#can y'all tell i really like drawing pearl. she's fun to draw

[daily-hermit-gals]

day 63 - art club stuff

#cleo was a warmup 😭😭 #zombiecleo #pearlescentmoon #can y'all tell i really like drawing pearl. she's fun to draw #traditional art #daily doodles

[kerenitychan]

this is stupid lol but like , i've been drawing everybody wearing the friendship bracelets so i feel like i owe y'all an explanation as to why the *fuck* squid would be wearing/have made one in the first place. i'm still working of a picture of the gang actually making them but yeah. basically the friendship bracelets act as a "you see this squid? , this is a symbol of you're stuck with us and we have your own permission to kick your butt if you act like a jerk" they don't wear them a lot cus, ya know all them bracelets can be kinda uncomfortable and annoying but they do wear em every now and then especially when they've planned an outing cus friendshippp

" BECAUSE I LIKE YOU! " Squidward heaved , trying to catch the breath he lost in his tantrum as he defeatedly locked eyes with the man before him . Spongebob scoffed. He wasn't even sure anymore when the fight started or what it was about but it sounded like his teal haired opponent was reduced to his last trump card, again. The one he knew would usually defeat the sponge, but not this time. He was so tired of this. " Yeah yeah I know, *hmpf* 'you don't really hate me' even if you regularly remind me. And maybe somewhere deep down you can stand me. I get it Squid you have that revelation twice a year, it's getting old. " He sighed crossing his arms as he tore away his gaze to look at the floor in disappointment whilst the other blinked before reaching out, more in an attempt to materialize answers from thin air then anything else, as he started again, still panicked and frustrated. " H- no! It's not....Agh! Look I don't! UGH  why do you have to make this so DIFFICULT! " " I'M making this difficult!? This ...this-this SHERADE has been going on for 10 years squidward! " Cerulean eyes pierced trough carmine ones with a look of rage, confusion, and frustration as the man threw up his freckled arms in desperation before they slunk back to his sides with a huff of defeat. To which the guilty scowl on the cephalopods face deepened. " Look I-ugh. I was TRYING to say that I like you. Not just that I don't hate you, which I also don't... do? Too many negatives. ANYWAY...I...I uhm....I don't like admitting defeat I- I uh, I guess... ehm an-  and I have a  hard time accepting things sometimes ... and I guess- I guess I just bottle things up until I explode... " He grimaced and looked around, vaguely gesturing . " Which is why we're discussing this stuff at 3 AM in the pattyvault instead of at home like normal people, ...I guess. " Sponge blinked a bit snapping out of it...oh yeah, right, squid was sneaking out and eating patties behind everyone's backs instead of ordering one every now and then like a ding dang normal person because for SOME INSANE REASON  he seems to insist people will ... will... NEPTUNE KNOWS WHAT HE THINKS PEOPLE WILL DO WHEN THEY FIND OUT HE LIKES PATTIES! HE'S JUST BEING SO- SO ARGHHHG! That last grunt escaped it's mental confides and rolled out between the gap of his buckteeth. " I just. I don't get it Squidward you ALWAYS do this. With everything!!! With anything you KNOW is fun!!! With everyone you know you actually like!!!  with....     With me...  Forget it, I'm just gonna...  go count the sesame seeds, I suppose.  Just... Don't fill up on patties until you explode again. " He turned around shaking his head with a sigh to head to his destination, but was brought to a halt by a suction cupped hand wrapping around his wrist " Spongebob wait!" A sigh. A grimace. A deep breath. " I. Am. Sssorry.  There, I said it, I'm sorry! I don't want whatever this is to keep going either! I just.... I am.... I am afraid of change, I guess?  You always say things will be fine but what if they're not???  I'm not lucky like you Sponge!  Destiny always seems to want good things for you but my karma is ATROCIOUS.  KELP! I could land in a hospital just for thinking about my karma! "  " Well then that's even more reason to try!!! Your "karma" wont get better if you don't! " " Ugggghhh I, You- This-  GAH! Can we talk about this some other time!? All I'm gonna get out at this rate  is more nonsensical rambling I'm gonna regret saying because: It's LATE, I'm EXHAUSTED and I STILL haven't     had a darn krabby patty! " " Then just eat the darn thing and get on with it because I'm not letting you chicken out again! "  " Can you at least close the door for a minute and give me some privacy! "  " YOU ARE GOING TO EAT A ���ING BURGER,WHAT PRIVACY!? " Oh... wow... a... that was... that was a swear. ....Spongebob just swore. ......uh-oh. Squid's really gotten himself thrown in the deep end now. He gulped nervously before submissively nodding and taking a bite of his burger... oh sweet mother of pearl it was good!  Neptune! Why does he always deprive himself of things he wants so bad?  Oh, right. Because he always has to make a big show of telling everyone that he actually hates the things he likes and he would DIE of mortification if he ended up having to admit defeat like a.... like a loser. With a light shake of his head he brushes off the thoughts and focuses on savoring the taste of his burger... 1 because he really needed one and wants to enjoy it. And 2 because ...ehm... he's a tad scared for what awaits him when he's finished. Spongebob was rarely enraged to the point of screaming,.. to the point of swearing and when he was he was a force to be reckoned with, Squidward knew that much. He peeked over in between bites to see his colleague standing there, arms crossed and impatiently tapping his foot, he was scowling so hard his buckteeth were hidden behind a pout and his eyes were squinted to half their normal size.  " How is it? " It was near impossible to gauge what kind of reaction the blonde wanted by his intonation, he was curt, near emotionless, ... Sarcastic? Squidward gulped down what he was chewing and smiled sheepishly.  " Just as good as I remember...heh. " " Hmmhmm. I bet. " Oh boy. With another awkward chuckle squid finished his burger before taking a deep breath.  " Had your fill? " " Heh, eh y-yeah. I kinda want more but I don't want a repeat of the last time. " " 3 times. " " H-huh? " " you loaded up on patties until you had to be hospitalized THREE TIMES. " The freckled man's gaze got the octopus who normally towered over him shrinking in shame before him. Just a little short of going into a fetal position.

