#just been rotating him around my brain like a microwave

[bellamuertes]

Boyd Holbrook as Clement Mansell

JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL (1x01)

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Yusei is just....so kidnap-able.

Hear me out.

Man either has bad tinnitus or just out-right hearing loss from years of working on engines with zero ear protection. We know this for two reasons: 1. When he's working on his bike and revs the engine, Saiga, Yanagi, and Himuro all flinch and cover their ears and Yusei...doesn't so much as bat an eye. and 2. When he's leaving to steal his bike back, Saiga hears when Ushio revs his engine from inside a building on the second story and Yusei? Normally when one hears an engine on an otherwise deserted street, one naturally turns to see the source of the noise. Yusei does not. The street is freaking empty, and somehow he doesn't notice the only vehicle that is clearly going slow enough to not pass him by. (And it's not like Ushio is just too far away to hear. He's not. He's shown to be not that far behind. And he's on a freaking loud motorcycle. Most people would notice that.)

Look, we all know Yusei would win in a fight, but not if he doesn't notice his assailant sneaking up behind him because he can't hear them before he gets whacked in the head.

In conclusion, it is very little wonder that he ends up getting kidnapped in canon.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

I'm not a solavellan person I just really like rotating Solas in my brain like a microwave. He is so interesting. He's something different to everyone who knows him. Your intentions shape his approach when interacting with you. He is wisdom and pride and hope and a pain and a friend and a villain and someone's love. He's been twisted against his purpose so many times by so many people I don't think he even knows what his "purpose" is anymore. He is so fucked up. He's such a fucked up little guy. The only part of him that's remained the same all this time is tangled up in the tightest knot of regret you could ever imagine.

Everyone talks about whether they hate or love him. But like... that's kind of the point of him isn't it? If you hate him he commits to pissing you off as much as possible and if you love him he tears himself to shreds and ties his regret knot tighter just for you. There is no winning in his rule book. There is just failure or success, and he's experienced so little of the latter that it's made him willing to tear the world apart just for one tiny success. Just the smallest barest of successes. And then he'd turn around and see the damage left in the wake and fall apart all over again. He can never let go of anything.

As a character i love how he is written. As a person i think I would despise him face to face. He's like anxiety personified. All the what ifs lumped together. Every "I wasn't good enough" that anyone has ever thought. He's also none of these things. He could choose to be whatever he wants but he's so attached to his past and origins and chained to his perception of himself that he'll never let himself change.

I hope that after an ending where he's persuaded to join the veil, that he manages to figure out how to just be a little guy again. Just some guy. He deserves that I think.

[galaxythreads]

hi,

I'm fascinated by ur Loki works, and since I'm currently rereading all my favourites I wanted to ask about your general headcanons for Loki, and your opinions on all the movies and appearances Loki had. Basically, could you please talk about Loki, because i feel like my idea of Loki and your idea of Loki are similar. bye!!

"Do you want to rant at me about your favorite character?" I mean. do you want my first born?

general headcanons:

there's this scene in Loki: Where Mischief Lies where Loki has a throwaway line that talks about how it never matters when Thor hits him even if it gets violent and it rotates around in my head like a microwave all the time. Such an interesting concept that Thor took things too far but Loki never said anything because that's Just What Siblings Do TM

Loki's hair is soft to the touch, not greasy, because I will die mad about loki's hair in ragnarok

loki steals clothing. This is something you can see in all my fics, he's constantly stealing things from everyone.

Loki is ace, never had sex, and isn't interested in changing that. I don't think he's aro, I think he is interested in romantic love to some extent, but I think sex is just mid to him

loki's magic pokes at all five senses. It's something you can see, taste, hear, touch, and smell

loki got "food poisoning" a lot as a kid because his body was made for jotun stuff and like. asgard doesn't have that

Loki has a moral code, and there are lines he won't cross

loki doesn't lie that much, people just gave him the name because he's shifty and it was a rumor that was started by thor that he lies all the time

loki and thor's relationship has only gotten more complicated as they've gotten older and they have the brain chemistry to process things better, look at their childhoods and go, uh, bro, wait a minute

frigga wasn't a very good mom to loki, even though she tried

Loki can cook

loki uses magic less now that he's older, not because he's not good at it, but because he just like. he uses more subtle magic, and he doesn't need to turn his magic into a glowy show when he could just punch you in the face

loki is a man of few words

loki being captured and watching him lose his mind is straw that broke the camel's back for Gamora, who left shortly after he agreed to help thanos

loki wasn't mind controlled per se in the first avengers, the scepter was just affecting his feelings, but not more than anyone else? Loki was just genuinely tortured/coerced into this by thanos and they didn't have to force him to do anything. he was too terrified to say no. scepter was just an added bonus to cement the control

loki absolutely has permanent spinal damage from his time with thanos

I have a bazillion of these i could literally go on for ages.

---

thoughts on movies:

Uh. Okay. um. How do I say this without getting slain? I...do not think, objectively, that any of the Thor movies are good movies. I think they have fantastic concepts, and wonderful characters, and I adore poking at them, but I think one of the reasons that they're so beloved is because of their potential not because of what they are. People love thinking about what could have been and what they wished happened, because there's very little that's actually satisfyingly completed about the films.

Because the Thor movies are not...It. You kind of have to go hunting for outside material for pieces to be connected together and thor 2 has lots of issues that not even thor 1 could have dreamed of, and Thor 1 is just. A disaster, narratively. I think Thor 3 is definetly the most well put together movie, which sucks because it's the one that botched the characters beyond repair. You either have good characters and awful story or fantastic story and terrible characters with no inbetween.

Trying to talk about why I don't think the movies are good - objectively, as movies - has never ended super well for me, but yeah, i just. I don't. I don't think they're very good. I can break it down in more detail if anyone is interested, but there seems to exist two opinions on tumblr: you either think thor 1 - tdw is an untouchable master piece or you don't and there's nothing good to say about them at all.

I have endless praise to give the movies, but that doesn't mean I don't have criticisms, because, good lord, they suck in some places. Loki's character arc is the most baffling mishandle of a character that I have ever witnessed, and yes, I mean this from the get go. Connecting thor 1 - thor 2 takes some mental math.

Thor 1: Interesting set-up for Loki's character, I like how careful they are with setting him up to make sure that his arc was clear and the line between victim and villain was really blurred. They did a good job on making him sympathetic, and revealing an interesting concept with him and Thor, even if I don't think it was executed as well as I wanted.

