#also is it accurate to call it a time loop. idk what else to call it. but like what was happening to soldier like the convo with demoman a

[the-meme-monarch]

ok sorry i didn’t go insane over emesis blue like i thought I would but it is making me scared irl now. i can’t turn over in bed bc what if there’s a severed head positioned like it’s peaking around the doorframe. what if i look over and The Butcher is there

[sanstropfremir]

TOHO SPIRITED AWAY?? PLS GIVE ME THE DEETS

oh it was soooooooooo good i'm so happy i got a chance to see it!!! gorgeous design all around, there was no standout elements bc everything fit so well together. all the spirits + magical elements were done with traditional (japanese and western) style puppetry, so everything was articulated and manipulated by an operator, which had this really wonderful almost youth theatre vibe. a lot of times with shows that involve puppets, they'll try to make the puppets as advanced as possible to not make them 'childish' (see: war horse), but for something that's based heavily in folklore and IS a children's story, to me the only logical sense is to emphasize that particular angle. the puppets were also incredible, very well made and sooo accurate to the movie??? like impressively accurate. my faves were probably kamaji and haku? kamaji's six extra arms were each operated by a separate person who had one hand operating the elbow and one hand as the actual hand, so all eight hands were able to do everything, which mean there was some REALLY incredible choreography of just. all the stuff that he was doing, but also when he got up and walked it was soooooooo cool. and haku!!! he had two puppets actually, one 'full size' that was a big long foam articulated body that took i think four puppeteers, and there was a tiny haku that they used for the flying scenes that was basically just a little head and a ....idk what the actual technical term is but it was basically just a wind sock as the body on a big long pole so the puppeteer could essentially move him like you would a big ribbon! the scene were he first transforms and flies off was sooo pretty, the actor haku did a lil setup to a GORGEOUS spinning jump and when he landed he ducked down behind some of the chorus members and as he disappeared the tiny ribbon haku shot up from the same spot and started looping around.......... actual magic. also wow the actor playing haku was so pretty. and very tall. which i did not notice until the very end. i would not be suprised if he had ballet training bc tall and he had the ballet dancer chin/head posture. also the actor playing lin (also doublecast as chihiro's mom) was crazy hot. just so unbelievably hot. anyways. speaking of casting: noface as a popping dancer. UNREAL and incredible galaxy brained choice. he had a solo while they did a set change and WOW. spooky and gorgeous and also weirdly welcoming? really excellent job of embodying a sympathetic physicality that made it understandable why chihiro would let him in to the bath house in the first place. also for the curtain call he put the mask on the back of his head and literally did the bows backwards. insane. my ONLY complaint is that i didn't love noface's giant form, but that's mostly because years and years ago i saw a (different) puppet show with a grim reaper character that was very similar to giant noface (the telescoping neck + large body) and i literally thought at the time 'if you were going to do puppet noface that is exactly how you should do it', so 1) expectations 2) i'm pretty sure that version was done using quite a sophisticated extending mechanism, which would be antithetical to the rest of the puppets in the show, and 3) this giant noface was VERY big (probably at least 10-15 feet across? he was at least eight puppeteers with the original actor as the mask) so the logistics would not have worked. regardless. it is a very small complaint that literally no one else would have had unless they had seen the same show that i did in like. 2015. costumes were all unreal, the set was phenomenal; it actually took me WELL over an hour to figure out that the set literally stayed the same the entire time, it was just being rotated (it was on a turntable) and redressed + had a couple balconies flown in. also live orchestra?? in the set??????? i didnt even know they were THERE they had them behind a scrim on an upper level platform in the back and they pulled it up for curtain call and there was like. 15 ppl sitting back there????

ok but if i had to pick ONE thing that was my favourite, it would be that ALL the living things were played by someone alive. i know that sounds obvious, especialy for like. the dancing vases and the frog and the soot sprites, but even the PLANTS were puppets in their own way. like the hydrangea bushes that chihiro hides in at the beginning and the flower field that she and haku run through were done with chorus members wearing these beautiful flower head/chest/arm pieces. even the stone guardians at the tunnel at the beginning of the play were actors. it really underscored the magic of everything to have all the life be actually alive.

[dirtgrub]

tagged by the absolutely lovely @co-captens, thank you!! Rules: Fill it out and tag 5 some people.

Tagging: @phantombell @blackbeardsemophase @spaceviking @snake-snack-stede if y’all want to, and anyone else who wants to do this you can say i tagged you 

Your Name: toki, they/she

How Many Sugars: for coffee, enough to make it Not taste like coffee. for tea, it depends on the kind of tea. 

Character(s) You Relate To Most: Ed my beloved. shared trauma etc. 

OTP?- ed/izzy

NOTP?- i mean,,, there are certainly pairings i don’t go out of my way for but none that really bother me

If you were a pirate captain, what would you call your ship?- idk i would be so fucking indecisive i’d probably change the name of it every week 

What position would you have on a pirate ship (bosun, captain, powder monkey, master gunner, surgeon, etc.)- in all honesty i probably would not be on a ship because i get terrible motion sickness. i’d have to stock up on some ye olde dramamine,  but i wouldn’t mind a lucius-type gig 

Favorite OFMD Fics or Arts?- my absolute all time favorite fic is “you are broken now, but faith can heal you” by cunninglinguist on ao3 (s/o to seph for showing it to me btw) it’s a lil bit fucked up tho so mind the tags if u decide to read

Biggest Wish for Season 2?- izzy backstory now now now right now right fucking now 

Favorite Quote: i honestly cannot choose fr, like this isnt a cop out my brain is just a constant loop of ofmd quotes 24/7

Favorite Minor Character: hmm probably spanish jackie or officer hornberry 

Favorite Episode: the ones i re-watch most are 3, 4, 5, 8  

Has OFMD caused you to reevaulate your gender? i mean i guess i kinda always identified as nb in my own way, but seeing jim and seeing vico be so open abt it was really cool.  idk the gender thing is still like (static noise) to me i’m still figuring it out- 

Favorite Cast/Creator Quote or Interview: the c2e2 panel made me absolutely feral i am still reeling. going to see their panel at eccc this weekend and i am literally vibrating screaming crying i am so excited. 

Do cats have knives in their feet? absolutely 

Song that Makes You Think of Stede Bonnet: i have no idea because i... don’t think of stede all that much... :|

Song that Makes You Think of Izzy Hands: joke’s on you i have an entire, hours-long playlist dedicated to songs that remind me of izzy (or ed and izzy, more accurately ig) because i’m, a normal person. a selection: toes - glass animals (it just gives izzy, and also the title? hello) gay thoughts - the growlers  no children - the mountain goats hate yourself - tv girl want you so bad - the vaccines  also izzy listens to creep by radiohead unironically  thank you again for the tag this was fun!!!!

[fruitcoops]

hiii i've just spent the last 36-48 hours reading your works and oh dear do i lOVE your writing and this universe :') . i dont know if you are taking requests but i think it would be kinda interesting (and low key hilarious) if you would write the lions reacting/reading thirst tweets? idk if this is a dumb idea or not but just like some of them reacting to them and going "well i'm actually gay/married so.. no!.. but thank you!"

Part two of the six-month celebration, everyone! Thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who submitted comments--I had over 60 come in, and while I couldn’t include them all, reading them was a true joy. The Lion Pride channel was something I started writing on a whim; I never expected it to grow like this <3 Much love to all of you!

TW for alcohol mentions and thirst tweets (nothing explicit)

“Why do I always fear for my life around you?” Sirius asked as Marlene settled into a cushy chair to the side of their table.

She smiled, catlike, and crossed her legs primly. “Because only Finn appreciates me.”

“That’s just the Aries connection, Cap,” Finn said with a smug grin.

“We’re both Leos, Harzy.”

“Eh, close enough.”

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. “You should probably start asking questions before this devolves further, Marley. He’s gonna keep digging himself a hole and we won’t get anything done.”

Marlene’s smile returned with a vengeance. “That’s where you’re wrong, Loops! We’re not doing any questions at all today.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Read it and weep.” She tossed a small posterboard at him like a frisbee; he caught it, barely, though both Talker and Sirius had to duck out of the way. Marlene faced the camera and winked. “Welcome back to Lion Pride, everyone! Today I’m here with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Thomas Walker, and our wonderful cubs to react to your comments on our videos!”

“Bet you thought we’d never see ‘em, huh?” James asked.

“The comments fall into four categories: thirsty, funny, mean, and sweet. I will be reading two of those groups, and my lovely fiancée will be reading the others because she is the human embodiment of sunshine.”

“If you make Dorcas read the mean ones, I’ll be sad,” Leo laughed.

Marlene gave him a look of disbelief. “You think I’m passing up a chance to roast you guys? Puh-lease. We’re starting off strong with some thirsty, thirsty comments! Loops, you’re up first.”

“This is going to be fun,” Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.

She cleared her throat, then turned a smoldering look on their table. “I didn’t know I had a freckle kink, but then Remus Lupin appeared and now here we are.”

“Oh, shit,” Remus muttered, covering his face with his hands as the others howled with laughter.

“Lupin has been looking sexy as hell on the bench for years now. I'm so glad people are simping over him like he deserves,” Marlene read. “And there’s a little heart emoji, just for you.”

“This is every one of my nightmares come to life,” Remus said, though his voice was muffled by his forearms.

James lifted his glasses to swipe away the tears of mirth that had gathered in his eyes. “Are you kidding? This is everything I have ever wanted.”

“Y’know, it is so good to see people drooling over this hot piece of ass at last,” Finn sighed, reaching over to ruffle Remus’ hair as his face turned bright red.

“One more, and it’s a good one,” Marlene warned. She licked her lips, then had to take a moment to laugh before speaking. “I feel like Remus Lupin is the type of guy to bake you muffins—”

“Accurate,” Leo said.

“—but is also a kinky motherfucker.”

Remus’ mouth dropped open as the table erupted into cheering. Logan pumped both fists in the air and Sirius was laughing so hard no sound came out; Talker sank so low in his chair that only his head and shoulders were visible as he applauded.

“Why do people comment these things?” Remus asked, barely above a whisper. “Holy fuck, I’m engaged!”

“Speaking of…” Marlene raised her eyebrows and Sirius smile drooped.

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes. Buckle up, Cap!” She rolled her shoulders out. “Get someone who looks at you the way Sirius Black looks at a hockey puck.”

Remus snorted; James’ laugh was so short and sharp that it set everyone else off as well. “That sounds like I have a hockey puck fetish!” Sirius complained. “Which is so, so not true!”

Finn made an ‘ehh’ noise, and he leaned around Remus to smack the back of his head. “Hey!”

“Next one!” Marlene announced. “Sirius Black was my bi awakening.”

A beat of silence passed. “Is that it?” Sirius ventured, looking nervous.

“Yep.”

“Aw, man, that one’s lame,” Talker said, shaking his head. “Everyone thinks Cap is a little hot.”

Remus shot him a look. “A little?”

“Fair. Marley, I dare you to find one person who wouldn’t tap that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Me, though that dovetails nicely into the last one for our lovely captain. Ahem. I understand why Remus is with Sirius: he's hot as hell and rich, I'd hit that too.”

“Oh, fuck, you’re right,” Leo gasped. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Finn and Logan turned to him in unison with a mix of disbelief and offense written all over their faces. “Dude.”

“First of all, Leo, you found yourself two hot rich boys,” Remus interrupted. “Second, that comment is forgetting that he’s funny, and smart, and nice, and—”

Seconds after the initial cover, Sirius took his hand off Remus’ mouth as if he’d been burned. “Did you just lick me?”

“Moving on! This is in all caps, so be prepared.” Marlene shuffled through her posterboards and turned to Leo with an ominous smile. He glanced toward the camera in mild fear. “What does a person have to do to get some hockey player ass?! Like why is Leo Knut so fine?!”

“Amen!” Logan called as Leo blushed.

“According to six of the seven people at this table, the answer to that first question is to be a hockey player,” Talker laughed. “The world may never know the answer to the second, sadly.”

“Lily could play hockey,” James said, resting his chin on his hand. Every single one of the others rolled their eyes. “She could! She’d be so good at it, too.”

“We know,” Finn groaned. “You only mention it every other day.”

“Speaking of the lovely Mrs. Potter,” Marlene began with a sly look as she held up a new card. “Do James and Lily Potter need a third? Asking for me specifically.”

James paused, dumbstruck, while the others drummed their hands on the table. “…no?”

A general sigh of disappointment went up. “I was really hoping he’d say yes,” Leo said.

“Ask Lily next time,” Remus recommended.

James turned to him and blinked slowly. “What are you insinuating, Loops?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Don’t worry, James, you’ll like this one,” Marlene assured him. “James Potter is the ultimate dilf.”

“You’re damn right I am!” James whooped. “Vindication, bitches!”

“Marley, what have you done?” Talker whispered. “He’ll never shut up about that, now.”

“Oh, never,” James all but cackled. “I’m officially a dilf, you guys!”

“I hate you,” Sirius groaned.

“Tremzy, are you ready? We’ve got a couple very special ones for you,” Marlene said.

“Anything to get us out of this hell,” Logan begged.

“In that case: Logan Tremblay’s ass is better than Sidney Crosby’s. I said what I said.”

A pleased flush rose to his cheeks as Finn and Leo high-fived over his head. “Really? Thank you!”

“And they would be correct!” Finn announced. “Best ass in the league.”

“Come on,” Remus scoffed, though he was smiling.

Marlene cleared her throat to get their attention. “I don’t think I can legally read this on air without being censored or getting the video taken down, but…”

She turned the board around; all seven of them leaned forward to read it, then slowly looked at Logan, who turned vivid red. “Mon dieu. Is that—someone commented that on a video? Like, for people to see?”

“I feel like I need to bleach my eyes,” Sirius said just as Finn began shaking with silent laughter.

Leo’s face fell. “You wrote that, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Finn wheezed, scooting forward to fist-bump Marlene. “We wanted to see what you guys would say. Fuckin’ hell, your faces.”

“Alright, Talkie, are you ready?” Marlene asked around her laughter. “Seeing Thomas Walker with a baby makes me want to have his babies…please hit me up.”

He held up his index finger and took a second to laugh before responding. “If that’s Noelle, yes. If that’s anyone else, I’m flattered, but absolutely not.”

Logan made a face. “Ew.”

“We have two more,” Marlene warned. “For some very special people that aren’t here today, but I think you’ll like them anyway.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust the look on your face.”

“Daddy Dumo makes me swoon.”

A muddle of horrified noises echoed through the studio as all seven of them cringed. “Oh, my god, that’s my dad!” Logan yelped, covering his ears. Sirius looked vaguely ill and Remus’ shoulders crept toward his ears; James shuddered.

