#if we go by game instead of show Henry could be Bill that would be funny

[aftoonfamily]

One of the few ideas I have is that William is the doctor/Marlene and Vanessa is Abby cause like…. The parallels guys…… the parallels…….

I never add shit to this blog bc I always just keep it to myself and forget other people might be interested in it.

Awhile back I had an idea for a last of us au with Mike and Gregory just because I thought the personalities would fit so well. And watching tlou rn, I still really love the idea. Gregory would so have a joke book. And Mike would totally go on a several month long journey just to end up with a child.

Still difficult to think where everyone would fit tho. Not too much to work with there.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 5/2/2023

some stuff i fucking HATED in this one

listening

new K. Flay AND new LUNA AURA singles out last friday but the thing that kept me company through several walks was this (billboard called it "industrial rager" which seems fine close enough) used for the yellowjackets tv show (something i have not watched and never will).

my brain has really craved repetitive lyrics recently. not sure what that's about. not a repeated lyric, but love one that goes "lipstick on the rifle". spotify

ty discover weekly.

reading

pour one out for the real ones, Vice's leftist gaming vertical Waypoint. if you've ever liked anything about the way i go about these posts you have them to thank. i would say they are the primary influence in the way i try to approach things like "is this a clever subversion that still holds a lot of love for the genre or does this not even know the rules it's trying to break". also a big factor in me going "okay this is what it says it is, this is the marketing copy and press releases" and a work says it's trying to do before assessing whether or not they do it well. may all the staff land softly, elsewhere, paid far more.

“There are a ton of destinations within gaming media that do a great job covering whether a game is worth your money. Instead, we want to focus on telling stories about why people play, and investigating how the games we love and spend so much time with come to be. Whether a game was a commercial success or has a small, dedicated community, we want to raise the conversation and take an in-depth look at the passion, people, and politics that underpin these worlds.” -Austin Walker, editor in chief until last year

the very last thing i read was this review of the new starred wars game, whose early review code sent to journalists was EXTREMELY different than what ended up shipping. this is uncommon but not unheard of, but almost nobody publishes a "null result" review like this one and it's a fascinating breakdown

This piece has, admittedly, gone off the rails, but if this had been a straightforward review, and at the end, I put an italicized section that said “based on 10 hours,” what would you say? If I’d finished the game but confessed at the end that the patched version was importantly different from the one I’d spent my time with, what then? Which review is worth more?

i also read Behind the Sun, Above the Moon, a non-binary scifi/fantasy anthology. i was not impressed with this collection in whole or in parts. it could have benefited from a stronger theme and editorial vision (i'm not actually sure this thing had an editor, now i'm looking closer?)

this has billed itself "a Queer anthology inspired by magic and the cosmos". what i was hoping/expecting this would be: a collection exploring what it means to be nonbinary through the lens of scifi and fantasy. it actually is: an almost completely human-centric collection about people who happen to be non-binary and happen to live in scifi or fantasy settings.

the critical problem is that most of them are very slice-of-life in a fantastic setting as opposed to a short story with uhhhhhh a theme and a point it makes. the worldbuilding, while often interesting, is not integral. 3/9 of these are set in a contemporary setting, and all of them could be set in a contemporary setting without losing much. 3/9 (one overlap) feature a protagonist or deuteragonist who is a cop, and all three of those read very gay assimilation-y/feel very concerned with perfect gay rep.

i don't really expect anyone to be the next o henry here, but none of them are self-contained. not the sort of ambiguous ending in the Ha Ha Im Going To Think About This For The Rest Of My Life way, they all feel like “first chapter of a planned new adult trilogy”.

i love anthologies. i am always rooting for anthologies. i am no stranger to imperfectly written speculative fiction. this one is just kind of nothing? none of these are good or particularly enjoyable examples of the form, either as short stories or as speculative fiction.

i don't actually know what tipped me off to this book, it's been on my overdrive for...two years.

watching

two out of three Magnificent Seven sequels are not worth my time, your time, or anyone else's. i have not bothered to watch Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969, dir. Wendkos) bc i have a finite amount of time on this bitch of an earth.

i reluctantly have to hand the original some heterosexual rights. that move had a genuinely cute romance that fit in well with a particular character's growth, even if it was lifted whole cloth from Seven Samurai. this will be relevant when we discuss this franchise's hatred for women later.

Return of the Seven/Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966, dir. Kennedy), starring exactly one member of the original seven, is so poorly paced that i paused the film during an "exciting" bullfight, got up to get more snacks, got distracted, and ended up cleaning my kitchen.

there is a great deal of untranslated, un-captioned spanish throughout this movie, including the entire opening sequence. i don't know how i feel about this. on one hand, yeah, fuck them americans, and i would not call the english-language dialogue particularly crucial to your understanding of the plot. on the other hand, what.

as opposed to the original seven all being men who are fairly polite and follow some sort of code, the replacement five are all kind of sleazy? one of them only signs on bc there's an entire village full of women on their own. in other relationships, there is the KERNEL of a really fascinating fucked up family dynamic between the villain and his sons, but we don't even get hints of that until well after the halfway point. this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier. the camerawork and effects simply are not there.

The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972, dir. McCowan) is a really, really awful film to watch, and not just if you're a woman. this whole fucking film uses three separate instances of rape or gang rape as plot momentum. if you are not trying to fill out lee van cleef's filmography (only a thing me and @birdcfparadise are insane enough to do) this is actively skippable.

like okay. let’s just walk through the first fifteen minutes. lvc's young, new, nubile wife convinces him to let a kid who robbed a store get off with a warning instead of what lvc really wants to do, send him to jail. in return, the kid shoots lvc, kidnaps lvc's wife, and rapes and kills her on the trail. the movie, which wasn't good to start out with, does not improve from there. like the other sequel i watched, this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier.

the one interesting choice this film makes: one of the seven is a failed journalist tailing lvc, hoping to get enough life details out of him to write a book. this is a fun period-appropriate twist and this could have been a fun proto-revisionist western/gracefully put the franchise to bed, but here we FUCKING are.

why'd i do this to myself: liked the original, like lvc.

playing

the steam collections i'm sorting things into areworking, bc i forgot i owned Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013, developed/published Techland). i do not remember buying this, i assume it was $1.99 in a sale at some point. this is a silly arcade-y first person shooter.

i suspect it will be the kind of thing i play through once and then completely forget about, but i will have a fun ten hours-ish.

this is a personal problem, but the moment you give me a long-distance rifle, i want to play as stealthily and perfectly as possible. (except in fallout, where it is way more fun to charge up to enemies like a very small freight train with a shotgun). this game is simply not built for stealth. this game wants you to move constantly. i do like how enemies are encountered in little groups or knots, and don't come after you if you've cleared out one group and haven't hustled along to the next. enemy AI was simply not very sophisticated in 2013. this gives me time to meander around looking at everything and going "oh i coulda got up on that water tower" or "totally missed that barrel of dynamite".

i like how over the top but un-self-serious it is so far. competent shooter, fewer of the bells and whistles we expect from a FPS these days, but we don't really need to be fucking around with health packs and more than one kind of ammo for a gun. nothing's really annoying me yet and i haven't fallen deeply in love with it, so i don't have a ton of thoughts other than "huh this is a decade old video game with decade-old design sensibilities, which isn't bad just different". stay tuned!

separate thought: i do think that the game's artstyle is about as detailed as i ever want a game to get. nothing ever really needs to be more realistic than this. i do think we peaked in 2013 and what 2013 CPUs could handle. we have better raytracing and particles and whatnot now, but that's at the cost of eerily hyperrealistic games where there is little to no non-signage visual signposting. nothing is guiding your eye through a level, things (consumables, collectibles, etc) are very easy to miss. if video games are an art form you need to pick a thing your game looks like. make a stylistic choice for christ's sake. not this game though. it's doing okay.

making

made some fake meatballs (shut up) bc the giant bag of bargain store brand meatballs i used to practically live on have risen to $20 a bag. angel hair and meatballs are easy to acquire and easy to eat, even if they do generate many dishes to wash.

making my own is not much cheaper, and raw ground meat texture is one of the worst things in the world. plus i had some carrots and oats and lentils to use up anyway. this required more chopping than my hands cared for, even though i bought pre-juilenned carrots and just sort of roughly diced them. the texture is UNSETTLINGLY like real meatballs. that sort of spongy? bouncy? mouthfeel. the taste is, of course, nothing like real meat. they are a little crumbly in actual pasta, but oversaucing whatever noodles are at the back of the pantry will help.

no pics bc they look awful. eating a lot of various lentil sludges lately partly bc i am trying to clean out my pantry before i move, and when i could still afford grocery delivery they frequently gave me green instead of the far superior red lentils.

[freeworldallahmbaclass]

Take care of yourself and your family nobody care so somebody gotta care and good luck to the summer youth employment program and more money on the kids check more dollars for their work to build incentives of them being future employers and our community employees .

This is for the kids in elementary , junior high school and high school in New York City and cities like New York I wish I had a friend or helper like me when I was a kid much of my help is right on time because I lived through those situations when it was rougher and now it is a blessing that I could make a difference and better for other people other than myself and for me that is better than any riches one could ever get we are a huge success with the Tablet program on Rikers Island to stop recidivism to crime and high alert of multiple slashings cuttings and gang warfare on Rikers Island let's hope this Sports culture expansion program works and go through good luck to the kids and I hope a bright 🌞😎 future for them in Athletics and most importantly their school do your New York home work and stay out of jail and stay out of trouble and see I been the best help New York has had in decades if not centuries .

Proposing The New York City sports culture expansion in New York City schools and other schools on the east coast .This is about my junior high school in Copperas Cove Texas I was a Killeen boy Texas living off base with my family whenever deployed I was shuttled to live with the Patterson family hailing from Alabama love the A I love riding four wheelers down those dusty hills in Alabama . The reason I show this is because I wanted to share something with you about my school culture our lunchroom was like a cafe in the middle of our school , our classrooms had TV in our classroom with our own morning motivation news on what's going for that school day and healthy meals and what foods to eat , the campus was so beautiful the grass was neatly cut fresh smelling grass soft to step across to get to class of course the girls teased me then but it is aight I grew out of that my stupid self was smoking pot back then weed and now look I'm the guy that legalized weed in New York City like really it is legal to smoke pot and I wouldn't want to promote that for kids to indulge in because drugs destroy people's future it destroy your mind and get you around the wrong crowds of people , people get hurt just buying the drug but the moral of my story is the sports culture is better than New York sports culture and New York should take a page from Copperas Cove Texas sports culture the big band playing dancing stepping and our football games was like the main event you see alot of Chevy trucks and the crowd going wild . What I'm saying is take some of those dirt fields and expand them to track and field and football fields for the kids and expand New York City school system sports culture instead of a school yard bullying teasing and dirty culture make it a Friday night we go see our kids play sports and we all get the Chevy trucks and go to the game and watch the band perform their music add an extra wing with architecture to those high schools in New York for expansion of sports culture . Shout out to my old coach John Henry and my science teacher almost all my teachers were like retired football players that got into the passion of teaching after they retired . I miss it if I could go back I wouldn't do drugs or crime . I would be secure in myself and my future see my job security and safety proposal law bill and legislature . 702 Sunny Ave, Copperas Cove, TX 76522

Hands off our kids and hands off that dial no more terrorism at a push of a button or using social media as a drone attack all is clear now and all is back to normal it is safe for all to resume carry on with their school learning and in their career .

The kids in New York need Football equipment 🏈 football fields the uniform all their gear and new stadiums , Tracks and field training and jogging fields , Basketball uniforms for all schools and don't forget our daughters sports they need Volley Ball stuff , Women Basketball uniforms and Tennis 🎾 stuff for the young ladies I believe the children should have a future so give them a chance instead of fighting , poor grades because of bullying and teasing , crime and Rikers Island , early deaths that could be prevented through conflict resolution like talking it out before fighting over a girl , jewelry or worse drug dealing which is legal now but should be dealt with maturely the thing is stop arresting them and give them a chance at a good future and make sure they have help to learn how to do the school work so all their classes and participate in sports and other extra curricular activities like the political debate team and urban development teams and preserving their environment through volunteer work in their communities . Go Brooklyn . Hey Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul Allocate funds for the school sports culture expansion plan act to give the kids a great future . Maybe the Patriots could donate some stuff to New York City Junior high schools and High school sports team to show them what it is like to grow up in a sports culture I miss my old schools and the games big bands and the song and dance and the football games and the crowd going wild you are going to love it we fixed Rikers Island why not fix the High schools sports teams in cities like New York it will bring fun and excitement to New York City .

[whencallstheheart]

Ugh where to begin.....

First of all, watching the end where it was previewing next week's episode; why must Lucas always ask Elizabeth if she trust him? It's so annoying. She agreed to marry you I would hope she would.

Second, I'm glad Henry stepped up and suggested that Elizabeth really look in and examine why she was truly upset. Henry sees it so, I think it's only a matter of time before the town does too. You can't hide anything in Hope Valley. Was it truly over Nathan? Was it just bringing up Jack and how it all ended? Was it a little bit of both? I guess only time will tell. I definitely don't think she has fully grieved or moved on from Jack. Will she break up with Lucas & go towards Nathan, I just don't know. Personally, I would like to see it yes, will it happen probably not but, you truly never know.

I know we are getting a next season but, personally I'm not sure how much longer this show has in it. It's just hard after 10 seasons, will be 11; it's hard to just not watch. I really am beginning to wonder what the end game of WCTH is; and many more seasons they truly do see continuing. I mean would everyone stay in Hope Valley and live the "happily ever after" ending? Would the town just not survive and everyone would need to move to the bigger city? The possibilities are endless but, it's not gonna last forever and I just curious from a "big picture" type of thing what you kind of see for the future of WCTH is.

The trust me thing is about his run for office to save the town. That's his big plan that'll surely work somehow.

The Henry stuff was fantastic! I love that he finally got to be the one to give someone advice instead of everyone always trying to nudge him in a certain direction. I honestly couldn't believe they went so full-on with Henry noticing it and going to her about it when he could've just let her deal with it herself since it's not his business. Henry cares about Elizabeth and I felt like that was him really looking out for her like she's done for him. That seemed like a big moment that might get put on the backburner now with so much else going on. I'm kind of thinking we're in for a frustrating cliff hanger this season.

I definitely don't think Elizabeth has fully grieved but, like we've been over before, why involve Nathan? She can grieve and work through whatever apprehensions or fears she has on her own. Or better yet talk them through with the man she chose to marry. She seems to forget he exists sometimes. She claimed that her feelings and fears with Nathan were about Jack years ago so now we're just gonna be back to that? She hasn't done any work on herself since then? If so, she needs to leave Nathan alone. She's making it so messy. She's uncomfortable with Allie getting so close to Jack but Allie's cool with everything. She's moved on. Elizabeth is the one making it a potential problem because of her unresolved feelings.

I'd obviously love to see Elizabeth come to her senses and get with Nathan but I'm so conflicted about the whole thing. Nathan deserves better. He deserves to be someone's first choice.

