#but slow mo cars do be pretty

[piastri]

Chinese Grand Prix, 2024 -> Safety Car Restart

[beefcakekinard]

43 + 45 for bucktommy 💕💕💕

43. falling asleep with their head in your lap +

45. running hands through hair

In the unflattering fluorescent hospital lighting, in a hard plastic visitor's chair, Evan looks wan. The light hits his face at odd angles, dragging down the deep bags under his eyes, draining his skin of its colour, its rosy vital glow.

Tommy has never seen anyone look so beautiful.

"Hey, baby," he rasps. He tries to clear his throat and ends up in a coughing fit that sets pain lancing through his body. Evan's eyes widen and in his rush to get a straw between Tommy's lips, he spills water on Tommy's chest.

"Hey, hey, it's good to see you awake," Evan says as Tommy sips his water. "How are you feeling?"

Tommy lets the straw go and tries to take stock. He looks down at himself - his left leg is in a cast from his hip down, as is his left arm. They both hurt in a dull, vague way, same as his ribs and his head. There's an IV line running through the back of his right hand. His stomach turns a little at the sight so he looks away. He's not great with needles.

"It hurts," he says, frowning. He looks back up at Evan, who plasters a fake smile on his face. "What happened?"

Evan takes his hand, carefully, cups Tommy's fingers between both of his hands without jostling the IV. "You don't remember?"

Tommy shakes his head and decides never to do that again when it makes the room spin.

"You were- there was an accident," Evan says, stroking his thumb down the back of Tommy's index finger. "You, uh, you got hit by- by a car."

"Oh." Tommy looks into Evan's eyes. They're so pretty. "Really?"

Evan smiles a little - this one is real, Tommy can tell. "Yeah. What's the last thing you remember?"

Tommy thinks, tries to grasp the memory of what he was doing before he woke up. It's hard to hold onto any one thought - it's like chasing bubbles. The second he gets his hands on one, it pops, gone. Evan likes to blow bubbles for Jee. She runs through them, twirling until each and every one is gone, and asks again, again! It's so cute it makes Tommy giggle.

"What's so funny, huh?" Evan asks. He's smiling still, kind of, but he looks confused.

"You're so cute," Tommy explains. He knows Evan will get what he means. Evan always gets what he means. Case in point: he laughs, which makes Tommy smile even more because he loves that sound.

"You enjoying that morphine, babe?"

Tommy almost shakes his head - but then he remembers he shouldn't. "I don't like morphine. It makes me nauseous." He pulls his hand out of Evan's hold and presses his thumb to Evan's birthmark. It fits his thumb so perfectly. Like Cinderella's shoe. "I like you, Cinderella."

Evan laughs for real, then, big and loud, and Tommy feels proud of himself. It's his job to make Evan happy. His hand is dislodged, but he raises it again, landing it in Evan's hair. It doesn't feel like gel, like he's used to, all he feels are Evan's soft curls, and he could get addicted to how they glide under his fingers. He pulls Evan closer, then down, so he's resting his head on Tommy's hip, and Tommy doesn't have to lift his hand so high to touch his hair. Evan's still smiling up at him.

"You look tired," Tommy says. Evan proves his point by yawning.

"I'm fine. You're the one who needs his rest." Evan lays a hand on Tommy's knee. He likes it, he always likes when Evan touches him.

"You can sleep," Tommy says. He traces his thumb across Evan's dark under-eye, making his eyelashes flutter, and on his way back to burying his fingers in Evan's hair he presses his thumb into Evan's birthmark again. "I want you to."

"Will you sleep if I do?"

"Yeah," Tommy lies. He thinks Evan sees through him, because Evan knows him so well, but he still closes his eyes and nuzzles against Tommy's hip.

Tommy focuses on brushing his fingers through Evan's hair, letting his curls bounce back into shape before he reaches them again, following the soothing rhythm of Evan's breathing. He loses track of time; it drips, slow like the motion of his fingers, slow like his thoughts that remain out of reach, and before he has a chance to notice it, his own eyes have grown heavy.

He falls back asleep in pain, still - but with Evan's head a welcome weight on his hip, Evan's hand on his knee, his fingers tangled up in Evan's hair, it's easy to ignore.

[sazandorable]

akai shuuichi

For nearly a year now I have been plagued by awareness of and lust for Akai Shuuichi from classic manga/anime series Detective Conan, of all things. It never stops. It keeps getting worse. My friends with me in the fandom are angels of patience, indulgence and gentle teasing, but for everyone out of that loop I need to explain.

Akai Shuuichi.

He's got striking green eyes and identifiably long lashes.

He is so tall, wears leather jackets, and often has one or both hands in his pockets.

He's left-handed.

He smokes.

He drives cool cars.

He has lived in the UK, in Japan, and in LA.

He used to have princess long hair he was super proud about. He chopped it all off after "a bad breakup" (more on this later).

Most of the time he looks like death badly warmed over in a prehistoric microwave oven. Bags under his eyes, sharp boney facial structure that makes his face look like a skull, an entire scene dedicated to him dropping a can of shitty coffee in dramatic slow-mo, apparently out of exhaustion. I want to bundle him in a huge duvet and spoonfeed him chicken soup.

He is so fucking smart.

He is so fucking funny in a deadpan way.

He looks so serious but does the wildest shit like it's a normal (and easy) thing to do.

He is a sniper. An absurdly good one.

Also excellent physical fighter. He's so cool, he doesn't do karate or judo like the protag's close allies or even boxing like Sherlock Holmes -- he does Jeet Kune Do like Bruce Lee.

He is good at everything.

He's FBI, one of their best.

He doesn't say shit but understands everything.

At any given point you have no idea where the fuck Akai is and what he's doing, but he'll always be where he's needed.

Hottest trait: reliable. Unfailingly reliable.

He infiltrated the big bad meanie shadow organisation at the heart of the series' overarching plot and became a very high-ranking member of it.

Now that he's been found out and burned, the common reaction to Akai Shuuichi from members of that organisation is "shit, he's our biggest threat, kill kill kill".

A guy from the organisation once realised he was being chased by the Akai Shuuichi and immediately shot himself in the head rather than deal with him.

Another shot himself after having been dealt with by Akai Shuuichi.

To be fair, it's apparently the guideline of the org to not leave loose ends and not get caught alive, but still. This doesn't happen with other characters.

He was a honey pot.

His seduction method was to let his target hit him with her car and then hit on her when she visited him in the hospital.

He ended up catching genuine feelings for her. Then she got killed, so now he has angst about that.

He refers to wanting to avenge her death and kill the guy that killed her as "I'll make my girlfriend cry tears of scarlet blood in regret for ever dumping me".

He says to himself "Hi, my precious, precious lover ❤" while sniping at the man who killed her through that guy's own sniper scope from over 700 yards away.

Hits him, too. 600+ episodes later the guy still has the scar on his cheek and touches it occasionally.

He also dated a FBI colleague, whom he first met when they bumped into each other and he pointed out she should apologise too because "the blame was 50/50".

She was super offended. And then she dated him.

Another, male, colleague once referred to Akai Shuuichi as "my wife".

The official resident Pretty Boy fanservice man is obsessed with him because he believes Akai caused the death of his own childhood friend(/boyfriend).

It was actually the pretty boy's own fault. For incomprehensible reasons, instead of ever telling him that, Akai "the blame is 50/50" Shuuichi takes on that responsibility and even tells him he still feels sorry about it, and lets this incredibly dangerous man repeatedly try to out and/or kill him and put so, so many people in danger in an attempt to get his revenge. It is all incredibly homoerotic.

He still humiliates this guy every time they meet, and sometimes when they don't.

He's so sweet about so many upsetting things like this or his own honeypot girlfriend incident, but also so ruthless about others. He'll do anything to get a foot into the shadow organisation. He'll use himself as bait. He'll use a colleague who idolises him as decoy (with his knowledge and consent). He'll use a 6yo as scout. He'll use a comatose woman, her little brother, your crush's dad, your dad, his ex, himself again.

"No, Conan-kun, don't get your loved ones entangled into this, what we do is dangerous and sometimes we get people killed. Anyway let's use this entire hospital full of injured civillians for a high-risk trick." - Akai Shuuichi

He's so sweet and also such a dick.

He also has daddy issues because his father was MI6 and seems to have died on the job in mysterious circumstances.

He's an oldest brother.

Because of his choice to start a dangerous job after what happened to his father and various other plot reasons, he is estranged from his remaining family they don't even share a last name anymore.

He and his little sister barely know each other, but she's emulating him and looking for him and trying to know him and it's so sweet. He can't let that happen for both of their safety, but also he's being a dick about it.

He faked his death.

So he's currently on his 4th name (that I know of).

He's now pretending to be a 5 years younger phD student with pink hair, glasses, and turtlenecks.

The turtlenecks are for hiding the fact that he's constantly wearing a voice-changing device. The device is a metal choker.

He's now living his best domestic quiet life at the hero's parents' manor-like house, reading their books and drinking their booze.

The hero's dad, who is a very popular author, wrote a book inspired by him. The book inspired by him got adapted into a movie and won an award.

The hero's mom, who is an incredibly talented and famous actress and a total hottie, has a crush on him. She taught him to cook.

Sometimes he drops by the neighbours' to share a meal he cooked with the old man and little girl living there and the kids often visiting. The kids told him his curry was not that great so he's working on it.

For another meal that failed to satisfy, he read cookbooks then asked an old lady to teach him the special recipe that had emotional value to her.

