#but eyyyy at least no one is suffering?

[vincent-sinclair-deserved-better]

Call Me Maybe

just your local murder beans being pals

Characters: Cylas, Darrell (by @bluecoolr)

Words: 2401

Content warnings: talk about death/hunting/animal death

divider by firefly-graphics

They were solving Sudokus on their phone when a shadow fell over them, making them look up.

“Uh… are you Cylas?” A vaguely familiar voice asked, and she recognised the man from the store. He was taller than she remembered.

“Yeah, yeah. In the flesh”, she replied awkwardly. Sweet baby Jesus, how was she supposed to make it through a whole lunch? If he didn’t walk out on them, he’d at the very least never want to see them again.

It felt like they just stared at each other for hours – though it probably were only a few seconds at most – before he scratched his neck an spoke up again. “Uhm… shall we go inside then?”

“Oh, sure. Of course.” Social interactions were… an experience. But at least he hadn’t commented on or even looked at her scars – which was, albeit refreshing, also kind of odd because even the strangers walking past did. Though that might have been due to her clothes as well.

They went inside and sat down, it luckily wasn’t too crowded, and they managed to find a spot from which she could keep an overview of the place. After settling in, sorting out her skirt and bag, she grabbed her wallet and took out Darrell’s license. “You probably want this back.”

Somehow, they actually managed a smile. Darrell looked at their outstretched hand and actually seemed to blush. “Right, thank you. I hope the picture didn’t shock you too much.”

She involuntarily snorted and he looked away. “Nah, your fine. I look horrible in photographs, for real.”

“Doesn’t everyone say that?” He responded, now smiling as well. Good, he didn’t feel offended. Seemingly.

“I mean, I guess? But, like, if I smile, I look like I’m planning something, just super mischievous.” She said, butchering the pronunciation of the last word and cringing internally. “And when I keep a neutral expression, I look like I’m ready to kill someone, or like I steal the souls of the innocent. Just, blank, dead stare. I don’t have a resting bitch face; I got a resting serial killer face.”

He chuckled though for a second some kind of emotion they couldn’t discern flashed in his eyes. “Got experience with that kinda people, or killing people as a side job?”

Just as they were about to respond a server came to take their order. They stared at the table, trying to hide their embarrassment, while Darrell said they hadn’t decided yet.

“Anyway. No exciting side job, just a nurse in training.” She said with a shrug. “We should probably take a moment to look at the menu though, right?”

“Yep.” He replied. “Get whatever you want, I’m paying.”

She hesitated. “Are you sure? You really don’t have to. It’s no big deal, really.”

He just shook his head at that. “I insist.”

Since it seemed unlikely that they’d be able to change his mind, they instead focused on deciding what to get. There was just too much great looking food. Then their eyes fell on a special lunch offer.

“Oh, check this out.” She said, lying the menu in the middle of the table and leaning over. “They got this thing where you can get two burgers from this section plus big fries and nuggies. Can even make it loaded fries if you want.”

Darrell looked it over and nodded. “Sounds good to me. You want something to drink as well?”

They sat back down, only now realising they had actually said “nuggies” out loud and grateful that he ignored it. Technically, they knew what they wanted to drink, but they were worried what he would think of them. It was so much food already; would a milkshake be too much? They didn’t want him to think she was greedy or only ate junk food.

“Are you okay?” He asked, some degree of worry in his voice. “If you’re not hungry, that’s fine too.”

“No no, that’s not it.” She hastily interrupted him. “I just don’t want to be… too much?”

He furrowed his brows. “If you’re worried about the money-”

“I’m not-” They started, only to flinch at their volume. Calm down. No need to get all worked up. “It’s not… the money. I just- I feel bad if I, like, eat more than the people I’m with, if that makes sense? Sorry, it’s kinda stupid.”

He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out whether she was being honest. “That’s not stupid at all. Just say what you want and I’ll get the same? There isn't really anything here I don’t like.”

They fixed their gaze onto their hands resting on the table. “Uh… strawberry milkshake? Or cola, that’s fine too.”

Just then, the server came back. Darrell ordered, and they couldn’t help but notice that although he ordered a milkshake for himself, he didn’t specify a flavour. “You a regular here or something?”

“Huh?” He turned his attention back to her, having just been exchanging glances with some red-haired person working in the back.

“Oh, sorry. You’re not a mind-reader.” They said, once again cringing at their word choice. Brain to mouth filter who? “I was wondering if you knew people here? Cause you didn’t specify your milkshake. But I guess it’d make sense. You live around here, right?”

He shot her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’ve got a friend working here. And I do live on Devil’s Peak.”

“Living on Devil’s Peak and working in the actual hell that is customer service.” They said with a grin.

“Well, gotta do what you gotta do.” He replied. “It’s not that bad, usually. Though I’ve heard quite unpleasant stories from co-workers. They think it’s cause of my height that fewer people want to mess with me.”

“Sounds fair.” They replied. “I certainly don’t have that kinda privilege.”

“Apologies if this is too intrusive, but that did sound somewhat… down? Everything alright?”

She shrugged, though her smile did retain some bitterness. “Ah, well. Not many take me seriously, I’m not seen as an authority figure. Luckily, in the ER, people who actually need urgent help don’t care much about height or hair colour and are more looking for someone in scrubs.”

“Damn, that probably sounded cold hearted.” She immediately added. “I don’t appreciate people being hurt or in pain. I’d rather be treated like a child for the rest of my life if it meant no one ever had to be in pain again. Well, good people at least.”

“Don’t worry, I get it. Didn’t think you were implying that you love wallowing in people’s suffering.”

The food arrived and they were grateful for the distraction. Their talent to turn every conversation depressing was amazing.

“Borger and nuggies.” She whispered under her breath – or so she thought, but Darrell seemed to have somehow heard it anyway and chuckled. “Lotsa nuggies even.”

She watched him cautiously, trying to determine whether he was mocking her or not, but all they could pick up was a playful twinkle in his eyes. “Indeed. Do you think the devil likes nuggies? Or the skinwalkers?”

He grinned back at her. “Not sure, but I think the hogs would. Then again, they’ll eat pretty much anything.”

"Wait, are you telling me there are no cryptids up there? Only wild piggies?” They said, putting their food down to raise their hand to their chest in an exaggerated shock gesture.

“I mean, I’ve lived there for a while and haven’t seen any, only the hogs. They’re almost like pets to me if I’m honest.”

She choked on her drink. “Pets? Don’t they, like, kill people and eat them?”

Darrell shrugged, looking completely unbothered. “If people intrude on their territory it can happen. But overall, they’re really sweet little things who won't do no harm to no one. Aside from my sweet potatoes.”

“You grow sweet potatoes?” They asked, suddenly excited. “That’s so cool. I love love love gardening, and luckily the cats don’t care much for my garden.”

Both of them were through their burgers and half the fries in record time but hardly even noticed, too invested in their now more light-hearted conversation. Cylas was almost bouncing in their seat. “You gotta share some of the potatoes with me once their ready, okay? I’ll trade you for… I don’t know, tomatoes? Herbs? I got all kinds of stuff. Oh, I’ve always wanted to make something like sweet potato fries but then I forget when I’m grocery shopping.”

“Sure thing, if I get them to survive the hogs.” Darrell replied, seeming equally excited. “And you don’t have to trade, though I won’t complain if you wanna share.”

“Man-eating hogs – the ultimate danger to gardening endeavours on Devil’s Peak. Who even cares about skinwalkers? People have to focus on the actually important things in life!” She added dramatically, and maybe a little too exuberant since she suddenly felt the tell-tale tingle of being watched.

They looked up to see the red-haired person again, gaze fixed on them this time. She kept the eye contact, until the other person turned away. Whatever that was about. When she returned her attention to Darrell, he was watching her, expression unreadable.

“Anyway,” They attempted to return to the conversation. “Any plans on how to keep your pets away? I suppose you’ve tried stuff like a fence before?”

His expression changed back to a genuine smile. “Yeah, tried pretty much everything I could find. Fences can’t stop them; they just tear them down and either avoid me for days or glare. How come your cats aren’t interested though? Don’t they like to cause mischief?”

“Oh, they sure like to be chaotic little fuckers. Just not fond of the outsides. They’re indoor cats, always have been. I prefer it that way, they can’t cause any damage to local wildlife, and I don’t gotta worried about them being hit by a car, ingesting something poisonous, or possibly even be shot.”

“Shot?” Darrell said, somewhere between shock and disbelief. Cylas gave a half-shrug. “Yeah. I mean, people can be quite awful in general and there has recently been a lady who was straight up killing people’s pets, though mostly by poisoning or capturing and drowning them. But there’s always a chance of cats or dogs being mistaken for something else and shot on accident.”

“Ah, well, guess that kind of makes sense. I can’t stand people like that, who abuse animals. Really aren’t worth the air they’re breathing.” He commented, a hint of anger in his voice. “Sometimes people come up to the peak just to hunt the hogs. Or skinwalkers. Whichever it is, I don’t mind them being eaten. If those guys fail to kill the animal it usually comes down to me to put the poor thing out of its misery, if I even manage to find it. And even though in those cases it’s for a ‘good’ cause I still hate killing them.”

“I can imagine. I hate hunters who do it without necessity. Especially if it only leads to animals suffering.” She shook her head. “People like that deserve what’s coming for them.”

He looked at her with a surprisingly gentle expression that she couldn’t quite interpret. “You really don’t mind the hogs?”

“No, why would I?”

“Well, they are dangerous.” He said. “They do hurt people.”

They shrugged. “To be completely honest, anyone dumb enough to run off into woods known for people going missing or getting hurt there kinda just has it coming. In my opinion. Play stupid games, win stupid prices or something.”

“Yeah, I agree.” He replied, before his gaze landed on the empty chicken nugget plate.

“Oh, no more nuggies.” Cylas said. “On that note, when does your break end anyway? You’re not late or anything, right?”

He checked the time. “No, not yet, though I should probably get going. After I paid.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pay at least part of it?” They tried again but he just shook his head. “I got it. I invited you, remember.”

They sighed. And then, with a confidence they didn’t know they possessed, they said: “Alright, alright. Can I at least give you my phone number? I actually don’t use Instagram that often. And if you’re not comfortable with me having your number you don’t gotta text me.”

“Uhm, sure.” He said, looking somewhat surprised. “Just… put your contact into my phone, I guess? Seems the easiest way.”

“Yep. You wanna save yours in mine as well, or rather not?”

“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll do it. Fair is fair.”

They exchanged numbers and Cylas waited for him to pay, before both got up and left the diner. While walking towards the door she felt eyes following her again but she didn’t bother to check.

Outside the diner, Darrell and her stood awkwardly next to each other, until she decided to break the silence. “I guess this is the point where I say goodbye, then?”

As she had hoped, it made Darrell chuckle and broke the tension. “I suppose so. Got anything excited planned for the rest of the day?”

“Nope. Checking on my plants, hanging out with the cats. The usual.” They replied. “Guess you’ll be working a couple more hours?”

“Exactly.” He said.

She gave him a half-teasing, half-sympathetic smile. “Well, then… calm rest of your shift? May you not encounter any annoying customers?”

“Thanks. Uh… do you just… want to leave now? Do we hug?” Darrell managed to get out, despite severely blushing.

“Oh, sure.” They replied, standing on their tippy-toes in order to even reach him. “I love hugs. Thanks for asking.”

His arms basically completely engulfed them, and they couldn’t help but giggle. “You’re a giant in comparison to me.”

In response, he only blushed even harder.

“Sorry, I’m just teasing. Have a nice rest of your shift for real, don’t let me keep you any longer. Don’t want you to get into trouble just cause of me.” Cylas said, still grinning up at him.

He rubbed his neck, struggling to meet her eyes. “Yeah, thanks again. Guess I’ll see you around?”

“Or text me when you arrive at the station safely. Bikes like that are dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You better.” She said before turning away to go to her car.

This had been decidedly more fun than expected, and she was almost glad that he had lost his driver’s license.

to be tagged or not to be tagged, that is the question:

@rottent33th @slaasherslut @cries-in-latino @kalid-raven @angxlslasher @the-pinstriped-hood

[pancake-breakfast]

Well, it's a good thing I tried to get ahead earlier in the week because it took this long for me to get to the last part.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 4, Chapters 6-7 below.

Chapter 6: The Bystanders

Falling ships and giant worms. Looks like we're off to a great start here.

Ok, I really hope we get a worms-eye view of The Fall in Stampede. I'm not gonna hold my breath given that they've kinda already covered it and they just don't have a ton of episodes to work with, but I love love love the idea that we get this backstory from the perspective of the planet's native, sentient, and very inhuman inhabitants.

You know what, Zazie? I dunno what this face is supposed to be, either.

Ah, the Japanese inclination to apologize for everything.

Oh, gods. Nightow's gonna intersperse this backstory with the boys fighting, isn't he? *SIGH* I wouldn't normally complain, but Nightow's fights are, far more often than not, hard enough to follow to begin with.

