#oh also i think this is when people started calling me poppy

[pardonmydelays]

how did the prison gang come to be a thing and what does the name mean?

STORYTIME!!!

ok, so for those who are confused, there's six of us in prison gang: me, @wagingmywarsbehindmyface, @mymuses-acquiredlikebruises, @noproof-youjustknow, @anixknowsnothin and @redwidow616.

if you were here last year, you probably know that my blog didn't look like it does now lmao. basically, bel and i, we were obsessing over totally different things - the little mermaid (2023) and hamilton, mostly (or should i say: jonah hauer king and lin manuel miranda?). anyway. this is a very important part of the story, because we've known each other for literal years and before that we were both posting mostly about taylor swift. and then everything has changed (pun intended) last spring/summer and this is exactly how the entire prison gang found each other on this hellsite.

i do not remember the exact time we've all started following each other but i do know anix found me because of some hamilton shitpost (or was it the other way around? i think maybe it was me who found HER hamilton post and reblogged it and then she followed and texted me? correct me if i'm wrong, i need to do some research). anyway. then red found me because of anix cause they already knew each other - both swifties and musical theatre nerds. just like me.

now i do remember that edith had swiftie url and i found out she's also into musical theatre some time later and we started interacting through the posts. i also remember she said my tags always make her laugh hehehe. and M, M definitely had url from the little mermaid (wild uncharted waters my fucking beloved) and so we started following each other because of this and then also found out she's into musical theatre (she told me that she absolutely adores my love for hamilton hehehe i was pretty loud about it back then) and also a swiftie. it's crazy when you think about it - we were basically all just one person.

and i am only speaking from my own experience because i do not know the exact moment they all followed each other - i only remember how and why i became mutuals with them.

and it was a few months later when i was talking to bel and we were like hey, it would be so fucking cool if tumblr had a group chat option... and then she came up with the idea of creating a discord server for our group. i know anix helped a lot because she's good at discord - i literally installed the app only because of those people. and we are still there, almost one year later. and it's our first anniversary soon!

about the name tho... anon, i'm sorry but i have absolutely no idea why we are called prison gang. we were probably talking about the possibility of murdering someone (we always have our knives ready) and ending up in prison together and someone (probably anix) just randomly said "prison gang" and we just adopted the name cause it was funny. anyway. i would die for this group it's not even funny.

[fingertipsmp3]

Maybe I did this to myself but it does irk me when people see me knitting and they ask who it’s for and I say it’s for me and the immediate reaction is “you should sell it” yeah… let me spend at least a week’s worth of my free time making an item I like, want, and would wear just to sell it on etsy, making at most a £2 profit on materials and not being compensated for my time whatsoever 👍🏻

[multific]

A Couple too Many Drinks

Mattheo Riddle x Reader Summary: You attend a party with your friends and have a couple of too many drinks, which makes you forget about a certain someone.

You weren't much of a drinker.

You prefer quiet nights with your boyfriend, but unlucky for you, your boyfriend was quite the party animal.

But you didn't really mind this one. You had a lot of friends from Griffindor, so a party held in their common room sounded good.

Even when your friend Poppy finally managed to convince Mattheo to let you go with her for a couple of drinks and dance.

Now, a couple of drinks turned into a couple of shots and drink so you started to really feel good.

Almost to the point where you completely lost sense.

"Y/N," called Poppy who was in a very similar state as you. "Where are you going?"

"Baaaathroooom." you told her before you headed because you really really needed to pee. If it wasn't for the guy who stepped in front of you and called out your name.

"Babe?" he tried again as you walked away from him.

"I have a boyfriend!" you yelled at him as you never stopped walking. Mattheo could only watch in amazement as he saw you disappear into the ladies' bathroom.

Much to your frustration the man was still there, waiting for you.

"Sweetheart, I think you had too much to drink."

"Seriously, dude, I have a boyfriend."

"I am your boyfriend." he said which made you stop and look at him.

"I doubt it! My boyfriend is the strongest Slytherin! He will hand you your ass if you don't leave me alone!"

"Babe, you had too much to drink." Mattheo laughed as you made a face.

"Don't babe me! Do you know who my boyfriend is?!"

"Oh, yes, the infamous son of the Dark Lord…" he smirked but you didn't find it so funny.

"How dare you talk about him like that! He is better at everything than most people here! I love him, I dare you to say it again!" Mattheo was a bit taken aback. He heard people talk about him worse in front of his friends and all of them just laughed it off, so he was shocked to see you defending him, saying you love him as well.

"I will go find your boyfriend."

"Good! Run away!" you said as he just turned around in a circle.

"Matty!" you yelled as you saw your boyfriend. "There was this guy flirting with me… he was an ass." you said with a pout as Mattheo looked at you. He smiled as you looked to cute.

"I'm sure he was, Darling. Let's get you to bed now." he said as he kissed your cheek and helped you walk to your room and into your bed.

He will also make sure to save this moment into his heart forever.

Taglist: @fleursirvart @greenarrowhead @thisismysecrethappyplace @sincerelyfan @theoneanna @aestheticsandmarvel @rororo06 @castellandiangelo @destynelseclipsa @spilledinkindumpster @capsiclesdoll @puknow @alwayshave-faith @alex12948 @lxdyred  @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @anonymoussherlockandmarvelgeek @praline357 @trshngyn @avengers-r-us @violet-19999 @top1bbgloak   @manduse   @jacalineiscomingforyou  @mandoloriancookie @noname2246

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

DO NOT STEAL, REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS 

[storydays]

A silly little request from anon.

What if while in Gristles and Bridgets wedding, John Dory’s daughter (y/n) was found by Branch, thinking that she was lost and shocked that his older brother had a kid. (actually JD just lost her in the woods while hunting for food. Branch knew that Y/n is jd’s kid cuz of the looks) JD AND Y/N, FATHER-DAUGHTER REUNION. But also angst, since y/n didn’t know anything about her father

sorry my english is bad

When Will I See You Again?

John Dory X Daughter!Reader

Branch X Niece! Reader

BROPPY

(15 years ago)

“Yeah, yeah! Baby girl, wait until you try Big Daddy’s gumbo!” a 30 year old John Dory laughed loudly as he mixed some vegetables and yak burger meat in a pan, making faces at his 8 month old daughter who giggled from her playpen.

It’d been the two of them since Kyomi, John’s wife of 15 years, passed during labor. It still hurt but John still had a reason to smile everyday:  you. 

You were a perfect combination of himself and your mother; although you took his smile and hair color, you took your mother’s calming personality and you both had that cute little gap between your front teeth. Your mother was an R&B Troll, one of the subgenres of Pop and Funk Trolls, who lived on a small island between Pop Village and Vibe City.

John Dory came across her during his journey of self discovery and Kyomi helped him break out of the role of oldest brother and the leader role, and helped him to understand why his brothers’ reacted the way they did. Together they then traveled around the world, looking for his siblings. But once John had seen how happy his brothers were, he’d decided to keep his distance, they didn’t need him anymore. 

John snapped out of his thoughts when he smelled something burning. “Ah sugar!” He yelled as he moved you further away from the campfire and hurriedly put the water out. 

Once the fire was out, he turned to check you over, but you were fine, and not even paying attention to him anymore, instead you were facing away from him, playing with the necklace around your neck and babbling to yourself. John sighed softly and walked over to your crib and watched you play for a few minutes.

“Well, that gumbo is going to have to be made another day, darlin’. How about a breakfast dinner?” He asked, before grabbing you up, making you squeal in surprise, and put you in the baby carrier before heading out into the forest for more wood.

*timeskip*

You babbled along as John Dory sang softly under his breath, as he gathered wood, when a loud screech startled you both. 

John cursed under his breath before rushing off, trying to get you both to safety when a claw scratched against him, making him trip, and hiss as he pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the deep scratches, before he felt his blood run cold when he realized you were no longer attached to him. 

“Nonononono!” He yelled, chasing after the bird before he tripped over a tree branch and face planted in the dirt, rushing to get up, yelling your name, hoping something could help him.

But the bird was far from his reach and so were you.

John Dory fell to his knees before an harsh sob escaped him as he started to wail in despair, calling for you desperately:

“(Y/N)!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

*Fastforward to present day*

“GOOD MORNING, UNCLE BRANCH!” You squealed, as you saw your uncle yawning. He chuckled softly, accepting the cup of coffee you were offering him.. “Hey, firefly. You ready for a royal wedding?” “You mean the one where Aunt Poppy and Aunt Bridget tried to dress me up as an actual flower?” 

Branch snorted in his coffee. “Oh yeah, Poppy showed me the pictures.” “It’s not funny, traitor!” You huffed, pouting and crossed your arms. Branch chuckled again making you smile before turning back to your journal, which was filled with different Troll fashion designs for each tribe. Branch started to make breakfast before peeking over your shoulder.

“Wow, (Y/N)! These are amazing!” You smiled brightly, you always did when people complimented your work. “Thanks! I was so excited for the wedding today, I got so inspired! Can you guess what the theme is?”

“Hmm,” Branch hummed, as he got the ingredients ready for breakfast. He smirked to himself seeing all the hearts and swirls in your designs. “Chesseburgers?” He guessed playfully.

“No!” You giggled, “It’s love. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, Uncle Branch. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of help to find it.” You said softly, fidgeting with the necklace around your neck, and looking over your designs with a thoughtful look. 

Branch studied you carefully, something was bothering you, you wore the same look he distinctly remembers his oldest brother having when he thinking hard. He cleared his throat before asking, “Wanna help me cook?” 

*Timeskip* 

Now dressed in your wedding outfit,( you were the flower girl with Tiny being the flower boy), you stood next to your Uncle, dancing on the balls of your feet excitedly, stars shining in your eyes.

“Now, if there is anyone who objects to this—” “STOP THE WEDDING!” A loud voice screamed, making everyone turn to watch the mysterious Troll parkour their way down to the front of the crowd. Branch pushed you and Poppy behind him, eyeing the new Troll suspiciously. 

“Sorry, sorry, is this a bad time? I’m just looking for a Troll named–” asked the Troll as he pushed his goggles up, before gasping seeing Branch.

“Baby Branch!” The weird man then came up and started rambling about nothing of interest to you, as you could see how much this Troll looked like you and was strangely familiar. But seeing your Uncle uncomfortably trying to get out of the man’s grip.

“Hey! You put my Uncle down right now!” “And tell us who you are!” demanded Poppy, standing tall besides you. Branch groaned as he jumped down. “Oh right, right, sorry. I’m Branch’s brother.” You gasp as Poppy took the lead. 