Man who is good at everything is not good at cooking. So he's learning that. From the women in his life. For the kids in his life.

He's so fond of the hero. They get each other and they don't usually run into anyone who does. They like each other so much. Autistic to autistic communication.

The hero is in the body of a 6-year-old. Akai is so impressed with him and thinks he's so cool and talks to him like an equal.

One time they went fishing and for a cover the hero called him "daddy".

Akai Shuuichi knows he's a weapon of destruction and can do pretty much anything. He's not a brag about it, just practical. He is basically the hero's on-call guard/attack dog now.

When the hero needs help, he calls Akai-san, and Akai says yeah, I followed the situation, I was waiting for your call, I know what you're going to ask me to do. Point me at the target and I'll take care of it.

And then he just does that.

In the latest movie, the hero needs to take care of an armoured submarine that is currently underwater and doesn't get picked up by radards. Akai goes "ok, I can handle that".

He shows up in a helicopter with an American rocket launcher and is like "ok, just show me where it is". The hero just has to light up the submarine for a couple seconds. Then Akai one-shots it. From the helicopter. While it's still underwater.

Then he goes home.

(To the hero's parents' home.)

This is Akai Shuuichi with little resources and lots of constraints, such as being an FBI agent in Japan not supposed to be there or do anything, certainly not use weapons, and by the way legally dead and cannot let the organisation know he's still alive because that would endanger several other people.

He plays the accordion.

[idyat]

MADNESS COMBAT 12 SPOILERS

I need to talk about it so bad I need

Can we talk about how the AAHW popped OFF in this episode? Obviously the half-MAGs are fucking awesome and it makes me wonder about what could a full MAG could do if the smaller versions are already this brutal and dangerous and determined

-Side note: THE WAY THEY COMMUNICATED WITH EACHOTHER ABOUT BREAKING SANFORD IN HALF IS ZHXZ8YG9ZII Z THAT WAS THE BEEEST-

But like, the absolute FEELINGS in the 1337 agents?! On of them was SCARED, RAN AWAY AND SLOPPILY THREW HIS WEAPON AND ANOTHER WRITHED IN PAIN IT'S SO COOL THAT WE ARE SEEING EMOTIONS FROM THEM (plus the HELP written on the ground can count). And the combat prowess of the soldats??? The NOISES made by the engineer in the beginning GOD I hope we get more of those noises (sadly we don't get much of the engineers but shoutout for being the number one display of a half-MAGs violence and lack of care for their coworker)

I'm also curious on why the Auditor went after Sanford instead of taking care of Hank directly? It seems like Hank has died, and he seemed pretty angry at Sanford, so maybe he wanted to make him stop meddling himself. Or, theorizing off of what Doc's screen said, Hank is currently somewhere not even the Auditor could reach.

Either way, I'm excited to see a stand off between Audi and 2B

"Gamer: Off"

Sanford facial expressions

Sanford facial expressions

SANFORD FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

My boy is wild even when blinded he makes me question if he actually went blind because he's that good at fighting and at raging DID YOU SEE THE SLOW-MO ON IF KILLING AND RIPPING IN TWO (heh, ironic) THE HALF-MAG GOOOODNESS

I already talked about the car scene but my hype was at its fucking HIGHEST when I saw that pinky light up. Good job Krinkels, you know how to make your viewers go insane

PLEASE THE PANIC IN DEIMOS' MOVEMENTS THE WAY HE WAS SO FAST IN RETRIEVING THE WATCHAMACALLITS THE WAY HE LOOKED BACK

[xchxsex]

Kenny Lacos NSFW Alphabet:

In honor of one of my people watching picket fences, i decided to make a nsfw alphabet. (And i found the gif funny)

Aftercare( after sex): He’ll do what you like, but after a day of work, he loves to relax with a nice hot shower with you followed with cuddles and something to eat.

Body part(their favorite part of them and you): i think this man is a leg guy. He loves to caress your legs and part them before he has his way with you. On him, he likes his hands as thats what he works with. He also finds it fun to slightly touch you when you’re not expecting it and fall into his touch.

Cum (anything): he’ll usually use protection, but if you stop him when he goes to grab a condom, he will go feral and have you so rough, he wont ever want to wear one again. I think he’d be a little worried to finish inside you, but when he does, it gives him this adrenaline rush that he craves more of.

Dirty secret(self explanatory): okay okay okay, out of all of Costas’ characters, he is definitely the one i can see being the most submissive. Let’s just say one night you decided to cuff his wrists and push him into the bed and he got a little too excited. (And not to mention when he gets KO’d and them legs go up in slo mo, peggable is all i will say)

Experience (are they experienced?): he’s fairly experienced and definitely knows what he’s doing in the bedroom, but what he’s even better at is getting you built up. He loves to tease and grab onto you until he has you begging for more.

Favorite position (self explanatory): i think he would go for basic missionary a lot but he definitely loves cowgirl and reverse cowgirl when he’s being submissive or if you’re in the back of his car ;)

Goofy(are they serious or goofy): i think he would be serious at first but as you got more comfortable with each other, he would smile and laugh while you were going at it, mostly because he’s still surprised that he has you like this.

Hair(grooming): id say he stays clean shaven with some stubble. He would go with whatever you prefer.

Intimacy(the romance): hes definitely a classic romantic. He’ll take you out to dinner, buy you flowers, open your doors, take you dancing, but what he likes the most is just being able to hold you in his arms after a long day.

Jack off(masturbation head cannon): being a deputy sheriff is a lot of stress and when you’re not around, he has to release it somehow. He’ll usually do it in the shower in the morning if he wakes up hard or right before he goes to bed.

Kink (one or more): LOVES orgasm control and denial for you and him. He loves to work you up over and over and denial you over and over until he finally lets you cum. He gets maniacal at the way you grab onto him and scream his name when you finally have that release. On him, he likes to be edged and beg to cum until his cock is so full and throbbing it hurts. You can get that man to scream.

Location (where they like to do it): he likes to do it at home in his bed but there’s something about fucking in his cop car that he absolutely loves. He’ll pull over to the side of the road, pull your legs up on his shoulders and have his way with you in an instant.

Motivation (what turns them on): well, an obvious choice is lingerie since he said that but i think he really likes it when you wear his clothes with nothing else underneath maybe even more. He likes putting on clothes that you’ve wore or that he’s fucked you in because they smell like you and he can think about how pretty you looked getting fucked in it.

No( turn offs, limits): probably just the basic ‘no’s’ like waste or intense BDSM stuff.

Oral (preference): its a good thing he doesn’t have a beard because it would be orange in the center by now. He likes getting sucked off, but he likes returning the favor even more.

Pace( fast and rough or slow and sweet): i think it would depend on the day and context. If he was stressed, you best bet he’s taking it out on you with his thrusts. If it was just waking up in the morning or after a romantic night out, he’ll be slow and sensual kissing all over your body and lightly caressing over your sensitive spots.

Quickies( do they like them): if he really needed something then he would like it, but other than that he likes to take his time pleasing you and working you up. He also lasts a while and goes multiple rounds until you both can’t breathe.

Risk( do they experiment): he’ll try things for you but other than that he’s pretty set in what he likes and doesn’t.

Stamina (how long can they go): as i said, he last a while and can go multiple rounds. He will go as long as you want him to, if the dynamic is established he’ll go for as long as he wants while you beg him to slow down or stop.

Toys (do they have them or use them): i think he has some cuffs or maybe a paddle for when you misbehave but he also has a vibrator that he pulls out just for you when you need a little extra.

Unfair (how much they like to tease): oh he likes to tease you a lot. He’ll caress your lower back or run his hand around your thighs and waist to work you up when he cant take you yet. He might also just take you to the bathroom and fix that problem.

Volume( how loud, what sounds): i think he’s fairly vocal. He’s more whimpery and whiny when he’s being submissive but you can definitely work a couple of those out of him when he’s in charge. When he’s in charge he definitely grunts and groans.

Wild card (random): not sexual but he likes being babied sometimes like sleeping on you, being the little spoon, he blushes when you call him cute or other little pet names.

X ray( under the clothes): above average, girthy and knows how to use it.

Yearning (how high is their sex drive): his drive is high especially when he’s super comfortable around you. He will find a way out of any situation in order to have you.

Zzzz (how fast they fall asleep): he gets tired after a few rounds and when you’re both finished, he likes to make sure you’re asleep and comfortable first before he goes to sleep.

[sturnstvs]

finding out

warnings: talks of sex, teen pregnancy, use of y/n, toxic friends, mentions of periods

a/n: I hope you guys will enjoy this series! what I should add and shit should be added to the comments if you deam necessary

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THESE KIND OF THINGS DO NOT INTERACT

third person POV

y/n and the sturniolos were childhood bestfriends. matt, nick and chris became friends with y/n shortly after kindergarten. they found each other on the play ground one by one. nick was the first one to say hi to y/n and introduce himself to the girl.

chirs was the next to introduce himself when nick said he had a new friend. then it was matt.

y/n was good friends with all of the triplets however her and Chris had a different bond.

they where attached to the hip as some might describe it. they were best friends. all of them were.

when they got to jr high however the friend group got a bit complicated.

you see chris and y/n had made some friends on the first day of 7th grade. they were a little bit older being 9th graders. however at the time cahris nor y/n knew that. (big mistake) they introduced the older kids to matt and nick. the other boys thought that they seemed a little wired and they seemed older.

chris and y/n brushed it off as a 'their just overreacting' turns out they weren't

in 8th grade the now 10th graders invited the whole group to a party. matt and nick said no. nick was hanging out with this girl alahna they he had met recently and matt, well he was just matt. so chirs and y/n decided they would go by themsleves

long story short chris and y/n ended up having sex that night. they where pressured into it mainly. but the two fully decided to carry it out. and its not like they were drunk or anything they were 13 for god sake. the next morning they both decided that what they did the night before was a mistake and should never happen again.

which brings us to here right now, in present time.

y/n had been feeling under the weather recently. it was the colder months of the year so she didn't think anything of it. of course as a 13 year old your not going to automatically think the worst. so she didn't. she didn't think it was a problem. until her friend sophie started saying something about it.

