#go new york millenials!!

[snackugaki]

...visdev really is my enrichment activity for i am just a bored tiger in my enclosure, looking to figure out how to get this steak out of this metal ball.

________

my tmnt au (where everyone made it past their 20s, splinter’s alive just old, venus is here, and they deserve some goddamn respite and shenanigans)

tmnt au part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

tmnt au omake 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

lny visit 1 | 2

also uhhh... i guess still idw, next mutation, and like 1 mirage spoiler? mostly for the kids who haven’t but were planning to read/watch

you’re about to perceive so much

p r e p a r e

so close to getting this AU looking as crunchy as i want it, almosttttt tttthhhhhere...!

just somewhere tasty between Mignola’s use of deep black shadow, what MTV Liquid Television woulda greenlit re: The Maxx, a dash of 2007, 1 part Next Mutation, 2 parts funny proportions

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh str ugglingggg

Leo’s shortest because haha (family baby gang, get rekt)

this is so much thought for something I’m just doing to give these turtle ninjas some softness and the genx/millenial pop culture references gag comics

Splinter is full of ghosts

(specifically the onryo borne from the murdered Yoshi Hamato and Tang Shen [because oroku saki a bitch])

[ redacted ] and Tang Shen’s ghost gained control and guided Splinter to raise the boys in love and not [ redacted ] to [ redacted ] in [ redacted ]

Splinter was just a regular little rat... who on his 1000th birthday witnessed the death of his friend/unwitting master and his wife, and thus transformed into a wrathful kyūso (minus the kitten eating) and chased Shredder until losing his trail in New York

Shredder’s fuck around and Splinter’s rampaging as the find out caused the tengu to repo some of the mysticism from ninjutsu

now all the (remaining) ninja clans debuffed and mad about it

The tengu bestowed the ninja the ability to summon shit (kuchiyose), enact mystical effects upon people and objects (kuji kiri), going invisible, minor flight (actually just qinggong/light body technique), and manipulation of the 5 elements, and creating doubles (bunshin)

but again, Shredder fucked up so now ninja can like barely control anything bigger than a lit torch or a 16 oz bottle of liquid and that’s if you got in enough hours to do even that

I mentioned elsewhere but for me in any AU I make, Venus is a cultivator and the more I think about it the more I will die on this hill, not only does it fit better than her being a “shaman” or “shinobi” it’s sick as fuck

Jennika’s origin was pretty fkkn metal, she still falls in with the Foot, gets shanked, Leo gives blood-- bam, turtle time

Jennika goes to hang with Venus in China and get a better understanding of her new turtle body

Keno’s here, still tried to infiltrate the Foot (with Jennika) but bugged out when she couldn’t stay without being made (Jennika refused to leave womp)

teaches Leo some arnis techniques for Leo’s dual wielding; Donnie also just in case his bo is shattered... again. :)

Irma has made all the boys blush at least twice

Irma is also soap opera buddies with Splinter

they meet up at least twice a month to gab, gush, and groan over what’s currently going on in their stories, when Venus visits she also joins in, Irma also has a conversational grasp on Japanese and Venus’ regional dialect because of these visits

April has a full out shoujo manga romance with Chu Hsi

and he’s a hot dragon prince uhuhuhuhuhu

Irma is privy to all the steamy details

keeping Leo and Karai as character foils

both received scars from one another

both released each other from sealing wards from [ redacted ]

now they just meet every so often to eat the greasiest fast food and unclench of an hour

Raph still gets his ass worked by Ninjara, folded like an omelette sat on a lawn chair

Vam Mi is also here, she’s fought first (because honestly she should’ve been either brought in earlier in the season or had a few more episodes because that shit coulda resolved better)

Venus is brought to NYC for this antagonist instead of Dragonlord escaping (and murdering her father figure forcing her to seek out his friend Splinter for aid)

Donnie doesn’t take the news of real vampires or real magic well

Donnie and Venus have a knock down drag out fight over it (because they’re 17 at this point and being li’l shits to each other about their respective fields of expertise)

“The nerds are fightingggggg!” cries Mikey, Leo and Raph don’t believe it so imagine their surprise when they get a demo in real time on how scary competent staff fighters are

Leo gets Splinter when one of Donnie’s missed strikes cracks the concrete

Splinter breaks them up like talking a walk in the park and it’d be comical if they both weren’t bleeding from the mouth and peppered with swelling contusions

Venus begins accepting Donnie when his tech prevents her from becoming a thrall of Vam-Mi

Donnie begins accepting Venus when she uses a massive amount of chi to manipulate gravity just before he becomes street pizza when Vam-Mi throws him off a bridge

they also combine skill sets to save Mikey so there’s that

Venus goes from calling Donnie, “Horatio (derogatory)” to “Horatio (affectionate)”

they now have a dumbass long-as-fuck handshake that’s unforgivably nerdy 

April is still a magic drawing-brought-to-life baby, Venus puts her in a painted scroll when she starts phasing in and out of existence (she and Chu Hsi have a great time in the scroll... while everyone is shitting bricks until Venus and her sect stabilize her and get her made real, Pinocchio style)

April’s grandmothers gifted Venus 2 pieces of jade jewelry, and her family’s recipe for sweet potato pudding respectively for saving April

the boss fight against Dragonlord is dope as fuckkkkk, Chu Hsi is being cool as fuck, fiddled with some concepts* that has Leo and Karai being a champion of Genbu, Raph for Byakko, Mikey for Suzaku, Chu Hsi’s retainer (a good dragon, wink wonk) steps in for Seiryu because Donnie and Venus are siphoning and redirecting an enormous amount and variety of mystical power

*i’m just pulling from fushigi yugi honestly

splinter, the boys, and venus (and others) mutating from mutagen laced toxic waste was a pure accident

Splinter was investigating a lead on Shredder’s movements concerning the Foot the same night an animal liberation sleeper cell ‘freed’ some animals from the back of a pet store (that was a front for black market domestic and exotic animal trafficking) that is also the same night a stolen truck driven by some corporate spies filled with a competitor’s chemical waste, which then collides with said liberation sleeper cell’s truck and... ooze happens

