#i am not the only one and i think a lotta people would agree if they were given a fucking break

[skrunksthatwunk]

y'know i DO dream of labor actually. just not this shit

[therobotmonster]

My Retro-Cartoon Ramblings, Part 2

I reserve the right to use theme songs to make my points.

M-M-M-Mask is a testament to the power of a good theme-song and opening sequence. It's a Shuki Levy tune, of course, probably the platonic ideal of one.

And MASK is the ultimate example of an 80s Cartoon. I do not mean that it was the best one, not at all, but it is the most demonstrative of its genus. If MASK didn't exist, it would be the "80s cartoon show" that characters in other TV shows would watch.

It's 1/2 Transformers, 1/2 GI-Joe, with a bit of Knight Rider and the A-Team swirled in. The kid has a robot that's C3PO and R2's love child. It's most unique feature is that the hero is literally just somebody's dad.

Thanks to the realities of toy marketing, the show hits its head and wakes up thinking its a race-car driver (or am I thinking of Fred Flintstone?) for the last season.

Oh, there was one other aspect of MASK that stands out, unfortunately, and that's the casual racism. It generally seems to be of the tone-deaf well-meaning Hollywood brand of the era, but if anything qualifies as problematic, Bruce Sato's treatment does.

Dude's kick-ass, he's a toy designer and race driver who invents cool machines and comes up with the solution to almost all the problems. Only he does the latter, typically, by cluing Matt in via a Confucian proverb of dubious origin. It's a whole lotta yikes.

Speaking of theme songs, Thundercats! The best show you remember from your childhood. In reality it's a real-life Candle Cove situation: We all shared an experience, and what was on the screen was not that experience.

The people who made Thundercats were masterful. And I mean that without reservation or irony. Because they pulled off one hell of a magic trick with the budget and raw materials they had. The voice cast is tiny, the animation limited, the budgets obviously minuscule.

But they used what they had where it counted. They essentially played Dungeons and Dragons with the audience, using inferences, lore crumbs, and stone-faced sincerity to invite the audience to fill in the holes with their imaginations.

Thus the reboots' troubles. No one can agree on what Thundercats was because everyone experienced a different Thundercats. Everyone who goes back and watches it comments on how its not like they remembered. It is the Rashomon of fandoms. As much a mass hysteria as a TV show.

On to part 3!

[sl-newsie]

Cool Your Jets- Ch. 1: Welcome Home (Riff x newcomer)

People say that as long as you’ve got a home then life will provide.

But what can you say when life doesn’t provide a home?

“Here we are. Your apartment should be two blocks down.”

“Thanks.” I sigh as I tip the driver. After I heave my chest outta the trunk I begin my walk into the West Side. Ever since mom and dad passed, life has been a series of clean’n out old junk, sign’n papers, and be’n forced to move on. I never could’ve afforded my old house in upstate New York, so I had to find cheap rent in the city. Fortunately I found an apartment in a Puerto Rican community. When I agreed to the rent the owner was very surprised and asked it I’d prefer a different neighborhood, but all I cared about was a safe place to stay.

As I walk down the block, I notice a lotta Puerto Ricans give’n me strange looks as if I’m not supposed to be here.

A Puerto Rican shop owner actually comes up and asks if I’m lost.

I shake my head. “No, I’m looking for this address.” I show him a scrap of paper with my new home scribbled on it, and immediately his face lights up.

“Vámonos! This way.” He leads me to a tall building swarming with Puerto Rican women hanging laundry and children playing in the street.

“Thank you sir!” I wave as I look around. Not bad for a city life.

I drag my chest inside and begin climb’n the stairs, earning a few strange looks from passing Puerto Ricans. After a while I begin to realize that I’m the only white girl here.

I find the right floor and am about to open my apartment door when-

“Ay, mi querida! What are you wearing?” A voice behind me asks.

I turn and come face-to-face with a Puerto Rican lady look’n me up and down.

“Where did you get this? It’s hideous! I must burn it!”

I lean back a little, unsure about my need for personal space. “Um… It was the only thing in my mom’s closet that would fit me.”

“Tsk tsk. Mi querida I must insist you come with me so I can make you something much more wearable.” She takes my arm and ushers me into the apartment across the hall towards a room filled with scraps of fabric.

“Anita! ¿Dónde está mi vestido?” Someone calls.

A younger Puerto Rican girl runs into the room. She’s very short, almost as tall as me, and very beautiful. But she seems sad.

When she sees me, her eyes light up.

“Anita, quién es?”

I frown, unable to understand. “Um, I’m sorry but I don’t speak Spanish…”

Anita simply nods. “Maria, this is… I’m sorry, what's your name?”

“Marilyn Jackson.”

“Maria, this is Marilyn Jackson. Please try to speak English around here so she feels welcome. She moved in across the hall and I’m making her an actual dress. Not this scrap of burlap you see. Here.” She hands me a dressing gown. “Put this on and take that disgrace off so I can take measurements.”

I awkwardly take the gown and go into a nearby bathroom to change. When I come out, the two Puerto Ricans seem to be arguing.

“But Anita, es no-”

“English, Maria.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “Anita, why is she here? This is a Puerto Rican neighborhood.”

“The landlord offered me a better deal, and I’m tight in cash as it is.” I wring my hands togedda nervously.

Anita sighs. “Por supuesto, of course the rent would be cheaper for you Americans living with us.”

My eyes widen as I get her drift. “No, no- it’s not- I don’t mind living here, honest! I think this apartment is very homey and I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Maria nods. “Estoy impresionado. I’m impressed. It’s very rare for an American to apologize to us-”

“Maria!” Anita scolds.

“It’s true, Anita! You’ve seen how those Jets treat us!”

“The Jets and Sharks squabble over nothing. All I care is that Bernardo comes home safe. Here, mi querida. Try this.”

She hands me a flowy sea green dress- one far more elegant than any dress I’ve ever worn. I take it to the bathroom and slip it on. It’s a perfect fit- loose enough to breathe but tight enough to outline my feminine curves, and I luv how graceful it is.

When I step out, Anita starts clapping.

“Bravo, mi querida! You look stunning!”

Even Maria is impressed. “Wow Anita, that has to be your best one yet.”

I do a twirl and fall in luv with it even more. “Thank you so much, Anita! This is without a doubt the best dress I’ve ever worn! How much?”

She scoffs and waves the subject away. “No charge. Consider it a welcoming gift to the city! I can tell you’re not used to this, right?”

I blush and look at the floor. “That obvious, huh?”

“Si. So what brings you here?” Maria asks.

At first I don’t wanna say why, but these people have already been so welcoming��

“My- my parents died, and I had to move here to find work. I’ve lived in the upstate country all my life, so I’m gonna have to get used to this.”

Both women’s faces drop each share a knowing expression.

“I know how you feel, Marilyn. I took care of my papa up until he died, and all I have is Bernardo, mi hermano. My brother. If you ever need help, we’ll always be here.”

I shake my head slowly. “Thank you so much, but you’ve already done enough by welcoming me here. Back in the country everybody knows everybody, so it’ll be nice to have already met some friends. Amigos, if you will.”

Maria laughs. “You will need to practice your Spanish, mi querida! Don’t worry, I’ll teach you! Just wait until the Jets meet a white girl who can speak Spanish!”

The Jets?

I begin to ask what that is, until the door burst open and a Puerto Rican boy rushes in, panting heavily.

“Anita… es Bernardo… Los tiburón son batalla otra vez…” He pants.

Both women’s eyes widen and they each share worried looks.

“Cómo está mal?” Anita asks.

“Igual como siempre,” The man answers.

Both look relieved at this, and then remember I don’t speak Spanish.

“The Sharks, my brother’s gang- they’re fighting again,” Maria explains.

My eyes widen. “Gang? As in street gang? Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?”

“What did you expect? Come to the city and go about without running into trouble?” Anita points out.

“Only watch out for the Jets- but if you’re not like us then they might leave you be.” Maria scoffs.

I squint. Must be another gang.

“Thank you so much, for everything. But I’m afraid I have to unpack now and go shopping for dinner.” I pick up my old dress and begin to walk out.

“Quién es esta?” The man asks.

“Pepe, this is Marilyn Jackson. She’s a country girl who moved in across the hall, and she speaks little Spanish so please try to remember that.”

He grunts. “Why should I care about an American girl who can’t speak it?”

Anita glares at him. “Because this chica is very polite and deserves the same respect as all of us.”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m joining Bernardo in the fight- we’ve heard the Jets are going to wreck the painting.”

Unsure what to make-a this, I keep walking to my apartment door.

“Hold up, Marilyn! Would you want to join us for dinner?” Maria asks.

“I’m sorry Maria, but I’ve got enough chores to do as it is. Maybe another time.” I give a wave, close the door, and slump against it. Then I take in my surroundings: cramped bathroom, tiny kitchen, drafty bedroom with a rickety bed.

Welcome home, Marilyn.

[ask-tfpratchet]

One more thing

Okay, I’m so sorry for the long asks. I’m annoying, I know, but I just think you’re really interesting! You know so much cool stuff that I wanna know :D

Okay, now…I thought I’d help ya out. You keep getting asked about a lotta stuff that you’d have no way of knowing. To pay you back for explaining all this cool stuff, I’ll help you out a little.

