#and just like in the previous drawing this is still 12 years ago. I have no idea what the ladies all look like present-day^^;;

[slumbergoblin]

Redesigned Oscar's siblings for (hopefully) the last time!

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello.

Listen, I'm still not over ep 11 yet. AND THEN THEY GIVE ME THIS I- *muffled screaming*

Anyways, welcome to my crack posts. =D

Warning: long post 😊😅 (I somehow took even more screenshots than last time ���)

I knew something like this would happen hehe

Also-

Don't lie, Peem, he'd already won your heart the moment he said "Na, krab" with those puppy eyes

I love how despite thinking they're enemies up till this point, Tan immediately jumps on the ship the moment he learns it exists.

Fang: cute. <3

Q: cutee. <33

Shy babygirl Peem has my whole heart 🥺🫶🏼

Yeah? Anyone specific you want to draw a portrait of, Peem? Someone from Engineering, maybe? Someone who confessed to you in front of all your combined friends just last night? No? 👀

This smile. This goddamn smile. I get you, Peem, I totally get you.

Q peeking in small into the bag is so accurate 😭

As I'd said in my previous post: "Right in front of my salad?!" and "Something very LGBT just happened to me o.o"

NOSE BOOP

I love nose boops hehe

[Phum: I have to go to class.]

You actually go to class?! *pikachu meme face*

Q's face perfectly expresses my feeling, and I'm definitely saving these as meme pics

Peem's plan to be hit on backfired so fast so hard 😭

Poor boy went into shock 😭

Peem is never hearing the end of this from Q. Never.

I love their friendship though. Besties forever. <3

Toey looks so excited here 😭🫶🏼

He's definitely over the moon that his two beloved hias finally realized they like each other (and of course he manifested this wdyem)

Throwing stones from inside a glass house, huh Q?

You're just as bad as, if not worse than Peem.

*shaking my head fondly* these boys are so whipped for their baes

This ep gave me a lot of meme pic ehehe

Why so surprised, Peem? You were the one telling Phum to flirt on you, why so shy now huh?

Oh, Aunt Pui knows. She's just trying to help her nephew get a nice boyfriend hehe

Also- learning the family business early on? Nice move, Phum.

I'm pretty sure Aunt Pui will accept Phum as family the very instant they start dating.

Actually- she probably already has.

What will you be tying next? The knot?? (I am so so happy I can make that joke and actually mean it now.)

Oh, and I love love love their dynamics. I'm always looking for verse because I don't like active power dynamics, but this show really delivered on it. There's always a push and pull, but throughout, they're equals. Yes, even through that slave era (remember how exactly Peem came to be his slave?). It did start off with a slight imbalance, but it evened out pretty fast (because Phum is incapable of not being the cutest clingy little puppy for more than ten minutes and Peem is weak for it).

PhumPeem/PeemPhum is giving me so much that I'd thought I'd almost never get from BLs (there are a few other examples, I think, but this is probably my topmost).

I don't know if y'all have noticed, but Phum is deliberately soft and is often using polite pronouns for the last two episodes.

It's just... they're so pretty 😭

This scene is just >>>

He-

HE LEARNED LATTE ART JUST TO USE THIS LINE WITH PEEM I'M DYING OH GODS

Phum is 200% committed. Other upcoming BL romantic interests, please take notes.

Jokes aside, what started out as a potential red flag (even two years ago, this relationship would have been very very different) turned into the greenest flag (with a side of childhood trauma).

Did he just-

He almost confessed!!! So close!!

Also- please give me them as boyfriends already, I'm on my hands and knees. But can you imagine what they'll be like when they actually start dating...?

...

I CAN'T WAIT. GIMME NOW. *grabby hands*

This scene made me speechless. Ep 12 was full of beautiful, absolutely stunning scenes, but this was what took my breath - his cute smile that lights up his whole face, his "Pai, krab" and the sheer relief when Peem asks him if he wants to go.

For a moment there, he thought Peem would leave, just like all the people in his life. He knows it wouldn't be permanent, but it's hard to get rid of such an old, deep-rooted fear.

But Peem, unknowingly, immediately waves it away by asking him if he wanted to come with. The only thing is... I don't think it was that unknowing.

I'll end part 1 on this note. Part 2 will be posted soon!

If you've reached this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊

Here, have a doughnut 🍩

And here are my previous We Are posts.

[a-d-nox]

it is my birthday tomorrow: so let's review the predictions i made last year based on my solar return chart

about a year ago, i made a predictions post for my year ahead and now here i am updating y'all with what actually happened as i previously suggested that i would! so let's jump into it - i pasted all my previous predictions in to this post for your reading ease!

1H IN LIBRA AT 12° (contains: scorpio sun and narcissus (37117))

prediction: there is likely to be a relational focus this year and with venus (the house ruler) in the 12h it is likely to be with myself (what us my relationship with my self? how can i better treat myself? etc). my diplomacy skills are likely not going to be the best as i look at the 10h/11h, what is sitting in those houses, and that pisces degree on my 1h... with my scorpio sun present in the house, it is likely that it will be obvious that i trust no one this year (people may suspect that i only trust myself - they could feel as though i look down on them or think little of them). my sun is opposite my moon so i might feel a bit disconnected from myself... with my sun in the 1h, i will likely have a super intense vibe (not that i don't already) but in a way that seems like magnetism because it is a libra 1h? like drawing others in? i do feel like this year is going to be the sort where i am discovering who i am and who i want to be (i just have to make sure it doesn't get out of hand with the sun and narcissus (especially with his conjunction to my sun, mercury, and mars) present).

reality: i still do need to make my relationship with myself better. but it has become very apparent that i need to do so this year. i have been prioritizing things that i don't really care about more than those things i do care about. like money. the focus on money this year is really starting to annoy me can't wait to move on to something else... making money and job related stuff has taken priority over my health, my friends, my family, etc. and making a hobby into a business / job / side hustle has really annoyed me this year because i use to really enjoy doing this but i am starting to really hate it. and it truly is taking up a lot of my time. i work a full time job - i am there 45 hours a week only to come home write posts or readings for another 10 hours a week - that might sound like nothing but its really not in the grand scheme because i am starting to get older and realize that everything is a trade off. that's 10 hours i didn't exercise, i didn't see family, i didn't see friends, etc. and part of that is because i don't appreciate myself the way i should. your 20s are really precious - you are your healthiest, most free, etc. and i am spending it on fleeting things. it is possible one day i could wake up and everything i have done here won't matter - it's immaterial it could just fade into cyberspace. just like my job one day i could wake up and unknowingly it will be my last - the world of technology is ever changing. things are moving faster than ever before and i find myself cling to things locking in while everything around me goes miles a minute. change is happening and i am not letting myself go with it. i want to be my best self - which is a practice i preach to everyone but myself. that being things might evolve here as well as i try my best to live and do so authentically in the coming year.

2H IN SCORPIO AT 9° (contains: scorpio mercury, mars, and kassandra (114) AND sagittarius educatio (2440) and pythia (432))

prediction: what an interesting mix of stuff i have here... money makes the world go round this year i guess. my mercury is at 9° and my mars is at 11° - can i just cry a little...? bro wtf is bitcoin and why do i feel like i am gonna get into the world of online investing...? the coupling of these two planets (especially mars as the 2h ruler) makes me feel as though i will be making money and spending it or moving it relatively quick so that i can't use it? i say "i can't use it" because my mars opposes jupiter which makes me think of compounding interest like a CD... anywho, i am a money wizard? i have kassandra and pythia here, so i feel like i will probably make investments and use my money in unexpected ways (kassandra makes me think of emergency funds OR bad financial contracts though). i also have educatio here so at least i will be learning more about financial literacy plus i do think with mercury i will be extremely interested in learning more about finances. and with mars... it might just become a new passion of mine... aside from money, while i am likely to continue a lot of giving and receiving of knowledge this next year on social media (mercury things), there is a danger to the realm of social media... ESPECIALLY with mars present and both mercury and mars conjunct my sun then all three opposing jupiter... my self worth could take a hit which i do not look forward to.

reality: thank god i didn't touch bitcoin that can stay far far away from me. but yep investing has never been so hard core this year i am walking out of this cycle with a 401k (that has a company match), a new CD, a credit card, and a quarterly bonus type of job. i corporate girlied hard. and on top of that i have done over 100 paid readings this year. i think learning about money is very important in today's world with inflation, social politics, etc the way it is. i will continue to learn about it but i am going to stop pressuring myself as much to make a set amount here especially. also i am going to be VERY careful what influencers (idk any 23 year olds making 6 figures in real life but social media appears to be full of them) i watch because some of them are extremists and not at all realistic... some of the content is good be some of it can be very delulu - my boss told me that a person from my generation came in fresh from college asking for more than even she makes... we have to be for real while also playing the game. i have had a 51.16% increase in income in comparison to where i was at when wrote my predictions last year at this time. so trust me when i say slow and steady wins the race when the job market is the way it is.

3H IN SAGITTARIUS AT 10° (contains: sagittarius ambrosia (193), asclepius (4581), cupido (763), jormungandr (471926) rx, lev tolstoj (2810), and zeus (5731) AND capricorn aphrodite (1388) and chekhov (2369))

prediction: sagittarius and 10° for the 3h is giving "it's all fun and games until someone says/mentions ____". i have to be mindful of my mouth because while i am likely to make people feel alive with my words given ambrosia and asclepius in this house, i also have chekhov (where you want simplicity but receive drama), aphrodite, and jormungandr (where people try to end you - aka getting socially outcasted/cancelled) in the 3h... but lev tolstoj is here too so whatever i am saying that offends others or makes them mad is facts even though there is drama/gossip involved when i do say these things... the dangers of social media part 2? i feel like it may be romantic drama because zeus (i am not a zeus person because there are no aspects to the sun or asc - only a square is made from this asteroid to my venus), cupido, and aphrodite (and for aphrodite there are no aspects made to my inner planets this solar return - so it is definitely not me doing something sus like cheating) are here in the house too. i do have my suspicions as to what is happening already... and oh shiiii will it hurt because 10° is always a bit painful in my opinion. especially with the house ruler in the 8h... it just looks like emotional damage...

reality: when i tell you things that i have said were often misinterpreted or took negatively - i am not joking. i was messing with my boss and i was saying how no one has been using the form and i joked that we should make a new motto "no form, no fulfillment" and she snapped at me "thats a shitty way to do business". i didnt think i said it in a serious manner or anything but its been little things like that all year. me and my big mouth need to learn the power of silence again. and yes there was some romantic drama like the boy from last year calling me out of the blue to tell me he is planning to break up with his girlfriend... like okay? why are you calling me now after basically a year of not communicating with me? also don't bother me when you are with someone, boy. that's what he is too - a boy - because no man would play this type of game. like grow tf up. but alas of course it hurt my feelings because it sort of was flirty and it seemed like he was vetting me out for a potential hookup... it hurt me to hear how little he values me and how little he valued what he started with me to think that a hook up was all that i would be worth and desire.

