#it’s 50/50 with people they’re either chill or they make me want to tear off my skin/lh

[lunadreamscaper]

My ability to give a fucking shit is at zero and I might kill someone and get a bit silly <3

[aggravatetheaxe]

Hey! Saw your post and saw you said you were upsettie spaghetti so I wanted to cheer you up!

Slashers who stop everything they’re doing because their “My S/O needs me” senses are tingling and go to their rescue to comfort their angry s/o?

I was hoping to come up with A way for you to get your emotions out through your writing- 😅

Hope you feel better! 🖤

I've never done a post in this style before so hopefully I do okay! I think I covered pretty much all the slashers I write for so far (I didn't do Billy Lenz because I still need to read the novelization). I may have gone way overboard, so if I do these in the future, I'll probably just pick a few instead of doing the whole roster 😅 (or you can pick for me). But doing this much work did distract me!

Above the cut:

Bo Sinclair

Vincent Sinclair

Lester Sinclair

Included below the cut:

Michael Myers (OG)

Jason Voorhees

Leslie Vernon

Thomas Hewitt

Bubba Sawyer

Brahms Heelshire

Erik ("The Phantom")

Deacon Billings (OC Ghostface)

Courtney Dwayne Delmont (OC slasher)

Kathleen Montgomery (OC slasher)

Masterlist

***

Bo Sinclair

Despite being autistic, Bo is very in tune with peoples auras and body language. He has to be to manipulate and deceive people with any modicum of success. He's trained himself when it comes to these things; even besides masking or manipulation, he needed to be keenly aware of when his parents were in Bad Moods so he could either avoid them or prepare himself.

The mood he's probably best at when it comes to this, for those reasons, is anger. He can smell anger a mile away. So if you're fuming, you better believe he notices.

At first he's annoyed and will demand to know what your problem is. He's not a very tolerant person, and he can be a bit of a hypocrite. He's allowed to have big, messy feelings, but when it comes to others having big, messy feelings ... he's not so comfortable with that. He gets overwhelmed.

Once he realizes that this is more than an attitude problem, he'll take it much more seriously. And assuming you're not mad at him, he'll want the rundown on the whole situation from beginning to end. He wants all the dirt.

He'll let you rant, and honestly, he'd think you being this angry (when it's not directed at him, but even still sometimes) is kind of sexy. And don't expect him to shut his mouth, either; he'll be ranting right along with you, affirming you and insulting whomever/whatever you're angry about.

He doesn't wanna cuddle. He genuinely thinks you can't cuddle anger away. He'll put on some loud-ass music and let you vent your frustration however you prefer. Maybe suggest a long drive down to the lake or into town or just ... picking a direction and going. He has fantasies of running away from his anger sometimes. He knows how it is.

Depending on what you're angry about, it could definitely get to the point where he's angrier about the situation than you are. And if it really hurt you, he will not let it go as long as he lives. The best he will ever do is maintain a grudging neutrality or distance from the person/situation that made you angry.

He's very protective. If you're angry at someone you need to maintain a relationship with, you're going to have to keep an eye on Bo to make sure he doesn't deliver revenge for you behind your back. If it's something he can solve, he'll do it, so if you don't want him running his mouth, watch him.

Vincent Sinclair

Vincent is in the same boat as Bo when it comes to sensing auras, though his handle on body language and facial expressions is not as keenly honed. While Vincent was not physically abused as brutally or as often as Bo, this wasn't because of some sterling quality he had that Bo lacked. He was always The Good One because he saw what his parents did to The Bad One and knew he needed to protect himself. He tried not to do anything that might provoke his parents.

You can feel anger before a fight like you smell ozone before a storm. Vincent is attuned to the feeling not just because of his parents but because of Bo's temper, too. Because of this, like Bo, he can very accurately sense anger in particular.

His initial reaction is to observe you, gauging if you need time to cool off. If you need space, Vincent is the Sinclair for you. He's used to being quiet and deflecting and riding out anger.

However, once he realizes that your anger is not directed at him or isn't explosive enough to become a problem for him, he's concerned. Rather than asking what happened, he will ask if you're okay, and leave it up to you whether you'll tell him about it or not.

If you vent, he'll sit and listen patiently, maybe even thoughtfully working on a sculpture while you rant. He's not judgemental and he can be very emotional himself, so you could say the most ridiculous, dramatic things and he wouldn't even bat an eye. Let out all your messy, destructive thoughts and feelings. Just try not to throw or punch anything; that's when he shuts down.

If you decide you just want comfort, or decide you need comfort after ranting, art is his first suggestion. It may seem cold to you at first, that his instinct isn't to hold you or kiss you but rather to redirect you to a project - once you got to know him, however, you'd know that's his most genuine way to show he cares. Redirecting to something creative calms him down more than platitudes ever could, and he wants that for you. He's nonjudgmental about the art you create as well, even if it's objectively terrible. It's not about the quality.

He won't turn you down if you need physical affection, however. His twin is extremely tactile, so it wouldn't be the first time he held someone after a breakdown. He prefers to do this if he's certain you won't lash out physically, but if you were in a really bad way and needed to be touched, he'd do it regardless.

Lester Sinclair

Lester witnessed his parents' anger, but it was usually indirectly; if Bo was the Bad One and Vincent was the Good One, he was the Overlooked One. He's not a perfect person, probably not even a good person, but of the three brothers, he's the most normally socialized. He isn't trained to be tuned into everyone's every shifting mood in order to survive.

It takes Lester a little longer to pick up on your anger than his brothers, but not too much longer. It takes him a couple tries at trying to talk to you or get your attention before he realizes something is really wrong.

His first reaction is to get upset. He soaks up emotions like a little sponge, so he's suddenly cranky, too. He also jumps to conclusions and assumes that you're angry with him, and he does not take rejection well. He might be bitter and passive aggressive. You being angry just makes him want to go in another room and not be around you, and yet at the same time, he wants your reassurances. It's messy and sad.

Once he realizes - either through observing you or through you communicating with him - that you're mad at another person or situation, then he'll feel comfortable enough to approach you and ask you about it. You'll definitely need to reassure him that you're not mad at him though.

If you wanna rant, he'll take you on a long drive and let you vent your heart out to him. He won't be quite as aggressive as Bo, but he'll be on your side, frowning with disapproval, telling you "Ya can't fix stupid." If you want only comfort or need comfort after venting, he feels much more equipped for that. He'll put something relaxing in the VHS or let you play his old Super Nintendo, get you a beer, just let you chill out. And he'll let you win at Doctor Mario.

If the situation is something really serious, you best believe he'll be talking to his brothers about it the second he gets a chance. He may be a sweet guy, but he can be real nasty, and he doesn't fuck around when it comes to you. You might have to keep an eye out to make sure he doesn't tell someone off or punch out someone's lights.

Michael Myers (OG)

In 1978, Michael is not very in tune with any emotions besides fear, and even then he only really understands it in an abstract way, as his condition and upbringing haven't really been conducive to him learning about emotions. Unless you're screaming in terror, have tears running down your face, or are shouting angrily, he really can't read your moods. Without any obvious change to how you normally act or look, there's a huge chance he might just not notice if you're angry. He spends a lot of time in his own little world.

In 2018, even though he's spent over 50 years institutionalized, Michael has had time to take in the world, and he's seen a lot more. He understands fear much more than he did when he was 21, but what he understands most of all is anger. His anger fuels him. He would pick up on yours right away and be curious, though he wouldn't verbalize it.

If you tell him how you feel, he'll take note of it. If he witnesses you doing something destructive because of your anger, he'll simply observe. He would be fascinated with this thing you're doing, because it's not something you normally do, and though he might not notice emotions, he certainly notices routine and pattern. Either way, you'll have to tell him how you feel, because he'll simply watch you otherwise.

One thing that can be said for Michael is that he's a good listener. He may not internalize everything you say, but he will remember what he thinks is important. You may be surprised; he may remember tiny little details that seem inconsequential to you but loom large in his mind.

Unless you were caused serious physical or mental harm, he would not be angry on your behalf. He would, however, do nothing to assuage your anger. He thinks it would be kinda neat and interesting to see you snap. He's not 100% sure why you don't just do it.

In 1978, he won't be much help beyond listening to you, but he would be curious to see what you do to vent your anger. You may find him by your side more often, observing you. He may also want to find and observe the object of your anger, especially if it's a person. In 2018, he would, in his own way, suggest you solve the problem by murdering someone/something. He's insatiable, but killing is the closest he's ever come to satisfaction. You should try it.

Jason Voorhees

Out of all of the slashers, Jason is the most likely to actually literally sense your anger, especially if you're psychically sensitive/powerful like Tina Shepard. I'm talkin'—assuming you have a pre-established relationship—he'll be doing something else and just get this itch that tells him you're out there somewhere, pissed off.

Obviously this is untenable. As long as he's not super busy or Pamela has other plans, Jason will stomp his way through the woods to get back to you, regardless of the urgency of your anger. If Pamela doesn't approve, well, he'll let a little anger go and assume you're okay. If he suspects you may be in danger, though, he's sprinting regardless of what Mom says. There's time for both things, Ma!

The first thing he'll do when he returns to you is scan your dwelling, then you, making sure nothing is broken. At that point, you'd probably be able to sense his confusion even without him signing. Jason doesn't experience emotions quite like a human anymore, and he's quite tactile besides, so a lack of tangible or visible clues as to why you're upset would trip him up for a second.

He doesn't want to comfort you at first, he wants to know what's wrong. He'll listen to you vent only long enough to understand the situation and identify his target. His immediate next move would be to eliminate the problem. You'll definitely have to hold him back, and it may take a bit of convincing. Earthly consequences don't really apply to him.

Before comfort comes blowing off steam, for you and for him. His first choices would be mangling some trees (you can pretend it's for firewood) or skipping/throwing stones into the lake. You're welcome to join him if those things calm you down; watching him get his stone to skip like 11 times on Crystal Lake may make you feel better, at least.

You might hang out there for hours before he suddenly decides it's time to go home. He'll do what he can to make your comfortable or stay out of your way while you make yourself comfortable, then comfort you as you please. His go-to choice is always foot or hand massages.

Leslie Vernon

Leslie is extremely observant and surprisingly analytical given how silly he is in the day to day. His intuition makes it pretty easy for him to read people, but especially you, since you two are so close. Especially-especially if you're his Survivor Girl (gender neutral term of course). You two are in sync, so he knows if something's up. Maybe even before you fully figure it out.

God, you're so hot when you're angry, you really are. He almost wants to let you scream and holler and go nuts. But he prefers you only get angry like that at him, especially if you're his Survivor Girl, so his first move is to comfort you or talk you down to a place where you can be comforted. He'll speak to you calmly and rationally, reassuring you and touching you if you wanna be touched—on your upper arms or shoulders or face, or with one arm around your back.

He doesn't just want to comfort you, though, he wants to calm you down enough that you can tell him what happened. Even if you claim you don't want to talk about it, he will coax it out of you eventually. He's gotta know what got you so upset. It's his business to know everything about you!

Assuming you're angry at someone/something that isn't him, he'll talk it through with you. If you're upset about an argument with someone, he has the capacity to see it from the other side, but ultimately, he's there for you. He'll let you bitch as much as you want, still touching you, and he'll be disgusted and/or disappointed with the situation.

Above all, though, what he wants is to see you smile again. The only worries on your mind should be the ones he comes up with, and man, he's not even halfway done grooming the next batch of unlucky teenagers. He'd pat your face or touch your hair and tell you to cheer up, and probably defuse the situation with a stupid quip or joke. Take you out somewhere fun, maybe.

Once you were cheered up, he'd humbly suggest you solve your problem with a little murder. "I mean, I know killing's not really your thing—you're really good at it, though, a talent! You know that..." Pause, considering you. "You want me to do it? 'Cause I can clear my schedule for the rest of the night." If you decline, he'd be like "Suit yourself" but may or may not still murder whoever upset you. If you agree, he'd be super excited to make a romantic night of it. His mind would be going a million miles an hour planning everything out.

Thomas Hewitt

Tommy knows anger when he sees it. Not only does he have loads of internalized anger, he's been on the receiving end of it plenty. He's far too large to be scared of anyone in a physical sense anymore, but he's been shouted at countless times. To know when to shut up and do as he's told versus arguing back, he's learned to gauge intensity and direction of anger, and he well knows that anger can be redirected to him.

So, he instantly recognizes your mood, but it might be a while before he approaches you. When he does approach, he'll let you decide what to do, whether that's throwing your arms around him or banging your fists on his chest to vent your anger. You won't hurt him.

Eventually, once you're all hugged or cried or screamed out, he'll wrap his arms around you and give you a reassuring squeeze. There's no need to tell Tommy what's wrong—he won't ask unless you're obviously in serious distress or injured—but if you decide to speak, he'll listen, brows drawn tightly the whole time. He's thoughtful about the situation.

If you're mad at someone in his family, there isn't much he can do for you besides comfort you and assure you that whoever upset you—Hoyt, probably—didn't mean what they said. If you were hurt physically, it would be another story, but his family gets in shouting matches all the time.

Rather than offering help, he'd wait for you to request it of him. Whatever you ask, shy of hurting his family, he will do. Murder someone? No problem. Make you some food? You got it. Bring you a blanket? Sure. Give you some quiet alone time? That's fine, too.

If you need to vent, he's got plenty of ways to get out your frustration. Plenty of farm work to do, or you could work on something around the house with him. He might suggest knitting or sewing or some other handicraft you enjoy. It always makes him feel better to buckle down and use his hands for something.

If you're still preoccupied/upset by the time you two bed down, or heaven forbid the next morning, then he starts taking it more seriously. Something that disturbs you for that long is bad news. He'll watch you carefully the next couple days to see how you're doing, waiting for you to need him for something.

Bubba Sawyer

Like Tommy, Bubba has been on the receiving end of anger many, many times, so he's familiar with what it looks and feels like. Despite his size, he's still susceptible to physical violence at the hands of his loved ones, so he's very wary of anger.

However, he doesn't have a female presence in his life like Luda Mae, who expresses her anger through passive aggression—so, he's more used to shouting and screaming. If you aren't prone to screaming and shouting, it might take a little bit for him to realize you're not just sad or upset, you're angry.

Bubba will be over you. He'd give anyone else their space because he'd be afraid of retaliation, but you're his special person, and he's pretty sure you're not going to hurt him. He'll touch your hair, your arms, your wrists; he'll babble as he tries to figure out what's wrong. He just wants to comfort you and let you know everything is all right.

If it's too much or you're overwhelmed and you snap at him, he'll ease back. He'll blubber like a kicked puppy, but he won't give up. He'll still try to comfort you, just in other ways, such as getting you a comfort item or article of clothing, or maybe some food. And boy will he helicopter.

There's no need to tell Bubba what's wrong. In fact, it might be better if you didn't; if it's something he can't fix, it would do nothing but majorly stress him out. If it was one of his family members who upset you, as with Tommy, he wouldn't be able to do much. Even if you were hurt, he's just not in a position to stand up for you. That fact would absolutely kill him, though. He'd end up getting even more upset than you.

He doesn't know what help to offer you beyond comfort, but like Tommy, if you requested something specific, he'd try to carry out your wishes. He'll also try to cheer you up with some music and dancing, or just being silly like you like.

Need to blow off steam? He's got plenty of coping mechanisms! Bubba's idea of a perfect de-stress session is turning up the radio and getting lost in crafts. He's got lots of supplies, mostly to create clothing and accessories, and you're special, so you can have your pick. A drive and the radio might be nice, too. If neither of those appeal to you, he'll try cooking or baking with you. He loves sharing the kitchen with someone.

If none of that works and you're still upset, be prepared, because he's gonna be an anxious mess until you're better.

Brahms Heelshire

Brahms is somewhat familiar with other people's anger. He certainly has a whole fountain of internalized anger brewing just beneath the surface, but that's different. He knows that when Mummy is angry, she yells and cries, and when Daddy is angry, he seethes and stews. The former would be obvious to him, but the latter would take him a few minutes to be quite sure about. You're not acting how you usually do. Are you being stern or are you angry? Are you cross with him?

He does not have a lot of empathy for other people, so if your anger gets in the way of his routine or the attention he wants, he'll be irked, cranky, sad. Not necessarily at you—though that is possible—but the situation in which you find yourselves.

Much like Bo, he's allowed to have big, messy feelings, but it makes him uncomfortable and scared when other people have those feelings. He might even hide from you for a while, especially if you screamed and cried.

Once he realizes something is really wrong and you're not mad at him, however, he'll start thinking of ways to cheer you up so things can go back to normal. He hates having his routine interrupted; he's very particular. And he cares for you, so seeing you in distress is very scary and uncomfortable for him.

He'll start by fetching you something you like—something manageable for him like your favorite juice or a sandwich, or if you have a special item or article of clothing, that. He's quite shy, though, and like I said, he'll probably be hiding, so he'll leave it somewhere he knows you'll find it (on the bed, outside your door, on your desk, etc.)

If that doesn't calm you down and your anger is really getting in the way of his routine, or otherwise making him uncomfortable, he'll finally make an appearance. Very bashful and timid at first, using his little boy voice. "What's wrong, Y/N? Did something bad happen?"

If it's something that can't be helped, he'll suggest you do something together to take your mind off it (most likely something he likes to do). He may even be coaxed into taking a walk around the grounds, though he doesn't like to leave the manor at all, so you'd have to convince him. He prefers quiet playtime, maybe some coloring books or loud music to vent your emotions. It would intrigue him to see someone else use his toys to calm down. As long as you recognized he was being very nice, sharing them.

If it was an argument you had with someone, he would want more information. Are they likely to leave you alone, or will they come to the manor? Will he have to deal with them? Because it's scary, but he'll do it for you.

If, for some reason, none of those things work, he may cry or throw a fit. Either way, he'll be frustrated. Adult Brahms may make an appearance and try to help you in more Adult ways.

Erik

Though he lives five cellars beneath an opera house now, Erik hasn't always been entirely reclusive. Even these days, when he can stomach it, he sometimes goes out to see the world. As a younger man, he observed people's lives and moods with a hungry fascination (that has now mostly been replaced by melancholy and longing and bitter anger). Like several of the other slashers here, he's had to train himself to sense fury to protect himself. He's also incredibly wrathful, so you could call him an expert!

He has a very keenly honed sense when it comes to you specifically, since he's watched you so much. He notices the change in your demeanor immediately.

If you know him as the "Angel of Music," his voice will appear to you once you're alone, asking you what's wrong and assuring you you can confide in him—he will insist you tell him, though. "There are to be no secrets between us, Y/N." He will listen without interjection as you vent your heart out, and when you're done, soothe you. Don't let his calming voice deceive you, though; behind that mirror, he's seething, planning to take matters into his own hands.

If you know him as Erik, he will go to you the second he recognizes the shift in your mood and take you from what you're doing, regardless of your wishes. He'll sit you down, kneeling before you with your hands in his, and gaze into your eyes, imploring you to tell him what's wrong. He'll absolutely allow you physical comfort, but he will also absolutely insist you tell. He'll need reassurance that you're not angry at him, because that thought would break his heart.

He will let you vent however you wish. You could have the most dramatic breakdown ever—throwing things, beating your fists on his chest, wailing—and he wouldn't judge you. He would be awfully concerned, though.

Will be 110% on your side. You are his poor little meow meow. "My poor love, my poor Y/N!" He is beside himself with sympathy for you and you only, and is very offended on your behalf.

He will always suggest music as an outlet for your anger, but he will have taken note of your other hobbies and interests as well. He'll fetch your things for you without being asked, as long as it won't separate him from you for very long. If you'd rather just have comfort, that's fine, too. He could hold your hand and caress your face for hours on end under normal circumstances, so no problem there. He may also suggest a little time on the surface, if you normally live in his home. Fresh air will do you both good, he reasons, and he enjoys spending time with you where others can witness it. It fills him with pride and love.

Otherwise, he's at your service for any other soothing activities you need. A calming bath, some sweets, shopping, anything. Perhaps avoid asking for any sexual contact, however. First of all, being asked directly makes him very skittish and nervous; second of all, his method of love-making (when you can coax him) is very intimate and tender, which may be tedious if you're in an angry mood.

Unless the situation is extremely serious or dire, his first priority is making sure you're soothed. Once that duty is fulfilled, however, he is absolutely angrier about it than you are. If it's not that serious, he won't skip straight to killing, if only because he knows it upsets you. He will definitely be writing an extremely strongly worded letter, however. If someone slighted you seriously, they're getting threatened. If someone hurt you physically, they're meeting the Punjab lasso.

Deacon Billings (OC Ghostface)

Deacon definitely knows when people are angry. His step-mom was a passive-aggressive laundry-folder and his dad was a storming out of the house kinda guy; when the two of them were together, they were all hushed but heated arguments at night when they thought he couldn't hear them, or else extremely embarrassing passive-aggressive arguments in public. Growing up, he found himself around a lot of angry people. And there's no shortage of anger in him, either.

