#anyway how have y'all been

[loguetowns]

when it happened

shanks x reader, sanji x reader

when they realize they're in love you

1k words

a/n: idk what possessed me to pair these two together but the heart wants to write what it wants and who am i to fight it

the flag is what shanks sees first, the thrice-scarred skull waving against the moonlight. next comes the ship embedded with his and his crew's blood, sweat and tears. its colossal size is a sight for sore eyes, especially compared to the dinky boat he's had to use.

but it doesn't feel like he's coming home until he sees a familiar silhouette race down the gangway, rushing towards him at a speed that only shooting stars could rival.

you run and you run, faster and faster, and shanks can't help but smile. he knows how lucky he is to have someone almost as excited as he is to come home.

how your hair catches wind, how starlight shines on your skin, and how your smile gets bigger as you get closer —

oh, how he's missed you.

"you're home!"

you hurl yourself at him, suddenly airborne when shanks lifts you off the ground. laughing, he spins you 'round and 'round with a strong hold on your waist.

it's amazing how right it feels to be embracing you like this, and shanks could never tire of this homecoming ritual of yours.

"hmm, maybe we should put a stop to this," he teases. "i feel like it keeps getting harder. you putting on weight or something?"

he sets you down with a playful smile, earning him an adorable scrunched nose in protest.

"don't be rude," you swat his arm. "maybe it's the fact that you only have one arm?"

"hmm, unlikely to be the case but that's all the more reason to stop doing this, eh. you're going to wear out my only good arm."

"bullshit," you say. "don't act like you hate this. i know you love it."

love.

love is what echoes in his mind as you pull him a little closer to you. love is what floods his veins when he meets you halfway, closing the distance until you're only a breath away from him.

your eyes reflect the heavens above, and the way the moon glows makes it looks like there's stardust on your cheeks. shanks takes in your pretty face up close, like a prisoner who's seen the sky for the first time in years.

and years is how long it's been since shanks can remember feeling this way — this warm, kindling, feel-it-in-your-bones affection.

shanks kisses you, sweet and true, and thinks to himself that if home is where the heart is then he's finally home.

"you're right," he whispers against your lips.

"it's love."

"you're up already?"

sanji looks up from the cutting board to find you standing in the doorway.

your hair is mussed and you're wearing your favourite t-shirt (aka his favourite t-shirt), thighs peeking from under the hem as you stretch. he fights a smile watching you try (and fail) to stifle a yawn but lets it go when you catch his eye and blush in embarrassment.

even half-asleep, sanji thinks you are the most adorable thing he's ever seen.

"i always wake up this early," he says, his hands return to the task at hand but his eyes stay locked on you. "breakfast for these goons needs a lot of prep, y'know."

"boo," you shuffle towards him. "why does it have to be you who always makes breakfast?"

"sweetheart, i'm the cook. that's kind of my job."

when you finally reach him, you wrap your arms to hug him from behind, careful not to disrupt his knife work. you can't see it, but sanji's expression is soft and warm, second only to a hug from his beloved.

"okay," your breath tickles him. "but it's also your job to cuddle me in the morning. so what are are we going to do about that?"

sanji laughs, the sound of it reverberating against your cheek. he puts his knife down to turns around, returning your embrace and holding you in his arms.

"what can i do to make it up to you?"

you glance up at him with sleepy eyes and the most loveable expression a man could hope to see at dawn. "a kiss would be a good start."

"easy," he grins. he leans in to close the distance between you but stops just in front of your lips. he doesn't close his eyes, choosing to take a moment and admire you in all your wonder.

as far as pretty things go, sanji's no stranger to appreciating beautiful people. yet, there's something about you that is deeper and truer than any attraction he's ever felt before.

it fills him with an inexplicable joy when you're around, and just when he thinks that his heart couldn't be any fuller, you smile at him and his heart grows and grows still. the way he feels about you is bottomless, boundless, limitless, and he's certain that this must be what love feels like.

he figures he's waited long enough to fall in love, and you've definitely waited long enough to be kissed. sanji's lips meet yours, spreading warmth all the way down to his toes, the sweetest taste on his tongue.

he pulls away with a heartstruck look that reflects your own.

sanji rubs a thumb against your cheek, "you're perfect."

you beam at him.

"but your breath stinks," he teases.

you clamp your hands over your lips, a wondrous picture of delightful embarrassment. he laughs at your cute little pout, thanking the heavens for allowing him to keep this angel to himself.

you try to pull away, but he traps you in his arms, and leans in for another kiss (despite the supposed stinky breath). you give in, kissing him again and again and again.

"well," you say when you finally break away. "if you can't join me in bed then i guess i'm joining you in the kitchen. just let me brush my teeth and become a decent human being first."

"sure, sweetheart."

sanji's heart flutters and love overflows into his veins as he watches you skip across the kitchen. you stop in the doorway, looking back over your shoulder.

"oh, sanji?"

"hm?"

