#he��s struggling sm w his magic

[the-possum-writes]

aaaaa omg what are ur thoughts on farmworld finn?

he is so tragic and ugh i love how they went abt him after the entire ice crown thing, torment that man more i want him traumatized and troubled !!!

personally i'm loving all these finns we've been getting, i love him sm !!! from giant husband himbo original finn to dilf farmworld finn to cute little baby finn, hehe

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HIM! we're getting well fed on Finn content, amen! uvu I wrote a fic for Ice!Finn a few years ago and i was so happy to see him and Farmworld again. Dear glob i know everyone is struggling- but there's just something about trauma on this sunshine boy in general that seasons him with so much flavor, gives his character more layers ya know.

I headcannon that they're closely the same age (Obsidian Finn is probably in his early 20's since he's not jacked yet but is growing the beard and has the tattoo, Himbo Finn being around his early/mid 30's with Farmer Finn being in his late 30's) where Farmer Finn feels waaay more mature than our Himbo Finn back at Ooo, but like, homie was able to move forward with his life despite the crown's magic and all the shit he did. He married and had kids! ultimate husband material <3 although he probs doesn't know how to cook since they've kept the soup running for so long. But the homeboy is still going through tough times ever since his "wife" died, like you can see how he's a bit more serious, careful (and drinks) but he still does the right thing and holds a stong face for the kiddos.

Also i love his design, it's soooo *chef kisses* although the double hat thing is kinda silly, i'm digging the shorter hair and the peach fuzz. I hope he made it out alive cause i'll start bawling if not ;w;

[bi-zo-zo]

BUFFY SEASON 6!!! (Triggwr warning for S/A and Mental Health Issues)

Imma just use this app to vent cause no ones gonna see it. I first watched that season and felt crazy attached to it when I was 10. (okay maybe an 10 year old shouldn't have been watching some of the scenes but where's the fun in being a sheltered child I legit watched it w my mum) Back then watching it I resonated with it but I didn't know how I resonated with it I just yeh it become like a comfort season.

Flash forward to the current day, and I'm older and struggling sm silently with my mental health, and I randomly watched it again today after seeing an ad for the new Slayers project. HOLY SH*T !!! That's why it resonated. Here's a season of a show where mental health is the main antagonist. Every character that u love and aspire to be like is showing how they aren't these perfect happy go lucky versions of theirselves. Now, don't get me wrong, Buffy has never shyed away from showing it in early seasons, and it was never like any character was never portrayed as one dimensional. However, this one season emphasises it SO MUCH MORE! Like when it shows Willow's magic addiction and how she eventually goes dark after Tara gets shot, Xander leaving Anya at the alter and her becoming a demon again, Buffy being ripped out of *possibly heaven* by her friends and coming back wrong and her dealing w that and being disgusted w herself for using Spike as a coping mechanism, Spike ultimately S/A Buffy and running away to go get his soul back from the demon trials after he realises what he's done, Willow dealing w Tara's death and like in the episode where it's Buffy's birthday and the main group are locked in the house by one of Anya's old friend from when she was still a demon, the way it shows how Dawn is dealing being in the background of everyone who is supposed to be the adults taking care of her not even giving her a second thought sometimes. Those are the main plots but I know there are a few more. ALL OF THESE ARE JUST PERFECT EXAMPLES OF EVERYONE STRUGGLING AND NOT JUST BEING HAPPY AND CLICKING LIKE THEY USED TO BECAUSE NOT EVERYONE CAN! Now I know why I resonated with this series so much and still do... because IT'S REAL LIFE! Everyone is having problems and sometimes they just can't address them to those closest and sometimes they can but it's still just as hard dealing w them. Yes the plots in the show are a bit of a far fetched example but regardless it really shows people struggle and sometimes everyone around u loves you deeply but they can't always be the solution.

To put what I'm really meaning into perspective in the earlier seasons like say season 1 or something after the fight with the 'Big Bad' or just a general demon they main trio and Giles always had each others back. If there was a problem they solved it together and they were in high-school and although they weren't care free their lives in comparison to season 6 weren't the same. Now this is because yes they matured but they also got worn down by the constant struggle of it all. It must've been hard being a young adult and having to worry abt the apocalypse and getting your essay in on time. However, I think it would've been interesting to put who they were in season 1 in the place of the events of season 6 because personally when I think of it that way I think they would've been more open with each other and it probably would've altered the course of the entire season. That's where it comes down to after all the constant fighting they realised they themselves were fighting internal battles due to it all.

To anyone who did read this which I know will be barely any thank you I know it's long. ❤️

[slythraco]

I love tour work sm! Please could you do a sfw alphabet for Tom?

Author’s note: yeees omg !!! I’ve been waiting for this one ! Turn in up ! 😂 (thank you for your compliment btw, means the world to me ❤️)

Masterlist 

_____________

A = Attraction (how do they show their attracted to you?)

Compliments, a lot of them, all the time. He wants you to feel like the most beautiful thing in the world and it started before you even started dating. He was just so pleased by your smile when he was complimenting you so he never stopped since then.

He also tease you a lot, but it’s never in a rude way, as a genuine funny men it’s really just in his nature to annoy the persons he likes so he always make a little fun of you before making himself apologise to you by complimenting you. It’s his way of having your intention.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/why not?)

It’s a big YES ! You actually talked about it really seriously and considered having a family in a close future. Partly because Tom is already 33 years old so he don’t want to wait to much but also just because he knows you would do an amazing mother at his side.

Not that he wants to put pressure on you but he does talks about it a lot and likes to give slight clues that he wants to make a baby with you really soon. It’s actually a matter of time before you start expanding the family.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Tom’s favorite activity with you is probably it, he could spend his life cuddling with you. Something he loves to do is laying on the couch, his head on your lap as you play with his hair while you’re watching tv. He easily fall asleep in this position which can’t help but making your heart melt every time.

He also loves to lay in bed with you while you read your favorite book. You’ll have you head on his chest and it will be his turn to play with your hair or caress your skin, never failing to give you goosebumps.

D = Dates (What are dates like with them?)

Really cheesy and romantic, one thing he loves to do is prepare surprise meal so you’ll get back from work and discover the whole house decorated in a romantic ambiance. Candles, roses, warm light and Tom in his best costume. Than you’ll share the meal he either spent the whole day making and almost burn the house at least 3 times or pay someone to do it, but it’s always delicious anyway.

One day he brought you to a fairground and you both went back in childhood for a night it was magical ! One of your best date with Tom.

E = Emotions (Do they express their emotions? If so, how?)

Yes ! Tom is a very emotional person and you’re the only one that even if he wanted to, couldn’t hide they’re feeling. He’s also a really authentic person so if he’s happy he will smile and laugh with you but if he’s sad he won’t be scared to cry if front of you because he feels safe enough around you.

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love)

One day he was just looking at you while you were telling him about your day while cuddling on the couch like you both love to do, and it just hit him, he realised how he loves to just sit and look at your beautiful face. He could listen to your voice for the rest of his life.

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Yes, he’s the most gentle person in the world. Every time he touches you it’s always super soft and loving. He loves to caress your skin and never falling to give you chills down your spine.

He’s also super gentle in his words, he always careful of what he says to not hurt you or say something you could take wrongly.

H = Hands (Do they hold hands? If so, how?)

Yes, all the time, but literally ALL THE TIME. He just need to feel you hand in yours, so outside when you’re walking together he takes you hand, when you’re sitting on the couch, he takes your hand, even in public when there’s paparazzi following you around he takes your hand to make sure everyone knows you’re his.

Btw, Interlacing your fingers together is a must for him.

I = Impression (What was their first impression of you?)

The first thing he noticed about you is your smile, you directly seems like a sympathetic person which he loved. So he had a really good impression of you.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

A little bit, like every relationship there’s always a bit of jealous when a guy compliment you a little too much but he genuinely trust you so you are not the person to make him jealous.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who intiated the first kiss?)

