#but brain goes “they aren't being a asshole *right now*”

[hdawg1995]

i hate having thoughts and emotions, i just want to function without over thinking and over analyzing tiny little things.

[zweiginator]

What if divorced!art gets dragged to a club one weekend by his foundation-buddies and he obviously doesn’t want to but he forces himself and then it turns out that escort!reader is also there with her friends and they see each other outside of «work» for the first time… And her friends doesn’t know about her escorting so maybe they recognize him and maybe she goes to talk to him because her friends says she should «flirt more»🤭 And then ofc he fucks her in the dirty club bathroom

divorced!art upset because he hasn't seen you in weeks. everything has been busy since he hit the ground running with tennis again. practice after practice, signing sponsorship deals, galas and charity fundraising. and you had been busy too. art didn't know this, but you're a student as well. you didn't tell him not because you didn't want to share your life with him, but because it made you feel juvenile. of course, it's university and you're almost finished with your degree after five and a half years instead of the usual four--but you still feel dumb talking about that part of your life with him. for you to bitch about group projects and essays about political science while art is upset about custody battles and petty divorce politics--it feels trivial.

but your friends want to celebrate the semester being freshly over. just a few more summer classes for you and you will finally graduate. you'll finally get to hang up your hat and say goodbye to escorting. to that taboo little secret that's been dragging your eyes into sunken purple holes for the past fourteen months.

and your friends don't know, of course. it's impossible to explain to a group of girls whose parents pay for tuition and books and groceries. gas, clothes and even the designer heels they wear to the club they're standing in right now--that you need to do this. for money. to survive.

no, it isn't ideal. but this is the real fucking world and sex sells.

so they think you're prudish. they've never seen you have a boyfriend or flirt because that's your job every other day of the week. to pretend to be in love. to fuck lonely assholes and pretend to care about their lives. to believe them when they say they aren't a bad husband. that men have needs.

they urge you to flirt with men at the bar. but like always, you're just not interested. and all the men in this shitty tavern-bar-turned-college-club are all the same. middle-aged men who shoved their wedding bands in their back pockets to pick up pussy from a doe-eyed girl in her twenties.

none of them are remotely attractive. and you're thanking your lucky stars that you don't recognize a single one of them.

your friend taps on your shoulder. "there's one hot guy here. you may recognize him. he's kinda famous."

you down the rest of your drink. "oh really? i doubt i'd be interested."

but she points to a man leaning against the bar way off in the corner. sad eyes and salt and pepper hair that was once dirty blond; you've seen his baby pictures. he's tall and in love with you and you with him and you could strangle him right now because he hasn't returned your calls or texts in over five days.

"art donaldson." your other friend sighs. "he's a tennis player and i'd fuck him if i didnt have a boyfriend."

it's then that art turns around. likely feels the eyes of six girls burning into the back of his skull. he's holding a beer bottle and he looks forlorn, his typical woe is me demeanor that makes him so fucking attractive to you. lights up that neanderthal part of your brain that makes you want to fix the unfixable.

and then he smiles. it makes you blush and your friends, not knowing the tendrils of your history together that have now become rooted in the ground beneath you, tell you to go for it.

"he's staring right at you."

you know that. art knows not to make it clear he knows you; it would open up that whole can of worms.

so he waits for you to come to him and you pretend to be nervous which isn't that hard because you are already.

when you get to him, he whispers in your ear.

"they don't know about your job, im assuming?" he wants to wrap his arms around your waist but he refrains.

"they don't. but they know you, and they're very fond of you. they want me to flirt more."

art flags down the bartender. he gets you a gin and tonic, remembering how you liked the one he made for you that first night at his hotel room. you were just trying to make him feel better.

"well im glad im the lucky man." he sits down on a stool and hooks his leg around the stool next to him to bring it closer. he motions for you to sit and your friends are all staring at you but pretending they aren't.

"me too. although i don't know how much you deserve it." you take a sip. "given how you haven't responded to my calls in awhile."

art takes your drink from your hand, sets it down. he rests his hand on your lower back.

"im sorry honey. i haven't been meaning to be an asshole. there's a lot going on with tennis and everything."

you run a hand through his hair. "i get it." you feign a frown. "you just may have to make it up to me." and when you uncross your legs, art can see your thong. he tenses his jaw.

"i do need to make it up to you, don't i?" he takes a swig from his beer. "i'll tell you what." he glances around, at the bathroom door swinging open. "why don't i go to the bathroom to freshen up and you come check on me in a few minutes, yeah?"

he's so close you can smell the beer on his breath. you nod and he goes toward the bathroom.

your friends want to come over and ask you all about it, but then you're knocking on the bathroom door with your special knock. the one that only you and art know.

he pulls you inside, and the bathroom is dingy with a flickering light and graffiti on the walls. drawings of dicks and crude words but art sits on the toilet seat.

"c'mere." he reaches out to you and you go to him. a pavlovian response that makes you so fucking wet to be near him. to be on his lap like you're supposed to be. he kisses you like he missed you because he has. he's not supposed to. his lips trail wet, hot kisses up your throat and he's greedier than usual. dragging your pussy over his throbbing erection. he's only wearing his briefs on his bottom half and you tug at his shirt because you want to see all of him. feel all of him. he does the same to you. panting into your mouth because his cock rests between your folds. nudges against your clit as you grind on him.

"fuckin' ruined pussy for me." he throws his head back and you grab his jaw to kiss him. sloppy and disgusting but you love the taste of him. how your lipstick melds into his saliva. drips down his neck like you're a vampire taking him for everything he fucking has.

"yeah?" you rake your nails down his chest and take his cock out. it's bare against your pussy, your panties pushed to the side.

"nothing turns me on anymore. nothing gets me off. only you. that tight fucking cunt."

he never talks like this. so crude. but you love drawing it out of him. milking those dirty words as you stroke his heavy cock for him. people bang on the bathroom door but neither of you fucking care.

you sink down on him. you do it all at once. you're addicted to how his hips spasm and his eyes roll back and he lets a strangled moan-groan hybrid escape him. he holds onto the flesh of your ass as you fuck him.

the porcelain of the toilet creaks unsteady below you and you're completely on top of him, your feet behind you as you fuck him harder and harder. but he asks for more because he wants you more.

"fuck me--fuck me--" he repeats it over and over. guides you up and down and up and down his cock from base to tip. "your pussy was fucking made for me. i need it, i need it--"

his mouth hangs open and you can't believe he's yours like this. you want him to cum but then again you don't because then he can't be inside you anymore. and that's precisely where you want him.

his jaw is tense and his neck pulses with his heartbeat as he presses his forehead to yours.

"i want you--" a moan. "to hit me. i want you to fucking claim me."

so you smack him, and his arms wrap tight against your waist because he's cumming and he wants it to stay like this forever. but if it can only be a few more minutes, that will do too.

[hazbin-critique-place]

THINGS I HATE ABOUT THE THE APOLOGY TOUR (part 1)

Blitzo just randomly walks in. AND DON'T GET ME WRONG, I LOVE HIM, HE'S LITERALLY THE CLOSES THING TO MY COPING MECHANISMS IRL AND PEOPLE HAVE DESCRIBED ME THE SAME WAY AS HIM, I'M NOT SHITTING ON HIM, but rather the storytelling... Like... What??? Like, make it make sense.

So he just randomly comes and goes, as he wishes??? And we saw he didn't have any problems with stealing (maybe just felt bad a bit but come on he kills ppl for living and we see how sadistic he can be he's NOT gonna have problem with that) why doesn't just steal from Stolas' house and sell that shit????? Like - he could fucking quit his job or find a better one!!!

And then he wouldn't need the grimoire, and... Boom.

Then, why is he even there??? Like - did he use his brains at all?? Like - bruv, you got rhe crystal already, so if you wanna act like you don't give a shit... Just don't come pleading to him (bird dick guy) and basically annoy the shit out of him for next 10 minutes even if you're right. Trust me, that's not how you feign nonshalance. I would know.

Stolas being sassy at him, then??? Like - if you have the guts to be sassy, why don't even have the whole conversation wuth him and sit and talk the relationship out with each other already??? Are you THAT stubborn?! That's not normal.

Also, if you really don't want him there, Stolas, just teleport him out. Or yourself. Just - fucking make it make sense. You HAVE the powers, and I KNOW that in Good Omens Crowley and Az would in this situation probably forget that, Neil even speaks about it in some interview or idk, but... Come on. HE'S SMART. STOLAS LITERALLY READS. (I know this is stereotyping but there IS a reason for the stereotype - literally a majority of people who'd read in their free time (and c'mon, even I, an ao3 monster, wouldn't read after such a fight like Sto and Blitz had - my anxiety would be making scenarios and pacing through the garden already -) ARE smart.) Don't make him look all educated and priviledged and informated and shit just to act like this mean asshole, like - does he ENJOY annoying Blitzo back??? (Also, pls shut, you twitter users who "dOn'T dEaDnAmE hiM!!!1!" all over reasonable posts when you lack better arguments. It literally IS his legal name, and if he had such a problem with it, he could change it easily... Take Anthony to Angel Dust, after all. Or just nicknames could work.) Bcs I at this point honestly think he does.

