#and now this one is two separate shows!! i can go to one and not the other!!

[crispydonutninja]

Teacher’s Pet promo

Satoru would never admit it, but she was so cute when they were screaming at him. Sure, maybe his student shouldn’t be the one yelling about their safety and his need to show off putting them in danger. He scoffs internally and externally, like he’d ever let her get hurt. The ideas more idiotic than their attempts at trying to challenge him in hand-to-hand combat. His gaze lingers on their mouth a bit too long as she talks, thinking about the softness, the color, the taste. ‘Shit.’ He thinks to himself, feeling like a massive perv and freak for thinking about his student this way.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Princess.” Satoru waves a dismissive hand in their direction . “You and I both know, nothing was gonna happen to ya. But it’s so cute that you were so worried about me.” A shit eating grin forms on his face as she gets flustered and stamps their feet like a child. Only he can get this reaction from them, only he deserves to see this side of them. It’s…wrong that the anger in their voice, the flush in their cheeks and the darkness in her eyes brings a sense of joy to him. It’s not that he enjoys you feeling a constant state of anger. No, Satoru just has…a sick fascination with seeing them react to him. Maybe it’s because he needs attention and he needs her to focus as much of their on him as possible.

He’s already walking away from her by the time they start to reply. His hands slip into his pants pocket and he takes a shaky sigh as they walk back towards the edge of the barrier surrounding the alleyway they’d exorcised the curse. It disappears to reveal a busy downtown Tokyo Street. They’ve finished the job, and now the two of them will go back to school and go their separate ways. A part of Satoru knows that soon enough, she is going to be gone from his daily life entirely and all too soon. Still, he surprises himself as he calls back to her. “Cmon, let me treat my favorite student to dinner. You did good today. She bent over the counter grumbling her skirt rising up. Satoru's eyes widen as he sees her skirt hike up, revealing their cute baby pink panties. He feels a surge of heat rush through his body, his cock twitching in his pants. Fuck, those are adorable. He thinks to himself, his mind immediately going to inappropriate places. He imagines ripping those flimsy panties off with his teeth, spreading her legs and burying his face between their thighs. The thought makes him shudder.

Get it together, Gojo! He scolds himself mentally. She is his student, and an innocent one at that. He can't be having these perverted thoughts about them. And yet, he can't look away from the tantalizing view of their ass and the smooth skin of their thighs. His mouth goes dry and his pants start to feel tighter.

Satoru swallows thickly, trying to will his cock to behave. "U-Um, princess Your skirt..." He trails off, his voice cracking slightly. He's never been so flustered in his life. Not even in the heat of battle has he felt this kind of intense, primal desire. And it's all because of the sexy little minx that happened to be his student.

[deathlygristly]

For some reason I decided to read a Reddit thread on When The Phone Rings. Yes, I know, that's on me. But I've seen the sentiment on here too.

I guess it's what the kids call "antis"? Like this is a fictional show, none of it is real, and I seriously doubt any of the people watching will ever get switched for their older step-sister in an arranged marriage to the presidential spokesperson, who is the son of another chaebol family that's into politics. But then it turns out that the original son of the political family was a serial killer and the grandfather tried to drown him when he was a kid and then replaced him with the orphan who grew up to be the spokesperson. But the serial killer son survived the drowning attempt, and now the grown up serial killer son and also possibly the twin of one of the serial killer's victims is coming after the adopted son.

Like y'all are not going to be in this situation IRL, okay? You are not going to be in an arranged marriage with a man who is severely traumatized by seeing the drowning attempt, being taken from the man who had taken him in and raised him, and forced to live with people who did not like him and who controlled and abused him and who only wanted to use him to appear "normal" and "likable" so they could win elections and get political power.

And if you ever are in that situation for some reason, it's extremely unlikely that after three years of not communicating at all and pretty much being strangers you'll be targeted by a kidnapper, steal the kidnapper's phone, use the phone to finally communicate a bit, and end up with your husband revealing that he's obsessively loved you all along.

This is fiction. Maybe the female lead falling down a cliff and being fine and the male lead being in two explosions and being fine would clue you in on that? I don't know. Like someone said in the thread, these people must be why dramas all have a disclaimer now at the beginning saying that the drama is fiction and the events aren't real or based on anything real. Not that it helps.

It's just....it's weird and kind of conservative Christian culty how they're all "oh noes but young girls will think that it's okay if their husband doesn't talk to them for three years and is a bit mean!" If you're really worried about that then maybe you should be teaching your daughters or younger sisters or young female friends or students or whatever about boundaries and abuse and emotional awareness instead of not communicating with them at all, like how you say it's so bad that the characters are doing in the beginning of the show?

