#like i have a lot of school stuff to do during spring break but i deserve a day to just write as much as i want

[thewritingpossum]

Seriously though, if i can just survive until monday i'm gonna spend the whole entire day writing and hopefully finish that one thing i'm working on because i'm getting sick and tired of only getting to write 2 or 3 sentences at the time when i can find a few minutes, it's lowkey driving me insane

[lvrcpid]

sweetheart - modern!au

valentine’s day with modern!au avatar!

neteyam

— he’s so adorable

— he walked into school LOADEDDDDDD with stuff for you

— i’m talking chocolate covered strawberries and a big teddy bear

— he refuses to let you put stuff in your car, you WILL show him off

— you guys wore matching outfits

— he slipped some hand written letters in your locker

— his handwriting is so pretty

— i feel like you purposely brought lipstick to put kisses all over his face

— sweet boy would take you on the beach (since it’s like on the cusp of winter and spring it’ll be a little cold)

— gives you his jacket

— doesn’t care if he’s freezing

— you guys watch the sunset

— he gives you a pendant with your birth stone on it

— kiri gave him the idea

— he’s so in love with you it hurts

lo’ak

— imagine he’s dating YOU and not tsireya, just for the umph factor

— he’s so corny

— he comes into class blasting music

— he embarrasses tf outta you

— he got you some flowers with DADDYS MONEYYYYY

— he didn’t expect to get anything from you so when you got him stuff he almost fell out crying

— i see lo’ak as the type to get you like things you can use (he spent 100 dollars on neytiri’s card buying you FULL SETS AND CANDLES)

— he stays showing off his stuff

— “dawggggg look at what (y/n) got me!!” “you don’t have nothingggg (y/n) got me thisssss”

kiri

— strictly told you she didn’t want anything

— like almost choked you out

— when you got her something though, she didn’t complain

— hated it on the outside but loved it on the inside

— i feel like she’s the type to bring you a whole cake

— all decorated and pretty

— probably slipped a rose quartz in your pocket

— you take it out like ???

— she took you on a picnic after school

— sunset pics with kiri!

— love her sm

ao’nung

— he refused to give you anything during school

— mainly cause he forget them in his car

— “you have stuff but it’s in my car..”

— when he finally DID give you your stuff, it was A LOT

— he got you a pair of crocs?? gift cards??

— he took you to dinner after school

— i’m thinking red lobster

— he the type to play footsies with you under the table then kick the hell outta your shin

— he paid for dinner 🤭

— you paid for ice cream though

— his weird ass didn’t get ice cream but got sherbert

— he took you home and y’all SMOOCHED before he walked you to the door

tsireya

— you have so many plushies. i mean so many.

— she bought so many for you , you needed to go leave some in the office

— matching flowers in eachothers hair

— her outfit is all red and pink

— you know how some schools do that little candy thing

— she bought you like 10.

— poor girl is so in love with you

— you guys go roller skating as a date

— a lot of falling down together

— “(y/n) HELP ME!!!”

— she’s literally on the wall

— you leave before any of y’all can break a bone

— she kisses u before you take her home

— live laugh love tsireya

[biboomerangboi]

​I’m writing a stobin platonic soulmates au so I thought I’d share some headcannons I came up with for things I believe Steve and Robin did pre season four to cement their friendship.

Steve cut Robins hair because she was going through a mental freak out about how she felt like an entirely different person now and she wanted to reflect that before school started, so she tried to do it herself cause shes broke and Steve who cuts his own did it for her.

Decided to watch all the horror movies in family video to see if their was any survival tips they could glean from watching and ended up comforting each other through triggering parts and laughing at other things together because a lot of this looks fake now in comparison.

Took the kids to the arcade and went in cause it was to cold to sit in the car and they hadn’t got their jobs at family video yet. They ended up getting into a really long and really competitive game of air hockey that gathered a crowd because they both were to competitive to give up. Robin used the angles strategy, Steve used jock reflexes. He won the first game, now they go after work some nights and have rematches. They are currently tied.

Speaking of family video, I feel like they did the applications together and Robin corrected Steve a lot on things I forgot to put down, or fixed his wording to sell himself more because he has things like: played basketball, and not “was captain and therefore have leadership skills cmon Steve.” They also broke into Steve’s dads office to write them and used a lot of his fancy paper.

Came up with a joint backstory for Ericas Dnd campaign where they are twins. Robin is really good at the roleplay and Steve gets really good roles. When Robins character died and she gave a speech both Dustin and Steve cried and since then he’s tried to convince her to run off to Hollywood to be an actress so he can be her trophy husband and Robin rolls her eyes at him.

Got one of those two ring joint floaties and sat in Steve’s pool to help him with his fear of his backyard. They started talking about their biggest fears together and it helps.

Robin gets Steve to come to hippy Christmas but he’s to scared to show up empty handed so they both try to make a bunch of Christmas cookies but they keep getting distracted and some of them are burnt. Robin hides it with icing. Her parents love Steve after that.

Steve comes out to Robin when they both go to a party together, get wasted and end up hungover and puking together in the bathroom. He said it was cause it brought back memories.

Robin doesn’t have a lot of money come Christmas so she goes thrifting and upgrades an old bomber to make Steve something like a letterman since she’s noticed he’s uncomfortable wearing his own. He cries because it’s the first time someone has ever made him a present before.

Steve accidentally overhears people talking about queer stuff and spur of the moment drives himself to Indy and finds the bookstore they were talking about and buys Robin any book the cashier recommends. She hides them in Steve’s house and reads them religiously.

They have a plan to go to a gay bar during Spring Break. They would have went before then but Robin didn’t have a fake ID and Steve had to get in contact with his old crowd to get her one.

They legit have a plan to get Married once Robin graduates, but she wants to come out to the kids first so there’s no misunderstandings, they both just want the security and the safety what a lavender marriage could do for them and have very detailed plans on how to arrange elaborate affairs while doing this. In contrast their wedding plan is either a courthouse or if Will gets to them Vegas.

Robin encourages Steve’s inner mean girl. She also is mean and they both have a very cutting commentary on half of the family video clientele. When Erica comes by she joins in. She is also holding them to the free ice cream bet so they both have a swear jar they both contribute to as an Erica ice cream fund. It was Robins idea.

Robin actually can drive and she does drive at night on backroads in Steve’s car when the kids aren’t there. Steve thinks it’s a cool little chilling out ritual, he’s literally horrified to hear she doesn’t have a license and that’s why she doesn’t drive in the day or with the kids.

Steve brings Robin to babysit the kids a lot and she complains for a bit until Mike says she’s like the cool dad and Steve’s the weird overbearing mom. Steve makes a joke about Karen that is so cutting Robin chokes on her drink but she doesn’t complain after that.

Half of the marching band, Kieth and the some of the kids (Dustin, Mike and Will) think they are legit dating, when they are asked they both make gross sounds and pretend to puke but five minutes later they will be sitting on top of each other.

They are banned from being on the same team during charades because the second Steve stood up and made a single gesture Robin got the answer. The kids thought it was a fluke at first then Robin stood up and Steve did the same damn thing. Dustin is convinced the Russians gave them mind powers.

They have a lot of sleepovers. At Steve’s, Robin sneaks in around the back and uses a key she copied and never told Steve about, he genuinely believes she’s breaking in and is impressed by it. Steve climbs in her window and hides under her bed when her parents come in.

So much more but that’s about the gist of it. They just love each other dearly and mean a lot to me!!! They are best friends forever I swear!!

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 4 - Typical Morning

Azami: Yuki-san, can you pass me the syrup?

Yuki: Mhm.

Azami: Thanks.

Kumon: I’m still so surprised from the other day~. I never thought we’d get to meet the legit Ibukichi.

Muku: Speaking of that, when I told my classmates about that, they were super jealous. They really are famous, huh?

Kumon: I only found out about them recently, but look.

Izumi: They’ve got 150,000 followers…!

Kumon: And they’re gaining more by the minute.

Yuki: Hmm… I’d probably be more interested in them if they showed off stuff from the brands they like.

Kumon: Azami, you look at them too!

Azami: Not interested.

Azami: ‘Sides, if you’ve got time to look at your phone, why don’t ya use it to hurry up and finish eating? You’ve got an early class, right? You’re gonna be late.

Kumon: Ah! That’s right!

Izumi: Are you all by yourself today, Kumon-kun?

Kumon: Yeah. Even though I’m going to the same university as Nii-chan, we hardly ever get to walk to school together…

Yuki: Once a brocon, always a brocon.

Kumon: And Tenma-san already left earlier this morning for a photoshoot…

Izumi: And Misumi-kun left a little while ago because he has a guest performance today.

Yuki: Misumi’s sure been doing performances a lot lately, huh?

Izumi: He’s always been an excellent actor, but it seems like his own popularity has really grown as our troupe becomes more well-known.

Muku: I went to see his performance the other day and he was so cool! It’s like he had an entirely different vibe than he does during our usual Summer Troupe performances!

Izumi: He really evolving as an actor quickly, isn’t he?

Kumon: You and Muku went to see his performance with Kazu-san, right, Yuki? I’m gonna go and see it before the run is over too.

Yuki: Have you finally saved up enough money from your part-time job?

Kumon: Yeah, you bet!

Azami: You’ve really been crammin’ in a lotta part-time shifts since spring break.

Kumon: Hehe, and it was so worth it~.

Kumon: And now that I’ve safely gotten my license, I’m gonna talk to Nii-chan and Omi-san about what kinda bike I should get~.

Muku: You’ll finally be able to go touring like you’ve always wanted to.

Kumon: I can’t wait~!

Azami: Great that you’ve got somethin’ to look forward to, but look at the time.

Kumon: Ah! I’ve gotta go-- Thanks for the meal!

Muku: We’d better get going too. See you later!

Yuki: See you.

Izumi: Bye, guys!

*Door opens*

Kazunari: Morny~.

Izumi: Good morning. We’ve got French toast today.

Kazunari: Yaaawn… Looks good.

Izumi: Seems like someone didn’t get enough sleep.

Kazunari: Just a lil’ bit~.

Kazunari: But I don’t have a meeting until this afternoon, so I’m gonna take it nice and easy this morning!

Kazunari: Time to dig in!

*Phone buzzes*

Kazunari: …Ah.

Izumi: Work call?

Kazunari: Ah, yeah, but I’ll just call ‘em back later! I’m not on the clock right now, after all.

Izumi: (It’s great that it seems like he’s had a steady stream of commissions coming in since he graduated from college, but he’s sure been busy.)

Izumi: Even though you’re doing the same kind of design work you were doing in college, seems like it’s a lot harder than when you were a student.

Kazunari: For sure~. A lotta things have changed from when I was a student.

Kazunari: I started being trusted with bigger projects with more responsibility attached to them, and my client base has been expanding from having just acquaintance-type relationships to being a more expansive one~.

Kazunari: There’s some parts of it that are more of a challenge, but I’ve been having fun.

Izumi: Gotcha. Well, good luck, and don’t push yourself too hard, okay?

