#it’ll work this time guys they’ll win this time

[apollos-boyfriend]

i don’t think purpled ever told people he died after the fact. why would he? only quackity and slime were really around to witness it. had a body even been left, i doubt either dream or punz would’ve gone out of their way to retrieve it. no, purpled merely spawned back in, jolting awake in his bed with dogchamp by his side, and moved on with his life as if nothing happened. admitting his death showed weakness. showed vulnerability. people could exploit him if they knew he no longer had a perfect three lives, could hold it over his head like he’d seen time and time again. that’s not to mention the embarrassment of failure, of dying to slime of all things, so he doesn’t tell them. doesn’t admit to anyone what happened to him that day, what he failed to accomplish. and to his defense, nearly all the server doesn’t do as much as bat an eye, as he expected. no one cares, after all. but he’s wrong.

jack knows. jack crawled out of hell, after all, carving footholds into burning brimstone with his own two hands. he can recognize death when he sees it, a soul taking one step closer to the unforgiving void.

tubbo knows. tubbo’s been surrounded by death since he arrived on these lands, both of others and his own. he’s seen how it changes and warps people, even when they swear they won’t let it. it’s an inevitability, he thinks.

ponk, hannah, and boomer know. the three of them have known purpled for long enough to know when something is wrong. and even if they didn’t, they’re too well-acquainted with magic and life to not notice a that a third of person’s life force has been ripped away from them.

[badjokesbyjeff]

There were three race horses; ernie, bill, and ted. 

the three of them were good friends; they enjoyed racing each other and generally won and lost to each other equally. every evening, after the races, they went to a local bar to relax and drink some beer. they would often discuss racing techniques, their families, etc.

one season, bill wasn't doing so well. he rarely beat the other two, and was worried that he'd be sent to the glue factory if his luck didn't change. one night, at the bar, he talked with ernie and ted about it.

"you know, guys, i just can't figure it out," he said. "everything's fine at home; the kids are doing great, my wife is being nice, the bills are paid, my mother-in-law rarely visits - nothing could be better. maybe i'm just getting old. if things don't pick up soon, they'll send me to the glue factory."

the bartender, a big llama from peru, overheard the conversation. he looked around, to make sure nobody else was listening, then said, "hey, pal, i got something for you that'll make you feel like a young colt again." he reached under the bar and pulled out an unlabeled bottle of beer. "here, drink this; i guarantee you'll start winning again. come by each night for a week and I'll give you one. if it doesn't work, i'll give you double your money back!"

bill looked at ernie and ted, who only shrugged, then drank the contents of the bottle. "oh, just one thing," the llama said, "it'll make your ass itch, but that's okay; it's just a side effect. don't worry about it." the three horses stayed a few hours, played a few games of pool and darts, and went home.

over the course of the next three days, they went back to the bar each night, and bill continued the regimen of mystery beer. his racing times did improve! he was slowly moving back up in the rankings, and was soon back into the top three with ernie and ted. bill was ecstatic, and thanked the llama profusely.

"hey, my pleasure," said the llama.

a few weeks passed by, and ernie started slowing down. after losing three races in a row, he sobbed to himself, "i just don't get it. my life couldn't be better. i can't believe I'm getting old! they'll send me to the glue factory if i don't get back in the groove!"

that evening, at the bar, he told the llama bartender about his troubles, and asked if he too could try the mystery beer. "okay, but remember, it'll make your ass itch - but don't pay it no mind. it's just a harmless side effect."

"no problem. it'll be worth it to get back in the groove," ernie said.

a few days went by. ernie's ass did indeed itch, but after a few more days, his races improved, and he was back in the top three with bill and ted.

at the bar one evening, ernie bought a round of beers for all the horses, and thanked the llama profusely.

"i just can't believe how great that mystery beer worked!" ernie said. "you're sitting on a gold mine, there!" the llama said it was his pleasure, don't worry about it, etc.

a few more weeks went by, and now ted started slowing down, losing races. he, too realized that he'd be shipped off to the glue factory unless his races improved.

"say," he said to the llama one night after a particularly humiliating loss, "i think i need to try that mystery beer too. they'll ship me off to the glue factory for sure if I don't start winning again."

"no problem," the llama said, pulling out an unlabeled bottle. "here. come back every night, and i guarantee you'll be back in top form again, or i'll give you double your money back."

over the course of the next few weeks, ted's races continued to improve until he was back in the top three with bill and ernie. he pranced into the bar, full of vim and vigor, and thanked the llama profusely. "you know, my ass itches a lot; it's almost unbearable. but i can't thank you enough. they would have turned me into glue by now if it weren't for you. anything you want, let me know and i'll see what i can do."

"no problem," said the llama, "i make this beer at home using an ancient inca recipe. it's just my way of thanking my regular customers for their patronage over the years."

"i'm not kidding," ted said, "this is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. anything, you name it, anything you want, let me know, and it's yours."

"well, now that you mention it..." the llama began -

right then, a greyhound walked up to the bar. he was obviously depressed.

"barkeep, give me something strong. i'm on a losing streak you wouldn't believe," the greyhound said.

ted looked at the greyhound, then at bill and ernie, and said, "hey, look! a talking dog!"

[vernoniekiss]

svt when their idol s/o win an award | [ ot13 ]

a/n: hi guys, had this in my draft for along time. currently working on the requests sent ! underestimated how long it’ll take to think of how each members would act in these scenarios.

[🫧] seungcheol

- really proud of you. stands up to clap for you, you bet he’s tryna clap louder than everyone.. shares all photos taken of you with your reward on his story, weverse with the caption “proud of you”.

[🫧] jeonghan

- he makes all the members clap for you (they’ll all clap for you even without him asking of course). “aigoo~ you won” he’ll say while pinching your cheeks. he’ll treat you for dinner that night!

[🫧] joshua

- his ◠‿◠ smile is what shows up on the big screen after you were presented your reward. he’s so proud of you, those late nights he stayed up with you working on your song. all paid off in the end.

[🫧] junhui

- happy boy. cheering you on from his seat. the type to jump up and down from his seat as well though. awkward hug when you come back because of the camera on you guys.

[🫧] hoshi

- cheering for you, cheering for you LOUDLY at the ceremony that you can hear him all the way from the stage 😞. let’s everyone know he’s your number1 supporter. takes a lot of pictures of you and your reward (makes you do horanghae:/ )

[🫧] wonwoo

- claps and smiles. gives you a massive smile when you’re in your seat but when you’re in private he’ll give you millions of hugs and kisses. “i’m so proud of you..”

[🫧] woozi

- dad smile when you’re doing your speech. deep down, he’s really proud of you. those lates night you’ll stay with him at his studio going over your song, the lyrics, the beats. worth it all. wouldn’t trade the smile you had when they announced you as a winner for anything.

[🫧] dokyeom

- cheering for you LOUDLY. beaming at you from his seat. “i knew you could do this!” gives you a big kiss on the cheek when you’re back next to him.

[🫧] mingyu

- also posts you everywhere !! he’s so proud of you. the type to shed a few tears when you. gives you a massive hug when you come back to your seat. forehead kisses !! lots of them.

[🫧] minghao

- posts you on his story as well. when you’re at home, he hugs you tight while swaying you both side to side. a lot of kisses that night with praises “well done 宝贝 [baby]”.

[🫧] seungkwan

- he’s so so sooooo proud of you. he promotes your win on his social media and also sings your songs during karaoke whenever he can. holds your hand for the rest of the night :) not afraid to show affection in public.

[🫧] vernon

- proud of you, sits there nodding his head with a smile whiling looking at you on the big screen. side-hugs you when you come back to your seat which is designated right next to him.

[🫧] chan

- like a proud dad 100%. clapping loudly with a huge smile. has his arms out waiting for you to give him a hug when you’re off the stage. give the man the hug !!!!!

[lild00td00t]

Straw Hats with a Shy! S/O

Part 1

Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Ussop

I love shy, quiet people, they are my jam !! Part 2 will be up when it’s finished, and will include: Robin, Nami, Franky and Brook! Enjoy ! ~

Luffy

• Will definitely be your voice if you need it, he loves talking enough for the both you so things work out favorably with Luffy.

• If anyone ever asks why you’re so quiet or don’t talk to them he gets defensive on your part, asking why they’re bothering you in the first place

• If he ever senses you’re uncomfortable he’ll draw attention to himself to get eyes off you

• When he does, it’s in the most asinine way possible

• “ YOU GUYS WANNA SEE IF I CAN EAT THIS WHILE ITS STILL ON FIRE “

• Hypes you up to do stuff, say you’re making a call or you ordered on your own, he’ll pat you on the back and be like “ yeah that was awesome ! “

• So sweet, but he can definitely be overwhelming with how boisterous and out going he is, sometimes he might push alittle too much to get his S/O out of their comfort zone

• Id give him a 7/10

Zoro

• Probably loves how quiet you are, especially when he’s drinking, he loves a calm drinking partner

• Like many of the Straw Hats he’ll get very defensive on your part if people tell you to speak up, won’t tolerate people picking on you for being quiet either

• He lets you lean into him or hold his arm if you’re feeling shy, he’ll probably try to look more intimidating to others so they’ll leave you two alone

• Zoro isn’t much of a people person either, so he’d rather be in secluded and low activity places.

