#also when people make those sorts of jokes they often like. talk about the scene in a way that feels kinda sexualized

[sonknuxadow]

i dont particularly care for sonelise and i do think that elise kissing sonic was kinda weird and unnecessary and i dont think its bad for people to express this opinion but god i cant stand the "sonic made out with a human in sonic 06" jokes because for one theyre overdone and beating a dead horse but also thats such a huge exaggeration of what actually happened have none of you actually watched that cutscene

[st4vk1nmybra1n]

I love you, don't act so surprised?!

cont: Model!Gojo x GN!reader, sweet sweet gojo and his silly thoughts!! Wc: 1.5k.

Lovestruck. A little stupid, admittedly. Not charming, and surely not as cool. That's how Gojo Satoru would describe himself in the presence of the only person who can tolerate his ideas, sometimes even surpassing his stupidity to give him a reality check and shut him up. Like really quickly. To the point where he feels embarrassed for himself. And he never feels embarrassed about his beautiful brain and its beautiful thoughts. He knows everything about him is beautiful. I mean– he's a model for a reason, you know?

You were sort of an enigma. You weren't his manager, but sometimes he wishes he could just have you be his manager because you were just that good at making him seem like a saint. He faintly thinks it must be because of those really expensive media training classes his dad paid for. The one that he, you, and suguru had taken. Not like he really paid attention then. Oh well! He has a pretty face, why should he hold back his words? Though he'd definitely argue you'd make a better model. You had the media training, the professionalism, the skill, the knowledge (about a lot of things. Some things, more than the other. But you were smart!), and you definitely had the looks! 

You were gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous. You had the right features. No matter what anyone else thinks, he's sure he could probably capture your beauty with a camera. He's no photographer or whatever, but even he knows you can look good under any circumstances. Whenever he watches back his interviews and any and every video of him on the internet (which he does because he knows he's hot. That's it.), you always seem to capture his eyes. You're not even the main focus of the videos in most cases. You appear briefly, fixing his hair or telling him to straighten up a bit more. Or maybe the camera pans to you when you're behind the scenes, grinning at the camera as you make a cheeky remark about him. He thinks you look.. a little too good when you're feeling sly..

You have your own job and life going on, but it's so heavily ingrained in his head that his days can't pass without you in them. It's like the day's exhaustion washes away when he shows up at your doorstep after a long day of shooting. Or when you show up in the morning with waffles for breakfast, first thing in the morning when you know he has a big shoot coming up. He just loves you– or well– spending time with you (???), nothing more. Yeah, for sure!

Most people feel nervous in his presence. He knows he exudes an energy of confidence and self assurity. It may sound egotistical but it's simply a truth, a fact everyone knows. He's not surprised when people stammer and stumble over their words when talking to him, or when their eyes wander over him. He knows it's only natural for them. It's something he doesn't pay much mind to, it just makes him feel even more satisfied. Whenever he'll crack a joke, they'll crack a smile, laugh with their cheeks tinted. It almost feels as though he's entertaining them. Don't get him wrong, he loves being ogled at, but he needs entertainment too! Then there's people who look at him in such a way where he can see the gears of creativity churning in their heads. All the ways they could film him, all the angles they could use to photograph him to bring out his best (which is also something that's just him existing), all the ways they could draw him or paint him. He's observant like that, he sees it all.

But for you, Shoko, and Suguru, it's different. His friends don't have that look of wonder or nervousness when they look at him. They're all used to it, he knows. After spending so many years together, it's clear that's the case. Suguru himself was into photography, though not as much to pursue it as more than a hobby. Suguru often did capture photos of satoru. But he didn't care to skirt around the subject when he felt satoru was doing something he hadn't envisioned. He would tell satoru straight up to pose again, and 'leave out the sass this time'. His friends won't hesitate to shut him up if he says something stupid, maybe even whack him against the back of his head. They don't care to sugarcoat their words, or to conceal the fact that they'll laugh in his face if he does something that they think is stupid. And he likes that! It's something he especially likes about you. That when he cracks a joke, you'll double down with something funnier that'll send everyone into another 10 minute laughing fit. He likes it when he asks if you could pass him something, and you answer 'no' with the straightest face ever, as you hand him the mentioned object. He likes when he asks you a dumb question, you answer with something even dumber. Sometimes to add to the joke, sometimes to humble his stupidity.

 Oh, and he loves when he's taking a video and he calls you over, you'll look up at the mention of your name, and instinctively smile as you see his camera. He loves it when you give him and Suguru ideas on their next photoshoot, demonstrating Satoru's potential poses with a dramatic face, sometimes breaking out into a cheeky grin as you tried imitating satoru. He loves when you get sassy and cheeky, he loves it when you know you've caught him slacking, your knowing and sly grin making him feel even more heated than he could imagine. He probably mentioned that earlier, too. He loves way too many things about you. Next thing you know, he probably loves you! But that's not true.. definitely not! 

He's also a liar. He does love you. A lot. A recent revelation. Shamefully, he thinks the way that most people get nervous around him is oddly reminiscent of how he is around you. Except, he's not boring and dull. If anything, he makes the funniest jokes ever! His eager eyes are always finding your frame everytime he cracks a joke, just to see you burst out laughing at him. He's made himself the butt of the joke more times than he can count, just to see you give him a sarcastic and satire response, or even better– when you laugh at him. Maybe it's a twisted feeling, to feel joy from such a thing. But he really could handle doing anything if it meant seeing you smile at him.

"You've been locked up here for an hour. Do you wanna start getting ready for our photoshoot or do you wanna continue to stare at that photo frame of you and your.. family." Suguru's voice interrupts his thoughts, his brow raised at his friend as he looks over at Satoru, who had been staring at a picture of you, him, and your cinnamoroll plushie and his digimon plushie. 

Satoru remembers that day. It was after Suguru had finished taking pictures of him, and you'd been sitting just watching, with his treasured plushie in your hand, while your own cinnamoroll plushie was also seated on your lap. "Let's get a photo of the whole family. Satoru and I, and our two sons!" You chimed in, rushing into the frame as you leaned in against Satoru. You both took a sequence of photos, ranging from bright grins on your faces, to your faces completely serious, like a true family portrait. And then later on his birthday, you gifted him a large frame of the photo (alongside other gifts, of course), which he put up in his bedroom, without even having to put much thought into it. 

"Are you gonna confess? Stop staring at that frame and do something about it." Suguru chided, clicking his tongue. 

"Give me a break! I only just realized like.. 2 weeks ago. I need time to process everything!" He responded to Suguru, tone whiney and dramatic.

"2 weeks too late, maybe. We all noticed like, 2 years ago. You're late to the party. Do something about it before I do something about it." Suguru threatened loosely, placing his hands on his hips.

"Ey! You can't do that! Mine. Mine only." Satoru gasped in offense, brows furrowed as he crossed his arms, lips forming into a pout.

"I meant I'd air out your business, not ask them out, you idiot!" Suguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Oh. Oh! That's good for him, Satoru thinks. He plans on telling you, sooner or later. But sometimes, he just likes to stare at you and admire what you have already. But he knows he can't risk it. You're more gorgeous than he is, and that's saying something. He knows there's a chance someone may come in and sweep you off your feet, and he would never allow someone as beautiful as you to end up with someone who isn't him. It's simple logic, really. An ethereal person such as you, only deserves someone who's as breathtaking as you. Not to toot his own horn, but he's pretty sure he's the only one who fits that criteria. It's just meant to be! You and him. He's known it deep down inside all along. He wouldn't have it any other way, of course.

side note: i just wanna add that i almost LOST the ENTIRE fic and cried for 10 mins before i eventually found out how to restore it! so i hope you guys enjoy this as much as i did <3333

[kiriekonamistan]

Sonic Underground Headcanons!

WHOO! Hyperfixation time again, bois!

This's a LOOOOOng one, so it's all under the cut. :)

•In some scenes Queen Aleena had been shown wearing a yellow cloak or cape with a yellow heart-shaped thing at the collar (I'd assumed it was a clasp of some sort); I headcanon that heart-shaped clasp is also a locket. On one side is a picture of herself, her husband, and Uncle Chuck while on the other side is a baby photo of the triplets.

•The reason the triplets didn't find Tails on their journey to reunite with Aleena is because she found him first. While Tails and Aleena travel around together he talks about machinery and tech teaching her about how to work around and evade Robotnik's security, while she provides a much needed constant support to him.

•Lady Windameer, Feral, and Sonic's adoptive parents knew the kids they'd found(/been given in Feral's case) were the missing royal triplets. Maybe not at first, but they all realized it at some point and kept that fact a secret.

•Sonic's early life was more isolated than Sonia and Manic's combined. First raised in a cabin off the grid and far from anyone but his parents, then kept a secret from the rest of the world by the Resistance while living in a bunker beneath a scrap heap with Uncle Chuck. He was probably both excited to meet new people (especially his siblings), but also very suspicious of everyone he met incase they were Robotnik's spies.

•Aleena and Manic share a love of practical jokes; while Manic is open and unapologetic about his pranks Aleena hides the fact that she likes, or has ever played a single prank in her life from most people. Only the people who're close to her know this secret.

•Uncle Chuck gave Sonic his love of chili dogs. Since the ration packs Robotnik produced tasted like (and often were made of) sawdust Chuck stockpiled natural ingredients and cooked Sonic a meal the kid hadn't tasted in years, his foster parents' recipe for chili dogs.

•Sonic was the most comfortable of the triplets with crossdressing, not only for disguises but in general. This led to Sonia and Mindy using him as a living manikin for testing out new outfits.

•Manic "knows a guy/girl" who can trade stuff to their group for just about anything. The van blew a flat tire? Manic knows a girl who works in a chop-shop and is willing to barter for belt buckles. Sonic caught a nasty illness and needs medicine? Manic knows a guy who can hook them up with a prescription for that, y'know under the counter.

•Before Mindy and her father were forced to flee their manor she was Sonia's primary source of high-fashion magazines, clothes, makeup, and accessories. After "the incident" at house La'Tour Sonia teaches Mindy a lot about how to mend and alter her preexisting clothes.

•Manic struggles with issues of self-worth. (he feels like he's always fading into the background, especially around his 'more impressive' siblings)

•Sonic struggles with ideals of his purpose in life. (he was nobody really special before he was forced to go live with uncle Chuck, then a tool and weapon of the resistance, now a symbol of the Old Kingdom and Freedom and Hope. His true goal in life is undefined in his mind, but he wants to find it. Sometimes, when he make Manic truly smile or gets to hear Sonia's real not-so-lady-like laugh, he thinks he's achieved that purpose. At least for a while, but those moments will always come back to him.

