#we all gotta remember this stuff is subjective

[juniperhillpatient]

always be ready to humble yourself. saw a post of a ship I personally dislike & thought “ugh they don’t even interact outside of a few combat scenes just why” & instantly had to remind myself what I ship & calm down

[brainrot-stitch]

How 2 do well in school, which is starting soon, no glue no borax

[rapunzelbro]

The Act of Stealing a Loved One |2| (Stanley Pines x Reader)

This chapter is a flashback. So are the others. Enjoy! It's super long lmao

Story Guide

It was the Summer of 1972 when you first met Stanford. You remember it almost all too well. You went to a college for the arts, majoring in music composition. Oh! And you were in a band! It was not good by any means, you all were figuring this out as you went but you were all having fun so it didn’t really matter to you. It’s kinda funny looking back on how the two of you somehow became a couple considering how different the two of you were.

You two only met after you accidentally stumbled in his room one night after you partied too hard at someone else's dorm. You thought his room was your friend's room. His dorm had books scattered around, posters of some scientists on the wall and an absolute mess of notes on his desk. Stanford did not want to spend his night with some random drunk girl in his dorm, but he knew he had to let you in, not trusting what any of the other men on the campus would do if they saw you like this. He didn’t know why you made him so flustered, maybe it was your vulnerable state, or just because you were a girl, talking to him.

It was probably both.

“You know, I never wanted to go to this, it was some promotional stuff for my band. Did I tell you I was in a band? We are amazing!” You were laying on the floor staring at the ceiling smiling goofily, flipping onto your stomach to look at the flustered man whose dorm you broke into. He took a glance over his shoulder to look at you, trying to tell you he was listening, even if you didnt care if he was or not. “Okay so that might be a lie, Gabs is super pitchy, Jamie is still figuring out the drums but that's besides the point..I met you by going to this!” you finally sat up running a hand through your hair “You're so dorky it's kinda cute” you let off a soft giggle pointing at him.

This made Stanford physically freeze, his breath hitching slightly “Thank you I suppose, Are your friends looking for you?” He quickly changed the subject, turning around in his chair, looking at you “I think, I dunno… I kinda wanna stay here with you” you smirked. “Well I-” he started before he heard a female voice yelling in the hallway “Y/N! We gotta go!” “Oh that's Gabs! She’s my friend!” You stumbled up before heading towards the door, pausing before going back over to the man kissing his check with a giggle, causing Stanford's face to turn bright red “Thank you for saving me! I’m Y/n by the way!” “Um… It's Stanford, Call me Ford..” he managed to get out, quickly writing the phone number to the telephone that was in his room, down on a piece of notebook paper. “Just.. Call me when you get to your dorm safe..” he quickly turned back to face his textbooks he had his nose buried in hours ago “Aw you care about me… Okay loverboy. Seeya around!” you poked his shoulder before leaving, yelling at your friend ‘Gabs’ to get her attention

Ford had no idea why he did that, he never had the balls to do this sort of thing. Especially with someone as beauti- No why the hell was he having these thoughts? You weren't going to call him. He has to forget about this encounter, he concluded, going back to his uneventful night.

He got a call the next day, it was you. There was some sort of music in the background, he couldn't place what it was, some pop music maybe. “Oh my gosh is this Ford? I kinda crashed at your dorm last night, I am sooo sorry I am super embarrassed.” you rambled on before Ford let off a slight chuckle “No it's fine. I’m glad you're safe, you seemed very out of it last night” he leaned back in his chair slightly as he spoke “Ugh don't get me started about the hangover” you groaned causing him to laugh.

After that was the beginning of a relationship, you spent your off time together, he helped you with classes and you expanded his music taste, well tried to at least.

It's been 4 months since you two started dating. Ford even told his brother about this, and to say Stanley was shocked was an understatement, he rushed over surprising Ford “So you finally found a girl who doesn’t run off screaming? Tell me all about her” Stanley smirked looking at his twin brother, noticing a photo of you on his desk in a frame, you had a microphone in your hand giving a peace sign to the camera with your other hand. How the hell did his brother score you? Ford went off to ramble about you, he was a love sick mess, but the way his eyes kept shifting to the photo of you when explaining you made Stan confused, why did he have to keep looking at it to talk about you?

He noticed a few flyers to some music festivals, they looked untouched. “Who gave you these?” he picked one up, the show was for tonight, in a few hours. “Oh Y/n did. She’s in a band” Ford looked at the flier before directing his attention back to the textbook that was in front of him “You plan on seeing her right?” Stan raised an eyebrow looking at his brother “Too busy, I have an exam tomorrow” Ford shrugged it off flipping to the next page in his book “You’re joking right? Have you been to any of her shows?” Stan narrowed his eyes in disapproval, Ford didn't say anything “Some boyfriend you are” He muttered looking down at the flier in his hands. He knew what he had to do, he wasn’t going to let Ford ruin the only potential relationship he would probably ever have.

Taglist: @bluepanda08 @slay-thou-pookie @karmaisacatluzi @fries11 @marvelous-maniac @cherryblom @leo4242564 @zuzzybakaemperiment

[lilsoftext]

•~* BACKSEAT BAN *~•

-chris sturniolo x female reader

- summary: new rule on videos and streams for chris “front seat only” for being to clingy

——————————————————————————

“Alright, guys, buckle up!” Matt called, starting the recording. “Let’s see what weird stuff the fans want to know this time.”

Sof and Chris were already in the back seat, and predictably, Chris had his arm around Sof’s shoulders, pulling her closer.

Nick glanced back from the front passenger seat, immediately sensing trouble. “Nope! Nope! You two—cut it out,” he said, his voice sharp but amused. “Chris, front seat. Now."

Chris rolled his eyes, but a playful grin spread across his face. “Come on, man. We’re just sitting.”

Matt glanced over at Nick, who shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, no. We’ve been down this road before. You can’t be trusted in the backseat.”

“Remember the last stream?” Matt chimed in, laughing. “We got so many comments. ‘Hey, are they gonna breathe in between making out?’”

Sof giggled, pushing Chris away playfully. “It wasn’t *that* bad.”

“Oh, it was that bad,” Nick retorted, scrolling through his phone. “Anyway, new rule: Chris, front seat always. Non-negotiable.”

With a defeated groan, Chris reluctantly slid out of the back seat and into the front next to Matt, who was still holding the camera. “Fine, fine, I’m up here. Happy now?”

“Very,” Nick said, twisting in his seat to give Chris a satisfied grin. “Let’s get this Q&A started, shall we?”

As Matt started driving, Nick read the first question. “Okay, here’s one. ‘Who’s most likely to get caught doing something embarrassing in public?’”

Everyone burst into laughter, immediately turning to look at Chris.

“Come on, man!” Chris protested, throwing his hands in the air. “Why’s it always gotta be me?”

Sof smirked. “Because it *is* always you.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Remember last week at the coffee shop?”

Matt burst out laughing, almost swerving the car. “Oh my God, I forgot about that! You were all over Sof, and that poor barista didn’t know where to look.”

Chris grinned sheepishly. “I was just… showing affection.”

“Dude, you were *devouring* her face,” Nick said, stifling a laugh.

“Alright, alright, next question!” Chris hurriedly interrupted, eager to change the subject.

Nick looked down at his phone again. “Alright, here’s a good one. ‘What’s everyone’s pet peeve about each other?’”

“Oh, easy,” Sof said, leaning forward to rest her chin on the front seat. “Chris’s inability to chill for like, two seconds.”

“Hey!” Chris shot back, turning to face her. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s true, though,” Nick chimed in, turning to Matt. “You know it’s true.”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, dude, we literally had to start sitting between you two on streams.”

Nick added, “And the backseat thing? That's not even a joke anymore. You’re banned from the back.”

Chris threw his hands up in mock defeat. “Alright, fine. You guys win. I’ll behave.” He turned to Sof and whispered dramatically, “For now.”

Matt caught it on camera and shook his head, laughing. “Yeah, for now.” He glanced at Nick. “Keep an eye on him. He’s always plotting.”

Nick smirked. “Oh, I’m well aware.”

The car filled with laughter as they continued their Q&A, teasing Chris at every opportunity. But despite all the jokes, the group’s dynamic was undeniably fun and full of energy.

Chris leaned back in his seat, smirking at Sof through the rearview mirror. “Just wait until this ride’s over.”

“Chris, I swear—” Nick began, but his laughter cut him off.

