#and what are those giant spouts they keep doing

[muffinlance]

Love that Aaron is totally chill with the giant and dangerous avatar of the seasons but doesn’t trust whales 😂

They are EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS OKAY, what are they hiding under all that water

[revelboo]

sometimes i think this is how some of the bots think about humans

lowkey don't know how to feel about that myself, i actually put myself in some of the human's shoes and wow it's no easy task to deal with their situation and having to keep themselves calm

That’s probably how a lot of them unconsciously view humans because of the size difference.

A Lifeless Ordinary Pt 4

Scavengers x Reader

• By virtue of Swindle’s reputation as a crook, Misfire voted Crankcase to use the language file and everyone else agreed. Most likely the con wouldn’t intentionally off a customer he can scam again, but still. Now Crankcase leans over where the human is sitting on a crate, little legs dangling and heels thumping against the side, and he spouts gibberish at you. Your head comes up, eyes widening as you say something back and get to your feet. “Do you understand it?” Krok demands, right as your little shoulders slump, hands gesturing.

• When the one with the chunk out of his head starts talking and you recognize human language, you lunge to your feet. Asking if he knew your language, because while the sounds are familiar, it’s still nonsense to you. And he’s just staring back at you in incomprehension. It’s the wrong language and you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry. Or scream. You’re still stuck at square one playing charades with giant, alien robots.

• “Still gibberish,” Crankcase growls, leaning back as the human goes on a rant, little hands flapping about and gesturing before you flop back down in frustration. Reaching out he nudges your shoulder with a servo and you immediately swat him. Those eyes glowering when he uses that same servo to tip your chin up. Because he gets it, to be so small and trapped somewhere? Unable to communicate? You must be terrified even if you hide it well. And that’s something he understands. What happened to him left more scars than just the chunk missing from his head. Sometimes the other Scavengers come up on his bad side and he almost swears it’s Thunderwing looming up behind him, that old nightmare digging it’s claws in.

• “Of course it is,” Krok sighs, slumping back on the bench in the cargo hold. Doesn’t even realize when he starts clicking the device in his hand because it’s become a nervous habit by this point. Whenever something goes sideways, he plays with it and now you look up at the noise and meet his optics. As he watches, you hold up your fist, thumb moving to mime him until he stops. “Signal that crook.”

• “I told you,” Misfire growls, wings flaring as he watches you stop copying Krok and look up at him. Unable to understand, but trying. Those intelligent eyes alert. As he watches, Spinister finds that stuffed animal as big as you are and pushes it firmly at you, knocking you flat on your back as you wrap your arms around it in self defense just to get him to stop. “I mean, his name is Swindle,” he mutters as he stalks off.

• Arm looped around the stuffed bear, you crane your neck to watch the one with wings stalk off. They’re obviously all unhappy and it hurts to get your hopes up only to have them crushed again. If you can’t communicate, you can’t ask to go home. You’ve tried mimicking some of the sounds they make, but they always just look at you funny. Expressions giving away that they can’t even tell you’re trying so hard. That your attempts are just nonsense to them. Anxiety lifting through you, you’re aware of the biggest one, the one that had found you and ran you down, still staring at you. He’d scared you nearly to death then, but if he hadn’t spotted you that day? You’d have probably starved on that barren world, scared and alone. He saved you whether or not he realizes it.

• “Think they really were a pet taken after the war?” Fulcrum asks as you chatter at Spinister, trying to get back up only for him to keep pushing you back over with a servo. He’d stop him, but you’re laughing instead of angry. “Why abandon them out here?” Because you haven’t been that much trouble except for the handful of times they’d accidentally poisoned you trying to keep you alive. Swindle’s food at least had been legitimate, though whatever those black and white discs are, you’d tried to devour the entire package as soon as they weren’t paying attention to you. And he’s almost positive you had been swearing at him when he had to take the package away to ration them out slowly. Like now as you manage to get away from Spinister and move as close to him as you can get, big eyes imploring as you hold out a hand. Aware of the others watching as he produces the little package and holds it out, holding up a servo of the other hand in warning. And huffing at him, you take only one instead of trying to snatch them all, reaching out as soon as you pop it in your mouth to pat his servo and mumble nonsense at him.

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[star-anise]

Everyone's got a take, and I've got a take too, about the current Internet Villain: James Somerton, a gay Youtuber who just got exposed (in the back half of a 4-hour video) as massively plagiarizing the work of LGBTQ+ media critics, historians, and memoirists, and then exposed in another 2-hour video as just making up the wildest nonsense about the topics he demonstrably had access to accurate information on.

He achieved a six-figure income on his work by squeezing money out of his audience with claims...

That only he was creating content that preserved queer history and elevated the voices and experiences of the LGBTQ+ community (a lie)

He was in serious financial distress and would have to go out of business if people didn't give him tons of money (a lie)

That he was going to use some of that cash to make definitely good and not-at-all-plagiarized independent movies, a thing he was definitely skilled and experienced enough to do (a lie), and

That those plagiarism allegations were incorrect,, and frankly,,,, hurtful and homophobic. (a GIANT lie)

Like, here's a visualization of the script of one of his videos, "Society and Queer Horror". The highlighted bits were lifted nearly verbatim from the works of others—the 18 authors identified at the time the exposé was posted—and presented as Somerton's own work.

So here's what drives me absolutely up the wall about this:

If he had just ADMITTED that it was the work of other people, THAT WOULD STILL BE COOL. If he had just said, up front, "We are going on a survey of thoughts and insights people have had about this topic", that would still be a good video with a real audience!

Like yes, he studied business in university, he might not have gotten the kinds of research skills and knowledge someone like Kaz Rowe uses to not just report on the history and analysis of others, but evaluate their relative validity and trustworthiness.

But honestly, since watching my niblings (oldest is 13) watch Youtube, I think you honestly can't underestimate the number of viewers who are really hungry for someone saying, "I don't understand this topic! Let's explore it together!"

But NOOOOOOO, Somerton didn't want to be just some schmuck waxing enthusiastic about homoeroticism on film and acknowledging the smartness of other people. He wanted to be HIM, MR. SMARTYBOY, very sophisticated and alluring and thoughtful and deep. Definitely an intellectual heavyweight who just happened to spout off his own personal ideas and analysis that put him at the forefront of all the scholarship on the topic he's come across.

I hate being wrong. Hate being wrong. But blogging for most of my life has forced me to confront constant textual evidence that two or ten or twenty years ago, I said some dumb-ass shit. Honestly, it'd probably keep me up at night sometimes even if I didn't have a written record. I absolutely understand the desire to scan the field, find the coolest people around, and quickly clothe yourself in as perfect an imitation of them as you can manage.

But if you want to be an artist or a scholar who produces something lasting, you can't prioritize coolness over truth all the time. To develop your true, independent voice, you need to find a time and place where it is just you and just the work you're doing, and you have pick up your tools and say, I don't know if I'm doing this right, but this is what feels right to me.

There are a lot of things in life to which we can only truly contribute our presence and our perspectives. Things we can only witness or hold space for. We cannot go back and bleed the pain out of history, or erase the complexity of another person's life. Not honestly, at least.

But those are the times that need our presence, our perspectives, our witness, and our space. When we gather round and tell sad tales about the death of kings, honesty can be the only thing you give that's worth a damn in the large scale of things.

If this dude had owned up to the truth and honestly showed the work of trying to piece together a queer understanding of the world, trying to draw the threads of culture together until he found a place he fit inside them, it would have been so much more valuable to our culture as a whole.

He probably made more money this way, though. While it lasted.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2024 Anime Overview: DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

A giant mothership is hovering over Tokyo. The aliens haven’t done anything or even made themselves known yet, but Japan and America are already trying to blow that UFO up, and show off who has the best weapons, causing many civilian casualties along the way. While all this happens, two girls are just casually living their lives. But are they as normal as they appear?

One thing I want to say is if you watch this anime and care about being intensely spoiled, do not watch "episode 0" until you've finished episode 16. It actually slots chronologically between episode 16 and 17, and that's where the episode took place in the manga, so I have no idea why they did that. Fortunately I had someone to warn me about that, so I will be that someone for you.

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDeDe Destruction or De x 8 as I will be calling it, can be really tough show to watch—not because it’s bad, it’s very good, but because of how depressing and visceral it is at times, and how devastatingly accurate it is to the shitshow of our world. This tends to be balanced a bit by the touching friendships (and possibly? More?) of the very likeable cast of teenagers…but you also feel a huge sense of dread about their safety as things ramp up and their stories deepen.

The anime goes hard on criticizing the military industrial complex, Japan’s government, America’s government, xenophobia, treatment of immigrants, rich people, and conspiracy theorists. All things I also hate, so that’s great. What hurts is how you could easily see the events happening—waging war on the aliens despite no provocation, people using an app to to hunt down and slaughter them...

It shows how even some of the protestors of the genocide use their movement to cover their own selfish motivations, meanwhile countries taking the situation as an opportunity to vie for power and dominance, rich government officials lie to their people and abandon them…obviously there's a lot of commentary here on how we dehumanize immigrants and minorities and enable genocides for capitalism and political power.

It's very bleak, and there were a lot of episode that had me just feeling sad, especially comparing it to current events. But there's also this interesting focus on normal people trying to live their lives during this alien "invasion", and the kids who still go through the dramas and upsets of everyday life. And especially the “I’d burn down the world for you” intense emotional relationship between Kadode and Ouran, the two teen girl leads.

