#my brain goes BUG BUG BUG CLICK ON IT BUG

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i think WH's last Big Update has permanently rewired something in my head because the mental jolt my brain gets whenever i see a small bug jpeg is, quite frankly, ridiculous

[arolesbianism]

Almost got too comfortable with liking a whole 3 25ji originals and tried listening to a 25ji cover playlist before I remembered that I do indeed still very much not like a good 99% of their covers

[eddiesghxst]

a very big thank you to my bby @mmunson86 bc she listens and entertains all of my random ass bursts of inspo and helped me decipher the plot to these two babies (and many many others hehe), ilysm stinky 🤍

————

18+ — MINORS DNI

pairing: older!NASCAR driver!eddie munson x pop singer!reader

summary: Eddie's a famous former NASCAR driver who now does paint jobs for celebrities, and you just so happen to need a paint job

contains: oral (f receiving), banter, flirting, and eddie being head over heels for reader <3

word count: 2k

| nascar!eddie x pop singer!reader masterlist | -main masterlist- |

Thursday is Eddie’s favorite day.

One more day til the weekend, things are slow at the shop, and Bug, the detailer, usually pays for lunch. So, Eddie’s usually pretty fucking happy on Thursday— usually. However, it’s hard to be happy when you wake up to a music video of a famous pop singer crashing the car you’d just spent weeks working on.

Now, Eddie’s all for creativity and expressing art in different forms of destruction, but it’s hard to see the art in smashing a brand new McLaren, freshly painted and detailed by none other than Eddie Munson himself. Sure, you paid for it, so it’s basically a waste of your money, but it’s also a waste of Eddie’s time and work.

“Turn this song off, Bug,” Eddie grumbles from under his mask, focused on spraying fine lines of paint onto the car in front of him. It’s your song.  The song that you’d smashed Eddie’s car into smithereens for. That being said, even if Eddie is utterly and incredibly displeased with how you’d decided to treat Eddie’s hard work, his heart skips a beat when he hears the familiar tone of your voice, “You don’t like my music, Munson?”

Eddie pauses his task, blinking a few times to clear the possibility of the paint fumes finally getting to his head and making him hallucinate. And if Eddie’s hallucinating, then his brain is quite vivid because the click of your heels is drawing closer and closer with the smell of your sweet perfume.

Eddie puts the spray gun back on the cart next to him and stands up, facing you as you approach him. Eddie sighs, tipping his head to the side as he removes his gloves. This isn’t the first time he’s met you; no, he met you when he dropped the car off at your film set. You were kind and soft-spoken, with a pretty smile and voice that made Eddie’s chest erupt in butterflies he hadn’t felt in years. You were gorgeous then, and you’re gorgeous now, standing in front of him with that sinister little glint in your eyes.

You’re a pretty young thing, that much is obvious, but it doesn’t negate the fact that you crashed Eddie’s car.

“How can I help you, doll?”

You smile, tipping your head as you watch Eddie remove the mask from his face, tossing it onto the tool cart along with the disposable gloves. “Need a paint job for my new car. Wanted the best in town.” You sweetly say.

Eddie huffs out a laugh, “A paint job?”

You blink up at Eddie, pretty eyes and cute lashes batting up at him. God, you’re perfect. It's no wonder why the entire world is head over heels in love with you.

“You crashed my car, honey.” Eddie points out.

Your hopeful gaze falters then, lips dipping into a ghost of a frown, “It wasn’t my idea.” You respond. “You crashed my car. For a music video,” he drawls, “Do you know how much time I spent on that car?”

Bug seems to take that as his cue to leave because suddenly he’s tossing his tool in his toolbox and calling over his shoulder, “Goin’ to lunch, boss.” And there goes Eddie’s free lunch.

A flash of guilt passes through your eyes before you huff with a roll of your eyes, shifting to lean on one foot as you cross your arms over your chest, “It wasn’t your car.” 

“It’s got my work written all over it.”

“Again, it wasn’t my idea.”

Eddie tilts his head, lips pouting as he shrugs mockingly, in a way. “But you went with it.”

Eddie had been slowly walking you backward across the empty garage, pressing and pressing until you reached his parked car, your body coming to a sudden stop with a hitch in your breath. You huff out a laugh, rolling your eyes for the second time, “Well, I was filming a music video. I just do what they tell me to and look pretty— it’s kind of my job, Eddie.”

“Yeah?” Eddie’s eyes fall to your lips for a split second.

You lick your lips, cocking your head to the side as you gaze up at him, “Obviously.”

Eddie’s lips twitch like he wants to smile, a smirk lingering in his tone as he mocks you, “Obviously.”

“You really don’t like my music?”

You feel like you’re losing your mind. Not only are you standing in the famous Munson’s Paint & Body garage, but you’re standing face to face with the Eddie Munson— famous former NASCAR driver and hot as fuck body man.

It’s like all those Sundays you spent back in high school watching him race as your dad bet money with his friends on who would win are flashing before your eyes. Okay, so you’re fangirling a little bit; who wouldn’t? It’s Eddie fucking Munson.

“Never said I didn’t like your music; I just don’t like the fact that you crashed my car.”

And well, you feel bad. You didn’t know the car would get hurled off a cliff in the middle of the California desert, but it was a little late to protest against that when it was flying through the wind at 90 miles per hour with literal flames decorating the wheels.

“I’m sorry,” you finally apologize. “I shouldn’t have let them destroy your car… which was technically my car for my music video.” You and Eddie share a playful gaze, but it’s soon overthrown with something lustful when Eddie reaches out, fingers toying with the waistband of your denim skirt. “You’re playing with fire, princess.” He lowly says.

You hum, tipping your head as he towers over you, bodies pressing against one another as you dance along the edge of the thick line of tension, “Wanna do something about it?” A sly smirk and glinting brown eyes have you weak in the knees, your body heating up like a fucking furnace as the man silently gazes at you. 

It’s like the spread of wildfire when he presses his lips against yours, a warm hand coming up to cup your cheek as he presses you against the hood of his car. Your skirt is short, and it rides up when he maneuvers you further up the hood. You let out a shaky breath against his lips when the cool metal of the car meets the hot skin of your thighs.

You’d be lying if you hadn’t somewhat come here with the intention of getting your hands on the handsome older man— there’s no denying there was some kind of energy bouncing between the two of you when you briefly met him on the set of your music video. Eddie’s got a way of looking at you with daring yet respectful eyes that make you want to pounce— he had it then when you first met, and he has it now.

He’s pawing at you like he’s addicted, big hands grasping at your sides as he practically devours you. It’s sloppy and wet and so fucking addicting you wish you didn’t have to breathe so you could just keep kissing him.

He’s slinking his hands down to your thighs, hooking them into the crooks of your knees and pressing them up, spreading you wide for him as he kisses down your neck. He reaches one hand up, tugging down at your shirt to give him room to mark the swell of your breasts. Your breath hitches when your bare nipple meets the cool air, and he laves his tongue over it, “W-what about— fuck.” You whimper as Eddie hums, kissing further down your body and fully pushing up your denim skirt to mouth at your thighs. You press your thighs closer together, pressing up onto your elbows to gaze down at Eddie as he kneels between your legs.

“What about your employees?” You ask.

Eddie mouths at your thigh, kneading at the fat of your skin as he speaks, “Just me and Bug today. Open up, baby.” His brown eyes are like swirling hypnotic pools, and your body moves in accord with his directions, thighs parting to show him the damp material of your flimsy panties.

Eddie groans, leaning forward to drag his tongue up the damp spot before gently nipping at the material. He’s impatient, so he only hooks his thumb in the hem of the cotton and hooks it off to the side, keeping it pinned beneath his thumb so he has full access to your dripping cunt. He doesn’t waste time, laving his tongue from your opening up to your clit, teasingly running the tip of his tongue in circles over your sensitive bud just to hum at the pitiful whimpers and whines that escape your mouth. 

Your eyes roll when he closes his mouth around your clit, sucking and licking and teasing until you’re fully moaning, reaching down to thread your fingers into his curly locks, knuckles curling at the root to gently tug him deeper into your cunt.

“Yeah, yeah,” He breathes, “Fuck my face, princess, there we go.” It’s so wet, his voice, so wet and eager and mind-numbingly gorgeous.