You studied the new Troll, ignoring the argument between Branch and Poppy, and approached him. “Have we met before?” You asked, ceasing all conversation, not noting Branch bit his lip nervously.

“Now that I think about it……” John trailed off, seeing the necklace around your neck and gasping softly, before pushing your bangs from your face. “(Y/N)?” He asked softly, eyes tearing up. “Um.. yep that’s my name, heh. Says it on my necklace.”

“Oh my God….oh my God! You-you’re alive! “ John Dory laughed in disbelief before hugging you tightly. “I’m alive! I’m alive?” You giggle, hugging him back instinctively before backing away nervously. 

“Of course you wouldn’t remember me…you were just a baby when we got seperated.” John huffed softly, before looking at you with sad fondness. 

“(Y/N).....I’m your dad.”

There's no such thing as silly request :)

PART 2???????

[maxinemeows]

So multiple things inspired me to write this little angsty Flower Husbands drabble: their interactions in this season, the scene on bread bridge in Limited Life (and how Jimmy seems to be okay to ask Scott for lives as if they're nothing,) and also in general how I am noticing how their dynamic is more antagonistic and violent now (similarly how Joel and Scott are usually.)

Also, Jimmy not knowing who was Scott's soulmate when he was doing the Life Series quiz made me think that it would be cool to include here!

(if you know my last Scott post you'll probably understand why this thing exists- PGFJGHF.)

-----

A Deal with heartbreak

Session 6 started with a bang, multiple people dying because of the sudden appearance of the wildcard from today, Jimmy being one of them, making him be a red life now.

Scott walks near the cherry wood stairs of the Bamboozlers and looks around to check on them to see if they found out something new about the wildcard.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Scott calls out until he notices Jimmy coming down the mountain. He seems to be wearing the clothes he did last session, but this time they’re different colors.

Jimmy waves at Scott and approaches him rapidly.

“Hey.”

“Hey!” Scott smiles warmly. Sure, Jimmy is red but he wouldn’t attack him out of the blue, even though last sessions he kind of did, but Scott hopes he won’t now.

“Dude this wildcard is crazy! I can’t believe I died so quickly! I mean, at least I wasn’t the only one.”

“You have to be more careful Jimmy, Mumbo died last session so you might follow him…”

Jimmy sighs and crosses his arms shaking his head.

“Yeah, you’re still a green man, I don't know how you do it!” As Jimmy says that he gets an idea.

Scott shrugs at that. He just goes under people’s radars, though he is also good at the games, but better than Gem and Joel? Probably not.

“Scott man, I really need a life… Now that I am red is more urgent than yesterday! Please can I kill you?” Jimmy puts his two hands together and tries to make the best puppy eyes.

Scott chuckles at his request, and for a moment he considers it.

“Uhm, sorry Jimmy, I really don’t want to lose a life now. I gave one to Pearl yesterday so-” He gets interrupted as Jimmy gets closer to Scott, making him visibly more nervous.

“Oh! You gave her a life so she wouldn’t be red right? This is the same situation! Please man!” 

“But that’s different Jimmy! She’s my teammate and I also promised her that if she turns red she could kill me!”

With that said Scott thinks this is over but he then sees how Jimmy is suddenly holding a sword.

“How is that different? What about me asking you yesterday? Also! Our teams are kind of allies right? Don’t you think it’s a good idea to help your ally?” Jimmy waves his sword around, making Scott be very vigilant of the situation he’s in.

“I understand that, but Pearl, Impulse and Cleo are the first people I allied with this season! Of course I am going to prioritize them! Plus if we’re like this then Pearl was my soulmate a couple of seasons back so!” Scott says that without thinking, realizing suddenly why this moment seemed familiar. 

He, for a moment sees a black leather jacket and a long bridge extending on both of their sides.

Jimmy furrows his eyebrows in confusion and anger saying: “What? Okay and? Also your soulmate wasn’t it Cleo?”

Scott finds himself dumbfounded. He steps back and sees Jimmy closing the distance, and as he does that Jimmy accidentally steps on a poppy when he swings his sword at Scott.

In that moment, something in Scott gets broken. His stomach feels like it's turning and his hands buckle into fists. A sword appears into Scott’s hand and he swings it to block the blow; he then redirects his sword near Jimmy’s neck.

“I’ll give you 30 seconds Jimmy, to get out of my sight before I kill you for good.” Scott looks coldly at Jimmy, his eyes beginning to glow, but not only that, multiple more seem to appear and open on his neck and arm, glowing alike.

Jimmy’s sword disappears into his inventory and he huffs as he turns around and walks up the stairs of his team’s mountain.

Scott’s hands tremble. He sighs, and writes a mental note to not visit the Bamboozlers anymore.

-----

So I thought Jimmy was yellow at the end of session 5- checked, and he is red, but well this is a silly drabble anyways!

I had to make a reference to Deal with Destiny in the title okay? Was it obvious? Was it not?

Hope you liked it! ^^

[sunnie-writes]

is loving as good as they say?

pairing: wally darling x reader

tags: romantic fluff, love confessions, reader is a hopeless romantic !!

plot: a hopeless romantic all your life, you dreamed about the love you saw in movies and series, the type you would read in books that left you kicking your feet and giggling. cupid never seemed to be by your side, everyone who you fell in love with ended up not liking you back, so of course you were scared of another heartbreak when you moved to a new neighborhood and ended up falling for your newest neighbor, wally darling. although, it seemed that cupid didn't miss this time.

talk that talk, sunnie !!: so, this has been rotting in my google docs for almost a year already, so i thought i should post it already!! i hope you guys enjoy it, and you're more than welcome to read my other wally fics. thank you, and let's get to it!!

this fic is also available on ao3, you can click here to find it!!

A hopeless romantic, that's what you could call yourself.

You crave the love you would see on TV, those movies and series about romance had a grip on you that no one could explain, and don't get me started on the books. Even while being that amazed by the concept of being loved and cared by someone who you felt the same with, Cupid seemed to always miss his arrows.

Unrequited love was painful, you learned that the hard way. In your high school, you would watch all the high school sweethearts make their ways to classes while holding hands or eating lunch playfully with all the romantic atmosphere that came with it. What was the word you felt? Ah, that's right, you envied them.

Moving away from your town was both a relief and a scare, you would now be open to meeting new people, watching them enter your life. You hoped that they would stay.

And that's how you ended up here, in the lovely and colorful neighborhood that was Welcome Home. The name seemed silly, but you quickly learned that it was because of all the friendly behavior that those who lived there seemed to have. So friendly that they're always welcoming everyone.

All of the stars know that you would be lying if you said you weren't nervous. You never dealt good with talking to new people, you hoped that they could be friendly enough to start introductions first. Even if you were repeating how to introduce yourself like a mantra in your head, you were anxious about meeting so many people in just a day.

"Oooh! Are you the new neighbor?!" And that was your cue to use up all your social skills.

"Uh- yes?" You turned around to see who screamed, eyes meeting with a puppet girl with long blonde hair, and were those candy corn horns?

"Welcome Home! I was so excited to meet you! What is your name? What do you like?" She jumped up and down while popping multiple questions.

"I'm Y/N L/N, nice to meet you." You smiled, she's like a puppy. "I like reading and... animals, and I would love to be your friend!" There was no need to reveal your secret interest yet.

"That's amazing! You remind me of Frank, he also likes reading and animals! Well, specifically, flutterbies!" She spoke rapidly.

"Julie for the last time, they're called butterflies!" You looked to the side, seeing a gray man coming your way. "Oh, hello, I'm Frank."

You settled for waving at him. Julie, noticing your behavior, told him your name and interests. You're starting to think that Julie was sent from the angels as a way to help you enter this community.Then, you were pulled away from your thoughts as more puppet people started to gather in front of you.

"Oh my, the new neighbor has arrived already?" A girl with a sun head happily said. "My name is Sally Starlet, and you?"

"I'm Y/N L/N... nice to meet you!" You gave your best friendly smile.

Everyone introduced themselves to you, all colorful and adorable. Poppy was a pretty chicken who turned out to be an immediate mother figure to you, we also have Barnaby who is a big blue dog with a chill, kinda laid back personality that made you comfortable with his presence. Eddie Dear was the mailman, who Julie alerted you to not catch feelings for since Frank already had his eyes on him, and Howdy was a sweet man who owned the local market.

Judging by the numbers of houses, only one neighbor was missing. You pondered on how the last person could possibly be like, smiling at the idea of them being just as friendly as everyone in this colorful place that had you looking around nonstop.

"Ah, I see… am I late?" Someone spoke up, you turned around to finally meet your last neighbor.

And at that moment, you knew you were in trouble. He was absurdly pretty, with a blue pompadour and yellow skin, along with colorful clothing and eyes that pierced your soul and sent chills all over your senses. You felt your cheeks burn up, Cupid did it again and you weren't sure on how to stop staring at him.

"Woooow Wally, being late to meet our newest neighbor? How dare you!" Barnaby playfully dramatically gasped.

"I apologize, let me introduce myself." He went in your direction, standing right in front of you, who was currently almost out of breath. "I'm Wally Darling, the artist of the town, it's a pleasure to meet you…?"

"Y/N, Y/N L/N." Your voice almost cracked for a second, making your cheeks heat up even more. "Nice to meet you too…"

"How adorable, surely you're a great addition to our lovely neighborhood." He picked up your hand, giving a kiss on the back of your palm.

Stuttering, you thanked him for the compliment while trying your best to not fall on your knees. Julie came into the scene again and began telling Wally your tastes, he listened carefully while nodding and looking at you with a relaxed smile.

Eventually, everyone began slowly saying their goodbyes and going to their homes or jobs. You waved as Julie was the last one to leave and entered your house, closing the door behind you and holding your heart. It was racing, and you were well acquaintanced with the feeling.

Well, you failed, love followed your way again.

And now, what to do? You couldn't lie to yourself but it was hard to face the truth. It seemed too early for falling in love, you can just call it a crush and try to get over it, maybe this time it'll work! 

Yeah, just give it some time and it'll pass, you were sure of it!

— 

So, it didn't work.

That was obviously going to happen, and now you had your head in your hands while you walked around your house. On your bed, a pretty bouquet with your favorite color layed prettily there. Wally gave it to you, as a way to celebrate "your first week in the neighborhood", how sweet!

