#on PURPOSE they're like this to piss me off specifically. and it's like... how do i channel this energy into a non harmful way when

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House pt. 13

Author's Note: Tw for some blood. Jiub is a troll. For those looking for canon Sotha Sil behavior, boy are YOU gonna be disappointed

This one snuck up on me

---------------------------

One week, then two.

Jiub found his Venmo occasionally pinging with small amounts from Sadara, who sent apology notes in each one. Honestly, he didn't blame her, but he wouldn't say no to to the extra money. He turned her room into another grow spot and it was doing okay, but still not to the level that having her there to contribute to rent had.

She hadn't come back, but there hadn't been much for her to come back for. A dresser, a bed. Those handful of receipts from Suran in the trash can he still hadn't emptied.

The Waffle House was doing a little worse for her absence, at least in his opinion.

The new waitress was an ashlander, and icily polite to those with corprus. Maybe they weren't the best people, but their money spent like anyone else's, and he couldn't figure out why all of a sudden NOW Nibani would want to piss them off by instructing new employees to act like this. It had driven off a few of them, or at least he thought so - it was hard to tell some of the ash ghouls apart from one another.

A few of the ash creatures had asked where Sadara was. The new waitress didn't know; neither did Nibani, whose answer was, "She no longer works here."

Jiub kept silent; he sure as hell wasn't talking. Sadara had sent him a Discord message (she'd outright deleted Morrotwitter) asking him to not tell anyone where she was, and he'd kept to it.

She didn't hadn't added any specifics about what exactly had happened on her little trip to Red Mountain. He'd asked a second time and she replied, 'Nothing we're not used to hearing.'

For a few days after that she sent random pictures of gnarly wounds from fighting cliffracers and other wildlife, and then of the scars once she healed up. There were also a few pics of cliffracers being turned on a spit over a fire, and a little 'wish you were here this thing tasted great' message a couple days in row.

Then there started being images of the inside of some cave along the coast near Tel Fyr.

The Fyrs are paying me 200 gold a week for blood and plasma, apparently I'm RH null blood type. it's special or something. and being immune to corprus makes them want it too, so. Not doing too bad.

Sounds great. What's up with the cave?

Oh, it's near Tel Fyr. Easy access. There's some khajiit and argonians here too, cave's big enough to share, so we do.

How do you share a cave?

We just have bedrolls in different areas. I feel like I got the biggest spot because it used to be a slave pen and they don't want to sleep over here ever again. It's not that bad. We've even got pets.

the fuck kind of pets do you have over there? lost scribs?

couple of fat slaughterfish we feed fish and scraps to. One we call Betty White and the other we call Wilson. They try to bite us but honestly they're big enough it's hard for them to move fast enough for it. So they'll mainly just hiss and make noise until they get food.

"Excuse me, cook? Are you paying any attention to the food at all, or are you destroying my eggs on purpose?"

"Your eggs are fine," Jiub replied, tucking his phone away. The customer in question had come in a few times, and was - well, honestly, such a stick in the mud it was fun to tease him. He was very particular about his food, wanted his waffles turn an even number of times...so Jiub always made sure not to do that.

Sotha Sil himself. Not all that impressive, at least not to Jiub. He said he came there because the sound of the blight winds was relaxing, and when he needed relative silence this was a good place to have it.

And his fried eggs were always just slightly runny.

"Here, I'll redo 'em if you want, I was hungry anyway."

He handed a newly finished plate of waffles to the new waitress, who took them to another ashlander in the corner.

"Do you have no pride at all in your work?"

"I'm cooking eggs and waffles for 10 septims an hour, there is no pride in this work," Jiub replied with a shrug.

"You are an insubordinate imp--no. No, I will waste no more time on your shenanigans. This is not what I am here for. Just cook the food." Sotha Sil huffed, and turned back to the laptop in front of him.

It was a far cry from the nigh-emotionless construct Jiub had heard Sotha Sil described as. Something, it seemed, had set the man on edge...he'd asked a couple people if something had happened to set Sotha Sil off what he was usually like. Most people couldn't see such little things, little signs of being potentially angry, or annoyed, or any number of similar things. But due to long experience, Jiub was a master at seeing it.

He'd reached a point in his life where he was looking to get humbled again. His success with Almalexia had made him feel almost bored - if he could off her so easily (however temporarily it lasted), really, how much farther was there to go? Maybe Sotha Sil would be different. Maybe he'd be tougher, somehow...

How little a thing would it take to push him over and make him screech?

He could already hear Sadara's voice chiding him for it. You little troll, you just want your ass kicked, don't you?

Well. Maybe he did.

The waitress went outside to handle the garbage, and so Jiub was the one to deliver the plated food. He glanced down at the laptop, and saw a familiar sight.

A Pokemon battle.

And more importantly...

"Superiorsil? So it's YOU! I should've guessed," Jiub set the food down and went over to clean the stove.

"What do you mean, you should've guessed?" Sotha Sil's voice had turned accusatory.

Jiub turned back, and gave a deep smirk as he extended his hand. "Jiuberjabber. How ya doin'?"

A pause.

A long, uncomfortable pause.

And then, Sotha Sil - master of the monotone, king of the cutting politeness, suzerain of stony looks - leaped over the counter and wrapped both hands around JIub's neck.

Both mer crashed to the ground and despite the pain and increasing lack of oxygen all Jiub could do was laugh.

"You idiot--pathetic--little WORM!" Sotha Sil was snarling, "You broke my perfect record!"

"It's just a game, man," Jiub struggled, trying to get one hand into his back pocket. Still the laughter persisted, even harder because he saw how much it infuriated the mer above him. Or maybe it was due to the choking. "Don't take it so seriously."

He managed to get his trusty box-cutter out, and took a few stabs in the area of his opponent's ribs. Jiub and Sotha Sil wrestled about in this fashion another few minutes, getting the latter's blood all over the floor.

"What happened to the calm magus, huh?" Jiub, still giddy from the lack of air, went on, finally getting to his feet and backing away, box-cutter at the ready. "Oh, wait, you are what the people need you to be, right? I've read the sermons."

"That wasn't IN the sermons you illiterate cretin," Sotha Sil stood, his pristine white robe now utterly ruined. The stab wounds were healed over quickly, and he looked ready to fight--

--and then suddenly bristled, snatched a to-go box, stuffed the food he'd left uneaten into it.

"Come back soon," Jiub, still in the mood to tease, energized by the fight, blew a capricious kiss at the furious mer before him.

Sotha Sil left, muttering under his breath.

Jiub then looked at the ashlander in the corner.

"You gonna tell the Temple about that?"

"Who the fuck would believe me?"

Grumbling, and thinking he was far too sober for this, Jiub moved off to the bathroom to snort some skooma. Nibani would be in within an hour, and he needed the blood cleaned up by then. The waitress, utterly horrified by what she had just witnessed, didn't look like she was going to be staying long enough to do the job.

[bunnyb34r]

I'm so burnt out my dudes

[bomberqueen17]

tone indicators

I reblogged this post without adding any commentary bc queue and not a lot of computer time lately but like okay here's the thing about tone indicators:

they're yet another in-group set of coded speech. like an inside joke, or a meme, or a conlang. if you are in a group that uses them, they're great and perfectly comprehensible.

but if you don't happen to have come from inside a group that uses them, they are exactly as exclusionary as any other heavy jargon or inside joke or acronym. I mean have you ever listened to soldiers talk? The US Army communicates in heavily jargon-ified speech, liberally laden with acronyms, so much so that it's a self-referential joke to make up obscene or deliberately-obfuscated ones to slip into official reports since the sorts of people who'd kick up a fuss about obscene language won't understand them.

It is exactly the same thing. Except that's exclusionary on purpose, and tone indicators are exclusionary in effect but tout themselves as inclusionary.

So if I, an outsider to this, am reading along, and after a sentence, there's a / and then between one and three letters, that is not enough information for me to use to look it up.

This is absolutely inaccessible if you are not alreadhy in the group that uses it.

I wouldn't mind if the people who used them were just like 'oh ha sorry jargon, i'll try to explain if it's not clear, sorry i forget you guys don't know them' just like any other inside joke or meme or whatever.

But I was in a discussion with someone on a Discord and when I was puzzled about them including these weird slash-acronyms after their statements they were like oh how nice for you that you're not neurodivergent and don't need to use these.

Uh no. The opposite actually. I'm the kind of neurodivergent that needs context. I handle being excluded from conversations very poorly. And that's where I get pissed off, that people seem to be holding these up as the new be-all end-all of Finally Solving The Problem Of Ambiguous Tones In Social Interaction. The hell you are, kids. They're just another layer, and I'd say the worst one yet, out of many many many attempts to solve this exact problem. They are fundamentally inaccessible. Don't mistake the fact that you learned them (somewhere, in some context inaccessible to me) for them actually being universal.

Considered against the many different solutions that have been offered since text-only speech was invented, tone indicators stack up as among the very least-accessible of the lot, since they contain so little context in and of themselves-- if a key is not provided then they're totally inaccessible, and are exceptionally difficult for non-native English speakers, and in general require so much memorization or cross-referencing as to be prohibitively hostile to outsiders.

