#ed's is REALLY good too i might make a separate post for him

[samuelroukin]

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH

izzy hands + That Scene's expressions [blackbeard]

[dylanndr]

Hypothesis: Izzy knows he's attracted to men, he doesn't have an issue with that per se, and his expressions of homophobia and misogyny are characteristic of a specific subset of openly gay male culture.

Izzy has, after all, spent the last several years helping to command a vessel that might as well be called The Eagle, it's so full of leather men. I think he's well aware of his own queerness, but he lacks the ability to sit down and do the introspection that would let him realize his relationship to his queerness is way out of whack. [His capacity for introspection is, IMO, limited by his undiagnosed and untreated chronic depressive disorder, but that's another post for another time.]

Way back when I was first exploring life as a queer guy, I remember going to a leather bar with a friend. Said friend told me I shouldn't be wearing the spiky wrist cuffs I had on because they were sending a message that I was thus and such type of top, and I was too short and skinny and hairless to be allowed to present that way. There were five thousand other rules I was apparently breaking because I hadn't memorized all the secret codes and I was just doing leather wrong and so forth. I ended up noping out of the experience; it seemed tediously prescriptivist to me.

For sure not all queer leather subculture spaces are going to be like that, but you know who would be super into such a rigidly hierarchical system? Izzy Hands, that's who. He is highly invested in routine and predictability, and has a strong inclination to force people to stick to their prescribed roles. Your place in the hierarchy tells you who you're allowed to hookup with and who is supposed to initiate the hookup, which is why he absolutely would not make the first pass at Edward. It's Edward's place to initiate something like that (and why Izzy responds so strongly to even the slightest touch from Ed; there's probably a tiny shred of persistent optimism lurking somewhere under the depressive fugue that says, "maybe this time it's really going to go there?").

He would likely feel comfortable in a system where you don't have to use your words to express desires and boundaries because everything is clearly communicated through long-established codes you can just memorize. There was a back room at that leather bar for cruising, which had its own separate bouncer, and where conversation was actively discouraged; Izzy would have haunted the shit out of that room.

He refers to other, subordinate members of Blackbeard's crew as "the boys," which in the context of that particular ship and crew is in contrast to the daddies (Ed being Daddy Supreme, Izzy being Emergency Backup Daddy). His place as First Mate means, in his rigidly defined worldview, that he can only sub for the captain, to everyone else he has to be a dom.

This mindset could potentially be reinforced by a common iteration of warrior culture where the older, more experienced man is the top, the young acolyte is the bottom, and a sexual relationship between the two is fine, but a romantic one is mostly not (at least, not once the acolyte ages out of that status). As you get older and grow in skill, and shift from acolyte to master, you're obligated to switch from bottoming to topping. It's entirely possible Young Izzy had a much more enjoyable sex life as an acolyte, if that is indeed how he learned to fight, but as he graduated into his obligatory top status, his sexual encounters became so unsatisfying he may well have drifted into celibacy.

While he's good at ordering people around and berating them, he finds actually managing people to be immensely stressful, and hasn't got a fucking clue what to do when he needs to try to read a room. He's not a creative thinker. What happens when you bark an order and the person refuses? He doesn't have a fallback for "this person went off script," which is probably why his interactions with Lucius in episode 5 go so far off the rails. Getting shoved into a position of submissiveness to a guy who is Not Supposed to Be Topping Because He Looks and Dresses Wrong for the Part throws him completely off kilter.

Oh, and let's talk about that interaction with Lucius and how it relates to homophobia in gay male spaces. I went into great detail about that scene here, but for this I want to focus specifically on the Kiss That Wasn't. Y'all, Izzy wants to kiss someone SO BAD. In his "I'm being intimidating at you" interactions where he gets up in someone's face, when he should be making unbroken eye contact, his gaze constantly falls to the other man's mouth. With Lucius, he's pulled so far out of his normal headspace he comes within a fraction of a second of giving in to that desire before he stops himself and turns tail.

In the world of homophobic (internalized), masc (toxic) gay spaces, sex is fine. He knows, for example, that Edward hooked up with Calico Jack, and this isn't presented as any kind of issue for him. But kissing? Kissing is perceived as an act of romantic affection, and THAT is forbidden. You can fuck other men, but you must NEVER fall in love with them or you’re a namby-pamby ponce who [gag] pines for a boyfriend. Ergo, kissing bad.

Back in the early 2000s, there was a trend amongst a subset of gay men to label themselves as "straight-acting." Again, these were openly gay men operating in queer spaces, but who built solidarity with each other by bragging about how not stereotypically gay they behaved. Izzy in 2002 would have been taking those "are you straight-acting" quizzes online, and been super proud of himself if he scored a 10/10. (He would have lied in some of his answers to force that 10/10 outcome, probably.)

TL;DR: Izzy gay, he knows it, and he probably wouldn’t care but for the fact that he has internalized so much toxic sludge around the specific things he actually wants and needs out of his relationships with other men.

[churchofthecomet]

I haven't watched Leverage in a while, see my last complaint post about their Stuxnet episode. But in the meantime I've been consuming other media, and it just struck me how equal the dynamic is between all of the Leverage characters.

Every character in this show is competent. They each have Their Thing that They Do, and if one of them is absent for an episode, the rest of the team suffers until they get back. I complain about them short-changing Hardison by making the tech stuff unrealistic and incomprehensible (so you can't get a feel for how good he is at it, like you can with Eliot punching people -- although if I knew more about fighting I'm sure I'd be complaining about Eliot's scenes too). But at least within the narrative he is really good at his job, and the other team members know it. Likewise for Eliot, Parker, Nate, and Sophie -- they're each at the top of their respective classes. They have separate specialties and they're amazing at those specialties.

And what's more, the interpersonal dynamics reflect this. Nate is an asshole to the rest of them, but there are FOUR OF THEM so it balances him out -- they can commiserate with each other, sit him down and have a talk with him, threaten to strike, whatever, and their side of the relationship is treated with importance because the team couldn't function without them.

Hardison and Eliot's sniping is just friendly banter, and they know it. Everyone is so supportive of Parker's social problems. Sophie is the one with the most traditionally-feminine skillset, something which might be demeaned in another show (and I have some complaints with Leverage's treatment of her), but she's taken seriously both in-universe and by the show itself. They all work wonderfully together. They balance each other out, and they become more than the sum of their parts.

Contrast this with the dynamics in a bunch of other modern media. Let's grab my favorite punching bag of late, BBC Sherlock. Sherlock is far and away the more useful member of the Sherlock-and-John team. The narrative places incredible weight on his intelligence, and John is stuck in a support role. Sherlock is also mean to John, and since John is one person (without much of a spine for standing up to Sherlock!) it feels utterly abusive. The "friendly banter" isn't banter. The "aww look they really DO care about each other" moments were enough for me when I was 13 or 14, but now it just feels like a cycle of abuse. The dynamic is fundamentally not equal. If I'm watching a TV show and I start to think "man character A really needs like 6 months of therapy to stop hating themself and they NEED to leave character B," when the show's message is "character A and character B are a match made in heaven you guys," the show has failed.

See also Our Flag Means Death season 2 with the relationship between... honestly Ed and the rest of the crew, but mostly Ed and Stede. Ed is the best pirate anyone's ever seen -- the rest of them are pretty good but no match for him. The one guy who had a chance of standing up to Ed and equalizing things got killed off at the end of the season, and Stede (as we've seen) lacks a spine to stand up to Ed. Controversial take but Good Omens might be heading in this direction? They defanged Aziraphale and made him into way more of a softie than the book or Season 1 imply. Meanwhile Crowley is Competent and Right About Everything by comparison. The general pattern here is that couples (or whatever the fuck was going on with BBC Sherlock and John) are worse off. I don't know if it's lasting heteronormativity or "two-person dynamics are hard," but the urge to make sunshine-and-stormcloud pairings where the stormcloud acts like shit towards the sunshine is just... too strong.

Leverage is this rare show that refuses to shit on any of its protagonists. Everyone's in the loop, everyone sees some character development, and it fucking RULES. I wish they could make more TV shows like this in 2024.

[sleep-deprivedracoon]

It seems like there is no escaping the JD vs AH trial anywhere. All my socials are flooded with the trial. My fellow university students are talking about it. My internship colleagues are talking about it. Everyone has their own opinion on this case. Fair. We're entitled to. It's a sensational case about 2 celebrities who want to sue each other for defamation with the central theme of the case being domestic violence. It is being televised for the whole world to watch and lawtubers and lawyer influencers are milking the shit out of this case. Even meme pages get heavy engagement on the memes related to the case.

I watched the case proceedings multiple times to get an unbiased view on it. I must say that AHs lawyers seem under prepared for this case. Who's side am I on? Johnny Depp's. I do believe that the op-ed was written with malicious intent.

I might lose followers for this opinion but I wanted to voice it out. This case has shed light on male domestic violence. Whether the abuse was mutual or the relationship between AH and jD was toxic doesn't change the fact that he was also abused. Men can be abused too. At workplaces, among acquaintances, by their families, by their spouses. It is time that we helped them instead of mocking them for not being man enough.

Also, just because I am on his side, doesn't mean that I am okay with everything that is happening

1. Can we stop shipping him with his lawyer? They're real people. Not fictional characters. This affects their dynamics as business partners. He is her client. They might be good friends. But shipping them? Really? Isn't she spoken for? Would you like to read about your partner being shipped with someone they're working with?

2. Can we not involve either parties children into the picture? Johnny made it clear that he doesn't want his children involved with this. Why are people calling out his daughter for not openly supporting him? She could do so in private. Do I believe AH is getting death threats? Absolutely. Do I think someone threatened her baby? Yes. These children of both parties need to be separated from the issue. They're children and the issue is with their parents, not them. Keep the children out of this.

3. Hating on witnesses is not okay. They maybe terrible witnesses with terrible personality but it doesn't make it okay to direct an online mob at them. Did some of them commit perjury? Maybe. But that is for the court to decide. Taking the law into our own hands and subjecting someone to abuse over social media is unjust.

4. The same goes for lawyers, judge or jury. If the case doesn't favor your party's interest. Do not direct any hate to the parties involved. They did their job. Whether the decision was justified or not will be decided by AH or JD and they will file an appeal. We are supporting these figures and not fighting their battles for them.

You guys can argue all you want in the comments of this post but I truly believe that we've been acting like a lynch mob. For a case who's central theme circles around abuse, we sure as hell have no problem subjecting others to different types of abuse over social media.

[tipsy-scales]

Despite starting to use tumblr again, I haven’t done a good job at updating on what has become of me since I left, so I’d like to make this special post centered on:

✨My Selim Bradley Obsession✨

“What?” You may ask. That kid from the last arc of FMA who nobody likes? Yeah yeah that’s him.

