#but I was also limited in what I could do

[5sospenguinqueen]

Please, Please, Please | Max Verstappen x Singer! Reader

Summary:  What do you do when your ex-girlfriend moves on with another guy? Become needy and pathetic. But, when the guy brings you to tears, Max knows it's his time to save you from further heartbreak.

Warnings: barry keogan (i couldn't find any other men with her that worked), swearing, toxic relationships, pathetic max 

Requested: yes by many of you on the previous part 

Faceclaim: Sabrina Carpenter (she was used on the last one and yes, she's used a lot but I stole her song and her job so I'm also stealing her face)

F1 Masterlist

prev. || next.

part 4 will be the last part so it may seem a bit rushed but i didn’t plan anything else. sorry! these just seem to be getting worse as well, so i’m also sorry about that 

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maxverstappen1 just posted

liked by danielricciardo, liamlawson30 and others

maxverstappen1 a good effort from the team to start on the front row tomorrow 💪 let’s keep pushing tomorrow 🇺🇸

6,633 comments 

user1 twitter is claiming that max and kelly broke up

user2 okay but i actually can’t function until i know if max is free from kelly once more

user3 max please tell us if you and kelly have broken up

user4 i need max and kelly to be done forever this time 

user5 is it true that you broke up with kelly?

→ maxverstappen1 yes. now can we focus on the race

→ user6 @/yn_ln this means you can give him another chance 

→ user7 why would she want to after he ran back to kelly

(comments have been limited) 

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yn_ln just posted

liked by mclaren, actorbf and others

yn_ln surprise! if you have any questions, you can refer to my new single please, please, please 💋

13,850 comments 

user8 the two of them are so cute 

jennaortega i’ll give you all the kisses 

→ user9 i wouldn’t. not with all the men she goes through

→ oscarpiastri whoa now, there’s no need for that 

user10 don’t get me wrong. i’m loving all the new music. but my heart can’t handle all the new layers to this drama 

landonorris okay, little miss hollywood. that music video just proved you’d never do well in a film 

→ yn_ln oi, i act better than you do, mr hilton 

→ hilton we’d be happy to have you both

user11 ew, so she went from a hot motorsport driver to a subpar actor?

user12 wait, what? this wasn’t supposed to happen. she’s gone off script. max is single now, they were meant to be getting back together 

→ user13 she’s not his back-up plan. plus she’s way out of his league 

user14 don’t you think you might be putting strain on her new relationship? i doubt her new guy likes to see everyone preferring the old guy 

→ user15 hopefully that means he’ll leave and we can get her and max back

user16 has anyone checked on max?

(comments have been turned off)

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yn_ln just posted

liked by charles_leclerc, verstappencom and others

yn_ln how to lose a cake in 10 minutes 

16,334 comments 

alexandrasaintmleux the most beautiful birthday girl 

→ francisca.cgomes this dress is going to live rent free in my head 

→ yn_ln thank you for letting me show you both twenty different dresses

→ alexandrasaintmleux just wish you were taller so we could steal some of them 

→ yn_ln can’t believe you’d do this to me on the day of my birth 

→ oscarpiastri technically your birthday is tomorrow. this was just your birthday party

→ yn_ln thin fucking ice, piastri

user1 guys guys guys. verstappencom liked this. i repeat verstappencom liked this

→ user2 okay but that’s not max

→ user1 but it’s an advocate for max so 

landonorris dicaprio wouldn’t want you anyway. you’re too short

→ yn_ln i’ll make my boyfriend fight you 

→ landonorris i’m not scared of your polly pocket boyfriend

→ mclaren you can’t say stuff like this publicly, lan

→ user3 i swear none of them actually like her boyfriend 

→ user4 showing their support for max. he’s the only person who matches her beauty 

user5 no but the hand in the dress is somehow cute and hot 

→ user6 not with that guy. it should be max 

redbullracing happy birthday to our favourite popstar

replies

user7 what do you mean she had to pay for her own birthday meal on her birthday because her boyfriend wouldn’t

→ user8 not even wouldn’t but flat out refused 

→ user9 streets are saying it’s because he’s broke. not exactly like he’s raking in the job offers 

user10 so this man is lucky enough to get a chance with THE y/n l/n, then he refuses to pay for her dinner, and then he yells at her?? all on her birthday???

→ user11 he’s punching above his weight and clearly that angers him

→ user12 especially with the way she looked in that yellow sparkly dress today 

user13 someone clearly isn’t very smart. she writes a song for him - the first one she’s written recently that isn’t about max - and he does exactly what the song asks him not to do 

→ user14 how dare he try to embarrass our queen by yelling at her in front of so many people

→ user15 i’m starting to question if our girl does have good judgement. how could two men do this to her? 

→ user16 definitely doesn’t have good taste

user17 the audacity to yell at her in a restaurant of people, and then continue to do so after you were asked to leave because you were yelling at her

user18 and if i said i saw max verstappen pass them in the street, stop and turn, and start defending her, then what?

→ user18 he was literally yelling at this man whilst holding a crying y/n behind him, and rubbing her arm soothingly 

→ user19 we’d say you’re full of shit and have no tangible proof 

→ user20 this could be true because he was hanging out with charles and some of the drivers. and i just know alex sm got on the phone to her boyf and begged him to send the love of y/n’s life to save her

→ user19 pics or it didn’t happen

maxverstappen1 posted a new story yn_ln posted a new story

landonorris replied to maxverstappen1 i recognise the birthday girl's dress

landonorris replied to yn_ln who’s the 3rd person 👀 → wait why wasn’t I invited

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requests open

tag list

@omgsuperstarg @seonghwaexile @evie-119 @alejandrablacklupin @nina-or-anna-or-nora @shelbyteller @raynetargaryan2 @astroniii @raizelchrysanderoctavius @azuramicah @seasonswinter @chaoswithus @casey1-2007 @chemiru @strengthandstay @ivanag1rl@anayaverse @formulaal @ellelabelle @yara011 @callsignwidow @freyathehuntress @floweringlee @isagrace22 @sunny44 @lottalove4evelyn @danielshoe @paucubarsisimp @monacosprince @stereading @hoeforsirius @anilovessadbooks @armystay89 @cassofheartsss

sorry if i missed anyone. it wouldn't let me tag some of y'all

[welldrawnfish]

WELLDRAWNFISH'S Commissions open!

Howdy folks! Normally I dont do commissions, I get burnt out on styles very easily and it becomes a chore to draw the same style over and over. But! Ol' Goldies PC is dying here, the motherboard is down to her last 2 usb ports that work and my 1080 dont seem to be cutting the mustard anymore. So for a limited time, until I get bored of this clean art style, I am opening commissions. I have priced a new computer out and should run me about 1500 usd. Commissions are 70 usd a pop! Meaning I am 20 commissions away from being able to get a pc that has a working audio port! Maybe even wifi if im feelin fancy.

A simple single character pose, full body (i might crop it for composition on the final piece but you will always get a full body pose)no bg or very simple bg. You can be specific about your pose or let me draw it based on the vibe your character gives me! What you get! 1. A 4k hand drawn illustration at 350 dpi 2. The .PSD file with all layers intact (except for the end adjustments which is a trade secret!)

3. A Full speedpaint of the process! This is prove that it was done without the assistance of ai! But you also get to see how I draw!

4. A Coupon for 10% off your next commission!

5. All exploration sketches that I made exploring your character and figuring out your commission!

6. A lil personalized thank you letter!

--

Heres a few examples!

Here are some 100% REAL REVIEWS! "I'm not terminally ill, but in the event I ever am I'm first going to try curing myself with Goldie's art. I'm pretty sure it's not going to work, but if there's any artist that could cure me, there's a pretty decent chance it's her." “This commission cured my acne, watered my crops, and brought sunlight back to a moonless sky.”

"ADDITIONAL REVIEW HERE!"

I hope your interested! Get them now while my hyperfocus lasts!

[dreamin4smth]

My favorite dynamic between Sonic and Tails is that Sonic is very much protective of him and would be overly upset if he thinks Tails might have been hurt, HOWEVER, I dont think Sonic would ever “bench“ Tails or like, try to prevent him from getting into dangerous situations.

Sonic’s whole shtick is that he is all about freedom, and even when he’s being overprotective big brother mode I just cant see him scolding Tails for getting hurt even IF its to keep the fox safe. He’d be worried up until he’s sure Tails is alright, but he wouldnt be angry AT Tails or try to limit his freedom afterwards. No matter how much he’d might want to, I just think it would go against alot of his morals and ideals about everyone having the freedom of choice. Its Tails choice to go into battle and Sonic respects that.

My favorite cup of unbreakable bond is when theyre equals despite their age difference and levels of responsability for each other. Sonic can be a guardian/parent/older brother all day, but despite that, I just love it when he still treats Tails as his own individual that isnt inherently tied to being his little brother. The big brother part is just a nice bonus and a necessasity concidering Tails age.

This headcanon could also create a few flaws in their relationship where Sonic’s wish to give Tails complete freedom does backfire a few times when, what Tails would have actually needed in the moment, was guidence and/or scolding. If you want to concider Tails lack of self-preservation, it could also lead to the fox being more willing to sacrifice himself and not getting the correct reprimends for it, which in turn wouldnt stop that behaviour no matter how bad it is. Still though, I just love when unbreakable bond has a clear respect for each other and where theyre on clear equal grounds. Neither has more authority than the other, its just a big pot of concern and the need to protect each other. In their own ways of course.

(my opinion do differs a bit depending on what age Tails would be. But this little paragraph mostly has canonical 8-year old Tails and older in mind.)

The panels that started this thought process^

(notice the tone shift in Sonic the moment he learns Tails alright. He immeadietly switches to praising Tails instead. 🦊 🦔)

[undead-moth]

I'm an English Composition teacher at a university, and I completely prohibit the use of generative AI/LLMs in my class. I'm adamantly opposed to their use, so don't get me wrong when I say that this study is bunk science and should not be taken seriously.

Methodology

The study relies on self-reporting. All of their data is based on surveys done by participants, who were asked to record when they perceived themselves to be critically thinking. Even setting aside that any of the participants could have lied, how objectively can they assess themselves? Worse yet, what does their perception prove? It's not only unreliable, it also doesn't prove anything.

2. Meaningless units of measurement

"Critical thinking" is not, and can't be, a factually defined concept. Whether or not someone is critically thinking, or capable of critically thinking, is essentially a matter of generally agreed-upon opinion.

As you can see here, they are still using the word "perceived" because there is no other option. It is impossible to quantify someone's critical thinking.

Quality is also a matter of perception.

They even admit in their limitations section that this caused problems while surveying participants and may have contaminated their data. Some of their participants didn't understand that just because they were able to do something easily, or quickly, does not mean they were able to do so because they were critically thinking with ease, which goes back to my first point. I doubt this is the only example of participant misunderstandings. This is, frankly, beyond a limitation. Even if everything else about this study was airtight, this would make their results meaningless anyway. If your participants have a different understanding of what critical thinking is, or what it means to critically think than you do, and they are providing your data, you can't meaningfully conclude anything from the data.

3. Recruitment

The way they selected participants was by recruiting people who regularly use generative AI/LLMs. Not only does this mean that there's no control, but we also don't know anything else about these participants that may be affecting their preexisting critical thinking skills. This contributes to there being no legitimate way of speculating if generative AI/LLMs is influencing how much or how little they're using critical thinking when they use generative AI/LLMs and when they're not.