•he’ll gladly find you a space so you can both relax and decompress

• I’d give Zoro a 9/10 with a shy S/O, mostly because he won’t make you feel overwhelmed, and while he’s not vocally encouraging you most of the time he does actively urge you through other means to do daily tasks you might struggle in <3

Sanji

• Will kick a hole in someone’s face if they ever tell you to speak up

• The absolute sweetest of all the Straw Hats with a Shy S/O

• He can tell if you’re overwhelmed or in need of alone time, he’ll make you a nice warm cup of tea and probably set out a chair on the deck for you to relax in

• Will definitely tell Luffy to keep it down for you, and WILL resort to violence if he doesn’t, if his S/O wants peace and quiet then SHH!

• 100% sends food back if it’s not cooked how you like or came with something you don’t like, he won’t make a big deal about it either since he knows it’ll probably embarrass you, but is always willing to be your voice when you need it

• Very keen listener who is also observant, he can read your body language and tell if you’re uncomfortable, he has signals for the two of you if you ever want to leave somewhere!

• He will either coddle his S/O or try his best to encourage them, but he doesn’t want them to feel smothered, he’s so supportive honestly

• I give Sanji a 10/10 with a Shy S/O!

Ussop

• Honestly he’s the funniest with a shy S/O

• If you give him permission, he’ll tell people an impossibly HUGE lie about how you lost your voice and why you can’t speak, whether or not people believe it is the tricky part

• He loves having you sit with him while he fishes, unlike Luffy you don’t eat all the bait AND you’re a great ear, so it’s a win win !

• Like Sanji he’s extremely observant, maybe it’s the Haki, maybe it’s because he’s an awesome boyfriend, regardless he can read your expressions and body languages with ease

• The second he sees you’re uncomfortable though, VERY much like his captain and best friend Luffy, he’ll draw attention to himself

• Will definitely encourage you to try and get out of your comfort zone, hes not pushy or commanding but very gentle about it too

• If you order something over the phone or manage to have a conversation with someone you don’t know well he’ll definitely voice how proud he is of you!

• I give Ussop a 10/10 with a shy S/O <3

[inchidentally]

as someone who doesn’t take immediate post race teammate rivalry seriously bc it’s usually gone by the next race if not sooner

straight up cannot believe the almost fan fic way Lando and Oscar have always coped with supporting each other even through their own sometimes exceptionally bitter disappointments ?? Oscar showing up for Lando with smiles and pride and Lando thanking Oscar after his race win and then both ALWAYS being sure to point out their strengths that race and today Lando rushing to congratulate Oscar in the media pen and during the group photo Lando looks wearily to Oscar when the smile can drop from his face and Oscar patting him on the knee with that understanding look on his face (and the team making sure to bring out the sprint plaques so there’s something next to Lando!!)

like trust and believe they’ll have their tricky times where something is said immediately post race to the press or on the radio that’ll be uncomfortable but ultimately forgotten once the red mist has cleared bc that’s Normal Teammate Behavior! it’s the nature of the sport and the nature of teammates! these guys know the drill and how to get past them for the sake of harmonies and/or friendship <3

but for the youngest pairing on the grid who’ve been together just a season and a half like, I bring up the normalcy of teammates bickering and in fighting bc it’s truly remarkable how that hasn’t happened yet for them ?? I’m not being a downer I just genuinely want us to fully appreciate that even when they do eventually publicly squabble it’ll be in comparison to just how mature and genuinely proud and respectful of each other they always are !! that Andrea deserves so much credit for raising them in an atmosphere of team first but also how Lando and Oscar have individually taken those lessons and truly truly like each other and they asked for that privacy door to be installed in the team hub so that their rooms can be separated from everyone but each other and that they have little private voices they do together and we keep on finding out that they hang out outside work but choose to not post about it or turn it into PR for social media and just !!!

like yes I’m insane AND stupid but also they’ve proven themselves to be something special so it’s not entirely my fault !!

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: Erin/Julius, grudge match

For the prompt: Julius' exit from the Oilers

Julius was never going to stay. Erin doesn’t really know how anyone could have expected otherwise. Sure, she knows the expectation, that if you’re a franchise saviour you stay with the franchise, give it your all, saw that play out with Bryce even though fans acted like he was team whipping boy instead of franchise saviour half the time.

But the thing is, the Oilers have been beyond saving for the entire time Julius has been there. There’s only so much one guy can do, no matter how good they are. And Julius is so good, and he tries so hard. Everything he can do, he has done, nobody could say otherwise, doesn’t slack off on the ice in any game situation, works to win the team games. But they don’t win, most games. They don’t win, because they’ve got a mismanaged team and what the old boys club might call a loser culture. Nobody’s expecting to win games, the players included, and they’re usually right.

Erin’s not like, saying that out loud any time soon, but whatever. It’s true. She likes some of the Oilers as people, has a game buddy in Farmer’s girlfriend, who is one of the funniest people she’s ever met. She likes the city okay, close enough to pop in on mom and dad but far enough they don’t really pop in on her, except for the occasional visit when the Canucks come to town, because Jared’s indisputably their favourite child. There’s nothing personal about Julius’ decision to move on, on his end or hers.

Well, mostly. Erin’s never understood how Deslauriers has kept his job so long, considering he hasn't made the Oilers any better, but they’re not worse, not that that’s saying much. Unfortunately he’s still in charge of the whole operation, and she’s a teensy bit biased against him due to the whole being raging homophobe who tried to destroy her brother’s life because he was gay thing.

Like, just a smidge. Giving the TV the middle finger every time they show his face level. Julius has been smart enough never to introduce them level. Erin’s the only one allowed to destroy her brother’s life, and she sure as shit would never do that because of Bryce, who’s like, the best thing about Jared. By far Jared’s best life decision, full stop, was somehow winning over Bryce Marcus despite his horrible personality.

Well, after adopting Julius. Erin’s pretty grateful for that one, to be honest.

The summer before Julius’ contract expires, he goes into contract talks, though he has zero intention of staying. The talk is basically ‘thanks, but no thanks'.

Erin has no clue why it takes so many meetings to get that across; maybe they’re being too polite about it, or the Oilers are being a little too obtuse, because ‘no thank you’ is three words, as are ‘please trade me’. But after those talks end Oilers management doesn’t say anything to the media except that ‘they’re working on something that works for both parties’, which must be difficult, considering Julius’ current ask is ‘no amount of money will make me stay’, which she’s pretty sure is hard to match.

Or like. Maybe there is enough money. Theoretically, there could be a magic number of money. Like, a mindboggling amount of money might do it. But they haven’t offered him it. They’ve offered him fair value, market rate, but the thing about market value is that the market’s going to offer him that too, and testing the market means he doesn’t have to play for Edmonton anymore.

But nobody gets it. Going into his final contract season, the media’s talking about how much it’ll take to re-sign him, how sweet a deal they’ll have to make it, and she almost wishes that someone would leak the fact he isn’t going to stay so that fans would feel a little less betrayed down the line. But apparently the Oilers front office is a tight ship, or they’re still firmly in denial, hoping Julius is going to change his mind.

Erin’s never seen Julius change his mind on anything big. Or even little. He hates watermelon. He’s never actually tried watermelon, but he’s decided he hates it, so obviously trying it would be silly. This is the person they’re expecting to change his mind. The person Erin has debated force feeding watermelon, because he thinks it tastes like watermelon flavour and nothing tastes like watermelon flavour, she doesn’t know what the fuck watermelon flavour tastes like, but it is not watermelon.

Anyway, he doesn’t change his mind. Shockingly.

A week before the trade deadline Erin walks in the door to find Julius sitting at the dining room table in the half dark of twilight, chin on his fist. He looks like a stock photo: ‘sad man brooding’ or ‘gloomy Finn’ or something, so defeated that Erin doesn’t have the heart to give him shit. Well, almost. She wouldn’t want him to get a big head or anything.

“Pretending you’re the protagonist in a sad indie movie, huh?” Erin asks.

“I don’t know that one, protagonist,” Julius says, then, when she turns the overhead light on, “Ow!”

“Main character syndrome,” Erin says, as Julius squints at her, looking betrayed. He’s not a vampire — he’ll survive a little light.

