#clothing - ls tops

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Ranking the promotional inklings/octolings by how much I like their outfits: Splatoon 1

Kaori:

Studio Headphones / White Tee / Pink Trainers

A simple black/white t-shirt + headphones combo alongside some aggressively pink shoes

The neutral colors of the top half of the outfit work really well to let the shoes and hair pop, which is important given that she was our first introductions to the inklings as character designs.

The only thing I can dock this outfit points for is being pretty basic, but that's also kind of the point. I'd personally prefer something with a bit more pop, but it's kind of unassailable.

4/5. She's iconic for a reason.

John:

Pilot Goggles / Zink Layered LS / Purple Hi-Horses

Similar to Kaori this is primarily a neutral outfit that puts the emphasis on the colorful shoes.

That said I like this one less than Kaori's. It's a little bit busier and the shoes don't pop as much given their darker purple tone.

Also I just don't like the Hi-Horses very much, sorry.

3/5. I can't be too harsh on him because the fit is meant to be basic, but I don't think it comes together as anything more than just Kaori's outfit but worse.

Mizuho:

Bobble Hat / Green Zip Hoodie / Moto Boots

Nice natural colors give this 'fit am active, outdoorsy look.

I like the big boots on a sniper's outfit. It makes her feel grounded and stable.

The big bobble hat is also a slightly disarming feature, it makes a bit cute, and given that she's a sniper I think she'd read as a much more serious person if she wore something more self-serious like sunglasses.

4/5. I just think this one is really good.

Rui:

Retro Specs / Baby-Jelly Shirt / Blue Slip-Ons

This 'fit flips the script the promotional characters have followed so far, really drawing your eyes to the polka dot shirt compared to the glasses and the single-color shoes.

The combination of the patterned button-down, the big boxy glasses, and the shorts (not that you had any other legwear choices in Splatoon 1) gives the outfit a vibe that to me feels straight-laced and whimsical all at once.

He has the energy of a stoic office worker with some very eccentric fashion choices.

3/5. I don't think it's very cohesive, but I can't bring myself to dislike it. It's got a lot of charm.

Laura:

Takoroka Mesh / Black Squideye / White Kicks

Another really simple fit, just a cap, a t-shirt, and a pair of shoes.

The cap gives this outfit major tomboy energy to me, and I really quite enjoy that.

The little bits of red and pink on the otherwise solid white and black of the shoes and shirt actually do a lot of lifting here, providing the whole outfit a disproportionate amount of energy.

5/5. This one is really simple but I really think it has a ton of character.

Pit:

Paintball Mask / Gray College Sweat / Orange Arrows

Another primarily neutral outfit, though this time with a pretty ostentatious piece of headwear.

I actually kind of like the shirt and shoes together, but that's about it. I really feel like the mask clashes with the rest of the outfit here.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the mask, of course, but I simply don't think it does anything with the other clothing here.

2/5. It's honestly not all that bad, but it simply doesn't grab me very much. I don't get any sense of personality here, and that's one of the things I really look for in an outfit.

[izzuku]

moan my name──

— to the anon who sent me the request: I'm really sorry | had to delete the post because | accidentally posted it without finishing it and now l'm mad but | made it!

characters─ xiao x male! reader

c/w─ brat behavior (reader), brat tamer xiao, degrading kink, creampie, no specified genitalia so you can think of this as cis reader, trans reader, intersex reader! , dominant xiao, kind of a sir" kink?, rough sex (includes spanking) , overall NSFW!

a/n─ of fucking course | can thank you so much for your request. It always amazes me how much | like xiao and how | main him in game but | BARELY write or draw him it annoys me *sigh*. Either way I'm happy that you like my fics and | hope this one goes to your list as well!

request─ "could i request a brat tamer xiao with a brat male reader? At first reader is not obeying to xiao demands so he fucks reader into oblivion. Before he's complaining that he doesn't want to but then he's delirious about how good xiao's cock feels inside. ls up to you if Xiao fucks reader again full of cum

"Sit down."

"Make me.”

"I'm not repeating myself and I don't want to get mad, [name]. Today wasn't great.”

"I can talk to you if you want, but l'm not sitting. You can't control me you know.” He can feel the corner of your lip tilting upwards as his patience runs thinner. He's been trying to sit you down so he can guard your room in Wangshu Inn but you won't budge until he hangs out with you for the night.

lt isn't clear what your relationship is but you know you care for each other. But in times like this Xiao wishes he could make you stay still as if you were a scared Hilichurl begging for your life. The cord snaps the moment you get close to his ear to whisper: “the only thing you can control are demons” and you're already pushed down to the mattress, gloved hands gripping your wrists.

The action takes you by surprise and before you can say anything, his stern voice grabs a whole of your attention. "Demons? l'll show you what control really feels like”. As rough as his actions, he takes off his gloves with his teeth, yanking them somewhere in the room. "Bend your knees, now" his command sent shivers down your spine but you thought he's still playing cat & mouse.

"C'mon Xiao...you know you're not like that to me. My offer it's still up if you wa-Ah!” you bite back a moan, feeling the hardness of Xiao's knee press against that sensitive area between your legs. Your eyes shifted back to his, them looking hungrily at his next prey, a silent command: “bend your knees or you'll get in trouble”. And you do; slowly dragging your legs up and letting him be in the space between them while he took care of taking his clothes off. “Don't tell me you're mad at me for what I said-" he cut you off again, this time with his arms crossed over his chest and a growl. "Stand up and take your clothes off" his command fell on deaf ears again when you just stared at him. “Are you gonna be a good boy or do | have to fucking tear them off?” Xiao's eyes squinted, looking you up and down. You could even see part of the dark mist surrounding him as if his karmic debt was taking a whole of his mind.

"Y-es..sir.." that seemed to get a reaction from him. "Again" his voice demanded and you obliged, calling him once again 'Sir' while your body was pushed down to his legs. Ass up, naked and on top of Xiao's legs, what a view he had of you...so ready for him. "Stop playing come on Xiao-" a first slap had your body jolting upwards. "Silence. Be good or I'll have to punish you”. And you try, you really try to stay quiet but your ass cheeks are so sensitive with each slap that you have to bite down on your hand to muffle the whimpers.

"How does it feel to get spanked? I thought you had a snarky remark for everything, love". You let out a soft moan when his finger circles your entrance, pushing inside a couple of times...moving your body to get some friction but to no avail. “On your back, hands up and legs spread. You're not allowed to cum until I say so. Do you understand?" His eyes go back to yours again and you don't know if you want to tempt the devil or obey orders. From your lack of response, he acts on his own, turning you around and pushing your legs on his shoulders. “You bet you're gonna obey now” you hear him growl again when he lets out his cock spring free.

There's not much you can say before you feel him pulsating inside of you, exhaling harshly while forcing his length deeper. Xiao's grip on your hips lets you know there's gonna be bruises the next day but you can't come up with coherent thoughts as the thrusts begin. The way his cock hits just the right spot makes you shudder in anticipation. "Come on, speak up. Don't you have something to say?" the way he's treating you have you almost cumming the second but nonetheless you try to obey like a good boy. "T-too fast!" you cry out, eyes shut and hands holding onto dear life. "Believe me when I say you're gonna beg for me to go faster" he breathes out with a sadistic smile.

It isn't until you're dripping loads of cum that he lets you have a rest. When you're so handsome filled with his seed to the brim is when he awaits for one of your common observations just to find a fucked out you under him. "Are you gonna keep disobeying me, [name]?" he calls out for you before he's met with your teary eyes and a trembling smile. “No sir...your cock feels too good to talk back" you breathe out, half laughing; “can't wait for another load inside of me...to be so full of you..”

Oh is he as eager as you to keep you full the rest of the night, plugged, marked, and cuddled to sleep for some time.

[mering]

design experimenting. two completely incongruent dudes

originally put this in the tags but it was getting long. having fun trying to figure out how to approach ls designs... key tenets:

1) wildly clashing styles of dress

2) costume elements. if someone is wearing historical clothing they are effectively larping like that says something about you. clown being a clown says something about him. etc. leaning into ballet costume/wrestling costume/theater/etc depending on the character in question because it's fun.

in relation to a bunch of people intentionally dressing up weird, wearing normal clothes also says something ("there is no c!mapicc he just hates you" etc). mapicc wearing whatever the fuck is also related to like, you know when he starts wearing diamond so zam will quit freaking out. sometimes he wants to look like the underdog, and it also has to do with part of mapicc and zam's conflict in season 4 being about... how do i put it. the same parts of zam's playstyle that make him a useful ally are the things he stubbornly refuses to change even when it would be tactically smarter to do something else. he hates that mapicc won't ever just build a base, but mapicc not living the way zam does is part of what keeps them from getting even for so long. mapicc doesn't need villagers because zam sets up villagers and then dies to him and that feeds him gear. zam has a set of rules for how to play fair in his head that mapicc does not ascribe to, mapicc can play "weaker" and still come out on top because he's "cheating" by zam's rulebook.

so mapicc's design is meant to starkly contrast both ro and zam in different ways. ro design choices feel self explanatory, he's always trying to dramatize and then it lands in the goofiest way possible so he needs to be a little over the top. at the same time he completely refuses to take things seriously when it's OTHER people's thing in question, so he's a mix of trying to give off a certain image some of the time but expressive and kinda mocking in body language. he has "mostly monochrome vaguely historical outfit design" in common with zam because on top of the literal monochrome skins, they both have a thing about trying the same tactics over and over again regardless of evidence against its efficacy, trying to return to something or preserve something which is impossible to preserve by nature.

3) leaning away from animal or monster elements common to mcrp character design because i wanna focus in on how someone would choose to present themselves through both clothing and...

4) how much of your human face/body you're choosing to reveal (sliding scale of abstraction; some characters appear more or less human at different moments). so you can have inhuman designs but it leans away from the organic towards the symbolic if that makes sense. this is sort of my visual shorthand for how lifesteal's roleplay works but it's hard to explain what i mean by that

[c0smodrom-sims]

Making your own career/NPC outfits (and attaching them to custom and default careers)

Tutorials I’ve used that helped me understand this a little bit more: SuperFly’s „Attaching custom clothes to careers” @rio-sims „Adding extra options to NPC and Career Outfit Templates” @itsdiamondeyesuniverse mini-tutorial on random clothes and hair and some general knowledge from Hat’s Simpe Tricks

I’m just compiling them and adding results of my own experimenting. It will be pretty long, so everything is under the cut.

