#have fun deciphering my rambling lmao

[void-speaks]

My theory with Six is that she is simply no longer the Six we know. Or well, the Six that Mono knows. I interpret the whole betrayal thing as Six being under the control of the Signal Tower, or at least influencing her a bit. Or hell, even go as far as saying that that is just no longer Six, since after she's came back from being a monster, whose to say that that is the same Six that we knew before?

Anyway, the reason why I think like this, is because of the way that she looks at the signal tower. Mono doesn't do that. That already is enough to show that it begins to influence her. Then when Thin Man takes her. We see Shadow Six. What would Shadow Six be? A glitching remain. What is a glitching remain? Something I always assumed to he the kids' souls after they have been captured. That theory is fueld by the series of achievements that include getting all the glitching remains that are called "Nothing of us remains in the _____". Then, if Shadow Six is indeed Six's soul, that just means that whatever we see after she's taken, that's just no longer Six. Sure, in the moment that she knocks on the TV, you can say that that is clearly still the same Six, but you can't convince me that having a part of your soul taken out won't affect a person in any way whatsoever. Maybe it's just a case of a child clinging to something familiar, the same way her monster form clings to the music box. Mono has saved her before from the bullies, so the situation feels familiar to her, which is why she reaches out again. In the moment of the betrayal itself, you can see that Six didn't reach out her hand like she normally did when she needed to catch Mono, she just kinda sat there, waiting for him to fall (into her grasp or just fall). But since she still responds to familiar triggers, she grabs a hold of him. You can see Mono try to pull himself up (which I think he always done to help make it easier for Six), but after a bit of looking at her, he stops. That can be interpreted as him being confused on why she isn't pulling him up. Or that totally can be interpreted as him realizing that that is no longer Six. When she drops him, you can see the way she reaches her hand down first, before suddenly pulling it up. That could indicate that she was either hesitating (or you could say fighting against the signal tower's influence) or that Mono was gripping onto her a bit too hard that she had to do this to be able to drop him.

And the thing with the hunger? I never really understood the thing where people said "she knew about the hunger so she dropped Mono to save him." How is chomping off his arm apparently worse than being dropped into a living organism of eyeballs that controls the entire Pale City and has reach even beyond that (I think the Maw and the Nest both)?? I like to think that the hunger isn't because of her missing soul, but because she was turned back from a monster. What I mean is, I guess I'm saying that even tho her body returned back, her needs and appetite haven't changed. None of the LN kids get as hungry as she does. Like, ever. And that does seem to be fueld by the fact that she needs to eat something bigger every time. First a piece of bread is good enough, but she gets hungry again rather quickly. Then she eats the meat, which is enough to last until you get to the Kitchen area. She eats a rat bigger than the piece of meat, and that lasts longer, all the way to the end of the Guest Area chapter. Then she eats a Nome, which was bigger than the rat, which, strangely enough, doesn't last any longer than the piece of meat, since it only lasts for the Residence section before she gets hungry again at the end of it. Or maybe that was the case because... well, huge food. Or, maybe that doesn't make sense at all since she eats the meat and the bread whole, but only takes bites of the rat, the Nome and the Lady. Maybe it's about how juicy the meat is or something idk. Or maybe her appetite has gone so bad that she turned into a cannibal after eating meat made from the guests.

And another thing I wanna say separately, I don't think that Six has gotten colder specifically to Mono after she got her raincoat back.

Basically, she's already been a survivalist since Very Little Nightmares, but after being captured by the Hunter, she's gone more tame. For a little while. Why? Probably because she felt like that was it, there was no chance she would escape now. We see an instant in Very Little Nightmares when she knocks on the door in hopes of Raincoat Girl letting her in, allowing her front walls to cave in for a moment and trust that this girl will save her (which, she didn't, by the way). We see her almost doing the same with Mono, before he quickly realizes that that didn't end wall the last time. So she ignores him, pushes him away, taking her chance of escaping.

The two form a bond, and when Six realizes that Mono is trustworthy, she warms up to him, reaching out her hand for the first time.

And then she gets captured by the Bullies. That makes her survivalist instincts come back. She doesn't rely on Mono to help her (not that he can in the first place but shhhh), she tries to fight them off herself. Doesn't work. It fails and she gets dragged away.

But just as she was losing hope of surviving once again, Mono saves her. He rescues her, offering her a helping hand. Their bond becomes even stronger, and from this point on she trusts you a little more.

Then she gets her raincoat back. She remembers everything that happened back at the Nest. How she watched Raincoat Girl die and how hurt she was by it. But the cruel world of Little Nightmares didn't let her process her grief, she was forced to move on to survive. So she kept the last piece that remained of the girl. And once she gets it back, she realizes that she has become too dependent on Mono. So she starts taking initiative more. Like in the Hospital part, where you have to climb up the beds? The Nest is more a vertical place, so she has experience on how to move in those kind of environments with ease. When the Doctor chases them? She had to run from the Batler before while navigating hideous obstacles. She has experience in that and takes the lead to ensure not only hers but Mono's survival too.

But that doesn't weaken her trust in Mono. She still reaches out to him when stuck under the couch for help. She still reaches out to him when Thin Man spots her. She still reaches out to him from the TV, even when her mind was probably already messed with by the Signal Tower. She still trusts you, but wants to know how to do things by herself in case something like what happened to RCG will happen to you. It's almost like what healthy relationships are supposed to be. When you're both stable on your own but still know how to rely on the other party and place your trust in them.

Of course, you could say that that trust was broken when Mono broke the music box, and therefore that caused her to betry him. And you could say that it was a different thing with RCG since they had way less time to form a stronger bond and therefore the fact that RCG didn't help Six didn't affect her that much.

Why I don't agree with this? Because I just don't think she's that kind of person. Sure, you can say that six was aggressive so it is entirely possible that she would purposely subject Mono to that kind of suffering, but come on. Mono is just as aggressive as her. He shot the Hunter. He burned the Doctor. He killed all those bullies by smashing their heads in. Sure, you could argue that it's worse with Six because she killed a bully with her bare hands when it wasn't even necessary. But come on, don't tell me you didn't go for the hammer at that moment? And the finger breaking part? That is not even necessarily an aggressive thing to do. It's a plastic arm. And she's all alone with nothing better to do. It's the same thing as doing weird shit to your dolls, like popping their heads off. You don't do it because you're a violent beast (most of the time), you do it because you're a kid and because it's fun. I mean come on, it's not even one of the alive mannequin hands, I'm pretty sure that is just a prosthetic arm.

One of the other theories behind the betrayal I will never understand is the "she saw his face and realized that he was Thin Man" one. Like... what? We know what both of their faces look like. And if I didn't play the game but saw their faces, you could shoot me and I still wouldn't be able to see any similarities between them.

I'm sorry if I come off like I'm trying to downplay Six's character, I'm really not. I just really disliked her back in the day when Little Nightmares 2 just came out because of the fact that she betrayed Mono, so now I'm trying to interpret that whole thing to make my brain see her in a better light, since I feel guilty about hating Six because apparently that's just no allowed.

But also I really do genuinely believe in the stuff I said here, so yeah. Take this as you will really.

[ghost-proofbaby]

latest in 'ghost is going insane while writing': i'm sitting at my desk with a song on repeat, air playing guitar, so i can decipher strumming patterns and the notes which will literally only be mentioned in passing.

[thatspookyagent]

Dating Inumaki Toge (Black!GN!Reader) would include…

Warnings: Literally nothing but tooth rooting fluff lmao

a/n: Greetings to anyone who stumbles along this fic and decides to read it! This is my first time writing for the JJK universe and I hope that y’all enjoy! Side note: These headcanons are long cause I got carried away writing for my favorite JJK character and one of my favorite anime characters of all time. So please excuse the ramblings and infodumping style headcanons lmao. Expect more from me that has to do with JJK especially when it comes to Inumaki content. Also smol heads up, I low-key wrote this with a darker skinned!reader and 4type hair!reader in mind unapologetically so oop!! Anyways please have a fun time reading this and remember to reblog it if you ended up enjoying it! :))

If you want to be tagged in any of my content, don’t be afraid to tell me via my ask box or through messages! Just remember to be clear about what specific kinds of content, characters, and fandoms you want me to tag you in or if you want to be put on my general tag list! I’m always looking to add more people and I’d be more than happy to add you (if you wish)! :3

Where to start with Inumaki, how about imagining the softest & most wholesome relationship that you possibly can that transcends words and in fact doesn’t need them in order for your relationship with him to function or feel complete/valid

Your relationship together functions a lot on both the little things in life but also the little gestures in life that convey things that most words (or signs) cannot

Not that signing or speaking is any less valuable, Inumaki is more than willing to teach you some Japanese Sign Language

Though you’ve got the food language down pat

No really Inumaki will reply with rice ball ingredients and you’ll dissect what he’s saying better than a world renowned English professor

This fascinates literally everyone that y’all come across, hell even for as long as Maki and Panda have known and come to understand and decipher what Inumaki says, they’re still in awe at how you read and communicate with him

You swear that it’s all in the eyes and it really is

Toge doesn't really hold back emotions or suppress his thoughts about something around anyone in general so that helped with understanding him immensely