4H IN CAPRICORN AT 14° (contains: capricorn pluto, balder (4059), and bellerophon (1808)

prediction: a lot of my astro friends who see this chart are like "oh are you moving?" and i am like ABSOLUTELY NOT. like i literally just moved so no. unfortunately (i hate to be this person) i do believe a beloved family member (4h balder conjunct pluto and square moon) will be passing this year. even more unfortunate - i do not think it will be an easy death with bellerophon present because he was thrown from pegasus... and not to be super disgusting, but i do believe i will inherit something expensive and very material given the earthy grand trine formed by pluto, venus, and uranus. that being said i feel like i might neglect my mental health because pluto squares my moon - i might stopping going to therapy (currently i see a therapist regarding my childhood ptsd). i might regress into people pleasing behaviors because it is all that i will be able to control if someone in my family passes... which is not the healthiest for me.

reality: i didn't move! yay thank god cause who has the energy! but the family dog did die this february... i picked her out and everything. so it was sad but she was 15 - she lived a very good life. my grandfather is still heartbroken... its very depressing. my mom had to go to the vet to put her down... but i know she was loved and now she is no longer in pain her last months she couldn't get on the couch, she struggled with having energy, wore a doggie diaper, etc. it was her time. switching gears. i have been neglecting and ignoring my mental health a lot lately just because i don't really have the energy or "time" to take care of it...

5H IN AQUARIUS AT 17° (contains: pisces saturn, amor (1221) rx, and karma (3811))

prediction: this seems like a good mix for me achieving something big with writing/blogging. especially because saturn is the traditional ruler of aquarius and capricorn (which is home - the work i do from home, a side hustle). my outlook for romance is not too good with amor in retrograde in this house nor with freedom loving aquarius ruling this house. not to mention i feel like the world will be showing me something that will cause me to have a grudge against love (saturn) and karma will be dished out. this could also be a sign that my childhood trauma could be triggered again with saturn in the 5h too (great).

reality: my goal was to reach 3k and at this point in time we are almost at 5k here. so goal reached! also unexpected but related i have a project i have been working on for over a year and it complete! which definitely is a 5h pisces saturn moment. but yes i was single the whole damn year. i think the grudge i have about love has a lot to do with my situation reappearing after a year of no conversation despite him saying we are just friends only to tell me he is going to break up with his girlfriend... but he really loves her. if you love her why are you talking to me and why are you calling me basically plotting the break up - it was icky to me... and honestly turned my stomach about love.

project: sunset cross stitch.

6H IN PISCES AT 17° (contains: pisces neptune rx, AND aries heracles (5143) rx and salacia (120347) rx)

prediction: i appreciate the that neptune is retrograde in this pisces house... last thing i wanted was for my health, routine, or hygiene to be confusing/frustrating, avoided, or to constantly be behind / running late / neglected. so this is fine by me. i might be obsessive with scheduling, health, and hygiene because jupiter (this house's other ruler) is in the 8h. it seems like the job hunt is at a standstill with heracles in retrograde - instead, i might get one great option that i take and stick to with given salacia in retrograde.

reality: i actually revamped my google calendar at the beginning of my 23rd year. i am now taking vitamins out of a pill box of all things like an old woman. and i am focusing on my hair health! i sleep with a bonnet on because i am a hard sleeper and its changing the fact that use to have tension breakage. i also am getting into hair oiling! and i did find a job in marketing after not having a lot of luck. so it only takes one person to say yes is very real.

7H IN ARIES AT 12° (contains: aries nn, chiron rx, part of fortune, pandora (55) rx, and signe (459) rx AND taurus moon and vertex)

prediction: it's a toss up as to what all this could mean. i could find myself in a very emotionally charged connection (this is the eclipse moon after all) - with chiron rx it could be the healing of past wounds. the combination of vertex, part of fortune, and north node dictates that any relationship/partnership i find myself in could be extremely significant. with pandora here i feel like it might be unexpected where this relationship will come from. WITH SIGNE HERE i feel like some people may look down on who this person is...

reality: i can officially say i am over my situationship i couldn't say that a year ago - i was too shocked that he cut me off cold turkey and started dating someone knew after telling me many time he didn't want to date anyone. but unexpectedly i did mean some really cool friends who i really get along with so that was very good this year.

8H IN TAURUS AT 9° (contains: taurus jupiter rx and uranus rx)

prediction: oof not my 8h ruler in the 12h - what's that screaming i hear lol? maybe i will be afraid of change - i mean that because of the 12h venus and jupiter retrograde... the combination doesn't really express embracing change and the unknown, you know? the uranus retrograde makes me think i will be moving away from shared finances and working on managing my own money. i definitely believe it is for the best that i keep my opportunities to myself... i don't get the sense people will be supportive of my wins - i more so sense the envy of others from this house. i don't think i will be shocked by my successes, but i feel like others will not see it coming...

reality: i really wrote that and this year can to understand its true - i fear change and i live small because of it and i 100% make my own obstacles. i am really working on ripping my own path with money. and i am learning to share a whole lot less with people because they don't always wish you well... i'm shocked i changed jobs twice. i'm even more shocked that i am changing my mind about my next move educationally and even more shocked to see i am exploring things i would have thought best to leaving in the past.

9H IN GEMINI AT 10° (contains: gemini midas (1981) AND cancer arachne (407) and odysseus (1143))

prediction: mmmm the contemplation to go back to school is real this coming year. it's weird because it might not be for my MFA? like the 9h midas sextile chiron is giving paralegal? nursing? idk but it's not feeling literary oriented... especially with cancer arachne present, i feel like that is nursing/medical-esque... alternatively, midas can be extreme change then add in odysseus, the traveler - i could be going on a trip that changes my life entirely.

reality: i did do a lot of contemplation and it really surprised me to think i should get a certification of some sort - marketing, editing, paralegal, etc. and no i didn't travel at all this year to somewhere long distance. but i did go on some road trips that are opening me up to the world around me.

10H IN CANCER AT 14° (contains: cancer ajax (1404), hannibal (2152), and loke (4862) AND leo agamemnon (911) and arthur (2597))

prediction: it's a REAL toss up how this house will manifest. i feel like sometimes people will love me and find my presence comforting and other times they will hate me and be annoyed by me. this is thanks to the moon ruler in the 7h... and ajax (who squares my chiron)... and agamemnon (who squares my moon)... i say ajax because i think of my 3h this year - i am falling on my own sword in that regard for sure because not everyone will like what i have to say especially when it is likely to be true (3h sag is starting to remind me of a verbal burn). while people are likely to look up to me (10h arthur AND hannibal) or be forced to - because of my status, they are likely to despise me for what i say/said (7h moon AND mercury and jupiter (3h ruler) square arthur). meanwhile, it might not even be me who is the problem i just look like the bad guy for making it more apparent like loki (10h loke).

reality: i am still someone who is tricky to get along with... i annoy my coworkers because i really do think too much at times... and i'm stubborn and cautious... when i was working at the hotel we got snowed in one night and everyone was like happy to be staying over but i was like i don't want to be here i wanna go tf home... but other times when people are being annoying and i am like "you're giving me a headache" my coworkers are like she said what she said and we were all thinking it...

11H IN LEO AT 17° (contains: leo charybdis (388), helena (101), and hestia (46) AND virgo beowulf (38086), juno (3), lacrimosa (208), and silentium (2710))

prediction: i feel like my popularity is going to be a thing / where i am on the social status food chain (high up). but i don't believe i can trust anyone this year... i feel like i am likely to reach big social media milestones with beowulf in this house (and this house being in leo at 17°) - social media might even take over my life a little bit (11h charybis). i do feel like friendships will be very love hate with juno and hestia here - i am likely to be a moderator of sorts but with helena here i feel like someone is going to accuse me of being disloyal because of how i am likely to moderate without bias. i might find myself truly alone again this year because of it (11h lacrimosa and silentium).

reality: i made quite a few new friends this year a lot of people came to enjoy my presence but there was one snake in the garden for sure. i am glad i didn't trust her she was complaining to my boss about me trying to get me fired... i also ran into an ex-friend which caused me a lot of stress and anxiety... but i just hard core avoided her and played cool. it was at my best friend's engagement party (juno here?). but on another note, i do feel more on the outside of friendships than ever before this year.

12H IN VIRGO AT 17° (contains: virgo venus)

prediction: greatttt i thought we were passed this but i guess not.... looks like i still need to work on my self esteem... intuitively, i don't sense social media is going to be kind to me, and i really hope that doesn't mean here. like i am okay if it is instagram (that app is dying anyway) but like here and tiktok are my favorite apps to be in. when bullying is involved though and it is consistent, there is a limitation to that favoritism in which it becomes apprehension to stay for something like a social media in comparison to showing up for myself. there could also be delusions in romance with this set up - i could experience over thinking in a romantic connections with that 12h virgo venus too. karmic relationships are highly probable with this placement too. OR it could be an ex becoming an enemy too (unknown enemies my a$$)...

reality: i didn't face bullying online i found out my bully was in my mind though... i was really not the kindest to myself this past year. i prioritized work and money over my mental, emotional, social, and physical health... and then i had the audacity to get mad i gained 8-10lbs. like no shit girl you have an office job now. so fitness is not just regularly mixed in to my schedule. or not having a boyfriend, seeing friends or family - no shit you spend all your weekends majorly on the couch at home working on your blog or paid readings... maybe i type slow but it takes a lot of time. time i am choosing to spend on making money instead of myself.

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[ducktoonsfanart]

Ducktales Crew in spacesuits in space on the Moon - Ducktales kids, teenagers and adults on the Moon - Happy Moon Landing and Happy Independence Day of the USA - Gift for my friend - Ducktales in Space (Ducktales AU) - Tribute to Ducktales 2017 - Second part

Although I already drew Ducktales characters in spacesuits on the moon last year, still because of Landing Moon Day which is held on July 20th every year and this year is the 55th anniversary of human walking on the moon, I drew somehow a similar drawing, in my own way, in my own style where the Ducktales characters are on the moon in spacesuits.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins who led the Apollo 11 crew in the Saturn V rocket from July 16 to July 24, 1969, with July 20 and 21 being Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon and were the first people to walk on the moon and brought great pride to the USA and to all mankind. July 20 and 21, 1969 were the significant dates when people were on the moon for the first time. And those are the days of Moon Landing. After the crew of Apollo 11, the crew members of Apollo 12-17 will go and walk on the moon, until 1972, except for Apollo 13. Unfortunately, after more than 50 years, people reportedly did not go to the moon due to numerous problems with the construction of further rockets, but lately there is a race to the moon again, so maybe in the near future people will go to the moon again, unless they are faking it. Space travel is back in fashion. And 55 years have passed since the first walk on the moon.

You can see a similar previous drawing here: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/732385519766487040/ducktales-crew-in-spacesuits-on-the-moon-in-space

I didn’t manage to draw Ducktales characters from head to toe in spacesuits, but certainly the special way I imagine Ducktales 2017 is that they wear spacesuits like Sandy Cheeks from Sponge Bob, I just reshaped it in my own way and these suits can be used and for traveling under water, in volcanic regions and protection against pandemics. Yes, they wear bubble helmets, which are actually glass-proof. This time is the second part of Ducktales 2017 characters with family members and their friends, since not everyone could fit in the previous drawing. Anyway, check out the previous drawing from Ducktales 2017 crew in spacesuits on the Moon part one: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/756620890157056000/ducktales-crew-in-spacesuits-in-space-on-the-moon

Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera and Gandra Dee drive the moon rover (I love how Fenton and Gandra are together so I drew them sticking together), Scrooge McDuck in his vintage spacesuit holds moon ore filled with diamonds and gold found on the moon, and Violet holds a banner along with Daisy's nieces April, May and June Duck and mostly writes this: "We are the first ducklings on The Moon. One small step for ducklings, one big step for ducks!" If you understand this sentence. ;) What Neil Armstrong said when he walked on the moon on July 20, 1969. And that Louie Duck took photos with his android mobile phone (see previous drawing) of these characters to mark the new event and the big anniversary of 55 years ago. And Gyro keeps an Oxy-Chew just in case he runs out of oxygen in his space suit. As for Daisy's nieces as I imagine them in Ducktales 2017, see here: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/743089775258615808/april-may-and-june-duck-as-teenagers-quack-pack

And that's how I imagine these characters in my version of Ducktales 2017 (Ducktales AU) and in my version of the Quack Pack reboot if it was a sequel to Ducktales 2017. Yes, Boyd is holding the US flag since it's also Independence Day which is celebrated in the US every 4th of July. , and the Americans were the first on the moon, allegedly. While the others wear symbols of the USA, Gladstone wears the flag of Ireland on his space suit, because after all Ireland represents the country of lucky. ;) This drawing features Violet Sabrewing, April, May and June Duck, Boyd Gearloose (Boyd Beaks), Kabooie Duck (5th Donald's nephew wearing a brown space suit and how I imagine him in DT17), Scrooge McDuck, Gladstone Gander, Fethry Duck, Drake Mallard, Launchpad McQuack, Bentina Beakley and Gyro Gearloose.

