#LIKE THEY JUST SYNC. IT WORKS OUT THEY ARE BANANAS

[steddieas-shegoes]

for @thefreakandthehair (and @vecnuthy and @wormdebut while we’re at it) because sometimes you help a baseball player through French class so they can stay on the team and then they end up on the Savannah bananas and you decide to put the fictional men into situations about it *shrugs*

Eddie was going to have to transfer out of this class. This was one of his easiest classes and it was filled with every jock on campus attempting to fill their foreign language requirement with French.

And they were all failing. And annoying. And obnoxious.

And a few of them were also hot.

But Eddie wasn’t gonna focus on that!

He was gonna finish today’s assignment and then head straight to the advising office to find another class that worked with his work schedule.

“Hey,” the guy next to him whispered as the teacher droned on about conjugating verbs. “Do you have any idea what the fuck the homework was?”

Eddie turned to glare at the person, but his face dropped when he noticed who it was.

The campus celebrity: Steve Harrington.

Couldn’t quite make it on the college baseball team, but managed to make the sort-of professional, but mostly joke team Hawkins Hooligans.

Eddie didn’t like sports, never had. He could appreciate that it took skill and whatnot, but he didn’t care much to watch it or make celebrities of people who were just really good at one very specific thing usually involving some kind of ball. But he could appreciate a joke. And this team had jokes.

Steve was actually apparently good enough to play pro, had even been scouted by the MLB his senior year of high school. One week before his professional tryout, he tore a muscle in his shoulder, had to sit for three months and had to do physical therapy for another three, and voila! No pro ball for him. No college either since he missed spring training.

But he still had skill, and he still had a father with a lot of pull in the business, even if it wasn’t quite enough to get him on the Yankees or whatever.

So he was biding his time on the Hooligans until next year when he could try out for the college team again, maybe increase his chances of a real pro career.

Eddie definitely hadn’t watched videos of him during their first few games of the season where they faced the Indy Idols and the Chicago Charades.

He definitely hadn’t gotten a weird flutter in his stomach when Steve had been the one to lip sync to Hot For Teacher while pretending his bat was a guitar.

He definitely didn’t have a crush on Steve.

“Uh. Dude?” Steve asked him again, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah. It was the study guide for the first quiz. Not due until next class though,” he whispered back.

“Oh. Thanks.”

Eddie turned his attention back to the professor, not really needing to pay attention since he already knew quite a bit of French.

A tap on his shoulder made him yelp, and the entire room turned to him. He waved apologetically before turning to Steve with a murderous look.

“What?” He hissed out.

“Do you understand this?”

“Yes and you probably would too if you stopped talking to me.”

Eddie was ignoring the voice in his head screaming at him to let Steve keep talking to him for as long as he wanted.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Steve huffed before sitting back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. He mumbled something else that sounded like ‘I’m just stupid’ but Eddie couldn’t be 100% sure.

“A lot of this stuff is just English spelled a little differently.” Eddie sighed. “You could almost definitely figure it out if you took some notes.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Eddie’s brows scrunched together as he glanced at Steve’s red face.

Hm. There was definitely something to unpack here.

“You can borrow mine if you want,” Eddie offered as he watched the professor switch slides on the presentation. “I don’t really need them until the final.”

“Oh!” Steve sounded genuinely surprised by his offer, like he hadn’t been basically asking for help only a moment ago. “You don’t have to do that. I mean, it wouldn’t do much good for me anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Steve had Eddie’s full attention now.

“I’m. I-“ Steve sighed. “I’m dyslexic, man. Reading’s hard for me.”

Well, fuck. Eddie felt like an asshole now.

“Oh.” Eddie looked down at his scribbled notes, cringing at the thought of someone else trying to read them, let alone someone who already struggled with reading from a printed page. “Yeah, my handwriting is shit so it’d probably be useless to you. Shit, it’s almost useless to me.”

Steve snorted, immediately covering his mouth to avoid any more noise from escaping. Eddie could see he was still smiling though. His eyes were very expressive.

“Don’t you have accommodations?” Eddie asked him.

“Nah, my dad doesn’t believe it’s a problem.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Said I just need to focus more and it’ll ‘work itself out.’”

“He sounds like he’s a lot of fun at parties.”

Steve snorted again. “Yeah, a blast.”

“So you aren’t a natural at French?”

Steve shook his head. “I’m barely a natural at English.”

“I could help you?” Eddie was an idiot. An idiot with a crush on someone who would never be interested in anything he had to offer except tutoring.

“Help me? You’d help me?” Steve seemed eager, maybe a little desperate.

Eddie kinda liked that.

“I mean, yeah. If you’re actually willing to put in the work and not expect me to just do the work for you.”

Steve smiled. God, that was a nice smile. Eddie was absolutely fucked.

“I work well with a reward system,” he smirked. “If you’re willing.”

Eddie’s eyes widened momentarily as the realization sunk in that he’d just been flirted with.

By Steve Harrington.

“Oh, I can definitely work with that.”

Steve nodded once, grinned at Eddie as he picked up his pen and ripped off a small piece of his unused notebook paper. He scribbled something down and folded it once before handing it to Eddie.

“Let me know when I need to show up, Eds.”

Eddie unfolded the paper and nearly dropped it.

Stevie H. 555-555-0086 My dorm at 7? No clothes required

When Eddie looked back up, Steve was facing the front, seemingly paying attention to the lecture.

Eddie quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and put Steve’s contact info in. He could wait until after class to send him a text. He could.

Instead, he typed out something quick to hold them both over until later.

Studying naked is my favorite thing 😉

Steve’s knee nudged against his in response.

Maybe Eddie wouldn’t take that trip to advising after all.

And if he was featured on the next TikTok for the Hawkins Hooligans, with Steve fake serenading him in the stands, nobody had to know he didn’t really like sports.

He liked Steve, though. Even when Steve actually managed to play real competitive baseball. Even when Steve managed to get a spot on the Cubs.

Especially when Steve proposed to him during a game in maybe the worst recorded French of all time.

[louloulemons-posts]

Jealousy

Eddie Munson X Fem!Reader

Summary : Eddie likes you, but you’re with Harrington, right?

Word Count : 1.9k

Warnings : Not Proofread, fluff, stoners, use of weed and alcohol, the stranger things teens actually acting like teens lol, swears, cuteness, ft Nancy, Robin, Jonathan and Steve, jealous eds this was wrote a 3am so the spelling is probably atrocious.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Every time I tell you to bring a jacket and every time you’re like, ‘No Steve I won’t get cold’,” he spoke, mocking you as he did.

“I’m not cold, you’re the one freaking out!”

“You have goosebumps, you’re gonna catch a cold,” he said, throwing his blue jacket at your head. Smacking you straight in the face. “I honestly question why we’re still friends sometimes.”

“Guys let’s go,” Robin moaned, stood waiting for you. “We’re coming,” you said, jogging up to her, linking arms. “It’s fine just abandon me. Don’t worry about it,” Steve shouted.

“Okay,” you said in sync, laughing to yourselves. “Hey guys!” a familiar voice spoke. Eddie walked over to you, dressed in his normal attire of denim vest, jeans and leather jacket. Cute.

“Munson, you made it,” Steve said happily, “Now I won’t have to spend the night being bullied by these two demons.” You linked your free arm through Eddies, “You’re right! You can be bullied by the three of us.”

“I hate you all,” Steve groaned.

“You know you love us,” Robin said, grabbing Steve’s arm. “So are Wheeler and Byers meeting us there?” Eddie asked.

You nodded, “Yeah, Nance had work so they’re coming a little later.” He hummed in acknowledgement. You began chatting with Robin as you walked, the four of you still linked together.

You didn’t notice the curly haired boys eyes on you, well actually what you were wearing to be specific. Harringtons jacket. Just like a few days ago, you stole his yellow jumper, untying it from his waist.

It broke his heart, he’d always liked you, never got round to telling you. He couldn’t. He was Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson. You were everything. Your friendship was enough for him, but seeing you, watching you and Steve.

“You good?” you asked him.

“Oh yeah I’m fine, you?”