Also, you dumb, dumb, hypocritical bird, why would you show him a fucking invite when you could just repeatedly tell him to at least 'go away' or just act objectively reasonable????

And if you're trying to be so polite bro, just magic him a cup of tea, or something, to match the yours. It would nicely fit to the scene and aesthetic, also it would make you seem more nice and classy... At least I could like you.

Also, are you ignoring Blitzo or fuck¥ng talking to him???

Because at the same time, you want to have an alone time, but you still throw baits to elarge the conversation at him.

He's all sassy and makes comments and aaahhh - so you're like satisfied with the situation now or what???

I mean, poor Blitzo -

Like-

If you hate him, just tell it to him already. Poor boy.

Oh god, we aren't even 3 minutes in and I have already writen a goddamn novel.

Also, I know it's supposed to be funny, but the whole party idea is honestly just dumb. Like... I would be so bored and not even excited to even go to a place designated to constantly talk about a person I hate? Lol

Like I love a good gossip but not as a theme for a goddamn concert-having function!

Also, you know that happy people live longer, right? This is kinda unhealthy - I mean, that's just basic, no? Like don't support and feed your hatred towards an individual just to feel better about yourself, or at least don't force it.

Bcs I get the guy who broke down crying at that one shot after he tried to hit the blitzi plush so much. And the other dude was hyping him up. I'd be so much confused, like him. Like - he's going through some hard stiff, like some facking serious character development right now, just let him be!

About Martha... Ehhh, I love her new design and character, but it just seems boring and soul sucking now that every character, after they're denonised, they just happened to be the same, most generic, and shitty snappy, constantly angry and always frustrated (and frustrating) characters ever. Like - does hell really that much brainwash people??? I mean, it would be interesting, but honestly I don't think that Vivzie did this intentionally at all.

Also, why would you even sleep with your nemesys... 😭 I'm a number one enemies to lovers fan and I don't ship it if they don't bite rach other but this, especially so unexplored and just randomly thrown in, does NOT make and sense.

It was funny though lol. I want more of these just to see how much Viv's one-dimensional view of her own fucking characters transforming to hell changes.

Part 2 soon.

[fanatical4creation]

‼️⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️‼️

This post contain sensitive topics, such as sexual themes, s/a, abortion and others similar to these. This post is intended to PG-13 audiences such as my account, so you're warned, if you read this post even if you're not the target audience then it's your fault, not mine

INVERTED!Underlust (Fanatically Underlust)

Uuuuuuuuuuh, let's talk about the elefant in the room of my brain. To begin with, i've sorta re-written Underlust as i like, so i call this version of mine "Fanatically UnderLust".

These characters are the main ones btw...

Uuh Grillby and Sans are a canon couple, just like the og UL.

Paps and Mtt are also a canon couple, but they got some drama going on bc Paps is uuh, addicted to drugs and uuh..y'know, so they're in a complicated situation. Also Paps is like a cupid and goes around the multiverse making couples, i guess... it rarely happens tho.

Mtt runs a Quiz show (hooray!) that broadcasts for the whole multiverse, a lot of other people also participate on it, the most current wuest is Paps.

Grillby had christian parents and he has this whole arc of "bro let me live my life sucking dicks", it's awesome. He's like the song Collared by Vane lily

Alphys and Undyne don't got THAT many things going kn, just.. just being happy lesbians, and that stuff of homophobia

Alphys has the main lore of F.U.L, Luster a.k.a Gaster is sort of an asshole and does a lot of s/a, and uuuh she's his main victim, this also complements mtt's lore, he's been created specifically for Luster, for... y'know, Alphys scape... god this is awful lets move on.

Undyne is also like a popstar thing, y'know verosika from helluva boss? That's her, but nicer.

All of the characters has at least an level of hypersexuality

The FUL cast needs to use masks and have all of the preventions against an contagious thingy (like that 2019 virus) when they're in contact with other universes. it'll be explained furthermore...

The dreemurrs, omg, i like them ngl, specially Toriel, she just deserves love, man.

Alright... uh.. Frisk and Rosie (btw just notice i wrote flowey instead of Rosie, i'm so sorryakbdksjakak)... i mean, they exist that's for sure, in FUL Frisk sacrifices himself to free the monsters, i mean.. Asriel isn't here to save the day... but Hopeful ("Dream Sans") saved everyone aren't they the best?

Asgore is an interesting one, he's also addicted to drugs like Paps, but i have to say, this drug monsters from FUL takes are something else, it's the cause of everything. But i'll explain it furthermore.

Also, Asgore is sort of a religious guy, yup! You read me right. The first human brought a bible with him, and oh god he believed it, i mean i can guess he already was a religious guy before the war but now he's THE religious.

^^^(Btw I'm not blaming all christians or believers of another religion, it's just a stereotypical character, i'm using bad believers as character/example not good believers)

Asgore participates from that school i mentioned in the underfell post, i don't remember the name, but yeah.

Btw Frisk, Rosie and Toriel are a happy family! Instead of Frisk wanting to leave he just stayed with Toriel, oh wait i need to let this clear they're like mother and son okay don't get things wrong hold on. Oh yeah Frisk still has no gender but... i mean he just wants to be called as he/him that's all

Frisk is slightly affected by the Lust contagious thing, that's why he has fat thighs and some large upper format.... sorry. I tried to make him have both of genders characteristics.

Attention. Asshole characters ahead

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, i don't like them at all, but they're the main villain and all of that shit so they're important.

Alright.. uuh, y'know Underlust reinmaniged by @/zirkkun Lust Syrup? Now imagine it 10x worst. Yup, that's what this human's soul is composed of, it doesn't have a name so just call it substance.

Basically the substance multiplies itself (it's almost alive) and smelling, entering in contact or digest it could infect you and alterate you completly, and also give you human traits like 5 fingers, yup, i have this headcanon where monsters has 4 fingers and humans has 5, just a way of differentiate the both species more

And Gaster... uuuh, he fell for the human's temptations and he's like..... theirs.... pet, i guess..??? But i mean, i like to think gaster is still not innocent, being too close to the literal font of the Lust would change him to be eventually what he is now

Don't worry they're in prision, forever... i Hope

Underlust by: @/nsfwshamecave-pb

[gffa]

Oh. Oh no. For the first time in my life pretty much ever I think I'm vaguely interested in a Batman vs Joker comic. This is a humiliating turn of events for me. It's never a good idea to get pre-invested in the potential of a DC comics storyline, that way only ever lies disappointment and "I don't know what I expected" because I should know better. But I can't help it! I took ten years off and came back to a DC that's better than when I left it! I have hope in my heart! And, for all that Gotham War ended with a whimper rather than a bang, I still can see so much potential. Imagine what a real shakeup of the dynamics in the Batfam would look like! I don't believe for a second that they'd do it, but imagine if they actually had Dick in the role of being the family leader, except as Nightwing this time instead of stepping into Batman's boots. He wouldn't want to be the patriarch in the same way Bruce was, but he's about the same age as Bruce was when Bruce adopted him, so imagine the tasty tasty parallels they could do with Dick suddenly in charge of a feral gremlin charge of his own (Damian), some actual support both emotionally and on the streets (Tim and Barbara), a team he actually would be able to call on for help when he needed it (Jason, Steph, Cass, Duke), that in some ways he has it easier than Bruce did, he's not as wrapped up in his own pain in the same way, but in other ways it's harder, he doesn't have Alfred, he has so many moving pieces that are all clashing and aren't necessarily going to listen to him (Steph and Cass and Duke aren't loyal to him the way he was loyal to Bruce)(and then there would be Jason's *waves hands* everything) and it would be out of his control that he'd feel responsible for and it would be a conflict between setting himself up in Bludhaven versus how Gotham still needs the team, not just Bruce being an asshole out there on his own--and god, running into Bruce, always wondering if he approves of Dick's style of leadership versus "You don't get a vote on whether to approve or not." There is SO MUCH that could be done with it! I can't help kind of being fond of the Gotham War set-up, because I like drama and I like Bruce's up and down character arc, and I like a complicated, sharp-edged Bruce who does inexcusable things because his brain is fucked up and lying to him, even when I know it'll disappoint me. But also. I was reading Batman #139 and oh, oh no, oh noooo, I'm interested in "Mindbomb" as a story--as a Joker story!--because it really is the perfect time for it, isn't it? Bruce has been overwhelmed for months now, he's in such a bad place mentally and emotionally that he's letting his fears of loss win and pushing his entire family away, he's doing horrible things to them because he can't handle loving them like he does, so he's separated himself from them, all while he thinks he's in control, but he's not, his brain is absolutely lying to him, and it's hissing in his ear to strip everything that Bruce loves away from himself and so that only Batman is left. Zur-En-Arrh is right there. "I'm in control!" Bruce screams in his own mind, all while Zur just rips through him and so easily takes over. Bruce has no control, he is so, so wrong about all of this, and oh boy the Joker is getting exactly what he wants, isn't he? No more annoying riff raff to get in the way or for Batman to care more about than him. No more Selina, no more kids, no more friends, no more loved ones--just Zur-En-Arrh, the most "pure" Batman in the Joker's eyes, now it's just the two of them. And that's everything Joker has ever wanted. And I don't want to find that to be an interesting extension of everything that led up to and during Gotham War, but crap yeah okay that's kind of a well-timed story when I look at it through that lens. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, I'm going to be disappointed in wherever this goes, but dammit. The story kind of got me.

