#but in the meantime have this

[saintofdaggers]

Saw movies // Depeche Mode - A Pain That I'm Used To

[eiochevart]

Some doodles…

I finally drew one of my Links again… Atlas my beloved

[jamiesfootball]

Augusnippets Day 10

Prompt: begging for mercy

cw: implied/referenced offer of prostitution (in a quid pro quo sort of way) (not Rebecca's idea)

Summary:

Rebecca attempts to send Jamie back to Manchester. Jamie attempts to change her mind. (episode coda for s1e06 'Two Aces')

Here on AO3

“Please.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Ms. Welton. With a dismissive turn, she picked up her coat, a clear signal that the discussion was over.

Jamie couldn’t breathe. Stars flickered in the corners of his eyes.

He forced his tone into something casual. “Please. I’ll do anything, yeah? Don’t send me back.”

“I’m afraid it’s out of my hands, Jamie. City called; they’re retracting–“

“Bullshit. They’re already in line to win this season. They don’t need me back. Come on, I- please, Ms. Welton. Just tell me what I did, and I’ll fix it.”

Ms. Welton snorted, a surprisingly harsh and cruel sound that cut across the office like a gunshot.

“There’s nothing to fix! And just to be clear, because you asked, it’s your attitude. Your behaviour since you arrived at this club has been nothing short of abhorrent. You’re rude to your teammates, rude to your manager. The question isn’t what you can do to stay, it’s why I didn’t think to get rid of you sooner!”

“I can score goals.”

“Yet not enough to keep us from sliding down the table. And certainly not enough to make up for the frankly abysmal lack of sportsmanship you display on the field. No, the fact of the matter is that Richmond no longer requires your services–“

“Please.”

“--and not even if you got down on your knees and begged would I change my mind.”

Thump.

Ms. Welton froze with her scarf half-wrapped around her neck. “What are you doing?”

He stayed on his knees.

“Enough of this,” she barked. A shrill noise escaped her throat when he didn’t move. “Get up!”

“I told you,” he said through numb lips. His head was white with staticky panic, the kind that matched the scratchy carpet under his knees.

He steeled his spine, fighting back against the nausea that threatened to rise up.

“Anything,” he swore.  “Anything you want. Anything you ask me to do, I’ll do it—no questions asked. I’ll apologise to Ted. To Sam. To Roy, the old grumpy bastard. I’ll pass the ball. I’ll join the second team. I’ll keep the bench warm for the rest of the season, but I can’t go back. You can’t send me back. Please. Please. There’s got to be something you want. I can be useful, just name your price.”

“This is ridiculous-“

“Is it money? More sponsors? I can woo them for you. Cheryl wasn’t the only one who copped a feel when she slipped me her number. I can have this place swimming in cash. Sponsors, good press, you name it, I’ll- I’ll fucking do it, just tell me what I need to do, please don’t send me back-“

Rebecca’s hand on his face silenced him. She hadn’t turned the lights on when she led him to her office, and the trash can fire felt a million light years away, nothing more than a flickering memory under the cold presence of her stare.

He was suddenly, sickeningly aware of how his position on his knees meant she towered over him like a statue. Her nails brushed against his cheek, light and unintentional, and he struggled to breathe around a sharp edge of panic.

He was going to be sick, he thought hysterically as his spine turned to liquid. He was going to be sick all over her shiny heels, and then what?

He felt small.

Her eyes glimmered with pity, and for a second she wasn’t scary at all. Her scarf sat unfinished in a complicated knot around her neck. Her lips parted unhappily, as if something about Jamie upset her. As if she was beholding something truly awful, low and pitiful, unworthy of the time it would take to put down.

Like she was looking into his soul.

Her expression hardened in decision.

“If I do something for you,” she said hoarsely, cinching her scarf closed with one final tug. “Then you have to do something for me.”

He nodded.

“No questions.”

He nodded, head bobbing along like the figure at the bottom of a rope.

She told him what she wanted. No sooner than she had finished speaking that words of agreement slipped out of his mouth, because he’d already known he’d say yes to whatever she demanded. Everyone had a limit, a price, and hers was so easy that relief swam in his eyes, blurring his vision.

