#been expanding my horizons by watching so many other shows

[zeeleybooth]

BONES | The Science in The Physicist

[randomnumbers751650]

(They are in a ballroom, Blade is guiding Kafka in the dance, she wears an... unforgettable dress)

Kafka: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They are in a bedroom, hugging each other)

Kafka: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(Kafka is at the top of the flying car, shooting at twelve IPC flying cars pursue them; she's wearing a wedding dress and is heavily pregnant; inside Blade is wearing a suit, Silverwolf is wearing a maid of honor dress and the Trailblazer is there, also wearing a suit (they're enemies, but he couldn't deny them a favor))

Kafka, shouting: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They're in the tropical paradise of Jaci-IV, far from the eyes of the IPC; Silverwolf is in the beach, babysitting after Gregory and Joseph; Blade is sitting down in a chair, while Kafka is sitting down beside him, breastfeeding Josephine)

Kafka, gently: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They're in Gregory's graduation ceremony, he's now a biologist; they're wearing disguises to avoid the IPC agents there)

Kafka: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They're at Joseph's funeral; he died saving people from a plague as an assistant nurse, at Tacoma-X; the Trailblazer convinced the IPC to cut them a break)

Kafka, with weary eyes, hugging Blade: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They're in a jail, thankfully not an IPC one; the guard is watching Josephine's show, she's singing for at least three star systems; it's a bit distant , but they can still watch it; Blade has his arms crossed behind bars, but Kafka is waving two pieces of toilet papers as if they were light sticks)

Kafka: Promise me, forget everything about tonight.

...

(They're in the front of a star ready to explode; in the horizon, a titanic battle between the crew of the Astral Express and an abomination takes place; Blade has Kafka in his arms; her hair is white, her face is old, it's been months since she opened her eyes, but she's still smiling; Blade still remains the same as he was all those years ago)

Kafka: Bladie...are the children okay?

Blade: Yes, they are safe and happy.

Kafka: Bladie...how many times I asked that?

Blade: 95.

(Kafka remains in silence; in the horizon, the Astral Express managed to break through and deal a critical hit; Kafka holds his arms much tighter)

Kafka: Bladie...I don't want to forget. I'm so scared, Bladie.

(He sees the Astral Express taking off, while the reaction expands; he remembers Elio's script)

The explosion will involve both the Inexistence and the Destruction. I don't even need to see the future to know that it's metaphysically impossible the Abundance resist both. It's been an honor saving the universe with you. Farewell, my friends.

(Blade holds Kafka tighter, holding her hand)

Blade: Just a little more, my dear.

(Kafka's smile grew a bit; Blade also gives a small, satisfied smile as the reaction engulfs and obliterates everything in its path)

[thekinkyleopard]

The Gathering

A group Non-Canon Fic (LONG!)

Ft: Alistar, Remi, Biziil, Rexar, Kriia and Meeko

⚠️Content Warning⚠️

Contagion, Uh…germ rolling?, Teasing, Fluff

Description: The Anti-Christ has been up to his usual antics, but now he’s craving something new. He wants excitement. He goes looking for it, and it coincidentally enough, seems to work out…or does it?

Snz Color Key:

Alistar

Remi

Rexar

Kriia

Biz

Meeko

Author’s Notes: Hey Guys! A little bird has told me they want some Al sneeze and I’ve decided to make it happen! Also bare with me on the cover art, Geez is busy and I’m impatient so I just snipped the teaser for now 😅 I don’t wanna talk about it 🥲 😂 anyway! Enjoy!

Alistar has gotten bored of soul collecting, and life ruining. He needs something new. He’s been on earth for a few years now, and he’s expanded his horizons a few ways, by making friends. Kind of. If you could call half of them that. Who’s he kidding, they all secretly love him. However, he was feeling, melancholy, bored, missing something. He had watched so many of his mates come down with colds and messy sneezing afflictions. He wanted that. What did it feel like? To be out of control of your bodily functions? He only felt like he had met that feeling in sex, when he reaches orgasm and that electric shock tingles through every cell in your body. He had to imagine it was something like that, but for some reason it brought those afflicted, suffering. It seemed less than suffering to him.

Step one; Find someone sick. Which wasn’t hard to do in a friend group where many are cursed with poor health and immunities. Al sent everyone a text.

“Hey Hru” and though some went unanswered, he did get one back from the little mutt.

“Bringing some cold medicine by Lee’s, Remi is sick again, why?” the demon snickered. No wonder he didn’t hear from either the cat or wolf. Typical, the man was a walking virus. He knew that would be his best bet. However, getting into their space while Remi is unwell…might be a tad more difficult to achieve than he originally planned. It’s fine. The wolf wouldn’t be able to strangle him into a one way ticket to hell, being less than 100% condition. He’ll risk it. Without texting Draeko back, the mutt feeling a bit annoyed that the demon bothered him for no reason. Al got his keys and made his way to the Conderson House.

Parking in the driveway, he had stopped at the store with all kinds of different goodies he could use to charm the two, less than friendly, acquaintances of his. He got out of his car with the bag of care items in one clutched fist, he approached the front door, knocking for once. Maybe it would make them feel a bit less apprehensive sending him away. Shortly, the door opened and there standing was the freckled face cat.

“Alistar?” He asked confused, raising an eyebrow as he looked the demon up and down, taking note of the bag in his hands. “What are you doing here?” It was never usually good when the red head showed up, so Levi was more or less on guard.

“Heard the wolf is sick, thought I’d bring some stuff and help out,” shrugging his shoulders. Levi narrowed his eyes. This was unlike the other. He didn’t care. He didn’t help. He didn’t nurse. What was his angle?

“What do you want?” The cat asked now with great apprehension.

“What??? Why do I have to want something to help out my dear sick friend, Remi? You offend me so,” smiling to sell the image he was clearly trying to provide. Levi wasn’t buying it even more than he had been previously.

“Al, please, he is not in the mood to deal with any of your clown behavior, you can leave the stuff and go back home,” the leopard went to reach for the bag of items the demon brought, however, it only left access for the redhead to slip inside.

“I won’t be long, don’t worry,” snickering in an almost unnoticeably menacing way. Truthfully, Levi was just too busy closing the door and trying to brace himself for the irritation that was soon to be fogging up the entire house. Al stepped into the bedroom where Remi was splayed across the bed in only a pair of boxers. Sniffling and loosely wiping his arm across his reddened and chapped nostrils. “Nnnn…” the wolf groaned as he rubbed his nose in hard circles soft clicks echoing off his face.

“Hey buddy, you look like shit!” The demon chuckled as he dumped the contents of the bag onto the floor at the wolf’s bedside. Speaking of, his pale green eyes shot open and immediately looked to the intruder.

“What the actual fuck are you doing here?” He growled low in his sore throat trying to avoid coughing through the angry response. Alistar stood back, giving a performance of offense as he touched his chest with his open palm.

“Is that ANY WAY to treat your friend?? I brought you supplies! Snacks! Drugs! Well…the boring one… I brought you edibles!” He now gestured to all the things he had just previously dumped onto the floor.

“Great, now leave,” followed with a rough, hoarse cough that ripped through the man’s already pained throat. It felt like daggers going in and out his esophagus every time. He groaned lowly, his face twisting, nose clenching and scrunching as he was trying to stifle in the prickling tickles that threatened to over power the conversation with each flex of his jaw.

Al stood a bit closer immediately trying to waft the sprayed contagion that entered the air as the larger black haired man had expelled his coughs into open air.

“Stop that, freak,” Remi glared harder at the strange demon as he wiped his mouth. Alistar more or less ignored the statement as he collected the balled up tissues sprawled about the space within the bedroom. “What the fuck are you -hd’ISCHhh, hh'IETSH’UE!…!?” The wolf tried defensively sitting up, but exploded into a loud powerful series of sneezes that caused his whole body to tremble, his hands trembling, bringing them to his face in a panic. Trying to cover himself, hating that the demon was here to see him like this.

“I’m just cleaning! Uncle fuckin’ Christ, man, worry about that illness of yours,” the red head shook his head slowly, almost with joking solemness followed by a humored chuckle. Remi sighed deeply throwing his head back against the headboard to fight between his deteriorating health and the obnoxiously strange demon collecting his trash.

“Leeeeeave!” He groaned snatching up Levi’s pillow and hucking it over violently at the quick moving demon. Who eventually threw his hands up in defense.

“Can you do that again though? One more time?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively before another pillow was thrown directly into his face with a PFFD! It then fell to the floor with an almost silent thud. “Okay! Okay! I’m leaving! Shit!” Mumbling as he snatched up his now refilled bag of used goods and shuffled with haste out through the bedroom door. Levi stood in the living room, looking at Alistar with an apprehensive gaze. “Someone is a sore anal cavity today,” the red head chuckled as he shot a wink toward the cat. Whom in turn rolled his bright ceruleans.

“You want me to take that bag of yuck?” Already starting to reach forward in Al’s direction, but was quickly met with retaliation, the demon recoiled from Levi’s grasp.

“No! Uh…I got it…s’fine!” Chuckling nervously, he scratched the back of his neck before awkwardly shuffling his way now to the front door. “Thanks for letting me stop by!” Waving frantically before he disappeared altogether and began racing his way to his car.

Levi, inside, walked toward the bedroom and looked out the large window that overlooked their property. Remi sat up now as well. “Why did he take all that trash…?” The wolf asked with confusion as he sniffled loudly, rubbing his nose with a new piece of the throw away cloth.

“No idea…” the leopard muttered back but continued to watch through the window, while Al scrambled into his car, and proceeded to dump the bag’s contents over his head. Grabbing handfuls of the used trash and rubbing it across his face. Levi looked over at Remi, who too was watching and they equally shared a silent, but confused gaze.

Alistar on the other hand was now stuffing tissues in his nose, huffing them through his open mouth, and just overall being a gross menace. Once he felt that he was satisfyingly submerged in germs and ick, he started up his car and headed home, leaving the two stunned silent and with millions of unanswered questions.

The Next Day

Alistar woke up with a pounding headache, his body hot, sticky, like he’d been sitting in a sauna. He sat up and pressed his palm to his forehead. “Dear Grandpa God….what the actual fuck…” groaning lowly in his newly sore throat. This was an experience he had never felt in his entire existence. His entire body was stiff, almost entirely impossible to move. Managing to muster any strength within his aching bones, Al came to a stand and slowly stumbled his way into the bathroom, flicking the light on and met face to face with a gruesome reflection. “Oh, Unholy shit… I look worse than I feel,” he mustered up a sore chuckle before it followed with a hacking cough. “Ack!” He cleared his throat, trying to fight over the uncontrollable urges building within his now awakened body.

Though most would find this current state of being completely de habilitating and check out for the next few days, Al was fueled by the aching that throbbed behind the cells of his vessel. Suddenly, an entirely new, foreign feeling started to prickle at the inside of his nostrils, trailing down his throat. He swallowed once, and twitched his pierced nose back and forth. Nothing would soothe and he found himself squinting under the harshness of the bathroom lighting. “H’h…” he stuttered, his breath catching in his throat as he begged to swallow it. “W-Wha-HEhH’eEZSCHhh’iiEW!!”

