#also i think this is the only time (except for the christmas video) where we see mac's parents together.

[twinkdemise]

[jazminrhode1]

Love your writing! Can I request something for Matt based on the redecorating Matt’s room prank? Like reader helps with the prank? If not, no problem, love your account

Thanks For Watching Sturniolo Triplets x Reader One Shot

Summary: You help the boys prank Matt’s room for a video.

Notes: Swearing (minimal)

“Matt?” you call out as you walk down the hall toward his room. He wasn’t supposed to be there. You had come over to help Nick and Chris with a room prank. His room was empty, the coast was clear, except for their fucking washing machine.

You make your way upstairs to Nick’s room where he and Chris were waiting for you. “Finally,” Chris said when you walked in. “Y/n’s here,” Nick said to the camera, “it’s time to prank Matt’s room.”

“Most of the stuff’s in my car,” you said. You were way more excited than you let on. You had spent weeks getting customised items to completely re-do his bedroom. He was gone for another fake meeting with Laura but, you only had a small window to pull it off.

As you started opening the boxes that you had brought up to Matt’s room, Nick and Chris were acting like two kids at Christmas. They didn’t know just how much stuff you ended up getting and they didn’t know half of it would be custom.

The plan was to cover the room with pictures of Nick and Chris but, you went a little overboard. You had customised bedsheets, pillow cases and a blanket with their faces on it. You also got t-shirts printed with pictures that you found on their joint instagram. There was a huge canvas you hand made with a family picture from when they were little and a stack of photographs to stick on the wall if you found the time.

Nick made the bed, Chris cleared the closet and you started sticking pictures on the wall. 

“What’s wrapped in the sheet?” Chris asked when he came back from hiding Matt’s clothes in his room.

That was what you were most excited about and worried that you might not pull off. Chris got excited when he saw the thrill in your eyes. “Close your eyes,” you told them as you unwrapped the surprise.

When they opened their eyes they were face-to-face with two life sized cardboard cutouts of themselves. Nick screamed and Chris fell on the floor laughing. “You are fucking kidding,” he said.

“Matt is going to have a heart attack,” Nick said as he took a snap and sent it to Madi.

“I’m keeping mine,” Chris said, looking it up and down.

“Come on, Matt’s going to be back soon,” you said as you finished sticking the pictures on the walls.

Nick had used a few to replace the ones in Matt’s picture frames. The only one he left was the one that Matt kept of you and him on his desk.

“This room is something straight out of a nightmare,” you said as you looked around. “This is fucking great,” Chris exclaimed in excitement.

“Are we done?” Nick asked as he closed the last picture frame. “I think we are,” Chris said as he sat on the bed.

The room was a complete disaster. Everything had gone to plan.

Pictures of Nick and Chris’ faces were on the bedding, on the pillows, on the blanket, on the walls, on his t-shirts in his closet, and in his picture frames. There was not an inch of his room not covered in pictures of his brothers. The thought of this was a lot funnier than the final product.

You heard the front door close just as Nick picked up the camera. Chris got in position with his phone, he could barely contain his excitement. You could hear Matt calling out for Nick and Chris, you swore he started heading upstairs. After a few minutes, his shoes cast a shadow beneath the door and you saw the handle turn.

He jumped when he opened the door. You weren’t sure if it was because you were all in there or because of the monstrosity you had created.

“What the-?” Matt said in shock quickly followed by, “Hey y/n.” He stepped into the room and pulled you into a hug. As he scanned the room, the pictures on the wall, the life-size cut-outs of his brother, he kept his arm draped around your shoulders. 

“Did you help with this?” he asked you. “Sorry,” you replied.

“The pillows,” he noticed, pointing. “Oh my god you’re on the sheets,” he exclaimed.

“Do you love it?” Chris asked, mockingly.

“I can’t tell is this is awesome or a nightmare,” he replied as his eyes darted around the room.

Nick started laughing. “Look in your closet,” he instructed.

Matt’s face dropped, “No…” he said as he slowly slid the doors open.

When he saw all his clothes were gone and replaced with t-shirts that had his brother's faces on them, he said, “You guys are not real.”

“What do you think?” Nick asked, shoving a camera in Matt’s face. “Is this better than the Liam Neeson prank?” Chris asked.

Matt was still taking it all in when he said, “Fuck no! The other prank was funny. How am I supposed to sleep here? I’m gonna have nightmares.”

Chris burst out laughing. This was the exact reaction that he was hoping for. “Blame y/n,” he said, “she got all this stuff.”

You took a few steps back from Matt when he turned his head to you, “it was Nick’s idea” you said. Nick didn’t care. This was the content he was looking for.

“Is anyone going to help me take this shit down?” Matt asked as he pulled a picture off the wall. 

“Nope,” Chris replied as he picked up his cardboard cut-out. “They’ll fall off eventually,” Nick said. They both started walking toward the door but, Matt rushed over and held it shut with one arm.

“Let us out,” Chris demanded. Matt was not going to budge. “Let me out,” Chris threatened. “Or what?” Matt replied.

Chris took his cardboard cut out and started swatting at Matt. Matt started swinging back, grabbing Chris’s cardboard head and ripping it off his body.

With the pair of them fighting in the background, Nick said to the camera, “Thanks for watching, we’ll see you all next time,” before he ended the vlog.

It wasn't often that you got to do stuff like with the boys but, man was it fun.

[solaroppositesyaoi]

Hold on ,,, i kinda fell out of the fandom a while ago

Is Tervo canon now?? Like... earnest canon? Not just in that limbo between homophobic jokes and queerbaiting but like... Actual committed, loving relationship that they're both working on and they don't just sometimes kiss for laughs?

Because in that case i might start watching again

(I fell off just before the christmas special)

OH BOY ANON YOU JUST ACTIVATED MY AUTISM

So the short answer is yes though not 100% and I understand if that’s not what you’re looking for but if you have time you can listen to me go off:

So they pretty much do everything except stare directly at the audience and announce that their in a relationship but the show pretty much tells us they’re in relationship

We’ll start with the Christmas Special since you stopped there.

There’s only one “tervo” scene where Terry reveals he’s been practicing punching for Korvo’s Christmas present and they share a kiss which is the best kiss we’ve gotten from them.

It’s very sweet

Now onto s3

I’m linking my own video if you want to watch the scenes yourself but don’t worry I’m gonna break into them: link to video

There’s a lot of little things through out the season the word “husband” is thrown around a lot, in episode 2 Terry refers to Korvo as babe a personal fave of mine. There’s also huge implications they’re having sex with each other which you know helps.

The main episodes with the biggest Tervo moments are episode 3 The Pupas Big Day and episode 8 The Cubic Lattice Crystallizer

The Pupa’s Big Day features jealous Korvo in the best possible way (this is my personally favorite episode in the series by the way)

I don’t want to ruin the episodes for you but Terry is buddy buddy with a new character and it drives Korvo crazy. In the end the episode ends with with this line:

Tervo for the soul

The Cubic Lattice Crystallizer starts well with this:

After the fam goes on vacation and a few shenanigans happens until Terry and Korvo end up a museum of betrayals which features an animatronic of Korvo getting banged by Chris the red goobler

This sets off Terry who shows quite a bit a jealousy from the situation I’m not going to show it cause of tumblr’s nsfw rules but the animatronic says something along the lines

“I’m coming harder than I do with Terry”

The final scene I want to talk about come from the season finale The Fog of Pupa. Ms. Frankie reveals the cunnilingus Korvo gave her in the s2 finale and Terry give him this look:

It’s just screams Terry’s pissed at Korvo for this but why would he be if they weren’t in a relationship??

Outside that we have the Halloween special where it’s revealed Korvo gave Terry bj coupons for Valentines Day

Cute

Also found this excerpt article with Mike McMahan (here’s a link for the entire article)

In the s4 preview (youtube link) Terry pretty much is the sole reason Korvo is British now because it made him horny, he also calls Korvo sweetie in the clip.

We also have a Valentines episode to look forward too which a lot of people are speculating a tervo wedding as “something big” is suppose to happen to two characters hmmm…..

So are they in a relationship? I like to think so but I’m also autistic and a little insane and I eat up all the scraps they give me. Maybe I’m delusional but i feel there’s a ton of evidence here. If you think this is just queerbait material I understand but I think it’s pretty clear they’re in love with each other. Either way I can't wait for s4 and more tervo content for me to tear into and analyze the death.

Anyway thanks for sticking with me here and I hope this answered your question!

[jmdbjk]

Bangtan Weekly Report

Been a while. How are ya? We got a lot of shit going on and it has not been easy keeping up. I'll be glad when they are back together in 2025 so we can rest. Lol. Just kidding... I guess.

In a few hours we get Golden. I am excited to hear what Jungkook's chosen for his first album. I am excited to hear him explore these genres of songs. I am sure he's learned a lot during this process just as all the others have. He did a pre-release "press conference" and here is Dispatch's video of it: Watch Kookie's interview here.

