#props to anyone who knows who they're dressed as

[ghostdoodlen]

Happy Spooky Month 🦇 🦆

[k3n-dyll]

Kingpin!Sevika

||Men, minors, and ageless DNI

CW: Dom!Sevika, sub!reader, Sevika is mean, degradation, free use kinda,squirting, cunnilingus (r! receiving), face fucking (S!receiving), fingering, AFAB reader, pussy slaps, aftercare, she loves you but won't say it

A/N: I just had some thoughts I needed to get out, this was meant to just be a few headcanons but it got a little long

Word count: 1,494 Divider creds. Masterlist

kingpin!Sevika who's taken Silco's place after his untimely death. In need of a right hand of her own, she chose you

kingpin!Sevika who- though, of course, chose you because you're capable, loyal, and trustworthy -just as she had been to Silco- also has a few...personal reasons as to why she made this decision.

You're a tough girl and she is well aware of that. She acknowledges it quite often, always telling you how well you do with the missions she leaves you in charge of. From someone like Sevika, that praise is a lot, and though frequent, it comes in small packaging. Short, sweet remarks that may seem like nothing to anyone else

"Y'did good." "Keep it up."

Or even just a head nod or pat on the back or shoulder to show that she approves of what you've done. It's the ultimate sign that she respects you.

kingpin!Sevika who would keep you by her side 24/7, 365 if she was able to. When you aren't out doing an assignment, a good amount of your workdays are spent in her office, either standing beside her as she sits lazily in the large chair behind her desk, as she uses you as a second pair of ears and eyes while she meets with the other chembarons - or, simply discussing future plans.

kingpin!Sevika whose sharp, silver eyes track your every movement at the end of the day when you're finally alone with her. Watching you fidget with the little nicknacks on her desk as you report back the events of the day, not making full eye contact with her because you know what's coming. There aren't many other reasons she'd have locked her office door completely after letting you in, it isn't like anyone had the gall to barge in unannounced.

"Strip" she'd mutter, fully interrupting whatever you were telling her because, at this point, she's more annoyed at the fact that you're still dressed than she is at some of the cargo being compromised due to the negligence of her blockhead henchmen - she'll take care of that later.

kingpin!Sevika who isn't one for talking about it once you do as you're told because of course you do, shedding yourself of the fabric that shields your body from her intense gaze, giving her a bit of a show because she'd scold you if you rushed.

kingpin!Sevika who can't seem to go a full five seconds without marking you once you're propped up on her leg, naked except for your underwear. She especially loves leaving marks on your tits, biting and sucking on the fat around your nipple, leaving as many pretty little bruises on your skin as she pleases with no real regard for how intense the feeling may be for you

As much as she likes making you feel good, this is about what she wants. She's had a stressful, rage-inducing day and this is the part of your job that she loves just as much as you do. The part where she gets to take out all her frustrations on your body. She's always rough with you, never giving you a second to catch your breath, and though one would think you'd be used to this treatment by now, it takes you by surprise every time. Her strong hands feel like they're everywhere at once, grabbing at your ass, your waist, your thighs, your tits - anywhere she can hold you to keep you close.

kingpin!Sevika who gets impatient with her own teasing rather quickly, a breathy, "fuck this" escaping her thick lips, because she needs to see and touch all of you. Using her mechanical arm to swat at the contents of her desk, allowing the paperwork, the merchandise, and whatever else is up there at the moment to crash to the floor below because it doesn't matter right now. None of it is you. She forces you up onto the surface of her desk, wasting no time in getting your panties off of you, kissing down the length of your body as she lightly presses a finger to your pussy, starting at your leaking hole - a low chuckle leaving her as she feels you begin to clench around nothing- then trailing up your pretty folds until she makes contact with your already swollen clit. The way you squirm and twitch underneath her is enough for her to let out a groan, not giving you much warning before two of her thick fingers plunge inside of you.

"Shut it" she murmurs against your skin when you whine at the sudden fullness, and you're so good to her that you actually try - and fail - to keep quiet. Sevika doesn't actually expect you to succeed, but she loves watching you struggle to obey, sliding her fingers in and out of your drooling cunt at a faster pace the harder you try. "Such a fucking slut, look at that..." she pulls her slick-coated fingers out of you, the emptiness making you whimper. Ever the sadist, she hears this and just like that her mechanical hand squeezes onto your thigh, keeping you in place as her real one lifts up slightly, the palm of her hand coming back into contact with your pussy with a smack. "I said keep that fucking trap shut." In the end, though, it doesn't really matter what you do - biting your lip, clenching your teeth, hell, trying to cover your mouth with your hand - it doesn't work.

kingpin!Sevika who would overstimulate you until you were a mumbling, babbling, drooling little mess, ignoring the aching in between her own thighs and fucking into you with her fingers, rubbing the pad of her thumb over your clit with each hard thrust. After you've sufficiently begged her enough through your ragged breathing and incoherent words, she'll even let you have her mouth, flattening the pink muscle and dragging it up your slit before latching her soft lips to your sensitive bud, sucking on it. Your body jerks forward at the feeling, your hands knotting into her short black locks as your thighs press to the sides of her head. Despite how sensitive she's made you, you can't stop yourself from grinding yourself into her mouth, desperate for yet another release.

kingpin!Sevika who will force you by your pretty hair down off of the desk and onto your knees in front of her, peeling her own jeans and underwear off of her body, unable to take waiting anymore. She's not giving you much of a chance to recover from all the overstimulation, nor is she even going to let you go at your own pace. No. If there's one thing this woman loves doing its gathering all your hair up into her hand and pushing your face into her dripping cunt, rutting herself onto your tongue as you keep it out and flattened for her as instructed.

"You like when I fuck that slutty face of yours, yeah?" she'd cut you off before you got the chance to even try to answer, not that she'd even understand whatever muffled words youd attempt anyways. "Yeah you do, pretty girl - fuck - take it, baby, just like that..."

kingpin!Sevika who's a squirter for sure. You aren't coming back up from your knees without being fucking drenched in her juices and she loves every second of it. An even more cruel part of her wants to push your head to the ground and force you to lick up whatever you missed off of the floor, but she settles for making you clean it up off of her inner thighs, pulling you up for a hot, hard kiss when you're done.

kingpin!Sevika who literally will not let you leave her office until you're all cleaned up and taken care of. In stark contrast to how rough she was with you a moment ago, she'd treat you like a fragile little thing once it's all said and done. You aren't allowed to clean yourself off, no. that's her job. She's not letting you put your own clothes on, not without any help at least. And as much as she may threaten to "make sure you can't walk out of this office properly" she will hold you in her lap until you've somewhat regained your balance.

"You okay?" is likely the most you'd get out of her in terms of sweet words, verbal affection isn't really her forte, but her actions always show that she cares more than she lets on.

It's like this every time, Sevika gently rubbing your aching muscles and pressing gentle kisses into your skin as you come down from the intensity of it all, but she won't talk. Sometimes she even gets back to work while you recover, but she never asks you to leave. She doesn't want you to leave and both of you know that, but you've both decided that it's better left unsaid.

[mammonscheeks]

obey me brothers playing dress to impress

✎ a/n: for anyone who doesn't know, dress to impress is a fashion competition game on roblox.. just search it up on tiktok if you don't know!

LUCIFER thinks the whole game is stupid, but plays it once in a while to bond with his brothers. he sticks on theme, but adds his own personal 'goth/dark academia' flare to every outfit. he usually gets on the podium because most of his brothers vote him 5 stars (save for Satan and Belphegor), but he only gives them what he thinks they deserve.

MAMMON stays on theme, but doesn't care about dressing too great. he's just farming for money. usually doesn't end up on the podium. sometimes he just runs around collecting the money instead of working on his outfit. if the theme is something he likes, like 'street style' he goes all out.

LEVIATHAN actually takes the game seriously. he dresses the best he can, adheres to every theme perfectly, etc. his favorite theme is cosplay. if people vote unfairly or he doesn't get on the podium, he gets confrontational over chat.

SATAN puts his best effort into the outfits and LOVES the dark academia theme. he likes making references to pop culture, literature, etc. like for example, dressing up as a harry potter character. if he doesn't get on the podium but people with worse outfits do, he bullies them... he knows they're little kids, but he doesn't care.

ASMODEUS slays at every single outfit, because he's been alive for so long he knows everything about human fashion trends, subcultures, etc. he does try and add his own favorite style to every outfit, which is probably something like "coquette" into his outfits. When other people are on the runway, he's very verbal. He types things like "so cute!" and "ew" depending on the person's outfit. Votes honestly.

BEELZEBUB doesn't really care too much about the game. when he plays with his brothers, he just votes them all 5 stars out of kindness, even if their outfits are shit. beel's outfits are mid, he usually doesn't get on the podium, but places in the mid-range area. he wishes there were more food props his character could hold.

BELPHEGOR does not put any effort into his outfits. he votes all of his brothers 1 star because he thinks watching the whole fashion show is boring and tiring. the only theme he slays at is the slumber party theme because he has opinions on what pajamas look cute and what pajamas look ugly.

[hanasnx]

okay I have had this Thought for Far Too Long.

anakin looks like he'd be someone's sexy bodyguard they can't keep their eyes away from. and then eventually the tension breaks between them and they absolutely fuck. say its someone of royalty and they do it in their bed. (like holy shit-). now anakin makes passes at em all the time despite being in public, and it takes the guardee forever to leave bed in the morning now, totally not bc they're getting railed like anakin's life depends on it. he def fucks like his life depends on it

MINORS DNI 18+

i get you, i think its rly common trope that ppl like to pit him in, the whole bodyguard thing. who can blame them tbhh like the source has to be his whole thing with padme in aotc right? horny pretty boy following you around until you agree to marry him? cmon who doesnt love that

this made me think of a scene i shall paint for you:

"Don't." you warn, tight-lipped. Marginally, you tilt your head away from his, discouraging him from making a mistake. From taking this whole thing too far.

Tasked with protecting you, watching your every move, following you everywhere you go, ANAKIN SKYWALKER had confessed his budding feelings by trapping you against a wall. Royalty, such as you, meant to be untouched, has their back against a wall, as someone who serves you keeps you pinned like a helpless butterfly to canvas. Either of his thick arms propped at the sides of your head. You're no fool, you've been aware of this situation, hell you might've led him on a bit. But that was to be expected! You're above all, you can use and play with people as you please. The problem here lies that the Jedi Knight is teaching you he's not one to be toyed with.

You're sure he's going to do something you both regret. "Master Skywalker, please." you plea, wary anyone could turn the corner and see a man so close to you. A man meant to guard you. There's a yearning in those intense eyes, a gaze you've come to bloom underneath every time it finds you. Secret jokes shared across the room, furtive glances that betray his intent to check out your form in your noble dressings, you swallow hard. A part of you wants him to touch you. To taint you for anyone for the rest of your life. You can't get much better than the Lord you're promised to in the north, but for just one night you can pretend that doesn't exist, and give yourself to a working man. The one that comes fro the salt of the earth, who knows real life, who knows pain. The thought of it makes you rub your legs together, drawing in a sharp breath as he engages you, chasing you to make you face him.

"Do you fear me?"

You know he doesn't truly think that.

"I fear what you mean to me. Please do not ruin that." you voice quivers. He says nothing, searching your gaze. You can feel the electricity in the air. "If you kiss me, they'll take you away, Anakin."

"Oh, I'm not going to stop at a kiss."

A promise kept.

[waddgrunkblubbica]

My dumbass Reverse Falls concept that I'll never actually do anything with

Not everyone gets a total swap. Some people (like Fiddleford, as an example) stay in practically the same role they are in canon.

Gid & Paz are adoptive siblings, rather than cousins or whatever other convoluted relationship used to reinforce the theme of family bonds. Instead, it's reinforced by the two being a family that shares no blood.

