#and sometimes make flyers or ads or something

[rachealsaccount]

if my mom is gonna force/guilt trip me into being her work assistant could I at least get paid for it

[dangopango00]

COLLEGE AU TIGHNARI ROOMMATE HCS

Tighnari x gn reader

A/N: AUGGGHHHHH IM INSANE AGAIENEBWFWFWWGQ Missing tighnari hours oue so I will write out all the roomie hcs I have to share; per usual its self indulgent as hell

If im being fr this is probably gonna have a part 2 soon i always forget something 😭😭 also my art of him is down there somewhere!!!!

Cw: long af oh my god

more utc

First Meeting:

- You’re a biology major or something similar and just visiting the college you’ll be attending

- You were definitely going to move into the dorms but you heard about and later witnessed some student running around like a maniac looking for a roommate

- You even got emails about it, found flyers on some of the pinboards around the school and even saw ads online (whether that be in some college gc app like zeemee or whatever)

- Eventually you did a bit of basic research on this guy by asking some of your friends or people who know him and you found out his name is Tighnari and he’s double majored in biology and botany

- You let him go on for a few days-a week before you realized he really wasn’t going to find a roommate this late in the game; feeling both pity and admiration for his dedication, you approached him with one of the flyers in your hand as the poor guy took a break from his ad campaign

- “Um… about this flyer…..”

- Tighnari’s ears immediately perked up oh you just made his week, no his month— maybe even his year

- “Yes? Are you interested in moving in? My previous roommate has begun living elsewhere” he explained.

- You’re hesitant, hoping you aren’t making a mistake but eventually steel yourself and figure you only live once right? Plus he could always help with your work! You give him a firm nod.

- Tighnari got a bit overexcited, asking way too many questions at once, “When can you move in? How will you be paying rent? Are you alright with plants? Right, by the way I’m Tighnari. I am a biology and botany major”

- “It’s nice to meet you! I’m (Y/n). I can move in soon and plants are fine! Uh …About rent! I’ll have to find a job but I do have some savings!” you confessed nervously.

- To tell the truth you weren’t planning on getting a job this early on, planning to get the hang of the new workload first but desperate times call for desperate measures (Cute guy in trouble 😤)

- Tighnari however, was unamused. His face completely dropped as if you’d just told him his entire family dropped dead, “You don’t have a source of income already…? Then why would you…. Sigh Nevermind. Its fine. This is fine. I’ll even help you job search”

- “Greeeaaatttt there goes my credit” he thought. And it showed on his face too.

- You just shoot him a silly smile and over the course of the days it took to move you into his apartment you establish some ground rules

Rules:

- He will do the cooking and he’ll cook for you if he’s cooking for himself (if he’s not cooking then you’re on your own)

- In return you do a majority of the cleaning although it’s still pretty split kinda like a 60/40 or 55/45 kind of deal

- You pay the water bill while he pays electricity (you take long showers and his plants and such sometimes require lamps + he just uses a lot of electricity I feel like it’s not usually for him but his plants and work)

- Visitors are pretty much always welcome but you have to let the other know beforehand

- Although the previous rule is true none of those kind of visitors are allowed. Tighnari has sensitive ears he don’t wanna hear that 😭😭

- Be cool and communicate if you have a problem

Apartment:

- SO MANY PLANTS. LIKE THEY ARE TAKING OVER THE APARTMENT . This is a big part of why Tighnari didn’t want to live in the dorms since he wouldn’t be able to have as many plants as he wanted

- It’s a little funny Cyno has really bad allergies so he never lived with him and Collei lived with him for a long time but moved out to move in with Amber (oue shes leaving the nest) (she’s in the apartment right below yours)

- You, as a biology major, on the other hand LOVE the amount of plants in the apartment and Tighnari is ecstatic because he was sooo worried you’d try to make him get rid of them or something; is even more glad that you like them as much as he does

- Also has a big tank of worms where he dumps all the leftovers neither of you eat. He then uses the compost as plant fertilizer

- Despite the amount of things in the apartment its very neat and organized; there are little notebooks next to every living thing to keep track of when and how to feed them

You and Him:

- He has a very old ass car but only uses it for emergencies because he’s not a fan of carbon emissions (usually goes places by public transport, walking or hitching rides) (its the little things that make a big difference ok)

- He works two jobs: One at a plant/flower shop and the other at the school library

- He sometimes brings home new plants because all the plants no one will buy are always given to him by management

- You work one or two jobs likely on campus maybe in the newspaper or the school cafe etc

- Either way whenever you get home tired or after just having a bad day he’d comfort you so much no matter how many days in a row you do the same thing, flopping on the couch and groaning

- When you first did it you two weren’t close but he still stroked your hair and offered you some words of praise but when you two became more comfortable he’d straight up hold you to his chest or let you lay on his lap while stroking your hair if you don’t mind

- “I really need to stop coddling you” he’d say this all the time but never follow through on it and you’d be in his arms as we speak 😅

- He never did stop coddling you. Whenever you watch a show or anime he’s right beside you on the couch reading his book as he glances up every now and again; sometimes gives his two cents on what’s going on in the show (my personal fave is him getting mad at the usopp going merry arc in water 7 bye)

- He has little black rectangular reading glasses idc idgaf he dresses like an old man too with cardigans and sweater vests, maybe overalls if he’s going out to do garden work (he has no sense of fashion we know this)

- If you’re willing to listen he will yap so much about his plants and about wildlife; his heart melts in his chest if you seem genuinely interested and are paying close attention

- You have a snail named Saniel/Saniela. You almost stepped on him and brought him inside, putting him in a little terrarium thing.

- Tighnari hates that thing (he doesn’t; he’s like a grumpy father with a new dog) if it gets out it will eat his plants, so watch it. 😤

- Posts it on his little conservation account (shoutout to the person who wrote that post where he had a conservation insta acc i cant find it) and it overtakes the page gn its his worst nightmare. First it steals his unofficial lover now his followers

- Yall would’ve been burned at the stake in the 1800s you’re always doing your “projects” in the house unless its dangerous (but you’ll still do it outside) like you seeing a girl on Tiktok grow mushrooms on a book so you try it at home…

- He always helps you with anyyyyything. You need help studying for this biology test? So does he, come on in. You need a shoulder to cry on? He has two!! You want a snack but you don’t want to ask too much of him? Don’t be ridiculous he’s making you something as we speak

- He’s actually such a sweetheart he worries about your diet so much; honestly he’s content knowing that you’re under his care bc then he knows you’re eating right

- He wakes up and starts his day INSANELY early and honestly if you manage to wake up before him he’d probably flinch seeing you up LOL he’s so not used to anyone being awake when he is let alone earlier

- Absolute hypocrite too, he won’t let you sleep too late no matter what day it is or whether you have class or not but when he does it he’s just busy smh

- Wouldn’t mind if you treated him the same although if it’s time sensitive he fears he cannot give in to your demands sigh

- He’s a worrywart and a leeeetle nagging but you can tell he cares and you care about him just the same

- You’re always doing whatever you can to take stress off of his shoulders like running errands for him, cooking for him/ordering takeout when he can’t cook, Taking care of his plants for him when he’s busy, etc

- If you work out in the house after moving in then it’s so over for him

- He’s insane. If you’re in the living room he will go “read” his book on the couch but he’s been on the same page the whole time, is he ever gonna flip?

- Not even like explicit workouts like squats or something; just seeing you push yourself to your limit and sweaty and grunting and— where was he again? Ah right page 52.

- It’s so much worse if you ask him to help in some way, he can’t focus at all especially if you ask him to sit on your back while you do pushups

- Also a fan of you being taller than him no matter the method. (Which isn’t hard to achieve bc I hc him like 5’1-5’3) Naturally tall? Great! Wearing platforms? Amazing! Standing on a stool? As long as he doesn’t look down then it’s hot

Funny Bonus from the ari:

Tighnari: do you know anyone who still needs housing arrangements?? pls I’m desperate 😭

Alhaitham: you could take Kaveh

Kaveh: WOWWWW…

[itwasnotahamster]

- Letters from the Dead - (Part 1)

Langhus, 21 March 1990 | © The Old Nick | Source: Letters from the Dead

The brackets will indicate possible context or corrections (sometimes commentary). - 💜

"Only Black is true, only Death is real!!! Gore is trend! Hello Nick! It's Dead here again. Hey- you're really good at drawing, I use to do some drawing stuff myself. I enclose something of it in this letter. Maybe we together can work something out, maybe even in Metal Destruction…? You asked of releases, if we need some artworks for that... Well we rarely give out much and as for the next release we'll probably have some photograph instead. But if we would need something that you might feel for help us out with I'll tell of it. So what we can use drawings for is for stuff like flyers, ads and letter­pages. So far I have done the drawings for that... well the main reason of that is that we have a (old!) xerox mashine and I'm the one in the band that 'can' draw. It's not so often that I have time left to spend hours or sometimes days by making drawings and too many don't like that kind of drawings I make (but fuck them wimps!). But onto the Deathlike Silence Prod. now. The 2nd edition of the 1st release on DSP. - Merciless is out now, the one you get here as promo. We're looking for distributors everywhere and everybody who can sell 10 (or more) records will receive a copy for free + that 10 records will be cheaper. As soon as this the 2nd ed. has paid, Imperator will go in studio.