And that's fine, if what your'e doing is just meant for talking to your friends. But don't come into my conversations and berate me for not having memorized whatever incomprehensible set of acronyms you've newly-decided are the new universal truth. And what drives me the most insane is how many of these acronyms someone has now decided to assign a whole new meaning to are acronyms that are well-known and already existed and are in heavy use. So if you try to look them up guess what you get! is it gonna be the newly-created version or the one that's been in use for fifty to seventy-five years??

For one, P.O.S. has had a specific meaning in written and spoken English for a really damn long time and if you call me a piece of shit in the actual language I speak I am absolutely not going to interpret your conlang as having intended something nice. (YES REALLY THEY'RE USING THAT ONE TRY TO GUESS WHAT IT MEANS. NO. NO! I know. Fuck! That's wild. Absolutely the fuck not.)

[poppy-metal]

it's hot where i live and it has me thinking about beach days with young! art and patrick. specifically annoying friend! patrick. imagine going to the beach with them. them picking you up and their reactions to your bikini. barley covered up by the crocheted top you had on. peaking through is your white bikini top that shows off your chest more than they've seen before. patrick unashamedly checking out your ass as you bend over to throw your bag in. i just know art would be so flustered. his face flushed and nervously laughing as he tries not to check you out too obviously. annoying friend! patrick on the other does little to hide it. probably asks where you've "been hiding those". squirts sunscreen on you while making crude jokes - and, of course, you let art rub sunscreen on your back instead of patrick which leads to a very embarrassing boner on his part - and patrick will 100% try to untie your swimsuit. 

-☕

stop because friends with art and patrick where they're just starting to realize how fucking hot you are. maybe you've covered up more before, maybe you're in a girly phase you weren't in previously, maybe you're purposely trying to gain their attention in that way - either way they're both slackjawed at the sight of you. their eyes piercing your skin when you tug off your top and wriggle out of your shorts, the thin straps of your bikini hugging your curves. your tits nearly spilling out - your ass eating up your bottoms. arts face is a comical shade of red, blotchy and patricks flushed too but at least art is polite where patrick just flat out ribs you about it, "the fuck were you hiding those knockers?"

you're secretly pleased, though you roll your eyes and admonish him for being a pervert. in fact, you do alot of that for the rest of the day, deliberately flaunting your body but acting like its not a big deal. steadily driving them insane, even art starts to get twitchy about it.

when you undo your bikini straps and ask him to rub in sunscreen, with just your palms daintily cupping your tits to cover them - he bawks at you. his hands are trembling and nervous as they feather across your back and you moan, arching back into his touch with a sigh, "harder, art." he lasts all of about five minutes before he's scrambling up, like, "uh. gotta piss." bolting from you like a scared deer to find the nearest bathroom and lock himself in a stall, furiously shoving his hand down his trunks to pump his hard cock. moans sounding tortured as he beats himself raw replaying the way you'd said "harder." in his head on a loop.

with patrick you really push it, knowing he wont spook like art. when you're in the water, you lose your top - on purpose - squealing and pressing yourself against patricks broad back, feeling him freeze when his brain computes the bare skin on skin contact - your hard nipples pushed against him. you can feel his breath expand through his chest as he inhales and exhales and chokes out - "what - what, um. you're, uh -" you suppress a giggle at having made him flounder, "just walk back to shore. i need to cover up." keeping your bare tits pressed firmly against him the whole time.

you torture them more when you find a popsicle stand and buy one - moaning and drooling around the icy concoction as it drips down your wrist. they stare at you with their lips parted, almost looking miserable in their abject longing as you slurp loudly - pushing the icy dessert in and out of your mouth - bobbing your head. it gets all over your chest, your chin, and you giggle when you finish it off, "im so sticky." licking the stick clean after. somethings sticky, alright, both of them think.

its a long day - and when they're driving you home the ride is starkly quiet. you hum to fill the silence, wondering what they're thinking about to have them looking so broody.

[angelheony]

'Make it stop, please make them stop!'

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ Synopsis ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

You used to think that you were good at hiding your emotions beneath the surface. Well simply because the hints you've been throwing at this someone you like have been getting ignored. On purpose or just his obliviousness? You have never told a soul about your affections, which hurt a couple of your crackhead friends, but in their defense, it was quite obvious to the naked eye what you both have been stressing over.

You were also quite sensitive to the other's feelings for you (said by them) and it hurts your friends' eyes to see the both of you pinning on each other but were clouded by self-doubt and overthinking.

So cue Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang scheming to get you to confess to each other.

Pairing: Jiang Cheng x gn! Reader

Content- Fluff, crack, idiots in love, straight up chaotic writing srry srry this author is tired

wc: Approximately 3k+ words

Warnings: Bad grammar, might be ooc, spelling mistakes

More Author's notes at the bottom

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚★⋆｡˚ ⋆

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★⋆ ┊ . ˚

˚★

Your head hurts when thinking about how the hell you got stuck here, in a small room, in a haunted house (or what Huaisang claims it to be). With the person you admit to being in love with.

Jiang Wanyin.

You sit with your back leaning on the wall, not making eye contact with the equally flustered man in front of you. Covering his face with his hand, trying to conceal the effect that the situation has on him. Not so slick really, but who are you to say that? when you are as stunned to be here as he is.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

It's now lunchtime in the Cloud Recesses, fluttering white robes pool at the entrance of the dining halls. Only just having finished their tasks and some lectures.

The light pitter-patter from the soles of their shoes can be heard and a few whispers thrown in secrecy. Disciples, afraid to be punished by the elders in the vicinity.

You keep your eyes open for a set of black and purple robes sitting, so you can grace them with your presence.

And there they are, seated on the near edge of the room. Odd why would they pick that place specifically? Unless we're in for knack of trouble again. You sigh out whilst striding towards them.

Wei Wuxian's eyes show a glimmer of mischievousness as he says albeit a little loudly,

"Well if it isn't our favorite person in the world, Aish so tardy what's got you so late? Jiang Cheng here was quite worried-"

A snicker can be heard from the person beside him, Huaisang. Which earns them both a smack in the head by the purple clad man.

You smile whilst sitting beside him, seeing it's the only space left. As both of the trouble makers are facing you.

"And you both didn't ouch, well at least someone did.."

You tease back only lightly, nudging the shoulder of your seatmate. Earning a flustered glare from him.

"Stop with your games." Jiang Cheng says firmly, Handing you a bowl of soup and utensils.

You give a sheepish smile in defeat to not piss him off further, "Okay, okay I'll stop. Thanks for leaving some for me, you're the best A-cheng"

You grab the soup in his hands, fingers touching for a brief second. Though it was enough to render you breathless, you hide it with a cocky demeanor.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶On the other side of the table✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

"Do they think they're so slick with it....? I swear they're oblivious..." Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes at the pair in front of them as he whispers to his partner in crime.

"How do they not notice at all, it's stressing me out"

Huaisang nods fervently, fanning himself dramatically faster.

"Ugh, when can we make this stop...It hurts my soul just looking at them" Wei Wuxian groans, looking exasperated enough as it is. After all, he just finished copying a lot of the Lan clan's rules as a punishment.

"Well then let's hurry up with the plan," Huaisang, says menacingly, Betraying his always jittery demeanor. As they both snicker at the plan he concocted just a few nights ago.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

"What are you both scheming again?" You say with raised eyebrows and a small smile. Curious about what adventures await from the both of them.

"Guys, you know I think you're the coolest and strongest people here-"

A scoff can be heard beside you, making you crack a grin.

"Just spill it out, what is it?" Jiang Cheng says with impatience.

"Ugh... Can you please, please come with me? I want to explore that abandoned house just on the outskirts of town!"

Huaisang whispers-shouts, with his hands clasped together pleadingly.

You nod, willing to go on an adventure as well. As place bores you to death, all of you sharing the look of agreement.

"I'm in, when will we do this little escapade of ours?"

"In a few days time, Qiren says that we have a test coming up and you know I can't fail, my brother will kill me now for real..."

Huaisang panics, before excusing himself in the library pavilion to study. Just now remembering it.

Wei Wuxian slumps on his chair, defeat evident in his face.

Guessing he'll have to endure a couple of days of this pure torture. "No A-sang come back, Why not now..."

"Go annoy your favorite Lan brother if you are so adamant about causing some trouble right now," Jiang Cheng says sarcastically,

"Ah, nice idea A-cheng.." His eyes light up 'Better than staying with you cowards!'

He saunters off with a grin, excited for some amusement.

"tch, that guy..." He says in disbelief, he wasn't even being serious about that.

"Wei Wuxian being Wei Wuxian, just let him be it makes him happy," You say in a soft tone. Wishing to have that carefree personality in life, your eyes following him.

"He enjoys being punished so much?", he sighs crossing his arms on his chest with a solemn expression "Hopefully he won't bite on something more than he can chew in the future with his antics"

You could only smile, gaze falling on him. He's such a worrywart for the people he cares about. Just odd at showing it.

You both sit there for a while enjoying the peace, after going through your separate tasks much to your dismay.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

Now you are here in front of a shabby and abandoned looking house with your peers,

"That was close, Hangguang-Jun almost caught us"

Huaisang said clutching his fan with relief.

"Thank god we have Wei Wuxian here with us, Lan Wanji recoils at the sight of you."

