#my sweet fucked up pally

[juice-enjoyer]

watch what you say, say what you are

i've been in love with apparitions of death

my mind has left

and my life is only threads

[mad-milking-machine]

heya pally, how would ya feel about meetin’ me at a motel sometime

we can fuck nasty and rough and all dat in the evening and afterwards we fall asleep together, just a tangle of gangly arms and legs and our chests pressed together and your cheek is stuck to mine with sweat and warmth

we wake up in the mornin’ with the light filterin’ through the cobwebby blinds, i notice ya got a little morning wood so i casually push my thigh against your heat and you smile sleepily and barely bother to open your eyes as you grind on it

we could just lay there for hours, ya know? just you and me, fuckin’ slow and sweet, makin’ out, not worryin’ about nothin, just taking our time experiencing each other… we scouts live so fast, sometimes it’s so nice just to relax, right? and who understands a scout better than anotha scout?

RED scout

Jeez Red, ya been awfully sweet lately? Not that i mind, just a surprise, making me blush and wonder if I have enough loose change to rent one room for a whole day

Just.. ya know, studyin ya, examinin' ya body, i know theyre almost identical but c'mon, i need to know where all those pretty scars are, kiss every single one of them... ya wouldnt mind as i trace the ones in ya chest right?

God, i know we usually are at eachother like rabid dogs but just... cuddling like normal ones would be nice too

[gods-of-kanto]

OHHHH So you’re more of a pokemon physician! I was under the impression that you were field researcher. My apologies for assuming! I know some practicing physicians who are also professors. My public health professor, for example, practices palliative care. Do you teach at any universities as well?

Peach: Sort of a Physician, yeah, but i primarily just work on Biology and studying pokemon up close. More often then not, you'll find me behind Pokemon doctors and nurses to help conjure proper care for pokemon.

Peach: Its hard to explain as professor as im more broad than most others, but people often just identify me with either biologist or Physician.

Peach: Yup! I do teach at universities and school alike. I actually have my own show for elementary kids. It's rather sweet that they thought i was the perfect model for teaching children, we had to do so many retakes because i dropped a fuck or shit every once in awhile lol!

[xhuth]

re: last post about the disparity with nurses: it's so insane how much they vary. they're either the worst, cruelest mfers you ever met or compassionate in a way that sticks with you for perhaps the rest of your life.

when my dad was dying, my experience with the nurses was one of the latter... my mom and i would go to sit with him in the ICU for a bit on a few of the days. at this point he was comatose as he was no longer on life-sustaining treatment, so it was just a matter of waiting and doing palliative care. he couldn't go to the hospice home yet since there was no space and/or they were managing an issue with some ants (i know that probably sounds gross/frightening lol but it was approaching summer in nature-y area and there was a general kitchen in there, the rooms had kitchenettes, etc).

but, yeah, the team of nurses in the ICU were incredibly kind and sweet, they would regularly come in to take care of him as we waited to move him. i don't remember a lot, but my mom told me about one of the days where it was just her (i was alternating between being there and going to help my uncle pack up his house--my dad was living on a fucking island in maine, so it was an all-day affair with the ferry and such. nightmarish.) and one of the nurses came in to just, gently comb his hair. and she was just really awash with emotion recalling that from earlier in the day.

also, when we were making arrangements to get to maine asap as things were getting dire, it was difficult to find a place to stay. this was mid-may in a smaller town in maine, where everything revolves around "the season", so most hotels/motels were not actually open for business just yet pre-memorial day. also, it was 2021, so still very early in the thick of covid times. fortunately, my mom contacted a motel in a convenient spot just up the road from the hospital, who allowed us to rent two rooms for the three of us as they were making preparations to open. (it was a motel but the rooms were like, actually these really cute individual little cottages and at a manageable price, it was very nice.)

we actually weren't the only ones staying there--right next to us was a travel nurse who was living there temporarily as she worked at a nearby hospital. not the one my dad was at, but one a little further out. she was all the way from texas and had been staying there for several months already, like at least since september 2020 i think.

anyway we ended up speaking to her for a bit, telling her about our situation and hearing about her job etc. i don't remember much about the one long conversation my mom and i ended up having with her other than i think she told us stuff we or at least my mom found comfort in. what i do remember, though, is that she particularly worked with a lot of dementia/alzheimer's/etc patients, and my dad had dementia by the end so we spoke about that for a bit. and she was talking about how she loved her dementia patients especially. i don't remember a lot of the specifics of what she said about that either, but i think stuff along the lines of compassion and patience with their condition, for the confusion and fear it comes with, appreciating the moments where she could be a comfort to them, speaking to them and hearing what they have to say, etc.

that stuck with me a lot because it is very difficult, painful, and understandably frustrating to have to care for someone with conditions like dementia or alzheimer's, because even when you're doing the best you can and doing everything "right", they understandably can become easily agitated, start acting in ways that are unlike how they were in health, saying absurd things that can be upsetting or hurtful to hear. so, it was something unexpected and heartwarming to hear someone express. i think she might have said something about how she had privilege as a nurse she was lucky to use to be able to do these things for patients, since she doesn't know them personally and doesn't have to balance that pain their families in particular have to struggle through as they see a loved one degrade and suffer mentally from illness and become dissonant with the person they have known and loved for as much as their whole lives.

on the flip side, though, my grandmother was also in the middle of dying at literally the exact same time as all of this. so as soon as my mom got back home she had to pick up and go help her sisters with taking care of their dying mother (who had also been suffering with progressively worsening dementia for the past year). i wasn't there for that/not privy to a lot of the details (and struggled even more to remember any i was told because of how fucking turbulent this time was, lol) (also my mom was preparing to have major surgery in a few weeks' time, of which i was already scheduled to fly down very soon to assist her with) but the nurses there were fucking awful.

they were being stingy with the drugs for my grandmother's palliative care in particular to the point she was noticeably experiencing discomfort in her hospice state, which my mom chewed them out for especially now armed with the immediate experience she had just endured with my dad (telling them "what, are you afraid she's going to get addicted?!" and such lol). there was a nurse that my aunt dubbed "nurse ratched" after the nurse in one flew over the cuckoo's nest due to her attitude and appearance, lmfao. overall that experience was an unfortunate foil to how the care went with my dad.

i didn't expect to type this much or for this long lol thank u if u read and have a spewpa....

[titoist]

hello, i just wanted to say that, in case this sentence struck you in its vaguity as something that could be generally applied to lots of the unpleasant but unavoidable ideas and concepts that seem to accost people in their daily lives, that seem so unavoidable and common as the sidewalk you walk on but no less painful for it, and that this is in fact a point in its favor as something that simply defines a mental process who's details could comprise any shape, then you are objectively wrong. this sentence is about something in specific and it is about the condition of having been born in a male body and knowing that i will die in a male body, one altogether unsuited for the kind of basic things that qualify a human body as a useful ambulatory instrument, generally repulsive seemingly by blameless biological confluence, that it is too late for me to be anything else and that it has been too late since the second that coin was tossed before i was even born. i'm talking about a fundamental ruination inscribed in every red blood cell in my body, i don't like when i wake up with all of my systems of meaning just totally missing because i feel existentially invalidated by my biological sex & can't bring myself to care about what happens to me, or how any of my social entanglements with anyone pan out, or any of the virtues & values like sweetness or frivolity that i might have cherished just the night before. & i have to just sit there & stare catatonically, feeling like my head is in a vise, working to justify even a light nod or head shake to answer a question, telling myself that all my excuses for existing will come eking back in if i just give it time. fighting back is impossible. it's about the condition of me being inherently corrupted beyond any recourse. the impossibility of even palliative care is what this fucking sentence is about. if you think it's about anything else i hate you

the qualitative difference between accepting an idea and surrendering yourself to it

[potassium-pilot]

okay so i may have a problem

i just finished the MSQ for 6.0.

I have nowhere to talk about this because no one else i know is done thanks to lord error 2002

So I’m putting in a read more and discussing thoughts beneath that

massive 6.0 spoilers, obviously

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

okay so first of all, RIP the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, thank god i bought a fc room so Dia won’t be homeless.

i’m thinking that the way that this is going, they’re going to move away from these characters in 7.0, get away from anything related to 1.0 including them (shame about Estinien though, he just got there and wasn’t in 1.0 or even ARR aside from DRG quests) which isn’t surprising- all of them had amazing development and I really can’t see where anything else would need to be done, with the exception of maybe g’raha and alisaie, g’raha needs to go on an adventure with Dia, and alisaie needs to learn not to emulate her, i would have thought getting into a fight with a megalomaniacal asshole after just taking down Despair itself would teach her that, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also estinien was the funniest fucking part of the expac with the exception of the way he chose to break my heart on Ultima Thule. otherwise, he’s refreshingly honest, and has the funniest moments in this game, he’s gone from all right to bestie in my book

that level 90 trial thooooo, and the way that they all prayed for you in the same way that helped Louisoix avert the Seventh Umbral Calamity was a heartstring ,tugger

love the way they got mad at Dia for sacrificing herself when they sacrificed their bodies to make sure she would get to Meteion. speaking of Ultima Thule, that whole thing broke my heart until the end, like i knew that i was probably bringing them back somehow in some deep part of my brain, but that didn’t stop the speeches and the reactions from tearing me apart, i was legitimately crying after G’raha’s parting

the scene with Zenos, like dayuuum, Dia’s a slugger! thank god, im glad she got to punch zenos in the fucking mouth, worth nearly dying in the empty expanse of space for that. i hope that’s rewatchable in unending tale.

also urianger popped an interesting question- apparently, none of them dropped the teleporter button to get back to the ship, he said it just appeared and that moenbryda’s parents confirmed there was no way for that to happen, so uh…maybe that’ll be explained later, maybe it won’t

i still need to work on getting my drg, pally, and mch up to 90, but i really liked the caster role quest (yeah yeah i know im a massive simp, but still) it was just really sweet. the way aymeric confided in you and just wanted to walk and talk with you through the Pillars during the 89 quest 🥺 and how he implies that he has so little confidence in his own emotions, he tells you had you not done what you did, he may have succumbed to it and become a beast himself 😭😭😭 please take a nap and find a therapist im begging you, now that Lucia is in Garlemald, Dia’s gonna have to pull him out of his office herself

anyways im really excited to see where we’re going next

[tamsong]

this is my secret santa gift for @alabestrine ! palli, i know this is painfully late, so i hope it’s worth the wait! enjoy, and i hope you had the happiest of holidays.

rating: T

word count: 1,476

ship: linh song/marella redek

tags: angst, hurt/comfort, mutual pining, missing scenes

warnings: very mild violence, descriptions of burns/injuries

(also there’s some art at the end >:D )

***

marella and linh circle each other on the training mat, each girl preparing her next attack.

marella squints and observes linh’s stance. linh is putting weight onto her right side, as if she’s going to lean right and pull water from the puddle a few feet away to fling straight back in marella’s direction. it’s a pretty obvious move, though, and linh is definitely smarter than that. no, marella thinks, linh is probably going to try something else- maybe fake her out, move out of the way, and pull water from the bigger puddle to her left? or maybe her slight movement was a ruse, and linh is going to stay in place, raise the water behind marella, and douse her in it, like she’d done last sparring session- linh isn’t beyond a few dirty tricks, which marella likes more than she should. 