I’m exaggerating ofc by saying nobody likes him but he’s not among the ranks of Roy Mustang, Edward Elric himself, or Greed. He is not fighting for good. He is not a suave adult. He is a mean little boy.

FMA has been one of my great loves since I was 14…which was a very long time ago. To me the story is perfect and satisfying— so much that once the manga and FMAB were finished, I stopped thinking about it. (I also had a lot of embarrassment over how in love I was with Ed before that.) It was easy to leave FMA behind and move onto new things…like Fire Emblem Awakening! That is how I ended up making this blog. But over time I became sad that I was only chasing new things. Eventually, I wanted to return to the media that had shaped me and it was during summer of 2020 that I decided to revisit FMA.

Originally Ed was the character I cared most about. I remembered Selim but not enough to care about him. My taste in characters had changed drastically by the time I returned though. I actually did a rewatch a few years prior and thought Selim was really cool. This spurred me to make a Twitter thread about how he *might* be my favorite FMA character. And by the end of that thread, he WAS my favorite character. Below is my gallery where you can see the obsession awaken down to the day.

Simply put, I think he’s neat? M Robin Fire Emblem was my favorite when I was blogging here regularly. I like male characters who fight with their wits instead of flashy weapons, so I guess Pride falls into that too. I also like shadows. Darkrai is one of my favorite Pokémon. I like little boy characters with big empty eyes. I think they’re cute in probably in the same way people think squishmallows are cute. I like characters with spiky bangs I think it looks sick. There’s also something somewhat tragic about him. From things with his mother to things with his Father to the fake little family he lives in. I can spend a lot of time on this so I’ll stop there.

My little obsession (2 years and counting ahaha…) has lead me to do all kinds of things too! I’ve made new friends online! I started collecting manga beginning with FMA! I’ve gotten a bunch of merch that makes me happy. And the projects I’ve done! I’ll make a separate post of all my Selim inspired projects but gosh I learned so much by being way obsessed with a character who barely has any merch. I had to make my own merch! And then there’s…my shameful custom phone screen

(It’s actually easy to navigate once you get used to it)

Anyway I’ll stop it here! I mostly wanted people to know about my new child. I reblog him every now and then but so far people on…every one of my other social medias who saw this happen know, but tumblr doesn’t

[ramsaybaggins]

Letters with the Kraken for the tag game please!

So, this one is abandoned mostly because someone else posted their version first and I don't want people to think I'm copying their idea, but it was based on that tumblr post going round about a kid sending letters to an aquarium octopus! The idea was Louis wanted to write to a giant pacific octopus at Ed's aquarium, and Stede adds a little note, and basically Ed and Stede fall in love through these letters. Here's a big excerpt as it's likely I'll never post it

When Ed had pulled on his uniform and slid into work through the employee door that morning, he hadn't expected to find something new in his mailbox. It was a letter addressed to "The Giant Pacific Octopus." He tilted his head as he slipped the flap of the envelope open and pulled out two sheets of paper. The top one was written in what was very obviously the hand of a child, the one behind it was much neater. He dropped down into his office chair and got reading.

"Dear Octopus,

My name is Louis Bonnet, and I really love sea creatures. Do you have a name? I asked my dad if octopuses could read and write because I know you're very clever and he said maybe we should write to one to see, and we found out you live a couple of hours away! What is it like being an octopus? What do you do all day? Do you have any friends?

Thank you!

Louis"

Ed couldn't help but smile as he read through the letter again. It was so sweet, and Ed knew exactly what he was going to do before he even read the other sheet. He crossed his legs on his desk and swapped pages.

"Dear keeper,

My name is Stede and I am Louis' dad. He's really taken with the idea of getting a response, whether it's from you or from the 'octopus'. I'm doing my best to encourage his enthusiasm with his interests, so we would really appreciate a response of some kind if you have the time. I completely understand that you may be too busy! I've enclosed a stamped, addressed envelope so it shouldn't put you out any cost or further inconvenience.

Best wishes,

Stede."

Ed scanned the page again. The writing was neat yet pretty, and the signature at the end had a swooping flourish. This Stede guy seemed like a good dad, it made Ed feel warm.Why not indulge the kid, huh? It was nice to see a parent so involved with their child nowadays, Ed saw too many kids come through the aquarium full of awe and excitement, only to have their bored, huffing parents rush them through all of the exhibits. Sure, it wasn't all of them, but it was enough.

He dropped his feet off of the desk and onto the floor, then opened the top drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper. He picked his favourite blue ballpoint pen and got to work drafting a response.

"Hi Louis,

I can't read or write, but my keeper Ed read me your letter and I wanted to respond. I hope you don't mind if he writes it for me. My name is Kraken and I've been living here for nearly a year! It's great being an octopus, my tentacles are really long and strong so I can cause plenty of mischief in my tank! Sometimes I even squirt Ed when he's walking above me. He usually laughs, so I think he likes it, really. I love watching all the people come past my tank every day, humans are so interesting! What's it like being a human? It must be busy! I do have friends. Ed is my friend, and there are plenty of fish and other creatures in my tank to hang out with. I look forward to your next letter!

Yours,

Kraken."

A separate piece of paper awaited his response to Stede’s note.

"Hello Stede,

I'm the octopus keeper at the aquarium, Ed Teach. I hope the letter I've attached 'from' Kraken is okay, thought it might get the fella excited without giving him wrong info. It was great to get your letters, honestly. Been here a long time and I was starting to wonder if I'd run my course, but asking to be penpals with an octopus? Brilliant. You seem like a good dad, it's nice. Feel free to let Louis keep writing, and I'll keep responding. What age is he? Just so I can make sure I'm replying in an age appropriate style, not too many big words or anything.

Yours,

Ed."

[glitterslag]

modern day!Eddie headcanons

perhaps i am soft launching my return to fic writing..?😳😳😳 i've been thinking about this since i made this post. And i have a LOT of thoughts ok 🥺👉👈

oh, and there's also a light smattering of eddie x reader somewhere in there🤠

Warnings: 18+ for mild sexual references and drug references

Ok so just for starters: 2022 Eds would ID as bisexual and use he/they pronouns, got it? Good.

He isn't necessarily all the way out at school, but he's not exactly hiding it either. His friends know about it, and Eddie can think of a certain couple of basketball jocks who definitely know about it (case in point, the captain of the basketball team who drunkenly tried to give him a handjob round the back of the house at a party once, who'd DIE if anyone ever found out about it (and Eds won't tell cause he's cool like that).

Eddie's struggled with honestly pretty debilitating ADHD since childhood, but thankfully it eventually got picked up on by the school after one-too-many trips to the behavioural unit. He got referred to the educational specialist and managed to get on meds in time for starting high school, so he managed to graduate in one try, even if it was by the skin of his teeth.

He'd enjoy history, physics and english lit, especially once he got more of a handle on his adhd and with good teachers who knew how to help.

I could write a whole separate post about Eddie's opinions of the books on the A Level curriculum, but I will say I feel like he'd get quite into some of the more gothic stuff like macbeth and wuthering heights

Sadly I think in regards to his popularity in school, not much would've changed since the 80s. Although I don't think people would be scared of him exactly (the whole satanic panic thing would've died down at this point and people would be more familiar with the metalhead subculture), he'd still get made fun of for being alt and for living in a trailer :/

But he'd still have a core group of good friends and I feel like he'd be a little more popular with girls, too, as it's so much more acceptable now for guys not to be a hyper-masculine stereotype.

I could also write a whole separate post based on eddie's music taste!! I think in 2022 he'd totally branch out from just metal. He'd be into people like bowie and maybe even the smiths (actually i think 80s!eddie would also be into these on the quiet). This might be my most controversial take but i also feel like he'd appreciate people like lana del rey, regina spektor, GRIMES, etc. He'd be into horror rap and maybe even some old school hip hop. He'd be into new wave and glam rock and space rock. Also anyone who's just a genuinely really skilled musician/artist, anyone who does like high concept stuff etc. Could also see him getting into really dark, atmospheric country music

I think he'd just be really knowledgeable about music in general, like a special interest

He'd definitely still be a metalhead first, though

HE'D MAKE IT TO COLLEGE

college is the only place i see eddie after high school. He'd definitely thrive there. Sadly the scholarship options aren't great as he doesn't play sports or anything, but hopefully he'd manage to get to a community college or get a low income scholarship or something similar

He'd BLOSSOM at college. He'd come out of his shell so much more with his style - he'd paint his nails and experiment with make up and get his ear pierced and all that kind of thing

Imagine you meet him in college and have so much fun spending your Saturdays thrifting, going to antiques stores and second hand book stores and record stores and comic book stores and board game cafes and arcades and exploring the local small music scene and swapping clothes and doing each others makeup and getting drunk and getting high and generally being public nuisances I- 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Matching tattoos. MATCHING TATTOOS

Imagine floating about in his band t-shirts and not much else

If you became a couple it'd be a given that you'd share a wardrobe. No matter what gender/size you are as his partner it's all good cuz like one of your shirts being huge and baggy on the other? Or tiny and cropped? No matter - you'd just be constantly exploring and experimenting and rebranding yourselves

to be honest you'd probably be the quintessential insufferable, pretentious hipstery douchbaggy college kids lol but like it's such a special time!!!!!! all can be forgiven cause what college kid isn't like that

Pulling all-nighters abusing his adhd meds and coke, probably to get essays finished.

Him and his group of friends probably wouldn't be the partying kind. More like staying up all night in someones dorm room smoking, drinking, etc, a baseball sock over the fire alarm so they don't set it off. They'd go on such douchey, existential, substance-fuelled RANTS thinking they were such philosophers and beat poets and the like

Speaking of philosophy, Eddie would probably minor in it. I think he'd probably choose something he felt was "practical" to major in in his first year of study, but end up switching his major with encouragement from his friends and teachers to like, music production or english lit or classics

Dark academia vibes for days🤪🤪🤪

I somehow feel like he'd be all over social media. He'd definitely have twitter and instagram and tiktok. He'd probably have like an instagram spam account where he just shit-posts all day

Would literally send you the. most. CURSED memes on the planet

He'd have the most elite taste in film - lots of classic horror and arthouse stuff

You'd have so much fun watching really low budget badly-acted slasher flicks, too, laughing your asses off the whole time

Of COURSE there'd be a D&D club at college, which Eddie would be all over, obviously. IMAGINE college D&D, it would be so fun with added alcohol. And don't get me started on the meme references. And he'd be in the campus library for hours making the most high-tech character sheets

And the best part? No-one would make fun of him for liking it cause hello it's 2022!!!!! And its college!!!!!🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Eddie may have been the underdog in school, but when it comes to college? That boy is DROWNING in e-girl pussy, let me tell you. And he would get so much dick too. I think if single, college Eddie would be the biggest, happiest slut on the planet. In fact, he'd probably have people queuing up to be part of his D&D group

big BNOC energy

I feel like he'd amass a bit of a following on tiktok

Final thing: I actually think he'd get into sports in college. After he shakes off high school and the chip on his shoulder about his masculinity, he explores different sports clubs that he could potentially join and i can really see him doing something like hockey and getting all of his aggression out??? My other hypothesis is that he'd enjoy racket sports like maybe badminton or raquetball or something

that's it good night

[thesinglesjukebox]

GUNNA - "FUKUMEAN"

From Daniel, a post-release single that reached the top 5 in the US (and #1 in *checks notes* Latvia?)...