I hope you like this drawing and this idea and feel free to like and reblog this, just don’t use these same ideas of mine without mentioning me. Thank you! Also this is dedicated to my friend @ducksinspaceadventure, who organized Moon Landing Day. Happy Independence Day everyone and Happy Moon Landing Day! And the 55th anniversary of walking on the Moon!

[numbuh424]

Hello! I really love your Death Note art!! Especially your blog header. I saw it and thought it was so cool how you copied the manga style!! Your posts about it say they're you're Death Note OC? Do you have anymore info you can share about them or previous posts about them? Are they a Death Note user? I'm really curious cause the art is so cool and I love reading about people's OCs. That's all, thanks for all the cool art you make!

Hello!! Thank you so much for enjoying my art 🙏 And thank you for asking about my OC! I've never really talked about her publicly before just cause I've never really... Made an OC before? So this ask made me really happy 🥹 I'll try to keep this short but it definitely won't be lol because I don't know when I'll ever get to talk about her again.

Years ago I had a plot stewing in my head for a story where Near shuts down the L successor program, steps down as L, and puts the title to rest. It takes place a year after the A-Kira story, which is around 10 years after Death Note's main story.

The idea was that someone began exposing Wammy's for their covered-up misdeeds and the fact that this is where successors of L were being raised. Because of that information being leaked, Wammy's House becomes unsafe for everyone in it.

OC talk under the cut 🙏

Apart from needing an antagonist who leaks all this information, I also needed a character who was there during the years Near wasn't to fill in the gaps for him and lead him to the culprit.

All the major information about her is here on this OC character profile I made a while back. Lee honestly began as a general persona/self-insert that I use whenever I want to draw myself. I still often use her as my persona when I make silly doodles and whatnot. However, as a Death Note OC, I've really lost control of her and she has just gone on to take a life of her own lol

Lee comes from Wammy's House and entered when she was 12, a lot later than the rest. She first arrived only months before L died and Near and Mello left to hunt Kira. Though gifted with photographic memory, she could never really make it into the successor program through that alone. Despite this, she dedicated her years at Wammy's to pursuing the title against all odds, only to come up short every single time until she finally graduated. Knowing she wasted years pursuing the title, she grew bitter towards L and the program and left the orphanage to pursue an art career like she originally wanted.

She became an art teacher and kept her distance from anything related to the crime/police/investigators. Unfortunately, as fate would have it (fate being me, the person controlling everything about her life), she became a witness to a crime where she used her skills to draw the culprit. Her sketch is what gets the man arrested and what causes the police to recruit her. Though she always said she'd abstain from detective work after wasting her time on it at Wammy's, she wants to be useful so she agrees to work part-time lowkey.

She doesn't like having the spotlight on her, as years of fighting for it in her youth have worn out her motivation for being seen. She keeps her past under lock and key and lies about it constantly, but her memory allows her to keep track of her lies easily.

Her role in the story is that her past identity (her real name and lived experiences) is stolen and used to frame her as the person leaking information about the orphanage - an "insider tells all" who wants to destroy L, Quillish Wammy, and the orphanage. Because Lee is so detached from her past, at first she lets the culprit just use her old identity. It's not her anymore, anyway, so why bother her about it? It's only when the culprit starts murdering people and throws her current identity under the bus that she starts sweating. There's a criminal investigation underway and she's their only suspect.

Near and his team know she's not behind any of this; they're really the only ones who know for sure because of his ties to Wammy's (it's kind of a reverse L and Light situation where he's sure it's not her but everyone else is out to get her lol). However, she can definitely help point them in the direction of the person who's behind it all.

The problem is Lee's animosity towards the L program extend to Near, who is the only L she really knows considering the real L died a few months after she arrived at the orphanage. Near tries to bring her on board for the case since she's the best lead they could possibly ask for, but because of her distaste towards L and the orphanage, she refuses to join at first. The culprit going one step further and framing her for murder is what pushes her to finally go with Near and his team because her life has fallen apart and the police are coming to get her.

She really doesn't wanna help L and joins mostly for self preservation. She kinda gets a kick out of the fact that she has information the world's greatest detective can't get from anyone else. It's childish of her, but what's Death Note without a bit of childishness.

Also, to answer your other question, she's not a Death Note user. I certainly intended for her to be back then (hence the art I made for her where she has the notebook) but the story I came up with has undergone dramatic changes since. She still very much works with pen and paper, just not in that way anymore lol

That's most of the basic information about her and her role in the story I may or may not ever write. I honestly have the broad strokes mapped out already, including the ending.

Spoilers (for a story that only exists in my head lol), Near has Wammy's House demolished and has a new institution built for the kids. The successor program is dissolved and he has Lee head the art department since she was already an art teacher before everything happened.

Thanks so much for asking about her 🙏

[wa-royal-tea]

Previous | Beginning | Next

(Transcript under the cut - Click Pics for HQ Version!)

@thebrixtons​​

Ophelia Orphanage, Brindleton (12:45pm)

*sounds of children screaming and laughing in the background*

Jordyn: Princess! Princess! Look what I made for you!

Catalina: A drawing? For me? Thank you! That’s so sweet of you~

Director Gilbert: It is an honour to have you and the Crown Princess here, your highness. I’m sorry if the preparations aren’t as adequate.

Alfie: Nonsense! You have done more than enough to welcome us here.

Director Gilbert: It was nothing, sir. I’m just glad to see that the Princess seemed to enjoy playing with the children here.

Alfie: The children are lovely. It’s good to see that they’re being well taken care of. They already had to go through so much at such a young age.

Director Gilbert: We try our best. It’s all thanks to the donation that the Princess has given to us that the children get to live comfortably.

Alfie: Lina has always been fond of children. I’m happy that the donation she made has helped you all.

Director Gilbert: Indeed it has. The children love her for it.

Director Gilbert: She would be a great mother one day. Your future children will be lucky.

Alfie: Yes, they will.

Magnolia House, Holan (10:28pm)

Alfie (to the phone): I don’t think she minds if it’s not something grand. She’s not the type to like stuff like that.

*door opens and closes*

Alfie: Yeah, at home is probably the best. I did the same thing for Lina too. Because I knew that if I were to do it publicly, she’s going to reject me.

Catalina *thinking*: Who is he talking to?

Alfie: *laughs* Okay, good luck. I’m looking forward to the good news. Mhm, bye-bye.

Catalina: Why is my name mentioned in the call?

Alfie: It’s Rainier. He was asking about how I proposed to you.

Catalina: *gasps* Wait, what? Don’t tell me...

Alfie: Yeap. He’s proposing to Ginny soon.

Catalina: Oh my god! That’s great! Another wedding!

Alfie: It’s been a while since the last wedding in our family. It’s about time for another one.

Catalina: Time flies so fast. I can’t believe ours was two years ago. I still feel like it was yesterday.

Alfie: Mhm. Two years of just you and me.

Catalina: Alfie.

Alfie: Yes, sayang?

Catalina: I really enjoyed my time at the orphanage today. The kids were so adorable.

Alfie: I can see that. They really love you.

Catalina: Do you think...we should start trying, seriously, this time?

Alfie: For a baby?

Catalina: No, Alfie. A cat. Of course I’m talking about trying for a baby, dummy.

Alfie: You want to have my babies? Really?

Catalina: I’m tempted to say something snarky but yes, I want to have babies with you. A mini us.

Alfie: *laughs* Are you sure about this?

Catalina: Yes. Very sure. Let’s make a baby.

Alfie: I thought you’d never ask.

[beardog]

It's halfway through the year! Got any favorite albums/books/tv shows/whatever to recommend?

i always freeze up like a deer in headlights any time anyone asks me something like this. i don't know if there's anything i can truly recommend exactly, but i can definitely tell you some of the things i've enjoyed lately

the third and final season of sound! euphonium is currently airing, and it has been so so good. there was a gap of nearly a decade since the previous season, and the improvement in quality (writing, animation, acting) has been astounding to see. episode 12 left me a sobbing wreck, and i'm not ready for the final episode next sunday :')

i feel late to the party on this one, but i just got into chappell roan lmao. been enjoying everything i've listened to

this is EXTREMELY late to the party, but i recently watched utena for the first time all the way through. it cut me open and made me SO unwell!! hoping to watch the movie soon

right now i'm catching up w an anime called girls band cry and that's been a ton of fun. all of their songs slap, too

she loves to cook and she loves to eat is a super wholesome and down to earth manga :)

a few months ago on a whim i watched both seasons of the demon girl next door and was pleasantly surprised. super cute and funny w a surprising amount of heart

i have been very sporadically watching episodes of buffy every once in a while. still on season one. it's very silly

lately been really enjoying listening to media club plus. i've never seen hunter x hunter, but i enjoy hearing keith, dre, jack, and sylvi talk about it while i do chores and stuff

i've been steadily gobbling up all of i'm in love with the villainess (novels, manga, spin-off novel series written in claire's perspective). it's not a perfect series, but rae and claire are so dear to me. i'm constantly rotating them in the microwave of my brain

wife and i went back to some childhood faves. her fave franchise growing up was digimon and she got me to watch the first three series, and this year we finished watching digimon frontier. and then not too long ago i got them to watch one of my beloved childhood anime shows kaleido star. it was cool to go back and analyze and interpret everything as gay

lastly, not a piece of media, but highly recommend: drawing for fun! basically like yesterday, i rediscovered that i actually really love drawing. no worrying if it's good or not - making stuff is fun!!

[honeymochibubbletea]

Aaaaand here’s part two of my previous post! Hurray!♡

(I am writing this at 10 pm, hahaha…)

10° “Beach Episode, Beach Episode, BEACH EPISODE”:

. . .Yeah, i wanna see Phantasmo with his chest exposed. . . So what?

And also Charlie and him making a “”friendly”” competition of volleyball… (i wanna see if he’s good at sports, lol)

11° “Gala ball EP”:

Yup, i just wanna see Charlie and Phantasmo dancing together. Also, fun fact about why it would be cool a Gala ball EP: many years ago, there was a event where (i believe) all the artists could draw their ocs going to a gala ball, and Jencil was among them. It would be a time travel to that time but this time Dr. Phantasmo would be in there! (By the way, Jencil, if you’re reading this, know all of this is just a suggestion/ideas for your webcomic, so, no pressure! :D) + bonus points if Charlie and Phantasmo dance together without knowing who’s dancing with who (like, a masquerade) or they know who they are dancing with and start a “hate tango” or something like that.

