#it's definitely the southern in me

[br-kker]

Back on my Telltale's The Waking Dead obsession, forgot how huge of a crush I had on this man:

He's so pretty <3

(GIF Credit: Unknown)

[frudoo]

Just an itty bitty teeny tiny thought about biker 141 finding themselves the sweetest little pretty thing.... Most people are terrified of them for good reason, Price as the club president, Ghost as his VP, Gaz and Soap are two of their top guys. It's a sight to see them on or off their motorcycles but then there's you. The sweet little thing who runs across the boys somehow and instead of showing an ounce of fear, you give them a brilliant smile and talk sweetly to them. The boys decide then that you'll be their shared old lady.

Idk something about Biker!141 traveling through the states and meeting a pretty lil southern waitress with a heart of gold <3

Warnings: Reader's coworkers + most townfolk are prejudiced assholes. Mentions of food, and getting way too friendly with strangers (this is fiction, stay safe irl please)

The diner falls silent the second everyone hears the roar of the motorcycles’ engines coming to a halt in the front parking lot. The cooks start cussing, the parents start pulling their children closer, the busboys go to hide in the back. But you, a sweet, naive waitress on your first week, are completely unbothered. You greet the four huge, rugged men clad in leather jackets and dirt-covered jeans as they walk through the door, telling them to sit wherever they’d like.

     Your boss, wide-eyed and baffled, grabs the back of your apron and drags you into the kitchen. You brush her off with an exasperated huff, eyebrows furrowed at the middle-aged woman.

     “Steer clear of those men. I’m gonna tell ‘em to beat it,” she tells you matter-of-factly, wrinkled arms crossed over her chest.

     “Don’t be ridiculous,” you roll your eyes, retying your apron and shoving past her, out of the kitchen.

     You’re surprised to see that most of the patrons have left the diner, wads of cash left on their half-empty tables to cover their bills. All of this just because of some men that look a little different than them? It doesn’t sit right with you. You pull out your little notepad as you approach the table they chose, putting on your kindest smile. They all smile back—even the one with the weird mask has crinkles around his eyes, giving him away.

     “I’m so sorry about that wait. What can I start y’all off with to drink?” 

     “Waters all around, sweetheart,” the one with the mutton chops hums, closing his menu. 

     “Alright… and have y'all decided on food?” You begin scribbling on your little tablet of paper, nodding between each of their orders.

     The meatloaf special for mutton chops, extra potatoes, no green beans. A cheeseburger for the one with the mohawk, onion rings instead of fries. Fried catfish for the last two, with fries (because they have taste, according to the pretty one with the scar on his cheek).

     “I’ll have that right out for y’all,” you smile, giving them all a little wink before returning to the kitchen and putting their ticket on the line. 

     The cooks all give you glares, and your boss even gives you the cold shoulder, but you pay it no mind as you fill up four glasses with water and arrange them on a tray. As you balance the platter on your fingertips and make your way back to your table, one of the busboys sticks his foot out and trips you, sending both you and the waters sliding across the floor. You’re absolutely humiliated, pushing yourself up on your sore knees and dusting off your uniform as tears stream down your face.

     The one with the mask hurries over, offering his hand to help you back onto your feet. Your bottom lip trembles as you look up at him, a pitiful little whimper escaping your throat.

     “I-I’m so sorry about that, I’ll go get you new ones right now,” you sniffle, expecting him to chew you out.

     Instead, he cups your round cheeks in his gloved palms and thumbs away your tears, shushing you softly. Despite not even knowing him, you allow yourself to melt into his touch.

     “No apologizin’, lovie,” he grunts, “No’ your fault. Tha’ fucker always givin’ you trouble?” 

     “Hm? Oh, n-no, not usually,” you explain, carefully pulling away to clean up the mess on the floor. “Thank you- um…”

     “Simon,” he introduces himself, giving you a nod before going to sit back down with his mates.

     You mutter his name under your breath to remember it as you drop the broken glass in the garbage, drying off the tray and placing four new fresh glasses of water onto it. This time, the journey to the table is successful, and you hand each man their drink with a polite smile, still slightly embarrassed. They all make it a point to thank you with more enthusiasm than is needed, and the ones you don’t know introduce themselves as John, Kyle, and Johnny. 

