#the pissing SOUND EFFECT really sells it

[majjiktricks]

obligatory piss joke

[doorp]

Hot take? Maybe? Idk I saw ppl yelling at Lenore earlier but

idc Lenore was completely justified in yelling at will, even if it wasn’t the best way to get him to be more effective. he literally aided and abetted putting Duke in that wall. Duke begged him for help and he said “…sorry?” He lured him into that cellar USING LENORES FACE. Then the next day, using DUKES FACE, the face of the man he helped put behind the wall, he used the face of someone the misfits trusted (knowing that the guy was suffocating in the walls as he did this) to lure Berenice, eulalie, and Lenore, into the graveyard, where he helped Monty beat the shit out of them.

just bc Monty is mean to will and uses him doesnt mean will isnt making his own choices like he’s not an innocent little baby here he doesnt deserve for Lenore to baby him. Like Lenore, Lenore SO deserves to be mad at will and not gaf about his feelings she DOESNT KNOW HIM and he HELPED IN HER FRIENDS ATTEMPTED MURDER and he literally is an imbecilic little paintywaist so

i will forever advocate in favor of Lenore destroying the piss out of people emotionally idc. I cheer. Annabel, Monty, will, Ada, GET EM GIRLY

I will say that this was goofy as fuck here like ohhhh girl

if he lives 😒

i may deign to spare your life 😡

SHES SO DRAMATIC stop waving that thing around you lunatic - shes rly trying to make up for the fact there’s no bullets, really trying to sell it. you can tell shes an old rich lady 💀 “move swiftly” girl you sound like a train station recording.

I love pluto standing in the back there like a goon

Last thing i love how Lenore is like wtf girl what the fuck are you on about im not your therapist are you serious right now??? Are you CRYING?? Is he really doing this in public??

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Ranma Remake

So far I have just one real gripe with the two episodes of the new Ranma 1/2 show I've seen: Akane's fight scenes were just plain better in the original.

Admittedly, the school fight scene from the original show is a fucking masterclass

It was hard to imagine anything topping it. But I'm sad the new fight choreographers couldn't keep up.

Likewise, the original dojo scene is so good, showing the frustrating inability to hit Ranma from an Akane's-eye view to an outstanding score played on violin. The new one is good in a different way, but I do find Ranma's Ninja Vanish insufficiently telegraphed - It felt like it needed more afterimage? Or less? Something felt off about it, and I preferred when we could kind of see Ranma getting out of the way outrageously fast, rather than having her teleport. I think I'd have been more okay with the "teleport" if it'd been from Akane's perspective - We've seen that kind of thing before, for instance when Ichigo first uses his Bankai in Bleach. If it's from the perspective of the person whose eyes can't keep up with the movement, we're not being told this person can teleport. We're being told the POV character lost track of them because they were so fast, which is what we're going for.

There were little moments I missed - Soun's "tracing an hourglass shape with his hands" moment after hugging Ranma for the first time, the delivery-echo of Ranma each time saying, "I'm Ranma Saotome...Sorry about this," and the dub delivery of, "Dad, you're gonna scare 'em spitless!" The speed with which Akane picks up the whole-ass table to use it as a weapon.

But those I don't consider failures. The new adaptation has artistic differences; It's not just a fresh coat of paint on the older show, but a new attempt to adapt the comic. And it's got some really excellent moments. The animation of Ranma when she's just received Kuno's proposal, as rose petals float around her and she turns to dust and blows away in the wind, is top-notch. The look on Tendo's face when he realizes Ranma's female more than makes up for the missing "hourglass trace." I love the bits of floating sound-effect text. Those were animated with love and care.

Also, both Ranma and Akane are cuter in this one. You can more easily believe that they'd fall for each other, get pissed off and swear off the other...and then kinda fall for them again, because this show does a better job than the original at selling each of them as attractive - in form, and in personality, and in...demeanor? There's more humanity in Akane's reaction to losing to Ranma in the dojo, and in Ranma's silent response to that reaction. They both have this layer of emotional vulnerability that the show (and even the comic, usually) didn't make time for, and I am here for it.

In fact they made Ranma so cute that it feels weirder here than in the original show that Nabiki immediately has no interest in him. Kasumi made it very clear that she was out of the running because of her disinterest in anyone younger than herself. But Nabiki was merely hoping this unknown guy would be cute, and then he was pretty fuckin' cute. Maybe she didn't want to mess with the curse business, or he didn't fit her vibe, or maybe she genuinely thought he'd be a good fit for Akane (though that ruins the joke of the two older sisters foisting Ranma off on her).

Honestly what I really want is for the new series to have four seasons. That should give about enough time for all 48 original graphic novels, with no dumb filler. Maybe drop it to three seasons and have a "just the good bits" like the Princess Bride film. Against the first two episodes of the original show, the new series barely treads water in spite of its dramatically improved budget and animation techniques. But that was a really high bar, and on the whole I think the new series did successfully tread water and not drown. I want to see the remake tackle things the old show did horribly, and get to see those scenes made competently.

Show me a well-animated cat fist vs shark fist, and I'll be a happy camper.

[the-lonelyshepherd]

what does indigo do. like what effect does it have on the human body and how do ppl take it (smoking, eating, injection etc)?

HELLO!!!!! indigo time

so first in case people aren’t liek following every part of my oc thing,,, indigo is like. kind of a drug? ish? it’s a substance sourced in the first threshold (main wacky events of the story) from these butterfly monsters that i literally cannot design i hate them. it’s refined by a group that shay and cat come across and used to sell for money and also used for other. things

there’s a few different versions of indigo so indigo in its raw form is a kind of venom stored in spines on the butterfly monsters. it’s, as the name implies, a very recognizable saturated purple-blue color. the butterfly monsters are very dependent on salt.

most of the salt in the human body (in most animals, but we’re talking people) is stored blood (plasma specifically), sweat, urine, and tears.

if you do happen to get pounced by a butterfly monster (they’re stealthy at first) and stabbed with a spine, you are going to be a. mess of fluid! it’s basically an extreme emotional high (important) and are in tears you are probably going to piss yourself and your nose is bleeding. and then later probably your ears and maybe your eyes and any other possible. wound that might be inflicted. and then u kinda get like. licked to death. they don’t have very strong jaws (and in some designs they only have a proboscis) so they aren’t able to tear flesh to eat. so instead they have indigo.

sounds nasty right. well what if we took it in small refined amounts 💞💞💞💞 yum

basically after years and years of people getting stuck in the first layer forming groups killing each other killing themslves getting eaten etc. some groups did manage to stick around a little longer than most. including one very important one to the story ,,,, a group that. among other things. created a method to refine indigo into a kind of drug because if there’s one thing we love on the range besides alcohol and sex workers after a long day it’s liquid meth on steroids. yay!

this group gets such profits from selling indigo in the first later that they do consciously stay in the first threshold, which is full of. weird sucky shit. (the logistics of how this group specifically does inter layer transport is still being worked out but it IS difficult and they do keep it very. secret. which backfires).

their specific indigo is meant to be taken in small amounts in liquid form by mouth, though injection is also being experimented with.

taking refined indigo also causes an emotional high, usually a positive feeling one but sometimes people have bad. experiences with it. it’s usually very. euphoric though. everything feels a lot like something and it’s very bright and your heart is beating really fast. people usually get teary-eyed. some people think they can talk to god. apparently it’s quite the experience.