“New rule,” Matt said with a grin, keeping his eyes on the road. “No making out on video, ever again. Period.”

Everyone agreed, but Chris winked at Sof anyway.

——————————���———————————————

i hope you enjoyed it. if you have any requests, leave down below (actually i don’t know what to write about, i iost my ideas)

lilsoftext<3

[watchyourbuck]

the second they made buck bi i watched the whole show for the first time, took a week, finished just before the latest episode came out. this obviously means i do not know my first thing about anything, most theories and fanon storylines included. what is the most important stuff that i need to know? the more deranged and delusional the better 🌸

lmao gotta love this ask. okay nonny let’s see.

the couch theory: right after Buck breaks up with Taylor, Eddie and Chris have dinner at his loft. they make fun of the fact that Buck doesn’t have a couch, and he says “my last two couches came with girlfriends — maybe I don’t wanna pick the wrong couch again.” we strongly believe the right couch is Eddie, and the scene itself is pretty, uh… hinting. I made a post about it.

the color theory: this theory stems from the fact that most of us believe the colors they are dressed in or are illuminated by (etc) aren't a coincidence, as in, we think different colors mean different things pertaining to their story and feelings. pls see our preacher on this subject @lover-of-mine <3 her posts are amazing

dad!buck: its a commonly accepted truth that Buck is not Chris’ uncle, but his dad. there’s not a lot of explaining to do, other than the man just loves Chris as his own, and clearly Eddie thinks the same, considering he added him to his WILL (insane behavior if u ask me).

shooting/lightening as direct parallels: Eddie getting shot and Buck getting struck by lightning are the two highlights of their individual and intertwined tragedies. there’s obviously other moments where they fear they may lose each other but these two are the biggest, most gut-wrenching ones. (these are their strings of fate, remember they both had to pull the other to safety).

buddie tends to parallel to every canon couple on the show: I’d have to pull up many receipts but, if you watch closely, you’ll see them. Bathena and Buddie both have water trauma, for example (tsunami vs capsized cruise ship), plus other more lighthearted ones like the Madney karaoke + the bachelor party Buddie karaoke scenes (7x06).

Edmundo Díaz is demisexual: and most likely gay. idk i didn't feel too comfy with the hyper-sexualization of Eddie on 7x05. but it’s more than that, obvi. that man was seen sleeping with Shannon, then with no one until Marisol, and i kinda believe Eddie getting out of the house to not have sex with her bc he felt distanced from her tells us a lot about him. he seems to only be able to engage in sexual activity should he feel something for that person.

I didn’t mean for all of these to be buddie coded, but alas, I’ve watched the show through their looking glass, and these are the theories that I’ve engaged with the most. for anyone reading, feel free to add more!💗

[mezz-merizing]

language, hypnotism, and you!

here in the Hypnokink Zone we tend to center our focus on inductions. and for good reason!! they're the purest form of hypnosis, the intentional induction of someone, an endeavour designed exclusively to take someone into trance. but what if we didn't want to do an induction, or even take someone into trance, but still have a hypnotic effect on them? as it turns out, this is extremely doable, and extremely cool!

if you've been here for a while now you might have seen this post from me, my first proper ramble about all this stuff, and you might remember that bit at the end, when i talk about just how hot i find the words "hypnotized" and "brainwashed" themselves, and how i sometimes just find myself repeating them over and over when i'm really feelin' it. i think that's a good representation of how just single words can fuck with our minds, and it's not just those two <3

so like, let's think for a second about what language actually is; we tend to take for granted the fact that we make air do silly tricks with our mouths and our throats in order to put ideas and concepts into other people's heads. really, a word isn't just a word- it's not just the funny shape that air takes on when you make just the right tongue movements, it's the idea that word actually is. and ideas are extremely powerful!! when you think of the word "brainwashed" you don't just think of the individual letters, you think of helpless subjects, spinning spirals, and complete, devoted obedience. and that has more effects on you than you might realise :3

sometimes people in the hypno sphere call this "neuro-linguistic programming" or "NLP" but that's kind of a misnomer, (actual NLP is a silly and weird pseudoscience largely invented by "pickup artists" to sell courses, so, y'know, i try and avoid the association) i prefer to just use "hypnotic language" because it's just as descriptive! the basis of hypnotic language is this: when you say words, you incept ideas into someone's head. if you have the skill, time, and familiarity with the person you're talking to, you can use this to control their thoughts nearly as effectively as if they were in trance!

a lot of this relies on what words mean the most to the individual you're talking to. let's take me as an example!! the word docile makes me fucking weak. it conjures up images of blank-face, calm-smile obedience, of gently nodding and going about the commands i'm given, of empty-headed servitude. the images it conjures in my head are vivid and hot as hell, and it's just a single word. use it a little bti around me, and you'll ensure i have all those thoughts swirling around in my head! thoughts of servitude. thoughts of enslavement. and so it comes naturally that i'd be easier to control <3

tone matters too! if you speak to someone authoritatively, they'll come to see you as an authority. even in tiny matters, insignificant ones, even in little ways- saying "hey, grab me a glass of water" is more authoritative than "hey, can you get me some water?" obviously, this is a double-edged sword! too much authority and you might give your intentions away, or just come off as kinda bossy, and that's more likely to make people actively resist you than let you in. once again, it's all about knowing your target! you gotta know what your subject's tolerances are for this kinda thing

take all this together, and you can have almost as much of a grip on someone's mind as you would if they were completely hypnotized :3 you break them down overtime, get them hanging on certain words, widen their tolerance for authority... and eventually, with a lot of effort and patience, they're yours. obedient to you- brainwashed, in all but process

can you imagine it? like, from the subject's perspective- being completely under someone's hypnotic control without ever having been hypnotized. maybe looking back at a long time ago and thinking "i sure acted different then", but not worrying about it at all. you're a thrall, and as far as you're concerned, that's just who you are!! that's just kind of how the world works

i dunno about you but i can't imagine a fate i'm more desperate for <3

[sadie-bug345]

Ok so can I maybe get greasers headcanons with an absolute academic weapon s/o (think Rory Gilmore/annabeth chase/Devi Vishwakumar) who’s parents like make them get all A’s and they are very Ivy League bound, always dressing in blazers/looking very sharp and corporate and super ambitious? (Probs academic rivals with pony lowkey 💀) Thanks so much lmao I think Dallys is going to be 🔥🔥

YESSS 🫶🫶 i myself am an academic weapon🧐(JK LMAO ap physics has made me lose my will to live) ANYWAYS

ponyboy:

yall are actually so cute together ngl

like you guys study for tests together and do hw together

cause you guys are in the same honors classes and stuff

some days pony will get cocky and be like “i’m so much better than you at bio” or smth like that (🙄)

and then you guys get into competitions to see how many times you can get correct answers in class it’s actually crazy

everyone else in class is like 😟 LMAOO

sodapop:

soda is a little on the dumber side😭

im sorry i feel like its canon that he’s a lil slower

WHICH IS OK

but he’ll try and watch you do hw and then get bored like instantly

that or confused

he always says “i was good at math til they added letters🤓☝️”

and you’re just like🥱

LMAO you guys are good for each other tho

cause you convince him to prioritize some form of learning

and he helps you let loose

johnny:

he is honestly really sweet🫶

like understanding when you turn down hangouts cause you got final exams and you cram like crazy

but he also loooves just chilling in your room while you do homework

his catchphrase is “just ask the teacher tomorrow, man”

and you’re just like “🧍‍♀️ it’s a friday night”

anyways he’s just really supportive and proud when you come back with all As on your report card🙏😜🤩

darry:

HE GETS IT

he is real supportive

hes all abt that grind as we know PLUS he canonically gets on pony for his grades

so he’s glad that he don’t gotta worry at all abt that for you

he’s so proud and happy when you get a good score on a test you were worried about and yall go on a lil date night🫶🙏

dally:

he couldn’t care less i’m sorry😭🥱

like DONT GET ME WRONG

hes secretly like super impressed and proud to have a smart asf s/o

but he gets butthurt when you blow him off cause you got a test tomorrow and you’re going to bed early

dal never really had the internal motivation to actually put stuff into school so he just doesn’t get it

whenever you try and include him w your studying/homework he tries to help w flashcards

and whenever you get the answer right and it’s super specific he’s just like 😟

and you’re like “right?” and he’s like “…yeah”

