#The Handshake ™️

[freshbeeth]

lives were destroyed

[charliemwrites]

Unhinged obsessive Johnny Thoughts™️? Unhinged obsessive Johnny Thoughts™️.

Johnny didn’t mean to. He swears he didn’t mean to, please understand.

You’re his favorite server at his favorite bar. He finds every excuse he can to drag one or all of his team there. Yes he likes their company, of course. Likes spending time with them, laughing and joking and building bonds outside of life or death situations. But you are the highlight of those nights.

You smile so sweetly, a little cheeky twist whenever he gets all of the 141 there together. You know all their names - or their callsigns at least. Call Price “captain” with a giggle whenever he groans at you to stop calling him that.

Johnny adores you. Sometimes when he’s alone at the table - the others off smoking or playing pool - you’ll stop by. You don’t have to, but you do, chatting until one of the other servers teases to stop flirting and help bus.

You always blush when they shout that, but never deny it. Leave him with one last warm smile and a promise to top up his drink for listening to you ramble. As if he couldn’t live with your voice in his ears all the time.

You tell him about your masters program. Complain about shitty customers. Admit you broke up with your last boyfriend for calling your hobbies a “silly waste of time.” The movies you’ve seen or watch for nostalgia. He knows when your playlist is on at the bar because you spend your entire shift bouncing and mouthing along whenever you’re not handling a customer.

It’s a slow infection. A creeping, insidious thing that seeps into his blood and corrupts him from the inside out. This awful, twisting devotion for you.

He knows to be careful, loathe to be one of those men you avoid like the plague, trading with other servers to handle. He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable. He’s happy with the flirting and the little kindnesses, happy that you always light up when you see him. That you breathe a quiet “thank you” and squeeze his arm the one time he steps in one a handshake customer on your behalf.

It’s enough. He reminds himself that it’s enough. He doesn’t deserve more than you’re willing to give. He can’t give you the life you deserve yet.

But then one day things go wrong. So, so wrong.

There’s been a rowdy group of men that have been harassing the younger servers all night. You stepped in, older and more experienced, practiced at not giving them the reactions they want. It’s another of the things Johnny loves about you. You don’t need a mask like Ghost to hide your face.

One them especially tries antagonize you, even manages to earn a sharp word when he says something crass. Johnny tenses when the guy (buddies following suit) starts getting loud, aggressive. Towering over you when he knocks over his barstool, trying to intimidate.

Johnny shoves the guy away from you before it can get much farther. Relief washes over you as the owner, a big burly man, finally makes an appearance and kicks the lot of them out.

“A whiskey on the house for Soap,” you ask the bartender, hand pressed to your chest. “My knight in a cotton sweater.”

He smiles for your sake, mind buzzing to see you so shaken up.

“Alright, lass?”

“Yeah, just spooked me is all,” you sigh, a hand to your cheek now. “Think I’m gonna step out for some air. Thank you again, John.”

He lets you go, even though every molecule in his body urges him to bundle you up under his arm, safe and sound. Take you somewhere quiet to smooth your feathers.

Something doesn’t feel right.

He manages to wait exactly one minute and seventeen seconds before he tells a blasted Gaz that he’s going to the bathroom. When he steps out the back door, you’re being cornered by the man, two of his friends hanging back telling him to “leave it alone” but not actually doing a fucking thing to stop him.

So Johnny does. Honestly, he blacks out for a second. The next thing he knows, he’s cradling you in his arms, his knuckles stinging and bloody. The men are nowhere to be found but there’s a pool of blood in the alleyway. You’re unconscious, fainted sometime in the scuffle - or maybe hit your head.

Johnny isn’t himself. He’s not thinking. He’s used to keeping his cool with guns pressed to his head, but this is different. This is you.

He doesn’t mean to. He really doesn’t but it’s the best he can come up with when he just got a firsthand look at how dangerous the world is for you when he’s not around.

Please understand. He has to keep you safe.