4. This study proves nothing, but more importantly, this study wasn't even on what they are claiming it was on.

The highlighted portion here is quoted by the 404 Media article above, and it is taken out of context. In the introduction, they explain that an "overreliance" on any form of automation has historically been theorized to have the potential to lead to "atrophy."

First of all, even if this is true, this study didn't follow these participants over time, nor were they required to use generative AI/LLMs exclusively for every daily situation that might require critical thinking, which would be the only way to ensure "overreliance" and the only way to determine if "overreliance" led to "atrophy."

They are hypothesizing that using generative AI/LLMs could potentially "atrophy" critical thinking skills in the event someone "overrelies" on it.

They even compare "overreliance" on generative AI/LLMs to writing, printing, calculators, and the internet - none of which have been proven to "atrophy" critical thinking skills and given that the alternative to generative AI/LLMs is literally writing, which they implicitly argue doesn't atrophy critical thinking skills, I think it's fair to say their hypothesizing here isn't objective.

Plus:

"Overreliance" has the same issue "critical thinking" has. It's a matter of generally agreed-upon opinion. How do you measure overreliance? What constitutes overreliance? Based on the definition above, isn't it possible for people to accept incorrect recommendations or make errors of commission while not "overrelying"? If so - and it is so - how can you ever know if "overreliance" is truly at fault, or even at play?

This also doesn't account for the fact that many other daily situations require critical thinking skills, and many other daily situations don't require critical thinking skills. Even if someone became "overreliant" on generative AI/LLMs, that would not mean they aren't critically thinking regularly in other daily situations, including daily situations that require the exact same critical thinking skills generative AI/LLMs are hypothetically enabling people not to use. If someone uses generative AI/LLMs regularly, does that stop them from reading in their free time? No, obviously not. So...couldn't that mean that even if someone "overrelied" on generative AI/LLMs, that they could still prevent "atrophy" elsewhere in their life? There's also the issue that even if generative AI/LLMs enables users not to critically think, that really doesn't in any way prove that will lead to "atrophy." I would argue that folding laundry doesn't require critical thought, and most people fold laundry regularly - yet it has never led to "atrophy." Doing something that doesn't require critical thinking regularly doesn't by default lead to an inability to critically think, especially if someone is critically thinking in other areas of life - which, most people, whether it seems like it or not, are, and every day.

And this is important to stress entirely because they are arguing that only by becoming "overreliant" on generative AI/LLMs could critical thinking skills "atrophy." They are not, even hypothetically, arguing that just using generative AI/LLMs itself "atrophies" critical thinking skills, which makes Emanuel Maiberg's (author of this 404 Media article) choice in title outright negligent misinformation.

There is no current evidence that using generative AI/LLMs "atrophies" critical thinking. There is some - unprovable - evidence - based on self-reported surveys - that generative AI/LLMs might - because confounding variables are not accounted for - enable someone to do work that typically requires critical thinking without having to critically think - no different than a calculator.

I am not even remotely of the opinion that generative AI/LLM use is comparable to the calculator, but that does not change the fact that all this study proved is that generative AI/LLMs might not, in all instances, require users to critically think, and that does not prove anything.

Here they pretty much admit that it is entirely hypothetical that using generative AI/LLMs could lead to "atrophy." They argue that anyone who doesn't exercise their critical thinking skills regularly can lose them. (This, by the way, we already knew.) They reason that it's possible someone who "overrelies" on using generative AI/LLMs might not be exercising their critical thinking skills regularly, and therefore it could enable the "atrophying" of their critical thinking skills.

This reasoning relies on ignoring confounding variables, which makes it unsound.

Additionally, even if what they are hypothesizing could possibly happen, it would not mean there is anything innately about generative AI/LLMs that causes critical thinking "atrophy." It would only mean that someone who never exercises their critical thinking skills loses them, which we already knew, and was true long before generative AI/LLMs could arguably help enable - not cause - enable people to lose critical thinking skills.

I'll end this firstly by saying that those of us, myself included, who have an ethical objection, and a practical objection to generative AI/LLMs, (I personally still believe that generative AI/LLMs make it so that someone who hasn't yet developed certain critical thinking skills can avoid ever having to develop them, which is I suppose arguably an adjacent line of thinking to this study) firstly need to keep an eye out for their own confirmation bias - I know how tantalizing the title of that 404 Media article is. I know when we see a title like that, we feel very vindicated in our stance - but we have to be vigilant. We have rational and justified objections to generative AI/LLMs that I believe will in time be scientifically and/or factually reported - but this study isn't one, and many won't be. We can't fall prey to misinformation or anti-scientific thought just because it says what we want to hear.

Secondly, I would encourage everyone whose first thought when they read that title was vindication to consider that the people who conducted this study, consciously or unconsciously, may have an ulterior motive for arguing that generative AI/LLMs cause critical thinking "atrophy." Science is never conducted, nor accepted, in a social vacuum, and I would honestly bet that virtually all studies aiming to prove, or worse, claiming to prove - as this one does - that critical thinking "atrophy" exists, are trying to create a scientifically-supported case for "degeneracy," meant to justify eugenics. This is also something we need to be vigilant about.

One of the common mistakes I see for people relying on "AI" (LLMs and image generators) is that they think the AI they're interacting with is capable of thought and reason. It's not. This is why using AI to write essays or answer questions is a really bad idea because it's not doing so in any meaningful or thoughtful way. All it's doing is producing the statistically most likely expected output to the input.

This is why you can ask ChatGPT "is mayonnaise a palindrome?" and it will respond "No it's not." but then you ask "Are you sure? I think it is" and it will respond "Actually it is! Mayonnaise is spelled the same backward as it is forward"

All it's doing is trying to sound like it's providing a correct answer. It doesn't actually know what a palindrome is even if it has a function capable of checking for palindromes (it doesn't). It's not "Artificial Intelligence" by any meaning of the term, it's just called AI because that's a discipline of programming. It doesn't inherently mean it has intelligence.

So if you use an AI and expect it to make something that's been made with careful thought or consideration, you're gonna get fucked over. It's not even a quality issue. It just can't consistently produce things of value because there's no understanding there. It doesn't "know" because it can't "know".

[azurem]

What is your thoughts on a headcanon that Ink’s extremely deep blush is brown? Whilst i am at it, what would Nightmare think upon seeing it? 👀

(because that is the colour you commonly get from mixing the colour of the rainbow that is his usual blush.)

It's a nice headcanon! Though I'm half sure it'd be against canon (au where everything's the same but ink blushes brown if super flustered??) since Ink's super deep blush instead implies his rainbow freckles appearing!! Silly thing i love him. Brown blush would look very cute on him though, he'd look so monochrome/aff

— also I believe Ink's rainbow theme is very. Prism based, from what I've seen? A ray of white light passing through a prism disperses into 7 rays of color and all that. If the experiment is done in like, the. Inverse? Way? The rainbow turns into white. So in theory I believe it'd make more sense if Ink's super blush was white instead. Though I assume Ink's magic doesn't overlap, there's a reason why his tongue and blush is sectioned. Maybe different creators' emotions cannot be mixed??? Evil stuff—

Nightmare would like it way too much I think; both because Ink just never gets flustered enough to really see him that affected (he really likes to see proof that his efforts are doing something) and because he'd feel smug at the knowledge that he finally has the upper hand for once. This being said, the first time he' see it he'd probably tease Ink about it so much Ink just gets away from him by AU jumping because they'd get salty. A proper response, of course (he needs to learn limits!)

Second time is better. But his smile is still very much smug so Ink still gets salty. By the third time Ink would stop running away and let his destiny finally happen (unskippable romance scene)

Tbh I just think Ink is very skittish once he gets embarrassed enough, specially since shame isn't a very common thing for him to feel. He'd have no resistance to the emotion at all, so he'd be so obviously embarrassed you couldn't miss it. I imagine you could force embarrassment from him by having him drink too much from the purple (my hc color for his fear/shame) but it'd be just so mixed with fear it wouldn't be enjoyable for anyone involved ngl.

I also imagine Ink with like, a light level of embarrassment? Would play along if they're making fun of him. He fakes getting more embarrassed if they're poking fun at him, but he gets more snappy if he actually does (if he has available red, of course)

Anyways. I think the first time™ went kinda like this?? Maybe??? I can't get Ink's voice right but assume it's the purple talking

"...Oh? I've never seen this color here before."

"Well— Well! Maybe you missed it? Don't be silly. You— stop laughing! Why are you laughing?"

"It's cute."

"You're so— Get back in character already! C'mon, we were just— that's it! I'm going to... to. To—"

"Is it a whine I'm hearing?"

"It's not! No!"

"Is it not? I'm sure I couldn't have mistaken such a charming sound."

"Kay! Kay. So this is how it is! You think this whole thing is funny! That's what it is!"

"Oh, no. Though I won't say I'm not enjoying myself."

"...! ...!!!!!!! ...!!!!!!!"

"Ah. It's darker now."

(Ink proceeds to go fetch Broomie while Nightmare follows him closely like a hyena following sick prey No I don't have More comparisons)

"...And what are you doing now?— oh."

[odileeclipse]

Hello!! Could you do a shadow milk cookie x reader except one sided with smc liking reader and reader is smart but just nonchalant about everything and can see through Shadow milk cookie but doesn’t say anything about it since reader doesn’t really care about him. Reader also can manipulate other people really well but except reader just uses it when it is absolutely necessary and not just for fun

you could say it’s like manipulator x manipulator type of relationship 😭🙏🏻🙏🏻

so whenever smc tries to manipulate reader, they just look at him with no interest whatsoever and then after, reader just brushes him off lmao

A Scholar's Indifference

A/N I took the liberty to make them a scholar because they're intelligent so what better way to show it than be a scholar.

The Grand Archives were quiet, save for the faint scratching of quill against parchment. The scent of aged paper and candle wax lingered in the air, untouched by the passage of time. It was a sanctuary of knowledge, a place where scholars sought wisdom, where history was preserved and studied. And where, unfortunately, Shadow Milk Cookie had made himself a nuisance. “I can offer you more than dusty old tomes, you know.” His voice coiled through the air like a whispered spell, smooth and deliberate, laced with that ever-present undertone of mischief. He lounged atop your desk as if he belonged there, one leg lazily crossed over the other, his fingers absentmindedly toying with the edge of an open book.

You didn’t look up. “That’s nice.” Shadow Milk Cookie narrowed his eyes slightly. A non-response. Not rejection, not curiosity just sheer, effortless apathy. How irritating. “You wound me, dear scholar,” he sighed, dramatic as always, his free hand pressing against his chest. “Is it truly so awful to imagine a world beyond these walls? A world where you are not simply a collector of knowledge, but a wielder of it?” You dipped your quill into the ink, barely acknowledging him. “Knowledge doesn’t need to be wielded. It simply is.”

“Drowning yourself in scrolls again, dear scholar?”

Shadow Milk Cookie’s voice curled around you like wisps of ink in water, smooth and dark, filled with a performer's flourish. He emerged from between the bookshelves, mismatched eyes gleaming with playful intent. You didn’t bother to look up. “Drowning implies struggle,” you replied smoothly, scratching your quill against the parchment. “I find knowledge rather easy to breathe in.” He laughed, slow and rich. “Oh, how clever. But tell me, what will all this knowledge do for you, hm? You sit here, day after day, collecting truths like dust on old tomes. And yet, do you ever stop to wonder how small this kingdom makes you?” You turned a page. “Enlighten me.” Shadow Milk Cookie leaned against the desk beside you, propping his chin on his palm as he watched you work. “You are brilliant,” he mused, “yet your talents are wasted here, confined to these halls, buried beneath limitations.” He waved a hand, gesturing vaguely at the bookshelves around you. “The Vanilla Kingdom tells you what you can and cannot study. They sift through history, preserving only what benefits them. But me? Oh, starlight, I hold the knowledge they do not want you to find.”