Ouran is the main lead, and she’s a chuuni beyond chuuni, acting wacky and cheerful and spouting nonsense-- except if you pay attention, she's saying some pretty valid things—critiques of capitalism, war, government surveillance—but then following it up with something wild like “and that’s why I should rule the world”. You get the sense she’s cloaking an awareness of how shit the world is in humor, and as the show goes on and as her surprisingly intense and weird backstory unfolds, it becomes clear why that is.

The relationship between Ouran and Kadode is the center of everything--their bond IS the show. It's that kind of ride-or-die, I'd-kill-for-you, I'll-be-by-your-side-even-if-the-whole-world-is-against-you, in-every-life-i'd-find-you-and-love-you, soul-bonded, fiery devotion and love. They are the most important person in each other's lives, full stop. It's those kind of relationships that are so transcendent it goes beyond simple definitions of romantic and platonic. In other words, my kind of shit exactly.

But, as far as romance goes, Ouran, at least, is definitely queer and the depths of her determination to keep Kadode safe in a world that wants to destroy her girl that would make Homura Madoka Magica blush. (Kadode is more ambiguous, but she’s definitely soul bonded with Ouran. And honestly should just date Ouran because god she needs to be rescued).

There’s also a gentle empathy for marginalized people underneath all the horror—the girls befriend an alien trying to survive in the guise of a human, and it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the first person our alien tells absolutely everything to is the gnc/potentially trans person of the group, Makoto (To be specific, they seem to still be figuring out their identity, but they definitely present feminine and specifically came to Tokyo because their small town wouldn’t be okay with how they like to dress). The way Makoto immediately shields their alien friend from others when they make the reveal that they saying “Don’t let them see, it’s not safe” and how it’s followed up by the alien reassuring Makoto that their friends will be okay with it if they take their wig off to swim...it makes the metaphor extremely clear, and it’s always nice when a series can explore marginalized characters both textually and metaphorically.

Through the kids, we get kernels of hope in this story, a reassurance there are kinder people in this world, and a hope that kindness will endure.

As depressing as the story can be, what it has to say is important and it doesn’t hold back in making you see what it’s going for—from the “Cool Japan” logo flashing right before the  Japanese government gives a weapons demonstration that will later kill citizens and destroy innocents...

...to the Trump-alike American President (and let me tell you it’s startling to be watching a show in Japanese and suddenly Donald Trump impression in perfect English) *(had to use the manga here because Crunchyroll didn't close-caption this part :/)

Then there's the American tourists, who were clearly va’d by someone really good at English, potentially a native speaker, and it’s incredibly funny how much of their dialogue has “fuck” in it and seeing the subtitles skip over that. Also much of their dialogue is treating the devastated Japan as a tourist attraction and saying how funny it all is to them. Logan Paul has entered the chat.

De x 8 very clearly hates America and recognizes it as a blood thirsty colonial power, which is correct, but the show is just as hard on it’s own country, saying the Japanese government would happily get back on the colonizing horse if they had an excuse, and many citizwns would mindlessly support them.

A small thing I appreciate is far from the usual anime aesthetic where everyone is blandly cute, the anime gives a ton of people ridiculously cartoony features that make everyone distinct—and being goofy looking is not meant to indicate a character is stupid or ugly—Makoto’s a super sympathetic character with giant cartoon buck teeth and one character that’s even pointed out as pretty has like, a pig snout nose. (It also makes it so the character noted as being drop dead gorgeous...actually is, instead of coming off as just as conventionally attractive as the rest)

Soooo a lot of good stuff going into this story. Let’s talk about some caveats.

There’s a continuing storyline between Kadode and her adult teacher, who takes her to his place to have sex with her. When he does, she ends up ditching him because of her feels for Ouran (gay) and I thought that would be the end of it, but nooope he’s a groomer, they pick up dating again when she’s in college, literally months after the previous encounter. The dude is presented as a scumbag, he cheats on his girlfriend, he seems generally apathetic, his clear discomfort with Kadode calling him “sensei” shows that he knows what he’s doing is wrong …and ultimately the relationship is shown to be unfulfilling, with Kadode directly stating so and acknowledging he’s just advantage. That doesn’t stop it from being uncomfortable though, especially since it’s confirmed he and Kadode have sex eventually (offscreen, thank god) and honestly, I felt it dragged on way too long. The first encounter pretty much demonstrated everything we needed to know about the whole thing in my view.

And of course there’s a ton of potentially triggering content in a story like this—from genocide to suicide to child murder to almost anything you can think of. Also like, one character has a sister complex, but on the milder side for anime. One where it’s conceivably platonic, and it’s not like he goes after her boyfriend Yuri Forger style, so it doesn’t bother me too much. There's also a good dose of fatphobia. And finally moment where a woman reveals she has ADHD (which I've never actually heard anyone say in anime so I actually got a little excited the more fool me) and then is almost immediately shown to be faking it.

The ending…is another big sticking point for me. It feels disconnected from the rest of the series, mainly focusing on a character we barely know and likely don’t care about and spending very little time with the characters we do, presenting an interesting status quo and immediately abandoning it, and while earlier episodes of the series presented "actions have consequences and we gotta live with them" as a major theme, it was suddenly like, actually they don’t!

The ultimate ending, again, hinges on a decision from a character we don’t care about and honestly feels like a deus ex machina. It felt almost like the author really wanted a happier ending but knew that wasn’t in line with the story he’s told so far, so he just tacked it on. Or maybe it was an editorial mandate, who knows. I think the most satisfying way to see watch episode 1-16 as its own pretty satisfying complete story (which works really well), and then treat episodes 0 and 17 as their own separate thing, a potential additional ending but not the definitive one. At least that’s what I did.

Overall, De x 8 is a show with a lot to say and it gives you plenty to chew on. While it is often depressing, it is very rewarding. The unbreakable bond between two messy girls, as well as the moments of ordinary joy and small human/alien journeys are the core of the show, and what makes it shine. I definitely encourage you to give it a watch. It's being really slept on, and it shouldn't be.

[qqueenofhades]

One of my biggest annoyances is leftists and communists beinging up Biden’s tweets during the 2020 campaign of things he said he would do, and being like “see?? he didn’t deliver on anything and this is why you shouldn’t vote for the Dems again” Like, for all the understanding they seem to have of communist or marxist or whatever theory, the idea that the President is not a king and can’t do whatever he wants without Congress’s approval is lost on them?? He still believes in those things but if Congress won’t pass the legislation what is he supposed to do? EOs won’t solve all our problems.

Yeah. Not even to mention, the claim that "Biden hasn't done/delivered anything!!!" is a big fat lie, as people keep pointing out the things he has done, with a razor-thin House majority (until 2022) and two "Democratic" senators who torpedoed everything and one of whom has now literally left the party (Manchin and Sinema). So while Online Leftists obviously don't understand the difference between "achieving all of his campaign goals" and "achieving some," for the last frikkin time, Biden has done a lot of good things in very bad circumstances!!!!!! Using "he didn't do everything!!!!" as an excuse to not vote and so enable the open and unrepentant fascists is the stupidest fucking thing I have ever heard!!!!

Like. Take the debt deal. As in other things, Biden clearly learned from Obama's mistake (which was believing that the Republicans would ever negotiate in good faith about anything, and/or would reciprocate in kind if Biden made concessions). McCarthy whined for WEEKS that Biden wasn't listening and wasn't talking to him and wasn't entertaining his ridiculous proposals (22% cuts in ALL discretionary/non-military spending, including Social Security, Medicare, etc etc, while preserving the giant Trump tax cuts for the rich.) No matter that a full one-quarter of the national debt ($7.8 trillion of $31 trillion) was racked up under Trump and the debt ceiling involves paying bills that have already been spent. No sir, those Damn Free-Spending Democrats wanted to use your money on icky things like ~social welfare!! It was mean and it was hypocritical and it was blindingly obvious, and Biden just completely ignored it. He didn't try to negotiate in good faith with that, because there was no way it would work. He just let them whine.

Then, when it came down to it, Biden went in and got a deal that preserves pretty much all of the Democrats' major legislative priorities and expansions from the last two years. The only real change is raising the work requirement age for childless adults on SNAP food assistance from 49 to 54, but this has also been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of the definition "homeless" to make more people eligible, some for the first time ever. There's not going to be any major new spending for the next two years, but that wasn't happening anyway since the GOP controls the House and wouldn't agree to anything Biden put in the budget (and plus, none of the money that has already been allocated through the American Rescue Plan and other federal assistance is getting taken away). But more importantly, it raises the debt ceiling for the next TWO years and it won't come up again until after 2024. That is HUGE: the GOP really, REALLY wanted to hold the economy hostage again prior to the next presidential election. But Biden basically went in and told McCarthy to stfu and got what he wanted. Qevin was even forced, after months of "Sleepy Joe" GOP propaganda, to call Biden "very smart and very tough" in the negotiations. Soooo.

Anyway, this is what I mean: this isn't as sexy and/or as utterly fucking useless as spouting lukewarm rebaked "Marxist" propaganda on the Twittermachine about how Biden hasn't done anything, but it's the actual nitty-gritty work of government and flat-out beating the Republicans. They got absolutely shit-all that they wanted, because Biden didn't fall for their same old, same old dirty tricks and disingenuous squealing. He went in, got the job done, and will get way less credit for it than he deserves, from anyone. Dunno about you, but I like that guy. I plan to vote for him again.