[groovyangelkisses]

slightly nsfw: minors dni, please ₊˚ 🦢・₊✧

dbf!logan who has never met you before— just knows that your dad prides himself on your recent college graduation, and that you moved to the city shortly after for a job opportunity. and now? you're coming home for the holidays...

logan's seated at your family table, nursing his warm glass of whiskey and poking fun at your father for his stupid, fancy sweater for the occasion. frankly, he's getting quite bored, though he does find your cousins to be only mildly irritating this time around.

a happy gasp from your mother as the front door opens, and in you come; gorgeous, happy city girl staring directly at logan with a shy smile. and he's just awestruck, sitting slightly wide eyed and coughing to clear his throat before looking down at the table.

he's in disbelief— this is the 20 something year old your father boasts so much about? you came from him, his neighborhood buddy? logan is instantly enamored with you, watching your every move at the table & offering to help you bring stuff in from the kitchen after an awkward handshake that made him feel like he was in his 20s again.

and he's carefully playing the act™️ during dinner— how's work? do you like the city? seein' anybody special? are you sure? are you really sure? and you feed right into it.

logan decides then and there that he likes you. that, hey? maybe it's good that he swept you up before one of your dad's other cronies did. or a boy who doesn't know how to take care of you— doesn't think "let me refill her glass", or "let me pull out her chair" or "let me give her a good fuck after she did sooo well today in front of her tedious family."

[breezyzephyr]

i'm here to spread Team Handshake propaganda, have you considered its potential with the timeless Villain Handshake™️trope

[calliesmemes]

WHY ARE WE NOT INTERACTING YET?

A COMPREHENSIVE SYMBOL ASKBOX PROMPT LIST OF REASONS FOR WHY OUR BLOGS MIGHT BE STUCK IN INTERACTION LIMBO. ( INSP. )

Send both the EMOJI and the TEXT.

If you cannot see the emoji, send the [ BRACKETED TEXT ].

❓ [ question mark ]﹕ I am a newcomer to tumblr’s roleplay scene, and I do not know how to get started.

🥺 [ pleading ]﹕ I am very shy in general.

🧵 [ threads ]﹕ I have too many threads right now, but I do want to interact in the future.

💼 [ briefcase ]﹕I am busy with life, but I do want to interact sometime in the future.

💕 [ two hearts ]﹕ I ship our muses romantically, but it feels awkward to ask you about shipping.

➕ [ plus ]﹕ You already interact with a lot of duplicates of my muse or faceclaim, and I am uncertain whether you would feel comfortable with adding another.

🛏️ [ bed ]﹕ We have interacted before, but I am currently fixated on another roleplay community.

🍽️ [ plate ]﹕ You seem to have a lot of interactions on your plate already, and I don’t want to stress you out further.

✏️ [ pencil ]﹕ I’m worried about whether my writing style will be able to hold up against scrutiny in comparison to yours.

🪢 [ knot ]﹕ It takes me a while to work up the courage for approaching a new mutual out of character.

😬 [ grimace ]﹕ We have interacted before, but I worry that I will bother you if I reach out to plot / talk out of character.

🧠 [ brain ]﹕ I’m struggling to think of ideas for interactions, or my ideas are vague and consist only of specific Vibes™️

🤝 [ handshake ]﹕ My muse is an original character with familial ties to your canon character, and I don’t know how to approach you to start plotting.

🎀 [ bowtie ]﹕ I headcanon my original character as being close friends with your canon character, and I don’t know how to approach you to start plotting.

🍿 [ popcorn ]﹕ Don’t mind me; I’m just here to lurk!

✉️ [ envelope ]﹕ First meeting threads aren’t my forte.

🤷🏻‍♀️ [ shrug ]﹕ You haven’t reblogged a lot of askbox prompts yet, and I interact primarily by using askbox prompt responses as starters for interactions.

🧍🏻 [ standing ]﹕ I interact primarily through starter calls, and you haven’t posted a starter call yet.

🎲 [ dice ]﹕ We already interact on other blogs, but I don’t have any ideas for interactions with this one yet.

🧚🏻‍♂️ [ fairy ]﹕ I keep meaning to approach you out of character, but I forgot … oops :/

👑 [ crown ]﹕ We’ve already interacted before, but I want even more threads!

🪡 [ needle ]﹕ I want to interact with you because I enjoy your writing; however, your post formatting is difficult to read.

[achillesuwu]

Feral over the potential of magic users’ etiquette being used once more.

Like, you remember that scene where Merlin raise his hand hand Mordred back down ? Well what if it’s actually as threatening as putting a hand on your sword to raise your hand to give an handshake ? What if they don’t lend a hand to someone who fall ? And if they does shakes hands it’s with the left one.

What if when a magic user bows they lock their eyes with the lord/lady/priest/priestess/diety/… in question as a sign of peace ?

What if they actually use pointy hat but they don’t remove it to salute someone ? What if it’s to actually allow people to see they golden eyes better ?

So many little things they do when meeting strangers that could be interpreted as bitch moves.

This could go in so many au.

Like post returns or golden age where Arthur just doesn’t know how to handle magical politics.