Avengers 1: adore poking at Loki and Thanos's relationship here. I cannot get enough of it. I like writing with the avengers mostly because of all that didn't happen in the movie that I wished had. There's so many narrative secrets that don't get addressed or glossed over and I just want it picked apart

Thor 2: i enjoy seeing Loki and Thor working together, Loki's deteriorating mental stay in prison is always fascinating, and generally tdw is my favorite movie and portrayal of loki. It's what I usually base all my fics off of is how he acts in this movie. 10/10, will sing praises

thor 3: my loathing for this movie has shriveled considerably since i saw it the first time, but i'd still be hardpressed to say i liked anything they did with loki's character. Loki is self-sabatoging constantly, and his character makes no sense whatsoever. he is the village idiot, and like, i'm not really into that.

Infinity War: Honestly, i'm just gonna say it - i really did like what they did with loki in this movie. Like yeah, I wanted him to help and be an important part of the story, yeah, of course, but I also appreciate from a writing perspective what a powerful move killing him off before the credits was. Loki was the Big Bad of the first avengers and murdering him set the stakes amazingly. It carried Thor's entire arc, and it felt like a shroud that was layered over the movie. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I appreciated what they did with it, and I like the tragedy.

---

Appearance:

not a single scene in ragnarok with him it it did not make me want to chew off my foot, his character design was awful. I will never understand why everyone was drooling over the black suit, it looked like it was bought from walmart and then the wrinkles smoothed out with a flat iron. His hair is greasy af for no reason, all of his clothing looks cheap and ugly. there's nothing impressive or visually interesting about him. the choice to remove his colors so hela can take them will never not be annoying to me even though hela is my baby child

thor 1 has the best hair, in my opinion, but he also looks stupid as hell in his armor. loki's design, to me, works best when it has long lines and it's flowy and/or soft. visually nice:

and like the reason it's visually nice is because it's soft and doesn't make me notice tom hiddleston's hips. The moment i'm aware of his hips i get irritated as hell about it, because idk man, loki just. he does not look good when you're aware he has hips. tom hiddleston is like fine, somehow? i don't know why it doesn't bother me when he's wearing whatever he wants to - i also just like. do not care - but with loki i'm just like. oh good LORD stop making me aware of your hips.

It's why i can't stand his ragnarok suit but would sing praises over the thor 1 one.

It's something that's just like. confounded me forever, because i don't even know why it bugs me so much, but every time i see his TVA outfit, thor 1 armor, or that stupid ragnarok suit i want to shoot a canon ball into the sun.

Give the man a suit coat or do not put him in a jacket. loki has lots of skills but pulling off a jacket is not one of them.

He needs to look haunted, like, in general. Or like an 18th century tired man. it's integral for his character to me.

things that make galaxy happy:

loki soft hair

loki having suit coat or suit coat equivalent

things that will send her into a ranting, unwanted, nitpicky rage

loki greasy hair

loki dressed in jackets

[zzcrypticcoyotezz]

Read your Ian Malcom Nonbinary/genderfluid and now I can't get it out of my head. IT'S SUCH A COOL HEADCANNON THAT I SEE HAPPENING. Can you rant more about it, please? give more scenarios of what your take is LITERALLY ANYTHING GO FERAL. That is all thank you. Also Trans Alan?! yoooooooooo. Love the concept of Ian helping him come out more too. Just GRAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

aaaaaa thank you so much!!! AND YES i would be happy to! you're the first person to ever send me a question, i'm so excited my posts are starting to pick up and people like the dumb things i write haha. i've had this rotating in my brain like a microwave for a while so enjoy! doesn't make much sense with my headcanon being that malcolm messes with his gender after the events of JP, but i've been really wanting to reimagine the first scene of them together in the plane and make it extra fruity.

- - - -

"So... Are you a man, or a woman, then?" Alan asks, his eyes studying the mathematician carefully. He'd heard of Dr. Ian Malcolm and his work on chaos theory, sure. But he had no idea who the man himself (person?) was. He had absolutely no idea what to expect when he and Ellie boarded the plane, and he still doesn't know.

Ellie, gentle but still firmly elbowed Grant, giving him a glare. "Alan, you can't ask somebody you just met that question!" She whispered, sounding like a mother upset with her unruly son interrupting Sunday school.

Ian laughed, his sharp features curling into a smirk. He loved toying with the paleontologists, supposed men and women of science yet they couldn't wrap their head around someone defying societal gender norms. He leaned forward, his voice smooth, his long fingers gently pushing down the rim of his dark sunglasses revealing his big brown eyes, the windows to the soul some might say, and the makeup he had done that morning. Just something simple and easy to miss, just like his nails painted black or shoes secretly bought from the women's section, but undeniably himself, his style, his expression. He responded, his voice smooth with a hint of flirtation.

"I'm whatever you want me to be."

Alan sputtered. "I- uh, wh... What? What do you mean? That doesn't make any sense!" And Ellie couldn't help but laugh at his confusion. His voice grew quieter. "Pardon me if my wording isn't right, this isn't my expertise, but are you gay? One of those... Uh... Queers? I have no problem with any of it, I'm just looking for clarification."

Dr. Malcolm laughed. "Uhh... I, Well, uh, you could- you could say that, I suppose." The two still looked bewildered. "Here, uh, how about we look at it this way. Gender is.... Hmm... Something, uh, humans made up. A social construct. It doesn't truly matter what clothes we wear or what we put on our skin or how we style our hair. Life's too short to worry about that kind of thing. I'm just me. I'm not a man, or-or a woman, I'm a human being. And we're living things, we can't be put in- organized into a box. Life will always find a way to defy expectations."

Ellie's brows rose. "I actually think I understand. I've never really thought about any of this before, but it makes sense to me." She looked over at Alan. His face wrinkled in deep concentration, grappling with some kind of debate going on inside his head. After a moment, he finally responded.

"I'm sorry- but I'm still confused. How can you not be a man or a woman? The clothes thing, sure, okay, I get it." Before Dr. Malcolm had a chance to answer, Ellie spoke up.

"Just look at nature, Alan. There are definitely more than two genders or sexes. For fungi, there can be tens of thousands! And many animals can even change their gender or sex by themselves. Humans, we aren't separate from nature, we're a part of it. If Dr. Malcolm doesn't fit with either box then I don't see why they can't go past the binary."

