#or no i didn't. i think i missed turbo

[mahi-wayy]

please tell me, I am wasn't the only one with a power rangers obsession-

[fridgrave2-0]

i do think that thirdwheeling calhoun and turbo would be pretty healthy for felix actually! putting him in a position where he is not the center of attentions and all that

yes, for real!

and turbo would feel a healthy amount of attention from someone who can kick his ass if he'll get all cocky and selfish. and just being in a company of someone who does understand him in many ways is really refreshing. turbo doesn't need to pretend to be someone he's not when he's around calhoun because she doesn't need to be impressed

one morning felix just "I miss my wife and my boyfriend please talk to me why are you ignoring me 😫😫😫" when they drink coffee (americano for tamora, cappuccino with too much sugar for turbo and fruit tea for felix bc he gets too anxious from caffeine)

calhoun and turbo look at each other and then turbo sighs and reaches his pocket

"I told you it would take him less than a week to notice", tamora said with a neutral face, but her boys could distinguish a spark of enjoyment in her eyes. turbo sighed again, even more dramatic, and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his inventory.

"I must say, I was very close to win", he mumbled, but couldn't keep a serious face any longer. his yellow teeth showed up when he smiled and looked at calhoun with the best parody in puppy eyes he could've make. they didn't see how felix was giving them confused looks. "but you'll share, won't ya?"

"I'll think about that..." calhoun said with a smirk and put the bottle in her inventory when felix dropped his head on the table and yelled.

"AND YOU'RE DOING IT AGAIN!"

[pikxelbit]

A/N: Really cheesy but idk, I wrote it because someone gave me a prompt, (not specifically for Turbo, just a simple prompt for a story).

Sway With Me

Turbo x Reader | One shot | 1,225 words

Warnings: None

Prompt: You and him get stuck in a garage as you both wait for the rain to stop. While waiting, you find a radio and get the idea of dancing.

Cold winds start to blow harder through the game as the racetracks started to darken along with it's landscape. It was strange to have weather here, althought the game did have a low budget when in the making, it seems the developers added a bit of an easter egg to this digital world. Although they could have saved the money and effort for better graphics, this was still something to cherish. As useless and pointless to have weather change in this game, it is still quite an interesting phenomenon.

Both you and Turbo were wrapped up in a friendly banter after the arcade closed. Standing around, his grin would continue to persist as you continue to reply.

"Hey, come on it was fun wasn't it?" Turbo spoke, a grin widening slightly on his face.

"You told me you wouldn't go too fast!" Pointing your finger at him, you try to fix your hair. It was messy and tangled up, all because Turbo chose to speed up the pace when driving both of you here. With your lack of helmet, you ended up with shuffled up locks.

"What'd you expect, I'm 'Turbo'. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" He commented back, snickering slightly as he replied.

"Turb-" as you were about to reply, a sudden shift in the air managed to get your attention. With one single drop of water front the sky, Turbo quickly knew what was going to happen.

"Well, I think we should go..." Turbo murmured, looking up at the clouds quickly forming in the sky.

Getting back into his racecar, he urges you to sit beside him, "Come on, or do you want to get wet?"

"You won't go too fast again right?" You asked, taking a seat beside him.

Without a moment left to lose, Turbo didn't answer. Starting up the engine, he only gave you a smirk before the car accelerated quickly towards the garage.

Surprised at the sudden pace, you try to get a grip on anything that would help you stay in your seat. Gripping on Turbo's shoulder and a part of his car, you managed to remain seated in the car as both of you quickly arrive at the garage.

"Geez, didn't know you were that clingy," Turbo teased lightly towards you.

Rolling your eyes playfully, you take your hand off him and his car before removing yourself from Turbo's vehicle. After only a few drops of rain pitter pattered, the storm would quickly escalate. Quickly opening the door, both of you took shelter in the garage.

This was normal, well at least for Turbo. The quick exange in his games' weather was an astonishing view but not a good experience to get in. As it rained, dark grey clouds would continue to appear from nowhere, making it look like both of you are going to be stuck here for a while.

"Jeez..." You mutter under your breath as you silently watched the rain get a bit stronger from inside of the garage. Having all the doors and windows closed, you were left with a feeling of bordome. Looking around though, you managed to get yourself entertained.

You did get inside this garage a few times in the past. Although you never really did get to inspect it fully. Now feeling a sense of boredome starting to sprout, you find yourself a bit more focused on certain details you've missed in the past. Looking around now, you notice a dusty as well as toolboxes neatly placed on the desk. There seemed to be the usual things a mechanic should have when tasked to fix a car. Moving onwards though, as your eyes continue to wander, it suddenly stops once your vision sees a few dirty boxes in the shelves. Noticing, Turbo takes it upon himself to guess what you're thinking of.

"What, hoping to find something?" he asked, his gaze redirected to the boxes as well.

"Not really," you replied stepping forward the shelves, "just curious..."

"What, curious of a few dusty boxes probably filled with junk?" Turbo joked as he took one box from the shelf.

"Well you never really know what could be inside," you replied as you stepped forward to inspect the box Turbo placed down.

The box was of course dirty, on top was a thick layer of dust, enough to make you sneeze. Although a bit old, the box stood mighty and stable to hold certain objects.

Opening the box, you both looked inside and see...

"Whoa, a radio..?" You asked, curiosity sparkling in your eyes.

"Heh, haven't seen this in years," Turbo exclaimed in wonder as he took out the old radio from the box, placing it on top of a desk nearby. The radio was shaped like an oval when looking at it from the front and from the top, on the side though, it's appearance was half of an oval. Plopping it down slowly on the desk, you both exchange looks before proceeding to search through the box.

Tinkering slightly with the radio's antennas you asked Turbo, "How did you even get a radio?"