He was very poised and articulate... dare I say "mature"? He is doing well. I'm very proud of Jungkook. He and his dance team are very excited to show us what they've created. I'm sure it will be amazing.

He mentioned a future Korean song as a gift? Don't tell me he means his gift to us before he leaves for MS...

😭

Taemin with Jimin special appearance on Suchwita. Finally watched. The dynamic between Jimin and Taemin and Jimin and Yoongi was fascinating.

I don't know a lot about Taemin. Of course I've seen he and Jimin's performance from a while back. Taemin is a great performer. He seems like a very sincere person.

Jimin's Dior campaign.

So lovely that we finally get to see him in motion. Ever since Hobi's LV campaign with the bags, I've been wanting to see Dior or Tiffany take advantage of Jimin's fluid motion and FINALLY they woke up and showed him moving. Not a fan of the oversized knit vests but those suits are wonderful.

Namjoon... Mr. Black Void for an IG pfp... showing us some images from his trip to London.

Fun fact: That Kodak Portra 400 35mm film is anywhere from $15-$25 per roll of film... then you have to pay to have it developed.

His hair is dark in the image... not taken while he was in London... but when? Japan? That sand looks black. Ibusuki Beach? Except for that ship out there... hmmm.

His documentary will be coming down the line at some point, it will be jam-packed with his meanderings from these past two years. Maybe we'll find out where he's been.

The BTS documentary will be out in December. Our Christmas present. I'm looking forward to it. There will be new footage in it.

Tae channeling him some Elvis for Celine is interesting. I suppose this is from an upcoming campaign or magazine spread.

And this was shared with us.

Jung Hoseok achieving his Corporal promotion ahead of time which I think means he would have three bars on his shirt pocket instead of the two as in this photo from his IG.

Less than a year left until Hobi's discharged and 7.5 months left before Jin is discharged.

It was the anniversary of The Astronaut this week. Can't believe this year just flew by. The reluctance to wish time to fly by but at the same time wanting it to slow down in order to live in the moment...we were so worried this time last year. We are making it through this ya'll. We are getting there.

Samsung campaign giving us Yoongi in tan pants. Doing god's work if you ask me:

Xylitol also keeping the Bangtan flame lit ...

How come Jimin and Jungkook are the only ones with their left hands in their pockets? Jikook always jikooking. You are me I am you is strong with them.

[drizzileiscool]

drizzile's mind presents:

That one time I absolutely demolished one of my irls in puyo puyo tetris 2

starring: drizzile

and irl who I no longer see as a friend because they are transphobic and I want to stop hanging out with

this is another long post

back when tetris 99 released, a youtuber I liked played it for the first time. they kinda sucked tbh but I'm not gonna say who the youtuber is. during the intro of the video, they played footage from a streamer named wumbo. at this time, I had no understanding of the concept of competitive tetris. I immediately checked out his channel and saw gameplay that seemed impossible for me. I later got the t99 dlc to try to practice playing competitive tetris. I still sucked but now I could almost kinda do a t spin. fast forward to me falling down the puyo puyo rabbit hole. i downloaded the demo for ppt and tried playing against the cpus.

Fast forward even more. I have done my first tst in t99 marathon mode and was proud of myself. my irl was also slightly into tetris, but not nearly as much as I am. he knew how the game works but that's it. he didn't know how to t spin (I think he still doesn't), and also believed that combos could only go up to 4 (he also doesn't know about 4wides).

fast forward to the release of ppt2. I asked for it on christmas, but due to me having covid, I had to wait until new years to play it. after beating the story, i went online and got destroyed.

I then looked up some tips on how to get better, slowly improving my speed, and "mastering" the t spin. meanwhile, my irl played tetris party deluxe on the wii and attempted a single t spin.

Fast forward again. I challenged my irl to t99 (the update that added private rooms came out). although we couldn't see what we were doing, we both assumed we were at the same skill level, and we were wrong.

Another fast forward, this is the last one I swear, irl challenges me to ppt2 because he thought the t99 thing was unfair. During this time, the school we were at announced that if people had good enough grade, they would get to participate in a thing called "fun friday", where at the end of a friday, we got to hang out and do whatever in the gym, including playing on switch. When the first round started, I literally swept the floor with him. he did not get the chance to do literally anything. I pc'd him, repeatedly t spinned, and attempted a 4wide at the end (but failed at the 4wide since I still wasn't good enough for that). All he pulled off was a few tetrises and regular line clears. I had several hours of training in tetris, while he only had like 10 minutes. after this, he was very visibly shocked at how good I was compared to him. we never played against each other in any tetris game again (except for te:c once, which he gave up on), and he now calls me the tetris god.

unimportant to the story but also funny: one time when we were talking about this to another friend (who thankfully isn't transphobic but I rarely get to talk to them), he casually mentioned that I am a god at tetris and devoted my entire life to it. coincidentally, I was wearing a tetris shirt under my coat, so I immediately showed it off, resulting in a few laughs.

[awkwardcontent]

I saw your tag about asking about Air Bud, I vaguely know the plot but have never seen it so here's an ask for you to info dump about it

Did you know that there are 14 movies in the Air Bud Cinematic Universe? I've watched them all and I'm gonna spout off a bunch of random stuff about the series. If you want more info on any of this you have to DM me 🤪

So the first five movies are the "Air Bud" series, which follows Buddy playing various sports

Air Bud 🏀

Air Bud: Golden Receiver 🏈

Air Bud: World Pup ⚽

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch ⚾

Air Bud: Spikes Back 🏐

Interestingly, Buddy was an actual trained dog who could "play" a few sports. In fact, the first two films don't use any sort of sneaky camera tricks for the sports scenes. The dogs on camera are actually just doing that. Although the original Buddy only appears in the first film (He passed away from cancer shortly afterwards)

The production company also kinda screwed over Buddy's owner Kevin DiCicco, who wasn't involved in any of the sequels aside from being credited as the creator of the character Air Bud.

One thing I will say about the original series is that personally I think the justification for Buddy playing on the team in the first movie makes more sense than we give it credit for. He's a registered member of the team because he's the mascot. So they sub him in. You could almost be fooled into thinking that's reasonable.

If you ever have a "bad movie" day with friends I highly recommend the 4th movie where he plays baseball. Because it has the best villain plot of any of them, where the villain is trying to extract Buddy's genome to isolate the gene that makes him good at sports so he can sell it to athletes as a super steroid. Also the actor who plays the villain is the same actor who plays the referee in the previous three movies which adds a fun sinister undertone to their re-use of an actor.

After the "Air Bud" series they started making the "Air Buddies" movies

Air Buddies

Snow Buddies

Space Buddies

Santa Buddies¹

Spooky Buddies

Treasure Buddies

Super Buddies

This is where we get into the weirder aspects of the universe. First of all we are now following Buddy's children instead of Buddy himself. Buddy the character is seen for the last time in Snow Buddies. Also we're now doing talking animals. (Although the animals can't talk to humans (except with the use of christmas magic))

Things that are made canon in these films include (but are not limited to):

Hell 🔥 - Although they call it a dimension filled with ghosts. From which a warlock summons the "Halloween Hound", a pretty obvious stand in for a hell hound. (Also for some reason the warlock can't touch consecrated ground and also is hurt by a bible, so I guess becoming a warlock means you have to follow vampire rules now)

Magic 🧙‍♂️ - As mentioned above, there's a warlock doing dark magic. But there's also two additional magic systems. Christmas magic, which requires joy stored in the magical christmas icicle. And what I can only describe as "Egyptian magic". Cleopatra's pet cat (Cleo-cat-ra) had a magic necklace, although the only notable power we see it have is to make cats "man's best friend" instead of dogs

Aliens 👽 - An alien crashed down on earth and the first creature he met was a dog so he tried to disguise himself as an earthling by turning into a dog and then he had to be a dog now. But he's a dog with super powers because of course he is. Also a second eviler species of alien that does body snatching instead.

Honestly these movies are pretty standard straight to video schlock. I think Super Buddies is the most fun out of them all, just for being kind of stupid. Space Buddies is pretty good for the same reason. Treasure Buddies was the most boring movie in my entire adventure through all of these.

Simultaneous to the latter Buddies movies, Santa Buddies also managed to spin off into two additional "Santa Paws" movies

The Search for Santa Paws

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups

I honestly think these are some of the more watchable of the later movies. You know what you're getting with a cheesy christmas movie. (I've never actually celebrated christmas but I have a slight soft spot for the aesthetics of a cheesy christmas movie)

Notable in this series we get shown more about what "Christmas Magic" can do. Including creating sentient life? Like Santa just straight up brings a toy dog to life? And because we're in a talking animals universe that's just a full on sapient intelligence. I'm pretty sure that makes Santa some form of god.

¹ Santa Buddies also raises a possible extended extended universe. Among the characters in Santa Buddies is a Scottish Terrier named "Tiny" voiced by Kaitlyn Maher. Another film series by the production company "Pup Stars" also features a Scottish Terrier named "Tiny" voiced by Kaitlyn Maher.

