#and the ones I got I recognized on my own beforehand but didn’t have the time to fix them

[adrift-in-thyme]

HALLELUJAH ART CRITIQUE WENT WELL FOR ONCE

[hdrygdhbuu]

Hello, I’ve read a few small stories from Dir en grey’s meet&greet and experience from the concerts in general aaannddd I also decided to share mine from m&g 19.03 in Warsaw… Maybe just mainly for archival purposes, but anyway… it was quite interesting.

Since It was my very first concert in my whole life (but what is most important Dir en grey concert😭) and I was sosososo hella nervous – on top of all I came completely alone into the dark unknown! The first show of my favourite band. The first meet&greet with precious and talented band members on their first tour destination. I thought I could have died before start of the show.

Beforehand I’ve read some different experiences from m&g – there were really a few, really – it was said that people with VIP queued in front of the venue doors and were entering one by another to meet the members(¿). (Actually I have no clue, because I didn’t happen to enter among all the people… You’re allowed to read to know then lol) When I had come on the floor I saw two queues actually. One to the m&g and another to the merch booth. But as I said, It was my first life experience so I immediately got super confused and didn’t know where to go… Two long queues, a lot of people, I couldn’t understand which one is which… Anyway I stayed at the end of the merch queue (😭) and managed to buy some things almost THE LAST ONE. I mean, there still was a couple of girls near the stand, but… the cashier was very nice, (he let me pull out of the bag some secret postcard&stickers on my own lol) when he said «there is a meeting with a band, so you should hurry» and pointed at the entrance doors. I looked and realised there was no one around, like, really, empty corridor… Obviously I got scared (even more scared than I’ve been all this day) and rushed there immediately, almost running – actually it was just “fast-walking”. I didn’t know the place, what is where, and at that moment I didn’t even know where is the venue and where I entered… I jumped up to the venue with dizzy head, completely at a loss, greatly confused (I’m sorry, but that cashier really made me worry and hurry with those words😭) and first I couldn’t even recognize the place. All happened so suddenly: I saw them. But the first gaze was so quick, really, I only managed to catch the smiley glance from Toshiya first! Probably all of them were so confused of the chaotic way I entered 😭 (I even thought Toshiya was internally laughing at me, but i guess I was simply delusional.) The staff stopped me with "wait" or something, and – oh what a shame… – at that exact moment I suddenly/quickly turned around at my speed (but it wasn’t so fast fr) and stepped back as almost i was about to leave at every moment 😰 There were no fans nearby… before or after me… and we just stayed like that, so so embarrassing… Me, being afraid even just of looking at them, because I knew, I felt they were staring at me… Maybe i got affected by this “wait” from the staff and actually lost all remains of courage, waiting, waiting for the right signal😭 I met eyes with that woman from the staff, she was staring at me and i was looking at her like “what should i do, when am i allowed to step forward😰” Jeez i really felt so many eyes on me, as it was a long moment and i got lost…

But when i raised my sight, i couldn’t bear but just notice Toshiya’s smile 😭 (him being that tall after all) You know, it was just impossible not to catch it. He was staring so brightly, with the kindest and the most loving smile on his face😭 This smile could physically warm a body and hearts, full of gratefulness, love and respect. Since I’m quite young (i’m 20 actually… but the fact that I admit that I look much younger) for a moment i realised – i’m sure – it was a smile of a loving parent/senpai looking at the child/kohai 😭 Just… can’t describe this wholesome feeling, that he created inside of me with this looking&smile. He didn’t cut off his glance even when we actually met our eyes… i mean, i immediately got shyshyshyshy, i couldn’t withstand it and looked away😭 it was just too much😭🤚🏻

Then i noticed Kaoru looking straight and handing his postcard to me, encouraging me to come closer, and so that was the sign when i managed to finally move my trembling body. (The possibility that they might have been waiting for me just flutters all my insides and kills me!) So, then.. everything happened quite quickly, i was collapsed by shock, embarrassment and happiness at the same time, to the point I almost teared up. I bowed at each of them, saying quietly arigatogozaimassss as they were handing me signed postcards. I couldn’t even make myself to raise my head and look at them… Toshiya was the last one in a row, and when i stood in front of him the actual height difference hit me and got me on knees (and that’s the second reason i couldn’t get myself to look up – it would be physically uncomfortable lol i guess) I mean… this man is really tall, I faced his chest at the level of my nose for real, so yeah (I’m 160cm). He was the one who thanked me in response – well, maybe i was just too dumb and rushed too much idk – and that was so cute of him! Really, he seemed to be the nicest at the m&g, he really does care about fans, he really is glad and happy to meet fans😭 and he obviously showed his appreciation of all its power/extent. The one meeting broke my heart.

Of course after this i rushed to the rest of people near the stage (luckily i was in a second row right before Toshiya!) And then they left the place almost right away… I mean, after all maybe i really was the last one??? And what if they were waiting for me?? (It kills me ugh) Idk… I was sure there were some more girls at the merch booth before….

Anyway, talking about my very first show impression, i was sincerely amazed by this little pleasing discovery of my own – all of them actually were looking at fans during the show! Like straight in the eyes. Catching our glances. Sustaining this eye contact again and again. It felt like a dream, it felt like we and them actually connected on some kind of inner basis/level… I’m sure I even crossed some glances with Toshiya and Kaoru 😭 I didn’t expect it so, again, i felt kinda embarrassed, but super crazy! That was so much fun! Really, I will never forget those nights… And now, every time reminding it – all of them, the performance, their movements and emotions, that charming smile of Toshiya – I can’t help but melt into a divine smile…

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart💔 And thank you too who has read this unexpectedly long message 😭🤲🏻 And sorry for any mistakes..

P.S. I also wouldn’t mind if anyone who has read it, would like to share their experience too🤲🏻 Really, just kinda curious… and after all i don’t have friends who i can talk about diru with sooooooo feel free to share🙌🏻🌷

[sepublic]

Anyhow, I want people to understand the significance of me crying over TOH ending because. I generally do not cry. It’s hard for me to cry, I feel sadness and grief sure! But tears themselves are difficult. And as much as I love media, it’s very rare and hard for it to make me genuinely cry. Other cartoons and shows I’ve gotten into haven’t done it, but...

The Owl House genuinely made me cry. After the grief of Agony of a Witch, the lonely despair of King’s Tide, and so many other painful moments. The Owl House finally made me sob, genuinely, wails I had to cover up, hot tears, sore eyes and a dripping nose. I heaved and made myself cry even more, because goddamn is there such a relief in the catharsis of feeling this pain, and knowing it means you’ve felt something, you’ve felt happiness to begin with.

So yeah. The Owl House has always been pretty special to me. But I think this expression of how I felt was low key what I was waiting for, working towards, after the finale. The absence hurts, but it makes me appreciate all the more the presence it entails for TOH in my life. For the community, for the experiences, the analyses, the genuine fun and laughter and speculation! The hype and friends I’ve made along the way, me building up my own skills as a reader thanks to this show!

I remember being enamored by The Owl House’s first announcement in February 2018, the first ever, possible public reveal of that show; You could’ve only known it beforehand if you worked at Disney and/or were one of Dana’s friends. Something about Luz, about Eda, about King... The very premise itself, the magic. Something about this show felt special to me, I had a really good feeling about it I couldn’t explain.

I ended up checking Dana’s Twitter obsessively for updates, was excited when she posted this one art of Luz and King having an ice cream run, while Eda was displeased with a little demon trying to get her dessert. I expected mostly casual things, but something about the vibes, the magic and wonder experienced through the lens of Luz... It got to me in a legitimately depressive state of my life.

Because I was depressed. Suicidal, even. It was perhaps the worst phase of my life ever, and I hope it’ll stay that way. The beginning of 2018 felt like me finally getting over the big hurdle, that enormous halfway point at the top, and how it was all relatively smooth, downhill sailing from here. So it feels fitting that it was the beginning of the easier part that TOH was announced for me. All I knew were Luz, Eda, and King; I eventually gave up checking Dana’s accounts for art, because I was SO excited and impatient for this show, inexplicably.

That’s probably why I missed Dana’s little sneak peek of Amity Blight, haha... But anyhow, TOH gave me something to look forward to. Something to live for. And when I finally got a shot of Eda throwing treats to Luz and King, the former taken aback by the eyeball, the latter having it bounce off his skull. It didn’t make it to the final cut obviously, but it was my first glimpse of how the show itself would look.

I was in despair when The Owl House was delayed to 2020; I had to wait another whole year for it! And going from 2018 to 2019 was painful enough as is! But man... Was it worth it. The first teaser, the mystery and wonder it promised. My Bionicle brain freaking out over the reveal of the Boiling Isles as a giant corpse. 

And then the theme song. Me learning Luz’s VA, scouring very obscure media to get an idea of how she might sound like. And finally I heard it, we got other announcements; Eda by Wendie Malick, who made perfect sense, and King by Alex Hirsch, cue those obnoxious Bill Cipher theories I still hate to this day! 

Some crew members announced cupcakes they made, complete with banners like “Drinkers Coven” and I got hyped for this little content. I wanted to try cashew meringues because of it, and later recognized the repurposed frames of Luz, Eda, and King in actual episodes. I saw some concept art and expressions removed from the show, and was glad to recognize them later, as I did a frame-in-process of Luz wondering about her magical destiny.

I checked Tumblr but it seemed like I was the only person actively anticipating, and not just including TOH as part of a larger collection of media posts. I wanted TOH for itself, someone was curious if it had owls, I scoured the first teaser for a screenshot to satisfy them! I wanted more people in on it! I saw some clips, figured out Luz’s ethnicity from her squealing “Ay que lindo!” in response to King.

I made a few ancient posts, my first TOH post was me admitting I was excited and wondering if anyone else was. It got NO traction, at least not until much, much later... But that didn’t stop me! I had a dream where Luz was revealed to be disabled, her legs were prosthetics and Eda ended up giving her new magic prosthetics styled after owl feet. This would prove weirdly prophetic... Less so, my dream about Luz being the Anti-Christ (this was framed as a good thing), hence why she found the isles.

I speculated Luz was an orphan who had nobody, hence why she found the isles; But then an article mentioned her mother Camila. I went with that spelling until some end credits confused me with a typo that gave us Camilia, which led to a big fandom debate later until Dana clarified.

I analyzed the trailers, trying to figure out the plot and trajectory, wasn’t quite right there. I was happy to see TOH would have full 22-minute episodes, allowing them to get nitty gritty and elaborated, instead of truncated into 11-minute segments. Boy did that pay off, and looking back I can appreciate what a rarity that was, an achievement. People pointed out the anagram for me... 

I speculated on the titles, confused bits from Covention with scenes from the first episode, wondered if Escape of the Palisman referred to the tower. And in the end, the first episode finally came out, after I was enjoying Infinity Train Book 2, and I was enamored. It was wonderful, it utterly blew me away and was all I wanted and more. I had to get more! The moment Luz spoke of liking editing anime clips into AMVs and all that other stuff, I felt seen, and that was just the beginning.

I spoke my praises, but alas there was no fandom. The next week, I was surprised to find posts for the next episodes so early, and learned the episode was released ahead of time on DisneyNOW, so I immediately subscribed. I was excited to meet Amity Blight, Willow and Gus; And I was caught by surprise by how openly mean Amity was when she debuted! But I analyzed the sub-text of her actions and dialogue, and was vindicated. 

Amity was such a fun and interesting character because she really felt like a puzzle that we unlocked more and more pieces of, to better understand her. And I really got the sense of TOH’s re-contextualization and surprising character continuity, such as when King’s B-plot in one episode actually became the focus of the very next! You could tell the writers really cared about making a deeper story for kids and teenagers. 

One nice memory was when I wrote a post appreciating Willow and Luz’s friendship, the idea of Willuz as a ship; I took a shower and went back to check afterwards, and got notes! I analyzed the mechanics of glyphs deeply when they were first revealed, getting nitty-gritty; I remember the events of a few nights and what happened around me writing a post, comparing glyph magic to artificial replication of dragon breath!

I looked for crew art, which alerted me ahead of time to the existence of Emira and Edric, thought I didn’t know their names, and was delighted to learn Amity had older siblings!!! They were hers! Shoutout to @anistarrose who was one of the few people in the tag at this time. I really appreciate that post where you called out people constantly trying to make King into Bill Cipher in a serious manner, and the annoying implications of it. And how you realized a tweet poem by Dana foreshadowed Warden Wrath and the Emperor’s Coven... AND THE CODES TOO!!!

I distinctly remember this one meme video in the tags, a song singing “This girl is a lesbian” as Amity showed up as the punchline. I thought it was cute and loved the idea, I had no clue...! I even tried to analyze the dates on her diary entries because I was so obsessed with the show and wanted more, trying to see if I could figure out a calendar...

Spoiler alert, I didn’t. but it was FUN trying! Putting in all of this unnecessary effort for a detail nobody cared much for, because you could tell the crew were people who did the same, Dana even confirmed it later for herself! I remember being shocked about Eda having a curse, that one theory it was a Blight who did it. I suggested King being the Boiling Isles Titan, some Youtube channel even asked permission to use my post in discussing that theory! I was skeptical but checked and it was legit, and was pleased.

I went through that godforsaken Witch’s Apprentice game, realized too late the artifacts represented each episode and gave hints to the rest of 1A. I watched Look Hoo’s Talking, with Owlyvia and Horus, shout out to those who remember! I was amazed by Eda’s self-awareness in deciding things for Luz, especially after Luz briefly called it out in Covention. I found myself so ATTACHED to the characters, which makes sense since I hyped myself from the start!

I remember being surprised to see King wasn’t an overlord... Or was he? The original 2018 announcement suggested as such, but the way the show played around even after the premiere seemingly disproved it was fun. I speculated on what Luz’s magic track would be, enjoyed fanart of her in Potions as Eda was. Seeing Young Eda was a blast, and I remember being so distraught at the idea of her being cursed! I made a post wailing about it and Cat-Harman Mitchell commented LOL as I ranted about taking vengeance on the curser. Little did I know...!

I was afraid of a cliffhanger with Season 1A, but nope! Eda made it out despite the demon hunters! With a hiatus, I was left impatient and needing more. I scoured crew art, speculated on what Emperor Bellows would be like; Covention’s subtitles mispelled him as such, and Dana had to clarify in a tweet when 1B’s trailer released! I got into deep discussion with @fermented-writers-block about the show, about the mysterious owl mural.

