#was just gonna use it to get into the groove since i was failing to do so with some other brain storms

[iced-souls]

Ma monster guy lil wisp lil willow for a certain monster contest!

Willow Wisps don’t tend to be seen in their full form, since they’re usually pretty shy/spooked/wary of danger. To get rid of a potential threat, they’ll “flame on” their disguise and work together to lure the threat away from their home. When their not at home however, they’ll keep the flame on to look “scarier” to make the threat avoid them, otherwise they’ll prance away (which looks more like a bouncing flame all haha)

The common wisp live amongst willow trees, as to blend in more easily with the leaf type. But there are different kinds of wisps according to the kinds of trees they’ve evolved with (spruce wisp, oak wisp, ever wisp, maple wisp?)

They’re nocturnal, omnivores (bugs, small animals, dead stuff, leaves), and facultatively bipedal (like a parasaurolophus).

They’re light and fluffy, leaving them able to float off a surface. This also makes them prone to being blown away probably—

The fluffy stuff is fur like the mammals they are, but their bone and meat structure is probably closer to that of a bird.

They’re an older species, originating from somewhere in the dino times, but like most dino evolutions, they are tinier than they once were

Some more doodles of them under the cut!

| COMMISSIONS |

[kokonoiis]

gentle lover── pt. 1 ❝ his favorite place to kiss you ❞

Ⅰ. tokyo revengers ft. k. hajime, i. seishu, m. chifuyu, h. ran, h. rindou. h. shuji Ⅱ. blurbs Ⅲ. tw. the haitaini brothers are asses, reader is shorter than hanma. Ⅳ. a/n. i'm writin my faves to get into the groove of it !! gonna try to include as many of the main characters as i possibly can in this short little series since it's easy to write and good practice

── kokonoi hajime. nape of your neck hajime hates standing in front of people, so he's almost always standing behind you, his watchful gaze always scanning the area for any lingering threats no matter how peaceful the world may seem around you. he just wants the best for you, that much he knows for certain. he worries too much, that you'll be taken away from him before he's really had a chance to protect you, and this overprotectiveness manifests in several different ways. but sometimes, when he's absolutely sure that the two of you are safe, and you're well protected, he'll lean forward, arms lazily wrapping around your waist, pulling himself closer. you can feel just how much he needed the contact by the grip on you, his face buried in the crook of your neck, as if he were trying to memorize everything about you. almost without thinking, his soft lips find the skin of the back of your neck, pressing kisses along your nape until the stress in his body has relaxed. you can feel him smile against your skin as you lean into his touch, needing him just as much as he needed you. he lets his kisses tell you exactly how much he loves you.

── inui seishu. hand seishu is a man known for just using a few words to get his point across, but no one can deny that he's absolutely a gentleman when he wants to be. and for you, he wants to be a gentleman all the time. his rough around the edges and blunt personality are no match for how happy he is when he gets to see you smile a truly happy smile, so he finds himself softening just slightly around you, more so for anyone else. he greets you the exact same no matter where you are or what you're doing, gently taking your hand and bringing it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against the back of your hand. it's so sweet, and never fails to bring that smile to your face, which is exactly what he's aiming for. if he can start off every interaction with you smiling, then he knows that he's done a good job as your boyfriend. and now, with your hand in his, he has a perfect excuse to link your fingers together so the two of you aren't separated. doing small things like this has become an unconscious act for him. loving you has become something of a necessity for him.

── matsuno chifuyu. cheek chifuyu prides himself on being a cool and reliable partner, or at least, he tries his hardest to be. he wants to be someone you can lean on when you've had a hard day, someone who can make you cheer you up even on the worst days. he's driven by a sense of right and wrong, wanting to do good for the people around him, and of course, you were the most important person in his life for him. he knew that he could be sarcastic sometimes, and even with as sweet as he tried to be, sometimes his words came out the wrong way, so he didn't like to lean too hard into his words all the way. sometimes all that was necessary was a silly little gesture. the one that he was most fond of himself was to take your face with both of his hands and pepper kisses all along your cheeks until you were nothing but a giggling, blushy mess for him. it made his own face flush up, watching you squirm and try not to laugh as you were bombarded with millions of little kisses all around your perfect face. to him, nothing was better than seeing you laugh like this.

── haitani ran. temple ran likes to surprise you with simple little surprises. he enjoys the way you jump slightly if he sneaks up on you, and the way you glare his way if he's done something a little too silly for your liking. a secret joy of his is the way that he loves you when he thinks you aren't prepared for it, because he's always so stupidly in love with you. he likes feeling your body tense and then relax as his arms find their way around your body, instinctually calmed down just by his presence. he'll hold you like this for as long as possible, whether that's two minutes or two hours, it makes no difference to him. just being able to have that contact with you for any amount of time is a good time for him. he'll lean over, nuzzle your cheek slightly, sorta like a cat almost, before kissing there. and he'll kiss everywhere he can reach. your cheek, forehead, neck, anywhere. but he always goes back to your temple, holding himself for a moment there so he could feel your heartbeat against his skin, the way it quickens just for him. he loves knowing that he has this kind of affect on you, and he'll never take it for granted.

── haitani rindou. corner of mouth rindou finds it so silly how easy it is to rile you up. its as if no matter what he does, he's always going to find a way to annoy you even just a little bit, and that definitely holds true when he's being all lovey dovey with you. he can't help himself, he just loves the way your eyebrows knit together and that adorable pout on your lips when he does something he knows will annoy you just a touch. he'll give you what you want, he always does, but he likes making you at least ask for it, sometimes more if he's feeling a little more devious than normal. when kissing you, he always makes it a point to kiss you everywhere except for where you want to be kissed. first your forehead, then your nose, then your jawline, then your cheek. and finally, when you've asked him enough times to kiss you on your lips, he'll kiss the very corner of your mouth, just barely any contact at all. it never fails to make you whine just a little bit, sometimes you'll even take it upon yourself to kiss him if you're fed up enough with his crap. he thinks it's adorable, and he has no intention of stopping.

── hanma shuji. top of head shuji loves that he can rest his head on top of yours pretty easily. nothing like having his partner in his arms as they chatted about nothing in particular, watching the world around them. he's an unabashed lover, it would take a lot more than anything you could do to embarrass him, and he most certainly wasn't embarrassed about holding what was his, especially if he were in front of other people. but it's not always around other people, either. sometimes he's just at home with you, with you sat in between his legs on the couch, and his slender arms wrapped around your frame, his chin resting on top of your head. he'll mumble something about how you can't sit still, but he makes no movement to try to get you away from him. instead, he picks his head up, and leans down slightly, gently kissing your scalp. it's such a tender moment for a man like him, who prides himself on being someone unpredictable and wild. but it does never fail to earn a surprised little gasp from you, so he supposes it still counts.

──kokonoiis 2024

[that1fangirrl]

okay i wrote a little sumn sumn with no editing, just thoughts... it's not finished but I figured I'd put something out...if you want me to write some more for this and fix it up, lemme know cause i love writing for college!matty 😩Inbox always opened, so feel free. also it's pretty smutty so umm minors get out.

LAST WARNING... IM DEADASS!!!

“11:26 am”, you had been studying for almost two hours now. Foggy and your friend, Lizzie were off in their own world, abandoning any thoughts of you or Matt. The two of them spent every study session, giggling and flirting. Sure, you weren’t a law student and didn’t have to tag along, but Lizzie always invited you. Something about “being with people your age makes you more social”. But really she just wanted an excuse to be around Foggy even more. It wasn’t completely terrible. You weren’t completely alone. Foggy’s roommate, Matt, was always there. A slight grimace on his face like he could see what was happening from across the room, then somehow shaking it off and turning back to his books. You, being the top of your classes left you with not much to study. 

Today was no different. Matt was reading his notes in disgust and the lovebirds were already packing up their bags to go back to Lizzie’s. The two of them stood up, rushing out a quick “we’re just gonna go pick up some food. See you guys in a bit” and running out the room. Foggy wasn’t even trying to hide the boner in pants at this point. You looked down at your watch then at Matt. His shades met your gaze. “How many days do you think it’ll take for them to realize we know they’re fucking?” You giggled a little, fixing your glasses. “Who knows? I told Liz, I didn’t care. But she insists they haven’t done anything yet.” Your eyes roll. You stand up closing your book, walking over to Matt’s bed. He does the same, sitting up and pushing his notes over. His arms stretch out as you reach him and straddle his lap. Your lips connect with soft moans following behind. 

“Enough about them. What about us? Two months and they’ve hardly noticed we’ve been fucking.” You sigh into Matt’s mouth. A soft questioning look on your face. “We are? Man, I just thought we were studying anatomy.” His hands reach up to your blouse, unopening the three buttons at the top. His hands squeeze down on your breasts, face settling nose first in the valley of them. He takes a deep breath, before looking back up with a dopey smile. “Well then, I must be amazing at anatomy. My favorite body part is this one.” His hands reach down towards your ass. A loud sigh leaves your lips. “I guess that would make this one… mine.” You reach into his sweats and palm his cock. “Mmmhh. It’s definitely yours Angel.”

The two of you hadn’t done nearly as much as the previously mentioned couple. Mostly, just grinding, making out and the occasional giving and receiving of head. The first time it happened shocked you both. Matt had been late for one of the study sessions. You were the only one there, not wanting to ruin your groove after Foggy and Liz left. Matt looked like he ran a marathon. Sweat dripping all over ,chest still heaving, sweats hugging the right places and hair all over the place. Apparently, after failing one of his tests, he went out to the gym to “punch out his feelings”. You tried your best to stay focused on helping him, but he looked so fucking hot. Unbeknownst to you, Matt was catching onto the shift in you. He had never smelled something so sweet. When you went in for a comforting hug, he let slip that he was still a bit pent up. So being the good friend you were, you slid down to your knees and offered to help him “relax”. 

Ever since then, you guys continued to relax together. Matt was a huge tease. Especially during the last few study sessions. Just last week, your covers were almost blown. Foggy had come back and found you and Matt cuddled up next to each other on Matt’s bed. If he weren’t so oblivious, he probably would’ve noticed how your legs were wide open and splayed on Matt’s lap with his hand moving at the slowest pace on the planet. You thought he had finally figured it out, when your head fell forward and you let out a small squeal. Matt, being quick on his toes, said he had accidentally grazed a spot where you were known to be quick ticklish. After Foggy finished whatever it was he was up to, Matt went right back to finger fucking you under the covers. Let’s just say the laundry attendant was pretty confused seeing Matt again for the second time in two days. 

Back to now, you both were breathing in each other. Hands everywhere. Rediscovering places you had been before. You both were so caught up with each other, that you hadn’t even heard the door opening. A loud gasp sounded from the doorframe. Following it was an even louder, “WHAT. THE. FUCK?!” Your head whipped around hard enough to give whiplash. Both Lizzie and Foggy were standing shocked with pizza and drinks in hand. The four of you continued to stare before Lizzie squealed out, “I. Knew it!! I knew they were fucking Foggy. 25 bucks, right now.” You blinked at her, “you bet on us? How’d you know?” “We share a wall. I could hear buzzing and a particular name being mentioned more than a few times.” You blushed, tucking away into Matt’s arms as he chuckled. “Don’t laugh. I’m sure Foggy hears you sometimes…right Fog?” Foggy and Matt laughed loudly. “Puh-lease. I snore so loud, a bomb could go off and I’d still be asleep.”

Sooooo. Should I write some more for this or noooo???

[lakemojave]

Mojave Reads X-Men: X-Men #3, X-Men #4, and X-Men #5

Ok so I got a little distracted since the last reading, but I got through some more comics! I do feel myself getting into a groove with these ones, and like last time they were all a hell of a lot of fun! 60s X-Men is really growing on me! I kinda feel like I'm learning more about the Silver Age of comic books than I am about the X-Men, but honestly that's kinda the bargain I made going into this.

This time we've got a lot of villains to introduce. Up to issue #4 we were mostly doing a villain or hijink of the week format, but now we need to give this superhero team a group of supervillain rivals! Naturally this means that Magneto comes back, but you might be surprised by just how many iconic characters and concepts are introduced in this group of issues. It may not be the thematically dense gravy that I hoped for with X-Men, but the bones for that fine substance are absolutely here.