"good morning," you hum.

almost like a gift from above, sunlight spills through the windows, bathing two lovers in a quiet kitchen, and sanji knows that this is all he needs.

"good morning, my love."

[rottmnt-residuum]

Part 4 of Arc II (Part 30)

we've hit the stuff that actually came from the dream baybee!!! it only took what? eight months?

⇇ | ⇽ | index | ⇾

[bluespiritshonour]

here's 18-19 year old aang sketches. been hearing aang is ugly discourse—no he ain't. he was just 12.

[starflungwaddledee]

Oooo starstruck dee has little stars at the bottom of her feet! Are they just aesthetic or would they make imprints into the ground? (like pawprints)

exactly like that! though she's not the only one...

edit: might need to add some additional dialogue to this to make it more clear, but a clarification in the interim; he knows about his own footprints. he's just surprised to see something similar already there when he knows he's only just landed. he lifts his own shoe to confirm that they're not identical (and also to reveal this to the viewer). seems his stoicism beat off the clarity in this one, sorry 😭

[robynrocksforbrains]

Mike Wheeler is important and there's nothing wrong with analyzing him

Since y'all wanna be insufferable bitches about it I'm gonna explain to you why he's important, why Will loves him, why his struggles should be acknowledged, and why his character depth is pivotal to byler endgame being a satisfying conclusion for both Mike AND Will. Deal with it!

We are not seeing smoke where there isn't a flame. We are seeing smoke where there is a literal fucking forest fire.

Starting off with something a lot of people aren't ready for but I've seen more people talking about: Mike is the main character of s1 at the very least. He is the character that brings us into the world of stranger things. He is the character that the writers chose for this. Mike is the main character of s1 and it was an instant hit. The writers love Mike. Contrary to popular belief, giving a character an arc where they are struggling and their behavior changes from what is normal for the character we know and love does NOT mean the writers hate that character. It means they deliberately chose to give that character complexity and depth. Your inability to like characters that do anything wrong ever is not the fault of the writers. Your decision to act as if a character is not important is not reflective of the actual narrative because it in fact is in direct opposition to the narrative. So just to be clear, if you genuinely believe that Mike isn't important, or that the writers hate him, or don't care about him, or that his story "takes away" from any other character's - ESPECIALLY WILL'S - you are simply wrong.

In s1 and s2 Mike is established as an extremely caring person. He's loving, loyal, brave, intelligent, and trying his best. He is also established to be hot headed, someone who speaks without thinking quite often, someone who is capable of hurting his friends despite that being the last thing he wants to do. He is all of these things and more. He is a human. He is a kid. So in s3, when suddenly he is entirely different, it is completely logical to assume that there is a reason for that. He did not just wake up one day and decide he wanted to be an asshole, push Will away, make his friends feel abandoned, and echo the same sentiments their bullies held. Something is happening with him. He has so much going on in his head and it is painfully obvious. He's holding something in, he's hiding from everyone and from himself. We see glimpses of what he's trying to hide after Will calls him out on his behavior. Will gets through to him. Mike is usually unresponsive to tough love, except for when it's coming from Will. After their fight, it is obvious that he's trying to be better. But he still doesn't wanna face certain things, and he doesn't know how to navigate that. Because he's 13 years old.

There is a reason for all of that internal conflict. There is a reason it comes pouring out of him at certain times. He's crumbling. He is quite literally falling apart because he's holding on to too much. It's not a stretch to assume that, it just takes basic media literacy. Why would the writers have Mike act this way if he was just supposed to be a one dimensional character? Why would Finn be directed to portray Mike the way he does if there was nothing more going on? There are times where Mike looks like he's in physical pain because of his internal conflict. There is a reason for that. And acknowledging that DOES NOT mean people are taking away from Will. That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Do y'all seriously not understand that more than one character can have emotionally complex storylines? Genuinely asking, is this a new concept for you?

Will's love for Mike

Will is head over heels in love with Mike. That is very much established. So when you're dismissing the emotional depth of Mike's individual arc because you think acknowledging it "takes away from Will" you are actually diminishing the significance of a huge aspect of Will's emotional arc. By taking away the significance of Mike, you take away from the significance of Will.

Let's do a quick recap of the very significant role Mike has played in Will's entire life:

Mike is Will's first friend.

They have grown up together and it can be assumed that they've reached important milestones together.

Mike has always been a safe person for Will. He's been a constant in Will's very chaotic and unfair life. Until the summer of '85, Mike had always been something good in Will's life. (That's not to say he is no longer something good, but it can be assumed that the summer of '85 is the first time Mike has been a causal factor in Will's unhappiness)

When Will went missing, Mike did not hesitate to search for him. It wasn't even a question of if. The moment he knew Will was missing he knew exactly what he'd be doing that night. He spearheaded the search amongst the party. He was the leader.

When Will came back, Mike was the only person that didn't treat him like he was gonna break. He cared for him, and he was there for him, but he didn't treat him differently; Will tells us as much. Which means we can infer that the way Mike was with Will in s2 - how gentle and loving he was - was nothing new. He had just always been like that.

