#i don't think we ever had those in the pulps

[ninii-winchester]

I don’t wanna live forever

Pairing : Demon!Dean X Reader

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: angst, demon dean, violence, language. Unedited

I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION TO COPY MY WORK, TRANSLATE IT OR POST IT TO ANY OTHER PLATFORM. REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED.

Been sitting eyes wide open behind these four walls, hoping you'd call

It's just a cruel existence like there's no point hoping at all

Baby, baby, I feel crazy, up all night, all night and every day

Y/n knew Dean getting the Mark of Cain was the most stupidest thing he's ever done, taking into consideration that he's Dean Winchester and he's done plenty of stupid in his life. Part of her wants to strangle Crowley for getting him into that mess but part of her knew that Dean would've done whatever it'd take to take down Abbadon. She didn't think it'd bring them here to this day where Dean would turn into a demon and leave the bunker for good. He's with Crowley and God knows where.

A knock on the door breaks her away from her thoughts. She looks up to see Sam standing in the doorway.

"Glaring at the walls of his room won't bring him back Y/n." He said sympathetically. He knew she was hurting as much as he was. After-all they both love Dean.

"What am I supposed to do, Sam." She sounded defeated. "I've tried calling him a thousand times and he doesn't answer."

"We're doing the best we can and we will bring him back, you know that." Sam replied walking towards her and sitting on the bed. "You know we always do." 

"Part of me thinks he doesn't want to come back, its like there's no point hoping." She felt herself tear up. "The mark is overpowering him."

"Hey don't think about it. Our Dean is still in there. We'll bring him back." Sam looked at her face. She looked tired. "Y/n you haven't slept in days. You should get some rest."

"Yeah."

I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain

And I don't wanna fit wherever

I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home

It's been days since Dean left and Y/n has had enough. She knows Sam's been torturing demons to find out Dean and Crowley's location but she can't just sit around anymore. She'll do whatever it takes to find him even if it's illegal. She opens up her laptop and hacks into the traffic signal camera's all over the country. She runs a facial recognition of Dean's face and the Impala's license plate. She crossed her fingers hoping it does it thing soon because the longer she stays on the site the more risk she's at getting into trouble. Although the bunker is untraceable they can't afford the feds on their ass.

The screen loads successfully and she jumps in happiness. The Impala last crossed a traffic signal three towns over. She didn't know when Sam would return so she didn't wait for him. She quickly changed into her Fed suit and drove towards her destination.

Knowing Dean, he's probably at some bar, she shortlisted the bars across that town and hoped she'd find him in one of those. She visited two bars and much to her dismay he hadn't been there. However at the third bar, she didn't find him but she found a clue.

"That man? Yeah he was here a few hours ago, got into fight with another guy. Beat him to a pulp so had to kick him out." The bartender said while cleaning the countertop.

"Any idea where he went?" She asked with hope.

"There's another bar ten minutes from here, you can check there." She tipped the man, thanking him for his help.

"Agent." He called out behind her, she turned to him, "be careful out there, that man's feral." She nodded and left

the place.

She walked in the inside the bar and it was almost empty considering it's pretty early in the day. She noticed a figure sitting at the bar top and immediately recognised him.

"Dean." She called out softly. He turned to look at her but then he turned again focusing on his drink. She said his name again and moved towards him but was stopped by an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Oh Vixen found her Squirrel. Didn't bring Moose along?" The voice spoke in a Scottish accent.

"Fuck off Crowley." She replied glaring at the man in the black suit.

"You wound me, darlin." He sassed. "Dean doesn't wanna go back so why can't you two blithering idiots.... LET HIM GO."

"I'm not fucking around here." She pulled out her gun pointing it at him, she removed the safety. "Let me talk to him. Alone."

"Your guns don't work on me." He replied smugly.

"I wouldn't be so sure." She challenged, knowing she'd carved the devils trap into the bullets. She knew she'd never have the heart to use it on Dean but Crowley is a different matter. The short man rolled his eyes and poofed away. She made her way towards Dean and sat beside him.

"Dean.." she said his name ever so softly just the way she always did. He didn't even turn to look her continuing to pour drink after drink in his glass. "Baby, let's go home." She moved her hand to put on top of his. He raised his brow at the gesture.

"I'm telling you this once. Leave." Dean moved his hand away and looked at her. No trace of a smile on his face, the smile she had come to love.

"No, I won't leave here without you. Come back home." She partially begged. "I don't wanna live without you, Dean. Please come home with me."

He stood up, his laugh resonating through the empty bar. She looked at him, hurt written all across her face. She knew this wasn't her Dean but seeing him act this way didn't hurt any less. She walked right in front of him as he stopped laughing.

"What's funny huh?" Anger bubbled inside her.

"Oh nothing." He shrugged, an evil smile appeared on his face. "You said you wouldn't leave here without me, yeah?" He asked rhetorically circling around her. "And you said you can't live without me either." He paused, dramatically thinking for a second.

"Dean.."

"How about I kill you then, right here, right now." He said stopping in front of her with a blade knife. "It'll be so much fun, for me." Y/n took a deep breath, her gun clutched in her hand tightly. "For you though..." he drawled with a chuckle.

"I don't wanna hurt you Dean." She replied.

"I don't think you can, even if you want to." Dean smirked evilly. "Last chance. Leave."

"I'm not going anywhere." She said. "Not without you."

"I'm gonna have so much fun." Dean scoffed before he grabbed her by the neck, choking her. She tried pushing his hand away but she was having a hard time. She kicked him the stomach making him loosen his grip but not completely let go. He threw the against the bar top, she groaned as fell. Her gun falling from her hand.

"This isn't you Dean." She coughed getting up.

"I told you to leave." Dean threw a punch but she moved out of way and his hand smashed a bottle. She punched him the jaw and he recoiled. He pushed her to ground and straddled her waist. He pinned her arms above her head in one of his hands, immobilising her.  The mark on his arm itched and he brought the knife to her throat. He pressed it and watched as blood trickled down the column of her neck.

"Do it." She said looking at him.

"I'll take my time with it." Dean replied smugly. Her scratched her cheek with the blade. He then moved it down to her collarbone and she screamed in pain. His lips formed into a sinister smile.

Y/n took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if Dean forgot that she mostly fights with her legs or was it his cocky demonic self that made him leave her legs completely unattended. She brought her legs upwards and hooked her them around his waist, catching him off guard and flipping him off her. That seemed to have pissed him off. 

She made a run for her gun but he was able to slash her side before she got her hands on the weapon. She gasped, her right hand touching the wound while she gripped her gun in her left.

"You're pathetic, you know you can't win yet you try so hard." Dean growled closing in on her. "But now I'm bored." He grabbed her left arm and twisted it until a crack was heard. She screamed as the gun fell from her hand. He picked it up and pointed at her head. He pulled the trigger without even blinking.

Y/n blinked as she felt herself being moved from her place. And then she heard a gunshot. Turns out Crowley moved her last minute before Dean fired. She watched Dean wide eyed, unable to process that he was going to kill her. She's alive not because he didn't want to kill her but because Crowley intervened.

"Why did you-" she barely let out but Crowley had disappeared but this time with Dean.

I'm sitting eyes wide open and I got one thing stuck in my mind

Wondering if I dodged a bullet or just lost the love of my life

Back at the Bunker, Y/n had her arm in a cast, the wound on her side stitched up and bandages all over her. She had taken painkillers for the physical pain but she doesn't know how to sooth her hollow heart.

She laid on Dean's bed and stared at the ceiling, unmoving. A knock resonated at the door and it opened a few seconds later.

"If you're here to tell me I was stupid and reckless. Save it." She said without removing her eyes from the ceiling.

"I know you just wanted him back." Sam replied.

"He's gone, Sam." A tear slipped from her eye. She sat up and looked at the younger Winchester "He wasn't my Dean." Before she knew her body shook and sobs escaped her lips. "Makes me wonder if I dodged the bullet or just lost the love of my life."

Sam sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her as much as he could without hurting her. "After everything that's happened, you still?" Sam trailed off not knowing how to continue.

"I told you Sam he wasn't my Dean. My Dean would rather die than hurt me. Of course I love him." She whispered in his chest. "It hurts to think of what he's become, so much more than these wounds could ever hurt."

"Dean's lucky you chose him. I'm sure he'll agree when he comes back." Sam assured her. "I won't give up on him. He's my brother. I'll bring him back for you. For us." Sam promised and he hoped he could keep that promise.

Part 2

[cece693]

We Belong Together (DARK! Steve Rogers x M! Reader)

Just something that came to mind and couldn't help but write it. Please tell me if you like this style of writing more or prefer my original one. Thanx for reading!

