#and also substantially less cool

[daisychainsandbowties]

casper vibes - sopping wet with blood (your own) (having eaten it over your own feet) also pre-serum steve rogers 'I can do this all day' and himbo energy packed in a little suitcase

[chryssikyu]

[This was originally for just Sylus, but I got caught up in the moment and now its kinda dramatic, so this could apply to Rafayel.]

He keeps trying to make us use his black card, but he doesn't understand why we aren't buying expensive jewelry, or fancy clothes.

Instead were using it for mundane shit like groceries.

Then he confronts us on why there are only a few small purchases when he literally has MILLIONS.

"You have an unlimited card, and refuse to use it..."

"No I'm using it."

"Not anything substantial."

"What, food isn't substantial to you? I'm using to pay for amenities so I can save up for the more taxing items."

"I gave it to you so you could use it for the more expensive items! In fact, you could even use it to pay for the 'amenities' and still have enough left over to buy a nice summer home!"

"I don't need a summer home!"

"My point is you could buy anything! Jewelry, name brand clothing, if you want food you could buy from somewhere nicer! Instead I have a purchase on my card for an 'Auntie Anne's Pretzels...?'"

"First off, their Pretzels are amazing. Second, I dont want anything fancy! I can't wear jewelry on the job and have no where else to wear such gaudy clothing, not to mention all of those NaMe BrAnD clothes are ugly!"

"Couldn't you at least try getting more expensive tastes?"

"My expensive tastes are junk food and plushies! I have no need for jewelry or bougie shit like you!"

"You could get a million plushies! Or even a custom cake!"

"I dun wannaaaaa!!! I don't need a million plushies! I don't even have the space for that many- and no I'm not buying a summer home- and why would I get a custom cake if it's not for something special?? What you want me to buy a cake with lattice work and marbling that just says 'Congrats! You got out of bed today!'"

"If that's what you wanted; YES! I have more than enough for you to buy a whole mall!"

"I don't need nor want an entire mall!! I just wanted to buy some beef for stew!!!"

"Not even a steak?"

"No!!"

"Then I'll just buy all of jewelry and clothes for you!"

"I have nothing expensive I want!! I just wanted to have stew!"

He's just pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to calm down. This is not only the first time he's given his card to someone and they not rack up a bill. But also the first time hes gotten THIS upset.

"At the very least, tell me you didn't look at the price."

"I did not-"

"Oh thank the gods!"

"Because I already knew it would less than $100."

He feels like he just got punched in the gut. He has to leave the room and cool off before he comes back, grabs us by the wrist and pulls us outside.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere expensive."

"But I don't-"

"Sh! Just... Let me have this..."

[thewhizzyhead]

how genderbending the warriors (2024) is done not for the sole sake of "bad-assery"

okay here we go feminist ramble time for our newest chick on the block: warriors. now i'll be honest, prior to listening to the album, when i first heard that the warriors main girls were originally dudes in the movie and the novel, i thought that the decision for the genderbending, in lmm's perspective, were from the following: 1.) girl power move in like a very basic meaning of the word "bad-ass" 2.) simply a twist on a cult movie about big gang bros loved by the film bros, and 3.) a way to have the schuyler sisters back together gjfkdfldf

but when i read more about warriors and its development and how lmm took inspiration from the gamergate controversies of 2014-2015 aka among the peak of gamerbro misogyny campaigns, that's when i realized that Oh Shit Is Serious - because adapting a story about a group being framed and targeted and harassed for something they are accused of doing without any substantial proof other than a man screaming "THE WARRIORS SHOT CYYYYRUUS" with 21st century misogyny campaigns in mind makes the theme of fighting back a lot more complicated and a lot more resonant, going beyond just marketing a cast you can call "badass"

take the hurricanes' quiet girls, for example. the hurricanes (concept album version) is the only gang that lets the warriors off the hook and with a stern warning: quiet girls don't make it home. here, the hurricanes berate the warriors for not saying shit or attempting to defend themselves from accusations they know well aren't true. THIS MESSAGE IN PARTICULAR is what stays and influences ajax, fox, and swan til the very end of their stories.

literally one song after this does ajax show how easily she resonated with the hurricanes' lesson by finally sticking with her gut and actually choosing to fight back against both the baseball furies AND against the sleazy undercover cop. the latter encounter is one of the instances that really solidifies the recontextualization of the story because in the OG movie, ajax (a dude) WAS the sleazy fuck up harassing a woman in a park - and now with the literal character switch, ajax goes from being just a rebellious gangbro dude bro into someone whose want to fight is warranted. such a want to fight is seen in fox seeing as fox is the first to comment on the quiet girls scene and that, in the concept album, she is the one that instigates the rumble against the police in union square - saying that she is sick of being afraid of them and their 'fuckin powder blue' colors (also notice how she is the only warrior that really does say fuck the cops i think that's cool BUT I'LL TALK ABOUT FOX MORE NEXT TIME)

to a less obvious extent, swan also gets the receiving end of this recurring theme - by the album's finale, the usually violence-averse caution-first interim leader becomes a lot fiercer in protecting her crew. but perhaps among what i consider to be the biggest recontextualized change in the feminist sense is MERCY and her motivations to join the warriors in the first place. according to the wiki, her attraction to swan and the warriors and um seeing the orphans as wimps is what led her to switch sides BUT IN THE CONCEPT ALBUM, mercy's motivation to become a warrior is deepened, rooted in admiration rather than attraction - wanting to be like those women who hold their head up high. and again, we see this in Sick of Runnin' when she takes part in the rumble, finding her bravery within their ranks as they fight back. here, mercy becomes less of a swan tagalong and more of someone that wants what the warriors have: pride.

of course now that i type this out i realize that warriors is not based solely on the feminist rhetoric as with their theme of hope amidst adversity, the story is more intersectional and rooted in community struggle and wanting for more than that. but nonetheless, i genuinely believe that the twt filmbros arguments on why the genders should not have been changed in the first place just for "woke" points is kinda like,,,very shortsighted because not only does the narrative of women narrowly escaping unwarranted accusations actually fucking fit, but the act of learning to fight back amidst all odds - be it that of disbelieving, predatory men or the power of oppressive pigs - stays resonant for women yesterday, today, and the days to come.

ultimately, warriors (2024) is not solely a tale of female badassery - rather, it is a tale of the need for such "female badassery" in the face of past and present realities, which is why it somehow fucking worked.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Ending mass human deprivation and providing good lives for the whole world's population can be accomplished while at the same time achieving ecological objectives. This is demonstrated by a new study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and the London School of Economics and Political Science, recently published in World Development Perspectives. About 80% of humanity cannot access necessary goods and services and lives below the threshold for "decent living." Some narratives claim that addressing this problem will require massive economic growth on a global scale, multiplying existing output many times over, which would exacerbate climate change and ecological breakdown. The authors of the new study dispute this claim and argue that human development does not require such a dangerous approach. Reviewing recent empirical research, they find that ending mass deprivation and provisioning decent living standards for 8.5 billion people would require only 30% of current global resource and energy use, leaving a substantial surplus for additional consumption, public luxury, scientific advancement, and other social investments. This would ensure that everyone in the world has access to nutritious food, modern housing, high-quality health care, education, electricity, induction stoves, sanitation systems, clothing, washing machines, refrigerators, heating/cooling systems, computers, mobile phones, internet, and transport, and could also include universal access to recreational facilities, theaters, and other public goods. The authors argue that, to achieve such a future, strategies for development should not pursue capitalist growth and increased aggregate production as such but should rather increase the specific forms of production that are necessary to improve capabilities and meet human needs at a high standard, while ensuring universal access to key goods and services through public provisioning and decommodification. In the Global South, this requires using industrial policy to increase economic sovereignty, develop industrial capacity, and organize production around human well-being. At the same time, in high-income countries, less-necessary production (of things like mansions, SUVs, private jets and fast fashion) must be scaled down to enable faster decarbonization and to help bring resource use back within planetary boundaries, as degrowth scholarship holds.

July 25 2024

[jin-zixun]

Also kinda funny? Like Jin Zixun is definitely 100% like "Dollar Store Wen Chao" like we can all agree on that, right? Like how his Uncle only wishes he could be as cool as Wen Ruohan, Jin Zixun only wishes he could... Be as cool as Wen Chao? I mean ok, sure.