"Ehh, Flash (one of his bros), managed to find it somewhere in the Game Central Station. I don't really know but he did sort of tinker with it before putting it away for some reason," Turbo explained, pulling out a cassette tape from the box.

"Let's see if it still works yeah?" You comment, before plugging the radio somewhere. Agreeing, to your idea, Turbo inserts the cassette tape into the radio.

A nice, playful tune starts to play, although not really clear, the sounds emenating from the player was enough to make you want to dance.

"May I have this dance?" you ask, raising your hand for him to hold. He hesitates for a second, he didn't really know how to dance...

"I'll teach you a few tricks I know, it'll be fun I promise," a smile stretching on your face, you continue to keep your hand in place for him to reach. A few seconds pass by and he doesn't answer for a while. But as you continue to gaze at him, he couldn't help but say yes.

"Fine..." He mutters under his breath.

Surprised, you suddenly pull him close to you, "Let's have some fun yeah?" Still holding his hand, you try to guide him through a dance. Although a bit wonky at the start he manages to get the hang of it after only a couple of tries, which was quite impressive.

"You're doing really good," you spoke, swaying your hips as you follow the rythm of the song.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it," Turbo replies, following suit as he tries to complement your moves with his own.

Still holding hands, as you twirl and twist, Turbo's hold on you tightens slightly a few times as you're moves would sometimes need support from him. Still having fun altogether though, you both dance with each other, a smile stretched on both of your faces.

Smiling and laughing, both of you enjoy your time together under the shelter of this garage. Although the weather may be in a bad mood, you both find yourselves uplifted in each other's arms as the tune of each song guides both of you through sweet moments of happiness.

[geekthefreakout]

So, I've been having this thought.

Crowley, perhaps post-bookshop divorce, is sitting in a pub or a coffee shop and the server calls his name, but they say it wrong.

They pronounce it like with the "ow" sound, like in Supernatural. And Crowley, mildly miffed, is like "where did you get that from?"

And the server is a Supernatural fan and explains that there's a demon named Crowley-like-owl-not-crow who helps stop the apocalypse.

And Crowley is like "imagine that. That's weird. Say more."

And the server explains a bit. How SPN!Crowley is this demon who is aware that should the big fight happen, he won't be counted among the winners regardless of which way it goes, and he just wants the world to keep on as it is, so he joins forces with the Winchesters and their renegade angel to stop it. He becomes King of Hell after to fill the power vacuum (and here GO!Crowley gives a bitter scoff) and he is both a villain and a hero and sometimes neither of those things.

Crowley inquires more about the angel, Castiel, and the server enthusiastically describes him. They remark that Crowley(spn) and Castiel have a fun dynamic, because they hate each other but also have to work together, because they're in love.

Crowley looks dumbfounded, and of course the server can't know why, but they do clarify that they are in love with Dean, not each other. Dean being a stand-in for humanity, of course, which is how the show runners wanted you to see it.

"But then at the end they FINALLY let Cas be all the way gay for Dean. Like, a decade of subtext and queer baiting denial, and FINALLY with 2 episodes left in the whole show, they let Cas tell Dean that he cares about humanity because he cares about Dean. Like, he actually gets to tell him he's in love with him."

A pause.

"Well, and then he gets sucked directly to Turbo Hell, so. That sucked. It went canon in THE most homophobic way possible, which is kind of on brand for the show--"

"Turbo hell?????? What is that, the tenth circle?"

"Oh, the place that angels and demons go when they die. The Empty. They don't get an afterlife, they just sleep forever and dream about the bad stuff. It's pretty awful, but Cas gets rescued from their off screen by the end so at least that's something-"

"What about the demon?"

"Oh, Crowley-like-owl? He got killed off for good at the end of season 12."

Crowley-like-crow stares through his sunglasses and the server elaborates again. For some reason, they haven't been called to other tables for anything the entire time they've been speaking.

"It was a good death, I think. He died to save the boys and trap Lucifer in another dimension- it's complicated. But he got to say that he actually hated being King of Hell, and he hated Lucifer, and he got to go out on a good deed. I think the actor was tired of the writers playing around with the character's arc. Walking back development, never committing to what they wanted to do with him... And that led to Crowley being kinda inconsistent and underappreciated. So he asked to be killed off and he walked away from the show."

"Huh. Shame, that."

"Yeah, everyone missed him. There are some characters that I REALLY wish he'd gotten to meet. And I also wish that he got a little more love."

"He was a demon. Love's not exactly in their repertoire."

"It's not supposed to be. It was, though. Cas practically invented free will because he loved Dean. And I guess Crowley also didn't fit into the mold God had set for him, either."

"I suppose God's Plan is... Ineffable in the show."

"I mean. Kinda at first? But the last season God is fully the bad guy."

"WHAT??"

Anyway, Crowley watches Supernatural and has no idea if he hates it or not. He probably does. But somehow, Crowley-like-owl and Castiel and their often unappreciative charges make his heart ache. He deliberately notes all the ways that Castiel is nothing like Aziraphale, thank you very much. He supposes he's glad that Adam never turned either of them into action figures.

He watches and he tries not to wish Aziraphale was watching with him.

[techav]

VCF Southwest

This was the first time I've been able to attend a VCF, and it was the first held in the Dallas area in over a decade. I was lucky enough to participate as both event staff, helping to plan and run the show, and as an exhibitor. It was exhausting, it was overwhelming at times, and I nearly lost my voice by the end of the first day ... But it was also an incredible experience and I really enjoyed it.