[just-jordie-things]

spiderman fan anon here again who yapped abt how i think ur spideygumi fic is the literal greatest spidey au of all time.. sry i hope ur not tired of hearing abt it but i just reread the fic (again) and i cant stop thinking abt what mc and megumis development would be like from here… megumi is definitely not the typical peter-parker-type with his sense of justice (as one of his figures’ packaging hilariously summarizes “i save people unequally”) which has SOO much potential for a Good fucking hero story AND new relationship dynamic. like maybe megumi tries to become kind of a more “moral” hero on his own, but shit happens, maybe the govt or police are too corrupt and he realizes he can only trust himself to bring justice to the city, a more batman-like mentality. would mc have a problem with his morality and pull away? would she agree with it and help him as a journalist? would she disagree and give him the With great power Comes great responsibility spiel, leading to him growing into a more “true” spiderman-like hero? Idfk i do not write at all but i cant turn off my comics-loving brain with all this potential!!! i also dont mean to push u to write any of this but i had to talk abt it before i Exploded

the way i wanna make this fic a 5 movie franchise now becuz OMG THE AVENUES THIS OPENS UPPP

i am a marvel girl (sorry battinson baby even u aren't my fav) so i see spiderman!gumi having a deadpool mentality but without the mouth lolol

ok here's some very small thoughts i have about what a continuation in the story would've looked like:

he tries to find a mix between the public eyes' idea of the right thing and his version of the right thing but... dammit some people just gotta suffer a bit don't they?

he sees someone get a lil too harsh with a dog and he can't just give em a lil scare. next thing he knows they're beaten beyond recognition and webbed up to a wall for the police to deal with. fuck that guy, who hurts dogs??

when the news starts to call him things like menace and people start to wonder if he's not the altruistic hero they thought he was, megumi tries to balance between the different schools of thought of justice. he has you by his side, supporting him and wishing him all the best with being the best he can be...

so when some perp he's apprehending starts spouting off some real nasty shit, megumi tries to tell himself that prison will bring him to justice. over and over in his head he tells himself that he has to let some things go...

but damnit this bigoted asshole won't shut up and megumi just doesn't see how society could possibly function with pieces of shit like this roaming around. and no, when the guy's body goes limp after a swift ninety-degree head-spinning snap to the neck, megumi doesn't feel any regret. only relief that there's one less bastard in his city.

as for you, you've always trusted in spiderman. so you're learning to place your trust in megumi, too. you hate the rare occasion when he visits you bloodied and bruised, but you hate the idea of a city without spiderman's protection even more. you've been a fan of spiderman since the first day you'd heard of the sightings. a ride or die doesn't walk away just because things are getting a little nastier out there.

a career in journalism will prove to be difficult. the truth about megumi's double life is a secret that you both understand must stay contained no matter the price. you probably bounce around a few firms, trying to find just the right place to land where you can write the truth without revealing too much. however most outlets just want to report on the crimes spiderman himself has committed, and you struggle with badmouthing your hero (and your boyfriend)

i like to think megumi laughs at the papers trying to paint him as a villain. it doesn't stress him out, it's nothing to him really. just a source of entertainment for him to read to you over dinner. between the two of you, you handle the ugly headlines far worse. but megumi likes to rile you up by reading all the worst ones to you, just to make you fuss over it all. some nights it's like you're rivals again- megumi taunting you with the latest edition of the spider-menace storytelling, chuckling when you start to crinkle your brows and spout off about how some writers are uneducated phonies or how they're ungrateful for what he's done. you never fail to go on a long winded rant followed by some chugged down water. and as always, megumi will just smirk and shake his head as he throws away said latest edition.

___

i lost wind here but i would love to hear if anyone has other thoughts too!!

[safaiagem]

Hey, where did today go? I certainly have no idea. I also have no idea if I'm going to finish The Hour of Separation before I leave for a convention on Thursday. We'll have to see how it goes. For now, please enjoy a Six Sentence Sunday preview, and thanks for the continued support for this fic.

Charles wasn't sure how long he and Edwin had sat on the floor of the school, just holding each other. The sun came up, so it had been hours, but Charles felt like his brain had the consistency of baby food. Every atom of his being felt exhausted in a way that dead shouldn't feel; that was concerning, but judging from how Edwin looked at him, he wasn't the only one. 

"He's still out there," Edwin said softly. 

"Yeah, right asshole that he is," Charles replied. "We're about to get an earful from pretty much everyone, aren't we."

[mrs-steve-harrington]

Steve and Dustin Bodyswap!!

I love your brain, anon! Let's see what I can do. Wrote this in one sitting, apologies for any typos! Hope you enjoy <3

(for @julybreakbingo)

--

Dustin would be the first to say that he's wondered it might be like to be Steve Harrington for a day. To live in a big house on Loch Nora and be the person everyone says hi to when they see him walking down the halls at school. To be popular.

Be careful what you wish for.

It could be worse, but he's been stuck in Steve's body— and Steve has been stuck in his— for days now. There's no denying it's cool. He's gotten a sneak peek into the kinds of things he can expect for high school classes and he's had a blast sinking his teeth into all the books collecting dust in Steve's locker. There's no reason his grades should suffer just because they haven't figured out how to get back to themselves yet.

And nobody picks on him. Tommy and Carol and Billy are loud and obnoxious in their taunting of Steve while Dustin is between classes, but it's clear that Billy has been keeping his distance, too. Doesn't hurt that Dustin can't help but remember what he'd looked like when Max threatened him with Steve's bat and smiles or even outright laughs when Billy tries to act like an asshole.

They're nothing compared to the Troys of the world. He never goes home with so much as a scrape.

But after a few days of being Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson is missing his own room and his friends and his mom. He hopes whatever is happening to them wears off soon; he'll only be able to act the part for so long before he slips up in some irreparable way. The only reason Steve can get away with acting weird is because, well. Dustin's weird. He knows it and doesn't really care.

Today, though, Steve's got him on a mission that helps to distract him from some of the things he's missing. Mostly because it makes him nervous as hell. Yes he is Steve Harrington right now and yes that does mean that, in theory, he should have no trouble talking to a girl. Flirting with a girl. Steve said that it's as easy as walking up to one and saying, "Hey," because he... has the hair and the face and everything else that Dustin most definitely does not.

Except that right now, he does, and Steve seems to think it will help boost his confidence if he practices while they're swapped. The amount of confidence Steve is placing in him not to completely shatter his reputation is touching and also completely insane.

But he doesn't want to meet up back at his house with Steve after school and have to lie in order to keep from disappointing him. Which means he's going to have to actually approach a girl. And say, "Hey," like it's something he does every day with girls who aren't Max or Eleven.

Dustin is at least eighty percent sure Steve's never had palms as sweaty as they are now. It doesn't help that the last time he approached a girl, she looked at him like he was insane for even considering it. If Nancy hadn't—

Now there's a thought.

A blind person could see that Steve misses her. Dustin still doesn't understand everything that happened— one second they were together, the next they weren't— but Steve's been depressed ever since. Dustin is sure that he can't fix things for Steve, but maybe he can help give his life a little... push... in the right direction.

And maybe Dustin's had a crush on Nancy for as long as he can remember and would like to feel like he's got a chance, even if none of it really means anything.

When he finds her, she's standing at her locker and gathering her things after the last bell of the day. Butterflies line the inside of the door and Dustin grins. It's nice to know the girl who used to dress up and play with them is still in there somewhere, even if she's too cool for them nowadays.

With all the grace that comes to Steve's body naturally, Dustin sidles up next to Nancy's locker and leans against the cold metal of the one beside hers.

"Hey, Nance," he says, grin tampered down to something a little less Dustin. Or he tries to, at least. It's hard not to smile as wide as his lips will move when he looks at Mike's older sister. Not even because she's pretty, but because up until last year she's always been super nice and this year, she saw him sitting alone and near tears and offered to dance with him just to make him feel better.

She even told him that he was her favorite. How can he not smile when he looks at her after that?

