#i still have a surplus but its nice to get them back

[adhdvane]

when clock turned midnight last night (er this morning) a vaporeon outbreak showed up... 16 defeated and THIS BABY BOY SPAWNED IM ABOUT TO EV TRAIN A THIRD GODDAMN VAPOREON IN THIS GAME LOOK AT HIM GO

[hufflepuffwritingstuff2]

Heartless

Thank you to @rainy-writes for giving me the prompt for this snippet!

Hero found Villain just where the frightened security guard said they would be- in the children’s section of the museum. The odd thing was, as Hero had noticed while passing through the rest of the building, nothing valuable had been taken. Now wasn’t the time to think on it though, because Villain had something concealed in a bag, and Hero knew full well it wasn’t bought from the gift shop.

“Villain,” Hero hissed, “seriously? Robbing the children’s section of all places!? Have you no heart at all!?”

Villain smirked.

“None whatsoever,” they said, shrugging, “now are you going to make this easy on yourself, or do we have to do things the hard way?”

A beam of ice shooting right past their ear gave Villain their answer.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Hero glared.

“Eh,” Villain sighed, attaching the bag to their belt, “worth a shot.”

Villain lunged. Hero took on a defensive position. They tried to keep Villain and themselves from damaging any of the exhibits during the fight. They only hoped the authorities would arrive soon.

Right hook. Jab. Ice beam. Energy blast. Kick. Punch. The same old song and dance they performed almost every day. One good hit and an icy stomp had Villain skidding across a now-frozen floor, the contents of their bag emptying in the process. Hero stooped down to pick the mystery item up.

“Looks like you won’t be stealing-” Hero held in a gasp.

They held up an exact copy of their favorite childhood toy. A plush rabbit, with soft, white fur and a smile on its face. Hero had gotten it during their childhood, and the toys had stopped being made years ago.

“Why did you take this?” Hero demanded.

Villain stood up, slipped on the ice, fell, then cautiously stood again.

“I saw the blast from here, Hero,” Villain said, “I know your apartment got destroyed, and I know your old friend got disintegrated in the process. I just thought… I don’t know, you seemed really upset about it last we talked.”

Hero’s eyes filled with tears. They shook their head.

“Villain, it’s sweet, but, I can’t in good conscience let you give this to me. It isn’t yours to give.”

Hero sniffled and put the bunny back in its display case. They waved goodbye to it sadly. They turned, and Villain was gone.

…

Hero stretched and opened their front door. Someone had left a package on their doorstep, which was a nice change from the scolding they had gotten from the police for letting Villain get away. They opened the box and froze. Their old friend stared back up at them, with its white fur and soft smile. Hero picked it up and saw a note tied around its neck. They took it off to read it.

To: [Hero’s Name] From: [Museum Name]

An anonymous benefactor has given us a generous donation with the request that we send this beloved exhibit to you. May you enjoy it as much as our patrons have!

Hero sobbed, hugging the bunny tight. They went inside while Villain watched from a distance. They were still heartless, of course, but maybe they were growing just a tiny soft spot for a bunny-loving Hero.

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@electrons2006

[sea-salted-wolverine]

No one should ever go to Kasilof. It is a terrible place with terrible weather and overflowing porta potties and overstuffed dumpsters with child snatching and dogfighting and some crazy guy swinging a sword that got shot by the cops. Awful stuff really. Best avoided. Just not worth the bother.

That was the gist of the news stories leading up to the kasilof sockeye runs this year it was no issue at all to find a camping spot and it wasn't nearly as crowded so I totally agree with the mainstream media on this one. It's a den of vice and iniquity. Stay away. The rent lowering gunshots clipped a reporter.

So this year we went down with a largish caravan of 4 family's worth of people and junk and a limit of 170 fish to catch. We're soo good at planning and logistics that this went off with no hitch and no arguments (lying). Since we also had a very pregnant lady and excited 2 year old who would not be fishing but were still counted towards the limit we planned on being there for a while, at least 3 days if not more. We also had the damn dog.

So at least I was planning on a few days of chill fishing and a long slog. My brother in law left an hour or so early with his girlfriend and had one job, to find us a good spot to descend upon and set up our camp. They did not do this. One job. The fishing was hot so they didn't even really bother to park, we pulled up on his truck kinda packed off to the side of the road and he was down in the water with a pile of fish on the beach because he didn't even have a cooler ready.

So by the time we bitched him out, found a campsite, set up camp and squared everything away, it was approaching midnight. This is normal, you fish the tides as they come and its not like it gets dark so wandering the beach all night long is expected so long as you're considerate of those trying to sleep.

But then.

My Sunshineman brought his boat. I knew he brought his boat, I was in fact the one arguing that he needed to do things like park and set up camp rather than do exactly what his brother did and throw himself into the river as soon as he saw fish coming in, while neglecting those little things like, food and sleep. But since we were done setting up, he wanted to go fishing from his boat. At midnight.

I had been up early that morning to do terrible things in the bilge of a different, much larger boat that resulted in fun colored bruises on my ribs and sore shoulders, so I wasn't particularly feeling the vibe on this one. I helped launch the boat and then bowed out to go pass out in a pile of blankies in the sand.

In the time it took two set up camp and launch the boat Adak, the dog, managed to get into a fight and have his face ripped up. He is huge and he is stupid but he doesn't take shit but he was on leash while the other dog was running loose, so the impulse was to pull him back, if he had been left to his own we probably would have gotten away with out anyone getting bit.

He's fine and chicks dig scars but its indicative that I had no idea this happened 25 yards away from me until adak came up to me and smeared his face all over my pants. My pants already had engine grease, bilge slime, grass stains, fish guts, coffee, mud, sand and a few baby boogers on them so what's a little dog blood too?

So yea, not my circus, not my monkeys, in tent, pants off, pjs on, cozy bitch in the blankies, out like a light, nothing better than sleeping on the beach.

Except for the fact that your husband wakes you up at 2 AM asking for help.

I'm convinced he kept it vague on purpose.

I'm up. I'm out of the tent. I'm still in my pj's. I have my drysuit on over top. My waders have a hole in them. It is, I cannot stress this enough, 2 AM.

The boat is a 16 foot mil surplus zodiac with a 40 horse Johnson, if you care about that sort of thing. It gets nice comments from people who do care. We usually run one person to drive, 2 to work the nets, and one optional person to handle fish as they come in. Sunshine went out with our 2 friends who AFAIK crawled off the boat and directly into bed after 2 solid hours of midnight deathmatch fishing, because I watched them stumble out of the boat and didn't see them again until breakfast. The boat was entirely full of fish. THEY CAUGHT 49 FISH IN LESS THAN 2 HOURS. Kasilof reds are usually smaller than Kenai reds but there must have been a secondary run because half were the average 6 or 7 pound fish and the rest were something like 10 lbs each.

At some point sunshine must have woken up his brother because he materialized from somewhere and we got the fish out of the boat into a cooler so we could drag them up to clean them. Then came the thing that we're all still more than a smidge irritated about. Sunshine went back out in the boat, by himself, to go get more fish while BIL and I cleaned the ones he had just brought back. We couldn't even yell at him because a good chunk of the beach was asleep.

So at about 4 am the sky has decided to shift from twilight to morning and I am sitting on a cooler of gutted fish in a superbly uncomfortable drysuit having a moment of perfect communication with the bald eagle sitting on the light pole at the end of the dock. We would both enjoy breakfast, preferably of fish. But it is four fucking am in the morning. And we should both be alseep. Breakfast is not a meal best enjoyed at 4 am. A nap sounds best.

Sunshine comes back with 3 more fish. I honestly do not remember what happened to those fish. Either I gutted them or he gutted them or maybe they got raptured into fishy heaven, (which looks suspiciously like the inside of a cooler) I legitimately do not know, because I think my REM cycle was starting up again.

I get a hand to haul the cooler back to camp. I peel out of the dry suit and was asleep back in my cozy sleeping bag blanket pile before Sunshine even made it to the tent.

At something like, idk, 6am, someone started splitting wood. loudly. I was awake enough to identify that it was near, and probably not a problem and I distinctly remember making the semi conscious decision to sleep through it. At about this point my phone died and for the rest of this trip I had no idea what time it was. I intended to take pictures and document things and whatnot and that just did not happen. The phone stayed dead and my hands stayed busy.

I woke up last, presumably because the demon that compels my mother-in-law to get up at 5 AM every morning had already woken everyone up with the wood splitting. She was toasting breakfast burritos, and it wasn't as if I had slept through the whole morning because I wasn't even the last to get a burrito.

My FIL made a joke that at least one of us got a full 8 hours and BIL earned back all his brownie points by jumping in to defend me unprompted. She was indeed up at ungodly hours playing with knives and dead fish. How dare you impune her honor simply because she looks so dewy fresh after sleeping in the dirt?

I did at least get the chance to put a net in the water from the beach but we were limited out by 1pm. That's enough fish fast enough that we were dumping out food and drinks coolers because we planned on freeing up space as we went. So I had our camp that we had intended to stay in for as long as a week broken down and hundreds of pounds of fish gutted and iced in a few hours. While drinking, because we had several days worth of food and drinks and beers that had been displaced by fish. The solstice vodka lemonade from matanuska brewing is great btw.

We had planned to overlap the end of our trip with the beginning of my mom and sister coming down so we could fish together, so I called mom as were were leaving the beach. From Sunshineman's phone of course, mine being dead at the bottom of a bag somewhere. As the current time was something like 16 hours from when we arrived, she assumed I forgot something or was just calling to tell her about the nice weather, or terrible weather, or confirming the news report's porta potty horror story. She didn't expect us to pull in a years worth of food in a single tide cycle.

So we get home without incident, and get to cleaning and fileting and packing and labeling at, some, late, evening time, maybe? I'm time blind on a good day and if I had a watch it would be covered in fish slime.

So yeah, this year's fish camp was condensed into a single solid slug of dense firey whatthefuckFISHfishFISHcleanpackgutgohome. Niece creature didn't want to change our of pj's so she wore the same outfit for her entire trip which is spectacular from a laundry standpoint because a toddler given free reign to a muddy fishy beach goes about as well as expected. She had a ball and then napped through almost the entire cleaning and packing process when we got home, which is what I wanted to do but instead I fileted triple digits worth of fish.

Mom went down later for the weekend and she got rained on for 3 days and caught 7 fish and a flounder. We caught the hot run and came home with fish but at what cost?

[eternally-tired-muffin]

Question about Hashira surplus au: Is Makomo still alive? If Sabito survived she could also live.

It would be nice for her to live if you want t have Tanjiro get a revenge kill on Hands Demon (aside from killing 10 other students) maybe have Makomo lose an arm and/or leg, and live with Urodoraki. Also, the idea of Makomo using Tanjiro as a punching bag with only one hand is hilarious.

Hello!! Thank you so much for the ask :D

Unfortunately, Makomo is not alive in this au. She does lose her life to the hand demon BUT she is also the reason Sabito survives in this au in the first place:

Makomo has caught glimpses of Sabito and Giyu before when she visits the mountain. She hasn't been able to speak to either of them before (they didn't find the clearing) but she is able to recognise them. In the hashira surplus au, Makomo manages to find Giyu in final selection. He initially thinks he's hallucinating from a combination of the blood loss + head injury, but the fear of losing Sabito is enough for him to get back clumsily on his feet. To look for Sabito, he leaves Murata, who is unable to follow him due to looking after other injured people.

