#come up with a cooler queue tag later

[candycoatedrox]

(You can't shift your expression fast enough.)

[ wade - isat au ]

[maochira]

Older brother! Ego’s younger sibling who lives in the facility [bc why not] and randomly brings in a stray kitten or puppy and Ego is just like ‘🧌’ and Anri is like ‘😃’ and the sibling is like ‘〵(^ o ^)〴 YAY KITTYYYYY’[he gives in bc its his sibling]

Ego is like one of those people who are like ‘no animals cost so much money, they’re so filthy—’ and then completely dotes on the pet and treats them like its their baby. I love the idea of Ego having a soft spot akdjajnfnwnfndnd

I should go to sleep because I have to get up at 5am for school tomorrow... But sleep can wait, I need to fuel my big brother!Ego obsession (I have an awful cough that prevents me from sleeping anyways) ((I swear I'm going to sleep after posting this)) (((I have big bro Reo headcanons in my queue coming later tho :]])))

Requests open! - writing event - masterlist

Tags: gn!younger sibling!reader, reader is a teenager because I just love the thought of Ego with a teenage sibling??? so much???, reader lives with him because it's cooler that way

-the moment you walk into Ego's office with that stray kitten you found on your way back from school, he just looks at you with a gaze that says "no fucking way"

-Anri thinks the kitten is cute, but she knows that would mean extra work for her because in no way is Ego taking care of that, and also she doesn't even know if she can trust Ego with an animal

-Ego goes on a little rant why you can't keep the cat, so you keep on begging because you know he will give in at some point

-in the end, Ego really can't say no to you. But you have to promise to keep the kitten out of his office and take care of it by yourself

-literally ONE DAY later you return from school and look for the cat but can't find it anywhere. When you go to talk to your brother you see the cat sleeping on his lap while he's watching recordings of the Blue Lock matches

-you're like "Uhhh I thought you hated it???" And he just shrugs it off with "I changed my mind."

-"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND I HAD TO BEG FOR A FULL HOUR TO KEEP THEM"-you

-you're a bit upset but also happy the kitten has grown on your brother so quickly

-BUT THEN he spends SO MUCH time with the cat, it's not even yours anymore it's his. So you force him to let you get you another cat

-this time he gives in way more easily

[vaspider]

I posted 23,541 times in 2022

That's 16,350 more posts than 2021!

2,295 posts created (10%)

21,246 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gwydionmisha

@acidmatze

@joseph-lavode

@cat-boy-tits

I tagged 1,197 of my posts in 2022

#news - 67 posts

#long post - 58 posts

#unreality - 48 posts

#nerdykeppie - 46 posts

#lgbtq - 44 posts

#queer - 42 posts

#trans - 41 posts

#jumblr - 23 posts

#transgender - 23 posts

#personal - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#if people can submit this stuff i can definitely make someone read my poems about the complicated feelings of being transmasc n childbirth

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

There is no such thing as an unproblematic piece of media, production team, or morally-pure person. There isn't. There's only "what flaws I am willing to put up with," which is going to be different for every person. If your friend has a different level of acceptable bullshit than you, it's probably fine, actually? The sooner people learn that, the happier in general they will be.

23,401 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

#4

24,166 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

#3

Listen, if you are on Twitter and you haven't recently downloaded your data, you really need to. Like, now.

With the recent layoffs, I am willing to bet money that Twitter is going to implode very soon. Maybe not permanently, but dramatically, and very, very soon. Like "Liz Truss vs a head of lettuce" soon.

I base this quite simply on knowing the kind of shit my wife deals with every day, and listening to people on the news who have talked to Twitter employees about the site at all. Not only do I think there's some Thing that will cause Twitter to puke all over itself like a 19yo who just discovered wine coolers, but I think there are multiple Things, and they are not in the future. They are occurring right now.

They fired the people who know which software licenses are up for renewal next. They fired the people who know that this cache needs to be manually emptied, and yeah they should have written a script for it but there were so many other projects that it was easier for Bob to just manually do it on Friday mornings while on his 2nd cup of coffee. They fired the people who know to not poke this thing in that way bc this thing works in a non-standard fashion, but it works, so even though the software manual says "poke it," don't do that. They fired the people that know that this queue getting up over X number of tickets means it starts eating tickets and erasing half the data you need to fix issues, so you have to compress the ticket numbers at least every 2 days with an ad hoc utility script that Jane wrote after your team discovered this issue. Not all of the institutional knowledge is gone, but a lot of it is, and once that knowledge is gone, it's not coming back. Once that knowledge is gone, things unravel quickly at an institution that size.

Whatever happens on the social end of things - and that's a fucking mess - make your contingency plans for not losing touch with people now, and get downloads of your shit. Now. Not later. This will not fizzle out like LiveJournal. I'm willing to bet that it will simply cease to be one day soon. It might come back once it disappears.

I'm just not counting on it, and neither should you.

25,715 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

#2

If you think these "anti drag" pushes aren't going to be used against trans people for just existing in public, you really really need to read up on the vice laws which caused Stonewall.

If you think Stonewall was only trans women and transmascs/butches/trans men weren't arrested during the leadup to the riot, you need to read up on who was there, who was arrested, and why.

They are coming for all of us. Your supposed respectability will not save you. We will survive this if we stick together, and only if.

25,778 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1524224285082066953?t=AW-7wEu820f0TP0xImVRMg&s=19

Just me crying in the bathroom so I don't wake my partners with this, fuck.

So to sum up: CT and DC have passed laws making it illegal to extradite someone to another state if they are being charged in that other state for crimes pertaining to abortion or trans health care, and makes it legal to sue and get your money back if you are targeted by a TX-style "bounty" law. DC also includes "crimes" of consensual adult sex, gay and interracial marriage and cohabitation and providing or using contraception.