Please preemptively forgive my garbage explanations: I am drastically oversimplifying because this is a very complex facet of humanity and human identity, on which I am nowhere near an expert.

Humans can fall in love. I’d assume your species can as well, considering just how Primus-damned similar our psychologies are. So I really hope you know what that turn of phrase means.

To put it bluntly, you and Optimus are best friends. Like, best friends. Like ‘I-would-claw-my-own-Spark-out-and-berserker-rampage-against-a-whole-group-of-enemies-because-they-looked-at-you-funny’ best friends. Okay, that last one is a bit of an exaggeration, but whatever.

People are asking if you want a more intimate, personal connection with him. If you were human, this would likely include physical components (which, if you really want to, you can look up, but I’d highly recommend against it; there’s a lot of shit that I’m sure you don’t wanna see). I’m not sure what dating/courting/marriage rituals are like for your species, but that’s what they’re talking about.

‘Gay’ is a male who is attracted to males, ‘queer’ is a general term under which ‘gay’ falls, ‘LGBT+’ and any variations are general terms under which ‘gay’ falls, etc.

Basically, people are asking if you are in love with Optimus. ‘Having a crush on’ is simply another (and somewhat euphemistic) way of saying ‘being in love with’.

I’m not saying I agree with their assessment of ‘yes’ (it’s something only you can answer anyway, but my hypothesis is ‘no’), I’m just tryna be helpful. I’m so sorry.

Now for the actual question! Damn, I need to just shut up…

I am aware people have asked, but please allow me to reiterate: do you know what the tsundere trope in anime is? Because you share key features. I would recommend looking it up, but please be aware: the typical tsundere character is romantically tsundere, which is to say they act tsundere towards their romantic interest. You are platonically and familially tsundere, which is to say you act tsundere towards those you love as friends and family.

Okay, I’ll leave you alone now. Again, I’m so sorry to take up your time. Please take care of yourself!

No I do not know what tsundere or anime is and no I am not looking it up. Me and Optimus are just old friends! You humans try to romanticize everything, Primus…

Again, I must insist that you keep your asks and explanations short. Though I appreciate your explanations. They do help. Just rest assured that you can ask as many things as you want and I will answer when I am able. Just keep them short so I may read them and answer in an orderly fashion.

Also, don’t apologize so much. Wanting to help others is nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t have to be sorry. Feel free to ask any more questions. Just know I will not be able to answer too many at a time so keep them concise and short.

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #72: “We Are A Humble Factory” | July 26, 2009 - 11:30PM | S04E11

Hey guys, it’s time for 9 straight posts about Robot Chicken. Am I looking forward to it? Of course not. But I will do my best to talk about this show I hate. 

There’s a Ranma sketch with the nerd. I didn’t like it, because I hate that character and I hate that voice. There was a M.A.S.K. sketch which was inoffensive enough, mostly just that thing of doing observational jokes about how a show from your childhood didn’t make sense. It didn’t kill me but there’s a bit where it seems like they left in an audio outtake and animated to it and that made me, well, not smile, but my eyes sorta got slightly wider and I thought “hey, that was something.”. 

Then there was a sketch about the monster cereals, which I guess I have enough of a fondness for to sorta care about this, but I didn’t. It has the Creature from the Black Lagoon trying to make his own cereal and it does not work out. The last sketch worth mentioning is a Star Trek sketch about how people hate Wesley, and as much as I’d like to spitefully enjoy this sketch based purely on how much of a stupid re-re Wil Wheaton is, I simply can’t. Hey Wil click this, bitch. HAHAHA FUCK YOU. 

There’s also a Star Wars sketch in here, that I think was used in the extended version of Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode II, which is the kind of shit I usually point out on these things, so I’m doing it for this show even though I hate it. 

The worst sketch, and it’s a short one, is where a whale is given the death penalty for some kind of whale crime, so he’s sent to be beached. A woman on the beach sympathizes with the dying whale, and he says, in subtitled whale language: “come closer so I can rape you”. Because I guess the whale is a rapist. I’m not an anti-rape-joke absolutist, but that’s just so fucking gradeschool I can’t stand it.

MAIL BAG

I do think squidbillies' biggest liability might be unknown hinson. Dude ain't funny enough to anchor a show!

I would agree that he isn't funny enough to anchor a show, sure, but I do like Unknown Hinson enough to think that putting him on television is at least novel. He has his own sorta charisma, and there's not a whole lotta voices like his on TV. A singular talent, I would say. I don't think I really care that he has bad political opinions, either. He's old and weird, who cares

I only recently started watching aqua teen after a friend sent me a short story about three brothers, Franklin Donnie and Matthew who live in filth and squalor in New Jersey. It was incredibly sad and they tried to kill each other and their neighbor got raped by a dog and only after I said I enjoyed it did she drop the reveal it was aqua teen fanfiction.

That rocks. I'm not sure I believe you are telling the truth, but I'm choosing to believe it because it's just so wonderful. It's real to me, dammit.

[gaffney]

lol This might be controversial but fuck it... it's true. The only reason that people ship Charlie and Adam is because Adam is a pretty white boy. They only have maybe one or two scenes where they have any tangible chemistry. Charlie has way better chemistry with both Jesse and Russ but I barely ever see anyone shipping them oddly enough (yourself excluded of course lol)

ho damn. i had to sit down for this one!!! 😭😭 alright, so… i feel like there’s a whole lotta layers to this, but, in a nutshell, i… both agree and disagree with this???

i feel like the thing is… charlie, adam, and–to a lesser extent–fulton, jesse, and russ, are the only (teen) characters who serve a real “purpose” throughout the movie trilogy. hell! charlie, adam, and jesse are the only characters whose parents we are introduced to. they have a character arc that helps to move the plot along vs. the rest of the ducks who don’t, and who only have an archetype (eg. “jester” for averman, or “the girl on the team” for connie). if you removed most of the rest of the ducks, it wouldn’t have a lasting impact (and this is why it was so easy to replace the kids from d1..). i, personally, am incredibly attached to these characters, but ask anyone who has only watched this trilogy once who guy germaine is and they’d come up blank. (sorry guy, ily)

so… i think it makes sense for people in the fandom itself to prefer to ship the people who have had the most development together (...which, admittedly, still wasn’t a lot). also, it helps that charlie and adam have shared quite a few scenes together that were poignant to adam’s character. and chemistry… well, i think they have it. but i also think it’s in the eye of the beholder. i know someone who abhors connie/guy and thinks connie/averman would make a great pair. i mean… you do you!!! 

but! i agree in the sense that i also think there’s something to be said about the fact that this trilogy, and its fandom (however small it may be), centers its white & thin characters. (like, it’s qwhite obvious why charlie and adam got most of the development from the white creator targeting a white audience...). and i do think there is a certain truth to charlie/adam being the fan-preferred couple because adam is a conventionally attractive white dude. i mean, fulton has been charlie’s ride or die since d1 (charlie even wanted them to run off to canada together!!) and yet i don’t think i have seen anyone ship them. the fact that charlie gave his spot up for russ, and not just adam, is barely spoken about. jesse might’ve disappeared after d2, but his friendship with adam is also frequently glossed over in favor of charlie. and, you know, a lot of that can be written off as shipper bias – we see what we want to see, even if it’s not always 100% accurate lol. i do it too! 

but! in the wise words of @astrosaur, “i don’t think it’s that controversial to say that fandom gravitates towards shipping thin white characters with each other.. racism/fatphobia/colorism/etc very much live on and that gets reflected in fandom and in the media itself”. and, well, ain't that something to think about. why do like 90% of fandoms always have a fan-preferred ship of two pretty white (and often straight) dudes? i think that’s a conversation people need to have more.

ANYWAY. i, for one, would very much love to read and see more of charlie/russ. please someone write it for me 🤲🏻

[paleparearchive]

Manet's Essence

Manet's 2nd initial 3★ story (1/2) ( 1 - 2 )

Location: atelier 2 (morning) | Characters: Manet, Courbet, Renoir, Monet

Monet: 51, 52, 53, 54… ugh… I knew it'd get harder after 50…

Renoir: You often do sit-ups, don't you?

Monet: 'Cause I wanna be like Manet-aniki! Hey, hold my feet properly.

Renoir: Yes, yes. Do your beeest~

Monet: 55, 56, 57… But still, Manet-aniki's so cool, ain't he? Being able to become that stoic just for the sake of painting is what makes him a man among men!

Renoir: I guess I agree with you on that. Manet-san is truly amazing. When I saw "Olympia in Bed", I was amazed. I had never been so moved by anything before.

Monet: Right!

Courbet: … Are you guys serious? It's crazy to worship a guy like that. What you guys are doing is basically idolatry.

Monet: Courbet…

Courbet: … What's with the pitying look?

Monet: If ya can't see how cool Manet-aniki is, you're missin' out on 100%... no, 200% of your life! Okay? Aniki has got a lotta talent. And yet, he never spares no effort. That's why he can draw such amazing pictures that touch the heart!

Courbet: It's only natural for an artist to put in effort. It's not something to be proud of.

What's with that guy's attitude to begin with? He's too uncooperative. No matter how much talent he has, it ruins everything. If he wants to move up as an artist, he needs to change that.

*door opens*

Manet: Heh, it seems you also know how talented I am.

Courbet: Wha… it's like you came out of nowhere… No one would ever say that!