ODing can make you piss yourself though. among other things

overuse usually causes frequent nosebleeds and nonsensical crying as well as high blood pressure.

since indigo is so expensive, its common to order it in a drink at the saloon - a minuscule amount in some hard liquor gets you drunk(high?) five times faster than normal. and when you get paid 25 dollars a month its a relief to cut the cost of a good time by five times.

they had so much fun with mixed drinks back then 💞

i hope that was enough info i can talk more if needed grin

[freeuselandonorris]

i'll second the previous anons, it's anything kink related, especially piss. fic wise but also when you talk more about your own experiences which i find very interesting because i am somewhere on the asexual spectrum and have never had a deeper interest in these things beyond reading my blorbos do it, least of all participating in any sex myself, really. so in a way, your blog is also very educational! (i hope that doesn't sound weird? idk how else to explain it)

oh this is so lovely to read (and doesn’t sound weird at all!) thank you!

for a really long time i had this kinda alternate fantasy life career dream of opening a little sex shop/bookshop/events space hybrid where i’d sell sex toys and books about sex/kink/queerness/etc and hold fun educational events about sex and sexuality. realistically never gonna happen but that’s how much i love talking about sex stuff and while it feels way too self-aggrandising to say “educating people” it does make me so happy when that’s a side effect of my oversharing 🫶

tell me my trademarks!

[misseffect]

7 snippets, 7 mutuals

Thanks for the tag @otemporanerys!

Tagging a lot of people who have already been tagged: @diaphanouso @helila @dispatchwithlove @kalliesa @angry-jager @dwarrowdams @serendipitys-teapot

All of these are from my Mass Effect F1 AU: Flashpoints

+++

Singapore Shower

One moment Garrus is holding her by the arms, water rolling over his shoulders – there's a knotted look on his face; his mouth is moving but no sound is coming out, which is weird – and the next she's lying on her back on the shower room floor.

"Shepard? Hey – c'mon."

Garrus is kneeling beside her, pinching her arm gently, holding her legs in the air with his shoulder. She feels heavy, like her bones are full of syrup, and the thumping behind her eyes is keeping time with the fuzz crowding her vision.

"Shit."

"It's alright." He sounds further away than he should, and so does the water still beating down on his back. "You passed out for a second, that's all."

+++

Shepard Does An AMA

probinguranus6969 - Would you rather fight 20 duck-sized Jokers or 1 Joker-sized duck?

janeshepard54 - I know your reddit handle joker

probinguranus6969 - damn it

+++

FaceTime Antics

She fishes another biscuit out of the packet while Garrus props his phone up on the side and heaves his suitcase onto the bed. It’s a nice enough room from what little she can see: old-fashioned, like the rest of the place, but in a plush, cared-for sort of way.

“Oh, by the way–” Crunch. “–you don’t happen to know how the dark web works, do you?”

He unzips the case and flips the lid. “Not really. Why?”

“I got called up for drug testing at Paul Ricard and my sample went missing,” she says, chewing glumly. “Joker’s winding me up about it; thinks someone’s selling vials of my piss on the black market.”

+++

Normal Thoughts To Have About Your Bestie's Car

The second he starts to ask the car for more, everything changes. 

It feels familiar – in fundamentals, sure, in throttle and steering output – but there’s something else, too. It’s more pliable than the Hierarchy car, more predictable than anything Omega or Archangel could give him; it's unlike anything he’s even driven, but somehow he knows it. Like catching a familiar smell in a place you've never visited.

And then it hits him.

It's not the car. It's her.

He knows Shepard's driving style almost as well as his own – reactive and twitchy, nose-heavy, late-braking, all faith and guts – and this thing lives and breathes it. It takes everything he's got to give, the good and the bad, and amplifies it tenfold. It grins and says c’mon, I dare you.

It’s not just a car designed with her in mind. It’s like wearing her clothes.

+++

Not To Be Dramatic But I Would Die For Mr Blobby

Shepard rounds the corner into the kitchen to find Mr Blobby loitering by the back door like a pair of cow-coloured slippers.

“He’s in a time-out," Hannah calls through the open window, paintbrush in hand.

“Aww, Blob.”

Mr Blobby makes a mournful rrrr sound. There’s a dab of brown paint on the end of his tail.

+++

Shepard Has PTSD Probably

It's not a nightmare really. Sure, it wakes her up every few hours, sweaty and unrested, and when she closes her eyes again, it drops her right back where she left off, but it's not scary. She's not being hunted or chased. She's not standing at the front of class with no clothes on. Nobody's dying.

Shepard's driving a road car on suburban streets - shifting, nebulous streets; faintly European but also faintly not - and somewhere in the distance, there's a fire.

There's a fire and she has to reach it.

She can see a column of black smoke in the distance, catch the odd lick of orange between buildings, but every turn she takes feels wrong and by the time she doubles back, the smoke isn't where she thought it was. It's in her rearview mirror, or out to her left when it was on her right. Sometimes a fire engine blasts past her in the opposite direction, the wailing siren fading before she can follow.

+++

Everybody Hates Conrad

Mathematically Shepard could win the Championship as early as Japan, five races before the end of the season, and it shows. Media seems to come naturally to her in a way it never has to him, but still; he’s never seen her so relaxed this early in the year. Al’Jilani can’t draw her in with pointed questions about Anderson giving her an easy ride and she doesn’t even bother taking a bite out of Conrad Verner.

“Any comment on rekindling your relationship with Thane Krios?” he asks, his big square face expectant.

Shepard scratches under her chin. “Why am I always the last person to find out who I’m dating?”

There’s a ripple of laughter. Emily is checking her watch and people are starting to shuffle their belongings around.

“Are you going to answer the question?” Conrad calls, but by then there’s enough ambient noise for everyone to plausibly ignore him.

[faceofpoe]

Poe being left unattended with Andor again.

While in the shower contemplating a plot point for a potential fic I worked out some of my most enduring Andor puzzles which as it turns out are intricately interwoven: i.e. the question of why Bix isn’t a loose end worth a late night visit from Cinta and being disappeared into those retention ponds out in the wasteland, with a side of bafflement at “I don’t think many people know him” when the him is the son of a woman who seems to be something of a pillar of the community, with a side of how did Luthen never stop and consider Cassian might try and break Bix out of the hotel instead of taking it upon himself to thwack stormtroopers with Maarva’s brick when we all know Brasso can do it better.

But I’ve figured it out.

The clues are in the lines:

“Do you trust him?”

and

“I know Bix has her game”

and

“Either you’re an Imperial spy, you’re fronting for the person I really want to speak to…”

Bix has been lying her ass off the entire time about the fact that Cassian is anyone more than some sketchy dude who occasionally turns up who has something to sell (don’t we all?).

Maybe she’s giving the impression of a less personal relationship because Luthen is sketch as fuck and she doesn’t trust him; maybe she was just royally pissed at Cassian the time Luthen turned up and was like “Hey this is as good haul how’d you get it” and she was like “idk just some sketchy asshole who scams his way around Ferrix and once in a while I decide to humor/pity him and buy his shit” and Luthen was like hey sounds like Skeen I could use another one on this suicide mission now that I think about it.

And then Luthen wonders who else knows he’s from Kenari and she’s all “Ahh fuck me well I’m stuck in the lie now it probably doesn’t matter that Kenari is the community bicycle’s weirdly depressing but weirdly effective pity pickup line” so “Um well not many people know him” because he’s a sketchy asshole who scams his way around Ferrix and nothing else no sir.

And at the end of the day, the real trouble with Bix being a loose end is from a direction Luthen never seems to even see coming: tying the timing of Cassian’s disappearance and return to Aldhani.

Because even if Cassian popped back home for a spell, why the fuck would he drop in on the woman who sometimes humors/pities him and buys the shit he steals?

And why the fuck would that sketchy asshole risk taking on another garrison to sneak her out when he could be bashing stormtroopers heads in with his dead mother’s bricked ashes?

Unfortunately, I have now entirely forgotten whatever plot point I was on the verge of cracking.

