#there's so much knowledge out there to be learned and things to try out how are you supposed to do this all in one lifetime?

[sparkplug02]

It’s also showcasing the reality of trying and failing to do something. Why do you need survivors? Why do you need people to keep going and carry on? Because they learned the lessons. Other people paid the price for those lessons, but if you don’t remember them and factor them into your next try, you’ll make he same mistakes, you won’t move forward, and you won’t be better.

IF Haymitch had died in the arena when he meant to, IF Plutarch and Mags and Wiress and Beetee hadn’t gone through the terrible things that mutilated them to what we know them to be in the original trilogy, we don’t have their expertise to rely on. Not just because they’d be dead, but because Snow was actively and successfully rewriting the story to leave out those details. If they hadn’t survived, who would have been able to recount the truth? Probably no one.

Yes, that doesn’t make the mutilation itself good or ‘worth it.’ I know that, and I know Snow tortured them and none of that was necessary or right.

So you know that when Snow told Plutarch that the new Quarter Quell would reap tributes of victors, he started gambling with the idea that this could be a new chance to break the machine. He needs Beetee. He’s broken the arena twice, and they need it a third and final time. Learn from the mistakes of the past, figure out how to make it unsalvageable. Give him the biggest bomb you can think of and all the tools to make it happen.

He needs Wiress. Wiress, who’s smart enough to figure out the machine of the arena and who has a gut good enough to guide her to safety. Wiress, who can’t communicate properly and who has been hurt beyond sanity, but who is still in there enough to help. She does. It takes a while for everyone else to catch on, but she figures it out first.

He needs Mags. Mags who has seen two Quarter Quells to date. Mags who helped him with the rebellion for a long time since and who knows how these things end and what it takes for the rebellion to keep going. She either needs to be a mentor or a tribute, but she ends up being both in a way. She is an archive, she has the memory. A shame she can’t tell those memories anymore, but they’re still there and they’re still valuable and she can protect these young tributes far better inside the arena than outside.

He needs Haymitch. Haymitch, who lost everything AND himself during the last quarter quell, the last big plan to break the machine. He failed, but not completely. Haymitch showed them just how adept Snow was at twisting the story, at hiding the rot within. The rebellion all but killed him, but Plutarch needs him back. He was the face of rebellion, he was the Songbird and the Snake before Katniss and Peeta fell into that mantle. He learned the lessons they will need the hard way.

I’m willing to bet it was a damn miracle that Plutarch got Haymitch on board for Catching Fire. He has these two little ducklings that he cares about whether he wants to or not, and Plutarch is asking him to risk them and himself all over again for a plan that failed the last time it was enacted. He agrees, we know that, but Katniss doesn’t ever know about the rebellion until afterwards, and I’m don’t think Peeta does either.

I’m guessing that was Haymitch’s idea. After having all the pressure on him during his Quarter Quell, he’s not willing to put that on either Katniss or Peeta. They are both smart enough and stubborn enough to say the right things and play the part without realizing their role in all this. They want the Quell to end regardless of their knowledge of a greater rebellion. Haymitch steps in as the buffer between them and Plutarch because they trust Haymitch and he knows how hard it is to trust Plutarch. PLUTARCH knows how hard it is to trust Plutarch.

…actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know that Plutarch would have been able to convince Haymitch. Not after last time. He’s not willing to put those kids through that. He spent so much time trying to protect them from it, I’m not sure he would cave unless he didn’t have a choice.

Was Peeta’s name ever in the bowl for the reaping of the Quell? Could Plutarch have pulled that string to get Haymitch’s name in the bowl twice?

Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is they learned from those failures and the failed rebellions were just as important as the successful ones because they wouldn’t have been possible without the lessons learned from past attempts.

SotR is a realisation. A realisation that the rebellion didn’t start with Katniss. That all the people we see supporting her or helping her have all been wanting to fight but they’ve been failing. That there weren’t merely “rumours” of a revolution but there were many active plans playing out and failing.

It’s a reminder that the perfect Hunger Games we saw in the first hg book was an illusion because we had Katniss as our narrator. We didn’t have Haymitch, hell, we didn’t even have someone like Peeta because these people played the games. Katniss didn’t.

Katniss was introduced to us as a mad, simple, naive girl who literally only survived because of others. She didn’t know how much her taking Prim’s place mattered because she didn’t realise what it meant to everyone who came before her. To everyone who had heard rumours of how the last District 12 victor actually fought his games. No, Katniss had just kept her head down, hunting and providing for her family.

See, she grew up way before the Games got to her. She’d already lived through her dad’s death and watched it destroy her once lively mom. Haymitch didn’t have to go through that. Lucy Gray didn’t have to go through that. They were both angry, yes, but at the Capitol. Katniss? She was first and foremost angry at her mom. At her dad. She knew who was to blame but she had too much to do and deal with to think about that. She was already jaded in a way that the Games couldn’t touch.

Peeta? He was Haymitch. He knew what he was getting into and realised he was just on a chess board with no control. So, he adapted. He played the knight, the rook, the king, the pawn. Katniss? She just… did. Changing directions, not playing the piece she was assigned because she didn’t realise that’s what was going on. Remember her surprise at the crown twisting into two after the Games?? She was so oblivious. Until Catching Fire where everything caught up to her. Where everything so many other people had been waiting and working for caught up to her.

SotR is a history book. Rewritten and edited and published as a piece of fact. SotR is a mirror and it’s a reflection of what actually happens vs what ends up being shown. SotR is the playbook of those in control of any and every kind of media that we come in touch with. SotR is a wake up call and I truly don’t know how many will see it as such.

[ckret2]

do you have any tips on fueling a hyperfixation enough to finish a long fic? specifically when the media has a smaller fandom

sure here's several tips:

1) for me, this is the most imporant one, so it's long: if you've run out of canon material and there's only a little bit of fanfic/fanart, start consuming things adjacent to the fandom that are relevant to your fic. This means doing research! Nonfiction research, even! it'll be fun, it's for fanfic.

If your main character was in the radio industry in the 1920s? then buddy, you're gonna read every book that's ever been written about the first years of radio broadcasting—and then you're gonna listen to a million early radio dramas that have been posted to youtube & old time radio podcasts.

If he was a trans man in Victorian England? Then you're emailing your library begging them to get a copy of a book about how American & British society perceived trans men & crossdressing women from 1600-1900.

If your main character ran a cult? Then you're about to get really familiar with a true crime podcast on the psychology of cults and their leaders.

If your character's an Italian theater nerd in the 1700s, you're about to watch a lot of videos about comedia dell'arte. If your character's a Japanese theater nerd in the 1700s, you're about to watch a lot of videos about kabuki. Is a character's name an allusion to a mythological figure? You're gonna read every myth about that figure possible to see whether any of it can be incorporated into your characterization. Is your character a big reader? What genres are they into and what years were they a teenager? You're googling "pre-lovecraftian cosmic horror" for your tentacle-loving goth born in 1890 and that's what you're reading for the next two months.

I've devoured books, websites, research papers, podcasts, infotainment youtubers, movies, documentaries, and whole TV shows powered purely by love for blorbo from a different show. The topics I've researched have been as varied as:

the physics & geology of volcanoes

how to make friendship bracelets

a travel podcast for tourists to New Orleans

Victorian-era sci-fi novels that preclude modern steampunk

hundreds & hundreds of real people's self-reported ghost stories

how to tie a sarong (which required digging past a billion links to white people who think a "sarong" is simply a rectangle of fabric you can knot any old way)

the history of Mardi Gras celebration practices

lockpicking

a wide variety of neurodivergencies (and do you know how goddamn hard it is to find psychology books that are sympathetic to narcissists?? goddamn. i did it tho)

the entirety of Care Bears and Rainbow Brite

the native names of islands & geological formations around the Ring of Fire

Mexican folk religion

pre-Hays Code comedy movies

how & where people consumed pop music before radios & record players

Indonesian airport locations

how much weight a battleship can carry...

and if you do it for Love Of A Character, it's fun. If blorbo loves cheesy pulp romances and you don't, you will if you're reading them with an eye to see what blorbo gets out of these books and how this reflects on their character.