[4.85]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: I'll be honest, I really thought Gunna's career was over after taking a plea deal related to Young Thug's ongoing RICO case. Hip hop doesn't like the potential of cooperation with the law, let alone snitching, so we had several months of high-ranking peers throwing shots at Gunna and op-eds with titles like "Did Gunna's Plea Deal Get Him Shunned?" Regardless, "Fukumean' is the biggest hit of his post-"Drip Too Hard" career; whatever his billion-stream track with Nav sounds like, it doesn't have the narrative of overcoming struggle and shrugging off the naysayers. Which is hilarious because this is very much business as usual, a triplet-tripping filip with a genderless chorus of synthetic sneers every few beats: "FUCK YOU MEEEANNN?!?" I couldn't tell you a single memorable bar that Gunna delivers here, and yet this song has been stuck in my head all year. It's the least defiant show of public defiance in some time, the "Dust Off Your Shoulder" mantra as an eyeroll, a club-engineered megahit that doesn't tidy up click-clacking sounds of swaying jewellery or clinking ice cubes by the microphone. It's not laziness, or rebellion, or pretending everything's okay, but some weird amalgamation of the three and I don't know what the fukthatmeans. [6]

Oliver Maier: I've written before that Gunna's real strength is an ear for beats that suit his bleakly restrained style. That's true here: the "ee-yah" noise is an unlikely earworm that I can imagine other rappers instantly passing on, but this lacks the winning stupidity of "pushin P", the sugariness of "SKYBOX" or "DOLLAZ ON MY HEAD", or whatever "Speed It Up" has that makes me love it so much. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I still listen to Gunna in desperate hope that I can one day reclaim the pure glee I experienced the first time I heard "Drip Too Hard." This doesn't quite get there -- Gunna (understandably) sounds slightly defeated here -- a resolute figure of survival, but not one that's having all that much fun even as he talks about "shittin on all you lil' turds." And if you deliver that line deadpan I'm not sure we have the same musical goals. [5]

Will Adams: Three things: an annoyed and/or annoying "...yeah?"; the title hook, delivered as a schoolyard taunt; "shittin' on all you lil' turds". Even at two minutes, "Fukumean" is light on ideas, and the ones available are only kind of good. [4]

Ian Mathers: Some songs would get by on either the "fuck you mean?" bit of the "a-yup" bit, and they'd be fine. Using both well in about two minutes that also fits in a compelling performance from Gunna (lots of lines are just sticking with me, I've been muttering "I see the ho with precision/Get rich my only decision" to myself for a bit) ought to be gilding the lily, but it feels just about right. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Every "eeeyahh" is methodical, consuming, and withering: "Fukumean" isn't an all out assault of swagger so much as a series of waves meant to drag you out from shore. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: My immediate reaction was to think of the repeated squeaking in "The Box," but this is a track so deflated and bare that everything is reduced to a haze. The hook is so much of a non-presence it's hard to care -- it's sung with the insistence of children fighting sleep. [4]

Micha Cavaseno: Gunna's been boring before, so him half-heartedly going in over a particularly uninspired detuned piano loop here isn't a disappointment as much as it's further validation of how little he's ever had going on for him as a rapper. Hell, the best part of this song isn't even himself, it's the backing vocal chorus (which truthfully has nothing to do with him and might even overshadow him?). But yeah, Gunna remains one-note as ever though I'm glad he's separated himself from perhaps the most noxious legal trial to ever involve rapper(s). I'll take Atlanta's rap scene being unlistenable over their rap scene being mass incarcerated any day. [2]

Taylor Alatorre: Opinions may differ on this, but I personally don't enjoy being yelled at. I don't have this issue with Bone Crusher on "Never Scared" or Lil Jon on "Bia' Bia'," who are both much louder, but for some reason I can't help feeling that the Greek chorus (Atlantan chorus?) in "Fukumean" is shouting the title phrase at me specifically. Like, what did I do, Gunna? I mostly liked a Gift & a Curse! The song's official instrumental includes neither this hook nor the possibly Sho Madjozi-inspired "iyah" vocalization; going by the YouTube comments bemoaning their absence, it's these two elements that have most fueled its staying power. They do indeed make it memorable, and instantly recognizable in a public setting. Apart from those steady drips of attitude, though, there just isn't much to feed on here. [5]

Nortey Dowuona: "A music writer handed a Gunna song to discuss finds himself confronted by several problems, not the least which is the necessity of squaring with his conscience the fact he is discussing Gunna at all." -- mostly copied from James Baldwin on James M. Cain's The Moth in The Cross of Redemption, page 291. [0]

Brad Shoup: Might be the absurd amount of Post Malone I streamed this year, but I'm trying not to underrate the modern compact pop-rap single. But he doesn't have any lines better than the (very good) hooks. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: Rarely does one hear a track with such monumental determination to not bang. In a way, it's impressive. [5]

Alfred Soto: Dependent on its hook, this obscene banality barely exists -- a bit like Gunna himself. [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[sixstepsaway]

Can't believe it occured to me only now that, of all the time he had to speak his mind plainly in the 3 days Edward spends moping in Stede's rooms, Izzy decides to do it only right after he called for Lucius to vent with, not for him! I'd bet my rear a thousand times over that nothing like that had ever happened before and he was so very afraid of losing his place by his side then, even more than when he thought Stede was the problem. If Lucius becomes his confidant, he'd be no longer of use 😨

God, yes.

When you think about it, the entire of season 1 is Ed unwittingly replacing Izzy with Stede and not realizing the effect that might have on Izzy!

Ed and Izzy have been companions, working side-by-side together for what's implied to be years, possibly even decades. And then Stede Bonnet shows up, and Stede is not even a good captain, and Ed is all, "Oh yeah, call me Ed, and we'll be co-captains!"

Like... in the context of the romance and the show, this is great and I love it, but from Izzy's point of view this is mind-numbingly baffling and probably quite insulting. Stede didn't even replace him as first mate, he jumped right over that rung on the ladder and became Ed's co-captain.

Ed says, "I need you here," and offers Izzy his own ship once Stede dies, but he doesn't kill Stede, and ends up co-captaining with Stede (and yes, the co-captain conversation doesn't happen until Izzy has already left the ship, but they're already showing being co-captains, and Ed has already repeatedly put Stede in charge of everyone and everything, so even without Izzy being privy to that explicit conversation, the context is very evident), and when Izzy challenges Stede to a duel and loses, the fact is that Ed probably could have overridden the rules of the duel as captain and had Izzy stay aboard.

But he didn't.

Because by then, he'd replaced all of Izzy's functions and place in his life with Stede, and Stede gets even more than Izzy ever did!

I'm gonna do a separate post about the timeline of the show because it's senseless and I want to pull some kind of logic from it, but Ed says in 1x09 that "These past few weeks have been the most fun I've had in ages, years, maybe ever," and he means the time he spent with Stede. If we take that at face value and forget how many full moons we've had on the show, it means that in, what, 2 weeks? Ed had totally replaced Izzy with Stede and changed his mind from "I need you here" to letting Izzy row off into the sunset in a dinghy.

But when Ed comes back at the end of 1x09, he says, "Izzy, I'll take tea in my room," both effectively putting Izzy back where he belongs and stopping them all from throwing Izzy into the ocean (which, he did not have to do, really. He could have said, "Lucius, when you're done with that, bring tea to my room," and that would've been implicit permission to yeet Izzy overboard).

So when a while later, Ed tells Izzy to have Lucius sent in, and confides in and talks to Lucius...

Yeah, I imagine Izzy lost his god damn mind about that because, frankly speaking, the odds of Izzy yet again being replaced are, at this point, pretty high, and it makes perfect sense he would see it that way.

I've also seen people suggest that Izzy can read and write (and I implicitly suggested it in my own semi-joke post that Jim and Stede's voiceovers are both their diary entries, in whatever capacity, and that implies that Izzy's voiceover at the start of 1x06 is also a diary entry), which would make the odds of Lucius being a replacement right hand even higher.

I think I'd blow up too.

[scoups4lyfe]

hmmm losing memories... oh wait right, Junpei's memories were lost too!

Ok since I outlined my essay. Might as well spitball some of my thoughts here.

One thing that I really appreciate about the episode 31 reveal, is that it makes the inner demons more complex. On a surface glance you would think

"Oh it just represents, y'know, what really bothers them about themselves."

But that would be in-fact, not true. Or at least, not the full truth. And now with the contract stuff coming to light, I'm realizing that the demons were probably all built on a foundation, a more general concept.

(AKA what started their contracts to begin with.)

And what better way is there to create an inner demon than trauma?

Furthering this idea -- I actually believe that their inner demons were created as coping mechanisms to handle said trauma.

That's their foundation.

For example, (1) Vice's foundation is built on Ikki's need for someone else to handle the situation. For someone else to handle the memories that would break him.

(2) Kagerou's entire creation is built on Daiji's trauma of not being good enough. Of being 2nd best always, and of never being seen or valued because of so.

Kagerou whole purpose was to be the coping mechanism for Daiji's self-hate. Like his name "mirage", he was built to twist the narrative. To hide the desert with the Oasis. Or, to hide Daiji's self-hatred and feelings of inferiority--- by lashing out and blaming others.

(3) Sakura? Well she couldn't be vulnerable. Not as the youngest, and the only daughter in the family. Her parents already had a lot on their plate. And she wanted that attention and love of a parental figure -- so she knew for Ikki-nii, that she had to be someone dependable. So she hid what would make her seem childish, or the youngest. And wore the mask of someone 'stronger' instead.

That's Lovekov's foundation. Lovekov is Sakura's way of coping with reality. Of separating herself from her more vulnerable and 'childish' aspects so that she could be stronger as a person.

I actually believe that you can see these foundations just based on the definition(s) of each of the inner demons names. (More on this later, in a separate post LOL!)

So........where does Papa-san come in?