Leatherhead, the Mutanimals, Mondo, Mona Lisa, Slash also get mutated from the events of that night, either leading up to or following the aftermath

plus some others etc etc

Venus still washes down the gutter, gets rube goldberg pinballed onto a crate of plums where Chung I finds her and still gets named Mei and taken to live in China and eventually learns to cultivate

Tokka and Rahzar get made, and unmade ala TMNT II; the mutagen made them a little silly tho, April adopts Rahzar and passes him off as a low content wolfdog, Leatherhead takes in Tokka

April went through a couple of major changes so now she’s a journalist with a computer programming background who now does a podcast as an informal neighborhood news reporter with a segment for chatting with people from around the street

Mikey’s the most frequent guest and co-hosts sometimes; Donnie troubleshoots free of charge

Venus brings her province’s regional delicacies when she comes to visit, Splinter and Leo both get pu er tea cakes (she managed to get one the same age as him; Splinter is too old so she got the oldest she could find, Leo has so many tea pets and a nice yixing collection); Raph, Keno, and Casey fight over the pickles, meat jerkies, and chili oil; Mikey has an artillery of cool shirts and a lifetime supply of haw flakes, Donnie has a mountain of doodads with increasingly specific uses, April gets neat accessories and the occasional care package sent with Venus from her grandparents, uncles, and aunties; Irma gets neat frames and coats that never fail to get a “Where did you get that??”

Raph rides a Kawasaki Ninja because it’s funny

A lot of bodegas give Mikey free snacks because the bodega cats love him, and he’s also saved some from being run over or ripped apart by stray dogs or the few large angry raccoons

Donnie’s the only one of his brothers to wear both a top and bottom with shoes because once he figured out how to integrate a motherboard and miscellany wiring onto clothing... he’s been a walking computing menace ever since

Splinter does his best to enjoy his time with his sons (because as a kyūso, he knows the chances of outliving his precious sons is very high (ᴗ‿ᴗ✿)  ...give or take one of the many opponents and obstacles his sons take on takes him out first ( ◕ᴗ◕✿ ) )

god whathefuck, I was just going to make silly comics for them. how did it come to this.

#i'm so curious #some of you kids tag this shit as 2003 #and i'm ??? #i'm not subtle about being an elder millenial #or about who my childhood turtles were #i love trash #i love the next mutation #like is it to keep your tag active? #i feel like it's probably the thing #where someone assumes they're interacting with someone of their same xyz #which honestly? fair #a lot of the TMNT fans I see are 03 or 12 fans #there's a few other Turtlemania survivors around that I see #but not a lot of us #:( #...i'm still laughing at that poll #with the arbitrary age cut off being 37+ #sorry poll op #it's just... it was literally oddly specific #ba dum tss #if you know why I used apples as a measurement... #...hahaha you also like Sanrio #if you know who I based Irma off of... #can you blame me #Nadia is who Irma would be #if she kept the cheek but mellowed out a li'l #so much weird shit happened to her #so of course she'd simultaneously be #blase cheeky and wry #visdev is my enrichment activity

[buckybarnesss]

Bro, the noise I just made. I literally cannot stand the fanon for Stiles or Derek. It is so so soooo bad, I think these people literally have only seen the 2 hour sterek compilation. Every day I am like "who fucking told you people that Derek never smiles and has no sense of humor?"

Stiles gets turned into this big eyed, kitten twink who wouldn't dare to misbehave because he's the sheriff's son (the kid who gets drunk in the WOODS, and gets his dad drunk so he can steal casefiles!!)

Derek like... He is either completely useless and cannot dress himself for a date without fanon!Laura (do not get me started) telling him what to do, or he is so emotionally repressed and damage that he can barely handle someone kissing him without him falling to pieces.

LIKE. Derek smiles. Derek makes jokes!! Derek laughed at Stiles right before the pool scene. Derek knows how to use a cellphone and a laptop. Derek is a goddamn millenial, he knows what grumpy cat is. He knows he's hot, he has a mirror!!

Also... the man lived in New York fucking City. He's not afraid of crowds or talking to people or making out, he uses sex to get his way (Erica and the deputy at the front desk!!)

i know.

like, there's a period of fics that are usually from the s1-2 period that lean pretty hard on derek's dark, brooding and grumpiness from season 1 but of course he was like that. he was going through The Horrors during season 1. he was grieving laura, he was being retraumatized by kate and dealing with scott, stiles and fucking jackson.

he wasn't one dimensional though. his anger was a mask for all the fear, confusion and trying to be in control.

do you know how many fics i've read where people have stiles think about all the apparent physical violence derek has done to stiles as if he's always slamming him into surfaces? way too many to count and it's incorrect. off the top of my head i can count 3 times derek did something like that to stiles. the shove into the wall and slam into the steering wheel in wolf's bane both of which had a point to them. whether or not it was a good emotional response doesn't matter. what matters is that they were not random or part of derek's personality. he didn't just shove stiles into things every time he saw him. the wall shove in s4 with de-aged derek was a deliberate call back to that very instance in wolf's bane. it was literally coupled with the whole cousin miguel bit.

fandom doesn't like to acknowledge that derek hale isn't particularly violent over the course of the show. he hardly even wins the fights he engages in and he is often forced into fights knowing he cannot win.

our boy mostly ends up on the fucking floor.

derek also does make jokes. dry ones usually he thinks they are hilarious too. he thinks he's a funny guy. his dad joke game must've been off the charts, sorry eli.

he and stiles trade barbs a lot and he thinks stiles is funny. stiles amuses him and he indulges it a few times. he shows off to stiles too like a loser.

he likes to fuck with scott and stiles and enjoys taking the piss out of peter. he genuinely enjoyed fucking with liam in s4.

he's not a luddite either. he has a cellphone and we see him use it. i bet he plays games on it. i bet he plays candy crush and words with friends.