Summary: Dating Steve Rogers was more difficult than you'd imagined. He was a man riddled with insecurities and, unfortunately, this affected your relationship.

tags: dark Steve Rogers, manipulation, the Avengers are no help, toxic relationship, not Steve friendly, gaslighting, no happy ending and ambiguous ending

Your relationship with Steve was rocky, to say the least. And you know it sounded stupid because you're dating Captain America, the epitope of male perfection and respect, but you weren't dating him. You were dating Steve Rogers, the man who was always beaten to a pulp behind alleyways before the serum took over. The man who did everything to fit in, but was neglected due to his health problems and scrawny appearance. And in a way, you sympathized with Steve—he was still the boy seeking acceptance from everyone, and you, who he'd let into his heart after the whole Peggy fiasco, couldn't desert him. But there was a line between what you would label as love and obsession.

It would be fine if Steve wanted to spend each weekend lazing about in bed, arms wrapped around you, not wanting to let you even use the bathroom, but it was another story if he had your location turned on and was texting you hurtful messages implying infidelity. You'd let it pass one time, but when it became a routine, and Steve became more suffocating to be around, you realized you'd fucked up. No breakup was easy, but when you're doing it to Steve Rogers, a man who was known for his determination and unwillingness to change his mind, it would be near impossible.

With his job as a full-time Avenger, there was never a good time for you to sit down and talk to Steve. He was either tired or stressed, with the latter making you squeamish to even interact with. No Steve was pleasant to deal with, as of late, but a stressed Steve was walking into enemy ground. If the damage to the punching bags was any indication. However, it seems whatever God above favored you when your boyfriend announced he'd asked for a week off to spend it with you. His smile was genuine, but you noted the strange twinkle in his eyes when he casually noted that it would be your anniversary.

"Who knows what surprise I have in store for you." He said, but those words, said with so much innocence had you fretting. You hated to do it, but it seemed you'd be breaking up with him before his plan could come to fruition.

"Steve, about that..." You trailed off, looking away from him to gain courage, but found none. "I don't think we're working out. I want to break up." There, you said internally, just like ripping off a bandaid. You risked looking up at Steve and instantly regretted it. He had a look of silent fury and violence??? but then it washed over with indifference. You expected yelling, even begging, but silence stung more. "I'm sorry, but I..." How would you broach the topic of his toxicity without sounding like a total asshole?

"Is there someone else?" Steve interrupted, quite rudely. He tilted his head, mind racing with every person who'd ever interacted with you. Who had convoluted your mind into breaking up with him? If there was another man, Steve would make them regret their existence. Taking what wasn't theirs to begin with. "Is it Thomas? I knew he wasn't just a friend."

"No!" You shouted, hurt by the implication. Thomas was a co-worker who you befriended—he was like a brother to you, nothing more, nothing less. "This is part of the problem, Steve. You think I always cheat, making me feel stupid for overreacting to your jealousy when it's unhealthy as hell."

"But you always seem so close to everyone else." Your ex replied, his voice wavering between anger and insecurity. "How am I supposed to feel when I see you laughing and talking with Thomas like that?"

You shook your head, frustration boiling over. "How are you supposed to feel?! You're supposed to trust me, Steve! You're supposed to know that if I'm with you, it's because I chose you. But you keep pushing me away with all this suspicion. It's exhausting."

Steve clenched his fists, struggling to find the words. "I only act this way because I care about you, because I don't want to lose you. You know how much I love you. If I didn't care so much, I wouldn't be jealous." He knew it was a stupid reason, but Steve was desperate. He wouldn't lose you over something he had no control over. Didn't you know how handsome, pretty, and unique you truly were? Didn't you see the hungry stares people throw your way? It was Steve's duty as a boyfriend to show them you were taken; his completely.

"That's another thing, Steve! You alienating me from my friends and co-workers."

Steve's face twisted in frustration. "So, what? I should just sit back and let whomever get close to you?"

"I can't control everyone's actions, Steve! Don't try to guilt trip me into thinking your behavior is normal...it isn't. Your reaction just reaffirms my decision." Not wanting to face your ex any longer, you stood up from the table and headed to the door. After all, this was Steve's apartment, and as much as he tried to encourage you to move in, right now you were grateful you stood your ground. But not even before your hand touched the doorknob, Steve's whimpers sounded behind you.

Steve panicked seeing you near the door. You had to understand—he never meant to make you angry, he just loves you so much that perhaps his behavior did come off as overbearing. But this was for your own good, Steve thought, you were too naive, too trusting of people who would only take advantage of you. With tears in his eyes, Steve began to whimper and make himself look half his size. "I'm sorry. I'll change, I promise, but please don't leave me. I love you."

It irked Steve that you didn't face him, but when he saw you pause, his heart rejoiced. Just for it to quickly fall again when you did open the door and told him you couldn't do this anymore. Unable to do anything as you finally closed the door, leaving him alone, Steve's anger made an appearance. Grabbing the closest thing to him, he flung it to the wall and continued to do so until every single item in his living room lay in thousands of tiny little pieces.

You're acting irrationally, Steve told himself. You'll soon come to realize the grave mistake you are making. I'm the only one who could protect and love you. I'll give you space to calm down, and then, perhaps you can understand me.

A week had passed since you'd broken up with Steve, and the man wasn't taking the news well. He believed you would've crumbled and ran back into his arms once the day ended, but when you hadn't called, much less answered his messages, the man grew furious. How dare you block his number and change the locks on your door? Did you have a visitor over, taking advantage of his absence to fuck whomever you desired? Didn't he mean anything to you? The week's absence had made Steve spiral out of control.

The reasonable part of him told him to move on, respect your wishes, and cease contact, but this was you. You weren't replaceable to Steve, oh no, he would make you stand by his side until death do part. Didn't you see you guys were meant to be? It also probably didn't help that the Avengers took his side and began feeding into Steve's delusions.

"I don't get it, man. You treat him right and love him unconditionally. How could he break your heart?" Was Tony's response once he heard of your relationship status. "He's dumb to break things off. I can only hope my relationship with Pepper is as strong as yours." Yeah, Tony wasn't really a help in calming Steve down.

Meanwhile, you were picking up the pieces of your life. Reconnecting with friends Steve had frightened off and taking a much-needed vacation from New York. You couldn't escape Steve when he was a public image—Captain America basically ruled over New York and had a place in people's hearts.

Sitting down at the little cabin you rented for the month, you sipped on your coffee and rethought your plans. Initially, you wanted to just start anew in New York, forget about Steve, and continue living your life, but that was thrown out the window. You could sense eyes wherever you went after breaking things off with Steve, and you might be crazy for saying such a thing, but you knew Steve. Knew he would pull strings to keep in contact and have an eye on you.

It also wasn't unreasonable to make such a connection when Steve was the leader of the Avengers—a team of superheroes with varying skills and resources. So your original plan of staying turned into you seeking residence as far away from the U.S. as possible. Yet, when you believe you've found the perfect place, something gets in the way—your bank is unable to transfer funds, the listing immediately reads as sold, the realtor not answering your calls. Every hindrance only makes you come to the same conclusion—Steve.

Yelling when the mug shattered in your hand, hot coffee burning your skin, you realized you weren’t alone. The front door of the cabin was closed, but standing next to it was Steve. The nearby lamp cast a dim, flickering light over his figure, highlighting his state of disarray. His once clean-cut appearance was gone, replaced by stubble, messy hair, and a simple t-shirt with jeans that looked like they’d been slept in. "Get out." You hissed, but the man only stepped closer, frightening you. "Get out! I don't want anything to do with you."

"I tried to be nice, and give you space, but nothing works." Steve said, ignoring your wishes as he advanced toward you. For every step he took, you stepped back twice. You couldn't help but fear for your safety when Steve disregarded your wishes and had this glint of madness in his eyes. "I need you. Can't you see that?"

Your back hit the wall, trapping you as Steve loomed closer. You never took your eyes off him, every nerve in your body screaming for you to escape, but there was nowhere left to go. "Steve, please." you begged, your voice trembling with a mix of fear and desperation. "You're scaring me. This isn't love."

Steve’s hand reached out, brushing against your cheek in a gesture that once might have been tender, but now only filled you with dread. "You’ll see, in time. You’ll remember how good we were together. You just need to stop fighting it."

Before you could react, Steve's hand shot out, gripping your chin with a force that made you wince. In a flash, he pulled you closer and crushed his lips against yours, his kiss bruising and possessive. You struggled against him, trying to push him away, but his arms were too strong, locking you in place as he held you tightly.

Your mind raced, panic surging through you as you fought to break free. This was not the man you once cared for; this was someone consumed by a twisted obsession, willing to do anything to keep you. Tears welled in your eyes as you clawed at his arms, desperate for air, desperate to escape.

