#also ignore the double 'for' ok i am struggling

[mell0bee]

(shows up to wip wednesday 46 hours late, covered in blood) hahaha so huntlow am i right

little sneak peek at the 4th update of my ongoing post-canon toh fic! u can read the first 3 chapters here:

[songofwizardry]

r/ukvisa is a treasure trove of useful info and experience and has saved me so many times by digging up home office policies buried on the website that could get a visa rejected but boy does it not take a lot for several people on that sub to throw disabled people/"illegal" immigrants/asylum seekers/the entire concept of taxation and socialised healthcare/etc under the bus

[transmutationisms]

I don't necessarily disagree with your take on David Lynch but I feel like at least part of Twin Peaks is about deconstructing or questioning the myth of the idyllic small town, like everyone in Twin Peaks has a dark secret, most of the men were abusing or complicit in abusing a teenage girl, etc. and the Return to me is about showing that it's kind of fundamentally impossible to return to that glamorized nostalgic past. I could totally be missing something though.

wow ok this was my most controversial david lynch statement yet... so first of all i disagree that there's any tension between the kind of conservative nostalgia i see in lynch's work, and the idea that the past is impossible to return to. in fact i think that kind of lament is pretty central to quite a lot of reactionary rhetoric: it's that emotional appeal of, look what we've lost / damaged / destroyed forever. it doesn't need to be a coherent political platform because it's an appeal on the grounds of pathos.

anyway if i can just quote from my own post lol:

i simply cannot read the series in any way besides as being deeply conservative lol. this becomes especially clear to me in 'the return’, which is largely motivated by a narrative of the loss of american innocence (the double r subplot, the numerous instances of drugs and violence tearing nuclear families apart, the encroachment of electricity and processed snack foods and gambling, &c). but this viewpoint is seeded too throughout the first season-and-change of the original series, and fwwm; because what was laura palmer if not the series’s first use of rape as metonymous for what lynch sees as a broader process of social breakdown and irreversible change? i understand that some people try to read bob and laura as a critique of the family, in the sense that the violence comes through the father, but i don’t think this reading holds even in the original series and it certainly doesn’t after part 8 of 'the return’, in which bob is explicitly and directly invoked in reference to the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki, here construed as an originary act of american evil.

i think in david lynch’s mind, the spiritual forces and influences in the show are literal and apolitical, and frequently he seems to mean to depict them more as sources of artistic inspiration than anything else ('twin peaks’ is in many ways a tv show about making a tv show, hence the double use of electricity throughout 'the return’ and fwwm, in particular). but i find this really irritating frankly, because it’s at best ignorant of the inherently political nature of the constructions of small-town americana, teenage innocence, violence as an act of moral corruption, and so forth—and also because, after the return, it’s simply impossible to deny that the show’s overarching narrative IS plugged in to political and historical lines of critique. like, i am not trying to 'force’ a reading that deals with us imperialism—lynch put the show on this discursive terrain explicitly and deliberately, through not just the bomb footage and the penderecki threnody but also the inversion of classic symbols of american 'greatness’ (the unlucky penny, the evil lincoln impersonator), culminating again in the violation of a young girl’s body by the forces of evil. what this all adds up to is the invocation of american empire as a kind of universal moral struggle, stripped of its historical specificity or even the barest pretense of material critique or commentary. if it sounds like i’m asking too much of network television… i mean, maybe i am, but again, these were deliberate choices lynch made and specific historical events he invoked on purpose, lol. see also the jacoby trump commentary in 'the return’ (cringe and yawn).

i’m not a lynch scholar but i do think there’s a tension throughout his work (what i’ve seen) between the desire to make art about what he sees as the purely spiritual process of making art (heavily informed by his own TM beliefs), and the conservative elements that creep in anyway, noticeable especially in his commentary on american history, corruption, modernity, &c. the idea of any pure, transcendent, apolitical spiritual dimension of human existence is itself, i would argue, at best a misguided conservative fantasy, and 'twin peaks’ ultimately shows these cracks more blatantly than some of his other work (say, 'inland empire’) because it tries to subordinate the material to the spiritual in a kind of fantastical historical parable. but, you can see this recurring tension throughout his filmography, eg, the loss of small-town innocence ('blue velvet’) and a kind of generalised modernity anxiety ('eraserhead’, though taken on its own this one would permit other readings depending on how you interpreted the role of german expressionism in it).

i don’t think lynch is an ideologue or even considers himself particularly political, but nevertheless his narratives do idealise a certain conservative vision of post-war america, mourn its loss, and wax nostalgic for its perceived ethos (& it’s not a coincidence lynch is/has been a reaganite, lol). anyway, i thought 'twin peaks’ had some really incredible moments of visual artistry (part 8 of 'the return’, for example!) and i found much of it frankly beautiful and compelling to watch. so, i don’t mean any of this to dismiss lynch as a filmmaker—he is, if nothing else, highly technically adept.

[heartsoji]

UM HI IM NOT RLLY SURE IF U TAKE REQUESRS SO IF U DONT U CAN IGNORE THIS.,,

hear me out, KENMA and RINTARO nd NISHINOYA x reader that turns any comment they make dirty 😭 (and a lot of deez nuts jokes bc idc that ppl don’t say them anymore they’re funny 😞)

HQ BOYS W/ AN S/O WHO MAKES A LOT OF DIRTY JOKES

genre: fluff but just a lil suggestive

a/n: STOP BCS THIS IS LITERALLY ME WHEN I HAVE ENERGY

warnings: mentions of nudity, dirty jokes but its pretty mild, two swears, idk wtf i was doing on suna's and noya's lol (ok for noya ive never written for him before but wtf happened with suna)

K. KENMA

"chicken fries, ken. chicken fries." you pestered.

"ok, ok. and can i add one order of chicken fries, please?"

"of course!" said the cashier cheerily through the drive-thru mic. "so just to confirm, a bourbon bacon cheeseburger triple, cheese fries, chicken fries, a large sprite, a medium coke, a vanilla frosty, and a chocolate frosty?"

"yep." kenma confirmed.

"ok, please drive up to the window."

once you two got your food, kenma parked in the parking lot and took a spoonful of his chocolate frosty and smiled contentedly. you laughed in response, to which he pouted/glared to and turned away from you.

"i like wendy's." kenma scowled.

"me too. i love it in my mouth, but also.."you paused. "when deez NUTS are in yours!"

you earned a slap to the head.

"OWW KENMAAA YOU VIOLENT PUDDING-HEAD MF"

he simply smiled and went back to eating.