When Will was possessed, Mike stayed by his side. Even when it was scary, even when it could've gotten him killed, he stayed. Because once again, for him, it wasn't even a question. That's just where he knew he needed to be. He was in the shed when they were trying to get through to Will. He was set apart from Lucas and Dustin, but he also wasn't equated to family. And his retelling of the story of the day they first met was the final push Will needed to find a way to communicate.

After a year of things being "weird" between them, Mike tells Will that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he had been. Mike tells him that he wants them to be okay again, and for the rest of the season he puts in the work.

Things get rough in s3, and at the beginning of s4, and despite all of that, Will confesses his love (albeit veiled). In a moment where Mike is feeling awful about himself, he tells him that he loves him and needs him, and he tells him why. And to him it doesn't matter that he's breaking his own heart to do it, because it's Mike. Mike, who makes him feel like he's not a mistake at all, and that he's better for being different. For Will, there was no other option. The person he loves was hurting and he knew how to help, and so he did.

Mike is the first person Will tells about Vecna still being alive. Because they're back to being a team. He knows he can trust Mike, and Mike seems to be very determined to prove him right.

SO.

These are all real and canon aspects of Mike's presence in Will's life. Will falling in love with Mike isn't something that just happened for no reason. Will fell in love with Mike because of who Mike is. When you acknowledge that, and when you acknowledge the reasons they've set out for why Will loves him - the reasons Will literally told us - you can better understand Will. But when you dismiss all of these things about Mike, you are dismissing a large portion of Will's emotional and romantic arc. You aren't being a Will Warrior. You are erasing so much of him and his feelings and his lived experience. That is not the hill you wanna die on.

Will loves a person. Not a feeling. Yes, he says that Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake and that he's better for being different. But that's not why he loves him. He feels that way because he loves him.

Mike is a fully fleshed out character with his own feelings and struggles and fears and traumas and motivations. He's not a plot device. He's not just an accessory to Will's arc. He's not a character that was written only to be Will's love interest. He's Will's love interest because he's Mike.

If Mike didn't matter, and if Mike didn't play a significant role in byler, then they would be able to write in a love interest for Will in s5 and have it be somewhat satisfying. But they can't do that. Will's love for Mike has so much depth because Mike has so much depth. It is genuinely crazy that this has to be stated and that I have to back up this claim because it is simply a canon fact.

So yes, the rain fight affects Mike's character development and his involvement in it is important. Yes, the van scene literally could not exist without Mike and therefore his involvement in it is incredibly important. Yes, every single byler moment has an impact on Mike, and Mike has an impact on it because they are BYLER moments. Yes, Mike will have a lot of significant moments - with Will AND on his own - in s5 because his arc deserves and needs as much attention as Will's in order to execute byler endgame in a satisfying way.

No, none of these facts negate Will's importance or take away from his story. If anything, they add to it because Mike and Will's arcs are corresponding and intertwined.

Mike's struggles

To name a few

Dysfunctional family

Has been bullied his entire life

Extreme self worth issues

Inferiority complex

Hero complex

Lack of self preservation

Suicidal ideation (has been on display since SEASON ONE)

Internalized homophobia

To get this out of the way: Mike's internalized homophobia is allowed to be discussed. Discussion of it is not the dismissal of Will's internalized homophobia. Surprise surprise, two queer kids in the 80s have internalized homophobia! Who'd'a thunk it?! Their internalized homophobia presents in different ways but it is there for both of them. I personally relate to the way Mike's is portrayed way more than I relate to Will's. So why is it that we can't discuss it without being accused of erasing Will's experience? Or without people saying that we're "copy and pasting" Will's story? Because quite frankly, that feels dismissive of my - and likely many others' - real and lived experience. So please for the love of all things that are good just stop with this talking point because it will never hold up.

Moving on

I'm not gonna do a full breakdown of all of Mike's issues. Because contrary to popular belief, there are a lot. And that would be exhausting and I'd get carried away and it's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to defend the acknowledgement and mere existence of them.

If you're a byler that for some reason thinks Mike only exists to be Will's love interest and his trophy as compensation for his trauma, let me ask you this: Have you considered how awful it would be to have a queer character's individuality and emotional depth completely ignored for the sake of focusing on the queer character that "really matters"?

If Mike's own issues, with his queer identity and otherwise, aren't thoroughly explored... What's the point of all this? If Mike really is insignificant in this storyline and his individuality has no effect on it.. where's the emotional payoff? If his perspective doesn't matter... Why have the writers gone to such great lengths to ensure we don't have that piece of the puzzle yet?

Analyzing Mike and understanding Mike is very important to understanding byler. Once again, I think it's crazy that this needs to be said.