I brought a few of my projects to show off. First and foremost was my Wrap030-ATX project, which I paired with a Wyse WY-30 terminal I rescued from Computer Reset, and had running a demo program for printing names on my recently-repaired Apple ImageWriter II/L. Next to that was my Wrap030 board stack running a Mandelbrot fractal renderer using its 68882 FPU and video generator cards. Then came the Mac SE from Computer Reset I repaired, with my SE-VGA card driving an external monitor, and running Oregon Trail (always a crowd favorite!). Finally I had my Franken-Plus, which sadly suffered a power supply failure early on the first day and sat dark all weekend.

My exhibit was situated just down the row from @commodorez , who won the show's Best Microcomputer award for his "VICs that aren't 20" exhibit of rare and lesser-known Commodore computers. Across from Commodore-Z was Usagi Electric, who won Best in Show for his exhibit of the Centurion, a PDP-11, and his vacuum tube computer.

I had a great time talking to Commodore-Z, @ms-dos5 , Usagi Electric, Nybbles and Bytes, Macintosh Librarian, Retrotech Chris, Kevin & Michael of the Turbo 9 Team, Al Williams, and so many more wonderful people that I couldn't even begin to catch names for.

I also got to go into deep-dive discussions on very specific details about my projects with people who already knew so much more about the components and the tools that I'm using than I do. It's energizing to be around people that understand the work that goes into these projects and appreciate what I've accomplished.

The show was so much bigger than I anticipated. Including staff, volunteers, sponsors, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees, we saw nearly 900 people come through the main hall over the course of the weekend. Seminars were full, with CuriousMarc's presentation on Restoring the Apollo Guidance Computer forming an imposing line for entry well ahead of the scheduled start of the talk. We had incredible community turnout; it was great to see entire families come through with awestruck small children in tow.

There was so much to see and do, so many people to talk to. The entire weekend is just a blur. My brain is still trying to process everything from the show.

One thing does stand out though — an unbelievably generous act from someone I spoke to on Saturday about my homebrew builds and my methods for testing and debugging. This kind soul was so impressed by what I have accomplished without an oscilloscope that he bought one from the VCFSW charity auction and gave it to me on Sunday. I was so surprised I didn't think to even get his name before he disappeared into the crowd. I can't wait to put it to good use, and I hope that what I build with it lives up to his expectations.

Following VCF East earlier this year, Bil Herd said something about riding that high from VCFE, and that prompted him to agree to come out to join us at VCFSW this year. Now that I've experienced it for myself, I understand what he meant. I've been looking though all the pictures and blog posts everyone has been sharing, and catching up on recordings of the presentations I missed. Interest in some of my projects has me thinking about what I can do with them next. It's exciting.

I can't wait until next year.

[yippeecheapdvds]

On Friday I suffered throh "Ralph Breaks the Internet" (2018) Sic-Fi/Adventure

God I hated this. I knew i was going to hate it. I didn't want to watch it, but my friend wanted to do a double feature where we watched the original movie and it's sequel so she dragged me down with her 😭I tried to open my mind to the possibility that it could be at least ok, and it started out mid, but the longer it went on the worse and worse it got and the more I hated it. I did have some fun tearing it apart with my friend but it still hurt to watch and for most of the movie i was audibly groaning to drown out the cringe dialogue or gripping my head and screaming "NOOOOOO"

Shit I liked:

The squareheaded Mr Litwack. it was cute. also seeing his office.

Learning that the arcade is located in Sothern California

the green pop up ad guy and Knowsmore.

The little part where Ralph went to the old internet, and it had signs like "y2k" and "dial up" covered in dust.

The way the player characters moved in Slaughter Race

the chase sequence in Slaughter race. made me think for a second that I could actually like this movie.

Uhhhhh yah that's it

Shit i have mixed feelings about:

Felix and Calhoon were barely in the movie. Turbo wasn't in it at all. Sad that I didn't get much/any of my favorite characters but good thing they were barely/not here so the movie didn't have much/any time to ruin them.

The giant ralph monster was creepy as hell which like, good job on that but conceptually I hated it.

Shit i fucking hated, sorted by how mad it made me:

The way they made the internet super squeaky clean, only full of cat videos. like i know why they did it but it comes off as super fake.

The insults ralph was reading were all super lame.

Ralph going viral was stupid as shit

the pancake bunny. vile.

The friendship break up was stupid as shit. Ralph was hella dumb and acted like a kid i hated it.

the way they desaturated the colors in sugar rush to make it seem boring and less appealing. i saw that. fuck you.

most of the dialogue was hella cringe and hurt to listen to.

ralph game jumping in the middle of the day to make Vanelope that track. couldn't you have just waited untill after hours???????? fucking idiot.

the fucking missed potential??? we could have had a movie where they like visit internet games and feel like arcades are fading in relevancy, or had them meet versions of themselves from like emulators or other arcades or something; like seeing a Ralph that did go turbo, a Turbo that diden't, a Vanelope who never had trauma. it really felt like whoever wrote this movie didn't care about the original film and just picked out a stock kid's movie conflict that spat in the face of the original move's themes and meseging.

the oh my disney section, and the princesses. just all of it. easily one of the most painfull parts of the whole movie.

The way Ralph acted the entire godam movie. they completely threw out his characterization and character development in the last movie and had him acting like a creepy tween. WHY DID THEY MAKE HIM SO STUPID???

the idea that Vanellope 'belongs in slaughter race' is a travesty for multiple reasons one of wich being that SHE'S 9 and that game is almost certainly teen and up.

The WAY VAN ACTED OH MY GOD GIRL she spent the entire last movie trying to belong in sugar rush and then she just got bored and threw it all away???? why???? WHY DID THEY MAKE HER GO TURBO I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT

The fucking ending.

Congratulations RBTI, you managed to achieve the extremely rare rating of 2/10 and become the second worst movie I've ever seen. Don't see this. forget it exists.