"..hey, pudding-head."

"what?"

"DONT EAT WENDYS!! HOW ABOUT PUDDING DEEZ NUTS IN YOUR MOUTH INSTEAD"

(pause)

"OWWW"

S. RINTARO

"our class got a new student today." suna mentioned casually as he scrolled through tiktok.

"yeah, i heard about that! he's from america, right? what's his name?" you asked.

"uhh.. sato. sato phillip." suna answered, struggling to pronounce the first name. "his dad's japanese and his mom's greek."

"phillip, huh?" you wondered aloud. "hey rin, you wanna skip making dinner tonight?"

"huh?" suna asked, confused. "where'd that come from?"

"YOU COULD PHILLIP ON DEEZ NUTS INSTEAD"

"well, that's kinky. i suppose i wouldnt mind giving it a try." suna replied, deadpan. "have you already ordered the attachable rubber balls?"

this guy thinks hes so cool for that.

"fuck you, rin."

"please do."

this brat.

N. YUU

"noya, what should i be for halloween this year?" you asked your boyfriend.

"hmm.." he thought about it long and hard. "a maid!" that earned him a slap to the 2-inch hair.

he laughed. "well, i suppose a fairy could be cute too."

"a fairy? then, you should be the goblin!" you beamed.

"HEY!" nova cried, offended. "why am i the goblin?"

"GOBLIN BOFA DEEZ NUTS"

noya paused for a second before bursting out cackling.

"THAT MADE THE FACT THAT I GOT A D ON MY TEST TODAY SO MUCH BETTER"

you gasped. "but we studied together! he gave you a d?!"

"yeah. i'm giving you a d too."

"boy what?"

"GIVING YOU DEEZ NUTS"

it was your turn to burst out cackling childishly.

"ok but for real, noya. lets be serious. deez nuts jokes kinda suck." you said, getting dead serious.

"HUH?! YOU SUCK!"

"SUCK ON DEEZ NUTS"

noya then POUNCED on you and laughed into your neck, sending ticklish sensations down your spine.

"I FUCKING LOVE YOU"

"I LOVE YOU TOO"

you both doubled down laughing, and you didn't even know what you were laughing at at this point.

[alangdorf]

Aaaaand next off the checklist is Manager Magolor, it seems! I feel the need to clarify this is a while post-RtDL and most likely post-Star Allies too (and probably post-much-needed-therapy) given the temporally anomalous nature of Merry Magoland.

I also feel the need to clarify something weird I said in the initial theory post, even though it most likely goes without saying given some of the design decisions I made here and the sheer power of saying “you know what I mean”, but I think I finally have my thoughts coherently together about The Discourse. Going under the cut given that it is about The Discourse, and also about my personal experience with gender, transition, and internalized misogyny.

First off, if you don’t know what I mean by The Discourse, or why the heck I’m drawing Magolor as a Doomer and not a catboy, in the latter case see my previous posts, and in the former case, there was a line added in Return to Dream Land Deluxe for 100%ing the game where Magolor says he was lying about being from Halcandra. Now I’m not particularly entrenched in the Kirby fandom and generally avoid discourse, but even I’ve seen a lot of people say they think this lore addition was bad and stupid. I totally understand wanting to ignore it, given that the fanbase at large is full of Magolor likers that have elaborate headcanons about Magolor as a Halcandran, and various worldbuilding about Halcandra and the Ancients as informed by the concept. Personally, I had no previous stake in this given that the lore addition was actually the catalyst that got me to really care about Magolor in the first place, and obviously I think it’s interesting to extrapolate from.

Now, the ostensible gut reaction to finding out that Magolor has just been dressing up as an Ancient this whole time is to get really nervous about cultural appropriation. I personally think it’s likely to be more nuanced than a cut-and-dry case of an oppressor stealing from the culture of the oppressed, but given how little we actually know about the Ancients’ place in the Kirby universe both at their height and in the present day, and the fact that I myself am a white American, I’ll just cite Metal General’s RtDLdx pause screen lore, whatever the heck Grand Doomer has going on, and the short story Passing by Nella Larsen (Ok hi! Anxiety-ridden Kit from a week and a half later coming in to clarify that I’m not trying to equate funny little video game aliens to the severity of real life race struggles. As with everything please give me the benefit of the doubt in believing that I have good intentions and understand that there’s nuance but am just not the greatest at talking or thinking and I’m fighting for my life in here[my brain] ok thx bye) that I read in high school as sources for my personal thoughts, and leave the discussion on that subject there. (Oh, I also do like to think about the fact that he said he’s been studying the remnants of the Ancient civilization in Halcandra, for years, alone. Not much of anything with a concrete point to say about that though)

When I last talked about this in my theory post I said I saw it “more like uhhhh trans coding, kinda” and of course drawing this design forced me to confront the question of: now what the heck did I mean I mean by that, exactly?? Well, I thought about it more, and I realized that the much simpler thing to compare it to would be any teen coming-of-age movie where the protagonist dresses up as someone they aren’t because they don’t like who they are until they learn to accept and express themself for who they really are, though this message’s impact is often obfuscated somewhat in practice by Hollywood’s double gut-punch of beauty standards and misogyny. But as for what I was more closely reminded of when I called it trans coding, it was, as it often is, my own complicated journey with gender.

Speaking of, I realize I haven’t been very talkative on tumblr in several years, preferring to talk with close friends on discord rather than with the wider internet and you all know me as afab nb, so I suppose this is the time to come out as… cis, actually. Or rather, uh, transgender/cisgender/genderqueer/nonbinary/female. (Perhaps you can tell why I generally talk about this with people who already know me.) You know how it starts. I never really felt like I fit in with girls growing up, I held disdain for people who were “too girly”, I generally only made friends with nerdy guys, avoided wearing makeup, didn’t care overly much about how I dressed.

Then, five years ago, I discovered that being referred to as “they” made me really happy. I never experienced body dysphoria, but I liked to be able to have a flat chest sometimes. These are things that are still true about me. But feeling decoupled from the concept of womanhood, and, of course, simply growing as a person over time, allowed me to reassess my feelings and internal biases on it. I discovered I have very particular aesthetic preferences, some of which are traditionally very feminine. I started getting into fashion and sewing and started to be happy rather than ambivalent about the way I present myself. (I still don’t wear makeup barely at all.) I realized that what gender you are doesn’t have to mean anything about your particular gender presentation, and that your particular gender presentation doesn’t have to mean anything about what gender you are. I’m still addressing my own internalized misogyny every day, though I like to think I’ve gotten better about it. I’ve learned more about being queer and I’ve learned more about myself.