MY GUY IS SCARED cause he knows you could just totally destroy him intellectually🧐

also cause he’s scared you’ll realize you’re too good for him

but its okay 🫶🫶

two-bit

he thinks school is boring like bruh is a total super duper senior just for the friends but the academics

BRO CLOCKS OUT

meanwhile it’s like a major part of your life

hes really impressed

whenever you get some academic award he’s always like “WOOOOOO”

LMAO

you guys have really funny fake arguments

which you destroy him in

youre just like “that’s a fallacy…and that’s a fallacy…bandwagon”

boom roasted asf

steve:

you tutor him kinda on yiur school subjects

yk the study method where you explain a concept to someone else to help you remember it?

you do that for him but he’s just like 😀🧍‍♂️

“and that’s pretty much what mitosis is!”

and hes like ”…i’m glad😀”

LMAOOO

he’ll also try and teach you abt cars and car parts

which is just a bit of a struggle🤏😀

TYSM FOR REQUESTING🤩 my inbox is open! i’m really trying to get to everyone’s and some take more thought for me to plan than others so sorry if they take a while🥰🤪‼️

[absolutebl]

BL Best of 2022 - quick picks

Best KBL: Semantic Error

Best Thai BL: Bad Buddy (remember for me this falls into 2022) 

Best JBL: this was the hardest pick for me because Japan came back SWINGING this year. So... I cheated. 

Best traditional live action yaoi? Minato’s Laundromat 

Best modern BL? Takara & Amagi 

Best for me, personally? Old Fashion Cupcake 

Best Taiwan BL: My Tooth Your Love although I really adored DNA Says Love You and About Youth, the one fudged the beginning and the other the end (both are still v HEA) so My Tooth was the most consistent. 

Best director: Kato Ayaka (Old Fashion Cupcake) she did a fucking phenomenal job, and yes she had two killer actors to work with, but I am such a sucker for those long shots plus the sensual foods close ups? GIIRLLLLLLLL. Gah! 

Best kiss: honestly we had so many good kisses this year I have multiple blog posts going on the subject. But I am handing it over to the one that stuck in my head the most, Billy & Seng’s up against that chain gate with the damn blue towel sticking out of his back pocket in Secret Crush On You. 

The desperation was just insane. But I might have given it to OFC if they hadn’t already won the director category. And I flipping LOVE the Kissable Lips boys BTS smiley kiss from 304: 100% should have been on screen for us.

Best erotic moment: The shower neck make out kiss from side couple RainPayu in Oh! My Sunshine night. 

Runner up: VegasPete and the “ass to waist ratio” kiss in their kinky chain scene. 

Best O scene: Oh the whole LITA special, they knew what they were doing. Doesn’t stop me being annoyed by the whole thing, tho. 

Best cuddles: I mean it should got to 12% because, well, ENDLESSLY spectacular cuddles from SantaEarth but for me it was Star in My Mind’s cuddle+glare. I love me a vicious little “mine” moment. 

Best eye contact/soulmating/eyefucking: FirstKhao in The Eclipse although Japan did great work with THIRST this year (bit more one sided, that one). 

Best cinematography: Cherry Blossoms After Winter, I know, I know, but you know how I feel about yaoi, nostalgia and cinematic storytelling. 

Best boohoo snot bubble I’m dazed and crying: Eternal Yesterday, every fucking episode, Choco Milk Shake (I hate you Strongberry, I love you Strongberry), To My Star 2 (I just hate you and you are not forgiven). 

Most beloved character: Shin MY PRECIOUS BEAN SPROUT 

Best Pair: The Parks although I am also crazy about the To My Star and Kissable Lips boys. I really want more from all of them. Madness that it’s all Korea. 

Best Ensemble: The Eclipse had a killer cast but I expect that from GMMTV. So for all it was a mess of a story Cutie Pie wins best casting from me. All 3 couples had such good chemistry. I don’t think any other multi-couple shows out of Thailand were that on point, not even KP. 

Best siblings//family: My Ride, gotta hand it to the gay uncles and all the queer friends and the adopted son. Although DNA Says Love You was pretty darn great too. 

Best Food: There were so many food ones this year (Ocean Likes Me, Old Fashion Cupcake, La Cuisine, but none were as good food-wise as Bite Me last year) so the one where I actually wanted to eat stuff the most? What Zabb Man. What can I say? I love sweets and ramen, but Thai food is my last best hope in life. 

Best song: Eternal Yesterday’s OST Sunshower by Ayumu Imazu. I can’t believe Japan beat out Korea but I am sorry I just really fucking adore that song. I’m sucker for that raw slightly rough voice combined with Japan’s brusque style (and PINK hair). 

But Leo’s I still from Happy Ending Romance is a close fucking follow up, that boy is dripping slightly-evil honey even in falsetto, he’s a perennially ignored goddamn gift to Kpop. 

I do A LOT of best of lists, this is just the beginning. Also if you have a request of a top 10 of 2022 or any best of... name the tope lists, let me know in an RP or a comment. 

(source)

[matt0044]

Lily Orchard, Adults liking Kids stuff and Nuance We're Missing.

So an... intriguing reoccurring trend with Lily Orchard response videos like this is in terms of her media diet.

Namely in how she seems to prop herself as an authoritative voice in story analysis when a lot of her subjects seem to skewer towards twelve and under. It's interesting because I remember how something akin to "Why would adults watch something for kids?" being asked on Tumblr or Twitter and the replies were varied.

However, a few reason popped up regularly: kids media has more optimism in their stories compared to the baseline cynicism of adult media. There's a lot more shmutzy moment that are sincere. A lot of people just enjoy animation and how being for kids means that the story doesn't have to worry about "realism."

The list goes on but the point is that their reason is basically... escapism. The world is crappy but kids media, while not without some cynicism, often skewers away from most of the darkness of the world in favor of, say, a happy ending where things get better.

These are generalizations but they are often born from how adulting has become more and more difficult. To say nothing of how we feel like some adult media is... homework for lack of a better term. We gotta see Game of Thrones. We gotta see Breaking Bad. We gotta see what millionth drama Netflix has already canned.

So you may get a bit of bitterness in how some uphold their enjoyment of kids media because many feel like they failed at their social requirements to be this nebulous being that is an adult. Revisiting shows that we shaped us as a kid or other shows in similar veins can often inject a bit of hope that real life tries to browbeat us out of.

The problem with the likes of Lily Orchard is that they seem to carry this bitterness to an absolute fault. They don't want to admit that kids media is more up their speed but they also don't want to do "homework" as I mentioned earlier.

Yet here she is, having left the Brony community behind and propping herself up as their authority on all things... everything. And she doesn't even care when she shows her ass because it's not about friends but about followers. Followers can come and go but so long as she has those who believe in her, she feels invincible.

[saccharinescorpion]

oh christ i typed up way too many thoughts about the Teal Mask story

spoilers of course

TO BEGIN WITH literally everything here has a big ol’ asterisk with “subject to change” attached to it, i was surprised at how much of a “to be continued” ending the main story had and i’m trying not to get my hopes too high for Indigo Disk, but wowzers

Carmine’s line about tourism… i have a lot of feelings, but the one looming over my head like a fucking sword of Damocles is “did the writers not intend this to have as much weight as i am ascribing to it lmao” because it’s only the one line and GOD i don’t want to be the “reading too much into stories for babies” person all the time but!! But!!!!