“Peachy!” you smiled up at him, making his heart flutter. “How’s your uncle Wayne?”

“He’s doing well. He told me to tell you he’s willing to pay you to make him more of that banana loaf.”

You laughed at that, “I’ll make sure too, no payment necessary though. He’s a nice man.” Humming again in agreement.

Robin spoke up, “This looks like a good spot, clear enough to see the fireworks.”

There was some huge celebration for Hawkins happening tonight. Fireworks, a party, the whole big sha-bang. You guys decided to have your own little party, some food, snacks, pot, and good company.

Steve threw a blanket down on the floor, “Nance said she’s bringing another with her,” he explained. You were sat by Lovers lake, it was so peaceful this time of year.

The orange skies reflecting off the still water. “Y/N.”

“Hm?” you asked turning towards Robin.

“Smile!” She said, pointing her camera towards you. You did as she said smiling and posing.

“Perfect!” She grabbed the photo and began shaking it so it would develop. Eddie smiled at you as you mimicked her shaking, the pair of you ended up dancing as she did.

Finally the picture was clear enough to see, “It looks great, you look pretty.”

“Aw thanks Robs,” you smiled, kissing her cheek.

“Anyone want a drink?” Steve asked, pulling out a few beers. “Throw one,” Eddie spoke, catching the can in one hand with ease. He sat down one the blanket, stretching out his long legs.

“Hey you, leave some room for the rest of us,” you spoke, plopping down next to him.

“You’ve got plenty of room, I’m a big guy, let me be comfy.”

“Okay big boy you take all the room you need.” You looked to your can, pulling the tab to open it, not realising how Eddies face flushed.

“Hey Eddie did you bring the good stuff?” Robin asked. “Obviously, I’m not gonna bring gross shit. I’m smoking too.”

“Oh so if you weren’t you’d give us weed that tastes like ass?” Steve asked.

“You know what ass tastes like Harrington?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the boy smirked.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Hey guys!” Nancys voice came from behind you. You scrambled up to hug her, “Hi!” she smiled to you.

“Hey Nance, Jonathan how are you?” you smiled at him.

The pair of you began quiet conversation, you’d always liked him. Just like Will, they were sweet kids, not surprising with a mom like Joyce. That woman had a heart of gold.

But later on you stood by the waters edge, watching it ripple as the breeze blew. You rubbed your arms, it was a bit cool, and getting colder as the sun disappeared.

“If you say ‘I told you so’ I’ll throw you in the fucking lake,” you said aloud.

“How’d you know it was me?”

“Could smell the hairspray.”

“You’re horrible.”

“But you love me.”

You wrapped your arms around Steve’s middle, his going around your shoulders. “You good?”

“Mhm, stealing your warm.”

“Great so you’ve stole my jacket and warm,” he sighed, but didn’t let go.

“You guys ready to smoke?” Eddie asked, making you look up from Steve’s neck. He almost sounded annoyed? “Yeah!” You smiled at him, walking over to re-join the group.

Plonking yourself down between Robin and Eddie, you hummed in contentment. Eddie pulled out 2 pre-rolled blunts, handing one to Jonathan and keeping one himself.

The pair lit them and took the first inhales, smoke coming out of their noses. “Steves definitely gonna pull a whitey, he’s already drunk!” Robin laughed.

“Why am I friends with any of you?”

“Cause you love us,” you said in a sing-song voice.

The metal head offered you the blunt, not meeting your eyes as you thanked him. Taking a drag you, feeling the tickle of the smoke against your lungs.

The blunts were passed between the six of you and soon enough the first pop and boom was heard in the sky. Red and blue danced against the darkness, leaving you all in awe.

More and more fireworks began to appear, in the starry sky. They were so beautiful. You sighed, resting your head on someone’s shoulder, too stoned to really care who.

He cared though, knowing he’d need something a lot stronger to not care about you. To not feel like his heart would burst out of his chest as you laid there, smiling at the sky.

He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t keep falling for you. Keep loving you. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair on him. Or Steve. God you had a boyfriend and you were here with him like this.

Nudging your head with his shoulder slightly, he stood up, brushing down his jeans. Excusing himself and walking away from the five of you.

Cocking you head your eyes followed after the dark haired boy. Wondering what was wrong. After a few minutes you decided to follow after him.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Eddie~” you called out for him. “You okay? Why’d you go away?” You giggled at your rhyme. Soon enough you found him, his back to you.

“Hi,” you spoke, walking closer to him. He was stood at the waters edge. “You okay? You wandered off.”

“Yeah I’m good.”

“Thought you were just taking a leak, but you were gone agesss. Got worried.”

“Why?” he asked genuinely, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you. “Uh cause you’re my friend, and I like you duh.” He hummed at you, and you bumped his shoulder.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go for it Munson, I’m an open book right now, so this may be your only chance.”

“How long have you and Harrington been a thing?”

Your eyes widened, your jaw slack, you were stunned. “You don’t have to tell me, just curious. You suit each ot-” You put your hand on his mouth, “Edward Munson you finish that sentence and I will projectile vomit.”

He looked concerned, worried you were about to pull a whitey. “Shit we should get you home.”

“No! I’m fine it’s just,” you laughed, “Eddie, Steve’s my cousin.”

He was now the stunned one, “What?”

“He’s my cousin.”

“But your … your last names.”

“Our moms are sisters,” you explained.

“But I thought, he’s so protective of you, and you’re always wearing your clothes.”

“He nags me like a big brother. He’s only a few months older than me, but god he’s annoying.”

Eddie couldn’t believe it. You were cousins. Which made so much sense. So much fucking sense.

You were laughing, “Have I lost you?”

“W-what no! I’m right here.”

“Can I ask you a question now?”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you ask me if I’m dating him?”

“Oh I um … you know. Curious friend.”

“Mhm, sure. Well,” you began to walk back towards the others, “Just in case your curiosity gets the better of you, I should probably just tell you,

“I like you too. I think we should go on a date.” Eddie looked at you in awe.

“How did you know?”

“Kinda obvious. I was waiting for you to ask me out, been dropping hints all the time. It really went over your head.”

You smiled at him. “You dropped hints?”

“All the time. Always asking to hang out, linking arms, laughing so loud at all your jokes, calling you, baking for you, coming to see your band. The list goes on. I like you Eddie.”

“I like you too.”

“I know,” you laughed.

“Take off the jacket.”

“What?”

“The jacket. Take it off.”

You did as he said, pulling off the blue material. Goosebumps instantly covering your skin. It was soon disturbed as Eddie put his leather jacket over your shoulders.

“Suits you,” he smiled, you matched it.

“It’s cosy.” It smelt like him, weed and his woody aftershave. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I hope you know you’re not having it back.”

“That’s fine by me. You look pretty in it.” You cheeks flushed at that, “Thanks Eds. So umm we should get back to the others.”

“Sure, but first, I need to do something.”

Before you had time to ask what he had cupped your cheeks in his ring decorated hands. Connecting your lips to his own. They were soft against yours, you couldn’t stop the grin forming on your face.

Kissing him back you deepened it, pulling him closer by his curls, making his groan slightly. Tongues dancing and bodies on one another, you didn’t hear the twig crack behind you.

“My eyes! Oh my god my fucking eyes!” You heard a shout, breaking away from Eddie. Steve was rubbing his face, doubled over. “Here I was thinking you were in danger but no you’re sucking face!”

“Oh my god Steve shut up,” dropping your face into Eddies chest in embarrassment, he hugged you and chuckled into your hair. “No! I’ve just seen my baby cousin, BABY cousin with a tongue down her throat. Gross!”

“Sorry Harrington, we’ll keep it PG around you.”

“You better Munson,” he said walking away from the pair of you. Breaking into laughter, Eddie brushed hair out of your face.

“Well he’s gone now so,” he leaned back down to kiss you. “Nope! Nope nope nope,” Steve ran back, grabbing your wrist and pulling you away from Eddie, taking his jacket back too.

The curly haired boy cackled as he heard your whining as Steve dragged you, and his own complaints at how gross you were. Following behind, grin on his face, this may have been one of the best nights of his life.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any requests 🤍

[leggerefiore]

Food Fight

cw: drabble, can be interpreted as platonic and romantic

pairing: Ingo/Reader or Emmet/Reader or Ingo&Reader&Emmet

▲▽▲▽▲▽▲▽▲

It was a battle.