     When the bell dings, signaling that their food is ready, you suck in a deep breath and place their dishes onto your tray, praying that this one won’t get dropped. Thankfully, you make it back with fully-intact plates, thanking the heavens that the cooks had sense enough not to burn the guys’ meals. You’re about to turn and allow them to enjoy their food, but John spreads his legs and taps one wide thigh, signaling for you to take a seat. You’re not entirely sure why you do it, but you comply, and he wraps an arm around your waist as he eats and converses with the group. 

     They’re all good company, constantly telling jokes that get you giggling, or pushing flirty little remarks your way. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the attention, but eventually your boss comes over to snatch you off of John’s lap. You can practically see the steam coming out of her ears as she drags you into the kitchen once again, face red and eyes wild with rage.

     “You’re fired,” she grits her teeth, forcefully undoing your apron and pulling it off of your body.

     “Go to hell,” you retort. "You'll fit right in."

     You don’t let her see, but your eyes are blurry with tears as you grab your purse from your locker and shove your way out the front door. You’d forgotten how chilly it was outside and now you’re shivering as you pull out your phone to order an Uber. When you hear the little bell on the door jingle, you flinch, half-expecting it to be your old boss coming out to hit you with a broom. Instead, a warm leather jacket is placed over your shoulders and a strong arm pulls you against a firm body.

     “Jus’ me, dove,” Kyle grins, rubbing your arm with his hand in an attempt to warm you up quicker. “The lads’re takin’ care o’the bill. Be out any second.”

     You nod and rest your head on his shoulder, protesting only half-heartedly when he takes your phone from your hands and cancels your Uber. 

     After a few moments, the other three men pile out of the diner, adjusting their gloves and wiping sweat off their brow. John sniffs and smiles at you warmly, pointing towards where their bikes are parked. Kyle helps you put his jacket on properly as he walks you over, and all four of them line up next to their respective rides. You shyly sway in place as they look at you expectantly.

     “Well, hen? Take yer pick.”

[berlingotesque]

Do you have a ref for your norman? I love your designs so much they bring me such delight and I was just curious abt that 👉👈

Well first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH for the kind compliment, I’m super glad you like my designs !! And secondly, I'm not at all in the habit of making references for my character designs so I actually didn't have any for my son. So thank you for giving me a good reason to make this overly saturated doodle page of my boy hehe

[buttered-beurre]

I talked about this on discord but just:

I love Festival of the Lost not just being a Halloween event. That it takes influence from Día de los Muertos.

The countless candle lightings for each of those lost, the cempasuchil flowers and petals scattered across the Tower and City. The painted pumpkins reminiscent of the sugar skulls.

That so many get together to celebrate the memory of their friends and family-

That Eliksni and the Cabal get to join in on remembering. Sharing the stories of those they dont want to forget, remembering the Lost amongst the candles and the flowers and the masks. Placing things on ofrendas, eating sweets and other foods. Enjoying the music. Being tearful, sad, mournful, happy all in one.

[8-rae-rae-8]

writing graves' accent is hard because he just sounds so incredibly normal to me. thats just a guy

[fully-automatic-ass]

Rating the OM! brothers' spice tolerance

another hc :3

7) Lucifer

come on. come on.

we all know this old bitch would start coughing at the very mention of salt. this bastard creaks like rusty fucking box springs every time he moves and you're telling me he can handle spice above a 0 on the Scoville scale? Impossible.

6) Belphegor

need I explain? (based off vibes)

5) Asmodeus

i don't really have any explanation for this. also based on vibes and vibes alone

4) Leviathan

idk, i feel the really hot cheetos (or the demon equivalent ig?) give him an edge

3) Satan

...yeah it's still just vibes

2) Beelzebub

He eats a lot, so I would imagine that he has a pretty high spice tolerance.

Wonder what his favorite spicy food would be?

1) Mammon

He really is first in everything, huh?

And, yes, I know Beel probably fits better here, but like Mammon's favorite food is (i think) the spiciest cup noodles in the devildom, so either he's a masochist or he has a high spice tolerance.

or both. whatever

[hazbinhazbinhazbinreblog]

I've been thinking about how depending on how old Vox was when he died and where he lived he could have grown up hearing Alastor's broadcasts or read news about his death in the paper

Depends on where Vox lived I agree, Alastor's broadcasts were probably a pretty local thing while he was alive. I can't put a name on Vox's accent as far as specific locations goes. If they were nearby or Alastor was more popular to reach a broader area then yes I think he would have listened by choice and enjoyed the show

[practically-an-x-man]

every time I watch The Golden Circle I go "now why the fuck did they cancel the Gambit movie???"

