#more power to her she’s got to Fountaine in like a month

[grapejuicefilledpools]

My sibling not wanting to play the Itto event rn cus the event page for it in game isn’t interesting what the FUCK

[cakerybakery]

They were fighting again. Didn’t seem to matter where they were Adam would say something or Lucifer would do something and they would fighting. Even a simple trip to the park as part of a beautification project to help with community relations between the hotel and the citizens of hell turn into the two of them hurling insults at each other.

“You make hell, a hell, dick bag!” 

“My only regret is not fucking Lilith and Eve in front of you. I should have buried my dick to the hilt in Eve’s cu-“ Adam covered Lucifer’s mouth and shushed him.

He leaned down and spoke softly, “hey there, sweetie. Where’s your mommy or daddy?”

Lucifer had been too busy and didn’t see the little imp girl who had been tugging on Adam’s pant leg. Tears were falling down her face and she sniffled, her thumb in her mouth.

He’d never heard Adam speak that way before. Soft and sweet to not scare the little girl.

“Did they get lost?” The girl nodded. “Oh dear! How silly of them.” She giggled. “Now if I was your mommy or daddy where would I be? Maybe in this tree?”

She shook her head and pulled her thumb out of her mouth, “noooo! Mama by big wheel!”

“She was by the big wheel? Well, we should go find the big wheel then. Now where could it be? Was it in the fountain?”

“Nooo!” She had stopped crying completely.

While Adam continued to entertain the child, Lucifer called over Charlie. They all stopped planting flowers and went out looking for a frantic mother.

Lucifer stuck by Adam, not because he was enjoying seeing that side of him or anything, but just in case the mother came across them. She’s probably be less scared for her daughter if the king of hell was watching over her instead just some random guy.

It didn’t take long for an imp with a stroller to run up to them and be reunited with her daughter. The woman thanked them both profusely and carried the now happy girl away.

She waved over her mother’s shoulder and snuggled into her mother.

Adam gave a little wave back but once she was gone he looked a little sad.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just reminded me of my kids.”

“I remember when Charlie was that age. Always getting into mischief.”

“Seth got lost once. We’d lost Abel and Cain was banished by god. Then when we found out about Seth, Eve was so scared for him. She scared she’d loose another one. Then when he was five he just disappeared. We looked for hours. It was dark when we found him. A lost wolf cub was guarding him. We never found the cub’s parents but we took him home with us. They were inseparable for the next ten years before that wolf died.”

Lucifer could sympathize with that fear. Charlie was under lock and key as a child. Lilith guarded her like a dragon. Charlie hadn’t been their first, just the first to live. Eventually Lilith had let her do more, but Lucifer wasn’t sure someone at the hotel wasn’t a plant to watch over Charlie while Lilith was away. He never said it but he was suspicious that Charlie moves out on her own to start her hotel and a powerful demon shows up agreeing to protect the hotel?

It had Lilith’s helicopter parenting style all over it. But if Alastor was a plant then at least he was letting her do things on her own. If Lilith was here she’d be practically living with Charlie.

It was the only thing they ever fought about. Until at last Lilith had argued herself into a corner and agreed not to interfere with Charlie’s life for a few years and left.

Lucifer had tried to do the opposite in hopes of balancing things out and just ended up missing years of her life trying to be as hands off as possible. Parenting was hard.

“At least it turned out well. You know Charlie tried to have a pet once. Took months to get rid of all the roaches.”

By the time the others got back Adam and Lucifer were swapping stories about their kids or lives like the old friend they once were. And when Adam’s hand landed on his, neither of them made a move to pull away.

[drkmgs]

It had my heartbroken 2

Wednesday Addams x Reader

Warnings: uh...

Well...I don't know if this was a good idea...btw sorry it took so long to write this...

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

And I'll be in denial for at least a little while

Two months ago, you found yourself standing in front of Nevermore's gates, translucent like a ghost. You had to convince the people who still holding onto you to let go so you could come back. There are only two people you who possibly still holding on.

You concentrated on gathering more energy to get a solid image, smeared dirt on your face, and disheveled your hair. Moments later, that's how Principal Weems found you standing in front of her office. Her reaction to seeing you standing there looking alive and freshly coming out of a grave made her already red eyes swell again. The following weeks made it difficult for you to explain to her how you came back, so you had to play pretend you didn't know.

It was a mystery to Larissa how nobody else could see you, but when Wednesday asked her about you, she was glad she wasn't going mad, but seeing her student go mad, it's a different story. She asked you nicely to quit showing yourself on Wednesday, which you can't because it's not in your powers. You tried not to show up or talk to Wednesday, but when she started to be absent-minded throughout the day, you couldn't keep watch from afar.

It's been a week since you got caught by your mother leaving Wednesday's room. You have been roaming around in Nevermore's hidden area, where a little garden was restored for you. You spent mostly your time here reading a book while sitting by the fountain. 5 days ago your body started to get translucent like how you arrived two months ago. It started with your fingertips, fading away and coming back as a solid image again. It continued until it was already your full hand. It made the book that you were holding fall onto the grass. When your hand became a solid image again, you quickly took the book and placed it on your lap. You sighed. It is time.

What about the plans we made?

The sun was about to set when you found yourself standing in the garden, wearing all white, which doesn't suit you, but right now it gave you this ethereal look. As if an angel just landed on the surface of the earth. Everything was so peaceful and silent, your thoughts flying out to the sky when you hear two people bickering entering the garden.

You watch the scene unfold in front of you. They only stopped when you completely emerged into their sight, they saw how your body flickered between solid to translucent. Your energy is becoming unstable. You smiled at them sadly.

Y/N: I didn't know how to tell you.

There was a single tear falling on your cheek.

Y/N: I'm sorry for lying. I'm sorry for not saying anything. But it's time to face the reality. Let's stop pretending I'm still alive.

You didn't want to see how you broke their hearts once again, but it pains you more if they continue to live with you not knowing when you'll completely vanish.

Larissa: My sweet child. My little bean. My baby.

Your mother was the first one to break from her shock state and came to your side. Creasing your face, showering you with motherly kisses, and engraving your face into her memory for the last time, she'll ever see, hear, and hold you again. You turned to Wednesday, she's shaking her head, not wanting to believe you, not wanting to believe her eyes, not wanting to settle with this kind of ending, but she has no other choice. She has to. You slowly walk up to her, flickering, until you're only inches away from her. You wiped the tear that escaped her eye, she leans into your touch and kissed your wrist, and you silently sob. That's when she threw herself onto you, letting go of her emotions. She's crying, hard, her hands grabbing your shirt. The sight was heartbreaking.

It was time. You felt it through your body. You looked at your Mother and reached out to her. She gladly takes your hand and engulfed both of you and Wednesday in a hug. The fading started from your feet, slowly creeping up to your legs, then to your waist, and chest, until your head.

"I love both of you."

That was the last thing Larissa and Wednesday heard when you completely vanished from their hug.

———

5 years later

A light knocks on the door. "Come in. Please take a seat. So, I heard you're applying for the botany position— " Larissa, who was too busy reading the applicants' resumes didn't bother to look at the person who came through the door. "How have you been, mom?" You smiled at her, taking in how mature she looked since the last time you saw her. She immediately looked up to see if she isn't imagining things. There you were standing in front of her desk, she waited for flickering or fading away, but nothing happened. "Principal Weems— " Both of you looked to the person who just entered the room. "Hi, my love." You smiled at a stunned Wednesday Addams.

Taglist:

@thedemoninme141 @lecsi @ipharaohosiris @zhasmindoesntknow @daryldixonsw1fe @pixielove-1 @screechcat

[encrucijada]

HAZE DOGS — a wip by ester cuervos

【 genre & categroy: horror, low fantasy, adult 】

【 pov: 2nd person retrospective 】

【 what if princess mononoke, the hunt from the magnus archives, and night in the woods had a baby. guy too scared for horror keeps writing it. great news for all the girls (gender neutral) who've ever wanted to go apeshit!! i'm technically catholic so i'm allowed to bastardise catholicism 】

【 cw: cults, blood and gore, religious blasphemy, cannibalism, harm to animals 】

【 tone & themes: feminine horror, corruption, bottled rage, divinity, unhinged, atmospheric, eerie, immortality/mortality 】

a b o u t : an isolated town is haunted by otherworldly canines incapable of dying. when connor hidalgo mejía comes back to life after being sacrificed by her old classmates, the town finds a temporary solution to their problem that will keep more people from dying: they offer connor and only connor to the animals. with her boyfriend's mother at the head, connor becomes the reluctant but not entirely unwilling idol of worship of a cult that begins to form around her. the people of her town really believe she can somehow free them of this haunting. but aurora vidal isn't the only one pulling the strings for power. everyone wants a piece of connor's divinity, a god is easy to manipulate when she's actually just a nineteen-year-old girl who up until last month only had two concerns: make it to tomorrow and get to know her estranged brother. the temporary solution starts to feel like a permanent one with connor soon not being able to find peace in life or in death.

another story about a girl in a white dress getting sacrificed... except she's wearing cool alternative clothes on top of that white dress. also the dark academia plot of "person we all hate died under mysterious circumstances" except this time the person keeps coming back to life, worse each time.

c h a r a c t e r s :

connor hidalgo mejía. she/they. embodies the energy of the "alt friend" from 00s teen movies. would have bitten you to win an argument even before things got freaky. what if jesus was a dog.