“Is that what you said Jared has?” Julius asks, and Erin laughs. She can’t even remember saying that, though it must have been years ago. Years ago Erin was right, though.

“Probably,” Erin says, leaning on the table so Julius is forced to look at her instead of into the abyss or whatever. “What’s up?”

“They’re going to boo me for the rest of my career,” Julius says.

“Flames fans don’t even boo Bryce anymore,” Erin says. “Rest of your career’s a stretch.”

“That isn’t true,” Julius says.

“Okay, they don’t boo like, every time he has the puck,” Erin says. That’s basically the same, right? He has to earn the boos by scoring, or assisting, or holding onto the puck a little too long, or — anyway, they boo a whole lot less than they did initially, which is her point. People have short memories, and, more importantly, they’re lazy. Hating someone takes too much energy, long term. They’ll have found someone else to hate by then — some other poor, talented kid doing his best while he’s stuck on a team with no ambition.

“Have they traded you?” Erin asks.

“I think they’re about to,” Julius says.

“Like gut feeling or—“ Erin says.

“My agent told me to keep my phone close,” Julius says.

So probably actually about to, then. She knew it was coming, unless Deslauriers was stupid and stubborn enough to keep Julius until the end, let him walk for free. Which she wouldn’t put past the guy or anything, but still. It was coming.

“You’ve been waiting for this,” Erin says.

“I know,” Julius says.

“You want this,” she says. Getting traded at the deadline, people get a chance to get used to him in another uniform. If he stays until the end, the Oilers don’t get anything for him, but the Oilers fans are going to expect him to stay, hate him if he doesn't. Even more than they will this way, she means.

“I do,” Julius says. “You’ll come with me, right?”

“As long as it’s to a decent city, sure,” Erin says, and the offence on his face is exactly what he deserves for asking such a ridiculous fucking question in the first place.

[cocogum]

How Qilby should’ve destroyed the World of Twelve 💖

(written by yours truly ✨)

Ngl here but Qilby did a bad job trying to destroy the World of Twelve and bring the eliatrope kids with him.

Since he’s gilf material, I decided I was gonna list everything he should’ve done in alphabetical order so that he’ll learn from his past mistakes and try again 🥰🥰

What he wants is: discover the Krosmoz with his brothers and sisters and rule the eliatrope race.

Okay got it, I can make this work 👍

So after a few plannings, I finally did a proper list sheet. Here’s what I recommend babes should’ve done ✨:

#1: Don’t bring Adamaï and Grougal in your lab.

Your ass is aware that Grougal only breaks shit on a constant basis so don’t bring him in your lab where thousands of creatures and experiments have helped the eliatrope race survive and thrive without their home planet. Also, don’t bring Adamaï either cuz that little ugly lizard’s gonna help too.

#2: Don’t convince Adamai and Grougal to go with you. Just kill them.

Adamaï is specifically related to a stubborn moron who yells half the time when he swings that sword so he’ll obviously won’t be swayed by your words. Instead, what you could do, is talk and let out all your thoughts to him so you could get it out of your system (cuz girlie deserves to vent for a bit ✨).

Then, after you’re done, just kill Adamaï and Grougal. Like that, all your venting would’ve just been actual venting instead of hearing an ugly ass lizard talk back and tell you how insane you are.

Plus, it’s not like you actually killed these two, they’ll just get reborn someday. Also, they won’t be able to destroy half your shit.

#3: Go to Rushu and give him access to the World of Twelve.

Now that you got rid of Adamaï and Grougal, go straight to the Shushu dimension and talk to the King, Rushu, in order to make a deal with him so he’ll be able to fuck shit up in the World of Twelve. (I know you’ve already done that, gorgeous but you didn’t do the first two steps).

Also, specifically tell Rushu to help him kill Phaerys. A baby dragon like Adamaï, even while being possessed by Anathar, wouldn’t do the trick. Besides, you already killed Adamaï so there’s no need for Anathar anyways.

#4: Separate Phaerys and Yugo.

Once Rushu accepts the deal, prepare the portal that will make him, and the rest of his shushus, able to go to the World of Twelve. Once everything is into motion and you guys are finally out of the Shushu dimension, you should immediately make Rushu fight Phaerys. He may be old and filled with experience but Rushu’s the demon king. The chances of him winning against Phaerys are high. Once Phaerys notices Rushu, he’ll expectedly throw Yugo to the side so they ‘could meet later’ when in reality Rushu would’ve been done with him. As soon as you’re alone, go straight for the Crimson Claws Island to search for your Dofus. Don’t waste time talking to Yugo just yet. You don’t owe Yugo anything, make him go to you instead.

#5: Get your backup Dofus and then kill Balthazar and the eliatrope children.

As soon as you get your backup dofus, you should immediately go to Emrub. Get rid of Balthazar, he’s too old and frail to fight back anyways and besides he’ll just get reborn with Glip someday. After that, kill all them kids. What are they gonna do? Tell their parents??

You should get rid of everyone in Emrub. There’s no point in trying to convince them to go with you, they’re literally stuck in a timeless dimension so it literally felt like they just got here after seeing their parents die because of you.

I know you don’t want to be alone pookie but this is the only way 💖

To truly start anew you should eradicate everyone that knew what you did, like starting a new page in your life. Yugo can come last since it’ll feel very good to see the one who sealed you off balling his eyes out when he’ll learned you killed the whole race (and his brothers).

But you don’t have to worry baby cuz you’ll just restart the eliatrope race all over again. You know everything so you remember how it even all started in the first place. You just need to get all the Eliatrope Dofus back now.

#6: Get all the other Eliatrope Dofus.

Now that you got your backup Dofus, and killed all the other eliatropes, along with Balthazar, you should leave Emrub and go back to Crimson Claws island so you can immediately start searching for the other Eliatrope Dofus. You can’t leave without them after all.

With the Eliacube in hand, you can just scan where the dofus are in the world and teleport to them.

After you found them all, you can put them in the Zinit.

#7: NOW you can beat the shit out of Yugo.

It’s always best to do what you have to do first before having fun!

That’s why you’ll feel so good and liberated once you fight Yugo back on the island 🥰🥰

You can now tell him everything you did to their people and what you’re planning on doing now.

By that time, Phaerys should’ve gooten K.O’d by Rushu so that only leaves Yugo to finish off.

Yugo will be expectedly furious and outraged by all the events that took place while he was trying to find you which will only fuel your fun to annihilate him.

Yugo will die from your hands in rage and sorrow and you’ll finally be able to leave everything behind.

#8: Leave.

Now that you fused with the Eliacube, found your backup Dofus, went to Emrub to kill Balthazar and the eliatrope children, made Rushu kill Phaerys, found the remaining eliatrope Dofus, and killed Yugo after messing with his head a bit, you can finally leave the World of Twelve with the dofus and Eliacube together.

By leaving the World of Twelve, you’ll drain its wakfu essence and kill the whole planet along with its people. This will also make you note the death of Chibi, making this his shortest life he has ever had in the history of the Krosmoz.

Now that every twelvian is gone, and you have the Eliatrope Dofus and the Eliacube, all that’s left to do is join your sister Shinonome and get reborn along with your other siblings. The process would turn out exactly like your first ever life except that you will drill into your siblings, and all the eliatropes after that, that eliatropes were ALWAYS traveling the Krosmoz and that they’re all travellers by nature. Yugo and Adamaï would believe your lies since they’re adventurers at heart and would gladly help you show new planets and worlds, Chibi and Grougaloragran would use those materials from different worlds and planets to make new technology. Mina and Phaerys would always be fixing the eliatropes’ conflicts and anger, Nora and Efrim will unawarely be supporting your ideals by spreading the encouragement to be free and have fun, making the eliatropes believe that being travellers IS what is free and fun. And since Glip and Balthazar are teachers and the ones who educate the eliatropes about the eliatrope race, they will spread more of your beliefs onto them, spreading your views all throughout the eliatropes and the future generations to come.

THIS is how you get to them.

THIS is how you get your perfect ending.

Don’t hesitate, don’t keep talking to them, even if your sister keeps telling you to stop cuz you bet ur ass she also wants to get out of her damn egg. Cuz WHO in their right mind would want to stay in a freaking EGG for all eternity????

Anyways here’s my take on what Qilby should’ve done back in season 2. Pookie needed a little help so I gave him a list for next time 🥰🥰

[icejinlov3r]

ART CONTEST!!! - Frieza and Frost’s Fashion Show!!

So, I’m very much burnt out from writing (at least from my big stories, I’ll probably still drop occasional oneshots) and am taking a small hiatus. But turns hiatus can be a bit boring. So how am I gonna change that?

By hosting a random art contest for fun!!