Hyperfixation-tangential research can help stretch a hyperfixation indefinitely. Plus you learn lots of new stuff, and even when the hyperfixation dies, that knowledge is with you forever!

(did you know volcanos aren't hot enough to melt glass? did you know the fires built for glassblowing aren't hot enough to melt glass?? did you know magma isn't hot enough to melt itself??? i once spent a whole day frantically trying to figure out how glass & rocks melt. it resulted in two lines in a fanfic. i regret nothing.)

and a few other tips:

2) Find 3-4 trusted colleagues/partners in crime you can go feral with in DMs. A fandom with 10,000 people and a fandom with 100 people look the same size when viewed from within a ship-dedicated discord with 5 people.

3) if you rewatch/reread the source material CONSTANTLY, it's easy to risk squeezing out the last drops of dopamine it offers too quickly, so like, don't force feed it to yourself every other day. But periodically reconsuming bits of it somewhat regularly can help stoke the fire, remind you what you like about the source material, and inspire you to think over the parts that are relevant to your fic. AND helps you remember how to write the characters. (the aforementioned research is usually what I do for my fun watching/reading in between reconsuming canon.)

4) make sure the fic you're writing is short enough to be completed before the hyperfixation expires. this is CRUCIAL. i've never actually done this step.

[sierrale8ne]

AMERICAN WEDDING 001. THE WIN you’ll probably leave later anyways, that’s love made in the usa. pairing paige bueckers x black!oc ( kayden kennedy ) warnings 3.7k words, flashback, brief mentions of homophobia lena talks chapter one finally here! enjoy, more coming soon xx

present day april 2025

When Kayden Kennedy was nine, she sat on her fathers lap on a plane ride to Kolkata. She looked over the water, wondering to herself why there was so much ocean. A year later, it was Baghdad, then Istanbul. She couldn’t remember a solid second where she wasn’t moving— where she wasn’t running off and following her father on the journey of his career.

It’s where she grew her love for history.

The large statues, the Seven Wonders of The World, the history. Many would see these places and be star-struck, amazed by the beauty in front of them. But Kayden was different, she was delighted by the how. How did these people get here, how were they brought up, how did they believe that this— this pyramid or this ancient pot— was a symbol of their culture. As she grew older it developed into why they were colonized. And then as she really learned the meaning of the word war, why did these people fight back. Or even, why did they give up.

The rich history of the world interested her always. Like this morning. 

She had woken up at six. The gym waited for her at seven-thirty, where she very attentively listened to an NPR podcast about the tragedies in Gaza. When she got home—nine-thirty on the dot— she changed, showered, ate her breakfast of toast and avocado and sausage while reading The Women by Kristen Hannah. 

By 11 she was cleaning the kitchen and at one she was seated on her couch, laptop open as she began to grade the last of her student’s fourth quarter projects: The Mexican-American War.

Kayden would like to think it wasn’t on purpose, how her job seemingly found its way into every aspect of her life when she wasn’t even trying. But then again, she sought out the knowledge. She wanted to grow her brain, fill it with as much information as she could until she was like a human encyclopedia. Which in all honesty she was, thanks to her eidetic memory.

But something about knowing everything and yet still knowing nothing at all excited her, as nerdy as it seemed. It allowed her to imagine another universe where things changed, where lives could be different.

Like how maybe, in another life, she’s watching her ex girlfriend play in person, and not on the comfort of her couch.

In a strange turn of events, the once persistent and completely attentive Kayden was distracted by something greater. Something heavier that weighed on her moral scale. Something she couldn’t quite name, but could feel on her chest. Almost like a boulder.

Kayden pushed buttons, almost like a second nature. 

Guide. Channels. ABC. 2025 NCAA Women’s tournament championship game.

Kayden had watched here and there. The burn of the bold UCONN letters ate her alive from time to time. She should’ve been there. In the stands cheering or in the library helping Paige study. That was the plan. Their plan. 

There were times when she let her mind wonder. To how Paige was doing, or if she’d thought about her as much as Kayden tended to think about her. When Paige got injured sophomore year, Kayden had hurt a bit. And when she tore her ACL she wanted to wrap Paige in her arms like when they were young and just tell her that it would be okay. 

She’d never say it out loud, though.

Kayden watched the whole game. Not missing a second. She felt like a high school student again, forced between a sweaty guy who didn’t care and a sweatier one who cared way too much. 

She saved face. Never faltering with a smile or a loud cheer. More for herself than anyone else (as she was alone in her apartment).

A Google Slides presentation is open on the coffee table in front of her, red pen balanced on top, forgotten. Because this, this is way more important. Even if she promised for these grades to be finalized by the start of class tomorrow. Paige, who’s having just a bit of an off shooting game, is playing in a game that could define the rest of her career and that just just occupies a larger place in her brain than James Polk and Ulysses S. Grant. 

So Kayden curled up on the couch in an oversized hoodie, her glasses slipping a little down her nose. A bottle of water sweats on the side table. And the game should make her sweat too but she couldn’t. Not even close.

By the start of the fourth quarter– the one of the game she’s been pretending not to watch, but has been glued to for the last hour– the Huskies are leading by 22. Paige’s teammates are killing it. A Sarah Strong layup here, an Azzi Fudd three there (which she does cheer for because she remembers talking to the girl about this dream in hotel room in 2018).

And then she hears the broadcast loud and clear. “Bueckers back door… puts it in! Plus the foul! It’s raining blue in Tampa.” Kayden’s eyes snap to the screen. Her breath catches.

Not because of her name, or even the fact that she just contorted her body and got the bucket. 

But the weight of this, the impending win. The fact that the woman she’d once married, is about to have her dreams come true all these years later, just makes Kayden’s heart swell a bit more. Beat a bit faster. 

The screen flashes in slow motion: celebrating fans, screaming teammates, Paige on the floor with a grin that hasn’t changed in five years. Kayden doesn’t smile. She exhales like she’s been holding that breath since the day she walked out.

flashback july 2019

My hands fumble with my phone, simultaneously trying to slip my feet into the confines of my black Doc Martens. My socks stick out loosely, white, frills on the edges. Just enough innocence to really make the moment. 

pb 🪼 I’m down the street Hurry before your mom starts asking questions

At that, I scramble. Pen, check. Change of clothes, check. Proper lie shoved into my back pocket, double check. I brush over my skirt, tugging down the hem of my tight white shirt in an attempt to cover the tiny stick and poke tattoo that came from drunk dares and an adventurous summer evening with Paige and Jalen.

k 🔐 coming!

I shove open my bedroom door, shoes heavy against the hardwood floor. The summer sun spills in against the grain, soft breeze blowing through the curtains. It’s beautiful, which only makes me speed up to get outside to an impossibly more beautiful girl. The kitchen smells like burnt coffee and lemon-scented cleaner, which makes me all the more excited to get out into the real world outside of this house.

“Where you headed?” 

My mom Marianne’s voice cuts in through the hum of the kitchen. She sits on the couch, legs outstretched with reading glasses perched on her nose and a book resting in her lap. She doesn’t look up, her voice doesn’t even have its usual lilt to it. And I know I’m in the clear.

“The Lake. Then Lauren’s house.” I lie, only partially though, because going to Paige’s cousin’s house after was part of our well thought out plan.

She hums, eyes glued to the book. “You sure that’s a good idea? I heard it was supposed to rain.” That’s code for Marianne Kennedy doesn’t want her daughter to go out at all. She’d rather I stay home where she can monitor me.

My voice trembles in the way that it does when I know I’m about to lie to her. “It’s fine. Paige is picking me up. She thinks we can beat it.” I shrug like it’s no big deal.

“Boys gonna be there?” She asks.

Her voice is filled with something else, and I know exactly what she means. She’s really asking if I'm hanging out with the only girl my age that the entire neighborhood knows is gay, or can she feel comfortable knowing that I’ll talk to a boy here and there. But she’d never say that outright, no, because my mother has an image to uphold. So she’ll ask it like that, and then throw a diss in a few seconds. 