Also, okay, I've been married for 22 years and we started dating 25 years ago. I can assure you that the spousal person is awesome and our relationship is fine and healthy and the people at our favorite restaurant exclaim over us every time we come in and when I was in the hospital after gallbladder surgery the doctors called us "lovebirds." It's very easy to separate reality from fiction and to enjoy watching characters and stories that aren't your personal perfect ideal template of whatever and still have a healthy and enjoyable life.

If it's not easy for you, I think that's more a personal matter that you need to investigate and work on in your own life instead of judging and hating strangers online about it? Maybe you could look into resources for recovery from high control groups?

[maniwannadiezz]

How to properly create a readable reference… !

Using old pilot reference as an example, I’m here to expand on this to make a turn around sheet that will be more helpful to someone who would be looking at this while animating the design….

1st, get rid of the posing, it’s stretching anatomy and complicating the image, how will we be able to see how her shoulders rest if we can’t see her arms down at her sides? Leave poses for a separate page for exaggerated expressions

2nd, giving her a neutral expression can not only help us better balance the thickness of her lashes but also make the eye shape clearer- and where her features should rest naturally when she is calm. Giving the animator a consistent anchor after an especially exaggerated movement of the face. We always must have a proper clear default.

3rd, proper side angle, her arms pinned back slightly to expose her side, showing the animator how the shirt ends at the side or how the lapels connect to the back and wrap around the neck- which can be shown at the back angle too.

4th, proper back angle, you can see I have two set here one where her hair is out of the way and exposing her back while one had the hair fell down, showing us not only how the back of her shirt looks but as well as how her hair would fall- leaving nothing to imagination and guess which could have contributed to animation consistencies to the pilot art style. Preferably we would also have a straight on shot as well, but for space sake I left that out for now.

5th, all are in the same pose and all body parts match up, none of the hand on hip or out in an awkward position. We have to know in animation the BASICS then from there the animator is free to bend it in practical ways but will always know what the rules may be. It’s exactly why so many shows have animation bibles. The more information you feed your animators the more streamlined your project will be. Don’t make the animators work any harder then they already do by guessing what the hell you were going for…

6th, add ons, what is the inside of her mouth look? What about a place we can’t see such as her top lid (while also getting a view of what her lashes look like down at half lidded) or the underside of her foot? Leave no place left untold! Remember animation can help give your characters the illusion of living in a 3d environment. They can and will see the underside of them or behind them- work thoroughly.

Whether you are making animation or even a comic, a proper reference is crucial to character consistency as well as a perfect place to add additional information one might not see at first but grow incredibly vital in later drawings.

[cute-little-fly]

Will there be a Vassago love triangle in Helluva Boss season 3?

I have been seeing some theories regarding Stolassago. While I think it is a cool ship and conceptually they are cute I think that they are very unlikely in canon, even if temporarily, and they are not the only possibility to happen.

Let me explain.

What we have seen about Vassgo in the show:

In the episode Mastermind he was shown as a very righteous but also extroverted bird. He seems to care about Stolas a lot, but Stolas seems surprised by this, so we don’t know how much they know each other and why their interactions were like that. (This is a mistery for me honestly, if you are interested other post have covered this).

Vassago seemed very devastated at outcome of the trial, and he seems to know that all of it was unfair.

❤️💙Love triangle theory🤍❤️

The theory basically is Stolas being in love with Blitzø but feeling attracted to Vassago because of a possible falling out between Stolitz. After sinsmas for me this became very unlikely… but let’s see the evidence that is usually used for this.

One thing used to fuel the theory (even if not directly related) are certain parallels between Blitzø and Vassago:

-They both have a Red/White/Yellow color palette

-Vassago has some feathers in the back of the head that have stripes, that could be analogue to the horns.

-Vassago is wearing a red suit of a similar shape than Blitzø’s in the front.

-They both have or had something to do with pirates. In recent merch dropped Vassago has maps and pirate treasure imaginery.

This is used usually as evidence that Stolas might like Vassago because they are similar.

However, I haven’t seen people point out that Vassago has similarities with Stolas too. Of course, some similarities might be because they both are a Goetian prince, but, the rest of the Goetias shown at the trial are not like them at all:

The ones that I can think of are:

-They both like singing and music (Yes, I am taking this just because of the “Cántalo baby”).

-Vassago has a lot of stars in his clothes and magic, like the star on his neck. This star is in a similar position than Blitzø’s mother brooch, so that’s interesting.

-Vassago has also purple in part of his tail, and purple is a color that is also related to Stolas, because of night sky and stars.

-They both have a yellow or white lock of hair. In Stolas is inconsistent but now is permanent as the pupils so I will count this and assume he hid it before.

The similarities are between both of them tend to be overlooked, but I think are important for this analysis… Vassago could relate and reflect both of them for some reason and not just the love triangle.

Other things people use as evidence for the love triangle are:

-Viv liking some tweets about Stolassago and how Vassago has something that seems personal with Stolas.

-They talked about a temporary love interest for Stolas (but could be the BTB guy).

-People believed there was a duet between them, but that got disproven. These are two separated songs.

