#like I was talking to someone about the pawnshop

[trigonalidae]

i know hes a minor character but we don't talk about birds nest roy enough

[genericpuff]

(Hello, I posted a comment about this topic in your ask box a while ago, but I don’t know if it went through or is just in ask box limbo. So, if this comment sounds familiar, it’s because I might have already asked this, I just wanted to make sure that it went through this time.)

So, in one of your posts, I noticed that you compared Hades from LO to Bojack Horseman from the Netflix show with the same name. And it made me think back on a video by Dazzling Kate that I ended up commenting on, regarding Hades’s past relationships with Minthe and Leuce. Something that I think the fans (And even Rachel) tend to overlook with Hades is his sexual history with women and the power he has over them. Much like Bojack, Hades from LO has been in many relationships with women where he had significant power over them. He then either used those women for sexual pleasure, or to get some kind of favor from them to better himself. There are plenty of examples of this! Example 1: Minthe – He initially engaged with Minthe when she was flat broke and struggling to make ends meet. He ended up giving her a job at his company where he was the boss, allowed her to live in an apartment complex which he owned and was paying rent for, and even set up a bank account for her at a bank he controlled (Which he did the same to Persephone). He then later develops a sexual relationship with her and bribed her with expensive gifts to keep her in the relationship, but doesn’t fully commit to making her happy by standing up to his family when they trash-talk her nor does he consider her feelings.

Example 2: Bank and pawnshop – He threatened the owner of the pawnshop where Persephone had to give up the comb Hades gave to her so she could make money. Sure, you could argue he was hurt she had to sell a gift he gave her just for the money, but you can’t deny that puts him in a position where he abused his power over a woman and did not talk to Persephone about selling the comb first before threatening to get it back. He also threatened a worker at the bank when he was setting up Persephone’s account (said worker was a woman as well), and even though she was doing her job, she was forced to bend the rules because Hades was threatening her with his eyes.

Example 3: Hecate – Hades learns about the tabloid photo because of Hecate and learns that Hecate is an aunt to Persephone. And while it seems she is on the same level as the King, Hades ends up using Hecate to track down Alex, kidnap the photographer and torture him with Hades. This event is made to make Hades seem like a hero for Persephone by taking out someone who hurt her image but this only isolated Persephone at her college more and just confirmed what everyone was thinking. On top of that, Hades is excused for his behavior and not even Persephone sees how disturbing that is. (Now that I think about it, I wonder if this incident could be considered an act of wrath considering harm was caused to a person by a god who did not have a permit to commit said act. And I also wonder that if this got back to Hades, would he throw Hecate under the bus by claiming that she was the one who brought up the idea and did most of the dirty work? I wouldn’t be surprised if he did put the blame on Hecate, which just further proves his power over women by forcing her to take the fall to get out Scott free.)

Example 4: Hera – He consulted Hera during her breakdown when she discovered an affair Zeus was having, which ended up resulting in Hades having an emotional and physical affair with Hera for at least a century. He basically used her insecurities to have her go against her title as “goddess of marriage and faithfulness”, using her doubts about her relationship with Zeus to gain some intimacy. This also ended up snowballing into Hera beginning to feel more guilty about Hades’s status about wanting someone by his side as his queen. It’s probably why she decided to play matchmaker with Persephone to be with Hades, so he could have the kind of woman he wanted. Hera put her own niece with her brother-in-law, who was much older and unstable, just so she could move on from her feelings and be rid of the guilt of the affair.

Example 5: Demeter – Hades had a pretty good relationship with Demeter, but ended up betraying her so she wouldn’t become queen of the Earth, all because he allowed his brother to manipulate him. While Zeus is to blame, Hades fell for it and let Demeter be thrown under the bus just because he wanted to keep the volcanos, even though he could have just talked with Demeter over it. He also calls out Demeter with derogatory names and claims that she is isolating Persephone and abusing her by asserting her authority over her daughter. However, Hades is just as guilty of doing the exact same thing to Persephone: Belittling her with titles such as ‘little goddess’, ruined her reputation at school, controlling her finances, and even manipulated her into things she didn’t want to do by taking advantage of the situation. (Like how Persephone wanted to take their dating slow, but she agrees to get married only after the fallout with her mother.)

Example 6: Leuce - ….Okay, Hades didn’t technically do anything wrong here, other than not confront Leuce right away about this arranged marriage. Zeus was the one who wanted her to marry Hades, and Persephone was the one to really have her moments with. Seriously, fuck Zeus and Persephone for this.

Example 7: Persephone – I kind of already said my point in Example 5 (Belittling her with titles such as ‘little goddess’, ruined her reputation at school, controlling her finances, and even manipulated her into things she didn’t want to do by taking advantage of the situation.) Basically, everything that Hades did to Minthe, he’s pretty much doing the same thing to Persephone. He doesn’t see Persephone as an actual partner to be his equal, he sees her as a sex icon that he can control and he takes advantage of her (maybe not sexually, but in other means). And all the things Demeter did to her daughter, Hades is doing the exact same thing, but again he wants to get a sexual relationship out of Persephone for it!

My point is that throughout LO, Hades clearly displays how toxic, power-hungry and predatory he truly is. It’s ironic that Rachel wanted to make Hades seem like the best of the three brothers, but his personality is no different than Zeus or even Apollo for that matter. Rachel only made Hades worse in LO than in the original hymn and Greek Mythology. I don’t mind these tendencies of Hades or any characters that have such traits, but they should be called out on it! At least BoJack was exposed for his toxicity and power over women, which the show clearly tells us is not a good thing that he or anyone else should be proud of! BoJack also suffered the consequences of those actions and tried to get better. But here, LO makes it seem like this is normal behavior for Hades and that he’s a desirable bachelor who just needs to find the right woman to work through his issues. Even though Hades’ track record with women is a massive red flag.

And the depressing thing that we have to ask is… if Hades acts this way with every woman in his life, then what’s stopping him from pulling the same crap on Persephone? He may “love” her now, but who’s to say he won’t pull a Zeus and get a concubine later down the road or have multiple affairs? After all, he didn’t fall for Persephone because of her personality, he fell for her because of her body and what she can give him and the control he has over her.

(Sorry for the long post, but I was just curious to hear your thoughts on this topic because I don't think too many people in the LO community really pay attention to this detail about Hades)

i swear i thought i had responded to this ask the first time you made it so that's my bad ahahfhdasklsaj but i probably assumed that because yes, we've talked about the similarities between Bojack and Hades before, and they really are fucked the more you think about them ＼(º □ º l|l)/ to the point that you could deadass replace Bojack with Hades in that "second interview" scene where the interviewer asks Bojack about the power he has over women and he denies it as if he hasn't constantly abused women and girls who trusted in him on the basis of being a well-known celebrity.

There's a lot of delusion and lack of accountability there on Bojack's part, especially because it's following the first interview where he admits to the flaws that he finds easy to swallow and twist into his own "I'm the victim" type story, but then cowers away from the stuff he DOESN'T want to admit because he still doesn't think he did anything wrong and was trying to use the "woe is me I'm a sad struggling celebrity :(((" angle from the first interview to get himself off the hook.

So of course as soon as he's asked some actual hardball questions and realizes he's up shit creek for being directly responsible for Sara Lin's death as well as other incidents involving women he took advantage of / directly harmed, he pulls the "I'm an addict" card, which is yeah, sure, a reason for a lot of his past transgressions, but it's not getting into his real issues that are feeding into his addictions and it's still being used more as an excuse to try and get himself off the hook on the virtue of "well yeah I'm a bad guy but we already talked about that didn't we??? can't you see how regretful I am ??? let's just move on already!" rather than actually taking accountability.

And who does that sound like? Oh right, the "misunderstood" King of the Underworld, Hades, who has done nothing to actually prove wrong all the claims and statements made about him. Like, we're supposed to believe - according to the narrative - that Hades is misunderstood and that people only assume the worst of him due to his association with the Underworld...

... but then he goes and pulls shit like this and it's like "Wait, maybe his reputation precedes him" LMAOOO

Now it could be a "which came first, the stigma or the reputation" type thing, where Hades started off with good intentions and then slowly morphed into a tyrannical piece of shit because most people already assumed he was gonna be like that anyways just for being the King of the Underworld, but the comic never really explores that or makes that clear. It's just constantly at odds between Hades being "poor misunderstood rich guy :(((" and "powerful king who will destroy anyone who tries to touch his cinnamon roll qween >:3" and yeah it makes for really shitty characterization, especially when reading in hindsight and realizing, "Wait, maybe Minthe was right to be upset about what Hades was doing and Hades was in the wrong".

Shit, this is a bit off topic, but you wouldn't believe the amount of people who don't realize that this scene-

-is literally a bribe.

Now, most people assume it isn't because it's not taking the form of the usual "I'll pay you whatever sum of money to make sure this all goes away" but... it's still a bribe, the exact kind of bribe that permeates larger industries where women are often forced into silence at the hands of a rich powerful man who has all the power (cough people like Bojack Horseman cough). It's a lot quieter and designed to make the woman look "ungrateful" if she doesn't take a deal that really only benefits the perpetrator (in this case, Hades). In this situation, Hades has all the power - he's her employer, the guy who pays for her apartment and other bills, and as much as he can claim he put "the two of them" in the position of financial co-dependency, it was really only her. He's the one who owns banks, after all - she's the only one who stands to lose everything and clearly all he's losing is a woman who he's not even interested in anymore in lieu of the new 19-year-old intern who he's more attracted to now.

So he tries to make it sound like all of it is for her benefit. She could go back to school. Take a management position with better pay. All of these offers, while on the surface seem like a "good faith" apology to "make up" for the loss of the relationship, are really just their own form of bribe to get Minthe out of the picture, under the guise of being for her own "benefit".

Now don't get me wrong, Minthe absolutely 100% deserves to get the fuck away from Hades, but it bugs the shit out of me that the narrative never focuses on Hades' own role in this relationship and how he's contributed to its issues. And not only that, but he's continued this cycle through Persephone, who was also vulnerable in many of her own ways, from her age, to her lack of life experience, to her lack of finances (aside from her inheritance of the Barley Mother fortune which she clearly doesn't have access to throughout S1), to what she's going through as an SA victim. Sure, the narrative props them up as a perfect couple, but Persephone is still just another naive girl who was lovebombed by an older and richer man and slowly turned into an accessory of his own design, covered in all the trappings of wealth and continuing the cycle of abusing the lower class (which we see her doing constantly throughout S3).

And if all that isn't proof enough that Hades is an exploitative piece of shit who takes advantage of women, look no further than the pilot episodes:

And yeah. Minthe was absolutely right that Hades has all the power and privilege of being able to come across as the responsible one when she's the one who stands to lose so much more.

[eastwindmlk]

For May' @jilychallenge I started two plunnies. One was Dillweed in a Fancy Metal Can and the other is this.

Partner: @charmsandtealeaves

Prompt: University Football/rugby/field hockey training is open to the public, on a very hot day star player A takes a shower from a water hose and B walks against a lamppost bc B might have been staring

Either read on AO3 or under the cut!

It was Wednesday evening in The Leaky Cauldron, which meant the lads had gathered in the back of the dingy establishment for their weekly team gathering. Well, James liked to call it their team gathering, it was mostly an excuse to grab a pint in the middle of the week for most of them. 

In front of them, on the large oval table in the back, they assumed was supposed to be their ‘event space’ that none of them could imagine would actually be used by anyone but them. After all, they’d celebrated most of their big moments around this table ever since uni. Lay the newest redition of their pub league bracket.

“I am sure we can manage,” Sirius commented, his finger gliding down the print-out with their pub league charter. Smirking as he tapped, their first match. “The Hog’s Head team always sucks. I’m pretty sure good ol’ Mundungus still pretends to be their striker.” 

