#sticks without stones

[moonunitjackie]

[sticks w/o stones]

Track 2 | LUNCH by Billie Eilish

                  “Wow you really like skeeball.”

                  Niki flinched. “I dunno about that.”

                  “Look at your score!” Rachel was trailing a full 1000pts behind Niki. “I’m struggling!”

                  Niki could feel her cheeks heat up. “I bowl a lot.”

                  “Does that help with skeeball?”

                  Niki shrugged. “I dunno. I always play this game a lot.”

                  Rachel giggled. “You’re funny.”

                  “If you say so, home unit.”

                  “I do,” Rachel tossed her next and final skeeball. Another miss. “Oh well.”

                  “Do you wanna play something else?”

                  “I’m good either way though I am kinda hungry now that ya mention it.”

                  “Same, fam.”

                  The barcade’s menu was fairly standard as those things go, but they served Cuban sandwiches which was all Niki cared about. Rachel opted for the jumbo slice of extra cheesy pizza instead.

                  “So do you, like, have you bowled in a league?” Rachel asked in between her first and second bites.

                  “Nah,” Niki munched on some of the potato chips that came as a side. “Ty tried to talk me into joining one with him once back in high school but I’m, like, ninety-percent sure he was just joking.”

                  “Really?”

                  “Yeah.” Niki took a bite from her sandwich. Niki had a wiry frame but Rachel was impressed by how quickly Niki could put away food. Half of the sandwich was already gone while Rachel was taking her time with the oversized slice of pizza. “Even if he wasn’t, I’m just not that into bowling to do it competitively.”

                  “That makes sense.”  Rachel said with a slight nod. “Just not the competitive type?”

                  “Hm.” Niki inhaled another quarter of the sandwich before continuing. “I guess so? Except for Mario Kart. That shit’s intense.”

                  Rachel giggled, taking a sip of her light beer. “Yeah. I may have broken a controller or two in college cause of that game.”

                  There was a ghost of a smile on Niki’s lips but it didn’t linger. Rachel was busy sipping her beer and didn’t catch it. “Damn. That much of a sore loser?”

                  “No, no!” Another giggle. “I just always get fucked up in the last lap, usually by that fucker Luigi.”

                  “Oh? Who was playin’ him?”

                  “No one,” Rachel shook her head. A few strands of her brown hair fell loose from the ponytail she put up before eating. “I only ever get Luigi’d when it’s the computer controlling him.”

                  “Heh.” Niki’s tongue slipped between her teeth briefly. “Sounds like my relationship with Roy. That assholes always goes after me, I swear!”

                  “I’ll believe it!” Rachel’s smile was hard to miss.

Niki tried not to stare too much or too obviously.

After lunch Rachel & Niki walked between the sprialling labyrinth of arcade cabinets. It was the middle of a Tuesday so there wasn’t much of a crowd. The relative emptiness of the barcade -save for about four or five other people at any given time- gave the whole experience a far more intimate feel, an entire universe of flashing screens and digital sounds just for the two of them, it felt like a…

“Oh hell yeah!”

Rachel was shaken from her reverie by Niki’s mastery of the Initial D game’s drift mechanic.

“Still got it.” Niki leaned back triumphantly in the plastic facsimile of a driver’s bucket seat.

“Is there any game here you’re not good at here?” Rachel’s smile spread to her eyes.

“Pretty much just this and skeeball,” Niki flexed her shoulders; she was beginning to feel the previous week’s worth of work catch up with her. “I used to kick everyone’s ass at this game back in the day.”

“Looks like you still do,” Rachel nodded, impressed.

Niki turned her neck sharply followed by a sickening crunch. Rachel flinched. Niki repeated the maneuver in the opposite direction. Another flinch. Rachel wasn’t a fan of when anyone -even Niki- cracked parts of their body.

“Fuck I think I’m spent for the day.”

With a slow nod Rachel murmured “Sounds like it.”

Niki looked up at Rachel who suddenly realized she was hovering over the smaller girl. Rachel slouched her tense shoulders and took a step and a half back. “I can watch you play something if you wanna keep playing games.”

Rachel gave a polite shake of her head. “No, I think I’m spent too.”

“…fuck!”

Rachel was breathless though not for lack of effort. Niki lay beside her equally straining to breathe. Both of their bodies were weary with pleasure and caked with sweat.

“How are you feeling?”

Rachel looked over at Niki, into the deep dark waters of her eyes. (Fuck, I could get lost in those eyes…) “I feel…amazing. That…was amazing. You’re…”

“Amazing?” Niki’s tongue darted between her teeth teasingly. That same tongue that only minutes ago sent Rachel’s entire body into ecstatic convulsions. Twice. She still felt the occasional aftershock rattle her legs here and there.