-The pride parade official art.

I don’t think the tweets mean specifically a love triangle. Those are either just art or the statement that Vassago seems to care too much about Stolas. But Stolas might not reciprocate that (in case is romantic).

Regarding the pride parade art:

The argument here is that Vassago is looking Stolas way, and that Stolas ambiguously looking back, because he has an eye more open and how this kinda foreshadows a love triangle.

This doesn’t fully convince me. For me Stolas is looking at Blitzø, because even if he has his right eye more open his gaze is going down. I think this is a subtle misdirection. (But, this part is my opinion, i can’t fully discard it).

However, let’s look beyond them:

There is a small unknown imp that is looking at Vassago while he looks at Stolas, Stolas is looking to Blitzø (and Vassago?) and Andrealphus is looking Stolitz (or maybe everyone?) with a confused/disgusted face from behind.

Remember that Viv said Season 3 was a queer roller coaster? This seems like that to me.

It is also more interesting than the love triangle.

I am excited to see who he is. The rest of the characters in this picture have been present in the show even in the background, like Dennis or the succubi at the parties or with Verosika. People tend to ignore him, but he might be relevant. He also seems to be trans, which is cool, because there are very few trans characters.

This messy scenario has a lot of avenues to develop.

If Vassago crushes on Stolas at first, or is too friendly, Stolas might feel conflicted in returning or not the affections because of the help he needs with Octavia. Vassago also could have something with this new character or Andrealphus, and who knows how his interactions with Blitz will happen.

I think that Stolas and Vassago could end up being similar to Blitzfizz. Two characters having chemistry that are very good friendship, with some old story behind them.

I really would like Vassago ending up positively influencing Stolitz in the long run, even if he makes a mess between them at first.

The symbolism and details that make him similar to both of them are pretty interesting, and I am excited to see what this will bring us to the table.

[doodler16]

No same Anon about Lilith and Eve.

I agree that at this point, I don't expect anything from Vivzie's female characters. I know I'm going to be disappointed, I'll just take what I like and rewrite them.

Now, the fact that Anon threw out is wrong: Lilith does not belong to the Bible. It belongs to Jewish folklore (Torah) but more as a legend since its origin is Mesopotamian.

Thanks to a medieval satirical text, Lilith was considered the first woman and wife of Adam.

Of course, the second fact that I throw is true: Lilith in her myths is far from the feminist figure with which the image of Lilith is popular. Unlike "Lilith who does not let herself be bent" in the original myths, she is a demonic being who kidnaps babies and rapes men. She does this together with Naamah, Agrat bat Mahlat and Eisheth Zenunim (this is more from the Zohar).

The idea of Lilith as an "empowered figure" is thanks to the creator of Wicca, Gerald Gardner. A very controversial subject, very controversial. I will not go into the debate if the Wiccans are considered a kind of pagans or just imitators of paganism who want to feel special because of the esoteric of the whole thing, but it is due to them that the figure of Lilith was bleached to look like this "rebel" being. And recent popular culture pushed that narrative further.

The same example is HH: Lucifer and Lilith are in love, Adam is evil from minute 1. Lilith did not bow to Heaven and Adam, she rebelled with her love Lucifer and now she is the queen of Hell.

When in reality several myths tell us that the one who did not overcome her ex was Lilith:

In one version we are told that Lilith transforms into Eve and has relations with Adam.

In another we are told that one night she enters Eden and rapes him.

In another we are told that, after Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve separate for 140 years due to the horror of the affair. In this myth there are 2 versions: again, Lilith has relations without Adam's consent (here Naamah, Agrath and Eishet are included). And the other is much calmer where Adam accepts to be with Lilith during those years.

What is made clear is that in all versions they have descendants: the lilims, the succubi, some vampiric beings, and sometimes it is even said that Asmodeus is the son of these two.

(In other versions, Asmodeus is the son of a mortal and Naamah, in other versions he is simply the husband of Lilith).

So for the first time, if Vivziepop puts Lilith as an evil being, a bad mother and so on... well, she would be the only character that is close to the original source.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not against reinvention or looking for a different route to the established (I have Adam x Lilith as the endgame in my rewrite and of course I've had to tweak some things) but Vivzie is criminal to the point that I'd rather she didn't touch Lilith and Eve because they're going to be at the mercy of favoring Lucifer. Do I want to be wrong? Yes, I want the show to tell me "You know what? Actually the conflict of these two doesn't revolve around Lucifer or Adam, neither are they going to become lesbians, nor are they going to have that kind of "I'm better than you because..." fight; no, their conflict is going to make Lilith feel guilty because she realized that she ruined two people's lives by imposing herself before what she thought was right, becoming the very thing that she complained about Adam and Heaven. And that Eve's conflict is that for a long time she felt this complex of being the replacement, that she should imitate Lilith because she was "the original, what a woman should be" as well as sticking to what "a wife should be", even putting that Adam let her be her own person because he was worried about how bad Eve was getting because of her own existential crisis. He as Lilith can ask Eve for forgiveness, but Eve cannot accept it. Thank you for saying so, but Lilith and Lucifer's actions doomed many and in horrible ways."