This is, as the thread explains, basically legal interstate warfare. CT and DC's laws bar compliance with such laws.

This is, on one hand, kind of terrifying, because this is where we are now. It's going to get worse long before it gets better.

On the other hand... holy shit, someone fucking did something.

Someone fucking did something real.

33,527 notes - Posted May 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sitp-recs]

Hi! I love your blog and the efforts you put into reccing. My question is less about recs themselves and more how you organise your recs 'behind the scenes.' As someone who is hyper organised in some ways and frantically disorganised in others, it would be really cool to know the process that goes into maintaining a rec blog like this if you're happy to share (and of course absolutely no worries if not) <3

Oh my gosh I am so flattered to see you here! As a reader, there are few things cooler than one of your all-time favorite authors saying they appreciate your blog, thank you so much <3 sorry for the extremely long reply ahead, it’s been so long since I’ve answered anything that wasn’t a reclist I got a bit too excited here 😂

First of all, I feel you on a spiritual level re: being organized for some things but not for others; in fact, I struggle a lot between those two sides of the same coin when it comes to fandom. I’ve always been a bit of a chaotic reader - I don’t keep track of my reads, my 600 bookmarks are all mixed without tags, my phone currently has 85 open tabs - most of them fics I wanna read or reread, plus the epics I save on my Marked for Later list... and then never read them lol.

All in all, I’m a complete mess at keeping track of my reads and because my memory is not very good with specific details, I used to take a lot longer to put a reclist together when I started doing this. In this sense, you could say I don’t really organize my blog at all 😂 I try and give up on queueing, I lose links to old reclists and never add them on my masterlist, I don’t even have a backup in case my blog gets deleted, that’s the level of chaos we’re talking about here lol give me danger or nothing

But if we’re talking about making the lists and feeding the blog on a regular basis, after a while you kinda... fall into a routine and get used to your own process, I think? It’s still hard work but reasonably time-consuming once you find a method that actually works for you. I have good memory for titles so first I’ll go through my bookmarks, then depending on the request I also check AO3’s tags to find fics I’ve read before but haven’t kept track of. I only rec stuff I’ve read and enjoyed - unless we’re talking about tropes that aren’t my jam, in which case I either leave the room to people more familiar with them or I tag other reclists, or I highlight fics that I’ve read at some point and might work for someone else. To be honest most of my lists feature the same fics over and over, some of them are quite similar if you look closely!

This process has been working well for me so far, and despite being quite energy-consuming, it’s also a nice therapy! That’s why I keep doing it now that I don’t have as much time to read and write single recs. One thing that helped me along the way was accepting that I wouldn’t be able to deliver every ask, or make the “ultimate reclist”, and that’s okay. I try to encompass as many tropes and authors as I can, but truth is I’m not a fandom authority and there’s a lot I haven’t - and won’t - read. So once I let go of the pressure to deliver perfect lists and really internalized that these are just a few personal suggestions, things became easier.

On that note, reccing is something that can get stressful pretty quickly - either because you’re too perfectionist and feel like you gotta know everything, or because some people come at you being rude and demanding - so setting boundaries to both yourself and the others is necessary and healthy imo! Wow ok this really became a tl;dr rant and I’m not even sure I got to answer your ask properly, but I appreciate you taking the time to send it! It’s always fun to take a minute and reflect on these topics. Hope you’re having a great weekend! Welcome back!

[oof-musicals]

Together, you and me//chapter 2

Part two! This one took a bit because I've been preparing for school stuff but here it is! I've never been to Vermont, it's only research. Of course, let me know if you want to be added to the tag list and here it is:]] it's also very dialogue-heavy and kinda rushed whoops.

Tag list (let me know if you'd like to be added): @tarantulas4davey, @racecrack-higgins

Race gets bored very easily and two people trying to sleep in the backseat in a car isn't the best idea. First stop: Vermont.

Aka: Albert loves Race in 1419 words.

Word count: 1419

Read on Ao3

**Please Reblog/Queue if you like**

If you told Anthony Higgins five years ago that he'd be traveling to all 50 states with his boyfriend, he'd probably tell you that'd be something he'd do. But when he thought about it, this was probably the most expensive risk he's taken in a while.

Also the longest.

He knew it was going to take a long time, sure, this wasn't England where it took five hours to get from coast to coast. They were going to spend a lot of time in the car. But it sounded easier to be in a car for days at a time in theory rather than in practice.

Vermont, luckily, was only around 5 and a half hours away from Manhattan. If they avoided making too many stops, they could make it there by eight-fifty.

It took Race until about four pm to start complaining.

"It's only been 30 minutes, you'll live," Albert rolled his eyes in response to Race’s whining. “You aren’t even the one driving.”

“Exactly Albie!” Race complained, crossing one of his legs over the other. “I have nothing to do.”

Albert stifled a groan and turned off the radio that had been playing 90s songs for the past half hour. "Okay, let's just, talk."

Race looked out the window. "I don't really know what to talk about."

"You're really annoying,"

"That's my job." Race winked.

“What about astronomy? Where are your star facts?” Albert suggested as he changed lanes. “Come on, I miss them.”

“Fine, you win.” Race groaned. “There are nine thousand and ninety-six stars visible to the naked eye in the entire sky. That’s a cool fact.”

“I thought you told me it was like a trillion before,” Albert questioned.