Alan was starting to understand, but was still wrestling with a lot of concepts in his head. Things in his life he'd never told anyone before, things Ellie has no idea of. Alan Grant was not born as Alan Grant. Alan Grant wasn't born a man. He knew from the beginning that he wasn't a woman and he could never feel comfortable as one, and he was now dead to his family as they couldn't accept that. They'd rather have a "normal daughter" over a "transsexual for a son". He would lose his career if this came to light. He hasn't spoken to his parents since the day he left home at 18. They returned every letter he wrote.

Yet here now, in front of him, was someone who completely defied expectations. Someone who didn't care what others think. Someone who actively broke the rules. And this wasn't just anyone, but a world renowned mathematician! If a man, no, person of science can feel so comfortable with this part of themself... Then maybe he wasn't some freak of nature or mentally ill. That this is actually a normal human experience, that he wasn't alone or some kind of outlier. His expression softened.

"You're right, Ellie. I... I think I understand now. I apologize, Dr. Malcolm." His voice had a slight shake. Memories were flooding to his mind, memories he didn't want to remember, memories of his youth, and after he was kicked out of his parents' life. How much he'd fought to become the man he is today. How alone he felt, throughout so much of his life. He took in a deep breath, rubbed his temples and wiped his eyes, then cleared his throat, he held out his hand in a greeting. "I'd like to start over."

Ian smiled warmly, reciprocating the handshake. He felt like they have more in common than Grant would like to admit, and things were going to be alright.

-

[sighs-deeply-and-dreadfully]

,,, so, I’m being self indulgent,,,,,,,,,, haha!!

This isn’t a request! Just me being silly! :]

Love Languages

Wally Darling Love Language Headcanons, no assigned reader!

Headcanons format, not super specified romantic or platonic, so envision it as you please!

Honestly, I truly dearly envision Wally to have quality time, gift giving, and physical touch as love languages. Like, so dearly truly so, haha!!

I feel he’s the type to simply just.. hand a gift to someone. Randomly.

“What’s this?” “A gift!” “Is.. is this a bent paperclip?-“ “No, it’s a gift!”

I feel he tries to get personalized gifts, but— ah, he’s a bit silly, haha!! I feel sometimes it’d backfire, and his train of thought as to why this was the absolute most perfectest gift tends to twirl too much in his little apple shaped brain— to where it kind of just.. doesn’t make sense.

But a gift is a gift!!!! It’s the thought that counts!

As for physical touch, I believe he’s still learning it, haha! If I recall correctly, Clown mentioned he just goes limp upon being hugged— but I could be remembering wrong!

Either way, he can be instructed! He will figure it out! Even if sometimes it backfires, like his constant blowing of kisses (also mentioned by Clown!) !!

He strikes me as the type to just.. want to use someone as a pillow.

They’re just, sitting, minding their business, and suddenly he’s just.. at their side. Pillow……..

I think he’d like to hold hands. I think he’d just like hands in general. Maybe this is a smidge of self projection, but I’m an artist that loves hands. dearly so. I find their structure really interesting!! I feel he’s similar.

I think he’d just like to hold someone’s hand and look at it and how it moves. That’s real intimacy right there, folks!!! /lhj

If someone were to try and interlock their fingers with his, whether platonically or romantically, I think he’d just stare. Processing… until he gets it!

Don’t expect to be getting that hand back anytime soon, friend! That isn’t your hand, anymore! It’s our hand.

Overall, I feel he wouldn’t express physical affection in any normal way. I feel cuddling and the hand stuff is the closest exception, but other than that?

I think he’d just lay on someone. Like, you have yours legs sprawled out? Ahh, what a lovely hammock!

Are you laying on your stomach? Ahh, what a lovely pillow!

He just kind of.. compresses on impact. Pillow.

Gift that man a weighted blanket and I think he’d know peace. True peace.

I think just laying on him would content him, too, HAHA

He strikes me as the ‘likes physical pressure as affection’ kind

Also plays into quality time!!!

But, for the most part, quality time can just be spent in many ways.

Hanging out and chatting, doing your own individual activities in the same room, sleeping around each other,,, squeeshy

He just takes being in the presence of someone for a while as quality time, and he feels very grateful for his friends when he does <33

Just a silly little guy:)

Might be projection again, but I feel he struggles to express his affection in an easily digestible way— so just? Understanding his love languages and what counts as affection on his end? Is so delightful and appreciated

ESPECIALLY if it’s reciprocated

I feel how he feels loved, in return, are the same ones!!! Along with words of affirmation!! Squenshy

Bon appetite (???) HAHAH

I’m somewhat half awake, this has just been rotating in my brain like a microwave plate, so don’t mind any grammatical errors! I’ll fix them laterrrrrrrr

[bugwantsahug]

Hi!! You wanted requests? Nark and some headcanons maybe?

I apologize it has been a minute!! I’ve been rotating this around in my brain microwave cause I have so many thoughts about them!! (Also a lot of these are like- pre betrayal):

- Big fan of the FWB headcannons/fics but i present to you: “ I didn’t know how to ask you out, I wasn’t sure you liked me…” Lark, and “Wait, we haven’t been dating for the past three months??” Nicky

- Despite being the most intense of the kiddads, they are so very soft to eachother. Lots of gentle touches and kisses, especially from Nicky.

- Nick regularly forgets his leather jacket at Lark’s house. This is the only place he has ever forgotten his jacket.

- Nicky is Trans Masc, Lark helps with T injections!

- Smoke breaks turn kissing breaks VERY often.

-They are the worst PDA couple, fully on Nicky’s part. Lark will just be sitting there with Nick fully clinging onto him like one of those stuffed animals with the Velcro hands.

- they each have very distinct smells that remind them of eachother. Nicky’s, of course being smoke, but also cinnamon, and Larks is oranges.

Also, the nicknames Songbird and Hellcat have a chokehold on me, whoever came up with those I owe you my life.

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Lance/hunk/shiro for character opinion bingo :3?

Hi!! Thanks for asking!!!!

