#like i get that its a risk but also .... god .... im so much more productive there

[gu6chan]

theyre not widely available yet but thank FUCK someone finally says this bc more ranting in the tags but just leaving the few screenshots i do have of the original ending e here

it was always meant to be a joke!!! just because it comes out more lukewarm as averse to doing a complete 180 does not mean it is and was always meant to be some deep thinkpiece whose themes got already MORE than enough coverage through the previous endings (And additionally already reached a perfect conclusion too!!! Re: Ending D - there's really nothing left to be said or done after THAT ending, Ending E is glorified bonus territory positioned as a finale that has no real substance to ADD outside of what's already been said lmfao)

how does that not only make it more clear that they're not jokes

[queerwritersingerdramaqueen]

TUMBLR, I WILL MAKE YOU POST THIS

PREVIEW: 

AKA-NO-KEN YOU ACTUAL PHSCHIC HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GUESS ALL MY GOD CASTINGS CORRECTLY???

AGAIN, WISDOM SAGA SPOILERS SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. ALSO MAYBE A TRIGGER WARNING FOR LOVE IN PARADISE CAUSE THAT WAS MORE THAN I WAS FUCKING EXPECTING.

THIS IS SHERLOCK AND BILL'S FUCKING SAGA NOW BITCHES BROS AND NON-BINARY HOES. AND AGAIN, I'M FANGIRLING AS I GO.

So, with where we left off, William's having a minor relapse in his mental state but it won't become too much of a plot point/serious thing. He and Moran are on funky terms but if there is no "reconciliation" in later sagas then We'll figure that out when we get there. Anyway, this saga ain't about him.

(ALSO, I MISSED A FUCKING OPPOURTUNITY

VON HERDER AS TIRESIAS, IM A FOOL)

Anyway, lets get started.

The Wisdom Saga:

Legendary - BILL IS HERE FUCKERS. SHERLIAM'S ADPOTED SON IS GONNA BE LEGENDARY. I really like how this parallels with Canon when Bill only knew William as a genius professor and Sherlock's actually the one who introduces them in a way. It'll set up nicely for when we get to "I can't help but wonder" and Telemachus/Bill has to toss up with the fact that his Dad just removed the twenty year problem but he did also kill a bunch of people (you know, like in canon.). So this starts out with the lights slowly coming in and Bill's "room" has a chair and a few other easily moveable props. This is a very dancey number I'm finding so these props are probably gonna get taken off stage so there can be actors milling around for Telemachus to interact with, I think he'd be mostly weaving between them trying to avoid them while they keep swiping at him. The majority of suitors can be off the stage but Antinous and a few others are up there ready for the "Whatcha gonna do about it, champ?" The lights would change on Boy to a red colour. It would be so cute seeing Billy fight for Sherlock's Honour. I think something really cool that could happen is when Telemachus sings "somebody help me" the lights flash blue for a second like Athena has heard his plea. and at the very end of the song, he punches Milverton square on the nose (in the fake way of course).

Little Wolf - My big idea for this that would absolutely not transfer over to a regular production of Epic the musical would be that Antinous/Milverton is not the one fighting Telemachus/Bill. I cannot really see Milverton fighting for himself and would definitely have lackey's doing it for him; but outside of this AU Antinous absolutely fights for himself. But yeah, Milverton mocks the shit out of Bill while he's fighting somebody. The lights stay red while the suitors and Milverton are doing their thing. When Athena appears the lights turn blue like fighting of the panic of being in a fight. I think this is one of those moments where its so fun having Sherlock as Athena and Penelope cause it's like "Don't worry baby, Mama's here to help." But, onto the super cool crossover intertexuality talk I can't seem to do right now, Sherlock as Athena fits very nicely cause he, alongside William, helps Bill get into the university; so Sherlock being the one helping in this fight reminds me of that. And Athena's "I've no respect for bullies" reminds me of his disdain for Milverton and his methods of blackmail. ALSO, HER PIANO IN THAT PART IS SO FUCKING GOOD I FUCKING ASCENDED. PAIRING IT WITHT HE DRUMS THAT WAY, WHO DOES JORGE THINK HE IS. In a way, this is like showing how Penelope would like to react to her suitors beating up her son (it just popped into my head but kind of like a batman meme, Penelope dressing up as the goddess of wisdom to fuck up her son's bullies). Athena's whole solo there sounds a lot like Sherlock when he was talking to Irene. And when the fight ends and Antinous says Penelope needs to pick a suitor, Athena/Sherlock is very disturbed before he helps Bill up.

We'll be Fine - The thing I love the absolute most about this musical is exploring Sherlock's side of this whole fiasco they were in and giving him a chance to vent some of this frustrations. Because it wasn't easy on him either and he might blame himself a little bit for not being able to help more. Bill knows a little bit about it from gossip and rumour and being a part of the Epic cast for a little while, not too much but between the two of them, Bill understands that Sherlock is letting out a bit of his frustration with the previous problem and the repeat that seems to be occurring, because he's super smart like that (I say seems because in real life, it won't last that long and William is probably gonna be ok and reconciled with Moran by the time we get there. It'll hopefully make sense once we get to the next saga but I just can't keep knocking this dude over he needs to start healing and giving him a less self-jeopardising problem to fight). Even though he and William have worked through a fair bit of what happened and their still going really strong, Sherlock is still worried. Sherlock's super soft on Bill because he's so similar to William. Bill, while sticking to the script, is just subtly reassuring him that it's ok, they'll get through this rough patch and they'll be fine. Sherlock doesn't need to be the first responder. A little bit of it probably comes out as Bill saying "William wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over this," especially when he mentions Athena's friend (William and Bill are also probably really close friends at this point, don't tell me William wouldn't take him under his wing immediately after they're introduced). When Athena calls him a good kid, Sherlock ruffles his hair and then Bill makes a move like someone's calling him and runs off, leaving him for the next part.

ALRIGHT I'M HAVING FUCKING ISSUES WITH TUMBLR RIGHT NOW SO STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO BECAUSE ANYTHING LONGER THAN THIS WONT FUCKING POST OR SAVE AS A DRAFT.

@aka-no-ken I'M COMING SWEETIE AND I'M BRINGING MY WORK WITH ME JUST BEAR WITH ME

[meruz]

maybe a weird question, but does the show that your backgrounds appear in ever make you feel differently about your work? like as an artist im sure youre pretty much always proud of the finished product but if the show that uses them is one you dont like does it ever.. make you feel weird?? or is it still just like "hey, i did that!"

nah..Not any weirder than posting art in general feels LOL. the thing is, liking a tv show as entertainment is different from liking it as a workplace which is also different from liking it as idk… an art object to put in my portfolio. I’m not going to pretend there isn’t overlap there like if I had to kind of draw it out (in more ways than one haha)...

So theres a lot of push and pull between factors. Its VERY common for artists to have shows they enjoyed working on that they wouldn’t personally enjoy watching and vice versa. And for me personally? I’m a glass half full kind of guy so even amongst mixed feelings I tend to focus on the good parts and I've liked almost every show I've worked on, come out feeling pretty good about my work almost all the time. 

I’m lucky though. I’ve never had to stay at a job with truly heinous working conditions. I’ve always had the privilege of enough resources (savings, parents house to fall back on, etc) to quit and find something new which is something not all people have. 

And I guess I would feel weird/bad about my work if it turned out to be used for like… a horrendous hate crime or something? Like if god forbid I ended up somehow…presumably accidentally?? working on the 21st century’s version of Birth of a Nation???? But (knock on wood) I like to think the chances of that in animation are pretty slim LOL or at the very least I'd be able to see the red flags ahead of time and get out of there…. one of the good/lame things about mass media is that it’s supremely moderate like it can’t be transgressive or radical (on either end of the political spectrum) or else it risks losing profit. And on top of that, animation is one of the least spontaneous storytelling mediums. just by nature of how much coordination and planning that has to be done ahead of time for something as simple as moving a character across the screen. Backgrounds in particular are relatively middle-late in the animation pipeline. every show runs a little differently but normally by the time we're working on bgs the story, boards, and characters are like... 70-90% locked in? So it’s pretty rare to be working on a show only to later be surprised by whats on screen when it airs.

I do know that south park turns on a dime and makes episodes slapdash in like one week but uh I like to think they're the exception not the rule LOL. most western animation will take about a year per ep from outline to final export.

anyways thanks for sending a thoughtful ask as opposed to something patronizing or obnoxiously leading like "im so sorry you had to work on such a shitty show" which ive been getting a bit of lately.

[mejomonster]

My gastroparesis driving me up a wall. And by that i mean ive been barely eating for over a week now and my symptoms still arent improving and im really not havin a great time im exhausted my bodys in pain trying to get me to Rest but i gotta work full time and my abdomen absolutely hurts but painkillers slow digestion even More so ive been laying down on heatpad as much as possible and i really dont wanna go back to an All Liquid diet (but even if i did im at the nausea and vomiting point of a gastroparesis flare which means even liquid only im likely to throw up either way) and like. I just wanna comfort eat bread cause i feel miserable exhausted in pain and it would be a small joy. But bread is absolutely not something i can eat during a flare. I can only eat it when doing good if i take benedryl. Im so angry and tired and id like to sleep for days. And i gotta still Make myself eat chips and protein shakes even tho i got nausea cause my gi meds dont work unless i eat Something. Even if i got nausea and tons of pain wooh

Anyway im getting flack from family for being so tired the last week and i love em and all but its awful feeling guilty for not calling Enough when its like goddamn eating (something humans gotta do at least once a day) hurts phenomenally and i barely can but i obviously desire to like any human then i eat and Ouch my body didnt fucking like that and punished me for it and im so mad. I feel awful and yeah im mad i dont got energy to hide how much pain im in and chat false enthusiastically for 20 minutes after already doing it all thru work. I had 1 teaspoon of peanut butter today and my remaining options are soup broth (but it had beans cooked in it and my body cant take fiber today so idk if its worth the risk of any accidental beans) and salad (which is of course raw vegetables fiber very hard on stomach rn so i can probably just eat a handful size portion and hopefully ill chew enough its mush and my body will tolerate it). And a protein shake (but its got fiber and is made of chickpeas i think for the protein so idk if my body is tolerating it or not im just drinking it so i dont have no calories). I had chips yesterday but i think my body considered it too solid or large to digest idk cause im eveb worse today. I also had toast yesterday cause i was so angry and hungry and wanted comfort food. So of course that messed me up. Which means i should take more benedryl. But then i wont just be hungry and pain tired, ill also be drug tired. And im so sick of being miserablr all day at work just to pass out the second its over cause allergy meds knocked me out then ive lost all day. But without allergy meds i can eat hardly anything i like. I mean i cant eat rn but like. Right before this fuckjng flare and hopefully once its over. Im just sick of it. Im tired and when i go to therapy next week shell probs ask oh what do you do to stress relief and its like... i get it but are u fucking kidding me. Im knocked unconcious from benedryl. And tired anyway cayse no food, and pain nonstop from gi tract. So im barely doing anything. I cant really get outta bed cause i need the 4 sq feet heatpad or ill be in agony over my abdomen. Dont have tv in room so i can use phone i guess. So tired i can barely keep eyes open or think so im not writing reading or watching shows on phone. I can idk listen to a reaction or lets play since if i fall asleep and wake up i dont need to follow a plot. But like im not in a state to be going for a fucking walk (i wish! I wanna dance and walk but my abdomen and back feel awful and im so tired im dizzy when i stand) or hang out w friend, which im sure idk shed prefer to hear some productive ass activity like god im just trying to keep myself employed and out of the ER until the flare rights itself. Please

And i know jts not that bad. Ive been worse. I couldnt eat solid food for 6 months once. I was in the ER weekly it was so bad i blocked most of it outta memory. This is only a couple weeks. And i havent thrown up much! I was throwing up 5 times daily back then. And i have had chips and peanut butter! I recognizr thats nice, i got some solid food and held it down! I know my gastroparesis is EONS LESS severe than it was when it started.

Its just like. It still sucks barely eating for weeks and any eating hurting immensely and nonstop nausea for days and pain not lowering. Like a normal healthy person might snap from anger if they try to go 20 hours without eating, or crash and need to eat to keep going, or just be run down as fuck and justifiable if they barely do anything that day. But i go days like that and im expected to just appear fine and live life normally like im not worn down af and just desperate to not feel nausea and pain and i just really wanna eat again. Normally.