“The worst part is, we all know he can get it,” Finn said with a grimace. “God, I feel like I just heard someone talking about my parents having sex.”

“I’m sure he’ll love to hear that,” Marlene laughed. “Last one, from one of our truth or drinks.”

Remus went pale half a second too late. “N—”

“Hope Lupin is a milf.”

A broken noise escaped his mouth and he clamped his hand over it while Talker rubbed his back in sympathy. Sirius shook his head. “Somehow, that’s worse than Dumo’s.”

“Whoever sent that in, show some respect!” Leo said indignantly as Remus bonked his forehead against the table. “Hope Lupin is a lovely woman!”

“I think they noticed that particular fact,” Marlene pointed out, earning herself several scandalized shouts of her name and a whine from Remus. “That’s all we have for thirst comments! Are you ready for some funny ones?”

“Anything,” Remus pleaded. “I am begging you, anything else.”

Marlene shook her head as she stood, still smiling, and kissed Dorcas on the cheek when she entered the frame. “Go for it, love.”

“Dorcas!” they all cheered, lighting up immediately.

“Hey, guys, it’s been a while!” She curled up in Marlene’s vacant spot and took her own posterboards out from underneath the seat. “Alright, let’s rock and roll. Pascal Dumais is the team dad and nothing will change my mind, and Tremzy is the annoying youngest child.”

“That is so accurate,” Sirius laughed, leaning just out of range of Logan’s playful punch. “Whoever commented that has no idea how right they are.”

“We’ve got a whole sibling dynamic thing going on,” Talker agreed. “Tremzy’s the baby of the family, Cap is the quietly chaotic middle child, and Pots is the older brother that starts shit and inevitably gets blamed for however out-of-control it gets.”

Dorcas nodded. “You are one hundred percent correct. In a similar vein: Pots was the dad jokes friend before he was even a dad.”

“Painfully so,” Leo confirmed, shaking his head as they all groaned in agreement. James looked rather smug about the whole thing. “So many puns.”

“Oh, you’ll like this one,” Dorcas mused as she drew a new card. “If Tremzy looked directly into my eyes for even two seconds, all of my problems would be solved. I am sure of it.”

“Yes,” Finn and Leo said in unison.

“It’s something about the eyes, I think,” James added. “They just stand out so much that it’s a little startling straight-on.”

Logan looked to the camera and stared at it, unblinking; it zoomed in slightly on his face. “Everything will be fine,” he said with mock solemnity. “Your problems are solved.”

“Well, that was terrifying,” Sirius said drily. “Got any more for us, Ms. Meadowes?”

“Of course I do! We’ve got quite a few for Loops and Leo.” She took a sip of her water before getting comfortable again. “My favorite thing about these videos is that we can all see Loops get steadily buffer as the season goes on. Good for you, king!”

“Flex! Flex! Flex!” the six of them chanted; Remus rolled his eyes, but slid his sweater sleeve to his elbow and flexed his forearm, resulting in enough hoots and hollers that they could probably be heard a block away. Talker fake-swooned into Leo’s arms and Remus lightly whacked him on the shoulder.

“Remus Lupin looks like he has squishable cheeks,” Dorcas read aloud.

“He does!” James cooed, scooting over and reaching out.

Remus narrowed his eyes. “I swear to god I’ll bite you.”

Sirius cupped his face between his palms and kissed his nose, then pinched both his cheeks gently. “Ta-da!”

“How many of these do we have?” Remus asked, though his voice was a bit muffled by Sirius’ hands.

“Just one more for you, and it’s my personal favorite.” Dorcas assured him. “I love how the team probably had no impulse control until Loops joined.”

Sirius let go of his face and dissolved into laughter as Finn nearly fell on the floor. “Oh my—you think he has impulse control?” Talker slapped the edge of the table as he shook his head. “Absolutely not. Hell no, Loops is the first person to do stupid shit with us.”

“Yeah, I just don’t get caught,” Remus added around his own laughter. “Everyone thinks I’m such a hardass goody-two-shoes and it lets me get away with so much more than you delinquents.”

“Speaking of delinquents,” Dorcas continued. “This one is from our ‘Taste Testing Sexy Alcohol’ video: ah, yes, now I know how to do a body shot. 10/10, very educational video.”

“Do not take educational advice from us,” Finn blurted instantly. “I know this is a joke, but please exercise caution. That video was a ton of fun but a nightmare to recover from.”

Sirius winced at the memory. “I took two naps and then wished for death for a full day.”

“On a lighter note, who’s ready for some Knutty appreciation?” Dorcas smiled at her cards. “I've only had Leo Knut for a season and half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

“Big mood,” four of them said simultaneously.

Leo turned to the camera with a concerned look on his face. “That’s a meme reference, but are y’all okay?”

“No,” Dorcas answered. “Especially not this next person: Sometimes I do something productive and then I remember @LeoKnut is a 19 year old professional athlete who radiates happiness and with two of the hottest boyfriends the good lord has made, and then my bowl of packaged ramen seems less impressive.”

“I’m proud of your ramen,” Leo said, even as the corners of his mouth twitched in a smile. “And I appreciate the note about my boyfriends, because they are definitely the hottest people the good lord has made.”

Talker stuck his lip out in a pout. “Rude.”

“Sorry, Talkie, I’m biased.”

“Last one before Marlene comes back, so you’d better enjoy it!” Dorcas announced. “Did the Lions effectively utilize girl power when they wrecked toxic masculinity, yes or yes?”

“Can we utilize girl power?” Remus wondered, resting his shin on his hand. “Isn’t that exclusively for, y’know, women?”

“We can utilize himbo power,” Finn suggested.

James gave him an offended look. “Not all of us are himbos!”

“Okay, but you definitely are.”

“I am not!” James held up his fingers to count. “There are only, like, three qualifications, right? I might be strong, hot, and respectful, but I’m not dumb so it doesn’t count!”

“Pots,” Remus said quietly, hiding his smile for half a second. “Buddy, that was four things.”

James paused, then sighed in resignation. “Ah, fuck, I’m a himbo.”

“You really are.”

“At least we don’t promote toxic masculinity.”

They raised their waterbottles in a ‘cheers’ motion as Marlene and Dorcas switched spots; Marlene stretched her arms over her head and grabbed the new boards. “I’m back, beloved himbos. Talker, Leo, you are beloved by the people and have no mean comments. Cap, we’re starting with you.”

“Are they actually mean mean?” he asked.

“Sirius Black seems like a little bitch. Not in a bad way, necessarily. He just. Seems like he'd be a little bitch."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Oh, okay. That answers one question.”

“He’s not a little bitch,” Leo said. “Pouty on occasion, but not a little bitch.”

Remus gave him a long look, then shook his head. “Yeah, I mean, you teared up a little when Hattie got a splinter in her paw but didn’t even yell when you almost sliced your finger off while making dinner.”

“Duality of man,” Finn said sagely.

Marlene cocked an eyebrow. “Finn O’Hara’s hair kind of reminds me of Garfield the Cat.”

“Alright, that’s just rude.”

“It does not!” Logan gasped at the same time Leo made a noise of agreement.

Finn turned to him in utter betrayal. “Nutter Butter, I thought you liked my hair!”

“I do!” Leo defended. “But they’re not entirely wrong. It’s very orange in the sun.”

“I’m never going to forget that,” Finn muttered, staring at the floor.

“Ugh, it bothers me so much that Lupin just objectifies Black all the time!” Marlene read in a high-pitched, nasal voice. “No respect in that relationship!”

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Pardon?”

Marlene stared at it for a moment, then shrugged. “Yeah, I have no idea what videos they were watching. Do you feel objectified in your relationship, Cap? I know the opinion of total strangers really bothers you a lot.”

“I’m really glad you picked up on that,” he said with false gravity. “Yeah, it’s such a bummer when my hot fiancé says I look nice. Such a blow to my self-esteem.”

“That was supposed to be a roast against me,” Remus said, looking amused. “Talk about backfiring.”

“Are you ready, Pots? This one’s pretty brutal,” Marlene warned. James nodded and Finn linked their hands for moral support. “James Potter is a swiftie and you cannot tell me otherwise.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “…yeah? That’s true? T Swift is a regular occurrence on the locker room playlist.”

“Also, James Potter looks like someone who would think black pepper was spicy.”

“Now that one is mean,” he complained as the others burst out laughing.  “It’s not my fault I have sensitive taste buds!”

“Oh, honey,” she said under her breath as she took a new card. “Get ready, Tremzy. This first one is short and sweet: Logan Tremblay looks like a lesbian.”

“That is not an insult,” Logan laughed. “Every lesbian I know is rad as fuck. I wish I looked that good in a leather jacket.”

“I just realized Logan doesn’t look short cause he’s next to bunch of hockey players, he’s short cause he’s 5’9.”

The smile slipped off his face in a millisecond as the others roared with laughter. “Quoi?”

“Oh, she got you good,” Sirius gasped, patting his shoulder clumsily. “Holy fuck, can I frame that?”

“That’s not what it says.” An edge of distress appeared in Logan’s voice. “Marley, that’s not what it says.”

James sat on the floor with the heels of his palms pressed against his eyes. “You’re fucking—whoever sent that in, you are my new favorite person. Jesus.”

“Do you need a second to recover before we move on?” Dorcas asked as she draped her arms over the back of Marlene’s chair. “The next one is our biggest section by far.”

“It’s the sweet ones, yeah?” Leo asked.

“Right.”

“It might be a good idea to do those before Lo spontaneously combusts.”

“Agreed!” She swapped with Marlene and hauled a short stack of posterboards out from their hiding place with a smile. “A hug from Dumo can probably solve any issue.”

“Facts,” Logan said. “I could really use one right about now, too.”

“Has anyone noticed how blue Leo Knut’s eyes are?”

“Yes,” the six of them chorused.

Finn gave him a dreamy look. “Every single day.”

“When I first read this one, I thought I wrote it,” Dorcas said with a snort. “Someone give Marlene a raise. No reason why, I just love her.”

“Can we do that?” Sirius asked, looking toward the camera crew. “Can we lobby to give you guys raises? Because you definitely deserve it after all the bullshit you deal with to make these videos watchable, and Marlene, you’ve drawn the short end of the stick ninety percent of the time.”

“How?” she called off-screen.

“You have to actually talk to us and try to get answers.”

“Fair.”

Dorcas finished scribbling something down on her notepad. “Just making a note of this conversation for future reference. Moving on! Sirius Black and James Potter are a prime example of hockey husbands, and I adore them.”

“The ironic part of that is that we’re both in committed relationships, but we’re basically married,” James mused.

Remus shook his head. “You guys are so married. Lily wanted to get you matching rings for your birthday, Pots.”

“That would be so cool!” they said in perfect unison. Remus turned to the camera and spread his hands in a case in point motion.

Dorcas stifled her laughter before moving on. “This one is cute. Give Remus Lupin all the hugs! I feel like I could tell him he’s an inspiration and he’d be so nice about it—” She paused to glance up at them. “—this next bit is in parentheses: all the LGBT Lions give me that vibe, but Cap and Knutty are super intimidating so I wouldn’t have the guts.”

Leo’s face fell and Sirius’ eyebrows pitched. “I’m not intimidating!” Leo protested. “I thought we already went over that! Loops gives fantastic hugs, but I want some, too.”

“He definitely deserves all the hugs in the world, but I promise I’m nice,” Sirius said, a bit softer than usual. “Is it because we’re tall?”

Dorcas half-shrugged. “Probably. It’s a little startling at first. Oh, I could’ve written this one, too: The Venn diagram of men I trust and the Gryffindor Lions is a full circle.”

Talker beamed at the camera. “Thank you!”

“So many hockey guys are such douchebags,” Logan said with a shake of his head. “I’m really glad we don’t do that shit.”

“Me, too.” Dorcas slid her old card under her chair. “Sirius Black’s hair looks so soft and I just want to touch it so bad.”

“It is so soft,” Remus agreed immediately. “You have no idea.”

“Everyone wants to touch Cap’s hair,” Finn said, sighing. “It’s so majestic.”

“I need a haircut.”

“No, you don’t,” Remus said as he tugged a stray curl. Sirius hummed.

“This one is from the interview some you did with Jules and Katie: these hockey boys being so soft with kids is my aesthetic! Like, it’s just so adorable to see these big, intimidating dudes be so, so sweet! Love them all!” She turned the card for them to see. “And then they added a heart at the end.”

“It’s impossible to be around those kids and not be happy,” James said. “They’re just too cute and wonderful.”

“Yeah, I love kids.” Finn nodded. “Especially the Dumais and Jules. They’re a hoot.”

“Jules would die if he heard you say that,” Remus laughed. “The hero worship is still going strong with most of you.”

“This one made me laugh when I first read it, but it’s really sweet,” Dorcas informed them. “Anyone else feel like we were deceived these past five years into thinking Cap was this hard-ass man, when in reality he's a cuddle bug who definitely captures and releases spiders instead of squishing them?”

“You weren’t deceived, I was just closeted,” Sirius said. “Also, I absolutely squish spiders.”

Remus gave him a look. “No, you do not. That’s my job. I’m the catch and release person if I can get away with it.”

James shook his head. “The third week of practices you saw a spider and threw me at it.”

“You did what?” Finn asked.

“There was a spider in my stall,” Sirius sighed, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else. “And Pots and I were talking so I didn’t see it until I almost sat on it, and my brain decided the only logical thing to do would be to grab him and shove him toward the spider.”

“That was after you shrieked,” Talker added. “Like, literally shrieked. I’ve never heard anyone make a noise like that.”

“Alright, alright,” Sirius grumbled. “We get it, I don’t like spiders.”

Remus shrugged. “But you are a cuddle bug. They got that part right.”

“We’re in the final two!” Dorcas announced. “This one has some pictures to go with it, so it’s on my phone. Fuck Romeo and Juliet, I want what these bitches have.”

“It’s us!” Leo cooed as the phone made its way down the line. In the upper corner of the screen, the photo appeared—it had been taken in New York, and Logan’s whole face was alight with happiness as Leo and Finn each pressed a kiss to his cheek. The camera caught him mid-laugh, so his eyes were closed and his chin was tucked slightly into Finn’s Strand hoodie.

“That’s my screensaver,” Finn said with a grin, pulling his phone out and turning it toward the camera without moving away from Leo. “One of my favorites.”

“I forgot you took that one,” Logan murmured. He hooked his chin over Leo’s shoulder and kissed his cheek; the four others at the table gave soft are you seeing this? looks to the camera and Dorcas smiled.

“Pots, I think yours is next. I hate to break it to you, Talkie, but they didn’t get any of you and Noelle.”

“We don’t take a ton of pictures together,” Talker said as James took the phone. “I mean, we take a bunch of selfies, but we don’t live close enough to each other to actually post that often. What picture is it, J?”