Kazunari: Thanksies!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[milburnandnyman]

DON’T BULLSHIT ME - the analysis

Why I think there’s no fucking way Joy wouldn’t be Jakob’s and why I’m almost betting they had to write Mikael out and that’s why we got that bullshit, lacking-in-context story:

1. Jean can be a silly woman, but she is not dumb. I cannot imagine a sex therapist who wouldn’t be highly aware of these things and also as someone who has already been pregnant once in her life, to miscalculate things so horridly as in not to know who the father of her child is.

2. Jean was very outspoken about protection, there is a scene from S2 where she is attending the SexEd class at Otis’ school and she tells the students “remember, it is always your right to say no” as in response to a case where someone insists on not using protection.

3. According to these words and the fact that she is a sex therapist with a previously quite sexually active lifestyle, I am 100% sure she has always used protection, no exception.

4. Yes, Jean slept with both Jakob and Dan on that very same day which is evocative, but as previously mentioned, I am sure she’s used a condom, both with Dan and Jakob, because even if she and Jakob liked one another, I don’t think you just tell a person that you’ve had a vasectomy when you’re about to have sex with them for the first time and even if, they were still strangers, I don’t think that’d convince her not to use it, at least in terms of STD’s etc. I think it’s highly unlikely she got pregnant on that day by either of them.

5. Despite Jean kissing Remi, there was no one else in terms of sex after her and Jakob started dating. She was exclusive with Jakob.

6. I believe as Jean and Jakob became exclusive and things got serious, I think that’s when Jakob probably mentioned his vasectomy to Jean. It’s no secret that a lot of couples prefer to have sex without a condom, so the fact that they were a serious couple and that the vasectomy should theoretically keep them “safe” (haha), was probably enough of a reason to go au naturelle.

7. A lot of women actually get pregnant despite the man having had the vasectomy. You can find a ton of such stories, also, the doctor herself had said to Jean “stranger things have happened”. Yes, condoms can break, but if you’ve been cream-pied by your bf god knows how many times, despite the vasectomy, that’s a lot of shots. Pun intended.

8. While the timeline is not thoroughly explained, according to the story, S1 begins at the start of the school year and S2 is supposed to be around spring term. Jean gives birth on October 25th in S3, which is post-summer break. Jean is not due for 8 weeks at the time, so her due date should be sometime in December, meaning, Jean got pregnant sometime in March or early spring. (I think S1 and S2 contain some more dates to confirm this, a bill at Maeve’s trailer and some other stuff that kinda support bits of the timeframe.)

9. I highly doubt that the first season stretched from September and all the way up to the next spring, I think S2 actually started during the spring term and there was a time jump, so I personally think the sex with Dan was too far away for him to even be considered the father (of course, they can imply whatever they want, but according to logic - again, seems unlikely).

10. I think the time jump could have had Jean and Jakob dating in secret anywhere from a month to a couple of months, now, while we cannot be 100% sure of this, I still think a certain amount of time had passed in between.

11. Jean says she found out she was pregnant “quite late on”, but has also stated “I really didn’t know what I was going to do”, probably implying she still had the time to decide, this means she wasn’t pregnant for longer than 12 weeks. It is usually up until the 12th week mark where you have the time to decide to terminate the pregnancy. In my opinion, she must have found out somewhere in between 8-10 weeks, considering she called it “late”.

12. She had already broken up with Jakob when she found out, it could’ve been merely days or a good week after that, maybe more, but who knows, it does however give us about an extra week into the pregnancy and we can consider that when assuming how long they could’ve been a couple for beforehand.

13. The moment Jean found out, she was obviously surprised “but that’s impossible” and right away blurts out “but he’s had a vasectomy”. She right away thought of Jakob and has even expressed her surprise, due to his vasectomy, but it didn’t make her question if the baby might be someone else’s. Again, the doctor confirmed getting pregnant that way is not that unlikely.

14. Since Jean had already broken up with Jakob at the time and he had made it clear, that he doesn’t want to reconcile, Jean was quite free to decide about her pregnancy. If she ever doubted that the baby wasn’t Jakob’s, I see absolutely no reason why she would feel forced to keep it and turn her life upside down. I think Jean knowingly kept that baby, because she knew it was her and Jakob’s and there was the inevitable emotional attachment to it, so it would probably be hard for her to terminate the pregnancy and she even says it later on how one of the reasons was that “it just seemed fated”.

15. During the entire S3 there are too many lines that support Jean’s indeed very sure and convinced of Jakob being the father: Otis’ “mom, you have to tell him” - I’m pretty sure you don’t lie to your own son about who the father is, “you’ve impregnated me”, “I’m 48 and he’s had a vasectomy” so confirming in front of a therapist, that even to her it seemed impossible, yet, still, it happened, then the way she remained so sure when Jakob was beginning to grow doubtful “don’t be ridiculous”, agreeing to that DNA test without even a glimpse of a doubt and being completely shocked by the results later on. All of these to me are not behaviors of someone who “a part of me always knew she wasn’t his”, but quite the contrary.

16. The fact that Jean, despite loving Jakob, couldn’t even go back to confront him and has, for example, only decided to make it known that she “wanted to try again” later on at the therapist’s, just goes to show how vulnerable she felt after the heartbreak, so no wonder she waited a couple of months before even gathering the courage to tell Jakob, she was probably terrified and upon doing it, she actually tried to play it cool at first like “I only want you to be involved if it’s something that you would like”. So, I don’t think she’d go into it lightly and lie about it if she had any doubts about the paternity, just to use Jakob. Even the therapist asked her if she decided to keep the baby, because she still wanted to be with Jakob, to which she replied “absolutely not” and I really think that she’d probably rather just ghost him forever if she knew the baby wasn’t his as opposed to trapping him into being the father. Jean is the kind of person who really prefers to run away from her feelings at times like these.

If you actually managed to read the entire thing, thank you, you are a champ.

Yes, I know this fucking analysis won’t change S4 and they have made their choice, all I’m trying to say is, that I am suspicious of this all and I really think there was something about not being able to cast Mikael Persbrandt, that have made them change the story last minute, because it just felt so loose and if this was actually intended all this time, then all of these things from before simply don’t make sense. It puts their entire arc to question.

All of these are also the reason why I always believed that the DNA thing was just something to play with them some more and have never doubted Jakob being Joy’s father, not even for a moment.

[seishirology]

KARASU TABITO + BOYFRIEND HEADCANONS

hey guys i'm back. i hate physics yeah. anywys today i provide u with karasu hcs

includes : karasu

A/N : my opinions only!! i haven't really been keeping up with blue lock as much lately bc school. tomorrow is our last day before spring break i can't wait. also i won't be able to update much bc my tumblr is having issues w/posting so i'm gonna have to figure it out soon. might be a little shorter

KARASU TABITO

first and very much foremost karasu is a cutie <333 but he has retained his fourteen year old mid-puberty humor that he had back when he was a senior in middle school.

he loves nicknames and will call you anything, he somehow gets away with it even if it's something very out of the ordinary and stuff. he mainly just calls you your name with '-chan' after it or shortens your name.

a big sap, and sometimes when he's in the mood he'll refer to you as sweetheart, or even honey, kinda like an old man. his whole switch just fuckin' flips it's adorable.

likes to do what he enjoys with you. especially if you are willing to play soccer with him, his heart just does flips the whole time. he teaches you how to dribble and stuff, if you already play soccer he'll challenge you to a match.

if you play another sport he'll take time to learn about it and pretend to know nothing and have you teach him. he'll practice in secret before you even show him anything so that you think he's a genius. but sometimes he'll slip up and say things before you teach him and he has to admit it that he has been searching shit up

tweets about you all the DAMN TIME. like literally it blows up his follower's phones. especially on his spam account for you, which has only you and eita on it. so like during class eita's phone is just vibrating while karasu types away on his phone

isn't really a pda guy. prefers to keep physical affection to a minimum in public, unless of course there's not a lot of people. it's not because he's ashamed of you but rather he gets shy when doing that stuff in front of people who aren't eita. also because he knows some people don't want to see it.

likes to send you good morning and good night texts. and they're always small paragraphs, sometimes they're about how much he appreciates you, or about his day, something he's looking forward to or something he wishes didn't happen. he's quite open with you.

loves going on simple dates, like walking in the park, hiking, just driving around or going shopping together. it gives him some sort of butterflies that just don't calm down, they give him a taste of the married life.

loves napping/sleeping with you. loves that when he wakes up you're the first thing he sees in the morning, and it makes him want to marry you even more. so when he had to go to blue lock he was very disappointed, but he face times you every moment he gets so it isn't too bad.

knows that communication is key and will try to fix misunderstandings. he doesn't like it when things aren't right. he especially hates it when you get mad at him or if you think he did something wrong.

isn't afraid of breaking up with you, but while you guys are dating he'll treat you very well. lowkey he's the type to switch around his lovers once he gets bored ngl.

doesn't know how to fucking comfort u at all when you're sad. so he either just holds you or ignores you until you "feel better". so that means you have to pull yourself together sometimes.

fighting with him is a pain because he doesn’t like to make you cry, but he also hates losing and it doesn’t matter who he’s fighting with he has to win. So that means he will fight with you as if you were just another girl and not his girlfriend

all in all he’s an okay boyfriend, nothing too outstanding besides his looks 6/10

[joysmercer]

any future!rina hc?

not many tbh, i actually enjoy "definite" endings/flash-forwards in most cases but with them im glad it was left open-ended! that said – 

ok so like. the r&j movie's going to flop. you can't just have the same story but simply make them NOT die in the end and expect it to work. but gina's performance is the one thing that gets praised in it, which does help her a lot

ricky's not romeo though kdlfj

they do lsoh for their spring musical. the two of them get cast as audrey ii – they handle the puppets and alternate who says the lines by scene. it's not the part either of them imagined getting but they have a lot of fun

gina goes back to camp the next summer and promptly twists her ankle, so she just choreographs the show but doesn't participate :( which is fine with her tbh, she's very exhausted having just finished the movie and the musical and this is the only break she'll get before starting movie press and stuff (and senior year)

ricky unfortunately has orientation during week 2 of camp so he doesn't go but he sends her care packages every single day and comes to opening night to hand out cards <3

EJ's there to direct again and he and gina become proper friends

the fall musical is &J and gina is obviously juliet and she just rolls her eyes when that's announced. jet's romeo. when the media catches wind of this they have a field day ("porter's performance only emphasizes the missteps in the film…") which is also Not Great

she's also stressed the fuck out because college apps are also happening and ricky ends up driving down every chance he gets to keep her company and help take her mind off of things. turns out he's very good at editing essays (and distracting her…)

he gives her a very sweet pep talk during intermission of the show because she's on the verge of a breakdown at this point

her mom didn't make it to opening night again but both his parents bring her flowers and cheer the loudest during her bows

gina's mom plans a vacation to london over winter break and she begs and begs until her mom lets ricky come too

her mom has business meetings half the time so they wander around holding hands and looking at the christmas lights and doing ALL the touristy things

ricky had no idea what a panto is initially but he enjoys it so much he wonders multiple times why they're not a thing in america

gina just loves that he loved it

the spring musical is cabaret, she's sally, her performance gets her nominated for the jimmy awards (which she goes on to win)

but she decides to focus on school for a bit after high school even though roles are being offered to her left-and-right

she gets a full-ride scholarship to usc and ricky is SO PROUD.