Bud & Carla divorced after Gideon was born. The stress of having two children put immense strain on their marriage and caused them to split. Gideon lives in Cali with Carla, and normally only sees Bud & Paz on holidays like Christmas or Easter.

Bud's still a used car salesman, but his new wife owns and operates a gift shop, which is how this version of the Pines/Gleeful Feud arises.

The Mystery Shack is basically the same, with the only major difference being the Twins' evening magic shows.

Gid & Paz are, for a given measure of the term, Villain Protagonists in the early show. Well meaning villains, but villains nonetheless.

CHARACTER DETAILS

Bud Gleeful

Still secretly the leader of the Blind Eye Society

Kidnapped Paz as a baby from the Northwests after learning how they were abusing her. He wiped all memories of the Northwests ever having a daughter, and has done his best to stop anyone finding out about it. Has absolutely zero regrets about this

Not the best father, but far from the worst. Very middle of the road.

Is still an antagonistic force, though out of a misguided desire to help

Gideon 'Giddy' Gleeful

Antisocial shut-in with a hero complex

Wants to save the day and get the girl, and sees Journal 3 as his way of doing that

Thinks Mason is mind-controlling Mabel into hating him and wants to free her from his spell. Just as bad at taking hints as Canon Gideon

Studious, but not especially academic

'Paz Gleeful'

As mentioned before, was adopted as a baby by Bud after he kidnapped her. Is not aware of this fact, and Bud intends to keep it that way

A kind of goofy but brilliant girl who dresses in a late-90's early aughts manner

Likes Greasy's Diner, Horror & Mystery novels, videogames, and Clucky, her pet chicken

Dislikes bells, the Undead, being upstaged or underestimated, people finding out about her crush on Robbie Valentino, and Gideon's search history

Stanley 'Stanford' Pines

pretty much the same as Canon Stanley, though he did reveal the truth to Mason & Mabel after they found Journal 2 at the school

Became the Twins' legal guardian after their parents died in an accident. Shermie couldn't take them because of his declining health, both physical and mental

Taught the Twins everything they know about fleecing a crowd. Mason took to it better than Mabel did, but they both make him proud with their flawless scams

The Twins as a unit

Like to play up the 'creepy twins' angle as much as possible, doing things like finishing each other's sentences, talking in unison, or using overly formal terms of endearment

Mabel's a visionary, Mason makes it all work

Mabel is as subtle as a brick through a window, Mason knows the value of not being seen

Only Mabel ever calls Mason 'Dipper'

Mabel Pines

Relies heavily on her Amulet for her part in the act, due to her inability to properly use magic. This leaves her mental state more fragile

Despite being unable to use magic on her own, was able to figure out how to make stickers that could be used as magic sigils. They're vastly inferior to proper sigils, but they work well enough that, if you know what sigils to place where, you can use any magic you want at any time. She keeps a book or two of these sigil stickers on her at all times

Personally makes every costume or prop used in their act. Is just as much of a renaissance woman as her Canon counterpart

Feels a deep-seated sense of inferiority towards Mason, thanks to his more studious nature. As such, she tends to get competitive over ridiculous things

Mason Pines

Is self-conscious about his birthmark, and wears makeup to conceal it. It's cheap makeup though, so he tends to sweat through it when agitated, nervous, excited, or exerting himself

Projects a persona of a calm, confident con-man, but is still just a sweaty, awkward occult nerd like Canon Dipper

Is an actual magic-user, even without the Amulets. Has been practicing magic ever since Mabel found Journal 2 when they were seven

Will do anything for the good of the family, even throw away his own humanity

Stanford 'Ford' Pines

In every universe, there is a member of The Zodiac that is the most evil version of them across all realities. In Canon, it was Gideon. Anti-Mabel was her universe's evil one. In this universe, it's Ford

Is 200% on board with Weirdmageddon. Did not need any convincing to come around, and was kind of already planning on doing something

Did not hide The Journals out of a sense of shame, instead it's a failed ploy to eliminate members of the Zodiac so that Weirdmageddon will happen unresisted. As such, the information left behind is deliberately misleading, incomplete, or more dangerous than in Canon

Genuinely appalled at the idea that a gaggle of pre-teens could improve on his work (and also that they read his diary)

Soos Ramirez

Practically unchanged, beyond having a more explicitly sibling-like relationship with The Twins

He's perfect

Wendy Corduroy

Is basically the same, though she gets even less focus because she's only ever seen around town or at The Shack

Robbie Valentino

Works in Bud's wife's shop as a cashier. Paz has a crush on him at the start of the series, but loses it after he tries to hypnotize Wendy into not breaking up with him. He's basically Wendy if she was a sweaty, insecure emo boy instead of a lumberjane so high-strung it loops back around to seeming calm

Fiddleford Hadron McGucket

Like Canon McGucket, he was Ford's assistant. Unlike Canon McGucket, the affection only went one way

Didn't accidentally fall, he was pushed. Only escaped because he managed to get a grip on the portal's frame. Did not catch on that Ford just tried to kill him, and so he still ended up as an amnesiac coot

Bill Cipher

A liar. A deceiver. Never trust a word from him ever. Even when he's telling the truth, it's a lie

Presents himself as a put-upon victim of the Pines' sadism, but it's all a lie. If he needed them to talk, he'd lie through his teeth

Unlike Canon Bill, never gave a shit about Ford, and was lying when he said that he'd rule by his side. Ford's just necessary for the Weirdmageddon plan

Everything Canon Bill thinks he is, this guy actually is. The only difference is he pretends to be a harmless little sadboy for pity points

Townsfolk

Grenda & Candy are Mabel's Henchgirls. Realistically, this doesn't change anything about their relationship with Mabel, they just call her 'Boss' and dress like gangsters. The gangster outfits were Candy's idea

The Northwests are functionally the same, they just don't remember they have a daughter. They just go around being rich assholes. They hire both Mason & Paz to capture the ghost in their mansion, which leads to the big reveal that Paz is actually Pacifica Northwest, the missing heiress to the Northwest fortune

Lazy Susan is more of a character, since Paz spends so much of her time at Greasy's. Practically a second (or is it third? Fourth?) mother to her

Blubbs & Durland do not change

Tyler still ends up mayor

WEIRDMAGEDDON

As mentioned, Ford was in on a lot of Bill's plan, and Bill even promised that Ford would be one of his Henchmaniacs. However, the mechanics of the Zodiac make this impossible. At best, he's a dancing monkey for Bill's amusement.

Further, Ford tries to get as many members of the Zodiac killed as possible, directly trying and failing to kill Stan and Fiddleford, and indirectly trying to get whoever finds the Journals killed through shoddy information. However, the game can't begin until all the pieces are on the board, and as such the plan's been on hold for the last 30 years.

Also, Ford can't just let The Rift grow on its own, it has to be shattered by someone possessed by Bill that isn't a member of The Zodiac.

Once Weirdmageddon begins, Ford tries to take his place at Bill's side, but Bill reveals he's played Ford for a chump and never had any intention of letting Ford have any power. Ford swears revenge before being turned to stone.

The rest of the Pines family has to come to terms with the fact that Ford betrayed them, and everyone else, by siding with Bill. All the characters that escape Weirdmageddon decide to rescue the rest of the townsfolk, even if it kills them, inadvertently freeing Ford, who's still wanting revenge.

Like in Canon, they try to form The Zodiac, but it fails, so they have to resort to erasing the memories of a Stan. Unlike in Canon, it's Ford they do this to, and nobody gives enough of a shit to restore Ford's memories. Ford spends the rest of his days in a mental hospital, under strict orders to never be referred to by name. There's some parallelism to Canon Bill here.

Bill attempts to invoke the Axolotl, but in its infinite wisdom, it deems this Bill unworthy of further second chances and atomizes him on the spot. A version of TBOB never comes to be. Bill is eventually forgotten.

[andavs]

Character Drinking Preferences

I’m updating this post to include season 7, and adding in some other observations I’ve made on rewatches!

Reminder: All of this is free from paid product placement because the show doesn’t have the characters use real brands. They use real brands for set dressing, but if a character interacts with the product, it’s fake. So Maddie and Chimney had Grand Marnier and Monopolowa vodka (real brands) sitting out on a bar cart but the one bottle anyone interacted with was the fake brand of Glencallan scotch.

If any of them look familiar, a lot of prop alcohol is designed to look similar to real brands at a glance, like the beer called Cerveza Extra that looks like Corona Extra, or Bottom Shelf bourbon that looks like Jim Beam. They're similar enough to be recognizable, but with enough differences to not get in trouble if a brand doesn’t approve of how their product was used.

Because they aren’t restrained by sponsors and product placement, the show can give the characters their own drinking preferences instead of having them all drink the same brand with the clearly visible label conveniently turned towards the camera.

So I kept track of how many scenes each character drinks what. If they take a sip, if they’re holding a drink in their hand, if there’s a glass at their place at dinner, if they’re implied to be drinking that beverage, I counted it. But I wasn’t counting every individual drink, so if Buck’s at the bar and there’s multiple empty beer bottles and shot glasses in front of him, that counts as one (1) beer and (1) spirit. Champagne is grouped into the wine counts.

As of 7x10:

ATHENA Beer: 1 | Wine: 30 | Spirits: 4 | Cocktails: 4

Athena is a pretty regular drinker and was actually ahead of Buck until the end of s5. She usually drinks wine, but told Glen in Buck, Actually that she doesn’t know much about it. She often has a glass of wine with dinner or while she's relaxing in the evening, and seems to favor having one after a rough day. 

She’ll also go for something stronger, usually when she’s out at a bar. After she slapped Harry, she drank a neat whiskey at home. She’s added whiskey to her coffee twice—both times while Hen and Karen were over, never on her own.

The one time we've seen her have a beer was with Hen in Ocean's 9-1-1 while they were talking about the case.

When she’s spiraling and obsessively cleaning the entire house after realizing Hudson was in there touching their belongings, she was totally sober.

She and Bobby keep liquor in the house, but it’s out of sight in an overhead cupboard. There was a large wine rack under the kitchen counter since the pilot. She brought wine with her to Bobby’s apartment during s2.

BOBBY Beer: 0 | Wine: 0 | Spirits: 6 | Cocktails: 0 | Club Soda: 4

Obviously Bobby doesn’t drink, but when he did he tended to go for straight liquor.

In Step Nine, his father was drinking J&B scotch, which young Bobby also drank at the end of the episode. In the flashbacks in Point of Origin, he was drinking generic vodka from a bottle and a flask (there were also old beer bottles in his secret apartment). When he relapsed in Worst Day Ever, he was drinking a fake Jack Daniels. When he was struggling with relapsing in Starting Over, he was holding the prop brand of Glencallan scotch.

(It’s interesting that he chose a 35 year scotch in Starting Over, which is not cheap, when he previously drank Jack, which is about $25. I’m assuming they used it because they already had the prop bottle on hand, because Michael and Chimney have also had that exact same Glencallan scotch.)

Bobby has no problem being around alcohol or pouring wine for others. When he’s out with people who are drinking, he usually goes for club soda.

BUCK Beer: 28 | Wine: 16 | Spirits: 10 | Cocktails: 3

Buck drinks the most out of everyone by a wide margin, and he drinks pretty much anything.

He worked as a bartender, but he doesn’t seem to have much interest in alcohol beyond having a drink with other people. This makes me think he wanted to bartend for the social aspect of it, not because he particularly cares about alcohol or making cocktails.

He also doesn’t seem to care about the quality of what he drinks. Chimney’s go-to tequila is about $40-50, while Buck’s doing shots of bottom shelf tequila with Taylor and Hen, and drinking a full pint glass of watery margarita with Lucy.

The first time the Buckleys all have dinner together, Phillip has scotch and Buck has wine, but the second and third times, Buck opts for scotch with his dad. These are the only times we’ve seen him drink scotch, so I assume he did because his dad did.