So yeah, Deacon knows when people are pissed, and he knows when people are pissed at him. The thing is, he just thinks it's fucking hilarious. He was that kid that would goad peers and teachers just to be an asshole and had virtually no friends as a result. He's a menace on the internet, too: a horrible troll for no reason, stirring the pot even when he doesn't have a stake in the argument. He's trained himself to find people's weak spots so he can strike at them. He does it to make himself feel more in control of his life and his own anger.

So when you're ticked off, he's gonna notice the change immediately. If you made a vent post on social media, he probably knows you're angry before you even see him. He follows all your social media (even if you don't realize it) and checks it constantly. He'd call you out of curiosity to ask what happened. He's open about his stalking tendencies: "I saw your post, babe, who do I need to stab?"

If you otherwise come home angry, he'll be up on his feet, following you around the house and pestering you, trying to get you to tell him what's wrong. If you try to hug him, he won't push you away, but he'll be distracted, trying to needle answers out of you the whole time.

There's no question in his mind as to whether or not you're angry at him. He just assumes you're not; he has a pretty good handle on how you act when you're angry at him specifically.

He'll let you rant all day if you want. You could talk about the shit that's pissed you off for hours and he'd still listen. Outwardly, he might poke you a bit and play devil's advocate for the other side of the argument, if there is one. This is purely for the purposes of being a little shit.

Internally, he's already going down his pre-murder checklist. If it was someone at work, they're dead. Someone in the neighborhood, dead. Online? It'll take a couple days, but they're dead. Even if you're not angry at anyone in particular, just a situation, he'll find someone to menace. He'd walk through fire for your approval.

He's not good with soft, emotional comfort, so instead he'll try to think of something to help you let off steam. His go-to is something competitive, especially if it involves you chasing each other. A Nerf or water gun war, a PVP game with you on opposite sides. He'll put up a good fight, but you always kick his ass.

Once the immediate situation is addressed and you've ranted your heart out to him, he can't keep his hands off you. "Seeing you all pissed off drives me crazyyyyyy." He's grinning, brown eyes sparkling. "Come onnnnn ... I'll get it off your mind!"

Courtney Dwayne Delmont (OC)

Courtney is a hunter of all manner of game, so he's used to interpreting non-verbal cues and body language—when an animal is in distress, when an animal is about to attack, etc. His grandfather was a very angry man, as well, in a simmering sort of way. He would seethe about something before suddenly delivering one decisive strike. Courtney himself is not a particularly angry man, unless some prey is really giving him a hard time, but he can read your body.

If you come home angry, he'll stop in the middle of what he's doing and watch you, still and quiet, just confirming his suspicions. If you leave the room he's in to go collapse on the sofa or something, he'll follow you, looming over you and waiting for you to tell him what's wrong. He's patient.

If you want to vent, he'll sit and listen thoughtfully, doing something with his hands while you speak—probably cleaning his gun or some other weapon. He doesn't look at you. He wouldn't demand greater context to the situation but he would ask "Why?" and "Who?" until he understood Enough.

If you want comfort, he'll sprawl on the couch and let you lay on top of him. He'll probably pull a blanket on top of you to try and encourage a nap. If the nap doesn't make you feel better, he's feeding you protein. Do you like homemade jerky?

Sex is also on the table (not literally ... unless). He's found it's a great way to blow off steam, and he's more than happy to make all worries, troubles, and other thoughts go away for a little bit. Expect that to be the rest of your night, though, because he doesn't do quickies.

Generally, he trusts you to handle your own shit, so he would be more focused on you than whatever made you feel the way you do. However, if days passed and you were still angry/upset/sad, or if it plunged you into a breakdown or was an otherwise extremely serious situation ... just give him a target. It's up to you, but if you tell him to take the shot, it'll be quick and clean. If you're unable to make the decision, he'll decide for you without hesitation.

Kathleen Montgomery (OC)

I'm still developing her so this one won't be as in-depth and is subject to change.

Kath makes it her business to know everything about you. Chances are she's seen you explode screaming while stalking you ... chances are, if you've been in a relationship for a while, she's made you explode screaming. She knows what you look like when you're angry. Besides, she's strong for her size, but she often has to take down people who are much bigger and stronger than her; she uses manipulation and trickery to help ease that divide, so she's good at reading people.

Like Deacon, she also monitors all your social media, so if you made a vent post, she already knows you're in a shitty mood before you come home. Unlike Deacon, she doesn't tell you how she knows, so you're left to assume she's just all knowing. Considering her god complex, that works for her.

She'd probably text you to come home, and she expects you to answer. If you're unable to come home, she'll call you to ask what's wrong.

Once you're together, she wants to know everything about the situation. Even as you're speaking, she's already on her phone or laptop, looking up the people involved. Instead of getting mad on your behalf, she laughs. She's a fan of emphasizing how pathetic or weak the opposition is.

She takes your feelings on the subject seriously, but everyone else in the situation? Insects. Not even worthy of your time or concern, let alone hers. You're obviously in the right here (even if you're not). She'll tell you as much, and say some pretty intense, over-the-line things about whomever/whatever you're angry at.

Overall, however, she's calm and collected about the situation. Your bout of anger is a chance to get you to be reckless with her. She'll do your hair and makeup and dress you up nice, then take you out. Fast driving, drinking, baiting people at bars, menacing neighborhoods ... maybe a little killing, if you'd like.

***

Masterlist

[bookwrm99]

Preferred Music- OM! Brothers

Not that anyone asked me, but I was in the mood to write and I’ve gotten back into Obey Me! after a super-long hiatus.. so these are my thoughts on what the brothers listen to in terms of music. I’ve only finished S1, so forgive me if these don’t make sense in context of the later seasons T_T

Lucifer:

It’s established in canon that Lucifer loves listening to classical music and has an extensive record collection- the more cursed the better

I headcanon though that he also likes to listen to big band music, like the Glenn Miller Orchestra

I can imagine him putting one of his vintage Glenn Miller records on his grammy and asking his s/o to dance with him one night if he was feeling especially romantic. The song he’d initiate on would be Twilight Interlude, Moonlight Serenade, or Starlit Hour.

I also headcanon that Lucifer listens to crooners, like Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra

If MC can play an instrument, especially if it’s the piano, Lucifer might lurk in the hallway for a while if he hears them playing music by composers like Beethoven, Mozart, or Chopin. He doesn’t know how or why, but he thinks their works sound best whenever MC plays them

I think Lucifer’s guilty pleasure is 50′s/60′s decade music, but only listens to them when certain conditions are met: he’s in an exceptionally good mood, his privacy is guaranteed for at least an hour, and it’s just him in his bedroom. He feels that artists like The Beach Boys, Elvis, and The Beatles don’t fit with his polished, high-class image, hence the secrecy around listening to them

You’ll know he trusts you when he allows you into his space while one of these artists’ records is on the gramophone

Doesn’t change MC’s ringtone in his phone, because one: he’s an old man and hardly uses the thing for anything besides communication anyway, and two: he wants to be the only brother who wasn’t prompted by Mammon’s ringtone change

Probably changes their ringtone after a few weeks, when his brothers have forgotten all about it

 Mammon:

The Black Crowes. Next-

It’s canon that Mammon likes R&B music

Mammon strikes me as a classic/90′s alternative rock kind of guy too, though. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, U2, Deep Purple, The Black Crowes, Pearl Jam- that kind of vibe

If he’s feeling something a little more hard, he’d probably dip into Nirvana, Van Halen, AC/DC, or another band along those lines

“Money” by Pink Floyd is DEFINITELY his ringtone

If he’s trying to really focus to come up with a scheme to make Grimm, or is just in the mood for something really chill, he might pull up a lofi hip hop playlist/station to listen to in the background

If he and MC happen to be chilling in his room, though, he’d probably play whatever they’re into- not because he likes them and wants to learn more about them or anything, noooooo sir, definitely doesn’t want to know their favorite artists so he can maybe take them to a concert one day either

Probably starts listening to MC’s favorite bands and genres too as their relationship develops

I headcanon that as soon as he finds out whatever MC’s favorite song is, he sets it as their ringtone in his phone so he can distinguish them from modeling agencies and his brothers

Leviathan:

It’s canon that Levi LOVES anime music, which like- I 110% subscribe to

I think he’d also really like video game music as well. Especially if it’s a game he loves and their soundtracks are *chef’s kiss*

If the Devildom has an equivalent to K-pop, I could see him being into that too. BTS, EXO, SUPER JUNIOR, Girl’s Generation, and SEVENTEEN all give me Levi vibes

Because he used to play so many different instruments, I also headcanon that sometimes he gets in the mood to listen to some of the music he used to play

He might get started on a classical music kick for a couple hours, then be satisfied for a week or two until the craving comes up again

Like Mammon, he might try listening to MC’s favorite music to get to know them better- but if he’s too averse to it, he’ll just go back to listening to his usual music

As their relationship develops, he might change MC’s ringtone in his phone to the theme of an anime they’ve both watched together and loved, or to the theme of his favorite anime- not to be outdone by Mammon, of course

Satan:

It’s canon that Satan also enjoys classical music, especially symphonies

I headcanon though that Satan might resent this similarity to Lucifer, so listens to classical music in secret- or abstains from it until he cracks and binges for a few hours

I could also see Satan listening to music very loudly in his room to piss Lucifer off if he’s in a particularly vindictive mood, especially if it’s hard rock or metal

Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, The Veer Union, Gojira, Beartooth, Steel Panther- and if he’s really mad at Lu, he’d pull out the stops and listen to some death metal

Lowkey kind of likes some of it, even though he started listening to it exclusively with the intent of making the eldest tear his hair out in frustration

For casual listening, though, I headcanon that he has soft indie playlists and stations that he’s favorited/subscribed to

I could also see him as the type to have a playlist built with all his favorite songs from his favorite Broadway plays (looking at you, Les Misérables and Cats)

When he catches wind that Mammon and Levi changed their ringtones for MC, he didn’t hop on the train to outdo them- he just thought it was a good idea. He changes it to a soft indie song that reminds him of MC in some way, whether the lyrics are explicitly about someone similar to them or the sound of the song gives them MC vibes

Asmodeus:

Asmo listens to healing music in canon

But I also imagine him listening to dance/EDM music, because it gets him pumped up for The Fall and reminds him of the good times he’s had there

I headcanon that Asmo listens to healing music when he’s pampering himself or doing spa sessions with MC, and dance/EDM when he’s getting primped up to go to the club

Asmo is DEFINITELY the type to put soft music on when he’s about to get it on with somebody to set the mood, but it’s not something he listens to on his own- he feels ambivalent about romantic music in general

With MC, though, if their relationship buds into something more than friendship- you can bet your ass that he custom makes the perfect playlist for spicy situations with them, and his opinion on romantic music changes into a more positive one

I also see him listening to Queens like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé- really powerful women vocalists

Asmo might have an easy listening pop playlist/station subscribed on his app of choice, but probably has to be in the mood for it to put it on

Definitely changes MC’s ringtone to something cheeky at first, like “Sexual Healing”, but trades it for a romantic song that reminds him of them later as they get closer

Beelzebub:

The RAD newspaper reports that Beel likes the song in the “Hell’s Burger” commercial

But I headcanon that when the newspaper club asked him that question, he just didn’t know how to respond because he listens to so many different genres, so he blurted out the first thing on his mind (so of course it would be food-related)

Beel doesn’t strike me as the type to like one genre in particular to the exclusion of most others- he seems more like he’d have playlists of all different genres to switch between depending on the situation and his mood

He’d definitely have a workout playlist full of songs to hype him up, like “Eye of the Tiger”, “Welcome to the Jungle”,  “Seven Nation Army”, “Thunder”, etc.

Probably has upwards of thirty playlists/stations he’s subscribed to because of his broad tastes, but the ones I see him frequently playing are pop, indie, alternative, and punk rock

Because he shares a room with Belphie, he’s grown accustomed to listening to chill, soft piano music at night when the both of them are first falling asleep- so much so, he has a hard time falling asleep without it, so he always brings earphones with him when traveling so he can still listen to it

MC’s ringtone in his phone is the “Hell’s Burger” commercial song- the only other contact that shares the ringtone is Belphie. Hearing his favorite song helps him distinguish his favorite people from everyone else calling his phone, even if hearing the song makes him hungry and drool a little bit before he picks up

Belphegor:

Belphie likes chill piano music in canon

Makes sense to me, since he’s sleeping 99.999999% of the time

But I headcanon that he also likes punk rock, like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, blink-182, Good Charlotte, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, Bring Me The Horizon, and more

He only listens to it if he has to stay awake for a long period of time- listening to piano music makes him sleepy, so that’s out of the question, even though he needs music to be able to focus

Belphie is another brother who will stick around if he hears MC playing the piano- he’s less covert about it than the eldest brother, though

He’ll straight up trudge into the music room, sit on the bench with them and lean his head against their shoulder as they play

Hope you weren’t planning on stopping anytime soon, MC

Belphie also seems like the type to have subscriptions to ASMR or soft storytelling podcasts/stations/playlists, for the times he finds he’s having a hard time falling asleep

Like Lucifer, is one of the last to hop on the ringtone train, and honestly didn’t really give a shit about it until he really thought about it. What if MC was in trouble and tried to call him while he was asleep? His normal ringtone wouldn’t wake him up in that scenario, which could end up being really bad

Changes it to something really loud and obnoxious at first, like “What Is Love” (the animal cover)

Eventually changes it to something more romantic as he and MC get closer in their relationship, like “Check Yes, Juliet”

~~

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. <3

BTW, this is the ringtone I HC’d for Belphie lmfao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx5-aOGphII&t=53s

It’s my morning alarm and my family hates it, but I’m an extremely heavy sleeper sooooooo guess I’ll just keep being a menace to society

[dontcallmecarrie]

an idea I had on my commute, because this trope is a personal favorite:

Justin Hammer blinked the stars out of their eyes, not even bothering to move before they got their bearings because last thing they needed was to get motion sickness on top of whatever had been in that weird laser gun Ivan and Victor had been messing with went off.

Ugh. They’d told Ivan to secure his projects better, told them someone’d end up in the hospital, why did nobody listen to them?!

Well. 

At least Winter’d tear them a new one, they could count on that much. If only because they were his meal ticket, but still.

Justin cautiously tried to sit up, and now that the ringing in their ears was going down they caught the last few snatches of whatever the people around them had been saying. 

Because there was now a crowd now, apparently. Joy.

“—ell is going on here, how did he even get here?”

“—rgy readings are all wrong, this makes no sense—”

“—plain to me how a civilian got into one of the most secured locations this side of the Mississippi? Anyone?”

“—ot to be kidding me,” a familiar voice said, “how did Hammer of all people get here? Oh, hey, he’s alive. Hey, Hammer? How’d you get out of Seagate?”

One of these things was not like the others. 

Not that Justin knew what the hell was going on, not when they’d been in a safehouse not two minutes ago, but...this was the first time in their life they’d heard that note of derision in Tony’s voice. 

Aimed at them, anyway, because goodness knew how many rants about Howard they’d talked him through after the accident. 

“Anyone get the number of that truck?” Justin asked with a groan, and didn’t even have to pretend to be confused by the truly impressive number of guns pointed his way as he sat up. “Hey, easy there, when’s the last time you got certified to carry with that type of grip?”

The looks Justin got were...less than welcoming. 

“How’d you get out of Seagate?” Director Fury said more than asked, and just like that, Justin knew what that gun had done, even before an agent looked over with a frown after tapping away at their tablet.

“Sir? Justin Hammer’s still in custody.”

Winter had better be kicking everyone’s ass for this, this was not what they’d signed up for when they’d stopped by with takeout.

.

aka NHDD!Justin crash-lands the MCU, and it goes about as well as expected.

...but to be honest? I’ve been playing with several permuations of this, just can’t decide which would be the most fun to mess with because, I mean, here’s some of the others:

NHDD!Avengers meet canon, wonder wtf is up with this ticking time bomb of a team and canon!Tony’s almost unrecognizable because they’re used to a Tony with very clear boundaries and may not be as heroic, but he’s theirs and seeing a version of him who’s been through the wringer is. Something not great. 

50/50 odds on who picks a fight, because NH!Tony will push back if someone tries to start something, but NH!Steve has even less chill than canon because he’s caught up in a goddamn love dodecahedron and anyone looking at his team wrong gets to deal with all the pent-up stress that entails.

NHDD!Justin meets canon [see above]. Rocky start due to obvious reasons, while Cabal’s scrambling to figure out a way to get them back, Justin immediately latches onto canon!Tony and they may not be a therapist, but tbh they’re pretty damn close sometimes. 

canon!Tony gets a concentrated dose of All the Feels™, feat. “your feelings are valid” and “you are not alone, asking for help isn’t being a burden” and “even if other people think poorly of you, that’s on them, you owe them nothing” and Tony’s very, very sad to see him go.

...this could also be pretty painful for canon!Justin, for reasons seen in this next scenario:

canon!Justin meets NHDD. Cue All The Self-Worth Issues. Because I tried to hint at it in NHDD, but long story short, canon!Justin was kinda set up for failure, between his poor excuses for parents, terrible role models, and the whole “growing up constantly compared to Tony Stark” thing is just asking for a major inferiority complex somewhere in here. So you take this Justin, and present him a world that could be summed up as, “I’m you, but better”? Who has everything he ever wanted, was taken seriously and treated with respect? He’s not going to have a good time.

irony is, it’s absolutely not his fault, either: NHDD!Justin is different not because of his circumstances, but because they’ve got echoes of a past life [...even if they don’t remember the specifics anymore].

on the flipside, the NHDD crew would get a better idea of just how unusual their Justin is, and their secret might get discovered somewhere in this

Cabal meets canon. Cue explosions, and a lot of dark hilarity because this League of Supposed-to-be-Evil-but-mostly-Just-Vibing has way better teamwork than the elite team of superheroes assembled to protect the Earth.

Victor’s probably the snarkiest here, once the shock of “holy shit I knew I hadn’t expected to survive Latveria’s civil war but is this what would’ve happened to my homeland? thanks I hate it” wears off.

NH!Bucky gives absolutely no fucks about shit going down anymore, splits his time between hunting down HYDRA [which seems to be even more of a problem in this hellscape, ugh] and avoiding this universe’s Steve Rogers because self-care is a thing and he has no idea what this universe’s Bucky is up to but he knows he’s probably in not as great a place as he was. 

[artificialqueens]

Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, 1 (Branjie) (and background everyone) - Ortega

a/n: hey everyone! no ur not getting deja vu, i’m reposting what i have of this fic again just with a few necessary adjustments if u kwam. rip all my notes and lovely comments as i’m going to have chapter 1 deleted after this for obvious reasons, so feel free to still leave me some luv bc i’m ngl, re-jigging two fics is taking it out of me asdfghjklkjhgfds. without further ado may i now present to you strictly au 2: electric boogaloo xo

(this one goes out to the anon who wanted radio 1 DJ Heidi Nina Closet xo)

fic summary: Strictly Come Dancing enters its 18th series and its producers, after being goaded by a rival dance show on its inclusivity, commission it to be an all-female cast. Unlike Akeria who’s just here to bone her potential dance partner, dancer Vanessa is ready to act like a professional.

And then TV presenter Brooke Lynn walks into the rehearsal room.

***

8th August 2020

Political correctness gone mad. Or at least, that’s what all the straight, white, 50 year old men have been tweeting. But the TV bosses thought that a same-sex version of the nation’s favourite dancing show would pull the viewers in, at least get some hype going like the good old days. The show’s been going since 2004, Vanessa thinks, as she rolls her neck and looks at the various alleged celebrities opposite them. This is what caused the death of the X Factor, all these sensationalist spin-offs, and now they’re doing the same with this one. She supposes the BBC were intimidated by Dancing on Ice, who had a single solitary same-sex couple on their show and were called out live by H from Steps. How humiliating. She’s only been part of the show for two years; this is her third, but her first one with a partner. She scans her eyes back down the line again, her gaze interrupted as Akeria whispers to her.

“Who you gunning for? I like that goddess, third from the right. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin. Shit, our babies would be beautiful.”

Vanessa pauses, looks at who Akeria’s talking about and snorts a laugh. “Keeks, that’s Asia O'Hara. The chef? She’s been on Saturday Kitchen a couple times.”

“You actually watch that shit?” Akeria side-eyed her.

“Hey, drop the judgemental tone, bitch! It’s easy, chilled-out Saturday morning viewing. Anyway, chefs? Nah. Two left feet and they stomp their way across the dancefloor.”