•Sonia struggles with her image and how it affects her different relationships. (at first she was an heiress and student at a private academy living like and aristocrat's child should, but she always had a wild side which she was taught to keep under wraps. She loves rock and punk music, but trying to mix that interest with her classical studies leads to reprimanding, disgust, and concern from teachers and her fiancé, Bartleby.

Then in a single night her role in the hierarchy is ripped like a rug out from under her; she's told she has a sibling, and not just one, but two brothers she'd never heard of before a SWATbot raid. She's told her mother isn't who she thought she was, that her biological mother is Queen Aleena, and the woman she called 'mom' has been roboticized. She's told that she's destined to join a rebellion and fight against the very system she lived safely, comfortably within for over a decade and a half- her entire life up to this point.

Sonia has lived a rigid life of black and white, authority and rebels, classical and rock, outrageous and righteous, the Empire and the Rebellion. Trying to reconcile the two clashing halves of her life is never easy, but her family and friends make it easier for her where they can.)

•In the episode where the triplets visit the castle (the one with the mirror portals) Aleena had been there for an entire day before her children showed up and enjoyed spying on them from within the reflections of the castle. She needed confirmation they were still safe and well. If she 'accidentally' startled some bats which freaked out one of the kids or cast an ominous shadow over them, that was her own business and no one else. (Refer to the prior headcanon about Aleena loving pranks.)

•QUEEN ALEENA IS A KIND, LOVING, AND WONDERFUL MOTHER. Yes she sent her children away, if you listen to the opening theme you'll understand why. Yes she stayed in hiding for roughly sixteen years, she and her family were being hunted by an evil dictator. I refuse to believe Aleena would be anything but kind, understanding, and loving to all of her children.

•While she doesn't have her own medallion carved from the Power Stone in Mobodoon, Aleena does carry a flute once owned by her late husband which contains a retractable blade made of a type of stone. This weapon is not traceable by Robotnik's sensors.

•The Kingdom of Acorns exists across a stretch of ocean due north-north-east of the Kingdom of Mobodoon. These two kingdoms had strong ties and friendly relations before Robotnik's rise to power in the Acorn Kingdom and his later conquest of Mobodoon. This is why a statue of King Max existed in Mobodoon.

•Sleet and Dingo are queer platonic. No I will not elaborate.

•After meeting Aleena, Tails builds a device to track the Chaos Emeralds for her. Shortly after this she sends Tails on his own special mission. This leads him right into the path of the triplets who he doesn't know or recognize. Aleena had told him about her children and their fight against Robotnik, but never mentioned their names or what they look like. From the time they meet onward Tails becomes and honorary member of the band, but is sent away from the front-lines to live at Sanctuary instead. He instantly bonds with Cyrus the Lion.

•Tails brings back a lot of memories to Sonic, memories of Uncle Chuck. Times when he would listen to the elder hedgehog tapping into different radio frequencies and relay messages. Being taught which wire goes where and how to fix Chuck's old, beat up van (the same one the kids later drive around cross-country). Even memories of his firs mission as a part of the resistance... and how badly it turned out.

•All of the royal kids used to get an extra present for holidays and their birthdays. Aleena made certain to either hand-make something with all the love she could give or find something she thought they'd like. She had to use unconventional methods of delivering these gifts, though, she was still a fugitive and couldn't directly contact any of them after all.

•Aleena's late husband had been a wandering knight before becoming her personal guard. After they were wed he couldn't be her personal knight anymore, so he recommended a very talented and promising soldier named Argus. (yep, that guy the kids meet up with at one point who gets roboticized.)

•The kids' father didn't have super speed or strength or anything like that. He and Chuck were brothers from the same tiny village far off in the mountains, secluded from the rest of Mobodoon. He was just a guy who wanted to seek out an adventure, discover whatever his calling would be, and find his place in the world. He was a calm, encouraging, good-natured hedgehog with a strong sense of justice and the will to protect others. Before meeting Aleena he thought all aristocrats and nobles were arrogant, greedy people with no concern for the lower classes. After meeting her he changed his mind... marginally.

•Aleena was much less formal when she was younger, though she always tried to be a little bit reserved. Before they were married, or even dating, her late husband encouraged her to be less hard on herself and let loose once in a while. They would race around a village square, Aleena's fancy clothes getting scraped and dirty while her knight tripped and fumbled heels-over-head into the village's fountain.

•After the war is won and peace finally begins Sonic signs a document to abdicate the throne. (I've always been under the impression that Sonic was born first, then Sonia, then Manic. That's just the vibes they give me, though. Everyone is allowed to have their own headcanons.) This decision gives Sonia the title of Crown Princess.

•At some point after the war Mobodoon needs to send and envoy to the Kingdom of Acorns to check on their neighbors and alert them that Robotnik is dead. (I can't see the story coming to an end without killing him off.) Manic really, really doesn't want to go at first and the rest of his family acknowledges his feeling on the matter but the rest of them are swamped with work trying to rebuild and reconstruct what little was left of the aristocracy.

Manic is noticeably more eager to return to the Kingdom of Acorns, specifically a place known as Knothole Village the next time any discussion about foreign envoys is brought up. Sonia thinks it has to do with that photograph in her brother's room of some red-headed chipmunk in a blue vest.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I remember you mentioning A court of Thorns and roses in your posts once when talking about malleus character archetype. Have you read acotar series? If so I really want to know what you think about it. Your post is how I found out this series. It's pretty meh 😕 to me but I would really like to read your thoughts on it 😊. Also are non twst related ask allowed? If not I'm truly sorry😥. You can just ignore this ask

Oh god 😅 That was such a long time ago that I can’t even locate the original post where I made that comment…

To summarize what I said then, I had expressed that the way Malleus is presented to us reminds me of the bad boy supernatural love interests in romantasy novels.I believe the online book community colloquially refers to these characters as “Shadow Daddies” and I find that hilarious. To clarify, I do NOT mean to say that Malleus is Yuu’s “canon” love interest or anything like that. When I say that Malleus is “like” a Shadow Daddy, it’s just in the tropes they share. (For example, being overpowered, brooding, and misunderstood as a “bad guy” when, in actuality, he has a heart of gold and is just lonely.)

… I’ve actually seen multiple posts comparing Malleus and Rhysand, if you can believe that 💀

The rest of my response isn’t really TWST related, so I’ll put it under the cut for ya ^^ I tried to keep my thoughts concise and free of spoilers.

But to your question! Yes, I actually have read the first three books of ACOTAR but not the novella (A Court of Frost and Starlight) or the sequel, A Court of Silver Flames. I got into the series because it was highly recommended within its genre, but I came out of it really disappointed. I continued reading hoping that it would get better, but it really did not.

Maas has this really melodramatic and yet simultaneously juvenile way of writing dialogue that does not mesh well with what I’m looking for in a romantasy read. She’ll have characters give exposition or speeches that go on for like 10 pages straight and also have supposedly wise ancient fae cracking potty jokes like a middle schooler trying to impress their friends. It makes the books a lot longer than they have to be. In actuality, the plot involves a lot of running around and having all the right questions answered by conveniently placed chess pieces. I also did not enjoy the vague world building (like several side characters are never given proper names and instead are always referred to by title) and the near-constant mention of mating bonds. What I did like was how Maas wrote action scenes and descriptions (even if they often veer into purple prose). She also comes up with some unique concepts—but the execution of those concepts isn’t great, so the ideas are left sort of shallow and floating there waiting to be fully realized.

Romantasy and fairy tale retellings are some of my favorite things to read, so I was sad that I didn’t think that highly of this beloved series. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book I’ve been able to seriously get immersed in 😔 ACOTAR’s explosive popularity has led to many other authors trying to replicate Maas’s success, which has flooded the market with horni fae books and even similar titles (“A [noun] of [nouns] and [nouns]”). (And as someone who does NOT find Malleus attractive at all, you can imagine I’m not thrilled.) I have really mixed feelings about that… While of course I don’t mind if people enjoy ACOTAR or ACOTAR-adjacent books, I dislike that it makes up the bulk of what is marketed to me. It makes it a lot harder to find something that’s more suited to my tastes.

If anyone seeing this post is interested in trying out ACOTAR, I caution you that it is a “new adult” book, meaning it is intended for older teens (I would recommend 18+, honestly). There is a lot of violence and… explicit intimate scenes… in the series.

[shipandrunforit]

Dropping some Heartsteel head cannons I have bc these thoughts won’t leave me alone and I’m curious how much they are going to tie in magic with this (bc Kayn and Ezreal still have their powers)

Kayn and Rhaast

Was a street kid growing, something happened that lead to him being orphaned and living on the streets for a few years

Accidentally released rhaast while trying to steal things from a museum, Rhaasf was not happy about having the situation and tried to leave but Kayn didn’t let him go out of spite.

Two slowly grew to be friends but aren’t the healthiest of friends with Kayns ego feeding into Rhaast, especially when their on stage, and Rhaast has a tendency to voice and pressure kayn to follow through on intrusive thoughts or actions.

Rhaaat was the one who thought of them entering the music industry (wanted everyone’s eyes on him) and so they worked their ass off to get into the industry.

Rhaast also enjoys the dramatics, got very board sitting in the weapon for years and enjoys putting on a show and being a show off.

Ezreal

Was sort of like those Disney kids from the Mickey Mouse club, was how he got into the industry at such a young age. (Also could be why kayn calls him the pop star Prince, is bc he was everywhere for a while).

Is an orphan and is being raised by his uncle

Not sure how he got teleportation when he doesn’t seem to have the gauntlet but he very much loves using his abilities to jump around the city and do parkour.

Would probably also use it to sneak out at times either to hide from his old manager when he was in trouble

First time he did this in front of the boys was bc he was too lazy to walk to the kitchen and he scared the crap out of K’Sante, still make jokes about it.

The dog sleeps in his room, was also the one to name the dog.

Good af editing, especially on computers

Yone

Started out as a dj and went to music school and even taught his brother a few basics of being a dj as well.

Still had a falling out with his brother bc he saw how bad the industry was and didn’t want Yasuo to get involved. Led to them having a fight and haven’t really talked since

Is very into mythology and folklore (is why for his section of music video we see the azukana spirt. Is also partially bc I have no fucking clue how else to tie that part of his backstory into this).