12° “Charlie’s going to find out about Phantasmo’s past… (somehow)”:

I’m actually curious for this one because: how would Charlie react upon discovering her arch nemesis past? Would she ask if Phantasmo remembers anything? How would HE react at her discovering something so personal about him? And also, how would she discover it? (If this never happens in the comic, i’ll ask Jencil and Fluff if i can write a Fanfic about this)

13° “EP on how Charlie and Phantasmo met each other”:

+ Bonus points if we hear (alongside with Cortney) them telling their own version of their first encounter: i have both a theory AND a fanfic idea, hear me out: do y’all see this picture? (That is actually a gif but i saved it as a picture, pardon me)

It was made by Fluffpillow. And do you know what’s funny? Charlie here, is looking scared of Phantasmo… now, you wouldn’t think she would be scared of him if she knew him, right? That’s why, hear me out, that i think this gif is when they met each other for the first time!

14° “there is going to have an EP where Charlie and Phanta will get stuck together and they’ll both vent their feelings”

I imagine this happening after the 13° one: i still am thinking where and how would they get stuck together. But, i already have an idea of how they would vent their feelings: Charlie would start the conversation after the events of her discovery of Phanta’s past. . . And the rest i will reveal later, because i’m feeling a little evil right now AND because it’s going to be midnight and i still have a lot to unpack here, hehehe~

15° “Christmas EP where Carter accidentally invited Phantasmo and now Charlie will have to be nice with him”:

I dunno about you guys but…, i can perfectly see Carter accidentally inviting Phantasmo and then being way too scared of being rude to “uninvite” (is that a word…?) him. So, he (Carter) tells Charlie to behave herself and be nice towards him (Phantasmo) until Christmas is over and Phantasmo would be no longer inside their house… (things sure do happen)

16° “Charlie and Carter will help Phanta fix/clean his mansion”:

Hehehehe~ i already imagine Phantasmo taking advantage of that kindness, that’s all i’m going to say hehehehe~

17° “Halloween EP where Viola (phanta’s daughter) will go trick or treating with Cortney… and things sure DO happen…”:

I dunno about you guys but… i actually would think it would be kind of sweet to see child Viola happy🥹 and also Charlie would be reminded of why she should fear Phantasmo… :) (if you saw the body transplant video Fluff made… you know what i am talking about…) i’ll probably create ANOTHER post just to focus better on this. And oh, this would probably happen after the 14° one… take that information as you will. ;)

18° “Valentine’s Day Episode, Valentine’s Day Episode, VALENTINE’S DAY EP-“:

. . . . .*takes a big breath* I THINK THEY SHOULD KISS-

19° “hopefully it will explain why Phantasmo’s hands were detached from his forearms”:

I am just really intrigued by this, that’s all.

And that’s all folks! See you all on my next post!

[dndiguess-blog]

2024年7月19日 — Just starting out (again); What do I have to work with?

As someone who's been trying to learn japanese on and off for over a decade it's always a challenge to come back to it, especially after a longer break. This is the position I find myself in currently since I haven't seriously tried improving my skills or immersed myself for a few years now.

Granted, I never quite got to the point where I could naturally immerse myself in japanese on any level even when I was actively practicing, but I knew a lot of basics. When I decided a couple weeks ago to see just how rusty I had gotten it was clear that I needed a good repeat of nearly everything before I could even think about progressing. I'm sure many others that habitually cycle through different hobbies can relate to how frustrating and sad it can be to have to relearn concepts and skills that were no match to your previous self. I also have the bad habit of letting go of things when I don't feel that I progress "fast enough" (I am in no rush, this is purely a standard that arbitrarily set for myself) which adds another layer of difficulty whenever I have to start over with the basics again.

Because of these reasons I've really tried to take the time I need and make sure that I absorb everything before moving on to something else. I've honestly had a lot of fun relearning even the most surface level concepts, and I think this sort of repetition that I've been required to do be able to progress is something that I really lacked when I've been trying to learn previously. Granted, letting go of the language completely for 2+ years isn't necessary. But I think going forward that I will make a bigger effort to backtrack whenever I feel a little unsure of something and repeat concepts until every part of it feels solid.

—

Hiragana & Katakana (sort of)

So far a lot of my time has gone toward practicing hiragana until I'm completely confident in my reading abilities again. Something new that I've done this time, embarassing as it is to admit, is to go through every character's stroke order and learn them that way. Previously I haven't given stroke order much thought. This is mostly because I don't even write that much by hand in swedish/english so it didn't seem that important to me at the time (I know, I know...). Another reason is that I am left-handed. I haven't seen this ever be discussed that much so I don't know if this is just something I struggle with, but I find the correct stroke order to be difficult to write with using my dominant hand. But yes, this time I've made an effort to actually learn the characters the right way! I must admit that I still find it to be a clumsy way to write left-handed (and sometimes I still cheat, forgive me) but I must admit that practicing hiragana (more recently kanji) as steps that must be done in a specific order rather than just little pictures to memorize (I did practice writing them previously as well of course, I just kind of improvised the way I did it) has made the characters stick way quicker than they did previously.

A video that really helped me with stroke order, and generally making my hiragana look nicer and less "fonty" is this one by the channel ToKini Andy! It's a nice, long video of him and his (native japanese) wife going through each of the hiragana where he first draws the character and then she corrects any mistake he makes (which I think are very common mistakes to make, I related to many of them) and shows how she draws the same character. From what I gathered she is a calligrapher, so her handwriting might be a bit fancier than the average japanese person, but I still think it's a very good video. Andy himself stated that he has been writing hiragana for 12+ years, so regardless of where you are in your journey I would recommend checking it out!

Before moving on I'd like to quickly mention katakana: I haven't practiced katakana nearly as much as hiragana. This isn't because I don't think katakana are important, but not as immidiately mandatory as hiragana. While hiragana are necessary to know for every other step of learning japanese; katakana is something I can practice slowly over time, either actively or passively. The app I've been using to practice kanji also lets you practice katakana, so I've gone over them a few times on there (practicing stroke order as well, bonus), especially the ones I'm less confident in, and I will probably do this every now and again to make them stick.

—

Currently I have made way more progress than just hiragana, but this entry ended up being very long so I won't detail every single thing I've crossed off my list. Instead I'm going to list off the resources I've been using, and also what I think the next steps on my journey are going to be!

My resources

My physical resources at this moment is my (very old) Genki 1 text book, a very cheap grid notebook, and my Goodnotes 5 app (I'm going to have another section with the apps I use, but it felt better to group goodnotes with the rest of my notetaking things? Even though it isn't a physical resource... Oh, well). The cheap notebook is just for writing practice. I don't like combining my nice looking notes with my practice scribbles so I need a pressure free space to just scrawl as much as I want. I use goodnotes to make more put together notes where I go over concepts and write down anything I learn in detail for future reference. I didn't get the app for this purpose, I've had it for a long time and used it for all sorts of studies and hobbies. I'm not using any particular template for this purpose either, I've been using the normal grid template.

App-wise I started a bit with duolingo, mostly when I was practicing hiragana. I got annoyed at basically everything with the app very quickly though (surprise!) and decided to look for something else. At the moment this is what I have downloaded:

HeyJapan – This app is in the "duolingo-category" of language apps but it's just for japanese. It's a little janky but I like it way more than duolingo. I haven't used it as much as the other apps though, mostly because I've been using my Genki-textbook to structure my learning and it felt confusing to have two different sources at the same time.

Ringotan – This is the app I've been using to practice kanji! I've actually loved it. First you pick a source to base your lessons on (you don't have to own any of the sources to use this app, this is mainly so that if you own a textbook you can practice kanji as they appear in the chapters you're studying); I chose Genki. Then you get lessons with groups of kanji based on the source you picked! The lessons consist of drawing the character using the correct stroke order with less and less guides as you progress. There's also a "Custom Review" option where you can freely pick which kanji you want to practice. This app has been great for me in particular. Since I've decided to repeat everything from the beginning (down to the concept of XはYです) I've actually used the app to study ahead in the textbook. This keeps me from getting bored while going over and reminding myself of simple concepts, and also means that I already know the kanji when I get to a new chapter in the book.

Shirabe Jisho – A dictionary. This is just the first dictionary I found when looking for recommendations, and it's been great for me so I haven't tried any other. You can search by english, romaji, hiragana and kanji. When looking at words you get direct links to the different kanji in the word, their stroke order and ON/kun-readings. Just a great dictionary!

Time to finish off this beast of a journal entry with my steps going forward. As it stands currently I have two main goals: 1. Relearn verb-grammar 2. Methodically work through the entire Genki textbook. When I last stopped actively practicing my japanese I had a pretty good grasp of the different groups of verbs and how to conjugate them. Grammar-wise I feel like that's the next big step to allow me to write more in japanese. As for the Genki textbook; I've owned this book for a long time, and I've probably read through most of it at least once. But I haven't actually ever used it in an effective way, mostly because I'm not the greatest at organizing my studies. Because of this I've made a section of my japanese notebook in goodnotes an index/checklist of the different chapters and their contents. As I'm studying a chapter I'll write down any important concepts, notes and examples in goodnotes. I'll also practice any concepts I feel shaky on, and when I feel good about a section I can cross it off the checklist. This lets me see exactly what I need to do next, and will give me a good backlog of detailed notes to look back on whenever I need to remind myself.

Hopefully this method will stick, and otherwise I'll just have to adjust it and find a way to make it work for me. But other than that I have nothing to add so:

さようなら！

[fighting-and-drawing]

15 Questions for 15 Mutuals

Thank you, @the12thnightproject, for tagging me in this post. Always great to get to know mutuals a bit more. 1. Were you named after anyone?

Nah, fam. But, there were apparently “talks” of naming me after Zinedine Zidane. Cool name, but thankfully they chose something else.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Maybe a month ago after watching a Disney Movie. I forgot which one though but sometimes they hit hard when you least suspect it.

3. Do you have kids?

No.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Sarcasm? Pfft. Never...nah...yes.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their overall build, physique, and face. I’m not too good with names, but I am a faces person.

6. What’s your eye color?

Boring Brown.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy Endings, but I do enjoy a good scary movie or story.

8. Any special talents?

Yep. The “fighting” part of my username isn’t too far off. I practiced and still train in various different martial arts, including Shito-Ryu Karate, WT Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Japanese Jujutsu, Filipino Eskrima and Dirty Boxing, Judo, and, most notably, Capoeira. While I don’t train to fight in a ring or cage, I feel like I could put up a fight should I need to. 

9. Where were you born?

Approximately somewhere in North America. I’ll give you a hint—it’s not Canada.

10. What are your hobbies?

Other than training martial arts, I both draw and write. Am I any good at them? That’s for you and the audience to decide.

11. Have any pets?

Just a stubborn pup who once stole an entire stick of butter, buried it, returned to it, and ate it.

12. What sports do you/have played?

I played soccer when I was in Elementary school and played Percussion in Marching Band for 6 years. And then I started training martial arts I referred to in Question 8.

13. How tall are you?

Approximately one Riddle Rosehearts tall.

14. Favorite subject at school?

Microbiology, which is also coincidentally my major. Often we overlook the omnipresent microbes that can affect our daily lives. And, even when we study them, a majority of people are only fascinated by the extremely deadly stuff (typhoid, cholera, botulism, etc.) whereas our normal human microbiome can affect our way of living just as significantly.

15. Dream job?

No idea.

Okay, 15 tags for 15 mutuals...

As always said in previous posts from others, don’t feel pressured to answer these. That being said, feel free to tag yourselves in. I don’t have a lot of mutuals (and a few of mine already were tagged). 

Okay, let’s see...

@ikemen-writer @lovely-bubb1es @silvioscape @0-n-1-c-h-4-n 

....and about 11 more who wanna play. Thanks for reading.