James was staring down at the picture with an unbearably sweet expression. “It’s our wedding. That’s my favorite one, actually.”

Like Logan, they had been captured while laughing—Lily was bent slightly at the waist as James clapped, his glasses just as askew as the flower crown on her head. It was impossible to tell who had told the joke originally, but they were both radiant in the sunset.

“That’s a really good one,” Sirius said with an unreadable look on his face.

“Well, well, well, fancypants, you two got a video.” James wiggled his eyebrows and Remus leaned in to see.

“What kind of video? One of our tikt—oh. Oh, this is so cute.” He shifted his chair over as the short edit began to play. “D, who made this?”

“A fan.”

“It’s really impressive,” Sirius said without taking his eyes off the screen. The edit was a series of photos, both on and off the ice; Sirius knocking their helmets together, then Remus looking back over his shoulder, then both of them in the water playing chicken in the sun. It was a slideshow of their life and their love.

“Can you send that to me?” Remus asked when it was over. “Cause that’s super cool.”

“Sure thing. Are you guys ready for the last one?” When they all nodded, she drummed her fingers on the posterboard and cleared her throat. “Arthur appreciation hours. He deserves it after managing to control the team.”

A cheer went up—all seven stood and applauded, half-laughing and half-whooping. “Miracle worker!” Sirius called.

“Best coach in the league!” Finn added.

“Most tolerant man to ever walk the earth!” Remus raised his water in a toast and they tapped the plastic edges together, nearly spilling all over the table.

Dorcas’ eyes crinkled in a smile as she turned to the camera. “That’s it for today, Lions! Tune in next time for more content of our boys, and thank you for such wonderful comments!”

[maddiewritesstucky]

Ok ok ok so this isn't exactly jock 'verse related but it also kinda is & I need 2 tell u or I might explode 🤣🤣🤣 its legit a perfect fanfic trope but irl

So, my university has fraternities like a lot do BUT there's this dude (he's in a few classes with me) & this dude is just a Frat. Bro. thru & thru. He loves his frat & would likely die 4 those boys. Idk literally anything else about him besides the fact that he knocked a girl up his freshman yr & now, just, brings his kid everywhere. 2 zoom meetings & 2 in person classes (according 2 my friend) when we had them 😅

but wait

it gets Better.

I learned today when we were sharing about ourselves that his "frat name" (idfk how that shit works😂) has transitioned from a pun on his last name 2 just- D A D D Y

All the other dudes just. call. him. daddy.

YES HE IS A LITERAL FATHER BUT Y?

y are so many frats so straight that they loop back 2 being gay?

NONNIE I AM BESIDE MYSELF 🤣

Literally everything about this is fucking incredible!?

Being one of those dudes who probably ends up getting matching ‘bros in, bros out’ tattoos with The Boys™️ by the end of college? Impeccable 👌

This very same bonafide FratBro rocking around with a baby? DELICIOUS 👏

You already had me, Nonnie, but then you go and heap on the fact that there’s a group of young adult men casually walking around referring to this man as DADDY?!?

T R A N S C E N D E N T 🙌

This might be the best story I’ve ever heard to be honest. And you know what, as for the relevance to JockVerse? I think this fits right in, and I’m gonna go ahead and tag my girl @rainbowsandcoconut here because you’ve probably just made her day by prompting me to write this, Nonnie.

Consider, if you will:

Bucky having to take care of his 6 month old niece on short notice, on a day when he can’t afford to skip class. It’s a short day for him, only one morning lecture then a team meeting, so he just...brings her with him

In a baby carrier, strapped to his front, so he can still carry his backpack and have his hands free

He doesn’t make a big deal about it, and no one in his lecture takes issue because she sleeps pretty much the entire way through

But when he walks into the meeting and his teammates clock his situation?...

“I knew this day would come! I knew Barnes was gonna knock someone up!”

“How could you not tell us you had a spawn? I thought we were friends, man!”

“Jesus, she looks exactly like you.”

(That one’s accurate - this kid is all Barnes, dark hair and slate eyes and perfect little Cupid’s bow)

“Nah, this is our new linebacker,” Bucky lifts her out of the carrier and grabs her blanket out of his backpack, spreading it on the floor to let her stretch her little body out

She’s a pretty chill little person so she’s unconcerned by the bunch of jacked up football players all kinda crowding around, she just looks at them all in turn, babbling a quiet assessment of the situation to herself

Steve and Coach Fury walk in at the same time, and they both do a double take - Fury, because “why is there a goddamn baby on my floor?” and Steve, because Bucky’s hands - those grabbing, pinning, shoving, spanking hands that he’s so intimately familiar with - are now very gently slipping a tiny sock onto a tiny foot

“Barnes is playing Daddy!” Clint oh so joyously informs them, and Fury just kinda shakes his head and mumbles something about how he’s ‘been waiting for some bullshit like this’

Bucky explains his situation, and Steve doesn’t say much of anything, but his face is doing a whole lot of something. There’s no time to examine that though, because Fury is getting the meeting underway

It all goes pretty much as normal, except this time when Bucky’s running his mouth about how they’re gonna fucking obliterate the opposing team at the upcoming playoff, he’s doing it with a baby in his arms and his fingertips drawing soft, absent patterns over her belly; occasionally cupping his hands over her teeny ears when his verbiage gets a little more colourful

Steve does not know what to do with the duality of this

Since when does Bucky know how to do shit like one-handed prep a bottle of formula? Where the fuck is this soft-ass smile coming from? Why is Steve’s gut doing weird swoopy flippy stuff every time Bucky quietly coos “oh, you think so?” to his niece’s incomprehensible little sounds?

Crisis 2.0 comes when Clint insists on referring to Bucky as ‘Daddy’ for the entirety of the meeting, even after Bucky points out the inaccuracy, because in Clint-logic it would apparently be “way too fuckin’ weird to call you ‘uncle’”

This is not a kink Steve has ever considered before, it’s certainly not one he and Bucky have played around with, but fuck if his body isn’t doing some Thangs at hearing that title used on Bucky. His throat gets inexplicably dry every time, and a few strangled sounds make their way out when he’s not quick enough to catch them

He knows it’s not lost on Bucky, he can feel Bucky looking at him every time Clint drops the D word, but Steve can’t bring himself to return that stare

It’s a miracle Steve survives this maelstrom at all, to be honest. It’s making him think entirely too hard, and he doesn’t want to think when it comes to Bucky. The whole point of them is that they don’t have to think

He disappears pretty quick after the meeting, and it doesn’t go unnoticed, but Bucky decides to be gracious this time and let it slide...

...At least, he does until the next time he’s putting Steve through the headboard, when he just can’t help but tuck his smug grin right up against Steve’s ear, and purr “...gonna come for your Daddy?”

[imasimpforshanks]

Hello <3 Can I ask for Angst alphabet with Coby ?~ thanks a lot <3

Angst Alphabet - Coby

a/n: BRUHHHH HIS WAS SO HARD TO DO BC HES SUCH A SWEETIE 😭😭😭😭😭💗 regardless, I hope you like it! x

ALSO - please note reader is a civilian and not a marine (but coby is still a marine). It was just easier for me to write it this way !!

A- Accident (would they blame themselves if you died in an accident?)

Coby wouldn’t exactly blame himself, but he would feel really weak. It would be lots of comments about his own worth and capabilities such as: “I’m still too weak” or I’m never going to be strong enough”. (kind of similar to Zoro in that sense).

B-Break up (How would they break up with you?)

He would try to be as honest and as upfront as possible, but he gets really anxious and just starts stumbling over his words ending every sentence with “ya know?”. In the end, he just uses every cliché in the book because he can’t remember or seem to find the ability to say what he really wanted to.

C-Crying (how would they make you cry?)

This dude is far too much of a sweetheart to ever make you cry. If you were to cry because of him, it’d be because of how much time the two of you have to be away from each other. He hates having to leave you because it’s always a lot of tears on both sides.

D-Death (how would they react to your death?)

He would be devasted. Crying in front of anyone and everyone he doesn’t care. Coby would also become really unmotivated and go through a little bit of an existential crisis like “What’s the point of this anymore?” “what am I even doing?”. Eventually he’d remember how much you believed in him, and how much good he could really do in the world – so, he’d keep going. For you.

E-Emotion (what is one emotion they would try to hide the most and how would they do it?)

Honestly, Coby is someone who is extremely open and expressive. He doesn’t (or maybe it’s more accurate to say he can’t) hide his emotions. That’s just not who he is. He expresses openly whatever emotion it is he is feeling.

F-Fight (do you two ever fight? How big are the fights? What do you fight about? Etc.)

He genuinely tries to avoid fighting with you at all costs. Nothing between the two of you ever escalates that far because Coby manages to talk the two of you out of whatever tension has been built.

G-Guilt (what is the biggest thing they feel guilty about?)

It’s not necessarily guilt, but Coby still feels as though he owes Luffy his life. Because of Luffy, Coby was able to become a marine. It’s because of Luffy that Coby continues to work as hard as he does. Most of what has happened in Coby’s life is all thanks to Luffy and because of that, he feels as though he has a debt he can never repay (even though all of this happened because luffy was just being luffy).

H-Heartbreak (what would cause them pain in the relationship? How would they deal during a break-up?)

Having to be away from you for long periods of time (obviously because he’s a marine) is really painful for the both of you. It can but quite a bit of strain on your relationship as long distance isn’t easy.

During a break-up, his mind would be all over the show. At work, he wouldn’t be able to focus properly which would cause many problems for not only himself, but others around him too.

I-Injured (how would they react if you are badly injured?)

Panic mode: activated. All his focus is shifted to you. He forgets about everything around him and is set on trying to get you help. He doesn’t even try to take down whoever, or whatever, caused your injury. You are his one and only priority in that moment.

J-Jealousy (what do they do if they are jealous?)

The sweetheart would feel so nervous. He’d keep to himself and try to avoid you for a while because he can’t stop thinking about how much better off you would be with literally anyone else.

K-Kill (would they kill for revenge?)

Coby is definitely not the type to kill for revenge. He hates all the killing and death that happens in the world. He’s a person who is all about trying to stop the cycle of hatred. so despite the anger, pain and hurt he would be feeling he would put all of that emotion aside, and settle it a different way.

L-Loss (what is their greatest loss?)

During Marineford when marines (and pirates) were dying left and right, Coby was shocked. It was far too much unnecessary death. Witnessing all that death was an emotional overload, but it did lead to one of the most pivotal moments of his life.

M-Mistake (what is the worst mistake they ever made with you?)

Unfortunately, it was something entirely out of his control. But one time he had to leave for a mission with the Marines in the middle of the night. He couldn’t tell you anything about it or why he was leaving. He just had to up and leave.

N-Nightmares (how often do they have them? What are they about? How do they deal with it?)

Sometimes Coby has nightmares about Marineford. The constant voices and cries of agony form an endless loop in his sleep, gradually getting louder and louder until he screams himself awake. After waking up in a panic he manages to calm his breathing. Then, Coby gives himself a pep talk “that is why you’re working so hard. To become strong enough to be fleet admiral so nothing like that will ever happen again.”

O-Outrage (how and why would they get mad at you?)

As with the fights, I don’t think Coby really gets mad at you. Probably over something minor like you ate the last cookie or something. It’s not anger, he just gets pouty until you say you’ll make it up to him.

P-Past (what has happened in your relationship that changed the way you saw each other?)

Having to do your relationship long distance was a pivotal point for the both of you. For most, it can be a deal breaker and it comes with more negatives than positives. But, for the two of you, it was a wake-up call, and, it was the moment you both realized “I can’t live without you, we will make this work”.

Q-Quality (what is their most dangerous/toxic quality?)

I wouldn’t say this is dangerous or toxic idk (???) but ANWAYSSSSS. Coby lacks certainty in his own decisions. He’s not so bad now, but it used to be a lot worse. He second guesses himself too much, which can be the difference between life and death in a high pressure situation.

R-Rejection (how would they react to you rejecting their confession (or the other way around))

Being rejected by you would definitely impact his self-esteem. It’d bring up a lot of insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. (PLS DON’T REJECT THIS PRECIOUS BOY).

S-Scars (battle or self-inflicted)

Coby does have a scar on his head. It’s not entirely certain when or where he received this scar, but it’s likely to be from his rough training with Garp.

T-Trust (have they ever broken your trust?)

No, Coby has never broken your trust. In fact, your relationship is held up by the unwavering trust the two of you have in one another. It may seem funny to say that, because trust is a vital element of any relationship, but it’s particularly the case for you two. Being a marine means there’s going to be quite a few things he can’t tell you, but you know he can’t tell you and he really appreciates how much you understand that.

U-Urge (how badly do they want to see you after you guys separated?)

He’s had to learn to cope with not seeing you for long periods of time. But, despite all that practice it’s still unbelievably difficult. When he can, he’ll write you letters to keep you informed about his safety. He won’t ask, but he’d really appreciate if you wrote him back.

V-Vicious (what do they do when they lash out on you?)

I genuinely don’t believe he would lash out at you. He just wouldn’t. Maybe, he’s slammed a few doors, but other than that… (sorry I feel like this one is boring af ugh).

W-Weak (what makes them feel weak how do they try to avoid it?)

Coby always felt weak and incapable in his abilities. Sometimes those feelings resurface. But honestly, he trues to avoid this by remembering how and why he is where he is. He thinks of all the people who have helped him along the way (Luffy, Garp etc.) and it motivates him to push forward.

X-X-ray (what do they hate and show it most obviously?)

He hates needless violence. He understands in some situations violence is necessary, but, then there are some situations (like the end of marineford) where lives are being lost for no reason whatsoever.

Y-Yearn (what is one thing that they want but can’t have?)

He wants nothing more than to openly be BFF’s with Luffy. Given the two different worlds they live in, it’s just never going to happen, despite Luffy being a genuinely good person. (I KNOW THIS IS MEAN TO BE ANGSTY BUT I COULDN’T HELP IT LMFAO)

Z-Zero (what do they do/say in your dying moments?)

Oh boy. There would be endless amounts of tears. Through sniffles and snot, he’d be trying to thank you for everything you’ve done for him, all the love and support you’ve shown him.

[your-average-weeb-dealer]

☘️ Pt 3. AgedUp! Sorcerer! Junpei. AU where everything is fine and nothing is wrong.