Download Template files [SFS] or [Google Drive]

First step is to understand what makes an outfit template.

Looking at my empty template (OutfitTemplate-Empty.package), you can see 4 files. You don’t touch the BHAV and OBJf, they control the behaviours and functions and such. Good practice is to change the name of the OBJD and NREF to something unique. For custom outfits, you will have to change the GUID in the OBJD, but I will touch on that later in the tutorial.

But that’s just an empty template to fill with your own outfits. Every variation of an outfit is made of 2 files:

3IDR (3D ID Referencing File) - This one contains skeleton resource and hair/clothes property sets. AGED (Age Data) - This one pretty much contains instructions on how to read the 3D ID.

In my 3D ID template files you can see the first line is a Resource Node - that’s the skeleton. It always has to be there, don’t delete it. Second line is a property set - that’s the outfit that you will be replacing. 3D ID can have many lines of property sets in particular order, depending on what Age Data is saying.

(My SimPE shows Age Data in CPF, which reads hexadecimal, but sometimes can also show it in XML, which reads decimal. If some lines are different in decimal, I will put it in brackets.)

If you open up any of my Age Data templates, you can see a lot of lines that may make sense intuitively, and some that make no sense at all. Here are lines that are actually useful and how to change them:

AGE 2 - Child (also 2 in decimal) 4 - Teen (also 4 in decimal) 40 - Young Adult (64 in decimal) 8 - Adult (also 8 in decimal) 48 - Young Adult + Adult (72 in decimal) 10 - Elder (16 in decimal) 58 - Young Adult + Adult + Elder (88 in decimal)

I think it’s better to always include Young Adults with Adults. If for example you don’t use mods that enable jobs for YA, then nothing happens and nothing breaks. But if you do, then your YA can wear their job uniform.

GENDER 1 - Female 2 - Male 3 - Unisex (only for children!)

STRETCH It’s only important in teens - they use adult skeleton, but smaller. For adults/elders stretch will say 1, for teens - 0,94. Children use their own skeleton, so their stretch is also 1.

VALIDPARTS 3e4 - If you want to add hair to your outfit (996 in decimal) 3e0 - If you don’t want hair in your outfit (992 in decimal)

LISTCNT Number of elements in your 3D ID. Technically counts from 0, but as the first item is always a skeleton, for ease of counting - it’s the number of property sets used. For only fullbody outfits it will be 1, fullbody + hair or top + bottom = 2, hair + top + bottom = 3.

SKELETONKEYIDX Position of the skeleton in the 3D ID. Always 0, as it’s the first item, counted from 0.

LS, LK, LE All 3 needed together. They are counted from 0. So the first 3 lines will be named ls0, lk0 and le0_0. If you add another item to your outfit (eg. hair + fullbody clothes), next 3 lines will be named ls1, lk1 and le1_0, then ls2, lk2 and le2_0 etc.

LS Always 1.

LK The numbers are already in decimal, so the same in CPF and XML. From what I’ve tested and I’m sure of:

65537 = Hair/hat 65544 = Fullbody 65540 = Top 65552 = Bottom

LE Which line in 3D ID corresponds with this item, counting from 0. As line 0 is always a skeleton, and dealt with in the „skeletonkeyidx” line, you can just count property sets.

If you use my Age Data templates - you don’t have to worry about all that, but I made this tutorial only because I really wanted to know that. So maybe someone else would want to know too :P

Now that you can understand what makes a working outfit, lets make one! This will be split into 4 parts: part 1 - making a new, custom outfit; part 2 - replacing existing outfits; part 3 - attaching outfits to careers; part 4 - testing if it works.

Part 1 - Making a custom outfit

In this example I will make an outfit for adults only, for the sake of shorter tutorial :P

First step: Open „OutfitTemplate-Empty.package” in SimPE. I will change my OBJD and NREF names. In the OBJD you have to change the GUID (the one with all zeroes in the template) - how to make a GUID? Click here to generate 8 random characters in hexadecimal (refresh for a new string), delete any spaces, then put „0x” at the start. Then check with this spreadsheet if it conflicts with any Maxis objects. My new GUID will be 0x1234ABCD (only for tutorial purposes, yours should be more random to avoid clashing with CC objects too). Save the file as a copy.

Now we’re going to add actual outfits. First, one for female adult sims. You have to add a 3D ID template (in this case for teens/adults/elders) and an Age Data template that includes your preferred combo. For this one, I will get AF-Hair-Fullbody.

If you look at the Age Data, you can see here that it’s for Young Adult and Adult female sims (age = 48), it has hair (validparts = 3e4) and contains 2 property sets in 3D ID (listcnt). In the ls/lk/le lines you can see that it contains hair (65537) in the first property set and full body (65544) in the second one. (Though the order of the property sets is in the names of the template files, so you don’t have to check every time!)

Now we go to the 3D ID. If you want to attach Maxis clothes or hair, use Scenegraph Resource Finder. Set it to Property Set Search and type your hair/clothes name there (found through the default database or the debug mode in CAS). I’ve chosen afhairupdoweddingveil_black. Doesn’t matter if you choose _black, _blond, etc, your sim will automatically wear the hair in their own hair colour (for CC hair - only if it was binned correctly). Let it search. When you’ve found what you’re looking for, note the group and instance. Now open the 3D ID. Select the property set in it and change the group and instance to the ones of your chosen hair/clothes. Commit and save.

For the fullbody outfit, I’m gonna use CC clothes (AF Lolita Dress and Boots by animera at MTS). First, make sure you have a mesh and a recolour in your Downloads folder so the game can access it. Then open the recolor and find the corresponding property set. Write down group and instance and close the file. Open up your outfit template file again and go back to your 3D ID. Click on the property set line that you set up before and click „add” to clone that line. Now change the group and instance as you did before. Commit and save.

Remember that any hair and clothes used in an outfit has to be enabled for Everyday!

That’s all for the female sim, now onto the male sim.

As before - add the 3D ID template and Age Data template. I will choose AM-Hair-Fullbody.

As you can see, my new 3D ID and Age Data have the same instance as the previous ones - they will clash. So we have to change each new 3D ID and Age Data’s instance to one higher. So change instance to 2 and click force commit on both.

Next steps are the same as before - add property sets. I’ve added a propeller hat and a fig leaf, classy! Commit and save.

That’s pretty much it. If you want to add other age/gender combos? You can, just each new 3D ID and Age Data pair need to change their instances to one higher. You want to add like 20 options for every age and gender? You sure can, same thing as before - instance number goes up (remember, it’s hexadecimal so after 9 you got A - F, then 10 etc). You can have one outfit with hair, other without hair, one top and bottom and one full body, one for female adult and 10 for male adult, doesn’t matter, all combos work, as long as the property sets in the 3D ID are in the same order as in corresponding Age Data.

But right now, my custom outfit is done.

Part 2 - Default replacing existing outfits

While you can attach custom outfit to any career, default replacing outfits is the only (known to me) way to change NPC outfits without digging into BHAVs (which I don’t understand lmao).

First step is to clone the outfit you’re replacing. Open Object Workshop, click Start and wait a bit as it loads. Then go to Other > Outfits and find your chosen outfit. I’ll use „Outfit_NPC_Maid_test”. Click Next. Then if it says Recolour, change it to Clone. Uncheck every box!!! Click Next. Save the file.

If you look into the Age Datas and 3D ID - they almost always look like a mess, so we’re going to replace them entirely.

Doesn’t really matter which age/gender combo you replace with which, but I’m going to check. In my example, instance 1 is for an adult female, instances 2, 3 and 4 are for an adult male.

Right click on the 3D ID, instance 1, then click „Replace” and choose my 3D ID template. As you can see, group and instance remained unchanged, this is very important! Now right click on the Age Data, instance 1. Replace it with an Age Data of your choice. I will use AF-Hair-Fullbody. As I explained the process in part 1, I won’t go into detail here. I will also replace instance 2 with a 3D ID template and Age Data AM-Hair-Fullbody. I will replace female outfit with pink gorilla suit and male outfit with diver suit, because why not.

If you want to add more options: as stated in part 1 - when you add new 3D ID and Age Datas, instance numbers go up, but in this case you also need to change the group to the same as your default (in my case, the maid outfit has group 0x7FE81E93).

Maid outfit has 1 version for an adult female and 3 for an adult male. Of course you can add more, but what if it has more, and you want less? I want to have only 1 version for each gender. How to go about that? You need to replace all of the 3D IDs and Age Datas, but nobody said some of them can’t be identical. So I will replace my instances 2, 3 and 4 with the same outfit - diver suit. If I only replaced instances 1 and 2, I would have a chance to get a diver sut man maid, but also a chance to get 2 variations of vanilla man maids. Now I have 3 variations for male sims but they are identical, so all of them will spawn in diver suits.

You don’t need the OBJD, OBJf, NREF and BHAV, as we didn’t edit anything there. You can delete them from your package.

Save the file and you’re done!

Part 3 - Attaching outfits to custom and Maxis careers

If you replaced a default career or NPC outfit, you don’t need to do anything else, it just works. But for a new, custom outfit - you need to attach it to a career. Remember the GUID that you set in the OBJD? Mine was 0x1234ABCD. Write down yours somewhere.

For a custom career, open it up in SimPE and open Bidou’s Career Editor. Choose the level you want. On the bottom left, under the description, you can select some of Maxis outfits, or just type your own GUID. Do that, and your selected outfit name will change to Other. Close the Career Editor and save your file. You’re done :P

For a Maxis career, use Object Workshop. Choose Other > Sim Type, then select your career. Be sure to pick the one you need, as most careers have an Adult and Teen/Elder version, and in Object Workshop it just shows 2 identical names. I’m choosing the adult version of a Criminal career and clone it (with all boxes unchecked!!!). Save the file!! Now the steps are identical as in custom careers - open up Bidou’s Career Editor and change the outfit GUID for your chosen level to your own GUID. Close the Editor, but don’t save the file yet. Now you can see one little file that has been changed, as indicated by the italicised name. This file is named „Outfit GUIDs” and it’s the only file we need - delete the rest. Save the file and you’re done!