And now, the review!

X-Men #3

This comic introduces the X-Men villain The Blob, who is simply a very large man. The X-Men try and fail to recruit him, then must fend off Blob's retaliatory invasion of clowns, jugglers, and acrobats. It is, in comparison to our previous issues, a standard Silver Age X-Men caper. And yet I had a ton of fun with this one.

These issues will always start with a training sequence in the Danger Room, giving our young heroes a chance to show off their abilities. You see, comics used to be written with new readers in mind, considering the fact that some young readers might miss last issue--the comic stand at the grocery store straight up might've run out of last month's issue! So these little scenes to show off the team's powers and reestablish the X-Men team dynamic are certainly repetitive, but I find them really charming for this reason.

Even if there are some repetitive elements, the status quo is slowly morphing. Cyclops' real name is Scott Summers, and this is the first issue to actually use that name for the guy. We establish that he's no nonsense, occasionally brooding, but is also harboring a secret attraction to Jean Grey (which the other boys are much less secretive about). At the same time though, we learn that Charles Xavier is ALSO attracted to Jean! On one hand, uh, what the fuck dude she is a teenager and you're like 30. On the other, this is the seed of lots of soap opera family drama that'll come to characterize the team dynamic as the X-Men swell in the 70s!

But enough about that. It's time for the circus.

The Blob's whole deal is that he's super strong, super huge, and super durable. It makes him a good carnival attraction, but learning he's a mutant and what the X-Men are makes him want a little more out of his current setup. We're gonna see a lot of this kind of conflict a lot I think, our favorite mutants trying to bring some wayward mutant into their ranks, then falling short due to a gap in what the two parties want out of being a mutant. It's understandable to want more from life, discovering that you're more extraordinary than your circumstances have lead you to believe. It's also hilarious to see that perspective articulated by an all out invasion by n army of clowns.

This might be the most chaotic ending battle we've seen so far. I genuinely had a lot of fun reading this bit. It's goofy, but everyone on the team has something to do in the fight, and their enemies are more diverse than just generic mob goons with tommy guns. It comes to an end after Professor X charges up a techno doohickey to use his psychic powers to stop Blob in his tracks, then wiping his memory of the mansion and sending him on his way.

It's straightforward and familiar, but the series is clearly evolving as we go. For instance, Beast is starting to drop his trademark five dollar words and his generally refined personality. Mr. Hank McCoy has been my least favorite part of these early comics because without anything like this to set him apart, then he's just a normal guy with his toes out all the time. Now, he's a normal guy with his toes out all the time who would also quote Tennyson in the middle of a fight.

Good comic, but after 3 issues I've been excited for some kind of movement in the overall story of this team. I need them to have something to do that has consequence, something with real drama. I might not get that for a while, but issue 4 at least comes pretty close to satisfying.

X-Men #4

You know I'm not the first person to say this but I always thought "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" was an odd name. Like if you genuinely believe that your cause is just, why would you willingly call yourselves that? It's a bit like the name Decepticons, right? An immediate red flag to anyone you're trying to convince to your side. "We are the league of murderliars, and our intentions are noble and pure!"

That said, I'm kind of astounded by how much is introduced here. After our standard training sequence and then a 1 year X-Men team anniversary celebration, we shift over to their villainous counterpart. I'm kind of shocked by how many pivotal characters in the canon are introduced here! Toad and Mastermind are here, they're alright I guess, but our other two members are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver! I didn't know that these characters were so foundational to the fabric of the X-Men franchise, and it goes deeper! Wanda gets a brief backstory flashback that is the first time we see any kind of xenophobia and prejudice against mutants, an aspect of Wanda's character that is still with us to this day!

It's still all very silly, make no mistake. Magneto's back, but his personality is still pretty generic and the dialogue is still very stupid. Magneto's plan is to take over a South American island nation using an American battleship and Mastermind's power of mass hallucination. The panel that shows how Magneto steals the ship is hilarious, and Charles has one of my favorite lines in the series so far.

Yes. Who would dare attack a South American nation unprovoked. Utterly unthinkable.

There is so much stuff in this issue though. By this point, I think we're zeroing in on what concepts the readers are coming back for, and there's something about Magneto that comes off as pretty compelling! This issue establishes that he and Charles have some kind of history, giving them their first of many psychic conversations, and the very first usage of the iconic rallying cry, "Magneto was right!" The context of these things are all very threadbare, but as someone who loves Magneto as a character in the modern day, it's all so compelling to me.

The funniest part of the whole issue is probably when Magneto sets up a nuclear fuckin bomb to blow up the island he just took over. Dude is just making up this plan as he goes I guess.

The comic ends with the team escaping the island with an incapacitate Charles, who claims that his psychic powers aren't working anymore! Oh fuck! Now they have to defeat Magneto and his evil mutants all on their own!

X-Men #5

This is another hefty one! The evil mutants are still out and about so the X-Men have to stop them, following them to their secret base and kicking their ass without any support from ol' Xavier. What's exciting about this one is that their secret base has shifted from some unidentified island in the Atlantic to something more iconic.

This is Asteroid M! I actually know this one from X-Men '97, in which Magneto hoists this whole fuckin thing out of the sea and launches it back into space. It's a fantastic villain's base, suitable to Magneto's whole deal and emblematic of the evil mutants' "Homo Superior" mindset, seeing themselves above all humans, uninterested in living among them.

From this base, Magneto plots to lure Angel into a trap and take him up to the asteroid to be tortured. The X-Men are able to follow Toad into a little space pod that launches them all up to the base, and thanks to a very whimsical combination of powers, the team survives back down to earth as the asteroid crashes. If I didn't know the asteroid would return to the series in some form, I'd be pissed! What a cool idea they just shot down out of the sky, mere pages after it was introduced!

This issue has a lot of highlights though. The team has to dress like normal kids as they give Jean's parents a tour of the school, and Scott accidentally enters the Danger Room and has to survive training exercises tuned to the Beast's agility. We also get to see more fights with Quicksilver, who gets to show off how Kirby drew speedster characters! I love how they leave a streak of lines behind them, and turn into a blur of straight lines themselves. It's effective at conveying their speed and is easy to draw repeatedly!

Speaking of Kirby, at this point one notices how many little gizmos the guy liked to draw. I've already pointed out the stupid planes and helicopters in these comics, but this issue has my absolute favorite so far:

But Magneto also gets this stupid headpiece that enhances his abilities. It's very amusing to see characters who don't typically use gadgets just inexplicably have some kind of contraption. To jump back to issue 3, Charles even gets basically the same kind of gadget to enhance his own powers to stop Blob! Guess these two have a bit in common, hm?

The award for most out of touch dialogue this time goes to Wanda. It's insane that she would ask this question after Magneto was straight up about to give that island the Oppenheimer special in the last issue.

The ending, however, is just hilarious. All we get is three panels to show that...surprise! Charles had his powers the whole time! He's back to normal after all, and the X-Men are strong enough without his help! I mean, sure they are, but that means that Charles just put these teenagers through more danger than was necessary just to test them. Like dude you didn't wanna step in at all even when they were falling to earth from low orbit??? Hello??? Why is he grinning???

That's it for this batch though! Next up we have some more crossovers, including our first run in with the Fantastic Four!

[callsign-bubbles]

i think one of the things we’ve failed to consider about the boston boys is their ability of persuasion. the main reason they’ve been together for such a long time is because they’re good at what they do, but i also think that they stormed into greg brown’s office and said “if you split us up we’ll quit”

it is with this in mind that i present a potential AU: speech and debate team! i think ryan and will especially would be perfect candidates, given their personalities and general tendencies as players. NSDA rules would be how i’d govern it, and if i assigned each of them an event i’d say that will in particular would be a kickass lincoln-douglas debater, and ryan and gabe would shine in the team element of public forum.

the twist of it all is that ryan and gabe and will are all competing against each other, even in the different events. competition against the people that know you best.

blurb under the cut.

“I’m telling you, Leno, this argument is flimsy, and it’s gonna feel like that whether I say it in front of a wall or the judges,” Will complains, letting his head drop against the table. “Whose choice was it to go barhopping last night instead of refocusing?” Leno replies, voice completely monotone. Will gives him the finger and a pitiful groan. It’s not, like, the best idea to come to practice hungover, but he could stand for at least a little sympathy. The douchebags from Denver talked shit the entire competition. Sue him if he wanted to get drunk and forget about his poor placement. Leno puts his notes down. “Smitty, dude, I promise you, thinking about the shit that happened on Sunday won’t prep you for next week any more than sulking on your ass will.” “Whatever.” Will puffs a curl out of his face, pulling his hoodie off for the T-shirt under it. The library’s almost unbearably warm in the winter. And anyway, it’s not like he doesn’t care, and Leno knows that. He’s damn proud to do this. He just wishes it didn’t come with a rivalry with a bunch of assholes.  Grabbing his laptop from where he’d strewn it on the table, he finds the document with this cycle’s topic. Votesy and Powell have added to it since he’s last checked, mostly accuracy checks and little quips. Will huffs a laugh when he sees the ‘DENVER’S DADDY’S MONEY CAN SUCK MY BALLS’ in bright red font on the top of his notes section. “The intergenerational accumulation of wealth is antithetical to democracy,” he mumbles, trying to get back into the right headspace. The screen stares at him mockingly. Eventually, after an Advil, a giant swig of his water, and slapping himself in the face a few times, he gets in the groove. The argument is hypocritical, he realizes, but what can he do. It’s not his fault that his great-great-grandparents happened to be in the right place at the right time. It’s only when there’s a pair of hands waving across his screen, making it hard to type, that he pulls out from his focus and sees Fowls grinning and shaking his head at him.

[the-acid-pear]

I'm getting so anxious my legs are going cold so I've decided I'm gonna start reading Dungeon Meshi. Gonna do the classic manga liveblog format too 👍

Chapter 0

It's been so long since I did something like this man goddamn.

Oh this manga is really fucking short! Only 97 chapters goddamn. Might get to finish the whole liveblog in like, 2 rbs.

This is so silly n cute tbh

Catgirl looks HORRIFIED

Wait is, is the dwarf naked? Is he in his fucking underwear??

Thought they were praying for the food for a second

WHY ARE WE JUST RANDOMLY SHOWING A BRUTAL DEATH FROM A DRAGON THIS. THE WHIPLASH

Oh she's alive nvm

Chapter 1

Goofy ahh dragon

Love that it's formatted as a menu that's cute

Well that was a haunting introduction

Capitalism is one hell of a bitch <- pretty sure this has nothing to do with that

I love this short critter's beautiful black eyes

Why is she breakdancing to express discontent?

Man these chapters are long, like 45 pages each. That makes it almost 200 chapters since 20 pages is more of the average length.

THE BLUSH. HUNGRY BASTARD UTSYFSYSEYSRRUD

"who are you?" He was licherally there when the girl was vored what do you Mean who are you . . .

Un capo se trajo un disco.

Holy shit you can die?

Marcille you're such a girl fail it's honestly hot

Oh Chilchuck is a name i though it was an insult

Sabés el asado que te puede hacer el Senshi, te caes de culo

Chapter 2

The settings are beautiful

👍

The way death is handled feels so Weird

Laios I did not wish to learn about your bondage kink

Chilchuck is so real I love him 😭

Chilchuck why were you at the gallows...........

Chapter 3

Already got in the groove of it

He looks so distraught at the unbalanced diet

"reptilian features" "cool" "cool"

I love Laios and Senshi's relationship they're such a good team

Senshi is sooo silly

These are such good ppl tbh

THANK YOU FOR YOUR MOTIVATIONAL APEECH SENSHI

I'm using the same site I did to read Baki and bro there's a clown in the notes who keeps adding the image of Marcille being told elves are good cock sleeves and it's starting to seriously annoy me.

Stopping for now so I can eat and stuff 👍

[legolasghosty]

Robots & Androids ‎AU plus Small Town AU

OKAY I AM FINALLY GETTING TO THESE I'M SORRY I'M SO BEHIND!!!

Okay. So.