Different meetings where merthur think the other is uncivilized ™️ like Arthur who fell and Merlin doesn’t help him while looking at him with an unwavering gaze. Or Merlin who fell but slap Arthur’s helping hand. Merlin who salutes Arthur by very very slowly raising his hand, putting it in front of his hat to bring it slightly down and raising his chin while looking at him in the eyes which is very polite to him contrarily to that uncivilized man who tried to grab his arms (Arthur has never felt more disrespected in his ENTIRE existence)

Merlin being a court mage and being actually very polite and friendly towards some dude but Arthur, Gwen & the knights think he hates his gut and thus they are very suspicious.

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Scherzo

Synopsis

Once upon a time...

There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos. They thwarted tyrants and defeated monsters, they righted wrongs wherever they went. They explored the distant future and the distant past, new worlds and galaxies, places beyond imagining.

But every good story has to come to an end.

With no times or places left to explore, all the two friends have now are each other. But maybe that's one voyage too many. Maybe they'll discover things they'd rather have left undisturbed... hidden away in the suffocating, unfeeling, deafening brightness.

Once upon a time. Far, far away.

Propaganda

It’s a great and fucked up dissection of the Doctor and Charley’s relationship, with a healthy dose of body horror (anonymous)

you will never look at the handshake emoji the same way again (october)

Really creative concept. Puts 8 and Charley into a situation where they have to confront their relationship and what they mean to each other while dealing with an incredibly engaging creature. I can't name an audio that suits the medium better and Ive been consuming Big Finish at an alarming rate. Also noises™️ (anonymous)

Midnight

Synopsis

The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble go to the leisure planet of Midnight for a simple, relaxing holiday. However, life with the Doctor can never be that simple, and things go horribly wrong for the Doctor when he decides to go off on a bus trip to see the Sapphire Waterfall, starting with the bus shutting down. When a mysterious entity infiltrates the shuttle bus, no one is to be trusted. Not even the Doctor himself...

Propaganda

Midnight is amazing. So thrilling. The monster was human fear and it cost the life of two innocent women. (plus two men on accident, well, more or less) And we never know what the midnight entity was. Perfect. My absolute favourite episode. The best thing is that it tricks you into liking the passengers before it slowly, slowly turns that into horror of what they're capable of. Chills every time. (Plus it's totally what inspired among us if you ask me) (anonymous)

[leanteam43]

"Reid's Dating The K9 Handler?"

(Dating Spencer as a K9 Handler)

summary : falling for Dr.Reid as a K9 Handler for the FBI

coloring : Morgan | Reid | Prentiss | Y/N | Garcia

pronouns : they/them | GN!reader!

warnings : Mentions of Spencer being taken hostage, I think that's all? If there's any more I'll update this !!

a/n's : HELP ME ITS POURING OUT - 🌿 | idk D:- 🎸 | EAT LOTS OF HEART SHAPED COOKIES - 🐇

Morgan told him not too

"Reid you can't date the K9 handler" "Why not??" "They'll make you their bitch" "?? What??"

Y'all met at an FBI K9 Demonstration,

the BAU was there to show support (strauss deffo did NOT force them /s)

Reid caught one glance at you and was HOOOOKED

Love at first sight? No this man was whipped at first sight

Morgan and Emily caught on immediately

The teasing was BRUTALLLL

"Pretty boy's got a cruuuushhh~"

After the demonstration was over, Emily called you over to introduce you too

"Y/N, have you met my colleague, DR. Spencer Reid?"

Wing (Wo)men Morgan and Prentiss™️

One handshake and a smile and suddenly Mr. Chatter Box couldn't form a proper sentence

"You two actually have a lot in common! Joining the FBI so young and all."

Spencer tried impressing you by knowing facts about dogs but you knew way more, which ended up impressing him

Teaching him to say 'Belgian Malinois' properly.

"Mal-in-waa" "? Mal-inois?" "Nono-"

Eventually you two do end up in a relationship, after a lot of dates being cancelled (having no love life should really be in the job description)

Being polar opposites because you passed the FBI's physical test with flying colors and he had to get a free pass

Hotch letting you and your K9 come on certain cases

"Y/N's here??" "They work here, genius."

Break-room dates

"I'm surprised nobodies come in yet!" "I locked the doors."

Him trying, and struggling, to handle your K9 when you go on vacation.

"Y/N I've done everything you wrote and it's still bouncing off the walls." "IT??"

Spencer being the proudest bf EVERRR™️

Penelope thinking you two are the cutest couple in the building

"When are you two getting married?" *Cue both of you choking on your drink*

One of the many times spencer gets taken hostage TRUST you and your K9 are on the crime scene within the next hour

Park !! Dates !!