Jiang Cheng grins out, patting Wei Wuxian on the back. Much to the black and red clad man's dismay.

"Hey, I would say that we have become good friends already!"

"Mhm, ask the ghosts in here if they want to be friends with you too. So we can have a safe passage"

You join in on the teasing, moving to the door. Wanting to get on with the exploring already, Huaisang follows suit with a smile.

"Why am I friends with you guys again?" He pouts dramatically, a rhetorical question that you don't bother to answer.

You all look into the house, debating on who should go first,

"Aish just go in and stop your sulking"

You ruffle his hair, at the same time pushing him in first.

"Cowards" He mutters under his breath yet walks in anyway,

The light from the sun outside dims as you all move in deeper. A chill permeated in the air.

Huaisang is far behind the group, clutching onto your robes

"It's so dark someone make a palm tor-"

The sound of something heavy falling cuts you off, Readying your sword in hand.

"What the hell was that mhmp-"

The sound of Jiang Cheng getting muffled out by something worries you, making you call out to him loudly.

"Wei Wuxian? Where is he?" You ask him but there's no response, not knowing where they're both gone you were about to light a palm torch-

Getting cut off again by Huaisang's shrill screech behind you,

"Ah, there's a ghost help me, help me!"

He jumps onto your back, almost outbalancing you,

"Huaisang- I'm trying, get off! How can I fight with you on top of me!-"

He moves around sporadically making you stumble around, dropping your sword,

"Gah A-sang I can't see- ugh get off. You're choking me-"

You struggle under his struggling, for someone who doesn't train as much, Huaisang can get pretty strong when scared.

You get dragged by another person by your wrist, and though it doesn't feel like a monster you still can't help but try to struggle in their hold. Your friends, Like they're both two different people, not listening to your pleas and shouts.

You hear some screams and banging from a door.

It sounds like Jiang Cheng- thank god he's all right,

A door creaks open as you get pushed quite harshly into wherever your sight is is a blur.

You brace yourself for a harsh fall, eyes clenched shut,

Only to be met with a firm wall-? You didn't get hurt as it broke your fall

Arm snake their way to your side to stabilize you.

You stiffen, maybe it's one of your abductors. Almost giving them a harsh slap but thankfully you stop yourself in time to see a familiar face.

"A-cheng..."

You sigh in relief, almost falling back onto his chest with your gladness...

His chest-? You freeze in your place in disbelief,

Meeting his flushed gaze, he mutters 'Are you okay?'

You quickly fall back, face flushing with color as well,

"Sorry- sorry I didn't mean to do that you see people pushed me in here-"

You stutter out, pointing to the already closed door. This looks so bad.

"Where are the others?" You ask flatly, finally catching your breath and calming down.

"They're the ones that pushed us here." He says darkly, pissed at their intentions.

"But why?..."

"Hey, are you all okay there?" A voice resounds from the other side of the door, It's all sickeningly happy and sing-songy, Must be Wei Wuxian.

"Wei Wuxian! Cease your jokes, Let us out!" Jiang Cheng exclaims, standing up to continue his banging on the door before you rudely interrupted.

"No, You both have been insufferable!"

"Isn't that supposed to be your job? Why are we the insufferable ones now," You nip back in confusion,

"Huaisang- let us out, stop following that idiot's schemes..."

Moving to the door as well, You say softly. Hoping to get his mercy.

"Hmm, sorry then all my planning would go to waste..."

He says leisurely, "Don't worry, this will all be for the very good of all of us. So you'll still owe me another escort after this!"

You could envision him saying that with a smile, you really won't trust him after this that's for sure.

"I will break both of your legs off when I find a way out of here" He stops his banging, looking for more plausible exits in this small room.

"Hmm there's nothing you could do to get out A-cheng, all you both have to do is confess your hidden feelings to each other so we all can be done with this bother!"

Wei Wuxian explains like it's so easy to do and after this, we can go back like nothing happened,

"Hidden feelings, stupid. what are you talking about?"

Jiang Cheng chokes out, which kind of hurts. expecting something different, but it is, Jiang Cheng.

"Oh come on guys, stop ignoring it. You both are always so close and so sweet to each other..."

"Those love sick gazes too eurgh..." What a hypocrite, When he unknowingly does that to the younger Lan brother too.

Your gazes meet, both clouded with worry and embarrassment.

" This is some sick joke, just let us out.."

"No, you sort out your stuff, we're gonna explore the rest of the place now-"

"Wuxian seriously?... That seems like a bad idea, what if there are fierce ghosts around here? Were incomplete!"

"Well they're locked in there, you wanna stay outside where no one can protect you? Just come with me and have some trust" Wei Wuxian says cockily. The sound of walking echoes only but faintly now.

"Okay, Okay wait! Don't leave me please!"

"Plus give them some time, they'll be busy eating each other's faces or doing something even more interesting in there like some papap-"

"Wei Ying!" You both say in unison almost harmonizing, which earns a laugh from the shameless idiots outside.

Jiang Cheng spurs insult to insult in embarrassment

And you just freeze there, muttering some curses to them outside.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

You sit with your back leaning on the wall, not making eye contact with the equally flustered man in front of you.

Hopes shattered after seeing that there were no plausible exits in this small room, and the stupid door seemed to be blocked and locked on the outside.

You can't burn this house down with a palm torch or do full-powered attacks. Simply because the space in here is ridiculous, it might hurt the other one due to proximity.

Seriously, every movement you do has your shoulders touching it may have been nice when outside, but this predicament has your thoughts tangled now.

"Sorry I don't know what they're playing at, listen they'll get tired of this charade soon and let us out"

"Is it true? do you like me too?" You ask with a glint of hope, retracing back to your conversation with your friends outside.

"I-I don't know what they're saying, I would never?..."

He says almost confused himself, trying to deny it but also not. Unable to make up his mind.

Pride or heart? which will he choose, as he is still going back and forth, one thing is sure to you.

"Ah is that so..? Cause I like you" Having lowered your pride and fear, you say it.

Your gaze falls on his widened eyes. It's like hearing a pin drop, silence envelopes the barely lit room. You could only inhale sharply, this is the ruination of the bond that took years to build.

The strings tugging on your heart, are too hard to bear. Almost pulling it apart slowly but surely. You could only close your eyes in hopelessness

Slow paced walking can only be heard, going towards you.

"I'm sorry A-cheng, I'll stay away from you after this if it bothers you-"

You got cut off by a sudden bone-breaking hug, "Don't say sorry, I like you too." He mutters out softly, vulnerability laced in his words. Like finally letting go of this facade that you raise to never be looked down upon. This burden of a secret getting carried for years finally being able to let go.

"No- not don't say that. Don't say that because you pity me, it's weird"

You try to pull him off you, disbelief clouding your mind.

"it was such a long time ago. I was a coward, I didn't think you would love someone like me...I'm a joke, I'm harsh, I don't know how to express anything-" He blurts out a wave of self-doubt, which you aren't having.

"No don't say any of those, the right question is who wouldn't fall in love with you..."

You lean his head closer into your embrace, finally choosing to embrace the facts. No use in denying it anymore.

"I know you care, somewhere deep in your heart. I understand, forever will."

"You must be crazy," He mutters out shakily, intertwining his fingers in yours.

"I must be. So stop denying my feelings. Or I'll go even crazier" You hold his hands, tightly not wanting to let go at this moment.

You stay in each other's hold for the time being, embracing the tranquility and letting this sink in. Embedding this moment deep within your chests.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

A few minutes have passed, and you still aren't out. You don't mind though, enjoying some peace.

"Seriously, I can't believe this is the place where we confess to each other" You cover your face trying to stifle your oncoming laughter, finding it too amusing. "Imagined it would be in some romantic place, amidst blooming lotuses, or in the rain all that poetic stuff"

"It would have been thanks to those idiots outside, where even are they? It's getting hot in here" He hisses out, complaining about the heat yet makes no move on detaching himself from you to cool off.

"Oh, it is?" You say with a mischievous tone, implying something as a joke. "Don't mind if I take a few covers off us, so we can cool off- and you know."

A sharp sting from your ear cuts you off, letting out a groan in response.

"You- I didn't mean that, What is wrong with all of you!-"

Jiang Cheng pulls on your ear with an embarrassed expression, not so slickly covering his face with his free hand.

"Oh you didn't mean that whoopsie!- ah okay okay sorry stop"

Clasping your hands on his, you try to pry his grip from your ear. god if Huaisang has some strength released by fear then this guy has some when embarrassed,

He let out a 'hmph' before letting go and sulking away from a distance.

"Ah don't be mad I was joking please?" You try to look as pitiful as ever, crawling into his embrace. Trying to hug him before a scream interrupted your wooing.

"Ah! Help There really are some ghosts here!" A shrill and loud scream can be heard echoing outside the halls

You roll your eyes, not caring if that's real or just an act again

Only leaning into your 'lover's' chest now.

"So this makes us official now right?" You poke Jiang Cheng's cheek. Checking if he's still mad, wanting an answer now.

"If you want to be? yeah." He mumbles out too quickly, breaking his mad facade for a while. Still trying to keep that calm and not affected act.

"You're adorable you know that right?" You point out his not-so-slick act right now,

Pinching his cheeks and admiring the flush in his expression.

