#and he keeps trying to set up outside of work events and im just like. i dont know how to tell you that i would rather kms.

[autopsytableromance]

hey why did my manager unprompted tell me and like 3 other coworkers a story about how he had his dog terrorize her girlfriend for three hours while he took a nap and she hid in the car afraid like it was a funny story to tell.

[kcrossvine-art]

Hi fellow adventurers!! A few weeks ago i caught wind of "Delicious in Dungeon". I'm not really an anime person, but I am a TTRPG, CRPG, and cooking person- . And holy shit. It is so good i  convinced my partner to binge read the whole thing. I'm caught up on dungeon meshi, the anime, and just yesterday i also finished dungeon meshi, the manga.

Its rare to come across a serialized story that is so thematically cohesive and knows its characters so well. All of the bonus content like the artbooks and monster tidbits are just the icing on top.

So, inspired by Ryōko Kui's writing and illustration I'm going to attempt to create a recipe for every single Delicious in Dungeon recipe!-

Today that means Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot is on the menu!

(As always you can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to a Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot?” YOU MIGHT ASKThis is one of the pricier dishes until we get to the kelpies and dragons of the menu-

Rock lobster tail

Porcini mushrooms

Shiitake mushrooms

Snow fungus

Small potatos

Fensi (glass noodles)

Water

OPTIONAL: your choice of dipping sauces

There was a crossover/promotional event in Shibuya which featured various realworld dishes from the series. They had one for Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom, but they used prawns.  while those cook better in a hotpot, they also didn't look enough like the scorpion for me, they also used udon noodles for the slime and a seaweed/kale(?) mixture for the algae. If you're looking for substitutes due to price or availability i would start with those ingredients.

AND, “what does a Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom hotpot taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASKI hope Senshi would forgive me for technically cooking the lobster outside the pot, once he tastes it.

Okay im always partial to veggies but wowowowowowowoowowowow the snow fungus and the mushrooms tasted soooooooooooo good in the lobster stock

A nice delicate layering of different flavors

Try to get a bite with the lobster meat and shiitake together, dip in butter then chili- trust me

Its up to you what texture you prefer if you want to put the noodles in at the end or put them in halfway through the meal. Either way dont go for eating those first as theyre very filling

I think this would pair well with a citrus drink, something light and clarifying

This would also pair well with being extremely high and hungry (if you feel safe cooking while inebriated lol) very calorically dense

For the trial run I did one lobster tail in the pot with everything else, and one lobster tail off to the side to be picked apart. The former is more in spirit with a hotpot, but it got rubbery as the meal went on and lost its nice taste. The latter may be a bit more work but all you have to do still is boil it and set it aside. I found it held up much better. It was also easier to get inside the shell.

. If you have hardshell maine lobster available, i think it would be superior to rock lobster (keep in mind crustaceans will get rubbery if cooked too long in the pot) . Green onions and/or lotus root would make excellent additions

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From getting the ingredients out to sitting down and eating, id say it took maybe 30 minutes max? It'd vary on how fast you can prep vegetables and get the various implements heated.

Hotpots are not something i do very often as i'm usually just feeding myself. I think thats why a hotpot makes perfect sense to start the series off. If you want to set the tone of "take care of yourself, eat food with others, and use what you have" (generally speaking) there is nothing more simplistic, flexible, and defeats-the-purpose-if-you-eat-it-alone than a hotpot. Gather around and let your friends bring ingredients to the pot if you want to fill your heart up extra full <3

I'm doing something different here because unlike previous recipes where i used a bunch of different sources and made my own recipe out of hodge-podging it, or just used another persons recipe entirely if they did it really well, i made this more whole-cloth based off of what i had available, what I could discover through research, and my existing knowledge. Instead of the recipe being 50/50 original, this one is more 20/80. So. I'll pass the final verdict off to you guys :D 

What would you rate this recipe out of 10? (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) Did you love it, did you hate it? What're your thoughts on what I could do different, and what would you have done instead?

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Ingredients:

2 Rock lobster tails

3 Porcini mushrooms

2 Shiitake mushrooms

Snow fungus (a good handful, should rehydrate in the hotpot)

2 Small waxy potatos

Fensi (glass noodles)

Water/lobster stock

Method:

Lightly rinse all of your vegetables beforehand and let them dry.

Vertically slice the porcini mushrooms. Cut off and dice the stems of the shiitake mushrooms. You can slice the tops if youd like.

Peel and cube the potatoes, roughly an inch each.

For the lobster tails; Boil a pot of salted water. Keep the shell on. Weigh the largest tail and add 1 minute of cooking time for every ounce of weight.

When done, strain the lobster from the water. Pour the water into your hotpot as the base. Serve the lobster on the side so people can pick the meat out to dip into the hotpot.

Bring the hotpot to a simmer. Add the potato cubes, snow fungus, mushrooms, and noodles.

OPTIONAL: this wasnt in the show, but its fun having sauces on the side :) i had oyster sauce, dry seasoned chili dip, melted butter, and soy sauce available

[brineoffire]

Wings and Wires- Chapter 2

I've done it! This time im trying out a switch of pov :> Also! Trying to come up with a posting schedule that works for me, so ill pin that post if i actually figure one out!

Part 1-

Price marches over to the meeting room, a steady plume of smoke rising from the cigar between his lips. Barging into the room he lifts his chin, his tail swaying

gently behind him as he counts all his boys present. Ghost cross armed against the back wall. Gaz sits near the front of the

table, legs crossed on his seat. Soap sits across him, arms crossed behind his head. Lastly, Roach sits just in front of where Ghost stands, picking at his knuckles.

“Right then boys, it's an infalteration.”He says as he moves to the head of the table. The projector clicks on as he wakes up a laptop while he sits. 

"As you all know Los Panteros have been working off the coast for several months now. We've traced them back from Las Vegas and have finally been able to track their leader, Alphonse Velez. He's hosting a party at the end of this month and we're going in.” Price looks around as the others all nod or grunt in agreement. Soap is the first one to sit up and say something.

“A’right then cap’. When we doin’ this?” 

“We’re movin’ to set up recon in two weeks. Roach’ll be on overwatch with you as an escort. There known to have infernal sigils up so Ghost’ll have ta be backup while Gaz and I go undercover.”

“Cap!”  “Wai’ a sec-” “You?”

Price’s hand raises as all of them speak up at once. “Aye’ easy now you lot.”

“But sir, they’re known dragon dealers! You would be at too much of a risk!” Gaz has his palms down on the table, his wings flaring up as he speaks up.

“Right. Which is why Laswell’s got a spellcaster to cook up a disguise spell. The two dragons ‘es got are always patrolling outside, so Gaz’s scent will cover us enough to get in jus’ fine.” The rest of the room settles slowly as he presses on with his explanation.

“No more fuss now lads. We stick to the plan, get our intel, ‘n everything ‘ll be right as rain.” Soap's pointed ears pin back to his head and Gaz's feathers stay roused. Theres a low humming growl in the back of Roach’s throat as Ghost steps up behind him squeezing his shoulder in reassurance. 

“If things do go south we all move in. We aint leavin’ without makin’ sure yer outta there cap.” Price gives Ghost a nod as his gaze softens, looking from him to Roach.

“We move together. This is just recon fer now. Should be no noise so long as we stick to the plans.” The tension in the room slowly simmers back down, Price stepping over to Gaz.

“Come now birdie.” He rests a hand on the back of the harpy’s neck. “You'll be right there with me.” Gaz relaxes into the touch, his feathers smoothing out as he looks Price in the eye. His feathers ruffle up softly this time as he nods along with Price's reassurances.

"Aye cap. Up ta me ta keep ya’ safe then, yeah?” Various laughs and chuckles sound out around the room. Price crouches down to get eye to eye with him. One hand settles on Gaz's knee, the other cupping his cheek, clawed finger tips tickling his neck.

"Ata’ boy. We run this tight, get in an’

out, ‘n flush out the rats.” Gaz's wings settle on his back as he leans into Price's hand. He nods again and Price steps up to his feet again.

“Alright then. Rehearsal time lads.” Headed back to the head of the table he flips the laptop to the next slide. “The compound we've linked ‘im to is just off the North coast. Looks like a warehouse but the inside is modified into what looks like a dining hall. With what we've uncovered we know the dragons under his command are used as guards. They patrol outside during events, starting an hour before and staying out two hours after each one.” He looks over at them, catching each of their glances to make sure there are no questions. 

“Gaz ‘n I'll have false identities that Lazwell an’ ‘er team have been cultivating. Weapons dealers from overseas, setting up in the U.S. much like Alphonso has done ‘imself. I want you you all ta keep yer wits about you.We’ve got two weeks between then and now so lets get prepped for the usual.”

“Understood cap.” “Yssir.” “Right.” They all sound off their agreements, Roach even letting off several clicks of approval. They discuss ammo stocks before breaking off separately. Roach heads off with Ghost leaving Soap and Gaz to set up their restock. Price watches them go with a smile on his lips, his tail swaying contently as he lets off another puff of his cigar.. 

The weeks pass quickly, all of them keeping busy and triple checking their equipment until they finally pooled their vehicles. It only takes

about eight hours to drive to their temporary base, and setup only took another half hour. Soap and Roach focus on their electronics. Tapping into city cameras and setting up their comms. They take extra care to keep them all connected, making sure each line has a strong connection tied to communication spells as a backup.

Once it's all set up they spend the rest of the day in each other's company. Price does his best to keep the nerves down, but even with his constant reassurance and firm touches Ghost and Roach are on edge. He finds them scanning over the surveillance cameras for what could probably be the fifth or sixth time in the hour. He sets his hands on both of Ghost’s shoulders, squeezing gently and he rests his chin on the other's head.

“Easy there boys, nothins guna’ change enough for either of you to be stressin’ this much. Take a breather Si, I need both a you to save it for tomorrow night.” Roach lets off a few low chirping sounds as Ghost leans back into Price’s touch. He reaches over to Roach, his hand gently squeezing the back of his neck. 

“You’ve done more than enough for now. Take a breather fer now.” Ghost sighs but relents, turning his chair from the monitors and facing Price. 

“It’d be much easier ta relax if they didn’t have sigils up. Can’t see a damn thing through those fuckin’ walls. These are strong enough to block scents too so once Gaz and you are in there I’m cut off.” Roach trills softly, setting a hand on Ghost’s arm.

“I know, I know, but we don’t have any way of countering these sigils without our cover bein’ blown. Our comms are reinforced with sending spells so we got ears at all times. Like I said, we stick to the plan an’ theyll be nuthin ta worry about.” Ghost gives a nod and takes a deep breath. “Now cmon, the both of ya’.” Price pulls the two of them up from their seats, a hand on both of their backs leading them to the sofa that Gaz and Soap have already sprawled out on. They all shift around, Ghost ending up with Soap over his lap, Price leaning on an arm rest, legs over the length of the sofa with Gaz and Roach sitting on them as they lean on each other.

