#come yell with me

[alchemania]

"So what are we making ..?"

Wanderer turned to his acquaintance briefly, pulling utensils and bowls and ingredients out of the cabinets. "You like desserts, so I figured we could make a cake." He passed her a bowl then, and a few measuring cups and spoons. "You work on the dry ingredients, and I'll do the wet ones."

"Very well," Furina nodded, beginning her job with gusto- she'd been a little nervous about working together with this guy, having heard from a plethora of folks he had an attitude twice as big as he, but he seemed pretty reasonable as of right now, expression fixed in concentration as he cracked eggs and poured milk into his bowl. "S- so, um, when did you start cooking?"

Wanderer cracked an egg a bit too hard then, stiffening. After a moment, he sighed, picking out a piece of shell that'd fallen in, and tossed it aside. "...a very long time ago. It's been a part of my life almost as long as I can remember. Let's leave it at that."

"Alright...sorry, I didn't mean to hit any sore spots-"

"You couldn't have known," he interrupted, but not unkindly. "It's fine." He gestured with his head to her bowl, eyes firm. "Keep mixing. We need everything to be well blended."

"Okay," she replied, giving a little salute and a smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. As she went back to work, Wanderer did as well.

"When did YOU start?"

"Ah, well, mostly after everything was over in Fontaine - I moved out of the opera house you see, and since I was living on my own, I figured I should be more independent. I mostly just cooked macaroni, though.. but it's quite versatile! There's so many different sauces and things you can put in it, so it's fun to um, experiment. But I want to learn more recipes! I've just, been very tired -"

"Of course you have," he butt in again. "...I overheard from Kusanali about some things that went on. Anyone would be tired after that. You don't have to sound apologetic over it. There's nothing to be sorry for. Here, you can put your mixture in now."

But there was plenty to be sorry for, she thought as she began to carefully add her ingredients in. She hadn't been able to save those people in Poisson, her act had been exposed in the 11th hour and everyone had nearly died for it- things did thankfully work out, but what if they hadn't? What if everyone HAD died and everything had all been for nothing and all those tears and silence and isolation had been in vain and -

"Hey, be careful!!"

"Ah-"

Furina's hands were already shaky, and Wanderer's voice startled her out of her trance so badly she flailed a bit, sending everything crashing in a heap to the floor. He fell silent, and the girl's chest heaved. "Sorry," she almost whispered, already welling up. "Here, I'll, help clean it up and then I'll just - go-"

"What for?"

"Well, I ruined the cake....now we have to start all over..it probably would've been really good too, but now we'll never know -" Just like she'd never be able to bring back all those people who died. There wasn't anything she could do. "I can't do anything right," Furina sobbed, scrubbing at her face.

"Woah, hey," Wanderer startled, looking at a loss. "Just - hold on, there's no need to cry."

"Sorry, sorry..."

"Stop apologizing. Come here."

He took her hand then, and guided her around the mess to sit her down in a chair, pulling out a hanky from his pocket and handing it to her. "Wipe your face, and take a breath," he instructed, and she nodded, dabbing at her eyes. "Look. Take it from me. There's a lot of things that looking back, most people wish they could redo, or change. But life isn't like that. You have to go with what you're given, and keep it moving."

A pause.

"..the nice thing about cooking though, is that when you mess up, you can start over," he went on, moving his hands as he talked. "You can try again. And you won't know what you lost tasted like, sure, but you can make something new that's just as good, or even better. It's not the end of the world if you make a mistake. I'm not mad at you, okay? So after you calm down, we can clean everything up, and we can try again. Alright?"

"Okay," Furina sobbed, wiping at her face. "Thank you..."

After a little while, she got up, and with a few more tears and sniffles, everything was cleaned. And they began again, and the cake was carefully placed in the oven. While it baked, Furina carefully sliced fruit into pieces and peeked over Wanderer's shoulder as he made frosting, trying to sneak a taste- he glared at her in answer, and she shrank back, sheepishly giggling. "You can test it when I'm done. Be patient," he huffed, though a little smile flickered on his face.

After the cake was done baking, he handed her the oven mitts, and Furina carefully took the cake out of the oven, eyes glittering at the dessert. "It smells delightful!!"

"You perked up awful quick," he chuckled.