"That's galaxies," Race clarified, but decided to move on. "Uh, what else? Oh! Callisto, the pretty moon I showed you once is ninety-nine percent as big as Mercury is." He grabbed a notebook from his backpack, flipping through pages of detailed notes and mumbling softly. “The first supernova was recorded in 145 AD AND nearly 2000 years after that, the remains were still identified.”

The rest of the ride consisted of Race rambling on about astrology and Albert loving every second of it. He might have the whiniest boyfriend in the world, but oh did he love this idiot.

___________

As the car pulled into the rest stop 4 and a half hours later, Race let out a comically loud yawn.

"Tired, huh?" Albert joked, turning the gear into park and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"You might be the one driving, but that doesn't mean it's not exhausting to be in a car for 5 hours." Race remarked.

"You could drive.”

Race ignored him, unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing sweatpants from the backseat. “Do you really think that is a good idea?”

“Absolutely not, actually.”

Ten minutes and a never-ending banter later, the two found themselves laying down in the backseat. Race on the edge, Albert with his back facing the seat. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but if they’re going to control their budget, they can’t spend every night in a hotel.

“And tomorrow, we can hopefully hike that Antone Mountian,” Albert rambled about their day tomorrow while Race hummed sleepily. “But now, you’re around one sentence away from passing out, so we can talk about it later.”

"Yeah,” Race yawned, giving Albert a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight Albie."

"Goodnight, T."

"I love you."

Albert smiled, his stomach still did a flip every time Race uttered those three words. He doesn't really know why he felt like a giddy teenager, considering he's in his mid-twenties, but the words never failed to make him feel just, so lucky. "I love you too."

Albert stayed up a little bit after Race closed his eyes. Not that he had any trouble sleeping, he could practically fall asleep anywhere he wanted. Race didn’t have the same advantage, even at home, where he was probably the most comfortable, he had trouble falling and staying asleep. It was only going to be more challenging in the backseat of a sedan with half of the space being filled with an ungodly amount of snacks.

It was really hard to find a position comfortable for the both of them. They could've really done without the snacks but Race insisted. If there was one thing Race was, it was persistent.

This was going to be a long trip. But if Albert was with Race, he’d do it a thousand times.

_____

Turns out, two people sleeping in the back of a sedan is not a foolproof plan. They found that out the hard way. Well, Race found it out the hard way - Albert didn't find out until the morning.

"Wake up," Race poked Albert in the side, resulting in Albert only groaning and slowly opening his eyes. It couldn't have been past 8 am, the sun was still rising. Why in the world was he being woken up this early?

"What are you doing up? You've never woken up early in your life." He asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Fell off the seat," Race grumbled, taking a seat next to Albert, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I've been trying to fall back asleep since like… four am? The sun came up and you were taking too long to wake up."

"'m sorry," Albert yawned. It was way too early to be up for someone who had to spend the day hiking mountains, that's for sure. He was going to need some coffee. Coffee sounded real nice right now. "What time is it now?"

"What am I a clock? I don't know."

"You are rude when you're sleep-deprived." Albert grabbed his phone, checking the time before setting an alarm. "It's 7:15. I say, we go back to sleep for two hours and then start out the day."

"You're sleeping on the edge this time."

Albert ignored Race's comment, slipping his arm under the pillow propped up against the blankets, one of which he took and tossed over his eyes to avoid the sun.

__

Race hated hiking. If that's one thing he decided today, it's that.

When he thought about it, the trail wasn't that bad, it really wasn't. And the view was probably beautiful, but hiking sucked.

"Maybe this hiking thing was a mistake. My legs hurt."

"You're dramatic," Albert called from up ahead. "Come on track star, you got this!"

"You've never been hiking before," Race jogged up to Albert. "I'm surprised you aren't dying right now."

"We walk around New York every day." Albert rolled his eyes "You shouldn't be dying."

Race "I hate you. So much." He said, tripping and nearly slipping off the trail.

"Don't fall off the trail there, Tones." Albert grabbed Race's arm, pulling him up. "Heard mountain lions like blonde idiots."

"Duly noted." Race replied sarcastically. "Don't think there are any mountain lions in this area though, wouldn't they have already gotten to me?"

"You're right."

"Well!" Race wrapped his arm around Albert, "Guess you're stuck with me."

"Shit, guess that's the worst-case scenario for me."

Race rolled his eyes and stopped complaining for most of the hike. And he was right, the view was pretty - breathtaking even. The rolling hills and never-ending trees… this was definitely worth the hike. This was definitely worth the trip. For all Race complained, he was having a great time.

__

"So!" Albert started the car, "Vermont, what'd you think?"

"I mean, I'm looking forward to other places. South Dakota has Mount Rushmore - which, no matter how many times you say, is cooler than the photos, I'm sure of it. Vermont just has mountains," Race adjusted the air conditioning, "but I didn't have the worst time."

"Mount Rushmore is just like the photos though," Albert rolled his eyes. "And if you don't want to go to states just for mountains, you didn't have to agree to go to every state."

"Albie, we've been dating for six years, you think I was going to not take it seriously?"

"I guess you're right, T. But if you keep complaining I'm not taking you on a road trip again."

"Rude," Race pouted.

"Only love, baby."

“But, I did like it.” Race admitted. “For all my complaining, I’m having a great time.” He took Albert’s hand, ��Not to get sappy or anything but, thank you for bringing me along on this trip.”

Albert didn’t even have to say ‘I love you’ at that moment, Race already could tell.

[ectoterrestrials-moved]

10 Underused Character Questions

Introduction -

Name: Danny Fenton

Age: twenty something ish

Your favorite picture of your muse’s fc:

these two

Questions -

What would be their twitter name? What sorts of tweets would they tweet?