Am I going to get it? No, but I have accepted that I will live with it. There will always be a fanfic, a video, a new series, something, that really wants to explore all these characters beyond the original versions or the cheap tropes surrounding them.

Sorry for the big text, I needed to get it out of my system.

Yeah, I don’t blame anyone for having super low expectations regarding the Hazbin Hotel women especially with Lilith and Eve. Since in Helluva Boss, the women are demonized, one-note, and super side-lined. The women in Hazbin Hotel so far are mediocre anyway.

You good, Anon. No need to apologize and thanks for the clarification regarding Lilith. The version you mentioned about Lilith transforms into Eve is interesting because Vivziepop is planning some big plot twist with Lilith, Eve, Rosie, and Roo. Something about one being the other.

[stacygetsit]

****One of the common sentences that the doubters have used is that Luke and Nicola are not together because we see no signs of it on the Internet. I have read that one line sooo many times. I think people forget who Nic and Luke are. The reason we feel we know them like they are family is because on the tour they shared themselves with us we got to know them. But let's dive into some ideas I have. We wouldn't have known that Luke and Nic have even hung out outside of work and the only way we know is because it slipped during an interview. Ask yourself when is the last time you seen them hang out? Maybe when Luke had the play. We know Nic went to it but that was to promote his play. Nicola has never put it on the internet before the times they have hung out. We also know Nic wants to keep her private life separate and private. So could she be hanging out with Luke and NOT post? yes of course. If you pay attention to her last two set of photos there were pictures of people we didn't have any clue she was even around. Nicola clearly doesn't show us every single person she hung out with in 2024. So why do we think her relationship with Luke isn't taken in a serious matter. In the past five years we have had no indication that's she hung out with Luke (outside of work like events) and the only way we knew was by word of mouth can't we say it's fair to say she still doing it now? Yes we can assume that it's happening. She has stated that her relationship with Luke is unlike any relationship in her current life do you realize that included HER FRIEND JD. So again in order to understand what Nic is like with her man we have to look at how Nic was with her past relationships. The issue is we don't even know whom she has dated. Again I remind all of us we didn't know she lived with a man till again she said it. So clearly you can make an argument that unless Nic wants us to know we will be kept in the dark. This again is her past behavior this is realistically the only thing we have to understand what she would be like now. So my question to the doubters is why do you think she will react in any different type of way then she has in the past? So the doubters would say well that's because now it would be harder now to hide now that she is a celebrity. Well I have something to say about this. Yes her fame has risen but she not in the realm of Jennifer Aniston. Go ahead and ask your coworkers if they know who she is. Unless they have watch Bridgerton then honestly they might not. That's not me taking away anything she accomplished but it is a fact. Not everyone know who she is. Of course her fandom has grown BUT is it to a point that she being photographed everywhere she goes no. I want to remind you all that the photographer that took her photo in the Pub said on DM podcast he didn't even know who she was. And as much as I hate saying this it was "fans" that pointed DM toward Nic. I remember some of them sharing a screenshot of conversations they have had with DM. But that's a paparazzi that didn't even know who Nic was. That's how she able to fly under the radar. Which leads me into my next point and that is if DM thinks she dating JD then would she be looking for sightings of Nic and Luke NOPE. The paps are so concentrated on JD and Nic that it's not even in the realm of possibilities to look for Luke and Nic. I must applaud Nic and Luke for this. Good job. Yes did they take some heat. Yes especially Luke. But I can see why they took that hate on for each other. Now it makes sense to me why they weren't claiming these other people. One it wasn't true two plausible deniability. They never once stated they were dating these other people that was fans that assumed. Also I must add guys there are also places celebrities can go to get privacy or y'all it's called they are just choosing to say indoors more. And I honestly think Luke is phenomenal with sneaky around unseen. It's not unrealistic to assume he's not perfected it now for Nic.

[er-osion]

My Tears Ricochet

pairing:  Kaz Brekker x gn!Reader

summary:  A fic inspired by Taylor Swift’s ‘My Tears Ricochet’.  Kaz says some things to you in anger after a heist so you end things and move out of the Slat.  Months later and Kaz can no longer bear being separated

word count:  2.6k

warnings:  hurt/comfort

you can see the full taylor swift song-fic masterlist here

⋄∘∗⋅⋆≁≁⋆⋅∗∘⋄

The door to Kaz’s room slammed shut.  You tried not to wince at the noise, tried not to move lest you show how upset and afraid you were.  Things had gone bad, really bad.  The heist should’ve been simple but sometimes things just don’t go to plan, sometimes human error messes things up.  Now you stood in the room you shared with Kaz, bracing for him to give you hell for the awful night all of you had had.