[glenflower]

Macdennis Fic Rec List by wordcount

1K - 10K

Mac and Dennis Fool Around - morphosyntactic [1k]

“If you’re struggling to find a good guy to get down with, I could let you blow me.”

Mac tenses. Is he seriously hearing this? Has he had too many beers, passed out and slipped into some alternate universe, half nightmare, half… something else? “What?”

“I’d be willing to let you,” Dennis says. Mac twists on the couch to look away from the TV and at Dennis. Dennis’ face is neutral, but as Mac stares, he raises an eyebrow. “Out of the goodness of my heart, or whatever.”

afterflow - yennefers [2k]

He finds him licking his wounds under the bleachers.

Mac’s flicking a lighter under a scrawny little scrap of a cigarette and he’s doing it way too fast. He’s slicked his hair back like a John Wayne wannabe and he has blood crusted on his bottom lip - everyone saw the punch up, Dennis included. Bradley Morgan punching Ronnie the Rat in the jaw for tipping off the school office; it’s yesterday’s news and it happened this morning.

“You need some help with that?”

“Fuck off,” Mac mutters. Dennis take the lighter anyway.

pink and blue - yennefers [4k]

“It was by the dumpster,” Mac says. He sounds scandalised. “It’s been shitting it down with rain all day, bro. C’mon. I’ll take it back tomorrow.”

The cat stares at Dennis, wrapped up tight in the duster. It blinks at him, looking thoroughly unimpressed, and then it sneezes. It’s the tiniest, most pathetic hiss of a sound he’s ever heard.

“Jesus Christ,” Dennis mutters. He moves out of the way, letting Mac step inside, and then he slams the front door with significantly more force than necessary.

stormy weather - yennefers [4k]

“You piss her off?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Mac snaps, because he didn’t, him and his mom are doing fine, thank you. “She - she’s been really busy today, probably, so she just -“

“She didn’t answer the door,” Dennis says.

It’s not a question. Mac scuffs the toe of one battered sneaker on the ground.

“She’s busy, man.”

One second passes. Two, three. Then:

“Get in the car.”

Nuts - glennjaminhow [4k]

The doctors discharge Mac around 8:30, after a hellish 18 hours of hospitalization. He’s prescribed two EpiPens for the nut allergies, along with extra strength Benadryl and an inhaler for the leftover side effects of anaphylaxis. Dennis elects himself in charge of the EpiPens, which Mac is okay with in his exhausted state. There’s no way he can trust Mac to hold onto something so vital, so crucial to his safety. Mac never worries about himself; he’s always more concerned with Dennis. That’s not gonna fly here. No, Dennis will oversee the EpiPens, just like how Mac oversees Dennis’ eating schedule.

sell me on that thing you do - kafkian [5K]

Post-Gang Chokes. Dennis gets what he wants.

you say it’s gone, though it never is - yennefers [4k]

It's New Year's Eve. Dennis, not for the first time, has made some regrettable choices.

decalogue - sinnabear

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Mac vs. the Ten Commandments.

objects in motions - sinnabar [5k]

Sometimes Dee thinks the reason she and Mac have never gotten along is that they’re just too much the same; both of them caught up in Dennis’s orbit, thriving on whatever attention he deems fit to bestow on them.

jamais vu - yennefers [6k]

“I just think we’re spending too much time together,” Mac blurts out.

The silence that follows is so complete, Dennis can hear the blood rushing in his ears.

—

Mac and Dennis break up. Again.

Mac and Dennis Plan a Wedding - mxingno [5k]

“Jesus Christ, Charlie, this isn’t about banging -- it’s about two men, who have been living together for years anyway, taking advantage of government handouts while winning an argument. Don’t cheapen this, okay?”

Moonlight - andchaos [6k]

Instead of fighting, when Dennis came home stressed while they lived in the suburbs, he and Mac would go for a relaxing swim to calm down.

where there is hatered (let me sow love) [6k]

Dennis figures out he needs to spice up his and Mac's routine movie night blow jobs.

our love’s the only thing that could matter - oppshidaisy [6k]

From a distance, Mac smelled like an alpha.

(Or: Dennis has never gotten the appeal of alphas. He tries something else.)

domesticity and other cults - lagaudiere [6k]

Or, Mac and Dennis move to the suburbs.

hey man i love you (but no fucking way) - andchaos [7k]

Dennis will always come back home to Mac, even when neither of them think so. For better or worse, the same wretched parts of them are magnetized together, and no amount of fighting or running away will change it.

What happens after Dennis leaves.

the day you move (i’m probably gonna explode) - sinnabar [7k]

He could maybe get addicted to this, if he let himself. Or: five times Mac and Dennis toed the line between friends and lovers, and one time they crossed it for good.

not gay - anastea [7k]

fellas is it "gay" to marry your best bro. asking for a friend

The Gang Stalks Mac - LamentableComedy [8k]

The gang think Mac is dating someone in secret so they follow him to try to figure out who.

Shortest Day, Longest Night - Crisp_Winter_Fox [9k]

Mac and Dennis sleep together the night before Dennis leaves to spend Christmas in North Dakota.

Mac expects Dennis to keep in touch while he's away. He doesn't, leaving Mac to worry about what it all meant.

A Fountain of Gardens/A Well of Living Waters and Streams - BleedingAlive [9k]

Many years ago, when they were seventeen and eighteen, Dennis told a lie. He’s told a lot of lies, actually, but this one stuck.

(Or, The Song of Solomon, except, Macdennis, in which Dennis has been in L--- with Mac for a lifetime)

further than either of us wanted - oopshidaisy [9k]

“This is just one man wanting to bang another man, and that other man charitably capitulating for the good of the friendship. Nothing more.”

(Or: Dennis comes up with a way to fix Mac's feelings for him. Mac reluctantly agrees.)

10K - 30K

Love You So Bad - usuallysunny [11k]

It's the summer of '93 and Mac's only sure of three things: Charlie will be his best friend forever, Project Badass is going to take over the world and no-one makes him feel quite like Dennis Reynolds does.

Complex - sidnihoudini [12k]

Dennis scratches at his chest. Water bugs. “No offense, man, but then how do you know about them?”

“Oh, Mac told me.” Charlie threads the hose back into his tiny tool belt. “He’s got some sources about these kinds of things.”

Which is great for Charlie, but doesn’t really work for Dennis.

“I’m not talking to Mac right now,” he says diplomatically.

communication breakdown - bleakmidwinter [12k]

During quarantine, Mac catches Dennis branching out in his pornography intake─watching gay porn and shamelessly jerking off to it. They come to a mutually beneficial arrangement that'll help them both get through lockdown without falling victim to overbearing sexual frustration. No strings attached, right?

never gonna fall for (modern love) - rcg [13k]

Dennis chose North Dakota which means changing diapers, meal prepping, working on the weekends, and not having sex with his best friend. While Mac and Dennis rekindle old feelings and fights over the phone every night, Dennis thinks about all that could've been for the first time.

each the other’s world entire - quixoti [13k]

Mac and Dennis survive each other. Mac and Dennis will always survive each other.

respite - andchaos [14k]

Mac comes up to visit Dennis at college junior year, alone for once. Their boys' day turns into a night out — one that Dennis would probably classify as a date, if they were anyone else.

But maybe, privately, he still thinks of it as their first.

Underneath - andchaos

5 times Dennis bottoms + 1 time Mac is desperate for it.

For the server. You fuel the holy-water-needed section of my brain.

i think i’m feeling it now - lohoron [15k]

“Are you satisfied with this?”

Mac blinks, eyes flickering between their thighs nearly touching and Dennis’s face. “Satisfied with what, dude?”

Dennis grins like he's doing something malicious and Mac gasps when he feels Dennis’s hand on his knee. Okay. Behave yourself.