Both the men rolled their eyes and a snicker went through the collection of young men gathered. Glasses clinked together. “Wait, Mundungus is their striker? The one that sells pot? Owns the pawnshop?” Frank asked curiously, squinting at the paper. 

“It almost feels bad to be playing against them. At least we don’t need to run too fast then,” Peter grinned, downing half of his pint in celebration. 

While James would not celebrate an easy win as readily as his friend, he could not help but feel a little bad for the middle-aged blokes having their first game against them. But he supposed that is why they had a point system instead of a knock-out. 

“We play Babberton Arms the week after, they’re usually decent, same goes for The White Wyvern.” It was then that a name caught his eye, there was a pub in the league that he wasn’t familiar with. They were new on the sheet, and what was more surprising was that their listed captain was one ‘Lily Evans’, a woman. 

Sirius noticed his hesitation, throwing his arm over his shoulder as he leaned in to look as well. “Anyone know The Three Broomsticks?” he asked, the team falling silent for a moment before Kingsley supplied:

“It’s a small gastropub down in the village. Nice place, little highbrow, though.” This caused a couple of people to pull out their phones to look it up. 

“They have a good menu.” 

“The lady who runs it is a total MILF.”

“I think I had a date there once. Nice place.” 

So far, it sounded pretty good. James reckoned he would probably recruit Sirius to go on a recon mission soon. Spend an evening there to scope out the competition. It would be fun. While he would never admit it aloud, he was not opposed to something a little finer than this. 

Peter, who started laughing, holding out his phone for everyone to get a glimpse of what was on the screen drew everyone’s attention. As far as James could tell, it was a team picture. All the players were posing in front of the metal goal that was part of their local park. 

He was not entirely sure what was too funny about it, but several people were chuckling and scoffing when the phone passed to them. “They’re all females?” Someone asked, clicking their tongue and earning a round of laughter. 

“We’ll be fine; I am sure a bunch of girls are not going to take our cup,” Remus commented, squeezing James’s shoulder. 

Sirius was quiet until someone made a remark about how they would at least have a good time looking at them run, pretending to jiggle a pair of tits, making the rest of the table burst into hysterics.

Easily and masterfully redirecting the jokes in an effort to cut short this sort of talk. By joking. “All I know is that we might want to put Pete in goal because he has never scored with a girl once in his life.” 

There was a short bout of silence around the table before the first person broke, Benjy snorting loudly and slapping Peter, who was not looking as amused as the others, on the back hard enough to hear it connect. 

“I just think we shouldn’t be too quick to judge them, it looks like they actually train,” James deducted, having found the profile himself and scrolling through the public posts. Finding out some interesting things about this other captain. 

Lily Evans and he had a few mutual friends, mostly people from the pub league and a bloke that went to the same gym as he did. 

They liked similar bands, she attended a Lord of the Rings marathon he’d been unable to get tickets to. 

By the looks of it, she and her friends dressed up. 

She volunteers for or supports multiple charities. Her work involves a white coat, which intrigued him.

Her red hair was natural, and her green eyes were breathtaking. 

He also found a post about wanting to start this women-only footy team. With dates and times when they were supposed to meet up.

James leaned in a little too close, to squint in the background of one of her throwback pictures where he could swear he knew the grease ball she was toting along when his finger slipped and he accidentally liked a picture of her on holiday. 

“Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck no,” he muttered to himself and frantically tapped the little thumbs up, only to be offered more options. By the time that he finally figured out how to unlike it, he’d left a heart, angry and laughing reaction, and there was no way in hell she did not know he was stalking her Facebook. 

Turns out, he did not need to be physically talking to someone to put his foot in his mouth. His ineptitude with the dinosaur that was Facebook did just fine at making him look like a right idiot. Though it must be some record, taking less than ten seconds.  

What made it worse was that, not a minute later, there was a buzz, the light on his phone blinking blue. A Facebook notification. Worse, a friend request from one Lily Evans.

After having ignored the notification for several hours James found himself staring at it, bending over his container of Szechuan noodles. Staring long and hard enough for Sirius to elbow him in the side. 

“If some spicy text got you this wrapped up, I need to see it,” he chuckled, trying to lean over to see what James was staring at. Not shrinking away from the glare he received, much to James’s disappointment, he was reminded that his best friend was not intimidated by him in the slightest. 

Turning the screen to show off the notification bar, rolling his eyes at Sirius snorted. “Isn’t that the captain from the Broomsticks team? What does she want from you?” 

“Maybe she wants to plead for mercy?” he suggested with a smirk, his thumb hovering over the decline button. Why would he accept it? It wasn’t like he knew her. His tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth for a moment before selecting ‘accept’. 

He might not know her personally, but he was not going to turn down the possibility of spying on their new rivals. As team captain, it was his responsibility to be prepared for anything. This certainly had nothing to do with the bikini picture he spotted earlier. 

---

By the time that his phone buzzed the following Saturday, while he was stretching before their first game, he had completely forgotten about this happening.

‘Good luck today! {insert football emoji and a smiley]

Squinting against the glare of the rising sun behind him, he could almost make out the picture of the redhead rival captain. There was a nervous roll of his stomach, eyes darting around the field. Wondering if maybe she was here to spy on them. But most of the crowd was distinctly more follically challenged and would not look nearly as good in a black one-piece as he had learned Lily did. 

He reacted to the message with his usual lion emoji before tossing the phone into his bag. Not wanting to get too distracted.

What did not help was checking it again at half-time, only to find a new message. 

‘You should pay more attention to that centre back.’ 

Making his eyes roam the stands in search of a hint of the spy, but if she was there, she was hiding in the crowd. 

‘We’ll be fine! He’s no Matt Clarke.’ 

The message was sent before he realized it, a reference to his favourite team that his friends would likely get. But would she? He supposed she could always google him if she wanted to know, he supposed. The ref blew his whistle and just before he tossed the phone back in the bag he saw the notification pop up. 

‘Think you’re good enough to go up against the Bald Eagle?’ 

She knew. And he considered that maybe he was already in love with this stranger. 

---

Just like that, his recognizance mission was compromised. Or rather, forgotten about. Until Peter asked casually while beating him mercilessly at a game of FIFA. “Did you hear the chick team won their first game seven nil? Maybe we should try and catch one of their trainings. See if this was just a stroke of luck.” 

He did not even have the decency to look at the screen when he tipped in another goal against him. 

James considered accusing him of cheating, but what was the point? The last time he did that, they were in college, and it had been embarrassing enough to still make him cringe today. “I did see a post about it on Lil’s timeline. I think they meet every Thursday.” 

The characters on screen celebrated the end of the game, and he immediately flicked to the main screen, not particularly feeling like seeing his pathetic stats.  

Peter grumbled something about the stats being there for the both of them before falling silent. Giving James a confused look. “Lil? You two are that friendly already?” 

He pulled up his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. “I’d like to think so.” 

“Are you two secretly chatting or have you just become intimately familiar with her beach holiday pics?” Peter was still laughing between the coughs when his elbow landed in his stomach, throwing his hands up in defence. “Right, right! Got it! It’s both.” 

James shot him a playful glare and pulled up his shoulder, eyes returning to the screen to select another formation for his team. Certain he could out-strategize his friend’s undeniably superior skill. 

“I’ll go check them out this week.” 

---

The sun was starting to set when James and Sirius slunk into the park, rugged up in oversized cardigans they borrowed from Remus and stylish baseball caps that were generously donated by Kingsley. Who did insist they were not to adjust or bend them, as they were, collector's items. Or rather, they would be one day, and he was not going to risk it. Which did lead to a rather loose fit on Sirius and a promise of a very bad hair day for James. 

The pair of them carried a picnic blanket and book to look less suspicious. If they pretended to hold a book club. The biggest risk they ran was to look like nerds. 

Which they were. Not that James or Sirius would openly admit to this to anyone but each other. They are rather skilled at hiding their general nerdiness under a layer of muscle and smooth talking. Even if the smooth-talking occasionally included references to their nerd media of choice. 

James had overthought the time they should be arriving. Not too early, or they would notice something was off. Not too late, because then they would not get enough time to observe. After a lot of mulling over, James decided that twenty minutes after practice started should be perfect. 

He knew that their team took, at least, ten to fifteen minutes to waffle and joke around, and ten minutes was a quick warm-up. Which meant that they would probably wander in just as they started playing. 

Once he spotted the group of women, or rather, a collection of bouncing ponytails, James learned he was wrong, and he could not be happier about it. They were still warming up. Better yet, they were stretching and it was utterly enchanting. 

No matter how hard he tried, which was not very hard, he could not take his eyes off their captain. The feisty redhead he’d been texting off and on since Saturday wore a bright smile and a pair of criminally tight bike shorts as she dropped into a low lunge. 

A sight that he was clearly not prepared for. If it had not been for Sirius grabbing his arm, he might have walked straight into a rubbing bin. Frankly, he’d have deserved it for shamelessly staring. But what was a mortal man like him going to do? Avert his eyes when given the chance to glimpse at a goddess?

But as Sirius spread the blanket on the field across from the training, where he could resume his research in peace. The book he was pretending to read was open in his lap, his phone in his hand. He could not help himself. 

‘Good luck! [insert football and lady running emoji]’ 

Only after hitting sent, James realized that he might have just blown their cover. If Lily had done the same thing he had done when he got her message, it would not take a genius to figure out who they were. If there was something he’d learned about her over the past week or two was that she was, in fact, an actual genius. 

If the gods were merciful, she would see the humour in this. She’d not said anything about his little bikini picture snafu, which was arguably a lot creepier, and he had profusely apologized for it after a few pints to settle the nerves. 

That had been what had really set off their chatting. Messaging back and forth to the point that he had his eyes glued to his screen even while watching footy.  Remus had made remarks about it, which meant it had to be painfully obvious. 

Not that the screen was any sort of distraction now, for obvious reasons. However, there was also a less obvious and far more concerning reason for his mobile to lie discarded on the blanket. 

They're good. 

No, that was an understatement. They were terrifyingly competent. It was intimidating and did things to him, he would rather not admit to. 

“Prongs, I think we’re fucked,” commented Sirius after they watched a tall blonde flip throw the ball with such ease their jaws were on the floor. 

James swallowed, nodding slowly at his friend’s assessment. “So fucked.” A firm shove jolted him out of his trance to notice that, across the field, several of their rivals had turned to look at them. Most of them took this moment to catch their breaths, hands set into their sides. James could see their breaths form little clouds in the cooling evening air. 

He reeled in his jaw and raised a hand in an awkward greeting. As if he was not already done for, Lily raised her hand in what he thought would be an awkward wave back. Only for her to flip him off before winking and returning to her practice. Her jumper had ridden up and exposed a swath of tattooed skin on her side. 

Hand to his chest, James fell back into Sirius’s lap as if shot. Maybe he had been, because he was unwell. They’d never even spoken face-to-face, and he’d already decided on a May wedding at the Riverside, four kids and a Newfoundlander named Elvendork. 

Sirius peered at him with, what seemed like, genuine concern as James raked his hands over his face. “You right, mate?” he asked, the cap sliding forward as he tipped his head down to look at James. 

“Yeah. Yes. Though I could do with the incessant urge to make a fool of myself for her,” he groaned, an offended tsking rushing past his teeth when his friend pushed the cap down over his eyes. “Oi! Can you blame me? Just look at her!” 

Sirius looked up while he wrangled the cap back into place, taking a long moment and then some before sighing in defeat. “I vote Irish wolfhound and late spring. I look good in lavender.” 

“I was thinking Newfoundland,” he answered, a smirk playing around his lips.