[lowkeyrobin]

MCYT with an S/O who fosters kittens? :D

OH MY LORD YESYESYESHDNSKDNDN I had sm inspo w this bc I have 5 cats (cats are one of my favorite things ever I swear) and yeah dkkdkd THANK YOU FOR THE REQUEST

MCYT ; you foster kittens

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu, quackity, foolish gamers, & slimecicle

warnings ; language, talk of harm towards animals

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

genuinely feels so bad when you have to let the cats go

like he tears up nearly every fucking time

he watches some of these poor cats go from aggressive and distant, barely able to eat because they don't trust you yet, to warm, loving and cuddly little creatures

he literally watches them grow and he gets so emotional cause like why can't you keep all of them???

he'll be off to the side when you're handing them away to a new home wiping his tears

he's more emotional about it than you

he gifts you like new cat food bowls and cat towers and stuff once they get all beaten to a pulp

if you're fostering more than like three at a time, he'll have a gang of them on his lap while he's editing, recording, or lounging around

his hands are always covered in scratches and scars because he'll fuck around and find out even after you warn him about them being feisty at first

"this one got ran over by a car and he's blind now"

"can we keep him?? :("

RANBOO

like tubbo, it warms his heart to see you care so much about the poor babies that just need a little help readjusting and understanding that not all people are bad/you're there to help them

absolutely loves when you bring back like little feisty babies that barely know how to walk but know how to hiss

they can't help but laugh like "awe oh my god, this is so sad but it's so cute"

when I tell you all those cats are so spoiled by them

it's sweet though, he really cares about all the cats you take in too, you honestly foster them together at this point

you guys end up keeping this tuxedo cat with one eye and name it Jellyfish (as per chats vote)

the amount of fanart of you two with jellyfish 💔💔💔 so cute

jellyfish becomes the mom of all the new fosters and looks over them and shit, that way they ease into the new environment a little better

buys all the fosters outfits. there's a barbie sized closet for all the clothes

FREDDIE BADLINU

it's like there's a new cat every week considering he brings back street cats as well LMAO

these mf cats are SO SPOILED but they deserve it

he gets so attached to the disabled ones because he loves having to help them out

he loves teaching them how to eat from his hands too

it's so funny, like they'll nick his fingers and he'll be like "fuck, that tickles, Mr. Peanut!"

gets so emotional when you have to give them to better homes

like hugs and kisses them goodbye 4 times

he genuinely thinks your magic, watches those cats go from shy and trying to stay away from you to like being attached to you by the hip and all wagging their tails

he's constantly running around the house playing with them too

he loves seeing them pop up on 2 legs like meerkats when he's serving them wet food or treats LMAO

NIKI NIHACHU

she couldn't care less that the house is loaded with cat stuff and a whole room is filled with cat towers, shelves and toys for them

loves making new little puzzles/mazes for the cats with the shelves, making a little competition to see who can get to the top fastest

she names the cats because she's gonna get attached either way, but after a while they become more and more silly

like they go from Sebastian and Pixel to Tater Tot and Simon From Alvin And The Chipmunks so quickly

she learns how to make homemade cat treats as well

she also, like ranboo, gets a little barbie closet and fills it with cat outfits

some cats like the outfits and others don't, but the ones who do, good god it's like britney manson on the runway

absolute ws in that house, photoshoots for days

QUACKITY

"AH WHAT THE FUCK? Y/n! come get Jessie and Walter, they've invaded my stream!"

he genuinely names most the foster cats characters from meme shows/movies/memes in general

actually named one Badass Grandmas Meme ; also named another Hurricane Tortilla after that one vine

always taking .5s of the cats once they've accepted that he exists as well

sometimes they hop on his desk and join the stream

"Oh, look! it's Goldfish, she's the newest foster that y/n took in"

constantly taking pictures of you and the fosters throughout the stages of rehabilitation

from hissing and scratching to cuddling on the couch and lazy naps

no cat leaves without a little pair of sunglasses

he's genuinely inspired to make quackity cat merch because most of the fosters you take in LOVE clothes LMAO

FOOLISH GAMERS

literally treats these mfs as babies

you'll walk in and see him holding one of the elderly cats you're rehabiliting from a bad home whom just got rescued and he's holding this poor girl like a literal infant

she loves it though, most the cats do

the fosters love playing with his hair too, and he plays into it, always bends down to their level and wobbles his hair around for them to smack around and try to chew on

he has such a soft spot for them

if you're having one of those rare moments where you might give up on a cat, he's right there to try and help you

flea baths on kittens are always done by him, he feels so bad for each of them, meanwhile you're on cat-drying duty and giving them a lil medication to kill any remaining fleas

he's 50/50 on names at first but gives up with trying to not name them bc he gets attached anyways

"Oh, lookit! this is Evergreen, she's been chilling with us for like, 3 months I think"

he loves when they interrupt his streams bc they're so cute and explorative and curious LMAO

CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

he's the most supportive of you fostering cats like ever

loves fucking around with them and sliding them around on the floor, if there's any long hair cats, he loops very loose bows and clips around their fur and shit

cradles them like babies to sleep

and then slips them into the cat tower or on the couch/bed etc

even covers them with a little blanket

"Oh shit, they've invaded, they're raiding! the axe weilding brothers are here!"

gives them the most dumbass names like Microwave Popcorn and Toaster Strudle

he frames pictures of every cat in the hallway once they leave

[maxwell-grant]

hi. you've mentioned Donald Duck a few times in your posts, with scrooge being one step removed from pulp heroes, Donalds Paparinik (Italian superhero identity which I love, the new PK Adventures where lovely) in terms of their relation to the Diabolik line of European superheroes and Donalds general tendency to run head first down slippery slopes. so I'm wondering if you have any further thoughts on his comics and weird place in the superhero/pulp world

Oh God, do I. I mostly wanna talk about the superhero side of things but I feel like it's worth mentioning I grew up with Donald Duck comics, specifically the Carl Barks ones. The picture above wasn't taken by me but I own and recognize like 7 of the books in it, my mom always bought these that collected several of his stories and had these beautiful painting covers so we could read them together, and I still flip through them on occasion and love them very much (I really wanna buy a translated edition of Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck to read with her but those cost a liver). Donald Duck was one of my childhood hyperfixations and I got my hands on all the comics and movies and cartoons I could find with him, and I actually did read several of the Italian comics, I could go down the stationery right now and grab 5. I first stumbled on Paperinik via those, and for long I didn't think much of it, because Donald Duck moonlighting as a superhero for decades isn't the kind of thing that comes up often. I just thought Paperinik was a weird but funny idea for the longest time and always liked rereading a story where he puts on the costume to scare a rich jerk into leaving his granny's farm alone. And THEN I stumbled onto PKNA, Paperinik New Adventures, and oh my god this rules so much.

Actually one of the best superhero comics I've ever read, it's just constantly and consistently doing these wild absurd stories and swings into genre territory and quality storytelling. It's famous for opening it's first issue with aliens genociding an entire planet and I thought that was kinda overselled, and it's not frequently this dark (sometimes it actually gets darker though, and I probably stopped before it could really get there), but it is a very weird comic. It's more akin to Fantastic Four's serialized consistency than any kind of graphic novel prestige storyline but it is frequently so good at what it does, even the lamer issues are still worth reading. I like describing it as Donald Duck falling headfirst into Batman-level resources, forced to deal with Superman problems (on both the "huge sci-fi horrors" and "people being really, really irresponsible dicks" ends), while trying to stay Ditko's Spider-Man and failing. These do not feel quite like any Donald Duck comics I'd read before and while they would hold up with a different character, I do think they deserve credit for how they make it still always feel like you're reading a Donald Duck story, if a slightly different one. In fact I'd even say PKNA actually makes the concept feel more suited for Donald Duck in a way that brought the idea full circle.

To those of you that don't know, Paperinik started as a villain, or more of a revenge fantasy. By that point there was a tradition of doing a lot of parody stories with Donald that started in 1953. By the late 60s, readers were dissatisfied with Donald Duck always constantly being mistreated by the rest of the supporting cast and losing unfairly, so it was decided to have one of those parodies feature Donald Duck as uncovering the fortune and resources of "Fantomius" and becoming a masked rogue able to get back at them by achieving the impossible, in that he both steals from Scrooge and defeats Gladstone's luck by framing him for it.

He had a stint as a master thief until it was decided it made him too mean, so he morphed into a superhero trying to overcome his prior bad reputation and using his new skills and gadgets (still prone to malfunctioning) to deal with his typical rogues and new ones, and having the admiration of his nephews who don't know that Unca Donald and Paperinik are the same. PKNA, in turn, was sort of a reboot, shedding the previous history and pretty much getting rid of Donald's traditional supporting cast and having Donald stumble onto a different set of resources and means to fight crime, but keeping the idea of Donald Duck having a superhero alter-ego that nobody suspects. The scale and menace of the threats he's up against DRASTICALLY increases, and if anything that fact is crucial to what allows these to still feel like Donald Duck stories, even with Paperinik being a genuinely impressive and cool hero able to save the world. Nobody believes Donald Duck could be a cool and impressive person if he tried, and so Paperinik becomes not just a power fantasy, or a call to something better or be someone better, but it becomes a key component of Donald Duck stories: a thankless job he's expected to do that he doesn't want to do until his pride or something crucial is on the line. These are still parables about human failures and what can be learned from them.

I'd even say a big part of why they succeed is because they introduce a character who can pick up Donald's slack as a comically unpleasant ill-tempered grouch in need of a lesson protagonist in Angus Fangus, a character who's sort of J Jonah Jameson meets Harvey Bullock. Angus has it out for Paperinik and gets up to a lot of the antics you would traditionally expect Donald to be doing if this was a classic Donald Duck comic (and even has a Gladstone-esque rival of his own in another reporter), and getting to learn lessons and be humbled and even have his own set of impressive moments. The choice to give an entirely new cast around Donald greatly added to the comic's ability to experiment and do new things while still keeping the core of Donald.