ángel quijada vidal. he/they. connor's boyfriend. dark academia protagonist who got lost and ended up in a horror movie. ignoring social cues on purpose because he thinks they're stupid.

delilah estévez herrera. she/her. connor's best friend. literally the prettiest person in the room at all times. not joining your cult bestie sick aesthetic tho. borrowing her from my buddy jude <3

acacia quijada vidal. she/her. connor's frenemy. would befriend you and then vaguepost about you online. ángel's sister. youngest sister syndrome. dead blue eyes.

aurora vidal ochoa. she/her. ángel's mum. gaslight gatekeep girlboss. woke up and decided to become a cult leader. marisa coulter energy (derogatory).

benjy hidalgo mejía. he/him. connor's brother, apparently. has the energy of the bum older brother with a shitty band and a warning sign of his door you'd find in a 90s movie.

zagreus. he/it. pubby :3 nothing weird going on here i prommy.

aesthetic: a foggy open field, coyote howls in the dead of night, wiping blood from your mouth, maximalist teen girl bedrooms, light reflecting off of animal eyes, an empty dilapidated church, bite marks on your shoulder, tall grass swaying in the breeze, an abandoned fountain filled with greenish water, broken statues, taxidermy animals, the rattle of a dog's chain, crackling television signal, cloudy weather and the smell of ozone before a storm, glitter makeup rolling down your cheeks, music so loud others hear it on your headphones, a lake with party trash floating on the surface, your fanciest clothes splattered with blood, the cold smoothness of fine jewellery, low quality camera footage, a trail of kisses down your spine, teeth that are too sharp, halos made with neon bracelets, cupping your cheeks with bloodied hands, curling up under the covers in bed when it's cold

snippet!!!

“Cool, right?” you asked your reflection, answered yourself with a smile that cut your purple mouth in two with white teeth.

You grabbed your keys.

Benjy was in the living room. He still occupied space like he was a guest instead of a resident, you looked at him and tried to find yourself on his face, on his shoulders, his hair, his hands. But other than the brown of your skin and his skin, you couldn’t, the only thing you shared that your mum had too were the freckles, but what did that prove? If that was proof of kin then Ángel would be your brother, Dafne a quarter of something with the smattered speckles on the bridge of their nose.

“Where the fuck are you going?”

He was your brother enough to talk like he’d known all nineteen years of your life.

You stopped in front of the television, a horror movie screaming behind you, blood and guts and bad sound effects of tearing skin, someone’s burbly wail from a cut throat.

“Vidal party.”

“What’s a Vidal? Am I supposed to know what that is?”

“They own like half the town, huge house, can’t miss it.”

“And they invited the likes of you?”

[pennedbylisse]

Individual Analysis of A Quiet Place: Day One

so so grateful for the reblogs and interactions <3

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Few films (or media, for that matter) manage to captivate me or make me feel as deeply as this one did. I say this as someone who sat through the ending credits with tears streaming down my cheeks and a stinging lump in my throat threatening to undo itself into a sob.

What makes this film so special is the way it managed to achieve this even with such scarce dialogue, such little background information of the characters during the exposition.

I believe this is due to a highly skilled cast and compelling narrative. The way LUPITA NYONG'O and JOSEPH QUINN projected emotions through the screen with nothing but a quivering hand, a watering gaze, hesitance to speak when given the opportunity to, had me in awe (I literally lost all interest in my concession snacks, becoming so enthralled in their performance). But the performance skills were not limited to the starring actors, and, rather, extended into the acts of ALEX WOLFF and DJIMON HOUNSOU.

It really made me sit there in the theatre and recite in my head "This is it! This is why I love writing! It's so powerful. So beautiful. It's the only thing that makes sense to me."

I’ll make this quick! I’ve got school assignments due at midnight.

If I don’t take this brief moment to vomit my thoughts out, they’ll be gone forever.

Analysis of character:

SAM

A character crippled by a terminal illness, on Hospice services with no hope of surviving. She's come to acceptance with her fate: death. The irony, the interesting twist, though, arises when she is forced to consider the possibility that death will be quicker than she'd been counting down towards, and be delivered via a different medium than she'd steeled herself for from hearing countless of specialists.

She's only got months to live, we, the audience are reared into believing. It is alluded through her Hospice membership, heavy reliance on chronic pain management as opposed to treatment, the flashing alarms at the Hospice facility indicating the death of a fellow member likely in her condition, and her writing tone. This fact makes it the more interesting to watch this character escape from death by the hands of the "aliens" time after time after time. Perhaps she is not ready to face a death that differs from that which she's prepared herself to accept. Perhaps she's not ready to die before she gets that one last glimpse of home (the jazz bar, the pizza parlor and memories of her deceased father). Or, perhaps, most probable, Sam didn't die early on in the film because she had a purpose to fulfill - in my interpretation, she was pivotal to the survival of Eric, and catalyzed his evolution from a scared, lonesome, helpless character into one that is strong enough to venture into the unknown world with the hope of surviving.

A trait that weaved in and out, entirely through the narrative was Sam's kindness towards strangers. It is shown when she first visits the city, during the marionette show; she speaks softly at the curious child seating in front of her, tells him the cat's name, reassures his parents that the child is no nuisance. Then again, when she finds two stranded kids by the fountain, offers them food she'd bought for herself, and attempts to guide them towards evacuation. Then again, when she takes Eric under her wing, steers him away from the edge of dissolution into panic. Oh! and how could I forget the numerous times she risked her own life to save the cat!

ERIC

Found him comical, endearing, sweet and lovable.

My first impression of him was that of someone who doesn't know how to exist alone. Doesn't like to be alone. Doesn't know how to follow his own volition, because he's rather used to having orders barked to him by his superiors - it is implied his parents forced him into law school.

He's likely never had an opportunity to secede from all the orders and just exist for himself so when he's catapulted into a world where literally it's everyone for themselves, he freezes, stammers, and clings to the nearest form of refuge (the company of Sam and cat).

My impression of him being a constant people-pleaser, and dependent on extrinsic validation/orders became solidified when Sam instructs him to knock the door to her apartment down during the storm. The stakes are obvious: agonizing shredding and death. Yet, he proceeds to do as he is told. Under the rain, he speaks when instructed to, despite being at risk of...you got it, death. For someone who verbally states he "doesn't want to die," he sure places himself in situations that almost negate that believe. Perhaps it is because he doesn't have an internal sense of self (yet). Perhaps because he is selfless.

Throughout the film we see him face challenges, see him evolve into someone who faces his fears - from the scene in the drowned subway, to the lone mission for meds, to retrieving the cat from the "alien" nest. In the end he takes this big leap into the sea, which in itself could be a metaphor; willingly jumping into the unknown instead of stalling at the dock and waiting for death.

HENRI

He's a leader, a strong patriarch with authority. Don't believe me? The first scene we see him in, he's ordering his son to stop bothering the lady (Sam). The next scene, he's got his hand over Sam's mouth, ushering her to silence before allowing her to join the rest of the refugees.

He's a man with responsibility. Keep his family safe. At first his family was just his wife and son, but then, perhaps it extended to encompass all who relied on him to maintain order in the refugee site. No one truly nominated him, he just assumed the position out of his own strength of will and duty.

So, it is in this sense of duty and responsibility that he commits his first murder. It is quick, rushed, blinded by fear, when he slams one of the refugee's heads against a concrete wall to keep them from killing and dooming everyone to the same fate. He kills one to save all, and perhaps that should be heroic? But it's tainted with guilt and disbelief, this fall into immorality and the conflict can be seen play across his face (super talented actor!!).

Analysis of symbols:

WATER

salvation. cleansing. catharsis. heaven/haven. sanctuary.

Sam first encounters water at the fountain where the kids are hiding. Then, while walking towards her apartment, being followed by Eric, she dares to talk, associates it with protection, safety from the perception of the beasts. In her apartment, while it is storming, she screams, venting all of her frustrations, unfulfilled hopes, fear; the white noise of the rain and the rumble of thunder serves to dampen her commotion from being perceived by the beasts. She feels light, relieved. Eric joins in at the next rumble of thunder.