" Why do you do this Squidward? What on earth does karma have to do with you being a stubborn seamule about things until they go horribly wrong!?  You could just order a damn patty every now and then, EVERYBODY loves krabby patties, no one would blame you! But no mr. Tentacles is too good for a krabby patty, mr. Tentacles would rather be miserable until         the kettle boils over and he loses control! " That got a huff out of the other who gathered some courage to stand up straight and glare back. " That mocking mr. Tentacles talk is exactly why! Because I am trying to uphold an image here, and the moment I don't live up to it I know damn well that everybody here will jump on the opportunity to remind me that      I'm just a poser! That I'm not actually the hot shit I pretend I am! That I'm lucky they even tolerate me breathing the same water! That I should feel honored anyone is willing to admit they're acquainted with me! That   I don't actually have any talent! That I'm....that I'm just.... That I'm a nobody! A filthy peasant! A wannabe show-off! That I'm a-a ... a...  That I'm a LOSER.  " Squidward clenched his fists, sniffling trough heavy breaths, he's not sure when it happened but he started crying. Oh Neptune this is humiliating. He feels kinda dizzy, oh please don't ink! This is bad enough as it is! As he looked up defeatedly his eyes met blue ones, glittering from the moisture collecting in them as a scowl made way for a worried frown. Great, somehow sympathy felt worse then rage. " Squidward... " " No, please just...  don't. That's what I meant with 'I'm just going to ramble'. Pretend I didn't say anything. I gah- " He yelped as he suddenly found himself in a tight embrace. Of course. He grunted uncomfortably and squirmed a bit trying to break free from the surprisingly strong hold his normally rather weak companion had. " Sponge I'm serious let's just pretend tha- " " Nu-uh! We, we're done pretending anything! Squid please! Talk to me about these things! " Two watery blue eyes look up at him, accompanied by a deep frown and trembling lip that only deepen the pained feeling in the octopus's chest. " Please. I'm here for you Squidward. " Gahhhh why does he always! Why is this always so! And he just! And, oh blowfish. He's crying again. " That's the damn problem here ! You have Patrick and Sandy and your parents and whatever stupid friends you made in your clubs to fall back on if you mess up! I..... " He sighs and against his better judgements, feels himself lamely hugging back, tiredly resting his chin in fluffy bottle blonde hair as he looks up at nothing. " I can't go to mother, she's not getting any younger and she's worried about me enough as it is, I can't stress her out more....  Father would just tell me to stop being a baby and man up... he'd mean it well but that doesn't mean it's any help. And "friends" I have acquaintances I guess, people I know by name that are willing to say hello to me.... I used to think Eugene was my friend but he's chosen being a boss over being a companion time and time again  so... I only really have only one friend... and he's used to me not treating him as one. So what if.... what if I did make an effort? And he starts expecting things from me, but I start chickening out or relapsing or decide I can't do it after all and he finally gives up on me!? I wouldn't blame him... I would have given up on me years ago... but I'm not sure what I'd do when I end up being completely on my own in this ..." Oh jeez... now Sponge feels bad. Obviously Squid has been struggling with this for a long time, he could tell he'd been struggling with his own happiness ever since he met him really... he pouts and gives his tall friend a comforting squeeze. " Well... have you tried talking to him about it? " A lame chuckle was the response before  he was slightly pushed back so the teal haired man could look at him with an awkward lopsided smile and a shrug. " I'm trying to right now. Heh. " A blink. 