#i think the funniest part is how this still ties into the rest of the kresnik family with the whole

[kresnikcest]

torn between yandere elle being dressed in a cool suit which adds to her being secretly unhinged bc i always find manipulative girls in suits to be fun versus her being dressed as literally Some Girl™ who just wants normal eighteen year old things like *checks fanfic notes* imprisoning and mind wiping her 相棒 who's thought her dead for ten years so he doesn't remember that he got married and had a whole entire child he's killed for

[sscrubberhose]

Ya got any dialtown headcanons? :3

hooo boy. ive been chewing on this all day and I think i have a decent amount to say!

Spoilers for Dialtown!

Tw for mentions of suicidal ideation and religious guilt

Phone/Typegingi:

-Is aware of everything that happens in my fics but forgets

-is more aware of how people perceive them than people give them credit for, wants to make everyone happy

-has a strong fear of being alone, which is why they bother people so relentlessly. if they were to be fully ignored for an extended period of time they would have a breakdown

-Has both the phone and the typewriter head and can change them out at will, dont ask where they keep them.

-has bitten theoroar many, many times and will do so again. is even more fearful and hateful of him after the zoo explosion

-has a lot of love to give and genuinely prefers being around their friends

-has a level of intelligence that is genuinely sort of surprising sometimes. this intelligence is used at random

-is surprisingly easy and hard to kill at the same time

-the narrator is actually a separate entity to them who cares about them very much

-seems to be passively suicidal but no one can tell if theyre joking or not

-roger rabbit rules, whatever biology is funniest is what they have

-perceived height changes based off of this rule as well. no one notices.

-breaks into town hall once a month for funsies

-enjoys sweet things quite a bit

-autistic beast

Randy:

-is actually a decent cartoonist, but rarely draws due to hand pain. likes drawing gingi and oliver the most

-has a lot of religious guilt due to growing up catholic with a very very strict, religious father, left home as soon as he could. also why he is afraid to talk to God.(hobo)

-father harped on him his entire childhood about being a burden, now feels that he owes the world for existing. this is slowly healing.

-due to his upbringing hes still learning how to function as an adult, i.e cleaning, cooking for himself, things like that. hes working on it!

-has sensory issues, has ASD

-fear of cgi animals comes from having to watch weird religious propaganda films for kids when he was young. he is getting over it thanks to oliver.

-extremely observant and notices things a lot of people don't, but usually doesnt say anything for fear of being annoying

-knows shooty and stabby on a first name basis(not that he knows whos who)

-sees Norm as a father figure but would never admit that

-has a long list of phobias that hes working on recovering from, but is too nervous to go to therapy for

-has a LOT of plushies in the ticket booth that Oliver and Gingi have given him, refuses to get rid of any of them

-taking the bandage off wont instantly kill him, he doesn't know this.

-can skateboard, does not do this often

-gets sick very easily, has to be forced to rest as he tries to insist hes not sick

-is roommates with Oliver, they have a bunk bed

-got his number changed so the hotline wasnt tied to him anymore

-is actually a good singer, never sings due to thinking he sucks. Will hum to himself while working at the ticket booth

Karen;

-Has actually gotten fairly close to the other datables since the conclusion of the game, doesnt know how to express this

-Visits Dialtown for a few months out of the year to catch up and spend time with her friends

-part of her contract with helping rebuild was better wages for those who worked at the bank. It took a lot of arguing but she felt that no one should suffer like she did.

-expresses her love for her friends by making them ponysonas. Is a huge pegasister. will infodump about it for hours to anyone who will listen

-enjoys botanical illustrations the best, next to drawing horses

-draws horses with normal horse heads as a form of abstraction

-puts capsaicin oil in her paints so Gingi will stop drinking them. This did not work.

-enjoys vintage movies and game shows and talks at length with Oliver about them when they go out for coffee or dinner together.

-she and randy doodle together sometimes

-also has severe sensory issues and has safe outfits she wears. will cry if she has to touch certain fabrics. (LOOKING AT YOU CRUSHED VELVET)

-safe foods are microwave dinners and pasta, but she keeps her diet balanced.

-her and Norm get along now and will sometimes go for hikes and chat about life(and ways to wrangle gingi)

-allergic to shrimps

-can play piano

Oliver:

-Got a new therapist who doesnt think hes weird or annoying(it didnt phase him but thats not groovy to say to someone)

-has POTS, often needs to sit down at work so he doesnt faint.

-is a HUGE horror fan, could tell you everything about the behind the scenes of every major and minor horror movie to come out in the last decade.

-works as a haunt actor for the Dialtown Haunted House every single Halloween, wants to run it someday

-has a log of every new thing he notices about Gingis biology, the log is three books long now.

-Really wants to run a youtube channel where he does amateur ghost hunting with randy, has yet to convince randy that this is a good idea

-is very physically affectionate, though he does ask permission first before touching anyone!

-Has had top and bottom surgery and is comfortable where his transition is, thankfully his insurance under Mr. Dickens covered it! (Mingus isnt a TOTAL monster)

-has a digital scrap book of all his favorite memories with his friends

-makes rage comics unironically.

-favorite color is actually black, red just seems to be his thing!

-has been legally adopted by Mr. Dickens but decided to keep his last name as Swift because "it was rad."

-is actually friends with most of the ghosts and poltergeists that live in the cinema/scareshack

-kept the popcorn and soda dispensers, but got the soda dispensers to dispense SODA and not...whatever the fuck it was doing before.

-helped renovate the basement of the cinema into a haunted maze that he helped design, the theme changes once a year!

-got those unicycle lessons and knows how to juggle as well!

-likes rollerskating, has Heelys on all the time

-allergic to peanuts

-can play guitar

Norm:

-Is aware that Gingi sees the face on the sticky note change and thinks its sort of funny

-Is actually good friends with God and the two go out to lunch once or twice a month

-enjoys fishing and will take Randy and Oliver on fishing trips, Gingi usually follows regardless of invite.

-Sees himself as a father figure to most of the dateables, and is willing to fill in that role.

-apologized to Karen for his behavior by baking her fresh bread. is actually an extremely good cook

-irises and pupils are both void black due to exposure to the wormhole. He has not noticed this. Eyes used to be honey brown.

-Has to stop Mingus from doing a new evil scheme once a month, has a spray bottle for this purpose.

-does actually have other outfits for when the space suit needs to be washed, is never seen outside the house when this happens

-Oliver, Karen, and Randy have seen his real face, they were like "cool" as Gingi is just...far weirder.

-i imagine him as strawberry blonde. Short hair, either buzz cut or just short. maybe some stubble. I dont have a good image of what his face looks like, it is just bag to me

-not great at public speaking but REALLY good at pretending to be

-is actually very good at using technology but will sometimes pretend not to be just to tease Oliver.(it works every time)

-can also play guitar

Bigfoot:

-...no.

-okay okay i have one. You could use his fur to make yarn IF you washed it. You will never be able to get close enough to brush him though.

Misc headcanons:

-heads can be repurposed after death, like cadaver bones!

-the more popular headtype for modern business men and women is a laptop

-after what happened to Callum Crown, the answering machines function was completely separated from memory storage

-Snakes have syringes for heads

-peter and his wife are poly and want roger to be their third, but roger is as dense as a brick and peters too formal to just say it out loud.

-Harry and Jack are a couple in this universe, Jack is just a very odd boss to work for regardless

-Billy is Abel's kid. The mother is unknown. probably a one night stand.

-the swans miss randy :(

-there are a few headtypes that are banned for various reasons, one of which is having a megaphone AS your head.

-Roger is autistic and has a stutter, and sometimes has to use ASL to communicate. Peter knows ASL for this reason

-The Narrator could talk to the others, but only if it was an emergency

-all Dialtown OCs are canon. theyre in town somewhere, having fun and living their lives!

-Dialtown is bigger than shown in game, including the town square which has a fountain and a park surrounding it, as well as a skate park, rec center, arcade, a pizza place, etc.

-all the dateables have met satan at least once, they just didnt know thats who that was

-shooty and stabby are dating, theyre just very bromance about it. good for them...

-rotery phone heads are coming back in fashion as a sort of 'retro' vibe.

-getting prosthetics/emergency plastic surgery and medical care is actually quite accessible.

-jerry and his wife come visit dialtown every christmas soley so that gingi doesnt run all the way out there to visit them and get hopelessly lost. theyre doing quite well!

-there are competent members of the dialtown mob but they dont really do much other than hang out at the bar

if i think of anymore Ill let you know!! thanks for askin!

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 26: Zurich Part 1

At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to do this one, because I usually listen to Zurich 1 and 2 sequentially, usually when I have a long train/car ride back from something shitty and need to smile. But then I realized that this could be my first time listening to them separately since that first time almost exactly nine years ago, and I knew I needed to do it.

That time was pretty crazy- I was traveling abroad and my time zone was ahead of the UK, and where I was staying there was only one room that had internet access, so I had to sneak down there past security in the middle of the night to listen to the first new Cabin Pressure episode in almost two years... two nights in a row! But it was worth it to open up BBC Sounds and just bask in it, while making as little noise as possible so nobody would know I was there. Ah, memories.

And of course, it was so worth it! Incidentally, I don't know if other people remember this but they actually released an advance clip beforehand, which was when Arthur shows up in the new "ice cream van." I don't remember if it was the FULL clip, but it definitely had him showing up and definitely had the ice cream chimes. I remember laughing myself sick at that, while also wondering what they were thinking releasing the funniest part of the episode beforehand, because wouldn't it take away from the obviously less-funny rest of the episode? Obviously, though, I had nothing to worry about.

You might be wondering why I'm just sitting here rambling about what I remember from 2014, and the answer is, to a certain degree, that John Finnemore kind of already did the definitive writeup of Zurich in his Farewell Bear Fact here. I've cited it here before, because it's just that critical. At a certain point, going too much into character arcs and motivations would just be me rehashing what he said, but worse.

That said, I definitely have some of my own comments, like how without listening to Yverdon and Zurich 1 in a row (which I basically never do), I'd forgotten that the pre-credits scene in Zurich is basically just a lesser version of the ending scene in Yverdon... I get that unless they wanted to commit to Arthur having an allergic reaction throughout the scene they couldn't just repeat it, but I'm still a bit sad we lost Arthur's thing about being a hotel guy. That said, transferring the scene over and reinterpreting it was done beautifully, and I love how Theresa showed up right at the key moment, not only for plot reasons (so that Martin needed to admit for real that he had the job) but because having her there as well really differentiated this scene from the prior one.

(I also want to say, my single favorite joke on this whole fucking show is in this episode, and it is "like in Casablanca, where the woman gets to go on the plane.")

The wait from Yverdon had, of course, been agonizing by the time we all (and by "we" I mean all of us but the lucky bastards who saw the recording) listened to it, and I remembered wondering how they were going to handle it- and was both surprised and delighted that Martin's attempted subterfuge was revealed immediately. It had felt like a cliffhanger for the sake of a cliffhanger- and of course, to a degree, it was (if JF hadn't wanted one he wouldn't have written one) and keeping didn't feel sustainable, which indeed it wasn't. And in general, the kind of farce that comes from keeping secrets isn't usually my favorite kind of comedy, which is a bit funny considering how much I love Frasier but I digress. So when everything was out in the open and they all just had to move on and deal with it, that was like a breath of fresh air.

And I LOVE how JF made this episode remarkably self contained! We'll see tomorrow in Part 2 that there are lots of dangling threads just begging to be tied up, but the episode is still utterly enjoyable on its own terms. I've seen/heard/read Part 1s that feel like they're just set up, but here everything is funny, sweet, heartwarming in its own right, even without Part 2 to provide the finishing touches. If the last we'd gotten of the Carolyn/Herc relationship had been her allowing him to say that he loves her because it's a special occasion, it would have been a basically fitting send off, even if what we'll end up getting in Part 2 is better. And of course the auction scene is perfectly self contained and hilarious, just amazing. (Though I have to say, a British radio comedy writer having GERTI as "lot 42" is possibly a trifle on the nose, but hey, everyone does it, why shouldn't he be able to...)

I'll admit that the first time I listened to this episode I thought that Douglas was serious about trying to get Gordon to sell the plane to Carolyn (for decent motives), right up until he explained his plan. Now relistening I'm not sure why I ever thought that, it makes zero sense in the context of the broader story and the characters. It was, of course, so much more exciting to me to realize that they were about to embark on a mission to go steal GERTI back.

[sofyflora98]

You dont have to answer if you dont want. But i stumbled upon an old post about Mu Qing up holding classism and that its Hua Cheng should be the face for it and i just felt conflicted? I tried to be open minded. And the big example they used is him kicking out of the army which imo kinda odd… to say.. But its combined with the fact Mu Qing called Hua Cheng a liar and he obviously didnt want Hua Cheng tagging along and he let Feng Xin with a broken arm carrying Hua Cheng . tbh, im fine with open intrepretation of that.

We all know Mu Qing doesnt have soft personality and hes prickly. I definitely do think in that liar scene, i saw it more as Mu Qing just being truthful than empathatic as he analyze the situation which i guess fine, MQ theres obviously time and place for that as hes scared and dirty. But even if his family condition was bad, based on how someone fixed up his clothes he could have thought he might at least have another person who does care which was why he even mentioned it in the first place. Anything is possible after all. Although, i did get confused whether did he know the info background on him because XL did overhear the mean things the kids yell at him about him being kicked our. Anyways, it wasnt as he was like no this kid cant stay. Unless theres a line that i missed. And he did try to carry Hong Er but hong er wouldnt let him which he did show hesitation to do it or not afterwards.