I guess TOH was my first start at really analyzing a show from the start, especially since nobody else was around to do it for me. And coming fresh from reading the meta of those who did inspire me, I went HARD, reasoning that even if it was disproven, the process was fun! I analyzed snake motifs, the mysterious green hand that stole King’s crown. I made a whole diagram about parallels between Luz, between King and the Gildersnake, between ‘human counterparts’ to Amity and Willow and Gus. This definitely fed the revelation of Creepy Luz later on...

But yeah. To think the snakes did pay off with Luz’s palisman Stringbean; Back then people speculated as such with the title’s design, and I’m so happy to see it came through! I speculated on lore, wrote my first TOH fics, The Bile Coven and Amity’s Diary Entries, the latter of which I feel particular pride for since it was a character study of her that proved rather on the spot!

I was obsessed with the worldbuilding, came up with my own ideas. Imagined what Bellows and Kikimora were like. I waited IMPATIENTLY, and even had a dream where Eda was captured by Lilith, Kikimora, and Wrath, as well as some covenscouts... But then it was revealed her curse was a result of possession by the creature depicted on the mural; And it progressed to the next stage of converting her body to its own as she got more feral and escaped on her own!

The airship used by the Emperor’s Coven proved prophetic. And after 1B seemingly disproved this idea, 2A brought it back after all and I was delighted! TOH was and is a show that keeps giving for me, makes me feel rewarded for engaging with it, and is grateful even when I’m wrong, as Any Sport in a Storm’s B-plot attests. I made jokes about King being Mata Nui because I was a Bionicle fan. Someone saw a Grom poster in the background of a shot and suggested Lumity, but I didn’t get my hopes up... Hah.

There was a trailer that alluded to an episode of Luz and Eda in a snowy place; I knew of an article on TOH that mentioned a ‘Witch’s Arena’ at the Knee and guessed this was it. I liked the song that played because I associated it with TOH, found out for myself.

Rebecca Rose, shout out to one of the OGs talking about the show on Youtube! She made a wonderful video discussing Amity’s development and potential, speculating on her, and I felt SOOOO vindicated and followed her for it! As you know, she became THE fan channel for TOH, and was eventually ascended to a full-on crew member for it. We’d all watch her reactions and discussions afterwards.

Adventures in the Elements leaked, I correctly guessed it wasn’t the next episode but the one after it. I was delighted to see the twins be good siblings, and Amity’s casual outfit... Before that, I read a fic during the hiatus of Lilith adopting Amity from abuse (Remember when we thought she was that functional?), and it understandably depicted the twins as mean-spirited and basically apathetic. It was a good fic.

I remember joke-speculating that Bellows would be short, because I was projecting analyses of the Pale King from Hollow Knight onto him! I considered making an animatic of Farquaad’s reveal from Shrek but with Bellows, but alas I’d never actually done an animatic and had zero clue lol. I had another dream about Bellows coming in with the Emperor’s Coven to apprehend Eda, who became an even larger version of her Owl Beast form in response.

Then Summer 2020 came around. What a wonderful time of my life... New fans came in when they saw the possibility of canon sapphics with Lumity, and I was exhilarated! So careful not to get my hopes up, but look now... I was hyped to see Belos’ appearance. I analyzed the 1B trailer, took screenshots and organized them to guess which episodes they were. Rebecca Rose found foreign titles of 1B and translated them, and I did note how translations could skew the intended anagram. I remember “Mini-Problems” being an episode title...

You can probably guess the rest from here, since this was about when the fandom really kicked off. And boy did people stick around for it all. I felt delight in knowing Grom was sooner, due to Understanding Willow being paired with Really Small Problems on the same day! Two episodes at once, instead of the original plan for the last two episodes of the season together! I ended up regretting that low-key with the angst and pain of Agony of a Witch, which made me realize how much I cared for Luz, Eda, and King, and made me the closest to crying from the show.

I felt vindicated to see a popular artist like MoringMark begin making fan comics, I had no idea that’d be THE thing he’d be known for, after I knew him as the Gravity Falls guy. I followed Matthieu Cousin on Tumblr, got excited for that trend of dressing up TOH characters for Grom and sending in your designs, with a winner announced! I don’t think that ever happened. Anamanaguchi’s Prom Night became a thing thanks to a crew member, and who can forget Little Miss Perfect? Kwame rolled with the success and I was glad for him. Eda’s gray eye appearing after the season finale in the end credits shocked me.

There was the Reddit AMA, where I prepared lore questions afterwards and had none of mine answered, but we learned a good deal! Especially the telling “Clawthornes are a bird motif” from Dana, her being put into a headlock by a nun. Amity and Lilith weren’t close but as I mentioned a while back, Dana expressed that she also made connections with cartoons as a kid. Odalia liking her kids color-coded, hence Amity’s hair, and Alador being interesting. Which led to a bunch of fanart that proved off the mark but also not? Alador wasn’t THAT well-put but otherwise...

And that stream! That wonderful stream! I contemplated spending so much money via donation to get something. Eda drinking Apple Blood, Spencer Wan almost spoiling Lilith having a Raven form. Our first sneak peek at Hunter’s face, not counting his appearance as the Golden Guard in S1; We all guessed he and the Golden Guard, or “Owl Mask” were the same. I was stumped and baffled how he fit into Belos’ dynamic... Hoo boy. And we all thought Hunter was an adult, even Alador at first, because of those eye bags!

I wanted to see the coven heads, based on their banners we saw; I liked the Potion Head especially and even when his design proved different than I expected, it was still my favorite! I thought Darius might be a Blight grandfather and he DID have a connection... I had a dream of the twins working for Osran at a library and messing with him, recognized Mason from Covention, and dreamed Terra was named Botanica.

Christmas art of the cast came out, I was happy to see Emira and Edric happy there, after being saddened by Dana’s Grom art of them and even writing a whole fic about it, which I’m chuffed about! She also drew Mattholomule... I recall in the wait for Season 1B, she did some art of the characters. Gus playing games, Mattholomule losing to him; King despairing over stubby thumbs.

Fanart of the kids in quarantine, Amity declaring it’d be easy to stay away from Luz, to Luz’s sadness; Boscha being mad because she couldn’t talk to her friends. Remember when Boschlow was a big thing, until Understanding Willow killed off some of the hype? And confirmation that Willow worked out, which we saw come to fruition in Season 2; People were surprised but I wasn’t! And of course, Frewin being his own entity from Bump, and not Bump himself.

But back to chronology, I guess this is where I should end off. Sorry, this ended up being MUCH longer than I intended, and really you could write a book about my experience with TOH and the journey on a meta level. But those were interesting times, those beginning eras. Back when I didn’t feel the need to always add screenshots to posts unless necessary. And it’s making me nostalgic. It’s making me appreciate everything we’ve been through, the roots of my hyperfixation. And how it all led to me finally crying, because I really did build up THAT much of a love for the show.

I found my first fandom I really felt a part of, found so many people who enjoyed my meta and validated me for it! I feel I’ve grown so much as a person because of TOH. And as I nostalgically reminisce on how different the show was then, I appreciate all the more how far we’ve come, and what it is now. Snapping back to the present does make me sad over how much has passed and changed, but I also appreciate it while remembering the ideas I once had.

I’ll miss that era, and TOH as a whole. And boy do I associate that classic ending theme, how I loved the melancholy of those end credits, speculated on them paying off in the finale. And they did...! It feels good to hear it one last time after a year without it, due to the end credits being removed or redone. There was something so idyllic and dreamlike about that original sequence, capturing the feeling of coming home, and I’m glad TOH did that once more with it.

[tearfallpixie]

Trust and Love - Chapter 9: Back on Tour

Tags: @nerdraging4point0 @thesazzb @synthetic-wasp-570 @circle-with-me @beaker1636 @itsjustemily @witchyweeb34 @agravemisstake @cookiesupplier @cncohshit @faceless-mirror @nonamessblog @yournecessaryevil @black-damask1999

@lyschko666 @vinyardmauro @skulliecadaver-blog @some-daniela @latenightmusiclover @rye14-blog1 @somewhere-diamond @Shilohrosechicken @abiomens @awkwardalex @rumoured-whispers @miss570

“So what did my dad want to say to you?” I asked as we were driving back to Vinny’s place. They both looked at each other and then back at the road.

“Nothing. Just more threats of if we didn’t protect you he would kill us.” Vinny mumbled. I raised my eye suspiciously but didn’t say anything. We got back to his place and all went inside where I immediately started cleaning up our forgotten breakfast dishes.

“Baby girl. Stop for a moment.” Ricky said taking the dishes from my hand and setting them back down.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Are you ok? You were literally held at gun point a couple of hours ago.” He murmured softly. I looked between him and Vinny who looked very concerned.

“Honestly? Yes. I promise. It was scary but he’s locked back up and I’m fine.” I admitted, surprised at the truth behind my words. I squirmed under their hard gazes for a second before Ricky nodded, finally deciding he believed me. “Love, I promise if I had any issues, I would tell one of you.”

“Ok. I’m just worried about you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and sighed in content as his wrapped around my waist tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you.” I repeated. Vinny took me into the living room and we cuddled on the couch as he scrolled through Zillow to look at houses in the area.

“I was honestly surprised your parents were so ok with you having two boyfriends.” He mused.

“They are very open minded. I love them so much.” I clicked on a house that had four bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. “Hey, look at this one!” Each of the bedrooms had their own bathroom and there was a communal full on the main level too. The basement was already finished and actually had a perfect area to set up a soundproof recording booth for Ricky and Vinny’s instruments. Ricky sat on my other side and looked at the house.

“That gives each of us a bedroom for our own use too. I could have an office. Olive could set up a photography studio. Vinny could have a streaming room.” Ricky pointed out.

“Its on three acres too so neighbors wouldn’t be super close.”

“Its literally perfect.” Vinny mumbled.

“Book us a time to go see it.” Ricky said with no hesitation before leaving to finish up whatever he was doing in the kitchen.

“This is real. We’re really going to live together.” I whispered.