☘️ (I think Tumblr ate a message i sent you last night i realized Junpei proably would become a closet marine biologist after Moondregs came along seeing how they are a giant ass jelly fish, so here is Junpei and reader on an aquarium date.) (not me spending over an hour looking up an aquarium in Tokyo to make sure this is accurate)

☘️Junpei finally had just decided to turn off his phone after it continued to ring. When he turned it on that morning, your body still curled into his, bracing himself for whatever awaited him. Which turned out to be 50 messages from Yuuji, 30 from Nobara, 60 from Gojo-sensei (seriously this guy), one from Megumi which just read "Did you have send THAT at midnight to my boyfriend? I had been trying to sleep." and an near uncountable number of calls and voicemails. How much they all cared about him and his sex-life was both enduring and concerning. Leaning more towards concerning. They had become his family after the death of his mother, a role they took far too seriously. But it did bring the biggest smile to his face while making his heart swell.

In the end he responded to them as simply as he could including apologizing to Megumi. You still slept on, eyes shielded from the sunlight that streamed into the flat by the shared blanket and his chest. Almost as soon as he sent the message to Yuuji there was a response.

So when do we get to meet them?

Soon, I haven't told them about anything. They only just found out about the scars last night.

Oh shit. How did that go?

Better then expected, its hard to explain over text. But they ended up saying "I love you"

!!!!!!!! No way!!!!! What did you do?

I said it back, and I meant it.

!!!!!WOW!!!! DUDE!!!

I'll tell you about it Monday.

Why can't you tell me today? 😭

Because they are still here and I want to enjoy whatever time I have with them.

WHY are you texting me if they are still there? OMG DUDE!!! Enjoy you day 🤤🥵😉

Junpei shook his head. Yuuji was a ball of sunshine made human even if Sukuna was more a blackhole and arse. It was a wonder that Yuuji had enough sunshine to deal with that, his dower boyfriend, his strange big brother Choso, and Junpei as his bestfriend. But somehow he did. Putting the phone back down he looped both arms around you and held tightly. Though Junpei had been feeling lighter recently. Somethings did dull in their aches with the passage of time. Having something new and bright to focus on helped blunt the edges as well. Not to mention seeing and hearing how you felt about the scars lifted him up higher. You stirred faintly a mewling cry escaping like an exhale. He shifted slightly to see if you were waking up or still sleeping. Blurry eyes looked back at him.

"Good morning."

"Only if there is coffee in my near future." You kissed where shoulder met neck nuzzling in when he shivered.

"If you want coffee I'm going to have to let you go and your going to have to get off of me." He sighed while raising an eyebrow.

Nipping at the sensitive skin before you slipped off him but still tucked close. Reluctance to move and not to just continue to lay in this moment was a weighted blanket on you both. Till his stomach growled. Now there is moment of mortification when your laying in bed with your new lover and they hear that you do in-fact have a body and it makes noise. With a deep shaky sigh he braced himself for what he didn't know.

"I'm hungry too." You murmured against him.

You continued to surprise him. He let out a gentle laugh and kissed the top of your head.

"Well I'll make you breakfast too then. How are your legs feeling now?"

"Better I'm sure I can stand on my own now, if you want help?"

"No its fine. I want to spoil you this morning."

"Keep talking like that and I'll never want to leave."

"That is the master plan." This time he kissed your lips. Both of you setting aside the minor horror of morning breath to enjoy the remembered contact.

Breaking away Junpei got up trying to remember where his boxers had ended up the night before. The floor was cold and he thought about finding socks. Still he got up and went to the hallway kitchen to turn the coffee pot on.

"Do you have any plans today?" You called.

"Not really do you?"

"No. But I'd like to spend more of it with you." Surprised Junpei turned to you with smile, enjoying the blush across your cheeks while you sat up with only the blanket around your shoulders. He continued to set up the pot measuring out the grounds. Hiding a spreading blush of his own.

"I have a pass for the Aquarium in Sumida, is that something you would be interested in?"

"I've never been but it sounds like fun. You must really like the ocean if you have a pass at the Aquarium."

You had no idea, once he had gained Moondregs he had become a little obsessed with jelly fish and then the ocean as a whole. Next to him the coffee started to pour.

"I think its beautiful, at just a glace its so peaceful but the longer you look the more power you see within it."

"That's a beautiful way to put it. Now I really want to see it, but only if you promise to share with me your excitement. Your so cute." He tried to glare at you while pouring coffee into two mugs. Your smile like a thousand stars took away any power it would have had.

"Cream or sugar?"

"Just some cream, I like it strong." He fixed the mugs till it looked right hopefully and brought them over. Sitting back down he handed you the mug.

"Thank you." You pressed a kiss to his shoulder before taking a sip. "Well if you make breakfast I can get ready and then clean up while you get dressed."

"Sounds good. But I will admit I love you like this." His eyes roved around the shapeless blanket knowing under it was your body which was so new and yet beloved to him. Raising an eyebrow you slipped the blanket off. Sucking in a breath and putting his mug on the table Junpei turned to taste the coffee on your lips. Both of you forgetting everything else.

☘️☘️☘️

It was hours later before you both stood in the aquarium. Junpei had instantly tugged you towards the jelly fish. The large tanks on the floor and walls almost made it seem like you were surrounded by the creatures. Excitedly he started to point them out and explain everything he knew about them. For your part seeing the excitement in his eyes and how he seemed to glow as he talked made you fall harder for him. There was so much joy in his actions and how he spoke it was hard not to be effected by it.

"Sorry I'm probably boring you." He smiled sheepishly before pressing a kiss to you forehead.

"I'm enjoying myself, and I love seeing how excited you are." Leaning into his chest, a comforting bliss in the simple act.

"Let me show you my favorite place." His hand tangled with yours.

From the Jelly Fish exabit you moved to Ogasawara Large Aquarium. The back of it, the aquascope, with it small windows and rounded walls left small areas to be able to watch the fish and sharks swim past relatively undisturbed by others. Holding you tucked to his chest while his head rested on your shoulder Junpei began to almost doze with the happiness and warmth buzzing though your bodies.

"Hey don't be falling asleep on me. My legs are still sore and I have no idea how to get home." You whispered in his ear.

"Fine. It's not my fault your so comfortable." Kissing your neck before standing back up still holding you close.

"Flirt." He loved how you shiver at the contact. "This has been an amazing date, we haven't even left and I already want to come back."

"Then come back with me, let's repeat the day tomorrow."

"Including how we woke up?"

"Especially that part." Nuzzling your neck, desire growing bright.

"I like that plan. On our way back can we get something sweet?"

"I already have something sweet." He whispered before nipping at your shoulder a place he had to recently learned was ultra sensitive. Your shiver and laugh was better then sake. Tightening his arms he closed his eyes taking in all he could of this moment hoping that it held the promise of a future overflowing with more moments like these. ☘️

FSUFHD DUDE THIS WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF MY INBOX AHAHA  AQUARIUM DATES WITH JUNPEI YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU 

as someone who’s majoring in marine biology- it makes me extremely happy just to think that junpei would also love sea life. Also, I think it’s canon that he likes ocean related stuff (idk tho I haven’t googled it) 

[zuluoscarecho]

Same Same But Different

idk what this is. I wanted to write some smut. Instead I got feelings. I started watching Scorpion a week ago and I love one Dr Tobias M. Curtis more than anything else. Set after 2X06 Tech, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll.

Also on AO3

Happy stopped beside his desk and it took him a second to move his head to look at her. He didn’t hurt yet but he could feel a dull ache building. Right now he just felt like he was made of lead and moving, even to look at Happy, was a Herculean effort.

She was looking down at him, head cocked to the side studying him. “In your medical opinion, is it safe for you to go home alone?”

He paused, mind going a mile a minute, observing, calculating. He clocked the tense set of her shoulders - she was nervous, the way she made her own observations of him with her eyes tracking over him - she was…worried?

“Doc. You all right?” Her voice was as gruff as usual but she peered down at him rather than walking away.

“Yeah. Yeah I…” he trailed off as his brain got stuck on the wrinkle between her brows as she frowned at him. She was worried.

Happy took a step forward and touched his arm. The frown grew deeper and her other hand twitched like she wanted to reach for some tool to fix it, fix him.

He looked down at her hand on his arm and back up at her in what felt like slow motion.

“You don’t look so good. I’m not so sure you should be alone. Where are your keys? I’ll drive.” She was as abrupt and brusque as Happy ever was but there was a slight tremble in her usually surgeon-steady hands and despite not taking her eyes off him, she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Happy was worried about him, she was concerned about his health, she cared. This wasn’t the first time he’d been hurt during a job, definitely not the first time any of them had been hurt but this was the first time Happy had sought him out to check on him and definitely the first time she’d offered to drive him home.

Happy turned and picked his keys from amongst the mess on his desk. She tugged on his ash covered sleeve with the other hand and he followed her without thought.

He’d follow her anywhere.

Happy was silent on the drive, which was no surprise, she wasn’t particularly loquacious at the best of times, especially not after a long and stressful day. What was a surprise is that Toby was also quiet.

He felt like his world had been turned upside down with Happy being nice to him, not that she was ever mean, she just wasn’t actively nice. He felt a little fizzle of warmth slide through him at the thought. He’d known that she liked him, or else she wouldn’t have been so upset when he messed up. But in the last few weeks, they’d settled back into their old friendship, albeit slightly stilted whenever their banter threatened to slip in to flirting. He’d thought it was too late, especially with Chet on the scene, but maybe not all hope was lost.

His brain was so stuck on Happy being concerned about him, playing their interaction in the garage on loop, that he didn’t notice where they were, or more accurately where they weren’t, until they were out of the car.

“This isn’t my apartment,” Toby said, glancing around owlishly as he followed Happy down a hallway to stop in front of number 7.

Happy looked back at him and shrugged one shoulder. “Nah, I don’t know where you live. This is my place.” She paused after she opened the door and turned a scowl on him. “Don’t touch anything, okay?”

He held up his hands in surrender as she opened the door. “I would never.”

She led him into the studio apartment. It was pretty spartan except for the multitude of appliances and engine parts strewn over anything that even resembled bench space. Both stools at the breakfast bar contained tool boxes and the coffee table was strewn with motor magazines. “Bathroom’s through there if you wanna shower.” She ducked down to rifle through the drawers of what looked like an old mechanics tool box and pulled out some clothes for him.

“Wait, who do these belong to?” he asked, holding up a pair of sweatpants and an old faded jumper. “Are these Chet’s?” He was exhausted and starting to feel that ache that always came after a physically hard job, not to mention the probably bruised ribs he had from Happy’s CPR, but he had a visceral reaction to the idea of wearing Happy’s boyfriend’s clothes. So much for independence.

Happy rolled her eyes. “No. Old boyfriend from college.”

Toby nodded, satisfied that at least the guy who’d owned these clothes was long gone, and turned towards the bathroom.

“Towels are under the sink!” she called after him.

Toby nodded as he shut the door behind him. The rush of the shower water helped calm his mind and for 4 blissful minutes he didn’t think about anything more than washing the soot and sweat from his skin.

Happy was fiddling with what looked the insides of an alarm clock on her kitchen bench when he came out of the bathroom, towel over his head as he scrubbed at his wet hair.

“Now I just want to sleep for a week,” he said with a weary sigh, voice muffled from under the towel.

Happy blinked at him. She’d never seen him look so soft and vulnerable. He looked dead on his feet and his usually considering gaze was almost blank from exhaustion.

All the times he’d spouted off about his feelings for her, playing at being sincere, and she did believe his feelings were real, but there was always some sort of agenda in the way he spoke to her, to anyone, some facade or wall between him and whatever could hurt him.

She could relate, but it made seeing him like this, his cheeks flushed from the shower and his hair sticking up in all directions rather than flattened by his hat, feel like she was seeing another side of him she’d never even gotten a peek at before.

“Uh, you sleep on the left, I like to sleep on the right.” Happy ducked down to dig out pyjamas for herself so she didn’t see the raised eyebrow or following shrug as he crawled into the left side of the bed without question.

“Anything I need to worry about with you tonight?” she asked turning back to him. “You know, medically?”

Toby’s eyes were closed when he replied and he looked almost asleep already with one arm tucked up behind his head. “No. As long as my heart doesn’t stop I’ll live.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll listen out for it.” With that she turned and headed into the bathroom herself and Toby was asleep before he even heard the shower turn on.

When Happy came back from the bathroom, Toby hadn’t moved. She stood beside the bed as she towel dried her hair, too tired and too concerned about waking Toby to use the hair dryer. She considered how on earth she was supposed to check if his heart stopped beating in his sleep.

She hung the towel up in the bathroom and carefully slid into bed beside him. She slowly moved closer to him and carefully lay her head on his chest, damp hair splaying out behind her. She could hear the steady thump-thump of his heart beat beneath her cheek and she felt herself release the tension she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding on to.

Ever since Walter had flicked that switch and she’d watched the oxygen levels drop, and Toby with them, she’d felt on edge, a tightness crawling across her skin. Even literally breathing life back into him hadn’t made the feeling go away but she could feel it ease now with every beat of his heart beneath her head.

When Toby woke up it was still dark. He could see brightness from the streetlights outside leaking in around the drawn curtains. His whole body hurt, but especially his head which is why it took him a minute to realise the pressure on his chest wasn’t the probably fractured ribs from Happy’s CPR but Happy herself curled up against him.

He blinked down at her head, dark hair spilling out behind her before he decided to ignore whatever this was and go back to sleep.

The next time Toby woke up he was alone but he could hear quiet movement and he dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom before finding Happy in the kitchen.

She was supervising an old Happy-style refurbished mixmaster that was slowly stirring a bowl with a wooden spoon.

Toby ran a hand through his hair, feeling it stick up and reminding him why he always wore a hat. “Hey, uh, thanks for driving me back here and letting me stay last night. I probably just would’ve crashed at the garage and we all know that couch is older than dirt. Anyway, I’ll go home and get out of your hair.”

“You don’t have to go. I’m making pancakes. You should probably eat something anyway.”

“Happy…” Toby trailed off, eyebrows showing his confusion. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it, but what’s going on? You bring me back here, let me sleep in your bed, I wake up in the middle of the night with you asleep on my chest - which admittedly could have just been a really good dream - and now you’re making pancakes? This is…not like you.”

“Iwaslisteningtoyourheartbeat,” she mumbled to the pancake mixture.

“What?”

Happy huffed and turned to glare at him without saying a word.

“Why are you glaring at me?” he asked in bewilderment.

“I was lying on your chest because I was listening to your heart beat!”

Toby still looked confused. “Okay?”

“You know, so you wouldn’t die,” she said turning back to her pancakes. She turned off the mixer, getting out a frying pan to heat. “You almost died yesterday, or you did die, I don’t even know.”

Toby shrugged nonchalantly, like it was something that happened all the time. Near death experiences hadn’t actually been super common for any of them up until a few years ago. Unless you counted the number of daring escapes Toby had made from people he’d owed substantial amounts of money to. “Technically dead, but not brain dead seeing as you resuscitated me in time.”

“Whatever. I just wanted to know you’re okay.”