it also helps that said friend is extraordinarily pretty, and the devious glint in linh’s eye when she drenches marella in cold water makes her stomach do flips. marella tries not to enjoy it too much, because she’s sure linh doesn’t feel the same way, but if she loses a few rounds on purpose just to see that look again, then no one needs to know. marella can be a little gay as a treat for all the fuckery she’s gone through by manifesting a technically illegal ability.

but that’s all beside the point. after a few more moments of thinking, marella goes with her fake-out theory. linh never uses the same trick twice, and it’s been a few minutes since she’s pulled a really big move like that.

marella lets her excitement and adrenaline build up in her chest, becoming fuel for her next fireball. she lets the flames ignite on her fingertips, devastatingly hot to everyone but her, and tosses the fire straight at linh right as she starts to change position. she expects the fireball to only graze linh at best, and probably not even get that far. linh has been getting better and better at putting up water shields on short notice.

but to marella’s horror, linh doesn’t move the way she predicted. instead of stepping right and then diving left, linh spins around in place and marella’s fireball hits her before she can see what’s happening.

linh collapses, and marella curses, scrambling to her friend’s side and hoping she hasn’t killed her.

thankfully, linh isn’t dead, but the actual situation isn’t much better. linh has been knocked a few feet back off the soft training mat and onto the tiled stone ground, which couldn’t’ve been a soft landing. she’s holding one arm out in front of her, sleeve ablaze. marella waves her hands frantically to try and smother the flames, but in her panic only manages to make it worse. the fire races faster up linh’s arm and spreads to her skirt. she lifts her hands to try and extinguish it again, but linh looks up, face contorted in pain with tears starting to well up in her eyes, and shakes her head. marella obeys, stepping back and trembling violently. what a failure of a pyrokinetic! you can’t even put out a fire to save your friend! she berates herself, mind racing with awful possibilities.

it’s a universally known fact that elves mentally can’t handle violence. but now, marella actually understands what that kind of guilt is like. if linh is permanently injured by this, and it's all marella’s fault for being stupid...

her body feels like it’s made of glass, about to fracture. marella sobs, then immediately feels worse for not trying to help her friend.

she tears her attention back to the problem at hand, which linh is fortunately getting under control. sweat beads on her forehead as she uses her hydrokinesis, drawing the tears off her face and forming it all into a liquid orb above her arm. grunting with pain and concentration, she finishes gathering water, then drops it all onto her smoldering clothes.

the fire goes out with a loud hiss and a puff of gray smoke. linh falls onto her back, clearly exhausted, and marella kneels next to her, lip wobbling.

“are you okay?” she blurts out stupidly. obviously not, seeing as marella had just nearly killed her with fire like an idiot. “i’m so, so, sorry, i didn’t-! i-i’m sorry for hurting you, i didn’t mean to. well obviously i didn’t mean to burn you and it would be stupid if i did, sorry! but yeah, i’m really-”

“marella!” linh cuts her off.

marella closes her mouth abruptly before she can bury herself in an even deeper hole. she takes a deep breath in. be strong. she exhales, looking back down at her friend. “i’m so sorry, linh. i fucked up, bad.” 

linh sighs, her eyes fluttering shut. “it was... an accident. please don’t beat yourself up about it.” 

marella nods, more to humor her than actually forgive herself, and leans closer to linh. soot and sweat dirty her face, and marella resists the urge to reach up and wipe it off with her thumb “do you need anything? i can find you some water, or go get elwin? an elixir?” 

“you’re sweet,” linh mumbles faintly. her lips curl slightly upwards, a ghost of a smile. she lifts one of her arms above her head. “can you help me up?” 

“’course,” marella answers roughly. she tugs on the proffered arm, slowly guiding linh into a sitting-up position. once linh is vertical, marella pulls the other girl’s hand into her lap, inspecting it for injuries, what she sees is... not pretty, and marella curses herself even harder. linh’s hand, arm, and thigh are all a raw pink from the heat, and in the worst parts of it the skin bubbles up like water from a hot spring.

her fingers get a little too close to the burn, and linh jerks away, hissing in pain. 

“aw, shit,” marella says on instinct.

linh cradles her arm to her chest. “i think there’s some burn balm in the emergency medicine kit. i can-”

“no, it’s okay!” marella answers. “stay right there. this is my fault, so let me help you. she stands up and looks at linh desperately, trying to show how much she needs to do this. if linh insists on treating herself, it wouldn’t be unwarranted, seeing how marella has already messed everything else up so badly. but she just doesn’t want her friend to hurt any worse. 

but then gratitude floods linh’s eyes and she nods. “thank you. i appreciate it.”

marella immediately sprints off to find the emergency med kit. it’s blessedly only in the closest corner of the room, and it only takes a few seconds of rummaging through the bag for her to find the blue bottle of burn balm. she runs back to linh, quickly unscrewing the bottle and dripping it everywhere. 

she kneels, gently tapping linh’s shoulder so she’ll hold it back out for her. linh complies, and marella starts slowly pouring the balm all over the burn. she focuses intently, and by the time she’s finished, the initially half-full bottle is nearly empty.

marella puts the burn balm down and watches. she’s used the same treatment on herself dozens of times when she first started learning pyrokinesis and is well-versed with its effects; it tingles for a little bit, then numbs the skin until the pain is completely gone. sure enough, linh’s forehead smoothens and her eyebrows unscrunch, and marella relaxes along with her. this time, when marella takes hold of her hand, linh does not flinch. she gently rubs the remaining balm into linh’s skin, pointedly not noticing how soft it is even when burned.

the moment feels far more intimate than it should. she’s glad linh isn’t an empath, because marella’s emotions are all over the place. she does hope, though, that linh understands how sorry she truly is, and might find it in her heart to forgive her.

when she’s done, marella drops her hands and somewhat unnecessarily says, “there, that should be good.” 

“thank you again,” linh replies, smiling much more fully than she had a few minutes ago. then, she does something shocking. 

linh uses her good arm to reach over to marella’s side, take hold of her wrist, and pull it between the two girls. linh presses a slow, sweet kiss to the top of marella’s hand, then gazes back up at her. 

the softness in linh’s eyes is... indescribable, and for a split second marella wonders if her feelings might not be so one-sided. she’s struck by the nearly irresistible urge to kiss linh back, somewhere other than on the hand.

her skin is hot where linh’s lips touched it, as if it were she who had been burned.

“you shouldn’t thank me,” marella says, looking away, and stands.

***

[go-bonkers-go-foolish]

highlights of starkid’s black friday part two

here we go boys

i’m gonna be real the first time i watched this i had no fucking clue what was happening for a solid two and a half minutes

shoutout to whoever choreographed this because i love it

THIS MAN’S NAME IS CHRISTOPHER KRINGLE

robert’s inflection combined with the exaggerated hand gestures is the single funniest thing i’ve ever seen

THE ELVES’ NAMES ARE JINGLE AND JANGLE I’M GONNA CRY

i would pay so much money to see this movie

“thaaaaaaaaat’s right :^)”

the love interest’s name is NOELLE bitch i’m hollering

how does lauren look so adorable in that stupid elf costume??

these lyrics are fucking gold man

joey’s literally just vibin

P A S S  C H R I S  K R I N G L E  T H E  B A L L 

santa’s gonna Reconnect With The Teens™

“becky look!!! remember when we carved that?” “yeah...it’s...a penis” “eyyy”

becky’s monologue about her ex-husband...fuck dude

“it’s funny. stanley was the one who made me go to nursing school. that’s how i knew where his femoral artery was.” HOLY SHIT

“you say you killed your family. i hope i killed mine.” D U D E 

Take Me Back absolutely made me break down dude i’m still crying

“if the universe is infinite, then it’s definite, there’s an alternate reality where we’re now a family.”

“if you’re really santa, tell me something only santa would know” GDGJHSLJHSGK

“i knew it. i knew you weren’t santa” WHEN DID THIS BECOME THE CONFLICT I NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE

“........a red tricycle.” “santa!!!!!!!!!!” (passionate tongue kissing)

so we all agree that wilbur cross is uncle wiley, right

“in short, mr. president, we are trying to stop the birth....of a god.” what a raw line

“If We Have Faith, We Will Be Rewarded With A Cuddly Toy” -the homeless dude, who i’m pretty sure has just been vibin this whole time

god i kind of want a wiggly now

the audience losing their minds at linda being the supreme cult mother

 “please, for the love of god, just let me go.” “oh, i’ve met god. he had nothing nice to say about you.” (THROAT SLASH) 

FUCKIN RAW LINE RIGHT THERE

linda: “you willlllll adoooooore me....” my dumbass, already in love: ok

“unless i get what i- shit it’s gerald”

YES MAAM LIFT THAT LAUREN LOPEZ UP LIKE JESUS

h i p  t h r u s t

hmm i dont like new ethan

wiggly: “hello hannah. let’s be pally-wals.”  me, with a water gun full of holy water: dont try it demon

the way he says “rotten little banana” is terrifying

“i’m going to have to peel you. i’m going to split you in two. i’m going to Eat you, hannah.” WHAT the fuck

hannah’s scream when wiggly threatens her?? chilling

god someone protect this kid

uh yeah Do You Want To Play is genuinely one of the scariest songs i’ve ever heard from a starkid musical, or pretty much any musical. like, this sweet nurse who waited hours in the freezing cold to get a toy for a little girl who lost her sight is about to viciously murder an eleven-year-old in cold blood because of wiggly.

so, theory time. becky’s a nurse. i dont think that even in her altered state she would miss hannah entirely and accidentally inject it into her own leg. but hannah was wearing the hat. i think ethan was right, it protected her.

joey is scaring me but also giving me some very sexy energy that i’m not opposed to

“Only in america could wiggly take root! Hold this”

“WHEN YOU’RE MADE IN AMERICAAAAAAAAAAAA” fuck yeah!!!!!

“i’m going to cut open your belly-well, and deck the halls with your gutsy-wutsies...” JESUS CHRIST

shoutout to macnamara for literally everything, he’s doing great

can you IMAGINE being president goodman here. like you just found out you’ve killed millions of innocent people and the world is probably going to end in the next hour or so and there’s nothing left to do and all the while this demonic entity is baby-talking to you and laughing that terrifying laugh? yeah, i’d go insane too.

curt mega’s acting is top notch here, dude, he actually scared me

also what the FUCK was that last wiggly laugh

“you better not be fucking with me.....” uh hey sherman i’ll give you five (5) dollars to stop that

“there’s something that’s beautiful, being awake for my funeral” fuck

“still, i thought that angels did exist, but now i hope they plan to end it quick, ‘cause friday is black for me, only my ashes will see the sea” i gotta sit down for a while

“I’m authorizing you to use my firearm.” F U C K  Y E A H

theory: macnamara is hannah’s father (and maybe lex’s) since they can both see into/communicate with the black and white

MONSTERS AND MEN REPRISE

oh my god tim never said he wanted a wiggly oh god oh fuck

“kids don’t want that piece of shit! they’re all into fortnite, dude!” 