You know, the usual lowkey homophobia.

“Yeah. Jalen and Chet are going, and some other guys in my homeroom too.” I continue. It’s the half truth. There might be boys somewhere, though I’m hoping to get married and dip before they get there. I’m not that interested in sticking around long enough to find out. My eyes dart out the window, seeing the blonde’s beat up red Cadillac sit parked against the sidewalk. 

Mom hums again, thoughtfully this time. Like she herself is thinking about whether or not she believes me or not. “Not that I’m worried about boys, with Paige around.” There it is, that diss I could feel coming like a spidey-sense of mine. I was a superhero, fighting off homophobia one mom at a time. “That girl’s always been… a little wild, no?”

Her words make me flinch and I get defensive fast. Like mom is a girl at school throwing darts and looking to hurt the one person who seems to understand me better than I try to understand myself.

“She’s just not fake.” I say.

I watch my mom put the book face down in her lap, interlocking her fingers to look at me. She’s so blinded by hate that she can’t even notice my choice of attire is ill-fitting for the lake. “There’s a difference between being real and being lost, Kayden.” 

“Ma, I—”

“You’re not like her. I raised you better than that.” She raises an eyebrow. Using that damn code language of hers to say check yourself.

My stomach knots. I shift my bag higher onto my shoulder, needing to move, needing to get out of here before I let her words break me and I crack. Paige is outside with a wedding license in hand and I’m here listening to my mother call her all the underlying homophobic names in the book.

I get quiet. “We’re just friends. I have to go.”

“Good.” Mom nods, flipping the book back around. “You’re a good girl. Don’t let anyone confuse you about that.” She says and I dart for the door handle. I grab my house keys from the hook, bidding her a goodbye like she didn’t just stab me and twist the knife.

The car ride was silent—talking wise. Lil Baby blasts from the speaker and the wind rushes in and out of the car so fast I feel like I’m free flying through the air.

Paige sat next to me, her hand occasionally brushing against my knee as if she wanted to see if I was still there. If I was still in it. I was. Who was I kidding? It’s the girl of my dreams sitting next to me with the brightest light in her blue eyes and the biggest smile, probably bigger than the one she shot me after winning state this year. 

She’s calm, like this isn’t the craziest idea in the world. Which in turn makes me calm, makes me throw everything that happened with my mom an hour ago out the window.

But now, sunlight flashes across the tile and I stand awkwardly against the wall. A courtroom clerk in front of me. The room is smaller than I thought it would be. Which is crazy considering the biggest event of my young 17 year old life is taking place here. 

She notices, she always does. Her keys hang from the pocket of her shorts. The marriage license folded clean in half on the other hand. 

“You sure about this?” Paige asks, her back pressing against the wall, shoulder snug against mine. She’s warm with the kind of heat that feels like she could set me on fire. 

I huff. “We’ve already driven this far. Lied to our parents.” The series of events bats around in my head. Then I look over to her, as calm as could be. Honestly, I don’t remember the last time Paige let me see her be even just a bit nervous. She’s always walking around with that attitude and confidence that made it seem like the world was hers.

She stares straight ahead, branding the courtroom into her brain. “Baby, I don’t wanna… force you into anything. If you wanna go home, tell me. We can get ice cream on the way back or something.” Paige rations trying to help me make sense of it all. It makes me laugh when I think about the cliche; I help her make sense of the real textbook stuff and she helps me when it comes to all the other impulsive things.

“Then we’d have to tell people we just talked about it. This is way more dramatic.” I joke, peering up at the 6’0 athlete with wide eyes and a grin. “I want to do this. Especially with you.” I admit. The clerk digs his eyes at the both of us. I can assume he’s thinking of how much he’s not getting paid enough to entertain two 17 year old girls with a marriage license.

I grab her hand, dragging us to the clerk. Adrenaline runs through my veins like a fire. Paige slides the sheet over the counter, and he looks over it all disinterested but prepared to let us go through with it anyway. 

“Sign here.” He orders, flipping the sheet over like it means nothing. 

I look up at my girlfriend, suddenly realizing that after this I get to call Paige Bueckers my wife. I’ll slide a cheap thrifted ring on her finger and then go to college with her in a year from now. It’s all going to happen the way we planned it. 

So I reach into my bag for the black pen I had brought from my stationary. My hand trembles slightly, everyday handwriting coming in a bit rough as the weight of it settles in my chest like something permanent. Then I hand it to Paige, who’s full of no nerves and a simple confidence to her. 

She takes it before looking down at me. “You sure you’re not gonna chicken out?” Paige had asked, half-grinning, half-terrified— but she’d never let me know that.

I squeezed her hand, grinning back. “I want to be yours.” I didn’t say forever — we didn’t talk about the future much. It was too scary. Too far away. Too… uncertain. Especially with a meddling mom and a girl who might love basketball more than her gir—wife.

The clerk speaks again in his low monotone. “By the authority vested in me by the state of Minnesota, I pronounce you wife and wife.” He stamps the sheet lazily, handing it over to Paige again and right then it hits me like a blow. I was really married.

To her.

And then she kisses me, slow and breathless, like she’s never done it before. She didn’t care about the eyes, and the feeling of her hands on my cheeks stopped me from caring either. My nose brushes against hers as Paige pulls back first, forehead pressed to mine.

“I—I have um. This.” I hold the ring box in my hand, square and suede. It’s a bit dirty from years of it belonging to someone else. But, I don’t care. The box cracks open under my pressure, the dull silver still gleaming in the light. “I figured rings make this, y’know. Official.” I stutter, sliding the ring onto Paige’s finger without hesitation.

“You’re really doing this with me?” Paige asks, her voice so small it almost broke my heart if she wasn’t so perfect.

I nodded. “Always.” 

“Good. Because I got you one too. It’s in the car.”

Later, after she put a pandora ring that she’d spent all her summer savings on, on my finger. We drove like nothing happened. Like we didn’t just make a lifelong commitment. Like my mom wasn’t at home praying that the reality of sin didn’t brush onto me from her. 

We split cash on Ice cream, her dad sent her some money for gas. Everything was perfect. Even the cicadas that screamed in our ears as Paige drove down the straight road. 

Lauren’s house came into view over the hills. The neighborhood was empty enough for us to pull in unnoticed. So Paige parks at the field a block behind the house, climbing into the trunk of the car and pushing the seats back to watch the stars come out. 

It’s where we sit now.

She manipulates her long legs so she fits perfectly. I fit into the curve of her body, my skirt occasionally brushing up in the late night breeze. Paige’s fingers trace lazy shapes over my shoulder.

The stars are bright tonight, twinkling like precious diamonds in rubble. I look over my shoulder at Paige, at how you can see the occasional gleam across her irises.

“Paige?” 

She blinks languidly, the deep brown of her lashes brush over the apples of her cheeks. Dusting them like a thousand little paint brushes. 

“Yeah, baby?” She responds. Voice as deep as a teenage girl could really have. It’s sultry, but full of that kind of love and energy I’ve been subjected to since we were younger.

“You think we’re gonna regret it?” I ask, half-asleep, voice thick with warmth.

Paige had smiled into my skin. “Maybe. Probably. Who cares? At least I’m doin’ it with you, right?” She hums. 

And then, as if nothing else in the world exists, she kisses me again. Softer. Quicker. For the hundredth time today. I smile, against her lips, laughter spilling between us like a river flow. 

Young. Dumb. Untouchable. And for a while, it felt like the whole world really did belong to us and no one else.

present day april 2025

Kayden’s chest ached with the memory of the past and the imagination of a different one too.

Her laptop had been pushed off to the side alongside stacks of rubrics, messily marked and written on—she'd been prepared to be completely focused, but she wasn’t ready for how long it would really take.

Or how easily she would get distracted.

The channel had only been changed once from ABC to SportsCenter. She sat frozen on her couch, the championship celebration playing out in front of her. Without her.

