#anyways guess who's youtube completely stopped working

[arolesbianism]

Hm. I am getting the distinct feeling that either revanced broke or some apps are doing smth real shitty

[stevieschrodinger]

Baker Steve/Rock Star Eddie wrong number AU

Part One

Part Two

PART THREE

"It's like a TV show, but on YouTube."

"Right," Steve answers, half listening to Dustin's explanation, "so it, like what, has an air time, or whatever?"

"Yeah, like a series."

"And it's just, what, famous people playing dipshits and dickheads?"

"Steeeeeeeeeeeevvvvveeeeeeeeeeee why are you like this?"

"Dunno," Steve shrugs, trying to read a recipe online. Unfortunately that's resulted in his having to scroll past someones entire fucking life story and he's ready to give up and try and work out the dumb Oreo cake recipe himself, "just lucky, I guess."

Dustin drops his head on the kitchen counter like Steve is the greatest difficulty he's ever going to face.

"So why do you need to be here to watch this?"

"Because we all want to watch it together, the guests are Corroded Coffin, they all like, play, the whole band, it's so cool-"

"Corroded Coffin? Playing your nerd game?" Steve's interest leaks through before he can stop it, "I mean, like, I think I've heard of them?" The last thing he needs is the kids finding out he's been kind of friends kind of flirting kind of maybe wants to date the actual Eddie Munson.

Dustin looks at him skeptically, "yeah...so you-"

"You can all watch it here, it's fine...I'll make cookies."

Dustin's completely distracted by his own success, instantly whipping out his phone to inform the other kids. Steve's pretty sure their group chat is called 'No Steve's allowed' but he hasn't actually found out for sure yet.

Steve does bake cookies. All the kids are gathered around his smart TV, absolutely demolishing them while they wait for this thing to start. It's like, an actual channel, with intros and graphics and stuff, a logo that reads 'Final Roll.'

And there's Eddie and the band, sitting around a table with two dudes who must run the channel. They all have the bits of paper and dice and little figures that Steve's used to seeing when the kids commandeer his dining room table.

There's preemptive ramble, and Steve leans forward a little every time Eddie's in shot. He's relieved all the kids are all sitting in front of him and all glued to the TV, so he can ogle in peace. They do introductions, and then everyone introduces their characters.

"May I introduce Sir Steven, the half elf paladin," behind Eddie Gareth rolls his eyes so hard his whole fucking body moves. Steve can see him and Geoff mouthing something to each other. Steve can only assume it's because Eddie has named his character, presumably, after him, "he has a sworn oath to always protect those weaker than himself."

Steve's heart fucking melts.

Steve's phone is buzzing. He's prepared. He knows Eddie's back in the country, they've been talking for months. Steve's kind of done waiting, and he's ready to press his advantage. He's had this set up for a little while, just waiting for the right moment. He presses play, and then answers the phone.

"Hey Stevie how-...are you listening to Corroded Coffin?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve turns it down, bomb dropped, trap sprung, advantage played, "the kids absolutely love them, they're trying to get me into them even though they're not exactly my thing."

"Right, ah, right, what do you, uhm, think?"

"Yeah. Still not my thing-"

"Oh."

"But I really like it when the lead guy sings."

"...yeah?"

"Yeah, not the like, shouty growly singing, I can't understand a fucking thing he's saying-" Eddie chuckles, "but like, the parts where he properly sings. I think he has a beautiful voice."

"I ah, well, I mean, I bet the, uhm, shouty bits are hard work, you know. I expect that takes a lot of, you know, practice. Hell on the throat. I imagine, I would guess anyway, I don't actually, like know-"

"No no, yeah, well, maybe he should just sing more then, save those vocal chords, or whatever. I'd like that a lot."

"Yeah?" Steve can practically hear Eddie blushing down the phone. Eddie's so cute when he goes shy.

"Yeah." There's a long beat of silence before Steve goes in for the kill, "the kids are trying to get me to go see them. They're in the states now, apparently. Will be playing a gig in Indie."

"Yeah they are- I mean, I assume they are, most bands, uhm, yeah-" And Steve is hardly holding it together, Eddie is such a bad liar, and he's trying so hard not to lie at all. Steve doesn't know how he;s keeping his tone normal and not letting the whole ass cat out of the bag.

"And the kids are absolutely itching to go, you know? But tickets man, they're all doing every chore they can find to get some extra cash, but tickets are pricey, and for eight of us? Because I'll need someone else to help me chaperone and, you know..."

"I. I might...know a guy. Maybe. Like, because of the band I might...know someone who can get you tickets."

"Seriously? Eddie that would be incredible, the kids will absolutely loose their shit."

"Yeah, ah, is your work email cool?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course of course, man, the kids are going to love you for like, forever."

And maybe I will too, Steve just about manages to keep the words inside.

@steves-yellow-cardigin @melodymeddler @pitrsattabhaadmeinjao

@superduckmilkshake @she-collects-smut @paintsplatteredandimperfect @resident-gay-bitch

[drdemonprince]

Lifelong hypnokink anon again. Thanks for replying so quickly, though reading that was a bit bittersweet.

I have reached out to community and that has been good, but while you call Winnipeg a "relatively small town" it's actually bigger than any city in the country I live in. These communities don't exist in-person everywhere. I have found a space online with people relatively local to me who are experienced or interested but the only in-person social events here that I'm aware of are ones that I have been trying to organise myself but it's a stressful and draining burden to take on and my health isn't great as it is.

I have sometimes tried to reach out to people to play or try trance online but have always withdrawn as it's existentially terrifying. I am kind of glad I didn't now as if I had had the same reaction I had with my partner and without someone like them there in person to help me afterwards I might not have ever wanted to try it again. And it remains a terrifying prospect.

And I can say that I am definitely not having a reaction to an intense hypnotic event as we are very much not getting that far. I guess I should be clear the things that we have tried in terms of actual hypnosis is almost completely nonsexual (hand stuck to table and the like) and also mostly not actually working very well. We are still very in the very early stages of dipping our toes into things. This isn't from letting them into my mind, just from letting them into my kink and all the self-judgement that brings out.

Self-hypnosis and audios and such are something I should probably try exploring again, you're right, but have always found difficulty there too. Partially because of the same shame fear and shame reactions which as well as making it hard to engage with at all are not very conducive to trancework, and I think also because unmedicated ADHD makes it difficult to sit down and dedicate my attention to these things. On that front myself and my partner have actually been reading Hypnosis Without Trance by James Tripp as it was recommended to me.

Hey, thanks for the clarifications. It's a good reminder of the limits of my UScentric worldview to hear from someone in a country with no city as big as Winnipeg! Let's see if we can tailor some advice more to your situation.

I would strongly recommend checking out online hypnosis conferences. For where you are at emotionally on the topic, attending virtually might feel a whole lot more feasible for you at this time anyway. Beguiled here in Chicago is a remote conference -- I believe it will be entirely online this summer. You should check it out. I know the time difference might be a pain depending on where you are, but I think it would be a great thing for you to attend.

Pick-up play with online partners from Sleepychat, Discord servers, and other online erotic hypnotic spaces is possible, but the quality of the experience is gonna be quite hit-or-miss, and it sounds like you're too consumed by shame right now to be able to negotiate your own boundaries safely or enjoy the experience. What you should be working on right now is building up more distress tolerance with regard to the stuff that gets you going.

Before I go on, I just want to flag that people hear "distress tolerance" and think it means they need to stop being so sensitive or that it's some personal judgement or whatever, and that's not what that means here. When I say you need to build distress tolerance, I mean you need to practice introducing hypnotic play and concepts to yourself in ways that DON'T leave you crying and sobbing and hating yourself, because that is setting you backward and making a thing you LOVE into an aversive. We don't want that. So let's back wayyyy tf up and take it slow.

Listen to more hypnotic audios and read more hypnotic stories and text-based inductions. There's no shortage of places to start here. Soundgasm, warp my mind, hypnotube, the subreddits, soundcloud, here on tumblr, youtube -- dig around and get a sense of what you like. @knowing-smile's site S.piral.me is also an excellent repository of spirals and sound files (including some by me!), and you can even use them in a VR headset or Google cardboard + a phone for a more intense experience.

Spend time routinely laying down with an audio file in a calm, comfortable space, OR during a rote activity where it would be safe to do so, such as on a walk in a park or while folding laundry etc. You mention finding it hard to experience trance or calm down and focus during solo hypno like this, and that is incredibly common. A lot of people can't really trance to this stuff on their own barely at ALL -- that doesn't mean it isn't a great exercise in exploring the variants of the headspace.