Their closeness slowly eases the rest of the tension as they wait for their window to open, a large television playing some cheesy rerun of a show they’d seen together beforehand. The time passes slowly as they all mellow out, Soap’s chatter eventually drowning out the television. Laughter fills the room as Ghost's attempts to silence him with a sofa cushion only leads to a face full of wolf drool and a high speed chase through the base. Price chuckles and pulls Roach and Gaz further onto his lap, choosing more relaxation over chasing after his rabid dogs. They all end up spending the night together in the same bedroom, Ghost dragging in a smirking Soap by the scruff as they spend the rest of the night in soft silence.

[aciddrattboyy]

Tԋҽ Bυɠ Cσʅʅҽƈƚσɾ

┆ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ - "after an accident with a curse, yuji finds himself in a random small-scale hospital nowhere near his home. growing tired and sad over his bleak and lonely surroundings he wished that the days would go by faster. that is until a certain nursing assistant made him wish for the exact opposite"

ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴛꜱ: ★ Starring: Yuji Itadori x F! Reader ★ Run Time: 2.4k ★ Genre/Warnings: [Rated R: Slice of Life/Drama]mentions of blood/injuries (characters are aged up) ★ 01 .

▶▶

yuji didnt always hate the smell of hospitals. they used to remind him of better times visiting his grandfather, bringing in flowers for the friendly nurses, and spending the evenings with his only remaining family. 

but as yuji lay on his own hospital bed, trapped to this small room lit by bright fluorescent lights, he began to hate it. he groaned while staring up at the ceiling tiles, reliving the events of the weeks prior. taking up a high-risk assignment was a stupid decision. shooing his assistant away out of kindness was, now that he was in this position, a very stupid decision. 

from what he was told by nurses and doctors alike, a pedestrian found him unconscious outside of an abandoned morgue and called the authorities. now he’s here, holed up in some random non-sorcerer regulated hospital, having to feign amnesia and pretend he had no idea how he ended up there. he rolled onto his side, staring out of the window as frustration washed over him. he felt weak and alone and wanted nothing more than to be out of here. 

a soft knock brought him out of his self-deprecating thoughts, turning over and sitting up as per routine of the last few weeks 

“come in,” his voice was hoarse but you could hear it from behind the door. having just started your nursing position job only a month ago, you were a bit nervous. having heard of the mysterious boy found bloodied and unconscious with no memory of what happened, you were nervous you would some how fuck it up. but with a tray in one hand, you steeled your nerves and opened the door. 

peaking your head in, you offered a smile to the tired looking pink-haired man covered in bandages. 

“hi, yuji is it?” you knew who he was, everyone on this floor and then some knew who he was. being the only person to come into this small hospital with such injuries in years, the nurses and doctors definitely talked. he nodded as you walked further into the room, feeling his eyes on you as you pulled out the table and set the tray down. “im y/n,” you held your hand out, waiting awkwardly for a few seconds before yuji shook it. he looked a wreck and you could see where the sense of mystery came from. you couldnt help being intrigued by him, wanting to know more about his story. “i brought you lunch, if you dont like it i could bring you a menu to choose from,” you spoke lightly, trying to portray yourself as friendly and welcoming as you could. 

it seemed to work, a smile tugging on the corners of yujis lips as he reached over to grab the cup of orange juice. 

“thank you,” he spoke softly, seeming unable to take his eyes off of you. you seemed different from the other healthcare professionals that passed through; more kind and personable. most importantly maybe, closer to his age. having been surrounded with a lot more experienced, older doctors, it felt nice to see someone around his age group. 

you nodded in response, your smile growing as you grew more comfortable. you grabbed your clipboard, trying not to seem too obvious as you assessed his behavior for anything youd need to report. you could see various scars scattered over his torso and arms down to where the thin blankets covered his lower half. glancing up from your clipboard in a way you hoped was subtle, you watched as he ate. he didnt seem to be picky, taking bites of everything on the tray. but once he caught your eyes you couldnt help but try to change the topic.

“your doctor said you were healing well,” you tried to keep an air of professionalism in your tone, but the way he was maintaining eye contact was making you a bit flustered. “so you should be able to go out to the common room if you wish- just let a nurse know,” yuji nodded along to your words, finding comfort in your voice over all the monotone hes been forced to endure. “im sure you already know this but we do have books and such available if you want anything to help the time go by. i know it must be hard being cooped up in here,”

yujis smile grew, you seemed so nice. you brought about a sort of gentle air that made him feel at ease her. you were the first one to come in here and not try to get him to ‘remember’ what landed him here. you genuinely seemed to care only about his well being, and it was, to put it in simply, refreshing. 

“i’ll be off then, if you need anything you can let me, or any of the other nurses know with the call button,” you motioned to the red button on the arm of his bed, growing shy over how he didnt bother to look, keeping his eyes on you. “enjoy your lunch,” with a final smile and short nod, you pivot on your heels, making your way to the door. 

“wait,” yuji spoke suddenly, causing you to turn around swiftly, a hint of alarm coursing through you before seeing he was still okay and didnt somehow collapse in on himself the minute your back was turned. you looked at each other with equally large eyes. yuji seemed to have spoken before he could think. but the truth was he did feel alone, having had no visitors and seeing no friendly faces. despite having spent less than an hour with you, he wanted to be able to feel this comfortable as long as he could. “could you… stay,” you nodded your head, attempting to give him a smile even though you were sure your confusion was painted on your face. 

“yes of course, is everything alright?” you scanned his face for anything alarming as you pulled up a chair to the side of his bed, sitting down next to the table. 

“yeah i guess i just… wanted to talk,” yuji didnt know where he was going with this. he didnt really know where he was going with this. he dreaded the words as soon as they lift his lips, becoming worried that the conversation would steer to you interrogating him about that night. you nodded slowly, trying to assess how he was feeling just from his expressions

“we can definitely talk,” you said encouragingly. you’ve read his files, you knew the other staff would use this opportunity to try to talk about the night he was brought in. but you felt that maybe he really just wanted some company, as far as you were away he hadnt had any visitors or even left his room. you felt sorry for him in a way, and wanted to keep the conversation light for his sake. “how about you lead the conversation,” you suggested, passing the ball to him in hopes that he’d understand you wouldnt be trying to get answers out of him. he was practically beaming at your offer and you knew in that moment that you you were right about him. your own grin grew, the air of comfort around yuji growing contagious. 

“well have you seen any of the human earthworm movies,” he felt like a total loser asking such a dumb question, but seeing your eyes twitch with a mix of interest and confusion before letting out a small chuckle made him feel a bit better about it. you shake your hair, the mood a stark change from your otherwise stressful workday.

“no i havent, but i take it you have,” you cocked your eyebrow jokingly, enjoying how easy it felt to talk to yuji. he nodded his head enthusiastically, before taking a bite out of his sandwich. 

“ive seen all of them- multipe times,” he spoke between bites, taking a swig of his juice before resting his hands on the table. noticing the hospital band around his wrist brought you back to reality. remembering how he had seemed to be all alone these past weeks and was finally getting the chance to talk to someone. you made a mental note to check up on him regularly during your shifts. no one should have to heal on their own. 

yuji had gone into explaining the series, using his hands to act out certain scenes. he seemed to really be enjoying the conversation, not showing any signs of pain despite all of the bandages adorning his arms and torso. 

unfortunately, yuji’s display was cut short with a short knock on the door. you shot up, worried that maybe you had been away for too long. but as another nurse came in, he was followed by two other men; one with snow white hair and a shit eating grin, the other with darker hair and a very stoic expression. 

“yuji you have visitors,” the nurse dead panned, seeming not too interested in the matter. with a quick comment about visiting hours to the two men he was out of the door. 

you saw yuji’s face light up, body twitching to get up and greet them. feeling a bit awkward about standing in the middle of their visiting time, you carefully pushed the chair back up against the wall and saw yourself out. 

“im glad youre getting better yuji,” you gave him a polite smile, feeling somewhat vulnerable as the white haired man stared at you intently from behind his sunglasses. you grabbed your clipboard, nodding to the men standing idly. “someone should be in here to bring you dinner,” yuji watched as you stiffly nodded your head towards megumi and gojo, waiting for you to close the door behind you before anyone said anything.

“so who was she,”

“what took you guys so long,” yuji quickly asked, ignoring gojos question entirely. he watched as gojo smiled, grabbing a chair, and pulling it up where you were previously sitting. 

“well since you had so kindly sent the assistant who accompanied you on your assignment on their merry way, it took a while for anyone to raise any alarms. and then we had to locate what hospital you were in,” 

yuji listened intently, glancing over at megumi who was leaning against the wall. he thought of the assistant, hoping they didnt get into too much trouble for just listening to him. 

“we tried to visit a little over a week ago but they said you werent able to take any visitors,” megumi spoke in a monotone voice, scanning yujis current state. yuji was shocked to hear they tried to visit, this being the first time there was any mention of anyone trying to visit. too distracted by his thoughts, yuji didnt even notice gojo swiping his sandwich until he spoke up around a mouth full of food.

“we could have you transferred to a more uh sorcerer friendly hospital if ya want,” gojo waved the sandwich around as he talked, dropping it back on the plate. “this food sucks,” he commented, exaggerating sounds of disgusting. 

“no its okay-,” it seemed like yuji was the most shocked at his own words. not entirely sure why that had come out of his mouth when he had dreaded every second being here. but then he remembered you. he knew he could just be emotional, you having been the one shred of silver lining in this dismal place. but he wanted to stay. he wanted to talk to you again. plus, he was sure he would be getting out soon anyway, whats wrong with spending the next few days there. 

gojo glanced at megumi before looking back at yuji, his smile growing all the more obnoxious. 

“is it because of that pretty nurse?” 

yuji threw a balled up napkin at gojo, trying to distract the two of them from the blush he was certain was now warming up his cheeks. shaking his head, he fiddled with his hospital bracelet, feeling a bit uncomfortable. 

“no its not,” he tried to sound as confident and truthful as possible, but the snort coming from megumi told him he failed. “i’ve just been here the whole time, seems stupid to leave now when i’ll probably be out in a couple days,” he trailed off, words turning into a muttered mess. he knew he sounded stupid, before he even knew you existed he spent his days counting ceiling tiles and wondering when the hell he would be able to get out. “i’ll just wait it out,” he added, the silence and intensity of stares thrown his way making him feel like he was in some sort of spotlight. “so uh what happened to that curse?” he quickly asked, desperately wanting to change topics. 

“i exorcized it,” megumi said, eyes squinting just a tad as he looked yuji up and down. “are you sure you dont just want to stay because of that nurse?” gojo’s laughs filled the room while yuji buried his head in his hands.

“oh my god,” his voice was muffled by his palms as he tried to get them to stop asking embarrassing question with the sheer power of his mind. sadly for yuji, it did not work. gojo continued to tease him around mouthfuls of the very food he said was disgusting. “i didnt want you guys to come here just to eat my food and embarrass me,” yuji groaned into his hands, praying this whole thing would end

“alright alright,” gojo raised his arms in surrender, standing up and pushing the chair back. “we’ll leave so you can get some rest and definitely not so you can go back to talking to your hospital crush,” without waiting for yuji to answer, gojo was walking out, waving his hand and obnoxiously stomping. megumi stayed behind for a few moments, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. 