For as twisted as his body is, Hoppered's hands look very normal. I don't know what I was expecting.

Ohhh, Hoppered's beef is about July. Shoot, I saw someone make a comment about one of the cops in Stampede during July, and now that makes sense. Like, at the very least, that cop's line was a callback to this scene.

Ah, the innate trouble with translating the two-syllable Japanese "待って" (ma'tay) to the monosyllabic English word "wait." Personally, I would have gone with "W-- Wait!" but I'm not the one doing translations here.

Vash is denying it because he can't imagine wanting to destroy a city, but Hoppered is right; he just doesn't know.

Is... is Hoppered crying?

Eyyyy, old-school Hoppered! Looks like he was a bit of an odd one even before he joined up with the Gung-Ho Guns.

Ah, there's that term "independent." But the way Zazie's presenting it is making me think about it in whole new ways. Stampede brought it up in a way that made me think of them as having a freedom other Plants don't, but this interpretation has me thinking of the innate alone-ness of both Vash and Knives, what that means to them, how they deal with it and how they make it a part of their being. Knives revels in it and lets it feed his sense of superiority (much to Legato's dismay, I'm sure). Meanwhile, Vash... I wouldn't say he resents it, but he finds it very lonely, and it doesn't make him feel superior so much as it makes him feel very Other.

And here's the first place we have it straight-up said that they're Plants.

Ah, so the Bystanders referred to in this chapter title are Vash and Knives. I thought it might end up being the worms. But hey, no reason the title can't work both ways.

And then ANGEL ARM?!?! Ohhhh, Zazie's story's being interwoven with Hoppered's. This is July. How was I supposed to know that without metagame knowledge??

Ok, this panel is great, 'cause it was only a few pages back that Zazie noted they have the innate ability to sense others' emotions. It just adds a level of intimidation on the whole thing.

Hahahaha, Midvalley. I guess I shouldn't laugh at his suffering, but he tried to kill Wolfwood, so eh.

There's something innately ridiculous with him being like, "Time to pull out the BIG GUNS!!!" and then immediately being like, "Aw, man! My instrument's busted or something...."

"He's almost too pathetic to kill at this point." Rude.

Black-suited moron? Wolfwood?

Yeah, it's Wolfwood.

Milly to the rescue! Again!

LOL, he's doing better than he looks.

But not as good as he thinks he's doing.

The Adventures of Big Girl and Short Woman by Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Uhhhh, who's the person with the light?

Hahahaha, Zazie looks sooooo unimpressed with Midvalley right now.

Zazie has a point, but I think he's preaching to the choir here.

Where tf did Midvalley get alcohol from all of a sudden? Also, is the alcohol called "Drifter"? If so, that's kinda cool. Something something meaningful names for alcohol in this series.

Oop, Zazie's worm sense is tingling!

Chapter 7: Hopeless Sinner

CW: Suicidal ideation

Oh, Vash. This look has me really worried for you.

"Sinner" is generally the word Knives uses for humans in this series. I wonder, though, if it might be being used to apply to Vash here.

Ohhh, babygirl looks soooo troubled. And then looking up and seeing the hole in the moon.... That's not gonna improve his mood.

Ah. He remembers. And... you know... in this shot, he looks amazingly like Knives.

Heh. Hoppered just... sort of peering over him. Like he's checking on his wellbeing. It's the opposite, but the casualness of it is deceptively calm.

I'm... honestly not quite sure what Hoppered did to silence Vash here. Slap him, I guess?

Ooooof. Vash just straight up embraces the killing urge inside him. He looks it straight in the face and says, "Yeah. This is a part of me." But in the same breath he rejects it, says it's not something he wants because he doesn't want to go down that path. He doesn't want it so bad he'd take his own life to keep it from taking over.

Gods, he's sooooo sad. Even Hoppered feels bad for him.

Hoppered still wants him dead, and still wants to die, as well. TBH, this feels more like he empathizes with Vash to some degree. Something something double suicide.

Uhhhhh, sudden light??

Yeah, I dunno what happened here, either. Vash got knocked somewhere?

*sigh* Wheeeerrrrre does Wolfwood think he's going???

Did... he just gut-punch Milly????

Yes. Yes, he did.

He deserves booing. But I love how he just... caves. I bet he didn't really want to leave and was only gonna do so to get Milly out of there. But Milly didn't want to go peacefully and so here we are.

I really feel like Midvalley should get a strap for his sax. It seems like that would be useful. And this series can't have too many straps, belts, etc.

If five seconds is all it takes, why isn't Vash dead yet? Hmmmmm???

Uhhhhh, what's with this crazy airship??

Ohhhhh, shit. I have enough spoilers to know who that is.

This chair, though. It looks like a musical instrument.

Author Bonus Chapter

I have no idea what Nightow is rambling about here with this Barbarian Bonehead All-Stars nonsense.

Ohhh, so this isn't Kuroneko. This is Nya-Kun. My bad, I got them confused.

"My emotions are overflowing into rambling!!!" Hahahahahaha, I know we all do this from time to time, but it just feels very Nightow.

Ohhhh, something got lost in translation here. I've watched enough Attack on Titan to know that apparently Nightow replaced a word here with the pronunciation for "heart," but there's no corelary on the page.

I had heard about Nightow's love of action figures.

"They gather at the ocean with pleasant feeling." This sounds like something that was translated too literally from Japan. The phrase doesn't quite work in English.

"The meaning of their name in Japanese is 'omocha buzoku.'" This tells me nothing about the meaning of their name in Japanese. I am very confused.

Ah, he addressed the difference in the planet name from the manga to the anime. Sort of.

Haaaahahahahaha, ok, Story Time. A couple weeks ago I was at Anime Expo with @sweetpotoooooooos, and she went to a panel by Studio Bones (one of the old-timers as studios go) on one of the days when I couldn't attend. She said that during the panel, Bones mentioned that when they first got word of just how popular Fullmetal Alchemist (the original) was in the U.S., they thought they were being lied to. The numbers seemed too high. (As someone who was into anime at that time, I can verify that four of their five titles preceding FMA were talked about in the community, but only Wolf's Rain actually aired on Adult Swim where it could reach a broad audience... and... well, let's just say Wolf's Rain is not as good as FMA. (It does have an excellent Yoko Kanno soundtrack, though.)) FMA was first broadcast on Adult Swim in 2004. Trigun was first broadcast on Adult Swim in '03. The idea that anything anime would be popular enough to warrant action figures in the West would have absolutely been mind-blowing to any mangaka, and much more so one as in love with figures as Nightow.

Mata nee, minna-san!

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10 || Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Volume 1: Covers + 1-2, 2 DT, 3-4, 3 DT, 5-6 || Volume 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7 || Volume 3: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 || Volume 4: Covers + 1-2, 3-5

[fanfictin]

Liz flicks through the Clone Wars for interactions between favourite disaster dad/brother and anger child and also maybe his ‘snippy?’ padawan

1-2

“Anakin, where are you?” said in the most long-suffering voice as obiwan holos anakin and ahsoka in their ship not following orders

1-3

“I hope you know what you’re doing, anakin” “Well, if I don’t, I won’t be around to hear the I told you so” “That’s reassuring...”

1-4

Subtly has never been one of your strong points, Anakin.

Everything I know, I learned from you, Master.

(why does obiwan keep saluting every time he runs from grevious)

You know we have GUNS. You can shoot back ANY TIME. -Anakin

(anakin still calling obiwan Master gives me life)

(also disaster gang really do call each other by Snips and Skyguy, huh)

1-5

“Still here, Anakin? When was the last time you slept?” (FUCK yes,, my favourite trope) [...] “Since then, he vanished.” “Well, unlike you, maybe he’s getting some much-needed rest” (the SASS. the CARE.)

1-6

“Suicide is not the jedi way, Master” asgfgdhkslfhsdalafl out of context that’s hysterical

(anyway none of these episodes are connected i have no idea what the fuck is happening or just happened at any point)

FINALLY some hurt/comfort. the classic “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” and blackout. nice.

awwwww ahsoshka trying to cheer up anakin and anakin just “you can’t replace r2″ i mean he’s right

Ahsoka has a green saber!! bless. love that.

1-7

Rex IS calling Ahsoka ‘Sir’. love it.

“Where’s R2 when i need him” awww ani

okay Grevious’ bodyguards are WAY harder to kill than that,, do you know how many times i have done that level in lego starwars,, I--

“Besides, R2 is more than a droid. He’s a friend.” 0,.0

1-11

ObiWan and Anakin their typical -anakin from the ceiling- anakin: oh it’s you obiwan: This is how you thank me for rescuing you? and THEN-- How am I supposed to become a jedi master if I’m getting caught all the time At least you’re a master of getting caught HYSTERICAL

it’s just Them on a mission. much love. i’m crey. they work so well together. “Why do I even try” that’s the obi wan exasperated abt his padawan that i know and love. crey.

BICKERING WHILE THEY CRASH LAND A SHIP. LOVE.

rock fall!! oh they’re fine. okay well the banter is pretty good and brief panic. 

Anakin, when I tell you to run, Run. Master! You’re alive! And where is your lightsaber? It got knocked out of my hand. By a rock? Yeah. By a rock. You know what would be helpful? A little light. Certainly. -obiwans lightsaber doesn’t work- Silly thing. It was working just a minute ago. You don’t suppose it was hit... by a rock, do you? -obiwan dramatically points a finger and is abt to give his padawan a piece of his mind-

Anaking running away while Obwan is chill,, perfect. ObiWan helps at just the right time. they use the force together to put it down. PERFEDCT.

They get poison gassed and ahsoka rescues them and they just say it was fine I LOVE IT OH MY GOSH DISASTER TRIO

oh my gosh they knew the drinks were poisoned or whatever and switched them and they look so SMUG abt it--

okay write it down, 1-11 absolute favourite 

1-12

okay never mind, they were drugged and wake up together caught. typical.

obiwan holding anger anakin back from yelling at count dooku. amazing.

“Do control your protege’s insolence so I can concentrate” “Anakin.” “WHAT” “Control your insolence. The count is concentrating” THE SASS

oh my gosh a very unusual trio. Dooku just like “I would kill you both rn if i didn’t have to drag your bodies” not bc they’re his enemies but bc of the banter and sass

getting electrocuted then immediately breaking each others bonds and fighting back. yes.

1-13

heck yes. anakin saving everyone and getting hurt himself? ahsoka going back for him? fuck yes. my shit.

so anakin does get hurt. badly. and WHY did i not find this on tumblr?? also,, ahsoka calling him anakin when he’s unconscious? fuck yes.

“I’ve certainly perfected the art of demolishing ships and getting my master killed” oh ahsoka you did so well dear one. she loves her master so much.

Rex does call ahsoka ‘kid’. i love.

the weak person just abt waking up and trying to get up bc danger and the one watching over him being worried and defending him? another favourite trope.

1-14

ooooo a straight up continuation. nice. anakin “you’re still too injured to move” oh the drama

an injury CONTINUING to impeded a character afterwards?? whoa. anakin rlly is the chosen one.

oooo stealth mission, this is exactly how i play a stealth thing like this!

LIGHTSABER GO WOOSH WOOSH BUZZ

1-15

snow time. pls let anakin complain abt the snow. someone get cold. pls. that’s all i ask. but either way, it’s anakin and obiwan mission time together again!

summary: that guy was dumb and i’m glad he died

1-16

anakin smashing several windows to get to obiwan in another tower. yes.

“How did YOU get over here” “I improvised”

1-17

“You seem a bit on edge” [...] “So yes, I’m a bit on edge!! Why aren’t you?” “I’m better at hiding it.” eyyyy

THEY WERE TALKING ON THE COMMS AND THEY JUST RAN INTO EACH OTHER IN A CROSS CORRIDOR and ahsoka just like “Master?”

disaster gang stop a virus and they’re all fine. ..good for them.. i gues.. just kidding, i love them

obiwan trying to calm anakin down abt padme and ahsoka but also knowing that anakin is rlly worried

“You just destroyed 17 defenseless battle driods without suffering a scratch” “18 actually”

1-18

“It was a trap Snips. It wasn’t your fault.” “Take heart, little one. That’s the reality of command” oh anakin you’re almost a good master

1-22

anakin gave his lightsaber to padme as a joke and now he’s trying to fight eithout it lol

he got shocked out and caught lol and padme is like hm can i show affection for an unconscious jedi without ppl thihnking hes my husband

“Please Ani. Wake up” wakes up like okay anyway let’s leave

.

okay it’s gone midnight and i have work and uni interview tomorrow,, that’s s1

[princecharmingtobe]

Man it’s 7am and I haven’t slept and I’m trying to stay awake another hour so I can see about getting to the digestive care center today because I’m dying or something~ So instead of sleeping I made a playlist for my D&D character and their boyfriend and now I’m gonna like, go through why each song is there/what it means to me. Woo!