“Do you just want to see your teammates die?”  Kaz snapped, back turned to you as he paced around the room.

“What kind of question is that, Kaz?”  You spat back, offended.  “Things go wrong, we’re all human.”

“That’s one of the weakest excuses I’ve heard for inadequacy in a long time.”

Your eyes went wide, “Inadequacy?!”  You repeated, aghast.  “Watch it, Brekker.”

Kaz let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair.  “If you don’t want to be called ‘inadequate’, don’t do foolish things, you behaved like a rookie tonight!”

“The others have made mistakes just as bad, if not worse before, yet when I do it it’s the crime of the century?”  You threw your hands in the air, tone quickly rising to meet his anger.

“No, this heist could’ve been the heist of the century if you hadn’t royally fucked it up!”

“Kaz, I know you’re upset, we all are.  But yelling at me won’t change the events of the evening, it will only make things worse.”

“Oh don’t try and get all ‘holier than thou’ on me.  You don’t want to get yelled at?  Then don’t act like a fucking idiot.”

You blinked back tears of frustration and hurt.  You and Kaz had had your fair share of arguments, being in a relationship with someone who didn’t know how to express their feelings properly can lead to that.  But his behavior was out of pocket and undeserved.  He was supposed to be your biggest supporter, not tear you down. 

The argument raged for another two hours, growing worse and worse by the minute until you’d had enough.

“Kaz, shut the fuck up!”  You cried.  “I’m done!”

He froze, fury overtaking his expression before he took a step back and blinked.  “What?”  His voice was grating.

“I’m done.”  You repeated in a hush, throat and chest tightening impossibly.

“The hell do you mean, ‘you’re done’?”  

“I mean I’m done with this, with us.”  You concluded defeatedly.  Kaz didn’t say anything, his expression didn’t change, as if he hadn’t truly understood what you were saying or the implication of your statement.  “I can’t be with someone who’s going to degrade me for making human mistakes.  We’re supposed to help one another, not demean each other and if you still don’t understand that after all of these years… then I think my time is better spent elsewhere.”

You straightened your back and rolled your shoulders in an attempt to pull yourself together despite the tears blurring your vision.  You waited for Kaz to say something, anything. The silence was deafening.

“If you want to be a quitter then fine, quit.  I don’t need someone who behaves like this anyways.”  Kaz hissed, turning his back to you as he was no longer able to look at your distraught face.  

You puffed in disbelief.  Your heart was burning.  How could he so easily throw you away?  Throw everything the two of you had built together away?  You shook your head and began gathering your things.  You could feel Kaz watching you out of the corner of his eye but he never moved from his spot and never said anything.

When you’d finished gathering your belongings you scurried out of the room, needing more than anything to be out of that suffocating atmosphere.  You decided to stay with a friend going to university.  He asked no questions when you had showed up at his door in the middle of the night with all of your things, just let you in and helped you settle into the guest room.

When you woke up, mid afternoon the next day, your friend, Arthur, assured you that you could stay as long as you needed.  The next few months were torture for you.  This sick feeling in your stomach never went away and your chest never stopped hurting.  Merely eating, breathing, and moving became a task.  All motivation to do anything left your body and you wandered around your friend’s apartment like a ghost.  Nothing felt right, not anymore.  Kaz had always told you that your fighting spirit had made you brave, had inspired him, yet he was so quick to turn it against you.  The tears you cried over that man were endless.

****

Kaz has been a worn wood boat against the raging sea of his emotions these past few months.  He’d been off his grove, on edge, messy, and all the Crows had noticed.  To put it simply: Kaz Brekker had been a wreck of a man since the night you broke up with him.  Nothing was the same, nothing was tolerable anymore.

Everywhere he went, you haunted him.  Your ghost and the ghost of your relationship taunted him in spectral defiance, proving how small of a man he was.  He still wears the rings you’d gotten him underneath his gloves, he couldn’t bear to part from them.  The nicknacks you’d given him over the years that he kept scattered around his office and bedroom stayed in the same spots because he was too scared to get rid of them.  Because getting rid of those nicknacks and the rings meant putting a real end to that chapter of his life. 

He had spent the last few months cursing you, everything you’d ever brought to his life, your memory.  Because being angry was easier than being hurt.  But still, he missed you more than anything.  Saints, he missed you so much it hurt.  No injury could ever compare to the pain in his chest that had been stabbing at him since you walked out the door.  When you’d left, you had carved out a piece of him and took it with you.  There was so much empty space in Kaz’s soul he had to put daily effort in not getting lost in it.

Kaz hadn’t seen a trace of you since you’d left.  He couldn’t decide if that was a bad or good thing.  But tonight, he couldn’t handle it.  These past few months have been unbearably painful, this hole in his heart was no longer ignorable.  He knew he probably didn’t have a chance at reconciliation.  Hell, he probably didn’t deserve a second chance with you.  But Dirtyhands didn’t give up without a fight.  So he decided to find you, talk to you, and try to convey his all-consuming regret.  And if you wanted to move on, then he’d respect that.  Because that’s the very least he could do for you.