and fanon evolved to strip away that stiles is an asshole. he a violent little freak. he threatens people, he expresses regularly his desire to kill people or have them die, he cares about a very small selection of people in his life and if you're not in that circle than god be with your ass because stiles most definitely won't.

he loves and respects his father but this doesn't mean stiles respects the law which is why i don't know why the law enforcement route was chosen for him. stiles hates rules and boundaries. he chafes at them.

stiles casually helps kira and scott break into evidence to get her cell phone. he tells scott's fbi agent father to fuck himself. he got his dad drunk to get access to case files. he copies people's keys. he's a nosy shit.

the whole show started because stiles was a nosy punk kid who wanted to see a dead body.

but i digress.

fanon stiles had a lot of scott's characteristics projected onto him so they could bash scott. i know there's a lot of people who don't like scott which is fine or whatever but there are so many that do it so they can make a pinata out of a character they've extracted all the good points from and give to their favorite little white boy fav.

stiles "i will beat you with a bat" stilinski is a freaky little shit who will bite you.

do you know how hard i laughed when in s3 stiles and isaac genuinely just like could not stand each other? they couldn't be in the same room with out insulting one another and it was the complete opposite of stiles being oh so sensitive to isaac's past and history than straight up in 3b stiles the epitome of insensitive says to isaac something about still milking it (his abuse). stiles is a dick.

i also genuinely have umbrage with the pack mom trope that stiles gets saddled with. the way fandom has oft feminized stiles leaves a bad taste in my mouth too.

derek and stiles are both assholes and i love them very much.

#my blog #teen wolf #thoughts on teen wolf #sterek #derek hale

[gwilymz]

filthy f*cking rich--part three

hey! here is part three; i made it quite a bit longer, as it’s more of a build up chapter + i have a wild couple of weeks coming up, so im not certain i’ll have time to write a lot! i hope you enjoy, and please don’t forget to give me feedback; i love reading your thoughts for motivation!

Synopsis: Filled with guilt about what happened, you debate telling Rava, but don’t want to ruin everything you’ve built. But you’re certain it will never happen again, so what’s the harm in leaving out the truth?

Word Count: 5.1k 

Warning: Mention of drugs/alcohol, very tiny allusion to SA if you really squint

What was beautiful about October in New York–the molting trees, chartreuses turning to ochres and the visible metamorphosis from alive to dead–was gone, replaced with the silver sleet of brand new snow, the christening of December in the city. You were cold–freezing, actually–waiting for the subway. It was a Thursday, your least favorite day of the week. The day when every menial, trivial little thing you did each day before began to catch up to you, and you asked yourself: what the fuck am I doing? Waking up at seven, class at eight, and then another, and then another. Picking up Iverson and Sophie from school, pretending you had money, privilege, the comfort of the elite family you were paid to blend into three nights a week. Seeing their life, it made you wonder why the most wealthy always seemed to be the most wracked with unfathomable stress. Was that what made them rich? Was it that seething inability to let go, that primal drive for the top slot, the make-believe ceremony into the glistening one percent?

The job was almost depressing. Depressing, because you liked it so much, and eventually, you had to go back to shitty studio apartments and bugging millenial men at hole-in-the-wall bars for free shots. It was easy; Iverson and Sophie weren’t perfect kids, but they were fun, smart, independent. That fun age where they weren’t indoctrinated into thinking everything was so dumb and embarrassing. And, they were exceptionally excited, curious. Plus, you liked Rava–no, you loved her. She was charming, funny, beautiful, charismatic: the list goes on and on. And on and on if you really thought hard about it. But that was the thing about her. You didn’t have to think hard. You could smoke a cigarette with her in the backyard, you could tell her about boy problems, and she could tell you about failed first dates, and how hard she was trying to make amends with her husband, who she iterated, was her soon to be ex-husband. You were open with her, and she wanted to be more than just the woman who paid your rent and then some. 

Which is why you felt bad, arriving at Rava’s apartment that night. It was dark outside but only seven, the time of the year where you felt productivity should be a choice, a two hour obligation at most. You knocked on the door, rubbing your numbed hands together. Your fingers were prickly, but the anxiety in your stomach prickled more, explaining why you hadn’t bothered to eat all day. You had thought that burning, profound guilt in the pit of your gut would have subsided by now, at least a little. But, in fact, it had just gotten worse. Every joke, laugh, hug–everything you shared with Rava was tinged with that bitter tang of betrayal, and it felt disgusting.

Rava answered the door, pushing some dangly earrings into her lobes, long, delicate and gold. You stupidly wondered if Kendall had bought her those. 

“Hey, Y/N!” She smiled, ushering you in. “I’m so sorry for taking long, I thought Sophie was answering, I don’t know where she is–fuck, I’m flustered.” She shut the door behind you, slipping the other earring in. “I’m going on a date tonight, I thought why not, you know?”

You bent down, untying your sneakers. “Hey, no judgement. If anything, it’s a free dinner. But I hope it goes well, better than the last one at least.” Kicking off your shoes, you stood up. Rava took your coat, always so hospitable. 

“Yeah, no shit. Anything could be better.” She rolled her eyes, big and brown. You knew why Kendall had married her. Fuck. “Speaking of dates, I kind of went on one with Kendall. Last week.”

You tried not to give a reaction. “Oh, shit, Rava, how did that go? Should I be offering my condolences?” You quirked your eyebrows; your interest had been piqued. 

“Um, it was interesting. Pretty bad,” She admitted. “Could tell he had snorted a line–or four–before; he practically begged me to come out to dinner with him, talked himself up to me for an hour and then confessed he was still in love with me.” 

You were somehow shocked, yet unsurprised. The meaning of mutually exclusive seemed to not exist anymore. “Wow,” You walked with her to the kitchen, where Sophie and Iverson weren’t listening; they were tuned in to their iPads, dead to the world. “I mean, is he wanting to get back together, to scrap the divorce? He seems very unstable, all of this behavior, at least leads to the thought.”