You can also edit the „Outfit GUIDs” file manually (if you, for example, don’t want to clone a career and start from scratch every time you need to make an edit). Lines 0x00 and 0x01 have to stay empty (0x0000), as they are reserved for Unemployed. Level 1 is represented by lines 0x02 and 0x03. You put your GUID there, but split in 2 halves and in reverse order. My GUID was 0x[1234][ABCD], so it will look like this: Line 0x02 - 0xABCD (level 1, 2nd half of GUID) Line 0x03 - 0x1234 (level 1, 1st half of GUID) Next lines work the same - 0x04 (2nd half) and 0x05 (1st half) for lvl 2, 0x06 (2nd half) and 0x07 (1st half) for lvl 3 etc.

Part 4 - Testing!

When all your needed files are in your Downloads folder, open the game and choose a testing hood. Make sure your boolprop cheat is on! Open a lot with at least 1 sim (we will be spawning more of them).

For testing careers, make sure you have enough sims to see your desired results. My career outfit had 1 version for adult females and 1 for adult males, so I only need 2 sims. If your outfit has more variations for the same age/gender combo, you will have to spawn a lot of sims to make sure you will get all of them! As you know, this game is famously not very good at being random, so you can have two variations of an outfit and you can get 10 sims with the first version and only the 11th will spawn with the second :P For spawning new sims, shift click on a sim and select Spawn > Tombstone of L and D. I clicked „New Adult Male” and got a random dude.

Now to get them jobs easily, I shift click on a newspaper and choose a job. You can also set their job level. For my sims, I need to test Criminal career level 1.

Now give them a wardrobe (or a few, if you have a lot of sims to change) and make them dress for work. As you can see - my sims are wearing their new pretty outfits! (Excuse my "I use lowest possible graphical settings so my laptop doesn't explode" ass screenshots)

To test NPC outfits, shift click on a sim and select Spawn > NPC and Townie Maker. First choose a gender, then find the EP of the NPC you want to create, in my case it’s the basegame, so I select Make NPC > Maid. It will spawn a random NPC of your chosen gender. You can cycle it a bit, clicking on the NPC maker again and selecting Repeat Last. If your outfit has many variations, cycle as many times as needed to make sure all your options appear correctly. When you’re done, click on the NPC maker and choose Kill. Now choose the other gender and repeat. Cycle as many times as needed. I only needed to see 1 female maid in a gorilla suit, but I needed to cycle a bit to see if nothing slipped through the cracks with the male maids. Everything works great and they were all divers :P

After all that testing we’re done! Have fun with making all of the outfits your heart desires! ♡

[according2thelore]

WOULD THAT BE SMTH I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN?? DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK??

everything you write is so brilliant and ls dean picking up es sam has me SWEATING bc even though i know es sam is a Large Guy he is SO SMALLLLL. look at his eyes look at his WRISTS!

thank you so much for indulging my silly ask. i love that explanation so damn much.

he is so tiny!!! the littlest 6'5" mf ALIVE!!!

EEK OKAY HERE YOU GOOOO <3 !!!!

(this is in reference to a narrative ficlet about ES!Sam getting injured on a hunt as he's the least practiced of the four)

sammy's hands don't shake as he presses down on the wound. he's too practiced for it.

sam gasps underneath him, arching and trying to twist away from sammy's implacable hands, but a combination of his shock and sammy's strength have him completely immobile.

"sam? sammy?" sammy tenses. but he knows that neither of those are for him. "sammy? oh my god."

he can fear footsteps pounding on grass, getting closer.

"he's okay," sammy says, preemptively, as he hears a thud on the grass, sees younger dean's knees in his periphery. "it was a graze on his thigh. the bleeding makes it look worse than it is. it's mostly stopped."

dean's hands shake as they land on top of sammy's, like his added strength will stem the mostly stopped blood even faster. sammy doesn't have time to say anything, before dean's hands are skittering up sam's body.

sammy recognizes the process for what it is, and lets dean do his check. sammy hears another set of footsteps slowing to a stop behind him.

"shifter's dead." older dean. a metallic clang on the earth. machete, probably. "he's okay?" his voice is tight.

"we just need to get him back to the bunker for some stitches, and he'll be good as--"

"what the fuck happened?" dean cries, tapping sam on the side of the face. sam is unresponsive, but his head lolls into dean's open palm, and dean strokes his cheek with a shaking thumb. "you were supposed to be looking out for him!"

sammy blinks. he had taken dean's silence as quiet assessing, as focus. but he hadn't realized that he was shaking apart. he looks over at him, but dean's eyes are trained on sam's face. he's a little pale, and in and out of consciousness from the nasty thunk the shifter had given his head against a tree trunk.

this shifter managed to steal sam's gun and shoot him in the thigh--a graze, really--before shooting off into the woods. the blood has mostly stopped. sammy knew they were too green for a hunt so soon, especially his younger self.

"it got the drop on us," sammy says evenly. he unsheathes his knife from his boot and passes it to older dean behind him without looking.

"it got the drop on you," dean spits, and he looks up at sammy with the coldest, harshest glint in his eye that sammy had ever seen from a dean so young.

it knocks him back on his ass.

it's venomous. malignant.

it's hatred.

sammy reels, because after weeks of quiet laughs and hidden blushes and big eyes, he had not been expecting--or frankly, been prepared for--this level of vitriol.

"dean," the word is punched out of him. "he's--he's okay. he hit his head pretty hard, but he's going to be fine."

he reaches out a hand to dean's shoulder, but dean flinches away from it. sammy can't help his own responding flinch, and he watches helplessly as dean bends over sam's prone form, and smacks him gently on the cheeks a few more times.

"--een?" sam croaks. dean keeps making encouraging noises at him, while a strip of cloth is pressed into sammy's palm. older dean must've cut a scrap while he wasn't paying attention.

sammy tries to refocus, and he pulls sam's leg into his lap so he can wrap his wound. he just needs to keep some pressure on it while they drive back, but honestly, it looks okay. a clean cut. some antiseptic, a few stitches, and a shot of whiskey and he'll be fine. someone needs to wake him up every few hours tonight, but he's okay.

sammy pulls the cloth tight after wrapping the wound a few times, and sam jerks in his lap, spasming. a wordless, low noise of pain hisses through his teeth, and sam barely manages to tie the knot before sam's low rumble of pain turns into a sharp cry.

"get away from him!" dean roars, and sammy is forced bodily out of the way. he's not expecting it, and falls to the side, catching himself by the palms of his hands, which grate against the coarse forest floor.

"you're okay, sammy, you're okay," dean murmurs, brushing sam's bangs away from his sweaty forehead, already bent back over him.

sammy--older sam, he now realizes, stripped of the term of endearment--watches the tableau, sam blinking his eyes open in his brother's arms, and a hand coming up slowly to curl into his jacket.

older sam feels ill. he feels...Other.