Paige was in the middle of it all — standing on the black platform, hat on her head and shirt hugging her damp and sweaty arms. The confetti stuck to her hair and skin, glittering like stars against her blonde. She was beaming, electric, so full of life that Kayden felt her own chest hollow out just watching her.

Kayden should have looked away. Should have turned the TV off and finished grading papers like a normal person who didn’t still orbit around a girl she hadn’t touched in five years. Oh but no. She stayed.

She watched as Paige ducked into a hug with her coach as emotional as she’s ever seen her, doing the same with every assistant, every trainer, every teammate. Paige beelined straight for the sidelines, arms open for the family members swarming the court.

Kayden watched, and a stupid, heavy ache twisted low in her stomach.

She couldn’t explain it. Couldn’t explain why she still felt this way — tethered, glued to Paige’s happiness like it had anything to do with her anymore. Which it didn’t. Paige had outgrown the small-town dreams they’d once whispered to each other in the dark. She had built a life bigger and better than anything they ever dared to plan. By the looks of it, she also had someone else to celebrate it with. Azzi. By her side, and grinning the whole time as Paige celebrated a little too hard for national television.

Kayden should have been nothing more than a footnote. A “remember when” if she even crossed Paige’s mind at all.

But sitting there in the flickering blue light, watching Paige take the mic for the post-game interview, Kayden knew the truth she’d never managed to choke down: she really really missed her.

Not all the time, not like an open wound anymore — but here and there, in the quiet spaces. In the slow Sunday mornings and empty passenger seats and songs on the radio that pulled her back without warning. Kayden missed Paige a year ago when she was moving to Dallas, emptying her college apartment, and seeing the ring in the same box it was given to her five years ago. 

She missed her when she saw two girls holding hands without fear. When she heard laughter in the breeze that sounded like the kind they used to share.

But more than anything she missed Paige now. Worse than she had in a long time.

On screen, Paige was laughing through tears, her voice still a little hoarse from shouting and ungodly amounts of celebration, when the reporter asked what she’d tell her younger self. Kayden leaned in without thinking, like the answer mattered more than it should.

“I’d tell her to hold on,” Paige said, smiling. “And trust that even the stupid stuff or the little things might matter more than she thinks.” The words that were simple, obvious even, landed like a punch straight to Kayden’s ribs.

She shut the TV off mid-response, plunging the room into thick, echoing silence.

Kayden stayed there for a long time, staring into the blank screen, the ghost of Paige’s smile burned into her mind.

Still married, a small voice inside her said.

Still hers, if she wanted to be.

Kayden buried her face in her hands, realizing that no matter what; that wasn’t her life anymore. It couldn’t be. And it was no one’s fault but her own. Maybe if she wasn’t so listening, so scared, so uniquely Kayden Kennedy. 

And yet, somewhere deep inside he — in the parts she’d spent five years trying to bury— she wondered if Paige had ever missed her too.

🔖 @thaatdigitaldiary @bueckersbitch @pboogerswbb @xxloveralways14 @ykylalex @ohmybueckers @avvwritesstufff @flipthepaige @cherryswisherz @lupinqs @vamptizm @bueckers555 @omg-imtumbling @courtsidewithlani @mariahthealchemist @authentic-girl03 @kissamiyahh @rebecca-woso @angryflowerwitch @rhianthebest @paigebaby5 @rishofkf @xoxosierralane @urantisocialgay @issilovesherself @your-local-bi-panic @nicebellee @elalfywhore @cowboybueckers

[existence-is-a-pain87]

Ohhh, has anyone requested for Shelly or Vee yet? I love playing as them, haha, Shelly will always be my favorite though! It makes me feel comforted since I relate to her so painfully much. I would love to talk with her about dinosaurs or just spend time with her, just anything hhhh!!

Please make sure to take your time writing these requests! It can be draining so please take breaks and take care of yourself! You can also deny this if you want. I love your work so much! <3 It's a fun idea to imagine the characters hearing us! Especially when we start to tweak out or even silently yell at our screen or anything like that I know I do that too much hahaha-

Actually I've been hoping to write for Shelly and Vee! This is gonna be a drabble that's a fair bit different from the other drabbles I made so far, hehe.

Also, again, sorry if your request is taking awhile! I have a ton in my inbox and more keep coming in. Don't worry if you don't wanna send in a request now! I love getting requests and I can't wait to fufill them all!

Hehe. <3

Game Show of Love

Yandere!Self-Aware!Shelly x Reader; Yandere!Self-Aware!Vee x Reader; Yandere!Self-Aware!Dandy's World x Reader

Warnings: Obsession and other general yandere behaviors, swearing, fighting (over you <3)

--☆☆☆☆☆--

When Shelly learnt she was your second favorite, she was happy.

But a good bit disappointed. What do you mean 'second favorite'?

Didn't you love dinosaurs? So why wasn't she your first favorite? Why was it Glisten?

Would her only being number 2 in your heart mean you would forget her too? Just like how everyone else did?

So she did what she could to figure out how to talk to you. To ask you if you would ever forget her.

And to ask what your favorite dinosaur is, hehe.

So she began searching. At first she thought she could use the Roblox chat...

But after what happened last time they tried that... yeah, no.

So she went elsewhere.

And then she found your phone number.

And she wanted to try it. So she went searching and found someone else, someone they couldn't hear, who rarely used their phone. Especially not for texting.

Then she tried to contact you.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: Hello?

You: Who is this

Shelly panicked. What if you blocked her? She saw blocked numbers on this phone, mostly scammers... oh no! What if you thought she was a scammer?!

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: It's complicated.

You: Wdym

Shelly hesitated. Should she explain everything? Would you believe her? Should she just ask the question she was dying to ask??

...

Shelly shook her head and decided to try something.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: I'm someone who's going through a bunch of different phone numbers to try to find someone I can talk about dinosaurs to.

She thought for a moment and quickly sent another message.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: I'm not a scammer, I swear!

You: Isnt there better ways to yap to people about dinosaurs?

You: Like on tumblr or smth?

Shelly panicked, terrified you may block her.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: I mean I could. But on here there's no ads and stuff.

You: Dont people think your a scammer tho

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: Sometimes they do. Then they just block me. But I just want to talk about dinosaurs!

You: Send me a dinosaur fact.

Shelly's breath hitched.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: Wait, really?

You: Ye

You: I love dinos

You: Yap to me about them rn

You: Pls

Shelly almost squealed.

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: Of course!

You: Also what should I call ya?

(xxx) xxx - xxxx: My name's Shelly!

You: I'm [Name].

Shelly froze, staring at your name.

Your name... She was the first one to learn your real name.

You gave her your name.

She couldn't hide her thrilled grin. Even if no one else could see it.

--☆☆☆--

As Shelly texted you, Vee was busy figuring out information about you.

She ran a gameshow for crying out loud! Clearly, more Toons would be interested if she had some trivia about you thrown in there.

But then it spiraled into something more.

Gaining knowledge about you started off small. Things you mentioned in game. Such as your favorite Toons.

It annoyed her she wasn't one of your favorites.

Or the fact you owned a cat.

He seemed awfully clingy too. Oh, and she already knew his name is Blaze. Even if you called him 'Kitty' often.

But then she grew frustrated. You didn't mention enough about yourself when you were playing! How was she supposed to make trivia about you now?

So she began searching.

And figured out how to leave the game. Then how to leave Roblox on devices.

Specifically your device.

She didn't notice nor care that Shelly did it first.

No one noticed Shelly could leave because they never noticed she was gone.

Then Vee found the microphone function on your phone. Then she connected herself to it.

And suddenly...

She could hear it all.

She heard you talk, even when you weren't playing the game. If you had your phone on you, she could hear.

That's when her spiral truly started to occur.

Just like with Astro, she grew a soft spot for you.

She learnt of everything. From your favorite food to your primary mode of transportation.

And she saved every fact she learned about you to her database. In the span of a month at most, she probably knew you better than you knew yourself.