Your heart kept beating faster and faster each time you thought about the way he showed up on your doorstep, with his smug smile and bouquet in hands. He looked so innocent as your insides felt like melting from all the sweetness that gesture had.

And before you could control your feelings, you were already catching yourself humming to cheesy love songs and even singing them while cleaning the house. The radio echoed around your house, romantic tunes that you requested on the telephone to play there were all over the place.

Your once retired love books were now scattered across the floor as you giggled by imagining the scenarios with Wally. You didn't try to make a move and ask him out, your heart already had many bruises from past love delusions, and you really didn't feel like piling up another one for your heartbreak wonderland.

Instead, you just tried to become his friend while also trying to get your feelings to go away. That was, obviously, not a good idea, how could you try to stop falling for someone who you interact with everyday?

Before you could think properly on a better plan, a month had gone by. You still had your late night scenarios to giggle about, along with your hopeless romantic dreaming that pulled you into a cycle of trying to stop loving Wally Darling and learning how to love him all over again because of your weak heart.

Curse the Cupid, curse him and all of his pinkish love arrows who never found your way before. Of course you would be giving up on the first month, he never gave you what you wanted before, what could possibly make you think that now it would all go the right way?

Stupid, selfish Cupid.

—

Three months had passed, and you could say you were tired of waiting for the feelings to suddenly disappear.

You played with a doll's hand, carefully moving the antique treasure in your arms. Currently, you were at Julie's house, who was the only person who was aware of your huge crush on Wally. She giggled as she asked you questions of all the time you and "lover boy" had passed together.

"He just wanted to paint with someone, it's not like he wanted to paint alone with just me and nobody else!" You blushed while looking at the ground.

"I don't know, he never really let me or the other neighbors touch his painting supplies." Julie then whispered in a teasing manner, "Maybe he thinks of you as special, in a like-like way!"

You lowered your head while choking on your water, feelings all over the place. If there was something that Julie liked to do, it was to tease relentlessly. After you calmed down, you both started to ask each other random questions to pass the time.

"Now, as a hopeless romantic, what is your ideal date?" She questioned, looking happy as ever in your direction.

"Hmm, stargazing seems like a great date, picnics look a lot of fun too!" You bashfully chuckled. "Oh, a picnic on a sunset, that turns into a stargazing session! With sweet apple pies and cake, along with refreshing drinks!"

"Ooh, tell me more!" Julie smiled.

"Okay, then a cold wind blows and suddenly I shiver, then Wally puts his cardigan on me and hugs me closer!" You could easily feel your cheeks heating up just from your imagination.

And that earned a screech from Julie.

“Ugh, how are your scenarios always the best?!” 

“It’s the prize I get for being a dreamer.” You chuckled lightly.

—

Today was a special day in the neighborhood.

Apparently, everyone was going to the nearest lake, which is gigantic, you can say, and pop up some balloons and light up some fireworks because it was the neighborhood’s anniversary! 

You were currently trying to pick your best outfit, and that was because Wally was going to pick you up since you didn’t know the way to the lake. At least that’s what you told yourself so you wouldn’t freak out at the scenario. Seriously, that sounded like a romantic comedy.

After a while, you ended up settling for one of your favorite outfits, one that had stars on them. Then, a knock on the door was heard. You quickly put on your shoes and ran to open it, coming face to face to an adorable Wally, looking at you while holding a bouquet of red tulips and some amaranth.

“There we go, a bouquet of beautiful flowers for an even prettier one.” 

“Oh! Wally, you shouldn’t…” You blushed and took the flowers.

“Nonsense, you deserve only the best!” He chuckled raspily.

You giggled as he gave you his hand, pleading eyes for you to walk with him. You two started walking while holding hands in the direction of the lake, talking about everything that was going on in the neighborhood. It was a nice atmosphere, comfortable enough, and dare you say, romantic.

As you arrived there, Wally smiled and kissed the back of your hand before going to talk to a knowing Barnaby, who stared at you with a big smile and wiggling his eyebrows. Julie, who saw all of that, pulled you towards her and Frank immediately.

"Oh. My. Stars! What was that? Is that a bouquet? Are you two going on a date?" She excitedly spoke while flapping her hands.

"Julie, calm down. Pretty sure she is malfunctioning." Frank told the girl by his side. "But yeah, what exactly happened there?"

"I don't know, and I'm freaking out about it!" You giggled while holding the bouquet close to you, smiling.

"That was absurdly romantic, I think he is head over heels for you!" Julie exclaimed while whispering. "Besides, look at these flowers, they are so pretty!"

"They also have an exquisite meaning, you know?" Frank randomly spoke, dropping the fact like it was nothing.

You proceeded to hint at him to keep going.

"Amaranths mean eternal love, red tulips mean true love." Frank looked at you while raising his eyebrows. "That is literally a confession."

Julie, who was holding her energy back, gave a screech and started shaking your arm. Meanwhile, you had just bluescreened. Your cheeks heated up, and you felt your heartbeat increase rapidly, like it was trying to burst out your ribcage in a desperate manner. At that point, you were checking if you still even had some pulse.

Suddenly, someone started ringing a bell, and so, everyone looked to the front, seeing Poppy there. She smiled before starting to explain that there was food on the foldable table, fireworks and water guns, everything for fun. Poppy then started handing out glasses with juice to everyone before raising a toast for the neighborhood's birthday.

After that, all of you started talking to each other. You looked around, smiling when you saw Eddie talking to Frank, who was trying his best to cover up a blush while Julie looked at him with a knowing smile from across the field, Sally was braiding some of her long hair. Poppy and Howdy were discussing random things while Barnaby just laid down at the picnic blanket and stared at the stars.

And there, from across the room, your eyes met his. Something electrical went through your body, and you could swear you felt your world stop. Suddenly, there were no more friendly neighbors around you, the festivities and candy long forgotten in your mind. No, none of that mattered anymore, did it?

It was just you and him, across a field as he slowly made his way towards you.

Wait.

You were too late to process it, he's already in front of you.

"So, dearest, how are you enjoying the party?" Wally asked, igniting a fire in your belly to light up the butterflies who panicked and fluttered along you.

"Good, I- I think everyone is having fun, what about you?" You responded, trying your best to hide your reaction with the nickname.

“I could say I am.” He looks at you, up and down, down and up. And it sets your skin ablaze.

Icarus wasn’t able to resist the beauty that was the Sun to him, and maybe you wouldn’t survive the flirt that was Wally Darling. Every single thing he does sets you on fire, butterflies infest your stomach, it’s magical and so cheesy, all at the same time.

“Come with me, I wanna show you something.” His honey-laced words get to you, and you comply with a nod.

He holds your hand, and starts going into the trees, between all those primary colored leaves. You can feel your heartbeat increasing, all your muscles about to give up, it’s like dying but not exactly that, living in ecstasy, better than any drug.

You two stop at Swan Lake, where the stars reflect on the water and the feathered bEINGS float elegantly. Your eyes shine as you see them doing their little synchronized dance, until you notice that they end up doing a heart. You sigh, real romantic.

“Darling, could you look at me, please?”

You turn to see Wally, on one knee, his hand holding yours. You might start crying.

“You see, Y/N, ever since the day I saw you, I knew there was something special about you. With your smile, your way of expressing yourself, I knew you were gonna steal my heart, and I knew that I would never have it back. I’ve heard stories in the past about soulmates, loved ones made for you, and I didn’t believe any of that, before I met you. I’m an artist, not a poet, but you make me inspired dear, to dedicate you the most beautiful forms of art out there, paint and frame your face, have millions of words dedicating my love to you, and that still wouldn’t be enough for you to understand how much I desire you. I want to see your resting face every morning, I want to hold you in my arms and sleep for eternity, I want to grow every day by your side. Would you do me the owner, Dearest, and accept my confession? To finally be mine and let me be yours?”

You, unable to hold the feeling, giddily jumped around before throwing yourself on him, both of you falling on the ground. You cried tears of joy as you said yes a million times, while he patted your back and chuckled, kissing your forehead.

—

“You know,” Frank started with crossed arms while looking at you and Wally, happily holding hands while sitting on the picnic blanket, “One could say that you two were perfect for each other.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Julie exclaimed, happy that you and your Darling were together, finally together.

“Ha ha ha, oh well, I knew they were the one for me since day one.” Wally answered, pulling you into another sweet and quick kiss, making you squeak.

“Ugh, don’t leave the picnic all sappy with your love.” Frank rolled his eyes at the sight.

“Don’t be jealous Frank, everyone knows you want to live that with Ed-” He covered Julie’s mouth before she could say anything else.”

“... Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like I just won the lottery.” You proudly stated.

“Oh, they grow up so fast…” Poppy hiccuped for what seemed to be the eleventh time, being real emotional with your fresh new relationship.

“There there, Poppy.” Howdy patted her in the back.

“I’m really happy for you guys!” Said Eddie while sitting down next to Frank.

You smiled at him while Wally thanked the mailman. You grabbed yourself a piece of lemon pie to eat.

“Sooo, when’s the wedding?” Barnaby jokes.

And you proceeded to choke on your lemon pie.

[fanatical4creation]

INVERTED!Poppy!!!

Finally made her up, I was just putting it off and putting off designing her but then I took my pen, my new laptop and drew it, now look at her!!!

Alright let's start shall we?

Design:

"OMG FANATICAL WHY DOES POPPY LOOKS LIKE A FRISK-" Shhhhh, you need to calm down, i'll explain everything;

Alright, bare with me: The original Poppy mentions in an animation, that she's talking to her therapist, that people usually thinks she's a Chara, but she's none! And I think, I theorize, I suppose that the reason why she looks like a Chara is bc an Frisk was drawing her (you know her lore?), so supposing that the whole concept of Invertedverse is that the original universe Underswap, that Frisk who drew her is an Chara, so if the Frisk drew a Chara in the original, here the Frisk that is now a Chara would draw a Frisk....... so, that's the logic here.;

Even though Poppy is still not a Frisk nor a Chara, but I don't think I translated that into her design, maybe I'll redo it sometime.

Her clothings are intriguing. It's her original teenage/adult clothings but with some green and a purple cloak or cape, whatever that is. This cloak represents her importance inside OmegaTimeline, that reminds me;

View from back Ω:

Made it with wind because it's cool, plus, her silhouette is cool too

Story:

Core was the "ruler" of Omega Timeline, everyone would look for them when there was a problem and needed help, everybody trusted them, but they put Poppy on their place... Core is a very mischievous character, no one really knows why they put Poppy in charge.