It came exploding out of the anti-Christ at lightening speed, he hadn’t time to cover as a mess of saliva came splashing across the bathroom mirror. He sniffled loudly and hung over the sink weakly, each hand on both sides of the counter to hold him up. “Fuck…” he gasped with a raspy voice, his eyes leaking and nose starting to drip. “Oh shit…” he stumbled around and grabbed a towelette hanging from the little golden ring on the wall. He slid his nose over it and tried to relieve himself of some of the wetness that polluted him as he grinned with bright satisfaction. “So that’s what that’s like…” he bit his lower lip…interesting. There has to be someone he could play with in this condition.

It took most of whatever strength he had left in him to move himself out the bathroom and through the halls. He searched Drae’s room, nothing. Kanai’s room? Also nothing. Living room, kitchen… “Seriously? None of my toys are home?” He clicked his tongue with irritation as he scanned the small home. “Fine, I’ll just find some,” he grabbed his keys and he was on his way to find some trouble with his new found virus. Who knows what could happen.

.

.

.

On the other side of town, Alistar found himself quite at a loss. It seemed no one wanted to come near him as he sniveled and sniffed. It seemed that majority of citizens look at him as if he said something offensive, and walk very quickly away. He didn’t understand why no one else wanted to join him with such glorious displeasure of bodily suffering. He snorted a glob of snot from the base of his sinuses down his throat to avoid hacking it out. When a flash of familiar white and red hair caught his attention at a near by cafe he happened upon. He looked over, there they were. His friends. Rexar, Biziil, Meeko, Kriia and Remi all at one table. Where were the others? He wondered silently to himself.

“I’m tellin’ you bro, dude, male hummingbirds are like MAD horny cause they got hella testosterone, I read it online,” Rex went on and on about the most random of facts that he had recently absorbed, while on another 14 hour acid trip, doom scrolling online.

“Nature is so beautiful,” Biz shook his head with a softened smile still finding the appreciation for the world and how it moves to grow and evolve. Meeko, however, looked over at her boyfriend and giggled almost unable to hold the childish expression written on her face.

“It’s something that’s for sure…” the ginger haired girl swung her feet, more or less keeping the inappropriate jokes to herself as she was seated on top of the table itself. Remi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Nature is weird as fuck, and now I will never unknow that dude hummingbirds are just Perma horny,” the wolf also shook his head, but almost solemnly, as if this news really, genuinely, sat uncomfortably with him.

“Honestly, good for them,” Kriia laughed openly, which then gave Meeko the courage to giggle loudly right along side her. The boys shaking their heads with softened smirks at the two immature women.

Slowly, Alistar approached the congregation of friends, blackened hands in his pockets as he came to a halt at the perimeter. “Well Hello there, crew, what ar…huh…HI’H…HEhH’eEZSCHhh’iiEW!!” The demon sneezed outwardly onto the middle of the group, causing them all to recoil quickly and cover their own faces. A fine mist floating amongst them. Al breaking into a fit of coughs now.

“Fucking, ew, dude,” Remi glared hard at the red head scooting his whole chair back at least a foot from the table itself now. “I literally just got better, don’t even look at me with whatever weird, super demon virus you have,” the wolf looked disgusted, his emerald eyes narrowed and glaring daggers down at the sick cretin.

"Whoa, Al are you sick? I didn't think that was possible!" Meeko looked genuinely shocked, almost curious enough to inspect him closely but deciding it would be best to stay away. Al sniffled and slid his hand lazily over his dripping nose.

"It's fibe, I'm fibe...oh...no, my voide id weird now...." the redhead furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, I think you may need to go home and lay down..." Biz said cautiously, also taking a slow up and down look at the male. "You look terrible,"

"Yeah like a pile of dog shit run over, twice," Rex chuckled sparking up a joint with the snap of his index and thumb. "But if you manage to feel better later dude, you should come to my show! I'm spinnin out at the theatre, my family owns the venue so we can get hella rowdy," a cocky, charismatic smirk spread clear across his face, while everyone else's fell. Did he just invite the visibly ill demon to the show? In a small venue? Packed like sardines?

"Dawg...seriously?" Remi looked over at Rex, being the only one brave enough to actually speak up before Al could accept the invitation. Kriia shrugs her shoulders and puts a hand on the wolf's back.

"In his defense, he did say if Al felt better," the redheaded female spoke matter of factly, but still with an air of gentleness to defend her mate’s careless action.

"Yeah exactly, thanks babe," he winked at his girlfriend giving her a soft purse of his lips as if to kiss her from afar before taking another long dramatic drag of his jay. Alistar cleared his throat and stood his ground, shaking his head back and forth regardless how lightheaded that action made him feel, he cleared his throat to gain some composure.

"I'm fine! What time tonight? I'll definitely slide through," shrugging off the loving embrace of his illness to convince the rest of them he was actually completely fine. More than half of them, audibly groaned, Biz slapped his palm over his face.

“8pm sharp, that’s when I go on and rock everyone’s world,” he chuckled releasing a cloud of smoke in the wake of his excitement. He really just wanted to try and get a huge gathering going, he wanted as many people to see him as possible. He believed music could heal. Even if his music was of special taste.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Al smirked as he pulled up a chair only for Biz to stop him, coming full stand and pressing an open palm to the demon’s chest.

“Go. Take. Meds. Rest. You’re not gonna hang around us and give us your disease, you’ll give it to my little bug here, and she’ll pass it to our love at home, and then I’m stuck nursing their weak immune systems back to health,” the two men furrowed their brows at each other, but Biz easily towered the redhead. Al grumbled and stepped back from the chair only for Kriia to speak up.

“Ah, come on Bizzy, what if he just stays within 6 feet of little Crickers here,” Meeko snapped her gaze to look at Kriia. She hated the nickname her brother gave her, she hated it worse when his friends used it. She folded her arms and huffed but remained relatively silent on the matter. Biz now narrowed his grey brows again at the female who put her hands up defensively. “Just tryna’ be accommodating my bad,” snickering at how serious the bear got.

“Come oooon Biz…” Al pleaded with his watery eyes, dripping nose and chapped lips not selling his argument any further.

“No, go home,” the silver haired man sat back down in his seat, knowing full well the demon wouldn’t challenge him any further.

“You’re a dick….I’ll remember this,” the anti-Christ squinted at the large man, who made eye contact over with Remi.

“Am I a dick, brother?” The polar bear asked his in law from across the table, who could only return the gaze with a hefty chuckle and shrug of his own large shoulders.

“You? A dick? Laughable,” his glowing emeralds moving slowly to gaze at the pouting dragon that could only cross his arms with annoyance and defeat.

“You’re all gonna be sorry,” quickly lifting two fingers up to his own Ruby red orbs, and pointing it back out to the group in front of him. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he tried to smirk, he tried to be his usual catty, elusive and sneaky self but his threats were followed in a violent series of coughs and yet another loud sneeze. “Hh’HeSHH’IEW!!”

“Alright man, well, we’ll see you at the show then,” Rex finally having checked back into the conversation after getting lost in his phone scrolling for a moment. He wasn’t too interested in the mindless squabbles. The rest of them looked at the pyro like he’d just farted amongst them. Yet, Alistar turned on his heels and went to lick is contagiously ill wounds.

Later that Night…

Rex was already behind the theatre, getting ready for his performance while the crowd piled in. Stage management making sure the jockey table was set up right. It was definitely a full house, and he probably could have anticipated it, but he was always shocked regardless. Biz, Meeko, and Kriia were all up front, securing their spot while Remi went to grab them drinks. “Bear, these shoes…are already starting to kill me…” the ginger haired girl complained, the heels she chose to wear out to the event were starting to make her feet throb.

“Do you want to go up on my shoulders, mouse?” He asked already turning to grab her by her waist.

“Hmm,” she looked down at the floor, trying to gauge the level of sanitation, and figured it couldn’t be that bad. “It’s okay, baby, can you just put my shoes in your backpack?” Already starting to unstrap them to hand over. Biz smiled softly and nodded, reaching out to let her hand them to him before he stuck them in his black Jansport.

“Better?” He asked her while she stood there for a bit but as she lifted and stepped her feet a few times, he was met with a look of disgust.

“Mmh..” she sort of muttered uncomfortably trying to hide the fact she was regretting this mistake upon realizing the floor felt….sticky.

“Here, mouse,” Biz bent down and took off his own captain laced boots, now standing in his socks and handing her his shoes. She grinned at him with a brightness that always brought him straight to his knees. A soft dust of pink fell over his cheeks and nose as he looked at her lovingly.

“Thank you, Bear,” hurriedly she slipped them on and tied them tightly so they wouldn’t slide off. Despite their naturally tight fit, the shoes were significantly bigger, however they worked out way better than the previous solutions.

“Absolutely, darling,” he leaned down to kiss her lips with a tenderness, a display that caused the red headed girl next to them to audibly respond.

“You guys are disgustingly adorable,” Meeko blushed brightly and grinned clinging tightly to her large partner’s arm. Biziil could only look down at his girl, enthralled by everything she did.

“Thanks Krii!” The orangette giggled before the lights started to go down, and the crowd began to push in. Remi slowly squeezed in from behind the group, shoving people with his knees as his hands were full of drinks.

“Here,” he grumbled, though it went unheard, the intro music starting to blare through the crowd. The group each took their respective drinks, began to sip on them as they awaited Rex to start his set. Remi slid next to Kriia in the front row, his hands grasping the barricade as the sea of people started to sway around them. The stage lights started to shine and change different colors against the performance area, the stage screen starting to display animated characters flashing to the beat of the music. The jockey table displayed as a matching puzzle piece to the main screen showing. Everyone began to cheer when the screens matched up to Rex’s artist logo. Meeko and Kriia both screaming and jumping with excitement. Biz and Remi remained in a stoic stance as they drank their beverages, stealing a glance at each other in response to the reactions of the women. Smirking at one another.

Unbeknownst to them, figuring he hadn’t healed up, Alistar was late to sliding through the entrance and security. He had a few too many items in his pockets against theatre rules. Grumbling angrily between sniffles and rubbing his nose with aggressive fervor, that his weed, pills, vodka flask and switchblade were all confiscated in order to enter. He almost went home. However, it was fine, he still had some stuff, hidden. Heavily bagged eyes scanned through the crowd, finding Biz, the tallest in the building up front with the rest of the crew. “Targets acquired,” the demon snickered loosely that followed with a loud and obscenely large spray of mess. “HEHH’DZSCHh’iEEW!!” Offending a few close by fans that became casualty to his sick. He could only audibly “SNNDDFF,” with a sly, charismatic grin at those he had wronged within the crowded space. Those of them having seen the shit eating expression, rolled their eyes.

Alistar started to move his way through the crowd which wasn’t hard, anyone who gave him an issue, took one good look at him and immediately wanted nothing to do with him. He looked worse than he had earlier in the day, his skin visibly glistening with sweat, darker grey than it had ever been, one eye completely blackened, the other his sclera black and iris still red. A terrifying face to be confronted with in a dark venue for many reasons.