“It ain’t the dancefloor I’m worried about. I’m more interested in what’s going on in the bedroom,” Akeria wiggles her eyebrows, making Vanessa snort a laugh. Seeing her friend’s expression of disbelief, Akeria rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, Vanj. You telling me you never thought about it? A lil’ steamy affair? Get the Daily Mail’s tongues wagging?”

“Shut the hell up. You’re awful,” Vanessa laughs long-sufferingly in reply, casts her eyes back down the line of celebrities. Scarlet Envy is at the top- Vanessa knows her, she’s in one of the big soap operas. She’s talking quite earnestly to Yvie Oddly. Vanessa is aware of Yvie only because her niece is obsessed with her Youtube channel. What is it she does again? Gaming walkthroughs? She can’t remember. There’s a tall newsreader with dark hair that Vanessa doesn’t remember the name of but she knows that Jan’s eyeing her up from across the room, so even if she ends up being half-decent and Vanessa gets on well with her Jan will still cut her to make sure she ends up with her as a partner. There’s a black girl with a mane of dark hair and a gap tooth chatting to a blonde woman with glittery makeup, some pretty girls that must be influencers or makeup artists or something (in fact, Vanessa definitely recognises one from Love Island), and Monet X Change. Vanessa definitely knows her, and she’s quite surprised the show managed to net Monet given that most of the singers that appear on the show are usually washed up talent show rejects. Vanessa’s seen some clips of her touring, she knows she’s a good dancer. Maybe she’d be good.

Vanessa takes one final sweep down the line as she sees the producers readying themselves to begin. One, two, three, four…hang on. There’s only eleven celebrities, and unless she’s suddenly lost the ability to count Vanessa knows there’s twelve dancers. Maybe they were going to be more cutthroat than she thought, maybe this would be where they decide which dancers they’re giving partners to and which one they’re cutting. Vanessa nervously shifts in her character shoes as the producers begin their welcome.

As they’re talking, the huge rehearsal room doors burst open and a tall blonde comes rushing through them, dressed in white trainers, a baggy white gym top, and black Nike leggings. She looks on her way to be sweating half of her perfectly made up face off as she runs over to join the other celebrities, sweeping her long, curling-ironed hair up into a bun and apologising frantically as she does so.

“Kiki,” Vanessa whispers to her friend. “Who’s that?”

She feels Akeria shrug beside her. Luckily Monique is standing by her right side and has heard her question.

“Oh, bitch! That’s Brooke Lynn. She presents stuff.”

“What the fuck’s stuff?” Vanessa laughs quietly, not wanting to incur the wrath of the producers by talking over them.

“She did, uh…The Voice. An’ she did some kind of consumer show in the evenings. She does The One Show now. Bunch of boring ass shit, basically,” Monique waves a hand dismissively towards the end, gets distracted by a wink and a small wave across the room from Monet X Change.

“Damn. So they give her all the boring shows to present because they know people will tune in ‘cause she’s hot?” Vanessa muses. It’s just a fact, after all. She’s not been able to tear her eyes away from her since she rushed into the room. Vanessa hopes she’s a good dancer.

“Oop. Here we go already. The Strictly curse claims its first victim,” Akeria overhears her, sticks her tongue out at her as Vanessa bats her on the arm. The sudden movement causes one of the producers to whip round and glare at Vanessa and she immediately drops her arm and fixes him with an easy smile.

When she looks back at Brooke Lynn, she’s hiding her mouth with her hand and her eyes are twinkling at her in a laugh. Vanessa presses her lips together to keep from smiling back.

They all warm up together, even though Vanessa’s already warmed up, but it’s a good chance to see who has potential and who looks more like an octopus out of water with half its limbs cut off. She scans the mirrored wall as she rolls her shoulders in time with the EDM that’s blasting from the speakers. The blonde influencer-looking girl is fucked from the start, Vanessa notes. She’s rolling her shoulders both the wrong way and off-beat. One of the celebrities, the pouty one from Love Island, is already complaining that she’s pulled a muscle. Vanessa makes the executive decision that if she gets partnered up with her then she’s quitting the show and also possibly going on a killing spree in Elstree Studios.

Brooke Lynn hasn’t met her eyes since they caught each others’ earlier. She’s not being weird, it’s just an observation. Vanessa’s, however, have drifted her way a couple of times. Brooke seems to be sailing through the warmup that Jaida’s leading easily, and Vanessa notes how easily she’s managing the split stretches, how she can bend her body almost in half until her head touches the floor. She’s clearly had some sort of dance training before, and Vanessa thinks her good looks would just be a bonus of being partnered with her. She sweeps her gaze across the room again as she stretches out her other leg, her gaze landing on Yvie. She’s bendy, her forehead pressed to the floor as she stretches out and giggles at Scarlet beside her whose body appears to be made almost entirely of cardboard. Vanessa stifles a giggle herself as Jaida starts leading them in squats, hears Monique muttering something to her as she drops to the floor. Vanessa fixes her with a confused face.

“Think you’ve got an admirer,” Monique repeats a little louder, raising her eyebrows and jerking her head behind them to where the celebrities warmed up. Vanessa brings herself up out of the squat, whips her head round to see Brooke looking right at her.

Or rather, her ass.

As Brooke suddenly looks at about six different places in the room in the space of a second and her face turns roughly the same colour as a fire engine, Vanessa turns her head back round, trying to ignore the heat she can feel attacking her own face.

It’s kind of ironic that every year at least one couple is claimed by the Strictly curse and yet the producers still call the process of finding a potential partner “Speed Dating”. The curse is a phenomenon that Vanessa has felt the brunt of and knows all too well- a partner and a contestant, almost every year, end up either falling for each other or falling into bed with each other. It’s natural, she supposes- you can’t spend practically every waking moment of every day pressed up against someone else and not trip and fall onto their dick. However, this is a room full of girls, at least half of whom Vanessa knows are gay as all hell, and maybe this year there’ll be a bit more nuance and obliviousness and just general all-round idiocy.

Looking at the celebrities, she sees Scarlet joke-grinding against Yvie, both of them almost falling over laughing. Maybe everyone will be a little less oblivious than Vanessa has given them credit for.

One of the producers launches into a spiel about how the pairing up process will work. Everyone knows they won’t get properly paired up until the launch show, but this will be more of a chemistry test than a dancing test, he explains, to see who gets on with each other best. Then at the end, all of them will get to write down their top three potential partners.

“After all,” he laughs, “You’re going to be spending a long time together!”

There’s a polite bubble of laughter that pops in the room, and Vanessa feels her stomach explode suddenly with butterflies. What if she gets paired up with someone she doesn’t get on well with at all, never mind someone who can dance? Her mind drifts. Phi Phi’s standing beside her, her face set in a small frown. Vanessa whispers to her.

“Who you got your eyes on?”

Phi Phi doesn’t shift her gaze, and Vanessa follows it. Her gaze lands on the woman with the glittery makeup who’s laughing like a seal at something that gap tooth girl has said and isn’t paying any attention to what the producers are saying. “Anyone with a pulse who’s taking the competition seriously. I know who I don’t want, put it that way.”

Vanessa indulges her in a laugh. Phi Phi has reached the semi-final four times and has never advanced further, and her frustration is starting to show. Vanessa supposes she’s at an advantage here- she’s fresh on the show, she doesn’t have any chips on her shoulder. As she looks around the room, she can see each of the dancers’ past experiences reflected on their faces like battle scars: four-time World Championship finalist Courtney is smiling easily, happy in the knowledge that she won last year and will probably get a dud partner this year, Shea, former West End Choreographer who could literally get given Theresa May and still manage to advance to the finals has a calm exterior, and frowning determinedly is 2018 Latin European champion Vixen, who bowed out early last year with her partner and has expressed very openly and very loudly to everyone who’ll hear her that she’s going for the glitterball this year. In a similar boat is World Cup Freestyle Latin Champion Aja, who was up against Courtney in the finals last year and lost by only a tiny margin of the vote. The girl doesn’t seem bitter, but she’s already got her eyes trained on Monet and has clearly backed her winner already. Crystal is lost in a daydream, classic. To the untrained eye the girl may look as if she couldn’t even do the macarena in time, but the girls know better. Crystal is hard-working, determined, creative, clever, and one of the highest-ranking ballroom and Latin dancers in the country. Vanessa knows that whoever she gets as a partner she’ll be able to mold into something amazing.

Vanessa’s gaze then lands on Plastique. The girl is a fierce dancer and it’s her fifth year on the show already. If she’s nervous, she doesn’t show it. Then again, she trained under Alyssa Edwards so she’s very possibly not felt butterflies in her stomach since the year 2012. Vanessa’s eyes widen a bit as she notices Plastique eyeing up Brooke. She’s going to need to turn up the charm all the way to 100, as Plastique’s reputation precedes her and she’ll be top choice for a lot of the girls opposite.

One by one, the dancers introduce themselves. Vanessa keeps her introduction short and sweet. She doesn’t like to brag about her titles unlike some of the other girls, and she knows that her achievements are outshone by many so she focuses on the fact it’s her first year with a partner instead.

“I ain’t got a track record like Courtney, but I also ain’t got one like Monique either,” Vanessa jokes, her friend nudging her and shouting in protest as the other girls laugh. Monique takes it in good humour though- she’s been an early out for a few years in a row having kept landing Olympic sportsmen with limbs like toy soldiers, so it’s a fair enough comment. Vanessa continues, trying not to let her eyes land on Brooke all that much. “So whoever gets paired with me don’t need to be worried ‘cuz they’re gonna always end up being special to me. My first partner on the show, and the first person I get to experience it with. And I’d be happy to get any of you, because you all look nice and smiley an’ friendly!”

She adds in that last bit to come across as gracious, and it seems to work as the celebrities opposite all smile at her gently and she hears a couple of “aaw!”s thrown her way. She can practically feel Phi Phi, Aja and Vixen all roll their eyes at her, but she doesn’t care. It’s a point in her favour with the girls opposite at least.

After the professionals have all said their piece, the celebrities pipe up. To give them their dues, there are quite a few that Vanessa would be glad to be partnered up with. Peppermint, a TV journalist, seems like she’d be great to gossip with if nothing else, Gigi, the once so intimidating-looking model has got a goofy side that would keep Vanessa sane in rehearsals, and Instagram influencer Blair seems similarly sweet and is so eager to please that it almost hurts. Then Brooke steps forward, her expression the serene calm of a woman who’s used to speaking in front of an audience, and all Vanessa can think about is how much of a point that confident, in-control body language would be in their favour when they took to the floor in week one.

No, not when. If. She’s getting ahead of herself.

“Hey everyone! I’m Brooke Lynn Hytes, uh, I present stuff. I’m basically like Ant and Dec but without the loveable double-act element and the millions of national TV awards clogging up my trophy cabinets and gathering dust.”

Vanessa lets out a snort. The actual joke isn’t even that funny, but Brooke’s delivery was so deadpan and matter of fact that it made the whole thing ten times more hilarious. Akeria turns to face Vanessa, raises her eyebrows and hisses over to her.

“Girl. Any further up her ass and your new nickname is gonna be suppository for the rest of the season.”

“Uh, dance-experience-wise I actually have a fair bit. I did exams and dance shows in high school. I don’t know if I should’ve mentioned that, now you’re all gonna be fighting over me like a pack of zombies,” Brooke laughs. The other girls join in with the laughter and Vanessa shifts from foot to foot. Brooke doesn’t know how accurate she’s just been. Oblivious, she carries on. “So yeah! Good luck to us all. Please don’t tear me limb from limb.”

Another laugh that Vanessa joins in weakly with. Unsurprisingly, Brooke introducing herself to the room has done nothing for Vanessa’s nerves. She has a favourite now, but it’s akin to putting money on a greyhound race- it’s a complete gamble. She tells herself that she can’t pin her hopes on getting partnered with Brooke, even though that thought is a bit like locking a stable door after the pony’s bolted, or whatever the goddamn figure of speech is. As gap-in-teeth-girl who’s standing beside Brooke begins to introduce herself (Heidi’s a Radio 1 DJ, and that explains why her voice sounds so familiar) Vanessa jumps a little as she hears Monique whisper to her out of nowhere.

“Girl, Jesus. Dare you to be less obvious.”

Vanessa narrows her eyes at her as she turns her head. “What?”

“Brooke Lynn,” Monique cocks her head towards the girl in question. Vanessa keeps her gaze steely. “Put your tongue back in your mouth, sis.”

“Oh, like you’ve not got a favourite already,” Vanessa whispers back. She’s got the Monet card she can use if she wants to.

“You know you don’t have to take that partner thing literally, right? You don’t actually have to fuck the person you get matched with,” Monique shoots back, pressing her lips together to stop herself from laughing. Vanessa rolls her eyes.

“You’re being ridiculous. She’s got dance experience, the height difference is good, I could win with her. There’s nothing more to it than that. I’d be happy with any of these bitches.”

Monique raises her eyebrows. “You’re not tryin’ to be Miss World, Vanj, it’s okay to say you wouldn’t kick her outta bed.”

“Okay, so what about Monet? I’m sure the reason that you keep lookin’ all the way down that end of the room is definitely…shit, I don’t know…some sort of eye condition?” Vanessa uses her trump card, smiles and sticks her tongue out at Monique who gives her a little shove and clamps her mouth shut in a pout, knowing she’s been outmanoeuvred. Vanessa tunes back in to the introductions. The Love Island girl introduces herself as Farrah, and she’s pouting and asking the pros not to work her too hard. Vanessa thinks back to what Phi Phi had said. She’ll give the girl some credit. Maybe Vanessa should focus more on who she doesn’t want after all.

The producers start leading girls from their side of the room to the middle so that they form two big vertical lines in front of each other. Vanessa starts in front of Blair, who smiles kindly at her and appears too shy to speak. There’s no time for Vanessa to really attempt to strike up a conversation as they’re all getting shuffled around based on their heights. She watches as Brooke gets moved from in front of Aja, past Shea, past Crystal, and finally given to Jan.

Fuck.

Vanessa shakes the disappointment off. She’s being ridiculous, she knows she’ll get a turn with mostly everyone and the fact that Brooke’s tall, statuesque frame contrasts with her pint-sized self means that she’s a dead cert to get a shot at dancing with her. There’s not many people smaller than her so she knows she’s not going to be leading. This is good, as she’s obviously not used to it. The girls paired up with the smaller celebrities are going to have to work twice as hard.

Blair gets shuffled around to be partnered with Aja, and eventually Vanessa gets Gigi deposited in front of her. She gives her a friendly wave and a pleasant smile, and eventually everyone is paired up- for now. Vanessa looks over at Akeria, notices she’s been given Asia to dance with first. Akeria meets her gaze and gives her a smile that Vanessa doesn’t think she’s going to be able to wipe off her face until mid-June of next year.

As the producers give the girls some time to teach the celebrities an incredibly basic salsa step to start them off with, Vanessa relaxes as she begins talking Gigi through the steps. She’s glad she’s finally getting to do what she loves instead of being consumed by nerves and what-ifs. She knows how to dance and she’s good at it- it’s just a fact- and she knows she’s able to teach things, having helped out with the kids at her dance school when she was younger. To her delight Gigi picks things up quickly, and the two of them are simply dancing the same four basic moves in a loop as they move on to chatting.

“You’re a good teacher! It’s taking some of these other bitches ages,” Gigi laughs, Vanessa giving a guilty giggle at the comment as she notices Jadia, very patiently and very deliberately, walking Scarlet through the steps again.

“See, you wouldn’t think I never had a partner before!” Vanessa beams back at her, twirling around and landing back in Gigi’s hold. To some of the girls it might be a little awkward trying to make small-talk with someone they’ve just met whilst holding one of their hands and having another pressed to their back, but to Vanessa it comes naturally. She notices that Gigi is scanning the room and looking at the other girls. Vanessa knows a searching pair of eyes when she sees one. “You got your eye on a girl?”

“Well, you’d be good,” Gigi says immediately, although how much of that is out of courtesy Vanessa doesn’t know. “Or, I mean. Jaida’s a fierce teacher, and she’s won it before, right?”

Vanessa nods. She knows that Gigi is still holding back the namedrop of the girl she really wants. “But I guess, you know, Crystal’s a talent. It kind of seems like everyone sleeps on her despite the fact she’s got all these trophies and ranks so highly and she does ballroom and Latin. She ever won before?”

“Not yet. She got paired with some stompy politician last year and was an early out, but she made the semis before that,” Vanessa indulges her, although she’s quite sure that judging by the slight blush on Gigi’s face that she’s well aware of where Crystal’s ranked in previous seasons. Gigi seems nice, and she’s complimented Vanessa so she decides to throw one her way too. “You’ve got potential, you could take her to the finals easily. She could do a lot with you.”

“That’s sweet. Thanks,” Gigi smiles, Vanessa giving another twirl just as the producers get everyone to stop and switch round again. Time passes by in steps and twirls rather than minutes, but the variety of people she gets paired with ensures that things don’t become boring. Vanessa gets Scarlet, who steps on her toes about three times and, in her own words, dances like an inflatable waving tube man stuck outside a car showroom, then actress Willam, the one with the laugh like a seal and sparkly makeup and scant regard for the moves she’s been taught, preferring to make Vanessa laugh the whole time. After that she is paired with Jackie, the newsreader she’d noticed earlier. She shows promise but Vanessa does notice Jan’s head bobbing about looking at them from the other side of the room the whole time they’re together like an invasive meerkat so Vanessa does her a solid and talks Jan up a storm. She can’t really focus too much on Jackie, to be fair, because Plastique’s been partnered with Brooke and the two of them are already laughing and hitting it off with each other and Vanessa feels her blood fizz with determination.

Finally, mercifully, Brooke gets led down by one of the producers to stand in front of her, and for a moment Vanessa is tongue-tied. Brooke’s dark green eyes and her gorgeous face are a little intimidating, not that she’s got a crush or anything, and Vanessa feels herself growing shy for a second. But then she remembers that they only have minutes together, and if she wants to be partnered with this girl she’s going to have to up the charm offensive. The producers have been stalking the room like lions with notebooks, recording every laugh and lingering glance.

“Hey!” Vanessa starts cheerfully, fixing Brooke with the winning smile she always used to flash at the judges when she was competing. “I’m Vanjie. Well, Vanessa. Either. Is fine.”

Brooke smiles back at her despite the fact that her introduction was so awkward Vanessa feels like digging a hole in the ground and leaping into it. “Nice to meet you, Vanjie-Well-Vanessa. I’m Brooke Lynn.“

Before Vanessa can feel any more embarrassed at Brooke’s teasing, she takes a little bow and stands ready, her hand held out for her to take. "May I have this dance?”

Vanessa lets out a laugh at the cheesiness of it all, takes Brooke’s hand and stands in hold with her. Their hands seem to fit perfectly together and even though their bodies are still quite far apart Brooke’s hand on her back makes Vanessa feel close to her in a way she’s not felt dancing with any man before.

Monique’s teasing face appears in her mind and Vanessa shakes those particular thoughts away.

“I bet you said that to all these girls,” Vanessa quirks an eyebrow at her, and Brooke tilts her head to the ceiling in thought.

“Uh…no, don’t think so. Just you so far,” she shrugs, and it definitely doesn’t make Vanessa feel special in any way at all.

They start to step and oh shit. This is exciting. This is the first girl that’s properly led her, the first one that the moves have seemed to come so easily to, and Vanessa can feel her heart going like a train as she imagines what she could actually choreograph with a girl like Brooke to work with. She’s a bit quiet as she’s lost in thought, so she cracks an impressed face at the girl opposite her.

“You’re good.”

“Yeah, so are you,” Brooke looks at her a little funny, her face inquisitive. “Hey, how come you didn’t mention any of your accolades? Y'know. World Latin Champion 2016, four-time finalist. That’s a bragging right.”

Vanessa almost loses her steps she’s so shocked. How the fuck does Brooke know about all that? She’s not mentioned it. Brooke can clearly see the shock on her face and a blush hits her cheeks. “That probably sounds weird. I looked you up when I knew I was coming on the show.”

Vanessa laughs, pulls a face at Brooke. “Nah, that sounds even more weird. You’re just digging yourself a hole now.”

Brooke gives an embarrassed giggle, looks up at the sky to avoid Vanessa’s gaze and oh fuck she’s still moving perfectly and she’s not got her eyes trained on her feet holy shit. “No, I mean I looked all the girls up!”

Vanessa bursts out laughing again. The girl’s not helping her case. “Dig, dig, dig, bitch!”

Brooke squeals in protest as Vanessa feels her smile hurt her face. “You know what I mean! Ugh, God. Just answer the question and stop picking on me. I’m a very important celebrity. Don’t you know who I am?”

Brooke’s deadpan sort of humour is killing Vanessa. She tries to get out another jibe through her laugh. “Jesus, I hope that’s not how you normally interview people.”