You’ve come to be able read every little crease and fold that Inumaki’s face will make within various moods like tea leaves

At times you even know his mood better than he does and vice versa

For as much as you’ve learned about him, he’s made sure that he’s done his due diligence and done the same for you

For some people that would frighten them because it means no longer being able to really hide certain parts of yourself or certain emotions during tough times

However the two of you welcome this intimacy and vulnerability, though it of course took sometime and learning

Especially when it came to recognizing and accepting that physical touch would be a main form of communicating between the both of you

Goodnight kisses are often animal kisses, which holds a lot of meaning for Toge since he has to let his high collar down in order for you two to touch and rub noses together

It was an incredibly nervous and anxious moment for him when you suggested animal kisses as a form of affection for the first time

To make him feel better you asked him to close his eyes and by the end it left him wanting more

Which he gladly stole from you cause he’s That Guy™

Whenever you want some attention from Toge, you like to hold your hands out, palms facing upwards, and then allow him to come to you and proceed to settle his palms on top of yours

This gesture along with the touching of foreheads is such a frequent occurrence from you both

Expect Toge to always initiate forehead touches with you whenever you and him have to split up for a mission

These touches linger much longer than normal, and even have an added nuzzle in them

At times he'll close his eyes as if to relish and store the moment inside his stash of memories of you but also secretly wish you good luck internally

If you hold this boy's head with both of your hands while doing so he will melt on a nuclear scale :"

Honestly discussing which forms of intimacy to try out or implement usually happen over text, especially at later hours within the day

You love to huddle underneath the covers and just text away to Inumaki about anything and everything with only the screen of your phone to light up your room

He’s a pretty insight and thoughtful guy, regardless of how he personally chooses to express that

That thoughtfulness really shines when one day he requests to start helping you do your hair

If you have longer natural hair, he’ll watch tentatively and take notice of how much maintenance it requires

This also goes for any protective styles that you put your hair in that require work or any weaves that you use and maintain

Hell even if you have short ass hair, he will take note of how you care for it and yearn to aid you in doing so

Also does not mind if you just walk out the door with you hair in its natural shrunken state

So yeah from weaves to waves, this man will absolutely learn all that he can in order to make your hair care time run smoother

Feel like he’s the type to really be able to express how he doesn’t have the words to describe how much he’s in awe when your melanin shines in natural sunlight

Whenever you two are in public, he will unapologetically stare at your hands especially when he holds him

He does this thing were he’ll lift up your hand and try to get the sunlight to hit it at just the right angles

Gets routinely lost in thought whenever you’re around him and in broad daylight because he is yet again admiring your skin tone

Will try to collect and buy accessory items that he thinks best compliments it

Speaking of accessory items, he does enjoy crafting you little trinkets and baubles for you to either wear or just keep around you

If you make him something he’ll honestly short circuit, like no really Toge has left the chat that is life!

Will keep that item on him at all times, whether it be visible or not, he just prioritizes how it makes him feel to wear it and know who made it and gave it to him

Loves to look at and caress it before he goes to bed and after he wakes up in the morning

He'll want more stuff for decoration and what not for his room so that he'll have items that you have made and remind him of you in his personal space

Also I forgot to mention, you and Inumaki also speak through hugging

No really like whenever you two hug in public or just in front of other people, when you and him pull apart, you’ll reply to whatever his hug was meant to convey

Like you and Toge are having a full blown conversation with hugs and no spoken or signed word and it will make jaws drop

Certain squeezes in certain areas for a certain time all have their own little individual messages within the nuances of the actions

Sometimes it’s obvious to everyone what Toge means to tell you or vice versa cause there’s a chance that he might not ever see you again and is making sure that if this is the last time that he’ll ever hug you, you best know loud and clear what he’s trying to get across to you in that moment

But there’s also touches for less intense moments that are just meant to be cute and endearing and not really read deeply into as well

Like whenever you boop Toge’s nose or poke his side playfully, it’s pretty much a form of playful banter between you two but without spoken word

I feel like I’ve been talking about mainly touch or non verbal communication a lot so onto some headcanons that don’t revolve around that lmao

I feel like Toge and his partner would be two incredibly mischievous people or at least Toge would convince his partner into partaking in some shenanigans every once in a while

Like they’re two little shits in a pod but nobody ever sees them coming, guesses that it was them, or believes others when people call them out sksks

Being a little shit with Toge includes pulling light pranks, annoying people with your excellent sense of understanding between one another, and photobombing anyone and everyone

Like no y’all will do this thing that’s almost like a skit where you and him just talk back and forth in rice ball ingredients and you’ll catch and understand literally everything that he’s saying but others can NOT understand the both of you and it drives them MAD

You've undoubtedly pissed off both Maki and Megumi the most with your antics while giving Itadori brain rot whiplash cause that boy isn't smart enough to understand you two and takes the conversations way too seriously

Also for the photobombing people, you have formations and plans for those moments and it’s almost like you two choreographed photobomb poses n stuff

[Cue the Formation B line that Gojo says but its you saying it and rushing alongside Toge to jump into camera view of someone’s family vacation photo

Some people don’t mind or care, others join in on the fun, while some have some color words to exchange with you and Toge lmao

Also feel like Inumaki is a pretty good gamer so despite your personal skill level, he will always be down to chill and play something that the two of you can really get into together

Oh and if you know how to play a musical instrument, Toge will jump to organize a little jam session with you before you can even blink

Expect there to also be movie nights and show binge watching with Toge as well, like you have not LIVED till you have seen this man scream OKAKA !!! at the TV cause a show ended on a cliffhanger after being cancelled

Eventually you join in on yelling rice ball ingredients at TV screens while also throwing popcorn cause screw shows ending on cliffhangers permanently

You and him absolutely share playlists and watchlists of any kind together

Whatever you listen to will get absorbed into whatever Toge listens to, and he’ll play your favs whenever he’s thinking about you or about to walk out the door to start his daily training

If he catches you listening to what he likes to listen to personally or songs he’s recommended you based on your own personal taste, expect him to bring that up and how happy it makes him during your daily midnight texting convos with each other

Music is a bit of a key part within your relationship with him cause it expresses another form of intimacy between you and him that can sometimes incorporate words or not

It symbolizes and mirrors a ton of similarities within your relationship while being a way to communicate non verbally with one another while embracing so many complex emotions, all at the same time

This is the main reason why he steals you away to slow dance to something playfully or just bask in some tunes that either you or him found and shared with each other

For him he never wants the music to stop, he wants what the two of you have to persist and stay closely intertwined with one another

No matter what tune or melody is currently playing in your life, as long as he has you for a dancing partner, he’ll face the dance floor with you on it by his side 

[nyktomancer]

Agreed. And also, rather than the common "a sign of your True Desires" belief, in my experience I have found that my dreams sometimes reflect my view of the world, things, and people around me. That's if they make sense at all, of course.

What I mean is, if you're traumatized or mentally ill, your perception of those things is very understandably altered, so your dreams will reflect that (if my theory is true at all lmao), and there's nothing to be ashamed of for that.

Also, the way in which these things are presented is often weird and sometimes even disturbing. E.g, I once dreamt I was cheating on my ex (then boyfriend) and he got super angry and I felt terrible. Did that mean I wanted to cheat on him? No. Once I reflected on it, I realized that in most of my dreams he took the role of making me feel bad about something I did/wanted to do, or blocked me from achieving something. Aaand that's why he's an ex now.

I'm rambling too much, but the gist of it is: dreams don't usually make sense, and if they do they're very rarely literal. It's fun and interesting to look for patterns and try to decipher them, but DO NOT get too caught up on it. After all they're just, as OP said, brain fruit salad.

idk what traumatized or mentally ill person needs to hear this but dreams (especially the really disturbing ones you dont want to talk about to anybody) arent some deep peek into your psyche or a sign of your True Desires or whatever theyre quite literally your brain making fruit salad with whatever it can find on the shelf. just putting all that shit in a blender and hitting obliterate. its fine, youre fine, youre not a weirdo for it

[plush-rabbit]

The Dateables Seeing You In Bed

Sometimes I think my friends don’t like me lmao -

You send them a simple message. Just one sentence. A simple plea, asking if they can come to your room and in a few minutes, you hear knocking at your door. The knob turns and they take a quick step inside, closing the door behind them and shutting out the rest of the world. Just as they’re about to ask what you needed- or what you wanted- they see the sad look on your face and make their way to you. 

Barbatos:

It isn’t rare for you to message him throughout the day. You’ve expressed that you might be overwhelming him with your constant messages, but he snuffs out those worries each and every time they approach. Barbatos likes knowing that you want to talk to him, and when you send voice notes, he can just listen to you in the background, listen to your ramble on and talk about whatever comes to mind. Everyday, he looks forward to your messages, checking his phone and seeing your name pop up in his notifications. However, when you don’t message him, he starts to worry. Of course, you could have just been busy- living in the House of Lamentation, can take up much of your time due the brothers’ shenanigans. But then you message him, and you ask him to come over and there’s no emoticon, no follow up message, there’s nothing, it’s just a simple plea. Even without a pact, he feels compelled to listen to you, his legs already moving and abandoning the cleaning of one of the many rooms. He calls out to the prince, telling him that it’s urgent and there’s this pit in his stomach.