'Trying to right now'? Another blink. 'Only one friend that's used to not being treated as one' ? The gears in his spongey head were turning. 'I would have given up on me years ago'? With one more blink the short man started looking around wide eyed before carefully pointing at himself with a trembling hand. " Muh... me? " " No I'm talking about the krabby patty. yes you! Ever since you moved in next door... well before that really, ever since your little weirdo butt started "growing his first house" next-door you've been pestering me day  and night! With your incessant laughter and unconstrained joy and endless creativity and unmatched imagination and- and... and I just... I just... I kinda wish I could have been a part of it...  without having to be the mature adult that's too good for your childish games I guess? " Squid shrugged sadly before his friend released his grip on the hug, to instead take hold of his hands and make determined eye-contact. " You still can be part of it squidward... it's not too late, I told you didn't I? You're one of my best friends, I'll always have your back. You don't have to act a certain way or do specific stuff to be a mature adult you know? I've seen you Happy and exited before.... not as often as I'd like. But that's when you feel most you  when you're in a good mood and forget about who you 'should be ' for a moment.... I want to help you feel like that more often. " A soft sad chuckle left the octopus who shook his head and rubbed his teary eyes with his free hand. " You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. " " I think I've got a pretty good idea. " He chuckled back with a playful look. " Wait hold up I have an idea! " " Huh? What are you doing? " Squid blinked watching his...friend. Yeah, his friend. As he fumbled with something on his wrist before tugging at squid's arm. " Now, I want this one back because Patrick made it for me but that's gonna be our first friendship exercise! " He beamed a shiny bucktooth grin revealing the colorful macrame bracelet he transferred to the other's wrist. " Tomorrow you me and Pat are gonna get together and we're making this friendship official with a 3 people set! Oh maybe we could finally convince sandy to join, she never wants to do crafts with us.  She always says it's boring and starts karate chopping everything." " Wait- hold up, what? Friendship exercise? Official? Crafts? Karate chopping? " " Well yeah! I told you mister! No more pretending anything, we're gonna go out there as friends and you can be tsundere about it all you want but that's final " " I can be what about it???? Wait no never-mind that! Look don't you think you're going a bit fast here???? Do we have to do this, like... now??? And so... publicly???? " " Yesss we dooooooo~ " The blonde singsonged as he playfully flicked the other's nose " No more snail-footing around squidward! You're miserable and as your friend it is my duty to help fix that! So starting tomorrow we're doing this friend thing and you're gonna try or so help me I WILL get the                   ticklebelt! Nyahahahaha! " A sigh turned into a chuckle as Squid shook his head before he erupted in laughter along with his freckled friend... oh boy. What has he gotten himself into now??? " Hawhawhaw! " " Nyahahahaha! " " Hawhawhaw! " " Nyahaha. But seriously, I will. I  know where they keep the spare key to the mermalair. " " Huh? "        

