#I appreciate the tags and it's very nice of y'all to think of me though!

[laundrybiscuits]

I've recently been tagged in a few WIP/"last thing you've written" type games, and…to be completely candid, I haven't been writing any kind of fic lately because I've become a little bit obsessed with analyzing the Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along.

Not for any particular purpose, I just saw it at the Hudson a little while back and have a lot of feelings about it! In my tiny scraps of spare time, I've been working on an essay about Merrily and inevitability that will probably end up rotting in my google docs*, because that's how I approach writing as a hobby.

There's just so much there, holy shit. I'm focusing particularly on "Franklin Shepard, Inc." because Radcliffe's Charley brings a frenetic, desperate vulnerability to the performance that reads so, so differently from earlier productions. Throughout the show, I was consistently blown away by the heavy lifting Radcliffe, Mendez, and Groff do in shifting the core tension from "art vs commerce" (fine but basic, and difficult to keep modern) to "how people prioritize different types of relationships in their lives."

In an effort to make this slightly less wildly off-topic for this blog: this has gotten me thinking about the way that platonic relationships are treated in narratives, particularly but not exclusively in fandom.

"Found family" is and has always been a popular trope, but I do think its current incarnation trades a lot on the underlying fantasy of relationship permanence. When we recategorize friendships as familial relationships, we're making a claim—whether or not it's justified—about the indelibility of those relationships.

That's not inherently bad (or, god forbid, problematic). I think it's very very natural, especially for those who don't necessarily have a lot of experience with the way adult friendships change over time. Why wouldn't you want something as precious and unique and amazing as a good friendship to stay with you forever?

Certain people can feel like pillars of your world, and it's fucking terrifying to think about that being yanked out from under you—or even worse, to think about your lives slowly shifting like geologic plates until suddenly you realize it's been weeks, then months, then years since you last really talked.

CHARLEY: We're not that kind of close any more, the way we used to be. And a friendship's like a garden. You have to water it and tend it and care about it. And you know what? I want it back.

It's a peculiar, particular kind of grief when it happens, because even though it's a fairly common human experience, it doesn't get socially acknowledged in the same way as e.g. a romantic breakup.

So yeah, it makes a lot of sense that found family is a popular trope in all kinds of media, not just fandom.

However...at this point, I've developed a knee-jerk wariness to the phrase "found family," because I've found it often correlates with a really flat, simplistic depiction of human relationships. In extreme cases, it simply recontextualizes a relationship within the socially acknowledged/acceptable framework of a stereotypical family unit.

This does a disservice to familial and nonfamilial relationships alike. Every family is different, so why do so many found families in media look the same?

(I was monologuing about this to my very patient girlfriend, and she pointed out that this also sets up a success/failure binary condition in relationships, where permanence is the arbiter of success in both romantic and nonromantic contexts. She is of course both beautiful and correct!)

I have friends with whom I can sometimes share a glance and know exactly what they're thinking. I even have a running joke with one friend about the sheer number of times we've said the same thing in unison over the last 15 years. I still need to be intentional about building those relationships, extending empathy when we differ, and carving out time to reconnect. Truly intimate long-term relationships of any kind involve disagreements, conflicting priorities, and negotiating and renegotiating boundaries.

Being "basically the same person" or "sharing a braincell" actually sounds super fucking lonely to me, personally, and it handily elides the difficult, essential process of keeping people in your life.

FRANK: Old friends let you go your own way. CHARLEY: Help you find your own way. MARY: Let you off when you're wrong. F: If you're wrong. C: When you're wrong. M: Right or wrong, the point is, old friends shouldn't care if you're wrong. F: Should, but not for too long. C: What's too long?

That's a more complicated and much more mature narrative to tell than "friendship will save the day!" Because it's not that common and there's not a deep bank of references to draw from, it takes a lot of effort and skill to depict well, and I don't blame creators for not wanting to let it suck up all the air in the room. However, I think it's important to acknowledge that platonic relationships can also be flanderised and flattened.

In the context of fandom, which has always traded heavily in Romance genre conventions, I would really like to see more thoughtful explorations of complicated nonromantic relationships. I'm not even talking about genfic here! I've actually been thinking about Stobin specifically because that relationship (rightly & understandably) tends to show up in any Steve-centric fic, including the vast ocean of Steddie fics, so it makes the issue slightly more visible than I've seen in other fandoms.

I'm not saying I want to see them fight, or not be friends, or not love each other fiercely and near-obsessively in the way that lonely teenagers can. I'm just saying I want them to be distinct individuals who view the world in very different ways, and choose each other anyway. They already have a complicated past; I know from personal experience that it's possible as a lesbian to be best friends with a guy who once made a little speech about how into you he was, but that little layer of history never quite goes away.

I don't want frictionless relationships in my life. I want people who will challenge me and whom I can challenge, in the context of love and trust. I want people in my life whom I have to work to understand, because my life is richer when I do. And sometimes, I want narratives that will reflect the grief of friendships that are no longer part of my life, despite the best efforts of everyone involved.

In Merrily, Charley sings, "Friendship's something you don't really lose—" but Radcliffe's thready, pleading delivery makes it all too clear: Charley already knows he's lying. The audience just needs to catch up.

*Other essays in that particular graveyard: understanding the cast of Peanuts through the lens of anomie, humor and subversive linguistic nationalism in 00s Singaporean TV, how to fix Miss Saigon. WHY am I this way.

[meruz]

hi im putting all my asks in one post again. these are from like the past month and a half approx? some digimon thoughts some tmnt thoughts some art musings u know the usual

@waywardistics YAYY thank you so much for ordering! I'm glad it got to you & that you are enjoying it!

this is kind of a missive to everyone who ordered but: I am very nervous about pre-orders whenever I do them... nervous that not very many people will order, nervous that there will be supply chain or production dilemmas and I won't be able to get copies out to people in a timely fashion, nervous about having people's money but having an indeterminate amt of time where i have not yet "held up my part of the bargain" etc etc SO. THANK U GUYS...FOR ORDERING and being patient and im so glad it got to y'all

@seanonthemoon (idk why i cant tag u BUT) interesting... i gotta be honest I don't think abt the crests that much. i agree that they're very much like heres the "girl" crest heres the "nerd boy" crest etc to the point that it becomes almost meaningless. but i think what makes them even more meaningless to me, and is probably the reason they kind of designated girl/boy crests etc is that i think like the digivices they're toys and merchandise more than they are actual narrative tools LOL. I wouldve loved something with cody and mimi! theyre both so deeply empathetic and sensitive.. theres a lot they share but i think because they look so different on the surface it would make it difficult to market that merch...booo capitalism boooo toy marketing its all sexist bullshit at least here in the u.s. idk if japan is that different though.

I'm actually a little frustrated with how often 02 and 02 related media squanders cody in general lol. he feels like a parallel of izzy, joe, and TK(season 1 tk) while also being kind of none of those and suffering through lackluster characterization as a result... and then once ken joins the team it feels a little redundant. there's a couple cody-centric eps of 02 I remember really liking but then i think abt how he's been used since in like post-series content and 02:the beginning where they made him type on the computer even though obviously that's yoleis thing but because he had nothing else to do and aghh... my blood boils. i feel like the youngest but most serious anime achetype even at its bare bones is actually rly interesting idk why they don't play it up. UM. Once again my opinion is that he should be taller LOL and maybe they should play up his kendo martial arts honorable training stuff more idk. tallest + youngest + most serious just seems like a recipe for success for me. well. theres still time. and theres always fanfic.

THIS IS SO NICE TO SAY and not the first time someone has said it but i appreciate it everytime because i really admire the mm art style so much. It's like part of why I got really into the movie because I really recognized my own artistic sensibilities and aspirations in the way they stylized everything.

UM And i feel like since watching the movie and looking at all the concept art and making my own art i do feel like its only become more obvious how much my own art is lacking LOL LIKE when you see something that feels so similar I think the differences only become more stark. those artists are definitely on a different level than me. But it's nice to hear people say it doesn't look so different from their pov. thank u ^^

thank u!!!!!!! i love mundanity and naturalism... there's something so beautiful abt it to me lol... I feel like my anatomy needs work actually but ive been feeling better abt it this year so it's good to hear! thank you!

DLKGDSGDLALSNDF WAS IT TOO FAR..?? firstly, yeah I was thinking late teen/young adult ages for both of them ie 18-19ish, definitely not the age the kids are in the movie lol.

but also they arent DOING anything in that pic it is literally just a confrontation + some innuendo... I think teens should be allowed some less than subtle innuendo.. its like one of the top 3 classically teen pastimes...

this is such a funny ask to get because i feel like i haven't been able to do thin lineart until like. this past year or two maybe LOL. UM having a line-centric art job helped I think. I started on craig of the creek back in 2022 and thats a show where we spend a lot of time inking so I had a job where I was constantly moderating my line weight 40 hours a week every week for over a year. disappointingly, much of improvement is simply horrendous amounts of practice.