“Unstable doesn’t even scratch the surface, Y/N.” She poured you a glass of water. “Do me a favor, don’t marry a rich guy. It seems fun, but they’re fucking insane. All the money with none of the emotional availability. I swear I never knew what the fuck was happening with him until we split up.” She waited for you to take a sip, lowering her voice. “Yeah, he does want to get back together, actually. I–don’t want the kids to know. It will get their hopes up, and Kendall is kind of fucking infamous for doing that to them–to everybody, actually. I just can’t though.” 

“Understandable,” you quipped. It was. “That’s just–I don’t even know what to say.”

“Me neither, I didn’t know what to say. Or do. I just wish he could move on. I want to be friendly, of course, but I can’t deal with the whole wining and dining and acting like I owe him something. He’s barely here, and when he’s here, he’s not here, you know? I just wish he would fuck someone else, get a distraction. Like, I wish I didn’t have to be the bitch anymore.” She was flustered, visibly annoyed by him, by the ordeal, by its effect on her children. She took a sip of tap water. “Listen, I’m sorry for dumping that on you. You’re young, no need to worry about marriage and all that. Seriously, revel in your youth. I’m jealous of you.” And just like that, she shrugged everything away. Off her shoulders, and onto your own. She hadn’t meant it that way, but your back was starting to become sore from carrying the shards of unspoken promises, broken and heavy. 

You laughed, trying not to let your anxiety seep through its guilty sound. “You don’t have to tell me twice. But seriously. I think the distraction is good. I don’t know if you feel guilty about the dates, but don’t. You deserve somebody new. A distraction, at least.”

Rava clutched her hand to her chest, bunching her eyebrows together. “Y/N,” She cooed. “So sweet. I seriously am so lucky to have found you. Fate’s mysterious, isn’t it?” 

And then she left, huddled under the arm of a tall attorney, blond and smiley, full of laughs that sounded genuine. Kendall would probably despise him. 

Resting your head on the kitchen island, you sighed. Rava had sent the kids upstairs to finish their homework, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Thus began the tri-weekly tug-of-war between whether to maintain your innocent, clueless veneer or to tell your boss-slash-friend that her ex-husband-who-stil-loves-her fucked you six weeks ago. Rava was right; fate was mysterious. And in that particular instance, you fucking hated it. 

–

At eleven-thirty, the kids were asleep. Probably not, but they were in their rooms, at least. You were on the couch in the living room, working on a final paper, something simple, but time consuming. Feeling a low vibration under your butt, you fumbled to grab your phone. 

“Hey,” You answered, opting to put earbuds in to quell the noise. “What’s up?” It was Libby and Amelia.

“I mean nothing, just procrastinating. You at Rava’s?” Amelia asked. You could hear her lighting a cigarette. 

“Yeah, she’s on a date. I’ll probably be here ‘til one.” You closed your laptop. 

“Long date.” Libby chimed in. “Listen, we are going out tomorrow. You’re fucking going.”

“No, I’m not.” You laughed, running a hand through your hair. 

“Dude, why the fuck not?” She groaned.

“I’m tired, for one. I just paid rent, for two.”

“Shut up, Y/N, I know your hourly rate.” Amelia took a drag, stifling a small cough. “No need to be coy about it.”

“Can I say something? ‘Cause Amelia and I have been talking about how fucking weird you have been.”

“Since when? It’s nothing personal, I’m just tired. Once finals–”

“Okay, no.” Amelia interrupted. “Ever since, like, fucking October, you’ve been weird. And we were kind of backtracking to see if it was something regarding us, but we think it was that club.”

“Okay, you’re backtracking now?” You scoffed. “Why are we sleuthing? And what club are you talking about?” Of course, you knew exactly what club. You hadn’t even stepped within a 100 foot radius of a club since that night–a hard feat for living in Manhattan. 

“The last time you went out!” Amelia responded, lighting another Camel Crush. “You went home with that rich guy, and we are concerned, is all. Not trying to pry, it just feels like maybe–”

“Maybe what?” You heard a door open upstairs. Getting up, you moved to the bathroom to your left. 

“Maybe he–” 

“Okay, no. I appreciate your concern, but no. It was good.”

“That’s great, Y/N, and you don’t like, owe us information, but we also think it’s weird you are kind of refusing to tell us anything about it.” Libby added. 

“Yeah, I know. I haven’t told you guys anything about it but–” You sighed, turning on the faucet to drown some of the noise out. The thing was, you really shouldn’t tell them. You wanted to. You also didn’t. The best option–the logical option–was to bury it deep down, hope to forget about it, and pray that whatever force of fate which created this depraved dynamic wouldn’t be cruel enough for Kendall to figure out it existed in the first place. But, keeping it locked up felt wrong, and who would your friends tell? They’d never meet Rava, nor Kendall, nor the kids. It had an allure. “Fuck, I can’t.”

“Okay, we really don’t want to pry but now we have to fucking know. So, we’re prying.” Amelia said. 

“Drop the mysterious shit right now.” Libby muttered. 

“Fuck! Okay!” You needed to tell someone. Any third party. You were surrendering. Your throat was dry, and it felt like a sign for you to keep your mouth shut, to swallow these poisonous words and hope they didn’t fucking kill you.  “I have to whisper. Even then, I really shouldn’t.”

“Is it actually that dramatic?” Libby asked. 

“Okay, shut up.” 

And then you told them. About his finger caked in coke, the flirty remarks and stolen touches at the club. The private driver, the perfect penthouse, the dirty sex, the heavily connoted name. Kendall Roy. 

“And?” Libby scoffed. 

“And.” You swallowed; there wasn’t a sound on the other lines. “And, my boss. Her name is Rava Roy.”

Both of them gasped simultaneously. “There is no fucking way.”

You shushed them, content on keeping the contents of the call within the safe haven of the downstairs bathroom, hidden in the cranberry candle scented air. “And I don’t need it getting out. To anyone.”

“Okay, well.” Amelia urged.

“Well, what,” You whisper-yelled.