Kissing Tom is always soft, passionate and just full of love. Also, you do it all the time, it’s like he can’t get enough of your lips, he could kiss them for hours if he didn’t need to breath to survive.

He’s the one who kissed you first, he just couldn’t control himself anymore that night so he kissed you in a passionate and hungry kiss and let me tell you, it was the best kiss of your two lives.

L = Love language (What are their love languages?)

Affection, Tom gives you a lot of affection, he wants you to feel loved and appreciated. He likes to cover you with kisses all over your skin, or hug you for hours. He’ll never get enough of feel your body against his.

M = Mornings (Are they a morning person? What are they like in the morning?)

Definitely not a morning person, it takes him ages to wake up, you usually have to return in your room a few times for him to actually wake up. And when he’s up, he’s really grumpy and slow in his movement, it’s funny and cute to see and you love to annoy him in the mornings.

N = Nickel (Do they spoil you? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Yes ! Your smile, is the most precious thing to him and he just love to see it when he buys you something. But, Tom offer gifts pretty rarely, one occasion like your birthday, Valentine’s Day, any important day in your couple and maybe a few times between them. But when he offers something it’s always full of meaning !

Like, one time he bought you a shelf necklace because one day, when you were at the beach without him, you took a shelf and brought it back to offer it to him.

O = Open (Do they say everything about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or overtime?)

Tom is a really open person, very talkative so even before you two were dating he already like to talk about his life considering the fact that he had a pretty crazy one. But it’s was mostly about his work and anecdotes on set etc. When he started catching feeling for you he felt comfortable enough to talk to you about more personal things like his past relationships or the problems he struggled with in the past and he just got you two even more close.

P = Patience (Do they have patience? Are they angered easily?)

Tom is the most patient guy on earth, You often wonder how he puts up with you. He needs a lot to get angry at you or anyone else, this is something you’re really wanting to learn from him.

Q = Quaint (What’s their favorite non modern thing to do?)

Take Polaroid pictures, he has that old camera that he carries everywhere and he takes photos of every moment he feels like to picture. He stock his photos in a little hidden box, sometimes you two like to open it again and just remember memories you made together. The pictures are mostly you and willow or him with you.

Your favorite picture is one you took the first night you slept at his house, you can see the naked man being the goofy Tom he is by walking out of the shower with a “hat” made of bubble from the bath you took together. It was hilarious and you two always laugh when you see the images.

R = Remember (What’s their favorite moment in the relationship?)

The first time you told him: “I love you” ! You said it without even realising it, it truly came from your heart and it surprised the both of us but it was such a important moment for Tom that he will never forget it.

S = Security (How protective are they?)

Tom is really protective, he cares about your security a lot and always gets worried when you’re about to do something dangerous and he only calms down when you’re safe again.

T = Talking (what do they like to talk about?)

Everything and anything as long as it means talking to you but the two subject he could talk for hours are dogs and music. You can sit in front of him and just nod a couple time without even responding and he would go on a full conversation about the different breeds of dogs and how they are amazing. And honestly it’s super cute to look at him all excited and passionate about these two subjects.

U = Ugly (Whats a bad habit of theirs?)

Does Tom even have defaults ? Oh yeah, He loves to devalue himself, for absolutely no reason. This breaks your heart every time and always comfort him so that he can love himself more. He’s so perfect to you that sometimes you don’t understand why he’s so hard on himself.

V = Vaunt (Do they like to show you off?

Yes...all the time, the little smile on his face every time he present you as his girlfriend is just too adorable. Then he would talk to everyone about amazing you are and how lucky he is to have you in his life. He’s just proud of himself and proud of your union.

W = Whole (Do they feel incomplete without you?)

Tom is a different person without you. When he has to leave to a set for a movie he looks a little sad. He misses you every time you’re not together and always count the days before retrieving you.

X = Xylophone (What’s a song that reminds of your guy’s relationship?)

It will rain - Bruno Mars

Z = Zzz (Are they a heavy or a light sleeper ?)

Heavy sleeper for sure, like said before you have to shake him up a few times before he actually make up so yeah. He loud snores can testify it !

[mechanicalinertia]

What’s next for Divine Patronage?

So my Ranma / Ah My Goddess! / other miscellaneous anime that take place in 1990′s Tokyo fanfic has become more popular than anything else I’ve ever written. I may have classes but this is my designated ‘leisure activity’ now for sure.

Anyway, I have a rough idea for this initial ‘arc’, and how it’ll end. Fine. Whatever. More importantly, though, I have continuing ideas about how to cross over more and more mid-90′s anime and other things into this mishmash where Urd and Ranma have to ‘problem-solve’ things. Christ I wrote like 9 possible arc setups last night; it’ll take me years to make good on them if I do at all.

That’s why I’m a-posting brief summaries of them here, so if I give up on these people can just steal em’.

1. CRIMES OF THE MISHIMA GROUP AGAINST GOOD TASTE

Sayoko Mishima and her zaibatsu god-nap Keiichi and in doing so royally piss off Belldandy. Urd has to snatch the poor kid, who is now a minor god, out from Sayoko’s clutches before Belldandy just loses it and nukes earth in silent rage. Ranma can’t beat the compound alone, though, so Urd turns to Akiko Natsume - the actual head of Mishima - and her all purpose combat android for some help. Unfortunately, the android has a cat brain. Cue Ranma struggling to confront his fears to save the world.

Crossover with: All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku, a medium-obscure OVA from the 90′s starring Megumi Hayashibara as the wacky cat-bot-girl with Saeko Shimazu (Kodachi’s voice among others) as Akiko. Good fun.

2. FATE / STRANGE; DAYS

Remember Lind, the Valkyrie from the Angel Eater Arc of AMG? Well, she back. She intervened in Fate / Zero’s Holy Grail War (assumed to take place around 1994) and contracted w/ Kiritsugu the way Urd did with Ranma. Now Kiri may have lost all his lady companions, but he gets Illya back from Germany and is raising her alongside Shirou with the help of Illya’s wacky maids. Maybe lil’ Rin and Sakura are involved, too, I dunno.

Anyway, Lind considers the Sailor Senshi a threat to the divine order (they do appear to predate human civilization) - especially since Saturn’s Glaive of Silence is believed to be the Norse Gungnir, Spear of Destiny, Odin’s superweapon that could (even in the OG myths) rewrite reality itself to render enemies nonexistent.

So Lind gets Kiritsugu, Arturia Saber, and Prisma Illya to go to Tokyo and track down Sailor Saturn with Ranma’s help. Then they end up teleporting to the distant past of the Silver Milennium, back when the Senshi’s magic rendered the other planets of the Solar System inhabitable. Cue a string of John Carter references.

Crossover with: Fate / Zero, Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya. Might even separate the Fate story from the whole Saturn / Gungnir subplot - they’re just hunting Kirei and Gil, then. Sure. Fine.

3. THE FUTURE IS HERE AND IT SUCKS

Skuld time travels into the future, only to find that almost every single timeline ends with humanity being wiped out before the 22nd century - perhaps by SM’s Great Freeze, perhaps by other factors. Unfortunately, she forgot to close her possible-future-timeline portals properly, which leads to various cyberpunk futures bouncing off one another for supremacy in 1996.

(Look I wanted to just fuckin do BGC or GITS crossover. Couldn’t decide. Why not both?)

Crossover with: BGC 2032 (Or my 2069 rebot), Ghost in the Shell, Silent Mobius (maybe)

4. GAMES OF THE GODS

The obligatory ‘gang plays an RPG’ sitcom episode, only a) it’s Cyberpunk 2020 because I’ve read that system’s books, and b) the goddesses all bring their boytoys along to be sucked into the game world as their player characters. (Urd gets Ranma, Bell gets Keiichi, Skuld is the GM, Peorth gets Ryoga, Lind gets Kiritsugu) (I guess I better do an arc where Peorth patronizes Ryoga to screw with Urd...)