At this, you finally lifted your gaze, eyes laced with the same disinterest you always regarded him with. “Let me guess, if I simply cast aside my oaths and follow you, you’ll show me the hidden truths of the world?” Shadow Milk Cookie smirked. “You say it so mockingly, and yet, I can see the hunger in you.” You let out a soft hum, studying him. “Tell me, Shadow Milk Cookie. If knowledge was truly your grand gift to me, why present it with such flair? Truth does not need theatrics. it stands on its own.” He faltered, just for a fraction of a second, but you caught it. You always did. You leaned back in your chair, folding your hands neatly. “You see, I know the difference between a charlatan and a scholar. Charlatans weave grand words, dress their lies in gold, make impossible promises to those desperate enough to believe them.” Your gaze sharpened. “And you? You are nothing more than a talented illusionist. A puppet master in a carnival of shadows.”

Shadow Milk Cookie chuckled, though his grin was slightly tighter than before. “And yet, you keep listening.” You smirked. “Because you are a wonderful study in deception. I find you fascinating, in the same way one might study the tactics of a conman.” His eyes flickered, momentarily losing their playful gleam. “You wound me.” “No,” you said, tilting your head. “I intrigue you.” Silence stretched between you. For the first time, you had taken the stage. And Shadow Milk Cookie who had spent centuries puppeteering the minds of others found himself being played. The realization must have struck him as well, because after a moment, his lips curled into something more genuine than his usual theatrics a slow, appreciative grin. “Well, well,” he murmured, voice lower, smoother. “Perhaps I miscalculated. You’re not just another mind to mold, are you?” You lifted your quill, twirling it between your fingers. “Of course not. And that’s where you made your first mistake.” Shadow Milk Cookie laughed, a real laugh this time deep and delighted, his eyes gleaming not with victory, but with something far more dangerous. Interest. “You are wasted in this kingdom,” he purred, standing to his full height. “One day, you will see that. And when that day comes…” He let his words trail off, a silent promise woven between them. You merely returned to your parchment. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

He grinned, sharp and intrigued. “Spoken like a prisoner who doesn’t realize they’re in a cage.” You finally, finally lifted your gaze, leveling him with a stare so perfectly blank, so wholly unimpressed, that for a moment, he felt the slightest twinge of irritation. And then you smiled small, knowing, and just a little bit cruel. “If this is a cage,” you said, tilting your head, “why do you keep coming back?” Shadow Milk Cookie hesitated. Just for a second. Then, his grin widened. “Ah, but you mistake my presence for captivity, starlight. I am merely… entertained.” “Mm.” You turned back to your work, brushing away a stray ink blot. “So am I.” The amusement in his expression flickered, just for an instant, before he laughed. Genuinely. “You are playing with me.” It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation. You didn’t bother to confirm or deny it. Because you were. And he knew it. Shadow Milk Cookie had spent lifetimes weaving illusions, twisting perception, ensnaring minds in silken lies spun with the utmost precision. And yet, you? You saw through him. Not because you were searching for the truth. Not because you wished to challenge him. But because you simply did not care. And that was infuriating. “Oh, you are delightful,” he purred, resting his chin in his palm as he watched you work. “Truly, I cannot decide if I admire or despise you.”

“I don’t think about you enough to make that decision,” you replied idly. That one almost made him scowl. Almost. He hummed, watching as you dipped your quill back into the ink, utterly unbothered by his presence. “You’re wasted in this kingdom, you know,” he said, shifting tactics. His voice softened, dipping into something lower, something enticing. “They will never recognize your full potential here. But I will.” You let out a quiet hum, seemingly entertained by his attempt. “Is that what you tell everyone you want to recruit?” “Oh no, no, no,” he chuckled. “This is different.” He leaned closer, voice lowering to a whisper. “I see you, dear scholar. You and I? We are the same.” That made you pause. Just for a breath. Then, slowly, you turned to face him again. Your expression didn’t change. Your voice didn’t waver. But your words? Your words shattered him. “You mistake recognition for importance.” Silence. For the first time, Shadow Milk Cookie did not have a response. You let the moment stretch, tilting your head slightly. “I am no more like you than a scholar is like their book. You, Shadow Milk Cookie, are a performer.” You rested your chin against your hand, mirroring his own smug posture. “And I? I am simply watching the show.” His fingers twitched against the desk. It was annoying. It was intoxicating. It was exhilarating. “You are fascinating,” he murmured, his usual teasing lilt replaced with something real. Something dangerous. You shrugged. “I know.” And just like that, you turned away again, utterly, completely unbothered. Shadow Milk Cookie stared at you for a long moment. Then, he laughed. A breathy, delighted sound, as if he had stumbled upon the greatest puzzle he had ever encountered. “Oh, you are going to be my favorite,” he whispered, grinning to himself. You didn’t respond. Because as far as you were concerned, the conversation was already over.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Saw a post not too long ago (don’t even remember what it was about lol) and everyone in the comments was in agreement on how TWST should have an Emperor’s New Groove event with a Yzma twisted character that would be so fun and somebody should be turned into a llama.

…

…

…

I think Vil would make a great llama.

…

but really who out of our cast do you think would suit an ENG event and who do you think would be the best llama? 🤔

When I think of The Emperor’s New Groove, the four characters that come to my mind are Kuzco (ie “The Llama”), Pacha, Yzma, and Kronk. That’s perfect for the usual limited SSR, 2 SRs, and R introduced for new story events. Each of them could wear an outfit inspired by their Disney film counterpart. There could also potentially be a new twisted character introduced, but this only occurs for “hometown” (ie visiting other countries) events and Halloween events sooo 😅

For our Kuzco stand-in… Well, someone from a rich and influential background + has a ton of arrogance makes sense, right? So my immediate thought was Malleus or Leona, the royals. Idia or Riddle could also work, but they’re not quite as dickish. Of those, I think Leona works the best since he’s the most overtly asshole-y of the bunch and also it would be a little funny for the beastman to actually become a fluffy animal/j. Plus, he comes from the Sunset Savanna, which could be made into a reference about how Yzma’s original plan was to “snuff out the light” of the sun.

Something I’d really like to see is Kalim dressed as our Kuzco. He’s not a traditional asshole, but I think he could stand to learn a lot from being made more aware of how the less fortunate (like Pacha’s family) live. This might be valuable in connecting Kalim with the plight of the common folk, as well as get him to realize how some of the things he says/does are unintentionally very callous. The “snuff out the light” of the the sun metaphor also works for Kalim since he is usually so sunny + depicted as the sun, which contrasts with the moon (ie Jamil). The moon is also mentioned in the song lyrics, seeking revenge, reclaiming “[my] right”, and a world of darkness.

Pacha is very fatherly and kind, so I immediately thought Trey would fit in the best out of all of the “parental” students. (The others seem way too sarcastic or snide in underhanded ways.) Plus, that green poncho Pacha wears would look nice on Trey :>

Yzma has many potential candidates! I think Vil actually fits in a lot better as Yzma than as Kuzco, especially granted her obsession with maintaining her looks (very Vilcore) + penchant for potions (his best subject). You could also consider Azul, as he wants to maintain a certain public image and also seems to be good with brewing potions. On the more treacherous side, we could look at Jade (who shares the same best subject as Vil) and Jamil. There’s literally lines like “I’ve really stopped at nothing/Murder, treachery, and lying”. Jamil works super well especially if Kalim is our Kuzco for that moon and sun dynamic.

Himbo Kronk also needs a himbo to match! A physically strong yet well-meaning boy with a heart of good but not a lot of brains… It makes me think of Deuce or Silver. Jack and Sebek could also work here, but both of those guys are pretty (book) smart. Doesn’t have to be an exact match for Kronk though. I could easily see a situation where Sebek’s brazenness or Jack’s bluntness results in something stupid happening.

[tigerpearlsworld]

Pick a card

How do you think your person feels vs how they actually feel about you?

Before you choose a pile, take a moment to breathe deeply and connect with your intuition. This is a general pick-a-card reading, where the universe's infinite energies align with your path to bring you the guidance you need. Know that you can only choose one pile. The message you receive is not just for you to resonate with, but for you to realize in time as the truth unfolds in your journey. To truly receive your message, you must follow your heart’s instinct, not your expectations. Look beyond the surface and see what your soul is trying to reveal to you.

May you receive what you're meant to know.

( Choose the pile: )

The reading starts. . .

Pile 1:

How You Think They Feel:

I'm seeing you believing this person is feeling a strong, soulmate-like connection with you. You also see them as someone who wants to communicate openly and honestly to you and even perhaps... confess deep truths to you. The word destiny keeps repeating in my head so you may feel or sense that destiny or fate is at play here... yk. You also might imagine them constantly thinking about you, almost obsessed. Yet, there’s a feeling of something being taken or elusive, as if they are trying to keep their true feelings hidden or playing hard to get. Like the truth is present but not fully revealed. You perceive them as someone deeply emotional, introspective, and spiritually connected to you and again this idea of fated connection seems on play here. Like it's meant to be.

How They Actually Feel:

Tbh in reality, this person ...they see you as someone worth exploring but from a distance....*yikes* like are they curious about you? Sure...but they are also cautious, and definitely take things slow, almost hesitant...*hesitation is coming strongly from their side* i see this person is someone who just wants peace currently. They avoid conflict, they don’t want drama and like I see them not wanting to get dragged on something they don't feel ready for yet which could mean they are not ready for intense emotional involvement. I'm also getting them being overwhelmed and anxious and not being clear and wanting clarity within themselves as things are just not adding up in their life rn. Yep. I'm hearing this word "imprisoned" so maybe this person feels trapped by their own limitations or circumstances maybe it could be a mental barriers, past experiences, or even practical constraints from their side...I also feel they are though observing you from a distance, analysing the situation but will they make a move? Um.... likely not. At times they may appear detached or calculated to you but it's their way of protecting themselves emotionally.

You story:

The perception is of a grand this relationship definitely feels like a destined connection-one where the other person is just waiting to express their love and sweep you off your feet. But in reality, this person is more reserved, introspective, and cautious. They are intrigued by you? Yes but are holding themselves back due to fears, insecurities, or a need for self-growth. They admire your strength and maturity but don’t feel ready to match your emotional depth. What I see for this connection is that one side is ready to merge and connect, while the other is guarded and not ready to connect. I also feel this chaser runner dynamic coming...for when one person is ready the other is not. There is also this feeling burned due to maybe the status of one person or the idk but one person here runs away because of feeling burned by the other person wile the other person constantly chases. Also idk if you know this or not but it's just how strongly fated this feels but also filled with longing and hurdles it's just ...I deeply feel for this connection that even if you try to leave and even if they don't come to terms with their emotions ....there is just this lingering sense of ache and longing...like even if you go and be in another relationship or they go and be in another relationship with someone else both of you will just try to find eachother in that other person making both of you even more lonely in a way. I feel this person won't be satisfied in any relationship unless its with you...its just how amazing you guys are together but I definitely feel before they could come to you they maybe in a relationship before they realize what they want and that' it's you and then I see them chasing ....and I feel it's gonna take time. This connection between you two is definitely karmic ....no doubt but it’s a journey of patience and understanding. If you choose to wait they might come out of their shell-but only once they’ve made peace with their inner world.*so yea*

In the end you balance each other...there is this theme of light and dark...and without one the other feels empty. There is tragicness about this connection and its fate I'm ngl but there is also the feeling of chasing the other person not wanting to give up.