“get better soon,” yuji smiled back at him, megumis nice words making him think the utter torture was over. “so you can take her out on a proper date,” megumi quickly shut the door behind him, not waiting for yujis protests. 

once he was alone, yuji’s mind wandered to you again. and as he made himself as comfortable as he could on a hospital bed, he hoped he would be able to see you again soon. he felt childish once he really thought about it. but he liked talking to you and whether or not it was his foolish confidence, he thought that maybe if you met under different circumstances, the two of you could at least be friends.

i hope you enjoyed !! reblogs/comments are very appreciated <3 ʟᴏʙʙʏ ﹕ꜰɪʟᴍᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ 𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃

[mer-acle]

yayay (ok damn looking back im sorry this is quite the ramble/info dump)

ok so basically

after god games, apollo (the good brother he is) immediately tries to help athena, but zeus stops him. he says that if anyone attempts to help athena in any way they will end up worse than her AND that he will make sure to re-injure her to undo any healing she recieved (apollo did manage to heal her a little so and zeus Doesnt care that he hadnt told anyone that rule yet so he does in fact end up striking her again)

also, he makes it very clear that if anyone outside of the arena finds out what happened to her he will kill them

obviously athena is. very paranoid. and zeus is not one to find loophole exploitation amusing so everyone is very on edge and it's not exactly unreasonable to assume that helping her process anything or feel better emotionally (aka literally j talking to her at all WITHOUT insulting her) counts as against zeus' rules so she wont talk to anyone and they dont want to talk to her (bc of the rules, they dont want her to get reinjured and they dont want themselves to get injured, they do actually care altho they cant express that) (also idk if im going to add this, maybe zeus literally just meant no healing her, but he can't back down now that everyone's agreed that 'no talking' is part of the punishment without LoOkInG wEaK. i can make EVERYONE suffer if i want to)

and athena (who is definitely so very good at processing her emotions) is so paranoid about someone ELSE she cares about being hurt by zeus (thunder bringer flashbacks lol) """because of her""" that she literally will scream-beg anyone who comes within talking distance of her to leave before they get themselves hurt. and everyone is so shocked by seeing her in such visible distress that they don't even question it.

mEANWHILE back on ithaca ody has returned home and is very happy to see his family. telemachus excitedly goes 'and you will never guess who i met!!! i met athena!!! she helped me in a fight :D' and long story short ody finds out about the events of the wisdom saga tel was there for and puts that together with hermes' line at the end of dangerous and realizes that athena somehow got him off ogygia and that there was violence involved. and since ody is back on ithaca, that means what she left to go do is done right??? so they both start praying to try to figure out what's going on. athena knows ody and knows that he would definitely figure out that Something happened to her and that would lead to him dying so she is dead set on ignoring them. ody is half convinced that she actually hates him while tel knows for a fact that's not true and is more concerned that she's straight-up dead.

THEN penelope, smart woman she is, hypothesizes that maybe whatever athena did to free ody was dangerous and that immortals can't die so she's likely very wounded and will talk to them as soon as possible.

athena is watching them to make sure that something like this doesnt happen, at this point she's not exactly thinking straight and doesn't realize that penelope figuring things out herself =/= athena telling her, but also is so paranoid and mistrustful of zeus that she thinks he would kill her if she figured it out herself just to prove a point. (and also its penelope, so ody would actually hate her forever if she killed penelope, which yeah but she wouldn't be the one to kill penelope in this scenario but she has convinced herself she is responsible for making sure zeus doesn't kill anyone bc she has kinda always had to be the one keeping his anger in check so yay parental trauma)

athena is in a lot of pain esp after flying to ithaca and so worked up at this point so shes basically shouting at penelope to 'stop trying to understand bc everyone will die' and penelope is obviously very frightened bc a goddess showed up and started yelling at her without explaining what the problem even is (it is obvious to athena what the problem is. it is Not obvious to penelope, at least not in the moment). ody overhears this and sees her and at first goes 'why is she yelling at penelope WHAT' (wifeguy rage activated lol) but then quickly realizes that athena is basically crying and fully spiraling in a full-on mental breakdown, realizes something is Very Very Wrong, and tries to talk to her but athena panics that ODY is there now, yells something along the lines of 'STOP JUST STOP PLEASE' and then just leaves immediately.

i have more ideas but this is long enough already + also i have to go eat dinner

if u read this whole thing, ty for listening to me ramble :D

in summary, zeus successfully wages psychological warfare against athena

Gxizdtxuxdkdjfzjfxjfxjttitditzjfzjfxux

WHY

Just WHY

Biting my pillow

Oh poor baby

Crying

We must kill Zeus

The ithacan fam makes me so soft they care so much

I'm interested how (if whhhhjkmhij) this gets resolved cos I don't see any way out and that's so sad 😭😭😭

But yeah great job I'm gonna go sit in the corner to cry now, don't mind me

[hils79]

Hils Watches Lovely Runner - Ep 5

I love that he can't outright lie to her about renting a video from her store but he can pretend to be tired and fall asleep

Aww she made a rainbow for him. That is so damn cute!

I knew there would end up being a love triangle

You can see the exact moment his brain goes offline because the girl he likes has asked him to go and see a movie with her

She's trying so hard to shield him from any news about the olympic swimming events so he won't be sad and honestly I think he's so deep into I'm On A Date mode I don't think he'd have noticed anyway

Aww she tried so hard! And then the fire alarm went off before the movie even started and of course there's a giant TV screen outside the cinema that's showing the olympics

Wait, was that sus taxi from the previous episode a serial killer??? How many genres are they cramming into this drama?

I was half thinking Im Sol's mum was going to end up dating Sunjae's dad with all the shenanigans they keep having. Can step-siblings marry each other? They're not biologically related.

I just went down a rabbit hole. So obv I don't know what South Korean marriage laws are like but here in the UK it is legal to marry your step-sibling providing you are not biologically related but you cannot marry your step-child which makes sense.

Love Im Geum and Sunjae holding hands while they watch a Korean woman set a weightlifting world record on the TV

Haha! Well, that bromance was very shortlived

How have they managed as a band this far when their singer can't sing. Oh, if only there was someone handsome and with nothing to do now that he can no longer swim

I don't know if it's the right way to do it or not but when me and my sister both learned how to ride a bike we did it on grass so it wouldn't hurt as much when we fell off

Aww of course he's going to teach her

Oh no Sunjae wants to start dressing like Taesung because he thinks that's what Im Sol likes

Oh no! Taesung is wearing the exact same outfit. This is about to get incredibly awkward

Yep, there it is

Oh no they're due to perform any moment and they have no singer. Who can they get to full in? Wait I'm trying to remember now. Was Taesung part of Sunjae's idol group in 2022? I don't remember seeing him but then I didn't know to look for him either. I know Hyunjoo said he dropped out of school after Im Sol's accident. Maybe he dropped out of the band too.

I'm getting all emotional because he looks so happy on stage but we know how unhappy he's going to wind up

Still suspicious of him btw

It's funny that in the last episode he got mad at her because he couldn't deal with his own feelings, and this time he did something nice for her and she got mad because she's worried about him.

I was at the Ateez fanmeet livestream this morning and Jongho sang a bit of this song. Even for me as a fan I get all excited when someone I 'know' is singing on the OST of a drama I'm watching. I wonder what it's like for Seonghwa, who watches a lot of dramas, to have someone he works with every day on the OST of something he watches. Jongho has done a lot of OST work this year.

Oh no last time she listened to this she ended up back in 2023. Is it going to happen again?

[beesmygod]

hmmm. was olga more "respectable" than maxine, for lack of a better word? we know she was the head of the coven, but would that mean respect from people outside of magic practitioners? or because of the way the world is set, there is not really a sharp divide between people that meddle with magic and spirits and people who dont? im asking bc i find the theme of legacy super interesting when it comes up (do people think that maxine is dragging the gottwin name through the mud? or do they shrug their shoulders bc who gives a damn about what an exterminator does and doesnt do?)

this is a good question and warranted a good answer, sorry for the delay.

there are a couple things at play here:

the position of "town witch"/coven leader was once significantly more prestigious than it is today. what used to be a position as essential as the fire or police chief has been worn away by technological advancements; her position was essentially replaced with extermination as a global business model after the rise of the cheap, electronic anti-ghost devices. maxine inherited a defunct position and failing business.

the divide between those who practice magic and those who don't is, funnily enough, the same as my view on why people make art and others don't: they don't enjoy doing the process. its messy, its complicated, it takes a long time, doesn't have guaranteed results, and it involves dead things in one way or another. sometimes it's just easier to call someone to do the process for you when you can't be bothered to work on your pronunciation of magic words. in this way, a witch is sort of like a plumber or a mural artist. explicitly for hire to do something you don't want to deal with yourself because it might be out of your skill range/take too long to learn the skills. so olga's reputation did suffer a little bit from the irrational public assessment of extermination as a "messy" business.

there's also an unfortunate stain on the gottwin name that maxine inherited long before her grandmother died: her father ran away from home in his teens because he and olga fought viciously and publicly. no one heard anything else about him until he died, and it was a surprise to everyone (including olga) that maxine even existed at all. so the rumor mill started churning: what did olga do that upset her son so badly? by the time olga died, people seemed to understand that the family was cracked beyond repair; behaviors that were more acceptable in the decades before the events of the comic were looked at in hindsight as painful and cruel. and since maxine, public nuisance, was the end result of olga's work it's hard for the public not to lay the blame at her feet.

so, maxine is caught in a sort of weird nostalgic hell where people can simultaneously tut-tut her for not being enough like her grandmother or for being too much like her. lol. this was a ramble but i hope it was interesting. im folding most of this into the comic but a lot of it i just try to keep in my brain when writing and thinking about them both.

ive been thinking more and more about olga as we approach parts where we're be flashing back to maxine's childhood and approach the next (final?) book. "books" are the huge overarching storylines as opposed to individual chapters, so there's still a lot of AGS to go. i want to explore character motivations so much i just need the power and energy to do so again.

[ballcrusher74]

hello. are you. perhaps 👉👈 willing to talk about the inspector/faux. ive only seen cool arts and no context so im rather curious.

OK!!! I actually love rambling about my ocs so small questions like this make me day. I just get nervous LOL But! I will say, there's gonna probably be a bit I'm leaving out because it does involve my friends' characters and it's still an on-going thing atm (we tend to roleplay on lethal company as our guys. btw the oc group is called Cleanup Crew ! it explains the recent reblogs and new tags I've added on posts with this guy) AND this does also involve my own little interpretations of in-game mechanics and other things, but otherwise, I'll get the rest of him down!