There’s a pause as Brooke laughs back. Vanessa thinks over her question. “I don’t know. Guess I just didn’t want to come across like a showoff.”

“But it’s just a fact. You’re good,” Brooke shrugs. The praise makes Vanessa’s heart light up.

“An’ I guess I didn’t want the same as you. People fightin’ over me,” she shrugs back, making light of Brooke’s compliment. Brooke pulls a face.

“I don’t know about that, I think I’m going to have to fight off a couple of these girls if I want you,” she comments offhandedly, Vanessa suddenly feeling like she’d been shocked with a tazer. She’d been so focused on trying to charm the partner she wanted that she had no idea the celebrities would’ve been gunning for her too.

“Who wants to be partnered with me?” she asks, thinking retrospectively that she could’ve tried to appear a little less keen.

“Well, Asia’s making a bee-line, I know that much. And Willam was all smiles after she left you. And, I mean, I wouldn’t mind getting you either,” Brooke says, her last comment making Vanessa happier than it should.

“Wouldn’t mind? You’re gonna have to work harder than that,” Vanessa raises her eyebrows, faux-unimpressed. She has to slam her mouth shut at the end of her sentence to avoid tacking on a “baby” to the end of it. Jesus, what is wrong with her?

“You know they give us that card at the end where we write our top three partner choices on it,” Brooke continues. The fact she is trying so hard to come across as nonchalant is making her seem everything but, and Vanessa is loving it. “Hypothetically…would I be on yours?”

“Hypothetically? You might be,” Vanessa grins at her, spins round and misses the look that Brooke gives back at her. Is this flirting? She needs to stop.

“And, uh, hypothetically, of course, would I be first, second or third on that list?”

Vanessa looks to the ceiling, maintains the charade of not appearing overly keen. “At the moment, you are…third.”

Brooke’s face is so actively shocked that Vanessa bursts out laughing. “Third?! You bitch! Why?”

Vanessa composes herself. “Well first of all, I don’t know where you’re putting me on this list, girl, so I gotta hedge my bets. Second, I’m still trying to recover from wouldn’t mind, so that knocks you down a place. Also you just called me a bitch, so you’re now reserve-third.”

“If I told you you were first on my list, does that move me up a place?” Brooke smiles at her cheekily. Vanessa tries to keep a calm exterior and not show Brooke that she’s maybe-sort-of-a-little-bit melting at her words.

“You could. How do I know you’re telling the truth, though?”

Brooke shrugs a little. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

With that, Vanessa feels Brooke’s hand being ripped out of her own and coming to rest in between her shoulder blades, and suddenly she’s being dipped to the ground and brought back up again. She ends up pressed up against Brooke’s chest, her face tilted up to meet hers and her lips way too close to be good for Vanessa’s heart rate. She hears an impressed cry from someone- probably Monique or Akeria stirring the pot- and there’s a kind of hush that falls over the room in response to the move that’s a little bit more advanced than anyone was expecting.

“O-kay!” a producer exclaims, and Vanessa melts out of hold, only a little bit captivated. “If we could all switch round again, uh, I think we’ll have Aja with…Farrah-”

Brooke gives her a wink and a smile as she walks away towards Courtney who she’s been paired with next, and Vanessa attempts to compose herself as she gives a little wave back and tries to focus on Monet who she’s now in front of.

If things all ended up the way she wanted them to, this was going to be a very interesting season.

[bbelphie]

astra, i feel like we don’t know you at all!! say, can you tell us who is your most favorite character in obey me, and who is the least? love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

ok so THIS was difficult snxjms and as you asked afterwards, i also added why i feel this way way about them! love u 💖 sorry this turned out long tho

my list:

BELPHEGOR — i mean, it’s kinda obvious, right? (cough bbelphie is the name of the blog) ever since the start of the game, i wandered about who the fuck that resting bitch face boy was. like, honestly curious. when we met him at the attic, the first thing i thought about belphie was how manipulative he was, and although i’d have hated him, his situation and the game’s universe in general made me reconsider my choice. i found out that he was so much more complex than what i first thought of him. and i LOVE characters like that. belphegor had his reasons, his own past and way of seeing things and i just wanted to know him better, not just because i was curious, but because i’ve grown to like him, in a way. it wasn’t instantaneous, but i kinda saw that coming, you know? i’m not sure if i can explain well how i feel about him (i can’t express my feelings well in any way cof) but belphegor was the character that i was most eager to know about. (ouch i have so many other things to say about him) also he’s a sassy little shit and i love him for that.

MAMMON — the fact mammon was with us since the beginning is a big part of this place (but not the only one). and yeaaah, i know he was a little bitch about looking after mc and i was also blinded by my prejudice against personality based characters like him (narcissist, arrogant, show off) but then we get to know him better. mammon has so much more sides of his personality than that. (besides being a tsun tsun) so by that scene when we were competing against levi and lucifer saved us because mammon couldn’t make it in time, mammon was like “next time I will be the one saving you!!” i was already “YES YOU IDIOT I LOVE YOU TOO” and it was just downhill from there.

SATAN — honestly? he’s my type. the intellectual one, cat lover, fan of mystery and detective books and all that shit made me fall for him, hard. and then i saw his backstory and i fell for him EVEN HARDER. he has sooo much i want to know about! behind the facade he wears constantly in front of everyone there was so much more than the sin he’s avatar of. his arc was one of the lessons i loved the most, without doubt. though i wished the devs had gone deeper into his character, like uhhh i don’t know how to elaborate on this, but i feel we scratched only the surface of who satan really is. (besides that, satan def would be a beast in bed and my hcs about that does’t end)

LEVIATHAN — ahh it was too difficult to choose between him and beel. but i relate to levi quite a lot — animes, self depreciation, manga and all that stuff. he striked me as someone i wouldn’t like so much at the beginning but i’ve grown to love him. that was because of... well, i know envy is the deadly sin he’s avatar of, but man it’s annoying sometimes dnbfxk however! i love him either way. i just think that he should appreciate more things in life instead instead of putting himself down but who i am to talk? i used to be like that and i still am, just not as much. that must be most of the reasons of why i want to be by his side and reassure him that not everything in life is unfair, but can also be a way to make ourselves stronger. taking that emotional shit aside, i love his fanboy side!! i rant a lot about the things i like, especially animes and mangas, and seeing him so enthusiastic about things like that makes me feel like with him, i would act like myself the most.

BEELZEBUB — i love himbo!!! the giant, strong one that looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll? yes, sign me the fuck in. he’s the sOFTEST i swear to god almost all the scenes that made my heart explode with love was with him. when he asked to hold your hand while sleeping because he’s afraid of having any more nightmares about lilith and belphie and their fall from the celestial realm made my heart go BOOM. i would do ANYTHING for this boy 😭😭 beel was first i warmed up to in the game! i was gonna put him in the fourth place with levi but it would be too long.

LUCIFER — hhh this guys right here. ngl i was intimidated as fuck at first. but then i saw how he was family driven, always putting their safety and well being first and overall just being a loving brother, tho very discretely. and bruh characters like that are my DEATH??? he is so soft for the ones he loves and would do anything in his power to make them be safe and sound, even if it takes some sacrifices. i was touched by his past, how he had to hide so much from his brothers because he felt he should carry his burden alone. i especially love when lucifer tears off that prideful and powerful facade and shows that he’s capable of loving and being vulnerable and just idk man it just hits home im gonna cry

ASMODEUS — baby boy. lusty boy. ntt solmare did him dirty. he deserves SO MUCH MORE!! asmo has so much potential to be a favorite if only they had developed him better. that arc of his when we make a pact with him was lacking, in my opinion. the devs could have gone deeper into his character, showing that his not just a personification of lust, only its avatar. i’m sure there are different sides to his personality, you know? we’ve been seeing hints throughout the story and devilgrams (most of the time they’re very subtle!!) that asmo needs or/and constantly wants to feel loved, wanted, desired and/or admired. that could be a trauma or something of the sort that was created after his fall from the celestial realm. however this theory of mine is not full developed yet so i can’t really tell you guys about it in more detail. i still love him nevertheless!!

others characters:

SOLOMON — he is shady. and powerful. i love that. besides that, i think i may have a thing for white haired characters. but really, i love this guy, don’t know how but i do. there’s a lot i wanna know about him, and i feel he’s hiding or planning something big. and maybe evil. but ngl his interactions with asmo are the best!!

SIMEON — ara ara baby. i’m 100% in love with him. simeon is someone really good to have as a favorite honestly. even if he doesn’t get much screentime, anyone would realize that ever since the beginning he’s a very truthful person, with calming and chill vibes. i don’t know how to explain it well but with all the shit the brothers make mc go through, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you find yourself overwhelmed, and simeon is exactly the kind of person that makes you feel heard and seen; his atmosphere has this effect of making people feel at ease.... cough cough anyways a little bit nsfw but to me he’s either really kinky (without noticing or even knowing anything about kinks) or super innocent. that’s pretty much why i’ve seen this 50/50 aspect appearing constantly with his stans. p.s: not to be lewd but i wanna hold his hand 😳

LUKE — he’s my baby brother. i adopted him.

DIAVOLO — there’s so much of this guy we haven’t seen yet!! i know he’s like a cool dad and all but bruh, he’s the next demon king!! he must be a excelent strategist and is more powerful and intelligent than he lets on. i saw so many theories about diavolo, but my favorite so far is the one where diavolo kinda caused the celestial war indirectly. he’s another character that i feel we’ve only scratched the surface.

BARBATOS — everything about him screams “SUSPICIOUS”, he just hides it better than solomon. ngl i was rly curious about him and his powers and then i discovered he has control over TIME?? that’s too overpower!! but damn, i do love characters with time control powers...(victor from mlqc im looking at you) sometimes he looks like a dead fish. sometimes he looks hot. i don’t know bruh i’m half scared and half aroused by this guy.

that’s pretty much it i think? lmao there’s so much more i wanna say about them but this is all that comes to my mind right now!

[shellyeah90]

I don't usually post personal or even opinionated things. I primarily use social media for the memes and my preferred form of communication while here is gifs. But, to put things simply (because there aren't words to fully express my feelings), I am pissed.

Our state is in crisis and instead of handling the situation, Texas citizens have been failed in so many ways. No one here was ready for this storm. Hurricanes, we can handle. They happen yearly. But a statewide winter storm? We've never had one here. The cold, the ice, the windy chill... we don't know how to function in it. Other areas who are used to this weather can poke fun, but maybe consider hunkering down in your home because there's too many people to evacuate the city, being stuck while your power goes out and there are 130mph winds outside, watching helplessly while water rises above your roofs and ruins everything you've worked so hard for all of your life, and wondering just how you're going to keep your family safe long enough to catch a boat out. Because we do that shit. And it gets worse every year, but we keep working together to keep each other safe and help each other out. We smile and are friendly with each other, but we don't make fun of people in helpless situations.

Texas citizens aren't equipped for winter storms. We don't have snow tires, snow plows, or salt trucks. Our clothes aren't very warm, they're not snow or wind resistant, we don't typically use gloves, scarves, or whatever other accessories are used in snow. And we wear the same shoes in winter that we wear for any other season. Our homes aren't insulated for cold. Our pipes aren't insulated for ice. Our winters don't generally fall below 60°F and we're not prepared for it to.

So, when climate change (yes, it's real) took it's toll and brought a real winter to our state, it became a crisis... a statewide disaster, even. And the leaders that we rely on, the ones that were voted into office and are paid for by our taxes, not only failed their state, but showed calloused disregard for their citizens.

On 8am Monday morning, my husband and I lost power. And, with our water being sourced from a well, we had no access to water, either. At the time, we still had cell service and were in contact with friends that had lost power at 2am. It was approximately 25°F outside. At the time, it was 68°F inside of our house.

Hearing that the Super Stop on the corner of North Main and Cedar Bayou Lynchburg was open, my husband and a neighbor walked down together. The roads were iced and it was too risky to drive. They arrived to find that the owner was charging cash only and not using his computer (no paper trail) so that he could charge double for everything. $7 for a 24 pack of bottled water. $14 for a 4lb bag of charcoal. It is baffling how someone can take advantage of a terrible situation. It sickens me. But we needed water. And our neighbor needed charcoal. So price gouging continues in a vicious cycle.

We don't have children, but we keep many different exotic animals that need certain climate conditions in order to survive. It took two hours for the inside of our house to drop 18 degrees, down to 50°F, reaching deadly levels for most of our pets.

Our bearded dragon (Merlin), no longer having his heat sources, slipped into brumation. He is 3 years old and has never had to brumate before. Our pixie frog (Prince Charming, also 3yrs), burrowed down and began to hibernate for the first time. It was too dark for us to check on the red-eyed crocodile skinks (Big and Red) or the Vietnamese centipede (Burton), but they had seemed to burrow, as well. We couldn't see the axlotls (Silly and Willy) but we believed they were okay. Our green bottle blue tarantula (Pennywise), curled up and died. We blocked the windows to try and keep the cold from coming in and covered up habitats to try and keep in warmth. The green cheek conure (Jigsaw) and parrotlet (Navi) seemed to be well, just stressed and confused. We gave them extra seeds to keep them warm. The rats (Hannibal, Dorian, and Bilbo) huddled to keep each other warm. We had already blocked off the outdoor aviary containing a pair of finches and a pair of parakeets for the colder weather and they were all nesting to keep warm. The day before, my husband had brought in a half-frozen, near-dead lizard (Draco) and he was alive but not well in his temporary rescue home. The dogs (Kuzco and Lulu) and I all bundled together as we waited (and prayed) for our power to come back on soon.

The power did not come back on. And the temperature continued to drop. Still cuddled together, we could only hope that the inside of our poorly insulated home would at least stay above freezing point. But it did not. After a horrible night of silent, shivering attempts to sleep, we found that our house was at 32°F exactly.

The birds are my husband's babies. They've bonded and he loves them dearly. And as I was tending to my dogs, I had to watch him come out of his office cradling Navi in his hands. He had tears in his eyes when he murmured "Navi didn't make it." And it took everything that I had to hold myself together for him.

I waited until he went back into his office, still holding Navi, to be with Jigsaw before I checked on Merlin. To my horror, my bearded dragon was no longer just brumating. He wasn't just limp and unresponsive. He was frozen stiff. He wasn't moving at all. He was gone.

In a desperate effort to save their lives I called for my husband to go to the car with me. We bundled them in blankets and rushed to the only place where we could find warmth. With the car's heater on full blast we both held our beloved pets and prayed for a miracle. In our rush of panic, we both made attempts at compressions. We petted our babies to get their blood flowing. We did everything that we could think of to save them.

I remember holding my breath when I thought I saw Merlin take his. I watched closely to make sure that I wasn't seeing things. And when I saw his spikes moving and his stomach shakily inhale and then slowly exhale, I shouted excitedly "he's breathing!" My husband, also excited, leaned over to see. And we smiled at each other when the breathing continued. I watched my dragon revive. And I will never be able to describe the extreme sense of relief that I felt when he finally opened his eyes and looked at me.

Our little Navi and my sweet husband were not as lucky. And my heart is still breaking for them.

With a new sense of fear and loss, we brought our creatures into our bedroom and shut all of the doors. We stuffed clothes under the gaps in the doors. We blocked the windows as best as we could. We cuddled and bundled and just hoped that we wouldn't lose anyone else. There in the dark, freezing silence, we also discovered that cell service was shoddy, at best. We had no communication and no connection with the outside world, which seemed to have frozen over in an apocalyptic nightmare, we waited and hoped that power would come back soon. It had been more that 24hours, after all. Surely the electric companies would have figured out how to actually roll the blackouts by then, right? They had promised rolling blackouts. They had said it would be 30-45 minutes. That would have been well enough for everyone. We could have survived that. My babies could have survived that. My home wouldn't have become a freezing death trap if the blackouts were rolling. But they didn't roll. I had friends that never lost power. I had friends that went without it longer than we did. And all we could do was hold our beloved pets and wait.

By some luck, my husband and his brother were able to text each other, even though our cell phones were basically useless, and he invited us to his home. They had a generator. They had running water. They had warmth. Hope was on the horizon. But roads were still icy and chances of making it safely were slim. With our pets so at risk, and some barely alive, we felt we had no other choice. We loaded up the car with Merlin, Prince Charming, Jigsaw, the dogs, and whatever food we could fit. We didn't even pack clothes for ourselves. We just wanted to fit as many of our animals as we could and some food since they said they were low.

My husband fed Silly and Willy, making sure they ate. We read they could survive freezing temperatures and hoped they would be okay until we returned, whenever that would be. I filled up every bowl of food in my rats' cage and every water bottle, guessing it would last 2-3 days and hoping they could keep each other warm. It was still too dark to see my burrowed skinks and centipede. We tried to place everyone, including Draco, in the warmest areas (although with the house below freezing, there was no place that could be considered warm). We gave the outdoor birds as much food and water as we could. Every window was covered and every door was shut. We did everything that we could think of to protect our pets.

Stressed, weary, and down-trodden, we began the drive across Houston. Many roads were closed. GPS was down. Texts and calls weren't guaranteed to make it through. And there were so many people that still sped along the roads as if there weren't ice caked over it. We watched vehicles slide. We watched people, not knowing how to react, slam on their brakes when they lost traction. We kept our distance from other drivers and drove slowly, carefully, to our destination. We just wanted to keep our family safe and alive. And, fortunately, we only hit ice twice and both times we made it safely back to traction. A trip that usually takes about an hour with traffic took us over two with no traffic. But we made it.

Our sister-in-law was waiting for us in their standalone office where she had prepared a heater and space for our creatures. They set it up because it was warmer than anywhere in the house. And they diverted energy from their generator just for our pets. Uncomfortable and in tiny, traveling enclosures, our babies were lined up on their desk. They were far from home and didn't have their UV lights, basking lights, giant habitats, or familiar surroundings. But they were alive. And they were warm.

Relieved that at least some of our babies were well, we focused on getting the dogs settled and unpacking the food. We had brought nearly everything from our fridge and freezer, which we had saved by simply opening the doors and letting the chill of our house keep it cool when the power went out. Now we were packing it in snow to keep it cold. I went inside to comfort my dogs. Kuzco, my 10mo shepsky, is very skittish and I was worried about how he was doing. He and Lulu, my 8wk aussierottie (whom I had only gotten a few days before), had been quarantined in the dining room with the table being used as a wall. Kuzco couldn't see anything but the occasional child coming up to say hello. He was happy for the company but scared of the dark. As I was trying to comfort him, my husband came inside and said "you need to come and hold your dragon again." And the sound of his voice and the look on his face had me nearly breaking my leg to get out of that barricade and to my Merlin.

Between the rush of packing in the dark and the stress of everything we'd been through, I'd forgotten a few important things: Kuzco's calming treats, thermometers, hygrometers, and my contacts (my glasses are several years old and I can't really see well with them). We had been so relieved at having a warm space for our babies and having finally arrived there safely, that we hadn't realized the office was not yet warm enough for them. At least, it wasn't warm enough for Merlin.

He had been licking at the air, so I knew that he was dry. In my concern, I mixed water in with his fresh soil so that he could have some humidity. Again, I had forgotten the necessary tools to measure his heat and humidity, so I was just guessing. And in these mistakes, the damp soil got cold faster than the office could get warm and he began to freeze again.

I found my dragon brumating once again. This time, he was only partially stiff, so I knew that he hadn't left me yet. I held him close to my chest and sat in front of the heater, once again trying to revive him. We also placed the soil in front of the heater to warm it up and dry it out a bit. Eventually, Merlin became alert again. But I was sick at having gone through so much, come so far, reaching what I thought was safety, and almost losing him again.

After making sure that he and his soil were okay, I again had to leave him to tend to my dogs. My husband was busy with Jigsaw and the unpacking. Prince Charming, fortunately, was doing just fine. I made sure both puppies ate, drank, and pottied outside. And, after a long, damn near impossible day, my husband and I were able to sleep. Or rather, we were able to attempt to sleep.

I will never be able to thank my in-laws enough for everything that they did for us. They have 4 children and 2 dogs of their own. And they had their mom and her cat staying in their living room. It was already stressful for them to not have power when they had their own family to care for. But they took ours in, as well. And I will always be beyond grateful for that.

That night, in my nieces' bedroom, I held my dogs and wondered if I would have to endure the loss of anymore of my babies. And as I tried to find sleep, my Kuzco began to hyperventilate. He had just lost his brother, my Xander, a week before. And now he was in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people where he had to be isolated because the cat was not a fan of strange dogs (she literally went out of her way to attack him, even when he was barricaded). And my dumbass had forgotten his calming treats. All I could do was hold him tight and tell him it was okay. It took a while, but I finally got him to sleep. My husband set alarms and got up every two hours to check our other babies in the office and make sure that the generator was full and running properly. I don't think either of us really slept that night.