Humanity kinda developed a LOT of health issues in the mid-late 23rd century. It was all a long time in coming, but it was a bit of a shocker still when people started breaking down. And there just wasn't enough people to keep up with the demand for new organs, tissue, blood, etc. The human race was basically failing. So, in a semi last ditch attempt to keep people alive, cyborg technology was put to work. Scientists had been messing around with the theory of it for years, since robots and androids were getting decently advanced. But they never had the support to actually try a clinical trial. Until now.

Some of it worked better than others. And it was HIGHLY controversial. Though maybe less than it should have been, considering the lengths the research team was permitted to go in order to get this stuff sorted out... Mainly that they were given legal permission to try it out on patients without their express consent, mostly in situations where the person was in a coma/on life support with no real hope of recovery.

Towards the end of her life, Rose was offered the chance to try getting a cybernetic lung transplant to replace the one that had been damaged beyond repair by her cancer. She refused, as it would be super risky and be more likely to kill her than help. She would rather die in her own whole body than risk losing her last few weeks with her family.

After she passed, the remaining Molinas moved out of the city, to a small town a few hours north, to escape the grief and the terrible air quality that had been a part of Rose's quick decline in health.

Unfortunately, they just happened to pick the exact tiny town that the government had picked to dump their cyborg... pet projects. The ones who hadn't actually consented to their surgeries but had ended up surviving. Best to keep everyone with those stories contained while they championed the cyborg advancements. Especially since there were plenty of side effects...

Julie meets a lot of odd people on her first day at the local high school. These include a dude that never lowers the hood of his pink hoodie, a bassist in a leather jacket who never seems to stop smiling, a skater with a rather odd limp, and a boy with shaggy hair who never seems to hear what people say to him, always grooving along to some music no one else can hear. There's also a few other adult oddballs around, but I don't got the energy to write all those out.

Under the cut, it gets a little more specific about injuries and alterations to specific characters, so read at your own risk!

Turns out that all four of those odd boys are unwilling cyborgs who were a part of some of the first rounds of tests. Hey, they were all gonna die anyways, the government decided they might as well use them.

Willie was in a nasty car crash that smashed both legs and a few ribs. He has pretty good prosthetics now, but they don't always function properly. And if he keeps his hair long to cover the incision scar on the back of his neck, that's no one's business except his own.

Luke, Alex, and Reggie all nearly died of food poisoning back in LA, but due to a combination of slightly different reactions to the battery acid/food poisoning and scientists wanting to test out different tech, they all have different issues now.

Luke got some synthetic tissue repair on his organs and around his throat. But there was also some damage to his airways cause of throwing up so much, so there's some wiring stuff in there so he can still sort of smell... however that got a bit mixed around and so his hearing is pretty weak and the music he has stuck in his head tends to sound like it's coming from outside to him.

Reggie mostly got away without any organ damage, but his face got kinda messed up. Now he looks pretty normal, except his jaw and lips can't move a lot. So he's stuck with a permanent semi-smile. It's not creepy usually, just kinda sad. He tries to stay upbeat to match his face.

Alex got the worst damage to his digestive system. The connections between his organs and brain are mostly man made now, whether that's wires for neurotransmitting or fake tissue on the lining of his stomach. However, when the scientists realized they had someone with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, they... well they might as well try, since he's probably dead anyways. So there's also a metal panel on the back of his head. It didn't work, and the hair won't grow back around it. Hence the hood.

Somehow they all become friends and help each other kinda come to terms with their lives. And also play lots of music. Though the shadow of the head researcher, Dr. Covington, looms over them all... OKAY that's what I got for tonight! More thoughts may come later, but that's my rough idea! I hope you enjoyed!!!

[alistonjdrake]

So why are readers unable to connect with black characters/black stories/black authors? (Spoiler alert: it’s either blatant racism or unchecked internalized racism but I’m still gonna go through this whole thing).

While things have changed a lot since I was younger—there’s more stories with black MCs coming out in the genres I enjoy, black authors getting rewarded for their hard work, just a wider array of diverse choices in bookstores, the central pushback against black characters has remained the same: readers, specifically white ones, cannot “relate” or “connect” to these characters. And if they don’t say that they come up with some other bs reason why a book with a few black people didn’t groove with them. It did not educate them on the “black experience” or they “didn’t think it went in depth about the culture/world building” (which out of context is a fair criticism but one I’ve seen used disproportionately to talk about the failures of black fantasy books).

It’s kind of a mixed bag really. If I don’t write black characters I’m repeatedly asked why and hounded on my reasons both from in and outside my community. If I do, I’m expected not only to entertain but to educate and if I fail at this it’s used as an example for why perhaps readers don’t need these stories or won’t be able to connect with them. Never mind that fantasy stories are rife with themes of oppression and injustice (not that these need to be synonymous with the black experience) and readers find these palatable when the involved characters are no darker than a paper bag. And it’s not just that, if a black character exists in a story where their race does not result in undue harm, I am still asked why.

Is there a solution to this? Ask any marginalized person just existing on the internet. Every time I post a picture of myself, talk about being queer and black, there is still a well-meaning person who sees me not as a random individual, but as as an educator who is expected to now answer questions and explain the nuances of my identity and experience. This is how we treat all black authors. They cannot simply write books. They have to reinvent tropes, teach us essential lessons on being black and the history of related cultures and experiences, explain for the benefit of a non-black or BIPOC audience everything that comes with that identity, and still after that be told that the story isn’t palatable to wider audiences because existing as a black person is too hard to connect with.

[incomingalbatross]

Amphibia Platonic Soulmates Ch. 2 (Draft): ✨Communication✨

(Prologue and Ch. 1 on AO3 here)

I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what else this installment needs to feel like a complete chapter to me, but I like what I DO have so for now I'm sharing it as-is.

---

Having a soulmate, it turned out, really did live up to the stories. Over the next couple of weeks, Anne and Sprig fell into an effortless rhythm with each other—getting in trouble, supporting each other, having fun, solving problems, and all as easily as if they could read each others’ minds. Even chores went better!

Of course, this being Wartwood, somebody had to come by and try to dump cold water on them. In this case, even the town weirdo apparently thought they were weird.

“A frog child and a monster from the woods, getting along? So unnatural.” One-Eyed Wally shuddered one last time and wandered off, squeezing ominous tones out of his accordion.

Sprig stuck his tongue out behind his back. “Aw, what does he know?”

Anne nudged him, eyes bright with mischief when he looked up. “Well, we know something he doesn't,” she sing-songed. “Right, buddy?”

“Ha!” Sprig’s annoyance evaporated. “Yeah we do.” He winked.

“And they don't even think we can be friends,” Anne scoffed. “We'll just have to show ‘em all!”

“With the power of FRIENDSHIP. And our deep unspoken bond!”

“Exactly.”

They shared a satisfied nod, perfectly in tune with each other. As always.

---

“But where’s Anne gonna sleep till the basement gets fixed?”

“Ooh! Ooh! That’s easy. She’ll sleep in my room!”

Anne gasped, hands going to her cheeks. “Like sleepovers every night.”

“You know it.” Sprig beamed.

---

Those froggone kids were gonna drive Hop Pop crazy.

Now, it wasn’t that he had any problems with Anne in the usual way of things. Sure, she caused her fair share of trouble, but just in the way rambunctious kid did. She definitely wasn’t a monster with a taste for frog flesh, which had been his main concern, and she’d been surprisingly well-behaved ever since she broke his cane.

And Hop Pop had to admit, it was nice to see Sprig with a real friend his age. That Ivy Sundew used to play with him on occasion, but since the Millipede Incident destroyed the schoolhouse last year and Ivy’d gotten so busy helping her ma at the teashop, they didn’t see so much of each other nowadays. Anne and Sprig, now, were inseparable.

Or they had been. That was just the trouble. Ever since Anne’s room got flooded and she moved in with Sprig, the tempers between those two had been fraying worse than Bessie’s old harness, and neither one of the idiots was even willing to admit there was a problem!

Hop Pop didn’t know why they were so dang set on pretending things were perfect.

---

Sprig was not going insane. He was not.

Sure, being roommates with Anne was…a little more of an adjustment than he had expected. Sure, she stayed up all night with her otherworldly light-box making it too bright to sleep, eating loud snacks while she laughed to herself. Sure, she kept opening the window like she was trying to keep the room at hibernation temperatures. And sure, she never picked up any of her stuff from the floor. But it was fine! Sprig was fine! These were all probably weird human needs he just didn’t understand because they weren’t the same species. The two of them just needed to stick it out and find their groove and they’d be fine.

---

“But we’re friends!” Anne burst out. Hop Pop clearly didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. “We’re SOULMATES!”

His jaw unhinged. “Say whaaaaat?” (It would have been hilarious if everything weren’t terrible right now.)

“We’re soulmates,” Sprig chimed in, eyes welling up pitifully, “and we can’t even share a room together! How are we so bad at this?”

Anne clutched her hair. “I can’t believe I’m failing at being a soulmate after, like, a couple weeks.” It was the worst. She was the worst. They were both the worst—no, that was a super mean thing to say about Sprig, he hadn’t done anything wrong, but sharing a room with him was driving her insane—

“KIDS.” Hop Pop came down the stairs, putting his palms together in front of him, with a very tired look on his face. “First of all, y’can’t fail at bein’ a soulmate. It’s just somethin’ y’are, like bein’ a frog.” He paused. “Or a weird long-leggedy dry-skinned monster!”

“Thanks for the inclusivity, HP.”

“Yer welcome, Anne. Secondly…” He sighed. “Now, I ain’t got personal experience here, but as far as I can see, havin’ a soulmate is just like any other relationship. It doesn’t mean yer gonna get along perfectly all the time. It certainly doesn’t mean yer sleepin’ habits are gonna work with each other!” He looked each of them straight in the eyes, one after the other. Anne gulped uneasily.

“It just means y’can find somethin’ important in each other. But to do that, y’gotta talk! Y’gotta work at it! Just like anything else in this life! Havin’ to talk out some troubles now and then doesn’t mean yer doin’ anythin’ wrong. But actually having the conversation means yer doin’ somethin’ right.”

“…Oh.”

Anne straightened a little, feeling the weight of the world fall off her shoulders. Beside her, Sprig seemed to be feeling the same way.

“So…we shouldn’t worry about not getting along as roomies?” he said hopefully, rubbing one arm.

Hop Pop barked a laugh. “Boy, if you two could get along perfectly all the time I’d be worried about that. Wouldn’t be natural.” He raised the part of his face where his eyebrows should be. “If yer differences didn’t trip y’up, all the ways you’re alike would do it!”

“Whaaaaat?” Anne scoffed, feeling better. “That’s crazy talk, Hop Pop! It was only the ways we were different that messed up the roomie situation.”

“Yeah, being alike is great!”

“Hmm.” Hop Pop looked cynical. “So yer not down here in the middle o’ the night because yer both too stubborn to admit this wasn’t workin’? Or too scared t’risk hurtin’ each other’s feelin’s, even though this situation was driving you both crazy?”

Anne’s mouth hung open for a second. “…Oh.”

“Ohhhhhhh,” Sprig said at the same time.

“Kinda see what’cha mean there, Hop Pop.”

“We may have been stupid in the same ways at the same time,” Sprig chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Havin’ a soulmate is a two-edged sword, kids,” Hop Pop said, turning back toward the stairs. “It means somebody who can understand you better’n anyone—if you both understand yerselves. But it can also mean sharin’ all the same blind spots. Which is why learnin’ and communicatin’ is so important—”

“Yeah, yeah, are we done with the boring stuff now?” Polly interrupted, bouncing up and down on top of his head. “Because I have important questions about this whole soulmate biz. Question one: can you feel each other’s pain??”

“POLLY, NO—!”

---

Later, after Polly had been subdued for the night and Anne had grabbed her blanket and pillows from Sprig’s room, she found herself alone in the living room with Hop Pop. Anne cleared her throat a little nervously.

“So. Um, you’ve actually been really chill about the whole ‘grandson turned out to be soulmates with the alien monster girl he found in the woods’ thing.” Anne chuckled awkwardly. “I…gotta admit, I was a little worried you’d freak out about it.”

“Oh, I’m still adjusting,” Hop Pop assured her, which was actually not reassuring. Then he sighed, and shrugged. “Honestly, part of this is probably the sleep deprivation talkin’, but also? I’m a lot less shocked than I woulda been a couple weeks ago. Yer just a kid, like Sprig, or Polly…now, is it still weird to have a freak o’ nature from another world as a soulmate? Little bit. But I can’t deny you and Sprig are like two scream peas in a pod.”