@ghostsinspace - he doesn’t really ever make his own tweets. he just retweets science or music related news stuff, and he constantly looks through paranormal/supernatural tags to see if he can find any potentially ghost-related activity.

What’s their favorite genre of movies? Of music?

It’s a toss-up between sci-fi movies and space documentaries. he loves old classics like Alien and The Thing. he’s a big Star Wars guy ( but don’t ask me to write abt star wars bc i know nothing ). he would have liked Gravity if he didn’t watch it for the first time while high. he’s also really into docs like Apollo 11 and For All Mankind. Oh, and Operation Avalanche.

For music he’s into punk/d.i.y. emo ( what can i say? ) he likes artists like foxing, chris farren, sledding with tigers, and the chats. Dumpty Humpty ( his fav band in canon ) is more like hot topic pop punk. Most of his music taste comes from sam ( but he’s not as into the more hardcore stuff as she is ). And his guilty pleasure music is 80s/90s rap rock ( he knows all the words to The Humpty Dance ) bc he listened to that kinda stuff a lot with Jazz when they were growing up.

What’s on their top queue on Netflix?

All the NOVA PBS stuff, MARS, Men in Black, Edge of the Universe, stuff like Black Mirror, and cheesy paranormal investigator shit.

What’s their favorite scent? Do they smell like that?

Coffee just because he’s addicted to caffeine. Popcorn because it reminds him of movie nights with Sam and Tuck. Clean metallic scents because it reminds him of his parents, his gaming set up was also set up in their lab in high school, and the labs at his school provide a controlled/stable mind space for him.

He smells like musty thrift stores and burnt ozone, the latter being from all the ghost stuff.

Apple or Android?

Android bc all the computers in his parents’ lab and at his school run on windows.

Favorite Season? Least favorite season?

Autumn for sure !! He loves all that spooky shit ! It’s when he gets to live his best ghost life ! and also Halloween/horror movie marathons? Please and thank you. He loves wearing sweaters and hoodies and long pants, but he doesn’t like getting super bundled up like in winter. He likes cooler temperatures to go out in for late night walks/flies. He also likes when he can see his breath when he’s outside bc it hides his ghost sense.

Least favorite season is winter, mostly because he hates the holidays. It’s also just a generally gloomy time of year and his depression symptoms don’t really vibe with the lack of vitamin d.

Are they a bottom or top or versatile?

Verse I guess? If anything he’d be a service top. He’s super not into the idea of dominating anyone, and he’s also really not into the idea of being belittled. Danny wants the bedroom to be an even playing field.

Describe their morning routine. Do they wake up early or sleep in? Do they press the snooze button a bunch of times or do they immediately get up?

There are two constants to Danny’s ‘mornings’: 1. he’s always up when he needs to be, whether or not he actually slept the night before and 2. coffee

Danny would prefer if he could wake up at the same time every morning, but that’s not always the case. Some of his classes are early in the morning, some of them are later at night, and they vary from day to day. He also has his ghost hunting that can keep him up for days at a time, and his insomnia that will keep him from having a consistent sleep schedule.

When he wakes up in his own bed, at a reasonable hour, actually getting up is usually a process. He can open his eyes right away, but he’ll lay in bed for at least thirty minutes on his phone.

If they were to be compared to a canon character, who would that be?

Imagine if Marty McFly was half as charismatic and twice as exhausted.

Finish this sentence, muse: “What would ___ do ___”

"What would Jamie Hyneman do?”

tag five people so they can get to know their muse too!

UH

@manaborn​, @skymade​, @disasterpieces​, @odigcs​ & @ring-of-azar​

[jui-imouto-chan]

Wanted to write some fluff for my dear @manadrite / @manatheauthor, who was a bit down earlier. 

Thanks to @isumi828 for supplying me with some ideas!

The aroma of brewed coffee beans and the syrupy sweet scent of pastries flutter about, wafting through the air and into the noses of the patrons leisurely sipping from their warm mugs, eyes bright and and posture contented.

Forks glimmer in the soft light of sun, tiny clinks following the contact of the tips of the prongs with the small white plates below speared pieces of dessert.

A bell’s tinkle sounds from the door, a swirl of icy breeze immediately quelled by the warmth of the cafe.

“Welcome!” greets the employee behind the counter, eyes and hair mocha as the coffee he prepares. A smile can be heard in his voice, his back to the majority of the room, but clearly he knows who’s entered the building, as his hands work the machine to prepare a drink before he’s told, no one else in the queue.

He spins on the balls of one foot and smoothly transitions into bending over and sliding out a tray of pastries from the display case beneath the counter, picking a slice of raspberry cheesecake to place on a plate he collects from a shining stack nearby.

He sets a fork atop the empty space beside the desert and swipes the plate into his left hand, his other hand grabbing the handle of a mug, now filled with a cappuccino. He seems to have made a heart design in it, and upon the image becoming visible to the customers in the cafe, giggles and teasing smiles arise.

“You need a hand with that?” the man who’d entered the cafe asks the employee, adjusting his bag’s strap to free his hands and immediately moving to take the items from him.

The employee spins gracefully out of reach, grinning smugly at the mocha-skinned man sighing at him, his apron fluttering. It’s impressive, how not a drop of drink spills over the edge of the mug, despite the dangerous slosh of the scalding liquid. 

His name-tag glints in the sunlight he steps past, a brief illumination of his, admittedly already quite bright countenance.

He sets the plate and mug down with barely a sound, bending at the waist with deliberation. 

Once more, he twirls about on his heel like a misinformed ballerina and in that single movement undoes the bow tied at the small of his back, the apron hanging off of him, now.

“Just a moment.” He says, polite as ever. He usually sounds genially chipper, but now his voice has the adoring undertone of delight.