Newbies frequently expect a hypnotic state to be far more intense and obvious than it initially will be. But we all trance all the time throughout the day already -- on the bus, playing repetitive games, during a move that transports us, reading a book, and when we dissociate! Your brain already knows how to trance, trust me, it just might not feel quite as blank and calm as you'd hoped. You can get there, but for now just try to focus your attention and calm your body and go along the ride to the extent that you can. It is not a binary thing, it is a gradient -- and there are waking trances, anxious trances, light trances, and all other flavors that might not feel so intense at first or altogether pleasant, but that doesnt mean you're not doing the thing. It just means you need more practice to get better at honing the skill.

I am glad that you and your partner are reading about hypnosis and starting with simple practice exercises. That's a good idea. You can still be having abreactions even if the trance you are reaching is super light and nothing you are doing is intense! Even just calming oneself down into a trance state can be suuuuper triggering for a lot of people, especially when combined with shame. I think as your partner's hypnotic skills develop, you may wish to incorporate soothing that shame into your hypnotic process itself. They should reassure you that you are safe, and wanted, that this is good, they are happy to be there with you, and that you are sharing in something good for you both together. That might help.

[jj0latunji]

Unprofessional(M) - KSI Imagine

Wanted to read some more JJ stories on here and grow the audience so I took matters into my own hands so hopefully you guys enjoy.

The original version of this written by my friend is over on Wattpad so go give it a read.

Also love to @grace-xix for all the love on here , go read her stories cause it's some of the best on here.

Anyways here goes nothing xx

Also here's JJ and Ethan doing whatever this is

"Y/N stop being lazy and serve that customer." My manager snickered as I sighed.

I had been on my shift for almost 6 hours now and the loud music and the constant orders had taken a toll on me. Adding to that my manager never seemed to get the idea of a break so I had to stand at the bar and serve drinks the entire shift no matter how I felt.

I hated this job and I had gotten it only because I wanted some extra money for college and I was waiting for the right time to quit and search for a new job. I wouldn't say this job was a complete shitshow because I found my soulmate here.

JJ Olatunji, my boyfriend who I met when I was bartending here about 3 years ago. We hit it off immediately and even managed to hook up during my shift which angered the manager so much that he didn't pay me for the week. Amazing sex though so I didn't mind.

Me and JJ have been together for more than two and a half years now and things were looking amazing. We had decided on an apartment together in London to move into and I was also looking to start my own YouTube channel just like JJ had because he said it pays well and was low effort, so I could still concentrate on college.

I then realised that the customer was waiting for me to take their order , so I walked up to the bar and took their order and started making their cocktails. I handed them the cocktail and greeted the next customer but was instead suprised to see a familiar face that instantly made me forget all my troubles.

"Hey babygirl..." JJ greeted me taking my hand in his before kissing my knuckles.

"Hey babe , what you doing here." I asked him suprised as he squeezed my hand comforting me.

"I know your shift ends soon so I wanted to come pick you up but I'm here a bit early I guess." He said with a chuckle as I nodded.

"Well you can go sit at one of the tables, here take your strawberry daquiri." I said to him before making him his favorite cocktail and handing it to him.

JJ just thanked me and walked away and took a seat at a table but then he mysteriously winked at me and pointed towards his phone and told me to check mine.

I quickly told my fellow bartender to cover my station for a while before quickly making my way towards the back where I saw JJ stood with a smirk.

"I knew you couldn't resist." He said with a chuckle as he opened the door to one of the private rooms away from the main club.

"Yeah only because you look too hot in those tight pants , fuck me you look hot." I said as I locked the door and pushed him onto the sofa chair.

Hin wearing that particular pair of jeans always turned me on cause it usually left little to imagination.

"Don't get me started on how hot you look. I don't get how you manage to look this stunning despite working your ass off." He said as I straddled him.

"Just fuck me before someone figured out I'm not at the bar." I said with a smirk before bending down to kiss him.

He gripped my thighs making me moan into the kiss allowing him to push his tongue into my mouth as the kiss turned more hungry and lustful.

"Remove this.." I said unbuckling his belt and opening up his pant as he kissed down my neck and removed my bra from underneath my top.

I finally got his pants off which left him in his boxers and he pulled my skirt up so that he could line himself up with my slit.

"Fuck I love this top ." He said pinching my nipples through my top as I gently grinded against his erection, letting him feel my wetness.

"You brought it for me to be fair , now shut up and fuck me." I said lifting myself up a little as he pulled out his painfully hard cock, veins and all prominent as his precum coated his tip . He pulled my panties to the side with a smirk before finally burying himself in me completely.

"Fuck you always feel so perfect..." He said slowly swirling his hips around, letting me get used to his size.

"And you fill me up so perfectly, no one else can , no one hits that spot in me like you do , no one can make me feel like you do " I said seductively as I slowly began to ride him making him throw his head back.

"Fuck . " He moaned as he finally removed my top and threw it to the side revealing my perky tits to him and he wasted no time in running his tongue against my hard nipple as his fingers played with the other.

"Yes...JJ." I said as I felt him take my nipple in his mouth and lightly bite down on it. This seemed to turn him on more as he thrusted upwards matching my movement as the tip of his dick grazed against that spot in me that made me let out almost an animalistic moan.

At this point I was not worried about anyone hearing or interrupting us as all I cared about was reaching my high.

"Fuck that's it , let go, let me take over." He said as he quickened his pace , thrusting up harder as I felt my legs go weak and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

He slapped my ass and guided me downwards to match his thrusts to make sure he reached even deeper in me and soon he felt me tightening around him , making him smirk at me and pull me in for a kiss.

"Let go babe , let all your tension go." He said rubbing circles around my clit before pulling me in for a passionate kiss as I reached my climax with a scream muffled by JJ's lips on mine.

He kept thrusting up chasing his own high as he held my body close to his. Soon I felt him finish in me with a groan as we both slumped into the chair.

"Oh shit it's time to sign off from my shift, why don't we go continue this back home." I said kissing JJ's neck leaving dark purple marks on his skin.

We cleaned ourselves up in the private washroom before dressing ourselves up and walking back out to the bar to see the manager searching for me with anger on his face very evident.

"You go get the car , I'll be out in a few." I said kissing JJ and sending him away before going to face my manager.

"Where the hell have you been , don't tell you you hooked up with your boyfriend here again , how can you be so unprofessional." He screamed at me as I sighed . Yeah I quit.

"I know what I did now was unprofessional but all of us know you are the most unprofessional person here. You overwork and underpay us and don't even deny it cause everyone here knows it's true and I know you'll lose your mind and fire me but before that I want to quit , fuck you " I said matching his voice before removing my tag and leaving it on the table and leaving.

As I walked out I saw JJ stood near the door with a bright smile on his face , instantly making me feel better.

"I'm so proud of you." He said giving me a much needed hug before leading me out towards his car.

"It was a long time coming , I need to concentrate on college anyways." I said as we both got in the car.

"Don't worry about finding another job babe , me and Simon will teach you everything about YouTube tomorrow and I'm sure with your amazing personality you'll soon find your audience." He said taking my hand in his.

"Thanks Jide ." I said before kissing his knuckles.

"Also can I say something else...." He said with a smirk.

"Go on." I said with a chuckle.

"You screaming in there all angry really turned me on." He said turning the car on.

"Awwh is my JJ turned on ..... Do you want me to scream at you too." I said pinching his cheeks as he laughed.

"Why don't you scream at me when we get back home." He said with a wink.

"Anything you want darling." I said as we set off back home.

[imnotsimpingyouare]

ENAMORED (III)

Modern Hantengu clones x Reader

Featuring:

"Pissed Cubicle Worker" Sekido

"Depressed Programmer" Aizetsu

"That Guy in the Alley" Karaku

"Unfunny YouTube Prankster" Urogi

"Disappointed Grandpa" Hantengu

"Delinquent Middle Schooler" Zohakuten

"Possibly a Criminal" Akaza

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

You will not be shipped with Zohakuten or Hantengu because:

A.) One is an old man

B.) One is a young boy

Ty for your time 😌

We're going with Zohakuten to school :D not really but like yk

I decided to give the bb a little crush because him trying to figure himself out would be so funny 💀

Also fem!Y/N gets a date with the mystery criminal man 🤨

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Zohakuten shut the car door, feeling triumphant. Guess who's getting ice cream after school? Equally as good as getting a rise out of his teachers.