"I saw in this movie that these could be the symptoms of pregnancy" sophie told her as they where walking into the school.

"no way! I mean I know I'm not stupid but there is no way I'm pregnant" y/n shrugged off

"well...you do have the symptoms that my older sister had before she told everyone that she was expecting" shopie said

"are you sure I mean I dont even think its possible, I mean yeah me and chris had sex during winter break but there's no way" y/n told her

"well I'm pretty sure as long as you have your period and you didn't use a condom, its a huge possibility" sophie shrugged as she and y/n walked to class after they put their books in their lockers.

"whatever I'll take a test just to put your mind at rest after school if you promise to come with me" y/n told sophie as they sat down in their first period.

latter that day after school chris came up to y/n after a long day just ready to go hang out with his favorite girl.

"hey! y/n! wait, slow down your going to fast" chris yelled running after the two girls walking out of the school

"what chris?" truth be told y/n didn't want to deal with his hyperactive ass today

"where are you going? aren't we supposed to hang today? my moms waiting in the car" he spoke

"oh, actually change of plans, I have to do something, sorry we'll hang out later" y/n said apologetically as her and sophie walked to the nearest convenience store.

matt and nick who had watched the whole interaction cringed when they saw y/n walk away leaving chris with a frown on his face.

"that was rough" matt comented

"why do you think she ran away so quickly?" chris asked his brothers

"I don't know but I think it might have to do with sophie I mean she has been hanging with y/n way more often" nick said

"yeah" was all chris said as the three walked over to his moms car. he couldn't help but think this was about something much bigger.

it was about a half hour later when sophie and y/n got to the convenience store.

"come on" sophie dragged y/n over towards the aisle trying to find the pregnancy tests.

once both of the girls found the aisle they decided to get the one that was somewhat cheep but also worked.

"I don't have any money" y/n pointed out

"its okay. I have some just pay me back later. this is important" sophie said

"okay" y/n said hesitantly

sophie grabbed the one that seemed like It was the most accurate and cheep.

"should we get two just in case?" sophie asked the girl

"i don't know? should we" this was all very overwhelming for y/n and she didnt want to do any of this.

sophie looked at y/n sympateticly and sighed grabbing another test.

both the girls got in line at the checkout. there wasnt many people in front of them so they got to the coaunter pretty quickly.

the older lady that was at the counter looked at the two girls suspisousely

"hope these are for an older sister" she said scanning the items

the girls just nodded not wanting to say anything.

sophie kindly payed and got handed the tests. she then started walking out of the store while y/n was still standing there.

"I cant go back home and take those" y/n panicked.

her parents werent the most supportive so she knew this was going to freak them out.

sophie nodded while y/n walked over towards the lady behind the counter. as if she knew what she was going to ask, the lady pointed towards the back of the store

"thanks" y/n whispered

as she walked to where the lady pointed thoughts began rummaging through her brain. what if she was actually pregnant? what about Chris? there both only 13, there's no way they would be able to keep it. and their parents. what are they going to say? once she got to the bathroom she let out a shaky breath.

theres no way this was happening.

y/n did everything that she had to once she had read the instructions. then waited.

while she was waiting sophie kocked on the door.

"you good in there y/n"

y/n opened the door and sophie immediately wrapped her arms in a hug. in the time of waiting the was tears streaming down her face.

after a little longer the timer had went off. with shaky hands y/n flipped over the test to revel two very prominat pink lines. y/n immediately broke down. what was she going to do

after a good few hours of crying and trying to adjust the reality of the situation sophie had convinced her to tell chris.

she invited him to her house later that night. chris with a happy face, strolled into her house not knowing his life was about to change.

y/n told him what had happened and obviously he was shocked. they both just cried into each others arms not knowing what they where going to do.

"I guess it sucks that I got my period only a couple weeks before that huh" y/n sniffled a laugh trying to cheer both of them up.

if they had each other they were going to get through this.

note: I want to point out that i feel like this isnt very realistic but that's okay it was a fun idea and it kinda came to me at night? I hope you guys liked it anyway. no hate please.

also give me requests of what if should do make sure you click the info page for more details!

[rocketturtle4]

So I started Not Me... (IT'S SO GOOD)

(@wen-kexing-apologist It took longer than planned but I have begun)

I am watching SLOW with people in rather different timezones from me and I had planned to wait till after OF (cause how much First can I cope with yk) but then @anon451 sent me this gif...

...and did I really have a choice?

I just finished Ep 5, I watched Ep 1 three weeks ago, waiting is torturous but I am excercising patience.

SO while I have been thoroughly distracted by how much I am enjoying this show (It's so ENGAGING), have some notes so far.

THOUGHTS

...uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh

Why is everyone so pretty in this show for reals????

ANYWAY

Oh My God I LOVE IT SO MUCH

Young boy seperated from half his family takes on his twin brothers persona to find out who tried to have him murdered honestly DOES NOT sound like my thing...and yet...

...I'm starting to think I'm wrong about what my thing is.

Young man goes on journey of self-discovery and exploration where he is exposed to his own privellege and confronts both the extremism that it can forge but also his own self and views and how he is benefiting from the system and how he can fight it...(from the outside? from within?). Told through his own thoughts, his growing relationships with the "friends" of his twin brother and the contrasting conversations with said friends and his father...

I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH OKAY

AND we have this story explored in a different thread of "rebelling from within" in our newly discovered cop/artist storyline, cannot wait for that to pan out more!!

(Hey Gawin is totally in this picture okay??)

I never really thought friends were the one's who beat Black up so if that ends up being the case I WILL be shocked

EP 5

This ep however I started to feel uneasy about Todd...

(OMG seriously what's with the PRETTY did they put something in everyone's water??)

We got two different convos which seemed a bit more interogatery than I'd like, maybe he just really wants to know who hurt Black, or maybe he's using White to figure out what the friends are up too...

He IS being presented as very rich and privilegedin this show, in ways that the show is making a point of pointing out problems with (mostly in regard to Black/White's privilege but this also applies to our very rich Todd I would think...)

So is Todd being a good friend?

...idk

Is he Blacks emergency contact? I mean he must be if the hospital called him? or was he there for the beat down and then took Black to the hospital and that's why he was there?

What about the mum, what happened with her? Does she know Black nearly died? (discussed more in a mo)

Todd was the one the hospital called when Black nearly flatlined...

Also the beat down happening so soon after White arriving from Russia...did Todd know he had returned?

Also the ENTIRE car convo felt weird

W: Have you talked to my mum? She might be able to help

T: I reached out, she said she would leave it to the authorities. She wan't no involvement

(How bad was this falling out? Does she know White's back?...or is Tod lying??)

W: Todd, should I go see her?

T: You can but I don't think it'll help. The fight between Black and her was huge. It was so bad they decided to cut each other off. You know that Black got involved in some unlawful business, and your mother is a judge. They're on different sides.

(Todd casually starts prying for more info without pause...(left out B's answers))

T: When you said you'd quit, what did those guys say?

T: Do they want to keep going?

T: Do you know what they're next move is? Is it about Tawi?

T: If you're to do something you must learn all about their plan, it's too risky otherwise

T: Are you going to stop them?

It...it just feels like a lot, although given the nuance of the show so far I don't necessarily think they'll go with Rich = Bad so maybe I am reading too much into this.

I certainly WANT him to only be motivated by helping Black and White get to the bottom of whatever is going on.

I mean obvious answer is Tawi sent people to beat up Black, but why Black specifically? did they know he was the ring leader? Have our gang damaged Tawi's properties before?

We also have Eugene the girlfriend, who Eugene thought Black had broken up with...

Plus whatever maybe feelings are going on/have been going on here

(So is White's theory that Eugene made that but never gave it right...or did Black actually give it to Eugene??)

(Also I know they won't but can I at least get one kiss?? Look at this chemistry ugh please please??)

Although this IS working for me too, which I was a bit worried about, OffGun are not really a couple I've responded too before. But I am enjoying their dynamic in this a lot

Summary

I love the visuals, I love the characters, I love the story, I love the growth, (I keep getting distracted...)

Can't wait till next time!!

@plantsarepeopletoo @shouldiusemyname

Don't know when the next update will be...let me know if you want/don't want to be tagged!

Also I know I asked questions but I don't want answers!!

[pbandjesse]

I wish I could say I felt better today. And it wasn't as intense as it has been earlier this week but man was I uncomfortable and crazy fatigued. The heat did not help. But I was able to mostly push through and still have a pretty good day.

I slept alright. But I woke up incredibly sore. I have been using my weighted blankets a lot but I think my tossing plus the weight of the blanket may have bruised me somehow??

I would struggle getting ready. I was just really sore and tired. My hair seems dry and I don't know why. Once I was dressed I just sat in the floor and tried to pull myself together.

The market was fine. It was entirely to warm but in a weird way. James drove us there. Made me hashbrowns. I only ate one and gave them the other and then pretended to be upset that they ate it and we were giggling in the car.