Lance-

Everyone but me is wrong about them<3- Source: trust me bro. But ok seriously, everyone is going to have their own opinions and interpretations and they are more or less valid. I get that! And i also get that people are just having fun! I really do! I am not trying to be fun police! But also there is so much in the fandom that is Just......plain wrong whether it's coming from Lance stans or Lance haters or Keith stans who ship kl, i don't even know where to begin with. And even if i did know, if i started listing all of them we'll be here all day. Ok i think my biggest gripe is this insistence that if kl (or any Keith ship really) had became canon it could have saved vld, cause just no. No it won't. The writers hate their characters of colour and the Love Keith, if kl had became canon Lance would have just been reduced to being Keith's eye candy. Neither would making him Black paladin. Just look at what happened to Shiro and Kuron

They got done dirty by the fans- Kl shippers insisting that their fanon 'fixed' Lance and said fanon is Lance having every nuance or complexity removed with only things remaining is either his insecurities and him having a crush on Keith my beloathed. Please i need most fans (especially Keith stans) away from him, doesn't matter what their feelings about Lance are, all of them somehow come up with worse fanon

They got done dirty by the creators- Everyone and their mother has talked about this in great detail but still. Just. A farmer?!?! A FARMER?!?!?!!? Also apparently him moving to Altea even though he spent so much time missing Earth like?!??! I would have accepted that if it's because he is Allura's Prince Consort or a diplomat or something but this is just bullshit

Wasted Potential- Lance could have had such a great arc about being support and humility and finding his own place with his own strength but noOooOoo it's instead about how he'll only ever be second choice to fucking Keith

I am constantly going insane rotating him in my brain like a fork in a microwave- this fucker has been in my brain for 7 goddamn years and he is neither planning to leave nor planning to pay rent

Popular ships for this character suck- i actually like most of his ships except klance, the blight that it is (i enjoy it too occasionally but it's so everywhere it's getting on my nerves, free my boy i am tired of Keith)

Overrated- I love him. He is my most favorite character ever, but people need to shut up about him forever <333, especially because that fanon guy is not my son

Constantly listening to songs and mentally holding them up like paint swatches- i have. So. Many animatic ideas around Lance. So many of them

I WANT TO STUDY THEM LIKE COCKROACH- He's my little labrat and i am an unethical scientist about to have fun experimenting. He's just so intriguing, i think what's intriguing to me about is how much messy, contradictory and human he is as a character

FREE SPACE- Maybe i am bit biased here but in my opinion vld should have had three main focal points. Shiro, as he has connection with galra empire and the horrors they were committing in the present and the universe that needs to be rescued, saved and healed. Allura, as she has connection with the lions and their legend as well as the past of the galran empire and what was destroyed in their wake and seeks justice, healing, and remembrance. And finally, Lance, as he's connected to every member of the new team, no matter how uncertain and one sided those bonds were, to Earth and his family who never even knew about those dangers and are unprepared, what's at stake and the future that needs to be defended and protected.

What's wrong with him (affectionate)- He's so goddamn annoying<33333

Not Enough ScreenTime- Or atleast he definitely he needed more focus

My opinions would be received by most fans as akin to hitting a wasps nest with baseball bat- other than my dislike for kl? I think allurance was fine, yes the relationship needed better writing. But so did every relationship in this goddamn show buddy, as a matter al is one of the only ones that actually had some development for both the characters.

Also Lance should have stayed the blue paladin "He deserved to be someone's first choice" HE WAS ALREADY SOMEONE'S FIRST CHOICE!!! HE WAS BLUE'S FIRST CHOICE!!!! BLUE WAITED FOR HIM FOR 10,000 YEARS!!! SHE CHOSE HIM OVER THE BEST PILOTS, THE BEST ENGINEERS, THE BEST SCIENTIST AND SO MANY OTHERS!!!!! *rattling and gnawing on my cage bars*

BITING AND KILLING AND MAIMING THEM AND DEATH AND VIOLENCE- I am definitely Normal™ about him. Yup. Just don't look at my blog

Hunk-

i have answered him here!

Shiro-

They got done dirty by the fans- I do not get this opinion that Shiro staying dead would have fixed the narrative. Like Shiro had been dead since s2 and only came back at the end of s6 to be a side character. Him staying alive was not the reason behind the quality of the show decreasing. Also the entire "who should be the Black Paladin" debate is pointless the answer will always be the guy who fought Zarkon in the Astral Plane for it.

They got done dirty by the creators- Literally so fucking dirty, Shiro really goes from one of the most interesting character with compelling backstory integral to the plot, to a side character who may as well just not be there. The absolute bs of it all

Wasted Potential- Shiro had So Much going for him as a character, but alas

They work better as a part of a dynamic- Shiro and Black Lion parallel mirrored dynamic my beloved they'll never make me hate you <333. Cause seriously it's the most Lion-Paladin bond in the whole show, their shared similar trauma and that too from same people!!! How can you not???

The popular ships for this character suck- maybe this is just me being a Keith hater, but Shiro's dynamic with literally every other character was far more compelling then his dynamic with Keith. Like with Allura? Shared trauma from same people and also shared responsibility. With Pidge? Trying to find the same people they love. With Hunk? Two characters who struggle with their neurodivergency and need stability. With Lance? Character foils. In all these cases Shiro is in an equal position and feels like a character. With Keith however, platonic or romantic, the entire relationship is about how Keith feels about Shiro, and how sad Keith gets when Shiro gets hurt/missing etc etc, and just a completely one sided mess that is less about them equals and more about putting Keith on pedestal, which is just utterly boring nothing burger to me

I want to study them like a cockroach- Tell me your secrets boy <33

Not enough screen time- Yeah </3

My opinions would be received by most fans as akin to hitting a wasps nest with baseball bat- Like i said i find his dynamic with Keith at best boring and at worst detrimental to his character in canon in Doylist perspective way. Which sucks cause like it's fan favorite relationship in both canon and fanon and is also almost everywhere.

Also i know twinganes (Kuron and Shiro being bros) is really popular but i personally cant see them get along. Especially at first. Shiro canonically doesn't like Kuron and refers to him as an evil clone, which understandable, Shiro did spend months dead in astral plane while Kuron (unknowingly) took over his life and then goes on to nearly kill his friends. But it is also so unfair to Kuron who is not only dead but also no one is mourning him AND his body is being used by Shiro. So if Kuron were to survive all That™ i doubt he'll have high opinions about Shiro as well (hence my post s8 au)

And even if all that didn't happen i still think they'll have problems. Like at best they will be civil and friendly but also deeply uncomfortable around each other (Kuron cuz clone trauma and Shiro cuz Haggar trauma). At worst it's just this-

I like them but i don't think about him much- confession i personally found Kuron to be much more compelling as a character. Shiro is a good character! I get why people like him!!! But also if i had to choose between the two it would be Kuron without a doubt. Shiro just doesn't hit the brainrot levels of likability to me

[lordchickooon]

Aztec curse headcanons have been rotating around in my brain like a microwave meal... like dude I wanna see Barbossa do some freaky body horror shit while under that curse. I wanna see him get totally torn to shreds and just keep on fighting like it’s nothing. someone should draw this (me) (its me im gonna draw this)