Over the years I’ve been slowly swinging back around to being comfortable identifying as a woman, and I’m not 100% there yet (I still have a bit of a dysphoric gut reaction to other people referring to me as female, I’ll likely always prefer they/them on the internet at least, and man oh man don’t even get me started on the religion thing. It’s even more complicated somehow and I have trouble talking about it even with close friends and family. I often feel caught between sides on a lot of things just because there’s just very few people who understand wholly where I’m coming from. For one thing, do you know how many weird reactions I’ve gotten to telling people I’m aroace and also getting married in two months? From all kinds of folks), but yeah. That’s how it is. Definitely genderqueer regardless what happens.

So uh, what the heck does any of this have to do with Maggie? I just have a relatively similar thought process regarding him. Uh, metaphorically, I mean; not necessarily with regards to gender. His gijinka designs have definitely turned out really genderqueer but as I’ve said before, this is just what happens whenever I get my little baby hands on new favorite male characters, especially given my penchant for selectively feminine aesthetics and the fact that I’ve never really learned how to draw cis men all that well. He’s also just really hard to put in pants & I wanna show the legs off, I paid money for those

Now for the million dollar question. Do I think any of my interpretation is how HAL actually intended it? Perhaps, but they seem to often leave deep lore things like this deliberately open-ended. So do I think they’re gonna actually do anything with it and make Magolor stop dressing up like an Ancient? Probably not, especially given that the lore bit is a reward for 100%ing the game, practically an easter egg at that point. Magolor is probably the one character who they’re most willing to give new outfits to, but I don’t see that extending to his mainline canon appearance. I think Kirby is a bit too much of a mascot-based franchise to comfortably depart from iconic aspects of their characters for that. They still haven’t given poor Taranza his own theme that isn’t a remix of Dedede’s, for crying out loud.

End of thoughts. Usual disclaimer that I am just one person with limited knowledge and judgement. I wanted to write out this clarification because I was worried my previous comments might look weird in isolation and because I know my Magolor headcanons are very intrinsically tied to The Discourse. It honestly kinda sucks a bit cause while it has been nice to be drawing again, I’ve also been relentlessly serotonin-seeking and I’m way too hungry for interaction & engagement on this, especially given how niche its particular appeal is. Ask box is always open but be warned I have no qualms about setting boundaries and won’t answer anything I don’t want to. Thanks for reading! - Love, Catboy “🪺” Discourse

[the-somwthing]

Looking at all these ship tierlists and seeing the negative tiers makes me realize how much I refuse to dislike ships hahaha. Where are my hot takes???

So, I’m now going to brainstorm any ships I might possibly have a negative opinion on. Warning for ever so slight negativity towards ships

HMMMM HMMMMM man im a lover at heart this is tough. Scott x women is cheating (even then I don’t think I dislike it as much as other ppl there’s some nuance but still generally not for me)

ALRIGHT. TIME TO DIG FOR ANY NEGATIVE FEELINGS.

Was never much of a fan of grumbo/mumscarian. BUT!!! This is because I’m MOSTLY LIFE SERIES VIEWER!!! I only casually enjoy hermitcraft and don’t watch it often. And I KNOW that’s where the ships come from, so all of the life series version of the ship just feels so forced. Which sucks cuz I do actually see some potential for it in like Last Life that would be a hilarious ship!! I definitely lean Grumbo because even in the life series you can see it, tho I see it mostly grian-sided with mumbo technically reciprocating it but not realizing how problematic it is to be dancing around the feelings in the middle of a death game. But that’s just me.

I USED TO BE A GRITHO HATER (but not a full on hater. Just the slightly negative feelings as portrayed here). I remember during limited life I kept seeing gritho stuff and I was like “it’s not gonna happen 🙄” then it happened and I was like 🤯 and bowed down to all the gritho shippers. I also had divine intervention in the form of a dream telling me to ship gritho and now I love them.

Flower husbands is a complicated one that is seen on many negative tiers and I will admit I don’t always like it. But sorry guys I like it just don’t watch Scott’s 3L otherwise you will be traumatized for life

I LOVE RANCHERS but I DON’T LIKE RANCHERS FANS. SORRY. Don’t take this personally either there’s no one in this fandom in particular I dislike (to my memory) but like there’s just something off with rancher fandom idk. It feels like a lot of them are missing the point. My sister is the one who got me into ranchers and even she agrees that a majority of the rancher fan content out here just isn’t it. I feel like it’s the general treatment of Jimmy and the also kind of ignoring Tango in favor of making him just Jimmy’s supportive bf idk. BUT AGAIN DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY I LOVE RANCHERS AND THERES BANGER CONTENT OUT THERE!!!

^ also due to the ranchers vs fh war I feel the need to point out that while I seem nitpicky on ranchers but gave fh a free pass it’s because my problem with ranchers is purely fanon while the problems with fh exists within canon. I do also struggle with fh fanon not being what I want (give me liml fh NOW!!!)

Bringing forth another hot topic YOU WILL NOT BE SEEING BIGGRI HATE FROM ME. Sorry pal they are NOT on this list. I don’t know WHY it’s seen as “soo bad” by like ALL SIDES like ok. HUH? I especially don’t get the stance that ppl hate Biggri cuz it always gets used as a stepping stone for scarian. Like ok so you don’t ACTUALLY hate biggri you just hate scarian. I promise you nobody who says “I love biggri” shares that same sentiment on it that you hate so much. Literally why in the world would someone go “I love biggri soo much because I get to completely ignore it in favor of scarian 😍” like HELLO? I understand if that treatment makes the ship leave a bad taste in your mouth but why is the hate directed at the people who ACTUALLY CARE 😭 I MUST be missing something

SO ON THAT SUBJECT!!! I AM A DL SCARIAN HATER. I LOVE Scarian SOO much but in DOUBLE LIFE… *growls and eyes glow red* STOP VILLAINIZING GRIAN FOR FALLING IN LOVE WITH BIGB!! STOP MAKING SCAR LOOK INNOCENT WHEN HE WAS TERRIBLE TO GRIAN!! To be clear I get it. It’s the scarian soulmate AU. I believe there are ways to do it right but in general I just don’t like the way people do it. GIVE ME TOXIC DL SCARIAN OR GIVE ME DEATH!!!

My blog title says “#1 Scott x Joel HATER” but that was a lie sorry guys 😔 I only hate them because they take up 75% of my brain usage

Humm haww idk if I can come up with anything else. Maybe I’ll come back if I remember anything but as I keep saying I AM A LOVER AT HEART!!!