The only time we’ve seen Buck drink alone was while he was depressed after the blood clot. There were a few empty beer bottles scattered around his kitchen when Eddie dragged him out of bed, and he was sitting with an empty beer bottle when Eddie and Chris came by after the tsunami.

He has a small wine rack on the kitchen counter that has a few bottles in it, and occasionally there’s a wine bottle grouped with the olive oil/other cooking bottles.

CHIMNEY Beer: 16 | Wine: 15 | Spirits: 5 | Cocktails: 0

Chimney drinks beer and wine equally, but if he’s drinking wine, it’s usually with Maddie. His go-to spirits appear to be tequila and scotch. Before Maddie moved into his apartment, he had a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on display (about $250) and in s6 they had a bottle of (fake) Glencallan scotch on their bar cart that he drank while their parents were in town. His go-to tequila is a fake Don Julio called Señor Suertes.

When he’s hanging out, he has a beer or two. When he’s misery-drinking, he has more than two, like when Albert first showed up or when he felt responsible for Shannon’s death.

When shit’s going down that he’s not directly involved in, like when the Buckleys were coming in s4 or when Karen thought Hen was cheating again, he goes for tequila.

But when things were really wrong, when Maddie first left and he was falling apart trying to figure out what happened to her, there was no evidence of him drinking at all. The entire apartment was covered in baby stuff. We only saw him drink again when he was with Eli and he knew Jee was being cared for.

In mid-s6 he and Maddie had a bar cart in the living/dining room of their house, but by the end of s6 it was replaced with Jee’s toys.

EDDIE Beer: 20 | Wine: 5 | Spirits: 3 | Cocktails: 1

Eddie generally sticks to beer, and so far, he’s the only main character who drinks the brand Rio Negro. His drink total isn’t the lowest (Maddie’s four behind him after not drinking for s4 and most of s5), but I think he drinks the least out of everyone who does drink. 

We’ve seen him drink wine a few times, but only red. The only white wine he’s had has been champagne with the group. He had a cognac or brandy at dinner with Shannon and a margarita on his date with Vanessa. He did shots during the bachelor party. But when he’s most comfortable and relaxed, having a drink with Buck or the team, he’s drinking beer.

We don’t see him drinking after a rough day unless he’s talking things through with Buck over a beer. The bachelor party is the only time we’ve seen him drink more than two beers in a night, let alone get drunk.

We’ve only seen him drink beer or wine at home and if he keeps anything stronger in the house, it’s kept out of sight. There was no visible alcohol kept in his house in Texas either.

HEN Beer: 10 | Wine: 16 | Spirits: 2 | Cocktails: 3

Hen is mostly seen drinking beer or wine. She drinks beer when she’s out at a bar or at Chimney’s, and usually wine when she’s at home or at Athena’s. She and Athena drank beer during their chats one time, after the bank heist, but otherwise it’s always wine. She can be swayed into drinking something stronger, like doing shots of tequila with Buck.

When she’s struggling with something, talking through a rough day, or a bad call with Karen, they’re usually drinking tea. Outside of wine chats with Athena, she rarely seems to drink alcohol when she’s upset.

Hen and Karen have a very full wine rack in their kitchen and they always serve it when they’re hosting a dinner. If anyone in the show goes to wine tastings, it would be them.

MADDIE Beer: 2 | Wine: 23 | Spirits: 0 | Cocktails: 0

Maddie almost exclusively drinks wine.

She first drinks a beer after dispatch was taken hostage, when both Chimney and Buck are also having beer (but Josh is having wine), and she has another beer at May’s graduation party.

She stops drinking with her pregnancy in s4 and doesn’t appear to drink at all during her struggle with PPD. It isn’t until the last episode of s5, when she’s feeling better and goes back to work, that she has a glass of wine with Buck on his balcony. She was back to drinking wine regularly in s6. 

(Her drink total is the lowest, just a few behind Eddie, but only because she didn’t drink for two full seasons. Without those specific circumstances, she normally drinks more than he does.)

In Buck’s coma dream where she’s still with Doug, every adult at the table has a glass of wine except her (and their father, who has a glass of scotch). It’s iffy since it’s in Buck’s head, but it could be based on her real behavior and she didn’t really drink during their marriage. 

In their house, she and Chimney have a small, full wine rack on the counter that includes a few bottles of champagne.

[stepmarchen]

okay i know that you said you're not the greatest history buff, but i realy wanted to know your take on the Safavid kingdom as a representation of a middle eastern community..? if you've read enough manhwas you probably have seen some stupid stereotypes and it realy sucks. god i feel like i'm bothering you asking this i mean we don't know much about safavid .. you don't have to answer this :D

of course! i'll try my best to speak about it! the floor is also open to anyone who has their own additions!

So. We all know that ASM borrows inspiration from existing territories and conflict from the 1700s all the way up to the late 1800s, right? Well get ready for this.

If we use this same research model, we'll come to find that the Safavid Dynasty also existed in Iran back in the 16th century. Which means we have a direct reference point we can compare the (manhwa) Safavid Kingdom to! (just remember to take it with a few grains of salt. We're dealing with 400+ years of history here!)

In my humble opinion (as someone who isn't part of the middle-eastern community btw), I feel like ASM does a pretty fair job at representing the middle east via Safavid/Pasha Family. The biggest hurdle just comes from the fact we haven't seen much of them yet.

The first thing I noticed was the architecture. During Halima's trip back home to Safavid we get to see ORKA's depiction of the Kingdom. As you can see below, the inspiration behind the Bahjat's Palace is pretty directly linked to the Meidan Emam in Isfahan, a royal mosque from the Safavid Era!

Unfortunately, the establishing shot of the city isn't as easy to compare, with the introduction of modern architecture. But if we look at Yazd, an untouched city in Iran, we can see the traces of inspiration with just a few minor discrepancies: minaret, domed mosques, earthen town houses.

We also get these small fleeting moments that really make the characters feel like they're from another country. For example, Nasir, Ali's escort can be seen wielding a curved sword as opposed to a European broadsword. Later, Nora mentions that it is a shamshir, a type of Persian scimitar.

even these small details really make for great world building. Honestly, I'd love to see these props make a comeback in future scenes. Like can you imagine seeing one of the rugs Ali brought in the Neuschwanstein Castle?

Now to finally get to the part you've probably been waiting for. The clothes.

Unfortunately, I'm not as well versed in royal fashion in the Middle East so I had a hard time identified the style of dress.

When we compare the real Shahs of the Safavid Dynasty, we'll see that their fashion of choice changed greatly over the course of the ruling. I couldn't pinpoint exactly who, when or which specific culture ORKA is referencing here. But we do see some elements from Tahmasp I (feathered turban, ornate belt, embroidered textiles). Please correct me if I've made any errors here. I'm totally not confident in my Middle Eastern fashion history.

But above all else, I really just enjoy how the Pasha family is written and designed. I think we've seen stereotypes in all forms of media where middle easterners are portrayed... not so well.

In ASM, they're just the Pashas. As a foreign kingdom, they pose a threat against the Empire, but they're not evil. The King seems to be as tired with Halima's bullshit as the Empress is with Theo. Even Nasir has his own occasional dialogue, exasperated by Ali's behavior. And if you've read the same comics I have, we're all too familiar with the "dangerous and stoic middle-easterner" stereotype.

IMO, we've seen "foreign" characters in manga/manhwa that are usually boiled down to one of three types: the socially insensitive clowns/perverts, the murderer, or the alien that somehow has white skin and hair. but I personally find it a breath of fresh air how ASM leans full into the concept of darker skinned characters with dark hair and actual rounded personalities.

This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach, but ORKA has one again reached it.

[hotxcheeto]

Hi!

I was wondering if you could write something with Ellie x fem reader where reader is like an actress/film director who's passionate about just filmmaking and acting in general, maybe her and Ellie met because they're jobs crossed over or maybe Ellie was a fan of reader or something.

━ 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) - Ellie Williams x Fem!Reader

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - Cursing, fluff, mention of crappy dating??,

𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 ? - Yeah/Nope/a lil

𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 - so sorry this took months, I'm so behind but I was going through some shit lmao, thank you for the rq!! <3 ALSO making these banners here and there cause I'm running out of good gifs and got a lot of good screen shots and photos.. :)

REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED AND NOTICED!

"Don't you understand, she was my daughter too.."

You muttered your lines to yourself as the artist did your makeup, brushing over your eyes as she captured an old timey look. Using so many reference photos that the entire table was filled when you walked in, giving you both something to talk about at first.

That was until a comfortable silence filled over, Mia having become a close friend of yours on set. You felt excited every morning to come and get done up for whatever scene you had as the duchess you played. Knowing she'd capture every dated detail on your skin.

But today your mind was filled with other thoughts than just the make-up. Stressed to all hell for the next few days, knowing you and the director needed to perfect both your acting and the shots that would make your performance come together.

And that was just it, you needed to be perfect.

"Nervous?" Mia asked with a smile, taking a hint from your shaky, silent nature, backing up to grab a different brush.

"Extremely." You responded with a light laugh, looking at yourself in the mirror. "You got this, you're being nominated for, not one, but multiple of the most prestigious awards in media. If anyone can pull off such an important scene, it's you. Especially with how pretty I'm making you everyday."

You nodded with a small smile, but still felt like you could pass out at any moment in time. Clutching onto the papers like they'd disappear while letting out a shaky sigh.

"I know, but-" "But you still act like you've never been in front of the camera every time they're ready for a big shellshock to be filmed. Mind you, the scenes start filming tomorrow, not today."

You winced at the very clear truth to her words.

"Too loud Mia." She laughed, continuing on with your makeup, ignoring the door opening to reveal your favorite stage manager, smiling too brightly for the fact that it was six in the morning.

"The painter is ready when you are, ready to be photographed Y/n?" You sighed in response, looking at the clock as Mia applied an old looking lip color to your mouth. "I'm ready to look like a renaissance portrait, that's for sure."

"She said she might need you for the sketch too, just to make sure she's got the best outline of you that matches, but other than that, you should be done quick and have some free time before shooting starts."

The stage manager spoke, looking down at the tablet in her hand while speaking. Mia pulling away to look at your face, turning your head lightly with her fingers.

"What's her name?" "Don't remember, all I know is that she's good and the directors favorite prop guy really likes her." Mia took the cover off your costume, allowing you to stand up in your long, olden style dress.

"Ready to be renaissanced?" You nodded, leaving the makeup trailer and telling Mia you'd see her later. Walking off towards one of the nearby buildings labeled for set creation and prop design.

The place was decked out too, even more so since the last time you'd come inside. Pieces from every time period hanging about complimented by posters on every wall. Familiar drawings and items from some scenes of your favorite shows displayed out to remind everyone that these people had made them.

They liked showing off their stuff where they could, most of the workspaces and offices a bit more boring depending on who you were talking to. But other than that, the entire building was the best on set.

"Miss Y/l/n?" An assistance appeared behind you, wearing pajama-like clothing making you wish you were them just because of how early it was. "That's me." "Right in here." They led you to an office room, though there was only a desk covered in papers and the walls lined with movie and TV art and décor.

The rest of the room had easels and different sized canvases against the walls and laid on the ground, tarps on the floor with paint covering every corner. Jars of different colors and paint brushes laid about on different carts and shelves.

"She had to leave but she should be back in a moment. She said though, you can sit there while you wait."

The person pointed at a stood that was set up across from an empty easel, a very dim light pointed at the stool.

"Alright, thank you." They nodded and left, closing the door behind them leaving you alone in the silence to admire the painters area.

Spaceships hung from the ceilings in one of the corners, little figurines and action figures on the walls and done up to look cool instead of just sitting there. But some were still in boxes making you wonder if she collected them or would eventually sell them. Judging by the room though, collector for sure.