[pumpkinsy0]

curlys been the only thing on my mind recently so can i please get ANYTHING involving him? hcs, bullying, thoughts, i just need him to keep rotating around my brain like a microwave

do it and my life is yours🙏🙏🙏

yknow what i havent made like a regular ole hc post for curly in a while so this is his time!!!

i love him i wanna chew him up and spit him out, mwah

•just like angela, he has some fucking CLAWS on him, he can scratch u rlly badly in a fight, like a cat

•sometimes hes running from police and he hears the cop say “suspect has____” and sometimes it sticks w him cause DOES he look like that??? he usually asks someone about it later if he rlly has that

•he can sing pretty well actually!!! nobody rlly knows it tho cause he doesnt sing that much

•look at him,,,,he definetly has silvercaps on his teeth, just a bad ass kid all around and the silvercaps prove it

•i think he actually looks a bit older than what he actually is, maybe like 2???4???? years older and he uses that to his advantage, this reason is y ppl say he looks like a mini tim and not just “he looks like tim”

•hes more of a piercings guy than tattoo guy

•christopher ‘curly’ ezekiel shepard, u would do WONDERS on the funny side of twitter

•modern day curly wouldve been that kid w a two wheeled scooter just rolling around and causing problems for everyone and their mama

•hes ALSO the kinda guy to literally steal the chair from u in musical chairs when ur the last 2 ppl, he literally snatches it before u can sit

•i think if u took him to a restaurant and there was a eating challenge, if u just didnt let him eat the day before, i THINK he could eat it all or at least get a good chunk of it outta the way

[rocksibblingsau]

i'm gonna be real honest right now, and this is gonna be long....your I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home fic has had me in a choke hold since i found it like a week ago. it's so good and i love it and i've always loved the Rock Trolls (probably because thats the genre i've gravitated to the most since i was a kid) but i just adore the characterization, the exploration of Branch growing up in a different culture, exploring Branch's trauma. Barb being a big sister, Branch actually having a dad.

just i am in love with all of it.

i have so much i want to say but i don't know how to put it into words. it's also nice to see this one and another fic of Branch being raised as Rock called Burning Branches AU where Branch loses his memory and gets adopted by Thrash. like i don't mind the AU's i've seen of Branch being like half Rock or something but having Branch be in a sort of Cooper situation, adopted into another genre, just hits what i've wanted to see.

this fic has me chomping at the bit for more, and i can't wait for more.

and i will say this as well....Trolls has been a sort of guilty pleasure of mine since i saw the 1st movie on Netflix back in like 2017. it was something that looked like a fun time and an escape from college assignments and i liked it well enough. when, World Tour was briefly on Netflix in like 2021, or somewhere around that time, it was good and i loved the fact we got to see different genres of trolls.

but hooboy! when Band Together got added in like early August this year. i underestimated how much that movie would make me actually want to read trolls fic. and i gotta say i've got the trolls brain worms now and this fic has just been living in my head and rotating it like its in a microwave and studying it like a bug.

i am also the anon that said that So Called Life by Three Days Grace would be a song i could see Branch writing when he finally starts wring songs, and the anon that wanted Branch to where the shirt Val got him of Spider's band the 1st day of school to see his reaction in front of Val and Petra that this was the one who dethroned him at the arcade as a power move.

i also loved the idea of in ch 26 Branch thinking about what his life would have been like if his egg was found by Rock Trolls. i hope that is an idea either you or someone else will explore because now i really want to see that!

This means so much to me. Thank you, and thank you for reading my fic!

Branch being half Rock is a very interesting angle, but I really like the idea of Branch not being Rock but being Rock, if that makes sense. Identifying with their values despite not being a Rock Troll by blood.

Branch being adopted as an egg would be SUCH an interesting world to explore, I definitely have a few ideas about it if anyone wants to pick my brain about it.

[marshmallowprotection]

I’ve been recently having a lot of fun with a SE scenario where Saeyoung’s MC’s little sister moves to Korea to live with them, and Saeran and MC’s sister both bonding because while it’s for different reasons, they both struggle so much with feeling out of place. Maybe MC’s sister was used to making lots of puns and knowing lots of references back home, but their Korean isn’t very good so they can’t anymore. they aren’t as caught up with the culture, and tend to struggle with certain social cues in this new environment. MC keeps insisting on speaking to their sister in Korean to help them learn but they still struggle and only want to reply in English.

Idk, I feel like it could be a good bonding moment if they worked together to try and navigate just existing when everything feels so unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Saeran can help them practice Korean and the sister can help him adjust to interacting with people in general, especially because they don’t have the same history. This is just something that’s been rotating around in my little Brain microwave

God. That's adorable, and I've seen scenarios like this before but it's been a while since someone's shared one with me. See, Saeran feels like a fish of water no matter where he is, and it would be nice to have a friend who understands, sympathizes, even it's not perfect. There's not many people who have Saeran's exact experience, but having one person who understands his grief at not understanding how or why it matters to do this or that with others helps.

Just someone to turn to and say, "Yeah, I don't know why we have to do this with others. I don't get it. Does this make sense to you? Why is there so much pomp and circumstance? Why can't people just do the damn thing without a mess involved?"

And hey, Saeran can learn English to meet them in the middle. It's not like he has anything else to do with his free time... he's kind of... you know, trapped in the bunker outside of ice cream visits and the sky. That'd be fun for him!

[kismetconstellations]

Shiro & Quinn Fabray

You've got it!

Shiro

-Everyone but me is wrong about them. To an extent. Every person I've directly interacted with on Tumblr has an excellent read on his character. But, Lord Almighty, are there too many people who see "tall, ripped cartoon man with sizable bulge in the crotch of his pants", and throw everything else about him out the window to turn him into a sex-crazed, high-libido "seme" stereotype. Not to mention the disgusting ableism surrounding his Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how it manifests, the fetishization of his second prosthetic arm, and the popular fanon characterizations that seem to have come out of absolutely nowhere. Where did the idea that he has a hang up on profanity come from? He doesn't strike me as someone who regularly curses up a storm, but he's not the Paladins' dad. Why would he care if they're throwing profane language around as long as they aren't offending potential allies or purposely antagonizing each other? And, don't get me started on the "Shiro and Adam adopted Keith" nonsense. I swear, people either overestimate how old Shiro was when he and Keith first met, or way underestimate how young Keith was, while forgetting about Keith's own father, and everything else going on in Shiro's life that guaranteed he had no time to parent a teenager. -I'm obsessed with their character arc. Everything that is and could have been. -They got done dirty by the fans. And, still is, every single day. -They got done dirty by the creators. Astronomically. Infamously.