The demon moved fast through the people and up to the back of the crew going relatively unnoticed as Rex came into set and began to raise his hands up, flames shooting from his fingers. “Let’s, FUCKING, GO!!!!” He shouted before launching into his first song as the music blared wildly, and bodies began to collide and crash together, Al took his opportunity. He hovered behind Biz and Meeko at first, the two were glued together and managing to get pickled right behind the both of them was honestly better than Al could ask for. He focused his darkened eyes and concentrated on the bright lights flickering about that eventually brought back that tickling, and thrilling sensation from moments ago. Oh it was coming, it was going to be a big one, his nose dripping already with anticipation as it hitched up through his sinuses to front and center. “Hih’AESSSHH’UE! SHH’UH! TCH-SHIEWW!” A short series of loud bursts came flying out of his open maw, but between the two sweating and the loud music, it went passed the couple’s ability to hear anything but filthy trap music. His bacterium floating within their spacing, Meeko consuming it within her unknowingly as she gasped to sing what lyrics she knew and the music itself, had. She was bouncing in her place, as Biz tried to cling to her side, his eyes fixated on the moving images on each screen unaware of the illness being spread quickly through both of them.

Despite the sound, and going undetected, both parties did feel the fine mist of saliva that hit their exposed parts of flesh, but thought nothing of it but maybe a spilled drink. Neither turned to notice the demon, nor that he was mouth breathing so openly behind them as the sudden force from the sneezes, lack of oxygen and lights were having an effect on his flesh vessel.

“Shit…” he gasped out loud to himself as he held his head in his palm. He could only grin. “You’re a tough little virus, aren’t you?” He thought to himself internally. Never mind that his vessel felt weakened, he allowed the dizziness only to fuel his desires. While the first half of the set he hovered over the unsuspecting couple, to make sure they were well marinated. Who knows if his plan would even come to be fruitful, as most times they were hit or miss. Yet, he wouldn’t squander the opportunity to at least make an attempt at his dreams. After all, that’s what being on earth was all about, no?

A few times the demon found himself having to duck behind others, trying to avoid being spotted by Remi when he’d leave and return with drink refreshments, which wasn’t terribly hard to do. The wolf wasn’t as entirely clever as Levi in spaces like these and wouldn’t go looking for someone ducked within the space of people in the crowd. His anxiety usually caused him to avoid most things. Something the demon has noted long ago. Once the coast was clear he just had to maintain a low profile, behind the large raven haired man. Shouldn’t be too hard. Kriia was definitely distracted enough, occasionally flashing Rex during his set. Rex couldn’t really see anyone past Kriia who knew just where to stand to be visible under the lights of his set blinding him. He smirked as he continued to perform. Al’s jaw fell open and his eyes watered over, spilling tears down his cheeks. His body prickled in goosebumps while a sharp gasp was the last thing he could control before he sneezed again, “Hih’AESSSHH’ue!!” just to the side of the woman, unnoticeably, another cloud of speckled spit ghosted through the atmosphere. Alistar sniffled, wiping his nose across his arm.

Remi was however, side eyeing the crowd, and had been, three drinks in he started to notice the swift flashes of red but…that’s Kriia? Right? On occasion he heard the slight snuffle of a stuffed nose coming from his right …no? His left? It caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up, desperate to lose himself in the music like everyone else. Yet, he couldn’t shake this feeling there was something hovering them.

Alistar, ducking back and forth, completely obtuse to the music just trying to keep himself from falling over and also being seen by the ever so observant man. ‘God, can’t he ever just chill the fuck out? I just want to get him sick, what’s the big deal? Just enjoy your music, stop worrying about what’s behind you, asshole,’ the demon thought internally in between snuffles and throat ripping coughs. He didn’t need to keep his volume down, the speakers were set close to front row. His actions all drowned out as he continued to skip back and forth between them all. He traced a finger down the center of Meeko’s back, and she shuddered, suddenly feeling very cold, almost woozy. She tried shaking it off, the feeling of a light touch caused her to stir, however she could only assume it was Bizzy just being affectionate. She pushed closer into the large man who wound up enveloping her, as the ginger haired woman now stood in front of the large bear man.

“Buzzkill,” Alistar thought as his access to the small woman was blocked. It’s fine, it would all be fine this was only the beginning. The set was coming to a close, Rex announcing he had two songs left. That mean’t the anti-Christ only had a few moments before they’d all meet up back stage in the dressing room. Biz sniffled, not really noticing the sudden feeling inside his nose, and Meeko the same. Kriia was feeling hotter than she normally would at a show, but Remi, he was the only one seemingly fine as he downed a 4th drink.

The demon just couldn’t get a proper in on the wolf, anytime he would get close, the large man just knew something was beside him. How was he going to….oooh he knew how. Pulling out of his sock was a single muscle relaxer, it would be enough to keep the larger from getting too violent. Don’t ask why the demon consistently carried different types of drugs on him. He just did. He crouched silently trying to stifle his sneezes and coughs, his focus completely on taking the large male off guard. He just needed him to look away from the drink for a second.

As Rex announced his last song, Remi finally decided maybe he would cut loose, they got this far into the set with no issues, why would there be any now? His drink hand lowered at his side while he rocked his head back and forth, eyes closed shut as he absorbed the music. This was his entrance, Al quickly lurched forward and dropped the pill into Remi’s awaiting beverage, it dissolved quickly mixing within the substance undetected, Al slid back and disappeared to the other side now. The lights continued to flash crazy, and the crowd pushed up against each other, Remi quickly lifting his drink to save it from spilling. Scoffing before deciding to just chug the rest and call it a night, tossing the cup onto the already dirty floor.

Alistar snickered with a lose and flemmy cough to follow. He decided to slide his way through the crowd and to the side of the audience, closest to where they’d be going to meet Rex in the back. He wanted to see all their faces when they realize he’d been in the sea of people with them. His irritated nose was still sopping and full, it throbbed on his face and he tried to desperately rub at it to soothe the irritating sting. “Not now, nosey! We have to save it! We have important plans for these germs….” As he spoke, he was just out of range of speakers to be heard by a stranger. Who he looked over to make eye contact with. He stared at the human, that blinked with confusion toward him. Alistar blinked his own crimson eyes as they stood in awkward silence.

“Forget I said anything,” his Ruby orbs now glowing brightly as the stranger now looked to have seen a ghost, but after a few moments, he blinked and looked around himself.

“Hey bro, you seen the merch table?” Suddenly asking the demon, who’s eyes had stopped shining at this point.

“Over there,” pointing a slender finger in the opposite direction to earn a nod and a lift of the other man’s index and middle to fashion a peace sign.

“Thanks bro,” seemingly forgetting about the sickly plotting Alistar had been doing just moments before. As the stranger made his journey away from Al, the red head waited patiently while the set came to an end and people started to clear out.

“It’s time,” Al snickered, moving his spindly legs through the venue and into the back area where he would meet a very sweaty and exhausted Rex, already sparking a joint as he walked down the stage stairs.

“Duuuuude! You made it!” Rex slapped the demon on his shoulder and grinned, taking a long hit off his joint and blowing it within the space between them, shoveling them both into the dressing room.

“I did indeed, friend, it was a very good show, energetic,” smirking to himself as he looked around the room to partake in any free refreshments. Only finding a buffet of different energy drinks, alcohols, mixers and candy. The redhead blinked but turned around to meet Rex face to face, almost startling him. “Oh…”

“Hey thanks!! You feelin any better dawg? You still look pretty shit,” noticing that Al’s scleras eyes were now entirely black, large purple bags floating under his eyes.

“Nah, but I wasn’t going to miss the first home show, come on now,” winking towards the pyro before a tight breath caught in his throat. “I-Uh..Hh’HhEhh…” at this same moment Alistar struggled to keep his secret sauce contained, Biz, Meeko, Kriia and Remi all came walking in. And the second Meeko toddled herself inside, and the door closed behind her? “HEH’EZSCHh’IEW!” And almost like a bomb was set off in the room, everyone else started to realize just how poorly they were starting to feel, Remi catching a face full of Al’s release. Immediately the wolf closes his eyes and brings his arm up to defend himself as a reflex, but it’s already too late.

“Fucking SICK, dude, why are you even HERE?? I should beat…” but as the raven haired male raised his fist to sock the shit eating grin right off Al’s smug face, his arm collapsed and he found himself much weaker, like all his muscles were asleep. He furrowed his brows. “What the fuck?”

There was a click on the other side of the door, Kanai locking the only way in and out of that room , from the outside, sitting on the floor. “Okay Donnie, door’s locked,” Biz turned around quickly to shoot a look at the door and then back at Al.

“Alistar, what are you doing?” His voice suddenly very stern, Meeko gripped the large man’s arm and buried her fevering face into it.

“Hnnn…” Biz’s eye twitched as he heard his girlfriend groan in discomfort, he knew that sound, he narrowed his eyes tighter.

“Hey, you all made ME feel like YOU GUYS…Snndfff…DONT WANT ME AROUND!” Swiping the underside of his nose with the back of his hand. “I don’t…Hh’…”

“Please cover your mouth, Al,” Biz sighed shaking his head, palm on his forehead as he tried to massage the incoming headache.

“H’HEHh’DZSCHh’UE!!!! PssffF-TSCH!!” His nose twitched and stretched as his mouth opened and fumbled against his sneeze. Bottom lip dripping as he drooled slightly, almost kind of regretting the fact he left home, cause a blowjob from his bestie sounds almost as good as this whole, revenge plan.

“hAGH’SHHHEUhh!” Now Biz was sneezing, like a sudden oncoming train it just smacked right into him. He looked almost completely bewildered. “So because we wanted you to…” he crunched his nose, wiggling it in tight circles to shove away, and scratch that building, insufferable, terrible itch. His whole body feeling hot. “We wanted you to stay home cause you’re SICK Alistar, not because we don’t LIKE you,”

“I don’t like you,” Remi admitted proudly with our hesitation. Biz sighed, trying to keep his train of thought.

“….Point BEING, Most of us here don’t have any issues with you, Al, genuinely, we just didn’t also want to get sick… and now…” he paused, the room starting to feel much faster now as everything spun around him, making it difficult to keep speaking.

“Eh’KSSHOO!!” Meeko sneezed into the side of her large, clammy boyfriend, he shuddered, blushing as he heard the loud squeak of his sweet Princess.

“Oh, Darling…” he looked down at her and wiped his index under her leaking nose to clear it from her softened face. Wiping his hands on his pants only to return the palm to her burning cheek.

“N-no it’s okay I-I’m Fibe…” sniffling weakly trying to push the attention away from her.

“Look it, Al! You’ve gotten us sick!” Kriia shouted feeling empathetic toward the suffering couple to her left.

“This doesn’t explain why I can’t lift my fucking arms to make him go lights out!” Now Remi chuffed in, angry and ready to head butt the demon if he so had to. Bite his flesh off bit by bit. He didn’t care.

“I may have slipped you something in the crowd….” The red head shrunk a few sizes as he could feel the incoming heat was about to face.

“WHAT?!” The wolf exploded with rage almost completely ready to do whatever means necessary.

“Look, maybe I was being a liiiiittttleee irrational…but can’t we just enjoy this? I don’t know if you all noticed….but I think we can all agree, this is going to be a good time….” Al lifted his hands up in defense, slowly, inching his way behind Biziil to keep the irate man from riping him to shreds with his teeth. Though, he raised a single red eye brow to further insinuate the cheeky pleasure of sin.

“Yeah assuming…Rex doesn’t set the place on fire and I don’t throw up because MY SISTER AND BROTHER IN LAW ARE TWO OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM,” the black haired male still yelled though each time he spoke with such force, it was taking more and more out of him, and the virus only worked through his blood faster.