You sat down with a racing mind, messing with your fingers while you waited. You liked the warmth the office brought, it was like a child's daydream and it made you smile.

This person definitely had an eye for the arts.

"Shit, I'm so sorry." A girl then stumbled in through the door, her black tank top covered in colors that were probably not there when she bought it, as well as her blue jeans and shoes.

Her grown out mullet pushed back from her face that only showed stress. Arms lined with paint and markings, some of it even looked like dry clay making you wonder what kind of things she'd made besides paintings.

"Fuck, I shouldn't cuss. Sorry." You laughed, finally catching her attention but not her eyes.

"I don't mind, everything alright?" "You know, it's early, people are tired, you might accidentally drop something. But a perfectly good fucking vase someone spent hours making should not be one of them."

You clenched your teeth, feeling familiar with her frustration while watching her grab a few things from her desk drawers.

"Yeah, I agree. But I've also broken bones this early in the morning, so, I should not be talking." The girl laughed, rummaging for something and then grabbing an expensive looking camera and opening the bottom of it.

"How long you been doing this?" "Uh, couple years now. Fresh out of college." She stood up turning around but not looking up. "Something that I liked besides playing video games." You giggled. "Same. But with acting and you know, the other stuff."

Finally she looked up, meeting your eyes and then seeing your smile. The morning sunrise reflecting off your irises and skin, making you glow more than you already were before the window had assisted you.

She found herself at a loss for words as you continued to talk.

"I'm Y/n, by the way, but I mean by slight chance you don't already know that. I do hate saying that though, makes me seem like I've got a big head."

The girl didn't respond for a moment, suddenly nodding and humming.

"Yeah, no, I know you. Dina- my friend- loves you. Big 'Walking Dead' fan." Ellie felt stupid in the moment, thinking you probably thought she was an idiot especially when you chuckled, covering your mouth lightly with your hand.

"Aw, that's sweet. Tell her I love her too." You winked, Ellie still struggling to speak. "Yeah, for sure. I'm Ellie by the way! Probably should've said that when I walked in."

Ellie whispered a few curses under her breath while switching the settings on the light, trying to avoid your stare that was still on her.

"Heard you were one of the best at creating stuff like this." "Really?" She choked, making you laugh with a shake of your head. "Yep. Inclined to agree, you seem cool and cool people are talented. Even if they don't know it."

"Thanks, just doing my job."

Face palm, Ellie, c'mon get it together.

"So, anything you need me to do?" Ellie stood back, hanging the camera strap around her neck while stepping in front of you.

"Just, turn this way." Her hands brushed your shoulders while you positioned yourself, noticing how close she was when she knelt down. Adjusting your limbs to look as perfect as possible.

"Chin up, like this." Her finger went under your chin making butterflies erupt in your stomach. You weren't going to lie to yourself, she was attractive, very attractive. Somewhere inside your head hoping to all that would listen that this wouldn't be your last time seeing her.

"Just like that." She muttered, making the nervousness you felt in the tense room even worse than it already was. "Better?" "Yeah, perfect."

Ellie then adjusted your outfit and look, backing up to make sure it was perfect.

To her, with the lighting, you already looked like a portrait.

"How do I look?" You questioned, eye flickering up to meet her green ones. "Good.. good, yeah." "I mean in terms of beauty on this Monday morning, c'mon. Am I just, 'good'?" Ellie froze up, grabbing her camera to distract herself.

"I guess you're pretty."

"Wow, I'm so getting your ass fired."

You both laughed, Ellie getting down to the level she wanted for the picture while aiming the camera at you.

"Just stay still." You heard the camera click a few times, wondering to yourself if she ever got sick of looking at some ones face for hours on end. She then stood up, looking down at the photos.

"Perfect, stay like that though, just wanna make sure I get the-"

"Outline?" "Yeah."

"Ever get sick of staring at the same picture?"

"Not if it's you."

It just slipped out, Ellie panicking as soon as it happened. Her face burning red while she grabbed the canvas she had set aside for your portrait. Swallowing hard when you breathed a laugh.

"I knew you thought I was more than just 'good'. Was that an attempt at a flirt? Because if so, it definitely landed."

"Good to know I've still got it." She picked up her pencil, smirking at you when you giggled, trying your best to keep your pose.

"What's it like being you?" Ellie then asked, beginning to draw the shape of your head. "Eh, not all it's chalked up to be. Scary sometimes. Awesome most times. Lonely.."

"All the time?" You shook your head slightly making your earrings move. "No. Dating fucking sucks though."

Ellie snorted, quickly following up with a quiet 'sorry' making you grin.

"Especially when you like girls, it's an even smaller pool of fish, maybe like a puddle." "Puddle o' fish?" "My favorite dating app."

You could hear the pencil against the white surface, going both quickly and precisely, her eyes moving to you and back to the work in progress.

You shifted just barely, eyes scanning over her desk once again, admiring her green rolling chair. It looked kind of like yours at home, the color just different, but the design all the same.

"I get it though, sometimes I even wonder if the light is too bright." You laughed to yourself, Ellie even chuckling at your words.

"I just don't like paparazzi because I know I look like shit on camera." Ellie then said, making you snort and barely cover your mouth before returning to your pose.

"I beg to differ." "Trust me, you wouldn't differ if you seen some of the photos my friends have." You giggled again, hearing her pencil moving slower now against the the sketch.

"They're idiots though." "Just like mine, my dorks are a hivemind of morons." Ellie nodded in agreeance, smiling. "What's it like being you?" You questioned, Ellie erasing something from the sketch.

"Eh, probably a slower life compared to yours. I get a lot of freedom. Get to do shit on my own time. I like making stuff, art." Looking around the room you realized a lot of the décor was her own, by her hand.

"I wish I could do that." "You do, in a different way." "How poetic, Ellie."

She wished she could hear her name pass your lips again and again. Something about the way you said it, like a sickeningly sweet hum.

Your eyes danced to the clock, noticing the time was becoming less and less, the sinking feeling of your departure creeping up your back.

"You gotta go?" Ellie asked, noticing your stare on the two hands pointing at their respective digits. "Not right this minute, but soon." "Might need you again."

No she wouldn't, not actually. But seeing you again was definitely on her bucket list.

"If I'm not on set, I'm available. Usually. For you though, I'll make time." You joked, copying her flirtatious nature from before. "Fuck me." She whispered with reddened cheeks, unheard by you, or at least she hoped.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to hunt you down." "Is that a promise?" Ellie felt like a school girl talking to her first crush, hoping the canvas hid her face well enough. "You bet it is."

You glanced at the time again, more minutes having passed.

"Times up Michelangelo. The camera needs me." Ellie felt a pang of disappointment, finishing up the near perfect outline of your upper half. "Alright, alright. I'm done with you, for now."

"Make me look pretty, 'kay?" "Can't fix what's not broken."

You picked up the bottom of your dress with a grin, standing up from the stool. Dusting off the long skirt as if anything had gotten on it.

"See you later?" You practically asked, walking towards the door with little happiness. "Door's always open."

"I'll take that as a yes, I'll be back to check on the painting."

"I'm counting on it." "Better be."

A/n: Argh ( in pirate )

[thelampisaflashlight]

Keep It Brief

[Something, something, Mountain really likes Dew's outfit. Mentions of seasonal weight gain, but that in and of itself is not sexualized, fairly neutral on that front. Not suitable for younger audiences.] Below the cut.

Maybe it's the way Dew is dressed; Is it the baggy t-shirt that barely covers his ass, which is hardly hidden by the black briefs he has on to begin with, or maybe it's the socks that come to his mid-calf and draw Mountain's attention to the long, pale expanse of his bare legs, who can say really?

Either way, there's something about the... casualness of his current outfit and the fact that Mountain knows Dew would tug his pants on if anyone else were here that has him staring, without shame, at the subtle squish of the hybrid's flesh where the elastic squeezes around his ass.

Normally, when Mountain wanders over to Dew's side of their shared dorm, the other at least throws on gym shorts or has boxers on, which don't quite have the same effect on him as these briefs do.

They're not even particularly nice looking; Simple black cotton, no designs or lace, but they do look comfortable.

Look soft.

Dew is all lean muscle, so even relaxed as he is, his body doesn't hold much softness to it, though parts of him have rounded out a little since the weather began to cool.

People often exerted themselves more in winter without realizing it, and Dew was no exception, so, of course, he ate more, both to make up for lost energy and because of the holidays, so, although almost unnoticeable to most, Mountain, who spent almost every day -and night- around the other, had taken notice of this change.

Not that he'd bring it up, there was nothing wrong with Dew gaining a little weight, but even if Mountain said something in a complimentary manner, he's not entirely sure how he'd take such a comment; Dew has always been at odds with his body, and Mountain wasn't about to give him something else to focus on, good or bad, because the chances of him becoming obsessive over it were high.

Really, Mountain thinks, it's best to stick to baser thoughts on the matter... namely the fact that Dew was currently having to adjust his briefs and giving the earth ghoul the smallest glimpse of his butt in doing so.

Now that looked soft.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, big guy?" Dew asks, breaking Mountain's concentration on the slight crease between his cheeks and thighs.

Mountain hums, propping himself up on Dew's bed, where he's been laying on his belly since coming over to this side of the room, feeling the bedframe protest with a metallic squeak as he rests his chin on his palm.

"Clothes." he replies, then adds, "Laundry?"

Dew casts his gaze over to the small pile of clothes in the corner of his room, "Ugh, yeah, I gotta do that later... It's such a pain in the ass-"

As Dew rants about the intricacies of doing laundry, from, "If you do it too soon, you wind up with dirty clothes still!" to, "And don't get me started on the detergent pods-" Mountain watches the hem of his shirt rise and fall, flashing his underwear with every other word.

"And-" Dew pauses and Mountain blinks up at him, "...Mount..."

"...Yyyyessss?" He responds meekly, face flushing as Dew descends upon the bed, crossing one bare thigh over another.

"...Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" he asks again, tongue licking over pink lips...

.

.

.

"Oh, wow, Dew has you doing his laundry, too?" Swiss pats Mountain's back sympathetically, watching the taller man crouch down to toss clearly too small shirts into the dryer, "Poor guy, you can't catch a break with that guy for a roommate, huh?"

Mountain hums, squeezing a bit of excess moisture out of the delicate briefs he pulls out of the washer next, "...Certain hardships are easier to live with I'd say."

Swiss can only stare in confusion as Mountain clicks the dryer shut, briefs still in hand.

"Huh."

[ameiniateria]

@sixteenth-day-event

Prompts: twisting the knife + a silent grave

(fic under the cut)

Sam is dead.

His corpse is propped up stiffly against the black wall, on the other side of the lava dividing them both. On one side, the prisoner, screaming and begging and bleeding out for the entertainment of a man with a gold toothed grin and a seemingly infinite amount of silky white dress shirts. On the other, his warden, not listening.

There's a knife stuck in his side as he lies there on his back with Quackity on top of him. His own sobs fall into background noise, mere set-dressing. The lava swirls and bubbles before him. Sam is on the other side. Suddenly that's all he can think about. Sam is on the other side, dead.

The warden's skin is pale and gray – he hasn't seen the sun in months, stalks the prison as a ghost does a haunted house – and his eye sockets are deep and dark as night. His hair is falling out. When he touches Dream, his hands are cold.

He never does anything at all.

"Who's gonna stop me?" Quackity taunts – twists the knife in one brutal jerk that rips a scream from Dream's hoarse throat. A tear rolls down his face. He can't breathe, for – "Who's gonna fucking stop me?"

The only man who could stop this monster of both of their creation is dead in the other room.

How long, Dream asks – the gods above, his own fate, whatever vague and unknowable thing men pray to when they can't think for themselves, when they are at their most hopeless and lost – will it take for this accursed cell to become his coffin as well?