Not one of fists, nor one of pokemon, but one of lunch.

Your suggestion of a fun group activity was supposed to be light-hearted and easy, not whatever this was before you. Ingredients were smeared and placed in sections they were not supposed to be, while brothers seemed to glare and bicker. Ingo's lightly spicy hamburger section had been tainted with jam and whipped cream. Emmet's strawberry-banana peanut butter jam section was littered with a few jalapeños and mustard. The brothers themselves were an array of colours that had once been intended as food.

How had this happened?

Emmet had certainly started it, teasing Ingo lightly about his apparent dislike of sweets. Ingo was going to ignore it at first, but the younger twin had accidentally smeared jam just a bit too close to his designated section for his liking. His response? Well, none other than placing a jalapeño atop one of Emmet's bananas. A gasp left him at the offence. Then, it became a mess. The fact that they were grown adult men seemed lost.

You could only sigh. The jam on Ingo's side might not have been that bad of a flavour match, actually. The jalapeño and mustard had definitely ruined Emmet's side, however. You shook your head. Emmet suddenly cried out as Ingo managed to get a jalapeño into his mouth. The twin started fanning himself as he spit out the pepper.

You cut your section out from the sandwich and thought for a moment. Both liked savoury flavours, at least.

~

“Hey! Do you two still want to eat?” you called out to the twins after they had seemed to stop their fighting. Ingo looked over to you and grew flustered. Did he forget that you were with them? Emmet just nodded and got up to head back to the table that you had set up. Their mess of a sandwich was odd to the side and instead replaced with one that you had made. Klawf sticks, avocado, pineapple, jalapeño, and marmalade… It was a good mix of what they both liked and should not have been too overwhelming.

Emmet appeared a bit apprehensive at first, yet pushed himself to try it. Teeth eventually sank into the bread. His unsure expression slowly shifted into a bright smile and wide eyes. Ingo had treaded over, too, after suppressing his embarrassment.  He took a piece of the divided sandwich for himself. His bite was much quicker, clearly holding much less apprehension than Emmet had. He nodded at the flavour, eyes closing to savour it for a moment. The bravo that followed his swallow almost made you laugh.

“… Mmm, the peppers are not that bad,” Emmet relented quietly. Ingo seemed to puff up at that. You had a feeling that he had been trying to convince him to try them properly for a while.

“Yes, I suppose pineapple is not that terrible, either,” Ingo decided to give something to Emmet, too. The younger twin giggled at his words and leaned into his side playfully. You wanted to roll your eyes. Whatever animosity had overtaken them both was gone in an instant.

“Thank you verrrry much,” Emmet turned to you after everyone had finished eating, “… Sorry for almost ruining the picnic.” You just shrugged in reply. They were not at their worst, you supposed.

“Yes… That was immature of us,” Ingo continued, “Please do not think of us like that! We simply… bicker sometimes. Usually, we are much more in sync.” It was clear that he did not like the idea of you viewing them so poorly. You just shook your head.

They were too cute to be upset with.

(They both worked to make a sandwich for you as thanks afterward. It was touching, truly.)

[thebluestbluewords]

is the worldbuilding in the room with us now?

"My sister is trying to court the little Tremaine." Freddie grumbles,rolling her eyes. And also her other eyes. All of the googly eyes she's got glued to her purse, and the embroidered ones on her coat all roll in sync with each other. The overall effect is very Isle chic. It's almost comforting. 

"If it helps at all, they're being very cute about it," Evie says, carefully maintaining her tone of absolute innocence. She certainly hasn't been encouraging Dizzy's advances, no siree. Freddie doesn't need to know about the cobweb coat that's hanging above Dizzy's table in the workshop right now. Evie's only been helping a little bit with the bedazzling. "I think they're sweet together." 

Freddie's eyes narrow. "Enabler." 

"Me? Fred, come on." 

Freddie swats at the hand that Evie's laid innocently on her chest. "You're enabling them somehow, I know it. Don't put on that act with me."

Evie swallows back her giggle. "No act, I just think they're sweet. They cuddle sometimes." 

Freddie growls, a low rumbling that picks up in her throat and reverberates through Evie's bones. "I'll kill her." 

"Which one?" Evie offers sweetly. "Because if you're looking to defend Celia's virtue, I think you're a little too late. That ship sailed while they were still living under the same roof." 

"You let them--" 

"I did. We were doing it at their age. We're fine." 

"I wouldn't call us--" Freddie sweeps both hands out in a broad gesture that somehow ecompasses both girls, her blinking eyeball purse, and Evie's glistening white kitchen as a whole. "Fine. I mean, look at this shit.  You have fake fruit on your counter." 

Evie snatches the glossed banana out of her friend's un-tender grip. "I have preserved fruit on my counter, actually. And it's there for a reason. Don't break it." 

Freddie relinquishes the banana, but leans back so she can cross her arms in an appropriately disapproving manner. "Why would I break you banana, princess?" 

"Lots of reasons. Maybe you have a grudge against bananas in general. Maybe you hate mine specifically. Maybe you've got a secret anti-fruit vendetta that you're acting upon one poor, unfortunate fruity soul at a time. Maybe," Evie leans in so they're nearly nose to nose. "You just want something from me, and abusing my fruit is the fastest way to get it." 

Freddie scoffs. 

"Hardly. What I want is to know why the hell you keep preserved fruit on your counter when any kid could come along and break a tooth on it." 

"It's a science experiment." 

Freddie's eyebrows crawl up her face. "Explain."

"Gladly. Everything arrives on the Isle already rotten, right?" 

"Right. Like us." 

Evie can be generous. She ignores this breach of manners, and forges ahead undaunted. "So, we deserve better than that. If we fix what arrives on the Isle, it goes a long way towards keeping things inhabitable, or at least bearable for the kids who are still stuck there while Ben works on the legal grounds to get them out safely.  I started a few experiments in food preservation, oh, maybe a few months ago?" 

"So this banana--" 

"Is four months old. Yes." 

Freddie lowers herself to go eye-to-eye with the preserved fruit bowl. "But it's solid." 

"Yes." 

"So if I peel this open..." 

Ah. No. 

"I didn't say that I've mastered the experiments yet," Evie says, sliding the bowl backwards before Freddie can try anything stupid. "I've succeeded in preserving some fruits, but the tradeoff is that they're currently fully preserved." 

"So?" 

"Inedible." Evie explains. "We preserved them too well. They'll just pass through your body fully undigested." 

"Gross." 

"You don't know gross until you're looking at a stool sample full of undigested orange chunks." Evie says grimly. "We almost called in Fairy Godmother for a case of magical poisoning before we realized that it wasn't organ tissue sloughing off on the way out." 

[muffinrecord]

I just need to record Hitagi, Fate, and Nanoha stuff for the battle animation videos. Then I'll be done.

We have three left already made-- Chisato, Haruka, and Tsubaki.

(I won't be doing the Monogatari girls besides Hitagi, sorry. Well... Maybe, but probably not. I don't know how I'd do the initial poke animation either).

This project took almost a full year to post... But it took like two years on and off of recording. Not like consecutively, it's more that I recorded everything two times and then one final time before I actually started to put all the video together. I have a bad habit of deleting things important to me when I'm depressed, and this project got hit with that twice >.>'

But it's weird to think about! I had a spreadsheet and I would spend my time watching youtube videos while recording everything. I'd spend like 2-4 hours a night working on this, collecting everything, uploading the raw files to google drive and to my backup. I'd have to re-record things sometimes because the audio wouldn't sync right, or the raw had a glitch I didn't notice at first. I'd wait sometimes for double sp/half ap because it was SUPER expensive on the AP bottles (and I spend those a lot because I like to play just for the fun of it).

I'm not going to say my project was perfect, but I'm glad it's done.