Inspector, also originally known by the name of Terrance Conroy (or Terry), was a typical scavenger working under 'The Company' after a couple rough times on his home planet. (This information isn't necessarily set in stone, but the idea of him being a washed-up rock star before quitting his passion to get a job that pays his rent has been bouncing around in my brain.) He used to be a normal guy, trying to find a little hope in his desperate situation, and was a social butterfly. He tend to bounce from crew to crew, sometimes staying in some for only a couple days, and some for months. He was a very careful man, and looked out for his fellow crew members.

And then, one day, his first death on the job happens.

But instead of being greeted by a bright white light at the end of a tunnel, or complete pitch darkness, he appears on the ship again- completely physically fine.

This.. confuses him at first, yet he continues on.

And then he dies again. And again, and again. Over and over, the more deaths he's endured, the more he comes to a morbid realization that he can't truly die, nor can those around him. He tries to keep this truth hidden away from the others, as they seem to not have mentioned it at all before. He remembers everything. Every time he was ripped to shreds by an eyeless dog, every time he blew up into pieces from a landmine, every time he was shot multiple times, every time he was left behind or ejected as part of the disciplinary process- He felt it all and remembered it all. This goes on for the course of years (around 8-10 roughly) and over that course of time, he begins to grow very careless. What's the point of saving someone if they'll just come back? What's the use of tears when you're only a couple dollars off quota with a shovel in hand?

What's the point of it all? And with that carelessness comes selfishness into the picture. With how long he's been stuck in the cycle, he has become a very manipulative person, putting up a playful and nice persona on the outside- almost sickeningly sweet- in order to help other's do his bidding. He believes that if he were to cause so much chaos, disorder, and disruption within a crew, to where it's like animals mauling each other apart, he'd be able to break free from it himself. He doesn't care anymore about leaving others behind. He's desperate at this point to find a way out. Faux, who is an alter ego / disguise for Inspector, ties more into the on-going events right now, but I can give a basic rundown on his personality. He's a klutzy and quiet man, typically only talking to others when it's just him and them, and nobody else around, playing himself off as a selective mute. Since this is just Inspector in a jazzy little jester outfit, he still possesses all the traits of that man, just hidden away as to not blow his cover. He's still tugging on the strings in some way, people just don't realize. Sure, he's off putting and just a tad bit strange, but how can a goofy man like that be terrifying?

WOOOW ok that's a lot more typing than expected, but here's also a couple fun facts about the guy !

He stands at 6 feet and 1 inch, and is a very lanky guy compared to others, but this wasn't always the case. He used to just stand at 5 feet and 6 inches, and had more normal human proportions. With how many times he has died and how long it's been of the cycle, it has fucked up his appearance a LOT. Other things include : his 'skin' being grey, his voice constantly sounding like it's coming from a walkie talkie, no visible neck, his face becoming the helmet itself (it still bleeds, but there's nothing in there), and inhumanly flexible.

The only thing left of him that represents his last strand of humanity, is a singular, dim eye behind the tape on his visor.

He is very much not a rational man anymore. He is quick to jump to things, and won't hesitant with his actions.

When waiting to return from death, he is able to manifest in someone's head as a disembodied voice, and will typically mock them, or try and manipulate them further. In this state, he can see everything through the eyes of the person he's haunting. ^ Fun fact about this! This was originally based off a stupid bit where my friend was streaming LC to me with other buddies on the game and I kept telling them to step on landmines and then kill someone for a promotion, and then Inspector was born!

and UH I think that's about it I have for the guy atm! If the rest of the cleanup crew gets dropped than I'll update this accordingly perhaps. As of right now, enjoy my oc slop 👍

[blamemma]

OMG OMG IM SO EXCITED YOU’RE DOING THE MICRO FIC MEME! Your circus au has a chokehold on me so obviously I need to prompt SEAWEED! But take this in any direction you want.

very very sorry this is not mermaid au themed at all (although i am working on a v small thing for that actually) but this is where my mind went for this one

Martin had texted him, off-handedly, asking if he was free one night this week. Daniel groaned when the text lit up his screen, another Miami night out, or a Vegas pool party, wasn't what his aching bones needed right now, especially the week before Coachella. His diary was blocked off, tanning in the LA heat, sun beaming down on his skin, dirt bikes if he could be bothered to leave the house at all. He replies with a maybe and watches as the bubbles at the bottom of the screen appear, whilst he chucks frozen fruit into his blender.

Sick

Teams in LA for most of the week prepping for Coachella. You should take my new sound engineer on a date.

Daniel scoffs, turns the blender on and grimaces at the loud noise. He hasn't put any greens in, just sweet tangy berries and bananas with a splash of oat milk, refreshing. He pours the liquid into his glass, sticks a glass straw into it, and then texts one handed as he heads outside.

Who do you take me for? Dial-a-date

Send me a photo of him at least!

No. Martin replies.

Wednesday 9pm work for you?

You'll like him. You'll have fun. Promise. If not I'll comp all ur drinks at Coachella this weekend.

Daniel lays back on his lounger, brings the smoothie to his lips and takes a big gulp. It's been a long time since he-- Martin means well, knows what Daniel likes for the most part. It could be fun. Something different.

Okay. He responds

If it's a shit time though you're covering the bill as well. Daniel adds.

It won't be :) Martin texts back instantly.

-🍣😳🍷-

The waitress leads Daniel to the table he'd reserved, a quiet corner near the back, a wide table, space for plenty of food for them to share. It's one of his favourite Japanese restaurants, one he's been dying to come back to since he arrived back in LA. He'd asked Martin for the guys details, so that he could text him the address himself, but he'd refused to hand them over, told Daniel that Max would be there on time, and not to worry, reassured him again they'd have fun.

Daniel wipes his hands down the front of his colourful shirt, an unreleased one from his own Enchanté collection, a conversation piece he can fall back on if the guy is into fashion as well.

"Daniel?" He hears closely behind him, a thicker accent than Martin's, more European. Daniel turns in his chair, simultaneously standing up at the same time.

"That's me." He quips, holding his hand out to be shaken. It feels overly formal to do, considering they're on a date, but it's second nature to Daniel, at corporate events or in the paddock, to hold his hand out and deliver a firm handshake. Max takes his hand, shaking it firmly.

"I am sorry that Martin put you up to this. We have been friends for a while now, but now that I am working for him, he keeps on trying to set me up with his friends. I tell him I am too busy, organising all his crap and making sure it is all smooth, but he knows my schedule this week too well." Daniel's taken aback a little, by how standoffish Max is being. "Oh, I am Max by the way, did Martin tell you that at least?"

Max moves towards his chair as he's talking, pulling it out and sitting down, leaving Daniel there, standing, taking him in. Daniel fumbles, sits back down, gets his own leg caught on the table leg and tries to play it off cool.

"Yeah he did." Daniel replies, picking up his glass of red wine and taking a sip.

Daniel gets why Martin didn't send him a picture of Max. He's attractive. Muscular and shaped, long hair at the top of his head, all ruffled like he'd barely bothered trying to style it. He's got a loose white shirt on, top button undone where Daniel can see pale skin. A freckle atop his lip that Daniel can't seem to look away from. He's not conventionally attractive by any means, but Martin's done well. Martin knew.

"So, how did you end up working for Martin then?" It seems like common ground they can talk about for now, whilst they wait to order.

"Well, I have known him since we were very young, but he went off and started doing his music stuff, and I went to university and I started studying civil engineering but then moved into audio engineering. Whenever Martin was home, or I visited him, the music was fun, it seemed good fun. So I of course change my degree for him but he had someone very experienced on his team, so I worked for some smaller DJs who were not as good and I helped make them sound better. Anyway, Harry has now quit and Martin asked if I was interested still."

"Wow, so you changed your whole life plan for your best friend?"

"No, it was not really like that at all. I do not think I would have found the job I am now doing if it was not for Martin cause he introduced me to that whole world, but I am not just doing it because of him. I have two cats at home, I would not travel this much and be away from them all the time just for Martin, I enjoy the job."

Max emphasises two cats as if he's left a wife and two children at home, fending for themselves whilst he's off basking in the Ibiza sun or jetting off to another remote festival.

"You travel a lot as well Martin was saying?" Daniel smiles gently, finally being asked a proper question. Polite date etiquette.

"Well, I used to. First year of retirement for me. Was an F1 driver. Won a couple of championships, 'ya know. So yeah, not travelling as much now. Went home for a while, back here now for a bit, go see some friends, find out what life is really all about. Home is Australia by the way."

"Yes, I used to watch you. You were a very good driver actually." Daniel notes how Max says that as if he's an expert, as if he's been commentating on Sky Sports for 25 years and can spot a generational talent from miles off. He feels like he should be offended, but he finds it endearing, complimentary. He has this innate feeling that if Max thought he was a crap driver, he'd say.

"Well, thank you very much, I guess." Daniel says, taking another sip from his red wine.

The waitress comes back over towards them and asks for their order. Daniel takes over, ordering for them both. He's tried so much of it before, he knows what's good. Tuna sashimi, California Rolls, Chicken potstickers, Vegetable tempura, Salmon maki. All different types of things they can split and share between them. The waitress smiles softly at Daniel, closing her notepad and bending to get the menus from them.

"Can I please get a Gin & Tonic, and the Beef noodles please?" Max asks.

Daniel shifts in his seat a little, taken aback, but also slightly worried he's been rude. The waitress jots down Max's order and promises to bring his drink over soon.

"Sorry, thought we could share." Daniel remarks.

"I guessed you thought that, but I am not a very big fan of seafood. I guess Martin did not tell you that." Max's eyes glint as he smiles, and Daniel relaxes again.

"Did you know, the seaweed salad you ordered, most places that is in fact just shredded cabbage. It is much cheaper for them to make and of course most people never know the difference." Max tells Daniel.

"Well I hope it's proper seaweed if I'm paying $40!" Daniel says aghast, and Max laughs, clapping his hands together.

--🍜😄🍸--

They order plenty more drinks, and enjoy all the food before them, with Daniel having a few take-out boxes stacked in front of him to carry home, due to his presumptuous over-ordering.

Daniel adores how delighted Max gets, small jokes enticing the biggest laughs out of him, and how direct he's being. When Daniel says something wrong, he corrects him straight away. Daniel's also taken aback by how complementary Max is. He tells Daniel within 15 minutes of their date beginning that he likes his smile, and when Daniel moves on to the easy topic of his clothing line, Max praises the new designs Daniel shows him, and gently offers pointers as to what he thinks would work better.

When the waitress brings the bill over, Daniel almost feels saddened that it's over, unsure when he'll see Max again, maybe during the Coachella weekend, but he'll be busy, he knows Martin has a few warm up shows in Las Vegas and at Brooklyn Mirage before he plays on Sunday, so Max won't be at the festival the whole weekend. But he hasn't felt like this in a long time. Not since Scotty. And he doesn't want to let go just yet.

"I've got a cool vinyl collection back at my place if you're into that? Do you like cheesecake? We could get some on the way back." He tries.

"That would be very lovely." Max replies, a beaming smile lighting up his face that cause the skin around his eyes to crinkle.