And how i view the army situation is even though it is indeed that youth dying rate is higher in war and Hua Cheng did die lol. But its also mixed with Mu Qing’s need to not want to be replaced. This man’s mind never rest lol. Which i get it. Hes very interesting for that. After all, his core character is all about being a survivor. But to say that he upholds classism is fucking deranged. Like Guoshi is right there for ruining his mortal life lol. Funny enough, they certainly dont mention about Feng xin (though hes in rage as Mq was frustrated and being rude with xl but still that was uncalled for) who reminded him to know his place. I brought FX up because in one of the comments of that post they were saying at least FX acted with good will. Lol okay. We definitely can see you not being genuine about the topic. At least be consistent.

And Hua Cheng beats classism by creating another system of his own? ive seen people say its different in ghost City as its really based on mutual beneficial agreement and all especially with Yin Yu. But my guy…. ..you mean him as the King? Bruh its not as simple as that 😭 The heaven is indeed full of classist Gods which is why they look down on LW and MQ and QYZ. But the system to get there isnt, as long as you have the abilities, hard work and luck. Idk like feel free to talk about Hua Cheng overcoming society classism and rise to the top and all. But i find that answer to be so simplisitic and not well thought out?

Also he isnt mentioned alot with that Topic because his narrative isnt strongly focused on that??? Its very clear hes about devotion to his God and the strength he does to be the best so he can take care of Xie Lian. And hes the main character too at that 😭 take it up with MXTX for making Mu Qing a side character, story to strongly ties around it. His insecurity is because of that too.

And the funniest part imo is to Hua Cheng, his insecurity is his appearance - i mean u can still make an argument that is rooted in him being born under a bad star and the classism that he faces over it. But still. Similar at its core but different hurt.

Anywyas, idk i feel the argument is just so???? I just need to rant lol

But how do you feel about the revision on him kicking out Hong’er because of guoshi words thaf hes a misfortune that will bring bad luck to XL? That i would like to know.

I think I know what post you're talking about, and I agree with you. The argument that Hua Cheng is the one who "fought" classism and that Mu Qing is upholding in it doesn't stand, in my opinion. First of all, because Hua Cheng's supposed victory over classism doesn't even take place in the world of the living, and Ghost City is everything but an egalitarian place. Which isn't his fault, of course, because a single person cannot change the world. Then, again, his plot in the novel doesn't mainly revolve around classism the same way Mu Qing's does. I'd say that his plot is more about marginalisation and abuse, even if social class was obviously a fundamental part of his condition.

Regarding Mu Qing, literally, unless he somehow became a revolutionary leader, what could he even do? He had one chance to get away from misery and he took it. Gods are not allowed to interfere with the mortal world more than what concerns their duties toward their worshippers. The heavens are a classist world, because they reflect the human world, since all gods used to be human, but I see no instance where Mu Qing even remotely upheld classism. A good part of his lines are specifically to complain about how others are classist, so it really doesn't make any sense. I think that the issue of Hong'er being kicked out of the army has an ambiguity, and the desire to keep a child (who by the way didn't have the age to be in the army) far from war, and his fear of being replaced and possible jealousy, coexist. Human emotions aren't a mono-dimensional thing.

I don't really have an opinion about the revised version, but having read the first version years ago, I'm more attached to it.

[borom1r]

hmmm 3, 5, 6, 11, 14, 20, 22, 26, 38, 40 for the fun questions meme <3

ooooooo ok these’ll b inchresting :3

3- 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

th lotr trilogy (duh), I Saw the TV Glow, The Last Unicorn :3

5- what made you start your blog?

THIS blog? suicide bait on my old blog :3

tumblr in general? a friend showed it to me in high school n i made one n my life was irreversibly changed lmfao

6- what’s the best and worst part of being online/a creator?

ATTENTION. double edged sword. like ok i try not to let myself care abt attention and try to be rlly careful now abt who i interact with but at the same time it rlly is validating when things Get Attention. some of my favorite fics have little to no engagement :( n like yea its not healthy to create FOR engagement (fast track 2 burnout) but its also like very disheartening to put time n effort n passion into sth only for it to fizzle out in the void

but whatever. ill make weird art forever

11- what do you consider to be romance?

THIS IS SO FUNNY 2 GET bc soooo much recently has made me reevaluate like. how I perceive this lollllll

anyways short answer: idfk man!!!!!!! close friendships n romance r incredibly cloudy in my mind cuz ive got a bad case of dogbrain!!

long answer is i just don’t quantify that stuff the way neurotypical ppl do :3 ties into th autism + nonhumanity. i also think cis ppl being attracted to me is gross lol. ideal romance for me is bein held n tended to like a noble knight tends their sword. I feel love like a dog feels abt their human!!! dogbrained!!! romance is being a guard dog, being a Really Good Boy but just soooo disconnected from like. idk allosexual/neurotypical quantifiers of “romance” for me lol

+ i don’t use th label rlly but im def somewhere on th ace spectrum lol like physical intimacy is only rlly “safe” conceptually when its completely disconnected from th realm of possibility. like thirsting over celebrities or like th knight i have a crush on. + cis ppl desiring me is rlly like.. ew 😒 don’t look @ me anymore man

14- what’s something you’ve always wanted to do but maybe been to scared to do?

UM. funnily enough im gonna do th Big Thing this summer :3 im going 2 th renaissance festival shirtless this year now tht im post op

s’gonna be scary showin off my scars but i rlly wanna go all out n celebrate finally havin top surgery. like im alive!! despite everything im alive n im happy ^_^ so cis people be damned, im gonna run around like a lil wolfguy for the first weekend!!!!!

20- favourite things about the night?

i love the moon :3

i also love how still n quiet things get

22- say 3 things about someone you love

ITS SO BRAVE!!!!!!!!! ITS LITERALLY THE FUNNIEST GUY I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO PROUD OF IT FOR HOW MUCH WORK IT DOES TO BETTER OUR COMMUNITY N PROUD OF IT FOR PURSUING TRANSITION + CANT WAIT TO SHARE MORE TRANS JOY W/ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(hiiiiiii Ly hehe!!)

26- fave colour and why?

when i was a kid my favorite colors were neon yellow n neon pink :3 they still kinda are but now i usually stick to like lime green or bright red paired w black. forest green + dark blue r gr8 too

38- fave song at the moment?

DONT ASK ME TO PICK JUST ONE???????

here r some I’ve had on loop lately: Far Away (Roadside Ghost), Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl (Broken Social Scene), I’m Already Gone (Baroness), Sex for Homework (MSI)

40- any bad habits?

oh yea i have dermatillomania lol

it doesn’t rlly bother me to talk abt bc i think “gross” stuff like that deserves to be less stigmatized— my shoulders n back are COVERRRRREED in little scars + scabs

[narcoticwriter]

I promise you that this is a private inside joke.

TL;DR: Of course, Ningguang is going to have good relations with Beidou.

The breakdown of why this is funny(?) can be found below:

The funniest thing about my being a casual buff of history, weird politics, and how it pertains to worldbuilding is that Liyue Harbor is an authoritarian (somewhat) militaristic & bureaucratic(?) oligarchy with a heavy social emphasis on some semblance of traditional nepotism.

What does this mean?

Authoritarian is obvious, as there is more emphasis on paying heed to the law of the land and what the Liyue Qixing says and dictates. Militaristic comes from the fact that the Millelith is regularly maintained with some of the best weaponry available (Guizhong ballistas, the Blackcliff series, etc.) and have various places within Liyue as a geographical region.

Bureaucracy is described as 'a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives', which is exactly how the Liyue Qixing functions. An oligarchy is defined as 'a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution', which is what the Liyue Qixing is at large.

So, in that sense, what does nepotism have to do with it?

I understand that you can make it up the social ladder in Liyue Harbor proper with hard work and prestige, but do not let this distract you from the fact that guilds exist. Guilds - or trade associations - are associations in which craftsmen of a similar trade can band together and advocate for the protection and furthering of their professional interests. An example of this is the Feiyun Commerce Guild, who has been in the textile industry for quite some time.

However, I'm going to be using a broader sense of this definition as well as throwing in certain clans that have certain practices. For example, the exorcising clan where Shenhe and Chongyun hail from, Yelan's obscure family line that seems to have dabbled in exorcism, Keqing's aristocratic family, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the Yun family, and it goes on.

A theme I've noticed is that the entirety of these are staying in the family, almost naturally. I use the terms 'traditional nepotism' for the reason that in the traditional economy, businesses tended to stay in the family due to cultural customs, but Liyue Harbor does not have a traditional economy. This doesn't mean that they've completely shaken it off, but they're simply too big to stick to that one completely.

An excellent example of this is the existence of the current Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, Ningguang. The fact that the rest of the Qixing had to acknowledge her business prowess and her qualifications for the job says more than enough about this shift.

And speaking of her, it seems that though she does belong to an oligarchic elite, she still has access to her business outside of public office. This applies to the rest of the Xiqing is how an oligarchy works more or less. Does it lend itself more to corruption and influence based on the variables involved? Absolutely yes. But the payoff in this circumstance is that Ningguang is still considered a private individual in the business sense.

(Note that this is also why the law in Liyue is so much of a mess when it comes to specific wording. Yanfei has used this loophole many a time and will likely continue to do so.)

So, this being the case, I would like you to keep this in mind as I talk about the next subversion to this traditional-esque economy. It has long been understated for the better part of since the game dropped how much of an achievement it is to become completely independent of the normal economic structure on which Liyue Harbor relies.

So naturally, the Crux Fleet is not only an exception but a hope for what the harbor could look like in the future, but the kicker of this? This shit is practically unheard of, but Beidou did it anyway.

Think about it for a hot second here. The society is tied up by bureaucratic oligarchs as well as guilds and other families controlling essential parts of the function and yet you have an independent business venture that is so successful, that they can do virtually whatever they want. Not only does this fleet do transports, trades, and things of that nature, but they are also an armed force that can not only hold their own, but be considered a legitimate threat. (And they also dabble in somewhat illicit/illegal activities that the law frowns upon, but morality goes into it, and yada-yada-yada I don't really care about that).

Now to go back to the beginning. Why is all of this funny to me?

Well, if I was Ningguang, owner of large private interests and oligarch of the most prosperous trade nation, I too would like to keep Beidou, the owner of a large transporting business and perhaps the largest private fleet in the world, on closer terms if not in my good graces.

And I find that to be absolutely hilarious.

[27emailsicantsend]

for the hsmtmts ask, jet!

**I started this project pre-season 4, so all answers are for season 3 and earlier**

Favorite thing about them: Honestly I love how much of a menace he was. He would be brooding at trees or calling ricky out with no remorse and it was the funniest thing ever (let's be real ricky deserved the gina lashings lmao). But then we get these two second glances of him being soft- especially with ricky- that really reflect the kristoff/sven dynamic and it just made Jet have a special place in your heart. I love characters like that: the hard shell but there is still good somewhere deep down that is shown in fragments (draco malfoy, anyone?)

Least favorite thing about them: I know it's not Jet's fault totally for outting Maddox, but I still don't love that he said something about her dating someone in the first place. Yes, they started to grow apart seemingly before this, but there is this trust they had established and Jet doing that because he was mad at his parents (and couldn't get his way) was low.

Favorite line(s):

(this is technically Kourtney but the line delivery and Jet's expression k*lled me) "he's staring at a tree, right?"

*Jet dissociating on the bunk bed while Carlos and Ricky talk openly about him*

"Basically, I, like, raised myself on YouTube" (I love this because Ricky had this connection to Jet and I can't help but wonder if this kind of reminded him of Gina)

"Are you actually this upset that I took off or is really about Gina?"

Jet: "Right. You guy are 'friends'" Ricky: "I can hear the air quotes" Jet: "Good"

Ricky: "Dude, what are you doing with your voice?" Jet: "I don't know, but it hurts"

Ricky: "I just can't believe I let Color War slip through my fingers" Jet: "you mean Gina?"

"I'm in love with the girl playing Elsa and it's eating me alive"

OTP: Jetney! 💛 (and yes because of color war their color is yellow in my head)

nOTP: Carlos’ imaginary pairing of jet and maddox (again… yikes)

brOTP: Jet and Ricky! I mentioned this earlier, but I love the fact that they resemble kristoff/sven's dynamic. The reindeer who knows too much and calls out kristoff's crap when kristoff is in denial? The reindeer who is a little aloof but tags along everywhere kristoff goes? They're perfect :')

Something I expect from them season 4 (if applicable): Before s4 came out, I fully anticipated Jet to be like Zeke... fawning over Kourtney (Sharpay). Like we did get some moments of him making a total fool of himself, but I really thought we were going to get that multiplied by 3. I was also hoping for at least a Jetney cheek kiss (tbh I thought they would kiss and Madlyn wouldn't), but they were just slower moving than the rest of the couples in the show. However, when all was said and done, I was still really happy with the content we got!

Random Headcanon: In my mind Jetney, Rina, and Madlyn go on triple dates all the time. They found a way to spend a lot of time together before Kourtney and Ricky graduated, but after graduation, Jet flies out to visit Kourtney frequently (and vice-versa).

Unpopular Opinion: Oof... this one is definitely unpopular. I guess it's an old unpopular opinion since it was technically before s4, but I remember not really caring if Jet and Maddox came back for s4. 😬 I know a lot of people liked them and wanted them back super badly, but I was neutral. I was happy if they came back but wasn't heartbroken if they didn't. Tim tried to keep it a surprise but the last scene in s3 made it obvious they were coming back. Once I started writing with them in my fics I was a lot more excited to have them back but I definitely wasn't emotionally tied to them when the season ended.