[svtskneecaps]

qsmp day 6. foolish and maximus are arguing over the location of maxo's missing weed because they've now concluded that luzu didn't actually smoke all of it and get so absolutely turbo blasted that he lost all sense of self and now maxo is suspecting that foolish stole the weed because on day 1 bad stole a custom item left over from the puzzles out of maxo's chests and then blamed it on foolish and maxo has yet to forget it and believes bad whole heartedly and meanwhile arin who is at this point two hours old and i don't think even has a name yet is staring at them from a hole because he doesn't know how to walk and is probably also soaking wet because foolish just tried to waterboard him. early qsmp is wild.

[betterbemeta]

The idea of the barbie movie makes me feel some way that is hard to describe for the same reason a lot of my agender experiences are hard to describe. There's a lot of concrete language, projected expectations, shared understanding of binary gender experiences... but not very much for 'null' experiences.

Nonbinary experiences are muted in general, but often do get described-- in contrast to the binary. Even 'gender-neutral' is usually conceptualized as androgynous, could-be-male-or-female. 'Neither gender' is usually thought of like, 'a secret third thing' rather than 'nothing.'

I grew up disliking barbies because they were a toy my parents didn't prefer. My parents are older, so they saw a lot of cultural shifts: the '60s as kids, the '70s as young adults, the '80s happened as they began to gain stability and had me in the '90s. So the journey from 'baby dolls' to 'fashion dolls' really didn't hit any feminist women-can-be-adults statement to either of them. They were fully awake for Reaganism and how it turbo-boosted femininity as a consumer product. I know that's the opposite of the typical 'my boomer parents' narrative but it's the truth.

So I didn't play with dolls, dress-up or otherwise, much as a child. I found other outlets for that type of play that satisfied me. I played a lot of pretend, I dressed up in my own costumes, I designed characters, I wrote and drew them, and I 'dressed up' avatars in video games. I really didn't feel like I missed anything.

I began questioning my gender more when I had to present more feminine for things like job interviews and for work. I realized that I was playing a role that was not 'me', but dressing up like a doll. You know, not just 'costume time' but 'costume time, with accessories that come in the box.'

It disturbed me for a little while, but eventually I found the idea freeing. For the first time, I was not just 'bad at doing 'girl' but 'someone who can assume the form of a girl' even if the way I acted and felt was just 'me.' It occurred to me that ordinary girls probably didn't feel like they were collecting 'garb' like for a SCA event or a ren faire to go into the city every day. I am going to the party in disguise, I am a shapeshifter, I can Assume The Form You're Comfortable With, impostor syndrome who?

For a lot of people, this would be 'being in the closet.' Or it would be 'girlmoding' or 'boymoding' or whatever. And others might be like, 'it's not trans representation to present as the gender you're assigned at birth!' But it's actually impossible to 'present as' the null. We don't look at the people around us and think 'are they all in costume, pretending? What if they're nothing?'

In fact, conservative power despises this idea and projects it on the most vulnerable people in the queer community. If somebody passes an anti-cross-dressing law, they think they are safe from doubt. But if they went to a wedding and everyone in their gowns and suits told them, we're not men or women, it's dress-up, it would be a nightmare for them.

To me, the idea of 'a doll' is that whatever the plastic looks like, that is not a girl. Ceci n'est pas une pipe, you know?

[thana-topsy]

Fic Writers Self-Rec

I've been tagged by so many lovely people in my time away from tumblr! Thank you so much to @gilgamish @mareenavee @changelingsandothernonsense @kookaburra1701 and anyone else I might have missed tagging me in this one.

I tag @expended-sleeper @mongoose-bite @banjotea @turbo-toast and @yesjejunus

Rules:

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love!

Halfway to the Sky An obvious choice I think! This fic is my absolute baby. Driven by a purely OC cast, it was kind of a gamble to release into the wilds of fandom, but I'm just eternally grateful and humbled by the amount of support I've gotten through the process of writing it. To say it's been a life-changing story for me is an understatement.

Hollow Men This fic was a genre switch-up for me. I'd never really written a "Recovery Fic" before, and it certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone. But it was one of those that tore its way out of me, just desperate to get out of my head. And I learned so much about writing and about myself. It'll forever hold a special place in my heart. Also an OC-heavy narrative that showed me I could, in fact, drive a story without an NPC anchoring me to the world.

Breathing Water / Liminal Bridges Pardon the two-fer, but I had to include the sequel in this! Breathing Water was a HUGE turning point in my writing. It was the first time I'd written a super compact narrative beginning to end before posting the story. So I was able to really refine the story, plot out appropriate foreshadowing, and wrap everything up neatly. And then Liminal Bridges, a sequel born out of a pure love of Neloth and Teldryn and wanting to see them bounce around in the world some more, has spun off into something so wild and wonderful that I can't wait to start sharing new updates again.

How to Build a Home (or Die Trying) A lesser-known fic of mine, this one I wrote at the very beginning of lockdown in 2020 and it taught me a LOT about flash-fiction, vignette storytelling, time skips, and pacing. That, and I'd wanted to write something with Ralis for a while at that point. It was a fantastic remedy for a rough year. Quickburn with some well-earned fluff.

Finding Mara A spin-off of a sequel, this is one of those fics that I am so incredibly proud of, fond of, and was kind of the prototype for stories like "Hollow Men" and "Halfway to the Sky". It was poking at a lot of themes that I wanted so badly to explore, but didn't yet know how. Nilandur is a character who, in so many ways, changed who I am as a person.