I thought this might be a fun little thing to drop. No idea how many participants they’ll actually be, but we’ll see 😁😁.

So, here’s how it’ll work. The theme will be my two fav bois, Frieza and Frost. Specifically, with the two of them wearing cute outfits that you guys come up with! There will be a time limit of one week (meaning March 26th, 2024 is the due date). And when that day comes, I’ll share everyone’s drawings in giant post - make it a little “fashion show” for everyone to see! And then the next day, I’ll set up votes so YOU guys can vote on the winner!

I’m gonna have votes set up for different categories too, such as “cutest outfits” or “most unique outfits” that people can also vote on. But the main winner at the end will get to request a drawing from me - on any character, fandom, or ship they want!

There are gonna be a few rules, but really it’s more like a guideline on the contest:

You don’t have to draw ship art of Frieza and Frost together - just a simple piece with these two wearing an outfit of your choice will suffice, or even two separate pics of each individual character will work (that said, ship art is welcome too).

They don’t have to wear matching outfits, have them wear whatever you come up with.

You are not limited just because both characters are male - you can dress them up in either male or female outfits, but they both only require ONE outfit each.

If you want to dress them up in outfits from a crossover show (for example, dress Frieza up as Alastor from Hazbin Hotel, etc) you can absolutely do that.

You can have Frieza and Frost be in any form you want - obviously most people recognize their final forms, but I’d be delighted to see them in their first forms, or Frieza in Golden Form.

Art can be digital or on paper, you’re free to choose.

You don’t have to follow me to participate - everyone is welcome!

Okay, now for the ACTUAL rules: please keep your outfits and drawings PG-13. I don’t know how many minors actually follow me, or look at my content, but I wanna make this available to everyone.

Leave some sort of signature on your art. I know most artists do anyway, but I don’t want anyone’s art to get stolen.

No AI art. I shouldn’t have to explain why.

And finally, please show good sportsmanship. No matter what category someone wins, or who wins the contest at the end, the point of this is just to have fun and show the creativity of many artists! If I catch word any any artists harassing me or other artists for any reason related to the contest, your art will immediately be disqualified. No if, ands, or buts. Be respectful.

Okay, I think that covers everything, but if I need to, I’ll update this later. Like I said, you have one week to submit your art. You can either DM it to me in my private messaging, or send it in my inbox - just don’t do it anonymously, otherwise giving proper credit to your art will be much more difficult. In any case, good luck, and I can’t wait to see your guy’s art!

@anonymous-harpy @bluberryboom @justme068 @purrfectcellz @gojiberry-bbq @airplaneear2 @amiz06-certified-b1mb0

(These are just great artists I’m tagging to see if they’re interested 😊)

[natsuki208]

jeanmarco meet at a party high as shit and lay on the roof together and stare at the stars and feel a little less alone in the world

Thank you for the request, friend :) I’ll try.

Warning! Includes drugs and its effects on people.

———

What a funky night it is for Jean Kirstein. Everything during tonight’s party is dripping with fun and excitement, from the blaring music remixes to the bright neon colors everywhere, so much chaos for the eyes and ears but he doesn’t care.

He thinks everyone is enjoying it as much as he is, they’re all wiggling about and flapping their arms too but their also staring straight at him. Maybe ‘cause he’s just so f***ing awesome, that’s why.

After yet another shout out to the guys at the pool, Jean finds himself bumping into someone, someone whom is very familiar indeed: Dark hair, brown-ish eyes and little spots in his face that resemble freckles all catch his attention. Jean’s goofy smile gets the boy’s attention too.

‘Jean…’

He hears something, it sounds like his own name but it wasn’t clear. It sounds cool though so he just giggles back.

“Yup… that’s me!”

The image of the boy in front doesn’t look too happy, but how can he? His name is so stylish as sh*t so who can get turned off about that?

The voice gets a bit louder.

‘Jean!..’

Whoever this familiar guy is, he definitely does not approve of his coolness. Jean keeps on going, trying to be lively enough to win this dude over but it isn’t appearing to be working. Suddenly, out of the blue, all the neons fade away and his vision goes all black - ending his boasting with a loud thud.

….

Jean wakes up only to find himself lying on someone’s bed, his head supported by a pillow and a wet cloth on his forehead. He gazes over at the figure at his side, only to recognise his defeated, freckled face immediately.

“M-Marco?”

“Oh, about time you woke up.” He has both relief and disappointment in his tone.

Woke up? Did he fell asleep? Jean doesn’t really remember. What he does no that whatever happened to him or something he did made Marco very upset - he can tell from the obvious furrowed eyebrows.

“What happened? I did something stupid, didn’t I?” His shoulders sag out of guilt and worry.

Marco sighed. “Yes, you did. But it was my fault for not getting here on time to stop you.”

Now Jean feels concerned, for both his friend and his own actions that made him look idiotic. “What? What did I do?”

“Mmm… let’s just say it’ll be the last time you’ll ever give in to Floch’s peer pressure to trying marijuana. That’s for sure.”

Now that brings back one memory, before he lost himself, and he’s irritated about it. “Oh yeah.” He growls to himself.

Still feeling bad about taking that offer from f***ing Floch of all people and upsetting Marco whom recently arrived late, he desperately wants to make it up to him. So he looks over at the bottle of cider on the desk, which he already knows Marco brought that with him, and smiles hesitatingly.

“Say…” he pauses while struggling to sit up. “Do you think… you wanna go somewhere more quiet from all the racket going on in the rooms?”

The signal he subtly gave Marco to the bottle is enough to bring back that cute smile of his. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

And so the two teenage boys manage to get through the crowded corridors and find a ladder reaching for the rooftop, one helping the other because of still-present headache. Up there is where they’ll stay until the party downstairs quiets down, but for now they’ll drink the less alcoholic beverage, stare up into the starry night sky and just enjoy each other’s company.

Every so often, Jean gazes over at his friend’s joyous face and smile of his, and every time it made him smile much more. He doesn’t know what it is but Marco’s nature to quickly turn from anger back to his genuine sweetness on a dime is something for him to admire, you could say it’s pretty attractive… in another way.

He stares into those sparkly brown eyes of his until Marco realises his staring, asks what’s wrong which forces Jean to admit the truth in a very subtle version.

“Marco…” he starts. “W-When I’m with you… I feel… less alone in the world. Y-You know what I mean?”

A hint of surprise prints on Marco’s face, maybe it was a little bit much to say it like that, until the freckled boy shifts a little closer to Jean. Both boys are now side to side lying on the rooftop, their shoulders slightly touching and turning over to look into their eyes. This signifies the answer and Jean feels happy once again.

“I feel the same, Jean.” He replies sweetly before falling asleep. “I really do.”

[cyberthestarmedic]

Rescue bots x male reader who’s a bot…

Can I pleaaasee ask for a Medic/paramedic rescue bot x Heatwave. Where the two guys have major problems with one another, constant arguing like an old married couple when they denied that they’ll never be that close. I wanna take inspiration from the baby bot episode… since Kade got the baby for a week, I imagine him asking for help with Heatwave and kinda left him with the baby. That just got the two bots to put aside their differences and end up taking it in a deeper way 😭 LMAAAO LIKE

“You’re gonna leave me? Your son?!”

“he’s not our actual baby!”

Heatwave X Medic Reader

Hi! Love this request! Enjoyed writing it and I find it a bit funny as I’m actually a student paramedic myself!

I am going to call the reader ‘Patch’ by the way as it seems like a fitting name!

….

Babbles and Bickers

“Kade don’t leave the baby here!” “You look after him! I’ve got a date! Thanks! Bye!” He shouted taking off down the street as Heatwave groaned holding the babbling baby who didn’t who any better.

Heatwave sighed looking about for who could possibly know what to do with this baby…Patch.

He’d been away the last week at Team Prime’s base for some extra medical training from Ratchet while they had the commotion with this robo baby.

Patch was more a paramedic than medic as his training was much more generalised for a bit of everything and wasn’t specifically for just the army — he had a civil qualification that’s why he had a different title.

besides the point Patch looked too peaceful…a bit of a wind up was over due. Heatwave cracked a smile as he’d tapped the mech’s shoulder.

“Yes Heatwave?” “You’re good with babies right?” “Yes why?” He huffed turning round just to have a small robot baby placed into his servos.

“Heatwave where did this come from?!” He panicked as the firebot only laughed as Patch huffed.

“I mean like seriously this is an odd sparkling-“ “it’s not a sparkling! Kade left me to care for a robot baby! I had no choice in it as he ran off for a date or something!” Heatwave exclaimed as Patch sighed.

“Is this the same baby Cody was telling me about?” “Yeah” “and you’re suddenly incapable of holding him when I finish off important paperwork?” Patch huffed as the mech sighed and took the baby back.