“This. Us.”

It clears up nothing but somehow Mac knows exactly what he's asking. He gulps. Shrugs. His eyebrows are arched down, brown eyes wide and full of stupid hope. “Sometimes,” he settles on, because he figures the truth is too much of a mouthful.

Dennis Does CBT on Mac - trill_gutterbug [17k]

Dennis leaned toward Mac, lowering his voice. "I see what you're saying. You want to put the responsibility of your sexual self determination in my hands. You want to relinquish the burden of free will to me."

Mac squinted. "Yes? Er, I think so."

-

Dennis (graciously, selflessly, heroically) helps Mac overcome an addiction.

always summer - yennefers [17k]

The things Mac and Dennis do when they're alone, from 1994 to 2019.

Smooth Criminal - andchaos [17k]

Dennis really, really wants to pick up the hot guy who keeps coming into the bar every weekend. Somehow the words keep getting fumbled on the way out of his mouth. He's trying, he swears.

Mac and Dennis Move Forward - kaivevo - [17k]

“It’s like this,” Mac explained. “Dennis has been kinda sad lately, you know? It’s… he has this thing, he calls it his God Hole, and he’s trying to use this kid to fill it up. But he’s way more dumber than I thought because he already tried that, and it didn’t work. And it’s so annoying because he still doesn’t realize that the person who’s gonna fill his hole is right in front of him.” He gestured to himself, just in case his point wasn’t clear. Charlie’s face lit up in realization.

“Ohhh, okay, that’s what this is about,” he said. “You want to fill Dennis’s hole.”

Mac coughed. “No, that’s— that’s not what I meant, don’t say it like that.”

30k+

mutual assured destruction - headbangingSappho [30k]

He wants to wrap himself around Mac like a python buries its prey in its inescapable, deadly embrace. With his chest against Mac’s back and his face against his nape, he wants to press closer and closer until he can sink his claws into his very bones and seep his poison into his veins and Mac can never, ever walk away from him without tearing himself apart in the process. He wants to stay like this until they both die.

Mac lets out a pleased, half-asleep hum and lovingly puts his own hands on Dennis’ fists that are grasping the front of his old T-shirt so vehemently they’re almost shaking.

if i ruin this (i can live with it) - wekeepeachotherhuman [31k]

“Dennis,” Dr. Eddy says, still writing, still smiling. “I want you to take some work home with you from this session.” She finally looks up at him and nods encouragingly. Dennis can’t help the way his eyes roll all the way back into his head.

“Great,” he mutters.

“I want you to track your impulses,” she says. “I want you to track your impulses and I want you to put the intention behind that impulse in one of two categories.”

She stands, goes to her desk. She opens a drawer and pulls out a second notebook. She opens it to the first page and begins to write in it. Then, she comes to Dennis, stops right in front of him and presents the journal to him, still opened.

She’s drawn a table. A question looms at the top of the page: What is my intention with this action? And there are only two columns. One labeled growth and the other: stagnation.

—

Dennis decides that there should be a third column: destruction.

your soul is changing - kafkian [41k]

Dennis comes back.

circle the drain - bleakmidwinter [42k]

Dennis experiences the same day over and over. A peculier, yet totally unoriginal day. When it becomes apparent he isn't having Final Destination style visions, he must figure out how to break the curse.

these things get louder - kafkian [58k]

Mac hatches a secret plan to repair his and Dennis’s friendship. Dennis is pretty sure he knows what the root of the problem is, though, and he isn’t going to let up until Mac admits to it.

Set after Season 11.

Mac and Dennis Get a New Apartment - pavonine [59k]

After Dee's landlord threatens to kick them out for squatting, Mac and Dennis get a place of their own and it's all downhill from there. Dennis tries to keep himself together. Life's got other plans.

Set a few months after the end of Season 10.

the way we look to us all - endquestionmark [63k]

Dennis Reynolds is forty-four years old, and it doesn’t get any better from here.

an impossible view - kafkian [65k]

‘You’re what?’ Dennis asks blankly.

‘I’m moving out,’ Mac explains. The same three words he said a second ago, and they don’t make any more sense in that order than they did the first time. ‘I was just – I was thinking about what you said, about wanting – uh. Wanting me to move out. And it kind of made sense, so. I guess I’m doing it.’

‘How did it make sense?’ Dennis asks.

---

After the events of Season 13, Mac moves out. Dennis handles it really well, obviously.

like real people do - notreallywriting [66k]

“I just want to be normal, Mac. Is that too much to ask for?”

“I don't know, Den. Maybe it is.”

-

or: mac and dennis get worse before they get better

Bloom - andchaos [68k]

Dennis owns a flower shop. Mac's trying to grow a garden.

guardians of a rare thing - yennefers [101k]

Sometimes Mac will kiss him to calm him down. It’s a no strings attached kind of thing, until it isn’t.

[kukuandkookie]

Sinophobes are a fun batch of people because they will write shit like this and completely mean it. 🤣

They always refer to the Red Guard and the evil CCP and how badly it destroyed Chinese culture and tradition, but they never want to address the fact that there’s a historical domino effect for why China rejected tradition for a bit (if you get stomped on by colonizers for a lengthy period of time, you’re naturally going to feel like you didn’t modernize fast enough to fight back against said colonizers).

These sinophobes also never want to address the fact that so much of Chinese tradition and culture is actually alive and well in China! It still exists—meaning you can literally fucking wear a hanfu on the street or eat some traditional food or go to a fucking museum or read a traditional poem or look at some traditional art. And what even is the Chinese tradition and culture they’re referring to, anyway?

China is so big and diverse with such a long history, are you going to say the other ethnicities don’t count as part of China’s cultural identity? Like on China destroying culture, does that mean the Qing dynasty doesn’t count as Chinese because it had Manchu leaders and influence? Are we really going to act like Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia can encapsulate all of China’s complex history and culture when a) it is so complex and b) they have their own fucking cultures and histories???

Like I’m pretty sure if you told a Taiwanese person or a Thai person that the place they’re from is an embodiment of China, they���d be pissed off at you.

Even with how contentious Taiwan is, whether you’re pro- or anti-China, you’re not going to bring up the history of Qinshihuang and the terracotta warriors or the Great Wall etc as being part of Taiwanese history. So why would you expect to find the major aspects of Chinese culture and tradition in Taiwan? Especially when I thought we were supposed to see Taiwan as its own thing!!!

Comments like this one just fascinate me because they’re obviously wrong, yet they’re so happy being wrong since they come from this stubborn prejudice that doesn’t fucking care that China actually does still have its historical traditions and cultures and that they’re actually pretty decently intact for a nation with a history as long and as chaotic as China’s. But this comment fascinates me all the more because it feels like they went so anti-China they got confused by their own messaging, because why does it sound like you don’t see Taiwan and Singapore and even Thailand and Malaysia as having their own unique identities and cultures? 😂

This is also why bad faith comments like this become amusing after a while:

People like this don’t believe that there can be anything good about China. They pretend to be all civil and tell you to “just focus on the good of China,” but they don’t mean it lmao. Because as soon as you post something about China that is positive, such as praising its greener energy efforts or its high speed rail or what have you, these people will tell you it’s fake or ask, “But at what cost?”

It’s just ironic, and in multiple ways.

It’s not okay to run accounts and channels hating on the US but it’s okay running accounts and channels hating on China like China Uncensored or that one David Zhang guy who I swear to fucking God I wish YouTube would stop recommending to me when I search up “China vlog”—?

But most of all, it’s ironic because Chinese people can and do “sell the beauty of China,” but sinophobes have their ears and eyes closed to shit like that. What can you do, am I right? ;P

Which is why more and more Chinese people are becoming pro-China, and then sinophobes wonder why Chinese people are so brainwashed.