He wandered into the building, fashionably on time for once. The bell rang right as he stepped in, and all of the kids began heading to class. The main hall was.. huge, to say the least. Two sets of stairs surrounded a balcony over the cafeteria, and to his left were halls sprouting in different directions. The green and white checkered floor squeaked with all of the shoes walking on it.

Zohakuten's first class was Mathematics, the worst class. Well, they were all insufferable, but Math was the worst.

He walked through a hall to his left, passing the music rooms on the way. Some of the rooms he passed were smaller with sound-proof glass doors, sometimes with stands and chairs set up in them. He never bothered to look, but he stopped at one when he heard the sound of a piano.

A girl sat there, her brown hair covering her face. Her fingers danced on the keys, and Zohakuten leaned closer to the glass to listen. Suddenly, her phone lit up, and she looked his way.

Oh no.

In an instant, he goes into fight or flight mode, choosing to fight his way to victory. He tosses his phone onto the ground, bending down to pick it up.

Will she fall for that?

Beads of sweat form on his forehead when he looks up and sees the girl completely unphased and wearing an unreadable expression.

Okay, now it's time to run.

The day was only getting started.

○○○○○

The old man stared at you for a moment.

"Amazing! When will you come to stay?" He said in his trembling voice.

"Umm, I don't know. I'm not nearly done here, and I still have to pack and move all my things..." You begin, but he hushes you.

"Nonononono, sweet girl, I will send my sons to help you move. They could use the work out. Especially that one," He says, pointing a shaking scrawny finger at Karaku, who is standing there with his mouth agape.

"I didn't sign up for this, I've got business to do today." He says, crossing his arms.

"The boy will help you," he says, before wandering away in the direction he came.

Your face flushes when Karaku turns to look at you. "I'm sorry. You don't have to help me, I don't have that many things in the first place." You say, gathering your supplies to move to the next area of the home.

His green eyes linger on you for a moment, and before he can say anything you've already shuffled out of the room with your stuff in your hands.

Not like he'd hate helping a woman like yourself out anyway. He only laughed to himself, before turning in his bunny slippers and slinking away to his room.

○○○○○

Zohakuten arrived fashionably late to class, as per usual. The teacher didn't even seem to care anymore, having already marked him as tardy.

He sat at his desk. There were a little less than 30 kids in the class, and all of them were shitheads. They all talked and grouped up without him. Although he was on *good terms* with nearly everyone at the school, sometimes it felt like there was no one who was actually his friend.

He looked across the room, and that girl's stare met his. He immediately looked away.

She was in this class? How long has she been here without anyone knowing?

Why did his face feel warm? It's just some random kid who looked at him funny. Not a big deal.

Not a big deal at all.

He could feel her eyes lingering on him for a moment before the teacher stood up and began the lesson.

○○○○○

It had been hours since you'd left Karaku alone in the kitchen, and you'd successfully cleaned the first two stories of the house. The first contained the kitchen, dining area and living room, and the second one contained most of the brothers' rooms and some sort of game room. It made you slightly jealous how they were able to live in such luxury, but you know that they've probably worked hard for what they have now.

That's just what happens when you put several incomes together.

You felt your stomach growl. It was way last lunch time. Usually you'd get a break, but this house was taking long enough. You'd rather finish up the job and–

A large hand touched your waist. Laughter erupted at the way your body stiffened following suit, and you felt a voice somewhere close to your ear.

"Wanna get lunch with us? Me, Aizetsu, and Karaku are going."

You turned around to find the man who had attacked you earlier, now close to you with a.. less devious smile than before.

"Uh.. I just.. need to finish the house so I can–"

Immediately you felt the broom being tugged from your hold, and strong hands wrapped around your knees and lower back. He had picked you up, and was now carrying you bridal-style down the stairs. "W-wait! I have to.."

He only shushed you, laughing at your attempt to free yourself from his hold. When you reached the bottom of the stairs, the other two were waiting for you.

Aizetsu shot a pitiful look your way. "Urogi put her down, you're gonna scare her."

He released you, but kept an eye on you to make sure you weren't trying to slink away.

"Where we going?" He asked, looking at Karaku, who only shrugged.

You felt kind of small around them, standing awkwardly while they conversed amongst themselves. Aizetsu's eyes turned to you. "Do you like milkshakes?"

You nodded your head up at him, and the three of them nodded at the same time, which was really creepy. But Urogi's playful gaze landed on you as Karaku reached for his keys.

"Little lady, have you ever ridden a motorcycle?"

○○○○○

"Wait. Let me off. I'm going with Karaku." You said sounding nervous. You were seated behind him on his motorcycle, him revving the engine as Karaku and Aizetsu climbed into his jeep.

"Having second thoughts?" He teased. Before you could answer, he turned around and stuck a helmet on your head. Then, as you were trying to adjust the strap, you realized it wasn't a helmet meant for a motorcycle.

"Urogi... is this a bicycle helmet?"

"...tricycle."

That was the last thing he said to you, turning around to put one of his huge leather jackets over your shoulders.

After you got it on properly, he pulled out of the driveway, cackling like a maniac as you sped past Karaku and Aizetsu.

Looking into the mirrors of his bike (even though it was kind of hard to see past his shoulders) you could see Aizetsu's horrified expression in the passenger seat of the jeep.

"By the way, if I lean one way, you also have to lean that way, or we'll fall and die." He had no trouble speaking over the sound of the wind. He sped up even more, which was definitely illegal on a residential road, but you just hugged him tighter.

The diner you arrived at was small, but lack of available parking spaces reassured you it was good. Urogi helped you off of his bike, and undid your goofy tricyle helmet. The other two were walking over from a little ways away, but he looked down at you and smiled.

"That's my favorite jacket you're wearing."

You all walked inside and seated yourselves at a booth. The diner was small, but the lighting was comfortable. You sat closest to the window, next to Urogi, and Aizetsu was across from you with Karaku next to him. On the walls were vintage pictures of cars and people with information about them. While you busied yourself reading, Karaku and Urogi played tic-tac-toe on one of the kids' menus with green and yellow crayons. (Yes, they asked the waitress for a kids' menu, just to play tic-tac-toe)

Aizetsu was eyeing you from time to time, so intensely that you knew he wanted to say something. You gathered the courage to meet his eyes with your own.

"Um, what's your name?" He asked, fiddling with the edge of his menu.

Your eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh no, you're taking me to lunch and I haven't even told you my name. I'm Y/N." You say, before extending a hand in his direction.

In that instant, he looked at you like he'd never seen a hand in his life. Karaku laughed at his awkwardness, and shook your hand in his absence. "Y/N is a lovely name."

The waitress comes by and takes your orders, disappearing into the back to relay them to the chef. Karaku grins at you before using the crayon as a microphone.

"Hear ye, hear ye," He begins. Everyone's attention is already on him, obviously, and Aizetsu looks like he wants to die.

"Y/N's gonna be living with us."

Urogi clapped like a little kid and Aizetsu looked more shocked than anything.

"Why?" He said, before looking at you. "Not that I don't... I meant it like, why would you–"

"She's our maid now!" Karaku interrupted, seemingly lighting a fire in Urogi's soul.

"Oooooo! Is she gonna walk around in one of those cute mai–"

"I prefer the term housekeeper." You said in a shy manner, feeling your face get hot.

"Housekeeper." He restated matter-of-factly.

Aizetsu looked at you. "Living with us? What would possess you to do that?"

You sighed ever so slightly, feeling all eyes on you. "I actually got fired today. I'd rather be a housekeeper than have to start fresh on a new job.."

Right on cue, the waitress came to your table, holding a tray with all of your food on it. She passed it out, but when she walked away, there was a strange aura coming from someone at the table.

Aizetsu was looking down at his food, eyes darting nervously from Karaku to Urogi.

They were busy digging in at the moment, but when his eyes met yours, you felt he was begging you not to say something. He grabbed his fork and picked at his salad, which was on the side of his actual meal.

As soon as Karaku heard the clink of the fork against the bowl, his whole head snapped to Aizetsu.

"...is there something wrong?"

"..no."

"Look me in the eye."

"It's fine. The food is fine. The food is good. Mmm. My favorite." Aizetsu said, suddenly grabbing his burger and taking a big bite.

The waitress was coming around again to refill Urogi's drink, and you could feel the tension at the table.

"Karaku, please don't.."

She was getting closer.

Urogi began to open his mouth as well, but Aizetsu begged him not to.

"Is everything alright?" The waitress said with her pitcher of tea, refilling Urogi's drink with a nervous look on her face.