"Steve?" Nancy asks, looking up at him in surprise. Her head swivels left and right before landing back in his direction. A crinkle formed between her eyebrows when they scrunch together in confusion. Dustin doesn't blame her; as far as he can tell, Steve's been avoiding even being in the same hall as Nancy if he can help it. "What are... is everything... okay?"

"Great now," he says, feeling more confident than he has any right to. Steve was right, though. There's something so much easier about doing this when you look like, well. Like Steve.

Plus, Dustin knows Nancy. He can't help but feel comfortable around her, even if she doesn't know who she's actually talking to.

"Can I walk you out?" he asks, nodding his head towards the doors. Jonathan won't be around— today's the day he gets Will straight after school, clearly a sign that Dustin chose the right girl to approach. If she says yes, that means Steve has a chance; at least, more than a no would. And if she says no, at least Steve won't be around to hear it.

Nancy looks him up and down slowly, trying to piece together the puzzle that is Steve Harrington standing next to her locker after avoiding her for weeks. But Dustin has known Nancy since he was in Kindergarten. The look in her eyes isn't one he's seen directed at him before, not even when she'd danced with him at the Snow Ball.

She looks at him and suddenly Dustin understands what Steve meant about electricity. He's kind of surprised his the hairs on his arms aren't standing straight up from static cling.

"Sure," she says, softly closing her locker and holding her bag against her side.

They don't get a chance to do more than make small talk because the second they walk out of the doors, Dustin hears his own voice calling Steve's name. He barely even has time to say goodbye when Steve stomps up and grabs his arm to drag him away, making loud excuses about a "project" Steve had promised to help him with right after school, sorry Nancy.

"You're dead meat, Henderson," Steve mutters, looking even more annoyed when he remembers he has to look and point up instead of down.

"I was just doing what you told me to."

Steve stops in his tracks, hands on his hips in a move that's so Steve, Dustin could almost forget he's staring at himself.

"I did not—"

"Nancy's a girl, isn't she?"

Mouth falling open, Steve stares at him for a long few seconds before he throws both hands into the air.

"That is not what I meant and you know it, you little—" he stops himself to take a deep breath. That's good. Dustin's pretty sure he's never seen his face look that red before. It can't be good for either of them.

"Just... let's go home. We'll figure this out later."

"Sure," Dustin says with an easy shrug. He follows Steve, making the familiar walk to his house— because Steve hid the keys to the BMW the first chance he got— and gives Steve the time he needs to calm down.

He'll explain about the electricity later.

[oneatlatime]

The Deserter

How is this the first time anyone's had the bright idea to try disguises?

Sokka's sarcasm coming dangerously close to breaking the fourth wall here. Some pretty strong lampshading.

(edit: going through this just before posting, I realised this line is pretty much a sarcastic thesis statement for this episode, maybe this season.)

This is too cute. This episode both Appa and Momo understand english.

Saviour of the World, everybody.

There must have been a Gang goes to the Mall episode I missed where Sokka and Katara bought their stealth cloaks.

Say what you like about the Fire Nation, they do have gorgeous architecture.

Katara perfecting non-verbal burns with the mask-switching.

Flaming Fire Flakes have the honour of filling this episode's Beat Up Sokka quota.

This is actually less violent than the actual Punch and Judy. Poor puppeteer has to sew a new earth kingdom soldier for every performance.

Dovebending!

I know Aang is characterised as fun and fun-loving, but maybe don't take off your disguise in the middle of a group of your enemies? Is this going to devolve into an "Aang is stupid" episode? Because we just did that last episode.

And now he's sulking because he missed the chance to be outed in front of the whole crowd? Aang has no brain this episode.

Of course the fire nation would have fireworks. I find it interesting that the more artistic methods of bending have survived a century of war. Unless there's a combat style where soldiers bend dragons at the enemy, you'd think that bending for fun and entertainment would have been condemned by now as useless to the advancement of the fire nation.

Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming.

I have very little patience for Idiot Aang, especially when his idiocy revolves around needing to be the centre of attention.

Appa just murdered those guys.

How did Sokka figure out that Chey was a fire nation soldier just from looking at his face? Everyone in this world so far is borderline faceblind, what with the number of times that our main three have passed unnoticed. And yet Sokka gets one look at this Chey guy and clocks him as fire nation? How? Chey doesn't have a different accent, or a giant F on his face, or even a helpful identifying Zuko scar.

"Some say he's mad. But he's not. He's enlightened." Regardless of what he is, this is not how you ought to sell him.

Why doesn't anyone ever listen to Sokka? He's always right when it counts: they did get clocked at the fire nation festival, the fortune teller was a crook, Jet was untrustworthy, Katara was going to get them in trouble with the pirates. Hasn't anyone in-universe noticed the pattern yet?

So Chey is a cross between a fanboy and that one awkward kid that no one likes, and Aang is this episode's idiot. But who are the hat guys? Are they like the third through ninth deserters from the fire nation? They don't seem anything like the people at the festival, so they aren't the locals.

Zhao the asshole is back. An idiot and an asshole this episode. I suspect this episode won't be a favourite.

Ever so fed up with having your good advice ignored that you involuntarily plank?

I have no idea if this deserter guy (NOT going to try to spell that one phonetically) actually has the ability to tell what disciplines someone knows by the way they walk, or if that's Chey's fanboyish tendencies coming out. But if it's true, being able to tell someone's abilities and skill level at a glance would be an incredible advantage in a fight. No wonder they promoted the guy a bunch.

And so rather than do the sensible thing as Sokka suggests and leave, Aang leans even harder into his idiot tendencies. Sigh. You should absolutely go talk to the firebender who just told you to fuck off by proxy. What could go wrong?

I'm grasping about 40% of this fish speech. On the other hand, I'm getting the discipline speech 100%. And agreeing with it too. This episode's whole opening vignette was about how Aang lacks self-discipline. Setting aside the fact that going to the festival was a bad idea in the first place, they could have attended unnoticed if Aang had mastery over himself. This deserter's got Aang clocked.

Do you get the feeling that this deserter's negative experiences with fire are perhaps colouring his view a little? He does make a good point though: mess up with airbending and someone has a bad hair day. Mess up with waterbending and someone gets wet. Mess up with earthbending and someone gets squished. Mess up with firebending and someone gets roasted. There's a bit of a jump in the seriousness of the mistakes between air/water and earth/fire. And we already saw Aang mis-bend water and send all their supplies down the river, so it's not like the deserter is wrong to think Aang's not ready. Plus, of all the elements, only fire does its own thing when you're not looking. I bet the very first thing firebenders learn is not how to make fire, but how to control/snuff out an external fire.

Love this visual. Roku's statement is true, which once again calls into question how much of Aang is a unique person as opposed to a conglomeration of previous avatars. But the deserter's right here - Aang doesn't have the self-discipline to learn fire right now. I don't know if learning water and earth first would get him that discipline, but it would certainly buy him a few more months of maturing.

If I had to be an army deserter on the run from an evil imperial power, this is certainly the place I'd choose to hide. So pretty.

Sokka isn't an oaf!

This is going to go so badly. This deserter guy is 100% right to start with the basics, but Aang is the opposite of a willing student. He's happy to learn, if they do it his way, which is jump straight to flashy fire and burn everybody's eyebrows off. Not to say the deserter is a good teacher - he's certainly not suited to Aang. But people strong armed by spirits generally don't bring their A game.

It seems to me like bending fire is almost more about leashing fire than using it.

Wasting his time? Didn't it take Aang his whole life so far to master airbending? And he thinks spending a couple of hours on the basics of firebending is wasting his time?

Dear Avatar writers: My comment about Aang burning everybody's eyebrows off was supposed to be facetious. Could you dial down Aang's idiocy this episode just a little bit please? Feeling really sorry for the deserter here.

This deserter's got sighing down pat. I get the impression that he's had decades of dealing with hotheaded idiot students.

Zhao was his student? That's a neat way of doing combined backstory and parallel story in the present. I thought it was a flashback but it's actually what's currently going on. Neat.

"Learn restraint or risk destroying everything you love." Good lesson even outside of a bending context.

This golden forest throughout this episode is absolutely gorgeous. Although it seems to be stuck in eternal sunset (not complaining).

I was right! Firebending lesson number one isn't making fire, it's leashing fire.

"But I'm ready to do so much more" Hell no you aren't. The fact that you say that with a straight face after A DAY of lessons proves you aren't.

You mean you failed the lesson. Congrats.

Hey look. Exactly what the deserter said would happen is happening. And so an innocent pays the price for Aang's hubris. Ain't that always the way?

Hell yeah Sokka. You tell him.

Here's a good lesson for Aang to learn, unfortunately at the expense of Katara's arms: sometimes sorry doesn't cut it. Since Katara's arms are injured, is she currently unable to bend? With the amount that her self-image is built around her bending, this is going to double suck.

Katara can auto-bend?!? Instinctively? That was lucky.

