#but concedes. of course 🙄

[lumiereandcogsworth]

What do the Adelle family's stockings look like!!!! I MUST KNOW!!!

okay so i’m actually quite torn about this. because adam, interior designer extraordinaire, would definitely want them all to be uniform and themed and Elegant and Lovely™️

belle, however, thinks that’s Dumb. their first christmases (number varying on the universe, of course) when it’s just the two of them, adam gets matchy matchy ones and belle doesn’t mind. they’re the right mix of elegant and cute. i feel like they’d have reindeer on them and are like red and gold.

when they have renée, though, belle is like okay we need to have FUN with stockings now. and INSISTS on getting a new one that is entirely unique to renée. then to juliette. when they’re old enough, belle has them pick them out themselves. adam is Annoyed that they’re all different but he unfortunately is too soft for his little princesses to stop any of it 🙄 like despite how much he insisted on getting stockings that Looked Nice, he simply couldn’t say no to his little girls when one wanted the pink sparkly stocking with a princess on it and the other wanted the green fluffy stocking with a teddy bear on it.

this tradition carries on when maurice is born too, and for years it’s just adam & belle’s nice ones and then the kiddos’ silly ones.

when the girls become teenagers though, adam makes his move. he suggests to the family that perhaps we all get a new set of stockings, so they match and look nice with the decor. renée and juliette don’t mind, but maurice, who is still a Kiddo, is like UMM?? EXCUSE ME??

and adam is like son please it’ll look so nice🥲

and maurice is like father you fail to see the beauty in my teenage mutant ninja turtles stocking

and adam is like i know you like that show but wouldn’t it be so nice if all the stockings matched

and maurice is like NO it would be NICE if my turtles could be FREE

and he walks out and adam has lost the battle for another christmas

he tries again a couple years later when maurice is a teen himself, and eventually maurice concedes.

and finally. FINALLY. after like TWENTY YEARS of these silly stockings that are OH so precious and SO VERY SILLY. finally adam gets his way and they have nice uniform elegant stockings for all five of them

and it’s so lovely and adam totally bided his time and it was totally worth it.

until the grandkids arrive :)

[llycaons]

someone liking the ehr podcast posts I've made reminded me how pissed off those women make me because they'll confidently say 'all religions are cults' in one episode then get all upset over mormonism being described as a cult in another because 'ohhh that's PERSONAL we GREW UP with that it's our FAMILY' look lady you can't have it both ways

[total-drama-brainrot]

World Tour Assistant Noah AU (where he is always an assistant):

After the gross kiss failed to stop Alejandro's flirting... Noah begs Duncan to convince Alejandro, that Noah is too dorky to date... but Duncan has an even better idea; make Alejandro jealous for fun!

(In this AU, Duncan and Courtney had broken up before Season 3, so Duncan isn't a cheater!)

Duncan: "Thanks for letting me return to the show, handsome.~" 😘

(Duncan kisses Assistant Noah's cheek.)

Alejandro: "Duncan, I will DESTROY you!" 😡

Noah: "I just want to be left alone!" 🙄

Wait hold on... hold on... this is just the premise of my favourite Dunnoah fic series but with an assistant Noah twist. And extra Alenoah flavouring. That's not to say I'm against the idea.

Though I can't really imagine Duncan ever committing himself to flirting with Noah unless the two had struck up a deal prior- Duncan's that specific brand of 2000s era bigoted where being seen as anything but straight is a social crime (despite the fact that Duncan is definitely a boykisser, just in denial), but he's also aware of just how much of a threat Alejandro is in the competition and the latino's huge obvious crush on Chris' personal assistant, so I think Duncan could push aside his own internal biases to at the very least propose a similar idea to Noah.

Really, it'd be beneficial for the both of them; Noah gets to subtly-not-so-subtly tell Alejandro to back off by responding to Duncan's advances but not his, and Duncan gets to rile up Alejandro enough to redivert his attention away from the competition itself thus increasing his own chances of winning. It's strategic, really, nothing more.

It's that line of logic that has Noah eventually conceding that, for all intents and purposes, it's a good plan. So he deigns to play along, at least for a little bit, just to get Alejandro off of his back.

And, canonically, they're both shown to be at least half-decent at flirting, so whatever displays they have planned to annoy Alejandro would be just convincing enough to really get under his skin. Especially since Alejandro's shown in canon to be the protective/possessive type (mostly in All-Stars, in how he reacts to José insulting Heather) and likely wouldn't take too kindly to Duncan swooping in on "his amor" or whatever Spanish nickname he'd substitute it with.

Which all eventually leads to the scenario you proposed; Duncan plants a wet one on Noah's cheek and Alejandro sees red.

Noah's already exhausted by default, but feels weariness seep into the marrow of his bones as a seething Alejandro glares poisonous daggers towards Duncan, who's committed enough to their little ruse to in turn shoot a wink and a pair of finger guns towards the assistant. Deciding that he isn't paid nearly enough to deal with the inevitable confrontation between the two idiots who've apparently taken an interest in him (Duncan's, of course, being a known ruse), Noah leaves to go and do his actual job.

...

And then, Alejandro confronts Duncan directly in the Economy cabin, claiming that he doesn't deserve to so much as look at Noah, and that he (Alejandro) was the one Noah kissed and therefore the object of his attraction so Duncan better lay off. This is news to the punk, and adds a whole new layer of complexity to their plan. And perhaps something he can later exploit to give himself a leg up in the competition.

But why does the idea of Noah kissing Alejandro make his chest tighten up with envy?

And then maybe Duncan finds the untamed passion of Alejandro's genuine fury kind of hot and he too enters the metaphorical boxing ring of feelings? Aledunnoah endgame? The intern server has been posting a lot of Aleduncan lately so letting those two get together (and with Noah in there too, as a bonus) just seems natural to my brain at this point.