Like he tries to bully Wei Wuxian and the Lans, but it's never like... Serious. Like he peer pressures the Lans into drinking like he's the villain of an after-school special and he has a tantrum because Wei Wuxian defeated a bunch of monsters in the Phoenix Mountain Hunt. But like, Wen Chao absolutely did not hold back on fucking with the most powerful cultivators in the worst way possible. Maybe just because he had his daddy backing him up and JGS just does NOT have the same back-up potential as WRH. He gets killed after destroying one of the great sects and causing the birth of the Yiling Laozu (more or less) who is incredibly powerful and comes back to kill him

But Jin Zixun, he saves his serious bullying only for people who are substantially weaker than him and it's only on a technicality he doesn't get done in by Su She.

look i even made a shitty meme

[accio-victuuri]

i’m someone who can’t get enough of (fake) stories from the time of cql shoot. so when i see a “story” that i haven’t before ( or maybe i did but forgot about it ), i get excited. lol. even if it’s not a juicy kind of information— i’m cool with it. 🤍 i like this one cause OP seems closer to wyb, it’s more of a short analysis of him & his relationship with XZ during that time.

the usual disclaimer: these are all fake and treat it as fanfiction. obviously, this content is for cpfs. if you don’t like it then scroll along. if you are somehow offended by stuff like this, it’s your problem. feel free to unfollow or block me.

i got the screenshots over here. enjoy!^^

W often catches up on sleep as soon as he gets on the car because he has a lot of engagements. He doesn’t talk much. Last year, he was not in good health. He had a cough and fever and went to get an IV drip at night. Many fans knew about it, so he talked even less in private. Later, I found that he talked a lot on the set. This is a matter of opinion. He needs to refresh himself when he is so tired.

But he does have a good relationship with X. He is not very outgoing, so he should not have many friends, but he is not the kind of person who really looks down on others and does not talk. Many times he does not know what to say (personal feeling hahaha), so he does not start a conversation. Some people are like this, thinking that it may not be meaningful to say it, so they do not say it. He has changed a lot in recent years, and this drama he has successfully made friends with X.

W didn’t communicate much with me. After all, we had never met before, so I could understand the distance. Once, I was discussing tomorrow’s arrangements with the coordinator. He had just finished shooting a scene and passed by me and suddenly asked me if I had a hemostatic patch (this is a consumable item in the crew, and I had just used it up and didn’t bring a new one). I was shocked. I said no, and he didn’t say anything and seemed to go to the bathroom. Later, I don’t know where he asked, but it was a very girly pattern. I feel that he may have asked around, but I didn’t see him use it. That day, I saw a new hemostatic patch on X’s leg, but it wasn’t the one that was used by the transporter?! When I was chatting with the coordinator, I found out that someone had given it to X first, and W saw it and quietly put away the one with the girly pattern. At that time, he had just joined the crew not long ago. Because we were really not familiar with each other, he might have felt that it was too obvious and a bit embarrassing.

W and X have a lot of scenes together. As the main characters, they interact a lot, much more than what is shown. X is not as talkative as the footage shows. On the contrary, he is a person who cares about other people's feelings. In the footage, we can only say that he was: 1. He fainted from the heat (he almost had a heat stroke), 2. He was too tired, and 3. He didn't expect that everyone would exaggerate it. W was the same. He was just joking and making faces, just like everyone would have some such pranks when they were in school. When he felt something was wrong, he quickly changed the subject.

The main reason was that it was really tiring and hot at that time. Every time I went to the scene, I felt that I could get a heat stroke at any time. They also wore long robes with wide sleeves, which was very hard (W didn't dare to eat too much to maintain the fairy feeling of the character) In short, although this matter fermented a lot, it did not have any substantial impact on the relationship between the two. At that time, the crew also knew that this was their childish behavior and was used to it. After all, they were like this all the time. The two are ordinary people who are more casual in private. If they have a good relationship, they will definitely play around, but they will not be fussy about such trivial matters. W's personality is very interesting. He will suddenly act weird and then return to being calm. When he acts weird, he acts seriously. When he is silent, he is serious. I later thought that this kind of personality may have something to do with his love of street dance, motorcycles, and skateboards. Whether it is physical, emotional, endurance, psychological quality or anything else, he wants to try to touch or even challenge the upper limit in all aspects. He is a true adventurer. Most of these people are quite opinionated. He also said that he is a male chauvinist and has a strong desire to control himself and the outside world.

A double-edged sword, not a weakness. Being serious is good, but it is always difficult for people to grasp the precise degree. If you exceed the limit, you will develop a conditioned reflex of vigilance, which will prevent you from revealing too much of yourself, and on the other hand, you will be wary of outsiders' attempts.

This kind of self-defense is actually related to his experience. One is that he left home very early to work hard, and the other is that he went to Korea for training. You must have heard about the trainee system there, which is fiercely competitive and full of intrigues, and it is easy to fail. Many young trainees don’t have much life experience. No matter how cautious they are at the beginning, they may not be able to play better than the older or Korean people. The habit of not offending others for many years has become one of his personality. I am not so familiar with W, so it is difficult to remind him, but I found that he has improved in his relationship with X. It is very subtle. It is generally a good thing. Hahaha. Maybe it is also due to experience. X’s past is relatively simple. He entered the circle a few years after graduating from college. Before entering the circle, it was relatively smooth. It’s not that he has never experienced setbacks and lows, but it is definitely not as shaky and cautious as W faced during adolescence. It directly changed a person. I believe that W is still a positive and enthusiastic person in his heart, but he doesn’t show it easily. He needs someone to guide him.

What I really found strange was one time when the two of them were standing on a downhill slope. The scene was built in a studio and was a bit high. X walked in front of W and slipped. There was a few steps between the two of them. W rushed forward in two steps and quickly grabbed X's waist. They both almost slipped. He intended to grab his arm with his fingers spread out, but he miscalculated and poked X's lower back. We shot that scene in two or three takes and it was passed. After that, W's hand was a little swollen. I found some ice cubes to apply to him and it stopped swelling, but it looked painful. There were still a few scenes that day, but he didn't tell me because he didn't want to delay the progress. He applied ice when he left the camera. Because he had to go to the hospital for an IV drip after work, I thought I would deal with it together.

The strangest thing about this incident was not his behavior, but that X did not see W come down to apply ice, and came over to ask if his hand was okay. W directly stretched out his hand to show him, twisting it vigorously, shaking his fingers flexibly, trying to prove that he was fine, but X grabbed his wrist and looked at it clearly. X said that it was swollen, and W said it was caused by the intravenous drip. X muttered a few words of doubt, and saw that there were indeed many needle holes on the back of W's hand. He believed it a little. I was about four or five meters away at the time.

The director often asked them to be more ambiguous. At the beginning, it was quite awkward because they were not familiar with each other, but it was fine after they got used to it. X made a lot of small moves, and W would shout his name when he couldn't stand it anymore. W was very smart and could find the door. He didn't lose to X at the beginning. It was forbidden to move. It was common for them to insult and fight each other.

Many people are talking about the drinking scene, so I'll share another one. After the day's shooting, W took off his makeup and walked unsteadily. After walking out of the studio, he was looking for something. I said the car was over there (the exit was narrow and the car was a little further away). He said he knew, and then he turned around and pounced behind me, which scared me. I subconsciously turned around and hid, and found that X also came out, but he hadn't taken off his makeup yet. W stuck to him like an octopus. X was also scared, and his wig was pulled by W, and X screamed in pain. His assistant came out the next second and quickly pulled W away. I reacted and supported W. X was not angry, and told me that W had secretly drunk some more later and might be really drunk, so he asked me to make some honey water for him to sober up. I said okay, thinking where would I find honey water in the middle of the night. W is very thin, but very strong. X's assistant couldn't pull him away completely.

I am a little anxious, but I can’t say anything, I can only worry.

X was in a good mood, and cheerfully patted him and said, "Isn't W laoshi known for not getting drunk even if he drinks a lot?"

W didn't refute, and hugged him so tightly that I felt X was about to suffocate, and then X said: "It's late, see you tomorrow." W let go as if he had suddenly lost his temper, reluctant to let go, wanting to look at X but not daring to. I don't know why, but I felt that he was a little sad.

X joked with him: "Go back after you graduate from kindergarten.

W said sullenly: "I will definitely beat you next time."

X changed his tone of voice and complained: "W wants laoshi to win everything. save me from losing a few times, okay?"

I went back to the hotel and asked X's assistant who the winner was. She said that the two of them competed to see who could talk in the other's ear without blushing, and the loser would drink a small sip. I was speechless. No wonder he rarely played mobile games last night, and went to sleep after chatting on WeChat (he got off work earlier yesterday). It turned out that he was saving his energy to play this today (wrong). I asked again, "No one took the photo (mainly referring to the fans who were waiting there.)" She said that it should not be possible, because the place where the two people were standing was difficult to take a photo.

-END.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Has anyone asked you about erisol?