And it wasn't just the microphone she used for information. She went through your photos, your search history. Meticulously finding any bit of info she could gather.

Unfortunately, though, she couldn't use the camera. Since she could only risk searching around your phone for information when you weren't on it, she was never able to turn on your camera and look at you.

This fact frustrated her to no end, but she had to deal with it.

She kept searching through your phone, one day managing to find your text messages and started to go through them.

Hm? Who's this in your contacts? 'Shelly'? What a strange coincidence...

...and this Shelly spoke to you often about dinosaurs? Hm...

She'd need to keep an eye on this...

--☆☆☆--

Shelly was thrilled.

In a month she managed to become one of your best friends!

Of course she was living a lie, but she didn't care!

To you, she was your silly, dinosaur-loving online friend who you were able to share anything with!

And as time went on, she got more comfortable with you.

And got more and more in love...

She started taking more risks.

For example, she pretended to be a player of Dandy's World, talking about how funny it was she was so similar to the Shelly in game. At least personality-wise!

If only you knew...

Tisha knew of this.

She didn't mind.

In fact, sometimes she would even be able to talk with you when she wasn't busy.

And just like Shelly, Tisha kept the fact she could talk with you directly a secret. As well as keeping the fact she was a Toon private from you.

And eventually, she managed to get enough confidence to sort-of ask her question.

Shelly: Random question, but why are your favorite Toons your favorite?

You: You mean my top three?

Shelly: Yeah

You: Well... I like Glisten because he's a lot like me in a sense. I try to maintain stability and confidence even though I hate myself. And his Twisted form is a cutie pie that made me realize he needs all the hugs.

Shelly: But you're great tho!

You: So a lot of people say lol

You: I like Shelly since she deserves better, I too love dinosaurs, her design for both her toon form and her twisted form, and her lore makes her deserve all the hugs too.

You: And Shrimpy Boy is just a silly man lol

Shelly: Why's Shelly lower than Glisten?

You: I haven't told you yet?

You: mb

You: She's very slightly lower because I HATE the confusion debuff and I like Twisted Glisten's concept a lot. Otherwise the two are basically tied lol.

Shelly: So you utterly adore her?

You: Fully and completely!

Shelly squealed from glee.

You, her favorite person, loved her! The only reason she was lower than Glisten was because of some tiny things she couldn't really change. You thought she was basically perfect!

You loved her as much as she loved you!

Then Vee has to ruin it.

--☆☆☆--

"Shelly... what the f■■■?"

Vee stormed closer. One hand was balled into a fist. The other held her microphone so tightly that if she had blood, her hand would turn white.

"You've been talking with the player for over a month now? You could talk directly to her, and you didn't tell anyone?!"

Shelly gritted her teeth. "I did! I tried to tell you! None of you listened to me when I tried to talk! Not even you or Tisha!"

Vee's screen glitched, and never has she been more annoyed that- despite the fact she was a video game character and thus most of her lore wasn't really real, with her being a gameshow host only real because she went out of her way and did that the moment she figured out private servers- she had a censor over all swear words. Because she had a lot she would like to say.

The two stood opposing one another in Shelly's room, where Vee stormed in the moment she put all the pieces together.

She was by no means Rodger, but even the mystery of the Shelly in your contacts list wasn't too hard to solve.

And both were in their Twisted forms. So if this would become a physical fight, it would get messy very quickly.

"Can you blame me for giving up?" Shelly asks, "All basically ANY of you do is ignore me! The only one who doesn't is Tisha! And half the time you forget I exist! Anyways, YOU also told no one about the fact you figured out how to leave the game too! That YOU figured out so much of your information about them by violating their privacy!"

"What I did is different from what you did." Vee curtly replies, standing tall. "You were contacting them directly. Playing a lie the entire time."

"At least I wasn't going through private photos and search history." Shelly growls back, "Do you know how humans can be embarrassed by people looking through those things? Or do you ignore what privacy is just like how you ignore me? At least until you need something from me, you BITCH."

Vee scowls, slightly startled at Shelly swearing for the first time since... practically ever.

"This is why they don't like you." Shelly continues, "I'm one of their favorites. ME. Not you. So stop violating [Name]'s privacy and stop caring about the fact I talk to them."

"...say that again." Vee orders suddenly, screen glitching for a moment as she processed what Shelly said in the blink of an eye. "That word... [Name]."

"That's their name." Shelly says. "They told me it. Directly. Because I didn't violate them as much as you did!"

"I am not violating them." Vee retorts, processing your name. One of the few pieces of information she knew, but reeled from hearing come out of the mouth of someone who was speaking to her for the first time. "But now ...I have an idea."

"What is it now?" Shelly asks, pissed.

"...It involves you directly," Vee says, "How would you like to practically guarantee yourself a prize in one of my gameshows? The grand prize."

Shelly just stares at Vee, raising an eyebrow slighty.

"And the grand prize..." Vee says, suddenly smirking, "Is [Name]'s love."

--☆☆☆--

The grand prize being offered brought every Toon to the gameshow.

Not everyone was participating. Many were simply in the audience, due to the extra promise of a special prize given to any Toon who was simply there.

The gameshow was split into a tournament. Two toons would compete to move onto the next catagory, and the final two would compete for the grand prize.

Practically everyone was a little stunned when Shelly was a contestant.

Especially when Shelly started to crush anyone who went against her in the trivia.

And they were even more stunned when Vee started asking trivia questions they had no idea how she found out. Even Rodger didn't know this much information, and he was carefully documenting every bit of information he heard you mention when playing. Or others talking to you that they mentioned when playing.

And when people were eliminated? They were a good bit annoyed at losing the opportunity for your heart, but stayed for the special prize.

Eventually it just got to Dandy and Shelly. And Shelly won.

Shelly won by saying your name.

They all loved your name.

Dandy barely held himself toegther when Vee declared the winner to be Shelly. But he stayed. Especially when Vee stood on top of the podium, grinning.

Even if the two hated eachother, Dandy wanted that secret prize.

"Well, now that that's wrapped up." Vee says, twirling her mic, "I know all of you want the secret prize, yes? Even though Shelly has all the right to our beloved player's heart, that doesn't mean you all will just forget about them, mhm?"

"Just get to the point..." Dandy mutters, gritting his teeth.

Vee smirks. "Well, what if I told you that all of you could talk to them? Directly to them. No more little incidents due to the chat, but to them."

Everyone froze, staring up at the gameshow host. It was more silent than when everyone learned your name.

Your name was beautiful.

Your voice was beautiful.

They all loved you.

They all loved your voice.

"Now, all contestants and audience members of this Gameshow of Love, would you all like to learn what a phone number is?

[threecephalopodsinatrenchcoat]

pspsps subnautica mutuals! do you want this? please?

One morning, he wakes to find Bart already up. Unexpected; they don’t really have a set schedule, but Ryley’s usually the early riser out of the two. Tentatively heading out the door, he’s greeted with the smell of what seems to be food, and he pokes his head into the kitchen to see Bart standing at the counter, presumably cooking something. “Morning. What are you making?” Ryley goes up to his friend, trying to see the food in question. “Hey, don’t do that. You’ll get sprayed in the face with creepvine oil, which I can say, from personal experience, sucks. And I’m cooking Chinese potatoes.” He catches Ryley’s confused look. “I was hungry, and it tastes better than fabricated food anyway.” Ryley nods. “Ugh, yeah. How’d you learn to cook? We don’t really learn how in Alterra space, but I do know some stuff. I’m not very good at it, though.” “Why am I not surprised Alterra didn’t teach you. To answer your question, I mostly taught myself. Pretty sure I’d have gone insane if the fabricator was all I had, though I do remember having some classes that involved simple recipes. Luckily, sticking things in a pan and putting it on a stove doesn’t take that much knowledge.” “Speak for yourself. I set nachos on fire once.” Bart looks at him in consternation, “Those are like… the easiest things to cook. You put the ingredients in a pan and you melt the cheese on them, how did you-“  “Forgot they were cooking. There was also the time I set candy on fire. I was trying to melt them in the microwave and I accidentally left the fork in the bowl,” Ryley says, laughing at the memory.  “I should never let you cook, understandable.” While they were talking, the potatoes have begun to smoke dangerously. Bart grabs the pan off the stove and places it on the counter. “Shit- oh, good. Not that burned.” “Who was talking about not letting me cook again?” The tease makes the other man smile a bit before rolling his eyes. “They aren’t on fire, are they?”