If I Fail You also made me cry i’m very emotional over this musical

“answer me, or I’ll open your mouth with my FUCKING KNIFE!” JESUS CHRIST LAUREN

i love that wiggly’s theme is carol of the bells

“look at you! you’re paralyzed with fear!” “no. i’m just lining up my shot.” FUCK YEAH

“you have two choices: abandon your god or burn here with him” this dialogue is so fuckin powerful dude

yeah so all of them burning alive freaked me out but what a way to end a cult

“you know, i have this kooky reclusive biology professor...” when i tell you i YELLED

“wear a watch.” AHHHHHH

what an ending.

anyway stan starkid goodnight

part one

[bepp-ers]

A tale of red and blue | S. Todoroki X Reader X K. Bakugo [Pt 3]

Fantasy AU! Part three:

With a loud creak, it swung open and revealed... A winding staircase. “Wow, this looks pretty old. Let’s go--!” You were about to make your first step, but Todoroki grabbed your arm and pulled you back before you could.

“What?” You asked with annoyance. “Hold on. We don’t know what’s down there, or if we should even be going down those stairs. Is this such a good idea?” 

You rolled your eyes, and shook yourself out of your grip. “Well if you don’t want to go, then give me the candelabra. I’m going at least.” He shook his head, and kept a firm grip on the light source.

“I’m coming with you then. It’s not a good idea for someone such as yourself to go alone.” “Hey, what’s that supposed to-”

You were cut off by thunderous footsteps hurrying towards the two of you, and you stepped closer to Todoroki out of nerves.

“What the hell are you two doing down here?! Well?!” You smiled in relief as it turned out just to be Bakugo. “Exploring. Duh. It’s boring doing nothing all day,” You stated.

He scowled at the two of you. “Exploring? Stupid princess, and you two-toned freak, why didn’t you stop her?” Todoroki shrugged. “I was bored too. Besides, she needs someone with her so she doesn’t get hurt, right [Name]?”

You were a little taken aback by how quickly he took your side here, but thought nothing of it. “I mean yeah. Say Bakugo, where do these stairs lead?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why the hell do you wanna know? You said you were exploring, so figure out for yourself.” “Alright then, wanna join us?”

The words were so simple yet Bakugo looked at you like you’d just asked him to hand over his entire castle. “The fuck? No I- Why would I want to join you exploring my own castle?!”

“So we don’t get lost obviously. Is that a yes, or?” He pinched the bridge of his nose, and shook his head, still scowling. “Maybe if it were just you, but I’m not playing hosts or whatever fucking ideas you have!”

You batted you eyes at him, doing your best impression of an abandoned puppy. “Please? It’ll be more fun with you. And you can tell me more about your dragons!” 

He pondered for a moment- it would be nice to show off to that cold stuck-up prince in front of you... “Ugh, fine. You two idiots would get lost anyway.” Todoroki gave you a strange look.

“You really want him with us? I wouldn’t have agreed if I’d have known he would join us.” He gave the smallest of eye rolls, but it didn’t go unnoticed by the ash-blond.

“Shut up, [Name] asked me to join you two so I did! If anything you should be glad I agreed. Don’t think we’re getting all pally though, I only agreed ‘cos of Pocchari over here.”

You gave him a small shove. “Quit calling me names! Your a prince for god’s sake, maybe act like it. Let’s go already.” 

Bakugo grumbled something under his breath, but guided by the light of the candelabra the three of you descended down the steps.

“Wow, these sure are long stairs.” “Quit complaining!” Todoroki was mostly silent as you climbed down. He seemed to be in thought, you didn’t know what about though.

The two-toned boy was actually thinking about you, and why he actually agreed to your silly idea of exploring. Maybe it was because he wanted to create a bad image of his father, or maybe it was because he found you so interesting.

When you’d told him about the dragons back in the library, he’d thought you were dotty. But then you gave him the scale and he had no choice but to believe you.

Also, you’d somehow kind of befriended Bakugo, the angry prince. That was impressive in itself and now he found himself wanting to get to know you better.

That wasn’t really happening though, as Bakugo was just bickering with you as you walked down the stairs. He wished you hadn’t invited him to join, but knowing him he would have done anyway.

“Oh look, I think I can see the end!” “Yes, that’s the floor.” You stepped closer and jumped down the last few steps, and Bakugo marched towards the identical wrought-iron door.

“There’s nothing too interesting down here, but be glad you didn’t accidentally pick the dungeons.” He stated and swung the door open with ease. He was pretty muscly after all, as evident by the lack of shirt in the royal attire he wore.

“Ooh, this is nice.” You ogled, and Bakugo smirked. “Of course it is, it’s a monument after all.”

In front of you was a patio-style garden, with large dragon sculptures on stone plinths. You raced over to each one in turn, hesitant to run your hands over the detailed stone scales.

“Hey, Bakugo, this one looks like Kiri!” You stood in front of a large grey dragon, posed eternally in what looked like a smile - if dragons could smile, of course.

“That’s ‘cos it is you moron. Each member of the royal family conquers their own beast. Mine just happens to be able to turn into a dude.” He walked over and leant on the bottom of the plinth, Todoroki shortly joining you two.

“That’s fascinating, is this the same dragon that you and [Name] rode on?” “Yep, he’s the strongest yet. You extra countries would be mad if you were to ever wage war on an army of dragons.”

You ignored the semi-rude remark and took a seat on the edge of a nearby stone fountain. “Wow. You really aren’t all talk like I first thought.” “Eh? The hell does that mean?!”

Todoroki sat beside you, and Bakugo instantly sat on the other side. “It means you actually do have some feats to your nonstop bragging. You should probably tone down on that, it’s kinda annoying.”

“Shut it you icy-hot bastard!” You giggled at the nickname, just revelling in the atmosphere. You didn’t have too many friends back at home, and now it seemed you had just gained two more.

Sure, one of them never shut up about how great he was and had the worst anger issues she’d ever seen, and the other didn’t really seem too friendly or sociable, but they were friend-material to you.

“So, had a nice time exploring my castle?” You glanced over at the sarcastic comment and beamed. “Yeah, it’s pretty fun! We should do it again tomorrow, or you’ll have to find something else for us to do.”

“Count me out.” Todoroki said much to your dismay. “Huh?” “I don’t want any part if Bakugo’s coming with us. Sorry, but I don’t think we get along.” You frowned, and shuffled a little closer to him.

“Aw, that’s no fun. Are you really gonna be that boring? This wasn’t so bad, right?” He looked into your eyes full of hope, and he sighed. ‘How the hell do I say no to that...’

“Fine. I guess there’s nothing else to do here anyway.” “Tch, quit dissing my castle. It’s way better than anything you’ll have.” You simply grinned, glad that they were at least being civil. 

“I’m out. You two can stay here I guess. Tomorrow you need to be up early, I’ll get horses for us.” Bakugo scowled, but you could see beneath the narrowed eyes that he was kind of looking forward to it.

You got the impression he didn’t have too many friends, so it’d be good for him. “Can’t wait. See you tomorrow.” With a swish of his crimson cloak, he left, leaving just you and Todoroki.

“Say, [Name].” “Hm?” “Why are you trying so hard to be friends with him? It’s not like we were told to get closer, just to be civil.” You looked over at the cold prince, and simply shrugged.

“Bakugo seems angry, sure, but he’s fun to be around. I may have only met him yesterday, but he’s interesting. Plus there’s Kirishima, if I wasn’t close to Bakugo then I doubt I’d be able to see him again.”

“That’s the dragon?” “Yeah, Kiri’s great. Why don’t you like him so much?” He looked over to the different statues, pondering for a moment. “He’s arrogant. And angry. He reminds me of my father, who I don’t have the best relationship with.”

He paused. “And... I met you yesterday, so I can’t say we’re that close, but I don’t like how rude he is to you. It’s not very civil, and you don’t exactly strike me as deserving of such rude titles.”

“Aw wow, that’s so sweet of you to say.” You teased, watching him go ever so slightly pink with indignance. “That’s not-” “I know, I know. We should head back right? I’ll race you up the stairs.”

You challenged, and stood up. “[Name], you think I’m childish enough for that?” He raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like someone’s afraid of loosing to a princess. Well, I guess I’ll just call myself the winner, and-”

He stood up, a slight smile dancing on his lips. “Fine, but when you loose you’ll get no consoling from me.” “You’re on, peppermint.” 

Bakugo watched from the shadows as the two of you raced up the stairs, Todoroki naturally faster than you. He cursed as you tripped up the last step, fumbling to the stone floor.

“Yikes, I guess you win and I eat the ground.” You laughed, and Bakugo gritted his teeth as Todoroki helped you up carefully. “We’ll call it a draw. Come on, can you walk? That was quite the trip.”

“I’m good, I just hurt my pride a bit.” Bakugo was very close to jumping out and helping you himself for whatever reason, but refrained as the two of you walked away.

He didn’t fail to notice how much happier Todoroki seemed now that he was gone, and smirked to himself. ‘I’ll show him what a prince is tomorrow, he’ll see.’

[To be continued... ☆]

[ahtohallan-calling]

chapter 2  of true north is here!

[kristanna / t / the actual fic version of my single dad au at long last]

ch. 1

For once, Kristoff’s up before his daughter. It’s kinda nice to see her all sprawled out in her big-girl bed, curls all over her pillow and an arm slung haphazardly across her face, to be the one waking her up instead of the other way around. He’d go to the end of the earth for her, but he’s never really going to get used to being woken up by little elbows jabbing him in the ribs as she climbs up beside him and sings, “Rise and shine, Daddy!” until he groans and rolls over.   

She’s only sleeping in this late now because she had a rough night last night, asking again if her mom was coming for her birthday. He ended up putting her in her carseat and driving her around for an hour until she fell asleep, the same way he did when she was teething. It’s just a phase, that’s what Ma told him, but it still breaks his heart every time he has to tell her that no, Bailey’s not coming around. 

He’d let her, if she wanted to, but he hasn’t heard from her since the last text telling him she’d faxed over the paperwork terminating her parental rights. It was a new number with a Nevada area code. He tried calling it a few times afterwards for her third birthday and then for Christmas, but eventually after some googling about how these things work, he realized Bailey had already blocked him.

Alice makes a little snuffly noise and rolls over, facing him. He kneels beside her, gently brushing her hair out of her eyes. She blinks awake, rubbing her tiny fists against her eyes.

“Daddy?” she whispers, and his heart might just burst.

“Good morning, baby girl,” he says, leaning down to pull her into a hug. “Happy birthday.”

Alice giggles and leans into the hug, clinging to the front of his shirt. “Rise and shine!” she sings, her favorite jingle from her favorite kiddie show, and he chuckles as he stands up, gently patting her back. 

“Do you know how old you are now, Al?” he asks as he carries her into the kitchen.

“Three!” she chirps out of habit.

“No, honey, you’re four now, remember?”

She leans back, her forehead creased with confusion. “What?”

“It’s your birthday. So now you’re four,” he explains, shifting her to one side so he can hold up four fingers with the other hand. 