He teases two thick fingers at your entrance before sinking them into you and curling them in a come hither motion. Your legs twitch to close around his head, “Oh, fuck. Fuck, Eddie, I’m so close.”

You’re teetering on the edge, heat brewing in your lower tummy as Eddie devours you like it’ll be his last fucking meal. The lights overhead are bright, and there’s heavy metal playing from the shop speakers. Still, all you can bring yourself to focus on is the sinful drag of Eddie’s tongue up and down the entirety of your cunt, sticky strings of arousal and spit smearing all over your thighs and his face, and your moans increase in volume when he slinks a hand up to squeeze at your chest.

His fingers are gentle yet overwhelming as they pet at your sensitive spot, and before you know it, you’re body is tensing, and you’re coming around his thick digits, soaking his chin as you fail to keep your thighs open and sounds to a minimum.

Eddie doesn’t mind, though, it seems, because he only moans and nuzzles his face deeper into your pussy, greedily licking into you like it’s his last chance— and hopefully it’s not.

You must have spaced out because, between the immense pleasure and the sinfully beautiful sight of Eddie between your thighs, you seem to only come back to earth once Eddie places your panties back over your pussy, pressing a gentle kiss to your covered and aching clit.

He snickers when you twitch in overstimulation, “You’re real cute when you cum, you know?” He says before pressing a kiss into your thigh. You huff out a laugh, leaning on your elbows to watch as he stands up to hover over you, pressing his palms into the hood of the car on either side of your blissed-out body. “Thank you?” You say. Eddie laughs, eyes twinkling with admiration as he gazes down at you.

“I’ll cut you a deal, alright?” He starts. Though your mind is still foggy with the lingering effects of your orgasm, your eyes narrow in suspicion as you tell Eddie to continue. Eddie sighs, leaning in further, “You let me take you on a date, and I’ll paint your car— I’ll also forget all about you crashing my car.”

Even if you want to point out that the car wasn’t Eddie’s, yet again, you can’t help the giggle that slips from your lips as you give in and nod, “Okay. One date.”

Eddie beams, raising an eyebrow as he responds, “Yeah?” You want to lean in and kiss him, but you think the heat of the moment from before had been fuel to the boldness that you’re now lacking.

You nod before holding up your index finger, “One,” you stress, “No promises for a second. I don’t have another car for you to paint.” You joke, but Eddie only shrugs with a smug look.

“Sweetheart, I’ve got enough cars for you to last a lifetime of dates.”

[novacorpsrecruit]

Hi a quick lil read: I did a poll the other day because I was thinking of creating Steddie fic recs and so I decided I’m gonna do 5-10 fic recs a post based on some sort of theme and here’s the first installment! Please feel free to ask for themes, I can’t promise I’ll fulfill them but I’ll do my best.

Theme: my favorite fucking idiots

single / taken / pining by 96tears (Ao3) @pizzaqueen (tumblr)

T | wc 4,435 | no cw

Summary: When a girl Steve’s trying to flirt with starts flirting with Eddie, Steve says the only thing that comes to mind: he tells her Eddie’s married. It’s not his smoothest moment, but it works, and Eddie goes along with it. It's not like Eddie was interested, anyway, and he figures Steve wanted the ladies to himself. So, Steve figures that must be it, too.

But a little later it hits him: he doesn’t want to keep the ladies to himself. He wants to keep Eddie to himself.

Ugh!!! I love it when the dumbasses don’t understand why they’re jealous, or that they’re jealous in the first place. Post season 4, Steve and Eddie work at Family Video and the Arcade respectfully, and come and bug each other during slow times. Steve gets a little jealous when a girl starts hitting on Eddie.

‘cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run by stellapoint (pettifogger) (ao3) @heybluechild (tumblr)

T | wc 9,308 | no cw

Summary: Realization #1: Steve is wearing a costume. He’s dressed as Springsteen on the cover of Born In The U.S.A. The album cover is staring at Eddie from the stack of records by the speakers, and he flicks his eyes between the cover and Steve, almost laughing at how obvious the resemblance is.

Immediately after that, revelations two and three slam into him like an eighteen-wheeler.

#2: Bruce Springsteen is kind of hot.

#3: Steve Harrington is really hot.

A fourth and much louder thought echoes through Eddie’s brain: oh, shit.

(Many months ago, I wrote a tumblr post about Steve Harrington being a Bruce Springsteen enjoyer. This fic is about that.)

Takes place after season 4, Eddie and Steve are friend. Eddie’s love language is music. He’s a bit of a music snob, and doesn’t understand why Steve wants him to like his music. It takes a moment for it to click to Eddie what’s really going on. I love Eddie but sometimes you want to shake him like a snowglobe and oh my god, I’m shaking him so hard.

wasted crying by MixAddams (Ao3) @mixsethaddams (tumblr)

T | wc 6,471 | cw ow (light angst)

Summary: Steve just wants a buddy.

So why does it hurt so much when Eddie introduces everyone to his new girlfriend?

There’s a happy ending I swear! You’ll just want to bundle Steve up in a few blankets first. Post season 4, Eddie gets a girlfriend, and Steve is not jealous. Not at all. He just … misses being in the honeymoon phase of dating? No that can’t be right… is it? There’s a lot of good heartaches in this fic. I do want to share one of my favorite lines:

“I think so. Stuff like this is supposed to scare you, I think,” said Eddie. “It’s supposed to feel….”

Eddie took a breath and Steve watched his eyes move around as he searched for the words. Steve thought he might wait forever for him to find them.

“It’s supposed to feel like a leap, right?”

I can be pretty (why don’t you think I’m pretty?) by starsdontsleep (ao3)

T | wc 8,942 | no cw

Summary: When Eddie comes out as gay, he assures Steve that he doesn’t find him hot. Steve tells him it’s fine, he even teasingly asks what he should do to change that. It becomes a thing. A way to always make Eddie laugh, blush and relax around him—but as the days and weeks pass, Steve begins to realise that maybe there’s another reason why he cares so much that Eddie Munson finds him pretty.

Remember when I said I’m shaking Eddie like a snowglobe? I’m shaking Steve now. Steve, please tell me why you think you want Eddie to think you’re pretty? Why do you need to know what Eddie’s type? Steve’s only worried that Eddie doesn’t fully trust him with his sexuality. So Steve works to be the best ally… and definitely does not fall in love with his friend along the way.

clown music at the disco by fragilecapricorn (ao3) @fragilecapric0rnn (tumblr)

M | wc 3,717 | no cw

Summary: “What the fuck are you doing here?” He nearly squawked, meaning for it to come out anyway other than that. The man turned around, and here he was. In a stare down with ghostly pale Steve Harrington, who was not only supposed to be straight, but was also in a MESH TANK TOP at Frankie’s on a Wednesday night.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He pauses, glancing around the room, small voice. “It’s disco night.”

Post Season 4, Eddie, Robin and Steve move to the Chicago. Eddie has a new habit of going to the bar on gay disco night, finding another brunette ex-jock to fill the Steve shaped hole in his heart. Until he runs into said brunette ex-jock at the same gay bar on disco night. 10/10 no notes I’ve read this like 5 times.

of all the gin joints by genesisofrhythm (Ao3)

e | wc 4,016 | cw: they fuck | spice level: I read this at my work desk in between meetings

Summary: “So, do you come here often?”

Steve choked at the familiar voice, turning abruptly. “Munson?”

“What’re you doing here?” Eddie asked, his mouth gaping open as he looked over at Steve.

Steve was surprised to see Eddie here as well. What were the odds of them both driving out of Hawkins to come to the same gay bar?

Or: Steve goes to a gay bar to support Robin, when he sees Eddie Munson. He can't tell Eddie the real reason he's there without outing Robin so he tells him he's bisexual. But Steve's totally straight... right?

Steve [Evan Buckley voice]: “I’m an ally ✊”

This is a fun fic, definitely Steve Harrington speed running a sexuality crisis. Good for him. (also I have a soft spot for fics that use fob lyrics as a title, forehead kisses for that)

Exactly What It Looks Like - BilbosMom (Ao3) @bilbosmom-belladonna (tumblr)

E | wc 31,517 | cw | spice level: I should not have read this at my desk 😳🥵

Summary: Steve makes a face at Eddie. “You've imagined doing stuff with a guy?”