Renoir: But you said so. No matter how much talent he has, that's what you said. That's what this is all about, isn't it?

Monet: Oooh, so ya respect Aniki too, Courbet. Then we're friends!

Courbet: Who's your friend!

More importantly, it's in poor taste to eavesdrop.

Manet: There's no way I'd do something so vulgar, you know? Your barbaric voices were echoing all the way outside.

Monet: Sorry, Aniki. When it comes to ya, I just can't help but get fired up.

Renoir: I understand how you feel, though. You want people to know how wonderful Manet-san is, don't you, Monet?

Monet: Yeah! I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't come across Manet-aniki's paintings!

Courbet: Tch, I don't think this guy has the power to change people's view of life.

You need to face reality, Monet. There must be someone else worth respecting.

Monet: No way! There's nobody else I should look up to and aspire to be other than Manet-aniki!

Courbet: Sigh… If you're this blind, there's nothing I can say that will make a difference.

Manet: Heh… I didn't think you'd go this far. No wonder you're jealous of me, Courbet. I'm perfect, after all.

Courbet: Huh…?

Manet: I don't have time to worry about you… But if you insist, I can let you watch me paint, okay? However, don't get in my way.

Courbet: Wha…!

Renoir: Woow, that's nice, Courbet. It's not every day to have Manet-san say something like this to someone, you know?

Monet: That's right, Courbet! Make sure ya get a good look at it!

Courbet: Who… No one's going to watch you paint! In general, your drawings are not realistic. They can't even be used as a reference.

Manet: If you don't make an effort to learn, you will stop growing. You aren't that stupid that you don't understand that, are you?

Well then, let's begin.

Courbet: Uuuuuugh, listen to people just a bit!

[demonsfate]

1, 2, 3, 4.

canon questionnaire // accepting . . .

1. What made you pick up this character?

I found Jin to be a very interesting character when I started learning about him! Although Jin is a "stoic" archetype, I found him to be interesting compared to a lotta stoic characters, and I found him to be interesting compared to other fighting games characters (especially the main characters). I loved that Jin was a stoic, but still a very caring guy and not literally emotionless / cold. I loved that Hwoarang tries to be his rival, but often, Jin doesn't really share the same enthusiasm for the rivalry. I just found Jin to be a subversion of many tropes 'cos of the things I mentioned.

It was watching his Tag 1 ending that really made me love him, though. A lotta ppl took it as Jin LITERALLY not being able to kill Kazuya because Jun or something stopped him. I don't... really agree with that and I didn't see it as that to begin with. As for one thing, Jun nor Angel or even present lol. Yes, Jin looks down at his shaky hands, which a lotta ppl took for Jin being confused as to why he can't kill Kazuya. But honestly, WHAT I THOUGHT was happening was that Jin wanted to kill Kazuya, but then realization hit him; he's about to kill his own father. Jin stops himself after this and looks down at his hands in horror because of this. And that, along with Tek4, is what made me really fall in love with Jin and wanted to write him. I loved how he was the good guy, but still struggled with the age old question of "is killing always a bad thing, or do some people really deserve to die?" Yes, there are LOTS of media with this same question. But the thing is... usually characters like Batman or Superman are already so sure of the answer, and they have to debate it with other characters. With Jin, he really doesn't know what the right answer is. It's something he struggles with, and understandably so.

Funny enough is that I had no idea about the Tekken lore, I literally knew nothing about it despite playing it since my very early childhood. So I definitely had no knowledge about Tekken 6, so everything was a surprise when I first saw it. And guess what? I hated Tekken 6 so much that I nearly considered NOT writing Jin. Like Tek6 was almost the reason this blog never got made. I was considering maybe just writing Tek3-Tek4 Jin and nothing else, or not making the blog at all. Even though a lotta people trash Tekken 7's story. The good thing about it is that... it DID give me inspiration on how I could "fix" Tekken 6 and still write beyond Tekken 4 on this blog. Thus, becoming canon divergent and saying that Devil Jin was responsible for the war, not Jin.

An interesting thing is that I wasn't nearly as interested in Devil when I first started this blog. In fact, I believe my early promos would just say "ft. Devil Jin" and sometimes make a joke that he has to be around because it's hard to write Jin without him. Which was how I truly felt at the time. A very early icon and dashboard header for this blog featured Jin only. Yet as I learned more about the series and I wrote the two more, I realized just how much I love Devil. Like Devil has become a very integral part of this blog, and he IS just AS IMPORTANT as Jin is now!! Like I really do consider Devil on the same level of importance - he's not just a side muse or anything, he's as main as Jin is! In fact, the primary focus of this blog had quickly become focusing on Jin and Devil's relationship as I found it particularly fascinating. So it was wild to think there was a time I didn't care for Devil as much. But I made this blog pretty early on when I just got into the lore, so I still wasn't as familiar with it as I am now!

Sorry for writing a book based on THE FIRST QUESTION you sent me lol! A quick fun fact is that I almost considered writing Heihachi, too.

2. How did you get into this franchise/fandom?

Well as I said, I actually played the game as a small wee child thing! Probs when I was only like 6 years old or younger! My mains used to be Xiaoyu and Eddy back then lol :P But strangely enough, despite it being one of my fav games to play with my bros when I was a kid, I never got into the lore until fairly recently. (Nearly 2 years ago I guess?) And that happened because my brother for some reason decided to buy all the Tekken games lol. So I watched him play through them, and then that's when I realized how much I was really liking the concepts and the characters - especially Jin, of course as I explained above!

3. What’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

The games are fun to play lol! But really, if we're not talking gameplay wise. I just really love the characters. I think the game has a colorful cast of characters that are all highly unique, wild, or funny. They're also all wonderfully designed, too.

4. What’s the worst thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

The handing of the characters, or the lore in general. Jin being the worst case of course because hoo boy, Tekken 6 has definitely ruined Jin's character. Even with Tekken 8 trying to "fix him", it still didn't undo the damages of Tekken 6. But really. Tekken as a series is FULL of amazing concepts, yet they always get messed up because of inconsistences, retcons, dropped plots, drastic changes for no good reason, etc etc. Characters being completely changed from what they were, characters being turned into jokes, characters just being useless. It just gets frustrating.

[isoldmysoultojonahclemence]

The King and Queen’s Nakedness (Cradle’s Hot Springs Bonus Story)

Aight so there’s a hot springs collection event going on in Ikerev TW rn, and guess what one of the bonus stories were?

The characters, of course, involve our lovely Kings and Queens of Cradle and their trip to the hot springs. The term “坦诚相见” here, translated literally, means “to see each other honestly.” However, over the years, it’s become a polite euphemism for nakedness in the presence of others ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The moment I saw that title I knew I absolutely HAD to get it. It costs 400 hearts on the TW version (probably more in the ENG version), and it was absolutely worth the story tickets I used. I had a lotta Jonah-centered thoughts after reading it, so...here goes.

Ships mentioned: Lancelot x Jonah, Sirius x Jonah

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

So basically a new hot springs was discovered in Cradle, and the officials from both armies are there to inspect it and the resort that was built around it. We start off with our K and Q of Hearts riding to the new resort, and Jonah mentions that it sounds barbaric to bathe in the open (he’s so prim and prissy uwu). Lancelot, being the fair King, tells Jonah that they shouldn’t comment on something they haven’t yet seen, and Jonah agrees. 

Then, Jonah puffs out his chest and mentions that Edgar and the others had wanted to come along too, but apparently he stopped them because:

[Jonah: The only one allowed to see King Lancelot naked is me, the Queen of Hearts--your right arm!] 

Jonah, I--

(I had to punch a desk while reading that line to calm down)

I have no idea how one man can make me squeal and cringe at the same time, but THIS MAN I STG

And I was also kinda worried abt how Lancelot would react bc it would break both my heart and Jonah’s heart if he reacts negatively. But I never should’ve underestimated this smug bastard bc:

[Lancelot: ...Yeah.]

Aaaaaand Lancelot just casually confirms that Jonah’s the only one who gets to see him naked.

...Cybird are u sure there isn’t anything going on between them.

And then this dude has the nerve to SMILE after that entirely platonic exchange:

[The corner of Lancelot’s lips turned up in a smile, but at the same time, as if noticing something, he reined in his horse slightly]

And this is when Ray and Sirius come into the scene!

[Sirius: If only we could’ve brought the brats along.]

Unlike Jonah and Lancelot (who secretly hate their kids), Sirius and Ray are sad bc they couldn’t take the kids along awwwwwww.

So apparently neither group knew the other would be inspecting the hot springs at this time, too, so it turns into a happy coincidence and they go to the hot springs together. 

Well, maybe not so happy for Jonah...

[Sirius: Ah. This seems pretty nice. Isn’t that right, Jonah.

Jonah: Don’t talk to me. Why am I so unfortunate that I have to be naked with you people?]

asdjffkjda;wkleiuesafw HE’S SO CUTE WHEN HE’S FORCED TO BE NAKED IN FRONT OF HIS SWORN ENEMY

And he’s so overdramatic abt it too??? Going all “don’t talk to me” and “I’m so unfortunate woe is me” bc he’s sharing a hot spring with “you people.” But I can kinda understand how he feels bc he probably wants to be alone with Lancelot...naked...in the hot springs...

And I love how Sirius addresses him first too, probably bc he knows it’s gonna make Jonah all grumpy and indignant. 