He could’ve cried right there into her skirt if she hadn’t ordered him to stand up already. I’ll send you the details in the morning.

Jamie left her office in a fog, giddy and confused and trembling with a nervous terror that had his hands shaking on his car door. He couldn’t imagine what her angle was, but he didn’t need to. He didn't need to know why to do a good job; he just had to do what he was told.

He was going to do what she’d asked him to do better than she even dreamed, and then she’d never think about sending him home again.

“Help me destroy Coach Lasso.”

He already had ideas.

[monkeymindscream]

I feel like hopefully stirring up a discussion/inspiring people to share their own thoughts, so have some headcanons I have regarding the Krangs' fucked-up society/biology/etc:

—The Krang as we see them are basically a space-parasite that glommed onto the utrom species. The utrom scientists of yore poked Dimension X too hard (the dimension just past the prison dimension and right before the nothingness that sits at the center of all realities), and accidentally unleashed the eldritch horrors that existed within. i.e. The aforementioned parasites. The utrom ended up being completely overtaken, cordyceps-and-ants style, and countless lives across the galaxy were destroyed as a result of them not leaving well enough alone. Nice work, ya chucklefucks.

—Krang morality is… weird. They do understand there’s a separation between right and wrong, and as a group they tend to try to stick to the “right” side of the equation. And despite being just a shade away from being a hivemind, they can even have individual moral codes about what they personally view as acceptable and reprehensible.

It’s just that unfortunately, their definition of “right vs. wrong” is very different from the rest of the universe. That whole “we’re stronger which means we know better than everyone else” mentality.

—They genuinely think they’re helping when they assimilate planets. Uno wasn’t spouting bullshit when he declared “I am saving this WEAK planet!” Because, really, why would he bother to bullshit at that point? He’d thought his victory was assured, and that Leo would either die at Raph’s hand or be beaten down enough to get krangified himself. Why bother making that statement if he didn’t 100% believe it?

As far as the Krang see it, they are the strongest beings in existence. Only the strong deserve to live. By assimilating other lifeforms, they’re gifting them the strength of the Krang, essentially granting them the right to life. There’s a reason Uno described their goals as a “crusade.” If any other Krang had been around to hear him say he was “saving” earth, they’d have agreed wholeheartedly.

(The “I am a gift!” –line would’ve elicited some eyerolls, though. Not that he’d have cared – as far as he’s concerned he’s just stating the facts, but anyway.)

—What we saw of Earth’s invasion – both in the snippet of the future and present-day events – was far, far more violent and cruel than how Krang invasions typically go. (Example: At one point Casey mentions a “Krang labor camp.” Which, considering they have the ability to krangify whoever/WHATever they want, the Krang shouldn’t logically have a need for a labor camp. They made one anyway.) This is for two reasons:

First, there were only three true Krang doing the invading. We see mechsuits marching around in the future, sure, but we don’t actually see any Krang inside them. This is because it’s just empty tech the sibs built to enforce their will/probably just to deal with the tech Donnie built to combat them. Since the sibs couldn’t rely on numbers to take out their enemies cleanly, they had to utilize brute-force and make things messy.

Second, Uno says, and I quote: “The people of this planet will pay for what they’ve done to me.” The assimilation of earth was personal. He (+his siblings, I can only imagine) were fucking pissed, and putting the hurt on the creatures who took down his entire species was just as much the goal as conquering them was.

—Absolutely none of the chemicals that help determine humans’ emotions can be found in any of the Krang. As such, certain earthling emotional responses are literally beyond their comprehension when they’re functioning how they’re supposed to. They don’t feel anxiety, for example. They can feel fear, but there needs to be immediate danger present for them to get to that point. Which, considering their whole “strength is the end-all-be-all; the weak can get fucked” mentality, isn’t exactly something they would openly indulge in anyway, but you get it. In fact, most emotional responses besides all-out rage are considered the Krang equivalent of going clinically insane in their society. 

(Like with humans who’ve been driven insane, these responses are usually brought on by trauma.)