I actually like a lot of these new dynamics better than the ones he traditionally has, I love The Raider and Lyla and One and oh god Xadhoom, Xadhoom is so fucking cool, such a cool design and name, this powerful roaring supernova stickbug alien person in a crusade of murderous vengeance who names herself her language's equivalent of creditor because the death of her entire planet is the DEBT SHE WILL COLLECT IN BLOOD ENERGY and she is just the most 90s anti-hero ever made except she's stuck in a Donald Duck comic getting into comedic situations and learning to laugh and feel emotions and learn from her mistakes again whether she likes it or not. These two are so good together.

Even with a superhero lair and supercomputer and gadgetry handed to him, Donald Duck is so comically outmatched against his opponents he still winds up winning through guile and will and comedic trickery. Donald desperately wishes he could go on self-serving ventures or just sit at home and enjoy tv, and not get dragged into dealing with murderous alien invasions, or cyberpunk revenge stories, or collapsing future timelines, and still having to solve those problems so there's a world to come back. The stories are frequently fun and they are prevailingly comedic and very good at it too, but they also get a lot out of taking weird turns into unexpected territory.

I haven't finished it because I wasn't able to find it in full or keep track of what's the og series and what's the reboot, still trying to sort that out, but god what a find this series is. What a great strange turn in the history of this great strange character.

[hexedwinchester]

Why Being Manipulated into Letting Gadreel in a Huge Deal for Sam?

I know a lot of Dean Girls were very upset (and will be upset after reading this post) with Sam when Dean asked him if the roles were reversed if he would have done the same thing (letting an angel possess him to save his life). Sam simply says no! Some fans have gone to the extent of calling him selfish but no, Sam is not being selfish in that scene. It wasn't that he didn't care about his brother. He really does and that is why him saying no is actually a good thing.

Now see, Dean never had to go through the whole loss of bodily autonomy due to a possession issue (not until after he was possessed by Michael but that's way after the Gadreel plot) like Sam has been and disturbingly a lot more number of times than Dean's single rodeo with Otherworld Michael (or is it AU Michael? whatever!). Just to keep the argument simple, I am purely focusing on the loss of bodily autonomy purely from a possession POV.

When Meg possessed Sam in S2, she used his body to kill other hunters, to assault Jo and to beat Dean. Maybe she did a lot worse than that, we don't know. Who is left with the trauma of that knowledge? Sam!

The Gary-Sam body swap. This one though seems funny on the surface, it's actually kinda disturbing because Gary used Sam's body to have sex and the kid. Kinda gross enough already but that dumb kid could have easily handed over the vessel to Lucifer. Imagine, that's how it played and Sam was back into his body. Now who is trapped with Lucifer, the Devil? Sam!

Speaking of, understandably saying yes to Lucifer was Sam's call to put him back in the box but it didn't go down without blood on his hand. The moment Lucifer took control of Sam's body, he killed the demons from Sam's life that deceived him. I am guessing these were possessed people he killed in the process and not just wisps of black smoke. At Stull cemetery, he exploded Cas to bits, snapped Bobby's neck and beat up Dean to pulp! all by whose hands? Sam's!

Gadreel's possession did help Sam get better but at what cost? Kevin's death? How many nightmares did Sam have seeing his hands burning Kevin hollow? Now let me point out the aftermath of this possession which is somehow even worse than the actual possession: Crowley skewered Sam's brains with needles, hell, he even possessed Sam to wake him as if one possession was not enough. Sam literally had two supernatural beings possessing him at one time! Don't even get me started on the painful, torturous grace extraction process. Sam was willing to die in that moment because he believed his life wasn't worth saving, definitely not at the cost of Kevin's life!

Before this role reversal scene, Dean wasn't possessed by anything, so he doesn't understand how horrible it is to lose autonomy over one's mind and body. I don't expect him to grasp the gravity of it. He sees it as a healing from within. For him, if 'ends justifying the means' that's all that matters.

When every single possession has caused nothing but grave trauma to Sam Winchester, tell me why would he or anyone for that matter, in their sane heads do this on their own brother, especially when they love them so much?

Here's another very real life perspective for all those who feel Sam saying 'no' if the situation was reversed was a horrible betrayal and proof that he doesn't love Dean enough: Ever had someone you love on life support or gone through a situation where you had to put down your beloved pet? Why do we do this? is it because we don't love them? because we don't care? no! Because sometimes, it is better to let them go than to prolong their suffering by putting them through this pain. So next time you feel Sam was being selfish, or disloyal to Dean or that he didn't care enough, think about a loved one suffering through something horrible because you didn't have the guts to let go!

[absolutebl]

There was a surprising amount of sex in Be Mine Superstar! I really wasn’t expecting it…. Similarly, Love Syndrome had a LOT less sex than I was promised by the trailer…

Are there any BLs that had either many more or many less NC scenes than you were expecting before you started watching them?

BLs that exceeded (or underperformed) sexy expectations

Interesting question. So far, not that many Thai BLs. But I think that's just because I pay attention to the pairs and the actors in Thai stuff, and you sort of get a feel for what they will (and won't) take on. So in your examples: I know JaFirst did high heat so I expected the producers to lean into that advantage as part of BMSS because, frankly, it didn't have much else going for it.

I haven't watched Love Syndrome III yet but knowing Frank I wouldn't expect it to go super high heat in terms of actual physical contact.

I guess the ones that have surprised me are mostly out of Thailand are pulps that I knew nothing about going in. Let me see...

Thai BL that ended up being way hornier/better than I expected

Secret Crush On You - such a weird show but BillySeng brought IT, whatever IT is, they got it.

Love in Translation - yeah, what happened in that sauce isle boys? Very saucy. Whatever pun, more please.

2 Moons 3 - about on par with ForthBeam from 2 Moons 2 but nothing else in the previous 2 series would lead one to expect the horny we got in this show on the main.

Second Chance - yeah it was a throw away pulp and this studio is hit or miss on chemistry but it had one of the best kisses of its year.

Big Dragon - I don't know what I expected form the trailers, but it wasn't as good as it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show is naff, but the chemistry/heat levels are scorching.

Ghost Host, Ghost House - generally the horror stuff doesn't do chemistry well, but these two have some of the best chemistry EVER put into a pulp. I really hope we see more of them.

KinnPorsche - It's no secret I'm not as wild about this show as most, but I did think the VegasPete stuff was unexpectedly killer in all ways.

Oh My Sunshine Night - yeah it was exactly what one expects from OhmFluke but THE SIDES!!!! I mean... WHAT? I'm not mad, just pleasantly surprised.

TharnType - Okay but remember at the time what we'd had from Mame was LBC (relatively low heat) and other Thai stuff I was familiar with at the time was Make It Right, Love Sick, SOTUS, and UWMA. TT was way higher heat that I'd seen from Thailand before. And then...

Why R U? - ZeeSaint's "away trip to the beach" full on sex scenes plus repping for verse was just crazy at the time. Especially since Saint played Pete in LBC before this and Zee was new to BL. Add that to the very odd and disjointed (and miss-matched) SaifahZon counter story and WRU? was this insane all over the place viewing experience, including the heat levels. There was this "what will they do next?" kind of tension over the production. Not the story (because who was following that?) but the PRODUCTION. At the time, it was welcome, but truly bonkers. What a way to drive narrative tension... pure high heat chaos.

Thai BLs where chemistry failed meet my (relatively low) expectations

My Ride - honestly, if they had just gotten the kiss right this might even have earned a 10/10 from me

Unforgotten Night - ugh

Bite Me - double ugh

Friend Forever - I know I'm the only person who watched this but why could we not have gotten ONE kiss from the leads?

Nitman - studies have since shown us it is entirely not Noh's fault... see Oh My Sunshine Night

Wedding Plan - the leads were fine, but Mame usually fails me in every way except chemistry, so "fine" is not up to her usual standards. Those standards being predominantly "they hawt together" and nothing else. There wasn't even a side dish couple to pick up the slack noodle... so to speak.

Korean BL

For most of 2022 I was consistently getting surprised by Korean BL's chemsitry when it was good but now I've settled into half expecting it yet still being delighted when it happens and is well done.

I do think Semantic Error was a bit of a seed change for them.

The problem is, now we know they can do it, we are starting to get pissed when it's bad or entirely absent.

Taiwanese BL

Taiwan is the opposite of Korea.

I expect good chemistry and almost always always get it. I struggle to think of a time when they've disappointed me (in this arena). Maybe a few? But I tend to cut Taiwan more slack than other countries because they have so few BLs and they are generally so consistent. If they falter at all, at least the side couple will pick up the slack.

Japanese BL

I have no expectations of Japan. Life as a BL fan is a lot easier that way.