Omega citizens theorize that the reason is because Core was lazy, or that they didn't like the attention, or maybe they wanted to focus fully on recruting people, even thought after Poppy got in charge Core was rarely seen interacting with people and also the numbers of new survivors to get to the OT decreased.

Poppy tries her best to help remain peace within Omega Timeline, even if it requires all of her energies, thought she could really use some help, she thinks that the reason why her parent is more absent while she was in charge was because they knew she could everything alone, and that she should do it.

She doesn't have many friends, and the old ones got far away because she's too busy working signing papers, solving problems, financing projects, etc, etc.

Character:

She suffers. That's the truth, she just needs a vacation and a hug from her girlfriend.

She doesn't like parties... just thought it was important to mention.

Poppy doesn't like her parent, almost hates them even, they seem so irresponsible, imature and a coward, after just letting their daughter in charge of a (practically) country in surprise, it's expected for her to feel that way

Poppy has to be the clueless character in the whole Invertedverse, the reason is that she's so busy at work, or too busy being tired, and she usually gets information on what's going on from Core, but Core have been very silent lately, wonder why...

She has the hobby of playing board games, dancing and origamis!

She likes to cook more for others than herself

Sometimes she would visit the Madame T's orphanage, mainly to see Cadence and her friends, but also to donate and all of that things famous ppl do in orphanages idk.

Even thought she does a lot of hard work sometimes she'd take credit over someone elses work unintentionally, i mean, she's kind of the president.

She can't lie, like literally, maybe it's just her morals, or maybe it's a supernatural force idk.

She also keeps taping her fingers in hard surfaces all the time, I think it's anxiety.

Oh yeah, her full name is still Poppy Marusina, but she can also be called Iris Marusina, or maybe I'll change that to her original name, idk

Poppy (c) fmsdraws

[chronicbeans]

Human Illustrator Wally x Reader (part 2)

Fun fact: I like to listen to music that fits the vibes of what I'm writing and I wanted something more cheery an whimsical for this... but my dumb brain likes sad/creepy music and I couldn't find anything I liked that was truly happy, so I ended up listening to Bo en's My Time while writing this.

TW: None

🐻 When you arrive at the daycare, you quickly show everybody the book. Opening it to the back page, where he signed it, you see his name scribbled down. It is slightly messy, with all the letters being capitals and the "L"'s being slightly sideways. From what you can tell, it fits his silly little personality.

🐻 However, right as you begin showing everyone the book, you remember that some of the kids won't be able to see it that well, if at all... Oh no, now you feel like garbage...

🐻 One of those exact kids, a little girl related to Howdy, the local store owner, asks "Can I hold the book? I wanna see if something I heard works!" You grow quiet, before saying "Sure." To your surprise, all of the kids are watching and whispering "Right... Let's see if it works..." What in the world are they talking about?

🐻 She holds the book in her hands, which you made sure to keep opened to the signature. She runs her hands across it, before she makes it to the signature. She flinches, before gently pushing down on it. Her little face beams with the joy of a thousand summers as she chirps "He cares! I can feel it! I can feel his name! Johnny! Johnny, get over here!" "You're right, Henny!"

🐻 You are shocked, as well as a bit confused. You don't understand and want to investigate, but you want to wait for the children to calm down and let them have their fun. Even a few of the children with no visual impairments are pressing their hands on the book, chirping that they can feel it, too. You have an idea as to what it could be, but you want to check, first.

🐻Henny calls you over "Ms./Mr./Mx. (Y/N)! Come on! Feel it! I know that you probably didn't think to do so because you can see it, which is alright, but it's so cool!" You gently take the book, staring at the signature, before placing your fingers on his name. Your suspicions are confirmed as you grin.

🐻 While writing his name, he must've pressed the pen down hard enough to leave an indent to let all the kids be able to experience his signature. "Wow... Henny, how were you able to tell he would do this?" Henny, as well as the other kids, all start speaking over one another. You can hear Henny's voice over the rest, though, as she practically shouts with pride "My dad is friends with him! He constantly talks about how Wally does things like that for kids! My dad was the one who gave Wally that idea!"

🐻 You look down at her, expecting the other kids to tell her that she is lying, however, they go along with her claims. "I saw Mr. Wally at his store a few months ago with my mama! He tries to do that thing where people dress up as someone else, but his blue hair is very recognizable!" "Yeah! He helped me reach that apple toy on the top shelf! He then got another one and bought it for himself!" "Howdy is so cool for knowing celebrities!" "Doesn't Wally also know Ms. Poppy, that baker? I saw a show where she baked a cake in the shape of one of the bears he drew!" "I heard Mr. Wally gets his clothes from Julie's Joyous Clothes Company and is friends with Julie Joyful, herself!" Slowly, but surely, the talks about Mr. Darling and Howdy knowing each other turns into children's gossip about which famous people Mr. Darling does and does not know.

🐻 You think about the number in your pocket, subconsciously placing your hand over it. You don't know enough to know if any of their gossip is true... But you have the means to find out more about the mysterious, cheerful man. You can also make these kids so happy by having him visit! They can ask him questions about what they want to know, too!

🐻 Mr. Abbott walks into the recreation room, smiling as he asks you "Looks like these kids have Darling Fever, eh, (Y/N)? Do you want to go outside to relax? It is, technically, your day off today. Andy can take it from here." You giggle at the words "Darling Fever", before nodding. "Yeah. I actually want to talk to you about something, if you don't mind."

🐻 The two of you walk outside, sitting on the bench at the front of the daycare. You take out the paper from your pocket, saying "Mr. Darling gave me his number to call if you ever want him to visit the daycare." He gasps, looking at you "He... gave you his number? That's amazing! Wait, why are you trying to hand it to me?" You tilt your head and you hold it out to him "Well... you own the daycare? So it would make sense for you to call?"

🐻 He shakes his head quickly "No, no... he gave YOU his number! He very rarely gives out his number to people. I don't know why, but I think it might be that he doesn't trust many people with it. So, I can only assume he gave it to you because he trusts YOU. If I called, he might be uncomfortable." You look down at the paper, asking "Really...? There is so much I don't know about him. Should I call to see if he can visit? He must be a busy man... I don't want to bother him while he is doing something."

🐻"It's now or never. I know you. You'll be too nervous to call if you don't do it now." You smile, taking out your phone and calling the number on the paper. It beeps a few times, before somebody picks up and says "Hello?"

🐻 You take a deep breath. You can hear the voices of the crowd at his book signing in the background. You must've called during it... You hesitate, before saying "Hello! Umm... Is Mr. Darling there? I am from the Apple Castle Learning Center. He gave me his number and told me to call to see if he can visit?" The man on the other end of the line hums in thought, then says "Let me go get him. He has been waiting for you to call. It might take a moment, so be patient."

🐻 You tense up, feeling your heart race. He has been waiting for you? You look to Mr. Abbot, who places a hand on your shoulder to try to comfort you. He whispers "You're doing great! You got this!"

🐻 The man on the other end of the line suddenly shouts "COMING THROUGH! MR. DARLING'S GOTTA VERY IMPORTANT CALL! OUTTA THE WAY! HE'LL BE BACK IN A MOMENT!" You flinch from how loud it is, but you are shocked when you hear Wally's voice in the crowd, asking "Did they call? Please tell me it's them!"

🐻 It takes a bit, but you hear the crowd's voice die out, before Mr. Darling says a quiet "Thank you, Barnaby." Then, your heart races when he says "Hello? Is this (Y/N)?" You grin, saying "Yes, it is! Umm, I was wondering if you would like to set up a date and time to visit the Apple Castle Learning Center?"

🐻"That would be just lovely. We can talk about it tomorrow. Do you want to meet up at Howdy's Place? I'm friends with the owner. We can sit and talk at the little cafe area near the back. They serve some lovely milk tea. We can talk it all over then. I know you have some phone anxiety from your tone." "Of course! How about we meet there at 12 PM?" "That would be lovely. I'll see you then. Goodbye, (Y/N)." "Goodbye."

🐻 You end the call, looking over to Mr. Abbott and telling him the plan. He pats you on the back, telling you how well you did on the phone. You write down some things you need to ask Mr. Darling about, such as what date and time would be best for him to visit, as well what activities would be best. Then, you suddenly realize something... You never told Mr. Darling your name and there is no name tag on your uniform. The daycare doesn't have enough funds to make them... So how did he know it...?

🐻 You write down at the bottom of the list to ask him about it at Howdy's.

[aerkame]

Can we get a Wally x reader neighbor who has a secret identity of a supervillain?

You got it! I kind of wanted to experiment with this one a bit to get a good idea on how to write different characters. Some villains remind me of people that really only need love or family in their life. (This does not take place in the Alive AU, or previously created AUs) Also I hope you don't mind this having multiple parts with multiple characters x reader? It just seems like such a fun idea!

And just a reminder since some people PM me a lot on this, the Welcome Home archive is updated each time I post a fic or request so you can check there if you missed something or if you are wanting to re-read a fic, way better than just scrolling around looking for it! :) Welcome Home Archive

_________________________________________________________

Laughter echoed throughout the house you resided in, having just completed yet another devious plan of yours. Well, devious isn't exactly what most would call them, just very annoying or petty really.

A part of you did feel some guilt when you ruined the picnic everyone had planned that day though, using your new and improved weather device to summon up a storm. They all looked genuinely upset this time. Frank actually yelled at you with Eddie having to hold him back, something he's never really done before while everyone scattered to get their belongings.

Everyone looked so disappointed in you, even the motherly figure of Poppy looked at you with a saddened expression. It did sting a bit to see that. Maybe it was something special that was going on? Whatever. It was none of your business anyways...you didn't care, you were just glad you had the mask on still.

The thrill of successfully pulling off that plan soon dwindled down to a quiet sniffle, having stopped yourself from crying again...something you found yourself doing a lot of when you were alone in the house. You wish you could be friends with them too, it just felt like you didn't belong here sometimes though so you never approached any of the neighbors much unless you needed to get something or if a neighbor needed help. Of course you could just be a menace and not help at all and plot all day everyday. However, you preferred to keep your villainous self a secret and enjoy the small moments of kindness this place had to offer. Besides, your plots weren't that bad really, right?

Stars you were so lonely and hopelessly confused about your purpose here. Some days it felt great to be mean and some days, like today, you felt awful.