Boys played a prank on him by switching his coffee once, long story short they all (including Rhaast) collectively agreed never to do this again bc of how terrifying the results of this prank where

Yone is one of the best drawers in the group besides Sett and the two talk about animations sometimes (Yone animated the fox in his section)

Has made the boys Dino nuggets at one point

Sett

Is a big fan of comics, animation, and pfp fighting games

Did the drawings for his section as well as the animations for the background (am referring to that scene in the end of the music video)

Dad was a boxer who left when Sett was young

Sett also knows how to box and worked as a boxer for a bit as well as a bouncer maybe. Rap was more of a hobby but when he got signed onto a record label he switched to doing it full time

Punched the paparazzi bc they were harassing his mom

Favorite anime’s include jojo’s bizar adventures and one punch man

Meet Apjelious before Heartsteel at a meuseum that showcasing a new planetarium exhibit. Two hit it off and are now dating.

Aphelios and Alune

He and his sister were involved in choir when they were younger

Alune went off to college to get her degree in business in management and aphelios went stayed home and did his music.

Aphelios lost his voice either due to medical reasons or because of an accident, Alune transferred to a closer college to be with her brother when the news broke out.

Aphelios had a hard time getting further in the industry, was often discredited or people wouldn’t want to work with him bc it was “too much of a hassle”.

Was nervous for his sister to meet Sett only to realize the two get along great and would 100% commit crimes together

Is also a gamer and will do dates with Sett that’s just them playing video games or Sett listening to him ramble on about movie or video game scores.

Aline was very chill with the boys breaking into the studio bjt did tell them not to break anything (spoilers, they did and she was not happy about it).

Alune is the older sibling and will tease her brother and the other boys and is not afraid to fight them if push comes to shove.

K’Sante

Has written and preformed a lot of songs before Heartsteel

Used to work on songs with his ex boyfriend but the two spit up due to the strain working together put on their relationship

Is the relationship expert in the group and will give the others advise or flirting or planning dates or anything else they need help with if they ask.

Loves going to the gym with Sett, might have been how the two of them meet in the first place. They got to talking about music at one point and when they found out the other was looking for someone to collaborate with they decided to work together.

Spot for one another when in the gym

Is the other mom friend of the group but a lot more chill, let’s them get away with more things then Yone would

Is good at filming and old school editing. He and Ezrael did most of the did for the music video and let the others scribble one what they compiled then approved it.

Was against the coffee incident and straight up left the building when it happened.

[sarcastictissy]

It is actually not unreasonable for people to be making comments such as “the qsmp should not come back for a season 2 within a few months” because from just a financial and legal standpoint, they are going to need a lot of time to get everything sorted out. I expected when the initial news broke of the issues behind the scenes that they wouldn’t have everything resolved until 2025 anyway. These things take time to do right, and it’s not unreasonable to want them to actually take that time.

In the end that is what a lot of people are talking about when they react with those sentiments. Some are venting frustrations and being dramatic, some have a general idea of just how long fixing a mess like this takes. But chastising us for expressing our desires that the qsmp team really take the time needed to set everything right is a bit unnecessary. Please extend some of the understanding you give to Quackity Studios to the fans who also want to see this project continue but are deeply concerned about them rushing the process of solving their internal issues.

As I said in the post, I completely agree with people wanting the studios to take their time in organising things behind the scenes. Unsure if it was a translation error or If I worded things wrong etc, but what's unrealistic is people assuming when things will get resolved. Like I said, we don't know what is going on behind the scenes and to say things like "qsmp better not return before 2025" is an unrealistic statement as we don't know how far along they are to beginning a new server. I don't honestly believe they have even started reconstructing/ creating a new server yet, but I don't know. None of us do.

I do apologise if my post seemed ignorant or rude. It was not my intention. I was merely trying to get through to people that putting expectations on when the new server should or shouldn't be up by, is unrealistic.

I do genuinely hope for a better future of qsmp and I'm willing to wait as long as necessary. Please do not think I am trying to rush this process or anything like that. Trust me when I say this server deserves to be successful but only if the admins are treated fairly and respectfully.

Hope this helped cleared things up. You're welcome to ask further questions if not and I'll answer as clearly as possible :)

TW: suicide!! Below cut

I've also seen doomposting such as "if qsmp returns within 5 months I'll ki11 mys3lf." And things like that which is heavily concerning, even as a joke. Those sorts of posts are very damaging and are often not tagged correctly.

[saccharinescorpion]

oh christ i typed up way too many thoughts about the Teal Mask story

spoilers of course

TO BEGIN WITH literally everything here has a big ol’ asterisk with “subject to change” attached to it, i was surprised at how much of a “to be continued” ending the main story had and i’m trying not to get my hopes too high for Indigo Disk, but wowzers

Carmine’s line about tourism… i have a lot of feelings, but the one looming over my head like a fucking sword of Damocles is “did the writers not intend this to have as much weight as i am ascribing to it lmao” because it’s only the one line and GOD i don’t want to be the “reading too much into stories for babies” person all the time but!! But!!!!

(recalls the scene where Nemona talks to you about feeling isolated because of her talent and recalls my feeling of “why was this only in one scene where she flatout looks at the camera and says this”)

well even if it’s not supposed to be “that” important-

1) sure makes the TCG Tournament in Hawaii feel even more bitterly ironic lmao (obligatory yes i know the game writers are not responsible for most stuff that happens in the wider franchise i’m just SAYING it’s ironic)

2) GOSH it sure does make those ugly jokes people kept making about Carmine even grosser than they already were (if you don’t know what i’m talking about, Don’t Worry About It)

As someone on twitter said it feels weird to have this sort of plot point after not exploring it at all in the game with the Hawaii analogue. at the same time i do have to wonder if it was a response to working on those games and doing some thinking. Who can say

God ALL of that was for one line

KIERAN!! Okay, i know i’ve been giving Kieran a lot of shit but his plot progression is genuinely very compelling. recent games have been exploring the “rival who feels inadequate” type of character but this is the first time one has gone off the deep end like this, and i really hope they push it into interesting places

Cutesy shy “oh gosh oh wowzers” pre-development Kieran… in the end i did feel a bit charmed by how sincere he is for the record!

but also i’m genuinely so glad he ended up having Inner Darkness lol

Sorry Kieran i just don’t like it when it feels like the writer is trying way too hard to make me say “i want to protect you”

By extension sorry Wally lmao because he really was the ancestor of this type in the Pokemon franchise

I tried not to take the fact that i really didn’t want the damn Ogerpon too personally lol, this is one of those moments where i really had to force myself to step back and remember that these games are not for me, they are for tiny children who often really do buy into the Gotta Catch Em All thing and probably felt some genuine inner turmoil at this

But god like, please. I have my giant puppy lizard who makes vroom vroom noises. Ogerpon you are so cute but we can never have the bond i have with my bike

Kieran falling to his knees after the last battle genuinely got me, so did him punching the shrine even with the dumb “owie ><” gag afterwards

OKAY talking about the battles damn Kieran and Carmine were tough opponents i had to try Kieran’s last fight like three times (admittedly because i was using my weaker Kitakami team but STILL)

Kieran feeling bad for the ogre was projecting “THIS CHARACTER FEELS LIKE AN OUTCAST” and i picked that up loud and clear, and that was good, but i wish they actually… made him seem like an outcast?

Don’t get me wrong, Kieran definitely has self-confidence issues, issues with talking to others, anxiety issues (possibly), and that can easily make someone feel like an outcast

But i feel like there’s a big difference between that and someone (Ogerpon and her trainer) who is actively shunned and mistreated by the people around them, and i was really hoping for that from Kieran

It’s just the Pokemon thing of finding it hard to depict people really being actively malicious (see Penny and Team Star’s bullies and their enablers all doing their thing off-screen and then leaving off-screen)

But it’s doubly weird because they didn’t have much issue with showing characters in this story being terrible (Carmine)

Carmine!!! Her terribleness was genuinely so entertaining, a lot of the time i was simultaneously laughing and thinking “oh people are going to be SO mad”

But real talk for all my love of Girls Who Suck i do actually kind of get where some people are coming from, she is genuinely very abrasive and unpleasant at times, and though i don’t agree at least i can tell where the character hate is stemming from (unlike some of the absolute batshit stuff i saw about Geeta and Nemona, don’t get me staaaarted)

And speaking of… okay i feel like i’m pushing it even talking about this but i feel it would be dishonest to pretend that i’m not thinking about it

SOOOO the “it’s not like i hit him” line… another case of “did the writers intend this to be as big as it is in my mind,” combined with uhhh writers from a different generation than me, let’s say

For now i will interpret that at face value, but like… damn, i don’t think that reads as you want it to especially in a Pokemon game

Carmine pleaseeeeeee say you’re sorry to Kieran in Indigo Disk please please please i know she apologized for leaving him in the dark but my dearest dream is for her to apologize for being so mean to him all the time. she needs to just treat him better in general. please i will forgive Kieran having to apologize for taking the mask if we can do this please

I know i know cultural differences but we already had Clavell apologize for the failures of the school system, this isn’t THAT big of  a stretch

I am genuinely curious if Indigo Disk will pull a reverse plot twist and reveal Ogerpon’s trainer to be a bad person or reveal that he was the one to attack the Loyal Three first because if not DAMN we’re just going to have some flat out evil Pokemon? that we can potentially put on a team with Ogerpon?????

Ogerpon is a silly lil girl :)

I still haven’t done Perrin’s plot lol

[greenerteacups]

GTC how could you, this broke my heart 😭

“I had no choice! Are you joking? You’re Lord Malfoy! A real boy, with real parents, a real life! Saint Draco of Gryffindor Tower, always sneering, always lording over the high ground! First man in history to get Snape and McGonagall wrapped around his fucking pinky, with your perfect marks and your prefect's badge and your do-gooder pals — you’ve had a good life all but shoved down your throat, and you still think you have the right to talk about hard choices? Sorry to trouble you, sir, but I’m Theodore fucking Nott, and I broke the world. And you’re free. So don’t talk to me about death sentences.”

also i LOVE that draco has both severus snape and minerva mcgonagall wrapped around his pinky, making this little piece of GTC-canon my whole personality now 🥹

Thank you, beloved. Loved writing that scene, so glad you enjoyed/despaired entirely at it.