It was literally just a few weeks ago that someone praised a video on Chongqing because it showed the city in a more mundane light rather than painting it as a cyberpunk city, and when people disagreed with them, they said this:

The answer to their last question is obviously “the sinophobia here stems from you immediately doubting anything positive about China as propaganda and then assuming anyone who disagrees with you is a CCP shill while also insisting that China itself must be a dystopia in reality” (also, Chongqing went viral because of tourists on TikTok, and no, you can bet they weren’t paid by the Chinese government, so how exactly is it propaganda again?).

People like this wonder why there are so many “CCP shills” out there to the point they feel the need to call them the “CCP Junior Kids’ League” without realizing they’re contributing to the creation of these “CCP Junior Kids’ League” members.

Because oh, I don’t know, buddy—maybe antagonizing an entire nation doesn’t always endear you to that nation’s citizens?? I know I for one became more pro-China after being surrounded by sinophobia online, and I’m a Canadian-born Chinese who never even really felt Chinese growing up.

And the funny thing about sinophobia is that it’s just this quiet, increasingly acceptable aspect of western society. It’s not a hate that’s outwardly violent or brutal, so it’s not as big of a deal. It’s almost mundane and banal. That’s why I always feel weird discussing it, like I should be putting disclaimers everywhere that emphasize I’m western, I’m educated, I’m critical of nationalism and patriotism, because if I didn’t, I’d just be another “member of the CCP Junior Kids’ League.”

And now I feel guilty discussing it because sinophobia can’t be easily compared to other forms of racism that manifest in far more brutal ways, especially in this current day when Israel is committing literal genocide with such cruel, fully dehumanizing, hate-filled, racist roots.

But whenever I do discuss sinophobia, it’s stuff that’s built up over weeks and weeks and weeks. I do curate my spaces and I do ignore prejudice when I have to (eg I learned the hard way to NEVER search up “中国🇨🇳” on Twitter because you will get a lot of racism against China from Japanese users). It’s only when it gets to a point that I’m exasperated and rolling my eyes that I vent on Tumblr.

I will admit though that the more time passes and the more sinophobia becomes normalized, the more my exasperation also turns into mild amusement. They hate China so much, man. They will literally never change their minds. They will always be this ignorant. Isn’t that wild? 😂

And although, when I do think deeper about it, I do admit I think it’s a pity that people can walk the streets and think of what are essentially my people (ancestrally speaking, anyway) in such a degrading, delusional fashion and be so wrong about China, yet it’s just a fact of life. It’s pretty normalized and not something that will likely be challenged because it’s “not wrong morally” to hate on China as long as you emphasize “I hate the government.” So I can only be exasperatedly amused by their ignorance.

[freakattack]

I really want everyone to be playable in wario party (mario party but fast) but i also want everyone to have a wario party board. I want to have it all

Everything past this point is diagnostic info for my doctor↓

Orbulon: a space world obviously but you can get ate by the giant planet in warioware twisted and lose your coins or maybe a star if you suck bad enough. This one would be fucked up compared to the other boards in some way, maybe upside down, maybe in 5/4 time. I dont know. Shops are run by alien bunnies.

Mona: pizza world. Sorry girl but i am typecasting you as pizza. At first i thoguht it should be like koopas tycoon town where the more pizzas you sell the more star you get, or something, but no. You walk on a giant pizza. The spaces are pepperonis. Its what she would have wanted

Jimmy T- Club sugar everything is DANCING THEMED and if you land on a special space then you have to do a dance off where you move the switch/wiimote/whatever like its just dance in the correct formation or else you lose everything. Dance fucker dance like you never had a chance.

9-volt: Awww fuck. Th

INTERMISSION: i cant stop saying Aw fuck i got the meat sweats in the fucked up meatwad voice vinny uses in his warioware dubs. Sorry if this affects my communication in any way.

e obvious answer would be making it inside a giant gameboy, or Gamecube, remember the mario kart battle track/nintendogs house that was just a giant DS? This. But its also like, you're shrunk real tiny and inside someones house, on their giant gamecube. Theres nintendo references everywhere natch and all of the sound effects are changed to become chiptunes. You can get punched out by Punch-Out from Punch-Out.

Ashley: Its a haunted house. Whaddaya want.

Dr. Crygor: so the obvious thing to do here is to make it be themed around his laboratory but SIKE, pennys got the lab, instead Dr Crygor is leaning into the "tropical deserted island" theme that surrounds his laboratory and you get to be eaten by a giant plant! Yaaay

I kinda wanna have this be like a survivor style total drama thing where you can get voted off the island somehow

Kat and ana: This one would be really somber and depressing for no reason.

Dribblenspitz: They should get a dusty route 66 desert highway filled with drag racers and whatnot, like whatever they are doing in warioware diy wii version. Orbulon took the space theme but it would be mean to just plop them in diamond city so its only fair.

wario: It would be a treasure land, packed with music boxes and golden pyramids and such so that the wario land people dont get on my case. Instead of stars your goal is to get as many coins as possible and there are so many ways to steal coins from people that it is impossible to keep the lead for more than 2 seconds.

Kat and ana: I changed my mind i want to explain this one for real now anyways it would be a ninja land obviously and there would be like, ninjas appearing and disappearing in places.....like you could teleport across the board and the game would be like oh its a ninja thing. You know? Lots of trickery afoot.

Waluigi: Secret level. The boss level actually. Hes pissed off that you didnt invite him to the wario party. You have to shoot him in the nose

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I keep regurgitating my OC in your askbox but you must know that Ansi is a liar, a swindler, and a thief (because it's fun pulling on over on the rich). She is actively swindling all of her coworkers out of their money via phishing emails or just giving a sob story to those who are particularly generous with their funds. (Don't feel bad they're all selfish, entitled, and egotistical. The Alchemax of her world is mostly just rich people who think that they understand science kinda like someone we know irl cougheloncough. They have too much time on their hands and too many friends in power. Ethics laws are pretty much meaningless. They only give her money to make themselves look better. They make a big stink about how they're making a change for their community and blah blah blah. Anyways.) If she doesn't need the cash she'll most likely donate it.

What's really funny is that she attempted to do the same as soon as she arrived at HQ. Much to Miguel's dismay. She got some of the spiders who live in an older dimension. Unfortunately after a while Lyla had to teach them about internet safety.

Ansi ended up scoping the place out to see what she could steal to sell for parts back in her home world since her scams were no longer effective. However she was so mesmerized by all of the tech there that she ended up keeping most of her stolen goods for herself to tinker with. Her and Hobie usually find themselves in the same areas snatching stuff and exchanging potential ideas for what to do with the parts. Disco has caught them a number of times with their pockets stuffed to the brim sounding like they got pockets full of loose change before they just pop back into their respective dimensions.

(Who am I kidding Hobie probably stays and denies everything when asked. Ansi is too tired to lie from lugging her loot around so she just goes straight home.)

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

It would turn into like a whole operation cause game recognize game!!!! Disco would respect Ansi so much cause black spider-women gotta stick together and she lets Ansi get away with anything, sets aside parts for her cause she's like 'hell yeah fuck miguel he doesn't need it'

but with Hobie she's the OPPOSITE.

Ansi's like 'yeah Discos cool with it ur fine' then one day she catches him and he's thinking 'oh it's the groupie girl i wink and im outta here'

until Disco is like

"Is that Hobie Brown??? Is HOBIE BROWN over here STEALING???? That's crazy!"