1. Beauty and the Beast - Well, Cordy, my character, is an emaciated-looking drow with mushrooms growing out of their body and is actually slowly becoming one with a sentient fungus infecting them, so... kind of beastly. And they certainly consider themself to be a monster even though they always deny it. And Paetyr, their human boyfriend, is very beautiful and kind. There are also actual lyrics in the song that suit them well. Really the whole song describes the start of their relationship very well. They knew each other for less than a week before getting together because they’re idiots.

2. About You Now - Cordy started their life as The Guardian with little to no emotion, and believed they were not supposed to have emotions. It’s apparently part of like, a curse or something placed on the Guardian power. So when they start feeling things for Paetyr they fiercely rejected it. But in the end they learned that they can and should have emotions and they decided they wanted to keep loving him (though they’ve never said the word) and see where it takes them.

3. Teach Me How To Be Loved - This one is good for both of them, because while Cordy has no experience with any kind of relationship at all because their memory only goes back a few months, Paetyr’s had a really hard life that left him mostly isolated and with shit self-esteem and probably some trust issues. So they’re both learning how to love and be loved. Also apparently Paetyr’s convinced that his partners will find someone better and realize he wasn’t worth their time so he’s learning to get over that idea. Hopefully.

4. Love Like You - More on Cordy learning how to have emotions and how to love, while dealing with feeling like deep down they’re just a monster, especially when compared to Paetyr, who seems so good and kind (though I don’t thinks that way about himself).

5. Your Guardian Angel - Well, what can I say? A Guardian’s gotta guard, be it the whole world or just the idiot boy they’re in love with. Before they loved him they still wanted to protect him. And he hates it. He hates when they talk about protecting him. But they insist on it, because it’s what they are. Part of it, I think, is they have different ideas of what protecting someone means...

6. I Found - Getting into the more somber sounding songs. Cordy’s honestly still not convinced they were ever meant to feel things, especially not love. And on top of everything, they learned about their own lifespan in relation to Paetyr’s. They didn’t know anything about elves, or humans, or anything really at the start of the game. So when they met Paetyr and the party they assumed they were all around the same age, and would live about the same amount of time. So yeah, learning that Paetyr would likely die centuries before them was devastating. But they’re trying to make the most of their time with him and learning as much from it as they can.

7. Spectrum - Yeah, as mentioned before, Cordy didn’t really have much in the way of emotions before meeting Paetyr. That’s pretty much all this one is here for.

8. I’ll Stand By You - Even when they’re not on the best of terms, when they see each other suffering from things not related to their relationship they tend to be very tender and supportive of each other. I can’t speak too much for Paetyr because he’s not my character, but Cordy is really good at putting their feelings aside to comfort Paetyr when he’s upset. Of course if he knew that’s what they were doing he wouldn’t have it lol

9. Die Young - Eyyyy we’re back on that lifespan angst! Being an elf in love with a human is hard, man!

10. Like I’m Gonna Lose You - And some more~

11. As Long As He Needs Me - Cordy has a really hard time seeing their own value vs Paetyr. He’s so much better, kinder, smarter, more important... And they’re too scared to tell him when he’s done something to hurt or upset them because they don’t want to hurt him, or else find out he doesn’t really care... if you’ve seen how he acts with them you’ll know their fears are pretty unfounded, but they fear anyway and so they keep hiding their feelings and acting ok and loyal to him.

12. No Light, No Light - Yeah the idiotic tendencies of the previous song are not without consequence. It hurts more and more but they become more and more desperate to keep him and think that in doing so means keeping their problems and desires to themself and it’s slowly killing them. Idiot.

13. Heavy In Your Arms - And it continues. This one does recognize though that Cordy’s behavior, keeping things to themself but enough leaking for Paetyr to notice... it’s hurting him too because he can tell something’s wrong, that they’re hurting and that it’s somehow because of them but they won’t talk to him about it, they won’t even acknowledge it to him. But there’s at least a somewhat happy note around the end. “I was a heavy heart to carry but he never let me down, when he held me in his arms, my feet never touched the ground” which I see as symbolizing him starting to get through to them and them realizing he’s been loving and caring for them this whole time and they’ve just been refusing to see it because of how scared they are.

14. Just Give Me A Reason - Very accurate to recent events. Cordy convinced themself that Paetyr didn’t really want to be with them and was only staying with them because he always puts others first. It doesn’t help that he has another partner whom he gets along with much easier, and who he is engaged to. So they figure “well, obviously he’d rather be with him than us” (they refer to themself in the plural because of reasons). Meanwhile Paetyr is practically begging them to talk to him about their feelings and they can’t see it.

15. I’m Not Calling You A Liar - Well, he did finally get through to them, at least a little bit, but they still have trouble believing everything he says to them. It’s partially his own fault, because he’s kept important things from them in the past to keep them from worrying, which of course only made them worry more because they could tell he was keeping something from them. So yeah, this is a two-way problem. But even though they feel like he’s always keeping something from them, they love him too much to do anything about it other than continue to fret and slowly kill themself -.-

16. Water Under The Bridge - Thought of this song when they had their recent blow up/screaming match in which Paetyr threatened to leave not just them but everyone and everything that makes him happy. Leaving them they could accept, they were practically waiting for it. But they couldn’t allow him to leave everything that made him happy. And in the end he didn’t leave them either, and they both want to keep trying because despite it all they both still love each other.

17. The Scientist - Well, he is an artificer... Thought this seemed like a good song for them coming down from the high emotions of the screaming match on the cliff and trying, once again, to make things work.

18. You Are The Moon - Funny thing about this song. I first thought of it when they first got together as being from Cordy to Paetyr, because he thought (and it seems still thinks) very poorly of himself. He doesn’t understand that he’s a very attractive man, fun, kind, and smart (and yet so dumb). Yeah his self-esteem is in the shitter for sure. But oddly, I think it has been improving. But then Cordy’s has been plummeting. Not because of him, just getting caught up in their own dumb thoughts. But Paetyr thinks they’re beautiful (and hot, his words) and loves them, so it has reversed, being more from Paetyr to Cordy.

And there it is, their playlist, explained in a totally incomprehensible way.

[doux-amer]

What a day. What a brilliant day. I’m over the moon. I never experienced euphoria with strangers the way I did here (well, maybe WC ‘02 before dawn/early in the morning in Queens with Koreans). @atlasblue85 and I went to Carragher’s a little before noon but ended up going to a bar down the block because it was impossible to get in. It ended up being worth it because I’ve only been to a bar once for a sports event (it was also a Champions League match) and it was awkward being the only girl in the entire place in the middle of the day with this guy shouting sexist remarks at the screen. :/ But the crowd was so good! I mean, I wish we had more originality than singing “Allez, allez, allez” five thousand times (I’m starting to hate this song...please, we have more originality than that! We have loads of great songs!), but still!

This is the first time I ever got to watch a match with a crowd that wasn’t at a stadium and omg it’s such a great feeling just SCREAMING. I’m mostly a silent watcher although I’ve become better at vocalizing myself and not feeling weird about it, but I yelled and clapped. That sort of unity is so amazing. AND ORIGI’S GOAL? KIM AND I LEAPT OUT OF OUR SEATS AND SCREAMED AS THE BAR BROKE OUT IN PANDEMONIUM AND WE JUST LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND NEEDED TO HUG AND THEN THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN WHO SAT NEXT TO US (WHO CAME WITH HIS GROWN DAUGHTER...GIRLFRIEND? WHO KNOWS) WHO ALSO REACTED THE SAME WAY OPENED HIS ARMS AND WE HUGGED HIM IN TURN. I HUGGED A RANDOM STRANGER BECAUSE I WAS SO OVERCOME WITH EMOTIONS. I’VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. AND JUST. IT DIDN’T MATTER! I DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS! HE DOESN’T KNOW WHO I AM! BUT WE LOVE OUR CLUB SO MUCH! KIM AND I DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS, BUT HE’S OUR CL ‘19 FINAL DAD NOW!!!!!!!

And I teared up!??!?!? FKDSLJFDLKSJFSDA KIM, SOME OF MY FRIENDS WHO’VE KNOWN ME FOR 2+ DECADES HAVEN’T SEEN ME CRY, BUT LOOK. I complained towards the end because this match was terrible. Both sides didn’t look like they wanted to win even though they should have wanted it desperately as Tottenham never even made it to a CL final before and Liverpool hasn’t won it in 14 years. Only Dele and Sonny tried on their side, and idk...I feel like it was just Sadio (and maybe Trent and Robbo in the first half) who really, really tried. It just felt like they were playing it safe and instead of trying to be selfish and take shots at the goal, they kept passing to the others while being incapable of completing passes (STOP! PASSING! TO! THE! OPPOSITION! OR! TO! EMPTY! SPACES! OR! TO! TEAMMATES! WHO! CAN’T! DO! ANYTHING! FROM! WHERE! THEY! ARE!) or mucking up their last touches in the other half.

I seriously didn’t know what I would’ve done if we won by Mo’s penalty because I know people would’ve discounted our win and I’m not sure any of us, fans or players alike, would’ve really had it in ourselves to celebrate deliriously. lakdsjfsjfldasfjdsa Kim and I were like “ORIGI, SAVE US” and he did. HE DID. KING OF SAVING LIVERPOOL. AND OF COURSE LIVERPOOL HAD TO GET A (TRUE) WINNING GOAL IN THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF REGULAR TIME LIKE!!! WHY TF ARE WE SO DRAMATIC AS ALWAYS?! THIS IS WHEN I REMIND YOU THAT WE SCORED THE MOST GOALS (33) AT FULL-TIME OR EXTRA TIME IN THE PL. LIKE!!!!!!! PLEASE, DO WE KNOW HOW TO EXIST ANY OTHER WAY? Anyway, that goal summed up our 2018/19 season.

I’m so glad we won it this year too because lmaooo the petty happiness I felt that it happened in Madrid after it happened last year (and Kim and I agreed that we kind of didn’t want it to happen last year anyway because it felt like the beginning, like we weren’t there yet and we didn’t want it to feel premature if that makes sense). And just....it’s a story about how, even if you fail the first time and you’re devastated, you can pick yourself up and try again. Even if things aren’t going your way when you do, you never give up!!!

AND OMG WE DECIDED TO HEAD OVER TO CARRAGHER’S AFTERWARDS AND WE WERE BLOCKING THE ENTIRE STREET SO THAT CARS, TRUCKS, AND CYCLISTS HAD TO INCH FORWARD LSDFJALFJA. BUT THEY WERE SO HAPPY, HONKING, SMILING, WAVING AT US, AND SOMETIMES EVEN WAVING FLAGS/RED SHIRTS/WHATEVER. I LOVE YOU, NY. I LOVE YOU, STRANGERS. I LOVE YOU, FELLOW FANS. ALSO, I’M FOREVER MAD THAT I WAS TOO SHY TO ASK TRENT’S FAMILY IF I COULD TAKE PICS WITH THEM INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING PICS OF THEM. AT LEAST I GOT TO SPEND SOME TIME NEAR THEM, BUT GODDDDD, TRENT IS MY SON. MY CHILD. OUR FUTURE CAPTAIN. OUR BOY!!! BABY!!!!!! I LOVE HIM!!!!!!!! 

I LOVE ALL OUR BOYS! I TEARED UP AT ORIGI’S GOAL AND THEN WHEN THE BOYS RAN ONTO THE PITCH AT THE WHISTLE THAT NONE OF US COULD HEAR BECAUSE WE WERE TOO LOUD IN THE BAR AND THEN WHEN I HAD TO CHOKE OUT AN “OH MY GOD” AT THEM ENGRAVING THE TROPHY WITH LIVERPOOL’S NAME ON IT. I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I SAW THAT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT????? FOURTEEN GODDAMN LONG YEARS. AND WE’RE HERE NOW. WE’RE HERE NOW. 

AND OH MY GOD WHEN JORDAN LIFTED UP THE TROPHY AND WE ALL DID THE “EHHHHHHHH.....EYYYY!!!!” SHOUT AND I DOUBLE-FISTED THE AIR AND OH MY GOD, THEY ALL DESERVE IT, BUT MY BOY JORDAN....AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. AFTER ALMOST CLOSE TO A DECADE WITH US. AFTER SUFFERING THROUGH THE DARK, BLEAK TIMES, BEING ONE OF THE LAST ONES REMAINING FROM THAT PRE-KLOPP ERA. IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. IT MADE THIS ALL THE SWEETER. 

YNWA!!! Y. N. W. A. I LOVE YOU ALL! 

[kaorei-endgame]

Tell me about Vampyr and how it SUCCs

So the idea that started crystalizing in my head yesterday on stream was this game HAD to actually be MORE like Bloodborne than it ended up. Both the “time advances (and districts destabilize) when you rest” and the persistence of resource loss (heals/bullets) through death make the most sense to me if they originally intended for a straight-up Souls-style bloodstain mechanic where you’d then have to balance how often to bank your XP with the conditions of your districts. Because otherwise, outside of the tutorial, I think I literally rested four times in the entire 20+ hour game. 