Song I associate with them: "I'm Still Standing"... but the version from Sing. I already said this once and I am so sorry for this, but Jet singing "Right Place" reminds me so much of Johnny at the piano. I really think it's the leather jacket idk. 😭 (the funny part is EJ's name is Elton John and Elton John is one of the singers in the og "I'm Still Standing")

Favorite picture of them:

Side note: has anyone decided wtf his and Maddox's last names are?!?

[mywitchyblog]

GWORLLLLLLLLL, YOU ARE SO RIGHT. Let me just take a moment to acknowledge your bravery for tackling this on TikTok—like, the gods-forsaken platform that’s practically the Bermuda Triangle of nuanced discussions. The fact that you not only addressed this but did so with clarity and composure? Iconic. 👏✨

Now, let me expand on your already-perfect post (which was a chef’s kiss dismantling of the nonsense).

Like, can we just pause to marvel at the way you single-handedly annihilated the “aging out” myth here? 💥

Now let’s mix in that TikTok wisdom you dropped: "You can shift to where you are still a senior, time is not linear so don’t fret, you can’t run out of it." You’re absolutely right. Shifting isn’t bound by linear time, so the entire idea of “aging out” is absurd. Thank you for putting that out there, especially in a space where people are so quick to throw shade at ideas they clearly don’t understand.

Here’s the Real Tea (and Why These Shiftokers Are Wildin’):

WHEN YOU SHIFT, YOU BECOME YOUR DR SELF. Like, 100%, no question. Your CR self doesn’t hitch a ride—it’s gone. Poof. Bye-bye. You fully embody your DR self, including their mindset, memories, and yes, even their age. If you’re a teenager in your DR, you’re not some 20-something “playing pretend.” You are that teenager in every sense. Period. Full stop. The fact that people are out here acting like this isn’t the case? Girl, I’m cackling. 🙄

This Whole “I’m Aging Out of My DRs” Narrative Is a Hot Mess. The pressure people are putting on themselves to shift before turning 18 or risk being labeled “problematic” is pure nonsense. Shifting is supposed to be freeing—y’know, “infinite possibilities” and “you have all the time in the world.” But no, suddenly there’s a deadline? Like, be for real. This logic is exhausting and completely unsustainable.

And it gets even more ridiculous when you think about DRs tied to specific life stages. If your DR is “The Vampire Diaries,” which is all about high school drama, aging up to a college DR or beyond makes the plot fall apart. What are we supposed to do, shift to a version of TVD where the Salvatore brothers are discussing retirement plans? Stop it. Similarly, “How to Get Away with Murder” is college-centric. Are you going to rewrite the entire narrative for no reason? The math isn’t mathing, babes. 😭

Aging Down Isn’t Weird—It’s Practical. The funniest part? These same people who freak out about aging down are totally fine aging up for DRs. Like, what’s the difference? If you’re cool with aging up to be a DR CEO or wizard elder, then aging down to relive prom or experience high school friendships should be just as valid. It’s all about embodying your DR self, so stop making it weird. If anything, the idea that you can’t age down is what’s nonsensical.

What’s Next? Limiting DRs Based on Your CR Age? This aging-up-only mindset is the slippery slope to nonsense. Are these people really suggesting that by the time you’re 50, you’re only allowed to shift to DRs for middle-aged or elderly people? Like, enjoy your bingo hall DRs, I guess? Meanwhile, the rest of us are thriving across infinite realities, being teenagers, college students, or even dinosaurs because we understand the actual mechanics of shifting. Time is nonlinear, babes, and your possibilities are limitless. Get with the program. 🎲🦖

The Bottom Line:

When will these people realize that no matter what, you will fully embody your DR self? Aging up, down, or not at all—it doesn’t matter. Once you shift, you are completely aligned with that reality. So let’s stop pretending this is some deep ethical issue when it’s really just projection and misunderstanding from people who haven’t even shifted themselves. 🙃

Thank you for putting this out there, both on Tumblr and TikTok. You’re breaking down barriers in the shifting community, and I’m living for it. Let the naysayers keep spinning their wheels while you—and the rest of us who get it—thrive in infinite realities. Mic drop.

Last time I posted about people who don't want to age themselves down/ are highly against it. Now look what I saw on tiktok. My issue with this type of mentality is that It makes Your original reality look invincible and that it's the most important reality, that it's not like any other one. so just because you are in college in this reality doesn't mean you don't get to be a dinosaur or a teenager in the late 1870s in another one. Saying affirmations like "I am more than my body, I am eternal, I am only consciousness" while simultaneously being attached to a specific character of yourself from this reality to this degree is diabolical. You are a soul, a soul that have lived a million different lives before it reached this one. you are infinite years of age. so unbeknownst to you anywhere you're shifting, you are actually aging yourself down so that you can experience that life.

[spideysquake]

the infinite playlist: three - stiles follows the girl

based on nick and norah’s infinite playlist by david levithan and rachel cohn

summary: it’s been three weeks, four days, seven hours, and twenty-two minutes since stiles stilinski got his ass dumped by the only girl he’s ever loved. three weeks, four days, seven hours, and twenty-two minutes since lydia ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped it into the ground, effectively rendering stiles incapable of caring about anything that isn’t his band or his best friends. so when lydia shows up at one of his shows – which he explicitly told her not to do – with a new fucking guy following her around, stiles knows that he can’t look as pathetic as he feels. so he gets a five-minute fake girlfriend.

warnings: quite a bit of cursing; fake dating au; lydia and stiles are not together, and lydia is not exactly the nicest all the time; stiles is angsty and chaotic but we love him anyway

word count: 3.4k words

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There’s a split second before Lydia leaves when she makes eye contact with me and for a moment it’s just me and her and I think that maybe - just maybe - it’s not really over between us. But she still leaves, and one second turns into another turns into another, and I’m left alone at the bar. Well, not alone. I’m still standing with this girl, this Fake Girlfriend of My Dreams whose name I’ve forgotten to ask for amongst the jumbled mess that has been this night. And then suddenly, she’s walking away from me too.

The reality of the situation is that I have three choices here. I can stay right here at the bar, maybe have a beer, and try to forget all of the crazy bullshit parts of this night; I can follow Lydia and pray to a God, any God, that she doesn’t think I’m pathetic; or I could follow my new fake girlfriend and pray that she hasn’t already figured out that I’m pathetic. And I have no fucking clue what I want to do.

And then it hits me.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

But she’s still walking away. And I know I have to follow her, because if I don’t, I’ll be left wondering for the rest of my life what this girl’s entire deal was. I thought I just wanted to know how she knew Lydia, but I guess I want to know more: what her name is, what her fucking deal is, how she likes her eggs in the morning. So I reach out for her wrist in some futile attempt to redirect her attention back to me for even just a moment. And it’s this split second of contact, my fingers wrapped around the skin under the sleeve of her flannel, that makes me remember that I have fingers, and a palm, and a wrist of my own. I haven’t felt a spark like this since… well, I’d like to say since Lydia, but I don’t think that even she made me feel like this.

My hand is still on her wrist and it feels like it’s been five hours, even though it’s probably only been about a minute and a half at most, and now she’s staring at me with this look in her eyes like I’m the most pathetic thing she’s ever seen. And all I can think is “Oh shit, she knows the truth”. But she doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she almost seems to think it’s funny, just how lame she thinks I might be. And it makes me mind just a little bit less, too.

"So are you gonna let my arm go at any point tonight or are we just going to be tied and the arm appendages for the rest of our lives?” Her words snap me back into reality, and I can’t tell if it’s her surprisingly soothing voice or the fact that she might be the funniest, most sharp-witted person I’ve ever met. But either way, my stomach drops at the idea that when I drop her arm, she’ll walk away.

“If I let go, am I gonna see you again?”

“Trust me, pal, you don’t want to see me again.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

She puts her hands over my eyes, and they smell like peaches and eucalyptus, and now I really want to see her again. And when she slowly pulls them back, the only thought in my head is that in a few short seconds, she just might be smiling at me. Fucking lameass.

She pulls her hands away, just like I expected, and when I open my eyes she’s sporting a smug ass smirk – not exactly what I had in mind, but I’ll still take it.

“So? Was it everything you had in mind, seeing me again?”

In this moment, all I want is for her to never stop touching my cheeks. My tongue feels like it takes up my entire mouth, but I know that the only thing more embarrassing than me saying anything, is me saying nothing.

“I’ll admit, it lives up to the hype.”

Then she giggles. I made her giggle – like the scrunched-up nose, squinty-eyed, massive grin kind of giggle. I did that.

I lower my voice just a little bit, trying not to scare her  off with any sudden movements. Apparently dealing with cute girls is like dealing with a deer in the woods.

“So where are you going then?”

She rolls her eyes, but I can tell it’s not directed at me – at least not entirely. “I’ve got to go save my friend.”

“Can I maybe… come with you?” I can’t believe the words as they’re coming out of my mouth, but I hear them after I’ve already said them, and it’s way too late to stop them now. I think about taking them back, but then I remember my three options for the rest of the night, and this still seems like the best one. I don’t really have anything better to do, since Scott and Allison are off doing their happy couple whatever-the-fuck it is that they do, and Malia is definitely sealing the deal with another poor unassuming groupie who thinks she rules the world. And besides, I still don’t know this Dream Girl’s name, which seems like a good enough reason to remain glued to her hip for as long as she’ll let me stay there.

“I’ll tell you what,” she turns to me, a terrifying and super hot glint in her eye. “If you can give me and my friend a ride, I’ll give you two extra minutes of fake girlfriend time.”

“Seven’s my lucky number,” I tell her. I try to play it cool by planting one hand on the edge of the bar, but the bar is wet and sticky, and my hand immediately recoils. I instinctually go to wipe my hand off on my jeans, and I can see her trying not to laugh at me. And while it’s not working in the slightest, I appreciate her effort at pretending like she doesn’t see how fucking awkward I am.

She grabs my wrist – not unlike how I grabbed her earlier – and starts dragging me through the clusters of unaware college students. I can feel my feet falling behind, and all I can do is my best not to fall face first into one of the many puddles of unidentifiable liquid that stains the linoleum already.

“Okay, you gotta answer my question. How do you know Lydia?”

She sighs lightly and I watch her feet falter ever so slightly before she rights herself and pretends that they never did. “She taught me how to make flashcards, and I taught her how to make a playlist without any Britney Spears on it.”

Now it’s my turn to stumble on my feet. “Wait, hold on. You go to USC?”

“We don’t have to talk about it.” And then she’s off again, leaving me to play catch up in my own head before realizing that she’s about seven steps ahead of me and I’m about to get lost in the crowd.

She’s shoving her way through people much taller than her, and I’m doing all I can not to ricochet off of one stranger’s back and onto another.

“He was just fucking here!” She groans, clearly exasperated. She runs a hand through her thick hair and all I can imagine is what it would be like to tuck a strand of it behind her ear. Lamecore, I know.

“Who?”

“No one. Liam. Just, be quiet for a second. I need to think.” I refrain from pointing out that my silence isn’t really going to do much good against the raging din of the rest of this noisy ass club. I hold my tongue and let her have her so-called peace, while I look around the club to see if I can spot Scott and Allison somewhere.

Something catches my eye, but of course I’m nowhere near lucky enough for it to be Scott and Allison. Instead, I’m faced with Lydia’s tongue in some other guy’s mouth. The fucking nerve of her, to show up to a show I explicitly told her not to go to, then play tonsil hockey with some lame wannabe version of Chris Evans as Lucas Lee. Suddenly, I’m filled with something fiery and mean. I can’t believe her and somehow I kind of can and all I can think about is how he's getting beer stick all over her favorite pink sweater and he probably doesn’t even know that she bought that plaid skirt as an homage to Britney Spears and how could she do this to me when we were together for so fucking long and did she ever even care. His hands are wandering and I’m trying to keep my eyes from doing the same but she’s not making it easy with the way that she’s staring at me while he’s feeling her up. And I know I’m not imagining it – it’s sick and it’s twisted but she’s staring directly into my eyes while this dude tries to give her a hickey like it’s the middle school dance or something.

My brain finally lets me pull my eyes away from the atrocious mess happening in front of me, but my Dream Girl isn’t there. She’s a few feet away, diving for a guy who looks kind of familiar. But not in a Didn’t We Go To Sleepaway Camp Together? way, more in a I Think You Hooked Up With The Frontwoman Of My Band Last Month kind of way. He’s staring into the eyes of some chick drummer from a band that played earlier tonight like he’s hoping to find his way back to Neverland somewhere in them. But if the drummer chick is Peter Pan, my Fake Girlfriend is some sort of Captain-Hook-Turned-Designated-Driver-Slash-Chaperone doing her very best to stop her obviously wasted friend from becoming just another Lost Boy in the Bedpost. I could honestly be fooled into thinking that he was her boyfriend if she wasn’t treating him like some sort of little brother.

“Liam! Liam, oh my god.” She looks at him with a look of disdain in her eyes that could really only be mustered by someone who loves their best friend so much that they almost hate them.

Her friend, who I now know is Liam, looks like he’s about to throw some drunken complaint her way, when Malia crawls on stage with her apparent groupie of the night and they launch into an epic fucking cover of Dammit by Blink-182 and suddenly we’re all moshing together like we’re all fifteen again and forgot to take our Adderall. I know about four people out of the hundred-something that are here, but it doesn’t really seem to matter – we’re all moving as one connected mass of people, neurons firing at the exact same time like we’re all thinking the exact same thoughts and feeling the exact same feelings. We’re all tied together here, and if I’m tied into it then it means that Lydia is too, and so is my Dream Fake Girlfriend. We’re all linked, and just the thought of still being linked to Lydia makes me so sad and crazy and excited that all I want is for my molecules and her molecules to disintegrate together and blend into the song and just disappear into the ether for the rest of eternity, but there’s something stopping me from tipping off the edge. I think maybe my Dream Fake Girlfriend is holding my wrist as the rest of me dangles into the unknown. When I turn to look at her, she’s no longer dancing with the rest of us; she’s standing still, her hands by her side, looking straight at me like she’s trying to decipher my soul or something.