I also think it's important to note that characters can have similar struggles. There's no rule against that. Just like real life. Characters having similar struggles is not a bad thing, and acknowledging that their struggles are similar is not dismissive of either character. We're talking about STRANGER THINGS. Jonathan and Nancy's thing is "we've got shared trauma". They have literal matching scars. Shared experiences are some of the main building blocks for this show's romances. Byler has a TON of shared experience, basically their entire lives. We already know that. So wouldn't it be so beautiful for them to learn that they've been struggling with the same thing this whole time? That the entire time they felt alone in what they were going through when really they had each other and they never even knew it? Wouldn't it be so beautiful for Mike's acceptance of Will and Will's love for him was also a step toward accepting himself? Wouldn't it be beautiful for Will to learn that his love makes Mike feel like he's not a mistake? None of that would be in the realm of possibility if Mike didn't have emotional depth and if his individuality wasn't important.

And that leads me to my concluding point...

A satisfying execution of byler endgame hinges on Mike's individual emotional arc being handled well

God I hope this isn't controversial to say. I sincerely hope most people haven't forgotten that.

Here's a hypothetical:

Imagine season five has been released. You're watching it, and you notice that Mike has been relegated to just a supporting character for Will. We don't get any of his perspective. We don't get any explanation for his s3 and early s4 behavior. His breakup with El doesn't have any real tangible effect on him, it's really just used for El's character development. We never see him pining for Will like we saw Will pining for him. And then suddenly Mike is learning about the painting and then suddenly he's confessing his love and then suddenly byler is canon and official.

Now wouldn't that just be awful? Wouldn't that be unfair to the audience, to Mike, and to Will? For us to never learn just how much Mike had to go through to even be able to say it out loud? For Mike to never get the chance to prove to himself through word and action that he is the heart? For Will to never get an explanation for why things did get so "weird" between them? It would leave us with one big, nagging question: What was the point of everything Mike has said and done throughout the entire show if his conclusion is that lackluster?

Disregarding Mike for a moment (I know that's incredibly ironic given what the entire point of this is but just bear with me) - how would that be a satisfying conclusion for Will? I mean, Will's s4 arc was basically dedicated to showcasing his struggle with his sexuality and with his love for Mike. We were shown just how deep that love is. We were shown how patient, unselfish, unwavering, and beautiful that love is. So how would it be satisfying for Mike's love for him to not be shown with just as much depth? How would it be satisfying for Mike to just be a one dimensional character whose s5 arc is essentially "break up with girlfriend, wait to find out best friend is in love with him, say he loves him back, then they live happily ever after"? I think Will deserves for his love to be returned with the same intensity at which he gives it. And I think it should be clear to the audience and to Will himself.

Back to Mike!

Mike has been through so much shit. I don't think anyone that is denying that actually believes he hasn't been through shit. Because you'd actually have to watch the show on mute and with your eyes closed to think this kid hasn't had just the worst time. It's so ignorant to act as if this stuff hasn't affected him. There's stuff we've seen but there's stuff we also haven't seen. There are issues he has that date back to his childhood pre-canon. Just like Will, Mike has been a queer kid growing up in 80s smalltown conservative america. Acknowledging the pain he 100% carries because of that is so important. His perspective has been withheld from us, not because it's unimportant, but because it's the final puzzle piece. If we had Mike's perspective in s4, byler wouldn't be a "will they won't they" (even though we all know they will). If we got his perspective in s4, byler would be a "100% certain without a doubt they will". But the thing about his perspective is that it's so much more than just loving Will. It's fear. It's pain. It's insecurity. It's doubt. It's the belief that his happiness just doesn't matter all that much. All of that has to be explored. All of that has to be laid out in the open for us in order for byler endgame to feel earned. Mike's emotional payoff will lead to byler's emotional payoff.

Mike has known he loves Will. In s5 we will see him make a deliberate and active effort to overcome the things keeping him from doing something about it. And then he will do something about it.

And so when it finally happens. When both Mike and Will finally know that their feelings are requited, and when their arcs end with us knowing that they will face whatever life has in store for them together, that will feel earned. That will feel like the logical conclusion for both of them. Not just for Mike. Not just for Will. For both.

And Mike is just as important to that conclusion as Will is.

And one last thing...

Some people are going to talk about Mike more. Some people are going to talk about Will more. Because newsflash, people have preferences. Some people just relate to Mike more, or they find his emotional arc extremely compelling, or they just like him. It isn't an attack on Will or any other character. No one is saying Mike is more important than any other character (I'm sure there are people that say that but they are a vocal minority and they are simply wrong). We are just saying that he is important. If you wanna engage in media analysis, please understand that "main character" or "central character" does not mean "only important character" and "only character that should be analyzed". If you wanna talk about Will and only Will, that's fine. But you don't get to act like people that talk about other characters are doing a disservice to your fave, because that's not how any of this works.

[cinammonelles]

I want to talk about this page in particular because the implications here are so riveting.

Lavi is currently 19. Allen is believed to be 16.