I'm glad that I started this a while ago. NA EOS made me more paranoid and interesting archiving other stuff. It would have been straight up bananas if I was doing this last minute right now

Like mentioned before, I still have all the raw unedited footage incase anything happens to the youtube videos-- like if the music copyright becomes more strict. What a relief! And I've made backups in a few different places, so even if my computer dies/gets some evil virus, everything is still safe. Even if the google drive goes down, I have two physical backups (one stored at home, one at my sister's place) so all this stuff is good to go. And from what I understand, some friends are making backups of the google drive themselves!

It makes me kinda emotional! The google drive might be run by me, but really it's a big group effort of people who all love this game. It makes me feel pretty happy and a little teary eyed to think I got to help with it, you know?

I found this fellow on twitter who is also archiving battle animation stuff! If you dislike my videos, perhaps check out theirs? I've thought about offering to help assist them but I don't speak Japanese and am unsure if that's too forward... I dunno! :')

(Oh, looks like they don't accept random messages. ahh well, smart of them tbh)

[nekomancy813]

Chapter 8:

ₗᵢₜₜₗₑ ᵦₗᵤₑ ₗₒₜᵤₛ 🪴

Jake immediately assisted Finn, bringing Hisui back inside the treehouse. Laying her on the couch, as her eyes luminate a senseless blank stare. Little Bmo jumps up onto her stomach, nudging himself into her arms upset

“MommaCat.. Are you okay..??!”

Finn places his hand on Hisui's forehead to check for her temperature.

“..This isn't good Jake! She's burning up!!”

BMO covers his face, sniveling up even more. The two brothers look to each other in agreeing sync

“We need to call PB.”

Finn grabs his green backpack, pulling out the telephone immediately dialing PB's phone number.

As he waits for PB to pick up, Jake stretches up next to him on the couch placing a dry clean towel over his cold soaked shoulders.

“What were you and Hisui doing out in the rainy muck bro?”Jake asks curious yet worried.

“Me and Hisui were just having a fun time having our first sparring together!

But that's when I peered into Hisui's memoirs bro.. Finn reminisces, staring out the window pane in the living room as his eyes expand big in deep longing.

“I think I'm starting to feel soul searchy again dude..”

Jake's curiosity piqued

“So.. What did you discover??”

Finn relaxes a little as he hunches forward, recollecting his thoughts by rubbing his forehead.

“I discovered that Hisui was a human girl from another world..!”

Finn blushes pink as he smiles a little of the new lore he's acquired of her.

“She lives in a completely different dimension of earth..!”

Jake's mouth dropped in shock!

“WHOA!! So what was her world like Finn? Did it have magic creatures and pretty stuff like our world does!?”

Finn shakes his head.

“No, her world looked absolutely different. There were a lots of humans, cars and buildings I've never seen before! It was like a previous timeline shift! Like the Great Mushroom War didn't happen in her world yet! Her dimension was VERY intense!”

“Wait- so how did Hisui come all this way into our world man? And why..? How was it intense??”

Jake scratches his dog noggin confused.

As Finn was about to kindly answer Jake's multiple queries, PB picks up the other line.

“Hey! you guys called at the right time!

Sorry it took a bit. I was finishing up some general recall on my banana guards to upgrade their defense arsenals then consulting with the general for more training regiments.

Besides all that, I have some final results on Hisui's molecular blood samples. Turns out she's got insane shape-shifting abilities just like Jake! Speaking of Hisui.. How's she holding up living with you guys?”

Finn sits down with Jake, accompanying Hisui on the couch as he exclaims..

“Hisui's slowly regaining her memories like you said PB.. But it seems to be too overwhelming for her head to handle.

I-Is there any way to help Hisui not get hurt from remembering stuff?”

On the other line, PB quietly pauses to think..

“Hmmm..

It sounds like Hisui’s membrane collective is trying to re-expand itself after her serious head concussion. I think I might have some medicine I recently made that can help nourish and maintain her brain's neural-cells and membrane matter! If you want I'll stop by on the morrow with the medication if you want”

As the boys hear out PB's generous offer, Finn notices Hisui becoming extremely enervated and pale!

“OhGlob her temperature is dropping! Jake get PB to come over here now ASAP!!

He quickly passed the phone to Jake as he immediately held Hisui's head up as BMO helps by retrieving a pile of blankets.

Panicking, Jake yells

“Bring that sugar right away momma! Hisui's boutta drop cold!!”

Jake then hung up the phone; helping Finn wrapping Hisui up in a ton of blankets to conceal her body heat from decreasing rapidly!

Fortunately the blankets are working; moderating Hisui’s temperature.

“Phew- that was close..”

Jake swipes his head in relief. Then sees Finn craddeling Hisui close, tenderly nuzzling his forehead against hers as tears slowly trickle down the sides of his face.

“I shouldn't've sparred so roughly with Hisui on her first try! I donked up again..”

Sympathizing for his brother, Jake extends himself to Finn giving him a comforting hug.

Just then little Bmo returns to the living room with some nicely prepared mochi snacks!

“It'll be okay Finn.. Sometimes in order to make a nice squishy mochi, we must have the determination and strength to keep hammering the mochi; until we successfully create its beautiful tasty form!”

.・゜-: ✧ :-.・゜゜・✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-: ✧ :-゜・．.・゜゜・✚

Hisui's P. O. V

I feel so exhausted and cold. This painful feeling is if I just got plowed over by a freight train!

Everything just blacked out for me after I had my first training session with Finn.. If I can remember correctly, Finn said something very sweet to me that struck me hard!

..Man What a sucky experience I'm undergoing.

Maybe next time I shouldn't go all-out like that.. Besides I'm clearly not in full control of my powers yet.

But I do hope Finn is doing alright..!

Adrift once again, but in darkness. Yet I can hear some muffled voices outside of my unconsciousness. They sound like Finn & Jake! Wait- Why do they sound.. Distressed? What's going on? What's happening to me??

Suddenly I hear Dr. Bubblegum's voice say

“Bring her to me Finn! I have her medicine..”

Now I feel Finn’s arms wrap around, picking up my sleepy bod, holding me bridal style in his arms!

.. This.is…EMBARRASSING!!!

I CAN FEEL MY FACE AGAINST HIS CHEST! OHMYGLORBZ I CAN HEAR HIS HEARTBEAT!!!!!!

WHY DOES FINN HAVE TO SMELL LIKE FLOWERS??!!!!!

IF FINN CONTINUES TO HOLD ME LIKE THIS..IMMA GO INTO A FREAKIN’ HEAT COMA!!!!!!

Okay. Pause my ridiculous flustering- what is this other scent I'm smelling..?

This aroma smells of citrus and honey. It's salivating! I do smell a mix of fresh bubblegum as well.. That must be Dr. Bubblegum's scent too; I subconsciously reach out my hand to touch whatever it is I was smelling. That's when I heard Finn say..

“PB! Your medicine is working!”

PB huh..? So that's what he calls her.

Suddenly I feel PB pry open my mouth as Finn gently clamps my jaw back downwards, stabbing my fangs into this tasty gummy substance. Causing me to purr loud in blissful satisfaction…

𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Then I heard Finn again

“Umm.. PB, is she supposed to bite down?”

Ha! Seems like I'm not the only one who agrees that this is weird!

…Mmm! I can taste creamy honey butter citrus liquid bleeding out from this gummy thing PB sunk my teeth into!

That's when I heard her say

“Drink up Hisui! This should help your brain gain more support and nourishment” I quickly snapped back into consciousness, snatching up this perfectly round gummy ball out of PB's hands and devouring it! Now I feel tons of warm tingles surrounding my head.

The warm tinglies feel so nice…

I then feel computer baby Bmo hug my arm, giggling with joy.

“Yaaaiiee MommaCat's not dying!!”

“Dying? Why would I be dying?? What happened while I was knocked guys! ?”

I picked up the joyfully crying Bmo baby confused. Jake kindly clues me in

“You passed out after having these intense memory flashes while training! At least that's what my bro Finn told me.

Right dude?”

Then I looked at Finn immediately tackling me, squeezing me tight in his arms as he mumbles to me.

“Thank Glob you're okay I thought we were gonna lose you! Your temperature was fluctuating like crazy!!”

He nuzzles his head against mine not letting me go.