If no, then what's your opinion on them! :-)

I feel like people will be upset at me for this, but a completely platonic and completely lukewarm mutual dislike... they don't really like each other, but take no great issue with each other either. The boys are not fightingggg

So like. A common thing in fandoms is taking things at face value and not really reading any deeper into them. You see this a shitton with Eridan in general - lots of people take it 100% at face value that he's a casteist genocide liker, when it's pretty clear upon further examination that he's pretty much lying about being casteist and doesn't actually want to murder his friends. So, at face value, Eridan hates Sollux, and either wants to do spadesies with him, or go ashen with him. And so this has become a really popular ship, but the thing is... at basically every turn, the story kind of goes out of its way to point out that there's actually nothing between them. At least romantically.

See, Eridan does not actually hate Sollux, at least not to the level of pitch/ashen. TWICE before Sollux and Feferi start hanging out all the time, we see Eridan commenting on Sollux in a fairly neutral-negative way - the first time calling him "a drama machine" and noting that "it is fuckin pathetic," and the second time as "the dead guy who saved [Feferi]". And let's be clear about the former, Eridan is just kind of Like That, he's rude as fuck even about people he LIKES (calling his BFF Karkat an "assblood" and sarcastically referring to Feferi by her royal titles), so that's actually one of the less nasty things he's said about someone.

Meanwhile, on Sollux's end, he LITERALLY says "not interested" to what he perceives as pitch/ashen advances from Eridan. Like, actually just says those words out loud. Not even in a pesterlog, he actually just says those words with his mouth.

So it seems to me that there's a pretty clear case to be made here that Eridan and Sollux kind of just... don't really give a shit about each other, and probably wouldn't have interacted in any substantial way if not for Feferi's involvement. Especially because Eridan's chosen method of hitting on Sollux is with casteism, something he's already faking in the first place.

If we really want to dig into this, though, it's kind of - in my eyes - a lukewarm case of the hedgehog dilemma. They're a bit too similar, and it winds up causing them both mild pain to get too close.

They're both nihilists that kind of hate themselves. Sollux's mutated brain causes him a not-insignificant amount of discomfort, his visions of the future and of the "imminently doomed" have made him lose a lot of hope, and he blames himself for killing Aradia, something so painful that he didn't tell anyone else she died, to the point where most of the team - including Terezi and Tavros - had to find out after entering the game. Meanwhile, Eridan struggles with the perceived inevitability of a lifestyle that causes him nothing but distress, and his constant, overwhelming anxiety about it leads to constant stressing over whether or not he's "good enough"; whenever he's in severe emotional distress, he starts beating up on himself.

They also both front at being more okay with their problems than they actually are. Sollux has his 1337 hacker, two cool for you persona that he puts on, and Eridan is always trying to be the big bad sea dweller. For example, Sollux goes "I'm not trolling the humans, it's beneath me," but he's in Jade's trollslum, so the implication there is that he totally did try trolling, it went badly for him, and now he's pretending that he was always better than that. And I don't think I need to tell you how hard Eridan works to try and present himself as badass and scary and totally not deep in the throes of emotional anguish at all times.

And these are the similarities that ultimately make Erisolsprite so stable. Erisolsprite speculates that maybe the reason he hasn't exploded yet is that deep down, he loves to suffer. The truth is, there's nothing between the two that's really so objectionable that they would ACTUALLY hate each other; Eridan isn't actually casteist, and Eridan never really hated Sollux in the first place.

Neither would they bring each other any comfort or joy - Eridan doesn't have any sympathy for Sollux's baggage, since, like, what, he only killed ONE person, and was even under mind control, so it's not like it was really his fault. He's a drama machine. And Sollux wouldn't have sympathy for Eridan's problems, partially because they manifest in such cringeworthy, embarrassing ways (and Sollux is highly sensitive to not being cringe, seeing as he's always commenting on other people being embarrassing or overly earnest), and partially because - I mean, fuck it, he's a rich-ass sea dweller who doesn't need to worry about being harvested to be a battery for a living ship. And also he's an idiot.

That's kind of what their relationship is to me, you know? A tepid and lukewarm dislike. They're just similar enough to each other to understand the other, and just different enough to be like "ugh, but that guy suuuuuuuucks". It's very funny, but not really a ship, hahaha.

So what you really get from that is two guys that just kind of dislike each other. Not vehemently or diametrically enough for pitch or ashen, and not a trace of the requisite pity for flushed or pale. When you throw the two together into one sprite, it won't shut up about how much it hates itself, how each part of itself is flabberghasted by the other, and how much practically the only reason it doesn't explode is a resounding "meh."

Eridan likes to validate his despair; ironically, since it's all he's ever known, it's where he feels comfortable - and nobody would provide better doomscrolling material than the doom player. Similarly, Sollux likes to torment himself, suffering his guilt in silence, and Eridan has SO MUCH to feel guilty over. Combine them into one entity, and you have a guy who can reach SUCH levels of revelling in his own misery, you don't even KNOW.

Not that it's healthy or positive for either of them... just that it would be incredibly stable. It's their worst tendencies being satisfied by each other. Maybe that's a form of leprechaun romance, but it's certainly not a quadrant.

[growingingreenwood]

Some (mostly unforeseen) Effects of Thranduil's Enchanted River In No Particular Order.

1 - The river seems to be nutritious, for lack of a better word.

Plants that grow from its enchanted water grow faster, bigger, bear more fruit, and are noticeably more individually aware of themselves and the world than plants that grow farther away from the riverbanks. The animals that live in its waters and the land animals that ritually drink the water are similarly affected, growing larger and smarter than their counterparts in unaffected waters. According to some, the animals even taste better and keep for longer before spoiling.

 Humans that ritually drink the water (like the people of Laketown) suffer from fewer diseases and are generally less affected by them when they do occur and on average have longer lifespans than other humans by about 5 - 10 years. There’s no real PROOF of this, but it’s also believed that Humans who regularly consume the enchanted waters are significantly less susceptible to the pull to darkness, this is thought because so very few of the humans who live around Mirkwood join the forces of darkness even though they’re literally right beside it for several generations. 

Any creature of light that consumes the water will have their thirst quenched faster than they would have with other liquids, and foods made using its water will fill your stomach faster than food made without. (Same principle as Lembas bread.) 

2 - Creatures of Darkness are harmed by the River Water, as it acts like an extremely acidic or corrosive substance to them. Even a few drops on their skin can give them huge welts or blisters, stepping into the water causes severe burns on anything that touches the water, and prolonged exposure can essentially disintegrate whatever it is touching. So if an Orc falls into the river, they will somewhat quickly get burned/boiled alive and then disintegrate and break apart into the water.

Creatures that have a neutral relationship with Greenwood and its elves are mostly unaffected by the water. If it gets splashed onto them the water can numb the area for several hours any substantial exposure to it (such as stepping into it, drinking it, or falling into it) will result in being put into a deep and magical sleep. The sleep is lifted either by being removed from the forest, or the elves coming to investigate and personally dispelling whatever charm put the creature to sleep.

3 - Depending on who you talk to, some say that the River itself can come to life and act of its own free will, a bit like the tree’s can. There’s reports of the river ‘luring’ people into its waters. There’s also reports of Jets of Water shooting out to injure or distract anything trying to harm the elves.

The most spectacular stories along this vein include a figure rising from the water in the form of a beautiful elvish woman, with only her feet remaining as ‘normal’ water. It's an extremely rare occurrence and usually means something, very, very bad for the creatures of darkness. Rumor has it that the river takes the shape of King Thranduil’s wife that passed away.

4 - The water remains the same temperature year round. It feels slightly cool in the summer, but in the winter it remains warm enough that the river never freezes completely over and neither does the lake which Lake Town resides on. No matter how cold the rest of the world around the water is, on particularly cold days a little bit of steam can be seen rising into the air.

5 - The average magical power among Greenwood Elves is a bit higher than most other elven populations, and it's thought that this is due to them ingesting so much of Thranduil’s Enchanted Water. The additional magical power also helps them to resist the negative effects of living so close to Dol Guldur for so long.  It’s also thought that this is why the bond between the Greenwood Elves and things of nature (especially Tree's) is so much stronger than it is for others.

6 - The water acts as a highly effective shield against the magic of others. Its the river that prevents the other elven realms from seeing and sensing much in Greenwood no matter how hard they try. It doesn’t affect Thranduil and his people's ability to see OUT of the forest though, if anything, it probably makes it easier.

[koolades-world]

Oh my god. Nightbringer Satan crushing on MC and Demon brothers freaking out because it's the same thing that happened with Lillith. Lucifer acts like a clown. (Maybe tries the atic). Belphie too.