(recalls the scene where Nemona talks to you about feeling isolated because of her talent and recalls my feeling of “why was this only in one scene where she flatout looks at the camera and says this”)

well even if it’s not supposed to be “that” important-

1) sure makes the TCG Tournament in Hawaii feel even more bitterly ironic lmao (obligatory yes i know the game writers are not responsible for most stuff that happens in the wider franchise i’m just SAYING it’s ironic)

2) GOSH it sure does make those ugly jokes people kept making about Carmine even grosser than they already were (if you don’t know what i’m talking about, Don’t Worry About It)

As someone on twitter said it feels weird to have this sort of plot point after not exploring it at all in the game with the Hawaii analogue. at the same time i do have to wonder if it was a response to working on those games and doing some thinking. Who can say

God ALL of that was for one line

KIERAN!! Okay, i know i’ve been giving Kieran a lot of shit but his plot progression is genuinely very compelling. recent games have been exploring the “rival who feels inadequate” type of character but this is the first time one has gone off the deep end like this, and i really hope they push it into interesting places

Cutesy shy “oh gosh oh wowzers” pre-development Kieran… in the end i did feel a bit charmed by how sincere he is for the record!

but also i’m genuinely so glad he ended up having Inner Darkness lol

Sorry Kieran i just don’t like it when it feels like the writer is trying way too hard to make me say “i want to protect you”

By extension sorry Wally lmao because he really was the ancestor of this type in the Pokemon franchise

I tried not to take the fact that i really didn’t want the damn Ogerpon too personally lol, this is one of those moments where i really had to force myself to step back and remember that these games are not for me, they are for tiny children who often really do buy into the Gotta Catch Em All thing and probably felt some genuine inner turmoil at this

But god like, please. I have my giant puppy lizard who makes vroom vroom noises. Ogerpon you are so cute but we can never have the bond i have with my bike

Kieran falling to his knees after the last battle genuinely got me, so did him punching the shrine even with the dumb “owie ><” gag afterwards

OKAY talking about the battles damn Kieran and Carmine were tough opponents i had to try Kieran’s last fight like three times (admittedly because i was using my weaker Kitakami team but STILL)

Kieran feeling bad for the ogre was projecting “THIS CHARACTER FEELS LIKE AN OUTCAST” and i picked that up loud and clear, and that was good, but i wish they actually… made him seem like an outcast?

Don’t get me wrong, Kieran definitely has self-confidence issues, issues with talking to others, anxiety issues (possibly), and that can easily make someone feel like an outcast

But i feel like there’s a big difference between that and someone (Ogerpon and her trainer) who is actively shunned and mistreated by the people around them, and i was really hoping for that from Kieran

It’s just the Pokemon thing of finding it hard to depict people really being actively malicious (see Penny and Team Star’s bullies and their enablers all doing their thing off-screen and then leaving off-screen)

But it’s doubly weird because they didn’t have much issue with showing characters in this story being terrible (Carmine)

Carmine!!! Her terribleness was genuinely so entertaining, a lot of the time i was simultaneously laughing and thinking “oh people are going to be SO mad”

But real talk for all my love of Girls Who Suck i do actually kind of get where some people are coming from, she is genuinely very abrasive and unpleasant at times, and though i don’t agree at least i can tell where the character hate is stemming from (unlike some of the absolute batshit stuff i saw about Geeta and Nemona, don’t get me staaaarted)

And speaking of… okay i feel like i’m pushing it even talking about this but i feel it would be dishonest to pretend that i’m not thinking about it

SOOOO the “it’s not like i hit him” line… another case of “did the writers intend this to be as big as it is in my mind,” combined with uhhh writers from a different generation than me, let’s say

For now i will interpret that at face value, but like… damn, i don’t think that reads as you want it to especially in a Pokemon game

Carmine pleaseeeeeee say you’re sorry to Kieran in Indigo Disk please please please i know she apologized for leaving him in the dark but my dearest dream is for her to apologize for being so mean to him all the time. she needs to just treat him better in general. please i will forgive Kieran having to apologize for taking the mask if we can do this please

I know i know cultural differences but we already had Clavell apologize for the failures of the school system, this isn’t THAT big of  a stretch

I am genuinely curious if Indigo Disk will pull a reverse plot twist and reveal Ogerpon’s trainer to be a bad person or reveal that he was the one to attack the Loyal Three first because if not DAMN we’re just going to have some flat out evil Pokemon? that we can potentially put on a team with Ogerpon?????

Ogerpon is a silly lil girl :)

I still haven’t done Perrin’s plot lol

[promptling]

STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME ( 1986 ) change pronouns as needed.

what do you make of it?

do you deny these events?

remember this well.

how soon can we be underway?

give me one more day.

how do you feel?

i do not understand the question.

the question is irrelevant.

where must you go?

humans make illogical decisions.

this is goodbye.

i thought you should know.

may your journey be free of incident.

are you sure this is such a bright idea?

perhaps we could cover a little philosophical ground?

can't you tell me what it felt like?

it would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference.

a joke is a story with a humorous climax.

i'm afraid you're trapped here with us.

it is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

somebody's gotta keep an eye on him.

are you planning to take a swim?

i'd pefer a dose of common sense.

angels and ministers of grace, defend us.

may fortune favor the foolish.

i was born there.

this is terra incognita.

why are you two always fighting?

what the hell was that?

why don't you watch where you're going, dumbass?

double dumbass on you!

are you sure you want to part with them?

how much will you give me for them?

is that a lot?

how do you propose to solve this minor problem?

simple logic will suffice.

oh, i don't know if i know the answer to that.

would you mind stopping that noise?

don't you remember?

nobody pays attention to you if you don't swear every other word.

to hunt a species to extinction is not logical.

whoever said the human race was logical?

who the hell are you?

you haven't quite got the knack of it.

it is not always necessary to tell a truth.

i cannot tell a lie.

don't tell me your fish stories.

don't try anything.

i really hate that macho stuff.

i have a hunch we'd all be a lot happier discussing this over dinner.

i may be able to offer something to you.

do you trust me?

you're very perceptive.

if you have such a low opinion of my abilities, how come we're having dinner?

i'm a sucker for hard luck cases.

you wanna try it from the top?

you're from outer space.

i'm from ______. i only work in outer space.

don't tell me they don't use money in the twenty-third century.

haven't you got any goddamned feelings about that?

i can hardly hear you.

this is the stupidest thing i have ever heard in my life.

you son of a bitch.

i need your help.

hello, alice. welcome to wonderland.

you picked a hell of a time to drop in.

is this real?

it sounds like the goddamn spanish inquisition.

do you want an acute case on your hands?

i've got nobody here.

i have no time to argue with you.

i'm trying to remember how this works.

i will make a guess.

it gets bumpy from here.

i'm so happy for you!

you're going to your ship, i'm going to mine.

why does it have to be goodbye?

i would like to take my leave of you.

it was most kind of you to make this effort.

it was not an effort.

i am most impressed with your performance.

it is possible my judgement was incorrect.

they are my friends.

i feel fine.

a ship is a ship.

whatever you say, sir.

let's see what she's got.

[voidshrub]

Someone asked me how I made the window effect on my recent boots n bombs post! I learned how to do it from a tiktok video by @/crhysille (there’s an artist here with that username but I don’t know if they’re the same person…) but if you don’t have the app or want a slow step-by-step tutorial to follow along easier, check under the cut!!

So!!! For our silly little window effect we first need a subject, a background, a copy of that background, and an optional backup of your subject for if things go Wrong! Because at least for me, procreate likes to glitch out when I make this effect!! Rude!!!!

Second! We copy our subject and modify it however we want!! Here I stretched her out a little!

Now! We can make our window! It can be anything you want!! I made a phone :)

Now that we have our window, before we make the cool stuff we should do something first! Merge your subject with one of the backgrounds! I forgot to put an example of why, but the effect will just look wonky if you don’t do this! The subject and the modified subject will both be visible at the same time like above, that’s not what we want!!

Now that we’ve done that, we can do the fun stuff! Go to your window layer, use select, tap on automatic to make your life easier, and tap on the space you want your window to be! It’s blue now!

Without deselecting anything, go to your subject layer, create a mask, and invert it!

Wow! Almost ready!! Now all you have to do is select your window, and your layer mask together!

And now move them around!!!!

Wowee!!! You’ve done the Cool Effect!! So proud of you right now!!!! Now you can customize and add layers to your heart’s desire!! Just remember to select them all when you move your window!!! (One second I reached the image limit gotta reblog with just a couple more things…………) (Nevermind!!!! For some reason I can’t add any more videos even on reblogs… whatever!! It wasn’t anything important anyways! I hope this was!!! Coherent!!!!) Thank you @beepiesheepie for asking about how it worked! Good luck if you use it :D

[obsidiancreates]

One Undead To Another (Chapter 16)

(Trigger warnings for graphic depictions of injury/dying, blood, nightmares)

Gus tips the delivery person and walks back into the main room of the office with two still-steaming burritos in a bag. Shawn feels the memory of salivating at that same smell– god, not even a week ago. Somehow it feels like it’s been years since he woke up cold and starving, but at the same time it’s been seconds. Is that a vampire thing, an ADHD thing, or a trauma thing? Is it worth figuring out? Not right now.

His mouth is bone-dry as he accepts the burrito. It smells good, great, and the way the warmth of it seeps through the tinfoil into his hands is heavenly. He feels no excitement to bite into it. 

“Alright.” Gus sits down at his desk. “Test number one– garlic.”