5. GUNS, BOMBS, ROCK N’ ROLL

Ranma gets dragged along by Urd for a vacation, theoretically to LA. But then after getting bored of the Obligatory Beach Episode, Urd rediscovers that she has a daughter in Chicago - Rally Vincent. She and Ranma rush off to screw up the events of the manga and protect her daughter from the brainwashing of a lesbian rapist crime lord. (I wish I was making that last bit up). Maybe Priss of BGC tags along to really hammer in the WACKY KENICHI SONODA CROSSOVER thing?

Crossover with: Gunsmith Cats, Riding Bean, maybe BGC

6. HEISEI BLOSSOMS BLOOMING

The Japanese government decides to reactivate the Teikoku Kagekidan project, this time using idoru as the mecha pilots instead of the Takarazura Revue thing they had going on in the 20′s. The K-on girls audition, the Love Live girls audition, someone in the Ranma cast or something tries out as well. Mecha are now nuclear-powered instead of steam-powered (whatever that means)

Crossover with: Original Sakura Wars franchise, Tite Kubo iteration non-involved. maybe K-on and Love Live

7. RANMA’S LUDICROUS EXCURSION: STAR-DIAMOND DUST IS UNCRUSADERABLE

Ranma gets a stand. Urd thinks it’s like her angel. Yare yare daze.

Crossover with: What do you think, genius?

8. ETERNAL SUMMER

Ranma gets trapped in a temporal anomaly centered around Tomobiki Town. Now it’s August 1982, Ataru and Lum are about to get married, and unless he can stop the total breakdown of the pocket reality within the seven days before the time loop resets he’ll become part of it forever. Trippy New Wave Existentialist Bullshit - Screwball Comedy meets Body Horror. Also see: Higurashi.

Crossover with: Urusei Yatsura

9. TRICOWBOYOUTLAW BEBOPGUNSTAR: EFF YOU, SPACE COWBOY

A valiant attempt to crossover all three of the late 90′s ‘Cowboy shonen’ anime of the time in one universe. A shared universe? Nah. We’re probably just gonna transplant all the characters into 90′s Tokyo again and watch the body count pile up.

Crossover with: Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Trigun. Oh, and maybe one of those ‘robo-maid’ shows from the aughties (Hand Maid May, Mahoromatic, Steel Angel Kurimi), just to fuck with everyone.

10. COPS AND ROBOTS

Ranma gets in trouble with the police for sneaking onto the Babylon Project, forced into community service, and then ends up blackmailed into the long-running grudgematch between the SV2 Labor Squad and the Tokyo Highway Patrol.

Crossover with: You’re Under Arrest, Patlabor (original OVA mostly)

11. SUPERIOR AUTOMATRONIC DISPUTE RESOLUTION: GO NAGAI EAT YOUR HEART OUT

Skuld gets in a fight with some deities from some rival pantheons, and as a proper grudgematch resolution they all resolve to build Giant Robots and then Battle Royale them. Ranma has to pilot one.

Crossover with: NOTHING.

12. THE HOUND OF ULSTER BARKS AT MIDNIGHT

Cu Chullain, husbando of Ex-Valkyrie and turncoat Irish goddess Scathach, teams up with Ranma in Dublin to stop IRA extremists from resurrecting the Tuatha De Dannan, specifically the Morrigan. A teenage Bazett (from Fate) shows up and gets all fangirly.

13. TALES FROM THE OOPS

An abandoned particle accelerator built in the 80′s near Stockholm may or may not cause Ragnarok. Ranma and some edgy Swedish Teenagers have to deal with 90′s recession bullshit and clean the place out

Crossover with: Tales from the Loop, Things From the Flood

That’s about it, honestly. I have other things I’d like to crossover with, tbh, mostly mecha stuff. Among them:

- Cannon God Exaxxion

- Eva

- Gundam UC

- Muv-Luv

-Negmia / another Ken Akumatsu trashpile (and I mean that in the best possible way)

Shit this is fun. Imma make another one of these posts with even more ludicrious crossovers later. Peace out.

[caramelohaechan]

Benji’s ~ (W. Yukhei)

my first lucas writing hehe :)

~

Fandom: WayV, NCT U, SuperM

Genre: Fluff

Warning(s): gender neutral!reader // this will get you craving good hot cocoa, and can make you sad benji’s isn’t real // also i tried my best to edit it so that it’s gender neutral but I sometimes slip up so just let me know if you catch anything!

~

             It was thirty degrees outside, and you were in line waiting for hot chocolate from a food truck. 

As your luck usually went, it could’ve been worse. You could have been like the lady behind you, who somehow thought that dressing cute was more important than her health, and was wearing only one layer of clothing that didn’t look like it was providing much warmth. You could also be so unlucky as to be the guy who had just reached the front of the line, only to realize he had forgotten his wallet. Fortunately, your luck was just good enough that you weren’t either of those people, because you had your money stuffed into the back of your phone case, and your boyfriends jacket was just thick enough to keep the harsh winds to a minimum. 

Unfortunately, your luck ended with that. Your body was warm, but you had forgotten gloves and a beanie, so your fingers and ears felt like they could fall off at any given moment. You had also managed to get the news about the truck late, so you had been in line for about twenty minutes already. 

You were only doing this because of aforementioned boyfriend, of course, because he had been busy beyond belief lately and today was his first day off in weeks. When you heard that Benji’s was going to be driving around the city and stopping in several areas throughout the day you had been ecstatic. Lucas never shut up about their hot cocoa since last winter, and since the truck was only every used randomly, you had taken the chance and woken up early and did your best to track down the bright red vehicle. Of course, now that you were only six people away from finally getting the hot cocoa, you were starting to regret it. Your feet were aching and a mix of cold and sweaty, and your back felt like it might crack in half from the constant standing. 

Lucas hadn’t noticed you were gone yet, you guessed, or he was still asleep. You wouldn’t blame him either way. The constant work SM was putting him under was ridiculous, what with two comebacks in the span of two months, not even including the tour that was going to be starting soon, you had wanted to do something that might make him a little less miserable. You had already planned the day, all activities that the two of you could do in the comfort of your apartment, and had even plans on making him dinner, something that Lucas loved, but the two of you never really had time to enjoy.

It took about another ten minutes for the six people in front of you to get their orders, and by the time you reached the opening in the side of the truck. you were bouncing on the balls of your heels. Benji, a chubby man with a handlebar mustache, grinned down at you as you beamed up at him. 

“What can I get for ya?” He asked, jolly despite the many customers he had been through the passed hour alone. 

You curled your fingers over the edge of the window and tried to peep inside of the truck. The smells were so glorious, like Christmas itself in a scent, and made your heart thump against your chest with excitement. “Two Deluxe Hot Chocs with extra marshmallows and whipped cream, please.” 

Benji nodded, repeating your order to the lady behind him. He turned back to you. “Anything else? Maybe some of our special peppermint cookies? They’re limited stock.” 

Benji reminded you distinctly of Santa Claus, so saying no felt like a crime. Plus, you knew that Lucas wouldn’t deny any sort of sweet. If he were there he would’ve instantly said yes. You nodded and held up two fingers. “Two then, since you bargained so well.” 

He chuckled and rang up our order. “Twelve ninety-five.” 

You pop your case off and hand him over a bill. “Wow, no wonder you guys are so popular. Your hot cocoa is the best and your prices are good. It makes the hour long wait worth it.” 

He handed you your change and you stuffed it into the pocket of your sweats without looking, your hand immediately pulling you to your tiptoes to see the magic happening inside of the truck. A warmth hit your face and you saw the cutest bag decorated with candy canes holding two very delicious looking cookies being handed to Benji.