Here's a tip though: I think a lot of thin lineart boils down to confidence. I think instinctively we read thick, bold, fast lines as confident but theres actually a lot of obscuring you can do with a thick line. if you're not sure whether the nose on the face or a browline should be a little more left or a little more down you can hide that with a thick line and pretend its a shadow. or hide it with a bunch of quick lines and the eye can kind of approximate where looks best among the mass.. whereas a thin line is rly singular and stark and hides nothing, it needs to be precise. so anytime i know i want thin lineart i spend a LOT of time sketching, making sure i know exactly where i want my lines to go. so im not second guessing by the time im inking...

ok thats kind of a broad tip lol... here's one thats more applicable: IF POSSIBLE, lower your pressure sensitivity on your device. most devices have some way to edit your pressure sensitivity curve. I use a surface pro at home and this is what my pressure curve looks like most of the time.

When I work on a wacom it looks even more like a reverse L shape LOL. I'm naturally a really heavy-handed artist and I use a "light" or "hard" pressure curve to compensate for how hard I'm always pressing on the pen lol. if you're like me and you struggle with going too hard with the ink too fast... this will probably help a lot!

SFHASLDFH I LOVE THIS ASK this is like the type of question a person gets asked when chalk drawing on the sidewalk at recess LOL. but i understand because I've been struggling also for like. months. I think I'm finally starting to nail it down though so here's some of my observations.

[feel free to save this img but **please do not re-post it or share broadly**. my biggest fear in the world is to spend 30 min on some notes and become a widely proliferated art tutorial im not even kidding. i made it low contrast and difficult to read on purpose.]

my other tip is to just look at and study a lot of reference because that's all ive been doing. the tmnt are really cartoony so its difficult to use like actual anatomical reference unless ur going for that look BUT theres been so many adaptions in so many different styles that there's a real treasure trove of stuff to look at for how to simplify, stylize, and dissect these characters while keeping the recognizable essence. so theres lots to pull from.

If you want to expand further, it's also good to have 5) something sci-fi 6)something fantasy 7)something mundane/slice of life. a bedroom is a really good go-to. And of course some bgs can be two or more of these things at once.

I've definitely answered asks abt bg tips before but here's one specifically for if you want to do bg design for a job:

Your portfolio should probably have at least one of each of the following 1) an interior 2) an exterior 3) a cityscape 4) a nature scene. Just to cover kind of the basics of what you'd be asked to draw on any given project.

I actually feel like I don't have that many cityscrapes in my portfolio... this is something I'm gonna try to work on in the coming year LOL. OH ALSO. This is a very basic tip and people will tell you it all the time but its worth repeating: look up portfolio websites of artists who have the job you want. An easy way to do this is to go onto imdb for any cartoon or movie you like and to find the names listed as "bg/background designer" or whatever then just google that name +"art" or "animation" most artists have some public facing internet presence so it's not hard. spend time studying their work and hold those images in your head! it's a good way to get a good idea of what "industry standard" looks like and comparing ur own art to it... I know people sometimes get bummed comparing their art to others but if you can keep your head up lol.. it'll help you figure out what you need to work on!

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ok thats all i have to say sorry for typing so much. happy new year everybody who read this far LMAO!!!!!

[kairiscorner]

bc i have no life, i made (and will expand):

dialogue prompts list or something

REMINDERS! imma use these on fics if y'all want, though you guys can use these too for your own fics, just make sure to give me credit and tag me, attaching a link to this post is also appreciated if you use this ^^

(btw, i can also repeat some prompts, though please be patient, i might not be able to post so much this month ^^'')

1.) "you're a bad influence on me, y'know that?" (miles 1610)

2.) "yeah, i risked my skin saving you. i don't care if you wouldn't do the same for me, i'm not you."

3.) "mind using your eyes AND brain next time?"

4.) "my heart beats all the time, shouldn't be a big deal, but i can't help but notice how loud the beating is when you're around." (teen!gojo)

5.) "never really understood poetry, but when i read a few lines from this... you were the image that came out of the words." (noir)

6.) "if you really wanted to drive me insane... you'd hold my hand for more than 5 seconds, then you'll see me insane with love." (noir)

7.) "please, for the love of GOD, never shut up."

8.) "my hands are cold... wait, what are you doing, i thought you brought mitt--never mind, this is nice."

9.) "something tells me you aren't happy about it. and something tells me you'll be angrier if i keep asking. it's okay, take your time. just know i'll be right here for you."

10.) "if you can't believe me, then i'll have to show you that i'm serious about you."

11.) "sometimes, you don't have to worry about loving me enough--you do that too much already. what you should worry about... is giving me too much love that you forget who you're supposed to be loving first: you."

12.) "man, after 5 shots of whiskey and a good laugh, i think i've made up my mind--you're gonna be the one i'll marry." "we just met." "and i just fell for you."

13.) "they came to get their shit back without even getting their shit together, how nice."

14.) "i would've thrown a brick in your window if you didn't answer, and y'know, i was going to, but then i remembered you hated getting stuff on your carpet so i left and did it in my mind."

15.) "i want a platypus. and yes, i want you, too."

16.) "your place is filthy." "it's gonna be yours too, one day." "you mean ours."

17.) "why are my eyes gross right now?" "it's... you're crying." "nu-uh." "y'need a tissue?" "yes please"

18.) "you're so stupid, and reckless, and a literal danger to my very way of life--and yet i love you to bits!"

19.) "if i could just go back in time and see you again, maybe then i'd tell myself to love you for a long, long time. even if i never knew it at the time, i regret all the years we've lost together, i regret living my life without you in it."

20.) "now before you ask why i beat the shit out of him in the locker rooms, it was because he was gonna ask you out before i could, okay?" (soccer captain!miguel)

21.) "i am a fully grown adult. i am capable, i am independent, i am strong-willed." "and you lose your shit when you see me come home with a mcdonalds' kiddie meal."

22.) "nobody loves me..." "..." "ahem, i said, NOBODY LOVES ME" "and i'm nobody?" "yay"

23.) "i just wanna bash their head in, but... it's so distracting. their eyes get me lost and i'm, i'm out of it."

24.) "man, they're a lost cause. and yet i keep busting my ass trying to save them. i love being your spouse and curse being your spouse, dammit."

25.) "i wanna kiss... right now... but my spouse'll... hate me." "i am your spouse." "oh damn, then you'll... hate me if i... if i kiss your pretty face, love..."

26.) "go to bed right now." "no." "i guess i'll give your plushie all my kisses." "ok on my way."

27.) "again, would it be me or them? me who's been with you this whole time, me who's took you in when you're so used to being refused, me who's... who's loved you, all this time?"

28.) "where are my--" "keys? here, scatterbrain." "damn, i'm so glad i married you."

29.) "kids, go to your room." "as your co-parent, i say protect me from the dragon about to breathe fire on me."

30.) "i may be his wife, but i'm not his lover."

31.) "i think you have me confused for someone else."

32.) "it's because i care about you that i push myself away, don't you get that?"

33.) "we'll never be okay again, will we...?"

34.) "the noises in my head keep getting louder and louder and louder, but only you... only you help calm them down."

35.) "oh, i get it, fine. i'll fuck off."

36.) "i want that though." "it's a waste of money." "you got it for me anyway."

37.) "how could you say i don't love you when all my life, you're all i come home to and kiss a good morning and good night?"

38.) "what a stupid man i married."

39.) "don't... fucking move... not unless you want me to do it..."

40.) "you went in my ROOM?"

41.) "i accidentally broke the bed."

42.) "i love you." "what?" "ah fuck, i mean, i'll see you."

43.) "GOD, I HATE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH." "is that why you draw you and them kissing together all the time?"

44.) "i can make a mean burned down house and scorched lawn."

45.) "i'll admit it, fine, i can't win your heart. because your heart isn't any prize to be won, you're not an object. you're... you're you. and i LOVE you."

46.) "what, why're you staring? can't handle how hot i am?" "no, it's just that you've got a shit-eating grin on your face i'd love to punch off you."

47.) "i actually hate summer vacation... i won't be able to see you everyday for 3 whole months."

48.) "ooh, you drank from my cup, you know what this means, we had an indirect kiss."

49.) "just tell your crush you like them already and stop being a big baby about this." "okay, fine. i like you." "wait--"

50.) "i know it looks stupid, but... i tried."

51.) "it's funny, because i had you in mind while making it."