It's not a question he would ever think, once. Back then in the sunlight, he had designed the prison as a safe harbor from the tumultuous, crashing waves of ever-present fear, the sea air clogging his lungs. He was desperate. It was his oasis, his escape route. His island of Calypso. The only place he could be safe – Sam wouldn't let anyone kill him. He had bet his life on that certainty.

The Sam he knew is dead on the other side of a wall of lava. Dream might be dead as well, or just barely clinging to the life that poured out of him with every slash of a blade or snap of rope against his skin. Every condescending sigh, every slap or hunger pang, or lies, a gentler form of torment that were crueler because of their subtlety. Unspeakable things had happened to him in that cell – and yet, he still lived?

No. He must be a ghost.

How many times had he thrown himself carelessly into lava? How many times had he passed out, bleeding profusely on the obsidian floor? How many times had he been told he should be dead?

He didn't remember much, now. He could have easily given up the Revival Book in some agonized, delirious haze. He would've died – he would no longer have been useful alive. He could no longer predict what Sam would or wouldn't do.

"You know how to make all of this stop, Dream."

Dream is silent.

He knows the game by now. He knows the lines, repeated over and over until they whisper in his ears even when he's completely alone. He knows they're just playacting. There is no paradise waiting for him. If Quackity gets his hands on the Book, then Dream will truly be dead, deader than he is already. He will go to Limbo. And he will never escape. Punz will not save him. Dream can't trust anyone. He can't trust even his oldest friends – did Sapnap not threaten to kill him? Has George ever even visited him, blessed Dream with some kinder presence? No. Everyone hates him, for he is a monster, the minotaur captured in a labyrinth of his own design –

Or perhaps this is already his limbo. He can't imagine a fate worse than this. It would be fitting, for his personal hell to be so like his living existence that he couldn't tell the difference between them.

He hates himself, too, in this cell. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, not even Sam who had seen so many of his vulnerable places. He hates the undead thing he is. He hates how dreamlike everything is – he's stopped even trying to count the days; he did, once, but then Sam started skipping meals, and Quackity started coming twice in one day every once in a while, and he didn't have a clock by then anyway. He lost count. Time died with him. But then, he spent both his days and nights screaming and bleeding and passed out on the floor, and there was nothing to look forward to, until the day that someone came to let him out and that he couldn't do anything about. What was the point of counting, anyway?

He hates that he's given up.

Sometimes, he puts his fingertips to his neck, just to feel his heart beating. He sleeps with one hand pressed to his chest to feel his breath rising and falling with each breath. He screams just to feel the vibrations in his throat. All of it could just be another lie – some charade made up by his subconscious mind to torture him further. Funny, that the man once best known by others for his mask and his web of lies and manipulations is now completely trapped by the lies of everyone around him. He's helpless, here. He knows nothing.

"You deserve this, you know that? You fucking deserve this."

He's lying.

"That's the only reason I'm here. Because you need to be fucking punished, Dream. You need someone to put you in your place."

He's lying.

But when he finally leaves, Dream doesn't complain to Sam. He doesn't say anything at all. He lays there, a silent body in a silent grave.

Sam's hands are as stiff and cold as ice despite the lava just behind him. You're not dead until you're warm and dead. Dream clings to that hope - that it's just the cold around them that has paralyzed them both. Someday they might see the warmth of the sun again, and then they could be friends again. The world could be perfect again.

Sam's breath smells like formaldehyde.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Agitation 3.10 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

It's July 4th, work is dead, I've got nothing else to do, let's try to plow through a bunch of these, shall we? At the rate I've been going I'll be at this all year.

The rest of the battlefield was chaos.  Patches of darkness covered everything, and the landscape was distorted.  In some of the areas Vista had warped, the rain wasn’t falling in a straight line.  One spot in particular had the rain moving horizontally before it dropped to help fill a massive puddle thirty feet across, where her power had made an indent in the ground.

I do like Wildow's attention to detail here, and the way these powers just... absolutely fuck everything up like this, and stay like that.

Bitch screamed, and it was a long and primal noise, filled with rage.  I was still inside the bank, watching things unfold through the window, barely able to hear it, and it still made my skin crawl.  So he’d shot the dangerous psychopath with a blast that made her angry.  Someone would have to explain that one to me at a later date.

I'd guess Gallant didn't shoot her with rage, it's just that Rachel's kind of messed up. But I could be wrong.

Seems an odd choice though, if he did.

Apparently that was order enough, because Judas charged at the teenager that was dressed like a science fiction Lancelot.

I love descriptions like this because they both tell us absolutely nothing about how it looks... and also tell us everything. I once read a fic that described the armor of a guy from a culture that went from medieval tech to space travel in like, 100 years (sorta, long story) as being 'Lord of the Rings, with Sci-Fi bolted on' (the POV character was from Earth), and it both told us nothing, and yet, told us everything.

Descriptions are hard, ya'll. Worst part of writing. Props to Wildbow.

Was someone’s power at work, giving me a headache?  There wasn’t anyone in the Wards, I was pretty sure, who could mess with your head like that.  Gallant could mess with your emotions, but he had to hit you with a light blast to do it.  The person on the roof, then?  I was fairly confident there wasn’t anyone in the Protectorate or New Wave who could affect me like this.

No one suspects the healer!

(also no one knows the healer can do this, but)

.  A gun, no less than fifteen feet long, with a barrel three or four feet across, all turret mounted on a circular platform not unlike the board he was riding.

I know technically there is no overkill, just "Open fire" and "I need to reload" but also...

Overkill.

I jumped for cover the moment I realized what he was doing.  There was a muffled sound, more a very large person someone hitting a punching bag than what I’d expect a laser cannon to sound like, and the window exploded. What was he doing?  We had hostages inside.  I turned to check, and saw there weren’t any hostages near me.  Did he know that?  Heat sensors in his visor?  Was someone watching me through the cameras and passing him info?  Damn it!  There was too much I didn’t know, and Tattletale wasn’t around to fill me in.

You know, if Kid Win and Victoria were dating, he could be the Collateral Damage Ken to her Collateral Damage Barbie.

But JESUS Kid, what the fuck?

(Yes, CDB is an incomplete representation of Vicky, but she does earn the nickname fairly at the early stages. I'm also going to assume it's an unfair representation of Kid Win, but still, *Man* wtf?)

The bugs were slow to react, slow to move and some were slipping from my grasp, returning to their instinctive behavior.  Making matters worse, I wasn’t blind to the fact that every time I gave a command, my headache got exponentially worse.

Given that Amy's little messing with the Black Widows only affected them, I'm surprised? Or is this just some sort of Master headache? Is she doing more with the swarm than usual?

 Aegis didn’t try to run this time.  He stood his ground and reached for his utility belt.  He retrieved something that looked like a miniature fire extinguisher. Then he pulled the pin. For the second time in a matter of minutes, I dove away from the window.  It wouldn’t be a grenade, but the option that made the most sense-  I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears just in time.  The explosion the flashbang grenade

Flashbang. Much more responsible, Aegis usually is in fic, so presumably in canon too. Tracks.

and Regent was striding out of the darkness, in Kid Win’s direction.

With his outfit and mask that actually probably looks kinda badass.

I whirled to face the voice, and saw the freckled, brown haired hostage that had been glaring at me when we’d first taken control of the bank lobby.  After that, I saw only stars as she slammed something large and blunt into the side of my head.

AMY! :rofl: Finally!

Okay, so like, I get that Amy's not the MC of Worm, but like, I've been waiting for the Fire Extinguisher smash the entire time I've been reading this Arc, so bear with me.

Amy's blorbo, okay?

[zims-left-antenna]

I was gonna write an essay about how invader zim is kinda helping me cope with my whole school experience by letting the weird kids be the protagonists and seeing everything from their perspectives, especially the pov of an alien. but then it got so messy and I couldn't bother myself to make it make sense by researching a bit more and stuff. so I'm gonna try to put it as short as I can (spoiler, it's not short)

(btw I'm using the "weird kid" term broadly. I'm including ppl who, personally, don't find a reason why they're "weird" to most ppl, and yet they are)

I love how gaz, dib and zim, aka the main cast, are weird kids in different ways and that we see the show from their perspectives, especially from an alien pov. that alone shows that there's more than one way of being weird, strange, or whatever.

I really like the use of an alien for being the odd one out in a group. no matter how said alien tries to fit in, he can't. sure, nobody cares that he's an alien, but they still stay far because of his off-putting behaviour. thus, he's not exactly blending in.

also it's worth mentioning that gaz is the only girl in tv that I have seen being grumpy 24/7, gamer and with no friends. bonus, she dresses like she just found out about goths.

I mean, girls in media don't have to check all those characteristics, but it's still rare to find characters like her, especially grumpy ones. so, props to jhonen for his contribution.

and then there's dib. man.

no one understands his interests that also are niche in his circle. he's loud, dramatic, takes said interests a little too seriously than anyone else would, socially isolated\excluded (like zim and gaz). and also, isn't even trying to blend in with everyone else. he's being unapologetically himself (for better and for worse) and STANDS out a lot bcuz of it. he draws a lot of negative attention to the point of being bullied, and altho it hurts, he still won't change.

I don't know, I'm just rambling a lot and cant seem to put all this in a short and coherent text, but this show can sometimes represent the weird kid experience in a way that isn't so sad (except in a few occasions) and can make me feel seen, even if the characters are so cartoonishly exaggerated

sorry this is all over the place lol

[ciaossu-imagines]

Imagine Anna wanting to go trick-or-treating with everyone else. How do you think they would react to the idea and how do you think everyone would dress up?

Oh, this is such a cute ask! Thanks so much for sending it in and I hope you'll enjoy the headcanons!

Okay, but I can definitely see this being a thing. I don't really think Halloween is celebrated in the same way in Japan but we're going to set aside cultural differences for this ask and use more Western standards of Halloween, like trick or treating so please don't come for me haha.

Now, Anna has obviously never been trick or treating in her life, given her past and then coming to HOMRA, where trick or treating takes second place to drinking and partying on Halloween. So when she hears about the custom, it really intrigues her and she does kind of want to do it. It takes her a couple of weeks though to really get her mind made up enough and to feel confident enough to go and tell someone how much she wants to try it out.

Of course, everyone is kind of supportive of Anna getting to experience it and they'll all kind of help in their own ways. Izumo does have to stay at the bar, or so he declares, so he offers to help Anna shop for her costume but does beg out of actually taking her out. Both him and Totsuka (I'll setting this before he dies, for once) agree that Mikoto is too intimidating to take Anna out trick or treating…he'd scare everyone answering the door and there's worries Anna would end up with no candy and a less than ideal Halloween experience so it's decided he'll stay at the bar with Kusanagi, something Mikoto isn't exactly fighting against.

However, it is Halloween night, there's a lot of mischief and parties and just tomfoolery going on and there's some worry that, while everyone knows Totsuka is more than capable, maybe it's not the best idea that just the two of them goes. So Kusanagi voluntells everyone else in the main part of the HOMRA gang to take her out and also voluntells them that they're getting dressed up to do so, to make Anna's Halloween the best it can be.

There is a lot of fighting around this and some members might not have walked out of that fighting without some new bumps and scrapes.

Totsuka is all in though. He helps shop for Anna's costume and she goes as a princess, because she is the princess of HOMRA, and they spend far too much to get her the absolute top of the line princess costume…she demands they buy her a prop sword as well though because she wants to be a warrior princess.

Totsuka himself goes as a zombie and he had actually gone through a spell where he got really into special effects makeup and prosthetics so he's actually really excited to whip those skills back out. He looks surprisingly horrifying and he has fun helping out anyone else who needs him with their costumes. Totsuka still would have come as a zombie even if this had been set post death because I have a warped sense of humour.