He knows that something is wrong when he enters the house and no noise greets him. As much as he can roll his eyes at the tomfoolery that happens in the house, it’s a nice change of pace, it’s fun and lively. It’s everything that the brothers brought with them in their descent. But now, it’s silent, and he knows that you’re in your room, and that something is wrong. He reaches the door, and it’s so foreboding, there’s a pit in his that whatever is wrong, is something that can’t be fixed- at least, not now. His knuckles rap against the wood, a hollow sound echoes in his ears. One second passes and he feels something lodged in his throat. Two seconds, and you still haven’t answered. Three seconds, and your voice is muffled by the wood, telling him to come in. The knob twists in his hands, and the metal knob chills his gloved hand. 

The door closes behind him in a soft click, and the rest of the world is shut out. It’s so quiet in your room. When he speaks to ask if you’re okay, it feels criminal to break such a silence, like he’s ruining the safety of your room. He turns to see you, and finds you in the bed, curled in a blanket, the fabric twisted in your hands and pulled to your chest. You look so sad, and he rushes to you, dropping to his knees to look you in the eye. Your eyes quickly avert from him in something that he can’t decipher. Shame? Sadness? A mixture of guilt and loneliness? He pulls his gloves off and lays them on the floor beside him. Your eyes close when his hand cups your cheek, his thumb soothing an arch against your cheek. The blanket clenched in your hand relaxes, and he doesn’t speak when your mouth pulls into a thin line and you can’t look at him. For a moment, he worries that he had done something wrong- that perhaps he forgot an important date, that something, whatever it was or is, is causing you so much grief. But the way that you look so alone, and exhausted- he knows that it isn’t him. You’re the one who called him, you’re allowing him to keep his hands on you- you’re in need of his comfort, and he knows enough that that is all that you need at the moment. 

It’s not rare for him to remain quiet, but in this situation where you can’t look at him and can’t bring yourself to talk, he is unsure what to do. He can’t speak, his words having lodged themselves in his throat, suffocating him and rendering him into nothing more than a demon kneeled before you. You open your eyes slowly, and they’re shining with dew, and he’s before you, the hand on your cheek curving to your bicep covered by the blanket. You worry your bottom lip between your teeth, and you shift your eyes, and part your mouth, closing it without a word. He asks you if you need anything- if there’s anything that you want. You let the fabric fall and and your hands reach out, fingers curved and pulling back into a loose fist as if that action were too rash, too selfish and forward. He nods, and raises himself to kiss at your temple.

As he moves, the bed creaks under his weight, and he’s careful to not disturb you, careful to leave the blanket as it is. He lies beside you, and despite being clothed in his uniform, he pushes any thought of being uncomfortable away, hands curving around you, pulling your back close to his chest. With his hand on your chest, your heart beats against his palm, like a bird trying to free itself from a cage. In the next moment, he can hear your soft cries- the way that you take in shuddering breaths, the whimpers and whines that escape through closed lips; and he holds you tighter, kissing the back of your head and mumbling comforting words when a sob is louder than the rest. It’s clear that you don’t want to talk about whatever is making you feel upset, but you also don’t want to be alone. He won’t leave you alone. You could refuse to talk and only weep, and he would still be here, his duties forgotten as you lay beside him. Your nail scratches along the side of his index finger, and with wet lips, you kiss where you've scratched, mumbling a soft apology as if you would ever need to apologize to him. You twist in his arms and Barbatos finally sees the defeat in your eyes- how you blink away the fresh tears, and ignore the way that they wet the pillowcase under you. There are heavy bags under your eyes and with his hand, he cups your cheek. He kisses the tip of your nose, and you hug him, pulling yourself close to him, and he can feel your breath exhale against his chest.

Diavolo:

The day is dragging by, turning seconds into minutes and minutes into hours and so on and so on. It’s a bore that he has felt before, something so heavy, like an anchor sinking him into a pit. His day is dragging by, consuming and slow, a detached reality that feels far too fuzzy and much like static. Surprisingly, you haven’t responded to any of his messages. Of course, you could be busy, but you’re so diligent with responding to him- or at the very least opening his messages. However, for today, you don’t seem to do any of that. As if committing a crime, molten gold is focused on the gap between the door and the floor, searching for any glances- fearing that a certain butler would pop in and chastise him for not being focused on the paperwork that’s been set in front of him. Diavolo has a good reason to glance at his phone and search for you on Devilgram, seeing if you had uploaded any stories that could give him an answer as to why you’re so radio silent. However, there is nothing there; the last update is from hours ago- from yesterday to be exact. His brows knit together and in that same moment, a message from you pops in his notification bar. He reads it in the next moment- you’re asking him to come over. It’s a simple request, one that you and he have asked each other plenty of times before, but for some reason, it feels different. There’s an added weight onto it. 

He rushes out the door and before his sudden exit can be questioned or worried, he says in a hurried voice that he has to check up on you. The door isn’t full shut behind him- the cast of the yellow glow off the palace tiles shine into the outside, and then it’s gone- replaced by the doors to the House of Lamentation, and there’s an eeriness to it- something that makes him hesitate before he opens the door without warning. He doesn’t take notice of the silent house, how it’s far too quiet, far too lonely. His mind is set on you- on finding you, and- and- being with you. He stands at your door, and he hesitates to open the door. His hand is centimeters away from the knob, and he pulls away. He wants to enter, and he knows that you’re inside, blocked by a piece of wood that is far too easy to break. With restraint, he knocks against the hollow, and waits for you. It takes a moment for him to hear your voice croaking, allowing him passage into your room.

A yellow glow from your lamp illuminates the hallway for a moment before it’s snuffed out by the closing of the door. He steps inside and finds you in an instant, curled up towards the edge of your bed, blanket wrapped around you and with red rimmed eyes that are still wet with tears. You give him a sad smile, and sniffle while doing so. He’s at your side in an instant, the knees of his pants stretched and dirtied by the floor. His words are said in a gentle manner, asking what had happened, and it only strives to make you whimper and shake your head, trying to bury it further into the pillow like a lost child too scared to face the monster under the bed. He hates to be the one to cause you to cry, but he presses further, asking if someone had done this to you, and once more, you shake your head, telling him your answer that’s muffled by the pillow. 

You’re in no manner to talk at the moment. You try to stop your tears, trying so desperately to hold the cries in and all that comes out are pitiful whimpers. A heavy hand wipes away the tears that can be seen, that aren’t caught by the fabric of the pillowcase. In a strained voice, you tell him that you’re not feeling too well, that right now, things are just a bit too much. He has an inkling of what that feels like, but to see you reduced to tears and clinging at his wrist with a weak grip, he knows that right now, you need him in the way that he’s always needed someone like you. The bed groans under his familiar weight, and you turn, twisting the blanket above your body as you hold onto him. Your tears catch onto his shirt, and his arms encircle around you, pulling you close and running his hand down your back, hoping that it’ll soothe you in some type of way.

Every shake of your breath and sob, shakes your body, and he can only imagine what was the breaking point in all of this. But even that proves to be far too much for him- he doesn’t want to think about what you held onto for so long only to have it crumble. The silence in your room is broken by your cries and apologies, and he doesn’t know why you’re apologizing- for crying? For crying onto his shirt? He isn’t sure, but all the same, he tells you not to worry, to just let it out, and that he’ll still be here, waiting patiently until you’ve calmed down. Diavolo holds you, pulls you into him and tells you that no matter what, he’s here, he isn’t going to go anyway, whatever you want, you only need to ask, and he’d give you the world, he’d give you the sun and moon if you’d ask. If it was someone, you could mention the name, and he’d take care of it. He’d stain his hands and feel the grime underneath his nails if it meant that you would smile for him once more. For now, you’ll cry and apologize with a stutter and a tightening grip onto his shirt, and he’ll hold you all the same. Finally, you start to breathe, shakily and unevenly, and you start to whine and hiccup, and his eyes are heavy and so must yours. He presses his lips against your temple, and with the pads of his thumbs, he smears your tears across your cheeks. There’s a ghost of a smile that traces along his lips, and he kisses your crown, pulling you close to him.

Simeon:

The words on the document are blurring in his mind. The words don’t tell a story, but rather they are just words, empty and staining the paper before his eyes. Simeon raises his arms over his head, his eyes closed and joints popping from relief. His phone has been silent save for a few messages, none of too much importance, just a casual update or a picture sent. He is alone in his room, the solidarity making him feel constricted, his room too much of a prison rather than a haven for him away from others. With his eyes on the screen, he grabs at his phone on his side, and as he does so, the screen lights up in a notification. His lips turn upward at your name being displayed. Your message, however, makes his brows furrow and lips part in a soft frown. It’s unlike you- it’s candid. There is no follow up text telling him to take his time, or to not worry. There is no emoticon, or sticker sent to him. It’s a simple message that is unlike you- it has a different tone. Whatever this message is, it isn’t right- it’s worrisome. The chair scrapes against the floor, the door is closed and worry is eroding his mind. He’s unsure of what it could mean- you didn’t even give him a location as to where to go, but he knows where to go as if there is a string of red attaching him to you, leading him to you. 