A song which was coming for you screaming in my head:

Pile 2:

How You Think They Feel:

You perceive this person as having romantic feelings for you and wanting to connect deeply with you possibly even seeing you as a soulmate. But you also sense they are not being fully honest... either with you or themselves. You may feel at times they are holding back or hiding their emotions, possibly out of fear or past wounds....and you may also believe they are afraid of vulnerability. I also see you feeling that this relationship is a journey something that is slowly unfolding and evolving over time. You likely think they are gradually realizing your value and that their feelings are growing, even if they haven't openly expressed them yet. I'm also sensing something unexpected will happen... there is an element of surprise or a pleasantness, unexpected turn of events may happen soon ;)

How They Actually Feel:

For you group no 2 your person they see you as a source of hope and inspiration....you represent something they admire and aspire to, possibly viewing you as someone out of reach. I'm definitely sensing they are curious about you, possibly watching you from afar (social media, asking mutual friends, etc.) gathering information but not making direct moves yet. I see them contemplating patiently not ready to act impulsively but also not entirely disengaged. I also feel they feel lucky to have to know you and may feel like it's fate which brought you to them...but I'm also sensing insecurities as they are well aware of your value and what you bring to the table, so I feel they may feel undeserving or unsure about how to handle such a profound connection feeling unworthy.

Your story:

You perceive them as romantic yet secretive, drawn to you but playing a game of push and pull. You think they are slowly realizing their feelings but the truth is they are in AWE of you!!!!perhaps even intimidated by the emotional depth they feel. They are observing, reflecting, and taking their time, unsure of how to proceed but deeply invested in the potential of this relationship. It's random message but be careful I'm feeling even if you may not be in a relationship but there is definitely this message coming of misunderstanding and miscommunication...i see rumours spreading in bad name about you...and then I see people trying to protect them from you and even manipulating in thinking you don't feel for them and that you're cheating which is weirdly specific but it's the message .... this feeling is coming of where they have this love for you which is genuine but there is this social pressure they are getting which is kinda of influencing them...in way....the social group is being a hurdle. *It's a random message* I'm just this person is too pure and just ig....I feel they may see as someone who will not accept them..I also feel even if you come to be in relationship with this person other person may try to steal you away or try to ruin your relationship with them. I'm feeling in this connection the words which comes to me is self-restraint and sacrifice. This relationship is of healing. I feel this person they are drawn to your nurturing energy but are cautious, almost afraid of losing themselves in the depths of what they feel for you. They definitely see you as a beacon of hope but are taking a methodical careful approach...waiting for the right moment to reveal their truth.

The song which came for you:

Pile 3:

How You Think They Feel:

You believe this person sees you as their ideal partner.. a perfect match.you think they view you as their equal.. someone who matches their energy, charisma, and fire. *It's random but I suddenly remember that song "is somebody gonna match my freak...is somebody gonna match my nasty" lol random* You likely feel that they see you as someone they can build a future with. You also think they feel a sense of loss or longing for you, almost as if they believe you were taken away from them or are just out of reach. Im also seeing for you viewing yourself as the “Main Female” in their life... the center of their thoughts and desires. There’s an aura of romantic idealization from your side where you may feel that like they see you as the one who got away or the one they can't quite have.

How They Actually Feel:

In reality I think your person is very introspective..hm..and emotionally cautious than you think. Like do they have feelings? Yea sure...they have deep feelings but they are also reserved...and I also sense they may hesitate to express their emotions openly. I also see them emerging from a period of emotional detachment or contemplation now realizing the emotional opportunity before them. I see them slowly becoming more open to this connection but still guarded. I also see they are willing to put in the effort but are doing so methodically. So this person does have romantic feeling connection and attraction towards you but they are also burdened by emotional pain or past wounds. The person might see this connection as something powerful yet overwhelming making them feel vulnerable and exposed. I see them feeling torn between their desire for you and their fear of getting hurt or losing control. they maybe struggling with emotional or mental blockage which maybe preventing them from fully embracing this connection. There is definitely baggage from their side and heavy ones.

The story:

You see them as passionately in love viewing you as their perfect match and ideal partner. You believe they are captivated by your charm and see a future of abundance and happiness with you. However in reality they are conflicted and cautious...i see they may feel a deep emotional pull but are wrestling with inner demons, fears, or past experiences that hold them back. *Mental trauma and past is also being highlighted for some I'm also seeing the person could have been sexually assaulted or abused in the past or during childhood it's random but it's how it's showing...for some I'm also feeling the person way of looking at the opposite gender could also get broken due to it...also hearing there is also some gender fluidness* I see they admire you and are slowly coming to terms with their feelings but are struggling to find the courage to act on them. There is beauty and melancholy in this connection—a longing that is palpable yet restrained. This connection is deeply karmic, urging the person to confront their fears and you to exercise patience and understanding. *Also getting some addiction vibe the person could be using addiction to escape pain?* They need time to heal and grow before they can fully engage.

This came it may help...the person is really broke it's just what I'm feeling anyway this song came

Pile 4:

How You Think They Feel:

Okay....group number 4 for you I see that you may believe they have deep emotional feelings and that they are in love or are developing strong romantic emotions for you. You may also see them as someone who is emotionally mature but guarded and holding back their emotions while feeling intensely. You also perceive them mature then you maybe in age/appearance or the way they present....you also think their logical and rational, someone who is thinking carefully about how to approach you and communicate their feelings. You might also think they are in control of their emotions and trying to make a move towards you soon. You may also believe they are making a serious decision about you, perhaps deciding to take things to the next level or make a commitment. You might feel they dance around circling at the top of love and you're anticipating... almost like waiting for them to reveal their true intentions.

How They Actually Feel:

In reality they are more balanced and relaxed than you think like...I see they feel a sense of harmony and peace when they think of you, but they are in no rush. They are taking their time to process their feelings, letting things flow naturally without rushing. I also see like they do have romantic feelings but they are in the early stages of those feelings. They feel playful, curious and just exploring their emotions without taking things too seriously yk. I also see they may see you more as a friend like they may see you as someone fun someone they enjoy spending time with, but they might not yet see this as a full-blown romantic relationship. They are taking a light-hearted approach with you and just enjoying the present moment without overthinking the future. There is yes a strong spiritual connection but....BUT! it’s wrapped in a sense of playfulness and ease for them. They are not approaching this with the seriousness you perceive or crave but that doesn’t mean they don’t care...it just means they simply want to enjoy the moment and let things unfold naturally.

Your story:

I see you perceiving them as deeply in love but guarded...yk. I also see you strategizing their every move almost like you are waiting for them to confess their feelings. You see them as calculating but romantic....carefully controlling their emotions. In contrast and reality though they feel a joyful, light-hearted connection with you.They see you as a friend, a companion, and someone who brings emotional fulfillment and happiness. They are curious about where this could go but are not planning or strategizing as much as you think Or overthink. Lol. I feel that you feel haunted by the possibilities, analyzing every move and every word. But they are dancing in the moment, carefree enjoying the lightness of the connection without being burdened by the past or the future. It’s like you’re watching a dream while they are simply enjoying the dance. This connection is about learning to balance intensity with playfulness depth with lightness.

No song came for you

[dailylooneys]

Happy 90th B-B-Birthday, Porky Pig!

Yeap! Happy 90th Birthday to Warner Bros. first ever true cartoon star and the oldest continuing character in the Looney Tunes character.

After many (somewhat) failed attempts at creating a starring character for the very young Termite Terrace, many of them being Mickey Mouse-equse characters, such as Bosko, Foxy (most infamously and obviously) and Buddy....

.....there came a point in the mid-30s' where the directors, particularly Friz Freleng and Tex Avery, wanted to try and do something different, and that was to create a character who had a unique voice and embodied the soon-to-become irreverent style of humor of the WB cartoons.

First appeared in 1935's I Haven't Got a Hat, directed by Friz Freleng, part of the color one-shot series of Merrie Melodies shorts, was an attempt for Termite Terrace to see which character who appeared in the short could be there next star. Porky appeared in a somewhat supporting role in the film, voiced by Joe Dougherty, who had an actual stutter. The character's iconic stutter was inspired by a real-life pig guttering noise, according to Mel Blanc.

Well, I had trouble with, Porky, because he stuttered, and a lot of people said, "you can't do that". That's why I did it, because everybody was using falsetto voices, everything sounded the same. And I said, what can I do to make this character different? So I called up Warners' casting and said, do you got anybody who stutters? And they had this [Joe] Dougherty guy, who stuttered, and the guy could not just get through a line. And we were doing all of our sound on film then, there wasn’t any tape. If Jack Warner knew how much film I was using, I was through with animation. So I had to get somebody to mimic, and that was Mel. And of course, Mel can do anything. - Friz Freleng (”Friz on Film” documentary)

According to animation historian Jerry Beck, there was some thought that Beans would be the studio's next big cartoon star, as he would appear in a handful of shorts in the black-and-white Looney Tunes, while Ham and Ex were the only other characters of I Haven't Got a Hat to also make one more appearance, starring alongside Beans in The Fire Alarm (1936).

Goes without saying, nobody found Beans or Ham and Ex at all interesting, leading to Porky overshadowing them, and the rest is history.

From then on, Porky became the star of the Looney Tunes series, which were still in black-and-white up until '43. Like many classic cartoons character from the Golden Age of Animation, Porky's role varied from kid to adult character, to dealing with many everyday mundane things or having a specific position, including, but not limited to, farmer, hunter, waiter and zoologist, usually accompanied with other characters such as Porky's dad, Daffy Duck, Gabby Goat, or other one-offs.

The director who perhaps was responsible for giving Porky an even more distinguishing personality and design that we associated with today is Bob Clampett, as he was relegated to directing the main Looney Tune shorts up until the early '40s, which was possibly when Porky shorts were at their best.

(an image of the now-famous "blooper" (Breakdown of 1939) of Porky swearing, directed by Clampett, was made as part of a compilation of bloopers from live-action films, was screened during WB Christmas party reels, but was never released to theaters. This was made a year earlier before Gone with the Wind gained controversy for the use of the word "damn", as swearing was beyond prohibited in films up until the 1960s, when the Hays Code was starting die out.)

However, with the introduction of other, more colorful and quirky, mischievous characters such as Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, the directors would have admitted to having gradually grown tired of Porky as a character, even as early as 1939, he would play a very minimal role in much of the shorts, such as Porky's Hotel, Porky's Poor Fish, Meet Joe Dougherty and The Chewin' Bruin to name a few. Frank Tashlin infamously stated that he straight up hated Porky, referring to him as "a terrible character", due to the fact that a majority of the shorts he directed always starred Porky, finding him to be very inflexible, compared to his favorite character, Daffy. As a result of Porky's lack of popularity with the directors, Porky would end up becoming more of a side character, often alongside Daffy, Sylvester, Charlie Dog and so on, worked to Porky's benefit as not only did he continue to have sustained popularity with movie theater audiences, but the humor often derived from Porky being the most fairly grounded character being caught in the center of the character's wacky, off-the-wall personalities, or that when he's pushed to his limits, Porky will too snap!

"Nobody liked to work with Porky, because he was too square of a character." - Friz Freleng

Thankfully, this resulted in Porky never losing his popularity as he continues to be as world-famous and recognizable as Bugs, Daffy, Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, ect. After over 30 years, Porky would make his last appearance in the original theatrical series' in 1965's Corn on the Cop starring Porky and Daffy as Keystone Kops-looking cops trying to capture a crook whose dressed as Granny.