he snuck in through the window the night she told him and he squealed so loudly her mom got scared and ran up there and caught them lol but even she can't hide her smile esp when she finds out the reason

ricky tells her he applied to transfer to csula and got in

obviously she kisses him senseless after that. he tries to shrug it off as not a big deal and shes just like "no, it's amazing, i'm so proud of you" an he starts crying, basically

he explores a ton of majors but eventually decides on education with minors in music production and theatre – he knows whatever he does, he wants to help people feel the way he did when he found the drama club

goes w/o saying but they get married at some point and have a house full of golden-retrievers

[spookfished]

media roundup february

hi everybody :3 i didnt really read a lot in february i was busy 'doing school' and 'looking for employment.' sad! i have spring break coming up so im planning on using that time to read a bunch (and also apply for more jobs -_-) this post and previous can be found on my neocities!

books:

revenant gun by yoon ha lee: the last book in the hexarchate series, starting with ninefox gambit. (slightly edited from my discord review, SPOILERS INCOMING). in machineries of empire, there a disconnect between what the audience craves and what the book is willing to give them-- for example, things like Whats up with the calendar + the hexarchate, why did jedao do all that, etc. this works in the books favor (imo) by increasing tension, creating a sense of discovery, and avoiding clunky exposition.

however in the two sequels it expands not just to what the audience wants but also what they like. care about? some big examples are the weight of the remembrances* and less cheris, but also stuff like jedaos focus. which isnt bad like i like jedao. but like, if you Dont you sure do get a lot of him. also did anyone actually like brezan sorry. hes fine like for example with the end of a memory called empire, when the protag (forgot her name sorry) loses her brain buddy, it feels like a second coming of age almost--her brain buddys been a crutch but now she gets to stand on her own (albeit as a changed person, with brain buddys influence). vs cheris who kinda starts to feel like a cameo character who literally fucks off for nine years??? there is also a sort of ongoing sense of "these sacrifices for the greater good are ok (if sad) and these are not" whihc ngl sometimes feels pretty arbitrary to me. and given that machineries of empire focuses on like the Littlest most downtrodden people it really is wild yhat we dont see a lot of civilian life? anyways i enjoyed it and i think its worth finishing out the trilogy but it wasnt as satisfying as i could have hoped (ALSO NINEFOX GAMBIT IS A REALLY FUN SOLID READ. I LIKED IT A LOT)

*the rememberances are a set of ritualized tortures that create a power structure that literally powers a lot of the empire's technology. this is a very cool concept! a big part of jedao and cheris' rebellion is about making a place that Doesnt have to run on torture. except that like, besides the intellectual knowledge that Torture Is Bad as a reader i didnt really feel that invested in this? like we only get to See a remembrance happening midway thru book 3. im not like advocating for torture porn or anything but it seems weird to have that be the focal thing when neither cheris nor jedao had any scenes where they were affected by it (and so the audience didnt have anything like that either). idk it kinda just stood out to me. like yes i care about these characters but why should i care about This specifically

hexarchate stories by yoon ha lee: an anthology set in the world of machineries of empire, expanding the world and fleshing out some stories. this was pretty solid! theres a wide range of stories and lengths, and i liked the variety :3 its like a little charcuterie board. (yoon ha lee's bias for shuos jedao really stands out here though..) its kinda essential reading to me imo though bc otherwise the ending of revenant gun isnt that satisfying :| lol anyways once again if youve read ninefox gambit check it out! spoilers for the whole series tho

exordia by seth dickinson: hard scifi about agency, impossible choices, and how they shape you. also, international geopolitics! like ninefox gambit, exordia demands your attention and concentration. you kinda have to read it at a time when you have brainpower to spare. however, exordia rewards everything that you put into it :3 i ended up learning so many random facts during this book… like AGL meaning above ground level. i feel like i need to read a book about democratic confederalism now also. a couple of my other friends read this book and got lost in the large cast and intricate web of events--i didnt have as much of an issue but u might need a piece of paper or sth. exordia is a book that's dense enough to feel like three books, and that can be good or bad. seth dickinson has this really spare, concise prose that leaves a lot to your imagination but also like. can sum up a person or situation in just a couple sentences? and that leaves a lot of room for the reader to investigate which i like :3 hm what else to say…. i really liked clayton (clayton!!!!) but i found erik super annoying ymmv. the ending kinda leaves you at a loss which i honestly kinda like? like yeah obv a sequel would be nice but i like it the way it is. anyways not for the faint of heart but id still recommend<3

accidentally engaged by farah heron: f/m romance aww so cute <3 really nice contemporary romance which tosses together a bunch of tropes--arranged romance, fake dating, baking together--into something that actually works really well! the two leads were very charming and i liked reading about the good food. i liked the way the protagonist's almost-stereotypical portrait of a loving but strict south asian family (am i allowed to say this) gets fleshed into a group of honestly kinda bizarre people that love her and that reena can genuinely connect with. yay family! overall, not especially memorable to me personally but still enjoyable. rec if youre into contemporary romance

last breath: the limits of adventure: realistic fiction (?) about what it feels like to drown, die of dehydration, fall from a cliff, etc. lots of research, very thorough! (well sometimes they live and sometimes they dont). an expansion of this absolutely fantastic article about hypothermia. honestly none of the stories quite live up to this one imo but this is still a really solid and exciting read! i couldnt put it down! although it does have a touch of the orientalism that you get from like, a lot of extreme sports circles lol. i would definitely recommend reading the article, and maybe read the book if it especially interests you.

video games:

pokemon legends of arceus: a pokemon game set in the past that breaks the mold by letting you dodge roll. my opinions here coincide pretty closely with the dunkey video, which is that this is a really fun game that is also literally half finished. controls are clunky, story is paper thin, graphics are fucked, overworld is extremely empty but its also just very fun?? it took over my life for like two weeks and i missed class???? anyways i would not get this at full price but if you can borrow it from a friend its super interesting to experience. im looking forward to the kalos one :3

slay the princess: a horror? romance? visual novel about saving the princess, slaying tbe princess, and everything in between featuring the vocal chops of that one magnus archives guy. dudeee this is so fun! i think its very kind to the guy inside of me who is Embarrassingly Anxious about any and all video game choices that can like, affect the narrative. lmfao its fun to fit in a couple runs or two between other things, but i did start losing track of what previous paths id taken after a bit of a gap. however!!! i would definitely think about playing this game if you like visual novels or Narrative or Loops! or girls who kill lol theres a free demo if you want to try it out

movies:

velocipastor: action movie about a priest who turns into a velociraptor to punish the wicked!!!! so fucking cool a lot of love put into this (low budget) movie made me so sad i dont speak cantonese (? at least i think thats what it was) watch this with friends

music:

Gato by nobonoko: really fun 80s synth jazz? album written by two fictional gay furries. no wait come back ok this is one of those things i got recommended by youtube and then actually listened to it a bunch of times its just very soothing and nice :3 ive been listening to jazz pretty much my whole life so i have a huge bias. also im a sucker for fictional bands eg splatoon… also the art is so cute?? those two guys?? its hard to pick a favorite song but i think i like the titular gato! also theres a bunch of other stuff made by the same two artists

option by Crosses: i totally forgot what the genre for this is but its like when metal guys are like i need to have a song for my metal wedding. song recommended by neil -_- anyways very sappy im fond of it nonetheless. i definitely did think it said "can you promise me to the grave"

Roy by Idles: from british rock band idles new album tangk! im going to be honest i did not like this album as much as some of the other ones by idles, but thats ok! hmm when i play this song out loud during crew shifts i feel embarrassed. but i really like seeing how idles' vocalist's voice has evolved over time! the way hes branched out into more melodic and belty stuff over time is very fun. the prechorus + chorus are very fun to sing along to as well :3 its just a fun song

anyways if you read any portion of this thanks as always :3 what else to say.. i made pandesal recently and its been my only successful bread that i can remember. go me! anyways see you guys in a bit

[unsleepingtales]

your tags and « his reflection is not a safe place » i am going to attack you why would you say that…….and would you like to say more.

Oh noooo I'm being attackeddd...... Yeah I'd love to say more, this is gonna be long lmao. I've just been thinking about how mirrors play such a big part in Riz's sophomore year arc and throughout his story there's been a lot of instances where someone makes a reference to him about reflections. Baron appears in the mirror in sophomore year because they're a reflection of the things Riz is afraid to acknowledge about himself (we're gonna get canon aroace Riz someday I swear) and in the nightmare forest Riz gets trapped by mirrors showing him futures where all his loved ones find someone more important to them than him. I don't know if we have much to go off of about how Riz felt about mirrors pre-sophomore year, but I have to imagine that after spring break of sophomore year he really doesn't like them! The same way that in real life seeing your reflection can feel unreal or seeing it moving in the mirror can be startling after going through trauma, I can't see Riz not being haunted by it yk?

During the Summer of Yorb when everything's dark, I don't know how much any of them are looking in a mirror? Riz got maybe three days of trying to figure out how to be okay with his reflection before it was completely dark! And kind of a non issue! They were adventuring for months on end trying to hunt down the Night Yorb. While there is artificial light and candles and stuff like that, I imagine they were trying to conserve their resources, and how much were any of them, not even just Riz, looking in a mirror during that time? Riz gets to sophomore year with new bold accessory choices (and we love it) but how much was he really keeping up with his appearance over the summer? So he got a few days after spring break, and one night of being back home after the summer to try and adjust to seeing his reflection regularly, and then he's faced with another distressing reflection of himself.

We get to junior year and the first time Riz ever sees or interacts with Kipperlilly he's immediately thrown off by how much she is like him. And it's played for laughs but in the conversation later Jawbone does explicitly ask "Are you seeing something you recognize in yourself, and you maybe don't like it too much?" and Riz immediately denies it! There's been some chatter about how very few of the Bad Kids engaged directly with their foils, and I think there's a way to view that where Riz is once again avoiding his own reflection, literal or otherwise. Engaging with Kipperlilly any more than he did would mean that Riz really had to learn about her methods, and how she got her party to do what they did, and while we know Riz wouldn't go as far as Kipperlilly did, he wouldn't kill and rage-revive the other Bad Kids just to go to the same college as them, I think if he had been confronted with how Kipperlilly was manipulating her party a lot earlier in the year it would have scared him a bit and sent him down a train of thought examining how he was pressuring his friends, the way it did in Ankarna's domain.

Especially if we understand the ending as Ankarna and Cassandra reviving all of the ratgrinders except for Kipperlilly, who he killed, I think she is absolutely haunting him. Not literally as a ghost, but here's this halfling girl, she's his height, she dresses in a similarly formal manner, both intense about school, comparisons are drawn between the two of them from the moment Kipperlilly steps on screen, and she's been comparing herself to him for even longer, and Riz already had trouble looking his reflection in the eye? Kipperlilly and Baron are elbowing for space on the other side of that mirror. Riz needs to have those conversations with Fig and Kristen and get some comfort from them, and find a way to exist comfortably within himself before he can turn a bathroom light on and not jump a little bit.

