#i hope it doesn't disappoint ;;

[fadefromthelight]

running to an endless horizon - chapter 9

here was something....off about Takumi's voice, as tinny as it was through the phone's speakers. Something that Ashikaga couldn't put a finger on.

There was his strange insistence for returning to work, the slight wheezing to his breathing that betrays the illness he just spent the better part of the week fighting off.

An undercut of a desperation Ashikaga isn't certain that Takumi knows is there.

He agrees to let Takumi come to work, knowing that nothing he says will stop him.

Read on: Ao3 | FF.net

[iknowitwontwork]

Fuck, I watched the summer i turned pretty trailer just now and it's sooo fucking different from the book! WTF!

[ja3yun]

i'm already melting point's number #1 fan 🥴

😭 tysm!

[undertalethingems]

Unexpected Guests Chapter 10: Page 11

First / Previous / Next

Frisk called for help! And while not everyone can come to their aid, they'll need all the help they can get. They may have lost Gaster for now, but their problems aren't over yet...

The chase continues next time--look for the update April 13th!

[bigboobyhalo]

literally tubbo was INFINITELY scarier than BBH in purgatory . tubbo is better at PVP than bad, he got more kills overall than bad, he's better at strategizing than bad, he's more optimistic and determined than bad... when bad had completely given up on winning one day (the day that bounties were introduced), it was tubbo joining and coming up with a strategy that boosted soulfire's morale and lead them to victory !! bad's still a GREAT player, obviously, it's just that purgatory played more to tubbo's strengths than it did bad's, in my opinion, and people don't really acknowledge it

I think the difference is that bad was way more openly bloodthirsty than tubbo was and also willing to play a lot dirtier ... so bad was the one who got the reputation for being violent, and for spawncamping, and for just generally being a menace...

people just tend to be more afraid of a dog than of the owner holding onto it's leash, I guess

[rythyme]

really not a fan of boston very explicitly saying "I want to be exclusive romantically but not sexually" only to be told "You're lying to yourself. I think you should be alone."

[freemaagyemans]

FKA Twigs in The Crow (2024) as Shelly Webster

[chronicowboy]

i love you (and i like you) aka the parks and rec au | 65k

"Dad!" Christopher shouts suddenly, moving past Buck with frankly impressive speed. "There's a petting zoo!"

Buck spins around to greet Shannon's mysterious ex and he has to rub his eyes to make sure what he's seeing isn't a hallucination brought on by the sleep deprivation and blaring summer heat because Eddie Diaz is hefting Christopher up onto his hip like he weighs nothing, big cow eyes softer than Buck has ever seen them as he listens to his son—his son!!—ramble about the farm animals with a smile that almost brings Buck to his knees.

"Fuck," he hisses to himself.

"Yeah." Shannon sighs solemnly in solidarity. "They tend to have that effect on people."

"Christ, did you know this whole time?" he asks suddenly. Shannon grins at him.

"I had my suspicions after Eddie disappeared on us at Macarthur park and came back looking like a broken man." She shrugs. "But I didn't know you were the guy my ex-husband has been talking about constantly for the past week."

"Constantly?" Buck croaks. Shannon nods, a twinkle to her eyes. "All good things I hope, but all bad things I assume."

"All good things said with the tone of a man talking about the bad things," she says cryptically.

"Oh, God," Buck blanches. "I told him he hated kids."

"Oh, yeah." Shannon laughs. "That was a fun day for me. For Eddie, not so much."

And Buck hasn't taken his eyes off Eddie since this revelation which is how he knows Eddie hasn't once looked away from his kid, but it also means he's looking when Eddie looks back at him with something wary to the set of his jaw. Shannon steps forward then and starts ushering Chris towards the petting zoo with a pointed glance at the both of them, and Buck is widening his eyes apologetically before they're even out of earshot.

"Eddie, I am so fucking sorry," he rushes out. "I was angry when I said that, but I had no right to accuse you of it, kid or no kid or best kid in the whole world. Which. I don't have to tell you how many kids I meet in this job, Eddie, but I've never met a kid like Chris."

"Yeah, he's pretty special," Eddie murmurs, eyes on Christopher as he navigates his way through the crowd. "And I appreciate your apology," Eddie says to him, "but your fourth outburst was actually kind of helpful?" He squints at himself before shaking his head. "What I mean is that I do everything for that kid. Absolutely everything I do... It's all for him, you know?" And, God, the pure, unfiltered love in Eddie's voice is enough to make Buck reconsider religion because this must be what real worship looks like. "But sometimes I get so in my head about what I'm doing for him that I forget that its, you know, for him. You reminded me of that," Eddie says softly, only turning to meet his eyes once Chris is balanced against the railing of the goat enclosure. Buck gets a little breathless at the remnants of his gentle love on his face. "So, thank you. For reminding me." Eddie smiles at him for a beat before it twists into an expression of realisation. "Wait, you're the park creep that befriended my son and flirted with my ex?"

"Well, that's not..." Buck rubs a sheepish hand over the back of his neck and kicks at the ground. "Shannon flirted with me first, it was instinct to flirt back. And she's the one that called me a creep, Christopher thinks I'm cool."