[bf-skz]

24 to 25 days of SKZMAS | December 5th - Jisung

pairing: Han Jisung x Reader

genre: mutual pining

synopsis: Jisung and his crush work desk by desk at the marketing department of JY Publishing. Jisung is completely unaware of the mutual attraction but seems like only these two are oblivious to the sparks between them. They migth need a Christmas miracle to realize their romance is not hopeless after all.

warnings: light cursing, slow burn

words: 800

5th day of SKZMAS

December 5th

Jisung thinks he is pretty lucky.

He has a cool flat, fun friends and a job he actually likes quite a lot. He was always interested in marketing; luring people in and sweet-talking them to the point where they feel exceptional and ready to spend their money comes to him so easily. It’s fun to come up with new ideas to keep the customers on your toes, and the holiday season is the perfect time for that. With the seasonal plan ready, though, he is left to sit in the office and pretend he is working hard.

“You are not as sneaky as you think you are.” 

Jisung jumps a little as Minho walks up behind him, the older one chuckling to himself. Jisung knows it’s pointless but he quickly closes the webshop tabs on his browser.

“You didn’t see a thing!” Jisung tells him and lifts his hands as a sign of being innocent. “I know nothing about funky rainbow Christmas trees!”

“Sure you don’t.” Minho says, rolling his eyes but he cannot bite his smile back. “Just came to tell you I can’t have lunch with you today. I have this extra report to hand in by 3pm.”

“What?” Jisung whines, throwing his head back. “Why? Can’t you just pass it on to Changbin?”

“I need it for my evaluation.” Minho sighs. “And Changbin has his hands full, too. As we all do.” he says, and oh, Jisung doesn’t like that tone.

“M-me too! I have a lot to plan out and uh, stuff.”

“That’s fine, Sungie. You don’t have to lie to me.” Minho tells him, patting his shoulder, as if he was saying once again, I am the bigger man. Damnit.

Soon, Minho leaves and Jisung is all alone, without any of his webshop tabs or the satisfaction that sneaking around gives him. All alone, except for…

“Hey!” you poke his arm. “Look at this turkey shaped hat. It makes a sound and dances!” you say, playing the video on your computer. “Christmas wishlist material for sure.”

“Oh my gosh, that's so fucking cool.” Jisung says with a grin, and his eyes may linger on your excited face for a second longer than necessary. “Send me the link. I'm so buying that for you for the Christmas party.”

“Only if you wear the matching Santa hat.” you giggle, sending Jisung the email with a little heart in the subject. Subtle hints could go far, you read it in one of Hyunjin’s articles. Though the boy is not known for his subtlety. “Have you seen that they are looking for volunteers to organize and decorate?”

“Oh, yeah? That's fun. I hope they get enough booze to go around all night, that's the only part of that party that's worth it.” Jisung says, nodding along wisely. “I'll talk to Felix. He's obsessed, I'm sure he's gonna be on the committee again.”

“Oh yeah!” you say with an excited hum. “We could also volunteer!” your eyes light up suddenly. “We could just fuck around in the office without doing any work!”

Jisung thinks about it for a second before slowly turning to you. “That… is a bloody genius idea!” he grins widely, bouncing in his chair. “Fuck, you are so smart! I could kiss you-” he starts but after a second of shocked silence, he bursts out in high-pitched giggles. “I mean, haha, you rock!”

Your eyes widen and you blush to a deep red color. God… could you imagine kissing the Han Jisung? Cause you sure can, uh-oh. “Y-yeah! Hahaha you are even more awesome babe- I mean, bro.” 

“T-thanks! You're, uhm, you're just so great…” Jisung says, watching you in awe and wow, you have beautiful lips…

“Hey, guys!”

Jisung almost falls off his chair as Felix greets you cheerfully.

“Holy- bro, where did you even come from?”

“I was eavesdropping right around the corner.” he deadpans before giggling like a little kid at, well, Christmas. “You both are going to love being on the organizing committee!”

“Wow, you really were listening in on us!” you cheer with a tight smile. “How much did you hear?” 

“Just this.” Felix says without missing a beat, and he smiles at you angelically. “I'll add your names to the list then. Toodles!”

Jisung only dares to breathe again once Felix is gone. The little guy can be terrifying sometimes…

“Guess we are the elves this year.” he says, taking a glance at you sheepishly.

“Better order a hat then.” you smile at him sweetly. “Like this one. It even includes the ears!” you say with an excited gasp as you turn back to your computer screen.

“Yeah. Let's get matching ones.” he says softly, not taking his eyes off you. Maybe this Christmas he will be… braver than last year.

to be continued...

[yvesdot]

HALLOWEEN DRABBLE 2022

Mel and Jenny go to the pumpkin patch. Jenny struggles with her words, while everyone else struggles with Mel.

Happy Halloween! The festive season brings with it our yearly Hallowdrabble featuring: everyone's favorite couple from Something's Not Right, father-daughter bonding with goth from KAY RAINIER, bisexual polyamorous love triangle with swords from Forest Castles, & saccharine thirty-year-old LeGButTs from Sometimes it Happens. Read below or at the Google Doc!

Mel carts his armful of totes out the door of the bus and steps down after Jenny, who looks decidedly nervous despite objectively having the upper hand. Mel still doesn’t really understand what a pumpkin patch is, and even if that weren’t the case, he figures being clairvoyant should lend some security.

But Jenny bites the edge of her nail as the bus drives off, looking anxiously in the direction of the tragic chain-link fence around the park. Mel squints and sees small children running about. He is disappointed to have apparently missed out on being the right height to put his face in all the silly ghost-themed cutouts.

“I haven’t been to one of these in ages,” Jenny says. “I’m not even sure, actually, that this one is for adults.” She turns abruptly, as if she’s considering walking off in the direction of the bus line, but fortunately just looks at Mel. “Is this really that important to you?”

“Spending quality time with my girlfriend is important to me,” Mel says. “Anyway, isn’t this themed?”

“Themed?” Jenny echoes, seeming not at all there.

“For us,” Mel explains. “You know, witch and vampire—we’re Halloween-themed! Like those couples who get engaged on Christmas. Except we are not in a Chris Fleming video, and, well, I guess Halloween is themed after us. But it makes sense,” he says, standing on his tiptoes a little so he can put an arm reassuringly around Jenny’s shoulder. Jenny seems borderline mollified by this—at least, enough to give him a kiss and lead him around to where the entry is. And also to wait for him to judge whether it counts as a door or not, because of his many problems with doors.

“We’re good,” he whispers, which always makes him feel like he’s involved in a secret operation. It’s nice to be involved in operations with someone else. Jenny ducks the both of them immediately into a corner, too, with a crinkled map she’s pinched out of a display. 

“We have to make a plan of attack,” she says, which feels even more like a secret operation, only Jenny does not look like she is enjoying hers. “I’ll look a little into the future before we go anywhere. That way, we can be sure everything is as it should be. Also, I can see if I’ve—or—well, anyway, look at these teenagers,” she says, waving her hand demonstratively at two or three bored-looking youths dotting the field. They do not appear to be paying attention to their surroundings. “I’m not taking you on a half-baked hay ride.”

“Well, I guess not, because I don’t think there is a hay ride anywhere on there,” Mel says, inspecting Jenny’s map with a crane of his neck. “But I don’t mind. A normal person would deal with some teenagers, right? I mean, what are they going to do, make fun of my goth outfit? Goth outfits are in really big with the teens, Jenny.”

“Yeah, look at that guy,” she mutters. Mel follows her line of sight.

“I don’t think that is a teen, Jenny,” he says, as the not-a-teen goes jogging around the corner of some kind of plant-based structure. “Oh. I think it’s Atlas, actually. From last Halloween, remember?”

“Well, he is awfully short,” Jenny says, “but—no, you’re right, just born under an absolutely terrible moon.”

“Don’t moons do more than determine your height?”

“They also do that.” Jenny unfolds the map. “Hold on while I plan our outing.”

“Now, don’t you start clairvoyancing,” Mel reminds her. “I can tell when you’re clairvoyancing—Jenny, you’re doing it right now.”

“I can’t help wanting to do a nice date,” Jenny says, but Mel has taken things into his own hands, which is to say, walked off at random. “I like to make sure these things go well. I plan because I care about you, because—Mel—Mel!”

“I’m going to pick apples!” he chirps, pointing at the relevant sign. “Look at all the apples, Jenny! All You Can Pick Apples! For $2!”

“They’re All You Can Pick because they’re All Gone,” Jenny moans, but she follows him over. There is a little box by the two bedraggled trees, which she drops a $2 bill into. Jenny always seems to have $2 bills, and quarters with bats on them. “Mel, do you—Mel?”

“I am stretching,” says Mel, quite occupied with reaching one of the remaining apples. Jenny waits for him to return to normal stance before continuing.

“Do you think we’re—I mean, what do you want to do with the apples?”