[doevademe]

Prompt:

Percy: c'mon Jay, I wasn't that drunk last night. 🙄

Jason: you were flirting with Nico. 🤨

Percy: so? He's my boyfriend. 🤨😌😏🥰

Jason: you asked him if he was single and then cried when he said no.😑😮‍💨

(I am purposely ignoring canon, Jason is alive and happy :) )

Percy and alcohol didn't mix.

To start with, he absolutely hated the taste of beer. It was bitter and brought bad memories of Smelly Gabe. If he ever drank alcohol, it was one of those drinks that dudebros considered "girly". Cocktails so elegant and drenched in sugar and fruit juice that he couldn't taste the alcohol at all.

of course, that made it difficult to tell when he had enough, which was why he didn't drink unless it was a special occasion.

Like, say, Jason graduating from NRU with honors and getting a job in the mortal world.

Percy got drunk, because he always got drunk on Mai Tais and Sex on the Beach, but he usually just spouted some nonsense and laughed a lot.

He didn't know how much alcohol those cocktails had, but apparently he had made a fool of himself.

Even more than usual, which was surprising.

"Bro, you have to help me," Percy pleaded to Jason. "Why won't Nico talk to me?"

"Just give him some space," he said back. "After last night, I think he needs to cool off."

"It wasn't that bad," Percy said, acting as if he knew how bad it had actually been. "I wasn't that drunk, you know?"

"You hit on Nico," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Percy shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with that," he said defensively. "He's my boyfriend! Flirting is natural."

"You asked him if he was single."

"I was just being⁠—"

"He said he wasn't, and you cried," Jason's exasperation made Percy remember some glimpses of last night. Nico had made the smae expression then. "Then you started crying to everyone you came across about how the prettiest guy at the party was taken."

Percy chuckled awkwardly.

"Okay, yeah, that is pretty cringy," he conceded. "But that doesn't explain why Nico's mad."

"That would be Jay's fault," Leo said, smirking as his best friend tried to make himself smaller. "Isn't that right, buddy?"

"We're not assigning blame here," he said a bit too quickly. Percy narrowed his eyes. "I was just trying to get him to stop crying!"

"What did you do?" Percy asked suspiciously. Leo's smile widened.

"My man over here tried reminding you that you were also taken," he said. "You told him you didn't care, because pretty guy was the love of your life."

Percy gasped as he saw Nico glaring at him. The image of him just leaving the party fresh on his mind.

If he didn't have a headache before (thank you Poseidon secondary powers), he would develop one now.

"Drunk me is an idiot," he said miserably. Leo just laughed at him.

"Drunk you is hilarious, you mean," he said. "My favorite thing was when you put a napkin over your head and pretended to know how to dance a bolero."

"Leo, stop that," Jason said sternly before turning to Percy. "Look, Nico's not that mad. He knows you were drunk, but..."

"But he's also embarrassed at what I did and said," Percy finished miserably. He looked at Jason. "Well, since you're responsible for this⁠—"

"I never said I was!"

"You're going to help me get Nico to forgive me," he said. Before he had the chance to get away, he grabbed Leo by the collar. "You too, as payment for entertaining you so much last night."

The edge to his voice made the son of Hephaestus laugh nervously.

"Heh, what's the plan, boss?"

Percy grinned.

"I'm wooing the prettiest guy at the party," he said simply. "Jason just needs to get Nico here in an hour while I freshen up. Meanwhile, you can help me with the cooking."

A candlelit dinner and a movie would be enough to show Nico how sorry he was.

Not that there was that much to forgive if one really thought about it. After all, the only person who made Percy forget his boyfriend was... his boyfriend.

[beevean]

Which do you prefer? Lament Of Innocence or Curse Of Darkness? (I probably already know the answer but I wanted to hear you say it)

I don't know what prompted this question with a very obvious answer 😂

Curse of Darkness. Not even in a "I love both games, but if I had to pick one..." way. For me, CoD curbstomps LoI in everything that matters. The only thing I will concede is that LoI has the superior art direction - for example, Ghostly Theatre is so pretty, and I wish CoD didn't commit so much to the idea that the Curse is making all of Europe bleak and desolate :\

My opinion on both games hardly changed in a year. I still don't hate LoI or think it's a completely awful experience, but it simply doesn't appeal to me and I have no desire of going back to it, even just to experiment with the admittedly cool subweapon spells. With CoD, I had reason to practice with stealing and crafting, and that alone made me enjoy the game even more - it's fun! The gameplay loop of fighting to get materials to craft stronger weapons to evolve your IDs with is super fun for me! It's like the Chao Garden in the Sonic Adventure games, except I get to sic my babies against bosses 😂

In fact, I must correct myself on this: I prefer Joachim Mode over Trevor Mode. The thing is that, while Trevor is a joy to control and I love how he shreds through bosses like melted butter, removing the core of the game (Devil Forging and weapon crafing) takes away everything that makes the game so fun for me, and emphasizes the flaws in the level design. Joachim Mode, on the other hand, removes part of the platforming and constant backtracking to find keys and such, and that? That improves the games significantly for me. But it doesn't change the fixed camera, the terrible depth perception, the stiff jumps (Hector doesn't jump well either, but he doesn't need to 🙃), and of course the incentive to fight the hordes of enemies that block your way - I don't like how in most alternative modes you don't level up by defeating enemies, and guess what? I don't like that it's a main feature in LoI!

(also, I still don't understand why I can't select items through the normal pause menu. that was a big brained decision.)