#my...Stuff i guesss #not really art #just drabble #i wrote this for myself at some point but it's become so engrained in my personal canon that i can't not share lol #squidbob? #but like #early platonic friendship squidbob #sponge is tired of yo shit squid #squid is just tired in general #this is gon be good for him #he wont like it at first tho #i just copy pasted this from da idk if the format is fucked lol

[skoopedy]

I assume that, like the Continued War AU, the Cryptid Steven AU doesn't have any posts on this blog yet?

AHH, hello, yes, you're quite right on that one, fam--

But, Continued War AU has two posts now, actually! And I'm slowly but surely working towards making a third post, where I show off Pearl's design for the AU! They can be found in the CW AU tag!

Aside from that, however, Cryptid Steven AU is just a fun little idea that I'm playing with right now! It's definitly not as big of a project as Continued War is, and thus isn't as big or as thought out as said AU. It's more of a play of my own original idea of a POPULAR "what-if" that's been going around the fanbase for a while now, so I wasn't really as keen on sharing it until I at least fleshed things out more - which would take a bit since it's on the backburner. It's also not as plot driven, and really it's just an AU that I wanna mess around with for the hell of it rather than to tell a story.

I also have some ideas for multiple other AU's, like my Stranded Blue AU (where Blue Diamond gets stranded on Earth during one of her secret trips to Pink's palanquin, and thus has to wait for homeworld to find her so that she can go back home...and she waits...and waits.), but those are all on an even FURTHER backburner!!

To put it into a numerical list of just how much content each AU has and how invested I am into an idea:

1. Continued War AU (two posts - over 11+ pages of worldbuilding and outlines, multiple drawings made. I am into this idea the most.)

2. Cryptid Steven AU (No posts - a few pages worth of outlines and a few WIPs.)

3. Stranded Blue AU (No posts - A single page of a measly outline. No doodles.)

4. Everything Else - ABSOLUTE FUCKALL

I hope to someday make one huge post for Cryptid Steven too, but I want to wait until I actually have more content to show! I'm willing to talk more about the idea, if you or anyone else is curious! I don't plan to make anything big from it like CW AU, so I don't have worries about telling y'all spoilers! If you'd like to know more, shoot me an(other) ask c:

#marti rambles #theterrifyingrenegadeteenager #ask #steven universe #this got way longer than I expected #I amn just that desperate to talk about my au's #thank u for the ask!

[ckret2]

tumblr you need to stop deleting the question when i edit an ask:

What characters can you think of, that you like, fall under unhealthy obsessive romance?

Sit down we're gonna be here a while.

God is anyone gonna be surprised if I cite the yandere trope? Is anyone gonna cringe away if I say Gasai Yuno from Future Diary? No? We're all good? Okay.

Yandere characters are really hit or miss with me. Too often, I've seen yandere characters portrayed like their bloodlust, their willing to kidnap their beloved or kill potential romantic rivals, is working in tandem with their apparent sweet, affectionate, self-effacing devotion—rather than in contrast. Like a yandere character who's willing to draw blood is an exaggerated romantic ideal. I'm not about that. To me, a proper compelling yandere is a horror character disguised as a cute love interest.

Yuno pulls that off. Even as Yukki gets used to her and even begins to grow attracted to her, he still remains very reasonably terrified of what she might do—and his terror is validated by her actions. What really sells her for me, though, is the series's awareness of the arbitrary nature of her obsessive love. She flat-out tells Yukki, the target of her obsession, with shocking coldness and self-insight, that she doesn't love him because he's really that unique or special, but because he was there and she needed someone. When it feels like so many generic dull lead boys "win" the attentions of the cool interesting yandere for no obvious reason as a sort of wishfulfillment, Yuno's open acknowledgment of Yukki's plainness and the arbitrariness of her own affections would be a great deconstruction of common yandere tropes, if it wasn't for the fact that Yuno was basically the codifier of the modern yandere archetype.

Another character who hits all the right yandere notes is Tarantulas from the IDW Transformers comics. Mad scientist who makes wicked inventions for a high-ranked military officer who's rattled by the brutality they inflict together and terminates their professional relationship by attempting to terminate the scientist; scientist comes back from the apparent dead to kidnap the officer with the help of a gang of terrorists, blackmails him by threatening to reveal confidential information about the officer's army that could tear it apart from the inside and that the officer has gone to great lengths to keep hidden, reveals that he's invented a way to make enemy soldiers effectively invisible and untraceable, and shows off his secret lab powered by a devastatingly powerful superfuel that he's invented... and then reveal he doesn't want revenge, but for the officer to be his partner in crime again, and all these wonders will be used FOR him instead of AGAINST him. He calls the officer his "muse," and feels like he can't reach his peak scientific potential without the officer there, requesting new weapons and acting as his inspiration.

He's willing to burn down the universe if his muse wants it or burn down the universe if his muse scorns him, he kidnaps him just to beg him to be his partner, and he does all this despite the fact that the officer destroyed his life work and tried to kill him. It's fantastically messed up.

Moving away from the yandere archetype: Venom—comics Venom, from their intro through the 90s and then again once Mike Costa got hold of them—is a fantastic obsessive love story, about two people who reject everything that both of their societies defines as normal and acceptable in order to be with each other, and are incredibly tender and affectionate and mutually supportive; but like, they also validate each other's worst beliefs and tendencies in a way that lets them egg each other on into oblivious villainy, and even if "live with and for one and only one person, literally in 24/7 physical contact," is normal and psychologically healthy for the symbiote's species, it's not for a human being. Impressively, they're SO obsessively codependently in love with each other, that they each independently decide that they want to be the best possible versions of themselves for each other, and violently wrest their relationship from the jaws of toxicity in order to become an emotionally mature couple with a support system, outside friends, and the ability to communicate about their fears and insecurities, and it's a beautiful thing. It's too bad nobody's written anything with Venom since Mike Costa's run ended, but I'm sure someone will bring them back around eventually.