[sordidmusings]

Halloween in One Piece

Was blabbing at @schoute about Halloween in the OP Universe since she's doing some Halloween sketches for funsies! I'm working a little bit on a tiny One Piece haunted house AU thing (also for funsies) but this got me thinking of what would Halloween be like in the One Piece universe?

And I think it would be the most possible fun - different sections of the seas have their different traditions and takes on the thin veil holiday. Some traditions vary island to island. A lot of it depends on how much movement/intermingling there is between the locations so each of the four seas has an overarching set of traditions with variation based on island but the Grand Line is WILDLY different from place to place

Kids argue over which island to visit to get the best candy, young adults argue over which place has the craziest celebrations, and even full fledged adults try to argue which place's festivals are best. Those same kids arguing for candy also gripe about how lucky pirates and marines are to be able to hop down the shoreline or head to the lands with the biggest celebrations

Also love the idea that you may end up getting more than you bargained for or taken for a wild ride if you don't check the celebrations of the land you end up on during Halloween. Imagine a place with something similar to The Mari Lwyd, but for Halloween instead of Yuletide. You've settled at a new island and are all set to welcome some trick or treaters just like you loved at your old island. There's a knock at the door and you run over, bowl of candy in hand. The cloaked person with the horse skull is taller than you expected but maybe on this island it's normal for adults to trick or treat too, you're not one to judge. But then they start spouting riddles at you. You try to answer but they keep coming. You're accosted for quite some time, not knowing that giving them some liquor will send them away. (This happens to be a favored tradition of Shanks and he often tries to be in the area so he gets to be the dude who hassles people til liquor happens)

Also the rumors kids would have about the mythical goods and traditions on the Grand Line!!!!! "I hear there's a whole island where the dead come back for Halloween to steal the living back with them!" "That's nothing - I heard about a crazy giant lady with an island made completely out of candy, but if you fo there she'll just use it to fatten you up and eat you instead!" "No way that's real, you're a liar!!" "Nuh-UH my uncle's in the marines and he swears it's true!"

And since Schoute asked about costumes-

I bet it depends on the island/sea!! Some plaes are big into costumes and look at you funny without them while others only specific people wear them or maybe it's just masks or paint or veils. Some places are more like Carnival in Italy or have city wide masquerade, some are like gamelan parades or Surva (thank you @click-and-flash-pest-captures for telling me about the latter 🤍) to scare away evil spirits so only people performing would be in full costume. Some are like the US costume tradition where you dress up as whatever you want - there's trends of characters and vibes of costume (long live the unhinged slutty costumes 🙏🏻) but it doesn't necessarily have to be scary. Or maybe within the area of the seas that are like that, some islands its the scarier the better and you better not set a single foot on that island if you're not ready to have the piss scared outta you. Whole thing is basically one haunted house and used as a test of courage. Rumors always spread of what you win if you make it past all the scares and traps to the island's center, but they also say no one's ever actually made it.

Ok but also the brothels of port towns that there DEFINITELY are (you cannot convince me otherwise, there's too much money to be made doing that in this world) going HAM for Halloween to entice customers. More pious lands using that fact to prove that the holiday is for degenerates.

Also on that note - despite the Celestial Dragons and their ilk being the richest they'd have the WORST Halloweens cuz they wouldnt understand actual fun if it bit them in the ass. Who needs a city's worth of candy bars over the joy of dressing up and goofing off with your friends or taking your kids out or anything else you could imagine. Their Halloween is cold and sterile and materialistic. Boo to them - they wouldn't be able to handle even a single mischief night 😤

OML I would pay all the money to just have an episode of ASL participating in mischief knight or or or young Shanks and Buggy (who get caught by Rayleigh and brought to Roger, who only encourages them and teaches them better pranks and tricks. Little did they know that was Rayleigh's intention all along). Also with mischief night, none of that pumpkin smashing shit - our boys are better than that 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (maybe not some of the other ones tho. lookin at you, Kid)

Tentative tags: @gingernut1314 @writingmysanity @hey-august @haveatthee83 @feral-artistry @mytanuki-kun @discordantwritings

[the-lonelybarricade]

What Do You Know About Love - (6/?)

Summary: When Elain discovers a centuries old love letter, written in secret and never sent, she decides that she's going to be the one to finally deliver it. Even if finding its intended recipient means going on a mission with Lucien Vanserra. Set post ACoSF.

A contribution to @elucienweekofficial Day 6: Fearless

Chapter 6 - Leaning Against the Sun

Read on AO3 ・Previous Chapter

-

“Do you even know how to embroider?”

It was the first question Lucien asked once they were alone. He'd propped himself against one of the large white-stone columns in the central room of their connecting suites. An upward spiral was carved into the surface at his back, as if a great giant had once taken hold of it on either end and twisted.

He was surveying Elain as she wandered the spacious suite they’d be sharing for the indefinite future.

“Of course I do,” she said, roaming curiously toward the ivory fountain sprouting from a small water basin in the center of the room. It featured an eagle with its wings splayed to their full length, cawing to the sky. Water spouted from its beak, forming a glistening arch that streamed back into the basin below. The eagle gripped two copper cups in its talons, presumably for drinking.

“So she can read and embroider,” Lucien drawled. “A woman of many talents.”

“I can throw, too,” she said, lifting one of the cups from the stone eagle’s talons. “It would serve you well to keep that in mind.”

“Can and will hold vastly different meanings, Elain. Don’t make threats you don’t intend to keep.”

She surveyed the cup in her hand and briefly considered lobbing it towards his head. Those sorts of violent thoughts didn’t occupy her mind often, but— “You sound as if you want me to.”

“I would find it very amusing,” he admitted.

Then she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. With a small huff, Elain pivoted her back to him, a clear statement that he was being ignored as she placed her cup beneath the eagle’s spouting beak. The metal rang pleasantly through the chamber as it began filling with water.

“I wouldn’t drink that,” Lucien cautioned, pushing off the column. She raised her head just enough to watch him dodge two heavy clay pots of lotus flowers in her periphery. Their scent wended through his as he passed, carrying over a sweet and masculine combination that made her mouth go a bit dry.

“Why?” Elain raised the cup higher for inspection.

She feared he would come up beside her, yet was strangely disappointed when he deposited himself atop one of the four chaise lounges around the fountain, pushing aside a pair of brightly dyed pillows to join the hundreds of others scattered across the floor.

“They do things differently in the Day Court,” Lucien said, plucking a berry from one of the small, circular tables laden with fruit. Rather than eat it, he burst it between his thumb and forefinger, spreading berry juice over his hands. “Here, their daily life is much more… communal. Meals, baths, prayer, grooming, it's all done in shared company. Whereas these private rooms are typically only used for two things.” He offered her a lazy grin. “Fucking or sleeping.”

Elain flinched. The way he said that word, the way it rolled off his tongue. She was thankful the room was dark, so he couldn’t see the bumps shivering down her flesh. The sun had only just started its descent, but its light was held back by the thick drapes pulled firmly shut across each archway leading out of the center room.

Through the closed archway in the middle, she could see a thin seam of sunshine, threatening to flood the chamber if she pulled back the red cloth. It must have led outside, or at least to a brighter room.

No doors, she’d noted while the attendant had led them through the palace. No locks. Only drapes.

“You’re crude,” she said.

Lucien shrugged. “It’s the truth. You could choose not to believe me, of course, but you should know that any food or drink in this room is intended to further those two purposes.” He grabbed a fig off the table and held it towards her, his fingers still dripping in juice. “Would you like to discover which?”

The only light radiated from the small domed fire pits hanging by golden chains in each corner. It was warm and sensual in what she imagined consistent with all things in the Day Court. And it did no service to her now, gilding his silhouette so that he was glowing like some ancient Sun God, descending from the heavens to tempt her into wickedness.

She met his eyes, ignoring his offering. “What happens if I drink the water?”

“It’s not water,” he crooned.

“What happens if I drink it?”

He arched a single red brow. “Are you brave enough to find out?”

“You’re insufferable,” she complained.

“You’re stalling.”

Elain stared at the bronze mug in her hand. “They used to warn us that if you eat or drink anything in Faerie, you’d be trapped there forever.”

If you drink Faerie wine, you’ll be stuck for all of time.

It was too late for her now, Elain supposed.

Lucien’s eyes glittered with humor. “When Feyre first came here, she believed I couldn’t speak an Untruth.”

“A laughable concept, indeed.”

“Lady,” he chided, placing a hand on his chest in mock offence. “I always speak nothing but plain truth.”

Elain waved the mug pointedly between them. “And yet, you still won’t tell me what it will do.”

He looked at the mug in her hands and laughed under his breath. “It will feel like swallowing starlight. You’ll see and taste the world in colour and song. And then you’ll be so drunk I’ll probably need to fish you out of the reflection pool like a soaked kitten.”

“It’s alcohol, then,” she said, sniffing it. At most, it smelled like rosewater. Or a warm breeze sweeping through a summer garden.

“Something like it.”

“And the fig?” She reached for it, but Lucien snatched it away.

“This…” A flush crawled up the column of his throat. He shook his head, setting it back on the round table. “I really wouldn’t recommend eating. The Day Court loves their aphrodisiacs.”

Oh. Elain studied the pile of fruit with renewed horror, noting the sheer amount they’d been supplied. Helion didn’t know she’d be coming, but he had known Lucien would be. A wretched part of her couldn’t help wondering if the supply of aphrodisiac was customary for every room, or if there was some precedent of Lucien’s past visits to the Court.

He knew what they were used for, afterall.