Imperators LP will contain 8-10 songs (depending on how many "old demo songs" they'll use - but it'll be new trax as well) and it'll be entitled "The time before time". After that it'll probably be the colombian Masacre as the next release. Masacre will be very soon release a 7- inches with 3 demo songs on the greek label Scene of Love. That's a new started label and I hope they can give out enough copies, not limited ed. of it. Of course we give the bands free hands and they're not bounded to use at all, but I'm thinking of the fact that Masacre is selling so much... Only in Colombia their 1st, and only demo sold 1000 copies ( which is more than our Deathcrush demo has sold worldwide...). We can only press up 1000 copies each time of every edition of DSP, and the first ed. Of Merciless sold out as fast as we could pack and post it. This second ed. we recieved [received] for not a so long time ago will depend on how much stamps we can get, of how soon it'll sell out. In Norway it's very hard to sell records - it's far away from USA or South America and I don't think any real scene exists here. Do you think you can take care of some distribution/selling of DSP releases, or you maybe know someone else who's interested? [True dedication]. I think Merciless will be very easy to sell in Italy. Many zines exists there and we recieve many letters from there also. We also sell other records (given out by various underground labels) but it can be so different of what records of others releases we sell 'cos we usually don't get so many of them, so they sell out so soon. But anyway - I can tell of what we presently have got (except of Merciless)

LP's (£10000 + postage)

Agressor/Loudblast (split LP, France) "Licenced to thrash"

Arakain (Czechoslovakia, speed metal - I do not like this one!) "Thrash the Trash"

Nomed (France)... very boring mainstream... "Like..."

Abomination (USA)

Disharmonic Orchestra/Pungent Stench (Austria, split LP)

Malicious Intent (Canada) "Shades of black"

7's (£5000 + postage)

Asphyx (Holland, Limited ed. 1000 copies) "Mutilating Process"

Atrocity (Germany) "Blue Blood"

Pungent Stench (Austria) "Extreme Deformity"

Disharmonic Orchestra (Austria) "Successive Substitution"

Do not print this in Metal Destruction, I will explain it to you, ok. If you want any of these records above, please tell of how many and of what records so I can see how much the postage will be. Now over to Mayhem. For the first time we've been in studio and recorded 2 songs (first time with this line-up I mean). It'll be released on Chicken Brain Records, a swedish kind of underground label some time in this autumn. It'll be 8-19 other (swedish) bands on it, among them Merciless. I don't know the title of this compilation LP/CD. Our songs that'll be on it are "The Freezing Moon" and "Carnage". The Freezing Moon is a new one and pretty different from our other songs, as example it's a long guitar solo on a very long Doom part on it and that's because we wanted to have a solo at only one track (of our new ones). Carnage was made in '85 (!) so it's really old. It was on the 1st demo/reh - Pure Fucking Armageddon (released in only 100 copies and not available) but with the thought of the very bad sound on it we feeled for playing it again and try to keep the original sound of it. I'll tape these trax for ya but I'm not so sure of if it'll be enclosed in this letter or if I'll put this letter togeather [together] with the Merciless record but anyhow you'll get this tape. You can record it to others if you like to but please don't trade it, and I'll record some else bands too for filling out the rest of the tape. Have you heard of the INCREADIBLY KILLING GREAT band Tormentor from Hungary? Their demo is about 4 years old but it sounds like the Death/Black metal bands of today. We try to find out if they want a deal on DSP. But unfortunately they hardly speak any English at all so it seems like neither them or us understood it... We think of releasing a full-lengtht LP of Mayhem but it seems to take a fucking longtime before we got material enough for it... The only we know about it is a title that MUST be used - De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas. That was about all future plans I can tell of I guess. I look forward to see Metal Destruction. There's a possibility that we can sell it also, but I can't say if for sure.

About Satanism... well, I'd like to join a very underground and Illful, Evil and Grim Coven. I think you know of the hassles by finding any or getting any contact with a such. I do NOT like what's created by Anton LaVey like 1st Church of Satan. I came in contact with a dude who's a degree in the American Satans Sons - Church of Satan and he explained of it has nothing to do with LaVey at all. I asked of if it does exist in Europe also and of what it is exactly... well he didn't reply. But I heard later thet Satans Sons shall exist in Europe but I still don't know in which countries it is. In Norway it's not much of this, but in Sweden (-I am swedish) that 1st Church shall be in Stockholm (the capital there) and it shall be about 5 churches built by satanic sects, used only by satanists, mostly it's under christian churches - like the one under "Mariakyrkan" (Mary's Church) in the South of Stockholm where the 1st Church of Satan use to hang around at. I know it exists really Dark covens that use human sacrifices and are eating human flesh - them are those I try to find. I do not know much about magic and I can't say I'm a practicer of it 'cos I havn't succed. What is depending on what one can do in magic (all of its kind) is of what books one can get...those are hidden in libraries and so hard to even see... 'cos of course they don't let anyone even see them. You must be a scientist or something like if you would see the microfilms of that kind of books. A great library of many various kinds of magical arts and the Blackest of Black Arts too is the British Museum in London. But it's so damned difficult to get ones claws on those books. One book I really wanna get is De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas, unfortunately it exists only in one copy... are you practicing any magic and do you know of any covens? Have you seen/heard/felt anything supernatural? I have but I didn't understand much of what that was and I think the most of it was only so-called echoes from the past or the future [I am curious about this]. Do you know anything about astral planes and out-of body travelling? You seem to be into it and I agree about stupid trendmakers so it is something that I feel I can tell you of. I had a weird experience once, I had inner bleedings and it couldn't be found at x-rays so when it continued to bleed and bleed I finally fainted and dropped down the floor 'cos I run out of blood. The heart had no blood left to beat and my veins/artairs were almost emptied of blood. "Tecnically" I was dead. At that moment I fell down (into a door I heard of later) I saw a strange blue colour everywhere, it was transparent so I could, for a short moment, see everything in blue, till something shining white and "hot" surrounded me. What happened later is out of interest, I woke up when some ambulance men came and drove me to a hospital and there the bastards of surgery started to cut me up at the wrong side so I got a huge scar for that. However, it's someone I know who's had many out of body experiences and is using magic of various kinds and knows much more than I do of "supernatural" experiences, that I asked of this 'cos it was so strange about those colours. She told me that the first 'plane' in the astral world has the colour blue. The "earthly" plane has the colour black, then comes a grey one that is very near the earthly one and is easy to come to. The next one further is blue, and then it gets brighter and brighter till it "stops" at a white-shining one that can't be entered by mortals. IF any mortal succee enter it, that one is no longer a mortal and can not come back to the other planes nor back to this earth. After the white plane or level or whatever it goes further with other colour I don't know of, there only spirits and great sorcerers can travel. I was told that the white plane I then entered, without I knew it, was the dead world and I died. But I also got thrown back after a short time which very rarely happens. So of what I've heard of I have some kind of purpose to achieve here."

Reached the limit for this one, I will add on!

[loki-valeska]

Medli headcanon

I JUST REALIZED I NEVER TALKED ABOUT THIS HERE So anyway: I've had the hc that Medli is a weak flyer for a while now. Mostly due to how she has a stamina meter while the rest of the Rito can fly for much longer. And I think there's dialogue in Wind Waker to support this a bit.

This dialogue is given to Link before getting the Grappling Hook, wherein Medli states she used the Grappling Hook to climb the mountain, and that Rito used them before evolving to have wings.

We know Medli already has her wings by this point bc she uses them to get into the cavern with Link's help. I also wanna point out how she needs Link's help here to even get in the air. One could very well argue it's bc of the wind currents, which is what Medli says in game. But adding to how she needs the Grappling Hook throughout the Dungeon despite there being no wind that we can see on our trek, and already having wings to fly with is interesting to me. Why would she need to use that if she could just fly there?

"But Loki!" You're probably saying; "She only got her wings recently! She's probably just not skilled enough with them yet."

And to that, I need to point out:

Komali got his wings very recently, sometime after Medli did, and yet he flew all the way from Dragon Roost Island, to the Forsaken Fortress, to the Tower of the God's with Tetra in tow, and then back to Dragon Roost without us ever seeing him stop for any reason. The ocean in Wind Waker is massive, so flying that long on relatively new wings, is by no means a small feat. We also just see him flying around in the air during certain cutscenes. Something we never see Medli do. You could argue being the Chief's son makes him better at flying or something, but there's nothing in game to suggest that so it's entirely speculation.

When you go to the Earth Temple you have the option to control Medli and fly around without needing a jumpstart from Link. During this part of the game, she can only fly for about 10 seconds before getting tired. (Ik that this is only there to balance gameplay and whatever but let me whimsical and have hcs dammit/j) Sidebar:

This has nothing to do with anything but her having confidence issues breaks my heart, poor girl 😭😭😭 She's constantly asking if it's okay for her to suggest things and apologizing if her trying to help is annoying. YOU'RE NOT ANNOYING ME PLEASE I WANNA HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS, YOU HAVE GOOD IDEAS

Anyway, sidebar over

I also wanna point out that at the end of the game we see Komali and Medli again and while Komali greets you while flying, Medli is standing on the deck of Tetra's ship. We never really see Medli fly for long amounts of time. The only times we see her fly it's explicitly stated somehow that she can't do it for long. Whereas other Rito, like Komali and Quill, seem to be able to fly for indefinite amounts of time, with little to no issue.

I thought it was kinda cool how a lot of things seem to point to her having some kind of disability that leads to her being unable to fly for very long. I'm definitely gonna make this a part of my AU, bc I really like it. That's kinda all my thoughts on this for now. Now to get back to drawing.

[ruthlesscore]

hello !

i’ve been enjoying your writing for sf6 lately, and i was wondering if you’d be able to write anything for ed?

i don’t have any specific scenario, but can it be with an x reader insert? haha i’m just craving any sort of ed content tbh

thanks !

Ed x Hacker!Reader - Meeting Ed

- This is my first request for SF6! I was already planning on making a Ed related post so this is like killing two birds with one stone! I hope you enjoy! <3 -

You weren't a Street Fighter. You had more brains than those ruffians that go around beating up anything that moves. As an intellectual, you're enrolled in college to peruse your dream in technology. You had friends here and there, like Li-Fen, who lived in Chinatown, and some people who worked in SiRN.