[dandunn]

I finished Absolution and I really liked it God bless you Jeff vandermeer you mad bastard

[vultures-and-scavengers]

no, i am a huge sucker for 'aloof character learns to lean on others and makes it through trials via the power of love and friendship and really supportive hugs' actually.

that, and enemies to lovers. she is orlesian, after all.

[thunderboltfire]

I was having fun with making up their voices! I've also decided to solve a question of languages (languages color-coded to avoid confusion).

Also, this one has quite a lot of tiny text, so I've included transcripts.

[ID: a list illustrated with colored doodles of characters' heads. Titled Who speaks what?

Igna [cartoon picture of Igna's face drawn in brick red color]: Native language: illiraian (southwestern regional form). Understands enough elvish to know when she's being threatened, and can ask for directions, but not much more.

Argo [cartoon picture of Argo's face drawn in sap green color]: Native language: northern elvish. Fluent in illiraian, hardly discernible accent. (it took Igna 3 months to figure out what's off - he rolls 'R' a bit too hard and his vowels sometimes are pronounced too close to the back of his throat).

Theria [cartoon picture of Theria's face drawn in muted brown color]: Native language: Samhran. Fluent in illiraian, audible samhran accent (difficulty pronouncing consonant clusters, palatalising 'L's and 'T"s, mixing up vowels and dyphtongs, sometimes sing-song affect to the vowels). Speaks basic Andaran and broken Omtheron.

Daen [cartoon picture of Daen's face drawn in violet color]: Native language: Moer. Fluent in illiraian, Andaran and gods know what else. Communicative in old elvish. Understands both dwarven languages, but speaks neither. No discernible accent in illiraian.

Haart [cartoon picture of Haart's face drawn in blue]: Native language: Kará (east-dwarvish). Fluent in illiraian (mostly without an

accent, but he often switches soft and hard 'H'). Understands some Andaran and Omtheron. Knows his local variety of sign language.

Knows some expressions in samhran (exclusively swearwords and toasts).]

-

Results: Igna is a spoiled kid, she's the only one in the group who has the luxury of speaking her native language day-to-day. She grew up in complete nowhere, with a very scarce contact with other languages. Tentative A1 in elvish, due to her dad trying to teach her.

Argo probably had the knowledge of Illiraian hammered into his head during his education - inhabitants of Riss speak exclusively a dialect of elvish day-to-day, but the duchy is an enclave, and it would be severely imparing not to know the neighbors' language.

Theria has been away from home long enough to gain a pretty good grasp of Illiraian, and has around B1 level in Andaran. Both spoken with a pretty thick accent, her native language is from a different language family with a strikingly different phototactics, and she's learnt the foreign languages pretty late.

Daen speaks many languages, and all of them pretty well. Maybe it's his long lifespan, but it's possible he's got a knack for language learning.

Haart has had a similar situation to Argo in a sense he's lived in a close neighboorhood of another language and learnt it in childhood. He comes from a merchant house, so it's understandable his family would want him to know foreign languages.

[ID: a scale diagram titled "profanity meter" Left to right: Daen titled "Apocalyptic event indicator", Igna titled "curses when hurt", Argo titled "curses if pissed", Haart titled "curses to emphasise" and Theria titled "Fuck is a sentence divider"]

-

I have to face the fact that Theria most probably has a severe case of unwashed mouth. Her mercenary career spans a good few years when she enters the stage and she doesn't seem like the type to watch her language, so in all probability she doesn't even notice that she curses like a sailor.

[ID: a list titled "Voice and expression". On the left side there's an up-and-down double ended arrow titled "pitch". Characters from top to bottom:

Igna: Easily the highest voice of the group. Clean, and rather strong despite it. Makes an open and honest impression when speaking, fairly good singing voice.

Theria: on the lower side of feminine voices, full-bodied voice with a bit of a vocal fry, on average way louder than the rest of the group. Enjoys singing, but easily dominates a choir

Argo: rather raspy, matte voice. Has a tendency to mutter - the limited sensitivity on the scarred side of his face makes it harder to speak clearly. Speaks quite fast despite of this. Can't hold a note for his life.

Haart: soft, full baritone. Probably the nicest laughter. Nice singing voice, talks with his hands a lot. Makes a characteristic huff when he's nervous.

Daen: low, resonant voice. Clear pronounciation. Reticent, rarely talks more than necessary. Makes a formal impression.]