"Do you wanna try throwing the ball for (K9 Name)?" "Uhmm.."

Holding hands while walking your K9 :C

Spencer is lowkey scared of your K9 but in the "I know you could eat me if you wanted too, but I trust you won't" type of way

In conclusion,

i luv spencer reid spencer reid brainrot luv that silly little nerdy white man <3

[goshilovemesomemonsters]

… I hear you.. AND BOY DOES THAT GIVE ME IDEAS!! 🤩

An image of how Reader heals the Pilgrim gang~

✨Wukong✨

Gentle as can be~ takes her time to slowly heal every possible (or imagined) scratch and bruise, all with a loving hand~ …. And while teasing the absolute shit outa him… 😜

🤝🏻 Sandy 🤝🏻

Her bestie? Her BFF?? The go to method for healing the big blue good-boy™️ is of course their secret best-friends handshake~ 😎

😐 Pigsy 😐

Every time this guy tries to go in for a hug.. and every time he gets slapped in the face.. healing through violence… somewhat contradictory? Perhaps, but it works~

��🏻 Tang 🙏🏻

… She pinches his nose in a firm grip, and start lecturing him.. “repeat after me, I will NOT listen to Pigsy and go near the obviously suspicious Bogota in the distance, especially when everyone else tells me not to!” basically a Mom moment~

🐴 Ao Lie 🐴

Gentle head pats.. after his own Father sentenced him to death, the poor kid deserves some form of genuine affection.. another Mom moment~

YOU. You get it.

And if you don’t mind me adding on to this~ because this in turn gave me more ideas lmao

Honestly Wukong doesn’t even go to you for healing to begin with. He’s the Monkey King??? Immortalx6???? He doesn’t need your healing he can just heal himself 🤨. Yes it does hurt him to have to regrow or repair himself, I imagine it’s less that he heals himself and more just…speeds up the process of the injuries healing themselves meaning he gets a fuckton of pain all at once, but given he is both immortal and impatient, he doesn’t really think much of the pain…or he tries to tell himself that anyway.

But after one of the battles where he’s forced to go to Guanyin for help he finds himself angrily sulking because he doesn’t like having to ask for help. But then you come over and just…place a friendly hand on his shoulder and heal him. He is prepared for it to hurt like how he heals himself but it doesn’t?? In fact it feels nice??? What the Fuck™. He could have been getting THIS the whole time??

Every battle after that he is first in line to get healed (listen it’s just quicker if you heal him ok don’t look too deep into it-) even going so far as to push Pigsy out of the way at points. Don’t come between the monkey and his (excuse to get your hands on him) heals. See he thought he knew what he was getting into. A quick heal and (your touch…) he’s back to full health. He was wrong because reader is wise to his schemes and makes it their personal mission to fluster the shit out of him.

“Why is this taking so long??”

“Because you keep fidgeting”

“Well you need to hurry up!!”

“I’m adding on a minute of heal time for every time you rush me.”

“What?? No just finish up already!”

“Three minutes.”

“Stop going so slow!!”

“Four! Do I hear five?? Goodness your gonna give me the wrong idea if you keep this up. It’s like you want my hands on you~”

All the while you’re slooowly dragging your hands across him and he’s doing everything in his power to not think about how good it feels, how nice it feels to have your gentle and delicate touches on him and looking anywhere other than at you. Jokes on him though he may not blush super easily but his ears are always the first to show it.

Sun Wukong was NOT prepared for this. He’s used to admiration from his subjects, fear from his enemies, respect from those he’s fought. But this??? This is new. He’s not used to this. Even back on flower fruit mountain he was never subjected to this kind of attention. He doesn’t…hate it per-say, but he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He might try to cross his arms, make himself look intimidating he doesn’t know-

“Nah-ah, uncross those arms mister I need access to your chest.”

He is suffering. Your going to kill him he’s sure of it. This is how he dies. Just by being subjected to your ministrations. Yes he knows he could leave at anytime but he’s not going to.

It doesn’t really occur to him that you’re taking your time on purpose at first because it’s not exactly like he was paying attention the first time you healed him and he accepts your explanation of it being more precise when you touch him like that readily enough. To his credit he does eventually catch on to what your doing by being purposefully slow and handsy. But like by that point he’s down bad and doubles down.

He flips the script BIIIG time when he goes from “feelings are dumb” to courting/relationship status though. If he was a menace before now he is INSUFFERABLE.

“You missed a spot”

“Oh? Where?”

“Move your hands lower”

“WUKONG.”

“I am injured! Don’t you want to see me get better? 🥺”

Or otherwise now he is intentionally doing whatever he can to increase how long it takes

“Hey you still intend to go slower if I rush you right?”