“How long are you going to be?” “Well you missing me already?” Patch teased as Heatwave grumbled “sure. You finished yet?” “Give me half an hour, it’ll be done and I need this time to make sure everything is up to date” he chuckled as Heatwave walked off trying to think what to do.

Heatwave paced as the baby started to cry and he’d barely gotten a break from rescues today already.

He’d rocked the baby as he seen Patch appear a bit more sympathetic this time as he held the yellow dummy (British word for pacifier).

“You were finished your paperwork, I realised it was more like a baby than I originally thought it was and I found it in this care bag that was left in the garage” Patch explained.

”Look I don’t have the right mindset for doing this myself, mind helping?” “It’s no fuss Heatwave, besides I wouldn’t leave our son” he chuckled as Heatwave huffed.

“he isn’t our actual son” “he is for afternoon! Best start thinking it!” Patch chirped as Heatwave shook his head but if this is how he got help he’d play along.

the trio played rolling the ball about. Watched Cartoons, played ‘hide and seek’ where whoever had the baby always found the other making them win.

Heatwave and Patch sat down as the baby napped, it was just them in the bunker so it was peaceful and quiet.

“okay I’ll have to go finished the paper work” Patch said getting up and stretching as he was leaving Heatwave called after him.

“Hey don’t leave me alone with our son!” “I thought you said he wasn’t!” Patch groaned walking back over as the mech smiled.

“Oh and I did miss you. It made for a long week with my favourite mech to wind up and maybe even see” he chuckled as Patch huffed rolling his optics but smiling as he sat back down flicking on a tv show as the baby slept.

…

Sorry for it being so short! But I hope you enjoyed it!

Cyber 😊

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 10: Do You Want to Jump?—The Prophecy (BoB Fanfiction)

A/N: GUYS, I GOT A 4.0 this semester and I'm literally so excited about it! An absolute win for me! Anywho, I'm hoping to be able to finally work on some chapters and requests now that my finals are over! As always, enjoy and let me know what you think!

When Winnie found herself called into Colonel Sink’s office, she had half a mind to locate Winters and Nixon and wring their scrawny little necks for selling her out.  Because surely, if she were getting called in for any such reason, it would be because they had told him about the harassment that she had been receiving lately. 

Patiently waiting, Winnie was considering what she could say in her defense.  Then she had been called into the office and there had been a whole two minutes of dead silence—Colonel Sink just staring her down. 

But Winnie knew how to deal with men in power.  So she said nothing.  And she waited. 

“Doc,” Sink finally said, bringing his cigar up to his lips.  “I’ve been talking to the medics,” he stated evenly. 

Roe, of course it had been Roe to sell her out—

“And they all say that you’re doing a fine job,” Sink finished.  “In fact, the medics you’ve been training are miles ahead of the other medics in the camp.” 

Winnie blinked in surprise.  This was a—a performance review of some kind?  That’s what this was?  “I do my best, sir,” Winnie replied. With no way to know where this was going, keeping a neutral tone was essential in Winnie keeping her composure.

“Your file said you were the best.  So did your application.  And you’ve proved that.  Can I be real honest with you, Doc?” Sink said, leaning forward and letting a puff of smoke blow outwards. 

“I’d much prefer it if you were, sir.” 

“I happen to know where these boys will be going after they finish up the training here.  And I happen to know what sort of mission they’ll be embarking on at the end of it.  And I think that you could be a real asset.” 

Winnie blinked.  “Sir?” 

“What I mean, Doctor Allen,” Colonel Sink said, removing his cigar and pointing it at her.  “Is that we are going to need doctors like you in the field—leading the medics and making our field hospitals.  You said you have experience in triage?” 

“Yes, sir.  I was a trauma surgeon,” Winnie said with a nod. 

“Nothing seems to faze you.  I admire that about any doctor—regardless of their gender,” Colonel Sink stated.  He paused for a moment.  “I want you to get your jump-wings.  I can’t be waiting days for things to clear up for the doctors to come in and do what the medics cannot.  And quite frankly, neither can the men.  It’ll be bloody and a hellscape, that’s certain.”

“You want me to jump, sir?” 

“With the boys, yes.” 

For a moment, Winnie just sat there, trying to process Colonel Sink’s words.  That hadn’t been anything like what she had been expecting.  In fact, she hadn’t even thought something like this would be possible.  She was here primarily as a trainer to the medics, and she barely qualified as enlisted in any sort of way.  Something like this was different—it was sure to cause a stir and make people angry.  She knew that, she’d always been one to make waves wherever she went. This was just a new level of it. 

Sink leaned forward.  “I recognize that it’s a lot to think about.  You’d be training more and preparing for the jumps.  The risk would be much greater.  But I’d like to think that you will be invaluable wherever we end up.  Which is why I want to give you some time to think about it.  Till the end of the day?” 

“That—that would be greatly appreciated, sir,” Winnie finally said with a nod.  It was a lot to think about, regardless of whatever else was going on in her life.  There was also the fact that there would be a pushback from Sobel about the entire thing.  “Might I add something, sir?” 

“Please,” 

“I believe that there will be pushback from the men—from the officers, included, sir,” Winnie stated evenly. “It’s no secret that I’m a hardass or follow things to the letter of the law.” 

At that, Sink gave a rare smile. “Oh I’m well aware of that.  If you should choose to jump with the men, I’m sure we’ll be discussing it tonight with the officers in your Company and Captain Sobel.” 

“I’m sure that we will, sir.” 

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

Winnie felt as though she were living life through a slight daze as she went about her daily activities, training the medics, getting in her own set of training.  She had a lot to consider about going over—well, wherever they ended up.  The fact that Sink wanted her there spoke to the fact that it was likely going to be Europe over the Pacific, not that she could share that particular fact with anyone. 

Her mind felt as though it were racing with possibility and with danger.  The fact of the matter was that doing something like this excited her.  She knew that she was vital and valuable to the military.  Knew that she was needed. 

But on the other hand, she was also the only thing that her brothers had.  The only mother and parental figure that they had ever known.  If she went over there and something happened to one of them, she would have to drop everything to go and care for them.  But she had also known that going into this whole portion of training medics at Camp Toccoa. 

She was acutely aware of the fact that it was dangerous.  Jumping in any sort of enemy territory was liable to get you killed—either in the very plane itself, from the jump, or from enemy fire.  And that was assuming that she even made it to the ground.  She would see things that no nurse would have to see, would have to do things that few other female doctors would ever see or do—and would have to lead the medics in a way that ensured the survival of the wounded. 

It was a lot of pressure to suddenly have thrust onto her shoulders. 

Winnie was no stranger to pressure, no stranger to the struggles of making hard decisions.  But her life had never quite been under strain like it had been at the moment.  And if she chose to jump alongside these men, wherever they ended up, she was risking her life as well as theirs.  

Sinking into a seat at the mess hall, Winnie picked at her food as her mind turned these topics over and over and over again.  She needed to be sure of her decision, needed to be sure that it was the right thing to do.  It wasn’t as if she could just back out once she was there.  Because once she had agreed or declined, there was no going back. 

Invitations like this didn’t happen more than once. 

A sharp kick to her shin made Winnie nearly drop her fork in annoyance.  “What?” She demanded, gaze falling on Reba. 

“You’re just being more quiet than usual, that’s all.  It was concerning Eileen,” Reba retorted, piquing a brow. 

“And everyone else,” Eileen mumbled under her breath. 

Winnie knew that they were probably right.  Silence from an already stoic and cold doctor probably meant danger to everyone else.  Winnie just let out a sigh, finally shoving a bite in her mouth.  “Just lost in thought, that’s all.” 

“You’re not, like, plotting a murder, right?” Eileen asked, tilting her head ever so slightly. 

“If I was, you’d never know,” Winnie retorted.  She had, in fact, plotted her father’s murder several times as a teenager and young adult.  But that wasn’t the sort of conversation that would play well at a mess hall full of soldiers.  Not to mention the fact that it was illegal. 

“You concern me greatly at times, Doc,” Reba deadpanned. 

“Just doing my job and keeping you all on your toes,” Winnie grinned. 

“Your job is to make sure that we all keep our toes,” Reba reminded.  “Not that we’ll get killed via our toes getting cut off.” 

“Noted.” 

“Must we always be so dark?” Eileen questioned, narrowing her gaze at the two of them.

“Hey, I’m only dark because the good Doc here is,” Reba said, crossing her arms firmly. 

Winnie gave a slight shrug at that.  “I’d say that I blame life circumstances, but that feels a lot like not taking responsibility.  So I suppose I’ll just have to say that I’m doing my best to balance things out through the Lord.” 

“Right,” Eileen said sarcastically. 