When we got to the museum James helped me set up. I was being a little baby about being so tired and sore. I just wanted to sit down. And I struggled to set things up. It felt like everything was going wrong. Even though it was all silly little things. James still helped me and once I was set up I would mostly just sit in my chair and knit the whole morning.

James would be running around fixing things and making sure things were okay for everyone.

I would have some sales. A lot of stickers today! I need to order new stickers ASAP but we have to find a few supplier after sticker mule lost their minds a few weeks back. I would also like to draw some more designs soon too. I haven't been very productive. Specifically with how poorly I have felt I haven't really made anything! Besides knitting. But even that it starting to hurt my wrists something fierce. So I will have to slow down with that I guess.

I had some lovely interactions today. That o e family came that I have been talking to a lot lately. Their little girl went around my table and just stood in front of me and I tried to chat with her but she's like 2 so she didn't say much that first time. But the second time she talked back and it was very sweet. And the mom remembered all about my knitting project. Which a lot of people were interested in today and had questions about so that was really nice for me.

Del was one of the educators today and came out to chat with me. Sat on my camp couch and we talked and caught up. He's always such a nice man. I also talked to the security guard, Mo, who made a big fuss about thinking my temperature blanket was such a cool idea and he loved how me and James always have a second layer of why we do things and it made me feel very proud.

I would also talk to Ann about the fence. She is annoyed that our fence was not the fence we ordered and is going to make sure we get some money back. She is great. And I'm really glad she is helping us so much just making sure things are okay. I feel very lucky to have gotten to know her over the years.

I was very very ready to go though. And when Ann said we could all start packing up at noon she didn't have to tell me twice. I waited until others were starting to pack up but I was for sure the first one out of there. I was just so sick of being outside. The nausea had come back (after over an hour of being okay) and I wanted to give James a hug and go do my tasks.

And that is what I did. James would give me the things they bought at the market for our little cook out tomorrow. And then I was off.

I went to Glen Burnie and went to the value village. I dropped off my big box of shoes. The guy who worked there that helped me tried to flirt "you got an IG (Instagram)?" And I hit him with the "I got a husband." And his eyes got huge and he apologized and ran away. And it was very funny.

I would walk around the thrift for a little. I got James a framed newspaper headline collage about the Orioles. And got myself a pajama jumpsuit. And then I was off.

I really wanted garlic bread from mod pizza. So I would go and get that. Got confused on the parking lot but it was fine and I figured it out. I also got a little lemonade cake. I was able to eat half before I had to throw in the towel. I needed to go home.

It took about 25 minutes but I got back here. The sun was oppressive and terrible but I got the groceries James got me inside. Our neighbors, Sean and Victoria, are moving and today was the day!

Their door was open and so after I got my stuff inside I went to wish them luck and promised to move their garbage cans on Thursday so they didn't have to drive back here. Sean also showed me around their house so I could see how their layout is different. And I am jealous of their upstairs!! While it's only two bedrooms, they are obviously a much better size and they have two full bathrooms. Plush they have the original banister with decorative trim. The upstairs felt so much lighter. I would love that. I someday I want to knock down the one wall between the two back rooms. But that is a future project for sure.

After wishing them luck I came back in here and did some cleaning up and putting away. I vacuumed the frog tank. And pet Sweetp. Let him go roll around outside for a while. But eventually I would make him come in and went to take a shower.

After my shower I laid down and fell asleep. And I slept really hard. I don't even remember having dreams. I do remember James coming in and touching my hand. But when I woke up for real they were not home. They left me a very sweet note. That they loved me and would be back home from laundry soon.

And they would. And when they got back they babied me. Rubbed my legs that still hurt so bad. Made me an orange juice and frozen strawberry smoothie. Which made me feel bit as bad. But I still felt weak. Like my body was full of concrete. I feel heavy and sore and just so tired.

James would work on folding laundry and I would come lay on the couch. And eventually we would cuddle up to watch "interview with the vampire" which we ended up watching two episodes of and it is fantastic.

I have maybe talked about this before but I had a long standing beef with Anne Rice. I loved Queen of the damned when I was a kid. It was my favorite movie. But Anne Rice was rude to my mom and also all of her fanfiction taken down nonsense. So I decided to stop supporting her. But she's dead now so I win and I can enjoy the series and it's great and I am glad we are watching it together.

Now James is playing with sweetp, who has been very very needy and affectionate this week. And I am very ready to go clean up for bed.

Tomorrow we are having some friends over for a little cook out. And I'm looking forward to seeing people. Though I am very nervous about how I have been feeling and just falling apart on everyone. I am going to do my very best.

Sleep well everyone. I love you all. Goodnight

[lemonmaid]

helloo!! I hope you're having a good day or night. is it okay for me to request an eren jaegee fic with an isekai prompt? it could be the reader going inside aot or him going tobour world. thanks!

I actually like the idea of Eren coming to our world. Not proofread! Major spoilers ahead!! Gender Nuetral Reader as always.

"I'm the Tragic Hero in my old world but I got transported into a different world where I'm just an anime character!"

'Eren fucking Yeager is in my room'.

It was a normal or relatively normal day for (Name). Getting up in the mourning, drinking their tea/coffee, reading, then accidentally summoning a well-known anime character.

"Where the hell am I"

"Ummm.....(country)?

"Where the hell is that? Do you have a map?"

"Um yeah, give me a moment". (Name) went to pull out their phone from their back pocket but was tackled by Eren.

"Are you trying to pull a fast one on me?!" Erens mouth foamed with anger, his movement was erratic.

"No of course not! I'm just trying to pull out a device that shows maps!" (Name) screamed.

Eren slowly got off of (Name), while (Name) looked on their phone Eren was hovering over their shoulder.

"Um, here!"

Eren took the phone into his hand, confused, "Why the hell is your map upside down".

(Name) looked again, "oh...."

"Oh? Oh what?". Eren crossed his arms.

'I forgot Attack on Titain's map is just our world, but upside down'

"Eren... Now don't freak out but this isn't your world".

><

Eren ran as fast as he could. Getting overwhelmed with the advancement of technology, street signs, and the overwhelming amount of cars.

He finally made a stop when he saw his own face and art of his friends on a billboard.

'Attack on Titan? Final episode?'.

"Oh my God! I love your Eren Yeager cosplay!"

A group of girls, all dressed in different attire or cosplays even came running up to Eren.

Eren looked confused, "I am Eren Yeager?".

Two girls squealed, "oh my God, you even sound like him! Can we get a picture?"

"Do you have the stuff the picture?" Eren was confused, he was pretty certain that they didn't have that big equipment for the picture.

"Um yeah?".

Eren looked and saw one of the girls in a scout uniform, "Hey! What's going on here? What happened to the colossal Titan? What happened to Paradis?!".

The girl looked confused but before she could speak another one spoke up,"Girl maybe this is one of those weird cosplayers who take it too far, maybe we should leave".

The group slowly walked away from Eren, who just stood there in disbelief.

"Eren!!". (Name) came running behind him.

"Are you okay?".

Eren wasn't answering, he felt lost, confused and finally guilt.

(Name) lips thinned, grabbing Eren's arm they started walking back to their home.

"Let's go home Eren".

><

By the time they have gotten back, the sun was setting. Eren was still wasn't speaking.

He just sat on the couch staring at the ceiling, taking in the city noise.

"Eren? Are you okay?".

(Name) also felt lost, 'what do you even do in this situation?"

(Name) just sighed, "I understand how you feel".

"No.... you don't".

'Finally, he can speak'.

"Well with your situation I can only guess-"

"My situation? You sure know alot".

(Name) felt trapped, it was like talking to a brick wall at this point, "Well I can only guess with the rumbling and having to leave all your friends behind".

Eren had gotten up from the couch at this point, fuming with anger.

"You seem to know everything about me! Guess what will happen next! Go on! Take a guess!"

Eren reached for the knife that was in the drawer; everything was in slow-mo.

"Eren! Wait!"

(Name) braced for impact, but nothing came.

Eren chuckled, "Why... why can't I shift?". He was completely lost.

(Name) opened their eyes, Eren was normal, no titan marks, just a knife through Eren's hand.

'Eren's eyes remind me of season 2 Eren, uncontrollable'.

"Eren! You can't just stab your way through every problem". (Name) grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the hand and knife.

(Name) sighed, "Let's go to the ER".

><

It was quiet between the two, Eren once again, taking in his new surroundings.

Eren rolled his eyes, "Why can't you sew up my my hand?".

(Name) pinched their nose and sighed, "Because we aren't taught those skills anymore".

Eren glared, "so your kind just go to a doctor without any regards?".

(Name) glared back, "Yes because it's an emergency room Eren, you can just walk in and ask for a doctor. That's why it's a hospital, they all work here. There's no need to call one to your home".

"Um excuse me?"

The two looked at the nurse, "hi, sorry, but I need someone to fill out this form"

'Shit, Eren doesn't have a Social Security Number'

><

"We just spent four hours just for three stitches? Seems like a waste"

'Ungrateful ass, that was a 1500 dollar bill'.

"Eren I'm guessing that you wanna know more about what happened?".

Eren just stared, "I guess that would be helpful".

"Okay, what is the last thing you remember?".

Eren zoned out, "I remember Mikasa, then staring at the ground, I think we were back home, our tree was there".

(Name) felt tears in their eyes, 'that's sad'.

(Name) took a deep breath, "I think I have something for you".