“Probably? Why do you ask-“

“WOW you are going so slow you need to hurry up and finish already because this is taking forever, we’ve been here like all day seriously how much longer is this going to take??”

“…”

“How long does that buy me?”

“…”

*Insta-Heals him*

D:<

As for the others,

Sandy/Sha Wujing is an absolute sweetheart, always patiently waiting for his turn to be healed or for you to finish. Always asks for heals with a please and thanks you every time. Secret handshake is absolutely how he gets healed. 10/10 would heal again. Best patient ever.

Tang is….fine most times. He’s real sorry for making you go through the trouble though. Really sorry. Has he told you how sorry he is? Because he is. He’s really really sorry. Swears he won’t do it again. A simple shoulder pat is all he really needs as he feels reaaaaally sorry and just feels the worst about this. No but fr he feels SO GUILTY. Healing him is part actually healing him and part feelings jam because he probs needs to be reassured that what happened wasn’t his fault.

Oof but when it’s because of Pigsy starting shit again and pulls him into danger? That’s when the pinching starts. How many times have you and Wukong told him not to listen to Pigsy?? So many times?? AND YET??? …he’s still really sorry tho

Ao Lie doesn’t really need healing all that often due to being a horse most of the time but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t occasionally sidle up to you and push his head under your hand to ask for it. Carrying the monk all that time has gotta be tiring, even if he is a dragon. Especially since he isn’t even doing it in his natural form! So that little boost of energy you give him really helps him out. Also a sweetheart 10/10 (why can’t Pigsy be like you and Sandy FR)

Pigsy tho…bless Reader’s heart you TRIED to actually properly heal him once. But unfortunately with Pigsy being Pigsy that went about as well as expected. As soon as he found out you heal through touch it was all over. “Oh my fair friend I am dying!! Only your sweet kiss can heal me. 😚” which did result in the slap heal. To his…tiny tiny bit of credit he does stop the antics after the first few times. Not because he realized that it won’t happen, but because Wukong won’t let him. Literally, he tries to be his fail-suave self during a time when Wukong is standing right behind you and one very intense glare coupled with a hand going to his ear to pull out his cudgel is all it takes to get him to stop….mostly. Still tries it when Wukong isn’t around though. Always results in a slap.

[zerokrox-blog]

Steve has a handshake with each kid. Even Mike Wheeler has a specific handshake, they all are elaborate but each one ends with a specific move to each kid, Dustin with the lightsaber move, Lucas's ends with a fake basketball shot, Max's ends with them both pretending to leap on to a skateboard, El pretends to drop an eggo with Steve falling to 'catch it', Will throws a flourishing signature into the air with Steve pretending to catch it with his hands held out like paper, and Mike to everyone's surprise ends with he and Steve pretending to be shot in the chest. It's DRAMATIC™️. Both boys lay on the floor for one full minute before getting up and pretending it didn't happen.

The first few times it happened in front of the party Nancy rolled her eyes so hard until they pretended to be shot, each of them 'shooting' the other. Holly thought it was HILARIOUS and copied them.

The Hellfire club however was in shock when King Steve came in to pick up the younger kids and Dustin immediately went over, hugged him and started their handshake, Will came over next for his hug and handshake, then Lucas. All of them talking over each other and excitedly told Steve about the day's newest adventure in their campaign. Mike looked awkwardly at the older boys, at Eddie's dumbfounded expression, Gareth, Jeff and Grant looked surprised, Rachel, Clair and Alex and Corey looked strangely at the group of freshmen babbling away to Steve Fucking Harrington. And Mike popped out of his seat as Steve looked up at him, and Mike saw the soft smile on his face kinda drop a bit at the look on his own face. He felt embarrassed to be honest but he also wanted his handshake, he'd never tell a soul but it was nice having something that was solely his and Steve's. So he went over and held out his hand. Steve looked directly at him, his eyes held the question he would never ask out loud, 'is this ok? Are you comfortable doing this?' But Mike kept his hand out and Steve's face lit up.

Grinning, the two of them did their elaborate handshake ending with them 'shooting' each other. Steve very super dramatically grabbed his chest and slowly sank to the floor and flopped down 'dead'. Mike laughed out loud before dropping down beside him.

A full minute passed until both of them stood up and without even making eye contact, Steve's voice was remarkably calm when he asked, "so Mike, did you kill anyone this session?"

Mike shook his head and rambled a bit about their session as they gathered their stuff. All of them heading out with a wave and a bright "bye guys! See you all tomorrow!"