(i love the Subnautica boys so much. Btw the nacho story was true, i did that when I was like 11-12. same with the candy, but that was my friend and her brother’s fault.)

this week's word is...

Find the word in any WIP and share the sentence containing it. Reply, reblog, stick it in the tags, tag us in a new post, or keep it private. All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome.

And please do me a favor: Poke through the reblogs/replies and interact with each other. Comment on a stranger's post. Read something from a fandom you've never heard of.

[stormsthatrage]

Have a dialogue snippet from the Lies to Send You Home AU (where Urahara tricks Ichigo into seeking out the Shiba family). This is during the second part, after Aizen is dead, Ichigo has told Kaien about a good chunk of the future, and Kaien is coming to the horrendous realization that Urahara would actually be an excellent addition to the family.

_____________________________________________

“Oh, gods,” Kaien says, despairing, as the universe’s greatest jape yet becomes clear to him. Urahara is a genius among genii, an intelligence the likes of which Soul Society will not see twice. But at the end of the day, in a plot twist Kaien could have really done without — “You’re as stupid as Ichigo.”

Urahara sets his brush down and leans back. Kaien finally finds himself holding the attention of the captain. It does not feel like a victory. Urahara’s face moves into an unsettling smile, his eyes blank and the corners of his mouth stretched just slightly too wide. It is the movement of a monster mimicking something it does not understand but has seen others do; a predator camouflaging itself to get close to prey.

Kaien considers how much practice Urahara must have in controlling his facial expressions and body language, and wonders how any of them ever fell for it, the psychopath-facade of his. If Urahara actually were what he pretended to be, no one but Captain Shihouin would have been able to pick up on it - he certainty wouldn’t have been showing his true colors so blatantly.

(A thought for later, Kaien thinks. Why does someone destroy their own reputation? Certainly not for selfish reasons.)

“My, my, Lord Shiba, such harsh words for your cousin.” Urahara’s voice is plainly mocking. “Could it be that the Shiba’s newest pride and joy is as bad at kido as the rumors say?” He tilts his head, smiling still.

Two weeks ago, Kaien would have bought that Urahara was trying to rile him up, embarrass him, and make him angry — and all for the game of it, too.

But Ichigo gave away more than he thinks he did, when telling Kaien of the future. And that precious knowledge has taught Kaien to look harder, peer deeper, when dealing with the Captain of the 12th.

And so Kaien sees, now, plain as day, that Urahara is taking the opportunity to test Kaien, trying to suss out if the Shiba clan is as nice as their reputation would have people believe they are.

Kaien gets it, he really does, especially considering which clan Urahara grew up in the tender care of.

Kaien wonders how long Urahara has worried about this, if Ichigo is being treated right behind closed doors - if the Shiba have been cruel to Ichigo for his lack of talent in the bloodline kido, or for the way he so obviously wasn’t raised a noble, or for one of the other thousand things the Shihouin clan would have made Ichigo’s life a living hell for.

Urahara’s eyes are intent, studying Kaien’s every minute movement. Kaien wonders what would have happened to him if the words had struck a nerve, if he had given any indication that he was embarrassed by Ichigo. Violent food poisoning, at least.

(It does not escape Kaien’s notice that when Urahara missed the affection in Kaien’s complaint — they’ll have to work on that, Urahara will be eaten alive by the clan kids if he doesn’t learn how to tease — Urahara only came to the defense of Ichigo, completely ignoring that Kaien’s comment was mostly aimed at himself.

Exactly the same type of stupid as Ichigo. Fuck.)

[sebadztian]

Another week, another episode. Let's go!!

Spoilers for episode 4 below (and the manga too!)

*press the 'Skip Recap' button* - where was this button last week?

I've read the manga, I know what's going on, but it still strange to see Sebas serving morning tea to someone who's not Ciel...

Ah, so Sebas knows that Sieg & Ciel are roughly the same size... His Bocchan is really tiny.

I'm pretty sure it takes more than a bedcover to make a dress, but whatever.

"A skill a dressmaker could do better."

1. Nina will agree, 110%

2. Humility doesn't suit you, sir.

Even going to breakfast has to be accompanied by sparkles... The DRAMA...

Wolf looked like he wanted to punch Sebas in the face. I don't blame him.

*Skip Intro*

I've got to admit, when I first read about this whole 'Formal Table Setting' thing in the manga, I learned a lot.

What is it with Sebas and his tendency to get into someone's face? An intimidation tactic? A decline in his vision? Or is he just weird like that?

Ofc she doesn't know anything about table manners. She was raised by a Wolf (Get it?)

I call bullshit. Sir, you don't even have a heart!

Ah, he's dangling the 'knowledge' carrot in front of her. I think he was testing the water here, to see how she'd react, if she'd take his bait. And she did. Enthusiastically too.

It was her weakness and he exploited that. I talked about this some time ago, about how Sebas had seduced Sieg with the promise of 'more knowledge' and 'the outside world' to get her to cooperate.

Bard, if only you knew... Sebas was crying inside. "Bocchaaaan.... Bocchaann... Please let me touch you...!"

Tanaka is highly underrated just because he's half-chibi. One of the reasons why I love this arc is because we get to see the servants in action. We did see that in the Circus arc too, ofc. But this one is different. They weren't at home, they were stuck in a foreign territory, battling an army of German soldiers, and they still kicked ass!

*Professor Michaelis flashback*

A solid proof that Sebas does care about Ciel. He brings that book with him everywhere so that he can be prepared if Ciel was having another asthma attack or any other illness that the little lord might've neglected to mention because Sebas 'never asked'.

I'm sorry... what did they do to people with sore throat back then?!

Neither have I, Sieglinde. Neither have I. But bacon does make me happy, so...

Wolf has been demoted from 'butler & caretaker' to 'errand boy'.

Babyyy....!!

Sebas is missing out!

Seb: I KNOW! BOCCHAAAANNN...!! 😭😭

Please don't scold Finny. He's trying his best... He's so sweet!! I love him!!

It is really hard to believe that this was the same boy who stood his ground against a literal demon. I did some research on mustard gas and yes, this is one of the effects. Basically it enhanced the negative feelings, such as fear or anxiety tenfold and that's why Ciel is like this. The 'werewolves' were there to further worsen this effect.

This is truly heartbreaking. Ciel's crying and feeling that he didn't deserve any of this, that he wasn't good enough. This gas is enhancing his childhood trauma and opened the dam of three years of suppressed emotions. This arc really shows how much Ciel had sacrificed and how hard it was to maintain the image of 'Ciel Phantomhive'. He lost his entire personality, the sweet, caring, and wonderful younger brother.

So, back then, Ciel & Seba were sent to investigate and dismantle the lab in Germany, just like how the queen was sending him to Germany again to investigate about the werewolf village. Somebody really needs to call child service...

Sebastian looked way too happy to fight a child test subject...

He really was adorable. No wonder everyone wanted a piece of him...

I might've misheard it, but I thought I heard Ciel say 'Shieru' (as in RC) and Sebas. Due to the way Japanese sentences are structured, the object was said first before the verb and he did say something about RC. But the translation didn't mention it because it wouldn't make any sense because he hadn't utter the verb.

Ciel-shaped lump on the bed. (Why does he look like a turnip?)

I should've hired Sebas as my English tutor, or read that book about the bacon. I've been learning English for 20+ years and I still can't speak it perfectly, but Sieg spend the morning (3 hours at most?) learning the language using a single book and she's now fluent in English.

Well, that's a unique, not weird at all, thing to say to a sick person, don't you think? And she did well on not mentioning the marked eye. Sebas looked somewhat worried, but mostly kept his poker face. I bet it took everything in him not to reach out to touch his little meow-meow.