(source)

[whoiwanttoday]

Guys, it is not quite the official start of Halloween yet (don't worry, I plan to keep you well informed as to when it is. It's coming up. Just weeks away) but we are in the prelude to Halloween officially this weekend. First, my friends and I have started organizing our planned Halloween season watch lists, it's an online event called Hooptober which is basically a movie scavenger hunt where we have to watch a bunch of movies to fit various criteria. We won't start watching until Halloween is upon us. Tonight though, Joe Bob Briggs is doing a 12 hour movie marathon that feels like a good prelude to the Halloween season. We are looking forward to it and seeing if old people can stay up all night (spoiler, we won't. We suck. We're old) and Rhonda Sheer will be there, which is a throw back to USA's Up All Night, a show that was on Fridays and Saturday from 11 PM to 5 AM when I was a kid. She was one of the hosts and we all thought she was kind of hot and kind of funny. So it's exciting she'll be on tonight.

All of that is some lead in to me posting Edwige Fenech who I promise you is related to all that. She was the queen of Giallo in the 70's. Giallo is an Italian genre that means yellow because old Italian pulp fiction used to be printed on yellow pages, so much like we called Pulp Fiction that because of the type of paper used, they called it Giallo because of the type of paper used. Giallo is a distinctly Italian genre in so many ways. It is half murder mystery and police procedural and half slasher movie. Some skew more horror than others but it's an important horror subgenre that gave us the slashers of the 80's. What makes it so Italian though is that the plot often makes no sense, they often don't seem to care about the plot at all. What they care about is all the people are extremely sexy and sophisticated in a way only Europeans can pull off in the 60's and 70's. America might have had the money but we'd never have that subtle class they all had. Which is wild for such trashy movies. They are always beautiful to look at, it's kind of the whole point. Pretty and vacant in many ways. This is why the genre drives me nuts, sometimes it forgets to even solve the mystery. This is why others love it, pure vibes and beauty. Fans of cinematography and set design tend to love Giallo. It also is famous for, as all Italian films are at the time since they were the kings of European film, having the most beautiful women you have ever seen. Like even in bit parts. All of this means that I have always thought my friend @kat-eleven might like some Giallo if given a chance. I have recommended Suspiria every year for a decade at Halloween. She always refuses because she said, "While I like the sound of those brutal killings, Italian 70's style backhanded sexism, and pretty colors, I just don't think there are any attractive women in all of Europe so I am not interested". That brings us to Edwige Fenech, who I watched one of her many Gialli the other night and was like, "I feel like Kat is wrong. I think she is actually very beautiful". So I sent Kat some posts on tumblr to prove it and you know what? This once that contradictory Canadian agreed I was right. As a matter of fact she said she might watch an Edwige Fenech movie. Which brings us full circle. For my big Hooptober list have thrown in a few Edwige Fenech movies that I haven't seen but are supposed to be among the best she is in, so I can tell @kat-eleven which is the best one. So this is all a prelude to Halloween season when I will be knee deep in Edwige Fenech because I am such a good and giving friend. Maybe she'll get a second post then. Today I want to fuck Edwige Fenech.

[laurenfoxmakesthings]

I've been holding this news to my chest for quite a while…I've been interviewed about my book and the spin-off series based on The Man From C.A.M.P. I've been developing, Agents of C.A.M.P.

The first book will have ace and aro non-binary protagonists!

I'll admit, not everything from the interview could make it in, and understandably so. The article goes into more of the history than I originally thought, it goes into the foundation and Maggie Weadick, which I always knew (at first just Maggie was going to be interviewed).

The Agents of C.A.M.P. series in this article was essentially a damn good third act and an announcement. There was no way all of my autistic-motivated info-dumping and gushing was going to fit, I knew that.

Like, the fact that it took years of re-reading some of the books on-and-off as a fan before it became a hyperfixation out of necessity for the spin-off. Or how all that research thanks to those libraries was to piece together the unofficial final out-of-print novel of the original series. Or how 'The Golden Doppelbangers' title is also inspired by the Dr Goldfoot films (for good reason *wink*)

However, here, and here only, I was add a few things that I'm eager to share now that this project is more public. Supplementary material. Extra goodies for the people interested, let's say.

Firstly, the other protagonist. I'm happy Quant is introduced to a lot of people in this article, especially considering how fulfilling it has been to write the flamboyant, confident asexual character I always wanted to see (I've noticed allos can't really imagine ace characters being anything except demure, reserved, and deadpanned, and I'm tired of that). But Quant is one protagonist out of two, and not even the novel's main POV protagonist.

The other protagonist is Sypretes Arsénios. An aromantic, genderfluid lesbian, archer, and art thief. Their whole deal is they've been on a years-long quest to recover queer art looted by Nazis. But now that quest is finished. They can't return to their old life and they can't bring themself to giving up their current one, at best now stealing queer art to make a statement. And that's where Quant comes in, recruiting Sypretes as their new partner in C.A.M.P.

They're your eyes, being introduced to C.A.M.P. in the modern day, and asking the questions that need to be asked.

The first thought I had about this novel was that the protagonists had to be an ace and an aro. As an ace myself, I know how tiresome it is to be the afterthought in the queer community. This will not be the case here, aces and aros are in the first book and more will come.

And I wanted ensure aroallos, queer folks we hardly ever see in stories, gets represented with Sypretes. Due to this amatonormative world seeing aroallos as cold 'at best' and predatory at worst, plenty of creators seem uncomfortable to even try to represent them. As though sex isn't 'exploitative' if there's a potential for romance. That rhetoric is much more conservative than people think, so I say screw that. In this novel, platonic relationships are worth more than gold, whether sex is involved or not.

I probably already hinted at this on tumblr, but this novel is about sexbots. One reason I did this is because aces and aros are often compared to robots, and I wanted to show how untrue that is. Especially with Sypretes and how much of a caring lover they are.

Secondly, I want to talk about C.A.M.P. itself. I definitely get why even other queer folks might give the side-eye to novels starring queer secret agents. The reason why a lot of us don't trust the series Q-Force (and I agree). A lot of us know real government agencies in charge of espionage have screwed over marginalised groups, including the LGBTIQA+ community. COINTELPRO. Operation Condor. The Lavender Scare. And many, many more atrocities. It doesn't make any of it better if the government agent is queer.

Here's the thing. I wouldn't have been interested in the original series at all if the series' protagonist Jackie Holmes was 'a CIA agent but gay'. C.A.M.P. isn't a government organisation. Since the original series in the 1960s, C.A.M.P. has been a secret underground independent organisation dedicated to advancing and protecting the LGBTIQA+ community, through many different branches.

Each branch focused on a different subject matter through a queer lens. One of which is the 'special services' branch, essentially the secret agents/detectives. I won't give everything they do away, but in short, when there's a hate group threatening the community, it's the agents' job to punch them and stop them.

Agents of C.A.M.P. will have more in common with Leverage than James Bond. Even the original Man From C.A.M.P. series was more inspired by James Bond's aesthetic than the franchise's authoritarian ethos.

Now, the original series wasn't perfect, for instance some of Jackie Holmes' missions/novels didn't involve the point of C.A.M.P. because of elements that haven't aged well. I've been intent on dealing with the original series' problems thanks to researching the lore (I know a lot of people hate that word now, but it's what I got). While also making sure both the series and the in-universe organisation are much more intersectional and much more focused on fighting fascists.

Thirdly, I'll admit, I'm a slow writer. It doesn't help that my book has ballooned bigger than I intended (as apparently any creative project I do does) and the plot is now too tight to break and cut. I'm nowhere near the end of the first draft yet, though I've been finding more ways to write more often as possible.

My point is if my novel's release date (there isn't one yet) gets delayed, maybe delayed more than once: please don't blame the Victor J Banis Family Foundation or speculate the worst case scenario. It would be me being slow and too thorough for my own good.

I don't want to end on that note though. Now that this project is way more public, I would be more than happy to answer any questions about Agents of C.A.M.P., my novel 'The Golden Doppelgangers', maybe even the original Man From C.A.M.P. series, or anything else relevant.

[chi-the-idiot]

Hi, yes, Im on my shit again because I just finished The Adversary route (aka masochistic dom demon wants to rip me apart and maybe im in the wrong for getting hot off of it) and I have been swayed by my own mind into writing this sort of headcanon of sorts on the same vein as This other post I made, so go check that one out for full context of my insanity over this game.

(Basically this is me shipping the voices with their respective princess foils because if the gods they are variants of are in love then why wouldn't they be if they had the chance to have their own bodies? As always, characters may be out of character so be warned if that is not your style. This may also be worse than the last one, again im sorry.)

We begin with the Stubborn, waking up in the Adversary's dungeon. On the other corner of the room lies the demon in question, waking up just like he did. She seems to sense, in her confusion, his gaze examining her, and she turns her head to see him.

They look at eachother for a second... two... three... it feels like an eternity, the time they spend analizing eachother. The shade of their eyes, the shimmer of the skin or feathers under the moonlight coming through the window, the red marred scars on eachother's bodies. And from that, they understand:

Its over.

The narrator is gone, his control over their story relinquished. The voices are gone, too, and the silence is deafening.