From what I've seen this is a huge unpopular opinion: I'd take in a heartbeat CoD's flat corridors that make you focus on Hector's powers and fighting skills (where fighting is 100% beneficial for your progress) over LoI's insistence on clunky platforming and forced backtracking. Leon ain't that much faster than Hector anyway 🙄

... well, at least both soundtracks are peak Michiru Yamane. I once again prefer CoD's more upbeat, even rock direction, but LoI's atmospheric music has something magical to it, and you can tell Yamane was relieved that she could finally use real instruments :)

[xannador]

Is it possible some of the unfollowings might be from bot accounts getting deleted by tumblr? I go out of my way to block and report any that follow me and I've noticed another wave of them has popped up recently

Hi! The dropoff wasn’t on Tumblr. It was on the hellscape that is Twitter, which is where my client base is active on. This is why it had me worried. I don’t keep track of my follower numbers on other platforms as I am not financially incentivised to.

There always could have been a bot purge over on Twitter too, of course. However the way this drop happened was inconsistent with previous purges. But I concede that it’s perfectly possible that I overreacted. My only excuse is that I’ve been overworking myself and stress creeps up on me more quickly. I’ll work on managing things better.

What remains consistent is the stupid Twitter algorithm burying me for drawing anything other than dragons 🙄 I saw the way it worked a while back and it purposely hides you whenever you post content outside of your immediate lane, even from people who might have been interested in seeing it.

On the bright side, Tumblr has been consistently stable. I’m happy there is at least one platform where growth and user interactions happen naturally.

[marengogo]

Hi! Just read your tattoo post - very well written and informative! I often wonder, (and btw I am a full supporter that the “JM” tatt means exactly that, JM. JiMin- ) do you think JK could’ve got the army tatt and someone said to him in between the J being added that funnily enough it could make all the members initials, if he added a J?

Like you said though, he could have easily found another place for it if he didn’t want the connotation to be that JM = Jimin. So he clearly doesn’t mind:)

Hello Anon,

Glad you found the tattoo post informative! It was quite fun to write and a very interesting topic to research I’m a sucker for research! Now, with regards to your questions. I perceive JK as someone who is very set in his ways and who has had a very graceful growth, considering the environment he basically grew up in, being the KPOP world. He has a very strong sense of self and had things gone even a little bit awry, I feel like he maybe would have risked becoming not very considerate of other people’s emotions or opinions in an alarming way. 

Yet, thanks to his not-toxic-immediate-environment (being the other members, his immediate family, close friends, and perhaps few other people) he has learned how to react and gauge different types of situation where for example it is okay for him to be himself and not concede (for example, when he was arguing with JM about where the couch would go in ep149 BEHIND THE SCENES of RUN BTS)

from other situations where, depending on the person in question, he will concede his own opinion and seem to prefer to provide support rather than adding to the predicament concerning said person’s expense, which he seems to do a lot when said person is JM btw regardless of everyone else being on with say for example a joke (like during their VLIVE after the 2021 UNGA in September, when he amongst the members he spoke in JM’s defence).

Basically Jeon Jungkook does what Jeon Jungkook wants to do.

What people say is relevant to him only to a certain extent, which is depending on the situation and depending on who you are. ARMY for example is another entity that is very important to JK. He’d do almost anything to make ARMY happy, almost because in itself, though it may not seem so, JK is in fact in a sort of “long term relationship” with ARMY and has long already decided, and se,t his boundaries with us.

Now, let’s take this further to try and answer your questions, which of course can be but be only speculation and educated guessing. Imagine this: You live in SK and tattoos are not exactly the easiest thing to go about parading in your country. They are definitely not, yet your friend comes up to you with a tattoo that clearly spells the name of his fandom, what are your first thoughts? Mine would probably be He’s really crazy for his fans in a maybe weird way, like, you get a tattoo and what you do is tattoo the name of your fandom on your hand? To keep forever? I guess if I’m that big it will make the fans happy … but I don’t know, like, is this for me or them? What? That would be what I’d think in my head, but then I’d look at him and ask “Why?/Really?... but like, whatever makes you happy man!”. I’d basically be so shocked that I wouldn’t even be able to suggest adding any more letters to all of that, as I’m also still getting over the fact that he indeed has a freaking tattoo to begin with and don’t forget that there was also a smiley face and a purple heart … like mate 🥴  

And then I'd be pretend like I never reacted the way I did, like I had always been supportive and i was just a bit shocked at first, when time later he'd come to reminding me how I was doubtful of his first ink 🙄🙄🙄...

We must also remember that JK’s friends are JK’s friends. If you are my friend and the first thing I say after seeing your tattoos is: by the way if you add a J on top of the M, that A looks like an upside down V and you know what you’d then spell? 🎵Kim-Nam-Joon, Kim-Seok-Jin, Min-Yoon-Gi, Jung-Ho-Seok, Park-Ji-Min, Kim-Tae-Hyung, YOU, BTS!🎶? Imma right? Won’t it be sick to have them too? Now, I’ve drawn my brother’s tattoo, but that was only because he begged me to I actually didn’t want to, and in the end he didn’t even get it tsk 😒, if not never in a million years would I even think of suggesting what I‘ve noticed his tattoo could look like if he added so-and-so on his body.

I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but permanent ink is meant to be permanent I mean you can get it off but it is an ordeal and not advisable, you’ve basically sat down and decided, right here, right now, this is what I want to keep forever. And let me add this. A part of me feels like, if he had indeed wanted to tattoo all the members on his fingers he would have not done it in such a way that it could have been left for interpretation. They ARE an important part of him, yet, once again, when you look at that hand, what really stands out is; ARMY across, JM down.

Surely he wouldn’t want his other members to be perceived as an afterthought since the J came after; don’t you think?