“Oh, okay,” she says, laying her head back down on his shoulder. “Do I get cake now?”

“No, that’s later with Nana.” 

He sets her down on the counter, and she giggles up at him. It’s a special treat getting to eat up here instead of at the table, where she’s sort of at his eye level if he leans down like he’s doing right now. “But I made you Funfetti pancakes. That okay?”

“Can I have strawberries on them?” she asks hopefully. 

That’s her other phase right now, strawberries on everything, and he’s prepared for that, too. “Already done,” he says as he hands her a paper plate with the pancake already cut up.

She squeals with delight and dives right in with her hands, and he thanks his five A.M. self for deciding on Reddi-Whip instead of maple syrup today-- much less of a hassle to get out of her hands and her hair. 

After breakfast, he helps her get dressed, and he doesn’t try to steer her in a more conservative direction even when she asks to wear one pink tennis shoe and one purple. He ties them for her and blows a raspberry on one of her knees, and she squeals and ruffles her hands in his hair. “You’re silly, Daddy!” she laughs as he swoops her up high before settling her on his hip again. She’s getting too old to be carried around everywhere like this, but damn it, he’s feeling sentimental that already his baby is four, un-fucking-believable, and if he doesn’t set her down again ‘til the next birthday that’s his business.

“I’m silly? Nah, Ally Pally, you’re the silly one,” he teases as they go into the living room to watch the kids’ channel until Sven shows up.

It’s seven thirty on a Saturday morning, and they both know exactly what that means. Alice hasn’t missed a showing of Poppy’s Garden Tales since the show started airing a year or so ago, and she’s sure as hell not going to miss it today, even if it’s another rerun. 

She settles back against Kristoff’s chest as he flips to the right channel, just in time to watch Poppy the pink mouse go into her garden to greet all the little creatures and flowers waiting out there. “Rise and shine, everybody!” she sings, and Alice echoes like she always does, off-key as ever.

“Good morning, Poppy!” comes floating over the polka-dotted fence, and then the gate swings open to reveal the only human member of the cast, Alice’s hero Miss Anna, a book in her hand like always.

And just like that, Alice is hypnotized. It’s hilarious, sometimes, to see how fast she can go from a little maniac running around the room with one of her toys or throwing a screaming fit to being dead silent, eyes wide, when Miss Anna starts to tell her stories. Sven never fails to get a kick out of it, and Kristoff snaps a picture of it now to send to him.

 Lol, comes the response a minute later. Be there in 15. :)

 “Uncle Sven is almost here,” Kristoff says, shifting Alice forward a little on his knee so he can start twisting her hair up into two buns on either side of her head, her current favorite hairstyle. 

No response comes; she’s entirely focused on the story of the three little pigs and the faces Miss Anna is pulling when she does the Big Bad Wolf’s voice. It’s for the best, really; even with a couple of years of practice under his belt, sometimes Kristoff gets his fingers tangled in her mass of dark brown curls. 

It makes something in him ache, sometimes, to see how much of her is Bailey; that beautiful hair, her heart shaped face and deep dimples, even the faces she makes sometimes when she gets excited about something.

She looks up at him then, though,, and the tension in his chest melts away when he sees her brown eyes wide and hopeful. That, at least, is all him. “Daddy?” 

“What, baby?”

“Can I have ribbons today?”

“Uh-huh,” he says, already reaching for the plastic tray he keeps on the side table full of all her hair elastics and barrettes and tiny little glittery things, all the shit YouTube had to teach him to use. He grabs one pink one and one purple-- to match her shoes, of course; maybe he’s hopeless at dressing himself, but he likes to think he’s pretty in tune with four-year-old sensibilities.

He ties the second bow just as Miss Anna pulls out her guitar for the goodbye song. He has to admit, he kinda likes this part, too; she’s got this slow, sweet accent that makes him think of sun-soaked flowers and tea that makes his teeth hurt, the kind he used to get on the crazy-long road trips to championship games south of the Mason-Dixon line. Alice loves it, too, she sings happily along, a beat behind and twice as loud, but Kristoff grins anyway and snuggles her a little closer.

The doorbell rings then, but it’s just a courtesy warning; Sven’s had a key to the house since the day Kristoff bought it. Alice takes off like a shot from his lap, and a moment later he hears a familiar laugh, followed by a, “Hey, Ally Pally. How’s my favorite niece?”

Kristoff grins and follows after her, just like always.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Sonic the Hedgehog

I never played Super Mario Bros. until I was in college - we were a Sega household or we were nothing. While my friends were busy rescuing Princess Peach and throwing barrels as Donkey Kong (is that how that game works? I have no idea), I was zipping along collecting rings and fighting a mad...robot...doctor? Not really sure what Dr. Robotnik’s whole deal was, but the point is I was a Sonic girl through and through. In spite of feeling a little silly, that means I was genuinely excited about the movie adaptation, which is frankly ridiculous as video game movies couldn’t be less of a cursed movie genre. Even amongst horrifying character redesigns (why the TEETH??) I kept my optimism intact. 

I loved Sonic so much as a child that, as an adult 20 years later, I adopted a pet hedgehog named Hamish. Those of you who know me well have probably met Hamish or have seen his pictures on the internet in his annual Halloween costumes (tiny hats are key). He was most people’s first hedgehog friend in real life, and I delighted in learning as much about hedgehogs as I could so that I could teach people fun hedgehog facts. Despite normally living 1-3 years in the wild and 2-4 years in captivity, Hamish kept right on trucking, running miles and miles every night in his wheel and eating dried grubs out of my hand as a treat for almost 7 years. He got sick a couple weeks ago - stopped eating and drinking, and when I took him to the vet he got some meds and supplies for syringe feeding and it seemed like he might be able to recover. It had been a really stressful few days, and I was constantly worried about Hamish, so I wanted a little bit of escapism - a fun, probably forgettable family movie sounded perfect. And after I got back from seeing Sonic the Hedgehog, I gave Hamish his medicine and food and held him in my hand for the last time. He passed away that night while I was asleep. I’m not usually the type to ascribe significance to coincidences like that, but it felt like there was a reason I saw this movie on the day I did. Was my faith misplaced? Was this a mere trifle or a fitting tribute to Hamish’s memory? Well...

I think the things that I loved about the movie are many of the same things that I loved about Hamish - a playfulness, a sense of humor, and in spite of a silly-looking exterior, a beating heart full of affection and comfort. I was all primed for disappointment - I had high expectations, the studio went through that costly redesign, and I was already in a pretty emotionally tangled up place. Not the best circumstances going in, which makes it all the more impressive that Sonic is one of my favorite films I’ve seen this year by far. 

The basic plot is simple - Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is an alien who had to leave his home planet in a hurry, and uses magical golden rings to travel portal-like to other planets where he will be safe from any enemies who want to harness his powers. So he’s been hanging on Earth for awhile, hiding out in a teeny town in Montana. Sonic is kinda obsessed with the town sheriff, Tom (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), who are a nice, normal, kind couple who love each other and their town - all Sonic wants is to be friends with them because he’s so lonely. One night, that loneliness manifests in a big way through his superspeed powers - enough to garner the attention of Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey, returning to the rubberfaced comedy that made him famous). In his efforts to escape Dr. Robotnik, two things happen: Tom discovers Sonic’s existence and subsequently makes Sonic lose his magical rings. So you know what that means - oddball buddy road trip movie time as they go on a quest to get the rings back!

Some thoughts:

Ben Schwartz is amazing in this role. It’s perfect casting, and a great voice performance as he injects so much joy and wonder into every moment. You really feel Sonic’s outsider status, his loneliness, his yearning, and his ceaseless joy at every new experience he has. 

There is a Very Good Dog in multiple scenes of the movie! He is doing the best job!!

Such a fantastic surprise to see Adam Pally in a supporting role as a deeply earnest and clueless deputy. 

And is there any more reliably affable actor than James Marsden? I have never NOT liked him in anything I’ve seen, and he seems like just a general good-natured stand-up guy. His chemistry with Sonic is really great, which is always impressive when you imagine him acting next to a tennis ball or otherwise strange CGI stand-in. 

One of my favorite things about the film is Tom and Maddie’s marriage. Even though Tom is one half of the madcap buddy duo that makes up the bulk of the film, Maddie is his equal partner. They are shown to genuinely like each other, and she is never depicted as the nag or the lame wife who is trying to stifle his adventures or act as the Voice of Reason who is demanding he come back for his safety. She supports this crazy ride because Sonic is in danger and she has a big heart and wants to help him too. I’m particularly glad they didn’t shove her into a subservient nonexistent wife role, or an Angry Black Woman role. I just think it’s so good for kids to see this married couple who are working together to help someone and who love AND like each other.

The biggest highlight is obviously seeing Jim Carrey return to his form as a sort of evil, power-hungry Ace Ventura. He’s over-the-top, his whole body is made of rubber, and he’s having the time of his life. Case in point - he has a dance sequence in the middle of the film that made me grin so hard my face hurt. He’s cartoonishly evil in the best way, and it works because Dr. Robotnik is one of those villains that wants to fuck shit up just cause. That’s difficult to buy into, but Carrey’s madcap performance and his absolute commitment to being the smartest person in any room and hating everyone else for it really makes it work.  

I was so delighted by how tight Patrick Casey and Josh Miller’s script is from start to finish. There’s an actual good reason Tom and Sonic are stuck together. Sonic loves watching action movies (from the bushes outside Tom’s house) so the movie is full of fun classic action movie homages and lines that keep things light and fun even in the midst of some peril. And there’s real emotional and physical stakes here as Sonic tries to find a friend and a place he can call home where he won’t have to worry about running from his enemies. 

Did I Cry? I teared up a little near the end at some very tender friend talk!

There are two extra scenes during the credits - don’t miss them, particularly if you are a fan of the whole Sonic mythos in general!

This movie is sweet, fun, genuinely funny, and just as quick as its namesake. I went into it just for a little escapism, and came out with a movie that will forever be tied to my memories of one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I think Hamish would be proud, Sonic, and I’m glad I got to have the time with both of you that I did. 

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

[blackdahlia-parker]

Science fair rivalry (part 1)- Peter Parker x female reader

A/N: a few people requested any smut with Peter and one wanted Dom!Peter so here we go. This is loosely based off the Audi advert’s science fair thing. Also sorry before hand if there are any mistakes. Enjoy 🙃❣️

Summary: The school science fair day is approaching and although you and Peter are in a very cute relationship, there is some rivalry between his team ( Ned and him) and your team (Mj and you) what will happen in the ‘building a invention‘ contest? Who will win? In between all the spying on eachother’s projects and someone being crowned the champion. Things in your relationship with take a turn. It won’t stay sweet for long!

Warnings: smut!👀, Dom!Peter, rivalry so a slightly bit of angst maybe? Peter is 18!

There was going to be a massive competition at a science fair in three days. You and Mj always enjoy participating and so do your loving boyfriend Peter and his best friend Ned. Together the four of you were very ‘pally’, but you decided to split up into two groups this year and compete against each other in building a new invention. Leaving you and Mj in one group and him and Ned in the other.