Deciding you needed to quit moping around, you made your way to the bathroom to dress up in your normal clothing and to wipe away any evidence of crying, only to jump back upon seeing a flash of eyes in the mirror. You blinked a few times no longer seeing them...this happened so often you think you're starting to get used to it, perhaps you were just imagining things when you got stressed. You continued with dressing and wiping your face dry, the last thing you needed was someone bringing too much attention to you. Besides, you still had to get some groceries from Howdy's today.

It was still heavily raining by the time you made it into Howdy's shop, you didn't mind though. Rain is what brought you comfort in this world, it was the only thing familiar to you having always let the water soak you and smelling the deep earthy smells that came with the cool air.

-

Hearing the small chime of the bell, Howdy made his way downstairs to get behind the counter expecting one of his friendly neighbors. Instead he found the welcome mat completely soaked under your shoes with mud trailing inside...oh dear, that was going to be a hassle to clean up.

You looked behind you at the floor upon seeing the small strain on the caterpillar's smile. "Oh...sorry about that, I can clean it up." your voice trailed into a mumble. You didn't feel like being mean in public and what happened earlier was already making you feel guilty. Really, you have never once seen everyone that upset before. You recall Wally staring, no, glaring with a stretched smile right at you before you ran off. A shudder ran through your body, both from the cold and recent memory. Howdy gave you a look before rounding the corner into his office.

"That's quite alright with me! If anything I'll take you cleaning up my shop as payment for today." You could hear Howdy's voice trail further into the office as you watched him come back out with something in one of his hands. It looked like a large cloth?

The caterpillar unfolded the cloth and came over to where you were standing, draping the soft blanket over your shoulders. One hand gave your head a pat. "So, I guess you're here for your usual right?" The hand on your head stayed. It felt nice.

"Yeah" You pulled the blanket into you. "Thanks for this..."

You know what? Nah, I'm making this into chapters I love this too much, there needs to be more.

Next chapter: Frank has been keeping track of the villain's actions and daily routine, more than you yourself have and he's more than willing to let Wally know who he thinks it is that's been causing trouble.

[ohanny]

change host club show

part 3/3

part 1

part 2

sailub as the dj

sailub got his start as a club dj with benz’s mother and even though his popularity exploded, he has stayed loyal. while he he has a contract with a record label and does the occasional tour and festival gig, in bangkok he performs exclusively at her clubs. in order to create hype for the relaunch, benz decides to bring sailub in. sadly sailub does not think benz the estranged son deserves any kind of family discount so after their appearance fee negotiations, benz has to go cry in the bathroom for a bit. while sailub used to be a big party boy back in the day, he took it a bit too far and is now totally sober but as anyone who has been to nightclubs totally sober knows, it can be a pain in the ass which makes him slightly grumpy.

pon as the new kid

pon is already a bit of an influencer. while stuck at home during the pandemic he started doing product review videos on tiktok and sort of blew up but he's not in lockdown anymore and he feels like he's going nowhere. he misses people. he wants the attention in person. so when he sees the flyer for an open audition at the host club, he figures he could try it out. it seems like easy enough of a gig and his most watched videos are kpop dance covers so he shows up, shakes some ass and flirts a bit. then he almost screws it all up by throwing a tantrum when a sceptical benz asks for his birth certificate because no way he is 29. luckily a bit of diva just makes benz go “oh, you'll fit right in” and “how do you feel about fire?” because, as mentioned, benz has a vision and it might involve flaming whips.  

lee as the jack of all trades

lee showed up to install the security cameras and sort of… never left. he does anything and everything from watching the cameras to barbacking to entertaining guests. he is absolutely the biggest gossip in the place and plays both sides by snitching to benz and then relaying everything benz says to babe. you simply can't tell him anything unless you want everyone to know it but, like, not in a malicious way. he's just a chronic yapper. they love him for it. currently interning under pop who has a vision of his own that revolves around putting lee in a dress.

bonus:

nut: i think garfield is trying to find a sugar daddy

benz: sounds fake. that would take an actual effort.

nut: he asked two of my friends about how much money they make and if they're allergic to cats.

benz: …

garfield: well, i don't want to work forever

nut: girl, you barely work, period

garfield: if i have to leave my bed and put some pants on, it counts as work

the story of how lee became a star goes a little like this: pon is warming up to go do his dance performance but twists his ankle five minutes before call time and it's a disaster. the house is packed, topten is home with the flu and someone needs to step up. lee basically jumps up and down going “me, me, me!” and, literally out of options, benz says “you know what? fuck it. go for it.” no one knows quite what to expect but after a mad scramble to steal booty shorts from pon and butcher one of garfield’s fur coats, lee gags everyone with a drag race finale worthy lipsync performance of lisa’s money. the second he exits the stage pop is on him, asking him if he can do the same in heels.

mistress poppy’s shot special: she will put a sugarcane straw in your mouth and tell you to hold it between your teeth. then she will bend you over and spank your ass. if the straw remains uncracked, you get your free shot. initially benz was horrified by this because free booze? in this economy? not very capitalism, not mindful at all. but then pop demonstrated his ass slapping skills on benz and he quickly changed his mind. (he also didn’t sit down for three days but that's neither here nor there.)

for charlie’s 21st birthday, babe climbed on the bartop and went full coyote ugly, doing unspeakable things with a soda gun. it was the first and last time he performed like that. michael almost killed him for defiling his bar.

benz would actually pay onlyoneof to come do libido instead of stealing the choreo. no shade.

[hausofanya]

“you know, i should have asked if i could get free tickets.”

cléo sighs wistfully, sending the camera a pout before she shrugs one shoulder gracefully. “guess i really will have to fight a teenager for a good spot. get ready to defend your honor.”

“but enough of that. let’s find out next guest…ooh!”

cléo brightens as she spots someone off camera once again, beckoning the camera to follow her as she taps her shoulder lightly. “a moment of your time, please and thank you!”

“of course, of course. hi darling!” kaia turns to cléo with a gracious, warm smile, smoothing down the white silk of her gown with a practiced grace. “i’m hiiragi kaoru of hiraeth—though everyone here calls me kaia, the proclaimed princess of japan!” she laughs, her eyes sparkling with a playful glint when mentioning one of her titles.

“i’m also one of tonight’s hosts, though certainly not as beloved as our wonderful cléo here!” she adds with a hint of mischief, her warmth and excitement shining as she shares a quick, friendly look with the other.

“oh, stop,” cléo laughs, waving the other off with a bashful grin. “i’m really glad to see you here! you’re stunning—what are you wearing?”

“thank you, thank you! i’m wearing a custom-made pinkong gown,” she says, giving a graceful, slow twirl to show off the elegant dress, finishing with a light fluff of the bow tied around her neck. “isn't it lovely? i heard it's from their latest bridal collection, but they gave it a special twist just for me and tonight's event.”

“you were definitely someone muse in a past life, that’s for sure. if you’ll allow me to be nosy for a few minutes—what are three things you can’t live without?”

“my girls, obviously, but i suppose that’s a bit too obvious, isn’t it?” she says, tapping her finger thoughtfully against her chin. “so i’d say… my personal laptop— there’s so much in there, from music to very interesting photos i could totally use for blackmail,” she teases, scrunching her nose to show she’s joking.

“then, my favorite sunglasses—can’t go anywhere without them—and my charger, since my phone’s battery is always low.” she pauses, laughing, “in fact, i think it’s low as we speak! i was hit with a 20% message before coming here.”

“braver than the marines for that,” cléo gives another salute, “i start fidgeting when my battery is below 60 percent. on power saving mode. solid answers! anything mind blowing happen to you this year?”

kaia hums, pursing her glossy lips for a second or two. “does it matter if it’s not career related? and that it’s not as dramatic? because we spent this summer at poppy’s place in lake como, and…” cléo looks intrigued as kaia laughs, “i may have tokyo-drifted a boat a little too hard.”

cléo then snorts as kaia makes a playful swooping motion with her hand. “yvan almost became one with the fishies! luckily, nothing bad happened, but poppy says i’m officially banned from driving a boat ever again.”

“i’m sure it’s not that hard.. it’s kinda like mario kart, right?” kaia hides her smile as cléo inquires the camera as if asking for an answer. “i bet i could drive a boat, no problem.”

“now we know hiraeth was nominated for a bunch of awards collectively, to which—congrats! but i want to know how you feel about everyone else.”

“i fear you won’t get any drama from me tonight, dear. at least not tonight.” she pouts when cléo sighs dramatically, placing a hand on her chest before giggling. “i think everyone—us, my members, all the these incredible people, and… that man,” she adds with a playful cringe at the mention of the ‘villain,’ “—truly deserved their nominations. i’m excited to see who goes home with one, or maybe a handful of awards.”

“well! certain people definitely deserved their nominations. i can only hope the public crowns them as such.” cléo’s stare into the camera is relaxed but clearly pointed, rolling her eyes before going back to a causal smile. “but speaking of weirdos and degenerates and villains… what’s the weirdest thing someone has done to get your attention?”

“okay, so,” she nods, casually pushing a strand of hair behind her diamond-studded ear, “this isn’t really that weird, but it definitely is, because how the hell did they get my address—”

“i swear this has happened to everyone at least once.” cléo shakes her head, “it’s almost like artists are people who deserve basic human rights.”

“right? but there was this fan from a tiny little town in europe, i think? well, they sent me a giant box filled with this one mexican snack i mentioned loving the last time we were in mexico. they shipped it all the way from another country to my place. pretty weird, no?” she extends her gloved hand as if to emphasize her point, a playful expression on her face.

“the snacks were delicious, no doubt about it, but it was weird. and, yeah, you guessed it, i had to move out of there.”

“you’re better than me… i had a situation where someone wedged a spy cam into a cute plushie and now i no longer like that specific character anymore.” cléo huffs, “you guys are weird.” she then takes kaia’s hand in an attempt to lighten the mood, adding on, “i’m collecting idols for a collective group therapy session. you’ve been formally invited!”

as kaia laughs, cléo moves forward with the rest of her questions. “especially since everyone seems to have weird search histories. do you also have weird searches?”

she pauses at the question, something akin to hesitation playing on her face before her voice rings out firm yet teasing. “i googled poppy and i’s ship name.” she shrugs, a light laugh escaping her lips as cléo gasps a faint ooh! “look, i was on the hunt for this one picture i knew the shippers had because it’s one of our favorites, but none of us had it on hand, and we really wanted to see something.” she adds with a grin, raising a finger to tap against her temple. “word of advice: when in doubt, just lurk the shippers for a minute. no more. then, she mumbles awkwardly, “you find out a loooot of things there...”

kaia hums, nodding slowly. “well, i watched anime, and i wanted to be sailor moon,” she laughs, a twinkle lighting up her eyes at the mention of her favorite franchise. cléo nods with excited interest. “but wait—now that i’m thinking about it, saying that isn’t too far-fetched! we did have a sailor moon collab in one of our past eras, and there’s been talks about doing something fun again, so dreams really do come true, after all.”

quickly, she moves her index finger close to her lips, her expression shifting to one of mock seriousness. “but you didn’t hear that from me, okay?”

quickly, she straightens up, a gloved hand playfully tugging at the lace around her neck as she continues. “but i’ll be honest; acting has never really been on my mind.” she pauses, her brow furrowing in thought. “though, every time i watch moulin rouge—and this happens often, by the way—i can’t help but imagine myself as satine.” her smile brightens, a hint of excitement in her voice, “maybe one day?”