"No I'm not your being ridiculous-!" He tries to pry away from your grip, feeling all too bashful as of now.

"Oh yeah fine, coolest most amazing, strongest-" You turn in a different direction, though still teasing.

"If you don't shut up! I'll make you" Jiang Cheng says albeit unsure of his threat, still has conviction in his eyes.

"Hmm, how so? I'm curious" tilting your head to the side, curious.

"I'll kiss you..." A meek whisper, barely able to be caught by your ear

"You'll what?" You exhale shakily, really amused now at his not so intimidating remark

Unsure to even call that a threat, who's he threatening you or himself?

" You all can burn in he- " He gives up, only squirming to get out of your vicinity

" You know you're really in no place to threaten, but I'll just give it to you" You exhale a laugh,

before leaning in quickly, not bothering to warn him. What you said was plenty enough as your lips intertwined in a clumsy kiss.

Running can be heard from outside the halls, with some matching breathless screams. It's Huaisang,

"Guys guys please help there's a ghost! Please don't be mad at me anymore, I'll do anything just help me-"

Loud thuds and scrapes on the floor, like furniture dragging can be heard. You could only smile in your shared kiss not minding the chaos outside one bit.

Jiang Cheng was shocked at your sudden initiation at first, frozen. Yet after some time, he kisses back clumsily, eyes closing in embarrassment,

As the door finally swings open, Huaisang stumbles in quickly. tripping un-ironically before closing the door, leaning his back on it as he takes some time to catch his breath.

His relief turns into disbelief as he rethinks his decision to come in here, seeing your quite intimate moment. Or if it would be better if he stayed outside.

Covering his eyes, he could only plead for it all to be over soon.

"Sorry for interrupting guys... but I'm here.. hi, hello... Can you please help us.." He says mortified by what he barged into.

"Huaisang help! make them come out here hurry!-" Another loud voice can be heard outside. Seems like he's in a bit of a pickle, eh whatever.

"As you can see we're in a bit of trouble-"

"So what?" "get lost," You both say in unison, stopping your entanglement just to be petty.

Huaisang could only whine with his hands clasped, as he flinches at the loud noises of destruction coming from outside. Pitying his friend amidst the trouble he's fighting alone.

"Find somewhere else to hide and maybe I'll reconsider, after a while," You say not wanting to let go soon of this fondness circulating in this tiny room.

"But where?-" He cries out, though accepting his doom with a cry as you continue where you left off.

Bolting out of the door in a panic,

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

Bells echo around the cloud recesses, signaling the time of rest and the end of the day.

Not for both of the black-clad individuals, One with the gold accents dragging a tied-up one.

To be fair getting caught and being a distraction is better than getting mauled by a ghost to death.

Patrolling Lan clan disciples halt them in their tracks near the entrance, a knack of punishment awaits them for breaking a few rules of staying away past curfew.

A light revenge really, concocted by yours truly. A bargain in exchange for saving them against that fierce ghost.

After all, they���re the reason for your blooming bond right now, and your safe passage entering the recesses as the attention of the patrollers is now in the eyes of our geniuses. Rightly so with their brilliant plan.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

Did I get too carried away when making this? Yes. 3k words, you know it's bad when your notes app gets maxed out.

I was really tired when finishing this, might not be in character, but let's just imagine since this is just my self indulgent fic (all of them are)

Will probs delete the whole thing or just a few scenes after I get some well needed sleep, and fix some mistakes

byebye I will be passing out and hope you enjoyed your reading somehow.

[connan-l]

YOKAI: Since you hate men, please make me your shiki. Hey, Nanase.

TAKUMA: You're popular as usual. NANASE: For God's sake... They're all fooling around, just because Matoba isn't here. They may be imitating women, but they are all bothersome monsters.

—Volume 21, Special 17.

It's funny that sometimes I think saying Nanase is canonically a lesbian is reading too much into it given the only evidence we have is One scene that's just subtext and coding (and okay her wearing that suit, that's a very soft butch gay suit. And then there's her fascination for Reiko but I don't think that really counts, and that's mostly developed in the anime sadly), but then I reread that moment from Special 17 and I'm like. umm. Midorikawa what was the purpose of that scene if not to tell us she is Very Gay lmao

I just love the implication that apparently Nanase being a lesbian is such a widely known fact within the exorcist community that yokai literally take the appeareance of women to flirt with her. Like okay. Even Takuma coments that she's "popular as usual," which granted he's just teasing her about the yokai flirting with her here but still. What's your history Miss Nanase 😭 Do you think when she was young she was a ladykiller who went around seducing all the female exorcists so that's why she has that reputation lol

Also I'm kind of mad about how the official English translation did that specific scene:

YOKAI: We don't like men. Won't you please make me your servant? C'mon, Nanase.

Like. At least they still come off as flirting with her, and yes, the original Japanese can be a little ambiguous — but honestly that's pretty clear the yokai are not talking about themselves but that they're talking about Nanase.

YOKAI: 男は嫌いなんだよう だからさあ 式にしておくれぇ ねぇ七瀬

"Otoko wa kirai nandayou" make little sense to translate it as "WE don't like men"... They're clearly talking about Nanase disliking men here, especially within the scene's context given what Nanase says next? She basically states that those yokai took the appearance of women to "fool around [with her]," so what would be the point of doing this if not because Nanase "hate men"?

It pisses me off a little, like c'mon. I don't really think it was deliberate but that's still annoying because it does somewhat change the gay subtext. At least recently they still kept Shinobu's flirting with women intact so I hope that was still some unintentional mistake on their part but well.

I hope the new anime season adapt this scene properly too and that the sub/dub don't mess it up (the anime do tend to give Nanase a lot of screentime so I'm curious about how they'll adapt this tbh.)

[todomitoukei]

I went through the old chapters where Dabi and Ujiko are included to take a deeper look at the relationship between these two.

Did you translate the conversations between the two of them into chapters 221 and 222?

I find the way Ujiko speaks to Dabi in the English translation strange. I'm curious if that's really how he expressed himself in Japanese. If I remember correctly, it seems to me that you translated a line of Ujiko's related to Dabi and it sounded less strange than in the English version. That one with "Dabi, you've got sharp eyes!" or smth like this

Hi there!

I only translated that specific line way back when Ujiko and AFO being involved in Touya's backstory was just a theory (long time ago).

I also did a translation of chapter 350, where Ujiko tells us that part of Touya's backstory, which also features a short conversation between the two.

Going back to chapter 221 and 222, here's a breakdown of the parts before the "good eye", starting with this part in chapter 221 (the first two speech bubbles can be found in the other post I linked above)

「そうじゃ違うんじゃこの子らは中位下位とは違うじゃよ～

最上位（ハイエンド）じゃよ

より「マスターピース」に近付いたスーパー脳無じゃ！

凄いじゃろうこれまでとは違うんじゃよ！！！」

「そう ; sou 」 = so 「じゃ ; ja 」 = to be 「違う ; chigau 」 = different 「んじゃ ; nja 」 = explanatory particle 「この ; kono 」 = this 「子ら ; kora 」 = children 「は ; wa 」 = topic particle 「中位下位 ; chuuikai 」 = middle class, lower class 「とは ; to wa 」 = quotation particle 「違う ; chigau 」 = different 「じゃ ; ja 」 = to be 「よ ; yo 」 = emphasis particle 「最上位 (ハイエンド) ; haiendo 」 = High End (the kanji mean the most upper class) 「じゃ ; ja 」 = to be 「よ ; yo 」 = emphasis particle 「より ; yori 」 = than 「マスターピース ; masutaapiisu 」 = master piece 「に ; ni 」 = directional particle 「近付いた ; chikazuita 」 = approached 「スーパー脳無 ; suupaa noumu 」 = super nomu 「じゃ ; ja 」 = to be 「凄い ; sugoi 」 = amazing 「じゃろう ; jarou 」 = right 「これまで ; kore made 」 = until this 「とは ; to wa 」 = quotation particle 「違う ; chigau 」 = different 「んじゃ ; nja 」 = explanatory particle 「よ ; yo 」 = emphasis particle

＝"That's right, they're different. These kids are different from the middle and lower class ones~ It's a High End (top tier). It's a Super Nomu, close to a masterpiece! Amazing, right? It's different from anything up until now!!!"

You best believe he chose the word masterpiece to piss off Touya here on purpose. Unfortunately, and maybe on purpose, we never get shown Touya's facial reaction to that, and he most likely played it cool on the outside, while on the inside wanting to set the whole place on fire.

The next little bit of dialogue between the two occurs in chapter 222:

「ならば荼毘にはハイエンドのテストに協力してほしいのう！！

趣味が！！審美眼がとても合う！！接しやすい！！」

「ならば ; naraba 」 = in case; as for 「荼毘 ; dabi 」 = Dabi 「には ; ni wa 」 = directional particle 「ハイエンド ; haiendo 」 = High Ends 「の ; no 」 = possession particle 「テスト ; tesuto 」 = test 「に ; ni 」 = directional particle 「協力 ; kyouryoku 」 = cooperation 「してほしい ; shitehoshii 」 = want you to do 「のう ; nou 」 = explanatory particle (adds emphasis) 「趣味 ; shumi 」 = preference; liking; taste 「が ; ga 」 subject particle 「審美眼 ; shinbigan 」 = aesthetic sense; sense of beauty 「が ; ga 」 subject particle 「とても ; totemo 」 = very 「合う ; au 」 = to fit/match 「接しやすい ; sesshiyasui 」 = easy to deal with/attend to

= "As for Dabi, I want you to test out the High End for me!! (Good) taste!! Your aesthetic sense matches a lot!! It will be easy for you to deal with it!!"