There wasn’t a lot of other people signing up for the same competition so there was a very high chance that either of your groups would win as you were close to the brainiest people in the year. The steaks were low apart from you four. You were all in college, and shared a dorm together. The pressure was definitely on and any break from work you could get, you met up with Mj to plan on big sheets of paper before actually starting the project in classes.

Peter and you had been dating for a few months and everything between you has always been quite sweet but there was definitely a bit of rivalry going on between you since you’d started this project with Mj. He was such a kind person, but when it came to science he couldn’t help it. It was his passion and he’d fight his way through to be the best at it.

You and Mj had already gotten a bit of a head start at the project as you’d began as soon as the competition details were announced. Peter and Ned hadn’t managed to start immediately as he had the stark internship or something. And poor Ned was left on the spot as Peter ran from him, he couldn’t plan on his own. He was the guy in the chair.

The both of you had been working on the project in class all day and even started building. And when the four of you got back to the dorm, (Peter now back from the stark internship) you split into pairs again and got into separate rooms to proceed with your inventions. Peter and Ned not having started yet.

You read some instructions that you’d written out yourself and Mj began to build circuits together. You were making some kind of bubble machine that worked alongside electricity without getting a shock because of the dangerous source combination. It took people that were highly skilled to pull something like this off. And to be fair you were both really surprised that it was going to plan.

Although you and Mj were in full concentration mode, you couldn’t help but have a juicy conversation while building your invention. “So what’s Peter like in bed?” Mj said while winking. You were astounded at her question and your mouth dropped open. “Mj!” You hissed quietly at her. She giggled, “What y/n?, he’s not gonna hear us he’s not in the same room is he?” “Yeah but he is next door so he might. And this has nothing to do with the project Mj. Come on, you need to build a container area for the mixture to connect to the circuits.” You said pointing to the invention and ushering her towards it.

Meanwhile Peter and Ned were stressing out in the room next door. They don’t know what went wrong with their minds but they had absolutely no inspiration whatsoever. No idea on something they could build. So Peter began to huff and decided that he’d had enough. He decided on doing something pretty risky. “Ned, you stay here and just be quiet for a second while I go and peak in on y/n and Mj to see what they are building. We need inspiration.” Ned was cautious of what his friend was about to do so he spoke before Peter got up to walk to their room door. “But Peter, isn’t that considered cheati—“ Peter cut across Ned’s words while creeping over to the other room’s door”, turning to look back at him and showing him a shush finger against his mouth. “Shhh Ned” his voice a whisper.

Ned just looked back down to a blank sheet of paper and shook his head at what his friend was about to do. Peter approached the door to Mj and y/n’s bedroom door and pushed it open just enough for him to see the project they were working on. The door creaked slightly and the poor boy panicked but luckily neither of the girls had heard. Peter took in the sight of your project that was already coming along so well. He saw some confusing looking planning sheets but couldn’t tell what the actual project was. All he knew was you were gonna mix water with electricity and it would be hard to top that. Him and Ned has to top that some how. You and Mj hadn’t noticed a thing. Not a clue that someone was there watching. Then suddenly his gaze left the project and met the both of you as you began getting quite invested into an amusing conversation that he hadn’t expected.

Mj spoke again to you. “Come on y/n, we’ve done loads already and it’s only day one! Has he got any sexy kinks?” Your eyes widened at your bold friend. “Shut up Mj, if you mean any kinks involving death like you have, no he doesn’t” you teased her. She laughed, she knew you were joking. But you then gave in. “Fine” you spoke. “He’s like so sweet and stuff and a-and....he like does make me feel really good—b-but....”. Mj rose her eyebrows at you; “ ‘but’ what y/n?” she replied with a slight smirk. “Really?!” “Yeah really y/n”. “Oh my god Mj! You have to know all the embarrassing details don’t you!, fine. He he’s really good at you know....but I just wish he’d you know....f-fuck me h-harder.” “Offf y/n! , you have to tell him or I will” she spoke as her eyes widened at your words and laughed as you lightly slapped her for her mocking. But Peter had heard all of this and his eyes widened a lot more. Leaving the door and turning around and walking back to Ned. This was clearly a private conversation. But he couldn’t help but blush.

Peter didn’t know how but a brand new, unique idea for the project had come to his head instantly. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what his girlfriend had said only a few moments ago. He’d probably just have to tell Ned about his idea and let him get on with it for a while for Peter to actually process the discussion you and Mj had been having. Peter sat back down cross legged on the floor opposite Ned. “Why are you blushing?” Ned asked him. But Peter wasn’t fully focused on the question, he was still in a kind of daydream so he replied literally anything. “I got an idea for the project Ned” “so your blushing because you have an invention idea for the science fair?, weird things turn you on Peter.” Ned laughed at his best friend and Peter shook his head coming back into reality. “No Ned! I’m not blushing over a science project that’s stupid” “I’m sure you weren’t” Ned joked. Peter just looked back at him as If to say ‘seriously Ned’ but laughed too. They had to beat Y/n and Mj.

—

Two days later it was competition day and after the results you and Peter were going to have a bit of a ‘date night’ alone in the dorm while Mj and Ned went to the park to hang out.

You and Mj got up to the stage after the first few groups had presented their inventions. You spoke as Mj demonstrated to the audience and judges. Peter loved you but rolled his eyes, his arms crossed while he took in everything your project could do. Your project was clearly winner worthy. The bubbles started to raise above the circuit contraption and sparks of electricity surrounded them. It was a miracle that Mj didn’t get electrocuted but then again you two had a lot of brains.

On the other hand, Peter was happy for you but Ned was a little too happy as you’d finished you speech on the invention. He was joyfully clapping for longer that he should have been and he was the last one to stop. When they called him and Peter up on the stage he’d realised that Peter was already up there and had to scramble after him onto the stage awkwardly as they began their speech on an an invention including energy and forces. Using plastic coke bottles and a hand made gadget that flipped them to land. Typical bottle flipping dorks.

You giggled slightly. It was a really clever invention but you could help it. They were probably the only two people at college that were still amused by this stupid trend. As their speech came to an end they got off stage and did their hand shake together and quietly spoke the words “yesss” to each other as everyone clapped for them too.

They were the last ones to complete so the winners were going to be announced in a short while. The four of you approached eachother once again. “Wow Pete, your project was amazing! Still interested in bottle flipping I see, you must be an expert now” you spoke. He blushed. Peter was a boy who could never stop blushing. “Thanks y/n, your was awesome too but me and Ned are going to win you know” he replied. “Will you now?, well we’ll see about that now won’t we?” You nudged him with a giggle. He looked up at you for a second while you weren’t looking at him but then you turned your gaze and saw him staring. He turned his head away and turned crimson again. He just couldn’t stop. He was definitely going to take the words he heard you saying yesterday to Mj into consideration. Even if he was awkward and shy. He could be surprisingly the opposite if he needed to be. But you just always got him so nervous. You were gorgeous to him.

“And the results are in!” You heared the judge speek from across the room bringing your attention back up to the stage and to the project. Away from Peter’s blushing, although he never really left your mind. He was so cute. The audience were all still standing as the judge spoke again, “drum roll please”. The four of you started to pat your legs quickly with you hands alternating them on each leg. The sound of this filled the room as other people began to do it to. But then silence as the winners were finally announced. “And the winners are....y/n and Mj” everyone started to clap as you and Mj pulled eachother in for an excited girly-like hug. And ran up to the stage to shake the judges hand and collect their trophy.

Peter was smiling but you could tell that he was pretty devastated that he didn’t win. It was really funny. “Congratulations” the judge spoke. You and Mj were ecstatic. You’d waited a year to sign up to this competition ad beat Ned and Pete. You spoke to the lady, asking if you could just borrow her microphone for a second to say something. She nodded and handed the microphone to you as you brought it to your mouth and spoke. You decided to lightly mock your boyfriend who was standing with Ned at the back of the audience. “Firstly I’d like to thank my wonderful partner Mj for helping on this project and to everyone who has been supportive” you help the trophy up and you could see Peter playfully shaking his head at you from the back. He was such a sore loser. You looked at him and then at Mj next to you, giggling to yourself before you spoke your next words into the mic. “Secondly I would like to send deep commiserations to my boyfriend Peter, haha sorry Pete” you looked directly at him and as you handed the microphone back to the lady, you stuck you tongue out at Peter. You, Mj and the whole audience started laughing at the tension between you both as they all turned their attention around to see a poor embarrassed Peter Parker. Everyone stared giggling. He loved you he really did. But tonight had to be the night. You’d won and humiliated him. It had to be the night he actually did something bold for a change. You were in for it. You just didn’t know it yet.

—

You handed Mj the trophy for a while she felt so proud looking at it. The room that the science fair was held in started to empty by now as Ned approach Mj and they began to walk out of the big hall to go to the park as planned. You searched for Peter. Once you’d spotted him you ran up to him and hugged you. He hugged back and spoke genuine words; “well done Pumpkin, you did really well. As much as I’d liked to have won, you deserved it.” Although he was still had some playful anger pent-up inside him. He decided to keep this frustration within him until you were both alone in a bit.

“Thank you Petey” you said smiling while putting a hand through his hair and ruffling it. His whole face scrunched up at this. Adorable you thought to yourself. “Come on let’s go back to the dorm” he suggested, knowing that Mj and Ned had gone out. “Okay” you spoke happily to him, while grinning. God he was gonna go rough tonight.

But you noticed something very different as you and Peter exited the hall and walked a corridor towards your dorm. He had his arm around you, keeping his hand on your ass as you both walked. It was different but good. You were definitely shocked at his sudden boldness in public. But it turned you on not gonna lie.

Once you unlocked the door to your dorm. You and Pete got inside and locked the door behind you just in case someone was to break in while you watched a movie or two together on the couch. But this definitely wasn’t Peter’s plans. He hastily grabbed your shoulders and shoved you up against the nearest wall roughly. The air was knocked right out of you as you gasped for more. You couldn’t believe your boyfriend. What had got over him? Then he began to speak, you still pinned by him, squished against the hard surface.

“Bet you loved that praise for winning on your project didn’t you, pumpkin?!” His voice was a little deeper than usual and he said it with a gruff tone too. “W-what?” You were the one stuttering for a change. “You knew I wanted to win that thing so badly but you had to go and mess it all up for me didn’t you y/n?.” He said. You decided to just go with the new Pete and replied; “well why didn’t you win it then baby boy?” Your eyelashes fluttered as his face got extremely close to yours. He didn’t want to reply to those words. “Come on Pete, tell me why you didn’t win” You coaxed him. He gave in. “Fine!, yours was better y/n. But you better believe that I’ll fuck you better than the quality of any science project you’ve ever made!, I’m gonna have to punish you princess”. He looked directly into your beautiful eyes as you saw the swirls of coffee coloured ones stare back at you. They were filled with lust, gradually turning a darker shade with each second you stare at him for. Peter hadn’t done anything in specific to you yet and you weren’t really expecting him to be true to his words but nevertheless his words began to make you drip. Who knew that shy, stuttering Peter Parker could speak as hot this. “Shit Peter, what’s gotten into you?” You spoke, eyes wider than they’ve ever been before.