"c'mon, sammy," a hand on his shoulder. sammy, again, tilts back into his dean, trying to catch his breath. "let's give 'em some room."

~~~

"i've..." sammy falls silent as they walk back to the car. he and his dean are watching their two younger selves limp back to the impala, dean hunched over so he can support sam's weight. sam can mostly walk on his own, but he doesn't take his arm from around dean's shoulders.

sammy watches as dean's hand tightens on sam's waist. he doesn't adjust him, just holds him closer. sam tilts his head so his lips brush dean's temple as he casts a look back at them. an accident. but an accident sammy is used to making.

older dean grunts next to him, hauling the bundle of machetes up so he can prop it on his shoulder. it's his utilitarian response: an invite for sam to speak more if he wants, but it can serve as an acknowledgement if sammy's not ready to vocalize whatever he's thinking about.

"i've never seen you like that." sammy says. "back then. i mean, even now." he watches his younger self stumble a little, and dean brace his entire body against it. "i...i've never been on the outside of that, i guess."

"hm." dean grunts again. "i've been told i can be an intimidating sonovabitch." a slow smile. “at least we know the kid’s got a line. i thought he’d be clinging to your skirts forever.”

"not that." sammy rolls his eyes, and tries to be grateful that dean's levity is for his benefit. "about me. you've been worried about me, but you've never been...i don't know. that...furious with me. impersonal."

like i just killed something you loved. like i just killed the only thing you loved.

dean shrugs.

"yeah, well. it...it wasn't easy. seeing you--him--like that. it never is." dean scratches at his neck with his free hand, and sammy watches as it leaves streaks of dirt on the stubbled skin. "i can't imagine. it's one of his firsts."

they walk in silence for a few moments, and the forest thins as the impala comes into view.

"it wasn't your fault," dean says, suddenly, like he forgot to remind sam of it.

"i know." sammy says, but it doesn't feel resolved. it doesn't feel alright.

"sam's gonna be fine." dean says, and sammy slows to a stop, because he can hear the sheer weight under those words. the depth.

he knows, suddenly, that dean has probably whispered that phrase to himself over and over and over again--in the dark, in the middle of the day, under covers, in open graves, in malls, in schools, in churches, climbing up mountains, and falling asleep at night.

"i'm sorry." sammy says abruptly. for hurting him. for hurting me. for making sure you were always there to watch it.

dean stops and turns around when he sees sammy hesitate, and there's something entirely different in his words this time, entirely different in his expression.

"it's not your fault," dean says again. he shrugs, and looks away so their eye contact is broken. "he'll forgive you. he always forgives you."

sam inhales sharply. he nods.

they both turn to watch younger dean settle sam into the backseat, and watch him close the door. he braces himself against the roof for a second, head hanging.

then he stands up. he looks over at the two of them. he lifts his chin--in defiance, in anger, in pride, in greeting. they both dip their chins in acknowledgement of this.

they go home.

[gilbertbakerpridesimslegacy]

Gilbert Baker's Pride Legacy: an LGBT Legacy Challenge

General Concept & General Rules

This Sims 4 challenge is based on Gilbert Baker’s original 8 stripe rainbow pride flag. Baker assigned each stripe a meaning connecting to the LGBT community. Each generation embodies one of these stripes and their meanings. 

Every generation heir must complete their aspiration and reach the top level of their careers. Each heir must wear at least one item of their respective stripe colors at all times. Each heir can be any gender, including trans and nonbinary genders, unless specified otherwise.  Each heir can be any sexuality, unless specified otherwise.  The only rule: the main sim cannot be both cisgender and heterosexual/heteromantic.  You are encouraged to hang the pride flag of your sim’s identity, whatever you decide it is.

For written rules, keep reading below. For rules in graphic form, see here.

Note: Diversity is a cornerstone of our community. Please be conscious of the sims you use to play this challenge- LGBT people can be all body types, all races, and all religions. Everyone deserves spaces in the community and in your gameplay.

The rules contain uses of the packs listed below. Each instance is noted by the acronym next to the name. I have provided base game alternatives to each one of these uses, noted next to each use!

Eco Lifestyle (EL)

City Living (CL)

Get To Work (GTW)

Island Living (IL)

Parenthood (PH)

Spa Day (SD)

Get Together (GT)

For Rent (FR)

Growing Together (GWT)

Outdoor Retreat (OR)

Home Chef Hustle (HCH)

Realm of Magic (RoM)

Snowy Escape (SE)

Paranormal Stuff (PS)

Nifty Knitting (NK)

Cats and Dogs (C&D)

Cottage Living (CoL)

Horse Ranch (HR)

High School Years (HSY)

Lovestruck (LS)

Crystal Creations (CC)

Gen 1: Pink (Sex)

You were raised by extremely uptight parents and were denied every aspect of pleasure as a child.  Now, as a young adult, it’s time to explore! You’ve always enjoyed the finer things in life - that is, sex, food, and art.  You might have a little bit of a hedonistic streak, but what’s wrong with that? So did Dorian Grey! Your goals in life are to have as much sex, eat as much good food, and see as much great art as possible.  

Traits

Lovebug (LS) (alternative: romantic)

Art Lover

Foodie 

Career

Romance Consultant (LS) (alternative: Culinary, either branch)

Aspiration

Serial Romantic

Goals

Woohoo with at least 10 different sims

Have a child out of wedlock

Max the photography skill, romance skill (LS) (alternative: charisma), and the cooking or mixology skill

Have three gold star dates at an art museum

Open a food stand (HCH)

Have 3 fully-satisfied partners at once (either with Lovestruck romance satisfaction or just by having full relationship bars)

Gen 2: Red (Life)

Your parent/s brought you up in a life of luxury - you always had the best food, the best clothes, and you spent lots of time at art museums.  You want everyone else to be able to experience life’s same pleasures, so you turn to charity.  You like to make everything with your own hands and give them away - it makes you happy to see your work out in the world, making others happy and living in community.  That’s the meaning of life, isn’t it?

Note: this gen has two aspirations, which might feel overwhelming, but the Neighborhood Confidante one is only one level, and the goals overlap with this gen’s goals!

Traits

Generous (FR) (alternative: Good)

Maker (EL) (alternative: Creative)

Outgoing

Career

Politician (PS), Charity Organizer branch (Alternative: Freelancer, artist or crafter (EL)) (if freelancer, accept all gigs having to do with charitable giving)

Aspiration

Neighborhood Confidante 

Master Maker (EL) (alternative: Nerd Brain)

Goals

Master the fabrication (EL), handiness, and comedy skills (alternative: painting)

Live with at least one non-romantic roommate your whole life, including after marriage

Max friendship with at least 10 sims

Give to charity at least once a week after you move out of your parents’ home

Gen 3: Orange (Healing)

Your parent/s loved to give away everything they had.  While that’s an admirable choice, you’re a little different.  You’re all about objects - you like to have as much as possible, in order to provide a good life for your future children.  You fall in love young and immediately start a family, hoping to spend the rest of your life with them.  Unfortunately, you get too wrapped up in your work and your spouse divorces you. You spend the rest of your life trying to help your children and heal yourself. You’re also a very caring person and want to help everyone you can, and you choose a career which allows you to do so.  All you want is to see your kids succeed in life.

Traits

Materialistic

Ambitious

Family Oriented

Career 

Doctor (GTW) (alternative: education, either branch, or athlete (bodybuilder)) 

Aspiration

Successful Lineage

Goals

Master the logic, parenting (GT), and wellness (SD) skills (alternatives: charisma, fitness)

Marry your high school sweetheart immediately after aging to young adult

Have at least 2 kids with your high school sweetheart

Get divorced as a young adult or adult

Have all of your children have the top-notch infant and top-notch toddler traits, and graduate with A’s in school

Gen 4: Yellow (Sunlight)

Your parent/s were always really set on you being successful, which was annoying. Not that you don’t want to be successful, it’s just that your definition of success is pretty different than theirs. You’ve always felt a little different, a little alien in your own body. When you’re a teenager you realize you’re trans, and begin taking steps to feel more at home with yourself.  As an adult, you’re happier than you’ve ever been, and you’ve even found the love of your life and discovered your love of music - the only thing is, you’ve been so focused on your transition you forgot about… the career, making-money part of life.  You don’t really care.  You find a small house and live there with your partner and children, never working, just enjoying your happiness and creativity.

Sim Characteristics: must be transgender (binary or nonbinary). Can be any sexuality, including straight

Traits

Freegan (EL) (alternative: lazy)

Cheerful

Music Lover

Career

None, but odd jobs are allowed

Aspiration

Soulmate

Goals

Max the piano, guitar, and singing (CL) skills (alternative: violin skill)

Live in an apartment with at least one bedroom less than you have children (i.e. 2 bedroom w/ 3 kids)

Only ever date one sim, marry them and max both friendship and romance

Customize your gender settings as a teenager, can be any combination as long as not the same as at birth

Never have a job, even part-time

Live on an off-the-grid lot for at least one age category

Gen 5: Green (Nature)

Your parents were the perfect couple, and they never stopped talking about it. They were each other’s first and only loves, and they want the same kind of never-ending love for their children.  The thing is, you’re not sure you’re into that sort of thing. The most important thing, to you, is Mother Earth. You’re dedicated to preserving nature just as it is - and you find a group of friends who have just the same goal.  You live with them your whole life, and eventually you decide to adopt a child together.  You’re excited to pass on your love for the environment to a new generation.

Traits

Green Fiend (EL) (alternative: Loves Outdoors)

Loyal

Insider (GtW) (alternative: outgoing)

Career

Conservationist (IL), Environmental Manager branch (alternative: register as independent gardener, or Civil Designer (EL))

Aspiration

Freelance Botanist

Goals

Never have a romantic partner, never woohoo, customize your sexual orientation settings to reflect your lack of interest in romance and woohoo

Live in a quasi-commune/community or rental lot (FR) commune with at least 4 other people

Live on a lot with the Reduce and Recycle trait, and transform your neighborhood eco footprint from neutral/industrial to green (EL)

Max the gardening, herbalism (OR), and fishing skills (alternative: gemology (CC) or charisma)

Adopt a dog or a cat (C&D), a horse (HR), a cow, a llama, and at least one wild rabbit (CoL) (alternative: get some frogs & fish)

Make your heir have the bad manners character trait (PH) (alternative: unhappy infant trait)

Gen 6: Turquoise (Magic)

Your group of caregivers taught you to value and care for nature. So you took it to the next level and connected with nature so much that you became a spellcaster. You use your magic to help others, mostly - and summon a few animal friends. Your unusual communal upbringing gave you a few interesting traits- you’re fine eating out of the garbage, and you’re always up for an adventure, no matter how reckless. But you’re fun-loving and magical, and what more could anyone ask for?

Traits

Adventurous (SE) (alternative: goofball)

Loves Outdoors

Glutton

Career

Secret Agent

Aspiration

Spellcraft & Sorcery (RoM) (alternative: Chief of Mischief)

Goals

Max the mischief and rock climbing (SE) skills (alternative: fitness)

Achieve rank 6 spellcaster (RoM), have either a Leafbat or Glowfrog familiar (RoM) (alternative: finish the MySims trophy collection)

Have only one child, make the child have the low self-esteem trait (GWT) (alternative: unhappy infant trait)

Have a partner in crime as a child or teen, pull three successful pranks at school

Gen 7: Blue (Harmony)

Your parent was fun-loving and literally magical- they could summon animals at will and clean the floors with a flick of the wrist. Unfortunately, that kind of lifestyle didn’t bode well for a stable upbringing. You’re going to do everything you can to be the parent you never had- you’re determined to have a large, loving family, living in harmony with the world and each other. You want the most typical, average, perfect suburban life possible. But you have some… erratic traits you inherited from your parent. Plus, society’s idea of a “perfect normal family” doesn’t include a nonbinary, bisexual parent. These things seem like obstacles to your dreams- but eventually you realize it’s not you that’s wrong, it’s just that society’s picture of perfect harmony needs to change to include you.

Sim Characteristics: this sim must like multiple genders and be nonbinary/genderqueer

Traits

Erratic

Perfectionist

Romantically Reserved (LS) (alternative: Family Oriented)