This leads to Giyu finding Sabito in the middle of fighting the hand demon, just before his sword breaks. His sudden appearance shocked both Sabito and the hand demon enough that Sabito misses its neck and instead slices down its torso. Between the two of them, they are just able to defeat the hand demon. As it's turning to ashes, Giyu spots Makomo again, who says "thank you" before vanishing, though he couldn't hear her and had to read her lips. Before he can ask if Sabito also saw her, he passes out and only wakes up after final selection has ended, convinced that she was some sort of dream.

This means that from all of Urokodaki's students, only Giyu, Sabito and Tanjiro survive. Urokodaki believes that the reason Giyu and Sabito survived is because they had each other, which is not untrue, but Makomo's intervention was also a key factor.

So as the hand demon is already dead, Tanjiro doesn't end up fighting it and has a much easier final selection than everyone else. This confuses both him and Urokodaki, but they are pleasantly surprised. He also doesn't get to train with any ghosts but receives pointers from Giyu instead. As a result, Makomo doesn't get to meet Tanjiro in this au, but the image of her gently bullying him into proper form without being able to use forms herself is funny :P. I actually really recommend this post by @demonslayedher for a Makomo lives au!

Hashira surplus au masterpost

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

Where does the riddler even get that outfit with all the question marks on it? Did he have the whole outfit custom made? Did he just have it customized to have the embellishments? Did he do it himself? Is his CANE custom made? Inquiring minds DEMAND TO know.

"Custom-Made" Riddler Party Ask

Jokes on you, I know who this is from, and I'm going to make you listen to me talk about all of them and their outfits. Also pardon there will be a fair amount of photos.

Gonna include Gotham, 60s, Telltale on a reblog.

General

Hi I have no pictures for general but I wanted to say my personal interpretation absolutely has his shit custom made. There's a real good amount of it that he has made by Jervis (Mad Hatter) because Edward knows his friend genuinely does good work. Plus if no one is going to judge his weird requests...

Capullo/Zero Year

I actually took a picture of the issue 21 script in the back of my Zero Year comic. This explains multiple things about him outside of story such as: "He admits to wearing green because in nature, it attracts the female eye." That's it buddy that's the kicker.

His whole look, the costume... it's all a peacock showing its feathers. It's why his suit is one of the brighter greens of all the riddlers (also note matching his eyes. I would say that's intentional.)

He absolutely had this shit custom made. It's way too matching to his eyes, he even says himself it was expensive- The cane is up for debate but I don't remember him using it for any devices, so I'd say custom made by someone else as well.

BTAS

Okay so for a fact I know he made this cane himself because it has buttons he presses that activates devices in the show. Was it a cane he made completely from scratch or did he hollow out one he found? Unsure. At minimum he made heavy modifications.

I think you could argue either way that he either genuinely found a lot of his outfit himself OR had it made. One thing that was custom if nothing else is that tie. Make sure it matched the gloves and mask.

Arkham Games

So it depends. The Riddler goes through a very gradual clothing and design change throughout the games. We go from very well kept to grease monkey within the three games. We never physically see Riddler in Arkaham Asylum so we only have the picture to go off of. (Not counting origins because he's literally in plains clothes.)

In the first game, Arkham Asylum, everything is glitz and pretty high fashion- I think it's safe to say this is the high point of his criminal career so he can afford some really nice custom digs. More of a headcanon, but I'd like to say he asks Jervis (Mad Hatter) to do some of his tailoring. The cane here I'd say is also custom.

The middle, Akrham City, is where we start seeing the shift between high end to grease. Still a really nice suit and shit is definitely custom. He starts using the bulkier metal question mark cane here and I'm gonna say he made that himself. The question mark tie clip is definitely reminiscent to the first. This look also made an appearance in the comics:

You can see that the outfit is fairly normal work clothing besides his green goggles. At this point he is at the full point of his obsessions and being straight up unkempt. He is hand painting everything himself. As far as we know, expensive custom-made outfits are a thing of the past.

Batman 2022

This is all from the army surplus store. Online sales. Estate sales. Wherever he could find and put the right outfit together. He's going to war with the world.

His outfit is the darkest which... makes sense because he's the one hiding in the dark. Taking advantage of it. Painting his symbol to make the outfit truly his.

[jennawynn]

Enterprise Season 3 Ep 19-finale

Episode 19

All that damage and hull breaches on at least 3 levels... and only 5 people are dead.

I feel like a lot of my opinions of this show are formed by my experience on a Navy ship. Almost every door can be sealed in case there's a hull breach. Redundant systems and personnel. And if your ship goes down in the ocean at least you might float a while before drowning but in SPACE? You'd think they'd be a lot more conservative about safety against hull breaches.

Oooh... now the number is 14 with 3 unaccounted for. Out of what, 84?

They said beam lol

This is a pretty understandable and even believable descent to the other side for Archer. T'Pol having secret troubles staying calm is interesting, too.

Really? Making T'Pol turn herself into a drug addict so she can push Trip's buttons? Why does she keep ending up getting the worst kind of plotlines?

I don't know why it didn't occur to me- I thought the training exercises were just so Malcolm could have beef with the Major... but turns out it's so they could justify still sending SENIOR BRIDGE OFFICERS INTO DIRECT COMBAT IN SMALL TEAMS INSTEAD OF THE MARINES THEY HAVE ON BOARD FOR EXACTLY THAT SITUATION.

Episode 20

Now we're up to 18 lost. How does the number keep going up? "For the 18" has a bit of a better ring to it than "For the 14" I guess.

They found two bodies in a damaged section... but somehow they didn't get blown out the holes with the atmosphere.

Why hasn't T'Pol washed her face? 😂

Fun Fact: The only time that I "had" to eat MREs was after a hurricane while my ship was in drydock. We didn't have shore power and I was on duty so they had some hot dogs on a grill and MREs for anyone who wanted them. We ate in our office by flashlight so it'd feel like camping. 😂 That said, I was - at the time - on a prepper/libertarian kick with my colleagues and we had some 'just in case' and tried them at least once. Surprisingly expensive from places like the Army/Navy Surplus Store, but not terrible. Plus the tech behind heating them was novel.

Goddammit Trip... at least take the flightsuit off before you get in bed. Gross. This isn't a cartoon where it's too much to design a second outfit and animate you under the covers so you leave your boots on in bed. We know you have your standard-issue blue underwear.

It is a nice touch that they automatically use Celsius when referencing temperature. They say things like 'his suit temperature is 44 degrees' without saying Celsius, but you know it can't be Fahrenheit.

And wasting resources by just letting the panel cover float away instead of saving it so they can be like 'look they're in zero g!'

"As Jane's Commanding Officer"- That is not correct. Commanding Officer is a specific title given to the highest ranking person of the base or vessel. Archer is the Commanding Officer. Just because Trip was her boss does not make him her CO.

Episode 21

I have to admit... it's growing on me. I found myself last night almost deciding to keep watching even though I was no longer working.

Women only make up 1/3 of the crew? Why? In the illuminated future, we're still only 1/3??

Part of me thinks that they shouldn't know who they marry or have kids with but the other part of me remembers that I wish I could go back in time and tell myself I'm queer and shouldn't marry the guy I did. /shrug

Of course they'll probably erase this 'past-future' with whatever's about to happen anyway.

The convo between T'Pol acknowledges that it's not 'destiny' but a product of environment. That because the Enterprise wasn't sent back in time, the choices made can be different... but there's obviously going to be a bias for most people, reaching out to the people they know they had kids with before.

Episode 22

Ah American, sorry I mean HUMAN Exceptionalism at its finest. The existence of Earth changes the trajectory of history across the whole universe! Across dimensions, even!

ha disposable MAKO. why would he have climbed up to such a precarious position to fire anyway, though?

Episode 23

For one moment, just one moment I thought maybe the major taking a shot to the heart in transport would caus-- oh shit they did actually kill a crewmember who has been in multiple episodes. They might have actually turned this ship around.

To be clear, I don't condone deaths for shock value. However, thematic deaths are another thing. Plot important deaths. You can't have a war with dark themes and never kill anyone. It doesn't make sense.

Hayes says use McKenzie with his dying breath... and then he picks 3 volunteers that are not named that.

The moment where Reed asks for volunteers and all the MAKOs step forward was a nice touch, though, even if the actors couldn't figure out how to stand :joy:

Episode 24

I think it would be nice if just once the sliding scale of ally to enemy wasn't always just who looks most or least like you. That the arboreal and primate species are most human-like while the aquatic, lizard, and insects are not. I kinda hope that the humanoid lizard people are kept as the enemy and the manatee and insect like less human people stay allies. At least the lizards are recognizably human shaped.

Here we go! Finale time.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Great Man theory which Enterprise seems to consider correct. Great Man theory, as I understand it and use it here, basically says that some people are born to change things. That they are 'integral to history'- that the names we grow up learning like Newton or Washington or Einstein or even Hitler are Special in some way and that they are responsible for the leaps and bounds we take in discovery and such. That if you time traveled back and killed one of them, say Hitler, then it would change everything about the future. Stop the Holocaust and WW2.

They've repeatedly said that without Archer at the helm, the Federation would never exist. That the Guardians will succeed and wipe out everything. Whatever it is now to try to give him a safety belt when he's so damn set on throwing himself out the window of a moving starship.

I don't agree. I think that discovery is built on waves. That if Newton hadn't put pen to paper and 'discovered' the theory of gravity, someone else would have with negligible difference in time. _Especially_ when it comes to things like science because science is built on collaboration and you build off other people's work constantly.

Maybe Archer did do all these things, but had Archer not been selected for the NX-1, the other guy would've done it. And if not them, maybe the Vulcans. Sure the details might change, but this, I think, is what time travel media refers to as the resilience of the timeline. There might be disruptions, but it typically course corrects.

Gotta love Archer's dramatic... casual jog away from the explosions.

Hah. I kinda love the reveal of T'Pol's age. She's been so coy about it.

"Captain didn't make it." Yeah... I'm not gonna believe that until at least the middle of the next episode.

lmao time travel shenanigans. As soon as they said no word from the orbital stations, I assumed it wasn't a matter of where but when. Oh and look... Archer's alive. Surprise. But he was found by the Nazi's? Who have an alien officer? Sure. Turn their famous obsession with the occult towards aliens instead of supernatural.

[tiptapricot]

Misadventure May Day 4!

Prev

This one’s rougher than some prev days I think, has just been a bit of a weird writing day, but I’m trying not to think ab or edit these too much, just kinda going with the flow :-)

———

4. Surprising News

They’re ushered into town by two burly guards, the wire nets pulled closed behind them. The streets are empty, but small snippets of sound and music filter out distantly from the looming rib towers. Romero slows his horse, glancing up to catch several faces staring down at them from the windows.

Another guard pushes past to lead them to the city’s center, taking them along one edge of the ancient spine. Each vertebrae has been hollowed into a storefront or small home, lanterns lighting the path in flickering, pale light. At the end, they reach a lopsided building half stuck in the ground, a large sign standing out front that reads Mayor’s Office in scratched paint. The guard crouches to open a hatch, gesturing for them to go through.