“Yes we are.”

~~~~

“Ready to be back on stage?” I asked Vinny. I was putting on his black makeup before the concert and he was a ball of nerves.

“Yes. I know it was only a month break but I’m so fucking excited.” He exclaimed.

“Motionless! Places.” The stage manager called. I set the sponge down and double checked that he was all covered.

“You’re good.” I nodded.

“You are amazing. Can I get a good luck kiss?” I rolled my eyes but pressed my lips to his.

“Go, I love you.”

“I love you too.” A hand touched my back and I turned to see Ricky walking by.

“Where’s my good luck kiss?” He rumbled. I leaned up and kissed him too. “Thank you, baby girl. I love you.”

“I love you too dork.” I watched the rest of the band file out.

“No pictures tonight, Olive! You’re watching from the pit.” Chris called as he walked off. I saw their head of security Tom smirk at me and tell me to follow him. He led me down to the barrier and put me just outside against the wall.

“Enjoy the show.” He called. This wasn’t discussed beforehand, so I was confused. I enjoyed the concert anyway. I nearly melted into a puddle during the parts where Ricky was singing because it felt like he was singing to my soul. A couple of the fans recognized me as Rickys girlfriend and asked for pictures which was cool but it wasn’t until the last few songs that I started really noticing something was up. Ryan and Justin came over at some point during the songs and made sure I specifically got a pick. During a part of the second to last song where there was no drums Vinny stepped down and gave me one of his drumsticks with a wink.

Finally during Eternally, as Chris was tossing his roses he whispered something to the security guard in front of me and pointed to me. The guard moved the barrier and pulled me back through leading me up to the stage. Chris had one rose left and he came over to me and took my hand, kissing the back of it before placing the rose in it. When he moved it was time for the soft part of the song where Ryan was the only one playing. I looked up to see Ricky walking towards me with his guitar dropped behind him and I gasped, finally putting together all the pieces. He took my free hand and kissed it before dropping to his knee.

“Olive, I know we haven’t been together for very long, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else. I’ve already asked your father and Vinny if it was ok that I do this. I love you so fucking much. Will you do me the honor of marrying me? Of becoming Mrs. Olson?” He opened a box that I hadn’t previously noticed to show me the most beautiful ring.

“Yes. Yes.” I cried, covering my face with my hands. He took my hands away and slipped the ring on my finger before pulling me into a deep kiss.

“I love you, Mrs. Olson.” He whispered into my ear. He led me off stage where Vinny was already waiting. The drummer pulled me into a hug of his own.

“Thank you.” I sniffled into his shoulder. “Go, you have to do your bows.” I shoved both of them towards the stage. Vinny pulled Ricky into a hug before both of them ran out to the crowd once more. Once they were all done Vinny and Ricky flanked me and pulled me into the green room.

“I couldn’t do this in front of the crowd because you are Rickys girl but I guess this is kind of my own proposal. I know we’ve been together for a month but it feels like so much longer. If you are interested, I would like you to be my wife in private. I’ve never been so sure of something in my life.” Vinny pulled out a box to show me the ring he got. Rickys was a simple ring with a black stone in the middle and two diamonds on either side. Vinny’s ring was the exact same except it held a red stone instead.

“Yes you fucking dork.” I exclaimed. Ricky took the rings from me and held them out.

“These two are actually specially made. They are designed to lock together and make one ring.” He hooked them together and slid them on my finger once more. “That way there is no question about wearing two rings.”

“I love you two so much.” I sobbed, pulling both of them into a hug again.

“Congratulations Mrs. Olson-Mauro.” Chris teased when he entered the green room.

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.” Ricky mused.

“I second that.” Vinny grinned.

“If I could legally go by that I would.” I sighed happily, still unable to tear my eyes away from the rings.

“Well then at home, in our new house, you will officially be Mrs. Olson-Mauro.” I finally snapped away.

“New house?” Vinny handed me some papers and I read over them. “Our offer was accepted?!” I exclaimed.

“Yep. All that’s left to do is go sign the contract and we can move in.”

“Careful guys. I think you might overwhelm her with all this news.” Justin laughed.

“No, no. I’m good.” I whispered.

“Let us get changed and we can all go celebrate at the hotel. How does that sound?” Ricky whispered in my ear. I nodded and slumped onto the couch to watch them all remove their makeup and costumes.

[cecenyss]

~spoilers below~

Okay so the Heian Period that Sukuna lived lasted from 794 to 1185. Getting rid of the time after 1018 because that no longer qualifies as 1000 years ago and I’m petty like that means that the time when he lived at some point between 800 and 1018, so probably ninth or tenth century.

That still leaves two hundred years of time for him to have lived, and this is under the assumption that he even lived a human lifespan, which he absolutely might not have considering he had four arms for some unexplained reason (seriously he was a human being before dying right? I didn’t imagine that?).

The Fujiwara family was clearly important, though it’s hard to say whether that’s a new, sorcerer thing made up by Gege Akutami or if it’s actually meant to represent the Fujiwara clan of actual Heian Period Japan. Honestly it could be either but I’m fairly certain it is meant to be the same because otherwise that’s just confusing and I choose to believe this universe makes sense on some level for my own sanity.

We know the Fujiwara clan battled with Sukuna in some way because in chapter 219 in that flashback with Yorozu the gossiping people said that he defeated two major elite warriors of that clan’s northern forces, the one that Uro led and the one that Yorozu defeated and later got “recognized” and moved to the capital for.

Now I did some basic googling and the Fujiwara clan was founded in the year 668, but the Northern Fujiwara were founded in 1087 and disbanded in 1189, which completely discredits what I said in the first paragraph. Great going, me.

Sukuna is well established at this point, meaning he’s been doing… whatever conquering evil curse users do, for a while. Unfortunately we can’t use his appearance to learn literally anything because again he has four arms so he very well might not age.

Anyway in keeping with the Heian period and the founding year of the Northern Fujiwara he had to have been active between 1087 and 1185, which is just under a full century of wiggle room for him to do all his evil Sukuna things.

I don’t know if there’s any other evidence that could help narrow things down because this is a spur-of-the-moment, research rabbit hole type thing I decided to document on tumblr as I went along for no particular reason, but other individuals I know for a fact were alive at this point were Kenjaku, who Sukuna clearly knew; Tengen, who Kenjaku clearly knew; Uro, who led the elite force Sukuna destroyed; Yorozu, who was obsessed with and wanted to marry him; and Uraume, who served him.

Tengen and Kenjaku could very well be older than him, but Yorozu and Uro definitely are not, as they were mortal when they died. Uraume could go either way.

I did some other rabbit hole research and found that the Gojo clan was an actual clan that split off from the Sugawara clan, which was founded by Sugawara no Michizane, who Gojo says is the ancestor of him and Yuta.

If we assume that this is meant to be the Gojo clan of jujutsu kaisen, which isn’t an assumption I’m quite as comfortable making as other assumptions I’ve made here, it was founded some point in the 13th century, though I can’t really find the correct date. This is after the Heian period, despite the Gojo’s saying they were well established during that time.

But regardless of this, they could have existed in some hidden form within the Sugawara clan beforehand, and only became official during that time. After all, that tentative date is public, and I can think of several reasons why curse-wielding sorcerers would want to keep certain things about their family history private from the general public.

This works with what Tengen said about the Six Eyes, Star Plasma Vessel, and Kenjaku being intertwined in fate. Even if my assumptions about the Gojo clan are not correct, the Six Eyes probably predated the Gojo Clan in some form anyway.

Anyway there wasn’t a point to any of this, I’m just bored and rambling. If anybody else has anything more specific about the time period or just wants to talk about jjk worldbuilding and background please do I love headcanons and fleshing out already established worlds.

[heathersproship]

I WENT AND SAW MEAN GIRLS YESTERDAY

Went in with low expectations, but hoping to like it. Listened to some of the soundtrack a few days ago and wasn’t exactly impressed. But I didn’t blame the rearrangements—not entirely. Some of it was questionable, but maybe it’d be like with NPMD where I’d like it more when I had the visuals to go with it (I vastly prefer The Summoning live, and also High School is Killing Me, rather than the studio audio). And for the most part, I was right! I had a nice time.

See below the cut for my thoughts on the songs, other details, and some Janis analysis.

First Things First

We started off strong with the garage setup and Cautionary Tale. The vertical screen on a horizontal one doesn’t bother me, so I love the whole bit with the phone, and Janis plays guitar!

What Ifs was a song I didn’t listen to beforehand, and I understood most of it til Cady got to school. Then I had no idea what she was saying, either because the music was too loud or she was singing too softly, or both.

Meet the Plastics (though really it’s just Meet Regina) was good. Loved the lights flickering and Regina’s hypnotic voice like a siren luring the unsuspecting Cady in. Or an anglerfish.

Stupid With Love was actually not that bad... in the first half. Once we were out of the classroom, it fell off for me. I suppose they were going for a dreamy walking-on-air cloud nine “too in your own little world to notice the world around you” vibe, especially at the very end, but Angourie’s soft vocals didn’t do it for me. I expected a burst of energy since they’re outside and have the freedom to move and be loud with it.

Apex Predator was beautiful visually. Musically, I’m still not sure what to make of Damian singing Cady’s lines when they were about Janis. It’s strange. Couldn’t even have her think them? Record Angourie in a booth to get a feel for how big she can go, play it over a few shots of Cady’s face or the scene in front of them, Cady looking at Janis as she secretly compares Janis and Regina while Janis and Damian are warning her about Regina? No?

The build-up to What’s Wrong With Me was good—love the usage of the music box—though the song itself was a bit awkward. It’s sad all the same though, and that’s the point.

Sexy was good. Blink and you’ll miss the Easter egg.

Someone Gets Hurt was visually stunning. My one gripe is that Aaron has ONE line. Just one. And he doesn’t even sing it because the actor just doesn’t sing (did they hire him for his looks? The fact that he was in TSITP, which I haven’t seen? Why hire someone who doesn’t/can’t sing... for a musical??). Couldn’t they get someone to dub him? It’s just one line. Was that too much to ask? Disguise Damian’s voice if you have to. Giving it to Regina was certainly a choice they made.

Revenge Party was a fucking banger. It’s so fun and hella camp, and I love that they reinstated one of the OG verses (two if you recognize the piñata line from another verse). Also like how the “yes, bitch!” line was also back, unlike in the Broadway recording, though I don’t think that exchange needed to happen twice. I love Janis just loudly popping up with “And ugly crying!” during the bit with the sprinklers like girl shut up you’ll blow your cover! But then there was also that weirdass decision to have it go handheld when Cady goes to get the candy cane. Did not like that, what the hell was that?

Damian singing the iCarly theme in French lmao okay sure.

Someone Gets Hurt Reprise was just as good as the original, I love it. My only nitpick is the wording. “Obsessed” rather than “in love with” though that might have something to do with the doll.

World Burn was epic. Except... okay. Regina waltzed right into school with the Burn Book in hand. What if someone saw her? And then her just deliberately dropping and leaving it on the floor. And people really walked past it before someone finally picked it up? Really? The payoff is excellent, just the setup was... questionable.

Now that I’ve seen it, I definitely like this version of I’d Rather Be Me a lot more than I did before. Especially how it ends. (Though Barrett is still bae.) There’s possibly an allusion to the music video with the running in the halls and going about the school. But my God, Auli’i fucking did that! And again, very glad they kept the curse in the OST.

If that was a reprise of Stupid with Love... here’s an idea: just stop. The horse is already dead.

I See Stars was? Fine? Tbh I don’t really remember it. Probably because the girl who doesn’t go there takes over halfway though. Way to pull your weight, Cady. Angourie did well for some things, but singing really isn’t her strong suit. Again, why hire actors who don’t have the range for a musical?

Other things:

I love that Janis does embroidery here. It just fits.

Did not like the sanitization. How can this be Mean Girls without one mention of “social suicide”? You can keep the bouncing boobs thing and blatantly asking if Cady wants to have sex with Jason, but the band geeks are “corny-horny” and not “sexually active”?

Heyy Ashley Park!

Cady scaring the shit out of Janis and Damian will never not be funny. They were even watching the same scene of the same movie!

I was really hoping to get a flashback of Regina and Janis, with Janis actually burning the doll, rather than Damian acting it out with the toys. Or at the very least, a shot of Regina’s backpack on fire (that would’ve been a great teaser image). So we can get an idea of what Janis was like before, if she went along with the fashion rules like “pink on Wednesdays” or if she was always a little off-beat and Regina pushed her further into it. Maybe even see if she was the queen bee as some people believe was the case back in the day.

Love the bit with music people in the tree and Janis telling them to stop lmao. I love when they do things like that.

Analysis:

So one of the main differences between this Janis and her predecessors is that once this Janis gets to a certain point, she’s satisfied and actually wants to stop so she and her friends can just enjoy their time together rather than asking Cady to take a single night off before, presumably, letting it go on longer. This makes the party betrayal hurt worse when Cady says she wants one more lunch with the Plastics, as it looks like she made the active choice to trade up rather than just forgetting about Janis and Damian in her attempt to ensnare Aaron. Janis’ satisfaction also makes her singing IRBM more justified than in the musical because the movie took away a crucial aspect of her character which made her a Mean Girl to begin with: her anger.

This iteration of Janis just doesn’t have the same level of pure rage that drives her the way Regina does—rage which made them two sides of the same coin—because in this version, Janis is actually gay. The whole conflict in the original was Regina labeling Janis as something she wasn’t, and 2004 being a more homophobic time in history was how it was able to fly. In the 2018 musical, when that was no longer the case, they had to add in another layer with Regina pretending the issue was that Janis couldn’t accept she wasn’t one of the six people invited to her birthday party, before revealing the real issue was the same as the first: Regina pushing a label onto Janis (though Barrett says she played Janis as a lesbian, this was not explicitly confirmed nor acknowledged within the show itself, and is therefore no more canon than Regina being queer because Renee Rapp says so, closeted or not). With Janis being canonically queer here, this takes all the power out of Regina labeling her a lesbian in the first place because yes, yes she is, and? Rather than the problem being about the label, now the problem became Janis’ reaction to the bullying that ensued.