Career

Salaryperson (SE), either branch (alternative: business, either branch)

Aspiration

Big Happy Family

Goals

Have 4 kids

Take your family on vacation at least once in adult life (to any vacation world, or alternatively, to a park every day for a week)

Max the parenting (PH), baking (GtW), and knitting (NK) skills (alternatives: charisma, handiness, cooking)

Have a max relationship with a high school sweetheart, but break up and marry someone else

Live in a typical blue suburban house in Brindleton Bay (C&D), Copperdale (HSY), Willow Creek, or Newcrest

Have two cats or two dogs (C&D) (alternative: have another child)

Gen 8: Violet (Spirit)

You had the perfect suburban life. Your childhood home was filled with laughter and love and many, many siblings. Your parent had a steady job and was the kindest, most loving parent in the world. But you still feel like there’s something missing. As a child you hate being around people and instead find solace in fictional worlds. Finally, you realize you’re missing some excitement, a spark, and a deep community. You decide to reconnect with your ancestors - both your actual family ancestors, and your queer ancestors of the past. They guide you throughout your life and lead you to your happiness, helping you gain confidence, love, and spirit - and help you realize you’re not alone in this world.

Sim Characteristics: if you’re a part of the LGBT community, I encourage you to make this sim reflect your own identity, if possible! If you’re not, I encourage you to make this sim an identity you haven’t encountered thus far in this challenge- go through the flags and see which ones you haven’t used!

Traits

Loner

Self-assured

Bookworm

Career

Freelance Paranormal Investigator (PS) (alternative: freelance writer)

Aspiration

Extreme Sports Enthusiast (SE) (alternative: bodybuilder)

Goals

Max the medium (PS), writing, and skiing (SE) skills (alternatives: comedy, fitness)

Live on a haunted house (PS) lot for at least one stage of life (alternative: live on a lot with the spooky trait, meet 10 non-family ghosts)

Befriend every past heir in their ghost forms

Befriend 3 non-family ghosts

Don’t gain the self-assured trait until aging to young adulthood

[toomuchracket]

the sleepy post show matty affection and cuddles im- i need a blurb if it so bad lmao (side note: hope everything ls okay mads! ty for all the lovely writing recently but pls take all the time u need to work on asks and requests, we will support whatever whenever u post!! love u!)

in that nme interview, matty said that the first thing he does when he gets offstage is smokes a zoot, but that's technically untrue if you're there - the first thing he does is either find you at the side of the stage or wait for you to come backstage from the audience so he can give you a hug and a sweet kiss or several, laughing when you admonish him for being all sweaty and getting you all messy (but you don't mind, really), and getting all sappy when you tell him he was good. THEN he lights up a zoot - and repeatedly offers it to you - and smokes as he gathers up all his shit and chats to everyone, kissing the top of your head every time he moves past you; when he's ready to go, matty takes your hand and kisses it before he leads you to the waiting car (which takes ages because you have to hug the rest of the band goodnight lol). in the car itself, you make small talk with the driver and matty curls up sleepily beside you; he tries to stay awake as long as possible, but the exertion of performing and the weed have kinda taken it out of him a lil, so you're like "baby, go to sleep. i'll wake you up when we're nearly home, yeah?", and matty's always like "nooooo i wanna talk to you" at first, but he dozes off when you reassure him you can talk when you're out of the car and gently start to play with his hair. towards the end of the journey, you wake him up by caressing his cheek and murmuring his name - he'll slowly blink as he awakens and smile tiredly at you, following you out of the car and clinging to you (lowkey to stay upright) as you lead him into the house/hotel/wherever. but i think matty gets a bit of a second wind when the two of you get somewhat settled at home, in that he perks up a bit as he watches you get changed out of your show clothes (typical boy lmao) and then when you have a cup of tea together; that's when you guys chat about the show and your respective days and anything and everything you can think of, a chat which continues as you have a quick shower together if you're both awake enough for that, or just as you lie curled up in bed together if you're really sleepy. regardless of tiredness level, the night always ends with matty falling asleep with his head on your chest, after some more sweet kissing and shared "i love you"s, and you being all "i'm proud of you" and him being all "it's all for you, sweetheart". cute! <3

(and tysm for the support!! ily)

[howtosingit]

Brian I have a nice ask day ask if you wish to answer it 💜 can you pick your top 5 Rafa on screen scenes and rank them? impossible question I know. but I believe in you!

Okay the thing is I did want to answer this immediately but it absolutely crippled me with doubt 😂 so I'm just gonna do it quick like ripping off a bandaid so that I can't overthink it anymore. Also not going to rank them because I'll spiral, so you're just getting 5 great ones:

The first interrogation room scene in 2x08 (but also all Carlos and Gabriel scenes this episode). The constant shifts in Carlos as he puts things together and realizes why Gabriel's there, the heartbreak of him thinking he was doing what his father always wanted, only to disappoint him again... at the time, this was the strongest scene LS had it its arsenal (WE STAN AND MISS TONYA KONG FOREVER AND ALWAYS) and it remains one of the best ones. It's so compelling and amazing to get to see the Carlos and Gabriel dynamic on display for the first time. This episode was a game-changer and I'll never shut up about it.

It's probably cheating to say all of his work in 4x18, so if I had to pick a scene from that I would say his talk with Owen where they toast Gabriel. My only problem with it is that it's so short, but Rafa packs every fucking thing he can in there, beat for beat, and it's beautiful. His delivery on "and forget about it?" but also all the lines leading up to that. The man is fucking hollow and crushed and lost and MY GOD RAFAEL. He's so skilled at what he does, knows exactly what he's doing every time. It's sublime.

Fine, another 4x18. Carlos's vows. I'm not gonna explain that one, the man is fucking beautiful and his heart is beautiful and he puts in on display publicly for what was probably the first time in his adult life, and it's stunning.

I love the scene in 3x13 where Carlos meets Cooper. Rafa is such a brilliant comedic actor, he uses every tool at his disposal, he understands his craft so well, how to use his body and face and voice to delivery great work, he's such a standout. I adore him. I could watch that scene for hours. Also, he is really fucking distracting in those clothes.

I'm gonna pick the fire in 2x12. And I'm gonna pick it because honestly the intensity of that scene, the life-or-death stakes, the absolute devastation and destruction of it, they are fully delivered by Rafa's performance. Like, Carlos's fear is what drives the scene, and Rafa's work sells it. And I'm also going to pick it because he's shirtless and so fucking hot. I'm gay, it's true. Have fully never recovered from it. And I'm also going to cheat and say the scene continues into him crying and TK holding him. So, like, obviously a top 5.

I'm sorry I have to include it I know I already picked 5 and I refuse to cut any of them but the 3x04 scene deserves to be in here and I'm mostly talking about the montage scene where TK wakes up and Carlos is forced out of the room and then his mom is there but then he fucking gasps the breath of a dying man who has been saved LIKE HE BASICALLY SAYS NO WORDS BUT MY FUCKING GOD, THE PERFORMANCE so I'm listing it and you can't fucking stop me Lola YOU CAN'T

anyway I just really love an actor who has honed their skills and studied their craft and dedicated themselves to approaching each scene in a fresh and honest way and I'm just really fucking happy to get to watch Rafa do it so thanks for letting me rave about him Lola you're a real one ❤️

[liquidcrystalsky]

Here's all the gear names in the new update

LONG ass post so under the cut:

HEADGEAR:

Long-Billed Cap, King Flip Mesh, Blowfish Newsie, Pilot Hat, Barrelfish Baseball Hat, Octoleet Goggles, Worker's Head Towel, El Rey Calamar, Zekko Cap, Ink-Guard Goggles, Teal Pinhole Shades, Green Pinhole Shades, Pink Pinhole Shades, Yellow Pinhole Shades, Patched Hat, Fugu Bell Hat, Hothouse Hat, Mountie Hat, Black FishFry Bandana, Squidfin Hook Cans, Matte Bike Helmet, Deca Tackle Visor Helmet, Barrelfish Headgear, Slipstream Helmet Pro, Slipstream Helmet, King Facemask, Motocross Nose Guard, Digi-Camo Forge Mask, Yamagiri Beanie, Sneaky Beanie, Tee Time Visor

CLOTHING:

North-Country Parka, Octoleet Armor, Dev Uniform, Cooler Jacket, Fresh Octo Tee, Chilly Mountain Coat, Takoroka Windcrusher, FA-01 Jacket, FA-01 Reversed, Pullover Coat, Birded Corduroy Jacket, Deep-Octo Satin Jacket, Zekko Redleaf Coat, Lemon Mountain Coat, Zekko Jade Coat, Light Bomber Jacket, Navy Eminence Jacket, Tumeric Zekko Coat, Custom Painted F-3 , White Leather F-3, Chili-Pepper Ski Jacket, Whale-Knit Sweater, Rockin' Leather Jacket, Kung-Fu Zip-Up, Panda Kung-Fu Zip-Up, Shirt with Blue Hoodie, Grape Hoodie, Hothouse Hoodie, Pink Hoodie, Olive Zekko Parka, Black Hoodie, Baby-Jelly Shirt & Tie, Prune Parashooter, Red Hula Punk with Tie, Dots-on-Dots Shirt, Toni K. Baseball Jersey, Barrelfish Baseball Uni, Short Knit Layers, Positive Longcuff Sweater, Annaki Yellow Cuff, Annaki Red Cuff, Octarian Retro, Takoroka Jersey, Octo Jumper Home, Pink Easy-Stripe Shirt, Inkopolis Squaps Jersey, Lime Easy-Stripe Shirt, Annaki Evolution Tee, Zekko Long Carrot Tee, Zekko Long Radish Tee, Black Cuttlegear LS, Takoroka Crazy Baseball LS, Red Cuttlegear LS, Khaki 16-Bit FishFry, Blue 16-Bit FishFry, Sharkfin Raglan, Black V-Neck Tee, White Deca Logo Tee, Half-Sleeve Sweater, King Jersey, Gray 8-Bit FishFry, White Urchin Rock Tee, Black Urchin Rock Tee, Wet Floor Band Tee, Squid Squad Band Tee, Navy Deca Logo Tee, Mister Shrug Tee, Chirpy Chips Band Tee, Hightide Era Band Tee, ω-3 Tee, Missus Shrug Tee, League Tee, Friend Tee, Tentatek Slogan Tee, Octoking HK Jersey, Dakro Nana Tee, Dakro Golden Tee, Black Velour Octoking Tee , Green Velour Octoking Tee, Slate Streetstyle Tee, Red Tentatek Tee, Blue Tentatek Tee, Squid Yellow Layered LS, White King Tank, Slash King Tank, Navy King Tank, Lob-Stars Jersey, Fishing Vest, Front-Zip Vest, Silver Tentatek Vest, Tentatek Slipstream Vest, Teal Body Warmer

SHOES:

Deepsea Leather Boots, Annaki Arachno Boots, New-Leaf Leather Boots, Tea-Green Hunting Boots, Octoleet Boots, Knockout Boots, Cream Basics, Shivery Squidkid III, Fried Squidkid III, Big Squidkid III, Chained DC Toejamz, Jeweled DC Toejamz, Swirled DC Toejamz, Trifecta Duck Boots, Trifecta Hi-Tops, Trifecta Sandals, Smoky Wingtips, Gray Yellow-Soled Wingtips, Inky Kid Clams, Musselforge Flip-Flops, Cyan Dakroniks, Black Dakroniks, Piranha Moccasins, White Norimaki 750s, Black Norimaki 750s, Gray Sea-Slug Hi-Tops, Orca Hi-Tops, Navy Enperrials, Amber Sea Slug Hi-Tops, Yellow Iromaki 750s, Honey & Orange Squidkid V, Sun & Shade Squidkid IV, Orca Woven Hi-Tops, Green Iromaki 750s, Purple Iromaki 750s, Red Iromaki 750s, Blue Iromaki 750s, Orange Iromaki 750s, Red Power Stripes, Blue Power Stripes, Toni Kensa Black Hi-Tops, Sesame Salt 270s, Black & Blue Squidkid V, Orca Passion Hi-Tops, Truffle Canvas Hi-Tops, Crab-Trap Squidkid III, Violet Trainers, Canary Trainers, Yellow-Mesh Sneakers, Orange-Mesh Sneakers, N-Pacer CaO, N-Pacer Ag, N-Pacer Au, Sea Slug Volt 95s, Athletic Arrows, OB Gaiter Waders, Noir Guppies, Birch Climbing Shoes, Green Lace-Ups, White Laceless Dakroniks, Blue Laceless Dakroniks, Suede Gray Lace-Ups, Suede Nation Lace-Ups, Suede Marine Lace-Ups, Toni Kensa Soccer Shoes, Stamina Cycling Shoes, Energy Cycling Shoes, Polka-Dot Slip-Ons, Burden of Floof

[elderemorune]

What the f@&k is up with WWWY '24?

Alright, it's been awhile since I've posted, but here we go! A bit of preamble before we dig in; I'm starting a new project I'm calling "What the f@&k is up with..." where I talk about an event I attended (which I've done before) or something weird I learned recently and go a bit into it.

So let's get started, yeah?

This year, I took the very first vacation I've ever been on in my adult life. And what a first vacation to take! Las Vegas, shining jewel of the Mojave, played host to a massive emo music festival by the name of When We Were Young, featuring all of the biggest bands from when I was a child. My Chemical Romance was the headliner this year, but the act list was absolutely stacked with heavy hitters like Fall Out Boy, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 3OH!3, Jimmy Eat World, etc.

Some short sad boy hours before we dive in. I was never allowed to be a part of this community when I was a kid. I wanted to dress like my friends and listen to the same music they did. I mean, shit, my friggin mom listens to My Chem, but when I'd ask for CDs and clothes, my parents always said no. This means that many of the big acts were groups I ended up missing out on, like LS Dunes, an emo supergroup not unlike CRX. (Wholeheartedly recommend them, by the way.) For me, this festival was a reclamation of the ties I wasn't allowed to forge in my youth, a reclamation of the little boy who wanted to be seen by everyone around him.