Hey deserter guy: while your insight into waterbending healing and the firebending mindset is certainly valuable to Katara and the audience, maybe a recently-burned teenage girl is not the best target for your talk therapy?

Master indeed. That's got to be the single most impressive firebending move yet. Look at that. That's one guy!

See Aang? If only you squatted a little lower, you'd be able to pull this off.

Aang still hasn't learned his lesson. Impulsively firebending should have taught him to be less impulsive. Instead it teaches him to make dramatic blanket prohibitions on firebending and throw himself head first at Zhao with no plan.

If Zhao is an admiral, and the deserter's former student, does that settle Chey's admiral/general debate on the side of admiral? Or do fire nation military branches do cross training?

Now it's Zhao having the hubris problems. Does he really think that 8 guys, only 4 (?) of whom are benders, can take down Mr. Firewall?

The way Zhao's voice actor delivers the line "until I got bored" very nearly redeemed his whole character. Suddenly not just an asshole, but a human too. Given how abrasive the deserter is, I'm almost sympathetic.

Who wins in the fight of Aang's hubris v. Zhao's hubris?

This is a very cool move. It seems that Aang only has hubris problems when he's trying to bend fire - he's back to his usual self when he bends air. Can the element have that much of an effect on the mindset?

I'm really liking this delightfully one-sided fight. Aang really redeeming himself for his early-episode idiocy.

This should not work on a well-adjusted adult.

"I don't know why, but I thought you'd be better than Zuko." Tragically, Aang has no idea how savage that line is.

"Jeong Jeong said you had no restraint" says the kid who, up until this scene demanded it, had no restraint. A stinger of a line that is undermined in context.

Literally.

How many outfits did Aang pack? Because air nomad tailors aren't exactly thick in the air these days.

Was that a whole camp of deserters? And they've all gone into hiding?

Getting the first fishhook out with a second fishhook: when logic goes too far.

Final Thoughts

Zhao really screwed up this time. He and his men are going to have to walk back to their ship.

Roku really screwed up this time. Katara wouldn't have been burned if Roku didn't intimidate the deserter into teaching Aang.

Chey really screwed up this time. If he hadn't brought Aang back to his camp, he'd still have a settlement to live in.

Aang really screwed up this time. If he hadn't insisted on both attending the festival and outing himself at it, he never would have led Zhao to the deserters' camp.

Just a thought: maybe spiritually bullying a scarred veteran into teaching combat basics is a bad idea?

I really want to like this episode. Beautiful setting. What Sokka and Katara stuff there is, is great. Appa and Momo even get a funny joke, and Appa gets to murder some people. And most importantly, the deserter is RIGHT. THE WHOLE TIME. And he was right to insist on not teaching Aang. Roku really blew it. Everything the deserter knew would happen if he taught Aang did happen, because he knows firebending, and he knows how students like Aang approach it (and let's be honest - he's not the right person to teach Aang anything). Now Aang's thrown up a mental block around firebending that will have to be surmounted no matter what he says he will or won't do. At least Katara uncovered a new skill.

I have not seen Apocalypse Now, but this is Apocalypse Now, right? In which case I know why Aang doesn't work for me this episode: he's in the wrong genre. This episode is actually quite serious. Chey may call the deserter enlightened, but Chey's an idiot. What the deserter is, is broken. He's another victim of the fire nation. He's also easily the most skilled firebender we've seen so far, with deep insight into at least part of the nature of his element (I say part because the episode itself suggests that his view is overly negative by having him point out the sun as a source of fire, which isn't inherently destructive - it just is). The deserter is a person you absolutely should listen to, saying things Aang absolutely should hear, albeit he says them rather harshly. But Aang is in peak kid's cartoon mode this episode, and the deserter (and most other characters actually) are in Vietnam-era War is Hell movie mode. It makes Aang jarring throughout, to the point that I was mad at him for most of the episode.

That being said, Aang almost (almost) completely redeemed himself in that last brilliant fight. 'Hoisted by his own petard' has got to be one of my top three favourite narrative devices, and that Zuko dig was the icing on the cake. As I said above, it's a goddamn tragedy that Aang doesn't have the necessary context to know how much that dig hit home. Then again, Sokka and Katara would probably appreciate it more than Aang. I feel like they're more appreciative of petty vindictiveness.

Speaking of Sokka, great to see the continuity from last episode's lesson: ride or die for Aang until it's family on the line. Sokka will gladly take Aang to the north pole until Aang steps between him and his father, at which point he's on his own. Sokka will gladly take Aang to the north pole until he hurts Katara, at which point Sokka will rub his face in the dirt. And, honestly? At that point of the episode, Aang's flaky hubristic 12 year old idiot side was so annoying to me that I was rooting for Sokka in that fight.

We know Aang's a bit of a softie, but someone who didn't know that just saw Sokka face down the Avatar for the sake of his sister. Takes courage.

It was also nice to see Sokka and Katara more united than usual in their opinions. While Katara was willing to give things a chance, neither of them was all that enthusiastic about anything that happened this episode. Usually Katara blindly follows Aang and blindly opposes her brother, so it was nice to see her more (not fully) aligned with both sense and Sokka.

It's not really touched on, but Aang really screwed things up for the various deserters. They weren't exactly comfortable where they were, but they seemed settled, safe, and provided for. Now they're presumably on the run. Oops.

If I could excise Aang from all but the last fight of this episode, it would be a serious contender for my favourite so far. But as I cannot excise him, this one is thoroughly middle of the pack. This episode had some serious stuff to say about the horrors of war from a perspective I defy you to find in any other kids' show, if only Aang would sit down and shut up for a minute.

[woodlandscab1n]

Hello! I got a question, but feel free to ignore!!!

I was considering making a OC(or maybe several OCs?) That are a system and I was wondering if you had any doe and don'ts when it comes to making a system OC, as I am not a system myself and I don't wanna accidentally stigmatize DID and stuff so. 👉👈

Oh cool! I don't have DID, I have possibly OSDD so I can't speak on DID. I do very much recommend doing research outside of this and when I can I will leave some links on the comments thag I think are really helpful!

The difference between DID and OSDD is, Dissociative Identity Disorder is characterized for memory loss between switching and generally more rigid-confusing barriers and inordered structures. While Other Specified Dissociative Disorder is anything outside of that (based in some countries lazyness), and generally less memory loss, different types of it (will link)

I think the very basic things tho is, every headmate is their own person, like a full person, just like you. They have their own complex problems and beliefs. So always have that in mind!

When it comes to the more technical stuff.

Switching, fronting, the headspace, roles and more.

Switching in disordered systems often causes dissociation. Dissociation might feel like you just lost your trail of thought and stares into the wall for a second, then come back and other times it feels like you're stuck in a limbo for like 4h of being in-between outside world (meatspace), not knowing who you are and inside world (headspace).

Systems don't always know they've switched, or that their thoughts aren't their own.

Which that also goes with fronting. For me, I can't un-front I am always fronting and I am always aware and conscious.

However, I am told that when in systems that don't have that same thing as me and from my headmates, it feels like you are either put to sleep (temporary dormancy) or you simple are at the headspace.

The headspace is honestly whatever you want it to be lol. Like genuinely, go wild here with symbolism about your character and their system, make it crazy. It's basically our innerworld where headmates are where we are not fronting. They can go from total void, to the most intricate world you can imagine. And sometimes, there's no headspace at all!

As for roles, uh, sometimes they matter sometimes they don't, again everyone is a complex person and sometimes the brain just makes or brings someone just because, for the littlest of reason and it doesn't even have to be trauma. Like, some of our fictives are just here because I liked them in their source and the brain said "bet". Not every headmate has a big, huge symbolism and purpose to why they were created, others choose to find that purpose by themselves, others just are, others don't give a shit lol.

I don't know that there are any don'ts? Because everything is sorta possible. The "evil" headmate/alter is possible but it doesn't always express the same way neither is it actually evil most of the times, I guess just remember that there is nuance. Imagine why you would be a mean or work against your system if it came to that, what would make you upset, what would make your blood boil or heavily disagree with. Most times, headmates know they're hurting the system, but it's either a means to an end or because they believe something. Some headmates are just assholes and can't be changed but that's just people lol.

The other one is integration and dormancy can be a touchy subject. Many systems believe it to be death or something similar. Integration especially, which is when two headmates mix with each other almost always permanently and if they are ever to separate it's more than likely that they will come out a different person. Maybe with the same memories or knowledge as before, or different ones but usually they still have the knowledge just maybe no memory attached to it.

I don't know what other stuff I could talk about right now, hmmm.

Oh yeah as for what kinda headmates what I make, like are animals allowed? do they all have to look like the host? are they all human?

