#when joy is lost

[doublejango]

"Pretty sure, Mox." Blitz looked down at the crystal again, but it was still dark, still lifeless. His cheek twitched and he cleared his throat quietly, but tried to rouse the crystal anyway. It didn't feel right. Usually, the crystal was like a warm presence, almost a companion embedded into his hand. He had hated it at first, but somewhere along the line he started taking it for granted that it would be there, that even if he couldn't make it work, he at least had a companion. A warm little presence that almost seemed to have a heartbeat--and that felt dead now, just a cold rock.

He hated it.

Seeing Moxxie check his phone, Blitz did the same, but quickly. "Huh, no signal. That's... weird. And probably means we're either really fucking far from Canned Ass," which was definitely what that bitch Dorothy had been on about, right? "Or we're in some kind of fucked up pocket dimension." Their Hellular Wireless plans were good, they always got a signal, anywhere in Hell or on Earth. Blitz paid a fucking premium for all of their lines to have that shit, because without communication, IMP would be fucked... so to have absolutely no signal here at all? This was fine. This was just fucking fine. Great. Great. It was great.

He shoved his phone back into his pocket and bared his teeth, wanting to growl. What was this place? And why did it feel like, with every fucking step, going on felt just a little harder? His heart a little heavier? He kept behind Moxxie, poised and tense and ready to defend him--there was no effective way to protect someone if you stayed in front of them too long, Blitz knew, and he wasn't going to let shit happen to Moxxie in here if he could help it--but nothing happened. Nothing happened, and that almost felt like it made all of this crap worse.

As they walked on, the icy corridor started to darken, until they found blood. Dark blood--imp blood. Half frozen, but some of it still liquid, in the thicker parts of the pools. There was the faintest whiff of perfume--a scent Blitz wouldn't recognize, but Moxxie would.

The perfume his mother had worn.

Just ahead, a stairway led down into a wide, open room. Her back to them, an imp lay on the floor, a pool of blood all around her. She was missing a shoe, and it looked like she must have been there a while, frost forming on her skin...

But she was breathing.

Moxxie set his cup down and quickly grabbed a few more weapons and then stepped through the portal, the weight of his weapons heavy on his back, though they barely registered compared to the ache in his chest and his hangover from last night’s binge. His mind was already elsewhere, still tangled in the familiar haze of grief. Blitz hadn't given him much of a briefing—typical. Another job, another target, and normally, Moxxie would’ve been prepared for whatever chaos awaited them. Today, though, everything felt off.

He squinted into the darkness as they emerged on the other side. At first, Mox assumed this was where they were supposed to be…But then something felt… wrong. There was a chill in the air that shouldn’t have been there. The ground beneath his hooves was cold, almost slick, and when his eyes adjusted, all he saw was dark.

The walls were smooth and blue-black, reflecting the faint amber glow of his eyes like the surface of a frozen lake. His breath came out in shallow puffs, visible in the cold air. He imagined they must look a sight—just two imps, standing in the dark, their yellow eyes the only light in this miserable place. And for a moment, Moxxie thought of how fitting it was. We probably look like we belong here.

He could hear Blitz behind him, muttering something about Arizona, his voice thin and stretched, barely covering his own unease. Moxxie didn’t turn around, but he could feel Blitz’s energy—the tension in his movements, the way his words faltered as if the reality of their situation was setting in. Moxxie wasn’t even surprised anymore. This was just how things went, wasn’t it? Even on a regular day, things rarely went according to plan.

But this wasn’t a regular day. Christ on a stick Blitz…great! Now he was using Blitz’ curses!

The echo of dripping water, the emptiness that seemed to press in from all sides—it felt suffocating. And Moxxie, for the first time in a long time, felt a surge of panic. Not the frantic kind, but the slow, creeping kind that seeps in when you realize you’re well and truly lost.

Blitz’s voice broke through the oppressive quiet. "I guess we… we… walk. You pick what way we go. I’ll follow you.”

“Farshiltn kalt fintsternish aun eyzl libhober.” Mox cursed more like himself. (Damn cold darkness and donkey f*cker). Moxxie’s jaw tightened. Of course Blitz would defer to him now. But what did it matter? No matter which way he chose, it wouldn’t change anything. Just like nothing he could’ve done would’ve saved Millie. What good are my choices anyway?

Mox let out a slow breath to calm himself as he drew his gun, his eyes scanning the corridors. It didn’t feel like they were in any immediate danger—not yet. But the longer they stayed in this place, the more it gnawed at him. Loneliness. Despair. Loss. Every step felt heavier than the last. He felt like he was being swallowed whole by the very air around them.

“Before we go anywhere, are you sure that’s not working?” Moxx asked as he tapped his tail against Blitz’ crystal arm while he took out his cell and began texting Stolas. The Demon Prince was ghosting Blitz…shocker there! But he hoped Stolas would look at his message and come find them.