Which means that either

The Bookmen are lying

Bookman Jr. did die then and Allen either didn't age the first few years or his age got fucked up multiple times before he met Mana

The first seems highly improbable at this point tbh. If the Bookmen were planning to make Allen take the poison to make him remember his past then lying about when Past!Junior (presumably) died seems counterintuitive and would only make Allen mistrust them more once he was in full possession of his memories.

It doesn't seem like Allen de-aged to an infant. He says his earliest memories are from when he was in the circus. Even if he did age back to an infant, he would've needed caretakers and nothing in the story suggests he had any.

(Note how little Allen doesn't have his Innocence in the last panel. What the fuck does this mean Hoshino.)

Allen looks perhaps 4-5 in both of these panels. If Past!Junior died over 19 years ago and Allen aged linearly since then, then he would have to be 23+ by now. Even considering the possibility that he aged back to an infant, he he should be 19+ by now and he looks barely over 17.

We can assume that he must've aged in a somewhat even fashion once he joined the circus because otherwise the performers would've commented on it at some point of time.

What happened in the years between Junior dying and little Allen getting into the circus? Was he in a child's body till he acquired his Innocence? How did he even acquire his Innocence in the first place?

There's also a final possibility that came to me while I was writing this post— Lavi was born while Past!Junior was still alive. He was born with the 'mark' because Past!Junior was no longer fit to be a Junior. I genuinely have no idea how Hoshino will explain this. Will it be some sort of corruption? Memory loss? Chronic illness?

All of them seem equally unlikely options at this point. But so did the possibility of Allen and Bookman Jr. being different people before this chapter :)

Either ways, this was a very intriguing chapter and I'm looking forward to whatever Hoshino has in store for us.

[princessefemmelesbian]

Transandrophobia truthers are so damn racist and white oh my fucking god y'all actually piss me the fuck off every time you tokenize Black and brown men for your stupid as fuck "mra but make it trans-inclusive" ideology created by a creepy guy with a corrective rape fetish(something I'll never let up on for as long as I live, btw). If I ever see another one of y'all say "Black and brown men face discrimination because they're seen as overly masculine and that's why masculinity in men is oppressed in this society" I will literally kill myself. Stop using Black and brown men as brownie points for your bullshit arguments about misandry being real when you don't have the slightest idea how racialized oppression works. White boys are so annoying and dumb istfg.

@punkeropercyjackson @punknicodiangelo @pinkpinkstarlet

[shrews-art]

Soooo I have this college AU in the making if anyone is interested?

[thezoraprince]

Family Planning - Sidon x reader (18+)

“Possibly NSFW, but could keep it SFW if you wanted! How do you think Sidon/Bazz would behave during a period of time of trying for a baby with y/n? Do you think Zora get more protective and primal over a mate during that time? Would they go into a heat? I can just imagine them pacing outside the bathroom while y/n takes another pregnancy test lol” - @rocklover719​

slightly nsfw, so marking this one as 18+, just incase

i tried to write this one as gender neutral as possible, but.... babies come from somewhere, ya know? 

i had a TIME writing this one, i tell ya! but OH MY GOD THE FEELS!!!!!!

i hope you enjoy <3

(Bazz will be posted here)

y/n - your name

“That was fun…”

there you lie

on the bed next to Sidon

you’re both panting

smiles painted on your faces

you giggle breathily at Sidon’s comment

he’s taken your breath away

quite literally

you’d both been trying to conceive for a couple months

as you’d discussed it HUNDREDS of times throughout your relationship

you’d both been tracking your cycle to the max

and most of all

you’re having fun 

“Can we do that again?”

“Absolutely!”

it’s hard for him to get out of his princely duties

let alone for something secretive

because he isn’t telling ANYONE about this

but he ends up being able to take a few days off each month, claiming it as ‘quality family time’

no one has to know that you’re ovulating 

and if he absolutely HAS to go to a meeting during one of those days

you’re coming with him

he’s become so protective of you

and he has to know where you are during that short time of ovulation

it’s almost as if he goes into a small rut each month, as he can smell it on you

“After this meeting… I need us to get home as quickly as possible.”

he’s nothing but persistent on starting a family with you

and you want that

you’re taking pregnancy tests whenever it feels needed

and they’ve all been negative so far

you start to feel a little discouraged

“Oh, my sweet pearl. I can promise you it will happen. Don’t let this negative test bring down your mood.”

he’s so good at cheering you up

a month or so later, you start feeling a couple of pregnancy symptoms

Sidon’s getting ready for the day, as he has so many things to do

“Sidon? Umm… could you stay with me for a bit?”

and he gives you a concerned look

“It’s just… I’m not feeling the best right now, and I think… umm…”

“What is it, y/n?”

“I think I should take another test.”

he’s slightly in shock

“Of course I can stay for a bit. Do you think I’d be able to sit though a meeting knowing you’re here with a secret?”

he’s just outside, pacing back and forth in front of the door

and you pull him in once you’re ready

he waits with you

and he has nothing but positive things to say

“And even if this one ends up being negative, we can always try again.”

and you look at the test

“I don’t think we’ll need to this time.”