Because Disco runs game in her own way and up until that very moment she was playing the airhead groupie card

Hobies like "????Surely ur taking the piss"

And she's like "You know what'd be crazy?? Me not having to pay cover at your show this weekend, rightttt? You know what'd be even crazier..me being VIP, rigghhttt?

cause for the first couple weeks of knowing her she let him get away with the wink and flirt thing cause she thought it was funny. but she works in a nightclub back home and she's NOT about to play that

Disco was raised by the Panthers so she knows how to collect and trade information like an informat. So she trades info and other stuff around HQ ALL the time.

She's the plug for anything - if you wanna hack ur watch she dont know how to do it but she knows someone he does, if u need to get into lylas systems for any reason she wont do that but she knows someone who will

but she doesnt accept cash cause she doesn't need it and she doesn't 'get into no mess'

(And this may sound unhinged but this is my favorite one jgkbdknbg)

My main HC is that the first time she does it to get into a show free but the next time she asks for his guitar pick cause she just wants it

she starts wearing it (which Jess HATES) but suddenly she realizes theres a couple girlies on campus telling her they'd do anything for one of Hobie's picks and then suddenly she's asking him for more

She starts giving groupies picks and getting information from every department and then like two weeks later the hobie brown fanclub is just a full on info network

Working with Jess and the club she collects all the underground info and shares the information with Hobie ON THE CONDITION that the club gets free entry into shows and he keeps giving her goddamn guitar picks

He'd try to get around it and be like "Diane, love - you're looking fit today :)) about that meeting with Jess and Miguel you were in-"

and she's just like "uh-huh-

"Where's the pick? And don't say you ain't got it on you, I know you do." Cause one thing about Diane is you ain't playing her. And Hobie goes along with it because 1) Disco is actually really trustworthy, 2) it's damn good info about the society, and 3) he thinks it REALLY funny to see people walking around campus trading and collecting his picks for the sole fact it pisses Miguel off SO MUCH.

Suddenly people are talking in meetings and whispering about guitar picks and trying to get their hands on rare, unique ones cause Hobie etches his logo into every one

and one day Ansi's hanging with Hobie and Disco comes up to him and is like 'Pick, please'. And Ansi watches as he hands it over and she's like "?????? What's happening here"

I have to PHYSICALLY STOP MYSELF HERE I CAN GO ON AND ON IM SORRY THIS IS SOOOOO LONG BUT PLEASE!!! I love this please send more!! I love hearing about Ansi and Hobie and causing havok and an underground rebellion in the Society!!! And sorry I got so carried away I just love this idea, you can send any you have, I'm down! They would all get along so well lol

[hareofhrair]

Hare's Isekai Quest - Otherside Picnic

A little while ago I reblogged a post about female led isekai and I decided to make a list of interesting sounding titles and dive in. This is the third series I've read so far. This one was better than the other two by a pretty wide margin, lol.

First a quick summary - Sorawo discovers a door that leads to another world, the Other Side, where she's attacked by a kunekune (wiggle wiggle), a creature from urban legends that drives you insane the more you look at it. She's saved by a mysterious blond girl, Toriko, and together they manage to destroy the kunekune, retrieving a strange object it leaves behind. Toriko is searching for a friend, Satsuki, who used to explore the Other Side with her but has disappeared. She says she can sell the object they got from the kunekune to someone for a good amount of money and invites Sorawo to come back to the Other Side with her to try and get more. Sorawo is drawn to the Other Side and to Toriko (and also is just a broke university student desperate for money) so she agrees. They face a kunekune again and Sorawo is nearly driven mad. The encounter leaves her right eye permanently changed, able to perceive things from the Other Side differently and see through illusions. Toriko's hand is changed, enabling her touch things from the Other Side differently. The two begin exploring together, encountering more figures from urban legends and slowly uncovering the true horrifying nature of the Other Side. By the time they realize that world is changing them, it's already too late. But Toriko is obsessed with finding Satsuki, who Sorawo gradually realizes was more than just a friend. She struggles with unexpected jealousy that grows worse the closer she gets to Toriko and the more they learn about Satsuki. It turns out Satsuki was hiding a lot from Toriko, including other girls she'd been grooming to take to the Other Side. Toriko's feelings about Satsuki grow more complicated, but her resolve to find the other woman doesn't waver, which only frustrates Sorawo.

I caught up to this one a lot faster than I would have liked. As soon as I finished it I was desperate for more. I'm genuinely considering trying to find a translation of the light novel. The story is incredibly compelling, the characters complex, and the horror is riveting. I loved the encounters with urban legends I was already familiar with as well as learning about new ones. The monsters are recognizable but all have a unique twist to them that keeps things surprising.

The relationship between Sorawo and Toriko is incredibly captivating, if somewhat frustrating. Despite her jealousy and possessiveness and being frequently dazzled by Toriko's beauty, Sorawo seems oblivious to fact that what she feels for Toriko is more than just friendship, and while I think Toriko is plenty aware, she's still obsessed with Satsuki and can't move on. So they spiral around each other, drawn continually closer but never quite touching. This is just one of many things that makes me want to smack them both over the head and tell them to cultivate some common sense.

Their actions throughout the story are generally pretty believable- Even the inexplicable fact that they keep going back to the Other Side despite how many times they've nearly died is explained not just by Toriko's obsession with Satsuki and Sorawo's devotion to Toriko, but as an effect of the Other Side itself, which influences their minds in ways they're probably already too changed to be properly horrified by. However, it is a horror story, which means a certain amount of bad stupid decisions are made. It's to the story's credit that none of their bad choices were ever egregious enough to take me out of the story or piss me off, except when it comes to their relationship (and really, that's part of the fun).

The art style is pretty standard but competently done, but it's at its best during the most horrifying sequences, when it takes a turn for the more stylized and experimental.

I think it could stand to take more chances, but it's definitely effective. I think I just prefer that kind of Dave McKean surreal look to the more polished stock anime style.

Now here's where things fall apart- Is this an isekai? I don't think so! I said in my last review that isekai has three pillars: Portal fantasy, litrpg, and indulgent fantasy. Otherside Picnic definitely qualifies as a portal fantasy, but there's no game elements (unless you count the monsters sometimes dropping loot?), and there's definitely nothing indulgent about it. Sorawo's feelings about the Other Side include a bit of escapism, but it's definitely not a place the reader is supposed to want to escape to. The horror stakes mean their powers are kept weak enough that it couldn't qualify as a power fantasy. And the fantasy of a hot blond with an AK saving you from monsters is somewhat neutered by that hot blond being firmly out of reach because she's still pining over her evil ex girlfriend. So while Otherside Picnic is an excellent story it's definitely not an isekai.

I really don't have much negative to say about this one, and what little there is goes in the "how much does the author's fetish get in the way?" section. First of all I'd say it scores pretty high marks for not being too horny! There's very little fanservice aside from the beach episode and generally the characters aren't sexualized at all. Buuuut it's anime so of course there's a character who looks like a twelve year old despite being a grown woman. Kozakura isn't sexualized any more than the others, but like, we know why she's there. :/ Between that and the cheesecake in Magirevo there's just an exhausting feeling that even when these manga are about women, they're not for women. Though maybe this is narrow minded of me. Women like to look at boobs too! With yuri I'm just always suspicious of anything that feels intended for the male gaze. I may need to make a second list of specifically isekai written by women after this.

Overall I highly enjoyed this one and I'm going to make an effort to keep up with it (something I'm notoriously bad at) and possibly try and find the novel. I think there's an anime too? Might give that a watch, see how the horror stylization holds up to animation. I recommend this one to people who like horror and unacknowledged unrequited lesbian yearning, and I give it eight out of ten wiggle wiggles.

[translucent-at-best]

Scatter-brained...

I can't find the post about the greatest movie deaths to reblog it, but I just want y'all to know that topping my list is Queenie the dog's death in Crooklyn. Also included is Sonny from The Godfather and Samuel L. Jackson's character in Deep Blue Sea.

