my sorta deep dive into the wayback machine for information on this comic, and the cool stuff I found out about it!

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This book is a collection of the first four chapters of the Dorothy comic, which is based on the story The Wizard of Oz. The comics were originally published in a single magazine format starting around 2004.

These comics are super interesting to me, because they are green screened photographs of an actor/actors/props with a digitally edited environment. From the very short wiki entry for Dorothy, I learned that comics illustrated with photographs are called “fumetti” or “photo comics”. 

I can’t say I’ve ever seen a comic like this before, so it was a super interesting visual experience. I admittedly was very impressed when I found this book buried in the thrift store children’s story book bin.

Like, "What the heck did I just find? This is so cool!"

I was even more surprised to find out that this was a signed copy from one of the creators and writer, Mark Masterson, that was signed at Emerald City Comic Con back in 2007. I think that's a different signature on top, but I can't make out who it belongs to.

Like what!!! What a weird find.

I felt compelled to buy and keep it, even if it’s not something I personally would pick up at the store. 

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So, a bit of a detour before I go into the book and share some scans.

I tried searching the internet for more info on this comic, as it just felt like a cult classic type of thing that other people would've been talking about…right?

Nothing came up besides a short bare-bones wiki and some links to purchase the comics from various online comic stores.

Really? Nothing?!

But then I had an idea to search the wayback machine, and I was able to get access to the old main site! 

Here is a screenshot of how the site looked from 2004 to 2005.

Unfortunately, a lot of the images are broken and do not load. I'm not bothering to include other screenshots of the different tabs because of this. There isn't much to see.

However, I did get lucky with the downloads tab! 

There were some wallpaper images still available to look at, so I went ahead and downloaded them.

I’ll probably throw those up full size on my Internet Archive account too, why not.

Here's how the site looked from 2006 to 2007.

The site remained mostly unchanged during these two years, other than updated news info.

Here's screenshots of how the links appeared.

The Twister Times aka the news and updates tab:

The Great Store of Oz aka the store and merch tab:

You know I'm going to be on the hunt for Dorothy merch now. The designs are pretty lackluster but I feel I'm in too deep in the Dorothy sauce to care. All I feel is the desire to obtain one of these T-shirts someday.

The Balloon Rides aka the self promotion and other related links tab:

And lastly, the Behind the Curtain aka the cast, crew, and behind the scenes tab (my personal favorite):

Even though these pages used to be public, and I doubt any of their contact information is correct in 2023, I am not going to post any screenshots of their bios.

Well, I'll post a bit of just one. I felt it was pertinent to point out that Mark Masterson's photo was…this…

Which uh….was certainly was a choice…

But also, this was the mid 2000s. Most people would've seen this as edgy, quirky, and funny, as opposed to cringe and off-putting.

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Before I talk about the actual comic and such, I did want to share screenshots from the behind the scenes tab. THIS was the kind of stuff I was interested to see after reading this comic.

I have a feeling these may have been the same photos under the BTS tab on the 2005 version of the site.

Very cool stuff! Cool to me, anyways.

I'm glad I got to see a glimpse into what the site looked like at the peak of this comic being published. It looked like they were doing rather well and having a good time.

Unfortunately, the site all but dies after 2007. This was also the year the last comic, Issue #7, was published. According to the very short wiki, Issue #7 also ended on a cliffhanger! How sad.

At least we can still experience and appreciate the art and comics that were released.

Before I dive into the content of the book, if you'd like to experience it without spoilers, you can read it on my Internet Archive account.

If not, then come along! Let's get to the (abridged) story of this now defunct comic!

Part 1 -> You're Here! Part 2 -> Chapters 1 & 2 Part 3 -> Chapters 3 & 4

[salvatoremikaelson54]

Plz do not copy you may repost do not take credit

I stood there as Conrad yelled at his brother for not paying attention to their mother. I’ll have to admit Conrad has been off this summer ever since my best friends family invited me to the fishers house about a month ago. Just by what belly had told me about Conrad I can tell something is off.

“Connie…plz calm down”I said walking up to him in a calm voice. He turned around his head looking at me

“Let’s go upstairs and get ready to go to the beach just you and me”I said calmly taking his hand. We headed up stairs to Conrad’s room I got changed in my bathing suit in his bathroom while he changed into his swim shorts in his room.

“You ready dove?”he said knocking on the bathroom door. I love it when he calls me dove I don’t know why he calls me dove. Maybe he likes me or maybe he just does it for no reason

“Yes!” I said opening the door. We head out to walk to the beach we don’t have our shoes on Conrad is holding our towels and a cooler filled with snacks and beers.

“You look pretty Connie”I said laughing while looking at him

“And so do you my dove”he say’s laughing. After putting on sunscreen and and sitting for 44 minutes Conrad and I are on our paddle boards just sitting not to far from shore.

