#Real Cricket

[fleshadept]

one of my oldest memories is from when i was about five or six years old. my grandma was visiting that evening, so she was tucking me into bed. now, my parents raised us agnostic with a side of unitarian universalism, so i knew next to nothing about christianity, or that god fellow, or whatever. my grandparents never approved of this, convinced they were damning us kids to hell forever.

so when my grandma was tucking me in and she told me to repeat after her and say “i love you jesus,” i did.

but then she said: “there. and now you’ve let jesus into your heart.” and kissed me and left me to dream sweet child dreams probably of jesus saving my immortal soul or whatever.

except, i didn’t know who the fuck jesus was, and i did not understand metaphor. i certainly had not realized that by saying that, i had apparently invited a small man to take up residence in my heart. my child brain raced with panic: was he in there? what would he do? would i be able to feel him moving around? was he stuck forever now? that seemed mean to him, and felt like my grandma had played a trick on me.

so, sensibly, i decided my best bet to expel this tiny man who i had NOT wanted to move into my heart (aside from surgery, which i discounted as an option when i imagined asking my parents about it) was to do the reverse incantation: i fell asleep that night mumbling and mentally shouting I HATE YOU JESUS I HATE YOU JESUS I HATE YOU JESUS, hoping he would get the message and relocate somewhere that wanted him.

[dazzelmethat]

Anteater Weevil. Smaller than a great anteater and more arboreal, the species combo would eat more termites and sap from trees than ants on the ground.

@weevilsdaily Hope you don't mind me tagging you. Your blog is what got me to get down and fully design an idea I've had for a while.

I love both great anteaters and weevils so so much.

[llamagoddessofficial]

Hey llama, I was thinking about the p&p servant au, and I was wondering how would mc react to all of the guys attending a party she's serving at? Would it upset her to see Sans being haughty with other humans?

HOHOHOHO... I would assume at this point she's not yet one of Skull's servants. She belongs to someone else, someone who doesn't appreciate her like they do.

Sans: As much as he wants to immediately seek her out and take up all of her time, to talk to only her... he understands that it's a very busy party, and she's working. He steals her for a little bit of polite conversation, but he doesn't trap her- he doesn't want her to get in trouble. He's very kind to her, as he always is... admiring her from afar, catching her in quiet corners whenever he can, and openly scowling at anyone who comments about her. She enjoys finding ways to sneak a few hushed words with him in passing, and she loves the genuine delight on his face when he sees her in the crowd.

Would she be upset by Sans being haughty? No, not at all. Sans is only like that with people of his station or higher, never with servants. For her, there's honestly something really enjoyable about watching Sans be shitty to the kinds of people who are often the cruellest to her. He gets to say and do the things she wishes she could.

Red: She loves when Red shows up. All the staff do. Even before she knew him personally, she enjoyed when he appeared at events- Red is the life of the party, and often ends up causing some kind of scene that becomes talk of the town. Excessive drinking, ruinously beating someone at cards, pitting two idiots against each other until they get into a fight... all the servants knew that if Red was there, it was going to be a delightfully gossip-filled night in the staff quarters. Especially since Red was absolutely the type to woo any of the particularly eye-catching servants.

She likes him even more after meeting him. Because Red is excellent at distracting the other party members- most importantly, he distracts the host, usually immediately after shooting her a wink. Without her employer breathing down her neck she can get some rest in the middle of an otherwise completely action-packed night.

Skull: If Skull showed up to a party, that's a huge win for the host, and a ridiculous amount of social clout for them. So if Skull appears at the house, and expresses any open interest in Mc (which of course he will)... her employer will basically command her to be Lord Skull's personal entertainer for the evening. "Do whatever is necessary to keep our guest happy. Understand?"

If Red is there to third wheel and keep the conversations going, Mc and Skull would both probably actually have a lot of fun. Red knows his friend very well, and he can quickly and easily 'translate' for him to keep her engaged and relaxed. She likes getting to chat and eat, and Skull is just absolutely delighted that she's sat close enough for him to see her eyes.

If, for some reason, Red isn't there... it might be a bit more awkward. Skull will follow her around like an overly affectionate cat, but he gets overcome with shyness the moment she tries to start anything resembling a conversation. She'd still enjoy it, though- sitting with a silent guy who likes to stare still beats working.