“Predict it,” says Mel, and Jenny goes quiet. He gathers another four apples without realizing the type of them might be important. He knows that there are many kinds of apples around, but not really what the point of the different ones is. He once accidentally said his favorite apple was Granny Smith at a party and got laughed out of the room.

“We’re going to use them in pies,” says Jenny. “Because we also get pumpkins, which we decide to make into pies, and we try these apples and they’re really sour—but they can’t be that bad,” she says, reaching for the one Mel is trying to drop into the basket. She takes an exploratory crunch off the top. “Oh. God. Yes, okay, we’re going to have to make them into pies. Stop picking them, Mel!”

“I’m a completionist!” Mel cries, just as a brunette with overgrown bangs stomps up to their tree. Eliza, probably, who still looks teenageish. Mel feels at home among the lack of aging.

“No eating the apples!” she snaps.

“Does it really matter?” Jenny asks. “I mean, for $2, does it make a difference if we eat one?”

“It’s policy,” Eliza says, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and she stalks off again. Mel watches her go, thinking that surely if he had such a nice orange vest for a uniform he wouldn’t be half as grumpy. Though maybe they won’t let her wear it if she doesn’t enforce her policy. The thought makes him a little more empathetic.

“These people are insane,” says Jenny. “Also, Mel, we really don’t need this many apples.”

“What about our many friends?!” Mel asks, but he quits his picking. He has to leave a tote free for the pumpkins.

“Let’s make them first,” says Jenny, which is not fair, because Mel has almost repaired the Granny Smith incident. But he hauls his tote-and-a-half of apples onto his shoulders, which is not too bad even if he has to plan around how much heavier it will be for Jenny, and follows her towards the nearest attraction that seems unpopulated by teens, which is a large inflatable slide. A fat, long-haired man and a skinny blonde person are standing a little ways away from it. Ephraim and Elle, Mel recalls.

“What do you do here?” Mel asks the both of them.

“Isn’t it obvious?” says Ephraim. “You slide.”

“No, I mean you,” Mel says, putting his tote bag of apples down. Jenny reads a sign nearby, shells out some quarters, and gets two tickets from the blonde person. “What do you do? What’s your job with the bouncy house?”

“Make sure people don’t take a fork to it,” says Elle. “Okay, now you give those tickets to me and you can ride.”

“Why do I buy tickets from you if I’m just going to give them back to you to ride?” Jenny asks.

Elle shrugs. “I never said it was efficient. It’s just policy.”

“It feels like the opposite of efficient, actually,” says Ephraim, scratching his neck. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been here for years.”

“Oh, yes.” Elle looks sort of down and sideways at him. “Like three years. Maybe even four. I’m shocked Bren hasn’t moved out.”

“Where is Bren?” Mel asks.

“School,” the pair say, in unison. Jenny nods understandingly.

Mel leaves them and climbs up the grips beside the slide. He finds he is not very good at climbing them, despite his substantial experience with trees. The slide has a piece of paper taped to it at the top which says in all-caps Arial 35-point bold font PLEASE SLIDE ONE AT A TIME, but the inflatable is very large, and Mel thinks it is pretty silly to be told what to do as an adult, so he waits until the two slide-watchers are looking the other way and yanks Jenny down with him. She screams all the way down, but in fairness, neither Elle nor Ephraim seem to be doing their job very well. Mel picks up his tote bags and jogs off towards a wall of plants near the edge of the field just in case, trailing Jenny.

“Wait!” she says, just as he stops to investigate the weird plant wall. It appears to be corn. Also, there is an opening that Mel can just walk into, so he does. It does not count as a door, so he doesn’t have to ask. “Mel!”

“I’m taking a walk in the corn,” says Mel, peeking around a corner. “Human people really just do this? It’s not serial killer behavior?” 

“It’s a corn maze,” says Jenny, grabbing hold of his arm. “Now, don’t go anywhere or else we’ll get lost.”

“But I’ve already taken two turns,” says Mel, because he has. And he’s not sure which direction he turned in, come to think of it.

Jenny groans loudly.

“Okay,” she says. “Fortunately for us, I know the secret to all mazes. Just hug the right-hand wall.”

“Do you predict we will make it out of this corn maze alive?” asks Mel, because he would like to see her predict something.

Jenny puts a hand to her mouth. She considers.

While she is considering, Atlas falls out of the corn. He picks himself up, brushing off his goth outfit. His piercings look different today. He does not seem to catch Jenny’s annoyed glance.

“You seen a guy around here?” he asks. “Oddly dressed? White? Really unfortunate hairline?”

Mel thinks about this.

“Oh!” he says. “Constantine? No, I don’t believe so. Not yet.”

“Okay. Well, if you see him—” Atlas waves his hand demonstratively. “Make his life hell, or whatever. We are making up for two incidents of wrong pronouns and one incident of—just a really weird thing to say, like, who dresses up their pumpkins anyway, and if you’re going to dress them up, why the fuck are you so specific about which one of them wears a bow tie—anyway, you haven’t seen him?”

“We have not seen any guys matching your description,” Mel confirms. “Or dressed pumpkins.”

“How long have you been looking?” Jenny asks.

“I started a while ago,” Atlas admits, “but I got distracted. I also lost count. And I switched the bow tie and the corsage on the pumpkin, because, again—fucking corsage pumpkin. Pumpkins don’t have hands.” He pulls a piece of corn husk out of his hair.

“This sounds very distressing,” Jenny says, “only you interrupted me in the middle of a prediction about whether I am going to live or die, so I am a bit distracted right now.”

“Oh,” says Atlas. “Sorry. But I have to be going, anyway. I came to this pumpkin patch to do two things, and I’m all out of pussy, or whatever. Hold this, just in case.” He gives Mel an unseasonal water balloon and disappears back into the corn. 

Mel processes this.

A woman steps carefully out of the corn from roughly the same direction as Atlas’s initial trajectory, buttoning up her vest. Mel looks away from the vest and sees that she is also wearing a white button-up, a burgundy coat, and an ascot the same color as the aforementioned coat. This makes her definitely Kay, he thinks, also from last year. She puts a finger to her lips and seems about to return to the corn when she spots the water balloon in Mel’s hands and frowns. She takes it from Mel, turns in the other direction, and flings it absolutely as hard as she can. It skips a few times on the ground, then explodes. Kay nods to Mel, then disappears into the other side of the corn wall.

“See?” Mel says. “Total serial killer behavior.”

“We live,” Jenny says, looking up. “Sorry. Had to kind of start from the beginning there. Anyway, they were cheating; you’re not supposed to walk through the corn.”

“Well, of course not,” says Mel, putting his hands on his hips; “there would be no point to it then. We are going to make it out of this maze. Sorry for making you precognize.”

“It’s fine,” Jenny says, and she takes his hand normally this time. “Only, I was going to say, you have to stop running away everywhere. I’m going to lose track of you.”

“I’m sorry,” Mel says, honestly. They take a right turn. “You’re always right there, is all.”

“I know. And I am enjoying myself. Which is to say—” Jenny pauses. “I mean, I like being with you. One could even say,” she tries, “that I l—”

A man falls face-first out of the corn. When he gets up, Mel sees his hairline.

“Someone’s looking for you,” he says.

“My son?” Constantine Rainier asks.

“Well,” Mel says. He forgot for a second that Kay was closeted, and/or that Constantine was dumb. “Not exactly. But Atlas was, for sure. He gave me a water balloon, which is gone now. Probably against policy.”

Constantine runs his hand through his carefully gelled hair.

“It was a perfectly reasonable discussion,” he mutters. “Dressing pumpkins is a grand tradition. I find it quite relaxing, personally. I can’t help it that there is no gender-neutral formal attire for the squash.”

Mel and Jenny look at each other.

“Total serial killer behavior,” Jenny says.

“Serial killer,” says Mel, “and cannibal behavior.”

“Harsh!” Jenny comments.

“I tell it like it is,” Mel says, shrugging.

“My son will find me eventually,” Constantine says as Mel and Jenny walk past him. “Hopefully before Atlas.”

“Keep your eyes suuuuuuper wide open!” Jenny calls back, and then she pats Mel’s arm. Mel thinks back.

“One could even say?” he tries.

“Hm? Oh.” Jenny droops a little. Her ponytail falls over her shoulder. “No, one couldn’t say. Or maybe one could say, but apparently, I couldn’t say it.”

“You were so rudely interrupted,” Mel agrees, patting her arm. “I’m sorry, Jenny.”

“It’s okay.” Jenny helps him round another bend. “I mean, there are other things to do here. Maybe the pumpkins will give me bravery.”

“Oh, yes!” Mel had forgotten that the patch would have purchasable pumpkins. Perhaps primarily, per pumpkin patch particularization.

“And look,” Jenny says, pulling Mel out into the field proper again. “We made it! No thanks to your running off, of course.”

“What would I do if you weren’t there to—what do you British people say? Get me out of scrapes?”

Jenny does not reply, which Mel is at first worried at, but then he looks over and sees she is busy staring lovingly at him. He lets her do it for as long as she wants, and even does it a little back, at least until he trips over a pumpkin and interrupts whatever she was about to say.