Anything is allowed lol. I used to be literally my fursona once until I got turned more humanoid like dude, smh. We have literal cats, demons, demoncats, demondogs, demigods, ghosts, polymorphs, shapeshifters, werewolves. My friends have dragons and are nonhuman only, other's have the craziest monster you've thought of lol. And literal objects pft

And if you wanna make fictives, urm, it varies a lot, my fictives have no more knowledge and memories than what they experienced in their source. Reagan didn't even know she was fictional, or that she came from Resident Evil...or what Resident Evil even was 😭

Other fictives know pretty much everything ever, thy know they're fictives, they know their sources, they know how this world works, they know pretty much everything the host would know.

Oh yeah, the host. The host is not the original, not in 90% of the cases. I am not the original, in fact, I have been only been a headmate since 2020! I thought I have always been here, nah, wrong! I was just created from the same line of headmates that were hosts, so I had all their memories and knowledge.

And I think that's about it? Please ask more specific questions if you have more!!! :3 If you wish to ask questions to my headmates about their experiences and all :P

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

dc brain rot anon: hi hello OKAY tl;dr: it’s messy and just about to end as a series, but yes taylor’s nightwing is worth a read

so we’ve JUST gotten beardy dick in the most recent two(?) issues of taylor’s nightwing, but overall it’s been a decent run? it’s got adhd, let’s just say that. there are a lot of dropped threads or things we just sort of hand wave away, several tie in issues to ongoing dc events that distract from the plot, and it relies on flashbacks a lot… but you get great things like haley, dick going on a pirate adventure dressed like a harlequin romance novel cover (aka TITS OUT!!), dick having a half sister, and OMG LIL BABY DICK. you wanna pinch his cheeks. honestly, it’s very hawkeye coded how beat up and ridiculous this man is in this run, and redondo’s art makes him SO pretty. tbh the messiness of the plot aside, the whole concept of suddenly inheriting a lot of wealth, deciding to better your community, protecting your own backyard and the people in your building from organized crime and corrupt cops…? fraction/aja hawkeye energy. it’s even more reason why i’m piloting that kate/dick crack ship.

Screaming weeping fainting etc

WHAT clintcoded bullshit I adore it

Imagining Dick and Clint meeting on reddit or smth on a "landlords who aren't assholes" sub and Clint being like whoa...this sounds so familiar dude!!!

They agree to meet up and Clint brings Kate with to translate (Does not tell Dick OR Kate this btw Kate thinks they are having a friend date not working CLINTON)

Okay I just started reading this run of nightwing and Dick owns the whole block? OK but what about the bodega across the street? Clint and Kate buy up the boarded up offices because they're diversifying. Also they don't trust the guy who bought up a bunch of residential buildings across from them so it's kind of an observation thing. Kate opens her office there and is...living in it, which is probably against a zoning law or something and Dick has his eye on her. They see each other across the street a lot and give each other Pointed Glares. Lucky escapes containment and winds up in Dick's apartment and nobody knows how. (except Bitewing. She knows)

Anyway they are lowkey suspicious of each other. When Dick is hanging out on the roof/fire escape, Kate has a habit of going out on HER roof and singing very very loudly, sometimes with friends. Just to annoy him. She's gotten "Some Nights" stuck in his head so many times.

Anyway. Very suspicious of each other until Dick makes his announcement about the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation and suddenly Kate lives across the street from a billionaire who is being dogged by the press, who are BLOCKING THE BUSINESSES?!?!? The press needs to gtfo??? Look, you can move on your own, she can call the cops, or she can move you herself, but the cops will be nicer than she will, now maaaaybe if you make a purchase from one of the restaurants on the street she will give you an extra fifteen minutes to move but it's a minimum of thirty dollars!!!! Begone!!!

Dick has no idea this is happening he just knows the street was packed with press and half an hour later there was nobody.

Kate swings by about a week later with groceries (she is not looking at Dick) because it's probably hard for him to go shopping right now since he gets mobbed by reporters but like whatever it's just stuff from the bodega across the street and the community garden a few blocks over and maybe she swung by a grocer or something LOOK the point is it's not a big deal she's just being neighborly great ok bye tell your dog I said hi--

Dick interrupts her with 2 questions

1. How did she know which apartment was his? (She knows which fire escape he's usually on, she counted windows)

And

2. Are there eggs in there? He can make pretty good omlettes, does she want to come in for an omlette?

And then he SMILES at her and Kate just goes oh nooooo. Because that is a pretty smile and a pretty man, potentially the prettiest man she's ever seen. and he does make a good omlette

and ugh he's actually really nice and funny UNACCEPTABLE. now hawkeye has to make sure he doesn't get his dumb ass killed by rich assholes with hired guns. and unrelated, she winds up kind of taking care of Nightwing who keeps doing dumb shit with a severe head injury so Hawkeye gets stuck hauling his passed out giant self to her apartment to patch him up.

idk i'm in love with them

[spiderh0rse]

stark's mind notes part 7, e31-33, -1, and stark's mind 2 chapter 1. those last two aren't crucial to the plot and sm2e1 is noncanon, I believe, but they're fascinating regardless. the series is functionally in a hiatus at the moment, so this is all there is.

e31

sounds far more calm now. off to the lambda labs!

his tram has locked into the fastest setting! He has to jump off of it! Inertia! Fuck!

honestly I do think he ends up the most hurt from his own accidents than being attacked

tries to gripe for a second and gets shot at

admits that though he's not the paragon of virtue, morality, so on, the military is Still Worse. Score one point for self esteem??

confused about how the tram broke open a blast door, then shakes it off claiming he's wasting time

he says he can't shoot at shoddy and decrepit infrastructure and that makes it more dangerous than the things actively trying to kill him. OSHA inspector Stark when

having a rough time staying afloat

underwater mumbling

glad he didn't fall into the water from too high up. Surface tension and all that

a physics puzzle! Yippee!

confused about how a marine can die to a headcrab zombie

continues to be mad at poor construction and poorly maintained infrastructure

gets water in his mouth on accident

very thankful that none of the aliens are aquatic...

sprinklers! But yeah that and the water in the silo probably washed the blood off!

spots. The ICTHYOSAUR

thinks grenades will have killed the icthyosaur. Confusing that they don't tbh considering what being underwater near an explosion does to you

e32

deep breath. sigh.

so confused about the room layout of the icthyosaur encounter

claims he's been conditioned to kill every dangerous alien in his path. Relieved he doesn't have to kill this one

almost slips into the water! This shakes him badly

collapsed hallway > the fucking pool

"if there is a god, this door will lead to the lambda labs! I hear beeping and booping!"

a week. Stark doesn't comment on the timeline here.

stark does NOT want to talk to this pushy guy who's trying to get him to kill the icthyosaur

so so so beleaguered by this asshole scientist. Very quiet to him.

ignores the shark cage in favour of shooting into the water. Admits it isn't working

finds this while detour stupid

visibly struggling for air while turning the valve

seems to be shaking a bit for a while there! The water drains out of his suit when he stands up

wants seafood now! Get him some shrimp

likes the scope on the crossbow

likes that being able to see things at a distance with the scope affords him some safety

when you can teleport, everything's an ambush!

enjoys peeking around with the scope

climbs a grate! Poorly!

Colleague.

it's 2:34! PM? AM? Hell if i know

e33

spaced out for a minute there! My word he's exhausted

you know I think he'd have pieced together this puzzle easily a day or two ago. Hasn't eaten has barely slept...

yeah! Right there! Admits he missed something earlier! He's slowing down!

wonders if he'll be able to catch up to the man he saw

ignores the puzzle and stacks boxes

bangs his head on some metal

"the electricity won't kill me, it just hurts" man this'll give you brain damage, pal

agrees heartily to being called Gordon Freeman

cooooooold

shivering terribly. Has never been this cold in his life

goes and huddles by some warm pipes until everything clears up

still pissy about the icthyosaur

Stark's compliment of choice for the aliens is "sneaky"

alas that guard there is probably not Arlen

20 FOOT VERTICAL JUMP

handles the black ops pretty well!

considers the skintight bodysuits very impractical for combat

it's morning. It was 2:34 not too long ago. Wanna bet that little space out was him being asleep on his feet for a bit?

pretty sure he's doing very well right now. Nothing has stopped him so far. Nothing will! He's in complete control of his situation!

came back to the facility because of a promise

surface access is not his ideal direction right now

makes a dark joke, considers it may be too far, then figures he's allowed

hears the ambush, kind of gasps, shoots around, gets hit over the head, and hits the ground with a whimper

the voices of the HECU dragging him are much harder to make out than in Half Life. Stark is silent.

e-1

new titlecard! Neater hair. shorter.

on a coffee break! Likes the taste.

was manually delivering paperwork to Management

on his way, was mistaken for Freeman five times

and now a sixth. Politely corrects the man.

works with Freeman! Seems to think he doesn't like Stark

waits around watching the monitors for a tram schedule for a while

Kleiner has lectured him on tardiness before

makes a little ditty about walking around

so happy some random guy didn't call him Freeman!

responds to What's Up with The Ceiling

has been working at the company since he was 19, before Freeman was hired on

pretty sure the Freeman thing rn is a prank

picks Felix and Ramirez as a good example of someone who'd prank him

wonders how Ramirez would convince people to join in on the prank

he and Ramirez have had some manner of prank war going on for a while now

Stark managed to convince maintenance to swap the orange soda in the vending machines for lemon lime, which many were unhappy about

the racquetball incident saved Stark from being fired over the Soda Swap

hasn't heard from Ramirez in weeks due to some... Research project he's on...