Just then, there was a shuffle amongst the men.  Winnie’s gaze immediately searched through the crowd—landing on one of the men who had fallen on the ground.  He seemed to be convulsing and for a moment, no one moved.  Not even the medics. “Man down!” Winnie barked out, flying from her seat to the man’s side. 

All eyes were locked onto her as she reached the man—someone she vaguely recognized as one of the trainers in the camp and an associate of Colonel Sink.  His breathing was labored and he was clutching onto his left arm painfully.  “My jaw—my jaw—” he mumbled out in a slurred tone. 

Winnie felt for a pulse, finding his heart racing.  “This man is having a heart attack!  Reba, Eileen—” 

“We’ll get the kits!” Reba quickly said, running off.  

Just then, Roe appeared in the crowd, kneeling down beside her.  “What do you need, Doc?” 

Winnie barely spared him a glance.  “Get me some morphine and get this room cleared.  We’re gonna perform surgery.” 

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

Several hours later, Winnie was still trying to scrub the blood off of her hands when she got called back into Colonel Sink’s office.  They had managed to save the man’s life and he had been transferred to a hospital nearby called Stephen County.  It had been grueling work and Winnie hadn’t worked on something as serious as a heart attack in a long while—but her nurses had been invaluable and seeing as how Roe had stepped up to help, things had gone smooth enough. 

It had caused quite a stir within Camp Toccoa, not that Winnie quite blamed anyone for that particular piece of news. It wasn’t everyday that a doctor performs surgery in the mess hall on a man suffering a heart attack, after all. 

Winnie patiently waited outside of Colonel Sink’s office, awaiting the go-ahead for her and the other officers to enter.  The only person in the office at the moment was Captain Sobel. 

“That was some good work you did today, saving that man’s life,” Winters murmured, coming to stand near her. 

At that, Winnie gave a dry smile. “It’s in the job description.” She glanced down at her raw wrists and hands, which still sported some bloodstains.  She wondered if her hands were always going to be stained with blood.  If perhaps, she had been born with bloodstains that would never leave her. 

“Still, that was a hell of a job.  Be a nice girl and take the compliment,” Nixon insisted, shaking his head at her. 

“Anyone know why we’re waiting out here?” Another officer asked. 

Before anyone could come up with an answer to that particular question, the group had been summoned inside of the office.  Upon entry, Winnie immediately picked up on the tenseness of the situation.  Sobel, sitting in a chair with his face practically purple and jaw clenched.  Sink, a look of exasperation on his face and weary.  The air was palpable with anger, and Winnie could give a good guess as to why. 

“At ease, gentlemen and doctor,” Sink stated wearily.  He paused for a moment, gaze sweeping over them.  “I’ve offered Doctor Allen the opportunity to jump with the men.  I find it to be in our best interests—and she can set up field hospitals and manage the medics easier that way.” 

Heavy silence for a beat, and Winnie felt all eyes on her. 

“Have you thought about the offer, Doc?” Sink questioned.  “It was a hell of a job you did earlier.  I knew I was right to ask you.” 

“I want to jump with the men, sir,” Winnie replied. 

“Now I’ll let you all air your grievances with this—and we will hash it out before we leave this office,” Sink said sternly, gaze sweeping over the group. 

“Sir, she’s a woman!” Sobel protested almost immediately. 

“She saved a man’s life today,” Nixon pointed out. 

“Both valid points,” Sink said, glancing between the two of them.  Winnie wondered what the point of her being here for this was—if it was a power play of some sort, or to see if she could stand on her own with the men.  “But her being a woman has nothing to do with her vital medical expertise.  Do you have a single good reason why she shouldn’t be on the jump?” Sink questioned. 

An awkward beat of silence.  Sobel rose to his feet, glancing at Winnie—and then back at Colonel Sink.  “She’s fraternizing with Winters!” 

Deafening silence this time.  Winnie’s jaw didn’t drop, though Nixon and Winter’s jaws did, in fact, drop.  Without missing a beat, Winnie just stepped forward.  “Prove it.” 

This time, Sobel’s jaw dropped.  “I—what?” 

“I said to prove it,” Winnie stated.  “I’ve been focused on my job this entire time that I’ve been here.  I’ve never been alone a single time—and my nurses and the other men and officers will attest to the fact that I have never once slept with a single man in this camp.  So unless you have any concrete proof, I respectfully call bullshit.” 

There was a beat of silence and then Sink burst into a sort of laughter.  “She’s got a damn point there, Sobel.  Winters?” He asked, gaze falling on him. 

“My whereabouts are all accounted for as well, sir.  And permission to speak freely?” 

“Go ahead.” 

“Doctor Allen has my utmost respect as a colleague, a fellow enlistee, and a doctor.  I would never.” 

Sink looked at the group.  “Well then the matter is settled.  Doc Allen will jump with you all and be a part of the force.  All of you are dismissed.  Except you, Sobel.  I want to know what kind of bullshit you were trying to feed me.” 

Winnie almost grinned—but she didn’t.  She saluted with the rest of the men, finding her way out of Colonel Sink’s office.  As soon as the door shut, there was shouting from Colonel Sink and Winnie knew that Sobel was getting eaten alive in there.  Her gaze immediately turned onto Winters, a frown on her face.  “Dick, I’m sorry—” 

Nixon’s laughter cut through the conversation.  “I’m sorry—that was the funniest shit I think I’ve ever heard.  You two?!  I think the hell not.” 

Winters just gave a roll of his eyes at Nixon’s reaction.  “Thank you so much for the help, Nix.” 

“As I was saying,” Winnie stated, giving a slight glare to Nixon.  “I’m sorry that you got dragged into Sobel’s petty attempt to keep me out of the way.” 

“I understand.  It’s not your fault.  Besides, we’re just glad to have you alongside us,” Winters said genuinely. 

Winnie beamed at him.  “I guess I can admit that we’re friends now.” 

“I KNEW IT!” Nixon exclaimed. 

[crosbyism]

Next Generation’s Best | Two

An essay on generational talents, gender, and the NHL in six parts.

<Previous | Masterpost | Next>

Part Two: Detroit and Pittsburgh

1983

There’s another guy. Born and bred Canadian; I swear there ain’t a red thing about him this time. Five years after the Great One storms the Big Leagues, this little shit cracks the roster and works his way up to becoming captain. A real hard-working kid.

Here’s the catch: his records say six foot but he just about cracks 5’10”. He’s enough of a pretty little thing that they don’t call him Steve, they call him Stevie. He’s so good they can’t justify sending him down for a conditioning stint, but he’s small— the Red Wings wanted a bigger guy, this one was the consolation prize.

A year later, a big, hulking guy with soft hands gets picked first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 6 foot 4— now that’s a real hockey player. Big and strong and tall, and yeah— he’s mostly skill, but you definitely want a real man that can take a good hit, you know? Anyone would love to have picked Mario Lemieux.

The Oilers are still winning their Cups, and Gretzky’s still in the middle of winning every Hart for almost a decade straight, but the big guy in Pittsburgh and the little guy in Detroit are about to do their damndest to fight him for it.

1989

A couple of funny things happened in the late eighties and early nineties.

First, the little fat-lipped pretty-boy captain in Detroit insists two years into wearing the C that team management should be drafting some Soviet players over. So much for a non-Commie-loving Canadian. Hey, the iron curtain is looking shaky, sure, but the big men from the front office are gonna have to give him a stern talking to to make clear who’s really in charge before they admit to little Stevie Y that he’s right.

They start with Sergei Fedorov, the twenty-year-old wonder, and Vladimir Konstantinov, then known as one of the best defencemen in the world. They’ll end up acquiring three more Russians by 1993.

The critics, at the time, wonder if a team with so many Russians isn’t too soft to win a Cup. Together, the Russian Five will make them eat their words and bring Detroit back-to-back Cups in ‘97 and ‘98— an increasingly difficult feat to achieve since the decline of the dynasties of the eighties— and another in 2002 with the by-then remaining two of the Russian Five, still led by little Stevie Y.

It’ll take almost twenty years for another team to achieve back-to-backs again.

—

Detroit wasn’t the only team snapping up players from behind the by-then shaky Iron Curtain. Jaromir Jagr got spared the ordeal of having to defect by a literal hair, but it was enough of a point of contention during the preparations for the 1990 draft that he could successfully ward off any unwanted suitors by lying that he wasn’t going to come to North America. In truth, there was only one team he wanted to play for, and it was the team whose captain he’d been carrying a picture of in his wallet since he saw him at the World Cup in Prague in 1985.

It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that Jagr rigging the draft in his favour handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their Cups in ‘91 and ‘92. Jagr and Lemieux were phenomenal together, and an already good Pittsburgh team was catapulted into the stratosphere by their play. Over the next ten years, the Art Ross was won by Wayne Gretzky once. Every other win went to either of the guys in the Penguins jerseys.