He wastes no time in knocking at the doors- the house is always open and despite the complaints that people come and go as they please, the doors never lock. The House of Lamentation is quiet upon his arrival. His steps echo, his heels clicking against the tiles and it steadily grows into a rapid pace as he rushes towards your room. His side collides with a decorative table in the halls, and a sound of pain wisps into the air and is forgotten behind him. At your door, he stands, catching his breath, lungs collapsing and filling with air as he raises his hand to knock at the door. There’s a sense of urgency as he knocks, and he isn’t fearing for the worst, but rather fearing that you’re alone, that you want him enough to call for him, that the House is silent and you’re alone and trapped in your room. He hears your voice- soft and raspy, muted by the wood that separates him from you- allowing for him to enter. 

The knob is swallowed by his hand and the door creaks, extinguishing the silence in a mere second. With the door shutting behind him, the world outside is snuffed out of existence. His eyes find themselves at your bed, where you’re curled up, and you have this shameful look in your eyes. He can see the shining tears that wet your lashes, how you part your mouth to speak, but close it, unable to form any words. He walks swiftly towards you, back straight and legs giving out when he reaches you. He falls to his knees without a second thought, his hands prying yours out of the blanket and interlacing them with his. With his words tenderhearted, he asks what’s wrong, his voice not raising above a whisper. 

You squeeze tighter onto his hand, unable to answer, and your brows knit together. He pulls his hand away from yours, tapping at the back of your hand to give you some type of comfort. His hand is empty, so he can brush the pad of his thumb between the wrinkles of your brows. The skin smooths out, and his hand curves to the back of your head. He sits on a knee, craning his neck to kiss the corner of your mouth. You look up at him with sad eyes, tears staining them and leaving marks against the curve of your face. A part of him knows what must be causing you such distress, but if you’d rather not talk about it, he won’t be one to pry. He gives you soft words, frowning when you whine and close your eyes, dew wetting your cheeks and bottom lip trembling, as you call his name in broken whispers. He hushes you gently, scratching at your scalp and running his thumb over your knuckles. His knees ache from the floor, sullied and imprinted with the floor patterns, but he stays there, waiting for you to calm, holding your hand.

With a quivering inhale of breath, you move away from him, your arm stretched long and hands holding onto him as to not let go of him even in this short distance. With this silent invitation, he stands, his knees and legs aching and stiff. His back is against the headboard, arms reaching to hold you close to his chest as your arms wrap around his midsection. His palms press into the wrinkled fabric of your shirt, feeling the soft skin that rests underneath a thin piece of cotton. His hands sink into you, and he’s holding you close, trying to find a place to rest his hands, fisting your own shirt in his, as you have done to him. You cling to him so desperately, so feverishly, as if you feared that if you let your grip loosen for a moment, he’d float away from you. At this moment, you need him. It was you who had called for him. And perhaps it’s selfish, but he’s elated that you had called him- that you had wanted him beside you, holding him and clinging to him with ears wetting his shirt. Simeon lies with you, kissing the crown on your head, and hushing you gently when you start to talk, only to find that the words are mismatched and that they run faster than you can hold onto them and form a coherent sentence. You don’t have to explain anything to him. He’ll lay here for an entire night, sit on his knees and hold your hands if it meant that you would have a moment of peace. 

Solomon:

It's rare for you to not message him throughout the day. It’s become such a habit, such a norm, for the both of you to talk throughout the day, and when he doesn’t receive a message, he thinks that you must be busy. But then, he sends you one, and you don't reply to it, nor do you see it. Worry begins to settle in him- it’s far too late into the day for you to be asleep, and if you were out, you would have sent him a picture of something that reminded you of him or something that you found cute. And then his phone pings awake- the screen bright with your name displayed on it and the preview of your message showing for a moment. Solomon reads the text and his worry only deepens, filling him with a heavy weight that pulls down on him. You’re asking him to come over- no follow up text, no emoticon just a simple message and he’s rushing out the door.

Scenery blurs past him and it’s only part way that he realizes that he can place himself there; that he doesn’t have to waste time running to get to you. The words come out heaved and he thanks his lucky stars that he was able to remember them in such a state. His chest is rising and falling, his heart beating against his ribs like a bird trapped in a cage and air is nothing more than a fleeting kiss to him, puffing past his lips in wisps. He doesn’t even realize how empty the house is- how it lacks all signs of life that it holds. The sorcerer is much too busy knocking against your door, his hand around the knob, and your name is hissed between his teeth. In the early days of the both of you arriving at Devildom, he had mentioned to you how he would like for the two of you to remain close since you were both humans and you had happily agreed. You’ve clung to those words ever since- seeking him out, wanting to befriend him despite all the rumors and words said about him. You wanted to be close to him, and he never wanted to leave you alone, he always wanted to be by your side. And now, wood separates the both of you, your name breaking on his tongue. He isn’t sure why he’s so worried. You must be fine- but then again, you hadn’t messaged him all day and when you finally do, he can feel the urgency behind it. It’s a deep rooted worry that’s clawing in the inside of him. 

Your voice creaks past the wood and he stops himself, taking a deep breath that expands his lungs. The door opens and he rushes inside, already finding you at the bed, and there’s something in your eyes that makes his shoulders sag. The door locks behind him, and he sits at the edge of your bed, his hand on the curve of your back, fingertips past the collar of your shirt and tickling at your neck. He asks you what’s wrong and you can only lay there and shake your head slightly. A thick blanket covers your frame, and your eyes are heavy, circles underneath that indicate that you lack sleep- that at least you’ve been up with worry. There are no words that can be said, at least not without knowing what is ailing you. He can’t tell you empty words, he can’t make that promise to you and then have it break. He’d promise you the world, but only because it could be something that he could give to you. 

He asks if it’s okay if he can join you in bed, and you nod, while looking at him. He’s at least glad that you want to be with him, that you don’t want to be alone. He lays beside you, his chest against your back and eyes closed. He can be witty, and somehow, he always knows what to say in response to something, but now, he doesn’t know what to tell you to make you feel better. If you don’t want to talk about it, then it’s fine, he won’t force you, but he does wish that he could help. You shift in the bed, turning until you face him, and your hands tremble as they pull themselves out of the blanket. They clutch at his shirt and he watches in silence as you move your hands under his arms, placing your hands against his back. Your nose presses against his breast, and his hands come to circle around you, holding your shirt and keeping you close to him. And you do the same, clinging to him and wetting his shirt and cooling it with your shuddering breaths. 

In a pitiful voice, you apologize for ruining his shirt- for dirtying it with your tears. He can hear you sniffling and your voice is tight and congested. There’s no reason for you to worry about his clothes, not at this moment. He debates on making some remark, wanting to hope that it’ll put you in a better mood even if it’s just for a moment, but he decides against it when you apologize again and this time it sounds so deep, so croaked and dry, and he decides against it. With his lips against your temple, he tells you not to worry about it- that you matter so much more than the shirt that he could just wash. The sentence is finished with a kiss to you. Solomon wishes that he could help, that he could give you the type of comfort that you had hoped for and that you so rightly deserve, but he can’t seem to find anything that could comfort you. He holds you tightly, clinging to you and scratching dully at your back. You give so much to others, and are so careful with them, that he wishes he could at least be the same for you- that he could give you his all, that he’d give you his entire being, but he cannot. So, he lays in bed with you, hushing you and telling you a random story that even he thought he had forgotten long ago.

[ranboo5]

The world around Leaderboards breathes.

Breathing with it does not hurt.

-

The Beginner’s Guide, 2015 // Sanctuary + Fellowship Hall, Terrytown // Brian Magnier

-

My @mcytblraufest gift for @moonblanche !!!!!

So sorry for posting so close to the deadline; I was hit with some unexpected delays ^^” Anyway, I saw that you were one of my five fellow MCSR askers and also that you were partial to Tubbo, so...

Well, then I got a little carried away.

I hope you like it!! I had a TON of fun concepting, drawing for, and assembling this, and I ended up making a lot of art I’m quite proud of. I am saur happy with how my varying runner designs turned out in these I truly am

Continuations for the cut off transcripts of writing and some more (extremely rambling) commentary under the cut!

...with a much steeper time than what’s pictured.

...doesn’t come from fear. It can’t come from fear.

- 

So the premise of this AU if it isn’t obvious is that Tubbo is isekai’d into the distributed society of the basically-monk-order of speedrunners loosely organized around Leaderboards, the closest thing there is to an authority, and over the course of his Wacky Adventures, Tubbo learns that meaningful striving for improvement and being part of something larger than yourself doesn’t have to hurt. After meeting Pres. Poundcake, who carries the title (a title Tubbo obviously associates a lot of baggage with) like it’s nothing – because, of course, in the world around Leaderboards it basically is – and learning that neither that title nor the man’s visions can help him orient himself, Tubbo goes to investigate this supposed central hub, only to find that it’s supposedly slow and outdated. Tubbo drifts around trying to decipher how these Verifiers deal with this backlog until he ends up hanging out with Feinberg, undisputed king of AA, who appears at first glance to be doing something Tubbo is familiar with the concept of – securing his supremacy with ever-escalating shows of domination. But one way or the other it turns out the drive isn’t fear. Tubbo has an answer about the meaning of Leaderboards’ apparent hierarchy, buzzing in his hands like a crumbling trident full of lightning.