52.) "you think infinity is real, or... are we just living every day hoping tomorrow will come, despite all odds?"

53.) "you're so fucking stupid...! stupid, stupid, stupid... why did you... dammit, why?"

54.) "i don't even know who i share my bed with anymore."

55.) "bite me and get what you want, what we both want."

56.) "we'll never have to see each other again after this."

57.) "quit making promises you can't keep."

58.) "tell me to shut up one more time. go, i'm waiting."

59.) "ah, sorry, i... oh, your hand's really soft."

60.) "what are you doing?" "just capturing the moment in my mind when i'm with the most perfect person in the whole multiverse."

61.) "and you know what your problem is? you can't stand seeing me happy, that's your fucking problem."

[whoevenknowswhatimwriting]

The Words that Cut

i'm very much open to criticism on this (since it's the first draft of a half-finished idea). hope y'all have fun with it, though! trigger warnings are in the tags.

Dare woke up covered in blood. While he sat up blearily, frosty purple hair in his eyes, he felt something start to rip, resistance from bandages and scabbed-over flesh. He eased himself up more slowly, making sure he had leverage beyond just his spine.

Alright. Breathe. You’re okay. Just try and remember what happened. You were… Oh. You tried to run. Stopped up your ears so no one could call your name and snuck out in the night. Okay, you’re okay. Where are you?

Dare peered at his surroundings, golden light around him. He wasn’t home, then, suffocating behind stone walls. Cloth rippled in the breeze, cascading sunlight falling through it, and he took another breath.

Good. You’re doing it. You’ll be fine.

“Uh. Hi.”

Dare jolted slightly, still trying to hold himself still through the surprise. He turned slightly, seeing a boy who looked around his age, moss green lipstick a contrast against dark brown skin. He held clean bandages and trauma shears, but it didn’t seem like he was planning on using them yet.

“Are you okay? My sister found you a good distance away, and, well, I’m better than the maggots at keeping people alive.”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

“I’m Amon. Can I have your name?”

“No.”

That was rude. You can apologize later. You should apologize later. But better safe than sorry, I suppose.

“Okay, sorry, uh… what should I call you, then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I guess we can figure it out later. How are you feeling as of right now? You said you’d be fine, but there’s a difference between being okay later and feeling alright now. I didn’t want to give you any painkillers while you were asleep, but being shot with an arrow can’t feel good, especially since you moved around. Did that do anything? It’s not really safe to sit up after an injury like that.”

That’s a lot to process at once. Just think through it. Ask him to wait. He’ll give you time.

“Uh, not great? I don’t need painkillers, though, especially if you’re running low on them. And I don’t think I hurt myself badly enough to kill me.”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re okay. Are you sure you don’t want painkillers?”

Idiot. Give yourself time to process the information. If you always have to tell the truth, you should make sure you can deceive, at least. He knows, he can see it in the horns that coil around your ears and the color of your hair and everything you’ve spent years wishing you could hide. You’ve lost a lot of blood, but you should be more careful if you don’t want to lose more.

“I don’t need them.”

“That’s not what I asked. We have plenty.”

“Fine.”

He’s trying to help you. Be polite.

Amon crossed over to a cabinet at the far side of the room, or tent, or whatever you wanted to call it, and pulled out a vial of liquid in a terrifyingly saturated blue tone.

“Drink this all in one go. It looks pretty, I know, but I swear it does not taste good. And if you need to, you can plug your nose.”

Dare grabbed it, and did as instructed, although he’d had much worse in his time. Choking down painkillers was honestly a nice break.

“Thank you. You didn’t need to do this, so I appreciate it.”

“You’re right, but I should have, so I did. There’s not many of us left out here, away from big cities or castles. We’ve gotta look out for each other, you know?”

“I might be more trouble than I’m worth.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re worth a lot of trouble, so I’d like to see someone try to give us enough to make that happen.”

“You should be careful what you wish for. I’m not a safe person to be around.”

“Is it your fault? The danger, I mean?”

“No.”

“Then it’s fine. Anyways, you should try and get some rest. I’ll leave you to it.”

Dare slept poorly, dreams of puppeteers and lying smiles haunting her. She woke up to a girl peering down intently at her, with braids trailing to a puff of curls at the back of her skull. Her dress was covered in flowers, pearlescent gold embroidery catching the light and reflecting back luminous yellow.

“I’m Kaya. You don’t have to tell me your name, not unless you want to. How are you feeling?”

“Better. I’m assuming you’re Amon’s sister? He mentioned you,” she responded, propping herself up gingerly on one elbow.

Be careful. You’re still hurt, don’t make it worse. You’ve had worse, yes, but you need to keep yourself alive.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m in your debt most of all. Thank you. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

“I’m sure someone would have picked you up. After all, there’s a castle nearby, and there are usually patrols around those parts. I just happened to be the first one to get to you.”

“Yes. Well, I was fortunate it was you, as I doubt I’d have fared as well with the nobility. I’ve… had some difficulty, let’s say, with a lord in the past, though I hope to have put that behind me.”

Kaya sighed. 

“You and everyone else. We try to keep ourselves as distant from them as possible, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about that.”

Okay. You can rest easy now.

Dare closed her eyes, breathing out a long, deep sigh of relief.

“I hope you’re right. This place… It’s nice. Better than anywhere I’ve been in a long time.”

“Well, you can stay as long as you like, stranger.”

Dare thought they might be okay, eventually. They were healing, at least, though they couldn’t look at the arrow lying nearby without quickly turning their head away. It was broken in two, since Amon had to get it out safely, and it was still sitting near them, since he’d insisted on testing it for poison.

Besides, they didn’t need it gone. They could just look away, so why even mention it?

Speaking of Amon, he’d brought a chair in with him some time earlier, since there was only so much time someone could spend on their feet. Dare got the feeling that he’d spent most of his time here working on smaller, less… mortal wounds. Nonetheless, they were grateful for his experience. 

And he didn’t push, not unless they were trying to “act tough,” or however he put it. It wasn’t something they were used to, his quiet way of nudging them to tell the truth, but it might have been worth getting shot half an inch under their heart for.

Kaya wasn’t there as much, but, then again, she had her life to live, and she wasn’t as integral to the healing process. Still, it was nice to see her on occasion, when they could.

They couldn’t help but feel, though, that this peace, this respite, wouldn’t last. Either they wouldn’t hold on tight enough, and it would slip through their fingers, or they would crush it in their hands. And they just knew that it was made of glass.

that's a wrap on chapter 1! i hope you enjoy my little people as much as i do. if you want to be added to a tag list, let me know!

[tervaneula]

If you receive this, you make somebody happy! Go on anon and send this to ten of your followers who make you happy or somebody you think needs cheering up. If you get one back, even better! ♡♡

You don't have to send this on but just know you're a lovely kind person who is very awesome and we love you in this fandom. Your art and writing and general sweet energy is very much appreciated!

Thank you so much. I'm speechless. I adore you for sending this message, anon, it means so much to me to hear all this. I'm so grateful for you and all of my lovely followers! Thank you for having me in this fandom!! ;_;<333

I'm not going to send individual asks but instead I'll be making a list under the cut and shamelessly pinging EVERYONE I can remember from the top of my head either consistently leaving fun and sweet comments on my stuff or just one or two random ones which I'm fond of and can't stop thinking about. You're welcome lmao but know this:

Each and every one of you makes me SO HAPPY. It's always such a joy to see your tags and replies and I love all of you so much! You really make my days and I couldn't be more grateful! <3<3<3

@beeceit @antimattercontainment @amevello-blue @jumpybox @pommigranite @somecluelesskidd @wraenata @lunar-lair @snipersiniora @someoddmix @k0rinka @hellishgayliath @crash-the-mode @mvshr00m-1 @phykoha @some-guy-named-dominyk @leosmasktails @last-hourglass @chiangyorange @shittygaypornmagazine @spacemimz

And a special mention for @threestripeslider because even though it's been a while, I still remember and love all the nice things you've ever said about my peepaws <3

I probably forgot some people and I'm sorry, but I think this list is rather impressive for my minuscule brain so everyone who knows they should be on this list, you absolutely are appreciated as well <3

(also hoping I got all of y'all's urls right sjhdfgsjd (sweats))

[spiritofjustice]

obligatory yuty for the ask!!! but also if you dont want to only talk abt yuty then Ummm fulbright:3 or both even if youre feeling fancy...

Send me a character and I’ll list:

I already got one for Yuty, but thank you! So Fulbright it is.