“I am okay,” Toby said slowly. “And we all almost died yesterday. You were stuck in the pump room that was on fire, Sly was stuck with the kids, also on fire, and Walter was…Walter.” Toby shrugged as if that explained Walter and to be perfectly honest it kind of did.

“It’s not the same,” she said. She turned to face him and looked at him the way she always did when she couldn’t find the right words but knew he’d find them for her. “You know it’s not the same.”

Toby shook his head and moved to stand in front of her. “No, I don’t know that it’s not the same. You froze me out, you said we were just friends, colleagues. It is the same, Happy.”

Happy bit her lip and looked up at him. “It’s not the same.”

Toby let out a breath and nodded at her, or himself. “Okay then. I’ll stay for breakfast.”

[xwhitewolfv]

Ok so I need to rant about an SCP for a sec

In SCP 1050, the obelisk has an inscription in a form of proto latin by a dude called Legalus Maximus Romulus. It's dated to around 53,000 BCE according to the article. The obelisk itself is dated to have been created around 48,000 BCE. So yes, somehow an inscription in proto latin predates the actual obelisk itself. Ok but here is where things start to bother me. You don't need to be linguist to know that there was no established written language form 50,000 years ago (at least I am 99% sure), not to mention the proto latin itself is stated by the article to be of some unknown alphabet variant, which is fine, except for the fact that it predates any known empire, kingdom, agriculturally advanced society, whatever. I don't know if this is intentional, but I'll get to that in a minute.

The person who apparently wrote the inscription was made by the name mentioned above, which when I tried to figure out if this was a real person (the only results that came up was THE actual Romulus, founder of Rome who would have been in office at around 700 BCE) which not only doesn't correspond with the original carving he's attached to, (plus the like 6 others carvings after from civilisations that predate Rome historically) but he is also from a time period where proto latin wouldn't have been used. Unless this isn't actually Romulus (i don't know if his full name was actually Legalus Maximus Romulus and frankly I kinda don't care) or this is some dude fucking with the inscriptions to make it seem like it was this person, but they time travelled 53,000 years ago. (Was it Clef? Probably, idk, its always him)

So overall:

An inscription that predates the actual obelisk itself,

is written in an unknown alphabet of proto latin in a time period where no languages (in terms of an alphabet, prefixes, vowels, fucking whatever is in a written language don't come at me I know jack shit) existed

Is written by some Roman person who if it is THE actual Romulus (i mean there aren't many people with that name, and the other inscriptions were made by other prominent rulers and figures throughout history, so following this pattern it would be safe to assume it is him) would have existed around 700 BCE, possibly not writing in any form of proto latin nor correspond with the date of the inscription

Not the mention the fact that proto latin doesn't have a concise written form in real life, but since its established in the article as being written in an unknown alphabet related to proto latin it's ok /g

So, by itself this is fine and dandy. Why? Because the date of the inscription and the language could be anomalous, which ties into the anomalous nature of the obelisk as an 'interstellar early warning system'. However, I literally cannot find anything in the article that actually mentions the anomalous nature of the date of inscription and how it contradicts the actual date of the obelisk's supposed creation. Either there is nothing there or I am REALLY stupid (most likely I have missed something because I am in fact, very hopeless) Everything else in the article makes sense to me, it features inscriptions of languages that are accurately dated to their approximated date and are listed as such chronologically, as well as the addition of unknown scripts and symbols that act as nicely embedded pieces of lore and possible history within the universe that this story was created in. Ancient and anomalous civilisations aren't are foreign concept in the SCP foundation, some of the best stories on there utilise these concepts to strengthen their storytelling. I literally have no problems with SCP 1050, I think its a great article and the author really did their research, but this detail bothers the fuck out of me because I can't find any reason as to why this would be mentioned as such. Now you are probably thinking, 'it could have been a typo', and yes, that is what I thought initially as well. Except for the fact that the article has been around for around 8 years, and the original author has not rectified this perceived 'typo'. Barely anyone in the discussion page of the article actually mentions this and I feel like I am loosing my mind a bit. Am I missing something?

Furthermore, (haha you thought this was over. Fuck u I'm not done bitch) the author has responded to comments identifying this typo, with one of the responses hinting that the author themselves did not intend for this to be in the final article, which I call bullshit; "I'll go digging through my notes and try and figure out a satisfactory answer for you. It's entirely conceivable that I messed up (I don't remember specifically where the 53,5██ BCE number came from) - in which case it might be a bit before I can correct not only the in-article text but the images of the carving. I had to do enough calculations for this article that I wouldn't be at all surprised if I made an error at some point..." A post from an admin indicates that at some point, someone edited the article to correct the date of the "proto latin" inscription in order to make it "Philologically plausible" (anyone can edit your SCP articles btw, with the proper permission and guidelines followed). From the admin's comment, the edit was reverted, as according to the author: "The unusual age of the writing is a key part of the anomaly" (can't find where they've stated this) and so this indicates that the date for the inscription WAS intentional, despite it not making any sense. Now before you go "this is the SCP FOUNDATION, we got a statue that looks like a peanut and a giant edgy reptile it doesn't NEED TO MAKE SENSE" which you are completely justified in saying. I too, really enjoy concepts and texts that do not make sense, because that's the great thing about writing surreal, cosmic horror, sci-fi, abstract pieces, you don't need to have your concepts make perfect logical sense because thatsTHE WHOLE POINT. Of course it helps to explain certain elements within your own universe in order for it to make a little realistic, but overall they're amazing, creative releases that I just adore. And so this part of the article really throws me for a loop, because it just stands out amongst all the other languages and inscriptions. Proto latin is a language, its date and alleged author on the obelisk however, contradicts the creation of the obelisk, which could link to its initial anomalous features (I'd like to point out that the obelisk is one part of the SCP, in fact I am quite literally extremely fixated on this one detail when it could be nothing of use) this isn't meant to mar the good quality of the article, it's just something that doesn't sit right with me because I can't piece it together into the story

Its almost 1am, my rant is done goodnight. I'm gonna look back on this in the morning and wonder wtf I was talking about

[moonlights-shadow-warrior]

Hi, I’ve been following you for a hot minute and wanted to ask about how you define your asexuality and gray-romanticness. I am a poly/pan trans-guy trying to wrap my head around it and from your posts you always seem super nice and down to earth. Sorry if this is a weird question ^~^’

Ngl your ask did catch me off guard, although that was mostly due to the fact that a) I never get asks, and b) I rarely post my own stuff or comment on others’ posts so the fact that you said I seem nice and down to earth ‘cause of my posts threw me for a bit of a loop. Sweet though, and I’m glad I come off that way even though my blog is really just a mishmash of things I like and that catch me eye

Now as for your question

TL:DR Defining my asexuality means I don’t feel sexual attraction towards others (never have in my almost 23 years of life) and it honestly kinda confuses me simply because it’s something I’ve never experienced before and when others talk about it I just don’t get it

As for my greyromanticism, it’s more a transitional term as over the years I went from having loads and loads of crushes (I think) as a kid to now where I haven’t had a crush for multiple years as I move closer and closer to being aro ‘cause of some trauma that happened in my life. Same trauma is part of why gender does make a difference in my attraction now

Gonna start this off with some backstory saying I used to identify as bisexual, then pansexual, ‘cause I’d never heard of asexuality before and gender didn’t really play a part in my like for someone. And from the terms I knew, those seemed like the obvious choice at the time. But I also didn’t really,,, get it when some of my friends talked about how hot a person was or their list of actors they wanted to bone (and just celebrity crushes in general now that I think about it, although that could’ve very easily been due to the fact I can’t for the life of me remember who’s who in the realm of Hollywood). I’d just sorta nod along and listen ‘cause hey, people are different and just ‘cause we’re both pan doesn’t mean our experiences are exactly the same

Now at this time I was reading a lot—and I mean a lot—of fanfics ‘cause of escapism and all that jazz. And in one fic I came across there was a character—my favorite character—that was ace. When it got mentioned I didn’t think much of it ‘cause it was just ‘oh cool new term I haven’t heard before’. But then it was explained not only what asexuality was, but also what sexual and romantic attraction were—with examples for each of them—and how they didn’t always line up for some people. And it just

Clicked

I did a bit more research on it, reading things that other aces had posted talking about being ace, and it felt like it just fit me

It’s probably been close to 7 years since I last read that fic, but it was explained something like this

Have you ever looked at someone and wanted to fool around with them, maybe take a tumble in the sheets, but would never want to date them? That’s sexual attraction

And have you ever looked at someone and had your heart flutter and just wanted to go on dates and maybe kiss them but you wouldn’t describe them as sexy and the thought of having sex with them either didn’t cross your mind or made your stomach turn? Romantic attraction

And feeling the latter without the former? Well you might just be ace

Of course this isn’t a universal thing for those under the ace umbrella, but it worked for me and helped me realize something about myself

I don’t feel sexual attraction, which was why all those times my friends talked about how sexy someone was or who was on their f list, it felt like a foreign concept to me and the most I could say to relate was “well they are cute”

As for my greyromanticism, that one’s not as clear cut. Also cw for bad parenting and divorce/bad breakups basically idk

Like I said above, I used to get a lot of crushes as a kid. Looking back, were they all actually crushes or just me thinking a person looked cute? Who knows, but I’m pretty sure there were some

Walking in late only to see the new kid sitting there and immediately my heart rate picked up and I had trouble looking directly at them without blushing? Then picking up an instrument that they played just to try and be seated next to them in band class even though I had no idea what I was doing and had barely talked to them before?

Crush

Get partnered with someone for one assignment and then always trying to sneak glances at them out of the corner of my eye and it just so happens that they ended up in a lot of my photos of my middle school DC field trip?

Crush

Playing spin the faygo just for the chance to make out with one person ‘cause they’re hella cute and within an hour of knowing each other we immediately linked hands and threaded our fingers together while walking around?

Crush

Just as a few examples. Also I was shy and didn’t know how to socialize, which didn’t help at all in the creepiness factor

Now could some of my crushes have actually been just me becoming attached to someone who was nice to me one (1) time? Maybe, who knows, not me

Like I said above, me identifying as greyro is more transitional as I move closer and closer to identifying as aromantic ‘cause of trauma. Was I actually always arospec but just hadn’t heard of the terms like with asexuality? I don’t know because only after everything did I come across the term and my memory is so poor that I can’t properly recall the feelings I experienced. Even the above may not be accurate because my memory’s so spotty and my mind likes to insert things that never actually happened or are wildly different from what everyone else remembers

Which sucks but I digress

So that trauma I keep mentioning. As a child that had to deal with a rough divorce, it can bring on a whole slew of issues, some of which relate to relationships. I called my parents’ divorce almost a decade before it actually happened, and watching it go downhill to the point they could barely stand to be in the same room was rough. Not only that, but I had to give relationship advice to my father, from saying that he should go through with the divorce to giving my opinion on who he should date and if he should break it off or power through a rough spot or not come home for the night. Needless to say, all that warped my perception just a bit

And while that was happening, I had to deal with my own rocky high school relationships

While I haven’t dated a lot of people, a lot of the breakups were bad. Maybe not bad right away and we’d continue on being friends afterwards, but down the line something would happen where they’d either drop all contact or blow up at me without me knowing why or realizing something was off in the first place. And paired with the after effects of the divorce, it was a bad combination

But the golden lining was a breakup so terrible that it caused my datemate to hallucinate and go into such a depressive state that I’m pretty sure the after effects still influence how they act today when it comes to relationships. The four of us talked about moving in together, having a double wedding and all that. But then one left out of the blue and the other became harder and harder to contact until there was no response. And that all happened less than a month after I finally ran away from all the bs of the divorce and my father asking for relationship advice and being dropped so suddenly after what I thought was a good breakup

And after that I can only pinpoint 2 maybe crushes around the same time less than a year later

So yeah, traumatic

But I didn’t identify as greyro yet, because I hadn’t heard of the term

But even then I told my datemate that if we broke up I will never be in another romantic relationship after them because of everything. Because I didn’t really believe in love anymore

But I didn’t identify as greyro yet, even when I had heard of the term

I thought, nah, that’s not me, because I still thought I had crushes, as few and far between as they were. Because I didn’t know there were other kinds of attraction

And then my datemate asked if I had a crush on this one person, and I said no, and I realized that was the truth. I hadn’t had a crush on them. I wanted to hold their hand and cuddle and maybe give light pecks, protect them as best I could, but it wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t the same feelings as what I remember feeling in my childhood, what I feel towards my datemate

I had a squish, and once I realized that things started making a bit of sense. There were people I wanted to hold their hand, laze around in a cuddle pile to be close to them, maybe give them quick innocent pecks because I’m touch starved and want affection. But never were the feelings romantic

If that trauma had never happened, would I still say I’m panromantic instead of bi greyromantic? Who knows, not me

But what I do know is that if something were to happen and my datemate and I were to split, that the single romantic attraction I have felt in years was severed, I’d full on say I’m aro because they are my exception

My greyromanticism is transitional. It’s not “I feel romantic attraction sparingly” or “have a hard time distinguishing platonic from romantic” or the other common definitions I’ve seen around, but rather “I used to feel romantic attraction all the time, but now only feel it towards one person and if that were to go away, I wouldn’t feel it at all”

Sometimes I doubt myself, thinking maybe I’m experiencing crushes and just don’t realize it or am in denial. But then I think about it again and tell my doubt to shut up because that’s wrong and I know it

And wow that was a lot and I’m pretty sure I spent ~4 hours writing this without realizing it. I hope this answered your question though!! Word vomiting like this helped me realize a few things myself

Also wow I need therapy more than I thought

[coolfire333]

Random (Spoilery) Steven Universe Thoughts

Ok I haven't been really active in the steven universe fandom because I stopped watching for a while, but I do know some of what’s been going on with the movie and future and all that stuff so I have some thoughts below. Spoilers specifically for future below although I haven't seen the episodes so I don't know how much of this is accurate lol but I’m hiding it behind a readmore just in case. 

Man the last time I made a post this dense about steven universe was either when I first started shipping pearl and peridot around the time of back to the barn or when all of the bismuth episodes were coming out and everyone was trying to pick apart her characterization down to the bone hahaha so sorry this post is so dense, this is legitimately just how I think/talk about something I get fixated on, whoops :P

Also I’m planning on catching up on all of the stuff I’ve missed once I’m done with school, so in about a week! I’ll probably watch all of the episodes to catch up and also I like watching them together with my mom :>

Basically I think that pink pearl (white pearl? volleyball?? idk what people are calling her anymore so I’ll just stick to calling her pink, told you I wasn’t fully in the loop lol) and pearl are really cute together from what I’ve seen of the new episodes, and pink pearl in particular seems really sweet (new favorite alert??? hmmmm)

I still am a diehard pearl/peridot shipper because that was the first ship I got attached to in the show. There are so many people on tumblr that I have met and followed and talked to and even befriended because of it so it’s really special and nostalgic for me and so I don't think I’ll ship pearl or peridot with anyone else (unless the new episodes change my mind but it’ll be really difficult for me to let go of pearlidot because it’s so important for me haha).