“Only if I can be the godfather,” Sirius bargained, the raise of his eyebrows caused the cap to slide forward once more making James snicker. He let himself be pushed up and to his feet. “Go talk to her! Don’t do anything stupid,” his friend encouraged. 

James shot him a playful glare, tossing his own cap towards him and fixing his hair. Well, as much as it could be fixed. His feet already carrying him down the slight slope to the field. “It’s not like I am going to run into a lamp post,” he joked, tossing a grin over his shoulder seconds before connecting with just that. 

In his defence, the ladies were having a water break and Lily had taken off her jumper, standing there in just her sports bra, sweat glistening in the setting sun. Her hair was frizzy from the humidity and surrounded her like a halo. 

If that had not been enough, Lily had laughed, her head tilted back in delight and James was pretty sure he would move heaven and earth to be the one to make her laugh like that. Which was the thought that spun dizzily through his mind while he reeled from the impact. 

James staggered back a few steps, rubbing the side of his face that had made the actual impact. His glasses askew while he sat back down on the grass, blinking the spots from his vision. 

When his eyes focussed again, Lily was right there, her forehead creased with concern. Before he could think about it, his mouth moved. “Marry me?” Which was probably the first time that James Potter ever was truly mortified by something he had said. Mouth opening, this time intentionally, to apologize. 

But before he could, she laughed, and the sound was pure and surprisingly not like she wanted to run away. “How about you take me for a drink first?” 

The vigorous shake of his head made him reel all over again, but James didn’t care. ”It’s a date.” 

(A little reference vid, because I can.)

[countrymusiclover]

9 - A Man Named Jefferson

Princess Red Thief

Part 10

Tag list - just ask to be added @mystrey101 @melvia-ito @kmc1989 @tallrock35

Blinking my eyes a couple of times I groaned trying to wake up. Slowly glancing around the room I saw I was in the back room of the pawnshop. Shifting my body up further on the old cot I heard the wooden floor creak under someone's feet. "Eve! You're awake."

"Henry. What are you doing here?" Rubbing my eyes to wake myself up more I saw the ten year old boy enter the room.

He answered me. "I heard you being locked up in the hospital until Mr. Gold bailed you out."

"Yeah. Where is Mr. Gold exactly?" I questioned the kid.

Henry came over to my bedside reaching inside his backpack. "He's out with Regina for some reason. So we don't have much time to talk with somebody you need to meet."

"Henrh, I just woke up. I am not really in the mood to meet someone right now." I sat upright holding a hand to my forehead struggling to push away some pain that must have been caused from all the drugs they pushed into my system.

He held open his storybook to a certain page. "But what if I told you there's someone else in this town that has been seeing things just like you."

"And that person in your book would be?" I trailed off scanning my eyes over the book pages seeing a man surrounded with over a dozen hats.

Henry taped a finger on the image. "The Mad Hatter. He goes by Jefferson here."

"Henry...I. You need to leave before he gets back. He doesn't care for unwanted visitors inside his shop." I warned the ten year old.

He didn't back down, shoving his book back inside the bag. He holds out his hands waiting for me to put my hand in his and follow him willingly like I normally did before I was locked away. "Please Eve. You'll start to believe me once you talk with him. I swear."

"Fine, kid. But this doesn't mean I believe you." I put my hands in his getting to my feet and together we slipped outside of the pawnshop in search of where this Jefferson man lived. "Henry, why do you think I will believe before Emma?"

He kept walking, sending me a half smile. "Because you follow your heart more than what your mind tells you." I parted my lips considering what he was saying to me in the moment.

The double doors shut behind me with two guards shutting them. I had decided to keep living in my parents castle which wasn't too far from the Charming castle. My short brown boots clicked against the stone floor until I stood at the edge of the round table to meet Snow. "Everly. I was hoping I'd see you."

"My parents aren't worried about me. Honestly they trust me when it comes to helping y'all with your kingdom. You're glowing by the way." I sent her a smile pulling out one of the chairs near hers.

She was sitting down in one of the head chairs, leaning her elbows on the table. "Thank you, Eve. Your letter said that you wanted to talk with me about something."

"Indeed I do wish to. I've been having certain feelings lately and since we are friends I was hoping we could talk about them." I twiddled my thumbs together on the table.

Snow asked sweetly. "Of course. Is this about a guy?"

"Is it that obvious?"

She nods, chuckling. "I'm sorry to say yes. Besides it's not like I don't remember you saying you always had teaching lessons to return to."

"Oh geeesss." Covering my face with my hands I was blushing like a red tomato.

Snow clasped her hands together. "So who is the stranger you are getting lessons from?"

"It's magic lessons. The man I'm getting taught by is named Rumplestilskin." Heavy silence fell across the large room with an intense feeling falling between the two of us. Everyone in the land generally knew his name and what kind of magic he dabbled in.

"Everly, he...he uses dark magic."

"I know that." I said back. "But I am needing his help to teach me how to control the power that I was born with. Neither of my parents have magic, yet I somehow got it."

"You have feelings for him, don't you. Why else would you be defending the teachings he is showing you." Snow put the pieces together with a smirk on her lips.

"Maybe I do. What do I do about it?" I asked the other princess in the room.

The former bandit princess got up from her chair and I rose to my feet standing up in front of her. "In my experience you just have to follow whatever your heart tells you."

"Even when the person you care about might not feel the same." I knitted my brows at her, wrapping my father’s red cloak tightly around my body.

Snow takes my hands in hers showing me the wedding ring from her Prince Charming. "That's a risk that we each have to take when we love someone. Never stop following your heart, Everly."

"Henry, are you sure we're not breaking and entering? It doesn't even look like he's here. Emma is the sheriff now and I wish to not be placed inside a prison cell anytime soon." Looking around at the area outside the mansion front door. He had pulled out some set of keys he had taken from his mother's office that could open any door.

He pushed one of the keys in the hole and it unlocked with the door swinging open. "We'll be fine. He believes everything about my book. Now come on. Jefferson!" Henrik walks into the house and I follow after him seeing that it was almost pitch black inside giving the creepy loner type guy vibes to me.

"Henry. Henry, wait we can't just - mmm!" I grunted my fighting instincts kicking in when one hand wrapped around my waist and the other hand clasped over my mouth before the front door slammed shut behind me.

A man's voice growled in my ear. "Did anyone follow you?"

"No." I mumbled the best reply I could trying to remove the stranger's hand.

The man removed his hands from my body, spinning me around to face him. "So you're the famous Red Thief who falls in love with the Dark One."

"You've read the story too." I made a confused expression.

The guy named Jefferson responded. "It's more than just a story and his storybook is more than just a book."

"It can't be more than a book. None of those stores are real. I know they are simply just stories." I shake my head thinking back on why I got put in the mental hospital in the first place.

Henry spoke up behind me heading down the hallway. "She's a little slow, Jefferson. That's why I brought her to you. So she'll wake up like you have." Jefferson grabs a hold of my arm dragging me after the young boy until we entered a room filled with hats that all matched the familiar hat the Mad Hatter would have worn.

"You've obviously got an obsession with Alice in Wonderland."

"He's the Mad Hatter, Eve." Henry declares sitting the book on the table, opening it to the page he had shown me back in the shop.

Jefferson pushed me down in the chair with the book laying in front of my face. He flipped through some pages stopping at one photo that showed Rumplestilskin holding up a ring. The woman who wore a red cloak that looked like the one I owned stood in front of him. "Look at the picture and tell me if you recognize anything."

"Jefferson, Henry has already tried this with me once before. It didn't work then, it won't work now." Shifting around in the chair I eyed the man.

Jefferson rounded the table to be on the other side grabbing my chin in between his thumb and index finger so I'd look him in the eye. "Use your power and look into my mind. Then you'll see what I'm saying is the only truth you need to believe."

"Look into your mind. That's not possible."

Jefferson declared not backing down. "You have to open your mind, Red Thief."

"You're losing your mind, Jefferson." Pushing myself away from him he let go of my chin. Stomping towards the doorway about to leave I halted in my tracks grabbing a hold of the doorway when he spoke up about my past.

"You couldn't pay your rent when you first came here. So you made a deal with Mr. Gold. Take my ring and I'll work for you, you said."

Glancing out the corner of my eye I asked. "How do you know about that? He swore he'd never say anything."

"Because it's almost the exact same deal you made with Rumplestilskin after he agreed to teach you magic. You are Princess Everly, daughter of Abigail and Fredrick." Henry stands by the edge of the table.

Shutting my eyes I pushed back the desire to believe them. I couldn't be a princess. I couldn't have magic and the town couldn't all be cursed. Otherwise I belonged back in the mental hospital. "Henry, I'm sorry but all your saying is nonsense."

"It won't all be nonsense once you look for the necklace inside his suit jacket and...." Jefferson trailed off in thought.

Turning around in my boots I dared to ask the question. "And what Jefferson?"

"And you'll believe us when you find the ring in his possession." The man who truly thought he was the Mad Hatter answered my question, sitting one of his hats on top of his head smiling wickedly at me. Henry remained silent and simply nodded in agreement. "As close to his heart as it could possibly be."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[lords-of-mayhem]

Lords Of Chaos characters as Fall Out Boy songs <3

Pelle // Heaven, Iowa

I've unspooled on the floor, I feel so A Star Is Born. Kiss my cheek, baby, please. Would you read my eulogy?

I will never ask you for anything except to dream sweet of me. Tell me, when the party ends, will you still love who I am?

Scar-crossed lovers forever, I'm checking myself out forever. I'm saving this all for later. Scar-crossed lovers, here we are, untouched forever.

They don't know how much they'll miss, at least until you're gone like this. Talking to the mirror, say, "save your breath. Half your life, you've been hooked on death." Twice the dreams, but half the love. Be careful what you bottle up. The chemistry is a mess, it seems. But me, I'm still a sunbeam.

I closed my eyes inside of your darkness and found your glow.

Faust // Alone Together

Cut me off, I lost my track. It's not my fault, I'm a maniac. It's not funny anymore, no, it's not.

My heart is like a stallion, they love it more when it's broken. Do you wanna feel beautiful? I'm outside the door, invite me in so we can go back and play pretend.

I'm on deck, yeah, I'm up next. Tonight, I'm high as a private jet.

I don't know where you're going, but do you got room for one more troubled soul? I don't know where I'm going, but I don't think I'm coming home. And I said, I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead. This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end.

Let's be alone together, we could stay young forever. Scream it from the top of your lungs.

Occultus // Young And Menace

We've gone way too fast for way too long and we were never supposed to make it half this far.

And I lived so much life, lived so much life. I think that God is gonna have to kill me twice, kill me twice like my name was Nikki Sixx.

Woke up on the wrong side of reality and there's a madness that's just coursing right through me. Not sure I'm there yet, but I'm certain I've arrived.

I forgot what I was losing my mind about, I only wrote this down to make you press rewind and send a message: I was young and a menace.

Varg // Save Rock And Roll

I need more dreams and less life, and I need that dark in a little more light. I cried tears you'll never see, so fuck you! You can go cry me an ocean and leave me be.

You are what you love, not who loves you. In a world full of the word 'yes', I'm here to scream: no, no!

Wherever I go, trouble seems to follow. I only plugged in to save rock and roll.

Blood brothers in desperation, an oath of silence for the voice of our generation. Well, how'd it get to be only me? Like I'm the last damn kid still kicking that still believes.

I will defend the faith, going down swinging, I will save the songs that we can't stop singing.

Hellhammer // I Don't Care

Say my name and his in the same breath, I dare you to say they taste the same. Let the leaves fall off in the summer and let December glow in flames.

These friends, they don't love you. They just love the hotel suites now. I don't care what you think as long as it's about me, the best of us can find happiness in misery.

Take a chance, let your body get a tolerance. I'm not a chance, put a heat wave in your pants. Pull a breath like another cigarette, pawnshop heart trading up.