Favorite thing about them: His pure of heart, dumb of ass nature... idk! I just feel like his bombastic, friendly personality is so lovable. I was invested in him from the second I met him! He just leaves such an impact with his silly but earnest personality. I love how determined he is, how he's got these big emotions and how much he believes in Blackquill and isn't scared of him one bit even though everyone else is because he sees Blackquill's raw potential. Waaaa. It's nice. Least favorite thing about them: Beyond him tasing Blackquill, um. What they did to his character by having him get murdered off-screen before the game starts lol. I think the way they did the Phantom twist was incredibly lame and I've talked extensively about it before so I'll spare y'all and just link the posts where I've bitched about it instead. 1 | 2

I haven't thought about it in a while so my opinions may have changed a bit idk just read these KRKFNM Second post isn't mine but I did leave a fucking tag essay so there's that. I do plan on replaying Dual Destinies soon to see what I feel about the game after knowing everything I do now, though. Favorite line: idk if it's a favorite line exactly but my favorite moment with him is in Turnabout Academy where he pops out of the art room window and is like "oh it's y'all!! in justice we trust!!" and helps out Athena and Apollo while Athena excitedly greets him n Klav and Apollo are like ??? It's so cute. brOTP: Ummm him with Ema is pretty fun! I want all the detectives to be buddies, and I think that Ema would originally be so pissed off and annoyed by him, but come to appreciate his earnestness and kindness. I think once she cools off and becomes a proper forensic detective she'd mellow out and be much more open to befriending people she works with. I think they'd get along very well. I also like the headcanons where Bobby really looks up to Gumshoe, so I like their dynamic too.

I also think him and Yuty would be fun. I think Nahyuta would be annoyed by Fulbright at first like Ema, though. But Fulbright probably fills a similar environmental niche to Datz, so I think Nahyuta could deal with him eventually. I imagined this scenario (admittedly in a shippy sense-- I think Madhibright is a funny ship and kinda cute, but I don't actually ship it anymore, they're just pals) where they meet post-SOJ and thought it'd be fun. Here's that post I made. OTP: Blackbright, I guess! IDK, I don't ship as much for him as I used to, but this is still my number one. I LOVE their dynamic in DD, I love the possibilities of what a dynamic could be like post-DD had he lived, so on. They're definitely Together but it might be kind of an unlabeled grey area friendship gay thing too. I don't know KRKF but I like them a lot! It's fun. I think they're very cute. nOTP: I dunno. Who are they gonna ship him with if not Blackquill? The Phantom? I've seen cute stuff with the Phantom and him as buddies that I find interesting. I wouldn't call romantically shipping them a NOTP, it's just vaguely weird but I don't really care at all. So, none I guess. Random headcanon: He's from the South and has a Southern accent!!! I love giving characters I like Southern accents it's kind of a thing I do if I have an excuse to, lol. It's why like half the Tazmily villagers were written with accents during my Mother 3 fanfic days. I think it suits him, idk why. It's better than the goofy ass voice they gave him in DD 😭 Unpopular opinion: idk. I don't know what people think about him, aside from him being another character the AA subreddit will try to convince you just absolutely sucks. Aside from, like, I don't know, I think it's a bit off sometimes if AUs where Bobby lives that people try to put all the blame for shitty behavior towards Blackquill on the Phantom. I get why, but I think sometimes it's worth examining how his position of power could be harmful to Blackquill regardless of his pure intentions or whatever. He's a cop, after all.

I know some people are uncomfortable with the ethics of a ship with Blackquill while he's still in prison (which is why some folks will specifically only interpret Blackbright as a post-DD thing) but I'm also like. idk I think THAT'S worth examining too! By people smarter than me. I'm not doing it KRKF I just find their dynamics interesting, warts and all.

I get it, though. Sometimes you just don't wanna fucking get into it SDJN but yeah! Song I associate with them: Never Ever Getting Rid of Me from Waitress. Quintessential Blackbright song Favorite picture of them: This pose is my fave everrr it's adorable.

though I also like the one official art where he's crying looking at Blackquill. ok gay ass

[elvisabutler]

Elvis and Austin!Elvis Ask Game

Thank you to @mesbouquins, @karamelcoveredolicity, @lindszeppelin, @heistroubleinapinksuit and @sassy-ahsoka-tano for my tags. I think I got everyone, @blurredcolour didn't really tag me tag me but mentioned me for the jesus quote. Answers under the cut and TAGGING ANYONE WHO HASN'T DONE THIS? My followers and what have you, I have lost track of all the tags people got.

•When and what was your first exposure to Elvis Presley?

Not sure of the when beyond probably in the car with my parents. They were born in '53 and '57 so they got like movie Elvis and Vegas Elvis. But my mom was low key in love with 70s Elvis to where if he had lived I have no doubt my mother would have decided being his groupie would have been a fabulous idea.

•And what was your first impression?

Besides thinking my mom was really weird for doing the lip thing and the thank you very much stuff. I thought he was good, a little too old school but I was young so. 🤷🏻‍♀️

•Lace shirts or jumpsuits?

Do I have to choose? Ugh, jumpsuits because I would like to match those and I live for jumpsuits on me. But the lace shirts are a very close second place.

•You can steal one of Elvis/Austin’s outfits, what’s it going to be?

Elvis's outfit? Oh that's easy, the black matador jumpsuit. Though I'll say the 68 leather one is a close second.

Austin's? The light blue suit with the lace shirt. Y'all know the one.

•C’mon, we know you’ve been watching/reading old interviews and random footage of the man, so what’s your favorite random Elvis quote?

I have a lot of them but two immediately come to mind. One is when he did the messed up lyric version of Are You Lonesome Tonight? And he was like twelve years down the drain and it was just funny to me, always will be. Beyond that, there's another quote where he talks about how Priscilla and him were post divorce and he talks about getting her a mink coat and her getting him a white Rolls Royce out of the kindness of her heart and it's just. It delights me because if I remember right it was during a show and Lisa was there and he told her to pull down her jumper and his girlfriend at the time was there and it was just- for all Elvis gets vilified ( for valid reasons to a point ) it's stuff like that- that just are really sweet and remind me he really was a messed up guy but he was pretty cool too.

An Honorary mention for this: "Now, Jesus, he was getting it on with Mary, the woman at the well, you know, Mary Magdalene. It ain’t in the Bible but it’s true. She got stoned, but Jesus took care of her and they traveled around a lot together." as well. My lapsed Catholic heart, she sings at this.

•Did you find Austin Butler’s lips distracting despite them being in a movie about the King of plush upper lips? (Be honest now)

Yes and no. They're nice lips I will not deny and they are distracting. But I have remarkably similar lips naturally so yes they were distracting but it was also like looking at a poofed up version of my own lips.

•What’s an aspect of Elvis’ character you wish more people appreciated?

His generosity, actually. Like yeah he's humorous as all get out and secretly a little kid when it comes to the humor too sometimes but the man was an exceedingly generous person when he wanted to be ( stories of him once stranding a friend in Dallas among other things ) and it needs to be underlined sometimes I think.

•You meet Col. Tom Parker for the first time, forewarned with the knowledge of what a scumbag he is, what do you do?: A. nothing, you’re a coward who doesn’t care about abused golden-hearted men B. you give the Colonel a stern telling off C. you encourage Elvis to leave him and break the contract E. you slap a legal document against that fat suit and declare “Mrs. Claus is bringing you a lawsuit” F. you waste no time with formalities, it’s a letter opener to the juggler for that piece of trash

C. Though one is aware that if Elvis does not want to do something you cannot make him do it. So baring that maybe E as well?

•What was your favorite aspect/scene from the Elvis 2022 movie?

So. I really love the entire movie as a whole, but I need to articulate just how much I love how Baz did the original Fly Away part pre-Hayride and then there is a call back to it in the Vegas rehearsal which obviously, it's That's Alright Mama's beginnings, but it's not just the flashback, no it's head tilt and fit of "I have been possessed by the Holy Ghost of music" and I love that bit so damn much because it underlines just how Elvis's music speaks to people even if it doesn't initially it grows on you until you are possessed by the music yourself. It's like how @sassy-ahsoka-tano just becomes Polk Salad Annie and how we can all probably do the HA HA HA from the Vegas Rehearsal and how tbh, y'all don't need to know how I get singing Moody Blue or Treat Me Nice. It's just. I have a lot of feelings.

•You can choose only one song or piece of media to convince someone to become an Elvis fan, what is it going to be?

The movie, tbh. Like generally speaking anything else I can argue people would think is a one off or in the case of books propaganda, but the movie is very well done. Also, the 68 special does make a good case as well tbh.

•How many children would you give Elvis Presley from your own -or theoretical- womb? (listen to the beast in ya, your feminism won’t serve you here)

This is where I make the Mean Girls joke of the limit does not exist. Which is hilarious because just having my daughter wrecked my hip. In actuality because I am older, probably like 5? I'm mortified to admit this. Just pretend I gave the normal answer of like 2 or something like everyone else.