Just give my VLD Meta tag a scroll, some time. If you want to see proof, and also have your blood-pressure reach record highs. -Wasted Potential. So much, it's physically painful. And, that's Bingo! -ADOPTION PAPERS, ADOPTION PAPERS! FILING THE ADOPTION PAPERS! Shiro is too old for me to legally adopt, being an adult in his mid twenties, but I will gladly take custody of him from DreamWorks and World Events Productions, so they can't hurt him any more than they already have. -I am constantly going insane, rotating them in my brain like a fork in a microwave. This blog, my sketchbook, and the two fanfictions I'm working on, which altogether have a cumulative word count nearing 60k, are testament to that. The Takashi Shirogane brain worms are real. -The popular ships for this character suck. When shipping him isn't the express purpose of a fanwork, people default to his canon romances. And, his ex is a jerk, and the man he's last-minute married off to after barely acknowledging for thirteen-plus episodes is a human-shaped piece of set dressing with less personality than a sheet of cardboard. So, yeah, two of the more "popular" fanon ships for Shiro are terrible. But, even when shipping him is the express purpose of a fanwork, there's a lot left to be desired. Mostly due to him being written wildly out of character for the aforementioned superficial reasons. -Not enough screentime. Nowhere near enough. We can thank the writers who hated him, wanted him dead, then, when they were forced to resurrect him, deliberately nerfed and sidelined him in order to keep the spotlight on their favorites, for that. -They've never done anything wrong in their life. ❤ I actually think Shiro should have gotten to kill more people, specifically Sendak, and Zarkon and Haggar- with Allura and Lotor's assistance- as a treat. -This is the best character in the work. By far. He epitomizes everything a true hero should be, while also being a disabled trauma survivor and proud gay man. I find myself questioning frequently how the brain trusts behind this show essentially created Shiro, themselves, then came to despise him, purely because they were informed by the Powers That Be that they were not allowed to permanently kill him. You would think any reasonable person would be thrilled to hear that their creation resonated so strongly with audiences that killing him would go over poorly. But, not "MonSantos" and crew. They had a ~vision~ for their 3Edgy5Me animated Sci-Fi/Action space opera aimed at seven year-olds.

Quinn Fabray

-They got done dirty by the creators. Jesus Christ, did she ever. I struggle to think of a character in this notorious mess of a series who was handled worse in every single regard than Lucy Quinn Fabray. And, it's all because Ryan Murphy hated Dianna Agron. -Wasted potential. Once again, so much of it, thinking about it causes me physical pain. -ADOPTION PAPERS, ADOPTION PAPERS! FILING THE ADOPTION PAPERS! Judy Fabray does get better after leaving Quinn's dad, but Quinn desperately needed an understanding adult figure in her life that she could feel safe confiding in, who would encourage her to gradually come to accept and love herself as she is, and seek out treatment for her objectively terrible mental health. I would be more than happy to be that adult figure. -What's wrong with them (affectionate)? Severe body dysmorphia, leading to her getting a nose job and forcing herself to lose a ton of weight going into her freshman year of high school. Deeply-rooted shame and self-loathing from being brought up in a suffocatingly repressive religious household headed by her abusive father. Lack of any real friendships. Being date-raped by a boy who plied her with drinks every time she had second thoughts about sleeping with him, resulting in her getting pregnant. Being kicked out of her home because of her pregnancy and shuffled about between her ex, her rapist, and a friend's homes like a cumbersome object. Giving up her newborn daughter after holding her only once. Spiraling further and further with every season... Like I said, Quinn's mental health is objectively terrible. But, rather than offering her any compassion, she's ostracized, vilified, and ultimately cast aside entirely. Because Ryan Murphy hated Dianna Agron for humanizing a character he intended to be a one-dimensional villain. -Not enough screentime. Remember when Dianna Agron said that she wasn't invited back for the tribute episode dedicated to Cory Monteith? Remember how Quinn bought Metro North Passes because she wanted to stay in touch with Rachel after high school, only for her to never get to use them? ...Yeah.

----

Thank you so much for the prompts! ( ´͈ ◡ `͈ ) ❤

[homerforsure]

Okay so for April's writing prompt in the 911 discord server, we had Buck & Chim — Buckley-Han Family on a Spring Day and this spilled out of my brain. It is deeply silly, but I tried!

Operation Easter Bunny

If Buck knew he was going to be reduced to bending forward and trying to ring the doorbell with his nose, he would have told Chimney to pick up his own damn takeout. His arms wrapped around three (three!) enormous, heavy, paper bags, one of which was almost definitely leaking something delicious all over the front of him. With his own bag in his hand, he couldn’t get even a finger free to push the button without risking everything toppling over, so Buck clutched everything tightly to his chest and leaned in, just managing to hit the doorbell with his face. 

“Ow,” he said, wrinkling his nose as the pleasant chime rang out inside the house (one of four dozen rotating sounds available on the doorbell that Maddie and Chimney had picked out. Buck had never imagined the sheer number of decisions that would be involved in refinishing a house. Doorbell sounds!) and standing up straight again…

Only to find Chimney already standing in the open door with a smirk on his face. 

“Dick.”

“What’s the password?” Chimney asked. 

“Let me in before I drop your egg rolls,” Buck groused.

Chimney laughed, but he pushed open the screen door wide enough that Buck could catch it with his shoulder and make his way inside. 

“You could have just made two trips.”

“I’m efficient.”

“That’s one word for it,” Chimney said. He reached out and grabbed one of the heavy bags from Buck’s arms and led the way to the kitchen. “Look out for baby debris. I put most of it away, but I think it spawns.”

Picking his way carefully through the house, keeping an eye out for Jee’s toys (and for random shoes, her new favorite toys), Buck followed after Chimney. Groaning dramatically as he finally set his bags on the counter, he said, “What did you even order all of this for? I thought the whole idea was that Maddie and Jee were going to be out all day.” There was nothing on his shirt, thankfully. Whatever moisture he thought he’d felt must have just been condensation from the hot containers inside. He set his other bag, a present for Jee, on the counter with the others and made a mental note to hide it before Maddie got home. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Chimney replied, pulling plates and forks out of his cupboards. It took a few false starts before he got them. He and Maddie hadn’t quite settled on a home for the dishes yet. Except for the wine glasses. They’d needed those to be in easy reach throughout the whole process. “I’m not risking my life by ordering from your sister’s favorite Chinese place and not getting enough leftovers for her.” 