Shouhei doesn't really fight the idea much. If they take Anna out early enough, he's more than okay with it. In fact, he's a little excited to be able to go out trick or treating again, because he was definitely one of those people who trick or treated until they started getting refused candy for being too old. He's even okay with dressing up because he was going to dress up for a Halloween party he was going to later on that night anyway. He just makes it very clear that he has to leave by a certain time…there's about three or four parties he's already agreed to make an appearance at so it's going to be a busy night for him. He had planned on just dressing up like a 50's greaser or a biker, but he lets Anna choose his costume for him and she dresses him as a pirate. He's not honestly all that disappointed as it's a pretty sweet costume.

Bandou, on the other hand? He was definitely one of the people who fought the decision. He's way too old to be out trick or treating, even just taking someone else out trick or treating, and the very idea embarrasses him. Besides, there's this online game he plays that has this huge event going on just on Halloween night and he can't miss out on all that special, one of a kind loot and skins and such. He's scowling until he starts getting free candy and then all of a sudden warms up to the occassion. He claims to be dressed up as a 'rapper' but honestly, he's just wearing his normal clothes with the only addition being the gaudiest, biggest, flashiest chains he could find.

Chitose had to be dragged along, and was the one who fought it the hardest. Do you know how many slutty nurses and Halloween cat costumes he's missing doing this?? He dresses as a 'serial killer', which is just his normal clothes and a big ass (supposedly fake) knife because all serial killers pretty much look like normal people. Or at least that's his excuse. It surprises no one when only a couple blocks in, they take Anna up to the door and come back to find Chitose has just kind of disappeared.

Dewa is the only one to actually win the fight to not go…and it's only because his excuse of having a shift at his part time job that night was proven to be legit when Kusanagi checked it out. He pretends to be very sad he'll miss the occasion and says he wishes he could be there to see Anna enjoy her Halloween…word he regrets as Totsuka took him seriously and sends him pictures and videos throughout the night. Most of the other boys follow Totsuka's lead, some out of pure spite for Dewa's 'good luck', and Dewa is driven half crazy until he just turns off his phone.

Eric has never experienced trick or treating or really Halloween in general so he's a little confused at first. It becomes the goal of certain members to make sure that, since this is Eric and Anna's first Halloween experience, it be the most amazing one for the both of them. He gets bought a knight costume and happily plays Anna's knight for the evening and is surprised by just how many houses insist on giving him candy too despite him not being a little kid. All in all, he has a lot more fun than his complaining and swearing lets on.

Fujishima really didn't care one way or another. I headcanon him as having younger neighbours that he got asked to take out trick-or-treating once he reached middle school and stopped going out himself so this is kind of routine and common for him. He dresses up like a dog. Legit, he wears a full on mascot suit that is definitely not a fursuit (if he was to have a fursona, it would not be a dog, thank you very much). He makes sure to say thank you to everyone who gives him candy and makes sure the others do as well.

Yata pretended to hate the order to take Anna out but honestly, he's a little excited to go trick-or-treating again. Plus he gets to play protector for Anna for the evening as Kusanagi and Totsuka point out to him and he feels very proud to be trusted that much with Homra's princess. He puts a lot of work into his costume, choosing to go as Tony Hawk…nobody gets it and he gets the least amount of candy behind Chitose and Bandou.

Kamamoto is so in. Everyone deserves a night of free candy when they're young. He has so many fond memories of trick or treating himself and he definitely does everything he can to make the night the best. He's also the only one to think to bring along extra pillowcases so that they all can continue to trick or treat after their buckets get full. Due to all the community connections he has, he also kind of snoops out ahead of time which neighbourhoods are going to be giving out the best candy and makes sure that Anna gets to hit all of those. He doesn't really go overboard on his costume - there's not a lot of options for plus size male costumes honestly, and he just kind of cobbles together a hobo outfit for Halloween.

[blushinggray]

change of plans: part 8

sero hanta x fem!reader

part 8/? (part 7 | part 1)

The holiday party

cw // fluff, partying, slight shenanigans, exes popping up, a lil drama, lots of mistletoe

—

Yaoyorozu's house is massive.

Like, not just a big three story with four full size bathrooms and twice as many bedrooms. Her family's estate takes up the entire block and then some because of that long ass driveway to the actual mansion from the front gate. Anyone who didn't have a car to drive her probably had to take a taxi from the nearest station.

And while only the ground floor is being used for the party, it's still big enough to host a ton of festivities. You had assumed there'd be a bunch of people, but not a third of the student population...

Most of the partygoers are scattered about the huge dining hall, where the long dining table has a ton of food and desserts laid out on one side of the room to make room for people to dance. Jirou is atop an elevated platform with her turntable on one end of the hall, DJing for the night. And there's a bar for drinks set up on the other end.

But just outside of the dining hall, the main foyer is just as bustling, decked out with a huge Christmas tree for newcomers to gawk at when they enter the building. And for loiterers to just hang about before they switch around to the other rooms. Yaoyorozu has taken it upon herself to set up a ton of different recreation centers within the different available rooms.

So far, you've seen typical bar and party games like pool tables, dart boards, beer pong, and board games. You've also seen rooms with DDR mats, video game consoles, and VR headsets set up for use. You could also hear people belting out to karaoke from a couple different rooms. One room had a photo area setup with a bunch of holiday accessories and props for friends to take pictures together. There was even a room just covered up in chalkboard walls for people to play picture/word games or let out their inner artist.

The whole house is decked out in winter holiday decor, and at least half of the attendees are dressed for the occasion as well. Jirou is spinning a few Christmas remixes into her set, some of the drinks are decorated with mini candy canes, and there's mistletoe hung in so many strategic places. You've already seen a dozen mistletoe kisses exchanged in good spirits.

Someone has actually taken it upon themselves to walk around with a mistletoe dangling from a stick and string, feeding people shots and playing Christmas cupid. Apparently his name is Tetsutetsu, from the engineering department or something. And he shows up out of nowhere with his mistletoe fishing rod, cheering to announce his presence around the chosen couple before he pours shots straight from a liquor bottle (with a pour spout, at least) into their mouths and waits for them to exchange a kiss.

It's all in good fun though, and he certainly livens up the room whenever he shows up. A few of your friends have already gotten caught by the Tetsutetsu mistletoe and ended up kissing friends and strangers alike.

Everything is beyond your imagination and fathomability for a college party. You suppose you should consider yourself lucky to be some part of one of Yaoyorozu's extended friend groups. The girl herself has been busy hosting, talking to newcomers and acquaintances, letting everyone know what they're free to enjoy, and managing the manor staff to keep everything running smoothly.

You've been enjoying yourself, talking to close friends and running into old ones, as well as acquaintances and meeting new ones, dancing for a few songs, drinking a few cocktails, participating in a game or activity every so often, and getting caught for a mistletoe kiss yourself once or twice (which you usually oblige with a kiss on the cheek). But you've been keeping an eye out for someone most of the evening so far. Someone that you've been waiting to talk to almost two weeks now.

While you haven't run into Sero in person since that surprise call where he confessed that he liked you ("like, a lot"), you've kept up some contact through texting and the occasional call at night. Both of you had been rather busy with your finals, much like everyone else, so maybe it was only a couple times a day, but you both agreed you'd talk more in person. Which, on top of finishing finals, has made this party that much more worth waiting for.

Every time he'd be on the phone with you or you sent him a cute photo to help "motivate" him (per his request), he'd groan about how he couldn't wait to see you at this party. So you're kind of wondering what's keeping him. You haven't seen him around yet, though you've run into one or two of his main buddies.

But you figure the night is still young. The two of you are sure to run into one another at some point tonight, right? You're still free to enjoy yourself without him for now. You've got plenty of things to celebrate, after all.

You and your friends are all free from the torture of the semester and you all look cute as heck tonight, so you bring them over to get some photos taken. Then you spend some time playing pictionary in the chalkboard room. People shuffle around groups as you get drinks, migrate through rooms, get new drinks, revisit the dance floor, refill your drinks, take bathroom breaks, and cheer whenever Tetsutetsu and his mistletoe show up into the room.

By the time you stumble into one of the karaoke rooms to find Ashido and a few other familiar faces, you are pretty sloshed. You squeal when you see her and open your arms out for a hug, which she squeals and returns in equal excitement.

"Girl! Oh my god, you look so cute!" she gushes, "I love the beret!!"

"Thank you!" You chuckle, offering a pose.

Your outfit is pretty simple, but perfectly festive for the holiday theme, you'd say. You tucked a loose, slightly fuzzy, white sweater into a red pleated skirt, with some black tights and lace up boots to protect yourself from the cold outside. And you added a long necklace and a white beret just to do it up a bit, tying it all together with a small red bag that you've been carrying on one shoulder.

You compliment Ashido's and the other girls' outfits too, everyone exchanging store names and tips as someone belts out to Mariah Carey in the background. All of you chat for a few minutes before the song some of the girls had queued up starts playing on the machine, so you all run up to crowd the TV and starting singing and dancing along, whether you grabbed a mic or not.

Soon after, you're going up with your friends to choose another song from the menu tablet when you feel a tap on your shoulder, "[Name]?"

Your heart immediately spikes in your chest in excitement, hope, and nervousness at the sound of the male voice. But it's only when you turn around that you realize that it wasn't the voice of the person you were expecting (waiting for all night).

It is, however, a familiar and friendly face. One that you recognize from high school, actually.

"Kosei!" you shriek, immediately coming forward to give him a hug, "Hey! How's it going?"

"Good, good. Really good now that finals are over." Tsuburaba chuckles as he gives you a few friendly pats before letting you go, "How about you?"

The two of you go back and forth for a bit, but there's a small ball of nerves starting to form in your stomach. Tsuburaba is a friend; not a particularly close one, but a friend nonetheless. But... if he's here, then there's a pretty high chance that someone else is nearby...

"Oh yeah, and uh..." he transitions sheepishly, pointing to his friends behind him who are chatting with your crowd of friends, "Actually, Sen's here tonight, too. I hope that's not... too weird, or whatever."

Dammit. Just as you thought.

Among the other engineering guys who've appeared in the room, you recognize Awase, Shoda, Bondo, and... of course, Tsuburaba's best friend and the source of all your trust issues, Kaibara.

The start of your fuckboy allergy and the very guy you were so hung up on freshman year. A guy whom you haven't heard from since, actually. But you've since gotten over the whole thing. So the time away should have left no residual feelings to stir up.

None.

"No, it shouldn't be too weird." You say to reassure your friend, as well as yourself, "It's a party. Everyone should be celebrating."

"Okay." Tsuburaba gives you a thoughtful look, but nods anyway. Then he turns over to look at his friend, as if giving him some sort of signal, because Kaibara excuses himself from the group and starts walking up to you two.

Which is fine. Because there are no residual feelings.

"Hey, [Name]." He smiles.

But fuck, does he look good tonight.

You want to hit yourself across the face for letting your eyes linger on how tightly his shirt clings to his waist beneath his open jacket. And his face... fuck, you hate how he has a face that's so hard to turn away from or say no to.

"Hey." You try to politely smile back, pointedly ignoring how fucking awkward this is.

"You look great, by the way." He compliments, giving you a quick once over, "Really like the beret."

"Thanks..." You try not to look too into anything he says, "How's uh... How's everything going? How's Spiral?"

God, why. Why are you bringing up his fucking cat like it's any of your business?? Or exposing the fact that you remember his cat at all??

"He's good. As demanding as ever. He misses you though." He chuckles.

"Yeah, I bet. Since I would actually bother to pet him." You find yourself joking.

"Hey, I pet him!" Kaibara defends, "Everyone pets him. Even Tsubu here. He just doesn't like us as much."

"I wonder why." You tease.

You banter back and forth like this for a bit more, until Ashido appears at your side, wrapping and arm around your waist and speaking rather loudly, "Heyyyy, guys. [Name], what're ya doing? Weren't cha gonna pick a song with us?"