It wasn’t hard to figure out where you were.  You didn’t cover your trails and Kaz had an excellent recon team.  But when Inej told him you were staying with some friend from university named Arthur?  The cane-wielding young man almost threw the papers off his desk.  He’s ashamed to admit it, but the jealousy that instantly bubbled in his stomach burned and churned all the unpleasantness he’d been feeling lately into a monstrous wave.  If that good-for-nothing had tried at all to swoop in and replace Kaz in your life, this “Arthur” would learn how Kaz got the name Dirtyhands.

And that’s how Kaz found himself outside of this stranger’s apartment, standing out in the wet cold, unable to bring his gloved hand up to knock on the door.  He’d chosen a time in the evening when he knew your new roommate would be absent for a while, Kaz wanted zero interruptions during whatever was about to go down.

You were torn away from your book when you heard a sharp knock at the door.  Confused, you slowly got up and went to open the door only to reveal the very last person you expected to see tonight.

You stared at Kaz for a long while before beginning coldly, “What do you want?”

Kaz internally flinched at your tone.  “I’d like to talk.”

“Do you want to talk to me or yell at me?”  You retorted, feeling petty.

Kaz screwed his lips shut to keep himself from saying anything stupid, “Talk.”  He reiterated.

You looked him over before stepping aside, wordlessly letting him in.  Kaz strode inside the apartment hastily, observing the space with a critical eye.  “So you’ve been staying with your friend, Alex?”  He purposefully asked incorrectly.

“Arthur.  And yes, he’s been incredibly kind and understanding of my situation.”  You rebuked.

“Not too kind, I’m sure.”

“You have no reason to care.”  You painfully reminded him.  Kaz didn’t say anything, knowing you were right.  Kaz stalked around the main room, pretending to take a great interest in the decor as he tried miserably to plan what to say next.  You watched him move about, scrutinizing his every move and waiting for him to speak up.  You weren’t sure why he was here, but if he wanted to apologize then it would have to be in his own words.

“I…”  Kaz started but then trailed off, unsure of what exactly to say.  The dark haired man sighed, his mind exhausted with frustration, and plopped down on the couch.  You stood unmoving from your spot in the center of the room, still watching and waiting with a raised brow.  “I came to tell you that you didn’t deserve to be yelled at the way I yelled at you.  Even on your worst days you’d never deserve to be treated the way I treated you.”

You blinked in surprise, Kaz was never an openly apologetic person and you could tell he was unfamiliar with this area of communication by the way he stumbled over his words.  You moved closer sitting in the chair opposite him.  You could tell he still had more to say so you nodded at him, silently letting him know to continue.

Kaz took a steadying breath and readjusted his grip on his cane.  “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that, I shouldn’t have let you walk out the door.  I can’t sleep at night, all I hear are your whispers.  I can’t keep moving about my day without at least trying to repair things between us.  Even if you don’t want to return to the way we were, I needed to tell you… all of this.”

Your throat tightened and you clutched desperately onto your pant legs for some grounding.  Your mind was spinning.  You wanted to still be angry with him, you wanted to yell at him and berate him.  But here he was, the man you loved sitting in front of you, apologizing, expressing regret over his actions, and telling you he’ll respect whatever decision you make after tonight.

“You hurt me Kaz.  You know how to weaponize words and you turned your stockpile against me and we’re supposed to be allies.”

“I know, I know and I’ll hate that memory for the rest of my life.  I’m a deplorable man, but the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, and I can’t begin to describe the discontent I’ve felt after that night.”

You looked down at your hands, no longer able to maintain eye contact with Kaz with the way he was looking so intensely at you.  “I… I don’t know where to go from here Kaz.”  You admitted honestly.

“I’m not quite sure either.  But,”  Kaz paused, trying to gauge your reaction to his next words, “we could start by moving you back into the Slat.”

Your gaze snapped back up to the brown-eyed man in front of you, heart stuttering in your chest.  “With you?”  You questioned, voice shakier than you’d intended.

“Preferably.”  Kaz confirmed.

You looked Kaz up and down, scanning his face over and over for any sign that he was just messing with you, just trying to get your hopes up before brutally smashing them down again.  But all you could find was ground-shaking sincerity.  Fear and reverence swirled in his coffee-eyes and it knocked the wind out of you.

You took a weak breath in.  Maybe you weren’t strong, but the man you’d loved for years was sitting there trying to reconcile and you weren’t going to lie and say you weren’t ready to jump at the idea.  You didn’t want to give up on the two of you.  Kaz Brekker was your everything, is your everything.  You can’t imagine your life without him in it, so yeah, you were going to try again with him.  If things didn’t work out this time, then you’d take the hint and start the process of moving on.  But you were determined to work things out, because Kaz was here telling you just the same and you’d be damned if you didn’t take this opportunity.