“…What are scream peas?”

“They’re like regular peas, but they scream. Makes ‘em taste better, somehow! Also a better metaphor fer you’n’Sprig—you do do a lotta screamin’.”

“We do, it’s true!” That made sense.

“Anyway, where was I? …Oh, yes. I can’t deny, it’s a little strange, Anne. But yer just a person, like the rest of us, in a body that happens to be a little stranger’n most. For our world, anyway. I don’t see any reason to kick up a fuss about you’n’Sprig bein’ soulmates—not like either of you decided it, anyway. Just a fact o’ nature, at this point.”

She smiled, feeling warm inside—a good warm, this time, not the suffocating humidity of Sprig’s room. “Thanks, HP.”

“Oh, but I’d still keep it quiet ‘round town fer a bit.” He looked back from halfway up the stairs, frowning. “The townspeople ain’t the most acceptin’ of new ideas—or new people. And they ain’t quite made up their minds you’re not a monster, yet.”

“Good thought, HP.” She flopped back onto the (horrible, horrible, but somehow comfier than it used to be) couch, shooting him a thumbs-up. “That’s what Sprig and me thought.”

“Well, g’night, Anne.”

“Night, HP!”

[2dkapsddr]

January 4th, 2025 - PIU 2024 PHOENIX, DDR WORLD, SDVX EG, ProSeka

last arcade day of winter break... before my doom arrives in the form of Winter Quarter . i Really didn't have much else to do at home, and there wasn't gonna be another chance like this in the near future without the looming threat of school homework and responsibility... so to hell with it! let's go get our groove on at the arcade!!

showed up to the sight of some local friends playing pump (including my first time seeing one of them play PIU i think??), at which point we thought "heyyy since there's three of us all here... why not try some co-op charts?" and so we did!!! started with the newest chart, ENERGY SYNERGY MATRIX CO-OP X3, only to fail out in the middle while still getting a Decent score.. but then we recovered first with an S+ on STORM CO-OP X3, and then with District 1 CO-OP X3!!! didn't play the CO-OP X2 chart at the end there, but i did hop on after everyone else was done and got an upscore to S on STAGER S19 + a sightread clear on DISTRICT V D20 (PEAAAAAAK !!!!!!!!)

quick switch over to DDR: scores were unfortunately not that impressive... held PFC on We're so Happy [ESP-16] 'til the combo break and just barely scraped by, but it was all downhill from there in terms of score... (at the very least, i walked away with a 25p PFC on First Action [ESP-12])

saw a free credit on PIU and took advantage of it to play a request from an earlier session by one of the song artists themselves: Adrenaline Blaster D19!!! where i managed to raise it on an S+!!!! unfortunately failed out shortly after on HTTP D19, which i still think should've been raised up to a D20... (totally not because i'm salty about the fail, but like actually,,,)

and of course, what better way to end off the session than with some SDVX!!! i may or may not have just played because of my friend wanting to do friend matches, but i got some damn good scores out of it!!! a 977 -> 983 to REINCARNATION [EXH-17] (thanks to him sharing the song w/ me lol), an HC on Butterfly Twist [MXM-18] up from 0 -> 968 -> 973, and got two other all-new 18 clears (Nhelv [MXM-18] and DataErr0r [MXM-18]) at the very end !!!

went back home and freshened up with a shower, not really planning to play any more rhythm games for the day except maybe for dailies, but that's when i revisited an earlier mention from a friend about this cool new ProSeka chart that i might like... the APPEND chart for snooze!!! it had a funky IIDX-like scratching section at the end, so i had to try it!!! using the new non-slip mat i bought from amazon just before the new year, i went to the kitchen and gave it a sightread try only to get a ... decent sightread clear IG??? it could've been better, as i initially thought... and proceeded to prove it with three subsequent banger scores on the same chart in under 30 minutes, like a 10gr 5cb to a 6gr 1g (rip) to a 1gr 3cb??? you're saying i could've had a 1gr FC as my first Lv.33 FC if i just didn't choke the ending so hard??? tragic... but i'll get it next time, trust !!!

[bmpmp3]

I FINALLY got a chance the other night to watch the new season of love live superstar and I LIKED these first five episodes a lot so i wanna talk about it :)

sorry to say i am one of the many fans who thought the 2nd season was kind of floundering so i was a bit worried but they have gotten right back into it and im so glad. the first season was really fantastic in my opinion although there were a few odd character arc turns here and there (i still wish kanon's stagefright wasnt cured so permanently and it is wild that chisato is just like not in the music program anymore LOL) but then the second season - while i really liked the new girls they added, the pacing was all off for me and instead of like one or two weird character arc decisions it was like 99% that. also where is kinako. whats kinakos deal. why doesnt she get like a proper backstory emotional arc like everyone else. whats going on here.

BUT this third season has been going great, the first episode i wasnt sure about the pacing quite yet but by the end i got into the groove. also i like that wien is like trying so hard to be little cartoon skeletor type villain. its awesome i love her. also her moving towards remembering her love of singing for what it is was sweet, and during bubble rise, her feeling remorse for what she did to her image was really interesting for love live. they hadnt really brought up much in the way of online haters before i dont think....

bubble rise was right up my alley, love this type of love live song (big sort of dramatic ballad-esque pop tunes) and the theme was super fun. although how the hell did they put up those stage decorations. where did they get that hologram whale. awesome. the outfits were so good too, and of course the singing sounded great

i also like that tomari is a complete weirdo. somewhere between like a company manager and a sassy android. awesome

SPEAKING OF WHICH her and natsumis arc. so in the second season i really REALLY loved natsumi but i was disappointed with how her arc went because high key i thought it was going in a totally different direction. straight up i thought they were gonna go into like financial insecurity and shit, like maybe her family had some hard times or something growing up and maybe theyre much more stable now (since yknow. shes going to yuigaoka and as we find out in s3 its like an hour or 2 away from where she lives...) its hard to grapple with those feelings. which is Really Heavy for love live but honestly that first season was low key kind of going there? kanons stage fright rens dead mom kekes family sumires former child actor feelings of inadequacy chisato getting bullied etc like they were going in more heightened and intense places than i was used to for the main animes. but then it was a little vague, natsumis deal.

i dunno i still really love her (shes still probably in my top 3, although its really hard to choose) but trying a bunch of stuff as a kid, failing, and then giving up on everything was a bit bizarre? it felt a little out of nowhere i dunno. i also wonder if even an arc about falling too deep into seeking online validation and then finding self worth and satisfaction through the love of the game (singing and dancing on stage) instead could have been stronger rather than what we got. also i do think sumire should have been the one to talk to her instead of kanon because i think their parallels are super interesting

ALL THAT TO SAY even though i thought natsumis arc was weak in the 2nd season i do think the extension of it in this season and tomaris arc were pretty solid. it was kind of a shaky base but the structure they built on top wasnt half bad! still feels a little vague.. like it still feels like the other shoe hasnt dropped, maybe there will be something else later with their family? theres still plenty of episodes to go plus theyll probably come out with movies or something later <3

now shiki and meis arc was very awesome and very homosexual the whole way. i was worried with them as well at the beginning of the 2nd season yknow LOL i get worried too much.. but like okay. love live always has these near-canon couples and if you like them its awesome the whole way but if you feel indifferent towards them it is. suffering. i am the only kananchika truther on this whole earth.

sorry thats irrelevant (and dw i dont dislike kananmari or anything i think its interesting, although i like kanandiamari a biiiiit more and of course im too deep into kananchika) and its not suffering thats a joke but it always makes you feel crazy when theyve made a couple that they push in all the promo and songs and shows and you dont really feel it that much.

LUCKILY mei shiki is not that. i was worried that theyd focus to much on making them childhood friends with a dependency thing and ignore their personalities for the sake of it BUT luckily their personalities were enhanced with their strong feelings towards eachother... it was awesome. also helps that i really like both characters. i still wish mei got more of an arc about her giving people a scarier impression but thats neither here nor there. shiki helping mei join liella in s2 and mei helping shiki be center in s3... awesome. like it was romantic while still keeping their arcs their own, built up together, so so cute.

also very happy they did give shiki a center song like this. okay honestly i was a little surprised s2 kept pushing a narrative that kanon was the strongest singer of the group which. well. i really love kanons voice in s1 and i think she mightve been then. but unfortunately it seems her seiyuu was strained or overworked because while she still had most of her power, she was sounding a lot less expressive and rich. sumire, chisato, and keke's seiyuu were improving rapidly on their already strong bases, and then they added shiki who's seiyuu's voice is like dripping in charisma. her high notes sound a little strained sometimes but theyre also rapidly getting better and she had so much depth and subtle expression that i was like BLOWN AWAY immediately. since s2 kanon's seiyuu i think had more rest if i remember correctly? and she's sounding pretty good again (although it seems shes leaning more into a character voice with less soft or rich dimensions compared to s1 which i'll miss but its not bad. as long as shes healthy its fine, in the end the real voice actress is more important than a character song) but i did think it was like a difficult suspension of disbelief to deal with when they talked about shiki (and the other 1st years) being behind in skill when her singing skill was through the ROOF like that hskjhjkfdlsdfds i mean theyre all talented from the get-go thats a recquirement to be a love live seiyuu but i was like hello? shiki's voice? why is no one talking about shiki's gorgeous singing? hello??????

then again i value expressiveness over anything else, which is why i consider chisato's voice to be so SO good even though no one talks about it enough. a soft breathy note makes a powerful note sound even stronger, yknow? need some salt in your brownies to make the sugar taste better. but i do have this bias so take my vocal opinions with a lot of salt. too much salt for brownies. but enough for discussion (?)

anyway what im saying is all the singers are sounding pretty great this season but i especially was happy to hear shiki who already had a gorgeous voice have a center like this!! such a fun song too, more modern pop with a light tone rather than the heavier big ballad pop like bubble rise which i tend to prefer, but super catchy and sweet nonetheless

and speaking of songs the most reason episode.... keke's chinese ver of stardust cruising was a bit life changing. god her seiyuus singing is beautiful. i like held my breath. watching a cartoon character sing a tune. you know how it is <3 im so excited for the clean ver of it tho, i imagine it'll be on the soundtrack so we'll have to wait until the finale airs but im so excited. so so so so excited

i also love that keke's sister is insane. i like that shes a weirdo like tomari but like in the opposite direction. this season is the season of weirdo sisters <3 excited for ep6, im assuming we'll probably get a new song that episode or the next? since they gotta perform... in shanghai to save keke!!!!! hell yes

OH and the opening and ending songs, really enjoying them too. the ending had to grow on me but it has the same forward marching towards a hopeful future momentum that all love live ending songs are wont to have so its very nice, although neither the s3 or s2 ending have been able to top how fantastic mirai wa kaze no you ni was <3

although on that note, i think the opening is my favourite of superstar LOL s1's start true dreams was the weakest to me, it wasnt bad and i like it but ive noticed i dont like the openings in love live that start too intense as much orz like aozora jumping heart is iconic yes but i do like mirai no bokura wa shitteru yo waaaay more. sometimes start true dreams aozora jumping heart and other songs of its ilk do make me feel like im being blasted. they are blasting me with the horns first thing. but its fine start true dreams is still cute and i really like most of the song even if the intro is a bit intense for me

WE WILL WAS so so so good though i really loved it, even though i thought s2 was a bit messy that song was so like. inspiring to me? listen it was one of those love live songs that made me wanna run really fast and accomplish hopes and dreams you know what i mean. you know what im saying.

we will was so good already, but lets be one.... it might surpass it. im not totally sure yet but the softer parts and the build up in the verses, the glittery and piano-y beginning, RIGHT up my alley. right up my alley. we will see how it grows on me as the show goes, i dont skip love live openings or endings because i need to stockholm myself into liking every love live song. im normal. im normal.

anyway i think my ending song ranking is

1. s1 2. s3 3. s2

and the opening ranking...... right nowwwwww

s2

s3

s1

BUT those top two miiight switch. we shall see

anyway. its been really good man. now i need to finally watch the nijigasaki ova and finish the yohane isekai.......