“If you didn’t know that he was their dad and her ex beforehand then obviously he’s not very involved–”

“--Yes, meaning he is a piece of shit, deadbeat dad. And that he’s likely a privileged little slut.”

“--Also meaning, there’s like, no chance he will find out. Or that she will.” Amelia continued. “He was a good fuck;  it was a coincidence. You didn’t even know until after the fact.”

Libby interrupted. “Yeah, I mean it would be completely different and fucked if you had known the whole time, but you didn’t so, just a freaky coincidence. Big whoop. It won’t happen again.”

“Yeah, I mean I guess, but do you at least see why I’m freaking the fuck out?” You asked. Realizing the water was still running, you turned off the faucet, pressing an ear to the door to listen for any eavesdropping or the soft padding of socks downstairs. Sophie was keen on midnight snacks. 

“Yes,” Libby replied. “Definitely.”

“Plus,” You interjected, leaning your back against the door, assessing that the coast was, in fact, clear. “Rava confides in me and tells me a strange amount about their dynamic. Last week he like, tried to fuck her and confessed he’s still in love with her and that he wants to get back with her.”

“And does she want that?”

“No, but–” you sighed. “I really fucking like this job, and Rava and the kids and the fucking money. And I’m just fucking guilty. And I feel like this means he’s like, wanting to be more present in their lives, which is good, but also sucks because I don’t want to be a bitch, because Sophie and Iverson deserve that but–”

“Okay, Y/N, take a deep breath. It’s okay.” Amelia interjected. 

You sighed, taking her advice, holding your breath and counting to ten. “I want him to be better for their sake. But if I’m here three nights a week, and he’s back in their lives consistently, I’m bound to see him eventually.”

You hung up, not wanting to keep thinking it over, not wanting anyone else’s mistaken advice. You could quit, but there were practically no pros on that side of the chart. You would lose your income, have to get a job that required actual labor, and get paid a quarter of your current wage. Plus you would lose touch with Rava, and the kids. 

And maybe, just maybe, the tiny little devil on your shoulder was also a little bummed that you would be further removed from Kendall. Because as much as you had thought about him within the context of Rava and your job, and Sophie and Iverson, you also couldn’t stop thinking about the way he kissed you and how the bassy sound of his voice in your ear made your back arch. And that–admitting that little pang of disappointment stemmed from a small crush on Kendall Roy–was what pissed you off the most about the entire situation. 

–

Friday night came quickly, and you had forgotten about your ordeal, as you had so endearingly decided to call it, a shorthand for the cause of your biweekly panic attacks and the reason why therapists near me was your most recent Google search. It wasn’t by your own doing; Amelia and Libby had all but forced you to take a few tequila shots with them, a celebration of the weekend and a triumphant end of the fall semester. 

“What club are we going to?” You asked, fake gagging as you handed Libby another tequila shot; a smell akin to hand sanitizer and nail polish remover wafted into your nose.

“Not a club,” She responded, slamming the shot back. “We thought it might be a little more wise if we eased you back into things.”

“Ease me back into things? So a bar?” You laughed, holding up two different tops, a silent inquiry as to which one fit better for the occasion. 

“Not a bar either,” Amelia pointed to the black one, a low cut and lacy number that was somehow as slutty as it was classy. “Some guy invited us to a party at his ‘big boy house’ as he called it.”

You dropped the shirt onto your bed, confused. “What the fuck?” Pulling your t-shirt off over your head, you turned to face them. “What guy? We are not going to some random guy’s ‘big boy house’.”

“I don’t remember his name. Don’t think he gave it to us.” Amelia shrugged.

“Okay, well that’s somehow the least of my concerns right now.”

Libby shimmied into a tight dress, pulling the straps over her arm. “It’s fine. We can check it out and see how many people are there and dip if it's sketchy. No big deal.”

Amelia shrugged. “We just thought it was a different scene. If you really don’t wanna go–” 

“--No, I’ll go. I’m just high strung right now. If this guy holds us hostage in his closet, though, I’m fucking killing you both first.” 

“Yeah, fair,” Amelia leaned out your window, smoking a cigarette. The night was cold, the cars on the street more obnoxious than usual, thanks to the taupe sludge which lined the streets and gutters of every corner of the city. “Trust us, though,” She exhaled. “He really does not seem like the type to have it in him.”

“Yeah,” you quipped. “That’s kinda the point–it’s how they always get away with it.” 

“Well then, we might as well make the best of it and have fun.” Amelia took a swig of warm pink lemonade; it was the only thing available to chase with. 

“Okay, do you want to take the subway or walk? Walking is a little longer, but I’m not sure about the delays.” Libby sat next to you, pointing to where you were going. 

“The Upper East Side?” You zoomed in on her screen, sighing. “I guess it’s not, like, horrifically far, but how did you even get in contact with this guy?”

“Coffee shop in the financial district. Libby was on coffee break from her internship.”

“Yeah,” Libby interjected. “I mean, he was telling a lot of people about it. It was weird, but like, we don’t have anything else to do.”

“Yes, it is weird. Very American Psycho.” You pointed to the fastest route, settling on taking the subway to conserve your energy. 

“Like we said, we will see. No problem.” 

You arrived at the address around one, regretting that your sherpa lined coat wasn’t draped over your shoulders. You had only had to walk a couple minutes from the station, but it was one of those sharp, heavy colds that stung your nose and pricked your skin immediately upon contact. 

There was definitely a party; bassy house music seeped through the floor-to-ceiling windows, floating downwards to where you stood. Libby dialed someone on her phone; he was under the name Tall Party Dude. 

“Hey,” She said. It seemed he had answered quickly. “Me and my friends are outside. Do I need to buzz, or–”

You could hear through her phone the lively chatter around him. It quickly got shut out by the slam of a door, the padding of clicky footsteps down cement stairs. “Okay, yeah. I’ll just come let you up. Sorry ‘bout that.”  

Libby hung up. “See?” She shrugged, alluding to his meek demeanor. 