The cake was frosted a little haphazardly, but Furina insisted it gave character - after all, imperfections were a sign of care. After decorating the top with fruit, Wanderer cut the dessert into pieces and Furina took a slice, popping a bite into her mouth. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she danced a little in place, seeming to glow. "That's so good!"

"You can take it home, then."

"You don't want any..?"

"I've never really liked sweets. I helped with this because it's something you wanted to do."

Furina stared for a moment, and then a toothy smile almost split her face.

"What?" Wanderer questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You're really nice, you know."

The young man froze for a moment, expression soft, and then it fled as quickly as it came, replaced by an rolling of the eyes. "..if you think that, you must not know a lot of people."

"Well, you're very nice to me. And that means a lot." Furina took Wanderer's hand and gently squeezed it, and he stared at it as if it was sentient, bewilderment marring his features. "Could we do this again sometime?? Maybe make something you like?"

"You don't have to -"

"I want to," she assured, expression earnest, and he blinked twice, at a loss.

".. I'll think about it."

"Yaaaaaay! Oh thank you thank you thank you!!!"

"Uh huh," Wanderer replied, trying to keep an air of nonchalance, but his eyes betrayed his joy. "Eat your cake."

After everything was put away and as Furina began to leave, he handed her a slip of paper, and she tilted her head.

"What's this?"

"...it's a recipe for eel chazuke. For next time."

He swore then, the stars were dim in comparison to how her eyes shined.

[cathaedra]

i am only thinking thg thoughts thanks to @valurent 

[rebelsafoot]

i took out the other people sitting at the table in the original comic because i did NOT want to draw glindas gay ass friends

[captainsaltypear]

IS ANYONE ELSE GONNA TALK ABOUT THIS OR

[bixels]

“America has no culture” is an inherently racist statement. Especially when talking about California, which has enormous populations (yes, plural) of Hispanic and Asian immigrants.

It’s such a self report that you see the American hegemony, the American monolith, as a singularly white entity that’s worthy of scorn. I want that person to look at the Black American NYC Miku design and tell me with their full chest that that isn’t culture. Especially when modern pop culture owes so much to Black American culture — hip hop, language, streetwear and fashion, pop music, jazz — as is actively erasing their roots, saying all of America has no culture is a dumbass statement.

Also, “all the US Mikus are dressed in generic casual street style for coolish weather.” The original Brazilian Miku is wearing sunglasses, a crop top, short shorts, a bikini, and flip flops you absolute dunce. If you’re gonna be rude at least be consistent.

[parisoonic]

last ones i swear

[qoldenskies]

i think its so funny when people take the way donnie acts at face value even though its a horrible lie because he's a horrible liar, while understanding leo is bullshitting very well despite him actually being GOOD at bullshitting. many such cases

[rendevok]

Moon dance 🌕✨

[crowatyourwindow]

Kenji and his cow Hanako II were the best duo from wan change my mind

[paperglader]

i just feel like someone should take one for the team and write the fanfic where miss homotron goes to dragonstone on foot, meets her situationship’s new lover, and immediately goes like blind with jealousy and fury (rhaenyra, as always when alicent’s near, looks and behaves like a very confused kicked puppy)

i just need homotron and saphotron to meet, so the real war can begin

[casualavocados]

You're not like any other kid. You're my kid. I love you more than anything in this world.

[rystiel]

that annoying moment when getting left for dead in the trunk of a car in your 20s comes back to haunt you 40 years later (take a shot every time ford says “stanley”)

[rebelspykatie]

Part 2

Part 1

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eddie stands and follows Steve to the door as he’s pulling on his shoes. He wants to stop him, pull the shoe out of his hand and drag Steve back to the couch, but he doesn’t have any right. He’s not entirely sure Steve won’t push him away if he tries to touch him right now, anyways.

“You think I’m straight and I was convinced you were into me,” Steve leans against the door frame to pull his other shoe on. He mutters under his breath, “I should’ve never listened to Robin an-”

“Robin was in on this?” He interrupts that thought. It throws Eddie. They’re such a tight knit group, he doesn’t know how they were so far off track with him.

“We spent hours going through every stupid interaction we had. Thought we had it all figured out.” He huffs and walks back over to the coffee table to pick up his wallet and keys. “I guess we’re both idiots.”