NO BUT you think exactly like me, like omg are we secretly twins… The idea is still so fresh in brother's minds since it literally just happened, and Satan is none the wiser. He didn’t live through it after all. He hasn't really had a real conversation about what happened to them since he hates being around them. And honestly, anything that pisses off Lucifer must be the right choice for him. And the thing about the attic! Kinda like to think that Lucifer realized that attic was the perfect place to hide his brothers after sticking Satan up there. If it could contain Satan, what couldn’t it contain? it’s too perfect! I think I just love anything Satan angst

idk if this was a request or not but I kinda wanna write something for this idea anyways so,, ty anon you're literally so cool, sending my love :)

I haven’t gotten through all of Nightbringer’s story yet so sorry if this isn’t totally accurate to what happens. I'm on like chapter 5 and I haven't seen any spoilers... Honkai Star Rail recently came out and my friends are also playing that game so we’ve been playing that. Will go back to Nightbringer soon!

brewing just under the surface

It has been some time since Mc had been outed as a human. It has taken everyone except Solomon time to adjust. At first, everyone was furious in their own ways. Belphie, Satan, and Lucifer showed it in the typical way. It was the most they had truly let themselves go after falling. Everyone in the Devildom was advised to stay inside. Levi and Beel holed themselves up inside, hiding away from the world, fearing that if they showed themselves, they would be burnt again. Asmo found himself drinking into a stupor almost nightly, as when he laid in bed trying to fall asleep, all he could think about was Mc. Mammon was similar. He was rarely home, afraid he would see Mc so he went out gambling or exploring the Devildom to take his mind off everything. Eventually, they began to warm back up to Mc.

Mammon, however, was also the quickest to find himself missing Mc. He began to forgive them and understand their situation. They had been nothing but sweet to him, so he felt like he owed it to them. They had been a friend in a tough time. He began taking them with him on his adventures and gambled less. With them, he felt happier, more like himself. Part of him was kind of giddy they could exist in a state like this, despite everything. He felt like he could forget everything with them. He had them all to himself, after all. Even if they were a human, they were still the same deep down.

Eventually, Beel and Levi came around, followed by Asmo. The remaining three brothers thought they could never forgive Mc. Lucifer had placed so much trust in their attendant only for him to learn they couldn’t even tell the truth about who they were to him. He might be able to come around one day, but for the meantime, he needed to be alone. Belphie had vowed to hate humans for as long as he lived, so forgiveness was out of the question completely.

However, Satan wasn’t really sure why he was so mad. He struggled to find a reason to be mad sometimes. He would rage until he wasn’t really sure why he was raging in the first place, which would make him begin to rage all over again. He had no substantial relationship with this attendant. He was always locked up, locked out, or just too mad to interact with, making him unable to connect with them. It wasn’t on his brother’s behalf either. He didn’t really care about them too much, not enough to be this upset. Mc did technically lie to him, but that thought didn’t really provoke him. So, what was it? That's the mess he had found himself in for the past week or so. He wasn't really sure when he started thinking about it, but he was really tumbling down the rabbit hole now.

Satan was tuckered out after a long night out of causing destruction. He found himself at peace on very few occasions. One of the things that gave him the time to think in peace was after he was tired, or after he had just woken up. When he wasn't angry, he found himself enjoying things, such as thinking or the beauty of the world around him. Because of this, he was seated at the edge of a cliff, looking over the ocean. His legs and tail dangled over the edge. He looked minuscule compared to everything else. The sky was dark, so he stared down at the waves crashing against the cliff. Sometimes, he would overhear his brothers complaining about how it was always dark in the Devildom, but he actually thought it was nice. It comforted him. Not too far away was a road. One of the moons hung low in the sky. The others were not visible at the moment. In another moment of blissful clarity, he had taken the time to learn about the Devildom sky from a book. It had been a gift from Mc. Why they would give him a gift like that was beyond him, but he had found himself enjoying it despite that. It was one of the few things he had not destroyed in his rage.

While staring at sea, he simply thought. With a clear mind, he began to wonder why he still found himself mad at Mc. He hadn't seen them in a while, so maybe the feelings had calmed down. It was positive that he was able to think about it calmly, anyways. He was still unsure why exactly he was mad at Mc in the first place. Perhaps he had thought he had finally found someone that he could somewhat relate to. But then again, they still didn't know each other that well. As he was trapped in his thought, he heard the crunching of gravel behind him.

“Mammon? You out here?” The person he has just been thinking about had suddenly appeared as if it was magic. They had a motorcycle helmet pinched between their arm and torso. They froze once they realized Satan was there.

“Hey, Mc.” He turned back to look over the ocean.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize you were out here. You haven’t seen Mammon recently, have you?” They remained standing awkwardly behind him.

“No.” He kept his answers short, not really sure how to reply.

“Right, thank you.” They didn’t move at first. Then they spoke again. “Do you mind if I sit next to you for a moment?”

Satan thought about it for a moment. “I don’t mind.” He had a lot of questions. They settled next to him. Most anyone who sat next to him sat at least an arms length away. But Mc sat just within reach. Not too close to invade his personal space, but close enough to talk to him on a personal level. If they wanted, they could reach out and touch his shoulder. They set their helmet on the side farther from him.

“What brings you out here?” They asked, looking at the sky too. He had to stop and think about their question again. If it had been anyone else, this would have bothered him by now.

“I’m not sure. It’s beautiful, mysterious. Maybe that’s why.” He looked at them from the corner of his eye. Their looked out at the connection between the ocean and the sky.

“I’ve always loved nature. It’s not the same as home, but it’s beautiful in a different way.” The way they referenced the human works so casually made something within him twinge. Lucifer hated that place, and he should too, but he found himself curious.

“What was it like there?” He asked. They looked surprised, but answered nonetheless.

“It depended where you were. I grew up in a place where everything was always green with life, and you could always find some sort of life somewhere. But I traveled to places where all you could see was sand or the endless sea, like now. The biggest difference was the rising and setting sun. It wasn’t always dark. The sun always rose in the morning, to chase away to dark, and the sun always set to welcome the dark back. I used to wish it could always be night so I didn’t have to go to school and spend all my time at midnight reading, but now I miss it.” They reminisced. He finally turned his head to look at them. The stars and sea reflected in their eyes. “You eyes remind me of the morning. The forest and the rising sun illuminating it all.”

Satan paused again. He has never taken the time to look that closely at his eyes. He would have to look at them the next chance he got. “Thank you.” He finally said. “Do you miss the human world?”

It was Mc’s turn to stop. They still hadn’t realized he was looking at them. “Sometimes I do. But the Devildom has a charm. I’ve spend so much time here, it’s hard not to love. I do love it here.” They looked furthered down at the rocks below, reflecting the crashing waves in their eyes instead. “Someday, I would like to take you there. You would love some of the remote nature locations.”

This statement made Satan heat up. He couldn’t comprehend how they could say such kind things to him, the embodiment of anger. “That sounds nice.” His mind began to wander and suddenly, everything he has been feeling dawned on him. Mc was his friend. He had a friend. It was warm feeling that he didn’t know how to describe, but it did make him want to hold and care for Mc.

“Can I hug you? It’s fine if you say no, I understand.” He nervously looked back over at them again. This time, they were looking back at him. They hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. They scooted over to him, and wrapped their arms around him. They placed their head on his shoulder and inhaled. Satan was sure this was the most amount of affection he had gotten, probably ever. He was almost overwhelmed at first by the emotions he felt.

“You give really good hugs.” Mc seemed to really enjoy the embrace, but he didn’t dare respond. He wasn’t even sure what to say. He didn’t want to let go. This was probably also one of the most peaceful, sweet moments he’d ever had. “I should get going. Mammon is still missing.” Mc sighed.

“Alright.” He let go of them, but they didn’t scoot away quickly. They sat there for a moment, thinking.

“I’m making dinner tonight, if you’re interested. I also have something for you back at the house, so let me know once you get home. See you later.” They then got up, picked up their helmet, and left. They turned around a final time to wave, and he paused for a moment before waving back.

That was the beginning of it all. After that, he found himself by Mc’s side more and more. They went to see more remote scenery, and eventually, they went out in public together. He was still the same irritable, hotheaded demon, but he found it happening less often in the presence of Mc. When it did, they were always there to pick up the pieces of what he has done and comfort him. He was worried he might harm them at first, but they quickly proved they could handle themselves. They knew what made him tick and always seemed to know what he was going to do next. He would still have outbursts pretty frequently, but Mc mysteriously was always right on top of it.

Of course, his brothers, if he even dared call them that, noticed. They claimed they didn't care about their attendant but at the same time got upset with him for hogging their attention. Many times, Mc broke up fights between him and his housemates for this very reason. Even if he wasn't the Avatar of Wrath, he wouldn't have backed down. He still wasn't sure why. He wanted to hold them, love them, care for them. He was smart enough to know this wasn't how a friend would feel about another. Still, he had no clue what it could be if it wasn't that. As much as he didn't dislike Belphegor, he kept finding himself thwarting his attempts to kill Mc. They used to be his least hated of his "brothers" but now he had to say Beelzebub was the least hated now since he would help to control his unruly twin.