On the oracle in my chest. Sweat it out, shut your mouth. Free love on the streets, but in the alley, it ain't that cheap.

Blackthorn // What A Time To Be Alive

"That's the way, the world, it used to be before our dreams started bursting at the seams."

We're out here and we're ready, we're here and we're ready to livestream the apocalypse. I don't care if it's pretty, the view's so pretty from the deck of a sinking ship.

'Cause everything is lit except my serotonin, yeah. Everything is lit but my lightning bolt brain.

But baby, please, I just need someone to hold me even though you don't even know me. Oh, I'm going neon in the night time. Oh, what a time to be alive.

They say that I should try meditation, but I don't want to be alone with my own thoughts.

When I said, "leave me alone" this isn't quite what I meant. I got the quarantine blues, bad news, what's left? So, it seems the vulture's getting too full to fly. Oh, what a time to be alive.

Øystein // I Am My Own Muse

Here I am, not sure you should take a chance. I like playing dumb, letting you figure me out. But I was faded in my own defense, so drop a bomb on all the things we dreamed about.

Smash all the guitars 'til we see all the stars. Oh, got to throw this year away, we got to throw this away like a bad luck charm.

Trumpets bring the angels, but they never came and no one let them in 'cause they didn't know my name. I know I keep my feelings so tucked away, just another day spent hoping we don't fall apart. So, drop a bomb on all the things we dreamed about.

So, let's twist the knife again, twist the knife again like we did last summer. I'm just trying to keep it together, but it gets a little harder when it never gets better.

Necrobutcher // America's Suitehearts

You could've knocked me out with a feather. I know you've heard this all before, but we're just hell's neighbors. Why, why, why won't the world revolve around me?

Build my dreams, trees grow all over the streets, but I don't know much about classic cars. But I've got a lot of friends stuck on classic coke.

Media, please. Let's hear it for America's suitehearts! But I must confess, I'm in love with my own sins.

You can bow and pretend that you don't, don't know you're a legend. Time, time, time hasn't told anyone else yet. Let my love loose again. Oh, I don't know much about classic cars, but I've got a lot of friends stuck on classic coke.

Fenriz // 7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen)

I'm sleeping my way out of this one with anyone who will lie down. I'll be stuck fixated on one star when the world is crashing down.

I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type, but you've got me looking in through blinds. I'm sitting out dances on the wall, trying to forget everything that isn't you. I'm not going home alone 'cause I don't do too well.

The only thing worse than not knowing is you thinking that I don't know. I'm having another episode, I just need a stronger dose. I keep telling myself, I'm not the desperate type.

But you've got me looking in through blinds.

Manheim // 27

If home is where the heart is then we're all just fucked. I can't remember and I want it so bad, I'd shoot the sunshine into my veins. I can't remember the good old days.

And it's kind of funny, the way we're wearing anchors on our shirts when being anchored aboard just feels like a curse.

My mind is a safe and if I keep it then we all get rich. My body is an orphanage, we take everyone in. Doing lines of dust and sweat off last night's stage just to feel like you.

The milligrams in my head, burning tobacco in the wind, chasing the direction you went.

You're a bottled star, the planets align just like Mars. You shine in the sky. Are all the good times getting gone? They come and go. I've got a lot of friends who are stars, but some are just black holes.

Attila // Dead On Arrival

Hope this is the last time 'cause I'd never say no to you. This conversation's been dead on arrival and there's no way to talk to you.

A rivalry goes so deep between me and this loss of sleep over you. This is side one, flip me over. I know I'm not your favorite record. The songs you grow to like never stick at first. So I'm writing you a chorus and here is your verse.

No, it's not the last time 'cause I'd never say no to you. The conversation's still dead on arrival and there's no way to talk to you when you're dead on.

Ann-Marit // 20 Dollar Nose Bleed

Have you ever wanted to disappear and join a monastery, go out and preach on Manic Street? Who will I be when I wake up next to a stranger on a passenger plane?

Permanent jet lag, please take me back. The mad key's tripping, singing vows before we exchange smoke rings.

Give me a pen, call me Mr. Benzedrine. But don't let the doctor in, I wanna blow off steam.

The same war his dad rehearsed came back with flags on coffins and said, "we won, oh, we won."

Only one book really matters, the rest of the proof is on the television. It's not me, it's you. Actually, it's the taxidermy of you and me. Untie the balloons from around my neck and ground me.

I'm just a racehorse on the track, send me back to the glue factory. Always thought I'd float away and never come back, but I've got enough miles on my card to fly the boys home on my own. But you know me: I like being all alone and keeping you all alone.

The charts are boring and the kids are snoring, and my ego's in a sling. You say you're not listening and I said I'm wishing.

Metalion // Champion

Champion, champion. I'm calling you from the future to let you know we've made a mistake. And there's a fog from the past that's giving me, giving me such a headache.

And I'm back with a madness, I'm a champion of the people who don't believe in champions. I got nothing but dreams inside, I got nothing but dreams.

I'm just young enough to still believe, still believe. But young enough not to know what to believe in.

If I can live through this, I can do anything. I got rage every day on the inside, the only thing I do is sit around and kill time. I'm trying to blow out the pilot light, I'm trying to blow out the light.

I'm just young enough to still believe, still believe. But just young enough not to know what to believe in.

[yippeesizedifgohard]

best friends

this was inspired by this post bc it gave me the juices and i just had to write something with it...the potential was too great

-------

Nikki and Simon were best friends. Ever since kindergarten, the pair had never been apart. They each completed each other in a way. Nikki had never been all that good at communicating with others, especially not when she was younger. That was mostly caused by a speech impediment, leaving Nikki insecure and afraid that people would make fun of her. Oftentimes, that left Simon to do all the talking, which he was completely happy to do.

"Friends don't let friends be scared," He'd say with a wink whenever Nikki hid from someone new.

But now they were older, and Nikki had grown into a better, more well-adjusted teen. She had eliminated her speech impediment for the most part, and she had grown to be far more comfortable with people other than Simon, even if she didn't know them. Simon, though, hadn't changed. He still acted childishly and foolishly, often not thinking about the consequences of his actions before he did them. He got rougher with the ways he showed affection, always squeezing his hugs a little tight or hurting someone with what was intended as a playful slap on the back. Nikki had heard something about him tackling another person to the ground, but she hoped it wasn't true.

He had all these crazy ideas that usually ended in careless destruction, like her fifteenth birthday when he broke in through the window at six in the morning just so he could be the first to wish her a happy birthday. It was a sweet gesture, but the shards of glass that littered her floor after told a different story.

The worst of it was when Nikki could tell he was feeling bad about something, but when she asked he'd change the subject.

All of that was fine with Nikki, of course. She knew that he was still a good person. He was still a good friend, even if emotions made him run and he was never vulnerable with her. That didn't bother her. It didn't bother her at all.

...

Okay, maybe just a little. But Nikki had gotten closer to finally getting Simon to be real and not just some cartoon facade he put on to make himself seem more fun.

That was, until he found a raygun at a pawnshop and decided he wanted to surprise test it on Nikki.

He had asked her to meet him at their childhood playground, right by the swings they had shared many conversations on. She agreed, and she instantly spotted him when she made it to the park.

"Nikki! I bought something from the pawner!" Simon waved, kicking his legs out on the swing. She stood in front of him.

"What even is that?" She asked, pointing at the raygun.

"I don't know what it does," he admitted, fiddling with it in his hands, "but I was hoping we could test it out together?" He looked at her with a glow in his eyes.

"Okay, sure. I haven't got much else to do." Nikki shrugged.

"Great. Now hold still." He closed one eye and aimed the raygun at her.

"Wait, wha-"

ZAP.

Nikki closed her eyes the minute the bright light had fired, but after a few minutes, she opened them again. The mulch ground of the park now looked far, far bigger than it should have been, and as Nikki's heat began to pound in her chest, she looked up to see Simon squatting over her.

"Wow. Now you're really short." He snickered, setting the raygun down. "There's no way I could've guessed it would do this! This is so cool! Look at how tiny and cute you are!" Nikki's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. How could this have even happened? It wasn't scientifically possible! She was snapped out of her thoughts as the shadow of Simon's hand descended upon her. She yelped, though she didn't scream, and pushed his fingers away. It did almost nothing, as Simon was quick to scoop her up.

She resisted the urge to scream again when he brought her right up close to his face and she saw a scratch on it which only reminded her more of his carelessness.

"S-Simon..." She stuttered, uncaring that her impediment had returned. "Ple-please...put-put me down." Her voice was at a whimper.

"Huh? It's...it's me, Nikki." He sounded nervous, which made her even more nervous. "It's just me-"

"That's-That's exactly the problem!" She yelped, and he pulled his face back a little in shock.

"What...do you mean?" His lower lip twitched, and for a minute Nikki thought she could see his eyes gloss over.

"Simon- you-you're loud! And clumsy! And you hurt people all the time without realizing it! I-I don't want my life in you're hands! Especially- Especially not if you're going to treat it like it's funny that now I'm the size of your finger!" She shakes as she says it, but letting it out makes her feel better. "Just- for once in your life! Treat this seriously!" Simon doesn't look at her, his fingers twitching.

"You know I'd never hurt you," Simon said, biting his lip, "right? You do know that, right?" He still couldn't look at her. Nikki glanced away, thinking about all the times he had grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her someplace he thought was cool, the times when she had come home bruised on the back from when he thought something was particularly funny and slapped her on the back. She looked at him and finally recognized the doubt on his face. At least he was taking this seriously.

"You're...scared of me?" Simon finally looked at her, sounding very close to tears. "I know I can be a lot...and I can be careless, but I-I'd...I thought you liked it?" Nikki slumped, feeling gross. "You...I...I can be gentle...with you." Nikki still couldn't look at him, now overcome with the weight of guilt. She felt humiliated and scared and guilty all at the same time.

"God...I'm such a coward," she admitted quietly to herself.

"No, no you're not...I'm the coward. I-I never took anything seriously, and that was wrong-"

"No, I-I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. That was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm just so tired...tired of feeling like you're acting like you're okay when I know you aren't." Nikki sighed in his hand.

"I...Sometimes I feel bad. Like the time I broke your window. But I don't know how to say sorry." Simon admitted, sitting on the ground after setting Nikki down. "I just feel like...maybe sometimes you don't want me around anymore."

"No! That's not true at all!" Nikki was quick to say. "I'd never want you out of my life! You were my first friend! There's no way I wouldn't want you around anymore!"

"You...do you mean that?" Simon asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah. You mean a lot to me."

"Thanks. You, uh, you mean a lot to me too."

[schooloftuneage]

Lesson 3: This is not a test...

CLASS IS IN SESSION

Rick Rubin is one of the most influential producers in the music biz. He turned Linkin Park from what could have been a two-album flash in the pan into one of the deepest acts in alternative music (no kidding, A Thousand Suns remains one of this berk's top 20 albums of all time). He introduced the world to more iconic acts than I can count. And before all that… he was in a shitty punk group that was more known for fake fights and fake arrests than anything else. (His dad was a policeman and would pretend to arrest Rick when he got into planned altercations with planted hecklers - an attempt at getting traction that failed.)

But at the same time, Rick was keeping his thumb on the pulse of the New York music scene, and when he found out about a few rapidly growing groups that were turning out incredibly danceable music with an antiestablishment ethos, his first thought on listening to them was that it was Black Punk Rock.

The music in question was, of course, hip hop.

Let's delve in.

Hip hop was influenced by numerous sources - talking blues, disco, R&B - and tracking all those down would be great, but we're going to truncate slightly today, because A) I'm saving a lot of that for a later lesson, and B) because the most pertinent one is actually disco, believe it or not. See, like punk rock, there was a single spark that ignited the movement, and while it was slower to burn, it had the perfect kindling. The place was in the slums of the south Bronx, in a rec room at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue. The person was DJ Kool Herc, who spun records for dance parties there.