That's when I cupped Finn's cheeks and squoozed them “That's why I'm very lucky to have you guys as my family. I'll never be lost or lose ever again as long as you're by my side Mertens”

I wrapped my arms around Finn, receiving a big snug group hug from BMO, Jake, and him as they all thanked Dr. PB for helping me get better.

“Anytime guys! Just make sure that Hisui eats half a gummy orb dosage every morning, kay?”

[seat-safety-switch]

Now that it’s the future, things are more confusing than ever. Our ancestors only had to understand a few different kinds of rocks, how to cook a bird they caught, and what sorts of plants they should not try to eat. Like I said, things are different now. Everything has become more advanced, and with it, more complex.

You might not think that things are all that different. After all, those forerunners to our glorious civilization also had to deal with plague, illiteracy, and the horrors of serfdom. Now, we only have that last one left to deal with. I think that you’ve just become used to the polynomial complexity of the modern age. Try going back to 1993 and asking your fellow Hypercolor-shirt-wearing dweebs about why your email isn’t syncing to your smartphone, but works okay on your iPad. You’ll be burned at the stake, even in moderately liberal states like Maine.

I’m all in favour of going back to simpler stuff. Stick axles. Right-angle bodywork. Carburetors. Door handles that burn your fingers because the car’s been sitting in the sun all day while you were working a double at the Kay Bee Toys. Crank windows. Heavy-weight oils that aren’t filtered very well. Bias-ply tires with no grip whatsoever, to the extent that walking on banana peels slathered with mayonnaise will make you feel like an F1 driver by comparison.

Thing is, nobody wants to make that stuff anymore. The new stuff is too good, too efficient, too safe that the automakers and the aftermarket folks have decided that no one on this Earth is stupid enough to want it. Even Chinese factories can’t be convinced to do otherwise; their electric mini-pickup-trucks may cost $2000, but they still have modern metallurgy and plastic headlights. Meanwhile, we’re crushing all this great old stuff and sending it to foreign lands in order to be turned into more boron-infused, tiny-mufflered cough drops that sometimes decide not to let me use Spotify until I break out half an undergraduate computer science degree and/or the Revenge Dremel.

That’s why I’ve decided to start re-learning everything from first principles. I just spent last week checking every book out of the library that I could find on metallurgy. While he was out (in prison,) I was going to turn my neighbour’s new chain-link fence into part of a 4x4 chassis. I had pulled a bunch of it out of the ground and started to build a crucible in which to melt the precious ill-gotten aluminum into ingots. That’s when I realized that the barbecue lighter I was using had a child-safe trigger. I had to go back and dig through the dumpster I found it in, just so I could figure out how to make flame shoot out of it. Friends: this shit has got to stop.

[rescue-ram]

hawktrap, and if someone got there before me, beejhawk

(⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠) TrapHawk ✨

Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

Waugh, the first MASH episode I remember seeing was Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde, and the funny-turns-touching caretaking instantly set off the little shippy bulb in my brain. I love best friend ships, I love the love and affection between them, I love that they're a paired set and the support they show, and I feel like there's a really special quality to their friendship that makes them feel Very Important to each other. Plus they have great chemistry.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Kfksjsj low key got ahead of myself there. But the thing that keeps me hooked is how flexible they ss characters and their dynamic is. I feel like there's lots of angles you can take and lots of scenarios to explore while still keeping the characters in line with what we see in the show. I love that they're in sync 95% of the time, but those little gaps leave just enough room for drama or angst. I love that they're inveterate kinksters AND softboys who care for each other. They're just great.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I mean there are certain common takes on both characters, especially Trapper, that make me cuckoo bananas rageful. The whole Trapper Abandoned Hawkeye and Broke His Heart thing 🔪🔪🔪 I will also die on the hill that Trapper Is Much Softer Than People Give Him Credit For and Hawkeye Is Much Stronger. Trying to think of how to phrase my gripes and opinions such that I don't come off as unnecessarily bitchy lol. But like, it is SO HARD to find stuff for these two that Works for me. I think they're more interesting and complex than they're given credit for.

Annnnd BeejHawk 🍵

Don't Ship It

1. Why don’t you ship it?

I feel like you articulated this at a deep level beautifully in your meta a few days ago lol. I mean fundamentally I am a Trapper Girl TM and TrapHawk is my One True Pairing, so this was always doomed to at best second tier "I like it fine" ship status tbh. But there's just too much friction in the relationship on screen, there's some genuine meanness and anger, they misunderstand each other at key points, and I don't see the chemistry between them. Being extremely petty and subjective for a second, I just don't like BJ as a character very much, I find him frequently mean and petty and annoying and unfunny. Hawkeye can do better.

2. What would have made you like it?

Augh. Okay, I think in a lot of BJHawk interactions that others read as shippy, I see an edgy clinginess that makes me Uncomfy. So BJ being less "repressed neurotic" and a little more ease in their relationship. Also the fundamental biggest barrier to BJHawk is BJ Loves His Wife and Child, and I don't want to like. Get rid of that aspect of his character because it's vital to him, y'know? But maybe more of Hawkeye corresponding with Peg and building up a friendship with her- it could even be comedic, where he's planning a surprise for BJ who's getting increasingly suspicious then is amused/embarrassed/fond when he figures it out, but just like a sense Hawkeye could be included in the family dynamic without being wildly unfair to Peg, or even just BJ being a little more liberated sexually such that it's easier to imagine them conducting an affair that doesn't IMMEDIATELY implode his marriage. I mean, BJ is the deuteragonist for 2/3 of the show, obviously I have thoughts on their dynamic and how it would change with a romantic or sexual element to it, but I frankly don't see Gay BJ at all, I don't see Bi BJ at all, he's sooooo heterosexual to me, so a more sexually ambiguous or chill BJ is necessary lol. Also more BJ taking care of Hawkeye, more buddy vibes and funny coziness! And like this is probably me ragging too much on BJ... IDK it's hard to say how Hawkeye would need to change, he's already trying to be a good friend given the circumstances... I mean, for my subjective ship tastes 90% of my personal turn offs come from BJ, so Hawkeye is not really the problem in this ship for me. I guess something that really bugs me about the BJHawk fic I've tried that turns me off the ship is Sad Sack Hawkeye, so maybe more content with spunky prankster Hawkeye and co-conspirator BJ, or a proactive seductive Hawkeye pursuing BJ, romancing him, making it more of a "I want this because I want you" than a "I'm clinging to this because I need you" thing, which isn't sexy to me.

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Jfkdndkdn. Yeah, I guess. It's not like. A bad ship. I get it. They were The Pair for 8 seasons, they have many many moments to build a ship on, it's not without merit or something. They're friends who've been brought together in horrible circumstances, they go through a lot, they're close, there's some great scenes for them. I think you can get some interesting scenarios out of their dynamic, though my brain runs a little darker and angstier than shippy. But it is just so very much Not My Cup of Tea in either the show or in the fan works I've tried. Even fics that were otherwise interesting and well-written and in character, the BJHawk elements were pure 😬 to me. Truly truly "Your ship is not my ship and that's okay" situation.

[linuxgamenews]

Slaps and Beans 2 is back with wacky stories and comical fights

Bud Spencer & Terence Hill Slaps and Beans 2 2D arcade fighting game launches on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. All credit goes to the brilliant team at Trinity Team for this masterpiece. Available now on Steam with 100% Positive reviews. The world of pixelated 2D arcade fighting action has a fresh chapter: Slaps and Beans 2. If you're familiar with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, this might ring a bell. If not, here's a quick breakdown: Bud Spencer & Terence Hill are iconic figures in film, known for their comedic action sequences and over the top antics. And now, they've returned in a digital sequel that promises even more slapstick humor and action. At its core, Slaps and Beans 2 is an interactive adventure full of wacky stories and comical fights. But unlike other pixel-based action titles, this one wears its film influence proudly. The entire games feels like you are part one of Bud and Terence's classic movies. There's also a zany storyline, unexpected plot turns, and, of course, a lot of slapstick combat. Speaking of combat, Slaps and Beans 2 brings upgrades to the mechanics. Both Bud Spencer & Terence Hill, the heroes, have their own unique abilities and power-ups. Due to let players strategize how they tackle various scenarios. It's not just about spamming the attack button; since you have to know when to use a special move. Maybe even grab a nearby object as an impromptu weapon can be game changing. The Slaps and Beans 2 setting interaction is another standout feature. Almost everything around can be used as a tool to fend off enemies. From bananas to broomsticks, creativity is rewarded, making fights feel dynamic and engaging.