“What’s wrong?” I try to scream it over the deafening musical stylings of my own band’s frontwoman, but my voice doesn’t stand a chance against the booming of the bassline. I assume she’s reading my lips, but when I look at her, her gaze looks less like she’s staring at my soul and more like she’s staring through me entirely. For a moment, it seems like she’s forgotten that I’m standing in front of her, which means she’s forgotten to put her walls up between us. And for a split second, I can see the fear and the anxiety that seem so permanent in her eyes. I feel this tug in my stomach telling me to save her from herself.

I change my question. “Are you okay?” Suddenly, it’s like she snaps back into herself, locking her fear back up behind her millions of other thoughts. But I stay curious. I’m determined for her to let me back in again, on purpose this time.

“Find and fucking dandy, thanks for asking.” She throws me this half-assed smile – one that’s more eyebrows than lips – and she grabs my shoulder lightly. “But I think our time is officially up.” She pats me once, twice, before turning on her heel and moving to walk away.

“Do you not need a ride anymore?” Because, here’s the thing, I’m definitely not above using my shitty car for more time with a cute, albeit very complicated, girl.

“Ah, shit. No, no I do.” The song peters out just as she shouts as me, “Come with me.” She grabs my wrist as I make eye contact with Malia, who immediately clocks her hand on my wrist and gives me the most massive and embarrassing thumbs up to show her approval.

I roll my eyes and follow No Name Dream Girl over to where Liam seems to be making decent progress with the drummer girl. Dream Girl puts her hand on Liam’s shoulder and leans in to shout in his ear. Liam leans back and snarks something out in response, and suddenly it’s like I’m watching a verbal tug of war where I’m completely lost on who’s winning. At least, I’m lost until Liam pulls back and screams “Fuck off, I’m not that wasted!” – a phrase which has only ever been uttered by people who are, in fact, that wasted.

Before I can fully comprehend what’s going on, my Dream Girl is yanking Liam’s arm, sending him hurtling towards me. He’s heaving downwards and I’m scrambling to grab his shoulder and I’m pretty much certain that he’s gonna hurl all over me. But instead, he just stares up at me and chuckles. “Your shoes are butt ugly, dude.”

I turn to glare at my seemingly permanent Fake Girlfriend, but she’s already rolling her eyes for me. She heaves one of Liam’s arms over her shoulders and gestures for me to do the same.

“Let’s get out of here.”

We start towards the door and I can just barely hear here shouting MOVE and GET OUT OF THE WAY to the masses that flood  our path. I can see the urgency in everyone’s eyes as they scramble out of our way, but all I can really think about is how I’m tripping over my butt-ugly shoes trying to help a girl whose name I don’t even know. The only things I can think about are 1. don’t trip in from of the cute girl and 2. ask her her name, you poor schmuck. At least, they’re the only things on my mind until a pair of platform boots steps in front of us, and I’m staring into the same eyes that shattered my heard and stole my copy of Melophobia.

“I need your car.” Lydia holds out one hand as she snaps her gum.

And suddenly, it’s like I’ve forgotten how to move, or breathe, or think clearly, because I’m standing there looking at her and she’s looking at me and the only thought running through my head is We were happy once. We could be happy again. I’m reaching for the keys in my pocket, planning out what songs to play, what route I could take to make our time together last, convince her that I’m still worth her time. I’m thinking about the way her face looks like when its lit up by the stoplights, and the last time that she was in the passenger seat of my car.

She loved me then, and I loved her. I still love her. We could make it work. I could start at USC or we could move in together, or we could even –

“Sorry, Lydia. But the car’s full, we have no room for you.” My Fake Girlfriend shoots Lydia a saccharine smile that holds a little bit of a grimace behind it, readjusting Liam’s arm over her shoulder.

“Excuse me, what?” Lydia looks pissed now, and I recognize the look on her face as the one she gets when she’s plotting how she could ruin somebody’s whole night.

“Oh, maybe I wasn’t clear. Fuck off, Lydia.”

“I’m sorry, I thought turning off to fucking was your area of expertise, Y/N. So why don’t you take your little wasteypants friend over here and call an Uber to take you back to whatever low grade apartment complex you came from. This is between me and Stiles.”

My first thought is: Lydia is fighting for me. She’s actually fighting for me. My second thought is: Y/N. Her name is Y/N. And I genuinely don’t know which one makes me happier.

Until Y/N slides her arm around my waist and puts her hand in my back pocket. My first instinct is to shove her off, to step over to Lydia and to walk her out to my car and live our happily ever after.

And then Lydia says, “Come on, Stiles, please. We really need your car. I’ll even pay you back for the gas.”

We. Not us. Them. I’ve been exiled from her we. She fucking replaced me.

“I’m gonna go find a drink,” Liam slurs, pulling his arms down to his sides.

“Like hell you are,” Y/N yanks him back, using the hand that was in my back pocket to secure him between us and link all our arms together. We’re left in some weird, awkward off to see the Wizard pose, with Lydia blocking us like her very own version of an Emerald Curtain, more fluffy pink than green.

My tether to these people is so delicate. All it would take is Lydia saying the magic words – really any magic words – and I’d be by her side forever, just like it was supposed to be. But instead she says, “I don’t want him. I just need the car.”

And the illusion is shattered. Lydia and I will never be what we were, I know that now. She will leave, she will choose someone else, over and over and over. Nothing will change that. I cannot change that.

At this point, Y/N is looking at me, desperate for me to carry some of Liam’s weight. I lift his arm over my shoulder, and do my best to lead us out of this grimy bar that holds nothing but shitty memories. I can barely feel my feet or my legs or my hands. I’m not drunk or stoned or high off the night. I’m devastated. I’m spiraling. And it’s affecting the way I do… anything.

There’s one tiny sliver of hope amongst all the bullshit, and it’s this girl that I’m following. I could tell her to get a cab – and I kind of want to, after the night that I’ve had. But there’s a part of me that thinks she could help me feel better – I like the idea of leaving with her, of getting dumplings before I take her home, of maybe even seeing her again. She says goodbye to the club manager and the bouncers in a way that makes me think they might be familiar, but honestly I’m too drained to think about it right now.

I can feel Liam start to drag his feet underneath us, and it takes everything in me not to just drop his lazy ass on the sidewalk. The sidewalks are full of people vaping, or taking a weed break, but the second hand smoke doesn’t do much to make me feel any better. The streets are empty. My stomach is empty. My life is empty. Tonight kinda fucking sucks.

I reach for my keys from the depths of my pocket, and I’m reminded that Lydia won’t be waiting for me in the passenger seat of my car. She doesn’t wait for me anymore.

I wish she hadn’t come tonight. I wish I had never met her at all.

By the time my thoughts finally come to a halt, I’ve led Y/N and Liam to my car.

“What the fuck is that?” Y/N seems rather scandalized by what she sees.

“Y/N, meet Roscoe.”

a/n: finally, chapter three! thank you guys so much for waiting for this chapter, i hope you all like it lots. 

xoxo, daisy

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[skyehigh15]

Fave Sprites in each AA Game: AJ

(Spoilers for Apollo Justice)

Fourth game in the series. This game marked a turning point in the series for a bunch of very obvious gameplay-related reasons, but it also marked a huge change of direction in the art direction: Characters had way more animations, they were more detailed, had more frames, they even had the perceive animations which required an extremely detailed and large sprite to be created. I think this game is tied with another one later on for my favourite overall art direction in the whole series. There's only a single character design I truly despise, and he's not that b- Okay, actually Spark Brushel really is that bad. Anyways, I'm dragging on; Let's get to it!

(Oh btw I have other posts in this series so check them out if you like this one.)

Animation 1:

Something you'll notice in this batch of animations is that a majority of my favourite sprites come from the main characters (defense attorney, designated weird little girl, prosecutor).

My other posts in the series don't tend to include these repeating animations because they repeat often and quickly grow tiring. But not in this game. These animations fucking slap and do so much to make these characters endearing.

Let's just look at this Apollo animation: He's so embarrassed! Not only are his shoulders positioned in a way that's already giving away that he's flustered, but he's blushing, he has an awkward smile on, and he's nervously playing with his hair. Starting in this game we begin to get actual animations; his hair has anticipation and followthrough (two of the most important animation principles to get an object to look cartoonish and playful).

It's a very charming sprite and makes Apollo extremely endearing to the player.

Animation 2:

Man... I really miss Klavier :(

Anyways, let's not get too down in the dumps; we should enjoy this wonderful animation instead. First of all, look at those HANDS. The detail and secondary actions in this sprite are what really tie everything together. He's so committed to his air guitar and he has a charming smug smile on; it's impossible not to playfully roll your eyes.

I'm also a really big fan of long animations with a purpose. Something like uh... Solomon Starbuck's sigh in 5-4 is just kind of annoying and there to drag out the game. With Klavier however, the animation has a purpose! It makes us roll our eyes at this dumb music nerd along with Apollo. We also know that he's probably gonna make a point, which gets us thinking ahead about what his counterargument might turn out to be.

This sprite is really good from an animation standpoint and a gameplay one.

Animation 3:

It's the SQUIMPSY!!! The TRUCY OF ALL TIME! DUDE, YES!

I had to choose between this and her Mr. Hat sprite, but settled on this simple idle animation. I really like it when characters still move even when they're not talking, and I don't just mean their blinking.

There's so much followthrough and secondary action in this sprite that it makes me want to explode because it's so fucking good. Just watch the loop a couple times and try to focus on a different part each time; do you see how much detail there is?

Her red scarf? Moves. Her hair and earring? They move too. The little jangly bits at the end of her cape? You guessed it; they MOVE!

What a banger of a sprite. Touché, Ace Attorney artists. Touché.

Animation 4:

THE BETRAYAL! THE COMEDY! THE TRICKERY! THE ABSURDITY OF THE WHOLE CHARACTER AND DESIGN!

Forget "Farewell, My Turnabout" or "Turnabout Trump": THIS is the most surprised I felt in the whole series (I'm only half-joking).

This sprite is one of the funniest visual gags in the series, and it deserves a place on this list.

Animation 5:

I just had to include this animation. Every once in a while, a sprite will stick with you, and you'll sometimes remember that moment better than the rest of the case. This was one of those times.

These types of animations and the ones I've mentioned in other posts (Adrian's card flipping ,Ron's hair springs ,Winfred's eyebrows) are kind of the whole reason I even began making these lists.

I wanted to showcase how sometimes the best animations aren't extremely elaborate, show-stopping displays of storytelling prowess. Sometimes it's just a girl catching some plates :]

(Oh but also this is a good hint that Olga may be more than meets the eye. Her reflexes seem to be a little too good for the bumbling, shy waitress she's pretending to be.)

That'll do it for now. See you next time in our first (but not last) very big deviation in how these games art style is showcased; Ace Attorney Investigations 1!

[supercorpkid]

You’re going to wish you were dead, instead.

Part 4 of T is for Trauma - The Series

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader

Word count: 2370.

Warnings: kidnapping. Injuries. Next level angst.

Previously on the series – part 1, part 2, part 3

You open your eyes when someone kicks your stomach twice. You can’t control the vomit that comes right after, when your body finally understands that you’re up.

“Gross! Boss! The child threw up on my feet.” He walks away from you.

You want to appreciate that fact that you just did something to one of them, but everything hurts so much, like your skin is being peeled off of your body, that right now your only wish is that you could just die already so you don’t have to feel this unbearable pain anymore. Never in your worst nightmares, you’ve imagined you could feel so much pain you would wish you were dead instead.

“Stupid shit doesn’t die of over-exposure. It’s been hours! Maybe we should just shoot her, so she can bleed out to death.” One of them says and you pray they’re being serious.

“Please.” You plead. “End this.”

The boss kneels in front of you, with a creepy satisfied smile on his face. He looks behind him, to the other guys, and starts laughing like you just told the funniest joke in the world. His goons start laughing with him.

“I’m not going to end this. I wouldn’t want to stop all this fun you’re having!” He stands up, the same creepy smile still on his lips. “You know, you Kryptonians are funny. You act like Gods deciding everyone’s fate with some kind of morality no one even knows if you actually have. So, you’re ok with putting us through pain, but you can’t take any?”

“They are some weak Gods.” One of his henchmen says, and he looks back like he is telling him to shut up.

“Your world exploded for a reason. No kryptonian was supposed to survive. But then Supergirl and Superman came to Earth. Now, they are here dictating rules, expecting everyone to follow them. Who do they think they are? Those cockroaches.” He spits on the floor next to you, and you feel saliva hitting your face. “They’re not even supposed to exist, let alone procreate.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” You whimper, and he gives his maniac laughter again.

“I’ll do you a solid though, just because you’re just a little kid.” He raises a hand and quickly one of his goons puts a gun in his hand. He points at your leg. “I’ll make a little hole, to accelerate your dying process, ‘kay?” And he shoots your leg.

You scream as loud as you can, with all the strength still left in you. You thought you were already in so much pain because of the kryptonite, that this wouldn’t add up and you wouldn’t feel any more. You were wrong. The pain piled up on top of each other. So right now, the inside of your body is agonizing, your leg is burning and you’re bleeding out. Is this pain going to go on forever? It sure feels like it, because no matter how much you pray for it, you’re still not dead.

No, you’re not dead. You’re just lying there in your own vomit and blood, thinking about how much you want this nightmare to end, one way or another, when you hear gunshots. You close your eyes, thinking they’ve changed their minds and decided to shoot you multiple times to end your pain, but you don’t feel anything.