Then it is flooding the subways, and muffles their steps from the sleeping beasts. It guides their way out of the depths where the beasts sleep (could this be perceived as hell? being underground and full of monsters?). The stream ends up leading them to a church (salvation, heaven?). I think this was purposeful symbolism.

WHITE CAT

drive of survival. strength and advantage. comfort, grounding energy.

The cat is the reason Sam escapes many killing sprees throughout the film. It somehow always manages to dash away just before the creatures arrive, luring Sam out of there.

The cat is said to be an emotional support animal. It is shown being cuddled and nuzzled by Sam on many occasions of distress, and eventually by Eric, who assumes ownership of it.

MARIONETTES

Sam visibly grows emotional at the sight of the marionette boy levitating with the balloon, only for it to pop and him to collapse. Perhaps she sees it as a reflection of her life; how it turned on her so quickly, how she might have been in the peak of her success (as a poet) just before being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Perhaps it represents lost innocence, when she was just a little girl at her father's side, listening to the piano, and now it's gone, she can't retrieve it.

YELLOW JACKET

Have you ever heard of that quote that goes something like "You are mosaic of the people you've loved"? People change people. People leave traces, imprints on others. The jacket originally belonged to Sam's father, as shown in the picture at the Jazz club. Sam wears it religiously, perhaps to feel close to him now that he's gone. Before she sacrifices herself, she lends the jacket over to Eric - it could symbolize the way he'll carry her with him on his journey.

Favorite scenes: - probably the one where they are screaming through the thunder. felt very cathartic and I do believe it was the first scene in which they weren't fearful of speaking and just being human. - the leap Eric takes with the cat into the sea. to be told he is safe by the members on the ferry, the tears of relief welling in his eyes, and maybe of grief at losing Sam, too. - when Sam miraculously makes it back to the marionette theatre refuge and Reuben gives her a hug of relief, tears streaming down his face, then hands over the cat. - the opening scenes of Sam navigating the city, and the way it was implied that the city was in danger of something strange without really spanning the cameras to the threat yet. i liked that we, as the audience, first saw the treat face-to-face as the same time as our leading character, Sam. It really aids in the sympathizing. It was interesting to hear the sirens and see the flashing lights, and hear the rumble of choppers over the city whilst the camera focused on an oblivious Sam.

I said I would be quick...lol

Can you imagine what I mean when I say I'll be slow???

[newleaf92]

Favorite Lines from Hazbin Hotel songs Part Two:

Poison—this song broke my heart as Angel Dust is one of my favorites, and seeing what he had to deal with from Val was devastating.

“I shoulda known it when I looked into your red hot eyes.”

“Addicted to this feelin’ I can’t help but swallow up your poison.”

“I got so good at tellin’ you what you wanna hear.”

“Poison, I'm drownin' in poison. I'm fillin' up my glass but it's always hollow full of poison, I'm sick of the poison. Wish I had somethin' to live for tomorrow.”

Loser, Baby

“You’ve lost your way. You think your life is wrecked. Well, let me just say you’re correct.”

“You’re a fucked up little whiny bitch. You’re a loser just like me.”

“You’re a power bottom at rock bottom, but you got company.”

“I sold my soul to a psychopathic freak.”

“And you think that makes you unique.”

“Baby that’s fine by me.”

“I’m a loser, honey. A schmoozer and a dummy. But at least I know I’m not alone.”

“It’s time to lose your self loathing. Excuse yourself, let hope in,baby. Play your card, be who you are.”

Hell’s Greatest Dad

“Looks like you could some help from the big boss (😈)of Hell himself.”

“With a punch from a pentagram.”

“I’ll rig the game for you because I’m the ref(😈)

“Champagne fountains, caviar mountains. That’s just a start.”

“I’m your guy, your day to day, your chum, your steadfast hotelier.”

“I’m truly honored that we built such a bond.”

“It’s a little funny. You could almost call me dad (👹😈)

(😡👿🎻)

“There’s no substitute for pure angelic power! Who just so happens to also be your blood.”

“Can you butt out of my song? (Your song?! I started this!”)

More Than Anything

“Now you’re the only thing worth fighting for.”

“I’ll shelter and adore you more than anything.”

“So in the end, it’s the view I had of you that showed me dreams can be worth fighting for.”

“I’ve been dying to find out who you are.”

“All that I’m hop in’, now that my eyes are open, is that we can start again. Not be pulled apart again.”

“Cause in the end, you are part of who I am. I’ll support your dreams no matter what’s in store.”

“I’m grateful your my daughter/father.”

Welcome to Heaven

“Welcome to Heaven, oh-oh!” (🎤🫦)

“Where the virtuous reside 24/7, oh-oh!” (🎤🫦)

“Welcome to Heaven, oh-oh!” (🎤🫦)

“Check out our sick decor, the spirit’s leaven, oh!” (🎤😏🫦)

“And everyone is hot!” (🎤🫦🤤🫠)

You Didn’t Know

“Checked all the boxes that you said would prove a person deserves a second chance. Now we turn our backs, no second glance.”

“It’s not fair, Sera.”

“That just because someone is dead, it doesn't mean they can't resolve to change their ways. Turn the page, escape infernal blaze.”

“What are we even talking about? Some crack whore who fucked up already?”

“There’s no question to be posed. He’s unholy, case closed.”

“A man only lives once. I’ll see you in one month. Gotta say I wait can’t to come down and exterminate you.”

“Well, I don’t need your condescension. I’m not a child to protect!”

“Was I too naive to expect you to heed the morals you’re purveying?”

“That’s what the fuck I’ve been saying.”

“If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie.”

“When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again.”

Out for Love

“I see you’re driven by your detestation.”

“You need a different type of motivation.”

“Think of who you care about. Protect them and be out for love.”

“Fuel yourself with the fear of losin’ that somebody who’s your reason to live. Harness your heart and you can’t help choosin’ to fight with all you can give.”

Ready for This

“And though I kinda feel unsteady, now I gotta be ready for this.”

“Not to mention the camaraderie. Yes sure, you’ll form life-changing friendships with folks along the way.”

“Oh, don’t be put off by their snarlin’, that’s enthusiasm, darlin’!”

“Don’t worry, honey, that’s their thing. Keep singing.”

“When Adam brings the battle here, I must appear like I’m ready for this.”

“Surprised? Why, I knew she could do it all along.”

“Stick with her and you’ll be on the winning side.”

More than Anything-Reprise

“And in the end, if it’s only me you saved, there’s something I’ve been dying to say.”

“Need you to know I love you more than anything.”

Finale

“I know I could have done better, better than letting you down.”

“You can do this, now I know it! For your story has just begun.”

“The stage is wrecked, the crowd is gone, but, by god, Charlie! The show it must go on.”

“With more sinners than you can dream.”

“It starts with you. You know it’s true. Fulfill your destiny!”

“With a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow, we’ll be atop the heap.”

“Nature abhors a power vacuum. It leaves room for you and me. The power of hell belongs to the Vees.”

“I’m hungry for freedom, like never before!”

“Once I figure out how to unclip my wings, guess who will be pulling all the strings?”

“And then tomorrow, it will be a fuckin’ happy day in Hell!”

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Dragon goddess request!

Being crowned the ultimate Milf of Valhalla isn't just a title, it's a legitimate job! As a Milf goddess, you are now considered a divine mother. And with that comes a more power and new responsibilities. But some ( most -- ) of the goddesses that competed for that title didn't think our lovely dragoness mother of 2 ( and soon to be 3 ) deserved that title. They say it's because she looks the part. This sparked quite a heated debate across the heavens, it got even to the point the Direct board of Motherhood ( Hera, Frigg, Mother Maria, Mama Eve, and other Divine mothers ) had to step in. Direct board of Motherhood or the DBOM proposed a rematch, but this time it's going to be different. It's now a more serious competition. Think of it like a lovely mixture of a beauty pageant, the Olympics, and somehow someway ragnarok. Now the darling is going to have to fight for her title, but luckily for her husband the darling wants to complete. She's bored and It looks like fun to her. So how would all the husbands of the Dragon goddess series react to all of this and what would they do?

... Bonus points that after winning the competition and 9 months of waiting for her Coronation, the darling Is officially crossed a new divine mother. Imagine her swimming in the center of the fountain of youth wearing only a special veil weaved ( yes she's basically naked ) by Athena about to, cradlIng her baby bump, waiting to receive her blessings from each DBOM members.

-You were stunned when you received a box after being crowned the MILF of the year, you were so embarrassed when your husband told you what a MILF was, you hid away for several days, too embarrassed to even leave your room!

-The package was information regarding your new position as a Divine Mother, you could only gawk, seeing this and your husband was the same, a hand covering his mouth, “I forgot about this part!”

-However, while you were intrigued with your new duties, others were not, as you were a wild card entry, you didn’t even compete like they had to!