“Wait… what?”

you hand him the test

positive

and he immediately starts crying once he realizes that it is indeed a positive test

he pulls you into his arms

the both of you sobbing tears of joy

he’s always wanted this

but he never imagined how good it would feel to know he’s becoming a father

he pulls away to look at you, his beautiful y/n

“I hope you know I’m staying with you for the rest of the day now.”

[sequencefairy]

the bad takes i have seen today! like never mind the like, fully racist garbage, but like, just the idea that for some reason the fandom? is owed? this content? for free?

that watcher should what? just fuckin' go under and leave 30+ people unemployed because your sorry ass who probably only watches Ghost Files and hasn't ever given them one fucking red cent because you've bitched about the cost of tickets to the tours and the cost of merch and the cost of shipping and everything fucking else under the sun is mad that now you will have to cough up six whole american dollars to get access to every single Watcher video at any time?

(also i am going to continue to repeat this ad nauseum, but like, i dunno man, make a fucking friend and share an account. if six bucks is too much, then three is probably more manageable, or even less, if you share it with more people. this is not hard.)

so you wanna watch Ghost Files? you subscribe during the month(s) that GF is coming out, watch what you want, catch up on stuff you missed, and then you fuckin' dip. no one at watcher is forcing you to sign up for an annual subscription.

so you think buying merch supports them more? firstly, merch costs money to make. then it costs money to fulfill. then it costs money to host a site from which your fans can purchase it. this is not even considering paying the artist who designed the merch in the first place. all of those costs? money not going into watcher's pocket, keeping them from being able to afford to make more fuckin' videos.

so you think the patreon would solve this? the patreon doesn't keep the lights on. it never did. it was a stopgap and a way to create a bit of community that would help drive the adoption of the new channel. patreon skims a percentage off the top of what they on every month, as well. same as youtube. same as anything else.

you lot talk a big game about how mad you are about watcher selling out and being previously anti-capitalist but like, seizing the means of video production for themselves is actually like, vigorously saying fuck you to the system they have been forced to work within. they are going to make the content they want to make, and they will no longer have to whittle it down to being fucking palatable for whatever youtube advertiser or fucking nonsense product agrees to sponsor the video.

[ephemerasnape]

The sight that greeted Victor Rookwood as he exited the Hog's Head that fateful evening would be forever ingrained in his memory.

The street was dark and eerily quiet, and the dapper wizard had just taken a few steps outside the seedy pub before he realized something was amiss, causing him to stop abruptly and survey his surroundings.

"Lumos."

Continued below...

At first, Victor was more disoriented than anything - unsure that he could trust what he was seeing with his own eyes. The dark wizard blinked a few times in confusion before, slowly, he began to make sense of the gruesome display before him.

Heaps of... dirty rags? Someone has made rather a mess, it seems. . .

No. That's blood.

Blood and worse.

Before him was a scene of utter carnage the likes of which he'd never seen. A slaughter. The lifeless bodies of several young witches were splayed out in the middle of Spire Alley, a spectacle so macabre that even the dark wizard, well-accustomed to death, felt his stomach lurch at the sight.

A ginger witch lay eviscerated. Another's golden hair fanned around her angelic face like a halo. A brunette was positioned face down in a pool of her own blood. A strange-looking witch with odd-coloured hair... Victor shuddered as he recalled that one. He remembered her as having been particularly annoying.

And yet more still.

Sisters in death. Some he recognized outright, a vague familiarity to the rest. Their faces - doubtless once beautiful, now befouled by their own blood. Twisted limbs at grotesque angles. Internal organs now decidedly external.

Gods..

And in the center a... survivor? Victor tentatively stepped forward, perhaps even to offer a helping hand, as the pale witch clad in black gazed up at him adoringly.

"Victor.. I did it for you. For us."

Rookwood watched, horrified comprehension dawning on his face as the witch released a bloodied dagger she'd been holding. He barely registered the sound of the steel clattering to the cobblestone over the pounding of his heart.

"I love you, Victor."

-------------------

Now a video.

[introspectivememories]

roger who's nickname for buggy was "junebug" cause they found him in june and his hair is the same color.... buggy who hates it at first until he's climbing into his captain's bed at night bc of a nightmare and his captain says ever so softly, "oh junebug, c'mere"..... the nickname getting adopted by everyone on the crew until nobody calls him buggy anymore..... them meeting up with thr whitebeard pirates and getting irrationally jealous when the whitebeards use the nickname bc that's their nickname and who the fuck do these people think they are getting so close to their junebug.... rouge who has never met buggy calling him junebug in her head.... roger whose last words to buggy that fateful day before loguetown was "you shine like the sun, junebug. never stop"..... buggy who waits for years after the execution for a call from one of his former crew members, hoping every time the den-den one day it'll be rayleigh or seagull or gaban or sunbell on the other side with a familiar "hey junebug", except no one ever calls and the years go by and buggy slowly learns to stop waits, and gives on being the roger's junebug and learns how to be buggy the clown, buggy the genius jester, buggy the immortal, everything and anything other than junebug