“You barely got any sleep last night,” he said. The humor and teasing had dropped away, and now he was looking at her with something close enough to concern that her chest tightened. “Maybe it would be best to save the ambrosia for another time?”

Ambrosia. Elain sniffed again. Did it come from flowers, as its rosy scent suggested? There wasn’t anything like that she knew of in the Night Court. Not that she imbibed very much outside of the polite glass of wine. Certainly not like Feyre’s Inner Circle.

Lucien was right in that she was tired. The weight of her body was setting in, her limbs heavy in odd places and practically begging for the reprieve of sleep. But she thought it sounded pathetic to finally leave the Night Court and spend her first night in bed before dinner.

She was here to find the letter’s recipient, but also because she wanted to push herself out of the comfort of familiarity she so often clung to. Nesta and Feyre so easily flung themselves into this new world, with all of its strange rules and customs. And Elain knew she was doing herself a disservice by hanging on to the human world as much as she was.

In the Night Court, they humored her human inclinations, but she expected it would be much more difficult to ignore the Fae world here. Where the food was spelled with magic and the fountains flowed with ambrosia and her mate would sleep on the other side of a piece of cloth.

Elain wanted to be brave about it all, the way her sisters were.

“Cauldron boil me,” Lucien said, his eyes widening as she pressed the copper rim to her lips and tilted her head back. “Enough,” he hissed, lunging forward to stop her from drinking it all, but it was too late.

The cup was empty.

She giggled as she showed it to him, then dropped it to the floor with a clatter.

Lucien groaned. “Elain. A sip of that would have been enough to send you on your ass.”

He wasn’t wrong about the starlight. Her veins were filling up with it, bursting with the first rays of the sun. She tipped her head back and released a long breath, feeling her lungs empty. And when she breathed in, it was the scent of summer skies and woodsmoke that filled her chest.

Lucien watched her warily from where he’d sat up on the chaise lounge, blinking with eyes that smouldered like pools of molten copper and gold. His hair glistened in the low-faelight, coils of hot metal, and below his skin—she’d never seen it before, but she swore that light was shining beneath his cheeks.

He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

The wariness in his expression cracked, spreading into a smugness she pretended to loath, though her heart fluttered at the sight.

“Thank you,” he said.

Oh gods. Had she said that aloud?

“Maybe I should let you drink more often.”

Elain covered her burning cheeks beneath her palms, her balance swaying. “I didn’t know it would set in this quickly.”

“You drank an entire mug.”

He stood up, reaching like he intended to steady her, but Elain clambered back—and nearly collapsed over a marble bench in her attempt to escape him. She fell against it with a hardened oomph, the breath rushing out of her all at once.

Lucien’s hands settled on her shoulders before she had the chance to tumble backwards. “Easy,” he said. “Why don’t I take you to bed?”

“While I’m uninhibited?” She said, with a soft hiccup. “That’s not very polite of you, Lucien.”

“Is that to say you’d find the idea tempting?” He smirked. “How curious, the way your true thoughts come out now.”

He was teasing her again and she couldn’t even remember why she was supposed to be bothered by it. His face was so close to hers, hovering just above while his warmth bled into her shoulders. And she remembered what it felt like to kiss him, the way his tongue felt sweeping into her mouth, how she'd memorized the taste.

It would be so easy to do that again, she thought. Just tip her head and her lips would be against his and it would feel so good.

“You kissed me on the Solstice,” she said, staring at his lips. They were a soft burgundy color, the bottom more full than the top—but only slightly. She knew if she sunk her teeth into them, he would make the most delicious groan.

Lucien’s eyes darkened. “I did.”

“And then you left.”

He searched her face. “I told you I would.”

“You never came back.”

“No,” he said, voice solemn. “But you never called on me.”

“I wrote a letter,” she said, finally dragging her eyes away from his sinful mouth. To meet his. “But I never found the courage to send it.”

Slowly, hesitantly, Lucien swiped one of his thumbs higher, arching it over her shoulder to the start of her collarbone. Then back. Elain’s eyes fluttered shut, relishing in the trail of exploding heat he left in his wake.

“Is that why you want to deliver this letter?” He asked thoughtfully.

Elain opened her eyes, unsurprised to find he was staring at her. “I have a hundred letters I’ve never sent. To you, to Graysen, to old friends from the human realm. I often wonder how different my life would be if I’d had the courage to send them.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to.” That far-off look in his eye said he was recalling a memory, and the wince that followed suggested it was not a pleasant one. “Letters written in haste can cause detriment. Your life may have been different if you’d sent them, but not happier. Not always.”

The sad, self-wallowing letters she’d penned to Graysen would certainly have been humiliating if they’d ever left her writing desk. But was he referring to the letter she’d written to him? Did he think it would have been a mistake to call on him instead of Azriel? She’d ended up calling on neither, in the end.

“Do you think it’s possible?” She asked. “To find the male that the letter was written to?”

Lucien considered the question for a moment, continuing to stroke his thumb at her shoulder as he did. If he kept it up, Elain was certain she’d fall right to sleep.

“I think that sometimes things are better left buried in the past,” he said, finally, his voice soft. “Have you considered that he might have been the one to hide the letter, in the end? You might be delivering a keepsake of his heart’s biggest wound.”

Elain hadn’t considered that. But she shook her head. “It’s not possible.”

“How do you know?”

The iron ring she kept tucked in the drawer of her nightstand was how she knew.

“If he loved her, he would have kept the letter safe. And I think they did love each other.”

“I suppose so,” he said, with a certain melancholy that tempted a million questions to her loosened tongue.

She somehow managed to suppress the most personal ones. “Lucien?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I see your hand?”

Lucien drew back to survey her intention. Then he dropped one of his hands from her shoulder, careful to keep her steady with the other, and held his palm into the space between them.

She took his palm in both of hers and was struck immediately by the observation that his hands were so much larger, littered with flecks of scars and calluses that spoke of weapons she’d never seen him wield. The thought of it intrigued her, all the centuries he’d lived that she knew nothing about.

With a featherlight touch, she dragged her fingers from the center of his palm to the tip of his thumb. He shivered at the touch, pulsing a foreign satisfaction through her.

“Helion cut you,” she said, drawing her fingers over the healed wound, aware that he was watching her with unguarded curiosity. “I could smell your blood.”

“I didn’t think you noticed.”

Elain clenched her teeth. “It made me angry.”

“It was just a small cut.”

“I know,” she said, blinking at the healed-over skin. There was no scar to show for it. She swallowed. “But I wanted to kill him for it.”

Lucien’s voice was strained. “I don’t think that would have gone over very well.”

“Why did he do it?”

“I thought he was doing it to taunt me,” Lucien admitted. “But now I think he might have been testing you. And you did a good job hiding it—I thought you didn’t care.”

A familiar burn kindled behind her eyes. Elain sniffed. “You keep saying that.” Her fingers tightened around his. “It’s not true.”

“I believe you,” Lucien said, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss atop the crown of her head. “Let me take you to bed. That ambrosia will make you drop like a stone any minute.”

Elain shook her head, but Lucien grabbed her anyway, lifting her into his arms like she was as light as air. If she thought his scent was heady from a distance, it was nothing compared to having her nose pressed against the junction of his neck and shoulder. She took a deep inhale that she knew wasn’t subtle when his chest shook with laughter.

“Don’t mock me for this in the morning,” she said, tucking her face tighter against him. He was so warm. So solid where he cradled her against his body.

“I would never dream of mocking you, Lady.”

Liar, she thought. Or maybe she said it out loud again because Lucien snorted. She couldn’t believe that Feyre had ever believed he was incapable of telling an untruth. Of all the fae she’d met, he was easily the most mischievous.

Lucien said nothing as he carried her into one of the adjoining bedrooms, brushing aside the cloth drape to reveal a dim bedroom. She squinted, but was unwilling to raise her head from its comfortable resting place against his shoulder to examine the room in any true detail.

“I can hear your heart,” she whispered to him.

He paused when they came to the bed. She thought at first he must have been debating how to set her down politely, but the longer he stood without moving, she realized it was something else. He didn’t want to let go.

That was fine by her. He was warm. Warmer than she imagined the bed would be.

“I can fall asleep like this,” she told him, shutting her eyes. “If I do, will you promise to carry me all night?”

Lucien laughed, but he made no such promise. At least not one that she heard. The warmth was beginning to consume her, blurring at the edges of her thoughts until they fizzled away. And all that was left was the heat and scent and presence of her mate, and his steady heartbeat counting her slowing breaths as it lowered her, gently, into darkness.

[randomblogofabard]

The Indulgence of Grief

Grief is the agony of an instant; the indulgence of grief the blunder of life. ~ Benjamin Disrali

Rolan x Tav ; former Gale x Tav ; slow burn ; eventual smut ; trying something here ; Astarion x Tav teasing

Prologue

The sky churned, a swirl of smoke and gray-blue. Hurricane skies, their origin nowhere near as natural. Screams of terror and grief rose up from every corner of the city - a morbid accompaniment to the horrorscape above them. The people of Baldur’s Gate, or, at least, those who weren’t currently bleeding out into the street or fighting tentacled monsters to stay alive, watched on in horrified fascination as the giant brain pulsated from its fixed position in the sky, it’s brainstem undulating like a tail hanging hundreds of feet below. Red dragons and dread astral ships streaked across the sky spouting flame. 

Rolan had to keep reminding himself to take ragged, rancid breaths in. The air tasted like ash and blood. 

Cal paced at his side, face smeared with blood. He kept darting quick glances to and away from the Elder Brain, as if he was afraid to allow himself to stare at it too long. 