That is until the jingling of chains breaks it, as the adversary rises from her position on the floor. Strong hooves move her towards her quiet companion, tail fluttering slightly behind her. Her expression remains emotionless, and she just so manages to get close to him against her restraints.

With a delicacy fitting for a princess, but strange for her new figure, she rises her unshackled hand towards the humanoid bird on the other side of the room. And then her face breaks into a wide, sharp grin, that which would seem intimidating to most.

But to the Stubborn? That might as well have been an invitation to share a romantic waltz. He takes her hand and shakily rises to his feet.

And dance they do. Over and over and over. Their music is the slashes of metal against skin, the grunts of pain and laughs of sadistic joy. Their "romantic mutterings to the ear" are the exclaimed insults towards one another's abilities. Their ballroom the basement to which they have confined themselves.

The Adversary refuses to escape her bindings, she finds the challenge exhilarating. The Stubborn insists that he doesn't need a weapon to fight her, but she refuses to land a single blow without it. He believes its because she thinks him weak.

(What she will never admit is that she still remembers when she beat him to a pulp and he kept rising. Again, and again, and again. How his body, his remains, were more and more twisted and deformed each time. She never wants to see that again, especially now that she cant be fully sure if he will ever wake up when he falls.)

Scars now litter their bodies, sihns that the apparent immortality that once revived them has been removed. The Adversary heals faster than the Stubborn, sure, but now each wound is permanent. To account for that, they decide on a pattern: they will fight until one of them collapses of exhaustion. They will take a break, during which they shall eat and rest. If a wound has been dealt that is too deep, they will rest until it has healed, no matter how long it takes (neither wants their onky companion to die and leave them alone once more). Once the wound has healed, the music shall start once more, and their dance continue.

(What remains unsaid, is that during the short rest, the other tends to patch down the hurt one's cuts and scratches. Were they both less guarded, they would call it "caring".)

One of those nights, as the Stubborn is wrapping up a deep gash in his leg, the Adversary calls for his attention.

"You don't need to go that far, you know?" She states, laying down on the floor, looking at the sky far beyond the bars of the window "During our fights, I mean."

The Stubborn smiles, ruggedly, almost in defiance, as if she meant it as a mere joke "What, you don't think me capable handling my own against you? Please, we've been doing this for so long, I didn't think you thought so lowly of me"

But the Adversary remains silent. She turns her gaze to him, her eyes filled with something dangerous... at least to the both of them.

A softness.

"I just... don't want to loose the only companion I've got. The only one who Gets what I am now." She sighs, softly, looking for the words, her tail moving agitatedly under her. Finally, she continues "...I don't want to lose You..."

Silence so thick you could cut it with a pair of claws extends itself throughout the dark basement.

The clicking of claws on the stone floor is the only sound that breaks it as the Stubborn kneels next to her head, and proceeds to carefuly and softly caress her scarred face. She lets him, strangely enough, and as the draw closer together, he murmurs...

"Well, then I guess it's good that we seem to have the same objective then, princess"

[stephaniebrownslover]

Annual Duck Competitions With Pastas And Tons Of Other Shit[Crack]—Part 1

I know I'm not funny but please act like I'm sooo funny because I need motivation to continue.

Also I know they're out of character and sorry for that but it's my first time to writing a crack creepypasta fic.

Let me know about your opinions and ideas!

It was a typical summer day. A heat that constantly overwhelmed people as if it wanted to melt them, a bright sun that wanted to share its joy with the world, flies that kept buzzing around and more. In summary, the residents of Slender Mansion were living an ordinary day of summer.

Jeff was just lying on the couch with no purpose, while he was kicking and pushing Ben, who was trying to play a game. Or rather, he was constantly throwing his foot towards Ben, but he was only getting increasingly angry because he couldn't get any reaction from Ben since he was used to Jeff's endless nonsense. 

Clockwork, Nina and Toby, who were as bored as Jeff in another corner of the same communal living room, were talking about a serious discussion about why it was believed that babies were brought by storks.

Because of the environment's being quiet noisy, Helen and Liu were sitting in front of the long windows where the hall on the ground floor opens to the garden. They were sharing their opinions about the Pulp Fiction movie, the last Quentin Tarantino movie they had watched. 

At a moment when no one expected, Clockwork's, who was hanging upside down from the seat, and Jeff's, who was trying to put his foot in Ben's mouth, eyes met. Two close friends, who were quite bored with the aimless situation they were in, shook their heads, almost reading each other's minds.

"Hey, fuckin' elf, stop eating my foot, I need to piss."

"Hope you'll die, you jerk!"

"But you'll miss me."

When Jeff finally managed to free his foot from between Ben's baby hands, Clockwork also told her own excuse.

"Hey look, a stork beating a crab!"

"Somebody help them!"

"I-it's not real, Nina, s-he's just try-ing to di-ditch us."

''Oh."

And Clockwork, who had managed to slip out of the way while those two were talking, walked towards to Jeff, who was making strange hand signs to her from the corner of the hallway. He was looking so stupid that she wanted to throw a punch to Jeff's face.

A friendly punch, of course.

"The fuck are you doing?"

Jeff, raising his left hand in the air, signaled Clockwork to stop. He seemed very excited and it was very obvious that he did not want to be interrupted.

"No need for shitty talk, we're here to talk business." 

Clockwork tied her sleeves together and put on a sarcastic expression.

"Get your head out of your ass, you don't have the capacity to sell drugs."

"The other business."

"Oh, right."

Jeff began to walk slowly here and there in the rather long corridor, it was dark unlike the other rooms. He had a very serious expression when he was constantly pacing, as if he needed to tell someone about a problem that he couldn't talk about. 

It was like he was going to make the biggest decision of his life.

"We must tell the others."

Clockwork spoke using an extremely soft tone of voice. She also knew that this was an extremely important situation and she didn't want to mess things up. This could be one of the biggest tasks that they shouldn't mess up; maybe even the biggest task they've ever undertaken in their lives before.

“No! I mean, no. It's too risky."

Jeff suddenly stopped walking where he was and began to look at Clockwork's face with a scared expression.

"There is no way, Jeff, if we want success in this task, then others must know!"

"There must be some other way!"

"There isn't!"

Jeff, who bent his head to the ground to avoid eye contact, muttered in a fearful way.

"What about the thing we talked earlier?"

"We can't, we've already talked the reasons!"

"We have to try!"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Neither Jeff nor Clockwork noticed Masky sneaking up behind them because they were both too busy yelling at each other.

Completely no different from a child who had been caught, the two murderers were looking at the proxy that entered the room. Masky, whose porcelain mask was surrounded by filth, was watching them as if waiting for an answer.

Damn it, they made too much noise, and their plans were ruined by their stupid moves, and the stupid Masky would immediately-

"Masky! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Ignoring Jeff, who extended his hand to shake hands with him, Masky walked to the Clockwork in calm but eerie silence. It was a fairly common reality for those staying at the mansion that Masky didn't have many loving thoughts for Clockwork.

He saluted with the same menacing air.

"Clockwork."

Clockwork, who received the greeting, was nervous like a cat who had seen water, there was no trace of her relaxed mood just a little earlier.

"Masky."

Annoyed that his hand was in the air while an uncomfortable silence was forming between them, Jeff lowered his hand in the hope that his foolish behavior had not been noticed. 

Jeff felt uneasy while Masky and Clockwork were busy threatening each other without needing to use words. He wanted to break this silence.

"Can you keep a secret, mysterious-masked-face?"

Masky's one eyebrow was raised in the air, questioning what he had fallen into. Keeping a secret from his master would definitely not even be the last thing he would do, but in order to find out their secret, he had to gain their trust first. He wasn't sure about the girl, but he was aware that the idiot called Jeff and he knew his mouth wasn't too tight.

This was going to be as easy as gambling with a baby.

"No, Jeff, that wasn't in the plan!"

While Clockwork was shouting with an angry expression, Jeff placed his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner to calm her down.

"Relax and trust me, Clocky, everything is under my control."

"If you screw this up, consider yourself dead, fucker."

Masky, who could not stand this nonsense any longer, impatiently tapped his foot on the floor.

"Spill it out."

Wearing a sincere smile, Jeff dramatically raised his hand in the air and spoke using an extremely serious sen tone.

"Tell me, Masky, have you ever wanted to be rich?"

Other parts

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time. last night we watched ds9's "favor the bold" and "sacrifice of angels."

favor the bold:

worf rescuing dax during these wartime bits is EXTREMELY sweet. i think this is like 2 or 3 times now? he loves her 🥺

i love all the big cgi shots of all the different ships...i feel like i could look at those forever just noticing the various differences

quark in this episode......................

quark e kira in charge of breaking rom out. quark/kira. QUARK/KIRA! odo who? he sucks. fuck odo.

i don't mean it. i'm actually going to try as hard as i can to forgive him because it would be too exhausting to hate him until the end of the series. but FUCK ODO!!! kira doesn't need him...quark is right there...

like, odo being busy in his room fucking the mommy changeling or whatever while rom was in JAIL and kira and odo weren't allowed to see him!!!! fuck off

THE BRIG SCENE???? where rom my king rom was like. like quark was fucking. TRYING TO COMFORT HIM? and rom was just like. brother you cannot save me from execution you've got to focus on saving everyone else first. and quark was like what the fuck is wrong with you. and then proceeded to save everyone else first???