“Yeah, man,” Eddie replies, spreading his hands wide. “Doesn't everyone?”

Steve tilts his head to the side as he thinks. Maybe not very often, but his freshman year when Davey Riggs had been swim team captain? Yeah, he had definitely imagined some stuff that had made trips to the locker room kinda awkward.

“Yeah, that's true,” Steve answers, nodding. “I wonder why everybody acts like it's so gross, though.”

In the summer of 1986, Steve and Eddie have some perfectly normal fun between a couple of perfectly normal dudes.

I’m honestly insane over this. Like, I’m going to be thinking about this for a long time. Post-Season 4, Eddie and Steve find themselves watching porn together. And it’s not weird at all if you jerk off next to your new best friend. And maybe it becomes a habit. And helping them out every once in a while isn’t weird. And maybe sucking his cock isn’t weird. Or fucking his thighs —

Please remember to leave kudos and comments on the fics you read/enjoyed! Support your writers 🖤

[nightprompts]

&. 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝: 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

(  inspired from the pun book from the last of us, here are some dialogue prompts of various puns. feel free to edit and change as you seem fit. )

❛ for a fungi to grow you must give it as mushroom as possible. ❜

❛ it doesn't matter how much you push the envelope. it'll still be stationary. ❜

❛ what did the mermaid wear to her math class? an algae bra. ❜

❛ people are making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow. ❜

❛ why did the scarecrow get an award? he was outstanding in his field. ❜

❛ what did the triangle say to the circle? you're so pointless. ❜

❛ a book just fell on my head, i only have my shelf to blame. ❜

❛ i tried to catch some fog earlier. i mist. ❜

❛ i stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. then it dawned on me. ❜

❛ diarrhea is hereditary... it runs in your genes. ❜

❛ what did the green grape say to the purple grape? breathe, you idiot! ❜

❛ i'm reading a book on anti-gravity, and it's impossible to put down. ❜

❛ what is a pirate's favorite letter? tis' the c. ❜

❛ i wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then i changed my mind. ❜

❛ what washes up on tiny beaches? microwaves. ❜

❛ why are frogs so happy? they eat whatever bugs them. ❜

❛ i don't trust trees. they're shady. ❜

❛ i was going to tell you a pizza joke, but it's too cheesy. ❜

❛ i want to be cremated as it is my last hope for a smoking hot body. ❜

❛ there’s a new type of broom out. it’s sweeping the nation. ❜

❛ did you hear about the man who lost his left side? he’s all right now. ❜

❛ what do you call a bee that can't make up its mind? a maybe. ❜

❛ i tried to make a belt out of watches. it was a waist of time. ❜

❛ i got fired from the calendar factory, just for taking a day off. ❜

❛ did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda? he was lucky it was a soft drink. ❜

❛ tequila may not fix your life but its worth a shot. ❜

❛ why are there fences around cemeteries? because people are dying to get in! ❜

❛ thanks for explaining the word 'many' to me, it means alot. ❜

❛ i once ate a watch. it was time consuming. ❜

❛ why are teddy bears never hungry? they are always stuffed! ❜

❛ i don’t trust stairs because they’re always up to something. ❜

❛ never trust an atom, they make up everything! ❜

❛ i couldn't figure out how to put my seatbelt on, but then it clicked. ❜

❛ how do construction workers party? they raise the roof. ❜

❛ what do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? a thesaurus. ❜

❛ when a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds. ❜

❛ i made a pun about the wind but it blows. ❜

❛ it's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally. ❜

❛ what did the ocean say to the beach? nothing, it just waved. ❜

❛ i have a joke about chemistry, but i don't think it will get a reaction. ❜

❛ i'm on a seafood diet. i see food and i eat it. ❜

❛ why did the restaurant on the moon get bad reviews? it has no atmosphere.❜

❛ how do you organize a space party? you planet. ❜

❛ i once heard a joke about amnesia... but i forget how it goes. ❜

❛ the frustrated cannibal threw up his hands. ❜

❛ it takes guts to be an organ donor. ❜

❛ why is the mushroom always invited to parties? he's a fungi. ❜

❛ a guy walks into a bar... he was disqualified from the limbo contest. ❜

❛ jokes with punch lines can be painfully funny. ❜

❛ so what if i don’t know what apocalypse means? it’s not the end of the world! ❜

[solstices-dreams]

𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐠 𝐝𝐫.

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫. ᝰ.ᐟ

— 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞.

kaz faulkner, district 10, victor of the 68th games

I was born July 19th, 62 ADD (which means the year of the 62nd games) in district 10. I grew up my twin brother, little sister and father who’s an apothecary. It was intended that I would learn his trade and later take it on. But I was chosen for the 68th games and those plans were interrupted. I look like me in my OR just with longer hair and older, also more muscles ig?

— ᴍʏ ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ :

I won the 68th hunger games at age 16. My mentor was Brie Gibson who I became friends with afterwards. The arena was split into four sections: a swamp, a forest, a meadow, and a maze. Each had their corresponding mutts. The forest had a bear, the meadow had bunnies, and the swamp had tracker jackers. The maze didn’t have one because the idea was to have the two final contestents fight in the maze as it shifted.

My district partner was Luke Barret. His older brother is a victor but he wasn’t mentoring during that time.

psst, want more info on luke barret? ->◟ [ click here … ]ヾ

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲.

— 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Eiran Faulkner

48 years of age, he/him, apothecary/doctor

As a doctor, he always smells like hand soap and vaguely the hint of black coffee. I learned my patience from him and how to stay calm under pressure. He’s softspoken but firm in reprimanding people. We’ve always been a close knit family, especially because of my mother’s abscence.

what he reminds me of : coffee beans, glass bottles, bandaids for scraped knees, white hand soap

— 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Celeste Faulkner

??? years of age, she/her, unknown occupation

presumed to be deceased. She was originally born in district 8 but at the time of her disappearance she resided and was counted in the district 10 census. She was 26 at the time of her disappearence. I just dont want a mom 😋

what she reminds me of : embriodery hoops, colorful soap, footprints in the sand, dishtowels, egg timers

— 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Asher Faulkner

23 years of age, he/him, rancher

My twin brother. He and I are opposites but we have a similar sense of humour. He’s an early bird while I’m a night owl. The brawn to my brains, the loud to my quiet. We balance each other out. He’s more quick tempered and physical than me and more likely to punch someone defending me. He goes by “Ash” and when we were kids “Ashie.”

what he reminds me of : scuffed shoes, biking in a forest, bug spray, worn out jeans, skateboards, worn wood railings, the smell of boiling pasta

— 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. Mabel Faulkner

19 years of age, she/her, no occupation

Mabel is my youngest sister, she’s quiet and reserved. She gets along well with Posey Barret. Since I became a victor she became the one who worked with my dad more. She can’t stomach blood and guts but can handle sick calls so I still do some of the medical work with my dad. Her family nickname is “May” which started with my dad.

During growing season, she’s the type to eat food straight from the vine. She makes up for it though, as she waters the plants and she owns chickens! Chickens that are actually kind of vicious and only like her.

what she reminds me of : daisies, sidewalk chalk, buttercups, kittens, the sound of music, batty penderwick

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭.

I’m from district 10 which is livestock. It’s in Texas and Mexico. These aren’t 100% accurate photos but it’s the closest to what I believe. Plus the victor’s village is further away from the main town in my mind.

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞.

I live in District 10. The victor village is actually a vast field as a few of the victors still keeps cattle or crops. I live between Noah Barret and Brie Gibson with my family. There is a lake located near my home and there are a couple raised garden beds that are growing crops. We also have chickens, a cow, and a horse that we hitch up to ride to town. It’s two floors and mostly wood and stone but it’s cozy.

Here’s some vague blueprints of the house …

[italiansteebie]

Love on Screen

Welcome to my Streamer au :-) Episode One, also on ao3 (Preferred format)

Steve sighed as he opened his laptop, clicking on the ‘Youtube’ icon and pulling up his channel. He likes his job, really he does. But so many people do the same thing that he’s honestly running out of ideas. Luckily, his subscribers seem to enjoy the weird ass shit he’s been putting out lately. In the last one, he’d made a bed out of cheese for his cat, the only issue was, was that she wanted to eat it, and if you don’t know, cat’s are lactose intolerant, so what started as a stupid video turned into him vlogging how to clean cat diarrhea of a carpet.