You were from a working class household, only 23, constantly having to pay off your tuition. You didn't have money to afford food sometimes. You started picking up part-time jobs, some were odd, others were impractical. They never lasted long. You frequently got fired for being late or sleeping on the job. Your excuse?

"School's got me brunt out. I'm sorry, it won't happen again!"

and it didn't happen again because now youre jobless. Sitting at home, rotting away in front of your computer, you decided you needed a new job and fast. Something more practical that didn't require you to leave the comfort of your dorm.

You serached for a week or so before coming across this group called Neo Shadoloo. You've heard about Shadoloo from your many conversations with Li-Fen. The experiments they conducted on innocent children disgust you. You were glad they were gone. But if Shadoloo was gone, who the was Neo Shadoloo?

Adding the phone number to your contacts, you messaged the individual names Ed.

I saw the flyer for Neo Shadaloo. You guys hiring?

You got a response almost immediately.

Hell yeah we are. You gotta have some sort of experience in tech. You a hacker? You legit?

Yeah. What do you need done?

Just getting information from certain databases. Anything about Shadaloo, M. Bison, the experiments, or where the remnants might be. I'll send the pay to you later.

And that's the day you started cyber attacks for this strange organization. At first, you felt guilty about this. Then you were uncertain about the job because what you were doing was illegal. But then you looked at the pay and god DAMN. Who cares about morals when this shady organization is sending you 700 zenny per task.

After your first couple of jobs, Ed started to message you about things outside of work, like the history of Shadaloo, sightseeing in Metro, your studies at university, and personal philosophies. Sometimes, when you're up at night, you'd receive a text from him. You don't know if it was because he was under the influence, or that men usually act this way past 10, but he would send messages that were so strange. You couldn't tell if he was flirting or he was telling a bad joke.

You single? Of course you are. Nobody born in the shitty ass city will treat you right.

Ed, what the hell are you talking about?

You like Bratwurst? Ever had one? I could give you one.

Please go to sleep, Ed.

Only if you're sleeping with me.

Promise you'll make me breakfast in the morning?

Yeah, you're delirious. Gtb, ____.

You didn't know him personally, so the meaning is still up for grabs. The morning after these messages, Ed wouldn't even bring it up, if anything, he was avoiding it. Maybe he was under the influence.

After working for Neo Shadaloo for about 3 months, constantly messaging Ed and feeding into his nightly banter, you received a message from Ed.

Hey. I need you to come pick something up from me. It's a hard drive we need decoded. I'll be at the station at Beat Square tonight. Pull through.

You didn't even answer the message. You put your shoes on and headed out the door that night. Of course you were carrying your handy-dandy knife, as you were no fan of fighting. Hopefully no one tries to mug you or something. Heading down into the station and getting onto the train, you ran into a problem. What the hell does Ed even look like? You've never seen a photo of him and he's never seen you. How are you going to meet with someone you don't even know? Then there was a second problem, one running right towards you, a man and Shadaloo fighters.

The man held onto the overhead railing as the train shook. You lost your footing and fell onto the window. Groaning in a tinge of pain, you sit down. The man paid no attention to you. He looked at the Shadaloo fighters.

"Bring it on."

The Shadaloo fighters tried striking him. He dodged with boxer like reflexes. You silently watched the fight go down, completely dumbfounded by how brutal street fights were. God, it was disgusting. You get it, Shadaloo was a bad organization enabling bad behavior, but doing something as petty as strert fighting? Surely, there was a more mature, more intelligent way of handling affairs, right? With god like reflexes, the boxer hit all 3 of the Shadaloo fighters, knocking them to the ground. He managed to maintain his footing, even though the train was moving so unsteadily.

All of a sudden a big fighter came out, pushing the smaller ones out of the way. You pull your knees up to your chest, hoping you'd appear so small that neither the blond boxer or the Shadaloo fighter wouldn't see you. The big one tries to grab the boxer when the train car shook. The boxer's fist was suddenly engulfed in purple flames. Punching the Shadaloo fighter to the other side of the car and using some sort of supernatural ability to pull the fighter back to him, he punched the fighter's face into the ground. There's no denying it. That was Ed and he was using Psycho Power. He didn't even look your way. Once the train stopped, he quickly got off.

Once you got off the train, you quickly looked around for him. You see him and hurriedly walked over to him. With your hood up and mask on, you stopped a few feet away from Ed and showed him your messages with him. He glanced at the message before taking the hard drive out.

"So you're ____, huh. Finally got to put a name to a face."

He looks you up and down.

"Still down for that Bratwurst?"

[chronicmisfit]

hi, I would like to order a slice of angel’s food cake and a vanilla latte with whipped cream.

I got'chu anon. Went with head canons for when they take you on a date, and added a drabble for each of them.

Order: Romantic Wonderland Curse Boys with Fluff

The day before William’s date with Kate, he takes her out to buy a dress

Kate wears that dress on the date

And discovers that William has a matching suit

William definitely enjoys the ensuing fluster expressions Kate shows him

He takes her out to a VERY Fancy restaurant

Even in the dress he bought her, Kate still feels out of place

William being there makes up for the nerves she feels though

William smiles, choosing to watch Kate eat the meal she ordered in favor of eating his own meal.

After a moment, she looks up and swallows before asking, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hm…? Am I not allowed to watch my lovely Robin enjoy herself?” William responds smoothly.

Kate blushes, “That’s not what I said. You need to eat too, you know.”

“Haha, and I will. You know I love seeing you experience new things.” William reaches forward and brushes a strand of hair out of Kate’s face.

“Yes, I know. I love you so much, William.” Kate places her hand on his, keeping it near her.

He places the hand on her cheek, “I love you too, my Robin.”

A festival was happening in London

And Liam had the spontaneous idea to take Kate

Liam didn’t even tell Kate where they were going

Once they get there, Liam smiles as Kate’s eyes light up

They try everything they have the time to try, no matter how odd it is

If Kate shows interest in something, it sparks Liam’s curiosity too

“Oh look, Liam! That game has a prize!” Kate points over to a game where you try to guess which cup has a ball beneath it after the man moves the cups really fast. The prize is a large plush cat.

Liam follows Kate’s gaze, and he asks, “Do you want it?”

Kate nods, and they start to head over. Just before they get there, someone warns them, “That game is rigged, so be careful.”

Liam thanks them for the warning, then asks Kate to go try it herself while he does something.

While trying and failing to win the prize, Kate suddenly sees the ball floating up to the game master’s pocket, then it slips in.

Did Liam just use his power to show her the answer? The ball must have fallen through a hole to make it so that none of the cups have the ball in it.

“It’s in your pocket.” Kate says confidently.

The game master furrows his brow in confusion and reaches into his pocket, his eyes widen as he pulls out the ball, “How-?”

“Yay! I win the prize!” Kate cheers.

Unfortunately, the man has to give up the plush he never intended for anyone to win, Kate meets up with Liam as soon as she walks away from the game.

“You’re a very sneaky Kitty.” Kate giggles.

Liam smiles, “I was just curious about how the game was rigged, that’s all. And you got the plush you wanted too~.”

“It reminds me of you.” Kate and Liam both smiles as she says that.

Harrison is more of a stay in kind of person

But every once in a while it’s still nice to go out

Harrison always wants to go to bookstores and places like that

And Kate prefers going to restaurants and more social places

They usually end up going to Kate’s choice and then going to the bookstore after

Sometimes Kate will see flyers about events and Harrison will decide to take her there right then

This time, Kate found a brand new chocolate shop that opened and begged for Harry to take her there. Harrison happily agrees to go with her, even after Victor overheard and asked them to bring some home for everyone else.

They ended up trying every chocolate the shop sells, and Harry started sneaking chocolates out of what Kate had boxed for the other members of Crown.

“Harry!” Kate chuckles, she expected this from her sweet-tooth boyfriend, “That’s not for you!”

“I can’t help it.” Harrison pecks Kate’s lips, she can taste the chocolate he’s been eating, “Maybe we just need to buy more so that there’s plenty for me.”

“Your kisses taste like chocolate…” Kate tells him.

Harry raises his eyebrow, then kisses her again, “Do they?”

“Yes… But maybe you should kiss me again just so I can be sure.” Kate whispers.

“As you wish.” Harrison doesn’t stop at one more.

Masterlist

[edgyedgelord]

With Instagram suddenly diving into the AI hay wagon head first full speed I feel like people need to be reminded about something.

ofc warnings for talk about AI and AGI but this is a hopecore post because i'm tired of the fearmongering

From my own personal look into the state of things, AI is starting to look more like a scarier version of NFTs so I choose to believe it's going to fall harder than they did after this high point. NFT's died out when the markets crashed due to courts coming in and commenting on the legality issues in their economy and cryptocurrency. Once they didn't make a good enough profit anymore and the get rich quick scheme died out so did they into obscurity.

I believe AGI and AI as a whole will soon have their theft of content and data exposed to courts or some sort of more powerful folk, like what happened to NFTs after the art theft with that one artist, and we'll see the models quickly fade out and return to just being chatbot partners for the losers who live in basements and swear their ape JPEG is still relevant and profitable.

And if I'm wrong they can't legally stop us from making art nor can they stop us from making counter programs that poison their models, lil reminder that those do exist and some programs are starting to put those into their stuff so you can easily poison your art in the program. It doesn't matter how advance their models get because since the renaissance an artist's main supporter were other artist's. As long as we continue to make and do what we love to do and support one another then that's all we really need.

So, I propose a form of counter attack.

Go to your local stores and look into making a business deal with them to sell your art or offer to produce advertisement flyers, signs, whatever they need. That way you get your art out there and you're supporting other folk struggling in this capitalistic hellscape.

Using the funds you get from that, go through commission pages and support your fellow artists. If you can, try and find the younger or beginner artists to support. We often look over them and they deserve as much support and encouragement as the experts.

And of course don't forget to share around commission ads as much as you can. The only form of advertisement we get is from us reblogging each other's stuff or recommending one another to other folk.