[@doublejango

[piningintrovert]

Did you finish? 4 MINUTES (2024), Episode 1

[arthursfuckinghat]

You know, whenever I see the discussions around Jack Marston possibly getting drafted in world war one, I can't help but physically ache at the thought of it.

Jack Marston, born into a gang that honoured freedom above everything, forced to sacrifice everything he has left for war.

Jack Marston, a boy who read about knights and soldiers, now forced to become one in another fight he never asked for.

Jack Marston, raised to be away from a life of violence, but now the world has found a way to drag him back in.

No matter what happens, Jack would have to face a really tragic dilemma. Does he go to war and sacrifice the legacy of freedom he was raised with? The life his family died for? Or refuse and be labeled a criminal, putting his parents to shame and repeating the same cycle his father went through?

It just tragically mirrors the struggle he’s always had - trying to find his own identity outside the legacy of John Marston, and the violence that came with it. But he's being pulled back in, no matter what he chooses.

He was never made for the violence that shaped his parents' life.

[drkcatt]

minfilia and thancred together again!! dont remind thancred that he's technically not the older brother anymore ok

[cultofsappho]

new season of game changer tonight aka the first time I have felt true joy since the last season of game changer

[reginamillls]

I had to remind myself so I'm reminding all of you

take care of yourself

drink water, eat some food

if you have the energy, treat yourself to something that brings you some happiness

and try and get a good night's rest

[casasupernovas]

the way the doctor lets his true feelings about martha show on his face when his face is not visible to her is so...

[youmakethelight]

I need scenes where Daryl explicitly shows that he loves Carol for all of who she is as a human. I know we know it, even though that feeling has been fading since the spin-off and even in parts of season 11. But I reallyyy need at least one scene where Daryl catches Carol doing something distinctly Carol and looks at her for a *prolonged* time with unambiguous love all over his face. And then he actively shows and tells her. Like the scenes where Aaron and Rosita see Carol putting herself through pain to kill the horse to feed Alexandria. I need to know that Daryl sees that in her. And I need to see him radiate intense love in her direction because she fucking needs it.

[arlathen]

it's funny that andrastianism was right but like a thousand years too early. like no a god and his (once?) mortal beloved didn't inhabit the golden city but. they do now.

[madamescarlette]

.

[fisheito]

I had a thought I’d like to share with the class. So we know that Kuya is super bored all the time but what if he sets up traps for Quincy. Bullying Quincy is his step above bullying normal forest creatures. Kuya sets up puzzles for his ex husband to solve and just sits in a tree watching him get out of his traps. Quincy takes into account the possibility of getting caught in a trap whenever he goes out hunting and includes it in his schedule. (I love them, they’re so husband.)

Quincy has also probably learned that the best method for dealing with Kuya is to run away because it deprives him of any enjoyment. Kuya is probably so pissed off when he does this tho like: “>:0 How dare you not fall into the trap I spent hours constructing for my own amusement.” So Quincy probably knows he has to solve at least one of Kuya’s traps per week if not he risks Kuya going insane. It’s his enrichment.

Now onto my thought: What if in one of his latest traps he turns Quincy into an animal, just for the funsies. Latest trap turns Quincy into one of those giant tortoises if he doesn’t solve it quickly enough. Then Kuya kidnaps him and keeps him in his garden. Quincy is completely fine with this because Kuya will probably just turn him back when he gets bored.

Meanwhile Topper is like, “Oh shit, I gotta go tell Eiden” so he makes his way to Aster’s mansion to tell him. Except Eiden is having a hard time understanding Topper so he gets Yakumo. Yakumo also thinks he’s misunderstanding what Topper is saying. Then they think about it for two seconds and are like, “Yeah that does sound like something Kuya would do.” So they get their asses over to the Wood Territory, accompanied by Rei because he’s curious about how Kuya managed to turn Quincy into an animal.

Meanwhile Quincy is living his best life eating the vegetation in Kuya’s garden and not having responsibilities. He’s killing two birds with one stone so he’s not complaining. Eiden gets there and the conversation goes something like this.

Eiden: Why would you turn him into a giant turtle, you need to turn him back.

Kuya: First of all he’s a tortoise. Second, he likes it.

Rei: What kind of kink is this?

Quincy: *munching on a piece of lettuce*

Eventually they convinced Kuya to turn him back but you know damn well he’s gonna do something similar next week.

Thank you for sharing with the class...!! 🤓🔍🤏🧐 why..... you certainly brought up many ideas that i never considered. a very enligtheninggn story. . . a narrative of silly proportions.. makes me want to eat some lettuce

[starlyte-writes]

My absolutely incredible amazing wonderful talented loveliest most fantastic and caring best friend in the world @dazedpisces made this STUNNING cover art for my Ghostbur fic "but you've lost all your past" and I'm literally never going to get over it it's the best thing that's ever been created and I WILL be staring at it for the rest of my life ty and good night

[pinkcadillaccas]

Everyone needs to get on my spones divorce wavelength right tf now ‼️

[home-of-renn]

I love fics where Danny is an otherworldly abomination - but not yet.