[teefa85]

So some of you who've followed me for some time might remember that, around five years ago, I played an Arcana hack called Seal of Rimsala. Ultimately back then I decided that it had good ideas but was held back by how hard the reduced rate of enemies made it to grind. Well, I've been occasionally checking back on the updates and learned recently that 3.0 got released earlier in the year. And am happy to say it has greatly improved from what I played in 2019!

(note I'm using terminology from vanilla when applicable, not because name changes aren't good or correct, but in case someone who knows Arcana but hasn't played the hack is reading so they know what I'm talking about)

The grinding issue is somewhat mitigated by the maps that come with this release showing places with higher than normal monster concentration. Now, I'm not sure if these existed in vanilla or not since I'm not a hacker (though since Stavery 12F is one of them and I always thought I got into more random fights than normal...). But it definitely helped me to get into my groove in several places. Also, I've readjusted strategies and found perfect grind spots thanks to said maps including ones with the enemy domains so I can grab places with high EXP enemies.

There's now people credited with translation work, properly fixing early 90s censorship and things that were just plain wrong in the original. Which is what I'd been looking for in a text cleanup patch when I first checked the hack out of curiosity. I was also happy to find out that 99% of the things they said were how I interpreted the Japanese dialog when I looked into it...remember, I'm not a skilled translator, just an idiot with a kanji dictionary app. The biggest exception was a line I'd thrown my hands up figuring out anyway after trying to look up what the sentence meant when my app failed (so did Google Translate but that's not a surprise).

The new updates to the equipment makes it so much easier to make choices on what to equip and when. Like, I kept the Crystal Sword on over the Spirit Sword for much of Chapter 5 because it was doing more damage to the non-elemental Minotaurs and Jotuns while Teefa and the Spirits handled the elemental stuff. This also applied to figuring out what Attribute spell to cast between better labeling of Elements and the power level. Also...A+ names for the new spell names that better describe what human attack spells do. It also helped me to realize that I'd written Salah's Attributes 6 and 3 backwards in my lists...but a quick peak into Vanilla ENG and JP shows it was reversed and I was too dunderheaded to look at the MP costs.

Was a bit of a challenge starting Chapter 5 since all Teefa's equipment and Darwin's sword were moved till after the Karul fight. Money got tight and I didn't get Rooks a Kaiser Shield until after escaping the tunnel with Darwin's free gear (the darn thing is only 20,000 off max money and I needed to add a sword, a staff, and a robe to the shopping list). Though that let us punch dragons down for a bit till we were down to shields.

Gonna go back sometime with the Level Select which I tried out while doing my checks on Salah's spells in all three versions of the game I've access to. Probably run Chapter 1, then after starting the scenes in Chapter 2 reset and do the Level Select instead so I can amass as much cash as possible for Run 1, then try it again with Chapter 5 due to the listed changes in the readme file (which I won't spoil if anyone wants to play for themselves).

All in all, thanks to Autumn Shinespark and the team for improving this game so much!

[purplesurveys]

1648

What is the color of the last towel you used? It’s a very pale shade of blue.

Are you listening to music right now? If so, whatcha listening to? Nah I just have a vlog on in the background.

Would you rather have a hippo or rhino dropped on you? Damn. I’d be offed either way so what’s the point? Hahaha.

Do you walk a lot? Not at all. My workplace is permanently on a WFH set-up so it keeps me from being able to walk a lot most days; I will say, though, that I get to catch up on my steps every time we have an event. I can get anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 steps when we have to manage one.

If you’re still in school, what number is your locker? What color is it? We never did have numbers on our lockers; you just had to memorize your spot and that was it. As for the colors, I remember having gray and blue ones at different points.

Do you have any super silly nicknames? Not really, but I’ve observed that a number of people have taken it up on their own to nickname me Rob. I’ve never introduced myself as that, never acknowledged that as a nickname, but I’m always some way somehow stuck with it. I hate it but I also can’t be assed to tell them not to call me that.

Have you ever heard of the Japanese snack Yan Yan? Yeah my sister had that as her recess for many years hahahaha. I like the chocolate one but I wouldn’t have it everyday like she did.

Do you watch sports? Which ones, if any? Just wrestling. I’m watching more of it these days as I want to get back in the groove, but then again I think I’m just doing so because it’s Mania season and I always subconsciously go back for Mania season every year anyway lol. Literally this afternoon I watched Mania 36 and kicked myself hard for only doing so today – that Firefly Fun House is my new favorite thing in the world.

Do you enjoy the great outdoors? I can for the most part, but living in the Philippines there’s always gonna be an inherent fear for my safety lol.

Do you like cream soda? I don’t think I’ve tried that kind.

Is there anyone who hates you? Probably not but if there is someone then I’m completely unaware of it.

What color is your cell phone? It’s blue. Wouldn’t be my first option for a phone ever, but it was the only one available at all the stores I stopped by + I didn’t exactly have the luxury to pick a color since my old phone had died on me that same day and needed a new one immediately. How does your hair look right now? It’s wavy in a pretty way since I had just removed my bun, but considering how Satan-like the weather is being it will most likely get frizzy within 30 minutes unless I turn on the aircon soon lol. 

Are you on any medications? I just finished my prescription meds for my dog bite. I had to take them for a one-week period.

What is the last piece of mail you received? How about e-mail? Not counting my work email, the last email I got on my personal account isssss just a promotional email from one of my e-wallets.

Who is your 15th contact in your phone? I’ve got my phone turned off this whole day and I don’t feel like turning it back on.

Name something you like about school. I got to learn about history.

Do you eat meat, or are you a vegetarian? I eat meat.

Have you ever cried in front of a teacher? Yeah. Back in my old school if you get a grade of 77 and below on an exam, you automatically get issued a letter addressed to your parents informing them of your performance - we called it a ‘difficulty letter’ and pretty much subjects you to a walk of shame among the class when you receive one, lmao. Anyway, I got one for a geometry class that I failed and I happened to cry in front of my Actual geometry teacher, who could only look at me guiltily and uneasily at the time hahaha.

Have you ever cried BECAUSE of a teacher? ^ Yeah, I guess that was also technically the case.

Do you do a :) or a (:? :). I haven’t done the opposite version since...like...Grade 7?

Do you have a facebook? Do you go on it often, if you do? Yep and yep.

What is the closest gas station to you? The one I go to is a good 10-minute drive away.

Who did you last see in concert? Does a fanmeet count? I went to Seonho’s show in January; but my last musical concert was Paramore in 2018.

What grade are you in? It’s been three years since I graduated college and I haven’t gone back to school since.

Granny smith or delicious red apples? Pass.

If you could meet one famous person, who would it be? How come? Shotzi Blackheart is the newest person I want to hang out with. I just found out she’s part Filipino which is SO! COOL! TO ME!!! and she doesn’t even come across as a Fil-Am who uses her Filipino blood as a personality trait, like what many of them do. She knows how to eat her fucking balut as she should, she’s actually been to the country, and overall she just seems like such a cool chick I can shoot the shit with.

Are paper clips fun to play with? Well, not really for me...

Can you speak any other language? Filipino.

Do you prefer mechanical pencils or regular pencils? Regular. I always fuck up the mechanical ones.

Do you have a job? What’s your job? I’m a manager at a PR agency, so I’m my clients’ main girl when they need to execute a consumer campaign and everything that comes with it – from media placements/advertorials, to interviews, to events, to PR kits, to press releases, to YouTube brand deals, to photo and video shoots, to product launches.

Do you take advil, tylenol, or ibuprofen? I take paracetamol, if that counts as any of these?

Why is the sky blue? No clue.

Do you enjoy classic rock? Eh, not really.

Have you ever heard of the band Citizen Cope? If not, look them up, they’re really good. I haven’t. The only thing this reminded me of is the movie Citizen Kane lol.

Is your alarm clock set right now? Nope.

What kind of music do you listen to the most? K-pop.

Are you itchy right now? Yeah my right knee and foot are actually kind of asking to get scratched now.

Do you like pine trees, or do think the sap is too annoying? I...dk? I’m never around pine trees.

Mountains or beach? The beach.

What is the closest purple object to you? My wallet.

Are your walls blank or covered with pictures/posters? They’re blank.

Have you ever tried veggie burgers? I don’t think I have.

Do you have anything on your wrists? No.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I’ll be 35, which is around the time I should have long been making preps for my trip to Wrestlemania 50, which is something I’ve vowed to achieve since I was 9. Certainly hope I’ll be more than ready to fly out by then.

Do you have a mirror in the room you are in? No.

Have you ever had corn nuts? I’ve never heard of that.

Do you smoke? I don’t.

[angelofbloodlust]

Bunny (Billy Loomis x Reader)

A/N: Long time, no see, y’all 😳 sorry for my disappearance, I’ve been going through quite a lot but I’m happy to be back! I apologize if this story isn’t the best, it’s been a long time since I’ve written something like this and I’m still trying to get back in my groove- but if this ends up being well-received I’d be happy to try writing a part 2! <3 hope u guys enjoy!!

—————————————————

Your eyes scan over the backyard of the tan house sat in front of you once more, zoning in heavily on the blackened windows as your boots take hesitant steps forward towards the home of your fellow peer that you’ve been watching for weeks now. Shallow breaths escape you as your chest begins to pound, a flurry of both panicked and thrilled emotions swarming your stomach as your hand tightens on the butcher knife in your hold.

You were finally about to experience your first kill, after taking so many precautions and endless planning. You figured now would be the perfect time with the other murders that has had Woodsboro in chaos, the police department has already got themselves absorbed in solving the murders of Casey and Steve, if you manage to get through this unscathed you could easily let the other nutjob take the blame and get to work on your next plan.

But, that’s easier said than done.

You suck in a breath through your nostrils as you cautiously approach the cracked window ahead of you, the one you’ve witnessed be pushed open by the student’s mother each night before bed, just like clockwork. Though of course, you ensured that neither of her parents would be home that night, and you were glad they were dumb enough to trust their daughter enough to be able to defend herself with a psychopath on the loose.

Your teeth remain clenched as you slowly lift yourself up and climb through the window after pushing it open, being careful to not let your costume get caught and allowing your jaw to relax once you step from the marble of the countertops down to the wooden plank flooring below. Anxiousness to get upstairs and cut the girl’s head off stabs at you as your eyes find the stairs from your view out of the kitchen, though you force yourself to keep your pace as you take light steps on your path towards your goal, and feel relief at the fact none of the floorboards have creaked so far. Annoyance swiftly follows after as you notice the stairs aren’t carpeted, internally grumbling a couple curses while readying yourself to have to take your backup plan in case you accidentally make a noise and wake the girl up.

You make your way up slowly, begging in your mind for each step not to creak, and as you’ve made walked up all but 2 steps, you can’t help but feel a smug grin curl over your lips underneath your mask as you relish in the fact that everything’s gone so smoothly.

And immediately you regret that thought, once you and the short brunette standing in front of the bathroom door both freeze up in shock from the sight of the other.

“Shit, you’re not supposed to be awake!” You groan out, scowling at yourself once you process that you accidentally said that out loud.

Your body tenses as your words seem to have triggered the girl out of her state of shock, a blood-curling wail slipping from her lips at the sight of the knife in your hand before she runs to attempt scampering back into her bedroom to hide from you, sobs and screams pouring from her as you growl under your breath while bolting up the last couple steps and over the carpet towards her.

“Stop yelling!” You whine in panic from her loudness, before narrowing your eyes at your sudden idiocy with the situation. Why the fuck would she listen to you?!

A frustrated huff leaves you as she manages to slam the door on you, leaving you to violently push and slam on the now locked door while spilling out any indecent word your brain can think of in the moment. How could this have gone any worse? Your plan was all for nothing now!

Anxiety twirls in your gut as you look between the door and the stairs, having to make a quick decision as you’re sure the cops have been called by now and won’t take long to arrive. You exhale out, before making the final call to abandon the plan and speed back down the stairs, hopping over anything in your way as you head into the kitchen and back out the window.

Brief relief hits you as the soles of your shoes meet the grass again, taking a swift glance behind you while running for the patch of woods ahead of you. Your exhale out is interrupted as you suddenly collide into something, which you thought was a tree for a split second until the object ahead of you slips out a grunt once they stumble back slightly.