“Hey!” It’s Eliza again. She’s in a booth, of all things, with a sign for various confections and a pair of guys struggling with a cotton candy machine behind her. Red and Avner, judging by the ostentatious hair. “You break it, you buy it!”

“We’re working on buying it!” Jenny yells back, before bending down to inspect the kicked pumpkin. Mel bends down, too, though he’s not really sure what he’d do with it. It looks like a pumpkin. No corsage or bow tie, Mel notes approvingly. Actually, he’s not opposed to dressing it up—maybe with some felt bunny ears, and a little pom-pom for a tail… 

He’s about to ask Jenny for her opinion on a possible pumpkin craft night, maybe on Tuesday night when they’re both not stuck at the shop, but when he looks up she is concentrating very hard on something.

“Jenny?” he asks, gently.

“Sorry,” she says. “Just—formulating things. In my mind.”

“Is it the pies?” he asks, hefting two pumpkins into his arms. “I think these are very good, by the way.”

“Oh? Oh, sure.” Jenny takes one, and also one of Mel’s totes. She brings them over to the booth, where Red and Avner continue to do something to the cotton candy machine—possibly fixing it, but if so not very successfully. Red flings a pouf of cotton candy floss at Avner, who ducks it and then catches it with one hand. Eliza sets Mel’s pumpkins on a scale, which seems like a funny way to value them. Mel picked them for roundness.

“Do you all work here?” he asks, as Jenny counts out change.

“Well,” Eliza says, “I work here. Those two get paid to flirt.”

“This is extremely important work,” Avner gets out, ducking another pouf and barely catching the next in his mouth. “We’re—cleaning out the machine—”

“Send the next one to me, then,” Eliza says, and in the middle of counting Jenny’s cash she turns her head and bites it clean out of the air. Mel applauds quietly. Jenny reaches for his arm, and he gives her a reassuring pat, just in case.

When they make it back to their bus stop, tote bags in tow, Jenny is quiet again. Mel waits patiently for her, watching: the way her curls spiral together and apart in the inconsistent wind, the way the traffic lights reflect in the corner of her dark eyes, the set of her unconscious pout. She takes a deep breath, and the set of her shoulders changes, pulling together and then apart again.

“Jenny,” he says—she looks up, alarmed—“I have something important to tell you.”

“Me too!” she says. “But—no, you go first.”

“Oh,” Mel says. “Well, thank you. The important thing is that: I love you very much.”

Jenny blinks at him. She sits up very straight. “But, Mel—that’s what I was going to say!”

“It is not. Oh,” says Mel, thinking again, “is that what you’ve been trying to say all day? Well, sure, then. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t steal my idea. But I’m glad we agree,” he says, patting her arm, as Jenny buries her head in her hands. “Oh. Jenny?”

“Yes?” she says, her voice muffled. The bus huffs obediently down the street, pausing at the intersection ahead of them for the stoplight.

“Can we dress our pumpkins when we get home?”

Jenny looks up at Mel. She gives him a silly, pretty little smile.

“Yes,” she says, “of course,” and she kisses him before hauling up the tote bag on one arm and stepping up onto the bus. Mel pauses—just to admire the view—before following her in, looking forward to pumpkin crafts and even more beyond.

[no-vamos]

I’ve reached the part of the crush where I’m being deprived of his presence

Our choir teacher rearranged the room so now he and I aren’t sitting across from each other and I’m like actually really sad. It’s the only time I really get to interact with him

Arghhhh

Ah yes I really like the idea of you - I think

I can’t fucking talk to you bc we don’t have any classes together except for the one where I still can’t actually talk to you in

ALSO omg so I think my Instagram algorithm fucking hates me and is fueling my delusion so much bc I got a video that was like “oh this person watches you all the time and is waiting for you to make the first move but they’re just waiting for the right time for them to make a move and they’re like actually your soulmate and yadda yadda yadda” and now I’m like aljdkaokenak bc delusion I like can’t

I’m actually so sad he’s in the class below me it’s not fucking fair

I just

The insta algorithm is reallly fueling the delusion rn like I can’t exaggerate this

All the videos being like “if I got a bf now we could be having pumpkin dates in October and matching Christmas pjs” and dear god I yearn for it

I want to get to know him better but also the crush is soooooo hard I like

Also I don’t want to be like

Body shaming I really don’t want to be doing that

But it’s kinda interesting how physically attracted I still am to him despite the fact he’s… skinnier than what I usually like? Does that make sense? I like a bit more meat on the bones lmao but he’s also

A 17 year old teenage boy

And a runner

He will gain definition

But his hair is sooooo pretty and his eyes are soooo pretty and he’s just so aesthetic in the sense that his cheekbones are actually insane

He’s also like the human incarnation of a cocker spaniel it’s so cute I can’t

I miss him and I don’t even have him

[juneandnick]

5x05 : Fairytale (My POV)

Lily explains to June, Luke and Moira: Our friendly is right there in No Man's Land but he cannot get across. Canadian Border Patrol's really stepped up. Luke surprises everybody saying: I am going across. June looks at him and shakes her head worriedly but he insists. Then she seems to be looking at him with wonderment and declares: I am going with you. Which does not seem to enchant Moira.

After S4E10, I think we all wanted to see more of the badass couple what are June and Nick. Especially after this powerful kiss in the woods in front of Fred. But it seems, the writers tried something with June and Luke. The idea is less appealing.

As night falls, June begins to have flashbacks, remembering the day she ran into the forest with Hannah to escape the Gilead guardians. It seems like last time, they have nothing to defend themselves. It is as if they had learned nothing.

In the early morning, still in the forest, June and Luke meet a guardian and follow him to his hideout: A bowling alley. They exchange backpacks and talk about plums. We learn that they are like princesses. Subtle wink to the episode's title.

Surreal scene: Luke and the young guardian enjoy bowling. Which worries June since the two men are not discreet. I do not know how old is Jayden. But is he supposed to be the same age when Nick was "recruited" by Sons of Jacob (SOJ)?

What is wrong with Luke? Lily told them: No name. Names are dangerous. This guy does not listen to anything. Although I agree that Jayden seems harmless but the instructions were clear. For safety, no name. Is it too complicated?

Luke sits at the keyboard, he tries first Yankee Doodle, then O Susanna before Let's Stay Together. A statement to June: Loving you. Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad. Could this be some sort of reminder of wedding vows? It is true that the lyrics were written by Al Green, a pastor. But it reminds me: For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ...

Maybe it is also a parallel with S4E06, when in a flashback Luke tries to reassure June: You are not gonna disappoint me. I will just love whoever you turn out to be.

June is through by a kaleidoscope of emotions and feelings. But I notice something, when he sings the line: And I want to spend my life with you. She lowers the eyes and her head. She does not really seem to share the same feeling. And she seems to feel guilty. That is when Luke gets up and invites her to dance.

Interesting fact about the Christmas lights thanks to Resistancerising56.

Hand in hand, in the middle of the night, June and Luke follow Jayden into the woods which brings them closer to the border. Unfortunately, the latter steps on a mine and loses his leg. If they try to help the young man, June and Luke abandon him when guardians approach. They run but they get caught…

Elisabeth Moss says: I think there was a period where June was not the June that Luke married. They do not reconnect like they were in the past. They connect again in the present. The worst is to hear Moira saying to Lily: June and Luke do not quit. Through all the shit they have been through, they just keep fighting for each other.

I find it surprising that they found the need to show us footage of June and Nick at the end of the video below. Except they cannot ignore what the fans really want.

In a prediction, NickJuneSource had guessed perfectly a part of the story:

We think it is possible that June and Luke will briefly reconnect and have a few charmed moments, possibly because Luke is becoming braver and being more rebellious. But fairytales are not real and so reality will come crashing down.

Call me crazy lol. Here are the ingredients of a fairytale in this episode and not only.

- A forest: Which June and Luke across,

- A house / A hiding place: The bowling alley,

- One or more villains: People working for Wheelers, the protesters in Canada,

- Songs: Luke at the piano,

- Characters rarely have names: Lily said No name. Names are dangerous,

- The transition from child to adult: With Hannah who is now a plum,

- Magic items: Could it be the USB key?

- A witch: Serena,

- A fairy: Holly is in Canada with Rita who is her godmother,

- The innocence: Jayden,

- Above the counter where they rented the shoes we can read: "Kingsway Family",

- A castle where terror reigns: Where June and Luke will be detained in S5E06,

- A Prince Charming: Nick who kisses his Sleeping Beauty in S5E10.

Music by Adam Taylor

- June Remembers Hannah ❤️

- Captive Children ❤️

Source Pictures: Screenshots (by me)

[saveourskinship]

15 Questions/15 People

Rules: answer these 15 questions and tag 15 people

Unrules: I don’t actually know 15 people. So I’m not gonna do that. I also might not actually answer the questions but just ramble instead.

Thanks for the tag @akorah  I’m procrastinating so this is perfect.