The drama room door slammed shut behind them and it was oddly silent until Eddie turned to Gareth, "did you all see that, or did I just hallucinate Steve Harrington doing elaborate nerdy handshakes with my sheepies?"

The room exploded into laughter, "nah man that actually happened!" Jeff said snorting with laughter.

[lundenloves]

OH MY GOD i was gonna send u smth abt dad!soap cause i wantsd to see how u imagine him ur feeding us sm

dad!soap who has the fucking loudest boys. you can absolutely hear them before you can see them, the type of kids to shout when you’re two metres away.

dad!soap who had zero finesse in teaching his kids not to swear. fucking hell. the amount of cards they’d been written up at school for blurting out random words.

dad!soap who will answer every. single. question. he loves trying to explain things to this little human who relies on him. though, 99% of words are haphazardly explained for lack of better definitions. “just a wee, like, a wee thing,”

dad!soap whose face lit up when his kid got into some mad shit like mountain or dirt biking.

dad!soap whose son insisted he also have a fucking mohawk, running mad riot, you had almost killed johnny upon walking in to see your son like that.

dad!soap whose kids are outdoor™️ kids. they’ll always follow him out on hikes and will forever jump in each and every puddle they come across with a grin.

dad!soap who finds his children genuinely fucking hilarious. of course, crediting himself for their throw away humour and unseriousness.

dad!soap who has different handshakes with his boys. greeting them every morning w a handshake and a kiss to the temple bc he’s fuckin chill like that. “mornin’ mate.”

dad!soap who has encouraged every endeavour his sons have wanted to go on. skateboarding? fuckin’ kick on son. ‘there you go’ the first time one of them had dropped in.

dad!soap who brings his kids everywhere. literally. he’ll have brought them to base one day to drop in a letter or smth, and them kids are running RIOT before bumping head first into prices hip.

dad!soap who went on one trip with simon and all fucking three of his girls only to credit his lieutenant even higher because fuck the effort that man has to put in. meanwhile his boys were instantly shoving sticks into the dirt to find worms.

dad!soap who will pick up both of his kids at the same time and sway them side to side in his arms, chucking them onto the sofa with added dinosaur sound effects. dinosaurdad is real.

[mintpiastry]

OKAY since i’ve an exam in less than 10 hours and as of now i do not possess the mental capacity to fully develop it as a story (or even make it make sense) here you have a MATTDRAI time loop/soulmates au idea (that probably doesn’t make much sense and could be written much better) inspired by THE handshake™️ and Florida!!! by Taylor Swift:

for our noble purpose (mattdrai) in this world people realise they are soulmates after getting to know each other long enough for a connection to happen, strangers can’t be bonded together as strong feelings need to be involved in the bonding process, sometimes the bond manifest in few months other times it takes years. so long story short even if they have been fooling around for ages it’s only during the 2022 BoA playoff series that Leon and Matthew get bonded and realise they are soulmates, they both silently agree to not acknowledge it until after their respective playoffs are over, or so Leon thought…of course this doesn’t happen :) and Matt disappears and ghosts Leon that has to discover from a social media post that his supposed soulmate got himself traded as far as possible while also remaining in the nhl (at least they are in the same continent) from him, at this point all leon’s thoughts about making it work get thrown out of the window bc fuck it even someone like him can understand the message tkachuk wanted to deliver with the trade.

fast forward to the present where it’s game 7 of the Stanley cup finals (strong emotions are very much involved!!!) and this time it’s matthew’s team the one winning, during the handshake line they barely interact, but the bond is still there, uncomfortable and never spoken of, Leon disappears in the locker room with his teammates to lick his wounds in peace and Matthew proceeds to celebrate with his team all night and almost all the day after he goes to bed with the intention of sleeping few hours to start partying all over again, life goes is supposed to go on; or so they thought but soul bonds cannot be left unattended for so long without consequences (oh you don’t wanna talk about it? fine, the universe will make you anyway :):) ) and that’s why Leon wakes up once again in so much pain seated on the bus going to the arena and he has to play in game 7 of the final again and again and again; the rough part is that he never wins (later he will realise that it’s not the point of the loop so he cannot change it no matter how much he tries to) [note: Leon is sooooo going to therapy after the loop breaks] but that doesn’t stop him from trying over and over again; for a while he thinks the right answer to break the loop is to win the cup after a while he realises that while that is untrue somehow it’s still connected to the game; he is also convinced that no one else is stuck with him because there are no hints about it thats until the tenth/twentieth/ who knows loop (?) when Matthew happens to change the established pattern and during the handshake, instead of ignoring him, he stops to talk and there he is referencing something happened during a previous loop and Leon is so surprised and angry about it because his soulmate is looping too but instead of reliving one of his worst day ever he is reliving what is probably the best one, and it’s not fair, also he is pissed because of course matthew spent all the loops until this one winning and basking in the glory of it all instead of informing leon. So leon looses it in front of everyone and it’s only because someone holds him tight from the back that tkachuk doesn’t get murdered right there; whatever explanation tkachuk tries to give, he doesn’t want to listen to it, he is done.