While she had to leave school due to how bad the bullying was in all versions previously (frozen out in the original—according to Regina she dropped out; and having “space dyke” Sharpied on her locker in the musical—according to Damian her parents pulled her out) this is the only time we know of where she retaliated. By burning the plush (and also Regina’s backpack) with a Bunsen burner. Her own actions resulted in her getting kicked out rather than being forced out by circumstances beyond her control, and the choice to do it this way shows that a) while what happened to her was more insidious, she’s also slightly less of a victim than her predecessors, and b) she knows better than anyone actions have consequences—a line of dialogue explicitly absent in the movie’s opening number. She was content to stop where they were at, quit while they’re ahead, because her desire for revenge was satiated and she was ready to move on. Have lunch with Cady and hang out like they always meant to. She’s no longer a Mean Girl. While there was an injustice done upon her, she’s not so scarred by it she’s letting her rage get the better of her to the point it spirals out of control. She was ready and willing to stop. But Cady wasn’t.

And I don’t know how to feel about that.

I think that’s it.

[applesontheground]

your own prometheus 💉

BACK AT IT! MISSED MY BOYS AND THIS FIC, SO BUCKLE UP FOR THE NEXT ARC. ❤

CHAPTER NINE as i have done, so will you | AO3

SFW | Word Count: 3,674 | Herbert West x GN Reader x Daniel Cain contains mentioned body mutilation, light fluff, enough tension to kill a small horse ⬅ continued from robbing me of my rightful chances ➡ continued in where winners beat the time 🔁 start at the beginning with letting me in or letting me go

It wasn’t the Miskatonic you knew, the corridor silent besides the ever present hum of an air conditioning unit. After hours was when it got this desolate, and despite the unfamiliar aura surrounding you, the morgue was something you had walked by many times before.

It was strangely enough where things began, almost half expecting to see Dan without the longer hair again, as quick to pass as the entire memory had felt sometimes. Stepping through, you didn’t question where or how you landed here. You just took in a moment of silence, something hard for you to grasp at times.

A door to your right, the one to the morgue that you also recognized, then unlatched from the inside and fell open. It didn’t happen in a slow creak, but rather a self-animated swivel that stood perpendicular to you.

“[Y/N]…” A woman’s voice spoke from the depths of the room, just out of view. It echoed unnaturally from the room it came from; at least, from what you knew it was not nearly that big on the other side of the heavy industrial metal keeping the bodies nice and cold. You opened your mouth to ask whatever question came first, but it was cut off as her hand then grasped the doorframe. Pulling into your sight, a pale-skinned, half mangled woman stood before you. Dark liquid streamlined from multiple cuts on her body, and a familiar set of hand marks were collared along her neck as she lifted her head, as though it was brought to life from the autopsy photos you were trying so hard to ignore until it dissipated into the static of your subconscious.

Still, it would never quite go away even in that analogy. Who stood in front of you wasn’t quite who you had seen in the autopsy photos, and she wasn’t quite anyone else you could recognize either. The soft features were interrupted by patchwork lines of other body parts put onto her, joined just to be torn apart again to leave her in such a state now. Still, there was something frightening behind her expression that made you keep from running, almost like she was merely holding to the door to keep from reaching out to you instead.

“Leave.” She beckoned, pleading blue eyes and unkept blonde hair pasting to her jaw as she spoke, your mouth wiring shut as you merely listened to her finish the demand with your legs feeling as though they were gearing to give out rather than take off in a life-saving sprint.

“Leave before you’re put here with me.”

Air blasted through your nose, like you were resuscitated from the dream by the act of opening your eyes. The pointed graphite on the pencil had been peacefully resting against the sketchbook’s page since you had drifted off, pillow propping you up after you slumped in exhaustion. At the jolt of energy that snapped you back to reality, it shot off the page in a jerk of an abrasive line against the ginger scratches you had been doodling beforehand.

Catching your breath, you sat up straight in bed. One hand had the book pressed against your thighs, swimming in pillowy covers you were curled up in. Like it was the crust that had formed from the short rest; you slowly began to rub the images out of your mind, fingers coming up to run along where the corners met the bridge of your nose, breathing heavily through your nostrils and your teeth clenched together.

A clang from the vent made you flinch again, this time the pencil fell from your hand and you got a good look at the unfinished arm you had been sketching, interrupted by the dark streak sprinting away from the rest of the picture. “Herbert, there-! By the-“ Dan had begun to speak but another mournful howl cut him off, the sound of a second crash making your face twist in agony as you exhaled, trying to breathe dread out from your body. A death rattle struck a nerve, something so animated yet so far gone, dead long before you had began drawing that night.

You closed the book, disregarding the image you had created both on the page and in the depths of your mind as you turned the light off. Before the dark took your sight, though, you were sure to spot that your door had been locked from the inside sometime between drifting off and attempting to return with bile in your throat, and the noise coming from the depths of the floorboards you rested on.

It was going to be a problem for tomorrow’s [Y/N, you concluded as you collapsed back into bed, a pillow over your ear to keep from catching onto the sounds that came from the basement.

Sleep didn’t come despite your efforts after that. Even now, you were killing time before your shift. Tuesdays were the days that dragged on the longest, mostly because you were often tasked with reorganizing a leg of the records storage back at the offices that the ladies hadn’t gotten to. Still, drawing wasn’t bringing you much peace of mind either. Not even the quiet cassette you had put on was giving you much besides making your headache amplify against the sides of your skull as you finally flipped the messy, smudged page before you and turned the rest of the book face down on the counter.

Your eyes shot to the mantle. They couldn’t even find a clear space to give some reprieve; you spotted a bone of some sort sitting behind the antique-looking clock and had to grind your teeth to snuff a noise of frustration.Being startled was turning into an old trick, you then concurred as you dragged a hand over your face. You hadn’t heard Dan walk in, who watched your palm slap the counter as you unfocused your eyes for something to make everything stop mobbing you so early in the day.

“Hey,” Jumping, you turned to look at him. He put a hand up, trying not to laugh as you then reeled yourself in, apologizing quietly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle like that.” When there was no answer, no lighthearted hum of assurance that he could look past another quirk, you then looked over to see the concern on his face. “Have you been sleeping?” Dan asked, and you quickly answered, “Take a wild guess, bud.”

“I’ve seen you even on your all-nighter mornings, and you never look this-“ He stopped himself, and your eyes hardened as both of you finished the sentence in your minds, and he chose to keep the word to himself. “Do you work today?” He then asked, busying himself with trying to find something in the kitchen. You hummed affirmative, standing up from the counter and adding, “It’s my long day. It’s gonna be alright.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, stopping you before you could walk out. You were tense as he initiated to hold your hand that wasn’t grasping the sketchbook for dear life, and he suggested rather plainly, “You could always call in, try to take a nap or relax for the day. You do so much, and it’s a miracle I even see you in between it all.” You let your hand gingerly return the hold and smirked up at him. Stifling a yawn, you then sighed, “Dan, I’d love to, but I’d just start pacing the house. Sleep is…Well, you know.” You admitted, “It’s not easy for me with everything I’ve seen the last couple weeks.”

He nodded at that, laced concern over his pursed lips as he then sighed, “I know, [Y/N]. I just…don’t want you to run yourself into the ground, you know?” You nodded glumly as he then kidded you, rolling his eyes a little, “Come on, I was a med student. You really should listen to someone who’s been there.”

Smiling a little, you gave one half-second of consideration for the corridor behind you, then pulled the back of Dan’s hand up to your lips. “I really appreciate the worry, Dan. I��ll just get through today, stop by the hospital if I got business there-“ He almost looked dazed, a more genuine smile as you lowered his hand again, still holding it as you shrugged, “Then, I’ll take doctor’s orders. Get home and get some rest.”

He seemed to be lighter on his feet even, and sighed, “That-a [boy/girl/courier].” You huffed slightly, finally releasing his hand and walking back down the hall. “Thanks, Dan. See you later on, alright?” He watched you walk, [the sway of your hips/the drum of your fingers against the sketchbook set on your hip] making him smile with even more earnestly than he had managed in a hot second.

“Of course.”

Even dancing around the ordeal, your duties did find reason to go to the hospital, and you yourself a reason to find Dr. Cain chatting up a coworker in plain sight. He nearly turned on his heels at the mere sight of your approach with the usual delivery, but you didn’t get much of a ‘hello’ between you before another crossed paths.

“Good morning, [Mr./Miss] – Oh, my good lord.” You glowered as Dyer began to laugh off the ghastly look on your face, “What good’s a courier if they’re running on fumes, huh?” He [gingerly shook you, nothing too rough /slugged you on the arm just enough to make you waggle backwards a little like there hadn’t been a bone there to knock against], and you merely let out a dry, forced laugh to him while Dan tried not to look directly at him. It was as though he still couldn’t help the tight glare, but pretended it was at an imaginary fly on the back of his neck as his hand found its usual spot, a tick from being bothered.

“I’m just teasing you, [sweets/stud]. I’ll go on and tell the gals in the break room to leave some coffee for you to grab before your next stop. I’ve never seen a living soul look so dead!” Dyer laughed again, clapping you on the shoulder before sharing the love and slugging Dan on the arm. Both of you stood almost huddled together, plastering fake smiles and awkward chuckles for the man until he was well out of ear shot. You looked down at the toes of your shoes, one hand still holding the manila envelope and the other coming back up to curl into the crevice of your temple, two fingers massaging the dull throb that was lingering.

A hand clasped around your shoulder, skittering to then set in a featherlight hold on your upper arm. You watched as Dan gave you an assurance in the way his thumb dragged against your sleeve, finding the frigid skin underneath it with the motion. With your heart having leapt to your throat, you merely let your eyes trail up his own, the pristine white coated shoulder and finally to his face, taking your time to hide the way you were practically melting at the gesture.

“I’m making Herbert take a night off tonight, too – for both of our sakes.” He mentioned, and you choked down a giggle, “Good luck with that.”

“Well, I want you to join us.” Dan then mentioned, and you narrowed your eyes slightly, like the words I want you to help me keep him out of the basement were almost visible on his lips instead, “Think he’d want to be there if he knew you were there.”

“Why, because he wants to see me or because he wants to make sure I keep my hands to myself?” You joked, the strange inner thought pushing past the weak defenses of sleep deprived filters. Dan rose his eyebrows at you, jaw slightly open as you then cleared your throat, immediately reeling yourself in with your eyes now stuck on the folder in your hand. “I-I mean, I’m surprised he’d want to hang out with…anyone besides you, since you two are colleagues, and we’ve only known each other for a fraction of that.”

“[Y/N], we…” He began, but quickly stopped himself as he then craned his neck slightly, tilting his head at you so you would look at him again, “I want us to get along, get to know each other a little better if we’re gonna be-“ He stopped himself, stifled as he took a breath and you turned back to meet his eyes. You mirrored him when he broke, making sure Dyer truly had gone down another way but then you were brought back by Dan running his hand from your arm to your shoulder, then back again in a soothing motion, “If we’re going to be in this mess together.”

Blinking, you merely nodded at that, and asked, “Do you or him need me to grab anything at the store or something before I get home?” Smiling, he shook his head at you. “No, I think I have it covered. Get your work done and then just let everything go for the night, alright?” You nodded sagely at that, watching him start to walk down the hall. He then pointed at you and huffed, “Both of you are sleeping if I can do anything about it.”

You rolled your eyes, giving a mocking salute as he continued down the hall. His genuine smile came through, eyes shut from its emergence as he then turned around with light feet. You took in another deep breath, hand running up your pantleg to keep the clammy skin from ruining the manila folder as you turned and walked in the opposite direction.

“Alright. So, our county courier is for sure sleeping with Cain.”

“Oh, probably.” Dr. Graves had been idly listening to Dyer’s lament, and even agreed with him without looking up from his desk, “Dr. Cain is a serial romantic. Patients flock to him and his-“ A smile quirked on his lips, “lost puppy disposition.” When the officer merely grumbled, he then observed with the slight smirk, “You almost sound bitter about it, officer.”

Dyer rolled off the wall that he was leaning on, making a dismissive sound. “Pah. It’s good that [he/she’s / they’re] doing this, though. Distract him, take him away from the interests of West. [Y/N] knows what to do now that [he/she’s / they’ve] been made aware of the massacre.”

Graves’ expression dropped, looking away from the papers in his hand. “What?”

Dyer quickly insisted, “Look, I had to, Wilbur. Damn paper-pusher was dragging [his/her/their]feet while giving me something to work with, so I just gave a little… nudge. [He/she knows / They know] how to spell ‘confidential’, especially something as covered up as what happened here.”

Graves shook his head, and grumbled, “Well, that doesn’t answer my next question.”

“Spit it out.”

“Why would [he/she/they] want to get so close to Dr. Cain if [he/she/they] know what he’s capable of?”

Dyer snorted, looking back out the cracked door to the Pathology office as he warned, “I think you’re concerned about the wrong man, Graves.” When the man merely turned to look at him again in confusion, Dyer then spoke lower than before.

“Cain wasn’t the one who decapitated Dr. Carl Hill, now was he?”

“You want me to do what, exactly?”

Dan scoffed, and you merely stood beside him while giving Herbert a mirrored pleading expression. Still, you were kind of curious about the atmosphere in the basement you never got permission to see, tired eyes stringing out rather than keeping engaged with the two men beside you.

“Take a break, that’s what.” Dan was flimsy in his firm tone, especially with the other man who wore it well. Herbert asked immediately, “Why would I do that?”

Dan tapped the side of his sneaker to yours, and you quickly piped up. “Your mind can’t work well all the time, Herbert. You’re down here a lot, and-“ You then stifled another yawn at the mere mention, “It’d be good for the research to give it some space, even if you’re not stuck on any pressing question, or experiment or the sort…” You saw Dan give him another pointed look from your peripheral, as though you were some walking examples of the importance of breaks with your sleepy deep breath after speaking. He was silent for another long pause, but finally asked, “What are we going to do upstairs, then?”

“Board games, mostly.” You said with a shrug. Dan put a hand on your shoulder in an urgent motion and corrected, “The same things we always do at night, just upstairs and out of the basement.” The other man scoffed again, and Dan mentioned, “Look, you can bring your reading, or whatever with you. I won’t make you do anything more, just give yourself the change of scenery.”

“Are you trying to throw some sort of bone of formality out for [Y/N]?” He then asked, but still you noticed him closing his notebook, beginning to gather some things. He then dared to go on, Dan shaking his head already, “[He/she doesn’t / They don’t] need the wool pulled over the eyes any more that we’re normal people, I showed them-“

“I know you showed [him/her/them].” Dan huffed, and frayed enough from the conversation he started up the stairs again. You decided to wait for, standing there as he finally started to follow.