[Sirius: If you’re so fired up it’ll be easy for you to faint from the heat. Did you drink water before coming in?

Jonah: Of course I did. I drank a whole cup...no, I don’t need your concern. I told you not to talk to me!]

I never thought I’d see the day when Sirius parents Jonah, too, but here we are ig. Granted, it’s more in a teasing way than an actual fatherly way, but still. And Jonah is receptive to it too! He subconsciously replies to Sirius’s question before he catches himself and remembers that he’s supposed to hate the dude.

I genuinely think that, if circumstances were different, Jonah and Sirius would probably get along pretty well. Sirius doesn’t get easily offended by Jonah’s prickly nature (in fact there are times where he seems amused by it), and Jonah would appreciate having someone around who can ground him and take care of him and take him down a few notches. If only Jonah would stop thinking of Sirius as the person who “stole” his King and his brother XD

But yeah while that’s going down the Kings are just chilling:

[A bit further away from the two noisy people, Lancelot and Ray soaked in the hot springs side by side.]

U know, just two Kings, chillin in a hot spring, two feet apart bc this is an otome game.

And yeah. They go on to talk about making the hot springs available to everyone in Cradle, regardless of the territory they belong in, and also about how MC would be happy to see that happen. Sirius and Jonah then comes over, still bickering (I thought u weren’t talking to him Jonah), and the four of them enjoys the hot springs together!

I love this story so much!!! 1000000000/10 would recommend to anyone thinking about getting it when the event rolls around.

[nikethestatue]

Hello, this is going to be long, but I really need to ask. Why do you claim to like and support Vassien, even reblog Vassien posts and fanart, but then reblog Elriel posts that speak bad about Lucien?? Is not even critizing the character, is calling him a shitshow and even worse. As a Vassien shipper I don't like this. I follow you for your Elriel and Elain content but I can't understand why you do this. Many Elriels say they like Vassien but I've seen them writing about how much they dislike and even hate Lucien, even in the Lucien tag. I like both Elriel and Vassien and I don't get why you would spend so much time in a character you loathe. Some even called him an abuser and days later reblogged a post about how Vassa and Lucien are going to be endgame. If they think he's an abuser, why do they ship him with Vassa? Some even participated in Vassien week, which happened recently. This annoys me because I think it's very hypocritical. The Vassien community is small and some of us are usually into other ships too. We try to keep our community umproblematic and positive but is very hard like this. And I say this because most of the people doing that are Elriels. I do thank the ones that actually ship Vassa and Lucien because they like them and create content but the people that ship Vassien and then spend hours online writing about how much they hate Lucien need to be stopped.

Quite simple, really. I am not a monolithic person who only likes ONE THING.

I can like and appreciate various characters, and still see that they are flawed and imperfect.

In my house, I love and respect Nesta Archeron--can I also say that she was an absolute douchebag at certain times? Can I say that she was incredibly rude, petulant, self-pitying, lazy and mean? Totally. But she is a complex character, to whom I relate on many levels, whose pain I understand, and whose reactions I get as well. I KNOW I'd behave very similarly in some instances. She is a mirror to myself and I don't always love what I see.

Do I love Rhys? Yes! He was my first ACOTAR love. Do I have a problem with some of his decisions? You bet! Do I hate how he treated some of his closest people, including Feyre? Um, YEAH.

Same goes for Lucien. Has he done good things? Yes. Has he done bad things? Also, yes. No he is not a perfect cinnamon roll who's never put the wrong foot forth. He is a pretty complex and interesting character like a lot of them are.

Do I like Vassien as a ship? Yes, because it makes sense to me, and I would like to see it happen. It makes a whole lotta more sense than Elucien for example. But honestly, if I see great Elucien art, or something that I find interesting and attractive, I'll reblog that too, so much so that people ask me if I am an Elucien? I am not, obviously, but it doesn't mean that I can't appreciate certain things about the ship.

Also, when I reblog certain things, it doesn't mean that I agree 100% with everything that they say. Yeah, the verbiage of the original post was a little rough, but I agreed with the general sentiment.

Now, just for future reference, for everyone--the only ship that i cannot stand, will never support and that genuinely gives me the heebies is Gwynriel. I cannot deal with Gwynriel on any level: I don't like anything about it, I hate the potential dynamic, I hate how problematic it is on every level, I find it ridiculous, juvenile, boring, uninspiring, recycled and unoriginal.

It doesn't mean that I hate Gwyn or Azriel. I simply hate them together as a romantic couple.

Lucien and Vassa together intrigue me, I think there is a lot to work with there, from a narrative standpoint. I think they could have an amazingly interesting story. But it doesn't mean that anyone is above criticism.

That's all. Also, I am too old for extremism. Time mellows all things.

[achitka]

Butterflies

Chapter 31: Butterflies

So it's day 31...Can't believe I managed to write something every day...was a good challenge. Gonna miss that. Also my thanks to everyone that participated. I've enjoyed writing, reading and looking at so many wonderful works of art here on tumblr. Extra, extra thanks for the crew running the event. @encantober-official I've had a blast writing all month. I feel a lotta bit of inspiration to work on my other fic. . That said off we go...day 31 Is Camilo that much of a jerk...

Mirabel and Camilo were together in Camilo’s room learning to make small boats out of paper. The book they were using was very beat up. It had survived two house fires and many a re-read. Camilo flipped through the pages, fascinated by the pictures of people inside. The came from a faraway place called ‘The Orient’ and their face shapes were new to him.

“Hey,” Mirabel said, “Go back to the directions for a sec, I think I missed a step.”

Camilo set the book on the floor and turned back to the page. Mirabel scanned the page and half way down she frowned, “Yep…” she sighed and tossed the incomplete boat behind her and got another piece of paper. Camilo flipped toward the end of the book and nudged his prima. Mirabel looked at it and smiled.

“You think we can make it? I mean we’re struggling to make a boat.”

“You’re struggling to make a boat,” Camilo said, “I am not being helpful, sans no struggling…see how this works out for me?”

“Whatever,” Mirabel said, “Let me read this.”

Camilo leaned back against his bed and thought about the drawing of the people in the books. He felt his face shift but didn’t get up to look at it. He was pretty sure it matched the face on page 93.

“What are you doing?” Mirabel asked. She was holding a razor blade and Camilo shifted back to himself.

“What are you doing?” Camilo asked back.

“Wow, short attention span much? I need you to hold the paper while I cut out the shapes,” she said and pushed the paper over to him. There were three different colors, purple, blue and yellow. “I’m going to try and cut them all at the same time.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“I don’t know, it’s pretty intricate.”

“Longer than five minutes?

“Why did you agree to help if you’re not going to help?”

“Fair point, but how long?”

“You know what, never mind. I’ll finish it myself,” Mirabel said as she gathered up the paper, string and glue. Camilo went to reach for the book and Mirabel snapped it shut and picked that up as well. “I need this,” she said and was up and out the door.

Camilo looked at the door for a while trying to decide if he should go after her. Truth was, he didn’t want to help make any gifts for Abuela and he couldn’t understand why Mirabel would want to. They way she talked to her, the just mean things she would say…as far as he was concerned, she didn’t deserve them. Antonio’s fifth birthday was less than six months away and his parents and little brother were already stressing out about it. While he wanted Antonio to get a Gift, he also did not.

Camilo got up and pulled on his ruana and shoes. He walked outside and around the house to the back garden. Mira was right where he knew she would be. She always came here when she was mad at him. He heard her let out a curse as the page she was working on ripped.

“Need some help?” he asked. Mirabel looked up from what she was doing and shook her head as she pulled out another piece of paper. Camilo glanced at the pages that had already been discarded and smiled. Only one was ripped, the rest looked fine…but not perfect and Mira needed them to be.

“Mind if I help, anyway?” he asked as he sat down next to her and put his hands on the edges. He wasn’t going to try and talk sense into her. She wouldn’t listen anyway.  She’d keep chasing the light of that candle ‘til it killed her. Waiting for a miracle that was too late in coming.

Mirabel was humming now, a clear sign she was completely focused on what she was doing and would finish this up pretty quickly. After a few minutes, she made the last cut and removed the pieces of cut paper. She tapped his hand and he lifted the page up. He noticed the butterfly she’d cut out was shining on the table where the sun shone through and was hitting the table.

“Pretty nice, Mira,” he said lifting the others.

“Thanks, and thanks for helping…it was not going well by myself.”

“Mind if I keep the scraps,” he asked indicating her abandon attempts.

“Sure, can’t use them for this anyway.”

“Great, I’ll see ya later,” he said and gathered up the papers, “Gotta go into town and be useful for a few hours.”

“Okay, thanks again, I’ll save you seconds.”

“Gonna need ‘em,” he said and went back to his room. He reached under his bed and pulled out a box. He took off the lid. Inside was a jumble of half-finished projects that Mira had decided were not perfect enough. He put the butterfly cut outs in it and reached around and picked up the incomplete boat placing it in there as well. Lately there had been a lot of them. If she kept it up, he was going to need a bigger box. Maybe he’d show it to her one day…he wondered if he would have to wait for Abuela to die before he did.