[the tags being referenced]

[crispfencer]

Hello! Here's my blogpost about what it was like as an audience member on Saturday Night Takeaway!

Three tiers of audience members:

Participants

These people hang out in The Broadcaster (the pub the guy from episode one got whisked out of) and mosey on down to get entry whenever they feel like it. They also get to watch the rehearsal. I have no idea how to become a participant but I have a feeling some of it is casted?? They were a very diverse bunch, whereas only three people out of the 200 in my queue weren't white. These people get wristbands and have their photos taken for the audience cam, and get directed to the aisle seats if they're going to be chosen for something later.

Priority

These people paid for the £30 a year Audiencestore subscription, meaning they get more or less guaranteed entry. There was about 50 of them and they got whisked through security hours before us, and then just stood behind a barrier for the same amount of time as us lol

General

The trenches!! I stood in the cold for about 5 hours with no real guarantee that I'd get in. About 50 or so at the front of the queue were allowed to join priority but after that it was a waiting game. The guy who runs the queue said our role is basically to fill seats for the participants who don't turn up, and then to fill the comp seats when they don't get used (eg if busted had 20 tickets to give away to friends, family etc and only 5 turn up, General will fill the remaining 15 seats.) He said once the allocation of seats is filled by participation and priority tickets, he can get anywhere between 4 and 100 of us in. As he learnt more about which comps had been used, he slowly culled the back end of the queue. We all prayed he wouldn't get to us lol.

I got there at 14:30~ and was let into the studio at around 18:45. Some experienced queue goers had brought picnics and hot food, which I will definitely be doing next time!

The studio:

When I entered I felt like I was at Disneyland or something! The air had this magical haze about it, which I soon discovered was because they pump smoke into the room to make the lighting look nicer lol. If you're looking onto the audience from the stage, we all came in from the left, and the crew and vans and stuff all came in from the right (the staircase doors at the top are just for ant and dec to spring out of lol, they lead to a brick wall). There's an upper layer which had a few junior looking people operating some..... spots I think?

There's another blue booth on the opposite end to the star guest announcer one which I can only assume is for some tech direction stuff.

The warmup:

We were made to do all sorts of warmups like dancing, karaoke and stuff. The clip of the audience all waving used during the 'after the break' inserts was recorded here. We were also told the rules (no rude gestures if the camera goes to you, never stop smiling, laugh a lot) which are pretty similar to other shows. The unique instruction was to not 'grab or hug ant and dec' when they decend the steps, but we were allowed to high five etc. During each ad break we were also schooled on any call and response lines (ring my bell, Stephen, etc). After this he 'brought the boys out' and we all went wildcrazy, obvs. Then the main cast all took a big end of series photo together.

When dec was walking up the stairs to get into position a woman in the audience grabbed him and said something like 'I went to school with you'???? it was really fucking awkward because he sort of blanked and everyone else our column was just sort of staring. Such a weird place to accost him for a reunion, he handled it with grace but it was rude as hell imo.

The guy in charge told us to turn off our phones and not take any photos, but I set mine to silent and audio recorded the whole show lol.

I hardly noticed when we actually went live, since we were so busy doing all these other tasks it still felt like a rehearsal. Made me way less nervous than I was in the queue!

The show:

You saw this so I won't go into much! Ant and Dec were only slightly amplified to us, so we had to stop cheering to hear what they were saying. They both looked insanely beautiful. They also looked tiny.

During the happiest minute the presenters would stay for a little bit longer with the person they rewarded, to say congrats etc. I think Andi Peters and Fleur took the most time and Mulhern took the least lol.

Whenever they go to someone at home the autocue says DEC (SKYPE) which I found funny

With regards to improvising around the autocue script, Mulhern did it the most, then Andi > Dec > Ant > Fleur > Rob > Jordan. Overall Jordan looked very shy and out of his depth lol, I wanted to tell him he was doing great

Ant didn't seem to enjoy watching himself on screen at all, and would generally grimace/look away. Dec would laugh at the things he himself said LOL

During the ad breaks Ant and Dec would run off to have five minutes backstage with each other. When they didn't, they'd stand around together while talking to the director and others

At one point where we in the studio thought we weren't live, they shared a private joke and kissed each other on each cheek. I thought I'd imagined it but somehow @quicklyandrogynousfox-blog caught it!!

They seemed to stand a lot closer when off camera which made me go insane

At the end when Busted (!!!!) were setting up, Mulhern strode up to them and started chatting. Jordan kind of milled about behind him like he wanted to join in, but after a few false starts he just sort of stared at his feet 😭 ily jordan

(I didn't realise Busted were British, sorry guys)

Ant and Dec came back at the end to say that tonight was their favourite episode! Afterwards a few words were said about Paul O'Grady, because a lot of the crew had worked with him over the years and were finding the news hard.

Other bits and peices/my own diseased analysis:

Dec was very dec-like lol, when ant quickly moved into position at the top of the steps, Dec stopped to wave and shake everyone's hands like he was the queen or something. He loves giving and receiving attention lol, ant was much more reserved

Stephen's behaviour correlated with what others who've met him irl have said, in that he's basically two different people. His TV persona is very loud and comic but literally as soon as the camera is off him (like in the happiest minute) he goes super shy and looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Fleur is a laugh, I like Fleur

Rob seemed quite scared of how enthusiastic the audience were

During the undercover both ant and dec laughed whenever rylan would say something vaguely diva-ish. Ant didn't laugh as much as dec did, who really got the giggles.

I think that's it! Thanks/sorry for reading so much.

[clippy]

How did you become so interested in iasw? I’m genuinely curious and I would love to learn more about it! Also, what’s so special about… 𝐓 𝐇 𝐄 𝐂 𝐋 𝐎 𝐂 𝐊 .

Would you believe me if I said it was literally an accident LOL...

Like okay. I grew up going to WDW and Disneyland (as well as other theme parks but those were the main two; my dad grew up going to WDW so the obsession has spanned generations I guess lmao) small world was always a must-do, but my main theme park interests as a kid lied within everything Epcot-related (and it still does)

Anyway, my last trip to WDW prior to getting the Disney parks as a special interest was in 2014. I went with my high school band and it was kind of a whole thing (high school drama shit + spring break week + having to do performances in band) so we didn't get the most park time possible. We wound up skipping small world which makes me Wonder if this interest would have been kick started sooner if we didn't skip it. But anyway. Fast forward to 2018. I am visiting my friend (and now roommate) who is watching a bunch of animatronic and theme park videos and I, a clueless man, decided to watch with her and it literally awoke a sleeper cell in my brain or something because I've been *nonstop* obsessed ever since 🧍

Like literally during that session of watching videos I designed my objecthead version of Clockboy. My life has not known peace ever sense, and tbh has drastically been altered (I'll get into that later)

But yeah the Autism(TM) made me have an insatiable hunger for knowledge about everything small world-related... I still don't know EVERYTHING about it, as there are lots of variations and history, etc. involving the installments of the attraction outside of Disneyland, but my main focus is the original world's fair & Disneyland version of the attraction (since they're the same thing... Mostly) as well as IASW facades in general...

There are tons of people who have equally as niche interests within the attraction's history which I think is SO cool. Like the fact that this nearly 60 year old ride has enough meat on its bones to have whole sub-groups of what people like about it is endearing

The history about it is what has drawn me into it (aside from the funny clock) because it almost didn't happen! There was a near missed connection between a Pepsi exec and Walt Disney himself that, had that not happened, we wouldn't have gotten the ride at all. I don't want to relay the entire history here (the Imagineering Story & Behind the Attraction episodes about the world's fair attractions get into it, as well as a plethora of YouTube videos documenting the ride), but that story about the beginnings of it is so dear to me, and I can't explain why.

But anyway, since my primary focus is the original attraction and facades, I've done some reading about imagineers Mary Blair and Rolly Crump, who have become two of my favorite visual artists and large inspirations for me. Crump has a few books and interviews out that have been interesting to read, but admittedly I've had a hard time finding firsthand accounts from Blair herself. I'm sure some art out there but finding them has been tricky since I don't get a lot of time to do research in general (the stuff by Crump was all found on accident, and he also had the benefit of being alive until 2023 so getting firsthand accounts from him was easier)

Otherwise I am just... Constantly googling stuff and looking for old pictures and merchandise related to IASW. It gets me a lot of answers, surprisingly. I go to Disneyland at least once a month to go ride it and visit my boy.

Still not entirely sure WHY my brain fixated on IASW and the clock specifically, but that's just the hand I was dealt I guess 🤷 don't get me wrong, I still love Epcot stuff and have other silly theme park guys I love (RX-24.... 🥺) but the small world clock has such a stronghold on my brain and I genuinely don't think he's leaving any time soon LOL

It's so funny to me because 6 years ago, I would never have guessed this would have been my next special interest. I was working at a job I liked decently enough. I was still dropped out of school and had no urge to go back, and I was considering moving to Seattle... But now I work in a theme park doing a job I never saw myself having (which is fine, I like my job!), I'm back in school (pursuing a degree I hope I can spin into a career in theme park design 🤞), and I live in California now. Wild how that happens.

The small world clock may not be special to most people (I mean, a lot of people DO like him, I see tons of people taking photos in front of small world with him as the backdrop!) but he is extremely special to me. I treasure him so so so much, and do genuinely think my life has been better with him in it... It's silly that a funny clock face has done So Much to my brain and life but :'-) I love him so it's okay!

Anyway sorry that this is long and sappy LOL, you happened to ask this close to the 6 year anniversary of me getting into small world (it's on March 31 to be exact 😊) so it made me reflect a bit lol

TL;DR sources for more IASW info:

The Imagineering Story Episode 1: The Happiest Place on Earth (1964-1965 New York World's Fair stuff is about 35 min in) -- on Disney+

Behind the Attraction Episode 8: "it's a small world" -- on Disney+

"it's kind of a cute story" by Rolly Crump (interviews; written down by Jeff Heimbuch)

Defunctland's 1964-1965 NYWF video talks about it a decent amount if I remember right

any pictorial souvenir guides about the attraction (currently, and slowly, working on scanning mine in, and will share them once I do, but they're up on eBay a lot if you collect that sort of thing)

Sorry I don't have 🏴‍☠️ links for the D+ stuff or the book but I currently don't have the spoons to search for them

[1-800-local-slut]

With a Heavy Heart- Chapter 3

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈： 𝓈𝓉ℯ𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊ， 𝓋𝒾ℴ𝓁ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒯𝒲： 𝒥*𝒽𝓃 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝒸****ℯ𝓇， 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝒷𝓊𝓈ℯ （𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝓃ℯℊ𝓁ℯ𝒸𝓉， 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝒷𝒶𝓃𝒹ℴ𝓃𝓂ℯ𝓃𝓉）, 𝒶𝓃ℊ𝓈𝓉，𝓈𝓂ℴ𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔，𝓂ℴ𝓃𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈，𝓁𝒾𝓉ℯ𝓇𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓊𝓇𝒹ℯ𝓇 𝓁ℴ𝓁， 𝒥ℴ𝒽𝓃’𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝓅𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓀𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉，𝓂ℴ𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝒾𝓈𝓈𝓊ℯ𝓈

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻

August 16th, 1997

Dear diary- It’s been awhile, I know. But I have a lot to tell you, and I hope you're ready to hear about it. So to start off, mom’s been letting me take solos. I only take small , simple ones close to hers. I can’t hunt with her, she’s either always rushing or always in my way. The older I get it, the more it seems like my mom and I should just go our separate ways. This new system has been helping, she just gives me a few hundred dollars, a bus ticket, and sends me on my way if we’re out of state on spring break or something. Then she’ll call me when it's time for us to leave and meet me at whatever shitty diner she picks. I think when I get my own car though, (i’ve been saving up), I probably won’t see her anymore. Or at least not as often.