—Bouncing off of this, they’re mostly incapable of feeling empathy or compassion. Not entirely, granted, but it’s essentially only towards members of the little packs they’ll form amongst themselves, and even then there’s limits. Frankly, if they start to exhibit too much of either, they’d be placed into the same “insane” classification above. Too much empathy/compassion will inevitably endanger the Krangs’ collective mission, so more often than not offenders are put down rather quickly.

Note: I really need to emphasize that instances of the above (Krang feeling empathy or compassion/displaying extreme emotional responses that aren’t rage) are not ever a “ooh this individual from an Always Evil species saw the light and now they’re a good guy!” –situation. Krang who end up like this tend to be extremely erratic, and not particularly lucid. Their brains are not functioning the way they’re supposed to if they gain access to this spectrum of emotions, and it’s abundantly obvious. When I say these things qualify them as being insane, I mean it. 

—Krang do actually place importance on familial bonds, it’s just that said bonds aren’t usually based on any kind of genetic connection. Krang “siblings,” for example, are overwhelmingly not related in the slightest, and are completely family of choice. The deciding factors between becoming siblings versus just being comrades is that in addition to just being a pragmatic alliance, they actually like each other.

—It’s genetically impossible for Krangs to become inbred or suffer any kind of defects based on the relations of their parents, which plays a part in them not really needing to keep track of who they share genetic material with. (Krang tend to scatter and not really interact with any of their wombmates after being born - think fish or bugs.) Hilariously, though, mating with their chosen siblings is just as much of a taboo for them as sleeping with genetic siblings is for humans. Most would be utterly disgusted at the very suggestion. There is very little in common between human and Krang morality, but that’s one of the few places they overlap.

—Romantic connections are much rarer than the sibling packs they form, but not unheard of. Generally speaking, Krang usually just pair off with the most pragmatic match available during their mating period, and then don’t care if they never see each other again. But it’s perfectly possible for them to form a bond with one partner in particular, integrate them into whatever group they may currently be a part of, and then default to them during the mating period.

(The Krang: The only species where “You’re my default” is actually an incredibly romantic thing to say to your partner.)

—The Krang are hermaphrodites, capable of either inseminating or becoming pregnant depending on the situation. There are differences between males and females, just none involving reproductive organs: Females have heightened reflexes, males have a thicker hide (females have eight layers of skin, males have twelve). Baby Krang, being born fully cognizant (if much smaller and maybe a bit more naive than the adults), need to decide what their sex is the second they pop out, and are then responsible for producing the proper chemicals until they hit puberty to ensure their chosen sex. 

(Note: Attempting to produce all the chemicals to try to get the benefits of both sexes will result in the Krang-equivalent of an autoimmune disease. This is highly unrecommended for this reason.)

—Tying in with the above, Krangs’ collective idea of “gender” boils down to like. Stats basically. Did you opt for speed or durability? Masculinity and femininity are completely foreign (and useless) concepts to them.

—The Krang mating process is a combination of several animals I’ve read about. They all have a hectocotylus tentacle (the middle one on their right sides, if you’re wondering), which one partner will remove and present to the mate they’ve decided will carry the new Krang. The babies gestate (Krang will carry between about 50-70 palm-sized spawn at a time), and then when the time is right the kids will eat their way out of their parent. Krang are a lot spongier than most species, so unless things go horribly wrong they’ll survive giving birth, but it’s every bit as agonizing as you’d expect it to be.

—When mating, it's the Krang who’s deemed the stronger of the pair who gets the privilege of carrying the children, considering how violent the birthing process is. Which like, that’s rough buddy, but eh I mean tradeoff they’re also the only ones who actually get any kind of pleasure from the process? Krangs’ hectocotylus tentacles are numb (and y’know. Not attached to the owners body by that point in the event) so it’s not like the ones donating are having any fun...

—There’s four different kinds of Krang within the species: Makers, Interrogators, Assimilators, and Footsoldiers, all categorized by the unique abilities they do or don’t have. 

Makers are known for their ability to infuse the essence/power of the Krang into things. Think the flawless synchronization the three Krang we see have with their mechsuits, or hell – the Dark Armor. All made by maker-Krang.

Interrogators are characterized by their ability to literally burrow into people’s minds to collect information. We all saw how that worked. 

