#Might take this down in the morning

[legolasghosty]

“Do you want a hug?", “Come on. Let’s go home.”, and “I feel like I can breathe better with you around.” for juke 💕

Julie let her foot rest on the damper pedal of the grand piano as Luke held out his last note. It sounded good.

When he stopped, she applauded. "Nice one, grab some water," she said, shooting him a smile.

"Thanks Boss," he responded, grabbing for his green plastic water bottle.

Julie shifted her music sheets around while he drank. She'd originally been wary when Ms. Harrison had asked her to give Luke voice lessons as a way to make up some of the credit she'd lost earlier in the year, but it was going better than she'd expected. Luke was stubborn and wouldn't work on anything he didn't see the value in, but he had a lot of passion and clearly wanted to improve. He was so full of life and energy, and at least 99% of it was all focused on music.

"That felt great," Luke exclaimed, capping his water bottle and giving Julie a wide grin. "Much better than in class earlier. You're amazing, Julie."

Julie felt her cheeks warming and ducked her head before Luke could notice. Okay, so maybe she wasn't totally immune to his smile and his arms and how, when they were alone for his lessons, all of his passion for music seemed focused solely on her.

"Or maybe you just don't pay attention during warmups in class," she teased, giving him a smirk before refocusing on her list of exercises to take him through. Better to keep her crush to herself. Dating was way too complicated, and Luke probably didn't like her anyways.

"Nah, it's definitely you," Luke retorted, moving over to lean on the piano. "I feel like I can breathe better with you around."

Julie looked up, expecting to find him giving her that lighthearted, teasing look that he did when he intentionally messed up the names of famous composers just to mess with her. But when their eyes met, she found nothing but sincerity in his gaze. Like he actually meant what he said.

It was disorienting. But... not bad?

Julie quickly stood, breaking eye contact. "You had a bit of a break on the bridge, do you want to work through that?" she asked, nodding to his music stand.

Luke nodded slowly, seeming almost disappointed, and returned to his papers. "Yeah, definitely. I think it was the register shift, I got caught halfway between my chest and head voice."

"Wow, look at you and your technical lingo," Julie commented, smiling as she looked down at the sheet music to check the notes. "Yeah, that's what I heard as well. Let's do some glides through that part of your range to get comfortable with the shift before we add the actual notes and stuff."

Luke dipped his head in agreement and they got back to work.

Ten minutes later, the alarm on Julie's phone that signaled the end of their time went off just as Luke finished running through the bridge. They both jumped at the drum intro of an old Petal Pushers song.

Julie quickly turned it off and stood with a smile. "Guess that's time," she said.

"What was that song?" Luke asked, gathering his music. "That's not your normal alarm. It's good."

Julie bit her lip, considering brushing it off. But it was Luke. He lived and breathed music. He'd understand how music could hurt as well as heal.

"It's called Love Wild, it's one of my mom's songs," she told him. "It was my alarm for ages, but I... I just started listening to it again."

"Oh," Luke said.

Julie didn't dare look up. She'd developed a serious distaste for the pitying expression that always appeared on people's faces when her mom came up. She'd rather not be annoyed at Luke over it.

"It's a good song, it's about loving the people you love and showing it regardless of what other people think," she added softly. She wasn't sure why she was still talking. She didn't usually talk about this stuff. But Luke didn't interrupt. "And the bassline is awesome," she continued, "and the harmonies on the bridge are magic, I swear, and the last couple of lines..."

She trailed off, feeling her throat start to tighten.

"That's awesome," Luke murmured after a minute.

Julie dared to look up at him. He seemed unsure of himself, which wasn't a common look for him, but his smile still seemed genuine.

"Um, do you want a hug?" Luke asked awkwardly.

Julie chuckled. "I'm okay," she assured him, sliding her folder into her backpack.

Luke frowned. "But do you want a hug?" he asked again.

Julie thought about it for a second. She always wanted a hug from her mom these days, but that wasn't possible. Did she want a hug from Luke instead?

"Yeah, that'd be nice," she said slowly.

Luke smiled and stepped forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders. She let herself relax into his embrace. He was warm, his frame a bit shorter than her dad's. It was nice.

"Hey Julie?" Luke asked softly.

"Yeah?" she responded, sliding her own arms around his waist.

"You wanna come to band practice this weekend? Help me not shred my voice again?"

Julie considered for a second. She hadn't done that before. It felt like a new step in their friendship, to take it outside of the school building and into Luke's friend circle. Was she ready for that?

"Sure, send me the info," she agreed.