The knight-in-love-with-their-liege trope is one that appeals to me in theory, but in practice I basically never see it written as zealously as I'd like, so I usually have to headcanon it up myself. Pearl in Steven Universe is the only solid canon example I can think of that hits all the right notes for me.

Not strictly canon but: Drift from Transformers, who goes from grim street rat survivalist to bloodthirsty mass murderer to repentant ninja vigilante to faux-spiritual warrior with weird flashes of extreme violence while under the wing of four different mentor/leader figures, I like to interpret as a serial zealot whose repeatedly shifting morals and loyalties have nothing to do with his newest leader actually convincing him of the righteousness of their perspective, and everything to do with Drift's becoming smitten with their charisma and being willing to reinvent himself completely to conform with his new beloved leader's worldview. Drift's last writer even ship teased him pretty heavily with leader #4 (for any of y'all that don't read Transformers: not like "ship teased" in a queerbaity way, Drift eventually hooked up with a different dude), and he's shown to go out of his way to perform roles that he thinks will impress leader #4; so like, there's some canon basis to read him like that—even if my main reason is "because I want to."

I also like to slip in shades of knight-loves-leader in how I write Zim being shipped with a Tallest; the unhealthy, destructive obsession with them is definitely canon, even if the romance isn't.

"Characters that are otherwise emotionless for scifi/fantasy reasons except for ONE emotion and that emotion is love and therefore they get really obsessed with their love because it's the only thing in their void of a life, but it's not portrayed in a cutesy 'robot learns to feel' or 'demon is saved by love' way but rather in a 'this is almost as unbalanced and unhealthy as not feeling anything at all was' way" is like... a trope that I keep writing but don't think I've ever actually seen done EXACTLY like that in canon. The Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts are good for this—I've written them as having meaningless sex to try to counter the fact that they can't feel emotions, on the justification that sexual arousal is a physiological sensation rather than an actual emotion but is still close enough that they can almost feel a feeling, and end up getting extremely attached to their cooperative let's-pretend-we-can-feel sex partners. (i realize that physiology and emotions can't actually be disentangled like that but like, it's fantasy.) Axel, you can argue, latched onto Roxas in what can be (and often is) read in a romantic way, also arguably sheerly on the merit of the fact that Roxas makes him feel anything at all.

Shockwave in IDW I've also used to played around with this idea, although I haven't published the main work I've done that with. Yet.

And from what I’ve seen, it looks like the main character in Yandere Simulator is gonna have a backstory kind of like that? I’m looking forward to that game, haven’t played any of the demo versions yet but what I’ve seen from the dev’s videos looks fun.

Also: very frequently, unrequited love. Especially secret unrequited love. "Unrequited-to-requited love" doesn't fit the bill at all. It's gotta be perpetual pining. There's NO satisfaction. The longing just builds and builds eternally, until the internal pressure causes something to shatter. I can think of ships I like to imagine this way (Drift w/ any of his mentors, Starscream/Wheeljack, Hashirama/Madara, Ψiioniic/Sufferer), but off the top of my head no canon ones that reach those dizzying heights of eternally unfulfilled yearning. Sure, plenty of stories have unrequited love—but rarely the all-consumingly obsessive kind, and even more rarely is that portrayed as—oh! I got a couple canon ones, albeit more villainous/predatory ones: the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera and that dude with his mouth stitched shut in the Abarat books, I haven't read those in years. And some spins of Dracula and Mina, although it's no fun if she loves him back. You can also do this with Hades and Persephone, although for this to work it's imperative that Hades still feel like he doesn't actually "have" Persephone even if she's contractually obligated to live with him so long as she doesn't love him, and just sort of wistfully watches her from afar whenever she's in the underworld. (But to be honest I generally prefer "Persephone and Hades: Hypercompetent Goth Power Couple" to spins that lean on Persephone being an unwilling unhappy victim.)

The further I go down this list the more obscure and/or headcanony these examples are gonna get, so I think I'm gonna stop here. But feel free to send any follow-up questions if u wanna hear me ramble more about my extremely specific tastes in romance.

Shoutout to "The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight" by Blind Guardian for being a song that captures peak romanticized out-of-control love.