You look back forward in surprise, shock waving you as your vision is taken up by the same white and black mask morphed into a scream that you previously slipped on after making the discovery the other killer had worn it. A squeak leaves your lips as the man in front of you takes a rough grip on your upper arms, shifting around to face your towards the woods and push you forward as he gives a huff out.

“Go, I’m not gonna let you get us caught.” He hisses out, balling the back of your costume into his fist to ensure you keep moving as he leads you further way from the house while you struggle to wrap your head around what’s happening.

“H-How did you know I was-”

“We were in the area prepping, and we could hear that bitch’s scream from a mile away.” He huffs in response.

“Oh..” You mumble, embarrassment now filling your cheeks as he continues to guide you like you’re a disobedient child, wanting to pull from his grip but feeling unsure of how he might react. “...Did you say we?” You question suddenly as you shift your head to look back to him.

“Yes. No more questions, I think I have a right to be the one questioning you instead. Who the fuck are you?” He asks in a strict tone, and despite his mask covering his expression, you could somehow feel the rage radiating off of him at your presence.

You narrow your hidden eyes, “Why would I tell you that?? I don’t even know who you are!”

“I said no more questions.”

“I think it’s a pretty reasonable one if you’re gonna only ask questions I don’t wanna answer!”

“Fine, if that’s how you want to be then we can both remain anonymous. How about this, instead?” He hums, “Did you even kill her? I don’t see any blood on you.”

“..No.. She locked the door on me before I could grab her, I wanted to kill her in her sleep but she was awake once I got inside.” You admit in a sheepish mumble.

He scoffs, “A door stopped you?” You scowl as he chuckles in amusement at your actions. “I suppose that’s reasonable, you are pretty small. Wouldn’t expect you to be able to be able to break it down.” He teases, causing you to grumble out as you wiggle from his grip and turn to face him.

“Hey, it was my first time, and I was panicking! Take it easy on me.” You demand with a pout.

He crosses his arms as he looks down to you, “Tsk, you tried to do it all on your own? No wonder you failed.”

“I spent months planning it, I thought I would’ve done well..” Your voice cracks through your sentence, leaving you to attempt sighing away your urge to cry while you turn back to keep walking, your eyes sticking down to watch your steps while the man with you gives an exhale as he follows at your side.

“Alright, alright, I’ll quit being so harsh. But it takes someone naturally skilled to be able to do it on their own, you know? You think you have everything you need, but even the littlest thing that doesn’t go to plan can fuck it all up. Maybe for you, you just need a bit of teaching to make sure you’re ready for anything.” He shrugs.

“Are you.. offering to help me?” You question gently through the mix of shock and confusion in your chest as to why this stranger is willing to take you under his wing, tilting your head slightly up to him.

“Maybe. But you need to prove that you’re serious about this.”

You begin to question him on how you can prove it, before stopping at the beginning of your sentence once the two of you cross through the patch of woods and up to a parked car on the lone street in front of you. An unsure sensation fills your gut as he makes you stay back while he walks over to the driver’s side window, and you begin to question to yourself if this might really be a safe decision to go with the psychopaths that you were about to frame.. But at the same time, this might be your real chance to be able to finally learn the proper ways of murder.

Soon enough, he walks back over to you and gestures to your mask. “To go any further with this, I need to see your face if you’re going to see ours. It’s only fair.” He requests you in a calm tone, and you hesitate as you frown as you pick up sudden worried thoughts. What if he just wanted to be able to rat you out and let you take blame for everything?

“Hey, you know you haven’t really proved your loyalty to me, either.. What if-”

You freeze as his hand reaches up for his own mask, watching him pull it off to reveal his cold, yet neutral expression as the guy you recognize to be Billy Loomis from your school stands in front of you. Your face reddens at the sight, you know him enough about him to have a thorough crush on him, though you suppose you didn’t know him quite enough to have realized that part of the reason you had been so drawn to him was the fact you were more alike than you had known.

“I’m risking everything for this. Do you know how much this could fuck up everything with us letting you in?” He sighs, and you watch as his lips form in a displeased pout. “The last thing I want is you getting caught doing this dumb shit, and if you’re going to steal our costume you at least need to not act like a moron while you’re in it.” He huffs with narrowed eyes.

“God- fuck, whatever. If you guys end up killing me, I have nothing to lose.” You grumble as you pull off your mask, holding your own pout while he takes up a smirk while looking you over.

“Just as cute as I expected you to be, bunny.” He purrs out in a playful tone, which causes you to give him a questioning expression through your heated cheeks at the nickname.

“Bunny?”

“You’re small, cute and quick. Like a bunny.” He grins.

“I will actually deck you if you call me that again.” You hiss out while he starts to lead you towards the car.

“No, you won’t. I could tell you liked it.” He chimes in a proud tone, laughing out once you reach to smack his arm with your face on fire.

“Shut your mouth, Loomis! You’re so annoying!” You whine as your voice pitches up with your embarrassment.

“Get your ass in the car, Y/N.” He snorts out as he nudges you towards the backseat.

“..You know my name?”

“You’re in my Physics class. I recognize you.” He chuckles gently, flashing you a brief smile before slipping into the passenger’s seat.

“Oh.” You hum, feeling content as you feel joy at the fact that he recognizes you, holding your own smile as you get into the back of the car before pausing once Stu Macher shoots you a grin from the driver’s seat.

“Hey, Y/N! Billy says you wanna join us, that true?” He asks through his classic happy tone, starting up the car while you manage to get yourself to nod as you confirm to yourself that the man you had only ever expected to be the class clown to be Billy’s partner in crime, though you weren’t entirely sure why you were caught off guard with the insane amount of loyalty Stu’s always shown to Billy over the years you’ve watched them be friends.

“Yeah.. Uh, sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see you. Didn’t think you were this kinda guy.” You snicker.

He gives an unbothered shrug, “Well, people always have their secrets, don’t they?” He chuckles, causing you to quirk an eyebrow once he flashes a grin over to Billy and laughing out once he smacks his shoulder in a manner to tell him to shut up. Stu smiles back at you again through the rear-view mirror, “It’s nice to have ya join us, though. I’m sure it’ll be real fun for the three of us.” He purrs, and you can’t help but get an unsettling feeling from the tinge of malice in his smirk, which you couldn’t tell if it was meant to be towards you.

You could only hope not.

[mercy-burning]

Hangover Duty

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: Reader’s birthday party leads to some rather endearing drunk antics. Category: Fluff Warnings: Mild language, alcohol consumption, mentions of the prison arc (is that a proper content warning? idk lol) (As always, if there’s anything I missed, please let me know what I should include in content warnings! I always want to be as mindful as I can about what I post. Thank you!) Word Count: 4.4k

MASTERLIST

NOTE: Funny story, I woke up at like 3 in the morning last night and just sat up and cranked this out in one go, unprompted. I’m not sure why inspiration struck that late (early?) but I’m rather proud of this one considering I just woke up to edit it a few hours ago 😂, I hope you like it!

***

Watching her gradually get more drunk as the night went on had to be the most amusing and incredibly endearing way to get back into the groove of things. It was nice, actually, being able to have a good time with his friends without constantly being reminded of what's happened in the past year.

Especially considering this year Spencer was determined not to miss Y/N's birthday. Last year he'd been in prison, and rather than being able to celebrate with her and their friends, rather than getting her a card or writing her a letter, she'd written him a letter that detailed in depth how she refused to celebrate until her best friend was there to celebrate with them. Of course he felt awful about the whole thing, and when JJ had dropped off the letters that week, he made her tell Y/N how sorry he was and how he wished more than anything that he could have been there.

And naturally, after dealing with Cat another time and settling his mom down, the first chance he got, he told Y/N himself.

She was in the hospital after that incident with Mr. Scratch. She was the first person he saw in the hospital, and she was fine, arguing with the doctors about leaving to help her team. But once he showed up, telling the doctors he could get her to sit down, they left, and he pulled her in for the biggest hug they'd ever shared.

And the first thing he told her was, "I'm sorry I missed your birthday."

She'd only laughed and squeezed him tighter, replying with a short, yet simple, "Shut up."

He promised to himself then that no matter what happened, he would never miss another one of her birthdays again.

Since it was the first one since all that had happened, Spencer planned something a little extra special. Weeks ahead of time, he talked to Rossi about being able to rent out a bar for the night, Y/N's favorite bar to be exact. Just for themselves. As to be expected, it took a bit of convincing, but eventually they'd been able to successfully rent out the bar for one night, and though Rossi was insistent on paying everything, Spencer wanted to offer as much as he could.

Penelope, of course, insisted on putting up decorations. She roped Luke into helping her, and though he played off like it would be torture, for one thing he was happy to help celebrate his friend's birthday in any way he could, but he also was terrible at hiding the fact that he was more than happy to help Penelope with anything she needed, whether it actually pertained to the party or not.

Everyone told her they were all just going to meet up for drinks after work that day. Y/N was more than okay with it, explaining to them how she was just happy to be able to spend her birthday with her friends no matter where they were. They told her to meet at 7pm when in reality they would all be at the bar an hour and a half early to set up and make sure everything was perfect.

When Y/N actually showed up, Spencer had never seen her so radiant. Even as she was swarmed by Garcia putting on a pink party hat for her that promptly read "Birthday Girl", her hair slightly out of place because of its placement on her head, she was the perfect example of human perfection. She greeted everyone with a huge, beautiful smile accompanied by lots of 'thank you's and 'I love you's, and when she finally got to Spencer, he tried not t hold her to him for too long.

One of the reasons Y/N loved this specific bar was because of the karaoke machine. In fact, drunken karaoke was a decent weekly occurrence with the BAU, and while they'd been no strangers to the act, it only became more frequent when Y/N joined the team. For years now they'd spent many hours singing just as many songs as anyone could think of. And even while drunk, Y/N was a natural. She slipped up on words and slurred them together once in a while, sure, but her voice was easily the most impressive of the bunch, not to mention she never failed to get anyone and everyone to join in.

All that to say Spencer made sure they would be able to use the karaoke machine before they rented out the place. He even attempted to teach himself how to work it, but try as he might, he ended up calling on JJ to help him do it.

Throughout the night they all took turns singing songs, and at one point Y/N finished a song and made a speech, standing up on the bar. (Deep down Spencer was a little nervous that she would hurt herself, or that somehow the owner of the bar would find out that she'd broken one of many rules he had about renting the place out. But that was neither here nor there when he saw the glowing smile she had on her face, looking at all her friends with the most love and admiration he'd seen anyone carry in a while.)

"I'm jussali'l tipsy at the moment, so m'sorry if I don't make any sense," Y/N slurred together, obviously very drunk. Everyone laughed and she continued, clutching the microphone in one hand and placing the other over her heart like she was going to say the Pledge of Allegiance. "I jusneed to say how much I love y'guys. Thank you for celebratin' with me and makin' my birthday real special. I'mean, you fricken rented out a whole-ass bar! That's so nice!"

As she squealed out the last sentence, Spencer couldn't help the wide smile that broke out on his face. She was just so radiant, glowing with warmth and love and happiness and everything good in the world.

She was also struggling to get off the bar. He rushed forward to help her, and she fell forward, into his arms with a giggle.

"You okay?" he asked, his concern blowing away in the wind when she looked into his eyes with another winning smile.

"No thanks t'you," she answered, promptly 'boop'-ing him on the nose before she reached over to the bar and grabbed a full shot glass. After downing the drink, she brushed passed him with a slap on the butt and another giggle, right before she loudly asked Penelope to cut her another slice of cake.

Spencer knew she wouldn't have been so bold had she been sober, but the whole situation still made him feel all warm inside, like he'd taken a shot of whiskey himself.

Luke came up to him, clapping him on the back and snapping him out of it. "This mean you and the birthday girl are finally a thing now?"

"W—what? I don't know what you mean..."

He was obviously lying, and Luke could tell. He laughed a little, nodding towards Y/N, who was currently laughing with Emily and Penelope, a bright blue smudge of frosting on her nose. "She really missed you when you were gone, man. Even put her birthday on hold until she could celebrate with you."

"Well, we've been best friends for years, and she loves her birthday. It was... A hard year. It makes sense."