--------------------

Notes:

[hana-akari]

“You’ve always had more faith in me than I have of myself.” Sakura softly chuckled, a smile resting on her lips as he kissed her forehead, “I’ll heal your hand, I promise. It… Wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be but was definitely more painful than I expected but when it was all over– It was the best feeling in the world. I felt such a rush of happiness hearing Mio cry for the first time. I don’t know how to explain it– I was just hit with the feeling of knowing I was officially a mother now and it was the best feeling in the world.” She could tear up again just thinking about it. That had to be one of the happiest moments of her life,

“And I feel proud that I was able to carry, and deliver a healthy baby. Proud that I was able to bring another Uchiha into the world. I am so happy to have a family of my own with someone I love so much.” Sakura felt herself getting all emotional again, and tearing up. She had to reach up and wipe the tears from her eyes, feeling a bit silly,

“I’d like to remind you, you allowed me to invade your space and touch you. You even laid in my lap once. You’ve totally, always liked me!” She even remembered how he thanked her for caring about him before he left the village and her behind.

Ino shifted awkwardly against Sakura, clearing her throat a bit, “I was the one that invaded your space, and I’m really sorry about that. I’m so embarrassed of my actions as a kid. I guess I was just jealous of how close Sakura was to you and thought I could bully my way in by throwing myself on you. It was really awful, and I’m sorry about that.” She really did feel bad about it. Thinking back on her childhood, and the things she did, it just made her cringe, “I’m also sorry I let you come between me and Sakura. Though, a lotta good did come from our rivalry. We pushed each other to be our best.” After a while it became less about Sasuke and more about bettering each other.

“We were all embarrassing as kids, including Sasuke. At least we all learned from it.” Sakura softly laughed again, “I do agree that Mio should be taught to not be okay with people invading his space without permission.” All kids should be taught that in her opinion,

“Haha, a story when he’s much older.” Seemed a little too inappropriate to tell a child, “It depends on how upset you’ve made me.~ But you rarely ever do. You’re literally the best husband-to-be ever!” Sakura gushed happily. She really couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Sasuke put up with so much through her pregnancy and never complained. He even stepped up, when he could have just dumped her on the spot when she found out she was pregnant. He was as excited about Mio as she was, and it made her so happy. This all has been a dream come true. She really couldn’t wait to officially marry him and become an Uchiha too.

“I’m aware, I remember everything about you like a good future wife.” Sakura stated proudly, “I can’t eat the WHOLE cake! I’ll get fat! I’ll make Ino eat it with me so she’ll get fat too.”

“Hey! I just worked off all that baby fat you know!” Ino huffed at her.

“No way! No condoms! I enjoy you cumming in me way too much to use condoms. I’ll just get on birth control until we’re ready for another baby.” Birth control was easy enough to stop taking when that time came, “Besides, condoms can break. So birth control seems to be the way to go.”

Ino was blushing over them so bluntly talking about their sex life, and her face only grew more heated at Sasuke’s words, “A-ah, I don’t know about that. There aren’t a lot of guys out there that would hook up with a girl that already has a kid.” She laughed with Sasuke, just not too loud, also not wanting to wake Mio,

“It’s not my fault you made it sound like that! You’re totally the pervert here!”

Sakura was blushing slightly, “I wouldn’t say no… Ino is the reason I like girls too.”

“Sakura!”

“It’s true!”

Now both girls looked flustered but didn’t seem to be against the three of them hooking up. If the situation came up. Sakura needed to recover before any of that could happen, “I’m totally not getting fat for her!” Ino huffed again as she was offered cake, “But I will take a piece. I’ll stay for as long as you need me. I know dealing with a newborn can be difficult at first when you’re figuring things out.” She had to learn all about it by herself. Sakura was lucky. She had both her and Sasuke helping her.

Sakura leaned in and pressed a loving kiss on Sasuke’s cheek, “They sure are… Our cute, little Mio Uchiha.~ A fresh start for the Uchiha clan.”

"Guess I had more faith in you that you did, then." He leant over, placing a soft kiss upon Sakura's forehead. "You did wonderfully, Sakura, fractures aside.

"It's more the invasions of privacy and borderline harassment that I remember." Sasuke said. "Hence why I hope Mio doesn't have to deal with that. If he does, I might have to teach him specifically to not allow people to disrespect his boundaries." He sighed a little, leaning back a bit, rocking Mio gently in his arms.

"Pfft, I'm sure Mio will be very impressed by his father passing out into another woman's breasts right after he was born." He rolled his eyes. "Sounds like the sort of story you might break out when you're upset with me." He teased.

He rolled his eyes as she demanded that she get the biggest slice of cake. "I'm not fond of sweet things, remember? You can have the entire cake if you want, I got it for you in any case."

He gave Sakura's hair a gentle stroke as she talked about the next time. "Guess I'd better stock up on condoms then, huh?" He said, giving a soft chuckle. "Or are you planning on going on birth control yourself?" As far as he was aware, there was no 'male birth control', but if there was, he would be open to taking it.

Well, he did know of one way, but that was intended to be a more permanent solution.

"Oh, Ino, I never say never, I'm sure it'll happen again a some point. I'm sure there is a guy out there just waiting for you to find them." He smiled a little, before almost bursting out in laughter as Ino said it sounded like he was proposing a threesome. The only thing that was stopping him from laughing loudly was Mio in his arms, he managed to hold it back to a few chuckles.

"Oh, I was just following your lead, Ino... I wasn't aware you had your mind in the gutter." Although if Sasuke was being honest, he wouldn't say no either, as long as Sakura was ok with it. "If you stay long enough tomorrow, you will at least get a slice of cake. I'm sure Sakura won't begrudge you it, even if she was planning on eating the entire cake herself." He teased Sakura, giving her a gentle nudge.

"Ah, well, sometimes the best thing in life are surprises, aren't they?" He smiled, looking down at the baby in his arms. "Our little Mio Uchiha..."

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

there's been an uptick in people asking if they can do tuesdayposts too (yes, hi hello yes, my god, please do i want to read them, the format isn't copyrighted or anything) which made me think about how i use the tuesdayposts as an excuse to go looking for weird shit and why i'm so annoyed when something is recommended to me but the rec doesn't give me a good pitch. this grew into a digression about the function of a critic and what i use reviews for. and what like axes of things i find important or what i use various sources for. so it's a separate post now bc there's not a real...point to it, mostly getting my thoughts in order. also it is very long

while i would not wish the title of "culture critic" upon my worst enemy, let's sidestep “oooh all critics/tastemakers/influencers are bullshit”. imo you’re supposed to find one whose taste aligns with yours and THEN use their reviews to find new things. if my taste aligns with yours, cool! if you're just here to see what weird shit i made or pulled out of an estate sale this week, also cool!

i think the most successful discussion of a work is "what is it/what's the pitch, what is it TRYING to do given the context of the time and people who created it, does it accomplish its goals or tell its story in a coherent fashion" and then finally what i think most people get most hung up on is "do I PERSONALLY think this work accomplished its goals or storytelling in a manner i found reasonable/understandable/liked".

i really, really, really hate the style of review that tells me nothing about the work except there's a token gay person in it. i saw zero useful reviews of OFMD before i gave up and watched the first ep myself.

here are some people who fulfill the above useful criteria, i pay attention to, and why their recs work for me: gita jackson, a culture/games critic over at vice knows the difference between a movie being Good and a movie being Fun, and is a queer person under 30 with a film degree so our needs align on several important axes. so i waited to watch the rpatz batman until they wrote an article and they said if it was fun or not.

cyberexboyfriend on instagram and i think mainly tiktok (lots of crossposts) has opinions i agree with about mcmansion architecture, and an eye for the weird late eighties through early oughts fashion and art that fell through the cracks. like the media that fuels the Extremely Online art i generally find annoying, but the source media of edited anime or fantasy movie screencaps on tshirts is generally pretty cool. this fills an important function to me bc i like going "ah! i know where that's from" when i see a hot girl in joanns wearing a shirt from vapor95.

i follow exactly four people on letterboxd and they are the aforementioned critics plus two mutuals bc i already know their general media tastes align with mine. wendy @dying-suffering-french-stalkers is very very good at finding things that have a certain quality of emotion to them. not full horror, not full tragedy, and not full melancholia either, but a catharsis or a putting an era to bed gently and turning the lights out when you're done. honey @birdcfparadise is willing to sit through a lotta goddamn nonsense in order to report back about the good ones and we both have a finely honed taste in the dilfs of the silver screen. where the fuck else am i going to get vital intelligence like this

furthermore these two are the only people i trust about Classic Movie (tm) Opinions. like, they will tell me if a movie that is very much a Product of its Era (tm) is worth sitting through the things that make it very much a Product of its Era (tm). i haunt the letterboxd activity page to see what they've added to their watchlists

i pay more attention to @morrak's book recs and shove them to the front of my list bc we have the same not-quite-engineer-but-enough-to-be-dangerous kind of brain and literally all of his recs have hit, including the ones where i'm like "ough this is very good but i need to come back to it later". i pay more attention to whatever the fuck @believerindaydreams is up to be we both like the same sort of heavily allusive, love letter to pulp kinds of stories.

my point is not "everyone needs to make more friends and if you don't have a richly layered online friend group of nearly a decade in some cases funneling art to you through the medium of tumblr then you're toast" but like. along with critics, friends' recs and things i found while trying to find friends' recs are a huge driver of the tuesdayposts. people fundamentally want to share the cool new shit they've found. that's why we're all here, blogging

[niksfics]

↬ FATE

↬ PAIRINGS: kenma x f!reader (side aka rebound mention) miya atsumu x f!reader

↬ WARNINGS: a whole lotta angst, breakup, it’s an online relationship, kenma is cold and hurts ur feelings

↬ SUMMARY: your relationship with kenma really had felt like the last one. He was it, turns out he didn’t have similar feelings.