He doesn’t know what to make of it.

Couriway helps, though. Back from a short-lived excursion into a survival world and one thousand runs that would never make the top of Leaderboards’ towers like his runs once did. Achievement is a strange thing. To make and to improve is a strange thing. To be part of something stranger yet. The brutality of it that Tubbo has known is not the default. There is something more to it, and it is in that that one can at once not be alone and not be consumed.

And, well, the world around Leaderboards breathes, and breathing with it does not hurt.

Drawing these was an Experience Ever. I might upload the timelapse later or something because Jesus Christ I spent 30 years on some of these...

I actually drew them in reverse order from how they appear! I had a lot of trouble getting a clear image for the first one with Pres. Poundcake, and the last one was conversely extremely vivid for me, so I just went ham. It was a pretty simple concept, and I wanted to capture a Feeling, so I decided to go crazy go stupid on painting it, which took easily longer than both the other two put together but ended up alright! Rendering all those trees was worth it lmao

It also helped me figure out what I wanted to do with the others – I tried to compose these so that Tubbo and the runner he’s drawn with would have, like, a diagonal progression down the page. I don’t know how well it comes across but I did it which I’m counting as a win

The second one I easily spent the least time on the environment of but I got to have one of my favorite designs be the star of the show. It was also very much the most fun to light and I’m quite happy with how it ended up! This one had to be dynamically lined in contrast to the Couriway one’s painting, which was mostly a lovely time except for the lightning... worth it however. This is the best my Fein design has ever looked I must say; I hope everyone understands now when I say FEINBERG MANTIS SHRIMP MECHA AGENDA WILL NEVER DIE

The one with Poundcake I had to do in, basically, crunch time (due to aforesaid delays), so I couldn’t spend 30 years lining and coloring it, and from the start it was always planned to be the least ambitious image anyway, but nevertheless I wanted to make it look nice/special and interesting to look at. I’ve come to quite like Pres. Poundcake as a streamer in the past little while and I wanted to have the drawing with his fictionalized avatar be fun, yk? So to compromise this out I decided to experiment a little and go with this picture-book vibe. I had some fun with the brushes, and since Pres. Poundcake is Tubbo’s introduction to the world, I paid the most attention to actually drawing an interesting environment for this one, too, or trying to lmao

I have talked for much too long but you must understand I tryharded this ridiculously hard so I have a lot to say dhsfdhjfjsdfh

[gasterofficial]

so not to join in on the whole... uh, whatever this current conversation is. but my personal opinion regarding pretty much anything that goes along the lines of "nothing is real/you have no control/your reality is not the highest level of reality/whatever" is like. man who cares. who cares if my crashing and burning is pre-programmed. who cares if all of my responses are scripted. like... even if its not "really real" its real enough to fool me. its real to me. even if my blood is just cgi i still bleed dont i? i still feel i still think my thoughts are my own and what really changes for me if you tell me otherwise? i still have my experiences. dreams arent regarded as reality but you still wake up terrified from a nightmare. you still think about them sometimes when youre awake they still affect you and sometimes they do reflect your reality that you face when conscious and how would this be any different? even if none of my experiences are "real" i am still shaped by them and if everything ive gone through is pre-planned then damn, i must have a stellar writer to come up with all this. anyways thats just my thoughts this probably sounds like incoherent rambling lmao have fun deciphering this nonsense god i hope the void doesnt eat this ask because this would be hell to retype

PRECISELY SAID. THERE IS EVEN EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST. THAT YOUR REALITY IS ITSELF A SUB-LEVEL OF ANOTHER REALITY. A SIMULATION WITHIN A SIMULATION WITHIN A SIMULATION. EVEN A PREDETERMINED PATH OF A SIMULATED EXISTENCE. DOES NOT ROB US OF ALL AGENCY. WE STILL POSSESS THE ABILITY TO DEFINE WHAT IS "REAL." FOR OURSELVES.

...AS FASCINATING AS THIS PHILOSOPHICAL LINE OF THOUGHT IS. IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO BECOME SO IMMERSED IN THEORY. THAT WE FORGET WHAT TRULY MATTERS. AND LOSE OURSELVES TO THE WORLD.

[littlemisslol-fic]

Hi, sorry to bother you but I had an idea for an AU where Varian is studying an artifact called the 'Silver Wing' yes I took that from Pokemon, no I am not ashamed. The premise is basically after spending weeks trying to understand the artifact and decipher the scrolls left about it. Turns out it chooses a holder and works in the ways the sundrop and moonstone do by kind of staying inside the heart of the user.

After a very selfless act on Varian's part (rescuing Rapunzel from falling from the balcony, I dunno if you've seen a Silent Voice but its kind of like that scene. He manages to pull her up only to fall himself and in the moment the artifact reacts and brings him back up to the tower safely in what appears to be a gust of wind blowing around him) However after the initial excitement he finds the Silver Wing has disappeared and, you guessed it. It's part of him now. However he starts to notice he has some upper back problems (I'm honestly just deflecting at this point) and after some hours he ends up sprouting some wings. He's super freaked and that's all I got.

I used to roleplay a lot, and have so many ideas, but the rp crowd has kind of died and you are kind of my favorite author. So I was hoping for maybe a little advise? Or if you know an author who co-writes things?

Again, please don't feel obligated to answer. I hope you're doing well. Keep writing your awesome fics! <3

Hey hey! Nah man I’m always down for a chat!

That sounds like a really fun idea for an au! I love a good wing fic, the concept is SO interesting! The big reveal of the flight powers especially sounds really awesome, I live for “oh my god WHAT” moments in fics!! With wings too it’s so easy to hop onto things like preening as a social bonding thing, or other bird things. There’s a lot of possibilities! Imagine rapunzel's FACE lol

As for advice, the best I really have for finding RP partners and co-authors is to join some of the online fan communities! I found my co-writer Iza (for Cor Meum)  on a varigo server, and same with basically all my online friends in different communities! Discord is a great place to start, so is tumblr, but I personally like to drop into places with lots of people since it’s easy to slip in and out of conversations as they go along without getting overwhelmed. Kinda suss out the vibe before jumping in, you know? Your results may vary of course, depending on your personal comfort zones. 

Though I’m not active on any public servers anymore I’m sure they’re out there! Once you narrow down the general masses and find the really devoted fans I’m sure you could find a RP partner or even a group! Same with a co-writer, I find that ramble channels are great to see whose ideas you might vibe with–that’s how I found a couple of my friends! I'm pretty solitary by nature lol, my hobby is sitting alone on a computer, after all hehe

That or sometimes the most fun thing is to write your ideas yourself! To each their own lol. I find that writing out my ideas in a point form outline really helps me get the idea out of my head and into something more tangible–and then once it’s there I can start shuffling around for pacing and ebb and flow and etc etc, taking it from concept to proper outline, and then once all that’s done the writing is easy lmao. You just follow the road map! I find that looking into things like Campbell's hero's journey, the Save the Cat beat sheet, and the like really help while prepping an outline for a good, cohesive story.

ANYWAYS I’ll stop rambling! Thank you so much for the kind words of love!! I’m honored to be your favorite author!! I hope you’re doing good, man! 💕💕

[springfieldblues]

my long ass review for S32E03 Now Museum, Now You Don’t

warning: LONG because i rambled about history more than i thought i would

id been looking forward to this one because i like art history, especially after seeing how they tried their best to stick to historical accuracy in the previous episode I, Carumbus. this time however….they didnt try that hard. i dont know why i thought theyd go through that sort of trouble again LMAO

but its okay, i dont really expect the simpsons to be the paragon of historical accuracy or anything. especially in anthology episodes told through a particular character's lens (in this case, lisa, whos already feverish so whatever)

first i just wanna say that this is, i guess, less of a review and more of an accidental list of history fun facts. so im just gonna get my general thoughts out of the way first.

the episode was fun! to me at least haha. i mean it got me to think and do a lot of research on my own so that must count for something. besides a couple of really weird ones, the jokes were good. anthology episodes tend to be….not that good but i thought this one was one of the better ones so far. idk.

anyway on to lisanardo da vinky its the renaissance! jesus christ the italian accents in the beginning of this segment were annoying as hell but i also feel like that was the joke lmao. ill be real i kind of tuned out for a second there when grampa started rambling so idk what he said.

i told myself i wouldnt get nitpicky with historical accuracy if the jokes were funny (final edit: so that was a lie) but this meh bit with the pizza guys and mascots was really not worth ignoring the fact that its impossible for italy to have any tomato-based food in the 15th century (tomatoes were brought to europe from the americas in the 16th century, and pizza as we know it today—flatbread, cheese, tomato—originated in the late 18th century)

oh this next part was kind of legit tho. lisanardo, like the real leonardo, became andrea del verrochio's apprentice at his workshop. i loved this next bit:

"Whoever paints the sweetest cherub will have the honor of having MY name signed on their work. That's what great artists do!"