“Did it work? Did we help?” Cal asked, his glowing eyes boring into the side of Rolan’s skull.

Rolan clenched his hands, his sharp nails digging into his palms. “Of course it worked. We all saw my Firestorm hit the damned thing.”

“Then why isn’t it going down?” Lia asked, although from her tone Rolan knew she didn’t expect an answer. It was just as well. He didn’t know why the Elder Brain still floated above the city any more than she did. 

Surely they must be close to destroying it? 

Seconds passed like hours as they watched on. Rolan knew Lia was itching to go back outside - back into the fray. But they’d done their part. Once the fighting had broken out, friends and lovers bursting into Illithid monsters in the street, Rolan had sent sendings to every tiefling he had met when fleeing Elturel. Cal and Lia had worked tirelessly to shepherd as many of them as they could, along with any non-transformed passerby, into the tower’s lowest floor before barricading them inside. Rolan then activated the turrets and continued, desperately, trying to get the firestorm cannon functional. He’d just barely finished deciphering the last of the runes needed to activate the damned thing when Tavra’s call for aid arrived. He’d fired, a ball of heat and death blasting into the surface of the Elder Brain.

What else could they do?

Rolan didn’t believe in miracles. Life only gave what you were able to rip out of it through hard work, sweat, and blood. Rolan had a family because Lia and Cal willed it so. He earned the mysteries of magic and the Weave through ceaseless self-discipline and study, in spite of no master wizard touching him due to his infernal heritage. They escaped Elturel with nothing but the packs on their backs and the fire in their souls. He had earned an apprenticeship with that damned monster Lorraikan by demonstrating a talent for magic he had cultivated and nurtured all on his own. But once they reached the Shadowlands the universe began taking back. First Cal and Lia, and then nearly himself. 

That’s when they had shown up, led by that obnoxiously competent and compassionate bard. She had saved his life. She had brought Cal and Lia back to him. She then went and saved his life again by freeing him from Lorroakans cruelty and torture. Tavra and her crew laughed at fate. They were miracles. They could do the impossible.

They had to.

“Something’s happening!” Cal shouted. He lifted his hand, pointing towards the sky just as a bright flash of purple light shot upwards from the brain’s surface. A moment later there was a thunderous boom from the room behind them, rocking Rolan forward. He and Lia caught their balance on the railing while Cal was tossed flat on his back.

Whirling to face the room, hands already lifting to formulate the precise gestures required for a thunderwave of his own, Rolan faltered at the scene before him. It was…them?

The white haired vampire had landed on his feet, eyes screwed up in a scowl, his pale face ashen with dread.

The bloodied gith was slowly coming to stand from where she’d fallen on one knee, face enraged, a large silver sword gripped tightly in her hands. 

The duke’s devil-cursed son was on his knees next to the large tiefling female, shaking her by the shoulders trying to wake her up where she lay unconscious on the floor.

The half-elf cleric fell back heavily against one of the columns encircling the room, a healing spell falling from her lips as she staunched a bleeding wound in her side. 

Tavra…Tavra had also landed on her feet, but the look on her face made Rolan’s hot blood turn to ice. Written across her features, so plain and vibrant that he heard Lia take a sharp inhale from his side, was a dread so haunting that he felt acid pool in his stomach. 

Why did she look like that? Had they lost? Was the world around him, the world he had fought and scratched and nearly died for, about to end? She lurched forward, running right towards him, as another thunderous boom rocked the tower, knocking him off of his feet. 

He watched dazedly as Tav leapt over him. She landed hard on the balcony, her forward momentum only stopping when she slammed into the railing. Her hands shot out, finger’s contorting as she reached out towards the empty sky.

Empty sky? 

No, that couldn’t be right. 

Rolan pushed himself up onto his forearm, eyes scanning the vista before him. The blue-gray skies were filled with red mist, unspeakable viscera raining down, red dragons and…nothing else. The Elder Brain was gone.

A wrenching, piercing sound filled the air. Rolan slapped his hands over his ears. He looked around, panicked at whatever fresh new hell was creating that noise. His gaze stopped again on the people now occupying his tower. The heroes that had kept showing up again and again and again. He studied them, trying to see if they knew where that horrific noise was emanating from. His eyes moving from face to face, and after a moment he realized one of their number was missing. 

The wizard, the one who had warned him about Lorroakan all those weeks ago, was nowhere to be seen. 

The white-haired cleric was mouthing something. Rolan, still trying to blot out the screeching sound with his palms pressed tightly over his ears, attempted to read her lips. She was saying Tavra’s name, over and over and over again.

A shiver rolled across his body as realization dawned on him. He slowly turned back towards the balcony, back towards Tavra still reaching desperately towards an empty sky.

She was screaming.

[percyaugod]

oh gosh, raph+leo+mikey are gonna be so confused putting together their family tree when their brother is the father figure to some of their parental figures

how do big mama and hueso react to othello's supposed death? which one of them figure out first that donnie is othello? for that matter, does donnie even know he's othello? i do hope he figures it out eventually and hugs draxum. after slapping him for reverting back to destroying humanity ofc

awww he's gonna get to see karai again :D bet she'll be furious at her family once she finds out about the curse

Definitely a bit of confusion, but they'd be more caught up in the fact that after the curse they didn't even know about is broken Othello doesn't really remember them.

Donnie's only fourteen years of memories are lost in Othello's over five centuries.

Draxum gets so caught up in his new plans he forgets to tell them. Hueso comes in to complain about why he hasn't gotten any of the coffee beans Othello has grown to sell, not because he's worried he hasn't seen his friend in weeks, learns first.

Since Draxum is…coping, even if questionably, Hueso is the one to break it to Big Mama.

She's in denial at first. Saying he shouldn't spout such sillybims about dadums. Once she finally accepts it she tears apart everything in sight. Even he's thrown into a wall. He's pretty sure the family connection is the only reason he's not dead.

Draxum finds out Othello is alive first. When the turtles go to get Mayhem back, he sees the four turtles he- Wait. Four? But there were only three!

He takes the time to look at them all carefully, finally finding the odd one out. His eyes widen in realization.

Draxum almost didn't recognize him. He's practically naked! He's seen enough of that after Othello somehow managed to spontaneously combust.

…He's so small. How can something like that grow to be someone as intimidating as his mentor? Are those eyebrows drawn on his mask? It's so absurd it screams Othello more than anything.

Othello isn't paying any attention to what's going on. Sometimes, there'll be a quick glance in his direction, but Draxum never sees any recognition.

It would seem his plans have changed. His new goal is to do whatever it takes to restore his mentor to his former glory. If they're so keen to stop him he can use "destroy humanity" as a way to get his creations to keep coming back and bringing Othello with them.

Othello with be so happy to see Karai again. The last time she saw him, though, he was the size of a four-year-old, so it took her a while to recognize him. Especially since he'd be back to giant eight-foot-tall yokai.

He didn't take her looking at him but not seeing him very well.

Karai would be furious at the ancestors if Othello told her. She gave everything for them and he doesn't want to ruin her sacrifice.

So he says he left not long after she was sealed, not telling her why, and accepted her scolding and disappointment about him abandoning the family when they needed to stay together more than ever.

Something Karai feels horrible about later when she does find out the truth.

[aparticularbandit]

Sandcastles in the Sand

Summary: Junko takees Mikan to the beach!

For DR WLWeek 2024: Prompt One: Your OTP.

Rating: T.

AO3

“What are you doing?”

“Um!”  Mikan looks up to see her girlfriend the Ultimate Fashionista standing over her, one hand shielding her stormy blue eyes from the glare of the sun.  “I….”  She glances down to her hands and the molded mismatch of sandy shapes between them.  Sand coats her fingers, stuck beneath her shorn nails, but she doesn’t mind.  She’d needed those bits of nail to dig grooves along her creation.  “Making a sandcastle.”

“Don’t you want to swim?  The ocean’s right there.”  Junko thrusts a hand out and gestures wildly towards it.

Mikan can’t see the motion, can only see the shadows Junko’s movements cast against the sand, since she’s avoiding looking at her, knowing that she’ll only see disappointment or annoyance on her girlfriend’s the Fashionista’s face.  “I…I can’t,” she forces out, face flushing a brilliant red.

“Huh?”  Junko bends down lower and cocks her head to one side.  “What did you say?  You gotta speak up, or I won’t—”

“I can’t swim!” Mikan squeaks out, shrill as steam bursting through a tea kettle’s spout.  Her hands clench into fists and instinctively come up in front of her chest as she hunches forward, prepared for a smack on the back of her head.  “I-I-I’m s-s-sorry!”

Mikan waits for Junko to say something, but she doesn’t say anything.  What’s worse is that she doesn’t do anything either, like she’s frozen by what Mikan’s said.  Sweat trickles down Mikan’s back.  “I-I-I’m sorry!” she repeats in that same squeaking tone.  “I know you…you planned this great…this great—”  (Date.)  “—outing, and I!  I didn’t want to!  Didn’t want to s-s-say anything!  You were so…so e-e-excited, a-a-and I didn’t…didn’t want to—”

Junko plops down in the sand next to her, bare legs splayed out on either side, her toes just touching Mikan’s, manicured toenails bright red against the golden beige of the sand.  “So we’re making sandcastles, then.  You wanna make one big castle, or can we, like, make an entire village?”

Mikan blinks twice and looks up hesitantly to meet Junko’s eyes.  “Wha-wha-huh?”