A large reason as to why artists aren't getting support against AGI right now is because of the public eye seeing us as nothing but a bunch of nerds who draw anime all day. We need to prove that we're people with a passion in this stuff and how we're useful. We also need to speak out how most of us are neurodivergent and careers in art are what fits for us best since it plays into our interests and our skills are best equipped for this.

In summary, don't lose hope. The moment you start talking about how advanced AI is and how nobody is supporting us you're basically saying you give up and that is not how you should ever think about anything. In the theme of pride, when everyone else is against you remember that there are others like you who will continue to support and protect you no matter how long it takes for things to get better. Those who led the queer revolution didn't quit when they were being threatened or detained, they kept on leading the parades and now we have openly queer characters and people in mainstream media. Change happens, sometimes for worse, but time and time again do I see that what is right will always come back on top.

I choose to live through this artistic struggle of an era with hope that in the end human produce media with love and passion and talent will come out on top and prove it's worth over artificially generated content. Even better, I keep hope that after this obstacle for us all it will only go to show our resolve and the public eye will finally look at us with awe at the strength and determination that we have.

Art by human hand has existed since we lived in groups in caves as our first form of communication and it still is such. Stories are told through art, messages are delivered through art, and that is something a robot can never recreate no matter how much techbros want you to believe it can. We are some of the most important and strongest people to be on this planet because we are a community of people who have struggled so much that our understanding of human emotion allows us to put that into images made with ink, pencil, pixels, words, sound, voice, whatever medium you may use. We are masters at what makes us human, communication and complex thought and emotion, and that can't be taken away from us.

[violetmina]

Chokehold - Ch. 1

Chokehold Masterlist

Tagging @roundroald, since they asked so nicely.

Pairing: Billy Butcher x Fem!Reader

Word count: 3,574

Summary: After stumbling your way into the boys crew, you quickly realize you're a little out of your depth when it comes to protecting yourself. You thought you could be sly and take some self-defense classes without telling the others. But Butcher has a nose for secrets and demands to take over your lessons. Learning a bit of jiu jitsu from one Billy Butcher can't be that terrible...can it?

Warning: Mentions of injuries and The Boys level of violence, swearing, slight implication of domestic violence. Smut to come in future chapters.

A/N: This was originally supposed to be a one shot, but my brain kept adding to it. Just this part alone took longer for me to write than I wanted, so this may be slow going. But it is in motion! Takes place in some vague space between end of S2 and early half of S3. This is the first fic I've shared in years, first attempt at writing Butcher, and my very first fic in 'x reader' format. It's not the most creative title but it's what my brain can manage right now. I'm open to constructive criticism, but please be kind. I hope you guys enjoy!

Sometimes, you questioned your decision-making skills. If the last few months were any indication, it was a skill you didn't have, period. After all, who goes from a normal, anonymous life to joining your old friend Hughie and his weird, motley gang of former vigilantes? Originally, you had only joined Neuman's team as a project to fill holes in your resume and to reconnect with Hughie. You'd heard he had gone AWOL after Robin's untimely death, but what a shock it'd been when you finally met for coffee and caught up on his new life. Maybe it'd been that sense of shock and awe over his stories, or maybe your innate slight distrust of supes and Vought that he had once teased you about in your younger years. But you'd been curious. And that adorable puppy dog look he gave you when he asked for a little help on one of his group's missions hadn't hurt either.

It was supposed to be a little favor, a one-time thing for an old pal. But then you'd met the boys, this rag-tag lot he was with now, and for all their dysfunctionality, you'd been oddly charmed by them. You'd been swayed by their mission, to finally hold those super-roided celebrities accountable, and the adrenaline of an unexpected car chase during your favor must've jolted something loose in your brain. Pushing flyers and setting up calls in Neuman's call-center wasn't nearly enough after that. You wanted to be part of the growth that had altered Hughie so much. To watch the quirky banter of MM and Frenchie, to get to know the woman Kimiko was, and give her the friend she'd been denied growing up.

And then there was Butcher.

You would have been a liar if you had said that you didn't have mixed impressions about him in the beginning. To say you found him attractive would have been an understatement, though you'd be damned if you'd ever let anyone know that. While his brusque sarcasm and biting temper had been slightly off-putting, it was his smarmy charm, flashes of quicksilver intelligence, and that indomitable will that kept you from walking away altogether. Ever since you had joined the crew, you had given up counting the number of times he irritated the shit out of you. And the number of times you'd caught yourself a little too drawn to Butcher in those briefest glimpses of a softie in him. Like when you'd fallen asleep in the flatiron office and woke with that battered coat draped over you. Or he'd given you the last of his food with a grumble when your stomach protested loudly at you for working too long on a lead.

Hughie had always said that your favorite color was "red-on-a-flagpole". And for your sanity, you'd deny as stubbornly as the day was long that you liked the bastard.

But the new eventually wears off, and the deeper you dove into their world, the darker the waters became. You learned quickly that adrenaline wasn't just a fun little rush in this life - it was a necessity. A lifeline when dealing with supes and their equally narcissistic associates. You learned the hard way how easily you could drown…

Now, leaning against the cool wall of the elevator as it rose to the flatiron office, you were certain your decision-making skills were poor. Well-intentioned but poor. You wiggled the fingers of your right hand slowly, wincing at the jolts it sent in your arm. Trying to bend it per usual sent pain in either direction out from your elbow. It was far from broken but it wasn't comfortable either.

"Damn," you cursed under your breath. This was going to be a lot harder to hide than your previous injuries. If your assumptions were correct though, the others had long left the office and were out about minding their own little businesses. Hughie with Annie, MM had his daughter for the night, Frenchie and Kimiko out for whatever little pleasantry that would make her smile for a while, and Butcher…Well, probably still sniffing out a lead on a supe, tirelessly plotting.

When the elevator announced its arrival, you shrugged the bag on your left shoulder back up from a slouch and stepped out. You would touch up on some paperwork you had left behind earlier to "run your errands", then head back to your place. The evening plans consisted of a hot shower, some leftovers for dinner, and tossing the items in your bag into the laundry. If you were lucky, you would get a full five hours sleep before rolling out of bed again for another long day of supe hunting. Or convincing Hughie and Victoria to let you back out in the field again after your mishap a while back.

A couple of the desk lamps had been left on in the office space, and some of the city backdrop bounced rays off the walls, but it was still a little dim for your liking. You switched your own desk lamp on, perusing over the files of most recent cases now cast in the amber glow. So much damn paperwork.

"Who winged ya, little birdy?"

You manage to only slightly jump at the voice just in front of you. Instead of out plotting, Butcher sat at the desk on the other side of yours, arms crossed and an inquisitive curl at his lip. His eyes, however, screamed interrogation. How had you not seen him in that audacious Hawaiian shirt, even in the dark?

"Christ, Butcher," you groaned. "You normally just sit in the dark like that? You could have given me a heart attack."

"Like we'd be rid of you so easily," he chuffed, rising from his seat. "Now don't avoid the question. It'd be terribly rude if you did that, wouldn't it?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." You shrugged, feigning ignorance. You had a strong feeling he wasn't buying it. "I'm good."

"Oh? Really?" He quirked a brow at you as he picked up one of the files from your desk. "Just here for a little light reading then. Don't let me keep you waiting." He held it out to you with a nod. You slid the bag off your shoulder onto the floor and reached with your left hand. He snatched it back just out of reach, then extended it to your right hand with a pointed look.

You tried to play along, even managed to lift your arm without a wince. But the shock in your elbow made your reach noticeably slower, and the twitch in your fingers brought that all too familiar smirk to his face. You sighed in defeat, dropping the file back on the desk. "It's nothing," you muttered.

"And the bruises on your legs? Or the ones on your arms? Those all nothing?" When you blinked at him in surprise he continued, "C'mon, Y/N. Hughie sees you everyday at Neuman's and he ain't blind. Even if he was, you've walked into this place stiff as arthritis for a while. So…" Butcher's smirk faded as he took a step forward, just enough to fill your space. "...Who did it? There a heavy-handed Romeo you ain't told us about?"

"What? No! Butcher, it's not like that," you sputtered, nearly laughing at the idea of him hunting down said imaginary Romeo. But the look on his face killed whatever humor you had. "I'm either working at this office with all of you, or I'm at the other one with Hughie. Like I have time for anything else."

"But for weeks now you got time to run supposed errands and slink back here long after hours? Conveniently when everybody would be gone?" Before you could blink he yanked your bag off the floor. "You gonna tell me this ain't an overnight bag? That you're not avoiding your place?"

"No, it's not. I don't have a - HEY!" He ignored your protest as he quickly unzipped the bag and dove a hand in to pull out some of the contents. Butcher's face quickly shifted from a scowl to confusion when he pulled out not regular clothes or toiletries, but a thick white belt with a black tail. Pulling it open further, a white gi stared at you both. He wagged the black tail of the belt at you. 

"You gonna tell me the fuck this is about? Karate, really?"

"It's not karate. It's jiu jitsu," you replied, trying not to grit your teeth at how he rolled his eyes. "Now can I have my stuff back, or are you suddenly into my sweaty clothes?"

"What you doing this for?" He tossed the bag to you and you glared in response. "You gonna grapple those bloody files into writing themselves, eh? Maybe turn Hughie into a pretzel for a laugh at the bureau?," he leers.

"I'm trying to get out of here!," you snapped, surprised at how loud your voice echoed back. You took a deep breath before gingerly shoving your stuff back into your bag. "I'm trying to get out of both offices. I want back out there. Out in the field with you and the rest of the boys. I'm cooped up here but Hughie won't even think of talking Neuman into assigning me to an operation. Not since…" You stopped, swallowing back frustration.

"Since that cunt got the drop on you and took you hostage," Butcher finished flatly.