While I also am tickled by the concept, you reminded me of what I liked about that tiny little Snape/McGonagall comparison. (This isn't to say it's wrong, there's just Layers to it that I wanted to ramble about.) Contextually, it comes packaged inside a broader declaration about how Theo sees Draco — that is, an idealized lightning-rod for Theo's envy and pent-up frustrations about his own life — which is at a stark contrast with Draco's perspective. While Snape's favoritism is pretty easy to infer from the godfather-relationship and the fact that Snape just... generally is not slick with it (#Slytherin) I think the McGonagall part is way more informative about how transactionally Theo sees student-professor relationships! We don't know exactly what he's thinking about here — is he just assuming that Draco gets McGonagall's favor because he's a Gryffindor, leading off that remark about "Gryffindor Tower"? Or is he talking about McGonagall and Draco's relationship personally, in which case: why? McGonagall doesn't interact personally with Draco (or any particular student) often outside of class environments, and even though McGonagall clearly likes some people more than others, she's not unfair, and she doesn't abuse her power to favor them. Even when she bends the rules to give Harry a broomstick, she makes a point of trying to avoid outright breaking them (though not unrelatedly, Draco strongly believes that Harry is McGonagall's favorite, cf. "Summer's End.") And Theo doesn't even know about that incident!

So if Theo is actually making a remark about McGonagall personally, he's likely basing it on on the fact that (1) Draco is a prefect, (2) plays on the quidditch team (McGonagall's somewhat obvious soft spot), (3) is generally competent in class, or, (4) he's seeing a fondness in McGonagall's interactions with Draco that Draco doesn't. (4) is both possible and likely, considering how often Draco is surprised by the fact that people like him. (He's not good at reading affection if it isn't effusive fawning or communicated by insult.) But it's a far, far jump from that to "wrapped around your finger" by any stretch of the imagination, because: Minerva McGonagall? In what universe?

But to the point, the comment isn't really about McGonagall, anyway. Theo's flattening Draco's relationship with her down to a system of patronage, like the ones he's used to; it's not a mentoring bond between two people, it's just another shiny thing Draco has that he doesn't, and he shows that by describing it in terms of what Draco might be able to get out of it. It's not "she likes you," it's "wrapped around your finger," implying the possibility for manipulation and use. He's envious of Draco because Draco has options, and his access to authority figures who care about him broadens those options even more. Theo, meanwhile, is functionally orphaned, and the only person in the castle he can count on for political support is Umbridge. So there's a sort of emotional underbelly beneath that particular jab.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Sorry to give more attention to something that sucks, but I figure I'm not the only one who'd rather know than not know about a comedian I like in a case like this - remember last year, when Richard Ayoade gave that supportive quote on the cover of Graham Linehan's book? And it was disappointing, I figured that even if it's what I assume happens regularly with books like this, where they'll just get whatever famous friends they have to give some positive quote for the cover, even if those friends haven't read the book - even if it was that, that still sucks on Richard Ayoade's part, if he signed off on that for a book like this. But hey, maybe he just doesn't follow the news of which old colleagues of his have lost their minds on social media, maybe he didn't think that much about it, maybe he didn't even know what the book was about, maybe he didn't even write that quote himself. Still sucks, but doesn't necessarily mean all that much.

I fortunately wasn't a sufficiently invested fan of Richard Ayoade to be hugely upset about it. I mean, I wasn't happy. I find him very funny on panel shows and I think Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was a masterpiece. I am, however, sort of pleased that the fact that Richard Ayoade sucks now makes it more acceptable for me to say I've always found The IT Crowd overrated. Also, while he can be very very funny when he's good, his persona does get grating after a while (especially given that... look, if he's going to express support for a man who's so against people changing their outer markers to affect how they're perceived, it's worth noting that it's not his real voice). It annoys me that the running joke on Catsdown is how he's so good at it because he's such a nerd, and they keep doing that joke even though he does badly in all the games. He's not really that smart, he just puts on glasses and a nasal voice and identifies as a nerd. He often doesn't even seem like his heart is really in the persona, I think he just played one nerd in 2006 and then got typecast and stuck doing it forever. Garth Marenghi was still a masterpiece though.

Anyway, I've just been pointed to an episode of Gyles Brandreth's podcast from a few weeks ago, where Richard Ayoade featured as a guest and discussed Linehan. I listened to the relevant passage and can confirm that he did know what he was talking about when he gave that quote for the book, he talks about how Graham Linehan has been doing good work and treated unfairly, and has been accused of transphobia but really it's about women's rights. Thought I'd share that for the information of anyone who likes Richard Ayoade and, like me, would rather know that not know if a comedian we like is saying stuff like that. Sorry again for giving it more attention. I briefly considered posting the clip, but I don't think I need to spread the actual audio around - if you, like me, like to hear things from the actual source rather than relying on out-of-context secondhand accounts, you can hear it yourself on the Ayoade episode of the Rosebud podcast. But I don't really recommend doing that.

I'd love to say I'm not too upset by the Ayoade news because I don't do that kind of parasocial putting celebrities on pedestals, to the point where I'd be upset about them turning out to be bad. But that's not true, there are plenty of comedians to whom I have some scraps of faith in humanity tied, and those rare scraps would disappear if my favourite comedians came out in support of Graham Linehan. Richard Ayoade's just not one of them. It was Matthew Holness who made Garth Marenghi so great anyway. And he did a far better job in one scene than Richard Ayoade did in four seasons, of playing a nerd in an 00s sitcom that was created by a guy who's now an awful transphobe. Even in a niche as small as that, Richard Ayoade doesn't win.

In order to make this post not 100% about terrible people being terrible, I'm going to take this somewhat tenuous excuse to talk about Richard Ayoade's best friend from Cambridge, who is far better than Richard. A couple of years ago, I went to make one of my little Bugle compilations, it got out of hand as I kept adding stuff to it, and I accidentally made a feature film. I entitled it A Groundhog Day of Hatred, as it chronicled the saga of John Oliver vs. Sarah Palin, every time their careers regrettably crossed paths. In September 2023, I updated that film with a few further bits, and released a second edition, which runs at 78 minutes. It's too many minutes.

To accompany the second edition, I thought it would be funny to create a movie poster. I got one quote from the excellent @lastweeksshirttonight, but thought it needed another quote, as all good promotional images are accompanied by quotes of famous people talking up the work. I realized that actually, John Oliver's old friend/Footlights teammate had recently given one of those promotional quotes that, by coincidence, would work just as well to describe my movie as it did to describe the work that that quote was originally used to promote. In fact, it would work even better. Because the story of John Oliver trying to cover Sarah Palin's political career really is the tale of a hero's harrowing journey, unlike Linehan's shit book.

So basically, if you find Richard Ayoade's political views disappointing, you can just look at that quote he gave Graham Linehan's book, and imagine he was instead describing this:

[peach-and-bugs]

🧡Vanessa "Van" Palmer NSFW Alphabet🧡 (18+, age in bio/pinned or you will be blocked)

🧡Read the SFW Alphabet here!🧡

Fanfiction master list

disclaimer: don't repost my work. I only post on Tumblr and on Ao3. anything else is stolen and should be removed immediately

Warnings: It's all dirty [AFAB Reader/anatomy used] (18+, age in bio/pinned or you will be blocked)

Word Count: 1,644

A/N: Yall wanted it soooooo bad, so here you go! As always, feel free to leave questions or comments in my comments or ask box, and happy reading!🧡

Vanessa "Van" Palmer Tag List: @blairfox04 @kyleeservopoulos

Yellowjackets Tag List: @frasersgf @minimickzy

General Tag List: @summergeezburr

-🧡-

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Van gets sleepy after sex and will fall asleep if you let her, but she enjoys some mellow intimacy as well when all is said and done. She seems like the type to enjoy a shared shower after sex or just cuddling, maybe even reading 

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

That’s a tits woman if I’ve ever seen one. Like, it’s not in an objectifying way by any means, but if she had to pick her favorite part of you that gets her off, it's your boobs. It’s a really common joke of hers to squeeze one without warning and make the stupidest honking sound, and no matter how much you may act like you hate it she knows that you’re lying. 

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

She loves making you cum. The tight, warm feeling around her fingers and the way you press against her, grabbing at her for support while she makes you feel that way. It always boosts her ego when she can get you going quickly and cumming even quicker. She loves that dopamine smile you give her and how you practically melt like putty in her hands when you finish

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

She’s into primal sort of (though she wouldn't define it that way) but feels guilty about it because it reminds her of how she was in the wilderness. She’s concerned it comes from a place of aggression from her teens and is even more concerned that she could go too far and hurt you in some way. But she loves the feeling of nails leaving white crescent indents on her skin and she tends to bite her hand when you go down on her. 

E = Experience (how experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Ms. Plamer is very experienced. She had a very colorful sex life in college (I think she went for a few years but didn’t graduate) and that continued into her adult life.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

She loves pinning you down to the bed while she fingers you and kisses your neck. Her favorite thing is when your wrap your arm around her neck and your hand finds the back of her hair, holding her lips to your neck. She also loves the close-up view of your face as your eyes squeeze shut and you bite your lip, trying to suppress the sounds you want to make, only to eagerly let them go when she tells you she wants to hear.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? etc.)

She often attempts at being serious but she naturally jokes in nearly every situation, so it doesn't work out, despite her focus. 

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Girlfriend is all-natural. She’s never been the type to shave and she enjoys her body hair. She isn’t gonna tell anyone else what to do with their body, but she finds it strange when people actively talk about body hair like it’s a negative thing

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? The romantic aspect)

In an established relationship she’s all about romance, but kinda in a jobing way? Like, she of course loves you, and she's not making fun of that, not ever, but she does make fun of those sex scenes in those corny romance movies play out (you know, the ones she insists she doesn’t like but always ends up sticking around for). She’s the type to reference one of those scenes while getting intimate with you if you watched one recently because she knows that a cheesy oneliner is guaranteed to make you laugh, and that's what makes it intimate for her. She loves making you laugh because no one can do it the way she can, and no one else gets to hear that laugh slipping past your lips as they’re pressed against hers as she does. 

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

If she feels the need or desire to masturbate, she prefers getting off with her hands and knows what she’s doing but she doesn’t do it all that often. She’d rather have her needs met with another person over masturbating if given the choice

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Again, primal. But she doesn’t call it that because let’s face it, she’s not in on modern lingo in general, but especially not kink lingo. Other than that she’s not that kinky in my opinion. Sure, she likes being dominant, but not in a bdsm way. She prefers things more on the vanilla side compared to what some of the other girls might be into shall we say

L = Location (favorite places to do they do)

Not a location, but she loves morning sex, especially in the spring and summer when it’s warm and you wake up with the window open and the breeze coming in. She likes kissing you awake and seeing that pretty smile of yours dripping with sleep as you greet her with a horse, underused whispery voice that eventually turns into breathy moans and whimpers once she gets the go-ahead for her favorite activity. She also loves cooking breakfast after because you’re extra clingy with her

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Exposed skin. Something about you out in public wearing something that shows off just a little extra of the goods she’s used to getting her extra excited if she’s in the mood. Going swimming together is the absolute worst though because once you're home her hands are all over you, insisting that you both need a shower.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

Ignore the words “no” or “stop”. Some people are into that and have a different safe word, but the second she hears either one she’s stopping everything she’s doing and insisting that you tell her what she did wrong so she can fix it and that’s completely nonnegotiable. 