“It’s going to take a bit for me to readjust to us.  I want to try again Kaz, start over.  I want us to work because I believe in us, I believe in you.”  You uttered seriously and Kaz’s breath hitched at your words.  He felt hope again, for the first time in ages he felt bright shining hope and restored vigor.

“I’ll give you all the time you need and more.  I’ll give you whatever you need, all you have to do is ask.  I don’t mean to let us die without a bare-knuckle fight.  I’ll dig up the corpse of us and pull our ghost from the depths of the Underworld if that means we can get a second chance.”  Kaz fervently promised, leaning so far forward he was barely sitting on the edge of his seat anymore.  You smiled at his goreish analogy, always the dramatic Kaz Brekker even when trying to repair your relationship.

You nodded and sighed contentedly.  “I won’t let us die without a fight either– but be warned; if you ever disrespect me like that again, I’ll rip you a new one Brekker.”  You warned with a playful smirk tugging at your lips.

Kaz made a noise between a scoff and a laugh, “I fully expect you to, but I won’t be giving you a reason to ever do so.”  You grinned with satisfaction at his words, getting up from your chair and telling him to stay put as you gathered your things. 

You waited for Arthur to come back before leaving the apartment, so you could explain the situation to him.  He was more than happy for you, glad to see you in any mood other than depressed for the first time in ages.  You made Kaz stand in the hall for the interaction, as you noticed your friend growing quickly uncomfortable with Kaz’s searing glare.

Before you knew it, you were back in the Slat with the love of your life.  You seamlessly melded right back into his space and Kaz could finally breathe freely again.  Things were right, they were the way they were supposed to be now that the two of you were back together again.  Kaz had never felt such a sense of relief as he did watching you settle down for bed in your shared room.  Kaz Brekker was no man of faith, but he swore to every Saint above that he’d never take you for granted or disrespect you ever again, lest he die a painful and humiliating death.  He didn’t deserve your second chances or forgiveness, but he’d work every day to try and deserve it, to be the partner you deserved.

[bubblesandpages]

The only figures from her life I can think of who do crack jokes are Mylo (who we pretty much exclusively see fail at them) and Ekko (where is comes off as a much more natural extension of his personality as a child, before morphing into a much more cutting form of criticism/defense as a young adult).

Now Mylo is someone who is locked in an almost silent game of one upment with Powder due to how similar they are, and how much he's unable to separate his own self image from the way he sees her. They're both physically weaker then their other two siblings, their skills tend to lie in the mental rather than the physical, the one form of physical activity we see them both engaged in is firearms—where Powder easily wipes the floor with Mylo—point being there's plenty for them to compete in.

Jinx's humor could be her almost continuing to compete with Mylo even after he's gone. But like his own underdeveloped humor, it largely comes of as strange, likely due to their shared lack of confidence, and possibly as a consequence of her trying to make her humor unique to her.

Ekko's a little different. He's actually funny.

But more than that he's charismatic—something that can't really be said for Mylo or Jinx (at least not conventionally). He's effortlessly good in whatever situation you drop him in, never clams up (outside of, like, literal trauma episodes i.e. Benzo's death, the shimmer attack once Jinx shows up) whether he's ripping off a rich Piltie like Jayce, face-to-face with Enforcers on a citywide manhunt, or fronting a resistance group, it's almost enviable how he glides through social interactions, and a lot of that effortlessness is expressed alongside his humor.

I think that effortlessness would be appealing to someone like Jinx, especially after she's decided that she can't remain as the same "weak" girl who thinks she's been abandoned by everyone who once cared for her. You often observe how people around you act, and achieve certain responses from those around them as you grow up—this could just be Jinx observing this behavior in Ekko and trying to emulate that ease using humor—missing the point where this isn't a fear response from him the way it is for Mylo and Jinx, or the source of his success in social situations—it's a result rather than the source of his ease.

Imitation is often an imprecise art, and coupled with it being a fear response from Jinx, you end up with some imprecise results. If I was feeling generous, I might be willing to cede that Jinx's more "appropriate" and arguably successful attempts at humor in season 2 are a result of her finally being confident in who she is (thank you category 5 Family Trauma Event 305 subheading: Tea Party) and letting go of both competition and imitation for genuine humor that's a natural extension of her new found sense of self.