“How are you doing?”I ask Conrad while paddling back to him.

“A lot better dove”Conrad says looking at the water

“Why do you call me dove?whats up with that?”I ask him

“Your my dove,your the main reason I’m still here”Conrad says barley making eye contact

“And my mom has cancer”Conrad says while tears roll down his cheek

“Connie…I’m so sorry about your mom…”I said in shock

“Thx dove”Conrad says

“But I’m not sorry for this”I say while paddling in and leaving my paddle board on shore.When I get in back in the water I go to Conrad and splash him.

“What the hell!” He says laughing

“Sorry con”I said laughing

“Oh you better run”Conrad said laughing

“Connie I hate to break the news to you but…I can’t run we are in the water…”I said barley keeping it together

“That’s it”he says swimming back to shore. I have no idea why.he goes in the cooler where our drinks and snack are he grabs something and then it hit me.

“CONNIE.don’t.do. IT.please”I said swimming back to shore.

“I’m gonna do it”he said laughing”. I’m finally on shore and I run up to him and grab my phone from him. I put it back in the cooler while grabbing chips and it down on the towel.

“Connie we’ve been out here for 2 hours I want to go soon.”I told him while eating my chips

“Ok yea”he says grabbing a chip from the bag

“And make chicken and pasta with Alfredo sauce”I said pointing at him.

“You got it,but we will have to go to the store and get chicken.So get up and I’ll pack u can hold this stuff I got the paddle boards”Conrad said getting up. Conrad and I went to the store and are making dinner Jeremiah and Steven went to a party and belly and the moms are out doing stuff so it’s just me and Conrad.

“Mmmmm smells so good”Conrad said opening the back door because he left his phone outside.

“And I also found a friend looking for food”Conrad said and I turned my head and it was a puppy and honey colored pit bull

“Connie can we keep it please please pleaseeeeeee”I said jumping up and down

“Yes we can”he said smiling

“Only on one condition, you go on a date with me”he said looking at me while I hold the puppy

“Ok but I get to name her”I said with the biggest smile on my face

“I’m gonna call her honeybun”

“I love it”Conrad said petting her

“Ok let’s eat but let me plate the food”Conrad said moving to the food to plate

“We can give her some chicken”I said grabbing a bowl

“I’ll text bells to get puppy food”I said cutting up chicken for honeybun.

“Hey Belly so Conrad found a puppy and we are keeping her,her name is honeybun can u grab puppy food for her”

“Omggggggggg yes I will!”

Conrad and I are done eating and we are cuddling on the couch and honeybun is on my lap.And the front door swings open

“let me see the babyyyyyyyyyy”jere said

“Awwwwww did we miss the wedding?” Steven says laughing. They have been saying this for the longest time so I’m tired

“Yes you actually did”I said getting up and kissing Conrad so they would hopefully stop saying stuff like this

“Oh well im happy for you guys.”Steven said shocked bc he wasn’t expecting that type of response.

“O-M-G WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL US”Belly said yelling.I told her to be quiet because the puppy was tired.

“Ready to go to bed?”Conrad asked me and I said yes and I got up and picked up honeybun Conrad and I walked up the stairs.

“Hey where do you think your going?” He said grabbing my arm

“Um to my bedroom”I said

“No your not everyone thinks we are together. So you come sleep in my bedroom.” So I didn’t fight it and I got ready in his bathroom and he made a spot for honeybun to sleep on the floor with a pillow and blanket.

“Wow your hot”I said jokingly and he pulled me towards him and kissed me.

“Um Connie I love you”I said staring into his eyes

“I love you too” Conrad said kissing me again

“I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS FROM MY ROOM” Steven yelled in a cry

Conrad and I had a fun night last night and he woke up before me and we went downstairs in our swimsuits

“You guys could’ve been more quiet last night”Steven said

“Yea he has a point I heard you guys from my room”belly says walking in with honeybun.

“You guys ready to go in the pool?” I asked and they all said yes.

“I can’t look at them the same way anymore” belly whispers to the moms

“BELLY”Conrad says a little annoyed because he heard her

“I think it’s time for a BELLY FLOP”Jere and Steven say

Belly runs but the boys got her they throw her into the pool.

“I hate you guys” belly says the boys are laughing

I push Steven in he didn’t see it coming

“Really!?” Steven said in shock

“I got you Steven”Jeremiah says next thing I know I’m in the water.

“WHAT THE HECK” I said trying not to laugh

“Sorry”he laughs.

Splash Conrad runs and takes down Jeremiah they both fall in the water. We were having fun swimming the moms came out watched us play.Conrad and Jeremiah were jumping in Conrad came back up.

“Fuck shit ow what the fuck”Conrad says but it kinda sounds like a cry

“Connie baby, what's wrong?” I swam over to make sure he was all right

“I stepped on something, '' he said, lifting himself up to sit on the ledge.