“Yeah, but, this is like… leftovers for six.”

“Well, I invited a human garbage disposal over for lunch so I thought I’d err on the side of caution,” Chimney said, pressing a plate into Buck’s chest. “Load up, Uncle Buck. We’ve got a big project ahead of us.” 

Right, the project or Operation Easter Bunny as Chimney had taken to calling it in the family group chat. With Jee-Yun officially old enough to hunt down easter eggs, Maddie and Chimney were excited to start the first of many traditions in their new house. Buck was pretty sure there was a little more to it than that for Maddie, who was still hesitant about overly formal, overly perfect holiday plans, but who also held tight to every first she still got to have with Jee and Chimney just wanted to make sure that both of them had a perfect day. 

“So no pressure,” Buck had said, looking skeptically between the two of them at a dinner in mid-March. 

“None at all.”

“Why would there be pressure?” 

Still, one thing had led to another and soon they were staring down Easter weekend without a single Peep or chocolate rabbit purchased and with the homemade family brunch Maddie had been talking about rapidly devolving into a store-bought quiche and microwave bacon. She put a few window clings up and tried to get an Easter basket started, but with an inquisitive toddler underfoot, it was proving impossible. 

“I’ll take care of it,” Chimney had promised when he found the two of them buried in biodegradable easter grass and Jee’s basket barely hidden from her under a quilt. And on Saturday morning, he’d called Buck. 

“I did the basket after they left,” he said as he and Buck piled their plates high and each grabbed a beer from the fridge. “So that’s in the top of our closet and hopefully she doesn’t find her way in there while we’re sleeping. 

“Or learn how to use a ladder,” Buck added. 

“Hey do not think about teaching her that. The stairs are bad enough.” Jerking his head toward the back door, Chimney said, “I’ve got the rest of the stuff out here. It was the only place I could think to hide it.” 

Buck was about to ask if Chimney was living with a toddler or a secret agent, but the question was quickly overwhelmed by a dozen others when they stepped out onto the patio. “Whoa,” was all he could manage to say. 

An uncountable number of easter eggs spilled out of plastic bags on and around the new picnic table that Buck and Eddie had just helped Chimney move in the previous weekend. Giant ones, mini ones, sparkling ones, and neon ones. There were other bags too, filled with vanilla wafers and veggie straws and other baby-safe snacks that Buck could only assume they were going to use to fill the eggs. 

“Did Maddie really want us to fill all of these?”

“What do you mean? She bought all of them. Of course she wants us to fill them. I was thinking Divide and Conquer,” Chimney said, finding a mostly empty spot to set his plate down in. “You can fill them and I’ll hide them around the yard.” 

“Uh, are you sure the yard is big enough?” 

As if thinking about it for the first time, Chimney took in the pile of eggs and the spring green of the backyard and tilted his head. “Maybe we’ll put some in the front too. I’ll text Maddie and tell her to pull Jee’s hat over her eyes before she brings her in from the car.” 

“Yeah, but-”

“Pipe down and get to work, Buckley. We don’t have much time.” 

The order had a hint of Interim Captain Han about it so Buck didn’t bother to argue. He grabbed a bag of eggs so he had a place to put his own plate and then got to work. 

*

Two hours later, the patio was more of a mess than they started and Buck’s fingers were nicked from getting caught in a dozen slightly deformed plastic eggs that didn’t want to stay closed. The yard was more egg than lawn and Chimney still had two buckets of filled eggs that had to go somewhere. 

“You think I can hang some from the trees?” he asked, staring at the pile and the four eggs he was already holding in his hands with dismay. “She can see them up there, right?”

“Not unless you want me to teach her how to use a ladder.” 

“This is too many eggs. What was Maddie thinking?” 

“Don’t ask me. You’re the one living with her,” Buck replied, around a mouthful of wafer. 

The sound of a car pulling in the driveway brought an expression of panic to Chimney’s face and he started trying to shove the eggs into his pockets and down his shirt. “No! No, no, no. She wasn’t supposed to be back until six!”

“It’s six-fifteen.” 

“Hide these!” Chimney shouted, picking up the buckets and shoving them at Buck. Eggs shook free as he did, falling to the cement patio and splitting open, scattering cookies and candy everywhere. 

“Hide them where?” Buck asked. “You used up all the lawn!”

“Anywhere!” 

“We’re home!” Maddie’s cheerful voice called from inside the house. “Someone saw Uncle Buck’s truck in the street and can’t wait to say hi!”

“Uh, Uncle Buck went home!” Chimney called back as Buck held up his hands and the buckets in a “come on” gesture. “He had to walk because he got very very drunk, but he’ll be back tomorrow. So there’s no reason to come out to the yard!”

“Howie?” 

“I’m not here either!” Chimney shouted. “Daddy’s on vacation. No toddlers allowed. No. Stop! Don’t look!”

He flung his arms and legs out wide like a starfish and planted himself in front of the back door, eggs falling out of his clothes as he did. 

“You went on vacation without me?” Maddie asked, appearing in the doorway without a baby on her hip. 

Chimney deflated, dropping his arms, “Where’s Jee-Yun?”

“Trying on your slippers in the living room. What’s happening out here?”

“I think I’m getting easter egg elbow,” Buck answered. “Is that a thing?” 

“It’s not a thing,” Chimney said. 

“Are those-” Maddie frowned, opening the door to join them on the patio and get a better look at the yard. “Did you hide all of those eggs?” 

With a sad sigh, Chimney said, “No. Not even close. Maddie, I know you wanted to make this special, but there’s just no way we can hide them all. We’d have to spread them out all over the whole neighborhood and you know I’d do that, but I just don’t think Jee’s got the attention span to-” He stopped, noticing the way that Maddie bit her lip to keep a smile from escaping and then looked again at the mess he and Buck had made of the yard. 

“You didn’t actually want us to fill all of them, did you?”

Maddie shook her head and said, “They were on sale. I thought we could use some next year and some of them are always broken and, I don’t know. They were really cute. I didn’t want to choose.”

Coming in closer so she could take Chimney’s face in her hands and plant a kiss on his lips, Maddie added, “But I love how much you love our daughter. We are both so unbelievably lucky to have you.” 

“I’m lucky to have you too.”

“Okay, but what do we do with,” Buck lifted the buckets again. “All this? Because I don’t really think they’ll keep until next Easter.” 

With a shrug, Maddie said, “Take them to work? I’m supposed to bring something for the dispatch pot luck anyway.” 

“I’m sure Cap will be thrilled if I hide some of these on the engine.”