Sieg knew some things about various rituals to conclude that Seb & Ciel were devil worshippers based on the marks on Seb's hand & Ciel's eye. She even recognized the symbol as demonic signs.

I wonder if this knowledge would come up again in the later chapters of the manga...

Painful memory? Actually, it was a fond memory. It was the day he met his future husband!

Dear lord, what on earth was Wolf doing?! Was he wighing the salt?! Why?!

I don't know why Yana said that Sebas acted without thinking. He's shown that he was quite knowledgeable and he can think on his feet. He came up with a strategy when battling UT on Campania, and he knew that there was something hidden underneath the manor, so he utilized Snake's snake to investigate further. The man is a smart cookie and combine that with his experience, he's actually very clever and sly.

This is way funnier in the anime than in the manga. And look at that ass!

Snake looks like he got some sort of a revelation... and fangs.

And that's it for this week. It was overall a great episode. Everyone got some decent screentime and some scenes are much better animated than they were in the manga. Like Ciel's grief and his helplessness. It was much more pronounced in the anime.

I think they did a great job with this arc. They're clearly more comfortable with drawing the characters because they look much better than last season's.

And I'm happy that they're staying true to the manga. At this point, I don't want to see an AU of any sort like S1 or S2. I just want to see the manga panels come into life and hear the characters' voices. Some might not agree with me, but that's just my personal preference.

See you next week!

[scarameownya]

NIKO'S VOICELINE (P1)

Hello

" The name's Niko, Fontaine's personal inventor but maybe "The Araignée Noire" would ring your bell better. What ? You got my name, my profession and my titles, there's nothing else for you to know. "

Chat: Clockwork Meka

" They are fascinating, aren't they ? There's still so many thing I wanted to learn about them it's driving me insane, I remember seeing them walking around everywhere and I would just stare at them like I just found some rare treasure chests, well, to me they might as well be. "

Chat: Talking

" Isn't talking kind of tiring ? I don't like just opening my mouth and made some sound that others might or might not listen, sometimes I just stay silent cause I don't feel like talking, either way I don't think moving your mouth for 24 hours straight will be good for you. "

Chat: Niko's Leg

" Hm ? You're sad about my leg ? Don't bother, your pity gaze is not needed. What happened had happened, all I can do is to move on from it. I mean, what are you going to do about it ? Break it again ? Haha. "

When It Rains

" Rain's not my favorite, I don't get why people like it so much. All they do is make you wet and give you a cold. "

When Thunder Strikes

" You know how you can tell when someone doesn't like something by the look on their face ? Look at me now and try to guess how I feel about this. "

When It Snows

" Winter in particular is not a favorable weather for those without a home, it's cruel, it's cold and yet, I can't help but see the beauty in the snow, I wonder why... "

When the Sun is Out

" Ugh, too bright, is this what you have to deal with everyday ? "

When the Wind Is Blowing

" The wind is nice, it's a good way to test the endurance of my inventions, wouldn't want mechanical parts flying everywhere and hitting people, would you ? Although, that is an amusing idea... "

Good Morning

" Seems like you're ready to go. Morning is not exactly favorable for me, but it used to be the only time I get to collect food before too many people catch me. "

Good Afternoon

" This time of day is more bearable than the morning, the light hurts my eyes but beggars can't be choosers. "

Good Evening

" I like the night, it's quiet, cooler and not a lot of people are active, it let me escape reality a bit before continuing doing the same thing the next day. "

Good Night

" Are you going to sleep ? Not yet ? Help me instead of just sitting there then. "

About Niko: Glory Day

" I'm an inventor, I invent things, what more is there to say ? Hm ? My days as a thief ? Sorry, that's classified information, it's your fault you weren't here when I was still in my prime. "

About the Vision (Friendship Lv. 4)

" Vision, huh... For a while, whenever I look at this thing, all I can remember is the night I received it. Cold, lonely, scared, devastating... None of which are positive. It feels like a cruel joke sometimes, to receive something many considered to be a blessing, but what kind of blessing was it to only give help after the damges had already been done ? "

About Mekal (Friendship Lv. 4)

" My pride and joy in simple term. Mekal is my partner, my first ever creation that I had made and someone that has went through everything with me. Before it became public knowledge, no one knew Mekal was posing as my body double, his flexibility to change forms made it easy for him to do a quick escape if he ever got close to being caught by the Gardes. Ever since our time at the Fortress begins however, Mekal has taken an interest in being a butler, there's nothing wrong with it per se but he won't stop calling me "Young Master" no matter how many time I told him it's not necessary, maybe I should stop Sigewinne from getting him more of those self-help butler books... "

More About Niko: I

" Even though my old mischievious glory days are over, it doesn't mean I'm done just yet- Those who are corrupted and selfish still exist, I won't hesitate to draw my weapon and take away their possession, giving power to those who doesn’t deserve it won't do anyone any good, why not strip them away and give it to those who need it ? "

More About Niko: II (Friendship Lv. 3)

" Some people often called my ideal 'childish', they told me I can't save everyone, that the corrupted always wins, that my resolve are too unrealistic... and maybe they're right, maybe I am naive, that I'm too hopeful for a future that's never going to happen, that things will never change no matter what.... That doesn't mean it will stop me from trying to reach it. "

More About Niko: III (Friendship Lv. 4)

" I... Actually still get nightmares where I stand back to The House of the Hearth, that I was still running away, that I'm back at the street, barely scaping by with a piece of bread and the few spices I managed to snatch. But even when I woke up, never in a million year, would I ever thought I would be where I am now. Three meals a day, clean water, a place to stay... Something that I had to fight tooth and nails to even get a fraction of back when I still roamed the street. "

More About Niko: IV (Friendship Lv. 5)

" "The Araignée Noire"... It means "Black Spider". It's the name that was plastered all over the news after my first incident blew up and nobody knew who I was. Amusingly, it's not a name I chose for myself. The Steambird gave me the name after the Meka legs I used to escape. I don't know who or how they managed to get a picture of me back then, but because of how much I looked like a spider from that photo, the name had stuck to my image for years to come. I don't mind though, way better than, say, "The Traveler" ? Hehe, just kidding. "

More About Niko: V (Friendship Lv. 6)

" I have... Never see myself fitting in with other people, even while I was in the House of The Hearth. Maybe it's a part of the reason why a lot of them don't like me, they called me a freak, an anomaly, an eccentric individual... But what exactly is their definition of "normal" ? Just because I don't act exactly as they expected me to, does that mean I am not human anymore ? Am I just a dysfunctional Clockwork to them ? Either way, social constructs are stupid, people should be able to be themselves without people saying what's wrong and what's right... Hah, what a stupid thing for me to think about, right ?

[raina16]

I'm sorry what? (The anon)To me this shows you pay no attention to Jensen at all.

First Jensen doesn't read a lot because he has ADHD. In his case he mentioned it affected his ability to comprehend written words. So when he reads he needs to be very intentional and focused. This has zero to do with intelligence. Literally nothing. (Seriously there were geniuses in the world even before there was written language, so how quickly you read has nothing to do with how smart you are).

Despite that he reads frequently, he constantly has to read and memorize scripts and including parsing the meaning of the story, character interactions and character psychology and he's damn good at it.

And he does read despite that, we've seen him with books AND when he first went to Hollywood he was worried about falling behind his college going friends, intellectually, so he set himself a course of self education - to try and read the sort of books he'd be reading if he'd gone to college and it turned out when he met up with his friends again he'd read more than they had!!

He clearly puts a high value on learning and personal growth. He may not be the guy to make sudden changes, based on a mood, he makes educated changes based on knowledge. The type of changes that stick.

I remember back in season 1 or so of SPN, Kripke describing Jensen and Jared and he specifically mentioned Jensen's being very quick witted. He has a fast mind.