This cartoon has many significance: it being the only latter-day WB short he ever appeared in. The only Porky short directed by Irv Spector. And the only time Porky appeared alongside Granny, having almost the longest-lasting appearance of any of the characters in the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, defeating only by Daffy Duck, who's last original appearance was in 1968 (31 years), near the ending of the original theatrical cartoon series and the closure of Warner Bros. animation department.

After the end of his movie career, Porky would continue to appear in many other Looney Tunes-related material, one of them being The Porky Pig Show (1964 - 1967) which is a compilation of various of the original shorts, an appearance on Tiny Toon Adventures as Hampton J. Pig's idol and mentor, and many more, especially more recently, one of the main stars of The Day The Earth Blew Up (2025) where we see him in his original Bob Clampett design.

So, despite not being considered the immediate favorite of either the creators (both the original and new) and/or casual viewers', we should not forget the importance of Porky Pig and the impact he left on the original Looney Tunes, and the franchise as a whole. I mean, we got a whole DVD set entirely dedicated to the pig himself:

[tricksh0t]

★ goody two-shoes

☾ gregory house x cop male reader

𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘩0𝘵 ⛥ just a quick thirst, don't start freaking out, also sorry if he turns out ooc cuz i've literally only watched tiktok clips from the show

𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 ⛥ 1.26k words

cw: suggestive thirst, but no nsfw, trying to corrupt a cop

You've seen everything in your time as a traffic officer. Specifically everything about traffic, of course.

Men, that could possibly be great-grandparents, taking a little too long to move after the red light while driving the family hatchback, doing their grandkids a favor by driving his great-grandkids home.

Old men speeding because their reflexes are just not the same or they can't tell how fast they're going or their vision fails them and they read the speed limit sign wrong.

Men in their mid-life crisis driving the restored version of the old car they yearned to have in their childhood, speeding because they want to feel that rush thet felt lacking in their life.

Younger men speeding in their beatdown cars because they slept in one day and ended up being late for work, fearful of a paycut.

Young men speeding in their flashy sports cars because they're rich and apathetic, because they think the world revolves around their money.

You thought, however, that this shift would be boring. Hoped for it, even. It was a late night. You were just looking to kick your feet up on the dashboard, park under a shadow and fuck around on your phone.

You were wrong, though. Of course you were.

You've seen a lot of things, but not this. A graying man speeding late at night like he has somewhere to be that isn't home. No, no, who are you to judge?

...is that a cane on the side of his bike?

House sighs as sirens follow him. He should've known that dark shadow was a perfect spot for a cop.

He pulls over, like the good citizen he is. He gets off his bike, like the good citizen he is.

"Officer." He greets cordially, placing his helmet on his bike with a sigh. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

You raise a brow. You can already tell this old man is going to have an attitude. "This will take as long as it needs."

The man has the audacity to roll his eyes and cross his arms. "Look, I've got a busy night ahead."

"Tell me about it." He opens his mouth, but you stop him. There's some satisfaction in making him look like a gaping fish. "While you look for your license and registration and proof of insurance."

He gives you more attitude when he looks to the sky as if muttering a quick prayer before digging into his decidedly tight pants and fishing his license out of his wallet.

You inspect it, but he stays still as you do so. "Look for your papers, sir."

Not expired, good...address isn't too far from here to justify speeding...he certainly looks like his picture. His name is Gregory House.

"I don't have them."

"You don't have them?" You narrow your eyes at him, crossing your arms. "You–"

"This jacket is small enough as it is, and before you ask, it is stylish and protective. Scraped skin is more painful than it is harmful." He locks eyes with you. A man several years your senior, staring you down to try to make you back down. With what, attitude?

Luckily, you have the better hand. You're taller, you're bigger–no, nevermind all that, you're a cop. "You–"

"Exactly why did you pull me over again?" House tilts his head.

"Speeding." You say between gritted teeth. "Twenty over the speed limit."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He says, kicking off his bike to stand upright. He shuffles closer with an awkward gait, yes, that was a cane on his bike. "It's late at night. Age gets to you, you know, officer. I couldn't see very well."

"That's what the lights on your bike are for." You say, shoving your hands into your pockets and breathing deeply. You can't let him get on your nerves. "And you're driving a motorcycle, sir, I think you can't play the age card."

"You don't get to decide that." Despite his bad leg, he stands up tall, challenging you. You see eye to eye, and you notice he's not exactly handsome...but there sure is tension, there.

"Really?" You huff out a laugh. All thoughts about keeping your calm are gone after that.

House smiles. "Really."

"Well, I do get to decide that you are going to sleep in cold jail cell tonight."

His smile disappears, replaced with a frown. "Come on, officer. You're seriously not going to detain me over not having my papers, are you? That's absurd. And it's petty, too. Even you cant deny that."

"That's funny," You scoff, "I'm thinking the same about you."

Out of all things, House looks offended at that. "Fine, fine you know, I can understand that, really, officer. I deserve it. I'm an asshole, I know, but you like it, don't you? You can't help but find my words charming."

You breathe out a huff, something between laughter and disbelief. "Now that is something I've never heard before."

"Something you've never heard before?" He seems to be in disbelief too, "I'm sure you've heard it from some young lady, maybe even another man. You mean you've never heard it from an old man, don't you?"

He takes your silence as a yes. "You know, there's always a time for firsts."

"You're really not as charming as you think you are." You approach. He walks backwards in return, but you follow, up until the back of his foot hits his tire.

"I'm a doctor." House begins desperately. "I'm expected at the hospital tomorrow for an early morning shift. You're not going to stop me from saving lives are you?"

For a moment, you let him think he's got you. You let the words sit in, like you're really thinking, like you're sympathizing with him. "Are you resisting arrest, sir?"

"What? No–"

You take his arm and spin him around, keeping his forearm pinned against his back.

"Hey!"

You use that forearm to press him against the back of his own back and pin him down further. When the first cuff wraps around his wrist, he begins to protest.

He doesn't even say "we can talk about this". He just starts talking. "Oh real funny, yeah. Pin down the helpless old cripple."

Then the other cuff wraps around his other wrist. "I bet this is one of your fantasies. Pinning down an old man and using him as you please. I'm too weak for you, I'll admit that. So why don't you just push me against the hood of your work car and do as you like?"

Staring down at the way his leather jacket and loose shirt ride up, you're certainly tempted. His tight pants do nothing for the imagination, especially with how close you are. You're pressed against him, really.

If he were a woman, with his short jacket and his belted pants, you might've even seen the peek of a thong from this angle...but he's not a woman. Yet, undeniably, the curve of his ass still entices you. His attitude would certainly be fun to quiet.

...but you're a cop.

The handcuffs click as they're pushed as tight as they can be.

"You want to have a fun time?" You ask, forcing him to stand back up with a grip on the cuffs. "Jail's fun. You can imagine the cold as the climate of a skeeing mountain."

As you drag him off towards your car, he digs his feet into the ground. "Wait, my bike!"

"You know the rules. It'll be towed." You continue dragging him.

House sighs. "Fuckin' goody two-shoes cops."

[yandere-daydreams]

Do you have any tips for being like, less straight to point when writing? I feel whenever I write I’m being super descriptive and taking my time talking about stuff and then I read it back ands it like

“The sky was a cool blue. I like when the sky is blue”

Like I was reading one of your fics and thought “damn, this bitch like the Tolkien of yandere fanfiction, writing the most beautifully paragraphs known to mankind for gojo”

You won’t gotta tell me I know that you do commissions and stuff so that’s like, your income lmao

wait this is actually something i think about on the reg,,, you really have to come at with the assumption that, if you're writing in first or third person limited, your readers will know to assume that whatever's being said is automatically from your pov character's perspective and therefore aligns with their mentality. that frees you up to get really creative with adjectives and physical descriptions that inform the audience about the character's feelings (i.e. "the sky was a cheerful and idyllic blue" for a character who lies sunny days or "the sky was an agitating and eye-bleeding blue" for a character who doesn't). alternatively, you could also link new stimulus to the physical reaction it causes in the character, for example "the sky was blue. i found myself smiling absentmindedly as i went about my day." the latter is pretty easy to overuse, but also leaves a stronger impression with readers.

it's also very important to be very, very mindful with how you're pacing the distribution of information, too. i personally try to limit myself to one new piece of information per paragraph, just to give my readers time to adjust to a character's eyes being blue before letting them know that his mom is also super dead, but in general, just don't feel the need to get all of your exposition off your chest as soon as it's brought up. intrigue is hot, and the deliberate with-holding of clarification makes it hotter. plus, if it can't be shown by the events of the story and doesn't come up in a character's natural monologue/dialogue, there's a good chance it wasn't that important to begin with. there's no need to talk about how dead a character's mom is at all if he's going to her funeral, like, three pages later.

tldr; use more adjectives and don't tell your readers shit. they'll figure it out on their own if they know what's good for them.

[nerdishpursuits]

Haven't ranted in a while ... sorry about the typos and apologies to anyone actually reading this and falling asleep.

Don Augustin: time for the holy inquisition

Marta: we’re out in the open … do you mean outquisition?

Don Augustin: let’s talk about the flowers and the bees

Marta: it’s winter (and the only bee in sight is my practical, little engine-that-could, beetle)

Don Augustin: sex is solely for procreation and, also, are you pregnant

Marta: I’m PRO creating anything (with Fina and only Fina - in fact, we love pollinating the flowers every chance we get)

Don Augustin: trafficking in bad-faith since 1958

M(harta): put the pedal to the meddle

On to The Ladies of Angst: the Fellowship of the Gays.

The enteral conflict between heart and reason. Reason tells Marta and Fina this is a way of securing a future together and safeguarding their love. The heart, however, is desperately clamoring for the opposite, even if it’s dangerous and would leave them exposed. What will it be?

The more the wedding approaches? The more devastating it becomes. Even for safety purposes and convenience only? It still means Fina has to helplessly watch the love of her life marrying someone else. It still means Marta has to wear shackles once more. What is the right decision anyway? It’s all so confusing, conflicting and heartbreaking and they’re doing a great job emphasizing it. This is a problem-solution that leaves no one unscathed.

After all, to have touched heaven only to be cast out, because the cruelty of people knows no bounds? Excruciating. Now that the snowball has turned into an avalanche, Fina and Marta need to trust each other above all else if they’re to survive it. Of course doubt abounds. Of course they’re torn, scared and confused. But their trust and communication has never wavered and it won’t do so now. In fact, they need to be more united than ever. It’s the only way to move forward and secure a future together. They’ll find a way, they always do. They are each other’s person, each other’s one and only. And they’ll face everything head on in order to be together. When it comes to each other, there is no going back.

Interrupting briefly so that someone (and by someone I mean Marta) can give Fina a hug. She desperately needs one.

I will say. I have my doubts when it comes to Fina trusting Digna with anything. The reason? They’ve not addressed the fact that she used information about Marta and Fina to manipulate Tasio. So, to me, it feels rather odd having Fina share anything with Digna at the moment (it's not clear to me what Fina knows about that entire fiasco). At this point in the story though? I suppose Fina's pain is growing too fierce and unmanageable and she needs an outlet. Needs to purge herself of some of it. That being said, their scene was lovely. Fina really needed to vent and was in dire need of both good advice and a motherly hug. Therefore, points to Digna for lending her support, understanding and wisdom, as contrary as she may be. She rose to the occasion and was there for Fina and Marta in a time of need.

However, who Fina really needs to vent with? Marta. Even if she feels Marta’s load might be getting too heavy. If anyone can grasp how she’s truly feeling, shares her fears and pain? That’s Marta herself. And she’d more than understand Fina's fears of inadequacy, of feeling overwhelmed and unsettled, insignificant even. This despair is a shared one and pretending it isn't? It's undoing them from the inside out.