><

"So it was all for nothing?"

(Name) sat beside Eren, "I don't think so, they got their happy ending".

Eren held the manga in a tight grasp, shaking as he read the final page.

"What's the point if it happens all over again?".

"Maybe it doesn't".

Eren slightenly cried, "so... are they gone? Is their story over?".

"I'm not sure, there is no clear answer if the author is going to continue the series or not. Our characters got their ending".

"My creator.....".

The two sat in silence.

Maybe this was a new start for Eren for his own happy ending.

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 13x02 The Rising Son

“This version of supernatural is so weird. It’s so different than how we started” “Do we even have monsters of the week anymore?” “that’s pretty extreme. You didn’t even need to break their necks, but he did anyway” “so he’s on level with Dagon with the yellow eyes?” laughter

“Jack can totally hear you btw” “To be fair, there’d be a lot of road noise in the car” “They have Mary miked differently” “angel incoming? What are we dealing with here?” “I would have run off too” “this whole white tie thing - I’m not so sure about” “Idk if I’ve ever seen anyone wear a white tie with a white shirt before” “to be fair, they’d look more like rats” “intentionally dropping his voice?” “don’t throw him the Bible, because he’ll fkn read it and he’ll have a lot of questions for you tomorrow” “good enough” laughter

“God this would have been so much fun to watch on air”

You didn’t like the Jack storyline

“It’s such a departure than what we’re used to. I embrace it now” “He’s fkn gone now. Nope never mind” “What a fkn jackass” 🎶should have kept driving 🎶

“What the fuck” “His whole thing doesn’t make sense. Do you feel any different without an appendix?” No I don’t notice anything different 

“Cas said the same thing. I probably didn’t see that the first time.”

“Oh shit” “still going to fkn do it?” “probably didn’t care about this season last time because Cas died” “how many stages of grief and depression are we going to go through in one episode?” “This season is pretty rough. Cas exploded. How do you recover from that?” “fkn great” “oh hey bitch” “what a cock. Fkn hate this guy. They did a good job turning Lucifer into a villain, ya know?” “I know they were leading up to it, but I totally missed that.” “that guy is way stronger but his blood pressure is 10x stronger so idk” “nice throw” laughter “that’s the first thing that comes out of your mouth after that” “oh yeah. It’s the other guy. I took too long to figure that out” laughter

“We had leviathans. Now we have other world demons and shit. How bad can it be?” “they had to slow-mo the impact. Why would you do that?” “hey bitch” “really cool effect” “Is Asmodeus a one-episode character? Is Jack going to blow him to smithereens? Let’s see it” laughter “the hell is that supposed to mean?” “crunchy. I wonder how they got that sound effect” “end of the line for what?” laughter “fkn drama. Jesus h christ” “maybe don’t threaten the kid but you do you”

[cxncri]

love buzz [mello x reader] [chap. 3]

last chapter: chap. 2

author’s note: hello! i hope that you all had a good christmas if you celebrate it, and i hope you’re doing well :)

⋆｡ ﾟ｡♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ｡♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ﾟ♡︎ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆｡ﾟ♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

you take slow, sad steps over to mello's desk before sitting down at the desk next to him. he wears a scornful expression, and you honestly don't blame him for it. it's not like you want to work with him either.

"so."

"so," he responds, "how are we gonna do this?"

"i was thinking that we could start by choosing the play, of course, and then break it into pieces so we can study it over the week." he nods, hopefully retaining what you just said.

"okay," he says, uncrossing his arms. "just as long as you don't choose romeo and juliet. that's boring; everyone'll chose it."

you nod, because he's probably right. with luck, mello agrees to choose much ado about nothing, to your satisfaction. it was your favorite due to both the characters and the themes.

"where should we practice the scenes?" he asks. you hadn't even thought about that and you frown upon it being brought up. you suppose that your house is fine, and only for the sake of this project are you letting him come to your house.

"the acting. right. um, my house is fine, i guess. i'll send you the address later."

he gives you a thumbs-up.

"alright, cool. i'm free this weekend, for the most part, and the sooner we start the sooner we can get this shitshow over with."

nice. real nice, mello. it’s great to see that he’s looking forward to this!

"i'm free too-" you don't even finish your sentence before mello cuts you off.

"of course you are."

you sigh at his comments and furrow your brow. jerk. why does he have to be such a pain in the ass about everything?

“what's that supposed to mean?”

mello looks you dead in the eyes. “i’m saying that i’m not surprised you don’t have plans.”

it’s pointless to argue with him. whether it’s a true statement or not, you shake it off and ignore him, continuing your original sentence. "i'm free too, so i'll just text you whenever?"

"sounds good to me, i guess," he says.

you sigh again, for the millionth time in less than five minutes. oh well. it'll all be over soon enough. you just have to get through this project.

"seriously?" she asks, incredulously. "he's terrible! you deserve a medal for putting up with him for so long."

you snort, because she's right. you reach your car and swing open the door, gesturing for her to get in. she grins, getting in the passenger seat, because it was your way of silently offering to drive her home.

on the way to her house, you guys sing whatever chart-topping song is on the radio as you laugh, messing up half of the lyrics. there are tears from laughing so hard in your eyes when you drop her off, waving goodbye.

“thanks for the ride!” she says as she waves back.

“anytime,” you call back, leaning out of the window. “see you tomorrow!”

you get home, choosing to start working on the project immediately. you make a list of all the scenes you think would work, and you take a picture of it and send it to mello.

16:48

you: i made a list of all the scenes that we could do for the project. let me know if you want to add any.

16:53

mello: cool. i’ll finish reading the script and let you know. thanks.

you like his message and sit there, thinking. he’s nicer over text, you muse. huh. he even said thanks.

the tea goes off, signaling that it was time to study for that stupid chemistry test. you sigh, but this time you’re pretty sure you know what you’re doing. after all, it’ll all be worth it when you graduate as valedictorian and get into your top-choice college next year. you repeat this to yourself as you drown yourself in work and it becomes a looping mantra in your head, it’ll all be worth it.

⋆｡ ﾟ｡♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ｡♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ﾟ♡︎ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆｡ﾟ♡︎⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

if you would like to be added to my taglist for this series, please feel free to dm me about it!!

taglist: @mo-3-bius

[faithlesbian]

Wesley and guns actually makes total sense in the context of ATS I think.  Throughout S1 and S2, and even in the opening of S3, Wesley is shown to be a ringer of sorts at throwing darts - planting the seed very early on for his arc of becoming a marksman and has kept a shotgun in his closet from the point that his character had an apartment set. Being that the Wesley of old was rather deficient at defending himself, it would stand to reason that a character like that would learn how to shoot in order to defend himself in other ways. And being that the character is shot and wounded by a gun at essentially the halfway point of S2, showing that he’s out of his depth, his recovery and the fallout become what spurs him into the leadership position he assumes by seasons end. In a way, it makes sense to me too that when Wes falls to the dark side he fully embraces guns as the weapon of choice since they’re the antithesis of everything he was before (meek, quiet, mystical-minded). Maybe it’s the LA setting but guns are all over ATS as opposed to like the 5 in Sunnydale and it’s fairly baked in how and why Wesley uses them to adapt to and try to supersede the environment he’s in.

this is a Fascinating response thank you for taking the time to write it all, i hadn't put two and two together about the darts thing but it makes total sense! i definitely see how guns can be symbolic here for both character and setting, when i was watching ats i also thought that wesley's increasing use of guns could be a sign of him 'americanizing', and the fact that it happens after he was shot by a cop is definitely charged in that way.

my main issue is that, although guns are a lot more common on ats, they still for the most part follow the same rules as on btvs: they are used by the bad guys, and they dont work. i see what you mean about the LA setting, but for example gunn's gang dont use guns to fight vampires because they're smart enough to figure out that bullets wont kill them, it's only once they're playing an antagonist role in s3 that they're shown using guns to cause pain and chaos, for destructive rather than defensive violence. the cops use guns, wolfram and hart's operatives use guns, guns in this universe only work to non-lethally hurt demons, or kill humans, and since the protagonists (typically) want to kill demons and help humans guns stay pretty firmly in the villains' arsenal.

wesley hardening his outer persona as a result of the violence he's faced is a logical progression of character, and his use of guns fits into that, but this doesnt solve the fundamental problem that guns still dont work. wesley has a gun (either back in his house or in his car, either way nearby) when justine slits his throat. it didnt help him. in almost every single fight he's in where he fires a gun, two guns, a shotgun, multiple rounds -- none of them work because he's fighting demons, and the established lore has always been that guns dont kill demons. there is one exception to this and its when he shoots directly into the demon's ear because his skin is bulletproof but this way the bullet goes straight through his brain. this happens once, out of easily half a dozen seperate fight scenes where guns do absolutely nothing except maybe slow the demon down or piss it off. it got to the point where me and @titsgirlbuffy were laughing every time there was a slo-mo shot of wesley jumping through the air firing two handguns because all he achieved was to fall on his side dramatically.

american gun culture is a self-perpetuating cycle of paranoia and violence, and the buffyverse typically refuses to capitulate to it, which is why it's so baffling that wesley, an otherwise smart and logical character, keeps trying to shoot things that wont die from being shot. its that classical definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. and at the same time, the narrative won't interrogate this as a potentially fascinating character flaw, a result of wesley's traumatic history with gun violence sending him into that spiral of paranoia, convinced against all evidence of experience that being armed will protect him if not this time then the next time, surely.

please dont take this is criticism of your ask btw, you make great points, its the show writers i have issue with! if they wanted to play him being a marksman as a cool thing (and they totally couldve) they shouldve had it work more than one time out of ten

[lansplaining]

[one part of a chengqing holiday rom com for as many days of december and uhhh maybe january as i feel like] [previous part]

Small mercies: there was a parking place right outside Jin Ling’s preschool. Still no word from Jin Guangyao, though, which was a bad sign. If he wasn’t responding to texts and emails within a minute of receiving them, it either meant he was composing a multi-paragraph reply, had no service, or was so busy he literally had his hands full. 