I honestly could see the show continuing for a lot longer. It's still doing well. Hallmark still seems really excited about it. I think it would just kind of continue as it is. We've never really gotten to see Elizabeth as a wife with a family so that would presumably be season 12 and beyond. She'd have some more babies I'm sure. I want to see Henry find love. Bill, too. I want to see Lee and Rosemary raise Goldie and maybe have more kids. There's a lot they could do with the characters that people would still stick around for. Yeah it's been on for a long time but there's still so much people want to see happen with these characters they're attached to, you know? More new people would be introduced. Maybe we'll follow Allie or Robert or Angela as they get older.

[eamonorus-blog]

Joel, Game vs Show (part 2)

With his combat animations and in cutscenes he slams people’s heads into walls, he cuts their throats with broken glass. He stomps on their heads, he caves in skulls, he stabs with improvised knives. Nothing fancy, just brutally going for the kill every time.

It might be stretching it to have him kill so many people throughout the game, and obviously the show would have to tone that down, but still, the game makes sure to make us believe that if anyone could be a one-man killing machine in the remnants of civilisation, he could be. The game is full of moments which highlight how his personality makes this plausible. Right at the start of the game he quickly adapts to the outbreak, ruthlessly shooting their infected neighbour, and refusing to stop to collect a helpless family by the side of the road. Later on, after the time skip we see how he kills Robert without mercy, all over quite venal and mercenary motives. We learn how he used to be a bandit who would attack innocent people.

Everything about him, in both gameplay and cutscenes, reinforces how while he might be a person with the capacity to love others, and he isn’t a psychopath, he possesses a killer instinct and natural affinity for violence. In the game, when the final moment comes and Joel has to fight his way through the hospital, we might be worried about the fight if we have been careless with our ammo. But on a meta level, we have no doubts that it makes sense within the narrative for Joel to be able to kill all these people. The show undermines this constantly. Sure, a bunch of the original elements remain. Joel still kills the neighbour (now an old woman instead of a man) and says to leave the helpless family by the road. But the non-stop cavalcade of death he deals out in gameplay is almost totally absent from the show. Naturally the action would need to be toned down, but this is taking it too far. Wisely they were probably afraid of getting rid of too many of the emotional moments, but they forgot how important these combat scenes are for establishing both Joels nature and skills, and him and Ellie having teamwork. Yet another consequence of so much filler and irrelevent material. Bill’s town is changed so there is no action/teamwork there. In the game Joel nearly beats Henry to death before they figure out how to be friends. In the game, when Joel goes through a crisis of wanting Tommy to take Ellie to the fireflies instead, Ellie actually runs away. When he chases after and argues with her, afterwards having to fight off some bandits, the whole debacle is given a bunch of interesting context. In the game it’s clear that Joel isn’t wanting to get attached to Ellie because of his trauma and is pretending that its all about Tommy knowing where the Fireflies are, or that he just doesn’t care. When he finally catches up to her and argues, it's obvious to anyone who is even slightly paying attention that his anger and his saying that he “sure as hell isn’t her dad.” Is a massive cope.

After the fight, he doesn’t even say that he has changed his mind directly. He just thinks about, and tells her to get on his horse. He has accepted that he is the best person to protect her, but the scene is a bit open to interpretation as to exactly what is going through his mind, and he is still clearly keeping things close to the chest. He dissembles about why he has changed his mind, claiming that its because Tommies wife scares him, and he doesn’t want her to come after him for sending Tommy into danger. We, Tommy and Ellie can all pretty much see through this tough guy exterior.

The show goes quite a different way with it. While he is still afraid of being re-traumatized by losing Ellie, he now says this openly, and is in touch with his weaknesses. He also now has the added fear of being old and failing to protect her because he has lost his edge.

This is an incredibly acted scene, but here is the issue. In the game, Joel may have been an older guy, but we never got the sense that he was slipping. Instead we got the sense that he maintained decades of combat experience with a body that was still big and burly. We never felt like he was on the verge of having an emotional collapse or ptsd attack. Sure, he was clearly traumatized by Sarah’s death, but he kept it all bottled up inside and only began to be fully conscious about how he felt later on. He obfuscates around his real feelings when he talks to Tommy about taking Ellie. When Tommy tries to give him a picture of Sarah he rejects it, and we know why. He doesn’t have to say “Sorry little brother, but I still haven’t gotten over the pain, and if I keep this picture, it will remind me of how I failed her, and it will make me think about how Ellie might die too” We can intuit that ourselves. Likewise, when after the David situation they are nearly to the new Firefly base, and Ellie gives him the picture he now accepts it. There isn’t much dialogue here, and he ends with saying simply ‘thanks’ Contrast this with the show where he unloads all his fears and pain to Tommy, and instead of having Ellie hand him the picture, they have a long talk about their feelings. Have you ever heard of the saying “its sadder watching someone try not to cry then watching someone cry”? That is how Joel feels to me, and why I prefer the game version. The story isn’t about him getting older, or getting weaker. Its about him learning to care again. He is stronger both emotionally and physically, and yet also weaker in a sense because he feels less able to express himself. Sure, from a logical and utilitarian perspective I agree with his decision to save Ellie at the end, and I agree with most of the arguments people make for that interpretation. But the real reason I think most people are so on board with his decision, is because we have seen throughout the whole game how hard it is for him to start caring again, how much he clearly feels like Ellie is a daughter to him, but he can’t admit that to himself. And just near the end he finally is able to, just barely, able to accept that he does care, that he does see her as a daughter. Even though he still can’t really find the words to express it.

And if he didn’t do everything he could to save her, it would feel like the whole experience was for nothing. The show does a lot of things very well, it sticks close to the game in a lot of great ways. In large part the story is kept intact. However, in innumerable ways it makes Joel weaker, it takes focus away from him and Ellie and their bond. It makes it less plausible that he would be able to kill everyone in the hospital at the end. When he feels able to share his feelings with Tommy, and is just more open and broken in general, it makes the fact that Ellie is able to get him to open up just a little by the end feel like less of an accomplishment, at least to me. It is no longer the story of a heartless killer who relearned how to fight for what makes us human, but of a broken man who is forced to kill so he is not retraumatised. For me at least, the game succeeded in showing, not telling, in ways the show didn’t. We know Joel cares about Ellie because we are living through him, and we care about her, he doesn't need to say so. And that makes it the superior version.

[legion1227]

The Last of Us: TV show Review. (Mild spoilers).

This has to be up there as one of the best video game-to-live-action adaptations, correct? 

When the first few episodes dropped, some critics and journalists praised it as the first ever good video game adaptation. However, in the last few years alone, animated shows like Cuphead, Arcane, and Castlevania already broke the "video game curse," as some might describe it. The Last of Us cements itself as a show up there as one of the greats and on par with the equally superb game. 

Years after a zombie outbreak, Joel and Ellie trek across America and endure hardship after hardship that the undead and fellow survivors throw their way. 

As far as an adaptation goes, The Last of Us tv show follows the game closely but also has its own identity. There's a blend and demonstration of respect as the creative team, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who also crafted the beloved game, follow the blueprint the game left, yet also add different and new elements that don't take away from the game, adding depth to the story instead. 

The third episode of the Last of Us focuses on Joel and Ellie shortly before shifting hard to tell the love ballad between characters Frank (Murray Bartlett) and Bill (Nick Offerman) for the majority of the hour. Bill's contribution to the story in the game is vastly different as Frank is already dead, and we get a glimpse into his depressing lifestyle without his partner that's coincided with a boss fight in a school against a bloater. As much as I would have loved to see a throwdown between Joel, Ellie, Bill, and a jacked zombie, the beautiful love story told instead was acceptable. It's one of the first instances the show displays that I always wanted to see with a game adaptation to film or tv. 

When adapting a book, game, or otherwise to a small or large screen, I believe you need to find a sense of balance. You have the original material before you, plenty to adapt with your vision, but also implementing original ideas that fit the story adds to the medium and makes it a more unique experience as opposed to the original material. 

The Last of Us show is what I want from an adaptation. The game is already near-perfect, and the show follows the game close enough while interjecting new ideas that differentiate it from the game while also putting it on par in terms of quality. 

Bill and Frank's love story is not the only story and dynamic that works. Episode 8, titled Left Behind, adapts the DLC from the game where you play as Ellie. A significant portion of the DLC tells another love story between Ellie and her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), as they explore a mall. The bond these two children share comes off as authentic as they marvel at the sights before them with genuine delight. If there's something the show succeeds at, it's portraying duo dynamics. 

Bill and Frank and Ellie and Riley are two relationships fueled by love and end with tragedies, resulting in breaking the viewer's heart. Episode 5 is the same as Joel and Ellie come across two brothers, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard). Of all the stories, how theirs ends broke my heart the most, even though I knew how it would end since I played the game before. I suppose I forgot how depressing the story of Last of Us could be. And if the show is going to continue following the route of the games, then when season 2 drops and follows the events of the second game, everyone is going to shit themselves with grief. 

Among the multiple duos and different dynamics, Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie is the driving force. Pascal and Ramsey deliver performances that put the two on par with the game's voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. ( Sidenote: I love how they got the voice of Ellie to play her mother in the show. A genius choice. However, having Baker play 2nd fiddle to a cannibal as opposed to his counterpart in Johnson was odd and comedic in juxtaposition, but he made the role work.) Pascal's portrayal of Joel has him put up a much stronger stoic front that Ramsey's Ellie slowly breaks down as the two forms a bond by the last episode. Joel may have lost a daughter in the first episode, but he found a new one in the end. 

There are not many complaints I have about the show. It's well-acted and smartly written, the action scenes are shot well, and the story feels grounded for a zombie apocalypse tale. It's literally just as good as the game. 

I do find two gripes. One, I think the show could've used one more episode to help with the pacing. The whole section with Joel and Ellie with Bill in the school was omitted in place of Bill and Frank's love story. While I respect the choice, it would've been nice to find a way to incorporate Joel and Ellie having to traverse a school and watch out for the undead. Ideally, you could have the duo strengthen their bond more in an episode like this while also avoiding and/or murdering more zombies. (which brings us to my second point.) Two, there weren't enough zombies. The huge concern in the apocalypse for survivors appears to be other survivors. Realistically, zombies, clickers, and undead in any form should be just as worrying as other groups of survivors. But across several episodes, the lack of presence of zombies is felt. I hope season 2 rectifies the issue by displaying more zombies as a terrifying threat. 

As amazing as this show was, it was equally depressing. 4.5/5. I am simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the events to follow in the next season. 

[sevenspecialidiots]

Hi can I request a scenario where the MC shares half of the power of dia's dad ? I would like to see how they react ! ALSO CONGRATS ON YOUR BLOG

❤️❤️❤️❤️

hello my lovely anon!

THANK YOU SO MUCH AKDFHKAS❤️❤️and thank u for sending this in!! ur my first official req and im very excited ♡︎ since this is my first headcannon please bare (bear?) with me, and if there’s anything you think i can improve feel free to send me a message! i’m all about feedback and how i can make things better :D

a/n: I’m only going to do the brothers (+Diavolo) right now while I get a feel for my writing style, although in the future I may add the undateables :3 (newly dateables?? what are they called now? side characters??????)