“Well, don’t mind if I do,” Rigel says, swaggering forward with their thumbs tucked into their belt and a sly head tilt towards the guard.

Romero watches them descend before dismounting. His horse’ll have to wait outside. He gives its snout a rub again, letting it push into his palm, before handing the reins over to their escort. It's a nice horse. He only got it as transport for this job, but he wouldn’t mind keeping it around after. It has good speed and doesn’t mind staying still, even if it gets a bit antsy, and he could use the transport. He pauses at the hatch opening to give it a curt nod, before adjusting his hat and making his way down.

The mayor’s office, he finds, is small. The bottom of the stairs opens up to a single room, the ceiling rounded and low, a desk taking up most of the center and papers and yellowing books stacked high on the floor around it. Rigel’s already made themself comfortable, lounging in the only chair in front of the desk with their heels kicked up and their arms behind their head. Romero comes to a stop next to them, observing the short woman situated on the other side. Her brown skin is marked with wrinkles, the edges pulled taught around her forehead where her hair sweeps up into a dark bun. Her mouth thins with distaste at the sight of him.

“Just the two of you?” she asks.

Romero nods at the same time that Rigel says “For now!”

The mayor sighs. “Alright. Well let’s hope you’re as good as you say you are.” She gives them a pointed look as she leans back to grab something from below her desk.

It’s a map. She spreads it over the table, half of it covered in a detailed outline of the mainland before it peters off into the winding caves and chasms of the canyons. Romero kicks the leg of Rigel’s chair slightly to get them to move their damn feet, and ignores the indignant Hey! he gets in response.

The mayor points to a ridge in the middle of the canyons. “This is where our scouts say it settles during the day, but…” She drags her finger down, outlining a thin strip connecting it towards the shallows. There’s a gap in the center of it. “We can see it from our vantage point, but we don’t have the resources to get down there, much less fight it off. We need it dead here, where we can get to it. Might make up some of the meat surplus it’s made off with if its hide is anything valuable.”

Romero taps the table gently to get her attention, and she glances up. He sizes his hands out, gesturing for scale, before tipping his head questioningly.

Her mouth thins again. “We’re not quite sure how big it is. Picks prey off so fast there’s only been a few reports. But from some holes in our perimeter we can guess—”

Something booms from outside, sending the whole room shaking. Romero catches his balance, a muffled bell beginning to sound out rapidly from the street above. The mayor stares with wide eyes, the three of them standing frozen for a moment, before Romero turns on his heel and rushes back up the stairs, followed closely by the clack of Rigel’s bones.

A cloud of salty sand greets him when he opens the hatch, the air whipping about wildly.

“It’s here!” the guard shouts, his horse whinnying and bucking wildly where she’s trying to keep it under control.

Romero’s gaze snaps up to the skies, his hat held down firm against the rippling dust as he emerges fully onto the street. Shit. He can’t see ten damn feet with this cover. His hand wanders down to his holster as he scans for movement, his body tense, straining for the sound of wing beats or the shift of claws. Rigel joins him at his side as the distant bell quiets, leaving nothing but the blustering of shop covers and his own imagined heartbeat.

And the neighing of his goddamned horse.

Romero moves right as the thing billows out of the dark, a mass of black against starlight with a wingspan wide enough to block out the moon. He shoots twice into the pitch black center of it, hearing his horse squeal in terror before the claws snap out and—

He’s yanked up fast enough he doesn’t even have time to grab his damned hat.

———

Next

(ID in ALT)

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 11- Part 1

So, this is where we left off- everything looks perfectly normal right now, yeah? Well, random little tangent here, let’s just take a look at the Trainer card, for no particular reason-

Oh? What is that I see? A different name for the player avatar? No longer my name, but the name I gave to the character?

Yeah, so- as alluded to in the last chapter, I was really itching to change the in-game name to…well, Xera’s name. And with some information given to me by a reader (information that I was able to confirm for myself with a quick Google search), I was able to figure out a way to do exactly that! Xera’s name is now real, and will remain that way for the rest of the game! How did I do this?

…I don’t think I’m legally allowed to say, just look it up for yourselves.

There is one caveat to this, though. Apparently, changing the name in this way doesn’t change the OT tags on the Pokémon that were caught beforehand. For example, Riptide:

But I think the name change will apply to all Pokémon caught after the change? Not that it matters much to me either way- I don’t typically pay attention to the OT tags unless they’re specifically something different in an interesting way (like whatever Bloom’s deal with Sweet Co. is).

Anyways, now let’s get into my plan for this session. This part is going to be mostly housekeeping things- wrapping up some sidequests and events in Obsidia and Coral Wards before we head into Onyx Ward. You know all that stuff I did in Peridot Ward before challenging Julia? Same situation here- and just like last time, I did some looking-into with the events and such, but once again, only enough to have a basic understanding of what to do. Besides, some of them I was already well aware of- for example, the Egg!

As you can see, I’ve put Prong in the Box for the time being to have the Egg in the party. Without a Pokémon with Flame Body (or other such Abilities that can speed up the hatching process), we’ll be going the full Egg cycle for this- and since I don’t know what Pokémon this will be, I don’t know how many steps this will take, so it’s better to be safe than sorry and have it in the party while we walk around.

So now, the most obvious quests to take care of are the two trades- the Nosepass and the “tablecloth.” And that means we need Sentret/Furret and Patrat/Watchog!

Hello again, Obsidia Park. A newly-opened area with some newly-available Pokémon- including one we need right now!

Boom, Sentret! This’ll be easy enough with Whiskers- Disarming Voice to lower its health, put to sleep, then profit.

“Scout” seemed too obvious, so “Watcher” felt like a fitting alternative.

Next up, Patrat, and like I said in the past, I already know where to find one.

Welcome back to Opal Ward! C’MERE-

It’s an early-game rodent Pokémon, only Lv. 4, and with Sleep- I don’t even think we need to lower its HP for this to work.

Huh- I never noticed that Sentret and Patrat have the same category. Well, now I definitely can’t name this guy “Scout” either.

There we go, “Vigil” works just as nicely!

So now, the party looks like this:

And now, since we still have a surplus of Exp. Candies, we can speedrun leveling these two up to evolution!

Long girl!!

And tall bo- actually, I thought Watchog was taller than that, hm.

Well, regardless, let’s get to trading! First, let’s go back to the one house to trade Watcher-

Oh, it was a Castform! I knew it! …Wait, Castform still doesn’t look like a tablecloth in any of its form, it always has like a…cloud-like appearance to it.

No worries, Xera will appreciate it more than you ever did- but at least she and her dad gave it a good name, “Meteo.”

And of course, PokéDex entry, for the fun of it-

Next

[moemoemammon]

yay! requests are open! y'know that thing where the s/o being so weak for their partner? I wanted to request the demon bros being weak for their s/o? does that make sense?

like, for example, MC would pout a little, and say 'pwease 🥺' and the demon bros would be like, 'yes, go on, what do you want from me? would you like my-' they'd just be so weak for mc.

I hope that makes sense! also, if it's too much characters, you can just do mammon and satan :) thank you ;3

Their One Weakness: MC!

(Feat. GN!MC and the Demon Bros)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Lucifer

Lucifer is known as the cruel eldest of the brothers. A sadist whose word is law, whose will can only be bent by Lord Diavolo himself. And yet since you came to the Devildom, all you ever seemed to do was the opposite of what he asked. Yet he still came to love you. He wonders if he spoils you too much...

Especially when you always seem to get your way one way or another. When you proposed the chaotic idea of a massive get together between the House of Lamentation and Purgatory Hall, Lucifer immediately said no. It’d be way too noisy and he had things to do.

But THEN... You fixed him with those damn EYES of yours.... The big eyes filled with sparkles and hopes that pleaded to him.... stop staring at him with them big ol eyes-

Lucifer REFUSES to acknowledge how cute you are when you look at him like that. Well, verbally anyway. You look like a kicked puppy...and he loves puppies...

"............I suppose if we prepare right now and get a dinner menu ready, it could be possible. And if you pout any harder you might pull a muscle, and I doubt I could explain that to Lord Diavolo. Now, go tell the others what you have planned."

Mammon

Mammon is practically the biggest MC simp in the world. You always occupy his thoughts any time of the day. 'Oh, MC would probably like one of these'. 'MC's always eatin' this for lunch. I'll grab one.' 'This would be way less borin' if MC were around...'

But as the Tsundere 🤢 king of the Devildom, there's no way he'll admit to any of that! So what if he's head over heels for you?! That doesn't mean he's gonna be all weak in the knees the moment you-

Wait, you're saying that because he lost a bet yesterday and promised he'd take you out to Ristorante Six and pay for the whole thing, now he's gotta pay up?!?! No way! He doesn't remember what you're talking about, and that voice recording you've got on your phone is clearly fake!

Mammon's dead set on weaseling out of his promise, until you freeze him in place with your pouty face... then you hit him with a "please..?" and the Avatar of Greed swears he might die right then and there.

"Tch..! Damn it, I ain't got a choice when ya look at me like that!!! What're ya playin' at, pulling' my heartstrings like that?! Hurry up and get dressed so we can go! A-and ya better eat your fill, too!"

Levi

The founder of the top secret MC Cult Fanclub, there's not much that could keep Levi from becoming putty in your hands. He's used to idolizing the objects of his affection, and you're no exception!

So when it comes to bending to your will, he's definitely the easiest. Except when it comes to n-...normie stuff...

Seriously, do you think someone like HIM should be going to The Fall?!?! No way! Not in a million, billion, trillion years!!!! You shouldn't get him to go to that crowded club even if you dragged him there!!!

Then... you hit him with the cute act... You declare your loyalty to him as his beloved Henry, fixing him with a pleading look that shoots him straight through the heart, and... GAH, HE'S GOT NO CHOICE!!!!!

"At... at least help me choose something to wear..! I don't know how I'm supposed to dress for normie stuff like this!!! Aaah... I wanna stay home, b-but when you say something like that, I just can't win-!"

Satan

Satan openly admits to how he likes to spoil you. It's cute seeing how big your grin becomes when he gives you something you wanted, and how happy you are when he takes you out for the evening.

But there are some things even he doesn't want to do, like when you suggest going to a chess tournament with Lucifer. You've been pressured by Lucifer wanting to attend, but figured it'd be easier to sit through with someone else. So why not Satan, who'd mentioned liking chess?

Yeah... he'd go if Lucifer weren't involved. As much as he'd love to go and pull some strings to ruin the match for the dear eldest, he's got something else planned involving a well timed glue bomb and Lucifer's study. So he'll pass.

Or so he thought, until you started poking your fingers together and mentioned how you'd hoped you could both enjoy it together. Kind of like a date..? Gah, his heart and its weakness for unconventional dates-!!!!

"...I... suppose I could go. It’d be nice to study how Lucifer plays, so I can finally beat him. Don't you think the look on his face will be priceless? And if you're there as well, I'll be able to stomach watching his face for an hour."

Asmo

Asmo LOVES you more than aaanyone!! There's no one who loves you more, you know? Why, he wants to involve you in every aspect of his life, and actively tries to do just that! He's even tried dragging you into the tub with him a few times...

And when it comes to spoiling you, he loves it! He's always the one being spoiled, so it makes him giddy when he can give a little back. If there's anything you want from him, just tell him and he'll make it happen!