•Where are you hanging out with EP, his bedroom with the teddy bears, Club Handy, his private jet or Graceland?

Graceland or the private jet. Look, I love Club Handy, I do, but I'm not a club person. So basically being with him alone in a place I feel comfortable in? Yeah, that's where I'll be.

•What is the peak Elvis era? warning, this says an awful lot about you…

Honestly? 68 to about 76. I know, it's Vegas and we hate the International and all but he came into his own there, I think. Also you know, essentially lost his life there but still. It's 68 to 76. Though I will give an honorary mention to 50s Elvis. ( And yes, I know I like 60s Elvis physically, let's be honest that's not anyone's peak Elvis. )

•How long have you been an Austin Butler fan (be honest now, God is watching)

I. Since I found he was going to play Elvis. Look. Y'all need to understand that he is 8 months older than me and I fancied myself too cool for his Disney shows. Like I was aware of him and I didn't think he was a bad actor and had I have known that hot piece of man candy was in Carrie Diaries I would have watched it, because I danced around it. But an actual fan fan? Not until I found out, and I quote myself, "Oh, Vanessa Hudgens' boyfriend is playing Elvis."

I am not proud of this.

•What kind of Elvis chick are you? -a 1950’s prospective wife material that he’s already sampled, a 1960’s filmset fling or a Vegas torrid backstage affair?

None of the above. I'm probably late 70s Gonna Get You Help Chick. Though honestly, 60s film set fling, because if I'm gonna sing both parts of Lady Loves Me, might as well complete my Ann-Margret transformation.

•Is Austin Butler an honorary southerner now? Answer options: A. hell no, California can keep his sweet cheeks. B. hell yes, he’s practically been possessed by the soul of the King of the South

C. California can keep him because they gave us him fair and square, however, as the Southerner ( essentially ) in this, we do request we get him for the weekends and some holidays so we can show off the fun possession trick he does. Because that's something we wanna show off. Because trust me, that man became Elvis and we all know it.

•Pick your poison in the fan-fiction realm: angst, fluff, smut, fluffy smut, angsty fluff, angsty smut?…or is reading about Elvis Presley an acknowledged health hazard?

Smut, I wrote two knife kink fics and a gun kink one, what other answer was I gonna give?? Though reading about Elvis Presley is a universally acknowledged health hazard is a valid thing I can get behind.

•Spit or swallow for this man? (And if you don’t understand this question move right along)

Spit. I love giving blowjobs, but I hate the taste of come. Maybe if it's different than my ex or my husbands I'd swallow but otherwise, spit.

•Would Gladys approve of you? Take your above answer into consideration

No. Just. I can cook and I'd drink with her, that's my only thing I'd have going for me.

•Which of Elvis’ cars is your favorite?

I'll be a basic bitch, it's the Pink Cadillac.

•What are your odds for besting this man at karate?

Zero.

•If you could meet Elvis and have enough composure to tell him something, what would it be?

We all remember you, and Jailhouse Rock is relatively classic. And I wish that he was still around.

•What’s a hobby or pastime of yours you wish you could share with Elvis/Austin!Elvis

Swimming and gonna take a page out of @blurredcolour listening to music, because I have enough of a variety in my taste that hearing his opinion would be golden.

•What’s the Elvis 2022 quote you’ve been mumbling to yourself ever since you heard it?

That fucking bird speech at the end. But all seriousness. Probably the line about Parker taking the house that they bought for mama when his dad mentions losing Graceland. though honorary mention "I AM NOT" because I did pitch perfect imitation of it at work a month ago.

•What are your top 3 go-to Elvis songs?

Moody Blue

Treat Me Nice

The Lady Loves Me

•If you could spare him one tragedy what would it be?

His mom dying when he was 23. I'm a mama's girl, I gotta give the man a few more years with his mama. I'd do the same for my own mom because she lost her mom at 17. If you have a close relationship with your mama it hurts losing her.

•Is there a modern artist that sorta scratches for you the itch that Elvis’ absence leaves?

Maybe Queen but that's not necessarily modern. Truthfully, I don't think I have one. So, I'll just go for Elvis, thanks.

•How did you react at the end of the movie when In the Ghetto started to play A. I got up and fixed a snack because I have no soul, B. I left feeling alarmingly horny, C. I was impressed but didn’t realize how affected I was until days later when it was still with me D. I cried buckets they had to bring in a mop E. I may have appeared emotionless but in fact my soul was leaving my body and I don’t think it’s returned quite yet

E, with the caveat that I am not a fan of In the Ghetto as a song. It's a fine song, but I don't really like it? Yeah my soul has now been given to Elvis and that's that apparently I guess.

•If you’ve got a favorite gif or photo insert it here and bless us all.

If I am perhaps correct based on those sideburns, this might be from Change of Habit. Which apparently is my favorite look on Elvis, could not tell you why. This is like let me explain why I like Austin looking like a Ken doll on the Hollywood sign. I don't know??

[hopelessrromantix]

Me thinks, you using general tags is what attracts the rude people in your blog? If you want to target the same people who interacted with your posts when you didn’t use the general tags, use that same exclusive tag again. Idk I feel like people are getting triggered for nothing (not you but the people on your inbox stating their opinion on your concern). They had no reason to come to your blog, they had nothing to do with it initially. but with the general tags, they see it, then they give their unsolicited rude opinion, then you get extra rude people aside from those who disrespected you in the first place.

Idk if I got my point across? It’s like the people infiltrated your safe space. They’re inside it. But you are talking to the people outside of it. So instead of fighting just the people inside, you also put out an open invite to the people outside.

Tho don’t get me wrong, I get you, you want to be heard, respected, and acknowledged. And I truly hope you get your safe space in this hellhole. Just real worried, bc dealing with aholes here could be very fucking draining. Yet, ( I realized while typing) how can you raise awareness without that risk? And I believe it’s also the reason why you want it to be seen by as many people as possible. So that the stigma, entitlement, and misunderstandings from the others could be eradicated. So, power and consensual hugs to you!

(Ps. I just ALSO realized after writing, that this too, is an unsolicited opinion. So pls feel free to ignore this whatsoever. I still do hope you find your people and your safe space without dumbasses. Keep doing you, as long as you don’t do anyone or anything wrong.)

All good, man. I tagged general because people who reblog my posts do the same, and thus they end up on those tags. Those people on general tags may not see my past stuff asking not to read, and thus the general tag.

Yeah, I really thought it was a simply concept but ig not. I've got guys in my inbox thanking me for standing up for them and women saying I'm a misogynist pig so idk. I think it's working out.

My mom was one of those old school "beat the shit out of men" feminists from the 70s and if that woman saw me as a misogynist I would be a pulp on the floor lmao.

Idk why it's hard to grasp, but I hope y'all in my inbox know I appreciate the kindness.

I totally get the fuel to the fire argument. I'm absolutely making it worse but ig i love dumping gasoline on flames so here we are.

Like I said, you're 100% right about the tags. Though I hate that we have to be sectioned off to our own little corner to make the cis women happy, oh well. I tag x male reader stuff on my usual posts.

Thank you for a less heated chat. I'll never stop someone from sharing their thoughts, though Ill react badly when they're assholes about it.

Have a nice day

[waitingforwinterwinds]

Game of Thrones - 50 ARYA IV (pages 511-522)

Syrio Forel's lesson on seeing the truth despite what you're told is interrupted by Lannister men and Arya has to run the gauntlet of trauma, her first kill, and escaping a Red Keep under Lockdown.

-

"Hear me. The ships of Braavos sail as far as the winds blow, to lands strange and wonderful, and when they return their captains fetch queer animals to the Sealord's menagerie. Such animals as you have never seen, striped horses, great spotted things with necks as long as stilts, hairy mouse-pigs as big as cows, stinging manticores, tigers that carry their cubs in a pouch, terrible walking lizards with scythes for claws. Syrio Forel has seen all these things.

"oh nice, let's see... zebra, questing beast giraffe, what is that? like a hippo? manticores? like legit manticores? tigers that- terrible liz-

!!!!!!!! THEY HAVE THYLACINES AND VELOCIRAPTORS??????"

Screw the Jon Snow sequel spin off, gimme the zoo keepers of Braavos. NOW!!! (Tazzy Tigers and 'Raptors, gimmegimmegimme!!!)

ahem, I'm fine.