MC shares half the Demon King’s powers (Brothers + Diavolo react)

~~~~~ Warnings: Minor spoilers for Lesson 16 for Bell pepper Belphegor. M i n o r. (Please let me know if I should add anything)

Word Count: 2473 ~~~~~

The moment you landed in the Devildom, literally everyone knew there was something up with you.

You radiated powerful energy, but since you weren’t supposed to have magic, no one could exactly place why you felt so familiar. It wasn’t until you were sitting in a student council meeting talking about budgets this and politics that when Diavolo had an “Aha!” moment.

“I’ve figured it out! All this time, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but then I did!” Of course, he sounds like a kid on Christmas and he is so excited. “Your power feels like my father's!”

After some digging, Barbatos finds this: When the Demon King went into his deep, eon-long slumber, the curse used to put him under had some unexpected side affects that Barbatos is still struggling to explain (please be patient with him, he’s not used to be oblivious). This caused some of the King’s powers to transmit away from his body. The power needed a host to survive… and that host happened to be you.

But since you’re supposed to be the human who doesn’t have magic, you get mixed reactions.

Lucifer

Obviously, he was ecstatic. Another headache! Yippee!

Okay listen, the Demon King is like the most powerful demon that exists, so the fact that you share his power means that you too have incredible power.

This man mostly feels frustrated, and he mentally kicks himself for not having caught that minor (major) detail that could possibly change the entire course of the rest of the exchange program if not managed correctly.

Did you know about your power? Do you know how to control it? What if you try to use your magic without supervision and end up burning the House of Lamentation down? What if you hurt somebody? Hakljdhflkasd, what if you hurt yourself?

All these questions are racing through detail-oriented first-born’s head and this is one of the rare times he wishes it were a Mammon-money issue instead.

After doing some digging, it is indeed found that you share power with the Demon King.

He won’t leave you alone, especially with his brothers.

No, Mammon, you can’t use MC’s powers to help your next money-making scheme. And no one is allowed to try and use MC’s powers to play a cursed prank on a certain overly-stressed prideful demon bby. I’m looking at you, Satan.

If you chose to ask him to help you control your newfound power, he might try and downplay how excited he is but nonetheless he is elated and his pride has gone through the roof that you chose him.

Training with him will be efficient. Although it will probably be a little grueling, Lucifer swears it’s only because he sees how great you can become once you’ve master your skills. But, uh… you might wanna use that pact of yours after a couple hours because the words “take a break” are not in Lucifer’s vocabulary.

Mammon

Of course his human shares power with the Demon King! He knows this how? B-Because this is MC we’re talking about! Obviously his MC is super powerful and amazing to the ends of the Earth and-

For a split second, he literally sees dollar signs. You now have MAGIC and with a good ol’ fashion magic show comes MONEY. Even before Diavolo and Barbatos look into it for sure, Mammon is formulating plan after plan.

“We could use this to our advantage! Next time I go to the casino, you could charm people into letting me win! You could put on shows and stuff and show off this awesome new stuff ya got. Imagine the millions that’ll roll in! We’ll be richer than Diavolo himself, and all thanks to the Great Mammon!”

*Casually ignoring that you would technically be doing all the work*

If he does end up dragging you into his one of money-making schemes, you’re in for some fun.

You explode a slot machine that Mammon was trying to get you to curse into giving up the moolah. You accidentally charm Mammon into showing his cards in a poker game instead of the dude next to him and now you’re both in debt. (Or in Mammon’s case, more so).

The next thing you know, you’re in Lucifer’s office getting scolded for handing him another bill on a silver platter.

If for some reason you do chose to ask Mammon for help to control your power, he will be incredibly excited (and then be a total tsundere about it). "Y-You actually want my help? Pfft, oF cOuRsE yOu'D wAnT hELp fRoM tHe GrEaT mAmMoN-!"

Despite being everyone’s favourite adorable doofus, Mammon is still the second-born brother and is still crazy powerful himself.

However, you two will make no progress in learning and will spend most of your time laughing and goofing around until you earn yourselves yet another lecture from Lucifer.

But who wants to be responsible when you have your very own cute demon dork, anyway?

Leviathan

HIS HENRY- HE KNEW HIS HENRY WAS AMAZING…!

B-But what if you don’t want to be his friend anymore after this? Why would someone so strong and powerful and amazing still want to be friends with a gross otaku like him…

….Y-You still want to come to his room tonight to watch My Best Friend Was A Simple Human For A Few Months And We Were Totally Cool With It But One Day The Demon Prince RealIzed They Actually Share The Same Power As The Demon King Himself and Now They’re Really Powerful And We’re Conquering The World And Going On Cool Adventures Together with him?!

Wait, this totally reminds him of that one anime My Friend And I Were Chilling Like Normal People But Then They Found Out That They’re Like Super Powerful But They Still Want To Be My Friend!!!

After some reassurance that you are still his Henry and he will always be your Lord of Shadows, Levi starts to feel better.

M-MC, do you think you could use your powers to give Henry 2.0 an endless food supply…?

If he's being entirely honest, it doesn't take long for the excitement to wear off and he retreats back into his comfort zone. Do you wanna play video games with him? He just bought this new one he thinks you’ll like.

If you ask him to help you control your powers, Levi will be so. dang. happy. Happy, and a little bit conflicted. Why would you want a yucky otaku like him to help you with such an important responsibility?!

Just remind him he's doing the whole putting-himself-down thing again and remind him he's beautiful and that you love him always.

S-sorry MC! Of course he’ll help his Henry! What sort of Lord of Shadows would he be if he didn’t aid his companion, his true friend

He will be completely nervous the entire time and will be able to focus better when he is near water, so practicing what he teaches you will most commonly happen in his room or the bathroom.

Satan

He already knew. How did he know? I don’t know. He just did. Satan is a knowledgeable person, so if he wants to know, he will. So he knows. Periodt.

Once Barbatos and Diavolo confirm his theory is correct, Satan is only more curious than before.

This is quite incredible, MC. Were you able to feel the power before this? How do you think they’ll work going forward? Would you like to try them out with him? Hm, you’d like to pull some cursed pranks on Lucifer with them? He thinks that’s quite the idea and he’d be honored. Oh, that’s not what you said? How unfortunate, you’re joining him anyways.

Everything this man does from here on out relating to your power is driven by his curiosity and drive for knowledge. Congratulations! You’re his personal guinea pig.

Despite the few times you do get dragged into one of Satan’s cursed pranks, he is mostly just curious to know the extent of your abilities. He will spend hours on end observing you and scribbling in a little notebook he bought specifically for the occasion.

He will try to help you learn to control your new power whether you ask him or not, but if you ask him before he offers, he will become elated.

His methods of teaching are quite similar to Lucifer’s (but don’t you dare ever say that to his face). He may push you for hours on end, but only because he’s curious to see if your magic effects your endurance.

Despite this, he does allow breaks! Would you like to go to a cat cafe with him in your spare time?

Asmodus

Ah! Just when he doesn’t think his beautiful MC could get any more amazing, they just have to go blow his mind all over again 💖

He is literally ecstatic when he finds out. Just imagine how many views he’ll get on Devilgram with you! His following might even grow bigger than it already is. Hm? Oh, he knows everyone already loves him. He just needs to reach the stubborn people have brains too small to comprehend what they're missing. ♡︎

He will also be another brother who is curious about the extent of your ability. Not in the same depth as Satan, but he will want to scratch the surface and get to know more about his wonderful MC.

Overall, he doesn’t mind all that much, but he is curious to see if your newfound power could speed up his morning skincare routine.

He always gets at least eight hours of sleep, or his perfect complexion would be completely ruined! But imagine if he were able to sleep in in the mornings, MC. He skin would glow! You’ll help him out, won’t you?

*Insert Asmo trying to charm you into doing it*

What’s that, sweetie? You want his help to learn how to control it? He’d be delighted! Where do you even begin? You could start with ways to speed up that skincare routine…

Oh dear, this may be more stressful than he thought. He might have to hand you over to Satan for this one, he would be much better suited to help you, sweetie.

But don’t worry, MC, he’ll be there the entire time support you through whatever hectic journey you’ve started on… from across the room. We can’t have any of that pretty magic of yours accidentally ruining his new outfit now, can we?

Beelzebub

I cannon that Beelzebub is one of those characters that understands more of what happens around him than he lets on.

That being said, Beel heard Lord Diavolo loud and clear, but these sour hellsting tarantula leg fries are starting to run low and he doesn’t have any more food left to get him through the rest of this student council meeting. He’s sure you’ll understand that this is a very big issue and he needs to prioritize it.

Nonetheless, only when the meeting is over and you, Belphie, and he head over to Hell’s Kitchen afterwards (only for Beel to order their entire stock and nearly run them out of business (again)) does Beel pay mind to your newest situation (MC seems to have a lot of those).

Beel has probably the most mellow reaction of all the brothers. There’s nothing Beel could ever want from you other than your endless love and affection (and maybe some food, but who’s counting?), so nothing in your relationship really changes. Of course he’s happy for you, but other than that he doesn’t really care. (He’s just hungry, man, go buy this big beautiful boi some more of those fries he was eating-)

If you ask him to help you learn to control your new abilities, he will actually be confused. a) He rarely uses his own powers, and he hardly ever needs them because he avoids drama and eats all day and b) if he were to teach you, he’d probably get hungry within the first ten minutes and stop for a snack break and you’d be back at square one.

If you persist, Beel will try to pull himself together to help you. As I said, lots of snack breaks, but Beel is very patient and if there’s anything you don’t understand, he will do his best to push past his hunger to sit down and explain it to you.

Bell pepper Belphegor

(im so sorry every time i see his name i think “bell pepper” please forgive me-)

Belphie was asleep during the revelation, but he heard it. He didn’t open his eyes, but he was aware.

For the rest of the meeting, he was no longer listening to anyone else and instead retreated to his own mind.

Could you feel your powers before Diavolo said anything? Would you have told him? Could you control it? Could you have stopped him from hurting you? Did you know how?

When Barbatos confirms that Diavolo is correct and explains the little he knows, Belphie wishes he could fall into NREM sleep so he can block everything out.

Like Beel, Belphie would also have a more mellow reaction. Aside from his guilt, he is mostly thinking about you're doing. How are you taking this? You guys can still nap together, right? He’ll still be able to visit you in your dreams and show you whatever if you want, if it's okay with you.

If you ask Belphie to help you control your powers, he will actually fly through the roof. This demon boi doesn’t even have wings, but he will fly. You actually want his help? Really? Don’t worry, MC, by the time he’s done with you, you’ll be in better control of it than the man those powers came from.

But listen, first you two need to take an eight hour nap. You can’t give it your all and stay completely focused if you’re totally wiped, can you?

Diavolo

When he figures it out, it hits him like a brick in the head and he is impatient to let his friends know of his new discovery. He blurts out, “Your power feels like my fathers!” and then immediately does that super excited, deep, and hearty laugh that he has.

Why, isn’t this fantastic, MC?! Imagine the fun you could have now. Perhaps you’re even related!

Oh… you’re not related? There goes Barbatos again, leveling his fun… Nonetheless! Diavolo is through the roof and is going on and on about all the exciting ways you and he could play with your newfound powers.

Perhaps you could build a stone golem together dripping with molten iron…! Or you can summon Lucifer a unicorn! Or, or - what if you changed the whole color theme of the castle to… purple and green?! (Lucifer and Barbatos beg you, please do not indulge the Young Lord in his childish antics)

If you so chose to “indulge the Young Lord in his childish antics”, expect a grouchy Lucifer and a Barbatos thin on patience until you return the castle back to its normal colors and get rid of that damn unicorn (please, it’s driving Lucifer up a wall).

If you ask Diavolo to help you learn to control your newfound power, he will be more proud than the Avatar of Pride himself (and that speaks blow horns since we all know how Lucifer can be). If anyone knows how the Demon King’s powers would work, it would be his son. Diavolo is honored that you chose him to mentor you.

When you two actually make progress, Diavolo is a good, thorough teacher who hits all the right marks.

However, your sessions will end much like Mammon’s would - you usually end up falling off track and giggling about something one of you saw on Devilgram. With the inconsistency in your progress, you experience lectures from both Barbatos and Lucifer, but the fun you always have with Diavolo is worth it.

~~~~~ Woahhh okay !! That took me like two days but it was so fun to write!! i hadn't meant for it to be so long but i hope it was what u were looking for :3 thank u ❤️❤️❤️❤️anon for sending it in ♡︎ ♡︎ p.s. i think im getting a feel for how i want to write things so im ready for future posts. i have my bag of skittles and some coffee and im prepared for the next one😎

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Misread Details, Part Two

CW: Described death of whumper, BBU, implications of pet whump, references to noncon, dehumanization, sadistic whumper

Part One: Nanda | Part Two: Brute | Part Three: Robert

The Unsolved Murder of Henry “Brute” Hanlon and the Box Boy Killer

r/LetsTalkTrueCrime

•Posted by u/oshaycanyousee

2 weeks ago

I’m back, r/LetsTalkTrueCrime! I really appreciated the questions and discussion under my last write-up, and a few of you really encouraged me to keep working to provide a part two to my Serial Killer Box Boy series, so here it is!

In Part One, we looked at the mysterious death of Nathaniel “Nanda” Benson, who died of cardiac arrest due to an undiagnosed heart defect (and likely head trauma played a part) and was found at the bottom of the stairs inside his California home. The only valuable possession missing from his property was his legally-purchased Box Boy, who fled the city wearing Nathaniel Benson’s shoes and using his money to buy a bus and then train ticket. 

The last confirmed sighting of the runaway Box Boy (and Benson’s possible killer?) was in Red Hills, California, a large-ish city a couple hours south of Benson’s house by train. 

Questions remain around Benson’s death: did he suffer cardiac arrest and fall down the stairs? Did the Box Boy push him, with the shock of the trauma and injury leading to the heart attack that killed him?

Is the Box Boy merely a witness to a tragic but natural death, or the prime murder suspect?

And most importantly: If he wasn’t guilty, why did he run?

Less than a full calendar year after Benson’s death, the question of where the Boxie went after Benson died was answered… but even that answer only opened up more questions, and the sudden death of a second man places even more uncertainty into the story of a Boxie who might simply be an innocent victim - or who could be a serial killer whose makes a victim out of those who give him shelter.

Which leads us to the story of Henry James Hanlon, known to nearly everyone - including his wife - as “Brute”.

Henry Hanlon was born in a small town in Texas, but moved to Red Hills, California after finishing a stint in the Air Force. 

His parents, James Hanlon and Estella Hanlon, maiden name Brickers, had had their first child, Henry’s older brother William “Bill”, right out of high school, born six months after their wedding day. Henry came three years later, and his sister Roberta “Bobbie” one year after that.

Henry was a perfectly normal, cheerful little boy, always toddling after his older brother and trying to join in the games of the older kids in town. His parents recalled him as the quintessential “middle child”, always resolving disputes and quietly getting things done. He received his nickname of “Brute” in fifth grade, when a classroom bully was harassing a female friend of Henry’s and Henry decided to take action. The only information I could really hunt down on this was some old school records that I found on a message board, and I can’t really verify if they’re real, but they suggest that the bully was sent home injured and Henry received a three-day suspension.

After that, it seems, anyone and everyone - even teachers - called Henry Hanlon “Brute”, and he never seemed to mind.

He received perfectly average grades, enlisted in the Air Force, served without distinction but without any significant incidents, and afterwards he moved out to California, where he settled into Red Hills (then a city with a thriving industrial district that was slowly beginning its slide into something rougher) and took a job with a manufacturing company, working in their warehouse.

“Brute” dated around a bit, but it wasn’t until three years after his move that he met the woman he would marry, Ellen Patricia Barry. She was a few years younger than him, and they met at a local bar that both were known to frequent. One of Brute’s former coworkers told police that Brute was big into pool and poker, both of which he would engage in when he went to the bar, and that he met Ellen during one of the poker nights, and that Brute stated that how easily she beat him was one of the reasons he was interested in her romantically.

Ellen claims they first spoke while playing pool, not poker, and also claims she’s never played poker in her life. Why Brute would have told his coworkers a different story is unclear. 

They dated for about a year before they wed at Grace Baptist Church on a sunny summer day in 20XX. Ellen’s father gave her away while Brute’s little sister was the maid of honor. A year later, Brute’s daughter Elizabeth was born, and a couple years after that, their son Daniel.

The Hanlons lived a charmed life - they owned a cute three-bedroom cottage home (bought and given to them by Ellen’s parents as a wedding gift) in a good part of town with a little white fence around the property and a yard big enough for the children and dog to play in. Ellen was part of the local PTA and active in her church, and Brute himself had the appearance of a man totally content with everything he had.

But Brute Hanlon had a secret.

Ellen continued to believe he was employed by the manufacturing company, but he actually left his employment there years before his death. Instead, he seems to have transitioned into making his money “under the table”. Ellen wouldn’t discover any of this until after his body was located… in a secret house he’d never told her about, in one of the roughest parts of Red Hills.

Without her knowledge, Brute purchased a two-bedroom home with cash directly from its previous owner that was badly in need of repair in the Pauls Mill neighborhood. Once a “company town” from the 1930’s - 1950’s that was absorbed into Red Hills as it grew in the 60’s, Pauls Mill today is the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows if you belong there, or don’t, and it’s best if you belong.

Brute performed a few very cursory repairs to keep it livable, laid down some new carpet, and then used it as a kind of secret base for the unsavory activities he didn’t want Ellen or the children to know about.

While his family believed he was at work at the factory, Hanlon was in fact hosting poker games, selling illicit narcotics and unlicensed firearms, and generally making quite a bit more money than he had with legal employment entirely under-the-table. He would spend his day making connections (and money) through these activities, then go home right at 5 pm sharp to his loving family, eat dinner at 6 pm, help his kids with their homework and hear about their day, and settle in for an evening playing the loving husband and doting dad.

Somewhere during this time period, Brute told Ellen he was setting up a “poker night” with his friends again, now that the kids were school-aged. 

What he did instead was drive down to the corner of Holt and McCormick streets, known to all locals as the Red Hills “red light district”, and pick up prostitutes, usually simply meeting with them in his car, but occasionally taking them to a nearby motel.

After his body was found, police showed his picture around to a variety of the individuals who make their living at Holt and McCormick, and more than a dozen locals immediately recognized him. 

Some described him as a regular customer who wasn’t particularly special or notable beyond the simple fact that he never tried to renege on payment and could be relied on to always be looking for someone on a particular night of the week… but others, almost entirely male, said he could be violent. A few described being injured enough that they had to seek medical treatment after meeting him. The same individuals stated that he insisted on using dehumanizing and insulting language to speak to them during these encounters, and that he was often unable to perform unless he did so.