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

She prefers giving just bc she’s a giving person, but she just loves eating out and she’s extremely talented at it. She likes smiling up at you when she’s done with a stupid grin and shiny chin. 

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Fast because she likes getting her reward, but she’s very gentle about it. She’s not gonna edge you unless you explicitly ask because she’s far too driven to get you to the finish line naturally

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Not big on quickies. Maybe in the morning before opening the store, but she’d rather wait and have more time with you than take a quickie 

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? etc.)

She’s willing to experiment but she’s not keen on it. She’s completely satisfied with a routine sex life

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

With you she can go as many rounds as you like, but if it’s her receiving she gets overstimulated quite easily. She doesn’t like going back to back, so she needs time between orgasm 

T = Toys (do they own toys or use them on a partner or themselves?)

Not really into toys. She's too hands-on. She likes knowing that every bit of pleasure that you’re feeling is thanks to her rather than a toy. But if you really want to use one, she’ll give it a go. But it’ll never be her idea

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

She’s not a huge tease. She will start teasing, but she's far too eager to keep the act up and prefers getting what she wants over getting you hot and bothered because she knows she can do that much faster than she can from teasing you alone. She’s not good about being teased though. She gets easily frustrated and wants what she wants. 

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Not all that loud. Like, not screaming, but she’s not afraid to make sounds. More of a groaner than a moaner shall we say

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

I think Van could use marijuana for her own personal pain management for her cancer and sometimes that leads to sex while high, which she loves! But it’s always a lot slower, clumsier, and messier than your regular sex. There's a lot of laughing and getting distracted but it’s always a great time for the both of you.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Naturally, a more muscular build because she’s always been very active, and of course body hair + all of her scars. She has both burn scars that have faded quite a bit over time but she’s also got more scars like the ones on her face littered all over. She only says they’re from a dog attack when she was a teenager and nothing more and you don’t question it, though you know it's probably a lie. She finds comfort in the way you’ll run your fingers over her scars though. It reminds her that though the way she earned them might not have been very traditional, they’re still a part of her and her story like every scar is for every person. 

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Not that high. Sex isn’t a requirement for her honestly and it's not something she needs regularly but more like something she enjoys.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

She can fall asleep very quickly if allowed and she falls asleep hard.

[swearyshera]

Advance apology for the long ask in a likely sea of 'em. A lot of people talk about wishing they could experience something they love again for the first time, this series was genuinely as close to that as I've ever felt. Just given the span of time my attention flucuated on and off but once the latter half of s4/s5 began my attention was absolutely nailed to your feed. Its up with Dragon Ball Z Abridged as parody series that become so dramatically effective they become a valid or definitive way to experience the series. Goddamned sensational.

Your portrayals of the characters soar. They provide a hilarious, cruder take on each that still cuts right to the soul of who these people are and lays it bare, which I think is the mission of any good-natured parody. Adora, Catra, Glimmer, Scorpia, Bow, Prime etc. There is not one that does not shine. It tackled a ton of issues and misgivings I had about canon, and even elevated or clarified many scenes and arcs through addressing them a more direct fashion. You took full advantage of not having to dress up and dance around the dark subjects canon was sort of doomed to handle inadequately given its age bracket and thematic priorities. Many scenes were jawdropping. Ive raved about it before, but your scene with Glimmer actually talking about her mom with Catra still leaves me gobsmacked every time I reread it. Your big moments towards the finale btwn Adora and Catra are obviously sublime and tie their wonderful arc off fantastically, but in my heart of hearts that cell talk will be the crown jewel of this project. Loved seeing the LGBT message take center stage in way canon had to hold back. To paraphrase Tolkien, I'm can't count myself among those gifted people, and youve def got a target audience in mind, but if youve ever worried if your stories resonate on a quote unquote "more universal" level, I promise you can put those worries to bed. Since becoming an adult ive intentionally sought out more and more queer-inclusive/created stories and I havent regretted it a bit, and the rising tide of fascist sexist/homo/transphobic bile in politics gets more and more frightening. But I've also seen how strong and resilient LGBT people are in the face of it, empowering themselves in no small part thru stories like yours. Please don't ever give up on your art. The world needs artists like you. Sorry if I come off pretentious or condescending, I feel like that when I try to get everything I think out at once. I'll be among the first to come running if you ever start another project like this or make something on an even grander scale. Thank you a thousand times for this. Also writing a wholeass sitcom pilot based on an offhand quasi-joke I made is the most weirdly touching thing I think anyones ever done "for me" (at least nominally cuz of me), especially a stranger. So thank you for that too.

Aw, you'll make me cry, you know! I think you've understood everything I wanted to do with this strip (or at least, when I started thinking beyond just 'characters saying fuck'), and... yeah, it's been an incredible journey, both for the blog and for me personally.

I've always tried to keep the parody good-natured. You can often tell, particularly in parody, when the creator dislikes one particular character (I mean, Horde Prime was probably the exception here), but I love all of them, so it really comes from a place of love. It's quite odd because I never set out to "fix" the show, and I wouldn't want to, but some things I've done seem to have had such an impact that a lot of people think I have done just that.

The Glimmer/Catra conversation is absolutely one of my favourite things I've written from this. It's such a pivotal moment in both their stories and character development, and I am truly humbled that multiple people have called it 'better than canon'. Like... I'm just some person trying to be funny and occasionally serious, and people are saying something I wrote is better than what a team of experienced professional writers did? Give over, no... But it's still a moment I can be proud of.

I won't be stopping writing things. This whole blog has given me a new lease of life and something to aim towards. I've got an excellent pilot script pretty much finished, and I do want to bring Hellspawn up to that standard too (thank you for suggesting someone make a Sweary Frosta sitcom - I'm someone!). That may well involve a complete re-write, but I'll be sure to share it.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your kind words along the way. It really keeps me going :)

[revserrayyu]

2.3 Penacony thoughts [part 4]

***SPOILER WARNING*** for the ending of the 2.3 story update for everything after the Charmony Festival. This should be the last part of the story so if you haven’t finished it for yourself yet, please do return once you have.

Despite the dreammaster “forcing” Acheron out of Penacony, I was still patiently for her to show up at some point during the festival. While she didn’t make a guest appearance upon the grand ship in the sky, she did manage to get a whole scene to herself, but unfortunately, it starts right at the gravesite and I already know I’m in for an emotional ride..

I’m so happy that out of all the experiences and people she may have forgotten about, that Acheron remembers Tiernan so clearly and delivered flowers like he originally wanted: 

“What I do know is that one day, I too will pass away, and when I bid farewell to this world… Someone will stand at my grave and place a bouquet of flowers on it.” 

Also, we might not presently know who voices Tiernan, but props to them because they were a joy to listen to in the previous few patches.

I’m glad someone is smiling because I sure as fudge ain’t.

We haven’t even met these trailblazers personally and most likely never will, but to still get emotional for them despite that is truly an amazing feeling, even if it’s a highly upsetting one. You can really feel the respect the crew has for all three of them.

It’s hard for me to grasp that Gallagher “died” as well, considering he wasn’t truly alive? I don’t know what to feel for him, honestly. I kinda enjoyed that twist at the end of 2.1 where we were lead to think he was a villain, but then 2.2 happened and tossed that idea aside. I’m at least glad March and I shared the same wondering mind about what he meant by saying he was only 13. I know people have theorized it to mean he’s “death” as that number of a tarot card, but a confirmation would’ve been nice.

It was at this moment where I started to realize that each one of our faithful cremates were taking turns saying goodbye to everyone, so leaving Himeko last to speak with Mikhail was perfect.

Our lovely navigator begins with “This entire adventure started because of you, and should naturally end with you.”  Oof, talk about going full circle. That’s beautiful.

I can’t really put into words what about this moment with March made me feel. I’m certain it was also due to whatever sad, slow music was playing in the background at this point of the story too, but even I started feeling this sort of strange regret. Their lives had to be so similar as they trailblazed through space, experiencing all kinds of people, places and feelings, and you would hope and pray their lives had a good ending, but you could never be sure, so this lingering sort of emptiness fills up inside you as your words of wonder and thanks fall of deaf ears.

Man.. no matter how often I hear it, but knowing that our lives are indeed short lived compared to all the time in the world will never be easy for me to accept. I can’t even begin to tell you how frequently people tell me I’m still young and capable of doing so much with my life but knowing deep down that so much time has already passed and I had missed so many opportunities to enjoy what I have, create everlasting memories and experience a life I’d be proud of living. Even now I’m sitting here wondering if this life has been worth it and if I’ve ever been truly happy with everything that’s going on or simply finding sporadic moments of peace where I’m content enough to embrace that one feeling and ignore everything else to fool myself in thinking I’m fine with it all. Sorry, I’m delving far too deep into my own mind with this.

Seriously, we need some good jokes right about now. Get to work, Dan Heng! Why March decided to ask him instead of grandpa Welt I’ll never understand, but his dry humor is certainly great.

All those trailers, cutscenes and memorable moments.. and we’re still learning more about this woman. I truly love how deep her character is. They did a lovely job with her.

I swear if we don’t meet Acheron again at all during the rest of our journey on this sparkling silver star rail I will be heartbroken. She’s too good to simply forget!

You know a conversation is serious when we’re the ones speaking in red text! 

I’m personally lying here, by the way. I’ve never played Impact or Genshin long enough to encounter any of the other Raiden Mei lookalikes, but who cares! She shall never know! (nor will she even remember *sob*)

I believe that deja vu is such a wild feeling, to experience a scenario that seems so familiar to a moment in your past is crazy. I dunno how it is for everyone, but whenever I feel it, I always wonder if what I’m feeling in this moment is a sort of warning from my past telling me that there’s something strange or memorable about the present moment in time. I dunno how to explain it, but if our mind has to remind us that a specific moment like this has happened already, then surely it would have to be for a good reason or important in some way, right? It’s interesting to think about anyways.

Okay now, this scene.. this gorgeous image that I had to no doubt choose for the cover photo is fantastic. She’s beautiful and that gentle smile on her face makes you feel so safe and thankful that you embarked on this journey. At least, that’s what I’m personally feeling. That sense of deja vu is also coming back to me here, but I believe it’s solely because of certain words she’s speaking and Allegra’s tone of voice with them that make this all feel so familiar to me.