Benji leaned out of your way to let you peep the process behind him as he tied the bag with a red and white striped string. “Business has been booming ever since last year. Apparently, a kpop idol said that our hot chocolate was the best in the country. We were ecstatic, but all the business is hard to keep up with. That’s why we make our appearances random because when we show up we have to be ready for the hoards of people. We keep a little poster of the guy now on the back of our van. It’s all thanks to him that we have all of this.” 

You tilted your head and wondered who had done all of this. You didn’t really have much time to think, as the second your mind started to wonder, Benji was handing you two very large steaming cups. There was a mountain of whipped cream covered with marshmallows peeking over the top, and the smell got stronger the closer they came to your face. Your mouth was watering from the smell alone.

“Is your journey from here long? Do you need lids?” 

Your apartment complex was fifteen minute walk, ten in a taxi, but you knew you weren’t in the mood to make the walk. “Lids, please.” 

Benji pushed the mountain down softly with a black cover and handed over the two cups along with your cute bag of cookies. “Have a wonderful day!” 

You grabbed them and your frozen fingers were instantly thawed out by the warmth seeping through the cup, and you knew that Lucas was going to be so so happy when he finally got a hold of it himself. Your fingers struggled to hold onto the two cups as well as the tiny bag, but you managed not to drop anything as you hailed a taxi. Out of curiosity you found yourself looking to the back of the truck, wondering if there really was a picture of the idol who gave Benji’s hot cocoa a boost. You were absolutely surprised to see a still image of Lucas from behind the scenes of his Yestoday music video, carrying a cup just like the one you were holding, grinning into it like he was looking at the love of his life. You were even more surprised that SM left the logo unedited and allowed it to be part of the video. However, you were happy that it was. Not only was a small business getting promoted, but so was you’re boyfriend. 

The ride back to your apartment was more tolerable, as your hands were now warm and your excitement had sky rocketed. You darted up the stairs to your door the instant you were in the building, and were out of breath by the time you managed to punch in the code.

As soon as your shoes were off and the door was shut safely behind you, a voice met your ears. “There you are! Where did you go off to? I got us a Disney plus membership, baby! It’s all everybody has been talking about!” 

Lucas was bouncing on the couch in his pajamas, but his hair was damp like he just showered. He was scrolling through the many Disney movies and turned with a slight frown when you didn’t reply. When he finally saw you, cheeks and nose tinted pink and a grin enveloping your face he frowned even more in confusion. Then his eyes landed on your hands, where you were clutching the cups tightly to keep them warm. His face lit up and he yelled, jumping over the back of the couch to reach you quicker. He ran to you and immediately grabbed your face setting a large, yet gentle, smooch on your lips. 

“Oh, my God! Baby, you did not!” He whisper yelled, looking starstruck as he reached out gingerly to grab one. “Is this why you were up so early? I thought you were probably getting breakfast, but then you took so long, but I didn’t want to bother you...” 

He trailed off as you handed him his cup. It was a deluxe, but his large hands swallowed it like it was a small, and despite this he was so gentle, like he was holding a baby. You set your own cup on the counter along with the cookies and began to shed his jacket and your scarf. You chuckled when you saw him slowly peel off the lid. His eyes got glossy as soon as the whipped cream and marshmallows appeared. 

He glanced up at you. “Did you try it yet?” 

You shook your head and smile at him fondly. “I was waiting until you finally got yours.” 

“Then come on!” He urged you to pick up your cup and take the lid off. He looked so happy you immediately did as he said. “We can try it together. It’s the best stuff on earth, I’ll promise you’ll love it.” 

Once the two of you were toe to toe he placed the edge of the cups to his lips, waiting for you to follow suit, big puppy like eyes peering at you impatiently. When the cup was placed on your lips he nodded. You took a decent gulp, your mouth instantly filling with the best hot cocoa you’ve ever tried in your entire life. The whipped cream was slightly melted and made your taste buds dance, and when the warmness traveled down your throat and to the pit of your belly a marshmallow was left in your mouth, so you began to chew it happily. 

Lucas basically yelled after he took his first sip, eyes wide and mouth satisfied. He began to do a cute little dance around you. “You are the best person in the world, and I love you so much.” 

You squinted at him playfully, watching as he took another gulp without glancing at you. “Are you sure you’re talking to me? You seem to be speaking into your cup.” 

He laughed, lifting his head to reveal a whipped cream mustache. He walked over and set his arm upon your shoulders, grinning down at you. “I’m definitely talking to you, baby. Seriously, I thought that I was going to be too busy this Winter and wouldn’t get a chance to get Benji’s. Thank you.” 

He grinned, eyes crinkled as he looked down at you with his goofy cream mustache, almost happier than he had been in the photo taped to the back of Benji’s truck. You couldn’t help the urge to kiss him, so you leaned up and planted a large one right on his lips, cleaning the cream from his upper lip. He pressed his lips into yours and squeezed your shoulders tight. 

“I love you too, goofball. I’m glad you’re happy because I nearly lost my fingers in the cold.” You chuckled, leaning into him so you could feel his warmth better. You reached a hand up to intertwine your fingers with his. “It’s a good thing I love you more than these things.” 

He pressed a kiss onto your head. “Well, you don’t really need your fingers. I’d still love you, fingerless stub and all.” 

You couldn’t hold back the snort that escaped at the image of it all, but your heart jumped too. Lucas really did love you. You turned to place another kiss on his jaw, the thoughts making your stomach go crazy with butterflies. “Thank you, I’d love you without fingers too.” 

Lucas leaned his head on top of yours as he took another sip of hot cocoa. When he swallowed a little noise of satisfaction left his nose. He pointed your intertwined hands to the counter. “What are those?” 

“Benji talked me into buying them. They’re peppermint cookies.” You said, whining when Lucas left you to go to the counter and inspect said cookies. “They are limited stock so I thought we’d try them out.” 

Lucas licked his lips and settled into a stool by the counter, which overlooked the kitchen. He tugged at the red and white striped string and glanced at you with an excited glint in his eyes. “I think I will love anything that man makes. He is my hero, so how can I not try these cookies?.” 

He took a perfectly baked cookie from the bag, which had pieces of candy cane peeking from the top, and smiled. Then he opened his mouth wide and nearly inhaled the entire cookie in one bite. As soon as he started chewing his eyes widened and loud noises began to escape his nose. He opened his mouth, and you got an unwanted view of the chewed up bits of cookie. “Woowwww, it’s so delicious! Mmmmmm, I love it!” 

Your own grin returned as you watched him eat, unable to control the giggles that followed. Lucas was just too dramatic. “It’s so funny, do you know you’re his mascot? When you made that comment in the behind the scenes of the Yestoday video, they didn’t cut his brand out. He gained a lot of love after that. He has a picture of you on the back of his truck!” 

Lucas’s eyes were so wide they took up most of his face. “Wow, really? Mark told me they went back and edited it out when they realized their mistake, but I didn’t know that people saw it in time. I’m so happy for him.” 

He took the rest of the cookie in his mouth and followed it with a sip of hot cocoa. He tilted his head and scrunched his eyes, just like he always did when he loved the taste of something so much. Your cheeks began to hurt at this point from smiling so big at your adorable boyfriend. You reached over and brushed a strand of hair from his eyes as he took another sip of chocolate, his eyes crossing as he tried to take in one of the larger marshmallows in the cup. When he succeeded he pushed it onto his front teeth and grinned at you before letting out a huge laugh, the marshmallow nearly flying from his mouth. 

“You’re too silly.” You giggled. “Anyways, what is it you said about Disney plus? I’ve been dying to watch 101 Dalmatians.” 

Lucas’s eyebrows jumped and he nearly swallowed the marshmallow whole. He tugged at your pants and pointed to the couch while attempting to chew the marshmallow quickly. “I got us a thingy! We can watch them now!” 

You gasped, grabbing your own hot cocoa and then charging to the couch. “Then what are you waiting for? Dim the lights we got some movies to watch!” 