One individual, who gave his name as “Mix”, mentioned that the last few times Brute had engaged his services, he had brought along a collar and insisted Mix pretend to be a Box Boy. 

During this time period, Brute continued to be an active, involved, and loving parent. 

He was home right on time every night except “poker night”, attended his chlidrens’ recitals and baseball games on the weekends. He often took them to the Red Hills Zoo, local parks, and even did a weekend trip to Berras to see the Berras Aquarium, stay overnight in a hotel as a family, and then visit a redwoods park before returning home.

Six months before his death, Brute’s visits to the red light district abruptly stopped. Instead, he apparently met with a local prostitute, engaged his services, and took him home… for good. 

The best record we have is that one woman, Needie Brandt, remembered seeing Brute leading a shorter, angular young man to his car one night, and described the young man as “one of those runaway Boxies, collar and all. Poor thing was half-starved”. 

Runaways, especially Romantics, are picked up by police from time to time in Red Hills. Most Romantics don’t really know any other way to survive, so prostitution is a common way to make ends meet. Needie said the young man had been seen around the area for a couple of weeks, right alongside the rest of the working people in the red light district, and that after this one night she saw Brute Hanlon lead him into the car, she didn’t see him again.

Asked if she remembered a name, Needie only shrugged and said that even if she did, it wouldn’t be a real one. Which is probably a good point. 

Somewhere in here, Brute began to date outside of his marriage while his family believed he was out with friends playing poker. He took dancing lessons with one Susan Krieger, had a serious relationship with a Lucy Graham, and was apparently occasionally taking a Natalie Dorn out for dinner.

Ellen was never informed about these out-of-wedlock interests. 

Brute’s family knew nothing. When his eldest son went to state with marching band his freshman year of high school, Brute Hanlon was right there cheering him on.

Then, just two days later, he presumably went right back to brutalizing the Box Boy he was keeping in his secret second home.

We don’t have a record of what exactly transpired within the house after Brute took the runaway Box Boy in. What we do know is what the police found later on.

On October 18th, 20XX, around midnight, Ellen Hanlon called police to report her husband missing after he did not return from his regular poker night. His car was located in the parking lot of an abandoned FoodMart, but a friend of Brute’s came forward to say he often parked there and carpooled with friends when going out.

None of Brute’s possessions were inside, and it didn’t appear the car had been touched by anyone but Brute himself when it was dusted for fingerprints or signs of DNA. Brute’s friends who knew about his secret activities weren’t telling, and Ellen and the children didn’t know anything about their seemingly loving husband and father’s double-life. 

At first, the trail seemed like it would go cold, and investigators were frustrated that they had so little to go on.

Then, on October 29th, 20XX, Brute’s neighbor (who apparently asked that his name not be given) called the police department complaining about how the small two-bedroom house next door had begun to smell “like something died in there”, and that he hadn’t seen his neighbor leave or return in days, which was very unusual.

When police arrived, the front door was unlocked. Officer William Keys, the first one inside, later described the smell as “unmistakable. I knew exactly what we’d find the second we walked in that door.”

He was right.

What they found was the bloodied and decomposing body of Henry “Brute” Hanlon, lying on his back in the middle of a small unremarkable living room, on a dirty and stained carpet. He had been viciously stabbed more than fifty times. One even went so far into Brute that there was an exit wound through his back. Medical examiners would later state that at least seven of his wounds would have been directly fatal, but that he had died within the first few and most of the wounds were technically post-mortem.

The murder had been committed by someone who had a very personal reason for the killing. Investigators believe this individual was “absolutely enraged”.  

Next to his body was the murder weapon, along with a set of buckles and strips of leather that mystified the officers. These were eventually identified as modified leg braces, but rather than straightening bent or injured legs, they forced the wearer to keep their legs at nearly right angles, which would ensure they had to crawl rather than walk. They appeared to be homemade.

Bloodied smears and footprints led the officers down a hallway and to the bathroom, where there was evidence someone had showered, changed clothes, and then left.

The same neighbor who informed police about the smell also remembered seeing, on October 16th or 17th (later determined that it was likely the 17th, the day that Brute did not return home from “work”), a young man wearing an oversized coat, sweatpants, and a too-large t-shirt walk out of Hanlon’s house and down the street. The young man was on the short side, the neighbor said, had an angular face, and a visible scar at the corner of his mouth and another along the side of his face. He had the collar of the coat flipped up, and the neighbor doesn’t recall if he wore a collar or not.

He had dark eyes, and short but shaggy dark hair that seemed to have been cut hurriedly and unevenly, and he waved at Hanlon’s neighbor without pausing or speaking as he walked past.

Tests on fingerprints and DNA located within Brute Hanlon’s secret second home would reveal that the Box Boy who once ran from Nathaniel Benson after his death was the exact same one who ran from Brute Hanlon after murdering him. The Boxie’s fingerprints were all over the murder weapon… and everywhere else, too.

Within Brute’s home, more knives were found, along with what looked like a badly-crafted homemade whip and some other supplies. A few of the things investigators found appeared to be essentially identical to what was found in Nathaniel Benson’s home. Other things were different (“animalization” was mentioned in some of the reports, but what I’ve been able to find is seriously vague for some reason). 

Possibly related, a series of dog leashes purchased from a local pet-supply store were found throughout the home, but there was no evidence of an actual dog. In the home’s main bedroom was a perfectly normal queen-sized bed that was clearly Brute’s, with a small side table, a large dresser, and an attached bathroom. 

There was absolutely nothing outwardly out of the ordinary, besides the room being very plain and impersonal. Makes sense, since Brute almost never slept there. 

In the second bedroom, however, there was army-style cot with a thin blanket and sheet, three folded shirts on the floor, two sets of bloody metal handcuffs hanging off the cot’s frame at the top and bottom, and a bucket next to the bed. Two metal bowls, clearly of a style meant to be a dog’s food and water bowls, were next to the door. One still had water in it. The window was painted and nailed shut, and bars had been installed over the windows.

Investigators determined the bars were on the house when Brute Hanlon purchased it and had been installed by the previous owner. No reason for that installation was ever given.

Investigation revealed trace amounts of evidence of blood, but nothing much. However, the living room and dining area both showed poorly-cleaned bloodstains that were much older than Hanlon’s murder, including discolored patches on the walls.

A contract for a 24/7 “master/slave” style relationship was found in the top drawer of the dresser, signed ‘Pet’ at the bottom, and with Brute’s name alongside it. However, both signatures match Hanlon’s handwriting, and the Boxie is not believed to have actively signed it, as he would be illiterate at best. Plus, Box Boys are not legally allowed to enter into any contract, anyway, since they can’t understand obligations at that level, so even if he had signed it, it wouldn’t have been considered remotely valid.

I mean, not that those contracts are legal, but... you get my point.

Also located in that drawer were more than one hundred photographs showing the Boxie in a variety of compromising situations and positions. Several of these photos had Brute himself clearly visible in them, and a few had other individuals who have since been identified as Brute’s associates in his more illicit activities.

Interrogations of those associates led to more than seven further arrests for illegal gambling, the production and sale of illicit drugs, and illegal weapons sales. Those interrogations are also how we know about what Brute Hanlon was up to in-between Little League games and Girl Scout meetings.

Those associates claim that Brute kept a “secondhand Box Boy”, muzzled him so he couldn’t speak whenever guests were over, and that often ‘poker night’ simply turned into a game where the assorted guests and Brute himself repeatedly assaulted the Boxie. The associates claimed they thought the entire thing was consensual, but frankly… given the overwhelming evidence that the Boxie had to be kept restrained and was often seriously injured by these assaults... that’s doubtful.

Ellen and her children, who had previously been very visible and spoke often to local news stations about Henry’s disappearance, withdrew after his body was found and his second, secret life revealed - and have never given a single public statement or made a public appearance since. 

Ellen moved her children out of Red Hills, moving back in with her own parents, briefly, in northern California. Where they went after that is unknown, but they appear to have left the state and Ellen may have changed her surname. Investigators are firm in their belief that Ellen knew nothing about her husband’s secret life.

I would give my right arm to know what his son and daughter think about it, and if they ever suspected what their devoted dad was up to when he wasn’t at home.

So, what happened to the Boxie after he left the house and disappeared down the block from the witness who saw him?

In short… no one knows for sure.

After murdering Brute Hanlon and cleaning off the evidence that must have been all over him, the Boxie simply fades away. He could have been anywhere, doing anything at all. There is a brief sighting of him on CCTV footage at the local bus station, where he is in line to buy a ticket… and then abruptly looks up, apparently noticing the camera and looking directly into it, then turns and walks quickly away.

The footage is grainy, but the Boxie does appear to be wearing his collar.

He isn’t seen in Red Hills again.

Instead, he reappears one more time before his final murder and disappearance… more than a year later, in a little town right along the border with Nevada.

Part 3 will go into how the investigation into the death of a quiet little oddball named Robert Weber reveals a basement full of skeletal bodies. But our Boxie isn’t the cause.

Instead, Robert Weber’s murder solves a series of related murders police had been stymied by for more than a decade, and a Box Boy who may have been meant to be Weber’s next victim instead turned accidental vigilante with a final killing of his own.

Or maybe I should say, his final killing so far.

-

@astrobly @finder-of-rings @burtlederp @whump-tr0pes @raigash @eatyourdamnpears @orchidscript @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @boxboysandotherwhump @outofangband @whumptywhumpdump @whumpfigure @thehopelessopus @downriver914 @justabitofwhump @butwhatifyouwrite @newandfiguringitout @yet-another-heathen @nonsensical-whump @oops-its-whump @endless-whump @cubeswhump @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @whumpiary 

[marvelslut16]

Oblivious

Prompt number: 18 “you don’t see it?”

Fandom: Saturday night live? Pete Davidson?

Paring: Pete Davidson x reader 

Rating: T

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: An asshole cheater. Mentions of Ariana Grande (yes that’s a warning- don’t come for me). Swearing. Mentions of slight sexting- just mentions boobs nothing graphic. Mentions rehab. Slightly angsty ends fluffy.

A/N: So I broke my one rule and wrote for an actual person. Pete Davidson is precious and doesn’t deserve the hate he gets. I was also almost hella basic because I was so close to titling this the king of Staten Island. Anywho, the cheating scum part of this story happened to me and I immediately thought Pete would never do this to me- so I wrote this lmao. I think my love for the Knicks seeped into this story a bit. 

You had been talking to a guy for close to three months now. You thought he was charming, and sweet, and he was built like a god! You’re friends were a little weary, none more than Pete, when you admitted you hadn’t met up with the man yet. Their faces would go from being happy for you to pitting you instantly. But you knew you weren’t being catfished, you video called with Henry multiple times a week. While Henry wasn’t your first choice, he never would be, you were starting to see a future with him. 

But that vision went to shit with one simple text. You had gotten a new bra, maroon and lacy, and boy did it make the girls look good! Feeling a little flirty in your new bra, you texted a picture to Henry to be a little tease while he was at work. Almost instantly you got a text back, and it read; ‘shit baby, you’re tits are way better than my girlfriends!’ with multiple heart eye and drooling emojis to follow. 

You had never felt more embarrassed in your life! And that’s saying something considering Pete makes jokes about you on SNL and in his standup routines, all approved by you beforehand of course. You had met Pete years ago, while he was scrawnier than he is now, had a lot less tattoos, and right when he was just starting SNL. You had bumped into him on the sidewalk while trying to catch a cab in the pouring rain, you expected to be yelled at with a thick New York accent for what felt like the millionth time that day, but it never came. Instead Pete hailed the cab for you but not before exchanging numbers and promising to show you around since you had just moved to the city for college. 

After showing you around the next day, you were surprised when he continued to text you for the next month. To pay him back for his generosity you took him to see a Knicks game, lucky for you your dormmate had a fight with her boyfriend so she sold the tickets to you for dirt cheap. The seats weren’t great, all the way up in the nosebleed section, but you were in Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks! Pete was pleasantly surprised by you when you could name the players and you actually knew how the game was played, unlike girls he had dated. Of course before you left the arena you had to splurge and got yourself a Carmelo Anthony jersey! 

Many years and Knicks games later you’re still friends with Pete. You’d call him your best friend, but you know Colson is his even if he claims it’s you when you’ve asked in the past. You’d be by Pete’s side every time he admitted himself into rehab- making sure you were there to pick him up when he got out. You had been there to pick up the pieces after Ariana- hell you were picking them up when they were still together. You were beside him every time he got bullied off his social media by stupid haters or little Ariana stans after they broke up. He made sure to be at your graduation, and he was there to rant to when you had a bad day at work. Pete was there to hold your hand when you got your first tattoo, which he wanted to pick out for you but you refused. Pete was there to pick up your pieces when a guy hurt you, like right now. 

You’re in his basement, curled into his right side, his right arm slung securely over your shoulder, his fingertips making soothing trails up and down your arm. You had convinced him to watch an old episode of SNL- before he was on it, but new enough that Kate McKinnon and Bill Hader were on it together. You snuggle further into his warm side and let out a content sigh. 

“You were too good for him, (Y/N/N),” Pete finally brings up the elephant in the room. You had hoped that watching an episode of SNL would put the ‘you deserve better than him, he’s just scum,’ talk Pete gives you every time you go through a break up.

“If I was too good for him, then I’d still be with him,” you murmur a line from the movie clueless into his baby pink sweatshirt covered chest. 

“None of these guys deserved you, (Y/N/N),” Pete says sternly, you roll your eyes not in the mood for him to tell you how amazing you are but not make a move on you, yet again.

“Pete, stop,” you pull away from his chest, his arm falling off you as you scoot to the front of the cushion. “I really don’t want to have this conversation again, no matter how many times you tell me I still won’t believe you. I should get going, don’t want to miss the last ferry back to the city.”

“(Y/N), please, wait,” Pete’s skinny fingers wrap around your wrist as you stand and go to walk towards the door. “We just ordered pizza, just stay the night.”

“I can’t Pete,” you whisper, staring down at your sock covered feet, you had gotten Pete to take better care of his hardwood floors by convincing him to have a no shoe policy. “Give some pizza to your mom and your sister.”

“You’re off tomorrow, you originally planned on staying,” if you didn’t know any better you’d say his voice was laced with hurt and disappointment. “Why won’t you stay now?”

“I can’t keep doing this Pete,” loud laughing coming from the studio audience on the now forgotten episode of SNL only seems to be mocking you and your feelings. “Every time you tell me how amazing I am and you don’t- it’s just hard to believe when no one seems to agree with the sentiment.” 

“You don’t see it?” his voice is soft, he stands from his seat, getting momentarily stuck in the blanket that was draped over your laps. “You really don’t see it,” this time it’s not a question, it’s a statement. 

“See what Pete?” he lets go of your wrist to spin you around to face him. 

“That I’m in love with you,” his eyes shine in sincerity, but they aren’t what you’re focusing on. “That I have been since that first Knicks game!”