(it would also add a pressure to devour low-plot-relevance citizens to recoup lost bloodstain XP)

((that sounds like the best game ever?? talk about making the hard choices–we making the HYARD BYTING choices))

But like otherwise what the shit is the point of XP. Wow can we get a contender for “Worst Tech Trees 2018″ Damn, I can’t wait to spend all my hard-earn blood points on… …. …. +10% blood capacity… cool cool cool. 

Likewise, loot is idiotic. I don’t need 6 versions of the same club, most of which requiring murdering a specific person to get. I’ve spent all my resources upgrading this one mace, I’m not going to bother for one that takes 15% less stamina to swing that I got 5 hours after maxing the first one. I need one club that does more than a fraction of any given enemy’s grossly inflated health (you pointed out in stream that it’s rad how these regular-ass humans HP values are keeping pace at all times with my Legendary Vampire Strength). Look you can have guys with high HP or you can have guys who give negligible XP, but if every enemy in the game is both i’m going to skip every encounter possible. 

what’s up with that HYARD BYTING tho??

Too bad. There’s almost enough mechanical density there to be passable. The flow of Melee > Stun Attack > HYARD BYTING > Spell Spam > Repeat is satisfying enough; leagues ahead of against Souls clones like Lords of the Fallen/The Surge and approaching Nioh (and as bad as the loot in this game is, damn, at least it’s not Nioh). Too bad the damage values fuckin suck. Even with health increases, you go down so quick, but fodder enemies often have the health of bosses and bosses have the health of minor gods, so every boss fight in the last two-thirds was “die enough times that i get a grip on the first 2/3rds of the fight, then find an opening in the last 3rd to spam them down with pistol bullets (and suffer a 90+ second load time after every damn death :| :| :| :|)” 

Game had both way too much character writing and not nearly enough plot. Like you wanna get behind the sort of game where every Junk Vendor and Gun Seller is a named character with their own background instead of a generic NPC, but ALSO every NPC you crash into on the street could’ve had -one- “tell me more” submenu instead of 2 (or 3!! (or like literally 7 by the end game convos)). It’s remarkable that they got 50+ NPCs all with their own unlockable backstory, who can all die (or be eaten by you) and that there aren’t any generic Townspeople who just bark RPG Dialogue at you (outside of the skals in sewers; racist :

But it didn’t matter anyway, because I reset after choosing the special conversation-locked “fix his blood” option on the charitable priest skal because it got SUPER rapey–but then when I chose the “let him bee he seems like a Fine Young Cannibal) I woke up the next night to discover he’d murdered the whole district. Oh well. It seemed like he had it together………

Anyway, I felt compelled to click all this dialogue Just In Case but at the same time, I was embarrassed to be streaming it and looking like I cared when the epilogue was 2 ten minute long conversations with my quasi-girlfriend and her zombie knight from indiana jones dad when it’s more That’s Just What You Do In These Games

(technically i was more embarrassed because i thought people would notice i was refreshing Granblue battles during convos and the INTERMINABLE FUCKIN LOAD SCREENS JESUS CHRIST IF YOU’RE GONNA KILL ME IN 2 HITS MAKE THE LOADS SHORTER HAVEN’T YOU EVER HEARD OF AN ATTENTIVENESS CURVE)

Conversely, the plot was… Barely There. Barely there in the “wow there just *isn’t* a 3rd act” that you’ve just come to accept from literally all video games (so the shitty vampire lord guy I betrayed by murdering the shitty Dying Koch Brother instead of turning him has sent out Vampire Murder Lords to stalk the streets and kill me, which is cool, but EVEN SO when I need the most sacred blood relic he keeps for my vampyr cure he’s like “no you betrayed me :

And what’s really-real is: I’m completely in when people start talking about vampire societies and other Urban Fantasy Bullshit. Even when it’s CLEARLY just Vampire: The Masquerade with the serial numbers filed off that’s fine. Like hell yeah give me those proper nouns. Tell me the difference between a Skald and an Ekon (eyyyy,yyyyy) and a Vulkon. I’m fuckin *IN* this shit. Shunt me through dialogue trees I’ll say they’re bad out loud but some atavistic part of me still CRAVE that sweet, sweet lore. Putting that in a Mass Effect-style Your Choices Have Consequences, like Fuck YEAH. 🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋 

BUT…

To put it succinctly, I feel like I am always meeting Don’t Nod games halfway, and then MORE than halfway, because they’re always the seed of something cool that doesn’t measure up. Remember Me, Life is Strange. These are things I want to like more than I actually like them, and I bet in a couple months I remember the stuff I like more than the stuff I don’t. That’s how it be sometimes.

Because there’s enough in this game that man, I still feel like I kind of like it even though I know I kind of hate it. The setting’s good. Even if it feels like Bloodborne it’s like… that’s just post-war Britain, I guess. It bums me out a little, because the SIZE of the game is exactly what I want. It’s the Yakuza-Goldilocks “just right” dynamic of giving me a big-enough, but not gigantic, space to run around in–unfortunately in Vampyr’s case most of it is JUST running around. There’s barely anything to do between the checkpoints, and the sidequests aren’t bad, but by the time I started doing them in earnest I had lost my good will that would’ve let me round up those boring actions into “world building.”

What Vampyr is trying to be (Time Management RPG With Mass Effect Convos and Lite Character Action Combat) is EXACTLY my speed. Spinning plates gameplay in particular is so rarely done -at all- (let alone well) and super stokes me, and it’s not like we’ve had a Dead Rising in a while, but all that chore-based timer-management gameplay being good or bad ultimately falls on the completely arbitrary “do I like this game outside of this or not.” Nothing in Vampyr otherwise compelled me, so I treated running around giving people headache medicine as a pain in the ass, whereas that exact same mechanic in The Witcher I’d probably be like “yeah man this really puts me in the mood I really feel like i’m doing some fucking Witching here.”

Whereas Vampyr pretty rarely made me feel like a Legendary Vampire Doctor Jesus. Deep in my heart, trenchcoat and Perfect Pump-Action Shotgun all, I knew I was just some whack-ass Dr. Acula.

But how much fun was it discovering HYARD BYTING together? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

I know I gained a lot more streaming this game than I would’ve from like… an equivalent time of No Man’s Sky or Overwatch or something. I’m often at a crosspoints between wanting to stream something novel, and wanting to stream something good. Like Vaklyria Chronicles is a great game but you don’t get a lot of meat out of streaming that game. Vampyr is something our community owns, now. That makes me happy, in at least equal measure as its dumb bosses made me pissed last night. So I’m happy I got to share that with you all, and I think I would have slightly different thoughts on this game if I just blitzed through it by myself this weekend, as I initially intended to.

It’s been fun to do one of these after so long away, thanks Nick!! >:o

(also this ask reminded me to add Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines officially to the list of TCEG possibilities–which if we want to make it a yearly “season” we should get started on planning soon 🤔)

[almaasi]

reaction post typed while watching SPN 13x21 “Beat the Devil”

okay, whoa. dick jokes and also HEART-DESTROYING PLOT TWIST, what a combination

02:30pm

i’m sure it’s 100% intentional but when i hear the title of this episode i just think of “beat the devil’s tattoo” by black rebel motorcycle club

things i want from this episode:

team free will doing things TOGETHER

no women to die

also i have an inner ear infection so if i pause for a long time it’s because looking at things makes me dizzy and seasick (yay)

-

02:46pm

okay here goes!!!

-

02:48

CAS NO DON’T COMMENT ON PEOPLE’S FOOD

but also wow cute??? his affectionate smile when he looks at dean??

-

04:49

mary: “john and me used to call him our little piglet”

OUR LITTLE PIGLET

;A;

-

also WOW TALK ABOUT FOOD SHAMING

THIS IS CUTE BUT ALSO NOT AT ALL

-

02:50

AND THEN DEAN BECKONS TO THE PIZZA WHILE CAS AND JACK ARE THERE

and cas obliges

THIS IS SO FREAKING PRECIOUS

-

02:52

now mary’s talking to sam and this is probably a dream either sam or mary is having, which makes my worry that they don’t get rescued 

oh no

-

02:54

gabe wants to extract grace “~in private~“

cas: “so i left him alone in dean’s room”

dean: “whAT. noawww.”

i’m just.............this is so cute??

*u*

but also my brain is like “extracting grace = masturbation... cas sees dean’s room as the masturbatorium” (!!!)

but also extracting grace is not like masturbation but ALSO I’M PRETTY SURE BERENS WAS INSINUATING THAT IT IS

which basically means asmodeus was raping gabe? and metatron raped cas??

which i guess makes sense as a sex/grace parallel since removing it without consent is obviously a big no-no even if you never compared the two

wow this cuteness went downhill fast

-

03:00

BUT ALSO WHY DOES SAM SMILE THE SOFT QUIET SMILE WHEN DEAN SAYS “naoww”

that seemed like a “cas usually does everything in dean’s room” kinda smile

or an “eyyyy not my room” kinda smile

-

THERE’S SO MUCH IN THEIR FACES AND THE EDITING IN THIS FIVE-SECOND SEGMENT

I NEED SOMEONE TO DO A SHOT-BY-SHOT ANALYSIS OF THEIR EXPRESSIONS AND EXPLAIN WHAT IT ALL MEANS

SAM’S ALARMED FACE ABOUT THE “IN PRIVATE”.

CAS’ CONFUSED SQUINTING WHEN DEAN OBJECTS TO GABRIEL BEING IN HIS ROOM.

oh shit?? like maybe cas is confused because “i am an angel, i am allowed to do private things in dean’s room. gabriel is an angel, therefore dean’s room is the place to do private things. wait--! *confusion* why does dean say “naoowww” like he objects? is gabriel different?”

and the bit cas doesn’t get (YET) is that CAS IS DIFFERENT TO GABRIEL BECAUSE DEAN LOVES CAS AND WANTS HIM TO DO PRIVATE THINGS WITH HIM IN HIS ROOM

#nailed it !!!!!!!

seriously this is such a small moment but??? SO MUCH SUBTEXTUAL INFORMATION

-

03:07

i only have 480p video so i can’T READ THE LABEL ON THAT YELLOW PACKET THAT’S GOING IN THE BAG

it’s definitely important

-

03:15

60% sure gabe just walked in wearing dean’s clothes

the leather jacket from the time they went to LA??

when do we get to see CAS in dean’s clothes ;a;;a;a;

-

03:17

gabe: “more than enough to get the job done”

preeeeeeetty certain the portal’s gonna close early without enough grace

-

03:18

HOKAY WOWWWWWW yeah THAT’S NOT SEXUAL AT ALLLLL

-

03:20

cas: “well that was....fast”

sam: “very, very fast”

rowena: “one could even say premature”

JESUSVGDG DGJDFGSDGHGJDJGGD

-

03:23

i recall that meta post saying that everyone’s meeting their abusers this season

sam hasn’t faced lucifer yet

(i mean, since last year in LA)

but also dean hasn’t faced john yet and i kinda wanna hold out for that in a weird way?? idk if i want that

-

03:25

gabriel picks up a book called “laying pipe”

is this episode gonna be..... filled with dick

......jokes

but also what is that book doing in the men of letters library ?

headcanon that it’s a secret vintage gay porn book, which dean keeps hidden in places that aren’t his room ‘cause that’s too obvious if someone finds it. at least if it’s in a public place then he can say “uhhh must’ve been a men of letters thing”

-

03:27

gabriel and rowena: SJKFSD [IMPOTENCE] KSJFGJDGH

OH MY GOD.

-

03:28

rowena: “the three amigos? with their bro hugs, pep talks, and melodrama?”

yep that’s them

-

03:29

WOW ROWENA’S THOUGHTS

news flash: gabriel has a butt

-

03:30

ROWENA’S FINGERS ON THE PESTLE AS SHE LIFTS IT UPRIGHT

ME: /CLUTCHES MY FOREHEAD

-

03:32

oohhhhh she’s gonna get more grace out of him

edit: guess not, just some good ol witch/angel hanky panky

-

03:34

I CN’t hnANDLE THIS and neither can cas

-

03:40

that lucifer-catching thing with gabriel and rowena was kinda fun

-

03:40

lucifer: “hey look all the people i love to torture in the same room”

-

03:43

WHOOP.

is it just me or did dean look kind of into it for about half a second

-

03:46

@ rowena i recommend a silencing spell to shut lucifer up

-

03:56

OH NO

PRAYER CIRCLE FOR ROWENA

-

05:57

ruh roh, lucifer’s in the other world

-

03:59

YEEEEAAH GO ROWENA

STICK AROUND AND HELP

ALL THIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS GOOD FOR YOU

edit: guess we’ll find out what she did in a later episode

-

04:00

oh right the packet of yellow things must’ve been glow sticks

-

04:06

SAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH NO!!! THE BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;A;

-

CAs: HE’S GONE”

ofhfh

no 

oh no

._.