“And how can you punish me when Mj and I did so well today? I should be getting a prize not being punished” you spoke. But secretly you wanted it. You wanted to experience Peter’s interpretation of ‘punishment’. He felt obliged to reply; “nothings gotten into me y/n. And although you won first prize, you are gonna be punished, second prize you’ll get with me tonight baby” you went red as he suddenly pressed his thinly, pink, soft lips against yours. This is more like first prize you thought to yourself. Perhaps you were actually gonna get what you dreamt of tonight. Peter doing it rough.

The kiss deepened and he began to press his tongue past your smooth lips and into your mouth. Your faces turning occasionally to get new angles in the make out. It felt a lot juicer than your kisses had ever felt before. you felt the saliva in his mouth run over your lips as it ran close to the opening of his mouth and although it was weird you kinda liked that the kiss was all messy and wet for a change. Okay, you really liked it. He captured your bottom lip between the his mouth and sucked on it lightly after swallowing his saliva back down his throat before things actually got disgusting, tongue grazing back and forth on your lip at the same time. You tried to force your tongue into his mouth to dominate him like you usually did but he stopped you for a change. And that’s when you finally gave in as your mouth emitted it’s first moan of the night. “mmm, P-Peter” that’s all he did was smirk as he continued to hungrily kiss you. While you were against the was still, he lifted both hands off your shoulders. Body going flush again yours to hold you there instead and one hand of his pressed flush against the wall above your head and the other traveled downwards.

“Aha Oh my God P-Petey” you slightly kicked your leg into him by accident as his hand had traveled up your skirt and began to rub through your panties. “You like that? Hmm” he questioned you amusingly and with that moved your panties aside to feel you properly, going straight to the best bit first. “S-Shit!” You yelped. “Yeah?, I thought you’d liked that. Getting your clit handled good. You want me to tug it a little? Or give it a bit of a twist hmm?” Luckily for you he did both. You couldn’t believe this. You were usually the one giving his cock all the attention. Speak of his cock, you loved it but what he was doing to you now was unimaginably grea—

“Y-Yes Peter, Ooohhh I-I love it.” He began to rub your clit a bit faster back and fourth , between the pads of two rough skinned fingers. The friction of his slightly damaged skin on his finger against it felt amazing against you, feeling the ridges of torn areas on your sensitive point. Your stomach felt really funny as butterflies began to swarm it. Before now, you always used to think that when you liked someone, the feeling of butterflies was a myth. But boy had Peter proved you wrong. It genuinely felt like they were colliding with your stomach walls....and perhaps the walls of something a little lower as well. Were your ovaries even there anyway more? “Ohh Your so rough today.” You panted and with that he pinched your clit a little between the same very fingers, causing you to shudder at his touch. You stared down between both of your bodies as you saw drop of wetness drip down from your center onto Peter’s hand as it began to trickle down his skin. You gulped. Nobody had ever made you wet to the point that you’d actually be dripping before and you’d barely began. He instantly noticed of course feeling wetness run down his hand as he tutted and spoke; “Ohh you filthy little girl, look at the mess you’ve done already. You like being handled rough don’t you?” He pinched it once more. “Mmmmm” you moaned in response. “Good girl, let all your noises out my little naughty slut” it was at that moment you froze. He did too. He began to panicked so much that he’d taken it a step so far. But little did he know what his dirty talk was doing to you. He released his hand and cowered away from you and spoke; “Oh my goodness, y/n I’m so sorry!” Poor stuttering Peter was back for a minute. “I-i didn’t mean to call you that.....t-that was so stupid of me.” He was kicking himself in his mind for this. You just let him continue to ramble as he usually did but couldn’t get that sexy word “slut” that he had spoke, out of your head. “Y/n, please say something. I’m really sorry. I-it’s just I saw on the I-internet that apparently girls like t-to be called a s-slit and that it t-turned them on and like I really wanna t-turn you on and a-and—“. you’d had enough so you cut him off. “Shut up Pete, call me it again” you had your hands on his shoulders this time. “W-what?” He said surprised. “Just listen to me” you snapped. Peter stood up straight and listened. “I want you to call me your naughty little slut again. It really turned me on.” Peter blushed. “Really?” He questioned just to be sure, while he gave you those iconic puppy dog eyes. “Yes Peter, really And don’t you dare hold anything back or I’m just gonna have to force you to be sub like usual. You don’t want that do you?”

It was at that point he realised that you really wanted it like this. He wasn’t going to hold back. He replied to your words, “NO!” He stated sternly and shoved you back against the wall taking his top off at the same time. You just couldn’t wait! He was exciting you to the hilt. You lifted your hand up and began to caress his fit body. You’d seen him with out a top on before obviously but for some reason he just looked even hotter tonight. He lifted his hands too and almost tore your top off but made sure it didn’t rip. He was gonna be rough but wanted to be considerate at least. He chucked it and it went flying somewhere across the room, but you didn’t care. You began to rock your hips a little, slowly against his groin and you could feel him growing harder between your legs, his clothed cock resting under your clothed pussy. He moved away slightly, parting your bodies and brought his hand down between you both and when you were least expecting it, he slapped his large rough hand up onto your pussy cupping it in his palm at the end. “Ahhhaaa f-fuck!” Was your instant reply. Your legs trembled,Your heat began to pulsate and tingles were sent throughout your body. You knew that this was punishment for your grinding antics and you wanted it again, so you played back at him.

“Slap my pussy again!” You ordered him. “You was it good” he replied. “Y-Yeah it was outstanding, do it again Peter!” You were expecting him to listen, He always listens to you, but instead it was a stern, “NO!” And with that his hand left your core, undies covering it once again. His hand moving to grab your waist firmly, turning you both around in another direction you felt the both of you stumbling backwards, you weren’t quite sure what was happening until it hit you. You hit the bed. Landing on top of it with an “omphh” as the air knock out of your body yet again. At this point it was only both your top half’s that were pretty much gone. But you sill had your bra securing your breasts in place. Peter was hovering over you at this point. You being flush against the bed. His look consisted of confidence this time around. Something that you’ve not seen in Peter often. But you knew he trusted you to open up and this was good. The sight above you was phenomenal. His face looked so hot and flushed as his wispy curls flowed off the top of his head, some clinging to his clammy forehead. His eyes just as warm and lustful as they were earlier. You whimpered at the sight above you. Not knowing what your mysterious boy was gonna do to you next made you drip even more.

“Shit, y/n if you don’t stop whimpering I’m going to have to shut you up myself, after all, you didn’t even think to shut up and stop humiliating me while you were on that stage, everyone clapping for you did you.” This only caused you to whimper again. Him talking dirty really turned you on. You felt like telling him to ‘shut me up then’ you wanted to shove his cock down your throat. But you remained quite as you were in for it already and couldn’t risk annoying him even more after today’s competition. He spoke again, “you were just soaking all the praise up weren’t you? Well when I’m done with you, something else will be soaking your wetness up. The sheets. Are you gonna soak the bed like the little bad girl that you are y/n? But no it won’t be pee will it? it’ll be something much naughtier that that won’t it princess? See there’s a patch there already. I don’t think mommy taught you properly did she. Never taught you that you shouldn’t wet the bed” where the hell was Peter getting all this from. Oh my God. That’s literally the hottest thing you’ve ever heard anyone say to you in all your life! He rolled you over so your clothed ass was on show and he straddled you. The first slap to your ass shocked you majorly.

“I *slap* fucking *slap* wanted to *slap* win this y/n and you *slap* didn’t give a *slap* fucking *slap* shit did you?”

You just moaned and moaned and moaned.

Damn you thought to yourself. He really was pissed that he hadn’t won wasn’t he. He flipped you back over so your back was now on the bed. He looked down at your skirt, still straddling you and you nodded giving him permission to unzip it. Even though the stuff he’d already done was way worse that simply just pulling a skirt off you. You weren’t complaining though. That’s all that was left on to now was your undergarments. You actually felt really sexy beneath him. He made you feel sexy with the gaze he gave you. The thing Peter did next caused you to squirm. He groped the lace band of your panties by your around your waist. And his hands pulled them up slightly but tightly, causing the material covering you pussy to be pulled up extremely tightly against it , so tight that the material was slightly pulled up into your folds catching your clit just right. Practically giving you a little more than a wedgie....but before you stop me....it felt glorious. You swear that your sight blacked out at this. “P-peter” your head felt slightly giddy as it rolled from side to side in the air as your elbows kept your body up, but then you fully tumbled down on the bed, feeling to weak as your panties were shortly ripped off and two fingers plunged into you unexpectedly.

He actually went quite slow but you were glad as this felt the best. Travelling in and out and occasionally changing up the speed a little to excite you. He also kept changing the angle to experiment on you. Normally his experiment would involve chemicals that blew up in his face. But you were his experiment tonight, and if he was lucky, your pussy would be the thing practically blowing up in his face when you came. His fingers were long and felt amazing. He found the best angle for them to plunge into you, slightly to the lest side. As you mouth emitters loud moan. He smirked and definitely knew with was the best spot. So he cured his digits slightly hoping for a even more impressive reaction. He got what he wanted to say the least, and so did you. You gasped catching your breath yet again when you felt his fingers bend, covering a bigger surface within you and touching a spot you hardy believed existed. Then he experimented again. He straightened his fingers within you again and then curled again, before going back to straight. This constant motion of his fingers alternating between curved an straight within you continued and it felt completely euphoric. Your eyes rolled back as Peter relished the sight beneath him.

His fingers then pulled out, soaked from your juices and he took them both to rub your pussy firmly up your folds once more before licking them clean and moving his hands up behind your back to unclasp your bra. You the sat up a smidge and let it drop down, remove the straps off your arms. Peter yanked it from you and let it drop off the side of the bed and he began to grope at your breasts with pure hunger in his eyes. You were dinner. No, more than that. He had to make you his all day meal. He was the one to moan this time as when he felt the squishiness of your breasts with his large palms. The moan he made was so animalistic but you couldn’t help but still hear the hint of natural high pinchness that he normally had. That turned you on so much. There was just something about his little whines at times that were a lot hotter that a deep grunt.

He removed his hands from your breasts and got up off the bed. You were naked so now it was time for him to completely strip as well. You couldn’t t help it, as soon as he’d yanked his cordauroy trousers off you could see how tightly his cock was pressed up against the fabric of his boxers. You also couldn’t help but notice that his underwear were star wars themed. You giggled. He hadn’t changed since high school one bit. But then he caught you eyeing him down and he stared directly back in your eyes from across the room and with that, he grabbed his clothed dick and gave it a strong squeeze between his fingers. You almost died. His face was glued to yours as he watched you try to hide a massive moan at the sight of him, but failed and opened your mouth with out knowing, a sexy noise coming out. A little dribble ran from your mouth and onto your lip. You realised instantly and diverted your stare from him while lifting your hand to run the dribble away. God that was embarrassing you thought to yourself....

A/N- This wasn’t intended to be more than one part but I’ve now decided to split it into 2 parts (Sorry for not finishing 😬) I’ve had this written for a while now and will write the continuation when I can. I know it’s completely rubbish but I hope you guys like it anyway 🙂👍🏽💓 also I’m sorry if I haven’t written a lot of the requests yet. But I’ve been taking a bit of a break. I will write what I can soon.