1. Are you named after anyone? Names are so weird, aren’t they? We don’t get to pick them and they just hang around for the entirety of your life and if you decide you want to change it for any reason there is so much PAPERWORK. I am partially named after someone who no longer knows who I am or even who they are half the time. 2. When was the last time you cried? Today because I accidentally created a painting spirit by being too in love with someone and then had to abandon said love to hunt the painting spirit down (it kept putting people into comas). The spirit trapped me and my love in a mirage and tried to burn us alive but my love saved me but he remained stuck inside the mirage for three whole years. We finally reunited at the Festival of Lanterns and it was beautiful. Tears of Themis is wild y’all. 

3. Do you have kids? No, I live in a tiny apartment. If I ever own a cottage though, I will buy a couple to eat the brambles around my hedge-witch lawn.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? I used sarcasm to type that question. So no, of course not.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? If their eyes match their expression. Followed by where their centre of gravity is.

6. What’s your eye colour? Line 1, Verse 2 of Christmas Day by Dido.

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Is this boiling down to Marlon Wayans versus Damon Wayans Jr? I’ve definitely seen Scary Movie’s more often but have been thinking I should give Happy Endings another go.

8. Any special talents? I can put my leg behind my head and can glide down a flight of stairs absolutely beautifully. Not at the same time though.

9. Where were you born? In a hospital room with ten very disappointed training doctors who all thought I was going to be what they called an ‘abnormal’ birth. They were rather put out I came out ‘normal’. If they’d just waited twenty or so years...

10. What are your hobbies? Writing, reading, board games, video games, tabletop rpgs, assassinations, lying to people on the internet about how dangerous I am.

11. Do you have any pets? There is a cat which resides in my house but I live in fear she will get offended if I call her a pet. 

12. What sports do you play/have you played? That is a very long list and I don’t find it terribly fascinating. I would like to invent a sport, but... owning a team is weird, too, isn’t it? Like, owning people who run and jump and get concussions for you? You take their best years and they earn you money? It’s all very crossroads/brimstone vibes, huh. But if I HAD to invent a sport, I think I would combine the Running Man name-tag rip off game with handball except you have to play in bare feet tand the scoring area is covered in acupuncture mats (the goalies are allowed shoes).

13. How tall are you? 1 cat and 78 dice ranging from d4 to d20 in varying sizes. I tried doing dice only but the cat wasn’t having it.

14. Favourite subject in school? This does not specify which school so it’s a toss up between Look After The Penguin Chicks from pirmary and Sex and Sensuality from university. 

15. Dream job? The job I have most often in my dreams is being a pirate captain but my boat only sails through wheat fields. The hull (for whatever reason) is made out of sponge cake so stale is has turned rock hard, however whenever I try to sail my ship in water, the sponge cake softens and my ship begins breaking apart.

Tagging @they-call-me-megs 

[saitama-division]

ARB Birthday Special 2022: Kureha Koizumi

~~ December 25th ~~

“Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be.”

Login Lines:

“Hm? A…present? Thanks I guess…but uh, you didn’t have to especially…since I didn’t get you anything…”

“….Eh? My birthday?….Oh right, today’s my birthday, I really need to keep up with the time.”

Voice Lines:

“To think that my birthday would come around again so quickly, maybe I should be paying more attention to the time.”

“They say that once you pass the threshold into ‘adulthood’, everything changes….they lied, I feel just the same as I was last year except more exhausted, I guess the only difference is that now I can ‘legally’ drink alcohol….but that’s not really much of a perk when you don’t drink.”

“I spent a good two hours thanking everyone who wished me a happy birthday on my art forums, my fingers are cramped…”

“Having your birthday on Christmas is kinda a blessing and a curse, on one hand, everyone’s too occupied with the Christmas festivities but on the other hand those that do remember your birthday tend to go overboard to compensate, I only have so much room in my apartment.”

“A long time ago, I didn’t think I would live to even think about my 20s let alone actually getting to live them, I want to happy and don’t get me wrong, I am….but I still can’t help but feel guilty, I keep wondering what he would look like now, probably much happier…without me.”

“Sayaka, you really don’t have to get me anything, you’ve done more than enough for me than I could ever imagine….*sigh* Right you are, sorry, you’d think that I’d be used to it but I still can’t help but get embarrassed whenever I feel…pampered. Nevermind that, I’m curious what you got me.”

“Wow…Mom, these are so…cute, of course I like them! It’s just…I don’t know, sometimes it doesn’t feel real, sometimes it’s hard to believe that someone as kind and loving and…bright as you is my mother, adoptive or not and I just…sometimes I just feel like I’m not worthy….thank you, Mom, I love you too.”

“Oh for the love of….*sighs* Okay, okay, I know better than to try and refuse you of anything, Lola, if our trip to the hospital has made me learn anything. Don’t try to deny it, I have it all on video and I will post it to PROFILE if you try anything, whatever, so judging by your maniac grin, you got something for me, what is it?”

“What the-?! Where did you get this?! Hold on-How did you know that I play guitar? I haven’t told any-….*sighs* Of course she did, and Sayaka wonders why I don’t share things with her as much as I used to….well, thanks, Lola, this is really nice, especially compared to last year’s ‘gift’ if you can even call it that….yeah, hell no, I’m not ready to out myself just yet.”

“Hey kitty. *chuckles* It’s good to see you too…Hm? What do you got there?”

“E-eh?! Kazu, how-?! When-?! Is..is this your way of saying happy birthday to me?!”

Sayaka Lines:

“Kureha!! Happy Birthday, sweetheart! And Merry Christmas! I can’t believe you’re 21! You’ve always been so independent but now you’re a legal adult but just know, you’ll always be my little girl to me, no matter how old you get! Oh! I almost forgot, here’s your present!…Kureha, dear, we’ve been over this time and time again, I am your mother, you are my daughter, special occasion or not, I am going to spoil you and take care of you because I want to, I do it out of love, not obligation…it’s okay, honey, now open your present!”

“Do you like it? To be honest, I was having trouble figuring out what would be a good gift to give you, I wanted to give you something that you can use but Lola said to also give you something pretty and when I went shopping, I saw these bracelets and I immediately just knew….Oh Kureha, dear, you are more than worthy, I can’t even imagine my life without you, if there’s anyone who feels unworthy, it’s me, you’re such a wonderful and beautiful and talented young woman that I can’t believe that I call you my daughter, but I do and I’m glad, I knew, ever since that day we locked eyes in that hospital, that you would become so dear to me, just like I’ve become so dear to you, Kureha Koizumi, my daughter, I love you so much.”

Lola Lines:

“Merry Birthmas, my darling ray of sunshine! Look at you, so beautiful and perfect, I could just cry!….But I don’t want to ruin my mascara so I’ll just hug you instead, c’mere!…Hm? What do you mean? C’mon, sweetness, it wasn’t that bad! It was just-…*sigh* Alright fine, I see Santa’s given you more of a backbone this year, but onto more important matters, presents! I’ve got mine right here! C’mon, c’mon, open it!”

“Ahaha! That’s right! I got you a guitar! Ah! Ah! Don’t ask for the details, just bask it in and enjoy it!…Oh? You should know by know, darling, that whatever you tell Sayaka will always come back around to me, I love the girl but she’s not exactly as confidential as she hopes to me, especially when it comes to her cutie of a daughter!…Hehe, now that I know about your secret hobby, how about a private show? Just for me?”

Bonus! Kazu Lines:

“Meow, purrrrr~ mew.”

“Mreow, purrrrrrr~”

[adultswim2021]

Tim & Eric Nite Live #5: “Husks of Ginger” | December 4, 2007 - 10:00PM | S01E05

This is a really great one! It flies by real fast, and it only has a few segments. This one has an okay opening bit where Tim & Eric struggle to prove that the show is live. In the scuffle, they briefly bring a caller up on Skype to try and help. They refer to her with male pronouns out of habit, because their fanbase was vastly male and usually that’s who called in. Coincidentally, this person called in recently to Tim’s Office Hours program. I wonder if there were other Nite Live callers who’ve called into Office Hours? If only there were an easy way to track this. It just so happens I’m a pretty frequent Office Hours listener and this happened to be the first Nite Live I watched since it was put in my head to look out for her.

Tim & Eric’s first guest is the contrite gentleman Emanuel Melly, played by Will Forte. He’s an accomplished gingerbread house builder. Things take a turn for the worse when Night Live producer Jon Mugar brings in one of his world-record-smashing houses only to clumsily destroy it with a drop that would make noted talk show host Chevy Chase blush. Emanuel Melly transforms into an enraged banshee, and things escalate quickly in the studio. Tim, Eric, and Emanuel all begin screaming at each other with a scary intensity. Eventually they cut to a wonderful video of Eric holding his cat and Tim playing with a dog, set to this song.