[ribbittrobbit]

destiny's children trick or treating!!! spooky season lives on in our hearts i suppose

(they're dressed up as the crew from the wizard of oz and yes i know gerard is green so he should have been the witch but u know what? rosamund convinced him to switch at the last minute and he didn't have the heart to say no but he isn't happy about it)

(also i forgot that canonically mother goose is supposed to be a "gangly baby" and i'm too lazy to change it rip)

suggestion from @actualbabe ty this very was fun

[thesaladcollective]

*blows the dust off her Tumblr account*

Welp… it’s been about 5 years. Was feeling nostalgic for my Jenny & Penny webcomic that I shelved when the IT fandom on Tumblr slowly fizzled out. So I drew them again for the hell of it. Glad my style’s evolved since my last comic post because yeesh..

Any of y’all still here?

[theonekierce]

i. accidentally did a leyendecker-ish study? i promise i started this just meaning to do a warm up doodle but alas. whole entire painting feat. the actual albany windows.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

unironically i think those candies with the bugs in them should be less candy and more bug i am gnawing so hard to get at my cricket treat

im in orange hell :(

give me my bug snax :(

[purble-gaymer]

meta stims and others

[manisha999]

#संतरामपालजी_का_अयोध्याभंडारा

श्रीराम जन्मभूमि अयोध्या में संत रामपाल जी महाराज के पावन सानिध्य में सतलोक आश्रम द्वारा अलौकिक भंडारे का आयोजन किया जा रहा है।‌।

[happycricketbox]

[skillbattle]

silly edit 👍🏽

[blicketyuri]

small blicket doodle. god i love them

[wazzi2ya]

Here's my latest insane theory:

Whenever Alastor goes full demon/power up, he gets stitches all over his face and body, right?.

If going full demon is meant to show their true form, we could consider the possibility that he's not a deer demon, but rather a puppet demon.

He wants to break free and be the one in control instead, "Guess who will be pulling all the strings"

Everything he does is a performance, a lie.

Motherfucker is Pinocchio.

[hum-suffer]

Ours

Ishan doesn't remember the last time he was this upset. He's striding across the hallway to the hotel room he's been alloted. To share.

It's late at night, well past the hours of deep midnight. There's no one in the dimly lit corridor— the older teammates had already retired to their rooms while the youngsters stayed for the afterparty.

"You could have bloody well told me she'd be there!" He snaps at Shubhman. His best friend, the friend that Ishan has been head over heels for over five years, sighs and looks down. Shubhman, who shares the room with Ishan. "No. You don't get to be a fucking puppy."

"Ishan, dude, I didn't know! I just posted a snap of the place, how was I supposed to know she'd be there? Kammo said she declined the invitation, I trusted him!"

Shubhman moves to remove his suit jacket as Ishan pushes the door open. Ishan uses his movements as a distraction, lest he stare at the way Shubhman's light blue silk shirt clings to him. It's one he's shared with Shubhman for so long that now either of them remembers who it originally belonged to.

(Lies.

Ishan remembers buying it for Shubhman and then joking around about how he has right on it.

He remembers when Shubhman invited him to Shahneel Didi's birthday and gave him the shirt with a smile and an order to wear it.

He had a cold shower before changing.)

He brings himself back to reality when Shubhman locks the room almost absentmindedly and removes his shoes, all the while focusing on Ishan as if Ishan is the centre of his universe.

His cheeks are red and Ishan doesn't know if it's anger or embarrassment. "I swear, Ishan, why do you even care? I don't give a fuck whether she shows face or not!"

Ishan cares because she had been flirting with Shubhman for all evening and that motherfucking idiot Shubhman did not even realise what she was doing. Ishan cares because sees her arm wrapped around his bicep somehow burned Ishan's skin. Ishan cares because she held tightly to Shubhman even when he tried to move away. Ishan cares about his personal space and she fucking doesn't. Ishan just cares.

In a clearly failed attempt to calm down himself, Ishan removes the watch and bracelets on his wrists— all but the one Shubhman made for him. While he's at it, he also removes the leather jacket he was wearing, making sure to not let the bracelet catch in the soft lining of the jacket.

"Ishan? Bloody say something!"

Ishan glares at him. "You want me to say something?" He throws down the jacket on the floor, uncaring for it. He takes a step towards Shubhman. "She's using you for clout. She's using you for fame. And you know it. You know it and you go along with it any-fucking-way as if you have no self respect! You go and sit with her and then I'm left alone for the rest of the night! I'm sorry if my anger inconveniences you!"

By the time he stops, he's breathing hard and his eyes and throat are burning. I love you, he wants to say. I love, love, love you.

Shubhman softens. "You should have told me."