“Okay well, it’s fun for me, I just thought If I could paint the illusion that it’s a benefit for you, we could move on from this conversation,” Al shrugged his shoulders still perched behind the large polar bear man.

“I’m going to kill him,” Remi narrowed his eyes and looked up at Biziil this time.

“You can’t keep killing him,” the larger shook his head.

“But it feels good…regardless,” now looking away like a kicked puppy, he mumbled loosely.

“Okay, look, I’ll just have Kanai open the door, it’ll be fine….NAI, LET EM OUT,” he grumbled almost, while still speaking loudly enough for the hell hound to hear. Yet, there was no sound to be heard…silence.

Unknown to all of them, Kanai had barricaded the door, making sure it was secure just as Alistar instructed of him. However, Al did not say he could not explore the theatre…and there was so much to learn about human entertainment! He couldn’t resist taking a peak around.

“Is he …okay?” Kriia asked quietly , her own features flushed, her eyes lowered not just cause she’d been sharing a joint with Rex as they watched all this unfold, but she was not feeling very well, whatsoever.

“…Nai?!” Al called out again now sweating from illness AND nerves because the longer the silence went the closer Remi inched toward the demon. In turn, Al would step two inches away every time he did. “Okay…so…we might be trapped here for a bit…”

“Biz, are you SURE I can’t kill him???” Out stretching his arms to try and strangle the panicking red head.

“I’m sure, too many consequences…you’ll have to hear from Drae,” Remi shuddered at this realization. He would. Drae chastised him every time he sent the demon back to which he came. All because that one time he didn’t come back. Whatever. The wolf sighed and rolled his eyes, lowered his arms and the began sitting on one of the couches provided.

“Guess we just have to wait for idiot #2 to come back,” he finally spoke, allowing the fire to calm into a fizzling steam within him.

“Hey, that’s my idi-….Hhh’…” Alistar went to interject but found himself struggling to get it out.

“Oh for fucks sake can you just close your mouth!” Remi shouted tossing a nearby coaster at the anti-christ. It missed him just by an instance as the demon lurched forward and dodged it by blowing out.

“HIH’AESSSH’UE!” He sneezed loudly, directly across him, toward the pyro, without much conscious thought to it, truthfully.

“Oh, god…” Rex wiped off his face as the spray hit him directly in the mouth. Kriia smirked, reaching over to wipe it off with her loving thumb.

“Just got sneezed on by a Demon, babe, that’s lowkey kind of hot…” the white and red haired male looked over at his girlfriend, matching her grin and shrugging it off.

“Gotta try everything at least once,” now acting as if his intuits response wasn’t genuinely how he felt. However, if Kriia was into it, he was into it.

“I heard that,” she smirked back at him reaching up to kiss him tenderly. Their arms entangling around one another regardless of the others around them.

“Guys…can we be ss…H-..Hh’RSHH’hiiu!!” The bear snuffed loudly, taking the tissue Meeko took out of her purse to give him. “Thank you, Mouse,” he mustered that same gentle smile he always gave her.

“Nini id godda be do updet…” she sighed shaking her head solemnly, knowing all too well their poor girlfriend was going to be shocked at their current state of health.

“She is…but it’s…ah’KESHhh’yiew…just is what it is…” he sighed and the small ginger haired woman giggled reaching up with another tissue to dab, and wipe his leaking eyes and then poor reddening and pierced nose. Trying to be careful, and clean the metal as well to keep it from crusting over.

“S’k we take good care ob you baby,” reaching up to kiss him but she was caught by the sudden storm brewing from within her own sinuses. “HA’AETTCCHH’uh!” Her spit hitting Biziil directly in the middle of his once cleaned face, now undoubtedly wet again. He blushed brightly, trying to hide the fact he found it undoubtedly adorable of her to do such a thing. He cleared his throat.

“Oh! ..Bless you…darling,” Biz quickly started to dab at his face with the tissue he had clasped in his own hand, and then her face as well.

“S-Sorry B-Bear…I..” she started to apologize but was quite swiftly cut off.

“Shh..it’s quite alright, mouse, it’s not your fault…it’s his,” he looked over at Al who was ogling perversely at the two, an obvious line of drool falling from the corner of his mouth before he loudly slurked it back up and looked away, clearing his scratchy throat. “Stop enjoying this,” Biz narrowed his gaze.

“I can’t help it! It’s not my fault you’re all relatively sexy and now …afflicted with my demon germs…it’s wonderful,” he wiped a single tear from his eye as he felt warm and fuzzy all over.

“Hh—hEhTXSSHhh’ih…iit’shHIEW…FUCK!” Remi cursed loudly as he sneezed despite his best attempts to keep the rest from becoming aware. Too late, stewing in this small room only a few feet from everyone around him sneezing, his own terrible immune system failing him yet again. “How the fuck did it happen so fast?!”

“I predict the fact that I am not from here…probably mutated the virus…theoretically…of course,” the red head shrugged his tired, heavy shoulders.

“heT’CHXOO!!” Rextar now but instead of a fine mist of saliva, no it was a cloud of flames, everyone quickly jumped back, Kriia only moved slightly to the side, rubbing his back gently. “Shiiiit…sorry guys..sndfff,” rubbing his nose on the back of his performance hoodie sleeve.

“You only mildly scorched the carpet, no biggie, we can pay the damages,” Kriia shrugged trying to assure her boyfriend that everything was fine, minus the trapped in a room full of sick individuals that can’t stop sneezing, thing. Everyone looked at each other with pitiful sunken eyes, every other sound a sniffle or cough. It was roughly a 300 square ft space, it more or less, didn’t have a whole lot of elbow room. Everyone could be at most, 3 feet away from the other person.

“Dude, I’m so going to kick your ass once I have full mobility,” the wolf groaned, slumping in his chair with his head thrown back, thumb and index pinching the bridge of his nose. The thudding echoed from the center of his head to the rest of his body, he felt miserable, all he wanted was his little leopard, rubbing his head and making him soup. He lifted his head up enough to try and pull out his phone but it was pointless, there wasn’t any service in here. “Fuuuuuuck!!!” He groaned loudly throwing his head back again but the quick motion only forced the itch back up his bridge, and tickling his throat, he bit his lower lip tightly.

Alistar grinned sliding closer to the wolf trying to be quiet but was pulled backed with a tight hand on his wrist. Turning his head he was met with another ice cold stare from Biz.

“No,” the demon sighed and stood back again, crossing his arms.

“Sit,” and though everything inside of his aching vessel screamed at him to defy the large Inuit man, he decided against it and simply sat, crossing his arms.

“Fine but you can’t stop me from…” twitching and and stretching his nose with purpose before sticking his blackened index tip against the edges of his nostrils tickling it carelessly. “Hhah’AETTTSHH’uh!!! H’ETSCHU! HN’CH!” Loudly, proudly, like he had something to prove, which he did. Despite the fact they all realized he came to the show sick and had spread his germs on to them, and wanted out, they couldn’t. They’re stuck here with him. As well as the constant puffs of sickly sprays that shot from his wet lips.

“Stooooop!” Remi groaned with an exaggerated sigh to finish it, he would kill to turn these lights off right now.

“Uuuggghh….” Kriia wiggled a bit back and forth grabbing at her boyfriend’s arm. “This is too much…” feeling a mixture of embarrassment as she was turned on and terribly terribly ill.

“What’s…” but before he could get the words out..

“Ht’tchkt!!! Hhh’nGNxxt!” It was Kriia’s turn to lose control, trying to send the second into Rex’s other sleeve, but finding it hard to find privacy in such a position. She snuffled loudly, wiping her face loosely back and forth on the fabric. Rex blushed, brighter than his already sun kissed cheeks currently were. He tried to clear his throat, while he allowed his girlfriend to intimately release onto him and use his clothing as a rag.

“B-Bless you, baby,” considering maybe even just giving the demon what he wanted, a show, but he shook his head, no, not the right place or time.

“Oooo look at you two, see, I knew someone would enjoy this! We are making VALUABLE memories right now,” he tried to pull out his phone but before he could even open the app, Remi grabbed the device in one quick swoop and hucked it across the room. It shattered against the wall.

“Don’t be a fucking creep!” The wolf practically towered over him now. Fuck he was fast. Alistar rolled his eyes and lifted his palms up in defense.

“I was simply going to see…if I could contact K, that is all, I wasn’t up to anything and frankly I’m insulted you’d accuse me,” the two men stared each other down. Remi refused to believe his innocence.

“There’s no service, you know that,” slanting his dulling emerald eyes even further in accusation toward the demon.

“I forgot?” Al raised a thin red brow before suddenly he was taken by the throat, as if his head hadn’t been pounding as it was, it surely increased with the lack of oxygen to his brain now as Remi squeezed his fingers around him.

“Forgot?? Is that a question? See? Why should we ever trus-….” His eyes widened, his grasp slightly weakened just before Biz could finish standing back up to stop the man…./it/ happened.

“-hd’ISCHhh!! HI’DTSCHIEW!!” Almost like granddad finally heard him, like he was calling Alistar on speed dial. ‘Hello my son…I grant you…this blessing….’

“Thank you, Granddad….” He thought internally as a large gesture of spiddle and debris hit his entire face, Remi feeling mortified in between snuffling, he quickly let go and leaped back. Alistar realizing now, he didn’t think what he said, he had spoken it. Now the wolf was half across the room rubbing his nose from under his hoodie, almost feeling dirty, like he needed a hot shower.

“You’re fucking vile,” the raven haired male glared, turning his back.

Alistar shrugged his shoulders, not even a hint of shame written on his face, but satisfaction. “I’ve gotten what I wanted out of this, I don’t know about any of you…” he smirked before he wiped a straying trail from under his nose with the back of his hand but not the wet from Remi’s previous sneeze.

“I mean I got to play my show and once we are out of this me and Kri are def gon-..et’TCHOOO! etCHXIEW!!” Throwing his head in an upward direction to keep his heated blow outs from singeing anyone’s eyebrows clean off their faces. Regardless, a mistral of flames spewed out of him, smoke following out his nose as he slurped loudly to contain any of his salivic mess. Kriia bit her lower lip and just continued her motions of assuring and comforting back rubs. Her nails digging every so often.

“Oh, you already know me…” licking her lips before reaching to brush a few strands of his red locks away from his tear stained white and ruby eyes. They shared a moment together, while Alistar could barely contain himself. This was more than enough mental storage for later tonight. Endless imagery. If Alistar had a choice a of favorite sneeze in the room, it was Rex’s, because it came with a dark edge of danger. Nothing better than a sneeze followed by, FIRE?! Are you KIDDING ME?! This was enough to last him a life time.

Just when it was starting to get good, they all collectively heard a series of thuds at the door.

“Al, you done yet?” Kanai’s voice echoed from behind it, everyone feeling a sense of ease and relief but Al hummed lightly an index and thumb at his chin. Considerably, he could tell the hound no, and stretch this out for a painfully long time. However, he wasn’t sure how long it would take for the wolf’s blood to burn out that muscle relaxer and beat the dog shit out of him, it seemed to already be weakening. Having gotten this far alone, was a win. Best to not push his luck.

“A while ago.. why the fuck did you leave post???” He yelled back toward his best friend, when a moment of silence rolled by before the hound had any nerve to respond.