Now that the wedding day is fast approaching, the consequences of this marriage are truly starting to sink in. Their time together will be limited, Marta will have to divide herself between her business commitments and, sadly, Pelayo's social and political engagements. And where does that leave Fina? Alas, as she fears, confined to the shadows, alone, waiting to be seen, endlessly waiting for her turn. Given the road ahead mostly signals conflict and heartbreak? It's paramount they communicate without holding anything back. This particular hurdle can only be overcome if they hold each other as tight as possible. Which means they need to have one of their serious heart to heart conversations, one where no avenue is left unexplored, no rock unturned.

And it’s not only Fina who desperately needs to unburden herself with Marta. Marta herself would greatly benefit from baring her soul to the woman she loves. She has, for the most part, managed the art of approaching her impending nuptials like the business deal it is: a cold and detached transaction with many strings attached. She even manages to look at Pelayo and see a friend, of whom she has precious few. However, Fina cannot and won't be able to tackle it all the same way. Fina's not been raised to wear an iron mask, like Marta has. She wears her heart on her sleeve and her sensitive nature is crumbling under the weight of it all.

Besides, Marta needs to let Fina be more involved with the wedding plans, if possible. Sure, she wants to spare her the pain of it all, but it achieves the opposite because Fina feels abandoned and left out, aimless and forgotten. Not to mention this entire thing is playing right into Fina's insecurities. That ever-increasing perception of being small and inadequate, of falling short in every way? Even if it's the furthest from Marta's intentions, it's constantly being reinforced. Fina doesn't belong to the same social class as Marta, doesn't have the same education, doesn't have a business acumen and her only remaining family is Marta herself, whom she can never claim as her wife. Everywhere Fina turns these days? The discrepancies between her world and Marta's have never been as bleak, the contrast never as stark. It’s debilitating and Marta needs to pick up on the distress signals Fina is sending, before it all reaches a crescendo.

And to rub salt in the wound? Leave it to Gema to exult Pelayo's virtues, bask in the class difference between the two families and Fina, then gloat about Isidro having driven both her and Marta to their respective weddings back in the day. Fina's pain while listening to all of that? Unbearable. It felt like watching the light being drained from her. Like @midniteowlet mentioned during one of our talks about the show, Fina is the kind of person who needs to feel involved, needs to feel like she's a part of something. To have her looking so dejected and despondent, then blaming herself for not being stronger? Holding herself accountable for not giving more when all she ever does is give? Getting knifed probably hurt less.

Not to mention she'll feel so alone and out of place at that wedding, on the outside looking in, surrounded by upper-class snobs, witnessing the love of her life marrying someone else. I suppose she can lean on Digna and Carmen, but this paints an excruciating tableaux.

Fina's light is gradually going out and it's distressing to witness. I suppose it's only a matter of time now before both Marta and Fina fall apart, one way or another. More so, they need to fall apart together so they can help each other back up, so they can heal each other from this wound. No one else should be a part of this process but the two of them. They think they are protecting each other by not giving voice to their fears. Nonetheless, it only serves to twist the knife further. Moreover, they know the moment they show weakness, they will come crashing down: all it takes is one word either of them may utter. They're so desperate to be strong for each other they forget their strength always comes from being vulnerable with one another. The dread and stress they are currently under is overwhelming. Way to drive it home with these angst-filled scenes.

I will say? With the exception of Pelayo being gay himself and his social status? There are a lot of parallels being drawn between the Jaime era and this one. Personally I do not think the writer's intention is to revisit old scenarios but to showcase character growth. Marta and Fina have learned from their situation with Jaime and won't fall prey to old patterns. Most likely, they will come together to plan, reassure and comfort. The current, angst-filled scenario is a tool to generate tension and suspense, to keep viewers guessing, wondering and pondering. Marta & Fina have been through a lot together and, as a consequence, they have grown both as individuals and as a couple. Therefore, I do not think there's any intention of recycling old story-lines, but to mark the difference between then and now. There's a before and there is, and will be, an after. They both know who they are and what they want. Any obstacles along the way, including miscommunications or latent fears? It's fuel for angst and character growth and the show has proven time and again how well it handles it when it comes to Mafin.

Special mention to Marta's frailty in confessing Sometimes I go to sleep dreaming that I wake up the next day in a world where no one cares that there are two people like us. It is exhausting to live in fear. Gut punch, writers, gut-punch. Kudos.

Oh well, I'm sure the show won't get as dark as we always think it will.

Ultimately, it never does.

Other thoughts, in no particular order:

After the marriage, Pelayo will go live with Marta at the de la Reina house? How they’ll manage anything with everyone underfoot? No idea. Given the kind of money these families have, this is rather mind boggling. But hey, the more, the scarier. The budget must be really tight. Nothing like living under the same roof as Jesús and Maria while trying to lead a double life. Marta, Fina and Pelayo need a house of their own. Anything else is pure folly. Marta needs to be in Toledo with Fina and close to the company, so it makes sense they would not change location. However, the de la Reina house shouldn’t be an option. The Mafinca is the solution, even if it means Marta & Fina's space won't truly be their own any longer. At least they’d have some modicum of privacy there. Anything but the casa grande.

Carmen not calling Tasio out on his bs and shady maneuvering? Disappointing. Maybe that this will come full circle later on? Or, novelita style, it won’t happen at all. It would be surprising if they let it slide entirely, because Tasio’s betrayal was no small thing. In fact, it upended the very way the business works and has thrown it all into disarray. And if Carmen keeps silent on this? It will be a hard pill to swallow and very unlike the Carmen we once knew. “Once” being the operative word. Her “what have they done to you now”? I cringed, not going to lie. I miss early-days Carmen. Her continued passiveness when it comes to anything Tasio? A let down. She thinks he's qualified for his current position, sans de facto qualifications, that he ought to know his new family's MO, which he doesn't and worst of all, that he should make good with Don Pedro to consolidate his position. It's not only disappointing but getting tiresome. It's as if Carmen's brain cells cease to function when Tasio is around and it's sad to see. Are we supposed to believe no one told her how Tasio got promoted to this current position, that she’s so utterly clueless? And add in the fact he still gave her shit for wanting to get her driver's license? If he sinks any lower he'll be wearing his shoes for a hat. And she’s not far behind. I mean, they have their moments but goodness ... cuesta arriba.

Be still my heart: the Merino bros defending Marta in front of Jesús? Have they had a shot of wisdom? Has hell frozen over? Will wonders never cease? It won’t last, of course. But hey. De las migajas, que el festín nos queda grande. And look at Don Pedro wanting to remove Joaquin from the directorship already, saying he's making a mess of things. How the turns are tabling.

Fina and Claudia’s friendship? I want more of it. Same for Claudia and Tita Manuela: they're so sweet. To be honest, I’m at the point I don’t miss Carmen at all. Not really. Let’s see where this all goes, shall we?

Damián and Pelayo's snippet from the preview? At this stage in the game? I don't think Damian would do anything to jeopardize his relationship with Marta. And that means he needs to look out for Fina as well, because she is Marta's world. Previews, as we all know, are purposefully misleading. I don't think this one is going to be the exception.

[allthingsfangirl101]

Rooster's Twin Sister – Jake Seresin

Rooster's POV

The entire time I've been in the Top Gun program, no one has found out about my twin sister, Y/N. We both ended up going into the Navy. I became a pilot but Y/N became a mechanic—a damn good one, too.

A few years ago, Y/N, Maverick, and I were at lunch one day when Maverick and I found out more about Y/N's job. She was working at a garage in town and one of the guys wouldn't leave her alone. Most of the guys made jokes, accidentally brushed her when they walked by. All in all, they made her extremely uncomfortable.

After pushing her to tell us everything that was going on, Maverick convinced her to become a mechanic for the Navy. With her experience, her degree, and Maverick's recommendation, it would be easy for her to get in.

It took a lot more convincing, planning, and badgering before Y/N finally agreed to let Maverick send in her resume. Three days later, she had a job on a Navy base. She quickly became the top mechanic. She's not assigned to just one base. She moves around. She basically goes anywhere she's needed.

I walked into my and Y/N's shared apartment to see her keys already hanging up by the door.

"Y/N?"

"In the kitchen," she called back. I hung my keys next to hers and walked into the kitchen. When I got to the kitchen, I looked around to see her making her favorite pasta dish.

"What are we celebrating?" I asked as I immediately stepped in and started to help.

"Maverick called me today," she mumbled.

"He invite you to dinner Sunday?"

"Well, yeah," she chuckled. Her smile dropped. "He also told me about that Petty Officer that sabotaged your planes."

"Oh yeah," I scoffed. "Guy tried to. . . Wait, why was he telling you about that?"

"He talked me through what the Petty Officer did," she explained. "He asked if it was easy to reverse."

"Is it?"

"Very," she smiled again. "I told him it would only take an hour to reverse it."

"One hour to reverse it on all of our planes?"

"Well, an hour per plane," she smirked. "But I could easily get it done in a day or two. It was a small issue. Honestly, I could've done worse in high school."

"Did you explain to Maverick how to reverse it?" I chuckled.

"I didn't have to," she said, suddenly avoiding my eyes. "He asked me to come in next week and look at your planes and reverse the sabotage."

"That's awesome," I started to say, but she cut me off.

"He also wants me to see if I can tweak the computers so they can fight against anyone else who tries to sabotage or hack the planes."

"I didn't know you could do stuff with computers," I said, realizing just how long it's been since I had a real talk with my twin sister.

"I got a minor in cyber security, Bradley," she sighed.

"Did Maverick know?" I asked.

"I helped him put a few extra layers of security on the airplane hangar he keeps his plane in before he started training you guys. Now, Maverick wants me to spiff up the security on all your planes."

"How long would that take?"

"I said maybe two weeks," I shrugged. "Nothing more. But Maverick didn't put in for a limited transfer."

"What did he put in for?" I asked. I studied her and instantly knew what he put in for. I smiled as I answered my own question, "He got you permanently transferred to our base."

"Are you. . . Are you okay with that?"

"Of course," I laughed as I turned and stirred the sauce. Y/N grabbed my arm and pulled me back so I was facing her again.

"Are you really?" She double-checked. "I don't want to come to your base and. . . I know that you don't like me following you around. . . I mean, we're each our own person. And. . . Well, does your team even know about me?"

"They don't," I sighed. I hated that the look in her eyes slightly dropped. "The only reason I didn't tell them about you was to protect you. As soon as they find out I have a twin sister, I know several of them will look you up on the Navy website."

"And they'll think I'm disgusting?" She fake laughed.

"No," I said firmly. "They'll think you're amazing and bother me until I bring you around."

"And you don't want to bring me around because. . ."

"I don't want to bring you around them because I don't want them tripping over themselves to get to you."

"Like they would do that," she scoffed under her breath and walked back to the stove. I sighed before setting the table.

I hated it when she did this. Y/N's always struggled with her confidence. Part of it has to do with her being a mechanic. The other part was typical teenage girl stuff.

I thought that she'd grown past that.

As we ate, I got an idea. "What if I took you to my favorite Navy bar on the beach and we can celebrate you coming to base?"

"Your favorite Navy. . . Won't your friends be there?"

"I hope they are," I smiled at her.

"You want. . . You want me to meet your friends?"

"I do, Y/N."

* * * * *

Reader's POV

I subconsciously straightened out my uniform that I rarely wore. Bradley looked over my shoulder and laughed.