“Supergirl, I’ve been expecting you.” What? You open your eyes when you hear that. You can’t see her, the boss is in front of you with his body, but you get a glimpse of red and your heart beats faster. “As you can see, I have kryptonite and your daughter. Now, would you-”

“FUCK YOU!” She flies towards him with her closed fist, throwing him to the other side of the room. You can’t see him, but you know there’s no way he can recover fast from that. Kara kneels before you, and rips the chains with her hands, tossing the kryptonite to the other side of the room, like it doesn’t even affect her anymore. And if it does, it’s not as painful as seeing your situation.

You thought that once you were free of kryptonite, the pain would go away. It didn’t. Your body still feels like it is up in flames. Kara touches your face, you whimper. You can’t barely make up her face with your one functioning eye, but you see your pain reflected on her face.

She is still kneeling next to you, when she hears a noise coming from where she threw the guy. She blows her freeze breath, holding him back a little. Kara looks around, like she’s looking for something.

“I’ll be right back, my love. Ok? Momma is here.” She disappears right after, but comes back a few seconds later, hair blowing, and even though you didn’t see a thing, you know she just used her super speed.

“Mommy. I’m dying.” You whisper and Kara holds you up, carrying you in the most protective way she can.

“Shhh. You’re ok. Mommy is here. You’re ok.” Kara looks around again and you see aunt Alex going inside the room with the biggest gun you’ve ever seen. “He’s tied up in the corner.”

“J’onn and I got this. Take her to the DEO and put her under the sun light lamp, I’ll be there in a few.” Alex goes to the other side of the room, but you still can hear her. “Oh, you thought it was funny shooting my niece? I’ll show you funny!”

You don’t hear anything else. Kara is flying with you back to National City, and you look up to her. Hair flying in the wind, tears dropping from her eyes, she can’t take her eyes off you.

“I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe, baby.” She gives you the saddest smile you’ve ever seen.

“Mommy, I’m dying.” You repeat very slowly, because you don’t have any strength left to speak, and you know Kara can hear you either way. And you need her to know. She needs to know you’re probably not going to make it.

“No, you’re not. You’re ok. We’re going home, ok? We’re almost there. Mommy is here with you and your mom is waiting for you. You’re ok, baby.” Kara is crying so hard you barely make out what she’s saying.

“I’m sorry for what I said. I love you.”

“I love you, little one. I’m sorry. I love you. I love you. I’m sorry.” She keeps repeating that until you close your eyes. You can finally let go, you said everything. She knows you’re sorry, she knows you love her. So, you stop fighting the inevitable.

You thought you would die. You wished you had died. But you’re still here. You hear voices and you feel hands on your body. Someone’s touching your leg, it hurts like a bitch. Someone is squeezing your hand, it’s reassuring. Someone’s kissing your forehead over and over again, it’s calming.

You keep waking up and blacking out. But you don’t think they know this, because you can’t talk, can’t open your eyes, can’t move your body. All you can do is feel pain.

“Baby, my baby. I know you can do this. You can come back to us, please, please. I love you so much, babygirl. You’re my everything.”

“Mom, why isn’t she up yet? It’s been days! You said she would be awake by now.”

“Jamie, I-I don’t… She will wake up, honey. Just give her time, she needs to rest.”

“No. No, mom. She’s supposed to be up by now! Bring her back! Do something!”

“I’ve done everything I can, Jam. Come on, honey. Let’s go. Come.”

“Alex, there must be something else we can do.”

“Kara, you know how much I want her back too, I just- I’m sorry, it’s out of my hands now.”

“I wish I could switch places with her.”

“I know, Kar. I know. Go home, you’ve been in here for days. Go see Lena. Go be with your wife.”

You keep wishing you were dead. But you don’t die, and you also don’t come back to life. You’re half alive, and that’s not enough for anyone.

“Hey, little one.” You hear softly, and your heart beats fast. For the first time you feel you have enough strength to do something. You need to let her know you’re still alive. “I brought donuts, and your homework again.”

You try to ask for food, because you’re starving, but you can’t talk.

“I’ve been doing your homework for the past two weeks, and I have to say, I don’t know how you do this. It’s so much stuff, and you still find time to work on your inventions, and go to trainings…”

Yep, your life’s not as easy as it seems.

“Oooh, want to have a laugh? Your teacher sent me your physics homework yesterday and I obviously didn’t know anything, so I asked your mom for help and guess what? Apparently, Lena doesn’t know everything. It took her ten minutes to solve a problem. It was freaking hilarious.”

It sounds hilarious. You wish you were there.

“Hey. Was that a little laugh?” Kara asks and you try to smile again so she can see it. “I’ll tell Lena you laughed at her. Wait, no. I can’t do that, she’ll have hope.” She breathes heavily and your heart shrinks. “Shoot, I’m crying on your homework again. Your teacher will start wondering.”

You want to wake up so badly. You don’t know why your body doesn’t obey you. You’ve been in this bed under the sun for two weeks apparently. Is your body ever going to respond?

“Hold me.” You beg, trying to make your voice come out. It feels like you’re stuck in those nightmares where you feel like you’re screaming, but no one around hears anything. “Please.”

“Alex said we can take you home, with the lights and all. I’m scared, because I know that here, you’re being watched by doctors, but-” You feel her hand stroking your face gently. “I want you to be comfortable, and I want to lay in bed with you all day. So, should I? Should I take you home?”

YES. Please. Do it. Please. All you want is to go home.

“Yeah. I know. We shouldn’t move you too much. We don’t know what’s going on inside you, right? Besides-” You feel Kara’s warmth next to you. “I can lay in here with you, even though Alex tells me not to. We don’t have to tell her, right?” You feel Kara’s arms around and your eyes water immediately. “Baby, are you crying? Did I- Did I hurt you?” She moves away. “ALEX! ALEX! SHE’S CRYING. DO SOMETHING.”

There’s a weird taste on your mouth. Metallic and bitter. You need to get out of this bed, you need to go back to your life. And you feel it has to be now, or it will be never.

You open your eyes, slowly. It’s hard, it’s like they were glued together. It’s all blurry and undefined. You just see bright yellow, but it’s the first time you’re seeing some color in a while so you can’t complain about it.

“Baby! Kara, Alex! She’s awake!” You hear Lena’s voice and you see black and white mixed with the yellow. It’s probably her hair and face, but you can’t know for sure. There are no shapes, just colors. “Baby, baby, it’s ok. Mom is here.” Lena kisses your face and you feel hands on your body. There’s a very strong hand holding yours, and you know it’s Kara, because she is holding so hard it hurts. And you feel Alex’s hands touching your pulsing points.

“Hey, little one. Can you say something?” Kara asks and you open your mouth.

“My bones.” You whisper so slowly it’s pretty much inaudible; you’re sure only Kara can hear you, and only because of her super hearing.

“Oh, oh, sorry.” She stops squeezing your hand and kisses it, gently. “I forgot about the loss of powers.”

Wait, what?

“Ok, you two move away, please.” Now you see red, mixed with the yellow. “Hey kiddo, this is aunt Alex. Listen I have to do a few tests with you, ok? If you can hear me perfectly, blink once.” You blink once. “Perfect. You’re doing really well. Now, if you can see me perfectly, blink once.” You don’t blink. “Oh, ok. Is it blurry?” You blink once. “Ok, don’t worry, it will go back to normal with time. Now, I want you to move your left leg, just a little. Can you do that for me?” You do it.

She then makes you move every part of your body, and slowly but surely you do all that she asks. You hear Kara and Lena’s celebrations next to you and you smile proud of yourself.

“Hey kiddo, that was perfect! Next time you wake up, you will feel a lot better. I promise you.” You feel a squeeze in your hand, and you give her a little smile. “I don’t want you to get tired, so you can go back to sleep now, and we’ll work more later ok?”

“Wait.” You whisper and she puts her ear close to your mouth so she can hear you. “Lena.”

“She wants you.”

Lena takes Alex’ spot, holding your hand and putting her ear close to your face so she can hear you better.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no baby, you don’t have anything to feel sorry for. Everything is alright. Listen.” You feel Lena wiping the tears from your cheeks. “You were right. I’m sorry I made you feel like you’re not the most important thing in the world for me, because you are. You are. Stop-stop worrying about it. Just use everything you have to recover, ok?” You nod weakly. “I love you.”

“We love you.” You hear Kara’s voice and you breathe deep.

“Mommy.” Your voice comes out a little stronger, but it is still just a whisper.

“Mommy is here, little one. I’ve got you. We’ve got you.” Kara says and you close your eyes again. Your body might still ache, but your heart doesn’t ache anymore.

[alyssadeliv]

The Forgotten One

First      Previous

Chapter 5

Ladybug and Chat Noir made their debut on a sunny Monday of September. Just as her master had feared that intense energy they felt was only the beginning. Hawkmoth started his reign of terror, releasing his akumas on unsuspecting civilians, using their strong negative emotions, and creating his champions. It was a vile move, attacking someone when they were vulnerable. But Marianne had to admit that he was good. She was trained to do exactly the same thing, to manipulate and exploit someone’s weakness, but at least she had the decency to never use her abilities for personal gain unless extremely necessary. She was a soldier, everything she did was by the order of someone. Her whole training so far had been preparing her for this moment. 

So when Stonehart appeared, she was ready. 

She knew everything she needed to do, she had been trained since birth for this. Her Master was confident that she had what it took to take down these akumatized people, and allied with the one he had chosen to wield the Cat Miraculous they would be unstoppable. He didn’t tell her the identity of the person he has chosen, but she knew he wouldn’t. For safety reasons, only the Grand Guardian would know the identities of the wielders. But she didn’t need to know his identity in order to work with him. 

Chat Noir surprised her a lot. She knew he couldn’t possibly have the same training she had, but he still knew how to fight. He’s trained in fencing from what she can tell by his style of fighting, and he’s very good. After some time they became the perfect duo, always in synchrony and ready for anything. It’s nice to have someone on her side, in the League she mostly acted alone, so having someone that had her back full time was new. 

It took two years to defeat Hawkmoth. In those two years that she lived in Paris, a lot changed. First was her name. In order to live completely off the radar of the League, she needed a new name. They had lost contact with the League after the attack, so they never discovered what exactly happened, or who won in the end. She was glad the Mayor of Paris decided that it would be better to ban any rumors of a supervillain in the city from the outside world, fearing that that would cause the tourism to diminish. That allowed her some security, but one could never be too careful, the League was known to have spies everywhere. So she changed her name. In the documents that her godmother forged, she was called Marinette Dupain but preferred to be called Mari because that was closer to her real name. Daughter of a kind baker and his traveler wife, her backstory was that she spent most of her childhood traveling the world with her mother, but now her parents decided that it would be good for her to stay in the same place for more time. She would be homeschooled by Sabine, which was enough for social security to allow her to be kept from attending school. It was kind of funny that she lived so close to a school but didn’t study there. 

Another thing that changed was that for the first time she had people she could rely on. Before it was only Damian. He was the only one that she ever told about her fears and insecurities, confiding in him was something she missed in those years apart. They were very close before the attack, and after two long years of thinking she was dead, she wasn’t sure what would happen when they finally reunited. But she hoped it would go well.

When she first transformed, she felt invincible. It was something she would never forget, feeling that kind of power was memorable. It was normal for the suit to incorporate traits of your personality, but it still was a surprise when she saw herself as Ladybug for the first time. She wore a black skin-tight suit that covered her entire body from the neck down, in her torso making the illusion a corset, a part of the suit was red with black spots. She also had boots and a jacket to complement her look, also in red with dots. Her hair tied back in a ponytail was rather practical and allowed her better motion. On her right leg strapped to her tight was a knife holster with a small dagger that served for surprise attacks, her specialty. Around her waist was where she tied her yoyo when she wasn’t using it. To conceal her identity, she wore a domino mask also in red.

In the beginning, she wanted to use another name for her superheroine self, one that paid tribute to her Arabic roots, but Master Fu thought it better to go with a more generic name, that way it would be harder to obtain any type of information about her. In the end, she relented and went with Ladybug. 

When Ladybug and Chat Noir first appeared, most of Paris newspapers and tabloids started to question the origin of their superheroes. Some believe them to be aliens, which her Master thought hilarious. Others were certain they were metahumans, born with their powers, and their Miraculous just served as an amplifier, and Hawkmoth wanted all Miraculous to increase his power to the maximum level, in Mari’s case they were partially right about the part of the powers. The one that came closer to the truth was the writer of the Ladyblog, the amount of research she had was impressive for someone so young. She discovered that the Miraculous were older than they thought, dating back all the way to the ancient Egyptian Empire, other than that she was way off. She had this theory that the Miraculous holders were a group of immortal entities that always appeared in ties of need, but recently one of them must have gone bad, tired of centuries in hiding, and the others are trying to defeat them and restore peace. It was a good theory that had some truth behind it, but still very exaggerated. It didn’t help that Ladybug was obviously experienced and that only served to fund this theory even more.

It became a game for Ladybug and Chat Noir to find the funniest theories and share them during patrol. Chat was really good in that, normally he just asked one of his friends what they thought. Mari, not having friends to ask just bought stuff the media printed. These kinds of games helped them relax a little after a tiring battle.  

After two years of fighting evil forces, it was impossible for the two superheroes not to be close. Their kind of relationship always reminded Mari of her brother, and she often felt guilty for not being able to reach him. But that only motivated her more in defeating Hawkmoth. Only then she would be able to leave Paris. 

Living in Paris was nice, for the first time in her life she created a routine for herself. She had training with Master Fu in the mornings and she helped at the bakery during the afternoons. Every other day there would be an Akuma attack and she would step into her role as Ladybug. Other than that her life became pretty calm compared to what it was at the League. She even got the time to explore her creative side, drawing and sewing became her favorite hobbies.