#(im not tagging all these fandoms) #anonymous #ask #yandere #(correction im tagging exactly ONE fandom for a follower's tumblr savior) #mtmte

[sourgrapelaffytaffy]

Things from my viewing of Spongebob the Musical at the Palace Theatre, December 24th, 2017

Act 1

-when Patchy started to chant "yo ho we won't go" everyone joined in

-lots of the songs had added lyrics

-Bakini Bottom Day had an extra verse AND a reprise (sung by Spongebob) which was the "why can't he see?" And had a line "Mr. Krabs let me make you proud" AND I CRY??

- the sound effects are so good?? Every step is marked

-"See you at work, Squidward." Spongebob linked arms with Squidward

- Squidward: "the world is a miserable place." Spongebob, lacing his fingers w/ SW: "But it's our miserable place!"

- No control had added lyrics and was swapped with the BFF song

-"everyone knows you can trust the government!"

-Karen didn't beatbox in Going gets Tough, she joined in at ending

-Plankton did like an extremely fast rap and it was amazing!

-that Simple Sponge key change tho!!!

-Spongebob was there during the money song, wearing one of Pearl's dresses

- Mr. K opened up draws and boxes to reveal a ton of money

-when Pearl sang "can you hear me at all?" Everyone started going nuts!

-"Are you with me metaphorically until we actually start with the town saving?" "Yes I'm with you!"

-"My mind is an enigma."

-Sandy kicked a "land mammals go home" sign in half!!

- during "look at all the new friends that I have found" Spongebob looked really hurt!!

-Super Sea Star Savior was one huge party and I loved it

-"fine. Go. I don't need you." Was so heartbreakingly sad and !!!

-Spongebob looked ready to cry after Patrick left and he didn't even try to move when more rocks fell

-when Sandy started to sing, Spongebob nodded slowly and sadly and i cannot

-Karen and Plankton could not keep their hands off each other. Like?? They were running their hands on each other's arms and I swear these two will be the end of me??

- Squidward tries so hard to be noticed and I'm proud of him for trying to put himself out there!

-"loser" is what everyone called Squidward in the 3rd grade, but his mom was super supportive and encouraged him to do his best!!

-"You are not a simple sponge. You are not a simple sponge. You are not a simple sponge."

-"Enjoy your last intermission ever."

Act 2

-poor pirates was so fun!!

-Spongebob's goodbye to Gary was so sad!!!

- in the panicking city, Patrick was running away from his followers

-Sandy and SB marched in sync towards the mountain

-Karen and Plankton had this device to create an avalanche to stop Sandy and Spongebob

- The electric skates were VERY cool

-"My leg!"

-Chop to the Top was amazing! They were climbing all over the place it was so cool!

-the I miss you song was very sweet.

-"C'mon Spongebob! This mountain won't climb itself!" "!! Unless-" "IT WON'T CLIMB ITSELF, SPONGEBOB!"

-"I'm a pretty squid, mama!"

-when the electric skates call Squidward a "loser" it was like a stab to the heart for him and the audience

-When Squidward started his song, his voice was cracking and he looked so sad and SAVE HIM

-Squidward's song got so much applause, both in and after the song

- he tap danced and it was amazing!!!

- I'm so glad I saw Gavin Lee? He's just so amazing

- You can tell SW just wants to prove his mama right and you want him to!

-while working on their device, Karen sticks her leg up in the air.

-instead of "Sheldon" Plankton asks Karen to call him "big guy" and she does and she does again and again AND THEN THEY KISS

-POWER COUPLE

-PATRICK IS A HERO

-"I'LL SAVE YOU SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONGE" *gasp* "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOB!"

-I don't know how Ethan climbs up all those latters, but kudos to him

-"On three? Or after three?"

"One, two, three HUH!"

-"LISTEN TO ME!" bless Patrick for finally speaking up. I'm proud of him

-Best Day Ever made me cry

-When Spongebob started singing, Squidward was the first person he smiled at, but Squidward just kind of shrunk away

-Squidward looked ready to cry I felt so bad

-Karen and Plankton waltz?? It was so cute!

-Squidward genuinly smiled during his part??

-When everyone held hands, Karen and Plankton held each other's before anyone else's

-Squidward was on the end and he had one hand on his heart and he was looking up AND YOU CAN TELL HE WAS THINKING ABOUT HIS MOM AND HOW HE MIGHT SEE HER IN A FEW SECONDS AND I CRY

-When Plankton and Mr. K curse at each other Patrick, Sandy and Spongebob did the "hear/see/speak no evil poses"

-Sandy doesn't forgive the town's people. She says "I just don't know if I can trust y'all again." And Spongebob says "You don't have to...just give them another chance?"