As he nodded in realization you knew he was remembering it as much as you. You'd ignored Hughie's orders and went in as backup when bringing in a supe and their accomplice on human trafficking allegations. It had gone sour and you had tried to sneak into the warehouse to help. Instead of saving them, the accomplice had snuck up on you, nearly resulting in a trade off for the arrested supe. You had been so sure you could handle your own, save the day. The only thing that had saved the day was Butcher dropping from a balcony onto you both…and promptly emptying several rounds into your captor's screaming mouth. Sometimes you wondered if there was still one of their teeth hiding in your hair.

"So what?," he asked, tearing you from the memory. "You thought a few hours at a gym and you'd just skip back out there?"

"You know Hughie will never let me on another operation unless I can prove that I can handle myself."

"Little shit would wrap your ass in bubble wrap if he knew he could get away with it, and roll you out the door from it all!," he snapped. "For starters, what the hell is jiu jitsu - or any self-defense combat form - gonna do you when a supe get their hands on you? Like A-Train? Black Noir? Or that star-spangled cunt?"

"Like we're even close to going after any of the Seven right now! We're stuck with B, C, and D list assholes and you know it! And how would it be any different than the rest of you with all your training?"

"Which brings me to my other point, " he cuts you off. "The lot of us are knee deep in experience, at least. Military, terrorism, gang shit. We all have gotten our hands bloody. We're killers, love. Even Hughie, or did you forget? So why the fuck would you stroll into a dojo that's probably sponsored by Vought anyway, instead of coming to one of us, eh?"

You scoffed, couldn't help it. "Right. I'm supposed to just assume that Mr. Billy Badass is gonna have the will or time of day to teach me self-defense?"

"Now that hurt me feelings, " Butcher replied, holding a mocking hand over his heart. "Oh ye of little faith. I suppose whatever bloke you rolled with tonight is far safer than yours truly. Oh wait." Here he glanced at your arm with a jeer and a nod. "Lemme guess - sparred with someone who likes it a little rough?"

You rolled your eyes. "My rolling partner was fine," you grumbled before admitting, "I did it to myself. He…He caught me in an armbar and I thought I'd try toughing it out a little longer before I'd tap."

He made a tsking noise of disapproval. "Stupid, wasn't it? Is he white belt or color belt?"

"White, four stripes. I think he tests for blue soon."

"Then you're fucking lucky. There's a reason they say spazzy ass white belts cause the most injuries. If you ignore your limits in a safe, cozy class setting, why the fuck would any bad guy out there hesitate on your behalf?" He steps forward to lift your bad arm up, not too fast but it still smarts.

"Straighten your arm all the way out. Slow." You try to do so but hiss in pain just shy of the mark, leaving your forearm at a slight angle. "You'll live. Strained, maybe a slight sprain, that's all." He shuffles past you to the mini-fridge tucked in the corner and tosses you a half empty bag of pizza rolls. You almost laugh at the impromptu ice bag and apply it to the protesting joint.

"You're not going back," he says, as if commenting on the weather. And before you can say anything he's herding you across the room to the couch by the TV. "Keep that on for about fifteen minutes and we'll get started right after." He gives an unceremonious push and you plop onto the cushions with a huff.

"I'm sorry, wha-? Butcher, I'm not quitting! I need to-!"

"I didn't say quit," he answered over his shoulder with a slight grunt as he begins shifting a couple of the desks outwards. "What I said was you're not going back to that bleeding dojo. But knowing your stubborn, annoying ass-" He shifts the coffee table past the TV. "-you're just gonna find another bastard ready to take your money and give you a false sense of security. You really wanna roll that bad..?" He slides the rug out far enough to his liking before sitting back on his heels with a little nod. Then looks up at you with that trademark, crooked smirk.

"You're rolling with me now, love."

You blink at him, your stomach doing a little flip at his words. Sure, when you started jiu jitsu it had been a bit uncomfortable having strangers literally on top of you. In your face, up in your little bubble. After awhile though, you adjusted and you had actually started looking forward to class. But the implication of what Butcher had just said, realizing that he was going to be the one up in your personal space, shifting and heavy and pinning -

You immediately cut off that line of thought. "I-I-I've already rolled. And I don't wanna make my arm worse."

"You're right. You've caught me in a rather generous mood. We're not rolling together now. But you…" He moved and stood over you with a grin. "You're going to drill tonight. Nothing that requires your arm and I'll see exactly what I'm working with. From here on out, I'll be the one to train you, teach you the kinda shit you can actually use when shit goes sideways. If I'm lucky, as short a time you've been training, I won't have to do too much de-programming of whatever the fuck they taught you."

"Butcher-" You go to stand but when you reach your feet he gives you a look that almost has you wobble back on your heels.

"I ain't asking. It's me or nothing." It comes out as a low rumble that will not be questioned. "Do you want back out there or not?"

It's immediately clear that this situation isn't going to be backtracked now. The cat was out of the bag and you had to choose. Spend your days in mind-numbing paper stacks, shoved off on the sidelines but relatively safe. Or try to mold yourself into something more self-reliant and capable…by putting yourself at the mercy of one Billy Butcher.

There's a heavy beat, as he still stares at you, unblinking. Then finally you nod. "Teach me."

The heavy, steely look finally slides off his face. "Good choice. Now come over here." He waves at the open floor space he's created and uses the other hand to steer you into it. "Sit your ass down here and pay attention. It's a simple mobility drill. I'll show you only once. I'm not here to do fucking jazzercise. You'll start once we're done icing your arm."

Butcher settles down to sit straight legged on the hardwood floor, a heavy hand on your good shoulder bringing you with him. You barely manage to not fall on your ass and mimic his stance. "Make a figure four." He pulls in his left leg so his foot is next to his right knee and you do the same. "We'll change your arm position later but tonight you're gonna cradle that wing of yours to your chest. Point is to not use your arms to get up, but your hips. Shift your ass forward." He crosses his arms and moves up into a kneeling position, left shin and knee posted under him, right foot flat in front, his knee just past a 90-degree angle. "See?"

You mimic him again, cradling your elbow like he said and stop once up off the floor. A small pat - almost a swat - on your back startles you, and at your look of confusion he says, "Up straight, don't roll your back. If your back ain't straight, you're not using your hips." When you straighten up he settles the same hand into the small of your back and slowly pushes you forward. "And that's about as far as you should be putting yourself on that front foot. Combat stance. If I tell you to hold that position, you hold it till I say so. Got it?"

You nod. Seemingly satisfied, he continues. "Alright. Now go in reverse back the way you started." He rewinds, sitting back, straightens his legs and you follow suit. It dawns on you as you do so that moving on bare, hardwood floors is nothing like moving on the padded mats in class.

"Then switch legs and do the same thing." This time he doesn't move, just watches you slowly follow his instruction. You mind your posture this time, pause for a second and glance at him before reversing back to sitting on the floor again.

Butcher stands, taking the bag of pizza rolls out of the cradle of your elbow as he does. "When I tell you to do combat hip drill, this is what you're doing. Understand?" You give another nod and he walks to the mini-fridge to shove the bag back into the freezer. When you shift to stand up he shakes his head. "Nuh uh. You start now. Go."

He moves past you, back to the couch behind you as you start to go through the motions of the mobility drill. "Pick up your pace, move," he says as he sinks down onto the cushions. You pause at the top of the move to look back at him with a bit of a scowl.

"How many am I supposed to do?," you ask, already noting the protest in your tailbone, knees and shins from the contact on the floor.

"Till I tell you to stop," he grins, stretching his arms out across the back of the couch. "And I didn't say that yet, now did I? Chop, chop!"

You glared at his too-happy grin before rolling your eyes and continuing the drill. Back down, switch legs, up. Back down, switch legs, up. Once or twice he has you pause, hold the pose. But the drill continues. Back down, switch legs, up. After only a few short minutes, feeling his eyes on you the whole time, you begin to notice that you're already feeling some fatigue. Clearly, you hadn't fully recovered from class earlier. You feel a little embarrassed that you're already starting to huff. And you can't help but wonder just what the hell did you sign up for?

After another moment or two, you sit up once again, not quite as forward, not as high. You start to sag back down when there's a sudden pressure just between the small of your back and your tailbone, almost throwing you forward and off balance. You totter over the forward knee for a brief second before restabilizing and whirling round with wide eyes. Surely he did not-! 

Oh but he did. Butcher's boot is at your belt line, keeping you posted up. "Hold. When you start again, you keep the pace and move all the way through. You better not half-ass or slouch again. Otherwise…" He taps his toes on your lower back and smirks.

For a brief moment you consider grabbing that damn boot and giving it a good, friendly twist. But the ache in your elbow, and the look in his eye that says he's pretty much read your mind, tells you it's a no-go. You dampen down the urge and he pulls it back as you face forward and hold the up position. A few moments pass before he finally tells you to resume the drill. It's in that moment you know you have your answer.

Hell. You're pretty sure you just signed up for hell.