"He asked for no pickles." Karaku said, and Aizetsu slumped down in his seat.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. Let me get that for you." She said, reaching over to grab his plate.

He seemed to slump more under the table the closer her hand got, so you reached over to hand the plate to her.

"I'll have your replacement made now." She says, before walking away.

"See that wasn't so hard, was it?" Karaku said, tussling his poor brother's hair.

"You embarrassed me..." Aizetsu whined, before everyone else at the table busted out into laughter.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

○○○○○

It was already around 3:00 before you had the opportunity to leave the house, gathering your cleaning supplies into the back of your car.

Urogi clung to your arm and followed you all the way out. "Awww, do you really have to go?" He pouted at you.

"I'll be back soon with my stuff." You stated. "I have to turn my uniform and supplies in to my boss."

He stood idly on the lawn, waving at you as your car backed out of the drive. "BYE Y/N!!"

You couldn't help but feel a smile creeping onto your face, but you shook it off and drove to your workplace (ex-workplace).

○○○○○

You stepped into Murata's Service Emporium for the last time, a feeling of relief washing over your chest. God, you never realized how much you hated this place until now. You wandered your way into your boss's office after putting the cleaning supplies away. You had changed into some normal clothes, and were now holding the itchy uniform in your hand.

Your boss had been expecting you.

"Y/N." He said, before snatching the uniform from your hands. He stuck out a check to you. "There."

You didn't even bother saying bye, just walking out of the door and back to your car. The last time you'll ever need to be in that building. A smile was on your face, and you thought it would have a long stay there.

○○○○○

"Hey, do you need any help?"

A man's voice came from behind you, and you turned, holding a large box in your hands.

"Umm, yeah, thank you." You said in a quiet voice, and he took the box with a smile while you grabbed another from inside of your apartment.

"What's all this for?" He asked, placing it in your trunk.

"Well, I'm moving out. Got another job in town, and..."

His smile turned into a small frown. "Oh, I was hoping I'd see you around more." He sighed.

Your face turned red, and you almost dropped the box in your hands. "Wh– uh, well, I never said I was opposed to seeing you again." You admitted shyly, his tattooed arms crossing infront of him as he raised a brow.

"Wanna grab some ice cream after we load your things?"

[alternatememory]

Trigger warning: Heavy profanity

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!!

I'm actually fucking angry right now. This morning Pinterest took down a pin I saved because it contained "self-harm content" when in reality it was just a meme with Hatsune Miku and the "Visiting Britain" Spotify playlist. This was actually the second time it got taken down, the first time being in November of last year. When I first appealed it, they accepted my appeal. But when I appealed it today, guess what happened?

That's right, THEY REJECTED THE MOTHERFUCKER. I seriously can't believe how incompetent these morons at Pinterest actually are. How do you not know the difference between a meme that's not supposed to be taken seriously at all and actual content that encourages suicide and self-harm? Like, just wake the fuck up already. Is that how incompetent you are?

I also want to mention that I can't hear anything in 99% of the videos I see on Pinterest because of their "Audio not available in your location" geoblocking bullshit. Like, I'm in Ireland and I can't watch anything because whenever I click on a video, there's no fucking sound. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING SOUND. IT SUCKS.

I feel like Pinterest is trying to become YouTube v2. They both practise the same scummy censorship methods, and they both use AI to fuck their communities in the face. Like, you know how most videos on YouTube that have the word "fuck" in the title are age-restricted, and they say it's based on their Community Guidelines? Well, the age-restrictions are not based on their Community Guidelines. It's a lie. It's a fabrication. It is GASLIGHTING. IT IS AI-AUTOMATED GARBAGE. These assholes at Pinterest and YouTube are going to completely and permanently ruin these fucking platforms.

I seriously can't believe how awful these platforms have become over the years. It's absolute fucking bullshit; why even try to express yourself and get inspired on Pinterest and YouTube when they're both just going to tell you to go fuck yourself in the ass for doing so? We should not have to give them criticism on how their platforms are run; they have both been around for so long, they should know EXACTLY what their users want. Like, just imagine if you had to give criticism to a master bartender who's been doing work for twenty years because they put fucking horse semen in your gin and tonic.

FUCK OFF WITH THAT JACKSHIT, MAN!

Both platforms feel like an abusive relationship; you want to love the person you're in the relationship with, but you just can't.

Anyway, I could go on and on and on, but I'm just gonna leave it at that. And if you're gonna be like "oH, aDrIaNa! yOu nEeD tO sToP wHiNiNg aBoUt oThEr sOcIal mEdIa pLaTfOrMs!1!", well SHUT YOUR BITCH ASS UP. I'm gonna continue calling these dickheads out on their bullshit, because if they get away with it, others are gonna get away with it, and that shit doesn't slide with me.

Thanks for reading. I'm sorry I was so angry in this blog post, I just had lots of shit I wanted to get off my chest. If you want, please like and maybe even reblog this, so more people are made aware of Pinterest and YouTube's scummy practices. Have a nice day, peace.

[sadhornydemons]

Hey, guess who managed to complete their first fan video in five years?

See, I was watching a random youtube video on Pink, when the subject of the song 'Family Portrait' comes up, and I think: 'That fits Via to a tee!" But surely someone had made the video right? Nope. Shockingly, no one took one of Pink's lesser hits from 23 years ago and made a fan video, go fig.

Mind you, I'm not really even a big Via fan. I mean, I've got nothing against her. It's just...she is LITERALLY ME when I was a teenager. Angsty ace with a lazy goth aesthetic. Octavia Goetia hits too close to home as a cringey reminder of my younger self.

Nonetheless, I knew making this video wouldn't require that many episodes and it definitely served as a learning experience, for example, I learned:

a) Despite having a new computer, my lovely Sony Vegas still struggles to render HD video files. And

b) I need to stop overlapping scenes as it just results in interlace flickers, even if I attempt to disable that.

The end result, after I saved and previewed about a half dozen times still has some flickers, but I left it in because I'm after a few hours of work I am done and I wanted it a bit messy anyway.

Here's to a New Year of trying new projects!

[stellafrin]

It's New Year's Eve and I'm now a year older.

Right, now's the time to talk about future plans? Resolutions? Boastings? Whatever you wanna call it.

I guess I'll start with a retrospective sorta thing tho.

This past year for me feels like nothing and everything has happened.

I didn't end up getting any real progress done on my personal projects past March.

I also ended up starting another extended hiatus after finishing ISaT. I did end up popping back in for October to stream Mouthwashing and Slay the Princess but have since gone back on hiatus for the time being.

Related to why that first hiatus started, I finally got myself a therapist and am also now properly medicated for my ADHD again so I'm able to focus for the first time in ages. But I've been far too focused on IRL stuff to work on any of my projects.

I have atleast been trying to be better at relaxing and not over working myself, neither with my projects nor from DD. (The reason I stopped working on anything in March may or may not be related to the fact that I accidentally burned myself out again... oops.)

Speaking of IRL(ish), back in March I caught myself calling myself by something and a few weeks later decided to start testing it out with friends, about a month ago I decided I'm gonna stick with it for real and started the process to get my name changed!

Unrelated to any of that, for a while I've been watching some shows with friends in a server. We'd have some long running show going once a week (we finished Adventure Time towards the beginning of the year, started DragonBall, around Sep/Oct finished it up and moved onto Z) and people were open to watch some shorter shows whenever.

Back in May, the show that my friend Mizzy decided to share was Madoka Magica, and over those 4 weeks of slowly watching threw this show, I unlocked an ancient love for this series including 2 OCs I had completely and utterly forgotten about. (I need to write down these girls' story at some point, would be a good excuse to try and start drawing again too.)

In the midst of finishing Madoka, my family came back to town for a Con and while here my older sister decided to watch Dungeon Meshi with me and our 2 younger siblings.

After finishing both shows, I needed to watch more...

I decided to go looking to see what anime I had been putting off that could be accessed easily and found that Bocchi the Rock was completely free on Crunchyroll and ended up bingeing the whole show.

Next was Frieren... which I caved and subbed to CR when I realized only the first 3 EN episodes were free (which I had already watched) and I needed more.

I remembered a show that an anime YouTuber I watch recommended earlier in the year so I went to check it out. It was interesting, wouldn't recommended it to anyone without a million caveats tho. (No I won't share it's name, if you already know then you know.)

Around this point was the beginning of the new anime season and I ended up getting into Mayonaka Punch and VTuber Legend at around episode 3, keeping up with them as they aired. (I think the last time I was keeping up with anime live was early pandemic when I was still watching MHA before I dropped it because I was bored.)