So Detroit and Pittsburgh are shaping up and buzzing, but there’s rumblings of something big coming.

<Previous | Masterpost | Next>

[flyingwargle]

iizuna is on the couch, ankle wrapped in a brace, supported by a stack of pillows, rapidly cooling bag of dry ice underneath. his eyes are closed, focused on his mother typing in the next room over. she opted to work from home, mostly to kick him out of a depressive spiral, occasionally to help him. he has crutches though, so he isn’t entirely helpless, but sometimes shouting for her is easier.

it’s almost noon, which means the final match of the spring tournament is about to start. were it not for his injury, he and his team would likely be there, standing on the podium for the last time. he hates how this is how he’ll be remembered, as the unfortunate captain who lost his footing at the wrong time. he groans at himself, which immediately summons his mother to his side.

“you need something to do. did you finish your homework?”

“i’m injured,” he grumbles. “give me a break.”

“your scholarship will be rescinded if you skip your homework.”

“the offer’s already been finalized. it’s too late to withdraw.”

“not unless i have something to do with it.”

he snorts. “you’d really call them just to tell them that i skipped out on homework?”

“don’t underestimate me,” she retorts. he’s about to respond when the doorbell rings, feeling his mother touch his shoulder on her way to the door. “you should watch the final match. isn’t the second tokyo representative playing? cheer them on.”

“my teammates can do that.” their coach allowed them to return home after they were eliminated, although many chose to stay and watch. “they’re strong, anyway. they’ll probably win.” bokuto managed to eliminate kiryuu, after all. if fukurodani doesn’t win, it’ll be the upset of the entire tournament.

iizuna opens his eyes to search for the tv remote, hearing his mother greet whoever is at the door. he freezes when she calls out to him. “tsukasa, your teammates are here!”

who would bother to visit when they already saw him at the hospital? he twists around with a strained smile, which quickly turns into a confused frown. “what are you guys doing here?”

“hi, captain!” komori chirps, smiling behind sakusa, who still has his mask on. “we thought you’d want some company to watch the finals together!”

“isn’t that nice? they came all the way here to see you.” his mother joins them, her smile wide at his underclassmen. “i’ll get some snacks and drinks. if you need anything, i’ll be in my office, so tell me who wins in the end.”

“you bet! thanks for having us!” komori bows, along with sakusa.

iizuna stares, speechless, flinching when his mother smacks his shoulder. “do you need more ice?” she asks.

“i’ll be fine. where’s the remote?”

she retrieves it from the coffee table and tosses it to him, gently removing the ice pack from under his ankle. as she saunters to the kitchen, he turns to the cousins and say, “take a seat. sakusa, please take your mask off. mom is just as obsessed with cleaning as you are.”

sakusa obliges, but chooses to sit furthest from him, komori taking the middle. iizuna turns the tv on, unsurprised that the broadcast started already. fukurodani is warming up, ichibayashi off to the side. his mother drops off snacks, ruffling his hair again before leaving. “i didn’t expect you two to come,” iizuna says.

“we don’t want our captain to be alone,” komori says. “our teammates said the stadium is a madhouse, anyway.” iizuna isn’t surprised. fukurodani is a powerhouse with a fearsome cheer squad, who probably amassed more supporters for today.

“is your ankle better?” sakusa asks.

iizuna shrugs. “still the same. i’ll be lucky to walk during my graduation ceremony.”

“will you keep playing after high school?”

“of course. just because i’m going to university first doesn’t mean i won’t go pro afterwards.”

“why not?” komori inquires. “that’s want i plan to do.”

the camera shows the stadium, packed with spectators and defeated athletes. “i always wanted to study physics,” iizuna says. “i figured having a safety net after volleyball is valuable.”

“that’s what i think, too,” sakusa says quietly. “motoya thinks it’s a waste.”

“why think about retirement when we aren’t even pro yet?” komori teases. his lighthearted tone fades, eyes on the tv. the two teams are bowing to each other. “i wish we could play together longer, iizuna-san.”

“now you make it sound like you’re dying.”

“you know what i mean!”

iizuna chuckles. “i know. i wish the same. sakusa, whoever your setter is, i hope they know how damn lucky they are to have you.” he will never forget the cousins’ first day of practice, how he was awed by their skill, sakusa’s especially. seeing him spike was nothing short of satisfying.

“i would gladly have you as my setter again,” sakusa says, “if we play on the same team.”

“one day, for sure.” iizuna settles deeper into the couch, feels the resentment at the pit of his stomach slowly recede. “one day.”

bokuto is bright on the orange court, fists in the air, grin wide. his teammates mask their anxiety with similar expressions, likely shouting challenges and declarations of victory. they haven’t reached the finals for years, as itachiyama always claimed one side of the court. iizuna is glad that it’s bokuto who can stand there in his place.

although the frustration of his defeat will never fade, he feels serene, watching the serve fly across the court, received by the libero, and then the setter tossing it to left. bokuto jumps, an owl with its wings spread open, landing the sharpest straight that iizuna has seen. although the broadcast doesn’t show it, iizuna can hear the crowd roar, evident by bokuto’s own cheer, his teammates crowding around him.

perhaps one day, he’ll toss to bokuto, as well. perhaps one day, they’ll all reconnect on the volleyball court, pulled from different corners of the nation, tethered together by their love for the sport, for competition, for working together to achieve victory.

[aeoki]

SS Finals - Crown: Chapter 20

Location: SS Finals Live Stage Characters: Tetora, Subaru, Hokuto, Chiaki, Madara, Hiiro, Aira & Rinne

Rinne: “Alrighty, our conversation has gone off on a tangent thanks to their interruption.”

“But don’tcha think things have been kinda weird, people watching at home?”

“It’s way too one-sided, don’tcha think!? The “Red Team” is one victory away from winning! It’s basically a checkmate situation here!”

“Hey, were ya watching, thinking it was gonna end up this way?”

“Were we, the ‘White Team’ that weak? Didja think we were inferior to the ‘Red Team’?”

Hokuto: What are you trying to say?

Rinne: “I’ll say it loud and clear! Something’s wrong about this year’s ‘SS’!”

Chiaki: Wrong…?

Madara: Hahaha. It doesn’t seem strange to us, but it will sound like a bolt from the blue to the viewers.

This year’s “SS” has been rigged due to the intervention of the ES higher-ups and “Gatekeeper” – all in a way that would benefit them the most.

But what are you doing, spreading that truth around at this point in time? Are you planning on ruining “SS”, Rinne Amagi?

Rinne: “I only got wind of that info on my own, but I bet the sceptical truth will rise to the surface if the police do a little digging around.”

“Frankly, there’s an issue with the ‘citizen voting’ system! It’s supposed to take all the data gathered across the nation to calculate the votes, right?”

“But is that really what’s going on? Who’s doing the calculations and announcing ‘em? The sponsors of ‘SS’ – the management, right?”

“We don’t know if the numbers they’re presenting are accurate or not! We’ve got no choice but to accept ‘em blindly!”

“But what if those numbers were rigged?”

“It just means the management gets to decide how many votes each team gets and which team comes out on top just so that it works in their favour, right!?”

“In other words, there’s a chance that it’s a fixed game, right!? I’m over here putting my life on the line and doing my best so that everyone has a good time.”

“But that’s just downright cruel! Don’t you guys think so too!?”

“It might not be right for us to say this, but how can this be allowed!?”

Madara: Hahaha. True, “Crazy:B” has used all sorts of underhanded tricks, so I suppose you guys don’t exactly have the right to say that. I’m the same in that aspect, though.

Chiaki: I see. Doubting the voting system, huh. It’s likely for the “White Team” to lose, so unless they’re able to come up with some sort of outlandish scheme, then it would be hard for them to turn the tables around.

Hokuto: Can you tell us what you mean please, Morisawa-senpai?

Subaru: It sounds weird for you to speak so politely, Hokke~

Chiaki: Right. Amagi-senpai is most likely trying to make the Finals end in a no-contest.

By making people doubt the legitimacy of the voting system, it will make the current amount of votes and wins meaningless.

Records obtained by track and field athletes who were under the influence of drugs will not be officially counted. 

The same will go for the amount of votes and wins for the “SS” Finals this year – they won’t be officially acknowledged and it will all have no meaning.

It’s unfortunate for the fans who were earnestly cheering on their favourite idols, but it might be good news for the idols who were on the losing side.

There weren’t any pitiful idols who lost.

There were no losses, no one was hurt and it’ll be a nice ending.

Each battle won’t end in happiness or sadness for either side – They would have just had a happy time watching idols perform on stage.