Jensen clearly has extremely high emotional intelligence and he's empathetic. He's well spoken and quick witted. He clearly thinks deeply about things. He's respectful of other people. We hear this all the time from people who know him, or people who've worked with him. That's why he's so well liked and deeply respected. Frankly the fact that he "match made" two possibly three of his friends into successful marriages actually says a lot about how "people intelligent" he is.

I remember when he went to Japan, way back in like 2008, for SPN, the woman who was assigned to be his guide, mentioned she was impressed with the questions he asked and how genuinely curious he was. Like he really wanted to learn about their culture.

He's also creative - one of things he mentioned about the COVID hiatus was how much he needed a creative outlet. So Jensen and Misha are both creative people - how is writing lyrics lesser than writing poetry? How is playing and writing music lesser? Jensen has also directed and been considered quite good at it.

A lot of actors get into it because they enjoy the comraderie and affection they experience being part of a team "putting on a show". Jensen loves being part of the team, whether it's as the captain of the team or one of the regular players. I remember reading something Karl Urban said about why HE enjoyed acting, he really loved the teamwork etc and I was like "this is something Jensen could have said".

I think you'll find anyone who actually knows Jensen Ackles (I don't but I'm going by what we've seen and heard) would laugh at your idea of him being "basic" based on how very wrong you are, especially Misha.

Okay so I get why Jensen is into Misha and has been crushing on him for years. The evidence is verrrrry obvious lol. But I genuinely don't see Misha being into Jensen the same way. Don't kill me, but Jensen's not really on Misha's level intellectually--not like Jared is. Jensen admitted he doesn't even read ever, whereas Misha's a voracious reader, writes poetry, and is working on a film script. Also Jensen's not really into activism or politics and is just overall kinda basic? Like he's into beer, cars, and country music, which is fine. But I don't see that being very interesting to Misha. Like yeah Jensen's conventionally handsome and great as Dean but that's kinda it? I'd think Misha would need more than just looks. Also there aren't really any moments where Misha's GENUINELY swooning over Jensen if you think about it. He's just as smiley, affectionate, and teasing with Jensen as he is with literally everyone else in the cast. And yeah he kissed him on the cheek that one time cuz Jensen was struggling onstage, but that's just Misha being Misha. If anything, he seems into Rob imo.

I won't kill you, though I don't share your opinion like at all!

They might not share the same interests but it doesn't mean they can't be together. Jensen could totally admire Misha's talent for acting, writing poetry and other stuffs he does. And Misha can totally admire Jensen's talent too, for acting as well and for music for example, by promoting the release of his last album (I don't have the energy to find the panel where he said it) and by looking at him like this:

See, I don't think Misha is that much demonstrative compared to Jensen actually. Misha likes to joke a lot so it doesn't seem like it but he's more private, shows less affection, except usual hugs and kisses to joke, and talks less about what he feels.

And I think he wouldn't like someone calling Jensen basic.

Because he is not.

Also, I find Misha and Rob really cute together.

[puhpandas]

Hii Percy!! I'm curious- what would be your ideal fnaf game after SOTM releases?

HI CHIP!! of course theres so many things I want to see after waiting so long but honestly I think a ggy game is what I'm expecting next. honest to god anything ranging from vanny!cassie to ggy and all the (human and not Cassies dad) characters in between I would be very happy with. it's why I'm so excited for sotm to finally release and end the mimic incorporation era. literally everything else it has left to cover are things that I would love

but yeah I think a ggy game would be absolutely hype and is actually very likely because of the THREE references/easter eggs weve gotten for him in a row!! I'm very excited to see what they're doing for him because damn ggy for Gregory's backstory has gone untouched for so long

I would love to see it explored in a campaign scenario of Gregory himself finding out about it but tbh I'm honestly expecting some prequel game about it that mostly just confirms it exists and expands upon content we dont know about from ggy like Rabs design and how he interacts with vanny. campaign would obviously be so much better for everyone involved but any ggy content is a win in my book

[lieutenantselnia]

Actually I think it's a bit unfair that I can't be an astrophysicist and a historian and a game developer and a marine biologist and an archaeologist and an author and a seamstress at the same time

[theotherrookie]

"…It's Lord of the Rings. How do you not know?"

That served her right for going for such an easy reference. Though Rook wasn’t going to make a case out of it, Percival already had a lot going on with the whole time travel thing. He seemed to have it figured out at least.

"So you don't really control it?" That made the whole concept less appealing. "To be honest with you, I was a bit interested. I'm supposed to go on break and grab a bite, but now I kinda want to learn all the gross ways people used to mess with food just to make it look better. It's probably a little better than some of my usual readings for work."

She wasn't going to go into detail on that. Mentioning she dealt in the supernatural sounded mysterious and exciting while listing all undead variants tended to get her concerned looks.

But it was her turn to launch into a monologue, though a slightly shorter one.

"Well, there isn't much to know. The main thing about the occult and computers is that they get along so well that trying to digitalize some volumes will make you wish your machine is only going to burst into flames. Books last longer and are also a way to quarantine some of that knowledge."

That was indeed her professional opinion as a computer engineer. But then Rook grinned at the answer she got and the question that followed.

"Ah, who would have thought. I guess there's a good chance we'll catch each other again." she chuckled, "I deal with ghosts for a paycheck and I have Thea here, but there's also a dragon waiting for me back home and I know some interesting fellows who live around here. But I've got the feeling you aren't just asking this out of academic curiosity, are you?"

"Probably. I mean, a war between historians over a powerful accessory would be something fun to read about. As long as Sauron doesn't show up, that is."

So this was all possible thanks to a special watch. The concept of course tempted Rook to ask for permission to have a look at it (and through it) before it occurred to her it would be unwise to go sticking her hands into something like that. Time was the one force of the universe Rook wasn't willing to mess with and the watch probably wasn't easy to replace.

"Oh, makes sense. So you don't have to worry about how long you're staying around. It'd kinda suck if you had to get cooking first thing right after coming back from some crazy adventure." She definitely knew the feeling. "But I bet you have tried some food too. I would do that if I could get some authentic ancient dish."

The thought alone was making her hungry already. Thea also perked up as food was mentioned, very much hoping to get a snack out of this if she behaved well.

Rook glanced at Percival's shoulder as she listened to his explanation. The way the watch worked was fascinating.

"That's the kind of story doctors like to bring up every chance they get. I would have told them I forgot the bullet home." she chuckled, "I had something like that happen to me once. It wasn't properly a bullet, but ectoplasm can hurt just as much. Some doctors don't get it, though. So I handle that stuff in other ways now. It saves me from dealing with their attitude."

It also saved her from explaining why her body seemed to be healing at an unnaturally quick rate, but knowing two of the best healers in town certainly helped too.

"Well, not necessarily. Books are still way more reliable than anything digital. Hard drives will fail just because they don't like you, but a book can survive for a really long time if it doesn't get mistreated too bad. And that isn't even touching on the issues that come with studying the occult."

But that was another rabbit hole that should be left for later. Rook tilted her head, pondering her next question.

"So, where are you from? Or I guess I should say 'when' in this case."

[razzle-zazzle]

another fun fact about my dumb little ninjastuck au is that, bc she was raised by kai/the occasional sympathetic ignacian, nya knows very little about troll culture. colton, who had a lusus and some influence from his ancestor, takes it upon himself to teach nya all the things she missed (jay also tries to do this to varying levels of success. they are both idiots <3).

this results in colton crushing pale on nya btw <>

[danielnelsen]

god how many months years is it gonna take me to learn my way around the veilguard files in frosty gahhh

[cathymee]

why does showtime have random episodes where they just make as much mj references as they can

[yoshistory]

i miss being a construction worker cause honestly a lot of my time on the job i wouldnt do anything LOL but i do genuinely also miss like. the job itself. i miss how a lot of my work revolved around going into empty buildings and go anywhere inside of them. fix them nicely ... whenever there's construction work in the offices and bathrooms and stuff it makes my heart hurt so badly. i love getting glimpses of the utility closets. i always felt like a fly on the wall maintaining an office or building but not really being APART of the culture inside of it yannow. being there transiently