Always respectfully yours 💜

Marengo.

[bishiglomper]

I had a Beetlejuice dream. Which was very cute..

I was running out of time to get my shit together (I was occupying a hotel room or something) before I had to be gone because otherworldly demony things were about to show up and you did not want to be on their turf when they clocked in. 👀

Well. I wasn't making it. Grabby little demon hands were snickering at me from under the bed, snarling and threatening me. I was just about to make it out when some hot demony consort guy was like "nope you're mine now, too late."

Now i know that was somehow against the rules, and suddenly an imposing boobily queenly demoness (sillhouette mostly, I didnt actually see her) popped in all like "I KNOW YOU DID NOT JUST PULL THAT SHIT" (but more eloquent)

It was very impressive, the demon at first was like 'who tf are you' but then was like 'oh shit.'

So the demoness reminded him of the law and at the same time i was high tailing it outta there. I left stuff behind. My phone. 😭 just grabbed a half full suitcase.

As I'm leaving i realize thats not actually the queen demoness. Is imposter. Dream intuition told me it was Beetlejuice saving my ass. 👀 Like, i dont even think he knows me, he just saw a chance to fuck with people for the lols

Next thing i know I'm walking down a sidewalk with lots of trees around. Looks like the street my aunt used to live on lol

Im thinking "that was so sweet 😭" and i wanna thank him and make sure he got out of there okay, because let's be honest, I can imagine his plan falling through with him ending up being chased by a demon horde or something for trying to pull that shit. 🤣 It's musical!juice in my dream, but he does have cartoon inspiration... 👀

So I'm alone on a pitch black road, hills and skinny trees on either side. And I try to summon Beetlejuice. It took 3x before anyrhing happened. I mean I had to "beetlejuice beetlejuice beetlejuice" 3x. Which should have canceled one out, but i digress. The wind whipped up all spookily and then hes there behind me.

So I thanked him and he was his obnoxious and charming self but like. Really curious about how tf i knew him, but whatever. And i remember lamenting about my phone. And hes like "oh, this one?" And pulls it out of a mysterious outside pocket from my suitcase. My hero 😁

Then the dream kind of fudged with the plot and there were other people, but we ended up in a van and I planned on taking him home with me.

Oh yeah, part of the whole "how do you know who i am? Do i know you?" Conversation went like:

"I'll keep you summoned as long as you promise not to kill anyone. And are able to keep that promise."

"You do know me!"

hejfjfksbj 🤣

And then it got a little gooey, I remember petting his head and of course he melted because that's like my favorite musicaljuice trope. 😌

Nothing real interesting happened after that other than me trying to figure out what to do with a semi-manifested demon in my room while we had awkward gooey feelings for eachother.

But when i woke up it reminded me that even if my brain tries to spice things up, my subconcious is still pretty ace. Its so funny sometimes. 🤣 He tried to kiss me but he ended up just. sucking on my face which literally just made me think of how a baby kisses. Just an open AWOOMM to my cheek. Like wtf. 😂 And anything involving a bed just ends up with cuddles. 🙄😗

And y'know, i concede to being a monsterfucker. I think its funny. Especially since even my sister is like "Thats why you haven't found anyone, your type doesnt exist on this plane!" But especially as an aego-ace. Sex is fine fictionally. I still identify as ace because I'll never meet the right ghoul, so... yeah.

But I need to know if there's a monsterfucker pride flag because I have a mighty need. 👀

[messyyythoughts]

the sands of Zion, part 2.

fallout: new vegas Joshua Graham x female courier reader

summary: for one of the first times since you were given a second chance at life, you’re hell bent on revenge, and not even a man like Joshua Graham will stand in your way. warnings: violence typical to fallout: new vegas (you should know the drill by now people come on 🙄)