Eh? You want to play fangol? With HIM?? Um... pass. You know he just got his nails done, right? Asmo's not really a fan of running around with a ball and getting knocked to the ground, so... no thanks! ❤️

Wait, don't make that face! What're you looking so glum for?? He'll kiss your sadness away, and- Eh?! You don't want a kiss?? You really wanna play THAT badly?????

"....You really don't have me mistaken for Beel, right..? You really want to play with ME? ...Haaaah, fine! I'll play one game with you, and in exchange, you have to spend all of tomorrow with moi! Sounds good, right~? Now let me see if Satan will let me borrow some of his clothes...urgh..."

Beel

As a 'go with the flow' guy, there's not much Beel won't do with you, even if it's not really something he's interested in. As long as he has you around and a surplus of snacks, he's fine with anything.

Until you suggest going to Majolish to try on some stylish outfits. You mention how Beel wears variations of the same thing all the time, so it's time for an update! He thinks you're spending too much time with Asmo...

Beel isn't really into tight, itchy, stiff fabrics like the 'stylish' things they sell at Majolish, and decides he'd much rather go to Hell's Kitchen instead. He's hungry. Are you hungry?

'Stop changing the subject'? Ah.. damn it 😔 Wait, now you're saying you just wanted to buy fancy outfits because you were planning to take him to Ristorante Six?! You can't tell if he's blushing over your consideration or the idea of food, but now Beel's looking through the clothes with earnest.

"I didn't know you were the winner of that 'all you can eat' coupon lottery. When I didn't win I was pretty upset, but I'm glad to know it was you. Even if these clothes are weird, I'll wear them. Can you pick something good for me?"

Belphie

Belphie likes to spoil you in more subtle ways, instead of simping as hard as his brothers. He's still as much of a sucker for you as they are though, much to his dismay. All you have to do is smile and you've got him wrapped around your gross human finger.

But when you mention wanting to go biking with Lord Diavolo and wanting him to come along, Belphie suddenly discovers that his ears don't work anymore. Anyway, goodnight-

Hey, stop poking him like that. Can't you see an deaf man is trying to sleep here?? And what's with that face..? You're pouting so hard you look like you're going to explode. It's cute, but Belphie can close his eyes an not see it.

But then you scoot into bed with him and hold him from behind, and the sleepy demon starts feeling his resolve crumble. You have some dirty tactics, huh..? Getting all cozy with him just because he's got a soft spot for you...

"...............Why Diavolo of all people..? I'd prefer anyone over him. Ugh... Hey, they still rent out those two person bikes, don't they? I'll only go if I can ride on that with you. I'll sit right behind you and cheer you on, okay? ..What's with that look? I'm joking...maybe."

[rotshop]

goes back 2 my roots cutely and epically <3333 n e way werewolf sher + vampire s/o hcs

[ tw for ; some mentions of blood, one off handed mention of cannibalism (bandits) ]

-you're a pretty prominent figure in certain parts of nevada urself actually !! not super high up there but . the vampires (as in liek . the group.) tend to idolize and look up to, most of them are results of willingly becoming 'vampires' through surgeries whereas you're a different deal entirely. they see you as something to kind of strive for and tend to listen to anything you ask ( which . yknow . can be helpful. they're surprisingly resourceful !! ask for them to find something and they'll get surplus, ask them to do something and they'll be off in a heart beat) . the bandits also kinda look up to you but its moreso just in a cannibal on vampirism solidarity if that makes sense.

-said this b4 ill say it again Sher was intimidated by you the first few times he seen u and the whole werewolf / vampire rivalry thing doesn't help.

-depending on how you r around him it can kinda go one of two ways ;

-if you're a little calmer and more friendly then he slowly warms up to you. at first he's put off by it, thinking it's some sort of way to try and lure him / others to false security but . there's never any real twist. you never offer to walk him home and then slit his throat in a dark alleyway. you never offer him a drink and then watch him choke to death on whatever poison you slipped in. you just keep being nice to him over and over again without any real benefit from it. and at some point he just kinda . starts returning the favor whenever he can.

-it comes across a little awkward at first with the way you both keep bending over backwards for one another while still kinda flitting around any real relationship going on but . it works out. you both start talking a little bit more casually with one another, throwing gentle teases in one another's direction to see the other scoff and roll their eyes .

-if you're a little more headstrong or stubborn (or some other traits idk man ijust like rivals that are lovers trope) . then yeah it's rocky. you both get on each others nerves . you spit little jabs at one another in fake pleasant conversation that earns grows and narrowed glares from one another. at some point you develop some sort of unspoken competition to outdo one another in any way you really can but it just kinda makes other people stare a little . why are you two showing off. why are you trying to impress / stun the other. that doesn't seem hetero. /j

-n e way .

-you two eventually end up getting together bc of course you do this is rotshop content what else were you expecting. it's most likely done on pure impulse on his part . you'll both just be talking and drinking w/ one another and you'll go n say something before he cuts you off with some blurted out, 'i think i'm in love with you.' its kind of a . back n forth for a min but yeah it works out in the end.

-you both are fucking menaces. /HJ like really. sure, he might be a coward when it comes down to it but the image nevada has of him is generally one of intimidation and grit. so, seeing him and then you -terrifying in your own right through your own bloodshed and capability- right next to him is definitely a sight bad enough to shake most people in nexus city. he's sometimes sent out as something of a debt collector and likes bringing you along with him to help interrogate / add pressure. yes it does end in you feeding off of whatever poor sap forgot to pay his dues to the nexus / aahw while he semi-uncomfortably fidgets on the sideline. (you notice and ask him about it and he very quickly waves you off and insists its nothin. later on he very begrudgingly admits he's still a little bit off put at the sight of blood.)

-half baked thought but during some full moons you'll just kinda have him lay his head on your lap while he chills the fuck out (mostly because audi / phobos will have his head if he's too reckless and fucks anything up too badly) .

-suffers from dogboy disease and WILL lick the side of your face just to antagonize you.

-its like wifeguy + his wife (gn) dynamic . you'll be going off and he's just kinda cheering you on. yes he brags about you any chance he get yes he still gets like puppy love around you love is love i see no difference /q .

[i-like-old-things]

Ok so I’ve had this idea for a while now and I decided I’d finally post it!!

I wanna go to every Amrev site in NJ.

As you know, I’m from the great(est) state, New Jersey. And as you should know, a majority of fighting occurred in this state for the reason being that the British HQ was in NY and the Continental HQ was in PA and NJ is smack dab in the middle of it. Another important thing to mention is that a lot of these sites have been preserved over the years, especially the homes and battlefields. I think it might be because NJ used to be agriculturally based. It was only in the cities that had industry until the mid-1900s when suburbanization became popular (my town would be classified as rural until the 1980s). It also helps that we have a surplus of them so the ones we have left seem like a lot compared to others. Another key thing to note, in colonial America, houses were a regional thing. If you’ve gone to like Mount Vernon or Monticello or Alexander Hamilton’s Grange or really any big mansion from that time, you’re probably not gonna get that in NJ. As I said previously, we were a farming state; there wasn’t a need for large mansions. Most houses have like 2-4 rooms on each floor making them a lot smaller.

This will definitely be a challenging task as there are like 140 colonial-era locations in NJ. To help me, I am going to use this link from the Crossroads of the American Revolution website which has information on colonial NJ.

I’ve been to a few already so I will list those here (some I’ve posted about). I’m also going to put pictures from my visit (if I have any) and the links to the websites:

Old Barracks Museum —> last standing French and Indian War barracks. It was used during the American Revolution by both the British and the Continentals. I went here a while ago so I don’t remember much except I do remember the reenactor was talking about leaches. I want to go back again.

Brearley House —> Not on the CAR list but definitely a fun one. It was the childhood home of a man named David Brearley who was a signer of the US Constitution from NJ and was the third Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (appointed by G Wash himself).

Princeton Battlefield —> It’s a field. There is a house but I didn’t go in it cuz it was closed. But my friends and I went there on a really nice day and we had a picnic so it was a lot of fun. It was also nice to see all of the people out and during the pandemic I saw the most people I’ve ever seen. It’s the place where Hugh Mercer was killed and the Mercer oak tree used to be there. It fell down but was replaced by a sapling from its seeds.

Washington Rock —> this one was cool. I made a post about this WAYYYYYYYYYYYY down so you can find it if you want (I think it was like my second post ever) but it was a lookout position for washington because he could see NYC from it. If you get there on a clear day, you can still see the city skyline (I saw it).

Morven —> former governors mansion of NJ. I haven’t gone inside it but I’ve been to the grounds numerous times.

Nassau Hall —> was a barracks for the British and the Continentals. During the battle of Princeton, the Americans shot cannons into the building which you can still see the damage of it today. At the time, it was the largest stone building in the colonies. Later in the war, it served as Congress.

Great Falls (Patterson) —> this was used by Hamilton to generate power or something (???). I never fully understood it but there’s a statue of Hamilton and it is a nice view.

Historic Mill Hill —> this one is probably the most overlooked. Mill Hill is a historic district in Trenton. It’s a residential area but the houses are GORGEOUS. There’s also a statue of Washington and it’s located where the second battle of Trenton took place.

Princeton Cemetery —> this is where Aaron burr and John Witherspoon are buried. You can also visit Grover Cleveland, the only NJ President.

This link is also very useful.

[weelittleweasley]

cant take my eyes off of you (g.w.)

prompt: george feels like he’s on top of the world when he’s with you and he needs to let you know how he feels. 

pairing: george weasley x fem! gryffindor reader

warnings: underage drinking, intoxication, dirty dancing, sexual references (blink and you’ll miss it), language

word count: 2.7k

taglist: @rosaliepostsstuff @harrysweasleys @gcdricreads @lumos-barnes @whizboingies @lumosandnoxwriting @pxroxide-prinxcesss @c-t-h @lol-idk-oops @another-lonely-heart-blog @kaseyrose96-blog @hufflepuff5972 @gryffindcrghost @wand3ringr0s3 @parseltongueswriting @shilohpug @peachypotter @spacexcowgirl @paintballkid711 @vogueweasley​

It wouldn’t be a common room victory celebration without a surplus of various booze, music loud enough to shatter your ear drum, and random students scattered around dancing and screaming to the music. It was a sensory overload at its finest, but you wouldn’t want it any other way. The quidditch victory was well earned against Hufflepuff and the team wanted to celebrate properly. This ultimately translated to getting absolutely hammered before 10pm. 

You stood in the corner of the room, standing next to Hermione and Ginny, sipping on whatever drink Lee had poured you. To be honest, you couldn’t make out what it was; it was a cocktail of miscellaneous liquors that would be sure to have you regretting this decision in the morning.

As you sipped on your beverage, you turned to your two friends and gave them a sneaky smile as the music gets turned up even louder. “Oh, no,” Hermione started. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What? I just want to dance,” you start to back up towards the dance floor, pulling Ginny along with you as she laughs. “Come on, Granger! Loosen up!” 

You and Ginny immediately start to break out into dance, swinging your hips to the music as Ginny chugs the rest of the drink in her cup, you following suit. The liquor is sweet, but burns your throat and warms your chest. When you finish it, you throw your cup to the ground and give into the pulsating base. Ginny laughs as you throw your hands in the air and scream sing the lyrics to the song. It was nice to finally loosen up after a long week.