-Many of your competitors went to the Direct Board of Motherhood to contest this, as they wanted to be the new Divine Mother, wanting the power that came with it.

-The current Board included both goddess and humans, Eve, Hera, Frigg, and Mother Maria, and after many debates, it was announced that the contest would be redone, but this time in a different way.

-Most of your competitors said you only won due to your looks and that you didn’t deserve the title based on that alone, so, with the blessings of the other gods, the MILF Competition was announced, part beauty contest, part motherhood challenges, and for the final two mothers, a fight, and with it, the champion would be crowned.

-If you won this, fair and square, you would become the new Divine Mother!

-Your husband and your twins were excited to see you compete, cheering for you when you walked across the stage, wearing the same outfit you wore in your original photo, which was the stipulation for this part of the competition, recreating your original entry photo.

-Your face was a bit red as the crowd roared with cheers, one hand cupping your cheek as the other held a watermelon on your hip.

-You heard your twins calling out to you, “‘MAMA!!’” and you found them easily, blowing them a kiss each, then one to your husband, which made the crowd go even more wild, seeing your affection. It wasn’t for points; you were just happy to see your family.

-Kojiro- Beamed brightly as your boys threw their hands up, seeing you blowing them kisses, at the same time, he was trying to remain calm, hearing the other men around talking about how attractive you were, trying not to kill them.

-Hades- All three of them lifted their hands, catching your kisses, which those around thought was adorable, and you giggled, seeing this. Those sitting around Hades were smart, not saying anything about you, not wanting to incur his wrath.

-Buddha- He lifted his boys up, one at a time to catch your kisses, making those around him laugh, making you laugh as well as he caught his own kiss, all three of them cheering for you, calling you mama. He gave the side-eye to all those around him silently daring them to say anything about you in front of your children.

-Beelzebub- Smiled at your affection while your boys cheered, waving their arms, so happy that you had seen them and that you blew them kisses. He patted their heads as they beamed up at him, “Mama blew us kisses papa!” and, “Did you get one too?” he chuckled at them, assuring them that he got one too. Those around the three were nervous, afraid of Beelzebub, so they made sure to say nothing about you, too afraid of his wrath.

-Tesla- They all beamed brightly, smiles identical as they all cheered, making you giggle, hiding your mouth behind your hand at their enthusiasm, all three of them so happy that you blew them all kisses. Tesla was ready to throw hands if someone said something about you that your boys would hear, no hesitation.

-Poseidon- Your boys cheered loudly, waving their arms while Poseidon hid his face in his hand, trying to hide that he was blushing, which Zeus was quickly teasing him over, before Poseidon had Zeus dangling over the arena, “We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you!!” you rolled your eyes lightly, seeing your husband threatening Zeus again.

-The next part of the competition were motherhood challenges, things like preparing meals for picky eaters and soothing crying children who were either scared or hurt.

-To make things fair, they used random human children who had no connections to any of the remaining women in the competition.

-You were back in your normal dress, a flowing black and gold dress, as you approached your child, a little girl, your challenge was to soothe a crying child.

-She blinked up at you, as she was afraid, being apart from her own mother, as you kneeled, her eyes were quickly sparkling at your beauty as you spoke softly, brushing her tears away, speaking gently to her.

-When you found she wanted her mother, you felt anger bubbling up inside you, feeling angry that this competition was willing to make children upset.

-You picked her up, holding her up on your hip and used your magic to fly up into the stands. She loved flying, thinking it was fun, Hera was going to say something, as you left the arena, but when they saw you returning your child to her mother, the Board agreed to allow it, as you met your challenge, comforting the child.

-Your husband couldn’t help but smile, seeing you do this, as he knew you were a wonderful mother, and the cheers that echoed around were almost deafening, after the crowd had seen what you had done.

-The final challenge was a fight, similar to Ragnarok, only without the death of one of the competitors.

-Your opponent was a fertility goddess, one of the women who was the most furious with your win, she wanted to make you pay.

-Frigg was going to oversee the match, speaking to both of you, “Before we commence the final challenge between you two mothers and crown our champion, is there anything either of you would like to say?”

-Your opponent shook her head, ready to fight, but you spoke, “I forfeit the match!” the crowd roared with disbelief and your rival was furious, demanding to know why.

-You smiled softly at her, then to Frigg before you turned up to your husband and your twins, “I am not going to fight, as it would hurt our little one.” As you said this, you put your hand on your belly, announcing to not only your family, but to all of Valhalla, that you were pregnant.

-The cheers were near deafening as you announced this, your husband stunned before he grabbed your boys, jumping down to the arena before all three rushed to you, hugging you tightly, spinning you around before you kneeled, hugging your boys.

-Your rival was stunned that you were pregnant, and that you weren’t going to risk the safety of it, and she smiled, admitting defeat, and she turned to Frigg, forfeiting and Frigg smiled softly, bowing her head softly, “Y/N is our winner!!”

-You were stunned, turning to see the two mothers smiling at you, your rival conceding to you and you smiled softly, bowing your head in thanks.

-Your husband had to deal with the repercussions of you winning the MILF contest again, but he was beyond happy to learn that you were pregnant once again.

-Just shy of eight months later you were in the middle of the Fountain of Youth, wearing a flowing sheer gown of the lightest material you have ever felt, pure white in coloring, holding your baby bump fondly as you breathed through another contraction.

-You wanted your husband here for the birth of your third child, but as the newest Divine Mother, only the Direct Board of Motherhood were allowed to be there in this holy place, bless not only your but your child as well.

-Your duties as a Divine Mother had kept you busy and active, going around to visit other expecting mothers, blessing the children around Valhalla, and being doted on as you were pregnant yourself.

-Eve held your hand, letting you lean back into her as Frigg was before you, guiding you through your labor until your child was born, a sigh of relief leaving you as you fell back into Eve, who giggled softly, patting your head.

-After you and the fountain had been cleaned up, after the blessing the other mothers bestowed upon your baby, you were taken to a room to rest, and your husband and sons were summoned.

-When they entered your husband froze at the door, seeing the bundle in your arms, seeing the glowing radiance around you as your boys ran over, quickly crawling into the bed with you, stars in their eyes, seeing the baby, making you smile gently, sitting up to show them.

-Once your husband was sitting next to you, he pulled you into a soft kiss, his thumb stroking your cheek, praising your hard work before he looked down at his third child.

-You smiled warmly at your husband, “Would you like to hold your daughter?” they all froze, jaws dropped before your boys squealed over having a sister while your husband flatlined, making you giggle, knowing he would react like that to receiving the news of a daughter.

-You knew that she was going to be well protected, between not only her older brothers, but her father, and your father and brother as well.

-You leaned back, resting a bit more, smiling at your family.

[ejzah]

A/N: A late happy fourth to those celebrating!

***

Fireworks and Steaks

“Hey Dad, Mom needs another bag of ice,” Rosa called into the house, where Deeks was filling plates with raw steaks and hot dogs.

The Deeks-Blye second annual Fourth of July cookout was well underway. Sam, Callen, and Anna, among others, had gathered in the back.

“Ok. Can you bring this out to Sam?”

“Sure. ¿Necesitas alguna ayuda?”

“No soy bueno. I’ll be right out.”

When he came out a few minutes later with a bag full of ice, he found everyone gathered on the patio, chatting and eating snacks. Kensi and Callen were grouped around Sam at the grill, while Kilbride was once again in conversation with an animated Roberta, sans Arkady. A blanket spread out next to the patio served as a temporary playpen for Caleb and Sophia, though they kept making attempts to crawl to the freedom of the grass, their progress impeded by Kensi and Rosa in turn.

“So, how soon can we break out the sparklers?” Callen asked after the third attempt, leaning against the railing they’d installed around the patio shortly after the twins started crawling. He held a beer in one hand, a cookie in the other.

“Let me get this straight, you want to put glorified sticks of fire, which happen to be one of the most dangerous fireworks available I might add, into the hands of my eight month olds?” Deeks clarified incredulously.

“I mean I’d give it a year or two. They probably should be able to walk or run.”

“You’re a menace,” Sam commented without any heat.

“Didn’t you let Aiden shoot bottle rockets out of an empty coke bottle?”

“He was ten and I supervised the whole time,” Sam defended himself, waving his tongs at Callen.

“We thought we’d start out with snakes and smoke bombs and ease our way into the explosives,” Kensi joked. She grabbed a cookie, and came to stand beside Deeks, wrapping her free arm around his middle.

“You can’t tell me both of you never played with fireworks when you were a kid,” Callen persisted.

“Ray always had a bag of stuff he got from some guy selling on the corner or out of a car trunk,” Deeks admitted. Kensi tilted her up as he spoke, her eyebrows furrowing. “Most of it was stupid little trinkets that didn’t work, but a couple times he got his hands on an actual fountain or firecracker with some power behind it. This one year, we were maybe twelve-thirteen, and Ray runs over to my house all excited and secretive.