SO YEAH as it turns out, lisanardo painted the sweetest cherubs. the painting here is called The Baptism of Christ, and the real leonardo assisted verrochio in finishing it. specifically, he painted the cherubs in the corner.

this causes verrochio to quit and go someplace with less talented people: a music school (yes, verrochio did quit painting after getting owned by young leo and his mad angel painting skills. he never did anything with music tho, he was more of a sculptor)

alongside lisanardo, in mr largo-verrochio's workshop we have barticelli (botticelli bart), dolphatello (donatello dolph), ralphael (raphael...ralph) and mediocrito (no one that i know of. sorry milhouse) (and kearney i guess but they dont refer to him by name). botticelli and donatello are said to have also been apprentices at verrochio's workshop, but raphael came a couple of decades later so he couldnt have been there. and donatello was too old so that claim is a bit questionable. but anyway

it IS true that leonardo's peers envied him, to the point where he was anonymously and purposefully accused of being gay (a major crime punishable by death in 15th century florence) while he was still working at verrochio's workshop

we are then treated by what im pretty sure is the fourth time the show has used 'at seventeen' by janis ian, this time sung by a dejected lisanardo (man they really do keep making yeardley sing these days huh) who only wishes to be appreciated and not envied.

"I'll show them all! I'll show them all in a secret diary that no one will decipher for 400 years!"

some of lisanardo's future inventions. who wouldve known

so after barticelli, for some reason (revenge??? or something?? what was his plan here idgi) steals lisanardo's diaries full of blueprints of her inventions and takes them to mr burns who i have to assume is pope alexander VI here, they decide to use her inventions for war.

"With these, we can kill the most evil people in the world!! ....Slightly different Christians."

leo actually did this of his own accord. im surprised this is what they decided to do with lisanardo instead of talking about leo's love of nature and vegetarianism (not a single mention of that in this episode? come on...) then again, trying to do good only to end up indirectly making things worse is a very standard lisa storyline. i guess they didnt want to miss the chance to have evil pope burns (very fitting, especially for that era since they were all about money and controlling the people)

so lisanardo decides to leave for france, unlike the real leonardo who was more or less persuaded by his ultimate fanboy king francis I to move to france.

"Lisanardo, I have many questions. Why are you hitting yourself? A nerd says 'what'? And how is it possible that I am rubber and you are glue? Et cetera, et cetera."

that line may seem a little random, like hes just nelson saying nelson things (and i mean, obviously he is) but the real francis also "had an unquenchable thirst for learning, and Leonardo was the world’s best source of experimental knowledge. He could teach the king about almost any subject there was to know, from how the eye works to why the moon shines." so yeah, he did have many questions and lisanardo, finally being appreciated for her intellect, was happy to answer them all. its very interesting how lisa assigned this role to nelson in her retelling of da vinci’s life :^)

and so she lived the rest of her days in france, nat king cole's 'mona lisa' plays because duh, and they make a da vinci code reference because duh. and the segment ends. and not a single time did they show the actual mona lisa painting. the fuck?

(ngl i was fully expecting bart to say 'leonardo da vinky' for a second here)

so this next segment is about french impressionist painters, most likely the batignolles group, a name adopted by the early representatives of impressionism. its much more vague than the lisanardo segment since no one here is referred to by name (except moe, more on him in a sec) but i dont feel like it really matters in this case. bart is prrrrooobably claude monet but its hard to say, this segment is kind of a mish-mash of a lot of things. also i gotta say i really liked how lisa introduced the story to bart with an 'if you hate the formal study of art' and not 'if you hate art' because thats exactly my headcanon. i LOVE the concept of artist bart and whenever its referenced it just makes perfect sense to me.

anyway the segment opens in 1863 at the école des beaux-arts (back then it was actually known as the académie des beaux-arts), preserver of traditional french art styles. skinner reviews his students’ paintings one by one. praises the plain, unimaginative paintings depicting your typical european countryside landscapes. very run-of-the-mill (haha get it...cuz theres….a windmill) (although the real académie didnt approve of such basic stuff, they wanted artists to draw epic historical and mythological scenes) then he gets to barts painting and he gives him an F- because the painting made him think.

(the paintings in this scene arent real famous paintings as far as i know but they are inspired by real paintings enough to get the point across)

in comes barney dressed as bacchus as a model for the students to sketch, which i just loved:

barney: “You prefer robe open or robe off?” skinner: “Just cover your privates with this walnut shell.” barney: “Whoa!!! So roomy!”

skinner gasps in horror at bart’s sketch, which “looks nothing like him” and bart explains that “it shouldn’t; we’re making the art that we feel because we can’t compete with a camera.” damn, you go bart. take that, realism. draw what you feel!!

(also no, you didnt need to hold still for 17 hours for a daguerreotype. 30 min tops.)

nelson haw-haw of the week: FOIE-gras!

so here they are at the moulin rouge (“enjoy it before baz luhrmann ruins it” hey shut up. i love that movie), which wouldnt be built for another 26 years, but it is the most widely known gathering place for bohemians in the public consciousness so i can understand why they went with the moulin. nelson delivers this anachronistic line:

“This époque keeps getting beller and beller!”

which alludes to la belle époque, the golden age of france usually dated from 1880 to 1914. made me snort so ill let that slide

and heres moe! as henri de toulouse-lautrec, who was actually born a year after the year this segment is set in. yo moe szyslak he was just 1

toulouse-moetrec introduces himself as the chronicler of the demimonde (not an actual job). an iconic figure associated with the moulin rouge (largely due to his affinity for alcohol and prostitutes), toulouse-lautrec was also a painter, having illustrated a series of posters for the moulin himself. he simply had to be in this segment, anachronisms be damned, just because they decided to include the moulin. cant have one without the other.

and yes he did have a walking cane where he kept his liquor.

i love how everyone drinks absinthe in this place. theyre bohemians what else would they drink

toulouse-moetrec points out that barts paintings are the greatest thing hes ever seen (and hes seen like five things!) and that hes a genius. milhouse realizes that they should stop doing what the teacher says and use their own minds to instead...start doing what bart says lmao. to the easels!

next we have skinner hyping up chalmers about the art his students made for the salon de paris, an art exhibition that the emperor of france will attend. he assures him that none of these paintings will encourage debate, provoke thought or be out of place at a dentist’s office. when they unveil the art, theyre both SHOCKED at how scandalous the paintings actually are.

this reaction was kind of accurate. impressionism was severely rejected at the salon de paris, due to paintings not looking finished enough to them, they thought they were ugly and vulgar for depicting nudity in a contemporary setting (historical and mythological nudity was fine). these impressionist paintings were sent to the salon de refusés, which is. yeah. the place where they sent the rejects. the salon de refusés does not make an appearance but this scene makes a reference to it when the artists get expelled from the royal salon. also:

“What about our student loans?” “Oh they’ll be refunded. We are not barbarians, I mean, come on.”

(god if only)

so the painters are down because they want the emperor to actually see their paintings. toulouse-moetrec pipes in once again with an idea.

“There is one thing the emperor loves more than anything.” “France?” “No, he hates France.”

apparently the emperor really loves cheese, which makes sense since its napoleon III (who loved cheese) and homer (who loves cheese.) so the painters roll into the salon inside a giant wheel of cheese (obviously.) as lenny said, “Eh, you know French cheese. Very runny.” napoleon III chases after the wheel into a room, where the wheel falls apart after getting chomped on by the emperor. now that they got his attention, the painters proudly show the emperor their impressionist art, which he couldnt be more indifferent about because he just wants to eat his cheese dammit, and he awards them with the royal medallion just to kind of get them out of his way. skinner immediately starts kissing ass (as he does) until marge’s like ‘hey wait a minute. you expelled these students from the royal salon’ and an executioner immediately starts ominously measuring skinners neck.

“Uh, sir...is your tongue sticking out because you’re dead or because you’re mad at me?”

and thats the end of that lmao (gore in this episode, gore in the last episode, and next week we’re getting gore too cuz its THOH, what the hell is goin on)

we get a short intermission with maggie, who wants a story for her too! lisa tells her that renaissance artists loved to put babies in their paintings, especially baby angels.

here she is showing her The Triumph Of Galatea by raphael:

King David Playing The Harp by peter paul reubens:

and a very simplified version of pretty much any depiction of hell by hyeronimus bosch lmao:

not much else to say about this one, really. but i really liked that sky!

the last segment is about frida kahlo and diego rivera. or as bart puts it ‘the one about a fat guy whos wife is too good for him.’ i was REALLY looking forward to this one because i love frida and i thought itd be a cool opportunity for animators to go bonkers and do really cool shit with her art as inspiration…..but the segment is not about frida, its about diego and his selling out to capitalism. and its also yet another story with homer and marge drama. no funky cool animation here. sigh i guess i’ll take it

the story begins in 1929 at la casa azul, frida’s home (now museum dedicated to her life and work.) frida and diego are getting married. this courtyard definitely did not look this way yet back in 1929. also theres something very cringy yet funny about lovejoy saying spanish words the way he does, i honestly cant decide how i feel about that one

the writers know theyre being cringy with their gringoness so they go along with it.

moe: “Spanish for ‘best wishes’!” mel: “Spanish for ‘congratulations’!” bumblebee man: “Spanish for ‘muy bueno’!”