Lannister Guardsmen: haha! we are shielded from piercing damage! Syrio: not in your eyeball, and besides *+1,000 Bludgeoning Damage Buff*

Hang on, I just need a second to be envious that GRRM can write action scenes. ... Okay, now I need a second to appreciate how badass Syrio is... And now we're going to talk about this is how you do group fights! Hey, all y'all who've ever been given a sin on cinema sins for 'everyone attacks one at a time' this ^ Yes! Move your protag! Y'all ever played... what do they call it? chain tag? every time you tag a person, instead of them become 'it' they link hands and you're both 'it' and the team grows with each tag? If you've ever played you know exactly how hard it is to attack at the same time when the target is moving. Often when the 'sin' pops up in movies, the protag/target isn't even moving very much, but this? good stuff!

She pretended she was chasing cats... except she was the cat now, and if they caught her, they would kill her. ... A dozen gold cloaks in mail and plate ran past as she was edging across the bailey, but without knowing whose side they were on, she hunched down low in the shadows and let them pass.

A good call, and definitely the right one. She's doing really well setting her headspace to cope, but this is going to be so much for her to deal with when she has the breathing room to actually address it. (If she ever does, is GRRM the kind of author who sweeps character trauma under the rug? uhh... hmmm...)

Close to him was a dead man in the red cloak and lion-crest helm of the Lannisters. Only one, though. Every northerner is worth ten of these southron swords, Desmond had told her. "You liar!" she said kicking his body in a sudden fury.

Oop, her coping mechanism slipped. Understandable though, given the fresh wave of trauma and the increased intensity of it all. Up to this point she still thought there was some safe harbour in teh Red Keep left to run to.

Everything Syrio Forel had ever taught her vanished in a heartbeat. In that instant of sudden terror, the only lesson Arya could remember was the one Jon Snow had given her, the very first. She stuck him with the pointy end, driving the blade upward with wild, hysterical strength.

That's probably going to be its own trauma and guilt later, not just that she killed that boy, but that she blanked on everything but 'pointy end first.' It's hardly abnormal though. The internet is full of "If it had been me in that situation, I would have" types, and every single one of them is full of shit. No one can know how they'd react to fear and terrifying situations until they're in them. She did well just to defend herself. The point of training until you can do things without thinking is to form muscle memory, which is not memory that is stored in the muscles, but setting a series of actions so deep into the memory of the brain, that the brain will auto-fill the action without you having to consciously input each step. You are creating a 'natural' reaction. But that's assuming your 5F response is Fight or that you can bypass the others to create a Fight response as priority. (The 5 Automatic and Inherent responses to fear and trauma are Fight, Flight, Freeze, Flop and Fawn/Friend)

It was the scariest thing she had ever done. She wanted to run and hide, but she made herself walk across the yard, slowly, putting one foot in front of the other as if she had all the time in the world and no reason to be afraid of anyone. She thought she could feel their eyes, like bugs crawling on her skin under her clothes.

You're doing amazing sweetie. That's it, just like driving a stolen car under the speed limit, you've got this!

This time the monsters did not frighten her. They seemed almost old friends. Arya held the candle over her head. With each step she tool; the shadows moved against the walls, as if they were turning to watch her pass. "Dragons," she whispered.

I like that Syrio started the chapter with advice on not letting your mind cloud your senses to the truth, and Arya revisits a place that was full of warped perceptions (fear and the dark) and sees it clearly, but at the same time it doesn't totally erase that idea that there's something not necessarily alive, but awake down there.

Fear cuts deeper than swords the quiet voice inside her whispered. Suddenly Arya remembered the crypts at Winterfell. They were a lot scarier than this place, she told herself.

Mental shields back up, fear under control! Time to skedaddle.

I am going to bring up, very quickly, that Arya's only thought about Sansa in this was part of the memory of her getting frightened in the crypts, at no point did Arya think about going to rescue Sansa (or Jeyne or anyone) and this was, while not a conscious choice, definitely the right choice. Arya is a nine year old girl who can't even protect herself, who was so terrified just getting herself to safety, even if she'd thought about it, not trying to save anyone else was the best option. As far as Arya knew, everyone was dead, and even though they weren't, Arya is just not capable at this point of doing anything more than saving herself. Any attempt she might have made at rescue would have ended in almost guaranteed disaster.

[moon-sparks-system]

Greetings Earthlings & aliens alike !

We are the Moon Sparks, live from our Moon-centric system ! Kinda confused ? New around here ? Here's a few things to know (if I don't get lost into rambling again...) !

✪ Who will use this account ?

Well, members of the Moon Sparks system ! We figured out it could be nice for the whole system to get a sideblog instead of making a blog for each member as not everyone is as chronically online as the host-host, me, Léa/Léo/Kevin (also going by "Moon" to a few members). I guess I'm going to be the main writer of the pinned, haha. I'm the main host and the core I guess (we're still new to proper system terminology haha). I type like this ❢ You may see me use "❢" instead of "!" and a few kaomojis with flowers too. I'm a boyflux ace panromantic lad from France. As for other members, it depends on who wants to use the account ❢ We're like, about 30 members big ? That's a lot of potential bloggers, don't you think ? A few other people can write an intro, if they wish to.

Xx HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY !!! >:D It's me, Exe !!! I talk like THIS !!! I'm apparently a co-host ?!! Didn't know keeping Léa awake was a system role LOL! XP Anyway I'm cool, I like chatting, feel free to hit me up to discuss stuff ! :D I do bite LOL, but I'm nice about it ! I have my own dedicated sideblog here ! Check it out, it's cool as fuck ! Uuuuugh I've already said a LOT on my own blog LOL, so check that instead. Oh and I'm not affiliated with Exetior, FNF or whatever. Just call me "Exe" or "X" and we'll be good ! xX

• Hiya ! I'm Bendy, another frequent fronter. You can call me "Ink Bendy", but don't call me "the Ink Demon" or worship me, even as a joke. "The little devil darlin'" is perfectly fine though, and much appreciated ! I'm a lad with he/him pronouns I guess ? I'm mostly unlabeled, outside of the clear and certain fact I'm asexual. And I believe I'm sex-repulsed, so beware of that ! •

It's Léa again to say we have members of all ages and identities, but you'll mostly see fellas from Sonic, Mario and somewhat OG Sonic.exe. We do have a few people with no source too (like me !).

✪ Do you have a DNI ?

Oh we're not very picky when it comes to that. Just in case you care about such things, here's a short list :

No TERFs, no alt-right, stuff like that, the classics ; bigots won't be tolerated

No "little space", "agere", age-regression focused blogs in any of our notes. Yes, even if you're SFW. It's mostly just because of me (Léa)

Uuuuugh the fucking "pro-shippers"/"anti-anti" people. Y'all nasty go away

No NSFW accounts. So many aces in this system, and a bunch of littles too. Please be mindful

We could add a few things related to specific triggers of our members in here, but it's better to not expose your triggers in public. if you're curious about something : send us a DM ! /nm

Also it's not really a DNI but just know we're not particularly looking for sourcemates, and Bendy has isssues with most BATIM peeps so I fear we're not gonna be able to bond over that ; but we can try to talk still ! It's just not a criteria when we try to make friends

✪ Anything else I should know ?

Ummmm...

We don't talk too much about the details of our system publicly yet, but you can send asks about it I guess ?

"Doubles" are typically fine, we don't bite about that.

The body is an adult & black, and that's basically the only things you'll get to know about it.

We have a Simply Plural ! We can give you our username in DMs ! It's not fully up-to-date but most members wrote their own bio there.

We're still figuring out our typing quirks...

If you need something tagged : just ask !

And I think that's it !

Have a nice day everyone !

[notallwonder]

First impressions! Criminal Minds Evolution/CM 16, episodes 1 & 2.

Spoilers below the cut!

I'll also be tagging with all the variations of CM spoilers I can think of so you can filter/avoid going forward.

Vindication! Nicole Pacent for the win(ning Tara Lewis' heart)!

It's great to see these characters again so far. I love them! In the first episode everything still feels a little wooden though, a little stiff. Second episode things start to loosen up a bit more.

Unfortunately the CM writers still have a habit of writing dialogue divorced from the way real people talk. Not all of it is bad, but you can feel the difference when the actors have enough to work with/relax into. In fairness, good dialogue is a non trivial task, but I want the pros to do better!

I'm enjoying Rossi. His anger and grief are a bit heavy handed in the writing esp in the first ep, but it suits his character and Mantegna wears it well. I appreciate the way this motivates one on one scenes with other folks. Esp with Garcia! And with Prentiss! I just love their relationship, it's nice to see again. Also I think I'm still weirdly charmed by the microwave mac and cheese dinners too. #relatable

Also appreciating:

+JJ's big guns and wardrobe's very correct decision to put AJ Cook in a sleeveless shirt. *praise lesbian jesus*

+the Tara / DOJ Pacent reveal was pretty low-key, if expositional, as was the confirmation that Tara's bi. Also Emily's teasing & support warmed the jaded-by-network-TV cockles of my heart.