“I dunno about this, man. I told you I get hungry after I get hurt.”

“Shawn, we need to figure out your supernatural weaknesses before going back to taking cases.”

“I think we can consider garlic a lock!”

“Sunlight isn’t.”

“... Fair. �� Fine. But only if you make some posters to hang around so we get some more private cases.”

“Why? Are you hungry again already?”

“...”

“Do I need to pull out the pencil rosary again?”

“Maybe? It’s not… bad. It’s just kind of… there. Can we just– I’m taking a bite, if I burst into flames or turn into a pile of ash just know my text about my Tears for Fears vinyls still applies.”

“Shawn.”

“Just making sure.” Shawn unwraps the burrito. It’s weird, to know something smells so delicious and know it should be making your mouth water and know you should be excited to eat it, but none of that matters. It’s like the whole experience is hitting a glass wall, clearly there, just barely out of reach to him. 

He takes a bite. Shredded pork, salsa, guac, there’s even roasted corn in this one. It’s loaded, incredible, and he can’t really enjoy it because even though it all tastes exactly like it did when he was human it doesn’t mean anything. Nothing is satisfied by it. In fact, the pang of hunger sharpens as the taste of the pork specifically floods his mouth.

It’s meat, and it’s wrong. Close, so close to what he needs, but not right.

“So?”

Shawn swallows. “Didn’t even burn.”

“Alright, garlic is a no.” Gus crosses it off his list. “We’ve gotta find some garlic flowers next and see if those do anything.”

“Garlic flowers? Don’t be silly, Gus.”

“Garlic flowers are another classic vampire ward, Shawn! They’re used in the original Dracula novel!”

“It’s a novel?” 

“We had to read it in the seventh grade, remember?!”

“Not really. I do remember watching one of those old uh, black-and-white movies with Count Dookie.”

“Count Dooku, Shawn.”

“Gus, he was one of the bad guys, let’s not sweat over his name.”

“You’re trying to distract me.”

“Am not.”

“You are! You’re deflecting again!”

“Deflecting? Please.”

“We agreed, last night, that if you got uncomfortable with focusing on the vampire stuff or the psychic stuff you’d say it outright and we’d switch gears.”

“... Alright. Alright, yes, I’m… wanting to change the subject for a while.”

“Fine. Psychic stuff still fine, or no supernatural stuff at all?”

“None at all, man, I just… let’s watch a movie or something. Least that won’t be different.”

“Alright. Hey, I think American Duos is on.”

“Really? … Wow. Their ratings must be terrible, it’s the middle of the afternoon on a weekday.”

“The guy they replaced Zappato with is kind of lacking, and they had to replace Emilina last season and she’s not great either. I think it’s only still on because the producers are afraid of telling Nigel St Nigel he’s off the air.”

“Really? It sounds awful. Let’s watch the entire season.”

“You know that’s right.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Nice of you to join us today, detectives.”

They both freeze in their tracks. Lassiter turns around first, adjusting his tie nervously. “Ready to get back to work, Chief. It was just a 24 hour thing, and I’m firing on cylinders today.”

“We both are,” Jules jumps in.

“Good, because your homicide case wrapped up the other night and we need a few closing details from you both. You’ll find the paperwork on your desks–”

“Chief!” Buzz jogs over. “We just got a report on the wire, body pulled out of a lake. Looks like drowning.”

Jules makes eye contact with Lassiter. Shawn’s abilities really have evolved. 

“Oh, detectives!” Buzz grins at them both. “I’m glad you guys are feeling better today! Oh, um, Detective Lassiter, I put any remains of journals or anything we found from the mansion in a box and left it by your desk.”

The Chief turns to Lassiter with a disbelieving, you-better-explain threatening smile. “Uh, detective, when did you ask Officer McNab to do this?”

Crap. “Uh, over the phone yesterday, Chief.”

“And you heard about the mansion burning down… how?”

“... Well, uh… Spencer! Yes, Spencer called me in the middle of the night, said he had a vision. Normally I would’ve told him to screw off but I… humored, him, when he asked me to tell McNab… that.”

“You… humored… Mr. Spencer?”

“I blame the fever, Chief.”

“Well, then… I’ll blame it as well. If Mr. Spencer thinks something additionally important is in those journals, I’ll let you hold onto them for the moment, but it’s looking like this case is pretty much completely shut, at this point in time. Right now I want this drowning case to be your top priority.”

“You got it, Chief,” Jules says, giving a too-wide smile and overly enthusiastic thumbs-up. The Chief eyes her oddly for a moment, and then walks back to her office.

“Keep it together, O’Hara, you’re the one who convinced me to play along with this crap,” Lassiter whispers as they quickly walk to his desk.

“I’m trying! The bigger the secret, the harder time I have keeping it!”

“Then why in god’s name are we doing this?!”

“Because Shawn doesn’t deserve to go to jail or a mental facility for something he had no control over!”

“You do realize–”

“As soon as I said it. But Shawn’s not one of the the bad guys, Carlton. It’s different. He’s one of us.”

“... Yeah, alright.” Lassiter tries to sound unconvinced as he agrees. They reach his desk and he takes the lid off the box, frowning as he looks inside. “This is what McNab considers salvageable? He’s more off than I was before the divorce.”

“Oh, Carlton.”

“... My therapist says turning the situation into humor could help me move past it.”

“Alright… well, if you think it’s helping.”

Lassiter looks back into the box, slightly flushed with embarrassment now, and carefully looks through. “I don’t know that we’ll get anything helpful from this.”

“Well, maybe they’ll trigger some kind of… psychic revelation for Shawn.”

“We’re bringing him evidence now?”

“He’ll probably steal it out of evidence if we don’t.”

“You finally caught him doing that?”

“No, but, we both know he does.”

“... Fine. At least this way we can ask for it back. … Let’s focus on this drowning thing instead. You were lying when you said you’d call him, right?”

“No, I was not.”

“O’hara, you saw him this morning. He’s not even close to ready to work on a serious case.”

“... Fine. I’ll wait until we have evidence of foul play. If nothing suggests that, I’ll just tell him it was an accidental drowning case tomorrow.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry closes the door to the security room and gives himself a moment to chuckle, tossing his badge up once and tucking it back into his suit pocket. He forgot how much he enjoyed flashing the badge to get into places.

He pulls up the security feed from outside the store on the night in question. He scrubs through, trying to pick out any suspicious details.

There. 

Just before 3 AM, a motorcycle is caught speeding by. It’s too blurry an image to tell if it’s Shawn’s bike, but Henry’s always considered ‘confirmation bias’ to be something that applies to other people. His investigations have never suffered from such a thing.

He scrubs through some more. Cars, cars, it’s too dark and blurry on the camera to tell them apart by make or model, much less license plates. The motorcycle is all he’s getting from this. 

He stands up, straightens his suit, and leaves. Maybe he’ll get something better from a more expensive store’s security feed. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn scoots a little further away as Gus lets out a snore and mumbles something flirtatious in his sleep. He thinks he’s getting an okay handle on the hunger thing– his throat is shot to hell again already, the temptation of Gus’s blood a little bit like that time his dad put a marshmallow on a plate and told him if he didn’t touch it for fifteen minutes he could have two. Comparisons keep drifting through his head, all the different things he can taste from having Gus so close, even when he does his best to stop breathing it in. 

Again, the movie snacks aren’t helping whatsoever. He keeps eating them anyway.

His mouth aches again. Pulses with pain in time with Gus’s heartbeat. He should really stop setting up situations where he’s alone with one or more of them.

He leans his head back on the couch and closes his eyes. The sound of the movie is sharp against his ears, just adding to the headache, getting less and less comprehensible as he slowly drifts off to sleep.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juliet doesn’t have Thornburg.

Juliet doesn’t have Thornburg.

So why is she dying?

Shawn is holding her hand, trying to confess, but the words are stuck in his throat. Jules is wheezing, her eyes bleeding, looking into his with a fear dulled by a thick glaze of illness. Jules is dying. Jules is dying.

Lassie doesn’t get shot in the graveyard.

Lassie doesn’t get shot in the graveyard.

So why is he dying?

Shawn is holding Lassie as he bleeds out– no, he’s holding Mary Light, no, he’s holding Lassie, no, he’s–

Lassie’s blood is spilling out of his chest. He’s looking at Shawn with a level of terror that Shawn never ever wants to see from the detective, never should see from him.