The mocha-skinned man settles in the cushy booth seat he always sits in, hand curling around the mug with familiarity that is not unusual for the regulars of the cafe. A smile pulls at his lips, freckled cheeks shifting with the uneven expression.

He doesn’t take a sip at any point, an observer would note, and his eyes remain in the distance, past the window he’s beside, where icicles hang precariously over the edges of roofs and gutters and drip arrhythmically, into thick bunches of snow gathered at the corners of sidewalks and roadways. One such corner has a toddler-sized disgruntled snowman sporting a tiny foil fedora.

“I’m waiting on Eli to make my hot cocoa, so I can spare a few moments for you.” the employee, sans his apron, slides into the opposite booth, his arms lain over the tabletop casually.

The tan man gasps exaggeratedly, shoulders rising as a hand moves to hover near his mouth, lush green and soothing blue wide in mock-surprise. “I honestly can’t believe that the Connor Anderson would grant me the privilege of moments of interaction! My poor heart feels blessed; I can die without regrets.”

Connor appears incredibly bemused, though his cheek twitches as he bites back laughter. He tilts his head into a palm, resting on an elbow while his fingers idly drum a vaguely familiar tune.

“Alright Drama Queen--”

“Excuse you, I prefer King of Theatrics.”

“Oh, whatever. I give up on you.” Connor’s eyes roll, but he’s finally let his lips tick up until his eyes crinkle, huffing air out through his nose.

“Aw, man, I guess North wins that bet.” 

“Bet?” 

“She said that you’d leave my sorry ass in less than 2 minutes.”

Connor allows a soft chuckle out and shakes his head. He moves out of the seat when there’s a call of his name. “What was your side?”

“That it’d take 3 minutes.”

And then Connor closes his eyes as a surprised snort takes over, his shoulders shaking in barely-contained laughter. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m lovable.”

“That, too.”

And the tan man’s eyes blink rapidly, clearly not having anticipated that response. A hint of red creeps up his cheeks, and Connor smirks to himself as he collects his hot cocoa and nabs a small, pink cupcake.

Only after Connor sits back in front of him does the darker man move to slice a chunk off of his raspberry cheesecake. In lieu of bringing the bit to his mouth, he directs it to Connor’s, bumping against soft pink and leaving a small dot of hibiscus-colored-syrup. Connor’s taken off guard for a moment, but his lips eventually part to allow the dessert in, closing over the fork to drag the piece off, lashes batting in an effort to physically express the bliss he’d gotten from the taste. 

The fork still hovers near his mouth, heterochromatic eyes watching his reaction raptly, and he takes his chance to snatch the utensil out of the other’s grip. He swallows and cuts another piece off of the very cake he’d tasted, spearing it.

“You’ve got to give it a try, Markus.”

Markus obligingly opens his mouth when Connor mimics his earlier actions and feeds him, savoring the taste of the sweet.

He hums in appreciation. “Good pick.” 

“But of course. Only the best for you.”

His line is undercut by the teasing lilt to his voice, but Markus forgives him for that only because another slice is brought to his mouth, which he chases down with a sip of his cappuccino.

“Once again, I’m honored.”

Markus reacquires his silverware with ease and pointedly stares at the hot chocolate near Connor’s elbow, still steaming but thankfully much cooler than the piping hot chocolate-lava that Connor would insist on drinking immediately. Markus has spent plenty of time locking mouths with Connor after filling his with cold water, only for the purpose of aiding him in dealing with the consequences of his stubborn habits. 

Well, okay, not only for that, but the other reasons are to be considered added benefits to his good deeds.

Connor and Markus lapse into an amicable silence, their free left hands creeping across the tabletop, until Markus’ rests atop Connor’s, thumb stroking over the back of his hand.

They almost don’t appear to notice the contact, perhaps from how naturally such actions of affection come to them.

“Am I keeping you?” Markus asks, his mug clicking as he sets it down.

Connor blinks, then shakes his head. “No, no. Eli’s got me covered, and it’s a little slow right now. I think you guys are stealing our business for today.”

Markus can’t help the smug grin crawling up his face. “If only we could steal one of the employees, here, too.”

“I’d rather French Sumo than join you heathens.”

“I’m hurt, really, I am. I’m also going to go legally change my name to Sumo Manfred.” Markus’ fingers dance up Connor’s arm and then move back down so he can intertwine them with Connor’s.

“Oh? Such drastic measures, when all you’d have to do is ask and receive.”

Markus finger’s jump, and Connor gives him a squeeze the same time he sends over his favorite methods of stopping Markus’ thought processes and heart at once: a cheeky, mischievous wink.

Markus groans, dropping his fork to shield his face and cover his eyes. “Oh my god, stop. You know I have a weakness for that. --In Josh’s words, ‘you put the wink in twink’.”

Connor scoffs, affronted, but not really. “Josh can catch these hands.”

“Your twinkie-fingered hands.” Markus sing-songs, wriggling his digits.

Connor’s hand tightens over his, painfully squeezing with his lithe ‘twinkie-fingers’. “I will end you.”

“You love me too much.”

A frustrated sigh, and then, “Ugh, why do you have to be right?” Connor shoots Markus a glare when the taller laughs at him, though his scowl may well be a pout, in Markus’ book, with all the effect it has.

“Aw, it’s okay that you have twink hands, babe. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Connor stands, collecting their dirtied plates and mugs with a huff. “Yeah? Well, you’ve got big, meaty, claws.”

“You did not just--”

“Oh, but I did.”

There’s a vindictive satisfaction that takes over Connor’s face as Markus growls.