“If we make an entire village, then we can pretend to be dragons or giants or something and smash through all of them later!”  Junko’s eyes light up, and a huge grin splashes across her face.

“Um!”  Mikan’s fingers begin to tap together, and she drops her gaze, unable to keep looking at the light in Junko’s eyes.  “Y-y-you’re not…you’re not mad at me?”

Junko shakes her head so quick that her twintails slap back and forth on her face.  “Nope!”  Then she reaches over and takes Mikan’s hand in hers, interlacing their fingers before giving her a gentle squeeze.  “I love making sandcastles.  It’s my favorite thing to do at the beach!”  She leans forward, so close that Mikan can feel her breath hot on her face.  “How did you know?”

“I-I-I—”

She’s playing with her.  Probably.  No one asks their girlfriend friend someone out to spend a day at the beach and then expects to just sit in the sand all day making sandcastles.  They ask them to the beach to go play in the ocean!  (And, if it’s a large enough group, to play sand volleyball.)  Sure, there’s a lot more to do at the beach than swimming in the ocean – sandcastles, of course, and sunbathing and people watching (which Mikan has done frequently on beach trips, when everyone else goes swimming – or because no one else really wants her around) and collecting seashells, but….

Mikan turns away from Junko, takes her hand away from her girlfriend’s the Fashionista’s, and clasps her hands together in her lap.  “You really…really don’t mind?”  She presses her lips together again.  “Th-th-that I don’t….”  Her voice trails off, and her gaze falls again.

“I mean, not going to lie, it kind of sucks because it’s fucking hot out here, and the ocean’s the best fucking way to cool off.”  Junko grabs her ankles and leans back, tilting her head to look up at the bright blue sky.  “But.”  She glances over to Mikan and grins, one of her canines just poking out over her lips.  “I still get to see you in a swimsuit,” she says, reaching over and running a finger up Mikan’s waist, “so I can forgive your little…indiscretion.”

As Junko brushes her finger ice cold along Mikan’s skin, Mikan flinches.  “S-s-sorry,” she whispers, gaze lifting just enough to take in Junko and what she’s wearing.  Junko’s swimsuit leaves little to the imagination, nothing more than strings in most places, perfectly fitting of the Ultimate Fashionista.  They should take pictures of her like this (they probably already have); they should make sand sculptures in her honor and place them in museums so that future generations can—

“Mikan,” Junko murmurs, reaching up and gently lifting Mikan’s chin, “my eyes are up here.”

“S-s-sorry—”  Mikan barely squeaks the word out, until she notices that Junko has lifted her gaze so that it falls on her lips, not on her eyes.  She swallows.  “J-J-Junko-sama…?”

“Hm?” Junko purrs.

Mikan’s gaze flits up to meet her girlfriend’s eyes and then back down.  She licks her lips.  “M-m-may…may I…?”

“Always.”  But as Mikan leans towards her, Junko holds up a finger and places it on her lips, brow furrowing.  “But if you ask if you should take your clothes off while we’re in public, we’re gonna have a problem, because that’s kind of nasty.  I love a good fucking sicko, but—”

Mikan kisses her fingertip.

“—not in public.”  Junko leans forward and brushes her nose against Mikan’s.  “Okay?”

Mikan kisses her and hums as she feels Junko smile against her lips.  This is the best part of being together – being able to do things like this.  She nearly pouts when Junko pulls away from her, although that expression disappears in her fear that Junko will be displeased with her.

“Sandcastles,” Junko murmurs against her lips.  “We were going to make sandcastles.”  She taps the top of the building Mikan was crafting when we found her.  “And we’re going to put a little you and a little me right here at the top of the biggest one.”

“I-I-I thought you said we were going to…going to destroy them—”

“Well, sure.”  Junko flashes her a grin.  “World’s not big enough for two of me, even if one of them’s in miniature!”  She brushes a kiss against Mikan’s cheek before whispering in her ear, “You’d probably love multiple of me, though, huh?  Two of me to pay you such good attention—”

“N-n-no!” Mikan says in a near panic, eyes wide as she draws back from Junko.  “I j-j-just…I just want you, Junko-sama!  Just you.”  Her gaze drops.  “There can’t…there can’t ever be another you.”

Junko runs her fingers through Mikan’s hair and brushes it back behind one ear.  “Sure there can,” she murmurs, “but it’s nice to hear you say that.”  Then she grins again and digs her fists into the sand.  “Let’s build!  I’m sure you won’t believe this, but I’m fantastic at building sandcastles!”

(She’s fantastic at destroying them, too, but Mikan doesn’t learn that until later, when they’re dancing barefoot in the sand, just before Junko drags her to the open waves to rinse off their feet.)

[rattymess]

sleep doesn't come easy (especially with an indestructible mug)

Genre: Fluff Pairing: Steven Grant x Short!Reader Summary: you just wanted to take your anger out on one of your neighbours in the middle of the night (who just happens to be Steven Grant) Word Count: 900-ish Warnings: Mentions of sex, cursing, mild anxiety (might be more but those are the main ones)

|||||

Honestly, if you have to be frank with yourself, if you could move out of this apartment flat, you would in a heartbeat. No, not even. You would move out right before the question was even popped. 

There was just a plethora of issues that came out of living in a flat that certainly had a relatively cheap rent compared to the rest of the buildings around it. For one, there’s that constant dripping sound that you hear out of that one pesky pipe that’s just barely above your reach (and how your landlord just keeps on postponing fixing that), and secondly, there's the giant family of rats that you are sure lives somewhere just beside your fridge (there are definite biscuit crumbs that are littered around there that you’re like..99% sure you didn’t devour). Also, your apartment temperature was always either a bit too cold or a bit too hot for your liking. But mostly, the thin walls were the thing that really ticked you off. 

All those issues didn’t even compare to your next-door neighbours. You’ve heard all kinds of sounds in all of your time spent in this flat, ranging from sex noises to screeching babies. But one particular neighbour really takes the cake on this one. Specifically, the one who lives across from you and comes home especially late at night, mumbling incoherent nonsense to himself. You have no idea how that even trumps the moans and groans from your other neighbours but it just…does. Maybe it’s because they’re not exactly quiet when they come home or maybe your patience levels have just reached its limits. You’ve seen him a few times when you’re going off to work, but you’ve never actually taken a good look at them as you’ve always had a tendency to rush out of the building.

Well, that is, until today. 

Standing in front of the aforementioned neighbour’s door at 4AM in the morning, clutching your phone one hand, you find yourself loudly pounding on their door. You honestly don’t remember what had even led you here. You just remember waking up from your restless sleep by a loud smash and wanting to scream your heart out at someone. Honestly, you’re not even sure if the noise even came from the guy across the hall. It might’ve been from the couple down to the right of the hall that accidentally broke a vase or something while they were doing their daily midnight…shenanigans. But before you can second guess your late-night decisions even more, a small click resonates from the other side of the door.

“H-Hiya love.” A man with giant doe-eyes that looked like he hadn’t slept in days and a slight pout glances down at you, looking like a young dishevelled schoolboy who knows that he’s about to be lectured. “Did I wake ya? I’m awfully sorry about that. I just came home you see, and my bloody arm accidentally knocked over my favourite mug. It’s still intact but still, I’m bloody sor– ”

You didn’t hear any of that. While the man was still spouting on about his mistake, you begin to feel your blood suddenly flow to your face. Your eyes trail down from the man’s messy dark curls (is it weird to imagine dragging your fingers through each strand?) to his bewildered wondering eyes that seemed to slowly trail down to the ground in shame, to his soft, breathless lips that finally seemed to stop moving. Oh. You abruptly look up, your anger quickly disbanding into anxiety. He’s so pretty.

“–I-I’m Steven, by the way. Steven Grant.”

The mention of his name brings you out of your thought train. Shit. Say something. ANYTHING.

“H-Hhhi Steven…” You wheeze out. FUCK. You’re suddenly more aware of your surroundings than ever. Sleep is now fully dispersed from your mind as your eyes fully gauge out what you’re actually doing. Looking down between you and Steven, your eyes widen as you realize that you’re wearing the most embarrassing outfit choice of your life: a pastel pink Barbie tank top alongside your hot pink sweatpants that read “Justin Beeb 4 Ever” that you bought as a joke and never thought you’d ever be seen outside with. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. I mean, hey, at least you didn’t bring your stuffed teddy—nope, it was just in your other hand. You groan into your bear, quickly alarming Steven.

“Hey, love? Y-You alright?” He stutters, not knowing what to do. “Do you want to come in?” 

You gradually raise your head from the bear to the man in front of you. This man...this man is an angel.

“I…I’m terribly sorry. I’m so embarrassed,” you anxiously say. “I couldn’t dare impose on you. I don’t even know what came over me. I just wanted to complain about the noise. I’m sorry. I..I’m just gonna go.” As you turn around and back towards your door, Steven grabs your hand into his. You swerve your head back up to meet his mesmerizing dark eyes. Huh? 

“No, love. I clearly disturbed you. Look, I’ll let you go back to your flat but please don’t hesitate ever comin’ to my door to knock some sense into me, yea?” Steven sweetly smiles at you before letting go of your now-shaking hands. If you weren’t flustered before, you certainly are now. Clearing away the lump that has now formed in your throat, you whisper, “I...actually do wanna come in.”

Steven grins. “Well…come in then, love.”