Ramirez doesnt have to witness his prank to be happy about it

sees an exploded printer and compliments maintenance nearby for their work

knows a janitor! Marty! Considers helping him clean up a puddle if he weren't so late.

leaps a spilled puddle. Proud of his jump. Most physical activity he's done in a while

hazard course training next week!

considers shaving his goatee

sm2e1

fancy slow title screen. No card.

however ending up in the train worked, it is unpleasant.

oh yeah man's just whispering the whole time

does get a bit louder to protect someone

tells some combine (Barney) "You don't know who you're dealing with."

prepares to attack the combine

doesnt object at all to Barney calling him Freeman

only slightly objects to Kleiner

just. Deeply confused.

knows who Alyx is

exasperated at the combine, at Barney urging him along and offering no explanations

claims it's good to be back.

claims this is Black Mesa all over again, in the map department

throws away the can

figures out they're being watched pretty quickly

knows what Xen is called!

finds the Citadel imposing

talks about the man in the suit

a bit shocked at the sight of a strider but pushes past it

thinks Gman may have brought him back to Earth to mock him

realizes he hasn't seen any kids.

insults someone who doesn't fight his impending doom

a lot better at keeping calm under pressure than we're used to seeing him

[narashikari]

Truth be told, as someone who is fine with Michinaga (I understand his motives but condemn his actions), I don't think there is any possible way to fully satisfy everyone with his ending? Forgetting everything? The worst option. Dying a painful redemption via death? Haters will dislike the short term process of it. Living with the memories of the DGP? Preferable if you're interested in lost of purpose, empty feelings, and mental anguish. Not so much if you're not interested in atonement.

Continuing my previous ask, I think the struggle to fully satisfy everyone with a 'proper ending' is due to how Buffa is written. Because the concept of someone obsessed with destroying an organization for enabling misery, and in the process being fine with becoming a monster if it means destroying the evil org as well, only to be forced to acknowledge that there is more than simply vengeance, I think is neat. The problem is that due to the writing, he just ends up this giant hypocrite instead.

Buffa's given the basic rule of 'I don't tolerate backhanded cheating' with Mary in the beginning, but when going rogue is allied with Beroba, who is literally that made manifest. I think it's due to Takahashi having a habit of using characters as vehicles for his writing, too focused on presenting the themes of the series through the Riders, and in the process not realizing that what he sees and what the audience sees aren't exactly the same thing. (EX: Thouser's shoehorned 'redemption')

Yup I totally agree with all of this. I sorta pointed it out in a previous ask here, but Azuma's desire is not really an option if justice and closure are what the characters want.

I felt Azuma went downhill as a character when he teamed up with Beroba and especially after the Bullfighting round. I would've appreciated the idea of someone who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, but still draws the line somewhere, and he even manages to act like a decent guy sometimes. I even would've appreciated him pointing out that it may be more realistic to just bring it all down instead of striving for something as idealistic as what Keiwa wants.

But man... The hypocrisy is truly astonishing. The audacity of this bullhead to say something like that to Keiwa, when he used Keiwa's death to remake the world into his image (which benefited no one but him) really grinded my gears. Man really said he wants to stop the DGP from making people suffer usinh their dreams as bait but goes stomping about literally crushing their dreams in his hands, forever apparently?

It doesn't help that a good chunk of the audience thinks that Azuma is the GOAT or something for his philosophy or whatever is going on in that bull's brain + OP status.

For me though, he just sounds like a typical asshole strongman who wants to enforce his own version of the world onto everyone, thinking it's inherently better than everyone else's and that might makes right, even when it just leaves everybody else empty or worse. He just happened to have succeeded.

For now, at least.

[system-of-a-feather]

Feathers Story Time

So context to the hair shit with XIV, way way way way way way way way way back when XIV and I were still tearing at eachother's throats in a competition for dominance and who is "the real one" between the two of us - XIV 1.0 had a HUGE thing out for pissing me off any chance he could and trying to assert his existence over mine and basically taking any and every opportunity to remind me that he was in fact planning to take shit over at that he has the perseverance to get what he wants. He's admitted it to be chronic and passive psychological warfare and basically a passive way of terrorizing me with the intent that if he stressed me out enough I'd shut down and it'd be an easy grab.

And two of the many passive micro-reminders were 1) Lets get tattoos and 2) We will dye our hair white. And so when he started to turn around, he was STILL a snarky annoying asshole - but he lessened all the not-petty actually more harmful things and maintained his more petty ones cause admittedly it was kinda a nice mutual way to vent our inherent need to buttheads while we were still going from very negative enemies to where we are today. So when we weren't constantly chummy - it served to fill the conflict need by maintaining a sense of that "oooooh imma get you. im more determined and perseverant than you are a stubborn control freak" and a "no I am ignoring you because I am more stubborn and a control freak than you can last"

Which ORIGINALLY was genuine aggressive back and forth, cause XIV would always one up me back when it was genuine with a "no, you aren't. I can already tell you are waning in your effort and besides, I never loose, so by nature, you will loose" and he wouldn't be wrong cause honestly, at the time - the amount being able to self express himself as a host meant to him (and thus customizing the body to his taste) was a lot more than my arbitrary reactionary "No." and love for a pointless aesthetic status quo and HONESTLY it used to genuinely stress me out and he was right that if we hadn't worked on our dynamic, he probably could have stressed me out enough to win overall

But like again, as we developed into more of the dynamic we currently have, we really maintained the hair and tattoo saga as a banter that went from genuine to semi-genuine and now at this point it's just the principle and long term friendly competition on which parts of our brain has more stamina.

Cause in the semi-genuine phase, the content wasn't as much what we were arguing over so much as a "is XIV capable of imposing himself over my will" and that being a thing we actually quietly cared about even when we knew it wasn't something healthy for our dynamic because for me - admitting that he could still made me feel insecure and a bit frightened cause of his old rhetoric and for XIV it was a principle of his own principles of "never loosing"

(which has since changed his understanding of "never loosing" so while he still holds it, it is a much more mature version than just this petty level - in modern though, he intentionally holds onto that old XIV 1.0 definition SOLELY for this)

And so in that semi-genuine phase it was him holding up his pride and dedication to his pride of never loosing VERSUS my stubborn denial to acknowledge that XIV is more stubborn than me because honestly I am a bit proud of my stubbornness as - much like his principles and dedication to dominate and get needs met, my genre of stubborn has not only kept us safe but got us where we are today

And so in the MODERN era

The hair conflict is a very friendly nostalgic banter that rather than competition of insecurities and stuff, it's a competition to acknowledge the STUPIDITY of both of our "super powers" as parts.

The longer the conflict goes, the more we can acknowledge XIV's ability to focus down and dedicate himself to a cause and goal and maneuver obstacles to get where he wants

The longer the conflict holds, the more we can acknowledge my stubborn dedication to my idealism and most importantly, my dedication to serving as host for the system and just genuinely - for better or worse - how strongly the system can rely on me to not budge my ground when it matters

That being said, there is an unspoken mutual understanding that I will infact eventually cave in on the sole account that 1) XIV is more perseverant than I am stubborn because his perseverance is more ingrained and backed by his personal life experiences, trauma, and roll + the more he gets challenged the more he gets fight response set off which makes him more dedicated and its a frightening loop 2) we both acknowledge this is the stupidest of stupid conflicts since hair can be dyed, cut, grown out, etc whenever

And with THAT being said, we both still keep it up because in the end, we both - while different in most depictions - have a warrior's bond where it's not the content that matters but the principle of not giving up the ground to a rival XD

And this shit started to become an inside joke and meme in the system cause like after a year and a half of it - XIV would pester about it almost every day or anytime we saw a platnium blonde person or white haired character with a "Hey Riku, you know we should dye our hair white" as if it was a NEW SUGGESTION EVERY TIME then go quiet for like a month or so on it, let me get my guard down then randomly

"Hey ya know, Riku, I was thinking" "Yeah?" "We should dye our hair white" "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ITS BEEN X YEARS"

And once again

Once again, I was like ah. Its been like three or more months since he bothered me about it. Maybe he's gotten bored of it and no longer wants to bother with such a stupid petty argu-

Him: HEY TUMBLR TIPS ON DYEING HAIR POST NOW

and im just like

fucking hell

what the fuck XIV

It's been three years.

Three years of this constant pestering.