[sonicenvy]

tragically, every day i get emails. anyways, this is me waking up to 38 work emails this morning:

[sj0228]

astro notes for fun lol

HEY! this is my first astro observations post so don't be too hard on me lol unless u wanna then sure maybe i can improve them somehow BUTANYWAYZ this is for entertainment purposes only!! obviously these are just my own observations so if they don't resonate with you don't get offended or you're a big ol' ��️uss so here they are!! also SHOUTOUT TO MY AMAZING FRIENDS fyi i got sum help from them by asking them billions of questions to confirm my suspicions so uh hope that makes the observations more accurate LOL ANYWAYS HERE THEY ARE!! i'll probably make more in the future cuz i think they're super fun to make :D also if u couldnt tell uhm this isnt very professional im not professional BUT I TRIED TO MAKE IT PRETTY so pls dont be bothered lol im just doing this for fun i didnt even wanna make an astro page so yea </3pretty unreliable LMAOOO

👩🏻‍🦲 the house your mars is in is what pisses you off the most!! (eg. 1st - people assuming things about you, 5th - people beating around the bush, 7th - things that disrupt the harmony of your environment, 9th - the need to hold back your opinions because others get bothered by them being "offensive")

👩🏻‍🦲 cancers are true ambiverts and i've truly never ever seen a cancer who wouldn't be both introverted and extroverted at times. they are always either social introverts or quiet extroverts lol. or both!! (somehow 0_0) they enjoy people's attention, whether it's wanting to be noticed or appreciated or generally cared for, and they need their alone time. they tend to be very productive at those times, too.

👩🏻‍🦲 ok i have a lot of notes for cancers so it's gonna be a lot lmao sorry anyways!! i've also noticed they LOVEEE breaking loose every once in a while, if not every time they're given the opportunity! thing is, it's usually only if someone else is there to convince them or do it with them. they don't like taking risks alone! they are very impressed and fond of the 'wild child' persona people because they bring out the cancer's wild side!

👩🏻‍🦲 libra moons are absolutely loved by people, it's so crazy! like, no matter what they do they always have attention on them. this can manifest badly if the moon person is actually pretty horrible, things they do tend to be overlooked and others move on pretty quickly from their mistakes, letting them do whatever they want. i wanted to give an example but uh,,,,, i shall.. refrain😳

👩🏻‍🦲 libra suns with water moons are so scary when they're angry..

👩🏻‍🦲 cancer moon is what i deem as the zodiac sign cute-ifyer lol. literally any "tough" sign like capricorn, scorpio or aquarius becomes a super cute goofball with this moon. WEIRDEST THING EVER THOUGH is that it doesn't work for cancer suns?! like if a cancer sun has a cancer moon this just makes the person very confusing but very funny. they can brighten anybody's day without trying!

👩🏻‍🦲 okay uh this isn't an astro note as much as it is me being a phucken simp but uh..... I HAVE AN UNDYING LOVE FOR ARIES SUNS I WILL MARRY EVERY EACHAND ONE OF YOU ISTG. ARIES SUNS ARE THE NICEST AND FUNNIEST PEOPEL I'VE EVER SEEN YOU HAVE THE BEST HUMOR EVER AND YOU'RE SO KIND TO EVERYBODY YOU'RE SO KIND I LOVE YOU YOU'RE TOO GOOD FOR THIS PLANET I WANT TO HUG YOU FOREVER okay jbshxhjn but fr aries are the best people ever?!?!?!?!?!?! pls

👩🏻‍🦲 okay JUST SO THIS WHOLE ARIES MENTION ISN'T JUST A POINTLESS LOVE CONFESSION - i've noticed a lot of ♥aries♥ people use the laughing crying face emojis (😂,🤣) unironically and it's honestly.....the best thing ever

👩🏻‍🦲 taurus suns do this sometimes as well

👩🏻‍🦲 THE MOST UNHEALTHY PERCEPTIONS OF ZODIAC SIGNS ARE PUT ON FIRE SIGNS, NOT THE WATER SIGNS AND THIS IS COMING FROM A PISCES!!!!!!1 every stereotype is always showing fire signs as those sunshine of the group people, the baddies, and the ones with the biggest 'idgaf' attitude. and while this can totally be true sometimes, most of the time it's super different! sad fire signs break my heart pls i just wanna hug you guys T-T they have it the hardest because unlike water signs who are already expected to be emotional, they often repress their emotions for the sake of others and because of the fear of betrayal or judgement, or just generally the idea of "it's better to have fake friends than to have zero friends". YOU GUYS PLEASE. cut these people off from your life you deserve soo much better i know it can be super hard to open up for you u just need a hug omg EVERYONE PLEASE CHECK UP ON YOUR FIRE SIGN FRIENDS ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR DAY N STUFF THEY WILL APPRECIATE YOU CARING FOR THEM! pls stay best and take care sweethearts ily!!!

👩🏻‍🦲 i've also noticed that some of the signs tend to show their sadness through anger - this is not just astrology though so if your friend has been jumpy lately please just check on them they are probably going thru sth😳 anyways the signs i mostly saw this in are pisces, aries and libra.

👩🏻‍🦲 cancers with feminine moons (earth and water) tend to be pretty introspective. they often think they're the ones being mistreated, and while this of course might be true, in reality it usually goes a lonnng way back lol. they often pay very little attention to others!! (masculine moon sign cancers (fire and air) can often be too focused on others more than themselves) this can be good because they don't snoop in other people's business but oh my god, guys, please pay attention to your friends, too! this WILL lead to lost friendships because, let's be real, nobody wants a one-sided friendship with someone who only cares about themselves! i don't want to target anybody here but this is just a pattern i've noticed wayyyy too often, so you might want to look into it and if you think this is you all you need is just to enlargen your perspective and it will all be okay. but please, PLEASE. think about your friends

👩🏻‍🦲 i needed to get this^ out because people often put this on leo placements but tbh i notice that leo placements are THE MOST generous of the entire zodiac and they always think of others first and that's what really makes them so popular. they very rarely are as egocentric as everybody says, they're just really loving and that makes them very lovable!

👩🏻‍🦲 scorpio risings are the prettiest people i've ever seen. not even kidding bruh i could stare at them for EVER their eyes are absolutely gorgeous and their mannerisms are just perfect pls marry me

👩🏻‍🦲 gemini and taurus placements make an individual soooo chill to the point where it often makes them lazy and a biig procrastinator lol. tho i love how they make light of it by using their amazing humor!

👩🏻‍🦲 you most definitely have your IC be one of your family members' sun sign or one of their personal planets. i have a taurus ic and my sister is a taurus sun!

👩🏻‍🦲 sagittarius suns are the best huggers cause THEY REALLY NEED A HUG SO GO HUG THEM RIGHT NOW. pls guys why r u so sad..

👩🏻‍🦲 scorpio mars aren't even as sexual as everybody says tbh. but they definitely do have some interesting.....interests ;)

👩🏻‍🦲 pluto aspects to personal planets are very prominent, but very hidden. if you have them, most likely you will be the only person to know about this side of you and it can be pretty dark..

👩🏻‍🦲 planets conjunct your sun will be the people you attract most in your life (venus conjunct sun - taurus and libra, jupiter - sagittarius and pisces, mars - aries and scorpio EVERYWHERE)

👩🏻‍🦲 your moon sign will be the sun sign of most of your friends

👩🏻‍🦲 if you don't quite relate to your ascendant, look at the sign you have in your 3rd house and at your mercury sign. this is how you communicate, convey your ideas etc. and will often be a major factor in people's first impressions of you :)

👩🏻‍🦲 lilith aspecting your sun may mean there's a side of you nobody knows.. 👁👁 you're also probably very convincing and people can be very drawn to you and they can't explain why. this also goes for lilith in 7th, especially in girls!

👩🏻‍🦲 you and your friends probably have each other's sun signs as your personal planets!!

👩🏻‍🦲 the kindest person you know is probably either a virgo or an aries.. and the meanest person you know is also probably a virgo or aries LOL

👩🏻‍🦲 capricorn suns & risings are THE hardest to read!! if they don't say what they mean people will just assume and they're never going to be right it's wild 👩🏻‍🦲 also capricorns definitely have the most dad energy, while sagittariuses are more like actual dads jdbshxcvb

OKAY THAT'S ALL!!!! im sure i have more but its 2 am i have school tomorrow or actually its today now so bye uh anyways there will most likely be more so if u liked these stay tuned!! oh and let me know if they were true witchu :o thats it love u stay awesome and super cool i love u byebye!!

[mrstsung]

Shang tsung during your Period hcs

My elder gods for pperiod relief! Ugh.

I'm currently suffering a bit. So this is hella self indulgent.

But for my people's with periods,this one is for y'all.

CW: periods. Blood. You should understand this if you have one. Nsfw implied,So if you aint comfy with any of this. Look away,keep scrolling. Gender neutral pronouns are used. Like i try to always do. Afab reader more likely. But still wanted to warn y'all first. Because i try to do that. Its courteous.

💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚

Look shang ain't no stranger. Guy is over 10,000 yrs old. I think he knows what periods are. -_-

But how you handle them specifically? You may need to tell him. But once you do its fine. Look shang isn't stupid (and i kinda hate how people treat men like they are stupid when it comes to these things. Like they may not know everything,but if you don't fucking tell them of course they aren't gonna know,you expect them to help you automatically?! Good lord. Sorry mini vent. Shang is accommodating to his beloved. But again,you'll have to tell him exactly what you need. He's a busy man too. Like he knows what the basics things are when it comes to periods tho)

He will make sure you are comfortable,like he always does. Nothing changes how he treats you from any other day

A hot bath for his beloved? Or course. Relaxing oils,salts,and maybe some herbal remedies for that sore,aching body.

Your fave snack or something you're craving? He will send a guard,a servent(or anyone willing to work for shang let's be honest at this point) to fetch it for you. Less they want his wrath,they better get the right one.

A nice massage? Oh most definitely. He would do this himself,even if you didn't nessicarly want to. He has skilled hands. May or may not get naughty. Sneak a few butt squeezes. Any squees,you make would delight him very much. (Look shang is a perv ok?! Deal with it)

If you need hygiene products he will make sure to have them. Either a servent with get them or you will have to. Its not that he wouldn't if he had the capability to do so. Its just.....he's kinda stuck on his island and the risk of leaving it and being caught by earthrealms champions and his enemies is kinda high. So....yeah. course he could use a portal secretly. But again high risk. He would do it if an emergency tho. But he'd rather get a servent to accompany you. And they better listen and protec you or else!

Shang isn't squeamish at all with period sex. I mean guy is practically around blood all the time. What's a little blood during the sexy times? But if you aren't completely comfortable with that. He will make sure that you are clean,put a towel down. Sexy bath time? Oh definitely he's down for that. I hc shang does prefer to be clean and smellin good during the smex. Buuuut he doesn't mind a little down n dirty either. I don't think this man truly has a limit either. (I hc he has preferences,and some things are not favored. Buuuut come on people,guy has been around long enough. I think he's tried lots of different shit. Plus you can't look at me dead in the eyes and tell me shang tsung aint a freaky freak. ) but period sex is tame compared to the other shit he doesn't mind. I feel shang thinks because its yours and in a more intimate,calmer,controlled setting. Unlike battle or even him *gulp* torturing his eneimes/victims. (Look its canon ok? Its the one thing i might be eh with him but everything else bout shang im whatever...this says a lot bout me doesn't it?) And it's your blood like i said. As long as your blood isn't spilled because of danger or any enemy. He find no need to freak out over it. He's down so as long as you give him consent....but he wont hold back either. He's a man of standards buuuuut he's also not shy from the more heavier shit either. Again just talk to him ok? Communication is key with anyone when it comes to relationships but especially smexy times. But especially with master shang. He wont do anything, without permission. But you give him the ok on being yo daddy dom? Hohohoho *laughs in anime villain* your in for a treat my dear.

Again shang prefers,once again preferences. Being clean. He is hella vain. Ngl. But sometimes,when you gotta please ya babygirl/boo thang honey. You make due.

Look i wouldn't put above shang to tease you on your period too. Playful of course. For his beloved? Its nothing more than in jest. But if you tell him to fuck off, he will. Smugly. "Is that why you were so angry in your training spar today dear?" "Master tsung,will all due respect...stfu" *smugly laughs* "i jest my dear. Come let me help you" *hehe*

Look i love shang but he's an asshole,a lovable one.

Overall shang tsung is good with periods. Idgaf what y'all say

💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚

[lgbtpolitics]

Pros and cons of reusable period pants

So as I mentioned in a previous post most of the marketing of reusable sanitary products centres environmentalism with the benefits to the consumer being put on the backbench. Hence, I thought I would write this post about what they are actually like to use:

Pros:

They are genuinely comfortable. They literally are like normal underwear, the absorbent layer is done with some kind of tech fabric so whilst you can feel it and see it when you pick them up in your hands, it's not like having a bulky pad on, they just sit like normal underwear. For me personally, both tampons and pads are annoying, pads moreso but tampons aswell and these were honestly such a nice change.