read part 1 for this to make sense lol :) ••●••••●••••●••

your hat had indeed made its merry way downstream, and you fished it out of the water with a huff. it was soaked, but you replaced it where it always sat nonetheless. what you were planning to do would upset Joshua without a doubt, and you were only twisting the knife in your heart by abandoning Follows-Chalk in his most vulnerable moment. but you had caused this, and you were going to fix it. there was plenty of ammunition in that dropped bag, and you rarely missed a shot. as it usually did, your brain and body worked together on autopilot. you were too consumed with anger to rationally be in control right now, so you took a backseat for the time being. the anger was kept at a simmer, until the revenge part of your plan arrived. it didn’t take you long to retrieve the dropped bag, it was untouched thankfully. you dug out the necessary ammo, reloading your rifle and stuffing your pockets with extra. you added another knife to your other boot, and decided to snag a pistol for yourself too should close combat be required. you hid the bag in the bushes, and passed the bodies of the White Legs who had attempted the ambush earlier with a bitter taste in your mouth. you were about to deal a heavy blow to the White Legs numbers, or die trying. you tracked the remainder of the White Legs raiding party to a temporary camp. they must’ve not heard the commotion from earlier because they all seemed quite happy this evening. they had no idea that at least three quarters of their party lay dead in the dust, or sand, a short walk away. you were about to start your lone assault when a hand covered your mouth from behind and picked you off of the ground, taking you backwards to the cover of the cliffs. you struggled, but soon picked up on the bandages covering your mouth. of course he’d followed. “what you are about to do is ill-advised, not because I’m against it, but because you likely won’t survive on your own, courier.” his voice switched something within your brain that brought you back to the forefront. despite your now complete stillness, you were both still pressed against one another, your back to his front, in the shadows of the cliffs. you told yourself it was for fear of being spotted by the White Legs, but really his presence was a great relief, and his physique wasn’t half bad either. how he’d kept in decent shape with the injuries he’d sustained you didn’t know. “it’s going to happen either way, so make your choice.” you warned, your voice low. you were in a state that you could not be logically reasoned out of. only a good slap to the face would make you rethink your plan, not that you would tell Joshua that. he was silent as the White Legs carried on making noise and being generally rowdy behind you both. he was still holding you to him. clearly he didn’t want to let go either. “look, I don’t hold it against anyone if they don’t want to fight, just don’t try and stop me.” with that, you eased out of his hold, and started adjusting your rifle. “the odds are better with two of us, God willing.” he conceded, appearing to lose an internal battle with himself. “last chance to stay out of it, or join me.” you said, about to sneak back up to the camp. Joshua held your eye contact for a few blistering seconds, before taking his pistol out and taking the safety off with a silent nod. ‘isn’t he the gift that keeps on giving?’ you thought smugly to yourself, before returning to your original position on a slightly higher rock that would allow you perfect access to the heads of the White Legs. Joshua took up his own position below you, waiting for any stragglers to come past. you fired the first shot, and managed to get a few more in before the White Legs scattered for cover and started shouting orders at one another. Joshua was out from behind his cover and taking shots at those closest to him, so you retired the rifle and took out the two knives. one had worked perfectly fine before, and two would work now. you slid down from the rock, darting behind the tents and slicing necks and stabbing chests wherever possible. Joshua was making fine progress himself, taking out White Legs who dared to leave cover in a few shots. you were already slightly covered in the blood of the White Legs, and smiled to yourself at the chance to have Joshua wash it off again. you caught yourself and dropped the smile, before kicking out the legs of another unsuspecting White Leg and stabbing them in the forehead. blood gushed down their face, and you wiped your knives on your trousers. Joshua was reloading, and with you cleaning off the knives for a few seconds, you left an opening. a remaining White Leg jumped out from the shadows, knocking you down to the ground. these guys really seemed to enjoy knocking you over! with your knives restricted in your pinned down hands, you resorted to kicking out with your legs, but the White Leg resisted the flimsy kicks and moved one hand to your throat. realising what was about to happen, you took a breath, and their hand clamped down hard. it was crushing. this had happened a few times before, but not for a while. the pressure was enough to make you feel nauseous, but you kept kicking out, and fought to free at least one hand from their iron grip. a flash of muted white behind the tribal saw them lifted from you and tossed aside, you sat up and hurled a knife, landing one in their chest and then the second closely followed in their neck. wheezing, you fell onto your back, starting the classic coughing fit, and watched as Joshua put one final bullet in between the White Legs’ eyes. he retrieved your bloodied knives, and then bent down to check over your neck. he gently moved your hands away, and used his fingertips to move your head again like he had in the river. he was done after a few seconds, and offered you a hand. you both stood up and left that camp burning to the ground with some well aimed sticks lit by the dying campfire. ••●••••●••••●•• as you walked up the Eastern Virgin with the bag over your shoulder and Joshua trailing behind, just in case any White Legs had returned and found their camp ravaged, you couldn’t help but keep one hand on your neck as if that would protect it from the damage already done. when the camp was in view, you sped up, wading with force, and dumping the bag by the shore. removing your hat, you briskly walked through Angels Cave with Joshua closely behind. you were sweating, covered in splatters of blood that weren’t yours for the second time that day, half strangled and near exhaustion but desperate to see Follows-Chalk. the group surrounding him parted as you slowed to a stop. the presence of Joshua, their war chief, made them go quiet. they all looked to him, but he was too busy watching you. he had never seen guilt and relief expressed as you were expressing it, a sad smile across your blood stained face, but true tears in your tired eyes. you went to your knees to be by Follows-Chalk’s side, discarding your hat again. the others in the cave cleared out, sensing the atmosphere, but Joshua lingered. “I am so sorry, I should’ve seen them coming-” Follows-Chalk shook his head and took your shaking, scarred hands in his. “they had us outnumbered from the start. I’m just glad you were there with me.” you had to compose yourself from completely losing your cool right there in front of Joshua and poor Follows-Chalk, and it was a struggle. “what happened to your neck?” Follows-Chalk pointed out, reaching out to see the beginnings of a bruise forming on your skin. you shook your head and told him not to worry, that it was just a ‘random injury’ you’d picked up somehow. you wanted to keep talking, but the healers were coming back. you promised to come back in the morning, as the Dead Horses began flocking to Follows-Chalk’s side again. Joshua waited patiently at the edge of the group for you to retrieve your hat he had picked up from the cave floor. you had a habit of completely forgetting about your hat in times of great emotion. “thank you.” you said to Joshua, as you took your hat and left the cave to wash that blood off of your face for the second time. “would you like me to come with you?” he’d said it so casually you almost didn’t register it. “company wouldn’t be a bad thing right now.” you agreed, walking side by side with him into the open night air. you knelt by the river’s edge, shrugged off your overcoat and pushed your hair back. Joshua stood behind you, giving you space. you dipped your hands into the water, really feeling that cold seep through your skin, before you splashed your face and started feeling around for the dried blood. it had only been a few moments until Joshua was kneeling by your side, dipping his fingertips into the water. “face me.” he said, as if this was an everyday occurrence. you did so, relaxing slightly as he ran his fingertips across your face and washed the blood off. he wasn’t gentle, he really made sure it was gone, but he was careful to not be rough either. your hair would fall into your face a few times, and he brushed it back with practiced ease each time before you could. it made you smile slightly, to which he questioned you. “what makes you smile like that?” he asked, as he finished by running the cold water across your eyelids. “you getting my hair out of the way, it’s such a simple thing.” you replied, your voice tired and soft. it made him feel something again in his chest. “I see.” he simply said, not really getting it. “women are very easy to please when you get to know us, it’s the little things.” you joked, as his hands left your face and you opened your eyes. you certainly felt refreshed