Lucas grabbed the last cookie and sped around in his socks, running from the lick to flick it off, and then to the curtains to make the room darker, before darting to the couch to you. He settled into the corner and spread his legs so that you could settle between them before throwing your a blanket over the both of you. You grabbed the remote and picked the movie the both of you loved a lot, settling into his chest. Lucas offered you a bite of the cookie and you took it, sinking your teeth into it. 

“I love you,” He said again, wrapping his free arm around you. “Thank you again, darling.” 

You pouted, your heart beating quickly, your mouth forgetting the delicious cookie in your mouth, and craving something sweeter. You swallowed the cookie bits before turning your head, your lips searching his. He looked from the TV and smiled softly before kissing your awaiting lips. You offered the cookie to him and he took it excitedly. 

“You’re welcome, baby. I love you too.”

Then you laid your head on his chest and look to the TV, all of your previous plans forgotten. Just being in Lucas’s arms was so much better than anything you could plan. 

~

two reblogs and I’ll make a second part where benji and lucas meet cuz they’re the true soulmates sorry y/n

(also, you can literally hear lucas’s voice when you write out his sentences wOW)

[sableflynn]

Hide every trace of sadness

Rating: Mature Characters: Darya, Kailo, Volkan Warnings/Contents: Mind control, forced to hurt self, forced to hurt friend, violence (broken bones, beatings, guns) Summary: Darya and Kailo are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Volkan has some new magical techniques he wants to test out.  Notes: Written for the “mind control” prompt for @badthingshappenbingo​ and requested by @untilthepainstarts​

Also on Ao3

---

Darya flexed her wrists against the ropes holding her to the wall. They were tight, but her legs were unbound, giving her some range of movement. She kicked against the wall, pulling at different angles, probing for a weak point in the ropes. Kailo was tied against the wall next to her; she could see him in the corner of her eye, methodically tugging against the ropes in an attempt to loosen them.

“Is he planning on leaving us to die of boredom?” She bit out as yet another attempt to escape the ropes proved fruitless. Volkan had tied the two of them up in this bare room—high ceilings, stone floor, one window showing the midnight sky—then left abruptly, muttering about “finishing touches” to something. It could’ve been several hours ago; it could’ve been thirty minutes. But the strain of her muscles from being tied in this position, the lack of any sort of clue as to where they were, the complete uncertainty of it all had her nerves on end. Part of her just wanted him to come back and get on with whatever he had planned.  

Yet when the door swung open and Volkan stepped in, a bag slung over one shoulder, Darya felt a small thrill of fear in her stomach. He laughed at the sight of them trying to escape their bonds. “Do you really think I don’t know how to tie a knot?” Strolling closer, he stopped just beyond the range of Darya’s kicks. Pity. 

She continued working against the ropes, refusing to let her growing unease show on her face. Risking a quick glance over at Kailo, she saw he had gone still next to her. His eyes were already wide with fear. Not good. Volkan is gonna love toying with that fear. She needed to keep the attention off Kailo and on her as long as possible. “I wondered when you were gonna show your face,” she spat out. 

Grinning broadly, Volkan moved closer to her, stepping out of the way of her kicking legs. “I’m actually so glad you both turned up here today,” he said, crowding into her. She strained to back away from him, but the ropes held her tight. “I just finished working on something new, and I’ve been dying to try it on someone just like you, Darya.” His hand stroked her cheek with mock affection.

She shuddered, jerked away, spat at his hand, aimed a kick at his legs. “You can take whatever you’re working on and shove it—” 

“Oh, but that’s exactly what I mean!” He cut her off with a hand in her hair, violently jerking her head back. “You’re so spirited, so...defiant. If it can hold you, then I’ll know it worked.” Abruptly, he released her and stepped back, digging into his bag.

Shit. That does not sound good. She had to keep him talking long enough for them to find a way out of this. Next to her, Kailo had begun working against the ropes again. She left him to it and began talking again, hoping to keep Volkan distracted. “S-so what’s this new exciting thing you’re working on?” Fuck, she was already letting that tremor into her voice. 

“Magical research, you know, I’m sure the details would bore you—ah, here it is.” From the bag, he withdrew a smooth stone, dark with glowing veins of blue running through it like liquid fire. Darya squinted at it, puzzling out the patterns, but they seemed to shift whenever she tried to focus on them. Even she could feel the magic humming off of it, but she had no clue what it was.

Next to her, Kailo was panicking, struggling against the ropes. “W-what is that? What are you going to do to her?!” 

“Like I said.” Volkan flashed a grin in Kailo’s direction, turning the stone over in his hands. “Magic research.” He was slowly advancing on Darya, and she could feel the energy growing around him, something she didn’t understand and had no way of countering. 

She forced herself to lift her chin and look him in the eye. “I don’t care what sort of magic b-bullshit you pull.” Shit, her voice was breaking again. “I can take whatever it is. Fucker.” She just needed to buy Kailo some time to break out of the ropes; he was the one who understood magic, far more than she did.

But the energy around Volkan was growing stronger, a buzz that made her hair stand on end, and if she squinted she thought she could see smoky light swirling around him, pouring out of the rock, and then suddenly—

His hands were around her throat, choking her, but more than that she could feel his fingers in her mind, like they were tearing apart her very thoughts. She shut her eyes, writhing against the onslaught, but there was no way to fight against the tendrils creeping their way inside her very being. Even through shut eyes the light was almost blinding, and she could feel strands of pure magical energy wrapping around her throat, strangling her, cutting her off from herself, and she thought she might die—

All at once, it ended. Her head was buzzing and she could feel the pulse of magic around her throat like a second heartbeat. It didn't hurt; it was almost pleasant, a warm hum circling her neck. She didn't trust it one bit. 

Volkan stepped back and watched her with bright, curious eyes. "How do you feel?" 

"I feel…" A deep breath, an experimental cough. "...fine." As she said it, she realized it was true. She was a touch dizzy, sure, but nothing hurt and nothing was on fire. "Whatever you tried didn't work!" Volkan was still watching her in silence, a hint of amusement in his expression. She ignored it. "I don’t know what bullshit magical research you were working on, but it looks like we’re gonna have to—" 

"Darya, stop talking." 

Darya's voice cut off mid-word and her mouth fell shut. She couldn't talk, couldn't even hiss or growl. She tried, she tried so hard to say one word, but there was an uncrossable chasm between her thoughts and the actions of her body. Her mouth didn't even move.

"No," Kailo whispered. 

"Oh, yes." Volkan was grinning broadly now. Panic welled up in Darya and she flung herself against the ropes, her face a silent snarl as she fought against this...this invasion of her mind. Volkan stepped closer and she lashed out at him, baring her teeth. His voice rang out, echoing in her head. “Stop struggling.” She hung limp from the ropes. “And wipe that scowl off your face. Smile for me.” The corners of her mouth turned up in a vacant smile.

What did he do to me?

Volkan cut the ropes from her wrists and she fell bonelessly to the ground. He told me to stop struggling. Now I can’t even move. The magic at her throat thrummed. A boot nudged at her, rolling her onto her back. “Oh, get up,” Volkan said, walking to stand near Kailo against the wall. She was on her feet in an instant.

“Walk across the room, Darya.” Her feet moved against her will, shuffling across the floor. This isn’t me. “Clap twice.” The claps echoed off the high ceilings and bare walls. Why can’t I fight this? “Jump.” Her knees bent and she jumped. How am I even supposed to fight this? Each command was a knife directly through her mind and into her body, and there wasn’t a fucking thing she could do to stop it.

Volkan was laughing. “This is so much more fun than I expected. Come back here, Darya.” Her heart was hammering as her feet carried her back over to him. He studied her for a minute, lips curving into a smile that mirrored the one plastered on her own face. “Wow. You’re really just completely helpless, aren’t you?”