"Great!" Daniel retorts.

--🍰😏🎶--

He wakes up to a dead arm in the morning, Max laying atop of it. Daniel pushes some of his hair out of his face, kissing his head gently, and then his lips, right over the freckle, before pulling his arm out slowly. He shakes it above him, trying to get some feeling back into it, before leaning over Max and grasping his phone.

A new text from Martin sits above the rest of his notifications.

Guess I'm not paying the bill then 😉 It reads.

[echonk3]

999 Week 2023 - Ace

WITH LESS THAN AN HOUR ITS DONE. this year im doing outsider looks on the characters and ace's is social media in the aftermath

Cradle Pharmaceutical CEO in Police Custody! | JNS

Gentarou Hongou, CEO of the famous Cradle Pharmaceutical most known for the drug Soporil commonly used in hospitals, is in police custody after being handed in by a group of people with evidence of his crimes, including kidnapping, bribery and multiple counts of murder. And according to some sources, his murders are of the other three executives of his company!

_____________________________________

coffee @kianuovals

@passingbyinthetrees i am so sorry about what just happened

Stuck on her report @passingbyinthetrees

????

Stuck on her report @passingbyinthetrees

Oh fuck me i choose to do a report on him and his contributions to the community but noooooooo the universe just decides to do this to me lets see if i can get an extension

coffee @kianuovals

hey at least you can add something pretty interesting to it

fml @passingbyinthetrees

You mean: the murder accusations that are likely true, the death game he was accused of setting up that are likely true no matter how fucking fake it may sound, the kidnappings of multiple children, bribery, and the fact that he was handed in by a random group found in the desert in NEVADA. NEVADA. FUCKING NEVADA.

_____________________________________

Trying to keep my cat from getting to my gecko @petparent8398389

Ngl that hongou dude always gave me the creeps

New art piece up! @artcoslianna

Same here. Everybody I’ve met who’s talked about him saw him as this good dude but his smile always unnerved me for some reason. 

bend and snap! @sexymansplits

Opposite for me actually. I really looked up to him as somebody who helped the medicinal field, especially in a family full of doctors and nurses and anesthesiologists and just people who work with these types of medicines. Now I’m likely gonna be seeing this case analyzed for being something almost out of ace attorney :/

_____________________________________

:-) @elephantsandtrunks

Fffuck gentariiiiiiiiiiiii hongou iilllll probabbly not longer have a job after thisdd

:-) @elephantsandtrunks

Ii have cholod suporrttt to payyyyyy and because off this fuckkup ill wontt have a job

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou and Cradle Pharmaceutical - A History Up to Now

Posted by: Locomoco

997k likes

1:12:58: “In early November of the year of our Lord 2027, a group of people that while not identified currently, they have been overheard calling each other “Clover”, “Seven”, “Junpei”, “Lotus”, “Alice” and “Snake” a blurry photo of an oddly dressed group of people in front of a car and a gas station is shown with many references to an “Ace”, presumed to be Hongou though he wasn’t seen. The man had been put into custody soon after with some reports of the events that led to it, including multiple leaks. Cradle has recently come out with a statement defending Hongou, saying that they didn’t believe in these accusations. However, that was quickly recanted by them once the backlash started. Due to the fact that all the executives have been murdered, there’s been quick reports of people being promoted to these roles and calls for new applicants. Honestly, I’m getting reminded of Oceangate right now from a few years back.”

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Trial Date to be Happening within the Next Few Months!

New Evidence Brought in Regards to the Cradle Pharmaceutical Death Game of 2018!

Potential Motives by Gentarou Hongou! Read Here!!!

_____________________________________

slumberingsage

THE MUGSHOT HAS BEEN RELEASED. I REPEAT. THE MUGSHOT HAS BEEN RELEASED.

#showed it to my grandma who doesnt know wtf is happening and she felt so much pity #her reaction to his crimes were priceless #cradle pharmaceutical #gentarou hongou

Whitehairedemo

The mugshot is pinned on my wall it’s amazing that bastard is gonna get all he deserves and more

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Mugshot Shirt 

*a photo of the man’s mugshot on a black shirt is being modeled with a man and a woman, heads cutoff from the photo, though the woman’s dark brown hair is in frame*

Cost: $20

Sold by: Crashkeys

_____________________________________

sincerely me! @keyboardsmasher69

Okay but is he actually guilty? Like so much of this shit sounds so weird. Like a death game? Is this a video game?

Tech support @EightPetals

www.archives.com/18102018-missing-children

www.abcnew.com/gentarou-hongou

www.youtube.com/expo14/video/cradle-pharmaceuticals

Check the many sources cited in the video also. This man is guilty.

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Trial - June 6th, 2028

www.youtube.com/cradlepharmaceutical/livestream/gentarou-hongou-trial

_____________________________________

changeyourmindchangeyourfate

#FUCK YEAH #it’s insane #like it starts out slightly normal but then more and more of the case got revealed and it just got weirder and weirder #destiel #supernatural

[pommunist]

(Twitchtracker anon back again)

Im not really super interested in finances or statistics as a job lol, im just a nerd who likes to dig through analytics sometimes. Pretty much my whole essay length ask was made by taking twitchtracker numbers and putting them into a spreadsheet (So i didnt have to do averages manually), with some manual counting by hand for things like the number of streams.

(Also something i realized i missed when i reread my ask, the count of minecraft streams actually starts on the first day of qsmp, not the first day of march 2023 like everything else. Not super important but i wanted to make that one thing clear.)

Yeah i definitely agree that quackity's money doesnt necessarily equal qstudios money. However i also don't think a lot of the people who try and use the idea that "Quackity couldnt afford to pay that many employees" think about things like that, they most likely see quackity as the face and sole person behind his company (it is named after him after all), because you don't ever see them saying "Quackity studios cant afford to pay that many employees".

I do think that it's possible that for quite a while quackity's streams and videos were seemingly the only income stream for the company, with qsmp merch sales only really starting to be available and pushed more recently, and as far as i remember i don't think any qsmp events had sponsors or advertisers involved (I could be wrong here though, im not sure as I don't keep up with all the streams). Again im not personally a quackity viewer myself, so im not sure if he had any personal (quackity branded) merch sales outside qsmp before the start (early 2023, i know he had some back during dsmp but that's a while ago now) or during the qsmp. But from what i understand, he seemingly was doing a lot of the funding of the qsmp on his own.

Of course i don't think all his money was being directly funnelled to qstudios/qsmp, he still needs to pay for housing and utilities and food like the rest of us, as well as his travel to conventions/to meet friends (not saying he shouldn't travel, networking is an important part of any job). But i personally do believe he was basically the sole entity funding qstudios otherwise, unless there's some other income source we aren't aware of.

In regards to twitch monetization, the majority of streamers have a 50/50 split with twitch. Some bigger streamers having a 70/30 split, following the changes in late 2022 this split only applied to the first $100k earned, with everything after that going to 50/50, with that cap then being removed january 24th 2024. There's some stuff with the partner plus program that I honestly don't really understand because again, im not a streamer myself. I have no idea what split quackity has, though he is a partner. (Streamer/twitch for all split numbers btw.)

For how the payouts work, Via Twitch Affiliate Program FAQ: "As explained in the Monetized Streamer Agreement, there are certain costs, taxes, and fees that must be accounted for before you receive subscription revenue. Before the 50/50 split between you and Twitch takes place, deductions are made from the full price of a subscription, including taxes, payment processing fees, bank fees, currency conversion fees, etc. After the split takes place, we still account for required tax withholding, which is reflected in the payout you ultimately see on your dashboard. Twitch does not set or control the rates or fees, and they vary from region to region and by each subscriber’s payment method." Presumably this also applies to the partner program and the other splits.

Subs themselves are $5.99 USD, with other (usually lower when converted to USD) prices depending on the region of the subscriber. There's also ad revenue but I have no idea if quackity runs that many ads (or even runs them at all) seeing as his streams are usually 1.5-3 hours long (with the ads incentive program theres a 55/45 split of ad rev for a minimum of 3 minutes of ads per hour of stream, 30/70 otherwise), and again, not a viewer myself (I barely even watch streams live for streamers i do watch). And there's also bits, but those are a whole mess themselves so im not going to get into it.

I don't really know much about business running at all so of course everything is speculation based on the little i do know, and most of my twitch revenue info is directly from their help site, with some of the stuff about changes being from news articles about them.

Yeah that's pretty much it from me for now, glad you enjoyed my nerdy trawl through twitchtracker :)!

Follow up on this post :

[mothiidae]

my MDA:Rain Code thoughts - spoiler free version

I've been meaning to thought dump my overall thoughts and opinions about rain code for a while and well,, here we are!

my overall opinions: Despite some issues, Rain Code acts as a great foundation that can be built upon in the future - along with plot threads that can be used in future games. If your a danganronpa fan I would totally recommend it, but its a bit of a harder sell to those outside the bubble.

I have already done another form of this kinda post with everything i deemed to be somewhat spoilery - whether that be full on plot twists and story events in specific chapters or simple side content. For anyone who wants to read the spoiler version i'll link it here!

onto the list!:

to try to keep to some order, i've orginised the points into gameplay/mechanics, story and characters

Masafumi Takada was let out of the basement and has made yet another banging ost, is there no stop to this man? The title theme RAINCODE?? HELLO?? what i liked was that there are moments in which you can hear dangan elements; such as during the investigation theme you can hear trumpets which personally reminded me of sdr2's investigation theme and bella fresco grand finale - shinigami's execution theme - there are parts that sound like the execution theme. Despite all these dangan references (which im sure there are more) Raincode has been able to carve out its own vibe musically and im all here for this more low-key, lo-fi kinda feel!

Rui Komatsuzaki is back and the characters have that distinct design flair and eccentricity i expect from him. I have to say his designs are partly what drew me into Raincode because, well,,, his style is so recognisable!! it also is somewhat nostalgic for me so my neurons activate when i see it. I am but a simple man that enjoys this rui style.

Personally, Kodaka defiantly did not utilise this being a 3D adventure game enough because at points it just felt like visual novel taking place within a 3D space. And the adventure part i believe is quite the misnomer - it can be super restrictive in its exploration, theres not much to do/see within the city itself other than the requests - which are more of a story than gameplay thing. Though the adventure/action descriptors for the game are for the mystery labyrinth, it can make kanai ward itself feel more like a vehicle (gameplay wise) to get you from one case to the next. Kanai ward is stunning though, with kamasaki district being my favourite part!!

I also found that the mystery labyrinths got boring at inbetween all the minigames - consisting of running to the next part whilst the characters discus the case. In danganronpa, these moments of discussion were unnoticeable due to being a visual novel but within a 3D action/adventure-esque game like Rain Code they don't work.

Being outside of the killing game formula with supernatural abilities, Kodaka has been able to do some really interesting things with cases. If there are future games i'm curious if he'll set up a pattern of cases like in danganronpa.