He’s holding Mary again. “Wake up, Shawn.”

Lassie is dying in Shawn’s arms.

Lassie is dying in Shawn’s arms.

Gus doesn’t fall off a cliff when he grabs onto the extreme sports murderer.

Gus doesn’t fall off a cliff when he grabs onto the extreme sports murderer. 

So why is he dying?

Shawn holds Gus at the bottom of the cliff. Gus’s blood coats the rock beneath them. His eyes are completely sightless, his mouth trying to form words that will never come, not with a head injury like this. Gus’s hand grips Shawn’s so tight it hurts, a silent plea to save him.

Gus is dying and Shawn can’t save him.

Gus is dying and Shawn can’t save him.

Henry is not the victim of a plane crash.

Henry is not the victim of a plane crash.

So why is he dying?

Shawn struggles to keep his father’s head straight with one hand as he tries to get the radio working with the other. Henry is barely awake, wheezing, mumbling incoherently. Shawn can’t make the radio work. He can’t call for help.

He looks at his dad and sees regret shining in his bloodshot eyes. Henry reaches out with one bloodied arm and grabs Shawn’s bicep. There’s a tree branch impaled through his abdomen. He looks Shawn in the eye and opens his mouth–

“Wake up!”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shawn sits up with a gasp! His grandmother’s voice screaming through his father’s mouth echoes in his head as he pushes off the couch and runs to the bathroom, splashing cold–

No, no, he’s colder than it is, he switches the tap and splashes warm water on his face. It’s unnatural, it’s wrong, it’s not something his skin should be anymore– the warmth shocks him into full wakefulness.

“Shawn?!” Gus’s footsteps are like hammers against his skull, his quickened heartbeat like a jackhammer. Shawn presses his hands over his ears.

“Shawn!” Gus’s hands are so warm, so warm, warm warm warm blood spilling into Shawn’s jeans from Gus’s skull at the bottom of a cliff–

“WHAT THE–!”

Shawn finds himself presses against the bathroom wall, Gus standing in the doorway with the makeshift rosary held up, wet handprints on his shirt. Gus is shaking. Shawn realizes he feels fangs poking his lip.

He gulps in a breath, pressing his hands to his torso, then his face, holding them out– he repeats until he feels like he’s in his own body again. Gus watches, poised to run.

Shawn shakes his head, trying to knock the last echoes of the nightmare out. They won’t ever go away. They won’t ever go away.

Something clicks. He looks up. “Oh, god. I didn’t–”

“You lunged right for my neck.”

“I- Gus, I’m so– I didn’t–”

“I could tell.” Gus relaxes a little. His heart is still pounding. Shawn realizes belatedly that his voice has gone raspy again. Gus keeps the rosary held up. “What was that?”

“I-I… don’t…” Shawn swallows. They agreed he’d be honest. They agree he had to be honest, at least between the two of them. “I had a nightmare.”

“... About?”

“I don’t… want to talk about it.” If he talks about it he’ll relive it, he’ll have the images take over the real world again and if that happens he’s not sure he won’t try to–

“... Okay. Okay, but– Shawn, that was terrifying.”

“Yeah.”

“And your voice is all messed up again.”

“Noticed that too.”

“... You know, when I went out with Willow–”

“You guys actually went out?”

“Yes! A couple times! Anyway, she told me about this vampire bar place for people who pretend to be vampires.”

“So?”

“So… do you think you could handle just having a little from someone, uh… consenting for their own reasons?”

Flash of white, film grain, stalking up behind the burglar, covering his mouth, sinking his aching fangs into warm soft flesh and drinking–

Shawn shudders– he wishes it was because he disliked the feeling of the memory– vision? … Memory. God, he wishes he disliked it.

“Not doing that, Gus. First of all that’s not my kind of kinky business–”

“Eugh! I was trying not to say it outright, Shawn!”

“I know you were, that’s why I did. Anyway, second, that’s… too, vampire. Way too vampire.”

“... I could see if someone there is willing to donate blood.”

“Gus. You’ll pass out just trying to get the bag here.”

“I can handle it.”

“You don’t want to.”

“It’s that or you drinking me!”

“I won’t drink you!” Shawn doesn’t mean for it to come out panicked– but the way Gus tenses and raises the cross a bit more shows it did, in a bad way. Shawn shakes his head again, looking down and trying to regain some composure. “You– you just shouldn’t have to do that, buddy.”

“You shouldn’t have to be undead. It’s not a fair situation to any of us, Shawn.”

Jules, Lassie, Gus, Henry, bleeding bleeding bleeding dying dying dying Dying And Leaving Shawn Along FOREVER–

“I’m going.” Shawn is snapped out of it by Gus digging his car keys out of his pocket. “You just zoned out again and started shaking. If you don’t get blood, one of us is going to be in big trouble, and either way it goes it’ll be bad.”

“Gus–”

“I’ll just close my eyes or something! I’m putting this in front of the door on my way out, I’ll be back as soon as I can. And I’m letting Lassie and Jules know what I’m doing.”

“... Could you uh, leave out the–”

“Don’t even have to ask. Just… try to relax a little while I’m gone, okay?”

Shawn doesn’t agree or disagree. Gus leaves, and Shawn splashes his face a few more times before going back to the couch. He sits in the spot Gus had fallen asleep in. Maybe he’s imagining it because he’s so cold, but the spot still feels a little warm.

His cell rings a moment later. Crap. He lets it go to voicemail.

“Shawn, call me back, would you? What’s the point of these damn things if you just ignore it all the time? Look, I got a letter about your bike insurance and they’re raising the monthly payments. You put the damn bike on my card so I think I’m entitled to know how well you’re taking care of the thing if I’m going to keep paying for it.”

Shawn groans. He tosses his phone to the other side of the couch. He’ll reply later– or maybe never. 

Henry wheezing, staring with dull bloodshot eyes, reaching out–

…

He’ll reply later.

[fangirls-fanfiction]

Chapter 15 hehe

♦️𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚒♠️

The sisters slammed the door open, making Porkrind jump from the nap she'd been taking while waiting on customers.

""Porkrind!"" The sisters said in unison.

"Cup-brats..." She rolled her eyes, leaning her head on her hand. "Come back to annoy me after being gone for three months?"

"Has it really been that long?" Cuphead asked, picking Lucas up from getting into things.

"Yep... Too bad, isn't it?" Porkrind's eyes rolled to the ceiling. "What's with the mutt?"

"He's our dog! Isn't he cute?!" Mugma'am ruffled the tuft of fur on his head.

"Strangest dog I've ever seen. Do they usually come with horns?" She asked skeptically.

"Uhhhhhh..." Cuphead looked to her sister for help, Mugma'am quickly changing the subject.

"We need dog food, a collar... Uh... That kinda stuff. Do you have anything?" Mugma'am quickly asked.

"Nope." Porkrind answered immediately.

"Could... Could you check?"

"Nope."

"Come on, Porkrind! You gotta have something!" Cuphead whined.

"Isn't there a pet store in the city? Like, away from here? Where you can't annoy me?"

Cuphead grumbled, Mugma'am placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Queen Dice didn't specify we had to shop at Porkrind's." She said as quietly as she could, though it proved to be quite fruitless.

"That scamming pain in the ass sent you? Where exactly are you two staying?"

"Uhhhhhhh—"

"That's not important, Porkrind, we'll get out if your hair." Mugma'am pushed her sister toward the door.

"You know what, girls, why don't I go check and see if I can find something for your sweet little pup, and we can make a deal."

"Uh—"

"Ok!"

"Cuphead I'm not too sure if we should— "

"Don't worry, I remember what Dice told me, I won't let her scam us." Cuphead whispered, excitedly heading back inside.

♠️ ♠️ ♠️

Somehow, at some point, Old Scratch and her right hand woman ended up on the lounge in the demon's office. Sharing a drink, it surely helped with the Devil's nearly blown circuit. She leaned her head upon Dice's in complete tranquillity, even so, something was on her mind. Something she was just so unsure of.

"Dice... You know they're going to find out sooner or later, don't you...?" Lucifer asked, keeping her eyes glued to the bourbon in her glass.

"Who will find out about what, honey?"

"That lady at the orphanage. She's going to find out that I lied... Hell, we can't keep this from the girls. What am I supposed to do? Ban them from going outside?" The Devil frowned.

"You've grown to care a lot about them, haven't you?"  Queen Dice teased, though the Devil didn't find it very funny.