Obviously, in retrospect, knowing that Ujiko would have turned Touya into a nomu too, the "matching aesthetic sense" line feels even more rude now.

And finally Touya's response:

「話聞いてンのか」

「話 ; hanashi 」 = story 聞いてン ; kiiten 」 = to listen 「のか ; noka 」 = question particle

= "Are you listen to my story?"

The 'story' being him just a second prior to this having said he will go off on his own since he is in the middle of recruiting someone (don't do it!).

[astralnymphh]

I just got on and saw what’s been happening and bro…I’m glad people are talking about it. Mostly about the smut, inclusivity, Palestine, and the fetishization of trans people.

Reading smut is so underwhelming like it seems like that’s all what people write these days. Like I need ANGST! I need to CRY! I need SLOW BURN AND PLOT….

And to be honest, I personally feel like some writers purposely list the reader’s physical descriptions as being white… like damn you know multiple people are going to come across your shit. I would get annoyed asf when I see something like “she touched your soft pale flushed skin” BITCH- 💀 don’t piss me off 😒🦶🏽

I won’t speak too in depth about the fetishization of trans people in fanfics because I’m not trans and I don’t want to say anything inaccurate BUT I will say it’s so disturbing and off putting seeing shit like that and seeing how people are sexualizing trans people more than treating them like regular humans…I also came across that ‘femcel’ series and🧍🏽‍♀️erm… no.

I appreciate the account who made the post discussing how the word trans and the f word are completely different. I didn’t even know that word was derogatory and it shocked me... I hope that account takes it down and they educate themselves or something cause 🙁👎🏽

yes pook YES smut can be underwhelming and so overdone. we definitely need more angst/fluff.. or just PLOT in general. no, i'm not saying don't write it at all (incase anons twist my words, cause.. they're good at that.) i'm just saying that it would be nice to see some fully fleshed out pieces with emotion and storytelling. i have something in the works though, that encompasses all genres (fluff/smut/angst) so, there's that!

people will so clearly write the whole petite pale white girl bs like "ur delicate small hand" or the fuckass "doey eyed and blushing cherub red" like NEVER portray reader so specifically unless you're going to specify it in the cw!!!! do whatever for ellie's white ass but for the love of gods and goddess BE AWARE OF READER AS A SPOT TO FILL, NOT AN OC!!!! idk how else to describe what i just said. but. it is said. so it. yeah. that whole delicate small petite thing kinda trickles into writing childlike readers too but. thats a whole nother discussion. no clue if i ever used that phrasing in the past tho i have no bold memories of my writings in detail.

i think people will listen to anybody but trans people who are actively calling it fetishization, like. all the mfs arguing with them say "trans and f💀ta aren't the same!" yeah. they aren't. cause one is like, a genuine, flesh and bone person.. with a whole story.. and feelings.. and experiences.. and one is.. fetishization. how many times do trans people have to repeat that? bet most of the people trying to argue against it aren't even trans.

the whole thing about authors "flooding" the tlou tag with palestine posts is also dumb as fuck. is scrolling a bit too taxing on your poor smut-guzzling thumbs?? ur scrolling over big booty fics, i think you can scroll a little further past those posts if you're really that much of a basement dwelling fuck that's sitting comfortably in their homes while a genocide is happening. out here sobbing cause people are spreading awareness. eat my bum bum booty. ++ also add-on cause we're holding writers accountable for ignoring a strike (different than not knowing at first) but there's also the artists!! they're there too.

anons r gonna come into my inbox abt all this but i'm not even gonna answer like, don't waste your time. im not reading all that. especially coming from an ANON 💀

me when

[theredkennedys]

my au my rules. this au is literally called Chucker Spiderverse AU in the archived discord thread so be warned oooOoOOoooOo . gay men OoooooOo

writing out the backstory that me and my friend Donut have been working on for the better part of a year, most of it was inspired by the new itsv movie that was released then. and because I don't plan on writing anything huge for this I'd like my brainstorming to have a wider audience.

All art posted is most likely @franklindonuts , aka Donut the cocreator of this shit,,,hey buddy😆 go show him some love pleeeease

you can see my art of this au here

this will 100% be somewhat incomprehensive but hey I'm just a fag having fun and I was born yesterday🧚‍♀️

**

Tucker is the spiderman in his universe with Church as his "guy in the chair". (Putting it out there that this Church is Alpha, which is significant later on.)

They both share an apartment, I don't think I ever specified why but probably for school reasons. They're both young adults, I want to say around 19-21, similar to their Blood Gulch years.

Tucker loves being spiderman. He loves helping people, being almost an idol for people- a lot of jokes were thrown around about that:

Imagine Tucker after he got his sword. He has a genuine purpose now and he's going to be good at it.

but goddd Tucker is Tucker and is stupid and reckless. being spiderman doesn't make him invincible but he loves to think otherwise. he pushes himself too far too often because he knows if he doesn't he wouldn't be able to sleep at night if someone got hurt when he was taking it "easy". Church knows this but he's still pissed off when Tucker comes back bloodied and bruised from a Villain of the Week that he shouldn't have taken on :/

(Donut art)

mental illness

It's literally just the Spiderman Effect. No one will Ever be able to understand what it's like to be spiderman but other spiders, regardless of how much you tell them or show them, they won't get it. and Church doesn't Get it. He's not stupid, he understands WiTh GrEaT PoWeR y'know but there's a mental toll that can't be communicated in a way that makes sense :/

regardless, Church hates it but he also hates how much he cares about Tucker. Cocreator said that he figured they were both close and willing to become A Thing but the time was never right, and Tucker was scared of liking a dude, etc. Normal stuff between these two. But they're insanely close, I'd like to think even moreso after Tucker's whole spiderman thing and the fact that Church also has to realize that Tucker is not invincible.

(despite them not being A Thing, Donut art of The Spiderman kiss and other gay shit)

Now this is the kicker of why I said to take note of the fact this is Alpha Church specifically.

Now I'm aware of the clowning on the whole "canon event" thing and some people's opinion on it (mostly that it's dumb and cliche), but I find it a very unique and convenient way to give a character a significant plot boost.

That being said, Tucker's "canon event" is Church's death.

I don't ever think I solidified how/why he dies, moreso that it's just a wrong-place wrong-time type of thing. Some brainstorming from Donut about it:

but i never asked him for elaboration so I don't know what the fuck he's talking about. anyway

Tucker finds Church similar to how Miles found Peter in the first Spiderverse movie. He doesn't know what to do. He's frantic and scared and horrified that his best friend is coughing up blood with raspy breaths.

(Alpha s10 parallel with tex lalalala)

Obviously. Obbbviousllyy Tucker is distraught and inconsolable. Something something he has the Worst depression of his life. He doesn't know what to do with himself, the one person who knew about everything is gone, and I'm sorry (not) lol but it's not like in rvb where Church revives 8 times before dying like a normal person.

Church was always there for Tucker and he's at a loss of what to do now because, despite the threat of it, he should've never died. It wasn't even a concern in his head ever because it seemed so unlikely.

Tucker doesn't know what to do with himself, he wouldn't have gotten this far without Church. But really, it was All Tucker. All Church did was give him little tech bits to help him function better but it was All Tucker. But he isn't able to realize that through everything and it ruins him.

I will have to make a continuation post because I love adding images and Just hit the mobile limit🧚‍♀️

thanks for reading if you got this far

[mantisgodsart]

Did you know? You have to post art for people to see it. Wild, we know. Anyways, we finally drew our Bau's swords, and we're going to make you decipher their extremely thick (designated south Appalachian from our American Accent Experts) accent. Also comes with bonus notes under the cut.

"Y'see, the thing with weapons is that if y'ain't careful wit'em y'can really tear up a man. Throwin' metal aroun' th'place doesn' come without consequences. It c'n take a lotta work ta master any weapon't all, an' even more work t' keep from hurtin' anyone y'wouldn't want to." "Take m'swords, for example. These're cuttin' blades, n' they're hooked't th'tip. Y'see this sorta thing fer sport, usually, but they're a bit useless fer actual fightin' cuz they don't cut shell. Y'need t'have some dexterity t'put 'em to work, 'cuz hitting shell with 'em's worse'n useless. Dulls yer blades, 'n such. Y'need ta hit b'tween th'shell, or't does nothin', 'n any actual hit'll be real likely t'kill 'r maim." "Mine've got swordbreakers in'm, cuz I don' really use'm t'cut. Bit narrow t'really club with, but I like'm narrow cuz I like t'get inta guards. Th'hook's made ta get inta joints, but't works just's well t'grab shit outta bags'r hands, n' th'extra grabbin' bits make't a bit easier t'nab that." "'f I miss, worse't happens is't some bug gets'r shell sliced, 'n tha' doesn't mean much, y'know? No major hit, 'll scab over'n a few hours'n be fine. 'f I used a crushin' weapon, though, 't might actually hurt 'em." "'n a pinch, they'll work jus' fine fer th' original purpose. Fit th' hook 'nto a limb, give'a shallow cut, 'n most people'll back off once they know y'could've ripped a limb off. Makes't harder for'm t'wield a weapon, too. If's somethin' real fussy like a velvet ant- they don' clot like other bugs, so y'can't really draw blood from'm- then'm usually stronger'n em, so disarmin' works jus' fine, 'n I can hold onto 'em if'ey still wanna pick a fight." "…'sides, carryin' aroun' two'a these makes me look real cool, don'tcha think? All fancy'n such."