Well. I think it makes sense that Ikki's losing his memories because he's relying on Vice's power.

If Vice's original foundation was built on Ikki needing to repress and/or use someone else to take care of the traumatic situation, then of course relying on that power would hurt him. The more he uses it, the less connected he is to reality.

"It's fine, nothing happened." But repeated until you actually think nothing happened. My dude's literally losing his past -- piece by piece.

(Stupida$$ multi-layered demons @_@...)

So I guess, not only did Vice take Ikki's childhood...but now he's taking all of Ikki's past. (RIP.)

...

Likewise, VAIL for Papa-san was what he needed in order to protect himself from the reality of being an imprisoned experimental subject with no humans rights, only used as a weapon for destruction.

Papa-san couldn't handle what this life would do to his heart, so he "VAIL"'ed it. But its that separation -- that refusal to acknowledge the pain of reality, that has kept Papa-san's memories locked away.

As of rn I believe Ikki's doomed to end up exactly like his father; if he continues on the path that he's currently on. I think there are 3 options he can choose from.

(1) Continue to use Vice's powers and lose all of his memories

(2) Kill Vice -- his repression coping mechanism, hereby forcing himself to stop running away from reality.

-- OR --

(3) Create a new contract.

Again --- this is why I'm getting even more firm on the theory that Kagerou isn't really "dead". I think that what happened is Daiji just essentially terminated their contract/what their contract was built on. He didn't need that coping mechanism anymore, and it wasn't healthy -- nor would it help him grow. So he ended the contract.

(By killing Kagerou.)

But, you see -- these "Inner demons" as stated before are complex mfers. They may have been built on a coping mechanism, but they evolved past that. As Kagerou and Vice have their Daiji and Ikki:

"I am you."

Vice is everything Ikki's repressed: His aggression. His childhood. His doubts. His fears. His wishes. His selfishness. His inner child.

Kagerou was more than just a "mirage." He represented the more "bad" / selfish parts of Daiji. And since Daiji has yet to acknowledge those parts (fking STILL) that only tells me that until he starts accepting them....until he forms another contract, he won't grow much further from where he's at.

That's why he's still playing second fiddle, and it's why he still fails to truly win his battles.

Its because he hasn't acknowledged or accepted all of himself yet. Something he can only do if he acknowledges Kagerou and the darker parts of himself that Kagerou represents.

Anyways --- I'll be dropping these essays within the next 3 weeks (insert anakin meme here -- LOL) :

(1) I'm about to copy and paste my analysis and theory about where -- narrative wise I think the sibs arcs are and what that might mean for the future; in like 2 minutes.

(2) An essay on the definitions of certain names and terms in revice and why I hate the writers LOL

(Did y'all know one of the many fking definitions of Vice is "to step in/ in place of" which directly fking alludes and foreshadows Vice's deletion of Ikki's memories. Because everytime Vice "steps in" its always "In place of" something else. That something would be Ikki ergo, Ikki's memories.) (Again -- I fking hate these writers T_T)

(3) Families, Generational Trauma, the "Absentee Father" and whether or not Ikki and George are supposed to embody:

"The Sins of the father are the sins of the son."

And If so, if that means they are destined to end up exactly like their fathers. (Ikki's already well on his way. Idk about George. LOL!)

(4) Nature vs. Nurture & the Formation of Identity, Morality and Personality In order to contrast and compare George Karizaki's -- morality, science, and experiments --- with his father's AND Sento's (from build).

(5) In depth PPT breakdown and analysis (ft. memes) of the Sibs and their Demons.

(6) Idk I'll drop a cult essay on the Deadmans 3 at some point.

[oakskull]

Guess who finished this illustration set,,

MEEEEEEE!!!

It's Cogchamp fnf sprites!!! I would have made a mod but unfortunately I don't have the right software to do so

Featuring such characters as

Tutorial Fox

5up.xtml

Brother Dearest

Tub and Crumb

Prime Bell

Um sir.

and last but not least, Sammy wants murder

These are weeks 1-4, and week 5 will be in a separate post bc of image limit(derogatory) and I worked really hard on this!! (more thoughts and stuff under the cut, I got kind of rambly haha)

It was super fun to draw in this style and I feel like I learned a lot about shading and shapes (shoes especially) by trying to recreate the style of a professional artist. I think I'll do more exercises like this in the future, just to keep learning!! Also obligatory reminder that these drawings are referenced HEAVILY from the original game sprites. I was trying to draw the cog champers(and dream) like they would be a mod for the game, so the poses and style are extremely similar if not the same. If I were to redo these illustrations I might put more personality and originality into the poses, but I didn't actually study the style at all before creating the first illustration (fundy, the one I posted here is actually a redraw to make him higher quality, the original was too small)

So yeah, over all, this was super fun and I'd definitely do it again. Maybe I'll redraw some of these in the future to be more creative, you can tell which ones I drew later on bc of the variety in poses and expressions, I was a lot more comfortable with the style (tho I did keep my own eyes and mouth style bc expressions are something thats really important to my style and I didn't want to feel like I was just like,, tracing) Sorry for rambling so long, I'll put this under a cut for all the people who just want to see pretty art.

On a more art related note, you may have noticed that Dream is Pico, you may be thinking "but dream isn't on Cogchamp" and you're Right. I didn't know what else to do okay? He's fundy's Ex so it kind of fits??? I dunno man, I gave him a more steam punk mask but kept the majority of his design similar to my normal dream design, so as to keep the Dream vibe. Yknow where he's always just a green blob? It kinda slaps tbh, branding is important.

Also regarding Prime Bell, again, I didn't know what else to do, I was thinking of doing something with the egg, but that's not on cogchamp (thank goodness) so I needed something else. I decided that the only like, tangentially related thing I could do was make an Evil prime bell, based on how Sam steals it idk maybe in this world its always the demon thing and is kinda like the ring from lord of the rings, where once you have it you can't give it up. In any case designing Prime Bell took a while (plus some help from Yipcord and Chaos Crew thx guys ❤ and specifically @valpurgatory who is what inspired me to personify the Prime Bell in the first place with their turn everything into a women philosophy (I @ed him so you can check out his blog he slaps. She's like the go to for saving women from Wilbur Soot's dirty mits)) but drawing it was surprisingly quick, mostly due to the fact that I figured out how to easily recreate the texture on the Lemon Monster's body. I did no shading bc that's what the Lemon monster looks like, and it kind of hurt bc it just looks kind of unfinished to me,,, I had some trouble with the week 5 design for Prime Bell bc I didn't want to abandon my first idea. I probably should have and would have gotten a better result, but I can't be bothered tbh. This is the 3rd day I'm working on this project (these were surprisingly quick the churn out, probably bc I was having a blast) and I simply do not want to alter anything. My idea was good but the execution didn't pan out. What am I saying the week 5 prime bell design isn't even on this post sjjdjsks

Anyway, go check out fnf(Friday Night Funkin) it's a rhythm game, it's free and the OST Slaps. I'd also highly recommend listening to the Whitty mod songs and the Neo mod songs,,,, good good music.

[turq8]

Okay, I’m on my 4th (5th?) rewatch of OFMD, but I tend to get distracted easily and I really wanted to note down all these little details to maybe write some meta, so here are my notes for episodes 2-5 from that

Ep 2:

-Izzy wants the hostages to sell them, but it's probably a bad idea for Stede to do that bc they're witnesses to his crimes. But he already sent someone back to the ship so maybe that ship has sailed (lol)

-when Buttons first meets Izzy, he tells him exactly how many men they have and where they are, but later in ep 8 when Calico Jack is asking about Blackbeard, he's noticeably cagier about answering; did he learn not to tell strangers potentially important info?

-during the hearing, Stede hallucinates Nigel talking about how he might have children that will "never see Papa again" and that's what sets Stede off about how he's killed someone... Shortly after that he says he doesn't feel bad about killing Nigel, and when someone suggests that he's feeling guilty about something else, we see a flashback of him looking in on his children the night he left

-obviously Black Pete talks a big game about working for Blackbeard but I literally don't think we see Ed recognize/acknowledge him once lmao

Ep 3:

-is this (& the bit at the end of ep 2) the extent of what we see of Blackbeard's ship?? Where the fuck IS it for the rest of the season?

-there's just skulls everywhere lmaooo that's so dramatic

-what exactly is the backstory for Olu & Jim? Bc Jackie says Olu is the one who suggested Jim as a server, and that was before Jim killed her husband and then they both ran and joined Stede's crew. Plus in ep 7 Olu says he's known Jim for like a year, and I don't think Stede's been sailing for that long, bc Jim writes that they've been in disguise and on the lam for 28 days in ep 2. What happened in the previous several months??

-"I explicitly told him 'Blackbeard desires his company'" IZZY HANDS YOU FUCKING LIAR, YOU SAID NO SUCH THING

-Jim and Olu are arguing about how he dragged them out before they could get their family dagger back, Lucius brings them said dagger, they say "now THIS. Is a good friend" very pointedly to Olu, kiss Lucius, and then hit Olu with THIS look:

That's a hell of a message.

-everyone except Lucius screaming while Jim's "nose" is pulled off is always funny

Ep 4:

-the date they use on Stede's gravestone for his birthday is his historical baptism date lol

-Fang HISSES at them before telling them to get back to work

-I've seen a couple posts discussing what a terrible listener Stede is but I don't think anyone's mentioned Mary's "I hate the ocean, I literally said that the other day" when he's already started having the boat built as an example

-I love Ed giggling at all the trinkets as he goes through Stede's cabinet lol

-Izzy pleading with Ed to focus while Ed's distracted by the trinkets. Ed's brain literally never turns off (he noticed the clouds that morning, and then later has Lucius start counting down for 147 minutes- until dusk because he’s been working the plan the whole time) and he never stops moving, he's always fidgeting. His big frustration and source of boredom is that he's not being challenged anymore because being Blackbeard is too easy. That's ADHD babes

-As an addendum, I think the stillest we see him is when he's watching over Stede

-At literally the first possible opportunity to separate himself from "Blackbeard", he introduces himself as Ed

-Gnossiennes No. 5 starts playing just before "Do you fancy a fine fabric" and I have passed away, the musical director(s) were really on their shit because this also plays at "what makes Ed happy" 😭

(also it continues playing until Izzy comes in looking for Ed)

-Ok, so they go into the secret closet. There's the part with the actual closet, but behind them when they come in, we see a wardrobe and possibly more space to the right given how the light is coming in. 

In Ep. 6 when Ed has his panic attack, he goes through the secret door and then the next time we see him is in the bathtub, but I can't imagine he would have left the secret passage to go there if it was somewhere else on the ship. Ergo, the bathtub is behind the secret door. Where am I going with this? In Ep 2, Jim knows Stede has a bathtub -> Jim knows about the secret passage.  Does the whole crew know about the passages, or just Jim (and Olu presumably)?  Food for thought for season 2.