Ishan laughs in his face, a bitter sound. "Told you? Boy, you'd not even be aware I was beside you!"

Shubhman tenses. "Impossible. I'm always aware of you, Ishan. I'm—"

"Aware?" Ishan snaps, on a roll now. "You didn't even look at me the whole goddamn time!"

And before he can continue his tirade, Shubhman narrows his eyes. "Move back, Ishan."

"Oh, so now you've a problem with me sharing your personal space? You can't disagree with her but you tell me to move fucking back?" Ishan doesn't move back. He's stubborn as a mule, especially when he's mad.

Shubhman's jaw flexes. "Move back before I lose the little control I have, Ishan." Ishan doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. "Before I lose my control and kiss you, right now, shamelessly, without any regret, move fucking back, Ishan."

Ishan freezes all over. Shubhman seems to have realised what he said and his eyes widen and he looks panicked for a moment before taking a fortifying breath. He looks at Ishan like he could devour him.

Ishan would let him.

He moves a step closer, close enough that he can feel Shubhman's breath on his skin. Close enough that if he swayed, he'd faceplant in Shubhman's chest.

"Then lose your control before I do, Shubh."

Shubhman's eyes widen for a moment and Ishan thinks, this is it, he must have been—

He doesn't have the time to complete the thought. Shubhman is kissing him and all coherent thoughts are evaporated in his head. Oh god. Oh fucking god. Shubhman is kissing him. His hands are wrapping around Ishan and pulling him in.

It takes a moment before Ishan realises that he's kissing Shubhman.

Oh fuck. He's kissing Shubhman. He's kissing the boy he loves. He's kissing his best friend.

The thought makes him pause and pull away. They're both breathing hard and Shubhman's eyes are dark as he looks at Ishan with unashamed want. Ishan wants to kneel with the weight of want he feels from Shubhman.

"Ish." Shubhman breathes and rests his forehead against Ishan's. Ishan closes his eyes and lets him feel the weight of Shubhman's head, relaxing. "Fuck, you're everything."

A blush must had crawled up his ears. Ishan looks down. "Shubh, we need to talk."

Shubhman hums but doesn't remove his hands from Ishan. "We need to talk." Ishan says again, but he can't hide his giddy smile.

"And I'm not stopping us. Let's talk."

Stubborn mule, Ishan thinks fondly. He sobers up quickly as he hesitantly speaks. "I love you, Shubh. I've loved you as a best friend for as long as I've known you and I've loved you as something completely different for years now. This...this may not mean to you what it does to me and I don't even ask anything of you. I just want you to tell me what you feel. I'm not ruining our friendship over a kiss. I need to know what you feeling. Or we can forget this ever happened and—"

He can't speak more. He can't. Of course, if Shubhman wants, Ishan will forever continue to pretend that he feels nothing but platonic love for him and he will pretend to forget to have ever felt Shubhman kiss him. He will pretend to forget the possessive hold Shubhman still has on him and he'll live. He'll be miserable but he'll live.

Shubhman nods. His hands are still resting on Ishan's hips. "I don't particularly think I love you in a romantic sense, yet." Ishan's world shatters and he breathes out as if someone punched the air out of his chest. "But, I still fancy you. You're not some experimental adventure. The thought of crying without your shoulder, the thought of waking up without you, the thought of having anything less than what we have right now makes me want to choke. You're not a passing fancy, Ish. And I might say that I'm not completely romantically in love with you right now, but I know that I'm half way over already. The thought of anyone but you in my arms makes me want to scream."

Ishan takes a shuddering breath. It's now or never. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Shubhman doesn't speak anything for a moment and Ishan looks up at him searchingly only to see him grinning like a loon. "Of course, I'll go on a date with you! I've been meaning to watch this new movie—"

"No! No hostile takeover on my date, I assure you!" The response is almost instinct by now. Ishan knows Shubhman and how well he uses his puppy eyes to take over the hangout activities and do what he wants.

"Your?" He raises an eyebrow and pulls Ishan towards himself with a jerk. He barely stops himself from crashing his nose on Shubhman's chest as Shubhman continues, very amused."You mean, our?"

It makes him incredibly giddy. He nods. "Our."

____________________________________________________

@ronika-writes-stuff hope you don't mind me tagging you and like this!

Part 2

[killeroos]

MITCH STARC AND ALYSSA HEALY BACKSTAGE AT THE 2024 AUSTRALIAN CRICKET AWARDS

+ Mitch worrying about Alyssa's train