He found himself turning to books for answers. There was no one he could ask for advice besides Mc themselves, and he didn't feel comfortable bring this up with them. He was trying to grow more independent anyways. Books reminded him of Mc, since they had been to one to show him how useful they could be. They held the answers to everything, as long as you were holding the right one. Occasionally, he would find himself wanting to rip one to shreds but refrained since he knew it may be useful in the future. Besides, what would Mc think?

All of the books he consulted said the same thing. They described this feeling as a "crush" or whatever that might mean. He thought that word was stupid. The actual meaning was to destroy something with intense pressure and he definitely didn't want to do that. Other than that, he found the definition clear. He thought the word love might describe how he felt better, but he was too afraid to call it that. He did think they were attractive, and he would say it happened rather quick. But what was he supposed to do? They were the only person willing to get close to him.

He was in the middle of reading this book and processing this information when Lucifer threw open the door to his room. His room wasn’t barren anymore. Mc had built a small shelf for him to place his small book collection on. They had done it by hand so he was very careful with it.

“What are you plotting with that human?” He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“Nothing. Get out.” He didn’t look up from his read, but his tail lashed about like an aggravated cat. He prided himself for not tacking him the moment he walked in.

“If you would just tell me, I won’t have to do anything the hard way.” Lucifer didn’t relent. He rushed forward to grab his collar and suspended him midair. “I know about your little crush.” Satan immediately stopped struggling. He was stunned. He couldn't bring himself to form a response.

"That is strictly prohibited. You are to maintain a professional relationship with the attendant.” Satan looked into Lucifer’s eyes. He still wasn’t great at anything relating to emotions, but there was something more than anger stirring in his piercing eyes.

“And since when has that mattered to you? You filthy pig.” Satan snarled, moving to grab the hands at his collar.

“There’s so much you don’t know. You have yet to learn. I don’t care if you hate me. I refuse to lose another one.” The air stilled after those words. He had never sounded Lucifer so upset. It made Satan begin to think. Compared to his housemates, he was nothing but a blip on the radar of time. Before he could even think about forming a response, Lucifer was moving, still holding him. Satan protested and struggled, causing a ruckus.

Mc had been sitting with Mammon in his room, giggling together quietly over another stupid outfit Mc had made. They both went silent as they heard the struggle pass the door, the mood spoiled. They glanced at each other before cracking the door. Mc knew that Lucifer and Satan hadn’t had a physical fight in a while now, so when they saw Lucifer carting Satan off somewhere, they pushed the door open all the way.

“Lucifer. What’s going on here?” When Lucifer didn’t stop, Mc ran after him, causing Mammon to follow as well. He ignored their insistent cries. Mc grabbed onto his lowest pair of wings at the base and dug their heels into the ground in vane. They felt themselves begin to pale as they marched towards the stairs leading to the attic. The attic only held terrible memories, but they were determined to help fix whatever was going on.

As the parade went upstairs, Mc tripped on the first step. Lucifer continued without them, not even acknowledging that they fell. Their knees stung. Mammon was quick to appear at their side and give them a hand up. He had never asked why they seemed so traumatized by the attic, but he knew they even hated being anywhere near that spiral staircase. Dust showered the both of them as Lucifer stomped angrily up the stairs. Their ascent was anything but silent.

“Are ya sure ya wanna go after ‘em?” Mammon whispered to Mc.

“I do. Will you go with me?” They gripped his hand tightly.

“I would go even if ya didn’t ask.” After taking a deep breath, Mc began to ascend the stars as quickly as they dared after the duo, gripping Mammon’s hand. Upon arriving at the top, Mc swallowed nervously as they were greeted with an all too familiar sight. The metallic, enchanted bars looked newer than the last time they had seen them. Lucifer was currently standing behind them holding Satan. Standing as tall as they dared, Mc spoke up.

“Lucifer. What do you think you’re doing?” Their voice came out weaker than intended. Satan had never seen them so fearful. Sweat glistened on their forehead. As Lucifer turned around to face them, they stumbled back a little.

“This does not concern you, Mc. I thought I made it clear that I did not need a human meddling in my affairs.” Anytime Lucifer moved even a little, Satan noticed they seemed ready to dive to the ground or throw their hands over their head.

“Satan is my friend. I’m here for him. We can talk about this.” Their voice wavered.

“What part of leaving my private affairs alone do you not understand? You are merely an attendant. I have attempted to speak to Satan in the past. This hasn’t worked before. It will not work now.” Lucifer shook Satan a little. He growled.

“I understand you don’t want me to be part of that, and that’s fine, but I know a more healthy and less, uh, strenuous way of communicating. If you would just listen to me-“ Mc gently patted the air as a way of showing they were trying to tone down the situation.

“I will not repeat myself again. If Satan wants to act like an animal, I will treat him like one. Since you seem so keen on talking, I’ll just throw you in there with him. If you’re still alive when I return, I’ll consider it.” Lucifer moved Satan to hold him with one hand. As they reached for Mc, they went into a flurry of movement.

“No!” The shriek they let out pierced even the ears of Lucifer. They grabbed onto anything and everything to get between them and Lucifer. They continued to scream loudly, telling Lucifer to stay back. The only thing that truly proved a barrier between Lucifer and the human was Mammon. He seemed shaken by everything, but refused to move.

“Luci. I love ya and yer the best older brother I coulda wanted, but doncha think this is too far?” Mammon crossed his arms, hiding Mc behind himself.

“I warned them already. It’s time they pay the consequences of their actions. Humans are bad news.” Lucifer tried to reach around Mammon, but he caught his arm. Without another word, Lucifer grabbed Mammon’s arm right back and threw him over the edge and down the staircase. With him out of the way, Lucifer easily grabbed the human by the throat. They abruptly stopped making any noise. He shook them a little, seemingly enjoying how they swayed under his grasp and then threw both the entities in his hands into the attic. The door slammed shut and Lucifer disappeared. He could be heard yelling at the bottom of the stairs at Mammon.

For the first ten minutes, Satan wasn’t even sure if Mc was alive. They held completely still and remained exactly how they had been throw in. They were on their side facing away from him. Once Satan was sure nobody was coming back, he crawled over to them. He flipped them onto their back and was met with their familiar face. They quickly made eye contact with him, holding it. They way they stared at him made Satan nervous. Now was not the time to be getting butterflies. The attic was barren. There was no bed, or hundreds of spare boxes. There was little besides a layer of dust and what seemed to be some of Diavolo’s old things.

Satan ghosted his hand over their forehead. They were sweaty. He didn't know what to say. Mc was always better at dealing with emotions, but he knew they needed him. He thought back to what they would do after he had a meltdown. "Does anything hurt?" He first asked. They didn't do anything at first. He just sat and waited for them to respond, because sometimes he didn't respond right away either.

"Just my feelings." Mc cracked a smile. He was glad that they were feeling good enough to try to joke, but he also wasn't sure what he would have done if they had said they were physically hurt.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" That was the next thing Mc always said to him.

"Did you ever read that one book about the stars that I gave you?" He was taken by surprise by the question.

"I did." He had really liked it.

"Let's look out the window then, and you can point out your favorite stars." They pushed themself up with a wince. He held a hand out, to which they accepted without thought. They had lied to him about not being hurt. They leant the window sill as he began explaining what he had read. Eventually, he let Mc begin to explain things he had questions about. Again, he found himself looking at them instead of the stars. The lengths they went for him were beyond him.

He wasn't sure how to approach confessing how he felt. Now didn't feel like the right time. For now, he could just admire and appreciate them. Hopefully, that day would come...

[corruptedcaps]

A Bad Conscience

Courtney had always been the center of attention. As a cheerleader, she strutted around her high school with her perfectly styled hair and designer outfits, surrounded by a clique of admiring girls and boys. Her beauty was undeniable, and her popularity was unmatched. But Courtney had a dark side. She was a cruel bully who would taunt and belittle anyone who didn't fit into her definition of cool or who didn’t give her the right amount of respect.

One fateful night, 20 years ago, Courtney's life was cut short in a car accident on her way home from a party. But even in death, Courtney couldn't bear to be ignored. She had always been the center of attention, and she refused to fade away into nothingness. It was what kept her from moving on.

So, Courtney began to haunt her high school and the town she grew up in. She floated through the halls, watched as new generations of students went about their days, and followed the lives of her former friends and enemies.

But no one could see or hear her. She was just a ghost, invisible and ignored. It was frustrating for someone who had always craved attention, but it also gave her the perfect opportunity to spy on people without consequence. She learned all about the lurid side of her town and all the seedy gossip. It was like her own personal soap opera. But like a soap opera she grew bored of it over time.