-I don't see enough discussion about how Ed's fog trick is literally some Sherlock Holmes shit. More master strategist in season 2 please!!

-okay wait, everyone's on about how 1717 wasn't even a leap year, but I think even more importantly is that it's literally been months since the leap day and Ed would have been watching the moon cycle the whole time, so it's weird that he got tripped up on that. also we can literally check what phase the moon was on for September 1 1717, and it was just about 1st quarter which is a full week from full lol (I suspect the sources I'm using are on the Gregorian calendar, but the English colonies used the Julian calendar until 1752, and when they made the switch they added 11 days, so Sept 1 of the Julian calendar is Sept 12 on the Gregorian calendar.  Then again, France and Spain (and their colonies) switched in 1582, so who the fuck knows what calendar Blackbeard would have been using.  Either way though, the moon definitely isn’t full.). I have now officially put more thought into this than the writers did.

-Anyway Ed just builds a lighthouse rig out of a lantern, a mirror, a beam, some rope, and some booze bc he's brilliant??

Ep 5:

-In the flashback to Ed's past, you can see his dad passed out at the table- FORESHADOWING

-Ed wants to go to this fancy party so, so badly and it makes me want to cry a little

-Ed! In purple! With bows in his beard!

-"How do I win this interaction" that line is so telling

-3 different times in the show, people come up to Stede and say "there's a rumor going around about you". First is Nigel in ep 1, about Stede running off to be a pirate; second is in Ep 5, when they ask if he's Sir Godfrey; third is in Ep 10, when his old acquaintances ask again if it was true he became a pirate, but this time it's in awe instead of derision. Not sure exactly what that means but it feels important.

-"Would you be willing to palpitate my wife?"

Stede and Ed, who have no idea what phrenology is: 😳

-This ep is Frenchie at his absolute best

-"I killed a Prussian once" impulsive blurting out, Ed has ADHD example #374

-Ed can play the harpsichord (?), where would he have picked this up?

-Every line of the drawing scene is perfect

-there's been so much written about it already, but the turn when Ed realizes that they're laughing AT him, not WITH him is amazing

-Lucius is so powerful in that scene with Izzy

-Stede is also so powerful in the gossip scene, his pettiness knows no bounds and he completely destroys the reputations of an entire room of people just because they made Ed upset

-the way the scene ends with Ed staring at Stede, and then when it pans out from the ship Ed is STILL staring and you get the sense that he has barely taken his eyes off of Stede

-If I loved the moonlight scene less, I might be able to talk about it more

-Gnossiennes No. 5 again 😭 that's their love theme. It starts the moment Ed looks back up at him and I've seen someone point that out as the *moment* Ed falls (whether or not he actually realized it then)

-God I just want to dissect every second of the little nod to himself, deep breath, step forward, slight lean in and then pulling back and all but running away when Stede doesn't reciprocate because FUCK

[nightswithkookmin]

Hi Goldy, JK was bold in the past, around 2017-2019 (to me, gcf & rosebowl can be considered as ‘coming out’). But it seems he now prefers to stay closeted? E.g. he snatched JM’s hand in the Xylitol x BTS shoot, then looked at the camera. Holding hands is normal among members… a lot of his interactions with Jin, V and other members are more intimate than holding hands… his reaction makes me feel like he wants me to pretend I didn’t know…?

Sorry I've been a bit AWOL lately...

I'm busy being the man of my woman's dreams in a cis het anti black capitalist world

Fun times.

I saw that bit, uWu-ed and kept it pushing.

It's nothing new really. I think a few months back when I was out here screaming Jikook are toning down, acting super professional around the cameras yadda yadda people out here were looking at me like I'd lost my two delulu heads- but this segues into that theme for me and since I've exhausted the topic I don't know what else to add.

I've said before they've both been very conscious of the cameras within certain periods post October- again nothing new, they be like that every now and then every season every phase and the whys will always be up for debate in these ship streets- on that subject, I've read a lot of opinions yet I think like mine better and will stick to it. Thanks Kimberly of Delulu precinct. Walk along now. Lol.

Jimin was like that during the Coway behind the scene shoot too when he noticed the cameras and quickly elbowed Jk to draw him away from the gaze of the cameras.

I don't think it's because they stopped being 'bold' or want to pretend. It takes a lot of courage to even pretend or even perform the gay in front of the world and your peers. I think they are just awfully aware and conscious of the people they work with as well as corporation's growing awareness, intentions and interests in them. You just never know which saessang is moonlighting as a brand PA or marketing director for a company they are working with. You just never know who is watching especially whenever they have to work with these 'outsiders.'

Think of Dispatch. Were they not allies or business partners, they'd be careful around them too if they worked with them. Know what I mean?

Toning down and exercising caution is necessary sometimes. I don't know why some people think that's absurd or Tuktukkerish when I say stuff like that. Especially with the kind of reputation they have as a ship and just how commercially attractive that image is. It's common sense at this point if you ask me.

Jikook sells. Argue with the analytics. I don't know who thinks they don't. Must be the clowns and penguins. They sell period. BigHit knows this, BTS knows this, companies know this. We don't scream Jikook is a brand within a brand for no reason.

And a lot of the toning down in recent times has perhaps inadvertently mitigated that growing power and demand of them as a marketing resource- who knows, that could have as well been by design, intentionally instigated for obvious reasons which I argue is the case but don't mind me. I'm delusional, gay and apparently the man of my woman's dreams uWu. Gotta wear that pants in my relationship. Ayaya Hwaiting.

When you say he prefers to stay closested- I thought they are both closested already?? They both have never been fully out in our opinion. Yes our opinion because I feel we are like minded. Let's be delulu mates.

On the topic of closets, I want to save that for a separate post. What I can say though is they are both growing and maturing and learning and unlearning. Jungkook's desire to 'come out' or act reckless with his glass closet in my opinion stemmed from him placing more value on his personal happiness over other values perhaps because he was young and hadn't fully grasped the full and complex nature of happiness or understand the privilege he has as part of BTS.

We make decisions based on our values most times. It's how I make sense of their actions really. I'm more likely to assume things that are consistent with the values they each have expressed openly and tend to reject any theory that contradicts or is inconsistent with those values. A guy who values his career is less likely to act in a way that puts that career at risk. And I'm well aware their values evolve over time.

These days he has never quit as one of his mottos next to rather dead than cool- do you see the contradictions in those values? Rather dead means quitting life. Yet now he says never quit. Don't mind me. I'm in a grumpy mood.

But what I'm saying is, the desire to want to show the world who this person means to him is not fixed or a priority all the time. Now i think he values his career a lot more than before which means he is more likely to compromise and less likely to do things that may put that career in jeopardy.

Transferring that to his relationship, I don't expect him to be breaching the glass closet anytime soon. And if he do, it might be incidental and may carry with it consequences which I believe he is well aware and concious of now. Will that change? You bet. Again it depends a lot on what his values in a given moment are and which ones he prioritizes.

It's their relationship. They chose which aspects of it they want to share with the cameras. Some of it get written off as fanservice. Fair enough. But the nonfanservice passing moments has always been questionable- although I must say, I find all Jikook moments and interactions questionable lol.

It's just skinship. Holding hands I mean. Why would he be conscious of that right? II'vetalked about consequences and repercussions of their actions. Sometimes I think it's the off screen scolding that gets to him. The ones silently whispered at his back. I mean we saw his reaction when Jimin was getting scolded by the hyungs for sleeping late. He's talked about skipping sleep too if I recall correctly. Jimin is hyung and I know the hyungs expect him to know better and do better. I'd Imagine Jimin would equally scold JK if his actions reflected poorly on him too.

So why the hell would he not say anything to Jungkook for posting on his birthday when he hadn't posted at all for any hyung's??? Sigh.

It's sad his guards are back up- but it's for good reason I believe given the context of the situation.

I don't think dramatizing his dynamic with Jimin makes him bold. Nor does Jimin's propensity to over express himself with Jungkook mean he loves Jungkook more than. Both are extreme takes for me.

Nevertheless, I contrast that moment with a Tae Kook moment which is one of my favorite tuktukk moments. In this moment, JK is staring at Jimin, his whole body turned towards him. Tae notices the cameras and draws JK's attention to it. I think there are two such moments like that from the recent contents? I don't know I have to cross check.

Tae in that moment reminded me a lot of Jimin. Jimin does this too- play out their relationship infront of the cameras to the point one might say he likes to show off their bond- which is such a BTS thing to do too so no big deal. I mean they like to show off their bond and chemistry as Tae said a while back.

It's one thing for JK to hesitate to act with a member because of the cameras, it's another for him to act self conscious only after the fact.

And JK has always been him like this with Jimin as Jimin used to say- JK acts different with me off cameras than he is on camera. He had a history of suppressing himself around Jimin owing in part to his personality

He's talked about putting on a mask around people and in a recent interview Jimin have talked about pretending and acting one way when he's not- I mean I've ever talked about the boy being in love with the Maknae being a facade- one of many.

They have public personas which, from what BTS themselves say, looks slightly different or similar to what we see on screens- or that they've grown to be more like what we see on screens.

I guess what I'm getting at is that 'pretending' isn't exactly a new thing or out of the ordinary. Personally I'd say he's being conscious of his surroundings like Jimin was and not that he is 'pretending.' If you know what I mean.

If he's pretending he has good reason to I believe and we can only speculate on that- we can't know for sure why.

If Jikook is fanservice then there's no need for either of them to worry about the cameras picking up on their interactions or who's watching them.

What goes on in Tae's head? I wanna know.

I don't know where to direct this post because you didn't really ask a question.

I'm fine thanks for asking. I'm really fine. I'm thinking of joining Jimin in the gym at 3am to bench press and build some biceps to match my role in my relationship😒

And no I don't need any advice. Keep it.

This is going to be my attitude until we switch back😐

I'm gonna be a boyfriend from hell and a blogger from satan's ass.