“rooting for you! moulin rouge is a gorgeous production. i saw it on broadway a few years ago and it changed my life.” cléo nods sagely, “i think it’s up there for me with chicago and kinky boots. hope you get the role!”

“and now… for my last question,” cléo’s brows raise as a cheeky smile spreads across her lips. “any relationship details you wanna spill? just for me? pretty please with angel wings?”

“oh nooooooo,” kaia mumbles, shaking her head with a playful grin as teasing tsk’s start escaping her lips. “i’m really sorry to disappoint, but there’s no one in my life. it’s just me, my pen, and my members.” she pouts dramatically, her expression exaggerated as if the revelation is a major letdown.

“i know it must be a bummer,” she adds sarcastically as cléo wilts, a hint of humor playing in her tone and expression, “i’m fully aware that i’m ‘shipped’ with half the industry—poppy included.” a sparkle of mischief flickers in her eyes at the mention of her bandmate, who often blushed whenever their pairing was brought up. “but yeah, no.”

clearing her throat, kaia straightens up, her demeanor transforming into one of elegant poise, a striking contrast to her earlier playful spirit. “what can i say? i’m very career-driven.” she shrugs with a radiant smile, embracing her dedication with a hint of pride in her eyes.

“aw. well thank you for indulging me,” cléo smiles as she waves her off, “and have a good rest of your night!”

when kaia leaves, cléo hums in thought. “kinky boots is such a good production. god bless musical theater and billy porter.”

you can find kaia at @almostyours ! thanks for joining the event !

[empressgeekt]

I'm curious now, if someone made a reaction fic with canon watching your stories (not me because I suck at those), how do you think they would react? Especially if Branch was still gray?

Oh I play out this fic plot in my head on almost a daily basis.

If I were to put, Grey Branch, Poppy, Viva the snackpack, and Brozone into a room to watch my aus, both fics would probably start the same. Shock on both sides (brozone to Branch's state, and The Snackpack to Branch's alter ego as Bitty B), but eventually they'd all settle and start watching. Though, Brozone would definitely not that Creek at first glance. Viva would cling to her sister and the Snackpack would welcome her, but they would be very confused when she starts acting paranoid about the bergens like Branch, and Creek would..be Creek...getting on her bad side. Bruce would have to step in explaining that Trauma doesn't work the way Creek is trying to simplify it (he read a lot of the vacationer's psychology books before his kids were born). Needless to say, by the time that everyone has sat down the room is tense.

For Burning Branches it's pretty clear that this is an alternate universe so, they kind of just sit back and enjoy.

The Snackpack would get to witness the abuse a tiny grey branch would get in the tree, while Brozone gets to see Branch follow in there footsteps and escaping on his own. Branch himself remembers a few of these events but doesn't remember leaving so he interested in seeing where he counterpart went. Practically everyone panics when they see the head injury on screen, Floyd even starts crying at the sight. Once the rock trolls get involved it draws a lot of surprise from the whole group. Floyd and JD aren't too surprised they've been around the block before, and have a basic gest of the other tribes. Bruce is in the same boat as a few Techno trolls have washed up on Vacay island. However none of them had seen rock trolls in person and their dulled nature are a little disturbing, considering what dulled means for Pop trolls. Clay and Viva are paying rapid attention to the rock trolls on screen, because considering the environment their people live in these guys know how to survive and protect themselves. The Snackpack has mixed reactions, Cooper wonders if theirs another tribe that looks like him, Poppy just wants to help these guys find happiness cause they are way to serious in her opinion, Creek calls them brutes (impressing no one), while the rest of the pack are either confused/fearful/curious. Branch is just awed, this troll, the rock king no less, on screen took his other version and saved him. Not only pull him from the water but take this trolling stranger into his home and raised on-screen Branch as his own. It's made veery clear that the pop and rock tribes do not get along, and yet this king was willing to risk his power and reputation to care for Char, King Peppy never kept Branch for more then two days until shipping him off to the next foster family. He even seemed mad on Char's behalf, something Branch had never thought anyone would do. The amnesia is something that hurts Brozone, learning that in one world there brother forgot about them. Branch is a little envious of Char, after all losing his memories was pretty starting a new life with a clean slate. Sure he watches Char struggle, but he also watches Char thrive, regaining his color, learning to love music again, making friends, having a family behind him, heck even getting Poppy for a love interest. Sure, it's an arranged marriage between the tribes, and makes the theater very awkward, but there's a clear connection between the two of them. By the end of the whole first movie all the snackpack (minus Creek) and Bruce are shipping Poppy/Char (Choppy? We should call them Choppy), and they get pissed when John Dory on screen interrupts their wedding.

For FOF, it's more of confusing reaction since this could still be their actual future.

Branch makes notes to look out for Keith, cause just in case there might be a trolling who's a little weird ending up in the foster system after losing his dad and he doesn't want that to happen. Kid seems sweet and not that judging. As the au goes on, Branch feels all sort of embarrassment, from them witnessing his panic attacks and how they called him cute for the more wholesome reactions when it comes to Keith. When the whole wolf incident comes on screen, Poppy ask Branch if he would really do that for the village, and everyone is shocked when he nods. Creek tries to say the the forest is over dramatizes in this and that the critters aren't that cruel in real life, Branch just rolls his eyes only to hear John Dory come to his defense, as a survivalist himself he had to deal with predators, and everything on screen is necessary. FOF Branch is a lot harsher on his brothers and the interactions on screen are a lot more charged. Branch isn't sure how he feels about this counterpart. There's a feeling of justice at watchin his brothers get what's coming to them, but it also hurts that he's hurting them. He doesn't hold the same anger that FOF feels. Smidge kind of wants to meet her FOF counterpart, someone who uses her strength to save others, she's down for it. And Asks Branch if he could set up something like that in there world or at least train her, to help him in the forest. Branch is confused by that. Creek completely denies that he would betray everyone, but strangely Branch doesn't believe him. FOF Branch's wounds are scary to think about for everyone but Branch forces himself not to react. Broppy makes once more everyone uncomfortable, Branch feeling awkward, Bruce teasing, Poppy blushing, Creek giving the grey troll the stick eye. It's harder to different Canon from AU with FOF since Char is less Branch like.

There's just so much that could happen that i can't fit it into one post, but if anyone wants to make one to these they have my full permission. Though that might want to wait until the final product is finished.

[hauntedwizardmoment]

GOOD EVENING. STARBREAKER!! this is so silly because I can't stop thinking about jace influencer au, but I did just get hit with a Vision of, like, a world where that AU is true but also the Plan is still happening. so as he gets pulled more into it (knowingly or unknowingly) jace's online presence/instagram/youtube channels or w/e slowwwwwly starts to devolve from poppy pretty sponsored idealized glamorized aestheticized content into a straight-up found-footage horror story.

CHRISTTTTTT.

like okay bear with me. a shift away from regular influencer au. jace is one of those teacher influencers. his normal content is like, stuff like this. it's fairly harmless, kind of corny, mildly funny. and as he gets a bigger following he starts doing more intimate/personal content. outfit of the day/day in the life, weekend vlogs (shopping spree in bastion city! massive spell component haul!), and crucially. talking about his relationship! his partner is his coworker, they met at work! they teach a party cohesion elective together and they co-advise the wild magic barbarians! it's sooooo cute, right?

and then porter starts appearing on camera and at first it seems super sweet, he's very gruff and not very camera-trained but he seems to really care for jace. but something like... changes. sometime in between jace's annual traditions of "halloween crafts week/decorate my classroom with me" videos and his "moonar yulenear break daily vlogs" people notice that like. jace seems a little more tired. more brittle. like he's always been performing but now it seems like every single smile is forced and fake.

sometime in the summer jace does a video addressing the comments and passes it off as burnout, he's had a difficult year because of the whole kalvaxus situation on top of some... personal issues. and his audience is like oh okay that explains it. but the tone keeps getting darker. jace posts fewer and fewer videos, his schedule goes from 3-4x weekly uploads to maybe one video every couple of weeks. slowly goes silent on all his other accounts. when he does make a video it's almost always with porter, and the way porter always has his arm around jace seems less "proud boyfriend" and more "possessive creep that's trying to keep jace from saying the wrong thing and exposing... something"

there's a conspiracy that it's all an ARG because of a bunch of "clues" in the background of jace's videos - including a jar of devil's honey on a kitchen counter that when pointed out leads to jace deleting the video entirely. this only adds fuel to the fire because what could he be hiding??

jace starts slipping up sometimes, letting on that porter's maybe. making him do something that he doesnt want to be doing. this is interspersed with strange, quasi-religious, creepy shit from porter during their vlogs. these are quickly deleted/edited out. but his audience is Concerned.

at some point. jace posts one last video called "Goodbye!" and it's a farewell to content creation as a whole for him. it's recorded in his classroom, porter's absent, jace seems almost like his old self again, he's smiling, and the sky behind him is bright red. if you look closely there are wisps of smoke visible. the tone and words are so fucking off, he's talking about seeing everyone in the "next life, a better life" if "everything goes as expected"

cue ragenarok, and cue reports that "aguefort sorcery teacher and influencer jace stardiamond was linked to a plot to create a new god of war"

[thefoolishone666]

Kickin also once said

What is this? I have more? That is right @hiwelcometothemonstersancturary I have had way too much fun with the first, I have decided to drop kick the chicken through much more. Is this a good idea, no. Let's begin!

* Stand back, I know how to do the Wenis!

* Bubba, in reference to doing drunk Mario Party: The main thing is, I LOATHE alcohol, so I would hate every second.

Kickin: Just drink hot sauce. That is the next best thing for it.

* When did I become predictable!?