after two cold river water washes. “I’m guessing you don’t want anything cleaned in return?” you meant it as a joke, but watched as Joshua held out his hands. “really?” “if you wouldn’t mind.” he started unwrapping the bandages down to his wrist, and then held them out for you. “doesn’t it... cause you pain?” you asked, lowering his hands to the water’s edge and gently splashing them to begin with. “exposing anything that was burned to the open air does cause me pain, but that is how I remind myself of my failures.” you didn’t say anything as you rested one of his hands on your lap, taking the other in your hands and submerging it fully under the water. “is this okay?” you asked, hoping he wasn’t in too much pain. he nodded, and you gently used your own fingers to wash away the sweat from the day, and the dust that seemed to get caught everywhere. “just say if it gets too much, I don’t know much about burns.” you smiled apologetically at him, before switching his hands over. the wet one rested on your lap, drying out in its own time, as you carefully washed the other one under the water. his skin felt as if it had been reimagined in a different way by the flames, so what if it wasn’t smooth like yours? it felt just as human as yours under that water. your own hands were scarred from an accident when you were younger, presumably, so you shared a similarity there. “you know, I can’t remember it, but I injured my hands pretty bad when I was younger.” you placed the other hand into your lap, and then presented your own hands to him. “I don’t think it’s burns, but it’s... something. I was just thinking that we share having different hands.” his own hands took yours in his and he examined them. “no, not burns. maybe they were broken when you were a child and they realigned like this? but, the surface layer of skin is similar to mine, just not exact. perhaps there was fire involved.” you listened to his thoughts and looked at your hands in a different way. broken as a child? maybe, but both of them being so scarred? it must’ve been a terrible accident. “regardless, I find your hands quite beautiful.” he returned your hands to your lap, and started rewrapping his own scarred hands. you had to hide the heat that rose in your cheeks at his words, and stood up to avoid his eye contact. you picked up your hat and overcoat, before turning to Joshua. you weren’t sure what you wanted to say, but he seemed to have something to say. “if you feel like it, my part of Angels Cave is open to you, especially after today’s events.” you were a little taken back by his offer, but within a few seconds, you found yourself replying. “if you wouldn’t mind?” ••●••••●••••●•• Joshua had a spare bed dragged into his part of Angels Cave by some willing Dead Horses, and you chose a spot on the other side of the cave, as to give Joshua his privacy. you undressed to your undergarments and used an old shirt from your belongings as a nighttime cover up. had you been sleeping where you usually did out in the open, you would’ve kept some layers on, but the fire in this cave was warm, and you already had furs and a sleeping bag. yet, despite being so physically and mentally done with the day, you just could not find sleep. Joshua was still awake, you could hear his occasional movements from across the cave. after turning over for the third time, you sat up in frustration, and made eye contact with Joshua. “I hate to ask this, but where’s that book you’re always reading?” you found yourself asking, as you used a fur to cover your bottom half sliding out of the bed. Joshua picked up the book from the desk and you broke out into a smile. “would you mind if I took a look at it?” he stood up and met you halfway across the cave, handing it over to you. the bruises on your neck were beginning to show even more now, and that angered him deep down. the people who had hurt you and Follows-Chalk were long gone from this world, but he still wanted revenge. he watched with interest as you settled into your bed, and chose random pages to read from. he watched as your eyes grew heavier, and eventually you fell asleep with the book laying half open on your chest. he didn’t dare disturb you now that you had finally fallen asleep, but he did wander over to carefully remove the book from you, and place it by your bedside instead just in case you woke up in the night and wanted to read it again. he could go without it for one night, he knew it like the back of his hand anyway. speaking of hands, he had felt quite pleased ever since you’d washed his hands with such care in the river. he had to admit to himself that when he saw your stricken, blood stained face as you returned with Follows-Chalk, his heart jumped out of his chest and he froze right there at the entrance to Angels Cave. it was only when the others had taken Follows-Chalk from you that he had the mind to see if you were okay. the relief he had experienced when you said the blood wasn’t yours was close to joy, and he had thanked his God a hundred times since. but, he knew that once you had spoken the words of wanting to kill all of the White Legs, that you were on a path he recognised all too well. he had no right to stop you from getting your revenge, and besides, we cannot expect God do all of the work. maybe that was why he had taken such a liking to you since that first day, or maybe seeing you so broken over Follows-Chalk had reignited some of his own humanity that had been forgotten under the orders of Caesar, long ago. whatever the reasoning was, he felt something towards you, something that amplified his every emotion a thousand times. his anger at your bruises, his relief at your safety, his empathy at your pain. things he had not felt in years were creeping back into his life, and he wasn’t sure whether to be scared, or accepting. ••●••••●••••●•• the next day, you did not naturally stir at the crack of dawn like you always did. Joshua did, but he was quiet around the cave, and let you sleep for as long as your body naturally wanted to. he came back a few times over the morning to make sure you hadn’t stopped breathing or gone missing, but there you were each time, peacefully asleep. the bruising on your neck had taken full form now, and looked less terrifying than Joshua had been expecting. still, he was sure you’d feel it once you woke up. Joshua spent his morning going through the duffel bag that had been seemingly forgotten in all of the chaos yesterday. he had to give it to you, the loot was impeccable. your ability to find just about anything, or at least parts of it, was impressive. you were currently on your own mission to repair your Pip Boy, undoubtedly for the journey back to New Vegas where your home was, and Joshua secretly wished that you would never repair the Pip Boy and settle for Zion instead. but, he knew what it was like to miss home and your people, and he didn’t dare think about jeopardising your journey back. in fact, it would be right of him to assist you in every way possible in returning to New Vegas, and that’s what he would do as soon as the White Legs had been dealt with. at least, that’s what he told himself time and time again since meeting you. every moment he spent with you it seemed harder to keep that promise to you and himself, and he resorted to asking his God what the right thing to do was. but even God didn’t seem to have a straight answer for Joshua some days. when you did wake up that afternoon, it was to leave the cave in search of fresh water, which a Dead Horse member provided to you upon your asking. Joshua realised with a start that you had learned some words of their language. he listened to your conversations that day with a keen ear, and realised that you must’ve learned more than he originally thought. there were some phrases that you didn’t quite know, but you had picked up enough basic words and gestures that communicating was simple to do. when you were on your own by the river’s edge, he joined you, his curiosity getting the better of him. “I see you’ve started speaking to the Dead Horses without the need for a translator.” your eyes found his and you smiled smugly. “I have finally picked up enough words to not need Follows-Chalk as my full-time translator.” you replied, a hint of pride in your voice. “I’m demoting him to part-time now, I don’t have as much need for his services, and he isn’t well enough...” you kept your eyes on the river as you spoke, still carrying the guilt of yesterday on your shoulders like bags of rocks. “try not to let that feeling swallow you whole, you had no idea the White Legs would use such a tactic in that area. you both made it out alive, and that’s what matters to all of us.” Joshua spoke with authority now, trying to get the message through to you. you glanced sideways at him, before closing your eyes. “promise me you will one day forgive yourself for what happened. God forgives you, and so do I.” Joshua’s religion previously had little meaning to you, but after reading some of his holy book and hearing those words, it came as a strange comfort. “thank you Joshua,” you said, tenderly, before getting up, “I mean it.” you let your hand rest lightly on his shoulder before returning to Angels Cave to check on Follows-Chalk. Joshua’s chest felt funny again, and the place where your hand had touched his shoulder felt... strange. it was a good kind of strange, however, he liked it. it was as if you had brought him peace just by simply gracing your hand across his body. Joshua was starting to think you were God sent. ••●••••●••••●•• messyyythoughts © 2022 do not translate without my permission, give credit if you repost, support always welcomed <3