[saphushia]

do you have any more head cannons for Phantom Etho? I just am enamored with your ethos stuff-

hmmm i can probably think of a few-

he's not that good at flying. his wings disappear whenever he gets too far from someone sleep deprived, so to practice someone has to keep up with him on elytra. he's had enough practice to be a passable flyer, but even so it tires him out and he really only does it on occasion when he's bothering someone for not sleeping and swooping at them for fun. the rest of the time he uses elytra and rockets like normal

i originally drew his wings with inspiration from albatross- long slender wings that are best for soaring great lengths with very little energy use, but after some thought i think i'm gonna start drawing them more in the shape of an osprey's- the way it swoops for fish is far more reminiscent to phantoms to me than the albatross is.

i'm still tossing the idea back and forth, but i'm thinking etho hasn't always been a phantom hybrid. the phantom hasn't always existed, after all, and etho has existed in the universe quite a long time. quite longer than phantoms have. it's normal when worlds change, when a world is updated, that things in the world act in ways they never would have had the update either been there from the start, or never happened at all (who hasn't had a world break a little by loading it into a new version? more so if that world has seen many changes before it). it makes sense then, that when the universe changes, being given new rules, new qualities, new code, that players may sometimes change similar to how worlds do. that something in them becomes something it didn't used to be.

in reference to the previous, phantoms were added in 1.13, which released in 2018, one day before the start of hc s6. however, etho wasn't there for s6, and thus likely discovered his change while on his singleplayer world. or, well, he would have, except. there's no one other than him there, and he changes in reaction to other people. now, it's possible that he can constantly see himself in his phantom form. it makes sense, even! it's simply that he appears normal to well-rested onlookers. however, the MUCH funnier option, is that that's not true and he looks normal, so he just didn't fucking notice. as best i can tell from some cursory searching, the first time he's with other people after the 1.13 update is playing diversity 3 with the rest of team canada (which is 1.14, nearly a YEAR after phantoms are added). meaning he probably realized then, likely scaring all 3 of them to death because, while it's not unheard of for players to change during updates when new mobs appear, it is surprising to call up your buddy to go on a new adventure and then realize partway through that he's been a whole ass creature for a YEAR and he didn't notice. beef and pause laugh at him for a while over that

(for future reference, i'd appreciate if you didn't use colored text to send me asks. i understand it's likely a signature thing, but it's hard to read on dark theme with the screen filters i use, and while it's not the end of the world because i can read it, i'd prefer to not have to highlight or copy it somewhere else just to read a message in my inbox)

[recurring-polynya]

Izakaya Kamenoya, part 2

Last week, I did a post on the Izakaya Kamenoya, the favorite watering hole of the Gotei-13 middle management, and I promised you a follow-up with interior shots for everyone who, like me, immediately wanted to incorporate it into their fanfic.

So, here's the entrance!

It appears to have a big main room, with a bar on one side, and tables lined up in a row on the other.

Note: I am obsessed with the shihakushou-wearing bartender. Is the Seireitei a Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano scenario, where you need to get a degree in soul-reaping just to tend bar? Is this an officer's bar, staffed by unseated people (which sort of defeats the point of separate bars where you can get get drunk and talk smack about your subordinates) Or is the bar a co-op of some sort, and this guy just pulled mixologist duty this week?

Ahem!

There are also private rooms! Kyouraku and Amagai get one in 172, and then they seem to have the same one when they come back with Ukitake in 179. I think it's kind funny that they don't have sword racks or something? Kyouraku's got his propped against the wall, and Amagai's are on the floor. I think Ukitake left his at home. More evidence that you are, in fact, allowed to carry your zanpakutou in the court as long as you don't draw it, in times without a wartime exemption.

Kira and Hisagi seem to have a very similar, if not the same room in episode 305, although theirs is plastered with ads. I wonder if this is like the "Kindle with Special Offers" where it's cheaper if you take the room with flyers and Kira and Hisagi are nothing if not broke.

The lady lieutenants get a private room for their zanpakutou spirit going-away party, as well. I can't really tell if their room is bigger, or if Amagai and Kyouraku just have a lot more space in theirs. I imagine they probably have a couple different sizes of private rooms at different cost levels.

Speaking of cost levels! Rukia and Renji appear to have an entirely different private room in Episode 355! It's got cool patterned paper in the fusuma (or maybe those are supposed to be paintings of mountains?) They've got a much fancier live-edge table. If you go by counting tatami, this room does seem to be a little bigger. The shouji has a solid panel at the bottom-- Wikipedia tells me that this is called a kōshi, and is to protect against the door getting wet or kicked, so I almost wonder if this opens to the outside. Does Izakaya Kamenoya have a garden? Outdoor drinking for the summer? Also, I think it's notable that most people tend to show up in their work clothes, but Rukia and Renji have clearly dressed up for their Private Room at the Chili's Date.

The question is: is this Kamenoya's Deluxe Room for People with Kuchiki Money, or did they upscale sometime in the 17-month timeskip? Does...does the Seireitei have gentrification?

Fortunately, Izakaya Kamenoya makes one more appearance in the my favorite fanfic, the end credits to Episode 366, proving that, thank goodness, it is still an affordable drinks location where you can go get ripped and sob about your boss.

[y2klostandfound]

Space Channel 5 Part 2 on Dorimaga Magazine Vol.1 (2002-01) (Video game Magazine) (11-25/01/2002)

Translation in English:

(Page 66)

Dorimaga Special Report - DC PS2:

Video Game Consoles : Dreamcast / Playstation 2

Scheduled to be released: February 14th

Completely: 100%

Price:

Dreamcast: 6,120 Yen Dreamcast(Special Edition Pack): 9,900 Yen Playstation 2: 6,800 Yen

Genre - ETC (Musical Action Adventure) Manufacturer:Sega/United Game Artists Players: 1-2 Number of discs: 1 URL: http://www.u-ga.com/ Controllers/Memory Cards PS2: DualShock 2, trance vibrator compatible, memory card 161KB. DC: 5 blocks of memory used (VMU), Purupuru pack support

Online Shop:The DC version is exclusive to D-DIRECT.

Is there something wrong in the galactic universe!?

After seeing this screen, "Mexican Flyer" came to my head! Are you ready to dance? "Space Channel 5 Part 2" scheduled to air on two platforms has finally started! Let's all enjoy the full polygon SHOW together!

Greetings to the 30 million "Channel 5" viewers nationwide, it's finally here! "Space Channel 5 Part 2" from UGA, which has been silent since the Tokyo Game Show in autumn, is finally on air!The memorable day is February 14, 2002, Valentine's Day.and it will be broadcast simultaneously on DC and PS2 as planned! I can't wait to see how Ulala, who has crossed the century, will come back!

Popular characters from the previous show, as well as new characters, will appear one after another! They will make the program even more exciting!

The basic rules seem to be the same, but new elements have been added, such as singing and playing! I have a hunch that it will be fun!

The next enemy is the "Dancing Troupe(Rhythm Rouges)"! ?

The next enemy is the "Dancing Troupe(Rhythm Rouges)" who appeared out of nowhere. Innocent people are made to dance one after another, just like the Morolians last time! Their purpose is completely unknown. Ulala will report on their true identity!

The mysterious dance group "Dancing Troupe (Rhythm Rouges)" has arrived! A person who looks like a captain and robots attack people one after another!

(Page 67)

What happened to the Jaguar! ?

An evil hand approaches Jaguar who has discovered something somewhere in the universe...! ! Meanwhile, the "Space Symphony," a ship cruising around Neo-Pluto, is attacked by a mysterious group! "Space Channel 5" quickly caught the information and sent Ulala to the scene to report the incident. The spirit of Director Fuse enters. "Come on, let's start!!"

I'll charm you, Ulala Seven Changes

This time Ulala will be reporting in even cuter and cooler outfit! There will be a "Ulala's Costume Room," so stay tuned!

ULALA

A reporter for Space Channel 5, she was born on May 30 and her blood type is B. The other day, she tried to save the galaxy  with great energy, but she's still a newcomer and spends her days being yelled at by her boss Fuse. Her goal is to become a galactic reporter.She is the only person who can fight back against the "mysterious dancing group" that has appeared.

Prologue

The time is the 25th century.

The "Morolian" suddenly invaded, causing people to dance one after another with their "Dancing Beam"! The space broadcasting station "Space Channel 5", which caught this catastrophe, dispatched a new reporter "Ulala" who is good at dancing, selected by the director "Fuse", and report the incident. She fully opens her mysterious dancing puff, sometimes fights and cooperates with Channel 42's "Pudding" and the Space Pirate Broadcasting Station's "Jaguar" to uncover the true nature of the evil that hides behind the Morolians' intentions. Thus, this ascension case was resolved.........

In this galaxy where the memory is fresh in our minds, a new evil is rising.......

Although "Ulala" had solved the "Morolians Attack Case" by dancing with her miraculous performance, there was no change in her role as a reporter, and she is cheered on by a director "Fuse" every day.

Such a daily life suddenly changes with a report from "Chief Space Michael ". A "mysterious dancing group" has appeared, making people dance and taking them away one after another!

Now, Ulala's dancing report begins again.

Come on, Let's start!

SPACE CHANNEL 5 Part 2 - First Implession!

A little impression of the sample unveiled at the recent PS Party! The game is very busy with more things to do such as singing and playing, not to mention the increased power of the graphics and presentation. Compared to the previous game, which was a bit monotonous, this one is even more fun. The storyline is also very exciting!