“Is he doing this for you or are you doing this for him?” He then asked, and your eyes slid like stone over to look him in the eye. “We’re both doing this for you.”

He merely pressed his brow at you and continued up the steps with no further questions.

You had opted to take your usual spot in the armchair across from the sofa, leaving the other two with the latter. It seemed to keep the peace, and that was what this night was about. You could do with some peace, not having to close the air vents in the Autumn again. You were barely upright, but enough not to look utterly disheveled while you had started to scribble in your book, feeling particularly uninspired, just adding detail to works in progress.

It didn’t take well-rested judgement to see Dan wasn’t actually watching, and that Herbert wasn’t actually reading. It just made you wonder if you should really keep drawing since everyone was putting on an act.

The thought sent a wave of heat through your body, and clammy fingers suddenly let the pencil slip up, fall to the carpet with two sets of eyes watching from across the room. You pretended not to notice, leaning down after it with a dizzy sensation going from your gut to your head from the shift in gravity.

“What in the world was on that page?” Dan joked, and you smiled from where you were face-level with the floor. “Which one?” Herbert eyed the two of you as you flipped to the page you had been working on the night before, the dark line the clearest thing about the image.

“It’s a fluke, I meant for it just to be a study on arm shape, but…serves me right for drawing before bed.” You laughed, and while Dan grinned back, the other man set his book in his lap to see a little better. You stayed still, uncertain as he suddenly got this tuned in hold to his shoulders, no longer scowling.

“This is different,” Herbert observed aloud, “Unnatural.” All you thought to do was hum in affirmation at that, and he did the same, almost like a mirroring action. He then looked up at you and asked, “Do you have more like it?”

“I…” You trailed off, and started to turn the pages, “Possibly. Depends on what you want to see in regards to unnatural, but-“

He didn’t even hesitate, and you once again watched with bated breath, peripherals still to the pencil laying on the floor as he shifted on the couch. Dan also watched, trying not to appear completely shocked at what was being offered.

A space in between the two men, something you felt had been kept from you, and a sudden pull from your core again made you slowly rise. Ignoring the fatigue and walking carefully around the coffee table, you flipped towards the back of the book, finding some of the X-rays Marge had passed to you. This only got Herbert to tilt his head, observing with slight bewilderment.

Dan asked, “Are those from…?” You replied quickly, “Oh god, no. Miskatonic doesn’t trust like other offices do.”

“Of course,” Herbert agreed, making the other man give him a quick look before furrowing his brow at your drawings.

Stakeouts were common for a police officer looking for answers, but Dyer wasn’t necessarily permitted to such a strike. It hadn’t stopped him from parking down the street from the infamous repurposed mortuary, the place he had found to be where the courier’s address was read as in the private records from the office.

They were leaning far too close to each other to see faces, just [y/h/c] hair next to West’s dark, short cut. Regardless, it was close, the shadows of their bodies morphing against one another in shared fascination, honed in on one spot and not afraid to get close to see. Yet, despite the two sitting together so intimately, he saw Cain’s arm slowly come around the back of the couch, not as cordial in his distance but also involved with whatever was taking place on the sofa judging by the angle of his head, looking more at the two people than what their shared focus was based on his glances to the side, the detail of his face seen better overall.

Dyer chewed his lip, trying to squint through the binoculars and truly make sense of the image before finally dropping them to his lap, and huffing loudly.

The arrangement between the courier and the other two was even weirder than he had assumed.

[heroofshield]

WIP Wednesday/Whenever

tagged by @scknight05 @socially-awkward-skeleton and @vorchagirl

Tagging: @gavotteangel @natsora @anderfels and anyone else who wants to do it!

Most recent addition to my Vega/Ryder long fic:

“You mentioned rock climbing when we were talking a few days ago and asked Kara if she knew of any good climbing places. She said that this was a pretty good spot and I figured you might like it.” 

“You figured right.” Anna leaned towards James and gave him a slight kiss, hearing gravel crunch as someone else started walking towards them. “But what about gear? I didn’t see any when we got into the shuttle.” 

“He had me bring it.” Kara said, appearing next to them with a smile and unslung the rope from her shoulders. “I know it’s not your own gear, but I checked it out beforehand and it all looks sturdy. You can check it out as well if you want.” Sticking out a hand she continued, “It’s nice to finally meet you, well actually see you since the first time we met was outside that club in London.”

Anna shook Kara’s hand but didn’t return the smile, instead casting a pointed look at James while saying, “No offense but I didn’t know you were coming, what climbing experience have you had?” 

“Oh plenty; grew up in the Pacific Northwest and climbed most of the spots. Smith Rock, Mazama, and Vantage were some of my favorites. What about you?”

Anna recognized the ones that Kara mentioned as the most popular, and challenging, spots to sport and trad climb in Washington State. “I’ve been to Smith Rock and most of the places in Texas; E Rock and Comstock were my favorites. Plus a bunch of places out West.” 

James watched the exchange with a mixture of confusion at the names thrown out and knew that they were places but at the same time didn’t know how difficult they were. But the answers seemed to satisfy both Anna and Kara because they broke into grins, Anna relaxing her body a bit. Glad that whatever it was seemed to have been settled, pressing a hand against the small of Anna’s back he said, “Let's get the gear.”

[raccoon-in-a-dumpster]

So I got concerned for you and asked a nurse I know if she had any advice for you

She said that firstly, you ought to ask not to have that same nurse. If you don’t remember their name, they should have it on file who took care of you. Failing that, you’ll probably recognize them and can say it was them

And tell them that the nurse who saw you last time did a fucky wucky, what happened, and, if it’s still there, show them the bruise. You have rights as a patient.

This is my own advice for your personal comfort, but I’d absolutely recommend taking something you can use as a stress ball. Squeeze it in the opposite arm you’re getting your blood drawn from, because apparently flexing like that will make more iron come up in the blood draw? I have also heard that tensing up will make it hurt more so even if the iron thing is bullshit, there’s that.

seriously I’m 20 now and I still bring the stress ball if I have to get my blood drawn, or anything more serious than a flu shot. Like my bi-monthly med injections

Do whatever you gotta to make yourself more comfortable when you’re in there. Take some headphones and listen to music? A favorite plush for a stress ball? Think about William Afton being a whiny little bitch about getting his blood drawn?

I’m mostly kidding on that last one, but if you think being able to laugh at something will help, you can ask whoever’s there with you for distractions.

Ik you didn’t really ask for advice but like I said I got concerned jfjdjdh

the nurse I asked was my grandmother and when I told her your nurse pushed the needle in deeper she made a face like ‘oh my GOD tell me they didn’t holy shit’

BWAH yeah i might, idk.

also i can confirm she DID and iwas like: huh ok. and then i died

im usually super good w/ getting my blood stolen, i kinda just look at my phone and sometimes look at the blood going thru the tube (at the place i go to often,) but a mix of not having dranken water beforehand & the person maybe being inexperienced (judging on the whole needle thing) probably wasn't the best combo lol

also, it hasn't bruised (yet), still aches, but im going back there monday

OH BUT ON A GOOD NOTE!!! I SHOULD BE GETTING MY RADIOLOGY RESULTS BACK!!! we're gonna see how fucked up and evil my bones are

[roosterbox]

Stripper Steve/Writer Eddie

Inspired by my results from a NSFW generator tweet, lol. This is just a brainstorming session, mainly so I can put SOMETHING in my WIP folder for this idea.

Said results were: Stripper Steve, Writer Eddie, At a Gay Bar, Size Kink. Simple enough. It could be either a smutty PWP one-shot, or a smutty epic romance. I could see it going either way, but I never met a story I couldn’t spice up by adding romantic clichés.

So Writer!Eddie meets Stripper!Steve at a gay bar. Sparks fly, as they often do. Eddie has a bit of a size kink, and loves how strong and muscular Steve is compared to him. They talk a little bit about their respective professions (especially Steve, who wants to nip any anti-sex work or anti-stripper bias Eddie may have in the bud as quick as possible. He’s been slut-shamed about it way too many times to count; Eddie’s cool with it), and decide to head back to Eddie’s place to have sex. Turns out Eddie has a huge dick, and Steve has a size kink too.

[if this was a PWP one-shot, this is where it would end. But I love to complicate things, lol, and so it continues…]

Initially, the plan is just for a one night stand, but of course, this is Steddie, and they can’t get enough of each other. They start meeting up semi-regularly. And it’s not just sex either. Sometimes they have dinner beforehand. Sometimes one of them spends the night and stays for breakfast. It doesn’t take long for them to develop, ugh, FEELINGS. Eddie, who’s been in a bit of a creative dry spell lately, finds himself able to write again. Sometimes he’ll even read Steve a few passages from his novel in progress (Steve, who is semi-dozing beside him in bed, is only half-listening, but tells him it sounds good).

But eventually, because romance story cliché, some wires get crossed. Maybe Steve realizes he’s catching feelings (caught feelings, really - these boys are down BAD), and breaks things off. Maybe they both say hurtful things they don’t mean. It’s easy to be hurt when you’ve fallen so hard.

Some time later (idk, a year? Don’t press me for details, I’m spitballing here, lol), Eddie’s book comes out. Bestseller, naturally. It’s not specifically a love story, but the love is practically dripping off every page (not like that, ya nasty). It’s textual, but also abstract and symbolic. It’s painfully obvious to anyone who reads it that Eddie was in love, but it didn’t work out. Someone (Robin? Yeah, Robin) lends Steve the book and tells him to read it. Because she is wise and knows all. He does, and is incredibly touched and emotional about it. Because even though people have been teasing him for being “just a pretty face” his whole life (which he’s not of course), even Steve can read between the lines. In fact, he even recognizes a few lines in the book from Eddie reading them to him in bed. Said lines are essentially a love confession. And Steve realizes that even though he might have fucked up worse than anyone has ever fucked up in their life, he needs to see Eddie again. Even if Eddie ends up slamming the door in his face, which he’d deserve, he must.

At Eddie’s place, Eddie doesn’t immediately slam the door, but it’s a near thing. Steve starts off by telling him he read the book. That it was amazing. Talks about the symbolism. Talks about how much he related to the main characters (especially the one obviously based on himself). He’s rambling, a bit nervous and awkward, but it eventually becomes him talking about his own feelings. Getting a bit worked up. There may be a heartfelt apology in there somewhere. He’s essentially baring his entire heart and soul right there on Eddie’s doorstep.

Eddie, for his part, is cold to Steve at first. Which is understandable - he got his heart broken, after all. But the more Steve rambles, the softer Eddie gets, until he can feel tears pricking at his eyes.

“Um,” Steve says, finally losing steam after god knows how long, “well. That’s it I guess. Sorry to just show up here. I’ll let you get back to what you’re doing. I’ll see you around…” That last bit said with the air of ‘I know we’ll probably never see each other again.’

He turns to leave, already planning to head to Robin’s place to raid her ice cream freezer and cry, but before he gets even once step, Eddie grabs him. Pulls him inside. Shuts the door. Practically shoves him against it. He’s surprisingly strong for how skinny he is, as Steve had found out early in their…interactions.

“Steven Middle Name Harrington,” he growls, but he’s smiling. “You are, without a doubt, the single most insufferable human being I have ever met in my life. You leave your dirty socks on the floor, you let dishes sit for too long, your hair clogs the drain more than mine - which, how is that even possible? You have more beauty products than a cosmetics department, you snore like a lumberjack, and you can barely cook anything more advanced than instant ramen. And-“ he pauses. Steve winces; he’s torn because Eddie’s words sound angry, but he’s still smiling? Was that a tear? “And I love you so much it’s made me stupid because here I am, with you in my house again, in my arms, and all I want to do is kiss you silly.”

Steve smiles, letting his tears fall freely now. They both are. He reaches over to cup Eddie’s face in his hands.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” he tries to tease, but to Eddie it sounds more like “I love you too.”

The kiss feels like coming home. A very wet and salty coming home perhaps, but a homecoming nonetheless.

[pinkhairandpokemon]

(( blog has been archived but i'm keeping the old pinned post up ))

Introduction Post

————

I’M A BAD BITCH YOU CAN’T KILL ME!

hiya! name's Blake. you might recognize me, you might not. rotomblr is confusing with all the multiverse stuff. basically, I'm an ex-champion who's kinda just doing my own thing now. saved the world a few times. met a few gods. y'know, the usual. I even died once! technically. oh, and I’m a university student at Blueberry Academy! mostly here to post about my Pokémon- but my friends Hop and Auberi have access to this blog too, so you might see them on here occasionally.

also!! I have a wonderful partner here’s his blog: @thunderblessedhero I love him sm

that's pretty much all you need to know, I think! signing out!

-Blake

———

Auberi Bellerose- 21, they/them, demisexual/greyromantic

Hop Laventon- 20, he/him, asexual/biromantic

Blake- 21, they/them, pansexual/demiromantic

————

Current Arc: Frozen Over (ON PAUSE)

Mini Arc:

Summary:

———

OOC:

Pelipper Mail/Variants: ON (ex. Pelipper Malice, Musharna Mail, etc.)

Union Circle: ON (for short visits, it’s fine, but if it’ll be a lengthier visit to Blake’s universe I would like to discuss beforehand)

Magic Anons: ON (within reason, nothing permanent)

other rp blogs: @thunderblessedhero @partnersintime @scarlet-rider @pokehorsegirl @bisharpenjoyer @coolguyhilbert @keldeochamp1on @weirdcelebi @sapphireseafarer @justanothercastelian @winged-golden-wanderer @sword-reborn

Warnings: mentions of past trauma will be brought up occasionally on this blog, and will be tagged accordingly. mod is also an adult, so there could potentially be suggestive content from time to time- but I’ll try to avoid anything explicit.

Boundaries: not super strict rules on who can interact! eebies, legendaries, sapient ‘mons, etc. I might be a little more iffy towards crossover blogs, I’m sorry ;w; nothing wrong with them, it’s just a personal boundary of mine. I’ll try to make a post as some point elaborating further

flirty and/or suggestive interactions from adult muses WITH adult muns are fine towards Blake and Auberi. I do not feel comfortable with anyone attempting those kinds of interactions with Hop. and while flirting is fine, I would prefer if you got in touch with me and asked for my thoughts before having your character pursue any kind of romantic relationship with them.

also, in character hate is allowed! just yknow, don’t go too overboard with it.

Info about my OC:

basically Blake is my protag in several pkmn games, specifically SW/SH, X/Y, and B/W! the timeline of those games’ stories are in that specific order in my OCverse. (Pretty much any semblance of a canon timeline in the games is destroyed in my OCverse, except for any games w/ sequels like Gen1/Gen2 or BW/BW2. I’ll probably put together a proper timeline eventually, but essentially it’s just in the order I played all the games. Rn that order is FRLG -> HGSS -> SM -> ORAS -> SWSH -> XY -> DPPT/BDSP -> BW -> PLA -> SV -> BW2)