Also I think I overshare💀

GOLDY

[goldenpixel]

The scene with Wilbur in Quackity’s latest lore stream made me Think some Thoughts, and I wanted to get all of my SBI family headcanons together in one place, so here’s this post

First thing, this is their age order:

Philza -> Techno/Wilbur -> Tubbo -> Ranboo -> Tommy

- Techno and Wilbur were born on the same day, so most of the family refers to them as “the twins” but they are not blood related

- Philza did not know how old Techno was when they were ruling the Antarctic Empire, he thought that Techno was around 21 when he was actually around 14-16

- this is a fact that haunts Phil to this day, because he committed a massive amount of war crimes with an actual child, and also for reasons that will soon become very clear

Philza and Techno

- they’re married

- they got married with them each thinking that the other was close to their own age (Phil thought Techno was in his early 20’s, Techno thought Phil was in his late teens)

- for more on their marriage, check out this post

- despite Techno and Wilbur being the same age, Techno is mentally much older due to his past and his general status as the Blood God

- Phil did most of the work raising the older kids, but Techno did his fair share, and you can definitely see his influence when you look at the kid’s behaviors

- both of them are immortal

- Techno is a new immortal, the Blood God has only just come into existence, but he isn't leaving anytime soon

- Philza is an old immortal, he was there when the world was born, and he'll be there when it dies

Wilbur

- Wilbur and Philza are the only blood relatives in the whole family

- as much as he loves him, Wilbur has always been a bit bitter towards Techno, because when they were teenagers, Techno was off ruling and adventuring and having fun with Phil during the AE, and Wil was left home with a young Tommy to look after

- Wilbur’s hair is naturally blond, just like Phil and Tommy’s

- no one knows who Wilbur’s mom is (unfortunately mpreg is the norm on this server, so Phil carried him, and he’s got some ideas on who Wil’s mom is, but he honestly doesn’t care enough to look into it)

- Wilbur has wings

- they’re much smaller than Phil’s, he can barely fly with them, but they’re the same color and shape as Phil’s

- because of how fragile his wings are, Wilbur should not technically be able to fly, but he literally sheer force of will-ed it and threw himself off the roof of their house so many times that he can glide when he jumps from high places, and if it’s a really high place, he can get in a few good flaps of his wings to get him some extra distance

- Phil doesn’t learn that Wilbur can semi-fly/glide until one day they’re off adventuring together and Wil is being dramatic and theatrical and walking backwards while he talks, and he falls off a cliff

Tommy

- Tommy has been with them since he was a few days old

- because of his light features, most people assume that he is Phil’s son by blood, and he just didn’t inherit the wings

- (at ages 10 and 16, Tommy and Wilbur did the blood-brothers handshake where they cut their palms and then shook hands, so if you ask them, they’re blood brothers through and through)

- Techno taught Tommy how to sew

- Tommy is a young god, but he hasn’t grown into most of his powers yet

- Tommy is a god of death, the future Death himself, Kristen is his mother

- (this is how Phil comes into possession of him. Phil, being the Angel of Death, was really the only reasonable choice when it came to Death herself finding someone to raise her son)

- Tommy has light features, even though Mumza has dark features, because she purposefully made him out of the light, she wanted him to be good and kind, so she created him from the literal light that you see when you're dying

- because he was born from the actual moment of death, despite Tommy's eyes being blue, they hold the void itself in them

- if you look too closely into Tommy's eyes, it can be easy to lose yourself and fall right in

- sometimes Mumza comes to visit, these are very bittersweet moments for Tommy

- he loves his mom, and he loves seeing her and seeing Phil happy to see her, and she usually takes him along on her next trip, ever so slowly teaching him how to be Death, but he also hates that that is his future

- he doesn't want to be the next Death, he doesn't want to outlive all of his friends and his brother, he just wants to be normal

- because of this, Tommy represses pretty much all of his godly powers, trying to seem as normal as possible, the one he represses the most is his automatic healing, when he gets hurt, he wants to stay hurt

- he represses everything so well that its years before Tubbo finds out that his best friend is a god

Ranboo

- Techno raised Ranboo more than Phil did

- (because of this, he’s the only kid who actually views Techno as his father. Despite him literally being their stepdad, the others see Techno as more of a brother or an uncle)

- Techno found Ranboo when he was around 12 years old on the edge of a warped forest in the nether (if you want some more nether-boys hc’s, check out this post)

- at that age, Ranboo hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet due to malnutrition, so he was much smaller than the average human 12 year old, and everyone thought he was around 8-10 (because of his memory issues, Ranboo thought the same thing until Tommy kept pestering him about when his birthday was and he remembered the year)

- Ranboo is brought into the family when he’s 12, Tommy is 11, and Wilbur and Techno are 17

- as I said before, Techno may have been 17 when he took in Ranboo, but he was definitely a father to this anxious amnesiac preteen

- because of his height, Ranboo is constantly slouching to fit through doorways, inside houses, and to make himself appear smaller, so he grows to need a cane

Tubbo (and Dream)

- street cat

- they fed him once and he just kept coming back

- sometimes he’ll disappear for a few weeks, but he always turns up eventually

- boy’s got some family issues, some real bad family issues

- his dad is Schlatt, who left him and big brother Dream to fend for themselves when he and Dream were 6 and 11

- luckily Dream has an excellent sense of direction and memory, and got them to Aunt Puffy’s current port before she pushed off on her next adventure (but not before getting briefly separated and making some friends)

- (the few weeks they spend separated are when Tubbo first gets found by Wilbur and Tommy and forcibly adopted by Phil, and Bad lures Dream home with food and he meets Sapnap)

- both boys have ram features - floppy ears, horns, etc., Dream also inherited their Aunt Puffy's rainbow hair (he dyes it blonde semi-regularly. It's dyed when he meets sbi, and Wilbur and Techno have the exact same reaction to it when they finally see his natural hair: relentless teasing. Like father like son amiright?)

- Tubbo and Dream are half brothers (same dad, different moms), Tubbo is 1/2 ram and 1/2 human, Dream is 1/2 human, 1/4 ram, and 1/4 what he and Sapnap think is demon (basically Dream had a human-ram hybrid dad, and a human-demon(?) hybrid mom)

- when Tubbo introduces Dream to his new brother-in-law, Dream feels a bit of a kindred spirit, but he quickly brushes it off

- Dream spends most of his time either with Bad, Skeppy, and Sapnap, or on the sea with Puffy, so Tubbo mostly fends for himself

- Tubbo is more than happy to fend for himself, he actually prefers it most of the time. He doesn't like people fussing over him and sheltering him, so whenever his mood switches and he decides that he does, actually, want some family time, he just appears on sbi’s front porch

- Tubbo first meets Ranboo when he comes to visit after a few months away. No one told him that Tommy was with Mumza for the weekend, so when he arrived at 3am, 2 days before he told Phil he’d be there, he just let himself in and threw himself on top of the sleeping figure in Tommy’s bed, only to be met with a startled enderman screech that woke the whole house

- (Ranboo was in Tommy’s bed because he might not be a part of the official Clingy Duo, but the boy is as clingy as they come. He regularly sleeps in his family’s beds, both when they’re home and when they’re away, because his sense of smell is heightened as an enderman and he needs to be surrounded in their scent when he misses them or when he’s feeling sad (especially because these are the only scents he knows, he doesn’t remember any of the scents from before Techno found him))

Big brothers being friends

- one day, after Tubbo’s near-constant raving about how great the Minecraft family is, Dream agrees to visit with him

- this visit happens to fall during the AE, so the only ones home are Wilbur and Tommy

- Dream and Wilbur take one look at each other and their similar situations in raising their chaotic, problem-child little brothers, and never let go

- the four of them live together for a good 5-6 months before Dream gets a letter and he and Tubbo need to leave

- after this visit, Dream and Wilbur stay in contact, and they visit each other even without their brothers around to drag them along

- I know I said that Wilbur makes fun of Dream for dying his hair, but that’s only in public

- in private, Wilbur confesses to Dream that he also dyes his hair, that his hair is naturally blond and he dyes it darker. After this, Dream and Wilbur start dying their hair together, it becomes something scheduled that they both look forward to immensely each month

- the next time Dream and Tubbo visit together, Wilbur is off with a water spirit who stole his heart (I refuse to write about fish Sally, fight me), and Phil is showing Ranboo some cool builds in his current hardcore world, so it's Techno and Tommy who welcome them in

- Techno starts out pretty hesitant of Dream, but Dream almost instantly is like

- "I'm gonna annoy the blood god into being my best friend"

- and whatever Dream sets his mind to, he achieves

- so the visit sort of ends with Dream and Techno making Tommy and Tubbo promise not to burn the house down, and leaving them home alone to go off to cause some chaos together

Father/son relationships

- As I said earlier, Phil primarily raised Wilbur and Tommy, and Techno primarily raised Ranboo, with Tubbo coming in and out like a feral cat

- to Wilbur and Tommy, Techno is more of a cool uncle who brings them valuable trinkets from his adventures, and they want to be like him one day

- Ranboo and Phil’s relationship is almost exactly the same as Wilbur and Tommy’s relationship with Techno

- when Techno brought Ranboo home, Phil pretty much decided that he had his hands full enough with raising his two chaotic boys, and he declared that it was finders-keepers, Techno found Ranboo, so he gets to raise him

- after L’Manburg, Ghostbur and Phil learn sign language, because the explosion blew out Phil’s hearing in his left ear, and Ghostbur’s so soft-spoken that it’s sometimes really difficult for him to hear his son speaking

For more random hc’s I have about these characters and the characters of the smp in general, check out this post

Some quick tags for people who commented on my post asking who wants this post, thanks for the support guys :’) @anotherweirdohere @haveadayasgreatasyou @jupiterjordan

[tashas-life]

Summer Shenanigans

Paxton and Devi spend the summer together and have a banging playlist

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Nothing really.”

“I’m outside, let’s go to the beach.”

Devi threw her bag through the back window of Paxton’s jeep and jumped in the front seat.

“Did you bring my suit?” Devi asks as she pulled on her seatbelt. Devi’s mom would never let her wear a bikini so she had to save up her money from working at the summer camp to buy it. She usually hid it at the back of her underwear drawer but since she’d been going swimming with Paxton more days than not, she just kept it in his car.

“Yep, I threw it in the laundry.” Paxton pulled out onto the road and Devi started messing with the music.

Her and Paxton were both working at the same summer camp so they spent most days together. Paxton had spent the last two summers working at the camp and Devi wanted to make her own money so she had applied too. It was also convenient because she always had a ride to work instead of asking her mom or Kamala. Paxton had promised to teach her to drive this summer but she always chickened out whenever he offered.

Devi always insisted on picking the music when they went anywhere and Paxton didn’t mind. She settled on Ariana Grande’s album and turned up the volume as Motive filled the car. Paxton rolled down all the windows and stuck his arm out to feel the breeze. It was one of the hottest days of the summer so Paxton’s shirt was mostly open and Devi had her new sunglasses on. This was the first summer that Devi was making real money and she tended to spend most of it by the time the next pay day had rolled around.

Once they got to the beach Devi jumped in the backseat and Paxton got out to stand guard. Devi was a pro at the quick change at this point and quickly shimmied into her bikini without having to take off her dress completely.