↬ A/N: alright loves!! This isn’t proofread at all it’s 2 in the morning I’ll edit when I wake up, butttt Thanks to my lovely ex girlfriend you are now being graced with this steaming pile of trash. (Lovely was not meant sarcastically at all she is in fact very lovely.) Ngl almost, if not all of this story is about my relationship with my ex gf. This is how I cope people. ￫ It’s taken me awhile to actually be able to right something that’s why things kinda stopped. Tbh after she broke up with me it’s been very hard for me to write so hopefully this helps! And I hope you enjoy!! I would also just like to say if it feels a lil weird it’s cause these are things I’ve actually written in my notes I tweaked it a little to fit the story but it’s straight from the source 😩

WC | 2.5K

You sighed as you opened your notes app. Your eyes scanning over all of the little facts and quirks he had told you about himself. All the stuff you’d wanted to remember. The stuff that had seemed so important to you before. Now it was meaningless, almost like facts about a stranger. Almost as if you hadn’t spent four months learning about and growing with eachother.

You scrolled down a little bit right under, how his favorite marvel character is Spider-Man and you chewed on your lip. Your fingers hovering above the keyboard on your phone. You looked over the facts again. The things he dislikes and the stuff he adores, the things he likes to collect to the way he feels passionately about a certain topic. You begin to type.

Friday June 25th 2022 12:22 Am

I cried again tonight, because I still love you. It’s been a month and six days since we broke up. It feels like there’s a hole in my chest. You seem to be doing fine though, so I’m happy for you! This is the second time since we’ve broken up that I’ve felt actual physical emotional pain in my chest. Remember when I told you how bad it hurt after we broke up? Remember how you didn’t even ask if I was ok? Didn’t even bother to answer. Do you remember that? I remember. I’ve thought about it every day since. I remember it being so bad I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. Wasn’t until I’d called tetsu crying that he’d told me it was just emotional and I should probably try to relax.

I read through our old messages. I’ve never wanted something back so bad. Never wanted to beg anyone to stay till now. I wish you loved me like I love you. I wish I hadn’t grown so attached, wish I hadn’t fallen so deeply into love with you. I wish it wasn’t my fault that we broke up. I wish I wasn’t so fucking scared. I wish I was fearless. Wish I could rise into love bravely. I wish I was brave when it came to you. I keep telling myself it was me. It was me not you. You didn’t love me anymore. You don’t love me anymore and you’re just too nice to say that. So you told me in the only way I could handle. Except you hadn’t used the words you should have. You got bored. We both know it’s true. You were bored of it, and I don’t blame you. I know we’ll never talk again, and part of me is so glad. Another part of me forces myself to read through all our messages though. I wish I could just tell you one last time. I love you.

You sighed saving it before closing out of it. Tears you hadn’t known were falling finally became known to you as they streamed down your cheeks. Your eyes puffy as you wet your lips, the salt of them coating your tongue. You were bitter and so were your tears. I briefly wondered what he was doing right now. Probably playing a video game. You knew his schedule all to well by now. Probably testing out a new game for his stream.

A new set of fresh tears fell as you remembered how you used to call him right before he went on. Being lulled to sleep by his occasionally curses and the clicking oh his controller or his keyboard.

You never expected things to end this way. You really thought he was the last one. Yes it had only been four months, but the way he made you feel. The way that it had felt. It had felt final, and you’d been friends before you even started dating.

You sniffle moving yourself to the kitchen to poor yourself a glass of water as you remembered how nervous you were when you first texted him. You had acumulated quite the crush on him back in high school. As Inarazaki’s manager you were required to go to the games, and even after your team lost you had stuck around. Watched him play and cheered him on. Two weeks later you had begun to text, as friends of course. It wasn’t until four months ago that you’d gotten together.

Your anniversary was only two days prior to your break up. You both had never been one to even care about that stuff. You had agreed early on in the relationship that we wouldn’t do anything due to the distance, and the business of our schedules. You were never one for remembering things like anniversaries anyways.

He really did feel like the one. Sometimes you just know. Sometimes you can just feel it. Like, you know that feeling you get when you know something is off or you know for sure something is about to happen even without being told it’s going to. That’s what it felt like to be with kozume kenma.

You thought you knew, you thought this time, this time its for real. You thought it was finally safe to say, that he was the one. You both had even admitted to looking for each others initials in those stupid soulmate tik tok videos.

You were finally in a mature relationship with someone you could talk about anything to. You had gotten so caught up in it, that you didn’t even see the end creeping up on you.

↝

You’d finally gained the courage to text him again. Unfortunately it was in a drunken daze. Your hands shaking as you fumbled with your phone typing things you’d come to regret in the morning. You’d sent him a series of texts telling him how much you missed him, how you didn’t understand how he was so okay. You had been a wreck that night. One of your friends puking in her toilet as you cried. You were happy of course that he was doing so well, but you’d been a wreck for so long and he hadn’t even changed. You told him you wished you could be okay.

When you’d awoken the next morning hair knotted in a complete mess and wiping drool from your chin your heart had sunk even lower. His response was cold. You knew that kenma could be cold. You knew that it was just who he was, but this particular text had felt so unfeeling and unfamiliar, it was as if he hadn’t even sent it himself. He had only ever talked like this to you once and that was when you first became friends all those years ago.

Kozume ❤️

Hey, it’s okay. And yeah you see what I choose to put up. I could be better. But I choose to stay optimistic and busy. Sorry that things are this way.

You had never seen so many periods in a text before. He only used grammar like that when he was peeved, and maybe you were wrong, maybe he’d done that on purpose, but it had hurt so bad. It had caused an ache so deep in your chest that you weren’t sure if you’d ever even dated him at all.

Yeah.

It was the only thing you could bring yourself to respond back with. How were you supposed to respond to that? You’d stared at it for so long and after you’d sent it you wished you had said more. Wished you would’ve said something more insightful than a simple, heartbroken, “yeah.”

Not too long later there was another ping and you held your breath. His name briefly appearing across your screen.

Yeah. I could be better. But I hope you do well soon. I’m sorry that I can’t really do much to help out

And of course you did the only thing you could do. Deflect. Pretend like you hadn’t said what you’d said not even fourteen hours ago.

No it’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry that you could be doing better.

He left you on seen. You knew you sounded like an asshole. At least to you, you felt like an asshole. Why couldn’t you have come up with something else. Why couldn’t you tell him the truth. Tell him how you felt. Tell him that you didn’t think you should be broken up anymore. That the month long cruel joke was over and you were ready to spend your nights falling asleep to him playing video games again. You didn’t though, and you never would. You’re not brave enough, too prideful to even try.

You swallowed down the bile rising in your throat as you realized even if you did beg him. Begged him to take you back. Tell him that you still love him. You were too late, and you just couldn’t be selfish when it comes to him. He is over you and it was so plainly obvious. You know that deep down. Know that he’s moved on, and it kills you inside. So you did the only thing you could do. Try and put it into words.

So as you lay in bed the warm body you let occupy your space sound asleep beside you, his toned blonde hair tousled slightly and you sighed. Finally away from the shenanigans of your friends you took a deep breath before you closed your eyes.

You opened up your notes app again and scrolled past the last entry. You swallowed again as you blinked the tears out of your eyes. Your thumbs beginning to move before you even gave them permission.

Wednesday June 30th 2022 1:39 Am

Here I am again. Stuck. Stuck in the same place I’ve been for so long. You know, I write so beautifully when I’m broken. I’m most of my best work is written when I’m being torn apart. But I just, I can’t seem to find the words. I can’t seem to put it into a document and turn out little story into a different story to cope. Can’t seem to write it out. Can’t seem to move on.

I hovered over the unfollow button on your page today, to keep myself from scrolling through your things again. To keep myself from getting hurt. So I don’t have to be reminded. I want to delete it. Delete where we officially met. On a chat through my screen. I wanna wipe the messages clean. And I’ve tried. Oh how I’ve tried. But I can’t.

I want to delete our conversations. The hours long talks we had, but then, what happens afterwards? What keeps the memories alive. I’d never been so in love with someone before. I’ve never actually…. Been in love before. I thought I’d been in love, but it didn’t feel like that, and losing them never hurt like this. Losing someone has never hurt this bad before.

I’ve never felt the emptiness you left so deep in my very being with anyone I’ve ever met before. I can’t seem to pull myself together. And it’s pathetic I know. It’s pathetic that I’m still here. In the same place I was a month ago. It’s about to be two months we’ve haven’t been together. I’m hurting. Hurting so bad. It’s painful to look at you.

I haven’t deleted the photos even though I probably should. They’re still tucked away in an album in my camera roll labeled “us <3” the one one I made specially just for you. The way I’d been so excited when I was finally ready to tell my friends. I even have this stupid notes folder from when we were dating where I wrote all the little things about you that I never wanted to forget. I find you so endearing. Everything you do. I just couldn’t help but right it down to keep it safe so it never leaves my mind. So that I never forget. But now, forgetting is all I want to do.