[twisted-art-wounders]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng The village baker and seamstress; Marinette does any different jobs around her village to make ends meet while dealing with the abuse spouted out by the noble Lady Chloe. Kind and creative Marinette does her best to help when she can, after helping a strange traveller she is gifted with a magical seed that grew into a small fairy who presented her a pair of magical earrings that could perform a miracle. Once she climbed to the top of a giant beanstalk she discovered a giant castle occupied by a giant named Adrien. At first she doesn't trust the giant (since he is friends with Chloe after all) but after making a deal with him to teach him how to bake bread in exchange for treasures she can use to help pay off Chloe, she starts to see how kind and gentle he really is.

After some time she convinces him to come with her back to the village and at first everyone is terrorized of him, but soon he starts to show off his kindness and helps the village to thrive.

(Prince) Adrien Agreste The giant that lives in the clouds; Adrien was once a happy prince set to inherit his mother's kingdom come his 18th birthday but tragically on his 16th birthday Adrien would lose his both his mother and his freedom. He was cursed and grow to a monstrous size that caused the total collapse of their castle which killed his mother. With his new found size Adrien was dazed and confused as he almost destroyed the kingdom but his father King Gabriel used a powerful spell and sent Adrien into the clouds where he'd soon live. 5 years would pass and Adrien was forced to live a new life among the clouds, while he had shelter, food and clothing thanks to his father he was also isolated and kept away form all humans as he father told him his presence among them would cause unrest.

With only Chloe as a visitor and rarely seeing his father anymore Adrien become more lonely then ever until he met Marinette. At first it was hard to get her to trust him but eventually the two started to bond over their baking and started to become close. Marinette convinces him to come back with her to her village.

King Gabriel Agreste The current King of the land of Graham de Vanily; after the great tragedy that befell the kingdom 5 years ago Gabriel become a recluse and stayed within his newly rebuilt palace after the death of his wife and disappearance of his son. While not of royal blood himself Gabriel is a gifted spell caster and using his powers he decided to punish his rotten brother in law by cursing his nephew Felix to become wild and uncontrollable. The spell seemed to backfire and made both Felix and Adrien grow to monstrous sizes and destroy both castles; causing Queen Emilie's death. Trying to hide the truth Gabriel used a powerful spell to send Adrien into the clouds creating a land form him to live on and to keep him away form the people of the land who he knew would blame him for the great tragedy. He then came up with the story of the monster that attacked both kingdoms and stole away prince Adrien.

Gabriel never told Adrien about the cause of his mother's death but did tell him in order to keep himself and world safe he'd have to live in the sky where no one would see him. Meanwhile Gabriel looked far and wide to find a away to bring his fallen queen back to life, he eventually discovered that a pair of powerful magical objects could grant the wish of anyone who held both items. Gabriel became consumed with finding those objects, neglecting Adrien and his kingdom causing the nobles to become more power hungry and driven. Lady Chloe Bourgeois Part of one of noble families that rule over Marinette's village; Chloe is spoiled and full of herself she'll do anything to get what she wants. She threatens both Marinette and her village with the fear of a giant she has full command over. She's Adrien's only friend at first and tricks him into believing she is a kind and caring person and tells him to help her hold onto all the treasures the villages pay her. She works closely with King Gabriel to keep Adrien locked away and keep the villages in order. Lady Kagami Tsurugi One of the nobles that rule over the smaller villages; Kagami was hired by the former queen Amelie to help her son the former prince of the fallen kingdom. Kagami and Felix set out together to find the truth about what King Gabriel is after and why he cursed Felix. Kagmai is very capable and strong she's able to command armies and fight on even footing with the strongest swordsmen. She starts become close to Felix and he treasures her as both a close friend and a lover. Prince Felix Fathom The son of the former queen Amelie; at the age of 16 he was cursed by an evil spell that caused him to grow to a monstrous size, in a fit of rage and confusion he destroyed the castle killing his father and destroyed the rest of the kingdom. After his rampage he and his mother had to abandon their kingdom and go into hiding, Felix continued to grow as he aged but managed to stay hidden thanks to his mother's powers. Felix soon discovered that the curse that made him grow and have a rampage was caused by his uncle King Gabriel. He decided to set out and find out what really happened to his cousin the long lost prince Adrien. He knew Adrien was also cursed and wanted to free him form his uncle's control, his mother enlisted the help of the noble woman Kagami Tsurugi to accompany Felix on his quest and find the true intentions of the corrupt King.

[dazzle-writes]

Hello, saw you were doing match ups so wondered if you'd do one for me, with trigun characters

I'm an 160cm thin girl (20 y/o) with long brown curly hair and blue eyes, kinda look like merida from brave if that helps, enfp

I'm a lot like 98' vash (my biggest ever kin fr), goofing around and having fun, making dirty jokes with my friends, very clumsy and bubbly when in good mood, tho i don't shy away from being tough from time to time

I'm friendly and like meeting new people but keeping connections is my biggest flaw. I mostly keep it going with the ones i click with

I love being around people, but don't mind being alone for some periods of time, reading, watching something, drawing or doing whatever hobby i picked on

I'm an archeology student, have passion for history and literature, love psychology and philosophy, love things like true crime and paranormal stories, definitely would like to travel and see what the world and people have to offer. I'm the "do it for the plot" type of person, getting into random situations for the sake of seeing how it'll end and if i'll have a story in the end

When i was younger i was more like some kind of vash-milly combo, but now I'm more aware of people, i can't stand when someone is judgy from the beggining, when someone is too negative about the world and people, because even tho i myself get disappointed in people often, i still think that we should look for positive things in everyday life. Kind of "if life has no meaning, might as well find meaning in small things"

Sorry if this was too long, thank you if you've read this far ^^ and keep up with the good writing, you're doing amazing!

UWAAAA I'm so glad you like my writing! I've been swamped with work lately, so sorry this is taking a while!!

For trigun 98, I most definitely match you up with Wolfwood! You are just that little ray of sunshine he needs to keep going. Plus, he loves that you and him make sex jokes to each other about everything that you can. You two get kidnapped and held by Knives? Non-stop dick jokes. At first you try to at least mutter them under your breath, but soon enough you're both just spouting them out as fast as you can think of them. Knives is just standing there in shock that you can think of so many in a short amount of time. I also think you two would be like, surprisingly close beforehand. He a big cuddler too (have you fucking seen those titties MMMMM) and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL BUT WOLFWOOD IS TERRIFIED OF GHOSTS!!! Yall go ghost hunting and he is ATTACHED TO YOU LIKE NO OTHER. Homie is throwing round the holy water like he's a raincloud. You one day dig up and old book and are pretty sure that its haunted? He's hiding being his giant cross and shaking in his tight ass pants.

In trigun stampede however, Vash latches onto you like white on rice. You are exactly what this poor bean needs in his life!!!! You teach him to appreciate the little things, and show him that he's allowed to have wants and needs. He enjoys taking you around old crashed spaceships and letting you go wild with the archeological zoomies. In this universe, you also get kidnaped by Knives so Vash follows to come and save you and once again, you make so many dick jokes. The only difference is that Stampede Knives has never seen a wiener in his LIFE and doesn't get any joke you make. Do with this information what you will. Vash also really likes showing you his Plant siblings when his spilled the alien beans. You'd probably enjoy just quietly hanging with the Plant girlies because they just watch you draw or read or they nap! they are very nice when you need to recharge a social battery but don't want to be completely alone. Vash is also a big cuddler and understands having trouble keeping connections with people!! He's always moving so he gets sad thinking about all the people he wanted to grow closer too.

If we wanted to hit up the manga, then id actually pair you with Legato! I think you'd be just the right person to help him let himself be a better and softer person. Your love of psychology would really interest him, and I think you'd be that enemies-to tolerated-to friends-to lovers thing. He also likes learning about humans and the past, and I think that's he would really appreciate you showing him to good side of humanity through psychology and even true crime by showing how people come together and how people react to catastrophe and stress. He needs to see people doing good things, and you are just the person to show him around the world and prove it to him

ALSO SORRY THIS IS LIKE MONTHS LATE I got another job and started school SOBS!!! But I hope you enjoy!!!!

[nazmazh]

So, saw a Reddit thread asking about what sort of alternate characters/costumes/looks you'd really, really want for Dead by Daylight, and me, being the nerd I am want so many Remedy-Verse characters (generally would be alternates for Alan unless, like Jesse Faden were to be brought in as a character in her own right, which is pretty unlikely).

And of course, that includes Odin and Tor Anderson. Give Bill Overbeck some company in the Cool Old Geezer category.

And I got to thinking - Those two probably would fucking love being in The Entity's Realm. They'd treat it like some sort of Valhalla - Have fun being able to run basically forever and have a task to work on. And, sure, they can't really do anything to hurt the killers, that wouldn't stop them from trying periodically - Just to see if it might work this time, but if it still doesn't, they'd happily embrace a warrior's death, over and over, protection their teammates and hopefully buying them time to win.

Not "escape" - They know that's not actually truly possible (at least, most likely not). Their True Sight abilities mean that The Entity isn't able to wipe their memories or confuse them about how long they've been there (Or the fact that they really actually don't need to eat or drink in the Realm anyway).

Like I say though - Even knowing all this - They'd probably view the Realm as some sort of afterlife anyway, and there's certainly worse fates than being trapped in The Entity's sadistic games - Really.

Especially knowing that despite however much it might hurt, they're not truly going to die, just respawn, I feel like they'd pretty enthusiastically play the games - Feeling especially satisfied when they do put one over on killers and escape/win the match.