He smiled at the memory; they’d been simultaneously too mature and hopelessly naive.

“Somehow he’d found like an M-80 or 100, completely illegally of course. So we waited until after dark, walked to a park, and for reasons I can not explain, decided to light it on the playground.”

“Oh no,” Rosa muttered from the blanket. Caleb looked up curiously at her tone of voice.

“Yeah. We exploded a slide. Maybe a couple of swings. Fortunately, we were just smart enough to move away before it went off.”

“What did you do after that?” Callen asked, sounding more curious than anything.

“We ran like hell. Promised to never breathe a word to anyone and snuck back into our rooms, praying that no one would figure out we did it,” Deeks finished.

“And did they?” Sam asked in between flipping a few of the thinner steaks.

“Miraculously, no.” Deeks chuckled, still amazed by the fact to this day. “There were a couple articles about it in the paper that week, but no one ever even brought it up to us.”

“Wow, you never told me that story before,” Kensi commented, tilting her head as she quilted up at him.

“Well, it’s hardly my finest moment,” Deeks said with a shrug. “After that, I never set off another firework with Ray again.”

“Oh, that’s so much worse than what I did!” Kensi said gleefully.

“Wait, what did you do?” Deeks asked.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that now. Besides, it’s almost time to eat.”

“Nah, I got another two steaks to grill. You got plenty of time,” Sam said, leaning back. “Spill.”

“I’d love to hear it,” Rosa piped up.

“I hate you all,” Kensi sighed.

“Please, Kensi, not on Independence Day,” Callen said with faux indignation.

“This might be better than fireworks,” Rosa commented.

A happy Fourth of July indeed,” Callen commented, raising his beer in a toast.

***

A/N: I decided that Rosa might be comfortable calling Kensi and Deeks mom and dad at times by now.

[technicianuprisingau]

Kirbtober 2024 Companion Pieces - Week Three

A companion lore piece to the ongoing Kirbtober, using the list by @paintpanic. You can see the full art collection for this week here.

Day 14: Miracle

About time we discuss the Hypernova ability in full detail.

In this AU, the Miracle Fruit is used more as a slight power booster. To other beings they grant a bump on all stats with no cosmetic changes (except glowing, colorful eyes), but to puffballs, oddly, that's a different story. This is why the Hypernova ability is indeed an ability, not a state - they change their appearance entirely when touching one.

Hypernova ability is no longer stuck to just "big ass inhale" because screw you, we can be a little creative than that. See those wisps-like things? They are called 'seeds' (I should've shown them as proper seeds but look I'm tired) and each of them creates a specific boost.

In fact, this ability's entire gimmick is boosting an aspect of themselves or allies. There are 4 aspects each user can amplify, albeit they can only amplify one at a time, depending on the seed color they pick:

Strength [magenta]

Sturdiness/Defense [blue]

Speed [yellow]

Personal Aspect (depends on user's bonded ability and the most mastered/favored technique of said user's bonded ability - pure puffballs who don't attune to any ability gets a huge inhale boost by default) [black]

Currently, at least for Kirby, he can only boost himself. He's not mastering it entirely yet, and it's not helped by the fact he doesn't attune himself permanently to it. Bonding with the ability can unlock neat things such as being able to boost two or more aspects at once at the cost of energy increase or being able to boost more than one person at a time.

And yes, the colors are a CMYK joke. Let me have this I learned graphic design.

Day 15: Cutscene Redraw

Learner grasping at straws to find an easy cutscene to draw moment. Seriously, had I have far more energy and time and persistent, I would've drawn the concept for Robobot Armor's activation scene but... *looks at how painful drawing this bastard is* No. Just. No.

Anyways, did you know that Kirby keeps the Rainbow Sword and some legendary final weapons inside the Fountain of Dreams. No, I will not explain further for now. Good luck guessing how and why.

Day 16: Overgrown

Another Hypernova ability-related picture? Anyways.

You may notice that Kirby here lacks a scarf. That's because the scarf was given to him 2 months before events of Planet Robobot, which happens a year after Triple Deluxe. Also, yes, that is a young Sectonia in her young royal dress. She was a decent princess actually, even when she made a second identity as Joronia so she can escape the castle and all...

It's just a shame that once she became queen and the mirror got involved, things got messy... and Kirby was, unfortunately, predestined to kill her. This too, was a long story.

Day 17: Galaxy

You know how Kirby has these starry-like eyes in Star Allies? Well, here in this AU it's… not something all puffballs have. In fact, most if not all puffballs have plain eyes. Either glowing or normal. Kirby's eyes ARE normal… but actually, whenever he feels happy, content, or just really high, good emotions in general, the blue part of his eyes has this whole galaxy/star look to it.

Apparently, this is also a trait that a certain lost legendary family has - apparently, their family were given these eyes, heriditary since birth, as a 'blessing' from the stars themselves for charting them as they were once astronomers. So maybe they are connected? Or is that family not the only one? There are seriously a lot of mystery about those…

Day 18: Mirror

Rare gijinka entry, this time, because I am paying my dues for @somethinginworl's gikabi server. You may remember Seikyo - yes, that is their name - from a past story... yeah, that's the gijinka being featured here. Due to some weird Mirror World rules (and the fact that Seikyo is, well, created not by the mirror specifically, it's by Shadow Kirby), you can consider them a weird outlier... or a mirror of the rest of Team Starstruck that isn't Kirby. Weird how there is no mirror of those two, eh?

The actual gijinka design doesn't look like this, they just... dressed, for the occasion. Don't worry about it!

Day 19: AU/Parallel

Not really something lore intensive or anything but... this is just a really fun bonus. I try to find mutuals who I remember to have Kirby AUs, and then draw their Kirbies just hanging out here, carrying their fav drinks and eating a full pan of strawberry shortcake which they demolished by the time this pic is captured. Madmans.

From left to right we have:

Astral Reiteration AU, a twist on Star Allies lore with big angsty lore and a lot of creative liberty by @george228732;

NextGen AU, pretty much a future AU where Kirby became the king of Dreamland by @itsquakey;

...you know what this one is, by me;

And finally, SkyArc AU, which is "what if Dreamland is a bunch of floating islands and everything takes place up up in the sky?" by @autumnleafdraws.

I was racing against time to add AR!Kirby to the mix LMAO. I just love all these little goobers.

While I can't speak for the rest of the Kirbies... Here's a little lore something for TU!Kirby, the usual: this little guy loves milk coffee! He prefers it like that compared to his Meta Knight who prefers it extra black. He keeps both ratios balanced most of the time though.

[heygirltimeformorning]

🤠😱🤪 for the ask game!

🤠- favorite AU genre

I will ramble more on this. I also like crossover AUs - give me the 118 working with the BAU from criminal minds, or working with Det Benson & Stabler from SVU any day of the week.

I feel like I was a little harsh on canon-divergent AUs - I like them fine, they just aren’t my preferred flavor. Kind of like a fountain Diet Coke vs Diet Coke in a can.

😱- favorite moment in a favorite fic

Okay, well, the moment that immediately sprung to mind I can't talk about bc the fic is not published yet and I am waiting VERY PATIENTLY.

so let's go with this moment from @wildehacked's "all of the girls you loved before" (every single word of which is excellent) but my favorite was:

"Buck could feel Tommy’s ribs getting bigger and smaller with his breathing, this big powerful beautiful man so delicate and vulnerable in Buck’s arms. It made him feel like—like when he and Chris went to the zoo and looked at the tigers, and fantasized about petting one. It made him feel like a little girl who loves horses, like a little girl who just won the Kentucky Derby, like the girl in that one book Maddie had when he was a kid. My Friend Flicka? But in a sexy, tremulous, romantic way."

Because horse girl Buck? Y E AH.

🤪- wild card, ramble about something

Charlie, don't tempt me like this, I am a YAPPER.

okay, but seriously, I think what I want to ramble about is, uh, how much I love fandom? gross. okay. I'm about to trauma dump for a second.

My baby sister (she was 25) died two months and six days ago, and then I couldn't sleep, so my doctor was like "here's some hydroxyzine" and then I had a very, very strange dream where Buddie adopted a little girl named Kip (i don't know, babe), and woke up and I was like "well. I suppose it's time for my return to fanfiction." and, because I literally cannot do a single thing on my own, I started looking for friends and support & I ?? found them.

@distractionpie and I talk about the episode every Friday morning and it's literally one of the highlights of my week. They also let me get in their messages and yap (literally nonstop) about Buck and gender etc etc, and they are genuinely so brilliant and insightful. The two Buddie fics they've posted (late nights, early mornings & RA118) both did things to me that I still don't fully understand.