“It’s a historical theatre, Al, and you didn’t tell me I had to man the post, just barricade the door until you said, so…mind you, I did,” almost a slight edge of sass to his usually monotoned communications. He was spending too much time with that bratty pet of theirs, Drae.

“Okay, smartass, open the fucking door then,” Al hucked his foot toward the wood, making a loud banging sound. Remi snorted, trouble in paradise. He couldn’t relate since he and Levi made such a good team. They heard a serious of bangs and shifts of metal against the wood when suddenly, it came swinging open.

“If I am a smart ass does that mean it’s a compliment? Typically one’s ass does not have a brain, so therefore it has no intelligence…with that being said would tha-….” Alistar took his full blackened hand and palmed the center of Kanai’s face before pushing him clear out the door frame entryway.

“Just take me home,” shaking his head back and forth with a roll of his tired ruby orbs. As they all relatively sighed with relief and began to walk out, Biz quickly grabbed Al by the shoulder and turned him around

“Hey Al?” He spoke softly, almost suspiciously kind.

“Yeah?” Al looked at the taller male, cautiously but curiously still.

“I don’t hate you….Connie adores you, in some strange way, and I respect that…so I want you to know that despite how Remington may openly feel, me and my girls do not hate you…okay? You’re always welcome over…” the grey haired man opened his heart, and metaphorically his arms to the demon. His girl saw something in him that was more than difficult for anyone else to, but he would do anything to make amends for those thoughts that may play inside the redhead’s brain. If only for her.

“Oh…uh…thanks, Biziil…I appreciate that…but you know, I don’t, really feel that way right? I was just trying to stop Remi from serving me rare to the gates of Hell,” he chuckled, slightly shocked that the large man, cared about how he might feel if the group really did hate him. Regardless, they were friends of his pet, and in turn just more toys to play with. It was not important to him whether or not they liked him.

“Well, whether or not it was true, I just want you to know that there are people on this plain of existence that care about you….if you ever do, start to feel, anything,” the large bear followed with a chuckle, and it almost made the demon think deeply on it for a second before Meeko came stumbling out behind him.

“Bear…hot bath…home…pleeeeeaaaasssseee….” She whimpered slamming her forehead onto the middle of his back, arms slumped at her sides.

“Oh sweet girl…as you wish,” Biz quickly wrapped his strong tatted arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him before he turned to look at Al with a wink. Disappearing to the parking lot. As everyone else made their way home, Kanai walked with Alistar out to their own car.

“Where’s Drae?” The red head asked loosely, almost as if it didn’t really matter in the first place.

“He’s at home in bed watching some human drama show you like, because he misses you,” Kanai responded, unlocking the doors to the vehicle as they approached it.

“Jeez, he’s so needy,” shaking his head back and forth but feeling a slight…tingle in the base of his chest at the thought.

“He is quite persistent of our company, that must be a human thing…I have to research it when we get home…” mumbling now to himself as his brain started ticking away at the theories and possibilities.

“Okay nerd brain, just take me home so I can get my dick sucked at the LEAST with this fucking head cold I have….” He groaned rubbing at his temples. “I just know the orgasm is going to be fucking mind blowing,” unable to stop himself from snickering pridefully as they slid inside the car.

“I can imagine it would be a nice change of pace to have that feeling whilst also afflicted with that terrible one at the same time…might even possibly cure you…let me know,” the grey one looked over from the driver seat before the red head shot the hound a finger gun and a cheeky wink.

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To Be Continued?!

Author’s Notes: I’m so sorry this took so long and IS so long?! Uncle Fucking Christ! (Sorry I love saying that) anyway I decided to do a part two for when Alistar comes home and Drae helps him feel relief (; it’ll be a lemon one shot Part 2 which should be easier for me to crack out than a full fic with 6 characters to keep track of Lmfao. Thanks for supporting mine and Geez’s characters! We appreciate the love it really is just the best 🥰 It’s nice to create for fun and have others just simply enjoy it for what it is. All my love 🫶🏻 @aller-geez owns Meeko, Remi, Rex, Kriia and Kanai! (also Draeko who was mentioned!)

[babygray]

The last few days, I've been watching a certain kind of anime recap video, and they were pretty entertaining, even if they seem to make the same jokes.

One of these videos was about WIND BREAKER, and it wasn't the best. It called the show Tokyo Revengers season three, and a ripoff. It even claimed these two are the same poster.

In.. what universe... are these two stories so similar, you would call one a ripoff of the other. Certainly not this one.

Is it clickbait/ragebait, connecting the popular show with the newest just cause they're both about delinquents?

I will give the video creator the benefit of the doubt. They're obviously a young kid that hasn't seen many delinquent stories. They need to expand their horizons and watch and read more stories.

Just from the top of my head, they could check out Crows and Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho for some action, GTO and Gokusen for lifting kids up in the classroom, last season's BUCCHIGIRI?!, or for some real good stuff, Be-Bop High School, Kyou kara Ore wa!!, Cromartie High School, and Gintama.

All of these have something to offer and worth a look.

[theuntitledblog]

Batman Begins (2005) - REVIEW

There are some cinematic experiences that expand and influence your cinematic horizons and stay with you for years to come and for me Batman Begins was one of those experiences. Having been raised in the late 80's and 90's, my only exposure to Batman was through the Tim Burton movies and the subsequent Joel Schumacher sequels that killed off the series at that time.

So my expectations of Batman and what the character could be was heavily influenced by those movies. So when Batman Begins arrived in 2005, it was an eye opening experience in every way possible. Yes it had darkness but gone was the gothic and cartoonish visuals of those previous movies and instead a gritty, realistic world where it felt that Batman could actually exist was presented to us. But the most surprising and welcoming thing to me was that Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne actually felt like he was the centre of his own movie and not overshadowed by the villain(s). You never get the sense that Christopher Nolan was in a rush to get Batman on screen or move from one action set piece to another. Instead he took care to depict not the just the Wayne tragedy and its immediate impact but also the lifelong pain that would almost push him to commit murder before moving onwards to become a superhero. In any other director's hand, the 1 hour wait for Batman to finally turn up would feel like a detriment, but here it's masterfully judged and the moment packs a powerful punch when it does happen.

Nolan's Batman is grounded in a sense of realism not seen before not just when it comes to Batman himself but also Gotham City. The storytelling is elegant with the flashback sequences as they explore Wayne's origin while at the same time reveals more of Gotham that he grew up in, escaped from and later vows to confront. The Gotham we see here is a far cry from the gothic monolith we saw in the Burton films but the scale of corruption is laid bare. From the assassination of Joe Chill, the corrupt cop Arnold Flass to the confrontation with Carmine Falconi, this is a world filled with many challenges and enemies for Bruce Wayne to overcome and for us the journey for Bruce to becoming Batman feels both dangerous and essential.

Much like the character work, Nolan takes just as much care to construct this version of Batman with the suit and various gadgets made to look practical as much as it does intimidating. From the moment Bale snarls "I'm Batman" to Tom Wilkinson's Falconi, the film switches into another gear as Wayne finally launches his war against organised crime in Gotham and its definitely is a feel good moment. When it comes the villains, one of my biggest takeaways from the Burton/Schumacher movies was that the villain(s) seemed to overshadow the hero ... but not here. Batman Begins (like the subsequent sequels) utilises several villains including two who I had never heard of before in Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow and Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul were hardly scene stealers in the way that Jack Nicholson or Jim Carrey were but they succeeded in supporting the story being told here but with Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman remaining the star of the show.

If there is one thing that hasn't aged quite as impressively over time is the shooting of the action sequences. For me they're too close up, too shaky and hard to see at times although the extended chase sequence with the Tumbler is definitely a highlight with Hans Zimmer's thunderous score elevating things further. Does it significantly hurt the film? Absolutely not because the action sequences do achieve what's required even if they're not as refined as sequences from other films of the genre. Yet Batman Begins is a blockbuster that never feels defined by its action sequences but rather by its characters, themes and story.

In 2005 I sat in bewilderment watching a film about Bruce Wayne and empathising with his pain, moved by the close relationship he forged with Michael Caine's Alfred, respected the integrity of Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon while enjoying the Bond/Q like relationship with Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox. I walked out of the cinema in 2005 completely blown away by Batman Begins as it swept away whatever expectation I had of what I thought a Batman movie was or could be. It was so much more; thematically complex, intelligent and satisfying than anything I was expecting. The tagline for the 1978 Superman movie was "You'll Believe a Man Can Fly", with Batman Begins you will believe a man can become and be Batman.

VERDICT

Batman Begins is and remains what I consider to be the standard for what all great Batman movies can be.

5/5

[mrs-monaghan]

"no couple gay or straight even comes close to measuring up to gallavich" - watch more tv shows and movies, pls. and not only usa ones. there are so many amazing deep profound love stories that make gallavich look like your typical netflix teen drama written by fanfic writers in comparison. it's not even funny. seriously. expand your horizons.

I have seen enough TV to stand by what I said. Mickey's growth is no fucking joke. What Terry did when he walked in on them fucking was brutal and they were still able to overcome that. Ian and his bipolar and what it put them through and they still came out as winners on the other side. Everything was against them and they still ended up as husbands. Also comparing Shameless and any of its storylines to a Netflix teen drama is offensive and fuck you for that. Seriously, fuck off with that noise. How dare you?!

I have seen ALOT of tv shows that have made me cry and laugh and taken me into my feels. But still they didn't leave the impression Gallavich left. I'm sorry but nothing compares imo. Sorry. 🙌🏽

Also next time u wanna tell me abcd are better than Gallavich why not drop a list? Otherwise keep your condescending tone to yourself.

Made this 5 years ago. I'm not the best editor and while my horizons have been expanded and some couples would probably drop off the list if I made another now, this is how I felt at the time

[raayllum]

& i will say as someone who has always liked the gothic / earned my degree in english... there is something to be said for “never say never” if you actually want to analyze media and/or expand your horizons. 

not only are pieces of media that discuss violation and taboos interesting (in many ways from a literary standpoint, incest and cannibalism are the same thing - a violent consumption and one sided ownership - but one is sexual and the other is physical, and bringing them together can be Fascinating in terms of how we can talk about the human condition, the harm we can do to one another & have done to one another, etc) but are also just useful, because how those things have been seen and treated have varied (somewhat) over history? 

cannibalism and kinslaying was a massive no-no in ancient grecian society, in spite of or maybe even in response to both of those things happening one by one in their primordial myths (kronos literally has children with his sister - like all gods - then eats his children, only for his children to later ‘kill’ him by chopping him into pieces. his dick formed aphrodite)

and to a certain degree, watching people go through terrible things or inflict terrible things on one another in the realm of fiction is the crux of tragedy. there’s emotional catharsis in tragedy, of course, of just expelling emotions in a safe setting where terrible things are not happening to you, but then there’s also the reaffirmation of agency and security that you have, because they’re not happening to you - that characters do not have free will, their stories are written for them, but you do have free will (which is its own burden, but mostly not). 

like you may say “i’ll never ship anything that falls into [x thing here]” and that could very well be true (although bad news if it’s incest and you’ve enjoyed literally Anything based off mythology in your life like PJO or hadestown, etc), there are definitely squicks for me i’ll never really be into but like. i also don’t totally know? there could always be the right story at the right time and place that makes me intrigued or interested in something i wasn’t before. 