With that surprisingly lengthy preamble out of the way, let's do what I love doing most and talk about the music.

The first act we saw was Daisy Grenade. While most of the bands performing were doing full albums, Daisy Grenade wasn't able to do that because they haven't released a full length yet. Instead, we got a new release, How to Hide a Body, which I'm currently listening to on repeat because I am absolutely in love with them.

They performed several other songs, like Riot and Are You Scared of Me Yet, and their energy on stage was so infectious that I practically began crying with how overjoyed I was. They were so incredibly happy just to be there, at this massive festival, playing for all of us.

I don't want to spend forever talking about them, but I absolutely could. I've become so obsessed with them that I've been listening to their entire discography on repeat since we returned from the show! Top notch show from them, 10/10.

Following Daisy Grenade was LS Dunes, the aforementioned emo supergroup, comprised of Anthony Green, Frank Iero, Travis Stever, Tim Payne and Tucker Rule. Their show was, again, fantastic. I'm probably going to say this about every show we saw, but this one sticks out for a particular reason: LS Dunes actually inspired "What the F@&k is Up" when Anthony said "Being in a band is the very best thing" and an audience member shouted "Yeah, that's why you're in 12 of them!"

Here's where we finally get to the "What the fuck is up" part. After he said that, I took it upon myself to track this man down and talk to him. I asked about the band and about the festival. He asked if I was a reporter, so I told him what I was doing. "I'm gonna write about this on my fuckin tumblr when I get home, my man. You mind sharing some thoughts to go on a sadboy tumblr page?"

"Tumblr still exists? Fuck yeah dude!"

I didn't get his name, but I did get a quote from him! "LS Dunes is the group of misfits that brings all us lost souls together. Every member comes from a band we hold dear, and combines to form a Voltron of a supergroup!"

Frankly (hehe), I couldn't agree more! This show was my first exposure to them, but Frank Iero and The ... is a project that means a lot to me. Joyriding is a personal favorite song, and the music really saved me from a dark place, and if I've got a story like that, imagine how many others at this event did too!

So, since this was a big festival, there were cameras everywhere, and with crowd sizes being what they were, massive screens were erected on the stages to allow the people in the back to actually see the acts onstage. I'm bringing this up because partway through the set for LS Dunes, the camera ended up focused on Anthony's can of Liquid Death, which to me is both the MOST Vegas AND the MOST capitalist thing. Personally I find it amusing. The water brand meant to make weak men feel decent about being the DD sponsoring a big emo event? It sends me!

Let's talk about the community of WWWY. My wife has a minor sun allergy, so I'd gotten a parasol for her to help battle the Mojave. At first we were worried about bothering other attendees, but instead we shaded a small group around us and they offered to start taking turns holding the parasol when arms started getting tired! Once we whipped the shade out, this girl in the crowd handed us a beaded bracelet that read "2022", and this other guy near us, Jared, thanked us for the shade when it was his turn to hold the parasol.

I can't think of any other event that I've attended where this kind of behavior is even possible, let alone the norm! So big shoutout to Jared and Bead Girl! (BG, if you use Tumblr and come across this post, please message me with your name and I'll replace it! First name is fine!)

After LS Dunes, we decided to take a break. The next act that I wanted to see but she had no interest in was Red Jumpsuit, but their set wasn't for a little bit, so I fucked off to get some lunch. Got myself a gyro and some nachos for my wife. I thought the food was alright, but according to her it was much better than the food at Warped Tour. I also felt basic (sue me), so I got myself a Pumpkin Spice Latte. You wanna know what made this experience worth mentioning? They put the coffee in a fucking can for me. Just in case I didn't want it now, and was instead saving it for later.

Obviously I ripped right into it, but isn't this one of the most privileged things you've seen? I had to share.

After lunch had been consumed, I decided to make the trek to the Verizon stage where RJA was playing. Unfortunately for me, I get lost very easily and I could not find the stage for the life of me! I ended up missing most of their set, but I managed to catch their last song, Face Down, which is easily one of their more iconic hits. A bit dejected, I floated over to the nearby bar and ordered my fourth cocktail for the day when I encountered someone wearing a shirt I found strange.

This gal's shirt read "Avril Lavigne was replaced in 2003 by Melissa Vandella". Obviously I had to ask about this. Apparently there are folks that believe that in 2003, Avril Lavigne committed suicide in the wake of her grandfather's death, and Melissa Vandella had been trained to take over has her replacement. That was about all I got out of her before she fucked off to another show, so I went back to my table to get lost in thought for a moment and jot down some notes. Not long after, however, another couple walked by. The husband was wearing an Avril Lavigne shirt, so I grabbed them and asked if they'd heard of this insane theory.

I'll go ahead and use the names they gave me here, K-Dawg and D-Money. D explained that while he was familiar with the concept, K was really the person to talk to, and she broke down the entire theory for me. In 2003, Avril's behavior and looks changed a little bit, and instead of, you know, acknowledging that she was grieving, some fans decided that this was not Avril Lavigne and that she had to have been replaced by a body double, which is clearly the only possible explanation.

Speaking of, if it's not abundantly clear, neither party here believes this theory. Having done some further research into it since we got back, I can say with certainty that it's bullshit. Not that truth stops conspiracy minded folks!

After our talk, I asked if they'd mind sharing some of their thoughts about the festival, and here's what they had to say:

"My supportive husband brought me to the show to have me experience all of my favorite bands. The environment is amazing and the music is EVERYTHING! :) - K-Dawg + D-Money"

Around here is when we marched off to go see 3OH!3, another show I was quite excited for, but alas! Right before 3OH!3, tragedy struck. My wife got injured, and we had to leave the festival as quick as we could to get some help and some rest. Two gals, Noelle and someone whose name I didn't get, guided us to the exit and helped us get a ride back to our hotel, all without ever asking for anything in return.

Isn't this absolutely amazing? So many different people, from so many different walks of life, all here to experience this incredible form of connection? Total strangers, outcasts now grown, coming together to heal from the myriad traumas visited upon us by the real world! It's incredible, isn't it?

Speaking of different people, there were some other folks I spoke with around this time. One guy didn't want to give his name, but was happy to explain his shirt to me. It read "What the FUCK is up at Denny's?" so I asked. He explained to me that once upon a time, Blink-182 played a show at a Denny's, and that was all it was referencing. Below is that video he was talking about.

We also met several Las Vegas locals who were happy to shoot the shit about their home for a little bit, but one guy in particular really stuck out. He was wearing these awesome pink Converse and was just decked out head to toe in this very well put together outfit. Of course, I asked him what he was thinking about the festival, if he was having fun, and here's what he wrote in my little notebook; "Today is my 32nd birthday and my 30's are more fun than my 20's. Be gay, do crime! - Sean Paul, Las Vegas Local"

Of course, I didn't just talk to festival attendees, but I also spoke with servers and staff around the space. Since they were working, I didn't want to bother them much, but the general consensus that I heard from the people I spoke with was that the festival was doing way better than last year, that things were much more organized, and that working for this event was the most fun they'd had in a long time.

I even got to speak with the ASL coordinator, Allie for a little while! I asked what she felt about the show, what her favorite act was, you know, the questions I'd been asking everyone else around, and she said "My favorite act was def ADTR, I LOVE Jeremy! He was my Tumblr password in middle school, hehe. This is the life I prayed for!"

And it wasn't just her, but I also spoke with a member of the security team, Bryan. Dude was eating it up when Fall Out Boy was playing, just rocking harder than half of the attendees were. Dude was a one-man mosh pit! We danced together for a bit, and then I hit him with the questions too. "My favorite part of WWWY '24 is being able to experience the music that kept me alive through hard times and now getting to experience beautiful moments like this with new friends!"

The last person I talked to about the event was, of course, my wife. "WWWY isn't my first music festival - but it is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible musical experiences I've ever had. Even after making an emergency trip back to the hotel after getting injured, once we returned I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with excitement. So many of these bands helped raise me, you know? Not only dominating my mix CDs and playlists, but seeing me through my worst days. It's remarkable to see so many thousands of people gathered to celebrate this piece of music culture. It's a stunning reminder that we are never truly alone - we all belong somewhere."

And gods if she isn't right.

This festival was absolutely incredible, and I don't know if any future events will ever manage to be comparable to me. I mean, look at what everyone I spoke to had to say! And how willing the were to share those thoughts with me, of all people! All I did was tell them I'm putting this on my Tumblr, and suddenly we're having a full blown conversation about the most insane shit, and before I even realized it, it was time for us to leave.

I think coming into this community as an adult has been so amazing. This kindness, this togetherness, it reminds me that things were hard and that I couldn't do anything about it because I was Just a Kid. That while life was a nightmare, it doesn't have to be, and it reminds me of the good times that happened When We Were Young.

[heartstringsduet]

Hi Michelle! I have three Nice Ask Week asks for you! ☺️

1) when did you join the 911ls fandom and what about the show/characters made your brain go ‘this is fandom material for me right there!’ ?

2. Which of TK’s and Carlos’ outfits (you can choose one from canon or come up with your own answer) do you think is the other’s favorite? You can add a least favorite too if you want!

3. I saw that you sent an ask about Tarlos kinks, so here’s one for you! (You can choose not to answer if you don’t want ofc): do you think one of them has a kink that the other knows about but doesn’t share? If so, which, did they have a conversation about it, and is it something they engage in once in a while anyway or something that’s just a hard (or well, not hard) no for the other?

I hope your weekend and offline time is treating you well!! 🪻🌞

Hiii. Sorry I was slowly making it through the nice ask questions. And I think I owe you one but I will surprise you with one once I think of it <33 1) 911 LS HIT me at the legit best time to join a fandom. I was just back on Tumblr for Glee and then saw a gifset and thought...two hot guys don't mind if I watch a mind-numbing show rn. To be honest, I don't like procedurals. I can watch a single season and be so into it and then lose interest because the characters usually stagnate and the formula grows tiring. If 911 LS focused even like 10 percent more on rescues than characters I wouldn't be that big of a fan. But the characters shine even in the ridiculous setting and yet even through some writing CHOICES. I also love the fandom. Maybe I'm lucky to just block everything I hate early and then the very great people remain on dash but I LOVE THIS FANDOM. I LOVE IT!! <3 So many genuinely nice and just passionate people. I also am mentally not always the stablest but I'm genuinely happy to have a little void to vomit some things into sometimes or friends to talk about silly and heavy stuff with. SORRY. No one will read this to the end. I waffle. i love you all. 2) Okay here is TK's top Carlos outfits:

He CANT TALK WHEN CARLOS IS IN YOGA CLOTHES (relatable)

From this episode forth you just KNOW TK said somethign about button ups and Carlos went: cool let me rile you up in every color imaginable. cowboy dad core it is.

TK's formal firefighter suit. Don't need to explain do I?

Yoga equivalent. Hot jock!TK gets railed that night.

his first date outfit. Carlos sees that shirt with that top button undone and he forgets to breathe. Bonus for BOTH:

3. Kink question: Ugh I have SUCH a hard time with this because I guess for most relationships if not a straight-up kink, there likely are some slight mismatching in what a person might be into while the other isn't. I think for them they are pretty compatible in most regards and though they aren't always the best communicators in other things, this I think they are open about and explore together. I could see MOST kinks working in some capacity, but maybe something like TK being into humiliation and feminization and roleplay whereas Carlos doesn't really like it would make more sense to me. But he would try anyway. He is a giver but he ofc has his own limits but I think he'd enjoy things TK enjoys at least to some degree. Carlos doesn't necessarily strike me as kinky beside my firm belief of their subtle D/s dynamics but I can also see him be VERY kinky. This is such an unsatisying answer but my writer brain instantly goes: Okay but...I CAN MAKE THAT KINK WORK FOR THEM!

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Okay, so last piece of news that I didn't repost in time because I was playing Side Order instead: Gear Adjustment got a serious boost in version 7.0!

I can't go over every piece of gear that had adjustments added, but basically, any brimmed cap can now flipped, all goggles and glasses can be moved to the top of your head, or if they were already there, can be moved to over your eyes.

Some more T-shirts were made adjustable so that they can be oversized, like the Green Tee, but more importantly so were all the variants of the Layered LS model. Additionally, all the various sweaters can also be oversized, or in the case of the Manatee Swag Sweat, be regularsized instead. And that's not even everything for clothing, because hoodies can have their sleeves rolled up too!

And for shoes you can now remove the socks of almost all of the shoes that have them included in the base model, with the one exception being the School shoes you get from the Splatoon 1 and 2 Inkling Girl amiibo.

With that said, this being at its core a Splatoon fashion blog I am of course very curious: What gear being made adjustable has you the most excited? Please tell me! I really genuinely want to know! For me it's probably the Choco Clogs, because I really like their model and color, but their pale green socks always made them difficult to work with for me up to now.

[robinruns]

What a day. Oof.

(editing Robin here, this got long, sticking it under a cut)

I couldn't get up to get a workout in... or make lunch for myself... or breakfast. I did pack my gym bag with the intention of going to the gym after work because it is both hot (summer) and the air quality is garbage (Canada blowing smoke on us). First hour of work was literally one of the most excruciatingly boring meetings I've had to sit through. We got a massive software update and it will taking used to since so many things are just like second nature to me. There are lots of bugs still that kinda make me question why they weren't sorted out in the literal years this has been in development. It's gonna be even more of a cluster fuck tomorrow I think because we have to do the end of the month work. Oh and the fuckin window washers were there so I think I lost a solid hour and a half right off the top this morning. Ugh.

Not having a lunch meant I had to go to the grocery store for lunch. Going to the grocery store meant going out in the gross haze, and then of course, bad choices were made. Bad choices that involve getting a big bag of chocolates and then eating like 90% of it, so my therapist will be hearing about that on... whatever fuckin day I have therapy again. Next Thursday? I dunno. I had to cancel my appointment this week because I had to take my car to the mechanic. Then karma came around and I got my massage appointment (that was supposed to be this afternoon) canceled on me. Whatever. It's not like it wasn't already rescheduled once.

So with a gut full of chocolate, almonds, and bad choices, I went home instead of the gym. Well not directly home, I stopped off at the library and got the book I placed on hold last week. I dunno how long I have it for though. Whoops. My mom says the shortest time that you can have a book checked out is typically 2 weeks, so I'm gonna try to have it done in two weeks.

With all the commotion this morning I completely forgot about Frank's reverb sale until about 10:30 and of course like everything was gone. Oh well. I did get the We Didn't Start the Fire (1989-2023) (Fall Out Boy's Version) (from the Vault) 7" vinyl though. And the Benadryl Subreddit 7" from LS Dunes as well the other day. And new Taking Back Sunday is coming on Friday. Small glimmers of hope on the horizon.

I just feel mentally and emotionally spent this week and we're only halfway through. Tumblr hasn't been the refuge it sometimes is, so I deleted the app from my phone with the intention of just clearing my head from it for a while. I get notifs of asks and I'm like "Oh great, what method of suicide will the anons be suggesting now? Will they be creative this time, or go with an old standby?" Fun times.

I lowkey (highkey) hate that I'm hungry right now. Like I know mentally that I have had a disgusting and inappropriate amount of food this afternoon, but sadly chocolates are not filling. The self loathing is high. The desire to do something desperate is high. The knowledge that my clothes won't fit well is weighing (ha) down on me like crazy and it just makes me panic and again, makes me want to overcorrect in the other direction. How did I end up on the mailing list for 75 Hard? Probably another time like this. But maybe it's what I need? But do they account for dangerously hazardous weather with their outdoor workout requirement? Like? I get the idea of getting out in the rain or cold, but like wildfire smoke? Eh.

So the last few days have not been fun. Could be worse (NOT A SUGGETSION UNIVERSE), but sure as hell could be better.

[milfygerard]

9, 14, and 19 for the My Chemical Romance 2022-2023 Ask Game :)

9. Favorite drum quote?

oh god its a tie between so many. SIT STAY BEG was insane and i might have to go with her. UNKILLABLE/S does make me wanna cry though so shes up there

14. Worst discourse to have come out of the tour?

people genuinely unironically arguing that theyre never coming back and are dead forever despite multiple blatant suggestions that theres music in the works and direct statements that they plan to continue touring at least to hit the countries they couldnt get to in the first wave of the tour. guys gerard SAID that touring was gonna keep happening please calm down stop yoko onoing LS Dunes <- probs not the actual worst discourse but its the one i see the most so its most on my mind. "is the metaman character endorsing or promoting facebook" might be my favorite because i cant think of a funnier concept than gerard way getting a meta sponsorship and promoting them like THAT!

19. Top stage banter moment?

oh god this ones impossible. every time gerard spoke i wanted to cry. I think it has to be every time they spoke at firefly but especially the planetary preamble and "he LOVES SPORTS!!!!! and he LOVES CLOTHES!!!!!"

[according2thelore]

I just saw a writing prompt that I HAVE to share with you when we talk about the Codependent Brothers(tm) because it'd be hilarious.

A reversal of the "there was only one bed" trope. Instead, I offer: too many beds

I just love the idea of Sam and dean, maybe post getting together, not knowing how to function when having to sleep separately. They're so used to cramped motel rooms with single beds, and after becoming official(read: declaring their love to each other in the moonlight and then fucking nasty in the impala) they feel even LESS able to handle this dilemma.

Maybe they have to put up an act for someone, maybe they are forced to eb separated by outside forces, or maybe they just forgot that that was an option. Either way I just think it would be hilarious watching them fumble their way through realizing they have to sleep in separate beds for once.

(This would also fit in the LS/ES Verse because LS! Sam and Dean would have to hide their relationship from their younger selves, who make it a point, and take great effort to actively Not Be Too Weird Or Clingy around their brother who they're secretly desperately in love with.)

"there's two beds."

dean looks up at sam's flat tone, and his stomach sinks as he realizes, oh shit. there are two beds.

the clerk at the counter must've given them a key to the wrong room.

they'd been carefully "accidentally"ing themselves into rooms with kings since that night a few months ago, dean's blood soaking underneath sam's nails and sam finally kissing the fuck out of dean--the absolute hell out of him--as he'd slipped into hypovolemic unconsciousness.

since then, dean had talked sam into sleeping in his room in the bunker. it started as sam sleeping over after sex, but they weren't twenty anymore, and after the sixth night of marathon acrobatic fucking, dean had said "maybe we could watch a few episodes of game of thrones" and tried very hard to strategically fall asleep on top of sam so he couldn't get up and leave.

after that, the convincing got less...well, convincing, but sam stayed anyway. somehow, his clothes migrated over to dean's dresser. his toothbrush sat next to his on the sink. his house shoes stayed next to the bed.

that's it. just the one bed. but now...

"i could," dean clears his throat. "i could go ask him to switch us."

sam tears his eyes away from the damning beds in question.

"huh? i mean. no."

dean blinks. sam shrugs, looking unsure.

"nah, it should be fine, right? it's just for a night."

dean nods.

"yeah. i mean we've slept in separate beds for thirty years." dean agrees, a factual statement. they stare at each other. they stare at the beds.

just two red-blooded american guys staring at two separate beds.

like god intended.

dean is in front of the clerk thirty-nine seconds later, being told that there's a boxcar rally in town. he won't find a king bed this side of the river.

or the next river. dean asked.

dean has been sleeping in a bed by himself--he does the math--for almost thirty-six years of his life. he knocked off three cumulative years for how often he and sam shared beds as kids and that year with lisa.

so he's used to sleeping in his own bed. never mind that dean has never been sleeping better than the past few months. he thought he just slept poorly, but he dares any person alive or dead to not sleep like a goddamn baby when sam has his hulk-hogan arm wrapped around your torso. you can't. it's a scientific impossibility.

it turns out that the regular soothing effect of hearing sam breathe that could get dean to sleep for the first forty years of his life (minus the first four for obvious reasons, dean doesn't really count those anyway) worked exponentially better when sam was actually exhaling against dean's sternum. who knew?

dean was getting a full six, a full eight, a full nine hours of sleep tucked up behind sam, and the hair in his mouth--while a trade off that deserved consideration--could be overlooked.

dean is sitting in his bed later that night, unsure of where to put his arms. or his legs. or his body. sam is standing next to his own bed, looking confused.

dean looks at him, and damn. this room is huge. he's like...really far away.

"so." dean says, voice a little louder so sam can hear him all the way over there, "we should get up at seven. to get to montana by tomorrow afternoon."

sam nods.

"yeah, okay." he says. he sits down on his bed. dean realizes that because he's used to sleeping on the side closest to the door, and sam is used to sleeping on the opposite side, that they're pressed to opposite sides of their separate beds, giving the maximum amount of space between them.

dean frowns. he turns the light off.

he can barely hear sam breathe in the dark. how the hell did he hear him before? he scoots over, and finds that sam has already done the same. they stare at each other across the three foot space between beds.

dean is hot. like he's...really hot. he kicks the blankets off.

sam has pulled his blankets up to his chin. how the hell is he cold right now?

minutes tick by. they build up on top of each other like snowflakes on a drift.

dean has his eyes closed, and thinks he's probably close to something, but just as he's maybe getting somewhere, sam turns over, and dean loses the sound of his breathing.

dean blinks up at the ceiling, wide awake.

"hey. hm. hey sammy. can you. uh. can you turn back over?" dean whisper-calls.

sam turns back over.

dean looks at the clock. it's thirty two minutes past when they laid down.

"what the hell?" dean smacks the clock a few times. it stays the same. he watches for over thirty minutes as it turns from 11:23 to 11:24. dean flops back against the bed. this is a fucking nightmare.

sam sneezes.

"gesundheit." dean says. sam thanks him. dean starts counting cars that go by on the interstate. he makes it to forty-seven when sam sighs heavily.

"okay," he says, firm, and he stands up. dean whirls back around to look at him, and watches as sam crosses the chasm between their beds, and kicks dean's body with his knee. "move."

dean rolls over immediately, tangling in his blankets in his fervor to get over.

sam wraps his humungo he-man arm around dean's waist as he crawls into his bed.

dean is asleep before his head hits the pillow.

in the morning, dean's left arm and leg are cold and numb, sam having squished all the blood and feeling out of it. they sleep through their alarm, they sleep so well. dean is pulling sam's hairs out of his mouth for the rest of the day. sam has a crick in his neck that dean sees him wincing about every time he turns his head.

"next time," sam says, folding himself into the passenger seat of the impala as they get ready to drive away, "we'll go to the next state if we have to."

dean nods.

it would be easier. it's not like they need it, though, or anything.