They last a very long time. I was skeptical that they would even really work, but seeing loads of reviews saying they were great I thought I would try them. I then opted to buy some saying "up to 8 hours on medium days" and I was concerned this wouldn't hold overnight... LOL this was not a problem at all. I actually wore one pair for 24 hours because I was trying to wear them till they leaked to see how long it would be but I actually failed at that they just did not leak. Idk if maybe I have a very light flow given i don't know what the standard is but there were a fair few reviews saying the same thing so I don't think I'm an anomaly here. This 24 hours constituted the first night + second day of my period which is usually the heaviest bit so I don't foresee any problems in this regard. Not needing to change at all or worry about how long it is lasting is honestly a god send, I imagine especially if you are out and about.

They genuinely "wick moisture" okay so TMI ALERT one of my biggest grievances with pads against tampons is the way blood dries on pubic hair, its very annoying. Somehow, this doesn't happen with these... it does say in the description that they "wick moisture" but i assumed that just meant it doesn't all congregate on the top layer. But they literally do remove it like a lil vacuum so it doesn't get much on your skin or pubes...

There is full coverage front to back. Note that not all brands and styles do this so read the description carefully but I have actually always said that pads need to go the full way round your pants because its so difficult trying to position them right. Even when buying the long ones, I inevitably bleed over the edges because of how I'm sitting or lying. This is not a problem at all because the absorbent bit goes right round so you can be in any position and it works fine. This is particularly good for sleeping in.

Washing them is not as gross as I thought. The biggest problem i foresaw with reusable products is that washing them out sounds icky. When I first heard of them I was under the impression you had to hand wash them but in fact you can machine wash them. Im not sure if you need to rinse them first but I did anyway - this was more tolerable than I imagined, just literally stick them under the tap, maybe wring them out a bit. Still a bit gross but I would say less so than changing pads, definitely less so than changing a tampon, however it does take longer so pick your poison i guess. Owing to the long lasting nature of them, you only need to do this once or twice a day as well.

Cons:

You can't really tell how full they are. They have this problem in common with tampons, you can't really work out when you need to change them. This is much less of an issue because of how long they last but, its a bit annoying to not be able to tell.

They are expensive. Now, its common to say that they will save you money, but I think that's a reach personally. Naturally something reusable will eventually be cheaper than single use but the cheapest I could find were £50 for three (some light to medium flow ones are a bit cheaper but I didnt wanna risk those also I guess the shorter they last the more you will need) and the ones I bought were between 60 and 70 for three. I would say three is an absolute minimum to get through a whole period, and thats if you wear them for an extended length of time and are efficient about washing. I guess if pads and tampons are very pricey where you live it might be beneficial but I can get a box of pads and a box of tampons for maybe a pound each. It will therefore be a long time before I am saving money through these, and thats assuming they don't get lost or damaged, I don't gain or lose weight... if you're spending a lot on sanitary products it might be worth getting something made to last but otherwise, I wouldn't go into this thinking you're gonna save loads.

You kind of have to commit. Basically, because they are meant to last so long, you can't really put them on for like an hour or so (unless you've got loads), so you need to know you're gonna have them on for a few hours at least. This isn't really an issue unless you're gonna need to shower, or you want to change them before bed but you need something up till then too etc, but, i can see it being an issue when you're unsure when you're gonna start like you can't really put them on just in case because then they'll still need washing even if you don't start and when you do start you won't have any clean ones.

In summation, I would say the pros far outweigh the few cons, some of the latter they share with pads and tampons anyway.. if you're considering it at all I would definitely say go for it, as far as I'm concerned this is a marked improvement over commonly used period products.

These are the absolute cheapest that I found, they seem to have actually gone down to £40 for three or maybe I was misremembering but they only seem to do one style.

This is the company I actually bought from they have a nice range of styles and I can attest that they definitely work.

Im from the UK personally so I don't know if they deliver to elsewhere.

Note: there are two types of things called period pants, one is as described above, one isn't absorbent but somehow stops leaks when you wear them with a tampon. It should be fairly obvious which one you're looking at but if you are planning to get some make sure to read the description.

[just-a-fangirl13]

Why s5 *might* be the season MacRiley happens

Okay so...Hear me out! I'm not crazy I promise!!

Firstly, after 5x03 (and probably 5x04) it may seem very unlikely that MacRiley could ever happen. But I thought of a few reasons why they might actually happen by the end of s5 after all.... (it gets a lil long winded and kinda complicated but just stick with me till the end!)

1. All the MacRiley moments including the ones in 5x03.

[this Mac smile could not be an accident or something that slipped through both production and post-production right?! that in itself is a whole reason!]

Every Macriley moment we have ever had- whether it's the hugs, Riley saving Mac, Mac saving Riley, the ultimate show of loyalty when Riley went after Mac during Codex or even just the looks exchanged between the two- to any outsider it would seem pretty obvious that they are dating or at least in love. Keep in mind the writers would have written each of those scenes and Lucas and Tristan have acted them out with a specific build up in mind aka MacRiley.(think about the date episode: Riley just got dumped but was still thinking about how Mac might be hungry. She didnt have to do that. She could have just shown up at his place..) I mean how can they write two people so perfectly in sync and so perfect for each other and not have them end up together? It would just be a waste of all that tension and slow burn. (not to mention all the hugs and glances)

2. They know we exist. 

The MacRiley fam is very active on twitter with the writers and while they were writing 5x01 they knew we were around. They know we are a huge group. They would not want to risk pissing 90% of the fandom off by not making MacRiley endgame.

[P.S.yes 5x03 was a bait and switch but if you were paying attention you would have noticed that neither Lucas not Tristan live tweeted or hyped up the episode. They knew we would probably hate it so they didnt publicise it too much! so in the future if you have doubts about the episode being a MacRiley one just check their stories or posts on twitter/intstagram]

3. Yes 5x03 happened. 

I really think it was an episode they HAD to write. Ok so after 4x13 they had 7 more episodes planned and were filming 4x20 (aka the finale) when the pandemic struck. So they have these 6 episodes but no finale for it. [Idk if anyone else has noticed but in 5x01 there were clearly some parts cut out. For example the conversation between Desi and Riley towards the end seemed a bit jilted. Riley asking Desi to forgive her but Desi replied with yeah we are cool (still no apology ofc) I feel like something happened during that which ended up getting cut out so it could fit with the final story.]

This makes me think that they have rewritten a few bits to tie into the new finale episode. In 5x03 when Mac asked Desi to come fishing with him which was clearly something very personal to him she was like no do better.. then we see Mac's disappointed expression. She could have easily said okay but maybe not for our first date? Or its not really my thing? Or just about anything else rather than laughing in his face like that. Eventhough MD is together they still arent compatible. Mac’s final words in 5x03 was him being desperate. I truly think he is so broken and lost that Desi is the only safe thing left, the only thing he feels like he can fix right now. Once he finds himself again and heals...then it's going to hit him like a pile of bricks!!

4. But Riley doesn't have feelings anymore...WELL doesnt she? 

When it comes to Mac, Riley is always in denial. We saw it in s4 when she tells Bozer not to make her say it. I think s5 will show her finally accepting it. Finally accepting that she is in love with her best friend and that it definitely isnt Codex adrenaline because she caught the feels when Codex wasnt even around. While Mac's arc would include realising he and Desi are never going to work and that he is unhappy and that RILEY is the one for him.

[why else would they give Riley feelings for Mac? Something has to come of it.]

5. The slow burn rule.[this point is a lil complicated] 

Now season 5 is rumoured to have 13 episodes. So here’s what I think: If MacGyver follows the pattern that most shows do when it comes to slow burns, then technically MacRIley should have happened at the end of season 4. But since the season got cut short and they didnt get to air/finish their final episode the writers had to improvise. 

From what I know, 4x19 which is 5x04 for us is the episode where Mac meets Desi’s parents and 4x20 was supposed to be the finale that was left unfinished.(they are definitely moving the timeline ahead if a pre finale episode is suddenly a mid season one.) There might have been a 4x21 or 4x22 but I haven't heard anything about those....EVER.

So what I think they have decided to do instead is extend the MD storyline a bit longer just so they dont end up scrapping all their s4 episodes where they would be together and write a new finale that ties everything together, aka MacRiley.

If you think about episode counts, s4 and s5 together would have 26 episodes which is a how long a normal season runs. Basically what im trying to say is if we follow the ‘slow burns end by s4’ and take season 5 as an extension of 4 then MacRiley should get together in the season 5 finale or maybe the episode just before. (IM REALLY TRYING TO GET SOME LOGIC INTO THIS)

This would be a typical TV thing too where the couple finds out about each other’s feelings while the main arc of the show is also at its peak, which perfectly sets up a future season where fans are hyped but still has a satisfying ending.

6. So what about MacDesi?

So far the macgyver writers have given us characters we love. Think of every character on the show apart from maybe Desi... Mac, Riley, Bozer, Jack, Matty, Leanna, Samantha, Russ and even Murdoc. WE LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. So then why is Desi such a strange character? I think shes purposely been written as an opposite to Mac or even Riley (I get she’s supposed to kinda replace Jack but Jack is really irreplaceable). 

It's not necessarily a bad thing its just not a great thing to do or have great execution. People have said things like Desi is a badass and shouldnt have to apologise or say I love you back to her boyfriend because she is a strong woman...I'm sorry but your opinion of who a strong woman is, is EXTREMELY skewed. A strong woman is someone who can make mistakes and when she does, she is ‘strong’ enough to own up to it, she is loyal and fierce and also caring while being a badass who can take down bad guys. And for GODS SAKE, RILEY DAVIS IS A STRONG WOMAN...people have called her mushy and feminine on twitter and I'm just very confused by that.....

Anyways before I go off on a rant, it seems like Desi is intentionally being written this way. Every opportunity they get to redeem her and make her more relatable or just a better person they just dont take it. While Rileys character arc is one of the best I've ever seen. Either its intentional or they’ve forgotten how to write characters...which is worrisome but ill give them the benefit of the doubt.

The writers also know we dont like Desi. The amount of times we've tagged them in the toxic posts or pointed out problematic things we can be sure they've seen at least half of those. So theres no way they dont know. RIGHT?

So why then is MD still a thing you may ask??

Well for one they cant break them up again off screen because of those unreleased s4 episodes. (not to mention the other parts of the audience who arent as invested in mac’s love life would probably be very confused.)

Secondly Mac has to be the one to pull the plug, not Desi. 4x13 made it seem like Desi was the annoyed one not Mac. He apologised to her which meant he wanted to fix things. 

Thirdly, they are opening the chpt one last time before they permanently close it. MD is going to be a stark contrast to macriley(it already is in every way possible). Every issue Mac and Desi had can be used to show how amazing macriley really is as two people who arent even dating yet.

Fourthly, MD being together is a sort of commentary on Macs mental health as well. We can see how happy he is with Riley but around Desi he becomes some one else. If the writers are doing this on purpose or subconsciously still remains to be seen.

And Yes keeping MD around for a few more episodes seems like a necessary risk right now but I have a feeling its going to be worth it later.

[I know we have had like 4 desi entered episodes already but I really think 5x04 will be the last of it since 5x05 is the Jack episode and 5x06 is Mac+Riley+Bozer episode with no mention of Desi at all!]

The writers know we are a dedicated bunch and they know that once MD breaks up for the last time the entire fandom will be waiting and watching. That's when the show will be at its peak. That will be the perfect moment to bring in MacRiley’s arc to a new start!

Congrats if you stuck with me through this whole thing! if you agree/disgaree with any of these or have other reasons why they could be endgame in s5 let me know!!

[candyrumm]

Trollhunters Rise of the Titans…

I loved the Gun Robot vs Volcano Titan scene. Many other things too but were here to question and criticize it - especially the ending.

Alrighty I’ll try to paraphrase ( ha not) my opinion and points - a few are ones that i read and overall agreed upon other I haven’t yet seen other people mention. 

So what now? Does he still have the stone? If he went back in time to reset everything wouldn’t that reset the time stone to where it was before?

Disappointed that the canon made the canon an AU. Like everything we knew is gone. Its the ‘it was all a dream’ dream turned reality approach. 

Wa ca cha ka im happy it wasn’t an interactive movie, cause i like to have a definite answer or know exactly what happened rather what could have been. Its also easy to lie back and watch the movie unfold. Batman: Death in the Family, is interactive movie where you see many possible ways things could have happened. However the non-interactive version of the film is just a narrated version of Under the Red Hood by Bruce. And you don’t get the possible events that would have happen cause its really a ‘what if’ movie. However i feel like that many possibilities of what could have happen was what they may have been going for. But i like to imagine that the story could have also ended with Toby’s death and no time traveling. But also with the new reality, could they have at least shown us a flash forward perhaps of what the world came to be? Like an older jim telling his nephews about how he lived the future where he is the trollhunter or at least something. Can the truth set him free??? 