There won’t be much keeping me attached to her other than her being my mom. That’s starting to lose meaning in itself. Maybe I should wait until I’m 18. I’m going into my senior year, and I’ll take some time off to sort myself out. I don’t want to enter university to early. Two years off won’t really do anything, and once I turn 17 I’ll start applying to colleges. Or I’ll do online. I saw it on the news a few years ago, 1989, University of Phoenix started an online university. I have the proper grades and credentials to get into a good school and thanks to my stubbornness, I was able to stay in Maryland for school all four years. She also leaves me home alone most times. Said she couldn’t stay tied down in one state for too long. That’s her business though. I think she’s been gone for three weeks, right now she’s hunting a wraith in Wyoming. Then afterwards, she has a banshee in Florida. She won’t be back for a while.

She said her only rules are not to let anyone in at night, and keep an eye on any guest I have during the day. We’ve been staying at my Aunt Lacy’s house, she gave it to my mom when my mom told her we were moving here for school. Aunt Lacy left her car here too, but I don’t drive it often. I don’t have my license and I really do have to stay out of trouble here so I usually walk or catch a bus anywhere I need to go.

I like the house. It’s big, we have tons of space, I get my own room and my own room to do research for my cases. There are two guest rooms as well, I’ve been storing stuff in them though. My mom has never been big on research but she’ll do it if she has too or if she’s in the mood. I like research. It’s easy, and makes sense. I have broken her rules though.

Whenever Dean’s in Maryland or passing through, I let him stay here. He comes to visit me whenever he has the chance. Every time he leaves, it's like one of those movies where the woman sends her lover off to war. I don’t feel bad about breaking my moms rules. I personally feel like it’s not her business what I do. She literally chooses not to be here, it’s not like she’ll know. That’s the next thing I have to tell you! Dean’s bus gets here in a few hours, 7:30 in the morning. I’m excited. When Dean comes, it’s like my own little slice of peace in the world. He’s so sweet with me. He takes away the loneliness for just a few days.

Something else that helps with the loneliness is that mom let me get a cat. He was a stray kitten we found in Tallahassee on our move up here. We fought and I ran away over him, because I couldn’t take being alone anymore. She found me and let me keep him. His name is Salem. Salem Grim. I named him after the cat from Sabrina but I feel like the name fits.

He likes to come with me on my nightwalks and when I visit the cemetery. I’ve been going to visit grandpa every now and again. One issue with Salem is that he keeps trying to eat my cigarettes if he gets into my purse. He hasn’t succeeded in the three times I caught him trying.

 Speaking of those, I lost my cigarettes on the bus ride back from my last hunt. I noticed after dinner. I think they fell out of my purse when the driver swerved like a fucking crazy person and I smacked my head on the window. On the bright side, Dean can get them for me when he’s here and I won’t have to steal them from the convenience store. He's finally old enough to look 21 for his fake ID, John won't even bother him about drinking too much anymore either.

And let’s talk about Dean. He gets more and more handsome everytime I see him. I think I have a crush on him, but honestly? I don’t feel like dealing with that. I don’t think I’m ready. I have enough issues of my own to work through, and Dean’s too emotionally constipated to work through his own issues. He has a new girlfriend in every state. I have my own steady trail of broken hearts (plus if I flirt with Maya's older brother enough he'll get me all the cigarettes and hard liquor I want). Plus I don't want to confess then end up looking fucking stupid!

Would he even be loyal if he knew how I felt about him? He cheated on his last girlfriend (who cursed him out when she caught him and honestly she was right but I won’t tell him that) and even though sometimes it feels like he looks at me like I’m the only girl in the world that might not mean anything to him.

I’ll have to hit the grocery store when Dean comes by, he’ll drive in Lacy’s car for me  (I love when Dean drives me around, and does all the heavy lifting. It’s hot) and we’ll go together. I love that part of his visits when he gets to stay here for a while. I’m gonna head to sleep, I have to get him from the bus stop early in the morning. I’ll write more tomorrow.

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻

Dean stepped off the bus, the warm air touching his skin and he clutched his backpack. He squinted through the sunlight, and glanced around looking for his friend. Friend seemed like a bit of an insult these days considering his feelings, but he shook those thoughts from his head. All Dean was really worried about was getting into her nice, air conditioned house and away from the heat of the Sun.

He walked onto the sidewalk, and noticed a cherry red car across the street with the lovely lady he’s spent so much of his time with but not enough in his opinion. She was leaning against her aunt's cherry red 1969 Mustang convertible. God, she looked better every time he saw her. She had on a pair of cheetah print sunglasses and was chewing on a piece of gum.

He smiled at her, and jogged across the street to meet up with her. 

“Hey sweetheart.” With a coy smile matching his own, she pushed off the car and pulled him into a hug. He felt a pair of soft lips touch his neck right on his pulse. Good God. Part of him hoped she left a stain. He suppressed a pleased hum. Dean took a small chance and slid his hands down her waist. After a few seconds the two pulled apart. 

“How was your bus ride?” She asked him, walking around to the other side of the car and hopping over the door into the passenger's seat. Dean giggled, knowing she’d always let him drive. He liked it that way, it made him feel like he was her man. Even though he was 99.99% sure it was just because he had an actual license, he'd let himself be delusional. He liked his little rendezvous to Maryland. While he didn’t personally like the state, he liked who was in it.

“It was alright. I’m coming in from Maine so it was a bitch and a half getting here. Dad and Sammy are gonna head to Illinois but dad sent me to handle what’s been terrorizing y’all here in the Old Line state.” Dean responded, throwing his bags into the back seat. Right now he was just on a regular ghost hunt, a salt and burn. It’d take him a few days to deal with, but he was gonna stay for about a week. Even if he had to lie to his dad, which he was definitely about to do.

He liked having a place to return too with food in it that wasn’t a shitty motel. He liked having someone walking around in his t-shirts and flannel shirts, cooking breakfast and doing laundry. You know, instead of the three times it sometimes takes him and Sam to do their laundry correctly.

All he had to do was take out the trash at night, wash up the dishes, maybe cut the grass, and do manual labor. He literally does way harder work than that everyday. In return, he got to cuddle up next too the girl of his dreams every night. No other girl in any other state could compare to her. Sure there were a lot, but in each of them he looked for her. In each of them, he’d look for her strong personality, her unbreakable will and some level of the comfort, trust and safety he had with her. And sure he found girls with those traits, but still none of them were her. None of them could ever be her.

“Good. I just got back from a case in Pennsylvania a few days ago. I got jumped by skinwalkers.” She lifted her hair off her shoulder while she slipped her seatbelt on. Dean chuckled, knowing about her hatred of skinwalkers. She said something about them just made her angry, maybe it was the deceit. His eyes stuck to the way her hair framed her beautiful face despite the white bandana she had tied the front of her hair back to keep it from her eyes.

Ever since she stopped wearing her hair in braids all the time, Dean was enamored by her afro. He loved hearing her talk about it too. Learning about the different hair types during a trip to the hair store was strangely the highlight of his week last time he was here. It was big, and as much as she complained about it she also talked about how much she adored her own hair. Dean loved watching her pick her hair out, and comb her hair into braids before sleeping, and put her myriad of products that were in bottles like potions in her hair. He loved the silk texture of her hair ties and bonnets too.

“Is that your way of telling me you’re not riding with me for this one?” She glared at him playfully and then broke out into a smile but the question was a heavy one. Dean knew she hated leaving for hunts in general but, leaving for days plus encountering her least favorite monster? There’s no way she’d want to go find a ghost. He frowned a bit, knowing he’d be alone on the road for at least two days when she was just a few hours away from him. And no one can start a fire faster than her, which was a plus when one needed to light shit on fire.

“It’s my way of saying I will stay in the car and give moral support.” With a large, dramatic grin, Dean playfully rolled his eyes at her smile. Her hair glittered in the sunlight and it matched her beautiful smile. Starting the car, he grabbed the stick shift and reversed the car. 

They cruised down the street making leisure conversation until eventually they pulled up to the gorgeous home. The Sun shone on her skin, painting her a gorgeous sun kissed color. Her lips had gloss on them that Dean just wanted to kiss off. Pulling into the driveway and parking. Dean stepped out first, before he ran around the front of the car.

He popped open the car door for her and she stepped out, uttering a soft ‘thank you’. Handing him his bag, they began to walk up the porch, leaving the car on the street. It would be a few minutes of them in the house before they went to the grocery store, no point reopening the garage. Behind her Dean stopped staring at her from behind for a few minutes, and looked around. The neighborhood was beautiful, one with kids playing up and down the street, some adults rode past on their bikes calling out good mornings. In front of him, the younger huntress called back a good morning to a man on a bike who called out to her.

People knew her here. She had been here long enough for her neighbors to recognize her and wave hello when she got home. Long enough for her neighbors to raise an eyebrow upon seeing Dean go inside with her, clearly knowing it was just her and her mom. Dean felt a pang of jealousy, and another weight settled over him. She had normalcy. Consistency. Neighbors who worried about a strange young man entering her home, who knew that it was just her living in that big house. Who looked out for intruders, out of kindness for their teenage neighbor whose mom was always away working some job that prevented her from being fully present.

The front door unlocked and she pushed it open for Dean. He stepped inside, putting his bag down next to the door. The house was still beautiful, with its usual cozy air. The living room he stood in now was just as welcoming as it was last time he was here.

It was his 18th birthday, with her mom here with his dad and Sammy. They needed help researching a case. That same night Dean snuck out of the guest room and into her room where she left the door unlocked for him. The 16 year old laid on his chest while they watched TV, something simple. He still remembered the comfort her soft pajamas and many sheets gave to his tense muscles. She had asked him, ‘are you scared to turn 18’ and he replied ‘what do I have to be scared of’ and she didn’t answer. Then two hours later, 17 turned to 18 as the clock struck midnight. With a soft kiss to his clothed chest, she wished him a happy birthday.