“You don’t love me,” your voice shakes as you stare at the heart that was once Ariana’s bunny ears peaking out above his left ear. You reach up and gently trace your finger over the heart. “You’ve dated models, and movie stars. You were engaged to Ariana, even after you knew she didn’t want us to be friends. Because she didn’t trust me. You didn’t love me Pete, you chose her, and yet I was still there to pick up the pieces after you ignored me for months, because I love you. Because I didn’t care how much I was hurting, I knew I had to be there to make you feel better, to be able to see your smile again.”

“I was settling for Ariana!” he grabs your cheeks so you can’t look away. “I thought I could get her to warm up to you, I’ve never wanted you out of my life (Y/N)! You were with Eric at the time, it hurt like hell to see you that happy with someone that wasn’t me! So I proposed to Ariana because Eric bragged that he had a ring for you! But then you guys broke up and I couldn’t just break up with her right after I proposed.”

“Eric did propose, I said no and broke it off,” you smile sadly. “He, like Ariana, didn’t want us to spend time together, so I dumped him. All of the guys eventually realize they’re second to you, so they either break up with me or ask me not to see you anymore. And I was selfish every single time, I hurt them so I could be happy with you in my life.” 

“Fine, you want the truth?” Pete asks, and you nod. “It wasn’t the Knicks game. I knew I wanted to date you that night. But the first time I knew I loved you was when you came with my mom to pick me up from rehab the first time after we were. You didn’t run far away from me, you still wanted to be around me and you put up with my shit. Everyone leaves when I go to rehab, they think I’m too much to handle.”

“Well I don’t! I never have Pete!” you’re crying by now. 

“I know! Fuck, you’re too damn perfect for me (Y/N). I convinced myself for so long you were too good for me, that you couldn’t love me,” you don’t know how to verbally respond, so you do the first thing that comes to your mind. 

You grab the back of Pete’s neck and pull him into a kiss, it’s all teeth and tongue. The passion sends jolts of electricity through your body, a wave of giddiness rolls over you as you realize that this is really happening. You’re really kissing Pete, he really loves you too. As the kiss continues it becomes slower and more gentle, both of you want this feeling to last as long as it can. When you finally pull back, lungs burning and desperately in need of air, the feeling of his lips linger on yours. 

“I do love you, (Y/N/N). There’s never really been anyone else,” he caresses your cheek and gently brushes his lips on your forehead. 

“I love you too Pete,” you lean in for a peck, which he quickly deepens. You pull away giggling, “so much.”

Permeant tags: @crimson-knuckled-queen​ @rexorangecouny​

[its-reddie123]

A head cannon of Richie Tozier being a hoe:

Okay first of all we don’t slut shame in this house so even though Richie is a massive hoe we respect him for it: (also note obviously they are all of age in this) (and it’s over several years/months not weeks)

-has Richie slept with all the losers? Yes yes he fucking has, do any of them know? No they definitely don’t

-the first one surprisingly wasn’t Eddie it was Stan, things had got heated one night when they were joking around in the club house when everyone had gone and Stan kissed him (partly just to shut him up), now by this point Richie had basically kissed all the losers because he’s that type of friend to suggest spin the bottle and shit like that but this time with Stan it was different and they both got very into it 👀

-Stan was the first to start taking off clothes and Richie gay panicking stumbled getting up to join him that he fell over😂 they both continued kissing and though they don’t go all the way by the end they were both spent, they almost got caught the next morning by Mike coming into the clubhouse but luckily they heard him coming before it was too late

-the next person of course was Bill, Richie had the strongest crush on him out all of the losers and for the longest, he admired him so much so it was only a matter of time before he put his foot in his mouth and let it slip, he always hinted he had crushes and all the losers but hid it behind his jokes but what happened with Bill was not that sort of situation

-At a party both Richie and Bill had found there way to the roof, both considerably drunk (but not enough that they weren’t both fully aware of what they were gunna do) Richie, actually fucking quiet for once in his life sat there trying not to stare at Bill but Bill noticed laughing “what?”

“You’re fucking gorgeous!” Richie said giving him a small shove

“What??!” Bill laughed

“You are so beautiful!”

“Shut up stop joking around” Bill laughed

“I’m not I will keep telling you till you believe me! You’re a literal god Bill and I’ve had the biggest crush on you forever...”

Then Richie realised he had got carried away and what he had said so stopped in silence he blushed

“I didn’t know you llll..liked me like that”

“Don’t go telling anyone” Richie continued to look at his feet

“Of course I won’t, ...you know I really like you like that too” Richie looked up smiling and both of them leaned to kiss

-did they do stuff on that roof? Yes yes they did, and after decided to keep things staying casual as friends cause Richie confessed he really loved Eddie and Bill understood

-who was next you may ask? well Beverly of course they fully fucked several times to tell the truth, mostly when the hung out to get high together but also just if they happened to both be horny, as they talked the most of the losers there little to absolutely no secrets between them and they both loved to be with each other as they confessed several times, they kept it very secret though and always as a friends with benefits relationship until one day they decided just be pure friends instead

-then came Ben, aaaaaaaa I can’t think of a situation Ben and Richie would ever hook up cause I see Ben as straight, you know what I got this far I’m following through

“What’s up Haystack?” Richie sat next to him on the floor of the high schools hallway leaning against lockers,

“Oh you know...stuff” tears rolling down his face as he tried to crack a smile

“What sorta stuff?” Richie said looking concerned

“I don’t feel so great about myself, and I feel very lonely sometimes”

“Marsh still hasn’t sorted her shit out?”

“No”

“Look Ben you’re an amazing guy, I think you are literally perfect, don’t worry if it’s just taking some time for others to see this”

“I’m not perfect!” he chuckled

“Did I ever tell you that I’m bi Ben?”

“ no... i didn’t know that... how’s that related though?”

“Well if you hadn’t guessed already I am totally head over heels in love with Eddie, has his noticed yet? No, am I hopeful yes cause it’s just bound to happen”

Ben leaned on Richies shoulder as the last tears fell from his face

“I’ve never kissed anyone before, no ones gunna want me” whispered Ben

“Ah see ah see well Benny boy how about we change that? I have plenty of experience” Ben lifted his head looking at Richie

“No strings attached” so Richie holding up his hands

“Okay but outside under the bleachers” even though everyone was in class it was still to risky to do in the hallway

-they kissed, Richie guiding him through making out and showing tips of where to put his hands he even through in some things he knew Beverly liked (without saying her name of course)

-Mike the man, the farmer, the rock of the group, the king, he loves Richie gets very protective over him (over all the losers tbh but Richie the most) it’s something about knowing he will keep putting his foot in his mouth and Mike knows he means no one any harm, there have been several fights Mike has broken up and saved Richies ass many times, one day they were running from Henry Bowers and his gang, after losing them a couple of blocks back they found themselves in the woods

“You okay?” Mike looked at richies black eye and broken glasses

“Well I can’t see a fucking thing but yeah I’m good” touching his under his eye gingerly “thank you for saving me! My knight in shining armour!” He said going to hug Mike but then he tripped and Mike caught him there faces very close Richie leaned in (not really sure where exactly to aim for) and kissed Mike, he pulled back realising maybe Mike wasn’t into guys out of all the losers he wasn’t really one to talk about that stuff

-but as soon as he pulled away and inch Miked lips instantly came back Richie shocked managed to trip again! And this time took Mike down with him they both laughed and continued to make out on the forest floor, did things happen?yes, yes they did, did it go all the way? yes, yes it did (I will leave it up to you to decided who was bottoming)

-so yeah Mike was richies first time fully being with a guy but of course Eddie was his second! Finally to the relief of all the losers cause the sexual tension was becoming fucking unbearable, they hooked up but not before both confessed their love each other one time when left alone at a party, Richie did also tell Eddie this wasn’t his first time but Eddie didn’t mind it was his first time and he knew Richie could/would take care of him👀

-then we come to the point of a very interesting game of two truths one lie several years later, everyone was out of their heads drunk, Richie and Bev were also stoned as hell and Richie decided this was the perfect time to say a truth of he had basically hooked up with all of the losers without any of the others knowing, his other truth was he was bi (which everyone of course already knew) and the lie that he was once abducted by aliens, so it was pretty clear straight aware it was the truth, Eddie actually found this hilarious completely understanding cause he found most of the losers very attractive as well, everyone else was in complete shock Richie immediately being bombarded with questions, but in the end everyone just ended up laughing about it and Richie was named the hoe of the group

[the-record]

Love at First Sight (3)

Category: FLUFF ABSOLUTE FLUFF

Warnings: Kissing

Spencer Reid x Fem! reader

A/N: Thank you for reading part 3 of this loves! In this a lot of things didn’t happen: JJ never left, Spencer never talked to Maeve, Morgan never was kidnapped but still had his kid (Don’t worry that is too cute) and he didn’t leave the BAU. Enjoy!

Summary:  It’s been 3 years and 6 months since you joined the team. You finally got ahold of your crush and tried to ignore it. However it started to creep back up on you as Spencer and you got even closer than before.

Gif not mine

“Hey Spence.” You said walking in with two coffees and a small package. You hand him one of the coffees and set the package on his desk. “Open it.” You always got him a birthday present and coffee, a little tradition. He carefully ripped off the brown paper to reveal a book and card. He opened the envelope  to take out the card. A 20 dollar bill fell out which he payed very little attention to. He quickly read the long card you gave him and smiled.

“Thank you.” He stands up to hug you, holding you close. He generally hated hugs but loved hugging you. You didn’t mind, you were a very touchy person. “I love it.” That made you smile. 

“Good, I’m glad.” Morgan came over and put his arm around Spencer’s shoulder as you sat down. “Derek. Don’t.”

“What? I didn’t say anything.” He says. “Anyways pretty boy, what’re you doing tonight?” 

“I was going to order in and read. Maybe call my mom.” 

“Spence, no way.” You practically yell. You guys couldn’t go out and drink but there was something else you could do. “My house tonight. If you don’t show up by 6:00 I will pick you up.” He nods and I pull Derek aside. “Before you say anything, it’s just a birthday party. Garcia has been helping me set it up. Everyone is gonna be there so don’t even. Just show up with a present and don’t tell him.” He laughs and nods heading back to his desk. 

You sit in your chair drinking the coffee you got from Spencer’s favorite coffee place. You have so much paper work to catch up on you don’t know if you will even finish it in time to get back to your place and make sure everything is set up. You spend all day at your desk, not taking time for a lunch break. It should be just as easy for you as it is for Spencer but you had taken some time off last week after getting the flu so you had much more to do. You finally finished and looked at your watch. 4:45. Spencer was sitting at his desk reading. 

You stand up and head to Aaron’s office. “Hey, I got to go pick up Spencer’s cake and present. See you later?” he nods. “Good, don’t be late. Garcia will be at my place in a little incase it takes me longer than expected to get home.” You turn to walk out his office.

“Be safe.” You turn to look at him.

“I will. Bye.” You got to Spencer. “Hey, my mom needs me for something but I promise I will be back in time. I will see you at 6:00 ok?” He nods. Before you leave you let Garcia know. 

***

You have the cake and present but barely make it in time. 5:48. You look around and see Spencer’s car isn’t outside thankfully. You had the team park farther away so Spence wouldn’t see their cars. Everyone was here. You came inside to see your house decorated and ready, presents on a table. “Guys this looks perfect!” You set the cake in the fridge and put your present on the table. You hear a knock on the door and smile. You go to open the door to see a very happy Reid. Everyone yells ‘Surprise’ as he walks in, slightly catching him off guard. He hugs you.

“Was this you?” You nod and smile.

“Well kind of. Pen did most of the work.” She comes up behind you.

“Don’t listen to her. It was all her idea and we wouldn’t have done it without her.” He smiles even more and I blush a little. 

“She’s right, it was all Y/N’s idea. No one else’s, we just helped out a little.” Derek says, wrapping his arm around Penelope. “Now come on. We didn’t drive out all this way just for you two to stand around and talk, now come on. I want some cake!” The two walk off together towards your dining room table. You go to the kitchen to grab the cake and put on the candles for him. Lighting them before walking in as the team sang happy birthday. You set the cake down in front of him. As they all finished singing he blew out the candles.

“Happy Birthday genius.” He smiled as he blew the candles out. There were paper plates, a knife, and plastic forks already on the table so you didn’t have to do dishes. You cut the cake giving everyone a piece, letting everyone choose their pieces. You were last to get yours but you didn’t mind. 

As you all sat around the table eating the cake, many laughs and memories were shared. Times Spencer had corrected someone, did something not so smart. You didn’t understand all of them considering you hadn’t known them as long but that didn’t phase you. You were just happy to be with all of them. It wasn’t all about him though, it was also about the rest of the team. Drunk memories and cases. Any little thing that could make someone happy. As you looked around everyone was laughing and smiling. Including Hotch. A very rare occurrence. 

Spencer kept nudging you with his arm or leg every time a memory had absolutely anything to do with you. It was weird but you didn’t mind, you were just happy that he was happy.  You found yourself staring at him smile but quickly stopped feeling his hand squeeze yours. He opened all of his presents and hung out listening to music. You had gotten him a record player and some records. He had been kind of hinting he had wanted one but never directly asked. 

***

Slowly everyone started to spread out. Garcia and Morgan were of course doing whatever they do as usual. Aaron was trying to see if he could get his sister in law to bring down Jack. JJ was on the phone with Will saying goodnight to Henry. Rossi was sitting on my couch drink whiskey. You pulled Spencer aside on your deck. “Hey genius.” He smiled as you talk to him.

“Am I ever going to get a new nick name?” You shake your head no. He sighs but his smile never fades. “Thank you for this. It was really nice.”

“Spencer, spend the night. We can watch Doctor Who and chill on the couch.” He is shocked and caught off guard, his smile going away. “Or don’t. I’m sure you have other plans. I’m just gonna go clean my-” He grabs your face and kisses you. You don’t kiss back at first from the shock of it, but eventually you kiss him back. You put your arms around his neck and he pulls you closer by your waist. You only pull away to catch your breath.

“I would love to spend the night.” He kisses your forehead and you rest your head on his chest. “How long have you liked me?” he asks as you to look at the dark city skyline, lit up by windows all around. 

“Since my first day.” He looks down at you and your arms fall to around his torso. 

“Really?” I nod and smile. 

“Yeah. I thought I was pretty obvious about it. Genius, I literally have extra clothes at your house, we know to to get to each others houses. I know your favorite coffee place and get it for you whenever I can. Spence, I offer to watch Doctor Who and Star Trek with you even though you know I like Star Wars more.” He laughs realizing how oblivious he was.

“So why didn’t you ask me sooner?” I look at him.

“Because I thought you didn’t like me. Thought you thought of me more as a sister than a partner. I have always liked you Spencer.” He smiles holding you tighter than ever before. 

“I love you. I love Y/N. Don’t forget that.” He kisses your head. You never want this moment to end. But just then, just as you are think that, it does. 

“Hey hey. What are you guys doing out on the patio? Alone? Hugging?” Instantly you let go of each other. Of course Derek and Garcia have to ruin the moment. You love them but they have to worst timing ever.

“Uh, I just needed to talk to Spencer and he was giving me a hug.” Derek raises a brow.