What if Jim dies and Toby tries to start it all over to save him?

I luv Draal, he was probably my favorite character from the start. But even I let him go. He was willing to die for the cause. It was great knowing him. And the death was like… wholesome?  I cant find the right word but like it didn’t feel rushed or careless when he died. I wished he hadn’t but … was at peace with it? When Nomora died, yeah i was like ‘wat nooo’ but we were gonna lose characters along the way. They are fighting a war. 

And honestly a nice lesson could have been to learn to let go and not regret and to not dwell on the past. To move forward into your future, not redo the whole damn thing again. And even if he did have to go back in time, did it really have to be all the way back? 

Did Toby really have to be trollhunter? Like did the amulet make a mistake in the first place for choosing jim? 

Or was it like it knew jim would go back and let Toby his best friend be trollhunters and with jim the mostly all knowing would then be able to set things right in a way that not many die? 

Can it remember things? 

What if he reseted things and now while he gets a good life someone else doesn’t???? 

Was jim tired of being trollhunter and figured though he has like years of experience on what is like to be trollhunter decided that, that grueling experience is what his best friend would want. In the beginning of the show Toby was like nah, I’m not looking for adventure. Later on Toby asked Jim whether or not the amulet gave him the excitement he was looking for.  Jim reply no it was toby. MaYbE this is what he was going for? If thats the case could he have not just have had a kid? Or some career change? Did he think he couldn’t have a good life without toby? He left him in Arcadia at the end of trollhunters. He could have made some sorta memorial for Toby (edit: oh and maybe the god/desses like the ones who fell in the park) and saying that it was because of him that he got to make the striking blow on the last deity who wanted to rebirth earth.

Wasn’t there a lesson when toby was saying how its ok that his parents died and that he likes to think that they are the reason so many good things in his life happen? Guess jim doesn’t want to apply that same mindset that Toby had to Toby.

The trollhunter seemed to be marked as the leader (in the beginning.) So wouldn’t it be easier for jim to be leader since he knows what will happened. (edit: Will many even believe him about how he time traveled.) And then be able to guide others. Like where the Bridge is. He can be there sooner. Or is he planning to go under the radar since how the spotlight isn’t on him?

(The following is mostly copy and pasted from a commented repost of mine. I still wrote it, just copied it from where i had originally posted it to and added a few tweaks and points.)

Is jim even the sorta person that would let his best friend go through what he did? Dying at one point. Risking the safety of loved ones? Running and climbing extensively? Toby doesn’t have the chef skills Jim did, is there ever a fight for when they enter trollmarket? Does he now know trollish and could impress Vendal on how he knows to much? Would he confess that he went through and a timeline (his original timeline?) where he was the trollhunter and therefore is skilled in many aspects of trollhunting?

They didn’t find it together, sure Jim may be there to guide and advice Toby and the others but the thing the two of them had going on was that they found it together, they were in this(that) together. Now its not that. 

Plus, sure maybe Jim matured so now he’s willing to bring people in for help and support and such. Unlike he was in the beginning where tried to protect everyone by not having them involved or really you know in the field. For example, when he tried to keep his mother from the whole dealio, or when he went into the darklands alone. Later I think he did say that he’s not stupid enough to go at it alone and that they are stronger together. But ughhhh Jim and Toby now aren’t together at the start.

And we didn’t really get closure for the Tales of Arcadia franchise thing. The end is more like an alternate beginning. In my opinion. But Guillermo del Toro, ‘creator’ of the franchise - i think - tweeted how the ROTT movie would be the final chapter/ending of tales of aracdia. Ughhh was that what he was going for? To end it and everyone’s pedestal for it?

(stops here)

I could just pretend they didn’t travel back in time. As far as im aware - all the merchandise is for the previous canon. Most of the merch was for trollhunters and not 3below or wizards. And since trollhunters is my favorite out of the three, im ok with that. Wizards sit at #2 for me. Though i luv Queenie Aja in the movie.

Am I missing anything? I dunno. My thoughts are a mess.

edit: IT WAS BASICALLY AN EFFING REBOOT, not earth rebirth but canon rebirth. 

Well its canon to have the canon not be directly canon. And not canon but it’s still canon. Confusion…

Like does dreamworks not know how a population of people automatically feel about reboots and remakes WA CA CHA KA there was no heal time. no time to let the fairy dust of our beloved story settle, marinate under the rug, nope. Reboot will began in 3, 2, 1...

Not trying to hate on the movie or creators (hoping u didn't read the whole thing with a negative tone heh heh) i just wanted to express some thoughts I had on the movie. Didn’t hate the movie and the entirely of the choices made during its production obviously, just questioning what could’ve happen after or what could have been.

[rwby-redux]

Im curious...Have you read rwby fairy tales? If so, are there any alterations you'd make to it?

Alas, I have not. Even if money wasn’t tight right now, I don’t think I could justify buying it. On one hand, I don’t want to spend $13.49 on a subpar book. On the other hand, I sort of have to get my grubby paws on it at some point if I want to properly deconstruct it.

Fortunately, there’s the RWBY Wiki.

I’ve read over the synopses for each of the fairy tales, and at the end of the day, I’m sort of…underwhelmed. It’s not that they’re awful, strictly speaking, they’re just not terribly impressive. They don’t take any risks, nor do they deviate from the tropes, themes, and conventions already heavily-established in the show. They feel more like bland retellings of things we already know, rather than any new information that believably feels like it belongs to the world and setting of this universe.

There’s also another issue I have with the book—specifically, the issues surrounding transmedia worldbuilding and supplemental storytelling. The underlying problem isn’t necessarily its content, but rather, what it represents from an industry standpoint. Before I answer your second question, I hope you don’t mind if I take a minute to explain my thoughts on the matter.

I’ve touched on this before in my deconstruction post on the Grimm, but to reiterate: secondary media should be used for introducing interesting but not wholly relevant information separate from the main or central story. This material should either directly/tangentially expand upon in-universe conventions and worldbuilding elements; or, it should introduce content that couldn’t otherwise be organically incorporated in the main show without detracting from the central plot.

What secondary media shouldn’t be used for is revealing crucial lore that’s integral to the main story.

In the fairy tale The Indecisive King, a monarch offers refuge to a widow who lost her family and home to a Grimm attack. Meanwhile, the king is gifted a magical crown by an admirer. The crown, as it turns out, can reveal visions of the preordained. When used by the king, it shows him a difficult choice he’ll have to make, one which leaves him paralyzed with indecision due to the lack of favorable outcomes. The widow is able to assuage his fear and paranoia by gently pointing out that he has burdened himself with a problem he can’t—and may never be able to—resolve. She imparts the same advice that the king once gave her: that he must keep living and not succumb to doubt, in spite of not knowing what to do. The king, reassured by her words, removes the crown, and the two decide to seal it away.

The crown, as you might’ve guessed, is the Relic of Choice, and the king is almost certainly one of Ozma’s past incarnations.

We’re given a confirmation of this by Eddy Rivas during a Reddit AMA:

“It's important to keep in mind that these are fairy tales being passed down that are being transcribed for an audience -- so I wouldn't say the likelihood of them being 100% accurate is very high.”

For the record, the accuracy Rivas is talking about is in regards to the Relic’s appearance (a redditor wanted to know if the Crown actually had red jewels embedded in it, like how it’s portrayed in the book).

The Relic of Choice, much like its counterparts, is inseparable from the overarching plot of the show. Salem is going out of her way to collect these MacGuffins. Knowing what their powers are is a big fucking deal.

So why, on god’s green earth, would the writers introduce that information in a book that will (a) only reach a fraction of the intended audience, and (b) exists outside the primary corpus of their work?

That remark I made earlier about the price tag wasn’t just a joke. The writers have now hidden major pieces of their story behind a paywall. Which isn’t to say that the writers shouldn’t be allowed to profit off of their IP, or that they can’t make a living off of their products. They absolutely have that right.

But the Crown is a key part of the lore, and it was introduced in a book before it ever got an explanation in the show (which, at time of writing, is currently nearing the end of Volume 8 and the Crown still hasn’t been discussed by any of the cast). And that’s not even addressing how “special” this Relic is—Ozpin’s gone on record saying that he made the Relic of Choice “a bit more challenging” for Salem to retrieve. The writers made the deliberate choice to generate hype over this particular Relic.

So why reveal its powers in a book that ultimately has little influence on the series’ main platform? A complete story—and its intended experience—should be accessible in full through the medium in which it was originally introduced (or is still primarily told), not divvied up and scattered across secondary media, like comics, mangas, books, or mobile games.

Imagine if the writers had introduced Jinn in a book instead of the show. How insane that would’ve been.

And I haven’t even mentioned the other problems that RWBY’s had in the past with transmedia storytelling. More often than not, it tends to contradict the canon, [1] retcon the lore, [2] or straight-up gets declared non-canon shortly after being released. [3]

Suffice to say, this book was already on my shitlist well before I read the actual fairy tales.

Speaking of which…

While there are lots of things I could say about each individual fairy tale, there are two I really want to talk about:

The Shallow Sea and The Judgement of Faunus

Both of these stories are creation myths for the Faunus. The first tale (The Shallow Sea) reminds me of the creation myth told by the Khajiit of The Elder Scrolls, in which the Daedric Prince Azura bestowed three gifts upon the fastest, most beautiful, and most clever creatures on Nirn. The Khajiit were those chosen from amongst the Altmer, described as “forest people torn between man and beast.”

Similarly, in The Shallow Sea, a shapeshifting deity known as the God of Animals wished to invite humans to his homeland of Menagerie. He decided to tour Remnant’s surface, looking for those who were special and that he deemed worthy. He constructed a ship that sailed his chosen to Menagerie, and upon arrival, instructed them to leap into the water. The price they paid for living on the island was their humanity; in forfeiting it, those that jumped and waded through the shallow sea were transformed into the Faunus. The God of Animals washed away the humans who lacked faith and refused to join the others.

The second story (The Judgement of Faunus) once again features the God of Animals as an arbiter. Humanity and the remainder of the animal kingdom waged war against each other, one of envy, hatred, and jealousy. The God of Animals offered to intervene and declare once and for all which group was superior. The two parties agreed, convinced that he would rule in their favor. A fog was cast over them, and when it cleared, the humans and animals were revealed to have transformed into the Faunus—a race that was better than their previous forms, and retained the positive qualities of both human and animals.

Personally, I don’t find either story particularly creative or interesting, but that’s more of a preference-thing than a valid criticism. What is a valid criticism, however, is the racist overtone to both stories.

Does anyone else remember this scene from Volume 1?

A Faunus civil rights protest. | Source: Volume 1, Episode 1: “Ruby Rose.”

One of the demonstrators is carrying a sign that says “We Are Not Animals.” It’s established in the first episode of the series that a massive component of Faunus discrimination is rooted in their perception as animal-people. Humans use this conflation to persecute them. Faunus, in turn, actively reject the comparison.

You can imagine, then, my annoyance with the book when it tells us that the Faunus’ primary deity is a god of fucking animals.

Also, can I just say how ignorant and offensive it is that the writers keep trying to homogenize the Faunus? Just because they’re all part of a vague, larger ethnic group doesn’t mean that they all share the exact same culture. There’s no reason why a Faunus whose family has lived in Mistral for generations would necessarily hold the same religious beliefs as a Faunus born in Vacuo. For that matter, why should we assume that the Faunus see themselves as divided by nationality? What if their cultures (and by extension, religions) were aligned with Faunus-specific demographics? Like a group of avian Faunus who live in the mountains and venerate a god of the sky. Or Faunus with gills, fins, and webbed hands, who live on coral reefs and worship the ocean.

It just makes no sense that a group as diverse and as widespread as the Faunus would all believe the exact same thing. Or that the thing they believe reinforces harmful stereotypes.

So, to answer your second question: The majority of the fairy tales (like The Warrior in the Woods, The Indecisive King, and The Shallow Sea) are getting the axe, either because they’re uninteresting, contradict the lore, or detract from the worldbuilding. Other stories (like The Girl in the Tower and The Two Brothers) are being dramatically altered because they no longer fit the backstories of the characters in the Redux.

And, of course, I’m adding in my own homebrew folk stories and myths. A few that I’ve already hammered out include The Nameless Blade, The Sundering of the Stars, The Vagabond, The Northern Lights, and The Pale Lady. Their existence in the Redux primarily serves to flesh out the lore and develop the cultures of Remnant.

The Nameless Blade in particular is one that I’m really eager to talk about, since it deals with Huntsman superstitions. But that’s a post for another day. This one’s already long enough as it is.