"What?" I scoffed. "I'm usually in my mechanic jumpsuit."

"You look good," he chuckled as he opened the bar door. As soon as we were surrounded by other Navy guys, my heart jumped into my throat. With my nerves and anxiety all over the place, I grabbed my twin brother's hand.

"It's okay," he said under his breath. "If the guys look at you wrong, just let me know. I'll kick their ass."

I rolled my eyes as he kissed my cheek.

"Bradshaw. As I live and breathe."

I looked away from my brother to see a guy smirking at me. His eyes fell on me and his smirk changed.

"And who is this, Bradshaw?" The guy asked.

"This is Y/N," he introduced me. "Y/N, this is my team. Phoenix, Bob, Payback, Fanboy, Omaha, Coyote, and Hangman."

"It's nice to put faces to the names on the sides of planes," I chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Coyote challenged.

"Easy, Lieutenant," I chuckled. "I'm a Navy mechanic."

"She's the best mechanic the Navy has ever seen," Bradley bragged about me as he threw his arm around my shoulders. "And she's joining our unit."

"You're the mechanic Maverick called after someone hacked our planes," Phoenix said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He seemed to believe that you could reverse it."

"She already did," Bradley smirked. "She went in today and reversed it on my plane. She even added like 7 layers of security."

"I only added one," I scoffed, pushing his arm off me. "And spiffed up the original security and added my own code to strengthen it."

"Do Navy Mechanics have callsigns?" Bob asked, making me smile.

"Sort of," I shrugged.

"Sort of?" Fanboy asked.

"Callsigns are only meant for pilots," I said like it should've been obvious. "Don't all pilots know that?"

"We do," Fanboy said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, mechanics aren't pilots. But we do have nicknames for each other," I clarified.

"What's yours?" Phoenix asked, glancing at the other guys with a smirk on her face.

"Tinkerbell."

"Tinkerbell?" They all repeated.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Mechanics 'tinker' with things and I'm a girl. Tinkerbell."

I sent Bradley a smirk, making the two of us laugh. I looked over to see Hangman studying us.

"So, Bradshaw," he finally spoke up, "how do you know the Navy's Best Mechanic?"

I glanced at him, not sure if he was going to tell his flight crew the truth.

"Y/N is my twin sister."

"You're what?!" His team gasped in sync.

"Do you guys always talk in sync?" I asked, making Bradley laugh. "You've done it twice now."

"You have a twin sister, Bradshaw?" Hangman laughed. "You are his twin sister? That's not possible."

"Why not?" I challenged.

"Well, he's eck and you're hmm."

I turned to my brother and said, "I don't know whether to be flattered or offended."

"Offended," Bradley answered instantly. He turned toward Hangman, his Protective Brother Glare on his face, and added, "With Hangman, the default should always be offended."

* * * * *

When we got home later that night, Bradley talked to me for over an hour. For some reason, he made it his life mission that I know everything about his team. Especially Hangman.

Bradley spent most of the time warning me about the kind of guy Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin truly was. He wanted to make sure I knew what kind of game he played and how he treated/talked about women.

I'd be lying if I didn't get the "womanizer" vibe from him. All night it felt like he was studying me. He'd say things that were clearly meant to be brags. After he said them, he'd look at me like he was waiting for me to be impressed.

I've been here a little under a week now and Hangman has fulfilled every warning my brother gave me. He was busy on the flight simulator while I was working on his plane. When I get working, I tend to tune everything around me out. So much so, I didn't hear someone walk in.

"Gotta say," someone said as they walked in. "Seeing another body in my cockpit doesn't sit well with me."

"Aww," I fake-cooed. "Is Mr. Hangman feeling a bit self-conscious about his cockpit?"

I smirked and the look in his eyes slightly darkened. I laughed as I went back to tweaking the security.

"Can you at least tell me what you're doing to my plane?"

"Your baby is perfectly safe with me, Hangman," I said. "I've almost broken down the previous hack. Once I get it off, I can put in my own code of security."

"You write code?" He challenged.

"I'm not just a mechanic," I sighed. "I got my degree in cyber security. A part of that is understanding code. Once you understand it, it's easy to write."

Hangman kept asking me random questions as I worked on his plane. Most of the questions were about Bradley and my childhood. I didn't give him full answers—just your basic half-assed ones —until he brought up the bar.

"You didn't seem impressed by me," he laughed off.

"Was I supposed to be?" I challenged. I glanced over my shoulder and smirked when I saw his jaw clenched.

"Well, yeah," he tried to shrug off. "My numbers and stats are. . ."

"Let me stop you right there," I cut him off and stopped what I was doing. "Something you should realize, Hangman, is the fact that I am constantly surrounded by insecure men who think they have to prove they're more masculine than me."

"More masculine than you?" He smirked.

"My brother wasn't exaggerating when he told you guys that I'm the best mechanic the Navy's got," I explained. "Men don't like women trampling their turf. They get defensive and angry and insecure."

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked, his usual bravado failing.

"Because I wanted you to know why I wasn't falling for your little tricks," I said, turning back and finishing what I was doing on his plane. "You do know that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, you catch more women with honesty than with lies."

I sent him a look before wrapping it up. The entire time I finished working, Hangman stayed where he was and watched me. I got hyper-focused on his plane and forgot he was there until I climbed down. My foot missed the third-to-last step. I would've fallen if Hangman wasn't there.

He caught my hips and we both went down. We landed with matching grunts.

"You okay?" He asked, his arms still wrapped around me. My brother's words of warning popped back into my mind.

"I'm good," I said, standing up and brushing myself off. I looked up, instantly coming face-to-face with Hangman. "Thank you."

"Of course," he said, instantly snapping back into his cocky demure.

I saw the clock on the wall and smirked. I crossed my arms over my chest and slightly shifted my weight.

"You might want to get out of here."

"And why's that?" He asked, copying my stance.

"My twin brother is on his way and if you're here when he gets here, he'll throw you off this ship."

"Your brother warned you about me?" He laughed, but there was a bit of concern hiding in his eyes.

"Oh yeah," I chuckled. "He warned me thoroughly about you."

"What if I told you I was actually a good guy?" He asked, his voice slightly dropping. "And that I only act this way because everyone expects me to?"

I scoffed as I started to walk away. "Y/N," he stuttered.

"Guys only say that because they're too embarrassed or insecure to man up," I cut him off. "They either act like dicks because they are playing a facade to cover up an insecurity. Or they act like dicks because they are dicks. So my question for you, Hangman, is which type are you?"

I couldn't help but smirk when I saw the look on his face before walking away.

[max1461]

Well this user has me blocked. I think the CCP's development strategy was pretty successful but I'm not sure why they had to ban bishie boys from tv. My concrete solution to improve the function of the party would be just don't worry about the bishie boys on tv, just let them be. It's ok, and even good, for there to be bishie boys on tv.

Also go back to power sharing and institute more checks and balances this time so that it's harder to dismantle. I know the ML line is that checks and balances are bullshit but they really do work; government is a coordination problem, no man governs alone, and if you set up the system so coordination around an autocrat is logistically and structurally difficult for the various politicians and career functionaries then guess what, you'll get fewer autocrats!

I'm not even asking for democracy here! Democracy is 90% fake anyway. I mean, yeah, I do think that 10% matters, but whatever.

I've got a few more. How about roll back the War on Terror rhetoric and racial profiling in Xinjiang? How about get rid of the re-education camps to which people can be sent against their will without trial? That's actually called a "prison", and I don't think War on Terror shit will be any more effective in Xinjiang than it was in Afghanistan, and also, yes, I do admit there's a moral component here—I think that racial profiling and imprisonment without trial are bad, in addition to not being necessary or particularly useful for, uh, development. Would you condone these things in the US? On the grounds of development?

Well, the US is capitalist. Unlike China, which—

Ok, so explain to me how all the SOEs and like, limitations on financial instruments and shit make racial profiling very useful for development? It's ok to do racial profiling and imprisonment without trial if you have enough SOEs. For development... it's just part of the development strategy.

The party could maybe do some wealth redistribution? Build stronger social safety nets? Xi claims welfare makes people lazy. I think he's wrong about this. I also think one of China's biggest economic issues is lack of domestic consumption which is going to hit especially hard if Cold War 2 keeps ramping up. You know what increases consumption? A little welfare, a little stimmie, a little free money from the government. I do also think that, morally, there is an obligation to give poor people free money. But you can set that aside I suppose.

Wait, why do we care about China's development anyway? Why do we want the CCP's development strategy to succeed? Is it because development in China has lifted 800 million people out of absolute poverty, and that is *gasp* morally good? And we, being moral, might want to see it continue? Or is it because of a bunch of Marxist word salad that shakes out to the same position in different words?

It's the latter, probably. Oh well.

[bean-market-art]

梅が香を...

This is my end of an art trade with @kalolasfantasyworld! Working on this was an absolute BLAST (as you can tell from the five page Google Doc of explanations for all the stuff I did not need to add lmao) and I had so much fun with it! Thank you for doing the art trade with me Lola :D 

Full explanation of history and themes below:

Historical Overview

The Edo period (1600-1867) is pretty prominent in modern culture, and is often romanticized as one of THE periods of Japanese cultural significance. Hinokuni (Land of the Sun) in Black Clover is based off of Edo-period Japan, or at least the late Muromachi pd.

You might know this as a time of samurai, ninja, etc. However, a fair amount of that is completely wrong. Edo period society was carefully structured to maintain peace. There was no war, and therefore virtually no work to be done for warriors – save a few rebellions, samurai were basically unemployed. However, since all of the power was in the hands of the military, they remained at the top of the rigid hierarchy established by the shogunate. This ended up putting the samurai in a strange situation: they grew more and more financially destitute, but still kept their high status as society slowly broke down over 200 years. 

In the mid 1700s, however, Japan was the most urbanized country in the world. Woodblock printing meant that media became available to everyone for a much lower cost than it would if everything was an individually commissioned drawing. “Modern” consumer pop culture arrived and evolved in Japan much earlier than other places, and part of pop culture was the ukiyo-e.

What is ukiyo-e? 

Have you ever wanted to see a hand drawn and carefully reproduced woodblock print of a woman having sex with an octopus? I imagine you don’t, but we’re on Tumblr, so. You can’t be sure. 

Anyway, If you know The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the glorious and quintessential piece of Japanese art, that was done by Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai, the mad lad, also printed women fucking octopodes. Both of these things are (according to the people of the time) a depiction of the “Floating World,” ukiyo. The Floating World refers to the beautiful, fleeting, and hedonistic red-light district of Edo (now Tokyo) which was literally a man-made sex and theatre island. Pictures of the Floating World are usually the traditional Japanese woodblock print, and can be anything from beautiful flowers to famous actors to scenic views to pictures of lovers, to… well, porn. A lot of porn.

However, this particular drawing is (thankfully) based off of Lovers Walking in the Snow (Crow and Heron), a wood-block print that dates to around 1770.

The long sleeves on the woman is one of the signs of the mid-Edo period, as those were in fashion at the time.

According to the Met, “Of all ukiyo-e prints of lovers, this one creates the most romantic and melancholic mood. Harunobu emphasizes the intimacy of two lovers strolling in the snow, even suggesting perhaps a michiyuki, a path to a love suicide.” The love suicide or double suicide was considered one of the most romantic things lovers could do at the time…. which… you know, that’s cool for them, but I wanted to thematically move away from that for this one, so I switched the crow to a crane 😭 This only partially solved the problem but I swear they’re not going to kill themselves guys I love Nozelena and there are other reasons I picked this print, please – 

Crow and Heron was created by Suzuki Harunobu, who invented the nishiki-e, or multicolored woodblock print. Prints prior to his innovation were limited to two or three colors, but Harunobu’s wealthy commissioners gave him enough money and time to carve up to twelve individual wood blocks to print many different colors onto one sheet of paper.