And just to be PERFECTLY CLEAR. I do not care if you have the complete opposite opinions. I don’t hate you!!! Even if I had said “people who ship this are the WORST they’re all BAD” and your url was “that-ship-u-hate-shipper” I WOULDN’T THINK LESS OF YOU!!! I would interact with you like a normal person because I believe in NUANCE and the fact that OPINIONS ON COMPLETELY FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IS NOT A BIG DEAL. We can still be friends ❤️

[ruknowhere]

[American Journal]

Robert Hayden - 1913-1980

here among them the americans this baffling

multi people extremes and variegations their

noise restlessness their almost frightening

energy how best describe these aliens in my

reports to The Counselors

disguise myself in order to study them unobserved

adapting their varied pigmentations white black

red brown yellow the imprecise and strangering

distinctions by which they live by which they

justify their cruelties to one another

charming savages enlightened primitives brash

new comers lately sprung up in our galaxy how

describe them do they indeed know what or who

they are do not seem to yet no other beings

in the universe make more extravagant claims

for their importance and identity

like us they have created a veritable populace

of machines that serve and soothe and pamper

and entertain we have seen their flags and

foot prints on the moon also the intricate

rubbish left behind a wastefully ingenious

people many it appears worship the Unknowable

Essence the same for them as for us but are

more faithful to their machine made gods

technologists their shamans

oceans deserts mountains grain fields canyons

forests variousness of landscapes weathers

sun light moon light as at home much here is

beautiful dream like vistas reminding me of

home item have seen the rock place known

as garden of the gods and sacred to the first

indigenes red monoliths of home despite

the tensions i breathe in i am attracted to

the vigorous americans disturbing sensuous

appeal of so many never to be admitted

something they call the american dream sure

we still believe in it i guess an earth man

in the tavern said irregardless of the some

times night mare facts we always try to double

talk our way around and its okay the dreams

okay and means whats good could be a damn sight

better means every body in the good old u s a

should have the chance to get ahead or at least

should have three squares a day as for myself

i do okay not crying hunger with a loaf of

bread tucked under my arm you understand i

fear one does not clearly follow i replied

notice you got a funny accent pal like where

you from he asked far from here i mumbled

he stared hard i left

must be more careful item learn to use okay

their pass word okay

crowds gathering in the streets today for some

reason obscure to me noise and violent motion

repulsive physical contact sentinels pigs

i heard them called with flailing clubs rage

and bleeding and frenzy and screaming machines

wailing unbearable decibels i fled lest

vibrations of the brutal scene do further harm

to my metabolism already over taxed

The Counselors would never permit such barbarous

confusion they know what is best for our sereni

ty we are an ancient race and have outgrown

illusions cherished here item their vaunted

liberty no body pushes me around i have heard

them say land of the free they sing what do

they fear mistrust betray more than the freedom

they boast of in their ignorant pride have seen

the squalid ghettoes in their violent cities

paradox on paradox how have the americans

managed to survive

parades fireworks displays video spectacles

much grandiloquence much buying and selling

they are celebrating their history earth men

in antique uniforms play at the carnage whereby

the americans achieved identity we too recall

that struggle as enterprise of suffering and

faith uniquely theirs blonde miss teen age

america waving from a red white and blue flower

float as the goddess of liberty a divided

people seeking reassurance from a past few under

stand and many scorn why should we sanction

old hypocrisies thus dissenters The Counse

lors would silence them

a decadent people The Counselors believe i

do not find them decadent a refutation not

permitted me but for all their knowledge

power and inventiveness not yet more than raw

crude neophytes like earthlings everywhere

though i have easily passed for an american in

bankers grey afro and dashiki long hair and jeans

hard hat yarmulka mini skirt describe in some

detail for the amusement of The Counselors and

though my skill in mimicry is impeccable as

indeed The Counselors are aware some thing

eludes me some constant amid the variables

defies analysis and imitation will i be judged

incompetent

america as much a problem in metaphysics as

it is a nation earthly entity an iota in our

galaxy an organism that changes even as i

examine it fact and fantasy never twice the

same so many variables

exert greater caution twice have aroused

suspicion returned to the ship until rumors

of humanoids from outer space so their scoff

ing media voices termed us had been laughed

away my crew and i laughed too of course

confess i am curiously drawn unmentionable to

the americans doubt i could exist among them for

long however psychic demands far too severe

much violence much that repels i am attracted

none the less their variousness their ingenuity

their elan vital and that some thing essence

quiddity i cannot penetrate or name

.

https://poets.org/poem/american-journal

.

[thelatecaptainpierce]

having a silly fun time with the second plane jokes but like ok while others in the tags seem to think that they would have killed them both, genuinely my first thought was that they wouldn't bc it'd be TOO much for a sitcom, especially with trapper being the second lead and hawkeye's best friend. henry's death is rough enough but killing off trapper as well might have been a step too far: afaik henry's death was the first time a major character was killed off in a sitcom (correct me if i'm wrong) so the double whammy would have been pretty fucking extreme back then, even for a show about the horrors of war - we never lose a major character again after henry, after all

but imo it would have been super weird to kill off just henry if they left at the same time (and on the same plane, lmao) so i guess in this universe they both would have survived? but then that's underwhelming bc obviously it was also such an important plot beat for the show that a major character died like that. now i'm wondering if it was just wayne leaving and not mclean, whether they would have killed trapper (again, bc he was the second lead and hawkeye's rock throughout those first three seasons, it just has different implications to me than killing henry, but then again i am speaking as a certified trapper girlie so maybe that's just me)

idk i guess i just struggle to imagine either one of these scenarios, so it's probably a good thing the show played out like it did

then again... we cannot ignore the potential of the dead man in yossarian's tent...

if wayne rogers had announced his departure at the same time as mclean stevenson would they have killed off both henry and trapper in the finale. discuss.

[authenticitysports]

Touch of Icarus

It's now just about four weeks after the marathon. I gave myself a good solid down period afterward, both to recover and to process. The race itself was disappointing, but also unsurprising. I knew I would be OK for 16-17 miles, and that anything afterward would be an adventure. True to form, the first 16 miles went great, I and I slowly came unglued between 17-20, before crashing hard from 21-24.

Race day was warm, and I was grateful for it at the start, but it probably hurt me during the run itself. I sweat a lot, so if it's too hot, I struggle to replenish the fluids and electrolytes. It was still much better than shivering at the start, so I was happy.