Life been life-ing like a motherfucker lately. And while some of it is just happening to me through no fault of my own, there is some of it that's also just me dealing with the consequences of my actions. I'm trying to focus on the things I can control, but it's easier said than done.

Death been death-ing like crazy too. From family to friends to friends who are family... This shit don't make no sense.

I'm 33 now. I haven't had a birthday party since I was 9, but I'm planning a birthday brunch for myself next weekend and I'm excited for it. And grateful that I have people to invite and who I know will show up for me. I'm really out here with chosen family. I came out here knowing no one. I might sound like a broken record at this point, but I'll never stop thanking God for that.

Had to kick my roommate's boyfriend out of the apartment a few weeks ago. I'm still shaken up over it. She told me he's not welcome back until I say he is and I told her I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with that again (read: I absolutely won't be). She says she understands and that that's a consequence he'll just have to live with... but I'm very aware that although she's saying that now, she may not be so understanding on a May 15th or a July 20th or... you get it. I hope I'm wrong, but if she's shown me anything thus far, it's that I can't always believe what she says.

This same boyfriend showed up unannounced at my place last Sunday night to "apologize." We talked through the call box and that was only long enough for me to say (and repeat several times) that I'm not in a place to accept an apology right now. He kept trying to convince me to talk, asking for "a minute of your time" and saying that he's really a good guy.

First off, anyone who calls themselves a "good" person, I'm wary of. I feel like that's the type of thing other people should tell me about you or that I should clearly be able to see for myself through your actions. Secondly, your solution to getting kicked out of some place is to show up to that place unannounced and try to force the person who wanted you out to accept your apology on your time and terms? Fuck all the way out of here. Thirdly, the lack of self awareness it takes to say you understand why what you did (not listening to us when we told you to leave) was wrong, but then to refuse to listen and leave AGAIN as you try to apologize is mind-boggling. Every time I think about it, I end up even more pissed.

I've been closing all my fitness circles nearly every day this month and I'm really proud of me for that. I even went and worked out on my birthday. Who is she?

The economy is a mess, the current job market is big trash, and the non-profit org I work for has fallen on hard times and informed us that there will be layoffs at the end of this school year. I'm applying and have been applying, but finding the energy to keep doing so is draining in a way I don't think I've experienced before.

And, on top of all that, my sleep schedule has been terrible. I thought it was just a side effect of my period this month, but that thing been gone for a minute and I'm still struggling.

April 13th (the day I promised myself I'd get back on a dating app) came and went. I downloaded an app. I created a profile. I consulted friends about which pictures to post and choose... but them fucking prompts? I know I'm supposed to show off my personality, sell myself, etc. I just ain't got the energy right now...

[themetalvirus]

OMG IM SORRY FOR ASKING YOUR FAVORITE CHILD BISCUIT 😭😭 why is that other pen in time out corner forever though

allow me to introduce you to my disgraceful failure children who i shall disown forever

left is the ooly splendid, pen i was too lazy to even reassemble is the fountain pen revolution muft

the ooly splendid writes okay. it's an okay pen. if it weren't for the WICK IN THE NIB (and the proprietary cartridges)

hey biscuit, what do you mean by "wick"? well, you know how crayola markers have those felt tips? yeah, there's a tiny little felt tip nestled into the nib of the pen. it's this tiny little white thing.

oh, that doesn't seem so bad, right? well, if you want to change ink colors, you can't just rinse the pen out, let it dry, and refill it. you need to soak it in water. for literal days. and even then, it's kind of a futile mission, because you're trying to soak all the ink out of a fucking crayola marker nib, and if that sounds fucking impossible, IT BASICALLY IS.

that's not the only trouble with changing colors, oh no. the ooly splendid uses proprietary cartridges. what that means is that you can't use other companies' ink refills, ONLY ooly's, and they have maybe six colors of carts available. oh, i'll just use bottled ink, you say. naïvely. because not only do they use proprietary cartridges, but they do not sell converters that fit the proprietary cart system. that is unheard of with literally every other notable fountain pen company selling or accepting converters. i had to dig through reddit to find out that i had to buy and jam in a fucking parker converter to be able to use bottled inks. which isn't even a good idea anyway.

not only is it very difficult to change ink colors, but the pen is a snap cap. the pilot metro is a snap cap, and it seems to stay wet after sitting for a while even when inked, so that doesn't seem to be a proper complaint, right? WELL. the cap actually lacks an o-ring, which is basically a gasket that keeps the nib from making contact with the air and drying out, which is VERY necessary for keeping the nib from doing THIS.

that is dried up, clumped up ink. these are called "ink boogers" and they're very unsightly. they also make the pen write worse. if you want to keep the pen free of these, you have to clean it frequently. which you can't, not effectively, because you cannot disassemble the pen effectively. THIS BITCH SUCKS SO FUCKING HARD.

okay, the muft is a lot less of a big deal. it comes for free with fpr purchases, whatever. but if they're literally giving a pen away for free, it is not going to be good.

no matter what i do to the nib, no matter how many times i heat set it or try to adjust it or anything else, the muft spits. and drools. and splatters. and pisses everywhere. the nib just DRIPS onto the page while you're trying to write or draw and it is absolutely infuriating. this issue can usually be solved in fpr pens (common issue) by heat-setting them, but it DOES NOT FUCKING WORK on the muft.

that and because of its size and weird shape it is difficult to clean. you cant even use it because itll ruin whatever you write. usually i like eyedropper filled pens but the ink capacity actually really hurts the muft because its just more ink to piss away and splatter everywhere

[lizhly-writes]

I wish you would write a fic where yang haoshu interacts with liu gongnan. Hehehe

THIS WAS FUCKING LONGER THAN I THOUGHT I'D BE BUT HERE YOU GO.

...

Placidly, Yang Haoshu watched her mother pace back and forth like a caged tiger – furious, snarling, likely to snap at the first person who said anything at all.

Yang Haoshu was going to be that person.

“You look upset,” she said brightly.  “Look at how hard your brow is furrowed, shouldn’t you relax a little?  Getting stressed is bad for your heart.”

Liu Gongnian whirled around, lips drawn back. “You’re the one making me stressed!”

“Yes, Mother.  Sorry, Mother.”

“Don’t even bother saying it if you don’t mean it.”

“But Mother–”

“I have raised you for your entire life,” Liu Gongnian hissed, which Yang Haoshu personally thought was a little bit of an overstatement, considering how much time Liu Gongnian was away on business and how much time some hired auntie had been in charge of Yang Haoshu instead.

“Well,” Yang Haoshu began, immediately wanting to express this sentiment out loud and begin an entirely different argument.

“I know you do not mean it.  If you meant it, you wouldn’t be making me stressed to begin with.”

“Well,” Yang Haoshu began again, pivoting to address this brand new point, “that’s a little harsh.”  Entirely correct, but harsh.  “How was I supposed to know you would get so stressed out about my choice of study?”

Liu Gongnian looked like she was seriously considering slapping Yang Haoshu upside the head.  “Of all things, why would you want to study acting?”

Mother really got worked up so easily.  Out of the entire family, she was the only one who did, and Yang Haoran was the only one to ever make her.

Yang Haoshu smiled.  It was beautiful, bright, beatific, and absolutely nobody liked seeing it when they were already pissed off, least of all her mother.  “Why not?”

“Do you want a list?  I can give you a list.”

“How interesting.  Print it out, I’ll patiently wait here.”

“You–!”

“Me!” Yang Haoshu said cheerfully, tucking her hands behind her back.  “I’m glad we both know who we’re talking about!”

“Get that look off your face,” Liu Gongnian snapped.  “You’re talking about selling your body in front of a camera.”

“You make it sound so dirty, Mother.  What exactly do you think goes on in the script?”