The next day, we checked with our neighbor and landlord to find that we still did not have power at our house. And my in-laws' house had lost water pressure the night before. Everyone in Houston had. So now, there were masses without power, without water, without cell service, and without the necessary means to survive the freezing temperatures that were now not only outside, but inside most homes.

On top of the obvious stress, my typical anxiety was kicking in. On a good day, I struggle to be social. And these were not good days. I was a guest in someone's home and I couldn't express how thankful I was because I felt so exhausted from all of the stress, grief, and constant fear. I felt terrible for feeling terrible. But I couldn't force myself to smile or be happy when I wasn't even sure who would survive or for how long. With the roads constantly melting and refreezing and more sleet/rain on the way, I wasn't even sure when we could get home or if we would have power when we needed to go home. I had left pets that I loved and the ones that I had brought with me were still not guaranteed to make it.

My in-laws were still so accommodating. But they wouldn't really let us help to clean or cook and that made us feel worse. In my anxiety, I kept thinking that I was in the way or that I was upsetting everyone. I still do. I don't like depending on anyone. It's an awful feeling. But in this case, it was necessary. I had no other choice, because I couldn't bear to lose another of my precious babies. I couldn't bear to see my husband's face or hear his voice crack as he told me we lost another one. Not if I could help it. I would do whatever I could to take care of them.

I took a moment of reprieve to watch Kuzco play in the snow. I hate the cold. But shivering out there, the feeling of needles pricking over my body and the cold burn of the wind as it cut through my 4 layers of pajamas and sweats, was worth it to watch my shepsky in his own winter wonderland. He ran around in their ice and snow covered backyard as if it were a mystical land and every icy slide and snowy mound were a magical discovery. And when he saw the snow flurries began to fall from the sky his furry face lit up with pure joy. I watched my happy not-so-little puppy excitedly jump up and try to catch the snowflakes in his mouth. His blue eyes were so bright and brilliant. And we both came alive in that moment. I wish we could have stayed there. But the snow turned to downpours of sleet and, unfortunately, we had to go back inside.

I had planned to keep my dogs in the office with me that day, but they were kind enough to put the pets on rotation, so my dogs were no longer confined. They were able to stretch their legs in the house and play with my nieces and nephews. They played fetch and they wrestled and they even played with balloons. The girls taught Kuzco how to keep the balloons from hitting the ground. It was fun to watch him jump up and boop the balloons with his nose whenever they called his name. Meanwhile, my pets in the office all seemed to be well. They were alert and lively. I still had no way of knowing their temperature or humidity level. But it looked like they would all pull through. Kuzco still had his moments where he would panic. It was a busy house with lots of people coming in and out (and even the generator scared him), but we gave him some extra love and calmed him down each time.

That night, the power flickered on for about an hour before going out again. Our landlord said that ours, too, had been on for a bit before going right back out. The rest of the week was still showing freezing temps, but maybe the powers that be were finally starting to figure out how to actually handle this crisis. Later, the water pressure increased. And, late that night, as we lied in bed and tried to sleep, the power came on. And it stayed on.

I didn't sleep. With wifi, I was able to pull up the security system to our house and see that we, too, had power. And I watched it through the night. There was movement in my rats' cage. I couldn't see how much food or water they had left, but they were still alive. I checked the temperature and watched it rise as the heater stayed on. Excited, I waited for my husband to wake up so I could tell him. I wanted to go home. I wanted all of us to go home. I had babies to check on and they all needed to get back into their controlled climates with a healthy supply of food and water. We all craved a feeling of normalcy.

My phone began to show notifications again... all of these emails and gaming things that reminded me the world was still out there, spinning like it should be, while my world had stopped and frozen still. For a while I was angry. How could things outside of my winter apocalypse still be happening normally? How could the rest of the world just keep on moving while I had just been struggling to keep my family alive? And then I saw memes and jokes on social media. And I got angrier. My family had been devastated. And I know I'm not the only one. I can't be the only one to have lost loved ones. I can't be the only one to have watched loved ones suffer. I can't be the only one to have stressed and worried about what's going to happen and what I'm going to do if/when it does. And yet there are people out there laughing at our situation. While families struggle to stay warm, to find food and water, to make it without the GPS, data, and communication that we're all accustomed to, to care for their elderly and disabled, to keep their children from crying and their pets from dying... there are actually people making jokes about it. Yet when our corner of the world gets record breaking winds and floods we step up and help each other. Companies do what they can to help the people. Employers cut their employees slack. And the rest of the world watches in awe. This is a record breaking storm for us, one that we were in no way equipped to deal with. And instead of empathy and aid, we're getting ridiculed? The only ones I see giving a shit are the people. The citizens that have been affected by this unprecedented crisis are all offering to do what they can while the government, power companies, and water companies make excuses. It's bullshit.

Our power was out from 8am on Monday morning to 10p on Wednesday night. For approximately 62 hours my home had no climate control. I have no way of knowing how cold it actually got inside. But below freezing is unacceptable. And to find out that there were some who went without even longer while some never lost it at all... who fucked up? Because someone surely did. And don't let them blame their failure to roll a blackout on a bad grid. They were just too lazy to figure out another solution.

We arrived home to piece back together what we could and try to reestablish our sense of selves. What had only been a few days felt like weeks of walking around in a living nightmare. The outside birds were still chirping. Draco actually survived and, due to our TLC, is better now than when we found him. Burton is hibernating (there's some sluggish movement, so I know he's alive) and I hope he wakes up soon. Silly and Willy are just fine. Hannibal, Dorian, and Bilbo are all okay, they just need some cuddles and de-stressing time. Big and Red froze to death. I found their stiff bodies near each other and in their ivy plant.

Due to fluctuating temperatures, we lost all of the food that we did not eat at our in-laws'. And most of the roach and cricket colonies that we use as feeders for our pets have been wiped out.

We have Merlin, Jigsaw, and Prince Charming back in their habitats. Charming and Merlin are grumpy, but they've eaten and they're well. Jigsaw is back to normal. Kuzco has finally calmed down and is happy to be home. And Lulu is completely clueless about the entire situation.

But this situation cannot die. It cannot go without resolution. Something needs to be done. For years, Texas has been told to fix the power grid. Texas insists on having its own so that they can avoid federal regulation. This is at the cost of being able to rely on the rest of the country and use its energy when we need it. All because Texas wants to be like the middle-aged husband holding out hope that he'll one day divorce his wife. Here's the thing Texas: your ugly ass wife is the only one who will tolerate you and you're too fucking helpless to take care of yourself. So stop buying those pretty, young things in the bar those drinks and then crying because they won't go home with you. Stop wasting your money on those hot rods. And own up to the fact that you need to work on yourself to be happy. Fix your fucking power grid and stop playing the blame game! Also, do something about the water situation. Take care of your damn kids. They shouldn't be struggling to survive, dammit.

Gas stations and grocery stores are empty wastelands of ruined food where people scour to find whatever they can to make due. Everyone's resources were destroyed from loss of power. And trucks haven't been able to get through the icy roads to resupply.

One winter storm should not send a civilized society into the stone age. It doesn't matter where you're at, your government should be prepared. Your elected officials are supposed to be taking care of this shit, not running their mouths. Meanwhile, there's an audacious mayor who grew such a big mouth he was forced to resign. The vote got Tim Boyd into office, folks. And here's what he has to say:

"The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn hand out! If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family. If you were sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising! Only the strong will survive and the week will perish."

Yeah, he must have forgotten that those people he's bitching about are the ones that elected him into office and that they pay the taxes for his salary. And, in case anyone was doubting it, it is, IN FACT, the city and county's job to take care of its citizens. A government's basic functions are providing leadership, maintaining order, providing public services, providing national security, providing economic security, and providing economic assistance. And, as far as power providers and other services, I have contracts and I make payments. So YES, they owe me exactly what I pay for: the electricity, water, and cell service that they agreed to give me in the contracts that we both signed. So, Tim Boyd, as much as you try to backtrack and say you didn't mean it and you wish you could rephrase everything, we all know the truth is that you're just an idiot who doesn't give a fuck. I wonder how long you went without electricity. I wonder if you worried how long your family would survive. I wonder if you cried and had to bury any loved ones. This "week" will surely perish. It will be behind us, along with all of the other bad weeks that we've seen come and go. And so will you. Good riddance. You can spend your free time working on your grammar and spelling.

As far as Ted "Fled" Cruz goes, I hope he gets impeached. He sat by and watched while his state fell to shit, while his citizens suffered, and then he flew to fucking Cancun. Sure, he can say he was just dropping off his family, but we all know he only came back because he was getting flak for it. Do you know how many parents had to comfort their children in the freezing cold darkness of their quiet homes? Do you know how many scared families had no way out and no where to go? These are your citizens! And this is all after he actually made fun of California for their grid, knowing that ours needed to be fixed, knowing that we would suffer when disaster hit. He was elected to be our leader and he failed us so spectacularly. Where was the guidance for the power companies? Where was the communication? Where is the aid? People were unable to work and unable to provide for their families. And no one is offering to help them. Our resources have been diminished. What is the game plan?

And not only were there people taking advantage and price gouging during this dreadful time, but it continues to go blatantly unchecked. Plumbers are charging $800+ just to look at a problem with no guarantee of solving it. Gas station owners are marking everything up when they know people can't afford to not buy. And even the power companies are talking about charging more for the electricity that was used this past week, because it was in "high demand."

I will say that Xfinity gave us a credit on the days that our power was out, knowing that we were unable to use it. And my brother-in-law, who owns his own renovation company, is giving free consultations. He doesn't even give estimates until he's sure about the issue. And my aunts, who have always been such a blessing to us, were sweet enough to send us a door dash gift card so that we wouldn't have to worry about shopping right away.

And I cannot say enough how thankful I am to my brother and sister-in-law for providing us with a sanctuary for our babies. They were going through enough on their own and still, they invited us over and gave us warmth and safety. It was nice seeing them, my nieces, nephews, and near-mom-in-law, even under the circumstances. I'm sorry I couldn't be better company.

In the meantime, to all of you who went through it during this awful crisis, my heart is with you. What happened to the people of Texas during this weather is beyond unfair. It is intolerably savage. We deserve better. We deserve elected officials who care about us enough to step up and take care of us during a disaster, and not just when the media is on them. We deserve to get what we pay for and have our contracts honored. We deserve to have a power grid that can sustain us when we need it most. We deserve to have blackouts rolled instead of just having half the grid shutdown to fend for itself. We deserve to have a water supply that we can rely on. We deserve to have the cell service that we pay for. We should never be kept in the dark and in the cold.

This should have been a fun time for us. We see snow once every few years, if we're lucky. We should have been out there with our sweatshirts and sweatpants, sledding down the streets on whatever we could find, from trash can lids to screen doors. We should have been building icy snowmen and making snow angels. But instead, most of us were just trying to survive. We were running out of laundry and using every blanket that we had to keep our families warm. We were wondering if the food would make it and rigging ways to prepare it. We were scrambling to find water. We were worrying and trying to get in touch with friends and family with phones that were, at best, battery-draining flashlights. If we had generators, we were still struggling and conserving gas because there was none left at any of the stations. And if there was, the stations didn't have power to access it. And there are many more experiences that I'm sure I'm not covering because I was fortunate enough not to have to live through it all. But my heart aches. It aches for everyone that had to endure this tragedy that none of us should have had to endure.

My husband and I are still recovering. And this is far from over. But if anyone needs it, we'll help if we can. Just reach out. If anything, we can all be here for one another. Fuck Texas. It's not the state or the city that takes care of us, obviously. It's each other. We have always been able to awe and inspire with how we step up and take care of our fellow citizens. And that's just what we'll do.

For anyone interested in my sources or further reading, here you go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Reliability_Council_of_Texas

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-ercot/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/17/texas-power-grid-why-state-has-its-own-operated-ercot/6782380002/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/18/state-energy-winter-protections-lacking-reports-have-suggested/4490501001/

https://ktxs.com/news/local/colorado-city-mayor-resigns-after-controversial-facebook-post

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/politics/ted-cruz-cancun-texas-disaster-electricity-power-water/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/19/politics/ted-cruz-cancun-texas/index.html

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Ted-Cruz-Twitter-California-blackouts-energy-power-15953893.php

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/17/how-the-texas-power-grid-failed-and-what-could-stop-it-from-happening-again.html

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas-ercot-power-outage-energy-demand-price-change/269-53ab63e2-8dcf-4485-8b9b-be6ad75316b4

https://www.curbed.com/2021/02/texas-blackouts-energy-grid-failure.html

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-power-grid-failures/

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Ted-Cruz-Twitter-California-blackouts-energy-power-15953893.php

[definitelynottony]

Grease is the Word [Ch.1 Summer Lovin’]

[Ao3] [part 2] [Song recommendations: Grease OST, 50′s era songs] [Also definitely recommend looking up a 50′s slang dictionary!]

It started out with just a visit, a holiday to see his family over in the states. Spend his summer break hangin’ out with his aunt,uncle and cousin; he only gets to see them every couple of years. The last time he saw them was for his mother’s funeral. They’re good people though, he should see them more often. Get a break away from his screwed up life back in Australia, with his sorry excuse of a father. He missed the golden coast but it was a change of pace, two months living in Hawkins Indiana would do Billy Hargrove some real good. 

And it did. It was such a simple life. Not havin’ to make sure his deadbeat dad was in bed every night; cause the only thing he was good for after his mom died was drinkin’ and givin’ Billy a real good shiner. Not havin’ to go to school and work every day just to buy his own cigs. Havin’ people that actually cared if you came home at night was pretty good too, not that the greaser would admit it. But yeah, he’s probably been smiling since he walked into the Mayfield house. 

Aunt Susan was just like havin’ his mom back, they even have the same hair color. And Max, she got even bigger since the last time Billy saw her. She was still a little shitbird though. His step uncle wasn’t too bad of a guy either, let him drive his blue ‘58 Bel Air ‘round. Was definitely a helluva a lot better than his old man, that’s fer damn sure. And yeah, Billy’s summer went by in a blink. He followed Max and some of her friends around, learnin’ where all the good spots where. It was a small town, not too hard; the diner, arcade, drive ins, and Hawkins’ Lovers Lake. 

On one hot, real hot Indiana summer day, Billy decided to take the Bel Air for a spin; he ended up at the lake. That’s when he saw him; like a fuckin’ angel. 

He had soft brown hair all shaped perfectly into a quiff. Unlike Billy’s blonde curls, if he could get his hair into a pomp it was a good day, most the time it was somewhere between the flop and a loose teddy boy. Not that it really mattered, everyone knew what he was as soon as they saw him with his leather on, a smoke in his mouth. Poor by birth, Greaser by choice. 

But this cat, this pretty boy with the brown hair, well he looked like he belonged on the telly. Billy didn’t even notice the other’s with him. Some girl, plain jane prep, definitely no Monroe; she wasn’t even in a bathing suit, wet blanket. Some hipster slick was with her reading a book, but Billy’s eyes stayed with the brunette with an angel face and Babmi eyes. The two were sittin’ over on the dock, that angel face was putterin’ in the water. Billy knew they could see him pullin’ up. Sauntering down to the lake edge. Good, Billy loved a dramatic entrance. 

As he showed up, splashin’ around in the shallows of the shoreline, he got that pretty boy’s attention. Well, couldn’t blame him; not many could pull off red trunks as short as Billy’s were. God bless the 50’s. If the brunette didn’t close his mouth pretty soon Billy was sure he’d have to save his life ‘cause he’s gonna drown like that. 

“Steve, do you know him?” the girl hushed down to the brunette--- 

“No, I don’t think so. He kinda chills ‘ya though doesn't he?”

“Not me Stevie, he’s just staring at us. Go say something!” 

“Like what?” 

“Tell’um to take a picture, it’ll last longer.” 

“Not helpful Jonathan, come on Nance why don’t you go talk ta him?” 

“Cause he looks like a bird dog.” 

“Looks like a dreamboat to me.”

“STEVE!” The girl squealed. “Go!”

“Shh! Nance, okay-oaky.”

The greaser watched with anticipation as that earth angel adorably, clumsily strolled up to him, green high ride swims on, he was a prep; Billy could deal with that---

“Hey there daddy-o what’s shakin’?”

God, even his voice was angelic. 

“You know baby, just rockin’ an rollin’.”

“Heh, you ain’t from around here huh? Names Steve.”

“Accent give it’ away?” 

“Yeah. I like it though, it’s bitchin’.” 

“Names Billy” 

“Billy? Hey, you’re Max’s cousin right?” 

“Yeah, you know the ankle biter?”

“She runs with some kids I know.”

“Small world” the blonde charmed.

“Small town” Steve laughed, and it was everything; that laugh “so you wanna come hang?”

“Thought you’d never ask cherry.”

“That mouth you got sure is drippin’ apple butter.”

“Just fer cherry’s like you doll face.”

Steve gave this smirk before turning back to his friends; a smirk that really made Billy wish the cat would drown just so he could give him mouth to mouth. He’d know what to do', Billy was a lifeguard back in 'Straya. 

“Guys, this is Billy. He’s Maxie’s cousin. Billy, this is Nancy and that’s Jonathan.” Steve introduced, Billy just nodded with a smirk. He really wasn’t that interested in a couple drips.

“It’s a pleasure, Billy, are you from around here? Just visiting? Staying long?” Nancy had that look in her eyes Steve knew all too well, and normally he hated when she did this but he wanted to know too.

“You writin’ a book sweetheart?”

“Maybe. Just curious what side of the track you’re from.”

Billy rolled his eyes “I see someone’s got her glasses on, I'm from Australia, just visiting. Leavin’ in the fall.” Yeah, she was definitely a drag, bringing the whole mood down. 

“I knew you were from Australia, that’s choice! What’s it like there?”

“Tell ‘ya all about it over a malt pretty boy.”

“...Guess he’s not a bird dog.” 

Jonathan piped up from his book. Nancy nudged his shoulder holding back a laugh or a sequel, who knows. Billy and Steve sure didn’t cause Steve was too busy dodging Billy’s splashes. They went on for a few hours like that, enjoying the summer heat, the cool water. Some point Steve got Nancy and Jonathan to play chicken with them. Billy dropped Steve on purpose, the brunette was pretty sure he tried to drown him. 

And it was weeks of days like that. Bowlin’ in the arcade, drinkin lemonade, spent hours makin’ out under the dock at lover’s lake. Stayin’ out past 10, nights at the drivin’s. Billy had a car after all and Stevie was real inta back seat bingo. And they held hands when they were alone, and their first time was cause Steve got real friendly down in the sand. God he was good, if you know what I mean. And yeah, Billy felt like it was love at first sight, but he knew it was just a summer fling, didn’t mean a thing. At least it wasn’t supposed to. 

“Goddamn pretty boy, You’re bonafide. I’m so sweet fer ya.”

“Billy, I never met someone like you before.This feels like the real deal.”

“That’s cause it is baby. It is.”

And long fingers tangled in golden curls. Sun kissed flesh wrapped around soft freckled porcelain. Lips to skin, ocean blues drowning in honey browns, teeth biting down like they’re making home there. It was the closest thing to heaven on earth. The closest the greaser was going to get, with this angel looking up at him panting his name. With his fingers wrapped up in his hair and his momma’s necklace. Rolling into him like the Pacific ocean, kissing away tears from that pretty freckled face. Stevie’s legs holding tight around him, his way of sayin’ more, harder, because that cherry mouth of his is just too good ta say it out loud. Like Billy would ever say no, Stevie didn’t know it but Billy’s been wrapped ‘round his gentle finger since he saw that smirk of his two months ago.

“Never gonna forget this Stevie, yur the best fuckin’ thing these hands have ever held.” 

It was summer lovin’ at it’s finest, and they were havin’ a blast. Until they weren’t, until there were tears, tears of pain and not the sweet tears Billy was kissing away last night on cool sand made hot from their bodies. And there were fists, but they weren't the calloused ones made gentle that caressed tony hair. Cause now they were holding porcelain ones aimed to make Billy hurt as much as they did. As much as Steve did. And Billy let him, let him pound those fist into his chest as he held the brunette close. Let him cry and curse him for ever coming to Hawkins, for ever meeting him. Only calming when Billy finally spoke---

“You, Steve Harrington, have made my life worth livin’.”

And those big doe eyes filled with diamonds were going to be permanently branded into the blonde's mind forever.

“I’ve just had the best summer of my life, and now I have ta leave, and it isn’t fuckin’ fair-”

“Billy”

“-It’s not fair.” The greaser pressed in close, so close, to memorize how it felt; how it felt to hold an angel in his hell bound arms. 

“Billy, is this the end? The end of us?”

“No, no ‘course not” Billy fainted a smile “it’s only the beginning Stevie.”