His subscribers thought it was hilarious, paying no mind to his discomfort, moreso worrying about piggy, his cat, and how her tummy was doing. She’s fine. Just a little dramatic. So with a lack of ideas, he goes lives. “Hey. How’s it going, chat? Look, I really need some new ideas because honestly, I’m bombing here.” And like always the chat blew up with responses, ‘call robin!’ and Steve snorted, “call Robin? Fine?” He picked up his phone, tapping Robin’s contact and waiting for it to ring.

“What?”

“That’s real nice, Rob. What a way to answer your best friend.”

“You aren’t my best friend, Nancy is.”

Steve scoffs, “Whatever, say hi to chat!”

“Seriously? This is the content y’all like? God, give him good ones, like getting a life.”

“I have a life, okay? Just because I don’t-”

“Your life consists of bugging me and Nancy, now get off live and think of some real idea’s, Steve!” Her tone was accusatory and Steve didn’t have a chance to answer before she hung up on him. He sighed, looking into the webcam, “Well. You heard her. I’ll talk to you guys later. Bye chat!” He ended the live and shut his laptop with a huff. He pondered for a moment, before deciding to scroll, what better way to come up with ideas than to scan and see what’s trending, right? 

He knows it’s a lazy tactic but, hey. He’s been doing this for years, there’s only so many ideas a brain could hatch. Maybe he could play a new game? Nah, he’s played all the good ones. Maybe he could play a really bad one just for giggles, maybe that’d be fun? It’s not fair! Robin and Nancy use their lives as content! Steve’s life was boring! Maybe it was worth a try, and so, a dumb little morning vlog was in the works.  

-

And okay, so it turns out maybe his subscribers are somewhat interested in his life. How was he supposed to know? He wakes up, answers emails, makes breakfast, works out, and that’s it! It wasn’t anything special. He felt… Boring. 

And yeah, the video did well but he still felt like he fell flat. He was supposed to be funny! So in his fit of doubt, he decides to scroll a little bit. (A bit of mindless scrolling didn't hurt anyone, right?) Wrong, Steve. It hurt a lot of people. But either way, in his attempt to bury his feelings he came across a video titled “Freak Rage Quits and Then Cries,” and Steve was a little apprehensive. He doesn’t really do the bullying, mean girl content, well, at least not like he used to. (He was a different person then). But he clicked on it anyways, and holy shit. He was funny. And really hot. 

And soon enough, Steve fell down a rabbit hole. He couldn’t get enough of this guy, he was cute, and charming, and somehow chaotic in a way that made Steve weak in the knees. (And look, the liking guys thing was relatively new, but the whole ‘attracted to chaos thing’ came out of left field). Well, if he’s being honest, it really didn’t. When he thought he had a crush on Robin it was her chaotic energy that really got to him, which was surprising seeing as his ex before her was very much the opposite. But as it turns out, chaos is like this guys whole brand. Eddie. That’s his name by the way, goes by corrodededdie on twitch, which honestly, fit him perfectly, 

Steve didn’t get the guys subscribing count at first, over 1.5 million (which is almost as many as Steve), but he gets it now. He doesn’t understand how someone could make him fall in love, over video. It was a bit ridiculous, really. Luckily for him, corrodededdie struck the inspiration bucket and Steve fell asleep with some new concepts floating around in his head. And yeah, maybe they were a bit more chaotic than what he usually did but… Oh well. Blame it on his new muse.

—

Eddie grinned as he waved goodbye to the stream, he’d just finished a 12 hour long long haul that he did on a dare because some troll in the chat said he wouldn’t be able to do it. And well, Eddie runs off spite, so of course he made sure to do it, and do it right. 

So here he was, 12 hours later, absolutely exhausted. He’d started the stream at a nice time of 6pm. That meant he’d have to stay streaming and making actual content, not just farting around on his phone, for 12 hours. It seemed easy enough. 

It wasn’t.

Right around the eight hour mark he started to get pretty restless. He’d already played all the games he had within his reach like, twice, and he was honestly really sick of talking about himself, so he made the courageous decision to ask the chat for suggestions on what he should do. (That was especially dangerous since at the time he was doing it, which was 2 am, was the time his especially creepy subscribers like to join and torment him by suggesting really gross stuff. And not like eating dog food gross). But luckily someone in the chat, named ‘dustybun04’ came through for him, suggesting a channel by the title of ‘Steve goes to Hell’ and well. Needless to say, it wasn’t what Eddie was expecting with a name like that. 

It was mainly this guy doing different hair techniques and making weird shit for his cat. He has to be honest, ‘dustybun04’ really disappointed him. He was under the complete impression that this guy was going to be some metal badass that played COD and killed zombies. But… It wasn’t. “Oh come on, dustybun. This guy?” And the chat lit up.

Dustybun04: watch the one where he makes a chees bed for his cat it made me laugh so hard i threw up.

And that caught Eddie’s attention. So there he was, at 2 am, pseudo stalking this guys channel looking for a very specific video. And he makes sure he’s mic'd up so that the stream could catch his candid reaction. “Mr. Piggyyyy, look at what mommy made you,” and Eddie had to pause the video. The guy called himself ‘Mommy’? Oh god, who was this guy? He snorts, looking at the camera like he’s on ‘The Office’ before turning the video back on. And as much as he hates to admit it, he was crying with laughter by the end of the video. 

And so the 12 hour long stream turned into him doing a deepdive review on ‘Steve goes to Hell.’ And he wasn’t disappointed. He could tell that his viewers were ready to move on to something else, but Eddie couldn’t help it. He was just… Enamored with the guy. Eventually though, around the 11 hour mark, Steve ran out of content for Eddie to watch. So he reluctantly decided to bother his best, dear, friend, Nancy. She ran a channel with her girlfriend and they were so disgustingly cute that it almost made Eddie want to barf. He picked up his phone and dialed Nancy, waiting with a mischievous smile on his face. “Eddie? It’s… 5 am, why are you calling me?”

“Say hi to chat!” He cheered, far too loud and excited for the early hour.

“Ugh, Eddie. You’re the worst.”

“You love me, Wheeler.”

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Oh shit. Did he wake up Robin? “It’s just Eddie baby, go back to sleep. You woke up Robin you fucking asshole. I’m going to kill you the next time I see you.” Yep. 

She hung up on him with a huff, “Isn’t she a charmer, folks? Okay…. Let’s see.” Eddie muttered to himself, scrolling mindlessly, looking for something to get him through the last 30 minutes. “Okay… Thirty minute stretch guys. What should we do?” And then it happened. ‘Steve goes to Hell has uploaded a new video.’ “Awh, shit guys. Steve goes to Hell has another video,” He dragged out the ‘o’ far too excited for a channel he just found of a guy he knows virtually nothing about. “Wake up with me? Ew. God, he’s so cheesy. Let’s watch” And it turns out it was actually pretty cute. 

And yup. There it is. Eddie has a new crush on a guy. A guy who happens to look super hot when he wakes up and by definition out of Eddie’s league. He sits and watches silently, enraptured with the way this guy lives his life, waking up so god damned early. As the video comes to an end, so does the 12 hour stream. “Well, shit guys. We did it. Actually, I did it. You guys did nothing. Anyways. It’s been fun. wheeliemike, suck my dick, and fuck you for saying I couldn’t do this. Alright. Thanks for chilling with me!” 

And that brings us up to speed. Eddie slumped back into his gaming chair, breathing out deeply. “Shit. I am never doing that again.” He slid out of his chair and trudged over to his bed, flopping down onto it and groaning loudly. He was just about to succumb to the sweet release of sleep when his phone chimed. ‘Steve goes to hell just subscribed to your channel.’ And oh fuck. Oh fuck, was he watching? Shit. Well. His heart was beating too fast to go to sleep now, may as well instagram stalk the guy. Like all normal people do when they develop a new crush.