She continues on to say “All those things, beautiful before, are still so now. And I believe… It will still bloom at the end of Nihility, until we meet again beneath the sun’s rays,” and y’all I wanna cry with how beautiful this entire moment is. Look at our girl! Aaaahh.. I seriously don’t wanna say goodbye to her! Everything with the previous trailblazers was upsetting, of course, but saying our farewell to Acheron, someone who has been at our side (sorta kinda) since the beginning of our Penacony journey and stayed close assisting us with all the dangers we faced up until this moment.. oohh my heart hurts. It may be because I experienced these updates as they released, thus spanning over several months of time, so it feels as if Acheron has been in my life longer compared to those I met during both Belobog and Luofu stories as I zoomed through them without pause since I started playing towards the end of 1.4 and therefore didn’t have to wait for updates, but yeah. Wonderful character. Allegra deserves the upmost praise with her performance and I seriously need to pull for her next time.

Ah, you can always count on the Express family to lighten up the mood just a little bit.. just not too much since Pom-Pom is literally sobbing upon learning the status of their dearly departed friends.

Hey, it’s not our fault chaos just so happens to follow us around everywhere like we’re some kind of protagonist in a well written, engaging and exciting story! 

Nothing makes me happier when we’re given the option to can crack a couple jokes during a serious conversation.

Once again, I’m not even gonna question how or why she’s here. At this point, Black Swan seems like the perfect plot convenience that needs no explanation. 

“Charming little dragon” indeed.

Our next stop I assume? And how shall we get there if it’s “hidden away” and “only revealed by the light from the mirror of the Garden of Recollection?” Surely Black Swan would assist us, yes? At least I hope so, if it’ll mean she’s still around for a bit longer. She also mentions it’s a world “fettered by three paths” and I’m curious are to which three she’s referring to.

As per usual with ending scenes, 2.3 gives us one more surprise that also leaves me with many questions because what on earth is happening here and why and how?

Apparently this is a hard place to get into.. and yet here Jade is. She comes on the behalf of Robin’s wishes, which I pretty much assumed it would’ve been saving Sunday’s life, but the one who has to pay the heavy price is not Robin, but Sunday himself? That is if I’m understanding what’s happening here correctly. Instead of ranting about being equal to a god, he has to live as a normal citizen? It seems fine enough to us, but for him it’s probably out of his mind to even consider acting in such a way, even denying her “charity” at first.

As we learned, Jade is a very patient woman so she doesn’t expect an answer right away. She then instead leaves some parting words in the form of a warning “from someone who’s been in your shoes before” and judging by all the chains, I can’t help but think of Aventurine when she gives the following advice:

And with that.. 2.3 is finished. I know there’s a handful of side quests to do now and perhaps they might fill in some random questions I have about this entire story, but presently, I’ll say Penacony was at least a very enjoyable yet wild ride. There were many times were I was so lost in what was happening and I feel like there were too many characters, motives and ideals to keep track of, yet on the flip side there were other characters we didn’t get much information about at all and were just kinda there. Penacony did have a fantastic vibe though from all the great music, challenging bosses, and an endless amount of memorable moments whether they were emotional, jaw dropping or straight up hilarious. Was it truly “heartwarming and wholesome” like they said? Perhaps a little bit, but it was truly an exciting experience and well worth the wait and hype. Is it my favorite story arc so far? Hhmm, debatable. I still have very strong feelings for Belobog.. so that's probably it.

[watcheraurora]

Ask game: 2, 3, and 4 for your florist/tattoo parlor AU ;)

Thank you, my friend <3 I was not done. It posted early. (apparently hitting cmd+enter posts things???) Let me edit and add

2: What scene did you first put down?

The opening scene, actually! As is often, but not always, the case. I find writing the opening scene first to usually be a good way to figure out the voices of the characters in this new whatever I'm writing, along with getting a feel for their characterization and dynamics with whoever is in the scene. With Free Flower, I also got to establish that Jimmy was trying to get a fresh start after a bad moment in his past without giving everything away about the backstory of why and that was fun too XD

3: What's your favorite line of narration?

Another text came in from Tango. What if we do your tattoo consultation on Tuesday? After the shop closes? Have a drink, maybe? Keep it low-key and save the fancy date for Saturday? Jimmy thought about that. The tattoo parlor dark with just the two of them in it, speaking softly over the desk while they talked art. Maybe a rough, small sketch of the idea for Jimmy’s wings while they just kept talking… He didn’t need his mind wandering to potentially making out on one of the stations. He shoved that thought down.

I'm just a really big fan of writing runaway attraction, if you couldn't tell. And writing people falling in love is so much fun, especially when I get to push just a little into spicy territory. I don't like going much further than that and I think the tease is more fun than writing what might come after, but in this case it's just a bit of a fantasy as Jimmy gets carried away by his throughts.

And, what can I say, the thirsty!Jimmy jokes from our DMs never get old

4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?

I have so many favorites. I don't wanna choose. But okay XD

“Oh. Okay. So, er, what’s good?” Jimmy set the menu down and shimmied out of his leather jacket to reveal the short-sleeve henley completely. “Your arms in that shirt,” Tango replied appreciatively. “Did you paint those sleeves on?” “I meant on the menu.” Jimmy’s face grew hot and he looked away, lifting the menu again to try to hide behind it. “Ohhh,” Tango teased sarcastically. “I mean, it’s Izzy’s cooking. Literally anything you choose is going to be delicious.”

Immediately followed by Tango checking that Jimmy is okay with the way he flirts, but this part is my actual favorite because it was just so silly and it came to me naturally (this little bit and the following segment about checking in that Jimmy was okay with the flirting was not part of the original plan for the date. It just grew organically from Tango saying Jimmy's arms look good in that shirt). And it's also just a lot of fun letting Tango be a shameless flirt sometimes and/or unable to help himself from being flirty when Jimmy is right there and looking that good XD

My other favorite line is actually the very last one:

“Right. Ready for me to give you wings?”

I just thought it was such a sweet, fun little ending. The fic was also really long at this point and I was ready for it to be completed. I also know nothing about tattoos, to be honest, and as much as I really wanted to write the intimacy of Tango tattooing Jimmy's back, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it justice with any sort of accuracy and that line felt like the perfect way to end it, with that in mind.

Thanks so much, my friend! <3

[itwoodbeprefect]

8, 13, and 18 for the writing asks <333

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

this is from How To Build A Triangle (or accidentally fall headlong into one, or whatever the fuck), and i also used part of this for the fic description because it seemed good at getting the vibe and point of the story across, but i like this whole section! it's funny, it's in character, and i love when i manage to write myself into a position where i can do a few bare lines of a conversation with no description or dialogue tags like at the end here, and it still fits and makes sense. (also. this is not technically a dialogue thing, but "Roy crosses his arms harder, and then uncrosses them, holding them stiffly at his sides to project friendliness" still manages to make me laugh, which is pretty magical, because my own writing usually loses that ability pretty quickly purely because i know all the jokes. i just have such a vivid image for this in my head.)

Once he has Roy where he wants him, Jamie doesn’t copy Roy’s folded arms pose again, like he did last time. He just demands, “Look, if we’re both going to pursue Keeley, we need to be totally honest with each other.”

“Alright,” Roy says, because that makes a lot of sense. It sounds very healthy, too. Like something that would make Keeley proud, and would also make her life a little easier, because they’re sorting their own shit out now. He’s all for all of those things.

“Brutally honest,” Jamie says, as if he’s still trying to get the point across. “No more secrets.”

Roy stares at him. “Yes. I know what words mean.”

“Okay,” Jamie says, and then he says, “I talked to Keeley about maybe being bisexual because that night we fought over her I wasn’t just jealous about her.”

Roy sort of wishes he could go back in time, maybe five or ten seconds, and say with his full lungs, fuck no, let’s lie our arses off. Instead, in this reality where mankind has invented Roombas but no time machines yet, he says, “Uh.”

Jamie shifts, and now he does cross his arms, loosely. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna try something, or anything.”

Roy crosses his arms harder, and then uncrosses them, holding them stiffly at his sides to project friendliness. “I’m not worried. Fuck that.”

“I’m just being nice.”

“Yeah, well, don’t.”

“Fine, I’ll stop.”

“Good.”

“Wanker,” Jamie says, frightfully affectionately.

Not frightful because Roy secretly does think Jamie’s gonna try something, or anything, but just because it makes him realise he feels the same way. Fucking friendship.

-

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

i already gave show don't tell a shout out, so, hmm. i think a cheatcode i use often and that's nearly always stupidly effective at making a short piece of writing feel like it has some sort of point and is wrapped up neatly is to reread the start (and middle) and figure out a way to refer back to, well, literally anything. could be a bit of dialogue, a specific feeling, an action, a metaphor. if possible give it a little twist this second time, or show how something about it has changed, but if that's tough, literally just calling back to it can still work wonders. this may seem sort of obvious and most people probably do it automatically often enough, but it can be worth considering very intentionally, especially if it's hard to find an ending/last lines to a fic. this can also make a piece of writing appear way more calculated than it ever was while writing, which is fun, because you get to stumble your way into seeming clever.

-

18. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

generally my fic is so short that the easiest way for me to keep track of everything is to just reread it in its entirety when needed, so not really! which is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, because there's definitely a cycle going that looks something like i write short fic because i don't need to do fic bookkeeping > i don't learn fic bookkeeping because i write short fic > i write short fic because etc.

[dlburks]

The Prion Syndrome - By Donte Burks

Chapter One

He walked slowly, and aimlessly, stumbling around like a blind man.  His footing was unsure, as he stepped and shuffled like someone walking on a pile of stones. His body was stiff in some areas as he moved along his erratic path, clumsily at a snail's pace.  It was a kind of an off balance shuffle which looked like he could fall over at any moment. His head hung down and his eyes were unfixed and lazily scanning with seemingly little purpose. They didn't really track anything in particular as he moved.  There was no movement around him therefore he gave no response to his surroundings.