-"Is mayonnaise an instrument?"

- the end song was so good and everyone was screaming the theme song and I loved it

#spongebob the musical #spongebob #long post

[mage-cat]

Unbubbled, Chapter 5

Holy cow, it’s finally done, the plot-necessary chapter that’s going to lead to the fun character stuff that really likes to play out in my brain. I did fit in a funny scene that’s I’ve loved to giggle over since before I knew it was going to be Bismuth that would be in it, so I did have some fun with this. I hope you all enjoy it. The wait for the next chapter should be much shorter.

Story under the cut. Link to the AO3 version can be found through here.

Peridot's practice range was around the back of the Barn. There were a handful of roughly-made bulls eye targets and a larger number of poles of varying heights and distances that she began to place empty cans on top of. At the same time, Bismuth began to lay out the contents of her bag.

“These are supposed to have some spin when flying,” she explained as she placed the shuriken and chakrams on the ground. “It wouldn't matter much if you want to control their flight all the way to the target, but if you want to launch and left them go, they'll still cut through the air better if you put that spin on them. The other options I have here are a bit less picky about how you handle them.”

Peridot snickered as she extended her powers to take control of the weapons Bismuth had brought her.

Bismuth grinned, “I swear you little ones are always the most vicious.”

“And here Lapis always says that it's because I've spent too much time around Quartzes. My longest assignment was in a Quartz Kindergarten. Maybe something did rub off, but I think you have something there. The Shorty Squad has more to prove.”

After a few minutes of watching Peridot make her first experimental throws, Pearl turned to Amethyst. “Why do you care so much about this whole Jasper situation?”

“Something she said while I was losing that fight to her: 'You could have been me.' It's true. The only difference between me and Jasper is luck. And then she called me a joke.” Pearl looked to be about to say something but Amethyst cut her off. “Oh, don't act like me being a joke wasn't at least a little on purpose. Do you remember what y'all were like when y'all found me? Y'all needed a laugh bad, and that turned out to be the first thing I was actually good at. I was always going to be the smallest and least experienced person on this team, so I settled into being a joke. It wasn't until Steven came along that I realized things didn't have to stay that way.”

“And it was awful seeing her corrupt like that,” Steven added. “Even if she is scary, she was hurting.”

Peridot was paying enough attention to the conversation to join in. “It's easy for me to forget how intimidating Jasper can be to someone on the opposing side.”

“How can you forget that?” asked Amethyst.

Peridot shrugged as she launched a shuriken. “Jasper's only scary when she's your enemy, and she's never been mine. She was a guard at my last Kindergarten for centuries. Within the bounds of Homeworld's dislike of sentiment, she could be considered the closest thing to a friend that I had.”

“You said just being around her made you tired,” Steven said, confused.

“Being around allies does not make her any less fond of high drama. Being on a ship just the two of us plus Lapis, who was saying as little as possible, was exhausting. The difference between her and a lot of other guards was that I could tell her she was being exhausting. Not every Quartz is perfectly safe for non-combatants to be around. Especially not fully-trained ones. It's amazing what they can get away with within regulations, even more if they can keep a straight face while they say you provoked them and the Agate doesn't like you very much in the first place.” A chakram glanced off of a soup can.

Steven was about to ask a question when Amethyst put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Now wasn't the time to ask Peridot to elaborate.

Peridot turned to Bismuth, floating a few throwing knives in front of her. “I think I like the feel of these best.”

“Good choice. The knives can be used for close quarters in a pinch better than the other options.”

“They also seem to do the most damage at a distance,” Peridot said as she examined fallen cans' new dents and holes. “Though these ball bearing things come close.”

“That's slingshot.”

Pearl snapped her fingers. “That's what it is! I've been trying to place them all day. It's been so long since I've seen slings on a battlefield that I couldn't think back any farther than muskets. Remind me to give you a primer on gunpowder later, Bismuth. We've never had much use for the stuff, but it never hurts to keep track of human arms development.”

“Keep the shot. There's not much I could change about how I make that, but I'm going to want to try a few different knife ideas. Do you still have that aluminum scrap? It could be useful.”

“I have a small mountain of it. Does aluminum hold an edge all that well? It's not something I've needed to know before.”

“That's something I need to test, but the lower density would let them fly farther and faster. The speed is where most of the punch will be coming from. I'm going to leave some of the shuriken and chakrams here too, just in case you want to give them another try.”

After they filled the empty space in her bag with crushed aluminum cans, Bismuth asked Garnet, “Are we still good on time?”

“Leaving soon would be best.”