Slaps and Beans 2 - LAUNCH TRAILER

While solo adventurers can dive into the story themselves. There's also a 2-player co-op mode in Slaps and Beans 2 for those who prefer teaming up with a friend. This mode heightens the fun and showcases the bond between Bud and Terence. But the fun doesn't stop there. Beyond the main Slaps and Beans 2 storyline, which is also narrated in four languages (English, German, Italian, and Spanish). There's a dedicated party mode. This mode allows up to four Linux players to compete in eight different mini-challenges. Each more entertaining than the last. It's a perfect setup for some light hearted competition among friends. Graphically, Slaps and Beans 2 stands out with its detailed hand-drawn pixel art. It's a nostalgic nod to classic games while still feeling modern. Plus, the music, composed by Oliver Onions (who worked on the original movies), adds another layer to the title. The melodies sync perfectly with the on-screen chaos. In summary, Slaps and Beans 2 is a fusion of cinematic charm and interactive fun. It's a a chance to step into the shoes of two cinematic legends and experience their humor packed world firsthand. Whether you're a fan of their films or someone looking for a unique action title, this digital adventure delivers on all fronts. Along with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC on Steam. Priced at $19.99 USD / £15.99 / 19,99€. Sadly, no launch discount.

[sketchbook-magic]

I don't have anything for WIP Wednesday (at least for this blog but my crochet blog Nerdy Stitches has a few projects) but I do have a new hyper fixation that has made me suddenly insanely jealous of my father and oldest sister for witnessing before I was even spawned.

So, my new hyper fixation this month is old animatronics, specifically the ones from the pizza chain Showbiz Pizza that is honestly scarier than FNAF in my opinion (Billy Bob haunts my dreams rent free) and my favorite animatronic out of the whole cast of characters to choose from is the first human character and also the first character produced after the launch of Showbiz named Uncle Klunk the Abomination: The Funniest Robot Science Has Ever Made. I just love watching old archived training tapes featuring him and seeing how these old animatronics worked. They worked through hydraulics which is a very misleading name for the technology because it was controlled by air pressure and not water. There would be a huge panel connected to several hoses installed behind the animatronic and under the stage that was accessed through a trap door and the animatronics would move based on these hoses creating and reducing air pressure and these hoses on the panels would be connected to a metal box that would respond to music tapes that were programed to not only play music but move the animatronics in sync with the track. And these tracks took months to program due to how specific you had to be with the air systems. And the character Uncle Klunk is my favorite character to study because he had the most range of movement out of the whole cast and his selling point was the fact he could pick up a telephone and a banana. And how this was done was four movements that would bring his arm to the side, lower the arm, lower the hand, and his thumb and middle finger would clamp onto the object like a claw in a claw machine would. And these objects had to be very specifically placed so he wouldn't accidentally knock them over or miss them entirely.

And what's even more special about the Uncle Klunk character is that there were only 50 of these animatronics because his whole gimmick and act was to be a traveling talk show host and would provide a humourous break in between songs in the main show. His talk show was called the Uncle Klunk Abomination Show where he'd have a cuckoo clock bird name Maurice make fun of him, his mom would call, and sometimes people would call him and have a wrong number (my favorite from old show recordings on YouTube was an argument hotline that called Klunk and started an argument with him so Klunk started agreeing with the man on the other line so he'd get flustered and try harder to continue the argument) so they only had a limited amount of these animatronics in circulation so he could travel to other locations to sell this gimmick. The only problem is he didn't attract as much revenue as was predicted for a traveling character because he only had one commercial and when people did see him in person he produced the effect known as the uncanny valley were something was so human like it was terrifying. (He was based on his voice actor who was a background singer in the Rockafire Explosion Band who was the main band of Showbiz Pizza but he didn't have his own character so they produced Uncle Klunk which is why he was human and looked so realistic minus the cartoonish stylization of the real person he's based on.) If they had advertised him more he would've had a strong fan base like he does now nearly forty years later.

Due to how badly this character performed he was scrapped pretty quickly and repurposed to be used as Santa Claus for Christmas shows, Uncle Pappy who would sit in the arcade and give life advice between folk songs, and an interactive attraction where customers could press buttons and control him over in the arcade and teach kids how animatronics worked and in order to do that they literally split him in half or skinned him entirely which is why a full skinned Uncle Klunk is extremely rare for collectors (I've only seen two on YouTube) and have a selling price close to a half million (his body parts that were skinned or replaced in his repurposing go for several thousand in today's market). So yeah, this character has gone through hell.

And why am I jealous of my dad and oldest sister because of this hyper fixation on Uncle Klunk you may be asking or completely glossed over that in my first paragraph? Because they saw him when he first came out. My sister was from my dad's first marriage and they lived in Richmond, Virginia that had a Showbiz Pizza location and was one of those restaurants that was so saturated with customers they try out all new products at that location and when Uncle Klunk came out my dad happened to be home from the military that weekend and my sister convinced him to take her to Showbiz Pizza because she was also obsessed with Uncle Klunk and they got to see some of his first performances. My dad says they were a 3/10 for him because he didn't particularly like the restaurant in general. And now I'm sad that they got to see such a cool animatronic and that I wasn't spawned in time to also witness the greatness that was Uncle Klunk the Abomination: The Funniest Robot Science Has Ever Made. 😢

[chaletnz]

Coffee Tour at Doka Farm

In the morning I was treated to a very early, very cold shower in temperatures that were definitely not the 30 degrees of Jaco! I packed my day bag quietly for my tour and then sat in the main living room where there was a little cat curled up asleep that I must not have noticed last night. The driver was right on time for pick up and I was the first person so had my pick of the seats, although he asked me to sit right behind him. I sat there until we arrived at the next hotel for pick up but it was too cold and windy there to do it all day! It was cool to see the city of San Jose wake up and come alive at 6am as we drove through the streets to pick up all the tour participants. Everyone walking around was carrying an umbrella – it was a 100% chance of rain today, and they seem to trust the forecast! One queue at a bus stop ran all the way down the street, around the corner and down the next street, it was organized mayhem! Our driver introduced himself as our tour guide Max who had his first coffee at 6 months old. He told us that the traffic is crazy in San Jose because 2 million people visit everyday but luckily we were heading out the opposite direction. Once everyone was picked up, our last folks were picked up from an airport hotel, Max gave us the itinerary break down for the day. We’d be spending it in the Alajuela province which is famous for its mango which is unfortunately not in season! Our day began with a visit to Doka coffee farm owned by the Vargas family at 5000 feet. On the drive us Max gave us all the facts about Costa Rican coffee – it’s Arabica only, 95% of Costa Rican coffee is exported to other countries, coffee grown at 3000 feet tastes like citrus and coffee grown at 6000 feet tastes like sweet fruits. Max also told us about how he gets woken up at 4am everyday by his 2 cats Catalina and Nutella – one cat has another house though. As we drove further up into the coffee plantations Max explained how coffee productions is one of the biggest industries for migrant workers from Nicaragua. 200,000 Nicas work in coffee plantations in Costa Rica, another 200,000 work in banana plantations, and 200,000 more in pineapple plantations. These migrants get around $20 a day, which is much better than the $4 a day they would get in agricultural work in their home country just across the border. They are also given housing as part of their employment since they do the work that Costa Ricans are unwilling to do. At the Doka coffee farm, we started with our buffet breakfast where I finally tried gallo pinto on my last full day in Central America! I also piled up my plate with fried plantains, sausage slices, a tortilla and some fruit. They had 3 black coffees on offer, made from their own coffee beans. The standout was the Peaberry which I ended up buying a bag of to take home with me.