But you halt your dancing when you feel two arms wrap around your waist, lip attaching themselves to your neck. You immediately flip around to see your George staring back at you, a drunk smile on his lips as a low chuckle fall from his mouth. “You scared me,” you place a hand on your chest before leaning into him, his arms pulling close against his chest.

George’s goofy grin remains on his face as he ducks his head down to press a kiss to your lips. His lips taste of whiskey, his kiss intoxicating you better than the alcohol. George mumbles against your lips, “Figured I’d join you on the dance floor.” He smiles before kissing you again, you smiling and shaking your head, his lips kissing yours against, harder as you place your hand on the back of his neck, drawing him closer to you. The bass of the music pounded through the floor and shook your core as your heart beat faster as George continued to kiss you on the dance floor. Any memory of what you were doing before George came along slipped out of your mind and all you could focus on was the way his body moved against yours as he kissed you.

His hands are gripping your hips as you pull away, hips moving against each other in sync, a smirk on George’s lips. Your faces are inches apart as you giggle, pressed against each other in a sea of bodies on the dance floor. People around you wolf whistled as you danced against George, his eyes not daring to leave yours for a moment. You pressed your backside against George, grinding yourself on him with a cheeky smirk. It was enough to drive George absolutely mad, the look of your body pressed against his, your body feeling the music, rocking against him. It was making his pulse quicken and his face heat up.

He spun you back around to look him in the eyes, a challenging grin on your lips when you saw the lust in his eyes, only being amplified by the alcohol coursing through his veins. “You are trouble,” George tells you with a laugh in his voice, making you bite down on your bottom lip, pulling the soft flesh in between your teeth. George looked unreal in this moment; his chocolate eyes dark with desire, hair messy from running his fingers through it, t-shirt clinging to every muscle on his arms, chest, and torso. Oh, the things you would do if you were alone. 

Daring to make him sweat even more, you pull him down so you can whisper in his ear. “What are you gonna do about it? Punish me?” you ask, tease laced in your voice, before you nibble on his ear gently, causing him to hold back a deep groan. With one hand on his chest, you push him away, giving him the most innocent look you can, big doe eyes that plead naiveté. George shakes his head as he presses his tongue to his cheek, knowing damn well what you were doing. “I’m getting another drink, I’ll be back,” you tell him with a wink. “Don’t go anywhere.”

George just laughs, “Oh, I’m stay right where the fuck I am.” You shake your head and laugh before leaving the dance floor, back to the table where all the liquor was lined up. 

Mixed bottles half full scattered around the table as people crowded around as Ron stood on a chair, his Gryffindor tied around his head as he held up a bottle of fire whiskey, pouring the liquor into people’s mouth as they opened them. The sight was enough to make you laugh; Ron Weasley, assuming his brothers’ old positions of bartender. He locked eyes with you and an excited grin appeared on his lips. He held up the bottle as if to say, You want some? to which you stepped forward, titled your head back, and opened your mouth, Ron pouring one, two, three shots worth of whiskey in your mouth. You swallowed and shuddered at the taste, making Ron laugh out loud. “Bollocks, (Y/N),” he laughed out. Ron handed the bottle off to Dean and hopped off the chair, slinging an arm around your shoulder as you walked away from the mass of people wanting a shot. “I saw you and my brother having a good time on the dance floor,” he winked at you as you rolled your eyes. “He’s bloody whipped for you.”

You and Ron stood at the sidelines, watching George spin Ginny around on the dance floor, goofy smiles on both of their faces before Fred ran over and nearly tackled Ginny as she laughed. George looked over to where you stood with his younger brother and smiled softly. He dropped his left eye in a wink as your heart fluttered with glee. That boy would be the death of you. 

The two of you hadn’t been together long, maybe three months, but it was quite obvious that George was mad for you. Ron had that much right. George had been infatuated with you for awhile and had been trying to get you to go out with him for months before you said yes. You knew that George had no problem getting dates with girls, but you wanted to make him sweat. Even though you found him insanely attractive and funny and sweet, you pretended like you had no interest in him. You made him work for your first date and work he did. After you said yes to being his girlfriend, George was on cloud nine. No one had ever seen George react like this to anything, but that’s how people knew you were special. 

You sighed and looked at Ron, “He’s everything I could ever ask for.” Ron faked gagging as you slapped his arm. But it was all so true. George was a dream come true; you couldn’t believe how perfect he was. He was funny and outgoing and exciting, but also so kind and gentle and thoughtful. George was everything you’ve ever wanted and more. “Hey, you brought it up, don’t blame me!” you pointed a finger in his face as Ron laughed, the two of you continuing to chat and drink, watching the bodies on the floor dance away.

George still remained on the dance floor with his twin and Ginny, laughing and dancing and goofing off. Every once in a while George would look over and watch you, how you spoke to his brother, catching George’s eye every once in a while, you smiling gently at him before going back to Ron. George observed how you spoke with your hands, throwing your head back when you laughed, clutching your sides. He watched as you pulled your glossed lips in between your teeth, nibbling on the sensitive skin. He adored the way your mouth moved when you spoke, the words rolling off your lips like the sweetest honey. Without even realizing what he was saying, he just spoke out to his siblings, “I love her.”

Ginny and Fred abruptly stopped dancing and stared at their brother, faces twisted with both shock and confusion. He was surely drunk and just talking out of his ass, right? George had never confessed to loving a girl before. Fred looks at George and speaks, “Mate, what?”

He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. There was a magnetic force that just made George want to stare at you forever and always. The sight of you left him weak, unable to speak. George couldn’t compare you to anyone else; in his eyes, you were the only one. The standard. And he couldn’t believe you were all his. He thanked his lucky stars that he was alive and attended this damned school at the same time you did. “It’s just...she’s just too good to be true, isn’t she?” George sighs, all lovesick. In his mind, he thought of holding you in his arm, feeling like he was in heaven at the touch. Knowing that he was the one who could make you happy and make you feel loved was a dream come true for him. George Weasley was undeniably in love and he fell hard. 

“He’s gone soft,” Fred looks at Ginny who slaps his arm. “Ow! Fuck was what for?” he rubs his arm with a hurt look on his face.

Ginny looks at George who’s eyes have not left you. She looks at George with a small smile; seeing her brother so smitten was heart warming to the youngest Weasley. “Are you...going to tell her?” she asks over the music.

George breaks his stare from you and looks to Ginny. “Should I tell her now?” he asks as Ginny worriedly looks to Fred for advice, but he just shrugs. He didn’t know the first thing when it came to a confession this grand. “I don’t want to wait any longer, but I don’t want to do it in the middle of a fucking party,” he starts to ramble. “But, Merlin, I can’t wait anymore. Should I run outside and go pick flowers from the courtyard? Or should I do a grand romantic gesture here?” he continues to ramble on as Ginny’s eyes just widen more and more with each sentence. 

But before George can continue listing off ways to confess his love, you appear behind him and grab his hand. George turns around and the sight of you almost makes him faint. You sport a happy smile as you look at Fred and Ginny before turning to George and saying, “You wanna go get some fresh air outside?”

Perfect, George thinks to himself. He doesn’t bother excusing himself from the dance floor. George simply holds your hand tighter and runs off with you as you laugh, calling out a We’ll be back soon! to Fred and Ginny. “Or not!” George calls back before leaving the common room, running down the moving staircase, both of you a laughing, tipsy mess.

When you finally make it down the stairs and outside, you take a deep breath in, enjoying the cool, crisp air and how it didn’t smell of alcohol and sweat like the common room. You walk further into the courtyard, happily sighing as George wraps his arms around you as you giggle, looking up at him. He places a gentle kiss to your lips as you smile. “Hi, Georgie,” you coo up at him. Just the sound of your voice make him feel warm inside. 

Breathlessly, he speaks, “Hey, gorgeous.” You can’t help, but let a large smile appear on your face as your cheeks feel hot. The two of you continue to walk, hand in hand, enjoying the others company and the silence and still of the night. 

But inside George’s mind, he was screaming at himself to tell you about how he was feeling and how he couldn’t go another second without telling you how much he loved you. But every time he opened his mouth, the moment didn’t feel right. He wanted this moment to memorable. Something the two of you could look back on fondly. But George was nearly about to blurt it out if he didn’t tell you soon. 

“George? Baby, are you alright?” you interrupt his thoughts, placing a hand on his cheek. He seemed so consumed with thought and it worried you that something was bothering him.

He shook his head and spoke, “Perfectly alright, my darling.” You smiled up at him before walking over to the bunch of roses that bloomed in the corner of the courtyard. You examined the bush for the perfect one and stumbled upon a fully blossomed yellow rose. Quickly, you plucked it from the bush and skipped back over to George, tucking the beautiful bud behind his ear, making the tall boy in front of you blush a wild shade of red. “You look adorable.”

George’s heart was beating so hard in his chest, you could mistake it for a heart attack. Now was the time. It was now or never. Without further hesitant, George just looks at you and lets the words flow out of his mouth. “I love you, baby,” he speaks, simply.

Although the words were so simple, it all meant so much. When the words fell from his mouth, your heart stops and you feel like this is some sort of dream. Your eyes widen as you look up at George who is smiling like a child on Christmas. The look of love in his eyes was enough to make you reciprocate the same goofy grin and giggle. 

George starts, “I love you, (Y/N). Trust in me when I say this. I love you so much. And if it’s alright, I need you. I need you to warm the lonely nights. I need to show you how much you mean to me. Godric, now that I’ve found you and I found love with you, I can’t help but want to spend the rest of my days with you.” His words make tears form in your eyes as love makes your heart swell in your ribcage. “All I want to do is love you. So, let me love you, baby.”

With a breathy giggle, you grab his face and press your lips to George’s, mustering up all the love you had in your body. George is smiling widely into the kiss as you laugh, “I love you.” In between kisses, you keep repeating those special three words to him, only making the boy happier and happier. With one final kiss, you pull away and wrap your arms around him, beaming. “I love you, George. All I want to do is love you.”

He could barely believe that you felt the same way about him. What you had, this love, was real and you felt the same way that he felt. This was everything George could ever want and more. He shakes his head in disbelief, holding your hands in his, as he looks up to the sky and breathes out, “Holy fuck,” making you laugh.

All of a sudden, George jumps up on a bench in the courtyard and yells out, “I love (Y/N)! And she loves me!” You try to shush him, knowing damn well you weren’t supposed to be out of your dormitories at this time of night. “I don’t care! I don’t care who hears me! I’m in love! And she loves me back!” he cries before jumping down and scooping you in his arms, spinning you around as you both laugh wildly. You were in love.

[prismatica-the-strange]

Helpless (Bolin x Korra’s Adopted Sister) | Part 1

You’re only adopted if you want to be. This just gives people freedom to put their preference of origin.

This started off as a Helpless from Hamilton song fic, and you can kind of see that in the beginning, but it sorta took on a life of its own

Warnings:... None? I think

Words: 2,262

    Your parents always told you the ocean sent them their second child. Korra found you on the shore one day when they were out by the water when she was 2. You were so young and nearly dead from the freezing water, but Katara healed you and Korra's parents raised you as their own.

        "Where are you going?" You asked, not looking up from your book. Korra froze in her tracks.