This is one of my favorite bits of all time on the show. Will’s commitment to the bit of being an extremely pissed off person is astounding. At first his anger silently builds and is palpable. His dialogue before exploding is also very funny: Tim instructs a nervously hovering Jon Mugar to step away and Will bitterly says “step away is a good idea. Step away is a really good idea”. And the beauty of this show was that it was indeed live, and Super Deluxe didn’t have the same standards and practices as Adult Swim, so the yelling becomes not only raw and real-feeling but also foul-mouthed. The eventual cut away to the cheery video of Tim and Eric playing with pets is just the best. There are maybe only a handful of more sublime moments than this in television or internet television history, but I can’t think of them right now.

When we come back from break, Tim is gone and various parts of Tim’s suit is just crumpled up on the desk. Just a really brilliant detail, suggesting that things either got more physical or Tim’s tantrum involved taking his suit off or something. Neil Hamburger gets to shine briefly while performing some of his famous night club comedy. Again, the roots of On Cinema are all right here on Tim & Eric Nite Live. Neil’s act is abrasive, and his assertion that an elderly rock star was raping children in ancient Egypt is probably a little too dicey by a lot of people’s standards these days. Personally, I think it’s best to just let 2007 Neil Hamburger cook. 

Neil’s routine involves listing the top music charts, which eventually just devolves into what are clearly Gregg Turkington’s (for the clueless: Gregg is Neil Hamburger’s dad) thrift store finds. Sorta Letterman-esque, except if Larry “Bud” Melman started shouting at him from off-stage in a rogue attempt to derail Mr. Letterman’s caustic wit. In fact, David Liebe Hart begins singing a song about Christmas and positivity and his divinity, our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Neil and DLH go at a little bit. I don’t think this moment was scripted. 

Poor James Quall and Richard Dunn are just along for this crazy ride; they are sometimes cut over to, looking perturbed. The show ends with them all getting out of their seats for another one of DLH’s show-stopping emergency prayers. Emanuel finally forgives Jon, Tim, Eric, and the show for what happened to his house. Neil Hamburger does not forgive, and stokes the flames of hostility even further. The show ends abruptly with Neil screaming at DLH that he’s full of shit. 

Best episode ever? Of any show, I mean?

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: The 1998 Episodes (Volume 4 DVD - December 7, 2007)

We’ll be covering this season real soon, so this is nice timing. 

Released EXCLUSIVELY to the Williams Street shop and now VERY RARE; I bought it way back when and am proud to say I still own it… Uh. I should probably rip it in case that thing’s going rotten. I’m doing it now!

This release might be exceptionally rare in part because it wasn’t heavily promoted, and also because the WIlliams Street website was designed to look sorta crappy on purpose, with gaudy animated gifs. I remember linking friends to it who questioned the authenticity of the site. I’m guessing a lot of people were turned off by the site’s design and it pushed them away from buying it. Too bad! This set is great; it includes the long version of “Warren”, which originally aired in a loop with minor differences between each version. 

There’s also a little behind the scenes clip of Kitties on a blue-screen. I forget which episode this is from. There’s an unfinished episode with Steven Wright, whose footage eventually was reworked into next season’s “Snatch”. Additionally there’s an Easter egg of George Lowe dressed like cowboy Space Ghost from “Rio Ghosto”. It’s the same footage they incorporated into bumpers for the tenth anniversary of Space Ghost. We’ve just passed the 29th anniversary this year. Damn. 

MAIL BAG

Things Tim Heidecker also stole from Sam Hyde: 1) His winning smile 2) His self respect 3) Several legions of his fans who turned their back on him to watch...what else, Brett Gelman 3) millions of dollars 4) A one and one date with Julia Fox after he was going to be cast in a Safdie Brothers movie.

I’m gonna have to stop you there: who is Julia Fox

[blorbocedes]

omg you know i love alternate timeline fics where one of the two wakes up in a parallel dimension in which everything is almost the same, like imagine lewis has a minor accident on the track and then he wakes up in an alternate universe where everything looks the same except for the fact that the 2016 debacle of his and nico's friendship never happened because let's say some other team won the championship that year so he and nico are still best friends… now imagine lewis' shock when he notices how different the relationship that his parallel self has with nico is compared to their actual (nonexistent) relationship in his timeline, and that's how he realises that he must have indeed ended up in a parallel world. he goes along with it of course because he doesn't want to freak nico out and by spending time with parallel nico (which is not so different from his nico after all) he realises just how much he's missed him and that maybe, just maybe, his nico does deserve a second chance and that's why when he manages to wake up in his timeline again he decides that it's time to put aside all the hurt, because if this experience taught him anything is that we get to live once and lewis doesn't want to have any regrets

first of all my dear anonstie, I am absolutely OBSESSED with you starting this off with "you know I love..." 😭😭😭 like yes I do know what you love we have been married for 6 years, we need to remodel the kitchen im thinking sea green tiles and gold handles

secondly... I LOVE a reconciliation au. Naur...... ok. im obsessed with lewis making the first move 😭 because well, irl nico Has made them (he followed lewis on ig right after 2016! he made little videos and tweeted/wished him every time he won a WDC) i also get mad when The Narrative implies only nico needs to apologize so im obsessed with this......

merc flop era truly the 🔑 to sustaining friendships naur 😮‍💨 but the thought of Lewis in the parallel universe having to be normal friends with Nico and realising how Easy it is and how right it feels without all that friction 😭😭😭 and Lewis missing him...... the devil you know truly hit diff 🤍 everyone deserves a second chance... even your war criminal wife bestie..... lewis come back <3

I think it would actually be a very A Christmas Carol-esque character development moment for Lewis and making the first step to rekindle in this universe's Nico would actually be a part of the healing in the peace love good vibrations he's trying to embody..... so I love it. thank you anon. im going to lie down and think about this. Your MIND....... I am in awe...... remember to check the catalogs for our kitchen remodelling <3

[amewinterswriting]

15 Mutuals, 15 (+ bonus) Questions

Tagged by @space-cadead. I'm woefully out of the loop with how active most of my mutuals are, so if you see this, it's an open invitation to participate yourself!

Questions after read more for the sake of everyone's dashboard:

1. Are you named after anyone?

Both my given and middle name are for my maternal great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. However, the name I find more interesting is what I wasn't named. See, my grandad loved the name Vincent. Even had it tattooed on him, and would have named his first-born son Vincent. Except he had two daughters. So he made my mum promise that if she had a son, she would name him Vincent...and I didn't come with a bio penis so I got a more feminine name instead. Given that I'm determined the family line dies with me, I don't think my grandad will be getting his 'descendant called Vincent' wish fulfilled, unless he doesn't mind a fictional Vincent in a future writing project? A book is kinda like a baby, right?

2. When was the last time you cried?

Probably December? Working retail at Christmas is really rough anywhere, but at a toy shop, it's very high pressure.

3. Do you have kids?

One very beloved tuxedo cat who is very happy to be an only child with no human siblings.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

No, absolutely never. Not one single time in my whole life have I ever been sarcastic and sassy and I certainly don't have an entire t-shirt that claims that sarcasm is my second language. /s

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Any major difference that they have that's 'unusual' compared to most people. I'm very faceblind so I tend to use things like hairstyle, clothing choices or voice to reliably recognise people...though most people can and will change those things on a regular basis. Personally, I love more outlandish styles and hair colours - it makes life much easier for me!

6. What’s your eye color?

Green/brown

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings, but make them work for it.

8. Any special talents?

I don't really feel like I have a particular talent for anything. I have plenty of creative hobbies, but I feel like anything I can make is the result of lots of mistakes and practice and research. But I'm willing to try my hand at lots of things: resin craft, pixel art, photography, lampwork (glass), papercraft, sound mixing, video editing...I'm very much the jack of all trades. The difficulty is staying with something long enough to finish a larger project.

9. Where were you born?

Rural Wales. If you point out any castles, standing stones or ruined abbeys within a hundred miles or so, I've probably been there!

10. What are your hobbies?

Naturally writing, and all the aforementioned creative hobbies, but also gaming. Big fan of interesting narratives and puzzle-based games.

11. Have you any pets?

My problem child, Blackadder the cat, who is both very smart and very silly, so I think he lives up to his name well.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I am very much not a sportsperson. In school, we were forced to play hockey and netball, but that was more years ago than I really want to admit...

13. How tall are you?

Somewhere a little taller than 150cm but not by that much.

14. Favorite subject in school?

I had an amazing Sociology teacher who loved challenging our expectations and showing us new cultures as best he could in a very rural Welsh school. His passion was truly infectious and I sincerely hope he's having an amazing life, wherever he is now.

15. Dream job?

Independently published (and moderately to wildly successful) author who is somehow entirely anonymous outside of their body of work.

16. Do you prefer owls, capybaras, or flamingos? 

There are so many different species of owls that I'm going to go owls. There are tiny little Burrowing owls, huge European owls, or the silent graceful Barn owls we're more likely to see in the wild near me.

17. What is your favorite soup?

Maybe not technically a soup, but I make a damn good chilli chicken ramen if I do say so myself!