@dracculaura was my very first fandom friend, and I got blackout drunk at a drag show and they were very patient and kind with me. They are my emotional support raccoon, and they hold my hand through almost every fic. They were instrumental in the Paris fic, because I have never been to Paris (literally or figuratively) and I was having some logistic issues. Their Buddie fic, "to come home," about the way that Eddie and Buck allow the assumptions to just, happen, is such a sweet little companion to the moments we know and love from canon.

@playinginthunderstorms (yes, you) is my sister wife. Charlie, you regularly activate my muse (there are Things in the Works, okay, that are all her fault). Charlie gets me - I can literally say like, "purple scrunchie" and she'll be like "yeah, totally, ali, here's a fic that will destroy all the feelings you have about that." Every single one of Charlie's Buddie fics are phenomenal, and I credit her "wonderstruck, blushing" with the fact that I think about Buck being 80% leg 99% of the time. Charlie is a master of the coda, and her canon rewrites are the stuff of legends.

(these are just the three people I talk to the most - if I listed every single mootie like I want to, I'd be here all night, and I turn into a pumpkin after 10pm I'm sorryyyyy)

The people in this fandom are kind and brilliant and I stopped believing in god a long time ago, but I do believe that the universe gives us what we need when it royally fucks us over, and what I needed was a soft place to land - and some gay firefighters - and that's what I got.

ugh, now I'm emotional.

FANKS, BABES.

(wanna play?)

[dadmightandkyojurohavemyheart]

Paradigm Shift (Female Izuku AU)

Yagi Toshinori was no stranger to sacrifice, but nothing quite hurt like leaving Inko Midoriya behind at that café. It it had to be done for her safety though.

15 years later, the last thing he expects is to fish a notebook out of a school fountain, only to meet a girl with Inko's hair and his eyes. When she introduces herself as Izumi Midoriya, the truth hits.

He'd given up more than Inko all those years ago.

Now with two relationships he needs to build and repair, Yagi has to learn more than how to be a good teacher, but a father as well...

Starting with how Izumi got that burn on her face. Though the way she flinches tells him he isn't going to like the answer.

Chapter One

Izumi

“Stop it, Kacchan!” I stood between my friend and the boy he'd been bullying, wishing the shaking all but tearing through me would stop. Standing up to him was scary enough without that.

His friends laughed, pointing and jeering. “Aw, look at her. She's so scared, she'll probably pee herself before too long!”

Once upon a time, Kacchan would have gotten angry at someone for saying that to me. A month ago, he would have jumped in, all fire and blazing eyes while threatening anyone who tried to hurt me.That was before, now was…different.

He sneered, miniature explosions gathering in his palm as he lashed out toward me. “Don't try to be a hero, you're just a quirkless piece of trash. A pebble in my way!”

I didn't dodge in time and pain bloomed along my cheek, tears blurring my vision next as I stumbled back, desperately needing space between me and the cruel stranger who'd taken Kacchan's place over the last month.

The boy I'd helped ran without looking back and Kacchan glared after him, eyes all but sparking with the same explosive force as his power. Once he was out of sight, that gaze dropped to me again and I crawled away, cradling the new burn on my jaw.

He didn't let me get far, his hand lashing out with another round of explosions. “You'll never be a hero, not like me!” The shrill words dug in like needles and I ducked, trying to hide most of my face.

Why did I have to be born without a quirk? Everything would be the same as it was if I'd gotten one, even Mom's! Kacchan would still be my friend, I wouldn't have to run from him every day…It wasn't fair!

Curling tighter into myself, I waited for another round of pain. Only, it didn't come.

Instead, Kacchan's voice cracked out with…fear. “What the hell?!”

When nothing happened after a second, I slowly cracked an eye open. Kacchan stood in front of me, his hand hovering between us. He stared at it, his face a mix of angry and terrified as he waved it forcibly through the air. “Why isn't it working?!”

His quirk wasn't working?

Immediately, concern ballooned out, eclipsing my fear and pain. I'd never heard about someone's quirk suddenly disappearing before. Was something wrong with Kacchan?

His eyes widened, fear I'd never seen before glowing off him as he turned to me and spat. “What did you do? Are you contagious or something?!”

His friends backed away as if I were diseased and he warily retreated too. A pang of hurt cut through me before I shook my head. “No, I don't know what's happening!”

He balled his fist and pulled it back, “You have to be the one who did this, you quirkless freak!”

Before he could let the punch fly, an unfamiliar voice cut in. “It wasn't her, you rabid pomeranian. It was me.”

Kacchan stepped back, allowing me to see the form hovering on the edge of the clearing.It was a girl around our age, her dark hair cut roughly at her ears in a jagged line, and her eyes…Her eyes were glowing red. She was erasing Kacchan's quirk.

Fascination burned to the surface under my fear and thousands of questions pushed their way to the front. How did that work? Could she use it on more than one person at a time?That would be amazing for hostage situations or hero work! She was so lucky.

Kacchan turned, forcing me back to the present as he bared his teeth.“I'm not a fruit, you stupid brat! Whatever you're doing, quit it, before I kill you!”

She raised a brow, clearly unimpressed. “Pomeranian isn't a fruit, idiot. It's a dog. And for someone spouting off about being number one hero, you sure talk about killing a lot. Are you sure you're not trying to be a villain?”

Kacchan's fists shook, sweat trailing down them in lines but not igniting, as he clearly wanted it to.“Shut up and give me my quirk back!” His tone shook just a tiny bit and the girl scoffed.

“Why should I? You were just hurting her for being quirkless. Maybe you don't deserve to have a quirk if that's how you treat people who don't have one.”

Kacchan lunged toward her, fist raised with a scream. “I'll force you if you won't do it on your own!”

She sidestepped him and struck, fist colliding with Kacchan's jaw. “If you want your quirk back, then walk away. I hate bullies and I won't let you hurt her again.”

Kacchan stumbled, cradling his cheek now as he eyed her warily. His friends stayed back, clearly afraid of what she could do, and when he noticed that, he scoffed. “You're all nothing but extras, you aren't worth my time.”

He stormed off, his cronies following behind. Once they were gone, I faced the girl and swallowed my tears.“Thanks.”

She walked over and shrugged, offering a hand down to me as her eyes faded from red to black. “It's like I said, I don't like bullies. Are you okay? That looks pretty bad.”

I nodded, ignoring the sting lancing through my cheek. “I'll be okay. You should be careful though, Kacchan will be really mad with you now. If he thinks you're friends with me, it'll only make it worse.”

She helped me up and brushed the dirt off my back with a shrug. “I don't care. He's not scary…not really.”

Her eyes drifted to the side as if she were staring at something only she could see. Something shifted in the air and I nudged her, not liking the sudden heaviness.“Your quirk is really cool, you could use it to help hundreds-no, thousands of people!”

She flushed and shifted between her feet. “I don't think it's that great, I can only use it on one person at a time. Besides,” She looked away and frowned, “Mom doesn't like it when I use it. She gets…really upset.”

Something about how she said it made my skin crawl. She almost seemed afraid, but I had to be wrong. That was her Mom.There was nothing to be scared of, right?

Putting that aside, I took her hand and pulled toward my house. “Well, I think it's really cool.” Biting my lip, I looked down and asked. “If you really don't mind Kacchan, I'd like it if we could be friends. Do you want to play heroes? I have a lot of figurines we can play with, if you promise to be careful with them.”

She hesitated for a second before slowly nodding. “I'd like that.” Then she offered a hand. “I'm Akane. What's your name?”

I took it and shook how Mom showed me. “I'm Izumi, come on. My house isn't that far!”

Mom would probably be worried about the burn though…Running my hand over it, I led the way down the road and asked. “Hey, can you not tell my Mom about this?”

Akane frowned and raised a brow. “Do you think she won't notice a burn on your face?”

Well, when she put it like that…

“Maybe we could just not say who did it? Kacchan is my friend. I don't want to get him in trouble.”

It would only make his sudden anger worse and if I wanted to have my friend back, I couldn't tell Mom.

She grimaced and shook her head. “I don't like this. If he's willing to hurt you and be mean to people, are you sure he's a good friend?”

I bit my lip and looked away. “I know he's mean now, but maybe he'll go back to being my friend soon. Please, just don't tell Mom?”

For a second, I thought she'd refuse, but after a long minute, she nodded with a sigh.“Fine, but I'm not going to let him hurt you.”

She took my hand and smiled. “That's what friends do, right?”

I beamed and nodded. “Right! Let's go home, I have so many All Might action figures to show you.”

I grabbed her hand and ran, Akane following without complaint despite the speed. Excitement bubbled through me and I didn't bother tamping it down.

After Kacchan changed, I wasn't sure I'd ever have a friend again. If he could turn against me like that without warning, anyone could.

But maybe he'd go back to being MY Kacchan soon. In the meantime, I'd made another friend and I couldn't wait to show her all my All Might stuff.