[toxycodone]

i understand its all joaks and its lighthearted out of love for this character but it is a little sad to see things like laios being a minimum wage worker and having no friends being described as him being a loser when theyre extremely common autistic experiences 💔 because to be honest i think youre really cool and a great writer and i would like to interact more but it makes me go, is that what you would think of me? my life situation’s not too different from that. anyways i hope you have a nice day <3

no not at all I genuinely like being mean to Laios so take everything I say about him with the world's biggest effing grain of salt because I am just. mean to him in particular lol. i like to kick him when he's down. (evil and mean but to blonde men in particular)

but like. i am not cool at all. like...........ill put it under the cut but yeah.

real shit under the cut bc this ask is making me think! im gonna be real w u nonnie

tl:dr if u dont wanna see whats under the cut:

this ask kinda makes me think bc. i think im really mean to laios too bc he reminds me of myself beforehand (zero self confidence and suicidal idealization) sigh and I really hate being reminded of that. so. again. im really biased when it comes to him specifically and that doesn't apply to you or any of my followers.

and for what its worth i am sorry for making you feel that way.

but also. i gotta say I can 100% relate to him and you. this time last year I was working at Starbucks ( i could only tolerate 4 hour shifts bc i would get overstimulated and my coworkers lowkey hated me.) and had like. 1 friend from high school and the years before that I spent turbo online being constantly pushed out of friend groups bc i could NEVER get anything right socially. I swear the first 23 years of my life I never lived. i went thru hs and college as a fucking. like. creature I felt like i couldnt connect w anyone because I was too tormented by adhd + autism and i was INSANELY depressed and coping w lack of control by having an eating disorder and being doped the fuck up on stimulants. (MY PCP gave me 56 mg of concerta and 5mg booster of adderall i was fucking tweaking on the daily </3)

but like. i started going to therapy and a psychiatrist who made me quit cold turkey for my own good and we started treating my depression and debilitating anxiety (i was convinced a stranger was living in my house in secret but also that everyone in public who saw me was revolted by me and genuinely wanted me to kill myself jkdhsfskdjh i told you i was tweaking)

anyways. i was a druggie with no goal in life and living in my own head and now like. i can look at myself in the mirror and not think "hey. this fat ugly piece of shit should genuinely die" and now people in real life LIKE me. I have friends. multiple friend groups, actually. WITH NOT JUST ND PEOPLE. LIKE, A LOT OF THEM ARE NEUROTYPICAL. And i am very open about being autistic with them and i dont have to mask.

and they still like me! and invite me places! and genuinely want to hang out with me! and they think im smart and get uncomfortable when I say im stupid or too autistic to like. be able to be in public.

it still feels like a dream and in my mind im like "they actually are gonna drop you and make fun of you for thinking they were ever your friends" or like "theyre just doing this bc of the stupid buddy system shit or they think you're a pet this is highschool all over again"

but even tho im haunted by this. its....I can say with confidence its not true.

anyways. i know people say this shit all the time but I will say you are very capable of love and not a loser or anything like that. the thing you're missing out on is the right people. i didnt believe this for most of my life and tried to get myself killed because of it but im glad I didn't because it is genuinely true.

i have spent the last <1 year of my life genuinely being alive. and i wouldn't trade it for anything. idk if thats a sign for anyone yeah. take it

[stars-over-new-jersey]

Upgrades

KITT disapproves of modern cars. Especially when Michael is showing too much interest in one. AO3 link

Michael strolled out of the restaurant, pausing to take in the clean lines of the sleek metallic gray Corvette parked next to KITT before turning back to his longtime partner.

KITT's door refused to open.

"C'mon buddy," Michael said.

KITT remained silent, dashboard and door sensor dark.

Michael rested his arms on KITT's roof and looked down into the window. "Buddy, we're kind of out in public here. People are going to think I'm crazy."

No response came from the black Trans Am.

Michael sighed and walked around the front of his car. The scanner in KITT's nose quickly stopped its back-and-forth sweep and shut off as soon as Michael came round the front of his partner, but not fast enough to escape Michael's notice.

"Ha!" Michael said. "Knew you were playing possum. Now open the door, please. I've already had to deal with the board of trustees tonight."

KITT's scanner and dashboard lit back up, but his door remained locked when Michael tried it again.

"Will you at least tell me what's wrong?" Michael asked in exasperation.

"I saw you looking," KITT replied. "You want to replace me." Michael sighed and looked up at the sky, where a crescent moon hung blurred in the eternal Los Angeles smog.

"KITT, I'm not going to replace you," he replied.

"Why else were you looking at that…. that thing," KITT replied peevishly. "It's not like I have anything to offer you anymore. "

"What?" Michael nearly shouted. "KITT, how can you say that?"

"Its communication systems are just as good as mine, it responds to voice commands, and even its dashboard looks like mine," KITT groused. "I know I'm outdated. I can tell when I'm going to be replaced."

"KITT, first, I am not abandoning you for scrap in a restaurant parking lot," Michael said sternly. "Second, there aren't many ways to mount a screen in a car dashboard that look half-decent, so of course it looks a bit like your dashboard. Now, will you let me in, or do I need to call RC to bring the mobile unit out with the winch?"

A long beat of silence ensued, but KITT's door popped open.

Michael slid into the driver's seat, his knee joints popping loudly as he tucked himself into KITT's low-slung cabin.

"And here you thought I'd trade you for a car that's even lower to the ground," Michael quipped. "At my age I'd never get back out of that thing."

"Michael, please don't joke about replacing me," KITT said.

"KITT, how long have we been working together?" Michael asked, yanking his tie free and tucking it in the glove compartment.

"Forty-one years, five months, and three days," KITT replied.

"Did I replace you when the tech crew created Domino?" Michael asked.

"No."

"Did I replace you when the lab teams created the nanobots for the Knight Industries Three Thousand?"

"No."