[allthe-everything]

to all my babes out there trying to get a job, got some tips for y'all. i'm updating my resume and realised that what i do might help some people, and not everyone knows about ATS parsing. gonna be long, will add a tldr at the end

so, first things, instead of MS office, i use libreOffice as my document creator/word processor. stop giving microsoft your money - libreOffice is free and open source, and it's amazing. go get it. saves you money too and god knows we need that. but, i'm sure you can do this in publisher too, i just don't know all the buttons

onto techniques: instead of creating my resume in libreOffice's equivalent of word, i use the equivalent of microsoft's publisher - the thing meant for you to make cards and flyers and whatnot. essentially you just pick a size document, and get to throw things (pictures, text boxes, charts, whatever) onto the page where you want them. since it's geared more towards artsy things, it's a lot more flexible with formatting than word (moving images in word? just don't).

essentially, every snippet of information i put on my resume is one text box. each job with its description, each project i've worked on, etc gets its own text box. this is great in a couple ways: it means that if you want to change the formatting of your resume, you can just move around text boxes instead of fucking around with copy/paste all day. the second thing is that when a machine tries to read your resume, internally it'll read that pdf and see blocks of related information that's more precise than giant paragraphs you'd get in word. make your section titles their own text boxes (like experience, education, skills, etc) so they don't get lumped in with the real info.

i'm not gonna talk about "resume words" or "clean formatting" bc tbh i'm bad at that and i think recruiters are dumb sometimes for wanting "no templates, but only format it this one particular way". but get all your info there, arrange it how you see fit, and THEN. then we get sneaky.

in libreOffice, you can name and add descriptions to text boxes. "what!" i hear you say. "that's so weird why would anyone do that!". and i say "well, if a human is reading your resume, it doesn't matter what the text box thinks it is. but it's a machine reading your resume! you want to speak the machine's language." the name is less important than the description, in my opinion, but you can name the boxes too. what you're gonna do is select a text box, click on "format" at the top bar, then "description". and you're gonna add in the alt text box what this text box is. if it's a list of skills, write "skills". if it's education, write "education". this info won't show up visually to a human reading the doc, but it helps machines categorise the data, just a little bit better. in the description part of this, you can also try adding the key words from the job description so the machine sees them but a human really can't find it unless they really look. this isn't something i've been able to test thoroughly, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

i'm still working out all the kinks myself, and picking apart what the ATS does in terms of parsing your resume, but when i started doing this my resume was better parsed whenever i applied to jobs. which, bonus, less retyping your resume into the bullshit job app.

tldr; fuck microsoft, use libre office instead. use libre office's drawings app or ms office's publisher app for ease of use. in libre office, click text box, go to format -> description and add a description of what the text box contains. test and retest your resume in an ATS parser online to make sure the machine reads your resume correctly.

i wish this wasn't how things are, but since we're here might as well figure out hacks. if anyone else has info to add, please please do. it's rough out here.

[rubiatinctorum]

whenever i see 2020s-style '2000s' VHS tape aesthetics i feel like i'm not quite the right age to be nostalgic or especially anemoic for them. i grew up with them and then stopped using them when the VCR broke, so it was easier to use DVDs because the DVD player worked. They never ever felt vaporwave to me. They never felt Y2K. They were a thing that I used until I didn't anymore. I feel nostalgic when I see VHS tapes being used through the visual signifiers of reality, and when I see the ones that I personally used. But, as prevalent online as the simulacrum of VHS and early 2000s nostalgia/anemoia as represented by a pink wash and TV lines and vaporwave 2 and chromatic aberration is, I kind of just find it annoying, because the 2000s didn't look like that to me. The thing about 2000s technology I encountered in real life was that it either looked bright and futuristic in that vivid plastic way (think something you'd see in a Future Shop flyer or a TV ad, or like the pink CRT television I had), or it looked beige and crusty and old as hell (the computers, speakers, keyboards, and mice your school and family members had. there were still balls in the mice for god's sake). Sometimes i can't tell if the people making things themed with the simulacrum version are old enough to remember but know their young market will eat this shit up, or if they genuinely weren't alive in the early 2000s or maybe any of the 2000s at all to know that it didn't look like a few glitchy tiktok filters. Personally, for 2000s technology aesthetics, I'd like to see people lean more into that 'futuristic' brightness or the older more neutral-toned and boxy tech models, or if we want to try something different, the aesthetics of early digital camera photography. in another timeline flash-induced high contrast and red eyes in photographs became the symbol of soooo vintage and popular. but as long as people condense the early 2000s into this far off distant liminal space where the world exists only in cool-toned pastels and everyone's every VHS has bad degradation, i just really don't think that's going to happen :P

(as a slight digression on that photography note, but at least the vintage-themed insta filters of the 2010s sometimes tried to replicate the lighting and saturation or lack-thereof of vintage photography, a medium that actually would have looked somewhat like that at the time because of how photos were developed. on the other hand, if your VHS tape in the 2000s looked like these faux-VHS rental aesthetic filters do, there was probably something wrong with it. The difference between approaching the past with the quirks of the mediums of the past as they'd usually occur — red eyes in early digital cameras, for example, which would be on the photo from the moment it was taken and was extremely common — and approaching the past with the defects of the same technology 20 years on — like VHS tape degradation that shouldn't be on a tape fresh out of the case in the 2000s — is the difference between approaching the past as it was and approaching the past as The Past.)

i think aesthetically approaching most decades from the lens of it being in the past is going to create an aesthetic that operates with the assumption that it always was the past. what most faux-nostalgic aesthetics that don't replicate the mediums of the time but instead dial them up to 11 and then slap a bunch of filters on miss is that each new decade is the present leaning into the future, in the time that decade is current. if you approach the new millennium aesthetically by taking an image and adding generic instagram or tiktok digital-vintage filters over it to show how vintage it was and always has been, you miss a lot of what made much of the decade, especially the early part, what it was.

[the-writing-mobster]

could we get some group chat hcs about the bf gang 🙏

| Baby Face Boys & Babes HCs! | Group Chat 💬| 💖🤘🏻

If you have any Head Canon requests like this, go ahead and drop them in my inbox. These are so fun to write out, so I'd love some ideas hehe. Also, let me know if you want head canons for specific characters ;)

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Sans: The Lurker

This guy literally made the group chat, and then as soon everyone was added, he muted that shit immediately.

"Nope. This is too much."

Rarely talks in the chat, if at all, but occasionally the boys will see him pop in or see that he's online. Maybe sometimes he'll like something that Nick sent or respond with a thumbs up if you're super lucky.

The guys will start freaking out like; "SANS!? SANS IS HERE!"

Only for him to immediately leave again.

The boys have to DM Sans directly if they really need him to respond or see something.

He just prefers hanging out in person, is all. In person he's the life of the party. He's just nigh impossible to get ahold of.

Nick: The Planner

He actually uses the group chat for its intended purpose: planning in person get togethers and band rehearsals.

Always sending live show flyers or Event invites like "guys we have to go to this thing!" Only for his stuff to get buried under Jonas and Midas's constant spamming.

"I need to just invest in Remind for you pricks."

But because Nick is adamant their plans usually do come to fruition. It's just a matter of herding cats for him.

Some other uses for the group chat:

He sends lyrics and music bytes he writes & records to the chat to hear feedback.

Spreads current politics/news and information about protests, or local organizations to volunteer at.

Jonas: Meme spammer

Exactly as the name suggests. This guy fills the group chat with every meme and Tik tok he happens to find even a little funny.

He is Nick's greatest enemy, because it's always Jonas doing the burying with his silly like jokes. It's not intentional or malicious, he is just easily distracted.

Will always be trying to start a group call so he can just vibe with his friends at all hours of the night.

He and Alphys talk the most to each other. They just yap on and on.

Constantly sending videos of new tricks he learned on the skateboard, only for Midas to tell him he looks goofy.

Midas: The Instigator

This boy liiiiives for the drama.

Anytime Jonas begins sending memes while Nick is trying to plan he'll be like "epic Jonas moment," or "imagine interrupting our supreme leader," or even better, "thank the stars we changed the subject," which never fails to get both Nick and Jonas riled up

Midas just mutes with a shitty little grin on his face as chaos ensues.

It's all in good fun. He's just a much of a hype man as he is everyone's personal menace.

Especially for Maeve.

When Jonas sends videos of him doing a cool trick, Midas does the same trick with a finger skateboard and makes a joke like "mine's way sicker."

The embodiment of this emoji: 😈

Never sends pictures of himself. He never really knows if he can trust cameras with his eyes. It's just a constant thing he has to be conscious of, unfortunately.

Alphys: Chronically online / Talkative

She is the first to open the groupchat any time someone sends anything. Immediate responses.

Some say it's being chronically online, some say it's a crippling fear of being forgotten, either way she's the first to speak.

Double texts like no one's business. No one mind's though, she's just got a lot to say and she's a lot more confident online than irl. Less stuttering.

Will ask if people want to go on a convenient store run with her at 3 am. For some reason, Sans actually responds? (it's because they're both awake. The boys will read over the chats and go insane.)

Is constantly sending pictures of cute girls like "omg, should I talk to her? Should I ask if she's gay? omg"

Only for Midas to be like "why are you taking pictures of random people."

If someone begins venting to the chat she's the one to try ad offer advice and comfort before anyone else.

Maeve: The Tea Spiller

"Guys, you're never gonna believe what happened/who I saw/what I heard--"

"Oh my god, I need to tell my girls!" she says about her groupchat filled with rambunctious boys and a lesbian.

The tea can range from political talk, petty school/subculture scene gossip all the way to, "Oh my stars, I just saw a squirrel steal an acorn from another squirrel! Someone call TMZ!"

She's the first to know about anything going on outside of the friend group.

But also the first to defuse gossip beginning to spread within the friend group.

"Hey, let's not talk behind Sans's back. If you have a problem, you need to go to him. Don't be a coward."

She usually calls Midas down from his gremlin hours and laugh the hardest at Jonas's memes.

All around amazing friend. Always keeps the conversation interesting. LOVE HER!

Bonus:

Frisk: Fit Check!

Sans reared his face in the group chat just to warn them that he was adding Frisk. (He only does this after having a discussion about it with Nick in dms to make sure it's okay and won't be weird)

Frisk doesn't really look at it a lot since she prefers just talking to Sans, but she does enjoy having access to everyone she considers her friends.

Uses the groupchat as a personal hype train. Will send a picture of her trying on a cool alternative outfit at the mall like "what do you guys think? Any suggestions to make it cooler?"

Midas, Nick and Maeve give actual fashion advice, meanwhile Alphys and Jonas are always too busy telling her how pretty she is.

Sans doesn't know how to feel about it... contemplating on kicking her but so far it's been sweet and innocent. He's weirdly more active.

Probably doesn't mean anything.

Hope you enjoyed that! Sorry this took so long to answer lmao, I have severe inbox procrastination sometimes hahaha.