“Fuck. Yeah,” was all Rachel could manage.

“Good!” Niki lipped her lips where she still tasted Rachel’s climax lingering. “You were even better.”

Rachel’s already flushed face burned brighter, blushing. A giggle was stuck in the back of her throat. “I haven’t…” Rachel shook her head. She was still dizzy with pleasure and couldn’t think straight.

“Haven’t what?” Niki’s lips curled into a teasing smile.

A whine escaped from Rachel’s lips. “Nevermind.”

“What?” Niki propped herself up on her elbow. The sheet fell leaving her torso exposed. Rachel couldn’t help but stare at Niki’s small but perky breasts, her inviting darkly tinted nipples.

With a weak but satisfied smile Rachel managed “I need to catch my breath first.”

“Oki.” Niki leaned forward, slowly and tenderly pressing her thin -but oh so sweet- lips against Rachel’s fuller, puffier pair. “I’ll go get us some water.” She pulled herself up and moved towards the edge of the bed. Rachel’s arm snaked out, latching onto Niki’s wrist. Niki looked back at Rachel’s blissful face. “Hm?”

“Sorry.” Rachel blushed, again. (Goddammit, those eyes!) “Just, I really don’t want you to leave just yet.”

Niki nodded slightly, slowly. “I understand.” She reached down and unlatched Rachel’s fingers from her wrist. Rachel was too exhausted to protest. “But I’ll be right back.” She smiled -sweetly & comforting- before planting another, deeper kiss on Rachel’s expectant, still-hungry lips. “Then you have me for the rest of the night.”

“Can I have you in the morning, too?”

Niki nodded. “Uh huh.” Another kiss.

“And after?”

“For as long as you want,” Niki kissed Rachel again but this time on her forehead.

“Heard,” Rachel breathlessly grinned, satisfied.

Niki flashed a shining smile with those crooked little fangs Rachel couldn’t get enough of. “Be right back, princess!”

(Princess)

Rachel loved how the word felt in her blissed-out ears. It soothed her racing mind. It wasn’t the word itself Rachel would realize later when her full faculties returned, but the fact the word came from Niki’s talented tongue, her sweet lips. It was a word Rachel later learned belonged to herself and no one else.

She was Niki’s princess.

And Rachel didn’t want to be anything else.

[sammy8d257]

Finished my part for @sticks-without-stones 's AvA Malmo MAP!

Gotta love Alan Becker Angst

ajfbsjfhhs

Theres still a bunch of spots open so please check out the MAP call video when you get the chance!

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

Behind every great warrior woman is another woman who is choosing kindness. For now.

[sticks-and-stonesmc]

I just found your blog.. And lemme just say, I'm already hooked on your comic! I have only one question I can currently think of.. Is Sticks Steve? Or is it a character based on Steve?

i cant quite answer this properly with where im at in the comic but to help clarify,

Sticks is a seperate entity from Steve and Alex. they both... exist inthis universe to an extent but Sticks isnt a replacement of Steve to put it simply.

[jellybeanium124]

"sHouLd kiNk bE aT pRidE??" did Rihanna teach you nothing??? it should be at #2 in the billboard hot 100

[heronoegg]

we are making a really self indulgent AU yall are just gonna be in for the ride

[bayleaf-2]

Artist's rendition of walking up to a friend's house, happy I'm putting my energy toward Ferrous instead of Lyra only to have a song that I IGNORED because I thought it would be too romantic come up in the shuffle queue and HAHA!!!!! OH NO!!!!!!! OH NO BESTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIKE THE. THE SUN LINE, ON THE 2ND LISTEN THROUGH, IS THE EXACT MOMENT I JUST HAD TO CUSS OUT LOUD. BUT THAT'S NOT EVEN THE FULL FUCKING STANZA THAT MAKES ME HOLD MY HEAD, LIKE DO YOU SEE THIS??!?? DO YOU SEE THIS?????