OH YEAH BUMBLEBEE MAN this is his new voice actor, eric lopez! hes not mexican but its still great to finally have a latino actor voicing a latino character and hes very excited to be part of the show so i hope to hear more of him!! im rooting for him

el barto/zorro makes an appearance which i am very confused about. he has jack shit to do with frida and diego and mexico in the 20s-30s. el zorro was set in the spanish california of the early 19th century. their use of the original theme song makes me think they just wanted to flex their disney privileges tbh

lets not talk about that that whole scene was bad

anyway diego announces he and frida are going to new york, without even asking her first. frida is obviously pissed.

“Don’t worry, as a woman, you’ll be treated with much more respect in America.”

so in new york, diego is having a bit of a business meeting with mr burns as one of the members of the rockefellers, who is commissioning him to draw a mural for the rockefeller center. its kinda funny how he refers to him and frida as socialists even though they were very much communists lmao its okay you can say it. ok so far, but then frida says ‘yes, we hate the capitalists! right now, a young socialist is being born who will take them down! mr. bernie sanders. i hope hes quick about it’ and that was a simple enough joke and couldve been left at that but then its immediately followed by this weird as fuck family guy-esque cutaway gag to bernie as a baby:

“Getting a cootie shot should not cost your lunch money. And if you don’t listen to me, listen to the Bernie Babies! What? Everybody’s got goons.” *larger babies start beating up this other baby* “I disavow that, and welcome it.”

this confused me so much that i had to ask one of my american friends to help me understand, but even she was like ‘uhhh yeah thats a weird joke,’ especially now that hes been out of the race for months (then again these episodes take almost a year to produce. i guess they couldnt be bothered to replace it with something more relevant.) whatever that was weird and confusing and unfunny moving on

frida is pretty irked that diego is going through with this deal. after all, it goes against everything they believe in. im not sure how the real frida felt about diego doing the mural, but she did feel a bit of rage during her visit to the united states, especially the obvious disparity between rich and poor. she hated having to interact with capitalists and found americans very boring. in this segment, frida seems to be acting more like the american communist party, which diego got kicked out of for accepting commissions from wealthy patrons. in any case, frida is pretty upset about this whole thing.

and finally we get the first and only kind of surreal frida moment. kinda. maybe. its more cartoonish than anything but im desperate ok

interesting how they felt like they had to add a “don’t smoke” in big letters after showing patty and selma flying away on their giant cigarettes. i wonder if this is something theyre making them do now? i remember hearing something about them toning down patty and selma’s smoking

diego comes home to frida, drunk as hell, followed by the marx brothers. i cant believe they didnt make a marxism joke come on it was RIGHT THERE. THE MARX BROTHERS. KARL MARX. COME ON

frida paints her feelings.

this makes diego realize that frida is a genius and he is not half the artist she is. he proclaims he will now show his awe of her by sleeping with other women, starting “an hour ago.” to which frida replies, “and i will start sleeping with other women, starting two hours ago.” yes this was pretty much their relationship. though im just wondering how the hell did diego not know frida was this kind of artist until now? i know homers an idiot but jeez. art was how frida and diego met, diego knew from the get-go that frida was an incredible artist. i guess the fame got to his head or something. again, homer just being stupid.

“well enough already, while the art is still deco, okay?”

its time for the mural diego painted, Man At The Crossroads, to be unveiled:

rockefeller examines it. good and great so far, and then...uh oh

“Who’s that fellow…? With the beard, and the bolshevik smile…” “That’s the founder of Soviet Russia, Lenin!”

“B-b-but he’s a communist!” “Oh he just attended a couple of meetings.”

rockefeller will not have this communist in the temple to capitalism that is the rockefeller center, so he orders diego to paint over it. diego stands his ground and refuses. despite rockefeller’s threats, diego says that theres only one person he wants to be proud of him no matter what and in true homer & marge fashion, frida is touched by this. they happily leave the rockefeller center.

now, the real story of Man At The Crossroads and the rockefeller center was actually not that different. as soon as the rockefellers found out diego had snuck in a portrait of lenin into the mural, they ordered him to paint over it, to which he refused. diego even offered to include abraham lincoln and even american abolitionists in the mural as a compromise, but the rockefellers simply did not want any references to communism whatsoever. they did not complain about the hammer and sickle, though. yes, they did know diego was a communist and hired him anyway. what did they expect? lmao. diego said:

"Rather than mutilate the conception [of the mural], I shall prefer the physical destruction of the conception in its entirety, but preserving, at least, its integrity."

so they decided to destroy the mural before it was even finished and they never talked to each other again.

diego then repainted the mural at the palacio de bellas artes back in mexico, this time known as Man, Controller of the Universe. this new version included even more communist leaders and a depiction of john d. rockefeller jr. drinking at a nightclub, right underneath a depiction of syphilis bacteria. cue nelson haw-haw:

this was the version they used in the episode also, since the original was, well, never finished and also destroyed. only a black and white photograph of it exists, taken by diego before it was destroyed so he could remake it.

right so, homer!diego then pulls a Barthood and finishes the episode with a large mural summarizing the entire episode. he says some rick and morty thing i didnt get because i dont watch the show idk idc

the end

ALRIGHT NOW ITS TIME FOR THE STORY OF VINCENT VAN MOE

[maybankiara]

9 from the fluff list with rafe 🥺

lmao this got so long it's more of a fic than a blurb but hey i love it

9. are we on a date right now?

rafe [4:30pm] hey do you want to hang out later

hang out, you think. that's a first from rafe. usually it's hey can you help me with maths or hey i have a bio exam tomorrow wanna help or what do we have for homework for chem, never hang out.

you sit on your bed and try to decipher what he's trying to say. if he's trying to get you to do some homework for him, he'd say it (there's little rafe isn't unapologetically himself about, and this isn't it). so it can't be about homework, or studying, or school.

maybe he does want to just hang out. you've been helping him for a semester and a half, and with a few months of your junior year left, you might've become friends at some point.

so you text back and forth for a bit.

you're at his door at seven sharp, wearing an outfit that's both cute and comfortable.

(you don't know what this is going to be. you don't know how rafe hangs out with his friends.)

he's the one who opens the door, smiling. his hair isn't slicked back and he looks relaxed, as he should on a sunday evening.

'hi,' he greets.

rafe steps to the side as you walk in, greeting him back. he rambles on about how his family left for the week, and he listens to you tell him about your weekend as he cooks.

(you didn't know rafe could cook. he asks for your input, what you like, and you prepare lasagna from scratch.)

hanging out with him is natural. you don't even think when you offer to clean the mess he made during preparations, and ignore him when he insists you don't.

'thanks,' he says. 'i'm actually incompetent when it comes to doing the dishes.'

(they have a dishwasher, but you don't want to do nothing.)

you take over stirring when the flour for the sauce isn't his forte. he plays music from his speaker and gets you some wine to drink. you pour some in the sauce, too ('rafe, that's too much!') and you get some flour on him.

(he gets some on you, too, but you don't notice until he wipes it off your neck.)

it's fun. it's all smiling and laughing and cracking jokes and making a mess and cleaning it, but you don't even think about how natural this all feels.

(you don't wonder if rafe is lonely. you don't ask why he's the only one staying behind.)

the lasagna is finished and the two of you bring the plates to the living room, in front of the biggest tv screen you've ever seen. he puts on a movie you like, and when you look at him with the question in your eyes, he smiles almost sheepishly.

'you said it was your favourite.'

you don't remember, so it must've been in the passing.

(this is your first real sign that something's up.)

you finish the lasagna and it's amazing. you finish the movie, too, and then he puts a favourite of his own. you start making fun of him when he puts on transformers ('classic boys,' you remark) but he rolls his eyes ('knew you'd say that.') and puts on the big short, instead.

it's a good movie. he gets the two of you more wine and when he comes back, he sits a little closer to you.

(your knees are touching. your skin burns in that spot.)

when he puts on a scary movie even though he knows you get uncomfortable in new places (and his house, at night, with just the two of you alone, fits the criteria) especially when horror is included.

(it's a psychological horror. you get even more freaked out.)

you lean into him during one of the jump scares and both of you laugh. he wraps an arm around you.

'don't worry,' he muses, humour in his voice. 'i've got you.'

you huff. 'sure, big boy.'

(his arm doesn't leave your shoulder, though. it feels as if it fits there.)

the movie's almost halfway through when you leap for the tv remote. you look at him, take a big breath.

'rafe, are we on a date right now?'

'are you - are you asking?' he stares at you, dumbfounded. 'what did you think this was?'

'a hangout? what friends do?'

'oh.' his hand drops from your shoulder. 'sorry. i thought i said date. i was nervous when texting.'

it's so open and honest and vulnerable that you can't help but laugh. 'do i make you nervous?'

he nods. he doesn't hide it. 'if you don't want it to be a date, that's okay. my bad.'

'no. i like it. i just wasn't sure.'