“You’re okay to wait?” Jiang Cheng said as he pulled in, and Wen Qing waved her phone.

“I’ve got plenty of emails,” she said. 

“Thanks,” Jiang Cheng said for about the thousandth time since they left the school. He slid out of the car and hurried into the preschool, which was all decked out in paper Christmas trees and other holiday decorations clearly made by the kids. Maybe he could calm Jin Ling down afterwards by asking him to point out which one he’d made. 

Inside, the receptionist was clearly waiting: she was on her feet almost before he was in the door.

“I’m very sorry,” she said. Jiang Cheng waved her off. 

“Where is he?” 

She led him on the now-familiar route back to the little nurse’s office, where Jin Ling was curled up in one corner of the nurse’s cot, his knees pulled up to his chest and his face pressed against them. One of the assistants was sitting on the opposite edge of the cot, trying to coax him out. He peeked up when the door opened, then threw himself off of the cot almost before Jiang Cheng had time to open his arms.

“Jiujiu!” 

“So what happened?” Jiang Cheng demanded over Jin Ling’s head. 

“We were talking about different winter holiday traditions,” the assistant said. “And, well... Mo Ziyuan said that his parents told him that Santa talked to them to make plans for Christmas Day. And then...” She sighed and lowered her voice to a whisper, hardly more than mouthing the words, though Jiang Cheng was pretty sure he already knew where this was going. “--he asked if that meant Jin Ling wouldn’t get any presents. We spoke to him, of course,” he added quickly at Jiang Cheng’s glare. “Jin Ling was understandably upset, but resorting to biting--” 

Jiang Cheng sighed. “Yeah. You can’t bite people, kid.” Much as he also felt like biting Mo Ziyuan. 

“We gave them some time apart and then gave them a chance to apologize, which Ziyuan did and Jin Ling...” She paused to search for the word. “...did not.” 

“Bit him again?”

“Ah, yes.” 

“A-Ling--” Jiang Cheng began, and Lin Jing yelled, “I hate him!!” 

The assistant looked like she wanted to say something asinine like that isn’t a nice thing to say, but Jiang Cheng quelled her with a glare. He hoisted Jin Ling into his arms and said, “Come on, we’ll go see your shushu. I hope you’re going to be having a conversation with the Mos, too.”

“Of course, don’t worry,” the assistant said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Jiang Cheng pressed Jin Ling tightly to him as he strode out of the school. As they passed through the lobby, his phone finally buzzed, and he had to shift around to try and fish it out of his pocket. He couldn’t open it, but didn’t need to-- the message preview from Jin Guangyao was enough: In Vancouver. Should be home by... 

What the hell was he doing in-- whatever, it didn’t matter. Jiang Cheng started to slide the phone back into his pocket, but Jin Ling had perked up and was making grabby hands for it. With another sigh, and against his better judgment, Jiang Cheng handed it over, and Jin Ling pulled up his favorite game with a skill that Jiang Cheng frankly still found somewhat chilling. And guilt-inducing: a-jie would never have let him develop that kind of facility with a screen at this young age. 

Wen Qing had gotten out of the car and was talking to someone on the phone. Jiang Cheng slowed his step, trying to give her time to wrap up the conversation before he got there if she needed to, but she didn’t notice him before he was close enough to hear her. 

“--seriously, A-Ning.” She was frowning, but making her voice light. “There’s no reason for us both to spend Christmas in a hotel. You know how cheap uncle can be, it isn’t very nice. Stay with popo and... well, you know how he gets around the holidays anyway, he needs you.” She paused, listening. “Yeah, I’ll--”

She looked up and saw Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling approaching. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk tonight. Bye, A-Ning.” 

“Everything okay?” Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes,” she said quickly. “Just fine. Just my brother.”

“Who are you?” Jin Ling demanded before Jiang Cheng could reply. Wen Qing lifted her brows. 

“I’m Wen Qing,” she said. “I’m friends with your uncle. You must be Jin Ling.” 

“Why are you here?” 

“I heard you were having a bad day,” she replied, unfazed by what even Jiang Cheng could describe as a bratty tone. “After this, we have to go to work.”

“About that,” Jiang Cheng said. “I’m really sorry, but his uncle is out of town. Is there any chance of postponing the tour?”

“Well,” she said wryly. “That shouldn’t be a problem. My uncle has asked me to stay here in town for another week.”

Ah. That explained the conversation about a hotel over Christmas. But that was none of Jiang Cheng’s business, so he just nodded. “I really appreciate it. I’m really sorry.” 

Wen Qing shook her head. “It’s unavoidable. You’re doing what you need to do, I can appreciate that.” 

“Thanks.” And for whatever reason, he really did feel like she understood. It felt... nice. Not to have to worry once again that he’d gotten his priorities wrong, misbalanced everything. “Well, A-Ling. It’s you and me today?”

Jin Ling instantly perked up. “We get a Christmas tree?” 

Oh for God’s sake. He must have made some kind of face, because Wen Qing-- laughed. He looked over at her in surprise, and found she was still smiling. Something about that smile clearly knocked loose something essential in his brain, because what he found himself saying was, “Yeah, we’ll get a Christmas tree. Want to come?” 

[chouxtranslations]

Shizun - 006 - Requesting an exorcism from god

Lu Yunzhen mad dashed towards the shop, terrified that if he was half a step late he’d see a police car. Mo Changkong followed in confusion.

Luckily, Chen jie and her partner were both rather timid... They thought Mo Changkong was some kind of gourmet thug. Since they didn’t lose much, they thought they’d write it off as bad luck and was too scared to call the police.

When the two got to the shop, the couple was still joking about the situation. Saying that it wasn’t easy to see a thug after all these years of justice system reforms. That the rock was quite pretty and they should commemorate the morning by making it into a pendant.

Lu Yunzhen immediately bowed his head and apologized.

Mo Changkong saw what Shizun was doing and immediately knew that he messed up again. He knew that ever since he was little, he was a bad disciple who was violent and caused trouble. But this time... he really didn’t know what he did wrong.

He’s not going to think about thinks that he can’t understand.

He reflected on everything in purgatory already. If he was born evil and could not differentiate between good and evil, if he constantly made mistakes, then he must not be selfish and listen to Shizun properly.

Shizun is always right!

If Shizun is wrong then that means the others are wrong!

Mo Changkong apologized obediently.

Chen-jie heard the explanation, realized it was a misunderstanding, and wasn’t mad. She collected the price of the breakfast and joked, “look at this young man, he’s so energetic, so tall and handsome, and with that tattoo you scare me... don’t tell me you’re in a band?”

“Yes!”, Lu Yunzhen got a flash of inspiration, grabbed Mo Changkong, and patted his shoulder. “My buddy here is a rocker, a drummer... but the band couldn’t make it big and disbanded, and he has no relatives so he came to me.”

Mo Changkong said obediently, “En, I drummed.”

Back in the day he had made a divine drum with Kui leather, and played for fun with a drumstick made of the thunder beasts’s bone. The sound travelled for five hundred li, caused massive waves in the oceans, and scared dragons. It was a lot of fun.

That drum seems to be still in his seed space?

If Shizun wants to listen to him drum, of course he would. But all the water-beings around might cause a fuss. Though he’s not afraid of a fuss either, they’ll settle down if he beat them all up...

Lu Yunzhen saw that the matter was settled and let out a breath. Seeing that Mo Changkong wasn’t asking for the rock back, he decided not to bring it up again and leave it with Chen-jie as an apology for scaring her.

He turned around, and noticed a black BMW parked near the street corner. A middle aged man in a fine suit got out of the car and carefully opened the door. Two men who seem to be daoshi got out and walked together into the run down building nearby.

The rundown building was built only five years ago. It was originally going to be some kind of commerce center and bolster the local economy. Lu Yunzhen was actually looking forwarding to it for quite a while, thinking that there would be more part time jobs available.

But then, whether it be the developer had lacked capital or run into trouble, the building had been abandoned for several years. Is the work restarting?

Lu Yunzhen asked Chen-jie about it out of curiosity. She chuckled and explained, “Longhui Developers took it over. I heard that it wasn’t going well and a few workers had gotten injured. The boss thought it might be haunted and invited some masters here for an exorcism.”

Lu Yunzhen was about to scoff at the notion of ghosts, but luckily remembered the previous night and the supernatural being standing beside them. He quickly swallowed the words back down.

He can’t be an atheist anymore...

Lu Yunzhen was dejected for a moment, but then cheered up immediately. He’s never seen real daoshi at work, how interesting! He followed the aunties to watch, not wanting to lose a good spot if he was slow.

After running for two steps, he remembered Mo Changkong and asked hurridly, “Are you afraid of daoshi?”

Mo Changkong shook his head, “Daoshi are afraid of me.”

Lu Yunzhen had realized quite quickly that Mo Chankong wasn’t afraid of sunlight, ate normally, and casts a shadow... He was probably not some kind of a demon but something nice like a nature spirit.

Thus he happily skipped over to watch the exorcism.