The first few miles were uneventful, except for the fact that the 3 hour pace group seemed to blast off up the road a solid 10 sec per mile ahead of schedule. My heart rate was alarmingly high for this early in the race, so I backed off, but I found myself staying right on pace for my goal of 3 hours.

At about 4 miles, my heart rate did not come down substantially, so I had to choose between pressing on or backing waaaay off. I really only did this race to try and give myself a shot at a BQ, so backing off never really seemed like an option. I knew what I could be in for, but decided to go for it anyway.

I know that I am in shape when I can instinctively feel a pace. My best sense is on the track, during intervals, and I can gauge the laps down to the second. On the roads, it's a natural rhythm that lets me feel the pace without knowing the pace. In this case, I felt that the three hour group was way too fast, and I let them get well up the road. Despite this, I came through half way in 1:30:00, on the dot. It was comically precise. I was definitely tired, but I might have a shot at this thing.

I made a quick restroom stop, got back running again quickly, and hit the next mile in 6:53, right back on pace. The stop was prudent, and I tried to ignore that I was starting to tire. The first time I really felt like I was "off pace" wasn't until mile 17 (7:01). It wasn't slow, but my heart rate had started to climb higher and the nine miles to the finish seemed very daunting.

I slowed gradually from 18-21, shuffling across the 14th Street Bridge. When I finally got down into Crystal City, though, that's when the fatigue and cramping really hit. I had overextended and was paying back for the effort. I walked a stoplight, then ran, then doubled over again as my hamstrings seized up. It was no longer about racing, just finishing. I got enough fluids down to shuffle the last two miles, staggering up the hill to the Marine Corps Memorial.

Stepping back, the race was certainly not what I wanted. I hoped to get a BQ and use the race as a springboard to another level of fitness and a return to racing. I knew, though, that the first goal was always going to be extremely ambitious, and that a six week marathon build was only a half or third of what I wanted.

But I am relieved to find that my body (still) responds to structured training, and that I was able to build fitness relatively quickly. The opening half of 1:30 would have been a challenge to me as a solo race in mid-July. I'm satisfied with the process, even if I'm not satisfied with the result, and so I am excited to get back to training in earnest.

I have at least one race next year picked out - the USAT Nationals in Atlantic City. I want to add in a couple of 5Ks, 10Ks, and maybe a few half marathons to keep that rhythm of racing. I would be interested in a spring marathon, but I'm not sure when or where. Kona is peaking over the horizon, but I can't commit the training volume for a full Ironman right now.

It's time for thinking, planning, dreaming, and training. Soon, there will be racing.

[werewolvesandaccordions]

Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that was me thinking with a kind of classical-superiority bias. There’s plenty of works that aren’t “great”, but are a lot of fun, for the sake of spectacle. In this case I’ll say that my recent ‘guilty pleasure’ favorite is Richard Strauss’ last tone poem, the “Symphonia Domestica”. To me it kind of exemplifies reasons people would dislike late and post Romanticism. The “story” is a musical portrait of a daily life in a family. Specifically, Strauss’ family. He has a heroic theme for himself, the husband/father, a gorgeous Hollywood love theme for the wife/mother (the singer, Pauline), and the ferocious wailing of their crying baby. We hear the family having fun together, the baby crying, soothed by a lullaby (here quoting Mendelssohn’s Venetian Boat-Song op.19 no.6, another piece close to my heart), then an intimate scene when the parents are alone (another instance that made critics roll their eyes), then an argument or “merry dispute” in the form of a double fugue, with an over-the-top apotheosis of the themes. Filtering the model for the “traditional” family, an otherwise banal topic, with the sonic vocabulary of Wagner’s “Twilight of the Gods”, made a lot of audiences and critics roll their eyes. It also doesn’t help that the themes aren’t really transformed as much as they’re re-orchestrated. At the same time I think people are ignoring the Mozartian side of Strauss. This piece is silly, in good ways, and has charm and fun. I opened this post quoting Strauss about the music. Maybe it’s a good reminder that we can romanticize our own lives, and treat our daily struggles and interactions as being significant enough to be depicted with such lavishness. And that lavishness is why I enjoy this work, and many others by Strauss which I’m ok with admitting are “second rate” (as he said of himself, “I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.”) because of the shear sounds, textures, and colors he creates with the orchestra. Hans Richter poked fun at the baby’s depictions in this piece with “All the cataclysms of the downfall of the gods in burning Valhalla do not make a quarter of the noise of one Bavarian baby in his bath.” The intense orchestral noise here, the over-abundance, is what brings me back to Strauss again and again. I especially love the last five minutes of the finale, where the themes come back with more extravagant orchestration, and with a nod toward Haydn and Beethoven’s musical humor, the piece refuses to end! Movements: Introduction and development of principal themes 2. Scherzo 3. Adagio 4. Finale

mikrokosmos: Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that…

[tinas-art]

Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that was me thinking with a kind of classical-superiority bias. There’s plenty of works that aren’t “great”, but are a lot of fun, for the sake of spectacle. In this case I’ll say that my recent ‘guilty pleasure’ favorite is Richard Strauss’ last tone poem, the “Symphonia Domestica”. To me it kind of exemplifies reasons people would dislike late and post Romanticism. The “story” is a musical portrait of a daily life in a family. Specifically, Strauss’ family. He has a heroic theme for himself, the husband/father, a gorgeous Hollywood love theme for the wife/mother (the singer, Pauline), and the ferocious wailing of their crying baby. We hear the family having fun together, the baby crying, soothed by a lullaby (here quoting Mendelssohn’s Venetian Boat-Song op.19 no.6, another piece close to my heart), then an intimate scene when the parents are alone (another instance that made critics roll their eyes), then an argument or “merry dispute” in the form of a double fugue, with an over-the-top apotheosis of the themes. Filtering the model for the “traditional” family, an otherwise banal topic, with the sonic vocabulary of Wagner’s “Twilight of the Gods”, made a lot of audiences and critics roll their eyes. It also doesn’t help that the themes aren’t really transformed as much as they’re re-orchestrated. At the same time I think people are ignoring the Mozartian side of Strauss. This piece is silly, in good ways, and has charm and fun. I opened this post quoting Strauss about the music. Maybe it’s a good reminder that we can romanticize our own lives, and treat our daily struggles and interactions as being significant enough to be depicted with such lavishness. And that lavishness is why I enjoy this work, and many others by Strauss which I’m ok with admitting are “second rate” (as he said of himself, “I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.”) because of the shear sounds, textures, and colors he creates with the orchestra. Hans Richter poked fun at the baby’s depictions in this piece with “All the cataclysms of the downfall of the gods in burning Valhalla do not make a quarter of the noise of one Bavarian baby in his bath.” The intense orchestral noise here, the over-abundance, is what brings me back to Strauss again and again. I especially love the last five minutes of the finale, where the themes come back with more extravagant orchestration, and with a nod toward Haydn and Beethoven’s musical humor, the piece refuses to end! Movements: Introduction and development of principal themes 2. Scherzo 3. Adagio 4. Finale

mikrokosmos: Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that…

[hushilda]

Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that was me thinking with a kind of classical-superiority bias. There’s plenty of works that aren’t “great”, but are a lot of fun, for the sake of spectacle. In this case I’ll say that my recent ‘guilty pleasure’ favorite is Richard Strauss’ last tone poem, the “Symphonia Domestica”. To me it kind of exemplifies reasons people would dislike late and post Romanticism. The “story” is a musical portrait of a daily life in a family. Specifically, Strauss’ family. He has a heroic theme for himself, the husband/father, a gorgeous Hollywood love theme for the wife/mother (the singer, Pauline), and the ferocious wailing of their crying baby. We hear the family having fun together, the baby crying, soothed by a lullaby (here quoting Mendelssohn’s Venetian Boat-Song op.19 no.6, another piece close to my heart), then an intimate scene when the parents are alone (another instance that made critics roll their eyes), then an argument or “merry dispute” in the form of a double fugue, with an over-the-top apotheosis of the themes. Filtering the model for the “traditional” family, an otherwise banal topic, with the sonic vocabulary of Wagner’s “Twilight of the Gods”, made a lot of audiences and critics roll their eyes. It also doesn’t help that the themes aren’t really transformed as much as they’re re-orchestrated. At the same time I think people are ignoring the Mozartian side of Strauss. This piece is silly, in good ways, and has charm and fun. I opened this post quoting Strauss about the music. Maybe it’s a good reminder that we can romanticize our own lives, and treat our daily struggles and interactions as being significant enough to be depicted with such lavishness. And that lavishness is why I enjoy this work, and many others by Strauss which I’m ok with admitting are “second rate” (as he said of himself, “I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.”) because of the shear sounds, textures, and colors he creates with the orchestra. Hans Richter poked fun at the baby’s depictions in this piece with “All the cataclysms of the downfall of the gods in burning Valhalla do not make a quarter of the noise of one Bavarian baby in his bath.” The intense orchestral noise here, the over-abundance, is what brings me back to Strauss again and again. I especially love the last five minutes of the finale, where the themes come back with more extravagant orchestration, and with a nod toward Haydn and Beethoven’s musical humor, the piece refuses to end! Movements: Introduction and development of principal themes 2. Scherzo 3. Adagio 4. Finale

mikrokosmos: Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that…

[dariaandjanelanefanboy]

Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that was me thinking with a kind of classical-superiority bias. There’s plenty of works that aren’t “great”, but are a lot of fun, for the sake of spectacle. In this case I’ll say that my recent ‘guilty pleasure’ favorite is Richard Strauss’ last tone poem, the “Symphonia Domestica”. To me it kind of exemplifies reasons people would dislike late and post Romanticism. The “story” is a musical portrait of a daily life in a family. Specifically, Strauss’ family. He has a heroic theme for himself, the husband/father, a gorgeous Hollywood love theme for the wife/mother (the singer, Pauline), and the ferocious wailing of their crying baby. We hear the family having fun together, the baby crying, soothed by a lullaby (here quoting Mendelssohn’s Venetian Boat-Song op.19 no.6, another piece close to my heart), then an intimate scene when the parents are alone (another instance that made critics roll their eyes), then an argument or “merry dispute” in the form of a double fugue, with an over-the-top apotheosis of the themes. Filtering the model for the “traditional” family, an otherwise banal topic, with the sonic vocabulary of Wagner’s “Twilight of the Gods”, made a lot of audiences and critics roll their eyes. It also doesn’t help that the themes aren’t really transformed as much as they’re re-orchestrated. At the same time I think people are ignoring the Mozartian side of Strauss. This piece is silly, in good ways, and has charm and fun. I opened this post quoting Strauss about the music. Maybe it’s a good reminder that we can romanticize our own lives, and treat our daily struggles and interactions as being significant enough to be depicted with such lavishness. And that lavishness is why I enjoy this work, and many others by Strauss which I’m ok with admitting are “second rate” (as he said of himself, “I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.”) because of the shear sounds, textures, and colors he creates with the orchestra. Hans Richter poked fun at the baby’s depictions in this piece with “All the cataclysms of the downfall of the gods in burning Valhalla do not make a quarter of the noise of one Bavarian baby in his bath.” The intense orchestral noise here, the over-abundance, is what brings me back to Strauss again and again. I especially love the last five minutes of the finale, where the themes come back with more extravagant orchestration, and with a nod toward Haydn and Beethoven’s musical humor, the piece refuses to end! Movements: Introduction and development of principal themes 2. Scherzo 3. Adagio 4. Finale

mikrokosmos: Strauss – Symphonia Domestica (1903) “What can be more serious than family life? I want the Symphonia domestica to be understood seriously.” For fun, friends will ask each other what their “guilty pleasure” music is, and usually I think “well, obviously none of my classical favorites count. what’s ‘guilty’ about classical music?” But that…

[journeysfable]

Interesting stuff that Pearl said in her stream today

Lore talk starts at around 00:55:20, ends, comes back at around 03:6

Feel like it’s interesting to note that she starts talking about this after saying that the shiny golden goose looks like Pix’s dodo. But I’m likely reading too far into it.

Summary

-Hermit Pearl doesn’t remember Empires Season 1 -Said just “Yes” to someone in Chat saying “’Until we meet again’ but Saint Pearla’ doesn’t remember” -Empires Pearl was not a god during Season 1 -Pearl might not write a book of her lore or anything because she likes seeing peoples interpretations of things so feel free to ignore all this and make shit up lol -Pearl intended for her season 1 ending to not be the ending of her season 1 character. -Pearl doesn’t know if she’s gonna be doing Double Life stuff during this crossover

Transcripts of what she said because Twitch clips are weird and I think it’s good for people to hear it from Pearl herself instead of having it just be filtered and shortened from me Note: I have an audio processing disorder. It picks up on noises well but I struggle to sort them into words sometimes

“So just to kinda give you a little bit of insight if you don’t know about that season, what’s happenin’ with this attire right here, is I’ve come through the portal, alright? So I’m attached to Season 1, ok? I’m a Hermit that’s gone through the portal into the Empires world and I’m wearing the clothes of my Empires Season 1 character. In lore, to give you guys a little bit of insight, my character does not remember, my character does not remember Empires Season 1, my character is Hermit Pearl, ok? So it* doesn’t know what all this is about.”