"Okay, that's fair, but do you know how bad it was? No presents, no birthday wishes, nothing. She demanded we act like it was any other day. And when I brought her a cupcake, she just set it on your desk and left it there. It sat there for about a week before she finally threw it out."

Spencer looked at where she was standing, eating more cake and swaying lightly to the music that was now playing over the speakers. "Really," he mused, not even thinking about it.

Luke sighed beside him. "Look, you can... believe what you want, but we've all noticed it. You two are practically inseparable, and the way I'm seeing you look at her right now tells me everything I need to know."

Even being called out like that, Spencer couldn't make himself look away. And even if he did, he wouldn't have really known what to say. Because all that was running through his mind at the moment was how right Luke was. How much he couldn't help but feel warm and safe when he was in Y/N's presence, and how she made him feel like the only person in the world sometimes.

He wondered then if maybe in the next day or two he should tell her how he felt.

One by one each member of the team eventually left the bar to go home. Each time one of them did, Y/N gave them the biggest hug and mumbled an abundance of 'thank you's and 'I love you's, much like at the start of the night, only this time her words were slurred and higher-pitched and very much laced with alcohol.

The only three people left at the end of the night were her, Spencer, and Emily.

Y/N came up between them and wrapped both her arms around their shoulders, pulling them in for a messy group-hug. "How'r we gonna clean this place up?" she asked dramatically, looking around once they all pulled away.

"I'm going to clean this place up," Emily said, giving Spencer a knowing look. "Since it's your birthday, your best friend here is going to make sure you get home safe and sound."

He definitely didn't see that coming, but somehow he felt like he should have. Regardless, he was more than happy to take the job. Especially when Y/N jumped up and down and threw her arms around him, giving a big old, "Yaaayyyy!" into his neck. She pulled away and gripped his shirt, bouncing on her feet with a large grin. "We can take my car and we can listen t'that CD I was tellin' you about and when we get t'my house we can have a sleepover!"

"Anything you want," he told her with a smile. "Go get your stuff together and we'll go."

As she wandered around the bar to find her shoes that she'd taken off somewhere along the line, Emily nudged Spencer with a smile. "She loves you, you know."

"She's drunk," he countered.

And as if on cue, right then she held one of her shoes up in the air with a triumphant gleam in her eye. "One down!"

"Okay, well, even when she's not drunk, she still loves you."

Though his heart swelled at the thought, he changed the subject. "You don't have to clean everything up. I was going to come back tomorrow morning and do it myself anyway."

"Eh, don't worry, I'm happy to do it." Emily nodded towards Y/N, who was walking around with one shoe on and picking up the other on the floor next to the cake table. "Besides, something tells me you're gonna be a bit preoccupied with hangover duty."

I wouldn't want any other job, he thought to himself.

And even though the nearly-impossible task of getting her into the car should have stressed him out (she kept getting out of the car as Spencer walked around to the driver's side, until finally he promised her a cheeseburger if she would stay), he still wouldn't have had it any other way.

They stopped at McDonald's on the way home, like he promised, and she was practically buzzing with happiness with the food in her lap. She made him sit in the parking lot and wait until she was done eating so she wouldn't spill anything. And in the dim light of the car, parked under a streetlight and watching her eat her food while she rambled on about the most random things, Spencer didn't think he'd ever felt more content.

He tried to keep her quiet as they made their way up the steps to the third floor of her apartment building. They were going to take the elevator but Y/N insisted it would eat her alive, and he quickly agreed to take the stairs as not to make a scene and wake everyone up with her crying. Her shoes came off again on the second flight of stairs, because she kept tripping and then laughing, pretending to fall back and almost scaring him to death.

Now he was unlocking her apartment door with her shoes in his other hand as she clung to his side. As soon as the door was open, she pushed past him and called out for her cat, Murphy. It didn't take long before the white cat jumped up on the counter to meet her, and she squealed and enveloped him in a crushing hug, picking him up and spinning around to meet Spencer, who was closing the door behind him and setting her shoes on the ground.

"Say hi to Murphy! He loves when you come to visit!"

It was true. Though he never really found himself fond of cats, as soon as he visited Y/N's apartment for the first time Murphy clung to him immediately. It didn't take long for the two of them to become as well acquainted as Y/N had been to either of them. Whenever he came over, Spencer liked to think of them as a small little family.

"Hey, Murph," he said, reaching out to pet the cat's head as he wriggled a little under Y/N's strong clutch.

She dropped him after shoving her face in his fur, and wasted no time taking Spencer's hand. "C'mon, I've got some vodka in the cupboard."

As she dragged him further into the kitchen, he squeezed her hand and tried to pull her to him, away from the cupboard. "Y/N, it's almost one in the morning, you need to go to bed."

She turned to face him and whined. "But it's my birthday, you can't make me."

"Well, technically it isn't your birthday anymore since it's past midnight. So, really, I can make you. Come on."

She whined again as he dragged her along to the bedroom. Once they got inside, he sat her down on the bed and reached out to pull off her party hat, which was lopsided and almost placed on her forehead like a unicorn horn. But when he touched the string, she grabbed his hand.

"I wanna leave it on," she said softly.

"It's not safe, you could choke yourself in your sleep," Spencer countered, brushing her hand away and taking the hat off. As his fingers brushed her cheek, she sighed and closed her eyes, a few seconds before letting out a little giggle.

"That tickled," she laughed as he set the hat on her bedside table.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, and he started to feel all warm again. "Sorry," he whispered, taking the time to memorize the way she looked right then. The curls in her hair had fallen flat, and her makeup was a little smudged, but the lazy smile on her face and the way she blinked up at him with her big, beautiful eyes would always be worth remembering. He could have stayed in that moment forever, just sitting in that comforting silence.

But alas, she was drunk, and unable to be quiet for more than ten seconds.

Y/N lightly poked him in the chest and laughed. "Hey, d'y'think Murphy ever gets tired?"

"I'm sure he does," was all Spencer said, trying to get her to lay down. She did so as she spoke, rambling on about what she thought her cat might have done when she was away at work. But she stopped talking altogether when Spencer tried to put a blanket over her.

"No," was all she said, kicking her legs up.

"You don't want a blanket?"

"No, I want you to be in the blanket with me."

He thought about it for a second before motioning for her to scoot over. "I'll lay with you for a little while, but you have to promise me you'll go to sleep, okay?"

She giggled triumphantly as he laid down beside her and draped the blanket over their legs. "I told'ya a sleepover would be fun."

Spencer reached out and lightly rubbed her arm, knowing that always got her to fall asleep. "I know you did."

But she didn't close her eyes. She was unusually quiet though, just silently staring at his face before she sharply pulled her arm away. "You're tickling me again."

"I thought you liked when I rub your arm, it helps you sleep," is all he said.

Y/N grabbed his hand and pulled it up to lay between them on the pillow, separating their faces. She placed it palm up and rolled up his sleeves so she could rub his forearm, too. Her touches weren't as light, but she giggled all the same. "Am I tickling you?"

He wanted to tell her the truth, which was that she was not tickling him, and it actually felt really nice. But because it might make her feel better, he lied, and told her, "Yes."

"Good," she laughed, moving her hand faster. Now she was just tracing his forearm with her middle finger like she might rub out a stain on the carpet, and Spencer tried to wiggle his arm away.

"Y/N..."

He didn't say it to be mean or irritated, in fact his voice was level and soothing as not to alarm her at all, but all the same she gasped and immediately pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No," he reassured, moving a little closer to her. "You didn't hurt me, I'm ok—"

"Let me kiss it and make it feel better," she continued, ignoring him completely. Before he could stop her, she grabbed his arm and brought it to her mouth, pressing gentle lips to the crease of his elbow trough the fabric of his shirt, then moving the tiny kisses along up his arm until she made it to his wrist. She didn't stop there, continuing to kiss the palm of his hand and even along his fingers, right until she reached his fingertips.

He laid there, completely still and mesmerized as she flipped his arm over and worked her way down again, kissing the backside of his hand and keeping her lips pressed to his wrist for approximately four seconds. Then she flipped his arm over again and kissed the palm of his hand once more, repeating her many kisses until she got to his middle finger.

He should have seen it coming.

He was so caught up in the feeling of her lips pressed against his skin that it completely slipped his mind that she was still drunk. So when she wrapped her lips around his middle finger and sucked it into her mouth with a laugh, he pulled his arm away and sighed.

She actually cackled with laughter, slightly flailing her legs under the blanket. "Gotcha!"

"Ha-ha," Spencer deadpanned, wiping his finger on his shirt.

He wasn't really sure what to say once her laughter died down, but once he opened his mouth to suggest they try sleeping, she spoke first.

"Can I have a glass of water?"

He studied her for a moment. "You're not going to try anything funny, are you?"

She laughed, leaning forward and brushing her nose against his for the briefest of seconds before retreating and looking him in the eye. "I wouldn't dream of it."

There was no way he could say no. "Alright. I'll be back in a second."

Spencer got out of the bed and turned to leave, but she leaned forward and grabbed his hand. "Wait! I have to tell you a secret first."

If he stayed and listened to what she had to say, it was probably dangerous territory, because in the movies this was always the moment where there were drunken confessions of things you never wanted to say out loud, right? And he didn't want to do that to her, but realistically she was probably going to say something ridiculous about Murphy. Right?

Nonetheless, Spencer turned around and looked down at Y/N. "What is it?"

She pulled his hand, scooting closer to the edge of the bed. "Come closer. It's a secret."

He leaned down, but she pulled him again. "Closer!"

Finally, he made his way down to her face, turning his head so she could whisper in his ear.

But she didn't. Instead he felt her press a kiss to his cheek, emphasized with a loud smooch-ing sound when she pulled away. He looked down at her to see the biggest smile on her face.

"S'all I wanted to say. You can go now."

He smiled back at her before nodding and leaving the room, his cheek and arm practically burning from where she'd kissed them.

And when he came back with her water, she was fast asleep.

***

More than anything she just wanted the banging to stop. But once she realized it was in her head, and it was there because she'd been drinking all night, her irritability was even worse.

"Fuck," Y/N grumbled as she struggled to open her eyes. When she did open them she found Murphy curled into a ball at the foot of her bed, his white fur a stark contrast to the deep maroon color of her comforter.

The next thing she noticed was the smell of something... burning? But there wasn't any sound to be heard other than the beating of her head, so she had to wonder if maybe somewhere outside there had been some kind of fire. Or maybe she was just imagining it.

She wasn't going to investigate, but then she heard her front door open, and despite the pounding in her head, Y/N sat up straight, almost scared out of her mind. Instinctively she reached beside her, knocking over a pink party hat in the process, and grabbing the baseball bat she kept there in between her bed and the table.

As quietly as she could, Y/N crept through the bedroom until she reached the door, pressing her ear against it to hear anything more. She heard plastic bags rustling around, and though that was fairly innocent in terms of menacing sounds, it still didn't quell the feeling that punched her in the pit of her stomach. Though, to be fair, she was certain a lot of that had to do with the copious amounts of whiskey and other liquor she drank the night before.

She took a deep breath before slowly swinging the door open and taking a few quiet steps into the hallway, just before she had to turn the corner to get into the kitchen. The noise got louder as she approached, and after taking another slow, deep breath, Y/N jumped out and held her bat out in front of her.

"FBI! What Are you doing in my house?"

"Holy shit!"

Spencer was standing in her smoky kitchen, clutching his hand to his chest. "Y/N, it's just me! Put the bat down!"

It clattered to the ground as she sighed out and shook her head. "What the hell, man, you scared the shit out of me!"

"Right back at you! I was just bringing you some breakfast..."

Y/N surveyed the kitchen and found that, sure enough, there were what looked like wrapped sandwiches on the counter. "Why is it all... burn-y in here? What happened?"

Spencer looked around nervously, his hands fumbling at his sides. "I, uh... tried to make you French toast. I know it's your favorite, and I know that greasy food is supposed to help with hangovers, so I tried to make some bacon, too, but it turns out that I really suck at multi-tasking in the kitchen, and I burned it all... So, I went with gas-station breakfast, which I figured was the next best thing."

The way he spoke reminded Y/N of a little kid who got caught doing something they weren't supposed to. He was extremely apologetic, almost in a way that made her think he thought she'd yell at him.