Bio: Blake was born in Nuvema Town, where they lived until they were around seven before moving to Aspertia City. They lived there until they were about thirteen, before moving to Postwick in the Galar region with their mother. There, they met one of their best friends, Hop. At the time, Blake was super closed off and shy, as their social anxiety made making friends difficult. The only one they’ve ever really let their guard down with was Hop. Watching Leon’s matches on TV with Hop was what inspired them to become a trainer, though for many years they didn’t actually think it’d be possible for them- considering they came from a family who didn’t really like Pokemon, therefore they had nowhere near as much experience with them like Hop did. They feared their social anxiety would get in the way, too.

Once they were 16, they unexpectedly got their first Pokemon from Leon- a Sobble named Kappa. After getting endorsed by Leon and some encouragement from Hop, they agreed to sign up for the Gym Challenge. They had a rocky start- losing battles pretty frequently was putting a huge dent in their already low self-esteem, and it was impacting Kappa as well. But over time they learned the ropes of being a trainer and was quickly becoming a rising star amongst the Gym Challengers. They went on to stop the Darkest Day along with Hop, catch Eternatus, become champion, and earn the trust of Zacian.

During their reign as champion, they trained at the Isle of Armor and explored the Crown Tundra. These small adventures slowly helped them realize just how much pressure their title was putting on them- and finally caused them to slip up during the final match of the next year’s Gym Challenge.

After losing their title, they decided to look for a new path- which lead them to Kalos, where they helped in putting a stop to Team Flare’s plan and caught Yveltal, and eventually back to Unova, where they fought against Team Plasma alongside Reshiram. Following the defeat of Plasma, they’ve enrolled as a college student at Blueberry Academy- and have done quite a lot in the past two years, such as visiting the Paldea region and catching more Pokémon. Now, they’ve returned to Unova, and are resting after having helped in the fight against Kyurem.

Blake is also the main character in my comics, Adventures in Kalos (on my instagram @/xgolden_latiasx) and Unova Fates (on Tumblr, insta, and webtoon). this blog will probably contain spoilers for those comics!

their ref:

More rules/info/explanations/etc.:

all three of these characters are friends with multiple legendaries, so if they seem overpowered to you… sorry? I’m just having fun over here. they don’t really use any of them for battle that often, though they might threaten to sic their legendary on someone as a joke (but they won’t actually). but as of right now the only legendary that’s actively with the group is Reshiram, he’s the only one who’ll get involved in whatever shenanigans/event the gang finds themselves in. (Unless I’m participating in an event from another person and they say they don’t want Reshiram involved.)

I’m relatively willing to join in on high stakes stuff as long as I feel up to it, but please ask me first if you want one of my characters to actively participate somehow.

also, this blog runs with the idea that Rotomblr is a weird site that links other universes together. So for example say if… Kalos is blowing up or something on another person’s blog and someone tries to get Auberi involved, I’m just going to say it’s happening in a different universe. Or if a different SWSH/XY/BW/PLA protag character tries to interact.

please please please also understand that I have realllllly bad social anxiety and awkwardness. I apologize if it takes me a while to respond to something, or if my replies seem short and uninterested (I promise I’m interested in the conversation I’m just bad at words). or long and ramble-y. please tell me to shut the fuck up if you need me to

Past arcs/plot lines:

#Storyline: Haunting Regrets (Explanation of Auberi’s past)

#Story Event: The Calm Before The Storm (Set up for a future arc that. got retconned)

#Story Arc: The Press Conference (This arc was discontinued, but I didn’t really feel like going back and deleting all the tags so it IS still canon but nothing important happened.)

#Typing Through Time (Mini event where a pair of mysterious siblings, supposedly from the future, take over the blog to document their search for a special Celebi.)

#Interlude Arc (BW2 event.)

#PB Takeover (Takeover of a version of Blake that joined Team Plasma.)

#Summer Camp Arc (BBA Summer Camp)

#MMM: Mystery Dunegon! (Mystery Dungeon AU Takeover)

List of everyone’s Pokémon (will probs be updated frequently):

Blake:

-Kappa (M Inteleon)

-Go-Go (F Coalossal)

-Venom (M Toxtricity)

-Charlie (M Boltund)

-Jeanne (F Corviknight)

-Lancelot (M Sirfetch’d)

-Athena (F Urshifu)

-Tulip (F Venusaur)

-Lizzie (F Charizard)

-Tater (F Flapple)

-Potato (M Galarian Slowpoke)

-Audun (M Flygon)

-Zuzu (F Dragapult)

-Azi (F Dreepy)

-Shiverbolt (Arctozolt)

-Alto (M Grookey)

-Oran (M Munchlax)

-Fwoofy (Cosmog)

-Stormy (M Sobble)

-Dewdrop (M Sobble)

-Nessa Jr. (F Sobble)

-Bubble (M Sobble)

-Neptune (F Sobble)

-Zacian

-Eternatus

-Red (M Delphox)

-Stardust (M Meowstic)

-Ryu (M Lucario)

-Flick (F Vivillon)

-Verde (M Venusaur)

-Basil (M Sylveon)

-Granite (M Tyrantrum)

-Snooze (M Snorlax)

-Yveltal

-King (F Serperior)

-Cordelia (F Simipour)

-Beau (M Swoobat)

-Lumiere (F Chandelure)

-Kilobyte (M Eelektross)

-Phaedra (F Krookodile)

-Toothless (M Deino)

-Scylla (F Druddigon)

-Stormchase (F Swellow)

-Larkspur (M Venipede)

-Reshiram

-Chip (F Pawmot)

-Tiny (M Braviary)

-Salad (F Floragato)

-Cranberry (F Flareon)

-Pecha (F Grookey X Fomantis hybrid)

-Dart (F Cyclizar)

-Mantis (F Slither Wing)

-Hermes (M Corvisquire x Galarian Zapdos hybrid)

-Odin (M Corvisquire x Galarian Articuno hybrid)

-Vulcan (F Corvisquire x Galarian Moltres hybrid)

-Spark (M Galvantula ✨)

-VIOLENCE (F Scream Tail)

-Galahad (M Skarmory)

-Snart (F UD Archen)

-Titanium (F Revaroom)

-Goober (M Scovillain)

-Banana (F Latias ✨)

-Fluffernutter (M Totodile)

Hop:

-Cloudy (M Dubwool)

-Flint (M Cinderace)

-Percival (M Corviknight)

-Rumble (M Snorlax)

-Needle (F Pinchurin)

-Jasper (M Silicobra)

-Thor (F Boltund)

-Whisperwood (F Trevenant)

-Summer (F Heatmor)

-Watts (M Toxel)

-Crest (M Cramorant)

-Zamazenta

-Galarian Zapdos

-Mango (F Squawkabilly)

-Arlo (M Quaxly)

-Deedee (F Gardevoir x Whimsicott hybrid)

-Carrot (M Tatsugiri)

-Lumi (F Joltik)

-Koda (M Inteleon)

-Dusk (M Mightyena)

-Flurry (F Cetitan)

Auberi:

-Korrin (M Greninja)

-Calypso (F Meowstic)

-Blaise (M Charizard)

-Glacé (F Aurorus)

-Cantrelle (F Noivern)

-Reaper (F Absol)

-Estelle (F Flareon)

-Sunrise (F Talonflame)

-Chester (M Chespin)

-Ignis (M Hisuian Typhlosion)

-Blanche (F Hisuian Zoroark)

-Aries (M Paldean Tauros, Blaze Breed)

-Spitfire (M Skeledirge)

-Anne Bonny (F Kilowattrel ✨)

-Voltaire (M Joltik)

-Fondue (F Fidough)

-Arceus

-Rouge (M Hisuian Zorua)

-Anastasie (F Hisuian Zorua ✨)

(A note: These aren’t necessarily all Pokémon that are registered to them. Most of the legendaries, for example, are just ‘mons they’re able to call upon or are associated with)

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork and Reine Stewart, (in photo 4 with baby Hallie); photos 2 & 3 by Henry Diltz, photo 4 by Nurit Wilde.

A long read, taking a look at Peter from circa 1969 to 1980, with very frank reflections by Peter from the early ‘80s through to 2009.

“[After the end of The Monkees] Tork found out he'd paid half again what his house was worth, so he wouldn't have been able to get back his initial investment, even had he sold it. For a while he leased it to Stephen Stills, who’d gotten over the rejection of not being selected as a Monkee by becoming a superstar on his own, first with Buffalo Springfield, then in a trio with David Crosby and Graham Nash. Tork and his girl friend [Reine Stewart], who was then pregnant, went back East with the idea of becoming organic farmers. Late in 1969 Stills moved out, with a few months of rent paid up, so Tork and his girl friend returned to finish out the decade. ‘We were there for a few months, but it was much less comfortable. Then a fellow came in and took it over, a would-be-guru type, who ran a colony there. When he quit paying the rent, it was foreclosed.’ Next they moved into a house in Beverly Glen owned by David Crosby. Tork's daughter [Hallie] was born there in January 1970. ‘We stayed there for a while, and I became involved with another woman, and my girlfriend and I broke up,’ he said. [...] One lesson, well learned only recently, has put Tork off alcohol since 1980. ‘I was able to change my course as early as I did, relative to some of the stories I've heard, because of my dabblings in Eastern philosophy,’ he said. ‘Because of that spiritual experience I had beforehand on acid (which has since been validated and expanded) and because of a few experiences in community, I've been allowed to recognize that what I really did want to  find on a day-by-day basis was spiritual surrender. Now I am not in charge, not in the sense that somebody else is in charge, but in the sense that what is in charge is larger than I can know by myself, but I have to trust it. ‘I can't ascribe my alcoholism to fame,’ he went on. ‘I can more easily do it the other way around. One of the things about alcoholics, to the extent that I've been able to make any observations, is that we are either above the crowd or below it – or both at the same time. The reason you shoot to be above is because you feel below, and the reason you feel below is because you're not part of, never one of the guys. You envy the people who seem to have a certain contentment. The character makeup that sent me into pop stardom is the same character makeup that sought to anesthetize myself with chemistry. I found that it was not until I put all of that chemistry behind me that I began to get back in touch with my place in the human scheme of things.’” - When The Music Mattered (1984)

Peter Tork: “Yeah, I was a serious substance abuser, I abused some serious substances – and they abused me in return, it was only fair. But I’d like to report now, for the sake of all those who care, that I haven’t abused a single substance in a long time. I’m actually, I’m very happy about it, although I have to say that it has nothing to do with willpower or, you know, strength of character or any of that kind of thing, which a lot of people talk about. It was just surrender, it was just giving up.” Q: “And it was expensive.” PT: “No. It was beer.” Q: “Oh. All right.” PT: “Drank too much beer.” - The Rik Turner Show, January 1994

Peter Tork: “There never was a time I couldn’t drink. My parents let me drink wine if I wanted with dinner, or a sip of cocktails or a bit of beer, nobody ever cared, and I never got too deeply into it when I was young. But it’s pretty clear that everybody’s… that alcoholics have a curve to their disease, to their syndrome, that is basically not affected by life or by anything else, just it’s genetic, it’s in their bones. And I guess my curve hadn’t taken over me, it didn’t… I didn’t even notice I was in trouble until my late thirties. One or two friends of mine knew I was in trouble before that, but not many. [It appears there’s a genetic history] My father died at 86, you know. It’s hard to say that he died of alcoholism, because alcoholics at best die in their sixties, or early sixties, you know, most alcoholics who can survive, who don’t die of anything else, who just die of the organic damage alcohol does to them, die in their sixties. So it’s hard to say, you know. But I think the best teller of the disease; well, there’s two good tells, I think. One of them is: do you drink when it’s against your better interest to do so, and when the information is there that lets you know that it is. And the other is: personality changes, you know. And I used to see my father with personality changes. My mom drank like a fish, but she may not have been an alcoholic, it’s hard to know. But almost certainly my father was. And that’s the only genetic information I have.” (x) [...] Q: “Did anybody approach you, and say, say, 'Peter, man, what are you doing?'” PT: “Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.” Q: “Wow.” PT: “Because I never... because my... listen, I have a very high-bottom story, really. You know, I would get drunk and behave badly one night, and it wouldn’t happen again for months and months and months. And everybody thought, oh, well, Peter’s just, you know, he’s just had a few too many. And it didn’t happen all the time, and, you know, like the man says, you know, 'I didn’t get into trouble every time I picked up a drink; every time I got into trouble, I’d been drinking.' But if your bouts of trouble are months and months apart, as they were with me, nobody notices the pattern until you come back and say, ‘I’m not drinking anymore,’ and they go, ‘Oh, well, that explains such and such,’ you know. A lot of my friends who weren’t drinking noticed sort of more in hindsight. ‘Oh, yeah, now that you tell me this, now that makes more sense than it did before,’ some event in their memories suddenly makes more sense, and that kind of thing. But, so nobody said to me, ‘Peter, Peter, you’re playing in traffic, and you’re going to get hit.’ [...] In my view, one of the things about my being an alcoholic is that it did keep me from applying the kind of concentration that let me be as good a musician as I want to be. In other words, it’s like every so often I would pick up a new instrument, and so if I could only play many fewer instruments and play them all all commensurately better, I think I’d be a happier musician today. [...] I picked up the trumpet the other day. [...] I really would rather concentrate on the things I can do somewhat well rather than waste time doing things I can’t do at all well.” - Take 12 Recovery Radio, (late?) 2000s

“The bottom came for me in June, 1980. Then I managed to quit drinking. The following January I had my last toke of grass and last toot of snow. Since then my career has been puttering along at a steady rate.” - Peter Tork, The Monkees Tale (1989)

“I was never inherently afraid of my situation. When I found myself [in the early 1970s] in a boardinghouse with my daughter [Hallie] in a room for twenty-five dollars a month, sleeping on a mat on the floor, I was not discouraged.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984)

“[In the mid-1970s] I went to Southern California and sort of assembled a family. My daughter [Hallie] from my previous marriage [to Reine Stewart] came to live with me and my woman [Barbara Iannoli], who I then married and had a son [Ivan] with." - Peter Tork, Goldmine, 1982

“[Hallie] says that she has a better relationship with me than any of her friends have with their fathers. It’s a good thing for us, and I hope that the others’ aren’t catastrophic. Because otherwise it means (laughs), otherwise it’s small praise.” - Peter Tork, WDBB, February 2006

“Somewhere along the line, it finally sunk in. Not only that I couldn’t drink safely, which I knew, but that there was no pretense, no way to pretend to you or me that there was a chance of a pretense of drinking safely. And somehow, that got through to me and I was able to turn and make some requests… and go find the help that I needed. [...] So I got a community. And with a community, who had been through ahead of me what it was I needed to go through, I was able to give up my will. So it was no longer a matter of, ‘Man, what willpower you’ve got, you haven’t had a drink in 28 years, how do you do it, man? If I had your willpower…’ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. It’s not having the willpower. It’s giving up the willpower. It’s surrendering, hopefully, to a dedicated community, for starters that — for me — a dedicated community that enabled me to begin the slow process of dealing with all the stuff that I drank about in the first place. Which is all the ways that I had, you know… because I felt like I was — I knew I was a runner-away, I’d run away all the time. And that made me a cheat. And since I knew I was a cheat, I cheated you. Vicious cycle. I cheat you, so… and then I run, and that makes me… and I know I’m a cheat, so it doesn’t matter whether I cheat, because that doesn’t change anything, so I cheat and I run, and I cheat and I run. Everything. Relationships. I was pretty good with cash register honesty, I learned that at my father’s knee. But almost every emotional honesty available to me was not available to me. And I — I’ll tell you the truth, folks, 28 years later, that emotional recovery, emotional honesty, the emotional — the honesty and depth is, right now, my biggest challenge. I ain’t got it yet. It is better than it ever was, and I’m beginning to — I feel like I’m rounding a corner. Of course, I’ve been feeling that for 28 years. But it feels like I’m getting better. And I know I am. The quality of my friendships is richer and deeper and stronger, my friends are more important in my life, and I’m more important in my friends’ lives. And I am able to hear when somebody says, ‘Is that exactly what you had in mind right there? Is that a perfectly honest…’ And I go, ‘Well, maybe not, I think I can probably do better than that,’ and work on it. In other words, because I have what I can rely upon, I am able to get better, and getting better enables me to stay sober, staying sober enables me to get better, and that cycle, which was a  vicious cycle before, is now a benign cycle, and it’s taking me to some really wonderful places.” - Peter Tork, Recovery Fest, 2009