“What about?” You look down at your hands which you had started fidgeting with. 

“Family things.” Instantly Morgan’s face went blank and Garcia looked sad.

“Oh, sweet girl. Do you want to talk about it? I know that stuffs hard. Come here.” Garcia says, pulling you into a hug. “I love you angel and if you need to talk just call me and I will be over with wine and a hug in seconds.” Spencer starts to walk away. You mouth words at him. ‘No, please.’ he starts to laugh, waving as he leaves. You start to laugh slightly but Garcia thinks you’re crying.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.” She says shushing you. You force tears into your eyes so when she pulls away she won’t be confused. She holds your face in her hands. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be ok. Now, come one let’s go hang out, apparently Henry and Jack are here.” Your eyes instantly lit up. They were your favorite people ever, well apart from Spencer. You see Jack next to his dad and Henry with Spencer. When they see you they both come running. 

“Y/N!” They come yelling your name at the same time and you pull them into a hug. 

“Hey boys!” You pull them tight, kneeled beside them. “I missed you guys! Did you tell Spencer happy birthday?” They nod.

“Uncle Spencer got me and Jack a piece of cake!” You mouth opens so you look surprised. 

“Really? Did you guys like it?” They both nod, smiling ear to ear. “Oh that’s good, how about we all play a game?” They got very excited. “Ok, ok. What do you guys think about... hide and seek!” They both run off finding a hiding spot. You look around at the team staring at you. “Go on, go hide! You’re playing too. Alcohol goes in the kitchen. I don’t need wine or whisky spread around my house.” They laugh and hand you you’re glasses as you walk to the kitchen. You hear the kitchen door open expecting to see one of the kids but instead you see Spencer.

“It looks like my favorite profiler spot has been taken.” You laugh at him.

“That would never happen ‘Uncle Spencer’ now, what are you doing? You’re playing too birthday boy!” You say pushing him out of the kitchen. He laughs but complies and leaves to find a hiding spot. You take a deep breath just thinking about Spencer. Your future life, not with him necessarily but just in general, although you hope it’s with him. After a minute you walk out to find everyone and do it in record time, the last person being Spencer.

“Well, if it isn’t Spencer Reid. Ok you were my last hider so now-” He pulls you in for a kiss and locks the door behind you so no one can walk in. You have one hand in his hair, tangling your fingers, and your other around his neck. He sits pulls your hips close with his hands as he deepens the kiss. 

“Spence, as much as I wanna just stay up here with you, the team is gonna come looking for us in a second and I have a party to host so if I may.” You kiss his forehead. “Lucky for you, you have all night with me.” He smiles and let’s you go knowing you were right. Both of you walked downstairs together, you first with him behind you. “I finally found him. Ok Pen what’s next?” She looks at you with a big smile, never seeing you so happy before. 

***

Everyone died down and the kids were asleep on you. Henry’s head on your lap and Jack’s on your shoulder. JJ had tried to take Henry home but you told her no and to enjoy the party. “Please JJ, you don’t get very much time away from being a mom and work, I get that all the time. Shoo shoo.” She smiles, glad you said that because she was exhausted and missing before she walked away to finish her wine and talk. You feel your phone buzzing and grab it from the couch before it wakes the boys. 

“Hello?” The voice was familiar.

You whisper into the phone, “Oh hey Emily. I sent you my address right?” 

“Oh yeah you did I’m actually outside right now.” You gasp.

“Oh okay. Try not to be loud or get them riled up, Jack and Henry are asleep on my lap. I will have JJ get the door for you.” 

“Thanks.” She hangs up the phone.

“Hey J, can you get the door for me?” She nods and opens it. You have only met Emily a few times but she was always kind to you and you got along. You smile as the both of them hug. You wanted to do something nice for the team and figured this was the best way. You hear talking from the kitchen, saying how happy they are to see her and how much they missed her and then you know you did an amazing thing which lifts your heart. Jack sits up and turns over to lay on a pillow on the other side of the couch. As he does this you life Henry’s head and replace your lap with a pillow so you can say hi.

“Y/N. Hey!” Emily says as you hug each other. “Thank you for getting me here, I really didn’t want to miss Reid’s birthday.”

“Of course, I’m glad you’re here.” She smiles.

“So pretty girl, how did you do it? Emily only ever comes down for cases.” You smile at Derek.

“Oh nothing, just know some people, pulled some strings, no biggie. And no that does not mean I am able to get her down here all the time. I’m sorry to steal your beloved Emily away but I need to talk to her.” You walk away from the team with Emily following you and you go to a room and close the door.

“Hey, are you ok?” You look at her and smile, your face blushing. “Who is it?” You laugh.

“Emily, I kissed Spencer. Well, he kissed me but Emily, he kissed me.” Her smile is huge. 

“Y/N! When?” You giggle.

“Tonight. I pulled him aside to talk to him on the deck and he just kissed me. Emily I could barely contain myself in there and I desperately need to tell someone. I couldn’t keep it to myself. And I don’t really know you that well so I knew I could tell you. I was a little overwhelmed at first and so I just kind of stood there and I don’t-” She cuts off your rambling. “Sorry, I was rambling wasn’t I?” 

She smiles. “It’s ok. I worked with Spencer for years, you get used to it. I won’t tell Reid you told me or anyone else. I know sometimes things just need to be kept private.” You smile and she opens her arms pulling you into a hug.

“Thank you.” You said as she hugged you.

“Of course. Now let’s finish up the night so you can be with Reid.”

***

Everyone was starting to leave now. Slowly moving out. JJ carrying Henry. Hotch giving Jack a piggyback ride. Garcia and Morgan together, arms wrapped around each other. Rossi, saying his last goodbyes. Finally Emily, hugging the both of you and whispering in your ear. “Good luck.” You smile as she leaves. As soon as the the door shuts he locks it as he pushes you against it, pulling you into a deep kiss.

[beelsnack]

The Obey Me! Boys and How They Cuddle

Because this quarantine got me touch-starved.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Slight NSFW warning for Asmo.

Lucifer: He could feel his heartbeat in his forehead as he reclined (not slouched, he would never slouch) against the back of his chair. He had at least three different reports to write for Diavolo, the ever-growing stack of bills addressed to Mammon was beginning to lean alarmingly to the left, and he had just received word that one of his brothers had broken a stained-glass window at RAD. Again.

The sound of his door creaking open startled him out of his brooding. He whipped around with a scowl already set in place, but his expression soften when he registered the human standing there. They were carrying a tray in their hands, which were wrapped carefully in the sleeves of their shirt to stave off the chill of the Devildom evenings.

“You missed dinner,” they set the tray down on the edge of his desk, away from all of the important documents. “I was worried the others were going to start a riot.” 

“I wouldn’t put it past them.” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. On top of the pounding in his head, he was beginning to feel the muscle in his neck tensing from being bent over writing for the majority of the day. Great, now his responsibilities were becoming a literal pain in the neck instead of just a figurative one.

“Lucifer?” concern laced through their voice as they spoke. “Are you okay?”

Their hands were still planted on the desk where they had set the tray down, eyes trained on him like they were worried he would explode. This left them wide open, and Lucifer was nothing if not opportunistic.

“Come here.”

The human yelped as he gripped them around the waist and easily hoisted them into his lap. Their legs dangled uselessly over one arm of the chair and Lucifer had pressed their torso against his own. He kept them close, encasing them in his arms as he rested his cheek on top of their head.

“Lucifer!” they attempted to wiggle out of his grasp, but both of them knew it would do nothing. “I’m not a teddy bear!”

“Oh? But the job suits you perfectly.”

They huffed petulantly, but instead of pouting, they wrapped their arms around his neck and accepted their fate. “Just ask next time, okay?”

Mammon: “...stupid lil���...why do they hafta...treat their older brother with at least a lil’ respect!”

The door to the living room burst open, causing the human sitting on the couch to jump and quickly whip their headphones out. Mammon definitely didn’t get a little mushy when he noticed their expression go from on guard to exasperatedly fond.

“What happened now?”

The Avatar of Greed flopped unceremoniously onto the couch next to them and sighed dramatically. “Why do they always gotta gang up on me?!”

“Because it’s funny to watch you explode?”

“Not helping, human.”

They started to laugh, but when they saw Mammon slouch down a little further, they cut themselves off. “Does it really get to you that much?”

“Sometimes,” Mammon scratched at his neck. “Even when I’m trying to help, they start taking jabs at me for no reason.”

The human was silent for a moment before they shoved the worksheet they had been scribbling away at into their textbook and closed it. “That’s not right.”

“You’re damn right it ain’t! I’m a good big brother, and every time I -” a light tug on his hair cut him off mid-rant. The human had scooted down to the end of the couch and was looking at him expectantly. When had they grabbed a hold of his hair?

His human was nothing if not persistent, and who was he to deny them? He followed their tugs down to rest his head in their lap, stretching out his long legs. Their gentle fingers kept weaving and scritching in his hair, and his eyes slipped closed like a content kitten.

“You know the best ways to shut me up.”

“Mmhmm.”

Levi: When he had told them what time the stream was going to start, they had grinned and said staying up that late wasn’t going to be a problem. They had high-fived and the human had skipped off to do whatever it was normies did during the day. When 10 o’clock rolled around, they showed up to his room practically buzzing with excitement. It had been forever since they had gotten to watch a live stream with someone!

They had been so jazzed. So why in the three Realms were they asleep?!

And more importantly, why were they asleep on his shoulder?!?!

Levi could feel himself start to hyperventilate. He barely let his brothers touch him, forget about the human! The streamer had said something that was making the chat go a mile a minute, but Levi couldn’t bring himself to concentrate on anything but the weight on his shoulder.

Swallowing heavily, he managed to gather up enough courage to actually look at the human.They were small and fragile looking when they were awake and yelling at everyone, but when they were asleep, they might as well be a figurine. Their face was relaxed, so different from the victorious grin they wore when they thrashed Mammon in a game, or the determined frown they wore when Devildom culture shock smacked them in the face and they were trying to deal with it.

The soft blue light from Henry 2.0′s aquarium rippled across their face, and Levi could feel their slow, even breaths against his collarbone. His face felt like it was on fire, and he was just about to start flailing when they made a soft noise in their sleep and snuggled in a bit closer. They were shivering.

He had watched enough romcom anime to know the proper course of action, but that didn’t cool his blush any. Sighing in defeat, he managed to sneak his arm up from where it had been resting against his side and - slowly, hesitantly, holy shit what was he doing this was a bad idea what the fu - wrapped it around their shoulders and pulled them in.

Thankfully, they stayed asleep. Slowly but surely, Levi’s heart rate slowed back down to normal as he felt them stop shaking. Maybe this wasn’t so bad?

Satan: It wasn’t often that the human lost their cool. They were probably one of the most put-together beings who ever existed. But, as Satan knew all too well, one could only take so much bullshit before they exploded.

“That sorry, sniveling, micro-dicked little cockroach!”

Satan would have praised them on that insult if he didn’t think it would piss them off more. “Who has a micro dick?”

“That guy I got paired with to do the Potions project!” they had begun pacing around the library. Satan had been in enough arguments to know where this was going, so he shut his book, crossed his legs and waited. The human didn’t disappoint.

“We agreed to meet up at the cafe to work on the project after class, since the assignment is due tomorrow and we needed to get everything put together. Not only does this bastard not show up, he has the balls to text me and ‘apologize’ for not having any of his share of the work done! So now I have to do by tomorrow!” frustrated tears gathered in the corners of their eyes, and Satan had to smother the flames of his own anger. How dare this scum make his human cry?

“Kitten,” he said, hoping the familiar pet name would soothe instead of scorn. “You’re going to wear a path in the carpet if you keep pacing like that.”

They turned to glare at him, but their fire had run out of kindling. They sighed heavily, shoulders slouching as though their anger had physically drained them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...I stormed in here and interrupted you, didn’t I? I wan’t thinking, sorry, I’ll just...”

Before they could finish their retreat, Satan was in front of them, hands on their shoulders.

“Hey now, it’s alright.” he reached up and brushed their tears away with the backs of his knuckles. “I of all people know how it is when you’re angry, I understand.”

They sniffled pathetically. “Sorry...”

Smiling gently, Satan guided them to the couch and let them slump against him. They were settled between his legs with their head pillowed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat as they calmed down. Satan’s long fingers played with their hair, twirling a strand around his finger.

“Now then, I’m going to need a name, address and photo id of this formerly-alive gentleman.”

Asmo: There was nothing quite like those few moments after a couple rounds of mind-blowing sex that had followed a carefully-crafted seduction. Asmodeus sighed in satisfaction as he relaxed against the soft pillows.

“Mm...” the human stirred beside him, and Asmo turned his head to admire his handiwork. Their hair was slick with sweat, curling along their forehead and jaw like ivy climbing up the side of a house. They were soft, pliant, practically melting into the sheets, and they had the most deliciously fucked-out expression on their face.

“Hello there, darling.” he said softly, reaching up to brush their hair out of their eyes. “How are you doing?”

Confusion flashed across their face and Asmo decided to answer their question before they asked it. “Aftercare is very important, my dear. Tell me what you need.”

Unbelievably, the human flushed and buried their head in the pillow. “...dles...”

“What was that, sweetheart?”

The human resurfaced, but couldn’t quite look him in the eye. “...Cuddles.”

Asmo scoffed affectionately. “Are you telling me that, after spending the night committing all kinds of salacious acts with me, you’re having trouble asking me for post-sex cuddles?”

Before the human could proceed with the inevitable flailing, Asmo tucked them against his chest, one leg thrown over both of theirs and a delicately manicured finger tracing over his pact mark on their hip. He felt them sigh contentedly as they settled down, and he couldn’t resist laughing as he kissed their forehead.

“I’ll have you know, post-sex cuddling is the best kind of cuddling.”

Beelzebub: It was a rare occasion that only one brother was camped out in the human’s room. Usually there were at least two monopolizing their bed. But, Mammon had a modeling gig, Levi had a raid going on, Satan had just bought a new book and couldn’t be torn away from it, Asmo had a date, and Belphie was....probably asleep somewhere that wasn’t their room. Which left them and Beel.

“What are we going to watch tonight?” Beel asked, making himself comfortable on their bed. He had brought a bowl of popcorn the size of their head, and before they even picked a movie the bowl was 3/4 of the way empty.

“Come on, Beel, I didn’t even get any!” they pouted, but there was an amused gleam in their eye. “And, to answer your question, I was thinking horror, since Mammon isn’t here to scream through it.”

By the time they finished their sentence, the popcorn had been vacuumed into Beel’s mouth. The human looked at Beel with a raised eyebrow.

“...”

“...”

“...We’re out of popcorn.”

They snorted, snatching the bowl from Beel’s hands. “I’ll go make more, you pick a movie.”

When they returned, Beel was leaning against their headboard with the movie paused on the title screen. It was some Devildom flick that the human had never heard of, but they trusted Beel.

Well, with the movie, anyway.