[musutofu]

【 Family Matters 】 Drabble

♡ pairing | ᵞᴬᴺᴰᴱᴿᴱ Todoroki x ᵍⁿ Reader ✑ word count | 1.8k ✎ genre | yandere ✗ warnings | kidnapping, arranger marriage prompt | 5. “The world doesn’t deserve an angel like you.” 50: “I want to tell you I love you until my throat bleeds.”

A chill, then a shiver; the most gentle trembling of her shoulders as the cold traces up the ridges of her spine with the iciest touch. Barely a hair’s breadth of movement only captured by eyes keen enough to know what to look for, but enough to upset the balance of her hands. The needle poised between her fingers slips and eats through her skin, pulling away pearls of blood as it leaves like a syringe. She makes a small noise of acknowledgment, a wisp of a sound that hardly disturbs the silence that’s clouded the room. The following sigh is louder as she lifts the embroidery from her lap to more closely examine the red stain eating through the white fabric like wildfire. It spreads to the mauves and lavenders of the peonies she’d been stitching, ruining a few hours of work in a few seconds. Still, she doesn’t look to the damage to see how badly she’s injured herself, only mournfully swipes her unbloodied thumb over the unruined flowers with a rueful smile. The minute uptick of her lips is an expression she’s been showing more often, although it’s worrisome in this context. Not wanting to disturb her but concerned for the ribbon of blood dripping down her finger, you rise from your seat to take the embroidery loop from her hand. She lets you, smile falling just a fraction before her eyes focus on your face. “It’s ruined now.” She’s still smiling, head tilted and eyes closed as if she’s expecting something. It sets a pang in your heart at the thought of what she must be thinking of; the consequences she must expect after rendering a day’s work pointless. Whatever it is she doesn’t have to fear it from you as you gentle dab at the blood on her hand, whipping the tiny cut clean with a sanitizing wipe before covering it with a bandaid. She flexes her finger to test its durability, holding her hand up to admire the floral decals wrapped around her fingertip. The bright pinks and blues stand out against her pale skin and even paler hair. Humming a soft thanks, she bows her head, eyes catching on the doorway as she lifts it. “Ah, Shouto.” The boy is easily recognizable as her son, a perfect split between her and her husband. “I wasn’t expecting you today.” He makes a sound in his throat like he hadn’t expected to find himself here either, but still moves to give her a hug. It isn’t the most intimate of gestures but knowing from Rei how things went in the Todoroki household it makes you feel as though you’re intruding. Trying your best to go unnoticed, you quickly gather your things and move towards the door. Rei catches you as you’re quietly bowing your goodbyes and waves you back in before you can fully disappear behind the closed door. “Don’t go so soon, come keep us company a while longer.” Whether she’s truly lonely after having years of motherhood taken from her while she’s been here or simply being polite, you can’t tell, but decide to resettle yourself in a chair near to her son. “Shouto, this is [Name]. They’re a student volunteer that comes to visit me every so often. I believe you two are around the same age, aren’t you?” She looks to you for confirmation. “I suppose we are.” You’re both still in high school and you recognize him from this year’s U.A. sports festival. He’s the same year as you. “It’s nice to meet you, [Name]-kun.” You say the same, hoping he doesn’t notice the way you fidget in your seat as he looks at you. His eyes are mismatched; an icy grey and burning blue that sears through you until it feels as though his gaze has melted away everything but your soul. It’s a strange feeling that you needn’t linger in and you turn away first, feigning interest in Rei’s ruined embroidery. She sighs when you lift it for appraisal. “I know, it’s ruined. I can be so clumsy sometimes.” She says bashfully, sounding less tense than she’d looked before. “My grandpa once told me nothing is ever ruined, and he’s a kimono maker. He’s had to repair and restore all sorts of stains and tears. We could turn this into a bouquet of camellias and peonies. I have some red thread at home, I’ll bring it on my next visit.” Rei smiles again and it helps to stave off the strange feelings her son is encoring with his enthralled gaze still trained on you. The visit continues like that until a nurse comes to inform you that visiting hours are over. This time Rei lets you slip away without protest, but her son won’t allow you the same luxury. He finds you outside in the light of the setting sun. It makes his left side glow as the dull embers of the waning sun catch in his crimson hair. He says nothing, still just staring in a way that makes you feel like he’s looking inside you rather than at you. Unsure of what to say, but knowing it’d be rude to walk away you stay nailed to the spot, waiting for him to say or do anything that could release you from the binds of propriety. “What school do you go to?” He says finally. You tell him, a slight swell of pride filling the emptiness his eyes have left inside you as you name one of the most prestigious schools in Musutafu that specializes in clinical rehabilitation for people affected by the aftermath of villain attacks. He doesn’t even pretend to be impressed. His eyes pierce you like a pin and all the hubris leaks out onto the pavement. “Thank you for looking after my mother.” You don’t mention that you’re getting school credits for your volunteer work and he doesn’t say goodbye. He simply turns to walk in the opposite direction. His abrasive exit bothers you less than it should seeing as his departure takes away all the tension that had built up since his arrival. Rei is a nice woman but her son has a strangely aloof personality, though not so strange when considering his upbringing. You brush his intense presence off as a normality for someone in his situation. Quite nearly forgetting about ever having met him after several visits to see Rei go uninterrupted. She says he still visits, just never when you’re there and coyly wonders why you’ve taken a sudden interest in him. It’s easy to pretend it’s admiration when everyone in your class are swooning over one U.A. student or another. Truthfully, you’re glad for the lack of appearance on his part. One meeting with the stoic boy was enough. After today’s visit, Rei insisted you take her fully restored embroidery of red and violet flowers as a gift for being so kind to her. You tuck it under your pillow before you go to sleep, wondering if the maternal love stitched into each flower would give you sweet dreams. Strangely, you awake in the middle of the night. It hadn’t been a nightmare that had done it as the memories of some happy dream still cling to the edges of your consciousness, but they’re easily flushed away as you move to shift back to your side only to find your hands tangled with your headboard. A short tugs gives way to a quick bite of searing pain as the frozen restraints cut into your wrists. It takes you longer than it should to realize the headboard is different than your own, and that the bed is different. The entire room is foreign to you right down to the white shirt you most definitely hadn’t gone to sleep in, though your frantic shuffling tells you it’s the only part of your clothing that was tampered with. “Ah, you’re awake.” The voice comes from a corner of the room where the silhouette of a chair is occupied by the last person you’d want to find you in such a compromising position. Shouto is watching you with his lecherous eyes, taking in every detail of your struggle. Each second that passes drags to the length of an eternity as he silently takes in every detail of you prone form. When he shifts to stand you jerk away in fear, wrist tugging hard at your restraints. Hard enough to cut your skin open on the ice fractals. Warm lines of blood drip down your raised arms and Shouto clicks his tongue in distaste. “Darling, don’t hurt yourself. That’s merely a precaution. I’ll remove it as soon as you calm down.” “Calm down? You expect me to calm down when I’m in a strange place with a strange man? Don’t tell me to calm down!” Shouto sighs like you’re a petulant child refusing to go to bed even when it’s evident that you’re tired. “This isn’t a strange place and I’m not a strange man. You’re at home, our home. With me. I don’t see what’s so strange about it.” “Home? My home is with my parents, far away from you.” He sighs again, his expression a cross between endearment and exasperation when you move away from his approach. He still catches you around the waist, right hand cutting through the thin fabric of the shirt to send a chill through your skin below. “My parents are your parents. Marriage does that.” His head leans into the column of your neck, lips smiling against your skin like you’ve just told the funniest joke. “Marriage?” You incredulous. How had one chance meeting that only lasted a few hours lead to the leap from strangers to life partners. “It was arranged by my father at my request. Your parents were rather excited to hear that you were going to be married to a Hero. Mother was the one that encouraged me to pursue you. Said we’d make a lovely couple.” The words draw forth memories of Rei’s soft smile, but it’s soured by the reminder that if you hadn’t been assigned to her you would’ve never met her son, though it’s hard to loathe such a sweet woman. “I couldn’t agree more.” Shouto continues. “I love you. I wanted to tell you that first day at the hospital but I didn’t want to frighten you. Now that we’re to be married I can say it as much as I’d like. I want to tell you I love you until my throat bleeds. I want to keep you all to myself.” His arms tighten around you waist, pulling you impossibly closer. Your hearts beat against each other; yours a frantic flutter against his steady rhythm. “I want to keep you in my arms forever. The world doesn’t deserve an angel like you.” “And you do?” The words are said before you can stop them. Shouto lifts his head from where he’d been marking your neck with deepening bruises. “No, but I’m willing to spend every day of the rest of our lives proving my worth. You’ll love me then,” his voice darkens, “I know you will.”

[slash-em-up]

Priceless pt. 2: The Collector x Reader

OK. Holidays are over. Enough feel-good fluff, let’s get back to the angst and whump. Jkjkjkjk but for real this one is not fun. Trigger warning for torture and child abuse!!!

Pt. 1 Here

———————————————————————

Your head felt like it was about to explode.

The pain made you moan as your eyes slowly slid open. The dim light of the room barely improved your situation, and the you tried to focus on the source of the baleful yellow light.

It flickered from a lamp sitting abandoned on a scratched and dusty table.

The floor beneath your bare feet was cold cement. You were apparently in some type of basement.

As more sensations began to register in your body, you realized that your arms were tied behind the back of the chair you’d been placed in - a layer of duct tape wrapping around your chest holding you tight to the seat.

Where were you?

“Oh hey sweetheart. Nice of you to join us.”

Your eyes darted up to see Arkin standing across the length of the room from you, rifling through a duffle bag and pulling various tools and metal objects out before placing them deliberately on a table.

It wasn’t until you saw Asa behind him that the severity of your situation really started to sink in.

Arkin had stripped Asa and tied him to a chair much like the one you were seated on. Unlike you, his ankles and arms were tied directly to the hard surface as well. You could see his fists curled, testing the strength of the metal cuffs wrapped around his wrists.

His eyes were hidden behind another strip of duct tape, and his ears were covered with headphones.

Arkin saw your pale and ill expression as you observed the larger man.

“Noise canceling headphones. He can’t hear shit right now.”

He strode over to stand behind the bound man.

“That was always the worst part for me – not knowing what he was gonna do next… I don’t have the fancy set up like he does… or, did. But I can improvise.”

Arkin set his hands softly on Asa’s bare shoulders, and you watched in shocked horror as Asa flinched harshly and began to thrash against the bonds holding him.

Letting out a chuckle, Arkin patted Asa on the cheek, moving his fingers away quickly as Asa snapped his teeth, trying to bite.

“He’s a fighter, your guy. Gotta give him props for that. I wasn’t expecting anything different; but even after I put him in the trunk hooo boy…”

Arkin moves his sleeve up to show you a deep set of fresh gouges in his arm.

“He got one hand loose, and that was that. Not making that mistake again.”

You swallowed nervously.

“Arkin… you don’t have to do this. You can still turn us in, I’ll confess to everything… I’ll make him confess … just… please don’t do this.”

The slender man looked at you with a hard expression before scoffing.

“Because the state’s definitely gonna give him what he deserves… Nah, honey. I want this man dead. I want him to hurt like he hurt me… and I want you to watch it all happen.”

A warm tear dripped down your face as you began to realize neither you nor Asa would probably be making it out of this alive.

Arkin’s pale blue eyes followed the trail of the tear as it moved from your cheek to your chin; gaze momentarily softening before breaking to return to his main captive.

He cleared his throat.

“One thing I learned while I was the good doctor’s guest was that different people respond differently to different kinds of stimulation…. What made me scream didn’t necessarily work on his other pets.”

Your wet gaze followed Arkin as he moved to the table and grabbed a wicked looking serrated knife.

“For example, I can do this…”

Fast as a wink he turned and pulled the blade across Asa’s left pectoral, leaving a streaming red line in his wake.

Asa grit his teeth behind his lips, but didn’t make a sound.

“… and I barely get anything.”

The knife was abandoned to the floor.

“But if I do this…”

He moved his palm to lay flat against Asa’s mouth and nose, cutting off his air.

The effect was immediate. Asa let out a muffled cry – somewhere between a scream and a growl – and writhed. Using everything he had in him to dislodge the hand still pressed to his skin.

Arkin grinned as he took his hand away, letting the offending limb drift to his side as he stood beside Asa’s heaving form.

“Completely different reaction, right?”

You shuddered as you watched Asa try to calm himself, taking deep breaths in and out through his nose as he visibly shook.

“Seems like our boy gets a bit more worked up by the hands-on approach than by any of this junk. Not really surprising, considering his history…”

He must have seen some confusion in your gaze and gave another low chuckle.

“I suppose that’s not really the kind of thing a big bad serial killer wants to share… so I’ll do him a solid and let you ask him about it later.”

You licked your dry lips.

“Later?”

Arkin nodded decisively.

“I plan on getting at least a few weeks of fun out of Dr. Emory here before I send him Downstairs. You’ll have time to catch up.”

With that he pulled the headphones and tape away from Asa’s face.

Asa blinked several times trying to let his eyes adjust to the sudden light before they focused on you.

You could literally see his muscles clench in anger as his dark gaze turned to Arkin, blazing.

“They have nothing to do with this.”

Arkin whirled and punched Asa in his gut – causing the seated figure to hunch in on himself with a grunt of pain.

Fingers twisted themselves in Asa’s hair as Arkin yanked his head to the side and leaned down.

“Maybe not, but they have something to do with you – and that’s good enough for me.”

Asa spat in Arkin’s face, looking like he was moments away from tearing the metal cuffs that held him apart and lunging at the smaller man.

Wiping spittle from his face, Arkin grabbed a nearby bucket and hoisted it high, letting the contents fall over Asa’s naked body.

Ice and water splashed over the cold cement floor as you gasped at the sudden turn of events.

The chill of the late winter air was prevalent in your mind as Asa began to shiver violently.

The basement stairs creaked as Arkin ascended, hitting light switches on his way up.

“Goodnight you crazy kids. See you in the morning.”

The door closed, and you were left in the bitter cold of the dark room, wondering what new horrors tomorrow would bring.

———————————————————————

You couldn’t recall falling into an uncomfortable slumber, but you must have. Pale slivers of sunlight threaded past the thick foam covering the small basement windows. You sickly realized that this must be for sound-proofing. Not a good sign.

The basement felt warmer than it had been last night. A small space heater in one corner was blowing warm air onto Asa, who was either asleep or unconscious – his head hung low on his chest, but he was no longer shivering.

A sound that had been your own personal torture through the long night.

He hadn’t said a word to you after Arkin left – not even responding to your inquiries after his health in the chill darkness. After several tries you’d given up – unsure if it was pride or if he was actually incapable of answering.

Soft sounds of movement from behind your chair brought you back to reality.

You were not alone down here.

“Arkin… please let us go. You aren’t a killer. You don’t want to do this…”

A deep chuckle met your statement.

Your eyes widened as a tall man with grey hair– looking to be in his late 50’s or early 60’s- strode into view.

“Hello there. How are you feeling this morning?”

The man dragged a chair out of the corner and sat down between your seat and Asa – casually crossing one leg over the other and setting an arm on his knee. Looking for all the world like he was sitting down at a coffee date rather than a drafty basement torture chamber.

Brows furrowing, you paused before answering.

“… I’ve been better…”

Your statement was met with a hum of amusement.

“I suppose you probably have. But all things considered, you could be worse.”

“… I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name?”

Another soft laugh – somehow familiar – was your only answer.

Any further questions were put on hold as Asa groaned and began to stir in his seat.

“Asa…”

Both of you watched – you with concern, the strange man with something like humor – as the bound and naked man shook his head as if clearing cobwebs, and raised his eyes to gaze around the room.

The black eyes you knew so well stopped at the strange man casually watching from the proverbial sidelines.

Asa’s face immediately drained of blood till he was white as a ghost, and his mouth dropped open in shock.

The man laughed loudly at this, slapping his hand against his knee before rising and walking over to Asa.

Up to this point, you’d been more confused than upset by the elderly man’s presence in the basement; but that confusion quickly turned to fear as you watched Asa pull back and try to make himself as small as possible as the broad man approached.

“So… You’re the Collector, hmm? Interesting moniker. Mr. O’Brian gave me a brief overview of some of your exploits. I have to say, I’d be impressed if you hadn’t let a man like that get the better of you.”

A wrinkled hand rose to run through Asa’s hair – obsidian eyes pinched closed and if you didn’t know better, you’d think Asa was about to be sick from the expression on his face.

Quick as a flash, a loud SMACK sounded through the empty room as Asa was backhanded across his mouth.

“What have I told you about looking at someone when they’re talking to you?”

Asa’s gaze rose slowly to meet the man’s, who smiled down at the younger male.

“Much better. See? You haven’t forgotten everything.”

Your stomach sunk as you realized why this stranger looked so familiar. You’d seen him before, or rather, what he had been twenty years ago.

He turned to face you again.

“You’re not wrong my dear. Mr. O’Brian isn’t a killer; but I am. And I’d be more than happy to teach my son another lesson on the consequences of failure.”

Giles Emory walked over to the table Arkin had laid out with tools and instruments of pain - running his hand sensuously over each before selecting a hammer and several slender nails.

“That’s what fathers are for…”

[purplesurveys]

961

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen? Unsettling films are my jam, man. To name a few, there’s Eraserhead, Room, Midsommar, Eyes Wide Shut, Misery, and most recently, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Eraserhead takes the cake though. That movie always makes me queasy...

What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole? I’m a firm believer in nothing good ever comes out of unethical practices. I’ll never forget reading about an experiment where a group of newborn babies were given basic needs like food and being bathed, but weren’t shown any affection whatsoever and it was meant to see if humans can survive with just the most basic physiological needs. By the end of the experiment period half of the babies were dead. The results were honestly a lot bleaker than how I’ve put it, but I don’t wanna be a downer lol. Suffice it to say that experiment haunted me for days after reading it.

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t? It was around a week or so ago, I’m pretty sure.

Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base? My sister is into K-pop and I hear insights from her all the time, but her one constant is that BTS breeds the most annoying, toxic fans. I’d have to agree. Ariana Grande’s fandom was also annoying at one point, but I haven’t heard much from them making a mess these days.

What are you interested in that most people aren’t? Autobiographies.

If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you? Why would I deserve a PhD on something I’m clearly not qualified for...I’m not sure I’m following this question right, but I don’t feel like thinking too hard about it.

What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement? I’m happy with the features that are widespread now, but I wish companies adhere more to countries other than the common ones like US, UK, Australia, etc. I always see ads about phones being able to tell you how much movie tickets cost or track boarding passes, but those are all irrelevant here. It makes a lot of Apple’s basic apps useless on this side of the world haha.

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should? Long-term effects of poor habits like not getting enough sleep or drinking too many cups of coffee. I know because I’m guilty of this.

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis? “I won’t think about that now, I’ll think about it tomorrow,” but I usually say it to myself, especially when I feel stressed.

Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents? Better, but idk if that’s just me being biased because my generation will be the next parents lol. I just think that a lot of Gen X parents still have a lot of dated prejudices and mindsets that my generation was able to learn better from. For example my mom doesn’t like using people’s preferred names, especially if they’ve transitioned -_____- and I know I’d never want to set such an example for my kids.

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart? I know I’ve come across hilarious ones but I always fail to come up with one when asked on the spot.

When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life? LOL RIGHT NOW

What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having? It’s more stupid than funny and I know I’ve already mentioned this before, but Covid Bryant as a first and second name still takes the cake for me. My sister went to school with a girl whose name is just her surname backwards, and for a time I was really weirded out by it. But in the times I’ve seen her she really owns her name and never looks bothered by it, so I quickly stopped caring.

Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? For me it would have to be organizations for animal welfare.

What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week? Post-El Camino Jesse Pinkman. I wouldn’t want to live through his chaotic shit  from Breaking Bad, but his fate after El Camino is something I’m super envious of.

What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now? Flip phones, Blackberry phones, Roshes, Frappuccinos.

If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack? Phone, laptop, their chargers, important IDs, some of my favorite tops and jeans, underwear, essential toiletries, wallet, a family photo, a journal and pen, earphones, certain knickknacks to remember Gab and my dogs by. Minus the clothes, all of these are pretty tiny so I think these would all fit in the bag just fine.

What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen? I don’t know. I’m not really a fan of rating the most/worst this and that stuff in my life, either. I feel like I unnecessarily rack my brain too hard for them when I take surveys to have a chill time.

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first? Probably something that’d keep my dogs from dying.

If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do? No thanks. I’d be the chillest ghost tbh, I’d like to just sneak up on people’s business and hang out but never interfere in them.

What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving? Climate change, global warming, alleviation of poverty. Corporations and the few people who actually have the power and money to change things only ever come up with short-term shit like donations and never look at the big picture. What problem are you currently grappling with? So many personal ones. But just like the recurring theme of my surveys so far, “I don’t want to get into it.”