Max took us on a tour around the plantation, we first saw the peeling machine that has worked for 160 years without electricity and Max explained how the coffee harvest is synced with the school year so that the teenagers can also come to help pick the cherries when all hands on deck are needed. A sack of Costa Rican green coffee beans, washed, peeled and dried, goes for about $300 but up to $4000. In comparison the average price of a sack of Brazilian robusta beans fetches $100 meanwhile the most expensive sack is a geisha tree specialty from Panama which sold for $200,000. The peaberry is also more expensive as it’s a perfectly formed seed but smaller than average, they need to be handpicked out of the regular seeds. Max explained that the sweetest coffee is grown at the higher altitudes, but the honey process can also lead to sweeter coffee. The honey process involves leaving the greasy layer on the beans rather than letting them ferment to wash it off. When it dries, the honey process will take 12 days to dry the greasy layer too whereas the fermented beans would only take 5 days. The beans are all dumped outside in the sun to dry, with the workers walking through the beans with a rake to move them around for even-drying. After the tour we were led purposefully to the gift shop where I purchased the peabery blend for just $9 as well as some chocolate coated coffee beans for Alanna. We then piled back into the van to our next destination - the Poas volcano.

[vulpiximisa]

I love the host club arc a lot so here’s a bunch of things that I like

Kyoshiro making an obscure reference that I don’t understand and Shinpachi pointing it out

Yorozuya automatically getting into Host mode and they all gas each other up when they say their pick up lines

Cardboard saint. I don’t watch Saint Seiya but I was reading some of the Sorachi notes and it was an old joke he brought back. I think his jokes are the best when they’re referencing obscure stuff.

Hostalker -> Host Car

The manga panel has Kagura throwing Kyoshiro and garbage at Car Isao but in the anime random garbage just flies down and it’s just so random to me skdjdkd

Hasegawa’s cardboard dropping off when he does the pose

Kagura doing the pose

Shinpachi playing the cop and doing the pose (AND SAKAGUCHI IKEBO ARIGATOGOZAIMASSS)

Gin acting charming and shy and successfully hooking the girl

The way Car Isao just nyooms in and his “Vroom!”

The way Car Isao positioned this time so when Gin sits on him they’re touching dicks

Anytime they have to call the cops on Kondo

Hijikata just looking out the car window going “what’s wrong with you” (“what’s your crime”?)

Gin and Isao being super chummy

The way the banana randomly appears in the corner and Kondo just takes a bite while still talking

Dragging Hijikata and Sougo into the host nonsense

I don’t go to Sengoku Basara but any seiyuu references are always good. Let’s Party!!!

When Gin says he’d be popular in 3D and the anime made a reference to their Gin model

Bringing up the popularity polls ranks

I actually know Oizumi Yo!!!! (Professor Layton voice actor)

GIN COMPARING HIJIKATA TO DAISUKE SAKAGUCHI

I guess I kinda like GinTsu a bit so when she just calls him by his host name instead of the usual Gintoki

Gin being tossed between Hiji and Shin twice like they are a goal post lol

The lead in from Tsukuyo calling host club Yoshiwara for women (and Shinpachi having to explain it to her) over to Okita and Sacchan having a time

The little pause before Sacchan going “I can’t see” at Okita holding the menu out for her

Sacchan getting into Okita’s S taunts and asking for his name (Sacchan and Kondo are usually lumped together more but now I honestly want to see more of the actual S and M together)

Straight Man Synchro Kick!!!

Shinpachi and Hijikata actually trying to do their work and serving all the rowdy guests

The anime straight up censoring sushi Madao and Isao. And then they make this shy face 😆

Them getting tossed into the commotion like fish

Hijikata and Shinpachi just standing next to each other the whole time

Perfectly in sync straight men holding Gin down preventing him from leaving

Hijikata’s cellphone in the anime has shinsenguni design

Suddenly they’re all telepathic and can speak to each other without Yagami hearing

“That’s like throwing a chair into a pack of Jackie Chans”

The kunai stab manga panel. Shinpachi looks really handsome there lol

Gin calling his “guests” “baby-tachi”

Tsukki swinging Sacchan like a weapon and Sacchan is into it

Tsukki holding Sacchan under her arm and into the Madam’s face

Sorachi likes making fun of Jackie Chan’s nose

I’ve never actually seen the entirety of Dragon Ball(Z) but the entire convo is hilarious

Also the two getting smacked the whole time

Quiz Bowl references

Madam putting down her broken glass after her answer

The whole Vegeta smackdown

Madam coming in with the “Dirty Fireworks”

Hijikata calling Shinpachi Kakarot

Sougo coming in with his baby face, acting like the trump, just to take a sip of the tequila and dropping with Gin and Hijikata

Madam also drinking a ton of tequila glasses but daintily

The reveal that Madam is just a lonely rich lady who wanted to have fun but is getting scorned by the dark rumors

A happy ending for Madam who actually has a sense of humor

Basically I love the straight man duo running around trying to get things back in order

[whosmaggy]

dilly dallying

been spending so much time just sitting around bored. i always want to have something to do, work of any kind (mental, physical, newtonian) is what makes me feel complete. these days i have been cooking, watching, and playing.

i will soon comply all the new recipes i have used but for now i will mention the recent things: brown butter rice krispies treats (i was going to follow the recipe from nyt cooking, however i abandoned it because i didnt want to measure anything (its browning butter and adding marshmallows, a recipe is truly not needed). my brother ate 3/4ths of it before i tasted it, but the 1/4th i had was great! i have also made my favourite banana bread many times this summer (from natashas kitchen https://natashaskitchen.com/banana-bread-recipe-video/ ), i put the bananas in the oven at 275 for 20ish minutes before to get them super ripe (like all the way black) so that more of the starches turn into sugars, and then use less actual sugar. i have made this recipe so many times, i know it from memory. my mom and brother (who are not generally fans of baked things) also like it.

i have fallen in love with watching all of Gordon Ramsay's stuff. Hells Kitchen season 8 is my favourite season of the show, i did not watch the last episode because my pick for best chef got eliminated . my dear friend, f, and i also watched parts of MasterChef season 10. there were many laugh out loud moments, there was also a character i felt extremely maternal towards. if you ever watch it, contact me and i will reveal who. i am also watching the rookie. i have reached season 3 and care for it deeply.

i downloaded Clash of Clans onto my iPad. i loaded my level 8 base from years ago. my old tablet has my level 12 base but i dont care enough to sync up my accounts. Monopoly Go addiction also has not subsided. i have loved playing roblox with friends. games included (but are not limited too) Doors, Dress to Impress, Total Drama Island, Scary Sushi, Defusal, Rainbow Friends, and BRAINROT Quiz! [FREAKY] (jessy). tetris gems remains in my rotation. NEW HIGHSCORE is 9.5 million. at camp, i went to a youth hub with the kids and played tetris on an arcade machine. was fun, but i found it harder to control a joystick compared to a touchpad.

Today i saw a movie with my friend. Deadpool and wolverine (i think that is what its called) truthfully i had a scarce clue what was going on, but some of the jokes were great. my friend did not think it was as funny as i did, but it was nice to spend time together. its a long weekend (civic holiday)! so no camp tomorrow. but swimming 2 times this week with my campers. i love water, i cant actually swim, but being in water is very calming for me. so much else has been going on in the past however long i have written a blog in, but its too late for me to have the energy to recap, but maybe tomorrow i will. im moving soon (in 26 days) and am so excited! never have i ever experienced moving, there has always been something in the back of my head telling me i will be so much happier if i move. maybe its in a moving away, moving on way or maybe its a new place, new possibilities way, im not sure yet, but once i reflect i will shine the answer onto you.

Goodnight angels.

Love,

Maggy 🫁

[catboynutsack]

Random hopes for FFXIV Dawntrail in no particular order from a person who's currently about to start the title quest Endwalker (so don't spoil the dungeon/fights and any post EW content)

New playable species outside of female Hrothgar; specifically another animalistic species similar to Miqo'te/Viera in that they're much more humanoid with animal features rather than anthropomorphic animals (like Hrothgar.) Biggest hopes are for a bird like race (similar to Meteion, I love harpies so much and while I know she's a familiar it would be cool to see a playable species based on her) or fish people (similar to Dungeons and Dragons Tritons, again I love mermaids and fish-like people so much.)