[th3-0bjectivist]

     Aaaaahhhhhh, Lucia Cifarelli! Dear listener, we’re smack-dab in the middle of Lady-Vocalist-Hotties-Who-Rock month here on my page, and Lucia is an inspiration to us all. Miss Cifarelli happened to inspire me in many ways over the years. And I’m not just referring to her smoking hot looks. I’m into her wide-ranging vocal prowess and aptitude for music-making as well. This is a woman who hit her fiftieth birthday two years ago… and I could not care less! She has aged like a fine wine and demonstrated mental and physical agility throughout her musical career. Lucia worked her way up from virtually nothing, spending her late teens and early 20’s song writing and shortly thereafter formulating a quick-burning and long-forgotten 90’s hard rock band called Drill. From there, she set upon a brief solo career, followed by a long-abiding partnership with a little anti-establishment German group you may have heard of called KMFDM. Lucia found her way into KMFDM through MDFMK, a very temporary off-shoot of the former, and eventually married KMFDM group founder Sascha Konietzko. Lucia struggled to achieve every scrap of her success in the music industry along the way. After reading some interviews with her, I’m convinced that even she thought she was destined for an alternate career serving fast food at certain points. However, miss Cifarelli is no average woman, and managed to impress the right people in the music world all the way up until she landed a permanent fixture in an already popular band, performing nearly 500 live shows with KMFDM in her prime and up to the present day. Hey, career-driven young women! You want an example of a powerful modern woman who deserved to realize her life’s aspirations? Lucia should be your CASE STUDY. She has demonstrated passion, personality, and profitability by fighting tooth-and-nail for her destiny. Even when she was at her lowest, Lucia didn’t lay down like a lazy fool when things got hard. She got up repeatedly after face-planting, dusted herself off, and tried again, and again, and AGAIN. She fought for every penny, every fan, and put high amounts of energy into her vocals and live shows to tackle her personal dreams! This is Little Rose from her first solo album in 2003, From the Land of Volcanos, which she has stated was recorded during one of the most desperate times in her life. Smash play, enjoy and stay tuned. One more week of hot lady vocalists coming up!

     Sascha Konietzko… you are a lucky, LUCKY man. What are they putting in the water in Germany? Droplets from the fountain of youth? This photo was taken a mere six years ago. She’s somehow managed to age in reverse over the years! Image source: https://twitter.com/LuciaKMFDM/status/907366045668737024

[smokeybrand]

Twincest

I have been absolutely captivated by Rachel Weisz for years. I was introduced to this vision of beauty like most of my peers, way back when the Brendan Fraser Mummy flick dropped. Her Evy Carnahan made that film for me. I mean, it’s excellent on it’s own, so campy and hilarious, but i left that theater back in the waning days of the Nineties, one hundred percent smitten with Weisz. My adoration for her definitely started as a teenage crush but, as time has gone on and my cinematic sensibilities have matured, I've fallen in love with her acting ability. Rachel Weisz never misses, man. Sunshine, Enemy at the Gates, The Constant Gardener, The Fountain, The Lovely Bones, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Lobster, Disobedience, and The Favourite are all favorites but Constantine definitely stands out. I have written at length about my love for that flick. I mean, The Favourite is up there, too, but Constantine is just aces in my book, mostly because Rachel Weisz kills it.

Obviously, whenever she has a project drop, I'm giving it my full attention and her newest just so happens to be an updated re-imagining of one of my favorite Cronenberg blood baths. You know i had to check out Dead Ringers! I’m a fan of horror. Have been for years so Croneneberg’s unique vision of the grotesque and the horrible always rings truer to my eye than, say, Clive Barker. Toss Rachel Weisz into the mix, turn it from a two hour film, into an six episode, prestige mini-series on Amazon, and i am there with bells on!  Listen, I'm not going to spoil anything about this show. Not even a goddamn hint. I am just going to gush about how f*cking amazing this viewing experience was and how i am devastated that it’s over. Off the top, Dead Ringers is excellent. Go watch that sh*t, right now. It’s on Amazon so if you have Prime, you got it. If you don’t, pay the ten dollars or whatever for the month and binge that sh*t because it’s inspired! Weisz delivers one of her best performances, playing dueling twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle. They’re Gynecologists who do gynecological things, brilliantly, until they don’t. And things get weird. Then they get bloody. Also, even weirder. The rest of the supporting cast really carries their own weight, especially the likes of Jennifer Ehle. Her Rebecca Parker is just so insidiously delightful.

Even more than the performances, i have to praise the exceptionally strong direction. Four people took the helm over these six episodes and the tone maintained a steady feel. You’d never know that someone different directed episodes two through five. But, for me, the cherry on top of this ridiculously fattening cinematic sundae, was the cinematography. God, his show is shot beautifully! Each frame is a goddamn work of art. It reminds me of an Ari Aster film or that old Hannibal show from NBC which was criminally canceled. Dead Ringers is everything you want in a prestige television series. It’s a solidly performed epic, full of violence, sex, intrigue, and the darkest humor this side of Fargo. If the idea of Rachel Weisz playing unhinged and genius identical twins with a penchant for the sapphic isn’t enough to grab your attention, then do it for the bonkers spiral over six episodes. If you’ve seen the original Cronenberg film from the Eighties, you have the broad strokes of the plot but make no mistake; This version of that story is definitely it’s own thing. It’s more “inspired by” than a direct, gender-bent, remake. I positively cherished my time in this world and want to play within it much, much, more. If you have a morning or afternoon to kill, take the time to savor this show. It’s so deliciously perfect!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Twincest

I have been absolutely captivated by Rachel Weisz for years. I was introduced to this vision of beauty like most of my peers, way back when the Brendan Fraser Mummy flick dropped. Her Evy Carnahan made that film for me. I mean, it’s excellent on it’s own, so campy and hilarious, but i left that theater back in the waning days of the Nineties, one hundred percent smitten with Weisz. My adoration for her definitely started as a teenage crush but, as time has gone on and my cinematic sensibilities have matured, I've fallen in love with her acting ability. Rachel Weisz never misses, man. Sunshine, Enemy at the Gates, The Constant Gardener, The Fountain, The Lovely Bones, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Lobster, Disobedience, and The Favourite are all favorites but Constantine definitely stands out. I have written at length about my love for that flick. I mean, The Favourite is up there, too, but Constantine is just aces in my book, mostly because Rachel Weisz kills it.

Obviously, whenever she has a project drop, I'm giving it my full attention and her newest just so happens to be an updated re-imagining of one of my favorite Cronenberg blood baths. You know i had to check out Dead Ringers! I’m a fan of horror. Have been for years so Croneneberg’s unique vision of the grotesque and the horrible always rings truer to my eye than, say, Clive Barker. Toss Rachel Weisz into the mix, turn it from a two hour film, into an six episode, prestige mini-series on Amazon, and i am there with bells on!  Listen, I'm not going to spoil anything about this show. Not even a goddamn hint. I am just going to gush about how f*cking amazing this viewing experience was and how i am devastated that it’s over. Off the top, Dead Ringers is excellent. Go watch that sh*t, right now. It’s on Amazon so if you have Prime, you got it. If you don’t, pay the ten dollars or whatever for the month and binge that sh*t because it’s inspired! Weisz delivers one of her best performances, playing dueling twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle. They’re Gynecologists who do gynecological things, brilliantly, until they don’t. And things get weird. Then they get bloody. Also, even weirder. The rest of the supporting cast really carries their own weight, especially the likes of Jennifer Ehle. Her Rebecca Parker is just so insidiously delightful.

Even more than the performances, i have to praise the exceptionally strong direction. Four people took the helm over these six episodes and the tone maintained a steady feel. You’d never know that someone different directed episodes two through five. But, for me, the cherry on top of this ridiculously fattening cinematic sundae, was the cinematography. God, his show is shot beautifully! Each frame is a goddamn work of art. It reminds me of an Ari Aster film or that old Hannibal show from NBC which was criminally canceled. Dead Ringers is everything you want in a prestige television series. It’s a solidly performed epic, full of violence, sex, intrigue, and the darkest humor this side of Fargo. If the idea of Rachel Weisz playing unhinged and genius identical twins with a penchant for the sapphic isn’t enough to grab your attention, then do it for the bonkers spiral over six episodes. If you’ve seen the original Cronenberg film from the Eighties, you have the broad strokes of the plot but make no mistake; This version of that story is definitely it’s own thing. It’s more “inspired by” than a direct, gender-bent, remake. I positively cherished my time in this world and want to play within it much, much, more. If you have a morning or afternoon to kill, take the time to savor this show. It’s so deliciously perfect!