[crossbackpoke-check]

Why I Am Not Coming In To Work Today [abridged], Jess Zimmerman

part one | part two

[theoutlawfaleena]

the king & the siren

könig x gender-neutral sniper!reader

warnings cod-typical violence, blood, probably military inaccuracy bc i have no idea what i'm talking about [cries]

tags unhinged könig, sniper reader, some mild tension, backstory leading into something more 👀, könig is unhinged but he's not rlly a red flag?, u just gotta read it to know what i'm talking abt bro, forced proximity but without the forced

i have nothing to say for myself. just have this as a peace offering

As an operator working under the private contractor known plainly as KorTac, your job is simple. You go where you're ordered to go, shoot whomever you're ordered to shoot, and then you pack up your things and wait for the next job. It's an uncomplicated existence, and it's all-consuming. It takes you by that invisible chain that anchors you to the earth and yanks you into the dirt, over and over until you learn to harden yourself, to spit the grit from your mouth and catch yourself before the fall ever comes.

The pull of the chain is something you have long since become familiar with. It comes with each body you drop, each bomb you set off, each grenade pin you pull off with your teeth where the metal bites into your tongue and fills your mouth with the taste of pennies. It turned you into the Siren, a sniper who grabs the attention of enemies with light hums and short whistles and embeds a bullet in their skull once their curiosity brings them close enough.

For a while, you did not think you could live without the pull of that chain; though harsh it may have been, it was a sole companion in a way of life that left no room for companionship.

Then, like some kind of cruel joke played at the hand of whatever force dealt you sour luck, that kid from Austria was recruited to the team.

He couldn't have been any older than twenty-five upon his arrival, standing at a mountainous six-feet-ten-inches with a body that swallowed up the space in doorframes, and it was not even his height that stood out as the most notable thing about him; rather, it was the dark sniper hood draped over his head to conceal his face, only cut to reveal wild eyes that looked anywhere but the eyes of others. It earned him plenty of barking shouts from your superiors, ordering him to look them in the eyes when he was being spoken to.

He went by König, meaning "king."

You did not give him long.

And much to your surprise, he lasted.

You learned that he had been a Jagdkommando with his native Austrian army, placed in the position of an insertion specialist. He was vying for a spot as a sniper, but those above him had quickly come to the conclusion that his hulking size and a rather problematic inability to sit still would not work in anyone's favor, and his aspirations had been rejected. His immense size and strength made him an ideal battering ram, however, and that was precisely what he was appointed to do.

Of course, such stories were only rumors that flew from the mouths of your teammates, for another thing you learned was that he did not speak; not to any of you, anyway. He spoke on the field, and that was that. You were not keen on prying information out of him yourself, for what business of it was yours?

As if the universe was crafted to laugh in your face when you needed it least, his business became yours when he was made one of your mission partners during an operation carried out in Berlin.

Al-Qatala fighters had a cell there, holed up with hostages they intended to traffic and force to do God-knows-what. Your mission was easy. Eliminate the fighters, free the hostages. You had seen it done countless times before. König and the others would be at your side, ordered to break through doors and gun down hostiles who stood in your way. You would open the mission with first contact, stationed just close enough to lure the enemy to your position and make the first kill. Your team would follow, and the holding cell would be breached. The rest was supposed to fall easily into place without a hitch. You'd done this time and time again; the chain pulls, and you stand fast.

Muffled voices moved in and out of the seized townhouse. Al-Qatala, no doubt. The air stunk of cigarette smoke and what was left of bombings to keep any hostiles at bay. Every now and then, a cry from a hostage would ring out, only to be followed by a shouting order or a sickening crack indicative of someone being fiercely struck with an open hand. That day, the entire city of Berlin held its breath, and so did you. It sat heavy within your chest, suspended at the base of your throat where you felt your heart thumping.

You waited for your team to gather into position. When the signal came through, the garbling through your earpiece, you finally swallowed. You readied your rifle, lifting your head and gazing through the scope at the shadows that moved across the windows.

You began to hum. Die Zauberflöte; the Queen of the Night's aria, a high-pitched staccato that came in short breaths. For one agonizing moment, the entire earth fell still.

A window broke; glass shattered. The air whistled as a bullet cut through it and flew past your head. On instinct, you flattened yourself to the ground immediately. The shot sounded moments later, ringing in your ears. A spray of warm liquid cast itself across your face. All hell broke loose at once as shouting and screaming arose from within the townhouse, along with the unmistakable sound of doors slammed open as a heavy body made quick work of them. Your team; you could hear your team joining the cacophony of noise. Gritting your teeth, you picked yourself back up and stared through the scope, eyes searching madly for their hidden gunman. The broken window offered a better view, enough that you could see a black-clad mass powering through the bodies inside. Your heart pounded in your ears. This position was doing nothing for you. You had to move.