When he made grabby hands for the popcorn, the human turned to shield it with their body. “I don’t think so! I actually want some this time, Beelzebub. I’m holding it.”

The Avatar of Gluttony looked like they had just told him Santa wasn’t real, but the human stood firm.

“I’ll share, but I’m not letting you inhale the whole bowl.” they stuck their tongue out and plopped themselves on their bed. “Let’s start this thing.”

The movie started with a demon getting disemboweled, so they knew it was going to be good. The human was situation with the bowl rested in between their folded legs, and Beel would reach over and grab a fistful of popcorn every few seconds. But, in order to do that, he would have to rock himself forward, and as a result, spilled a fair amount of popcorn on the bed.

“This isn’t working.” Beel muttered about 20 minutes in.

“What isn’t?” they didn’t even turn away from the screen. It was just getting good!

“I keep spilling the popcorn.”

“Hm?” the human briefly glanced down to realize that they were sitting among the remains of many, many pieces of popcorn. “Oh. So you do. Sorry, Beel, I’ll move.”

The human had meant to scoot just a little closer so Beel wouldn’t have to reach so far, but apparently he had other ideas.

They squeaked a little when they went from leaning against the cool wall to something warm.

“Beel!” they exclaimed, suddenly finding themself situated snugly in Beel’s lap. “What the actual fuck?”

“This is easier.” To demonstrate, he reached into the bowl that was still cushioned in their lap, plucked out a fistful of popcorn, and took a bite. “See? No spilling. And you’re still holding the bowl.”

They felt like their face was going to explode from the force of their blush.

“Is this okay?” Beel asked, apparently belatedly realizing what he had just done might be considered inappropriate.

“...Yeah, it’s okay. You have a comfy lap.”

Beel smiled. “Good. I like having you close like this.”

“Shut up, I’m watching the movie.”

Belphegor: It was hard to keep your circadian rhythm going when there was no sun. This was the third night in a row that the human found themselves unable to sleep, and they were getting sick of sitting in their room playing on their D.D.D. So, even though they knew Lucifer would use their skin to decorate his office if he found them, they tip-toed out of their room and began wandering the halls in search for...something.

Eventually, they found themselves in the planetarium. Honestly, they didn’t know what they would do up there, but it beat sitting around in the darkness waiting for their body to shut down from sheer exhaustion.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

They nearly jumped out of their skin. “Belphie!”

Belphegor was draped languidly over one of the couches, cow-print pillow hugged to his chest as he blinked sleepily at them. “What are you doing up?”

They shrugged. “Trouble sleeping.”

“Is that right?” Belphie hummed, sitting up. “You’re lucky you found me, then.”

“Why is that?” the human asked, tilting their head. Belphegor chuckled softly.

“I’m the Avatar of Sloth. If anyone can cure insomnia, it’s me.” he leaned back against the arm of the couch and opened his arms. “Come on, I won’t hurt you.”

He kept his voice nonchalant, but they felt him push his sincerity through their bond. He was still so cautious around them. Probably always would be.

Taking a deep breath, the human stepped forward into Belphie’s waiting arms. Honestly, the demon was a little shocked that the human had accepted. A slap to the face would have been his first reaction if the tables were turned.

He curled his arms around their shoulders and cupped the back of their head, gently guiding them to the crook of his neck. They squirmed, trying to get comfortable.

“Hush,” Belphie muttered, voice low and soothing. “I’m going to use magic, okay?”

He felt them nod, already drifting a little bit. Belphie took a deep breath, threading his fingers through their hair. He didn’t deserve this. Didn’t deserve their trust and affection. But he was going to take it anyway.

The magic laced itself through his voice as he sang. It was an old lullaby that Lucifer used to sing to him and Beel when they were fussy children, but the human didn’t need to know that. Almost immediately, they stopped wiggling and settled heavily against him. By the time the lullaby was finished, they were asleep, breath fanning deep and even across his collarbone.

Belphegor leaned down and nuzzled into their hair. “Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

[96thdayofrage]

Baseball was warned. In a 1974 article about the lack of Black MLB managers, the Sporting News pointed to an equally pressing concern: the decline of the Black player. Editor C.C. Johnson Spink wrote that over the previous five years, there had been a significant drop in the numbers of African-American players drafted, from 40 percent to roughly 15 percent. Spink also wrote that, statistically, Black players had outperformed their White counterparts.

If Black players left baseball, he concluded, then the game would suffer.

Three years later, Atlanta Braves general manager Bill Lucas, the league’s first Black GM and also the highest ranking Black official in MLB at the time, sounded a similar alarm, telling a reporter, “I’ve noticed a decline of Black ball players drafted and being funneled into the minor leagues and a decline in the number pursuing the major leagues. It’s an indication we may be losing some good athletes to other spring sports.”

Lucas wasn’t alone. The popular Black sportswriter Doc Young wrote numerous editorials about the decline of the Black superstar. Investigative pieces in newspapers across the country highlighted the general decline of Black American players. MLB officials publicly stated there was a problem. Monte Irvin, who integrated the New York Giants in 1949 and was at that time working in the commissioner’s office, said, “Black kids are not just playing as much baseball as they used to.” His solution? Get the kids when they were young. As he put it, “in the inner cities, a kid may have baseball ability right after he gets out of grade school but doesn’t know what to do with it. We have to get scouts to dig him out, to tell him where to play.”

The numbers told the story: From 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke into the major leagues, to 1973, the number of Black players in MLB increased. But from 1973 to 1976, Black participation dropped from 144 to 109 players, or from 24 percent to 18.2 percent of the league.

Still, Lucas seemed largely unfazed. “I don’t think it’s serious, though,” he said. “The Black ballplayer’s not becoming extinct, or anything like that.” MLB lacked urgency, too. Perhaps the sport’s leaders were blinded by the fact that, in 1977, Black superstars were still prominent. Though Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson were gone, players such as Joe Morgan, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and an aging Lou Brock were thrilling fans. MLB had two Black MVPs in George Foster and Rod Carew; two Black Rookies of the Year in Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson; a host of rising Black talents including Dave Parker, Dave Winfield, and Willie Randolph; and a Black No. 1 draft pick in Harold Baines.

That year, the most MLB did to reconnect with Black youth was to use Jackie Robinson Week – the 30-year commemoration of his breaking the color barrier during All-Star Week – to, as Irvin put it, “make them (young Blacks) aware of Robinson’s contributions.”

That would not be enough.

At the game’s lower levels, the Black talent drain already was underway. For years, Black players had argued that teams had unwritten quotas governing how many Black players they would have on their rosters. Because of these quotas, they believed that Black players had to be great – or else they would never get a real chance to carve out playing careers. Black kids believed this, too. Gates Brown, a former Detroit Tiger who worked in the organization after his retirement, said in 1977 that when he tried to recruit Black kids, “you still get the same line: you got to be twice as good as the White kid.”

Brown had no remedy except to say, “Be tough, hang in there.”

Crucially, baseball’s scouting system had changed. According to Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, when barrier breakers like Jackie Robinson came in, most teams started to sign Black talent, believing that was the best and cheapest way to compete. A generation later, however, scouts felt that they had tapped that mine. So they stopped looking for Black gems – or even showing up at all. One Black player concluded that White scouts refused to go to the inner city and scout Black players because they were afraid. Meanwhile, Black scouts were disappearing. Of the 566 official MLB scouts in 1982, only 15 were Black. Fourteen teams did not have any full-time Black scouts. That led the great Joe Morgan to ask, “How can you expect to sign a lot of Black players if you don’t have a lot of Black scouts?”

This lack of Black scouts coincided with teams’ increasing dependency on drafting college players. From 1972 to 1982, MLB teams went from drafting 334 collegians to 615, a near reversal of numbers when compared to high school players. Pittsburgh Pirates player Bill Madlock believed that this was intentional, done because fewer Black players played in college. Purposeful or not, the change had a huge impact on the Black talent pool for two reasons. First, by the 1970s, a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, had begun dropping baseball. As Black Sports reported in a 1971 article, these schools lacked the resources to field teams. Most did not offer scholarships. Without that, many potential players instead chose to concentrate on their books. Second, the predominantly White institutions that could offer baseball scholarships were limited to only 13 per team. As a result, a host of young Black athletes who looked to college sports for potential economic mobility saw limited chances in baseball and so tried their luck with football and basketball, "They seemed to be turned off by baseball,” said Brown, the Tigers lifer. “More concentrate on football and basketball. There's more money, and they get to the big-time quicker."

Baseball also lost Black talent because America’s structural inequalities had taken their toll on the inner city game. In the late 1970s, youth coaches noted that while the sport was doing fine in the mostly White suburbs, inner cities struggled to field teams from the Little League to high school levels. As one youth leader in Miami put it, they lacked money for league sponsorships, kids couldn’t afford equipment, and the facilities were neglected. MLB officials understood this, and, Irvin concluded, “they don’t have the wide-open spaces for baseball anymore.” But the sport didn’t do anything about it.

With MLB unwilling to truly step in, it mostly fell on individual Black players to do what they could. In the late 1980s in Los Angeles – a city that had a rich history of producing Black talent – Black stars such as Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis saw the warning signs. They returned to practice at Harvard Park, a public gathering place in the middle of one of the most dangerous sections of the city, the type of place where you were more likely to see someone struck by a bullet than struck out by a pitch. They helped youngsters with tips and gear and otherwise remained a presence, letting Black kids know that baseball could be a future home for them, too. Soon, programs like Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities, which is run by MLB and still exists today, would follow their lead to provide kids with opportunities to play ball.

But by then it was too late. Baseball’s failure to get out in front of the problem in the 1970s and early 1980s had real and lasting consequences. The number of Black players in MLB remained relatively stable from 1977 to 1987 – and then the well nearly dried up. Today, the number of African-American players sits at an all-time low of roughly 7 percent. If MLB wants to increase Black American participation in the game, the league will have to make massive investment in youth baseball, bring more Black decision-makers into the fold, and stop repeating the same tired lines that the game isn’t as cool or appealing as basketball and football.

Today’s baseball fans, a demographic group that itself is also shrinking, have far fewer Black stars to get excited about. Yesterday’s icons warned us this day was coming. But the league never righted the ship. And that makes it fair to ask: Even now, is the league truly dedicated to fixing this problem?

[eamonorus-blog]

Joel, Game vs Show (part 1)

Ok, to be clear, I have only seen parts of the show, not all of it, so please correct me if I get things wrong. Still, I can't help but feel that the changes made for the show, though minor in some ways, all contributed together into a quite different experience. First of all, we have to address the difference in mediums. One of the things which so many people talk about being incredible about the game, and something that I very much agree with, is the way that the story uses the medium of video games well in telling its story. Sure, it's mostly just another cinematic third person shooter with lots of cutscenes and crafting. It’s a kind of video game genre which is often mocked for being a kind of Oscar-bait, a lame attempt to make video games into films, that relies too much on cutscenes and voice acting, and not enough on the actual gameplay. And while I totally get the criticism of the game that it is mostly uninspired and basic, even if well executed, in terms of gameplay mechanics and complexity, I think that saying that tlou would have been better as a show or film from the start, or that the medium of video games isn’t used at all is selling the game seriously short. In the game you spend the overwhelming majority of it with Ellie by your side, as she helps you with puzzles, quips, and passes you ammo. Stuff like that. Not only do you feel like she is growing and learning with you as the game goes on, but you have a lot of time to just sit with their relationship and let it slowly change over time.

There is no need for sudden dramatic turns in their relationship, except at a few key points. From the beginning to the end, their relationship has gone from deeply reluctant and detached, to one of dependence and trust, and it never feels forced. From Ellie helping untie Joel from Bills trap while he fends off infected, to him pushing the car while she tries to start it, to him finding comic books for her as collectables, to her deciding not to escape with Bill and Henry, but instead go back for him, we see their relationship grow. This could all so easily have gone poorly. Companion characters, especially children/teenagers, are so often disliked and found annoying in games, that making the whole game about this relationship was really risky, but it is done so well that it is almost universally beloved, and I don’t think anyone would disagree that the whole game hinges on it. If it didn’t work, if it even wasn’t great, but only passable, the whole game almost may as well not exist at all. There has been so much ink spilled, both in other tumblr posts and elsewhere about why their relationship works so well and is so well written that I won’t belabour the point with examples. I will just bring up how the game differs from the show in ways that I think detract from the experience. You see, because this is a game, we get to spend so much time with Ellie, and we are in Joel’s pov almost the whole time. The show doesn’t have the same amount of time, so it really needed to spend every moment it could trying to make up the difference.

It doesn’t do this though. The first episode deals heavily with the actual outbreak, which to me was always among the least interesting parts of the story. Sure, it at least makes the effort to make the zombies a bit unique with the whole fungus thing, but the game had the sense to narrow our focus and only tell us the minimum we needed to know about the outbreak, both so we wouldn’t get sidetracked, and to maintain a sense of mystery and dread around it. I think it was a mistake to try and make the story more about the disease itself, and about the world. I love worldbuilding and its important, but this story is all about Joel and Ellie, and the focus should be there. Then we have Bill and his lover in episode 3, the Ellie and Rylie flashback, and a flashback to Ellie’s birth. Sure, this is all stuff which was in the original game in one sense or another, but its still taking away and distracting us from the main dynamic, the main point of the story. And considering that we aren’t in Joel’s shoes non-stop the way we are in the game, I don’t feel like the show can afford to be diluting this any further. The game gets a little fantastical and ridiculous at times with how many people Joel kills, and this is where the story having to fulfill the role of being a third person action game filled with obstacles to fight might arguably let it down somewhat. Still, the story utilises the fact that it’s a game quite well here. Just as it does with having Ellie help you with puzzles, continually commenting on things, and all this helps endear you to her, the constant combat serves a purpose too. One of tlou’s greatest aspects as a game are the combat animations. They are smooth, brutal, and make you wince with their violence. Joel isn’t a military man, and he isn’t a John Wick style professional killer either. He is a hardened survivor who has fought and killed countless enemies by using whatever he had on hand at the time and going for the kill every time. The scrap collecting mechanic plays into this. The nail bombs, the edged attachments to your melee weapons, the Molotov cocktails, they all play into the sense of Joel being an expert at turning whatever is nearby into crude but effective weapons. He is a modern man forced by circumstance into becoming a ruthless killer every day just to survive.

[theonetheycallhannah]

The Treatment of Captain Syverson- Chapter 7: Non-Productive Time

Pairing: Captain “Sy” Syverson x OFC (Shane Benton)

Summary: On a slow afternoon, Shane remembers a couple of fun evenings with Sy, and can’t help but start texting him…he turns out to be a bad influence.

Don’t want spoilers? Click me first to catch up!

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings:  Language, mature themes, a steamy scene that bumps up against the line of smut/not smut…it looks like smuttish is, in fact, a thing, (see what I did there? Toss a high five to your fic writer for the paraphrased Witcher quote in these here notes! lol! Sorry, i’m tired...and in a weird mood tonight...) so, anyway, using that. I love it. 