I find jinx's relationship with humor to be very fascinating. Jinx wasn't really a funny child. We never really saw her crack a joke, it just seemed like she wasn't that kind of kid who could find humor in any situation and found it easy to hold around. But as she gets older we see that she frequently uses humor in her day to day life, specifically to help ease her out of uncomfortable situations. Jinx's sense of humor for the most part is quite inappropriate, not in an obscene way but in a way where the things she says just aren't suitable and create a lot of tension. Not only does she use humor to navigate these situations, but she also will forcibly laugh to relieve stress, as though it's some kind of coping mechanism she's developed. She laughs nervously when Silco expressed his disappointment in her, she laughed nervously when she reunited with Vi and saw Caitlyn, she laughed nervously when she showed the gem stone to silco, she laughed nervously when she was stapling her leg, etc. Jinx does use more humor in season two but to me it's significantly reigned in and more appropriate for the most part.

One of the earliest jokes we get from her is "Sisters, right? Can't live with them, can't stuff them back in the old baby maker." This is a really uneasy joke and Jinx reacts accordingly, she instantly laughs this off while cringing. Another instance where she makes an insensitive joke would be at the commune "ask for a healer, get a metal fortune cookie...looks like you got a couple (conditions). " She uses humor to make threats, "I feel like we got off on the wrong arm. How about we try to other?" "Don't move, silly. I might hurt you." "I paid your girlfriend a visit this morning. I made her a snack."

To me this is fascinating because you would think her humor would come from her youth, a mostly carefree period of her life where she was surrounded by peers, not her isolated adolescence. Like, where is this humourous influence coming from? Sevika and Silco, the two people jinx was closest to at the point aren't funny people. They do have their theatrical moments but humor isn't their strong suit. Where did this change of her's come from?

[s0fter-sin]

ghost stares at the ceiling, chest heaving in a harsh pant; sweat ice on his clammy flesh and soaked into the sheet he restlessly kicks away.

ears still ringing, his fingertips blindly drift down to trail along his vivisection scar. he half-expects blood to smear in their wake. his own line of solomon, who ordered him split in twain; half of him given to a grieving mother and half left with the grieving to be.

just for both his broken halves to be rejected.

what did it make him that his mother grieved him more than she loved him? that she begged to be relieved of him more adamantly than she begged to receive him? why did his worth spill out with his drawn blood? why was his pain lesser than hers?

his hand flexes, digging into the raised scar like it’ll part beneath his fingertips to plunge into his mangled insides. no one knows the cruelty of reforming the halved; his name, his being, not nearly as important as his body when he was stripped from himself. no one knows the pain of healing and understanding losing pieces of yourself means losing your value along with them.

how many more pieces did he have to lose before he was halved once more? before his very presence incurred grief so strong it was better to be rid of him than cradle his bloodied remains?

did the infant fight himself? did he age always at odds with himself; his halves never truly whole? he hopes he wasn’t, that he was spared the loss of self; the fear that one may be welcomed over the other.

who will he lose when the inevitable comes? when he’s ripped apart again? simon? or ghost? is it better to be cursed with choice just like his mother or live with an aftermath chosen for him? does it matter if in the end, he convinces himself there was nothing of him left to lose?

his head lolls to the side and the wild buck of his chest slows. he watches johnny beside him, his face lax with the rare peace of sleep; his cheek squished against the pillow, his lips pursed as long breaths escape him.

johnny. soap. never torn asunder but two all the same.

he carefully reaches out and ghosts his fingers along the jagged scar on his chin. even in sleep, he presses into his bloodied touch. he’s never fled his half-flesh, never shies away from his gore as it spills unbidden from his cleaved torso. he holds on where his mother let him go; cups his stomach to hold his insides in place and never minds the blood that drips through his fingers.

simon will never let him become his own solomon and cannibalise himself. he will never let him question which half of him has more value; which pieces he can afford to lose before he’s cast aside.

ghost’s soap. simon’s johnny. his.

whole, in any incarnation.

[elvenferretots]

On one hand, I feel horribly guilty for having a couple weekends where I've committed to absolutely nothing to the point of backing out of volunteering at a local dog show.

On the other hand, I have dog sport events literally every weekend and practice or class at least twice a week throughout the entirety of October and November. I think I get a free pass for a couple weekends.

[carcarrot]

its important to go see a low stakes concert sometimes

[seekingthestars]

little floof has the best possible time at con, proceeds to spend the next month crying about it

[ishouldreallybeelsewhere]

Episode one of Supernatural is so flawed that, had I watched it for the first time last night (instead of for the third), I would not have have watched the second. Ever. The flaws are things I simply didn't pick up on when I was thirteen, and memory glazed over with emotional attachment. I understand why these flaws are there, what the writers tried and failed to do through clumsy dialogue and strange character decisions. There's no subtlety. Everything Sam says is direct exposition, specifically the things that he would not have to say to his brother.

I do not do reviews so that's all I'm going to say.

[dbphantom]

maybe i should have gone into practical effects instead of computer science...

[harrylights]

ok i just need to write down these whack 1d dreams i’ve had the last couple days

[crimsonmonsoon]

People really need to stop inviting themselves over to my dorm and then just not leaving like bro I have stuff to do and it’s weird if you’re gonna just sit on the spare bed for literally five fucking hours