I never thought there’d be a time in my life where I was more emotionally stunted that I normally. So stunted I can’t even put this, our split up, into words. Make it something entertaining for somebody else to read. Write a book about it. My publicist keeps asking when the sequel for my book will be done. I don’t know if it’ll ever be finished. I can’t do the one thing I’ve always been good at. I’m crying as I write this.

And I wish it would just end here in this little notes app. Wish the love would die in here. I always think I’m over you and then I see you again, and nowadays your everywhere. A very big hit and I’m happy for you and your success, but seeing you makes my heart squeeze in my chest.

I think I’m over you until I play that stupid fucking game that causes me to scream at my phone, or my laptop in frustration, but I just can’t seem to delete it because I know it’s something that you love. That show we used to talk about. I know you know which one, I can’t seem to watch it without thinking of what was. You’ve ruined it forever cause now it only reminds me of you. I know you’ll never see this, but I like to imagine you can. That my time for closure has somehow come.

When you told me you were sorry that things were this way, it was a real slap in the face. It stopped my false hope. My wishing. It all came to a halt. I’m glad. Glad that you’re happier. That you’re better without me. But god, now I’m so fucked up and I can’t even talk to you.

You were the only person I had left. The only one who understood me. And now you’re gone. You took a part of me with you that night. A part that I’ll never get back. I should’ve known that you would leave. I’ve never been able to get someone to stay for longer than three to four months.

I thought I could let my guard down though. I thought we were in the clear. I’d thought finally. Finally someone is gonna stay. I thought you were my person. I still think that to this day. I thought we were gonna make it. And now I’m with this guy I don’t even like. He’s not you, he doesn’t act like you. He doesn’t like video games like you do.

He doesn’t talk to me like you do. Like you did. But you know how it ended I don’t need to put it here. Unfortunately I’ll always love you even if you don’t love me. This is so scattered, I’m sorry I couldn’t make you happy.

With that you closed the app and put down your phone. Plugging in it and as it dinged miya atsumu rolled over in his sleep. He reached for you his hands wrapping around your waist to tug you against his strong body.

His gravely voice whispering through sleep, “mmm finally decided to come to bed?” You hum moving an arm under on of his to wrap around his thin waist. “Mhm, thought you might need the company.” You began to draw little shapes and letters against his back as he chuckled, “oh yea? How thoughtful of you princess.”

Suddenly it was quiet and your closed eyes opened to his wide brown ones, his eyebrows furrowing .

“Did you just spell kozume on my back?”

[bluewinnerangel]

what is your Larry story? Like we can't know what was what, what happened, what is happening or anything. there are some common things we believe. but I really wondered the story you had in your head about them? What do you think happened or happening if you think they are still going strong? Would you like to share with us? I love your posts, hope you have/had a great day!

Bahahaha I just rambled on and on. Anyone who feels like reading an essay open this:

I left this in the drafts for a bit because I wanted to read it back a little later before posting so sorry for the hold up.

OK so you're basically asking about the cannons in my head and why I think they're still together. I like that you ask me about this, because I think sometimes there's this idea that all people who believe they're together (still) are one hive mind and get our larrie juices from the same single source that's just out there telling these Larry stories... And I don't know about anyone reading this but I haven't been able to find that source in my time here lol. I mean yeah there are masterposts and yeah there are stories that get thrown around over and over again that are all just a little too speculative, but really the only real single source I have is they themselves and my own personal interpretation of the things they did, are doing, interview moments, their work, and so on. And of course I read other peoples interpretations of things, but that's not just from people who believe they were/are still together. I also read some rad blogs and even zarry shit and always try to consider other viewpoints, like with whatever they pull I consider if I might be misinterpreting things just because I'm coming from the assumption they're together. So about "there are some common things we believe", I agree for some things you can plomp nearly all "larries" in the same corner about some aspects, but I also think I got a whole lotta little details and opinions that maybe differ from what's the common consensus (I mean among things put on this blog ESNY being about the time of haylor is maybe a big one so far lol)

Then I base a lot of my ideas of them on their songwriting and music videos, the things where they let parts of them shine/creep through that are left unsaid. That they don't talk about or show otherwise (except for the gayvinci code larrying I guess but that's even more of a did they or am i just reading into thin air again???). I do try to listen to them, to the things they say in interviews, but I think the things they don't say, the things that are between the lines, are much more important than the things they do. Shits mostly just promo, and although I'm interested in that and it's a part of them, I think there's a huge part of them that isn't shown there at all. And so I prefer to listen to their artistic outlets instead, which is kinda slippery, because it's often not literal and very highly up for interpretation, especially Harry's, but so far I think my ideas of them check out, make sense, I think.

I also don't think they write as much about eachother as I see it's often interpreted. They're included in eachother's stories, because well they're sharing a life so naturally they're gonna be in each others story, but their focus especially in recent years has shifted, matured, because like any couple after a while you're just a team. Longterm love is beautiful but personal growth is too. And yes they're definitely not the average couple LOL, nobody can compare to the crazy shit they got going on, that amount of tattoos and love declarations and getting publicly passive aggressive over not being able to serenade on a fake-anniversary and persistent need to god damn attack us with insanity puzzles and dorky lil grandpa menace behavior and what not like what the hell are they on??? But that's exactly what makes me such a big fan of them, the range on these boys *pats the hood of the larry clowncar*.

But still, I think in recent years there definitely has been a shift, they've grown a lot and just, act different. I think a lot of people (ex-larries) interpret that as them having broken up because they can sense something changed (paired with their public images as well as career paths drifting apart) and interpret their songs as breakup songs, I personally don't. Like I said I don't think they write as much about eachother as it seems, and in a way they did go through a huge huge breakup: that of the band. I think the impact that being a kid, then being in a band for 5 years and then suddenly not had is vastly underestimated, and that it's a huge huge thing and they all wrote a whole bunch of songs about, much more than we think, as "hey boys and girls i was in a band and it was grand and now im solo and like yeah its different dude" doesn't really scream attractive bop hit and "you are my love and you are grand, now you're not here and im alone and oh im so sad" works much better yaknowwhatimean. They had a huge change in their lives when they went on hiatus and they deal with that in their songwriting. They also have difficult relationships with the music industry and deal with that in their songs. Same with management/label/PR. Same with fame. I could go on.

I also don't think they suffer from big miscommunication issues with eachother at all, I interpret the vast majority of lack of communication in their songwriting to be about the things they say and don't say to the public, out loud, the things they can and can't do, and that there's really not much of an issue with a partner (each other) there. I mean these lil shits had conversations with their eyes like what, 1 week into the X-factor video diaries? Looking at their interviews, especially 2015, they are so so SO in sync, like they know what the other person's thinking, they're just one entity. Yes they might be stubborn fucks with issues, but I don't think they're that huge that they got that unresolved to the point where they're putting it into their songwriting all the time. It just doesn't make sense to me if you see other things they do that show the opposite, that they're a team, meanwhile it's hella clear they got issues with walking that fine line between what can be said/done and what can't publicly. They always are so careful with their words and leave so much unsaid. It is what it is. That is a big theme in their life, and I think that's why it keeps coming back in their songs instead.

Anyway that's just what I think they're like now, as for "what happened" I am really late to the party here so I only have the footage and people's words for it who lived through it all. So I don't really have a very strong story in my head about it. At the very least Harry was just utterly infatuated from the start, like the poor little boy had no chance whatsoever. This is based on, well, all the footage but especially, especially that moment of him being entirely unable to breathe in the video diaries when asked about crushes in the house. (here, I yell in the tags) Like the buildup to that. Jesus christ I can't interpret that moment in any other way. There are a bunch more like that but that one came to mind immediately hehe. But yeah to me they just look like one of those couples that upon meeting just instantly connects and just never lets go (always think about that twin flames post)

Then just the entirety of 2011 is being too young to know they had everything, and pretty much late 2011 until about march 2012 is kinda okay this closeting thing is happening but we can deal with it, it's not gonna change us. But then whambam they enter America and everything changed when the firenation attacked and there's a serious effort to get them to behave. The whole speculation was fun because it works in the UK but American is homophobic af so suddenly there were these serious setups for denials and it wasn't funny anymore, idk how else to put it, I guess you could say they were most likely firmly advised to do and not do, say and not say, certain things, but still they're pretty much testing how far they can take it, and being met with more and more resistance. Then from mid 2012 onward they really start to cave, and we start getting a glimpse into what's going on via tattoos basically. Harry's going in full force with all kinds of loss of freedom and presence of a closet and deep undisclosed issues, I mean a fking coat hanger, a cage, "I can't change"... The buildup to haylor was bad, but that god awful December 2012 I think almost killed him, like I really think he couldn't handle that at all.