The above documentary gives us a good glimpse at how Herc did his thing. Today we just know it as basic mixing, but back in the day, this kind of thing was revolutionary. Add in an emcee - Coke la Rock - who would handle the microphone while Herc was mixing, and you had the first emcee-deejay combo.

Over time, more groups came together. Grandmaster Flash picked up Herc's skills, and then hammered them down, bringing them to new heights of awesomeness. He couldn't even try to get on the mic while he was mixing, too focused on the beats he was crafting, so he got an enterprising B-boy they called Cowboy to do the honors. Over time he amassed a group of five emcees to work with him - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Treacherous Three, the Funky Four (Plus One More) - you can see a sort of theme in these early groups. Rap battles were a thing, inheriting a little bit of gang battle ethos from their founders - early rap adopters the Zulu Nation were ex-gang members who were trying to veer into a more constructive direction, and they did so well.

But for most, the genre was locked away. Sure, rapping was easy enough to do, but to be a real hip hop artist you needed a deejay, and that equipment was expensive. As I said, the spark was there, but it needed kindling.

And just as punk had its watershed moment in 1977 in London, so hip hop did in 1977 in New York. On July 13th, NYC had a city-wide blackout that lasted just over a full 24 hours. A mob mentality decended over the city, with widespread looting… and in the aftermath of these riots, a lot of expensive sound equipment made its way into the hands of enterprising would-be deejays, either through their own actions or through pawnshops who didn't ask questions about where the equipment came from in the weeks after the blackout.

Now, there is much - MUCH - to say about this scene… but as I'm delving in, I'm realizing that someone else has already done this lesson, and arguably done it better than I could ever dream of doing it. Cartoonist Ed Piskor has done a series, Hip Hop Family Tree, that chronicles the early rise of the scene beautifully. And in the spirit of the early rap bootlegs that we're going to be discussing… you didn't get it from me, but hereyago:

That's twelve issues of greatness right there.

Now, with THAT link dropped, let's talk seminal moments for the origins of hip hop.

The first track on wax that was nothing but a deejay showing off their mixing prowess? "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel". This one was even more notable because Sugar Hill Records didn't like paying royalties to artists that they sampled, and tended to use original compositions rather than having Flash or other deejays mix in the background (which, yes, was kind of insulting to the art of the deejay…). Also, please note, there are NO editing tricks here. This was just Flash at his best, and he laid the whole track down in only four or five takes.

The first rap "superstar", arguably, was Kurtis Blow. At the very least, the man was both responsible for the first gold record in the hip hop genre and the man who brought it to Soul Train, with "The Breaks".

And now, we're going to zig-zag-zig back to an earlier point.

The early hip hop scene was full of bootlegs. Some were recordings of live events - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five had a full live track that had never been released recorded, and it's still more popular, as the studio version lacks the passion of the live recording. (Bozo Meko's version of 'Flash it to the Beat', fyi.) Unscrupulous producers would record artists in the studio under the guise of 'letting them play around' and release their work under different names - and again, that happened to the Furious Five, with "We Rap More Mellow" being released as the work of The Younger Generation. And then there were bootleg compilations released for the deejays - packages of "essential" disco songs pressed as unofficial collections, distributed behind the counter of record stores.

Our TRACK OF THE WEEK is the first of those. A recording of a live event - something that we now recognize as the first rap battle, Busy Bee Starsky vs. Kool Moe Dee. A battle that Starsky phoned in because he assumed he'd have no real competition, and Moe came loaded for bear for. This one's a slaughter, kiddos.

And we're gonna have a lot to say about hip hop in the future... but for now, that gets you to the starting line.

Class dismissed.

[ninjago-autism-hours]

Oop, I didn’t go off too much did I 😭 I was trying to aim for a bullet point list than straight slander but I might have gotten a tad emotional at some points, hope that didn’t bother you, BUT ALSO thank you for the message 🥺 I’m glad I’m not alone in this!! Because it was driving me up a wall.

EXACTLY TOO. “Morro probably killed thousands-“ ah, no. Sshh. Between him and Harumi, one of them attacked Ninjago City and collapsed buildings, (also the canon kill count implied and directly spoken of on screen) the other *checks notes* according to the official Lego description: “Commonly known as the “city built on water,” Stiix is a rancid and rundown coastal city populated primarily by fishmongers and vagrants. It always looks like it is one stiff breeze away from falling apart. Known for being constantly in need of repair and smelling so bad even the rats have moved out, it was the perfect site for Ronin’s pawnshop.” Not that anyone deserves to lose their home, but. There wasn’t much there, and I acknowledge the citizens were rightfully upset, but if we’re talking about “who got killed” I’m pretty sure everyone in Stiix got evacuated on the boat. Lloyd pretty much told Harumi to her face she was causing families to go through what she did and she said she didn’t care.

Their situations are totally different + feelings towards Lloyd. Harumi set out to hurt him emotionally and takes pleasure from that. Morro just wanted the green Gi and get Lloyd physically out of the way. He didn’t try to attack Nya and Ronin deliberately. He left them alone. “Because it was raining?” He wasn’t getting hurt by the rain then. Harumi crashed the bounty, hijacked Zane, ordered Mr E to kill him, had SoG attack the Ninja many times. Unprompted. Morro didn’t set out to drown Lloyd in a river because he wanted him dead. That was reflex. Harumi didn’t hesitate with WU who doesn’t fight, and NYA who was powerless at the moment. Morro did attack Kai unarmed, but I’m also pretty sure Kai went and jumped into the boat himself. He usually attacks when attacked first. (Which fair, since he was possessing Lloyd but Harumi was chilling and deliberately INTENDED to kill the Ninja multiple times just to make Lloyd feel that loss) and ig his idea of that was “trap him in the Cursed Realm, he can chill with his dad” before y’know, all 16 Realms become the Cursed Realm so, ig their “home” will become bigger and all his friends can join. LIKE STILL CRAZY AND BY NO MEANS SHOULD HAPPEN. But most of the damage (or rather, the season itself) was because the Preeminent HERSELF wanted her Ghost Army to free her instead of just existing as a Realm in peace. At that point once she’s out? The ghosts HAVE to protect her because she literally revives them from the dead. Now granted, Morro did try to bash Lloyd’s head in with a hammer, but like. “Just got freed from hell and I’m feeling peak vengeful spirit” anger sort of does that. Can’t possess Lloyd if his head is a squashed watermelon, he wouldn’t have gone through with it…I think, I hope. Alas, still a mark on his record but so is trying to STAB and drown someone in an Oni Temple. ON PUPOSE instead of a reflexive temper tantrum from lack of emotional regulation. Which, also something to take responsibility for, which he at least has potential to do because it wasn’t “genuine malice” yes he tried to kill the Ninja on purpose exactly once in the same place he died, but it’s such a classic move for the genre of being a vengeful ghost! The trope!! But yes, another mark on the record, but for some credit: he did say he wasn’t afraid of the Ninja/want them out of the way for that reason himself, it was an order of the Preeminent. So, improvements can be done regarding “does he hate the Ninja and Lloyd as much as Harumi enough to kill them?” No! We see that in Day of the Departed! Cole acknowledges that he’s good now! Not being under the control of the most evil thing to exist after the Overlord or constantly festering in your own negativity for years in a place designed to torment you with the emotional regulation of a toddler does wonders for someone’s personality.

*head in hands* and I went off on another tangent, I’m so sorry OP. I’m hearing what you said too, lots of folks have personal “had a friend like Harumi” reasons + her age during the attack + how much time passed + Lloyd getting aged up/still aging/but mentally? Is confusing enough to tangle your brain cells. That’s the Ninjago timeline for you, one of the great mysteries of the world relying on suspension of disbelief.

ALSO I DIDNT KNOW YOU HADNT WATCHED PAST S8 IM SORRY FOR SPOILING YOU, but ah, if you’re not strict on spoilers, maybe it can be a heads up for what to expect so you don’t get jumpscared? Also don’t worry about answering any of my asks, I don’t mind :) there’s no pressure, totally feel you on the reading comprehension + general brain not cooperating, thanks for hearing me out!

ALL of this yes and also we do not necessarily plan on watching past season 8 and in fact have already sought out countless spoilers and had a friend give us what episodes were ~Harumi Free~

TLDR Morro was a neglected dead teenager being used as a puppet by a borderline eldtrich god, Harumi is just Like That

[theressomethinghappeninginparis]

Yeah you can't change my mind on the feelin I have there's a shadow following me and ruining anything ahead on my path.

One guess. Why was the pawnshop closed? Right, the owner is fucking dead and the place is cluttered with dust and blood. Great!

Transcript of the first and second page: Comment on my sanity as I threw up again from disgust, more importantly: there is a symbol next to I think Rennes (he has a small name tag on him) and it is the exact same as at Carvier's place. The newspapers mentioned it yet I'm sure not explicitely. On his PC were several contact numbers that I wrote down and maybe am going to call. One thing that stood out was that he has some maps on his desktop that I send myself via mail and printed them. I'm wondering what location they're showing and also why the hell he had several passports on his front desk, neatly arranged. As if someone placed them there for him to see. Did this person also murder him? What does the Monstrum want with passports?

Transcript of the third page: Here's the map. What I can read is "The open ??? stals here", "Don't fall into this" and "That is you way in". It seems like I've seen this somewhere. I suspect it could be a map of part of the sewer system. I've been to several sewer parties before, they are well documented and there are arrows to indicate the correct path. If that's a catacomb map, where is "your way in"? Where into?

Transcript of the fourth page: Here are the three contacts I found. They have weird names and I obscured them since I think that's safer. One is "Monsieur Àvotreservice", called him and he started yelling since I wouldn't tell him where I got his number from; "La Porte" is the guy from the church and "Mangeoire à pigeons", is, brace yourself, the guy in the park! I got a bix at Rennes and haven't gotten back to Pierre yet. If I can set up a straight face maybe I can use that to bribe one with the box. I need to talk to park-guy again and to church guy.

Transcript of the fifth and sixth page: The park guy's name is Bernand. He is really interested in the box and is willing to take me to Bouchard to get myself a fake passport or...whatever use he could be, and his conditons are to bring him the box and he gives me a password in return. Wow. The church bouncer is not the guy inside the church, not gold-lover, but a bouncer. Bernand's password is for him and he also wants the box and 800 euros. I can't give him both so I need to head back and think of what to do next. I need to get to Bouchard. But how?

On my way back I met the lady in front of the club again, her name is Janice. She told me she'd rather me trust Bernand and asked me what my business with Bouchard is anyway. I told her about the passports I found at Rennes and that he sells them and she laughed and explained Rennes is just a stupid vendor. So... she doesn't know he's dead. I asked about the murders and she shrugged it off as daily business, people stay home. Bouchard's business is failing.

Now, a thought. If he is in desperate need of clients, couldn't I just get to him and ask about that? If I can pay? I'm not planning on meeting him in person, I just need a way to get to the Louvre and then into Carvier's office. I will call the numbers again and ask Pierre. There has to be a way to get these documents for one use only. I'm not planning on stealing anything and yes I notified the police about Rennes.

Transcript of the sixth page: The text is slightly unreadable but the most important thing is this: I called the guy who was mad at me, I offered the box Pierre and Bernand want, he said he had open business with him left, it was the fucking herbalist speaking on behald of Bouchard on the phone as I recognized his laughter and threatened him with giving the police a clue about Rennes...long story short, the next day after telling Pierre I will totes get him the box I picked up the security card and gave him the "box"- thanks to him not knowing it was an imitation. Whatever, I am off to the Louvre...somehow.