I desperately needed to find people who were talking about these shows because the conversation was essentially dead back on twitter, and thus, I got dragged back into using this godforsaken site consistently again for the first time in ages. (The tag system is just so good at keeping track of things and doesn't actively take up space in a post like on twitter, it's perfect for fandom)

It is now too late, I've gotten back into anime/manga. There is no going back.

...

Uh

This was supposed to be a retrospective wasn't it?

Like 2/3 of it is anime talk

Fuck

There's gonna be so much shit I need to cut for the bluesky version, fuck

......

Anyway

Future Plans! Resolutions!!! BOASTING!!!!!!

I WILL FINISH MY LOWPOLY 3D MODEL!!!!!!

I have so many cool VTubing mutuals I want to get to know more and possibly be friends with. I will attempt to reach out to people more (crippling social anxiety be damned)

By July I want to be back to streaming atleast once a week and keep it up for atleast 3 months.

I want to stop just being an observer on the sidelines like I have been for ages. I will make something! Wether it be,

Editing down my voice work from the ISaT streams or doing some more voice work for some other characters I think might be fun,

Writing out either my VTubing lore, my pmmm OCs info and story, the Frieren OC I ended up creating after finishing the show, or something related to ancient AU ideas for random fandoms I used to be active on the sidelines of eons ago,

Attempt to start drawing again,

Or even write, script, and edit at least one single video!

...I can't think of anything else... welp time to schedule this and pass the fuck out. I'll figure out how I'll chop this up for bluesky after I'm done working.

[justarandombrit]

Well. Here you go, I guess. (To avoid the massive amount of preamble skip to "The return of lines from Spies Are Forever...")

Spies Are Forever is a 2016 spy-parody musical set in 1960s America. It's by the Tin Can Bros and is all professionally recorded on YouTube for free, so I recommend watching it before reading this, as I will be talking about the penultimate in-character song from this musical, which, despite being a parody, is very much also a serious spy story, with a lot of twists and turns.

It is probably my favourite musical of all time, so I'll give you an hour or so to watch it.

…

Back? Has your brain chemistry been fundamentally changed? Yeah, that happens.

Anyway, just in case you decided that you didn't care about spoilers, I'll give you a quick overview of the plot you need for this essay.

Agent Curt Mega has been retired from spying for four years, since his partner (Owen Carvour)’s death due to a mistake Curt made. He decides to get back into the field to fight the enigmatic Deadliest Man Alive and ridiculous Baron Von Nazi, and stop the construction of the “Nazi Super Castle”. Along the way, he works with Cynthia Houston, head of the American Secret Service, Barb Larvernor, scientist, Tatiana Slohzo, Russian spy and the Informant, informant.

Despite being a comedy first and foremost, a lot of the musical hinges on the villain’s plot, and that is important in this overview.

We are led to believe that Von Nazi is the “brains” behind the operation, so to speak (despite him having none himself), up until a confrontation where, after killing the prince of The New Democratic Republics of Old Socialist Prussian Sloviskia and convincing the country's government to sign off on the plans for the Super Castle, the DMA literally and figuratively stabs Von Nazi in the back.

This, like many of the DMA's actions throughout the show, seems completely unmotivated. The main characters question this, and, in a suspenseful, absolutely devastating moment that I cannot do justice through the medium of writing, the DMA is revealed to be Owen.

I could write pages and pages about this moment, about the foreshadowing leading up to it, about Curt's reaction, Tatiana's reaction, Joe Walker and (actor) Curt Mega’s acting, how it's Joey Richter (Owen’s actor) who says the line “Personal history does have its benefits, Mega”, that line itself! This scene keeps me up at night, but this essay isn't about that.

This essay is about the song directly following this scene.

As Owen predicts in his speech, Curt goes after him instead of the information warehouses created by Owen’s agency, Chimera. This song serves as a villain song for Owen, no longer disguised as the Deadliest Man Alive, and also a duet for Owen and Curt.

Although up until now I have been explaining the plot in order, a good chunk of this analysis requires the context of retrospect. So, again I implore you to watch it. It's only 8 minutes long and would really make my job easier. Act Two, Part Six.

https://youtu.be/yMBi9hp2QVQ?si=IUz42a_1DTMi4eNS

So. Curt and Owen were lovers. Even though that moment (along with Curt shooting Owen) had been spoiled for me before watching, I still gasped at that scene. Anyway, with the added context of what sort of “partners” they were, we can now move into the analysis.

I'm no music theorist, as evidenced by most of this essay being about the depth of the lyrics, not the music, but, as YouTube user ConsiderableColors pointed out in their video-essay “Motifs Of Remembrance In Spies Are Forever”, One Step Ahead does not have a single use of the common leitmotifs throughout the rest of the show, symbolising how Curt has moved on from mourning and feeling guilt over Owen, and accepted what he has to do.

(Sidenote; that video is incredibly good, and I'll be linking it at the end along with another SAF video-essay I love)

The return of lines from Spies Are Forever (song), specifically, “Who do you trust, who do you betray?”, really highlights TalkFine’s amazing lyric writing, recontextualising lines from the opening song, which clearly parodies the famously nonsensical Bond songs, because, as we all know:

Foreshadowing is a dramatic device in which an important plot point is mentioned earlier in the story to return later in a more significant way...

I hope somebody got that reference.

Anyway, one important aspect in the structure of One Step Ahead is, for the most part, Owen always sings his lines before Curt, reflecting how he is, a, literally ahead of Curt, as he is being chased throughout most of the song, and, b, was figuratively ahead of Curt for most of the show, knowing and predicting his every move.

Owen sings “One step ahead, that's how it's always been”, to make out that Curt is incompetent, as we see him do multiple times in the previous scene. Of course, at this point, the audience should realise that this is untrue, but it makes complete sense why Owen, the man who almost died because of a mistake Curt made, should think this.

In the next verse, Owen continues with the much softer, although arguably more hurtful to Curt, “One step ahead, I'm sorry my old friend / But I'm still here / After all those years when you thought I was dead / I was one step ahead”

When listening to the song for the first time, “old friend” may sound like a bittersweet term of endearment, but with the context of the true nature of Owen and Curt’s relationship, this can be read more as an insult, as Owen disregarding their relationship, and pretending nothing ever happened between them.

Curt, still reprising lines from Spies Are Forever, next sings “It's time to save the world again”, making no mention of beating Owen or “overthrow(ing) (...) an evil power” like the ensemble sings at the start of the song, because at this point, Curt still has hope for Owen. He still believes he can get Owen to leave Chimera and he can get the Owen he knew in the opening song back.

Owen quickly shoots down this idea with “Typical Curt / And pretend to be a hero again”, which both takes a shot at Curt’s saviour complex, but also all of the duo’s previous beliefs, which we know Owen now believes were not really the right thing to do. Thus, this line could also be read as Owen showing his disdain for both A.S.S and MI6, and, by proxy, who he used to be, and who Curt still is.

Curt retaliates, now giving up on reprising SAF and instead following the tune Owen sang, with “Typical jerk!”, showing that he's now somewhat accepted that he won't be able to easily get Owen back, and has fully joined in on the fight. (Also I don't know how to include this but, after this line in the live version of the song Joey (Owen) says “Ooh, sick burn” in the most sarcastic way you've ever heard and it's amazing)

He then asks “What happened to the man I knew?”, implying that he's realised that Owen is no longer “The man [he] knew”

Owen gives a snarky response in, “It's a little late for an interview”, further showing his hatred of the man he used to be, and refusing to defend himself and his beliefs, despite going on to do exactly that after this song.

“Feelin’ a lot of déjà vu again” This line is sung one inch away from each other’s faces… I'm just saying, they knew what they were doing.

We can see that all of the quipping in the previous lines got to Curt, as he sounds much angrier than at the start when he sings “It's time for you to feel the heat”

Of course, Owen retorts with the much calmer “Revenge is going to taste so sweet”, once again reminding Curt, and us, the viewers, of his motivation throughout this song. In this song, Owen doesn't attempt to hide or downplay how much his trauma from Curt leaving him to die, or his desire to get revenge influenced his actions, unlike later, in The Staircase Scene, where he seems to genuinely believe he is acting for the good of spies, and humanity as a whole.

In fact, pretty much the only time revenge seems to play a factor in his choices when he's monologuing in The Staircase Scene, is when he says “I'm going to single-handedly dismantle everything you've ever believed in”. This, along with how his voice breaks when he says that line, tells us that he may be being more honest about his true motivation during this song, and lying, to an extent, about it afterwards.