And then all throughout I think Harry was always just ready to throw it all out the window and come out but Louis was scared it would ruin their chances of being somebody (thanks louis for that quote with that tat), of making it big so he held back more and more and we get shit like Too Young and Half The World Away and Don't Let Me Go, I don't think that means they broke up, I think that means what's described in Two Ghosts basically...

and then honestly 2013-2014 in terms of timeline is a bit of a scramble in my head so I can't say much there, like publicly they were interacting less and less to the point where it was just... gone? It truly looks like they couldn't find a way to behave normally around eachother so they gradually got to a point where they ended up ignoring eachother entirely. I don't think the idea that "management didn't let them interact" (although, I don't see people actually saying that) is a thing, not in a literal sense. I think they were shown over and over again how they shouldn't behave (like the mediatraining thing idk where I got this from, but I read/saw something about this somewhere, I might be wrong, that a part of mediatraining is that you sit and watch your old vids back and you're told all the things you're doing wrong, so basically you're trained to not do things, and if that thing is who you are, over time you just become a shell of a person) to the point where they just didn't know how to behave with eachother at all, because whenever they did, whenever something caused them to breach that distance and they start interacting in public it's just an instant dead giveaway how close they are (what comes to mind here is that premiere where harry grabs louis' phone out of between his legs), it's no joke just chemistry magic happening on the screen lol, and so they just... didn't. At the very same time, they did sneakily interact, they were really nasty hormone balls and ew ew ew ew why did all of us need to see all of that jesus christ just all throughout, they just got increasingly better at being subtle about it. And that the whole time they also got increasingly shady trying to go against whatever narratives they kept getting shaped into.

Then 2015 I got no clue how they managed to get through that, and I think they were strong and together but struggling, just, nothing about it was normal, nothing they had to deal with was something anyone could learn how to cope with, and they were still really young too, so I think that struggled loads. Now for what exactly it was they were dealing with you might as well ask me what happened in Belfast, god who knows. We got bears and a fake baby like really wtf is any of this. I also think there was a shitload of self medication too (I mean, all throughout. I think unfortunately a lot of moments that divert from their regular mediatrained behavior aren't them just being funny little menace idiots, but that they're drunk. Especially Liam actually, but Harry and/or Louis as well at times), then for 2016/2017 even into 2018 I really don't have strong opinions about that, I just don't know. We can't see them together anymore so all we got is what they want to give us, the gayvinci code, the aggressive larrying, the OG bluegreening, we're the clowns but they're the circus, the RBB/SBB behavior. But for that time I think they were just... busy redefining who they are and what they know and how they wanna be and all that. Growing up.

Then from then onwards its just settled basically. Especially with the promo interviews, like late 2019/early 2020 there's just this old married grandpa calm over them. unfortunately the past year has been weird (I mean *vaguely gestures*) but somehow in the midst of that we got some of the loudest SBB idiotic mess so yeah I think they're still having fun being these dorky lil idiots that some days just wake up and feel like yaknow what lemme choose chaos and then just pull the wildest fking larrying nonsense, like are they in a competition? Are they just bored and seeing how far they can take it? Do they enjoy our pain? Is this just how they show affection? Is it a daring contest?! (I do actually think it's a daring contest)

Hope you had a fun read, my fingers hurt

[bullseye-stoddard]

Oh, of course people involved in the Magick Grand Prix were Magicks themselves. Obviously that had been a silly question. But Bullseye figured he had made it clear enough that he had been out of the loop for a long time that Paul would not think it was too stupid of a question. "Ah, no wonder she's good at somethin' like that. But I gotta think, wit' it bein' a magic contest, there's some extra special rules for what you can an' can't do. 'Cause if it was jus' a race, I feel like you Speed Gifteds would win wit'out much effort!"

He really knew nothing about the contest, so when Paul imparted the fact that vampires were behind the sport's popularity, Bullseye stared at him in amazement. "Huh, now I never woulda guessed that! I mean yeah, most vampires aren't as skittish as I am, but still. I wouldn't o' thought they'd have had a hand in buildin' up a big ol' magic show like that!"

Bullseye remembered Paul mentioning where he was from, and while he did not know the town itself, he was aware of Route 66 and how towns had sprung up along the road, only to be left behind when the highways came into being. "Guess that makes sense, t' move it t' a bigger place if it became such a thing. Sorry that was a blow t' th' town, though. I know 'nuff 'bout how a lotta things got affected when th' highways came 'round t' know it prob'ly didn't do 'em no favors."

In his case, however, it had been the opposite. Roads and towns kept getting closer and closer to his ranch, and instead of taking away activity, it had only added more. He did not want to say that he felt the townsfolk in Radiator Springs were better off without the activity, but at least he could agree that it sounded like a good place to lay low. Not that he wanted to think about possibly having to leave town, but it was nice to know he had options.

He took another sip of the drink and gave a nod. "I sure will, if the situation ever arises. Wish I'd known 'bout th' town 'fore I came all th' way over here, but then o' course I wouldn't o' met you." He also would not have reunited with Jessie, or met any of the other people in town he had been slowly getting to know, so clearly he had made the right choice. At least, he hoped he had.

Even if Lightning had been less than cordial the first time they had met, Bullseye could not help smiling at how Paul talked about him. Obviously he had the skills to back up his bravado, and maybe there had been a time when he had a better attitude, because their last meeting had made it seem like he could mend his ways if he really tried. "That is a hell o' an accomplishment. I mean, I figured he was good at somethin'. I jus' didn't like th' way he came in an' 'spected me t' know who he was an' what he'd done. But in all fairness, most people prob'ly would know him. He jus' happened t' get stuck wit' th' one guy who's been under a proverbial rock for a hundred years."

For which there were plenty of reasons why he had, and while once again Bullseye did not mind talking about his past with Paul, the specific question about gunning down bandits gave him a little pause. Giving a nervous cough, he said, "Well, uh, not 'zactly. I originally got th' nickname from my pa. He was so proud o' how well I learned t' shoot that he started callin' me Bullseye. An' once I lost him, clingin' t' th' name helped t' keep him wit' me in a way."

He could have left it at that, figuring that Paul would not question the answer. But his honesty made him continue. "He…He weren't th' only one who dubbed me that, though. I told you that I, er, kinda fell in wit' th' wrong crowd later on. Well they thought I was darn good at shootin' too, so they decided t' call me Bullseye too." A sad coincidence, he supposed, yet it had only given him another reason to cling to the nickname.

Taking another sip of his drink, Bullseye gave Paul a sheepish smile. "Wish I could tell you things were jus' like in th' movies, an' that all the good guys won an' all th' bad guys got what was comin' t' 'em. But if that had been th' case…then I prob'ly wouldn't o' been 'round long 'nuff t' have had th' chance t' get turned in th' first place. 'Cause, well...I was one o' those bandits. Can't say I cut th' kinda figure all th' bad guys in th' movies do, though. I was jus' kinda…along for th' ride. You see, I'd lost one family, an' while my new one wasn't quite th' righ' sort, they were all I had, an' I didn't wanna lose 'em too." Which he had, in the end, so even his sticking with the gang through thick and thin had not stopped the inevitable.

@doc-hudson

'Guessin' she's a Magick too?"

"Yup, all the folks at The Magick Grand Prix are, by nature of the sport, Magicks in a way or another. She's a Speed Gifted, like me" he nodded as he aired his whiskey a little, making a little note about having some ice at the ready next time (and maybe some coke or apple soda) to add to the drink instead of taking it plain.

Though Bullseye, tough as nails and cool as ice as he was, apparently didn't mind all that much the absence of any add-ons.

"It's said that the ones behind the sport's modern boom were Vampires, you know?" Paul said with a tiny smile, offering a little fact of trivia that also spoke wonders about vampires as a whole, that they weren't all consuming forces of nature, but could also be giving.

Even though...

"'t was a little thing, before. A buncha Magick folk gathered in the middle o' the dessert to compete, away from pryin' eyes" which was equal parts a joke and an objective fact "The sport originated 'n Radiator Springs, where I was livin' before here. Sadly, Route 66 killed the place and...well, the Prix was moved to California, you know, for accessibility's sake"

The Vampires had made the Magic Grand Prix bigger, bolder, better, yeah, but had also given Radiator Springs the killing blow.

"'s a shame for the locals, they are some of the warmest, most welcomin' people I've ever met" he shrugged with his good shoulder "they get terribly bored and business doesn't bloom since people seldom visit, but...hey, that's why it's a good place to lay low, to settle down without havin' to worry 'bout other's findin' or judgin' you"

Which had been one of the reasons why he'd settled there.

"Again, you've got a place there if you ever feel like dropping by the place. Mi casa es su casa, as they say" Paul chuckled before taking another sip of his drink and scanning the other's expression -finding that he was particularly interested in his story even of to Paul himself didn't seem all that fascinating.

Maybe that was something they both shared: a story they didn't particularly felt proud of, but that they had learned from, that made them who they were and over which they could bond with another old soul over some drinks.

"Yeah, I was Time Champion for three years straight, the kid 's seven times Time Champion, though only four years o' those years were straight" Doc continued, with an uncharacteristic pride to his voice, once the topic of Lightning was brought up "He's...good. He's really good"

A beat.

"Yep, that's why he's a complete idiot 'bout some things" now, he was chuckling "but yeah- wait, you serious? Like, I figured the nickname had somethin' to do with that, but- wow! Would it be too much to ask for details? Were you gunnin' down some nasty bandits like 'n the movies?"

No, it didn't occur to Paul that Bullseye could be a bandit.

Because, you see, in Doc's mind, Bullseye could do no wrong, regardless of nature -he was a kind man that kept himself in tight leash (maybe too tight of a leash) and seemed to care too deeply for other's well-being to...well, be anything but the good guy.

It was a shame that Paul's vision of that past was tainted by the Hollywood-idealized version, that the nuance of some things escaped him.

@bullseye-stoddard