She started to explore her limits as a ghost. Over time she found she could move objects, with a substantial amount of effort though. However it allowed her to begin reading books of dark magic and paranormal beings like herself. She learned that she could possess a body if they wore something that she had worn in life. Unfortunately her parents had long gotten rid of her things. But there was one thing left.

She stared at the wooden frame that hung up in the hall next to the trophy cabinet with the little plaque underneath it commemorating her time as head cheerleader. In the frame itself was her pristine cheerleader outfit, pink, white, and tight. She needed someone to wear it, then she would be able to be able to live again but who would ever steal and then wear the outfit of a dead cheerleader?

As she was deep in thought she heard a snoring sound coming from the nearby library. She had thought everyone had gone home for the day but seemingly not. Floating in she found a girl asleep on the ground on top of an open book.

Courtney knew it was Ash, a new student who had been struggling to fit in. She had watched as the girl was bullied and excluded, just as she had once done to so many others. Ash would hide away in the library away from others all the time but this time she had seemingly hid too long and fell asleep.

Courtney looked at her with disdain. Courtney had no time for people she perceived as weak and Ash certainly filled that bill. Courtney had even less respect for girls like her in death. Why should they get to live while she had to die?

���Such a waste of a life.” Courtney said aloud and to her surprise Ash jolted awake.

“Hello?” Ash asked into the air. Courtney froze. Had Ash heard her? No one ever hears her. She had to test it out.

“I said it’s a waste that you’re in here while life is passing you by out there.” Courtney said startling Ash who looked around trying to see where the voice was coming from.

“W-who are you?” Ash asked now very nervous. Courtney was delighted someone could finally hear her, even if it was the dorky Ash. This would bring her one step closer to getting back her life but she had to play this smart. She couldn’t exactly tell her she was a deceased decades old cheerleader.

“I’m your conscience. The part of your conscious you’ve buried away anyway.” Courtney said hoping this would work. To her delight Ash seemed to become less tense.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bury you away.” She said apologizing. Courtney rolled her eyes at how much of a pushover this girl was. Although she realized this would work to her advantage. She knew she could get Ash to wear the uniform but also knew even a wimp like her would need some convincing. She just needed to make her into a girl that didn’t care about consequences.

She floated around Ash, whispering into her ear, "That’s ok, you can make it up to me by listening and doing exactly what I say understand?”

Ash didn't know why her conscience sounded different to her own voice or had a bratty tone but she couldn’t deny how confident it sounded and persuasive it was. Maybe she could learn from it.

“First things first, you need to dress better. No not that outfit, yessss that one. You’ll look so much hotter in that.” Courtney said in her ear that night as Ash online shopped on her laptop. Ash was staring at an outfit she’d never have thought of wearing a million years but Courtney was hard to say no to.

“The hotter you look the more people will respect you. The more respect you have the more power you wield.” Courtney purred and Ash found herself shivering with hearing the words.

“You really think I could have some sort of… power just by wearing some nice clothes?” Ash said as she closed her laptop after ordering the dress and got ready for bed.

“Absolutely. Hot girls get to do what they want. Doesn’t that sound like power? Don’t you deserve that?” Courtney said to her.

“It does sound good…” Ash said as she drifted off to sleep. Courtney meanwhile spend the rest of the night whispering in the girl’s mind bitchy words of affirmation. Courtney would make her into the perfect puppet.

The next day Ash woke up feeling well rested. She had the most amazing dreams where everyone at school looked up to her and either wanted her or wanted to be her. It felt good but more than that it felt natural. Why shouldn’t she be the most popular girl in school? She resolved to listen to her conscious explicitly from now on.

"You need to wear more makeup. And you need to start talking to the right people. The popular crowd. That's where you belong." Courtney began and Ash nodded in agreement. She couldn’t wait to get started. Thankfully her outfit arrived overnight and she poured herself into its tight bratty design.

Only last night she would have been apprehensive about wearing something so revealing but now she wore it proudly. Now with a little makeup on and a brush of comb through her hair and she looked and felt better than she had in years. She stood looking at herself vainly, as Courtney whispered in her ear some more.

“You look so fucking hawt.” Courtney said causing a pleasurable shiver to course through Ash’s body.

“I do don’t I?” Ash responded feeling confident about herself for once.

Over the next week Ash made a big impact on the rest of the student body. Each day she came in she turned heads for all the right reasons.

She developed her own little clique of girls outside of the hierarchy of popularity, a clique she could control and boss around. It made her increasing horny the more bitchy she became.

"You're doing great, Ash," Courtney whispered. "You look amazing. But if you’re gonna become the most popular girl in school you’re going to have to get better friends. You need to hang out with the popular crowd," she said. "That's where the real power is."

Ash would have been hesitant if Courtney wasn’t whispering in her head nightly, turning her into the formidable and attention seeking girl she was now.

It was surprisingly easy for Ash to ditch the only friends she had ever had, to her all that mattered now was climbing the social ladder. Plus her conscious felt like the only friend she needed. It always knew exactly what to do.

Even more astounding though was it’s ability to know the sordid little secrets that everyone was hiding. Of course Ash couldn’t have known that her conscious was a ghost who had been collecting juicy gossip for years but then again she didn’t really care why she knew that Chad was cheating on Aimee or that Samantha had a pill problem or that Louise was secretly gay. All that mattered was how she used the information and she used it to elevate herself to the top of the hierarchy in record time.

Ash became like Courtney with each passing moment and it truly felt like they were becoming one. Ash would now do and say things Courtney was about to suggest unprompted. Courtney felt like she was in charge once again. There was just one final step.

“I don’t know about this, it seems a little far even for me.” Ash said staring at the framed uniform hanging up in the gym.

“It’s your final step to becoming the queen of the school.” Courtney whisper with eager anticipation.

“It would look incredible on me but why do I have to take this Courtney girl’s cheerleader uniform, why can’t I just get a new one?” Ash asked worried for the first time in weeks.

“Because I was the ultimate bitch, I oozed power and respect. Putting on my uniform will complete your transformation into the new mean queen everyone will fear.” Courtney said no longer hiding her true identity. A fact that seemed to finally make her corporeal to Ash who shrieked and jumped back when she saw the girl materialize before her.

“Wait you haven’t been my conscience all this time? You’re this head cheerleader? You’re Courtney?” Ash said backing up against the wall.

“I guess the cats out of the bag. I’ve been moulding you into the perfect bitch and I must say even I’m surprised how well you’ve turned out but now it’s time for your graduation to the big leagues. Put on my uniform and we can become one, the ultimate goddess.” Courtney smirked as she advanced on Ash.

“You turned me into this vain narcissistic slut?! You made me into this dangerous wet dream and you think I’ll just rollover and let you take my body? Not a chance!” Ash said defiant but Courtney simply smiled and put her hand around Ash’s head and pulled her close.

“That’s exactly what you’re going to do because you love what you’ve become. You love the power you have over other people. How they love and fear you in equal measure. Not only do you know you’re nothing without my guidance, you know how much bigger of a bitch you can be with me inside you.” Courtney teased and Ash knew she was right.

“But you can stop this right now,” Courtney continued. “Our connection to one another is why you can now see me, why you can feel my soft hands on your neck and while you can feel this.”

Courtney pressed her lips against Ash’s and ran her tongue down her chin. Ash moaned softly enjoying the invasion. “Yessss I want you Courtney. I want you inside me, controlling me, using my body as you please. I want to become the queen on this pathetic school, a walking goddess!” Ash yelled as she pushed Courtney off of her and pulled the frame off the wall causing the glass to shatter and the uniform to be exposed.

Ash ripped off her clothes and hungrily pulled on the cheerleading outfit. It fit her perfectly and she lovingly ran her hands across the fabric. Courtney pushed her against the wall and kissed her deeply. As she did her ghostly form melted into Ash’s body and the two girls merged into one. This new girl’s bones cracked and freaked as the best attributes of each girl became dominant.

Ash’s bigger tits looked natural paired with Courtney’s tanned skin. Courtney’s thick full lips looked perfect on the same face as Ash’s piercing eyes. Ash’s taller frame took on Courtney’s well maintained muscles and athleticism. In short, this new girl was perfection.

She wanted to see herself, her new self and out of instinct she flicked her wrist and commanded the broken frame and glass to float off the ground and resemble. She smirked to herself, realizing that some of Courtney’s ghostly abilities merged over as well.

“Oh I’m going to have so much fun tomorrow when everyone gets a look at me. Who knows maybe one day they’ll be a shrine to me up on the walls. Who am I kidding, this whole school will be a shrine to me once I’m done with it. Ashley High School certainly had a ring to it.” She said to herself with a cackle as she flicked her hair back and strutted down the hallway.