A lanky man opened the front door, sheathed in sweat and a look of pure discomfort. He smiled sheepishly at your group, ushering you into the building. The sound inside was pure, uncontaminated; it was obvious nobody else lived in the building, although there were obviously multiple units housed inside. 

“I’m Greg,” He waved, ducking down to climb up the stairs. “The elevators don’t really work right now. Not very accessible of a building, but–”

You all introduced yourselves, taking in the magnitude of the penthouse with a childish awe. The ceilings were massively high, causing the music to float and echo, bouncing off of clean, white walls. There was little furniture inside; it looked like it was barely lived in, a skeleton of a home, just for sleeping, and well, parties, you guessed. It reminded you so clearly of–

“Kendall!” Greg pushed through a small group of boys who looked to be about your age, a flock huddled around the kitchen counter. 

Holy fuck. You spun around, searching for refuge: a chair, a place to blend in, the easiest exit, a balcony, even. Amelia and Libby were already smoking a joint with two men who looked to be pushing thirty-five and forty. 

You could have left; the door was huge, inviting, and right in front of you. Calling to you. But you knew your friends would get worried and follow you, plus you didn’t want to ruin the night; Libby and Amelia had been over the moon when you finally agreed to coming along. Taking a deep breath, you told yourself–and the tequila-drunk devil on your shoulder–that you weren’t going to talk to him. No, you weren’t even going to look at him.

–

Greg ran a hand through his poorly-gelled hair. He didn’t think it was that poorly done, but Tom was getting fed up being Greg’s version of Mr. Miyagi for business etiquette, so he had promptly given up on the task of fixing Greg’s physical appearance. His dopey-awkward-young-man look would have to suffice, and God, that boy was lucky nepotism existed.

“Hey, Kendall,” Greg cooed, grabbing his wrist. He was after the little paper straw grasped between Kendall’s pointer finger and thumb. “Let’s just go easy tonight.”

Kendall shooed his hand away, pulling his wrist back. “Fuck you, it’s a party. I just fuckin’ gifted you this home. Let me live.” He flicked his baggie of coke, the fine white powder jumping to coat the sides. 

“Yes, you’re right. But, like, you’ve already done some tonight, and I just feel like there’s a lot of people you could talk to here. Like, women and stuff.” 

“Yeah, I know I’ve done some. Coke, I mean.” Kendall scoffed, cutting three lines with his credit card. It was heavy; the dark chrome shimmered under the dim, overhead lights of the apartment as he moved it languidly. “And now,” He sing-songed. “I will be doing some more!”

“Come on,” Greg attempted to take his sacred paraphernalia, but was quickly blocked by Kendall’s free hand, which slapped him away hurriedly, giving him just enough time to bend down and snort. It felt like a cat fight, like he was seven and being bullied by his much older, brooding brother. “You said you wanted–pussy,” Greg whispered. “I feel like this is a good time to go for that. And maybe to chill. With the drugs.” 

Kendall guffawed, using his thumb to wipe the fallen powder from around his flared nostril. “Greg,” He slapped a hand on his shoulder. “I think it would be a better idea if we got you some pussy. You are fuckin’ ridiculous.”

“I don’t know I’m not–”

“Not what?” Kendall leaned forward, taunting. His elbows rested on his knees, sleeves rolled up. His arms were warm; he could feel his heart pulsing through his wrists; it was fast, fluttering, and seemed to coincide with the bass of whatever clubby song was coursing through each chamber of the apartment. “Cousin Greg, do you have something to tell me?” He feigned shock. 

“No, I don’t, I just–”

“Greg, there are so many women here. Just, like, look around and–” Kendall gestured to the entirety of the apartment; it was organized like the sea. Schools of people weaved around each other, occupying the kitchen, the foyer, the living room where the two of them now sat, facing each other on pristine white love seats. New, expensive. Kendall’s eyes had scanned everywhere and everyone, and he had landed on who he thought was you, the pretty girl he somehow took home. The one who was profoundly clever, who sported coy smiles and outfits that wouldn’t work on anyone else. He knew it was you without even seeing your face; there was that same force he felt back in October, a hypnotic clarity, a tunnel-vision, leading to where you were leaning, back towards him, the light of your phone a halo, beckoning him to you. Kendall became stoic, determined. “Greg, see that girl in the corner?” He asked. 

Greg looked to the corner behind him. “What girl?”

Kendall pushed him to look the other way. “Obviously not the corner without a fucking girl in it.” 

“Okay, jeez. Yeah, I do see her.”

Kendall pushed one of his sleeves up. “Go over there. Get her to come over here.”

“Man, why can’t you?” Greg sighed, slouching.

“Because I’m fucking asking you to do it.” Kendall stared at him, unflinching. It was easy, with awkward silence and persistence, to make Greg do whatever he wanted. 

“Fuck, fine.” Greg scratched his head, leaning forward. His eyebrows were permanently furrowed, anxiety tattooed in his face. “What do you want me to say to her?”

Kendall didn’t know; there was a lot on his mind. He was hot but also fucking freezing. His nose tingled. His dad hated him, and so did the rest of his family. He wanted to know why you didn’t stay, and he wanted to know why he even cared. And, shallowly, he wanted to fuck you again, fast, slow–he didn’t fucking care. He wanted a lot; that was always the source of his suffering, and why it was so ubiquitous, an infection plaguing every facet of his life, the self-fulfilling prophecy that cycled round and round forever. 

He spoke up, realizing the silence had overstayed its welcome. “Um, not sure. You need to learn some fucking game. Just figure it out.”

“But–”

“I swear to God, Greg.”

“Fine.”

He strode over to you quickly; it took him half as many strides as the average person. Not knowing the right course of action, he tapped on your shoulder, making you jump. 

“Fuck, you scared me.” You turned your phone off, looking up at the tall stranger whose living room corner you were getting to know so well. 

“My bad,” He began. “I just–my friend over there–well, not my friend. My cousin. Slash boss, maybe? He wanted you to come over to him.”