The next loop he decides to not play.

[allykatsart]

pls i’m so feral about your deer boi oc tell me more i wanna know how the whole everyone notices he’s terrified of alastor thing goes

Who is Peccantum?

HO BOY YOU ASKED FOR IT-

Husk, of course, is the first to notice.

He's a gambler, bartender, and is far more attentive than other sinners give him credit for. Of course he notices Peccantum is treading on eggshells everywhere, and not just for comedic effect. The young buck is genuinely terrified of Alastor.

However, Husk isn't one to act on that information. Not only is it none of his business, Husk is also kind of in the same boat as Peccantum. Honestly, the bartender thinks Peccantum's fear is warranted. He does soften over time, but what can he do, really?

Angel Dust is the first to help.

It would be post episode 4, when Angel really starts to connect with others at the hotel. Angel just kinda always assumed Peccantum was a panicky, on edge weirdo. As they get to know each other a little more, Angel realizes that's not actually the case. Peccantum is usually a sarcastic, passionate, clever guy! So the way the bellhop acts around Alastor... It reminds Angel a touch too much of his situation with Val

(Not in romance or assault, but in the 'Im going to fuck with you for my own amusement' way)

So, Angel starts doing little things. He doesn't want to piss off the strawberry pimp, so no direct confrontation, but he can still help Peccantum not get jump scared. Angel greets Alastor out loud when Alastor enters a room quietly. He lingers in rooms where Peccantum would be alone otherwise. Small things that prepare Peccantum beforehand.

In return, Peccantum makes Angel warm drinks when Angel comes back from a long day. He learns recipes that Angel likes and cooks dinner. He gives Angel a book called "A hundred and one dirty jokes for the wickedly perverted." Small things.

They don't talk about it, and it's not a foolproof strategy, but it helps.

Sir Pentious, the best friend, takes it very seriously.

Sir Pentious doesn't pick up on it like Husk and Angel do, so it takes an actual conversation with Peccantum about it for him to realize it's serious. Pentious and Peccantum are Science Buddies™️ so it doesn't take long before Pentious starts coming up with inventions that might help! Magic seeking goggles, ocular augmentations, even a scanner to help identify Alastor before he appears! They have a little fun with it.

In the end, though, Pentious keeps it simple. He and Peccantum develop a secret hand signal for if Peccantum needs someone to distract Alastor. That way Peccantum can slip away and calm himself down if he's spiraling!

They also develop a secret handshake but that's beside the point.

Charlie....

Despite what everyone thinks, Charlie isn't stupid. She's observant and empathetic, and quickly picks up that Peccantum is nervous around Alastor. She can understand that, Hell, sometimes the Radio Demon makes her nervous! She's also a fixer, so would try to resolve the issue with diplomacy and setting boundaries. Sure, Alastor probably doesn't care about Peccantum, but Alastor does listen to her!

But she doesn't have the context.

I don't think Peccantum would tell her anything, and may actively try to keep his thoughts about Alastor private from her. I also think Alastor has made it clear that if Peccantum tries to hide behind Charlie, he's in for a lot worse than just some scares. Alastor defers to Charlie out of obligation and opportunity, but he refuses to have others use her to manipulate himself. Especially not a soul he owns.

Peccantum, of course, complies. He has to convincingly lie to Charlie, which makes his stomach squirm with guilt, but it's fine. He's overreacting anyways. It's fine. It's the price he chose to pay for power.

As long as he has magic, he shouldn't care what Alastor decides to do with him.

It's fine.

(No, it's not)

[rottenaero]

And also, the reasons behind each pairing

1.Steve, Max, and Will-

C’mon, have you SEEN the SASS? I guess one could argue Dustin should also be here, but his sass™️ is reserved for his brothers. Also, imagine the gossip sessions, like Will ranting about anything and Max and Steve absolutely cheering him on because he is 100% in the right.

2.Eddie, Robin, and Will-

Queer in a small town, Barb could also probably be in this group. They all bash each-other’s crushes until Robin wants to date Nancy, and Eddie starts liking Steve. Will would absolutely still be trashed for his crush on Mike. Robin would still bash on Eddie like have you seen that man? He’ll watch the same movie on repeat until he has to being it back.