-

04:08

i feel light-headed

and idek if its because i;m sick or because of sam

i was not expecting this at all and i’m in like... mini-shock

sam looked very much dead

like actual dead

D:

-

04:11

my heart hurts

because mary but no sammy

-

04:12

oh no

;~;

-

...i .. need a minute

-

04:15

i’m just

i can’t???

i

too much

-

04:16

four minutes of processing/mourning later i return

sam: *gasps alive*

WHAT

WHAT

!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rowena maybe?

-

04:17

oh that’s not good

-

04:20

lucifer: “i want what you already have. a relationship with my son”

well shit

i just can’t help but think about all the actual real people on the planet right now who are in situations like sam is

given gifts they can’t refuse, blackmailed or threatened, and then forced to offer an abusive person a relationship with their child

aside from all the magic powers, lucifer is very much a real character to be found in real life, and my heart goes out to all the sam-types suffering in his oppressive reign

like as lucifer just said, he took his personal moral high ground here, as opposed to just kidnapping jack. what a shitbag

-

04:25

that moment when you realise that yet again, lucifer is the fucking worst

-

04:31

it’s over

HECK

SHIT

FRICKETTY FUCK

THAT WAS GREAT BUT ALSO HARROWING BUT ALSO FUNNY AND INTERESTING AND  ???

I FEEL A LOT AND IT’S ALL VERY NOISY

given the tone of the start of the episode i did NOT see it going the way it did

really enjoying the team free will + gabe + rowena thing

...........oh man i’m exhausted after that

SAM DYING FOR A WHILE REALLY TAKES IT OUTTA YOU HUH

WOW

um

i kinda wanna lie down or something. just to think about this. and breathe. and remember that sam is okay

jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez that really fucked me up for a while

fuck the writers, but like... in a good, congratulatory kind of way ‘cause they tore my heart out but then put it back but then tore it out a little bit again

10/10 tbh, would cautiously recommend, so long as there’s blankets and hot drinks and post-episode fluff available for immediate comfort

...

/sits quietly

with my face like  ( o______o )

[adivinoperdido]

@skiesclouded​ continued from X

Pepa almost wants to fight him, just to say she did, just to release some of the unshakeable anguish that has followed the thought of her brother like a ghost for a decade. But with Bruno, she is a coward.

Her hands twitch, and she bites back an exclamation she isn’t sure would do anything but push him. He has suffered as much as any of them, but they have all suffered.

The mention of their mamá makes her flinch, immediately bringing her hands to stroke and pull at her ever messy braid. “How dare you,” she mutters like cold fire, unwilling to unleash her usual brand of blazing quite yet.

“I’m speaking of when you decided to leave us standing in the rubble of your life; we thought you were dead,” and she is just is as at fault as he ever could have been, for turning his name into a curse, for undoing his role in the family on her own. “Do you know what that did to me?” She understands why he left, but she hates that part of him for it a little more every day, the part that ever could have decided to up and ditch for his sobrina. It was a valiant effort to play hero, but the collateral damage had changed everyone, especially the two women who loved him most.

“On our birthday, it was impossible to just live. Not with my brother dios sabe dónde, for all I knew, dead in the jungle— Julieta and I mourned for so long. You can’t know how that feels.”

It’s in no way worth it, but she feels like she has to confront him, to air everything out before she dies with this grievance eating her away.

--------

   “Because,” Bruno whispers, hands in fists at his sides to contain the shockwaves of frustration and despair, “I couldn’t make Mirabel live my life, too...!” 

    “I never had any kids, never had that joy that you and Julieta have, but I figured I could at least protect all my sobrinos y sobrinas from becoming the person everyone is always unhappy to see!” 

He extends his hands to her, with a shy desperation, with brimming eyes, and those hands quake just a little bit. 

     “I’m sorry I didn’t have enough faith in you to...to realize you could have heard my vision of Mira and not thought the worst....but I had become such a bad-luck charm, the person that made the whole room quiet when he walked in, the person who couldn’t even have birthday parties with his sisters unless at least one inlaw or amigo made a crack about...about ‘hey Bruno, better watch out, toco madera, eyyyy? We don’t want someone to choke on a piece of cake because you’re here’ or...some other dumb....pura mentira!  And those were the good days. And mamá, I love her, I do, but she was always there, always wanting more.” 

He shakes his head and sways to and fro, almost infinitesimally, lifting one of his offered hands to wipe quickly at his eyes. He’s old, they’re dry all the time, and tears make them burn.  

    “I should have given you some sort of comforting lie to explain where I’d gone, I just. Panicked. But Pepa, little lioness, mi querida hermana, I was there...I was there every day.  I didn’t really go. Lo siento...!” 

His lips quiver. 

   “But...gracias....for telling me...for telling me everything. Everyone’s been tiptoeing around me...I knew I could trust you to be honest.” 

[spectrumscribe]

i got around to watching the latest TMNT episode, and it turned into 44 minutes of pure salt with my friend @lulusoblue. 

read below the saltmagedon.

onthespectrumwriting:

i'm finally watching the new ep and i'm five minutes in.

i honestly hate how much romance there is in this. :///

eeeerrrrRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAUGH

CAN

WE

NOT

PAIR THEM OFF

GOD

  onthespectrumwriting:

especially leorai

  lulusoblue:

there's a difference between romance and ship bait

 onthespectrumwriting:

jfc

i hate all of this

 lulusoblue:

same

 onthespectrumwriting:

no shipping allowed okay

 lulusoblue:

and i haven't even watched the fuckin ep

 onthespectrumwriting:

at all

 lulusoblue:

i can't even bring myself to watch Demon Mark Hamill's arc

 onthespectrumwriting:

there's a brief amount of good donnie stuff in there

 onthespectrumwriting:

otherwise: eh

oh there's also good mikey and leatherhead stuff

FOR FUCK'S SAKE STOP IT WITH THE LEORAI FLIRTING

GOD

they

they had raph wink at my girl y'gythgba

and she did this little blushy thing

no

noooooo

if this has to be a Thing

 onthespectrumwriting:

that goes the other way around

rgh

 lulusoblue:

take the reciprocative canon ship

it's as good as it will get

 onthespectrumwriting:

it makes me uncomfortable

on the other hand

the utrom are precious and should be protected

pls stop murdering them

 lulusoblue:

it's as good as it will get

 onthespectrumwriting:

BUT ITS BAD

 lulusoblue:

sorry my phone repeated the message twice

YES BUT IT COULD BE WORSE

 onthespectrumwriting:

ITS STILL BAD

ALL OF THIS IS BAD

 lulusoblue:

honestly thank god none of the other pairings are canon because they're terirble

 onthespectrumwriting:

oh for fuck's sake y'gythgba's entire planet went to war because she couldn't sacrifice one shitty turtle

apparently a shit ton of their soldiers died because of it

 lulusoblue:

p sure if any of them were actually canon they would be ACTUALLY lovey dovey and not just hanging out to make Raph jealous that his bros are around their crushes

lulusoblue sent a post Tell me that wasn't a...

is my phone just du

 lulusoblue:

plicating shit what the fuck

 onthespectrumwriting:

maybe

see?

romance gets you nothing good in this universe

OH BAD SHIT IS HAPPENING BC THEY GOT DISTRACTED BY EACH OTHER

I AM FURTHER VINDICATED

 onthespectrumwriting:

off topic all the boys and april need to use a phone tower to climb down but my girl karai can straight up scale a flat wall

oh and now she's back to being useless

okay then

 onthespectrumwriting:

eyyyy april

punch him

punch him good

 lulusoblue:

what is up with the writing like wtf

 onthespectrumwriting:

god this is so bad so far

at least april did a thing

that was nice

it was a brief thing

but a thing

where the fuck is my son casey tho

 onthespectrumwriting:

off topic: y'gythgba is still really good looking

OH SHUT UP RAPH YOUR OLDER GIRLFRIEND IS NOT GOING TO GIVE UP HER LIFE AS AN ACCOMPLISHED MILITARY WOMAN TO LIVE IN THE FUCKING SEWERS AND EAT GARBAGE

okay the writing is actively making me die right now

they pulled a "-and your little dog too" type line

 onthespectrumwriting:

where is y'gythba's fucking sword??? WHY DID THEY TAKE AWAY HER SWORD AND LEAVE HER WITH A PISTOL WHAT

god this is like april in the space arc all over again

snrk omg

 lulusoblue:

k watching your commentary is like

 onthespectrumwriting:

why thank you

also newt's voice actor slurred a little and bishop came out as "bitchass"

 lulusoblue:

Pffdffforplrprrlrddfffffft

 onthespectrumwriting:

oh hey so newt is a brainwashing victim nice

OH EW NO DO NOT EAT THE LITTLE BRAIN THING

you don't know where that's been, and i can see how badly the brainwashing has sucked his brian cells

he's so stupid

this dialogue is shit

why is that one utrom fucking french

but where is casey is what i'm really wondering

 onthespectrumwriting:

also: how will being in the D-x atmosphere affect april? since this is the first time

utrom are still cute btw, they're so adorably pink and tentacled

NO QUEENIE

LEAVE HER ALONE

she's like, one of the few female characters left

oh god more utrom vore

newt no

and donnie steals the weapon from the utrom

nice

my klepto son strikes again

 onthespectrumwriting:

WHERE

IS

Y'GYTHGBA'S

FUCKING

SWORD

WHY DOES SHE HAVE A DINKY LITTLE PISTOL WHAT THE FUCK

FUCK THIS

 lulusoblue:

"why is that one utrom fucking french"

coz he gave up

 onthespectrumwriting:

hahahahaha

april is doing cool stuff again

 onthespectrumwriting:

good

let's add water bending to her abilities lmao

well it didn't work but it was neat

now newt is playing at being mr. electro

 lulusoblue:

"WE THREW IN A REFERENCE ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY NOW"

not until April chooses the Blue Spirit over Casey and Donnie

 onthespectrumwriting:

like out of spirderman two- MIKEY NO WHAT THEFUCK

NO HEY NOT OKAY

BRING BACK MY SON

wow they're causing a citywide black out and also mikey is dead

OH HAHAHAHA ITS THE BUG GUY

 lulusoblue:

nickelodeon: "just kill em all"

 onthespectrumwriting:

THERE'S A GIANT BUG INT HE SKY I'M YELLING

HIS SHIP IS A GIANT FUCKING BUG THAT’S SHITTING OUT DRONES

okay we're fucked

nice to know

mike's dead the world has no power and we're being invaded

oh and the romance apocalypse is still happening too

so we're really fucked

 lulusoblue:

Dregg:

fuck where the Oprah bees gif shit

onthespectrumwriting:

hahaha i get what your aiming for here

also new york is experiencing being shat upon by alien bugs

nice

OH HER SWORD IS BACK

Y'GYTHGBA MAGICALLY HAS HER SWORD AGAIN

WHERE

WAS IT

YOU FUCKS

hahahaha oh god i hate this

all of it

 onthespectrumwriting:

also none of the family is giving any fucks right now that mikey is literally dead

my god

this is like The Power Inside Her all over again

do they only freak out when its leo??? apparently so

so far this ep is getting a 2/10

and only bc of the sick bug ship

WHERE

IS

MY SONS

casey mikey where are you

 onthespectrumwriting:

"if you talk to my woman like that again-" HAHAHA OH SHE'S //YOUR// WOMAN NOW???