But nothing ever stays the same for long, not for her. 

It was about one year and a half after the attack on the League, just as her Master was getting close to discovering the exact location of origin of the source of evil energy. They knew the owner of the Butterfly Miraculous knew how to read energies, being that what alerted him of the Ladybug Miraculous being activated after Mari was brought back from the dead, but they weren’t expecting him to be able to track them. Her Master energy was easier to locate, even with him being the Grand Guardian, because of his old age. 

To this day she wasn’t sure what exactly happened, only that one afternoon she felt as if the energy around shifted and became unbearable. Fearing the worst she went to her Master in search of guidance, but when she was nearing his house she saw him. Hawkmoth in the flesh. Around him were five Akumas previously defeated.

He was at a rooftop engaging Master Fu, who at the time had already transformed with the Turtle Miraculous, in a heated duel. At the side was Mayura, trying to reach the Miraculous Box that was secured inside a green dome. Not wasting one minute she transformed in a nearby alley and went into action attacking the Peacock wielder. She was ruthless in her blows, never leaving space for the other woman to attack. Chat Noir arrived a couple of minutes later and went for the akumatized people, but at that point it was already too late. Master Fu knew that would be his last day on earth, he didn't have the strength to fight and maintain the Box inside the safety dome, so he did the only thing he thought possible. He relinquished his position as the Grand Guardian of The Miraculous to Ladybug. 

The box immediately disappeared from the dome and appeared in Mari’s arms. Without wasting a second she used her hidden weapon and stabbed her opponent in the thigh in order to subdue her. Her cries of pain were enough to attract Hawkmoth's attention from Chat Noir, with whom he had just engaged in battle. He immediately went to comfort his partner, using his champions as a barricade to protect them. He escaped. Or rather Mari let him escape. Because she couldn't stop looking at her Master’s body. He was dead. Died protecting the Miraculous. Inside her she felt some piece of her break. Death wasn’t new for her, but it felt surreal to believe the man that saw her grow and taught her almost everything she knew was dead. But there was no time to mourn, a soldier only mourned after the war, and this war was far from being over. But at that moment, looking at the lifeless body of her Master she made a vow to herself. 

She would not rest until Hawkmoth perished.

And she would make sure that before he did, it hurt

Next

Another fresh capther for all of you. To be honest I had planned this chapter to be compleatly different, but I was inspired and just lost myself, and when I realised I couldn’t finish this chapter anyother way. Hope you all liked it! Fell free to leave a comment with your theories of what’s going to happen next! (Also, the taglist still open)

WARNING: Major character death; description o violence.

Ladybug suit was inspired by this drawing from Eden Daphne 

Taglist:  @macncheesemonster @jumpingjoy82 @silversaphire12 @jinx-jade @swiftie-miraculer13  @greatcatblaze @megaafangirl @ramos123 @theamityislife @maskedpainter @toodaloo-kangaroo @nyx-in-line @ketchupqueenboiiii @blackroserelina @lozzybowe @user00000003 @kashlyn @msshadows97 @ira-sairain @stackofrandomstuff @myazael @frieddonutsweets @asrainterstellar @our-preciousss @laurcad123 @nyaabinch @rverfades @thefangirlwholiterallydies @astoriaandromeda @unnamed2357 @little-lady-bird @imdaqueenie @meismu @dorkus-minimus @a4-machete @arty-shadow-morningstar @catthhay @sizzling-fairy-oil @poodapup @charme-de-malchan @jayjayspixiepop @fusser90 @adrestar @iloontjeboontje @buginetye @macncheesemonster

[soullesscoffee]

men after midnight || part one.

{ poly!the lost boys x fem!reader }

|| part two ||

rating: explicit

word count: 3287

chapter summary: y/n organizes a beach bachelorette party for her best friend. just as the party was getting started it is crashed by a group of punks dressed in leather with big attitudes. y/n is hesitant at first but as the night goes on they are enchanted by their charm.

warning: fem!reader, use of alcohol, use of tobacco, mentions of jealousy, heavy petting, dirty talk, sexual tension, and slow burn.

a/n: i re-listened to the mamma mia sound track and this is what came to my brain. this has not been proof read and i am posting his five hours before i have to go into work, so no sleep for me. but enjoy!

An airy laugh left your lip escaping into the wine glass. The wine swished as your body shook from the brief moment of entertainment. Digging your toes in the cold sand of the night you are kept warm by the bonfire that sat parallel to you. The echoes off laughs surround you as the other members of the bridal party are laughing about themselves as well to the story that the bride, your best friend, was telling,

“No I swear, it was the funniest thing I have ever seen, that poor waiter must’ve been so embarrassed. I tipped him like 25% because I felt so bad!” The bride's words are broken by the laughter that she cannot contain. Her own body leaning back trembling with laughter as she clutched her beer bottle in her left hand. Your eyes admire the glimmer of the rock that sits on her ring finger. Every time your eyes even glanced towards it you felt a pang in your chest. This was your best friend. There is no way you should be hurt, or jealous by it. But why were you? You’re still young, full of life, in need for an adventure. You don’t need to be tied down by a ring and a piece of paper. Titling your head down you glance down at your wine glass and take a deep breath, suddenly no longer laughing like the rest of the group. The voices around you go muffled as you start to think about the wedding that is only weeks away. The duties of being the maid of honor was starting to sit on your shoulders. You were the one to set up a bachelorette party. The bride didn’t want anything special, just a night of hanging out and drinking. Something you two haven’t done since the two of you were in high school. You were cut out of your trance when the girls started to squeal and get up. One of the bridesmaids started to turn up the radio. A chuckle left your nose as the ABBA - Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! starts to blast through the speakers of the large stereo. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes as you sipped your merlot not paying attention to the women dancing around the fire. It wasn’t until a figure covered your light and warmth from the fire did you look up. The bride, your best friend, Jennifer was standing in front of you. Her white crop top and skirt accompanied with a flower crown was in your presence as she held out an extended hand. “Come on! We used to dance to this song all in the clubs!” She whined, shaking her hand for you to take and presumably dance along with her and the four other girls. You shake your head, “Fine, but you get to pour me another glass after this,” you respond tilting your head back to chug the rest of your wine. As you did so you grasped her hand setting down your empty glass next to the drift wood you sat along.

Standing you could feel the instant rush of the alcohol invade your system making your stomach feel warm and fuzzy. Then your head started to feel light and relieved. You danced along with the other girls as everyone danced along the fire. You stopped dancing around the fire as everyone, including yourself started to sing along to the excitement of the song. 

“There's not a soul out there! No one to hear my prayer!” You belt at the tops of your lungs pausing at different poses to the beat before letting the song drop. You start jumping and laughing, your subconscious being grateful that the beach was practically abandoned for it was nearing midnight. Though the group was a distance away from the boardwalk to not be interrupted by any juvenile attitudes.

“Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight! Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away!” You laugh and grove your hips along with the melody enjoying yourself and getting lost in the music, “Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight! Take me through the darkness to the break of the day!” You start dancing around the fire once more enjoying your time grooving along, not noticing the four figures emerging from the darkness. 

“Well it looks like your prayers have been answered ladies!” A booming voice cracks through your musical hypnotic state. This causes you to jump and a couple of the girls to shriek but laugh it off. You however weren’t laughing. You were quite pissed at the interruption, “Sorry fellas this is a private function!” You holler from afar, the look on your features clearly unamused. Yet you couldn’t help but be amused by the get up of the loud one. His hair tufted into a long blonde straight mullet, donning a fishnet shirt and a blazer with a chain of coins trailing down his chest and safety pins scattered through the fabric. There was only a ripple of giggles and chuckles, but the grip on your arm from the bride was what made you look at her. “Y/N! I think it’ll be fine if these boys join us. I mean look at how cute they are,” she whispers into your ear before biting her lip and clearly eye-fucking the boys. You open your mouth to protest but Jennifer started to pout at you giving you big puppy dog eyes. 

“We’ll be good, Y/N. Won’t we boys?” The one in the front of the semi v formation calls towards you, the sound of your name coming from him causes shivers to go down your spine. You huff and roll your eyes. “Fine, but one funny move and I am kicking all of your asses.” You spat returning towards your piece of the driftwood as the girls started to whisper amongst themselves and started to offer the men drinks. Are they even allowed to drink? You question to yourself before grappling your empty glass from the sand to go fill it up at the drinking station. The girls continue to sing and enjoy their time but your mood has switched a complete 180. As you reach out for the Merlot bottle fingerless gloves grasp it before you can. “Merlot, aren’t you fancy. This isn’t even the cheap shit.” You look up trying to connect the voice to the face. Your eyes met a small face framed by curly long hair and a Cheshire like grin. “Yeah, I should’ve gotten the cheap shit. Sometimes it has a high alcohol content.” You reply with a smirk trying not to be hostile and ruin the mood of the party. 

One of his hands grasped your wrist softly pulling your hand towards his body. The man carefully poured you a decent glass. “The name’s Marko,” he starts before looking you up and down. The action causes you to blush. Marko took a red cup himself and filled it a little bit, “I am guessing your the manager of the function. I hope we can keep you ladies entertained tonight. We did hear your call,” his sly grin grew on his lips. A chuckle left your lips, “I’m pretty sure we were fine on our own. But thank you Marko, if it was up to me you guys wouldn’t be drinking our alcohol and partying.” You reply bluntly sipping your wine, but then the sudden chill causes the hairs on the back of your neck to rise. “Man, this babe is feisty,” the one who interrupted the party in the first place calls from behind you. He places his hand on the small of your back as he reaches over you to grab a red solo cup. Marko poured him some wine as well and smirked towards his friend, “Y’know Paul, it’s not nice to invade the ladies space.” 

The one named Paul snickered from behind her, “I think she’s just fine with it, aren’t you babe?” He asks you with his breath caressing your ear, causing a tingle to form in your brain. You clear your tightening throat to slip from his grip. “Not really,” you admit honestly and he feigned an expression of hurt. “Ouch,” Marko however on the other hand could only laugh at this interaction. You parted yourself from the boys cheering yourself from the two men and sigh to yourself as you trudge back to your bench of driftwood. Once you sit yourself down you watch as the two blondes start to mingle themselves with the girls. They clearly were flirting with all of them, including the bride, she was playing with Marko’s ornate jacket. Twirling the fringes between her fingers and grazing the patches. In reaction you chug the wine out of pure petty anger and lean back to stare into the fire. 

“So who’s the lucky one?” You whip your head behind you to see the platinum blonde standing behind you admiring the crowd along with you. “I don’t see a ring on your finger,” he bluntly states as he pops a cigarette between his pink lips. The first thing you notice is his bright blue eyes that seemingly glowed in the dark. You could only roll your eyes and give a dull chuckle. You lift your left hand, “Clearly. She’s the one in the flower crown. Well the one with the biggest flower crown.” You inform crossing your bare legs over one another. The sudden smell of burning tobacco and nicotine hit your nose, but you try to ignore it. Before you knew it he was sitting beside you. He held the cigarette out towards you between his leather glove clad fingers, your eyes flickering to it before flickering to his. He raises his brows and nudges it towards you, “Thanks,” you mumble plucking it from his fingers and taking a couple of puffs before handing it back to him, “I’m David. I see you have already met Paul and Marko. The brunette is Dwayne. Thank you for letting us join your function.” David snickers, leaning back and letting the smoke come out of his nose. “Well it wasn’t my choice,” you start and David tilts his head towards you in pure curiosity, “Clearly, it’s not your party,” You blink at him as you try to figure out whether his tone was condescending or not. “Yeah, you’re right. Not my party.” You reply by taking another gulp of your wine hoping the farther you got down the glass the quicker time would go by. 

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, and you don’t look like you're having fun at all. At least not like the way you did before,” He notes before inhaling a deep draw from his cigarette. An airy chuckle leaves your lips, “Not really, the party got crashed- Wait, you were watching us?” this time it was David’s turn to chuckle, “We heard the amount of fun and Paul couldn’t resist himself to a party.” You furrow your brows at the reply, “So why did you follow?”

“I can’t say no to a night of fun.” He responds giving you a smirk leaning closer towards you, starting to close the proximity. Heat rises to the tips of your ears and the base of your neck. You try to fool yourself, it's the alcohol. However, you can smell the man’s cologne and musk directly off of him. It was so hypnotizing. Just like his eyes, you tilt your head slightly as he continues to speak, “Have some fun, Y/N.” he states, quipping his index finger under your chin. Suddenly you felt your whole body go numb and your mind go blank.