having that openness also means allowing for different interpretations. i can ship past viren/harrow, and even in the present day portion of the show, while acknowledging and being fully aware that narratively / thematically (and canonically, if we wanna go that far) they’re supposed to have a brother-like bond. but to stuff characters and ships and moral rules into stuffy little cubbies and ignoring all the grey areas, and where people (fiction or otherwise) have always existed in those grey spaces has just... never sat right with me?

perhaps it’s because i’m nonbinary, so i exist in a grey and outside of a binary. maybe it’s because i lean towards not needing definitive answers, thanks to the reading i’ve done on judaism and religions other than my own (cultural & religious) christian background. maybe it’s because as an aro person, my own form of attraction is incredibly blurred between romantic and platonic. maybe it’s because i am Very good at recognizing anti (anti sex work, anti kink, anti shipping, anti queer, anti trans) rhetoric because it all comes from a place of “this exists and i think it shouldn’t, even though it’s not harming me” not only from my existence as a queer person, but also from my perspective (and from others like me) of being a minor harassed by adults in the name of ‘protecting the children,’ because they thought i was shipping a minor/adult. i wasn’t, for the record (canon ages were extremely ambiguous) but even if i had been, that’s still totally okay?? and not worth harassment?? just be Normal about it??

so yeah, i block liberally about it to protect myself, and i don’t blame other people who do too, because if someone falls into one of those anti camps, it’s very hard to tell which other ones they may fall into

and idk, i just think it’s Good for people to read things that make them uncomfortable, fiction wise. it pushes you past your own cultural understandings. it can lead to growth or reaffirm your own worldviews for the better. the more you overtly moralize (and demonize), dividing things into categories of “this is always bad or irredeemable” the more you make it harder for people to discuss the full complexities of their lives, because something can be always bad, yes, but that doesn’t mean there was never any good (or reasoning behind it that, right or wrong, appealed to the best or worst of people) in it either. if you deeply moralize racism, you give ‘nice whites’ a shield to hold up. if you deeply demonize age gaps, you make people who are actually vulnerable to them less likely to listen, rather than giving young adults better tools and concepts to learn when a relationship - any kind of relationship - is healthy for them.

and i’d say it’s fiction’s responsibility to challenge, but not to unilaterally teach, ethical and moral norms, anyway (which also aren’t defined principles, but you get my drift). what’s that quote? “Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable” by la cruz. Yeah

anyway all this to say go read the perks of being a wallflower or kiss of the fur queen or the book thief or things fall apart and come back to me about prioritizing your personal comfort over letting people just live their lives in fandom without moralizing everything. modern day sanitation will not help you in the long run

[radiantlyrey]

Doctor Who Review: S1/S14E05 - Dot and Bubble

Note: this review is a little all over the place. I tried to cover the important stuff. Please let me know if this comes off as self-centered or whatever. Please.

Something is wrong in the city of Finetime. People are going missing, but the disappearances aren't really noticed. Lindy Pepper-Bean hasn't noticed, and it's only when she's contacted by the Doctor and Ruby Sunday that she begins to peek outside her bubble and find out what's really going on. Slug-like creatures are eating the people of Finetime, and it's up to the Doctor and Ruby to get as many people out as they can before the entire populace is devoured.

SPOILERS (and also discussion of my white cluelessness) AFTER THE CUT

At first blush, “Dot and Bubble” seems to be slightly preachy in tone, exhorting the apparent evils of living in a social media bubble (in this case, a very literal one) and relying on technology to the point that one's self-reliance disappears. From what chatter I've seen online, these parts of the story are meant to be a sort of riff on the usual Black Mirror plot of "technology bad". (Having never watched Black Mirror, I'll have to take the internet's word on this.) It turns out that this is a feint, because the episode is actually about racism.

It's at this part of the review that I have to be frank and honest with you: I did not realize this episode was about racism until I saw people talking about it online afterwards.

I'm white, and I didn't notice that everyone in Finetime was white until someone else pointed it out. And it's funny, because I do usually notice and am pleased when a show or movie I watch is diverse. But as "Dot and Bubble" has revealed to me, I don't usually notice when a show or movie I watch is populated entirely by white people, which means I've got some internal biases I've got examine.

In fact, me not even realizing what this episode was really about until someone else pointed it out says a lot about me. It says that, just like the people of Finetime, I live in a bubble. And I do! I live in a largely white town, and my few friends are white, and I mostly live in this bubble of whiteness and don't question it or try to expand my horizons! I like to think of myself as progressive, and I try my best to not be actively racist--but racism isn't just an activity! It's also, for a lot of people like me, a passivity. I benefit from racism every day as a white person! And I've never really stopped to examine this and what it means for me, nor have I thought about what I've got to change about myself and my thinking in order to let go of these internal biases and prejudices. “Dot and Bubble” called me out very effectively, and it left me with the realization that I have to do better.

And that's what Russell T Davies is trying to say with this story. Lindy and the other people of Finetime live in bubbles that are both literal and figurative--the digital bubble that holds their social media, the actual bubble that protects their city from the "Wild Woods", and the bubble of whiteness that permeates their entire society. On a rewatch, the racism throughout this episode becomes obvious. Lindy reacts with disgust when she first sees the Doctor, and she thinks everything he says to her is condescending. She thinks the Doctor is a different person when he reappears later, saying that she "thought [he] just looked the same". While she's much more lenient with Ruby, Lindy is still aghast when she realizes Ruby and the Doctor are in the same room. This plays into her speech to the Doctor in the final scene, when what has thus far been subtext becomes, all at once, text.

Part of what makes this episode so effective, I think, is in the way that it doesn't overtly focus on the racism. It doesn't make it into A Thing at all. Instead, the script and the visuals lay it out for us without drawing overt attention to it. The racism is there, but the episode waits for the audience to discover it. Compared to how previous episodes of Doctor Who have dealt with (or outright ignored) racism, it's a refreshing strategy, not least because it asks the audience to be aware of how their biases make them perceive things.

Another thing I found interesting about this episode is the way it positions Lindy (portrayed by Callie Cooke in an excellent performance) as the de facto main character of the episode. It uses her position within the narrative to obfuscate the primary theme a little; I know I was more inclined to forgive her shortcomings because of that. At first, Lindy just seems overwhelmed about her situation and maybe in denial that anything is wrong, but as the episode continues, that mask starts to slip a little, and then a lot. We learn that Lindy and the people of Finetime are, in essence, the rich kids of their homeworld, which explains a lot of her general attitude of snobbishness (repeatedly calling Ruby "stupid" for example). But when her Dot loses power and she's on her own, we start to see a little of what she's actually like. She thinks meeting Ricky September makes this the greatest day of her life (even though, as Ricky points out, thousands of people are dying horribly all around them). As the Doctor and Ruby figure out the methodology of the slug creatures, Lindy's overall self-obsession becomes clear. She wails that the creatures are coming after her, rather than realizing that she's just the next person in a very long list of people.

But the final nail in the coffin comes at the episode's climax. Lindy's Dot has gone rogue and is trying to kill her. Ricky fights it off, but it knocks him in the head to slow him down and comes after Lindy. Without hesitation, Lindy tells the Dot that Ricky changed his last name, and that the Dots and their creatures should have killed him much earlier in their alphabetical rampage. While Ricky is summarily killed, Lindy escapes and walks away to freedom. She lies about what happened to Ricky, and that, apparently, is that.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the final scene. The people who escaped from Finetime have decided to strike out for the wilderness. The Doctor offers to take them to safety in the TARDIS, but Lindy and the others reject him for no other reason than that he's Black, and that's unacceptable to them, and against the "standards of Finetime". Ncuti Gatwa has been a powerhouse thus far this series (excepting "73 Yards", which he was barely in because of prior filming obligations), and his performance in this scene is electric. The Doctor desperately tries to get the Finetime group to come with him, but they walk away, taking their boat down the river. He laughs in disbelief that turns in an instant to anger. He leaves in the TARDIS with tears on his face. He could be mourning the people of Finetime, but it seems more likely to me that he can't believe they care more about maintaining their prejudice and racism than their own survival.

This ending is what cements the greatness of "Dot and Bubble" as an episode. It doesn't end happily. There is no fanfare of success. The Doctor couldn't save the people of Finetime from their intolerance. It's a bit of a bummer, but it needs to be to drive home the primary theme. Racism is insidious, but it's also a choice, and people like me have to choose to be better if we're all going to survive.

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

haiii fun question time: what are your favorite horror tv shows? I’ve been looking to expand my horizons and start watching more scary tv series this month and i wanna know ur favs

Hi!! Okay, I'm gonna have to shamefully admit here that I am terrible with tv shows so I honestly haven't seen that many horror tv shows.

Ones I have seen and would recommend:

The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. They're both really really good and made me cry 10 thousand times. They're more character focused and imo executed really well!

If you've watched the Chucky franchise and liked it, I'd recommend the Chucky tv show too! S3 recently started. I haven't seen any episodes from s3 yet, but s1 was really good and s2 was pretty fun as well. I'd say if you don't like the weirdness and campiness of the later Chucky movies, you might not enjoy the show as much, but it is a continuation of all the movies and is really fun (and queer!)

I think the only other horror tv show I've properly watched is Ash vs Evil Dead. I enjoyed it when I watched it, but definitely need to give it a rewatch!

The other horror-esque shows I've seen are like barely horror, especially after a while. Like I've seen Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stranger Things, but it'd be hard to call any of these horror, besides maybe a few episodes

[kyndaris]

Behind the Scenes with The Little Prince

On our second day in Busan, bleachpanda and I headed to Gamcheon Culture Village. It is a place known for its twisting alleys and colourful houses and painted murals. Built on a steep mountain-side slope, it's often been called Korea's 'Santorini' or the 'Machu Picchu' of Busan. But the creation of Gamcheon Culture Village was due to a project to contribuet to the social, cultural and economic regeneration of an underprivileged village through culture and arts while also preserving the village's original features and historic value.

Consequently, it was a must-see location for bleachpanda and I on our trip while we were in Busan.

Of course, getting to it was a trek and a half as bleachpanda and I took a local bus towards a stop nearby and climbing up a fairly steep hill. While there was another bus we could have changed to, the internet had told me the walk wasn't too long.

What it didn't tell me about were the changes in elevation!

At the very least, we didn't explore the labyrinthine alleys running in and out of Gamcheon and kept to the main road whilst we were there. I don't think our knees would have liked us for climbing up and down a series of stairs.

Still, given the brisk morning we endured on the first day of March, the climb up to Gamcheon served to warm us up before we entered the village proper. Bleachpanda, as always, immediately zeroed in on the first souvenir shop that caught our eye, buying up almost all of their stock of earrings and other goods supposedly for her family and friends. I tried valiantly to stop bleachpanda from spending more than her means but she would not be denied.

Wait. She's telling me that's not quite the full story and to stop spreading lies lest she murder me in my sleep.

Fine! Bleachpanda did buy a copious amounts of pins and a few other souvenirs for her friends (none for me though despite the fact I'm her best friend in the world), but it was not so much that it would break open her suitcase. I, on the other hand, picked up three pairs of socks and even nabbed a crocheted dragon keyring. It was a bit expensive but it was also very cute and adorable.