[whimsi-clown]

Due to the indirect influences of certain selfship blogs, I am now stuck with a Self Insert OC x Oogie Boogie brain rot, so now you have to deal with me rambling on about it.

Only if you want to ofc. The choice is yours.

No one can force you to click on the "Keep reading" option.

But if you do click it, buckle up because when I ramble, it will probably not make a lick of sense.

You have been warned.

Ok, so. Self insert oc is a little clown from a far away place called Birthday Town.

Sorta similar to other Holiday Towns, Birthday Town is a place that celebrates the birthday of each of the clown residents. All 366 of them.

Yes. There is a clown for every day. Including the leap year day. It is a very large and colorful town that lays the birthday theme on thick with present boxes for houses, confetti for rain, and other whimsical Birthday related shit.

So they all celebrate each other's birthdays every day. Non-stop. To the point it drives clown oc mad.

So clown oc pulls a Jack Skellington and wanders away from the constant celebration, stumbling into the holiday doors, especially Halloween door in the same fashion as Jack in Christmas Town.

Oh, right, I forgot to mention this takes place during the movie, mostly outside of the scenes.

Only unlike Jack, they are in a constant state of fear and panic because Halloween Town is understandably spooky and scary to all who are new to it.

Then, after like screaming and running around like a headless chicken, clown oc is mistaken for "Sandy Claws" by Lock, Shock, and Barrel cuz they got the pudgy looking body and the pointy hat. That and pink looks like red at night, I guess?

So they brought clown oc to Jack. The same thing that happens to the Easter Bunny kinda happens to clown oc, except instead of being returned, they just shove clown oc down the hactch because they got no idea where to return this weird creature that they found.

Due to clown science and cartoon physics, clown oc is able to fit into the small hatch and goes tumbling down into Oogie Boogie's lair.

Clown oc meets Oogie Boogie and gets mistaken for "Sandy Claws" for a moment. After misunderstanding is cleared up, platonic bonding shenanigans ensue.

During the actual meeting of Oogie Boogie and Santa Claus, clown oc just stands off to the side like:

🧍‍♂️

And then, during the scene where Jack "kills" Oogie Boogie, clown oc manages to grab a hold of one of his bugs and tucks them safely into pointy hat, sneaking off and returning to Birthday Town.

When they arrive at Birthday Town clown oc, who I've just now decided to name Rinkie (little friend inside joke yum) shows Oogie Boogie Bug around the place and introduces him to other clown friends.

Oogie Boogie Bug, who wants revenge on Jack, asks Rinkie for assistance. Rinkie is pretty meh to the situation, so they reluctantly agree to help him.

Another bout of fun shenanigans ensue that involve Oogie Boogie Bug having no choice but to relucyantly accept the bright and colorful bugs from Birthday town as an addition to his newly forming hivemind, and have to deal with colorful patterned cloth patches on his temporary body, hand made and stitched by Rinkie ofc.

And that's it for my rambling.

It's mostly just funny platonic stuff in mind. Who knows if I'll be as heavily invested in this as I'll be to the Reverse Isekai Disney Villains AU. (RIDV AU for short)

Which I'm still working on, btw.

Anyways, yea.

Thanks for reading!

☆~ ∠(ᐛ 」 ∠)＿

[majimasleftasscheek]

Hi, im very sorry if this has already been answered or established somewhere else but im curious, with your Kazumaji stuff, around what time did they start dating (i.e. after the events of Yakuza 0 and all that) and how?

tbh, I dunno!

I don't really have an established date for that cuz sometimes I'm like man they'd be really cute during y0 and then other times I set it between post y0 and the beginning of y1. The latest they would start me thinks is some months after the events of y1 but in general it sorta depends on how I'm feeling and what silly scenarios play in my head

ideas under the cut tho 👀

if we're talking y0: I like to think Kiryu has to go to Sotenbori for some reason, be it business or he's there with Nishiki for some partying. he sees Majima at the Grand being depressed and is like "damn girl those bags under your eyes makes my dick go *boing sound effect*" and asks him out 🥺 Kiryu gets rejected immediately cuz Majima's in this cycle of 'I deserve nothing but pain and suffering' but Kiryu can't read the room so he is persistently showing up at the Grand despite Majima very obviously wanting to kick his ass. eventually he relents and goes on cute™ dates with Kiryu and realizes oof maybe human intimacy be kinda gucci

if between y0 and y1: Majima's fresh in his mad dog era starting shit with people just to be annoying and Kiryu's one of his targets mainly due to the events of y0. he's kinda like "lol this goober really did some important plot stuff, huh?" and his curiosity gets the better of him because Kiryu is an enigma who eats bugs and Majima cannot suppress his need to get some sense of understanding on this weirdo. in this timeline, it's more one-sided affection from Majima that comes in the form of stabbing while Kiryu is desperately trying to fight the gay allegations and failing. eventually he caves but it's a sorta unofficial, on and off thing that Kiryu doesn't really know how to evaluate for himself. Majima doesn't really care what they are since he's high on life atm and has a cute dude with big boobs on his arm

if during y1: literally just everything Majima Everywhere. Goromi. GOROMI 😩💦 Kiryu is all: I LIKE PUSSY but everyone's like okay big man then why's Majima pole dancing for you huh. the two braincells he has start to click and he realizes maybe Majima wants to hold hands or something unthinkable like that. ngl I like to think Kiryu's thing for Yumi is like a demisexual bi thing where he's like, I do love her but she don't zap my brain quite like the bowlcut freak who knows how to punch me real good and it becomes sorta his personal introspective journey during this time. Majima is also floating in the space of am I doing this for his benefit cuz "training" or am I falling for this dork. he's pretty sad about it cuz of the Saejima reminder vibes but eventually Kiryu falls into his own person that Majima really meshes with and the two of them struggle to actually voice how they feel all the while their pants are down in some dirty alley

if after y1: (going to insert shit from a fic I'm working on) Kiryu's absolutely devastated with what happened in the Millennium Tower + now having to take care of Haruka that he's shut himself off from everyone and everything other than doing the bare minimum to live. in comes Majima being a menace like yo you can't like, let a child parent herself you gotta get outta this slump and Kiryu's all fuck you stop breaking into my house. so it's a long pain in the ass process to help Kiryu deal with his grief while Majima keeps unintentionally making googoo eyes at him and both of them are like boy I sure hope this doesn't awaken anything within me. there's also a lotta dadjima stuff going on and Kiryu's like wowie zowie so you do have a heart and Majima's like no way loser while being just 😳👉👈

[joltik-guy]

[Electros plan]

{off screen post}

Joltik was so tired. The kind of tired that made your brain turn to mush inside your skull, that let the corners of your vision turn white. The kind of tired that wouldn’t go away.

The public hated them. Everyone hated them. And yet new vilgilantes popped up everyday, earning love and interest from the public. Paco, and now Juniper? It was pathetic. They did this before it was cool. Before it was common. What- do they just get all of the praise and attention, while Joltik fades into obscrurity. It wasn’t fair. People choosing this! They didn’t choose this!

Their vision goes completely white for they don’t know how long- it didn’t feel longer than a second- but it seemed to be morning, judging by the equipment lighting up, or maybe it wasn’t. They didn’t see sunlight anymore, their vision was far too degraded for that.

Their eyes almost immedaitly snapped to Electro, (HOW DID SHE GET IN!?)  who glowed like the sun should. She grinned, standing behind glass, in a room Joltik was yet to enter. She stood on her tippy toes, attempting to set up some TVs, with several more already organised.

“Oh hello! Decided to join us have you?”

She’d been in for a while- and they hadn’t noticed. They had failed- no- not entirely. Not yet.

The jerk upright- their only goal now is to get to her. To get her.

“I can’t believe you sleep with you eyes open! Freaky!”

She giggled, adjusting the last TV, and moving to connect some wires.

Joltik reached the door, but yanking on the handle revealed it was locked. Electro tuts, sitting down on a swivel chair and sliding to a large computer in the room, typing faster than what seemed to be humanly possible.

“You’re not allowed in yet! I’m not done! You should’ve invested in some more sleep- you look terrible hah-”

Joltiks fists clench, attempting to smash the glass, in one swing. It doesn’t work. Even with their superhuman strength- it bounces off the glass, only leaving their hand throbbing. They look up at her, not in any humour for this.