I need a hint on how to enter the museum. I can't just use the front door and I haven't thought...this far. Do I really need to call this guy again?

[awanderingrat-writing-blog]

R/AmITheAsshole?

🪽u/Holier-Than-Thou

Am I the “Asshole” for bothering my “Roommates” customers at his job?

I never thought I would find myself using such vile human forms of communication for such a personal dilemma, nor one with such a crude title, but here I am.

I, (305 22, M (?)) had followed my roommate (24, m) to his workplace, as is typical, because quite frankly, walking outside on the street is much to dangerous for someone so vulnerable. Anyways. We had arrived at the pawnshop that he works at, and the day had proceeded as normal. Typically, the customers don’t acknowledge me. I prefer it that way. He prefers it that way. But, I noticed some of the common folk who had showed up to sell something were being particularly rude to my Roommate. So I stepped in. I didn’t hurt them or anything- I didn’t even say anything. But they practically passed out, and started pathetically mumbling on the floor.

my roommate is upset with me. He won’t talk to me.

I don’t like it. All I did was help. Ungrateful.

AITA?

|♟️u/Krain-pawning

| Az we’ve talked about this. Stop following |me to work for godsake

| |🪽u/Holier-than-thou

| Do Not speak the Lords name in vain, Michael. | |♟️u/Krain-pawning

| You said goddamnit like five times last night |when you hit your head on the ceiling |

|🪽u/Holier-than-thou

| Irrelevant

_______________________________

|🐦‍⬛u/The-inferior-Corvus-Twin

|OP WHAT ARE YOU???:!!:$/:”;/ |

|🪽u/Holier-Than-Thou

| .!

| 🐦‍⬛u/The-Inferior-Corvus-Twin

| ?????????.?,,,

Write an r/AmITheAsshole post told from your OC’s perspective. (Bonus: include replies from your other OCs.)

[bennben101]

A Glimpse Inside: bennben's World

My name is Bennben and I have a lot of pen names such as Ben, Bentot, and Pong. These pen names or nicknames were doings of my father when I was a kid, but they still use it 'til now and I still don't know why.

If you guys don't know yet, I'm a Jolly, but a silent person at the same time. it's because, usually, I only interact with someone if they talk to me first. I love reading manga and manhwa, and I also love watching anime, because when I read or watch, I can enjoy my alone time. I also like to ride my bike and go to many places (although right now, I can't do it because I have been very busy). the farthest that I have gone is like 70km. I also love playing online games! Did you know? I have a page on Facebook that I used for streaming when it was pandemic times. I used to stream a lot because there was a lot of time to spare and I was so bored that I looked for something to do, although I stopped when it was time for the face-to-face classes. Also, when I was in eighth grade, I joined the basketball team for the intramurals, and I fought my older brother's team, and it was so cool!

I have the privilege of growing up with three incredible and dependable brothers, and I hold the title of being the youngest among us. Both my parents are retired now, but before that, my father worked at a pawnshop and he was a teller there, and my mother was working abroad, and she did many types of jobs there. My current status are I feel happy, nervous, and tired at the same time. I feel happy because I have a healthy relationship with everyone, I'm about to graduate high school, and I'm doing things that I haven't done or I'm rarely been doing lately, like strolling with my friends. I feel nervous and tired because recently, there's been a lot of school activities, and it drains me so much! It makes me want to just sit it my room and play games, but still, I can manage this much! And that’s pretty much it. I hope you know me better now!

[countrymusiclover]

11 - Finally Awake

Princess Red Thief

Part 12

Tag list - just ask to be added @mystrey101 @melvia-ito @kmc1989 @tallrock35

Pacing back and forth in the backroom of the pawnshop Rumple closely watched my movements with my belly swaying as I shifted around. He was sitting on the cot bed that we would use on our breaks when we had long hours of work. "I suggest you stop pacing before you hurt yourself or better yet create a hole in the wooden floor."

"Rumple, aren't you a little concerned that something could have happened to it?" I snapped at him.

Back in the Enchanted forest he had learned that I might be carrying his child after the night we shared when Charming woke Snow from her sleeping curse. But he had been captured and then I was locked up before we could truly talk about it being possible. "Everly, there's nothing to worry about. We can have Dr. Whale examine you and get an answer."

"And if he says I'm pregnant we're screwed." Throwing my fingers up into my hair I began pacing once more. "I wasn't showing when it was cast. I mean think of Cinderella. She wasn't due yet but then she gave birth here after 28 years. That can't be a coincidence, so the same thing is going to happen to me."

"Hold on a minute, lass." He held up his freehand making me look back at him. "Are you actually thinking that the curse could have sped up a pregnancy?"

"It could be."

Rumple chuckled lightly at me. "Many things are possible but time travel and speeding up a pregnancy aren't one of them."

"A curse managed to create an entire town and dumped everyone from an entire realm here. Some unbelievable things are still possible, Dark One!"

He pointed his finger at me in a warning tone. "Keep your voice down, dearie."

"Oh please I don't care if someone overhears us. They won't understand anyhow."

"True, very true. Although I don't think either of us wishes to be locked up in the insane asylum." Rumple sent me a sad expression seeing my body shiver and I wrapped my arms around myself reliving the torture Regina gave me.

Rubbing my hand down my arm I sighed sitting down beside him on the cot. It had only been a few hours since I had awoken from the curse and I felt that everything had already become so much harder. "So what exactly are we going to do with breaking the curse?"

"We need to show Ms. Swan that her son is telling the truth about this place." He answered me, rising to his feet, leaning his weight on his cane.

Lifting my head up I asked my former teacher, now partner. "How do we manage that?"

"You tell the boy that you're awake. I am fairly certain once he knows that he'll have something in mind on what to do next." Rumple explained simply shrugging his shoulders.

Moving one hand over my stomach I parted my mouth open slightly. "I'll talk to him. But then you have to promise me you will be there when I talk to the doctor."

"Don't worry about me abandoning you, lass." Rumple offered me his freehand and I placed my small hand in his. He tugs me up to stand with him before he tucked a loose lock of my hair behind my ear. "I am never leaving you alone like the night of the curse ever again."

I squeezed his hand that was still holding mine. "It wasn't your fault. Those blasted bars were the problem."

"Yet you know why I never used the scroll to escape."

"Indeed I did. Yet I'm still surprised you altered one of our deals back then." I tilted my head to the side.

He shakes his head leading me towards the front door of the shop and I went on my search for the young ten year old boy. "You still owe me for that, dear. Now go find the boy and I'll find you afterwards." Removing my hand from his I knew where he would be, he always headed straight for his castle.

Snow had gone into labor before they could prepare her to go into the wardrobe while pregnant like they had originally planned. Pushing everything off the desk in my bedroom of my family castle I slammed a spell book down in front of me. "Okay so as long as I do this translation properly my memory will come back."

Removing my grandmother's ring from my hand I slid it onto the gold chain of a necklace. Letting the jewelry simply lay in front of me I pressed my palms on the wooden table, closing my eyes and chanting the spell. "Acti vase de cona. Acti vase de cona. Acti vase de cona." The candles around the necklace flashed up in flames before slowly returning to normal.

Picking the necklace I slipped it back inside my red cloak, waving my hand and transporting outside Rumples cage. "Well, well, well, I was hoping I'd be getting a visit from you."

"Awe I'm sorry is that your way of saying you've missed me." I teased him by swaying my hips walking up to the cage wall.

Rumple groaned in frustration at my actions. "Careful dearie. Don't let these bars fool you."

"You wouldn't hurt me. Not intentionally anymore. Now let's get down to business before we get separated." Removing my hand out from under my cloak I held up the necklace in his face where he held out his palms and I dropped it from my fingers.

He gently closed his fingers around the object. "I assume it was successful then hmm."

"I completed the spell but we won't know until 28 years from now." I gasped, whipping my head around hearing the castle rumble above our heads. My hands began shaking at my sides and I clutched the fabric of my red cloak knowing what it meant.

Rumple declared to me confirming my thoughts. "It has begun."

"What if it doesn't work, Rumple?" I blurted out the question I feared the most. My cloak blew slightly when I moved closer to his cell revealing my rounder stomach to him that I had gotten good at hiding under my cloak.

He was the only one who knew. Not even my parents knew what had happened between us, not entirely.

He reached through the bats grasping my right hand in his left. Our fingers looping around the others when our eyes locked. "Stop worrying your head, Everly. It will work. It has to work."

"Rumple, I'm..I'm scared." I whimpered under my breath hearing the castle rumbling louder and windows were being shattered too.

He squeezed my hand in his, drawing my attention back on his gaze alone. "Everly, focus on me. Nothing else matters right now. Just keep looking at me."

"What do you think will happen to us?"

He held up my ring necklace outside the bars allowing me to hold onto it with him as he spoke. "I made a deal with Regina. I'll have a good life and be rich. And you, my Red Thief, will be with me." Glancing over my shoulder I gulped nervously seeing green and purple smoke crawling towards us meaning the curse had broken through the rest of the castle before engulfing us in its spell.

Shutting my car door I made my way up to the old wooden castle seeing that Henry was there which was a relief to me. I ran forward up the stairs and plopped down beside him where he almost dropped his storybook on the ground. "Woah Eve. What's going on with you?"

"I remember, Henry. I remember everything." I grinned from ear to ear at the young child in front of me.

Henry nearly tackled me in a hug of joy. "Really?"

"Ask me something that most people wouldn't know."

He thought for a second. "What does the Dark One dagger do to Rumplestilskin?"

"It allows whoever has the dagger to control him." He hadn't told Emma about that yet or cursed me so only someone truly from the Enchanted forest could know the answer.

He throws his arms around me and I hugged him back with the same enjoyment. "I can't believe you found a way to wake up. How did you do it?'

"Rumple and I had this all planned before the curse."

Henry gasped. "He's awake too. How?"

Henry hung his mouth opened. "Wow,that's awesome. Oh hey it's almost five. I have to get home before my mom."

"Let's go." I got up to my feet and he followed before we climbed in my truck and I drove him home. "Henry, I'll find you after school sometime."

He spun on his feet calling back to me before go through the front door. "I'm excited your part of Operation Cobra, Everly!" Once the door was shut I sat outside his house for a few minutes before I saw Regina's car pulling up behind mine.

She got out seeing me through her windshield coming up and tapping my window so I rolled it down. "What are you doing outside my house?"

"I didn't want to have your son walk home from school." I responded to her.

She huffed, eyeing my stomach over the window. "I'd prefer if you stay away from my son. He doesn't need to be around that snake Mr. Gold."

"He's not a snake."

Regina sent me a glare. "You should've been more careful of who you jump into bed with, Ms. Royal."

"Who said the babies his, Madem mayor?"

She paused asking. "Who then?"

"Dr. Whale. I was more than a one night stand to him. Now I have to go." I turned the truck back and she stepped up onto the curve watching me drive away. I smirked to myself that she seemed to buy the lie, Rumple had taught me well.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[iwantadoughnut]

so the whole thing is that yesterday he came to me asking about the ps4. he said he needed it to do something. and anytime i talk to him i’m stand-offish because he’s really creepy and always like a man you need to really stay away from because he has no empathy. so i told him that someone must of put it away. but he looked for it anyways, but i didn’t say anything.

and the next morning, while i’m sleeping, my mom wakes me up and asks me why did i sell the ps4? and i was like. wait. what. how did you even find that out? nobody knew i went months ago. so i just had to explain to her that i sold it at the pawnshop for money because i just didn’t have any money a few months ago. and that nothing was on it. and of course my mom got upset that i did that, but at the end of the day she was the one who bought it all of those years ago and it’s just gone now because someone needed money.

and it’s like…i began to get super scared because i knew my brother did something to find me. idk how he found out i sold it? i hadn’t told anyone, and nobody has my information. and it’s like he’s so fucking creepy of a man. he stays huddled up in his room and does not talk to anyone. he says he has agoraphobia but i know for a fact that that is just a weird way to seem innocent to not having to go outside and actually get a job because he’s a deadbeat and a mooch. and it’s like idk what he does on his computer? but i’m pretty sure he went out of his way to search me online in some weird tactic to find out i sold it. and then he told our mom so i would get into trouble. and it’s like so immature. because he doesn’t know what i’m actually doing in life, and has no right to try to find private things i did. i wasn’t trying to harm anyone. i just needed spare change to have, and that old ps4 was there, so i did it.

yeah. scared of my brother.