[markbandanawitts]

Translated Keroro Files No.001 - No.022

these are the "files" for the characters written from keroro's perspective in the game "Keroro Gunso the Super Movie: Gekishin Dragon Warriors de arimasu!" that's on the DS and released in 2009 a little before the fourth movie came out

i've seen segments of these translated but never all of them or in order, so hopefully if i finish these they’ll be semi-organized. or maybe they’re all translated sitting somewhere and i just don’t know about it yet

i would like to say these are all of the main 5's files but it's not 😭 there's a few more way later down the line. after this is garuru's platoon and stuff which i'll get started on......eventually......

Some Additional Notes:

File No. 1: Look up “Zaku Gundam” you will not be disappointed

File No. 9 & No. 12: Remember when Kogoro got to be an actor with Lavie? That’s this; “tokusatsu” is just a Japanese genre that’s based around superhero’s and special effects. Also I’m 99% sure Keroro’s name is parodying Mazinkaiser

File No. 10: Dangale is the fictional knockoff version of Gundam in this franchise; supposedly the lore goes that it sucks so bad that it auctions for a ton of money since they didn’t make many

File No. 13: I grew up with this Tamama being “Comrade Führer” but I suppose this is a substantially less offensive title

File No. 16: I don’t have anything important to say; I just want to make it known that I’m very uncomfortable with the fact he doesn’t look like a tadpole in this

File No. 19: Keroro is a fucking liar Giroro did NOT enjoy being sash pulled in the 2nd movie. For context an “obi” is the traditional sash worn with a kimono, and it’s a trope to yank it hard enough to make the (typically) girl spin around

— I got the screenshots for this from the youtuber Soroaxas, who did a full playthrough on the game. I’d totally recommend checking out their completed run through if interested they seem pretty cool

[flyonthewallmedstudent]

The weirdness of high school.

And university too maybe.

Plus or minus med school. But not residency. Watching THis is Us and other bingeable shows recently.

There's a lot of flash backs and flash forwards in the show.

There's the high school ones, which like all TV shows is very stereotype'd. They go to an alumni event, and the nerdy girl now surgeon is estactic to hang out with the former football star/cool guy. Who is very thick.

I was a super weird, nerdy, socially awkward kid. Afraid of a lot of social things, but not afraid of science, history anything academic or what I looked like. I wore oversized sweats all day everyday. I never knew how to say the right things or act in a crowd. I hated crowds. 2 or 3 close friends was great, and the best I could muster. I was terrified of their parents.

But funnily enough, I never knew I was weird. I wasn't unhappy either.

I liked having 2-3 close friends, nothing more or less.

Then close to graduation, one of the guidance counselors (the non-crazy one) said to me, she didn't have a great high school experience either. But it gets better after high school. I'll see. It took me years as a teenager to understand what she meant.

Later on I realized that other people felt sorry for me. Thinking because I didn't have the stereotype of the great high school experience I was some how sad, ashamed, unhappy.

Ironically I never even thought about it and was actually happy in my own world and space. I had my separate universe in academics. Like it never dawned on me that I was missing out on anything.

I felt embarassed, in a strange way as an adult reflecting on those experiences. Slightly embarassed for me, but more embarrassed for the small town/city around me. I did not fit in that place, but I didn't know it either back then or didn't care to. We were very much ships passing in the night. I didn't and don't hate where I grew up, I actually loved it in my own way. I got a great education there, and it got me where I wanted to go.

Looking back, plenty of kids probably made underhanded mean comments or passive aggressive statements - but it all went over my head. I suppose I would have been unhappy, had I read between the lines back then. Someone even stole my math text the week of the math exam, but I was actually flattered. That hey, someone thought I was that smart (imposter syndrome starts when you're young). It was one of the best days of my life.

It was also hilarious to me then, that stealing the text of one of the nerds during exam week would sabotage anything - because they spend their entire free time studying the whole year. They don't cram. Cramming was a terrible habit I acquired in university/undergrad. In med school, I'd fail exams because I crammed.

Another time I had left my draft math home work in a common room table, a classmate told me (2 weeks after the fact) that 5-6 different kids grabbed it and copied it. unfortunately for them, it was a draft full of errors, so I completely disregarded as trash. the final copy I submitted with the correct formulae was substantially different. Our math teacher of course realized that everyone had the same errors, but couldn't figure out the source. No one ever said anything mean or confronting, so it wasn't hard to brush aside. they self-sabotaged themselves, nothing actually happened to me.

Again, it was like we lived on different planets. Had they asked, I probably would have helped them out, I didn't get the grades I got by myself either. My far smarter co-nerd friends taught me a lot. On the other hand, I was intensely shy, they probably interpreted it as being "aloof." Or worse, condescending.

I'd felt my entire time during school, that it was the path to something else. I wouldn't get there till about 10-15 years later. Maybe even 20. It was a means to an end. If I was going to be working, then I wanted that work to have meaning. Or what would the point of all those hours. My parents worked in jobs they grew to hate to just go home and be tired.

Med school was a bit like high school. After the first few months of first year, i spent most of it hiding from other med students. (They were fucking crazy, a good chunk of them although not all, the anxiety, stress, competitiveness, the back stabbing, entitlement and bravado --> by the way, people do mature and get better. of course not all them do. anyhoo).

It was after selecting a vocation and starting residency that I found "home." Where I suddenly was comfortable having more than 2-3 friends and happy to be in crowds. Because everyone in the crowd was pretty much like me. We wanted to talk about all the same things. Maybe I grew more comfortable in my own skin along the way too.

But you know, it wasn't me that need to grow and change. I had found the environment where I finally could be myself in.

[dust-and-grave]

hng, i am so frustrated by this whole watcher tv situation. i've been chewing on it ever since i watched their announcement video yesterday + i've been looking around online at other fan reactions. i'm having a lot of thoughts so i guess i want to throw my two cents in + hope it'll make me feel better to talk about it a little.

i think we all agree that creators should be paid fairly for their work; however, not all work is created equal, right? if i commission an experienced (and thus high-demand) artist to do an oil painting of my cat, they might quote me $500+ to do that + it would be fair. if an artist with substantially less experience (and thus in lower demand) spends 30 seconds on a crayon rendition of my cat, should they also received $500+ for their work? i think most people would agree that would be ridiculous.

in some ways, this is what it feels like the watcher team is doing to us right now, imo. we know that shows like ghost files or puppet history are expensive to make because travel costs (in the case of ghost files) + production costs, but we can see the effort put into the work. we feel that what we give for the show, whether that's turning off ad blocker while watching or buying show merch or supporting via patreon, is going toward making the product that we are asking for. these shows are the oil painting in the metaphor.

i don't agree with how mean + rude some people are being about steven lim rn, but frankly, his shows are the 30 second crayon drawing of the watcher channel. anyone can look at the view count on their channel + see that his shows consistently have performed worse than shane + ryan's shows. additionally, we can see that he blows huge amounts of money on his shows ("$913 seafood tower", "$1027 fried chicken") that may leave a lot of viewers feeling as if they're aren't getting as much bang for their buck.

frankly, i think people are valid for being upset that they're expected to directly foot the bill for steven's "i fly all over the world + eat expensive food while you watch" project. while youtube has a shit ton of problems (like, say, not paying their creators enough), one of the cool things about it is that you can gauge directly the amount of the interest in a project (and how many resources you should dedicate to said project) by how many eyes are on it. unfortunately for him (i guess), steven's shows just don't garner enough attention to justify the expense of making them.

which is why i see this shift to watcher tv as such a problem. this feels very much like using shane + ryan's success on the channel to force fans to fuel steven's pursuit of his glory days on worth it. it feels even more strange when they say that they're making the switch because the company isn't currently sustainable, but steven has just hired his friends from buzzfeed + continues to push his series that just don't seem to be making back the cost of production.

to be totally fair, shane + ryan don't get out of this clean either. some of their shows don't deserve to be behind a paywall either. too many spirits is filmed in ryan's parent's backyard with content submitted by their viewers. are you scared is just ryan reading creepypastas/fan submitted content on a minimal set. survival mode is just them playing games like any other streamer or gaming youtuber does. i love all of these shows, but are they on par with puppet history or ghost files? absolutely not.

this is where i think the disconnect is coming from. they're taking everything including the lower production shows to a streaming service where you have to fund them directly (rather than indirectly through ad revenue). they're forcing funding into steven's projects despite them just not doing well enough to justify the cost. they're coming across as disingenuous with their reasoning because their stated reasons for doing this don't align with their actions rn.

i feel like it would've made so much more sense to crowdfund new seasons of shows (which gives them feedback from the fans about what they want too) or put higher cost shows like ghost files or puppet history on patreon or channel membership. i would gladly fund mystery files, weird wonderful world, ghost files, puppet history, etc. with my own money, but i'm one of the ones who isn't really interested in funding steven's quest to eat all of the gold-plated kobe beef when i'll never be able to afford to eat at a restaurant that even serves it.