Now she remembered just a little of what happened the night before. She remembered drinking a lot and then Spencer taking her home, but she was so tired and out of it that all the little details weren't clear. Or present at all, really. All she knew when she looked at him in her kitchen right then, was that she'd never been more happy to see anyone while hungover. Especially since that someone happened to be her best friend and brought her breakfast.

She smiled and walked over to him. "That was really sweet of you, thank you."

Spencer looked down at her and smiled. "Sorry about scaring you."

"Eh, don't be. It was a good wake-up call," she laughed. "What would I do without you?"

He reached his hand out and brushed some of the hair from her face, at which she almost melted. "I think I should be asking you that question."

Something came to her mind just then, and she wasn't sure why. But she took the risk anyway, turning her head and kissing the inside of his palm.

"W—what was that for?"

Y/N shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt right."

She didn't know how long they stood there, smiling at each other, but it felt different, like suddenly the air around them had shifted overnight into something palpably electric. And it's that energy that urged her to say something she'd been afraid to say for so long.

"Hey, I uh... I don't know if this is weird timing, and you can say no even though it was my birthday yesterday, don't feel pressured to say yes, but I—"

"Yes."

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I don't care," Spencer said simply. "Whatever it is you want, it's yours."

"So, if... If I asked you to dinner tonight—"

"Yes."

Her stomach churned, but this time it had nothing to do with the hangover. The pounding in her head was more of a dull thrum now because the pounding in her heart overpowered it. And it grew even more intense when her best friend took a step closer, placing his hand to the side of her face.

"I wouldn't kiss me right now if I were you," she warned, tilting her head to the side. "Hangover breath is basically a bio-hazard, and you're going to completely rethink going out with me."

Spencer shook his head and leaned in even closer. "I don't care."

As he kissed her, she lost herself in him completely and came to the conclusion that he was the only hangover cure she would ever need.

***

PERMANENT TAGLIST: @elldell1204 @muffin-cup @calm-and-doctor @slutforthegubes

[captainimprobable]

Here’s a very messy first draft of a fic I’m working on! There will be five parts, which I’ll post together on Ao3 once theyre all done.  This is the first part!

I’ll edit this for ao3 but I was too excited about it and wanted to post it here first before I did RIP

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~

There are many things Luz admits she doesn’t understand.  She can’t figure out how cars work, and she’s not so sure about long division.  But, she thinks, as she watches her girlfriend chop up vegetables in the fading light of the setting sun, some things she does understand.  

“How did you get so good at this?” Luz asks, stepping closer to peer over Amity’s shoulder.  Every cut is perfect, each individual piece almost exactly like the one before.  It makes sense.  It is so Amity.

“Don’t get excited,” Amity warns, tipping the vegetables into a pot of boiling water.  “This is all I know how to cook.  I had a chef growing up.”  She blushes brightly, and Luz grins.  Amity blushing has become one of her Top Five Favorite Things, right under Azura and above Hexside.  

Amity herself, of course, is above them all.

“Sorry,” Amity says sheepishly.  “I didn’t mean to sound spoiled or anything, it’s just- my parents don’t cook, and they don’t have time to-”

“Amity.  It’s fine.”  Luz laughs, and Amity’s blush intensifies.  Luz is about to say something about it when Eda bursts into the room with all the subtlety of a hurricane.  “Look what I foooound,” she sings, proudly presenting something extremely dusty and unidentifiable.  Luz and Amity raise their eyebrows in unison.  

“Uh, what is it?” Luz asks.

“It’s a human-” Eda pauses.  “Okay, I’ll admit, I have absolutely no idea what it is.  But it’s cool looking and I like it.” “Another human treasure? Lemme see!”

“Suit yourself,” Eda says, and hands it over.  

The thing is heavier than Luz expected, and she grunts as she puts it down quickly on the kitchen table.

“Dang, Owl Lady, you’ve got strong arms,” she says.  

“I work out,” Eda responds, flexing her muscles.

Amity and Luz look at each other, and then at Eda.  They blink.

“Fine,” Eda says.  “Buzzkills. I don’t work out. You caught me, congratulations.”  She stalks out of the kitchen, muttering something about “dumb kids and their dumb honesty”.

Luz snorts and turns her attention back to the thing on the counter.  “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” she says, and blows the dust off.  Once the cloud clears, the thing begins to take shape, and Luz squeals.  “A record player! With a record on it!  This is amazing! My mom has one of these back home!”

“Record player?” Amity says.  “What does it do?”

Luz grins, always happy to show off her human knowledge.  “I’ll show you,” she says, and sets the pin on the groove of the record.  It’s silent for a moment, but then a slow tune echoes through the room.  There are no words in the song, and Luz has no idea who wrote it, but she’s in awe.

“Wow,” Amity says, echoing Luz’s thoughts.  “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Luz agrees, completely entranced by the melody.  Once the song fades away and the next one starts, she gets an idea.  She regards Amity out of the corner of her eye, gathers her courage, and says “Amity Blight, may I have this dance?”

Surprise flashes across Amity’s face, but she recovers impressively quickly.

“I thought you’d never ask.”  

She reaches out her hand and Luz takes it, gently guiding Amity to the middle of the kitchen.  Amity hesitantly puts her arm around Luz’s waist, pulling her closer, as Luz puts a hand on Amity’s shoulder.  It feels familiar, and when they start swaying around the kitchen, Amity starts to laugh.

“What? What’s so funny? Did I do something?”

“No, no,” Amity says, tightening her hold around Luz’s waist.  “It’s just...this is so different from our first dance together.”

“Our first...oh, you mean Grom!”

Amity takes a step backwards, and Luz follows, trying not to trip over her own feet.  

“Yes I mean Grom!”

They dance in silence for a moment, moonlight shining through the window.  

“Hey,” Luz starts, not sure if she wants the answer to the question she’s about to ask. “Who did you wanna take to Grom, anyway?”

Amity stares blankly at her for a few seconds, and for a moment Luz is worried she said something out of turn.  But then she smiles softly, so softly that Luz’s heart does a funny thing in her chest, and she’s pretty sure that, for a second, she can’t breathe.

“It was you, Luz,” Amity says quietly.  “It was always you.”

Luz stops dancing.  She stops blinking.  She stops breathing.

“Uh, Luz?” Amity says, sounding worried.  “Are you okay?”

Luz blinks, comes back into herself, and says “YOU WERE GOING TO ASK ME TO GROM????”

“Yes? Why is that a surprise? You know I...like you.” Amity blushes again.  They’re still not used to saying these things out loud to each other.  It’s a process.  

This time, Luz blushes too.  “Yeah, but like..that long??? You’ve liked me since Grom???”

“Since before Grom, actually,” Amity admits, looking down at the floor.  “It’s...it’s been a long time.”

Luz’s grip on Amity’s shoulder slackens, then tightens again.”Wow,” she says, breathless.  “Me.  You’ve liked me for months.  You!!!”

Amity giggles.  “Me,” she agrees.  

Luz knows that the smile on her face is sappy, but she can’t help it.  She just likes Amity so much it’s overwhelming sometimes.  

They begin to sway again, and Luz feels like she’s in a trance.  She can’t believe that one person can make her feel this happy.  It’s like magic.

“So,” Amity says, cutting into Luz’s inner monologue, “When was it for you?”

“Huh?”

“When did you start to like me?”  

Amity manages, with what looks like supreme willpower, not to blush this time.  Luz does not manage the same.

“O-oh,” Luz says, thinking back to all the times she made a fool of herself in front of Amity before they’d started dating.  “I don’t know? I mean, I realized it that time you saved my life, but I think I’ve probably liked you for a lot longer than that. Maybe even before Grom.”

“Which time?”

“What?”

“Which time?  I save your life a lot,” Amity smirks.  Luz rolls her eyes.  “Okay, fair,” she says.  “But I mean that time at your parents’ presentation.  Right after you...when you called me “my Luz.”

“Oh, no, you heard that?” Amity looks extremely embarrassed as she leans forward and hides her face in Luz’s shoulder.  Luz tries not to smell her hair.  She fails.

“Of course I heard that!” She says when she’s done.  “You practically screamed it out loud to a room full of strangers!”

“I did, didn’t I? Wow, I was so obvious!”

Luz rubs the back of her neck sheepishly.  “I didn’t notice.”

“What??? How???” Amity asks, picking her head up to look Luz in the eye.  “I was a complete mess in front of you for months! What did you think was happening?”

Luz shrugs.  “I just thought you were cute, that’s all.  In hindsight, though, maybe I should’ve picked up some context clues.”

Amity snorts.  “It’s okay.  You being oblivious saved me a ton of embarrassment.  Until I kissed you on the cheek.  That..uh….that was not planned.”

Luz can’t stop the smile that takes over her face.  She remembers that day well.  She was so focused on finding Phillip’s diary entries and also not making a fool of herself in front of Amity, that she was taken completely by surprise when Amity kissed her.  She’s pretty sure she literally fell to the floor afterwards, overwhelmed with the fact that Amity had just kissed her and suddenly realizing that maybe, just maybe, her crush liked her too.  

“Well I’m glad you did,” she says gently, twirling Amity around once, twice, three times.  “I think it’s time for me to return the favor.”

“What do you-”

Before she can think about it long enough to stop herself, Luz leans in and kisses Amity on the cheek.  

The world freezes.  

Amity looks at her, and she looks at Amity, and Luz’s eyes are so wide, and Amity’s mouth is hanging slightly open, and suddenly Luz is completely, entirely unsure of herself.  Her confidence is gone, and suddenly she can hear the ghost of laughter and “Ew, why would anyone want her?” And she realizes she’s made a horrible mistake.  

“U-um sorry I-” She stutters, but can’t get a sentence out, until finally she manages “I’m gonna leave now.”

She backs up slowly until her back hits the door, and is about to turn the handle when Amity says “Luz, this is your house.”

“Drat,” Luz says, slapping a hand to her face.  “You’re right.”

Amity giggles, hand covering her mouth to stifle her laughter.  She’s bright red but so is Luz, and suddenly Luz is laughing too.

They laugh together for what seems like hours, until finally they manage to subdue themselves, tears in both their eyes.

“Hey,” Amity says softly, once the giggles have stopped.  “Come here.”

Luz complies, stepping around the table and over Ghost, who has an unidentifiable animal in her mouth.  When she finally reaches Amity, she finds herself pulled into a bone crushing hug.  Startled but pleased, she squeezes back, marvelling at the fact that she has the most perfect girl in the world in her arms.  

“Look,” Amity says, still wrapped up in the hug.  “I know we’re both new at this, and it’s kind of scary, but you don’t have to run away every time you kiss me on the cheek or something.  You have nothing to be afraid of, okay? You’re my girlfriend, and I’m not gonna stop liking you.”

Luz sniffles a little and squeezes harder.  “You don’t...you don’t think I’m too much?”

“Luz,” Amity says.  “I could never get enough of you.”  

They stand there like that, swaying slightly in the single stripe of moonlight that comes through the window.  When they part, it’s with a sigh, and a silent promise that they’ll come together again.  

“Thanks,” Luz says, eyes rimmed red.  “You’re a pretty awesome girlfriend.”

Amity smiles.  “I know.” 

Then she shrugs shyly.  “And if you ever want to kiss me again...I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“Noted,” Luz says weakly.  She thinks her knees might give out, actually.

When it’s time for Amity to go, Luz walks her to the door, like the gentleman she is.  “Goodnight,” she says, trying to ignore Hooty loudly digesting a mouse.  She doesn’t want to think about where his stomach even is.

“Goodnight,” Amity says.

They smile dumbly at each other, neither wanting to be the first one to leave.  But Amity needs to get home, and the night is moving quickly, so they reluctantly part ways.  Amity turns to wave at Luz when she reaches the end of the Owl House’s property, and Luz waves back, stars in her eyes and a breathless wonder at the fact that this girl, this amazing, brilliant, perfect girl, is hers.  

There are many things Luz doesn’t understand.  

But this, what she and Amity have, the bond she feels growing stronger and stronger every day they spend together; this she does understand.

She closes the door.  She doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring, but she knows that as long as she has Amity by her side, everything will be okay.