“I fucking hate you.”

She turns around to face them at this, her face almost showing something akin to disappointment.

“Oh- I know. I know you do.”

At that moment, the door clicks open, seemingly for no reason, and joltik rushes in without thought. They lunge at her- only for her to take a step back onto the a wire carefully placed and glitch out of sight.

Joltik blinks.

What.

The door clicking closed again sickened them to their stomach. Turning revealed her.

Outside of the room. Standing on a wire, grinning wider than ever, some sort of remote in her hand. She walks up to the glass as the tv’s flicker to life.

“Oh I didn’t think you’d fall for that! But hey- Thank you for making this easy!”

Joltik frantically looks around the room, turning in a small circle. They were trapped. Their head began to sting as their joltik senses fired off, everything was wrong. So wrong. This was bad.

All of the TV’s begin to play the same footage. Black and white security footage of their last fight with electro. The villains on the screen begin to bicker.

Electro grins maniacally, rocking on her feet. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

Joltik walks to the oppisite side of the room, where a large sturdy looking machine sits, attempting to pull it apart yeilded the same results as trying to damage the window. Yet they keep trying.

The TVs playing joltik yelling out "You think I wanted this? Any of this? YOU THINK I WANT TO SPEND MY TIME FIGHTING YOU!?" makes them freeze. 

Electro continues her monolouge.

“That really made me think, bug guy. I thought you wanted this- you wanted to be some sort of hero- but you sound bitter. You sound angry.”

Joltik gets back to attempting to break the glass dividing them,

“I am angry- LET ME OUT!”

“I’ve looked over your account, and honestly. I’m doing you a favour here.”

Joltik continues punching the glass, feeling something crack in their hand. Electro hears it and winces, tilting her head

“See- you’re destroying yourself- You always have, always will.”

The TVs start to play different footage this time, it seems like a compalation of joltik being injured, or hurt in their line in their work, including the infamous fight with minskt. She seems to have put a lot of work into this.

“I used to want to use this machine on myself- undo the rotom hybridity that was gifted to me, but I think you’re a much better candidate.”

Joltiks blood runs cold

“What.”

“Once this is over you’ll be normal! Just like you want! Just like you’ve always wanted!”

She begins to click buttons on the remote. The machine behind them making ‘power up’ noises

“NO – I DON’T WANT THAT- I DO NOT WANT THAT”

“Oh but you do! And your friends do too! It’ll be so much better for both of us. You’ll get what you want and I won’t have to deal with you bothering me anymore!!”

“LET ME OUT PLEASE PLEASE- PLEASE STOP THIS LET ME OUT!”

Electro giggles, before turning to joltik, any fun in her expression gone,

“It will hurt less if you’re still.”

With that the machine comes to life.

It was hard to tell if their screams were louder, or the machine itself.

[ottosbigtop]

What would your top 5 game recommendations be?

oh man I don’t know if I have 5, I really don’t play a lot of games but lemme see if I can scrounge up a list <:]

I will always and forever recommend Outer Wilds to anyone who asks. If you’ve ever been recommended it before you know that it’s a game everyone says you can really only play once and it’s entirely true. It’s a game about exploring space while being trapped in a timeloop, and it’s just. Any sort of blockades within the gameplay are entirely based on the information you find out for yourself, there’s no leveling up or item collecting you need to think about, just explore the world and follow the threads of the story of a long-dead race of aliens that once existed in your solar system. The game just has so much emotion to it. Despite having none to be found, it’s so human in a way that makes my heart ache. Play it with as little spoilers as possible and then yell about it to everyone who asks.

Psychonauts 2. Platformer. Ranking this above psychonauts 1 purely because on top of all the things the first game has to offer, Psychonauts 2 has all of that and is also just good to play. The psychonauts games revolve around the levels being depictions of people’s mental worlds, and in Psychonauts 2 you go into the minds of characters mainly to follow and discover the story of the psychic 6- the group of psychics that founded the Psychonauts, the psychic super-agent type organization helping track down and deal with psychic threats. it’s just kind of got everything. The style is unconventional and fun and so shapely and asymmetrical, the voice acting and soundtrack and gameplay are all at peak fucking performance, and the art direction of this game is so good. I think it goes without saying that I’m just a very big fan of this game.

Psychonauts. Platformer. Suffers from the jank of being a video game from 2005. The controls aren’t anything you can’t get used to, but the gameplay has really never added to the experience of the story, unfortunately. Just something you have to learn to work with. However, managing to work through that gives you just a really fucking good story. The comedy of psychonauts is really good throughout both games, but Psychonauts 1 is clearly much lower stakes and has more of a dark humor to it, while still being surprisingly optimistic and nice to the characters whose brains you explore. The shapes in the first game are exceedingly more weird than the second, which is really fun. If you don’t mind some janky controls, I’d recommend playing it before the second :) But as someone who played the second one before the first, going back and playing the first afterwards is still really fun!!

Detective Grimoire - Tangle Tower. Point and click mystery game! Absolutely phenomenal art and atmosphere, I cannot overstate how much the character sprite animations absolutely fascinate me. It’s a game I appreciate for the story over the gameplay, the puzzles aren’t really that difficult, and it’s really easy to sort of brute-force your way through matching evidence to characters, but it’s still real interesting to see the story unfold and piece it together yourself! Also- incredible voice acting. The characters are wonderful but the voice acting sells every single one of them.

Bugsnax - adventure game. Honestly this game is just so fuckin silly dude. Such a good time. It’s a game about being a dude stranded on an island full of weird muppet creatures and snacks that are bugs! The creature designs are so cute and silly and it’s just a really heartfelt game too. Very character centric story, but on top of that the gameplay is just real nice. Get creative with collecting weird little beasts!

[vulturereyy]

Lurimol time baybeee!!! How do Lurien and Hegemol deal with the beetle breeding season, where stag beetles are essentially filled with the 'I must flip others at all costs' instinct? Ik Heg is a big softie, but if Lurien uses damselfly courting methods, I wonder how Heg might show off how big beetles show they're prime stock

Lurimol time !!! Thank you.... This one got a bit away from me eheheh so I'm sorry it's a bit long.

Hegemol is the biggest softie and is also the world's most repressed idiot, a deadly combination ashtrh. He's very, very happy and truly honored that Lurien invites him to learn damselfly dances, but... hoogh. He was able to repress the urges before and just keep himself rather set away from others when it was Time To Fling, but now that he has an actual person of his desires, and a 'potential partner' he wants to show off to... that's getting a little harder.

He may start trying to invite Lurien to come watch him spar with his other knights, who are all partially confused when The Watcher shows up and just. Does as he does (watches). But when hegemol flips Ogrim, something he really doesn't do, I think it would finally click for Ogrim what's happening as the other beetle in the group ashffh. [SpongeBobgrin.png "You like Lurien, don't you Hegemol.]

I think this would culminate in Hegemol entering and inviting Lurien to a knightly tournament that's being held for the masses, something he's explicitly expressed disinterest in before ("Ah, I'm too old for those games" or "I've no need to win adoration" etc). And coupled with a poster of a beetle hunk as part of the advertising it finally FINALLY clicks for Lurien what is Happening.

And Lurien bless his heart tries to. Help? By saying "You don't need to win my affections this way, you know. I don't even have a preference for strength." Which is intended well but makes Hegemol [deflating balloon noises] internally because sorry Lurien his mind is still in flinging mode and takes that to mean he's not the strongest and may in fact be a pity pick.

Anyway Aedmond the butler comes to the rescue that night while making Lurien his tea and explain that he just accidentally turned down Hegemol's courtship advances, and that the *ritual* of it all is very important. And Lurien's single braincell devoted to social things is like OH.................. thank you Aedmond this is why I hired you above all others.

So he still goes to the tourney and Hegemol immediately perks up upon seeing him from the ring like a goddamn golden retriever of a man and starts fuckin beetle brawling with the utmost intensity. And with every fling he glances up at Lurien in his secluded box seat (with Aedmond) and Lurien makes sure to always appear leaning forward maybe with a hand on his heart or something akin to a taken aback swoon, even if he wouldn't normally.