"So what makes you think, after forty years and I don't even remember how many upgrades, that I would replace you with a production-line Corvette?"

"You once told me that humans like new things. Fashionable things," KITT said. "I know the new Corvettes are considered fashionable, and you were looking."

Michael sighed, staring at the LED equalizer bars of KITT's voicebox that had remained unchanged at KITT's own request through hundreds of dashboard updates, and racked his memory for a long moment.

"I guess I did say that," Michael said. "KITT, fashion has cycles. Things come in and out of fashion. Anything that stays around long enough becomes fashionable again."

"So you're settling for me," KITT said sulkily. "It's not like you need my turbo boost or oil slick since you took over the directorship and stopped going out on missions. You don't need me anymore."

"There he is," a voice said. "We didn't miss the meeting after all." A bullet bounced off KITT's windshield and shattered the driver-side window of the Corvette.

"KITT!" Michael shouted. "What's going on?"

"It appears someone was preparing an ambush for the Knight Foundation board," KITT replied. "They arrived late."

"And you didn't warn me," Michael said, glaring at KITT's dashboard. All three screens were now lit up and displaying information on the status of KITT's systems and the holographic heads-up display was tracking the gunmen. "KITT, you were supposed to be in surveillance mode."

KITT remained silent.

"KITT," Michael ground out his partner's name through clenched teeth. "KITT if this isn't evidence that I still need you, I don't know what is."

"Finally," KITT said. The holographic countdown appeared in the heads-up display, and KITT's turbine fired up.

Michael grinned as he backed out of the parking space and aimed KITT at the exit of the parking lot.

"Let's see how far they'll chase us," Michael said. "I want to see if we can get them all the way to the police station."

[siberian-khatru]

Hiii it's Violet misses her friend again hours!!! I hope you don't mind this little story I'm going to share, because it's something I think of every time I find myself in this state lol. So, back in January, around the New Year, I was hanging out in my sister's room after my friend had logged off for the night. It was only about seven or eight o'clock here, but he's 5 hours ahead of me, so it was around midnight to one in the morning there. This is important.

One thing you should know about me, for context, is that I've moved and changed school districts twice in my life. I moved in fifth grade from one school district to another, and then again between eighth and ninth grade. It's been hard to keep in contact with people from either district throughout high school.

So, my sister is scrolling on social media, and she finds the account of my elementary school classmate's sister, who announced my old classmate's death. Now, I wasn't particularly close with this kid; I spoke with him a couple times in elementary school, being in the same fourth grade class, but his mother was my fifth grade teacher (until I moved). What I do remember is that he was always nice to me, and his mother was a nice woman as well.

To be honest, it took me a moment to set in that this person from my childhood was now dead. In fact, it's been a few months and I'm not entirely sure if it has set in yet. It was a strange feeling. It is a strange feeling. Even though I hadn't seen him in six or seven years, and wasn't even that close in the first place, I knew that we were supposed to be starting our lives, not ending them in car wrecks.

So, in my shock, I messaged my friend on discord because I didn't really know how to react, or what else to do. I knew that we had said our goodnights about an hour before, and wasn't really expecting a response, but to my surprise, he got back to me within ten minutes.

Another thing you should know about me is that my standards for relationships (platonic in this case) are in turbo hell. I never really had a solid group of friends growing up, due to being neurodivergent and moving around a lot, and I certainly never got to the point where I would tell one of my friends about this.

And he got back to me within ten minutes. Not only that, even though he said he wouldn't be able to talk to me that night, he said that was because he wanted to help me in the way I deserved, and that he was thinking of me and that he loved me. What the fuck??? Like I said, my standards are in literal hell. This guy, that I met on this fucking hellsite that I've never met in person is a better friend to me than anyone I've known irl. Which is... sort of pathetic on my part, I suppose? But I guess it's also beautiful in a way; how two people can connect across oceans.

The story doesn't end there, however. The next day, true to his word, he sends me a "care package" (his words, not mine) of concert videos of all my favorite bands. I was in the middle of class when he sent it over, and I was, honestly, completely shocked. I don't think I'll ever forget that kindness. We had a long conversation that night over lots of things, partially about my classmate, partially about whatever we were talking about, but I think that's when I knew I finally had something real.

One last thing you should about me, and it's sort of a combination of moving a lot, never really forming solid friendships, and some issues with my mother (that is a whole 'nother can of worms) is that I have some anxiety around abandonment. I recognize it for what it is now, and do my best to not let it interfere with my relationships, but sometimes I do get anxious, and start trying to mentally prepare myself for the end of a relationship (romantic or platonic). So, I have to recognize I'm spiraling and I have to fight it off. Rereading those messages always grounds me and reminds me that it's all in my head.

I really didn't intend to write this much, but whatever! I feel it's got a good message, I think.

[gubbles-owo]

Contingency Contract is upon us! It's designed to be fully modular, so just pick which risks you feel comfortable with and have a go. Don't get discouraged by how overwhelming it can be at first. It can be quite fun to make the perfect match between the risks you pick and the operators you go with.

aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA

babey's first CC clear... It took me a few tries to clear without any risks, albeit with the "no guards or supporters" thing already in mind. Once I finally cleared it, realized I could add on three risks ($$$ guards and supporters, max squad size 10, 1 base health) without changing up my strategy at all.