Last but not least, my trials to work out how would they probably sound like. (I'm not really one to do voiceclaims).

[whalehouse1]

Also as a BluePulse shipper, finding out Bart is based in Alabama (I know, I know his vernacular would be different due to his age and upbringing along with his culture but I’m going to do what comics do with language and culture just for this) has been a gift for this reason alone.

JL member: What are you two doing?

Bart: Why nuthin’ much stranger. We’re just two swee’d yun’ southern boys havin’ a swell ol’ time.

Jaime: We’re jus’ ea’din’ sum go’ ol’ American apple pie an’ enjoyin’ the pleasure of eachothah’s company.

[kryboxkrinkledicks]

i just realised that if youve been watching john since 2019 you witnessed his twink birth

[corrodedcoughin]

something something southern boy eddie being jealous of nancy and steve growing closer (even though there's nothing going on between them and it's all in eddie's head) and going to an open-mic night in country bar a couple of towns over to sing jolene.

that's it. that's all i got. i just want more eddie singing dolly parton songs and he'll be such a petty lil jealous bitch that jolene fits him perfectly. okay, hope you're having a lovely day friend!

oh my lord do NOT get me started on Dolly Parton loving steddie. I believe and will promote it!! Southern boy Eddie just feels right somehow, I love everything you said.

Now you are going to have to forgive me for all inaccuracies because I am not American but here's some thoughts.

Eddie thinking Steve and Nancy are getting closer, they've been spending more and more time together, heads bent close and talking in whispers. Every time he sees them it feels like a fist around his heart and windpipe a hot, uncomfortable thing that makes him want to turn on his heel but finds himself staring and hurting instead.

He deals with it the only way he knows how, through music and who better than miss Dolly? He spends nights in his room blaring out Jolene, and I will always love you. Sometimes he mixes it up, adds new artists in Willie Nelson with 'Always on my mind', patsy cline 'crazy' and whatever else he can torture himself with.

Wayne handles it as best he can before he's knocking on Eddie's door shouting to turn it down when the soundsytem starts to rattle the mugs on the shelf. He loves Eddie like a son but if he loses another mug to Tammy Wynette's laments he's going to start hiding his record collection from that boy.

Without an outlet for his heartbreak Eddie gets restless so one day after he sees Steve and Nancy whispering and smiling again he jumps in his van and drives, speakers turned up and when he stops he finds himself a couple of towns away outside a bar with some pretty interesting clientele that, while keeping a low profile, are clearly having a good time. He gets curious and Eddie has never been somebody to shy away from his own curiosity so he goes in and what he finds changes his life.

There is such an amazing mix of people, couples and non-couples and most of all, a complete lack of stares or judgement. He keeps looking around, a smile on his face grows when he sees the stage when the barman is at his elbow

'You here for the open mic night? You look the type anyway'

Eddie turns to face the man, certain that this is a place he is coming back to

'Not this time, but sign me up for the next one'

-------

It’s a few months down the line and Eddie is a regular, carved himself a spot on the stage in this evidently accepting and thriving gay bar.

He is gearing up to go out, ready to pour his heart out after seeing Steve pick Nancy up and spin her around, his whole mood souring and the overwhelming pain and sadness sitting low in his stomach. It had been manageable up until then, difficult sure, but manageable. So tonight is the night.

He walks up to the mic to familiar cheers and heckles; he always has such a varied set but never a bad word said about him. Eddie gets himself settled on the stool, acoustic guitar in hand and without giving himself a chance to look at the crowd he starts with the opening notes to Jolene and silence spreads across the audience. Eddie gives it everything, holding nothing back and the bar patrons join him in the chorus. He puts all his sadness into his performance, catharsis in its purest form. He aches and the audience aches with him, it finally feels good.

He looks up then and makes eye contact with the girl that has broken him. Nancy Wheeler stares at him across the bar, she stands in a gap in Eddie's eye line, somehow with nobody in front of her. Sad eyes seeing something in Eddie he never planned on sharing with her. He looks down immediately, not wanting to completely self-destruct in the middle of his set. But that's when he catches Nancy's hand, Nancy's occupied hand holding another hand. A distinctly non-masculine hand. He looks back up. Robin Buckley? Holding hands with Nancy Wheeler? Eddie has to park that thought, can’t let it into his mind when he has his set to finish but it finds a place to sit, to be addressed later, he's curious, not hopeful but definitely interested in this turn of events.