~~~

ES/LS BONUS!

"yes, it's time to go sleep in my bed," dean says, standing up. his teeth are clenched. "by myself."

his younger self looks at him like he's speaking a different language. dean glares at him. it's his fucking fault he's not getting any goddamn sleep around here.

"yeah." sammy says, hauling himself up. he sounds defeated. "a night of 'sleep' will do me good."

"why did you say it like that?" sam says, brushing his bangs out of his face, and looking up at his older self. "i heard those air quotes. what was that about?"

"because we sleep normally." sammy says, bitterly. "like regular people."

"do y'all hang from the ceiling or something?" younger dean asks. "what the fuck is happening right now?" "we're going to bed!" dean snaps. "because we're regular people, who treat each other regularly!"

"i have never felt more normal in my life," sammy agrees solemnly. "good night."

dean and sammy don't see the baffled what the fuck sam mouths at younger dean, or the way younger dean makes sure he has his silver knife in his pocket. maybe things aren't all they seem around here. bc what the hell was that?

but their younger selves don't see the forlorn look dean shoots sammy before he closes his door. sammy sighs ten minutes later, thunking his head on his own closed door. he forgot his toothbrush in dean's room.

~~~

this ask was DELIGHTFUL!!!!!!!

this was SUCH a fun prompt, and i had such a great time writing it, thank you sm bestie 🥹

trust that i have seen your other ask! i have been in a ES/LS rut for the past few weeks as i work on my big bang piece (an ES!Dean/LS!Sam fic that i'm excited for y'all to see later this year!). but i shall answer! i promise!

thank you for this ask, animangalover! mwah <3 hope you're doing well!

-lizzy

[catchingbigfish]

find the word tag!

thank you, @dotr-rose-love! my words are fly, suggest, perfect, and book! i'm tagging @words-after-midnight, @thecatsgrave, @charlesjosephwrites, and @ls-daydreams! (as always, no pressure, and anyone who would prefer not to be tagged can always let me know if i mess up!) your words are dare, rule, crisis, star, and surround!

i'm pulling from so it goes again! quick reminder the story deals very explicitly with death, pregnancy, and birth; the snippets today very explicitly reference death (book) and there's a mention a pregnant body (perfect).

fly

“Did you ever have to read Camus in school?” she asked. “What? No. Absolutely not.” “Your loss,” she said, sticking the tip of her tongue out, lost in thought. “Do you know anything about him?” Isaiah shook his head. “When do you think I snuck off to read Camus?” “He said Sisyphus was happy,” she said. “Or we must think Sisyphus is happy.” She looked up to the ceiling, trying to remember. “We must imagine Sisyphus is happy because he has a purpose.” Isaiah looked dismayed. “I think I’m good,” he said slowly. He wandered around the stack he was at to join her. She squatted on her heels and looked up at him. “How about Madame Butterfly? Weren’t you in theatre?”

suggest

Instead of jumping straight into speaking, Marisa blew out air and put her finger to her lip. Finally, she said, “That’s the problem. I don’t know.” Ali continued staring at her, still chewing. “It’s a really good offer,” she relented. “Good pay, good benefits. It seems empty. It feels, like, I don’t know. Like I’ll move out there and wither away in the suburbs, creating some bullshit, hollow life based on what my coworkers suggest I do, and wind up unhappy.” She took a page out of Ali’s book and began creating a huge bite of food, hoping Ali would feel pressured to fill the silence. She wasn’t. She had finished chewing, but she kept her gaze steady on Marisa’s face. She continued to wait, and when it became obvious Marisa wasn’t going to open her mouth, she sighed.

perfect

“I want a healthy baby,” the woman told Marisa at their first appointment. She had invited Marisa to her apartment, a nice loft in the city’s center, but quite loud for an infant. There were soundproofing decorations already dotting the baby’s nursery, which was done up like it was in the sky: the decor on the walls mostly looked like clouds, which was probably the best soundproofing decor Marisa had encountered. The floor was covered in a plush blue rug, ceiling and walls painted the same shade. They sat in the nursery while discussing the woman’s plans. The one window in the room cast beautiful, golden sunlight on the wall across from it. It was east-facing, which meant a gentle and natural wake-up. The woman was dressed in yoga clothes with a perfect, protruding pregnant belly already resting on her lap and her washed out blonde hair in a top knot. Sitting on the exercise ball across from Marisa, she looked like a mom already even though this was to be her first.

book

“I’ve met you so many times,” Death said. “I’ve been there for you so often. Haven’t you begged me to come?” She walked to the window and put her bony hand on the windowsill, turned at a an angle, looking out into the dark. “I was only coming to give you what you’ve been asking for.” Marisa felt her legs begin to twitch, not moving enough, but she urged her body to wake up, to flee. Death turned to the empty desk and began rifling through it, hands landing on a notebook, a piece of paper, and a pen. She turned and walked back to Marisa. She laid the paper on the book, and the book on the bed in front of Marisa. Death walked back to the window, sitting on the windowsill, bony leg crossed over fleshy leg. Marisa looked down and saw the pen in her hand.