Eddie just sighs and is like, I know, he’s great.

3.Nancy, Chrissy,Barb, and Robin-

Barb and Chrissy absolutely needed more screentime!! They were both so aghhh<33 They all kinda band together to do sleepovers and stuff, sometimes El and Max are invited when they aren’t doing their own thing. I just really like the characters.

4.Steve and Gareth-

Okay guys, have you seen that Steve and Gareth cousin au??(Someone please tell me the creator so I can credit them) Steve having another extravagant handshake for Gareth and Gareth always gushing about his cool older cousin to hellfire who is just like uh-huh sure Gareth.

I know theres the idea that Gareth would despise Steve, but also Gareth inviting Steve to hellfire after he got dethroned because Steve was there for his tough times so why can’t he be there for his?

5.Holly, Erica, and Steve-

Lets take babysitter!Steve to the MAX. All the parent call him when their younger kids need to be watched, he watches Holly for the Wheelers all the time to the point where he’s her brother, and she pretends to forget Mike’s name for like a week.

Erica insists only Steve can watch her, because he’s the only one who lets her watch My Little Pony without judging her or treating her like a baby, also because he starts getting into the show. Sometimes Tina and the rest of Erica’s friends come over and rope him into letting them paint his nails. Random days Steve will show up to Erica’s school with some McDonalds for her.

6.Murray and Alexei-

Self-explanatory because c’mon, really?

7.Steve, Will, and El-

Steve ADORES the Byers siblings, they say thank you when he does stuff for them, they are usually never the source of trouble when they go out.

Sometimes Will will just be so nice that it makes Steve feel bad for what he told Jonathan in s1 before their fight, because nobody in the Byers family is a screw-up except Lonnie, who was just a giant douche and a terrible father.

The only thing Steve dislikes about them is their respective crushes on Mike, because are you serious? He’s well on his way to becoming the next town Keith.

8.El and Max-

Also pretty self explanatory, El needs a better role model than Mike, and Max being overwhelmingly confident in every decision helps. Max also tries to make sure El doesn’t push herself to hard. Oh your head hurts? Lets get you some juice, we have this new flavor you’d like. You don’t feel good? Lets take a break. You scrapped your knee? I have a first aid kit somewhere…

Etc etc, Max just always making sure El feels comfortable.

[it-grrl]

When Alien™️ Movies do a great job of portraying the original style of Alien™️: Whoa good job well done firm handshakes all around it's that thing I've been afraid of all my life.

When Alien™️ Movies make up a new Fucked Up Kind of Alien™️: Wowee! I had not considered that particular flavor of Fucked Up! Oof! Also good job everyone!

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Caerdroia

Synopsis

Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from the TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Eighth Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer — and regain the TARDIS!

Threatened and desperate, the Kro'ka abandons his behind-the-scenes machinations to confront the Doctor directly. But will both of them lose their way in the maze of the strange world in which they find themselves? A world in which a clock may have a cuckoo but no hands, a labyrinth imprisoning a paradox, and a Garden of Curiosities reveals something the Doctor has never seen before.

As the Doctor faces these challenges, Charley and C'rizz provide valuable help. But with the TARDIS itself at stake, the Doctor reaches deep inside himself to find some surprising new allies.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Scherzo

Synopsis

Once upon a time...

There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos. They thwarted tyrants and defeated monsters, they righted wrongs wherever they went. They explored the distant future and the distant past, new worlds and galaxies, places beyond imagining.

But every good story has to come to an end.

With no times or places left to explore, all the two friends have now are each other. But maybe that's one voyage too many. Maybe they'll discover things they'd rather have left undisturbed... hidden away in the suffocating, unfeeling, deafening brightness.

Once upon a time. Far, far away.

Propaganda

It’s a great and fucked up dissection of the Doctor and Charley’s relationship, with a healthy dose of body horror (anonymous)

you will never look at the handshake emoji the same way again (october)

Really creative concept. Puts 8 and Charley into a situation where they have to confront their relationship and what they mean to each other while dealing with an incredibly engaging creature. I can't name an audio that suits the medium better and Ive been consuming Big Finish at an alarming rate. Also noises™️ (anonymous)

Absolutely INSANE episode back when big finish was allowed to get WEIRD weird it has everything: heartfelt discussion about the doctor/companion relationship, love, cannibalism, body horror, the exploration of a very alien world. All of this while making full use of the audio medium in a story that could simply never have been done anywhere else. It's a must listen for everyone. (@gnougnouss )