"Sweet, this is gonna be rad," Luke cheered, letting her go and pulling out his phone.

Julie laughed. "Come on, let's get home before the janitors kick us out," she chuckled, swinging her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Right behind you, Boss," Luke called.

[cuppajj]

"Once a lowly jelly worm with aspirations beyond anyone's belief, with a bit of magic (and perhaps convincing) it turned into something even stronger... finally, after rigorous training and a bit of dough, it has now achieved its dream and become a - dragon? That's a dragon, right? Whatever he is now, Jelly Dragon(?) Cookie is sure happy to finally have a chance to stick it to the cookies who once laughed at him!" - im being weird on my first crk post kasjhf look i love jelly wormy and i think he deserves to be a dragon... what if he went on a quest and cried so hard at one of the actual dragons that they made him one (air quotes). it was perhaps out of pity but more likely morbid curiosity to see what would happen if a jelly worm of all things got a little taste of power. like giving admin commands to a child on roblox

[seaquestions]

big dog little dog energy. uh anyway.

[id: two drawings of conor garland & nikita zadorov as furries (a russel terrier & a great dane) referencing the video of them shoving each other at practice. text reads "lil' push!" & "BIG SHOVE!" end id.]

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

I do feel like it’s a little weird that this fandom is so willing to woobify certain male characters and ignore their canon very shitty actions but will hate on Aphmau as a character for being… the main character… as if that’s not the entire point.

Like this isn’t sparked by anything specific recently, just me thinking about how weird fandoms can be sometimes. And I’m not pointing fingers at any particular person. But I see more hate for characters like Aphmau than I do for characters who have either explicitly, or implicitly, done awful things. Just because she’s kind of op and sometimes annoying.

I’m not naming specific characters bc I frankly don’t care whether or not you like them. It’s neither here nor there, I know I’m one to talk with being an Aaron fan and all… but like… this is a frequent enough issue that you can name any male character’s genuine flaws that people defend them for, and compare them to the kinda stuff Aphmau gets criticism for… and hers is far more easily justified.

I get that it’s the block show and you can do whatever you want, but I just think it’s a little unfair that canonly-implied sex offenders get to be goobers but Aphmau is designated to the mud pit of hatred no matter what she does.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ON THE SUBJECT OF A MARCH 1ST UPDATE LIVESTREAM.

so due to newly-employed circumstances, i most likely won't be able to stream my exploration of the update until the Sunday after it drops - March 3rd, likely around 10 am pst.

im not gonna ask anyone to wait because that's unreasonable and absurd, However! I am curious:

[chappelroans]

cop car / mitski

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

confinement arc where L tortures light with more hands-on methods......

[yanderespamton78]

the current state of the arg

sorry guys the art isnt arting D:

(btw if youre confused on why i drew turnip like that i was referencing the picrew he did ages ago bc idk it looked fun to draw anddd i dont like taking reference off real life images)

[cerealbishh]

"You okay?"

"Mhm."

"Good, now go get ready and wish for the best."

[fist-amidst-the-hands]

hi hi okay imagine. stede wants to brush out ed's hair the way izzy always does. maybe izzy is busy on deck taking note of damages after a raid. maybe they had an infestation and he's going over ration spoilage and inventory with roach. ed is tired and cranky and absentmindedly separating sections of curls and tugging them apart at the bottom where they get stuck together in knots. stede offers to help with the tangles, says he would love to give it a go and help ed relax

izzy walks in a few minutes later and immediately comes up and tells stede he's doing it all wrong but also gently takes the brush from him and shows him the right way - where to hold the hair, how to start at the bottom with little sections and work his way up, when to start with his fingers instead of the brush. neither of them can see it but ed is smiling so much his face might actually burst

[lesbiansanemi]

Do you think if I wish hard enough my mom will get electrocuted by a string of Christmas lights and just go up in a cloud of smoke. It’d be a Christmas miracle

[dispotatorulzz]

Guy who knows he overthinks all the time why am I overthinking

[toastsnaffler]

I slept rly deeply last night even tho it took me a while to get to sleep but I think that was bc I had acid reflux and I'd been playing videogames too late not anything else.... still only got 6 hrs but doing pretty okay all things considered 😚

[basilthymee]

Two Fibers Intertwined lore dump!!

Get ready im going to talk about these two creachers sooo much:

Constructed later on during the ancient’s existence, Two Fibers Intertwined is an experimental Iterator made by combining two previously scrapped iterator supercomputers. The ancients theorized that, if an iterator had two times the processing power, they would be able to reach that elusive triple affirmative easier.