+that callback to Garcia's pink sticky note! nice

+Garcia, babe, I love ya. I'm so glad we get to see more of your substance. KV is crushing it. The scene with Rossi was wonderful. I don't remember if those two have ever had such a great moment together previously.

+I think this may be one of the few times I actually believe the JJ/Will chemistry? Will's "Am I in trouble?" was hilarious.

+I died, DIED, Wheezing Laughter, at Emily's exasperated "am I the only one not getting laid?" YES MORE OF THIS PRENTISS SASS MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE, I am Greedy for it. I'm so happy they're letting her have a personality again!!!

+I laughed so much I missed all the rest of that scene, the Rossi joke, JJ looking surprised (in a teeny tiny bit mad kind of way? as opposed to laughing kind of way?) at the Tara's girlfriend comment, good thing I watched it again like 5 times

+I appreciate that the first "fuck" of the series was uttered by an otherwise innocent civilian when presented with crime scene photos in an interview

+I agree with Rossi that they should name the guy Fuckhead rather than Sicarius. A+ no notes. Luke concurs.

+y'all, we're going to have a new problem in the fandom now - sexy serial killer thirst. I guess that's not completely new, are there folks out there who love Foyet? I haven't been paying attention to the men when it comes to shipping etc. Anyway Zach Gilford is lovely as always, except in a sinister way.

+I was incorrect before to be sad about Emily Prentiss' fancy office duds. If lesbian jesus ever chooses to bless me with another appearance of Cargo Pants Prentiss I will scream for joy and prostrate myself in gratitude, but I'm just happy to see her on my screen again.

+JJ/AJ lookin' good.

My wishlist:

+bureaucratic antagonists that are like....not so cartoonishly villainous/inept/out of touch. Honestly I miss Strauss in that role, Jayne Atkinson was great. The new guy (whom Prentiss could/should snap like a twig) Bailey is a silly little noodle compared to Barnes but they both just...tired treatment of institutional conflict imo.

+I still want a little nostalgia reunion tour with some favs: Jordan Todd, Morgan (at least a mention! A text thread! A voicemail! A photograph in Emily's office! s o m e t h i n g), Roxy cameo, Grant Anderson, Kate Jackson (her last acting credit was Ambassador Prentiss, very unlikely this would happen but can you imagine!!), Hotch or Jack cameo, Blake, Grandpa Rossi, SERGIO, etc etc etc

+Someone to call Prentiss a fox to her face, she deserves to flirt

+honestly, just a little more Prentiss personal life. I don't even necessarily mean romantic life, just some time in her world where she's not fighting with budgets and silly noodles and giving boss lady exposition. In case it is not clear from my blog, I'm here for Prentiss first and foremost.

+Y'know what also would be Great? An Emily gives Luke advice or shit (or both) about Garcia scene.

+JJ & Emily exchanging meaningful, possibly amused, looks. Context hardly matters to me at this point, since Jemily has long since graduated into the realm of AU/canon divergence. I just like to look at them looking at each other, I'm a simple gal.

+Tara and Rebecca go on a date, smooch, or generally continue to be cute. It's so much fun to see Nicole Pacent again. I first encountered her in the Anyone But Me web series lo these many years ago. That was really important to me at the time it was coming out because I was also coming out around then. Go check it out.

+more hugs all around. Garcia is on the right track there.

[skyhawkstragedy]

okay this is gonna bite me in the ass but I did this after watching interviews, obviously nothing's set in stone but I kinda wanted to do this before everyone's political views are put on blast and the death threats start to fly so POLITICS ASIDE, this is what I think:

(as always, shoutouts to @nerdphobic for the tier template)

Taylor: I'm sorry but she is too good to be true. Her overall vibe in the interviews gave me Tiffany but better, and y'all are hyping her so much that I feel like she's gonna get eaten ALIVE by the tag if she gives 90% of what she can give. I like her energy though, so she goes on S tier.

Marvin: I am basing this on energy alone and he just looks like a guy who's loving life. I can tell that he's never watched the show bc he seemed very confused during the interview, it kinda gave me Derek X but in a different way, idk we'll see what happens in premiere night

Monte: ngl I like his vibe too! I think he might be my winner's pick. I'm usually wrong but then again I thought Xavier was going to perform extremely well last season and he won.

Paloma: why do i like this girl why do i like this girl why do i like this girl-

But for real, I've always started to gravitate towards the youngest HG in recent seasons bc they represent a future generation and they're the blankest slate, so there's more potential to be had. I have the same feeling about her that I have about BB20 Haleigh and BB23 Hannah so we'll see if she continues the trend. She might make it into legend status in the near future. Go maknae line!

Michael: I really like him but he gives off "insert HG is a superfan they should know what they're doing bc they've seen the show a lot" energy 😂 I feel like he's the Azah of the season tbh

Ameerah: ngl I thought she was gonna be too good to be true too but I really like her!

Indy: I was gonna put her on MOR bc she seemed checked out and a lot of her answers were pretty generic but then she grabbed my attention when her answer for the first question was basically "I would do this for now but I won't know until I get into the house" which is the CORRECT ANSWER BTW. You can't exactly predict what's gonna happen in the house until you actually get in the house. We thought BB23 was gonna have some drama and aside from the first three weeks and Kyland's eviction, it was a giant party 24/7.

Brittany: I don't know, I feel like she's gonna be a more crackheaded Sarah Beth 😂

Daniel: I thought his background was interesting but his answers were pretty generic and his vibe was inhibited... idk maybe he'll improve.

Matt Turner or whatever: Same as Daniel tbh, kinda boring, he also looks like McCrae which I did not appreciate, we'll just see what happens

Jasmine: I'm just getting the feeling that she's trying to be another BB21 Jessica but she just had a unique vibe to her that Jasmine doesn't have, I'm sorry. We'll see what happens though, I think there's a lot more to her that she can give in the house.

Nicole: She seems nice, but also seems a bit boring. Also the near deification that Derrick gets is annoying, like I get it, he's a winner but to me that's all he is. also i think she might be our only AAPI representation and if she is i'm scareddddddddd

Kyle: Yeah this guy deserves his own tier. When I said he was a Brottie love child I MEANT THAT SHIT, and I'm not sure that's a good thing - a guy with Brett's level of cringe but could possibly play like Scottie, I AM TERRIFIED YOUR HONOR 💀 But seriously why is he here? He already has a huge following on Tiktok. He doesn't need this show. Him getting onto the show with the political views that the tag has shown him to have is going to be a mental health catastrophe. I'm not rooting for him, but I hope he's okay after this.

Terrance: Eh. He seems very wishy-washy. Next.

Alyssa: She gives me Angela vibes. Enough said.

Pooch: NO. JUST NO. Like this guy already reminds me of a mix of Brent and Enzo and they were both at high levels of irritating. If he's a first boot I wouldn't miss him. Knowing the typical trajectory of BB though, he won't.

All right, let's see if y'all will still like me come tomorrow

[fosterkidwiththebrokenjaw]

funnel of love | part 1

pairing | Jake Kiszka x Female Reader

summary | were you dreaming or was the guitarist actually looking at you like that?

word count | 2k

warnings | none :) in this part >:)

—

hi hi!! I haven't done creative writing in years so I hope y'all have fun reading this, I had a lot of fun writing it ✨ I have 3 more parts to this if u guys are patient enough to read through this one. the whole thing is literally just a month's worth of my daydreams typed out, just for reference. I'll make a tag list for future parts if anyone's interested!!

also huge thanks to @stardustschords and @garbagevanfleet for encouraging me to actually put my ideas on paper ily both so much!! mwah 😘

part 2

part 3

part 4

epilogue

• • •

Your mind was buzzing from all the commotion, the last notes of the show still echoing deep in your head. The high of seeing your favorite band live for the first time still surging through you as you watched everyone leave the pit, crushing beer cans and plastic cups beneath their feet as they funneled out of the venue. You choose to stay back a minute, letting yourself process it all, slumped against the barricade as you go through the numerous pictures you managed to capture on your phone.

Your mind was stuck on the way the guitarist kept his eyes on yours practically the whole show. You couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be that cherry red guitar, pressed against him as his fingers absolutely destroyed you. You also couldn’t help but imagine that he was thinking about it, too with the number of times he came right up to your edge of the stage. The prolonged eye contact between the two of you throughout the show was surely undeniable to anyone who was paying enough attention.

Once the majority of the pit had cleared out, you forced yourself off the metal railing right as a hand came up to your shoulder. Startled, you whip your head around to see the bassist towering over you.