They'd also probably be mouthy towards literally every killer (and a good deal of the survivors too, but those would be more teasing/joking around). Like, the Statler and Waldorf of the Realm.

"Bro, I'm gonna level with you - I think there might be something wrong with your stash. The sickly orange glow is probably a bad sign for most drugs"

"Ooh... Scary clown! Bah! I've opened for clowns scarier than you! You know what's really terrifying? Being stuck in a green room with Gene Simmons when he's trying to give you business advice!"

"Oh no. A teenager with a knife. So original. Oh, you've got a hood and a mask too? Well now, that's really scary. And definitely innovative."

"You know miss, I don't think I've ever seen you actually sell anyone a skull. Do you have any for purchase? No, really, I want to help you with that whole 'Merchant' thing. Otherwise, it's just silly, isn't it?"

"Ma'am, I'm gonna suggest that you should avoid whatever you've been eating. It sucks, I know. I can't eat anything with cinnamon after supper anymore without needing a whole bottle of antacids. Maybe the entity will do you a favour a pull in some of that bismuth stuff from somewhere?"

"Oh, you wanna be all big and scary? I can roar like a madman too! If I had my hammer I'd show you how an Aesir deals with giants and trolls."

"I gotta say, Bro, you oughta get a refund on those shades. They don't seem to do shit for you!" (*Blinds Wesker with a flashlight*)

"Am I supposed to be scared of you? Bro, you're the failed reboot version of yourself! They didn't even find you worthwhile enough to keep making *more* new sequels with! I'm pretty sure I've only ever seen 'real' Michael Myerses and Leatherfaces kicking around. None of that Rob Zombie remake one, or any of the 10,000 attempts at making a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. So, what's your excuse, New Coke? Is The Entity just waiting to give us Freddy Classic as some sort of marketing gimmick?"

[I cannot stress enough that while they'd be saying stuff like this while cleverly dodging out of the way, or pallet stunning and whatnot. They'd absolutely be spouting this stuff while actively dying]

[0fps]

okayyyy i finally finished the main wuwa story. thoughts (brain dump) below, obviously spoilers so read at your own risk

acts 5 and 6 definitely >>>>>>>>>>>>>> the others. idk if it's because i had digested the world building a bit more by then but they felt way more engaging than the previous acts

partly because all the interesting parties (for me) were finally here. the black shores, jiyan's whole deal. scar was the most interesting of the previous acts but honestly idrgaf about him aksdjflads

dude was not even RELEVANT in these acts they really meant it when they put his ass in jail

i am quite interested in the black shores, hope to see more of them

otherwise just having to do everything with the starter group was boring as hell especially since they all have extremely flat characterizations (yangyang particularly. WHY did she of all people have to be our token partner).

disclaimer, i don't exactly hate yangyang but in general it just feels so unrealistically forced how her and chixia immediately treat mc like their best friend. we barely know each other. i think this is the part that got last-minute rewritten to make them overbearingly nice and it really shows (?? correct me if i'm wrong. idk if it's specifically those two who got rewritten)

i play in the mandarin dub btw. because apparently that's critical for yangyang ajdflkjf

as for the other characters. aalto and encore are so funny together, absolutely loved them. just their characters alone doing their whole comedy routine made act 5 a lot of fun

act 6 was obviously the climax, and i enjoyed it for what it is, but i also felt like it dragged on? like. you'd THINK after we meet up with jiyan we'd immediately go confront the threnodian like asap? they keep spouting how "time is of the essence" but hold on we gotta do all these sidequests?? repair shit?? come on yall LMAO

like the part where we're coming up with our "battle strategy" (which lol. yeah the ranged units should probably attack from a range. only the greatest tactical minds could come up with this) HONESTLY they should have black screened that shit or summarized it in like a few sentences. that was so ?????????? why am i even here.

ofc the cannon thing or whatever is out of power mortefi. of course it is.

i was enjoying act 6 pretty much until this part. then i was like really. REALLY we gotta do all this first I WANT TO GO FIGHT THE BOSS NOWWWWW

idk it just felt like they hyped us up almost immediately for a final battle but then edged us on for forever? the pacing felt weirdly backwards if you know what i mean

i was also just laughing at how concerned they were about the disrupter missing its target. like. you guys are aiming at a giant ball on the horizon you gotta be trying REALLY hard to miss this. the cutscene that showed how small the cannon was in comparison to the force field did not help adjksflasd. maybe if they were talking about the other 2 shots then sure.

once the cannon was repaired and that was over and our 4-man team was finally on their way i was back into it though

really really loved the pulling mechanic thing

however it was just another strike in which i've noticed that this game tends to overexplain some of the gameplay. that pulling mechanic was definitely one thing, the whole "battle strategy" part was another, and the one with the library in one of the previous acts was HORRENDOUS they may as well have reached out of the computer screen and held my hand

literally the only time i respected yangyang was when she decided to stay behind to hold off the enemies. bc istg if she was the one we had to do the final boss with. god. lord. hold me back from the violence i would have committed.

boss battle was a lot of fun. got my ass kicked by threnodian bc i couldn't read its moves but they made it easy to not die 👍

the little. pet thing. that eats the big echos. sooooooo unserious HAHAHAHA AJSDKLJFALD. i'm not going to think about it too hard.

was kind of weird to end that on a montage through a story teller. like i was expecting SOME sort of epilogue but it really went "yup. that's over! go play the rest of the game now"

anyways. despite my grievances i had fun with it HAHA 👍👍👍

i really enjoyed that it did cycle through a lot of story-relevant characters to trial with. it helps that i find all of them super fun to play and it helps keep things super immersive (although i did miss my girl danjin)

a similar thing i really loved was how involved almost every single playable character was

in general a detail i really like is that npcs/playable characters battle alongside you (even in the overworld) - it really makes it feel more immersive and you're part of a team, not just solo'ing everything by yourself

although it was also too early in the story for me to feel. much about everyone helping us out in the beginning. like i literally don't even know yuanwu??? the power ranger shot with everyone felt kinda silly as a result adjklajdfs

i also enjoyed the switching pov with jiyan. in the same vein as above it makes it feel more immersive and far less like the entire world revolves around the mc (although that's the plot device wuwa is desperately clinging onto here lol)

on that note. in general this whole story i'm just like. not really sold with the way literally everyone is so obsessed with mc its just like yeah you're PROBABLY that amazing resonator from way back when and i have a feeling a couple of these characters might have known them from before they lost their memories (esp scar?) but it just feels. very super ultra forced in a way i don't really like

but apparently that's what they're gonna use to drive the story and i can't expect them to rewrite all this (again? lol) so it is what it is i guess *shrugs*

the mc's fame will be less in your face as the story progresses and they actually DO more things. but right now its like. we just woke up and everyone is so obsessed with us lol can we have literally anybody who doesn't care or is like. this sure is fucking weird huh. for a world constantly in turmoil y'all sure are very trusting of this random person with amnesia

mc in general just feels really flat. yangyang being the token partner doesn't help because she is equally as flat. damn maybe we really do need paimon

oh also another detail that kind of bothered me. when we were talking with jinhsi early on there was a dialogue option to ask "have you found jue yet?" while EVERYONE is standing there. i thought this was a secret thing people aren't supposed to know about??? we're just talking about secrets out in the open like this?

what else. i liked the the jiyan and geshu lin phantom confrontation 👍 but it does feel like they're really leaning into the "yeah geshu lin was 99% in the wrong here and that 1% is gonna be jiyan's inner turmoil" and i was kind of hoping it'd be more complex than that

anyways if you read through all that props to you 👍

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (1006): Sun 22nd Dec 2024

I saw that Mark Dolan had been fired from GB News. I do not watch GB News and I’ve never been a fan of Mark Dolan as I’ve always felt that he has an undeserved sense of his own importance and abilities. Not to mention on the few occasions where I have clicked on one of his videos on YouTube he always sounds like an Alan Partridge-esque madman spouting out a string of badly researched bollocks. After the multi BAFTA and Emmy award winning Balls Of Steel ended Dolan only popped up every now and again until just after the COVID pandemic started and Dolan went viral for cutting up a face mask saying that he thought they were worthless (by this logic GB News should have cut Dolan into pieces live in air to close out his final show). Thanks to this he was hired by GB News and has sold himself as a free speech champion who says what everyone else is afraid to say. Any comedian who says they “shoot from the hip” and “say the unsayable” instantly just comes across as one of those dickhead kids in school who pretends they’re too cool to do homework when really they’re just thick as shit. Lenny Bruce / George Carlin / Bill Hicks / Doug Stanhope and other genuinely challenging comedians never patted themselves on the back for “challenging the status quo” they just did their jobs and if people agreed with them so much the better. Dolan says that he’ll release a video later on explaining why he was fired but I think we can all guess: it’s probably because GB News realised that for the same amount that they were paying him they could probably afford to get Justin Lee Collins and Jodie Marsh. 

In non-GB News news, after work I tried redesigning a few of the tattoos I’ve got planned. A while back I came up with an idea to combine the design of Philip K Dick’s face with Starbug from Red Dwarf, The Planet Express ship painted in the colours of The Beatles Yellow Submarine and the giant turtle from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld to create one big space piece. However I’ve been thinking this might take up too much space wherever I get it and not leave much space for more. Since I want to get rid of the tattoo on my right forearm which reads “Follow Your Heart And Keep Smiling” I might have a few laser sessions on it and then get it covered up with the Planet Express ship crashing into Starbug. This is the basic design I came up with but I reckon if I took it to the tattoo shop they’d be able to come up with something great.