Later I did a similar run with the class toggle flipped (aka the Gubbles Learn Not to Over-Rely on Manticore Challenge™). This was woefully scuffed. The first attempt was ended prematurely when the battery in my mouse died partway through, and the second had a number of egregious tactical errors. I know how to better pull it off, but I somehow managed to clear it on try 2 so fuck it I'll take it

I was also able to pull off one of the early challenge missions (smth like "ur attack suck" and "edgy slicey boi have more hp" combo). From that I finally learned how powerful the combined slow from Manticore + Suzu really is, it's like. TURBO SLOW. er, um. extra slow. jumbo slow. molasses. paint dry. whatever u get the picture For all of em I had to borrow a friend's Kyato, and ngl I still kinda feel like I cheated? But when presented with the choice of dual-bladed delete cannon or literally not being able to clear the base stage at all... I suppose I'll take the victory supported by friends >w>`

This is the highest amount of contingency bucks I will ever possess, and of course with such a limited sum of funds and an exclusive pool of things with which to purchase with such funds, it's paramount I take the time to really consider all of my options, carefully make an informed and calculated decision on what would best be wor--

or I could immediately just manticore outfit. It's okay she's worth it So @lilyblackdrawside, I know you sent this ask much earlier on in the event, and I intended to attempt it earlier, but for a while I just... didn't feel much up for it? Hard content is hard, babey player is babey, and life always finds a way to intervene. Lack of interest, hyperfocus on N64 development, hyperfocus on beating Perfect Dark for the first time, chronic illness, mental illness, going outside for walks on the precious two (2) days it didn't feel like instant heatdeath outside. Y'know, the usual. But given that this is the last CC-- and also the first CC I was even able to participate in-- I gotta say, I wish I got to it sooner. Generally speaking, challenging content usually ain't my thing unless I'm really interested in taking it on. And in the context of arknights, I've been burned out enough by the difficulty curve of the events and complexity of managing a ton of ops to really seek any of it out. But while even the risk 3 CC was difficult... I had fun! Eliminating certain classes got me to better think of how to get the most of what ops I had available. A stronger boss and squishier ops got me to think more critically about how to keep my ops alive through the onslaught, and to discover a pretty powerful combination of slows to crank the most out of what DPS I could manage. I bet I could've managed to squeeze in a risk 4, even, if I hadn't taken it all on in the last two days of the very last CC. Not recognizing an appreciation or enjoyment of something until it's just about gone... kind of an ongoing theme with my life lately, eh? It was my first real CC, but I'm gonna miss it. Oh also the music. The music straight up kicks ass.

Also someone borrowed my Vulcan a bunch fsr?? I know who took out Manticore that one time, but as for Vulcan's eight excursions up to risk fucking ten, I've no clue who brought her along for that ride. First time Anyone has used my support units, really, so I'm glad they could be useful!! anyway everyone look at my (virtual) (anime) (adopted) daughter, she's so cool and confident and she's grown so much and im lov her

[liesmyth]

i think we should give palamedes some sort of award for not immediately murdering cytherea when he got to canaan. imagine you've been in love with one person for your whole life, you're about to finally see her in person, then you get here and it's obviously not her, in fact it's someone doing an absolutely terrible and offensive imitation of her, and on top of it she's hitting on your new butch friend. i would not have waited the whole book to give her turbo cancer

Counterpoint: he was so determined to AVOID AVOID AVOID that he didn't clue in the awful imitation of her. However there was no way in hell he could've missed the flirting with Gideon so really he was a hero for still being nice to the Ninth

[anotherblblog]

Fan Meets and irl BL adventures

I still wanna go through pictures and videos of the fanmeets and such for bl and bl adjacent events and places I've been able to attend thus far but talking and thinking even more about Utsukare and my trip this spring to watch the movie and such and also the fact, I'm very much procrastinating on some work right now has me in the mood to at least list out all the events and bl actors I've seen.

Last Twilight in the Park - BKPP and ITSAY cast

KaownahTurbo Mini Fan Meet - Kaownah, Turbo, Mild, Bhudi

Phuket Trip - ITSAY filming sites (the school, Teh and Oh's houses, Promthep Cape, Skyline MV Beach, Dibuk Restaurant)

IdolFan Fest - Wabi Sabi actors, Kaownah, Mild, Bhudi, most of the KinnPorsche cast, the Love at 9 Cast, many many many many others

GMMTV Building

Nadao Bangkok Building

Last Cafe on the Right

Manila trip - getting my hat and Gameboys filming sites (Ortigas Ave, Pasig Park)

Love Out Loud Fan Fest 2022 - Gun, Tay, Singto, and friends

KinnPorsche filming site (Rosewood Hotel)

Chang Mai Trip* (I went because Manner of Death was filmed there but the actual filming sites were hella far and I didn't arrange transporation, so I went to an elephant sanctuary)

Bangkok meet up with @liyazaki and @meteorjam

Idol Exchange - KaownahTurbo

Phuket meet up with @liyazaki and @meteorjam

Blue Room screening at Cinemalaya - Elijah Canlas

EliKoy meet up

Casio event - KaownahTurbo

GMMTV Fanday in Osaka - Gun, Mix, and friends

Lit & Glitter - PP Krit

Utsukare Season 1 Special Edit Version

My School President Prom Night Live - MSP cast

GMMTV Building

Dp Dance Studio Charity Showcase- KaownahTurbo

Phuket Trip

Taipei Trip (on my radar because of Your Name Engraved Herein)

MarkFord video call - Mark, Ford, Gemini

Utsukare Eternal (I saw it 6 or 7 times)

Utsukare filming sites (the shrine, Hira's house)

Songkran

About Us But Not About Us screening - Elijah Canlas

Love in the Air Manila Fan Meet - LitA cast

Utsukare AniMate Cafe event

Love Story SantaEarth Fan Meet in Vietnam - SantaEarth

Nature Thai Massage Parlor - Tul's massage place and one of them has a big picture of Tul above it, second closest I've been to him

Where is the Lie screening - Royce Cabrera

ok that's kind of a long list lmao

blurbs and takeaways:

all of these international trips started because I won a hat from Kokoy in a Gameboys' fan raffle, which I later got but it wasn't the hat I was told I won but ended up being a more meaningful hat anyway