Random and small, I'd like to see canonical ages established within the game, maybe with like nameday celebrations of some kind for some characters. It would be so cute to have a birthday party for Alisaie and Alphinaud, I would die for those little dweebs and they're still technically kids and you KNOW their mom would go nuts for a celebration for them. I know there's been canon age mentions in additional content like books and such but ingame would be nice.

Viera hats for the love of God. I'm not a 3D artist and idk the process but it can't be that hard can it?? I know there's a whole design aspect involved bc Big Ol Ears but like. Square Enix is a huge company, surely they can allocate some resources to actually make clothing appear on an entire very popular race. If it's more complicated than I know then forgive me 3D artists, I love what y'all do I'm just uneducated on it 💛

Random as hell again and probably more suited towards an update than a new expansion but. I'd really like them to sorta retcon (is that the right word? Idk it's 3:20 am and I cant sleep) primal weapons so all primals have weapons for all classes. I'd kill for an ice scythe from the Extreme Shiva battle from HW or a pair of Leviathan Chakrams for my Dancer. I know that levelling is an issue but if they were, say, available via trading totems from the fight and synced to their class's lowest level I'd think that could work. Idk as someone who loves primal themed glams but mains Dancer and Reaper it drives me bananas that it's so limited.

A new Important female character that Doesn't Fucking Die or is somehow written off in the same pack for the love of God I swear they disproportionately kill off/write off female characters (I miss Moenbryda and Ysayle every day)

More romantic emotes/activities outside of the ceremony of eternal bonding! Not only is my partner very busy and we often have little FFXIV dates rather than in person things, I'm in a polycule and by the time I started playing my partner was already married ingame to my metamor (my partner's other partner) so I'm locked out of some emotes like the embrace emote while they aren't and it kinda sucks. It would be nice to be able to be romantic with them outside of /blowkiss and /hug and to be able to do couples content outside of the ceremony of eternal bonding. Maybe just a me problem though.

Un-gender all clothing items. I want my male character to wear a craftable bikini top goddamnit, it's fun. Plus it's a beachy-themed expansion afaik so it would make sense to un-gender the bathing suits

Speaking of craftable bikini tops, more craftable clothing for glams and not just combat!!! Cute bathing suits and the such that are level 1 and meant exclusively for glams would be amazing. We have a few already but with the upcoming theme being seemingly being beaches it seems appropriate.

Longer hairstyles. Clipping be damned my miqo'te would rock a long hair look (and his braid, which is the same hairstyle as Fourchenault's, already clips into every top ever so like. C'mon)

Number 1 on this list is the new species being humanoid with animal features. I eat that shit up with a spoon. I love making OCs and a new alt devoted to a species I like is absolutely in the books. Already have done it twice lol.

Improve Aurum Vale for the love of God that dungeon is a nightmare and it's like one of three that ever shows up on rouls on Dynamis

Anyways if any of this bothers you for any reason please just scroll by, these are my middle of the night daydreams when I can't sleep of things that I personally would enjoy in the game, I know my ideas don't apply to everyone and all of them wouldn't really make sense for one reason or another but it's fun to write them down and put them out into the world. And obviously this post isnt gonna make a difference in the game itself, I'm just a rando on Tumblr lol. Thank you <3

[smytherines]

I think if they both stay in the job- and they probably will- then they're doomed. Maybe they get more years together if Curt doesn't drop the banana peel, but eventually espionage will kill one of them or both of them. Its a brutal, violent, horrible life and there's no way it doesn't destroy them somehow.

BUT if they leave together. If they run away, fake their deaths, do whatever it is they have to do to get out, I honestly do think they'd have something long and meaningful. Modern, healthy relationships are sustained by things like being able to get mental health treatment, having support networks outside of your partner, your relationship not being illegal, hell just having our modern concept of a healthy relationship to begin with. Curt and Owen had none of that.

They were absolutely isolated in their relationship, no support of any kind, and still they managed to keep their relationship going maybe for years, despite having no control over when they'll see each other and having to break the law to be together. They still managed to work perfectly together and banter and finish each other's sentences and grin at each other like lovesick losers. I think that's the kind of love that can work, even if it starts out rocky.

Curt calls Owen his "partner" and his "best friend," and as much as those are euphemisms for "boyfriend," I don't think that's all they are. I think Curt genuinely thought of Owen as his best friend, his partner, his equal. That's the kind of relationship they had. Working in sync. Having each other's backs. Trying to take care of each other. Owen's overwhelming sense of betrayal, his anger, how hurt he still is four years later, that only makes sense to me if he loved Curt and trusted Curt.

I think if the banana peel had never happened, and they had found some way to get out together, to be a real couple that actually gets to see each other instead of two weapons owned by their respective governments, I think they would've made it. I think they loved each other enough to make it.

if curt hadn't left the banana peel on the ground, would he and owen have lasted together? or would one of their agencies have found out about the nature of their relationship, or would one of them have died in the line of action anyway, or would they just have fallen apart because a relationship built on secrets was never going to last when the entire world seemed to be against them.

their legacies would never die - they'd both be known as some of the most famous secret agents in history. spies never die.

but who knows if that logic could be applied to the love between the two of them?

[crystalelemental]

Off-type clears, using some of my favorite garbage strikers (and Shauntal). I regret my decisions.

Vs. Bruno Iris sucks so bad, man. I initially tried this again Koga. Didn't work because that fucker users special sync. So, Bruno it is. Honestly this went a lot smoother. Which is odd. I feel like this stage is legitimately just easier, despite being for one of the easiest types to shop for, while the Flying-weak stage is like...an unending nightmare.

Vs. Karen I've done this team comp before, but this time Caitlin's accuracy boosts have a purpose: to offset Karen's shit. Pretty clean win, though hilariously Colress missed six accuracy debuffs. Buddy...60%.

Vs. Koga Alright, Clair to the rescue. This fight is annoying because of Silver Wind having such a huge chance to boost all stats, and the hilariously intense discrepancy between center and sides. Sides are brutally strong against physical attacks, while Koga's stupid good against special. As a result, most of Clair's damage is fairly pitiful, but once past that, she's able to truck sides. You just have to not die. Which is harder than you'd think, despite Kris.

Vs. Will You want to be depressed? I brought Bede because an option like P!Dawn wasn't enough, we'd still all die to first sync, and Valerie sure as hell isn't clearing before then. So it had to be Bede, to manage the need for special defense drops. Bede's DPS outpaces Valerie's. By like. A lot. On a support based grid. I didn't use his Max Move, but it would've obliterated center while Valerie was still chipping away for like 1800 damage, this after a Support EX sync, her own sync, -6 special defense, and having full HP and +6 special defense for all 70% of her multipliers. Even sync was only like 8k. They did Valerie awful.

Vs. Lance And then there's this shithead. Initially, this was SC Jasmine. Because I seem to forget every time that his sync is physical. Once remembered, I figured it's fine, Lucian has him debuffed to hell. It is not fine as it turns out! Even with SS Dawn's swap in, survival required adjusting parameters, taking off all Power on Hit parameters and the boost from sync, and putting on HP +80%. Oh, and don't forget he throws up Crit Shield before sync. So that's great. The main draws of this were twofold. One, Shauntal's DPS still two-shot sides very cleanly, despite +80% HP and off-type. That is bananas. Two, even with all that she couldn't possibly perform enough damage to beat Dragonite, so Lucian had to sync, and wouldn't you know it the reset to no attack drops seriously limits him too. It's like this stage was designed to annoy the team I brought.

Final Thoughts There are some very annoying aspects to this week. Karen's evasion, Koga's mismatched defensive profiles, Lance's split special DPS/physical sync. Things that feel like they usually handle it just fine suddenly did not at all.

I think the big issue is just...I might be burning out on the game slightly. The gameplay can still be fun, but sometimes these runs feel stale, and Gauntlet more a chore. It doesn't help that the majority of events this year have been...uninteresting. I don't exactly have high hopes for anniversary either. Depending on how next month goes, I might work to pull back a bit on this. It's just not as fun as it used to be.