EXCUSE ME

WHEN DID SHE AGREE TO THAT SHIT

raph take that patriarchal nonsense and shove it up your asshole where it belongs

eighties TV has taught you nothing good

what a load of dicks

okay the show lost its two points for that line

fuck that

0/10

 lulusoblue:

uh oh

 onthespectrumwriting:

bs extravaganza

that's what this is

raph, bishop, both of you go eat ten bags of dicks and choke

and for the love of god DOES NO ONE CARE THAT MIKEY IS DEAD

 lulusoblue:

death is an illusion i thought u knew

 onthespectrumwriting:

"i can take care of myself raphael, thank you" honey just punch him already, i know you want to for that shitty possessive comment

oh shit nice y'gythgba is into utrom vore too

hahaha

yeah literally the only good thing here is the bigass alien ship

 lulusoblue:

why did you make me read that with my own two eyes

 onthespectrumwriting:

bc you have to suffer with me

also leo and g'throkka are uselessly captured

hahahaha

damseled in distress

raph's plan is to strap as many missiles to a barge boat as physically possible and then throw it at the ship

raph, honey, that's not how physics work

"i like it, but it feels... a little too much" y'gythgba just say it. its a shitty, shitty plan

don't spare this child's feelings

he needs to be knocked down like ten pegs anyways, the angst muffin he is

"you think? that's a mikey level bad idea" april calling things as they are

 onthespectrumwriting:

and look

she's the Only One to feel a moment of "wow he's fucking dead"

LITERALLY NO ONE ELSE COMMENTED ON THIS FACT OTHER THAN RAPH'S OFF HANDED "mikey's been disintegrated" and then NOTHING

ggggggod

off topic: where the fuck is casey

my son

where is my son

have you seen my son???

 lulusoblue:

he's probably getting his teeth foxed

*fixed

at P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney

 onthespectrumwriting:

he'll get those knocked out in two days tops hahahaha

wow this is disturbing

humans being glued to a tower with spit

ew

where is the fucking military

this is literally their job

oh donnie, oh april

you can't do anything cool in this series anymore, accept it

haha oh my god

 onthespectrumwriting:

they're stealing this right out of my fanfic at this point

mikey brought himself back from the dead

by pulling his molecules back together

this is exactly like my fanfic what the hell

electricity powers, existence despite apparently being dead, etc

also: wow what a lack of happiness that he's not dead

i'd like to call plagiarism.

 lulusoblue:

"what iz emote?"

 onthespectrumwriting:

this is so stupid

i did it better

 onthespectrumwriting:

okay the bug prisons are uncomfortably like assholes

ew

OH EW THEY'RE USING THE TRUSSED UP PEOPLE AS BUG EGG FOOD

THIS IS PARASITICA ALL OVER AGAIN BUT CITYSCALED

off topic: newt has a collection of utrom arms tied to his belt

just

chilling there

 lulusoblue:

as you do

 onthespectrumwriting:

he's got severed limbs flopping all over

bet that made bishop uncomfortable

 onthespectrumwriting:

oh shit its the military

its only been like a half a day since the world started ending

not like they're late

and where are the fighter jets guys

a ground assault won't do shit

oh no

its the turtle mech

again

....

i feel nothing, i never liked it

its so vulnerably designed??

like the cockpits are right in the front, completely undefended

nice raph's bug phobia is probably having a hay day in his head rn

parasite leeches are always great to deal with

eyyyy mike gets to do shit for once

he beat the last big bad, and now he's going to beat this one

how much do you bet they won't thank him this time either

my murderous daughter strikes again

she's so excited to flamethrow a bunch of bugs

dialogue still killing me

HA THE MECH GOT TOTALED

WHAT A SURPRISE

donnie is going to cry about that

i feel bad for him

he spent months on that stupid thing

oooooh SHIT

mikey is KILLING IT today

my son

i'm so proud of you

your shitty family doesn't deserve you or donnie

mikey is doing so great, i'm so proud

they're also in the heart of a giant space bug ship now, and he's got electro powers so

he's gonna FUCK THEIR SHIT UP

go child

this is the one thing you're good at

destruction of all good things

do it

meanwhile everyone else is having fun with bugs

revenge for all the magnifiers in the world

karai and april continue to not be allowed to be useful

ugh

 lulusoblue:

ps is karai still a snake orrr

 onthespectrumwriting:

she's done no snake things this whole ep

they're wasting her

but, on the bright side

confirmed: they're dating

femslash wins everyone go home

 lulusoblue:

WHAT bright side?

 onthespectrumwriting:

the gay bright side

mr. brightside

mikey is fucking shit up and i'm still proud of him

he died and literally brought himself back all on his own

this kid has so much to him

why does his family/the fandom/the show not get this

well he didn't beat the big bad on his own, but he did 99% of the work

MY SON IS SACRIFICING HIMSELF NO

mikey nooooooo

THEY JUST LEAVE HIM????

APRIL IS LITERALLY THE ONLY ONE CONCERNED THAT THIS KID SACRIFICED HIMSELF

wow he died for you assholes and all he gets is a highfive

and then they take his powers

and

clothes???

he's naked.

okay.

"pizza's on me!" leo you don't have money

you can't even go get the pizza without starting a riot

why would you say that

WHAT

NO

Y'GYTHGBA HONEY DON'T DO THIS

NONONONONONONONONO

okay so one

this is violating intergalactic laws

like ten of them at least

for another

y'gythgba don't do this

don't give up a very successful military career for a shitty teenage boy

he's not even twenty yet and he lives in the sewers angsting all day

you could do //so much better//

god no

he's not even letting her crash at his place

he's sending her to live with the mutanimals

"hey you gave up your entire life to be with me, how's crashing at my weird cousins' place sound? they're also fugitives and inhuman, you'll fit right in"

i

have

SO MUCH SALT ABOUT THIS

and then they end it there

*throws monitor through the wall*

FUCK THIS BULLSHIT

 onthespectrumwriting:

so that was one of the worst two-part specials i've ever watched

i'm going to go find something sweet to eat and then try to find purpose in life

[fates-end-does-vns]

Nogi Wakaba is a Hero: 2/2

Wͪ͂̃h̀̇ͬa͌ͣ̽t̒͒̔ ͑ͬͧt͑͡͝h͋̔̌ę̷ͤ ͛͌ͩfͩ̉̚uͭ̏̂c͗̇͌k̓̔ͬ?ͪͫ̑ ?̨͚͢?̙̻̹?̺͜͜?̵̧҉̜̭͖?̵̥͡?̘̜͠

>She then silently placed her hands together while ruminating over the contents of the diary-- oh we really are going deeper

>A fight seems to break out among the underground mall dwellers just about every day. Oh, did they end up killing each other rather than the vertex?

>Since food is limited, some ruffians try to use violence to hoard it all to themselves. """ruffians"""???

>The corpses of the dead are gathered in a designated area. Leaving them where they died would be both a hygienic and mental nightmare, after all. Ahh, it's like I'm writing about corpses as inhuman objects, huh. Maybe my senses have started going crazy too. it's really starting to look like this, huh.

>An adult got irritated at her crying and told me to kill her or put her outside. yikes

>The people advocating leaving to the surface unilaterally destroyed a barricade. It's the same pattern as before. Nothing more can be done. I wasn't entirely right, but I was close.

>The area around the station and beyond was covered with countless giant egg-shaped objects. So the Vertexes are... breeding? Are we sure they aren't just aliens?

>Despite Tamako's in-the-moment personality, she too knew full well the risk of using trump cards. Looks like Tamako might be where they got that data on fairy possession from.

>What came out was... a hoe. And a folded letter. Another apocalyptic log, huh?

>--Shikoku was at risk of a crisis once more. oh boy my favorite

chapter 11 end

Oh, is this some sort of sidestory about dead girl?

>As Utano continued to work hard without ever losing hope, one by one, the residents began helping her. Some cultivated the fields with her. Others provided boats so they could fish in Lake Suwa.

something something Varda Rhaplanca.

>The guardian god of Suwa was a god of war, a princely god of the earth. It was said that this god once used a wisteria vine as a weapon in a battle against another god. Imbued with divine might, his wisteria vine was powerful enough to crush the opposing god's weapon of iron. oh hey it's kanako

>The whip that served as Utano's weapon was imbued with the same spiritual power as that god of war's wisteria vine. 

hmm...

Well, I guess they're both player 2...

>However, even heroes had their limits, and the waves of Vertexes kept growing in size. In response to the intensifying attacks, the local god had scaled the barrier down in size to scale it up in strength. Now in 2018, the harumiya and akimiya had already been destroyed and only the area to the southeast of Lake Suwa remained protected by the barrier. froggod is getting tired, I guess.

>At times like these, Mito felt a feeling she couldn't quite describe. Her heart would stir, and she couldn't calm it.

man, they're not even trying to hide it anymore, huh.

>Both Utano and Mito could tell that the power of Suwa's local god was weakening.

>So Suwa was a decoy to let Shikoku prepare for battle. Utano and Mito had vaguely noticed that fact, so it was no surprise. Sacrifices, sacrifices, sacrifices. It's all about sacrifices, isn't it?

>"... The world? You mean the whole el mundo?!" >"Excelente!" why

end

>Thanks to the investigation of the heroes and miko, the Suwa area was confirmed to be safe. propaganda, propaganda, propaganda.

the problem with lying so hard about everything is that eventually people are going to figure out the truth and it's going to be worse than if you'd just been honest.

>It's just... ever since I used the fairy's power during the expedition, I guess? My body's been feeling kind of funny... looks like I was right

>Despite having that discussion, since the battle royale would be for practice, they obtained permission from the teachers and the event was settled. I guess this might turn out interesting?

>Hinata looked at the smartphone she held in her hand. On the screen was a picture of Wakaba doing combat training during lessons yesterday. Normally during hero training sessions, Hinata would undergo miko training in another room, and thus she had no opportunities to take pictures of Wakaba training... ah, bribery.

>Instead, it slammed into Tamako's forehead. I was wondering how the two of them were going to settle it.

>"W-Wakaba-kun... I'm sorry, but there's someone else that Tama likes..." oh no she's FiW twilight

>Wakaba and Yuuna were wearing male uniforms. you know what I would actually like to see this.

good. not as good as I imagined, but good.

>"No, your movements were clearly weaker compared to when you fight against Vertexes." yuuna's protagonist power still shines through

>The next Vertex invasion had yet to happen. in anything else that line would be ominous but you've ended at least like four fucking chapters with "oh no big vertex invasion incoming".

chapter 12 end.

despair? grief? lactic acid?

>Supernatural phenomena like seances and spirit possession have existed in human culture from time immemorial. Shamans. Blind spirit mediums. Animists. Polytheists. Such practitioners would evoke the inhuman into their own bodies. >Polytheists. 

 excuse me? 

 >In the classroom the next day, Tamako and Anzu discussed holding a flower viewing party with the others. 

does this book actually have a plot

>"Okay, then once our next Vertex battle's over, let's go flower viewing to celebrate! I suddenly feel pumped up!" tempting fate.

>For flowers' lives were short. tempting fate.

>If any evolved Vertexes were to appear, Tamako would surely use the power of the fairies to fight it. I like that she's thinking this stuff through. Too bad it won't help.

>"I think it's more like a scorpion... Takashima-san..." Scorpio?

>At that signal, the other girls began activating trump cards one by one. welp

>In other words, this scorpion-type Vertex had more stamina than all of the heroes currently had the power to combat. Huh. That's unexpected. What else can they do, blossom?

>The needle then skewered Anzu behind her as well. They're just both going to die then? Or are they going to pull something out at the last minute? They were really telegraphing Tamako being the first person to show the symptoms of possession.

>What came out of Tamako's mouth the next moment wasn't a voice, but copious volumes of blood. And not just from her mouth, but from her eyes, ears, and nose. Blood spilled. Perhaps due to the poison, she experienced bizarre symptoms that could not be explained by the stab wound alone. that went from realistically dark to silly in two seconds flat.

>A fairy particularly feared by the Taisha, and thus a fairy the heroes were strictly ordered never to use-- Yuuna would now unleash that fairy's power. of course yuuna would

chaper 13 end.

another blank chapter start. joy.

she punchch

>After sweeping way the Vertexes, Yuuna had lost consciousness and even now had yet to recover. sounds familiar

eyyyy it's leo

>But Yuuna's face twisted in agony. The smooth transformation that normally came with using a trump card was nowhere to be seen. this is a reaaaaly bad idea

>Wakaba and Chikage were unable to do any damage to the giant Vertex, and Yuuna, the only one with any means of effective attack was out of commission. for the first time, they're on the retreat.

>Within Chikage's eyes ignited the dark light of hatred. I mean, she wasn't exactly stable to begin with, but I don't think the fairy thing helped.

chapter 14 end.

Is it all just whiteout now?

So it looks a lot like she's crazy and on the side of the vertexes here.

>However-- voices of anxiety cried up throughout the population. Crime and suicides rose. Public order was collapsing. Wouldn't be as bad if you guys had been honest in the first place.

>Chikage suddenly heard a voice by her ear. She looked up in surprise. That the fairy?

>After leaving her house, Chikage unsheathed her scythe and walked down the road. there we go

>So why must they criticise us...?! If this is what it all comes down to... then there's no point in fighting, no point in protecting people...! None at all! how very Live-a-Live

>To be suspended and have her hero system revoked. So now there's only two heroes left and only one of them can fight, huh?

Chapter 15 end.

>"In about a month and a half, we will reach the fourth anniversary of the tragic 7/30 disaster." A big speech, huh?

>Wakaba had been popular with the people of Shikoku, almost to the point of worship. The crowd listened so intently, they forgot to blink. Well, they haven't lost their faith in her, at least.

>Wakaba wrote a rough draft for the speech, but the content was entirely rewritten by the Taisha. Figured.

>The Koori family was granted a house in Marugame where Chikage lived with her mother and father. That sounds like an awful idea.

>"...I've lost... everything... Everything... was stolen from me..." This is all really uncomfortable to read.

>Chikage took out her phone and began typing out a message to the Taisha: If they believe this, they're idiots.

>The Taisha had fast-tracked Chikage's reinstatement due to the danger of having Wakaba fight alone. ugh.

>And the next moment, seven Chikages appeared, surrounding Wakaba. yeesh. I can't really see a way for this novel to end that isn't awful. This is a really hopeless story/

>But immediately, her hero outfit itself disappeared, leaving Chikage standing in the Jukai in her school uniform. Divine intervention?