Teeth grit, you vaulted down the nearest fire escape and broke into a sprint towards the townhouse. The door was left in shambles from the number that the Austrian had done on it, but you had no time to be impressed. Shrieks of horror and shouted commands drove you forward and you held your weapon out before you.

"Look alive!"

It was a call to your team, an indication that you were there. Leaving your station was not a common occurrence but you'd been left blind and of little help to them. The stench of blood was an immediate assault to your senses; it was a grisly scene, bodies of Al-Qatala fighters littering the floor riddled with bullets or with cut throats. Your team. You followed the screams of hostages, stepping over bodies that you didn't recognize as you sprinted downstairs, your rifle at the ready.

You anticipated that the bodies of your teammates would greet you, thrown to the wolves due to your inability to find the gunman. Blood pooled at the bottom of the stairs and you ran through it, turning the corner to find your team, seemingly safe, and yet stunned into a silence. Only the weeping of hostages could be heard. You opened your mouth to alert them of your presence, but stopped at the sight that awaited you.

Blood dripped from the hood of the Austrian. König. It soaked through the fabric and painted the exposed skin around his eyes a horrific shade of red. They were wide, and wild; he looked at you like a wolf poised to attack, and you imagined sharp teeth bared beneath the hood that sent a chill throughout your whole body.

He regarded you for only a moment, then turned his back on you to face the Urzik hostages, held within a cell crafted by the fighters. They cried out at the sight of him and drew closer to one another, even when the door creaked open and he allowed them an exit.

"Follow me," He said, and they flinched at the sound of his voice. At once, one of your teammates stepped forward, pulling his mask down to speak to them in a language they could understand. You didn't know it yourself, but you knew when the hostages reluctantly began to follow after König that something had been said to convince them he was there to help them despite his ghastly appearance. Falling in with the rest of your team, you gently guided hostages forward and out of the townhouse into the open air outside. Once the area was declared clear, emergency personnel on standby flooded the area with helicopters and cars to assess the damage and tend to the wounded and traumatized. The noise was a buzz in your ear, punctuated by a stinging pain that dominated the entire right side of your head from the ear to your jaw. Wincing, you raised your hand to your face, and it came away slick with blood.

You were acutely aware of the gaze bearing into you, but you did not acknowledge it until then. You lifted your head and met König's eyes. He stood an arm's-length away from you, a terrifying blood-soaked vision that studied you silently. You thought for a moment that he was looking directly at you, and it surprised you; however, you quickly realized he was trained on your ear.

"You're bleeding," He finally commented.

You bit back a laugh. It was funny, coming from someone who looked like he did in that moment. Hearing him acknowledge it worsened the pain, and you almost wished he hadn't pointed it out.

"Good eye," You replied.

If it amused him, he didn't show it. His eyes did not betray him for a second, but you had a feeling that yours did. Pain coursed through you like a red-hot blade pushing into your skin. König searched for something amidst his gear. When he closed the distance between you and himself, you had half a mind to back away, but when a bundle of gauze was placed to your ear, you instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm to steady yourself, sucking in air through your teeth.

You swayed lightly, but he stood like some kind of great oak, unmoving. His skin was hot to the touch, and it reduced the pain in your head to a dull throb. Swallowing, you reached out and held onto his arm with both hands.

"Where'd you get that?" You asked. Not that it mattered, but you certainly didn't have gauze in your gear at that moment. He paused, and you felt him shift against you.

"Borrowed it," He said. "From Sanitäter."

The way he said it suggested that "borrowed" may have been stretching the truth. Though it was painful, a smile pulled up at the corner of your mouth; you lifted your head to look at him and found that he was already looking at you. Blue. His eyes were blue, though the bloodstains around them made them seem starkly white.

You stumbled, and he steadied you. Quickly, you murmured an apology and dropped your head again, fixing your eyes on the ground.

König's eyes were blue.

You could not shake the way he looked at you, and you did not know why.

[gorespawn]

also while we're here i would like to share the two iterations of tumblr user gorespawn that have existed since i abandoned this blog back in like early 2021. Who wants me

[nguyenfinity]

You would not believe what AU I cooked up with @posebean this time it's genshin

Additional notes:

Melt synergy (also reversed colors yahoo)

They run a tea house!! Hachimitsu Tea House :]

And they're married

They're sooo married (Niki's ring is holding his lil tassel)

Niki

Support/healer (anyone's a dps if you build them hard enough though)

Signature dish: Cinnamon baked apple slices (we'll figure it out don't worry about it)

Ascension mats: pyro cube, slimes, naku weed

Constellation: esuriens ursi

Rinne

dps (glass cannon style)

Signature dish: Honeycomb nikujaga (once again don't worry about it)

Ascension mats: bathysmal vishap, treasure hoarders, onikabuto

Constellation: fila fati

he throws his claymore at you and then decks you in his normal attack sequence

mr. master of deception keeping his vision tucked away and wearing red

mostly useless without his wife (see: passive)