[littleperilstories]

The Prince of Thieves: The Diamond in the Rough

Mood Boards | Chapter Titles | Also on A03! | Playlist | Story Intro

Warnings: Jail, terminal illness

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Word count: 2900 || Approx reading time: 12 mins

The Diamond in the Rough

Teaser: His mother was going to kill him. He could already hear the tirade that was certainly coming his way. “How could you, Jamie? How could you resort to stealing? We’re not those kind of people. What kind of example are you setting for your brother?”

Jamie, 7 years ago

This was bad.

This was really, really bad.

Jamie glanced around at the holding cell. There weren’t many people in it, but they all looked menacing. All of them were bigger than he was.

He found a spot against the wall, as far as he could manage from the others. Who knew why they’d been arrested? Maybe they’d been caught stealing, like him. Or maybe they’d gone and killed someone. How was he to know? They wouldn’t really put him in with the murderers, would they? They’d just busted him picking pockets outside the opera house, nothing harmful, not hurting anyone. They wouldn’t, right?

Within a few minutes, one of the men got called out—someone had vouched for his innocence, he was free to go, take care not to get mixed up in a bar fight in the future, because he was damned lucky, wasn’t he, and maybe next time fortune wouldn’t smile quite so sweetly on him, hmm?

The man smirked at Jamie and his cell mates before he stepped out to freedom and vanished.

“Fucker,” one of the others muttered. “Everyone knows it's always him that starts shit. Gets away with it every time.”

Lucky bastard, Jamie thought. He could have used some of that luck right about then.

His mother was going to kill him.

He could already hear the tirade that was certainly coming his way. How could you, Jamie? How could you resort to stealing? We’re not those kind of people. What kind of example are you setting for your brother?

A little brother who was almost certainly getting up to far worse things—well, perhaps not quite as bad as being arrested, but almost—when no one was around to tell him not to.

Whether or not he got to enjoy this red-hot scolding from his mother depended on two things: one, whether the constables let him off with a warning, and two, whether Ma actually had the energy to lay into him once he was back home.

What would your dad say if he were alive to see this? That one would sting the most.

Perhaps she’d glance around, see if Will was nearby, and remind him with a tremor in her voice, I won’t be around much longer, Jamie. It’ll be up to you to take care of Will. And you can’t do that from jail.

God, maybe it was just best for him to crack his head against the wall and knock himself out, because nothing was going to stem the flow of thoughts anytime soon.

“Kid, will you cut it out?” The older man growled in annoyance, and Jamie realized he was bouncing the foot of his tented leg frantically up and down. The stale air in this place and the worry in his gut was turning him into Will, a tornado of a fourteen-year-old who could never sit still.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, stretching his legs out in front of him and sitting on his hands. Don’t move, don’t draw attention, and maybe this will all be over soon.

The old fellow was next to get called out, but his news was less heartening.

“Sorry, Alfred,” one of the constables said, tugging him out of the cell. “Gonna be here a while, I’d say.”

“What the hell for, huh?”

“You broke Constable Bulwell’s nose, you jackass! What do you think it’s for?”

Jamie listened as the conversation drifted further down the corridor, his heart thundering in his chest. Was he going to be next? What more was there for him to do? They’d already taken his name and statement, and the statement of the asshole lawyer who’d caught him. What, exactly, was the penalty for first-time pickpockets?

Well, he thought wryly, first time getting caught as a pickpocket.

He didn’t notice the tall man—who’d been sitting still as a mountain and silent as a ghost in the corner—get up until he was at the door.

What the hell?

The man was younger, Jamie realized now that he was closer, than he had looked from afar. With his head tilted to the side and his shoulders hunched slightly forward, he slid something slim into the lock.

Holy shit, Jamie thought. He’s trying to open the door.

It appeared to be slow, painful going—finicky work with more than one false victory. Jamie watched sweat bead on the man’s brow as he worked silently, uttering not a single word or even a grunt of frustration with each failure.

By the time the lock released the satisfying click that said, I’m open, Jamie was sweating, too.

The man hesitated, or perhaps rested, before he even attempted to open the door. His dark eyes swept up and down the hall, checking for any constables on patrol.

He’s actually going to try. Jamie couldn’t disguise his awe. He’s going to run.

Only the distant noises of voices, footsteps, and jangling keys broke the quiet, and after a few minutes of breathless stillness, the man creaked open the door.

As he slipped into the corridor, he paused, his eyes fixed on Jamie, eyebrows raised as if to say, Well? You coming, or what?

“What? M…me?”

Immediately, Jamie regretted opening his mouth and saying the words that came out. There was no one else left.

The man sighed. Jamie scrambled to his feet.

It was rather unnerving, how light the man’s footsteps were, and how well he seemed to know his way around the snaking corridors.

Without warning, he flung out his arm, grabbed Jamie, and yanked him back around the corner they’d just come from.

Jamie held his breath, his heart hammering again. Or was that the heart of this stranger, the man who was setting him free from jail despite not knowing a single thing about him? The warmth from his body curled around them both, comforting and terrifying at once.

Someone scurried by, carrying on straight, and the man tugged him onward again.

They emerged into glaring sunlight. Jamie blinked the brightness from his eyes, relishing the sting.

“Why’d you let me out?” He had to ask now, because he could tell, he felt certain of it, the man was poised to run and disappear, and if he didn’t ask now, surely he would never find out.

“You looked pretty pathetic.” The man tilted his head to the side, looking at Jamie as if sizing him up for a fight. But he stood relaxed, every sizeable muscle at ease, apparently unperturbed that they had just given the constabulary the slip.

“I’ve never been…caught before.” Jamie bit down on his tongue. Why was he still talking?

The man jerked his head as if to say, Follow, and began to hurry away. Jamie forced his feet to move before the tall figure vanished into the city’s winding streets.

Shudders coursed through his body as he contemplated just how lucky he was that they’d stuck him in the little jail, the one that was really only meant for holding freshly-caught thieves and brawlers before letting them go or shipping them off to the real prison at the edge of town. This man might have been good at picking locks, but could he have picked his way out of there?

He stopped dead when he realized the man was about to lead him into what looked very much like a tavern—a seedy one, at that.

The man raised his eyebrows again, saying nothing, but Jamie could read the expression clear as day regardless: What, you think you’re too good for this place?

Gulping and hoping no one would notice how nervous he was, Jamie followed him inside.

Someone called a greeting across the tavern floor. “Geoff! He made it out, boys! Yet again!” The man—Geoff—raised his hand in silent acknowledgement, the smallest of smiles on his lips.

Jamie wondered what kind of strange, upside-down world he had wandered into.

The air was thick, damp and smoky at once, rife with laughter and the guttural shouts of drunken men. Jamie’s neck prickled with the sense that he was being looked at, that the men around him could sense that he didn’t belong there, didn’t truly want to be there, had only set foot inside a tavern a handful of times before, and only when he was looking for work.

“Stop gawking,” Geoff said, pulling out a chair from an empty table and then swinging around to the other side to sit down. “No wonder you got busted.”

Jamie chose to be glad that he’d somehow managed to pull a whole seven words at a time from Geoff, the longest string so far, instead of focusing on the insult that hid within them. “Sorry.”

 “Stop saying sorry.”

Jamie got the feeling he was supposed to sit in silence as Geoff was clearly intending to do, but he couldn’t stop his nervous tongue from moving. “I, uh, I get why you let me escape with you and I’d like to thank you, but I don’t have any—”

“It’s fine.” With only the tiniest dismissive wave, Geoff reached down, tugged off his boot, and pulled a few coins from inside it.

“Disgusting,” Jamie said before he could stop himself, “yet impressive.”

Geoff’s mouth twitched. “Them blue-coated jackasses got all yours?”

Nodding, Jamie admitted, a little embarrassed, that they had.

Without another word, Geoff stood up and sidled through the crowded room to flag down the barman, and it wasn’t until he was already halfway back that Jamie even considered that he had no idea what he was about to drink. Or eat. Or which of those things he was about to be doing.

“Some advice.” Geoff sat down, and his long limbs straddled the line of comically crushed into a space that was too small for him and artfully curled around him like the bastardization of an old painting. Jamie could feel one of Geoff’s legs stretched out under the table, brushing against his own. “Get better.”

Jamie blinked. “At what?”

Holding up one finger, Geoff said, “Picking pockets. Don’t get busted.” He put up a second. “That face.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anyone knows you’re green, looking at your face.” Geoff crossed his arms. Jamie felt his face heating up as he dark stare across the table burned into him. “Easy target.”

“I—”

“Gonna get your ass kicked.”

Well. What was there to say to that? “You think I couldn’t handle myself in a fight?”

It was only as he finished speaking that Jamie realized he was biting his lip and twisting his hands in his lap.

He started to laugh, and to his surprise, Geoff did, too.

“Constables gonna have your name forever now,” Geoff warned as some pungent and disgusting-looking drink was delivered to their table. “You lie about it?” Jamie shook his head, and Geoff shrugged. “Be extra careful for a while. And don’t go back to wherever you got busted today.”

I don’t need your help, seemed like something Jamie was supposed to say in this situation, but it wasn’t true, was it?

“Why are you helping me?” he asked instead, unable to keep suspicion from leaking into his voice.

Geoff shrugged. “Told you. Looked too pathetic.”

In spite of everything, Jamie found himself laughing again.

So… Am I ever going to see you again?

He’d been embarrassed the moment the words slipped out, of course. The words still repeated in his mind, like a musician practicing their scales until they were perfect, except instead of getting less embarrassed, Jamie found himself getting hotter and more annoyed. Why did I say that?

Geoff had just looked at him and said, “Dunno. You want to?”

And then he’d fucking walked away.

When he got home, Jamie still hadn’t shaken the feeling that he’d fallen into someone else’s life for a few hours—and that he wasn’t sure which life he preferred.

“I’m home!” It wasn’t necessary to shout—the place was small enough that scuttling mice and fluttering moths could be heard from anywhere in the apartment. If the neighbours weren’t making too much noise, anyway.

“Jamie. Shut the fuck up.”

Will was curled on the floor with the dogs. The apartment was too small to keep them, but Will had threatened to run away if Jamie and their mother even thought about setting them loose or giving them away. He glared up at his older brother.

“Excuse me?”

This, this was how Jamie knew Will wasn’t going to school most days. Doubtless, the other children threw around foul language, but Will used it a little too liberally to just be hearing it occasionally on the way to and from the schoolhouse.

“Ma’s sleeping. You’re gonna wake her.”

Jamie only just managed to hide his sigh of relief—if she were awake, she’d take one look at his face and know something had happened while he was out—before glancing out the tiny window framed by a flimsy lace curtain and warped from the long years. The sun was only just setting now. It was difficult to believe everything from today—getting grabbed by that lawyer, being taken away by the constables, and inexplicably ending up drinking in a tavern with a very tall stranger who was also a piss-poor conversationalist—had somehow fit into only a few hours.

When he looked back at Will, who had shifted onto his back and wrestled his pup onto his chest for a cuddle, there was new suspicion in his brother's face.

“Did you get punched?”

“What? No.” Jamie almost pressed a hand to his face, but he caught himself at the last moment. He’d nearly forgotten how pissed off that lawyer had been.

“Looks like you got punched. You get into a fight?” Will’s eyes lit up, and he sat upright quite suddenly, still clutching the dog. “Did you join a gang? Can I join?”

“Will!” Jamie realized he was speaking too loudly, almost shouting, and glanced nervously at the sleeping figure in the corner of the room. “Don’t be a moron. Of course I didn’t join a gang.”