 January 24th 1997, he laid in the room with her while she snuggled into him. He understood then what he had to be afraid of. Rain poured outside the window, the soft pattering of the rain matched his quickening heartbeat.  He was technically an adult now. He didn’t graduate high school, he didn’t have any other plans with his life that didn’t involve hunting (he honestly gave up quitting long ago but the idea still danced in his brain at times), he didn’t even have a job that gave him money.

What if some day he was given the chance to get out? What would he have then? He wouldn't be able to do anything, as far as the government is aware he just fell off the Earth with his dad and brother after a freak accident that killed his mom. How do you go back into the regular world? Waves of anxiety began to wash over him in just a few seconds and then they were washed away. He felt toned arms squishing him. 

“Happy Birthday, Dean.” She whispered softly. Right. He wasn’t alone. He relaxed his arms and relaxed his tightened grip on her that he didn’t even realize he had. 

“It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay, it’ll work out.” And Dean remembered those words fondly. He remembered how she smiled at him and ran her nails through his hair. That was when. That was the moment when Dean felt his heart swell with comfort and love. She held him through the short waves of panic, and from then Dean knew he wanted no one else in this world. Eventually they drifted off into a calm sleep, and Dean didn’t even wake up to sneak back into his room with his dad and Sammy. For once he let himself sleep in and nothing woke him while he was in her arms. Not Sammy, not his dad, nothing.

Now, Dean was sitting on a soft red porch swing, holding a glass of lemonade.

“Thanks sweetheart. So what’s the agenda for today?” He asked while taking a sip and holding his arm out for her to sit down next to him. She complied, and snuggled into his muscular frame. Dean loved holding her, she always felt like a pillow and smelt like lavender, vanilla and cocoa butter. A muscular arm wrapped around her and she brought her knees up for her chest and pressed her back into his side.

A book was placed down, with a steaming cup of tea on the small table right next to her and her purse right next to it. Wrapping her own arms around her knees Dean admired her face while she thought. Salem jumped up in front of the two and attempted to crawl onto his owner's lap and received head scratches. Dean reached around and gave the loveable cat some affection as well. 

“I was thinking we could hit the grocery store in about an hour, then the deli and the fruit market. I haven’t gone since I came back. Then we can do some research for your case, have dinner and get you set to head out tomorrow.” Of course she thought it all out. One of the many things he loved about her. He nodded and pulled her closer to him while she ran her hands over the fur of Salem.

“Can we get pie?” 

“I already put it on the list. Can you buy me cigarettes?” He hid a smile at hearing she already put his food on the list. It made his heart flutter and he hoped she couldn’t feel it. She frowned and muttered something about sooner rather than later.

“Only if you let me have beers too.” Upon hearing his request she snapped up and turned, slapping him on his chest. 

“Absolutely not! Last time you never finished them. I had to drink four on my own before my mom found them.” Dean laughed at the wagging finger in front of his face. In his defense, last time he had to leave early. John called him, saying Sam came down with a fever and he needed Dean back to help as soon as possible. So he woke her up three days before he planned to leave, told her the news and left to catch a bus to New York.

"Why didn't you just throw them away or give them to one of your friends?" Dean asked through breathless chuckles.

"I panicked and drank them all but then I was drunk and had to just toss the bottles out the window so they'd land in a bush." She laughed, hiding her face in her hands and Dean took special notice to how the Sun caught in her brown eyes. She way her shoulders shook lightly with each inhale.

“You can’t get ‘em without me sweetheart.” With a huff, she then playfully rolled her eyes and went back to leaning against him. Dean was just happy that she relished being around him in any capacity.

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻

It was dark now. The Sun fully set ten minutes ago, as Dean drove the car filled with groceries down the street. They’d been out all day, getting groceries, trying new food, and when she discovered that Dean only had three pairs of underwear, they went straight to the store to get him some new clothing. Now all they needed to do was pick up dinner, some beers and they’d have themselves a set night. A random song played through the radio. Her eyes were shut in peace while the wind blew across her face. Even at night, the moonlight illuminated her warm skin and kissed her cheeks. 

Returning his focus to the road, Dean continued to drive until he pulled up to a 7-Eleven across the street from a restaurant she told him had some really good Chinese food. Dean didn’t care though, as long as he got food in his body. 

“Get up.” He whispered as he nudged the still girl. He took the chance to stare at her. Her lashes fluttered against her skin and her two toned lips were plump and full. Dean admired her until her eyes quickly shot open. Creepy as shit but he’d let it go.

“Oh are we here?” She asked as she looked at Dean who averted her gaze. 

“We are. Let’s hurry up before the groceries go bad.” Dean repeated his usual habit of opening the door for her and she stepped out. As she laid her head on his shoulder covered in his dads leather jacket, she shook sleep out of her body. Standing still, Dean glanced up at the stars that twinkled through the sky. 

“I’m gonna go order the food. I want Marlboro blacks and nothing else.” With a stretch Dean stuck up a thumb and winked at her. 

“Oooo charming.” She remarked with a teasing smirk while the two separated from the parking lot. Dean entered the 7-Eleven, wandering to the back. He fucked around for five minutes, looking through magazines and CD’s. Then he spent another five debating which slushie he should get and if he even wanted one. He decided against it in the end. He grabbed two six packs of beers, then went up to the cash register. The cashier stared at him with a blank stare that sent a chill through Dean’s spine and activated some bloodlust in him that he only ever got while hunting. Still, it could’ve just been an actual chill. Maybe he was just cold.

“Marlboro blacks.” Dean kept his eyes glued on the woman who blinked up at him for two minutes. Then she broke out into a wild, large smile that allowed Dean to see all of her teeth and gums. He shuddered, as she swung her body around instead of simply turning her neck. Her arms seemed incredibly long, too long and thick for her small body. Like they were trying to change into something else. That certainly wasn’t normal. He licked his lips as his eyes narrowed as he contemplated his choices.

Did he kill it? Interrogate it? As Dean thought, he let his eyes travel to the glass the cigarettes were behind. He was met with purely white eyes in the reflection staring right back at him as a car drove past and the light shone in. Dean’s blood went cold. The woman was no longer smiling, a straight face with deep frown lines, while her long arms opened the display then threw the pack onto the counter behind her.

For a moment Dean was frozen. Completely frozen, which is the number one thing you should never do in an encounter like this. But he had no idea what this was. Did he leave it alone? Did he just run away? Did he say something to it? A few more seconds passed. Suddenly the door opened and in walked his huntress.

“What the fuck is taking you so long?” For some reason she didn’t come inside, but stuck the top part of her body inside.

“Nothing, I was just-” He started as the woman resumed moving around again, and she turned back to face Dean. Her eyes were completely normal and she blinked with a warm smile. 

“I got the food, let’s go.” She was rushing to leave, her mouth set in a deep frown. Dean nodded at her, left 20 dollars on the counter and grabbed a lighter on his way out.

“Thank you! Come again soon!” The ‘woman’ called while the two hunters fled. They made their way back to the car, and Dean didn’t even make sure the door was properly closed before he peeled off into the night, speeding down the empty streets. Glancing back in the rearview mirror, Dean saw two sets of white eyes standing in the street far behind.

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻

“That bitch was really creepy.” Dean said as he used his chopsticks to eat a piece of chicken.

“The dude I got was weird too. Ain’t nothing normal around here I guess.” She grumbled as she ashed her cigarette and Dean took a sip of his beer.

The two had gotten home, and pulled the car into the garage and unloaded the groceries in silence.  The two took a much needed shower, and Dean saw her putting her hair into four large braids before slipping on a silk bonnet.

Then, after doing the usual nightly routine of locking all the doors and windows, the two were sat in the living room eating dinner while the TV played the weather in the back. A silver hatchet sat next to Dean as he flipped through a book in front of him that was on the coffee table. Next to the huntress's food, was a gun loaded with silver bullets. The two had been reading through the lore now, and realized they had encountered two shape shifters with terrible social skills.

“God, you want one normal night and here come the bums to ruin everything.” She scoffed, taking a drag of her cigarette and blowing out the smoke. She finished eating and opened up her spring rolls, taking a bite out of one before she lifted the book off the table. Folding her legs over the arms of her recliner, she pulled the book into her lap and sighed. Salem once again jumped onto her lap, she pressed a kiss to his forehead and the cat purred, nuzzling his head into his owner. 

“Well, we take care of those two, and you can have all the normal nights you want until the next bottom feeders roll in.” Dean’s green eyes scanned over the page. His brain was unable to focus, feeling fried from all the reading.

“Says here they tend to live in packs.” Read off the young woman but she frowned. Now she had to hunt a pack. Fun. Dean had his own thing, he wouldn’t have time to help her hunt a whole pack. First skinwalkers, and now their freaky ass cousins. With an aggressive sigh, she slammed the book shut and threw it on the floor. It landed with a thud on the rug and she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Aw, don’t pout.” Mocking laughter added to her annoyance. Dean watched her flick her crumbs off her fingers at him. He took his final sip of beer and finished off his first one of the night. He let out a belch with his eyes flickering to her plump lips drinking from the bottle. He shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth and he grinned at her. 

“Let’s look into your ghost guy now.” Dean groaned remembering his own hunt. Son of a bitch, he forgot all about that.

“Ghost AND shape shifters? You should consider moving.” Folding his hands he leaned back against the couch.

“Haha. Come on, I’ll go on my hunt tomorrow, you’ll go on yours and we’ll see each other soon enough.” Dean wasn’t sure when she got up and retrieved her book. But there she was standing over his sitting form with Salem in her hand like he was a baby. Pushing the book into his chest with her free hand, Dean let out a groan of exasperation. 

“Read the book!” She scolded as he began to playfully fight her on the couch. Salem jumped free and Dean took the chance to grab her arms and swing her into his lap.

“No! Read it to me, like a bedtime story.” He pulled her body into his with brute strength and she squealed. 

“Dean no, I have to do my own research!” She was laughing but Dean knew she was right. He rested his chin in the crook of her neck and let out a low grunt. The silk of her bonnet tickling his forehead.

Suddenly the world and his heart beat slowed, and time stopped as they made eye contact. His skin felt warm from the weight of her sitting on him he could notice every little thing. Her breath seemed to hitch, and her eyelashes fluttered.

Dean wanted to slowly, ever so slowly, bring her closer and plant a tender kiss on her lips. It was like this force existed between them, pulling them closer and closer together with each passing second. A The pull felt like it came right from his chest and his eyes wanted to flutter shut on their own for a deep kiss.

Would she hold his face in her hands while he held her hips? Would she turn her body to face his, and place her legs on the side of his? How would she kiss him, slowly? Then, she'd push up against him, and they'd refuse to part for air until totally necessary. His hands would find her thighs and squeeze the soft, doughy flesh and maybe she'd let out a small whimper while he pressed kisses down her neck. Down the front, deeply inhaling her scent and feeling her shudder lightly.

How did they go from playing to suddenly being sucked into their own little world? And how could Dean ever be expected to leave?

She tore her eyes away first and brought her attention back to the book. Right, the book. And the rest of the world. Blinking, Dean was able to clear his mind even if just for two seconds.