About every minute or so, there was the sound of slow breathing. Long, laborious, drawn-out breathing in a non-rhythmic, congested fashion as if there were something lodged in his throat. It had a kind of whispering wheezing effect to it like an asthmatic forcing his self to draw a breath.  First and very slow inhale, though very shallow and faint and laborious though with less effort. Then, quite a few seconds later, often more than 10 or 15, is the exhale. This was nearly as slow as the inhale, but sometimes accompanied by an expectation of phlegm and other fluids. It was often coupled with a wheeze or a weak moan as the air slowly passed through what was left of the vocal chords.  Sometimes his mouth was open and dripping with very cloudy and thick saliva that often lingered and hung from the bottom lip and chin. Other times just a small opening, enough for air to pass. In he often made a chewing motion with his jaw and a smacking sound with his lips. It was like something you would see if you watched an old man as went about his day complaining of being parched and having found nothing to quench his throat. 

There was group of teenagers passing by laughing and joking as teenagers often do.  They had just left the movie theatre, where they watched a popular action film. One of those summer blockbusters everyone waits months to see, with five or six sequels trailing behind it. They were all laughing and joking; talking about the movie and reciting the various memorable scenes from it.   

“And that part where the guy had the two guns...” Greg blurted as he jumped and pranced around making the gun shapes with his hands pointing them at everyone else.”Man, that was so cool..” he exclaimed.

Greg was the oldest of the group. He was 19 years old, although sometimes you wouldn't know because of the way he acted a times. His authority issues often got in the way of his social graces. This made it hard to really keep friends. These were the kids he knew since child hood. They learned to put up with him over the years. However outside of that, friendships make no difference to him. Greg was also pretty easy to anger, so he fought a lot. In fact he liked to fight. An easy way to get him going was to correct him on his actions. You don’t Greg how to act, you just stand back and kind of let him work himself into his own embarrassment. Then he’ll get the message. He’ll just acknowledge it with a, “screw you, man!” No one likes to be told how obnoxious they are.  Although, when he is calm and serious, he would prove himself to be quite intelligent and resourceful. This is one of the reasons why the rest of the group liked to keep him around. It did help that he always got invited to all the best parties. They could always tag along.

Mike was just the kind of guy you could call a true friend. He was rather level headed and sustains a common sense sort of air about himself. You always knew where Mike’s head was. A foundation of sorts which always struck people as being dependable and reliable, someone you can count on. 

Now Mike didn’t always say much, what with the maniacal ramblings of Greg, which often gobbled up the conversation when he was on a roll. However, Mike always knew when to throw in his two cents and when to keep his mouth shut. Still, when he did say something, it was usually worth listening to because he tended to be one of the more thoughtful individuals in the group. 

His, inclusion into the teen clan was not without some ridicule. He wasn’t best dressed between himself and Greg. In-fact, Greg often referred to him as Mikey Mom-pants, on account of the fact that Mike regularly wore faded jeans and wore them rather high on his waist. A favorite song Greg often blerted out at Mike was “Mik-ey-Mom-Pants”. Very similar to a children’s cartoon they used to watch as younger kids.

Now, when they happened upon the strange man, they saw how oddly he was behaving. They witness him bump into the wall a few times that ran along the path he was walking. They stared teasing him for a Moment. Hitting him with insults, and They watched as he shambled about like some confused mental patient, heavily drugged and barely aware of himself; much less, his surroundings, not knowing where he is, or even what he was doing. At least that how he appeared to them as they look on with disbelief at first and then a sophomoric lack of sensibility and sensitivity to his apparent trouble. 

Shocked at first, they stood there starring at him in disbelief, unsure of what to do. They just sort of watched as the stranger meandered around pointlessly with little actual direction. He often started one way, then abruptly stopped and changed direction.  There was obviously something about this person that was not right. He seemed confused and disheveled with no 

His clothes were dirty and torn in some places. He was wearing a sport coat that was wrinkled and filthy, and it looked as though it was barely holding at the seams.  His pants, dusty and torn, and if you looked closely enough they seemed have some bloodstains down the pant legs. The stench carried easily in the wind as it wisped softly across him. There was the stench of death in a toilet. 

You could then hear one of them shout, "Freak!"

That got his attention. The strange man stopped and turned, and he looked that the group. His eyes clouded and whitened, it was a wonder he could see anything at all.  Half confused, at first, but then there was moment of what appeared to be clarity in his facial expression and his demeanor. He turned, slowly, but with a definite determination. The kids were immediately alarmed by this him, but still, like any other group of unruly teens, this didn't stop them from teasing the man. All with the exception of Sandy, who normally has a greater sensibility about what is proper and correct regarding how other individuals are treated.

“C-mon guys, don't on him. He may need help.” Preached Sandy.

Actually, the main one doing the teasing was Greg, who could be somewhat of an asshole, simply due to the fact that the he had authority issues. The other mainly stood by laughing at Greg's jokes.

“Dude, you fuckin' stink.”

“Are you retarded?” he scoffed.

 He was always the first to make a snide remark at someone’s expense especially someone he didn’t like, or even someone in a position of authority. The rest of the group say nothing. They just laughed, which of course would only encourage him even more. Mike, snickered a bit, he was a bit of a joker. It is mostly by choice, whenever he doesn't want to deal with something unpleasant.

Greg was the boldest one; the fearless one. He liked to fight and he had no problem with the idea of bashing someone's head in, if they pissed him off. He grabbed a glass beer bottle that was lying nearby on the ground. As the stranger began to lumber toward them, Greg smashed the butt of the bottle against a sign post, breaking it to get a sharp edged weapon to defend himself and the others with. He saw it done in the movies. However it did not work out the same way. In fact the entire bottle shattered in his hand. One of the shards of glass cut his hand just across the base of his thumb and to the center of his palm.

“Ah—sun of a bitch!” he yelled.

Judy was standing the closest to Greg when it at started. She immediately rushed to him to see if he were ok. She wasn't very impressed with the fact that Greg was trying to play "Mr. Hero".

“Dumb-ass! What the hell were you thinking?” she told him.

 She had always been Greg's biggest critic. But she was also his closest friend and he, her's. They had grown up together, they had been friends since Pre-K.  When she got over to him she immediately grabbed his hand to look at it. She didn't notice anymore that the stranger was getting closer. Although the creep was closest to Judy and it was very easy to get a hold of her, he wanted at that hand, and the one attached to it. The blood was an over powering lure, and it was so irresistible, that the man could not control himself. He did everything in his power to get to that hand, to get that person with the bleeding hand.

There was something about the blood, dripping from Greg's hand, the smell of it, the color, and that fact that it was so fresh. It was the very thing needed to send the stranger into a frenzy.  He became excited and started to move with less confusion and with more intent. Suddenly, the stranger reached for them. He began swinging his arms around as though he were trying to catch flies in a swarm. The group, in unison, quickly moved away, Just far enough to stay out of his reach.  The stranger lunged forward toward the kids in a second attempt to get a hold of just one of them.  However, they were all too quick and managed to move out of the way every time he tried for them.  Greg managed to knock around a couples of times. He popped him good one time; hard enough to knock him out, he thought. He put him on ground but the man just got back up and started at Greg again. Judy grabbed Greg by the arm to get him away from the super vagrant.

Greg, knew, at this point, that this was not where he wanted to be and shouted to the rest of the gang, "Let's go!"  

They all ran away from the stranger, all together, all in fear. The stranger tried to chase them but was far too slow. The only thing he could do was to try to follow them as he shambled after them.

Across the street was a Trendy Mart where they all ran to, hoping to find a safe place to call for help. They all piled up at the door, coming in just enough for the door to close. They could see from there that the stranger was making his way across the street.

They were all shaking and full of fright as they watched the man stumble across the street.

"I hope the fucker gets hit by car!" Greg shouted, holding his bloody hand.

Sandy replied, "Dude, that's so wrong!"

"What?" he asked, "Look at my hand!"

"You did that--trying to be some action movie hero!" she said, her eyes scanning him from head to toe. "What were you gonna do with that bottle any way, catch a murder charge?"

"Not murder," Greg hung his head and lowered his voice a bit, thinking how he could spin it.  "Assault maybe...or self defense! Who knows what that bastard was gonna do to us...or you."

Sandy interrupted the argument, "Stop arguing and call the police! He's getting closer!"

At that moment the store clerk jumped in, "Hey!" He didn't seem to be a very authoritative guy. He was tall and lanky, not so tough looking but he could command attention if needed, although his voice cracked a little when he yelled. This was the time for that.  "You, with the hand, you're getting blood all over my floor, who's gonna clean that up?"

They all looked at each other and in one second they all jump at the counter, advising the clerk to call the police. The clerk was not convinced that they were actually victims of anything. He asked them, "What's going on? What did you do?"

Judy pointed toward the man strafing toward the door, while the others frantically look around for something to bar the door.  She explained to the clerk what had happened when they first encountered the man that was just now making it to the door. The door that has just been barred at the last second before the man could get in.

The clerk was not as concerned as they'd hoped, "Look at him, he's just a transient. He's probably just hungry, or maybe his mentally challenged or ill."

"Look, I don't care what he is. He attacked us and we need help." Judy remained sure of the danger.

"Did he do that to your friend's hand over there?

"No, he cut it by breaking a bottle," she admitted.

"Like in the movies?" the clerk snidely remarked. When he said that, there was a small laugh that escaped his throat. He also struggled to suppress the smirk on his face.

Greg interrupted, "It's not funny, guy. This really hurts. Maybe instead of standing there making B.S. comments you could me out with some bandages or something?"

"Third aisle, top shelf. and you know you gotta pay for that."

Greg responded, "yeah, yeah, whatever."

At that time, the others notice the man was right outside the door. He began to bang on the glass as if to be let in. They became more panicked.

Judy pleaded with the clerk to call the police, then remembered that she was carrying her cell phone the whole time. She snatched the phone from her pocket and tried to call out, but could not get a signal. "Damn, no signal!"

The clerk looks at Judy then back out at the stranger banging on the glass. "Well I guess there's something wrong with him. I'll call the police and have him picked up...but you can't close up my store like this, I'm running a business here."

While the clerk was talking to the police, the rest of the group was watching the bizarre individual as he became more and more agitated, pounding on the glass, even licking it once or twice. The more the man was doing to get into the store, the more the group became nervous.

A car pulls up and parks just off to the side. It's a tan sedan or some shit, it doesn't matter what kind of are it was. The passenger side door opens up, reluctantly, as a young woman, in her twenty's emerges slowly and cautiously for fear that she may be accosted by the crazy man banging on the glass. The group in the store also began to bang on the glass to get the woman's attention. Frantically, they try to warn her not to try to enter the store, and to stay away from the strange man at the door.

It was a little too late; the stranger had caught a glimpse of the young man, and has now turned his attention to her. This is something he can reach. His mouth begins to make a chewing motion as he starts over to her. The woman is frozen at the sight of him. She wants to run away but it seems that all she can do is take little steps backwards. Not quite enough to make any headway in getting away from this grizzly old guy.