Bau's specific accent for the in-universe setup rather than the "translating things" is, like. Distinctly "cricket or grasshopper who has not really made an effort to, like, get around the fact that their mouthparts aren't super made for the sorts of sounds used in bugnish" which is perceived as a Hick Accent because a lot of crickets Do tend to work around similar, like, Perceived As Hick Industries Done By Mostly Uneducated People. It takes Effort to sort of train yourself to speak in a way that will read to other bugs as More Educated, and Bau has just sort of… never bothered? Best they've got is enunciating it a bit more clearly, chief. They're not relearning how to speak a whole language to be seen as Slightly More Educated.

In terms of actual in-universe sounds that are Not translated to English they'll just sound a lot chirpier. You could probably interpret some of the words in there as adjacent to the sort of shit you hear out of birds. Might be able to unintentionally set off the fight-or-flight of bugs who used to be heavily preyed upon by small songbirds if cussing violently enough. Sometimes you accent sounds with actually making the standard cricket-chirp sound if you're trying to be sexy.

Sometimes you also do this when you are pissed off at people, This is because crickets are Like This and a lot of them will fucking fight each other for the approval of a potential mate.

Anyways, the fun part of Bau's weapons is that they are deliberately built for being showy and impressive and letting them do flashy sleight-of-hand with their opponent's belongings while also being hideously inefficient enough as actual weapons that bringing them onto the battlefield in the first place actively seems like a terrible strategic decision.

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

could you do hcs or just some specific scenarios, wtvr that means, about Avery and Jameson with Xander. I love this trio

avery, jameson, and xander head canons

of course! these three literally solo everyone else. not proof read, like always. this one might be shittier than my others cause my period is fucking killing me (and its making me unable to think properly), but i hope you like them<3.

jameson is always teasing them about how he's a year older and wiser.

xander makes them try the weirdest scone flavors ever for experimental purposes. they once ended up with food poisoning.

their interviews are chaotic. an interview once ended with the interviewer suspended from the ceiling doing aerobics. xander swears he had nothing to do with it (he started it all)

xander and avery plant fake spiders in jamie's room bc he's terrified of them. when he sees them he'll start screaming like a girl and jumping

xander and avery call jameson pookie for no reason

avery goes shopping for them because they literally don't own anything remotely fancy that is actually wearable (jamie's shirts are all ripped, and xander doesn't have the time to go shopping)

they hype the fuck out of avery. whenever she gets dressed up for an event, they will start whistling, jumping, and (sarcastically) begging on their knees for her to love them (she already loves jamie tho).

once a week, they watch movies and gossip. the maids and bodyguards at the mansion have a fuck ton of drama going on and xander knows all of it bc of the recording devices and shit around the house.

xander will flirt with avery to piss jameson off and it works (jamie knows xander's just her bhff, though, but he still gets annoyed)

in another post, i said jamie and xander will sometimes go live and it's always chaotic. avery will sometimes join too as damage control (alisa makes her)

when nash and libby have their first kid, the three of them are always competing for the child's attention. they're always trying to prove to the others that they're the favorite aunt/uncle

i said this in another post, but xander wakes them up by reading smut to them.

some weirder fans write fanfic about them and xander either sends it to avery and jameson or reads it to them in the morning to wake them up.

xander has an averyjameson fan account that he posts shitty edits on and uses to spam their accounts.

they were grayson's wing men/woman when lyra (ig) came along

they try to surprise attack/surprise max to get her to swear fr.

xander will buy gifts for avery and jameson and pretend that they're actually gifts from jamie to avery (or avery to jamie). they always get confused when they receive a gift from their 'partner' and its like a pair of boxers with the rock's face on them ("avery" actually gave jamie this once) (idk if this one makes sense)

when barbie's 'i'm just ken' came out, jamie and xander could not stop singing it around avery, begging for her love (which they already have and they know that)

they are so defensive of their opinions. they once started fighting over what toilet paper brand they prefer, and it ended with xander crying over his mommy issues.

when xander is feeling down or isn't acting like himself, they'll bake him scones and send them to him using one of his robots (xander feels really loved when people actually use his inventions)

i don't really know how to explain this one but they play games like 'at least i didn't try to kill myself once' and the other goes 'yeah, at least i didn't almost get bombed once'

xander and jamie are avery's biggest defenders. all of her haters get bashed, blocked, and reported.

they have hoodies with each other's faces on them

xander calls avery "mommy" and jamie "daddy" bc he's always thrid wheeling

they cannot take meetings seriously. they have a groupchat and send each other the most dirty, inappropriate shit you can think of. one of them always ends up laughing or falling off of their chair and alisa gets pissed.

they slap each other's asses. it doesn't matter if they're in public

xander gets really nervous when avery and jamie fight bc they both go to him for advice, and he gets stuck in the middle of everything.

they all have matching tattoos on one of their fingers

they have an obsession with beating guinness world records.

xander and jamie have asked avery multiple times who twerks better.

xander sends the stupidest memes on their gc (like my pain is chronic but my ass is iconic)

they will go around guessing if people are tops, bottoms or switches (avery barely participates but they still drag her along bc when she does contribute to the conversation, its hilarious)

[saintarmand]

What did you think of Armand’s confrontation with Claudia? I’m not really sold on the idea that Armand displays startling cruelty in that moment — he’s definitely not nice, and it’s obviously a callback to how both Lestat and Louis have physically assaulted Claudia, and how she’s permanently trapped in this cycle of being at the mercy of powerful men who abuse or mistreat her. Like, he’s the coven master, Santiago has previously stated that Armand turns vampires into corpses for almost nothing, but ultimately, he’s the coven master, with the power of life and death over his flock, so his word is law. So when I think about Armand’s actions within “coven logic” it doesn’t really seem like individualized cruelty, more like justifiable annoyance (within coven logic) at the disobedience and insolence of a new, ungrateful coven member. Outside of coven logic, it’s abusive and cruel, but within the warped logic of the coven, it seems pretty ordinary to me. I guess I’m asking because I’ve seen lots of people post about the contrast between Armand’s vulnerability with Louis followed by his immediate cruelty to the coven, but I think it makes perfect sense. When Armand’s with Louis he’s being an individual, when he’s with the coven he’s being the coven master. Like, within Claudia’s story it’s definitely a continuance of the shitty, abusive cycle she’s stuck in, but within Armand’s role as the coven master it just seems like a regular Tuesday. Does that make sense?

yeah i'm not convinced he's singling her out specifically but i'm reserving judgment on that until the end of the season, since there's definitely stuff we're not privy to yet.

i think armand probably thinks he's been letting her (and everyone) get away with too much bc of louis and is now 'correcting' that. he was criticized by the coven throughout the episode for not being present enough and everyone doing shit they're not supposed to. so now he's going back to ruthless coven master mode to try to prevent the mutiny that's brewing.

i think it's also in response to the vulnerability he displayed to louis immediately prior; that shit was scary, and afterwards he probably wanted to feel powerful and in control again. he was also interrupted by the coven in that moment, them getting in the way of his time with louis, so he was pissed off at them all in general and the 'issue' that was reported was claudia so he lashed out at her.

i also don't think the play was written to torment her; i think the coven was just excited to have a 'child actress' and didn't consider how she might feel about it at all. they don't know what it's like for her and didn't think to wonder. the casual cruelty of thoughtlessness. we don't know the extent of armand's involvement with picking that role for her so it's difficult to say if he did it on purpose in any way. but his whole thing is doing whatever is 'required' of him regardless of how painful or humiliating, and that's what he expects from everyone else too. a horrible way to live and a horrible thing to subject others to, but that's armand for you.

insane how he actually acknowledged the cycle of abuse in this episode ("magnus who begat lestat, lestat begat louis, and on and on and on") and then immediately proceeded to go make sure it keeps on cycling. man got SO CLOSE to a major revelation but then it got interrupted i guess.

in TVL, lestat talks about the contrast between the 'lost child' and the 'coven master' in armand and they are two sides of him but they're also intrinsically linked. the vulnerability and the cruelty follow from each other. coven logic IS armand logic. it's all he knows. he's the victim and the perpetrator. he knows both sides intimately, and he believes this is just how it is, how it has to be, so suck it up. "life is cruel, life is violent." for him, it always has been. he skirts the rules sometimes because he can but he clearly also believes they should apply to him too. he almost killed louis for it. he keeps curfew. "know your role, thesp, or join your maker in oblivion", he says to santiago, but isn't he talking to himself too? he was ordered to lead the paris coven nearly 400 years ago and he hasn't been fulfilling his duties lately. he tells louis to think about leaving paris but leaving the coven himself is almost unthinkable to him. almost.