2FI, being comprised of two iterators as well as double the machinery and neuron flies, requires an immense amount of water to operate, thus being constructed in the middle of a massive lake, now infested with leviathans. As such, it was also built far away from other iterators present in their local, to avoid any possible damage due to the mass water intake. The torrential rains around their superstructure are especially brutal as well, making access to the superstructure more difficult than usual.

The can has three possible access routes:

Perilous Walkway: The main bridge, now deteriorated with age, is the most straight-forward but dangerous route, littered with vultures and lizards, any brave slugcat that attempts to pursue this route will be met with a harsh challenge, but an albeit quicker way.

Flooded Transit Tunnel: An underwater connection to the bottom half of the superstructure, this tunnel was originally made for the transport of bulk materials to Two Fibers Intertwined. With age, the tunnel partially flooded. The route through the transit tunnel is definitely the safest alternative out of the three, as vultures cannot reach underwater! This section provides a much easier time for any curious slugcat, as long as they watch out for the leviathans and centipedes littering the interior of the tunnel!

Transmission Towers: A series of supermassive pylons connecting the superstructure to their communication array, this path is by far the most dangerous one to take. Any slugcats traversing this path won’t have to worry about any torrential rainfall, as its wires extend far above the clouds, but will have to watch their steps as several tesla coils have remained active over the years, making some surfaces especially fatal to touch. On the upside though, there's a surprising lack of animals at this altitude! Vultures very rarely swoop down (probably due to all the electric discharge present).

After the disappearance of the ancients, 2FI decided to give itself more individuality, calling its two iterators “1” and “2”.

1’s favourite activity is botany, she often sends her overseers around the land to investigate and catalogue all sorts of variations in vegetation in her local group, she also dabbles in genetic experimentation somewhat, although not as much as her brother. 1 is relatively level-headed and calm, although she can come off as cold and uncaring, especially towards the wildlife or any iterators outside her local group, or anyone she isn't acquainted with in general. 

Before being scrapped and becoming 2FI, 1’s former name was Ripples Within Ripples (RWR).

2’s favourite activity is genetic mutation, he is fascinated by creating new creatures and has the end goal of creating a new “ultimate apex predator” as he calls it. 2 is extremely energetic, almost always working on something to keep his hands and mind busy, be it reading pearls, creating abominations, or pulling sick pranks on the unsuspecting wildlife living on his can.

Despite his energetic and outgoing disposition, he does have a more serious side, especially when his sister requests something of him. Usually when meeting new people, he is the first one to talk, not because his sister is shy, but because he's just that energetic (could this be a side-effect of having two rarefaction cells in your body?).

Before being scrapped and becoming 2FI, 2’s former name was Countless Shimmering Droplets (CSD).

[saturnsorbits]

One day I’m going to write an Ochako character piece where she gets sick of standing in Deku’s shadow and breaks off their relationship in order to find herself - only for the media to begin constantly linking her to other Hero’s in the hopes of causing/unearthing drama.

She loses herself, succumbs to the idea that she’ll only ever be as good as the males she’s attached to and sinks…

It’s funny, she thinks, for someone who can control gravity - she sure does feel heavy.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Shit like that is why Tangerine should've stayed in Ericson! She must take care of her leg but nooooooo! People in Ericson was mean to me :'(! I'm not surprised she caught a fever considering she's ignoring her wound. Sorry for sounding so bitter.

It's a big issue with the "Clementine left Ericson willingly" plot point in this trilogy. Aside from it just being out of character for her based on what we see in TWDG, it lessens the amount of sympathy we're willing to give as readers.

If she was forced to leave Ericson, whether because they kicked her out or it was under attack, she would have no choice. She'd have to leave, and then these situations wouldn't feel like her fault, y'know? You're more likely to see her suffer, fall down, or get an infection, and feel bad because it's not her fault, she was dealt a shitty hand.

But this angle of her leaving because she was unhappy or because she felt like a burden... she still left the safety of place where she could've properly healed from an amputation. Losing her leg isn't just another injury you can be like, "Oh just keep off it, it'll heal." That's a lot of healing and physical/emotional trauma to get through and she would've had a better chance of it if she stayed with AJ and Ericson.

Since she left, we're kinda just sitting here saying, "Yeah, Clementine... you have to take care of your leg. You have to wash it. You can't be running around on it all the time while it's still healing. You're going to be more prone to infection, and in the zombie apocalypse, that's super not great. What were you thinking? You should have stayed at Ericson. You should not be here at this ski lodge or running through the woods."

A lot of problems with the story and characterization stem from that decision and unfortunately, it's weakening the story.