[muzzable]

Luke Triton for the character thing?

Oh boy, my boy! (I have many boys)

First impression: I think I found him annoying lol. First PL game I played was Curious Village and I was presumably younger than Luke at the time, but similarly to him at the stage where you want to act mature and I probably thought he was too immature.

Impression now: I love this character a lot. Eventually I started identifying with him somewhat because I also like blue, have a similar hair color that can get messy in similar ways, and found his character arc about keeping a calm head to think things through relatable (which iirc is more prevalent in the novels, though I know most haven't read them). Also I wish I had his power to talk to animals.

Favorite moment: That's a hard one, but I think I'd have to say the scene with the statue in Unwound Future. He's a very emotive character, so the solemn quietness of the scene really stands out, and I like how tender the moment between him and the Professor is with the reminder that yes, things do change and people might leave your life, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're gone forever, and you'll still have those memories.

Idea for a story: I'd definitely like to see more of his time in America, especially with the information we learned about it during the anime. We know he learned karate, fell in love, got married, and solved mysteries with his wife, so there's a lot to explore there. Imagine a spinoff series focused on the mysteries he and Marina solved while also showing them going from friends to newlyweds.

Unpopular opinion: Maybe this isn't as unpopular as I think, but I like his design as an adult. I think keeping the primary color as blue but making it darker conveys his maturity well, you can see some influence from Layton and Clark in his fashion choices, and it looks gentlemanly. I see it and think "Look at him, he's all grown up, he's no longer a gentleman-in-training!" Plus I admire that they actually went and made it noticeably different from the Future Luke design in Unwound Future. I will concede the fedora is too small though, and the anime's inconsistent animation didn't help it, though that part's understandable given the amount of animation they had to do. (But seriously like, did he buy one of those costumes for dogs and take the hat from it or something?)

Favorite relationship: I'm gonna go generic and say his relationship with the Professor. I like how he encourages Luke to better himself, and is always patient and gentle with him, and their conversations flow really naturally. Over the course of the series it feels like they both grow into better/healthier people overall because of it; at the beginning of Last Specter Luke's closed himself off from the world intentionally, but Layton's also somewhat of a loner as well, and after knowing each other they both learn to open up to people more. I'm also partial to his and Emmy's sibling-like teasing and how in Unwound Future he's all "Ugh Flora can't you take this seriously? 🙄" but you can tell they actually have a lot of fun together and he's just being 13.

Favorite headcanon: I like how it feels like pretty much all of the fandom agrees Luke and Marina met in school and/or due to a mystery he was trying to solve. The first feels very real and would be a good way to show he's adapting well to life in America, while the second is very in-character because if there's a mystery we all know he can't leave well enough alone (wonder who he got that from lol).

[mayasdeluca]

Ali had enough body contact that an opposing player could fall and get the call. Ellie Jean straight up knocked someone down. Betos doesn’t make the save, but it’s Ali fault? Ash doesn’t make the save, but it’s not the player who conceded it (and there’s been a few) at fault? - Last season, they never gave her credit for the saves anyway. Just said they were bad PKs, and they ‘could save it too.’ - Freeman plays for the opposing team and Gotham journos are suddenly all “Peace in the world, remember kindness is the most important thing we have to give.” Like this isn’t the first ‘error’ Ali made this season and handled it with grace and integrity especially since they threw her to the wolves. Didn’t one of your anons say that they request players for media? They asked for Ali wanting to set her up or something? I hate the lot of them. And I recognise twitter handles because that’s how vile the things they say about Ali + Ash are.