[humbleandhungry]

Anxiety & The Bigger Picture

“And I heard the voice of the LORD saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’”

This passage from Isaiah 6 dictates exactly how I fell into this internship. Starting in November of 2023, every time I served on Cultivate’s worship team, I felt a pull. Not the typical ��Holy-Spirit-is-moving” pull, but something deeper. Something inside me that I hadn’t felt once in the past seven years. There was a revival coming in this community, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I prayed, and I prayed hard. I practically begged God for discernment, guidance, clarity, whatever you want to call it. I tried to distract myself from it, ranting extensively to my friends and family and whoever else would listen. It was months of this anxious feeling, itching for something bigger, something beyond myself.

April 2024, I made the decision to take a break from volunteering.

“But Kelsi, wouldn’t you want to be volunteering more? What made you think taking a break was going to solve your problem?”

Jesus sought solitude. He literally slept on a boat in the middle of a storm. Jesus needed rest when the world was getting to be too much for Him, and He longed for peace to be with His father in heaven. I took a month off, and I prayed. I sought the Lord and what His will was for my life. I prayed for what felt like days in a row, without end.

When God allowed me to volunteer again, I was blessed with a fresh mind and renewed faith that whatever happened would be a part of His plan.

August 11th, 2024. It’s 7am and I’m shivering. Cultivate’s outdoor service has fallen on our once-a-quarter baptisms, and the tub is being filled. I’m playing bass, assisting on vocals, and fervently praying for the Holy Spirit to guide people to Jesus.

I was anxious. My first outdoor service, the possibility of an internship, baptisms, everything was coming to a turning point. I hardly ever get nervous on stage, but something big was coming.

There was that stirring again, and I knew it was going to be a good day.

Throughout worship and Anthony’s message, there was a tugging deep within my soul that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Or, for the next six months.

We return to the stage to cover underneath baptisms and testimonies. The line of new believers was impressive, 5 or 6 people about to make the best decision of their lives.

I wasn’t made to be tending a grave I was called by name Born and raised back to life again I was made for more So why would I make a bed in my shame When a fountain of grace is running my way I know I am Yours And I was made for more

After our planned baptisms, we give a spontaneous opportunity for those who feel called to step into the water. The worship team plays a little bit of “Made for More”, a song that is so powerful for those who are experiencing the transformative power of Jesus and that we are created for a purpose beyond our imagination.

Something incredible happened. A young woman, about my age, walked through the side door of the church with a “RAISED TO LIFE” t-shirt on. She had made the decision to publicly proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and savior of her life. I had just met this girl weeks before, and I had quickly cultivated a friendship with her. She shared her struggle, her pain, but also God’s goodness and faithfulness, and here she was, getting baptized right in front of me.

I couldn’t stop the tears. No matter who is in the water, baptism is a very emotional sacrament for me. I was meant to co-lead a song after baptisms to celebrate the new life people have stepped into, but I felt my voice cracking like an egg. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, I sounded completely normal in the online service.

Great! People got baptized, Kelsi’s not anxious anymore, all is happy and well in Hamilton, Michigan. What’s the point?

The "big picture" is SO MUCH bigger than we could think of or even imagine.

I spent months worrying about this internship. I’ve been consistently anxious for about nine years — which is a tangent for another time — and I find my rest in Jesus. I eagerly watched two of my best friends, Josh and Karter, walk through their own internships and grow into amazing leaders and better followers of Christ. Through their struggles and hardships, they leaned on God’s perfect will and knew His plan was better. All of the things that didn’t work out and were disappointing ended up turned for their good. I saw God move in their lives in astonishing ways because they abided in Him and trusted Him through everything.

I saw what God had done for the boys, and found myself asking, when is it going to be my turn, Lord? When am I going to get to shine like they do? I’m convinced that the mentality of “my turn” is what kept God’s plan hidden for so long. I wasn’t being driven by my true purpose of glorifying God, but by my own selfishness. I hadn’t surrendered my struggle to the Lord, instead trying to trust myself to handle everything.

Here’s the thing, friends:

We cannot do it on our own.

We just can’t. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t care for ourselves (check out Galatians 6:5). Just give it to God. 1 Peter 5:7 says to “cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you”. Isn’t that such a gift? What a blessing to have a gentle, loving Father in heaven who cares for us. Lay your burdens down at the feet of Jesus and surrender. You will find peace that transcends any understanding.

The rest found in Christ cannot be found anywhere else.

Stay humble, stay hungry. Kels :) Psalm 18:2

[meldacioxhq]

He was still gettin' used to there being an almost-third head hunter on the map. Word in the outposts had it that young Kim was servin' as head hunter of Lestallum to ease the pull on resources. Astrals knew Dave was tryin' to juggle the rest of the map an' Ezma wasn't able t'get about like old times. Still, it was a good development, if anyone asked Cid. He could well remember Dave being Kim's age and being thrust out into the open world as head hunter an' told to figure it out. This seemed a better way t'learn for his daughter - to ease her into the role with one outpost first an' then see how much more responsibilities she could take on. Slowly clamberin' up onto the rooftop, Cid waved away the hunters that tried to help him; he was ornery enough at havin' to relocate to Lestallum. "Kimi, there's still some good resources left at Hammerhead," the old mechanic ambled over, one hand at his back as the old bones gave a complaint, but he was quiet for a moment, takin' jus' how much this young lady was resemblin' her mother these days. She wasn't a kid no more. "I know it's too dangerous for folks like me t'live there, but Hammerhead's still good. She still has resources an' room for yer hunters to stay there overnight if they got hunts that direction or are travellin' to Formouth from the Longwythe direction." Maybe there was a defiant part o' the old man that jus' didn't wanna see his home fall to abandoned ruin like so many other smaller locations on the map.

lestallum had changed so much from the city she'd almost begged her pops to bring her along whenever he'd been heading there - her naive eyes desperate to see what stalls had popped up at the outlook this time round, or what colourful posters were pasted to the walls of the narrow alleys - what cactuar figurines were at the market? what about the fountain outside the leville - were folks still playing music and dancing in the scorching heat?

the colour had faded now. the music too. the narrow streets and alleys squeezed tighter with the population explosion that had been thrust upon the city.

but it was their saving grace - if it hadn't been for lestallum, there was no tellin' how many folks would've perished. there'd be no power grid neither - nothin' outside of whatever fuel and batteries they found to power the lights that kept the remaining outposts safe.

and it was still incredibly hot and humid here - another small grace. no need to worry about how to power heating or find fuel to burn to keep the city's inhabitants warm.

swiping at a few stray strands of her hair that stuck to her forehead, kim turned when she heard a murmuring behind her, only to see old cid wave away two of the newest recruits to join the hunters. kim shot the taller of the duo - kunsel - an apologetic look as he fell foul to cid's infamous temper.

' - y'keep scowlin' like that and you'll scare 'em away. '

standing by the side of the map table, kim felt her smile falter at cid's next words: hammerhead.

there was an urge to roll her eyes, but kim managed to suppress it, silently chiding herself - how would she feel if meldacio had to be abandoned? sure, she was stayin' at lestallum with the last few months, but meldacio was still home. an' the thought of it fallin' into darkness was a thought she didn't want to dwell on too long ... galdin quay was still too bitter of a pill to swallow.

but their resources were scarce, at best. yes, they could certainly do with saving anything that hammerhead still had to boast, but to keep it connected to the grid? well, there had to be a sound logic behind doing so, and unfortunately nostalgia wasn't one of the reasons that would fly with the committee.

heaving a sigh, the young woman looked down at the map and the winding roads that snaked across lucis; what cid said didn't make a whole lot of sense logistically. these days they stuck to the shortest route from a to b. if hunters were headin' for formouth, then the shortest route from meldacio and lestallum was along the main road that ran along lingagh haven and pullmoor haven, the road ran close to where prairie was and formouth itself, two other havens hugging close to the roadway - lepellieth and entethina.

the shortest route to formouth didn't encompass hammerhead.

but it did run through that old coernix station that overlooked the slough. the place that was now abandoned. she'd only skirted the subject with her grams, but kimi had known her grams well enough to know something hadn't been quite right with whatever had happened there - the fact that her pops and kaleb had both gone to investigate was worryin' in itself - two alleyway jacks and not an ounce of intel on a bounty?

it didn't make sense. but if that place was deemed too dangerous, then they'd have to rethink the routes the hunts and supply runs took - they'd have t'switch to the longer route that took the trucks past wiz's old farm an' out by longwythe, follow that road and they were lookin' right at hammerhead before turnin' left for formouth.

it weren't set in stone, and it was a shot in the dark to give the old mechanic some bit o' solace, and try t'serve the hunters best to - and it'd all depend on what happened at that coernix station, but it was the best she could offer right now.

' i can't make no promises cid, but i will bring it up to the committee. i'll be headin' back to meldacio in the next few days, need to talk with grams and pops about some things and i'll see what they think o' hammerhead. '