“No, Steve,” he tries to reach out and grab Steve’s arm, but he moves too quickly and Eddie’s left grasping air, “you’re not.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it, anyways.” Steve scrambles to pull his sweater back on, the cold just starting to seep into the night air outside.

“Can you just slow down for a second?” Eddie stops trying to catch Steve and plants himself in front of the door. “What do you mean, you’re used to it?”

“Are you going to trap me here?”

“Answer the question.”

“This part, Eddie,” he sighs and gestures between them like that means anything to Eddie. “Everyone I’ve ever confessed to or made a move on has had the same reaction.” He looks off to the side, unable to look Eddie in the eye. “I’m pretty sure I’m the problem. Good ole Steve Harrington, too stupid to notice no one is interested in him.”

“Steve, you’re not stupid.”

“Feels like it most of the time.” He pinches his nose again, still not looking at Eddie, more like through him, gaze pinned to somewhere in the middle of Eddie’s chest. “Can you please move? We can pretend like this never happened and I promise I won’t make any weird moves on you ever again. I’m still friends with Nancy and Robin after everything, I can do it with you, too.”

Eddie skips over the whole Robin part of that in his head because he doesn’t have the brain power to analyze anything beyond Steve’s feelings for him. He never saw this coming. No one, boy or girl or anything in between, has ever made a move on Eddie before. He’s the local freak. There’s no way he could have predicted the town’s golden boy hero would make the moves on him.

He takes in how disheveled Steve’s become in the last few minutes. How hastily he’s thrown on his sweater. The mess of Steve’s hair from the hand that’s run through it several times since he got up from the couch. Barely laced up shoes so he could get out the door faster. He’s normally so put together and this, the sight of him so frazzled, frightens Eddie.

They were fast friends after everything happened with Vecna, leaning on each other for support. Becoming inseparable with King Steve wasn’t something Eddie ever imagined, but it was so easy. Neither of them were what each other had built up in their heads from the rumor mill around Hawkins. Eddie’s never had a guy friend as close as Steve. Sure, he had Hellfire and Corroded Coffin, but Eddie’s always been a bit of a loner.

It was impossible to feel alone with Steve as a friend. He had a way of knowing when you needed support, always just there when Eddie felt alone or needed a physical presence when the weight of the upside down was dragging him down. There wasn’t a day in the past six months that Eddie didn’t see Steve, even if it was only in passing or a quick little jaunt down to Family Video, he’s a constant presence in Eddie’s life.

To lose that? Would be like losing a part of himself. Like losing a limb. Losing his home.

And he’s scared. He doesn’t want to let Steve walk out that door, the weight of losing him forever lingering in the air. But he can’t trap him here. That wouldn’t be fair to Steve.

He moves out of the way, taking a step towards Steve, but he sidesteps Eddie and reaches for the door.

“Steve-”

“Don’t worry about me, Eddie,” he doesn’t turn around, but hesitates halfway out the door. “I’ll be fine.”

With the soft click of the door closing, he’s gone.

And that should be the end of it. Closed book. Eddie doesn’t like Steve and Steve needs to move on. There’s not much Eddie can do about that.

But it haunts him.

If you didn’t know Steve, you wouldn’t realize that anything was wrong. He’s acting normal, smile on his face when he jokes with Robin, complaining about the kids being terrors, going to his job.

But there’s something in the set of his shoulders, in the way his smile droops when he thinks no one’s paying attention to him, in the way Robin protectively hovers around him when Eddie is nearby. It’s clearly a facade he’s putting on to get by.

And Eddie aches. There’s a pit in his stomach that opened up that day and it hasn’t closed. Steve avoids his touch and the chasm grows larger, dragging Eddie further into the darkness. Casual hangouts halted. No more divulging of nightmares or fears late at night. A piece of Eddie is with Steve and he’s bereft of comfort. Unsettled.

He lies awake replaying that kiss over and over in his head. Thinking about what Steve said after. There’s no comfort in the way he handled the situation. It feels like he miscalculated, like pushing Steve away was the wrong move and now his life will never be the same again.

Maybe it won’t. Maybe there’s no way for them to move forward and for him to not break Steve’s heart every day. Steve said he was an idiot, but Eddie’s positive he’s got it all backwards. Eddie’s the idiot.