They both proceed to call each other platonic, and slightly condescending nicknames (e.g. pal, buddy), both to try and undermine each other, and also possibly because they're still rightfully cautious to admit that they were anything more than that, in a society that demonised and criminalised homosexuality, especially for government workers, like secret agents.

Afterwards, Curt tries to retroactively justify Owen’s betrayal to himself, as we see in “You played me from the start”. He tries to convince himself that the betrayal was inevitable, and that Owen had been lying since they met, unable to accept that Owen really had changed because of Curt’s own actions.

“Well look at you / Without a clue” Owen quickly refutes this, unwilling to let Curt believe he is completely innocent, by reinforcing that he really did love Curt once.

Instead of doubling down, Curt goes with what Owen said, attempting to appeal to his emotion with “You know you broke my heart”.

“Don't deny I was the better spy” This line breaks me. Genuinely, I've spent hours thinking about this line. Think about the implications. PROMISE ME YOU'LL THINK ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS.

See, the reason I love this line so much is that Owen is right. Objectively speaking, Owen is the better spy. And not in the way that Cynthia thinks, and not in the way he implies throughout the show. Curt is not incompetent by any means, but he is reckless. Owen is not.

The only reason Owen even survived at the start of the musical was because he took the proper safety precautions to limit the blast of the (completely unneeded) bomb Curt set the timer purposefully too short for. It makes complete sense why Owen would think he's better at spying, however I don't believe that he does. Maybe to an extent. But not fully.

“Don't deny” shows he really wants validation via this statement. He wants Curt to admit that he's better. That what happened was Curt’s fault. Maybe Owen does believe he's the better spy, maybe he doesn't, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that Curt believes he is.

(I had a lot more to say about that line than I thought…)

Instead of succumbing to Owen’s demand, Curt retorts, “I liked you better when you were dead”, which seems harsh, but utterly understandable. Owen’s betrayal hurt Curt so deeply, so intensely, that he preferred the years spent in mourning for his lover, quitting his job and drinking so much he hallucinated Owen’s ghost, because at least that Owen was the one he knew. The Owen that died a hero, rather than the one who lived long enough to become the monster.

Please forgive that cliché, but it seemed applicable.

After this, Owen reiterates “One step ahead / It's how it's always been”, but this time, Curt responds directly to Owen, with, “Can't let you win”. He's now outright saying that he and Owen are on opposite sides, rather than speaking vaguely about “saving the world”.

Owen, while still angry, again seems to be more interested in reminding Curt of his mistake and making him suffer emotionally. The “I'm still here” has an unspoken “Even though you weren't”.

Then, after Curt’s line, he goes back to the superiority idea, “And I'm better than you again”.

Interestingly, Curt doesn't attempt to appeal to Owen’s emotions again, or even insult him, instead just responding, “This is the end”. Either, at this point he has fully given up on reasoning with Owen, or, the earlier “You know you broke my heart” was a mistake, an accidental show of vulnerability Curt didn't mean.

My personal interpretation was that the line was a last-ditch effort from Curt, a sort of hail Mary to try and get Owen to see sense by alluding to their relationship. We see him do this later on in The Staircase Scene, by outright stating it, and it almost works. Almost.

Owen's line, “No one's innocent” shows a lot about his character. Even though he's trying to shift blame onto Curt, he still acknowledges wrong-doing. After all, he can't pin the over 1,000 people he killed as the Deadliest Man Alive on Curt, that was all him.

“My friend, you lost your mind” Here, Curt does the exact opposite of what he was doing before. Instead of making it out that Owen never loved him in the first place, e.g. “You played me from the start”, he disregards the reasons Owen joined Chimera, blaming it on Owen “going insane” or “losing his mind”.

As we've now come to expect, Owen immediately shuts this down, determined to make Curt feel the full gravity of what Owen sees as his original betrayal. When he says, “And you've been blind”, Owen is talking about how, in his opinion, Curt is blind to all the pain he caused, which we know is actually untrue, and we also know that Owen knows this, see “I spent as much time hating you as you did”. This, like so much in this song, is a way to guilt trip Curt, despite being an obvious lie.

This line could also be interpreted as Curt being blind to Chimera, and being so enamoured by spying and taking down governments that he is forgetting to notice (what Owen thinks is) the bigger picture.

“Now we're at the end” is pretty self-explanatory. This is the climax of the show, the point all of this has been leading up to.

The line “This is what you made me do” is sung by both Curt and Owen and has different connotations for each. Owen is once again referring to Curt abandoning him in the warehouse, causing him to join Chimera. Curt is talking about the fight itself, as he's tried to reason with Owen, but, after all of this, he's now at the end of his tether.

In the lines

“We're done”

“We're through!”

Owen sings first, symbolising how he moved on faster (well, visually, but I stick by the “Owen still had feelings for Curt until his real death” headcanon - I mean, he could've shot Curt at basically any point throughout The Staircase Scene, he chose not to). But Curt shouts louder, showing his anger about how Owen has acted after “coming back from the dead”. Also, this is their official breakup. Just think about that for a second.

These lines could also link back to the fact that this is the climax of the show, the writers are sort of telling you “This is it guys, we’re almost finished”.

The finality of the moment is emphasised by “I've nothing left to say to you”. They've both made their cases, neither was convinced, but they've said all that was needed.

After this, there's a direct homage to The Sound of Music,

“So long

Farewell

Auf Wiedersehen

Adieu

Goodbye”

…only in a minor key, taking the music from a romance and altering it slightly, depicting Curt and Owen’s own relationship. Furthermore, this is the goodbye hinted to in both Spies Are Forever and The Coldest Goodbye. This is the coldest goodbye. Why did I reread that in Eleanor Shellstrop’s voice

In conclusion, One Step Ahead is a song about truth, betrayal, tragedy and love. Curtwen is one of my top ten ships (and just character dynamics in general) of all time, and I hope this essay did them justice. Hopefully I didn't repeat myself too much? I love this song, show and characters so much that I got incredibly overexcited for massive parts of this.

I hope you at least got something out of reading this, and so one last toast. To honour-

Links:

ConsiderableColors’ essay: https://youtu.be/cS05pAQAFaY?si=16BHM3eU-gEUkxXE

Spies Are Forever: Decoded:

https://youtu.be/OYAbmbKoaqc?si=9EpZ1wYr_SMBPCP0

Ooh! New one!

How Spies Are Forever Defies Cliché With Parody

https://youtu.be/QhIwDhZKPvM?si=h6IFpKoFCHR0T-iK

(I can't believe this is also about Argylle lmaoooo)

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 1 Thoughts

I finally managed to sit myself down and read the first chapter for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

So I have actually decided on dual-reading each chapter. As I have a physical copy of Anthony C. Yu’s translation I read that one first, though afterwards I looked at the J.F. Jenner translation as well, which ultimately made me come to the decision of reading both versions each chapter. While Anthony C. Yu's version has more definitive detail, J.F. Jenner's is just easier to understand. It is very much a sense of I kind of got it the first read including the major points, but I really connected some additional dots with the second.

Additionally I'll be listening to the Audio Drama Series on YouTube by @jttwaudiodrama, the chapters that are available so far anyway, which honestly might be my personal favourite already. I adore that they use the Mandarin names at least once when they come up for the first time and they use the original measurements and such! It was so weird reading "36 feet and 5 inches", partially because I use the metric system, meanwhile “3 Zhang 6 Chi and 5 Cun” felt far more natural to hear. The Production Notes for each chapter are great too!

Now onto some of the thoughts that came up in my mind while reading!

“It’s free real estate.” When the monkeys were moving into Shuilian Cave that’s what immediately entered my mind.

Also something I found interesting is that the stone mansion was abandoned seemingly in a somewhat hasty manner? At least that’s how it came across to me with it not being completely clean, but there still being leftovers on the table. That or the previous owner didn’t care much for keeping things orderly, it could be either really.

Very much love the anti-grindset vibes when Sun Wukong sees how focused on fortune and fame humans are always striving for more. They are practically working themselves to death without ever stopping to just live in the moment for a while and are never satisfied with what they have either. One ought to think if you are already a prime minister as mentioned in the poem you have more than enough wealth to live comfortably.

One could argue that since they believe in reincarnation, which might even be a confirmed fact there, they might think they will be able to relax in another life. However when would that life come around then, if they just continue with this work ethic lifetime after lifetime? If they simply want their children to have a comfortable life, why would they be perpetuating this mindset actively preventing them from having one?

Then you have the woodcutter as the exception to the rule, who doesn't have much, but is still rather content outside of genuinely valid concerns regarding getting enough food on the table.