[everythingwasnormalhere]

actually I've been thinking about it and kenny is so disability-coded???

like, even without my chronic pain headcanon, if we only take the canon material, he's incredibly disability-coded and im not sure why nobody's mentioned it before

Ok so, first thing first, south park isn't exactly known out of its community for having the best rep of... anything, actually, but anyone who's watched the show knows it has some of the best disability representation of any piece of media. Jimmy and Timmy, neither of their characters revolve around being disabled - they don't even make much fun of it! (It's south park, they have to make fun of everything). Their characters are complex, not because they're disabled, but because the writers didn't want to make them revolve around that. And if you don't believe me, please just watch the fucking show or at least their episodes (this is however not about them so I won't say much more about them, there's some pretty cool posts on this site that talk about this in more detail if you wanna read more though)

Now, onto Kenny: Kenny is a pretty cool guy. Fandom favorite, well-known even by people who don't watch south park. And besides how he's incredibly cute (like, c'mon, you heard his little "woohoo!"?), the reason why he's so famous is simple: He dies in every episode.

(well, not every ep in the latest seasons, but at the beginning he did and that's enough for me)

You might be thinking, "hey Loki, that's cool, but I have no fucking idea where this is going". And I'll tell you: his constant deaths actively avoid him doing stuff. Dying makes him spend less time with his friends, he can't take part in their shenanigans, he's generally unable to do things due to dying 24/7. Like, hell, he spent a whole season not hanging out with the guys because he was too dead for that! His friends substituted him, and he's still less-there since that happened.

This means: the impairment 'has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'

(because he can't carry out normal day-to-day activities when he's, you know, fucking deceased)

Also, as Kenny himself says, "'Pretty cool'? Do you know how it feels like to be stabbed, to be shot, decapitated, torn apart, burned, run over? It's not 'pretty cool' Kyle! It fucking hurts!". His deaths cause him actual, physical pain. And guess what's a disability criteria?

You guessed: they have a 'physical or mental impairment'

(it "fucking hurts", I think that's physically impairing enough)

Also, his deaths have slowed down for the last few seasons, sure, but they still happen. And this is important, because they'll probably keep happening for the rest of his life - and if not, they've already lasted long enough anyway:

A 'substantial adverse effect' means more than just a minor impact on someone's life or how they can do certain things. This may fluctuate or change and may not happen all the time.'Long-term' means either:it will affect them or is likely to affect them for at least 12 months it's likely to last for the rest of their life It can still be considered long-term if the effects come and go. For example, a fluctuating condition might affect someone for a few months at a time with other times when they're not affected.

So, yeah. Kenny, canonical Kenneth McCormick, legally qualifies as disabled. But what makes him such good rep? He's still a well-loved character, not only in spite of his disability (yes, I'm calling his deaths a disability, sue me), but also because of it. Kenny is a pretty cool guy, he's cute, he's silly, he's a goddamn perv but really respectful about it too, and he dies in every episode which is actually hilarious. And about the perv part - fuck yeah, disabled character who not only isn't asexual, but is canonically the first in his friend group to do (consensual) sexual things! He's also canonically pretty desirable, he's the 7th in the List after all (and he's not just there for the girls' benefit like Clyde, Kenny is poor asf which means they genuinely find him desirable, and probably could've ended in the top 5 had it not been rigged). He's such a cool guy, and he's also disabled, and we love him for it.

Not to talk about Mysterion & PK, whose literal powers are the things that disable Typical Kenny - which, yeah, it's a bit of inspiration porn, but it's also a huge "fuck you" to god on Kenny's side. And it's not like "hey, I rose over my disability!", the moment in which Kenny talks (complains) most about it is actually when he's playing Mysterion - or it is in the show, at least. He was given bullshit, and yet he used it on his own benefit, but that didn't make the struggle disappear in his usual life - he's still disabled, no matter how much he uses it in his own favor. And we all love him for that.

I think he's actually awesome disability rep, mostly because he's accidental representation, and yet can (and in my opinion should) be read that way. Kenny McCormick is a beloved character everywhere, and he's also canonically disabled, and I love him for it.

[girlballs]

What are ur thoughts on botw why is it bad I’m just curious

there's. a couple reasons

shrines as BotW does them are not a substantial replacement for real dungeons, partly because they didn't implement any kind of actual difficulty curve to them but also because most of them In Their Entirety are equivalent to one puzzle room from a real zelda dungeon. they're also in the awkward position of being a bad idea stapled to a good idea- the Spirit Orbs replacing heart containers with an upgrade that can go to a stat of your choice is cool by itself!

the divine beasts are also not really good substitutes for dungeons either. they're like, about the same size as OoT's ice cave? the puzzlebox aspect of each one is neat but they still kind of feel more like a gimmick you fiddle with until you can progress rather than a real core dungeon puzzle (being able to fiddle with the controls anywhere also makes it feel weird and disconnected)

the big thing though: you get all 5 of your "items" (bomb/stasis/magnet/ice/glider) in the tutorial and those are the only things the game expects or requires you to have. most shrines only require you use 1 at a time, sometimes 2 if they were feeling spicy. there's like one shrine i can remember that actually required a bow, and it just gives you one in a chest, because the bow is no longer a core thing they can safely design around

boss and enemy design is also...not great. there's like, what, eight regular enemy types for most of the game? plus lynels, 3 guardian types, and the two yiga dudes. the four ___blight ganon bosses are also tougher fights than Actual Calamity Ganon for whatever reason, and the latter fight gets arbitrarily cut in half if you fight the blight bosses which like. i get from a narrative standpoint but "you get to fight less of the final boss" does not feel like a reward, it feels like a punishment

also the world just feels. so empty if you're like me and are not super compelled by a bunch of fragile, functionally-identical weapons and korok block-shuffling puzzles

[patrickdiomedes]

Rating Marvel's Disco Dazzler variant covers, as someone who knows practically nothing about disco or fashion.

Because why the hell not?

Amazing Spider-Man #55 and #56, covers by Luciano Vecchio. I have no strong feelings one way or the other on MJ's outfit on issue 56, but disco ball spider man? Hell yeah. I don't even mind the round spider symbol belt buckle here, and I usually prefer the symbol to be less round, and more like an actual spider.

The Avengers #17, cover by J. Scott Campbell.

I would like this a lot more if anyone other than J Scott Campbell drew it. God I fucking hate his art style so much. Still, Storm looks great, Thor looks like a member of the BeeGees (and I mean that in a good way) and Tony wearing an outfit OVER his iron man suit? A+

Avengers Assemble #1, cover by Anand Ramcheron. Perfect, no notes, 10/10.

Captain America #12, cover by Elizabeth Torque. I feel like the shield should be sparklier, but I dig the outfit.

Daredevil #12, cover by Scott Godlewski. Oh my god I didn't notice until just now that Matt has the Daredevil logo shaved into his chest hair, that's fucking perfect.

Deadpool #5, cover by Annie Wu. The fact that the red portions of the suit aren't sequinned is disappointing. Come on Wade, commit to the bit!

Doctor Strange #18, cover by Marguerite Sauvage. Oh, this one is fucking phenomenal. The colors, the patterns, the oversized collar and Eye of Agamotto on Steven? All absolutely perfect.

Fantastic Four #23, cover by Ben Su. Incredible Hulk #15, Cover by Todd Nauck. Miles Morales: Spider Man #23, cover by Karen Darboe. Don't really have anything to say about these, they're fun. Though Hulk should have chest hair.

Incredible Hulk #16, cover by Edwin Galmon. Ms. Walters, please crush me with your sequinned thighs.

Immortal Thor #14, cover by Lee Garbett. I actually bought this one, because hell yeah disco ball Mjolnir. Also because Immortal Thor is incredible. Al Ewing don't miss, y'all.

Scarlet Witch #3, cover by Jessica Fong. This one is absolutely stunning. The disco balls for her magical aura around her hands? The pattern on her clothes? The fucking stars? 100/10.

Uncanny X-Men #1, cover byPablo Villalobos. Dig the outfit, but I think the Soul Sword should've been disco ball-ified.

Venom #36, cover by Rickie Yagawa. Looks good, but I feel like they should've gone farther with the theme. Come on, give him some wide lapels!

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8, cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Absolutely fucking perfect. The Mr. Knight look needed very little work to disco-ify it, and god it looks cool.

Werewolf by Night: Red Band #1, cover by Jeremy Wilson. X-Men #2, cover by Olivier Vatine. These two are pretty cool, but I dont' really have anything substantial to say about them.

X-Force #2, cover by Phil Noto. I am always a slut for Phil Noto, and I love how dynamic this cover looks.

X-Factor #1, cover by David Lopez. This one's alright, but honestly I can't help but think how cool Warren could look in a disco version of his Archangel form.