“No.” The anguish in Kailo’s voice broke her heart. “Listen, y-you got what you wanted. You tried it, it works, please, just take it off her, please, I’ll do anything, just take it off, let her go—” He was falling apart, and she needed to tell him that she was fine and they would find a way out of this, but her mouth was still locked in that fucking smile. And even if she could talk...she wasn’t sure they would find a way out. She had never been so completely...fuck, Volkan was right, she was helpless. 

“We’re not even close to being done,” Volkan said, and Darya felt a chill at the sudden dark edge to his voice. “Let’s see how far we can take this. Give me your hand.”

She held her hand out and he took it in his own, turning it over, rubbing his thumbs down each finger. This isn’t my hand, she thought distantly. It can’t be my hand, or it would be punching his fucking face in right now. The magic at her throat hummed.

Volkan’s fingers began pressing on the little finger, light but firm pressure. A quick grin at Kailo, as if sharing a secret joke, and then he turned his gaze back on Darya. “I’m going to break your finger.” Fuck fuck no, just step back, just move your fucking hand away! But she couldn’t, it wasn’t her hand. Volkan pressed down harder. “Don’t scream or flinch away or move at all.” He began to bend the finger back more and more, his eyes on hers with a hungry fascination. The pressure turned to a growing pain and then, with a snap, a sharp shot of agony. 

Darya didn't scream, or pull away, didn't even so much as gasp as the bone broke. Volkan whistled low. "Would you look at that," he said, and so her gaze drifted down to the mangled finger, bent back at an unnatural angle. That's not my hand. It couldn't be, even as she could feel the pain pulsing from it in time with her heart, because if it was her hand she would be able to move it.  

“Please stop,” Kailo said, his voice hitching in a sob. “Stop hurting her, you bastard!” She was frozen in place, eyes fixed on the hand. She could feel her mind drifting, untethered by any connection to the physical body.

Abruptly, Volkan dropped the hand he was holding, putting both his palms up in an insincere conciliatory gesture. “Ok, ok, I’m not going to hurt her anymore.” He watched her with a wolfish smile. “Darya, take your hand and break the next finger yourself.” 

Her mind hadn’t even fully processed the command before her body started moving. One hand moving quickly to take the other, wrapping around a finger, like she was witnessing a play she had no part in. Not my hand, not my hand, she thought, as if that would take away the pain as the finger snapped. A bright flash of pain, and then a pulsing ache from the two fingers. 

Volkan laughed, snarling a hand in her hair and wrenching her head back to look into her eyes, at her empty smile. “Wow, you’re just really fucking gone, aren’t you?” She blinked slowly. Maybe I am really gone. 

“She’s not,” Kailo sobbed. “She’s still—Darya, I know you’re still in there! W-we’re gonna find a way out of this, I promise!” The magic at her neck pulsed, and she felt herself slipping a bit further away.

“You really do believe that, don’t you,” Volkan murmured. He cupped Darya’s cheek with one hand, then slapped her. Her head jerked, but she barely felt it. With no way to control this body she was in, her mind was floating further and further, and she was watching everything around her through a fog. Until Volkan’s next words slammed her back into reality.

“Punch Kailo in the face.” 

No. No no no—the reality of her situation slammed into her, even as a fist was already curling. I need to fight this, I need to—the fist collided with Kailo’s cheek, weak, a trembling hit that startled him more than anything else. His eyes widened and he said, “It’s okay, Darya. I know.” The words broke her heart and strengthened her resolve. I can’t do this to him. 

Volkan tsked. “I’ve seen you fight. I know you can hit harder than that.” He paused, as if considering his next words carefully. “Darya. Punch him in the face as hard as you can. Hold nothing back.”

The fist struck out like a viper, snapping across Kailo’s nose. He cried out as blood began to drip down his face. “I-it’s okay, Darya!” No, it’s not. “I know this isn’t you!” But I can’t stop it!

Volkan grinned broadly. “Oh, this is amazing, I’m so glad I didn’t just kill you two. Do it again, Darya.” The fist cracked Kailo in the jaw. “Again.” Kailo cringed away, but couldn’t go anywhere with the ropes holding him in place. “Again.” Her mind was reeling as she renewed her mental struggles, screaming out for anything that would stop this from happening. Volkan continued to give the command, and Darya continued to obey. Kailo was sobbing, begging, “Please, please,” and she didn’t know if he was begging her or Volkan. She blinked, and felt a tear roll down her cheek, past her smiling lips. 

When Volkan finally paused, Kailo hung limp from the ropes, his face a mass of blood and newly-forming bruises. I did that. Because I was too fucking weak to stop it. Kailo gazed up at her, his eyes searching hers for a sign, anything, that she was still there, and she could give him nothing. 

Volkan ruffled her hair like a proud parent. “Fuck, Darya, you are really incredible. With you under my control…” He hummed in pleasure. “There’s just one last thing I need you to do for me.” She felt the press of something cold and metallic. Looked down to see a gun being placed into hands that weren’t hers, hands covered with Kailo’s blood.

“Tell Kailo you love him,” Volkan said, “and then shoot him in the head.”

Darya’s mind fractured. I can’t. I can’t. Don’t make me do this. Shaking hands were already lifting the gun to aim at Kailo. He was gasping for air, sobbing. “Please, please no, Darya, please, don’t make her do this—” Darya’s mind was screaming, tearing itself apart, desperately trying to grab some part of her to hold back, and the trembling gun was pressing against Kailo’s forehead. 

A finger started to wrap around the trigger, and she looked into Kailo’s eyes. They were wide and wet with tears, and she could see herself reflected in them. The strands of magic wrapping her throat, and her face still locked in that stupid fucking smile. 

Something inside her mind clicked. Her smile fell.

“I love you, Kailo,” she said, and she turned and shot Volkan in the face.

The shot threw Volkan back, and Darya immediately dropped the gun as if it were white hot. For a heartbeat she stared at the mess of blood and gore, struggling to control her breathing. She looked down at her hands—her hands, hers—she flexed her fingers a few times and pain shot through but that was ok because it was her pain in her hands, they’re mine, he won’t use them anymore. 

She undid the ropes tying Kailo to the wall, hands shaking so much she almost couldn’t manage the knots. He fell to his knees on the ground, curling into himself, and Darya crouched next to him, her hands hovering over his shoulders. Would he even want me to touch him right now? After what I just did to him…

“Darya…” Kailo’s voice was a whisper. “You saved us.”

He threw himself into her arms, clinging to her like he was afraid to let go. That broke her. Sobs wracked her body, her arms wrapping around him, her tear-wet face burrowing into his shoulder. “Kailo, I’m so sorry, oh my god, I thought—I thought I—” She swallowed her tears, forcing herself to say it. “I thought I was going to kill you.” She trembled. “I...god, I’ve never been so scared, I—”

“But you didn’t, Darya!” He pulled his face back and looked into her eyes, and his were wet with tears but there was also hope there, and trust. “You...you beat it. I don’t know how, but...look.” He guided one of her hands to her neck, and she realized the humming magic that had surrounded her throat was gone. Did I do that?  

Kailo smiled weakly. “And you...killed him.” She felt a chill run through her at that. He can’t really be… her gaze drifted towards the ruin of Volkan’s face, the blood pooling around his body, then snapped back up to Kailo. Kailo, whose face was bloody and bruised, yet he was still comforting her. “God, Kailo, I hurt you so bad, I—fuck, I’m so sorry, we need to find Felicia, I—I can’t believe I hurt you like that—”

“Darya.” His voice was still gentle, but she could hear the fire behind it as well. “That wasn’t you. You weren’t the one who hurt me. But you were the one who saved me.” 

She shut her eyes, and a stream of tears ran down her cheeks. “I…” She could still see her fist lashing out at him, feel it cracking against his face, but then she opened her eyes and he was there, smiling at her. “We saved each other,” she whispered. “I...I broke out of it because I just knew I wasn’t going to kill you. I—I wasn’t going to let him kill you.” 