Peering behind him, your expectations matched the man you were looking at. His legs were spread, arms behind his head, eyes closed. Sunken into the love seat, he should have looked at peace, comfortable, at least. Instead, he looked a little bit miserable. Kendall was an enigma; you knew almost everything about his personal life, from Rava, from your obsessive research after making the horrid connection back in October. But you still didn’t understand him. And you didn’t think anybody else did either. 

Locking eyes with the tall man–Greg–again, you crossed your arms. “Why can’t he ask me? Plus, I’m not interested.”

“He wants me to develop my skills. Communication skills.”

“Okay, that's pathetic, and not true.” 

“Why do you think that?” Greg scratched his neck, a telltale sign of his being uncomfortable. 

“I just know that’s not the reason. Call it a hunch.”

“Well,” Greg gestured. “What should I tell him?”

You peered past Greg’s willowy silhouette again. This time Kendall’s eyes were open, and they were stuck on you, large, unwavering. His pupils were heavily dilated; whether it was from lust or cocaine, you couldn’t be certain. Possibly both. Definitely both. 

“Tell him,” You began, eyes still on Kendall. “If he wants to talk, he’ll have to come to me himself.”

You knew he had sent Greg over as a buffer; you had practically made a beeline to the street from his penthouse that night. It was abrupt, and you never gave him an explanation. But telling him you were his childrens’ babysitter while he was strung out and you drunk–well, that wasn’t an option. 

Greg had already gone back to Kendall. You could see them bickering; Kendall’s eyebrows were woven together, eyes firm on his target: you. Pulling at the top few buttons of his pressed white shirt, Kendall stood up, coming your way. 

You had obviously seen him striding towards you, confident from three vodka sodas and sporting that signature look of his— a semi pout paired with his sad, furrowed brows–but you were still surprised when stopped right in front of you, looking confused. As if you owed him a curtsy and a blowjob right then and there. 

“Y/N,” He began. It was obvious he didn’t know where he was going with this; rich men are always taken aback when they don’t immediately get their way, and Kendall was no different. He sort of expected you to be the obedient girl you had been in his penthouse that night, wrapped around his fingers, malleable, awaiting any and every command he gave you.

“Yes?” You encouraged. 

Kendall backed you against the wall, his palm flush against the wall as he literally cornered you. “I’m just confused, is all.”

“Did I do something confusing? I thought I was clear when I left your place.”

“Clear about what?” He questioned. “It was clear you became uncomfortable and then booked it out of there.”

You pretended to think. “So, your response to that is to literally back me into a wall at a party, where you’re clearly strung out on something?”

Kendall opted to stand next to you, peeling his hand off the exposed brick. “Yeah, point taken.” He agreed. “But, I don’t know.” 

“We can’t see each other.” You said. “Is what I was trying to be clear about.”

“Okayyyy–” He bit his lip, tilting his head back to look at the tall ceilings, tinged purple from whatever shitty party lights Greg had bought for the occasion. “But it’s interesting that we ran into each other again.”

You shrugged. “Maybe to you.”

“It is interesting to me.” His pointer finger dragged across your jaw, softly tilting your head to look his way. His eyes were gigantic, behind his pupils were pretty brown irises, tinged in green; the lights in the apartment had changed. “It’s also interesting that you’re still here. If you can’t see me so bad.”

You shrugged, looking down at the floor, your scuffed sneakers. 

“Why can’t you see me? Why is that exactly?”

“Why do you want to?”

“I don’t know, actually.” He admitted. “I asked myself the same thing.”

Rolling your eyes, you pulled his collar, bringing him closer. “I think it’s just the drugs and the alcohol and the coincidence that I’m here right now that’s making you feel this way. But trust me, when I leave here tonight, you’ll never see me again.”

That, of course, was extremely unlikely to be true. In fact, you didn’t know why you had said it at all. Each new day you spent babysitting for Rava was a new chance for Kendall to come by to her mossy brownstone, begging for forgiveness, an unnumbered new chance. 

“Hm,” He placed his palm on the small of your back, pulling you against him. You could feel his heartbeat against you. “I guess we will just have to see.”

His thumb brushed across your bottom lip, beckoning you to look up at him. He wasn’t holding you tight, and with the movement of the party, the two of you had migrated even closer to the door. To freedom. To the chance to do the right thing. 

The devil on your shoulder won, after all, because when Kendall pushed his tongue into your mouth, you moaned with a sense of relief, as if you had been in desperate anticipation of him forever. A part of you, when he grabbed your face to pull you even closer, realized you had been, in a way.

#kendall roy #kendall roy fic #kendall roy fanfic #kendall roy x reader #kendall roy smut #succession #greg hirsch #roman roy #tom wambsgans #succession fic #succession fanfic #succession x reader

[jakeenglishapologist]

Why are you so insane about pumpkins ? (genuine question)

short answer: i am unwell

long answer: so much of the media i have engaged with since i was a preteen has somehow involved pumpkins. the pumpkins are never just like, irrelevant background props. they are nearly always some form of extended metaphor, jungian analsysis, deeper meaning in the text. at this point, i feel like the pumpkin is not just a motif i am drawn to (i don't know there's going to be pumpkins!) but i see it everywhere.

isn't the pumpkin an interesting sort of gourd. it's so american, they didn't have it in europe and they brought it over and it was this sort of fantastical creation so they put it in fairy stories, they replaced the humble turnip carving samhain tradition with jack-o-lanterns. pumpkin patches, pumpkin spice, pumpkin terms of whimsical endearment. pumpkins are nostalgia (even when they are not part of your culture, not really) pumpkins are synonymous with fairytales and trick or treat and childhood.