        "No where?"

        "Uh-huh." You looked over the top of the book at her.

        "What?" She chuckles scratching the back of her neck.

        "You're going back to the arena, aren't you?" You sigh, going back to reading. 

        "Yeah."

        "If Tenzin finds out-"

        "Yeah well, Tenzin won't find out."

        "Are you threatening me, Kor?" You teased, turning to the next page.

        "No...." She looks around quickly, "Hey you should come with me!"

        "What?" You look at her incredulously. "No-"

        "Oh c'mon!" She tried.

        "Kor, that's your thing." You reasoned, "My thing is fuzzy blankets and a good book."

        "Just one night, please?" She pushed your book down and pouted, "I promise you'll have fun!"

        You pulled my book from her hands and got up to leave. Your mistake was looking back at her squatting figure, pouting up at you.

        "Ugh! Fine!" You give in, grabbing a jacket and tucking your book under your arm, "One night!"

        "Yes!" She jumped in the air, pumping her fist. "Let's go!"

        She grabbed your wrist and pulled you away.

        "And this is where you can watch the match." Korra smiled, reaching for the handle.

        "Korra! You're late," A tall boy, about your age, growled as he threw the door open.

        "Sorry (Y/n) here dragged her feet the whole way and I had to get my gear on-"

        "You can explain later," he snapped, pulling her along.

        You followed behind and watched as the platform they stood on extended towards the play area.

        "Here come fan favorites theeee "Fireee Ferretsss!" The announcer shouted and the whole building erupted in cheers.

        You scoffed leaned on the rail at the edge of the room.

        That's when one of Korra's teammates turned around to wave at the crowd. Your eyes met for a moment, he smiled and waved at you and your heart went boom.

        The match started and the Fire Ferrets kicked major butt. Korra was definitely in her element.

*Bolin's POV*

        "Yes! We won- again!" I cheered. Fist bumping Mako. I looked back at the team box and that girl was still there, smiling. Jeez, that smile could kill me.

        "What'cha looking at Bolin?" Korra asked, and I froze.

        "N-nothing!"

*Y/n's POV*

        The other boy, who you knew was Bolin from the announcer, Looked back at you again after they won and you smiled at him. A moment later, Korra grabbed his arm and the platform started shifting back towards the team box.

        "Bolin, This is my sister, (Y/n)!" She grinned widely as she pushed the poor boy towards you.

        "S-sister?!" He seemed shocked before clearing his throat, taking off his helmet, and holding his hand out to you, "H-hi, I'm Bolin."

        "Hi," you nearly giggled as you shook his hand. Looking into green eyes you were helpless, you had to look away before you started drowning in them.

        "What's with them?" Another voice asked, and both of you realized you were still holding hands. You quickly pulled away, your face bright pink.

        "Mako!" Korra growled before sighing, "Hey why don't we all go out to get some food?"

        "Oh, we ate before the-"

        "Great! Cause I know this great place!" Korra started pushing a red-faced Bolin toward the door, dragging you behind her.

~~~~~

        The atmosphere around the table was awkward, to say the least. Before you could say anything Korra shoved you into one side of a booth and Bolin on the other. 

        "So uh, (Y/n)," Bolin started as Korra ordered a surplus of Sweet buns, "I-I don't think I've seen you around before."

        "I spend most of my time on Airbender Island reading and... stuff." You reached for your water and went for a drink when it was knocked all over you by Korra.

        "Kor!" You exclaimed, flicking water from your hair at her. "You jerk!"

        You lurched forward, grabbing her drink (Also water) and dumping it on her.

        "Hey!" She laughed water bending the water out of her clothes and splashing you in the face with it, making you squeal. "You asked for it!"

        You were laughing when you caught Bolin watching you out of the corner of your eye, he had a dreamy smile and you felt your cheeks heat up.

        "A little help please, Kor?" You asked wheezing.

        "Fine," She sighed, being the water out of your hair and clothes, dumping it in a nearby mop bucket.

        Mako rolled his eyes, muttering about how childish you were, and Korra stuck her tongue at him.

        You chuckled, pushing the hair out of your face. You looked over at Bolin who had his elbow on the table, his cheek resting in hand. He wore a cute little smile and what you could only call heart eyes, but before you could say anything the waiter brought out your food.

        There was ambient chit chat as you ate, nothing important, but you and Bolin definitely caught each other staring.

        As the night wound down and you and Korra had to start home, you felt someone grasp your hand. You turned around to see a nervous Bolin.

        "I had fun, it was great meeting you (Y/n)." 

        "Me too, Bolin." You bit your lip before kissing his cheek and hurrying to catch up with your sister, leaving him standing there with this goof smile on his face.

        "Maybe we could do it again?" He called after you.

~~~~

        The next few days Korra's time was monopolized with Airbender training, and you couldn't stop thinking about Bolin. Even Tenzin, with the near-impossible task of getting your sister to pay attention, could tell you were in an extremely happy state. The look on your face was something he would compare to lovestruck.

        Korra was over the moon, she could see just how helplessly into him you were the moment the two of you locked eyes. Now you were twirling around as you walked around and humming happily as you read.

        Mako, on the other hand, was near the end of his rope. It's been three days and Balin hadn't shut up about you.

        "(Y/n) is so pretty," 

        "I wonder what (Y/n)'s favorite color is?"

        "Do you think (Y/n) like flowers?"

        Sure, Mako was happy his brother found someone (hopefully) but he was about to start pulling his hair out.

~~~~~~

        "Knock knock~" Korra poed her head into your room, "So the Ferrets and I have a match tonight and I was wondering-"

        "Yes!" You jumped to your feet and Korra laughed, making you blush. "I-I mean yes, I do want to go with you."

~~~~~

        "What are you doing?" Mako asked as his younger brother was fixing his hair in the mirror, again.

        "Fixing my hair, duh."

        "Why?"

        "What if Korra brings (Y/n) again?!" He whined, "I don't wanna look stupid."

        "Well then you should do something more like this," Mako launched himself at his brother and started messing with his hair.

        "Ah! Mako stop!" He tried getting Mako off him and the two fell in a heap on the floor.

        They froze when they heard laughing at the door.

        "(Y-y/n)!" Bolin exclaimed, face turning red as the got to their feet.

        "Hi to you too, Bolin," Korra teased.

        "Ah! Korra! Hi!" he awkwardly waved at the two of you.

        "You ready to kick butt and get to the Semifinals???" Mako asked and Bolin suddenly realized his hair was sticking in every direction.

        "Are you kidding? I was born ready!" Korra replied excitedly. You took off your jacket and folded it on your lap as you sat on the bench.

        "S-so (Y/n)," Bolin started, running his hand through his hair, "Do you maybe wanna-"

        Suddenly a little red animal jumped into your lap and started sniffing your face.

        "Uh! Pabu stop! What are you-" He stopped short when you started giggling.

        "Stop! That tickles!" You laughed, carefully picking up the little creature and holding him away from your face. "Who's this?"

        "His name is Pabu, he's a fire ferret," Bolin explained as Pabu wriggled out of your hands. He ran up your arm and sat on your shoulder, nuzzling your face.

        "It's nice to meet you, Pabu," You smiled. Bolin watched you scratch under Pabu's chin and, by the spirits, he knew he was in love.

        The words "Marry Me," fell from his lips before he could think.

        "Huh?" You looked at Bolin, confused.

        "Nothing! I said nothing! Oh look we're up! Talk to you later (Y/n)!" He panicked, pulling his helmet on and rushing to the moving platform.

~~~~~~~

        "Marry me," Mako teased as they moved toward the main platform.

        "I know! I'm such an idiot!" Bolin cried, "It just sorta slipped out! I probably sounded so stupid!"

        "Nah," Korra slung her arm over his shoulders, "Knowing (Y/n), she most-likely thinks it was adorable."

        "You think?" He asked hopefully.

        "Come on guys, you gotta getcha, getcha, getcha heads in the game."

~~~~~~~~

        "That's the Match folks! And The Fire Ferrets Advance to the semifinal round of the Pro Bending Tournament!" The man announced, "Hopefully by that time Bolin will be completely recovered."

        Korra and Mako help Bolin stay on his feet on the way back to the Team box.

        "Is he alright?" You asked, "That was a pretty nasty blow to the head that last round."

        "He's kind of out of it right now, but after some rest and maybe an icepack, he'll be fine," Mako told you.

        "Mako!" Bolin failed to whisper, "She's worried about me! Does that mean she likes me?"

        You stifled a laugh, covering your mouth with your hand.

        "She's laughing! Did I do something stupid?!" Bolin asked, upset. 

        You leaned toward Korra and whispered, "He so precious!"

        "What are you talking about-"

        "Bolin wait!"

        Then you were on the floor, Bolin on top of you. You stared up at him in shock, his bright green eyes gleaming.

        "You're even prettier up close," He said quietly before going limp.

        "I think he passed out!" You wheezed as you were crushed by his weight.

~~~~~~~~~

        "My head," Bolin groaned as he sat up.

        "Mornin' sleeping beauty," Mako called from the other side of the apartment.

        "What happened?"

        "Well, we won," He handed his younger brother a glass of water. "Then you tackled (Y/n)."

        "Ok, cool..." It took him a moment to process what Mako had said, "I DID WHAT?!"

        "Calm down!" Mako tried to get his brother to sit down, "It wasn't really a tackle, it was more like you tripped... and landed on top of her?"

        "That's not any better!" I slumped on the couch, his head in his hands. "Why can't I get anything right around her?"

~~~~~~~

        A couple of days later the four of you went out to eat again.

        "Hey (Y/n), how're you doing? I heard I tackled you in my confusion." Bolin asked when you guys met up at the restaurant.

        "I'm fine," You chuckled, waving him off, "My wrist is almost done healing...?"

        You looked at Mako who was vigorously signing for you two stop.

        "Your wrist? What happened you your wrist?!" Bolin asked, panicked.

        "Huh? Oh, I uh- when we fell I sprained my wrist," You showed him your wrapped wrist, "It wasn't bad though, so it's almost healed. I'm surprised Mako didn't tell you."

        "I swear I didn't mean to hurt you (Y/n)," He said earnestly, pulling you into a hug, "I am so sorry!"

        "It's okay Bolin, really," You tried to tell him, "I've definitely had a lot worse than a sprain. Right, Korra?"

        You squinted at her, remembering the time you broke your right arm and leg because of 'Extreme Penguin sledding' something you were assured was 'perfectly safe' and 'not dangerous at all' by your big sister.

        "Hey! I already said I was sorry!" She snapped, "And it's not my fault that you suck at penguin sledding!"

        You felt Bolin's head buried in your shoulder and you sighed hugging him back.

        "Seriously Bolin, It's alright," You gave him a squeeze, "Accidents happen."

        "You're sure you're okay?" He pulled away and reached for your injured wrist before hesitating.

        "Look, I'm starving, can we please sit and eat?" Korra whined, pushing you into a booth.

        Bolin sat across from you looking akin to a kicked puppy. While Korra and Mako were arguing what to order you offered your wrapped wrist to Bolin. He looked a little shocked.

        "You reached for it, right? I'm guessing you wanted to look it over?" You asked and he gulped before gingerly holding your wrist in his hands.

        "You're sure it's not broken?" He looked up at you.

        "Positive."