I DID NOT EXPECT ALOT OF THE PLOT TWISTS, one of which only works well if you've played danganronpa in my opinion. Another one didn't have build up, but i can't tell if its a im just dense thing or a it was just a shit twist thing

Quirky ahh characters my beloved - most major characters stood out and had their moments. They join the Kodaka pile of eccenticity

I am a HUGE Yomi stannie, he is delightfully evil and his VA was going absolutely ham. shout out to Howard Wang! He is evil and there is no changing him and i love him for it!

other than him and martina i found the peacekeepers to be a little disappointing. They did what they were needed to but most are susceptible to leaving little impression on people. Which is not good as they are your major obstacle in a chapter. the majority of them have under 30~ mins of screen time [that is a rough estimate, most likely im wildly wrong] though they didn't need to have backstories or anything, them being a constant presence through investigation might've helped.

YAKOU MY LOVE <3<3<3<3<3<3 he is a soggy, wet cat of a character and sooooo pathetic!!! my kinda guy

Now i like fubuki as much as the next guy but i found that she would go one of the funniest characters of the cast to

[dredgen-dumbass]

Alright, considering this a test round bc testingcheats wouldn't work to give them a house that fits them all. Im going to restart with the same sims later and give y'all a full timeline then bc it was 2am and my typing is too incoherent to tolerate editing. cutoff for yall's sakes since I'm putting this in the main tag. I'm going to tag this destinythesims so y'all who are trying to keep up can.

When it started they all talked to each other immediately, except Drifter. He stood alone by the side of the road, thinking about food. Eris and Crow went in first, to read and watch sports respectively. Drifter got the first skill unlock by talking to Osiris, charisma, and Osiris immediately ran inside.

Everyone was reading. Zavala read a series of unfortunate events, until Eris hugged him, causing him to set it down so she could steal it. Before that she was reading LOTR, but I guess that didn't suit her tastes. When Zavala went to get a new book, everyone got the dislike notification over their heads.

Drifter tried to talk to Saladin about food and Saladin immediately walked off. He coped by doing pushups in the driveway before trying to restart the convo with Ikora. She leaves, Drifter follows, and as soon as Sloane is alone in the driveway, she starts doing situps.

Saladin thinks about Drifter while he takes a shit. ofc he does.

Crow seeks to improve the world. I tell you know, he will not. Remember that for later.

Sloane and Zavala hug. That actually makes sense.

"Genius lesson. Osiris is a genius." "Snob lesson. Osiris is a snob."

They all freeze behind a bus bench while Zavala and Drifter hug. Why the hell are they hugging. What kind of breakdown (or fake breakdown) would have to happen to make Zavala hug Drifter.

Crow makes scrambled eggs and bacon w/ the current goal of "have friends." He finishes making the food, doesn't eat it, and starts complaining about being hungry.

Drifter walks into the bathroom while Sloane is looking in the mirror, and starts talking about crabs. Ikora kicks them out, so Drifter goes to the kitchen and eats the half-eaten sandwich Eris left out. Once Ikora is out, Saladin washes a plate in the bathroom sink, supposedly to avoid Drifter.

Everything is fairly calm for a while. Drifter goes outside and takes a nap on a bus bench. Crow is still hungry from not eating the food he made, so he goes to make new food next to the made food.

He starts a fire.

Everyone freaks the fuck out, except Drifter, who is oblivious to it all, still asleep on his hobo bus bench. Crow doesn't put himself out. Osiris, Saladin, and Ikora just watch him. Eris, Zavala, and Sloane are outside, so they don't notice. When Sloane finally goes in, she walks right past Crow and rummages the fridge, gets food, and calmly walks back outside.

I finally intervened to make Crow put himself out. Once he does, they all go outside. Everyone screams in the driveway while Drifter sleeps peacefully ~20-30 ft away. Zavala notices the fire and suddenly everyone rushes in to extinguish it, like they didn't have the sense to without him mad about it. Ikora and Saladin put it out. But only outside.

Drifter finally wakes up, passes all of them on the street, goes in, sees the fire, goes out, and just stands in the back yard thinking about food until the fire gets to him. Saladin comes over to watch him burn and does not help. Eventually Zavala walked over, Saladin left, and I realized how late it had gotten and finally intervened again to put the whole fire out bc you can't save in a fire.

So that's where we've left off. I'm going to give them a proper house this time and see what happens. Also going to see if they'll get themselves jobs, or if I have to do that too. I'll reblogs this w/ a photo dump later, so stay tuned :)

I just had the hilarious thought of making a bunch of D2 characters with roughly their personalities in the Sims, forcing them to be roommates, and leaving the game idle to see what happens. any takers?

[t-h-i-n-g]

hi hi, i would like to request a max mayfield x reader.

reader goes all out on their anniversary. something fluffy and romantic.

tysm<3

Happy Anniversary

(gif not mine credits to owner)

a/n: i was not expecting this to be as long as it is. i was expecting it to be half the length. anyways- thanks for the request! i’m pretty sure this is my favorite thing I wrote so far. my hearts even fluttering and im the one who made it LMAO

word count: 2.1k

summary: everything was planned out. the food, the gifts, the evening, you had everything set up perfectly. she just had to walk through the door to celebrate the anniversary of your favorite day.

warnings: none really just the normal fluff stuff, smooching, if i missed any let me know!!

st - masterlist m.masterlist

--------------

Your room was clean, having taken care of it the day before. The dirty clothes that were once scattered now are in your hamper. The trash being discarded in the bin. Dirty dishes in the sink.

A plaid blanket taking up the space instead. You would have set this up outside, but the forecast called for rain. Instead you adapted, deciding an indoor picnic would be just as good as an outdoor one. Resting on the blanket laid a woven basket you got just for the occasion. Inside was a handful of Max’s and your favorite foods. 

Strawberries, paired with a fruit salad, some crackers, as well as bags of chips, some sandwiches sitting on top, and more food hidden underneath. This was both of yours day, you had a right to enjoy yourselves. 

Two pillows were also set out on the blanket, plates and bowls in front of them. In the center was a tier shelf with multiple different sweets on it. From macaroons to brownies to slices of cake. Your night was busy, wanting the items to be fresh for the occasion. Nancy was over to help you with all of them. You told her after hours of baking that you could handle the cupcakes on your own as the sun had already set and it was getting late. She shook her head, telling you she was more than happy to continue helping.

Hanging from your ceiling were balloons that read ‘HAPPY ANNIVER ARY.’ Steve popped the s on accident when trying to cut the tape attaching the balloon string that held it up. It was fine though, he stated when Nancy scolded him. Saying it gave the event more ‘character.’ You chuckled at him before going back to the kitchen. Taking out the watermelon from the fridge to cut up and add to the fruit salad, telling him to hang up the fairy lights on your way out.

The two of them had stayed well into the night to help you prepare for the day. Well, Steve more like just iced the cakes while you and Nancy did the real baking. You didn’t let him be the mixer after he dropped the freshly made cake batter on the floor. However, you were still grateful to his efforts. Steve’s icing job wasn’t bad either; only two of the cupcakes looked like deformed blobs (Not that you told him that. It would have crushed his spirits.) He was pretty proud of himself, admiring the hard work he accomplished. 

He was currently on his way to pick up Max from Mike’s to bring her to your house. Nancy made the boys promise to keep her busy till Steve arrived. Not wanting her to leave before everything set up. You would have spent the day at hers but… her step-dad didn’t know about the two of you. And the two of you didn’t want to risk the idea of him showing up unannounced. However, Max was more than eager to come to yours. Your parents were out of town for a couple of days, on a business trip. Not coming home till the following week. Lining up perfectly for the event to come.

You took in your surroundings. Quickly checking if Max’s gift from you was under your bed. Nodding to yourself, you peered at the red box. Moving out of your room, you went to sit on your couch. The window had its curtains pulled back. Rain being shown through. The forecast called for it to carry on into the late night. 

You placed your head in your palm, resting your elbow on the arm of the couch. Keeping your eyes on the street. Waiting for Steve’s vehicle to make its way into view. Smiling to yourself as you recalled how he expressed his excitement to you when he was leaving the previous night.

—-----------

“Two years, Y/n. That’s a long time. Can’t even believe you guys made it this far.” You furrowed brows at him. He looked at you, noticing your expression.

“Not that I didn’t expect you two,” he defended quickly, “Just the fact you guys are still so young. The amount of commitment you made to each other is crazy. And all the effort you're making for this… you really care about her a lot, huh?” You nodded instantly.

“Of course, she’s my girlfriend, my best friend, my everything really,” you stated. It was his turn to scrunch up his face.

“That last part was a little cringe not gonna lie.” You nodded once more.

“Yeah, don’t tell her I said that. She’ll make a big deal out of it and haunt me for the rest of my life,” you told him, “I can already hear her mimicky whiny voice, ‘I’m YouR eVEryThinG?’” Steve chuckled.

“Who knows maybe it’ll just slip out,” he said with a shrug. You snapped your head towards him, eyes wide.

“You wouldn’t,” you threatened. He shrugged once more, earning a shove from you. Making him laugh again.

—-------------

You turned your attention back to the window in front of you as Steve’s car rolled into your driveway. Getting up you approached the front door. Pulling it open just as Max got out of the vehicle. Telling Steve something before shutting the car door, a bag in her hand and on her back. You looked at her with a smile as her eyes met yours. One broke out on her face as well, lightly jogging to your steps. 

You met her halfway; embracing her in your arms. They wrapped around her waist as hers went to your shoulders. You picked her up, spinning her sound for a moment. Raindrops falling onto your skin. Contrasting the warmth you felt from Max with their cold touches. Setting her down, you looked into her eyes. Not even getting a chance to speak before she cupped your face, connecting your lips to hers. Closing your eyes, you tilted your head deepening the kiss. Her body arching into yours as you dipped her lightly. She pulled away once more staring into your eyes. Taking in the beautiful colors in them. A smile once again adorning her features, rain dampening her hair as well as her clothes.

“Happy anniversary,” you whispered to her, her smile only growing. Scanning across your face she took in the rain drops falling on your cheeks.

“I think we should get inside,” she mentioned,” I don’t want to get my gift wet.” You nodded, taking her hand in yours, turning back to the house. You caught a glimpse of Steve’s car still in your driveway. You looked back at him. He watched the two of you with a smile on his face. Max followed your line of vision. “Weirdo,” she mumbled. You gave him a wave as you made your way up the steps, Max flipping him off as well. You chuckled at her antics pulling her into the house. 

Keeping her hand in yours, you pulled her to your room. Once arriving you went to take her backpack. You took it off her shoulders, moving to place it on the side of your bed as she took in the scene in front of her. You sat on your bed watching as the lights reflected in her eyes. She stood herself between your legs. Your hands went to her hips peering up at her. Max once again placed her arms on your shoulders. Tracing them gently with her fingers as she stared in awe at the set up.

“I can’t believe you did all this,” she said in a whisper. You shrugged.

“It’s the anniversary of my favorite day, of course I had to do something special.” She raised a brow at you.