-

[1] The World of RWBY: The Official Companion states that James Ironwood isn’t a councilor, even though in V4.E2 - “Remembrance,” James tells Jacques that he holds two council seats.

[2] In Volume 3, Wind Dust was originally green. After The World of RWBY: The Official Companion was published, the color of Wind Dust was retconned from green to white, and green was repurposed for Plant Dust (which has yet to appear in any official media outside of the guide).

[3] Several of the Grimm introduced in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant (the Grendel, Lagartodile, Whisp, and Long Tongue) were declared non-canon in a Reddit AMA.

[lieblxng]

im developing a lot of aus including the reverse au which is currently only available for rose, but leon also has it developed, i just forgot to put it in the verses page for him haha but wow im developing a reverse verse for a chara i dont have??? i might as well throw damos on the blog and be the only person in the pkmn rpc who plays him LMAO i cant help falling for obscure characters but i think he might have a better chance in getting interactions than my etrian odyssey muses but no if anyone wants to do damos,,,,you can hmu 😳😳 i cant reply it or see it if you do tho LMAOO

anyway reverse!damos here who goes by lazarus (meaning: my god has aided me) is not a nice farmer unlike his normal verse, instead being akin to a mercenary, but he kinda fills in the role of marcus - he has the ability to manipulate the hearts of pokemon, even legendaries and because of this, he’s been fiddling with legendaries and experimenting with things to try something out - and while reverse!arceus has been severely weakened from an intense fight or a meteorite too (im still figuring it out) and lost its life plates, lazarus finds it. it’s on the brink of dying, and instead of returning the plates like a nice person, lazarus only thinks of profit and benefitting himself - because it’s so vulnerable, it manipulates reverse!phae into summoning the lake guardians, where it promptly fights them and steals their gems before kicking them into the dirt. then he uses said gems to restraint and fully take control of reverse!phae before inserting the plates back into it, saying it will only get them back if it corporates. yes, lazarus literally pulls a cyrus being the first one to actually create a draft of the red chains to have arceus under its command. one of cyrus’ pc posts is “According to myths, the Pokémon created Sinnoh with its power. However, capturing the Pokémon with a Poké Ball prevents it from using its full power... But with the Red Chain, the Pokémon can be shackled, and its power can be used without restraint...” and he’s implying arceus with the first mention of pokemon, so maybe the red chains can be used on god??? i dont see why not, although the lake guardian was made more to check the creation trio than god itself, but why wouldn’t you have checks against god? “The Pokémon of the lakes and Mt. Coronet are somehow connected. Capturing the Pokémon of the lakes will free the Pokémon of Mt. Coronet. From the Pokémon of the lakes, crystals can be extracted to create a Red Chain.” i know he implies the creation trio with pkmn of mt. coronet but technically arceus lives in mt. coronet as the hall of origins can be summoned there LEMME HAVE THIS - 

originally i was going to have reverse!arceus be a completely neutral god, both in personality and how it handled things - just create life, casually, and just head out and do nothing for them - “the humans can handle their planet however they wish to. if they destroy it, they destroy it.” and i was trying to redesign it and it kept coming up as punk (more below because this is a long ass post)

so i was like, aight i guess i’ll go with what my heart wants but something still didnt feel right, because punk is an expression more than just a simple fashion statement - it was created to rebel against those who tried to hold you down and mold you into who they wanted you to be. to defy the shitty standards of what’s supposedly normal. and then it all clicked when i looked at this vid 

ive heard the music itself and one of my favs, but not the music video so i kinda just exploded with ideas and it really completed the punk i wanted to go with - funny thing, im a bad character designer so i scrapped the punk look and pulled a unique thing with phae’s case - legendaries and mythics are statements of unchanging, fixated ways while normal, evolvable pokemon are statements of improvement and change - growth, which is something phae is completely jealous of. gods don’t evolve; they don’t change. so i thought, why not keep its original look (i love it too much anyway and i cant think of anything better tbh for phae) to reflect that aspect but have the way it governs and behaves different? normal!phae and reverse!phae are still similar but opposite - normal being the kind, caring god and reverse being the relentless, uncaring god. both are the two most popular aspects and themes of gods and how they treat those beneath them, so i thought it worked.

reverse!phae never wanted to be a god. it’s immature and uncaring on purpose to get the attention of the creator of the original one itself; to be a sign of rebel, to show that it was its own character and no one can morph it into what they want it to be. it revels in its creations screaming in pain, as nothing else entertains it so and because it empathizes with them. it sends the world into pure chaos a majority of time so no one enjoys living. seeing its creations, both human and pokemon, excel in the trials and tribulations of this hell; seeing them perform so expertly under extreme stress, how humans and pokemon can come together and defeat anythin - and rebelling in their own right and way give reverse!phae so much hope and relief. that it’ll be able to do the same. and once reverse!phae does get its creators attention, you bet it’s gonna be very angry on why it exists. it might even try to murk its creator. it’s more of a “i didn’t ask to be born so i’m gonna make it your problem” type of person, and a god prone to violence - often fighting with its own creations, like even the lake trio and the creation trio. but it checks them all every time, and it’s so hungry for an actual fight that reverse!phae can actually work for and struggle for and feel like it actually won. and that’s when lazarus comes in. that’s where lazarus comes in.

how much it hates lazarus. how much it hates lazarus. it hates everyone, but lazarus has a special kind of hatred reserved just for him. in fact, hatred isn’t the proper word to explain the intense, raw, unfiltered feelings reverse!phae has for him. on one hand, it absolutely respects the honest work he puts in to further himself, but on the other hand, being the one on the receiving end of his malicious intentions is never ideal. it has no interest in whatever petty crimes he wants to commit, but trying to take god and become it yourself? completely admirable. a fantastic way to rebel, but having to have someone chain you down and control you? reverse!phae’s worst nightmare. i’ll get into that later since this is already long enough god help me

is reverse!phae messed up? yes, severely. that’s kinda what happens when you rot alone in the depths of dark space for eons. no human nor pokemon - no, no living being can ever handle that. both normal! and reverse!phae have the same backstory, but different reactions to it. reverse!phae wants everyone to scream and lash out, it wants everyone to rebel against their origins and become their own people, even with the immense baggage on their shoulders. it wants everyone to risk death to accomplish their dreams. it laughs in everyone's faces before spitting in them. i think reverse!phae will be one of my most violent takes on a muse, if not, my most since it is god and the shit it talks can easily be proven right. it constantly berates and breaks people down into pieces. no one understands it. it hates everyone and everything it sees. it doesn’t need love and kindness, it just needs a body to break. which is untrue, because obviously its yearning for love and kindness - something its never experienced - and it’s lashing out for attention. secretly hoping someone will just hug it and all its problems away. that everything will be okay in the grand scheme of things. that it won’t have to have the unlimited stress of being a god anymore.

usually when i put my touch on muses, canon or not, they’re primarily good people with hearts of gold. even with ones less so, they’re not as intense as this. so working with that kind of character is thrilling and i’m excited to see if i can get anyone interested with it lmao- reverse!phae’s name might be nou or chali, what would be better? sorry this was such a long post!! i’ve been working on this since last night and it’s been really fun to develop like this again - i only get this kind of productive with my hyperfixations, so they’re both a blessing and a curse -  i think this is everything i have rn for the reverse au but ii’ll be going back into it

[loverholicrobotronic]

More soap opinions <3

Pears in blue

I love this soap so much i want to try the other scents/colors by this brand. Its a little bit pricier than what im used 2 (around 1 euro), but its ok its worth it i think. Has a pleasant lather, a little bit creamy delightfully bubbly but got very foamy in the shower. Was my introduction to the peppermint scent and i love it im always putting it up to my nose to smell it its fresh and a bit masc this peppermint soap bar is what every brand who markets stuff for men as manly but clean thinks theyre doing (but they're not). I only have one complaint: these soaps (the other colors as well) claim to be transparent but theyre not they're translucent. The color is fascinating though (very vibrant blue closest to royal) and it only gets prettier as the soap wears down. Mine is very thin right now

Lifebuoy classic white one

Another big hit for me this shit is amazing. Clean beautiful slightly cream like scent and the creamiest lather i have ever tried ever. Its instant you don't even have to work much. Its so good i will forgive how they harassed us with advertisements for this thing on tv a decade ago. Well that was when i used to watch tv they could still be at it and i wouldn't know but i understand i get it the soap is cheap (less than half a euro) it works wonders superior sensory experience like. I get it ill allow it

Fa Citrus

God this smell takes me back bc my father used to use its cologne for the longest time bc it was cheap. Its a clean scent i know every soap bar i talk about has a clean scent the reason is i hate perfume like smells on products (not even perfumes). And also i guess it was just how we were brought up associating certain smells with cleanliness but you just cant deny it though its different genres of clean like dettol clean is like bleach 4 the skin your richer classmates or family members home mopping their floors and tending to their delicate kids' wounds from playing outside. Dove clean is on the feminine side cute daring classmate in highschool (or at a camp if you had something you can call a childhood) you sort of had a thing with but also nothing happened. Alternatively pretty girl model child you've had a thing FOR but she definitely didn't like you back like not even as a person but was nice and polite nonetheless. Pears clean scent is like the cleanest he/him in class or in your family that has found the perfect balance between caring for his hygiene and nobody calling him gay for it. Lifebuoy clean is like spoiled cousin whose parent (never the one you're related to by blood) works abroad. So if i were to describe the Fa take on clean scents itd be along the lines of floor detergent for people. Again positively so. It definitely has a hint of that element common to so many colognes hence why it translates so well to one . Nice note is the shape of the soap has a single dent on one edge and it really secures it in your hands. Not that i know of why anybody would use a bar soap like that and risk dropping it on the disgusting floor of dorms instead of just using a loofa or a shower glove. Its good enough that it made me curious about the rest of the saga but there is close to no citrus notes within the scent it only smells clean.

Pears in amber color

Mamma bought me this bc she knows i wanted it... 💘💘💘. Anyways this is a little bit more translucent than the other one since it seems to be one of their selling points. Lathers the exact same as the blue. Unfortunately the smell is... tragic. Smells like warm glycerine, a smell i loathe. The natural oils notes are present but they don't do much for this scent to me it was a big let down. My roommate has a bunch of glycerine+lavender soaps and they smell the exact same at this one: bad. Never buy a soap that says glycerin on it i will struggle to go through this one bc i feel too guilty to give it away now. Oh well

Misky in honey

A most welcome addition that just launched in the bim stores. Three little soaps for less than a canadian dollar ... A steal in my opinion. Its especially a steal because the lather is sooooo nice and creamy just delightful. It smells like soap (so thatd be something like the classic el keff if you know it) with the honey notes pretty present. Its nice bc its not an agressive smell and youll catch a whiff of it while using the soap and it smells nice when you bring it up to the nose. Unfortunate that its ugly mainly because of the color (classic sick yellow-beige) but i respect that they didn't want colorants in. Not drying

I tried other soaps but they were like. Nameless brands suspiciously cheap and they turned out to be such trash im so sad i dont even want to talk about it. Never venturing that far again 'big name brands' are risk enough. I do want to try more locally made stuff but I feel like thats leaving relatable territory. Not that it should matter 2 me <3