As the night grew you found yourself getting more comfortable with the punks. You were not in the arms of Dwayne, the two of you swaying back and forth to the music as the other two were dancing with the other girls. David sat chatting with the bride clearly enchanting you with his charisma you picked up on so quickly. You glance over your shoulder to look at David who was talking to the bride, yet as you looked over his piercing blue eyes flicked your way. A sudden sly smirk on his lips left you mouth agape with wonder at what was happening in his eyes. Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen echoes through the night sky. Dwayne however gripped your chin between his thumb and index and pulled your attention to him. His hands rested back on your lower back barely grazing the bare skin under your clipped shirt. “It’s rude to not focus on your dancing partner,” he muses with a charming smirk as he pulls you closer flush to his bare chest. A slight gasp left your lips as the contact surprised you. You swallow and look up into his piercing brown eyes, “I-I’m sorry,” you whisper clearly blushing under the moonlight but was thankful it was dark and farther from the fire. “I was only joking,” he claims before spinning you out and pulling you close once more. Your hands rested awkwardly on his shoulders. Keeping eye contact with you, his fingers grazed your sides, ghosting over your sides as he pulled them up your arms. He formed your hands behind his neck. You couldn’t help but smile at the small gesture as your eyes trail along the painted leopard on his arm. “You’re more relaxed,” he notes and you nod at him, “Yeah, thank you for pulling me away from those two. I thought my brain was going to hemorrhage if I kept talking to them,” You tease about Marko and Paul, to which Dwayne could only chuckle. As the second chorus started to pick up Dwayne settled his leg between yours, “Believe it or not they bring the fun with them,” Dwayne replies, starting to smile as he twists you to where his chest was flush with yours. You freeze for a moment as the chorus builds up, “Yet maybe, we can offer a different kind of fun?” Dwayne whispers in your eyes, his lips grazing the shell of your ear. You instantly felt your cheeks get hot as his large hands travel down your sides to your hips guiding you to sway along with him. You could feel your backside grazing his groin as he pulled you closer with guidance. Your breath started to pick up as your heart raced with anticipation as one of his hands traveled to your navel splaying across only his pinky dipping in your waistband of your denim shorts. Looking up from the sand your eyes connect with David’s who held an intense eye contact with you as you started to feel yourself unravelling. “I asked you a question,” Dwayne whispers once again in your ear trialing his lips down to your neck, long brown hair cascading down your chest. His seemingly chilled lips contrasted against your hot skin. “I- I- don’t-” you choke out as you feel another finger enter your waist band, causing heat to grow at your core. You hand held onto his with a deathly clutch.

You feel his bare chest rumble from a chuckle as he ground himself into you, nipping at the base of your ear. You gasp from the action, a surge of adrenaline rush didn’t make you correlate as Dwayne pulled you back around to only grasp your belt loop and spin you away from him. You land in another person’s arms, you look up to see Paul looking down at you. His handsome smile beaming down at you as he pulls you close. “Finally, I was starting to feel Dwayne was going to keep you all to himself.” He smirks as pulls your waist down, guiding you to dance alone with him, his hips moving seemingly against yours. Your lips parted as your heat grazed for a moment against his thigh, “Why were you starting to get jealous?” You couldn’t help but tease. The tease caused Paul to quirk his brows in surprise but also amusement, “It’s not fair for him to hold someone as fit as you to himself,” he quips pulling your hips down so your core continues to grind on his thigh. A gasp leaves your lips involuntary, “Especially when you gasp like that,” Paul rasped against your parted lips. You head spun with how all of this was happening and how quickly. Heavy pants coming from both parties started to ignite a fire deep within. On instinct you close the gap between his and your lips, engaging in a fiery kiss that took your breath away. As your hands crawled up Paul’s chest to wrap your arms around your neck you feel fingerless gloves graze under your shirt. Then a pressure from behind the culprit you assumed to be Marko pressed amongst you dancing along as well. You part your lips from Paul, hypnotized by ministrations from both of the men.

Marko had both his hands up your cropped shirt gently clawing and pawing at the plush bare skin underneath. “Starting without me?” Marko asks against your shoulder before pressing his lips to your skin. You tense a moment before relaxing into his touch, wrapping an arm behind you to Marko’s neck, drowning in the intoxicating smell of both men’s scents. The grinding and the pressure from both of the men caused you to pant along with the beat. “The fun’s just starting.” Paul purrs as Marko connects his lips to the crook of your neck. The sensation causes a sigh to leave your lips and you loll your head to the side giving him more access to your neck. Marko’s hands trailed down, over Paul’s hands on your hips to your thighs. He even gently grazes his index finger over your zipper before gripping the hem of your denim shorts, digging his nails into your skin as he bites down on your neck with his blunt teeth. You gasp distracted by the excitement to notice Paul leaving your grip. Your hands grip his as your nails dig into his gloves. You close your eyes for a moment letting a sigh float from your lips as he pulls you by your belt loop like Dwayne and spinning you away from him. 

You snap your eyes open to see your hands land on a layer of leather. Your toes touched the tips of boots. You graze your hands to the black t-shirt. Gloved fingers pinch your chin and pull it upwards. You are met by stark blue eyes and a honeyed voice, “Having fun?” David asks, tilting his head down as he waits for your breathless answer. You could only nod as your legs felt like jelly and your head spun at a million miles per house. “Good,” he whispers against your lips, ghosting his breath that had reminisce of cigarette on it. You were in trouble. You thought to yourself. His other hand pulled you close by the small of your back to press against him as he entrapped you in a powerful kiss. You could feel the tip of his nose pressed against your cheekbone. His gloved hand moved from pinching your chin to grasping your neck just below your jaw. His kiss swallows your quiet moment that you tried your hardest to suppress. David pulls away after a moment, his hand still placed under your jaw as he admired your flushed face. You could only admire his face amongst the bonfire that lit his dilated pierced ocean eyes that looked at you as if you were his next meal. A chuckle rumbled through his chest as he looked at your haphazard state. “Are you ready to get your prayers answered?” He questions with a knowing smirk. The only response you can give him was keeping your lips parted as his eyes sunk you deeper in a hypnotic state. You slowly nod as his gloved hand caresses your cheek.

[divinegrey]

The divinegrey Q&A!

firstly, thank you to all of you who submitted questions! it means a lot to me that you guys cared enough to ask :) so without further ado, let's begin!

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Q) hello, love! For the Q&A, what’s your favorite dinosaur? Or, if you don’t have one, favorite color? Make sure you eat, drink, and rest darling <3

A) Favorite dinosaur? That’s a hard one. Probably any of the ones that had wings. Those funky boys are cool as hell. My favorite color is either dark purple or dark green! And thank you :)

Q) hee hoo peanut

A) Cashews are better than peanuts. Almonds are the worst. Don’t @ me

Q) Since euphoria is coming back January 9th can you do a rue x fem reader or something, maybe like a mini series?

A) Good question! I like euphoria a lot as a show, but I definitely don’t think I would ever write for it, personally.

Q) Do you practice cartomancy?

A) I’m trying to! Between Uni and my other hobbies, I haven’t had a lot of time to actually sit down and learn it.

Q) How do you come up with such complex backstories? I find myself kinda sticking to the same handful of traumas, but what you write is so original and unique. Like your character building is off the charts awesome

A) Thank you for the compliment! Trust me, it takes a while to get good at character building. One of the funniest things about that question is that playing D&D helps a lot with character building. When you’re playing a character you actively have to roleplay, you have to go more than just making a backstory. You have to think about mannerisms, traits, likes and dislikes, their habits. Ever since I started playing D&D I’ve gotten way better at character building for my stories :)

VANISHER QUESTIONS

vanisher series spoilers ahead. proceed with caution!

Q) I would like to know more about the cards actually / I actually would like to learn more details about the cards, if you wouldn't mind nerding out about that

A) Alright, so let me clarify first that I'm in no way an expert with cartomancy. I’m only just starting to learn it! Let’s take a look at the cards Van drew during part 10:

the seven of hearts— the suit of hearts ties to emotional feelings. The seven of hearts specifically reads as broken promises, which is fitting as this card was drawn when Vi and Jinx were talking.

The six of hearts— this one was picked when Vanny was trying to analyze the relationship between Vi and Caitlyn. The six of hearts represents a surprise new love interest. Fitting right?

The eight of spades— I already detailed what this one meant in the chapter itself, but it means deceit, danger, and that caution is advised. Van drew this one when Caitlyn had the machine gun aimed at Jinx. For who the caution was advised for, I think we can all collectively agree it was for Caitlyn. Hope this answers your cartomancy questions!

Q) Is Van shorter than Jinx?

A) Nope. Van’s canonical height is 5’8 whereas Jinx is 5’3

Q) Does Van have a tattoo?

A) Nope. She’s free of any tattoos. She didn’t have the time to get any, nor the need to. She loves Jinx’s tattoos, though.

Q) Would Jinx and Van get matching tattoos?

A) Down the line, they probably would. Jinx would likely get the hidden blades crossed over her heart as a tattoo (like over her sternum) because of Van doing that during the table scene, and Van would go really simple and get a tattoo of Pow-Pow breaking a chain, somewhere easy to hide. She’s still a paid assassin.

Q) What’s your writing process for the series?

A) I’m a pantser, meaning I tend to write by the seat of my pants and go with no plans at all. When I started writing the Vanisher Series, I didn’t even know how I was going to end it. In terms of characterization, I just tried to identify their baseline emotions and go from there. For grammar, I have grammarly checking my writing because frankly I do not care to proofread my own work (this post is not sponsored by grammarly. they suck sometimes).

Q) Who was the hardest to write?

A) Jinx, for sure. I wanted to get it across that she still has manic and psychotic tendencies, so I had to do a lot of research into that. Being in a psychology class helped a lot, actually. Everyone else had consistent characterization, but Jinx is the wild card. She changes on the daily, but she still has one or two emotions she always comes back to.

Q) What made you think of writing the Vanisher Series?

A) I’m a lesbian in love with Jinx. That’s pretty much it.

Q) Do you listen to any songs while writing / What are your song inspirations?

A) I made a playlist detailing every song I listened to consistently while writing the Vanisher Series! If I wasn’t working on it with my hearing implants turned off (I focus better when I work in silence) then I was listening to the playlist. Primarily the biggest inspiration was Halsey.

Q) Where would Jinx and Van end up after the Vanisher series? Do they still stay in Zaun? Or do they travel and do their own things there?

A) After the events of the Series, they spend some time laying low and keeping their heads down because of the explosion on the Hexgates. Van is, quite frankly, filthy rich from all of the money she has socked away from her jobs, so they just hang around until everything calms down. I imagine neither of them haven’t traveled much outside of Piltover and Zaun at all, so they might do that. I’ve heard Demacia is nice at this time of year.

Q) What would you have named the Vanisher? Before she had forgotten the name?

A) There are two answers here. The first one is that, if it had ever actually been brought up, it would’ve been “Y/N” because Van is you, by all technicality. If you’re asking me what I would’ve named my interpretation of Vanny before she got mind-whacked into being an assassin, my answer is Phoenix. I would’ve named her Phoenix, because my interpretation of Van has dark red hair. Again, that’s my interpretation, not what the canon Van actually is. Part of the reason why I gave Van the name Vanny, Vanisher, anything like that is so I could avoid using Y/N. I hate using that. It feels weird, clunky, and out of place when I write it so I try to avoid using it at all costs.

Q) Does Vanny know about the workshop explosion in ep 1? I think it would be kinda cool if she did, seeing as she lived in Piltover. Or was she already under Yeloras training even then?

A) I actually had to check my timeline to see what the answer for this would’ve been. Van started her training with her mentor when she was nine, and she was twelve (same age as Jinx) when the explosion happened. Van remembers it, but she was really far into the memory-wiping stage of her training that it’s a little hazy.

Q) Will we be able to see any Vanny/Jinx oneshots or smaller prompts after your break?

A) Not sure. I like where I’ve left them, and I don’t feel any need to write any more about them. I guess if the demand for more of them is overwhelming I could try and write something!

Q) Are we going to get more of Vanny and Jinx in different Aus? or something explicit for Jinx?

A) Refer to the answer above. As for explicit content, I wouldn’t be counting on it. I used to be a somewhat prolific smut writer for some other fandoms but it’s been so long since I’ve written it that I doubt it would be good at all LOL

alright, everybody, that's the end of the Q&A! Thank you to everybody who submitted questions. this was a lot of fun to do! But for now, I'll catch you guys later. My inbox will be open to anons, but I'm officially on break :)

thanks for tuning in!

~grey

[deidrefromthenorth]

Part Three of this pls 🥺🙏

With this Picture ! 💚

Remember me? (Part Three)

It's not dawn yet but you've already taken a quick shower and eaten your breakfast. You woke up with energy and a good mood. You've been waiting all week for that day to come because you and Avi are finally going to have your first date. Well, you don't quite know what to call a hike in the woods, but you know you'll be alone in nature all day. You thought for a moment that it might be that a hike wasn't technically a "date," and for once you wondered if Avi would think the same. Perhaps Avi would have liked you to be more sophisticated, to wear a nice dress and put on your heels to go to dinner at some romantic restaurant in the city.

You didn't think much of it anyway. You dressed in your tights, your oversized sweatshirt and tied the laces on your sneakers. In front of the bathroom mirror, you briskly brushed your hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. You applied sunscreen to your face, lip balm and, as a final touch, transparent mascara that that made your eyes look sweete.

You gave yourself one last look in the mirror and headed to the kitchen to start preparing everything for the picnic. You packed the sandwiches, the fruit and the snacks. The backpack was going to be heavy and you still hadn't put the drinks in yet. You couldn't decide, so you finally bought some soft drinks as well as bottles of mineral water. When you had everything ready you stood still wondering if that would be enough. You couldn't help but laugh at your own thoughts. You were looking like your mother, she always thinks that all the food in the world would not be enough, ever. You thought about how Avi always had a big appetite, and then you wondered if your mother hadn't been grooming you to be with a man like him. What nonsense! Things like that always occurred to you when you started to get nervous.

You looked at the clock on your kitchen wall. It was not long before Avi arrived and you still had to go get your bike to load it with the picnic things. When you opened the garage door, the morning chill hit you in the face, but it was a clear, cloudless day. When the sun was higher the weather would warm up. At that very moment, you saw Avi just walk out of the house and kiss his grandmother goodbye. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and it seemed to you the most tender thing. Your neighbor was a good woman, you always got along with her and now you were delighted that her grandson was there. You stood with your hands on your hips waiting for Avi to walk up to where you were. He took his time because he carried his backpack on his back while he tried to grab the bike so it wouldn't fall to the ground. You saw him walk towards you and you couldn't help but smile when you saw how he waved at you and smiled at you too. He had a charming smile and that morning he looked gorgeous. He had his hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing his knit cap. For the rest, he always dressed the same, informal, with jeans and T-shirts. Besides, that day he was wearing a padded jacket made of light but warm fabric. He couldn't help but duck his head and smile shyly when he walked up to you and saw your face.