Like he's still a baby and hasn't yet grown into his eldritch existence. As of now, he gives you a little chill whenever you get too close or look him in the eye. The hair on the back of your neck stands on end when he's in the room and sometimes you feel like there's something not quite right with the Fenton kid and you have to resist the urge to just turn tail and run.

But also he's just the resident weird kid at school who still hasn't hit his growth spurt and keeps getting shoved into lockers even though he's a senior now. Like maybe he's just ~ like that ~ ya know?? Who wouldn't turn out weird if their parents were nutjob ghost hunters.

He makes you want to clench your teeth every time he walks past and sometimes you swear he barely even breathes - but he stutters when he's nervous and does that thing where he rubs his neck and he's got curly handwriting and keeps getting detention from falling asleep in class - half the time his notes are plastered on his cheek and he's got ink on his chin.

But give him a few hundred years and he'll fill you with so much existential dread that it'll make you question your entire existence and place in the universe and your lungs will feel like they've been filled with lead - every time he opens his mouth to order the newest item on the Nasty Burger menu.

Clockwork would be so proud.

[yellowocaballero]

hi! i've been reading some of your older fics and was wondering if there's any merit in watching buffy for the first time in the year 2024

This may not be obvious, but this is actually an extremely complicated and highly subjective question. I'll try to go on for too long.

As background: my mother loved Buffy and its spin-off Angel growing up. It was our Bible (besides the actual Bible). Not kidding, she was on the forums and fan groups and wrote fanfiction for it and everything (These days, she's really into kdramas and Asian dramas, and calls me about how the Thai seem like big fans of gay people). So I'm quite biased.

BTVS is both a product of its times and ahead of its times. It was a show about feminism and the struggle of living in this world as a woman, when very few shows were doing that. It was the first show to have a long-lasting lesbian couple, and the first show to depict a kiss between them. For better or for worse, it was one of the codifiers of broody vampire boyfriend. It was pretty unafraid to be experimental in a lot of what it did. It had incredibly complex and nuanced character work and growth that I still aspire to. Spike's arc is still matched in quality only by Avatar's Zuko. Angel's long term arc, from Buffy to his spin-off series, still makes him one of the most complex characters on TV. It had the most complex depiction of depression on TV at the time and I still think it's one of the best. I think the show had very high highs.

It also had very low lows. Some of the feminism is problematic in retrospect. The sapphic couple has a rather famous element that was severely problematic. There are, overall, some deeply atrocious arcs that I can appreciate objectively but not in practice. Xander: a whole-ass character aged awfully. On a meta level, the workplace conditions were bad (thanks, Whedon.) There are no people of color. The spoiler's sake I won't go into detail on this, but in general the good stuff was so influential and the bad stuff was just awful.

I think these days people tend to brush off the entire thing because it's Whedon. That is more than fair. But I'd also say that Whedon & Buffy is extremely similar to Brian Michael Bendis & Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis was fantastic at writing sassy, bouncy, permanently stressed-out teens - issue was, he wrote entirely different serious adult characters the way he wrote these sassy teens. Same with Whedon: the annoyingly constant quips are perfect for Buffy, because that's who the characters are. They're awful in Marvel, because Steve Rogers is not Xander. Kinda similarly, Buffy was genuinely feminist for 90s TV - issue is, Whedon has not grown or developed his views, and now his works feel so sexist (oh my fucking god why did you treat Natasha like that). After a certain point it's egotistical: you're writing like that because you're Joss Whedon and it's how you write, not because it's what's best for the characters and story. But it was really important to me to get the character voices right, and it's freaking difficult to endlessly write dialogue that distinct, full of voice, witty, and clever.

I think BTVS & Angel TV's greatest influence on my writing is how intensely character-driven both of those shows were, and how intricate the characters were. What every character did was something they would do, if that made sense. Even the stuff I hated to watch, that made me uncomfortable, was the culmination of so much (usually). I think I also picked up the constant wit and humor lol. On a personal level, the conversations I would have with my mother where she broke down the character motivations and composition of the story was my first exposure to looking at storytelling from an analytical perspective and a framework of critical analysis, which was an approach I carried into the rest of the media I consumed and that was the primary reason I was able to become a decent writer. Thanks, Mom. Have fun with your kdramas.

TL:DR: There is merit, especially if you care about good character work. There are things about it that may make you want to drop it, which is extremely valid. Season 1 is rough but interesting, Season 2 and 5 are the best, Season 3 is pretty good, Season 4 and 7 skippable, and Season 6 is........epic highs, epic lows......

[bulbabutt]

rise donnie is more confused by the donatello touch than he is by 87 donnie making a trans-dimesnional portal out of things he found in 1980s dumpsters