* (Building a boat on stream) Oh no, Mom is here. I am doing normal adult things, I swear. (Trying to hide the boat behind back)

* I am just saying, it was written in the stars that I would lose my leg. I would have liked to be told that Picky needed some emergency rations on that instead of it just happening, but at that point I am looking a gift horse in the mouth.

* (Watching Dogday play a rhythm game)...Catnap, I think Dogday is broken, he has not blinked once in the past minute.

* (Playing Blades in the Dark) Picky: Did you kill this person!?

Kickin:...Evidence wise no...but as a friend I can tell you that he insulted my hat.

* (Grabing Picky and lightly shaking) ARE YOU STRAWBERRY!?

* Anything that is pure white, is just as equally evil!

(30 seconds later)

...I just remembered Crafty exists...

* We did it! We killed an innocent man!

* (Camera is upside down and he has yet to notice) The fact that Bubba is just grinning while standing in the door has me nervous.

* Hoppy, I know you are mad at me, but letting yourself be juggle combo'ed is a great way to relieve stress.

* Não tenho boca e ainda assim devo gritar, or in English, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

* Picky: Should we do a cooking show intro or...

Kickin, instantly looking at camera: Boys, girls, and everyone in between, welcome to our new cooking show, "WAIT, WE CAN EAT EVERYDAY NOW!?" I am your pirate co host, Kickin, and this is Picky, currently still going through some character development.

* The best way to hide a body is to eat it...but this person is not a chicken, pig, or lamb, and we don't have a lamb in the gang, at least yet.

* The best way to not die is to eat, at least in my opinion...I am not looking at chat cause I know they are already asking if I ate anything yet.

* Poppy: Bubba sent you something from college!

Kickin: Yay! I love that elephant...Oh, Poppy, since you are here, you mind helping me?

Poppy: Sure. What is it?

Kickin: I need you to be a murderer.

* God...if you can hear me...you still owe me 5 bucks.

* Sometimes, life gives you a free drop kick in the groin.

* I will use the scientific method. (Closes eye and starts hits random buttons)

* Only three rules on this ship, remember to eat, remember to sleep, and if someone is neglecting to do 1 or 2, put them in a sleeper hold to force them to eat and/or sleep.

* What are friends but people you eat in a huge panic when food is low?

* In the name of the Father, Catnap, and my other Father. Amen.

* Hello it is I, the hatcher that is Billy.

* I AM THE CHICKEN SANDWICH KING! I am not a cow, so I can't be the burger King.

* I am made of tons of chicken, I can even name them. Nuggets. (Returns to game)

* I want to vote Theo. I have no proof he is the killer, I just want to do it for the bit. And pity revenge.

* Who says I can't be fabulous while firing myself out of a canon?!

* (Refering to how long till he called Angel parent on purpose) Who here wants to take bets on how long until I had an emotional breakdown?

* No joke, there have been days where I sign off the stream, get myself something to drink, and the entire farm will just hear, "SHOOT I NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO PICKY!" or whoever cause I don't pay attention to what leaves my face hole sometimes.

* Guys, sorry to interrupt the party, but I MAY have gotten stabbed and need some help.

* I would to dedicate the unnecessary slaughter of all the underworld's monsters to Dad, cause I am trying to regain what good is in my soul for committing to this...

* If I wear two eyepatches I become a super pirate!

* (Playing A pokemon soul link) Kickin: I got bad and shit news.

Bubba:...What is the bad news?

Kickin: I may have gotten a pokemon killed.

Bubba:...Which one?

Kickin: You know how happy you are when you got your favorite polemon in this...?

* (Singing) I gave my love a chicken...that had no face...

* Bobby is going to come in here one day without me noticing while I am playing Mortal Kombat and just clap when I get brutality, I already feel it.

* Cole, I like you, but why must you be lightening?

* What is Gender, but another thing we don't understand here.

* (Refering to the stack of golden apples he has) But I may need them later...(Eating rotten flesh)

* (Drawing on white board trying to figure out story of game) Then if this connected to this, and this to that...I just wrote a bunch of scribbles.

* You can't make me eat, shut up dad. (Realizes Angel is there) That wasn't towards you, I swear!

* My favorite weapons for stealth are a dagger, a pistol, and 55 pounds of TNT I always keep on hand.

* (Playing Something Wicked from Ultrakill) Why must Playtime help with this game!?

* But hate doesn't taste as good as my leg though!

* Today on, "Playtime ruined my life, now it ticks me off in the smallest of ways," fnaf lore.

* WHO GAVE THE DOG A KNIFE, AND WHERE CAN I MEET THEM!?

* So P3 has Dogday, P4 has Bobby, and P5 has Catnap...I am not bitter I am not in persona yet. You have no proof.

* (Refering to Phoenix Wright) WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE WERE IN COURT!?

* A man with a knife is just a surgeon with a 100% mortality fate.

* If I get my mind trapped in the VR, make sure to tell dad.

* I already know what you are thinking and you are correct, I did make the dive bell horribly wrong and I am totally fine. (As he tosses a rock in a random direction in rage)

* Kickin: I am just sitting here scared as all hell, meanwhile these two are sitting back like, "Yes, nothing new here."

Catnap: Welcome to your new home in Silent Hills! You get used to your neighbors.

Kickin: It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day with our neighbors.

Crafty and Kickin: Won't you be my, won't you be my...

Kickin: Won't you be, my murderer?

* I think we can all agree Cathulu is out of all of our leagues.

* O que você vai fazer!? Me esfaquear!?

* I will be fine-FODA-ME, ISSO É UM TELEFONE!...(Covers face)...I got scared by a phone...

* Have a good night everyone, I am going to become dinner!

[invisibleicewands]

“If It’s Not Grueling, It’s Not Worth It”: John Cale, in Conversation With Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen heard John Cale’s singular voice for the first time as a teenager in his bedroom in Port Talbot, Wales. “Someone cool must have given it to me,” he says of listening to White Light, White Heat for the first time. “I knew nothing about The Velvet Underground, I knew nothing about anything… Then I hear this voice on the song, ‘The Gift,’ and I’m like, ‘Hang on, that’s a Welsh voice.’” On his eighteenth studio album, POPtical Illusion, Cale, now 82 years old, is still possessed of that distinct, boundless instrument. Its emotional tenor, as Cale points out, is “snide,” and throughout the record, there’s an air of humor but also repressed rage boiling just beneath its poppy surface. The legendary musician wrote most of the album during the first Covid lockdown, averaging three songs a day. “I was really angry,” he told Sheen on a call earlier this month. “But I didn’t want the anger to really predominate.” To celebrate the release of Cale’s new album, the two Welshman delved into their respective creative processes, Cale’s relationships with Lou Reed and David Bowie, and the transformative power of public libraries.

MICHAEL SHEEN: How are you?

JOHN CALE: I’m good. I’m just delivering an album.

SHEEN: I’ve been thoroughly enjoying listening to it.

CALE: Oh, really?

SHEEN: Yes, they sent me a link.

CALE: That’s good.

SHEEN: It’s absolutely beautiful, John.

CALE: Good. Well, are you in Port Talbot?

SHEEN: I was in Port Talbot until the weekend. I’m in London for a little bit now. I’ve just finished doing a play. I’ve been playing Nye Bevan.

CALE: Oh, that’s great.

SHEEN: For the last three or four months, we’ve been at the National Theater here in London. Then we did a couple of weeks in Cardiff at the Millennium Center last weekend.

CALE: Who wrote the play?

SHEEN: Tim Price, the Welsh writer. It’s a new play directed by Rufus Norris.

CALE: Very good. Glad to hear you moving on. I’m trying to remember a photograph of him when I was growing up in Garnant and he was a political heavyweight.

SHEEN: Oh, yeah. He’d started off working down the mines. He was a draft door boy.

CALE: That’s right. 

SHEEN: Both of you had fathers who were miners.

CALE: Yes. My dad was a fitter. You know what a fitter is?

SHEEN: No.

CALE: A fitter is a guy who goes in and puts the wrenches and the bolts and everything together. He doesn’t go down shoveling coal or any of that. He just puts gear together.

SHEEN: Well, it’s funny, because listening to the album, I was reminded of a scene in Nye, where you see Bevan as a young boy going into the Tredegar Library. He had a terrible stutter, a stammer. The library gave him the opportunity to increase his vocabulary so he could use different words. Literally, libraries gave him power.

CALE: Listen, the library in Garnant gave me power. It was a little place stuffed with books, but they have these cards where, if you wanted a book that they didn’t have, you could fill out the form and they’d run off and get it. And not only that, they filled out forms for music. The music was attended to by the Marlborough-MA Public Library. If I put down Schoenberg, they would find the book.

SHEEN: Wow, that’s amazing.

CALE: I learned so much from that.

SHEEN: One of the most moving scenes in the play is this scene in the library because, of course, it gives Bevan his freedom. He’s able to talk. And on your new album, a line that really jumped out at me was on “Company Commander,” when you say “right-wingers burning their libraries down.” You think, “Here are the things that gave the working class in Wales power and now we’ve got people, as you describe, burning the libraries down.”

CALE: As a social activist, I’ve watched you approach that subject not just carefully, but penetratingly

SHEEN: Well, that line really jumped out at me. And I think the album is beautiful, disquieting, but I also found it incredibly moving at times.

CALE: Really?

SHEEN: Well, just seeing a song called “Davies in Wales,” immediately my ears pricked up, especially knowing that your name is John Davies Cale. I’ve listened to that a few times today. What was going on there?

CALE: It’s a laugh. You’ve got to have some of that in your life otherwise you’d die of boredom. “Shark-Shark” was one that really doesn’t have any sense to it at all. You just do it as a goof.

SHEEN: Am I right in saying that the very last word on the album is coal?

CALE: Code.

SHEEN: Code, right. See, my Welsh ears heard coal because I couldn’t help but be tempted into thinking of you floating down a river like a magical piece of coal, John. Is it too late to change it to coal?

CALE: For you? No.

SHEEN: But am I right as well in saying that in the space of a year you wrote over 80 songs and that this album has come out of that?

CALE: Yeah. The lockdown took over about a year-and-a-half ago and I just shut the door and took precautions and got on with some work. When I came out of that, there was an album already. At the end of the day, I had 80 songs. This is about finding poetry in the strangest places.

SHEEN: Did the lockdown color the nature of the songs in terms of their tone?