As Amethyst pulled Peridot aside for a more private goodbye, Pearl took Bismuth's arm. “I assume that you'll want to head back to the Forge as soon as possible.”

“Not if this is you asking me to stick around for a while. On the other hand, Doll, you're more than welcome to come with me. You always have interesting input.”

“I actually want to start drawing up a list of warp pads that we might be able to move. Now that you're back to stay, the length of that hike to the Forge is going to get bothersome quickly. Still, perhaps we can walk to the Temple and you can use the warp there instead of the closer one?”

Steven chimed in, “It's a beautiful day for a walk. Amethyst and I can hang back so it feels more like alone time.”

Amethyst returned. “I can't promise we won't make fun of you two, but we'll keep it quiet enough that y'all won't hear it.”

“That all sounds like a good plan to me,” Bismuth said.

Steven turned to Garnet and Peridot. “I'll be back. I've got Buddy Budwick's journal at the Temple, and I think Lapis might want to see it. He recorded some stuff about the pyramid. There's a drawing of a mural with Celestine in it in there.”

“That could be very helpful. Thank you, Steven,” Garnet said.

The walk to the Temple was nicely uneventful until they reached the boardwalk where they heard a voice call out, “Ms. Pearl! There's something I need to discuss with you!”

Pearl and Bismuth stopped as they turned toward the voice, Steven and Amethyst soon catching up to them. “Oh, Mayor Dewey. Bismuth, this is Mayor William Dewey,” she said as the man in question walked up to them. “He's the democratically elected leader of the human settlement.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bismuth said.

“Likewise,” the mayor stuck out his hand. By Bismuth mirroring his actions, they navigated a handshake with a minimal level of awkwardness. Once that was done, he turned to Pearl. “Another new recruit?”

“Oh no, quite the opposite,” Pearl said as she tightened her arm around the smith's. “Bismuth was with us for a very long time, and we're thrilled to have her back.” She leaned against her. “Especially me. What was it you needed to discuss?”

His face turned red as his eyes repeatedly skipped from Pearl's face to Bismuth's to their entwined arms. He pushed up his sleeve to look at his bare wrist as he said, “On my, is it really that time? I'm afraid I must be going. We can return to the muscles, I mean, the matter later.” Bismuth blinked in confusion as he beat a hasty retreat.

Once he was out of sight, Pearl's theatrical cuddle turned into a slump. “Oh I hope that's the end of that. The man has been trying to flirt with me for the past decade. It's been incredibly tiresome, but it's too important to maintain good relations with him as the human authority of Beach City for me to be as blunt as I would like to be.”

Amethyst doubled over laughing. “Oh man, Pearl, that was brutal. You couldn't have let him down a little bit easier?”

“That would have meant letting him think there was any chance of me ever thinking about him romantically. Even if I did see the aesthetic appeal in human men the way Rose did, which I don't, I met his late wife, so I know what he would expect from a relationship. I swear the only difference between the typical politician's wife and a Pearl on Homeworld is that a wife is not expected to open doors for her husband.” She sighed. “The gender situation has improved so much in the past century, yet some people take such pride in being 'old-fashioned'. I'll never understand it.”

“After being part of that performance,” Bismuth said, “are you sure you don't want me to stay with you a little longer?”

“No, no,” Pearl said as they stepped onto the beach. “We both have work that needs to be done, and we'll get it done better if we aren't around distracting each other.”

With the romantic mood now actively in the process of being killed, Steven thought it was a good time to voice a question that had been on his mind for the whole walk. “What do you think would happen if I tried to heal Jasper?”

“I honestly don't know,” Pearl answered. “That really is more of a question for Garnet.”

“Where would we even keep her?” Amethyst asked. “We can't just kick Lapis out of the Barn, and I couldn't even start listing all the problems with her staying in the Temple.”

“There's the Forge,” Bismuth said. “It's safe and isolated, though it'll less isolated once we move the warp pad.”

“Corrupted Gems can't activate the warps. Not even if they're half-healed,” Steven said.

“Not sure if I would call a place filled with more kinds of sharp objects than I knew existed counts as 'safe' though,” Amethyst added.

“I would like to see someone try to fight me on my home turf with weapons I made for other people. Selenite needed to do a lot of talking after she split from Lapis Lazuli. This Jasper is probably going to need the same. I'm good at listening. I want to help.”

“Of course you do,” Pearl said fondly. “We still need to run it past Garnet before we do anything about it.”

“You're right, and it's best to let her have her talk with Lapis first.”

#cat writes #steven universe #fanfiction #bispearl