He pulled her close again, and for a moment they knelt on the floor together, wrapped in each others’ arms. Finally, Darya managed to get her shaking under control. She spared a glance at Volkan’s body. “This is...gonna be a mess.” She managed a weak laugh. “We need to get out of here before someone finds him and this whole place blows up.”

Kailo nodded. “Let’s get out of here.” He stood, holding out a hand to help her up. She lifted her own hand and just looked at it for a moment (my hand, it’s mine), then placed it in his and rose to her feet. Together, they walked out the door and left the night behind. 

[smurfettte]

💎✖️️💕🍳🍭😂

DOTT IM SO SORRY I JUST SAW THIS TY

Im still using sm*rf bc i dont want it to show up in the tags its annoying and im sry

💎 - when and how did you discover your special interest?

Ooh this goes way back.

Well, when i was about nine my parents first seperated (they did twice, ultimately getting divorced 2nd time around) for a period of two years, and during that time we had very, very little money because my mom was a stay at home mom for years and had to get a job too, so we basically had to cut, like, everything/anything extra that we didnt need. The best my mom could do so we didnt get a total shock on top of everything was to get us the smallest cable package possible (im pretty sure it was way cheaper back then too, idk if even that would be manageable now) where we had just like, a little cluster of channels; one of those was boomerang. I was really, really sad about loosing cartoon network, so my mom hyped me up about being able to watch sm*rfs, even though i only had a very vague idea of what they were. From there, it kind of just became my permanent special interest. My mom and i watched it together a lot since her mom played into the really strange christian propaganda of “demonizing” cartoons that was everywhere in the 80s when she grew up. She would bribe her brother not to rat her out when she would sneak-watch it on saturday mornings and tbh that would literally be me

✖ - Is there something you Dont like about your special interest?

Definitely. The author of the original comics was uh… a really sexist, probably racist and a homophobic guy. Which, really shows in his earlier works – the full sm*rfette story is honestly much worse than the concepts of her origin that were kept in the cartoon. The 80s retelling is basically the comic but heavily censored for over obviously sexist content, while still being sexist in itself (just in a way where, maybe for younger viewers or a blind eye, its not obvious at first). Honestly just the treatment of most of the female characters is my complaint in the way a lot of them are portrayed, but especially sm*rfette. She cant do one self indulgent thing for herself without it being ridiculed or often portrayed as wrong, even when shes like the smartest and most caring person in the village. Its annoying and not a good message at all.

Also, it tries to be written as insanely het all the time and just isnt. Like its so gay and theres so many moments where youre like “ppl really tried to pass this as het…bitch” but time and time again… straight people think its reasonable that an entire village is attracted to. a single person (who most of the time heavily shys away from affection from men too, lmfao…). REALLY hoping the new movie addresses that in some way thats not bad, but im trying not to get my hopes up (ive got my hopes up).

💕 - Something you like about your Special Interest?

Honestly this is a lot of things, but i would have to say?? Like. Everything, except the things i dont like ^. Its constantly been such a comfort to me in so many ways. I love the characters, i love how it was my first real introduction to fairytale fantasy (aside from disney) and its just… so calming. Some people find it boring and annoying, but for me it was so easy to fall in love with and kept me company/calmed me down during some of the worst times ive ever had. Even when some of those worst times were because people would make fun of me for loving it.

🍳 - do you have a stim related to your special interest?

In a few ways, yea! I do!

I always compare it to this, but i think being surrounded in things related to it is a kind of visual stim that relates to the old woman who wants most everything in her house to be green. Just as it makes her feel calm, happy, and energetic, i have the same expirience but i sm*rf theme as many things as i can, and collect ALOT. I try to be surrounded by it as much as possible, and it always helps me to feel happy and calm. If im not in a space where its all around, i’ll have sm*rf things that i use day to day, like my wallet, cups, things like that. It always provides a feeling of happiness and safety.

Another for a physical stim is that i have a sm*rfette themed slime that one of my best friends made me for christmas! (He made a little white hat to put over the lid too, it was so sweet). Its a glittery blue, and has lots of gold, blue, and flower shaped sequins in it! i love squishing gooey and squeezable stuff. Textures like that are the best ever.

🍭- a headcanon/theory you have about your special interest?

This is gonna be long and im sorry i talk so much, but Brainy, Grouchy, Clumsy, and Fette (so i dont have to block out the full word again) are all autistic!

- Brainy expiriences a lack of empathy, tends to micromanage more than one usually would (especially if one of his special interests are involved/its something he came up with himself) and, as mentioned, expiriences special interests (a need for worldly knowledge – especially of magic, and for papa, who he constantly seeks to impress and be respected by, no matter what it takes. He loves him and wants to be just like him, and often does things for him out of the blue just so he’ll appreciate and recognize him + his potential). He stims by chewing (probably with the handle of a wand) and by writing + drawing swirly doodles on paper with his quill pen. He infodumps, and he usually lacks an understanding of social cues; this often leads to him making “bad decisions” being highly ridiculed, often overshadowed by his peers.

- Clumsy does not quickly process information + events, his comfort object(s) is/are his continuously growing rock collection/garden that he waters and talks to everyday, he stims by flapping and jumping, and is very uncoordinated. There are often ‘simple’ things that confuse him that he is unable to figure out quickly (like putting together things that fold up - chairs, foldable tables where u have to specifically press something, stuff like that. I think its an autistic thing even though im not able to describe it very well since ive struggled w it all my life myself and i always get weird looks when i cant do it) and his special interest is Brainy. Because he is physically incoordinated and processes information slow, though people do stick up for him, he can often recieve even worse treatment from those around him than Brainy does, on top of being easily able to manipulate due to him being so easily trusting and loving. Because of this, him and Brainy often do everything together, and eventually their mutual love for each other + relatability brings them to be almost inseperable (even if Brainy looses his patience more than he should sometimes). aka theyre boyfriends it rly shows

- Fette struggles with anxiety (as alot of autistic people, like myself, do) and has hyper-empathy. Similar to Clumsy, Fette seeks comfort in her flower garden and flowers in general, often holding conversations with them. This actually is a real theory, but she believes that talking to the flowers will help them to grow, and cherishes them as if they were people. She knows the name of every flower in the forest and could tell you at LEAST 5 facts about every single one. She stims by flapping, jumping, and chewing on her hair. Fette is quick to act to situations whether good or bad, and raised voices from others can often send her towards a meltdown (in where she retreats to her house for solitude to calm down + renergize). Though she loves her friends and being with them, she is an introvert and enjoys being by herself or with her flowers to regain energy.

- Grouchy uses echolalia to express his emotions and partake in conversations, while being mostly nonverbal. He often seeks company in animals or baby sm*rf (who i believe is also his special interest) because they bring him comfort and dont ask him to explain or change who he is. He is often very distant from most people, and only opens up to being around people he feels he can trust.

😂 - something funny about your special interest?