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Here's a lil song I thought fit the mood of these headcanons

[charliesinfern0]

☔

WIP Ask Game

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

literally all my fics it’s out of my hands if I ever get one done or not lol

seriously though uhhh I do have a fic idea it’s an aichi cafe au fic where ai owns a cafe and she’s literally the only worker there lol shes finally moved out of her dad’s house and is trying to make it on her own. She makes it work tho bc she’s a robot and she can do a lot at once. One day when business is slow there’s a cat sitting outside and meowing and ai goes to it and is like “aw kitty :) are you hungry? let me get u something to eat” and she goes back in to get smthn for the cat to eat and when she comes back out ichi is there and this is like their first time meeting in this au. Ai is like “oh, is this your cat?” and ichi is just staring at her looking mortified and then he just SPRINTS away and ai is just left standing there like “uh… ok then” and she places the bowl of food down for the cat.

the cat keeps on coming back, and sometimes more cats come over too, so she leaves out a bowl of food and a bowl of water for them whenever they come back. the cats catch the attention of customers, so more people come to her cafe. ai is grateful for the business, but it’s starting to overwhelm her a little and also she has just been feeling really lonely ever since she moved to Akatsuka, so she posts up some help wanted ads around the town.

cut to ichimatsu sitting in his living room staring at the help wanted poster he had gotten from when he went to the grocery store with osomatsu the other day. he doesn’t know why he grabbed it, but he did, and he hid it from osomatsu in his hoodie pocket as he walked out of the store, and he kept it hidden until he finally worked up the courage to stare at it for like an hour, his thoughts racing like “why did I even take this home with me, it’s not like I even have a chance of being able to get a job, let alone have the chance of being able to work with a cute girl you dont even know… this is her phone number on here right? a cute girls phone number…” and then he’s like “IDIOT THATS PROBABLY JUST THE PHONE NUMBER FOR THE WORK PHONE THERE!! AND ITS NOT LIKE SHE HANDED IT TO YOU PERSONALLY, YOU GOT IT FROM A FUCKING HELP WANTED FLYER” and as he’s like banging his head against the floor one of the stray cats he takes care of hops in through the window and like is being all cute and ichi is like “awesome yes a distraction I’m never going to think about this ever again because I have no chance of ever being able to exist in society” and then the cat just takes the flyer and runs away and ichi is instantly booking it down the street trying to chase after it.

back at the cafe, ai is just doin her thing, and she thinks about the guy that ran away from her a while ago. Her mind has been wandering back towards him lately, wondering what was up with him and why he ran away. Just then, she hears the cat meowing outside, and is like “omg it’s that same cat!” And she goes out and right when she does ichi runs up and then he freezes when their eyes meet and ai looks down and sees the help wanted poster in its mouth and then she looks at ichimatsu and asks “do you want to work here?” because 1) this is quite literally kismet via cat 2) he must be the one that attracted the cats to come here and 3) she really needs the help. and ichimatsu is just staring at her like 😦

hard cut to ichi standing behind the counter with an apron just over his hoodie wondering how he even ended up in this situation lol

it’s basically just a cute slice of life fic where ai and ichi work at a cafe together and get closer to one another ^_^ ai also ends up meeting his brothers and many other characters, and she starts to feel more at home in Akatsuka, and with ichi <3

the whole fic was inspired by Music For Animal Cafes by Nobonoko. I have all of the chapter names written down and almost all of them are based off of some of the songs from that album, is some of their other EPs and singles (some of these i might change and I might add more if I actually get to writing this lololol):

We’re Open! (We’re Opening! from Music For Animal Cafes)

Cat in a Sea of Soap (Cat in a Sea of Soap EP)

A Little Background Mewsic (B-Meowsic I and II from Music For Animal Cafes)

Raining Cats and Dogs (Storm from Music For Animal Cafes)

Chat au Chocolat (Chat au Chocolat from Music For Animal Cafes)

To the Moon and Back

10:30 In the Morning (10:30 am Single)

Strawberry Cake (Strawberry+ Album)

Change the Channel (TV2 EP)

Coffee, Hearts, Machines (COFFEE MACHINE from Music For Animal Cafes, and My Heart is a Machine Single)

Six Cats Ate Six Plates (Three Tigers Ate Three Plates from Music For Animal Cafes)

Hope To See You Again Soon! (Thank You! from Music For Animal Cafes)

[hockeyforlife]

hey man looking to get into hockey. Any gear recommendations? Brands n layers. Thx!

Hard to say. I've always preferred CCM. Bauer just seemed to be geared for thin-athletic. As a gymrat with more muscle mass I found CCM more comfortable. Of course that was then...now both brands carry 3 lines that are each a little unique from their other 2 lines of gear. Back when CCM Ribcore was Reebok, I tended to the now defunct CCM Crazy-Lite line.

You really have to go to a store and try stuff on and compare to find what's comfortable for you.

Right now my gear is a mixed bag.

I prefer Bauer's undershirt with neckguard. The neck guard is the thinnest while still being equally good protection, and their equipment grippers on the sleeves make more sense to me, but CCM was on sale when I was last buying, so CCM for me. I have 2. They are supposedly designed to not stink. Nah. If you regularly let it dry out before washing it, it'll start to smell nasty. Regular washing and it smells 'hockey fresh'.

I really loved the last CCM compression jock. The cup pocket sat perfect for me with barely ever a need to adjust. Now, it's an internal cup/jockstrap, the same as their loose shorts. Compression or loose is a preference, kind of like boxers or boxerbriefs. Cups vary in shape. Finding the one you're most comfortable with is a never-ending search. Once you find one you like, get a second and keep it in your bag. This way, if you forget your cup or jock you always have a backup packed, and when you wear through that badboy, you have a replamement you know you'll feel comfortable in.

I haven't found a Kevlar sock I like yet, so I use thin CCM and Bauer skate socks. When you get your skates, have a pair to try the skates on with. The thinner the sock, the more control your foot has over the skate. Some go barefoot. There's something about putting their feet into a cold, sometimes still-damp skate that turns their crank I guess. I can't. I played without socks only once. It was very uncomfortable. The next time I forgot my skate-socks I wore my no-show ankle socks to avoid the heebie-geebie feeling.

Now, for pants, I prefer the CCM Super Tacks girdle. Girdle vs. pants is a personal choice. I prefer the girdle. You give up some bulky padding for the sleekness of a girdle. I really liked my Warrior Covert girdle with the cup pocket built in. It was perhaps the best for a meaty 'hockey ass'. CCM and Bauer girdles both have fully adjustable waist and thighs, and you can lengthen or shorten both to a degree. Both are open crotch. CCM feels natural to me, Bauer is too tight on the ass, and through the crotch because of the construction of the thigh pads. CCM's protective pads just sit better on treetrunk thighs. If you go girdle, you need a girdle shell. The CCM one is pure crap. Lasts one season. I got a Mark Stone leftover Warrior girdle shell off an NHL surplus site after he got traded from Ottawa. They were brand new and less than half the price of regular ones. If you go pants, find a pair that fit snugly, that stay up on their own, but allow you full range of motion. Some people say to try them on over jeans. Eff that. Try them on over a base layer like you will be wearing them over when playing. I had a red pair once I got off an online ad that was a free throw-in with a pair of gloves and helmet I was buying. All new, $80 for $450 worth of gear, so you might want to consider places like Facebook Marketplace for deals on everything. They went with my team's colours that year, so they worked. After that year, they stood out and looked stupid with Philly Flyers jersey and socks. Black is best.

My shinpads are old. CCM Crazy-Lite. They are a wider fit, again for better protection over built calves.

My skates are still Reebok. Between countless pairs of skates and rollerblades, they are the only ones that cause no pain/discomfort. Skates can be narrow, wide, or a combination. Some are wide toebox and narrow ankle, and others are the opposite. Get someone to actually look at the shape of your foot. Also, skate sizes are stupid. They are 1.5-2 sizes smaller than shoes. If you go with your shoe size, they may feel okay, but they are too sloppy, and you lose a lot of power in your stride.

Shoulder pads can be very thin or very bulky. It's up to your preference. I still have my CCM Crazy-Lite shoulder pads. They're on the thinner side. I also have a bulkier shoulder pad. It's constructed stronger but I'm in a non-contact adult league. Bulky shoulders are not necessary for me so they collect dust. Both have a sternum/heart guard. I can't say it's useless. But, when some dumbass forward lost an edge crashing the net he shot along the ice like a torpedo into the boards. I jumped over the hotshot but his stick hauled me down akwardly. My elbow pad was squarely under my chest as the initial point of impact. For weeks the hospital wasn't buying my explanation and chalked my heart concerns to 'stress'. Finally taken seriously, tests revealed a decently bruised heart and a torn pleura. 14 weeks of a Myocardial Contusion later, I finally was able to play again. The guard either was useless or saved my life. 🤷‍♂️

My elbow pads are CCM Crazy-Lite. They're shorter on the forearm because I can't stand the feel of longer, bulkier ones. Again, no one's chucking elbows. There just to protect from the sting of a puck. Yes, playing defense, I have had a good bruise from where they don't cover when I waved my arm in front of a slapshot because I was dumb. Lesson learned, goalies like to get hit with frozen rubber, so leave it to them!

My gloves are CCM tacks. The price was right. Again, I prefer a shorter cuff, so I leave more forearm exposure. It's a tradeoff because I act autistic and constantly fix my jersey when its sleeves interfere with proper-length gloves. Gloves stink to the heavens. Wash your hands before you play. There are products that you can get to keep them a little fresher. My advice is to air those bad boys out as soon as you get home and use a hockey deodorizer. They'll still smell hockey heavenly, don't worry, they'll never be accused of smelling pleasant by family or friends. They will be hands-down the raunchiest gear you own.

My helmet is an out-of-date Reebok with a CCM cage. THE Reebok helmet is basically the CCM one under a different logo. Bauer and CCM fit differently. CCM fits my noggin better. I'd suggest getting used to a cage. Full face visors scratch and fog up. Half visors fog up, and in most leagues, signify the douche on the opposing team.

Hope this helps. Any more questions, ask away!