[anarchist-billy]

hi sweet pal! yeah I'm super new to the fandom so I've just been recced a bunch of 'classic' fics if you get my drift so they're pretty much all bottom steve, ain't nothing with that but bottom billy is just so delicious to me! you mentioned a fic rec list? yes please thank youuuu!!!

Hello, darling! First of all - WELCOME to the Harringrove fandom! I’m so excited you’re here to add to this incredible group of people in this wonderful, wild fandom of ours! 🖤

I’ll admit, I am not as well-read as some other folks around these parts, but I am the absolute madman that decided to head up the Harringrove Library project, so I do have access to a lengthy list of fics. Huge shoutout to all my cohorts who have been logging away with me for the last…Jesus….Six months? Yikes. We’ll get the blog live eventually, I promise!

Anyway…suffice all that to say, this is by no means an extensive list, merely a little smorgasbord of fics I could find that have been labeled as Bottom!Billy.

Ride the Lightning by @womenseemwicked - 11k

Billy takes Steve to a concert in Indianapolis. Steve does his damn best to fit in. His best is still preppy as shit.

you should find your way home (i’ll be at your front door) by @lucybrown45 - 10k

Billy’s California is not what Steve expects, but it’s good. It’s what he needs. For once he feels like he’s in the right place at the right time.

so this one I read some time ago, and I’m like 93% sure it’s just bottom!Billy, but don’t hold me to it if it ends up being verse. Either way, it’s such a good fic and definitely worth a read imho.

One Wild Night by KittyleFay - 8k

Upon discovering that Steve likes boys, Billy offers to take him to a gay bar on the edge of town to get him laid. There’s one problem: Billy keeps cock-blocking Steve.

It’s Not a One Way Street by im_your_hope - 6k

Sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.

(“Get warm, you fucker,” he whispers aggressively in Billy’s ear.)

This one features one of my favorite tropes - cuddling for warmth. ;)

We’re a Thousand Miles from Comfort (But There’s No Place I’d Rather Be) by HobbitSpaceCase - 5k

Insomnia and too many bad memories send Steve out looking for something to take his mind off his lonely life. What he finds is Billy Hargrove, a mysterious substance in the woods, and the fulfillment of his most deeply buried fantasies.

A Man After Midnight by moonflowers - 4k

When Steve first spotted him, Macho Man was, somewhat ironically, blasting out over the speakers. The dress was electric blue, and probably a little more eighties than seventies, but Steve wasn’t about to nitpick.

Honey Whiskey by quinnvicious - 4k

When they get to a point where they can just barely hear the thumping of the music over the chirping crickets, Billy’s serious expression cracks and he bursts out laughing like a drunken, deranged hyena. Steve can’t help but join in, and then they’re both giggling and stumbling around the forest like idiots. Steve bumps into him to snatch the bottle of whiskey from his fist and takes a burning swallow. It warms his blood too much in the balm of the edge-of-summer night and he drags the back of a hand over his mouth with a ragged sound before passing it back. Billy snickers at his expense and fishes a cigarette out of his pack.

Up Is Down and Down Is Up by dragonspell - 4k

A few short weeks ago, Steve would never have guessed in a million years that he would find himself here, watching Billy Hargrove fight back the urge to come just because Steve’s inside him. The thought would have been ludicrous; the idea of Billy in Steve’s bed absurd. And yet here they are, Billy pretending that he’s on a date with some girl while parking a few blocks down from Steve’s house. When Steve’s parents are home, he sneaks in through the window, but tonight, he’d used the front door.

(Or, a flimsy excuse to write Harringrove porn)

You love this, you need it. by Anonymous - 4k

Billy and Steve have a little dom and sub relationship. It helps billy when he needs to let go.

Plastic Bruises by spaceagelovesong - 3.5k

“slap bracelets,” billy repeats. “sounds like some kinky shit to me—“ he breaks off into another laugh.

steve practically glows. he loves seeing billy laugh. it’s scary, but, like, in a sexy way.

“you want me to get kinky,” steve says, in his best billy voice. “we can get kinky.”

Whoever logged this for the library put in the notes “If anyone has a snap bracelet fetish, do I have the fic for you…” lol

Lucky You by retoxification - 3.5k

All that Billy really wants in life is his hot boyfriend to fuck him until he can’t think.

That’s it, that’s the plot.

Fresh Blood by @sightetsound - 3k

Never had a lap-dance before,” Steve replied impishly.

The intensity of Billy’s stare wiped Steve’s grin clean off his face.

“You want a lap-dance so bad, I’ll give you one.

Anniversary by spaceagelovesong - 2k

billy hargrove knows how to fuck, but steve harrington knows how to make love.

it’s been about a year, but neither of them are counting. after all, every night together is a celebration.

we love making (whispers) by pally (palliris) - 2k

Steve loves breaking Billy apart; loves being torn apart, himself.

Sore by @womenseemwicked - 1.5k

Sometimes Billy works out too hard and can hardly move the next day. Lucky he has Steve to take care of him then.

And now…Not sure if A/B/O is your thing, but I figured I’d include two fics that are Omega!Billy, just in case. ;) I love both of these fics a lot and they’re hot as heck.

Heatstroke by HobbitSpaceCase - 8k

Billy is out of suppressants and going into Heat. Steve finds him. It’s too bad Billy can’t have this every time.

Don’t Belong To Anyone (Else) by @sparkleeye - 30k

Billy is a stubborn idiot and goes to school during his heat.

Honorable Mention: Those American Thighs by tracy7307 - 1.5k

He placed his hands on the tops of Billy’s golden thighs – spread his fingers apart and rubbed from his knees up, up, until his fingertips dipped under the legs of Billy’s shorts. The hair rasped under his hands. His thighs were still a bit slick from that suntan oil that Billy loved to use and from the sweat of working outdoors on a summer day.

This one isn’t Bottom!Billy per se, as it’s intercrural, but it’s Billy’s thighs that are being fucked and gosh golly it is HOT. I’m kinda obsessed with it. So it gets a shoutout here.

I also found a couple Tumblr drabbles buried in my reblogs for you:

Prompt fill by @trashmouse

Prompt fill by thebeautyinchains

And here’s a post/drabble I forgot I wrote about some first time Bottom!Billy. ;)

Finally, I will leave you with this art piece I found in my hunt by @delphineygt. I think most of the Sexy fanart has been banished from tungl dot com at this point, but this gem survived and I’m so happy about it so I wanted to share.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to offer for now. Happy reading, friend! 🤗

[strwbrymoonchild]

How Residue Illuminates The Complexities of Survivor’s Guilt and Gentrification

Written and directed by Merawi Gerima, Residue tells the story of Jay, a screenwriter who returns from California to create a movie about his old neighborhood on Q street in Eckington, Washington, D.C. The film has a semi-autobiographical feel that offers an impressionist yet raw look at gentrification in Northeast D.C.  35mm shots of kids playing, and the unforgettable sounds of cicadas, windchimes, go-go music, and police sirens guide us through Jay’s childhood memories and provide a sense of nostalgia. Fireworks—which could easily be mistaken for gunshots in his neighborhood—stands out as a significant recurring motif. Flashbacks to the Fourth of July foreground themes of liberation or lack thereof, and the hypocrisy of celebrating Independence Day when Black people are still struggling for freedom. To highlight this, Gerima jarringly intersperses documentary-style footage of protests and police brutality in the neighborhood throughout the film. 

Gerima’s unique take on survivor’s guilt shows us that you don’t have to be white to have a savior complex. In the opening scene we hear Jay’s inner monologue: “Did you really think a script would save us?” Art and storytelling are key parts of Black survival and liberation because they allow us to archive and spotlight our experiences, to amplify causes we care about, and to construct better worlds where freedom is possible. Nevertheless, this film offers honest and reflective commentary on the limits of storytelling. Yes, making art is part of the work. But so much of the work remains off the page. Poet and activist Nikki Giovanni said it best when she wrote For Saundra in 1968 after Nixon was elected: “it occurred to me/maybe i shouldn't write/at all/but clean my gun/and check my kerosene supply/perhaps these are not poetic/times/at all”

Jay’s savior complex is further exposed when he runs into an old neighbor named Delonte while in search of his childhood best friend Demetrius. Jay explains to Delonte that he wants to make this movie to give a “voice to the voiceless.” Offended, Delonte quickly pushes back asking, “nigga who’s voiceless?” Later Delonte retorts, “you only care about yourself and your motherfucking movie.” This perspective on what it looks like to have an old friend swoop back into your gentrified neighborhood to try to save the day after years away is imbued with not only raw honesty and resentment but also a sense of accountability and understandable distrust of Jay’s potential ulterior motives.

“Those experiencing survivor’s guilt are paying the very real price of upward mobility, which often means moving into isolating predominantly white spaces, adapting to the social norms of those spaces on a steep learning curve, losing connection with one's sense of self and culture, and struggling to maintain support networks of friends and family”

Does Jay only care about telling his community’s story to launch his filmmaking career? Is he exploiting the lived trauma of his friends or does he genuinely care about raising awareness of police brutality and gentrification? Perhaps both. At the same time, those experiencing survivor’s guilt are paying the very real price of upward mobility, which often means moving into isolating predominantly white spaces, adapting to the social norms of those spaces on a steep learning curve, losing connection with one's sense of self and culture, and struggling to maintain support networks of friends and family. This can be extremely taxing on one's mental health and self-esteem. Jay may be going through his struggles that remain unseen in the film, nevertheless, we can’t help but sympathize with Delonte for distrusting Jay’s intentions. 

This theme of distrust towards law enforcement persists, during a subtle moment in the middle of a conversation between Delonte and Jay, sirens blare and the two stop talking to look around anxiously for cops in the area. The unsettlingly long silence between them is almost as loud as the sirens and it speaks to the constant fear Black people have of being surveilled and targeted at any moment. The scene escalates further when a Black police officer interrupts the conversation between Jay and Delonte to sniff around for intel on gunshots that have just gone off in the neighborhood. Delonte lies and says it wasn’t him and Jay refuses to dignify the officer with a response. Interestingly, the cop knew that Jay wouldn’t trust him and decided to leave him alone instead of pressing further, driving home the point that not all skin folk are kinfolk. Instead of producing tired Black copaganda like other socially conscious films such as Queen and Slim, Residue subtly yet intentionally reinforces the notion that all cops are bastards—even Black ones— and that any individual part of this system is not trustworthy because the system affords them the power to enact brutal violence on civilians and shrouds them in the privilege of turning a blind eye to such violence even if they don’t participate—which ultimately amounts to complicity in the corrupt policing system. 