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Not Like Him

Do you think you could do another idea I have? It's about Eddie's dad getting out of jail because of overcrowding and he wants to just "say hi to his son" but actually he went there to see if he could steal something valuable for pawn money and he takes both of Eddie's guitars but Eddie's girlfriend manages to stop him or talks to the pawnshop and gets his guitars back.

Request by @slightlyvicked 💞

Warnings; angst, violence, mentions of blood, fluff.

Likes, comments and especially reblogs are always appreciated ❤ I don't give anyone permission to copy my work.

💞💞

Eddie had been quiet for the last few days. It wasn't like him and y/n had eventually found out that Eddie was told by his uncle that his father had just gotten out of prison due to overcrowding.

Eddie hated his father, the man was a drunk and an asshole, as far as he was concerned his uncle Wayne was more of a father than his own ever was.

Y/n did her best to be there for him while he was worried about his dad coming back.

"I don't want to see him, I just want him to stay away".

She didn't know Eddie's father but she was pissed. Pissed that her kind-hearted love was torn up so much about this, that his own father made him feel like this.

Hopefully, he will stay away for good.

💞💞

Y/n was on her way to Eddie's. He was meeting her at his trailer after Hellfire club and she couldn't wait to see him.

As she approaches the trailer she freezes as she sees the door is wide open. Eddie and Wayne always lock up after themselves.

Cautiously she heads inside, maybe one of them forgot to lock up and the wind blew the door open?

She sneaks in and hears clattering, loud clattering in Eddie's room. Shit!

As quietly as she can she reaches for the phone and dials Hawkins police department asking for Jim.

"Jim Hopper speaking?".

"Hopper, this is y/n there is someone in Eddie and Wayne's trailer, they are in Eddie's room now. I think it's a burglary".

Jim leaps into action.

"I want you to get out of there okay? I'm on my way. Get out and wait somewhere safe... The dial tone rings off and she freezes as she does why.

The cord has been yanked out, and her heart races as she comes face to face with a seriously pissed-off man, his curly brown hair and brown eyes remind her of Eddie but unlike Eddie's warm, brown eyes this man's eyes are colder, full of rage.

It's Eddie's father.

"What do you think you're doing?" he growls and she swallows. Shit shit shit!

Her panic resolves to anger when she sees Eddie's prized sweetheart under his arms.

"That's Eddie's guitar. Put it back asshole". He smirks, brandishing a small pocket knife and holding it to her throat.

"Might want to rethink that attitude sweetheart, all I wanted was to say hi to my son". The panic returns and she thinks her heart might beat out of her chest.

"What the fuck?". She can hear Eddie's voice outside and she tries to get to him but Eddie's father holds her close so she can't move.

When Eddie comes in he freezes seeing her trapped by his dad, the knife in his hands pressed to her throat, guitar under his arm.

"Get the fuck away from her!". He snaps and Eddies father smirks.

"That any way to greet your father boy? The little sneak called the police on me". She fumes.

"That's because you're a thieving arsehole stealing from your son!". Eddie shakes his head.

"He's no father of mine. Uncle Wayne has been more of a father than you will ever be dad. Now get away from my girl!". He mocks the name dad and moves closer to her.

When the asshole is distracted she wriggles free and knees him in the groin. He spews out profanities and she isn't quick enough when his fist strikes her across the face and she falls to the ground.

Eddie freezes then lets out a yell of rage, his eyes are burning with rage and hate and he swings for his dad who tumbles to the ground.

She feels dazed and scrambles to her feet as Eddie's dad manages to get in one lucky punch but Eddie shakes it off.

"You don't touch her!". He yells in anger and he hits his dad again and again.

"Eddie stop!". She pleads and he hesitates pushing his dad away from him, his knuckles are bloody and his lip is cut, he has tears in his eyes and she wraps her arms around him.

"He's not worth it baby, she touches his cheek. He's not worth it. Shhh, it's okay. I'm here". He begins to calm down, his breathing slowing instead of fast-paced.

Hopper arrives and hauls Eddie's dad up, placing handcuffs around him. Hopper looks at him in disgust.

"Can't put me back in jail, overcrowding issue". He responds gleefully and Hopper smirks.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure we will find a place for scum like you". He pushes him out the door and checks that she and Eddie are okay.

They both assure them that they are and Eddie's uncle Wayne arrives, presumably he was called by Hopper at his work.

"Eddie son are you alright? What the fuck is that asshole father of yours doing here?" Eddie sits on the couch holding her close.

"For what else? Being a thieving asshole. He hurt my girl". She soothes him and his shoulders shake.

"Baby, I'm okay". He swallows and places his head in his hands.

"I never wanted you to see me like that princess, I always worry that I'm like him". He chokes out as tears run down his cheeks.

She kneels on the floor and begs him to look at her. He does his eyes shining with tears.

"Hey, you are nothing like him Eddie. You're warm and kindhearted, you're full of love, so full of love and kindness. You help people who others don't give a chance, make a safe space for them to be themselves, you're gentle and sweet. You're nothing like him".

He swallows and nods as Wayne gently places his hand on his shoulder.

"You share a name son but that's all. You are nothing like him. You're good. Kindhearted, gentle, nothing like that asshole my boy".

Eddie gets up and hugs his uncle.

"Thanks, dad". Watching them both embrace makes her tear up as Wayne pats his shoulder.

"You get yourself cleaned up, and y/n too. Honey, Jim told me you confronted Eddie's dad. Are you okay?".

"He hit her. I lost it". Eddie murmurs and gently touches her cheek which feels a little tender and bruised.

"Asshole". Wayne shakes his head and fetches her some ice and it feels like heaven on her sore cheek.

"He tried to steal your guitar, Eddie". She tells him angrily and he kisses her forehead.

"Baby, as much as I love my guitars, I never ever want you to put yourself in danger again. I love you so much and I never want you hurt".

"I love you too Eds, so much". She cuddles into him and he strokes her hair peppering kisses on her head.

❤

Y/n helps Eddie tidy up his room and place his guitar, his sweetheart pride of place in his room. She smiles, surrounding his guitar are photos of her and Eddie.

When they are done they cuddle up on his bed and just spend time together, happy to be okay and in each other's arms.

"Thank you for what you said today princess". He tells her gently and she smiles kissing him.

"Anytime baby, you're not like your father at all. You're my Eddie, you're amazing and an absolute sweetheart".

He kisses her gently and they make love all night.

💞💞💞💞

My requests are open 💞 due to spooky season coming up I would love spookier requests 🎃🍁 👻

[candysharkart]

edgy creepy pasta au i doodled to pass the time today :) I dont feel like finishing it but i put too much effort in not to post lol..................................

here’s the whole script i wrote for mewmewstabbykilly if u want.....i ended up writing way too much cuz i was trying to emulate that kind of video.............i was just making shit up tho so idk how cohesive (or like...... good) it is n u can probably just ignore it if u want :)

The year 1997 had held such promise for former pawnshop owner, turned overnight TV superstar, Spamton G. Spamton. His hit original gameshow "DO YOU WANNA BE A [BIG SHOT]?" was being enjoyed by human and monster families alike all over the country. And his eccentric but endearing personality as the show's host, "MR. BIG SHOT", had the network calling for his own late night talk show......But on September 17 1997 Mr. Big Shot stopped picking up the phone.

When he failed to arrive to the set of "DO YOU WANNA BE A [BIG SHOT]?" that morning, the crew was concerned. Spamton had never missed a taping before in the shows 7 season run. All calls made to the missing host would mysteriously fail to go through. Wanting to keep the shows record going, producers sent a stage assistant to Spamton's apartment to see if they could bring him in.

This guy's landlord must've SUCKED by the way!!!! Allegedly this stranger stage hand walked right up to him and was like "Hey I work with your celebrity tenant! let me in his apartment!" AND HE DID!!!! LIKE???? WHAT IS THAT???? Anyway. They get the door open and BAM!!! Couple minutes later the cops are on their way. Spamton G. Spamton is dead.

Details on this case are kinda..... fuzzy!! There was like next to NO news coverage, and the only case reports I could find are like......... heavily redacted for some reason???? But from what I can put together, they found Spamton sitting on his couch next to his landline, receiver in hand, all dressed up like he was just about to head down to the lot. Only y'know. He was dead. The report also said that the phone was just emitting a "garbage noise"?? Whatever that means?? Static I guess... Is that something old phones did?? I dunno... That phrasing just really stuck out to me.

The coroner states that they couldn't determine a cause of death, but said that he was unharmed barring of course his, and I quote, "heavily mutilated face". HEAVILY MUTILATED FACE!!!! I'M NO EXPERT BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CAUSE OF DEATH TO ME!!!! There isn't even a description OF the mutilation!!!! Like COME ON!!!! I'm trying to make a viewtube video over here!!!! LET ME INFORM MY AUDIENCE!!!! I couldn't even figure out what the cops ruled it!!!! Honestly, I'd seen reruns of this guy's show before, but I hadn't EVER heard of this case until someone emailed me about it......

While I was digging through old true crime forums as research for this video I managed to come across what's SUPPOSSED to be an autopsy image of the head, but I couldn't find anything to support this...... The picture was already censored when it was posted, and I..... Didn't really want to look for the original..... It's not like I would've put it in here anyway, I'm not a weirdo. But this version is PG enough to put in this video, since it's like..... the only other thing I could find on the subject. I kinda hate looking at it though hahaha.

[ckjbun]

What kind of ability would Higuchi have and its potential name?

Hi to whoever is reading this! This is my first self-written post so I’m still figuring out how all this works and I’m sorry, if it gets a bit chaotic. Anyways, recently, I came across a question regarding Higuchi from Bungou Stray Dogs. It was about what Higuchi’s ability would be called and what type it would be. So I won’t go into details whether she has an ability or not. I believe she has since she is named after an author (and Asagiri himself kinda confirmed it via Twitter). Thus, I just want to write my thoughts on the potential names and kind of ability. 

Since abilities in the BSD world are always named after rather well-known works of the authors, I compared some of the famous works of Higuchi Ichiyo. Now mind you, I haven’t read her works myself. I mostly relied on comparing summaries and analyses of them. Since there are not a lot of summaries, I read two lesser-known stories myself. I will add the links of the summaries/analyses of the works down below. However, while comparing I found two works that would fit Higuchi. Now, first what do I mean by “fit”? Well, it might be best to start explaining what I think about the type of Higuchi’s ability.  

I believe Higuchi has not an offensive type of ability. Nothing like Atsushi’s, Akutagawa’s, Kyouka’s etc. If she had, I’m sure she would have used it already, since she’s fighting a lot with her guns, why wouldn’t she use her ability as an addition, why would she hide it? There are two possibilities why we haven’t seen her ability yet. First possibility would be that her ability is not visible like Odasaku’s or Ango’s, maybe it’s even an ability that she hasn’t even discovered, just like Fukuzawa hasn’t realized he has one before the ADA. Second would be that she can use her ability only under stringent conditions. And I believe it’s the latter, hear me out. 