Either way I’m really happy that different gems are interacting more and having their relationships explored deeper, I’ll probably end up shipping pearl and pink pearl as like a platonic thing, like really close friends or maybe even a sisterly relationship unless it goes in an explicitly romantic direction, but part of me is also happy at the fact that so many other people seem excited about the ship, gotta admit they’re cute either way and from what I know of pink pearl’s background it makes sense that she and pearl would form a close mutual bond so it’s exciting to see them getting along!!

I’m really excited to get back into watching, I hope that peridot and bismuth and jasper and lapis lazuli in particular get to interact with the crystal gems (and each other!) one-on-one more, like when peridot was having her episodes where she was mainly hanging out with garnet, or amethyst, or pearl, etc, because that close interaction between two gems is what I think made the show so special and fun back when I was really really into it.

Anyway these new pearl/pink pearl interactions make me hopeful that they’re gonna start doing that more again, I hope they go back and do that more with older gems interacting with each other more deeply and not just more recently introduced ones but it’s promising!! I just still have a soft spot for steven universe and there wasn’t really a reason I stopped watching besides that I was getting busy so I wanna keep up with it again!

[bensboynton]

Always b.h

@styles-charli asked: hi! a request where ben and the reader head down to australia to visit her family in melbourne for a week because it’s the readers cousins wedding and he meets all her fam and just cute!! thanks lovely xoxoxo

here’s the fic i posted a sneak peak too a few days ago!

this prompt made my heart melt not even kidding. i’m definitely writing a part 2(and potentially part 3) because this prompt is just too cute.

feedback is appreciated:) also my inbox is open for more requests! although i’m quite swamped at the moment, i’ll get to yours eventually. 

word count: 3.3k

warnings: never been to australia so idk if this is accurate, unedited, fluffy

You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, looking at the time on your phone screen anxiously. Ben said he was going to be home ten minutes ago, and of course, the day you need to talk to him about something important, he's late.

You could smell the scent of spring in Los Angeles drifting through the open windows in the living room of your shared apartment with Ben. You were sat on the brown leather couch, your left leg bouncing in anticipation for his arrival.

You had been living with Ben as a couple for two years, and four years if you count the unfortunate 730 days you both spent absolutely despising each other as roommates. Until one day Ben just kissed you and… well. The rest is history.

You had a last minute obligation that you needed to attend, much to your dismay, and you wanted to see if your lovely boyfriend would be interested in attending with you.

A few moments later, you hear keys jingle in the lock on the other side of the door, followed by a soft thud and a string of curses. After a short delay, the door swings open revealing the Greek God that is your boyfriend.

His hair is messy, lips pressed firmly around his car keys as he walks into the house with five grocery bags in hand. He takes a step forward, carefully lifting his left leg and closing the door behind him, dropping the groceries on the ground. Sighing a breath of relief, he looks up at you, quickly meeting your eye.

You were mesmerized for a moment. He was in black sweatpants and a maroon crewneck, one of the ones you bought for him that he loved so much. He looked slightly breathless from walking up the stairs to your shared apartment.

"Thank you for your help, Darling," he jokes sarcastically, setting the car keys that were previously held in his mouth on the marble countertop, "I really appreciate it."

You laughed, playfully sauntering up to his towering figure. You returned his big grin with a big, toothy smile as you softly looped your arms around his neck.

"Sorry baby, I was distracted," you mumbled, pressing your lips to his quickly before resting your head on his chest. You both stayed like that for a moment in a comfortable silence, the sound of birds chirping right outside your apartment window.

You moved your head from his chest, looking up to gaze into his eyes. They were so clear and bright you swore you keep see your own reflection in them.

“Missed you.” you sighed, eliciting a small giggle from Ben.

“Missed you more.”

“Not possible.”

“Wanna bet, love?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, you’re on.”

You and Ben moved your conversation to the kitchen, bringing the bags of groceries with you.

“What’s on the line for this bet?” Ben asked, cocking his head to the left expectantly. He gently placed the plastic bags down on the counter as you looked up at him. An idea suddenly popped in your head.

“If I win, you have to go on a trip with me to a place really far away,” you said, causing Ben to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s this trip you’re talking about?”

"Okay, so, being serious for a second, you can totally 110% say no if you don't want to, you're not obligated to do this. I won't force you to go with me."

"I can't exactly say no if I don't even know where you're asking me to go?" he spoke, the confusion leaking from his lips. He pulled a green apple out of the plastic bag of ones he had just bought at the store. He kept looking at you expectantly as he took a big bite out of the bulbous fruit

You glared at him playfully as you threw a box of pasta at him. He caught it with ease, casually placing it in the wooden cabinet to his right. So annoying that he could play things off like that so smoothly.

"My cousin is getting married back home in Melbourne, and I have to go. And like I said, the invitation is open but don't feel obligated to go, but if you would possibly, even be slightly interested in going with me and being my plus one?" you said, nervously shaking your right leg, "It would also finally get my mom off my back about meeting you."

You hated weddings. Since your first one when you were 6 and you had to be a flower girl, you hated them. They took forever, and everyone was extra obnoxious and emotional. It wasn’t for you.

So getting the phone call from your mother telling you that, yes, you did have to come home for Delilah’s wedding was not the most pleasant start to your day.

"Is she getting married in the city?" Ben asked, reaching for his phone that was sitting near the sink.

"Well, kind of. It's on this big ranch on the outskirts of the city that's absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary if you ask me, but technically-"

"I'd love to go with you, Y/N," Ben interrupted, a boyish grin slowly creeping onto his face.

"Wait, really?" you asked, your mouth agape slightly as you started to smile.

"No, I'm just fucking with you." He said in all seriousness, looking you dead in the eye. His face broke into a grin a few moments later.

"Yes, really. I want to meet your family. I think it's only fair after I dragged you back to London with me to meet my parents." he murmured, making his way over to you, grabbing your hands.

"Is it Delilah that's getting married?" Ben asked, interrupting the momentary silence that had fallen between you.

Your face lit up when he said her name, "Yeah, it is actually. That bloke David finally grew a pair and proposed." Ben laughed, remembering the many rants of yours he listened to after phone calls with a distraught Delilah over "Dumbass David" as you called him.

You sighed lightly in content. You felt your heart start pounding in your chest when you thought about traveling to Australia with Ben. You were so nervous for Ben to meet your Mom and Dad, not to mention your extremely obnoxious extended family. To be honest, you could've upchucked the avocado toast you had for lunch right there.

But on the other hand, you were practically chomping at the bit to take Ben around your town and show him the diner you ate at after school every day, and the movie theater you went to most Saturdays with your friends.

You had been putting off having Ben meet your family for months now, and for good reason. Your family was... judgemental, to say the least. You were scared of them rejecting Ben, and you didn't want to have to put him (or yourself) through that mental and emotional abuse.

So, every time they asked about Ben over the phone, you'd change the subject, or every time Ben would ask about your family you'd suddenly have a very urgent need to use the restroom.

Every once in a while though, you'd tell Ben about your Aunt Frida who was constantly churning up old family drama, or your Uncle Jerry who would always spell your name wrong on your birthday cards.

"When do we have to leave for the wedding?" Ben inquired, again focusing on the many groceries yet to be put away.

"Yeah... about that," you pulled away from him again, grimacing slightly in embarrassment, "tomorrow."

Ben about choked on his saliva as he looked at you in disbelief, "Tomorrow?!" he exclaimed, his hands running through his blonde locks, anxiety flashing over his green orbs.

"Tomorrow."

"Well, Christ, I better get packing then."

Ben scurried off to your shared room, and not long after, you heard a string of profanities and a loud clatter. You smiled warmly and chuckled, calling out to your boyfriend softly, "Thanks for getting my suitcase down, baby!"

Thank God you had Ben.

--

"Remind me again why I thought this was a good idea."

"Neither of us ever said this would be a good idea, love."

You stumbled around your room in the pitch black, trying to find your socks and tennis shoes. It was 3 am in Los Angeles, and it was still dark outside. You finally found what you needed and looked up at Ben, who looked like he was falling asleep standing up. His eyes were closed, and you swore you could see the bags under his eyes from where you were standing.

You lightly tapped his shoulder as you walked by to remind him you had to leave soon as you strolled into your kitchen. Ben was close behind you, trying to grab your shoulders and pull you into a hug. He was very cuddly when he was tired.

You flicked the light on in the kitchen out of habit, immediately regretting your decision as your eyes felt like they were going to pop out of your head. Ben stumbled towards you and turned them off, plunging you both into darkness again.

You both chuckled at the immaturity of your actions, stumbling around to gather anything else you needed that you "forgot" to pack last night.

If you were being honest with yourself, you and Ben both fell asleep in the middle of a Grey's Anatomy episode after procrastinating packing for three hours. You both could’ve gotten everything done with plenty of time to spare, but you chose not to. So, this stressful sweep over the house was needed and most definitely your fault.

Once you were sure you had everything, you wheeled your suitcases out into the hallway of your apartment, the lights dimly lit as you turned around, locking the door. You turned around and reached for your suitcase, smiling at Ben dreamily as you wheeled your extremely heavy suitcase into the elevator.

"You're gonna cuddle with me when we sleep on the plane, right?" you mumbled, your voice whiny and needy. Ben smirked lazily, meeting your eyes.

"If you insist, Miss Y/L/N."

You playfully swatted his shoulder as the elevator doors opened, and you strolled out into the expansive parking lot. You admired the bright moon in the sky as Ben loaded your bags into the back of his car, walking around to the driver's side and glancing at you through the tinted windows.

It was just cold enough to be able to see a faint wisp of your breath in the air, and this caused you to pull your jacket tightly around your figure as you continued to admire Ben.

"You getting in or am I heading to Australia alone?" he drawled, eliciting a playful glare from you. You got in the passenger's seat, immediately putting on the most upbeat Queen song you could find in your music library to stop either of you from drifting off to sleep.

You reveled in every peaceful moment of silence in-between songs with Ben, as you knew the next week and a half was going to be absolutely insane for the two of you. No time to relax, up late every night, awake early every morning, bachelorette parties, gown fittings, the works.

You didn't know how much time you and Ben would have alone, or if you'd even be able to stay for the week and a half. You'd been mulling over the possibility of a fight between you and your family, or your family and Ben. You got goosebumps just thinking about having to deal with that mess.

Granted, it's probably not the best idea to think about becoming estranged from your family due to your boyfriend, but you thought about it anyway.

You hummed along to “Love of My Life” that was now playing softly through the luxurious speakers in Ben's car. The sun had yet to show itself over the thinly drawn line of the horizon, and it allowed you to admire the darkness you so rarely got to see.

You were able to quietly enjoy Ben’s presence (and Freddie Mercury’s) before arriving at the busy airport. Sitting in a car that smelt oddly like Ben (you couldn’t explain it, it just did) and hearing Freddie’s voice float through the air airily-like bubbles- was almost ethereal. It's like Freddie was making your heart grow two sizes for the man who dropped all his plans for the next week to take an impromptu flight to Australia with you.

You don't know how you got so lucky, to be honest. After what seemed like a lifetime, Ben had parked in the airport. He grasped your hand and gave you a reassuring wink as you got out of the car.

“Ready for this wedding?” he asked, nudging your shoulder gently.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

--

"Unbelievable. What kind of airline service doesn't have Bohemian Rhapsody as a movie choice? I'm outraged!" you spoke with a little too much energy after getting off a 15-hour flight.

Ben chuckled beside you, wheeling his own luggage behind him, clearly exhausted, "I think you should send in a complaint," he agreed sarcastically.

"I think I should too!"

Both of you finally made your way to baggage claim, and you sat down on top of your luggage, absentmindedly reading the airline pamphlet they gave you on the plane.

The screeching siren sounded, causing both you and Ben to jump as luggage started making its way to the evermoving carousel.

In no time, you and Ben got your suitcases and you made your way over to the outside of the airport, walking over to a wrought iron bench while Ben called an Uber. You felt a sticky layer of sweat beginning to form all over your body, and it was oddly comforting.

You had lived in Australia for your whole life, and then moved to Los Angeles about four years ago. But the heat in LA wasn't the same.

Here it was humid, to the point where walking outside made you feel like you just got out of the shower. It was so unbearable, sometimes you'd have to actually go to a pool to get any relief from the unrelenting warmth. Your Aunt Frida called the heat in Australia "wet." California consisted of a drier heat, one that could make you sweat but was rougher and felt almost as if the sun was a heating lamp. It felt unnatural.

So climbing into the air-conditioned Uber was a relief, to say the least. You let out a long sigh at the relief of finally being able to cool down. You had recently lost your built up tolerance to the Australian heat, and it was beginning to show.

You sat with Ben in the backseat of the car, holding his hand in your lap regardless of how sweaty it was. You were far too nervous. The idea of introducing your mother to your first serious boyfriend in six years was utterly terrifying. Not to mention, this would be the first time you would be seeing her in almost a year.

In what felt like no time at all, you had arrived at your parent's house. You took a few shaky breaths as you clambered out of the car, clumsily grabbing your clunky case of clothes.

You glued yourself to Ben's side as you walked up the sidewalk, and you were standing in front of the door.

"Whatever happens next, please don't break up with me." You muttered as you knocked on the door three times.

You heard a few heavy steps as the door flew open, revealing your mom standing there with open arms.

"Y/N!" She exclaimed, launching herself forward and into your hesitant arms. You heard Ben chuckle at her enthusiasm from beside you as you wrapped your arms around your eager mother's torso.

She held onto you just long enough to make it feel slightly uncomfortable, pulling away and putting her hands on either side of your face, breathing heavily. "You get more and more beautiful every time I get to see you." She pulled you into another hug before looking up and noticing Ben.

"Oh! My god, hello, you must be Ben. Y/N has told me so much about you!" she said, glancing quickly at your slightly nervous boyfriend.

"It's so great to finally meet you-" Ben began, holding out his hand for a handshake when your mother threw herself into his arms. It was your turn to laugh now. Your mother pulled away again looking at the two of you with wistful eyes.

"How rude of me! Come in, come in, let's get you all situated!" she exclaimed, bustling into the house quickly. You and Ben gave each other reassuring smiles as you followed her inside, bringing all your bags with you.

You trudged up the stairs, heaving as you carried your bag behind you. Ben saw you struggling and lifted up the other side of your bag, shifting half the weight to his other arm. You winked at him gratefully, and he returned it before you made your way to the top of the stairs.