Here's the thing

For the pastl ike four days before he posted that

Everytime

Im on youtube

And that one Danny Phantom or something close to it guy comes up in youtube shorts

"Hey you know Riku, if we dye our hair white then when it grows longer we could have that really near bleached-nature kinda dynamic he has" "Hey you know Riku, gotta admit its an aesthetic good look" "You know Riku, I think I really deserve to live my white hair dreams ya know? What do you think?" "Have you ever considered how neat it would be to have white hair?" "You know now that we have a job that wouldn't care about us looking weird or extra we should TOTALLY dye our hair white" "Okay heres a deal, I'll stop asking about tattoos for a while if we dye our hair white. I mean dyeing your hair is a lot less permanent then tattoos no?" "Hey you know, that hair dye is on sale, I mean its probably really bad and not what we want cause you dont wanna cheap out on that, but ya know, it gets me thinking. We should probably bleach our hair."

AND EVERY TIME HE ACTS LIKE HES MENTIONING THE IDEA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

WHEN HES BEEN DOING IT FOR THREE YEARS

AND DOING IT FOR EVERY DAY FOR LIKE TWO OR THREE WEEKS BEFORE GOING SILENT FOR A MONTH OR TWO THEN COMING BACK AND HARRASSING ME EVERY DAY

JESUS CHRIST

this is why im going to loose

[perceabeth]

OTP Prompt: you make my life so bright you know? (It's longer but I have goldfish brain rn and can't remember the rest)

"Can I ask you a question?" Percy spent the last hour and a half stepping on each and every one of Annabeth's seven trillion nerves and still finds the audacity to speak to her. "Serious one." "What?" She grumbles. "Why are you such an asshole?" "I'm the asshole?" Annabeth throws her hands up in the air. "You're the one who insisted–" "Stop pointing fingers, Annabeth." Percy cuts her off, which does very little for her temper. "We would never be in this situation if you had just given me the right direc–" "If you had listened to anything I said–" "It's reading a map, not rocket science–" "Oh my gods, do you ever shut up?" "That's rich, coming from you." That goes on for a while and it gets really personal. At one point Percy's yelling about Annabeth's absent mother and Annabeth's screaming about his self-destructive need to save everybody around him and it gets pretty nasty. It's best the details go undocumented. It's only when they stop taking petty jabs at each other and notice a cave to offer them respite for the night and from the pouring rain that the insults start to wind down into sheepish unspoken apologies. Annabeth's goes like this: "Come closer," she doesn't wait for Percy to move before snuggling into his side. "It's cold." "We've been walking in the rain for two hours," is Percy's way of saying sorry. "Do you feel sick?" "No." Annabeth shakes her head and rests it against his shoulder. A beat passes between them, long enough that they can both acknowledge to themselves that the onus of their situation might rest a little bit on both their shoulders. "Are we going to die here?" "Maybe," they've been through too much to start lying to each other now. "Probably." "How would you want to go?" "The cold, probably." Percy says. Annabeth considers it. "I think a bear should eat me. I don't want to suffer long." "I'm curious now– those sharp teeth tearing into your flesh. That's not suffering?" "Faster than waiting the freezing cold for death to come." Percy thinks about it for a moment. Then he says, "I want to go with you. However it is. Not one moment longer." "What, do you like, love me or something?" Annabeth smirks and he rolls his eyes, nuzzling her neck. "You're so corny." "I'd prefer the term romantic." "If we're really going to die, can I say something kind of corny?" Annabeth waits for him to nod before speaking. "You're kind of the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's like– I was stumbling through the woods, alone, lost. And then... you were this light in my life. You make me brighter just by being around you." "Oh god." Percy presses a kiss to her jaw. "If that's only kind of corny, I can't imagine what you consider really corny." "I mean it." Annabeth laughs. "We're going to get eaten by bears here and I wouldn't regret a thing." "We aren't going to get eaten by bears." Percy pokes her in the side. "We're going to get out and live a long life of knowing how deeply corny and mushy you really are. And I, for one, will never let you forget it."

[ele-sme]

i tried, hope someone like this

Okay, so this is over 1000 and i hope someone like this. Reminder im not English native so please be patience. I did this because i thought out there wasn't enough of them. Please if you have advise to how improve tell me i would love to improve.

By the way this is a Noccoro

Characters: Spider 14, Neteyam 13 and a half, Kiri 13 and Lo’ak 12

Spider pov:

Me,Kiri, Lo’ak and Neteyam were in the forest. Not to far, not to close. We sneaked out that Morning to go in the forest. Well i did it, then Kiri followed Lo’ak sneaked in and Neteyam who was worried for his little siblings tagged along.

“we should go back” Neteyam said, we weren't to far from the clan or hell gates but still he was worried that his parents would getted mad. Lo'ak clicked his tongue in annoyance at his words, lately he and Neteyam fighed a lot and had very little temper with eachother. “Nete we aren't to far from home” i said trying to reassure him, but he didn't even looked at me ignoring mine words, “if mom and dad find out” he continued “Spider is right, Neteyam we aren't to far away” Kiri said trying to reassure him too. “i don't care of what he said” he responded to her, those words cutted deeply into me. “what do you mean by that” she snapped “the nìyo’ olo’eyktan son can't care less about the others don't you know by now?”Lo’ak said with the same temper. They started to quarrel and i sitted down knowing this would have taked a lot.

I was still thinking about his words, he ignored me all week which was strange he never did that,we meet first, we become friends first, hell he was the one i thinked about when Norm telled me about love. He tolded me that love was diffrent from the love i had to him or Max and the other scientist.  “Love is an intense and deep feeling that involves people's hearts and souls. It's an emotional bond that goes beyond physical attraction and is based on emotional connection, mutual understanding and the desire to care for each other.” he explained. I couldn't say i had that so strong feelings for Neteyam, but whenever i thinked about him butterflys whould go all around my stomach, and everytime he brained out his hair in front of me i thiked about how nice it would have been to swipe your fingers in them. They way his eyes looked in the sun, getting brighed and to a color that looked like pure honey.  

Meanwhile i was thinking about it and they were fighting i hear something. “stop now” i say lound enough for them to stop, they all  looked at me asking if i was stupid or something, with my hands i communicate that i heard something. The sound was repeted and they're face now dropped looked at me thinking i knew what to do. When the sound came again i decided what to do “run” a soon as i said it Neteyam taked my hand and all four of us started to run. Mr sully always saided to us that if we were in the forrest out and heard something we found suspect to not wait to know what it was but to run to the nearest adult and then get help. But the most important thing he said was “if you are with someone else never separate” this was the part that Lo’ak and Kiri didn't understand because when i felled down and Neteyam helped me getting up they were vanish lefting us alone in the forest.  

“kllpa key” Neteyam kept saying about Lo’ak “koak kxetse” he kept saying about Kiri “kurkungs” he said about both of them. “Nete maybe you should calm down im sure they will come back soon” i tried to calm him down, “soon?SOON? IT IS ALMOST EVENING MEAL” he was so angry his tail  and ears were all up. “ why are you acting like you the only one who should get upset? I can litteraly ran out of air” i was angry too but atleast i wasn't being an asshole “good” he hissed “what wrong with you? Why you saying this things?! What did i do to you?” my voiced cracked making his ears fell down but his tail was still all up, i was tired of this bullshit and started to go away from him.

He hissed and throwned me on the grass then he putted himself on top of me,he picked his knife and putted it just centimeters above my chest “my mom said you are a demon,” he started to yell at me “your kind killed my clan, aunt and grandfather and...” he stopped for a moment for maybe thinking if saying the words he wanted to say, which he did “your father the head demon, brought only destruction and pain. I need to hate you!” he finally stoped and tears felling down his cheeks were now on my mask.  

I hugged him, maybe not the smartes idea since the knife could have cutted me open, but as soon my arms reached his back he throwned it away, hugging me too. “you know what?” i said after a while “what” he responded, we were still hugging “when you were on top of me with the knife just above my chest and the light was hitting you from behind i though that if i had to die at least i had die with a beautiful person immagine in my brain” maybe it was strange to say or to understand or both! But he did, he understood and he laughed so hard that he felled on my side. His laugh picked me too and we started to laugh for minutes.

When we stopped we were looking at each other, eyes on eyes. I knew what time it was and i knew what i needed to do, i mean the Great Mother  could maked it more clear. I  removed my mask and kissed him on the lips, after some seconds of maybe surprise he putted his hands behind my head pushing me for a longer kiss, which i unfortunately couldn't provide for the stupid fact that i needed a stupid mask to breath, but let me be clear if i had to die for not enough breath i wish is when I'm kissing him. He pulled away frist after hearing my effort to not die from apnea, which i repeat i would not regret, he easily putted my masck back in.  

“it was amazing” he said “it was tìme’em”  i continue “it was tìyo’” we both say at the same time and fall in another laugh. We talked for what it seems hours but it must have been minutes before Mr. Sully finded us, clueless of what happend and ready to ground both of us for staying in the forest even if we knew the way home. Honestly we didn't care, it was worth it.