[ratspberry]

many naruto thoughts head overloading

ok im only like 20 episodes into shippuden and i skipped a Lot of filler in original naruto bc i do not have the patience </3 (i will come back to the filler one day though) and while i love this anime theres so much i wish... was not written how it is

first of all sakura... i love her sm and i just wish her character was given some more care like at this point in shippuden im actually really enjoying the direction shes taken but i heard a lot of her growth is sidelined when sasuke comes back into the picture and thats my biggest issue. im sorry but if youre going to introduce a TRIO of main characters i want to see that main group equally fleshed out. first going all the way back to the beginning i wish that sakura was allowed to fight??? like we KNOW shes super smart and has powerful chakra so even when at that time she wasnt the most skilled fighter (as far as we KNOW at least. given that we barely got to see her fight who knows!) she couldve in the very least played a similar role to that of shikamaru as far as leadership and strategizing. and ok her crush on sasuke should have dissipated a lot more after the chunin exams. even though i do hate to see her spend so much time fawning over sasuke when hes not even particularly kind to her i think a crush in the beginning could still work IF the moment of her cutting her hair (“sasuke likes girls with long hair”) and her battle w ino during the chunin exams were like an eye-opening moment for her when she was like “wtf am i doing i am going to work hard as a ninja to prove that i can do this to MYSELF and MY RIVAL first” (which. ok she does get to this point later and again i love her learning chakra and getting strong as HELL during her training w tsunade but again. i want to see that REMAIN parallel to the enormous power level leaps that sasuke and naruto make. also let sakura and ino have a fun friendship rivalry that has nothing to do w sasuke) . i think it would be better if she naruto and sasuke were just friends who ALL help and motivate each other. and so when sasuke leaves sakura is STILL super fucked up over it and maybe even has a hard time trusting naruto again after he comes back? (but ofc she eventually does bc power of friendship) like IDK loss of one best friend, then almost immediately after your other best friend (who u just learned secretly is sealed w the nine tails and the akatsuki is after him just like orochimaru was after sasuke) leaves you for THREE YEARS??? kind of a salt in the wound moment! also im simply not even going to touch on all the comphet marriages in the end

next im going to talk about rock lee my friend rock lee who i adore. anyways he either should not have foregone the surgery from tsunade or died from it. HEAR ME OUT! this surgery was good in showing how powerful tsunade is as a healer but like? was it necessary? after she brought naruto back to life??? as far as lees characterization his whole thing is that he may not have special jutsu or the same prodigal abilities as his peers but he can still be as powerful or more powerful! and idk i hate when characters have serious life changing stuff done to them and not seeing it fully explored in the story. like ok so we’ve got tsunade telling lee (who cant be older than 12? 13?) theres a 50/50 chance he’ll die in the surgery to heal him. and then guy ENCOURAGES HIM, HIS FAVORITE STUDENT, to go through with the surgery so he could then go on to be a ninja and continue risking his life?????? so i thought that was pretty screwed up. which leads me to the two paths that i think would be interesting to see play out: 1. lee doesnt get the surgery, but continues to train as a ninja. his injuries still exist but lee learns to fight WITH the injuries and creates a really cool badass unique fighting style and goes on to be a great ninja like he dreamed 2. lee dies in surgery. id hate it i would and i dont WANT lee to die but it might be a fuckin wakeup call to all these adult ninjas urging kids into warfare. lee is beloved by all so it would be a good moment of pause for everyone to think like “ummm so the systems that be are kind of majorly fucked up.”

those are the two main ideas i had but heres a few misc things:

-jiraiya can be the author of as many trashy romance novels as he wants but him hitting on younger women and being like a peeping tom and UGH the way he was introduced w narutos ‘sexy jutsu’ is just. not good. take it out.

-let tsunade look her age. like the whole “she uses her chakra to make herself look young”? i dont buy it. i dont care that you just didnt feel like drawing a woman who looks over 20. you will do it anyways bc i said so.

-i dont dislike n/ruhina as much as i dislike s/susaku bc at least its clear theres a mutual respect and admiration there but hinata, like sakura, has so much more potential to be explored. idk if its looked at in filler or later in shippuden (id sure hope so) but i think her parallel to sasuke is kind of interesting? both have intimidating, extremely powerful older brothers (i know neji is technically hinatas cousin or smth but whatever older brother figures. also i know hinatas sister is also supposed to be super powerful but idk her yet) who are held in high esteem by their families and have all this pressure on their shoulders to want to surpass them? given that neji didnt um. do the things itachi did clearly its not the SAME between hinata and sasuke but i feel like examining the hyuga family dynamics would be SO interesting in comparison to sasukes arc. i didnt mind seeing hinata motivated by naruto the first few times but like. there is SO MUCH MORE THERE than JUST hinatas relationship to naruto.

-all of these kids need therapy but ESPECIALLY sasuke like the signs were there. halfway thru the bell test thing SUPER early on sasuke went into a full-fledged “i am an avenger.. i have to kill a certain someone” monologue and given the fact that everyone knows his entire clan was killed and that sasuke is likely VERY traumatized... who thought it was a good idea to let him become a ninja before addressing any of that. my god. like i love kakashi and i know he has his own devestating backstory and that hes a product of the system but why the Fuck would he let sasuke take the chunin exams. give team 7 a year more of training and getting to know each other and give sasuke some time to create bonds and maybe even open up emotionally and begin to heal and then MAYBE we can THINK ab chunin exams.

-asuma and ino apologize to choji for telling him not to eat as much challenge? did asuma not know that chojis clan uses food to replenish their chakra? it would make sense if ino didnt know but chojis teacher?? either way still p fucked, leave choji alone

-speaking of ino i want more of her character tok. why was she not included in that mission to save sasuke that shikamaru, her TEAMMATE, led?? was there an explanation for that?? i feel like her not being there was a missed opportunity for some real growth/bonding between team 10.

-speaking of the last bullet point shikamaru being like “ugh women 🙄” is tired and boring. very misogynistic “i hate my wife” facebook dad humor. cut that shit out

-orochimarus coding and his whole um. intent as a villain is just very. Hm. i dont think i like that very much but im not going to go into it bc im sure its been touched upon a million times

[glittergutts]

4 AM brain spew

Everytime I should be sleeping.

But again I'm not so whatever all night internet it is. I already did my skin care and I got fancy lotion socks on that feel like gel. I like smelling nice it makes me feel good.

I got some random makeup/skin care from ipsy and they sent me a free nice hair brush on accident. I'm not sure how to send it back so I guess I have a new brush for my hair. Its round and I never used one before, should be interesting.

Speaking of feel good things I put the wrong DOB when I signed up for sephora beauty insider points (I don't know what happened. ) so I should get another free thing for my "birthday" once I place an order and that's exciting. I'm also going to try my best to paint my nails tomorrow.

I have a few dishes and other chores to do before I can paint my nails without risk of fuckingthem up. Usually a day after no sleep isnt very productive but hey maybe tomorrow will be different.

I'm super stressed I'll never catch up on laundry or get the house clean before my husband gets a new hip. Its getting close and I really wish I could stop worrying. Surgery is so freaky and with covid I'm not sure they will let me stay the night with him. I really would feel better if I knew for sure. Not knowing what to expect makes me want to cry but hip replacement is generally safe and my mans young blahblahblah I just need to pray some more or something, hes going to feel so much better. And god bless it everything will be fine!

I'm looking forward to him being in less pain and life going slightly more normal than its been for months. A piece of me wishes there was a surgery to fix my body but no it just hates me mostly no matter how I treat it.

Regarding how I treat myself, I decided to seriously cut back on alcohol. Not completely, but like once a week maybe or just special occasions. I stopped nicotine cold Turkey August 4th but this feels harder. Im just like, "damn here we go giving up another enjoyable thing!" But the cost of my health and pocket would deffo approve of reduction in alcohol. I want to be like a one drink light weight not drinking multiple mixed drinks a night. For so long I don't really remember when I started regularly drinking but it's a problem on both sides of my family so better to stop before I feel like I cant.

I have a rainbow cave for my fish tank coming in the mail soon because I had a coupon. I love mail. I think it's the last bit I really felt like I needed for my fishysquish. Itll be exciting to clean and redecorate the two tanks. Itll also probably be fucking gross like old wet dishes but I love them so I'll be brave and grit through sensory hell for my little guy. Hes so happy he started a bubble nest because he wants to mate.

I wish any pet store near me sold live brine shrimp. I can only find frozen but I might just do it because its better for their health. Just worry about wasting money on something they won't eat. Percy hardly eats it seems or prizmo could just eat everything I'm not sure.

The bubble noises of the tank is so soothing like rain down the gutters. It really makes me long for summer I need the sunshine and a swim.

Ok end brain spew for now...

[captainillogical]

Devil’s Ballroom Ch.7

A year after the events from the earth’s final attack, Little Homeworld is finally complete, and there’s a new jazz bar where gems and humans mingle and drink. - As you’re typing back a reply, someone pulls the stool out next to you and takes a seat. You see a sliver of pink out of the corner of your eye as you try not to actually Look. Oh god. It’s her. God can’t help us now.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants​

ya’ll im sorry lmao

You spend the rest of your evening doing exactly none of the errands that you needed to deal with today. Instead, you're laying on your couch and texting your friends.

         Y/N: I'm so tornnnn.

     Y/N: Do I say something about the cheek smooch?

     Y/N: Should I leave it be?

     Y/N: Because she's texting like nothing happened.

     Y/N: What if I'm reading too much into it??

     Y/N: What if that's just how she shows friendship affection???

     Y/N: I might make it so fucking awkward if I assume something!

     Y/N: This entire ordeal is mortifying!!!

     Y/N: I want nothing more than to dig a big hole and lie in it forever.

     Y/N: I might be low-key having a panic attack about this rn but what's new.

     Harper: Y/N. chill. you're way overreacting to this.

     Harper: even if it meant nothing, she still likes you as a friend right?

     Harper: i think it would take a lot for her to like.. not wanna stay friends lol.

     Alex: im just saying you could probably kiss her and she'd be ok with it

     Alex: cheek kisses are pretty forward

     Harper: don't listen to him. all of his relationships ended in failure.

     Alex: wow

     Alex: im seriously hurt

     Harper: am I wrong?

     Alex: no..

     Harper: my point exactly.

     Harper: i’m not saying you have nothing to lose or anything.

     Harper: because i myself had to tread very carefully with leah..

     Harper: but i think you should just see where it goes and not like

     Harper: put too much emphasis on this incase it was nothing.

     Y/N: Yeah see now you have me worried it WAS nothing!!

     Alex: oh my goooooooddddddddddddddd

     Alex: the both of you approach women so.. pathetically

     Alex: take a risk

     Alex: live a little

     Alex: what is seriously the worst that could happen

     Alex: she kills you??

     Alex: lmao

     Alex: its funny cuz of.. you know

     Harper: i can’t wait to be home and smothering him with a pillow instead of affection.

     Y/N: You and me both.

     Y/N: Try being the only one available to play games with him.

     Alex: both of you fucking love me okay

     Alex: alsooooooo i get to be home the day after tomorrow

     Alex: the alex is back, babieeeeee

     Y/N: Harper please come home I’m BEGGING you.

     Harper: sorry you gotta deal with him alone for another month lmao.

     Y/N: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

     Alex: can i get a fucking crumb of love here please

         You swipe over to the couple of messages Spinel has left you in the past couple of minutes while you were talking to your friends.

         Spinel: It’s another stupid ball, I just found out.

     Spinel: I told her that I’m sitting this one out this time.

     Spinel: She has so many others that would absolutely love to help her, and yet, still absolutely insists that I must be there.

     Spinel: I don’t want to go back to homeworld right now, and not for this.

     Y/N: And you put your foot down? Hell yeah, dude.

     Y/N: Planning a ball for a bunch of gems sounds like a chore anyway.

     Spinel: oh, it is, believe me.

     Spinel: And they need everything to be PERFECT.

     Spinel: Which isn’t realistic anymore now that they don’t expect any of the gems to stay in line with their gem class nowadays.

     Spinel: The last ball they threw almost 4 months ago was utterly chaotic.

     Y/N: For thousands of years y'all as a race never pushed to deviate from the norm, and now that you guys are allowed to? I’d go batshit with it too.

     Y/N: Being stifled in everyday life, and finally you’re free?

     Y/N: Fuck, I’d go around fusing with anyone!

     Spinel: That is precisely what too many of them did.

     Y/N: Lmao. I wish I could’ve seen that.

         You tab back over to your group chat for a moment to see what they’re talking about.

         Harper: see? they’re everywhere.

     Harper: i wasn’t expecting the campsite to have so many.

     Alex: you could have built an army and instead you took pictures

     Alex: do you know how easy it is to lure chipmunks?

     Alex: oh that lil guy on the bottom right is so fucking chunky i love him

     Harper: that’s the one that got the closest when i fed them. :3

     Alex: oh i fuckin BET

     Alex: you dont get that chubby in the wild without takin a few risks

     Alex: if u know what i mean ;)

     Harper: i hate whatever you just implied.

     Y/N: It’s not a conversation with Alex unless you roll your eyes at least 3 times.

     Alex: hey i thought it was 4 times

     Alex: dont insult me

     Alex: anyway, y/n

     Alex: are you workin the day i come back

     Y/N: Yeah I’m actually scheduled a double.

     Alex: scheduled

     Y/N: Yes.

     Alex: a double

     Y/N: Yes.

     Alex: he can’t SCHEDULE you a DOUBLE

     Y/N: He can if he asks me ahead of time as a favor.

     Alex: that fuckin bastard

     Alex: always ruining my plans

     Harper: you’re still mad at him for firing you last summer, huh.

     Alex: OF COURSE I AM

     Y/N: Bro you stole like $300 of cotton candy sugar that summer.

     Y/N: It’s only fair.

     Y/N: Besides, I’m only doing this because he said he’d give me a long weekend for it.

     Alex: kay well

     Alex: i guess i’ll just go bug you at work and wait for you to get off that day :'(

     Y/N: Get me written up again, I swear to god.

         Your phone chimes several times, and you swipe down to see messages from both Spinel and Steven. You check Spinel's first.

         Spinel: Do me a favor and ignore any messages Steven has sent you.