18. What is your favorite…rock (idfk)?

Blue John is a very particular mineral found close to some of my family members and when it's cut and polished it's got a very beautiful blue/purple crystal structure. I've been down a lot of the different mines where it has been found, so I have a bit of an appreciation of the history and how the discovery and sale of it has influenced the local area for the better.

19. Choose a familiar: 1) very dumb, very loving disobedient dog. He loves you but will never listen to you ever 2) a raven that speaks but it only ever shrieks the name of various fast food restaurants 3) a toad that screams like a teenage boy instead of croaks

Raven. I can never decide on what to eat, and I feel like this would be a lot easier if someone just shouted the answer at me.

20. Which planet do you feel like would be kind of an asshole if you met them? 

Jupiter. Why have you got so many moons, huh? Why do we only get the one? Ours is lonely, I think she needs a girlfriend. I think at least one of Jupiter's moons would be happier over here.

21. if you were a worm would you love me? this worm question courtesy of ✨ @/legiomiam✨

No, but only because I think I would be beyond the capacity for emotions more complex than 'this dirt is so moist and delicious, this is amazing'.

22. Least favorite type of clothing?

High heels. I never learnt to walk in them, and I care about my comfort too much to want to learn now!

23. You are now in a horror movie—so sorry. Chance of survival?

On the one hand, I'm an anxious mess who can't handle watching many horror movies. On the other hand, I do cope with IRL crises well at the time and then panic later. And I am handy with power tools. So I think I'll just manage to survive the worst, manage to hunker down with any other survivors and just when I think we're safe and I'm distracted, that's when the horrors will get me.

24. Would you rather: the ability to instantly grow a perfect mustache, or ability to talk to vegetables?

Moustache. Take my 'what is gender?' vibes to the next level. And I'm tired of shaving my pathetic little wispy one away. I don't mind the facial hair, I mind that it's patchy and inconsistent!

25. What do you think of whales?

They're just chilling out in the ocean in their family groups and singing long-distance conversations with each other and I think we could learn a lot from that.

[interroughbang]

Video Games and Gender

My first Christmas owning a console—a pink Nintendo DS Lite—I got a couple of game cartridges. Having only been on the sidelines of gaming, playing only at friends’ houses and seeing all sorts of cool games with magic combat, cool graphics, giant motorcycles and guns, I was hyped to say the least.

I got three games that Christmas: Moshi Monsters Moshling Zoo, Moshi Monsters Theme Park, and Chess for Kids. Cue immediate deflation. Why did I get the girl version of a monster collecting game? Moshi Monsters was an often girl-marketed game as far as I understood it. Games were toys, marketed with gender in mind just as often. It didn’t help that I also got one of those game t-shirts from the girls’ section—Pikachu was on it (wahoo!) but only along with a smattering of hearts and sparkles on pink. The “girl” stuff always had to be different. Even while playing the chess game, the UI needed to know whether I was male or female. That wasn’t my parents’ fault—nonetheless, I felt a bit boxed in.

Why was it so important to have a defined gender in these games? Why did the game often get to choose for me? Why did only types of games allow you to play as a girl (or have it as the only option) while some genres were entirely male player-characters (PCs hereafter)?

When I went over to my friend Derek’s house, I could see a world of games entirely different from mine. First off, there was the violence, always coming from male characters. I don’t think I actually ever saw a gender selection screen on any of his games, unless counting the rosters of fighters like Dragon Ball. We had Minecraft and Fossil Fighters in common of our personal game collections, and Fossil Fighters didn’t have a gender selection. Instead, you would choose your favorite dinosaur and get an outfit of its color scheme. You could be pink if you liked the Maiasaurus. Just not a girl. Fossil fighting was for boys, though ironically two other main characters and fighters are young women. (This was fixed in the second game).

There is a strange limitation in effect of many video games. Nowadays, there’s of course more variety—many games, especially role-playing games (RPGs) will offer a character creation bit or a vague gendered selection. Indie games are excellent with this, often taking care to even offer small bits like pronoun preference.

Many games do not have any choice at all, though, except maybe for name. Especially with earlier games in the 80s and 90s, you’d play as a set character or not play at all. And those characters were nearly unanimously men. Exceptions to the rule would usually be games where you could only play as a woman, which included things like Barbie. The content and genre of the games would vary widely based on the gender demographic. PCs were only men in shooter games or things like Grand Theft Auto. Games on average were more focused on adventure, yet had potential to branch out a lot. Boys could play in any sort of story. Except the Barbie games.  Barbie games were Barbie games, and you could only be a blonde woman buying heels and calling her boyfriend. This was dating back to the times of the Commodore 64.

The concepts of video game adventures are generally pretty gender neutral. They end up supporting some stifling roles in limiting their adventures to male PCs when there is no reason to. Individual characters (like Ness of Earthbound, or Lara Croft of Tomb Raider) are a different case, as they place you into a single place rather than you being a random insertion into a universe. After a while, though, when you only hold an assault rifle in the hands of a male character and care for animals in that of a female character, there are implicit lines being drawn. Violence is for men. Caring is for women. Women play one role, men another. Binary, exclusive distinctions in the gender roles of characters are damaging, even if you might not take it to heart too much.

The binary is enforced in ways ranging from unnecessary to borderline nonsensical in video games. In the latest installments of the Pokémon game series, the character creation only asks “What do you look like?” with presentations of male and female character options, but if you choose a female character you will be referred to as “Mistress [Name]” by the school’s principal, and “Master [name]” if you play a male character. It’s the only difference, aside from visual, in the game from the player character’s appearance. I am also of the opinion that it is weird to call a school-aged person ‘Mistress’. Strange.

Another example from Pokémon (I play a lot of Pokémon) is a niche, still odd example found in a hidden sort of mini-dating sim in the White 2 and Black 2 versions of the game from 2012.  Walking onto certain spots of the map after picking up a lost calling device triggers a series of phone call conversations. The gender and dialogue of the caller change depending whether the PC is a boy or girl. The caller is always the opposite sex: Yancy calls you if you’re a boy, and Curtis calls the girl character. Their dialogue not only differs in their personality…only the men get to talk about themselves! I’m not kidding. Though you can’t read any dialogue from the PC during the calls, if you’re a boy, Yancy only responds to what you say, barely (if ever) saying anything from herself. Curtis will talk your ear off.

Here’s examples of the differences between the same conversations, with the different callers:

Yancy:

Curtis:

It is as insufferable to play as it is to read. Though it’s silly looking, it still supports a standard of men always taking the initiative, and women being receptive conversation partners and always going off of or listening more to what the man is saying. There isn’t even a reason to really have this difference, as since the player has no dialogue options to choose, they can’t really talk about themselves. I wanted to hear Yancy’s favorite type of music too, but all she says is “I like music too!”. Horrible.

These kinds of arbitrary limits and differences are all over the place in games, and though they seem unserious sometimes at face value, they quietly (…or less quietly) reinforce “dos” and “donts” for players based on their gender. In Fire Emblem, only males can axe-wield until the fourteenth installment of the games. Men can’t be Pegasus Knights because they are considered too provocative for the skittish creatures…while literally all women are calm enough, apparently.

There are always arguments of gender differences in games being ‘realistic’, contributing to the suspension of disbelief in gameplay by anchoring mechanics to real world truths. The key takeaway I want you to have from reading this is that not a single gender difference is absolute in this world. Not a single one. There are trends—many people raise their children in separate ways, subtly or unsubtly, based on their assigned sex—in cultures, eras, geographical location, the list goes on. Nonetheless there always exist people outside of the standard. The standards of gendered behavior and general constitution are shaky at best, and fictitious at worst. Women are not inherently more receptive or docile, they are raised to be, so some may have more of that sort of personality by virtue of any sort of influence or personal disposition. They can also be literally anything else. Liking pink or blue, guns or glitter, pegasi or dinosaurs or whatever aren’t wired into anyone’s chromosomes, and neither are their personality traits for the most part.  

The prevalence of these sort of tropes create an uncomfortable environment for many gamers that aren’t men that fit the bill of the expected audience. Men may not care as much that men and women’s stats have opposite strength profiles in Fire Emblem for the most part. A female player would likely not want to play games where she is at a set disadvantage solely for picking the character with eyelashes, or where choices are limited based on that initial character choice. Many people enjoy immersion in games, and when that immersion mimics and reinforces real life sexism, video games become understandably less attractive. If the only women in a game are sex objects, it’s not really as fun anymore to play as a woman, knowing that’s the place of women in the world of the game.

Unfortunately, these strange standards are mirrored onto playerbases quite often. Especially with chronically online gaming folks, the separation of the functions and abilities of men and women gets downright absurd, and can reinforce already prevalent misogynistic stereotypes. And with all that, some come to think: what women would even want to play games then?

Aren’t these just a dude thing?

And so the cycle continues.

People of all genders and backgrounds have infinite potential, on and offscreen. When games refuse to represent that--or worse, refuse its possibility outright by their mechanics--they perpetuate the cycle of restricting peoples lives by arbitrary elements of their identity.