AND THEN. HE FOOLED? DAMAR? INTO THINKING HE WAS ON HIS SIDE?

kira was also in amazing form this episode. first of all, her fucking beating damar to a pulp and daring him to do anything about it. her getting ziyal to finally turn on her dad. and most of all telling odo to sit on it and spin. literally go fuck your mother. she's amazing

nog!!! nog's little promotion. wah. about time.

sacrifice of angels:

WORMHOLE ALIENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm actually really nervous about it cuz sisko was like bajor is my home when i retire when i go home it's gonna be to bajor and they were like you will never find peace in bajor :)

it was still really cool to see them again though. i'm fucking obsessed

and like...imagine being kira, or any bajoran. and you work with sisko for five years and he's like man cmon im not jesus. stop treating me like im jesus. i dont believe in that shit. and then he goes into the wormhole to face down 2800 enemy ships and vaporizes them with his mind. buddy you're not beating the jesus allegations anytime soon or like ever

QUARK IN THIS EPISODE ALSO. everything up to him because everyone else got thrown in jail for being rom sympathizers. him kidnapping ziyal for help was brilliant. they made a good team for .5 seconds. i love also that he 1. murdered two guys 2. freaked the fuck out about it, which is exactly what he did in that one episode with the klingon lady

also, QUARK E KIRA!!!! "i'd kiss you quark but" NO! KISS HIM!!!!!!!!!!

ziyal......girl, rip. she got there in the end i guess. but holy shit, i didn't realize damar had it in him. if im being honest im glad they killed her and not rom, it looked dangerously close to heading that way i know i checked up on him on memory alpha but STILL

what was really fun about it was dukat snapping. that wasn't where i saw his arc going but him totally losing it and then giving sisko back the baseball vs sisko triumphantly taking the baseball back...wow. that prop held so much weight over these 6 episodes and i was wondering how it was gonna pay off and it paid off REAL good

odo's change of heart.....................................

look. in theory, i LOVE him having a struggle and coming down on the side of the federation because of, primarily, kira. i just think his "betrayal" came out of nowhere, he was instantly telling this mommy changeling all his deepest secrets and then linking with her without any lead up or build up. if he had been struggling beforehand, if he had still been human and wanted it taken away from him, this i would understand. but his "betrayal" had no meat to it, so his change of heart doesn't feel very meaningful either. so like i want to care but i don't.

that said, when she asked why he changed his mind and he said "i think you know the answer" that was. pretty good. that was pretty good. it makes me hopeful that odo and i can get past this very rough place in our relationship :(

TONIGHT: finally back to voyager to catch up on all the voyager we skipped to watch ds9 three nights in a row. we got "day of honor" and "nemesis," for realsies this time

[goodluckclove]

Actual Hot Take: Ramble Incoming

I'm in a mood, less than a week out from my hysterectomy, and I have some thoughts. Rough thoughts. Medium spicy.

They're about world-building and critiques and readers and writers. It turned into a big ramble as I processed some feelings - you'll note the subject change partway through - so I'm throwing a read more.

I would say here that this is my own personal opinion but essentially I realized that my real issue here was how sick I am of cynicism in lit spaces and like...yeah I don't think that's a crazy hot take. I feel at this point that I am incapable of hot takes.

I am deeply intimidated by the kinds of writers and readers who eviscerate logistical world-building choices in genre fiction. I usually only see it in sci-fi and fantasy communities but I have to imagine it happens in every genre.

Maybe an unrealistic fabric is used in a historical fiction novel. Or a poor choice of saddle in a western. Or a medical inaccuracy in a horror scene. It has to happen all the time because certain people have expertise that research might miss, or a writer's research could be wrong, or they could've just not researched at all. But for some reason specifically the Speculative Fiction crowd are the most likely, in my experience, to lose their goddamned minds.

Has anyone read Greg Egan's Schild's Ladder? It's about the hardest sci-fi out there. So esoteric and thorough in its scientific accuracy that when I tried to read it it circled back around and sounded like fantasy. Listen to this excerpt from the plot summary:

Huh? Huh???

I don't know about you, but this is virtually indistinguishable to me from the schizophrenic rambling of Philip K Dick. I did not hate the book. I couldn't finish it because I had no fucking clue what anyone was talking about, but I enjoy it's existence. The prose was pretty retro. It's like a pulp novel from an alternate universe where everyone has a PhD in Quantum Physics.

It's just a weird spectrum, the questions you're supposed to answer and the ones you're allowed to leave a mystery. What mysteries will the reader use against you as proof that you didn't think it through? People say write for yourself, and you should, but some of those same people are quick to produce massive think pieces on why your choices make you a bad writer. That's just a thing some writers choose to do. And there's really no way to predict what someone might get unreasonably rant-y about. As I put my writing more out there I have no idea what people will use to claim I put no thought into the most emotionally vulnerable writing I've ever created.

And they say that's not supposed to bother you. But like. Of course it does? There's a level of thick skin you're supposed to develop about writing, but I don't think that applies to all aspects of writing or all the time. If someone disregards my entire novel that I gave myself tendonitis over because my depiction of back of house food service wasn't realistic or my magic system didn't go in a direction they thought it should, I'm going to be upset. It won't ruin my life or get me to give up writing - I don't see anything doing that at that point. But I'll get sad. I'll probably get pretty sad and it's weird that I feel like it's bad for writers to admit that.

My hot take, nestled within this hot take, is that I think this applies to every writer. Even the ones that react with ego and anger to massive critiques on their books - right before we cringe and scoff and laugh online - are probably also just sad that we didn't like their writing. Unless they specifically didn't try, or posed a scam in the form of a book, they're likely sad they offered something born out of creative effort and got rejected. Nobody likes that.

It's one thing if the writer themselves has some trash beliefs. I am fine with people eviscerating JK Rowling or any of the writers who feel like the best way to get a book deal is to bring down other writers or pretend to be a different race online. But it's just crazy to be a writer in an age where you might publish a book someone hates so much that they release a three hour-long video essay roasting entire segments for a potentially incalculable audience.

I used to be into that kind of stuff, but after being here for so long relishing in that rage-bait feels weird. Because a lot of the people here, even if they write themes I'm not interested in, seem like nice enough people actually trying to do something. I had strangers on here send me their writing and someone sent me what was clearly a fetish thing and even though I wasn't into the kink I talked to the person about it and they were perfectly civil and courteous. I'm almost 30 and I'm learning that while some artists are using their medium to push unhealthy beliefs or hateful ideologies, a lot more people just want to tell a story that feels important to them. Even if other people don't like it.

I don't know. I was angry at first when I started this but by now I'm just sentimental and I think people should stop treating complaining as their primary hobby. I think critiques are important, but there comes a line in which I'm forced to think you'd just like hearing yourself talk. And if you like to talk why not talk about something you enjoy?

If you've read this far (you're very odd), I'm going to go ahead and list a few books that inspired my writing and say why I like them a lot.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: Love my man Vonnegut. His prose is so warm and easy to read and his stories are so wild and interesting to think about. Everyone should read Vonnegut he's great and he seemed like a pretty nice guy.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: This book wrecked me hard. Some of the descriptions were so beautiful I put the book down and let out a sigh. When I finished I walked out of whatever classroom I was in without asking for permission from the teacher and spent the rest of class wandering campus in the rain and weeping openly.

Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock: it's a trilogy told through postcards and letters you can physically open and remove the pages. Has some of the most beautiful romantic intimacy between two people who never meet. There's one particular letter I read and reread a lot when I was younger because it was exactly what I wanted in life.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Agitation 3.8

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

(Every time I type out Agitation, I feel like I'm spelling it wrong)

“Any trouble?” Grue asked Tattletale.

Tons

Tattletale took hold of the stainless steel wheel that jutted out from the front of the vault and spun it, then stopped it. She repeated the process, going right, then left, then right again, for an indeterminably long time.  Just when I had the hopeful thought that maybe she wasn’t able to get in, there was a sound of something heavy shifting inside the door.

Tattletale OP, please Nerf :P

 The bank kept copies of all important documents for the local branches here, in a fireproof vault, in case of disaster

Take those too!

Grue, for his part, withdrew a short crowbar from within the darkness that smoldered around his body.  He set to cracking open the filing drawers with the squealing noise of metal creaking and bending.

Oh. They are. Cool. I don't remember hearing about this part. Probably Coil wants to do identity theft or w/e with it.

 Or, on a similar note, maybe there was something specific that would be found in the midst of the paperwork, and he was willing to buy it all if it meant keeping his true intentions unclear.

Probably not in this case, as the Bank wasn't his idea, but it's definitely the kind of thing I can see Coil doing.

I’d only ever seen her sullen and hostile, so any smile would be kind of creepy.  It was worse than that.  Hers was the kind of smile you’d see from someone who had never seen one before and was trying to replicate one from what they’d read in books.  Too many teeth showing, I suppressed a shiver and focused on the work.