"Yeah, he does," Eddie breathes out. "Shannon told me what you did for him. With the swing."

"Oh, I didn't do anything." Buck waves him off. "He looked interested is all."

"Well, you made his week. Couldn't stop talking about wanting to be a park ranger. Still won't stop talking about it actually." Eddie shoots him one of those soft-eyed looks.

"There'll be an internship waiting for him when he's sixteen," Buck mutters hoarsely before stuffing his hands in his pockets and averting his eyes. "You know, if there's still a parks department for me to be a part of."

"Well then, guess I'll have to see what I can do." Eddie winks at him, then blinks at himself like he's wondering what the fuck he just did—and Buck is right there with him—before gravitating towards his son.

tags and a bonus under the cut!

@danielsousa @gracelcdomas @angstydiaz @jamietarts @butchdiaz @shitouttabuck @haradrimculture @pinky-promisesss @starlingbite @dontneedmyheart @spaceprincessem @prince-buck-diaz @shortsighted-owl @buck2eddie @diazly

[breezypunk]

just a surface dweller and his trusty companion.

[goemon-fan]

fujigoe

[qosic]

it’s psyncin’ time!!

[lucascsinclairs]

Stranger Things 4 | Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

“So I’m asking you guys, as a friend. Come to my game. Please.”

[lune-redd]

Clickteam Lolbit

[coldshare]

(sending 2 hope it's okay)

soaking + contagion

thank you for the ask!!! this was a ton of fun! ♡ i love contagion (and quite possibly got a little carried away, ahaha)

-

A has a cold; B has the fetish. A feels the cold coming on while they're at work. they've had a sore throat since last night, but now, the congestion is starting to settle in their sinuses, and by mid-morning, they can't stop sniffling, and there's a faint, irritating prickle in their nose which they can't quite shake. they text B,

A: think i'm getting a cold

A: my nose tickles so badly. i really need to sneeze

they don't have to wait for long to get a response from B:

B: 👀 👀 👀

B: if that's the case...

B: you'd better save your cold for me

it's meant as a joke, but A decides to take it as a challenge.

for the rest of the day, they make an attempt to hold back for as long as they can. when they can't hold back anymore, they stifle sneeze after ticklish sneeze into their hands; even when it feels near impossible to stifle, they pinch their nose shut with their fingers, leading to a series of pinched stifles and ticklish false starts.

the lack of relief is agonizing. without a proper outlet for all the irritation, the tickle in their nose never quite subsides - by the time they're heading home, their sinuses are practically buzzing with irritation, but they resolve themselves to ticklish, unsatisfying stifles, to holding back every sneeze as long as possible, to pushing back the inevitable, all while their need to sneeze gets worse with every passing moment.

by the time they make it to their front door, they stand on the front step, fumbling with the keys, trying hard to keep the tickle at bay for just... hHh!... a little longer.

before they can get the door properly, B opens the door for them. "you're back," they say, with a smirk. "how's the cold?"

"i... hHEhh... h-have to..." is all A is able to stammer out.

"don't be shy," B encourages. "don't tell me you plan on keeping it all to yourself?"

after an entire day of holdbacks and stifles, A's body is practically just begging them to sneeze.

and so they do, at last - their head snaps forward with a messy, soaking, "ehHTSCHHUH! hiiH- hiih- hiiHGTzsHHuuh! hiiHH'tTSSCHHIEEW! HAHH'ASSCHHHUE! hhh-hhd'HIIID'SSCHHI'ue! hhah-haah-HAHh-hHHAH'DZSCHHEEEw! "

it's like a switch has been flipped, the floodgates opened. the sneezes they've been holding back all day expel themselves one by one, all over their partner's face, messy and spraying, the tickle they've been longing to rid themselves of for so long finally, finally given a proper outlet.

[megyulmi]

Fushiguro Megumi, Shadow seen through the lens of Zen Buddhism:

[wherever there is light, there is shadow; wherever there is length, there is shortness; wherever there is white, there is black. just like these, as the self-nature of things can not exist alone, they are called non-substantial. - buddha]

➠ Megumi & the illusion of I and not I:

Within Zen philosophy, shadows are often interpreted as elements of mystery, the unknown, and impermanence, and represent the veiled aspects of existence that transcend human understanding. Much like impermanence, they are ever-shifting and constantly changing, mirroring the transient nature of life itself. At the same time, shadows are inseparable from light and their interplay reflects the interconnections and interdependencies of all things.

It is no different when it comes to a self. The shadow is not separate from a self, it is the very idea of a self.

It is important to note that Buddhism rejects the notion that the self is a permanently existing unchanging individual entity and sees the concept of self, ego, as a product of consciousness, which arises in a sentient being as part of the process of living i.e. consciousness itself is, at any moment in time, dependent on many things that are always changing, and consciousness itself is always changing, hence so too does the conceived self (when I use the term ‘self’ from here on, I am referring to the ‘conceived self’).