Hegemol ends up getting into the final match against his own first squire, Gytha, who is my huge Trans Hercules Beetle and she's definitely here to get some bitches. She and Hegemol normally brawl whenever they see each other, it's their tradition, but *normally* Gytha wins. She's younger, more spry, and as his squire knows a lot of his weak points as he's the one that trained her, and she's since developed her own fighting style and methods once she was knighted. She also has the huge Hercules Beetle horns that make it easier for her to grab and fling even huge bugs like Heg. (She is also, notably, the only non-enemy bug Hegemol will ever use his full strength against, because he knows she can take it.)

Their match may even go longer than the preliminaries because when Hegemol actually cares about what losing means (it means nothing to Lurien but yknow, Fling Brain in full swing here), he doesn't just give up on the first grab from Gytha. He squeezes his hands into her horns right before she flips him and wrenches them off of him, he traps her neck between his horns in a move that she's barely able to get out of, all sorts of shit that has the crowd going wild and Lurien now *fully* invested because I don't think he's ever seen Hegemol really display his strength like this. And Aedmond sits there like :> (sipping his drink) because oops my lord has actually fallen for the beetle courtship for real. What a shame, what a shame.

Gytha and Hegemol get to the point where they're both shaking from exhaustion after such a long bout, she can't even heft him to fling if she wanted to, and she's also caught on by the fact that her old mentor keeps looking up at *something* that he, for once, has a stake in this. She goes in for a misplaced grab that she knows will be met with resistance and all but helps to throw her weight into the hurl as Hegemol uses the last of his strength to send her skidding on her back toward the edge of the ring. She'd never tell him she did that on purpose, but also in her mind it's better to have helped her old man get some than to admit she was defeated for real (which she would have been and she knows it).

Crowd goes fucking wild, Lurien finally lets out that breath he's been holding, Aedmon sips his tea and hands Lurien a fan, Hegemol is named this year's beetle brawl champion. And all is well.

He does get a few days off after that because grandpa definitely pushed himself too far but hooogh he's the happiest bug in the world.

And after that, he doesn't super get the urge to join the brawl again once Lurien and he are rather committed to each other. He does still get cycles, but the desire to "prove himself" as a mate fades significantly. He may still toss Ogrim if Lurien happens to be watching, but he's content to know he 'won' his spot at Lurien's side.

[tinsnip]

okay rimworld is super fun as a story generator

but i also really like it as a puzzle? a problem solving mechanism?

my colonists are doing a thing that bugs me, why are they using that expensive spice i bought as a medicine in all the food, grr no mod to fix it, grr such a stupid game grr

and then in the shower i'm like, oh, just build different storage, link the availability of ingredients in the following way, that should do it

and it's like my brain goes click in an incredibly satisfying manner

like resetting a piece in a complex, intricate machine and then watching it flow just the way you wanted

neat!

[hella1975]

okay i have a flatmate who i don’t DISLIKE but we’re very different people and i think ultimately i have to accept that she’s just one of those people i rlly don’t click with. and one thing she always does that bugs the fuck out of me is judge me for not having high brand things. like this girl is on financial aid from the uni yet she casually goes out and buys £50 shirts and all of her belongings are top brands and my attitude honestly is that i couldn’t give a rats arse what she does with her money, but when she then gives me shit for NOT having that stuff? when i have to pay for all my own shit and therefore rarely buy big brands bc i straight up can’t afford them but at least when i do save and treat myself it’s very much a TREAT? yeah it fucking enrages me and ive had to snap at her a couple times

it’s bc of this that i don’t feel guilty for what im about to tell you LMAO. basically, one thing she hounded me for was that i ‘only’ have an iphone 7. i know right. true poverty right there she caught me red handed. thing is my parents don’t buy my phones nor do they pay for my contract, something i don’t begrudge bc i thought that was normal, so not only do i have an iphone 7 but i bought it second hand from CEX. this phone was in the fucking TRENCHES every time i used the poor sod lmao, and for some reason in the way of spoilt people that’s always baffled me, this really fucking bothered my flatmate. she INSISTED that i take her old phone and that she’d sell it me for only £70 bc she never uses it and it’s just gathering dust, and in the end i caved and agreed.

her ‘old phone’ is an iphone XR with a casetify case she didn’t want anymore. from CEX (aka SECOND HAND), it would have still been £300+. the case alone was £20. she sold it to me for seventy pounds. already my cheapskate little brain is vibrating.

BUT THEN i went into CEX with my old phone. see the thing about me bc of things ive mentioned, the ONLY times i get a new phone is when my old one is completely unusable, so selling my old phone hasn’t been an option until now. i did it on a whim bc i genuinely thought CEX wouldn’t take it but THEY DID and do you know how much i sold my old phone for?

seventy-one pounds.

i gained £320 of product and it cost me -£1.

[mejomonster]

I found some adhd tips the other day that I actually feel like implementing cause they Clicked for me:

A video went into how the long waiting periods a person ends up doing are sometimes our brain trying to FOCUS on the thing we have to do later and not forget it. Such as “have a doctor appointment at 3 pm, so do nothing for the 5 hours beforehand because our brain is trying to REMEMBER to leave for the doctors and REMEMBER to get ready for the doctors until approximately idk 2 pm when we can finally use the thing we’ve been fighting desperately to remember.” So partly, that period where we can’t do anything or focus on anything or get anything done, that’s oddly exhausting? Is us trying to focus on remembering something we are struggling to, which takes energy, and takes away ability to focus on other stuff.

The video’s proposed suggestions: write down the stuff you need to remember. This one I do already do: put it on my outlook calendar I’m constantly seeing, if I’m at work, in time blocks starting with when I need to prep, and notes in the calendar event so i have a list of all steps/info i need to remember. 

The video suggested though that the best written aids may be whiteboards in a highly visible spot, loose leaf paper and sticky pads in visible spots, and crossing out things as you do them as it’ll help with feeling you’re getting things done (rather than erasing). 

The big benefit to writing whatever you need to remember down? You can now stop trying to remember it for hours until you need to do it, and just let yourself forget it. Freeing up some energy to focus on other stuff.

When you write stuff down break down the list of tasks as MUCH as you want/helps. For me that might be: “get psp, plug in to charge, find memory card, turn on laptop and open up email i saved with links, read linked article 1, grab charged psp and put memory card in, start following directions in article 1, done! turn off laptop and put away” 

The other big suggestion was alarms. Now, I normally hate alarms, I barely use them for anything but waking up. But the video made some fair points so now I’m considering.

They said set the alarm for when you need to start preparing for the activity, and title it something like “Start TASK in TIME” in your phone. 

So like “Start spreadsheet in 50 minutes,” then when the timer goes off you can start getting together materials for spreadsheet and be able to start it in 50 minutes. Or even break it down more: “pick up floor in 20 minutes” and it goes off in 4 hours when you planned to clean, then another alarm set 30 minutes after the first alarm titled “vacuum in 5 minutes.” So you get prep time for 20 minutes, then pick up the floor for 10 minutes, then get an alarm to vacuum to remind you to switch tasks and remind you to prepare to, remind you that you planned to vacuum too in case you forgot. 

The idea is that an EXTERNAL reminder will remember the event for us, so we can let go of trying to focus on remembering and can focus on other stuff in the meantime. The external reminder does NOT rely on us remembering to look at a piece of paper (actually a good timer might be “look at TO DO STEPS in 5 minutes” set every few hours now that i think of it, and detailed things u wanted to do on the list instead of in timers) or remembering to DO something at a certain time. The alarm remembers for us, freeing up focus. The alarm also may startle us out of whatever we were focusing on in the moment, which may help us start to switch to the new task.

The video mentioned also to switch up alarm sounds so you’re not used to them, again to help them get your attention and be unexpected to help you switch to the new thing. And how other people potentially hearing the alarm may motivate some people to hear them since they won’t want to bug other people for 10 minutes of it blaring. 

I am trying the alarm thing today, and seeing if using it as a ‘reminder’ so i can forget and focus on NOW things instead helps with my hours of inaction. We’ll see. I think the concept of why it would help makes sense

Finally, the video mentioned sometimes its easier to push to do a task if you think you’re doing it for someone else. They suggested thinking of “doing something for your future self tomorrow.” You prep now like by making a list or setting an alarm, get tasks done now like putting the dishes away, and future you is helped by not having to remember what they need to do and not still having the dishes-away step to do etc.