[atkrnina]

memento mori (1)

So - I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole that is thirsting over (blue) Quaritch. This inspired me to start my own little story, including him of course! So far the plot revolves around Tiya, who is the youngest sister of Tsu’tey. Thanks to her own stubbornness and aim for revenge she gets taken by Quaritch and has to make some very hard decisions in order to see her people again. 

Important to mention would be that this story takes place during Avatar 2. There is also no trace of Spider in this story, since I couldn't figure out a way which made sense to fit him in here (sorry Spider! maybe next time!) 

This story will likely have more parts, but I am not sure about NSFW content yet :��)

English is not my native language, so I apologize beforehand for any mistakes.

(RecomQuaritch x FemaleNa’viOC)

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

Grief, pain, destruction. That's what the sky people brought along with them. When they attacked her home and destroyed it, she hadn't been old enough to fight yet. Though she'd been old enough to remember.

Tiya had lost her oldest brother to the war, as well as their parents. The sky people had taken so much from her. She grew up with hatred burning through her veins, anger flooding her body whenever she saw their buildings. the things they built, they felt cold. Detached from Pandora and ruining her home. The sky people brought death with them. Spoiling the ground they walked on.

She grew up to be a capable warrior, one that Tsu'tey would've been proud of. Fury burning bright within her, fueling her body to fight the sky people, when they returned again.

—

it was her rage, her own personal vendetta against the sky people, that brought her into this situation.

Neytiri was her teacher, her mentor. She meant a lot to Tiya. Of course she had come with her to safe her and the Olo'eyktan's children.

one alien laid dead beneath her, one of her arrows had ended their life. There were still more, aiming to stop the children from running.

Tiya was smart, and she was skilled. Whatever wanted to shoot, she hit. Her arrows came from behind the aliens. They cursed and took cover, while she skilfully climbed from tree to tree, always keeping her eyes on them.

Their language wasn't unknown to Tiya. Her english was good. To her it was the language of demons, she never utilized it. It were the remaining scientists that the Olo'eyktan had introduced to the people, who had taught it to her and a few other children

She heard Neytiri call for her children, as Tiya made sure they all got away alright.

"Is that you, Jake Sully? I recognize your call card!"

It was the alien just below where she hid on the tree, that specifically addressed Jake Sully. She didn't know who it was, but it didn't matter. Tiya hated the aliens all the same. His language and his voice made her blood boil. They looked like them, but in truth couldn't be further away from any Na'vi.

Silently she crouched down, using her tail to remain balanced, as shots tore through the night. Their bullets brought cruel death, so much she knew. Her arrow pierced the aliens chest, but not the one's who had spoken. It was the one who had suddenly shown up besides him.

She quickly got back on her feet, when she found the alien that had addressed Jake look into her direction.

"is that a friend of yours, Jake?"

Tiya knew he could only see schemes of her, the eyes of these aliens weren't as good as hers, because they weren't true born Na'vi. So she put her bow in her right hand and went to climb on another tree branch.

It was then that she heard shots being fired in her direction. The sound made her sensitive ears ring. Tiya pressed herself against one of the large trees, listening to the sounds of the aliens beneath her.

there were two, and she relied on Eywa to know which one should die first. The arrow was fired silently, leaving her opponent to chance to react.

The faith of the other alien and already been decided in her mind, putting the bow around her shoulders and grabbing her dagger as she jumped the alien from above, with a fierce battle cry that briefly startled it.

The alien grunted as she landed on him, her knife tearing through his strange clothes, cutting his skin. Tiya tried to reach his throat, but felt herself being grabbed by her arms and simply swung over him, ending up on the ground.

the Na'vi warrior rolled backwards until she had solid footing beneath her again. It was a matter of seconds that led to her deciding to withdraw herself from this conflict. The people needed her, now more than ever. She wouldn't die at the hands of an alien, Tsu'tey wouldn't want that for her, too. It was the sight of the aliens weapon, that added to her final decision.

She hissed fiercely at the alien, before running into the depths of the forest. Her feet carried her quickly and gracefully. She heard that she was being followed. Yet, the alien wasn't as graceful as her.

Then he shot. Tiya pinned her ears back, aiming to climb on another tree. When she felt a dull, pain and a warm, wet, sensation on the side of her thigh. A hiss left her throat.  As she attempted to jump to get herself to a branch, her right leg simply gave up on her.

A mix of fear and grim determination took ahold of her, when she saw the deep red blood running down her right leg, over her illuminated skin.

The alien had almost reached her, as she snuck behind the tree, putting one last arrow in her bow.

Tiya closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, before turning around to shoot the arrow at the alien. For once didn't care if she'd hit him or not.

"show yourself!"

His voice was like an intrusion, like it didn't belong in the forest. Which these aliens ultimately didn't.

"I know you are wounded, you'll never make it back in time,"

She put her hand against her chest, inhaling deeply, feeling the colorful necklace around her neck and chest, that she wore with so much pride. The loss of blood began to make her feel drowsy, but at least it seemed like the children had gotten away. So had Neytiri and Jake.

They mustve thought she had retreated with them, and would meet them later on. For a brief second, Tiya cursed herself and her stubbornness. If the aliens caught her, the clan would be disappointed.

"I will only ask once!"

The alien spoke strangely, in his demon tongue.

Tiya put her bow in her right hand and left her cover, stepping towards the alien. Where she found herself at the end of his weapon.

Both her ears were pinned back, her lips curled into a snarl. Two sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight. Large yellow eyes stared fiercely at the alien, not squinting the slightest bit while her face was distorted to a snarl.

He still saw it. The blood that ran over her blue skin. One of his bullets had at least grazed her, from the looks of it.

The warrior wasn't Jake. Or his woman. Or any of their children. But she had killed two of his marines.

She hissed at him, large yellow eyes burning with fiery rage, tail whipping aggressively. He saw the bow in her hand and scoffed quietly. The arrows reminding him of the not so pleasant memory that was his own death. In the slight bioluminescent lighting of the forest he saw the traditional loincloth that the Na'vi wore, and the colorful necklace that covered her chest and parts of her neck. Around her waist she carried a leather strap that held a dagger.

From what he guessed, this one was definitively a warrior. A young woman, at that. Maybe in close affiliation to Sully.

Her frame was still impressive to say the least. The way her eyes and her body showed no sign of pain or fear, how she snarled at him, reminding him more of an animal than a woman.

Not impressive enough to last one narcotic arrow that was well placed at her lower back, shot by another one of his people.

Tiya gasped and ripped the foreign object immediately from her back, staring at it, before throwing it on the ground. Her ears moved nervously, as she reached for the dagger around her waist, seeking retaliation.

Yet no amount of rage could withstand the strong narcotics. Colonel Miles Quaritch knew that. Not even a well-trained, young and healthy Na'vi could withstand a dose like that.

Under the wary eyes of multiple aliens she collapsed to the ground.

[vincess-princess]

the wild, the wayward and the wicked

Chapter 3

Word count: 2720 Warnings: there is a mention of a potentially triggering subject, but I don't want to reveal it beforehand. i will put the warning in the tags so you can look there if you wish.

“So you want the hunted to become the hunters?” Mick tilted his head. “That’d be one hell of a plot twist.”

“I’ve been saying!” Tommy beamed. “They’d expect a robbery or a theft from us but definitely not this!”

“You ain’t the first to hit upon this idea,” Mick tempered his enthusiasm. “Law-abiding citizens don’t usually possess the experience of hunting down people, y’know. It’s that the price on our heads is much higher than that for this fellow, yet it’s us who intend to bring him to justice. The irony!” he chuckled and took a drag from his cigar. A thin layer of smoke drifted in spirals below the ceiling.

“Are you saying it’s a bad idea?” Tommy’s face fell, to Nikki’s delight. The kid hadn’t yet learned to discern Mick’s attitude from his impenetrable expressions. To be fair, it took Nikki much longer and through a great deal of trial and error, but it didn’t mean he was going to make it any easier for the kid.

Mick gave him a long, tired look.

“I’m saying it’s a horrible idea. Do you understand how much danger we’d put ourselves in? We are practically handing the law a four-in-one package on our own volition. No self-respecting outlaw with a lick of common sense would ever do this.”

Tommy looked like Mick just killed his puppy in front of him. Nikki would even feel sorry for him if he didn’t know Mick well enough.  

“You’re right – nobody will believe we’re that crazy,” Mick continued. “Which is why that’s exactly what we are gonna do. Cops will be looking for us among the criminals, not those who turn them in. And the best place to hide is in plain sight.”

Tommy beamed, his eyes lighting up. He sat upright proudly and shot Nikki a triumphant look. Nikki replied with a condescending grin. He knew precisely what Mick would say, but wanted to keep the kid on his toes.

The vodka kicked in and coated everything in gentle haze that diluted the blinding contrasts of life into fluid, smooth color shifts. The sharp edges of his mind that pierced him on the inside softened, and the mood swings evened out. The messy, fragmented thought process was a downside, but not critical.

“They might not look for us on purpose,” Nikki spoke up finally. He knew how Mick would react, but that didn’t mean he agreed with him. “But they ain’t all gonna go blind all of a sudden. Suppose we catch the guy. We bring him to town. And then what – just show up at the sheriff? Our faces are on every town pole – you really think he won’t recognize us?”

“You and Mick – yes. But I’m not yet as famous,” Tommy sighed with feigned envy. “They ain’t got my photographs yet, right? I haven’t been arrested before.”

“They saw you when we were skedaddling from the mayor’s house,” Nikki reminded. “Cops know about you now, and all the police offices probably already have your description.”

“It was two weeks ago,” Tommy jerked his shoulder flippantly. “They’ve already forgot what I look like. But if you are so sca-“ Nikki frowned, “I mean, worried, I can cut my hair. And grow a goatee.”

Nikki ruthlessly dismissed his offer of self-sacrifice. “Still too obvious. They’re gonna take you up just in case, as they often do, and how will we get you out then? Besides,” he taunted, “we’re gonna starve if we’re gonna wait for your goatee to grow out.”

“He’s right,” Mick intervened, effectively stifling Tommy’s attempt to protest. “Not about the goatee, but about everything else. No offence, kid, but do you really think they’ll believe that it was your fifteen-year-old stick-thin self that caught a dangerous criminal all by yourself? They’re bound to get suspicious. And it won’t be hard to dig up stuff on you once they are.”

“I’m eighteen!” Tommy jumped up, bubbling with indignation.

“You look like an adolescent,” Mick shot him down. “And behave like a toddler. No, none of us can show up at the station ourselves. We need outside help, and one that doesn’t know what we dragged ourselves into at that – our old friends won’t help us anymore, not for a price we’re able to offer. Any ideas?”

Gloomy silence hung over the cabin for a couple of minutes. The deeper one gets into the underground, the fewer friends from the world above they have. It’s neither strange nor overly hurtful: most want nothing to do with the dangers such a friendship entails, and one gains new, more useful friends quickly anyway. It’s only in situations like theirs that the downsides of it start manifesting.

Finally, Nikki broke the silence.

“I know a guy,” he said slowly. “We used to do coke together back in the day. He never really got out of it…”

“Neither did you,” Tommy murmured.

 “…so he could use some money,” Nikki continued, graciously ignoring him. “He’s a big guy, pretty intimidating, should look convincing enough. Of course, he’s got that cocaine wear and tear, but…”

“How do you know he won’t turn us in?” Mick questioned.

Nikki shrugged. “I don’t. But we used to be pretty good buddies…”

“That’s not a guarantee.”

“…and I’ll just tell him I’ll kill him if he rats us out.”

“And make the psycho face!” Tommy clapped his hands gleefully.

Nikki rolled his eyes, but did stretch his lips into his signature grin, a little bit too toothy and broad for comfort; together with wide, unblinking eyes it gave its witnesses unforgettable memories. As much as Tommy tried to replicate it, he never managed it quite right: his looked more like the face of a village idiot. He didn’t get too upset over it, though; “village idiot” was his brand, and a damn convincing one at that.

“Yes!” Tommy laughed. Mick pressed his lips together tightly and looked away, and the grin on Nikki’s face quickly faded. Mick always told Tommy to “stop encouraging it” when he thought Nikki couldn’t hear, and Tommy always promised and then asked Nikki to pull the face again once the old man was out of sight. He was smarter than the two of them combined, but still just a human that could sometimes get hung up on trifles like this.

“So,” Mick said loudly, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the shaky ground, “and how much do you think he’ll ask for?”

“Fifty dollars should be enough. It’ll keep him busy for a month at least. And junkies don’t look that much farther into their future.”

“That we can spare,” Mick nodded. “You’re not much of a negotiator – don’t get pissy, that’s true - so I’d make this a starting rate. But don’t offer more than twice of that. You can’t let him know how much money really is in the game – the more money, the higher the stakes, and the higher the stakes, the bolder people get.”

“Do I have to do it?” Nikki winced. “I really doubt I could pull it off better than you.”

“Yeah? How long do you think it’ll take him to figure out that ratting on us will be much more profitable than helping us? Your friendship is a key factor here. He knows you, he’d be much more inclined to help you than some random man.”

“That makes sense,” Nikki sighed. “But if I fuck it up, don’t blame me. I warned you.”

“Don’t fuck it up then,” Mick cut him off harshly. “We don’t get this guy to do it, we’ll have to shell out considerably, and we can’t afford that. You think five grand are a fortune? Well, just you see how quick they run out just on food and lodging in Nevada. And it ain’t gonna be a luxurious vacation either, mind you. It will be enough to get us back on our feet only if we spend it wisely.”

“We going to Nevada? It’s a shithole,” Tommy pursed his lips. A very dumb move, as far as Nikki was concerned, but his opinion was firmly on the last line of a long list of fucks that Tommy didn’t give. “There ain’t a single big city there where we could practice our business. It’s a fucking desert! What are we gonna do there? Mine silver?”

“Where there’s silver, there’s always money,” Nikki said hastily to let Mick, who looked outright murderous, collect himself and reconsider strangling Tommy right there and then, however appealing it seemed to both. “Nobody’s gonna force you into the mines, T-bone… although that might do you good. That silver ain’t sitting there on one spot, y’know. It’s gotta move in some way, and Nevada doesn’t have a railroad. All the money goes in stages and freights. You see where I’m going?”

Tommy didn’t look particularly overjoyed, unknowingly yet successfully sabotaging Nikki’s efforts to keep him alive till the end of the conversation. “Yeah, I see that we’re gonna become simple highwaymen,”