        "Does it hurt?" He asked quietly.

        "Only if I put weight in it," You shrug and his eyebrows scrunched like he was thinking about something. "You uh... You were gonna ask me something before the match the other day?"

        He looked up at you with wide eyes, you'd remembered that?! He put your hand down and cleared his throat.

        "Oh, that? That was, heh. That was nothing."

        "Okay...?"

        "He was gonna ask you out," Mako said before taking a drink of water.

         "What?!"

Part: Two   (Masterlist)

[trashytummiez]

Even Demons Love Burgers

“Yuki, you’re so sweet, I could just eat you up!”  Beel said eagerly.  The table that Yuki had prepared in Beel’s dorm had been loaded with Gigadeath Burgers, Beel’s favorite.  

He hugged his petite girlfriend lovingly into his broad, muscular torso.  Yuki blushed but smiled and hugged the musclebound young demon affectionately.

“Anything for the embodiment of gluttony,” she said.  Good timing too.  It felt like the ground itself was rumbling, when in fact, it was just Beel’s stomach rumbling loudly.  Yuki giggled but blushed some more.  She slipped her hand under Beel’s black shirt and rubbed his rock hard abs.  “Good timing too.  Sounds like you’re overdue for a proper meal.”  Yuki started tickling the center of Beel’s abs, making the orange haired demon laugh and squirm.

“Hahahaha!  No fair!  You know I’m ticklish!”  Beel exclaimed.

“Yes I do,” Yuki again teased then leaned in to kiss the demon on the cheek.  He blushed a little but smiled all the same.  “Now, are you gonna gush all day or are you gonna eat?”

She got her question answered pretty quickly when Beel parked himself directly before the Gigadeath burgers and proceeded to chow down.  These burgers weren’t small.  They were actually quite generously sized and still, Beel tore through the burgers in seconds.  Nothing was too large for the embodiment of gluttony, which is probably why this lunch costed so much.

But for Yuki, it was worth every penny to see Beel's face light up like the sun when he ate.

It was even brighter than Yuki’s cheeks were getting, seeing her boyfriend pig out with such fervor.  Her eyes were fixated on Beel’s fangs tearing through each large burger, and watching his throat bulge out with every gulp he took.  There was something about the sights and sounds that just turned her on.  But nothing more so than Beel’s stomach or the impact such an immensely large banquet of burgers would have on it.

Yuki could never get enough of Beel’s abs.  Whenever the two were alone, be it sitting on the couch or cuddling in bed together, she would always lift Beel’s shirt up, if he had one on, and rub his belly.  And Beel would become like a docile puppy every single time.  And that was generally when it was either empty or slightly full.

Beel never went without food in his stomach for more than an hour.  Just because he was more jacked than any demon Yuki had seen in school didn’t change the fact that the demon was still the embodiment of gluttony.  Meaning often times, when Yuki had her hands on him, Beel’s stomach wasn’t usually as rock hard or trim.

Case in point, Beel’s stomach was already getting rounder from his meal.  He’d devoured so many Gigadeath burgers so quickly that his stomach had grown bloated under his tighter shirt.  So bloated in fact that his shirt started to ride up his stomach a little.  But Beel just kept on pigging out, downing burger upon burger without any signals of fullness.  Beel just kept on eating enough to feed every one of his older siblings enough to knock each one out ten times over.

And the fuller Beel’s stomach became, the more Yuki squirmed and blushed at the sight of it.  She was already biting her lip with anticipation.  It only continued to expand with each burger Beel consumed.  A few bites and the whole thing was swallowed down his throat and filling his belly up.  It gurgled even louder than when it was empty, since Beel’s digestive system worked faster the fuller it was.  But because he ate so much so fast it still took a while, even in overdrive.

Beel’s shirt just continued riding up and revealing more and more of his rounded belly to an increasingly attracted Yuki.  By the time Beel was finally finished, he had to unbutton his pants.  And in doing so, his bloated belly quickly filled the space, sticking out even more and unzipping enough of his pants that his boxers would be revealed if he weren’t so bloated.  Yuki was weak in the knees at the sight of her boyfriend so unbelievably stuffed.

Satisfied with his meal, Beel gave his belly a pat and let out a huge burp.  None of the demons could belch the way Beel could.  Yuki would swear to the devil below that Beel’s burps were so strong that she could always feel a slight rattle in the ground anytime he let one out.  Being the demonic personification of gluttony probably had that effect, even if that personification was the most attractive young man Yuki had ever laid eyes on.

Beel sighed contently and rubbed his bloated stomach with satisfaction.  “Man, I’m stuffed,” Beel said then tilted his head curiously.  “Think we got any fried scorpion tails left?”

Yuki giggled and shook her head.  “You ate all of them in the morning before class.”

“Oh yeah.”

She rolled her eyes but quickly felt her heart skip a beat when Beel stood up and stretched his back, making his rounded stomach stick out, practically in her face.  As Beel stretched, he burped deeply.  Then immediately placed his hand against his belly and ushered another massive belch that was displaced from his movements.  If any more blood rushed to Yuki’s face from that, it would be shooting out of her nose at this rate.  Beel knew what he was doing.  He winked at his girlfriend and pointed his head towards the couch.

There, the two sat, with Beel on the edge of the couch and Yuki right up against Beel.  The side of her face was rested squarely against his rounded belly, which she rubbed all over.  Her hands traveled up and down the warm, tight and bloated flesh.  They roamed up to the higher crest of Beel��s stomach, even caressing his broad, toned chest.  Then they drifted down to Beel’s underbelly, sensually stroking it while Beel leaned back and hummed happily with his eyes closed.

“Mmmm, feels nice,” he all but purred.

Yuki nodded in agreement, nuzzling her head against Beel’s bloated belly like a cat would to their owner.  His stomach was taut as a drum.  Even for as bloated as it was, his sheer muscular body retained its tightness even in overstuffed fullness.  Yuki knew she wouldn’t get to enjoy Beel’s ballooned belly for long since it would be maybe an hour at most before his stomachs hyperactive digestive tract did its thing.  But until that hour had passed, she was determined to enjoy his belly for all it was worth. 

Yuki ran her hands all over Beel’s round stomach.  Up and down, side to side, she couldn’t keep her hands away.  Beel was loving every second of it.  So was his stomach, judging by the bubbling it made.  It turned into a more intense gurgling, but Beel remedied that by thumping his broad chest and expelling another deep burp.  With Yuki practically hugging his belly, it made every part of her body rattle with him.

“Tch, weak,” Beel expressed his dissatisfaction.  He gave his belly a few pats, making Yuki swoon with the audible thump each pat made.  Then eventually, he burped again, louder this time.  But still, even after that, Beel looked dismayed.  “C’mon,” he whined.

Getting an idea, Yuki stood up from the couch and knelt down before Beel, placing both of her hands square into the middle of Beel’s rounded stomach.  Catching on, Beel grinned then started gulping down some air.  Yuki could hear an audible gurgle from his throat with each gulp of oxygen he took in.  She could also feel his belly swell a little from the circulation of air now filling Beel up.  He gulped and gulped until he looked a little uncomfortable.

But when his belly bubbled aggressively from the surplus of air, Yuki grinned and leaned all her bodyweight into pressing down against Beel’s stomach.  In an instant, all that air got pushed back up Beel’s throat along with the gas pocket that was stuck in Beel’s belly.  Beel threw his head back and expelled a colossal, bone-rattling belch so loud and so powerful that not only would Yuki bet her life everyone in the dorm heard it, she’d swear they probably mistook it for an earthquake.

Beel slumped back in the couch again, relieved.  Yuki leaned down and gave Beel’s belly a few pats then swooned at the thump those pats made.  “Good one,” she said in an embarrassingly flustered voice.

But Beel just smacked his lips and hugged his girlfriend right up against his belly.  “Yeah it was.  Think I made room for dessert with that one.”  He looked down at Yuki and licked his lips.  “And I did say you were sweet enough to eat.”

Yuki’s heart pounded in her chest at Beel’s words.  She was far more excited than she cared to let on.

Which Beel was counting on, because that sultry look in his eyes was replaced with an amused glimmer when he laughed childishly.  “Just kidding!  Jeez, ya should’a seen your face, Yuki!”  But fortunately for her, he placed his finger under her chin and brought it up to plant his lips onto hers.  After kissing her passionately, he pulled away and smiled softly.  “You are sweet though, babe.”

“You do remind me every six seconds,” Yuki said, making her boyfriend laugh some more.

“That’s just me reminding myself that someone so sweet actually likes me,” Beel admitted earnestly.

Yuki smiled back and this time it was her turn to kiss him.  “Good, don’t you ever forget it.”  And before long, she was right back to rubbing Beel’s belly.  The young demon smiled a new kind of gentler satisfaction and leaned back, resting his arm lovingly against Yuki’s back while she massaged his rounded stomach.

Their love was weird, but it was as real as it got.

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Chapter 149 Review: Ambush

Story:  The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Operation Sundew, that ad hoc plan of the cadres to simply kill the heroes by virtue of outlasting them, is well underway.  It looks to be reaching its inevitable conclusion with Homeless Emperor joining the fray to give Golden Sperm a hand.  Vomited Fuhrer Ugly is considered surplus to their requirements - the hobo thrashes him soundly and the monster crawls off in search of tastier prey, like Bang. 

Golden Sperm has a lot of fun knocking Darkshine around, first mocking the guy, then punching his lights out.  Speaking of lights, Homeless Emperor showers the swordsmen with fireballs, not caring that Iaian and Spring Mustachio appear to be able to deflect them with their swords. They can’t attack him and eventually, they’ll be too tired to move.  He can wait.

The remaining unfused Black Sperms are also busy.  A detachment of ten thousand watch over Vomited Fuhrer Ugly, determined to ensure the monster can’t feed and so dries up and dies.  They get a little interrupted by Metal Bat’s arrival.  Next time just answer the hero’s question.   Another lot have been busy wearing down Tatsumaki and Genos and eventually they overcome them.

While that’s going on, we get a scene of Child Emperor sending a desperate text message to Metal Knight, reviewing the situation and reflecting that he’s unlikely to survive this.  He pleads with Metal Knight to come through for the heroes, if not as the hero Metal Knight, then as the man Dr Bofoi.  Fortunately, he’s not left to suffocate in his little prison.  Puri Puri shows up as an only semi-welcome savior.  But saved’s saved so phew!

Up above ground, we see that the Black Sperms have won and have surrounded Genos as he tries to drag Tatsumaki to some semblance of safety...with his teeth.  As they close round and mock him, they hear a ‘BA-DUM, BA-DUM, BA-DUM’ sound resonating through the darkness and look up to see...

...King!   King has finally made a stand and even as we know that his heart thuds so loudly from pure terror,  he does cut a most impressive figure, which is a great place to leave off on.

Here to save the day... probably. Possibly. Actually why is this happening to him again? He doesn’t know what he’s going to do. But he looks good doing it!

Meta below the cut

Meta: The Chickens Aren’t Roosting Yet, But They Are Circling

(bonus points to someone who points out that chickens don’t fly well enough to circle anything)

What’s the good of a strong spirit if the body can’t keep up?