“Ben, I have you in the guest room, and Y/N you can of course stay in your old room.”

You felt your heart drop. It was kind of bold for you to assume your mother would let you sleep in the same bed as your boyfriend in her house, even if you were almost a decade over legal age.

You opened your mouth to say something before she answered the question you had yet to ask.

“It wasn’t my idea. You know how anal your father is about this kind of stuff, my love.”

Your mother’s voice was light and airy, and bubbled so much it could be mistaken for carbonated soda. She wore all her emotions on her sleeve and displayed them through her voice, and that’s how you could tell if her statements her sincere.

Sadly, this one couldn’t have been more genuine.

You huffed in annoyance, tossing your still very full suitcase into your old room, pictures of your friends and favorite bands still hanging up on the walls. You quickly shut the door behind you and walked over to the guest bedroom, where Ben was already beginning to unpack.

“You sure you don’t wanna nap before getting involved in unpacking all that?” you laughed as Ben tried to refold a shirt after messing it up. His face softened at the sound of your voice.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to a nap,” he said, walking over to you before wrapping you in a bear hug, “only if you take one with me.”

“How could I say no to an offer like that?” you inquired sarcastically, tapping Ben on the tip of his nose with the pad of your index finger. He scrunched his face up, making your heart melt for a moment.

You glanced at your watch, sighing with relief, “We have at least 30 minutes to nap before my mom calls us down for dinner.”

“Plenty of time.”

Ben quickly moved his suitcase for doing a dramatic jump and landing on the guess bed, opening his arms wide as an invitation for you to lay in his comforting embrace.

And you did.

You were both out like a light, trying to catch up on sleep and fix your inner-clocks and get them used to the time change.

But for the moment, your clocks were very broken.

So you laid in the guest bedroom of your mother’s house in the arms of your equally as sleepy boyfriend, desperately chasing the sweet release of alertness.

Right before you closed your eyes, you looked up at Ben lazily, “Thank you for coming with me,” you paused to lawn quietly, “it's quite nice having someone to rely on for things like this.”

“Y/N, you can always rely on me. I promise.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

Maybe this wedding wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[amoebo-id]

a o t d !!!

no more than 1 release per artist to keep it interesting. selection and ranking is arbitrary and would prob be wildly different if i did this tomorrow. also i only went down to #42 cause everything after that didn’t feel like real aotd status - at least as far as the specific relationships i built over the past 10 yrs with the music i was listening to

#1 laurel halo quarantine

nobody did machine-body dialectic like laurel halo in 2012. i loved everything else from her this decade too but every time i listened to Carcass it made me leave my body physically. absolutely unreal album art too

https://laurelhalo.bandcamp.com/track/carcass-2

#2 e+e the light that you gave me to see you

2012 was a good year. pop/ambient/noise/radio-dj-tag sound collage ascended to spiritual intensity. makes you feel like a child experiencing awe. also fire-gut used to have probably my favorite music video ever but i think it’s gone now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p-SSuwW9cw

#3 ilovemakonnen 5

not to be confused with Drink More Water 5, this one’s from 2010 during his mostly-forgotten diy outsider-pop phase. off-key singing and amateur beats and the sheer absolute joy of making cool songs. all 5 are perfect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKpg_-z0Mk

#4 macintosh plus floral shoppe

would’ve made top 10 on album art alone. music, aesthetics, and cultural impact are inseparable here but going back to the album reminded me just how engaging its 2010s-updated chopped-and-screwed sound is, musically not just conceptually

https://vektroid.bandcamp.com/track/420

#5 jason lescalleet this is what i do 17

hard to pick a favorite from jason lescalleet’s semi-monthly document of his electroacoustic / field recording / tape loop practice but i’ve cried to multiple tracks on tiwid 17 so it gets the nod. couldn’t find any of them online so here’s something else of his

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t33x8OOm68E

#6 barrio sur बड़ा शोक (heart break)

dedekind cut guy’s weird one-off side project ended up being my favorite thing to come out of the last few years’ obsession w cowboy/western/country music/aesthetics. pure mystery

https://soundcloud.com/user-366783613/redemption-7inch

#7 cities aviv come to life

i think maybe people thought cities aviv was just another no-flow pseudo-”conscious rap” type rapper in 2014 but actually this album is nuts. hyper-energetic vaporwave rap? what if death grips were happy? idk

https://citiesaviv.bandcamp.com/track/url-irl-2

#8 beach boys the smile sessions

this cool fresh 1960s rock myth arrived fully formed and way more fun than the other ones. brian wilson’s concepts and songwriting got so unwieldy we had to wait 50 years to hear the sessions. i don’t care about conversations about his genius or whatever these songs kick ass

https://oldmasterpainter.bandcamp.com/track/surfs-up

#9 mindspring memories & intl. debris international memories

did this really only come out in 2017? i feel like i’ve been listening to it since i was born. tangential lateral kind of wormhole out of vaporwave into two meditative spiritual infinite-feeling loops that perfectly complement each other

https://noproblematapes.bandcamp.com/track/sad-horizons

#10 nyege nyege tapes sounds of sisso

absolutely obnoxiously insanely high energy high pitch high bpm dance music. i can’t believe this isn’t what people mean when they say future bass. set me down the path of historical and contemporary non-”global north” ideas about dance/rhythm/bass which i’m still on

https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/track/mshamba-video-mster

#11 blithe field face always toward the sun

the most gorgeous implementation of the sorta-ambient guitar-looping vignette aesthetic. is this a real trope or did i listen to this album so much i convinced myself it was a thing? for me this is the sound of what its like to feel completely content with life and at ease in the moment

https://blithefield.bandcamp.com/track/zen-den

#12 anohni hopelessness

listening to this album and singing along while driving my car made me feel absolutely disgusting. unbelievable hooks, grossly hi fi sound design, and overblown drama add up to imo a scary effective type of explicitly political or ‘protest’ music

https://anohni.bandcamp.com/track/drone-bomb-me

#13 21 savage, offset, & metro boomin without warning

why is these 3 pop stars’ vaguely halloween-themed one-off collab my favorite trap album? 21 savage, offset, and metro boomin were all wildly corny in different ways but everything was perfectly balanced. i hope metro boomin makes like one seriously ambient album next decade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWv-bR_X-VM&list=PLC1uUM4twa8i6zsD_Sn1LRUq4vhl_PLCx&index=11&t=0s

#14 laura les big summer jams 2018

‘crying in the club’ type bangers with no fear of ugliness and no fear of beauty and no fear of wildly unfashionable tropes like skrillex-y dubstep and guitar solos. so much input from other trans/queer artists it felt like a big t4t party

https://osno1.bandcamp.com/track/the-river-feat-scum-yung-skrrt-and-99jakes

#15 triad god nxb

the other triad god tape from 7 years later is just as good. what was this man doing in the intervening time? i just imagine him riding london public transit while it rains or something. i love knowing that most of his cantonese spoken-word/rap parts are insults and jokes rather than like, melancholy observations

https://soundcloud.com/hipposintanks/triad-god-remand

#16 dj koze knock knock

what if pop music sounded like this? somehow every song on here is wildly danceable, wildly sing-alongable, and also wildly detail-oriented. feels like a transmission from an alternate present where things are okay

https://djkoze.bandcamp.com/track/club-der-ewigkeiten

#17  ocora world of traditional music

box set of “world music” recordings from the label that french electronic composer pierre schaeffer started in the 1950s as a project to teach people in rural west africa how to dj. ethnography can be a fucked up idea but afaik ocora is one of the good ones and if you can sorta try to disengage from the tropes/cliches that get imposed on it, the music is phenomenal. hard to find a track specific to this box set but here’s another from the label

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJm8rn6gW5I

#18 oneohtrix point never replica

opn feels like an artist i’ve ‘grown out of’ i guess but samples never felt more alive or more dead than they did on replica. set a template for the kind of melancholy ‘soundscape’-y vibe that i spent years trying to find more of after

https://oneohtrixpointnever1.bandcamp.com/track/power-of-persuasion

#19 rihanna anti

the most perfect imaginable pop album. i keep trying to move it higher up. i almost put club chai vol 1 on this list purely cause of the Woo remix but then i remembered the original is better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dDCUKElEwk

#20 colleen a flame my love a frequency

colleen’s ultra deadpan singing and wriggly rhythmic synth put me in a trance. everything sounded dry as hell even though it was covered in reverb. i think maybe some people were put off by the corny song names and lyrics

https://colleencolleen.bandcamp.com/track/separating

#21 dj paypal drake edits

back when drake seemed like a sorta-shitty dude rather than seriously creepy, dj paypal used the power of footwork to expose both the melancholy-ambient modality and the serious-bass-music modality latent in his voice and beats

https://mallmusicinc.com/track/brand-new

#22 huerco s. for those of you who have never (and also those who have)

not really as ambient as it first seems imo, but rather like a really intense focus on what we mean when we describe things as ‘static’ or ‘dynamic’. i know it’s corny but i wanna say these tracks are fully both and fully neither

https://brianleeds.bandcamp.com/track/promises-of-fertility

#23 girls rituals reddishness

for a track so deliberately shitty-sounding I Know had no right to be so fucking danceable. persona and production synthesized into the only ‘singer-songwriter’ music i could really get into

https://temporaryenjoyment.bandcamp.com/track/i-know

#24 chromatics kill for love

fakeass 80s retro melancholia digitized and pushed so far past pastiche it turned into pure slime. the phone call in There’s A Light Out On The Horizon came straight from the void

https://soundcloud.com/johnnyjewel/chromatics-kill-for-love-album

#25 actress ghettoville

the only genuinely post-apocalyptic music. specifically the postapocalypse in wall-e but if there was no wall-e to clean it up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcCPdfUFq6k

#26 playboi carti die lit

every beat on this album was reducible to a 4-second loop that perpetually demanded its own repetition and playboi carti somehow knew exactly what to do with them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2pjiKmhlAI

#27 charli xcx vroom vroom

the charli xcx that came after this was fun, but there was black hole levels of power compacted into when she said vroom vroom on Vroom Vroom

https://soundcloud.com/vroomvroomrecordings/charli-xcx-vroom-vroom

#28 pacific breeze: japanese city pop, aor & boogie 1976-1986

it’s kind of amazing to think that this compilation only exists because vaporwave aesthetics made ‘japanese grocery-store kitsch from the 80s’ a marketable thing in the us. anyway every single one of these is an absolute bop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl91bvEKj20

#29 young thug barter 6

i can’t get enough of listening to young thug’s voice. i’ve seen his rhythmic-melodic-textural sensibility described as virtuosic and i don’t know really if that term means anything but it feels right to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg9ZxQKSDuw

#30 magic eye babylon

smeared dreamy lo-fi guitar music w wistful buried melodies pushed to an extreme. every song sounded the same and i wish there was more than the one cassette

https://magiceye.bandcamp.com/track/flame

#31 tirzah devotion

you could say this was ‘stripped down’ r&b but i think more accurately what separated it was that every sound stood exactly and only for itself

https://tirzah.bandcamp.com/track/basic-need

#32 mount eerie clear moon

it’s amazing how well mount eerie navigated the move from a lo-fi sound/mode/affect to a hi-fi sound/mode/affect. clear moon wasn’t his first attempt but it was the one that most embodied the feeling of the new possilibities that had been opened up

https://pwelverumandsun.bandcamp.com/track/through-the-trees-pt-2

#33 kelela aquaphoria

this mix was such a good idea it immediately seemed shocking nobody else had tried afaik. and kelela executed it so well you forgot the tracks already existed in other contexts

https://soundcloud.com/kelelam/aquaphoria

#34 james ferraro skid row

not sure what it means that the only james ferraro i really love is also the one i think of as the least abstract/conceptual. his recited lyrics had a rare spoken-word-poetic power

https://breakworldrecords.bandcamp.com/track/to-live-and-die-in-la

#35 salyu x salyu s(o)un(d)beams

absolutely unbounded sense of joy and creativity and possibility hovering between bangers-lite and ‘soundscape’-y electronic manipulation

https://soundcloud.com/snouu/salyu-x-salyu-s-o-un-d-beams

#36 dj rashad just a taste vol 1

double cup got all the press but it was so smoothed-over it could never have done something as absurdly beautiful as Ghost or even Go Crazy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZuHPAbte9U

#37 yves tumor serpent music

i’m sorta put off by the high-gloss sheen of music like this but serpent music somehow had the right combination of total cohesion and a ridiculous density of impactful moments

https://soundcloud.com/pan_hq/yves-tumor-the-feeling-when-you-walk-away-pan-73?in=pan_hq/sets/yves-tumor-serpent-music-pan

#38 maral mahur club

lo-fi beat collage elevated to something that could actually genuinely be called world music

https://astralplanerecordings.bandcamp.com/track/avesta-khani-reggaeton

#39 lucki ecks watch my back

did not expect this super low-stakes sadboy trap to end up on this list but i love his min-effort flow and somehow every beat is exactly the vibe even when the tracks aren’t volume balanced

https://soundcloud.com/boob7/leave-wit-you-prod-plu2o-nash-clams-casino?in=boob7/sets/watch-my-back

#40 arca stretch 2

not sure why i get more out of arca’s nonsense broken-beat non-rap than any of her later projects

https://unonyc.bandcamp.com/track/tapped-in

#41 klein only

a new way to do fucked up noise w pop leanings. ‘audacitycore’

https://klein1997.bandcamp.com/track/pretty-black-2

#42 city arcadia

another mysterious transmission, this time w lots of harp

https://soundcloud.com/halcyon-veil/city-arcadia

[thatblondeperson]

AU Questions: If an older Batman secretly made a young adult clone of himself, with all his knowledge and personality traits, and trained him for ten years in a hidden cave until the clone has enough experience to be on par to how he was in his prime, how would the Bat Family react if a hologram of an elderly Bruce (Batman) told them this shortly after the actual Bruce died? And what happens if the hologram told them that they have to watch over the clone?

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER!!! Omg, my first ask in idk how many years and you hit me with a tough one. I'm gonna try to break this down by batkid with an extra added bonus of Alfred. Though considering that we are suggesting that Bruce has died of old age in this AU, Alfred has probably long since passed. (But really, he's probably immortal right?)

ANYWAY

Dick: I think Dick would naturally step up and want to take the most responsibility, but not right away. I think part of him would feel hurt that he didn't know about this, and also confused/angry as to why Bruce would want to leave "himself" behind in this way. Dick is seems to be one of those in the family most prepared for the natural outcome and progression of the hero-ing gig, so seeing a younger Bruce, at this point maybe even younger than himself would throw him for a BIG loop. He would need adjusting. Dick and Bruce were the first team, and Bruce took him in before the others. Despite their setbacks during a period of Dick's transition years, I think eventually Dick would see this as an opportunity to step up for the man who stepped up for him? But it would take him a BIG adjustment period.He tries to stay positive throughout it all. He knows it wasn't Bruce's intention to upset any of them, so he sets an example for the others. If this was Bruce's final wish, he doesn't want to let him down.