And he can’t stop thinking about kissing Steve.

[cheesenchalk]

i never know how to phrase it but something about the way beatles biographers and people in general view paul's reflexive placating persona and determination to smooth things over as manipulative or duplicitous and john's reflexive barbed persona and habit of lashing out as brave and subversive despite both being equally defensive mechanisms to shield themselves from the world that resulted in them saying things that weren't true says more about how we culturally view kindness or friendliness as inherently untrustworthy or flimsy and anger and carelessness as more believable as someone's true nature than it says about either of them in actuality

[turbo-virgins]

Low key very tired of people responding to veilguard criticism with something along the lines of “lol these people have no media literacy, didn’t you understand what the game was telling you??” Yes, yes I understand what the game was trying to tell me. That doesn’t mean I have to like it or the way the writers went about it.

Also the whole argument of “well, the dragon age fandom proved they couldn’t handle xyz controversial character/element of the story so that’s why veilguard had very little references to those things” kinda grinds my gears a bit. I don’t think it can be proven with 100% certainty what writing decisions were made based on past fandom reactions to the other games, but I do think it would be an incredibly shitty move to simplify or remove complexity from a story just because there might be a portion of the audience who doesn’t get it. “The fandom couldn’t even handle Vivienne” Yeah a good amount of people dismissed her as a selfish snooty bitch, but I didn’t and a lot of other people didn’t and to remove complex and interesting characters like her on the basis that enough people “won’t get it” just feels like a disservice to all of us.

[little-pondhead]

DP x DC Prompt

…

There are no more heroes.

Well, okay. Rewind a bit.

Danny has been doing the hero thing for a while now. He’s had a big reveal; everyone has accepted him (including his parents), the GIW disbanded, the Anti-Ecto acts repealed, and generally, everything is going great. Some of the A-Listers are even training as junior ghost hunters to help give him a break from his rogues! (Being Ghost King makes things hectic sometimes, and he just needs the extra help. Sue him!)

The point is, literally nothing is wrong with Danny Phantom’s afterlife.

And then Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress, disappears in front of his eyes.

Danny is baffled! She’s just…gone! Valerie just popped out of existence, like she was never there. But no matter how hard he searches in the Ghost Zone, he can’t find her soul anywhere. His core isn't broken in grief. So she’s not dead. Which is good. So then, where is she?

Some of the others come forward with ideas on how to find her. A few ghosts volunteer to go out into the mortal realm, an area Danny had declared off-limits, to see if she was out there. Danny approves it. He rounds up some of the friendlier (i.e., discreet) ghosts and Amity Parkers and demolishes the outside travel ban.

So everyone spreads out, looking for their dear frenemy and teammate. But it becomes apparent very quickly that something is wrong with the rest of the world.

There are no more heroes.

Every single living superhero on the face of the Earth has just…vanished. Villains are running amok; the countries are in chaos! Some aliens are invading Earth, mythical deities are trying to take over, and society is crumbling to the ground. Everything is on the brink of collapse.

Well, Danny was still there. And so were his people. They were pretty spread out, so could they just…take up the mantles? He also knew where to find the souls of dead heroes in the Zone; surely they wouldn't mind coming out of retirement for a little bit, especially if they couldn't die again. Oh! And that skeleton army leftover from Pariah Dark's reign might be useful in repelling those invading forces.

Honestly, there were more than enough hands to go around! And with the heroes gone, Danny didn't mind letting everyone out for a little break, as long as they followed his rules. They wouldn't stop the search for the other heroes, but hopefully, when they found them, the heroes wouldn't mind Danny's intervention too much. :)

In other words:

Someone fucks up, and all of Earth's living heroes are either wished out of existence or are whisked away to some far-off realm where Danny hasn't checked yet. In the attempt to figure out what's going on, Danny lets the dead run amok over the Earth as they search for clues. The skeleton army repels the invading armies, the souls of dead heroes deal with the world leaders, and his rogues and other Amity Parkers set up shop in place of famous heroes, trying to get the cities under control again.

Basically, they just do their best to keep everything from imploding until the Justice League and others are back.

(And why is it that Danny hasn't disappeared? Well, whatever caused everyone to go poof! only affected living heroes. Anyone heroes that were dead in the first place, or even just half-dead, stayed behind.)