He is also famously known for fucking hating kabuki performers, so sorry, Harunobu, but I’m putting you in here with mentions of kabuki actors lmao. shoutout to Wikipedia for Harunobu facts please don’t kill me hbomberguy im just a little man with dreams 

Clothes 

I want to preface this by saying that these clothes are NOT COMPLETELY HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. With that being said, let’s get into the Themes :]  

Helena, our Crane, is wearing clothing that’s pretty similar to the woman in Crow and Heron, but she’s also wearing an auspicious red uchikake, or over-robe. Uchikake are only really used in wedding kimono in modern times, but they were frequently worn in everyday life by the wives of samurai-class nobles during the late Muromachi (1336-1573) and Edo periods. Consisting of a patterned silk robe left open over her white kimono with the fashionable long sleeves of the time, she’s hopefully a little more warm in the snow! 

Image courtesy of the Met. Uchikake depicting scenes from the Tale of Ise

Plum blossoms are the flower of the month for February, and make up at least ten entries in the Kokinshu, a famous seasonal poem anthology. These white blossoms are often elegantly 'confused' with snow on the branches of the plum trees, and are a sure sign of early spring.

Given that this drawing is being posted around the time that these poems were likely written back in the 900s, I thought it would be fitting to put Helena in plum blossoms. You can also see faded plum blossoms in two corners of the piece. Cranes (tsuru) are associated with the same bright red that Helena’s almost always drawn in. They signify long life, purity, good luck, and fidelity. Overall, cranes have the same general happy connotations that I think of whenever I think of Helena, and they have the same colors -- they're perfect for each other!

You can see a version of Helena’s outfit with the hood in the ukiyo-e below, also done by Harunobu. 

Nozel is styled as a daimyo or regional warlord of the time. I wanted initially to put him in a kataginu kamishimo, which you can see below, but the haori (jacket) and hakama (pants) that he’s wearing are also appropriate. 

Dressing him down and leaving his hair down saved me from having to draw his stupid braid hopefully gives the piece a more intimate feeling.

If Nozel was a daimyo of the time period, he’d only see Helena a few months out of the year. The Tokugawa shogunate used a system called sankin koutai, or alternate attendance, to prevent the regional warlords from rising up and trying to usurp their rule. This system meant that the wives and children of the daimyo were forced to live in the capitol, and the daimyo could come to Edo once or twice a year to see them. The shogun having everyone’s wife and kids readily accessible to him at all times was… a pretty effective deterrent from treason, so Nozelena wouldn’t get to see each other often. Any time they would spend together would be very precious, and I hope I've depicted that feeling. 

Nozel’s haori hakama is not very traditional (usually it would be black with gold thread for the kamon, or family crest stitched onto the shoulders of the haori. You’ll see that where there’s meant to be a family crest, I’ve put the Silva cross), but there’s a reason for that. The EEO store New Year had a Nozel in a haori hakama that’s pretty close to the colors of the aosagi, or grey heron, and that gave me an idea. 

Grey herons carry connotations with mystery and death, which fits well for a man who has a secret about death that he can’t reveal to anyone or risk killing them too. Herons are also featured in an incredible kabuki performance called Sagi Musume. This dance was famously done by onnagata Bando Tamasaburo (link here to watch! He’s a Living National Treasure: I can’t recommend it enough). It’s tragic, but beautiful. 

Crows and herons are both somewhat related to death, which is likely part of the reason that it’s intimated that the two lovers in Harunobu’s piece are walking to commit a double suicide. However, changing one of the birds in the metaphor to a crane lightens up the metaphor and makes it much more hopeful, which I associate with this ship. As spring comes in and the white snow melts away to reveal budding plum blossoms, so too does a little sun shine on the grey heron, trapped in his secret and closed off from the world. 

Or something like that. It’s pretty pretentious, but I enjoyed thinking about this relationship and conceptualizing the metaphors I wanted to use for this drawing.

Ai ai Gasa

The Met writes about Harunobu’s piece: “The couple walk together in the quietly falling snow, in what is known as an ai ai gasa pose, literally, the sharing of an umbrella and love.” I kept this pose for Nozel and Helena – I knew I wanted something to do with a paper umbrella, since our girl has paper magic. In the starting sketches, he was holding the umbrella over her head while she reached for koi in the river (koi in Japanese is a homophone for love), but this version of the pose is both more historically aligned and cuter in my opinion.

The umbrella actually exists. 

This is a wagasa – a Japanese umbrella – made by Matsuda Wagasa in Kanazawa. It has Helena’s signature red as well as a Hangetsu/half moon pattern. Kanazawa umbrellas are different from any other wagasa makers in the country, and a dying craft. Matsuda is the only store left that still makes Kanazawa-style wagasa. I know no one on this site really has any money, but if you want to buy a piece of long-lasting, living art, please consider supporting them. 

The Poem

The writing that you see in the corner is a famous poem from the Kokinshu. However you ask me, “Alex. This is the Edo period. That’s the 1700s. This poem was from the 890s. The EIGHT. NINETIES. Why the hell are you using poetry in Classical Japanese? No one from the Edo period could understand something that was written 800 years ago at the time.” And to that I say: that’s a very logical conclusion! However, you are WRONG, because there’s nothing LOGICAL about ELEGANT, AESTHETIC PERFECTION!!! 

Classical Japanese (theoretically the Japanese used from around 900 to 1100) was used well into the Meiji period (1868-1912) whenever someone wanted to sound fancy or official. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of poems about plum blossoms and spring, but I picked this one for a reason. Harunobu often included poems in his work to poke light fun at them, but the inclusion of this poem in my drawing was perfectly serious. I’ll leave you with it to close out the explanation of this drawing. I hope seeing this piece of art has given you a happy and soft feeling, even if it’s only brief – I love Helena, I love this ship a lot, and I appreciate how hard Lola has worked to understand Nozel’s character and create an OC that plays well with him. I know only a few people who have put in the time and effort to meet Nozel where he’s at instead of trying to make him into something he isn’t. I imagine that for a man who has experienced so much death and made so many mistakes in his life, Nozel’s feelings for Helena are somewhat like this poem. 

梅が香を袖にうつしてとどめてば春は過ぐとも形見ならまし

mume ga ka wo/sode ni utsushite/todometeba/haru wa sugutomo/katami naramashi

If only the plums' scent/would shift to my sleeves and/stay there, then/even when spring is past and gone/a keepsake it would be...

[aidaita]

Oreo’s urgent Vet Bill

Hi everyone, this is the proper post I promised a few days ago and I apologize for the delay, the last 2-3 days was stressful but I’m emotionally stable to type everything down.

I’ve made an update post on my Ko-fi a few days ago if you haven’t seen it.

To start off, Oreo is my male cat son I’ve take care of for the past 9 years since that fateful day I encountered him 8 years ago. At the time, I was in a dark place mentally as I was heavily depressed from losing a dear friend and in an effort to cheer up, I went outside for a walk with a close friend to the canal two streets down from where I live, and that was where I saw a pair of eyes staring at me. A month old kitten I named Oreo and from that day, Oreo has brightened my world and I’ve taken him in as my precious fur baby ever since. My family unfortunately lost our other cat, Blueberry, last year to cancer for the medicine and treatments weren’t enough to ease her suffering from the cancer, so when Oreo’s second blockage on the evening of February 28, 2025 occurred, I was absolutely terrified.

That night, I skipped dinner, I stayed up half the night watching over Oreo and had a fitful sleep of a few hours, waking up in between the few hours to the noises Oreo was making from the blockage. And so on March 1, I went directly to an animal hospital I normally go to for his check ups, exams, previous surgery he had, but unfortunately they had to turn me away for being fully booked, so I was forced to go to another vet clinic that accepts emergency visits and that’s where I ended up in VCA Knowles Snapper Creek pet hospital and the very expensive vet bill.

The initial estimate is the one I originally posted on my other post which I’ll upload here for 48 hours observation.

I was also given an estimation for 24 hr observation but in both estimations, it was super expensive and I work at a $13 part time retail work shift and I could not afford it whatsoever. The last surgeries were paid for by my mom but this time she could not pay for this, and she has other health-related financial payments to recuperate financially and that was when I begun to get very stressed and panic. It was made worse and broke me into an emotional panic when my mother suggested that we may have to put him to sleep as we cannot keep paying $3k every time he gets a blockage.

My heart sank, I was not ready to let Oreo go yet. I became so distraught.

What can I do to save Oreo?

I’ve been frantically looking online what to do, looking into pet insurance, frequently asking for payments plans, asking what they can do to reduce the prices, etc. all while I’m on a time limit as I had a work shift in the next 2-3 hours and with this emergency situation, I absolutely needed every hour I can get. It was the most horrible position to be in the middle of.

Oreo could not qualify for pet insurance because it does not cover for pre-existing conditions/treatments (this is his second blockage), the pet hospital (both the first I went to and the second) do not have payment plans, every new estimations they gave me in an effort to help me and Oreo came with high risks such as one that is the bare minimum (just unblocking Oreo) but there’s a big possibility he could be blocked later that day or the next day.

Secondly, Oreo has already been on a treatment plan with his strict diet of prescription Urinary Care food with Science Hill’s ever since his first blockage sometime last year (or 2? I’m not sure, I don’t have the papers from the first one as my mom took him to the vet that time). And the doctors told me that it seems despite the strict diet he has been in, he still got the blockage from built-up sediments. On top of that, in the last vet visit on January 25, 2025 with the first pet hospital, Oreo has IVDD, or at least the beginning of it that the doctors told at the time said “it’s not a big deal right now,” so it will be a problem to look out for as he’s still young.

My mother’s comment of possibly putting him to sleep loomed over my head over all this…

And that was when I decided I can’t do this alone, I’m not ready to let Oreo go yet, not like this, not so soon. So for the first time, I’ve come to you all on the internet for help.

Due to the time constraints, I have no choice but to open a credit line with CareCredit just for this bill for Oreo but the fact he could get blocked again, issues with IVDD possibly rearing its head more urgently so soon, and with this massive bill to pay with my $13 part time retail shift, I knew that if another emergency or urgent vet visit occurs, I will have no choice but to put him to sleep.

That is why I’ve come to you all for help with the emergency vet bill on March 1, 2025 and… my goodness, within 24 hours, we have reached a little more than 1/3 of the $4000 goal (41% reached as I post this) and I could not be anymore thankful and grateful for all of you kindness and generosity to save my baby in this difficult time.

Yesterday I got to visit Oreo, he’s unblocked and appears to be urinating fine, recovering seems to be going well although he does have UTI so there’s a bit of blood in his urine (doctors reassured me that the UTI and blockage are not linked) so he’s getting treatments for that as well.

Today, Oreo will be discharged later in the afternoon or evening so he’ll be coming home soon.

The bill is still stressful but with all of you kind words, encouragement, generosity, and advice, it doesn’t feel as heavy as before. It is still a lot left to pay off so if you can, please donate to my Ko-Fi here so I can focus solely on strictly ensuring Oreo stays with me much longer such as wet food, running water fountain, new litter box, etc.

All donations received will be used solely for the bill and any additional expenses that may come up in the last few hours as I type.

And to everyone who donated so far, thank you… Truly, thank you. The tears I’ve shed the past 2 days were of stress and huge relief.

I will keep posting updates as they happen.