CALE: Yeah, I had a lot of energy. I was really angry. I didn’t want the anger to really predominate. It was really about trying to find out what else there was around you that you considered as part of your persona. If you’re writing lyrics, you start with a lyric and then you go to the music. Or you start with the music, then go to the lyrics. You really don’t want to obey too many of the laws of poetry and rhyme too much. You don’t mind tripping over your own shoelaces. Making mistakes is really important sometimes, and I’m still growing.

SHEEN: Have you carried on writing at that kind of pace since then?

CALE: Yeah.

SHEEN: Wow. That’s an extraordinary creative explosion. Is that just to do with the lockdown conditions or is it also where you were at in your life?

CALE: I think so, yeah. I’ve had enough of certain things. But the whole process welcomed me like, “Hey, why don’t you do this?” You find the rest of your ideas by rifling around all the ideas you’ve had to the beginning of that lockdown and eventually, you don’t have a lockdown.

SHEEN: Well, it clearly wasn’t a kind of creative or imaginative lockdown. Did you know they were always going to be for a solo album?

CALE: No, the collaborations happened on the first of the albums. The rest of it was just me playing with my instruments. I just had a pile of instruments in my studio and off I went.

SHEEN: But this album feels so crafted and so textured. It’s interesting you said that you were very angry because maybe that’s one of the “poptical illusions” of the album, because it doesn’t immediately feel like an angry album. It feels incredibly lush. Even at its most lush, it’s never comfortable. There’s always disquiet there. My hearing is getting worse, and I’ve never been able to hear lyrics very well, so I have to listen over and over to get to the lyrics. As I listened to the songs more and more, you do start to hear the anger. It’s so rich and lush and textured and yet there is a darkness in there as there always is in your work, John.

CALE: Yeah, I appreciate that. “Snide” is an appropriate word.

SHEEN: It’s a good word.

CALE: It’s handy.

SHEEN: We were at a very particular time when we were in those lockdowns. You start to think about the western world over the last 10 years or so, and not only were we in that bizarre situation of being locked up in our homes, but we were also at a time in the world where things were and still are obviously unhinged in all kinds of ways. Is that what was feeding that sense of anger that you were talking about?

CALE: Well, people don’t want to be lectured. You don’t want to say anything because then you’ve got the responsibility of answering the questions. You want to see if you can get away with as much humor as you possibly can.

SHEEN: That’s where snide comes in.

CALE: It’s a good to have a sense of humor with some snide.

SHEEN: Well, it’s funny you talk about your sense of humor. The very first time I heard your voice, I was a young teenager in my bedroom in Port Talbot. I had my first record player. My musical tastes were fairly conservative when I was younger. But somehow I’d got hold of White Light, White Heat. An older cousin must have given it to me or something. Someone cool must have given it to me. I put it on and I’m listening to this album and it seemed like the epitome of the exotic for me. It’s American, it’s the coolest thing ever. I knew nothing about Velvet Underground. I knew nothing about anything, really. Then I hear this voice on the song “The Gift”, and I’m like, “Hang on, that’s a Welsh voice!” I couldn’t believe it. That’s when I discovered you and who you were and where you’d come from and all that kind of stuff. But that dark humor, that was my first introduction to you and dark humor itself.

CALE: When we did that album, people were wondering, “What is this about? What are these guys doing?” I thought to myself, “I have to wait until the end of the album to have a clear idea of where I stood in the European world and where I did not stand in the European world.” Most of the songs on a lot of those albums were reflections of what I was missing about Europe. Those were a lot of loose songs, granted, but a lot of the songs I came up with at the end of that period, like “Paris 1919,” for instance, were written from California.

SHEEN: When you were in New York in the ’60s, did you feel like a European in America?

CALE: I did, but I didn’t have time for it. It’s a weird position to be in. You’re sitting in New York and you’re hanging out with Andy [Warhol] and the factory and all those other characters, all just amazingly brilliant in their own way and full of ideas and kind and gentle. It was a nonstop fountain of inspiration. What am I trying to say? It was an artistic revolution in New York. A lot of it probably came from the sexual revolution that was going on. There was so much of that going on. I was really interested in a very specific kind of music that happened to have been started in 1963 in Stockhausen. But all of a sudden, I was with LaMonte Young in California, where he was a jazz saxophone player. He was moving to New York and he was interested in totally different things about drones. He took that influence with him across the water. Then Viola Monte Young starts introducing droned violas to the Velvet Underground and we have modern music, essentially.

SHEEN: Part of your extraordinary career has been about connecting and working with younger artists coming up, whether it’s The Stooges or The Modern Lovers, right up to Kelly Lee Owens and Nirvana. How do you stay plugged into that? How do you watch out for what’s going on and see who you want to work with?

CALE: It’s pretty easy. It’s all over. With the new technology, you can’t avoid it.

SHEEN: But if you’re writing songs, how have you got time to listen to other people’s music as well?

CALE: That’s one of the problems. It’s just one of those things that you run into in life. You can’t do it all the time. You can’t do it for very long. But it’s just knowing what’s going on, where and when. But the other stuff is, I can just keep going. I’m not fragile yet.

SHEEN: No, you don’t seem fragile in any way, John. Although I have to say, in some of the lyrics and some of the music on this album, there’s a vulnerability there.

CALE: An important characteristic of your creativity is how fragile you are in the process. You reveal more of yourself in that way. I think revealing more of yourself has no limit. I think it’s something you’ve got to recognize in the process.

SHEEN: I was talking about this recently, but when I was a younger actor, I thought good acting was essentially about showing off. I thought it was about working out how to be really entertaining and clever and funny and smart. Then, as I got older, I realized that the more uncomfortable I was when I was acting, that’s actually where the good stuff is.

CALE: Yes, absolutely.

SHEEN: That’s where the magical pieces of coal are.

CALE: Don’t tell anybody.

SHEEN: So a lot of people came out of lockdown having watched a lot of box sets on TV. You came out of it with multiple albums and god knows how many songs. I don’t know about this album, but certainly on the last album, you have a song like “Night Crawling” where you’re going back over stuff with David Bowie. Was there a lot of that happening in lockdown as well? I don’t mean reminiscing in a nostalgic or sentimental way, but a sense of drawing from the past?

CALE: Only when I wrote the song. It was something that happened. I was a little embarrassed about having to have a character in my songs that you can really appreciate for other reasons. I was trying to be kind and generous about it.

SHEEN: You’re bound to be aware. If you are writing a song about something that’s happened to you, and it involves someone that everybody knows, there is an awareness of the weight of that, isn’t there?

CALE: Yeah. You try to be generous with everybody.

SHEEN: If it involves going back to working with Lou Reed and everyone else, do you feel a need to make it slightly more cryptic? 

CALE: That happened already. That’s part of history. I dealt with it and I’m satisfied with it. I’m glad that we wrote Lou’s Drella together. When we finished the whole piece, I said, “Lou, we’ve written all these songs and they’re all about all these characters that we know and we love and lived through. But you didn’t write a single verse about the Velvet Underground.” He went away and wrote one and came back.

SHEEN: Well, I suppose it’s difficult. If you’ve lived a life like you have lived and you’ve been around the people, it’s going to be difficult to write any song without somehow involving people that everyone knows in some way or another. Do you remember when I came to New York and when there was that exhibition about the Velvet Underground?

CALE: Yes, that’s right.

SHEEN: You were surrounded by people the whole time, so I didn’t want to bother you too much. But before I left, I wanted to come up and say hello. As I was with you, Laurie Anderson came up to us and I totally embarrassed myself by suddenly going, “Oh, ‘Superman’ was such an amazing song for me.”

CALE: She deserves it.

SHEEN: She quite rightfully paid me no heed and walked off.

CALE: Really? I’m surprised.

SHEEN: I felt so embarrassed.

CALE: No, she’s a kind soul. I’m glad you did it.

SHEEN: More and more now, actually, I feel like I want to tell people when they’ve had an amazing effect on my life. There’s so much shit in the world. There’s so much stuff that makes you feel shitty. And that’s another reason why I find listening to your new album moving, because you are one of those people for me. Are you going to be touring this album?

CALE: Yeah. It’s starting in January. I’m doing a couple of gigs in Mexico. It’ll be interesting now that they’ve got a new Prime Minister.

SHEEN: Indeed. Touring and playing live, is that something that has become more important to you, or maybe less?

CALE: Oh, it’s always been important. It’s been like a life-giving source. You get an audience out there. There’s nothing better than that.

SHEEN: Is it grueling?

CALE: If it’s not grueling, it’s not worth it.

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

You know, you talking about a SC AU makes me think a bit. In Poppy Worldwide you said that there is, in fact, a Smiling Critters fandom and the BBI Critters know about it/are a part of it. Do you think people in-universe would make AUs of the Smiling Critters? Would the Critters know about them and gush about them? Would the Critters themselves make their own AUs?

I like to think that someone made an in-universe version of Eggritos' AMAZING Frowning Critters AU, and the crew decided that they should all cosplay it. The BBI critters would love all the AUs! I can imagine Crafty in Angel's chunky computer they bought in 2002 seeing an AU for the first time and going "wait, I never saw this before! Did they do more stuff for the show?", and then discovering what AUs and OCs are.

Crafty wants to tell the group, but doesn't know if they would be weirded out by it. She sure loves what she saw, and the concept of fanfiction, fanart and doing whatever SHE wants to do with the show amazes her. She's in a 4-hour long deepdive into Smiling Critters OCs in 2005 DeviantArt when Bobby asks her what she's doing, and she tells her about it. Bobby is amazed by the idea! It's like an evolution of what the kids at Playcare did! She then tells Hoppy, who at that time was still confined in her bed, who calls for Kickin and Dogday to come in, catching the attention of Bubba. Crafty shyly explains to them what she found, and then everyone in the tiny house is now staring at the computer screen and seeing what people have to offer. Catnap at that time was still hesitant to talk to the group, but he watched from afar, also very amused.

The group tells Angel about this, who's just "oh, makes sense!", and then Crafty dives head-first into drawing their cartoon selves to resemble their BBI bodies more. She shows Catnap her drawing, hesitant that he would hate it, but Catnap is just "you drew me???? But you only draw the people you like!!!", and Crafty tells him that she knows he's trying to be better, so why not give him that chance? And that's how they start talking to each other again.

The BBI critters all love the AUs they find! They also made some of their own: A horror one to cope with the trauma, one based in the second more "edgy" reboot where it's more of a silly rewrite (they made DayNap canon on that one), another that's a parody of the telenovelas they watch with Angel while learning pt-br, and a MLP x Smiling Critters crossover made by Crafty. They also cosplay the AUs they like the most!