Another important thing to note is that Buddhism transcends dualistic concepts such as ‘Good vs. Evil’. It is the heart of Buddhism that Enlightenment sets one free from such false dichotomies, and from the cycle of suffering altogether.

However, when the Shadow, the unknown self, is not integrated into the self as a whole, one fails to recognise the non-dual nature of existence and may end up with a sense of ‘Goodness’ or ‘Rightness’. You separate the world as you separate the self, to attain gain from defining yourself and the world in a dualistic way. We see Megumi separate the world as such, the Good and the Bad or the Right and the Wrong. He integrates his entire sense of justice into the concept that helps him navigate the world in the most convenient way for him. He does not confront himself nor his ideals (although, he starts to, when he crosses paths with Yuuji, who does not truly fit his perceived idea of ‘Goodness’, but he justifies it, by laying the blame not only on Yuuji, but upon himself). Throughout the manga, it is clear that Megumi fears his Shadow (and the potential that lies in facing it), because he is afraid of what might peer back at him from the dark if he stands face to face with that part of his self (i.e. what if his perceived notions are wrong altogether).

However, what Megumi fails to recognise is that he loses his true sense of self by diving the world into ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’, and therefore, struggles to place himself in either of the categories. Tsumiki is good, so she must live a life free of suffering (or fairly). Yuuji is good, so he deserves to live. Where is Megumi’s place on that scale of ‘good’ and ‘bad’? He is not as good as his sister, he is not as kind as Yuuji, so of what value is his life? But on the other hand, he is not as bad as for example, Sukuna is, so his life cannot be completely worthless. Instead of seeing reality and accepting it for what it is, Megumi clings to his conceived idea of how the world (or people) is ‘supposed’ to be and it leaves him in a stalemate. He stays standing where he is, because he cannot imagine himself standing anywhere else.

In that same sense, he separates himself from his Shadow. For Megumi the Shadows are not a truly innate part of himself (an essence of being), but merely a Technique. A way for him to protect his perceived ‘Good/Right’ from ‘Bad/Wrong’ and because he cannot fit himself in either of the categories (not good enough or not bad enough), he cannot see himself as anything other than a tool. The world he has to navigate feeds onto his notions. In a way, Megumi has always been a tool, within the world of sorcery or outside of it, on an interpersonal level (but this depends on how one regards his relationships with Tsumiki and Gojo for example) and so, he continues to regard himself and his technique as such.

Megumi struggles to see beyond what is conscious, but the Shadow is what lies beyond his consciousness. Therefore, he has a hard time understanding himself and his technique on an innate level, because he can only see that which is conscious, the rest remains hidden in the Shadow, influencing his behaviour, creating reactive patterns within him, and distorting his perception of reality.

There is a concept called Non-dual Awareness in Buddhism, which refers to an awareness that transcends firm distinctions between oneself and the rest of existence. This is what we see Megumi struggle to cultivate throughout the manga when it comes to his technique (and sense of self). In a state of non-dual awareness, one understands that one is inseparable from the entire process of reality. Imagine you are standing in front of an ocean, looking at a single wave, is the wave still an ocean? The wave may have its own distinct properties, but it is also still clearly the ocean, i.e. it is both itself and the ocean at the same time. Such is the case with human beings. We are our individual selves, but we are also continuous with the particles that constitute everything in the known universe. Undertanding such, Buddhists see that selves are fuzzy and cannot be neatly defined. There is no objective boundary at which I end and the rest of reality begins.

➠ liberation:

How can Megumi reconcile with his Shadow, that unknown self?

The process of liberation within Buddhism is largely a process of gradually embodying the truths of non-duality and no-self, while learning to let go of your individual preferences, desires, expectations, and attachments. Through this process, we come to participate more fully and compassionately in our world, let go of fear, and accept the endless ebb and flow of all things. We resist nothing.

The way to liberation is to become an observer, a witness of your own mind. For Megumi to embrace his ‘full self’, he must embrace the impermanence of life (and therefore, self). And I believe where Akutami is leading him through all his suffering is that path of awakening, where Megumi is the Shadows and the Shadows are him.

To be continued...

[Disclaimer: This is only a personal opinion as just another reader. Additionally, English is not my native language and I have never read JJK in English, so certain terminologies I use may not be the correct equivalent of the English language.]

[crystal-lillies]

re: the possibility that Fearne may attempt Reincarnation for FCG when they return to Exandria, making FCG a fleshy humanoid character and potentially a brand new class, or a multiclass

I agree it would be hilarious to finally have Flesh Tongue FCG all the time and he could still be a chef!! who could now always taste his own creations! not to mention the potential interactions between him and FRIDA are plentiful should this option occur. Human/Aeormaton Loveletters let's go

If they don't go with this, I think that still works more than well for a story and a good character ending if that's what Sam + the rest of the gang want. Knowing the Hells, I doubt they'd want to give up on the possibility if they know there's a chance at getting FCG back and letting him know in no uncertain terms just how much they love him too. but if they don't, they don't. and while we're all wrecked and gutted, that's their call, and it's still a hell of a climactic character moment.