Someone had to take care of the two shapeshifters they had encountered tonight as well as the ghost. As much as Dean wanted to kill them himself or even wished he took the chance to fight while he was still in the store, he didn’t. Now he’d probably return to an empty home while she cleared out the shapeshifters.

“Ooorrrr we can go back to the store tonight, kill the shapeshifters, and then tomorrow you can give me that moral support from the car!” He suggested, burying his face in her neck. She rolled her eyes playfully. He should’ve known she wasn’t going to head back out. The  minute they came in she ushered him into the shower, complaining that he smelt like outside and 7-Eleven. She was comfortable in her pajamas and slippers.

“Or, since you’ll miss me so much we can clear out the shifters tomorrow, and then we go do the ghost thing.” Dean’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas. Of course! It was genius! Start up here, catch the two and find their pack if  they were with a pack. In that case, Dean would have to stay and handle them and he’d get to stay with her. If not they’d drive down to Baltimore and get the ghost! Either way they stayed together, it was perfect.

“Of course I’ll help you out sweet heart.” She scoffed and placed her cigarette in his mouth. Taking a drag he exhaled and gave her a toothy grin.

“Okay, let’s head to bed. I leave early for my hunts.” Dean protested as she shut off the TV. When she said early, she without a doubt always meant early. He knows because he remembers the last time everyone was together, and she woke up at 4:30 with her mom for their own hunt and the two were back in time for lunch.

And she stayed true to her word. It was 4:30 when Dean woke up to her rising out the bed, wiggling out of his tight grasp. The two hunters were now in the car, loaded with everything needed to kill a ghost, a shifter, some tupperware containers with lunch (some curry chicken and white rice and he felt honored knowing she remembered his favorite dish of hers) and 4 beers in a cooler. Dean drove silently, the Sun rising as they made their way back to the 7-eleven. At least Dean knew it would be quick. She never had time to converse on her hunts, always preferring to just aim, kill and go back home. Dean could do the interrogating of the other shapeshifter at the food shop. 

“If they aren’t here, I’m gonna give up.” Whispered the girl. Even though it was still incredibly early in the morning, she still looked perfect. Her brown eyes had slight bags under them and she was fidgeting with the ends of the two large braids she neatly plaited her hair into. Her cargo pants slightly twisted around her body and she quickly adjusted them. Pulling up to their location, Dean watched as she pulled out her gun and handed Dean his hatchet.

“You think you’ll need backup?”

“No, a silver bullet and he won’t put up a fight.” Dean found it sexy when she talked like that, all determined and smart. He watched her with a crooked smile and he wet his lips with his tongue. Green eyes scanned her curved figure like they were the last thing they’d ever see. Dean would be very pleased if she was the last thing he ever saw.

“In and out.” He nodded back, feeling the fire pump through his blood that he always got before a hunt. That thrill would never leave Dean, as sick as it was. He was about to do some good, save some lives, and take a few in the process. He watched her cock her gun, as she walked towards the Chinese restaurant and he adjusted his grip on the hatchet, entering the convenience store. Maybe he’d get a slushy on his way out.

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻

Notes:

And that's part two, I hope you're all enjoying this story so far! Also, weird fact, the title of this was originally 'Apple Pie and Cigarettes' but I kept thinking of Apple Jack from MLP for some reason? It was so weird, cuz I watched that show like 1000s years ago when I was little and I hardly watched it but thats a tiny part of why I changed the title. But part of me really wants to change it back, I liked that title.

Its a way for me to show that Dean and the reader aren't burdened by the weight of the world together, they don't have any expectations together. They can just enjoy themselves with the simple things. They aren't these big serious hunters when their together, their just a normal couple enjoy their vices at the end of the day. Anyways, I'm still considering it <3

Also please let me know if you want to be added to my Dean Winchester taglist or this series taglist in the notes <3

Dean Winchester Taglist:

@roseblue373

@titty-teetee

[fountainpenguin]

Fanfic Schedule News - 2024

You can find this post later in my Pinned Post links

Overview

- Fairly OddParents - On hiatus while buffer building. Weekly Friday updates when ready, probably in summer. Origin and Knots are planned to alternate to show both sides of the war, but can be read independently. - WordGirl - On hiatus while buffer building. Weekly updates when ready, but lower priority than FOP. I'd like to post a few one-shots in spring and summer. - MCYT - Weekly Tuesday updates (Dog's Life until Chapter 30, then other 'fics while Dog's Life is on break). I'm also posting on Friday, but am moving towards posting on Sunday. - Total Drama - I'm not writing new content for the TD fandom, but I have 40+ 'fics I posted on FFN, but not AO3. Now that many are 10 years old, I'd like to archive some on AO3. - Every year I say I want to post my Mario drafts, but... I don't think 2024 will be that year. We will see.

Fandom-Specific Series

I post 'fics under my AO3 account, FountainPenguin.

If you'd like to get notifications for new works but don't want to follow me as a user, consider subscribing to some fandom-specific series:

Fairly OddParents

130 Station - All pieces in the 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash series.

These are further broken down into "Trains" (Ex: Main cast, Anti-Fairies, Pixies, shippy stuff, etc.) - Find info HERE

Notable pieces that are not 130 Prompts include Origin of the Pixies, Frayed Knots, Come What May, and Reedfilter Rules, which may be best subscribed to individually- They do not have a series at this time.

WordGirl

Heroes' Journey - Stuff about WordGirl and Huggy learning to share Fair City with Kid Math

28 Million Degrees - Character studies

MCYT - Not RPF, but the 4th Wall is very thin

Pixels Imperfect - Pixel people (who are all mob hybrids) live in a server hub and roleplay with their friends. Lots of interpersonal and social drama mixed with humor.

Neighborhood Watch AU - A serious take on the Life series lore and mechanics, ft. a semi-medieval world where the first 5 Life seasons take place in a single timeline.

Roundabout - Misc. MCYT content

These pages also have links to character relationship series.

Total Drama

Riddle's Drama - Total Drama 'fics I wrote 2013-2016.

These are also on my FFN, where I cross-post my FOP and WordGirl content as well.

-------

Fairly OddParents

I'm working on a buffer for Origin of the Pixies and Frayed Knots chapters so they can alternate during the war. At the moment I'm posting content for other fandoms, but once the buffer is ready, these will roll out weekly. Hopefully by summer.

- Origin is caught up and ready for the war meeting next chapter, so we're just wrapping up Anti-Cosmo's school and relationship drama in Knots :) - We're in the era of 2016 draft chapters, so it's a combo of "Lots of stuff is already written" and "Lots of stuff needs to be updated."

Origin and Knots will update on Fridays when the time is right (alternating weeks).

The 130 Prompts wrapped up Arc 2 in December and is on hiatus.

If you missed the Arc 2 finale, check out "Grudge"- It's about Happy Peppy Gary and Crocker striking a dangerous deal and I think it's cute :)

Ideally, I'd like to finish the whole Come What May draft before I post more chapters (so we don't have more of these long lurches between chapters), and Reedfilter Rules is in a similar boat.

Origin and Knots are my priority, but once Come What May starts, I'd like to do weekly or bi-weekly updates until it's done.

WordGirl

Factor It In - I'm very happy with how the story has come out so far. It's fully outlined, but this is a "serious and fluffy" story and I've been on a "silly and angsty" streak lately, so the mood isn't there.

- I'd like to circle back to it soon, but don't want to post more chapters until I have a nice buffer. - I'd like to post again in autumn 2024 and keep up weekly updates for several months. Origin and Knots are higher priority, but I really like this story and look forward to more.

I have some WordGirl one-shot drafts I've been sitting on for months. I haven't been satisfied with them enough to post, but you might see them soon as I finalize them. There's no schedule for these, but they include:

- Local alien girl is SO brave about Rex's problems while they lie in the grass discussing love and culture - Local alien boy loses his fawn spots, comes of age, and hits up Hal Hardbargain for alien-strength deodorant - Character study for Victor Best (My horrible son) - Character study for pre-series Rex living on Hexagon (My somehow more horrible son) - Other drafts from 2018 that need polish

I so desperately want to show the world my "Hopelessly romantic life planner since he was born" x "She can't commit to anything including this" marriage of convenience superhero drama... He's oblivious... She's dying inside... He is so embarrassing... Do u understand my vision?

MCYT

- Dog's Life Session 2 will end with Chapter 30. I've finished up to Chapter 28 and just need to tweak the remaining chapters. It will then be on hiatus for a few months while I work on the Session 3 buffer and other projects.

Edit - Session 2 will actually be 37 chapters, so another month

Expecting 4 to 5 months of hiatus from regular updates with some intermission chapters a few weeks apart (Full moon arc, my beloved). I have 'fics I look forward to posting (including new multi-chapters that already have nice buffers and will post weekly), so there will be plenty of MCYT content, but it seemed wise to leave Dog's Life on break to avoid burnout. I hope you enjoy these new stories! When Dog's Life returns, it'll be with weekly updates for several months as per usual :)

My "first half of 2024" goal is to close out as many of my existing MCYT multi-chapters as I can. Thank you for your patience with multi-chapters that have slow updates- I plan to finish them soon :)

I recently completed For Sale: Bird Wings (Never Worn) with weekly updates and am on track to finish One and a Half Birds with weekly Friday updates.

After this, I would like to finish the last 2 to 3 chapters of Criminal Experience (which has always had Friday updates as well). I don't want to post the next chapter until I nail down the story's end, so there's been a delay, but I'm glad I've wrapped up other multi-chapters and I look forward to finishing this soon.

After this, I plan to post MCYT content Tuesdays and Sundays, leaving Fridays for my other fandoms.

What's on Tuesdays?

At the moment, Dog's Life for 7 more weeks. Session 2 ends with Chapter 30 on April 9th.

Edit: Chapter 37 on May 28th

I've started new multi-chapters while chasing inspiration bursts, but I held back from posting them, so now I have buffers for those. I look forward to sharing them throughout 2024. Two notable ones are:

- Chalaza - Quick story about Martyn arriving in New Star Station. Bdubs voice study, some practice writing short scenes, and this is the story that helped me nail down pixel person anatomy. ^ Highlights include Bdubs trotting around with Martyn's dissolved soul in a fishbowl and regaling Etho with tales of how the Phantom Dragon carries phantom hybrids in her mouth. Also, Martyn hides under Etho's couch for 4 days. - Herobrine's Guide to the Between Dimension - A meta story about my Between lore, hybrid anatomy, and hybrid culture. No plot, but I think it's fun.

These are expected to post Tuesdays while Dog's Life is on break :)

What's on Sundays?

At the moment, nothing- I'm posting on Fridays (weekly updates to One and a Half Birds for the next several weeks).

I've also got a draft called "Scar's Castle" that's about Grian doing chores during 3rd Life... we'll see if that turns out nice.

Now that Secret Life is over, I've been able to do more worldbuilding and story planning for Neighborhood Watch AU. I plan to post some one-shots soon. Highlights include:

"Goodchild Oscar" - Oscar Goodchild's lovely parents put out a hit on his soulmate. He drags Grian around the Hearts Club Ball in his attempts to thwart it. Title's subject to change, but this is a fun one :) "They Never Found the Desert" - Local Green Life parrot can't get Red Life soulmate motivated for anything. Desperate times call for desperate measures. "Ethograms, Etho Slab, and Something About Ethics (Probably)" - Joel studies wolves... and the single(?) dad who keeps coming around with his kids.