What stood out to me as bleachpanda and I explored Gamcheon, I couldn't help but notice a strange obsession with Le Petit Prince everywhere I looked. As most people know, Le Petit Prince is a story written and illustrated by a French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery. According to Wikipedia (because, as we all know, it is a fount of knowledge that is, in no way, inaccurate and should always be everyone's go-to place when it comes to information), it is the second most translated work ever published.

The story itself revolves around an aircraft pilot's chance encounter with the little prince and his journey across the stars after feeling the need to expand his horizons after falling in love with the rose. After seeing so many different thing, taming a fox, and befriending the aircraft pilot, the little prince desires to return home and see the rose again. He does so by allowing a snake to bite him. When the pilot awakes the next morning, the prince's body cannot be found.

While I haven't read the book, I have attended a live stage show of it when it was hosted in the Sydney Opera House and watched a movie.

In any case, Gamcheon had plenty of murals of the Little Prince. There was even a sculpture of him staring out over Gamcheon with his fox companion that many tourists lined up to take photos with. Heck, there was even Little Prince bread filled with either custard cream or red bean paste!

Besides The Little Prince, there was also much love for the Korean boyband, BTS (short for Bangtan Sonyeondan). Though I don't have an undying love for the group, I did remember hearing that BTS went on hiatus from recording and performing to focus on solo projects, and to also complete their military service.

Having missed our chance to rent out a hanbok while in Seoul, bleachpanda and I stumbled upon a rental store in the heart of Gamcheon. While I have never revealed my face here on my blog, I think it appropriate that I do a 'back-of-the-head' reveal. More importantly, I just wanted to show off the hanbok we rented because we could only wear it for an hour and it cost bleachpanda and I 15,000 Won each.

Still, although it was only for an hour, we had plenty of time to prance around Gamcheon village and take several photos in and around the nearby streets.

Once we had explored Gamcheon to our satisfaction, we decided to head to the beach. Yes, it was a blistering cold day and we were never going to head down into the water, but I had heard good things about Haeundae Beach, and my work friend had also recommended it. So, after taking a bus down from where Gamcheon Culture Village was located, we took the 1003 bus all the way to the other side of Busan.

At Haeundae Beach, we strolled down the promenade and took in the sights of the locals and tourists gathered there. Haeundae, according to hte internet, is South Korea's most famous beach and is often filled to the brim with umbrellas during the peak August travel season.

Of course, since bleachpanda and I were there in March, there was hardly an umbrella in sight. Nor was there anyone in the water.

It was, after all, only 4 degrees Celsius.

Now, while Haeundae Beach is a popular destination for many, my work friend had also told me there were sky capsules that would allow tourists to get in an excellent view of the coastline.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived to book a sky capsule, a vast majority of the bookings had been taken. As bleachpanda and I had an early start tomorrow, we chose to forego the capsules and head back to Busan Station to grab an early dinner (as we had skipped lunch). This turned out to be Chinese dumplings at Maga Mandu. And what big dumplings they were - especially when bleachpanda ordered the steamed prawn dumblings!

Thus ended our second day in Busan!

And what a day it was! From a morning trek up to Gamcheon, putting on a hanbok and gallivanting around with The Little Prince, to taking in the sights and sounds of Haeundae Beach. All the while on a public holiday! The 1st of March is a national day to celebrate Korea's independence from Japan.

But we also had an early start to the morning and so were quick to retire. After six days in Korea, we were returning back to the Land of the Rising Sun.

[deadpresidents]

You read a lot non-fiction what I call "colon books" ("Title: Longer Subtitle"). What are some of your favourite or latest fiction books that you've read?

Even if it’s not your ideal genre, there has to be a more pleasant way of talking about non-fiction titles than calling them “colon books”, right? That sounds like a pretty gross section of the library.

I must admit that I’ve never been a big reader of fiction. I read a lot of books, but fiction has always been a pretty small percentage of them. I don’t have anything against fiction books and, quite frankly, I wish I had more of an interest in them because I believe reading from a broader, more diverse group of genres opens up your mind to a wider array of viewpoints. But I just can’t lose myself in fiction as easily as I do in non-fiction — and I know that not only sounds ridiculous but kind of proves how important it probably is for me to actually read more fiction in order to expand my horizons and build a healthier imagination.

When I do read fiction, it usually is because I like the work of specific authors and don’t want to miss whatever they write. One odd thing is that while I very rarely (almost never, in fact) re-read non-fiction books, when it comes to fiction, I usually stick with the same small collection of favorite authors and often re-read their work.

And if I’m not reading non-fiction, there’s a pretty good chance that I’m reading poetry instead of a novel or some sort of traditional prose fiction. Like I said, it’s probably more of a failure of imagination than anything, but while I respect and appreciate great literature and creative fiction, I just prefer reading stuff that feels more realistic. I couldn’t even guess what the last science fiction book I read was. I have several thousand books in my personal library, but I’m willing to bet that I have less than a half-dozen sci-fi books. My taste in movies or TV shows is pretty similar; I rarely watch sci-fi or fantasy. Even as a kid I was never able to get into them.

So what type of fiction books do I read whenever I actually do pick up something other than non-fiction?

I’ve been pretty vocal over the years about my appreciation/admiration/awe for the work of Sam Shepard. Everything he wrote — from his plays to his prose to poetry to his short story collections — amazes me as a reader and makes me insanely jealous as a writer. I have every book he ever published and just about every play or collection of plays, and I re-read him more than anybody else.

I’m also a huge fan of John Steinbeck and Joan Didion. I think I have just about everything that Steinbeck ever published and I have phases when I fall into a Steinbeck rabbit hole and just tunnel through my Library of America collection of his work, which are treasures. I didn’t get into Joan Didion’s writing until later, so I’m still reading some of her stuff for the first time. I think the fact that I’m from Northern California like Steinbeck (from Salinas) and Didion (who was from Sacramento originally, just like me) helps me put myself in their work in a more intimate way than when I’m trying to read most other writers of fiction. I need that kind of connection to lock on to fiction in the way that I’m able to do with non-fiction. Plus, Steinbeck and Didion also wrote some great non-fiction, so I can get the best of both worlds. Two other authors that I’ve read and re-read many times are Cuba’s heroic founding father, freedom fighter, and martyred revolutionary José Martí and the ingenious, acerbic Ambrose Bierce whose satirical The Devil's Dictionary (BOOK | KINDLE) has miraculously maintained its edginess and razor-sharp humor despite being originally written over 125 years ago.

There’s really not a lot of contemporary fiction that I read. I’m sure I’d find some great stuff if I gave it the chance, but there’s only so many hours in the day that I have to read, so I do tend to give it over to non-fiction, as you might notice when I answer the questions about the books I’ve been recently reading! So, if I am reading fiction, it’s almost always older stuff that I’m finally getting around to reading. During the pandemic, I got lost in the work of Jorge Luis Borges, who I had not spent much time with previously, but I pored through his fiction and poetry. Two more books that I also frequently re-read or pull of the shelves to read pieces of are Baltasar Garcián’s The Art of Worldly Wisdom (BOOK | KINDLE), which was first published in 1647 but still feels fresh 375 years later, and Fernando Pessoa’s brilliant, posthumously published The Book of Disquiet (BOOK | AUDIO | KINDLE).

As for the poets you’ll find on my shelves, it’s probably who you’d expect: Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hafiz, Matthew Arnold, William Blake, and Federico García Lorca. Like I mentioned earlier, Sam Shepard and José Martí are two of my favorites for their prose and poetry. I’d especially recommend Shepard’s 1973 book Hawk Moon: Short Stories, Poems, Monologues and Motel Chronicles (BOOK | KINDLE), published in 1982 by the legendary Lawrence Ferlinghetti at San Francisco’s iconic City Lights Books. José Martí’s greatest work is Versos Sencillos (BOOK | KINDLE), originally published in Spanish 1891 but I recommend the excellent dual-language edition translated by Anne Fountain and published by McFarland & Company in 2005. One other poetry book that is always pretty close to my desk is Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s wonderful The Collected Poems, 1952-1990.

And last but not least — but certainly the least surprising — is William Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare. I don’t think that this is a controversial opinion, but Shakespeare is fucking amazing. You guys can share that secret with other people if you feel the need to do so. If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to pick only three books to read for the rest of my life, the first thing I would do would be to choose Shakespeare’s Complete Works. Actually…the first thing I would do would be to ask why that person felt the need to put a gun to my head just to choose three books to read. That seems unnecessarily aggressive and wildly inappropriate for the task at hand. But after chastising them for their needlessly dangerous tactics, I would choose Shakespeare’s Complete Works — specifically the latest Norton edition with Stephen Greenblatt as general editor (BOOK | DIGITAL).

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

Queer Eye episode 1.05 "Camp Rules"

When I first got into TV, I was pretty aggressively against anything considered reality TV. I wanted TV shows to ‘elevate the medium’ and be ‘a different kind of art that people put in their living rooms’. I still want that, as obnoxious as it sounds, but I’ve expanded my horizons and learned that reality TV isn’t necessarily the antithesis to those things. As I rewatch The Newsroom, I’m realizing Aaron Sorkin probably got in my head about that, but I bet he hasn’t seen Queer Eye.

I’m still working my way through this show- the 7 season Netflix series that’s currently available, not the OG Queer Eye for the Straight Guy- but so far, every single episode has gotten me choked up, if not fully crying. There’s no other way to put it, it’s just a really wonderful thing that they’re doing. The genuine love, care, and empathy these five gay guys bring to all these rural southern homes is, as they say, “more than a makeover”.

Jonathan Van Ness and Bobby Camp in "Camp Rules". Image courtesy of IMDb.

In the kinds of reality TV that made me write off reality TV, the heavy-handed manufacturing by producers and editors is blatant, but the Fab 5 (Antoni, Karamo, Jonathan, Tan, and Bobby) have rang genuine and true in every episode. I really see how what they do for these people can have a huge impact. In other messy-life home makeover shows like Hoarders and Clean House, the frustratingly obvious missing piece is what will keep these people from returning to their old ways the second the camera crew packs up and leaves.

Queer Eye meets people where they’re at, and their mission is to give people the tools to be their best selves for themselves. It’s not about looking hot; it’s about putting effort into yourself. It’s not about having a clean house; it’s about having a functional and peaceful space for yourself and your family. And ultimately, it’s about doing the soul searching into why you haven’t been doing that all along.

As a gay girl from the south, it is really just a warm spoonful of honey to watch these guys strut all around Georgia and Missouri and beyond, leaving people better than they found them, spreading love and being loved back. The show doesn’t water down the undeniable conflicting politics between who they are and where they are; it transcends them. There’s an episode where Bobby initially refuses to step into a church, and throughout the show we learn a lot about the religious trauma he experienced- going to church every day until being kicked out of his adoptive parents’ house as a teen. By the end of that episode, Bobby will have worked his magic and transformed the church community center into a beautiful local hub. Later, the Fab 5 help a young Black lesbian in very similar circumstances learn to trust her found family and thrive as who she is.

Those episodes are so important because this is simply the reality for so many minorities in the south. But just as important as thoroughly acknowledging this is moving forward, learning that what you’ve experienced isn’t all you will experience and the way you’ve been treated isn’t how you will always be treated. If you’re a regular reader, you know I love to talk about religion on TV, and the structure of Queer Eye makes it pretty unavoidable. One of my favorite episodes that I’ve seen so far is one that brings that topic out in the open with nothing but love and acceptance.