What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role? As much as I love Kristen Stewart, I heard she was cast as Princess Diana for an upcoming film and I’m not really feeling that decision. They could’ve gone with a British actress for starters?????? The movie is still in production but it is pretty annoying to think about lmao.

What game have you spent the most hours playing? Probably GTA: San Andreas as a kid.

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in? Luxury hotel beds are always so fluffy and comfortable.

What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard? Omg one time at a coffee shop Gabie and I sat beside this older couple that obviously was going through some heavy SHIT. There was a lot of animosity and tension between them and I caught the lady silently break into tears a few times. I never overheard anything but then again they sat in silence for hours until the lady finally walked out on him. Never knew what it was about but I’ve always guessed that the man did something crappy, like cheat, and was discovered. It was a really sad sight and a crazy situation to witness and I think I felt even more sorry because they were obviously in their 50s or 60s. I hope the woman is in a better place now as she looked rough as fuck that evening.

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked? I wore a lot of hats when I was in my college org, and that was on top of balancing my acads as well.

What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it? That scene from Friends where Ross plays the keyboard for Chandler, Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel.

What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation? It depends on what music they’re into and if I have actually have a recommendation in mind for them. I obviously can’t suggest Paramore to someone who mainly listens to metal.

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose? I’m down for any monuments that are super ancient like Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza.

If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying? I’d go with frogs, but only because they get annoyingly loud in the evening.

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been? Playing The Sims, Mario Kart, Rock Band, or games in the Burnout franchise.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been? Japan was so fucking cold when I was there. Didn’t do my research and ended up being dressed poorly, and I was so cold I could barely talk to my parents or fully enjoy my time. Sagada was also nearly unbearable in the early morning.

Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate? Not from a book or movie, but BoJack Horseman. Diane can also be in the running as I always found her too whiny. I get that she had her personal shit to deal with, but I don’t think living with her would be good for my own sanity and mental health.

Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine? It annoys my chef dad to death that I don’t lol. No matter how great it looks, I’d bounce. I once ate expired Kit Kats that tasted like cardboard and that scared me off of expired food forever.

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought? I once bought a stupid novelty soap that to this day I’ve never even opened. It’s in one of my drawers, and I plan to just throw it out at some point.

What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen? Not a fan of these but one that got to me is Dear Sister from SNL.

What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten? A few years ago there was a local breakfast place that offered red velvet pancakes for a limited time and I was all over that crap, so I went and ordered. The actual pancakes ended up not being any bigger than my palm, and I remember not being able to hide my disappointment once the server placed the dish on my table haha. I felt so scammed. I had to order something else to feel full, because those pancakes were stupidly small.

What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job/jobs? One of my superiors, when she was presenting a pitch to our director yesterday, kept asking questions and picking at the director’s brain so that she can get suggestions and answers straight from the director herself and so that she didn’t have to do any brainstorming anymore. I thought that was a pretty nifty and clever hack.

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to? Hiking a mountain!

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them? Umbrella by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z.

What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone? Idk, anything can be the worst depending on the context. I’m not a fan of giving those, though.

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? Unsolved Mysteries’ Dupont de Ligonnès episode was a lot of fun to watch.

What was the last song you sang along to? I think it was Thinking of You by Katy Perry? but I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t sung along to anything in a while.

What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet? I don’t really download and use a lot of apps other than the basic ones, so I don’t care too much.

When was the last time you face palmed? Last night.

If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create? I’d give it away to the Martial Law museum currently being made near my university so that it can do more to show the atrocities of the Marcoses. And so that I can piss off my pro-Marcos relatives.

Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up? Uh hating myself, if that counts.

What really needs to be modernized? Public transportation systems in this country.

[askpolylosersclub]

What’s the craziest thing each of you have done?

Um...basically I’m normal and the rest of these guys are fucking crazy weirdos who do disgusting and/or dangerous shit on a regular basis. For Bill it’s daily. For Richie it’s hourly. Ben is probably the least problematic...but he still does stupid stuff sometimes (you’d be surprised) Mike does stupid stuff kinda often to help other people or to help animals. These are just the ones that instantly spring to mind —>

BEN

- Sometimes runs so fast and for so long that he literally throws up. Like he pushes his body to the limits and beyond on a regular basis and nothing we say seems to make a difference. He’s always fine after somehow (I’d be fucking dead). I’ve even heard him say that if he pukes he feels like he can finally stop...

- On that note to do with Ben being a fitness freak, I’ve seen him eat protein powder STRAIGHT OUT OF THE TUB...just dry without any water or anything because he was ‘in a rush’. You’d have thought it was gonna end up like the cinnamon challenge but Ben’s clearly so fucking hardcore he didn’t even react.

- Ben drank so much once when we were at a bar that the bartender A) Called an ambulance just out of principle and B) When he realised that Ben was actually somehow fine and it was confirmed by the paramedics, he gave us all of our drinks for free and took a picture of Ben and it’s up behind the bar in a frame.

MIKE

- Mike ripped apart a barbed wire fence with his BARE HANDS once when we were on a walk and found a foal with its leg tangled up in the wire. Then he CARRIED it to the vet - all the way, and he wouldn’t let me or Stan help because he didn’t want us to get blood all over us the way he did. (Believe me he did - he was fucking COVERED in blood and you couldn’t even tell if it was his or from the horse) We must’ve walked almost 2 miles with Mike with his hands and arms all cut up carrying a 150lb foal. We had to go to the hospital right after and Mike had to get stitches in his hands.

- On a similar note...Mike has been attacked by not one, not two, but THREE raccoons on separate occasions and they were all for different but equally dumb reasons. The first time he was trying to help one that had a broken leg and it bit him. We drove him straight to the hospital AGAIN because we were terrified he was gonna get rabies or something (well, I was) even though he kept saying he was fine. The second time he got his arms all scratched up ‘rescuing’ one from the loft space in our old house. And the third time he was trying to feed one...and he got bit again...

- The number of times he has gotten himself hurt doing gardening or DIY is absolutely insane. But he will literally just keep going like there’s nothing wrong even if there’s blood pouring down his leg because he sliced it open on a piece of broken fence in our yard while he was fixing it, or the one time he stood on a huge old nail and it went through the sole of his shoe into his foot, and he just PULLED IT OUT HIMSELF AND KEPT WALKING AROUND LIKE IT NEVER HAPPENED.

BEV

- Bev glued one of her eyelids shut once with some sort of eyelash glue and she had to go to the ER to have it soaked off...also turns out she was allergic and her eye was so swollen she couldn’t even open it for two days. She said she bought the kit online from China and it cost her 50 cents... leading off from that she has tried to wax parts of her body that you shouldn’t try to wax by yourself with cheap products when you don’t know what you’re doing, because...you won’t be able to get it off...and it will bleed...and the only people you live with who can help you are all guys...

- She’s a MENACE when we go out together to a bar or a club or whatever because Bev’s pretty chill most of the time and she’s used to guys hitting on her, but if someone is inappropriate with her...like touches her without her consent or says something gross, she FLIPS. I mean you can’t blame her because I flip about it too but Bev flips long before any of us step in. I’ve seen her cuss out guys like 5 times her size in the middle of a crowded bar. I’ve seen her reduce a guy to tears before because he touched her boob and then laughed about it with his friends. I’d be worried about her if we weren’t always with her...but to be fair Bev can take care of herself...

- Whenever we go on holiday or we have a day out together, Bev will be the first to do whatever potentially fun but dangerous thing we all end up doing once she has led the way. Like she’ll jump (sometimes FULLY naked) straight into lakes/rivers/reservoirs/the sea even when it’s super stormy...you name it. She runs outside ALL THE TIME when it’s raining with no shoes on and no jacket. She touches weird bugs, she eats weird food, she talks to weird people. I mean...sometimes I think it must be nice to just enjoy life so much that nothing will get in your way of that enjoyment but...chill.

STAN

- You might think Stan would be right there with me stopping everyone else from doing dumb dangerous shit, and you’d be right most of the time, but BELIEVE ME he is not exempt from this list. I mean he IS best friends with Richie...so what do you expect?

- The lengths Stan will go to to get closer to or take a good picture of a fucking bird is INSANE. He climbs trees, he goes to the VERY EDGE of cliffs and dangerous rock faces, he hangs out of the windows of tall buildings, he gets onto THE ROOF OF OUR HOUSE. Honestly either he is the luckiest person alive or he’s an incredibly skilled climber because he hasn’t once been even slightly hurt or even mildly scared. He still comes back pristine.

- I dunno if this even counts as being crazy or dangerous, but I’m gonna put it on here because I think it counts. Stan works WAY TOO MUCH. And when I say that I don’t just mean long shifts, I mean like...doesn’t even come home from the office for days at a time. Literally doesn’t sleep, just works overnight. We joke about him having an affair but honestly I think I’d rather that than knowing he’s just sitting by himself in his office in the dark still working all night and substituting sleep with coffee. Clearly he’s doing something right because Stan’s doing even better than the rest of us career-wise and he’s fucking LOADED cash-wise...but sleep-wise and sanity-wise??? Fucked.

BILL

- Let’s face it, except for Richie, Bill is the most dangerous, clumsiest, most accident prone of all of us. He’s like Richie 2.0 (but much less annoying) If I had to guess who out of the 7 of us is probably gonna die first I would definitely say Bill, and that TERRIFIES THE SHIT OUT OF ME, guys.

- Bill will literally do ANYTHING on a dare. And when he spends so much time with Richie, that’s a deadly combo. Like I genuinely think if Richie dared Bill to go outside and eat dog shit off the sidewalk he would do it (ugh) If Richie told him to walk into the road in front of a moving car I think he would do it...guys I’m terrified. Considering Bill is basically the ‘leader’ of our group...at least we still say so even though it hasn’t been a thing since we were kids, he does EVERYTHING Richie (and Stan) tell him to. They’re like the evil masterminds behind everything.

- When I say Bill is clumsy, I mean...BILL IS THE FUCKING CLUMSIEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Is it adorable? Yeah, kinda. Is it scary how clumsy he is? DEFINITELY. Bill could still trip over his shoelaces if his shoes were in another room. He helps Mike with a lot of DIY stuff, and where Mike occasionally hurts himself even while he’s being careful, Bill is GUARANTEED to get hurt no matter what. HE MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS.

RICHIE

- Holy fucking shit, where do I even start? You name it, Richie has tried to eat it, drink it, smoke it or insert it into SOME part of his body. Like I can’t keep track of him all the time, guys! IM ONLY ONE PERSON I ONLY HAVE TWO EYES. Which is ironic, because Richie’s only gonna have one eye eventually...and one arm...and one leg...and no eyebrows...I just...I can’t...

- Where Bill does stupid stuff because either he does it accidentally or he’s told to, Richie does it BY CHOICE. He literally walks down the sidewalk, and his dumb ass is like ‘If I tried to do a backflip, even though I’m the least athletic person on planet earth and I cannot nor have I ever been able to do a backflip, off the hood of this car, that would be awesome like that would be SICK’ His fucking amoeba idiot brain is like ‘I wonder what a snail would taste like? Welp, THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT, HAH HAH HAH’ <- That’s Richie’s dumbass brain laughing

- Aside from hurting himself, Richie has been ARRESTED (Yes, full on by the actual POLICE ARRESTED) SEVEN TIMES. SEVEN (7) FUCKING GODDAMN TIMES.

7 times...

I can’t do this anymore.

Send help.

- Eddie

[lunacalf]

Again | j.jk

pairing: Reader x Jeon Jungkook genre/type: AU | lovey-dovey fluff, romance, inspired by the movie 50 First Dates w.c.: 2k

A week.

A week was what it takes for Jeon Jungkook to create another special memory with you.

Adorned with the dark strap attached to his beloved, yet expensive camera he turned the lens onto you, who is his muse. And you can’t quite find the exact reason as to why he chose you as his subject of his mysterious video project. He never gave you any information.

Perhaps you’ll find it soon enough, when he finds the time to show you a glimpse of what he’s working on. But for now, he and the contents of his camera only heightens your curiosity every day.

All you could ever do every time he points the large lens on you is to either smile or block him with your hands on his equipment whenever you find it too much. From what Jungkook would say, you are just “too shy in front of his camera”. You’re clueless as to why most of his focus was your face, when you are sure that there are far more interesting subjects that might accentuate the whole objective of his endless recording.

Albeit knowing that he’s not good with expressing his feelings well through words, his actions rather proved it to be untrue as you sensed him coming close to you. Gently holding your hand and feeling his warmth engulfed you from behind, he cooed at your effort to finish wiping the table clean, “It’s enough, honey, let’s go to bed.”

With his soft lips ghosting over the expanse of your skin on your shoulder, you affectionately leaned your head back to his shoulder. This small moment with him is forever ingrained in your memory, not noticing the blinking red light of his camera somewhere in the room.

The past few days were not as touchy until tonight, continually feeling him and his fingertips grazing on your forearm as you lose your hold on the rag used for the table. Jungkook urged you towards the dark hallway of your apartment, “Do you want to sleep already?” You asked him, eyes fixating on the digital clock by his desk once you both reached the bedroom. It was already 22:10 PM.

He only hummed in reply, tiredness evident from his tone as he closed the door with his foot. Planting the camera that he brought next to the laptop on his table, he found you near the window. Under the dimmed moonlight, he can still see your beauty; your twinkling eyes that seems to soften whenever you looked at him, your smile that constantly lift him up in times of despair, and your touch that sends warmth through his veins endlessly. They’re still the same.

Your love is still the same no matter how many days, weeks pass by.

Winter snow has yet to come, but the impending coldness never ceased as a shiver made its way through your spine. And he has seen you and felt it too, “The heater won’t be fixed ‘til tomorrow, love.”

The specific term of endearment made you shiver again but only in delight.

Yours and his queen-sized bed was filled with multitude of blankets, and you can’t quite help but to dug inside while he only stares at your child-like actions tonight. Like a kid who cannot wait for Christmas. Only time will tell when he would start to imagine a festive season with you and maybe . . . two to three children that either looks like him or yo—.

“What are you thinking, Jungkook?” You withdrew him from his thoughts. He hasn’t joined you yet. “Come in! I need my personal heater.”

He chuckled as dived in, crawling towards you under the layers of duvet. You weren’t kidding when he felt your icy skin against him. “Am I hot enough to be called like that?” He teased, engulfing you into his embrace.

With your back against his chest, you sensed the breath of his against the crook of your neck. Surprisingly, his arms were much tighter than yesterday, or than any nights before. Nonetheless, he still makes you safe and comfortable in his hug. Loved.

It still feels as if you keep falling in love with him every day. It’s like meeting him for the first time again, and again, and falling head over heels over the boy—the man you imagined to spend the rest of your lifetime with.

And that thought was loud enough for him to ask you a question, diminishing the quietness of the dark bedroom.

“If I were to propose to you somewhere next week, will you accept?”

Your heart thudded against your chest.

“—Will you marry me?” Jungkook added, just like how people say it in romance movies. You were breathless. Your mouth quite ajar as you turned your head to see him, his doe eyes lingering at yours beneath the dimmed light from outside the window.

“I do—I mean yes.” You smiled at him once you faced him, while he only chuckled and pulled you much closer to him, with his thumb caressing ever-so-softly the skin of your hips, peeking under the shirt of his that you were wearing.

“Already preparing for our wedding, I see,” He grinned, “But I haven’t gotten you a ring yet.”

You asked, “Then when?”

“I’m waiting for the Christmas sale tomorrow, you know. And I’m quite broke to afford the ring you want as of this time and date.” It was a slip of his tongue; a mistake on his part to expose something you currently do not know or cannot remember.

Your brows only furrowed in curiosity, “I don’t recall about going into a jewelry shop before, or ever seeing a ring.”

In a poor attempt to change the topic, or ending it, he yawned loudly in reply, “It’s been months since we last visited it, why don’t I tell you the details tomorrow morning? It’s quite a long story.”

With you blinking at his drooping eyes, you only let him get the rest he needed. He was at work for nearly 10 hours today. Leaving you alone with yours and his dog, Gureum, to accompany you until he comes back. He must’ve feel tired to the bones.

“I’ll see you in the morning, love.” He mumbled after resting his head much closer to you, feeling his lips move against your forehead while you breathe in the familiar and comforting scent of his that helped you to rest. Not long and you followed him into sleep, your breathing turned calm. On the other hand, he was keeping himself awake while his eyes were closed, only determined to finish the bits of his video creation before the morning comes. Before you wake up.

He carefully left the side of his bed, leaving you still in deep sleep as he hurriedly turned his laptop open from sleeping mode once he sat in front of his desk. Without producing so much noise, he lifted the chair a bit off the wooden floor and adjusted it near his working space.

You were left clueless at his sneaky way to record the audio of yours and his conversation back in bed. With his phone lying next to you on the nightstand, Jungkook reached for it and stopped the recording before plugging it into his laptop. Into that night, he only spent the rest of his time into completing his compilations of you into one project. Along with a cup of coffee that he rarely needs or drinks, but he’ll make tonight an exception.

And he hoped that your love is still the same. Even if he has done the same procedure (the video making), and asked the same question to you for the past few weeks.

The curtains were left drawn open yesterday and the morning sun crept into the room and hits your eyelids, rendering you awake. The cold chill of the air to your face guaranteed that you were, indeed, conscious—

And weirded out. Why is it so cold in July?

It was the first thing you questioned to yourself, finding yourself covered with the huge amount of blankets only. Jungkook was nowhere to be found beside you, leaving you oddly questioning how he was able to wake up before you. Usually, it’s always you who turns off his alarm every morning.

Has the climate changed so much?

More questions flew in and out of your mind right now, you were sure that the season must be summer. Or the fact that you were assured that it’s the month July. You blindly reached on the bedside table in hopes to find your own phone to check the date, but you only found his laptop open. A video player and a digital post-it appeared on the screen when you accidentally swiped your fingertips on the touchpad.

‘Watch this before finding me –JK’

Feeling lost at the moment, you only obliged to what he had told you through the note before pressing the play button.

Jungkook’s face was the first thing you saw on-screen. His eyes looking past the camera for a few seconds before finally setting his gaze toward the lens, indirectly to you. “Love, you’re probably wondering why the weather’s like this or why you are even watching this.

You may think that it’s still July of 2017 when, in fact, we’re nearly in the end of 2018—“ You quickly hover the cursor on the date at the bottom right corner of the screen, seeing that he was right in the video. “—Please don’t panic at all, love.” He never fails to address you in an endearing way, making your heart flutter.

“Through this video, I’m going to help you recall the past few days or the important things to remember.” You did not miss his handsome smile through the video, as if he’s been wanting to say something that’s probably on the tip of his tongue already.

“First and foremost, I would like to explain to you why you’re experiencing short-term memory loss. Or what Doctor Kim would term the phenomenon you’re having as Goldfield’s syndrome. It is where you’re unable to create new memories every week since you woke up after July 10, 2017 from an unfortunate accident.” He paused from the video. Meanwhile you were astounded that the date he mentioned was the only day you could ever recall, and you can’t remember anything beyond the date or the accident itself.

No memories from the rest of the year, until today. And you’ve felt nothing but hurt when you imagined yourself in his shoes; how he managed to stay in love with you throughout the months. Tears brimmed your eyes as you kept on listening to him through the video he has prepared for you.

“Jungkook love?” His ears perked up at your voice from a distance, eyes finding its way to yours as you stood on the doorway of the bedroom. There you were again, glowing under the morning sun with the same eyes and the same smile adorning your features. And he swore he’ll never miss a chance of seeing you like this.

He smiled, “Yes _______?”

You began walking closer towards him, sitting upon the couch with cups of hot chocolate on the coffee table. As if he’s been waiting for you. Soon enough you found yourself hugging him, with your head resting upon his sturdy shoulder.

And you saying, “I still do want to marry you.”

He can assure that his smile this morning was as bright as the sun outside, but your smile towards him was much brighter that he still feels the same flutter of his stomach when he first met you. Jungkook was sure of marrying you, even if he has to make the effort of doing multiple videos to relive your memories with him and the people you care about.

“I love you.” He mumbled close to your lips, not even giving you a chance to return the same statement when he kissed you.

“ When the morning comes I’ll claim it,

I don’t want to waste one more minute,

I want to feel again, I want to feel again “ - Leanne and Naara, Again 

[ambitionsource]

character takeover - asher garcia & dylan orlando

So I’m gonna write with this pen, and then you’re going to use the slightly thicker one. This one? Yeah, that one. Okay. I am writing with the bigger pen. Do we always have to write with these? Well, I guess if like, you get asked a specific question and I don’t need to answer, then it doesn’t matter. Why would someone ask me a question and not you? I don’t know, I -- it was just an example. You know I don’t know things, Ash. You know plenty. ... stop, you’re making me blush.