There was no fence around the building. Longhui Developers had hired a few guards, but he couldn’t stop gawkerrs on the street. Everyone stood on the other side of the warning tape and gossiped while snacking on sunflower seeds.

“I heard the fengshui is bad in this building, it’s a fortune loser.”

“No no, I heard the developer ran off.”

“Didn’t they say the owner was sent to jail for embezzlement and accepting bribes?”

“You’re all wrong. I have a relative who’s security at a real estate place. He said the original owner had a thing going on with his relative and wanted a divorce. The wife made a huge fuss, reported him, and sent him to jail herself.”

“I see, I wonder if the secretary was pretty...”

“These homewreckers are all vixens. Didn’t Aunt Xie’s son also get a divorce?”

“No, he was a gambler...”

After a few back and forths the topic had been completely derailed.

Lu Yunzhen took the chance to introduce everyone to the unemployed drummer Mo Changkong, so he couldn’t be taken as a thug and get the police called on him.

The neighbourhood had watch Lu Yunzhen grow up and knew he was a good, likeable guy. The explanation was accepted very easily.

...

The owner of Longhui Developers is Mr. Wang. He bought the land at a discount and then realized there were issues. Construction workers would hear strange noises at night, carefully stacked bricks would fall over. Luckily he hadn’t skimped on the safety helmets, otherwise the workers would have been sent to the crematorium instead of the hospital.

Mr Wang didn’t dare take on a lawsuit for wrongful death, but he didn’t want to give up on the land either.

He reached out through connections to the Association of Mystical Arts and spent a fortune bringing in two masters. Supposedly they’re direct disciples at the Baimao sect, and are very strong cultivators who specialized in summoning divinity for exorcisms.

The two are sect brothers. The elder was around fourth, with a dashing aura and a slight beard on his dark face. He brought in a new shidi who held a bagua compass and circled the building.

Lu Yunzhen suddenly felt like there was something wrong with his eyes. He seems to to have seen some black mist rising from the old ficus by the door of the building?

He rubbed his eyes hard.

Mo Chagkong had only focused on his Shizun. Seeing that he was a little uncomfortable, he asked with concern, “Shizun, what happened?”

Lu Yunzhen whispered back, “I saw some strange black mist...”

Mo Changkong followed his line of slight, took a glance, and replied with a total lack of interest. “It’s nothing, just a weak little evil spirit.”

“Oh, an evil spirit.” Lu Yunzhen relaxed, then a moment later he realized what just happened. He tugged at Mo Changkong’s hem and was so panicked his voice had changed, “why am I seeing these things?”

Mo Changkong couldn’t understand. “You’ve always been able to see them.”

Shizun’s body was filled with the spiritual energy of the earth and skies, not to mention he was an innate sword cultivator. Hie eyes could catch the fastest of speeds. Even now that he’s a mortal and there’s been a 70 or 80 percent discount on his sight it’s still natural for him to see the supernatural.

He organized his words, prepared and script, and explained.

“This isn’t natural is it?” Lu Yunzhen was feeling hopeless. He explained desperately, “that tree has been there for years, I even climbed it when I was a kid, and I’ve never seen these....”

Mo Changkong thought for a moment. “Shizun’s destiny has been changed by force. The shackles that shielded your spiritual power has also been loosened.”

Immortals who fall into the mortal realm will all have their powers restrained as to shield divine secrets along with stopping cheating and hiding from punishment.

Lu Yunzhen was punished harshly and been tortured at every lifetime, he shouldn’t have been able to live past twenty.

Now that he’s not dead, his destiny has been changed and his powers weren’t restrained anymore.

Lu Yunzhen understood, “I have yinyang eyes now?”

Mo Changkong nodded, “En.”

Lu Yunzhen was still hung up on it, “I’m going to see ghosts?”

Mo Changkong nodded, “En.”

The image of scary ghosts from movies floated in to Lu Yunzhen’s head. He was a little scared and a little sad... but Mo Changkong’s calm attitude comforted him a lot.

His life was snatched from death anyway, it’s no big deal to see the dead... He’ll just pretend he can’t see any, and anyway maybe he can see some gentle and cute ghost ladies?

Lu Yunzhen thought of the movie A Chinese Ghost Story and chuckled wryly. He was used to all kinds of misfortune. If he couldn’t self soothe and self comfort he wouldn’t have been able to last for this long.

He decided to not think about it and keep watching the excitement.

The two daoshi circled the ficus a few times, confirmed the direction on the bagua compass, frowned with a serious expression, and took out a money sword.

The old copper pieces carried a faint spiritual power and was definitely not an ordinary sword. Seems like they’re really pulling out the stops.

Mr Wang was a little panicked, “Master? Is this going to be difficult?”

The older daoshi nodded, “It’s rather difficult.”

He pointed at his shidi, placed 5 soul gathering flags around the ficus, then pulled up an incense table, put down a divine tablet, and offered up incense, flowers, light, water, and fruits.

After a fervent prayer to their patriarch, they asked the magic sigil, then stood up and yelled, “Dig!”

A few construction workers followed the instructions and started with shovels, About two meters in they finally dug up a tattered old idol.

The crowd cheered.

The daoshi felt helpless against the crown. He wrapped the statue in yellow cloth imbued with spells, then invited his shidi to start reciting the scripture to summon divinity.

Lu Yunzhen’s eyesight was simply fantastic. He could see that a black mist was wriggling around the idol and trying to escape from the cloth.

Every line of scripture added an additional bit of power from the patriarch. With the evil spirit inside the idol the power was rather balanced on both sides. It was going to be a battle of attrition.

The time was creeping closer to noon and the sun was getting hotter.

The crowd of aunties and uncles saw that the daoshi was just reciting sutras for ages and felt bored at the lack of action. With the hot weather it was getting uncomfortable to keep standing, so they scattered to go have lunch.

Lu Yunzhen could see more than the others and listened to Mo Changkong’s explanation. He knew the daoshi wanted to use the yang energy at noontime to seal the spirit, but it really was very boring and he wanted to go.

He looked up at the tablet on the incense table and muttered, “Supreme Taiqing Zhenyuan Zhengjun? Who’s that? They seem powerful...”

Mo Changkong thought for a long time and whispered, “Xuanyuan daoren was a good friend of yours back in the day, he was shameless and often came to Wujian peak to steal alcohol...”

Lu Yunzhen chuckled and felt like the joke sounded too serious.

How could he be friends with a lofty immortal?

AS noon approached, the evil creature in the idol realized the daoshi’s intentions and resisted frantically, finally breaking through the seal.

The elder daoshi grabbed a bottle of old Maotai that was prepared earlier and poured it directly into the earth. His spiritual power immediately increased by another notch with the offering.

The aroma of the drink wafted out for ten meters.

Lu Yunzhen smelt his heart breaking. That was a bottle of wine that he would never afford in this lifetime... To think that this offering only gained so little spiritual power, he couldn’t help but retort, “The Xuanyuan immortal really is a stingy...”

Mo Changkong agreed, “You always called him a miser.”

As soon as those words were uttered...

Thunder crackled across the clear sky, and the spiritual power on the daoshi surged and rushed towards the idol like a tidal wave.

[demons2003]

My Boys (Chapter 19)

Series List

Y/n's pov

After a little bit of time, we arrive at the Byers' house. We all quickly get out of the car, Hopper and Jonathan carry an unconscious Will while Steve and I make sure the kids go in the house, not needing them to run off into the woods and cause us more problems. Hopper and Jonathan put Will onto the couch, Jonathan crouching down at his side and Nancy patting his shoulder. I move the kids into a different room to give them space so they don't crowd around them. "I'm sorry bud. Sorry I wasn't there. I should have been here," I overhear Jonathan whisper to Will. Where did he go? He and Nancy disappeared together and never said anything to me or Steve. I really don't know if I like them together. Hopper was also talking to someone over the phone but I couldn't concentrate on the words he was saying, looking too much at the scene in front of me. I look over to Steve to see him sadly looking over at Nancy and Jonathan, walking out of the room. I quickly follow after him to make sure he was ok.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Dustin asks them, all the kids sitting around the kitchen table. "We'll see," Hopper tells him as he turns to them all. "We'll see? We can't just sit here while those things are loose!" Mike snaps at Hopper. "We stay here, and we wait for help," Hopper snaps at Mike before walking away from the kids to go to where Joyce is hiding. All the kids sit around the table, each of them thinking of a different thing. I move over and lean next to Steve, putting my head on his shoulder. He turns his head slightly and gives me a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sorry for before," He whispers to me. "It's ok, but I need you to stop questioning me about guys. It seems like you're jealous or something," I whisper to him. He stiffens a little and says, "That's because I am."

Before I can say anything to him about it, I notice Mike get up from his seat and walk over to something, picking it up. "Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?" Mike asks the group. "Really?" Dustin asks him. Mike turns around and says, "He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fund-raiser for equipment. Mr Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome right?" "Yeah," Both Lucas and Dustin agree. Mike places a blue square on the table and says, "We can't let him die in vain." "What do you want to do, Mike? The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those Demo-dogs on our own." Dustin snaps at him, getting frustrated with doing nothing but knowing he can't do anything either. "Demo-dogs?" Max questions. "Demogorgon dogs. Demo-dogs. It's like a compound," Dustin explains, using his hands for some extra effect. "It's like a play on words..." Dustin tries to continue but Max says, "Okay," wanting him to stop explaining. "I mean, when it was just Dart, maybe..." Dustin continues, turning back to Mike. "But there's an army now," Lucas tells Mike. "Precisely," Dustin agrees with him. "His army," Mike says, looking down at the table. I feel Steve face Mike so I take my head off his shoulder to get a look at his face. "What do you mean?" Steve asks. "His army," Mike says again. "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army too."