Susahan is already next to him, Laurel is getting the first aid kid,belly Jere and Steven are in the pool next to me. I’m in front of Conrad.

“Why was there glass in the pool!” I yelled Turing to Steve and Jere. They probably drank last night.

“Con let’s get you to the ER” laurel said susahan

Tried to stay calm but you could tell she wasn’t . Laurel made me and the rest of the guys stay home.

It’s been 4 hours and I can't think about anything else but Conrad. Even honeybun could tell something was wrong she wouldn’t play. She just ate and walked back and forth with me. It's like she knew something was terribly wrong.

Laurel:We are on our way

Me:ok I’ll tell the others.

It’s been a day since Conrad got back from the ER. Honeybun is staying in belly’s room so she doesn’t step on his foot.

“Baby…I was so scared” I said while laying on his chest he was brushing his fingers through my hair.

“I know dove…it’s alright tho,I’m ok it’s nothing serious” He told me in a calm sweet voice

[fairykukla]

Season's Greedings, 2023!

Every year I try to post my Greed List (What I want for Christmas" which includes the even more vital "Do Not Want" list.

Do Want:

1. A functional dishwasher.

We have one, we've had it serviced several times, and I don't think it's ever going to properly wash dishes again. It needs to go away, a new one needs to be installed, and I have terrible decision fatigue about figuring out which one I want. I want it to wash dishes. I don't even fully understand the choices I'm faced with.

You can contribute in one of the following ways: cash or electronic transfer donations to the dishwashing fund, solid recommendations for a specific make and model, or bad "features" I should avoid.

2. Laundry on-site: I own a washer and a dryer. The washer is down in the basement, but has nowhere legit to drain. The dryer is still at my neighbors' house, in the garage.

You can either be part of the team to bring the dryer home and set it up, or throw some cash at the plumbing problem, or offer assistance to solve the plumbing problem.

Those are the Big Things. Here's the little stuff:

A handcrafted card. I'm a sucker for those, and it will be kept, treasured, and probably displayed every year for a long time.

BJD shoes. All my dolls have lost shoes due to the vinyl or adhesives disintegrating. I need all kinds of shoes, particularly in 1/4 and 1/6 scale.

Shoes for me. I need a good solid supportive pair of shoes to wear to work.

Feed my dish collections: black octagonal glass pieces are always welcome. (They say "France" on the bottom.) Also Steubenville Woodfield pieces, particularly the dinner plates which seem hard to find. All colors welcome.

DVDs: we can't stream, so I need hard copies of anything I want to see. I'd particularly like Marvel stuff (especially recent movies, I'm way behind), Leverage Redemption, anime, or something unusual that you love and aren't sure if I've seen it yet. Ditto for CDs.

Funny collectables: I still love gnomes, mushrooms, fairy aesthetic items, the Nightmare Before Xmas, Tea Party items, etc.

Cat toys. My cats like them and I love to play with my cats.

I do like shiny jewelry, but I appreciate handcrafted items the most.

Hand crafted items. Support an artisan and it's like getting two gifts in one.

I still love to get Lush gift cards. One year I got several and it was The Best Xmas Ever.

Toilet Paper. I am always delighted to receive disposable paper products like TP, paper towels, paper plates, etc.

Food: teas are always welcome. Heck, just bring me a bubble tea and I'll be thrilled! Candy is super tricky; I'd rather get a card and warm wishes than candy. Baked goods are welcome early in the season, but I really don't want a bunch of sweets in the house the week before I give up sugar altogether. (Jan 1) There are very few places I can go to eat, but I'd love gift cards for Thai Nivas, any sushi place, Panera, Cafe Mochi, or Pearl.

Food that you canned yourself. Jam, jelly, apple butter, even regular pickles (because my partner likes them) or, if you want to see me happy-cry, pickles with no garlic or onion in the mix.

Experiences: indoor things are fraught. However, if you want to give me a gift card for The London Tea Room (or better yet, offer to take me for tea) I would love it. Outdoor concerts or performances might be ok, but talk to me about it first.

Do not want:

I have a lot of post Covid issues, as well as my pre Covid IBS problems. Add in my Big Sugar Fast from Jan 1st to late March, and suddenly certain holiday standards don't work for me.

No MSG. This means soup bases, seasoning packets, salad dressings, flavored snack chips, etc. It also means no Alfredo or tomato sauces, and no mushrooms.

No garlic, onion, chocolate, coffee, or peanut. None. Zero. I can't have it in the house. Cross-contamination is a problem. If one molecule gets in the food I can't eat it. These were all things I loved to eat before Covid; now they are completely and totally ruined for me.

Try not to make me part of your Christmas cookie baking. May I suggest instead that you bake some salt dough "cookie" ornaments, and paint one to give me for my tree? Cookies and sweets are cruel unless you give them to me very early in the season.

I hope this helps.