In “Camp Rules”, the Fab 5 visit Bobby Camp, a father of six working two jobs with less than two hours unaccounted for in his average 24-hour day. He and his wife are madly in love, but he dropped the ball on their wedding, and their home life hasn’t reached a peaceful place since starting their marriage on the wrong foot. The Fab 5 aren’t afraid to make executive decisions, immediately raiding the closet, bathroom, and kitchen, assessing the situation and throwing things away- but they do it with love, in the best interest of that specific person. When someone needs a kick in the ass, they’ll give them one, but what Camp needs is a break and a fresh start (since we’ve also got Bobby Berk of the Fab 5, I’ll call him Camp).

Tan France and Bobby Camp in "Camp Rules". Image courtesy of The Hot Corn.

The house is a trainwreck- it’s tiny and 8 people live there- but Bobby quickly recognizes a lack of discipline in the children as the culprit. With this in mind, Bobby designs a top to bottom renovation focused on organization, peacefulness, and functionality. He puts floor-to-ceiling shelves in the living room, with lower shelves dedicated to the kids, and the rest being used as adult space. He creates a chore board, with a section for each kid and magnets with chores that can be assigned and moved around when completed. Jonathan chips into the bathroom transformation, building toiletry kits for all six kids that are meant to live in the kids’ rooms, so Camp and his wife can get the most out of the shared space.

Meanwhile, Tan, Jonathan, and Antoni take Camp and his little girls to Target. This is the only time I’ve seen them go to Target so far on the show, another indicator of the way they tailor their experience to who they’re with. While it’s appropriate in other circumstances, it would have been tone deaf here to suggest that Camp ‘treat himself’ and ‘just spend time on himself’ when he doesn’t have the time or money to do so. They buy clothes, hair products, and groceries all in the same place and the Camps learn how they can maintain this new lifestyle in a way that’s affordable and quick.

Karamo, the culture specialist of the group, sits down with Camp and learns about the missteps at his wedding- among other things, their photographer flaked, and they have no pictures from the day. The episode always ends with some kind of event where people can show off their new selves; in this case, Karamo hears how much Camp wants to do something for his wife and organizes a fresh start wedding reception where Camp can surprise his wife and celebrate their love with everyone that they want to share it with.

All of that is so sweet (his wife loves it), but the thing I love most about this episode is a conversation Camp has with Bobby. Camp mentions that he’s not concerned about losing anything in the house except for his dining room table, which is made from the pews of the church he grew up in. Bobby has already begun respectfully honoring this request before he gets the chance to talk to him about it, but when he has some alone time with Camp, he asks him what his thoughts on homosexuality are.

Bobby Berk and Bobby Camp in "Camp Rules". Image courtesy of The Hot Corn.

Camp gives a great answer. He says religion is a personal thing because he got to a point with the church where he “only saw the rules, and none of the love”. He tells Bobby that he has nothing but acceptance for the gays and he’s so grateful for what the Fab 5 are doing for him. Before the crew leaves Camp to his wedding reception, he tells the Fab 5 that he wishes they didn’t have to go, that they are absolutely loved and welcome in his home. They all say they love him too and he cries, they cry, I cry, it’s a very nice moment.

I honestly think what this show is doing is huge. Seeing these people shake hands, truly embrace each other, and then go back into their communities talking about the amazing people they just met has so much power. I really believe that accepting people who are different from you, learning from them, teaching them, and becoming a community in the process, is the way we move forward with love in this world.

[zeeckz]

is this why you draw BiBo and Kaz like them

I wish it was, bc that would make sense lol

I was doing this comic and just. put a bit too many thoughts on silly stuff, as I tend to do - you'll see for yourself if you read my tags:

Thing is, my previous knowledge of Snoopy/Peanuts was: it's a comic, there are kids, there's Snoopy, it looks cute, and it's highly relevant culturally (also the insane amount of fashion brands using the art, I've seen so many these past years)

So then I drew them as Snoopy and Woodstock and one day a reel about the 2023 film showed up to me and I thought, "hm. I should watch it", as the animation process looked really cool (+Snoopy already was one of those things I felt curious about but never really checked it out seriously), and then I just. Did more snoopy art and days later I saw this random edited Woodstock sticker on a street sign (clearly the universe asking me to do more snoopy vkaz) and so I put more interest and thoughts into it and I am now not only in the mgs hell but also the snoopy hell

As for rn I've seen the 2015 film, the 2021 show & I'm almost done with the 2019 show

Someone wanted me to do Christmas themed MGSnoopy art as well, so that's exactly what I'll be doing

I've also been debating with friends & followers other mgs characters and the animals they would be, so that I can expand my horizons))

That is my whole MGSnoopy lore! Needlessly long!

[benis-monkey]

SERIOUS POST

Hey so uh- funny story.

I used to be transphobic.

In fact, I used to be very bigoted against many groups.

Note the word USED to be.

Every transphobic thought has been cleanly plucked from my mind about 5 or so years ago.

Thankfully, I never had any confrontations or interactions with trans people while I held these hateful beliefs, so rest assured I have never harmed any trans people.

So I thought I would give some context as to why some hate trans people so much (at least from my memory)

Keep in mind, this was before the whole “groomer” narrative was a thing.

In my experience, two major factors were key in the fostering of transphobia in my mind: isolation and algorithms.

At the time, I didn’t know any trans people. The only look I ever had at trans folks was through a transphobic, hateful lens (e.g “AtTaCk HeLiCoPtEr” memes). So because I never had any interaction with trans people, that opened my interpretation of them to be molded and shaped by whatever entity came first to do so.

Now, algorithms. As I just mentioned, I only ever saw or heard about trans folk through a lens of hate and bigotry. So I only saw the “worst” of the trans community. The notorious “it’s MA’AM” video, which I now realize is a depiction of a trans woman stalwartly asserting her identity, was shared around these hateful spaces online, and was used as a way to say “look at how ridiculous this person is! They’re clearly a man!” …just typing that makes me feel yucky now.

Reactionary content on YouTube was also a major influence. I remember the YouTuber Hunter Avalone being one of the channels I watched the most. And since I kept clicking on transphobic content, YouTube kept recommending it. This led me down the infamous alt-right pipeline. Soon, I was also espousing beliefs that were racist, sexist, islamophobic, and classist. Hell, I even believed that billionaires were good people! But homophobia never made it with me.

I myself am bi/pan, and lean heavily towards men/male-presenting/masculine people, and towards androgynous people.

So seeing the firehose of hateful bigotry being pointed at myself finally snapped me to me senses. Because I knew other non-straight people. I knew they weren’t what the alt-right wanted me to think they were.

Seeing a community that I’m a part of being put under this lens of hate made me realize that it’s the same lens that every other marginalized community is put under. A lens of “different bad. Progress bad.”

I clawed my way out of this hateful pipeline. I expanded my horizons and connected with people in these marginalized groups.

So what I’m saying is, if you know anyone who is falling down this pipeline, arguing with them won’t do anything. The best way to rid them of their hateful bigotry is to show them the true nature of the LGBT community, the POC community, and other marginalized communities. Show them that they’re all just people wanting to live their lives.

The alt-right pipeline is no joke. It’s a dangerous downward spiral that can radicalize someone overnight. If you know someone falling down this pipeline, reach out to them. Invite them to a discord server with people from marginalized groups. Introduce them to your LGBT, POC, and non-Christian friends. Open their world, and their mind will open with it.

The best way to fight fascism and bigotry to teach the fascists and bigots empathy. That the people they hate are just that. People.

If I missed any TWs, please let me know and I’ll add them.

And just know that I no longer hold these hateful beliefs. I acknowledge that the person i was 5 years ago was a hateful, evil person, and I am thankful that my mind was opened.

[biospherechronicles]

Cli-fi, a science-fiction project focused on climate change

I don't wan to introduce myself but the only thing that I want you to know is, I m concerned about my future. As well as many of us.

And more than being concerned, I m afraid. So to cathartise my fear I started this porject. In which I represent the most beautiful landscape that my nightmares and anxiety can show.

I started a story from these characters but it looks like more like a first idea than a concrete project. But here what it looks like so far.

"The clouds are gone, the sea is rising and the land burns

This is the world...

But don't get me wrong, it has not always been this way. My parents once told me that beyond the borders of the collapsing city where we are living, were green fields, expanding to the horizon to feed every human in the world. And we used to share this world with other animals. Like monkeys, birds, wolves, fishes and so many more. Unlike us, they used to live on forests, and in the ocean for the fishes. But like us today, they are dying...Because we were so hungry and blind. We devoured every patch of the world until there was nothing left for the others, and not even for ourselves.

All of the animals are long gone, like the clouds, like my parents...

And of course I've never seen a real one before. An animal I mean, except the rats and the cockroaches, those are disgusting. But the giraffes must have been beautiful, weren't they ?

The clouds were very few when I was young, my parents used to tell me they are hiding somewhere, in a place where everyone can walk on the ground without burning because it is made of green. But the green is also gone, with the clouds but without us.

What happened to the world ? My very last moments of joy are fading in the middle of those ruins, waiting to be eaten by the rats or the cockroaches. But...but I'm still watching the horizon, searching for that green place my parents used to tell me. Was it just a fairy tale to help me wake up in the morning or is it real ?

I may have lost so many things, so many people... but my hope remains.

I will find that place...

and I will burn it...

like they burned the world"

###########################################

Thanks for reading me so far. If you want to see more of my work you can follow me on DeviantArt.

https://www.deviantart.com/laneakea/gallery/84309077/cli-fi

[theferricfox]

Athena, my sweet darling love;

I sit here by this little fire tonight and, as usual, my thoughts are on you.

I dream of a time when I would have been able to show you how to light and maintain a good fire. I would have taught you how some of the best tinder and kindling can be found right on the ground; you just have to know where and how to look. I would have shown you how to add your kindling so as not to smother the fire, and I would have told you that tending to a fire is like caring for a child; it requires close care once it springs to life and a little less as it grows, needing gentle coaxing as it expands and develops.

And I would have told you how, when cooking over a fire, it's not the flame that matters, but the embers, for these are a foundation, hot and steady, upon which to prepare a meal. So although the flames are mesmerizing and enchanting, they are also unruly and unreliable; so hold on to the strength of embers to nourish you.

As I sit by this small fire, made not to cook but to unwind after a long day, I watch a small robin pick insects out of the grass. In truth, we watch each other, perhaps enjoying each other’s company somewhat as the sun settles beyond the horizon.

I watch as ash grows onto the charcoal like moss, and it reminds me that moss and lichen are called 'pioneer plants,' often the first plants to grow in rocky regions, breaking down stone to eventually create soil after many millions of generations. I think about what you might have pioneered in your own life. I wonder what rocks in society you might have stuck yourself onto to break down. What might you have done to make the world more fertile for you?

As ash lifts into the air to settle on my clothes and my hair, I think of you, no more now than a few grams of ashes, sitting in my bedroom. Like the ashes that float into the sky, carried away on the wind, you are distant, but still close enough to soak into my hair and my skin, like the smoke that I'll smell like until I shower.

And I think about how ash is, in its own way, a vehicle of fertility. Upon the ashes of a forest fire, new trees grow and so, too, I shall sow new seeds. And like those I planted into the garden today, I hope those seeds will erupt from the earth, reaching ever higher towards the sun.