Markus moves to follow him out of the booth, his messenger bag all but forgotten on the seat, and Connor dances out of the way of his searching hands with all the grace he can muster. Can’t let Markus get too handsy in his workplace, now can he?

He places them on the back counter to take them to the sink, later, about to address Markus’ sulky frown, but the bell’s jingle and a momentary brush of cold air makes Connor snap his attention to the potential customer entering the cafe, cheery disposition coming forth.

“Welcome, how may I--North?”

“Oh, shit, North?!”

Markus makes to hide behind Connor, but, thanks to the factors that are too numerous to list, he’s spotted and approached with a frighteningly calm and blank expression.

“You’re supposed to be working right now. I’ve got Alice taking orders at this point, the fuck are you doing?”

She swipes her hand to Markus’ ear to pinch it between her thumb and fingers and drags him out of the cafe, giving him an earful. Connor laughs nervously, waving to his boyfriend as he goes and watching Markus feebly attempt to return the action and receive a swift smack to the back of the head, the spike of fear that had shot up Connor’s spine upon North’s arrival thankfully dissipating.

He’s only just turned to the back counter when the door slams open, the bell a cry of alarm, and footsteps advance on him rapidly. 

Connor’s arm is grabbed and he’s spun around and dipped, and then lips meet his gaping mouth to give him a fleeting but passionate kiss, in front of all of his customers, before he’s set upright and released. 

His cheeks burn with mortification and maybe, just maybe, the tiniest surge of arousal, as he uncomprehendingly watches Markus dart to their booth to retrieve his bag and take off out the door, the blast of winter air doing nothing for his heating face.

There’s a wolf-whistle from the back room, followed by muted giggles, and Connor inwardly curses his boyfriend.

Outwardly, he groans and slumps against the counter, panting softly.

Elijah’s never going to let him live this down.

[brenli]

[28]

Tagged by: @goddamnitkastle​ (YAYAYAY ANOTHER ONE!)

1. how tall are you? 5′3″

2. what color and style is your hair? Dark brown. A couple of stray silver strands. When the light hits it right you can see natural auburn-y red highlights/tones in it, especially near the ends. I wear it long, down to my lower back, usually parted in the middle (sometimes on the left) and with bangs. Usually blunt-cut across my brows, but I'm not as good about trimming them as I ought to be so they usually end up growing out long enough that I need to brush them off to the right.

3. what color are your eyes? Brown

4. do you wear glasses? My cat-eye specs are basically part of my identity at this point.

5. do you wear braces? Nope

6. what is your fashion style? I have contempt for this question that likes of which you cannot believe. XD I guess in the most general sense it's rock-chic. Rock/metal girl elements mixed with glamorous or feminine elements/silhouettes. But this is MASSIVELY boiling down my massive wardrobe and I've certainly had moments of departure from the rock-chic umbrella depending on how I'm feeling. I dislike strictly adhering to specific style labels; I find it stifling.

7. full name? Brenda Lee Larson. My maiden name is cooler to be honest; I only changed it because I was more interested in sharing a surname with the Honey and I know I can still use my maiden name for other things.

8. when were you born? July 24, 1987

9. where are you from and where do you live now? Technically born in Coupeville on Whidbey Island, WA, USA and spent the first 4 years of my life bouncing around different naval stations because my family was about that Navy Life, but the majority of my formative years Spokane, WA, USA so my assumption is that would be more accurately where I'm "from." (Hawaii is where my heart wants to say I'm from though as that's where my earliest memories take place~) After some years spent CA (first in the Bay and then in LA), I'm currently living just south of Seattle, WA. So. Basically I've been wiggling around the West Coast my whole life, including going so far west I ditched the mainland for a spell.

10. what school do you go to? I WORK at a school currently, Cornish. Freelancing as a house manager for 3 of their 4 venues. The 4th one never seems to put on any events that require one of us from the house management roster, otherwise I'd work gigs at that one, too. XD

11. what kind of student are you? Some of you who make these questionnaires clearly cannot think beyond life-after-schooling and it shows. XD I was an above-average student for the vast majority of my years in schooling but I started falling off a little toward the end, largely because I was very keenly aware of what areas of study pertained to me and my interests/goals, and I had no patience for areas of study that did not. I left before it got too bad.

12. do you like school? I liked the parts of school that spoke to me~

13. what are your favorite school subjects? Literature/English was always the major go-to throughout all of my years of schooling. I was in Choir up until highschool; this was when Theatre became available to me and I wasn't able to participate in both, so I parted ways with Choir and focused on Theatre all the way up through my last years of schooling. Other subjects of interest, in highschool: Photography, Psychology, Forensic Science, World History. In college: Creative Writing, Journalism, Japanese.

14. favorite TV shows? The major ones have been racy period dramas The Tudors and The Borgias. I grew up on Star Trek TOS and as such it has a very dear place in my heart despite it not being a racy period drama. XD I also am quite invested in the Netflix MCU with Daredevil and The Punisher being my two favorite shows (Frank is my everything!). More currently I've been expanding my Sanada-san filmography-binge thanks in large part to @anagraves​; I recently finished the 1993 Koukou Kyoushi and am through episode 10 of Konna Koi no Hanashi. What I've been learning from this - Hiroyuki Sanada knows how to break hearts whether he's being soft and vulnerable to cold and cruel and anything in between, but that's exactly why I love him.

INB4 "you post Snow White everything so why isn't OUAT on here" I do enjoy OUAT a lot, but I don't know if I would consider it a favorite show overall. I'm more fond of the earlier seasons than the later seasons and it's that ambivalent feeling I have for the later seasons that make the show not a favorite - but still very good overall.