“It’s either that or the gallows,” Mick reminded him, his voice on the verge of a yell. “Chain gang, in your case. Big cities are a no-go for us now, at least for a few months.”

“He just doesn’t wanna learn to shoot properly,” Nikki scoffed. The best way to distract Tommy from complaining about something was to make him sore about something else. “Scared of getting his hands dirty. Lifting is child’s play, of course he wants to stick to it.”

“Hey, that’s bullshit!” Even in the dim light of two candles and Mick’s cigar butt Nikki could see Tommy’s ears redden. “I can shoot just fine! I just let you do it because you clearly get the kick out of it.”

“Oh yes, you’re always hiding behind my back solely for my sake!”

“At least that way you can’t shoot me with your withdrawal-shaking hands!”

“That’s enough.”

Mick never raised his voice, but it always cut through Tommy’s and Nikki’s arguments like a knife through butter, no matter how heated they were. For a while they wallowed in silence so thick it clogged every orifice on Nikki’s body, suffocating him.

Finally Mick spoke, and the acridity of his voice made the silence seem sweet as a chocolate pudding.

“We’re smack in the middle of a city teeming with cops on our tails, trying to figure how to play out our only opportunity to save our asses,” he began, every word a spear, “and you decide it’s the ideal time to drag out each other’s dirty linen and wave it before my eyes. You two seem to not understand what dire straits we got ourselves into, and that’s outright dangerous. If you behave like this now, how can I be sure you won’t start a petty fight at a critical moment?”

“How can you be sure he won’t pee his pants and bolt at the sight of a gun?” Nikki demanded, still riding the high of his rage.

“How can you be sure he won’t wander off spaced out on coke?” Tommy followed, his ears somehow even redder than before.

Under Mick’s heavy gaze both felt their determination cave in, but then came a sudden and much more unnerving change of tune: he chuckled, leaned back onto his chair and put his feet up onto the coffee table. “Well,” he said almost merrily, “you said it, not me. Looks like I have to look for more reliable mates.”

Nikki’s rage that seemed so sturdy underneath him shattered like fine china, hurling him downwards towards the ground.

“What?!” he and Tommy exhaled in unison.

“You’re no good to me if you only see each other’s weaknesses,” Mick readily explained. “You won’t trust someone without any redeemable qualities with your life, will you?”

“But we’d never-” Tommy began, but Mick callously brushed him off.

“How can I know that you’re not saying stuff like this about me behind my back?” He took a slow drag from his cigar, as if purposefully stretching the dispirited silence. “You’re already shitting all over each other in my presence. My turn might come quicker than we all expect.”

This was when Nikki finally crashed into the ground, leaving him aghast and breathless. Tommy also didn’t fare all too well, all color gone from his face and at a loss for words, which was never the case with him. The cigar tip once again looked tempting.

Mick was waiting for an answer rather patiently, but Nikki couldn’t suppress a feeling that he would get up and walk out the door at any second. He hurried to herd his jumbled emotions together so he could formulate a coherent answer.

“Sorry,” he finally said, pushing words out with effort. “I never thought of it this way. We always bicker like that, you know.”

“And it has always been unnecessary,” Mick said sharply, “but now it may be outright deadly. We’re facing a very rough patch, Nikki. If we want to make it out in one piece, we have to change our ways.”

“I understand. Sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Tommy, who up until now was engrossed in studying a cobweb in the corner of the ceiling, also chimed in.

“I hope so,” Mick finished the cigar with one drawn-out drag and dropped the butt into the ashtray. “Think it over very thoroughly tonight, both of you. You won’t have time for that anymore starting tomorrow – it’s gonna be busy if we want to get going the next night. With that bounty, there’ll be lots of aspirants for this guy’s head, so we’ve got to hurry.”

“Got it, boss.” Nikki rose from his chair on unsteady legs and headed to another room, dragging Tommy with him. “We’re gonna hit the hay then. You be staying up much longer?”

“Need to think some more.”

“Alright. Night, then.”

“Sleep well. We might not get another chance in the nearest future.”

Nikki and Tommy quietly closed the door behind them and curled up on their sleeping mats. For a while the only sound in the room was their breathing.

“Hey, bitch.” Nikki finally said. “Shooting ain’t that scary once you get the gist of it. We could practice a bit once this is over.”

“I’m not scared of it!” Tommy protested in a fierce whisper. “I just don’t want to do it when it’s not needed.”

“Then you gotta pick a different walk of life. You can’t do without a gun here.”

“I know, I know…” Tommy heaved a sigh, turned over on his mat and fell silent. But soon a suspicious rustle came from his direction, and Nikki opened his eyes just in time to see the little bastard shove his hand under his blanket, and then – the sound of skin rubbing against the fabric. Now? Seriously?!

“Don’t you fucking dare-“

“Oh god, relax! I’m just scratching an itch!” Tommy groaned. “I could be doing anything, why’s that the first thing that comes to your mind? That raises some questions about you, you know?”

“What questions?” Nikki pulled up the edge of his blanket defensively.

“For starters, is that really ladies you’re lacking?”

If Nikki’s freedom of movement hadn’t been limited by a blanket, Tommy would have gotten the shit kicked out of him there and then. Fortunately for the kid, it took Nikki long enough to throw the blanket away and roll over towards Tommy for him to free his arms as well. They struggled for a while, but it turned out swinging punches and pulling at each other’s hair while trying to stay quiet was no more productive than a catfight. Nikki and Tommy got so carried away that they barely managed to spot Mick’s shadow looming in the gap under the door, and only had a couple seconds to restore status quo. But it was far from their first time fighting behind his back, so when the door opened, letting in dim light and even thicker cigar smoke, they were already in the opposite corners of the pantry making not very convincing sleeping noises. Tommy was facing the wall to hide his split lip and Nikki wrapped himself in a blanket from head to toe to conceal a few missing strands of hair.

“Bastards,” Mick murmured. He got no reply, but they all knew the warning reached its destinations.

[you-will-return]

Hi 🤗, Real Violent Bob, Spiritual Masturbation and Simba for the BC ask game?

Hey Lena! Great to see you :D

Real Violent Bob (What is your nickname?)

I have several ones actually, though most people just call me Anna. Nicknames ranked by accuracy and affinity I have for them:

1. Wednesday (ngl used to hate that one as a kid but it does capture most aspects of my personality quite well)

2. Ännekind (my name + child? A solid effort, love to see it.)

3. Rat (merely here bc it shocked my primary school teacher when my uncle used it)

4. Anakin and Darling (feeling equally neutral about these. I don’t feel like Darth Vader, neither do I feel like someone’s darling. They meant well though)

Spiritual Masturbation (What is your guilty pleasure?)

If you’d asked me a few months ago, I would’ve said EDM but I think I’ve slowly started to erase the guilty part with that one.

Other than that I love cookie cutter romance movies/ novels. Especially the trope “young woman running away from life and meeting stand-offish rich guy in different country/ region”. I have like three books with that exact plot and I enjoy them all to bits. Depth? In these books? Never! They’re like cheap chocolate: not all too complex but hit the spot. (This is not to say that they’re badly written... most of the time... they are just so predictable that it’s almost funny which is not a bad thing, you just have to own it and they do)

Simba (Stupidest thing that has ever happened to you?)

Oh... OH. I’m bad at remembering things but I’ll tell you smth that is still pretty fresh in my memory.

For context: the story happened this year before the BC show in Dresden. I was VERY sleep deprived and had already been to the two other shows in Berlin and Hamburg beforehand.

So, the group I was with (all very lovely people, we played UNO) had decided to go to the nearby gas station for drinks and whatnot. For reasons, I had not been there when they had decided to go, so I had to jog after them (since I didn’t want to scream for them to wait in front of like 30-40 strangers). So I jog down this hill (imagine a 1,76 tall girl, who hasn’t gone running in like 5 years, in a BC shirt, shorts, black fishnets plus a chain necklace happily bopping along), and suddenly I jog past this guy and think “Huh, he looks familiar”, he also looks at me like he’s expecting me to know him. I do not know him. In that moment I only seem to recall that he is vaguely related to the BC show and that I’ve definitely seen him on stage at the other show. My conclusion: he has to be one of the roadies bc I love watching the roadies set up the stage.

Anyway, I catch up with the group and tell them that I ran into one of the roadies... I think. We go to the gas station.

Small time skip: OCEANS just got done playing (10/10, great guys, fun to talk to). And Lost Society are setting up the stage. Suddenly I see a familiar face: it’s the guy from earlier. So he has something to do with LS, great. Mystery solved. Almost.

I have pretty much forgotten about all of this by the time they start playing until: “Wait, he’s not a roadie?” (said to no one in particular)

And that’s the story of how I accidentally jogged past Mirko, without even recognizing him after already having seen him live TWICE and seeing him off-stage in Berlin + almost talking to him there.

My phone broke that evening and not recognizing Mirko is still the stupidest thing that happened to me that day.

Thank you so much for your ask!! And sorry for not getting to it earlier :(

Hope you have a great day and a happy new year!!

[handelplayssims]

t’s day 2 of the catch-up days. Kiara’s awake and has a little time before school starts...and she wants to be inspired. Welp. Let’s just do some pre-school yoga then. And now everyone heads off to school and work, and Kiara gains a liking for wellness. Ahp, and Santiago has to go to work as well. Sorry dude, would remember to wake you up and hour beforehand to get needs taken care of but forgot. At least it’s just food and bathroom, things fulfilled at work.

Kids are back from school and Kiara has gotten her B-grade again. Nice nice! Santiago also returned from work. His whim? To crush the dreams of a toddler! Very rude. We’ve invited a friend over as a part of Zayne’s coming home from school though sooooo, we’re holding off on that. Instead, it’s time to write! Oh wait, can’t do that. So instead I’m going to do something I’ve long been thinking about. I’m going to upgrade the bathroom plumbing. Toilet, sink, bathtub. They all need to break less often so we’ll work on that this evening. Meanwhile, Ashlynn is crashing right into bed. She had little sleep thanks to that bar night so she’ll need it.

Oh huh. Santiago has a tense moodlet from the visiting kid but not the one of his own. I guess that’s a way to ensure that he’ll not be tense all the time. Zayne asks Santiago for advice on becoming a ninja and...I still don’t get how getting a ninja outfit affects empathy. ...I really should take away that positive sentiment. Hey, Santiago! Time to be an annoying git towards your kid! There we go! Festering grudge! Good for me! So next is solving hard problems, aka homework time for Zayne and Kiara...wishes to get to know Zayne. Huh. Well, let’s work on her homework as well. Alongside Zayne! Again, I do find this cute, the two siblings getting along together in a sort of “we are suffering under our annoying parents” solidarity. Oh he yelled at her because he’s now mad thanks to his dad. Aww. I had them take moments to themselves, had Zayne play with the cat and then had him apologise to her. And then I had her send him to bed.

Aww. She’s being the fun mom in the midsts of their parents being bad. Aww. To bed with her. And then time for-

Neighborhood Watch!

Windenburg: The Keves Team moved out.

FAREWELL MY XENOBLADE TEAM! Farewell and may the hands of death avoid ye!

Emilia Lucas in the Lucas household is now a Freelance Programmer in the Freelance Programmer career.

Britechester: The Allen household moved out.

Well that’s consistent at least. Anyway, another day! And the next day! SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! It’s 3AM and Ashlynn has finally woken up from her slumber, in massive need of the restroom and food. And one of her whims is asking for snack! Ha! Well, I’d be more of a “eat ice cream” gal but the whim in particular is about quick meals. But hey, after some yogurt, we’ll go and make some! Kiara’s up and energized. Let’s make a high-energy protein plate for breakfast. Good way to start the day, with asparagus, eggs and beef! Meanwhile, Santiago and Ashlynn are flirting. Good for them! And they had a -ahem- time before work. So now it’s just casual hang out before work begins. Hopefully it doesn’t break today and if it does, I do have saves. So let’s go on patrol.

We’re at Evergreen Harbor today at the apartments. Hooooo boy. At least it isn’t storming like last time. Because I mostly blame the crash on the stormy weather and staying out overtime. And we got some fights not long after settling in! Yes! Good! And no crashing! Woooooo! We’re in the clear! Next stage is catching a criminal! When we initially loaded in, we got info on clues for who committed the previous crime. Now it’s a matter of catching them.

So materialistic male. Got it! We got Jing Fen the professor and Karter Cain, former maid! Ohohohoho. I can just check the wiki for Jing’s info to help narrow this down! But I better do this properly. All of the men around here have long-sleeved shirts and slacks. Annnd there we go. It’s the teen I didn’t recognize. Got the materialistic trait off of him. Hooray! We ruined a teen’s life with a criminal record! Yaaay! Now we just get to hang out at the station.

Okay, you I understand a little bit more than Mio. Still disappointed in you Lanz. Anyway, time for that pre-made BLT. And then we fingerprint and search our suspect. Poor poor teen. Anyway, as soon as you get the work task day up to full, you can do whatever. Alas, it’s near time for the day to end though. I just decide to have Ashlynn spend these last few minutes boxing. And hey, job done! Now she’s an officer! A proper one!

Spice Festival is happening! It’s time for Kiara and her club to show up and show out! ...though it seems only she’s showing up. Man. What’s the point of having a club terrorize a festival if they won’t show up?! Anyway, let’s pig out on food! Kiara shall learn how to make Sweet and Sour Pork and a Chicken Burrito! Now let’s do what we’re meant to do! Being mischevious to adults! And the first person I find is...a landlord. Time to be mean instead! Also it’s past Kiara’s curfew. Which fine by me! I was meaning to lower her responsibility! Agh, Ali the Landlord left before I could get to disliked. Alas. So I guess it’s time to simply watch the street performers, which seems like Kiara’s thing. And then I had her try the free bubble blower. Didn’t work out well. All she got was uncomfortable moodlets.

This man just found the grills and made it his home and purpose to simply GRILL. Good on him. Anyway, festival is over but let’s hang out until everything despawns. By 3:30, it has! Let’s go home. Naturally everyone would be spawned awake but I wanted to see the energy levels for the parents. Because someone is going to tell Kiara off for being late! Might as well be Mom cop. Annd her responsibility is back up. Welp. Nothing for it but...skipping school! I immediately send Ashlynn to bed afterwards. Zayne needs a midnight snack and we do have ice cream for him. He...somehow managed to go to the restroom inspite of Kiara fixing up the bath that broke down. -shrug- And how he shall join in slumber. Kiara will also have some ice cream, clean out the toilet, because I noticed it, and then head to slumber as well. And after that long day, it’ll be time for-

Neighborhood Watch!

Yuki Behr in the Behr household has died. Shockingly, Yuki botched a repair and was electrocuted.

...n-no! No! Not my socially awkward vampire nerd Yuki! No! This is to the point of we’re going to go over and ensure an urn does spawn. She’s family. I played as her. And now she’s gone…

Maximiliano Miller in the Miller household has died. Maximiliano stuck a finger in a plug and electricity came out.

Jade Rosa in the Rosa household is now a Wave Watcher in the Lifeguard career.

...we’re taking a break to see if an urn spawns at Yuki’s home. And...no! No I’m not seeing anything at all… -sniff- It was more for Candy’s sake. Candy is still within a played household and all so… -sniff- Well, that’s a mood killer for this post. -sighs softly- I’ll see you all next time folks.