“Hey, it could come in handy,” Buck said, cracking open a yellow one and eating another cookie, somehow without dropping either of the buckets. “Having a stash like this on back to back calls. It’s better than protein bars.”

The smile Chimney gave him meant nothing good for Buck as he pulled the few remaining eggs out of his pockets and dropped them in the buckets that Buck was holding and said, “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you gather all these up so we can take them in? Just leave like one or two dozen for Jee to find in the morning.” 

“Hey wait-”

“Did you get extra Chinese food for me?” Maddie asked. 

“Please, have I ever let you down before?” Chimney replied. 

“Guys!” 

The screen door slammed shut over the rest of Buck’s protests and he sighed as another egg rolled off into the grass. 

“They are on their own for Halloween,” he huffed to himself, grabbing another egg to munch on. 

[docterzerocare]

okay, not an ask about the QSMP Sims Household (yet), but! have a q!Tubbo headcanon :]

so. hear me out: Avian q!Tubbo. but not just any kind of bird, a canary.

now, there's a reason for this, but long story short, i saw a post about how Tubbo would've been the first to really notice that Phil went missing, but nobody would believe him, and then my brain had some interesting Canary In A Coal Mine thoughts that i feel only makes sense to me (basically: What If q!Tubbo Tries To Warn People About Bad Things, But It Ends Up Being Like A "Boy Who Cried Wolf" Situation, And People Only Notice Something Is Really Wrong Once The Federation Finally Does Something To Tubbo? Like A Canary In A Coal Mine-Type Thing?)

it's also because Tubbo is attracting the attention of The Federation at around the same level as the Other avians of the server (and the Brazilians...especially Cellbit).

my current headcanon for the reason that The Federation is after Tubbo so much, besides his rule-breaking machines, is because they didn't manage to clip his wings before he ran off. for context, the only other avian on the server with unclipped wings is ElQuackity, and the only reason his haven't been clipped is because he, y'know, works for The Federation.

so Cucurucho is trying to get him partially because he wants to clip the poor guy's wings :) just an angsty idea for you, my friend

Ooo dandy you are feeding me well, i am a sucker for canary characters

I will be rotating this in the brain microwave

[bluecoolr]

I know the corn field thing was just to show how Darrell would deal with his fear in case a victim ran into a cornfield but since I am thinking about the ending lines rn ("He would get her. He always got them. That was why he didn't wear a mask. His face was the last thing they ever saw.") I wonder what the woman could have done to earn his ire ;D

Hey Cylas! I've been rotating this idea in my microwave brain for so long and I finally got the caffeine fix to power me through writing this lil drabble so here goes:

Dog Days

A/N: The dog survived. Preface(?) to Corn

It was his second day at the station. He had not seen or felt a bed in that time since. The air conditioning was broken, and the sweltering Louisiana heat made the store feel like a pressure cooker. He was tired, he stank, and he was pissed.

On the open automatic grill beside the register, hotdogs sizzled, rolling over and over like eager, legless Dachshunds. The gargantuan softy machine rattled and hummed like a fat shiny bug, and a wave of ridiculous temperature wafted from its exhaust.

Why do I keep this job, he thinks to himself. The pay is terrible. The hours are awful. There's little to no benefits. What the fuck is holding you back from leaving?

Devil's Peak, like some dark and omnipresent entity, made itself known by the shadow it cast. It wasn't the type you saw. It was the type you felt. Like a hand stretched out over that sad, forgotten waste.

Devil's Peak wasn't exactly a destination town. It had nothing to boast but its mountain trails and the limited camping spots surrounding the prussian blue waters of the Devil's Basin. However, the thrillseekers had all but abandoned the once popular trails on account of the accidents and disappearances that have happened over the years. Nowadays, Devil's Peak was delegated to a roadside attraction. People just passed by.

Darrell, however, was a fixture. He was as much a part of the mountain as the rocks and the trees, as the hogs and the cottonmouths, and the deaths and disappearances. The Devil ain't here, same way God ain't.

There's only me. He swiped his forearm over his forehead. And I'm getting fucking angry.

Nighttime couldn't come any faster, that the heat would ease down, if not disappear entirely. That's when she walked in. Blonde, slender, and tan. Walking beside her, was a shaggy German Shepherd.

She completely ignored the No Pets Allowed sign on the door. When Darrell told her that he couldn't let her in with the dog, she insisted it was fine.

The dog was snappish, slobbering, and didn't obey simple commands. Worst of all, it stood on its hindlegs to nose and pick at the items on display.

When Darrell confronted the woman, she immediately went on the offensive. He had no right, she said, to refuse her service. Darrell said that she can still shop, if she kept the dog in her vehicle. "Just to prevent contamination, ma'am. We've got food and perishables in the store."

She didn't like that. "No. He wants to be in the store with me."

The dog watched Darrell apprehensively. It stuck close to its master's leg, eyes glaring and hackles raised. It yelped when Darrell looked it in the eye.

He'd seen this before. Dogs couldn't stand to be around him. They had that sixth sense. They could spot harm-doers almost instantly. It was like a special scent. Evil was a taint so rank dogs could always smell. When in doubt, you should always trust a dog.

Darrell subtly widened his eyes, quelling the dog. It bolted past the shelves to the door, but it wouldn't open and it was stuck barking to be let out.

"Don't seem too keen to stay, f'ya ask me," he said coolly.

The slap she gave him made his ear ring, and he had to flex his jaw to right himself. "Take what you need and get the hell out," he said lowly.

Darrell rang up her items at the cashier. The dog waited by the door, tail tucked firmly between its legs. He gave the woman his obligatory customer service farewell. "Asshole," she retorted, and she wobbled out the door in her hefty platform slippers.

The bell rang as the door returned to place, and Darrell pulled his hatchet and kabar from under the counter. He went out the back and cut the power. No lights. No cameras. No evidence.

No magic 8 ball opinion either. This was personal. Fuck being the bigger person.

The next morning, when Melvin came to check on his store, he found Darrell patching up the wiring. His cheek was swollen.

"The hell happened to you?" Melvin asked, his dark skin glistening with sweat from the morning heat.

"Power went out," Darrell explained, "Slipped and fell."

His clothes and hair were damp. He had taken a shower. Nevertheless, Melvin wrinkled his nose. "Jesus, Darr. Did you step on somethin'?" he complained as the younger man passed by.

Darrell lifted his foot and looked at the sole of his boot. He went over to the station's water pump and hosed his boots down.

The smell of boar was offensive, but it washed off eventually. Like blood and guilt.