It's also at this point that I should probably explain what my blog description does not - my blog started running a Snow White-themed queue LARGELY as part of an inspiration-drive for a Snow White AU project that I haven't actually touched in a long time. I REALLY should do something about that; I just keep getting pulled in other directions and now it's years on and here I am with what's basically a Snow White queueblog. XD If I can ever get my dumb head in gear and FINISH what I've started, that would honestly result in the queue being mass-posted and then probably altered to suit whatever the next project would be. That's always been the intention, anyway.

15. favorite movies? While I'm still feeling the chilly gaze of my Snow White queue, my favorite Snow White movie thus far is Mirror Mirror. I think it's massively underrated and that makes me sad.

As far as Disney is concerned, while I have a HUGE amount of respect for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, my favorite film growing up was Beauty and the Beast (and my Rococo-loving ass does adore the live action remake). Surprise??? XD More recently, Moana is the film of my heart; it's the closest Disney has gotten to making a Princess culturally-relevant to me as a half-Filipina so my tropical islander ass is just utterly enamoured with Moana. ((Listen Disney if you ever decide to make a super fun colorful precolonial Philippine film THE PERFECT PRINCESS EXISTS FOR THAT, I submit for your consideration - Urduja!)

Because of my rather open-door childhood with regard to media, my earliest favorite movies are actually Nightmare on Elm Street and Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors. Freddy is my Nightmare King Murder Boyfriend and I'm prepared to face judgement for that. XD

Fondness for Star Trek TOS has resulted in an affection for the AOS movies~

But a movie that speaks to me very much is What Dreams May Come.

Currently I've gotten re-ensnared into The Last Samurai, in correlation with the most recent AU project. Because I am hopeless, Grumpy Samurai is Best Samurai, and I've been spending time manically fretting and pretending that because Ujio drops before the gatling guns are brought out, maybe he SOMEHOW managed to survive in SOME way and he can have tons of cool battle scars. Right? ... RIGHT???

16. favorite books? If manga counts then it's Angel Sanctuary. Hands down. No contest. It's easily woven itself into my life in the form of fanfic that is/was well-received within the fandom, and a weirdly HUGE list of AUs that somehow burst out of nowhere. (Currently all of it, AU work included, can be read via my FF.Net account under brenli. I have a placeholder page on AO3 that's currently empty but may end up holding all my content there as well, in time. If I can ever make the time.)

I was and am really into Sue Harrison's Ivory Carver series, particularly My Sister the Moon.

It was part of my middle school/junior high reading curriculum but I honestly DID really like The Diving Bell by Todd Strasser. Even if the cover art of Culca coming up out of the ocean looked A LOT like me and resulted in my class calling me Culca for the entirety of our unit on that book. It's fine. Culca is a badass queen of pearls and seawater so I'm happy to be associated with her~!

Every now and then I remember a book that clearly really resonated with my as a child if I still remember it, but the problem is that I don't remember the title or the author, or even any of the characters' names. It was about a Roma girl who lived in the American south - I wanna say Tennesee? - who was discovered for her talent playing guitar and singing country music. The book essentially details her struggle between her traditional roots as a Roma person, including the arrangement for her to be married young, and her interest in pursuing music as a career but feeling alienated by an industry and a society at large that is wealthier than her and has a different culture from her own. The book ends with her running away but it isn't made clear what her ultimate fate is. To this DAY it bothers me that I don't remember the title or the author because I honestly go through periods where I want to reread it. And yes, this was the kind of stuff I was reading as a child. XD I also read My Sister the Moon for the first time when I was like. 11 years old. If you're familiar with the content of that book then you're aware that certain scenes are really not 11-year-old friendly, but. If I can watch gratuitous 80's slasher horror at age 4 then I can read about a young woman surviving sexual abuse at age 11.

17. favorite pastime? Writing at this rate, honestly. Which probably speaks more to my inner tortured artist than anything else. XD

18. do you have any regrets? I feel like everybody has at least one regret and anyone who says otherwise is either very very young, or lying. XD It's not about whether you have regrets, it's about not letting them hold you in the past.

19. dream job? Telling stories, in any and every way attainable to me.

20. would you like to get married someday? I already am~

21. would you like to have kids someday? Absolutely not. I don't feel like my life is conducive to childrearing, and INB4 "you're never truly ready" and "you make it work" the key factor here is I'm not WILLING to become ready and I'm not WILLING to make it work. That's how I know my life is not conducive to childrearing. XD (I'm at that age where tons of people are asking me this and feeding me words meant to encourage me to consider and it's honestly EXHAUSTING by this point. I can't wait for when I'm menopausal maybe people will finally shut up about it because I'll be past my prime~)

23. do you like shopping? I mean, yes, but I usually avoid it because I'm aware of how impulsive I am.

24. what countries have you visited? I'm tempted to say that Hawaii should count because it's so far away from the mainland. XD But honestly I've never been outside of US territory. It's in the plans to try for Japan during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I'm not sure if we'll make that goal but if not, I figure it won't hurt to continue saving up anyway and making a Tokyo trip post-Olympics. Prices will be cheaper post-Olympics, anyway, so~

25. what’s the scariest nightmare you’ve ever had? At the risk of raising weird red flags I've gone through periods where I'll have reoccurring nightmares about being actively pursued by someone who very obviously intends to do harm. It happens often enough that the Honey wonders if I'm mentally suppressing something. XD I did have a standalone dream though, where me and the Honey were asleep in bed and then I become aware that someone's broken into the house and is approaching our bed. I'm walking through every possible option in my head with my eyes shut; if the Honey and I both lunged at the attacker we could possibly overpower them just because it would be two against one. But I know that I can't possibly wake up the Honey and make him aware of the situation without the attacker immediately acting and resulting in at least one of us being injured or killed. I realize that I have no choice but to try and take the attacker by surprise by myself and hope that is enough. I make peace with that. I can feel the attacker leaning over me. I suddenly lunge at them in full primal adrenaline-filled rage.