Once Devi hopped out of the backseat, Paxton grabbed the drinks cooler and Devi grabbed their towels and a speaker. Usually the beaches were packed on hot days but Paxton had a special super power of finding an empty part of the beach to spend the day. They found a spot to settle and Devi started applying sunscreen.

“Did you hear Kenny is sick again. Mono.” Paxton said with an eye roll and Devi groaned.

“You think he’s going to be out all week again? Taylor should just fire him and hire someone else at this point.” Devi tossed Paxton the sunscreen and laid down on her towel.

“Yea right, Taylor probably gave him the mono. He’ll never fire him.” Devi laughed and closed her eyes.

“I don’t even understand how they find the time to mack. Those kids never stop.” Devi said.

“Yea well, next week they’re going to be our problem again.” Usually each camp leader had about 5-10 kids to watch but with Kenny constantly gone they always ended up with more kids.

“Honestly, fuck Kenny.” Devi grumbled and Paxton nodded. “Did you see Eleanor’s insta post? Her and Trent are like embarrassingly in love.” Devi asked as she pulled out her phone to show him a boomerang of them kissing on some hike.

“I think it’s cute.” Paxton grinned as Devi made a vomiting face. “I invited them to come today but apparently they would rather be aloneeee.”

“That’s so nasty.” Devi said and Paxton laughed.

“I’m going in, you coming?” Paxton asked but Devi shook her head.

“Nah man, I’m working on my tan.” Devi said but really she just preferred laying on the sand and watching the water than actually being in it.

“Your loss.” Paxton replied, shoving her as he got up to go swimming.

……

“Okay, the thing is that I just don’t think I’m coordinated enough for this.” Devi said as she stood on Paxton’s skateboard. She felt a little embarrassed at how wobbly she was and that she was wearing her bike helmet that she got when she was ten. Paxton had his car door open and Lizzo’s album was playing. Juice blasted into the street and Devi knew people would complain soon.

“I’m literally holding on to you. You can’t fall.” Paxton said as he led her down the road.

“I feel like I could still fall.” Devi said as she started tipping back and Paxton’s grip tightened as he pulled her forward.

“I won’t let you fall Devi. Would you just trust me for once?” He asked playfully annoyed.

“Shut up, I literally trust you all the time.”

“You shut up.” Paxton countered.

“Wow, real mature.” Devi replied sarcastically.

Devi was too busy arguing to notice them start to go faster. Of course that is until she did notice. Then she was falling again and she was falling fast. Paxton managed to grab her before she fell on her face and swung her off the skateboard. Devi held onto Paxton as the skateboard started rolling down the street without them. They looked at each other and immediately started laughing.

“I think you might be right about the coordination thing.” Paxton said and Devi shoved him away from her.

“Or maybe you’re a bad teacher.” She grinned at his shocked face as she ran to grab the skateboard.

“I’m never teaching you anything ever again” he retaliated.

“Come over here and help me loser.” Paxton crossed his arm in defiance.

“Tell me I’m a good teacher.”

“Stop being a baby.”

“Wooooow, even more insults. Bad teacher and a baby.”

“Fine, you’re a good teacher. Now let’s get on with this.” Devi said as she started to get on the skateboard again.

“Thank you.” Paxton replied satisfied. He grinned and went to help her again.

……..

Usually, they were separated during their days at camp since each group rotated through activities but on Fridays all of the kids got to go to the community pool. Those were obviously Paxton’s favourite days because he got to hang out with Devi but he also loved getting to teach some of the kids how to swim.

Usually, Paxton stayed in the shallow end with the younger kids and Devi sat at the deep end with the older kids. Vacation by Dirty Heads was playing over the pool speakers and Devi had her legs in the water as she chatted with some kids.

“Yea, high school kind of sucks. What you gotta do is find a popular kid and force them to be your friend.” Devi told some kids who were going to be freshmen in the fall.

“That’s terrible advice.” Paxton laughed as he came to stand next to her in the pool. He had switched with Kenny who was now watching the younger kids. They had given up on learning to swim and were mostly just playing and splashing water at Kenny.

“Really? You got anything better?” Devi asked crossing her arms.

“Yes. Find something that makes you excited to go to school, for me that was swimming, for D it was being my best friend. And also don’t give a shit about what other people think of you.” Paxton told the kids and Devi kicked his arm. “Oh shit, I mean just don’t care what other people think.”

“I meant the best friend thing.” Devi rolled her eyes.

“You were literally obsessed-“ before Paxton could finish Devi had jumped in and shoved Paxton’s head underwater.

Paxton managed to push Devi away from him and had his arm out separating them.

“Hey, you better stop or your top is going to fall off again.” Paxton laughed and Devi’s face started burning up. Yes, the bikini was cute but it wasn’t the most reliable bathing suit she had. Rough housing had led to a very embarrassing incident that Devi was trying to forget.

“I’m going to kill you.” Devi lunged at him and Paxton managed to grab her arms.

“Hey anger issues, chill out.” Paxton said with a grin. Devi managed to pull her arms away and splashed Paxton.

“Go do your job loser!” Devi yelled as she turned to go back to her post.

……

Devi swung the door open and was surprised to see Paxton. Usually he just texted her when he got to her house.

“Let’s go for a drive.” Paxton said as he held up his car keys.

“Okayyy.” Devi said as she grabbed her backpack from the door.

“Here ya go.” He said as he tossed the keys to her. She just about dropped them and didn’t move from her front door.

“Naaaa, I don’t think today’s the day.” Devi said nervously. She had failed her drivers test last month because she hadn’t practiced enough. It was the first time she hadn’t prepared and it was also the first time she had failed a test.

“Come on D, your test is in a few weeks and don’t you want to have your licence by the time school starts?” Paxton asked as he opened the drivers side door. He motioned for her to get in and she groaned before going to the car.

It wasn’t legal for Paxton to teach her how to drive but her only other option was her mother which hadn’t worked out. Devi was pretty sure she failed her test because driving with her mom had made her so anxious that getting behind the wheel made her want to throw up even when her mom wasn’t around. She had even done drivers ed but that apparently wasn’t enough because she still failed.

“Are you sure? What if I scratch your car or something?” Devi asked as they both got in the car.

“Then I’ll literally kill you, so don’t scratch my baby.” Paxton said as he gently caressed his dash.

“That’s not really helpful.” Devi muttered as she nervously changed the seat settings.

“We’ll go to the school parking lot. It’s just down the street and the lot will be empty.” Devi nodded as she turned the car on. She kept her foot on the brakes as she looked at Paxton desperately.

“Listen to Tai, you’re going to be A-O-K.” Paxton said as he turned up the music. “Also, don’t forget to signal, you lost so many points for that.”

Paxton didn’t look nervous at all which made Devi feel a little bit better. If he could be confident in her driving skills than so could she. Devi signalled and did a very exaggerated shoulder check before she pulled onto the road. There were no cars around the whole way to the school so the only thing she had to deal with were some stop signs and one set of lights. She totally could do this.

Devi’s whole body relaxed once they pulled into the parking lot and she didn’t have to worry about hitting things or people anymore.

“That was pretty good actually. How did you fail?” Paxton asked.

“Probably because I suck at driving?” Devi told him as she put the car in park.

“Shut up, you had issues with the parallel park right?” Paxton asked as he got out of the car.

“What are you doing?” Devi asked as he closed the door.

“Im going to teach you how to parallel park.” Paxton grinned sticking his head through the window.

Devi waited as he grabbed stuff from out of his trunk. A bin full of blankets and an empty cooler he had forgotten about. He set them up as pretend cars and he went to the drivers side.

“Okay, line yourself up.” Paxton said as Devi slowly moved the car so the bin of blankets was lined up with the back of the jeep.

Paxton gave her instructions and ran around indicating for her how far to back up and how much to turn the wheel and eventually she got into the spot.

“I don’t think they’re going to let you guide me into a spot on the test.” Devi said annoyed that it took so long.

“You just gotta keep practicing, eventually it’ll just be second nature.” Paxton said as he got back in the car. “Pull out and this time I’m not going to help you.” Paxton said as she groaned.

“I hate this.” Devi said getting frustrated.

“You won’t hate this once you can drive yourself anywhere you want. Now start moving before I force you to practice highway driving.” Paxton said as he relaxed into his seat.

Devi wanted to hit him and get angry but she knew he was her only hope of passing her test in a month so she contained herself and kept practicing.

When the day of Devi’s test came around she felt pretty confident she was going to fail again. Paxton had given her a pep talk before he left her house the night before but it hadn’t helped with her nerves.

“You got this, okay? Just make sure you signal, and don’t forget the emergency brake when you do the hill park.” He told her as he held her shoulders. “By this time tomorrow, you’re going to be fully licensed because you’re a great driver.”

Devi was just as shocked as her mother when she pulled into the DMV and had almost no deductions on her test. Nalini didn’t know about Paxton teaching her to drive but she managed to convince her that is was because the tester was a lot nicer than the last one. She had smiled the entire time she got her new license and had raced back to the car. She knew Paxton would be waiting for her at her house and she was beyond excited to tell him that his methods had actually worked.

Paxton was leaning on his car checking his phone when they got home. She had to stop herself from running to Paxton to tell him the good news. She got out of the car and Nalini kissed her head before going into the house.

“How’d it go?” He asked as she crossed her arms and pretended to look disappointed.

“I passed babyyy!” She screamed as she whipped out her temporary license.

“I fucking knew it! You never trust me.” Paxton grabbed her and spun her around.

“Where do you wanna go? I’m driving.” Devi said and Paxton laughed as he got in the passenger seat.

…..

“Can you spot me ten bucks?” Devi asked as she searched through her backpack for some money.

“You have literally worked all summer, how are you always broke?” Paxton muttered as he pulled out some change from his console.

“I just don’t have any cash on me.”

Paxton gave her a handful of change and Devi looked at him annoyed.

“Quarters? Really?” Devi struggled to hold all the coins and Paxton shrugged.

“Take it or leave it, but if you want boba I suggest you take it.” Paxton grinned and Devi rolled her eyes as she realized she couldn’t open the door holding all the change.

Paxton laughed as he leaned over to open the door for her. “Get me a milk tea.” He said as she hopped out of the car.

“If I even make it there without any hands.” She grumbled.

By the time she got back with their drinks, Paxton had all the windows down blasting Young Dumb & Broke by Khalid.

“Really?!” She had to scream for him to hear her over the music. He lip synced to the lyrics as he pointed to her and dramatically danced to the music. “You’re so annoying!” She screamed as he took a big sip of his tea. He pointed at the drink as if to say that it tastes good and gave her the ok sign with his fingers. Devi just rolled her eyes and sipped on her mango slush. She guessed it was worth the embarrassing amount of quarters she gave to the cashier and having to listen to Paxton call her dumb and broke.