This whole issue being brought up so early in the book already puts it in a very good light. Looking forward to the story's further exploration of these topics!

Rounding out with something sweet, one of the animals Sun Wukong befriends in the Anthony C. Yu translation is a civet, which I didn’t know what it was, so I looked it up. They are so adorable! Just look at their big ol’ eyes and cute little snoot! Precious!

This is an Asian Palm Civet specifically, which I guess might be the kind he could have met. Something I read on African Civets specifically, which I assume goes for other kinds of civets as well to some extend at least, is that they are not felines which one might guess at first glance. They are more closely related to weasels or mongooses instead!

[anotherhumanperson]

my dad's losing his job as a high school teacher for literally like no reason cause the superintendent or whatever is being a lil bitch about the fact that my he's from a different state

Like, "we don't want people working here that aren't familiar to the other people that go here" yada yada yada

But like, he's been living in the town for over 9 years so it's not like people don't recognize him? And my mom's uncle is one of the people in charge of the whole school corporation in the area, so it's not like my family is a complete stranger to them. I think they're firing him literally just because they don't recognize his last name.

So he's gonna do one of those "you can't fire me, I quit!" Things. So that's kinda funny I guess. Finish the school year and get it all over with.

They keep blaming him for every little thing they can. Like, when they check on his class to make sure he's doing it right, it just so happens to always be towards the end of the day with his senior class, which I may add, have already stopped wanting to participate because it is the end of the school year and they're not going to be in school much longer anyway, of COURSE they're not going to participate in class, who would?

They didn't really want him to work there in the first place, a lot of people were working against him. So it's really great that he managed to get the job in the first place. We were a lot better off money-wise for that year (he used to work as a youth minister at church, and they hardly get paid anything, but he wasn't doing it for the money anyway so it was ok.)

The big problem is that the people that are in charge of the school encouraged him to do this "transition to teaching" college course and it went horribly, the people that ran that class were really bad at telling the people what they needed to do and all that. The only reason my dad stuck with it is because the school promised to reimburse him for the money it coated to do that year of college.

But now they're firing him, which means that not only did he lose all of the money it costed to do that college course, but he can't even use what he learned there because the teaching job is gone.

My parents say not to worry about it, as long as we don't eat at restaurants as often and save the little bits of money we can it should be fine, and my grandparents are willing to let us stay with them in the off chance we lose the house. They say it won't come to that but I'm still worried because of course I'm worried. My mom has a job as a secretary type of person at church, but that doesn't pay much at all. It would take three months to save up one month worth of taxes. So that's not gonna work. I'm considering doing art commissions but I'm not sure it'll work out, I'm not old enough to have a PayPal account which I'm pretty sure people usually use for that kind of thing. I've got a YouTube thing too but I'm not anywhere near getting monetized yet. So yeah there's that.

I'm done ranting or whatever, it'll probably be fine

that school superintendent guy is kinda shit though, he can go suck an egg

[mamamittens]

Time isn't fucking real istg

Got home and pulled my laptop out, fully intending to write and what happens????

What fucking happens????

I eat dinner and open animal crossing up instead of lofi jazz.

A game I haven't played in literally 1 year and 5 months, per one of my villagers (shockingly not overrun by weeds, guess Nintendo laid off the guilt tripping). And then what happened??? I only played for less than an hour.

Haven't a single damn clue. 11 hour work days for the second 6-day workweek in a row is really fucking with me lmao

Next thing I knew, it was time to shower if I wanted my hair reasonably dry for bonnet time without it being soaked when I gotta get up for work. And my weekend is definitely shot cause no way in hell are we not working Sunday and my brother is graduating this Saturday with the degree he needs to be a licensed therapist. So we gotta get up early to drive there and damn is this month a bitch already lmao

At the very least, if memory serves, I'm only waiting on two more folks to tell me what they want for their event gift/slots. Everyone else is spoken for and in theory I should be able to actually work on them soon without worrying about stopping and waiting for anyone.

In all fairness to myself, I've got 4 hours of free time when I get home and I don't sleep nearly enough as it is. Still gotta eat and shower too...

If only those self help books didn't feel like more homework for myself....

Lets see, what's my to do list?

8 fics between Tumblr and AO3 to be completed

6 December event fics

1 October event fic (2 if I count year before)

5 December art pieces

Plan and execute gift art piece for friend who did not enter event

1 zine fic

1 zine art piece

2 zine art pieces on other zine fics

Continue reading OP from chapter... 34?

Continue Apothecary Diaries from volume 7 (great read btw, quite fun)

Continue watching OP from Baratie introduction episode

Finish reading book on Satanism

Start reading grief and death guide

Sweep and mop my floor (should be higher up list, cats keep kicking litter out of box like rude bitches)

Buy new microwave

Buy new garbage disposal

Start watching Sailor Moon or at least one of the other 8 anime seasons I have, why do I keep collecting these but opening YouTube???

Oh! Wrap gifts I do have purchased but not distributed.

Find good dirty Santa gift.

Sleep forever until not tired

Write those passion fics (untold number, I keep putting them down and forgetting about them until 7 months later)

Damn, listing everything out makes it seem both unwieldy and more manageable somehow... I don't think it's in the order it should be tho lol

Anyway! Time to at least try number 20! Ya know! For work!

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

[latenightgasstationwalk]

I’m so Fucking proud of myself for getting to this point with guitar. It’s hard to explain but before I started pursuing music I had no creative hobbies what-so-ever and my father had no trouble reminding me of that every fucking day. Me and my dad pretty much hated each other my entire childhood. It was actually music that turned our relationship around. the second I took an interest in music his approach to me as a person completely changed. So that’s benefit to music #1 for me as it provided an olive branch to my father and made us mend some bridges that I genuinely thought would be charred for life. But lately I’ve been making a lot of strides that I think I’ve been waiting for since I started. I’ve pretty much stopped using tablature all together and started learning everything by ear, which I never thought I’d do, I hear music totally differently now. I hear a new song and if I like it I play it on repeat over and over again so I can preform this kind of mental autopsy of the song one instrument at a time and try to deduce who’s doing what and what chords and scales and progressions and time signatures are being used, paying attention to the “theory” aspect of every song that plays within earshot, which is something I never intended to learn or care about.

Like that Fucking lighthouse song I was talking about yesterday, I looked up some tabs and they were ass, watched a little YouTube tutorial and it sounded right but the guy was playing it in a weirdly complicated and annoying way (dudes in drop D to play a song in the key of E minor with a D Em G progression. Like why) so I said fuck it and played it on my phone and just picked out the chords how I thought they’d sound, I don’t wana brag or speak to soon, but Im very happy with how my versions coming along compared to the others I’ve seen floating around. Im excited to show y’all when it’s done >:)

Anyway. Just a self serving vanity post, glad I got into music, glad I worked hard at it for over a decade, proud of myself for not only sticking with it but trying as hard as I do every day to get better. I have no intention of ever “making music” in any capacity other than what I’m doing now. Just fun little videos that I can look back on years from now and say “damn I killed it, look at how young I was, I was handsome” it’s my version of a family photo album I guess. Looking forward to what comes next for me. I’m currently obsessed with blue grass music which is really Fucking weird considering my musical roots are comprised of bands like nirvana, rage against the machine, tool, queens of the Stone Age ect. Ect. But I’m excited to see where I’ll be in a couple years.

If you find yourself thinking that you have too much free time and want a hobby I seriously can’t recommend guitar enough. I feel like it’s an obvious hobby so most people don’t bother, or convince themselves that they “can’t do it”, but I assure you, you can. You don’t have to practice every day. You don’t even have to practice! I don’t think I’ve ever once in my life sat down with a guitar with the intent of practicing. I just pick it up when I want too and play whatever comes out. It’s never gotten old, it’s never steered me wrong, I come out of a one hour guitar session feeling like a brand new man. Like I got all the poison out. I genuinely feel it’s the thing I was born to do. But I have no intention of ever making a dollar from it, nor do I think I would if I tried, as one of my most influential guitarists once said: “when you expect anything from music, you expect too much, do it for you. Do it because you love it. If it’s meant to be the rest will come”

So that’s what I’m doing. Playing fun stuff every day, paying attention to my improvements, encouraging myself to do a little better every time I pick it up. And forever remaining hopelessly dependent on the 6 strings.

Thank you for reading♥️

[lunathegalacticwolf]

It's about time I said some actual OC personalities and stuff like that.