Will sighed and laid back down. Unimpressed with the constant jostling, the dog leapt off his chest and scurried away, eliciting a breathy grunt and then a laugh. “You’re so boring.”

“And you’re,” Jamie said, “going to be in big shit if I find out you weren’t at school today.”

“How come you’re allowed to swear but I’m not?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I was.”

“What did you learn about?”

Will groaned and rolled himself onto his stomach, immediately caught. “Jamie, school is pointless. I should be looking for a job. Like you.”

Jamie’s stomach contracted at the thought. It was lucky in some regards that jobs were scarce. He wasn’t sure what made him more nervous—the thought of Will hurting himself in one of the factories in town, one of the places who might actually hire him, or Will getting his ass handed to him because some foreman didn’t like his attitude. “When you’re older.”

He didn’t dare ask where Will had gone while he wasn’t in the schoolhouse.

“I could help with the money,” Will said, his voice a little smaller than it had been a few moments before.

“William Wardrew,” said a gentle voice from the corner, “no one in their right mind would trust you with their money.”

Jamie stifled a laugh as their mother rose slowly from her prone position and propped herself up against the headboard.

“That’s not very nice!” Jamie tensed when Will got to his feet and hurtled across the room to the bed, but he needn’t have worried. His brother curbed his gait just in time, and when he perched on the end of the bed, the movement was soft. “I thought if you didn’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all.”

“Ooh. It can be taught,” Jamie teased, and Will made a face.

“Watch out, big brother, or I’ll be the one punching you in the face.”

“Will!” Even though the movement obviously taxed her, Ma didn’t hold back in landing a none-too-gentle smack against the back of his head. “Apologize. You’re not the kind of boy who says things like that.”

Her words were for Will, but she shot Jamie a look that said, And you’re not the kind of boy who gets into fights, so you and I are going to have a conversation once your brother is asleep.

Jamie once again fought the urge to rub the sore spot on his jaw. Will’s eternal distractibility—he was already twittering away about something else—had saved him this time, but Ma would ask questions. And Jamie couldn’t tell her the truth.

Neither of them could know.

Crossing the room and mentally taking note of the dishes Will had conveniently forgotten to collect before he washed up, Jamie smiled and joined his family, settling on the floor next to the bed. Will wouldn’t be in bed for hours yet, which meant he had time to come up with a story. A story that made sure neither his mother nor his brother ever knew he’d been to jail, met a handsome stranger there, and made it back out again.

As he listened to his mother and brother chattering away, Jamie couldn’t help but feel like he’d been caught in more ways than one.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Tagging: @starlit-hopes-and-dreams, @gala1981, @kixngiggles .

[Banner ID: A narrow horizontal, rectangular banner featuring a barred archway. The bars and the stone walls evoke the feeling of a dungeon or prison. There are burning candles on either side of the archway. The title of the story, The Prince of Thieves, appears in white text in the centre of the image. The author's username, abbreviated to LPS from littleperilstories, appears in the bottom right corner in partially transparent text. End ID.]

[fazar234]

To Crack an Egg - Chapter 1 - Prologue (A Sonic the Hedgehog IDW Fanfic)

When you crack an egg, you end up with two halves of one.

When you try to crack an Eggman, you end up with a Restoration divided into two: one group who draws the line at taking a life...

And the other who just wants Eggman dead.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Fazar try not to spend a long break after uploading one fic challange (impossible) (gone wrong)

Jokes aside, I know it's been a while. With Amphibia having ended a year ago, and me not having a lot of ideas, I pretty much procrastinated for the past year. So I decided, why not try my hand at Sonic fanfiction? It's one of my favorite franchises, and the comics I absolutely ADORE. Now, this is an AU that kinda happened by accident, after I saw a theory by @thebwarch about how Lanolin might go too far with trying to kill Eggman. While that obviously has no chance of happening, I thought it'd make for a good AU, and then it somehow kinda spiraled into an AU about an extremist group working in secret to kill Eggman for good. And thus, this fic was born. I have @scrabbleknight to thank for helping me out with the fic on Discord. Go check out his stuff if you're into Amphibia! Anyway, without further ado, let the fic COMMENCE!

Lanolin sipped what might have been her third cup of coffee as she worked tirelessly at her desk.

It had been months since the Metal Virus outbreak, an incident that had nearly destroyed her home, friends, family, the entire world. Seeing so many people succumb to the disease, transforming into mindless, feral monsters with no desire other than to spread their infection across the world…it left a mental scar that had yet to fully heal.

She still had nightmares about the outbreak. How it ravaged the entire world, how it took away her beloved friends and family, how even she fell victim to the virus itself. She had joined the Restoration to assist in the battle against the pandemic, a battle they’d almost lost. They were able to recover, but she feared they wouldn’t be so lucky next time something like this happened.

Hence why she was staying up late at 12 AM, sitting at her computer and browsing through old files she had discovered at one of Eggman’s abandoned bases, each one documenting information on one of the doctor’s previous schemes, their execution, and their inevitable failure thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog, even though she was supposed to be up early tomorrow for a meeting with Tangle, Whisper, Jewel and Sonic about how they’d infiltrate Eggperial City. She had to find some sort of connection, anything, that could give the Restoration an idea on how to be ready for what other plans he most likely had involving his new metropolis.

Speaking of which…

“Dear Gaia,” Lanolin muttered. “I thought the Metal Virus was extreme, but this comes close in comparison…”

Reading the files, she was shaken by the Doctor’s past attempts: using Chaos to destroy Station Square, blowing up the moon, resurrecting Dark Gaia, enslaving hundreds of Wisps for his own selfish intentions, using the Phantom Ruby to conquer the world?!

Just how many incidents had that man caused? How many people had fallen victims to the Doctor’s diabolical schemes? And how many more attacks like that could they afford to take?

As she finished scrolling through the last file on her computer, however, she began to notice an odd pattern.

Whenever one of Eggman’s plans failed, he was always somehow able to escape, before eventually retaliating with another one that was sometimes worse than the last.

But how? Lanolin thought. Sonic’s the fastest thing alive. There’s no way Eggman, or anyone for that matter, can outrun him. Sonic should have gotten rid of him years ago. Yet he’s still kicking.

Lanolin was frustrated. It didn’t make any sense! The only possible explanation for why Eggman was always able to get away with his actions would be…

…that Sonic was letting him go on purpose.

Lanolin froze. As her mind started to finally put the pieces together, she began to remember what had happened during the doctor’s attack on Spiral Hill Village…

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“NO, NO, NO!!!” Dr. Eggman roared. “I had them! I won!”

Sonic, ignoring his outburst, leapt off the mech and repeatedly spin-dashed into the center with an incredible velocity, before getting behind Omega, the robot being used to power the colossal suit.

“Out…you…GO!” Sonic grunted as he pried Omega free from the mech, his eyes flashing a bright red as he fell to the ground.

“UNLEASHING STOCKPILED WRATH!” Omega exclaimed as he turned around and opened fire on the suit, causing it to explode, but not before Eggman ejected his Egg Mobile, saving his own skin in the process.

Lanolin had taken refuge behind a building as she watched the scene unfold. Her mind was still whirling from the chaos of the Metal Virus outbreak, but that didn’t stop her from recalling the events that occurred the past several minutes:

Sonic’s friends were having a party at Spiral Hill Village to celebrate the end of the Metal Virus.

Dr. Eggman had arrived to crash their party, bearing a mech suit with Omega as its power source, because apparently fate wouldn’t let them have a break.

And finally, just when all seemed lost, Sonic, by some miracle, had returned, in a burst of flame that crashed onto the battlefield, to save the day.

And now, Dr. Eggman’s mech met the same fate as his other inventions: being reduced to a heap of scrap.

“AMMO DEPLETED,” Omega stated, wobbling a bit. Poor guy must have been tuckered out from what he went through.

“S’all good, man,” Sonic assured him. “You did your part.”

“DO NOT PATRONIZE ME.”

Eggman growled. “You just couldn’t stay gone, could you?! Just had to come back and ruin my fun!”

“Always, Egg-Face. Anytime. Anywhere,” Sonic replied coolly, walking towards him. He got into a battle stance. “Come a little closer. We’ll go another round.”

Eggman’s expression twisted from anger into fear, clearly not ready to handle another defeat from Sonic. “Still sore about that whole ‘getting infected and nearly becoming a mindless machine’ thing, eh?” He chuckled nervously.

Sonic crossed his arms, clearly not happy to remember that. “That’s part of the list, yes.”

Eggman humphed, before crossing his arms, turning his cockpit around, and leaving the party, or what remained of it anyway. “Well… I still ruined your party! The day is mine!” He declared. “My next sinister plot will be unbeatable! Until next time, you wretched hedgehog!”

Sonic sighed as he watched the Doctor make his exit. “Until next time, doc. And the time after that, and the one after that,” He muttered. “Maybe you’ll eventually come around…”

As Sonic’s friends rushed to greet him, elated that he was alive, Lanolin remained where she hid, trying to process the fact that Sonic had let Dr. Eggman, the one responsible for so much suffering, live as though he’d done nothing wrong.

Sonic had let Dr. Eggman live, even when he promised his next scheme would be unbeatable, which worried her.

Sonic had let Dr. Eggman live, and she didn’t understand why.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Lanolin’s fists clenched. It all made sense now. She finally understood.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

He was the reason why she and everyone else constantly suffered in this endless cycle.

All because he valued freedom and mercy for everyone, even those undeserving of it.

Well, no more.

Since she could no longer count on Sonic to stop the Eggman Empire for good, she’d just have to take it into her own hands.

No matter what.

[partnersincrimesuau]

Another Few Updates ☆ﾟ･:*:･｡★

Yes I am aware it's Sunday. Yes I am aware I haven't posted Chapter 2 Page 43 yet. Yes I am aware my Information Centre says "Pages posted every Friday at 8pm Central Australian Time". Yes I am aware I haven't posted a page on a Friday since, like, January.

I'm getting off track LOL

UPDATE NUMBER ONE - Where's Page 43?

I have one week left of school before a two-week holidays, and I'm SWAMPED with homework for now. For clarity; I have three assignments due on Monday, two more I finished today, and one I finished last week. I hope this clears some things up... and explains why I'm so behind on Partners In Crime.

Page 43 IS finished, and IS ready to upload. However, I am still working on Page 48; and for those who don't know, I like to always be ten pages ahead of my posting page. Therefore I SHOULD be working on Page 53. Once the holidays start and my assignments are finished, I can catch up on these pages. Some of them shouldn't be as long as others so hopefully it won't take ages to finish them.

I plan on posting Page 43 next week. So sorry for the delays, I know there's been a few this chapter. I'm not doing this on purpose.

UPDATE NUMBER TWO - A brief solution

It's currently 12:03am as I'm writing this sentence and I'm about to jump into bed, so yes I won't be posting anything after this post tonight. HOWEVER! I've decided that tomorrow, instead of posting Page 43, I'll post some concept art!!! I feel like that'll be a good placeholder for now. There are plenty of concepts for earlier pages that I plan on posting, and I might throw some early drawings of Condor in as well!!! ^^

UPDATE NUMBER THREE - Maintenance

I finally went through every "infected" page and fixed the 'next' and 'previous' links. For anyone who didn't know, there were a ton of early Chapter 2 pages that were "infected" somehow, by something I can hardly begin to explain. The "Chapter Start" links, as well as the "FAQ" and Discord links were completely untouched. They worked fine. But EVERY SINGLE 'NEXT' OR 'PREVIOUS' LINK, FOR SOME REASON, JUMPED TO THE MOST RECENT PAGE!!! There were pages from December that sent you to the page I posted eight days ago - it made NO sense.