"Oh, right." You recall, following her as she excuses the two of you from the guys on your behalf.

"What the heck are doing, talking to your ex like that??" She whispers aggressively as she leads you both towards the touch pad attached to a holder on the wall.

"He's not technically my ex." You whisper back huffily, rolling your eyes, "We were never 'officially' together."

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be letting him sweet talk you with that pretty face of his!" She reminds you, "I don't wanna hear you singing 'Last Christmas' for three months after the holidays again!"

"I'm not!" You defend, scrolling through your options and trying to read them with your slightly blurred vision. You and Ashido go off tangent for a bit to actually pick a song and queue it up before you get back to the subject at hand, "And for the record, I was just trying to be civil. I’m still friends with Kosei."

"Fine. But I'm gonna keep my eye out for the two of you tonight." She declares, which you kind of appreciate. "Plus, don't you and Sero have something going on anyway?"

You let out of a deep sigh after you both step away from the tablet and refill your cups with some lemon water from the dispenser in the room, "Yeah... I uh... We were gonna have a talk about that tonight. But I still haven't seen him yet, and he hasn't texted me all night, so I don't know when it's actually happening."

"Are you serious?" Ashido's eyes widen, immediately pulling out her phone, "Where is that idiot?! I'm going to call his ass right the fuck now."

"No— Mina! Stop that." You push her phone and hands down to intercept her, "If he really wants to, then he'll find me himself. I need... I need to know if he really means it when he tells me something."

You must be thinking out loud now, because you hadn't actually processed that thought before it was already out of your mouth. Your filter isn't working so well at the moment. But you do need to know if he's really serious about all this.

You've been waiting all night to see him, and he still hasn't showed. You'd be disappointed if you found out he wasn't as excited to talk to you as he let on, but you would be devastated if you found out he spent the whole evening having fun with or flirting with someone else. Even if he was busy with friends, you had hoped that he would make some time for you this evening. But you haven't gotten so much as a 'where you at?' text. You don't really enjoy this feeling.

Luckily, Ashido relents with a sigh and leads you back to the TV to help distract you through a few rambunctious renditions of pop and Christmas songs with the others. And it works for the most part, even as you begin to sober up with all the singing and dancing.

However, you're suddenly face to face with a curveball when you see that Kaibara is still here and appears next to you when you're choosing another song.

"Can I sing one with you?" He asks, giving you that smile that you can't say no to.

"With me?" You chuckle, "I don't recall you being much of a singer."

"Ouch." He says jokingly.

"No— I meant, like, you're not usually one to pick up the mic at karaoke." You rephrase, though you don't know why you feel the need to spare his feelings.

"That's true, I'm usually not." he admits, "But you guys looked like you were having so much fun, so I figured I'd give it a go, too."

"Then why didn't you ask Kosei or one of the others? I'm sure their music taste is probably closer to yours than mine."

"I don't think our collective music taste really fits the vibe for a party like this," he chuckles as he steps a little closer to you, tapping through the tablet to browse through the music options. Suddenly, you're reminded of how tall he is, yet still the perfect height to leave a kiss on the forehe—

"You still like Hawks, don't you?" He asks, bringing you out of your intrusive thoughts and memories.

You immediately groan at the mention of one of your favorite producers/artists, looking up at Kaibara with a helpless expression, "You know I do..."

He chuckles with that pretty smile of his before looking up Hawks in the artists catalogue, "Let's sing one of his songs together then."

So that's how you find yourself standing beside Kaibara in front of the TV ten minutes later, singing a rather smooth duet and getting caught up in the fun of the song. While Kaibara doesn't go all out like you and your other drunk friends do, he easily takes your hand to spin you around and rock to your rhythm. Enough to get a little closer than necessary for two people with clear history between them.

And you're reluctant to admit it, but you're having a pretty good time.

While his trap is pretty clear to see — the flirty banter, choosing one of your favorite artists and songs, the smoky eyes he's been giving you as he sings with you — and you are still a bit tipsy to be in your right mind, you're enjoying yourself. It's easy to guess what he wants, but it's not so bad feeling wanted. Even if it's not seriously, or by the person you had been hoping for most of the evening.

It kind of reminds you of all the fun times you had with him before shit started to crumble. He's still the same hot, fun, charismatic guy he once was. He still even wants the exact same things — a good time without any pressures. But all that just goes to show how good of a time he's always given you.

All of the excitement and fun and drunkenness kind of build up like a snowball rolling down a mountain, and lead to a bit of a lapse in judgement when you see and hear Tetsutetsu — the Mistletoe Man — bounce into the room, cheering and stirring up a commotion until he hangs his mistletoe fishing line over you and Kaibara in the middle of your song.

"Oh my god." Your voice is drowned out as Tetsutetsu hypes everyone up in the room and holds his liquor bottle out to you both.

Kaibara happily leans down and opens his mouth for the shot, and Tetsutetsu pours in a generous amount, clapping his back heartily and shouting with a big smile, "Kaibara! My man!"

It only just occurs to you that they're both in the engineering department, which must be how they know each other. And possibly why you were targeted. But the loud newcomer is already turning to you so you don't have time to dwell on it, "How 'bout a shot for you, sweetie?" He holds up the bottle for you.

You shake your head with a roll of your eyes before graciously bending your knees and opening your mouth for the shot. There are cheers as you taste the harsh flavor of tequila and struggle to swallow it down without making a face.

And when you stand upright again, you're met with your next task/obstacle. Meeting Kaibara's eyes is like looking down an ocean cliff, filled with thrill and nerves and fear of consequences. But then he gives you that pretty smile and a cute shrug and you suddenly see a short window where the tide will help cushion your fall.

You kind of want to. You admit, you do kind of want to dive back in, just to see if you can still swim in those warm eyes and big hands. But at the same time, you know better than that. You know better than to dive into shallow waters. Even wading through a tipsy fog, you still know that.

But all the same, you can't escape the pressure of your peers and a good party. So with a deep breath and a shrug of acceptance, you tilt your head to the side to show your cheek to him.

Your heart is racing as you feel his hand beneath your chin to hold you in place as he obligingly kisses your cheek. You hear some cheers from the room, but when Kaibara turns your chin back to face him and goes in for a more full frontal kiss on the mouth, they get even louder.

You're wide-eyed, but your eyelids are fluttering in surprise. Surprise at the kiss itself, as well as how familiar and warm Kaibara's lips are. Yet somehow different. Maybe it's just been a while since you last kissed him, but there's something new that you can't quite pinpoint.

Different or not, though, you're not so down bad that you'd be willing to let things go his way. So after you pull away, you give him a punch in the arm. Playfully, but also half serious.

He laughs as he rubs at the new sore spot and Tetsutetsu gives his last hurrahs to the room before leaving to torture some other poor souls with his mistletoe shots. The karaoke song is over by then, so you return the mic to the stand on the cupboard for the next person.

Kaibara comes up beside you to do the same, putting a hand on your lower back. And he whispers to you, "That was really nice."

"Yeah, well," you adjust your beret and necklace, limbs tingling with adrenaline, "Consider it a holiday gift, I guess."

Before you can walk off, Kaibara grabs your wrist and comes close to your ear again, "Maybe I'll see you later?"

You inhale a deep breath through your nose before you turn to face him, studying that stupidly pretty face of his.

And you even consider it for a second. A very short second. Because drunk as you are, you know that there are so many better choices for you to make than this tonight.

But you only manage a vague reply, "Maybe."

Then you pull your wrist back and round the karaoke floor area to return to the water dispenser, where you left your bag with Ashido.

And to your surprise, you find her there with none other than the one guy you had been hoping to see all night. She's speaking in aggressive whispers to Sero, even shaking his shoulders a bit, until he turns and meets your eyes. Then they both freeze when they see you.

"Hey." He greets.

"Hey." You reply, walking up to them when Ashido pulls hands away from Sero and gives him a lecturing look. "I was, uh... I was looking for you."

"Yeah, me too." He says, kind of breathlessly, "Sorry I didn't text you. I was out all day and my phone died on me."

"Oh." you nod, awkwardly.

You're drunk and spiraling. When did he get here? How long has he been here? Did he see that kiss just now?? Does he— Does he think that— that... you enjoyed it? Or that you aren't serious about him?

But at the same time he and you aren't even a thing yet? So it's not like you owe him anything? And it's not like you haven't caught him with someone else before. Though you did feel kinda shitty after that. If he feels anything like you did at that time, you have no idea if it would work in your favor or not.

"Want some water?" Ashido interrupts your thoughts, holding out a cup to you, which you thankfully take.

"That was a pretty eventful song." Sero says with a chuckle, though you can't tell if there's any actual humor in it because you're still a little fogged up.

But damn. So he did see it.

Awesome.

"Yeah, I'll say." You sigh as you put your emptied cup down.

"Are you okay?" Ashido asks you, with genuine concern, her eyes flashing quickly towards Sero.

"I'll be fine." You answer decidedly, then look carefully up at Sero, "But I could use some air."

"I'll take you," Sero jumps on your cue immediately, "Vamos afuera."

Ashido hands you back your bag with a quiet whisper of "good luck" before you follow Sero out of the room, wishing the very same thing for myself.

—

tbc

part 9

[rorschachdanmaku]

» mentions of otherkin intolerance cw

I got my wig today

I finally look like myself

Soon enough I will take a photo of me wearing my old clothes. Some would call it cosplay, I'd call it my usual normal clothes that i was meant to wear since the beginning or something stupid like that

I missed all my classes last week but today I'm going back to uni. My friends must be mad at me, I left them in the middle of our group assignment. Last time, one of my classmates tried kicking me out of our group because I was nonverbal for a bit, but my dear buddy helped me keep my spot

She doesn't like otherkin unfortunately. Sometimes I feel like expressing this sense of terrible dysphoria to her but she'll never ever understand. I only met one person in real life who ended up coming out as fictionkin of a character she used to be obsessed with. But my parents don't let me hang out with her anymore. So I'm forced to hang out with people who probably would call me a weirdo for all of this fictionkin stuff

I do have online friends who know about it, but they're all not into this stuff either. They just tolerate it coming from me because they were my friends before i came out about it. I have a friend who seems to be touhou fictionkin but every time i try to bring it up to them, they always avoid the question and it makes me all confused

...I think I said too much

I'm not even sure how this turned into a vent post

Anyway

I got my wig today.

I will buy my cosplay soon.

You're probably not going to ever see me in real life since I don't leave in america, but if you do spot me at cons, be gentle. Please. I'm bad at conversation

I'm not sure if anyone would ever be interested in this blog, let alone seeing the dress, but... Ah, I'm doing this for myself, am I not

And no, I'm probably not getting my third eye, I don't have enough money to buy more props

[xoxardnekoxo]

Movie Review: The Barbie Movie

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Somehow I managed to see the live action Barbie movie on opening weekend! It took a couple of days, but I made it!

Who isn't familiar with the most iconic fashion doll of all time? Without Barbie, there would be no fashion dolls. Since her introduction in 1959, the one-sixth scale doll has taken over the world with more than 200 careers and at least twice as many fashions and accessories.

But enough about that. Let's get to it. This is a movie review, not a doll review.

The teaser trailer turned out to be the opening of the whole movie, and I love it. Yes, there have always been dolls for little girls to play with. But until 1959, when Barbie entered the plastic world, the only dolls girls had were baby dolls or paper dolls. So basically dolls were a way of preparing girls for a future of motherhood and housekeeping. Okay, that's fine, if that's what you truly want.

So we see all the girls playing with their dolls and suddenly this Godzilla-like doll just pops up out of nowhere, prompting the girls to throw and smash their baby dolls in favor of this new toy. Then we get to a transition scene showing various women in Barbie attire - and they're all actual clothes that have existed over the decades! They even threw in one of the new Fashionista wheelchairs in there and one of the most recent vet fashion packs. When this movie comes out for purchase, I'm totally taking notes of what all outfits I see.