It just made me type up like. Disorganized paragraphs when im supposed to be packing up my shit 2 go to my moms. Also just the idea that a whole village could be attracted to a single person and no one else… funnie as shit my guy

[energitix]

This is the most exciting time ever to be in IT!… But are we up to it? I’m not sure, but I think it was Brian Johnson who first coined the phrase “IT is too important to be left to IT.” However, I’d also add “…but the business isn’t grown up enough to be put in charge of IT”!  Herein lies one of the greatest, endemic issues we currently face in IT… Business and IT-alignment. Even the term itself causes heated debate. In this blog, I want to show some worrying facts and figures that underpin this issue. I’ll also touch upon Business Relationship Management (BRM) as a critical missing capability, exploring how BRM can help us take an important step in solving the “Business and IT-alignment” issue. Providing we do it properly of course.   The business and IT relationship The ABC (attitude, behavior, culture) card below sums up the “Business and IT relationship.” This has been a top scoring card in global improvement workshops with more than 4000 organizations, and has been for the last 15 years.  …I’ll repeat that, only louder “FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS!” Who is to play this “marriage guidance counsellor” role? Drum roll… enter BRM. But first… Why is it so exciting to be in IT right now?  Digital transformation is the latest industry buzzword. Nobody knows what it really means, but everybody wants it. Suddenly all the vendor products and services in the market have “digital transformation” added as a byline in the description, and existing training catalogs describe how current courses support and enable this need for “digital transformation”… Phew, so we’ve solved that then! Regardless of what it really means, one thing is clear – IT is becoming increasingly important for all organizations and it’s not going to go away. To quote Michael Ganser from Cisco: “Digital transformation represents the beginning of the most significant transformation in our lifetimes.” This means that IT and IT service management (ITSM) are becoming strategic assets and strategic capabilities. YOU are now a strategic asset. How cool is that to put on your CV? However, this new role brings with it great responsibilities and demands new skills and new ways of behaving. The question is will we take ownership for this new position we’ve been given? Will we develop the right skills and capabilities? Will we start behaving like strategic assets? Either we do, or we face the alternative “tragic” consequences as shown in the t-shirt above.  What do you mean “but are we up to it”?  “Business and IT alignment” has once again been named the number one CIO challenge in a recent industry study on Trends in Business, IT & IoT. It’s been in the top three CIO challenges for the last 15 years. And, as IT becomes increasingly important with each passing year, the business and IT “gap” seems to be getting bigger and bigger. If you don’t believe me, then please check out some of these articles: CIO leaders struggle to sway business leaders Communication between IT and non-IT workers in a state of crisis The IT-Business gap remains. The fact that “Business and IT-alignment” has been a top issue for the last 15 years clearly shows that current approaches to closing the gap aren’t working. A reason perhaps for the growing popularity of BRM?  Not only are the current approaches not working, but we’re also not developing the right knowledge and skills.  IT has no understanding of business impact and priority This has been the top scoring ABC card for the last 15 years. Confirming that the findings of this article from 2013 – “The IT talent problem” – is still relevant. In this article executives were asked “If you had a magic wand, what one talent problem would you solve?” More than 70% said “Give business skills to their technologists… they do not understand the business context of their technology work, nor can they have a meaningful discussion with the leaders of the business areas their technology supports.”  “Yes, but that was 2013!”  “We’ve learned and now we do continual service improvement (CSI)!” If only this were true. In a recent mini study my company undertook, less than 20% said they had formal CSI in place. This talent problem was also raised in the 2017 Gartner CIO Agenda report. CIOs reported their top barriers to successfully showing the value of IT – with talent being number one, citing “Business knowledge and acumen.” Worryingly, the same issues that CIOs cited four years earlier in the exact same study. As I said, current approaches don’t seem to be working… And? Now I know I’m not the brightest crayon in the box, but all this clearly shows we need to develop more business understanding and more business-focused skills and capabilities. With “Business IQ” being one of the key competence areas within the BRM Institute body of knowledge.  BRM is an ideal approach to help IT people gain a better business understanding, and to work together with ITSM to develop an appropriate priority and decision–making mechanism. However… The business isn’t grown up enough to be put in charge of IT either! This is another top-three ABC card chosen in our global workshops. We cannot implement effective priority mechanisms without the business.  It’s easy to blame IT. However, it isn’t all IT’s fault. There needs to be, from the business, better governance of enterprise IT. Says who? An ISACA study (Benchmarking and Business Value Assessment of COBIT 5) revealed “More business involvement in the governance of enterprise IT  is required,” highlighting a low maturity score on benefits realization and risk optimization. Perhaps a reason why “70% of everything spent on IT doesn’t meet the functional goals of projects or deliver the expected return on investment” according to a 2015 NetworkWorld article.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t digital transformation about realizing business benefits from emerging technologies? And, managing the inherent risks of doing it and of not doing it? Sounds like governance to me. So, we need some sort of executive-level commitment and governance if we want to realize the benefits of digital transformation. However, in a recent “hands-up” poll I did with event delegates representing more than 500 organizations, sadly only about 25% said they had “Formal IT governance” in place (such as COBIT). But this business issue isn’t just at the executive level. A CIO.com article The key to successful digital transformation stated:  “The biggest innovation happens when the transformation is user [driven], not IT driven”… going on to add “The process requires an understanding of cultural and knowledge gaps for business users, a monumental and often politically charged challenge typically far outside IT’s purview.” The business users also have an important role to play. Two top-scoring ABC cards (again for the last 15 years) are “Everything has the highest priority according to the users” and “Too little business involvement in requirements specification and testing.” Perhaps there’s another role here for BRM to become the “trusted advisor” to business users? Why is governing IT so hard?  In a recent article on CIO.com entitled “What is GRC and why do you need it?” Kim Lindros (CIO) declared: “The decision-making, portfolio management, risk management, and regulatory compliance functions included in a ‘Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)’ framework will not be effective unless the organization’s executive leadership really supports cultural change.” In another article from CIOInsight.com entitled “Cultural issues derail digital transformations” it was revealed that 62% of CIOs said the biggest hurdle to digital transformation was “cultural issues.” So, it seems it isn’t just IT-facing “Attitude, Behavior and Culture” issues. However, the business doesn’t attend IT conferences or read IT blogs and often doesn’t know what it doesn’t know. Unconsciously incompetent (“the individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the defict” – Wikipedia.) The challenge here is “Who has to point this out to the business?” IT currently has an issue with trust and credibility and we now want to say to the business “Don’t worry – we’re now your strategic partner”!  One thing is clear. The business won’t change by itself. It’s up to IT to stop playing the victim and to step up to the plate if its wants to change this before it’s too late. Two more of the core competences in the BRM body of knowledge being “Business transformation management” and “Communication.”  BRM from marriage counsellor to superhero in one tall leap! Is BRM the missing link to the endemic business and IT alignment problem? In a McKinsey report entitled “Partnering to shape the future – IT’s new imperative” it was revealed that 76% of executives found that IT should play a partner role to the business. Only 27% thought that IT already fulfilled that role.  It would appear that BRM not only has to improve the relationship between business and IT but also enable them to transform and to solve something they haven’t been able to solve in the last 15 years. Oh, is that all?! So how do we do this? Send staff on a two–day BRM Professional training course to get the certificate? Now where have I seen that approach before? Let’s not make the same mistake we made with ITIL –focusing too much on the certificate rather than developing the competency, not to mention the fact that the business partner won’t be attending the training. So how do we engage the business in this capability–development initiative? We already do BRM, we don’t need BRM training! The majority of organizations who engage us to run business simulations as part of an education or organizational improvement initiative recognize these business and IT issues. When I suggest we focus on BRM in a simulation an answer is often “No, we already do BRM!” More often than not they either have some kind of account management function or a BRM role that serves as a tactical or operational fire-fighter, solving issues that ITSM should have solved. However, all too often BRM roles have no “authority” and are not seen as an added-value partner to both the business and to the IT provider organization.How do we solve this then?Excellent question. That is the topic of my presentation at the upcoming itSMF UK annual conference this November. In my presentation, I’ll be exploring the topic and presenting a case study on how one organization tackled this issue. Engaging with both the business and IT to gain commitment for strategic BRM, and BOTH parties committing to change behavior.  And, if you want one tip to take away now. Make Monday “Go and meet a user day.” Do this regularly, ideally every Monday. Send everybody from IT into the business for one day to observe how IT services are used. To understand how IT services add value, the impact when services are down, and the priority moments – the critical business cycles. Have people come back and present their findings or invite a line-of-business IT user to come present at IT team meetings. Remember: The top scoring ABC card for 15 years in a row is “IT has no understanding of business impact and priority”!  So, are YOU a strategic asset or a tragic…?  The post “IT Is Too Important to Be Left to IT” So What Next?  appeared first on ITSM.tools.

https://itsm.tools/2017/09/14/it-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-it-so-what-next/