“It isn’t about what’s going on in the script.  It’s about the strings behind the script.  There’s no money, no dignity–”

“But perhaps there is artistic merit?” Yang Haoshu said leadingly.

“Is that what you want from this?  You want to be an artist? Why couldn’t you do writing, don’t you like that as well?”

Yang Haoshu blinked. “I don’t see why you’re so surprised.”  If anyone was going to be surprised, it should be Yang Haoshu herself; she didn’t know that her mother knew that she liked writing at all.  Da-jie must have mentioned at some point.  Still – “I like acting better.  You didn’t have this much of an issue with the acting club I was in.”

“You were doing school theater,” Liu Gongnian hissed.

“And I was very good at school theater,” Yang Haoshu said, idly examining her nails for dramatic effect.

This wasn’t bragging.  Yang Haoshu was objectively good at school theater.  There had been some bets and competitions involved in proving this.  Yang Haoshu had won them all.  Her parents had barely acknowledged any of them.

“It was school,” Liu Gongnian said, hand going up to her temples.  “How much trouble could you have possibly gotten up to in school?”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Is there anything to know?”

Maybe this would have been a question Yang Haoshu would have straightforwardly answered a few years ago, if either of her parents paid attention to her in school.  But that was then; this was now.  

Yang Haoshu shrugged.

“You–” Liu Gongnian took a deep, calming breath. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Am I?  I don’t see how you could possibly think that.”

“Why are you like this?  Your sister–”

Ahaha, there it was.  In the end, it always came down to this: “Why can’t you be like your sister?”

Frankly, Yang Haoshu had zero desire to ever be like her sister.  Yang Haoli was, of course, very clever, very intelligent, very accomplished.  A fine model of a successful adult, if there ever was one.  But they really weren’t the same person, and Yang Haoshu had no interest in cutting parts of herself off to fit Yang Haoli’s place. 

“Da-jie supports me in my endeavors,” she said mildly.

“...You’ve already talked to your sister about this.”

“Why wouldn’t I, we have such a good relationship.”

Liu Gongnian glared.  It was really such a good glare.  A stranger would have pleaded for mercy; Yang Haoli would have crumbled. Unfortunately, Yang Haoshu had inherited that same expression, so the effect it had on her was nil.

Yang Haoshu smiled and waited.

“The acting industry,” Liu Gongnian said, after a long silence, “is filthy.  If you wanted to be a director – perhaps – but acting is selling yourself for someone else’s vision. There is no pride.  No dignity.  You will beg on your knees for the barest scrap of attention, and your effort doesn’t matter if someone else traded the right favors to grab it from your hands.  It’s not about talent.  It’s about whether how low you’re willing to go for fame.  What are you going to do, become some man’s kept mistress for a good role?  Lick some director’s boots?”

A little quieter, a little tireder: “I… don’t want that for you.”

… Yang Haoshu was abruptly finding this conversation less fun.

“I did do my research,” Yang Haoshu said, continuing forward anyway, because this entire conversation had a point, and she couldn’t turn around without making it. “I’m aware. Those things do happen – to actors and actresses without proper backing.  Will I be an actress without proper backing?”

Another pause. “Does it even matter what I say?” Liu Gongnian said, tone comfortably back to irritated.  “Whether or not I approve, whether or not you have backing, none of that changes the fact that you’re going to run off and do whatever you want.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Yang Haoshu said.  “Da-jie’s taking care of the company just fine.  She doesn’t need my help.  I might as well follow my dreams, hmm?”

“Irresponsible,” Liu Gongnian scoffed.

“Yes, Mother.”

“If you do this–”

“When I do this–”

“--then I expect you to take it seriously.”

“Mother approves?”

“Mother does not approve,” Liu Gongnian snapped.  “It’s an idiotic decision and I wish you would pick anything else.”

“How about prostitution–”

“Regardless,” Liu Gongnian doggedly continued, pointedly ignoring that dig.  “Speak to your father if you want anything more, but you will have the backing you want from me.  Happy?”

“Extremely.

“However.  I expect you to show some results.  If you’re going to be an actress, become the best damn actress in China.”

Wow, such a high goal! Was this Mother’s pride in her child, setting expectations like that?  If she’d been some sort of flower who only wanted a little taste of fame, then she really would have been scared off.

Fortunately, Yang Haoshu was not that kind of person.  Not even close.

Yang Haoshu smiled – head high, teeth bared, arrogant as any child of the heavens given divine favor.  “Of course.  There’s no other way this could go.”

[mister13eyond]

It's okay that you called me Anon, don't worry. Is one of your assholes also trying to reset every single alternative universe you've created? My yes or rather is trying to cancel a certain event, completely ignoring the butterfly effect it could have. For him, chaos theory is nonsense created by humans.

OH THAT SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL AND TERRIBLE i *love* a metanarrative aware/multiverse-destroying character [chef kiss] NOT TO COMPARE TO UNDERTALE AUS but i always loved the whole back and forth happening with certain undertale aus where some iterations wanted to DESTROY the concept of alternate universes/timeline offshoots and others wanted to INSPIRE artists and lead to the creation of MORE offshoots? it's super fun, that level of self-interaction between yourself as a creator and your character as a narrative element but also a RESPONSE to your creation is SO fun!

NONE OF MINE ARE ON THAT LEVEL but I think the closest would be Zinnia- rambling/oc lore under the cut bc it got long!

SO SOME FRAMEWORK IS NECESSARY in my comic universe, angels are beings connected to the mana that makes up the universe, which they can cast as "miracles", while demons are beings made of mana who cannot draw it from the universe around them and must draw it from individuals to sustain themselves instead

As a result of this, FALLEN angels (which Zinnia is) are angels who have not only been cast out of heaven but also CUT OFF from the flow of universal mana

However, because of this, fallen angels can be something like black holes that can wipe out entire city blocks by draining all the mana and life force from beings around them. They're incredibly dangerous. As a result, not only are fallen angels RARE, but heaven also takes precautions when exiling them by shackling them. These shackles act as sort of power limiters, making it so they can only draw mana on a very small scale (and not from humans- it has to be obtained from mana-based beings like demons.) These shackles cannot be removed by the fallen angel themself, and must be removed by someone else.

Since it's pretty dangerous to create a fallen angel, and even WITH the shackles can still be risky, it is NOT done often. It's much more common for cases like Asphodel to happen- where someone is not-so-subtly encouraged to leave and not come back, but no *official* exile is made. They're still connected to the universal mana flow, but are Heavily Discouraged from using it. Like a kid who hasn't been fully disowned by their parents, but HAS stopped getting financial support in any way.

As a result, an angel has to REALLY fuck up to be exiled. In Zinnia's case, he was doing some Extremely Shady business dealings in the renaissance era- he was caught selling indulgences and making promises to certain religious figures that they'd have a guaranteed spot in heaven if they'd just help him with this particular political move he wanted to see happen, you know.... (I'm not saying he dealt with the Borgias, but i'm not NOT saying he dealt with the Borgias, you know?)

It's been A Long Time since then and Zinnia has mostly been kept from any large-scale scheming by a combination of being shackled and also generally everyone in his circle wising up to his nonsense, but he IS still pretty desperate to get his shackles off, and isn't above lying or deceiving others to do so. He's also relentlessly petty and does things like "sic a demon hunter on a demon because he pissed you off one time."

He's probably the biggest ACTUAL threat in the cast, but because he's got a poor reputation and is shackled so he can't use his power for destructive means, he's kind of undergone This form of characterization:

If he ever manages to actually fool anyone into unshackling him, he could be an Actual Genuine Threat, but since he hasn't had any success, he's just like a mean cat that lives in Damian's house and causes small-scale problems.