That question from Bakuma keeps coming back.  This chapter apposes two characters to show us just what the difference is.  Relatively lightly injured (surprisingly, his wounds look to be skin-deep after all) is Superalloy Darkshine.  It has got to hurt. However the way he has completely collapsed into a snivelling mess is difficult to read.  As a person who built himself up by comparing himself to others, the sight of Golden Sperm’s shininess and musclature seems to have provoked one of the worst breakdowns we’ve seen on One-Punch Man.

It’s so bad that Golden Sperm’s taunts just have the air of truth bombs rather than mere disparagement.  Telling him that he has no business to call himself an S-Class hero if even light injury is enough to make him cry and want to run away is just the truth.

nothing about this panel is okay to me

Superalloy is a nice guy but going into heroism to feel good about yourself is entirely the wrong way to approach it.  And the veneer has come off, literally.

And on the other side, with a spirit that far exceeds his body’s capacity to contain it, we have Genos.  Fighting with everything he has, even repurposing his torn-off arms to fight independently alongside him.  Even without a hope of success, Genos isn’t quitting. Watching him drag the broken, bleeding Tatsumaki by his teeth, one can’t help but admire his grit; as long as there’s anything he can do, he’s doing it.  I was a little surprised at the fact that he kept both his promises to Fubuki -- first, not to use his full power lest he overheat again and second, to be there for Tatsumaki no matter what.  But I shouldn’t have been surprirsed -- keeping his promises is core to Genos. He’d be breaking faith with himself if he reneged on one.

It’s an ugly situation all round, but there’s no comparison as to who is the better hero here.

I just clocked the gouge marks in the rock by Tatsumaki... damn, Genos has dragged her quite a ways. Painful.

Fuck masters, I guess

OPM looks to have declared open season on masters.  Choose: do you want your master/mentor/teacher/benefactor to die horribly, or do you want them to be fine but not be able to stand the sight of you?

Just sticking with the manga, over on one side, we have Atomic Samurai and Spring Mustachio bewailing over Option 1.  Over on the other side of the battlefield, Bang and Garou are slugging it out over Option 2.

And down in a hole, over one text message. Heck over one screen, we see that something went badly wrong in the previously close relationship that existed between Dr Bofoi and his one-time assistant who would become the hero Child Emperor.   To think that their last text conversation were Bofoi asking Child Emperor to bring junk food along with him... a year ago.   Just like that, that hit me in the feels.  As well as piquing my curiosity as to what went wrong at that fateful last visit that reduced the two to talking only professionally.

this has to be one of the top ten saddest panels in the series, made sadder by our knowledge that Bofoi will almost certainly leave it on read.

Speaking of student-teacher relationships yet to be exploded, we’re due to see what’s between Psykos and Fubuki within this particular story.  Whether it has much to do with the webcomic, I don’t care. Just gimme! 

The best defense may be a good offense, but a good bluff is the next best thing.

I am so glad that King made a positive decision in the manga to bluff as long as he could in the faith that Saitama will eventually appear.  I did like the accidental version of the face off he had in the webcomic.  I am very curious to see what happens when he does so deliberately.

Moving on

We still don’t know what’s happened to Zombieman and Amai Mask, but it all looks like the promised grand synthesis of all these disparate struggles is going to be delivered on.

[joezworld]

Bismuth

Bismuth - a harmless metal when consumed by humans, is known to have significant hallucinatory effects when introduced to a mechanobiological system such as a locomotive. 

Due to its non-fuel state, non-intentional bismuth contamination is rare, but has been known to occur, especially in instances when impurities from lead refining, which include bismuth, are introduced to locomotive fuel sources such as open coal bins or wood piles. 

Introduction to diesel locomotives is more complicated, and typically involves being within close proximity to steam locomotive that is burning bismuth-contaminated fuels, at which point the aerosolized mineral can enter their air intake systems. In some cases, fuel contamination can occur, however most known instances of fuel contamination have involved intentional dosing of fuel stocks with either bismuth or bismuth-derived pharmaceuticals (BDP). 

The stomach-settling use of bismuth in humans has meant that most locomotive contaminations occur after a well meaning relative or friend introduces a BDP such as Pepto-Bismol into the locomotive’s fuel or water system. 

Of course, intentional/recreational ingestion is a known activity, however all reputable sources (J. Small Berries et al) indicate that the hallucinatory events are notable in their inconsistency. The resulting "bad trips" often deter repeat usage.

- An excerpt from: The ABCs of Locomotive Health Care (10th ed., 1984) - J. Bigbooté, J. Whorfin; Yoyodyne Publishing Laboratories, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. 

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

April, 2000

Nobody’s quite sure how the bismuth got into Sodor - presumably it arrived in the shipment of coal from the mainland. The railway bought coal from a broker in London, and their usual shipment of high-quality coal had been lost - quite literally, as nobody could find it -  and therefore the broker had scrambled to find more. A Polish metal refinery was found to have some surplus coal, and it was sent on without informing anyone on Sodor of the change. 

It arrived at Tidmouth docks on a cargo ship and was promptly sent out to the big stations across the network - Wellsworth, Knapford, Tidmouth, Barrow, and Crovan’s Gate. 

The coal trains ran late at night so as to not be in the way, and it meant that most engines would take on the new coal around midday, as the last of the old stocks in the coaling stages was used up. 

It took about an hour or so for the last of the old coal in the engine’s tenders to be used up if they were working hard. 

This meant that, as the engines rested in the yards after their noon trains, a lot of things started happening...

--

Tidmouth

Mid-sentence, Gordon’s eyes began to roll into the back of his smokebox. He was still speaking, but he slowly began to stop producing any intelligible sounds. His words turned into a mushy babel of slurred syllables and stuttering clicks as the men began frantically wondering if a locomotive could have a stroke. 

Nearby, Thomas giggled dreamily. The pretty pink unicorns that had suddenly appeared on his bufferbeam were prancing about in a most amusing fashion. 

---------

Crovan’s Gate

Percy had been undergoing a pressure test when his smoke started turning yellow. 

The men had dropped his fire and immediately began an inspection, but not before Wendell was totally enveloped in the thick yellow cloud.

Percy felt like his boiler was inflating and inflating, as though the pressure test would never stop. The men eventually stopped what they were doing as he began ranting and raving about being turned into a zeppelin. 

On the other side of the workshop, Wendell was speaking in hushed, manic tones to no-one. Whoever this “Lion” was seemed to be quite concerned for his wellbeing, even if he thought that they were overreacting. 

--------

Arlesburgh

The evil diesels were after him, he was sure of it. Look! There was one there! And another! And another! 

Well not today! Try and catch this example of Great Western Metal!

The men slowly backed away as Oliver ranted and raved at absolutely nothing. Duck and the Scottish twins watched from a safe distance, and decided not to get involved. 

-------

Barrow Sheds

James was past being concerned about the yellow smoke - the little pixies fluttering around his smokebox said that he didn’t have anything to worry about at all. 

Delta, sitting next to him in the cloud of yellow smoke, was much more concerned, but not about the smoke itself. 

"Jamie, something's wrong."

"What makes you say that?

"I can hear Jefferson Airplane.”

"What's Jefferson Airplane?"

"I don’t know."

-------

Barrow Yards

“Why are you not fixing this?! Don’t just stand there! DO SOMETHING YOU MEATBAGS!” Bear roared at the workmen from within the yellow cloud. He’d woken up deeply congested, and didn’t understand why they were saying he needed to be out of the cloud of yellow smoke - it wasn’t like he could breathe much to begin with, and Henry was in trouble and he clearly needed help and these men wouldn’t do anything!

“Holy shit Bear I can swim” Henry said from whatever la-la-land state he was in. 

“That’s nice dear, NOW ONE OF YOU FIX HIM OR I’LL KILL ALL YOU STARTING WITH THE WEAK ONES!”

On the other side of the yard, the men stared at the Hymek, which was bellowing and screaming at a staffing agency billboard on the side of the tracks while Henry belched yellow smoke over the both of them. 

-------

Wellsworth

The rails had turned to jelly some time ago. The crossties had begun speaking in the language of the beast. The sky was a deep blood-gray, and the clouds wept for their lost raindrops. The engine watched as his smoke curled away into letters of an unknown alphabet. He was concerned as to how the menaces had managed this, but he wasn’t going to let them win by acknowledging that anything was wrong. 

If he concentrated hard enough, he could just make out the signal aspects behind a curtain of iridescent sounds. That was a little bit too dangerous in his opinion, and he resolved to inform the twins that their pranks should not involve signals. 

Across the yard, Bill, Ben, and BoCo watched in horror as Edward puffed out of the yard. His pupils were two different sizes, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, he was mumbling and chittering in an indescribable fashion, and his smoke was thick and turning a worrying shade of yellow. 

But he was still pulling his train as though nothing was wrong. 

-------

Farquhar

The apocalyptic wasteland spread out on all sides. The sun burned and burned until the land was scorched to a godforsaken ash. The river Els was filled with blood. Roving gangs of madmen patrolled the ruins - their war machines littered with the bones of their victims.

Mad Tobias the Brown, last of the North Shed, protector of the Anopha Stone, keeper of the soul of Saint Pedroc, guardian of the survivors, rattled through the wastes with his precious cargo of human lives.

A cry rose up from his faithful warrior bride Henrietta as she sighted a roving gang approach from the south. Their war wagon was the converted husk of an old railcar that he once called a friend, but that was long ago. Now she was merely a convenient vessel for the beasts.

The war music sounded in the distance, and he set off - a confrontation was inadvisable with his charges aboard. His smoke scudded off to one side in the stiff wind as he charged - he would have to pass them at the old loop if he wished to be avoid being trapped in the Stone Mountain, and speed was key to avoid their wicked bone hand-and-a-halves.

As he approached, he bellowed a warning cry to intimate his foe. The corpse of the railcar stared back at him in a rictus grin, but its crew recoiled - as one should when facing off against him.

-

Daisy and her crew watched in amazement as Toby and Henrietta, wreathed in sickly yellow smoke, roared towards them with the midday workmen's train. They screamed through the passing loop and disappeared into the distance, incomprehensible epithets trailing in their wake.

-

Inside his cab, Toby's driver had long since given up trying to stop his engine, and was now trying to reign him in so that he didn’t come off the tracks before the fireman could finish dumping the fire.

-

Inside Henrietta, the guard pulled back on the handbrake so hard that the lever came off in his hand. It didn't work.

Terrified workmen bashed at the radio with their lunch pails, trying to make the Norwegian Death Metal stop playing, but it was no use. The radio kept bellowing out tunes even after its faceplate was smashed in, and began to get even louder.

-

Toby was eventually brought to a stop near the Kyndley family's home, but Mad Tobias the Brown didn't stop yelling until the last of the coal ash was cleared from his smoke box three hours later.

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

It took most of the day for the bismuth to work itself out of everyone's systems. Nobody at the railroad was quite sure what was wrong, but considering the dull yellow smoke, it was easy to guess that the coal was bad.

The broker was summoned to the island, and when he admitted that the coal was from a random colliery in Poland instead of the high quality American anthracite that the railroad had paid for, he was quickly sent packing - along with the coal!

A new coal merchant was found, and an emergency supply was bought locally to cover the gap, bringing the saga to an end.

Nobody likes to talk about it - except Daisy, who has no trouble mentioning the tale of Mad Tobias the Brown whenever she wants to bring Toby down a peg!