"Answer the question, Dice."

"Right—" Dice cleared her throat. "Well, we're always here if they need us... They know that. And I'll fight that woman and win if she comes by again— And you know I would."

"Yes, but that is how it works... They're 17 with no caretaker..."

Queen Dice shifted positions, the Devil sitting up to look at her girlfriend, the woman blinking as she pondered. She sipped at her drink, stringing together a plan. Her green eyes looked to her Boss as she still pondered.

"What?" The demon tilted her head.

"I'm just thinking... You know, the girls have made home here..."

"Dice." The Devil warned her.

"If they're up for adoption... I mean... I don't see why we couldn't." Dice continued.

"Dice you're not serious, are you?! Wh— Why would they want to stay here?" The Devil asked.

"I'm just sayin, maybe we could... Y'know... Keep them... Just a thought..."

"Dice..."

"Oh come on! Don't tell me you haven't thought about it! Not even once?!"

"Of course I've thought about it! But... I dunno..."

The office door swung open, grabbing their attention.

"Cuphead! We can't just waltz in like we own the place! You gotta knock!" Mugma'am scolded her sister.

"Oh... Right."

"Did you get all you needed?" Dice held her hand out for her change.

"Yep! And I even have change!" Cuphead smirked proudly, reaching into her pocket and handing Dice a single one dollar bill.

"That's it?!"

"Hey, you didn't specify how much change you wanted." Cuphead placed her hands on her hips.

Queen Dice grumbled, unable to argue as she did not in fact give the sisters a specific amount of money she wanted back.

"Porkrind scammed you, didn't she?" The Devil smirked.

"She didn't scam me!" Cuphead frowned.

"Yes she did." Mugma'am rolled her eyes.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not—"

The sisters suddenly stopped at the sound of a low growl as the Devil gripped the bridge of her nose. They knew very how easily the demon's anger could get out of control.

"The Boss has had a rough day, why don't you two go downstairs and... Do something." Queen Dice said calmly, the girls nodding as they left the Devil's office.

As the door clicked shut, Dice turned back to the demon. She sighed, leaning her head in the woman's shoulder as she stared at her drink, running her finger around the rim at a slow pace.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just... Overwhelmed..."

"Well, we don't have to do work for the rest of the day if you'd just like to relax." Queen Dice put an arm around her girlfriend.

The demon looked up at her, pausing as she made eye contact with Dice. Blinking, she didn't say anything, but she didn't need to;

"Or if you want some time alone, I can leave too."

"Noooo." The Devil whined quietly, burying her face in the crook of Dice's neck.

"Ok, ok, I won't go..."

Queen Dice pondered at what she could do to help cheer her up. Looking around the room, Dice's eyes fell on the demon's desk. Piled with endless paperwork in an unorganized mess, Dice could see how it could be overwhelming at times. She couldn't help but think that even just looking at the desk made the Devil feel overwhelmed and frustrated.

She pulled the demon closer to her, placing a kiss atop her head. The Devil's tense body immediately relaxed, shifting slightly to sit in a more comfortable position, still sitting right next to her girlfriend.

♣️ ♣️ ♣️

The sisters didn't speak one word to each other on the elevator ride down. Both because they were simply upset with one another and the fact that they felt guilty for making the Queen of Hell's mood even worse.

"How do we always manage to make things a million times worse?" Cuphead sighed as she once again tossed the puppy's toy for him to chase.

"We don't always make things worse... Do we...?" Mugma'am asked.

"Maybe it's just us... Elder Kettle didn't like us fighting, neither do Dice and Devil." Cuphead crossed her arms, ignoring the puppy when he brought the toy back and dropped it.

"Well, that's just it," Mugma'am picked up the toy and tossed it, the dog barking happily as it ran after it. "Maybe it's just because we fight so much... We can't seem to agree on anything."

"That's not true! You're the one that doesn't..." Cuphead stopped, Mugma'am frowning. "I guess we do fight a lot..."

"Let's promise not to fight as much." Mugma'am held her hand out to shake.

"Fine by me."

They both looked over the to Hellevator, Henchwoman walking out and sighing rather loudly, unknowing that the sisters were right in the throne room. Taken aback by seeing them, she immediately attempted to look more positive and optimistic.

"Is everything ok, Henchwoman?" Mugma'am seemed to have noticed before she hid it.

"Who? Me? Absolutely! Things couldn't be better than... Than they are now..."

"Something's wrong, and I think I know what!" Cuphead smirked.

"No! It's not what you think! I swear I'm happy for them! S— Sure I love the Boss, but I would never want her to be unhappy and..." She stopped, judging by the sister's facial expressions, she was quite off about what she thought they meant.

"What...?" Cuphead looked at Mugma'am. "I just thought you were tired from work. What are you talking about?"

Henchwoman froze in place, she was completely petrified. And the worst part was, she had no idea how to get out of this situation. She'd always been bad with secrets, even her own, she'd always wished she knew how to lie to people as easy as her boss could.

"Look... I'm... I swear that I'm happy for the Boss and Miss Queen Dice but... I... I..." She drifted off, sighing as she glanced back to the ground. "Being around the Boss for thousands of years has given me a chance to really get to know her and... And appreciate her... And..."

Two loud gasps got her attention as she drifted off once more.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?!" Cuphead asked, giggling.

"Th— The Boss?"

"You can tell us, we won't judge." Mugma'am spoke sincerely.

"I— I mean she's... She's wonderful... Sure, she doesn't have a very good understanding of emotions and how her actions can affect others... But... I dunno, there's something about her that... That I can't help but like..."

"Like or love, Henchwoman?" Cuphead snapped, getting annoyed.

Panicking, Henchwoman looked between the two of them, trying to find a way out of this. With no way out, she buried her face in her hands.

"Henchwoman, just answer the question!"

"Cuphead stop!" Mugma'am took her sister by her shoulder. "You're— We're upsetting her."

Cuphead opened her mouth to argue, Mugma'am frowning, reminding her of their deal. They turned back to Henchwoman, the purple imp uncovering one of her eyes when she noticed they weren't yelling at her anymore.

"You don't have to tell us, Henchwoman." Cuphead sighed. "We're sorry."

Henchwoman uncovered her face completely, sighing as her gaze fell to the floor.

"We shouldn't have pressured you to tell us what had happened. That's your business, not ours." Mugma'am went on.

"Yes." Henchwoman blurted out, quickly covering her mouth to stop the words from tumbling out.

The sisters gasped, turning to look at one another before turning back to Henchwoman. They both smiled, getting excited much to the demon's dismay. She frowned, creasing her eyebrows as she lowered her head. The sisters frowned, realizing the exact circumstances.

"Now she'll never know cuz I was too much of a coward to tell her before..." Henchwoman spoke bitterly.

"Is this why you've been so down?" Mugma'am asked.

"Is it obvious?"

"Yeah kinda."

Mugma'am elbowed her sister in the ribs, Cuphead glaring at the other.

"I guess I'm just upset cuz I know I'll never have a chance with her now..."

"Hey, don't be sad, who knows, maybe you'll... You'll find someone even better than the Devil." Mugma'am tried to lift her spirits.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Cuphead mumbled.

"Don't be rude." Mugma'am snapped quietly back.

"Thanks girls, but I think it's a lost cause... Love just... Isn't somethin that works out for me." Henchwoman shrugged. "But let's get somethin straight, you two don't tell The Boss or Queen Dice about this, alright?"

"Tell us about what?"

The three of them yelped, turning to face Queen Dice, who had just exited the Hellevator with the Devil.

"Nothing!"

"We weren't talking about anything!"

"Who's Cuphead?!"

Queen Dice raised an eyebrow, looking between the three of them. Smiling sheepishly, the three others stood in uncomfortable silence as they stared up at the other.

"Alright, you three obviously don't wanna tell me, and I'll respect it." Queen Dice rolled her eyes as she and her girlfriend headed down the hallway to the Devil's bedroom. "The Boss and I will be back later."

When the door clicked shut and they were completely out of earshot, the three of them sighed, relieved that they seemingly hadn't caught the whole conversation.

"That was a close one..." Henchwoman sighed. "Anyways, you two had better not tell the Devil 'bout this."

"We won't." The girls said in unison.

"Swear it."