I'M GONNA GO FUCKING INSANE Y'ALL AAAAAAAAUGH

ENOUGH LINES OF THIS SONG FIT. THAT I COULD ANIMATE IT. AND THAT IS SAYING FUCKING SOMETHING. AUUUUGH

[mars-ipan]

trying to let myself just be in this headspace but it is so uncomfortable

[exghul]

CHARACTER / BLOG ASSOCIATIONS.

animal:   i make a lot of references to wolves & dogs in replies but he's very catlike. very puma vibes but like. a pocket sized one with sharp claws. color(s):   orange when talking about as a wayne, green as an al ghul. month:   january. very fresh start vibes. song:   within temptation's a demon's fate. number:   five, fifth robin. day or night:   night. plant:   venus fly trap. big teeth, anti-climactic & slow process of eating prey. smell:   candle smoke but specifically right when you blow out the wick. if you actually get close enough to sniff him, he smells like his latest soap of the week & usually a cologne that he grabbed from bruce's stash. since he's still young, only the candle smoke is a constant, the rest change with time. gemstone:   fluorite. season:   winter. place:   a palace, bedecked in jewels & fortunes. the throne is empty & blood-stained. food:   a plain bowl of oatmeal. damian has unhealthy habits with food & usually doesn't like many flavors. element:   fire. drink:   hot green tea, usually without any sweeteners. he "likes the bitterness".

tagged by @batagonist & @jokethur ♥ tagging @starignite @leopardblow @aonah-el @anxman & if u havent done it 👀👀 yoink it from me

[bookshelf-in-progress]

I think I have a mostly-complete outline of my Inklings Challenge story. It feels a bit basic, but the story has to be simple when I’m working with a complicated structure. I spent a few days spinning grandiose ideas for allegory and thematic imagery and clever plot twists and character arcs, but it was quickly becoming way too complicated, and I couldn’t decide which direction to take this story when tangled in this jumble of often-mutually-exclusive ideas.

So I went back to my initial one-paragraph summary of what I thought the story should be, and found that I could accomplish almost everything I wanted from that very simple foundation. I so often get lost in the woods of plotting only to find out that my initial idea was the best, and it happened again here. Maybe that’s not the way to create exciting and surprising new fiction, but it might make a story that I’m actually capable of writing.

Maybe. I still have to work this plot into a series of letters that convey the unique personalities and complicated relationships between these characters--while working in worldbuilding and themes and imagery--and I’m not sure I can pull that off. But as long as I work with a light hand and remember that I can layer in all the necessary ingredients in multiple drafts, I should be able to create something here.

[moonunitjackie]

[sticks w/o stones]

Track 1 | Favorite Color is Blue by Robert DeLong, K.Flay

                  Tyler wanted nothing more to do with Willow Creek, a small-ass town that only dwindled in the size the longer he lived there, a ghost town haunted with empty phantoms. That was his experience anyway. It didn’t fully form into such a bitter taste in the back of his mouth until he was forced to move back.

                  Maybe ‘forced’ is the wrong word. He didn’t need to return. He could -in theory- go literally anywhere else and he wanted to -he really, really wanted to- but life happened regardless. Entirely against his will as he would put it, and he often did.

                  But that’s not something he wanted to dwell on anymore – no, not right now. Plus there were some positives to come out of his current situation. Not many, sure but Tyler would take what he could get at this point.

                  Nico.

                  Nico was one of those positives – the most positive if Tyler was being completely honest with himself. And Nico was without a doubt one of the only people -if not the only person- Tyler could completely, entirely, fully be himself around with no asterisk(s).

                  Which in and of itself was (part of) the problem. Problems? No, let’s not pick that scab just yet.

                  Nobody who knew Nico actually called her that. It was on her birth certificate but it was not a name she held any affection for – instead she’d gone by “Niki” for as long as Tyler knew her and that was most of their lives now. Hell, it would probably be that way until the heat death of the universe.

                  Or when they both died.

                  Whichever came first.

                  Unlike Tyler, Niki stayed in Willow Creek after high school. Unlike Tyler, Niki harbored no resentment towards the lifeless pit that was Willow Creek Tyler so desperately clawed himself out from. Unlike Tyler, Niki knew what she wanted to do with her life and was already employed at her dream job before she ever graduated high school. Unlike Tyler, Niki was in a committed relationship going back to the day after her sixteenth birthday.

                  Until she wasn’t.

                  Finally! Something they had in common.

                  And it absolutely sucked for both of them.

(side note: I used to have more of my writing on here, but after a technical snafu i ended up pulling all of them down. i might re-upload them sometime down the line, but for now i'm just gonna focus on posting chapters/tracks from this story which more of a freeform whatever. there's no end goal for this story and more characters and plotlines will pop up as i go. i'm on 3 chapters in as of this post. anyway...i think that's it? laterz)

[tomsmusictaste]

The Alphabet With Tomsmusictaste | N

[bo0zey]

i’m scFfredscsfed scatsdww scared

[supercantaloupe]

honestly learning basic knife sharpening has been a big help for me

[whensomethingelsecries]

sorry for the cursors in half my screenshots lately lol i've been rewatching umineko via 80% relatable's playthrough so that's where they're coming from

[toastsnaffler]

trying to watch all of us strangers and it's just making me cry really hard this is why I don't do romance movies WAH