“Your favorite day?” You rolled your eyes playfully.

“Well, duh,” you pulled her closer, her hands moving to the sides of your face, “I’ll never forget how nervous you were,” you chuckled in a whisper. Her face scrunched up.

“Don’t even tell me about that.”

“You were all fidgety and kept stuttering-”

“Stoooop,” she commanded, placing a hand over your mouth. You took yours to pull it off.

“And your eyes got so wide when I kissed you and you froze like a statue.” She covered her face in embarrassment, going red. You loved these moments. Seeing Max flustered was hard to come by. Laughing lightly you took in her state.

“I think I changed my mind, we’re breaking up. You’re making fun of me, on our anniversary!” she exclaimed. “Yep, red flags are visible, guess I better go-”

“Oh shut up, you dork,” you joked standing up. You went to the end of your bed, taking out the box from underneath. “At least open your gift before you leave.” You stated, moving to sit on the blanket. She followed after you, picking up her gift bag as well. You handed her the box as she sat the bag next to you.

“You first,” she stated. You scoffed, shaking your head. 

“No way, you know how this goes. You always open yours first.” It was true over the past occasion, Christmas, birthdays, other anniversaries, ect, she was always the one to fold first when it came to these petty arguments. She pondered the thought for a moment. “It’s the least you can do for me. After all, I put all of this together for you. You can take another gift from me, can't you?” Sighing she took the box and placed it in her lap as you smiled in victory. 

The box was long, about as tall as it was wide. She opened it, peering inside. Taking the wrapping off her jaw dropped. She pulled out a new board, the bottom custom painted.

“I did the bottom myself,” you mentioned in a mumbled as she took in each detail. Tracing the different lines with her finger. You bit your lip waiting for her to say something. It took you a long time to get that done. First, having to save enough money for it. As well as it took two weeks for you to paint it.

“This is so cool,” she whispered. Looking up at you she smiled. Max crawled across the blanket almost nocking off the tray of sweats the possess.

“Careful! Those took forever to make,” you informed as she tackled you into a hug. She turned to baked goods.

“You made them?” You nodded.

“With a little help from Nancy and… kinda Steve. He was really just there for emotional support. He did the icing though.” 

“That’s why some look smooshed?”

“Mhm, I didn’t have the heart to tell them the flowers looked like a child’s finger paintings.” She laughed getting off of you grabbing a cupcake on her way back to sit.

“Now open yours,” she commanded, taking a bite out of the treat. You grabbed the bag. Putting the paper aside you pulled out a tiny book. Inside was multiple polaroid pictures of the two of you from the last six months. Your head snapped to her.

“This is why El had a sudden fixation with that camera and the photos?” you asked. She nodded, smiling.

“I asked her after I saw you wanting that photo Joyce took of us on Halloween.” You flipped through the pictures, taking in all the memories you went through.

“This is so sweet, Max. Thank you-”

“There’s another thing,” she stated. Your brows shot up, once again looking in the bag, seeing a little box inside. Taking it out, you opened it to reveal a necklace. The initial ‘M’ in the middle of it.

“You did not,” you tell her with the smile growing on your face. She nodded, once again moving towards you. She grabbed it from you, sitting behind you to place it on your neck.

“Now, everyone knows your mine,” she said, clasping it. You snorted.

“That was cheesy,” you stated, turning around to face her.

“At least I didn’t say ‘shEs My evEerYThiNG.’” Your jaw dropped.

“I told Steve not to tell you I said that!” you exclaimed. She shrugged.

“I’m personally glad he did, now I can bring it up anytime you tease me for saying something.” You let out a groan as she smirked. She shifted onto your lap, cupping your face in her hands. “Hey I mean, it's sweet, really. A little corny, but sweet.” You let your head fall to her shoulder. It was your turn to hide in embarrassment. Max chuckled lightly, “If it means anything, you’re my everything, too.”

Removing yourself from her neck, you scanned her face. A smile adorning her features as her eyes peered into your.

“Who’s the cheeseballs now?” She let out a laugh.

“You still, but it’s fine. I’ll settle with a cheeseball.” You raised a brow.

“Settle?” She nodded jokingly.

“Oh, yeah I got hoes lining up the block.”

“Yeah?” Your voice dropped down an octave.

“Mhm,” she humed, a hand lightly scratching your neck, while the other held your face. A smile remained on your face as a comfortable silence fell between you.

“Happy anniversary, Max,” you whispered, bringing her lips closer to yours. She smiled against them.

“Happy anniversary, Y/n.”

----------

likes and reblogs are appreciated :)

[alexisaflop]

On my mind - Steve Harrington x Reader

Been reading fanfiction, wanted to write something :) not what i normally do on this account but it's fun and I've missed it. anyway im a basic bitch who loves Steve Harrington so I guess that's what's coming first??

Set after the events of Season 2, after the reader saves Steve from a demo-dog. The reader is Dustin's sibling and chats with Steve whilst they wait for him to get ready.

Warnings: brief canon-typical violence, nightmares, literally just pure fluff

Henderson! reader, gnc! reader

2222 words

Had a lot of fun writing this, so let me know if you want anything else from this show :)

You watched as your little brother Dustin frustratedly styled his hair, rerunning the comb through and then inevitably changing his mind moments later.

"Stop watching me, Y/N, this is very delicate work," he exclaimed, closing the bathroom door behind him.

You receded into the living room, trying not to laugh at the antics of your brother. His crush on Max was cringy to watch, but it was classic middle school. Just as you had coaxed Mews 2 to sit with you, you hear a car outside, and shortly after the door goes.

"That'll be Steve, I'll delay him for you," you half-shout to Dustin, as you go to the door. He makes a disgruntled shout of gratitude in response.

"Hey," you say, opening the door.

Steve looked the same as ever, as if the recent events of demodogs and alternate dimensions never happened. He wore a simple red jumper that comfortably complemented his brown hair, that was - as always - impossibly perfect.

"Hey, Y/N. How's it going?"

"He's just getting ready, the suit looks good, but he's just, uh, perfecting the look. Do you want to come in and wait?"

He nodded, stepping inside, the wind from outside danced round him, his hair joining in sync, he was effortlessly handsome this way. Mews 2, seemingly instantly, appeared, purring and rubbing against Steve's ankles.

"Traitor," you commented, smiling slightly, "I spent ages getting her to like me, of course she loves you straight away."

"Oh, is that how it is?" Steve asked, leaning down, lifting the cat, who, much to your surprise, did not protest, "You would have thought that me saving your life and everything would have put us on the same team."

"You saved my life? Come on, Harrington, you know that's not how it happened. If it weren't for me, you would have been demo-dog food."

"Yeah, but that's only because I was only in that position to protect you anyway."

"Whatever, Harrington, I saved your life," you said half-jokingly, slowly approaching him.

It was silent for a while as you reached up and played with the cat, you couldn't believe how much nicer she was being to him. Up this close, you could smell a mixture of his hair product mixed with a seemingly natural scent of pine trees.

Unbeknownst to you, Steve was also watching you, the way your currently messy hair framed your face, and the slight vacancy of your eyes as you seemingly absent-mindedly petted the cat.

"So, how have you been doing, y'know, after everything?" Steve asked eventually.

You slowly looked up at him, calculating how serious an answer he wanted. His eyes looked into yours earnestly, almost intimidatingly so. Noticing you pause, he sat down on the sofa, just waiting for your response.

"I, I mean I'm alright, we all made it out alive - despite your multitudes of protest," you said, smirking at him, "but even though I know it's over, I keep wondering what if it isn't, y'know?"

He smiled sympathetically, it struck you again how pretty he was. "Hey," he said, you wondered vaguely how long it had just been silent, "El closed the gate, you know that, everything's okay now," his voice impossibly soft.

"I know," you nodded, "but sometimes, at night, I just see -"

"Alright, how do I look?" Dustin said, appearing from the bathroom. He paused slightly, noticing the intensity of the eye-contact between the two of you.

You smiled, "You look amazing Dusty, you know Mom promised me I'd get a picture."

Steve watched as you smiled and said this, noticing the easy switch to cheerful and supportive, all for the sake of Dustin. He tore his eyes off of you and turned to look at Dustin. His hair was teased into a curly copy of Steve's own.

"You look great, kid," he said, standing up with a grin.

He stood behind you, pulling faces to force Dustin to smile for a photo, before you insisted him being in one. After all, he was Dustin's chauffeur, and self-proclaimed best friend.

"Alright, have fun okay, and keep an eye on Will, yeah?" you said, dusting off Dustin's shoulder.

He nodded excitedly, already half out of the door, "See you tomorrow, Y/N!"

Steve followed, before turning back to you, "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

You just nodded, but something on your face must have been giving you away, because Steve tilted his head slightly, and those soft eyes of worry made a return.

"Yeah, Harrington, I'm all good, I'll see you around, alright?"

He looked like he was about to say something else. Right on cue, your brother called for Steve, insisting they were going to be late.

Steve muttered something about Dustin being a little shit, before half jogging down to his car.

You waved them off, before closing the door and sinking back into the sofa where he had sat moments before.

*****

In the car, Dustin asked, "Hey, what was all that with them?"

Not looking up from the road, Steve said, "what was all what?"

"With Y/N, you kept staring at them whenever you thought they weren't looking. I'm not blind, Steve."

"It was nothing, really, I just care about them that's all"

"So do I, so don't lie to me Steve, come on. I thought we talked about this type of stuff, now, since I love Max and all."

Steve could have sworn he sounded slightly genuinely put-out. He smiled slightly, "I just meant that ever since in the tunnels, when they saved me. They got hurt for me, and I feel kinda guilty about it, and then I couldn't get them out of my head. And they are beautiful, which doesn't make it any easier to forget."

"Hey, that's a blood relative of mine you're talking about there," he exclaimed.

"You did ask, and beautiful is hardly graphic, come on."

"You should tell them", Dustin said, "they'd prefer you were just straight with them. Plus, I hate having to watch you staring at each other, it's gross and distracting."

Each other? Steve thought, were they doing the same, and he hadn't even noticed?

"Fine, fine, maybe I will. But enough about that, here we are" Steve announced as he pulled into the school.

"So remember, once you get in there..."

"I don't care," finished Dustin.

Steve nodded, hyping him up, "That's right, you don't care."

Still unconvinced, Dustin checked his reflection, which Steve did not allow, as he closed the mirror he said, "hey, you look great."

"uh-huh," mumbled, Dustin doubtedly.

"You look great, you look great, okay?" Steve questioned insistently.

"Yeah".

"You're gonna go in there, look like a million bucks"

"YEAH"

"And you're gonna slam dunk"

"Like a lion," agreed Dustin, before making a weird noise with his teeth.

"Uh, yeah, don't do that."

Dustin nodded, defeated, and got out of the car.

"Go get 'em tiger!"

Steve smiled slightly, as he watched Dustin go, shaking his head, wondering how he became friends with some random kid. All because of Nancy - speaking of whom. He saw her through the window, talking to Jonathon. Steve leant back in his chair, and decided he was glad she was happy with someone else, as he pulled out of the car park, turning back towards the Henderson household.