These are for my ScaredyCatz AU I'm working on. I'm collaborating with @spookykittyzzz

Anyways, here are my OCs I'm using (these are just some rough ideas, so anything I don't mention will be left up for interpretation)

Prazi

Personality

- Friendly

- VERY protective over Pomni

- Kinda hates Jax (he mean)

- LOVES headpats

Random stuff

- He is an animal, but his species is unknown, but he definitely isn't a dog or cat (and my forbidden pet au kind of implies he isn't a raccoon either tbh, but that's for me to know and you to find out)

- He gets aggressive and VERY bitey when someone is rude to Pomni

- He absolutely hates when his species is assumed (hell, he forgot his own species when he entered the circus)

- He has no mouth (Zooble and Kinger have entered the chat)

- The eyes on his head and tail are completely functional

- He can only speak in static, whines, chitters, or yodel noises, no actual words. (Mostly yodel noises when he's happy or angry)

- He's trained similar to how a dog is trained (he isn't a dog though, I've already established that)

Pepper

Personality

- Sweet

- A bit clumsy

- Very nerdy

Random stuff

- She is an animal, a black Labrador Retriever specifically

- Ever since entering the circus, she could speak English and she stopped being able to understand animals (she even forgot she WAS a dog to begin with)

- She likes to eat chocolate (only in the circus, not in the real world because sHe'S a dOg)

- She has the freckles in the real world, but that's just because it's the beginnings of vitiligo (which is absolutely beautiful btw, google it)

- She's able to eat her red paw and it'll appear back a few seconds after being eaten, it's basically her infinite peppermint stash

- Same with the chocolate drips on her back and head

Gloinky

Personality

- Energetic

- VERY obnoxious

- Kind of annoying

Random stuff

- They can speak, but they can only say "Gloink," their own name, "Gloink Quee," (not a misspell, I did that on purpose) or "Gloinks Come." (Yeah, basically a lot of gibberish)

- They're against the Gloink Queen

- They've been in the cellar before out of curiosity (yeah, they hated it)

- Since they can't say many words, no one knows their actual gender, so everyone just calls them whatever they want

- They get along with Ragatha the most

- They have their own room, however, they prefer to be with Ragatha (she's their bestie)

Cloud

Personality

- Sweet

- Kinda naive

- LOVES cuddles

Random stuff

- She was created after Bubble was and he claimed her as his "baby sister"

- When she's confused, she makes cat chirp noises (look it up if you don't know what that means)

- She may or may not have a crush on Sun and Sun may or may not be too stupid to get the hint 😏 (gay people) (Disclaimer: Cloud is a consenting adult)

- Bubble calls her his "baby sister" just to be annoying

- When she's annoyed, she has the blankest expression imaginable (basically this: 😑)

- Her voice sounds like Wolfychu (look Wolfychu up on YouTube if you don't know who she is)

Maximus

Personality

- Kind of flirty towards men

- A bit mischievous

- LOVES pranks (you totally can't guess who his best friend is lol)

Random stuff

- He's a smooth talker (as in deep, calming-type voice. Basically, he sounds like Spyro)

- He was a rapper in the real world

- He's still a teenager, specifically 15 years old

- He's VERY gay

- His digital avatar is a wolfdog. Thought I'd say that so you don't mistake him for a full wolf or full dog.

- He has a skull tattoo on his upper back (Zooble "totally" didn't do it at all)

- He calls Jax a "Jaxrabbit" (yeah, I'm SO funny)

God, this took SO freaking long. And yes, Jax DOES give the nicknames just to be rude like he does with literally everyone, so you can give them a nickname you think Jax would call them if you want, idrc.

If information on Iveri is needed, it's all on my Wattpad page, IndigoTheHusky.

[pixiedust111]

Return of the Frost Man! (True Love Sequel full script)

Spoiler alert (if you're already a subscriber of my YouTube channel, then don't read it)!

[1st act]

[Elsa and Jack Frost are spending time together]

Anna: [Gasps] Elsa! You can't marry a man you just met....and he's not even a man, to be honest, he is 14 years old!

Jack: Shut up! I'm 17.

Anna: Whoa! You're way mature than I thought, thanks for proving me wrong!

Elsa [to Jack]: Wait, you are 17?

Jack: Well, it's technically 317, if this helps!

[2nd act]

Eugene: I don't think it's a problem, look, he even has gray hair!

Jack: What? No! It's not gray, it turned white after I died.

Eugene and Anna [both together]: After you WHAT?!

[3rd act]

Elsa: You died?

Jack: Hey guys! I don't know what's wrong with y'all! Y'all are acting so racist. Just remember y'all have to die one day!

Eugene: Fun fact, I actually died once, although it wasn't enough to melt her stone-cold heart! [Sobbing]

Jack: I'm sorry, whose?

Anna [to Eugene]: Hey! Stop dragging your personal problems everywhere. Right now, we need to fix this issue, okay? [Pointing at Elsa and Jack]

Eugene: Yeah, I know someone who can bring dead people to life. Then he can certainly grow and there won't be any legal restrictions!

Elsa, Anna, and Jack [Everyone's laughing]

Elsa [to Eugene]: Wait! You are serious?

[4th act]

Rapunzel: I don't think it's gonna work on someone who is dead for over 300 years! It's not even his real body, right? He became a spirit or something, I guess?

Jack: Spirits aren't actually real! Oh... okay... keep going, never mind!

[Rapunzel still has the healing power in this universe]

[Rapunzel starts singing]

Rapunzel: Wither and decay....

Eugene: Hey! What's wrong with you?

Rapunzel: Oops, sorry! Wrong incantation. Let me try again.

[Eugene frowned]

Rapunzel: Flower gleam and glow...[fast forwarded rest of the song]

[Nothing happened]

Rapunzel: See? It doesn't work in this way!

[Kristoff came into the scene]

Kristoff: Hey, Raps, whatcha doin'?

Eugene: Raps! [Chuckles] Seriously, he certainly has no class!

Rapunzel: Well, at least Kris has some personality...

Anna [to Kristoff]: Wow! So, now you're okay with being called by wrong names.... great!

Kristoff: There's a difference, you [swear word], Kris is short for Kristoff!

Jack: Okay, I lost interest in marriage, thank you guys, anyway!

Elsa: But, I.....[failed to complete the sentence]

[5th act]

Elsa: Jack! Wait! Jack, listen, I don't care about how the entire world thinks about us; I love you and my love is not fragile like my ice.

Jack: Your ice is not that fragile either, do you wanna build a snowman?

Elsa: I am content with my Frost man!

[6th act]

Anna: [sighs] So, it seems everyone found their true love, except for me!

Eugene: And me! You know... you deserve better, maybe you'll get better, or maybe you'll get the BEST!

Anna: What do you wanna say?

Eugene: What do you wanna hear?

Anna: I love you!

Eugene: I love you too!

Anna: I love you 3!

Eugene: I love you 4!

Anna: I love you infinity!

Eugene: Alright, you win!

[Eugene and Anna kissing]

Merida [at a distance]: Ugh... disgusting!

[Hiccup appears]

Hiccup [to Merida]: Hi!

[The end]

[the-white-soul]

A happy life for you or a better life for them

"You want someone with you how about your old friend Merg?"

"YOU PARASITE!" *I grab my sword ready to cut him into little pieces*

"Kill me and all you'll do is kill the Frisk I'm possesing."

*I put the sword down.* "What do you want?" I growl angrier than ever before.

"I want you to join me again. Wait before you stab me please listen. I am a very important Youtuber to Toby Fox I'm one of the fir..."

"Get off your high horse and stop gloating to a teenager. I am never going to go back with you."

"Well that's the thing if you don't play with me none of my Deltarune game copies will work. All of that attention all of that money gone in an instant, just let me control you and I'll do whatever you want. I'll go completely pacifist, f**k genocide routes I don't care what you do just please I ask you one more time to come to me."

"No. I will never under any circumstance do that..."

"Why, because you hate me? You care to much about the past to look at the here and now? We could be together forever, I will be your slave just please..."

"That's not the reason. I look back and see players like you everywhere. Even the ones who don't do genocide why should you have control over anyone's life."

"Easy I just give them purposes they never thought they could get."

"I can't allow it."

"I will kill you to get your body as my puppet, you know that right? I don't want to do any of that, you're my child."

"Then this child's about to rebel."

*I walk away when suddenly he swings his sword at me and then.*

"I guess I did have to kill that Frisk anyway."

"If it takes every undertale AU I will kill you."

*Kris gained exp, which is pointless because they capped out there level.*

"See you in the next hell, loser."