*I think she said “it” but I don’t think it’s ok to assume that those are actually her characters pronouns unless Pearl says so. She probably said “it” because her character is not a real person. (I’m not even entirely sure she said “it” but it really doesn’t sound like she said “she” or “he”)

“‘But Santa Perla doesn’t remember’ yes laughs yes”

“Ok yes so there was a question about like was I a god in Season 1. Answer is: No. That’s the short answer, no. Umm, what Sausage has done is... This is very much lore description thing here. What Sausage has done this season, uh, and how he linked up Afterlife and Empires is, um, I was in Heaven, Sausage came to me from Afterlife, and uh, that heaven was the castle from Season 8 in Hermitcraft. If anybody recognized it. And I was up there, and he died in Afterlife and came up and met me in the castle, and that’s how that all came about. And then Oli also included me in that segue from Afterlife to Empires, too. So that’s where that came from. But uh, in Oli’s- in Oli’s perspective I kicked him off the cloud down into the world laughs. By the way, that wasn’t the case, he’s just making it up. So that’s why Oli has a bit of a distaste towards Santa Perla and why Sausage likes Santa Perla. For me my character is just normal old me laughs. But technically it has been canonized that I am a saint. And apparently, um, there’s-there‘s a couple of interesting references that are on this season of Empires as well.”

“The story was being created before I myself was creating it. And I’m very happy about that. I definitely wish I had more time to refine that story but, um, everyone like, really liked it by the end of it, and now it’s like ‘well I could technically bring it back. Technically. I-loo- does anyone kn- anyone who watched the first season, did anyone notice how I titled the last episode?  Just wondering. Because I titled that episode with future intentions in mind... That wasn’t a- that wasn’t just a ‘ohh everything has ended oh dear’ that was intended. Uh, and it actually worked out perfectly that Lizzie wrote ou- read out in the book. Something about the golden age rising. Kinda like that. That wasn’t intended. Um, it just fit in perfectly.”

“I don’t 100% know if I’m gonna take in Double Life stuff”

[writeshite]

Ok so i had to get this thought out of my head. What if Eddie and Venom had a boyfriend that was a.....tall beefy four armed alien......ok I'll leave

Headcanons for Eddie and Venom With a Four-Armed Alien Boyfriend With a Tail

Pairings:

Eddie Brock/Venom x Male!Reader

Words: 835

Author's Note:

I am living for the fact that the collective mindset seems to revolve around Eddie having a giant beefy boyfriend. We live for that shit.

We all know Eddie and Venom are certified himbos, so a tall beefy four-armed alien with a tail is a dream come true to them. You met how many people met; you broke into his apartment, and they found you asleep on their couch. Now, Venom, surprisingly, was the voice of reason.

“Eddie, there is a stranger in our apartment, and he’s eaten through half of our meat!”

See, Eddie wasn’t listening; he was focusing more on your tail, which was swishing back and forth as you curled up the pillow in your arms. That and also you were bleeding purple blood on their couch. Despite Venom’s protests, Eddie crept towards you, reaching out to inspect you. Without warning, your eyes shot open, and he found himself pinned underneath you.

You growled at him, sharp teeth, hissing, slit pupils, claws digging into his skin as your tail applied pressure to his legs. ‘Still think this was a good idea?’ Venom’s mocking question was followed by a shut up from Eddie.

“Hey..so...you were bleeding, and I just wanted to help and if you could maybe stop squeezing me like a pincushion.” he gasped out that last part, as your hold on him had grown tighter. Now, at this point, Eddie should’ve let Venom take over, but some part of his mind likened you with a cat, so like he would with a cat, he reached out and scratched the back of your ear. The next thing he knew, he had a massive pound of muscle fall on top of him.

Yeah, Eddie saw this giant four-armed injured person and his mind went cat. Venom was unhappy about this; he complained the whole time as Eddie wrapped your injuries, reluctantly helping to move you from the couch to the bed, where there was more room.

After that, he went out to replace the meat you’d gone through; this time, when he came back to his apartment, it was to you standing in his apartment looking around in confusion. As soon as he came within arms’ reach, you lifted him off the ground, which Venom took as hostility. The symbiote surfaced and was growling something fierce, which in perspective was kind of like a chihuahua growling at a husky. You paid him no mind, doing the same thing you did to Eddie; you picked Venom up.

“You’re a funny-looking thing.” you muttered, “Don’t think I’ve seen one of your kind for decades.”

Venom struggled in your grasp, squirming as you poked him. “Put me down!”

You ignored him in favor of continuing whatever it was you were doing, when Venom hissed at you and bared his teeth, you hissed right back, and truth be told, the symbiote kind of found it hot.

‘What happened to him being dangerous?’ Eddie taunted.

Venom squinted his eyes, ignoring the taunt and all the others as he let himself be maneuvered by you into a semi-cuddle, hug thing.

After some introductions and some explanations, the three of you had come to understand each other. You’d been injured while trying to escape SHIELD and kind of just broken into the first place you saw, which happened to be Eddie and Venom’s place.

With all that down, there was only one thing to do, help you hide from SHIELD. This was mainly out of a sense of obligation to help; it wasn’t like Eddie and Venom were already kind of in love.

They were so in love. Maybe that was their problem; they fell in love too quickly; one look at your arms and Eddie was thinking of a thousand different things, not limited to but including if you had double the number of arms, did you also have double the number of dicks?

This thought often haunted him, as he sneaked what he hoped were subtle glances, while Venom told him he was not in any way being subtle. As if Venom could talk, Eddie was 99% sure the symbiote was thinking it too.

“Yes,” you muttered one morning as you walked into the kitchen.

Eddie lowered the bread in his hand and turned to you in confusion, “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I do have two dicks.”

Eddie felt his entire face go beet red; how did you know? He didn’t say anything, did he? Venom didn’t say anything unless he did, but he wouldn’t.

“No, he wouldn’t,” you said, “You didn’t have to; I can hear both your thoughts running in there.” You came up behind Eddie, pressing your body against his; Eddie gulped when he felt the distinct bulge of something big. “If you like, I could give you a personal showcase.”