****

You were still on the sofa, now curled into a ball as you read a book.

And then there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, Y/N, can I come in?"

You nodded, letting him in, he was holding a VHS and a plastic bag of snacks.

"I thought, if you can't sleep, I might as well get you to relax... if that's okay."

"Steve," you said, starting to say that he didn't need or have to.

But he shook his head, gently pushing you back into the sofa, he was warm, and even after he had removed his hands, you could feel a sparky outline of them.

"No Y/N, I owe you, you did, after all, save my life."

That got you to smile slightly.

Steve settled next to you on the sofa, a respectable distance, but close enough to reach out to him. You could almost hear his breathing, and you could smell him again. It was comforting, he was really here, unlike all the things you relived in the dark, and he was grounding. As the film ended, you realised how tired you actually were, and tried, but failed, to hide your yawning.

"So, when was the last time you slept, like properly?" asked Steve.

You just shrugged.

"Come on," he said, having switched off the TV, he pulled you gently out of the sofa and you both meandered to your room.

"What if you stayed?" you mumbled, you were almost embarrassed to ask him, but his presence was keeping you calm in a way you hadn't felt before, which wasn't something you were ready to lose.

"If you're sure, that's okay," was all he said.

You vaguely wondered if that was something he actually wanted, but you were too tired from your shift at work earlier, and then getting Dustin ready, that you didn't really want to start questioning that.

Steve went to the bathroom whilst you got ready for bed. As he washed his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror, pausing in slight disbelief that you were letting him stay around. The truth was, he loved your company too, like he had told Dustin, you hadn't left his mind since that night when you had fought that demo-dog away from him.

When he returned to your room, you were already curled up under the covers. So, he laid down opposite you, on top of the covers, but under a blanket. You were staring in front of you, your eyes vacant, as if looking at something that wasn't really there. But when he settled next to you, you smiled slightly in recognition.

"Hey," you said softly.

"Hey," Steve responded.

You really did look beautiful wrapped up like that. So, he reached out, brushing your hair from your face, when you didn't protest, he carried on. Slowly, he played with your hair, letting it run through his fingers. The entire time, he made sure to be gentle with you, just trying to distract you, as slowly, but surely you fell asleep.

For a while, Steve carried on, just looking at you, but slowly he fell asleep too.

****

Suddenly, you were back in the tunnels, you had reached the hub, and there was one stalking the group. It was staring you down. You were all alone and as it charged, you could do nothing. Your feet were stuck to the ground, it opened up its mouth about to -

You lashed out, swinging your arms in a last minute attempt to protect yourself, before realising it wasn't real.

Steve caught your badly formed fist in his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said softly. He didn't wait for a response, just pulling you into him until your head was buried in his chest. He wrapped his arms around you, one hand resting on the back of your head, starting to play with your hair. The other hand slowly drew circles in your back.

You leant into him, letting him know he was okay to keep going, and eventually returning the hug, with one arm settling over his shoulders.

"You're okay, I promise, I'm right here," he said softly.

You nodded into his chest.

****

In the morning, you were both still entangled. He was watching you with an absent-minded smile on his face.

"Morning, beautiful," he said.

You hit him playfully, "oh shut up," you said, barely daring to believe this was real.

He was still looking at you. "I meant it."

"What?"

"I meant it. I think you're beautiful, I haven't stopped thinking about you since everything that happened. You're brave and kind, and maybe too good to your shithead brother."

You just stared in shock, you couldn't really believe it. Until you had seen him getting his ass handed to him by Billy Hargrove, had you really started to like him. But he had always been gorgeous himself.

You realised he was waiting for you to say something.

"Me too," you admitted, finally looking back up at him.

His hair was falling into his face, so you reached up to fix it for him. It was only then you realised just how close together the two of you really were. His eyes were on you, following your every move. As you fixed his hair, he leant into your hand. Neither of you could break eye contact, until his betrayed him, slipping down to look at your lips before flickering back up.

You smiled slightly, only drawing his attention back to them, as you leaned in, and gently pulled him most of the way.

It started off slowly, his lips unbelievably soft. And then he was pulling you close, one hand coming up to hold your head, the other sliding up your back. You wrapped one leg around him, each of you keeping the other close.

When your faces pulled apart, the rest of you stayed wrapped together. Safe.

You rested your forehead against his.

"Okay, Harrington, we're even now."

He laughed gently, before kissing you again.

[robotic-bakery]

omg tysm for your thoughts!! I was writing out my own opinions on the article (mainly two particular points that stuck with me) and realized I ended up writing. a lot. So while I do apologize for how long it is, I hope you enjoy regardless!!

(also before getting into any ✨serious ✨ points, I like how the article says that the kids no longer have any obvious enemies in s6 which, even in context of them meaning teen enemies, it's funny because John Kreese is right there but I digress)

Our starting point will be later in the article, when it says the following:

"While his interactions with Kenny in Cobra Kai indicated that Shawn had likable qualities, it's important to note that it never redeemed him. He gained respect for Robby, but nothing that happened in season 3 suggested that Shawn would stop being a bully to other kids.^1 For that reason, he could be a good fit for Cobra Kai season 6, as his worst tendencies could easily earn him the ire of the Eagle Fang and Miyagi-do students.^2"

[1] So when reading this, the first things I thought of was the framing(?) around Kenny's interactions and respect for Robby should be switched. While his interactions with kenny (and kenny as a character really) don't seek to redeem him, a key component of [Kenny] as a character is that he recontextualizes why Shawn acted/is that way in s3, introducing the idea a lot of his behavior is built off past experiences and circumstances rather than easily detectable malice. Meanwhile, while it isn't the classic "bully to completely good guy" redemption arc, Shawn gaining respect for Robby left room for notable character growth; that being him going from a complete alpha tough guy bully to actively letting/trusting another person help his little brother protect himself (after one of his "friends" tried to hurt Kenny and that being the catalyst for [Shawn] going to juvie in the first place, mind you).

I somewhat concede to the notion on him likely still bullying others because while we technically don't get evidence of him stopping in s3 (as his interaction with Robby was his last on screen in that season) we also don't..see Shawn again apart his interaction with Kenny in s4 and we also only hear about him spitting on a guard, so we can't say for sure if he did or didn't continue that behavior.

[2] This part, for me at least, would have to depend on how he acts outside of juvie as that's the only setting see him in. If a good chunk of his behavior is rooted in his environment as we're suspected to believe (both juvie and him getting involved with the wrong people as explained by Kenny) then I don't think it'd make sense for those tendencies to be at the forefront of his character. If anything, I'd honestly expect him to still keep his protective tendencies over Kenny even though he can handle himself now. Also, even if those worst tendencies would make him a perfect candidate for CK and thus are brought to the forefront....Kenny's right there?? He'd actively have to go against you know.. the person he literally went to juvie for.. if anything given how deep we can infer their relationship is, that would likely be the catalyst for shawn having at least internal conflicts about being in CK if not getting him to leave CK.

However that also leads into my next point with this section;

"If Shawn, after getting released from the juvenile detention center, visits the dojo to see Kenny and makes an impression on Sensei Kim, she could try to recruit him. Perhaps using Kenny's issues with the other two dojos to manipulate him, she could convince him to fight on their side"

Part of this sounds like it more or less Shawn is just. kept in the dark about things, both in the sense that neither Robby or Kenny told him about the events of S5/the finale or that it wasn't put on the news which I don't believe. However, lets use the later to set the scene for on how it could work (also this is just an idea/theory on how this could play out that Im not 100% serious on cause of the possibility of little screentime as you mentioned)

Picture this: the news breaks out of Cobra Kai sensei and millionaire (or is it billionaire?? idk I just realized I forgot in post, he's just rich) Terry Silver gets arrested. A destructive fight broke out in the CK dojo, leaving significant damage on top of it being broadcast how Silver purposefully rigged the tournament results.

Sensei Kim speaks out, telling this story that frames her as more sympathetic than Silver and an unwilling accomplice to his behavior. He put through these students through so much, physically and mentally, twisting them into people they aren't. She wanted to speak out and stand up for them, she did she swears. But Silver threatened her, saying that he would make her regret it, and because that could mean so many things with his kind of power.. she stayed silent.

She talks about the students of Cobra Kai and what being there did to them (maybe even some things she wasn't necessarily there for). Forced to punch concrete to prove their strength, instigating fights with other kids, even going as far as to humiliate them by shaving their heads.

Robby knew about it. Robby contributed to it. And when the going got tough, when Kenny followed his example... he dipped to avoid consequences.

He made Kenny into the very thing Shawn and Kenny himself were looking to help him fight back against: a bully.

Shawn trusted him, after and despite everything, and Robby knew this as well. But after learning all of this from Sensei Kim... why should he? More importantly, why should he trust Robby.. around Kenny?

It may not be the same idea the article presents, but the idea of Shawn joining Cobra Kai would be interesting if under the impression that Sensei Kim would be better than Silver, that she'll pick up the pieces he left behind; that Sensei Kim has both Shawn and Kenny's best interest in mind, unlike what Robby supposedly did. It toys with the reality surrounding it all, contorting the facts in a way that makes things worse and leans more into Shawn's willingness to protect Kenny rather than any desire to assert himself above others if that makes sense. Also, just for emphasis (and my sake), this's just an overall idea playing off the article and also I don't genuinely think that way about Robby.

Overall, writing this I just think a majority of my thoughts come from me being unwell about this character and the circumstances he goes through so 🧍. enjoy!!

hello tumblr user robbyykeene, hope you're having a good day/afternoon/evening so far! I wanted to send you an ask cause I found this article by screenrant titled "Cobra Kai Season 6 Needs A New Teen Villain (& Already Introduced The Perfect Candidate)", mainly talking about Shawn being a perfect candidate to be a student under Sensei Kim in Cobra Kai. I had a couple of thoughts after reading the article myself, but I got curious and wanted to know if you had any thoughts on it.

(idk if the link will work in an ask, but I put it here just in case) https://screenrant.com/cobra-kai-kids-rival-villain-replacement-shawn/

omg hello fellow shawbby enjoyer! I've read through the article and I have some thoughts:

"Shawn held his own surprisingly well against Robby" surprisingly??? he's like an entire foot taller lmfao what was surprising was robby not getting curb stomped

"nothing that happened in season 3 suggested that Shawn would stop being a bully to other kids" maybe nothing happened in season 3, but season 4 somewhat seemed to imply differently?

I also don't think that anything we've seen or heard about shawn would suggest he would just. join up with cobra kai given what happened with kenny in season 5. to be honest i don't think shawn would care about karate at all lmao but then again this is cobra kai so

All in all I would love to see shawn again obviously but i 1) don't think coming back as a 'cobra kai villain' is a way that would make sense for it to happen and 2) i know there's no universe in which he actually comes back at all except maybe for a 2 second cameo. and even that is a stretch