Babs: Something tells me that Babs would be someone who might have been let in on the secret before everyone else. She's been helping him train, and she helped Bruce set up the hologram. Hell she seems like the one that would call the meeting that would break the news to everyone. Initially I think she would have thought it was a bad idea for Bruce to secretly "preserve" himself like this, but she would eventually agree to help him. She knows Bruce only wants the best for Gotham, and it has nothing to do with his lack of trust in his children to take care of their city, but he wants to leave behind more than that. Gotham needs more than just Batman, they need a symbol of everlasting protection. He wants to ensure safety long after he's gone.So she helps him in the training and in keeping this secret until it was ready to share with the others.

Jason: Jason takes it pretty hard. For me, Bruce in his prime lined up with a lot with his time with Jason. That's not to say he declined afterwards, but he had established himself pretty well by then. Jason is looking at the man he felt betrayed by. He worked very hard to come to terms with what happened to himself, and to forgive Bruce for his death. This is a major setback from him. Looking once again at the man that he kept hoping he would see in front of him in the seconds before his death, looking in his eyes and feeling the wave of anger...Jason stays away for a while. With a lot of encouragement, he eventually starts coming around again, but he never fully warms up to Bruce 2.0, and rarely looks him directly in the eyes,

Tim: Tim also takes it kind of hard but in a different way. Tim has experience a LOT of loss. (not that the others haven't) Seeing Bruce again almost as he remembers him kinda puts him into a state of shock. He's confused, much like Dick, as to why he wasn't let in on this. He could have helped. Despite it, Tim almost clings to Bruce 2.0 in a way. He works with him, and monitors him, almost testing to see how accurate of a copy it is. He finds himself forgetting that it's not REALLY Bruce, and it hurts when he remembers. Tim knows the pain of trying to make a copy of someone he lost, he didn't plan on how it would feel if he ever succeeded. Sometimes he brushes against Bruce 2.0 on "accident" to make sure he's actually there.

Steph: Steph is definitely weirded out. She thinks Bruce is pretty insane for wanting to leave an exact replica of himself behind.She always thought Bruce was a little unpredictable, but this is a smack in the face that's hard for her to wrap her mind around. She though, like Barbara, understands his reasoning. She sees the others reactions over time as well, and learns to accept Bruce 2.0, and actually ends up treating him the most normal out of everyone. She jokes with him, and includes him in "family" stuff. She also works with he and Tim on occasion. She recognizes the subtle pieces of him that aren't an EXACT copy, Bruce could never fully program those kind of tiny details in. Not the things that made him human. But this new Bruce 2.0 has potential, and he will learn.

Cass: Cass is pretty wary and untrusting at first. She buried her father, she mourned him. She tests him as well, looking not for mistakes, but things she missed while he was alive. She is the first to hug him. He has Bruce's memories, and it happened on a night when he was talking about things in the past. Babs helps her adjust to clone overall and talks with her a lot about why Bruce did it, and what it was like building the clone. Cass finds it comforting and overall trusts him eventually. With her initial wariness, it takes her a while to speak with him. When they are alone at first, Bruce 2.0 does more of the talking, but eventually she talks with him more and ends up training with him on a fairly regular basis.

Damian: Damian rejects the notion that this is his father. He is upset that Bruce would consider a substitute something that all of them would just accept. It takes a lot of convincing to warm him up to the idea, but he doesn't call him "father" or "Bruce." Initially he defers to him as "Clone", but does slip up on one night without realizing it. He misses Bruce, but does not want a replacement. He sees that Bruce spent a lot of time building an exact copy. The training, the knowledge, the personality...all there, but it isn't enough. It never will be. Bruce is gone and he cannot be brought back.

BONUSES

Duke: (I don't know much about Duke so bear with me.) Duke doesn't necessarily agree with Bruce's decision to clone himself. He knows that Bruce understands the risk and inevitability of the crime fighting gig, so it's hard for him to wrap around Bruce wanting a way to almost "cheat death." But understanding the symbol that Batman represents to Gotham, he accepts the idea in theory. He looks at Gotham as a whole's reaction to Batman's return, and settles into a more appreciative mindset eventually. Part of him didn't think Bruce would have left without one last trick up his sleeve anyway.

Alfred: Assuming Alfred is still alive and assuming he knows about this as well, I think he would initially try to talk Bruce out of this. The Batman will be carried on by the other, it shouldn't be carried on like this. Alfred knows that in a way, this is a reflection of the fear Bruce still has in his heart. The fear of his own death, the fear of not being able to protect his family after he's gone. It's not just leaving behind a protector for Gotham, he's leaving behind a protector for everyone he loves. Alfred knows this isn't the way to help those who have already probably mourned his loss, but Bruce is adamant. Alfred helps him, but regularly reminds him that after he's already gone, it might not be received in the way he thinks. Alfred doesn't talk much about how he helped Bruce with the others. The pain of seeing his son before him after his own mourning is very difficult for him to deal with. But he cares for Bruce 2.0 fiercely, often wondering if he did enough for his own son while he was alive, and how he would have done any of it differently.

OK YOWZA. I hope that was what you wanted, this took me a WHILE and I'm not fully confident ont his because this was very very VERY hard to answer. Gauging each of them individually (and yes, I'm sure there's some I've left out) was harder than I thought it would be. For some reason especially Dick? Idk anyway, hope this was enjoyable at least.

People are free to correct me on anything that might be inconsistent with canon or if they have a differing opinion.

Thanks for the ask @frostbite883 !!!

[clumsyclifford]

hello i’m lazy so i’m just going to list off some random numbers if any of them apply to specific fics u choose which to answer for out of ummmm sdf and ashes to ashes (first fic of urs i read!)

27, 38, 19, 16, 2, 10 :)

love this strategy, thank you. also i didn't know ashes to ashes was the first fic you read of mine! ......what an intriguing introduction.

27. How long did it take to write ashes to ashes? Describe the process. i have to check, but i think it was a matter of hours. this was one of those fics where i just put a song on a loop, sat down, and wrote until the whole thing was written. oh okay i checked, the answer is actually two days! still, i think that is essentially how it went down. ive definitely mentioned many times how much i want to write an apocalypse or post-apocalyptic AU but that's a whole entire undertaking so instead i took a song from my apocalypse playlist and expanded on just that one song, which was die alone by finneas, where the title comes from. so basically i typed out a big paragraph at the top of the doc explaining what the plot of the fic was and then i just wrote it til it was done. two days! to be fair, i was working at camp those two days. so. yeah.

38. Did any of your fics get surprisingly popular (whatever that means to you)? Which ones? Why do you think they were so successful? answered this here, and i said spiderman AU, which i stand by. also, to be honest, acappella au got way more popular than i anticipated, considering it was my first fic for the fandom. like. ever. wish i knew what made that one so successful! possibly because it was malum at the time of a malum renaissance (thanks helen) or honestly because it was a 5sos fic in the time of a 5sos fic renaissance (again...thanks helen) or possibly because it was such an ensemble fic it had something for everyone. maybe? i dunno. a combination of those factors, i guess. i mean to be fair it's a good fun fic, but that doesn't explain what made people click on it or bother to read it in the first place.

19. If you wrote a spin-off of you seem so damn familiar, what would it involve? okay so i thought about this and. there's not a lot of spinoff material from this nor from ashes to ashes because they're both pretty self-contained, only really have two characters that matter or at all. but i think if i were to write a sdf spinoff, if this counts as a spinoff, i'd want to do something from jack's pov. maybe those weeks where alex is in the hospital? maybe even before he wakes up? or maybe like, phone calls and conversations he has with rian and zack and everyone else in his life, where they're all kind of trying to figure out what to do about alex, and jack is sort of half "i can handle it guys, i'm an adult, it's fine" and half "this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me" and nobody really knows what to do. idk it'd be interesting to see even a part of the story from his side.

16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)? i answered this here, but i can come up with another for sure. oh im not gonna lie ali, your british alex fic is a DELICIOUS au. how many times can i sing the praises of in a world of black and white, the top tier college/soulmate AU fic meg wrote me for fic exchange. OH AND THE 1D SECRET AGENT AU. YEAH THAAAAAAT FIC. i LOVE that fic. The Desertion Job. it's fucking incredible. fuck okay i could keep going but i need to chill. wait one more. lashton summer camp counselors fic. obsessed. i lied one more maggie's fangirl AU unbeatable content OKAY IM DONE IM DONE I STG

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits? answered here for molly!!!

10. How do you decide what to write? answered for meg here !!! essentially it's whatever i'm in the mood for. i guess that has a caveat though which is: if i'm writing on a deadline for whatever reason and the deadline is fast approaching sometimes ill try to, like. grind on that fic. but usually i write for fun not out of obligation so i just write what i feel like writing.

questions for fic writers

[coxinyoface]

i usually don’t do this but it’s 4am, i’m cramping/anemic/generally in pain and out of it, i’m procrastinating, and it’s been like. probably 2 years since the last time i did one of these? so why not since i have new followers after my acpc obsession! (the reason why not is... i write too much, sorry. a couple others have tagged me recently with similar questions and i stopped myself but hey i’ll let it go this time and try to be social)

i’m not sure who else to tag. i see the top three ppl i recognize often in my notifications lately are @lonelylittlewarlock @betumbledpolaritis @lavender-aquarius so how ‘bout you guys? feel free to ignore if you’re not up for it tho

anyway:

Get to know me tag! got tagged by @sundaycrossing and @lilcasshole

Nickname: on this account most people just call me CIYF and that’s fine. i haven’t had a proper nickname in a long time and i try to keep this acc separate because. coxinyoface is not the best name to reference offline or with work/art stuff lmao. 

Gender: nonbinary. they/them preferred.

Starsign: taurus.

Height: 5′3″/1.6m-ish? i’m short and fat and friendshaped i like to think.

Hogwarts house: ravenclaw or hufflepuff. when i was little i’d insist ravenclaw bc i’m a nerd who tried to persuade themselves they like school, but i’m likely hufflepuff bc i try too hard n am painfully stupidly loyal. idk. hp house discourse frustrates me.

Favorite animal: this changes frequently bc birds but today... potoo. potoos are often my favorite bc they could be my fuckin fursona and i relate deeply.

Favorite color: grey. stormy grey i think.

Current favorite song: зын зын by jokeasses. i found this through a random video of someone dancing in nosferatu drag to it months ago (thanks internet) and it’s still stuck. i keep switching between looping this, boogie by brockhampton, or yellow ferrari by mystery skulls. i can loop the same song for 10+ hours at a time. i do this bc i can have up to 5 songs stuck in my head at the same time and this somewhat cures that. it’s bad.

Ways to get creative: well. listening to music until my brain melts is one way. it’s easy to get creative but difficult to be productive, so i’d say just. trying to really really enjoy an activity, whether it’s reading, watching, or playing something, and trying to hold onto that feeling when i work on something. and then 4am binges of researching random shit that i can use to inspire myself later.

What do you do when you’re home alone: i’m either on tumblr, watching youtube, reading fanfic, or working on work art or art prints. acpc became a thing bc of lack of sleep and bird cult aesthetic n distraction. i’m currently stuck in a fic cycle of interest, it switches a lot. current fandom is HP (again) but i’ve gone into fic hell for naruto, opm, mcu, fucking anything that makes me hate myself. but then, i’ve also been reading a lot of bnha and some of that shit is actually so healthy and wholesome i cried. i want to get back into anime.

Average hours of sleep: hooo boy. it used to be 2 hours, consecutively, with maybe 4 total a day, while in college. i’m trying to fix that and i think i’m getting 3 hours consecutively and 5-6 total? i was doing great at some point last year and was somehow getting 5 consecutive hours up to 8 but. well. sleep’s a bitch and i have sleep paralysis and insomnia. today i managed to sleep maybe 5 consecutive and 15 total holy shit because i dreamed i had a heart attack and was dying and believed it (bc sleep paralysis)! in reality it was anemia fuckin me up today thanks google  

Cats or dogs?: cats. sorry dogs, i love you but you have too much energy. besides i feel like cat people are dogs and dog people are cats, and i’ve worked very hard to earn my cats love so i’m loyal now lmao

Numbers of blankets you sleep with: i’m going to say pillows instead, because i live in a warm area and blankets are the mortal enemy. so--four. one to make sure i don’t smash into the wall, one for my head that i will never use as i slowly rotate like a flailing turtle on its back, one for my legs to make sure i don’t kick, and one to hug so i don’t punch.

Dream job: honestly my standards are so damn low i’d probably do any digital illustration/graphic design art job that (1)pays decently for my area where (2)the clients weren’t from hell and (3)i could work from home. like. i used to have specifics like ~concept art~ and shit but i had a good couple of work months (before some very bad ones) where one really good nonprofit client made me realize i genuinely don’t give a fuck what i do so long as it genuinely helps someone/somepeople and also helps me exist.

Dream trip: i. don’t actually want to travel much. tbh, i did japan, korea, and the philippines in one week somehow, and it killed my interest in traveling due to over-planning. if i could go back in time and do it again, maybe i’d spend more time chilling in japan? i just want lipton milk tea in those lil cartons. why can’t they make those here. and omurice. and katsu. and... ok i’d travel to japan again just for food fuck it.

Sexuality: It’s Complicated but for simplification, grey ace. i say aro-ace but go back and forth using that label because it’s useful but i can’t tell if i’m aro or just too anxious to function bc i feel like i’m somehow tricking people if they like me, and have no idea what i find attractive in the weird range of people i’ve been attracted to or to what degree i am attracted. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ tbh, QPRs seem way more appealing to me because i’m just that kinda grey gay. none of this matters unless i maintain a healthier lifestyle that isn’t a hot mess or somehow get the fuck over myself tho. idk one day i’ll be more socially active again.

When did you make this account?: shit, like... 6 years ago i think? oof. a lot changes over six years. if i wasn’t lazy i’d make a new shitpost account so i could pretend to forget what an ass i was but i can’t even separate most of my interests by blog.

Number of followers: 3,050, around. it hovers back and forth due to i assume bots and ppl getting very confused. those of u here for youtubes, thanks for sticking around all these years and i’m sorry; those of u here for acpc, i’m sorry and hope you enjoy me being really mad abt acpc. i have no idea how accurate follower count really is, though; apparently my highest activity was back in 2015 and i had less than 2k then i think? fuck if i understand tumblr

anyway if you’ve somehow read through all of that thanks for listening to the ramblings of a madman hopped up on pain at 6am you’re a champ and this random online stranger loves you and wishes you a good day