"You'd better stay away from me!" She managed to get out breathlessly. Suddenly, the driver side door flies open. A rather large man jumps out of the car, and quickly charges over to the stranger, "Hey fucker, don't you put your hands on her!"

The man grabs the stranger by the lapels, at which point a small struggle takes place. While the man and the stranger tussled, the man's arm was exposed just long enough for the stranger to turn to the side, reach out and bite the man on the arm just above the wrist.

At that moment, the man pushed the stranger away, "Ouch! You Bastard!" The stranger was knocked to the ground. He immediately started to get up. The man started kicking the stranger before he could fully get up. He kicked him until he started to bleed. That's when he finally stopped. It would seem this man had one of the personalities where he is not satisfied until he sees blood.

The young woman that was with him tried to calm the man down so that he didn't seriously hurt the stranger. "Marcus, that's enough, let's just go."

Marcus grabbed her and pushed her aside, "Get out of the way, this guy is dangerous."

Through all of that the creature still tries to stand up. He seemed even more agitated than before. From his knees, the emaciated stranger lunged at the man and caught him by surprise. He reached around the Marcus' waist and squeezed. It wasn't very tight but the whole action was quick enough to catch the Marcus off guard.

Then there was the bite. Another one right in the middle of the man's chest. This one was messy and there was far more blood than the first one. Marcus grabbed the stranger's head and began to pound it until it was a bloody lump.

Inside the store, everyone was looking at the spectacle that took place outside. There was nothing but silence in that moment, no of them could believe what they had just seen.

"I think we just witnessed a murder," said Judy.

"No," Greg answered, "look, he's still moving...a little."

They watched Marcus gather the young women and get her into the car, and they drove off never to be seen again.

"Dude, that was kinda awesome," said Greg as he watched the car speed down the road.

Very soon after, no more than a minute or two, the police showed up.  There were two of them in the car. It was clear to see that the one driving was older and was more experienced than the other. They pulled into the parking lot, in a typical cop manner. It's not really that easy to explain what a typical cop manner of driving is...however whenever you see it, you also know where the car is marked or not. You can always tell its cop driving that vehicle, when the driver is driving like a cop.

Anyway, as they pulled into the parking lot, the officer in the passenger side noticed the old odd man writhing on the ground, struggling to get up, with head literally all busted up. It was so bad that there were pieces of his head on the ground, and you could almost be certain that the brain exposed.

There was a stench coming from the stranger by this time. It was really bad, and the air was so thick with it, it was difficult for the police officer to approach him. "I’m Officer Dan Jennings. Can you understand me?"

"Oh my God, what is that smell?" the younger officer coughed.

The other older officer, the one that was driving, had just finished on the radio, and moved cautiously away from the car, looking around for someone who could have done this to the stranger or at least someone that saw what happened.

"Don’t touch him yet, at least until we get an understanding what that smell is." said the driver officer. He then notice all the eyes on them as he looked up at the storefront and saw that there was a group of witness. He knew they could tell what happened here.  So he made its way toward the door. At the same time, Judy started over to remove the broom that she had been using to bar the door shut.

The officer enters the store, "I'm Officer Boyle. Does anyone want to tell me what happened here?"

They all chime in, each trying to tell the story, it sounds like a room of random voices all not unrelated and irrelevant to each other.

"OK, okay, one at a time, please." shouted the officer. "You," he points to Greg since he appeared to be the leader of the group or maybe the oldest.

While the group’s statements were being taken, the younger officer was seeing about the man on the ground.  His concern was quite genuine as this person has suffered substantial injuries.  The stranger still writhing on the ground and struggling to get, didn't seemed to be very phased by the injuries other than the obvious. In fact, the fact that he could not get up, likely was the only thing keeping him from harming the officer who was standing well within 3 feet of him.

After taking their statements, Officer Boyle called out to Jennings and motioned to him to come over. "You need to hear this."

Jennings is distracted for just a second while Boyle is trying to get him to come over, and at that moment, the stranger reached out and grabbed a hold of officer Jennings' arm, pulls it in and bites the officer on the hand. Jennings manages to pull away quickly enough that he gets a scratch on his hand rather a gashing wound.

"Are you alright," asked Boyle.

"I'm Fine," answered Jennings, "He just nicked me."

"Still, gonna have to get that checked out. You might need a Tetanus shot."

"Yeah, I know but that can wait," Jennings scoffed.

Boyle told Jennings what the kids told him. The story was rather hard for them to believe. At least would have been if Jennings hadn't gotten bitten by the stranger.

Jennings turn toward Judy and asked, "So this man, outside on the ground, he attacked you?"

"Sort of,” she said, "he tried to get a hold of me but he moved really slow and we managed to get away."

The officers called for an ambulance to have the man picked and checked at a hospital.  As for the kids, they called their parents to make sure they got home safely.

Judy's father showed up, but the rest of the parents were not able to come, so Mr. McCreedy, Judy's father offered to take them all home.

On the ride home, Mr. McCreedy explained, "You know you all were really very lucky today. This is why I always make sure Judy knows what dangers are out there, and I'm always checking up on her to make sure she's not getting into any trouble."

"Dad, please." chimed Judy.

"All I'm saying is there are a lot of creeps out there and you'll never know when you walk on one. It's always best to be prepared, and careful." he explained.

Arriving home, after dropping off the rest of the group, Mr. McCreedy tells Judy to get ready for dinner. Judy goes into the house and scurries up to her room to try to shake off nerves. Her mother, very concerned barges into the room asking if Judy is alright. She had heard that there was an incident and wanted to make sure her baby was OK. "Judy, honey, are you okay?” she inquired, "Tell me, what happened?"

"I'm fine...it's nothing really," Judy answered.

"Well it must have been something serious or else why would the police have been involved?"

"Mom, it was nothing..." Judy tried to deescalate the whole incident.

"You're not in trouble are you?" her mother asked reluctantly, not wanting there to be anything that would mean Judy was in any trouble of any kind. "You know you can tell me anything, even if it means you might be in trouble. Trust me; it will be better if you tell me.

Judy took a long deep breath, and paused for a moment. She searched for the best way to explain what happened without making it sound worse than it really was. "We were out walking around, after the movies and there was this guy...so weird." she cringed at the thought of the stranger was about to describe.

"This guy was stumbling around and moaning or mumbling, I don't know what...all I remember is that he was weird and dirty, and he smell really bad," she remembered.

"Oh honey, he didn't...do anything did he?" she drew in closer to examine Judy, ensuring that her little hadn't been abused in any way.

"No, mom," she answered, "Like I said, I'm fine. He didn't lay a hand on me, because well...He tried to grab me but we all ran. "

"Your dad told me that Greg had to go to the emergency room," said Mrs. McCreedy.

"Yeah that's because Greg's stupid...He tried breaking the end off of a bottle to protect us," Judy returned. She added, "When that guy tried to grab us, Greg was trying to be a hero...I guess." She paused a bit then said, "He's such an idiot."

Judy went to explained the rest of the event to her mother and by the time she'd reached the end of the story, her mother had already made up her mind, "OK, I'm glad you're OK, but you're gonna start taking self defense classes."

"Mom," Judy replied, "I don't need self defense...it was one isolated incident.”

"I'm not hearing anymore about it. Self defense is the best thing for a situation like that," stated Mrs. McCreedy.

It was unclear to Judy if her mother had heard anything she said about the biting. However, it didn't matter at this point; there was no convincing her mom about not needing self defense classes.

[ardentwench]

Seriously can’t stop imagining Eddie getting a job as a radio show host personality or something where he can use a pseudonym and he can work without harassment since he’s still recognized as a murder suspect even if he was cleared, and that sort of work lasts him through the 90’s.

Then in the 00’s he’d still have some sort of part time behind the scenes work in the radio industry while transitioning to online focus and podcasts for a hobby. Maybe even being one of the first people to post on youtube for fun when it first launched before it became monetized, not a youtuber eddie au exactly where it’s his main thing but more like he has a space there too- or rather even maybe Eddie and the party had a collective channel (vlogbrothers style) where they uploaded vlog style dialogue videos back and forth taking turns sharing random thoughts and life updates to keep in contact with each others busy lives in a more personal way than over the phone. But this personal channel didn’t become popular or discovered until after Eddie created an online presence and did a face reveal. He’d probably try out live streaming as that got more popular too.

But mainly Eddie with podcasts, quite a few actually, where he does things like on one he plays and discusses music, one where he plays video games, and of course one that is him and the party’s dnd adventures since they more often than not have to play through virtual meet ups anyway, and he’d have one that’s just a general chat where he invites random guests/friends to talk about nothing and everything and get into debates and discuss different geeky topics. He has such seemingly random connections to the most interesting people who have made decent names for themselves (the party all grown up of course) and perhaps even inspired a few of them to make little side podcast series with him based on their niche interests. Steve doesn’t host anything himself but he is a bit of a serial guest star that pops up randomly everywhere in anything connected to Eddie (or the rest of the party.)

Half his popularity comes from being authentic and not a typical younger influencer, he’s just a guy that’s funny who likes to talk and likes sharing his hobbies and passions. Because he doesn’t focus on building his brand or worry about his internet popularity, just does his own thing for his own enjoyment, making money from it is a happy bonus but not his priority.

And Omg when he does a face reveal finally and he’s a middle aged good looking guy the fans go crazy and his popularity does grow, but it’s nothing compared to when the biggest reoccurring guest he has on named Steve finally does a face reveal too. Eddie always lays on the flirting heavy with Steve but Eddie is usually rather secretive and vague about his actual personal life, never fully addressing those topics but also not exactly hiding anything either, half the fan intrigue are little things about him/his past/his relationships/shared inside jokes among his oldest friends that with little to no context sound mysterious and wild. People eventually figure out by some casual comments that they must live together, have known each other since high school, must be best friends. So no one knows for the longest time him and Steve are actually married but of course they ship them and argue about if they’re reading too into things and if Eddie is joking when he makes certain insinuations of their relationship.

Maybe it’s not until he’s like on a side podcast he occasionally does with Robin, and like Nancy, that the topic of modern fandom and the application of queer baiting in media is brought up that Eddie laughs and shares that he, as an openly queer man, has been accused of queer baiting when it comes to him and Steve which is a ridiculous argument for multiple reasons, not least being because he a real life queer man interacting with his own husband ffs. It’s revealed quickly and succinctly in the midst of a larger spiel and being one of the less popular shows it gets overlooked for a good month before an avid fan catches the casual revelation and highlights it.