Assimilators are the ones capturing things in meat vines and turning them into mindless zombies for the Krang cause. They differ from Makers in that, while their control is fairly superficial, all things considered, they can take control of near anything. It’s ultimately irrelevant whether they're controlling a living person or an inanimate object (like a friggin train, as we saw in the movie), but their powers are noticeably more effective on living organisms. Makers, though their connection/control of what they infuse Krang energy to is close to absolute, can only do this with nonliving items. Which then drain the lifeforce/essence/souls of any non-Krang lifeforms who were unfortunate/stupid enough to try to control them.

Footsoldiers are defined by the fact that they don’t have any special abilities. Two’s a Footsoldier, and this is actually why she’s so fuckin feral with “no character development.” It was either prove she was strong by constantly being the craziest motherfucker in the room, or slip down to the bottom of the barrel.

—Despite what you might think based on the clear lines being drawn amongst “types,” there’s no caste system in place. They value strength above all else, which could come from any type. (It’s just that unfortunately for Two, it’s a lot harder for Footsoldiers to prove their strength than the other three.)

—It’s not uncommon for Krang to keep “pets” of some of the species they assimilate. They can grow just as attached to their pets as they would towards any of their siblings/defaults, it’s just that unfortunately everything said pet used to be before getting Krangified tends to get wiped clean. If Leo hadn’t shown up to rescue him, Raph had been on his way to becoming Uno’s new pet.

—Two words: Environmental mimicry.

Prior to being infected by the Krang parasite, utrom were an aquatic species (amphibious technically, but semantics). They had a number of things in common with a variety of earthen cephalopods, octopi in particular. Octopi are really, really good at blending in with their environments, and can do everything from changing color to changing their texture. Utrom had a similar ability. Not so much to blend in with their physical environments, granted (though they could do that too), but blending in with other species. In short, they can shapeshift without a cloaking brooch. 

This is very much a forgotten skill amongst the Krang, or at the very least no living Krang knows of it. Which, yeah, sample size of three, but the point stands. Krang are infinitely more aggressive than utrom were, and as such tend to (literally) tackle problems/adversaries head-on. They’ve had no need to disguise themselves for millennia, so over the years they collectively forgot they even could. Still, it remains something within the scope of their abilities, even if they never make use of it.

—Krang secrete mucus when stressed. Leo refers to the Krang as “slimeballs” in the movie, they're not actually all that slimy. Because looking at it from a biological standpoint, the reason why creatures are “slimy” (think amphibians and worms), is because their skin needs to be wet for them to absorb oxygen. The Krang, being aliens, might not even need oxygen, or if they do I question whether they’d process it the same as earth creatures. So there wouldn’t really be a need for them to be slimy 24/7. Instead, it's reserved for situations where they're in some form of distress. It makes them more difficult to grab in a potentially deadly situation, see, since Krang are most likely to feel stressed when faced with someone stronger who has murder on their mind.

[cremanata]

brazilian miku ♡

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[phantomrose96]

I think we should have a turn of phrase for "I'm not in the right, but I AM annoyed with this situation, so I just need to go bitch to a friend about this before I suck it up and go do the right thing" because more and more I'm finding this is a critical element of functional adulthood.

[valtsv]

my main advice for writing an enemies to lovers relationship is to resist the urge to make the characters' loathing and attraction mutually exclusive opposing forces. it's okay if they're getting weirdly into it and having Thoughts whilst also sincerely wanting to kill each other with hammers.

[blorbosinmyheadcentral]

This came to me in a vision

[egophiliac]

should've just let Vil be the one to fly, it would've gone SO much easier. 😔

also HEY how are everyone else's pulls going, because I have had the most RIDICULOUS luck, seriously, halloween magic is 100% real

[canisalbus]

[nelsaqift]

you’ll never guess what i watched recently

[bluegiragi]

holding back (part 2)

early access + nsfw on patreon

[httyd-art-requests]

( @yuiayyy ) They know a fellow criminal when they see one

(Not canon to the Toothless in Gravity Falls AU!)

[ID in alt text]

[kimmkitsuragi]

oh my fucking god i don't have any clothesssss

[sadbugbois]

I read svsss and I really liked the way they didn't communicate, nobody does it like them <3

[petricorah]

felt like drawing something sweet [id in alt]