--------

He finishes his set to applause and takes an ostentatious bow, packs up his stuff and shuffles off to the bar, hoping to get a drink and think about what he saw. Eddie manages to get to the bar when Nancy intercepts him, Robin in tow. He should have known she wouldn't ignore him, not when Eddie has actually been in her house, made small talk during the summers when the school couldn't be used for Hellfire and Mike's house was the only available spot.

'Hi Eddie, I just wanted to say, WE both wanted to say, that was great. Really great. Right Robin?'

Robin swings forward, hand still attached to Nancy's and starts to talk, going over Eddie's playing, song choices and then the cover of Jolene. Both her and Nancy change their body language at that lean close, soften their eyes, seem to pick up on something Eddie was showing but not telling.

The thing is, Eddie knew about Robin, they'd had talks in the band room cupboard, tentative at the start but then more open as time went on. They had a trust between each other that neither took lightly. And because of that, Eddie felt protective of Robin, doesn't want to see her hurt when she has clearly opened herself up to somebody new.

Just then Robin shoots off, says something about the bathroom which leaves Eddie and Nancy together. Eddie doesn't really know what to do with himself, doesn't want to talk to the girl that is responsible for his heartache but also doesn't want to let the opportunity to protect his friend go. So he doesn't think, just throws himself in at the deep end and hopes for the best

'You know Ms Wheeler, never thought I'd see you in the kind of place. Taking a walk on the wild side before returning to your castle?' It's not nice but it’s not overly hostile, he hopes

'Yeah, well Robin wanted to come and I thought it might be fun. Let her show me the ropes a bit'

Eddie raises an eyebrow at this

'Wouldn't it be better to come here with your boyfriend? Does he even know you are here or you just here to get some kick from Buckley where nobody can see you? Go back to you 'normal' life in the morning?'

To her credit, Nancy doesn't get angry, raises her head to look Eddie directly in the eye and begins to speak but is interrupted by Robin making a reappearance next to Nancy and then, much to Eddie's horror, a voice comes from behind him

'Ah the love bird reunited at last, don't know how you survived without breathing the same air quite honestly'

'Oh, shut up dingus, I know for a fact that you are disgustingly co-dependent so don't even start'

And that's when Steve fucking Harrington comes up to Eddie's side, places an arm on his bicep and squeezes

'Hey man, you were amazing. That Dolly cover? Goosebumps dude! I'd love to hear more if you know any of her others?'

Steve is leaning in close to Eddie, he is smiling at Eddie, he has his hand ON Eddie's arm. Eddie...may have misinterpreted some things.

-----------

It's another few months down the line and Eddie is about to step on stage at his familiar open mic night. He walks up on stage, electric guitar this time, plugs it in and tunes up, not giving the crowd any attention. Then, when he feels ready, his eyes are up and he finds the familiar pair in the crowd. Steve.

Turns out the time he and Nancy had been spending together was to plan romancing Robin and the spinning? That was when Nancy had finally secured a date. He feels silly for it now but hey, worked out in the end, right?

Eddie smiles wide, gets close to the mic so it’s almost muffled

'Stevie darlin', this ones for you'

And Eddie starts Dolly Parton's 'Baby I'm burning' as the audience gets up on their feet and Nancy pulls Robin and Steve onto the dance floor. It's loud and it's fun and Eddie doesn't stop grinning the whole time, smile evident in his voice as he sings and he sends his thanks out to Dolly.

[spawksstuff]

The De Completionist Checklist Part 5

1955

Note on the dates: I will mostly be going by when a show/movie was shot rather than its release date. Variety Magazine will be given first priority.

My score: 11 / 17

Need To Find: Maitnee Theatre Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Studio 57 Vacation With Pay, You Are There: (The First Major Use of Penicillin, The Rescue of the American Prisoners from Santo Tomas, Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin, Grant and Lee at Appomattox)

Favorite Movie: Bamboo

Favorite TV Show: Science Fiction Theatre YORD and The Millionaire Iris Millar

Favorite Scene: When Ike Clanton addresses the reporter in You Are There. Eyeballing him up and down, smirking, menacing, laughing.

[motherboardmania]

i really do love the southern (particularly southwestern, since ive only ever lived in the southwest. though ive seen both coasts) but i swear, having spent literally less than a month total of my entire life being further north than like... the northern state border of oklahoma? Im kind of sick of it. ive spent a little over 2 decades in the southwest and im more than ready to move on, whenever capitalism will finally let me do that safely.