The girls hadn't exactly ever seen or heck, even heard Henchwoman get angry before. Even with her boss. For someone who spent most of her time with the literal Devil, she didn't seem to lose her temper or get annoyed with her as Queen Dice or even the sisters did. There didn't seem to be one mean bone in Henchwoman's body. Seeing her get angry and upset at her secret potentially getting revealed was definitely surprising and a little unnerving.

"We swear we won't tell!" Mugma'am threw her hands up in defense.

"Yeah, we'll keep your secret."

"Good... I don't know what I would do if she ever found out... Now I have to go finish my duties for the day."

The sisters watched Henchwoman slump out of the room and down the hallway, off to do some of her many chores for her Boss.

♥️ ♥️ ♥️

“Uhm… Ruby…?”

“No.”

“Diamond?”

“Surprisingly, no.”

“Hmmm… It’s a gemstone that’s cherished… Can I have another hint?”

“Really?” Queen Dicr stopped playing with Lucifer’s hair momentarily, receiving quite a spit frown from her. “I’d give it away if I gave you another hint.”

“Pleeeeease…?” The Queen of Hell looked up at the woman from her lap, giving her the very best puppy eyes.

“Ugh, fine. It’s blue.”

“Uhhh… Agate!”

“No.”

“Aquamarine?”

“No.”

“Sapphire?”

“Bingo! There ya go!”

“Yay! I win!” The Devil laughed. “So that’s your middle name… Queen Sapphire Dice. I’m still surprised it’s not Diamond.”

“Well… I supposed it’s because that’s my mother’s middle name; Duchess Diamond Dice.”

Lucifer snickered again.

“What’s so funny?”

“Her initials… Are— Are D.D.D.” She giggled, covering her mouth in an effort to be quiet.

Queen Dice rolled her eyes, smiling while she shook her head.

She once again stopped playing with the demon’s hair, moving to her face, moving her hair out of her face. All the while her Boss just kept on giggling about Dice’s mother’s initials.

“I take it this is helping your stress?”

“It is… Thank you… You’re so smart, Dice.” The Devil reached up and cupped the other’s face.

“Anytime, Dev.”

The Devil paused, lowering her hands in thought.

“What? What is it?”

“Can I tell you something, Dice?”

“Sure, anything.”

“So… Back when I was… Y’know…” She drew a circle above her head in the air to represent a halo, Dice nodded, immediately understanding. “Anyways, I was… I was referred to as Lucifer… But I also had nicknames back then… Sort of like I do now…”

“Where is this going?”

“Everyone close to me back then called me Luci… No one’s called me that for eons…”

“Not even Henchwoman?” Dice tilted her head.

“No, not even Henchwoman.” The Devil shook her head.

“It’s a shame… It’s a pretty name…”

“Uh-Huh… So… I just wanted to say… You… You can call me that… If you want to.”

“What? Luci?” Dice asked.

Lucifer smiled, a tear forming in her eye before she quickly wiped it away. Sighing, she closed her eyes.

“Yeah…”

“Alright then Luci, you beautiful, beautiful being.”

Luci chuckled, her eyes still closed.

“Luci, my love.”

[doberbutts]

Yours conversation about Vick reminds me about how people act about abuse re: Chris Rock. I don't remember if he was ever punished, but does it honestly matter if he was? That's effectively all he's known for at this point. For the longest time the only way people would talk about abuse as if they really actually cared was when Chris Rock was the subject.

Especially coming through recent high profile stories of abuse and seeing who gets the love and adoration, I know this would never happen if the people involved were black.

Considering we just had an extremely high profile abuse case and the internet decided to make siding with their celebrity of choice the entirety of their personalities for weeks 🙄

And here's the thing; I don't watch football and, gotta admit, if Vick asked me to sell him a dog, I would say no. I'm glad he's focusing on uplifting black voices but I have no desire to watch his miniseries. He can redeem himself over there where I don't have to interact with his stuff. But I think he should be allowed to begin again.

You know what I did when the story broke with Rihanna? I deleted my Chris Brown songs. I didn't have too many, but I still got rid of them. I can't listen to them without seeing the photos of her face all beat up and swollen. He'll never get another cent of my money whether in royalties or in ad revenue or from streaming.

For Brown it's a little different, if only because he continues to maintain (last I checked) that he did nothing wrong and that the situation was overblown. He plead guilty, but only got probation and counseling. He complains all the time that people continue to bring up the abuse but never in a "I know, I'm sorry" way like Vick- and he also re-offended with his next girlfriend and just got a restraining order.

I am, also admittedly, a little more sensitive to domestic violence. Personal bias. But I think he screwed his chance at a redemption narrative, and it bothers me to know he could have done the same outreach of publicly acknowledging the problem with what he did to her and working with young boys/men on teaching them that using violence against their girlfriends was wrong, helping end the cycle of abuse. NOPE.

It IS annoying that people will still listen to white singers after they've done similar, however. Look how many Beatles fans there are despite the fact that John Lennon was an absolute monster. Only when the black guy does it is when people seem to care.

I'm assuming you meant Chris Brown and not Chris Rock, because the only recent thing about Chris Rock I know about is that he got his shit rocked by Will Smith. I'm not finding anything on it either outside of a model that accused him of raping her and fathering her child, but paternity tests proved he is not the father and the accusation thus went nowhere.

[angstysebfan]

Mist Series-Book 1

Chapter 1- The Beginning…

Summary: Melanie Stakes aka Mist looks like a normal person to the outside world. What no one but her and her mother knows is that she is a secretly trained assassin who is being forced to do the bidding of her mother to save the life of those she loves the most.

A/N: I’ve had this idea for along time. I hope you like it. Eventually Bucky will be involved but that won’t but mostly not until book 2. Each book will be probably like 5 chapters or so. Maybe more maybe less. Depends. Enjoy!

--

When Melanie Stakes was born to Martha and Sean Stakes, no one but her mother knew what her future would be. As soon as she was able to walk, Martha would take her to “mommy and me class” when really she would bring her to her organization, “Renown” to start training her to be an expert assassin.

Her father didn’t realize his wife was the head of this secret organization. Thankfully when their second daughter Ashley was born Martha didn’t do the same to her. Thinking her too weak. Melanie didn’t want to be an assassin, but with her mother threatening to kill her father and sister, she knew she had no choice.

---

10 years old

“Again until you hit the bullseye every time!” Yelled Martha.

Pop,pop,pop,pop. Melanie once again fired off 4 shots from her little 9mm gun.

“What is wrong with you? Stop being incompetent and hit the damn bullseye!” Martha yelled.

“I’m doing my best mother,” mumbled Melanie.

“Well when you lose your father and sister then tell yourself that,” threatened her mother.

A chill ran through Melanie as she reloaded, aimed and fired, hitting the bullseye each time. She smiled at her mother waiting for praise.

“What are you smiling at girl? It took you too long to get it done. You must get better. You know what’s at stake.”

Melanie lowered her head in shame and then nodded. "I'm sorry mother. I promise I'll do better."

That night you're having family dinner pretending to be the happy family you know your not. It kills you having to lie to your father about everything. The fact that he has no idea who he is married to and had children with breaks your heart. He is just to kind and trusting.

"So Melly, how was school today?" your father asked.

Before you got a chance to respond with another lie your mother stepped in. "I got a call from your teacher that you are not putting in enough effort and that you are about to fail."

"Melanie that's unacceptable!" your father said loudly.

You once again bow your head in shame. "I'm sorry daddy. I am going to do better. I promise. I won't let you down," you say.

You feel the small hand of Ashley in yours. You look at her and she gives you a small smile.

"Can I go to the special school Melly goes to?" she asks your parents to change the subject somewhat.

"Absolutely not," your mother says. "We were lucky to afford her being there. We cannot afford you as well Ashley. Besides you're doing well where you are," she says.

Ashley, only 7, looks disappointment and removes her hand from yours. You lean over as your parents start to talk.

"Don't worry Ash. My school sucks. You don't want to go there," you whisper making her laugh.

You smile and look back toward your plate and notice your mother's glare. You knew you were in more trouble now.

---

When summer was coming, your father and mother agreed to send you away to summer camp. You were almost excited that you could have a normal summer when you remembered who your mother was.

"You should be excited because you are about to be trained by the best assassin in the whole world," she said happily.

You were confused not knowing who she was talking about.

"You're going to Hydra. You're going to be trained by the Winter Soldier."

--

Hope you are all as excited for this as me. I know I'm tagging Bucky stuff but it's because eventually this will turn into a Bucky x OC fic. You just gotta be patient. Hope you like this!