Thankfully, I've gone back and fixed every one of them. HOPEFULLY, it won't happen again. (If it persists, PLEASE tell me. Don't hesitate to comment saying "Jinxy this page has a disease, it's doing the link thing again" - that's actually really helpful. Shoutout to the readers who did tell me btw, you guys are legends!)

UPDATE NUMBER FOUR - IT'S THE BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR!!!

IT'S JULY!!! That means... NINETEEN DAYS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY!!! (It's on the 21st of July for those in other timezones, lolll). I'll probably be partying with my besties then so you won't find me online, but I'll probably do a little picture of myself like I did last year. Just thought I'd mention it here, haha.

Anyways I think that's about it... it's now 12:14am and I might go to bed. Or I might catch up on Miraculous Ladybug because I heard the finale for Season 5 is out...? We'll see ^^

Thanks for your patience everyone!!!! See you tomorrow ^^

[reasonableapproximation]

I killed a mouse a while back. Unpleasant details under cut.

I've had mice to deal with several times before. Once in a previous flat, I tried to do it myself with various snap traps and homemade bucket traps, all baited with peanut butter. The buckets were just cardboard boxes so they probably would have just chewed their way out unless I found them really quickly. But they never got caught in any of them and eventually they just left.

Then in this flat, a few years back. Ally and I put down snap traps that they didn't go for, then glue, and... I don't remember if it was still somehow getting past the glue, or if we got the landlord to call someone in and we just put down the glue while we were waiting, or what. But someone showed up, found a hole behind the sink and cemented it up. Put down a trap of his own (a black box with bait inside, not sure if poison or trap-trap or what, I think it's actually still there). But we didn't see it again, and he came back a couple of weeks later to check.

A few months ago we had another, possibly multiple. Again we put down glue and had someone come in, not necessarily in that order. He was useless the first time, but we got the landlord to send him back and I think he blocked something up and we were fine for a bit. (I wasn't in when he came this time.)

And then just after christmas I woke up to scratching, and turned the light on and waited, and yep, a mouse scrabbled out from next to the wardrobe under the door and out.

I didn't want to get the landlord to send someone again, because the landlord didn't know Ally had moved out. I had been their main support network, and they were now in a psychiatric hospital. (From what they've told me, they hadn't attempted suicide but had been thinking about it enough to check themselves in.) I thought it wouldn't be helpful for some to call them to try to arrange access to the flat. Also I was annoyed at the previous guy having to come twice and then getting another straight after.

So I ordered more glue traps. They arrived on 29/12 and I put them down. They were in the archway between the kitchen and the living room, where maybe there'd be no way for the mouse to get to most of the flat without going over them - I don't remember if previous attempts have backed that theory up. I put peanut butter on one, chocolate on another and cheese on the third.

I was sleeping with a rug blocking my door, so I wouldn't really know if it was getting past them or not. But the next morning I woke up and went to check.

I was scared to look. I don't remember that from before. We'd split up less than two weeks ago, I think I was still pretty fragile.

The design on them, under the glue, made me jump a bit. Like, I was so hyper-attuned to the possibility of seeing a mouse that when I saw a drawing of a mouse (or more likely, just any vague blob where I worried a mouse might be) I reacted to it. But there was no mouse.

Next day, new years eve, same thing, except there was a mouse. I screamed a bit. It had gone past the bait without touching it and then gotten trapped. It looked dead. I thought about calling someone but didn't know who - obviously not Ally, and the person who'd been my main emotional support lately didn't enjoy talking about killing mice.

I psyched myself up and went to step over it to get a binbag. It twitched when I got close. I screamed again. I crouched down to look a bit closer (still from a distance) and saw it blink. It also looked like it had vomited a bit, but I'd recently seen on wikipedia that mice don't vomit. Maybe that was some small hairs that had gotten pulled out?

I thought of another friend who's had to put down animals before. I messaged to explain what was going on and ask if she was up for a call. She was. She also said she hates glue traps, which like, okay but I probably wouldn't have brought that up at that precise moment. I explained that I don't like them either but nothing else worked and this at least would keep them out of the rest of the flat and she said fair enough.

(She also said they were about to be made illegal? I haven't heard anything along those lines. She's way more clued in to that kind of thing than I am, but she's not epistemically careful enough for me to take this kind of thing on her word. Idk.)

I was freaking out a bit, talking fast and hyperventilating, and she calmly helped talk through the options. I didn't want to hit it with a hammer because then I'd never use that hammer again and I didn't want mouse everywhere. I didn't want to use a knife, similar reason. We decided I'd put some cardboard down over it and step on it.

When I dropped the cardboard it started wiggling. Oh fuck. Deep breaths. I stepped. Through my headphones, I heard it crunch. Fuck fuck fuck.

She had me step a few more times to make sure, then walked me through grabbing a binbag and getting the whole thing into it without having to see it. She comforted me that it's natural to freak out, it means I'm not a psychopath.

I hadn't expected it to be so bad. I spent the rest of the day mildly traumatized. I was seeing family, which helped. I told my mum, dad and brother, but not my grandmother. They were sympathetic. We saw Wonka, it was fun. Then I went to the pub to hang out with people from reddit, mostly either strangers or people I hadn't seen in years. That was fun too, but packed enough that I went home before the new year.

I put down more glue traps and kept the rug blocking my door. The next day I was scared to look again, but no mouse.

I also ordered some steel wool that day. I had a guess that it was getting in where the person years ago had blocked up, where the cement looked a bit loose. I regretted not ordering it sooner, I don't know why I hadn't. I think partly I wasn't wild about rummaging around under the sink but like, what was my plan? Kill a mouse and leave it's way in open?

Anyway, it arrived a couple days later and I blocked up that hole and moved the rug. I was going to leave the glue traps there for a bit longer just in case, but around about now my bath started leaking into my kitchen (adjacent to it, not underneath). I didn't realize that was what was happening at the time, I thought I'd somehow just spilled a load of water, but in any case they were soaked and I didn't have any more.

I think for the next few days I was still nervous to look there when I got up in the morning.

I'm okay now. It was one of the least fun things I've ever done, but I don't think it was morally bad of me. Like, I could have done better, I should have got the steel wool sooner. And I spent 30 minutes freaking out while it was trapped, if I hadn't freaked out I could have killed it sooner which would have been better. But under the circumstances I wouldn't judge someone else for acting like I did, and I don't judge me either.

I think it would have been a lot more psychologically pleasant for me to go out and leave it trapped and wait for it to die. But I think that would have been morally worse, and I'm glad I didn't.

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #7:

Art Garfunkel's Watermark,

Special Melted Edition!

Good news, people. I traveled to Portland and hit one of their dollar bins last week, emerging victorious with 10 or so new-to-me titles for a grand total of $32, and all of them are candidates for future posts. Everyone's been clambering for my take on Art Garfunkel and Bob "whoops, I just shaved off my eyebrows" Geldof, right? Please?

We'll get to good old Artie Funk in a moment, I promise. I'm sure he has a huge international following who gather in silent support every time his entire limo gets arrested for way too much pot smoke, but all you Garfolks need to just take a chill pill for a minute because there's some bad news to follow my good news, the kind of bad news that will leave you crying in your beer. (Stop reading right now and go get some beer to cry in if it's not already in hand.)

Dear reader, I left those Portland Dollar Bin records in my rental car during my trip, figuring it was all good because, after all, I was in Portland. But when I visited my stack three days later, I found the following Gertrude-chugging-the-poisoned-wine level tragedy had occurred:

Take the rag away from your face friends; now's not the time for your tears. The record above is a $1 copy of a soundtrack by Luna's Dean Wareham for a Noah Baumbach movie I'd never even heard of beforehand called Mistress America starring Barbie's very own Greta Gerwig. Nice title, Noah! What's the sequel called, Senorita Canada?

I like Sideshow by the Seashore as much as the next guy and I still remember the bizarre but edgy decision to lay Street Hassle over the climax of The Squid and the Whale so I figured $1 was a very safe investment for the soundtrack. But reading just now that the Financial Times finds that a "neo-screwball" sequence in the movie "exemplifies the film's themes of love, art, and betrayal" makes me want to melt Baumbach's entire face, so I'm no longer too broken up about the record's destruction.

Having just read that previous paragraph, my famous brother, who's surely interviewed Dean, is no longer crying in his locally sourced organic sour beer; rather he is silently cursing my woeful ignorance while hitting speed dial for Greta at the Barbie Dreamcastle so as to swiftly disassociate himself from The Dollar Bin forever. Sorry bro!

But let's move now to the real tragedy in this saga. Do you know how many vinyl copies of Fairport Convention's Live at the L.A. Troubadour are currently for sale on the internet? (We are not talking about House Full here, people, we are talking about the original release.)

Two copies. Two. Total.

That's right, while there are surely 6.4 million copies of Catch Bull at Four out there to be had, there are just two copies of Live at the L.A. Troubadour available in the whole wide universe. But last weekend I found a third one in Portland, one that no one has played or even looked at in its 50 years of Dollar Bin dwelling. That third copy was good as new and it cost $12. $12! That'll buy you half a Michelada at a Dodgers game; so finding that record and getting it at that price was as lucky as picking Mike Piazza in the 498th round.

And what did I do with this coveted find? You already know.

I melted it.

Bury the rag DEEP in your face, because I basically melted Mike Piazza. What kind of shlub am I? Next time you invite me over for drinks, don't pour me the good stuff because I'll just spill it all over your birth certificates, your Picassos and your tiny children's handwritten thank you letters, complete with heart drawings, for grandma. Rather, serve me a cheap domestic and give me a bib.

This is only my second experience with music melting. How many have you had? 25 years ago I left a CD copy of Mule Variations in my Ford Tempo and returned after a full day of work to find that the whole thing had turned into a flame broiled platter of creeping destruction. What the hell was I building, you ask? Melted Music, I respond. I was bummed back then. But that was nothing in comparison to last weekend's woe.

But I promised you good news, and more good news is coming! Firstly, my famous friend Greg's frig, located outside of Portland, was full of Miller High Life, The Champagne of Beers. So I had some.

Secondly, I soon discovered that the lower down I went in the record stack from the car the less melting had occurred.

And guess what was located far enough down to still be playable without any audible disruption? Live at the Troubadour! Sure, watching it go around on my turntable is like watching my cat try to shake off her fleas but I plan to never sell a single title in my Dollar Bin and I know that when my children inherit my dumpster of a collection they will cherish it forever and probably never even notice that my Troubadour record looks as sloppy as my t-shirt collection. So what the hell do I care?

Okay, at this point the Art Garpeople who joined this blog just to hear my thoughts on Watermark, Godfunkle's 1977 third outing as a solo artist who neither wrote songs nor played an instrument, are demanding my immediate destruction. I guess I'd better talk about the record.

So let's drop the needle already!

Uh-oh. Either Watermark is a big deal, unlistenable concept record (like Pink Floyd's The Wall) about bobbing about on the deep seas of regret, troubled water all about and nary a bridge to be seen, wherein Artie shakes his famous high tenor and the whole band way down to deepest bass every fourth syllable OR my copy of Watermark was higher in the stack of Portland heated mutilation and is now warped to the point where Gargie's version of a What a Wonderful World unintentionally sounds like What a Woooooooonderfil World.

(Yes, I mean what I said just now about The Wall. Bob Geldoff shaving his brows in the film is the best thing to say about the whole thing; Roger Waters, post Animals, makes Stephen Stills sound like a reputable songwriter.)