     Y/N: What are you, my boss?

     Spinel: I MEAN IT

         You quickly switch over to Steven's texts.

         Steven: I was going to ask you if your date with Spinel went okay, but I'm assuming it went fine considering she hasn't really stopped talking about you.

         Ohhhh my god, this is wild. You reply to him.

         Y/N: It wasn't a date as far as I know.

     Y/N: I had fun.

     Y/N: She's telling me to not read your messages, lmao.

     Y/N: Also what do you mean she hasn't stopped talking about me??

     Steven: She’s been lying on my floor for the last hour basically gushing about you.

     Steven: But you didn’t hear that from me!

     Steven: :D

     Y/N: Haha thanks, kid.

         You switch back over to text Spinel, and get up off the couch to make yourself some tea. Pulling out your kettle, you turn the stove on and grab some raspberry flavored abomination tea bag that your dad loves more than any of the other good tea flavors.

         Y/N: Sooooo.

     Spinel: You talked to him, didn’t you.

     Y/N: Hahaha noooo. :)

     Spinel: The fuck did he say?

     Y/N: Absolutely nothing.

     Spinel: Seriously? I was sure he’d reveal something embarrassing.

     Y/N: Nope! You should probably get off his floor eventually, though.

         Your kettle goes off and you grab a clean mug, and pour the boiling water into it along with the tea packet. You look down at your phone, and grin.

         Spinel: goddammit.

         You let the bag steep for a little bit, and add in a small amount of sugar. Walking up to your bedroom you take a snap of Jellybean half lounging, half falling off the stairs and send it to Spinel. She replies with a couple heart emojis, and you wonder if Steven was the one to show her the proper use of them. You set your cup of tea down on your desk, and turn your computer on. It’s evening now, and it’s much too late to do anything left with the rest of your day productivity-wise, so you settle in on playing more minecraft. Your thoughts wander quite a bit, and you find yourself stuck on thinking about Spinel. Naturally. You wonder about a lot of things she’s learned while staying on earth, from things like - does she pay rent? Does she have a job? Does she know what taxes are? Does she know what a relationship with a human looks like? She said she watched a movie, but didn’t exactly elaborate. You don’t know what human-norms she’s been exposed to. You can’t even concentrate enough to mine any of this redstone for Alex, and you nearly die in-game when the thought of ‘does she know what sex is?’ pops into your mind. You grab your phone and shoot Spinel another message.

         Y/N: Quick question.

     Y/N: If you don’t mind me asking.

         It takes her a few minutes to reply.

         Spinel: Sure?

     Y/N: Do you know how humans are made?

     Spinel: w

     Spinel: Yes?

     Spinel: Steven told me about it a few weeks ago actually.

     Spinel: Why are you asking?

     Y/N: No reason! Just curious is all.

     Spinel: Hm.

         Yeah you’re not too confident that she actually knows, and you’re too chickenshit to elaborate right now. You’ll enlighten her later. You spend the rest of the night browsing memes on your phone, and texting your friends and Spinel on occasion. Before you know it, your eyes drift close with your phone in hand.

     You wake up when your alarm goes off for your morning shift, and curse at yourself for not charging it last night. It’s at a solid 32%, which isn’t really enough to go about your day, but you’ll have to make do. You get ready for a hopefully not shitty day, lock up the house, and head in to work.

     It’s a complete shitshow when you come in, and you turn your phone off to save battery and concentrate on dealing with more than an average amount of tourists. You find Mr. Smiley sleeping in the breakroom/office/supply closet, and have half a mind to lock him in there from the outside for the rest of your shift. It’s pretty busy, and messy, and it isn’t until you’re there for several exhausting hours that you finally have enough time for a break. You turn your phone on, and instantly you’re flooded with messages from several different people. Ugh.

           A couple from your dad - just checking in, really. Group chat too as usual, but none of it seems overly important. One from Spinel, and several from Steven. You open up Spinel’s message first.

         Spinel: Do you think we could talk about a couple of things later?

         Vague, and a little concerning. You text back an apology for getting back to her so late, and open the messages from Steven.

         Steven: Hey are you busy?

     Steven: I’m dealing with a bit of a situation right now, and could use your help.

     Steven: Spinel locked herself in my bathroom, and she won’t come out.

     Steven: She refuses to answer to anyone, and several of us have tried.

     Steven: I’m just really worried about her, and you guys seemed to bond, so I was hoping..

     Steven: That maybe you could come over?

     Steven: Thanks regardless.

         You check the timestamp, and that was over an hour ago. Jesus christ.

         Y/N: Steven I’m so sorry, my phone was off and I’m at work, give me a few and I’ll be right over, okay?

     Y/N: I’ll be quick.

         He replies almost immediately with a “please” and you pocket your phone. You try not to worry too hard about Spinel as you rush over to grab your things, and knock on Mr. Smiley’s office/broom closet door. He opens it groggily, clearly just waking up.

     “Yeah?” he slowly blinks at you.

     “I gotta leave early. Emergency.” You stare at him, trying to not be pissed at his lack of work ethic.

     “Are you for real? You’ve got another 3 hours left.” He says and crosses his arms, and you glare at him.

     “I’ve been working my ass off while you’ve been sleeping this whole time, AND I’m covering your ass tomorrow so you can go meet your old friend! So the LEAST you can do is let me go early when I have an emergency!!!” You almost yell out at him, and he holds his hands up in defense.

     “Okay, okay! Fine. Only because you’re a good worker.” He says, and has the gall to look at least a little ashamed of himself.

     “Damn right I am.” You spin around and head out of the building, practically running.

     You almost trip and bite it several times on the way over to Steven’s place, but you’re more worried about Spinel. You’ve only been to his place twice, but once you’re there you run up the stairs and open the door without knocking. You’re greeted by the only two people in the living room, Pearl, and Steven.

         “Oh, she’s here!” Pearl says and nudges Steven, who looks up from typing on his phone.

     “Y/N! Thank god you’re here.” He says with furrowed eyebrows.

     “What happened?” You say and shut the door, and cross the room over to him.

     “I’m not sure! We were just working on something together for Amethyst, and she got a call from Blue and Yellow. She’s been ignoring them lately, and they’ve been bothering me in turn because of that, so I asked her to take the call just see what they want.” He runs his hand through his brown curls, and just for a moment, you see that 12 year old him in again. The obvious stress masks just how young he really is, and you feel bad that he can’t live life like a normal kid. “She went outside to take the call, and was out there for quite a while. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I did hear some yelling. And just when I was going over to make sure they were alright, she comes back in tears, eyes spiraling like months ago, and nearly knocks Pearl over rushing into the bathroom.”

     “And nothing since?” You inquire, fidgeting with your hands.

     “No,” He says, frustratedly. “I’ve been trying to reach the diamonds to see what this is all about, but I’ve only been getting the pearls. I don’t know what to do. She hasn’t been like this in months. What were they talking about to make her this upset?”

     “Maybe I can find out. You said she’s in your bathroom?” You raise an eyebrow at him.

     “Yeah, the one right over here.” He says and points to it.

     “Is it locked?” You ask.

     “No,” Pearl glances towards the bathroom door and crosses her arms. “The lock has been broken on it for a while, since Peridot joined us actually. Both Garnet and I tried opening it, but I think once Spinel hears someone trying to come in she blocks the door.”

     Hm.

     “I’m gonna try something, but you guys are gonna wanna stay away.” You say to the two of them. “I don’t want to overwhelm her with more than one person.”

     “Let us know if we can do anything?” Steven makes to pass by you and gives your arm a light squeeze. “And thanks for coming to help.”

     “Anytime, dude.” You give him a half smile, and walk over to his bathroom. You turn to take a look back at the other two, and they’re already in the kitchen discussing something in soft tones. You move to knock at the door, make two light taps against the frame, and wait for an answer.

     A couple seconds pass, and nothing. Not even any movement. Nervously, you knock again, a little louder this time, and wait for a good ten seconds.

     Still nothing.

     You take a deep breath, reach out to grab the door handle, and very slowly and quietly open the bathroom door. You see nothing but absolute darkness, and step in. You feel around the wall to your right and flip a switch just as you close the door behind you with an audible click. The room instantly floods with the dark red light of the heat lamp, and before you can even think about finding another light source, you find yourself slammed up against the wall and let out a surprised yelp. You open your eyes to see Spinel’s face inches from yours, pupils wild, her hands splayed against your shoulders.

     “U-um,” Your voice cracks a little. “Hey.”

     You watch her eyes take a second to find yours, and almost instantly, she lets you go, arms trembling.

     “W.. what are YOU DOING HERE!?” She cries, large tears pouring down her face, eyebrows raised in confusion, mouth trembling. Her hair is in loose pigtails, strands untamed around her face, cheeks stained with tear tracks. She looks like a mess, and your heart breaks, just a little. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt y-”

     “I’m fine.” You cut her off. “I should have said who it was outside the door, I’m sorry. And um.. Steven texted me while I was at work, and told me what was going on so I rushed over..” You trail off as you watch Spinel’s entire body shake, and she covers her face with both of her hands.

     “I can’t believe I just did that.” You hear her wavering voice, muffled behind her fists, and she lets out a choked sob. “Maybe they were right. M-maybe I’m not meant to-” She quickly moves her hands down to look at the floor with wide, vulnerable eyes, and struggles to form the rest of her words. You hear her breathing pick up pace, and you’re starting to realize she’s hyperventilating.

     “Spinel, look at me.” Her eyes shoot up to yours, lips trembling. “I need you to breathe.” You do what your friends have always done with you, and gently grab both of her hands and hold them with yours, thumbs stroking her palms in slow circles. She freezes up instantly, and you’re about to panic, because while a familiar touch helps ground you, you register that maybe it’ll make it worse for her. But before you can pull your hands away, her hands relax ever so slightly, and she lets out a shaky breath. “Good. Just like that.” You motion for her to follow your breathing inverals, and she copies you, hands still shaking in yours.

     It’s been a while since you’ve had to deal with something like this, but you’re thankful for having similar life experiences. After a solid minute or two of this her breathing is back to a normal pace, but she’s still crying, and now not meeting your eyes. Almost like she’s avoiding them.

     “Look, I.. I don’t know what happened with you and the diamonds, but you can talk to me about it if you’d like. No pressure, though.” You give her hands a small squeeze, and she whimpers, looking up to meet your gaze. Tears are still actively streaming down her face, and you have no idea how to make any of this better. It physically hurts you to see her like this.

     “C-can I not talk about it? I don’t think I’m ready..” She pulls a hand from yours, and wipes at her face. She just kind of smeared half of her face with wetness, and she looks miserable.

     “You don’t have to talk about anything, Spinel.” You look at her, making sure she sees it in your eyes. You slowly let go of her other hand, and hold your arms out in a silent question instead. Her mouth opens slightly, the red glow of the light around her making her look extremely vulnerable and soft, and she looks at your open arms with a blank face for a moment before understanding. Almost instantaneously, she throws herself against you and wraps her arms around your shoulders, shoving her face into the cradle of your neck. You envelop your arms around her tightly, giving her sides a squeeze, and you feel her start to shake again.

     She lets out an unsteady sigh, and hiccups out another small sob. You pull her to lean fully against you as you stand there, bracing your back against the bathroom door. She lets you maneuver her, and you rest the side of your face against her temple while she cries. You resign yourself to letting her cry on you until she’s done, if she needs to.

       You feel her sniffle against your neck, and try not to mind that she’s getting your shirt soaked. You give her back a few gentle rubs, feeling her body quiver against yours as she’s trying to control her choked breathing. You’re not really counting the minutes, as right now you’re currently having way too many rampant thoughts about what the fuck the diamonds could’ve said to her. You’re mad as hell, honestly, and if you could say shit to them, you would in a heartbeat. You don’t want to make anything worse for her though, as much as you want to steal her phone and video call them to curse them out. It takes a few more minutes, but eventually her crying dies down, and you feel her breathing even out. Slowly, she dislodges her arms from twisting around you two, and you feel a sigh, her breath hot against your neck. You do your best to school your facial expression as you’re realize just how close you are to her, and she pulls her face from its resting position to look at you. She looks awful.

       “U-um,” She lifts up her hand to attempt to wipe her face, failing to rub half the tears away. “I don’t really want to go out there yet..”

       “You don’t have to.” You say, quietly. “I can leave if you’d like some quiet to yourself.” Her face looks panicked for a second, and she grabs your wrist.

       “Please don’t leave me.” She says, voice wavering again. You try not to let your heart shatter at her tone.

     “I won’t if you want me here.” You say, and sigh softly. “Here, hold on a second.”