Fuck. I'm not allowed to relate to Rachel. I don't like her. But fuck me if I don't do that too. Always too many teeth when I smile on purpose. When I was a kid my then stepmom called it my 'serial killer smile' which really does to wonders for a ten year old's sense of themselves. Thanks!

The cockroach, I’d come to think of him.  The boy with no weak points.

That's a bit rude, Taylor.

Gallant was an older teenager in a gunmetal and silver costume that blended the appearance of a pulp science fiction hero with a medieval knight.

Boo hiss Dean! /s

(Dean's nice. I like Dean.)

Also, probably a striking visual image.

His muscle laden arms were bigger around than my thighs,

Does that mean much, coming from you, Taylor? :P

He’s also packing personal biokinesis, which means he’s got a kind of ability to manipulate his own body. He can heal just by concentrating on an injury, and he’s used it to bulk up. He might be capable of doing more on the fly, depending on how much he’s trained since we saw him last. He’s been a solo hero in Brockton Bay for a little while.”

Kind of the opposite of Amy then. She can affect all life but herself, and he can only affect himself.

“I made an educated guess,” Tattletale spoke in a low voice, “I was wrong.  Sue me.”

I volunteer!

“Educated guess.  It would have been nice if you had said it was an educated guess, way back when we were planning this.”

I think that's technically *all* Tattletale can do. It's just that her guesses are very educated.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was a bad situation, and worse, I was afraid it was my fault. I’d warned Armsmaster something was going to happen. I could believe that he’d told the teams to be ready to go out in force. Even worse, he could be the unknown person on the roof. If that was the case, and Tattletale caught on, I was supremely fucked.

This one's not on you, Taylor.

“You guys are masters at the getaway, right?  So we change gears.  We fight them face to face.”

There are so many ways this could go wrong for our protagonists. Is this Taylor hedging her bets, or just desperate to not get a hostage hurt and grabbing onto the only option?

[msfbgraves]

I went down the wormhole of Cuba and Bis Teddy Bear and I can’t function normally now. This play ate my brain and regurgitated it into pulp. OMG. Just the dynamics between Teddy and Cuba as played by Ralph and Robert. WHY WASN’T THIS FILMED AND RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC???? It could have been a historic and national American treasure by now!!! 😭

And omg. RALPH AS TEDDY. Those pictures are killing be. The fluffy, messy hair! The doe-eyes!! The pouty mouth!!! The messy clothes and that red sweatshirt!!!! THEY LET HIM GO ON STAGE LIKE THIS IN PUBLIC??? He looks so pretty and sweet and cuddly it almost hurts.

This is definitely a Top Tier Look for him in my opinion. I think it just might be my all time favorite. Not to exaggerate but he looks like an angel here. Insane how pretty he is, and how that haircut suits him.

Don't worry, Nonnie, you'll be almost back to normal in a year, tops. And cuddly, you say? May I present this:

I saw this picture on Instagram and I am not the best at sharpening the quality of these things but of course I was looking at Ralphie and it seems like the hand on his left shoulder is in fact not De Niro's. Someone else behind him seems to have wanted to get a lil squeeze in, too. He's just so... so...

Also the play itself. Yeah, I recognise the feeling. Why wasn't it released? There's a film script in existence that, according to Ralph, De Niro had written. Imagine, there could have been a special edition dvd somewhere in a different timeline....! There could have been an HBO special! But no. We don't even have an in depth interview with Ralphie himself. That's part of the weird charm, though. There's a recording in New York that has not yet been digitized in the NY public library. There's an Italian remake. There's pictures. There's a play about the experience of being in this play as De Niro's understudy. I am not making this up. There's a quote for Ralphie's book from De Niro that he was a hard worker whom he had a connection with they could build on. There's some interviews with writer Rei Povod. The writer's cousin is on Instagram. There's a retrospecitive on the production, and a few reviews. It makes it all so otherworldly! Like it only half existed. There's fanfic. There's Ralph telling Xolo and Jacob that he called them personally to welcome them to Cobra Kai because De Niro called him personally and Bob de Niro barely talks on the phone, or at all. There's the most beautiful young Ralphie has ever looked.

There's something about it that's so very special and alluring and mysterious.

[wildclaw41]

Dr. Andromeda's bad day.

Dr. Andromeda: (comes back to her base with a ruined film camera)

Andromeda: oh darn it! Those spider monkeys ruined my chance to film the rare and beautiful blue parrots! (Grumbling while putting down the camera)

Andromeda: come to think of it those were some weird looking monkeys that I ever seen before... What a minute!! Spider monkeys are not blue or green! (Heard cluttering in her kitchen)

Andromeda: time for a sneak attack! (Goes into the kitchen and finds her hairbrush that's covered with hair that's not hers...)

Andromeda: (picks up the hairbrush and growls with anger, finally she got sick of it) okay who in the actual hell used my $60 dollar hairbrush?! Usually I am a calm and collected person but Whoever you are I am going to seriously beat you to a bloody pulp with it because you are in my house!!!! And you need to get the hell out of here?! I don't care who you are! Show me your faces cowards and thieves and life ruiners!! You ruined my historical study!!!

Kratt brothers: (come out from hiding inside the cupboards)

Chris: bro I think we're in big trouble and secondly I thought you said this house is abandoned?!

Martin: well i thought it was abandoned but no time to talk about it lets deactivate out spider monkey suits and give ourselves up to this person.

Kratt brothers: creature powers deactivate! (Both saying at the same time)

Andromeda: Alright who are you?! And what are you doing in my house?! Show yourselves and answer me!

( an incredibly handsome brown haired man walked out, he had gorgeous brown eyes that Andromeda had never seen before, he was like an angel with the way his hair blew, and a second man walked out he was taller then the first man but had a more long and lanky build he had blue eyes that state right into your very soul and blonde hair and strangely enough was also handsome but that didn't stop Andromeda from yelling at them)

Andromeda: Alright who the hell are you?! And what are you doing in my house?.

Both Martin and chris start talking: look lady you don't who you're messing with.. We are the wild kratts!

To be Continued

Andromeda belongs to @wildclaw41

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL!

I was wondering if you had any posts about the use of sound effects in BL - the slide whistle for checking people out/boners simply gets me every time.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve watched so much American produced media and tuning out the same concept / soundscape since I’m so used to it.

I’m also always surprised that with this love of sound effects, there hasn’t been the classic echoing noise that’s heard across oceans when they open lube!

Anyway I love your blog! It’s been an incredible resource in appreciating BL in all its glory :)

Hi!

Why All those Sound Effects in BL RomComs?

I don't have a specific post. I mention it in some of my guidance and warning posts about Thai and Taiwanese stuff in particular, in general I am not wild about it... but I have grown accustomed to it. It can certainly be off putting to new watchers.

One of the worst offenders was Lovely Writer. I think I docked a whole point off that show because the sound was SO intrusive and jarring within the context of the drama.

These days the more comedy and the more pulp, the more likely and frequent the sound effects. Also Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan are the biggest offenders.

It's simply a comedic tradition. I think of it as similar to panto or commedia dell'arte. It's certainly true that a lot of ancient Greek and Roman plays likely had sound effects, as indeed would have Shakespeare. No to mention Kabuki theater. In fact, it's like throughout the history of stagecraft, sound effects were more common than not.

However, it's not particularly common or popular in American modern cinema out of Hollywood because it's associated with children's performances and clownishness. Like the voice overs, cartoon sound effects now are seen as somewhat clumsy and childish, not to say old fashioned.

There is an element of mistrusting the actors not to convey the correct emotion. Like the actors need audio help to do their jobs properly. But also like the audience can't be trusted to understand and so we feel "talked down to" by the sound effect. At least I do.

Yes I am aware this is a personal hang up.

Instead I think it's meant more as a communal nudge, like "we all together are responding in a certain way to this." Isn't it funny?

I also wonder if it's the influence of anime et al. (I'm really not an anime person partly because of the soundscapes. But then I don't like cartoons. Or Disney. Just not into kid's stuff. Never have been. Even when I was a kid.)

Here's someone else's perspective on Thailand's use of sound effects.

And Japan's.

I would say I'm accustomed to it now, but I still don't ever enjoy it. In fact, I often appreciate the "gritty" drama BLs like The Eighth Sense or I Told Sunset About You or Eternal Yesterday BECAUSE at least high angst means no sound effects.

Also less likely to sing.

All hail dark BL's good side? The silver lining.

For the record and to show my "history of BL creds" I'm gonna give a shout out to the SINGLE best use of a sound effect in a BL-adjacent piece of media....

THE BEST BL SOUND EFFECT EVER AWARD!

drum roll please

THE POP SOUND

Made by Pree pulling out of Ram's ykw just just after railing him.

Series: What The Duck

(can't remember if it's season 1 or 2, and I will never rewatch that cray cray)

Country: Thailand

I am aware I am being crass but this moment was honestly, truly, hilarious. It's a very sexy scene and then that sound. So funny.

I expect a comment from those few of you who remember this moment.

(source)