But relax, all you Artie G fanatics. I will ease your mi-i-ind. I'm not going to judge Watermark based on my very wavy copy. So cool your jets, adjust your giant perms and trust me. I promise to buy a second, unwarped $1 copy of Watermark and write all about it, asap.

Before we go, I must sorrowfully report one final tragic occurrence from this whole sordid episode. While hunting the Dollar Bin in Portland I had my eye out for Stephen Stills records. The fact is that at some point I need to place my entire, rapidly blossoming reputation as a Dollar Bin influencer on the line by actually listening to entire Stephen Stills records. If they are good, I'm finished. So, sadly, I've got to go out and buy some.

But the Portland store I visited, ridiculously, had marked its more than a dozen copies of Stills 2 at $2 each. Memo to the store: no one wants Stills records at $2 a pop. Ever.

The tragedy here is that I did not find any of our favorite villain's records cheap enough to buy, so I did not proceed to place them on the top of the stack in my rental car, thereby melting them out of existence. Thus the world is still saddled with copies of Stills 2.

Next time I melt music I promise to do so more thoughtfully.

(P.S. If you are still reading this, please know that my school year just started and so my pace of posting here will surely slow. My goal is to write once a week and I really do appreciate you letting me ramble. Hunting in The Dollar Bin requires your patience!)

[wrestlingisfake]

All In: London preview

MJF vs. Adam Cole - MJF is defending the AEW men's world title. Despite facing each other at the end of this show, these two will be teaming up in the pre-show to challenge for the ROH tag team title. The outcome of that match could completely change the complexion of this one.

Cole debuted in AEW two years ago as a douchebag heel, but after missing half of 2022 due to a concussion he returned as a babyface. On June 14 he and MJF fought to a 30-minute draw, which seemed to set up a rematch for the title. Before that could happen, though, Cole and MJF were thrown together in a parejas increíbles tournament. For weeks it looked like MJF was trying to con Cole into believing they could be friends, and Cole was trying to con MJF into believing it was working. After they won the tournament and unsuccessfully challenged for the AEW tag title, each man had nothing to lose by turning on the other. However, the pair seemed to genuinely bond over their shared douchebaggery, and MJF agreed to give Cole this title shot.

I've never been too big on either of these guys, so I wasn't too keen on them headlining this show. I was even less keen on getting there with a "wacky tag partners who hate pretend to love each other" story. But I have to admit, it's worked out brilliantly, and this is easily the hottest match AEW could deliver on their biggest show ever. They've got everybody wanting both guys to be babyfaces and desperately hoping neither of them turns, even though both of them have turned on every friend they've ever had.

I'm genuinely unsure if we'll see Max turn, or Cole turn, or if both guys will prove their friends forever. I had expected MJF to stab Cole in the back heading into this show. A turn at the end of this show would just serve to set up a rematch, which would be ass-backwards. You don't draw 80,000 at Wembley Stadium to run an angle to build to the real blowoff match in a smaller building. One way or another this has to be the climax of the story.

My gut says MJF will retain, but my head says anything could be on the table.

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe - Punk is the self-proclaimed "real world champion," and he's defending that title here. Punk's claim is based on the idea that he won the AEW men's world title in September 2022 but never lost it in the ring due to an injury (among other things). Joe actually is the ROH television champion, but his title isn't on the line.

Joe and Punk had a famous trilogy of matches for the ROH men's world title in 2004, but from what I can tell they had a total of six one-on-one encounters between 2003 and 2005, before Joe went to TNA and Punk went to WWE. The two never crossed paths again until this summer, and Punk picked up his first win over Joe in July. Incensed, Joe demanded a rematch for this show, and ambushed Punk on August 12 when he didn't immediately respond. Punk finally accepted the challenge with an attack of his own, on the 19th.

Punk is clearly being set up for a "unification" match, possibly as soon as at All Out in Chicago next week. That leads me to think he'll have to win here, especially since his belt is on the line. I suppose there's a chance Joe could win to keep the feud going for another month or two. But it would make more sense for Joe to lose here and re-focus on defending the TV title in Ring of Honor.

Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - FTR (Dax and Cash) are defending the AEW tag team title. Wheeler (the one with hair) made headlines when he was arrested on August 18 for aggravated assault with a firearm. Nevertheless, the match is still on. This is the third match in the series, after Young Bucks beat FTR in November 2020, and FTR got their win back in April 2022. It's also chapter 973 in the long-running quest to decide Who Is The Greatest Tag Team Of All Time. Something tells me this match won't answer the question anymore than the previous 972 matches did.

The long-running rivalry between the Bucks and FTR took a left turn last year when the Bucks and Kenny Omega were involved in a backstage fight with CM Punk. Ever since then FTR have been making the case for their buddy Punk to be forgiven so they can do a trios match. So even though FTR aren't technically involved in that real-life beef, and they're on good terms with the Bucks, the average wrestling fan can't help but see this match booked and think it's got something to do with Punk vs. the Elite. It'll be interesting to see if that factors into the crowd reaction on this show.

Despite Wheeler's legal woes, I can see this match going either way. (Even if they need to take the belts off of FTR, there'll be time to do that later.) The Bucks co-created All In and they're the Elite in All Elite Wrestling, so it would be fitting to win the big one on such a grand stage. But at the same time, FTR aren't the carpetbaggers from WWE they might have seemed to be three years ago--they're as much a part of the fabric of AEW now as anybody ever has been. The real winners in this one are the fans!

Hikaru Shida vs. Saraya vs. Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm - This is a four-way for the AEW women's world title, so whoever scores the first fall on any opponent wins the match and the belt. Shida recently won the title from Storm, who used her rematch clause to automatically get into this match; everyone else had to win a qualifying match. Saraya is from England and bound to get a hometown reaction; her ally Storm is from New Zealand but spent a good chunk of her career wrestling in the UK.

This should be a pretty standard "two good guys versus two bad guys" four-way. The two bad guys will expect to divide and conquer, until midway through the match they both suddenly realize they could steal a win from one another. The two good guys will go in knowing it's every woman for herself, but then midway through inexplicably get mad when they can't cooperate. Everything will break down until someone gets the win, which won't really settle anything. These four are nowhere near done feuding, so it really makes no difference who wins since they'll all be facing off for months to come.

Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi & Adam Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita & & Jay White & Juice Robinson - Don Callis turned on Omega back in May, and Callis's more recent protege Takeshita quickly followed suit. For some reason White and Robinson recently decided to help Callis beat up Omega. Luckily Kenny recently patched things up with Page after a three-year saga, and recently reunited with Ibushi in the latest chapter of a decade-plus saga.

Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage - This is billed as a coffin match. Basically they'll put a coffin at ringside and the object of the match is to put your opponents inside it. Since it's two-on-two I'm not sure if you have to get both members of the opposing team into the same coffin, or if there'll be two coffins, or what.

Swerve made a big production of recruiting AR Fox to help him feud with Darby, only to turn on Fox this week. He then picked Cage--who has been feuding separately with Darby--to replace Fox in this match. The feud is largely about Nick Wayne, who was never in this match. This is not the most coherent storyline in the world. Sting has never lost a match in AEW and I don't expect him to start now.

Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho - Ospreay holds the IWGP United States championship, which he recently renamed the IWGP United Kingdom championship. New Japan Pro Wrestling hasn't officially recognized the change. As far as I can tell, the title isn't being defended here, but that could change at any moment. I don't know why Ospreay put a Union Jack on his belt if he's not going to bring it to Wembley fucking Stadium.

The backstory here is mainly about Don Callis, and his machinations to enlist top wrestlers aside from (and now in opposition to) Kenny Omega. Callis has made ovetures to Ospreay here and there for a year now. He recently tried to recruit Jericho, but that fell apart, except I guess he expected it to fall apart, so I don't know why he bothered trying in the first place. Anyway, Jericho hates Callis now so Ospreay beat him up. I'm still not sure if Will is going to actually join Callis's stable, which is a bit of a problem when the big story for months has been "who will join Don Callis's stable?"

They've positioned Jericho as the face and Ospreay as the heel, but I gotta think the London won't give a shit about that. Jericho probably needs a win after his de facto face turn, but he doesn't need it here and I'm not sure getting it here does him any good. I think it would be promotional malpractice if Ospreay doesn't win, but stranger things have happened.

Eddie Kingston & Orange Cassidy & Penta El 0 Miedo & Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta & Mike Santana & Angel Ortiz - This is billed as a "stadium stampede" match. Until now that meant two teams of wrestlers do a pre-taped brawl all over an empty stadium, but this one is going to be full of 80,000 spectators, so it'll probably be very different. Originally this was advertised as a six-on-six match, but Rey Fenix was pulled from the babyface side before the heel side was even fully assembled.

The Blackpool Combat Club (Mox, Claudio, and Yuta) has picked fights with everyone on the babyface side. The details of each grudge aren't important, aside from Eddie's undying hatred of Claudio, and his strained loyalties to Mox. Santana and Ortiz returned this week to join the BCC team. We haven't seen them together since June 2022, when they teamed alongside Eddie and the BCC, in a match where Santana was injured. Then in January 2023, Ortiz and Eddie turned against one another, and Ortiz largely disappeared from TV.

Judging from this week's promos, this match is going to be about the faces trying to fucking murder the heels. Eddie basically promised to set Claudio on fire. Will Chuck finally get to use a chainsaw? Only time will tell. I expect fifteen minutes of crazy violence and then somebody randomly wins with a drop toehold or something.

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs Max Caster & Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn - The Acclaimed and Gunn are making their third bid to capture the AEW trios title from the House of Black. After their second loss in July, 59-year-old Billy left his boots in the ring and retired, but Black's team kept provoking the babyfaces until he returned this week for another go. I presume Billy's career is on the line here, insofar as there's no point in un-retiring if he just loses again, but there's no point in being retired if he wins a championship.

Billy's gimmick with the Acclaimed has been "Daddy Ass," but for this show he says he's bringing back "Bad Ass Billy Gunn," referring to his days with the New Age Outlaws back in the late 1990s. Wrestlers do this bit a lot, and they always want it to be like when Mankind turned into Cactus Jack, but it never really works for anybody but Mick Foley. What exactly is Bad Ass Billy Gunn gonna do that Daddy Ass couldn't? Oh well, I guess for one night I can pretend Billy used to be a super-tough mean guy 25 years ago.

It's too soon for the House of Black to drop the titles, but the time is just right for Billy and the Acclaimed to win them. I think we'll see new champs.

Jack Perry vs. HOOK - This is on the pre-show. Perry won the FTW championship from Hook on July 17, and this is the rematch. The FTW title was introduced by Hook's father Taz in ECW, and Perry hardly fits the aesthetic, so he gets heel heat just for having it. Jack was threatening to retire the title (so he could be the final champion) until Hook intervened, so I assume if he retains he'll proceed with that plan. He's not going to retain. Hook is going to whip him like a government mule.

Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher vs. MJF & Adam Cole - This is scheduled for the pre-show. Aussie Open (Davis and Fletcher) are defending the ROH tag team title. The story here is that Cole and MJF bonded while they were chasing the AEW tag title, so even though their squaring off in the main event, Cole still wants to win tag gold with his buddy. Cole and MJF have developed the double clothesline as their big tag team move, and it's actually gotten over. MJF has perfected a deadly kangaroo kick for use against Aussie Open, and that's also gotten over. So look for those spots in this match.

My hunch is that miscommunication between the challengers will allow Aussie Open to retain, setting up further intrigue between Cole and MJF on their way to the main event. However, I can't rule out the possibility that Cole and MJF win the belts, and then that sets up further intrigue in the main event. Davis and Fletcher have a bright future but frankly losing the ROH title here won't hurt them much, so I'd say anything could happen here.