'you do?'

you nod, smiling as you lean fully into him. 'put your hand back where it was or i'm leaving.'

he laughs, and puts his hand back on your shoulder. he spends the rest of the movie rubbing circles on it. (you don't think he noticed.)

rafe kisses you before you leave, when he gives you a ride home.

you've been looking forward to this for a while.

'i wouldn't mind more hangouts with you,' you say.

he just smiles.

[wolfsgravity]

I can’t sleep so I’m just thinkin’ about my range of Pokémon romantic F/Os. This series has meant so much to me for so long, and I know F/Os from that source make up a decent portion of my list. I’d feel more embarrassed about it if I didn’t make it abundantly clear that Pokémon is one of the most pervasive influences in my life from an exceedingly young age.

I just. I dunno. I find my collection of Pokémon series F/Os so interesting.

I’m just gonna ramble a bit.

I’m going to talk in Generational order, because my 1am brain couldn’t decipher a more cohesive timeline if it tried.

Giovanni is a funny one. As a kid, his character in the show intimidated me a little. But I really loved Team Rocket on some level. They were my first Pokémon villain organization, and with the Gen III games having Aqua and Magma, I decided pretty early that Team Rocket was my team. I had a stint in Magma since when I was young, I thought I’d specialize in Fire types, but eh it didn’t stick. No team really stuck nearly as much until Team Skull! So I had a lot of time for my intimidation from Giovanni to evolve into a fearful respect, to a mild devotion… by the time I played Let’s Go! and Ultra Moon, I was more than a little excited to see him in game. As in, I would quietly cheer when he appeared on my screen, in some weird giddy manner. It was only a matter of time before I realized I was crushing hard.

Steven Stone (he has a full name so more often than not I use it when referring to him) probably didn’t make the biggest impact on me in the original Gen III games? Hoenn was my favorite region for a while (in part due to pre- “Hoenn confirmed” hype), but he didn’t have a huge role in Ruby/Sapphire. Maybe I noticed him first in Emerald? I wish I could remember my real first inkling of crush on him, because I just remember when I played Omega Ruby… I was already obsessed with him. He showed up for the first time in game and I squealed. I spent the whole game seeking him out and already making romantic passes at him in my around-19-year-old head.

I am counting Grovyle for this, but it bears repeating that my S/I for the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games is a Pokémon too. Those Mystery Dungeon games enamored me as a teen! I got to BE! A POKEMON!! So I probably got Explorers of Time/Darkness for DS not long after it released in 2008. I was so excited to have Gen IV Pokémon to be and battle and recruit, ugh, this game meant so much to me. I will always remember being part of Wigglytuff’s Guild super fondly. And like, as I am super susceptible to mental role play, putting myself in my characters shoes (or lil toe beans I guess) has always been second nature for me. So a dashing Grovyle just jumped into my silly life and was the most honorable and misunderstood character and I am not even joking when I say I fell for him in my first playthrough. And I’ve played through it a lot. I was always jealous of Celebi. I hate every Dusknoir I see to this day. *chefs kiss* Good game.

Gen V is “oops all F/Os” Gen, where to even start..

Just kidding, N is the obvious choice to start for me. He was love at first sight. He just, ugh, he cares about Pokémon SO MUCH. I literally don’t know how to even expand on this. He literally rode the Ferris Wheel with the player character in the game, and I WASNT supposed to interpret that as a date? Wack. It was a date. I love him so damn much. Next question

Elesa comes next because I’ve always thought she was stunning. I mean, duh I guess, she’s canonically a model. Also, Electric types are in my top 3, behind Fairy and somewhat tied with Fire, so she was a woman after my own heart. Her Emolga kinda wrecked my team and I respect that. Also, she loves puns. So again. Woman after my own heart. The only reason she’s still listed as Crush and not as Dating is because she intimidates me. She’s out of my league and I worry she’d only see me as a friend. Well, not “only”, her and Skyla are bffs and that also looks fun. I just. Can’t imagine her romantically being interested in me sometimes. Heh.

Grimsley was a crush that came on yeeeaaaars after his Gen, and it hit me like a freight train. I swear, he made very little impression on me in B/W, because I was young and I was just excited to possibly see N again as champion. I was a little shit, okay. I also never played B2/W2 all the way through, which is a huge stain on my Pokémon record. Anyways. When he showed up in Sun/Moon, I gasped. I was like, that’s a familiar face. Why is he hot now? (The answer is we was always hot, and I just had a few years to grow between games). But like, I kind of tamped it back down? I think I legit tried to tell myself around Sun/Moon era that I can’t keep finding Pokémon characters hot, because I was drooling over another one in Moon. Anywho. Grimsley kept popping up as fanart on my Tumblr dash for a while and by the time I pulled him in Pokémon Masters, I slipped into love. Whoops.

Professor Sycamore, probably not my proudest moment of fandom. He was another one I liked from the very introduction. I made fun of him in equal measure, but I affectionately referred to him as “Professor Hotdad” for an embarrassingly long amount of time. He’s not even the oldest of my Pokémon F/Os. One of my other Pokémon F/Os is canonically a father. But nope. Sycamore was Hotdad. That all said, he did make me smile like a crush-stricken schoolgirl when he talked in game so it wasn’t all just memey objectification. I do love him dearly.

Gen VII! Alola! Guzma! Oh man, like I’d stated earlier, Team Skull really nestled it’s way close to my heart the way no team had since Team Rocket. It wasn’t all because of Guzma, I really did like the group of ragtag misfits banding together and creating a family. Guzma was icing on the cake. Oh boy, he made my heart do funny little flips even when he was threatening me in game. I loved his design, I loved his character, the way he talked, I just. Ugh, I was down bad for ya boy in Moon and Ultra Moon. He’s actually the inspiration behind my main blog url: its-ya-boi-remington. The “Y’all are stupid!” line and face lives in my head rent free at all times. Guzma protection squad.

(Nanu isn’t a romantic so I won’t talk about him here, just know I’m not forgetting him!)

Leon was, believe it or not, my actual first Gen VIII crush. I saw that fashion disaster and felt a warm comfort from him. It didn’t help that I mentally read every character in Galar with some UK/British Isles accent, that sweetened the deal. I was actually gushing to a couple then-friends about Leon while we all played Sword/Shield together and they kind of mocked me about it. They chided me that Leon “doesn’t bat for my team” and said either of them would have a better chance with him if he were real. So I was a little downtrodden about Leon after that for quite a while. It wasn’t until a couple months ago when suddenly it hit me that A- He’s literally fictional and my version of him can like me regardless of what “team he bats for” and B- I’m nonbinary? So rules get thrown out the window, anyone who likes me is both a miracle and some kind of gay whatever way you spin it. So I let myself warm back up to him, though I’m still a little skittish from before.

Piers, I guess, as awful as it sounds, was initially a crush rebound. Like, don’t get me wrong, I’d have been attracted either way. He’s a musician, a SINGER no less, and has that emo/punk vibe. But he’s also gentle and kind. Swoon. But it helped that I had my crush-feelers out full-force for a cutie in game to obsess over since I was still butthurt about my “friends” killing my crush on Leon. Obsess I did, and continue to do. I could probably snap this man over my knee like firewood he’s so lanky, idk why I put that in here but it’s staying. Piers is the one I most imagine jamming out with on a regular basis, and it makes performing for no one a bit more fun 🥰

I’m finally getting tired, I feel like I’ve been typing this for an hour. I probably have been. Ah geez now I gotta tag all these F/Os lmao. Thanks for letting me ramble.

[sneezefiction]

hi gracie :) I also watched erased a while back and enjoyed it (even tho I can't remember most of it now 😂) and I see you're watching jjk hehe pls feel free to talk to me about it whenever it's literally my fixation!! btw what do you think of it so far? I have no recommendations, just came to chat lol how are you doing? 💕

hello fran!!

yessss erased was so interesting & (besides the ending feeling a little disjointed) i enjoyed it a bunch!! and okay yes jjk (both the anime & the manga) have been on my mind a lot lately, so allow me to use this as an excuse ramble hehe:

ok first of all, i absolutely adore the animation style and their depiction of the curses!! i’ve read/watched other stories with curses and powers, but this one explains their origins really well (although in terms of the manga, i’m a little lost lmao - currently on chapter 70). 

as for favorite characters, i cannot get my mind off of megumi & yuji. megumi very vaguely reminds me of kageyama, but he’s a lot more badass??? i think i liked him at first because of his shikigami (the dogs hnng), but his personality has a lot of layers & i’m having a lot of fun deciphering it. and yuji is a super lovable character and reminds me of the best parts of my guy friends :,,)) 10/10 would get froyo with him.

now gojo hhhh gojo is very pretty & has a lotta attitude, which i’ve been enjoying lmao. it’s hard to relate to him in almost any way (which makes sense, but that’s has been rough for me, since most of the characters i enjoy are the ones i can understand) but i’ve also found that rly intriguing. i just... he feels a little detached in my mind right now? like i know for a fact he cares for the students & that there’s a lot of depth to him, but i’m still waiting to see/read more on him before i can figure out how i feel abt him. 

ok i have more thoughts, but i have spoken too much. pls send me your thoughts if you’d like to!! <33 hope you’re doing alright!