     She lets your wrist go as you move slightly over to the sink, turn the hot water on, and grab a clean hand towel from the counter. You soak it in water, and squeeze out all the excess. Towel in hand, you turn back to her, and she’s looking at you cautiously. You lift the towel slightly, motioning to her face.

     “May I?” You ask, and she nods slightly.

     Tenderly, you brush a couple strands of hair away from her face, grasp her chin with your left hand and pull her forward, gently pressing the towel to her cheek. She closes her eyes, and her shoulders sag a little as she lets you dab at her face, cleaning her of any tear stain marks. She sighs into your touch, and it strikes you that it would be so easy to just.. lean in and kiss her.

       Your brain almost short circuits and you snap your thoughts back to reality. There’s a time and place for everything. This is not the time, nor the place.

       Once you’re satisfied that she looks a lot better than before, you pull your hands away to toss the rag in the sink, and Spinel, for a brief moment, looks disappointed that you had stopped. Which.. kind of gives you an idea.

       “Can I try something? Harper used to do this thing with me when I.. had similar breakdowns.” You ask her. She raises her eyebrow in response, clearly exhausted from crying so much. “Here.” You say, and take her hand and lead her over to the rim of the bathtub. You sit down on the edge, and motion for her to sit in front of you on the floor. She takes a seat in front of you, still confused, but obeys nonetheless. “Can I touch you?” You ask her, watching her face to make sure she’s alright.

       She looks up at you, the red light in the room flooding the entirety of her face, making her hair darker, and the whites of her eyes a bit more dramatic.

     “Yeah.” She says in reply, voice tired.

     You reach out to her hair, and stop for a moment.

     “Can I have you face the other direction, actually? Come over here.” You move to open your knees, making enough room for Spinel to turn around and lean against the bathtub. She’s close to you again.

     “What are you..” She trails off as you start to take the hair ties out of her pigtails, one after the other. It takes a second, as it’s a bit tangled, but you manage to get both out, and let her hair fall down. You comb out her hair with your fingers, gently, and she sighs audibly while leaning into your touch. You run your short nails along her scalp, scratching and massaging as you smooth out her hair, attempting to pull all the tangles out.

     “Touch used to calm me down, and Harper was really good at it, honestly.” You say while pulling out a particularly difficult tangle without hurting her. Her hair is long like this, and you like it. You wish you could grow your hair this long, but it’s kind of a pain to deal with, and the longest you’ve ever had yours wasn’t even to your mid back, you think to yourself. “Sometimes she’d give me shoulder and neck massages, but I preferred that she’d just play with my hair. There’s just something different about another person touching your hair.”

     “I kind of get what you mean.” She says, tiredly.

     “Can I braid your hair?” You lean closer to look at her face.

     “Do what you want.” She says, looking fairly relaxed.

     “Cool. Anyway, while Harper was good at that, Alex, on the other hand, was just terrible at any kind of physical comfort. He’s genuine, and he tries, but he’s an idiot. He’s a lot better at distractions, for the most part.” You run your fingers through her hair one more time, before starting to separate her hair into three parts for a french braid. “He’s funny, and comes from a large family, so he always has stories and jokes. Whenever I’d have a panic attack, those two were always so good about being there for me. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

     You notice that Spinel‘s shoulders have lost most of the tension in them, and you’re secretly relieved. You keep talking to fill the quietness around you two, because you’ve always hated the quiet during moments like these. Your friends aren’t here, so it’s up to you to make up for it.

     “It was kind of hard, at first though,” You say, and start looping the chunks of hair around your fingers, starting at the top of her head. “Because for a while there, back when I was 16 and dealing with the worst of my abandonment issues, I clung onto Harper like a baby koala. I had this super weird crush on her even though we had been friends since we were practically babies. I think I idolized her because she was just.. good to me.” You accidentally tug a little too hard on a strand of hair, wince and utter an apology while massaging the spot on her scalp. “I’m glad that didn’t ruin our friendship, but for a while there I really pushed my feelings onto her, which was kinda fucked up on my part.”

     “Hm..” Spinel mumbles. “I kind of had a thing for Pink, I think. Which ended up screwing with me even more after what she did.” You stare at the back of her head and pause your hands for a second. Huh. Yeah, you had a hunch.

     “If she were still alive, I’d punch her in the face for you, I hope you know.” You state, in full seriousness. This gets the first chuckle that you’ve heard from her today, and you’re secretly overjoyed.

     “I’d pay to watch that.” She says, and you laugh out loud. You see her smile, just barely.

     “So,” You continue, with both your hands and conversation. “A week or so after my 17th birthday, right after Harper talked to me about this guy at school that she liked, I confess to her. And not like a, ‘oh hey, you’re my best friend and I really like you’ kind of way, either. It was more like a, ‘have a mental breakdown over your best friend liking someone else and make them feel like shit about it on your walk home from school’ kind of confession.” Your hands reach the nape of her neck now, braid mostly done on her head, but you’ve got around another 20 inches of length before being finished.

     “Harper avoided me for nearly a week after that. I was absolutely pathetic, and inconsolable. Alex was fed up with my shit after a few days, and nearly slapped me over it. He would’ve been in the right, doing so, honestly. I was a selfish asshole who only thought about her own feelings, and not about her best friends.” Your eyes drift to Spinel’s face, and her eyes are closed, eyebrows unfurrowed.

     “Anyway,” You’re nearly done with the entire braid now. “She did end up forgiving me. Thankfully. I don’t know what I’d do if it were my fault that I’d split up our friend group.” You pick up the discarded hair tie from earlier, and tie it around the end of the braid.

     “I’m all done, by the way.” You say to her. She opens her eyes tentatively, and she looks sleepy. You stand up, and stretch your back. She also gets up on wobbly legs, and turns to look at you.

     “Um.” She’s avoiding your eyes. “Thank you. For this.” She’s twisting her hands together, nervously. You lean your face closer to get at eye-level with her.

     “Anytime.. and for the record, you look really cute in a braid.” You say and smile, giving her a cheeky wink. You watch her entire face from the neck up turn bright red, and think that you could probably do this forever, and never get tired. She gives you a noncommittal grunt, halfheartedly smacks your arm and you grin at her.

     You hear a quiet knock at the door, and look over to Spinel. She shrugs, so I guess it’s okay now.

     “You can come in!” You say to the door. It opens slowly, and you see Steven peek his head in.

     “Um.. are we okay?” He asks, clearly very worried about her.

     “I’ll be okay.” She says, and you think that maybe she should lay down and sleep. You verbalize this immediately.

     “Spinel. I think you should go take a nap.” You look at her, and she blinks at you. “I’m serious.”

     “She’s kind of right.” Steven says in agreement with you. Spinel gives the both of you a shrug, and even that seems like it’s taking a lot out of her.

     “Okay.” She says, and turns to walk out of the bathroom. Steven opens the door wider, and you can see Pearl in the kitchen leaning against the counter, trying to not seem like she’s intently watching all of you.

     Spinel makes her way over to the couch and takes a seat, sitting up rigidly. You walk over to her to make sure she’s okay before you leave for home.

     “You know you can text me, right? And if you need me, I’ll be available. I’ll leave my volume turned on.” She gives you a nod. “Oh, and.. take this,” You say, and pull off the pullover hoodie you’re wearing right now, and hand it over to her. “Alex used to let me wear his oversized sweaters, and they used to help me sleep, so..”

     She tentatively reaches out, and takes it from your hands.

     “Thanks.” She says, and gives you a small smile. With her hair pulled back like this she almost looks human, for a fleeting moment. You sometimes forget she’s a gem. You return the smile back at her, and turn around to leave.

     After grabbing your bag that you set down earlier from beside the couch, you head over to the front door and open it. Shouldering the bag, you start to shut the door and see Steven behind you. He closes the door behind him, his face searching yours for something you don’t quite know.

     “I don’t know what you did, but thank you.” He says, completely genuine.

     “You don’t have to thank me. I’d do it for you, too, you know.” You say to him, and he smiles.

     “That’s why I like you, Y/N. You’re sweet.”

     “Yeahhhh, don’t tell anyone, though. You’ll ruin my reputation.” You smirk, giving him the side-eye. He laughs and pats your back.

     “Ohhhhhh no! Whatever will you do!?” He rolls his eyes in jest. “Get home safe, okay?”

     “No promises.” You reply, and jump down his steps, two at a time.  

     It doesn’t take you long to get home, and you’re pretty tired yourself. You make yourself busy by preparing dinner, cleaning the kitchen a little, and calling your dad for another check-in. Before you know it, it’s nearly 11, and you need to sleep for your double shift tomorrow that you almost forgot about. You’re laying in bed browsing social media before drifting off, and you receive a text from Spinel. You swipe down and open the message.

         Spinel: Thanks again for today.

     Spinel: I baked some new cookies with Steven, and would like to give you some tomorrow if that’s okay?

         You smile to yourself. Ughhhhhhhh, you’re catching the feelings disease, and you swat the air around you like it somehow physically manifested around you.

         Y/N: I work literally all day, but feel free to stop by and give them to me.

     Y/N: Then I get to see a pretty familiar face to break up all the lame tourists.

     Y/N: Cuz that sounds super nice. ;)

     Spinel: I’ll see you tomorrow, then.

         She didn’t react to your obvious teasing, but you won’t let that discourage you. You fall asleep thinking of the many different ways you can poke fun at her, and this time, you charge your phone.

     You wake up the next morning feeling well-rested for once, and get ready for work. Alex has sent you a couple texts about when his flight will arrive, and when he’ll roughly come to meet you. Sometime around 4pm, apparently. You shoot Spinel a good morning text, and she replies almost instantly with the same, which makes you smile.

     You head to work, texting your group chat about what happened yesterday with Spinel, and give them basically all the details. Alex makes fun of you for a bit, so you curse him out and pocket your phone as you clock in. Today’s going to suck, but you’ve got a few things to look forward to.

     You make it a couple hours into your shift before you finally get a break, and Spinel texts you that she’ll drop by sometime in the afternoon once she’s done helping Bismuth with something. God you hope it’s not when Alex gets here, because you are so not fucking ready for that interaction. You eat your lunch and pray to any god out there that you could have one more day of peace.

     You’re outside the main building repairing a couple parts on the carousel, ignoring the bulk of the tourists to focus on work. You don’t realize that quite a while has passed by, because someone walks up to you as you’ve got your head in a small door, and kicks you slightly on your ass. You jolt and bump your head against the opening, and you hear Alex burst out into laughter as you groan in pain.

     God fucking dammit, this guy. You pull your head out to glare at him, screwdriver pointing at him threateningly.

     “Do you want this up your ass? Because I can do that.” You say to him, and he laughs even harder. You roll your eyes at him.

     “Don’t promise me with a good time, Y/N.” He says, and you stand up to smack him.

     “I don’t think the pointy end would be a good time, idiot.” You deadpan stare at him. He grins.

     “You don’t know what I’m into.” He shrugs, and flips his hair dramatically. You hate that he’s stupid and charming, and you love him so much.

     “I know I haven’t seen you in 2 months, but like, I feel like you’ve grown taller?” You stare at him, a little mournfully. You’re the shortest one out of your friends, and you’re of average height. He also seems.. handsomer. You think he definitely got a lot more tan. He’s definitely grown into his looks, his dark curly hair and recently shaved face making him look older than you’re used to.

     “I don’t think I did, but I think you’ve grown shorter.” He laughs obnoxiously, and you smack his arm again, which makes him laugh harder.

     “You’re so mean to me, like all the time. Why do I love you?” You cross your arms and pout, because you know it gets a rise out of him.

     “Youuuuuuu knowww, because I’m just so loveable and gorgeous and the smartest one in the group??” He flutters his eyelashes at you like he thinks he’s cute.

     “Wow, you are none of these things.” You reply, smirking at him. He puts his hand over his heart in mock offense.

     “Y/N, I’m offended. I’ve been here for like, five minutes, and I’ve received absolutely no affection from you. If I don’t get love, I will wilt and die. Do you want to be responsible for my death?” He opens his arms wide, and you roll your eyes dramatically, and stand there.

     “We’re not doing this in public.” You say, standing your ground.

     “Ohhh, YES we are, Y/N.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Prepare yourself for the onslaught.”

     You take a couple steps back, prepared to run. He grabs your arms, wraps his around your torso, and picks you up, swinging you around.

     “Nooooooooooooooooo!!” You cry. “Put me down you oaf!”

     “No! I want love!” He all but shouts, and spins you around. He grabs your cheek with one hand and starts giving you big ‘ol smooches all over your face, and you’re giggling and trying to push him away, when you hear something drop and spill on the pavement a good twenty feet from you. You look up.

     It’s Spinel.

       Her face is twisted with heartbreak, and before you can even speak up, she bolts.

       You look down, and see the cookies she made you scattered on the ground.