>In Wakaba's place, Chikage became Vertex food. Yikes. I guess that's one way to clean up a loose end.

>Chikage smiled and closed her eyes as if to sleep. Okay, this one kind of got me, not gonna lie. Chikage's situation was awful from start to end.

Chapter 16 end

>She could hear Yuuna sobbing from across the other side. welcome to the suffering show

>The Taisha would not tell them when the funeral service was to be held, nor what sort of service it was to be, leaving the others unable to even mourn for her. trust the government to be bastards.

>"Those ones have pictures of all of us." oh goddamnit it's one of these :(

>"Wh-what?! What on earth is this majesty?! It's a tamashock! This flavour is a 30 kilotamashock!'" fucking udon

>"...It's the diploma we all gave Gun-chan together..." fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

>"Koori Chikage was a genuine hero!!" fuuuuuck it took a while for this story to move me but god damn it

>Only two heroes remained. and there's the traditional "things are gonna get bad" marker.

end of chapter 17.

Descended from humans?

>But according to the Taisha, as long as humanity could overcome this next attack, they would be able to prepare two countermeasures to keep the enemy invasion in check. Which of these countermeasures involves murder?

>The will of the Shinju-sama aside, I would prefer that forced cancellation not occur. I implore you to put your trust in us.-- Her request was accepted and the hero system was updated. Guess that's why Tougou was able to do what she did.

>It was Yuuna. She took one look at Wakaba and Hinata and froze for just a second before beginning to gently close the door. Wawawa wasuremono~

>Wakaba wore a baseball cap and jeans, accessorised with oversized sunglasses covering her eyes, a large surgical mask enveloping her mouth, and her sword in hand. where's that picture with sonoko

>Yuuna smiled and spoke somewhat nervously, as if introducing herself for the first time. You know I think this is the first time we've seen Yuuna really talk about herself. In any time.

>Her vision grew dark. I guess that goes to show just how much weaker they are than the modern heroes, that that was all it took.

>She had only lost consciousness for a fleeting moment. Yuuna isn't like the others, after all.

>(Shinju... sama...? Am I... going inside... the Shinju-sama...?) I'm guessing that's why she's still around, somehow.

Chapter 18 end.

divine era, huh.

>But I'm sure the three of us can go there someday. now, though, there's only two.

>"Huh... n-no... no... Everyone... died...? No heroes survived... except... for me..." bring on the despair.

>In addition to the colossal Vertex, there were also several developing large Vertexes scattered around here and there. Large Vertexes identical in appearance to ones defeated in the past were reemerging as well. welp.

>Wakaba and Hinata couldn't tell what it was, but there was something inside those hollow shells... oh right, the, whatchamacallit, the souls.

>The heavens-- were falling-- guess that's the world ending right there.

>"Any possibility of a comeback for humanity... has been crushed, hasn't it..." yeah basically. say what you will about madoka, but this permanent status quo might be even less hopefull than it.

>"This was our first attempt, but it was a success. We have named this divine ritual the offering fire festival." oh wait is hinata going to be one of the girls sacrificed?

>"The Taisha held a festival. Outside the wall... They spoke to the heavens and prayed, asking for amnesty from invasions on the condition that we no longer leave this land." so is the reason the Vertexes started attacking again in the present because someone broke the deal?

>"But I played my cards right and excluded myself from the selection. I didn't want to die. I'm such an unfair, cruel woman." oh. well, at least wakaba won't be alone.

>If we remain in these lands and abandon our hero powers, we will no longer be attacked." or maybe that's the part of the deal that was broken. there's still the fact of the people who were divinely empowered to do terrorism, though...

>"Indeed. Despite how I might look, I am angry. Let's make sure we recover. Once we lose the Shinju-sama, we lose Shikoku as well, but the Shinju-sama should have a lifetime of hundreds of years. Let's use that time to find a counter strategy." so how's it still around and fine after 700 years?

>Lost lives do not come back. they do when they're yuuna, apparently.

>"First, we will rename the Taisha from 'grand shrine' to 'amnesty' as a self-conscious reminder that we have been granted amnesty and live modestly as human beings." so it is the same organization.

>We'll just bide time and wait until then. apparently you didn't wait long enough.

>The last survivor of the Vertex invasion dies of old age. That's... not very old.

>reverse clapping ?????

>are given the name "Yuuna" by the Taisha in reverence to the legendary hero Takashima Yuuna. Yeah, I'm not buying that. This Yuuna and that Yuuna are waaaaaay too similar. And the weird way Yuuna's been acting? Nah, they're the same person.

Chapter 19 end.

>And I'm not just talking about simple firepower enhancements here. I'm talking about adding mental health support systems, too. I don't think it's that easy.

>"That's right. But if we used artificial... that is, pseudo-fairies, there'd be no harm done, don't you think?" How would that even work?

>Hinata felt as if she could still hear voices like that. gah don't do that

>"Yeah. We'll be together forever. Even after we graduate. Even after we grow up. Even after we're old ladies, we'll be together." gaaay~

>"I've lost so many precious friends myself. So please, don't make your precious ones go through the same thing I did. Swear to me-- swear to them-- that you'll make it back--" arrrgh not a gain this story is so depressing

>"That Hero Record was censored in black, but there were also red censors, too. So it was probably censored twice. And the second round of censorship... erased almost all of it." graaah so they probably don't know most of the stuff in the story

>But nothing lasted forever. As generations begot generations, as time passed by, change happened. and ultimately, their attempts to keep the Taisha free from corruption were in vain, huh.

epilogue? end.

oh hey.

chikage's name's censored everywhere it appears...

yuuna's eager to use the fairy she's been explicitly told not to use.

and anything written by chikage's gone too...

:(

And this was completely wiped away...

Nogi Wakaba is a Hero: End.

[chyemmi-chimi]

Ren Kouen for character meme! :)

Ren Kouen

((eyyyy a character I don’t think I’ve ever talked about. I love thisss))

First impression: Really cool design. He’s gonna play a big role in the series, perhaps even against Hakuryuu, and I have a feeling that that I’m gonna be neutral to his character. Seems a little too stiff for my tastes. 

Impression now: He’s someone who cares greatly for his subordinates + close family, but is heartless to others - even his people. Despite being against his views and ways of enforcing them, I can understand where he is coming from. His previous actions actually remind me a lot of how god!Sinbad is right now. At least in the whole will enforcing thing. I’ve actually grown to like his character, despite how horrible of an individual he is (and I’m not including the nice side of him that is only regarded for those he closely cherishes).

Honestly, Ohtaka does a great job showing his better side through Alibaba, but I do wish we got to see more of the questionable side to his character.

Favorite moment: 

Seeing Kouen drowning Alibaba in the lava was more hilarious for me than it should’ve been. Watching him stomping on Alibaba in the anime made me laugh even harder. Nothing against Alibaba.

Idea for a story: Hakuyuu no Bouken where we get to see more of Hakuyuu, Hakuren, Kouen, and Koumei interacting.

Unpopular opinion: Kouen really did play a part in causing the civil war. He had the chance of working together with Hakuryuu like he previously did with Hakuyuu, but instead was too consumed in being the one to avenge the eldest Hakubros that he lead Hakuryuu down the path of insanity.

When Kouen said he was to blame for the cause of Kou’s civil war, he was referring to how he abandoned Hakuryuu, which resulted in Hakuryuu going mad with revenge. Not how he chose to take arms against Hakuryuu during the civil war which led to the many deaths of the people.

It doesn’t mean that he’s completely to blame and that he had that responsibility to look after and work with Hakuryuu. But rather, the fact that he turned a blind eye to Hakuryuu’s suffering did contribute to Hakuryuu rebelling against both Arba and himself.

Favorite relationship: Him and Hakuyuu.

Ohtaka pleeeeeasseeeeee give me more on this pleaseee I neeed. Like I’m desperate to know more about Hakuyuu and his interactions with Kouen. We’ve gotten glimpses of it and honestly it looks like a really sweet relationship??? Like omg I wanna know more.

Favorite headcanon: Kouen is the only one able to somewhat withstand Hakuei’s cooking. Hakuryuu once tried to kill him using it but came to the unfortunate realization that Kouen had some sort of immunity to it.

[horrible-monstrosity]

In preparation for a future bitch series, today I bitch about shows I ain't even watched

Watching E;R's videos on Korra I'm struck by... well, I'm stuck by a lotta (things including that old airbender guy is as shit a teacher as Korra is a student and no one seems to care), but mostly I'm struck by what seems to be a particular problem with the writing... in particular, the dialogue. It's... something.

On the one hand it's teetering on the edge of being "totally radical"- not to the point of peppering everything with asdfisms, but nearly every line seems needlessly... cheeky. It's cringy. Every character sounds the same. I think I remember the original Avatar being a bit like this but Korra seems... worse.

And on the other hand... Hey, let's talk about basic writing-ing. So, how do you write characters, you guys? You wanna think about what's going on in their heads, behind their eyes, that eventually churns its way out and makes them say that thing, right?

I... I think these writers have even failed at that. A lot of it feels like they just slapped down whatever line fufills the intended purpose without "tuning" it at all to work with the character or what's happening. It doesn't feel like a cohesive whole of characters interacting in an environment, more like a bunch of colorful story-piece legos stuck together and then the writers just sit back and look at their creation and go "eh, good enough!" This probably also contributes to the characters all sounding the same.

Also also, it really seems to lean heavily on telling over showing. Which you know also speaks to the writing being poorly thought out and just slapped down bit by bit.

Let's just look at a few examples-

"An you gotta deal with it!" Now apparently this line has reached some memetic status as the earliest and most definite indicator that this was gonna be a shitshow, but eyyyy Maybe I'm missing some context here, but to start off with there's nothing prompting Korra to introduce herself as the Avatar in the context of "you gotta deal with it!!". Why, why would they need to be told they have to deal with it? Are they seen by Korra to be expecting someone else? Maybe something like, the old guys come in searching for the avatar but before they can even ask in comes Korra assuming they're intruders and in a blaze of childish bravado she shouts out her identity and acts like she can take them out with pebbles, embers and little teeny splashes of water. They think for a moment she's just some bratty waterbender kid but then realise she's using two other elements too. There, you get her character across and it's no longer retarded.

"My name is Wan, and I will show you how I became the first avatar." - "Hey c'mere man lemme exposit to you how I'm gonna be expositorying to you!!" No. Bad. Stop. How about, "The answer to that (Rava, whatever the fuck it's called) lies in the story of how I became the first avatar." Still expositoritificatial, but more smoothly transitions between the one thing and the other rather than just plunking it down on us in chunky chunks.

"Ah feel greeeat, whazzin dis waddgerr" Please, no. Aside from Wang inexplicably sounding like he's asking "oh man what's in this drink??", unless a character has been shown to be particularly chill or observant (which Wang, you know, ain't) they would not be this calm or observant in this situation. He's waking up after having the shit beat out of him or whatever the fuck it was, to find himself submerged in water and surrounded by those wacky spirit things that hate humans and that kicked him out last time he showed up, why the fuck does he care about how the water makes him feel? More likely what you'd see is Wang tries to get up and the monkey fellow tells him "don't move, moron, the water's healing you" look gys exposition that fits at least somewhat naturally into the dialogue it's a miracle

And finally, this isn't dialogue but its problems seem to run on the same principles- the first time(?) Wang start fucking dying because the power of all the elements is too much for him, he immediately jumps to "no I must keep doing it because it do what right !!" This is... weird. Like, first off, all he's doing is stopping the humans and spirits from beating each other up, but he's acting like it's the most important thing. Is this seriously the hill you want to die on? Shouldn't you save that shit for the fucking final battle or something? And secondly... this is apparently the first time he has such a bad reaction to using all the elements. But he immediately processes it and You can't say "I'll fight through this suffering for doing the good!" if you have no idea what suffering you're going through. So basically the writers just wanted to press the "he did him an heroic" button and call it a day even though it doesn't fit. g

Finally, hitting a new level of wanking about things I've never watched with a gifset of a scene I haven't actually seen in scene form. There's a scene where Bolo (whatever his name is, the fat one) is gushing on about Korra without mentioning her being le Avatar and she's immediately like "oh wow no one's ever said that about me, no one's ever liked me for anything but being the avatar" and that's it. Yeah, i- if feeling inadequate outside of being born the Avatar is a major part of her character this really shouldn't've been done and finished so easily. If nothing else it's just really... underwhelming. But hey look we press the "she have a porblem " buton we did it redit yay

but eh literally what the fuck do I know

Bonus round, at about five minutes an increeeeedibly similar bout of terrible dialogue from a certain memetically terrible game... what is this plague?

[bluecoolr]

These two are so cute 🥺 Look how flustered they are, but seriously I LOVED how their conversation went. It flowed so well and naturally.

He chuckled though for a second some kind of emotion they couldn’t discern flashed in his eyes. “Got experience with that kinda people, or killing people as a side job?