um, i got sidetracked, but basically yeah i think armand's assault of claudia, as cruel and horrifying and abusive and traumatizing it is for her, is him going back to regular tuesday as coven master. it's an emotionally motivated action but not, in my opinion, designed to single her out specifically as a rival for louis's affections or whatever. at least based on the information we have now, but there may be revelations to come in the latter half of the season that change my mind. or i might change my mind because i rewatch the episode for the fifth time or read really good post arguing the opposite lol.

anyway. SAVE CLAUDIA HOLY SHIT

[veliseraptor]

Hey! I've been trying to ask you this forever, but I keep forgetting because I'm so busy. Is there anything you headcanon about Vegas that annoys Pete and vice versa? Little things that they discover about each other when living together. Maybe even because of differences in social class. Also, is it true that Macau is planning to go to medical school?

and I've been meaning to answer this forever so I think we're even

in answer to your question: oh for sure there are things that annoy them about each other! I mean I'm pretty much of the opinion that any couple (or, honestly, any pair of people in any relationship) is going to discover things that annoy or frustrate them about each other. it's part of being two people who are different and not constantly in sync. that's relationships mate

when it comes to what those things are with these two...some of them are definitely class oriented, specifically I think with respect to the disparity between Vegas and Pete and Vegas's casual indifference to money as an unlimited resource vs. Pete's much more acute awareness of limitations and costs. and while that's not so much annoying, what is is the behaviors that result - Pete gets really uncomfortable with Vegas spending lavishly to spoil him, for instance, which annoys Vegas because he's just trying to do something nice, why doesn't Pete appreciate it >:(

meanwhile Pete gets annoyed sometimes by Vegas's massive entitlement complex and general expectation that he'll get what he wants on a micro if not macro level (which I think he does - he doesn't expect his father's love and approval or to beat out Kinn at anything but he will get that motorcycle he wants, if you understand me). and then there is Vegas's casual condescension to people who aren't on his level, in particular I think to other bodyguards, including people who are Pete's friends. Vegas makes some snide remark about how the main family bodyguards get their personalities removed when they're hired and Pete is like. "oh cool you know that's me and my friends right"

then there's I think the whole thing that happens sometimes where Vegas's temper gets set off and he gets mean, and then Pete reacts in the way that he's used to reacting to that from previous employers, namely by retreating into his :) smile and basically being friendly-nonthreatening-harmless, and that just makes Vegas angrier, for, like, six different reasons, among which are (1) reminder of how their relationship started out, which he doesn't like to think about, (2) the sense that Pete is reacting to him as an employer and not a boyfriend, (3) the knowledge that he's just hurt Pete and that pisses him off too, but in a way where he's still pissed off at Pete, (4) the frustration of not getting a reaction/response.

and it's not like Pete's happy about this either. I think it drives him even more nuts though when Vegas afterwards retreats into a self-pity and self-loathing hole and Pete has to drag him out of it. I think in general when Vegas gets really up in his own head sometimes Pete gets frustrated because come on, can't he just move on and never think about his feelings and issues and pretend they're not there? it works for Pete.

(it doesn't work for Pete. Vegas also recognizes this and wants Pete to recognize this, and it is frustrating when he doesn't. in general I think Pete's resistance to, like, confronting his feelings is something that drives Vegas a little nuts. they have an argument, Vegas says something nasty, Pete's obviously hurt by it, later on Vegas apologizes and Pete's like "oh it's fine :)" because he just wants to move on and not think about it anymore (and also probably has legitimately decided to do that, on purpose) and Vegas is like. "NO IT ISN'T, IT IS NOT FINE, DON'T DO THAT" which just makes Pete even more double down on the "it's fine :)" and. that one post about how in order to get Pete to talk about his feelings you have to catch him in very specific very fast vulnerable moments before he can turn it around into being about someone else. Vegas knows he's doing it, but can't figure out how to get him to stop. yeah. they're doing great.)

anyway all of this to say that they love each other very much and also drive each other up the wall in a variety of ways and that's what makes it so fun. they'll figure it out. or they won't exactly but they'll not figure it out in a way that's fun and spicy and keeps both of them alive/not destroying other peoples' lives. it's for the best.

[thewiz9062]

Smiling Critters AU: Favorite Sweets

NOTE: THIS IS NOT RELATED TO CANON IN THE SLIGHTEST. An accurate description of this au is that I took every playtime.co poster art and promotional material from the game and lit up the rest of canon in a bonfire. Meaning that EVERY character is part of one big cartoon. Thats it. No bigger bodies project, no child souls, no experiments, just a depiction of a cartoon. PLEASE do not ask me to do anything suggestive with anyone.

Look, guys, I'm doing fluff (For now) I want to characterize my critters a little more, so here are what I think their favorite sweets would be:

Dogday: Vanilla Pancakes (With cream)

Dogday is absolutely the one to like one meal and then incorporate it into like 90% of what he eats. And he really likes breakfast, so i think his favorite sweet would probably just be a slightly fancier version of his favorite breakfast, buttermilk pancakes. He also is normally a big fan of vanilla. So add vanilla extract into the mix and boom favorite sweet.

Catnap: Brownies (Fluffy, with Light Cream)

Well, Sun and Moon dynamic, so obviously, Catnap prefers chocolate. I was thinking that because he probably prefers to save food since he has no income (au specific), so he would favor something that's made in batches, so, brownies! It's very fluffy, though. He probably hates the feeling of fudgy things.

CraftyCorn: Cake!

Now Crafty doesn't actually have a favorite sweet. She's not picky about sweets. She does like decorating, though, so she ends up getting cake more often than not. Whenever she does get a cake, if it has a design, she'll spend a few minutes looking and analyzing how the designs are made (she's so me fr fr) hope to be able to design things like that one day. (Not now cuz her parents are assholes)

Bobby: Cupcakes

I think Bobby makes these on the regular, whether for her class, her father, or her siblings. Cupcakes are her go-to, so it eventually just became her fav. Don't get her started on gourmet cupcakes. She only ever got to try them once, and all her recipes are attempting to recreate them. (with Picky's help) They don't get far because they don't have the right ingredients, but they're really good, so

Bubba: Ice Cream

Bubba will say he doesn't have a favorite sweet but he will defend ice cream like it's his mother, so we all know it's that. He's Begrudgingly picky about it as well, so that's why...

Kickin: ....

OK so it's not ACTUALLY this..... sort of. He likes normal ice cream nearly as much as Bubba, but specifically to piss him off, they'll go to a parlor and order whatever makes Bubba look like he's going to spontaneously explode. He also thinks it's pretty cool to be the only one ordering these options, and cherishes the employee's (player, in this situation) look of shock and disgust. He usually ends up mirroring that expression once he actually eats it, but it's all worth it.

Hoppy: Smoothies!

It's a win win situation for her. Smoothies are extremely versatile, and can be used for healthy purposes to keep in shape, but she also likes sweet Smoothies as well, so 😋

Picky: C A N D Y .

Guilty pleasure, for sure. Fruity, sweet, chocolatey, she's certainly not picky about candy.

And that's that! Sorry about the short ones, I still have trouble characterizing them to this day but I'm trying and I had fun making this

[kenora-pizza]

My Thoughts on "Emily in the middle"

Based off a conversation I had w/@mean-scarlet-deceiver in the comment section of this post of theirs, because Tumblr comments have a word limit that I wasn't aware of, and I'm in the mood to speak my mind on this.

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Alright. So. Emily in the middle. The last appearance of Donald and Douglas in the TV show, and imo, a pretty crappy one too. The Caledonian twins, (Donald in particular) are my favourite TTTE characters for multiple reasons, and there are many things in this episode which irritated or straight up pissed me off. And I've been holding these feelings in for months.

Now, to be fair, I did like some things about this episode. The visuals are gorgeous, and I love how they brought back the twins' season 20 theme from 'Love me tender.' They also carried over this thing introduced (and heavily featured) in 'Love me tender' where Donald acts like he knows better than Douglas, much to the latter's frustration. I REALLY wish they could elaborate further on this in another episode. Like maybe this behavior has been a constant but only now is it getting worse. Maybe this behaviour is related to the fact that Donald had to smuggle Douglas into Sodor, and started thinking of himself as the one who had to take charge and keep them both safe. Maybe it's from some sorta paranoia Donald developed regarding their status on Sodor, and for some time after the events of "Deputation," he still felt the need to protect and ensure that Douglas would remain on Sodor. (I don't know, I just came up with this). And the episode concept itself can be considered humorous, but imo, it would have been better with Bill, Ben and maybe Boco, Mavis or Edward.

First off, might as well get the obvious out of they way. The twins are HORRIBLY out of character in this episode. From the get-go, they're arguing about anything and everything, to the detriment of them and the engines around them. The TV show, especially in the CGI era, unfortunately started shifting them towards the very overdone trope of "They're twins and they argue a ton," but they went the whole way with it on this episode and it's flipping awful to watch. Especially at the end, when poor Emily got derailed by a snowball (while we're on the subject of that how the flying fuck did that thing get so big so quickly?) and they started blaming each other for the accident instead of helping or apologizing to her. Also doing seriously irresponsible things like stopping a HUGE ASS train on the main line and blocking the Express, and stopping the same train on a steep incline and leaving Emily to hold it while they bickered and chased each other up the hill. I mean honestly, they were acting more like Bill and Ben: Indistinguishable twins who frequently argue with each other over petty bullsh!t. The Caledonian Twins are absolute badasses who get sh!t done and clearly love each other very much. So why ruin them like this, Mattel?!