I wake up.

26. do you have any enemies? I guess that I have a few, yes, but honestly at this point I've gotten probably a little too used to being vilified. Barring physical assault or turning the animosity on innocent third parties in my life, I am prepared to weather the metaphorical lashes.

27. do you have an s/o? I have my Honey~

28. do you believe in miracles? I believe in miracles that aren't the overt surface-level wish-fulfillment-from-above which I think most people expect a miracle to be. I think that sometimes luck plays out via a slim-to-none chance and that can be a miracle. I think that sometimes a person works very hard at something or for something and when they achieve it, that can be a miracle. I think that the butterfly effect is a double-edged sword, but sometimes that little flutter of a butterfly's wings is a miracle.

Tagging: @yacky-jackie​ @halorecoil​ @anagraves​ @benevolentqueenofstars​ @lesbomancy​ @candybunnieholic​ @lemonedscream​ @tinathefish​

[candycoatedrox]

"I got it!"

[ wade - isat au ]

[candycoatedrox]

ISAT WADE DOODLE DUMP!!! various doodles from august through november that i just completely forgot to post!!! yippee!!!! my little guy i love them so much

notes on each doodle below the cut :D

doodle i did almost immediately after finishing up their design. also where i figured out a better design for their bangs. wade originally gets the side bangs because he's Freaking Out when he ties up his hair at the very start of ACT 3 and does it badly, but once he sees them in the mirror picture, he decides he actually likes them and starts doing it on purpose :)

egg. wade vc i might be transfem but i have to get out of this timeloop so idrc about that rn

...and then i realized that the greyscale trans flag makes for a GREAT bit but is also unrecognizable. sobs

ACT 5 design! similar to how they tie up their hair poorly while freaking out at the start of ACT 3, they don't bother to tie it up all in ACT 5. they have a king to kill, after all :) bonus: if anyone can figure out my Rule for drawing ACT 5 wade expressions, i will be so so so happy (hint: it requires knowledge of my other ocs)

based off that one ACT 6 portrait. my silly guy

little doodle. yeah

ft. a very rough design for my other oc, atlas, as mirabelle!! as previously mentioned, wade doesn't do the side bangs on purpose at first -- atlas points them out when they walk out of the meadow, and he obviously can't tell them he's freaking out, so he just. goes yeah! of course this is on purpose! why wouldn't it be haha!!! so he's stuck with it for the rest of the loop. lol

end of ACT 1 / start of ACT 2. top 10 pictures taken moments before disaster

[candycoatedrox]

Valence. my good friend Valence. loop's counterpart in my ocs' isat au (alongside Wade as Siffrin)!!

i'll make a follow-up post talking more about its design and symbolism and such that gets much further into spoiler territory, but for now, this is Valence (pronounced vay-lence), it/its!! named after valence electrons, or electrons in the outermost orbit of an atom; also valence, a property of an atom related to how much it gains, loses, or shares electrons when interacting with other atoms. obviously heavily tied to black holes, as opposed to Loop's stars!

it acts very very similar to Loop in canon... ironically, even in the original story these characters are from, its personality is very similar to Loop's, lol

Valence calls Wade "supernova" instead of "stardust." also, at some point during the loops, Wade gives it the nickname V. (post-loops, the rest of the party isn't allowed to call it that. that's a Wade-exclusive nickname, lol.)

i have a bunch more to say about it but most of it is spoilers so!! that's for another post. in the meantime, have a bonus doodle of Wade and V :3

[candycoatedrox]

ALL THE ART FROM MY CHARACTER DESIGN FINAL FROM THIS SUMMER!!!

our final assignment was to create a full pitch for an original story, so I decided to go with the huge storyline that happens roughly halfway between Splatoon 2/3 in my universe!! :)

I ended up with a line-up of the cast (...minus Tartar), a turnaround and expression sheet for V, and a little cover art for the first page of my presentation. the outfits are DEFINITELY not final (except for Neri's, bc I'd already designed it, lol) bc I was doing all this on a huge time crunch and I did NOT have the time to figure out a decent timeskip "agent outfit" for all 3 of the others. and when I say time crunch I mean to the point where I used a 5-month-old sketch of Aukai because I didn't think I'd have time to draw a whole new one. help

I'm really happy with how they all turned out though!!! you can see them all hung up for finals day here :D

close-ups of the line-up below!

[candycoatedrox]

IT'S ARTFIGHT TIME!!! YIPPEE

[candycoatedrox]

Beri for an assignment from november!! the assignment was to imitate the style of one of a few artists, so the coloring here is based off of Roy Lichtenstein :D

[candycoatedrox]

very proud of how this "doodle" came out actually! i never draw side profile ever but this looks really nice somehow???

lyric is from Steve's Going to London by AJR :D

funny bc i associate this song with a completely different oc. i was just struck with the visions i guess

[candycoatedrox]

another assignment from my art program this summer!! a line-up of characters based on the four elements -- the assignment was more about the archetypes associated with them, but I took it literally for fun, lol: nature spirits (or gods, maybe?) based on the archetypes of air, water, earth, and fire respectively!

the main idea stemmed from the sun-and-moon pair on the left, and they definitely had the most thought-out designs, lmao... the other two were kinda rushed, honestly, especially the fire one, but then I got told by a bunch of people that they were their favorite LOL

close-ups of each pair under the cut!!