He was on the money here 👀

“I’m not-” They started, only to flinch at their volume. Calm down. No need to get all worked up. “It’s not… the money. I just- I feel bad if I, like, eat more than the people I’m with, if that makes sense? Sorry, it’s kinda stupid.”

It's not stupid, Cylas 🥺 Me too honestly

“I don’t appreciate people being hurt or in pain. I’d rather be treated like a child for the rest of my life if it meant no one ever had to be in pain again. Well, good people at least.”

This hits 😥

"But overall, they’re really sweet little things who won't do no harm to no one. Aside from my sweet potatoes.”

I love this for some reason. Darrell's beloved potatoes 😩😩

“Thanks. Uh… do you just… want to leave now? Do we hug?” Darrell managed to get out, despite severely blushing.

YES AAWWWWW YOU GOT HIM SO WELL HERE. AND THEY EXCHANGED NUMBERS 👀

Call Me Maybe

just your local murder beans being pals

Characters: Cylas, Darrell (by @bluecoolr)

Words: 2401

Content warnings: talk about death/hunting/animal death

divider by firefly-graphics

They were solving Sudokus on their phone when a shadow fell over them, making them look up.

“Uh… are you Cylas?” A vaguely familiar voice asked, and she recognised the man from the store. He was taller than she remembered.

“Yeah, yeah. In the flesh”, she replied awkwardly. Sweet baby Jesus, how was she supposed to make it through a whole lunch? If he didn’t walk out on them, he’d at the very least never want to see them again.

It felt like they just stared at each other for hours – though it probably were only a few seconds at most – before he scratched his neck an spoke up again. “Uhm… shall we go inside then?”

“Oh, sure. Of course.” Social interactions were… an experience. But at least he hadn’t commented on or even looked at her scars – which was, albeit refreshing, also kind of odd because even the strangers walking past did. Though that might have been due to her clothes as well.

They went inside and sat down, it luckily wasn’t too crowded, and they managed to find a spot from which she could keep an overview of the place. After settling in, sorting out her skirt and bag, she grabbed her wallet and took out Darrell’s license. “You probably want this back.”

Somehow, they actually managed a smile. Darrell looked at their outstretched hand and actually seemed to blush. “Right, thank you. I hope the picture didn’t shock you too much.”

She involuntarily snorted and he looked away. “Nah, your fine. I look horrible in photographs, for real.”

“Doesn’t everyone say that?” He responded, now smiling as well. Good, he didn’t feel offended. Seemingly.

“I mean, I guess? But, like, if I smile, I look like I’m planning something, just super mischievous.” She said, butchering the pronunciation of the last word and cringing internally. “And when I keep a neutral expression, I look like I’m ready to kill someone, or like I steal the souls of the innocent. Just, blank, dead stare. I don’t have a resting bitch face; I got a resting serial killer face.”

He chuckled though for a second some kind of emotion they couldn’t discern flashed in his eyes. “Got experience with that kinda people, or killing people as a side job?”

Just as they were about to respond a server came to take their order. They stared at the table, trying to hide their embarrassment, while Darrell said they hadn’t decided yet.

“Anyway. No exciting side job, just a nurse in training.” She said with a shrug. “We should probably take a moment to look at the menu though, right?”

“Yep.” He replied. “Get whatever you want, I’m paying.”

She hesitated. “Are you sure? You really don’t have to. It’s no big deal, really.”

He just shook his head at that. “I insist.”

Since it seemed unlikely that they’d be able to change his mind, they instead focused on deciding what to get. There was just too much great looking food. Then their eyes fell on a special lunch offer.

“Oh, check this out.” She said, lying the menu in the middle of the table and leaning over. “They got this thing where you can get two burgers from this section plus big fries and nuggies. Can even make it loaded fries if you want.”

Darrell looked it over and nodded. “Sounds good to me. You want something to drink as well?”

They sat back down, only now realising they had actually said “nuggies” out loud and grateful that he ignored it. Technically, they knew what they wanted to drink, but they were worried what he would think of them. It was so much food already; would a milkshake be too much? They didn’t want him to think she was greedy or only ate junk food.

“Are you okay?” He asked, some degree of worry in his voice. “If you’re not hungry, that’s fine too.”

“No no, that’s not it.” She hastily interrupted him. “I just don’t want to be… too much?”

He furrowed his brows. “If you’re worried about the money-”

“I’m not-” They started, only to flinch at their volume. Calm down. No need to get all worked up. “It’s not… the money. I just- I feel bad if I, like, eat more than the people I’m with, if that makes sense? Sorry, it’s kinda stupid.”

He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out whether she was being honest. “That’s not stupid at all. Just say what you want and I’ll get the same? There isn't really anything here I don’t like.”

They fixed their gaze onto their hands resting on the table. “Uh… strawberry milkshake? Or cola, that’s fine too.”

Just then, the server came back. Darrell ordered, and they couldn’t help but notice that although he ordered a milkshake for himself, he didn’t specify a flavour. “You a regular here or something?”

“Huh?” He turned his attention back to her, having just been exchanging glances with some red-haired person working in the back.

“Oh, sorry. You’re not a mind-reader.” They said, once again cringing at their word choice. Brain to mouth filter who? “I was wondering if you knew people here? Cause you didn’t specify your milkshake. But I guess it’d make sense. You live around here, right?”

He shot her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’ve got a friend working here. And I do live on Devil’s Peak.”

“Living on Devil’s Peak and working in the actual hell that is customer service.” They said with a grin.

“Well, gotta do what you gotta do.” He replied. “It’s not that bad, usually. Though I’ve heard quite unpleasant stories from co-workers. They think it’s cause of my height that fewer people want to mess with me.”

“Sounds fair.” They replied. “I certainly don’t have that kinda privilege.”

“Apologies if this is too intrusive, but that did sound somewhat… down? Everything alright?”

She shrugged, though her smile did retain some bitterness. “Ah, well. Not many take me seriously, I’m not seen as an authority figure. Luckily, in the ER, people who actually need urgent help don’t care much about height or hair colour and are more looking for someone in scrubs.”

“Damn, that probably sounded cold hearted.” She immediately added. “I don’t appreciate people being hurt or in pain. I’d rather be treated like a child for the rest of my life if it meant no one ever had to be in pain again. Well, good people at least.”

“Don’t worry, I get it. Didn’t think you were implying that you love wallowing in people’s suffering.”

The food arrived and they were grateful for the distraction. Their talent to turn every conversation depressing was amazing.

“Borger and nuggies.” She whispered under her breath – or so she thought, but Darrell seemed to have somehow heard it anyway and chuckled. “Lotsa nuggies even.”

She watched him cautiously, trying to determine whether he was mocking her or not, but all they could pick up was a playful twinkle in his eyes. “Indeed. Do you think the devil likes nuggies? Or the skinwalkers?”

He grinned back at her. “Not sure, but I think the hogs would. Then again, they’ll eat pretty much anything.”

"Wait, are you telling me there are no cryptids up there? Only wild piggies?” They said, putting their food down to raise their hand to their chest in an exaggerated shock gesture.

“I mean, I’ve lived there for a while and haven’t seen any, only the hogs. They’re almost like pets to me if I’m honest.”

She choked on her drink. “Pets? Don’t they, like, kill people and eat them?”

Darrell shrugged, looking completely unbothered. “If people intrude on their territory it can happen. But overall, they’re really sweet little things who won't do no harm to no one. Aside from my sweet potatoes.”

“You grow sweet potatoes?” They asked, suddenly excited. “That’s so cool. I love love love gardening, and luckily the cats don’t care much for my garden.”

Both of them were through their burgers and half the fries in record time but hardly even noticed, too invested in their now more light-hearted conversation. Cylas was almost bouncing in their seat. “You gotta share some of the potatoes with me once their ready, okay? I’ll trade you for… I don’t know, tomatoes? Herbs? I got all kinds of stuff. Oh, I’ve always wanted to make something like sweet potato fries but then I forget when I’m grocery shopping.”

“Sure thing, if I get them to survive the hogs.” Darrell replied, seeming equally excited. “And you don’t have to trade, though I won’t complain if you wanna share.”

“Man-eating hogs – the ultimate danger to gardening endeavours on Devil’s Peak. Who even cares about skinwalkers? People have to focus on the actually important things in life!” She added dramatically, and maybe a little too exuberant since she suddenly felt the tell-tale tingle of being watched.

They looked up to see the red-haired person again, gaze fixed on them this time. She kept the eye contact, until the other person turned away. Whatever that was about. When she returned her attention to Darrell, he was watching her, expression unreadable.

“Anyway,” They attempted to return to the conversation. “Any plans on how to keep your pets away? I suppose you’ve tried stuff like a fence before?”

His expression changed back to a genuine smile. “Yeah, tried pretty much everything I could find. Fences can’t stop them; they just tear them down and either avoid me for days or glare. How come your cats aren’t interested though? Don’t they like to cause mischief?”

“Oh, they sure like to be chaotic little fuckers. Just not fond of the outsides. They’re indoor cats, always have been. I prefer it that way, they can’t cause any damage to local wildlife, and I don’t gotta worried about them being hit by a car, ingesting something poisonous, or possibly even be shot.”

“Shot?” Darrell said, somewhere between shock and disbelief. Cylas gave a half-shrug. “Yeah. I mean, people can be quite awful in general and there has recently been a lady who was straight up killing people’s pets, though mostly by poisoning or capturing and drowning them. But there’s always a chance of cats or dogs being mistaken for something else and shot on accident.”

“Ah, well, guess that kind of makes sense. I can’t stand people like that, who abuse animals. Really aren’t worth the air they’re breathing.” He commented, a hint of anger in his voice. “Sometimes people come up to the peak just to hunt the hogs. Or skinwalkers. Whichever it is, I don’t mind them being eaten. If those guys fail to kill the animal it usually comes down to me to put the poor thing out of its misery, if I even manage to find it. And even though in those cases it’s for a ‘good’ cause I still hate killing them.”

“I can imagine. I hate hunters who do it without necessity. Especially if it only leads to animals suffering.” She shook her head. “People like that deserve what’s coming for them.”

He looked at her with a surprisingly gentle expression that she couldn’t quite interpret. “You really don’t mind the hogs?”

“No, why would I?”

“Well, they are dangerous.” He said. “They do hurt people.”

They shrugged. “To be completely honest, anyone dumb enough to run off into woods known for people going missing or getting hurt there kinda just has it coming. In my opinion. Play stupid games, win stupid prices or something.”

“Yeah, I agree.” He replied, before his gaze landed on the empty chicken nugget plate.

“Oh, no more nuggies.” Cylas said. “On that note, when does your break end anyway? You’re not late or anything, right?”

He checked the time. “No, not yet, though I should probably get going. After I paid.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pay at least part of it?” They tried again but he just shook his head. “I got it. I invited you, remember.”

They sighed. And then, with a confidence they didn’t know they possessed, they said: “Alright, alright. Can I at least give you my phone number? I actually don’t use Instagram that often. And if you’re not comfortable with me having your number you don’t gotta text me.”

“Uhm, sure.” He said, looking somewhat surprised. “Just… put your contact into my phone, I guess? Seems the easiest way.”

“Yep. You wanna save yours in mine as well, or rather not?”

“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll do it. Fair is fair.”

They exchanged numbers and Cylas waited for him to pay, before both got up and left the diner. While walking towards the door she felt eyes following her again but she didn’t bother to check.

Outside the diner, Darrell and her stood awkwardly next to each other, until she decided to break the silence. “I guess this is the point where I say goodbye, then?”

As she had hoped, it made Darrell chuckle and broke the tension. “I suppose so. Got anything excited planned for the rest of the day?”

“Nope. Checking on my plants, hanging out with the cats. The usual.” They replied. “Guess you’ll be working a couple more hours?”

“Exactly.” He said.

She gave him a half-teasing, half-sympathetic smile. “Well, then… calm rest of your shift? May you not encounter any annoying customers?”

“Thanks. Uh… do you just… want to leave now? Do we hug?” Darrell managed to get out, despite severely blushing.

“Oh, sure.” They replied, standing on their tippy-toes in order to even reach him. “I love hugs. Thanks for asking.”

His arms basically completely engulfed them, and they couldn’t help but giggle. “You’re a giant in comparison to me.”

In response, he only blushed even harder.

“Sorry, I’m just teasing. Have a nice rest of your shift for real, don’t let me keep you any longer. Don’t want you to get into trouble just cause of me.” Cylas said, still grinning up at him.

He rubbed his neck, struggling to meet her eyes. “Yeah, thanks again. Guess I’ll see you around?”

“Or text me when you arrive at the station safely. Bikes like that are dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You better.” She said before turning away to go to her car.

This had been decidedly more fun than expected, and she was almost glad that he had lost his driver’s license.

to be tagged or not to be tagged, that is the question:

@rottent33th @slaasherslut @cries-in-latino @kalid-raven @angxlslasher @the-pinstriped-hood