What's that?! -You asked him, staring at his bike.

My bicycle - he replied blushing - Well, it's my grandmother's...

You looked at the old lady's bike he was holding by the handlebars. It was gold in color and had several old stickers on it. In the back was a large basket that Avi's grandmother used to put her groceries in when she went to the market.

She doesn't use it anymore - he said laughing amused by the expression of astonishment on your face - And I don't have one. I guess it will do.

You smiled and thought he was the funniest guy you had ever met.

Yes, of course it will do - you said amused. - You have a good basket and we need space for everything I have prepared. I hope the ride whets our appetite.

Sure! - He said. - I'm already hungry now...

You laughed and asked him if he wanted to come in and have a drink together before leaving. You also had some homemade sponge cake that you had baked the day before and it was delicious. Avi smiled and told you that she would love it, but that she would rather wait to have it for dessert. Without knowing why, you got goosebumps when he said that. You were beginning to realize the effect that man had on you. What you really felt for him. You wanted him to hug you and never let you go.

You left immediately and walked all the way to the forest path. You were taking a gentle walk while Avi looked at him all those places he remembered when he was a child. You practically did not speak, you simply enjoyed the calm of the morning.

I've been very happy here-he said almost in his deep voice.

You noticed the emotion in his words and that made you happy, but it also made you think that he had lost his happiness a little.

You pedaled harder when you were in the middle of the forest. The path was freshly cleared by the forest clearing patrol. The air was fresh and pure and the scent of the trees gave you energy to continue. During that stretch you were in silence enjoying nature and that moment of peace. You were driving almost side by side and from time to time you would throw glances at him. Avi looked so happy you almost want to cry. You want to stop and hug him. You realize this is the second time you feel the need to be with him in a more intimate moment. That you need to touch his body and you blush when you think you don't want your clothes to get in the middle of your bodies. Before you noticed it, he is looking at you with the most charming smile of his.

Are you tired? - he asked you.

He had started talking a while ago, but you were lost in thought looking at him and he had noticed.

Sorry - he apologized - I'm talking too much today.

No - you answered - I really like listening to you. You have a beautiful voice and also, I like your anecdotes a lot!

But you don't remember me, do you? - He said. - I think you were too young to do it. I am a little older than you. It doesn't really matter now, but before it was a big difference.

Yes, I remember you- you replied-While you were talking I have been remembering many things. It's been a long time and many things have happened...

He stared at you for a while. But he didn't say anything, you just watched as he nodded.

It took you two hours to go all the way to where the lake was. You laughed because when you were children, that excursion seemed like a great adventure. As soon as you saw a nice place, you arranged everything to prepare to eat. He was in charge of spreading the blanket on the ground and you were taking everything out of the backpacks. Avi had decided to load most of the stuff on his grandmother's bike and he must have been very tired. The landscape left you speechless. It was a place so calm that it seemed in Paradise.

I could stay here to live forever - he said almost in a whisper.

Yes - you answered sighing.

But I'm very hungry now - he continued laughing. - Do you mind if we eat now?

You laughed and started eating. Later, you went to look for your camera. You always liked photography and even you were about to be a professional. But the idea of ending up in a studio taking pictures of crying children and stupid couples at their weddings took you away from that vocation.

You walked around the lake with your camera in your hand. You went to the shore and saw the water was clear and clean. You took a few photos while Avi looked at you lying on the blanket. You found the way he looked at you very sexy, and immediately pointed your camera at him. He ducked his head with a shy smile and waved his hand at you to tell you not to take pictures of him. But he was laughing with amusement and you couldn't help but capture that beautiful image. You moved closer to him, still shooting, until you reached him and knelt on the blanket. You felt his hand on your waist, like a caress. He circled around you and pulled you into his body. He gave you just enough time to put the camera aside before rolling you on the floor as he hugged you. You laughed like fools, until he was on top of you. You noticed the weight of his body on top of yours and his nose a few millimeters from yours. You weren't laughing anymore. His gaze moved from your eyes to your mouth and you could almost feel as if he was tracing the outline of your lips, as if he wanted to memorize it. You couldn't wait any longer and you raised your head a little to give him a soft and quick kiss on his perfect lips. You felt his beard tickle your soft skin and you shivered. He wrapped his arms around you tighter and kissed you. You closed your eyes and wanted to record that moment in your mind forever.

The wind began to blow stronger and above all colder, but you didn't care. You continued to kiss even when his smartphone started vibrating inside his pants. You both startled when you noticed it between your bodies. You laughed and Avi ignored the call.

The wind grew stronger and the sky had been covered with clouds in an instant. Avi's phone kept calling insistently. The situation as pleasant as it was, was starting to get awkward.

Your kiss broke off and Avi sighed uncomfortably as he reached for his phone while looking at you with an apologetic nod. You waited for him to check who was calling him so urgently, but he saw the expression on his face and you knew right away that something was wrong. He stood up while you did the same.

I have many missed calls and a message from a neighbor-he said explaining to me. - Something happened to my grandmother.

Wasting no time, you collected everything as soon as possible. You looked up at the sky and saw that it was completely covered in black clouds. Another shiver went through your body, and it wasn't because the weather had turned cold. It was a bad feeling. You glanced at Avi before you started off again, and his expression broke your heart. You could see the desperation in his beautiful eyes and he took your breath away.

You walked your way home as fast as you could and without speaking. Suddenly it seemed endless, like when you were kids looking for adventure. In addition, it started to rain making everything even more difficult.

Before reaching the neighborhood you could see a column of smoke rising and you noticed the smell of burning in the air. As soon as you turned the corner onto your street, you saw the fire truck, the police, and an ambulance. A group of neighbors had gathered behind the security cordon they had installed around the house. Avi jumped off the bike as soon as he arrived and ran toward the house. He broke through the security tape and ran for the door. A firefighter stopped him and called the medical services.

You can't go in, sir - they warned him - Everything has burned down and I'm sorry to tell you the lady who was inside has died. We're trying to get in touch with her grandson, do you know where we can find him?

It's me...-Avi stammered as tears flooded his eyes-I'm her grandson.

Immediately the medical services and the police were with him. You had gotten close enough to be close to him, but they didn't let you pass beyond what was allowed.

It's for safety, ma'am - said a firefighter - we are still extinguishing the fire and it may still be dangerous.

What has happened? how did everything happen? - You asked.

Looking like a candle - answered another firefighter - We think it was how the fire started.

Avi had been sitting on the ground in the grass of the garden, beginning to cry. You pushed aside the tape and jumped over it, ran to where he was and knelt down with your arms around him. You didn't know what to say or do. You didn't know how you could comfort him. You just couldn't, you could only stay by his side.

End?

[sugarandspice-games]

Mammon Patches up a Protective MC

Hoo boy, this one is almost proper fic length! Sugar and I collabed on this one, so it’s going in both our tags! We have a somewhat difficult time writing for Mammon due to lack of experience (even if I love him), but here you go!

[TW: Bullying, mild description of wounds]

“If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy,” you said, puffing up your chest as Mammon looked you over, first aid kit in hand. 

You had a few scrapes and scratches along with the multiple violet bruises that mottled your skin, and since the band-aids had already been used, he had to swipe some of Levi’s limited edition TSL bandages.

He’d be mad later, but Mammon would pay him back... maybe.

“Still! What were ya thinkin’, getting into a fight with a demon?! If I hadn’t gotten there, he could’ve killed you, or eaten you, or--”

“Well, he didn’t!” you huffed, crossing your arms and then wincing as you accidentally pressed a nasty bruise, “So there!”

Mammon sighed, stooping to your level as you sat on your bed, nursing your bruised legs.

“Lemme see what I can do.”

You blushed as he inched closer to you, but you turned your face away, trying to hide your burning cheeks from his view. He was too tied up in treating his human’s wounds to notice, but it still made you shy.

The truth was, you were just as crazy for Mammon as he was for you. You’d had a crush on him ever since Lucifer introduced you to him, and fell harder for him after seeing him stumble to show his affection for those he cared about... you could tell he cared a lot. And you remember how you felt, your boiling blood pulsing through your clenched veins when you heard the lesser demons gossipping about him behind his back.

“Yeah, I can’t come over, I got roped into playing poker with Mammon tonight... Can you believe my rotten luck?”

“Ugh, I have no idea how you can stand that guy! He’s just such a lazy scumbag and a troublemaker.”

“I know, right? He’s going nowhere fast, a real good-for-nothing. But I can’t say I hate being with him, it’s always hilarious when he screws something up!”

“Hahaha! Yeah, ain’t that the truth!”

“The funniest bit is... I think he’s actually trying. It’s sad.”

You couldn’t remember the exact moment when you launched yourself at the lesser demon, but you remembered his surprised gasp the moment he hit the floor with a raging, wildly-swinging human on top of him.

“TAKE IT BACK!” you roared, “TAKE IT BACK NOW!”

You remembered the face of this particular demon-- Mammon talked to him sometimes, introduced him to you as a friend of his, and earnestly thought of him as such. But the fact that he was standing there, laughing and insulting someone who was never anything but kind to him, even if Mammon could be rough and difficult sometimes...

It really pissed you off.

One of the other demons pried you away from him after you had gotten some good hits in, and pain shot through you as his foot collided with your unprotected stomach. Fury searing your nerves, you wrenched yourself from the offending grip and rushed toward the demon, clawing and punching and even biting with no real strategy. You were made of pure, enraged feral energy.

In the end, Mammon had to separate the both of you two. You and the demon barked insults at each other before you were carted away.

And here you were, sitting on your bed and staring into Mammon’s concerned face.

The alcohol stung against your scratches as he cleaned each one clumsily with a swab, and you shivered from the cold ice packs against your bruises and your wounded stomach.

“Jeeze,” Mammon scoffed, leaning back. “What’s got ya so riled anyway? Did he insult your outfit? I’ll have a talk with him...” He swiped his hand through his hair, still clutching the tweezers that held the bloodied cotton ball. “I can’t have my human gettin’ eaten before the Solstice. You haven’t seen everythin’ yet, so just don’t get into anymore fights and let the Great Mammon take care of it from now on, okay?”

You can’t help but tilt your chin, squeezing your teeth together. 

“He deserved it!”

You could barely stomach the insults the brothers tossed at Mammon, and how he would grumble, and hiss, but ultimately shake it off. Even when he couldn’t, in those rare moments his lips would fall and his eyes would water behind his glasses, he kept going-- he kept trying to be himself.

You loved him for that, and under it all, so did his brothers... so you could let it go...

But not from some... stupid, inconsiderate little...

“C’mon,” Mammon sighed softly, dropping his tool to rest his hand on top of your head. “I know this li’l guy and he probably didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

Your eyes stung now and you ground your teeth. 

You’d be damned if you’d cry but your throat was closing, flames licking at the side of it from the fury simmering in your ribcage. 

“MC?”

You sniffed, trying to fight back the sob clawing its way through your chest.

“Y...You don’t get it...”

“What? Are ya sayin’ I’m stupid?” Mammon chuckled dryly.

With his insult toward himself, you finally bawled, cheeks darkening with the force, as you flung yourself onto his shoulder.

“I don’t think you’re stupid!” you sobbed, “Y-You’re protective, and good with numbers, and honest, a-and.. and...”

...and so, so kind, you want to add.

Kind enough to take you under his wing, kind enough to protect a sick little girl from the human world at the cost of being bullied by those witches, kind enough to put up with the constant slew of insults from his brothers...

Kind enough to offer his friendship to some lesser demon who doesn’t even appreciate it.

“And I won’t let some dumbass little punk talk about the demon I love like that!”

Oh.

If Mammon wasn’t already flustered when you threw yourself against him, he definitely was now.

Yes, he’d just learned that his ‘friend’ was talking about him behind his back, apparently... Though that wasn’t anything new to him. He was fairly used to being disrespected, even if he was an esteemed member of RAD’s student council. He wouldn’t lie (not to himself, anyway) and say it didn’t hurt, but...

You just said you loved him, and he’d be damned if he let his anger at his former friend overshadow that.

“Hey... can you say that again?”

“He’s... a-a dumbass punk...?” You hiccuped, swallowing down some of the snot clogging your nose.

Mammon couldn’t help but laugh, pressing you tighter against him. 

Maybe... Maybe he could live with just one person respecting him.

“Not that,” He shook his head, resting his head against yours. “The other part..”

“The... other...?” You blinked before feeling more heat flood your cheeks. “Oh, shit.”

“C’mon... Just one more time?”

His voice softened, dropping to a low rumble, and you could hear the quiet desperation there. The longing, the desire, and... The hesitation, uncertainty.

You wanted to wipe it away.

“I love you, Mammon.” You spoke honestly, clearing your throat so the words would be clear. “I love you, I love you, I love you... and I won’t stand for anyone talking about you like that. Ever. Not when you are so wonderful.”

He only held you tighter, somehow wishing he could get closer, closer, closer. You were so warm, and even though your cheeks were blotchy and there were tears and snot staining your skin, you were so... beautiful.

“I love ya too... I’m so lucky to have such an amazing, fiery, cute little human by my side,” he paused, pressing his forehead to yours, “But don’t get in any more fights, okay? I don’t wanna lose you because of somethin’ some little pipsqueak said. You’re my human, all mine, and maybe that’s selfish, but... I wanna keep ya around as long as possible.”

You laugh through the tears, nuzzling him and pressing a kiss to his temple.

“No promises.”