I've also been working on the big multi-chapter for this universe, which centers around the Clocker family: Arsenic Waltz. It's fully outlined and I'm 5 chapters into the buffer, but it doesn't feel "fun" to read yet, so... Hmm.

- If anyone wants to beta read the first 10k words where Martyn arrives at the Clocker residence and meets his soulmate Cleo for the first time, lmk? Been struggling with the pacing of action vs. world lore for months and it'd be nice to get outside thoughts. - My plan was to start posting in April after Dog's Life ends, but it might need more time. With weekly updates, it should finish in December or January, but I'd like a nice buffer first. Possibly, this story will start in the summer and end in early 2025.

EDIT - I ended up killing all these darlings and moving them to a separate story, which will be released at a later time. The pacing was just not working :)

Additional multi-chapters to wrap up:

Closed Door Policy - Can't finish until Criminal Experience is done. Will post Tuesdays or Sundays as appropriate (Expecting 2 or 3 more chapters).

Dear Future Captain - Waiting for Dog's Life to catch up to this part of the timeline (Between Sessions 4 and 5?) - I like my draft for Chapter 3, but I'd rather wrap up other stories first.

With Acid In Your Eyes - Outlined and expecting 10 chapters. This is a high-tension story I was excited for, but it's on the backburner while finalizing lore, social dynamics, and plot points. It was ambitious to post this one before things were solid, but I look forward to returning when I'm ready :)

If you're interested in being a beta reader for any of my work, you can get in touch. I've not worked with beta readers in fanfic before, but if you're interested, we can talk about it!

Thanks for reading! Happy 2024!

[dumbass-tumbler-cryptid]

It took Quaritch 10 years to build the cabin and immediately after finishing it he went to get Spider or did he finish it earlier but he was waiting for the perfect moment to take him?Will there be a fragment describing exactly how the construction took place? I wonder how he found the place at all, whether he make all the furniture himself and how he moved everything up the hill

<3

I mention the construction of the cabin in a few lines here and there but I never have like, an in depth flashback scene of the process of building it, but I do have the whole process thought out so let's get into it.

So the cabin is on a secluded mountain in Colorado. Originally Spider lived in the D.C area so Quaritch took him completely across the country. Quaritch had a general idea of where he wanted to go when he first started thinking up his plan. He wanted a place that was secluded, hard to reach, and with plenty of natural resources so they could live off the land. He would have gone through a list to narrow down other locations until settling on the mountain the cabin is on and then actually going there to make sure it was as secluded and hard to reach as he originally thought. That process alone would have taken about a year as he thoroughly considered and tested every option.

Once he found the perfect spot he'd started construction using pretty basic tools, things he could easily carry up the mountain. He'd have to clear a lot of large trees first, saving them to use as construction material later, then dig up the tree stumps so he could level the ground. The cabin does have a basement, a septic system, and a water well so he'd have to dig, using small explosives to make the initial holes then shaping it how he wants. He'd use the dug up stone from this to make concrete that would be used to make the foundation of the house. Then he'd actually start building the house from the trees from earlier. Once the cabin is done, the plumbing is set up, and the electrical wiring is done (but not functional yet) he'd start making a good amount of the furniture, bed frames, desks, wardrobes, dressers, end tables, kitchen table, chairs all of that stuff. He'd also be starting their garden around this time because it takes years to actually cultivate the soil to grow good crops so he'd have to start that years in advanced to make sure they have a good source of food for when him and Spider will be living there.

This would all be a very long process made longer by his lack of heavy duty power tools and help. His team would come up to help him a few weeks at a time but they all have lives too that they can't be away from for that long without arousing suspicion and no one wants that. He'd also only be able to really work on this from mid spring to mid fall which is still a good amount of working time each year, but he wouldn't want to be away from Spider for that long. So he's in D.C watching Spider from late august when school starts to about Spider's spring break then heads back to work on the cabin.

Quaritch would take up as much as he could with every trip, so like first it'd be all the tools he needs for building and supplies he needs for surviving in the woods for months. He'd leave it all there in a safe place, so that next time he could start bringing up gardening supplies, then family photos/videos and so on. All the big stuff like the couch, mattresses, fridge, stove, etc. where airlifted there by Brown. Every member of team deja blue that could be there was there to quickly unload everything so Brown could fly away fast, then they moved everything into the house. That all happened a few months before Spider was taken so yeah he didn't waste much time. Spider was kidnapped at the end of august. Quaritch probably had everything airlifted in during the spring, took some time to get the house in order, arranging everything how he wanted, trying to make it feel homie, double checking that everything is in order, that there solar panels work, the backup generator works, the radio system he uses to talk to his squad, the water filtration system all in perfect order. Then triple checking that the basement is well stocked with enough non perishable food, water, medical supplies, and personal care items to last them both for the next decade.

Once he's 100% sure everything is perfect he goes back to D.C to watch Spider, study his routine, and fine tune his plan so he can take his son back without a single issue.

I hope that covered everything! I'm happy to answer anymore questions you might have if I missed something 💞

[anxietywriter]

convention prompts!

went to a con for the first time so here are some prompts based on my experience big dubs!

cash is fucking king, sometimes the card readers vendors have fuck up and y'know taxes. one VA had their machine break and I saw several people dash out of line to get to the nearest atm. speeeddddd hope they found it

sometimes you see the expected cosplays, mha, genshin, the Mario brothers. sometimes you're absolutely delighted by the sight of a mermaid man and barnacle boy cosplay. give me the story of the duo that caught the eye of many that afternoon. their dynamic.

wandering around the art vendors and seeing all the posters and just kind of browsing. then later circling back and shit that's the anime i wanted a poster from. sjfjfjfj buy take my money. and it was the last one too I think so good. (it was an ouran high school host club poster by sei chan! they have a webtoon called catz vs. dogz, their stuff was SO cute) I also saw a catboyified Loki.

the kink vendor with cat paw paddles!! they looked so nice, unfortunately not my thing but damn if your character is bold enough. They also had cute cat ears!!

going in a group is fun, we walked around for ages just chatting and looking around. we got so much stuff. I got some earrings and a pin and a poster like akdkskd. it's nice. your characters deserve a nice fun day too where they later mildly regret spending too much money.

love when random cosplayers from the same fandom get together for a group photo. And how a group photo attracts other cosplayers from different fandoms to join in. saw a bunch of genshin characters take photos with neo (matrix), ghost (call of duty), and kirishima I think? (mha) was so cute. person taking photos was like "smile!" "alright now be cool" "now fight each other" it was really sweet

nah I bumped into a kakashi cosplayer and nearly died. they looked really cool guys. I was only a little flustered. obviously don't do this in real life but meet cute idea?

saw a lot of cool cosplays especially during the contest and just, a character that likes cosplay?? especially if they have to make a bunch of stuff. saw a cool spring trap and halo cosplay. I think the kirishima one was said to be made out of stuff that person recycled which is awesome.

fake swords and guns from different fandoms!! a lot of them looked pretty cool. some of the plastic swords didn't look the best haha but they were recognizable. definitely good enough if you wanna cosplay a certain character later. so tempted to get one just to bonk one of my other friends (safely of course) or to look cool. swords are cool man. which character of yours is a big sword enthusiast??? get them a sword. some enrichment man.

hear me out, cinderella/masquerade au, but it's because one person was in cosplay. HEAR ME OUT it'd be cool. the ball? no ball, they met while waiting in line for an autograph/poster.

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

Will I be projecting this into a South Park fanfiction at some point probably very sorry in advance to either Kyle or maybe Tweek but tbh I gotta rant real quick about my supremely awful day

(Cut for both severe anxiety and possible eating problem triggers)

So like I act and stuff right. Low budget independent shorts, projects for the local film school, things of that nature. And I had a shoot today for a class that’s essentially focused on filming an 8 page script in 12 hours, teaches the students professionalism, all that.

I woke up anxious for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint, wore Kyle socks under my costume for powers, figured I’d be okay once I got into the swing of the shoot. I was not. There was this chunk of very specific scientific dialogue that I just COULD NOT get to come out in the right order, and what did my bitch ass brain do? Fucking spiraled with it. Which made talking harder, which made the “YOURE A FAILURE YOURE A FAILURE” internal dialogue worse, and it continued. And I had a goddamn panic attack on the soundstage.

I wound up shaking in the green room literally crying, someone had to go get my husband from the editing suite because they didn’t know what to do, I could HEAR the professor talking to his class about “when talent has emotional problems during production it’s important not to let them know they’re holding up the shoot”, and the worst part? This was less than an hour before we broke for lunch.

And I’ve vagued about this before, but I’m a recovered anorexic. About five years ago, I did the whole outpatient thing or whatever, was in therapy for a while for it, almost had to drop out of college for it, all that shit, and for the most part I consider myself to be fine now. But that mentality pops up every once in a while, and that shit is AWFUL.

The AD called for lunch, and my first fucking thought was “you don’t fucking deserve to eat you worthless piece of garbage”, and like NO BRUH TF?!? Having a goddamn stroke on set is literally no reason to punish yourself, like if anyone else was having a gnarly anxiety day I would absolutely be encouraging them to take it easy on themselves, hydrate and eat, whatever they need, so how fucked up is it that I couldn’t do that for myself. I did wind up having a slice of the college film student set staple that is little cesars cardboard ass pizza bc Opposite Actions, but it was a huge mental struggle.

It’s definitely worth noting that NO ONE was nasty to me about my breakdown, at least not to my face, even though I was completely fucked in the head afterwards for the remainder of the shoot. I’ve worked with a lot of these people before, they know me and know it was just a bad day, and one of the girls I worked art department with on a previous feature was script supervisor for this one, and she came into the green room and sat with me, stopped me from biting at my fingertips because I hadn’t realized I was making myself bleed, kept me from hyperventilating until my partner got there. The director got with his team to work out what footage they could get until I was more steady. The AD checked in constantly for the rest of the shoot. The other actor was incredibly sweet and shared anecdotes from his stage acting days to cheer me up whenever I’d get anxious over a missed word in a take. No one was a dick to me. At all.

Except myself.

I don’t like to consider myself mentally ill, despite the fact that I know there’s no shame in it; I’m diagnosed with anxiety and depression, plus the whole eating disorder thing, obsessive compulsive disorder, I’ve been told I should get evaluated for autism (tbh yeah probably) like yall I’m a fucking disaster. But no one, NO ONE will ever be as hard on me as I am on myself. Also, it was a student production the Friday before spring break. They cut shots and wrapped early because nobody wanted to be there.

If you can step back and put shit In perspective, it helps. Unfortunately I’m very bad at that.

Very sorry for the rant being a person is fucking stupid but at the end of the day I love helping people tell the stories they want to tell and also wearing south park socks under my 1950s scientist costume.