Remember this scene from Chapter 14? Higuchi reaches out to hold Akutagawa’s hand but then pulls back because she remembered him saying that he doesn’t need her help. Now, you could argue that holding the hands of injured loved ones is a gesture of closeness, a way to show them your support, a way to tell them that you’re staying by their side. And Aku doesn’t want this support, so that’s why she retracted her hand. But something bothers me here. In this scene it looks like Aku slapped Higuchi’s hand away, doesn’t it? And then he says, he doesn’t need her help, instead of support. I know, you could say support and help are almost the same. But to me, help is something that you do more “actively”, while support can be something passive. What if Higuchi’s hand represents this “active” help? And what would actively help Akutagawa in this very moment? A healing ability for example. Coincidentally, in the panel before, Hirotsu asks Higuchi what power she posses to make them [the black lizard] obey. Is this a hint that there is a hint about Higuchi’s ability in the next panel? Maybe. But let’s look at the next panel. It’s the title page of this chapter. 

As you can see, Higuchi has a bandage wrapped around her leg and they seem connected to Akutagawa. In this chapter, it is revealed that Higuchi contemplated about leaving the Port Mafia but her reason for staying is implied to be Akutagawa. This is perfectly symbolized by the bandages in this title page. The bandages coming from Akutagawa are holding her leg back, stopping her from walking away from the PM. But maybe there is a second interpretation? If you’re looking at Akutagawa’s left hand, the bandages are starting to come off. What if this means Akutagawa is healing and doesn’t need the bandages anymore? Instead it wraps around Higuchi’s leg, restricting her movement. What if Higuchi’s ability allows her to help someone else (doesn’t have to be necessarily a healing ability) but in exchange she needs to sacrifice something? Anyways, I think she has an ability which allows her to help other people in a non-combat way. With this in mind, I was looking through several works of Higuchi Ichiyo, searching for something that “fits”. Meaning that I was looking for parallels and themes in irl Higuchi’s stories that could be “converted” into an ability. Just like the coat that the protagonist of Rashomon stole in order to now die of hunger was used as Akutagawa’s ability which seems to be able to eat everything, or like the wish that one’s brother does not die in war in Thou Shalt Not Die became Yosano’s ability and serving as a basis of her background story. Anyways, I’d like to present the works that could be used for Higuchi’s ability and draw some parallels. 

1. The Thirteen’s Night

The story revolves around a poor woman, called Oseki. Thanks to her marriage to a rich man, her family was able to live a better life and her brother found a job. But on the thirteenth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (one of two special nights for moon viewing), Oseki visited her parents with the intention on asking her parents for approval for divorcing her husband. Before entering, she overhears her parents talking about how lucky they are that they have such good children who don’t cause trouble and that they are very thankful for this marriage. Hesitating at first, she finally goes in and admits that she wants to divorce her husband because he abuses her mentally. He insults her constantly and tells her that she's worthless, stupid, and uneducated. Her mother is outraged. But her father, even though he acknowledges her suffering, reminds her what her husband has done for this family and that she would lose her son since women couldn’t get custody of their children after a divorce at that time. Agreeing with her father, Oseki decides to go back to her husband: 

“It was selfish of me to think of a divorce. You're right. If I couldn't see Tarō, there'd be no point in living. I might flee my present sorrows, but what kind of future would I have? If I could think of myself as already dead, that would solve everything… Then Tarō would have both his parents with him. It was a foolish idea I had, and I've troubled you with the whole unpleasant business. From tonight I will consider myself dead — a spirit who watches over Tarō. That way I can bear Isamu's cruelty for a hundred years to come.” 

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

Just like BSD Higuchi contemplates leaving the PM, the protagonist here wants to leave her husband. The PM is like the husband. It allows her to support herself and probably her family (at least we saw that she has a sister). But there is constant abuse. Akutagawa is clearly the biggest source of abuse that we can see. But it’s not only him. In Chapter 14, Mori asks her if she is really suited for this job. Telling her indirectly that she is useless or that she is too weak for the PM. Later, you can see the Black Lizard doubting her capabilities, even threatening her. But just like Oseki she stays because of a loved one. What really concerns me is Oseki saying that she will consider herself as a dead spirit watching over Tarō. What if Higuchi, in order to use her ability, has to sacrifice part of her lifespan? Or maybe she loses a feeling? Like e.g. she loses the ability to feel happiness, making her a bit more dead inside? If you draw this parallel, you could also say that when ‘consider myself dead’ is the condition of the ability, then ‘watching over Tarō’ is a hint to Higuchi’s ability. An ability that allows her to watch over and protect her loved ones? This theme fits Higuchi perfectly, since a big topic in Higuchi’s story line is how she wants to help and protect Akutagawa. So it makes sense that her ability might be something that would help him (**intensely squinting at the recent events in the manga, especially chapter 88**). Moving on to the second possibility before the pain starts to set in. 

2. Takekurabe (literally: "Comparing heights", "Child's Play" in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, "Growing Up" in the Edward Seidensticker translation)

Now this is considered as Higuchi Ichiyo’s masterpiece. So the chances are high that the ability is based on this story. The story accompanies a group of children who live next to the Yoshiwara quarter. There are two rival gangs: the main street gang (’omote-machi’), lead by Shōtarō, a cultivated young boy who is the grandson of the owner of a pawnshop, and the back street gang (’yoko-chō’), lead by Chōkichi, the impulsive firefighter’s son. (Maybe a parallel to the ADA with (cultivated) Fukuzawa and the PM with Mori who’s a doctor which belongs into the same category of occupation as firefighters?). Among the main street gang, there was Midori, popular and pretty, who lives in the brothel where her sister works. Shōtarō probably has a crush on her. But Midori probably has feelings for the other main character, Nobu, the son of a Buddhist priest. Even though he returns her feelings, he distances himself from her out of his self-consciousness. Later he joins the rival gang after repeated request by Chōkichi. Anyways, they spend their days very care-free, attending school, playing with each other after school. One day, some conflict arises between the gangs and Midori, while protecting someone else, gets slapped by Chōkichi with a sandal. He then proceeds to tell her that their gang is backed by no other than Nobu. Midori feels humiliated and stops going to school. Soon she also stops playing with the other children. After some time passed, Midori is seen with her hair all done up. She has become a distant, lady-like young woman. This probably means that she got her first period and is old enough to become a prostitute or that she just had her first client as a courtesan. Little by little, the children grow up. Nobu is sent off to be trained as a priest and Shōtarō has come to accept the responsibilities of his family’s shop. 

There are several themes in this story that I’d like to point out, namely unrequited love, Midori’s transformation and underlying unchangeable fates. The first one is obviously a big theme in Higuchi’s story. Midori and Nobu are unable to express their love for each other because of their positions in life. Just like Higuchi is unable to express her feelings for Akutagawa. If you want some hope, AkuHigu shippers, maybe Aku has also feelings for Higuchi but is still very confused and self-conscious about it just like Nobu. Anyways, because of their positions in the PM, it would make everything very complicated if Higuchi confessed. Additionally, Midori feels like she was humiliated by her love when she got slapped by that sandal. I’m sure that Higuchi gets humiliated by Akutagawa a lot. The next theme is Midori’s transformation from a tomboyish to a lady-like, distant woman. We all know Higuchi looks really badass in her suits. But again, look at the title page of chapter 14. Higuchi is dressed up all prettily and lady-like in a dress, and her hair is done all up. Just like Midori after her transformation. Midori’s transformation stands for Midori accepting her occupation as a prostitute even though she doesn’t want to. In this chapter, we see that Higuchi has accepted her job in the PM, even though she doesn’t want to do this job. At the end Shōtarō sings the following: 

"Growing up,

she plays among the butterflies

and flowers.

But she turns sixteen,

and all she knows

is work and sorrow."

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

I don’t know about you guys, but to me that necklace that Higuchi is wearing in that title page looks like a butterfly to me. This is really farfetched but maybe this could be a hint about when Higuchi joined the Port Mafia? However, the biggest theme in Takekurabe is the underlying unchangeable fate of the children. Shōtarō was destined to become the next owner of the pawnshop, Nabu was destined to become a Buddhist monk and Midori would become a prostitute. Maybe this gives us some insight into why Higuchi joined the PM? Maybe one of her parents was a PM member? I also like to think that since Aku is in the PM, since she wants to be with him, she can’t but stay in the PM, and this is her fate. Nevertheless, fate is a central theme in Takekurabe. This is the reason why I think, if the ability is based on this story, Higuchi’s ability would be something like changing fates. Changing fate of someone else but in return she must sacrifice something. 

Okay, so this post has become quite long. But I still wanted to mention two other stories Yamizakura (Flowers at Dusk) and The Sound of the Koto where I saw a lot of parallels. I just want to briefly tell you the story of The Sound of the Koto. In this story a woman abandons her son in order to leave her husband who has a bad reputation. The husband then turns into an alcoholic and dies later at a party because of alcohol intoxication. The boy becomes hardened to the world, despises his mother for leaving them, and even contemplates suicide. The story shifts then to a woman playing the koto.  I want to give you an excerpt for the end of this story: 

“On this night the sound of the woman’s playing helped another to be reborn. Through fourteen springs and fourteen autumns, the boy had been buffeted by the rains. His heart had gradually toughened until it had become as hard as stone. No arrow could penetrate it. He seemed destined to follow the example of his father, to die among the fields or in the mountains, where his remains would be bleached by the elements. Some were convinced the boy’s life would end in prison chains, while his bad name spread to every roadside. 

But now, at once, the tenderness buried in his heart was freed by the midnight strains of the koto. For the first time in many years, he felt tears come to his eyes. Or were they jewelled drops of dew? He would not exchange them for anything. 

He, who had known neither love nor compassion, and who had no idea what the player of these refrains could even look like, felt a moment of happiness as the music drifted over the garden wall. […]

[…] How could a stormy wind blow now? The clouds in his heart had disappeared. Once more the woman began to play. The sound of the koto would be his friend for a hundred years, the seed for a hundred years of yearning. He had entered a world where a hundred different flowers wer in bloom. 

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

This boy somehow just reminds me so much of Akutagawa. Just like this boy, without any parents and home, wandering around in this world, Akutagawa has become hardened to the world. I’d like to think that Higuchi’s ability could free Akutagawa from his pain, just like the sound of koto does for this boy. 

So, now I said everything I wanted to say, I guess. If there is really anyone reading this and reading this until here, thank you so much! I appreciate it very much that you kept reading even though my thoughts are probably quite chaotic. I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or weird sentence structures or anything like this. English is not my first language. I’m very happy, if you could point out any mistakes or have any suggestion for improvement. Lastly, I just want to remind you that these are my thoughts, I love discussing so feel free to comment your thoughts but I’d like you to keep in mind that there is not necessarily a wrong or right, theories are theories, interpretations are interpretations. Everyone has another interpretation. They can only be proven wrong by Asagiri sensei himself. Until then just keep the discussions friendly and tolerant towards other people’s thoughts and opinions. 

Sources:

All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans

Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口 一葉)

Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"

In The Shade Of Spring Leaves: The Life Of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine Of Her Best Stories, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

In the Shade of Spring Leaves – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 1

“Flowers at Dusk” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 2

“Encounters on a Dark Night” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 3

“Child’s Play” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 4

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY

The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)

Female Subject, Interrupted in Higuchi Ichiyō's "The Thirteenth Night"

GAME OF TRADITIONS: TRADITION IN THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT AND DIARY OF A MAD MAN

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ IN MODERN JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN DRESS: Modern Japanese versions (gendaigoyaku) of Higuchi Ichiyō’s Takekurabe and their Relationship with English, Castilian Spanish and Catalan Translations

Separate Ways Summary

Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”

Flowers at Dusk

Nigorie (Wikipedia)

From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō's "Troubled Waters"