Enter Barbie Land. We've seen a lot of it in the trailers, but I'm still super amazed at the set design. Major props to those guys! They literally designed and built Barbie-size houses and created a layout/cul-de-sac of them in order to recreate them in life size. And there's literally dollhouses! Every Barbie home has a back wall and maybe a side wall or two. The front is always open, so every Barbie can see into every other Barbie's house at all times. Just like a real dollhouse! And inside those houses are various plastic pieces of furniture and decor, along with some stickers. Yep, there are food items in the fridge that are actually stickers, and the stove is also a sticker. Heart-shaped waffles, a slide that spirals down into a pool at floor level with painted water, stationary ocean waves, etc. It's literally a real-life plastic world. I love that! Barbie movies and shows in the past portray Barbie as though she were a real person, and of course her house reflects that. This movie is saying Barbie is a doll and is treating her as such.

The houses also have no stairs in them, so the dolls magically float from floor to floor in their homes, just like how girls move them between rooms. And getting dressed entails seeing an outfit already planned out and magically appearing on the Barbie. Brilliant!

So this all sounds like a cute movie, right? Well, it is, but keep in mind - this movie is rated PG-13 for "suggestive content." When I first heard that, I was like, what..... Not that it bothers me, but this is a movie about the number-one fashion doll in history, and fashion dolls are catered more to young children than anyone. So I was wondering what in the world this suggestive content would be. I would soon find out.

During the narrator's introductions, we meet Barbie's very first friend, Midge. Who, sadly, is no longer even in the Mattel lineup after being discontinued in 2004. You all know the story, right? Midge and Allan (later Alan) got married in 1990 or so, and in 2002, they were reintroduced with their three-year-old son, Ryan, and their infant daughter, Nikki (yes, that was her name - it just came later). Well, Midge came with a magnetic detachable pregnant belly that little Nikki was inside. People flipped at the thought of kids playing with a pregnant doll, saying it encouraged teenage pregnant. (Yeah, okay, sure.) So Mattel re-released her later with Nikki and no belly. That story was mentioned in the movie. Other recalled/cancelled/controversial dolls also made an appearance in the movie, including the infamous Earring Magic King and Sugar's Daddy Ken, along with Growing Up Skipper, Teen Talk Barbie, and Video Camera Barbie. So the movie is educational too! :D

Anyway, we're soon introduced to Ken, who's literally introduced as only being happy when he's noticed by Barbie. After all, he was created just to be her boyfriend. So Barbie's at the beach with all the other Barbies, and everyone is vying for Barbie's attention, including other Kens. So the main Ken decides to show off his surfing skills, only to bang right into the stationary wave and embarrassingly fly back into the sand. This starts a verbal squabble between him and another Ken about "beaching off." Yeah, they're talking about beaching each other off, saying things like "You can't even beach yourself off, I'll beach you off any day," etc. Yeah, say it fast enough, and it totally sounds like something else. There's part of your suggestive content right there. Then Barbie jumps in with, "No one is beaching anyone off!"

Then it's a disco party at the Dreamhouse. Well, one of them, since they're all Dreamhouses. Everything is all fine and dandy, dolls are dancing around in perfect sync, etc., until suddenly Barbie says, "Do you ever think about dying?" But she quickly rectifies this and the party continues. Then she and Ken are outside and Ken asks if he can stay at Barbie's house for the night, to which she asks why. "Because we're boyfriend and girlfriend." "What would we do?" "I honestly don't know." We all know what the implication was...

But it's Girl's Night... as it is every night, so Ken has to leave. "It's Barbie's Dreamhouse, not Ken's Dreamhouse." Ouch.

So, that whole death question thing? It prompts some less than satisfying events, including Barbie waking up with morning breath, having a cold shower (in a house with no water, mind you), a burnt waffle, and - gasp! - flat feet.

Yep, she no longer stands on her toes! Not sure why that was such a huge issue because dozens of Barbies have been made with flat feet, even back in the 90s (including Hot Skatin' Barbie, who makes an appearance later).

So when Barbie explains this to the other Barbies, they tell her she has to go see Weird Barbie, aka the Barbie who was played with too roughly. Kudos for this design lol, Kate McKinnon is portrayed as a doll with a dress covered in Crayon stains, cut/burned-off hair, marker scribbles on her face, always doing the splits, etc. She also owns the dog Tanner, another discontinued Mattel product of a dog that would eat a treat and then poop it out (it was recalled due to magnets getting swallowed by kids). She explains to Barbie that something must be happening with the girl who is playing with her in the Real World, and so she must travel there to see what the problem is to make everything go back to normal - and to not get cellulite!!! Yep, Weird Barbie points out that there is now cellulite on Barbie's thighs, and she's like:

Yep, it's real. Run. So anyway, Barbie then gets in her undersized Corvette (yep, even the Barbie car in the movie is under-scaled compared to real life cars - the windshield is shorter than her head lol) and heads for the Real World with a stowaway Ken in tow. When they get to California (where Mattel's headquarters are), they're both wearing their Hot Skatin' outfits from the mid-90s. That was some great nostalgia.

Skating through LA looking like, well, a couple of dolls, people start staring at the two, and Barbie is getting cat-called. Ken is too, by some guys LOL. When they come up to a group of construction guys, they say sexist remarks and Barbie literally says, "It sounds like you're saying a double entendre, but I don't have a vagina, and he doesn't have a penis." Yeah, Barbie literally said the words vagina and penis.

Eventually the two decide to maybe ditch their skating outfits, so instead don some matching western attire. Yeah, they just happen to find a random shop with a pink western women's outfit and a matching one for guys.

Barbie is searching for the girl responsible for the weird things happening to her in Barbie Land, so Ken goes off on his own and discovers that, in the Real World, men hold all the power and are more than accessories, unlike in Barbie Land. He sees male cops on horses, male presidents on dollar bills, male doctors, etc. He grabs a bunch of books and reads up on this, and he's heading to meet back up with Barbie to tell her about this, except she's been found by Mattel execs (who are aware of two dolls that escaped Barbie Land - much like a baby-sitting Skipper many years ago) and escorted to HQ. So Ken returns to Barbie Land with his newfound information.

Barbie eventually escapes the Mattel suits (led by Will Ferrell, who is playing, in my opinion, his only decent role in a film ever) and is rescued by the girl she was looking for. Well, the girl's mother - it was her mother who prompted the events, not the girl. In any event, the three of them head back to Barbie Land and discover it to be completely taken over by the Kens. Yep, Ken turned Barbie Land into a patriarchy. That word is even used multiple times.

The Barbies are now cheerleaders cheering for the Kens, serving them drinks (yep, beer included), etc. The Dreamhouses have become Mojo Dojo Casa Houses, and none of the Barbies are in charge anymore. So no Barbie president, doctor, scientist, etc. Turns out Ken was having an existential crisis. He then tells Barbie that it's Boy's Night at his house, and it's Boy's Night every night.

So this causes Barbie to spiral into a feeling of failure and depression. Oh, and as all of this is happening in Barbie Land, it trickles into the real world. So Ken's masculine houses and cars start popping up in stores, as does a commercial for Depressed Barbie.

Weird Barbie brings Barbie and the humans to her place, where we're introduced to the other aforementioned outcast dolls. We even get a live-action demonstration of Growing Up Skipper (turn her arm and her breasts grow).

Then the mother gives an inspirational speech that pretty much snaps all the Barbies out of their brainwashed funk. Now, why did they allow all the Kens to take over to begin with? Well, as the mother explained, it was like a virus - the Barbies had no defense over such a thing because it wasn't fathomed to ever even happen. But anyway, one by one, the Barbies return to their former selves and remember who they were. The Kens have planned a vote to change the Barbie Land constitution, so the Barbies band together to basically set the Kens against each other in order to take back Barbie Land. Yep, a movie about a plastic doll turned into a governmental conflict.

The main Ken and the other "beach off" Ken are pretty much rivals in this movie, so each one leads a group of Kens into an all-out brawl. And by brawl I mean they're throwing plastic arrows at each other, bashing each other with tennis rackets, etc. We even see some on hobby horses charging into battle.

Somehow, that winds up in a musical number and then they realize it was voting day. Yeah, too late. They show back up to the cul-de-sac (there is a Monty Python reference here, as they're totally fake-riding horses and making clacking sounds) where the Dreamhouses have been restored to their former glory. Ken is like, "Do these houses look a little more... dreamy?" President Barbie comes down the stairs and says, "That's because they're Dreamhouses, motherf*****." Yep, just like that. They bleep out the second half of that word, but we all know what she meant.

So then Barbie and Ken need to resolve their issues. Ken loves Barbie, but she only sees him as a friend. And Ken says he isn't sure what his role is, only that he was created to be Barbie's boyfriend. "It's always Barbie and Ken, never just Ken." So Barbie tells him that he needs to discover who he is without her. Then the Mattel suits walk in and get ready to close off the portal between the two worlds, when Barbie says she doesn't know what her ending is. And then we're treated to a meeting with Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie herself. (Not the real person, obviously, but still a great tribute.) Ruth designed Barbie to not have an ending. She's always changing and evolving. That's the point.

But Barbie says she doesn't feel like Barbie anymore. So Ruth takes her to a private area and talks to her, and Barbie basically asks if she can become a human. Why, I don't know. She's a perfect doll in a perfect world, and the human world is a mess. We all know it. That's why we have dolls!!! But yeah, so, Barbie, the number one fashion doll in the world, becomes a human. She takes the name of Ruth's daughter, Barbara (true story, as that's who Barbie was named after), and meets up with the mom and daughter again. The movie literally ends with Barbie (Barbara Handler) saying, "I'm here to see my gynecologist."

Yep, that's the end. Then we get to see pictures of actual dolls featured in the movie (not all of them, but most of them), including the controversial ones. That was a nice touch for anyone unfamiliar with the history.

So, will there be a sequel? Obviously they left it open for one. That's the norm for movies these days. My thoughts? I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting, but I had kept hearing that the movie has a lot of messages catered toward the government and society as a whole. For instance, when Barbie meets the girl she thought she was there for, the girl tells her that, despite what she believes and what she was created to be, Barbie is a doll that represents a backwards feminist movement and unrealistic body proportions. Basically everything Barbie haters say about her. Mattel knows this is said about their biggest product, and they put it in the movie LOL. Then the whole patriarchy thing, and the feeling of not knowing yourself. It's all there. It's not just a movie about a doll.

So, overall, I did enjoy the movie, but there were some things we could have gone without. The whole vagina/penis thing? How does Barbie even know what those words are, honestly LOL. Noticeably absent were her sisters - we did see Growing Up Skipper, but that's it. And she was one of the discontinued dolls. Allan is in the movie, and there's only one of him as opposed to multiple Kens. He even says that all Ken's clothes fit him, because that's literally what was on the doll box in real life. That was funny. As for the musical numbers, I found them unnecessary. They didn't add anything to the story - only runtime. But I absolutely love the set design and all the clothes, especially the real ones that were created before this movie existed. I think Margot Robbie was a great choice for Barbie. I remember when this was first leaked years ago, there were rumors about Amy Schumer playing Barbie. OMG that would have been a disaster. I can NOT see her playing Barbie. She's just... not Barbie. LOL. And though I wasn't on board with Ryan Gosling playing Ken at first, as he just seemed too old, it actually wasn't bad. And it wasn't going to deter me from seeing the movie.

Overall, I'll give the movie 8/10. Wasn't perfect but I did enjoy it. If there is a sequel, I'm sure I'll see it too!

P.S. No, the song Barbie Girl isn't in the movie. I don't think Mattel is a fan of it because it supposedly makes fun of the doll, or so I read. LOL