Kaownah is the actor I've seen the most

Elijah is the actor I've spent the most face time with and had the longest conversations with

Elijah got on the mic told a FULL ass auditorium of his family and fans that I was the biggest Cairo hater in the world (which is true actually)

most everyone I've met and had any sort of face time with has been really nice and excited to talk with an interfan

I won a video call with MarkFord for the MSP concert and their excitement at seeing me again made Gemini who was in the room come over to see what was happening and he was also very excited to see me again

most of them tend to be shorter than I imagined but I'm also 6'1 and also a lot of them wear platform heels or very chunky shoes lmao

fans and staff at events tend to be hella nice and curious about me and assist with translations or directions and sharing gifts and tips

I "saw" Tul Pakorn at NYC Pride 2023 but didn't register it was him because I was 5-10ft behind him and thought "that's a nice white mesh shirt" and later to my eternal chagrin saw him on IG wearing that very same 'nice mesh shirt.' I had to laugh to not cry.

I entered a raffle to meet Yusei and didn't win and so I didn't go back to Japan and later read on twitter he was meeting fans there anyway

fan meets/concerts and goodbye sessions are truly LONG AF!!! Some of them could easily be 10+ hours onsite.

@bengiyo I have told you and @liyazaki the most about my travels - I've already added a few missed memories but lemme know if y'all remember any omissions lmao

at some point, I'm going to need to buy a shelf or two for all the bl merch and pictures I have

next up for me:

Khaotung and First in Sao Paolo

Kaownah (lmao) and Mild in Manila

Gun, Tay, and friends in Manila

I have an eye out for announcements about Be On Cloud's NYE party but no details has been revealed or ticketed yet

[greywake]

FabFiveFeb2023

I know it's not February any more. Shhh!

Here is my effort for the last of @gumnut-logic's FabFiveFeb prompt challenges. I finally did it!!

The prompts were: Kayo, "I know it was you", sharp, wanted, hairpin, home.

I didn't use "home", but as it's set in the Tracy villa maybe that counts?

Enjoy!

AO3 link here for those that want it.

The Sneak Thief

Kayo frowned at the empty space on her dressing table: Her favourite hairpin was missing. An elegant silver and enamel display of orchid flowers with a handful of pretty stars dangling from delicate-looking chains. Perfect for a red carpet or to dress up an otherwise casual outfit. In reality, it contained a finely crafted and wickedly sharp calhelium blade and one of her most useful hidden weapons.

It had been in its rightful place this morning but now, just before the family dinner that the whole household was suddenly available for, it was gone.

She checked on the floor around the vanity and even dragged it out to look behind just in case, but no luck.

None of the boys would risk their limbs on a prank like this. Well, Gordon might, but he was still playing it safe around her after her retaliation for his last prank. She figured she still had another two weeks before his need for mischief overcame his common sense. 

Grimacing in discontent, Kayo neatened her hair in its ponytail and stalked out of her rooms and headed to the kitchen, eyes alert for any hint of the missing object.

"Hey, Kayo, everything okay?"

She looked up to see Virgil trotting along the hallway towards her with his little black shadow in tow. "My hairpin is missing."

He frowned. "The orchid one?"

She nodded, a suspicion forming as Turbo attacked Virgil's foot then took off back towards the main levels of the villa like her tail was on fire.

Virgil snorted at the kitten's antics before turning back to his sister. "I'll keep an eye out for it."

"Thanks. I'll see you at dinner."

She continued down to the comms room, eyes scanning for the missing item when a quiet growling came from above. She glanced up, meeting the baleful gaze of the kitten, her tail whipping back and forth.

She returned the glare. "I know it was you, Turbo."

The tail stilled then the animal darted out of sight.

The security operative muttered under her breath as she hurried up the stairs to the mezzanine level. Before she had time to react a little black and silver blur shot past her and down to the kitchen level.

An exasperated huff left Kayo's lips as she spun on her heel and raced after the little menace, taking the steps down three at a time. "I don't care if you wanted it, Turbo! My hairpin is not for kittens!"

She skidded to a halt just before she could barrel into the kitchen island and made a desperate grab for the cat. She missed by a whisker as the fluffy miscreant jumped onto the counter, gathered herself, and launched at a bewildered Scott who had spun to see what the ruckus was.

He yelped as needle-sharp claws secured the landing on his chest before scrambling up to his shoulder.

"What…?"

Kayo gave Scott a placating smile as she approached before returning her glare to the furry criminal perched on his shoulder.

"You think that just because John's not home yet Scott will be tall enough for you to get away?"

There was a muffled "mrrah!" of complaint as Kayo reached up and gently picked Turbo up by the scruff of her neck, disengaging any errant claws from Scott's shirt, and held the kitten up at her eye line.

"My hairpin, please."

Turbo glowered, appearing to consider her options, then dropped the ornament into Kayo's waiting hand.

"Thank you."

The kitten gave an answering chirp and snuggled in close as Kayo brought her to her chest.

Scott broke the tableau as he snorted his amusement. "Are we sure that animal is a real cat and not some kind of shapeshifted witch or something?"

Kayo grinned as she tickled Turbo's chin affectionately. "She's just very clever, that's all. She'd have to be to sneak onto Tracy Island without me knowing."

"Mrrrp!"

"See." Kayo giggled. "Turbo agrees."

Scott muttered something under his breath and shook his head as he turned back to making dinner.

"That's right, Turbo. It's our job to keep the boys on their toes. No more stealing from my rooms though." Kayo murmured to the furry bundle in her arms.

She couldn't help but giggle as the look the kitten gave her clearly communicated that she was making no promises.