“Hi! Sorry, um, glad you haven’t left yet. My brother has some questions about how you do your hair,” gesturing towards your curls. “Also my other brother is a little bit in love with you. Anyways, do you wanna come backstage with me for a hot sec?”

Your face is completely blank, not knowing if you were stuck in some post-show hallucination or if a Kiszka brother was genuinely, for real, asking you to come backstage with him.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself, I’m Sam,” he says, pushing a hand towards you.

“I’m well aware,” you manage to spill out, your mind completely wiped as you forget your name and practically how to speak before taking his hand in yours.

“Well it's very nice to meet you ‘I’m Well Aware,’ do you want to come backstage or no?”

“Sorry, I’m just a little bit in shock hold on. I’m y/n,” you tell him with a soft smile, appreciating his humor as your brain tried to wrap itself around the opportunity being presented to you in that exact moment. “And yes, I would love to come tell Josh how he, too can get these curls,” throwing your head back slightly to shake your hair back in an attempt to show them off.

“Amazing! do you need a—“ you’re already hoisting yourself up on the edge of the barricade before he can finish, swinging your legs over and landing with a solid thud on the other side. “Okay, so you don’t need a hand apparently. Anyways, this way!” He turns from you dramatically to lead you both along the front of the stage, stopping to say hi to the couple of fans who were left strung along the railing before finally leading you into the dim corridor off to the side of the venue

“So Jake’s in love with me already, huh? Guess all that eye contact wasn’t for nothing,” you quip, Sam throwing his head back to laugh at your comment.

“Oh so it was that obvious from the stage that he was staring you down all night? God, he has no sense of subtlety when a pretty girl is involved. Don’t tell him I told you that, though.”

You start to feel a bit flustered at the thought of meeting Jake actually for real after the way you dreamed about him throughout the entire show. You never thought it would actually happen so you gave into your little fantasies as he sauntered back and forth across the stage all night, never thinking you’d have to look this man in the eyes and hold any sort of conversation with him without letting yourself fall to his feet in utter desperation.

You and Sam both enter the dim green room, Josh noticing you before anyone else. “Yes! You found her! You brought us the girl!” he announces excitedly, the drinks in both his hands sloshing out as he raises them in excitement. “Here, a drink for the girl of the hour!” he announces as he stretches out his arm to hand you a half-filled drink, which you take from him graciously. “Does the girl have a name?”

“The girl’s name is y/n!” you respond, matching his energy. Your eyes start to focus in the soft light, landing on Jake still in his stage outfit—sans jacket. You can’t help but take note of the smooth landscape of his torso, suddenly desperate to lay your hands all across it. You also can’t help but notice the way his eyes stick to you like glue with a longing stare spread across his face, nearly spellbound to your mere presence in the same room as him.

The sound of Josh’s voice suddenly pulls you out of your own delirium, “so I don’t know if you heard, but I have some questions about your hair. Also Jakey here has a question about your relationship status. He may or may not be in love with you.”

You watch in amusement as Jake abruptly pulls his eyes from you, lunging towards Josh behind the makeshift bar. “I swear to god, Josh, I’m gonna make you regret being alive come HERE!”

You appreciate the distraction as your cheeks flare, fully settling into the idea that Jake Kiszka himself looked ready and willing to let you drag him anywhere and everywhere you pleased that night—and maybe forever if you were lucky.

Danny leans over you to comment on the commotion, snapping you out of your thoughts. “I have 5 bucks on Jake.”

“You’re on,” you quip back, “it seems like Josh already has enough liquor in him to win this one.” The flare in your cheeks subsides as you give into the friendly comfort Danny offers you in that moment.

“You’re both wrong, actually. And you’re both gonna owe me five bucks,” Sam says from your other side before diving headfirst into the scrimmage before you, latching himself onto Josh’s back as the three of them fall on the floor together.

Of course, you already know his name, but you let Danny introduce himself anyways as the noise of the Kiszka’s brawl grows louder.

“So is this, like, and every night occurrence?”

“Unfortunately, it is. I swear to god I’m never having kids if it's anything like touring with these three.”

You down the concoction Josh created for you while watching the scene in front of you unfold, none of them really making any progress in terms of “winning.”

Sam is the first to stand back up, ready to announce his victory before Jake pulls him back to the ground and stands up himself. His hand moves to run through his frazzled mess of hair, slender fingers pulling each and every strand back into perfect place around his face before advancing towards you.

“Let me just start by clarifying I’m not in love with you. I simply told them there was a pretty girl in the front row and I would very maybe, hypothetically be interested in her. I didn’t expect Josh to send anyone out to actually find you.” His cheeks were already red from rolling around on the floor, but you could have sworn they turned a shade deeper as his eyes locked back on yours. “I’m glad he did, though.”

“Well, me too. I didn’t realize there was an after show so I’m glad someone found me to witness this mess.” Your cheeks were on fire as you pray to whatever god that no one could tell in the dim light, trying your best to come off cool and collected.

“I’m Jake, by the way,” he responds with a soft smile. “We were thinking about heading into the city for the night if you wanna tag along….” His eyes look like he’s ready to break down and plead with you to come with them, a hint of desperation laced through his words. Your grip on the empty plastic cup in your hand suddenly tightens, forcing an audible crinkle as your heart swells at the thought of actually spending a night with this beautiful boy.

You try your best not to sound too eager with your response, but it’s hard to hide as your words slip out of your mouth before you have time to think. “Actually I’m driving back into the city after this anyways. There’s a ton of bars in my neighborhood if you guys wanna cram yourselves into my car?” You realize too late that your offer is rather pathetic. Surely they had a much nicer way to get to the city, why the fuck would they be interested in cramming into a strange girl’s car? “You can also crash at my place if you guys need. I have a lot of space in the living room,” you add in an attempt to add value to your offer.

To your surprise, Josh is the first one to respond with an eager grin, “Wait, yeah let us come back with you, we’re very fun. I promise we won’t fight in your car.”

“Oh, I had no concerns about fun after the last five minutes I’ve spent with the four of you.”

Your fate is decided at that moment, the promise of an endlessly entertaining night ahead setting into motion.

• • • • • • • • •

The five of you pile into your car, Jake up front with you as the others shove themselves into the backseat.

“You guys can have aux privileges, but you have exactly ONE fuck up before I’m taking it back and we’re all listening to Wonderwall on repeat all the way back to the city. And you WILL be getting a front-row show from yours truly.”

You unlock your phone and pull up your music before handing it over to Jake. “Honestly I’d love to see it, we’re actually looking for a replacement for Josh right now so give us your best shot.”

Josh reaches up between the two of you to rip the phone from Jake’s hand before he can queue anything up.

“One, rude of you to kick your only twin out of the band for some girl you literally just met. And two, when have you ever been dubbed DJ? No one likes your music, Jake.” Your phone moves between the hands of everyone in the car as you pull out of the lot, your heart nearly beating out of your chest with unflinching exhilaration having gotten your favorite band into your very own car.

You pull onto the freeway as they all fight to show you their favorite songs, everyone singing and screaming as you try to keep your eyes on the road without completely cracking up at the sight of it all. You join in for the handful of songs you know, a smile plastered across your face as you speed through empty lanes back towards the city.

Jake moves his hand into yours as it rests on the center console, brushing his fingers back and forth through your palm and up your wrist for a while before finally letting it settle, fingers intertwining in yours. You let your fingers wrap back around his, a knowing gesture to the mutual desire you were nearly positive existed between the two of you throughout the entire show.

The skyline of the city finally makes itself clear as you press down further on the gas, desperate to park your car and put some alcohol in you before working up any amount of courage to pull Jake back to your apartment. Every time you steal a glance at him, he looks like he’s ready to spill out some proclamation of love for you, his eyes still glued to you the same way as when you found him backstage.

Half of you swore you were making it all up. The looks he sent towards you throughout the show could have been for any other pretty girl around you in the crowd—of which there were many. But the feeling of his hand intertwined in yours for the duration of the drive said otherwise. You knew there was something legitimate between you and you knew you couldn’t leave him before you did something about it.

You pull your car into the only spot left on your street before separating yourself from Jake’s delicate grasp, pulling your keys out of the ignition and throwing your stuff into your bag in a haphazard rush.

“Welcome to the big city!” you announce, the boys all cheering with comical praise before ambling out of the car into the crisp nighttime air with faulty legs from the hour drive. You let the anticipation of the night linger in your chest as you keep your eyes on Jake, both of you promptly moving back together from either side of the car. Your hands come back together like magnets separated for too long before you lead the way towards your favorite little dive bar, eager at the idea of what was left to come from your night with the boy wrapped up in your hand and in your heart.

part 2