Introduce yourself. Asher Garcia, junior A class. Dylan Orlando, junior A class, kissing expert. (Stop putting that on everything) Am I wrong?? That’s not the point 

What is your creative focus? Production design I’m sure someone will tell me eventually

What from the previous school year are you most proud of? I did the production design for our spring production, Les Mis (or more fondly known as “The Miserables”). It was really challenging because we had to find a cost-effective and compelling way to complete the barricade set, i.e. one of the most iconic set pieces in the history of musical theater. So we had to find a way to pay homage to the classic, but also put our own spin on it. I also wanted to make the stage crew’s job easier when it came to transitions, so I devised a way to sort of make pieces of the set be multi-functional depending on the side but come together to build the barricade in the second act. I mean, it’s not that big a deal since people far smarter than me have done it before, but it felt cool to pull it off for myself and have it come together so well. I actually submitted samples of it to a scholarship program counselor Matthews showed me and won some money for my college fund, so that was really cool. Definitely when I managed to hit Maya Hart with a paint balloon. Oh, also, I finally beat the current standing student record for most cafeteria enchiladas consumed in one lunch period without throwing up, which I think is pretty cool. You also like… continued to grow a pretty popular Youtube channel. And also didn’t get anything below a B in second semester. Oh, yeah! But I still think the Maya paint thing wins.

What about the previous school year would you like to improve upon or change? It was really nice when the techies weren’t at war with the performers. Not because they’re like great friends, but it was just nice to be able to work cooperatively. Everyone was in a better mood. I’d like for that to continue, but just knowing how this summer has been… I don’t know. I’m not optimistic. Yeah, it sucks because Lucas was like way hyped at the end of last year but then all the shit with the Insta page happened and it’s been kind of a mess. But I would also like to see Asher perform more. Not happening. Well… we shall see...

How do you best receive praise? Um, I guess verbally. Like it’s great to hear it expressly stated to me rather than ambiguously, but at the same time, it has to be like… subtle. Like one-on-one. Or else it’s just embarrassing. Like I appreciated when Miss Moore pulled me aside after opening night of The Miserables and told me the set design was really good. She doesn’t pay much attention to the techies a lot of the time, so that was a really nice moment. You guys are getting praise?

How do you prefer to receive criticism? I think constructive criticism is important, but it has to be… well, constructive. It’s all in the delivery. Like when Lucas comes to me and has an honest conversation about my suggested set design and limitations that he thinks we might have in building or implementing it, that I can take. When the performers just shoot shots at each other, it makes me break out in hives. By mail. Written in the blood of the gods, with a feather quill. Must be nearly illegible. If it’s not sealed shut with one of those waxy things that look like Play-Doh, I’m not opening it.

You have an important engagement at 5PM. What time are you arriving at the place? Well, you have to consider a lot of factors. Where is the engagement? How are we getting there? Is it a more casual thing where you’re expected to show up late (although whoever invented the term “fashionably late” owes me emotional compensation), or would being late cause us severe penalty? Either way, I’d aim for us to get there around 4:30, and then we can wait in the parking lot if need be until around 4:50. Whenever Asher says we’re getting there. 

Favorite AAA faculty? Counselor Matthews does a lot of work to watch out for us, and I don’t think that can be overstated. But still, I think I have a lot of respect for Principal Hunter. He does not have an easy job, and so much of what he does goes on behind the scenes and in this understated way where it’s not flashy so people don’t notice, but it makes a huge difference. I feel like I get how that feels, and so I hope he knows he is appreciated even though everyone is just complaining to him about how something didn’t go the way they wanted it to again. Also, he totally let Lucas derail the school for a week during the techie revolution, and that was pretty neat of him. Have you met Janitor Harley? That man is the bomb. He knows so much dirt about the school and also has all these wild stories. He has this pretty obvious scar on his eyebrow where the hair doesn’t grow, and he told Dave and me it’s because he got burned by a Russian spy in the 80s. Also, he like, cleans and stuff. I’m surprised he’s not your favorite, Asher. He cleans, yes. But I’m still sneezing during class because of all the dust in the auditorium. Oh, yeah. I forgot about your Vendetta. THERE COULD BE MITES, DYLAN.

Who are you most excited to see when school is back in session? It’ll be nice to get the whole techie crew together again. We usually do group hang outs during the summer, but things have been kind of… well, people have been busy. Lucas isn’t exactly in a social mood -- except for us -- and Isadora has been changing her social circle a little. Then Dave was in Europe for some reason. I think it was a family trip. They went to Belgium because that’s where his grandparents live. And they like made a trip out of it. I didn’t know Dave’s ancestry was Belgian. I guess. I don’t know, he just kept talking about how excited he was to eat waffles for every meal. Of course he did. 

Who are you most hoping to avoid? I’m not really hoping to avoid anyone. There are people that we like… have agreed we should probably not engage with, but I’m not all that pleased about it. I think we’re being kind of rude. And Lucas isn’t making things better by refusing to acknowledge what happened. But it’ll make him feel better. I guess. Also, Farkle. After how things ended last year, I dread something else similar happening. Yeah, I think just avoiding any of that energy is priority. Farkle, Maya. I already had a stress dream about some sort of tantrum video where he tears me to shreds and the whole school sees it. It’s scary because he doesn’t know me well enough to say that stuff, and yet he hits every single insecurity. Oh, and like, Wyatt. Wyatt was expelled. Already on track, then.

What are your goals for this year, personally and professionally? I want to start putting together my design portfolio for college applications, so that will take a lot of my professional focus. Personally, I just… really hope things calm down. I know Lucas is going through a lot right now, and I want to be there for him. He’s been my best friend at AAA since the first week. I just hope things improve once the structure of school comes back into play rather than… the other direction. I just want everyone to be happy. I want us all to be chill again, and then I want to whomp Nate’s current record for most sticky notes stuck on Mister Shawn’s back without him noticing. Oh, and more performances for Asher L. Garcia!!! Again. Not happening. Mm… we shall SEE.................

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Finished s2 ep5 again.

Some random thoughts as the episode progressed:

This episode always gives me a feeling of dread at the beginning because I already know what’s going to happen and it both saddens and angers me to the point where I can’t speak, I can only make distressed whale noises. 

This is a question that’s been asked before I’m sure, but how the hell did no one in our group get killed? NOT A SINGLE PERSON

Luke’s intelligence must’ve taken a toll when Carver beat him up because yeesh dude. 

Arvo’s sister is dead and now he and his broken glasses want me dead, too. 

Has anyone else noticed the super annoying wind sound effect in this episode? I can barely hear the voices and it’s like rusty nails on a chalkboard. I’ve tried messing with the sound stuff but it’s not doing anything. 

“Hey, Bonnie? I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

*guilty face* 

Uhmmmm? Did I forget or miss something??

This wind sound effect is so obnoxious I’m-

Clementine and baby AJ are the fucking cutest thing. I like to think that even in s4, sometimes they’re eating dinner and Clem and AJ are sitting across each other and she’ll catch his eye and randomly make that weird face while sticking her tongue out and AJ’s giggling so hard that stew almost comes out his nose and everyone around them is all ????

“It’s my birthday 😁”

*DEATH FLAG RAISED SO HIGH INTO SPACE THAT ALIENS ARE CRASHING INTO IT*

Luke majored in ART HISTORY 

“To the loved ones we’ve lost along the way... and to the hope that we’ll see them again... someday.”

I’ll drink to that.

“You’re talking about kissing stuff.” The way she says it makes me laugh every single time. 

I guess Luke and Bonnie were a thing and I still can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t know why it’s so weird to think about but it is. 

Kenny apologizing for snapping at Clementine is actually a really nice scene. Actually, this whole firepit scene is a highlight of the entire episode. 

“I can confirm there was no time for kissing.”

Wait... you mean, Jane and Luke “made it” without kissing? Like, not even a little? Not once? You two just... did the dirty dance without kissing. But... but that’s weird right? Kissing’s one of the best parts? Ah, you two are strange. 

Mike is such a good dude. I know he and Bonnie will run off with Arvo in the end, but it really doesn’t make me like him any less. If anything, it only makes me more agitated with Kenny and his shitty treatment of Arvo. Like, I don’t like Arvo either and I can see why he hates Clementine. There’s absolutely no point in beating the shit out of him. It’s like what Bonnie says, he’s probably not a bad kid, it’s just this world and Kenny. 

Ugh. 

UGH. 

WE COULD WALK AROUND

WE DON’T NEED TO WALK ACROSS THE ICE

OR SPREAD OUT BETTER

Y’ALL ARE DUMB

Ugh...

This is just... I hate this. Like, it’s not even really the death itself or really how it’s executed, it’s more of the fact that it’s Luke’s death. If this had been Bonnie or Mike’s death, then I’d feel sadder rather than angrier. I know “Not everyone gets a meaningful death and it’s realistic and blah blah” but that doesn’t change my opinion in the slightest. With Luke’s death, all the cabin members are dead and it’s such an upsetting waste. 

Just ugh. 

I miss Alvin. 

I miss Nick.

I miss Pete.

I MISS SARAH.

UGH.

Watching Luke get dragged down by that walker gives me chest pains. I fucking hate the water and drowning, for me, is one of the worst ways to go. Thanks, I hate it. 

And while I’m thinking about it, why didn’t we get a Luke cameo in ep3 of the final season? Just a little easter egg of him walking on the bottom of the river when we’re breaking into the delta? It doesn’t have to make sense! Hell, we brought Eddie back! Why not Big Brother Luke?? 

KENNY CHILL

Don’t fucking glare at me like that Arvo, I didn’t beat the shit outta you. 

Doing the Jane ending is a little conflicting for me. I’ve said before that the Wellington ending is my personal canon ending, so knowing that Kenny’s going to die after hearing him constantly talk about protecting and raising AJ is a little painful. 

“I wish Lee was here.”

You and me both, Kenny. If he were here this season probably would’ve been 10x better...

Y’know, I’m glad that Arvo never made another appearance like what some people used to theorize about. I usually call for Kenny and Jane and then he shoots Clem, but this time I told Mike I wanted to go with them and then gave Mike the gun AND ARVO SHOOTS HER ANYWAY LIKE??? Y’ALL REALLY GONNA GO WITH HIM AFTER HE PURPOSELY SHOT A LITTLE GIRL?? MIKE!

“It’s just a bad dream, sweet pea.”

❤️❤️❤️LEE❤️❤️❤️

“Lee, why did Lilly do that to Doug?”

Wow, Clem, you pronounce “Carley” much different than I do haha

Best scene of the episode. Hands down. 

This whole Kenny vs. Jane conflict is so... rushed. 

Okay, I will admit that I do like this part where Clementine’s walking through the snow and all the walkers are frozen in place. The song playing is really pretty and eery.  And the damn wind sound effect isn’t nearly as annoying. 

Shooting Kenny really... doesn’t feel good. I will say though that this death for Kenny is a lot better than the death he gets in ANF. At least here he gets some people and final, hopeful words rather than being paralyzed and then eaten alive. 

Kenny, you bastard, really trying to make me tear up huh?

Jane your plan was stupid. Really fucking stupid. And I’d ditch you if I wasn’t going for your ending, but we’re trying something different this time around. 

Y’know, I probably wouldn’t turn these people away, but there’s just something very off about the way the lady tries to grab the guys arm, like in a comforting way, and he just jerks it away and she flinches. And if I’m remembering correctly, these people rob us if we let them in so... I dunno. It’s not like it really matters. 

Well, this is a season with a terrific start that just fell right on its face in the last two episodes. The highlights it for me are the firepit scene, the dream with Lee, the walking through the snow part, and Kenny’s death. 

I really like playing as Clementine in this season. Hell, I just love Clementine regardless of the season she’s in. I don’t like the direction it took and I wish the cabin group had more of an impact rather than it all boiling down to Kenny vs. Jane, but hey, it’s done. Nothing I can do but complain about it, which I do, but it’s all in good fun, I guess. 

And looking at my ending stats, only 33% of people helped Luke?? Y’all-

Hahaha and only 19% of people wanted to leave with Mike! Well, that’s not surprising. BUT, what does surprise me is that shooting Kenny was a 50/50 choice among players AND only 10% of players are with Jane?? Really??

Well, guess I’m moving onto A New Frontier. Can’t wait to see Javi’s beautiful face again and Clem’s new level on “edge.”

[dawnblxde]

[Kingdom Hearts 3 Review]

Welp I’ve finally done it, finally played and finished KH3! - After intentionally delaying doing so with my day one copy after finding out for some silly reason - it lacked multiple world visits for development sake and had no Final Fantasy characters - so I decided to finish the games I was in the middle of then replay the entire KH franchise, except the ones you could watch. Gonna leave my thoughts below. Just in case there are those out there still trying to avoid legit spoilers!

There were good and bad elements to this game.. Plenty of my experience that I enjoyed, but I believe more so that I didn’t - which made me want to pull out my hair. But I like my head shaved, so that wouldn’t work lol I liked the graphics, beautiful but I knew a PS3 could handle them as the quality of Woody in this game was the same as him in Toy Story 3 (2010 Video Game). Enjoyed the gameplay, though it felt like a flawed, floaty and broken version of Kingdom Heart’s 2 near perfect improvement of Kingdom Heart’s gameplay. A problem was the fact that in the first two main games, even when I was level 50-60′s - I always felt like I could DIE. It was always a fear during major combat moments. I had to concentrate so much just to be successful. Even if I tried to be a higher level then recommending through grinding. I never felt like that in KH3, every moment was such a cake walk. Even the final battle. Did they even try. Regardless, I had a good time with the gameplay and the visuals. But I wasn’t as drawn in as previous games. It did the game no favors and was a massive flaw, it lacking Final Fantasy characters. We should of been able to explore Radiant Garden or had other worlds relevant to FF characters. They were really important to Sora’s development as a Keyblade wielder. Cloud and Squall for sure. Sora wouldn’t be who he is if he hadn’t encountered and spoke to them. They’d of been useful in multiple sequences. We deserved the next part to Cloud’s issues with Sephiroth. That wasn’t resolved. See how Squall/Leon and the others reacted and dealt with what was going on at Radiant Garden. They’re capable of other world travel, seeing how they’d react to some of the new worlds would of been great as well. Nomura confirmed the only Noctis he’d put in KH was his Noctis. Versus XIII Noctis. And interest in doing so. Yet he wasn’t in the game, when as an Anti-Hero of both light and darkness would of been interesting. Seeing he’d take neither side. Also has important factors in common with Rapunzel and Elsa. Seeing them relating over this would of been nice. The lack off FF adds to factors that make KH3 be disappointing experience - along with an enjoyable one. One of the things that still makes KH2 the best. Was how awesome it was to watch the Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters team up in the battle of 1000 Heartless. One of the best aspects about the franchise is the concept of it being a FF x Disney - a Final Fantasy and Disney collaboration. Multiple visits were really needed. Some of the worlds were quite enjoyable and not frustrating. But they all have different percentages of feeling rushed and not fleshed out enough due to one visit. And some annoyingly treated Sora like he didn’t matter. Just acted like making you watch rushed unfinished version’s of the original Disney movies. Sora’s just there like. Oh look, it’s Sora over there! Hi Sora! You don’t matter here! Shouldn’t be like that. The Disney characters should be well blended into the Kingdom Hearts plot and Sora in the plot of the Disney world. The story made me feel emotional, I enjoyed all the Kingdom Hearts parts, even if I felt some of them were rushed or not written well. Tears did leave my eyes. I liked how Aqua didn’t actually give into Darkness, it was Ansem’s fault. I liked the reunion, final battle sequences and all the stuff leading up to it. My favorite parts to praise are the deaths of all Org 13 members, each made me feel emotional and I wanted to see those character’s again reborn. Not so much young Xeraxnort. But Ansem and Xemnas? Oh the feels there, they were strong. I clapped. I felt there could be more with Larxene in the game in general, including her end. Luxord’s! Clap, really want him to come back and play cards with Sora. Riku Replica’s was great too. Both Riku Replica’s. Marluxa’s.. Vanitas’s was disappointing. However, these great moments aren’t enough for me to forgive those disrespected by this game. The one’s from the worlds you could visit. I’ll get to the unforgivable bits last. Toy Story’s new story and world were great. I loved exploring that world and playing through it. The development was great. Only flaw was what they did with Buzz, he’s stronger character then they take him for. He wouldn’t lose himself to the Darkness. Otherwise, everything was great. Pretty sure it’s my favorite. Hercules’s world was the level of quality I expected! It was decent, I miss the goddamn tournament's, Phil’s voice - but I did love the exploration of his city and meeting his father! Shame no boss fight with Hades's, they’re great and fun! Twilight Town sucked! I liked seeing the gang again, Uncle Scrooge and little chef. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that more then half of Twilight Town is cut and it doesn’t look like the same place! I liked exploring the entire world, not just a portion of it. Monsters Inc’s sequel to the first film with that world experience was great! I had a blast! I always wanted to see Sully’s reunion with Boo! It wasn’t perfect, but I had a good time! Pirates of Caribbean felt like it changed things from it’s canon, but it was an emotional blast! Jack Sparrow scenes and Will scenes, it was just great! The Big Hero 6 world! Oh it was great! It was emotional to lost Baymax in the film, to get him back was great! Kinda sucked to not see the big brother come back, but they’re saving that version of events for the sequel. Two Baymax’s. The only thing I didn’t like was how the whole cast was shrunk. Best example being Honey should of been taller then Jack Sparrow’s model, but she wasn’t. These worlds could of really done with multiple visits. Even more so the three left, that were wronged and disrespected. Don’t try to praise/defend what was done to them, they deserved better. Winne the Pooh deserved better. I liked not having to collect Torn Pages, but even if you didn’t have to. In the previous games, The Winnie the Pooh worlds lasted about an hour or so doing all the activities, helping out all Pooh Bear’s friends - stuff like that. Then you have KH3′s version, which is less then 20 minutes, doing the same activity three times. That was awful. Pooh’s universe deserved better. We deserved better. This is a massive flaw. Can’t forgive this. I love Pooh Bear. Now, as someone who love’s Rapunzel, not fond of how they treated her world either. It was basically the movie with bits cut out and skipped. She hardly interacted with Kingdom Hearts lore, Sora hardly stuck around her. It was just like. Now and then, Sora’s there. Why were they so scared of showing Rapunzel kissing Flynn? There were so many moments Sora should of got to interact with? Where were the two bad guy twins? Rapunzel just generally deserved better in this game. Last but not least, Frozen. Probably the worst world in the game. Because you spend most of it just falling off mountains. They hardly let Sora interact with Elsa or Anna. Or left them get involved in Kingdom Hearts lore. Sora would of been able to relate well to Elsa if they let it happen. You can’t explore the palace, Han’s has no lines and you’re forced to listen to Let It Go again with Sora basically just there. Like hi Sora! All I liked was Snow guard getting more of a role. Don’t even get to explore the city. Just the snowy place. No real development, it’s like - what was the point? There really was none. Why did we go there? Why was Larxene there? Elsa and Anna deserved better then this. Also while not all Disney worlds could of returned in KH3, due to their stories being settled. A lot definitely could! Also, Kairi deserved better then pretty much being a plot device, hardly getting development at all just to go poof. And the idea that Sora’s sacrifice to get her back doesn’t lead to the priority of everyone to find and/or bring him back somehow instead of chilling. Just made the whole ending sequence an OOC moment for me.

Verdict! 

Kingdom Hearts 3 is a decent game and fun experience, but it’s also a flawed mess. Like handling in a English report that gets a low C and just barely hits the passing grade. It is not the worst in the franchise, but Kingdom Hearts 2 easily beats it and so does Kingdom Hearts, the original one. Funner to play then Dream Drop Distance, Chain Of Memories, Recoded and the Roxas focused game! But the rest defeat it! I have no interest in a new game plus, roleplay wise I intend to amend the flaws. The Disney worlds that were wronged will get justice. Add back Final Fantasy and the missing Disney worlds. Make it what it should of been! I had a good time, I really did. But once was enough. After finishing, it now shocks me that an amount of people I can count on just one of my hands tried to either tell me KH3 was good enough or superior to all the other games, even KH2. My assumption now is, they hadn’t recently played the other games before playing 3, were lost in Nostagla or something else was going on. Just how.. How could this possibly beat the two other main titles? The only thing superior is the more then three team mates tbh. xD

7/10

I really feel like I’m being generous here, but if I went lower then I’d think I was being too harsh. It’s not FFXV and Bound by Flame 5/10 quality, but it’s certainly not The Walking Dead (by Tellale) and The Last of Us 9/10 quality. So this will have to do. Nomura, I strongly advise you to look back at Kingdom Hearts 2 and what made it so great, before you work on your next main title.