In addition to commenting on larger systemic issues, Gerima surgically zooms in on the microaggressions that litter everyday interactions in his rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. In one scene, a white girl walks her dog and it poops on Jay’s mother’s lawn. The dog-walker doesn’t see it as a big deal because she plans to pick it up, but Jay’s mother, Lavonne, insists that the droppings will “leave residue” a nod to the film’s title and an allusion to the literal filth that dog-walking D.C. gentrifiers leave in their wake. Jay is poised to put the white girl’s boyfriend in his place after he calls Lavonne a bitch, but his mother promptly reminds him that the system is just waiting for Jay to slip up and produce an excuse to lock him up. She coaxes him away saying, “Look you can’t fall for that shit! He’s a decoy, Jay, those are the decoys!” This poignant line illustrates the surreal video game/simulation-like nature of living through systemic racism as a Black person. Within this system, Black people are not seen as humans, but are instead sweepingly reduced to existential threats against whiteness and portrayed as supervillains or superpredators  with “no conscience [and] no empathy.”

“It’s maddening to acknowledge that at almost every turn, many Black folks are just one small misstep away from poverty, or incarceration, or death. Watching all of these isolated incidents back to back leaves the viewer gasping for some sort of respite from racism.”

Throughout the film, Gerima continues to show that there are so many landmines Black people living in gentrified cities must tip-toe around: the cheap cash offers of predatory white real-estate investors; the righteous indignation towards white boys making a killing selling weed instead of serving prison sentences (like Jay’s friends)— you can’t even defend your own girlfriend against Black catcallers spewing misogynoir lest onlookers not only call the police but begin to cry, “Black on Black crime.” It’s maddening to acknowledge that at almost every turn, many Black folks are just one small misstep away from poverty, or incarceration, or death. Watching all of these isolated incidents back to back leaves the viewer gasping for some sort of respite from racism. Throughout all of these encounters, Gerima makes the conscious choice not to show the faces of white people committing microaggressions. In interviews, Gerima has shared that this was partly a logistical choice because he couldn’t find white actors for the film. But more than that, this visual effect makes white people seem less like people and more like the artificial decoys Lavonne described. Even the white person who tries to be neighborly to Jay does not get face time with the camera. If these people remain faceless, the viewer can’t normalize or humanize them as his neighbors or his friends. Instead, we’re visually forced to see them as faceless outsiders who are inserting themselves into the neighborhood. They behave as though they are passive, laidback fixtures in the landscape who are entitled to space when in reality they’re invasive gentrifiers choosing to displace Black people from their neighborhoods. 

Perhaps the most spellbinding part of the film is the way Gerima weaves elements of magical realism into the story as both a sinister hex and a palliative balm. Jarring footage of blood running in the streets due to stop and frisk laws in D.C. transitions into the camera angle flipping upside down to reveal a shot of gentrifiers at brunch, oblivious to the bloodshed on the streets they’re occupying. This juxtaposition drives home that there are two Americas; and that this stark, depressing state of duality will only become more violent as the repercussions of redlining and housing discrimination in Washington D.C persist. The indifference and indulgence of these privileged brunch-goers enable Gerima to make the statement that these people have blood on their hands, and at their feet. 

Later on, after years of ignoring his friend Dion’s letters, Jay works up the courage to visit him in prison. Rather than taking place within the prison walls, the majority of the conversation occurs in a sunny lush green forest that the two freedom-dream together. In this scene, magical realism is used as an enchanting portal into an imagined version of Black liberation. Dion and Jay trade sweet anecdotes and childhood memories. At the end of the visit, Jay apologizes profusely for failing to respond to Dion’s letters. Dion brushes off Jay’s contrition and says, “fuck them letters,” proving that it's never too late to reach out and that while we live under this oppressive racist system, the thing that keeps us human and sane is our connection to each other. This breathtaking scene asserts that Black people are not just residue to be wiped away through a social cleansing strategy of systematic displacement, purported public order maintenance, and violent erasure— but vibrant, resilient souls who will never stop caring for one another and will never stop telling our own stories to each other and the rest of the world. 

Otito Greg-Obi is a poet and aspiring screenwriter based in Washington D.C. Her poetry appears in "small poems for the masses," a quarterly zine by Post Ghost Press. She is a former member of The Excelano Project, a poetry collective in Philadelphia. When she’s not writing you can find her slow-mo milly rocking in the pouring rain to MorMor, baking sourdough bread, over/underwatering succulents, or knitting something cozy. Her favorite color is mint green, and she’s obsessed with pop culture and with television (particularly dramedies and dystopian sci-fi). You can find her on Twitter at @otweetoh

[riahpariah]

It’s been a while since I talked about our DnD game. Spoilers for Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and also my campaign so hopefully the players do not find this.

This got SUPER LONG and I am honestly not expecting anyone reads this, I just want a place to get it all down and keep it fresh and amuse anyone who wanders by. Carry on.

The party made it to Rosohna after their quest with Sunbreaker Olomon (via a teleportation circle, because fuck traveling by foot). They saved his life from a necromancer and also kept the kid alive through the hunt, though he didn’t get to land a blow on the necromancer and he was upset that his rite of passage was a letdown. They got paid, they got their ring (of spell storing, because they LOVE high power items and I sprinkle them in. Their enemies are getting way harder in response).

When they got to the city, I treated myself to a little naughtiness and I had Taskhand Adeen Tasithar be in charge of escorting them through the Lucid Bastion and to a hotel as thanks. The party loves him, thinks he’s a great guy. He is another character whose accent I CANNOT keep consistent, it varies between an Arabic accent (intentional) and British (unintentional). My players let it pass, and they are very sweet for doing so. But I did pull of a pretty good Essek for one ten-minute conversation in which they were interrogated about the portal they fell through. That was fun as well.

So they wandered the city a bit while waiting for word if they could be helped, and they found a shop that I set up that I’ve been so excited about. It’s called The Gilded Gamut, and it’s run by a duergar man named Duurek. I took bits and pieces of him from EGtW, mostly an idea about how he wants to convince the Bright Queen to allow a port to be installed for skyships, taking advantage of the Empire’s reticence to further themselves in global trade industry. He mainly wants to sell super expensive and rare items he collects, and he can’t go as a single dark dwarf to Port Damali and expect fair treatment, but if the entire Kryn Dynasty can be convinced to put a door in for the rest of the world...that would be a power move I’m just saying.

So he hires adventurers to get him his wares, and he operates primarily with teams on the Blightshore. However, as my guys will soon be heading to find the necromancer they are hunting, it will take them by the ruins of Draconia. Duurek has a tip about something uhhhh let’s say artifact in nature, in a vault down in the collapsed city. I have PLANS FOR THAT ONE FRIENDOS.

So Duurek, to test them out, sent them to drop a bag of putrid smelling mushrooms in a competitor’s shop, wrapped in a special cloth that would degrade over a day or so. The party doesn’t have a rogue, but the wizard is pretty stealthy, being a kenku, so she managed to get in (setting off one trap) and leave the mushrooms in a vase on the wall. She got back out, setting everything back how she found it as best she could, and as she went back over the fence in the back, she landed just in time for guards to do a round, and they questioned her and the dragonborn pally who’d been keeping an eye out, and after a couple bad persuasion rolls the guards were getting suspicious so the paladin panicked and said it was a sex thing. Funny enough, I plotted that whole block of buildings to see how they’d get into the rear courtyard to get to the door, and they didn’t know at the time, but the building they were next to was a brothel. The guard was like “keep it inside please” and moved on, but that was delightful.

So they went back to Duurek the next day, and they were going to get a little discount and some gold, and I nabbed another quest from EGtW. While they were talking the sky went bright noon, a fault in the system of nightfall pearls in the city. After a few minutes of explanation and bitching from Duurek, Adeen ran in and asked the party to help. The nightfall pearls had been stolen and those in the temples hit were slaughtered quietly, and as far as anyone knew the pearls were traveling northward out of Rosohna. The party agreed to help if Adeen would arrange for an item of Duurek’s to be given to them after--an Orb of Scrying. Adeen agreed to see it done and sent them off.

The party pursued, finding a few guards killed along the road through the Ghostlands, and after some good rolls they found where the thieves had gone off the road. They encountered a group of black-furred Hobgoblins (if you read EGtW you’ll recognize this from the Children of Malice section) and managed to kill them, though the gnome barbarian dropped again (he’s fine) and the pally got down to one hit point. They retrieved the pearls, returned them to a temple, and encountered one of the mages who had gone through the portal from Faerun. She admitted she didn’t know what she was in for, that the Head of the Black Spider and her right hand Zethix (the pally’s mortal nemesis) had arranged most of it. They would be the ones who know how the spell worked, and the party is desperately looking for a way back to Faerun. The mage had found peace in Rosohna and converted to worship of the Luxon, having grown up worshiping Lolth pretty much just because that’s all she knew, eschewed from Faerun society as a drow. The party let her stay in peace.

The last stop saw the party back to Duurek to pick up the Orb of Scrying. Wizard immediately sat down and used it to scry on Zethix, and he didn’t make the save. She saw him sitting on an obnoxious stone throne, half-reclined over and reading a book in a language she didn’t know, a variant of Common she didn’t find familiar. The title (which will be in Zemnian) will be “The Ascension of Vecna” (because Zethix is looking to fuck with some more necromancy, that being his whole spiel, and he’s super interested in what Vecna accomplished).

The players are going to pick up from there tomorrow night. I am HYPE.

[messedupessy]

🎼📕 for the ask meme?

Ahhhh sorry Cap I frikking forgot you sent this one in xD it got lost in all my drafts gnjekgjkeeg but here goes ye

🎼: favorite soundtrack song?

the Undertale one, as it actually made me cry the first time I heard it UwU tho Bonetrousle, that song that might play when you fight sans, megalovania, spear of justice, asgore, muffet’s song i forgot the name, but yeah I like most of them ye xD

📕: favorite fanfic? Have any reccomendations?

Oh gods there are so many, I don’t have an absolute fave since it’s way too hard to like properly decide the best as I love them all too much and you can’t make me choose!

But some of my faves are:

This one fic I commissioned from you with them Edgepuff boys because it’s amazing af and I adore it af, the other fics in its put with are so good too especially that papyrus x cash one it’s so good nkejjgnek

The Deep End by yessica, it’s very very heavy and srsly read the tags as it can be triggering for some ppl, but it’s about a very, very depressed papyrus getting help and it’s srsly amazingly written and I adore it so much gerkjgnjek 

Atypical by @itsladykit, it’s a papcäst filled mythic creature au and it’s just really really good yes 

Thunderstruck by my sweet neighbor @me-and-my-gaster which is srsly so flipping good ahhh, a Edge x reader fic from Edge’s perspective and it’s just so good this boi is so good and it’s so great to see how he slowly gets better and better and grow as a person yes, also all her other fics are also so good go read them too like all of them yes

Remedy by my pally pal @thefloatingstone, sansby fic which is srsly so good too like yeess rnkeekje

Terms of engagement by @keelywolfe, spicyhoney papcäst with one of my fave tropes and i adore it af yes

but srsly I got so many, many more and if you wanna see them then go check out my bookmarks on ao3 here, do mind that most of the stories I have bookmarked got naughty af sheit in them, some of them got some rly messed up sheit too so check it out on your own risk and don’t come to me with any of ur purity culture sheit if the stuff you find there displeases you idgaf mind your fucking business xD

Ask thingie here which I forgot about pfft, still open for the one’s I haven’t answered ye