I’m Asian and I literally use the ‘race card’ for stupid shit like screwing up grammar in a sentence. Which my friends know is a joke anyway because English is my dominant language. Imagine if I used the ‘you’re being racist’ line every time a teacher told me off in school or gave me less than an A 🙄

Exactly...the double standards are so frustrating but they just don't see it that way. It's impossible to reason with them too because most of those "journos" won't take any confrontation or criticism. They'll either just ignore it or some people have been blocked. That's what annoyed me too because Ali has barely done media all damn season and if it is on a request basis, you just knew they chose this game because of the one time she made a stand out mistake like that. Which is so fucked up because then they don't even deserve her time or answers. Of course she handled it with class and better than most would but still, she shouldn't have to.

It's completely frustrating how they always go back to that because then it's like you can reason with them or fight it or you look like the bad guy. It's just wild to me how some get a free pass and treated with kid gloves just because of race, like honestly it's insulting to them as a person and player. You should just treat everyone as equals and be able to analyze each player and critique them all fairly and all the same way, but that doesn't happen in the NWSL ever.

[bavarianmillionaire]

Omg I'm so glad that Anon brought up the last international games. Because after it lots of people kept claiming he was one of the worst players during this international window but imo he was actually one of best that time. He played three of the four games :

- The first game against croatia he was very solid even if he probably played a little bit too safe at times but after the game all people could talk about was the penalty conceded that people did somewhat blame on clauss (the guy who fouled the croatian player) for but somehow still also and mostly blamed it on Pavard because if he hadn't kept some players onside prior to this there would have been no penalty (never mind the fact that 1) he wasn't the only one covering the offside 2) these comedians who wouldn't stop talking about the offside and how it was actually worse than the foul wouldn't give a flying fuck about the offside if the roles were reversed and it was Clauss who'd kept players onside and Pavard who fouled someone but since Clauss is their bloody faves... no diss on him because I have nothing against him it's just that as usual it's all about blaming the same guy 🙄)

- The second game against austria he did great and was literally one of the best player on the pitch. Yet rare were the people who admitted it. The rest either kept their mouth shut or, in the worst showcasing of bad faith ever, claimed he'd had at best a mid game and at worse a bad one lmao (the truth is that imo they were mad Deschamps decided to trust Pavard over their faves at right back)

- the third one he only played the second half and, while it was definitely not as good as his other two games, it also wasn't the catastrophe some people described. They just say that because of a header he messed up once on and who didn't even end up costing the team.

So yeah overall he'd had a good showing in june imo but the most common take was that he'd been awful. And of course guess in what game did people tweet more about him ? The last game one of course because as soon as he misses something it's thousands of tweets shading him but when he does good it's like suddenly they can't type.

For the barca game : i've read an article that said that post game Nagelsmann said he'd been feeling dizzy so this + the fact he was apparently hurt in his leg as well is why he came off. People keep claiming it's Dembele who hurt him just because of some footage where one Bayern player falls but that wasn't even him it was Sabitzer. It's pretty obvious it's actually the Alonso stuff that hurt him. Btw i've seen someone imply he'd faked injured and bailed because he didn't wanna be exposed or whatever. I'm so done with some people.

i'm gonna be completely honest, i haven't watched much of those games because i was in college by the time they were playing 😭 but it's so interesting to read this to know what happened! anon if you're french maybe there's something you could tell me that i ask myself: is benji actually loved or hated there? because he scored that goal against us lmao and he pretty much became a hero from what i saw. has that perception changed? it's so weird to see how people's opinion (especially on twitter lol) can change overnight. and that last bit... 😶😶😶

[rashfordxbruno]

And of course, we concede right away... 🙄

[footballerimaginess]

Of course we would concede 🙄

[bishiglomper]

The landlord checked the air filter. He wasn't happy but I told him it may not have been changed this month but it has been changed within 2. And the filters themselves say they're 3month things. But apparently he thinks we fried the shit out of the heater from not changing the air filters. 🙄 At least he didnt rip us a new one this time.

The first time tho- he did. I didnt know we needed to be changing that. Mom never mentioned it. After he ripped us THAT new hole and payed for a professional cleaning, THEN i took over making sure it got changed. It's definitely never gone more than 2-3 months since then.

Hes decided he's going to come over every month and replace it himself.

I think that's rather considerate if not democratic of him considering he thinks its our fuck-up.. 👀

I honestly would not be suprised if that ended with them screaming at us that we're gonna pay for a whole-ass new central air system or something. Seriously, this looks damn considerate in comparison.

My sister is all "no he's being a slumlord this is horrible. He's trying to work that as long as he can, so he doesnt have to buy a new one" like. Of COURSE he's a slumlord. Can you really not see how easy we got off?

In fact this should work in our favor. If he's the one responsible for it, then WE can't be held accountable and he'll have no choice but to concede that the thing is just dying.

I still stand by the fact that he's not a total asshole though. He said he'll use our side door that goes straight to the basement and give us a heads up before he plans to come in. (Dunno if he said a call the day before or day of) but the guy knows we're nervous about things and politely avoids traversing the main floor if he can help it. He may note things for future bitching but generally we're safe...👀

The bad part is it would be in our best interest to keep the house presentable. He avoided looking at our horrible dish situation (tidied up to just look bad but not condemning) but any worse and there might be a problem. I'm hoping I can use his monthly visit to keep my family on their toes enough to keep from declining.. We'll see.

After he fixed our hot water, i seriously debated an idea. My cousin started working at the waterworks- He offered access to all the fun chemicals if we ever needed it. 😂 I wondered if there was something he could fuck up just enough to be out of our expertise, but just bad enough to need to request the landlord. Because water stuff was too much for sister to deal with. Which is when she got her shit together and let him come.