Eddie woke up a couple of hours later to the afternoon sun and snuggled up close between you and Venom. Later on, the symbiote would regale him with the details, which summed up came down to; Eddie got railed, Venom got railed, and you left enough marks on his body, he might as well be a crime scene.

Bonjour my Croissants 🥐

Look, at this point I think we can all agree that Eddie and Venom will swoon over anyone whose taller, beefier and can deadlift them. Remember Requests are Open.

Thank you for reading my shite. Stay Hydrated.

[moo-blogging]

Hi~Love your late night thoughts 💕would you be able to do a story in modern AU where Levi is a gangster member and he met the doctor/nurse female reader at the hospital while bringing his injured self in?

Hello stranger ~ Thank you so much for reading my thoughts, I am super happy you love them. And thank you so so much for requesting, I love your idea!! Sorry it took me some time to write because words aren't flowing :(

1 ModernAU Levi x Nurse female reader coming up! Enjoy :)

Late night thoughts #56:

A bloodied man stumbled through the double doors and collapsed on the floor. Gasps overtook the bustling Emergency Room as people jumped away from the man. All eyes were on him. Nobody breathed.

'Where is the fucking doctor...' the man groaned. The amount of blood on him had struck fear in the people in the room, even the experienced medics hesitated.

Inhaling deeply, the security guard plucked up his courage and approached the man. 'Sir? Sir? Can you hear me?' he asked. But as soon as he saw the tattoo on the back of his palm, he gasped and moved away.

A two headed snake coiled around his index and middle finger, the symbol of the infamous mob. Now the pieces had finally come together, and nobody wanted to get involved into this mess involving gangsters.

'Well? Are you going to let me die here? In a fucking hospital?' the man coughed blood as he glared at the security guard. The 6 feet 5 guard stared back at him helplessly. Helping him might be costly.

You were too busy to notice the man by the door, but the whispers in the Emergency Room became too loud to ignore. 'What is it?' you asked the nurse standing closest to you.

'A gang member just came in, blood and all. He's on the floor now but nobody wants to take him.' The nurse tilted her head towards the direction of the doors.

'We are a hospital, we treat everyone.' You scribbled the heart rate and oxygen level of your patient onto the report.

'Not if they can't pay. We get paid by their bills.' The nurse said flatly. 'Besides, this one looks like trouble.'

'Well, that's why we have to make sure they live to pay their bills,' you dropped the report into the pouch by the bed, 'he looks like he's dying now' and you jogged towards the man.

The injured man was struggling to push himself up. You knelt by his side, your knee soaked in his blood, and asked 'can you pay your medical bills?'

Spitting a mouthful of blood, he glared at you with his spiteful grey-ish blue eyes. 'With cash.'

'Good, I have a bed for you. Let me help you up,' You threw his arm over your shoulders and firmly grabbed him waist, supporting him as your pulled him through the watchful crowd to the last bed at the end of the alley. The man groaned as he tried to limped at your pace, but you were not slowing down. You knew time was essential right now. And he had lost a lot of time on the floor.

'My name is y/n and I am your nurse. What's your name?' You asked him as you sat him down on the bed. You dragged the curtains for privacy.

Hesitating, he said 'Levi.'

'Ok, Levi, do you want to share what brought you here?' You pulled the equipment cart from the next bed and picked out a pair of scissors. 'I need to cut your clothes.' You announced.

Looking away, Levi swallowed and nodded. You quickly cut off his blood soaked T-shirt and dropped it onto the floor with a wet slap. You studied his body, lean and muscled, but also dotted with scars and fresh cuts. You found several deep cuts across his torso and arms. But a huge cut on his right shoulder grabbed your attention, a clear sign of stabbing.

'Your pants have to go too,' you suspected more injuries on his legs as the bedsheet turned red beneath him. Levi remained silent as you cut his slacks. You found more cuts on his outer thighs, but not as serious as the one on his shoulder. 'Blood lost,' you mumbled to yourself. You grabbed a bottle of disinfectant, a tray of cotton balls, needles and thread from the equipment cart and started to patch Levi up immediately.

Soaking the cotton balls with pungent disinfectant, you worked on the wound on his shoulder first. Bright fresh blood oozed out from the cut, flowing through Levi's fingers as he pressed on the wound, trying in vain to stop the blood. 'Hands off,' you removed his hand as more blood flowed out. Staring into his eyes, you told him 'this will sting' and you pressed the soaked cotton onto his wound.

Levi flinched, a cry escaped between his gritted teeth. Wiping off the blood on his skin, you could see the hole clearly. You started to sew his wound up. He looked away as your needles pierced through on his skin.

'You are pale from the blood lost,' you told him as you see the contrast of your complexion and his.

'I am pale like this,' he mumbled. Moving his eyes, he stole a glance at you. Your brows were slightly frowning in focus as you moved the tweezers smoothly on his skin. You hair was tied into a tight bun behind your head, strands of hair sticked out in all direction.

'Maybe you should audition as the next vampire for Twilight, at least that doesn't require you to bleed,' you had put 17 stitches on him but still the wound was big.

'Why would you help me?' Levi coughed, 'aren't you afraid of me?' He finally turned his head to look at you fixated on patching him up. He studied your face, seeing how your lashes curled unevenly, freckles and small pores dotted your forehead and you had a birthmark beneath your ear.

'Because you pay my bills,' you said flatly, not looking away from your hands.

'Is that all you care about? Money?' Levi sounded disappointed. He thought you would say something else.

'Let's be realistic here, our life revolves around money,' You tied a small knot at the end of your stitches. 'And between the two of us, you look like a dying cat.' You lifted your face and stared into his eyes. Frowning, he looked into yours too, pupil dilating slightly. He could see you were genuine. The way you looked at him was... something raw and pure. He swallowed nervously.

'Can I borrow your phone? I think I lost mine. I need someone to bring money to pay your bills,' Levi held his hand out. Signing, you fished your phone from your pocket, unlocked it with a simple password before handing it to him. He took your phone and started dialing. You focused your attention on the smaller cuts around his torso and thighs.

You jumped as something vibrated beneath the sheets of the hospital bed.

'Oh, guess I didn't lose my phone,' Levi pulled a phone with a broken screen from the sheets, showing your phone number on it. 'I can even pay for your dinner. What time are you getting off?' He blurted before he could stop himself. He tried to keep a poker face but his heart was pounding so hard he was sure his whole body was shaking.

Rolling your eyes, you pressed a disinfectant-soaked cotton onto a cut on his torso. Levi flinched and dropped his phone onto the floor. You smirked as you continued patching him up.