Second off.....this is something to do with a specific event (Brace yourselves for a long-ass explanation). In "Break Van," one of the notable events is Donald ramming a signal box (I'll explain). It's played off as an accident, but the book HEAVILY implies that this was intentional, with the line "But Donald didn't say what he was sorry for. We know, don't we?" and Douglas saying "Anyone would think, that Donald had his accident on purpose!" That's a huge wink wink from the book to the readers. And when you stop and think about it, Donald's motivation for this becomes clear. Think about everything that has happened to them thus far. Smuggling Douglas onto Sodor gave both of them a lot to lose, Douglas especially. By the time "Break Van" happens, Douglas has screwed up twice. And then the cherry on the top comes in the form of that motherf%^king Spiteful Brake Van making him late. At this point, the twins KNOW that Douglas is in TFC's black books and would be the one sent home after the trials if nothing is done. So to make TFC's decision more difficult, Douglas would either have to do better, or Donald would have to do worse. Donald chooses the latter option and it works, with TFC explicitly confirming this.

Now, In EITM, Douglas has been telling Emily about various incidents involving Donald from past seasons, and eventually start talking about the signal box incident. And given the significance of that event........it felt pretty darn scummy to hear them making light of that. That made me feel uncomfortable. Like... it's less "heehee, Donald is clumsy" and more "Donald purposefully injured himself and destroyed NWR property in an effort to keep his brother safe." I can see why Donald would be especially angry about this. It couldn't have been painless ramming into that signal box or fun getting lectured by Sir Topham Hatt, only for his brother to make light of it by laughing about it behind his back with another engine. And while we're on the topic, considering the bond between these brothers you cannot, in ANY WAY, convince me that Douglas would EVER talk sh!t about his brother behind his back to another engine. EVER.

Last off.....god, I REALLY feel for Emily in this episode. She may not be one of my absolute favourite characters, but she didn't deserve this, at all. I actually do like the idea of Donald, Douglas and Emily being a fun little trio, and I wish that it could have been done here.

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Ok wow, this turned out way longer than I expected for my first written Tumblr post. I hope people actually read this. If you reached the end, thanks for reading.

Also, if you wanna see something funny related to EITM, @jammyjams1910 did a fan dub of some scenes from the episode which had me laughing my ass off.

-Kenora

[electricprincess96]

anti Talia rant incoming, specifically about the topic of Talia being a abuser. Very all over the place, ignore if you must.

To reiterate what you've said in your "Talia sexually abused Jason" posts, It's so completely a gender thing. They infantilize Talia to such a degree to minimise her actions (and blame her actions on another characters such as Ra's or Bruce) and act like Jason, a literal teenager (who I always though was younger than 17 when he was resurrected), has the agency of a fully grown adult. This is such a dirty tactic because they're basically erasing Jason's victim status and rewriting Talia to be either a victim or a saviour depending on their mood.

Even if ages weren't a problem (even through they are), Talia was his captor and had been isolating him while purposely lying about/omitting important details (Bruce did try to avenge Jason...promise) that would have lead to Jason making radically different decisions and seeing Talia in a different light. There is no way that anyone can. in good faith, say that Jason was fully capable to firstly consent to sleeping with Talia or secondly was on the same level of power that Talia had in their relationship. (and they wonder why they get called rape apologists)

Jason was a vulnerable child and Talia was an abuser who was in a position of power over him who decided to take advantage of him. End of story. Nothing more.

It reminds me of every single last post where Talia is posited as the victim/passive one of any situation (someone tried to act like Bruce slept with her when she was nineteen or something despite the comic they were referencing wasn't canonical since it was released *wink wink* and her being age being revealed to be 150 during the Lazarus Affair which is also non-canonical now due to the Crisis event) and that Bruce held all the power in their relationship ignoring that fact that she: lied to him on multiple occasions, withheld information, played both sides, ignored/overstepped boundaries etc. Or they act like the reason the relationship fell apart was due to Bruce's wrongdoings. Not that Talia would always side with a terrorist organisation that obviously disagreed with Bruce's morals.

Another thing that pisses me off in relation to Brutalia (I know Jason's your favorite guy, but Bruce's mine so a lot of Bruce from here on out) is just how they have no self awareness when posting "cute" moments about them. No the moment between them in No Man's Land wasn't cute, no that moment wasn't cute either. Like the whole marriage between them was creepy. I'm tried of downplaying it to avoid annoyed fans and I'm tried of them being oblivious to it.

She drugged him, kidnapped him, held him on a boat and married him without his consent (all while ignoring his rebukes when he came to). That is Grade A creep behavior. It wasn't cute, romantic or something people should be posted acting like it's a step closer to Brutalia being canon. Are my modern sensibilities strong, yes, (and I absolutely understand that "innocent" things can age badly) but that doesn't mean it wasn't creepy.

Then the whole Bane debacle *slaps face*. I hate it when someone is like "Well, Talia was abused by Bane, meaning that what happened to Bruce/Jason doesn't matter because she'd never do that in the first place cause she's the only victim". (Never mind she abused Bruce before Bane happened) That isn't a point. Anyone, past victim or past abuser, can be abused. There's no rule book dictating how can or cannot abuse.

Something else which is funny to me is that for no other character, except Poison Ivy and Harley, will stans do Simone Biles mental gymnastics for their character. Like I do remember people saying Doctor Light was character assassinated but no one every accused people that mentioned the fact that he was a serial rapist of ableism or hatred of abused characters or something stupid. I never see Slade stans come out of the woodworks to accuse Tara of seducing him or consenting to her abuse. I never see anyone try to educate fandom on the history of Deathstroke to try and act like it was such a horrible thing they made a mercenary who on multiple occasions tried to kill teenagers, forced Tara to be a double agent, abused his kids and Cass (I'm pretty sure) also be a child molester.

Like did people forget that Talia was a part of a eco terrorist organisation that had multiple plans to cull most of the Earth??? What's not clicking? Why is the idea of sexual abuse soo out there for her, it's not her worst crime by a long-shot. It's that fucking meme. Y'all can excuse genocide but you draw the line at rape???

*sigh* sorry for this long-ass brain vomit.

Please rant away, we've all got to at times.

And yeah, Jason may be my main fav in the BatFam but unlike a lot of Jason fans I love Bruce, I hate the bad writing that's circled both Jason and Bruce basically since UTRH (it set up something fantastic... and then Bruce "died" and we got Ginger Jason which... less said about that the better).

As for Jason's age if memory serves me correctly he was 15 when he was properly resurrected and dug out hus grave but closer to 17 when she throws him in the Lazarus Pit cause he spends a close to a year on Gotham Streets(how'd he survive, don't know, comic logic) and at least a year being cared for by Talia before Ra's tells her to stop playing nursemaid. But I could be wrong, regardless he was definitely under 18 and regardless as you point out the power dynamic makes the ages irrelevant anyway, there's no version of this story where he can reasonably consent because he can't reasonably say no. Coupled with the fact she does in fact fill Jason's mind with all this bullshit about how Bruce didn't seem to care enough to avenge him when Bruce thought the Joker was dead after the UN incident and was basically suicide for months after that until Tim came along (and even then, he was never really the same after Jason's death).

Talia is absolutely just as much an abuser of Bruce as she is Jason, I bring Jason up more because he's my fav and also it is a bit more generally known by fans than ALL the shit she did to Bruce throughout the years so it's easier to point to it when trying to articulate my overall issues with Talia.

Like Talia is an abuser of men, and that predates her supposed "character assassination" and has always been a thinly veiled part of her character. On top of all that she is a literal terrorist, and whether they like it or not the very environment that is fostered at the League would result in her always been at the very best a mediocre mother. Now, yes, Ra's is also an abuser, but being a victim of abuse does not allow someone to then become just as abusive. Ra's is not entirely responsible for Talia's actions. She's a grown woman, in many ways more capable than her father, she can say no. Likewise, the Bane shit, as you say, happened after a lot of her abusive behaviour towards Bruce, and still doesn't justify HER abusive actions. Talia can be both a victim and a victimiser.

And yeah, Deathstroke fans will admit they don't like the Tara stuff, they'll often choose to ignore it, but they won't blame the underage girl for it. I don't mind Slade myself, don't love him, don't hate him. His fans are a lot less obnoxious that some others I've met so they don't make me hate him the way some other fans do with their favs.

It really is simple if Talia was a man and Bruce/Jason were women no one would argue it was abuse. And the single worst thing for me is that fans will depict her as some deep love of Bruce's life when I'd argue a lot of his other love interests, not just Selina, are all much better written with more chemistry with Bruce and he doesn't have to be wildly OOC to justify the relationship. OR they'll depict her as a surrogate mother figure for Jason when she literally raped him. Like Jason absolutely needs a surrogate mother figure, one that doesn't take advantage of him, but like... he could go talk to Diana, or Dinah, or Selina, or almost every other female Bruce has ever spoken to because they are all significantly better options than Talia.