Author’s Note: This chapter was about half done before I even started SI1 and SI2! So that’s why it’s come along so quickly in the wake of them. It could also mean that there are some continuity issues…I found a couple during the re-write of the first part, and more when I was proofing, so it should be good, but…fair warning, one or more could have escaped me! Also, let me know if the text convo is hard to follow. I’ll try to reconfigure it to be more clear. It seemed to me like context was enough, and they’d had text convos before, and no one said anything…this one’s longer by about 300%, though, so…feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism.

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Hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

Time seemed to pass slowly when Shane wasn’t with Sy. When they weren’t having dinner together, or doing their typical date thing. She thought about their second date. One of the bars in town, chosen for its above average bar food but mostly, it’s pool tables. The warning he’d given her via text had made her laugh:

We’re goin’ to Cade’s for apps and pool, if that's okay. As gorgeous as you looked in that blue dress you wore last night, I recommend jeans and a T-shirt for tonight, okay?

She took his suggestion. A simple black tee, because she was a food klutz from hell, layered over a red camisole, and her favorite jeans. It showed off her dainty arrow necklace well.

While they played, they drank beer and talked about life, getting deeper into things than they could at therapy sessions.

“Dad split when I was about ten, I guess. Mom did her best with her only son, but she sent me to my grandpa’s a lot when she was working or just…needing her own time. He’d been an army man. Fought in Korea. His dad was in World War II. It felt like…I don’t know, this pull, like I was meant to join up.”

“Destiny?” She asked. A dreamy tone overtook him when he talked about his family and his now former career.

“I guess. Never though too much of all that before.”

They smiled at one another. Knowing.

“What was he like? Your grandpa?”

“Oh, Pap was the best. He was a mechanic in the service and so he could get anything hummin, ya know? We fixed up and built motors for all kinds a’ shit. My first car was a ‘67 Shelby Mustang with the fast back all because when I was about 14, he found most of one at a salvage yard and basically rescued it from the crusher. Got it for about nothin’. For two years we collected parts and did body work on that thing. And by the time I turned sixteen, it was the most beautiful, show-ready Kerry green machine you ever seen.”

“One of my favorite cars! I’d love to see pictures!”

“I’ve still got ‘er.” He grinned. “When Pap died, it got…hard for me to drive her, ya know? So…special occasions only now. And he left me his truck, which he’d just bought brand new while I was on my first tour. That F150 crew cab we came here in, with all the bells 'n whistles. I couldn’t let such a fine automobile go to waste.” He grinned.

“You’re such a gear head.” She chuckled.

“Hey, you may be glad about that when you need somebody to get your own motor humming.” He teased back at her, bending over the table to take his shot and sinking it deftly. He said they would only play for fun, but he was still winning this round…which she didn’t think was that fun.

“Okay, I deserved that.”

“The shot, or the innuendo?” He asked to clarify.

“Yes.” They laughed. He eventually did miss, making it her turn.

"Ya know, I'm disappointed in this date, Shane." He baited.

"How come?" she asked, a bit hurt.

"A guy only asks a girl to play pool with him so he can show her how to shoot…and you already know."

It was true. She'd played a lot growing up and even a bit as she got older. She and her siblings loved billiards. Her whole family, really. And although she was no professional, she wasn't half bad for an amateur.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently, sizing up the table for her next shot, but knowing with a fair amount of certainty what he was implying.

"You know. I wanted to get all close to ya. Show ya how to grip that cue in your hand. How to stand, bent at the hip, where to eyeball your shot from." he smiled. "All that shit ya see in movies that makes the girl all nervous and excited that the guy's touchin' on her. Pressed up against her."

Shane grinned, picked up the small, blue cube of chalk and rolled the concave side over the tip of her cue…she had no need to do so, most people didn't, really…but she made herself look really sexy doing it and asked Sy, "Is that right? Well, I guess you'll have to find another way to get your cheap thrills, because this girl has been known to run a table." She bent over the green felt seductively, the angle at which she did so displaying her décolletage in his direction just enough to tantalize him into licking his lips. She took her shot at the 10 ball, but sunk the 8 instead, losing her the game…damn. She shouldn't have gotten cocky.

"Run it where, sunshine? Into the ground? Off a cliff?" he laughed as she stomped over and began to poke him mercilessly in the ribs.

"Come on, Minnesota Fats. Let's pay the tab and find something a little cozier to do."

"Oka--wait, did you just call me fat?" he was incredulous. She laughed.

"Oh my God, you thought YOU were gonna teach ME about billiards…Minnesota Fats is like the most famous pool player of ever. I am not calling you fat."

"You messin' with me?" he squinted.

"Sy, google it. I promise. I would never call you fat. You're… my sexy man bear."

"Technically a bear is a fat animal." he sulked.

"Why don't you tell that to one when it's chasing you down to make a meal of ya!" Shane laughed. "Come on. Remember? I think I mentioned something about… finding another way for you to get cheap thrills. Lets explore that, shall we?" she whispered into his ear. He dropped some bills on their table nearby to more than cover their food and beer, and they hauled ass into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had definitely been exploring. In the two weeks since they'd been given the green light to see each other outside of therapy--the day Sy basically handed Shane's boss her own ass--they'd spent most evenings with each other, unless Shane had a particularly late evening at work or an early day the next day. A few nights, they had been together so late, that just staying over seemed the most reasonable option. But they had both agreed to take things slowly with the physical stuff. It had been a long time since either of them had been in a relationship, and given their patient/therapist situation, waiting a while for the sex had seemed like a good idea…on paper. On the sofa had been a different story.

One day last week, she'd had to make an early night of things, and stood up from his couch, but was pulled back down to straddle his lap.

"Hold on a minute, sunshine. Why don't you gimme a proper goodbye before ya go, hmm?" he held her so close to him at every curve of their bodies, like the pieces of a puzzle snapping flush together. His kisses were deep and agonizing, his beard gently brushing her mouth, teasing her with its uncommon softness. She returned the ardor, squeezing him in every way she could.

She couldn't contain the desire pooling at her center, especially when he clearly couldn't contain his, either, straining against his shorts, pressing against her so deliciously, right where she needed him. She didn't hold back. And he was nothing if not encouraging to her endeavor.

"That feels so good, baby. You're so warm. Mmm." he whispered as he nipped at her ear and bit at her neck. She hadn't intended to, but she felt herself slipping over the edge, into pure euphoria and gripped at his hair, still rather short, though growing out from the mandated buzz. The length made him even more sensitive and when she ran her hands up his neck and over the back of his head, the result was like an electric current straight to his manhood. His body tensed as his release followed hers seconds later.

"Fuck." he said. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" she was truly confused.

"For losin' it like a teenager." he sighed and laid his head against the back of his couch in surrender…an unfamiliar sight, Shane was certain.

"Don't worry about it. I mean…it's not quite how I pictured our first time, but--"

"Oh, hell no. This doesn't count as a TIME, sunshine. This is batting practice. A warm up.”

"Ooh, you and your baseball references again. I told you, I need to leave, Sy. You can't get me worked up with that kinda dirty talk." she kissed his cheek, and stood. "Walk me out?"

He did. And they stood holding one another in the dark, leaned up against her Explorer, Sy's back against the door, Shane's cheek on his bare, hairy chest, and the turning of the earth all but forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had to stop thinking about him. About their dates and the time they'd spent together. But her schedule had fallen apart for the day due to a nasty storm that had blown in, she had no more education to work on for now, and she could only clean and organize her treatment room and desk so thoroughly.

She guessed…the secretaries knew she was available if need be…and she was salaried…what was the harm in texting Sy? She'd stayed late and came in early and overworked herself in general so much for this clinic. She could justify a bit of downtime.

Hey! Whatcha doin?

Just did some exercises that my super hot PT gave me! *winky face emoji*

Uh-Oh, should I be jealous?

Mmm, hard to say, sunshine. I guess it'll depend on which one of you sleeps with me first. *devil emoji*

Smart money is on the one who’s already let you get to second base…and basically third, even though…does it count if it’s basically because of a dare. Induced by Jack Daniels?

I think it counts if you came…*smirk emoji*

Damn those skilled fingers and Tennessee whiskey.

What can I say. I told ya I knew how to get a motor humming. *cool guy emoji*

You certainly do. No doubt about that.

So how's your day goin', sunshine?

Eh, everyone's cancelled on me. I have no one until 4:00, and I have nothing to do until then. I've decided to see it as a blessing and text my favorite fella.

And when he didn't respond, you resorted to me? *smirk emoji*

Hey you know that you have no competition for my affection other than like, my dad…and Chris Evans. Lol

Your dad, I'm sure I couldn't compete with if I tried, from what you've told me. Chris…well, I'm a REAL captain, not some guy jumpin' around in tights.

Mmmm, shame. I bet you'd look good in a getup like that. *heart eyes emoji*

You think so?

Yup! *American flag emoji*

You wanna be my Black Widow?

I mean…I've already basically got a costume…*embarrassed monkey emoji*

*several lines of big eye emojis*

Yeah, a few Halloweens ago…I was Romanoff. Now you know. I'm a total nerd.

I'm a nerd, too, sunshine. Serious nerd.

How am I just finding out about this? There's next to no merch at your place, and you never wear typical nerd shirts…*skeptical face emoji*

You haven't seen my whole place…*wink emoji*

What, are you telling me you have Batman bedsheets? *lol emoji*

Oh, it's much…much worse than that. The bedroom is pretty neutral, but…I have a…kind of rec room in the basement that is basically nerd central.

Oh. Em. Gee. I can't WAIT to see that, Sy!!! And how dare you hold out on me!!!

Well, I mean, I didn't wanna lay out all my cards right off the bat. I'm playing the long game.

Ah, so, when do I get to see this nerd trap?

Come on over, sunshine. *smiley face*

I said, I've got a patient at 4:00.

Everyone's cancelled on you. Can't you cancel on them for once?

Not unless I'm violently ill do I ever have any patients cancelled on my behalf.

So…say you're violently ill and come see me. *shrugging man emoji*

I dunno, Sy…

I got stuff to make that soup you like…

She had made it clear to him how much she loved soup, especially a good creamy potato soup, and on one of their dates, he'd had her over and there was a big pot of the stuff on his stove, made from scratch. She'd never had better, and he almost got lucky that night…and I mean…he still got a little lucky. He cooked for her AND cleaned up, AND let her pick the movie that night. She still picked an action movie, because she wasn't really a romance movie type, overall. Even so. Could she leave him hanging?

She opened her thread with Heather in her messenger app on her laptop.

Heather, is there anyone who could take my last patient, Mr. Lopez?

Looks like Cheri has a cancel around that time. Need me to move him?

If you could. I'm not feeling well.

Are you pregnant?

Omg, every fucking time. Why when anything is amiss in a woman's life must it be pregnancy?! And why is it okay to ask that question?! Ugh! She loved Heather like a sister, and it probably was just a joke, but uuuuuugh!

Yes…yes I am. *eye roll emoji* I've got a killer headache that's making me queasy. I'll email Susan. Thanks.

You bet. Tell Sy I said hi. *wink emoji*

Shut up.

After a quick and concise email to her boss, she picked her phone back up. One unread message.

You there, sunshine?

She simply replied,

Get that soup ready, Captain, I'm on my way.

Up Next: Chapter Eight: Heat/Ice

[theikoshq-archive]

LUPERCALIA.

the exact origins of this pagan festival are uncertain, but it was thought that in ancient times LUPERCALIA took place to honor the she-wolf who raised romulus and remus, the founder of rome, and please the roman fertility god LUPERCUS

while traditionally held from february 13th to 15th, it is not to be confused with the later christian tradition celebrating saint valentine — it was not a celebration of pure and courtly love, but instead an intense, sexually-charged, and even perhaps bloody one filled with animal sacrifice and naked ritual

most notable to the festival was the random matchmaking ; during lupercalia, it is said that the men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2021.

this would, in all likelihood, not be something in your mind in the modern day. a celebration that died out ages ago, lupercalia hardly finds a place in the memory of any contemporary new yorker. 

however — that doesn’t stop a beautifully sealed red envelope from showing up on your doorstep, delicate filigree addressed to you specifically and bearing a striking resemblance to an invite long since pushed into the back of your mind

and you think back to the gala, that hedonistic mischief filled night, and the mysterious benefactors behind it. it was well done, lavish and over the top, and idly you recall being asked if you’d be interested in any future events. it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, because it was an exciting evening and what's the harm, who wouldn’t want another night of magic, it wasn’t like you had to foot any bill — so you’d agreed, put down your name without much thought, and moved on with your life. it wasn’t until now, months later, you feel a spark of recognition 

the origins of the sender are not any more clear than they were the first time around ; the invite claims you’re paired to go on some sort of quasi-date with another member, claims it’s so everyone who said they were interested in more events can get to know each other in a more intimate setting than the gala, but otherwise is void of much more explanation. a little off-putting maybe, but the reality of it stares up at you from a perfumed piece of parchment — you’ve already been matched. what are you supposed to do now, be the asshole that stands them up ?

OOC.

the event will take place IC at any time between FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH, and SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH — though, your muses will have received the notice in the mail sometime before this, as well as the contact information for their partners

OOC, the event will start on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH. we’ll give you until the following TUESDAY to plot, plan, and start threads with your writing partners, but we’d like for your starters to be posted by then ! feel free to take as long as you need with the actual completion of the threads, though ! 

we’ve chosen an event of this kind to promote our anti-bubble rping stance. we want to create and uphold an environment where everyone plots with as many people as possible, that’s why we think randomly paired events like this could have a positive influence on the climate we have here 

on another note, especially if your character is in a relationship or aromantic / asexual, there is absolutely no obligation to make the thread romantic in nature. although valentine’s day and lupercalia definitely were, we’re not forcing you to have threads that are similar in nature when you’re not comfortable with such things for whatever reason. the pairings and locations are meant to work more as a framework or jumping point — feel free to make it as platonic, or even antagonistic, as you want, have your pair ditch the location they’re at completely midway through, etc. make the thread your own !

finally, please post any event content under #theikosevent002, including showing off any outfits if you so wish, and any event starters under #theikoseventstarter !

PAIRINGS + LOCATIONS.

minni / helena + new york science centre

parker / shepherd + tour at the museum of modern art

miranda / lucie + area 53 laser tag

percy / yujin + chambers pottery

alex / prim + 5 bar karaoke lounge

rosalie / omar + salsa classes at baila society

harley / devon + tour at the red hook winery

henry / amelie +  indoor picnic at the botanical gardens

taeil / kenji + central park zoo

ash / jane + fine dining at coeurs affamés

cass / damien +  cozymeal cooking classes

phineas / levi + frames bowling lounge

poppy / chris + hayden planetarium

zelda / stella + go karting at naskart

alice / mackenzie + new york aquarium

mingyu / zak + ice skating at rockefeller centre

willow / forest + pier 25 mini golf

hadrian / hana + board games night at winners corner

katherine / hajun + escape the room nyc

hunter / felipe + two-bit’s retro arcade

astar / azim + murder mystery at the metropolitan museum of art

mei / ara + rock climbing at the central rock gym