“Are you going to make it to Trent’s this weekend? Last party of the summer.” Paxton asked as he turned the music down.

“Have you met my mother? She’s not going to let me go to Trent’s house for a party.” Devi replied looking through Paxton’s Spotify.

“Since when do you tell your mom about going to parties?” Paxton asked snorting.

“I’m trying to turn over a new leaf this year. No more lying, especially to my mom.” She said as she put on Savage by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé.

“What if she knew I was taking you?” Paxton knew the party would suck without Devi there.

“Yeaaaaa, my mom might like you now but not that much.”

“Come on D, it’s the last party of the summer. You have to go!” Paxton pouted as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Fine, fine, I’ll figure out a way to go out but there’s no way she’ll let me stay out past 11.” Paxton smiled at her and agreed to be DD so he could get her home by 11.

By the time the weekend rolled around, Nalini didn’t even seem bothered by Devi leaving. Her and Kamala had been going crazy planning her wedding and Devi tended to be unhelpful in that area. She was only good for the grunt work, which she was sure there would be a lot of once it got closer to the day.

All she had to say was that she was going to Eleanor’s house for a back to school hangout and Nalini quickly agreed to get her out of the house. Technically she wasn’t lying because they had to pick up Eleanor at her house and they were having a back to school hangout. It was just a hangout with most of the school and alcohol.

Devi acted as casual as possible as she closed the front door but she sprinted as soon as the door closed. She didn’t want to risk her mom seeing her actually getting in Paxton’s car instead of Fabiola’s. Devi had been asking her mom for a car for weeks but still nothing. Her mom was convinced that she should have enough money saved since she had a summer job but summer camps didn’t exactly pay top dollar and Devi was pretty irresponsible with her money this summer. She figured she had two more summers to hustle before she went to Princeton.

“You look so pretty in that dress.” Paxton said as soon as she got in the car.

Devi blushed and couldn’t control her smile. “Shut up loser.”

Paxton smiled back at her as they went to pick up Eleanor and Fabiola.

Trent’s house was packed full of people but he was standing at the door waiting for Eleanor. He hugged her tightly and dragged her off to the back of the house.

Paxton went to grab them some drinks and handed Devi and Fabiola beers. “Bread soda.”

Devi rolled her eyes and shoved him away. Fabiola had learned a long time to ignore their inside jokes and she wandered off.

Paxton was always treated like a god at parties and everyone wanted their time with him. Paxton gave people his typical cool guy head nod and pulled Devi outside where it was less crowded.

“So, you excited for school to start?” Paxton asked and Devi looked confused.

“Sure, I guess.” Paxton looked nervous which made Devi more confused. “Why are you making weird small talk?”

“I just guess this is the last time we’re hanging out before school starts.” Devi’s confusion became anger very quickly.

“What is that supposed to mean? Like things are going to change when school starts?” Devi questioned starting to get upset.

“No, chill Devi. I mean I do want things to change but not the way you think.” Now Devi was back to confused.

Paxton looked frustrated and looked around them. No one was around or paying attention to them. Paxton turned back to Devi and got way closer to her than she was used to. Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and SZA was playing in the house but it sounded far away.

He touched her cheek and lifted her mouth to his. “Is this okay?” He asked nervously.

Instead of answering Devi pushed her lips against his. Paxton smiled against her and pulled her tight to him.

……

“You want me to pick you up tomorrow?” Paxton texted and Devi smiled when she saw the message.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” She replied quickly.

“No worries, we’re both going to the same place. Better for the environment and all that”

“I’ll make a driving playlist.” He sent back a smiley face and an ok hand.

Devi couldn’t wait for tomorrow. This was going to be the best summer of her life.

[darling-i-read-it]

Drink

Dale Cooper x reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: tension, its all tension, intense making out, drinking, gambaling, leading to smut and insituation to smut 

Author’s Note: Not this being way longer than I intended it to be. Blame it on the fact that I was watching Euphoria and it filled me with inspiration because that show slaps. I got a little carried away so it’s probably a little ooc toward the end but I hope you like it lmao 

Requested: by anon, You posted that gifset of dale cooper with the suit and glasses yesterday and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since so maybe you should write a fic inspired by it 👀? Like reader goes undercover with him and he’s taken aback by how beautiful she looks and there’s sexual tension between them the entire night until afterwards where he pulls her aside for a steamy make out session. Might be ooc but I’m thirsty so 🤷‍♀️

Summary: the request 

Genre: tension? Almost smut but not quite? 

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

(not my gif) (the gif that inspired it all by @/myellenficent)

“You’re prepared for tonight?” Dale asked. You crossed your arms to protect from the chill in the air. You nodded stiffly.

“I am.”

“Remember, something fancy that isn’t too flashy. I’m sure you’ll be fine though,” he promised. You nodded again.

“I’ll throw something together. You don’t be too flashy though huh?” you teased. The two of you stopped in the hallway you were walking down. You were standing in front of each other's hotel rooms, which were separate.

“I’ll try my best,” he digressed. You nodded and leaned against your doorway before turning around and opening it, slipping inside.

You and Dale were new partners. You had been friends for ages but only in passing. It wasn’t until your partner died that you were able to actually work together. You had done a few cases together but this was the first one you had to go undercover for. It was odd, seeing Dale in this kind of setting. He was very good at what he did and you were very good at what you did. You should have been paired together years ago.

You looked through your suitcase for something to wear. You were going to go and try and seek out one of the murderers of Laura Palmer. Dale had a theory that he would be there tonight and you weren’t about to question him when he really got going. 

The plan was to gamble, act natural, fend off any woman and get the information you needed. You weren’t that worried. 

You picked out a dress that you had been saving for a special occasion. Just your style and the fit of it always made you feel good. You were kind of excited to wear something that wasn’t casual. You were also excited to hang out with Dale. You knew the other local police force would be there but you figured this was the closest you were going to get to a night out with Dale.

There was a knock on your door five minutes before you were supposed to meet everyone in the lobby. You ran your hands over your hair one more time, checked yourself out in the mirror and then opened the door. 

Dale was wearing a fancier suit than usual, his hair slicked back and a pair of fake glasses over his eyes. You smiled, raising your hands to his bowtie to fix it as it was kind of crooked.

“You clean up nice Coop,” you admitted. “Not that you aren’t already clean most of the time,” you joked. 

Dale was awe struck. He had thought he might have feelings for you but only in passing, never in actuality. But you stood in front of him, wearing that fancy dress, your hair done up all nice. He couldn’t help but feel his emotions come forward in full force. 

“Cooper?” you said as he hadn’t answered you. 

“You look absolutely stunning,” he admitted. You smiled and looked down at your outfit like you weren’t even aware you had been wearing it.

“You think?”

“I know.” His voice had a low grumble to it that you didn’t recognize. It made you let out a stiff shortness of breath. You had to look away from his face.

“Well we should probably go, Harry and everyone will be waiting.” He seemed to snap out of it then. He cleared his throat.

“You’re right. You have your gamabling cash?” he questioned. 

“I can’t gamble. I figured I’d just be your arm candy,” you admitted through a laugh. He put his hand on his hip, creating an arm holder for you. You wrapped your arm around his arm and smiled, walking next to him. 

Harry and Ed stood in the lobby. They eyed the two of you, especially Harry who had been hearing the end of both of your emotions. 

“You look real good,” Ed said, eyeing your outfit. Dale almost got defensive but he held it down.

“Thank you very much Ed.”

-

The night started swiftly enough. You managed to strip away from Dale for a moment and walk around the room, eyeing the area as he started to play a card game. You watched him from afar and navigated through the room. Harry hung back and grabbed your arm gently, pulling you aside.

“If you don’t make a move tonight I’m going to lose my goddamn mind,” he said. You laughed gently.

“We’re on a case, Sheriff Truman,” you whispered. He raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. Look over at Cooper right now and tell me what you’re feeling about this case.” You rolled your eyes and looked back over at Dale. There was a girl on his lap, whispering in his ear. You couldn’t see his expression because she was blocking but you had to give it to Harry. It got to you. 

“Just focus Harry,” you muttered.

“Only if you do.” 

You walked back to the other side of the room and the girl was off Dale’s lap. You pushed it out of your head. You didn’t want to think about it. 

Dale however, was only looking at you. He was trying so hard to focus on the task at hand but he felt the tension in the air. It wrapped around him like a present waiting to be opened. His eyes were always flashing back to you and you were always watching him until you weren’t.

Harry’s hand wrapped around your arm as he pulled you aside. Whispers between the two of you. His chest started to rise and fall and he was going to lose this game of cards and then there was a woman on his lap and he had to tell her to leave because he was only focused on you and he should have been focused on the case. 

Eventually though he was able to talk to a man who knew more about Laura's death. He was able to get information he came for. And the second that conversation ended he walked up to Harry.

“I need a drin-“

“Cooper,” you called, standing beside the two of them.

“Hold on a second, I want a-”

“Coop,” you repeated.

“Y/N I-”

“Dale,” you hissed. You had his full attention. His eyes were back on you now and everything he had just been about to say was gone. “Please tell us what happened to Laura.” Harry raised his finger. 

“Will you write it down in the report?” Dale nodded and let out a harsh breath. 

“I’m going to talk to Ed,” you said and gave Harry a look. You walked over there and let Dale spit out whatever it was that he wasn’t able to say in one sentence. Harry seemed to appreciate it and he understood more about what happened to Laura.

“What are you doing over here?” Ed asked.

“Getting Dale a drink before he passes out from whatevers bothering him,” you muttered. You raised your hand and quickly ordered Dale’s regular.

“I think it’s you,” Ed muttered.

“Huh?”

“Listen, speaking as a man, I think it’s you,” he repeated. You furrowed your brows. Before you could ask for more clarification Dale grabbed your arm which surprised you. You were holding his drink in your hand.

“This is for-” you started and he took the drink, handed it to Ed and dragged you away. You had barely gotten out of view before his lips were on yours. He pressed you flush against the wall of one of the off rooms in the lodge he had managed to find. You pulled away to breath and he looked at you. You had never seen his eyes look like that. Filled with want.

You kissed him again with more fire behind your own lips and he took that happily. He picked up your leg and hiked it up on his side. You let him. After a few moments of the most intense make out session you had ever had you had to pull away.

“We have to go and follow up on the information you got from that guy,” you whispered. You fixed his glasses and he fixed your dress. He let out a long sigh and nodded, pulling himself together. He knew you were right.

“Later,” he promised. You walked back into the main room and grabbed Dale’s drink from Ed to hand to him.

“Drink up. I’m going to talk to Harry.” Dale watched you go and then quickly followed, taking a drink of the one you had gotten for him.