Mike runs off to the back, heading somewhere there. All the kids get up as well and follow him. "Come on," I whisper to Steve, grabbing his hand and pulling him along with me. We stand at the entrance of Will's bedroom, hearing Dustin say, "The shadow monster." "It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him," Mike tells us. Wait, what happened on the field? When the hell did this all really start? "And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asks, seeming to understand a little bit about what's happening. "To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." Mike answers. "Whoa. Slow down, Slow down," Steve tells him, stepping more into the room, dropping my hand in the process. "Okay, so, the shadow monsters inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will." Mike explains a little more clearly. "And so does Dart," Lucas adds. "Yeah. Like what Mr Clarke taught us. The hive mind," Mike adds. "Hive mind?" I ask, not really remembering much from Mr Clarke's class. "A collective consciousness. It's a super-organism." Dustin explains for me. "And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain," Mike continues, me nodding at everything he's saying. "Like the mind flayer," Dustin says. Lucas clicks at Dustin while Max, Steve and I all ask, "The What?" And "What?" Dustin walks off somewhere and brings a book over to the table we just left. Nancy and Jonathan notice all of us moving into the room and walk over to the table with the rest of us.

Dustin slams the book onto the table after opening it up to a certain page. "The mind flayer," Dustin repeats. "What the hell is that?" Hopper asks as he enters the room as well. "It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient that it doesn't even know its true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers," Dustin explains to us all. I know it's from his game but this sounds a lot like what's happening right now. Maybe there is a connection somehow. "Oh my god, none of this is real. This is a kid's game," Hopper snaps a little, not believing what Dustin is saying could relate to anything that's happening. "No, it's a manual. And it's not for kids. And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor..." Dustin defends. "Analogy," Lucas buts in. "Analogy? That's what you're worried about? Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is." Dustin snaps at everyone. "Okay, so this mind-flamer thing..." Nancy tries to ask but Dustin corrects, "Flayer. Mind Flayer." "What does it want?" Nancy lightly snaps at him, ignoring how he corrected her. "To conquer us, basically. It believes it's the master race," Dustin answers. "Like the Germans?" Steve stutters out, trying to understand better. "Uh, the Nazis?" Dustin questions. They both pause for a moment before Steve says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis." "Uh... If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally. Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself." Dustin continues to explain. "It wants to spread, take over other dimensions," Mike helps. "We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it," Lucas snaps. God these kids all have an attitude problem. "That's great. That's great. That's really great. Jesus!" Steve freaks out, starting to walk away from the table.

Steve starts to walk back and forth on the other side of the room. I walk over to him, forgetting about everyone and put my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you ok?" I ask him, worrying about him and everything he's gone through the last couple of days. His life got flipped all over again, but this time seems worse. "I don't know anymore Y/n. I can't think straight at the moment. I just want to run away from everything," Steve blurts out, moving his hand into my own. "Hey, it's ok. We'll get through this together ok? I'm not going anywhere. I won't make you go through all of this alone," I tell him, pulling him into me. I feel him nod his head and squeeze me tight. "How did I get involved with all of this?" He questions, laughing slightly. "You came here to apologise. As much as I hate you got dragged into all of this, I'm glad you were. We wouldn't have reconnected if you haven't." I smile at him. He nods his head and lets me go a little, holding my shoulders and looking into my eyes. If this was anyone else, I'd say he's about to kiss me. But this is Steve and he's still with Nancy.

The slamming of a book behind me causes me to pull out of Steve's reach and turn back to the table. "I thought we were waiting for your military backup," Dustin yells to Hopper. "We are!" Hopper yells back at him. I move so I'm standing behind Dustin, putting my hands on his shoulders. "How are they gonna stop this? You can't just shoot this with guns," Mike asks him, coming up with a very reasonable question. When Nancy and I fired our guns at the Demogorgon it only got it mad and try to kill us. "You don't know that! We don't know anything!" Hopper snaps at him. "We know it's already killed everyone in that lab," Mike says. "We know the monsters are gonna moult again," Lucas points out. "We know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town," Dustin continues. Just listen to them, Hopper. They're smart kids, if anyone knows something it would be these idiots. "They're right," Joyce says as she comes out of her bedroom towards us all. "We have to kill it," Joyce continues. Hopper walks over to Joyce as she says, "I want to kill it." "Me too," Hopper tells her as he gets to her. "Me too Joyce, okay? But how do we do that?" Hopper questions. "We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here." "No. But he does," Mike says, causing Hopper to look back at him. I also look at Mike to find him walking over to Will. "If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it's Will. He's connected to it. He'll know its weakness," Mike continues. "I thought we couldn't trust him anymore. That he's a spy for the mind flayer now," Max questions. "Yeah, but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is," Mike says, a plan seeming to form in his head. He turns to Hopper and says, "The shed." Hopper nods and him and Mike walk outside.

I walk over to Jonathan and put my head on his shoulder. "How are you doing?" I ask him, knowing I've barely gotten to talk to him since we got here. He sadly nods at me and says, "I should've been here." "Where did you go?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me. "We went to get some information about stuff. Nothing happened between me and Nancy," He says to me, the last part sounding a little guilty. "Jonathan," I say, giving him a stern look. "I'll tell you when this is all over," He tells me, walking over to Will. I watch him for a second before I look at Nancy. What the hell did these two do when they went away? Did Nancy cheat on Steve? They weren't on good terms but Steve never said they broke up as far as I know.

Sometime later

Steve's pov

We were starting a set-up for Will so the mind flayer couldn't see where it was. Nancy and I were silently stapling a black fabric to the wall. "Hey," Nancy says to me. I look up at her, waiting for what she's going to say. "What you did, um, helping the kids and Y/n... that was... really cool," She tells me. I look at her, not really knowing what to say but say, "Yeah," while I turn back to the wall, wanting to be anywhere but right here. "Those little shits are real trouble, you know?" I say as I walk up the small ladder. "Believe me, I know," I hear her whisper. I continue to staple the wall when Y/n came in as well. "Hey guys, you all good in here?" She asks. I look over at her to notice she's slightly holding her arm. "Yeah, I'm good. How's your arm doing? Have you gotten it cleaned yet? Don't need an infection," I ask her, worried about it getting worse than it already is. Every time Y/n is out with me she seems to get hurt. When I realised she was attacked I wanted to get her the hell away from all of this, but I know she'd never leave the kids to protect herself. So I need to make sure she doesn't get hurt. She looks at her shoulder and shrugs. "Not yet, I'll be ok though," She whispers. "What happened?" Nancy asks her. She laughs a little and says, "Steve and I went outside to get the Demo-dogs closer, one of them jumped on me and got my shoulder. Lucky I'm so determined to live I got it any from me." I looked concerned over at Y/n but she was already out the door, heading to who knows where.

Y/n's pov

Steve's right. I should get this cleaned properly before it gets infected. I quickly make my way to the kitchen and look around for some new bandages. "You ok there?" I hear Mike ask me, Max on the floor next to him. "Yeah, I'm trying to find some bandages to fix my shoulder up properly. Have you seen them around at all?" Mike nods and points to a draw next to me. I reach over to the drawer and grab out the bandages I need. I grab a new towel and unwrap the quick bandage job Steve had done earlier. He did do a good job though. Even with little time and light, he had to fix it up. For a couple of minutes, I stand in front of the sink, cleaning my shoulder and wrapping it back up tightly. By that time, most of the work still needed to be done to set the room up for the Mind Flayer/Will. I walk back to the shed and help where I can by putting duct tape to hold things up and cover up any holes that could give the location away. We all go back inside when everything is complete, Jonathan picking Will up and taking him to the shed, Hopper, Joyce and Mike following after them. "Is this going to work?" I ask no one in particular. "I hope so," Dustin whispers to me, looking outside at the shed.

[icarus-suraki]

It’s about damn time we leaned into the chaos of the world and revived the Cabaret aesthetic (fictional and real). (Yeah, there’s a dash of Moulin Rouge but I guess that’s because the Younger Generation don’t know Cabaret alas.)

But Sam Smith is a damn coward for not going all in for the lil Emcee costume but they’ve got the straps and the corset at least, I guess.

And that’s rather an amazing array of presentations and, wait a fucking minute, is our boy posed like The Hanged Man on the hood of the car??? Well, I do believe he is. Fascinating. (Fumier means “manure” in French.)

IDK, y’all. This is pretty clever. I’m impressed. I mean, I really am.

On the other hand, does the female verse have a kind of weirdly retro delivery? The lines “Get me Prada/ get me Miu Miu like Rhianna” have this weird throwback sense to them? Like somewhere between the late 90s and the very early 2000s. I can’t quite place it but there’s something to it? 

And meanwhile, this is basically the professional version of the half-speed Glee cover of “Gangnam Style.” This one, the Tumblr classic:

"it sounds like demons at a strip bar and you walk in because demons took you capture and they need to take u too their boss but the boss is at a strip bar and you walk in and everythings in slow mo and theres hot demons pole dancing and you look around and theres gross demons shouting and throwing money and off to the side with a cigar is a big demon guy with a suit whispering something to a waitress and you look at them and they glare at you and then at your handcuffs" 

-- @thesouffleegirl 

Anyway, willkommen or whatever I guess. The world’s on fire.