I honestly can’t really be bothered to help future me much I’m gonna be honest. I already do a lot of prep work just cause I can’t even do a task if I haven’t made a to do list of directions and put it on my calendar ToT

I DO think I get much more motivated to get up and do a task when it benefits others though. Instead of thinking “I should do the dishes,” if I think “oh X will be sad if she sees a messy kitchen and feel she HAS to do them before she goes to bed” then i get the motivation to go do the dishes for 5 minutes and at least handle some of them. Because if I put them off until ‘tomorrow’ then I’ll be worried someone else will do them and be bothered. Or laundry, I will put it off ages but if I think “oh X will need laundry machine on saturday, and I have so many dirty towels from hair dying, I’ll postpone their laundry schedule if I wait to do it until then and take up Their Planned time... so I guess I’ll do it tonight ahead of time and hurry up and make sure the machines are empty before saturday so their laundry doesnt take too long and they don’t have to work around me.” 

Those kind of thoughts can’t be come up with for everything (and honestly I think one should not ever feel they Need to cater to others and are Bad if they do stuff at their own pace, so there’s definitely Dangerous Area in here somewhere if you’re prone to fawning and people pleasing which I sure am lol). But when I plan to do something anyway (like oh I was annoyed by the living room covered in boxes and dirty bottles), and i just can’t get myself to get up and DO it for hours? Then thinking “oh X wants it done or is annoyed its not done (who isn’t me)” or “X will probably clean it up tomorrow if I leave it, and I didn’t want to leave a mess for someone else” or “X plans to do it but they seem tired i think i could do something nice for them and just get it done real quick now.” 

I’ve also seen ‘artificial deadlines’ help with starting actions. So like: while your coffee is brewing, do some kitchen tidying until the beeper goes off that it’s done. Or turn the tea kettle on, or microwave some food, or bake with an oven timer, or when someone says “dinner is in 10 minutes.” and try to “get some tasks done” while the timer is going and see if you can finish by the timer. 

Also by this reasoning, I suspect the writer tips and study tips of like “set a time for 20 minutes and read as much as you can/write as much as you can/read as many section summaries as you can/take as many notes as you can/get through as many math problems as you can” might help? Just this idea that its NOT a long time commitment, its RIGHT NOW so you can just Start, you get a break in 20 minutes (if you want one), and the accomplished amounts in 20 minutes might be motivating. (I think for me maybe 30 minutes would be a sweet spot... just because i tend to be able to hyperfocus AFTER 30 minutes of trying hard to do a task, if i can hyperfocus at all it’s gonna take at minimum 30 minutes or longer). At the same time, I think shorter might work better in some cases. I used to say “read 20 minutes” or try a show “20 minutes” or try a video game “20 minutes” when i’d switch tasks until i could focus on something, just cause it was an honest attempt to really engage with something... but not so long i couldn’t actually do it. I COULDNT do 2 hours of a book I can’t focus on or movie. But i can do 20 minutes in two 10 minute chunks or four 5 minute chunks. Then if I was splitting even 20 minutes into breaks lol? I probably couldn’t focus on that and needed to move onto trying something else. 

[avatarvyakara]

For this month’s Encantober!

Encantubre: What It Means to Me

Uno: Caterpillar

Sometimes it feels like Alma has been waiting to become a butterfly all her life. But she can’t move, not really. She sometimes feels like she hasn’t been able to move for fifty years, not since the night when Pedro…not since The Night.

But lying in the darkness of her old house within the new, she remembers what it was like to live, to thrive. She can replay those dreams as often as she needs to, in the hope of teaching her own little ones the way.

This is her chrysalis. But it’s big enough to be their world, and she watches her children spread their eager wings in safety.

It doesn’t matter if she never leaves—not all butterflies make it, after all.

(In the end, the Song of Songs giving itself to her one more time, she wonders how she could have ignored the sunlight for so long.)

* * *

“Pepa, under no circumstances am I making empanadas out of bugs.”

* * *

They’re kind of squishy. Some of them are poisonous and sting you if you try to touch them. It tickles—feels like a little lightning.

And that’s really about the extent of her thought on the matter.

She is the storm incarnate. She is the sunshine, she is the whispering wind. She has enough trouble reminding herself not to be; it only hurts people when she goes too far. But the little critters hide in the woodwork, in the shadows of leaves, on the ground among the grasses. They, of all things, are safe.

And she’ll make sure they stay safe, but it’s for more selfish reasons than you might think.

As a bringer of chaos, as an influencer of micro-meteorology within a very small part of the rainforest—as something beautiful that is crushed all too easily by those who don’t really see that her power doesn’t stop her from being just her—Pepa feels a particular kinship with butterflies.

* * *

Bruno gets…other kinds of visions, sometimes.

Not just the sand. There are times when it feels like he’s just staring into space, and then a part of him will just click into place and suddenly he’ll know something he honestly shouldn’t. Something from the future, although sometimes the future is mere seconds away. Like parts of his brain are reorganizing themselves without his consent. Those are the hardest visions to explain, but oddly enough they’re among the least damaging to him.

He doesn’t bother with it too much. But he takes heed of his mamá’s stories, the songs she half-whispers, half-weeps to them as lullabies. There is a metamorphosis ever-ongoing, and with him it’s just taking a little longer than it should. He really does need a safe spot to change, though; he’s not as quick about it as his sisters have been.

Ten years behind the walls, and Bruno finally gets to romper a crisálida of his own.

* * *

“Um, hermanito, I really wouldn’t touch that if I were you—”

* * *

“Come on, Félix, it’s just a tiny little wormy thing! You should see the size of the bugs back in Bogotá. Besides, is it at all likely to be more dangerous than a bee Félix I can’t feel my fingers.”

* * *

“Ew, no! They eat my plants! And they look like bird droppings! What are they doing here?”

Quite unconsciously, Isabela spends the next seventeen years trying to banish the look her abuela gives her from her mind. Some days, she almost feels like she’s succeeded.

* * *

“Lola? What’s the problem?”

Whimpering, Dolores whispers as loudly as she dares in her papá’s ear.

“Huh. Really?”

“They’ve got so many little feet and they don’t stop moving and they don’t stop eating—”

Papi cuddles her tight.

“Ah, lo sé, conchita. But it’s only so they can grow big and strong, and learn to fly away to where they’re needed.”

“Would it kill them to do it more quietly?” asks Dolores, and she’s not entirely sure why her father bursts out into silent giggles but the rumble is as comforting as Mami’s thunder. (Well, as comforting as it usually is. Which is a lot, surprisingly.)

* * *

“Is this absolutely necessary?” queries Padre Flores, who did just happen to be passing by.

“Yes,” says Dolores in equally absolute seriousness.

Luisa, genuine eagerness her face, holds the two up in her hands—and anyone who saw the seven-year-old pick up a bridge five minutes ago might have been surprised that she could carry two tiny bugs between finger and thumb and keep them whole—and tries hard not to look expectant. (Luisa Does Not Expect Things Of People.)

Padre Flores sighs.

“Oh, alright. Only for you, Luisa.”

She beams.

“Dearly beloved…”

* * *

“Isabela said I could use them however I wanted, so let’s make empanadas!”

“Camilo, mi nieto precioso, I am not making empanadas out of bugs.”

* * *

It’s odd, seeing the memories like this, wrapped in chrysalis mist. But it’s also oddly enlightening.

For Mirabel, her grandmother has always been a rock. She keeps—kept—the encanto together, she didn’t budge or change. It never occurred to her that it was because her abuela really couldn’t change, or felt she couldn’t. Until now. Now, with the crisálida impenetrable rota, standing by a river that washed away bodies but made memories sink into the ground.

And suddenly there’s a lightness in the air. Abuela loves her. Abuela is human. They’re all human, and they’re together, and they’re alive.

All this time, she’s been munching away on leaves in a secret garden, never quite realizing how much more there was to the world. And now, seeing the place she called her home from the outside in more ways than one…

There’s so much more to learn. So much to do.

And they can do it. All of them.

Together.

Doce oruguitas.

* * *

“Her name is Babilonia and you’re not allowed to eat her!”