Of course, I don’t think everyone will be satisfied with that and I’m sure there will be people angrily flipping tables.

Hokuto: Hmm. I’m sure it’ll be difficult to create a new system at the moment and there isn’t enough time for it, either… So what will happen to “SS”? Will it be suspended?

Chiaki: A large sum of money has already been used. The management can’t afford to suspend it and they won’t let that happen.

I suspect they’ll announce that they will no longer use the voting system that’s currently under fire.

Each unit will simply take turns to perform on stage. But there won’t be any voting nor fights – just normal performances.

No battles – just a concert.

Subaru: Ahaha ☆ I prefer that and I always thought that was fine, but that would mean the whole premise behind “SS” would crumble, right?

Aira: Y–Yeah. “SS” is the event that will decide who is the best idol, isn’t it? Is that really okay?

There won’t be any battles or votes, so there won’t be a winner, right?

Hokuto: I see.

Hiiro: Which means, that was Nii-san’s–

Hokuto: Rinne Amagi’s goal, huh.

…We ended up saying that at the same time.

Hiiro: I apologise. I should have let you say it, senpai.

Subaru: Ahaha. I knew it – you guys are similar~♪ Don’t you think so too, Aira?

Aira: Now’s not the time for that! Why would Rinne-senpai do such a thing? What’s so enjoyable about ruining “SS” with a long-standing history and tradition?

Hokuto: Hehe. This year’s “SS” is essentially completely different from the previous year, but perhaps he’s trying to say that those changes aren’t exactly enough.

It needs to be the “biggest festival of the idol industry” that’s completely fitting for this era.

Aira: I–I don’t like battling against each other, either, you know? It might be better if “SS” isn’t like that.

But doesn’t Rinne-senpai prefer that sort of thing? I don’t think he’s doing all this because he’s turned over a new leaf.

Hiiro: Yeah. I think Nii-san has other goals too.

He’s trying to destroy the premise of “SS” with a single effective move.

But that’s exactly why the person who doesn’t want that to happen is trying to stop him.

Maybe my brother is trying to lure that person out. It’s a technique he used a lot back in our hometown. Nii-san prefers laying a trap instead of chasing the things he hunts.

Aira: Uhh? Who’s the person that doesn’t want “SS” to change? I’d think most people wouldn’t want it to!

Rinne: “Hey! I’m talking to ya, principal offender! Mastermind! The root of all evil!”

“The one sitting there all arrogantly – our ‘General Leader’, Nagisa Ran from ‘Eden’...!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[phanfictioncatalogue]

2011!Phan (2) Masterlist

part one

Bad Day (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: What happens when Dan and Phil are both in need of support

Call Me Beep Me (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: Phil gets a new phone

Cruel Summer (ao3) - ahappyphil 

Summary: “They’ll make jokes and it’ll be fine and he won’t look over at Phil and Dan with a white hot rage because they flaunt everything he wants but can’t have.”

Italy, 2011

Crush the Modem and Crush on the Tech (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Dan feels like a failed millennial by the time his internet has been out for four hours and nothing he has tried seems to be working. A fic about technology and tampering.

CTRL+ALT+DELETE (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: It stings. Of course it stings to erase a part of their history. But it hurts worse when the same words he said out of safety and comfort are thrown back in his face with the sole purpose of mocking him. Mocking them.

Dimples (ao3) - JudeAraya

Summary: A snapshot moment in Italy, 2011

Exchange For (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Dan had splashed out enough to buy some construction paper, glitter pens, and stickers at Poundland to make Phil’s birthday present. A ficlet about time and value.

familiar faces (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Phil recognizes the delivery guy from... somewhere. And Dan is incredibly amused by it.

(Or, a fic inspired by the story in their Stereo show where Phil recognized their Tesco delivery guy from an adult film)

Let's Be Friends (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Phil has missed the bus back to his flat by only a few minutes and he’s just exhausted enough to take an Uber. But he’s also still skint, so an Uber pool is a fine compromise. A fic about meet cutes and cramped spaces.

Moving Day (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Little looks into the many different times Phil Lester has moved house. A fic about boxes and change.

New Places (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Florida is a different warmth than other places Dani has been. Different from India or Morocco. Different even from warm places she’s been with Phoebe— Jamacia and Portugal and California— though Phoebe is the reason she’s in Florida at all. A ficlet about hickeys and holidays.

On My Way (ao3) - JudeAraya

Summary: Someone else is out there, looking at the stars too.

Piggy Back Rides (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: “You know the last time I did this, I ended up in a cast, right?” Phil laughs. A ficlet about playing and winning.

Surprised Kiss (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: Phil has eaten, he’s showered, he’s clacking away on his keyboard— either editing or answering emails or scrolling through social media, but it’s more than Dan’s done. A ficlet about requests and workloads.

The Art of Progress (ao3) - iihappydaysii

Summary: In 2011, YouTube experiences an unfortunate malfunction and Dan and Phil make a choice. A year later, the consequences of that choice begin to reveal themselves…

The Knight of Wands (ao3) - yikesola

Summary: “Robot Death Machine” was filmed while Phil was at uni and the part of Dan’s brain that likes to look for patterns because the universe can be a little beautifully random like that thinks it’s neat that he’s watching it in his own shitty uni bedroom. He’s busy thinking that Phil should wear that coat more often because he looks sexy as fuck in black when Phil pulls out a deck of tarot cards. A fic about fate and compromise.

[sapphire-weapon]

real talk i’m actually terrified of how capcom is going to end the personal storylines for the legacy characters, because like

most media with a long-standing cast ends by pairing them up??? and GOD do i not want that.

like chris/jill is a given and that’s fine and absolutely no one would be shocked if they did that, and honestly they should’ve just pulled the trigger on it years ago, but like.

resident evil has switched hands through so many different dev teams over the years, and it feels like every single different team has had a different approach towards leon and ada, which is why their relationship is such a huge fucking mess, like.

i remember when degeneration was first coming out and people were bummed that leon was going to be in it but not ada, and the director’s response to fans re: ada was “she can’t be in everything.”

so then damnation and RE6 hit and they both went WAY WAY WAY OVER THE TOP with their relationship and then got HUGE backlash for what it did to leon’s character, so capcom just went back to fucking ignoring ada all together.

vendetta, infinite darkness, and death island just... straight up don’t even acknowledge her. she’s absent from them completely, the same way that she was in degeneration.

and then RE2make and RE4make happened, and the team working on those games completely reshaped what their relationship looked like and made it more realistic, which will make it much easier to write out a progression for it that makes sense

but because it’s realistic, it’s 100% incompatible with how OG canon has played out, so they can’t really use it as a baseline for ending their story officially in the OG timeline and like

god what a fucking mess. if they make leon/ada the endgame, people will be pissed. if they don’t make leon/ada the endgame, people will be pissed. there’s no winning. but this is a mess of their own making for tailoring their relationship solely around fan response from installment to installment, instead of just like. writing a fucking story. honestly they should just let leon die a hero’s death and be done with it. it’s what he really wants, anyway.

jk they’ll kill off ada long before they kill off leon because leon is the moneymaker they can keep in their back pocket for cameos.

and then what do you do with claire and rebecca? do you bring back billy at the zero hour so that rebecca can run away with him? and capcom can be like, hey late 40s rebecca, remember that guy whose dick you thought about sucking when you was 18? yeah he’s your endgame after 30 years of radio silence enjoooyyyyy!!!

DO YOU KNOW HOW PISSED I’D BE IF THE GUY WHOSE DICK I WANTED TO SUCK AT 18 JUST SHOWED BACK UP AND THE UNIVERSE DECIDED WE WERE GOING TO GET MARRIED well i guess it depends how well that dick has aged, i haven’t seen him since i was 20

and claire has never had a single prospective romance go well for her. so, again, they’d just have to introduce someone at the zero hour and go with it.

what they SHOULD do is just put claire and rebecca together, but they won’t.

but you know

i’m no cleon fan but

i would actually laugh REALLY FUCKING HARD if capcom went full scorched earth and killed off ada and then paired up leon and claire, because holy shit. holy shit that would take balls bigger than yoshinori kitase’s, and y’all saw what he did with FF7 remake and how huge his balls had to be to do that.

like, i’m not into the ship, but i would become into the ship if they did that.

and that’s not at all a slight against ada. i like ada. i like ada more than most people who hate aeon do. but i always respect any creator that commits to a massive subversive rug-pull that is guaranteed to piss off the vast majority of their fanbase just because it’s their story and they’re going to do what they want with it regardless of how it’ll be received. like. end of evangelion is among the highest art for me. i love that shit, man.

anyway.

tl;dr i don’t envy the position capcom is in, but at the same time, it’s their own fault for fucking around for so long without committing to any one single idea for three of the five of their main fucking characters.