interesting concept about homestuck really. pumpkin? what pumpkin? was there ever a pumpkin? who has the right to pumpkins in homestuck and who does not? who has the ability to covet pumpkins in homestuck? who hoards, who denies, who tries and never succeeds to possess a pumpkin. i've seen people call the pumpkin motif in homestuck a metaphor for childbirth but it's a more general semiotic icon of "the child" or childhood imo. which can also encompass childbirth of course, but i just think it's broader

if you're here because you have seen me ramble about ouran or something, i think the pumpkin carriage in ouran is reasonably self explanatory. it too is about childhood, nostalgia for something that doesn't exist/hasn't ended yet-- the carriage is also representative of the story structure and everyone's place in it. basically it's jungian analysis and kind of ribbing on the theory of collective unconsciousness (kaoru is reading ego and unconsciousness in the previous episode to the halloween one, fyi, which refers to both this metaphor and uh his whole deal in general)

ALSO Yayoi Kusama's pumpkins. the pumpkin as a motif in japan is also very interesting, bc i obviously come at it from a european perspective so that's something i'd like to look at. i saw one of her installations a few months back and there is nothing that sets off the autism like a 20 foot tall inflatable pumpkin. what she has to say about them:

i am looking at doing an academic paper on the position of the pumpkin as a metaphorical framework in european fairy stories 18th century + but i'm still researching. that's irrelevant to any of the media i've mentioned above, but my hypothesis is similar. we associate pumpkins with children because of fairy stories (and halloween) but why was the pumpkin chosen? because it was a foreign import food? so was the potato. what was so interesting about the pumpkin. how has the pumpkin entered the semiotic lexicon

or do we still assosciate pumpkins with children, or has the pumpkin spice starbucks millenial autumnal vibes aesthetic swayed it to a more disney adult in upstate new york kind of gourd?

many such cases. you Will regret asking me this. apologies for this stream of consciousness but if i was going to write something more intelligent about this i would have to self-cite later on and it would be a whole nusiance you know

[insanepoll]

HEHEHEHEHEHE

Blaseball Characters part 3!

Lōotcrates: Makes magical equipment for players, makes clones of players, probably a god??? Definitely a lame-ass librarian/affectionate, technically a sentient pile of boxes but also technically the physical embodiment of the Vault where stored players and items go, their stadium canonically has Zero protection against the elements despite being inside of the supposed safety vault and also canonically has a mega fuckton of birds and salmon for some reason. Technically the narrator of blaseball, which gets them into fights with SIBR (Society of Internet Blaseball Research) on the classical historian issue of "accuracy vs. storytelling". Definitely fucked off to the Vault when the sun blew up. Most people hate them but I am very attached to this freak.

Chorby Short: Argentinian magical girl and herpetologist that can turn into a frog, they once batted for literal hours due to their blood type keeping them in by hitting foul balls (112 in total) against a crazy good pitcher. Got redacted after getting hit with a pitch from York Silk before re-emerging a season later. Went back and forth between the New York Millenials and the Boston Flowers for a while. got traded rapidly between four teams before landing in Breckenridge. Became a theatre kid on the Breckenridge Jazz Hands. Also, they're queer and have been on 9 active teams. The Garages have a song about them, and as of falling out of the black hole, they're on the Core Mechanics now! They could kill a god by themself, I think.

Nagomi McDaniel: technically the child of dead people (Japanese mom that grew up in Hawai'i and a Scottish dad) , she started off in Hades before going to Hawai'i, growing up there, becoming an ASL interpreter (she's selectively mute), and eventually getting married to the mother of another player named York Silk, whom Nagomi taught the basics of blaseball to. Nagomi played for Hades for one season before getting pulled to the Fridays. She was transferred to the Baltimore Crabs after a while, became carcinized (took on some aspects of a crab), and got her head chopped off and regenerated as a gift from a technically dead crab god (that all of Baltimore had a part in technically killing) named Deborah. Was the first player to steal every base. She had to deal with York getting trapped in a giant peanut shell and eventually getting controlled by a peanut god. She discovered her love for Japanese jazz on the Breckenridge Jazz Hands, and also took turns with Valentines Games hunting each other for sport. For Some Reason. Nagomi then got trapped in a giant peanut shell by the peanut god for being too popular for like three seasons and was yoinked back to Baltimore. Started siphoning blood from people for stat boosts pretty soon after being cracked out of the shell by birds. Was able to eat umpire flame instead of getting incinerated. She had to play against York while he was being controlled by the peanut god. Then her team ascended after 3 championship wins, and she was pulled back to the Fridays with no chance to say goodbye. All of her original teammates are either dead or on other teams at this point, including york, the kid she helped raise. She then got traded to the flowers, briefly got to reunite with her wife and York, and then started getting bit by sharks (called consumers) in an effort to protect other players. She got sent back to the Crabs AGAIN, got bit and lost the last of her soul, became redacted, and then exited the secret base (oh yeah blaseball has one of those) onto the Maimi Dalé's team. Then she got sent to the Mexico City Wild Wings before being pretty quickly Vaulted after that for being too popular or something. York got Vaulted soon after.

Note: there's a real explanation for why she and York got Vaulted, but it's complicated and has to do with star density, and if I get into that someone from SIBR is gonna explode on the spot from sheer stress.

the fact that there's a latine character tells me i was right to route for blaseball. also "the child of dead people" sounds metal af

#im listening to the song #it's cool #insane character poll #propaganda #asks #blaseball #dynamicentropy

[justjokeswithtomhannigan]

Jokes 5/24/2022

Today, the last standing phone booth was removed in New York City. If that phone booth could talk, it would need to be heavily censored. 

With food prices rising, the United Nations issued a warning about potential food shortages. This was immediately followed up by President Joe Biden telling Americans why voting and faith in our institutions is important. 

Jif Peanut Butter is being recalled for a potential salmonella contamination. The recall came after several customers filed a complaint after seeing salmonella listed among the ingredients. 

A Bear was spotted climbing a utility pole at a busy intersection in Northern New Jersey this week. Experts say the reason the Bear did this was it was cheaper than climbing a utility pole in New York. 

The trial between actor’s Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has entered it’s final week, hopefully marking the last time we’ll ever hear about them.

Kanye West’s Campaign Committee Reportedly says he had nearly $4,000 stolen from him after his Presidential run. “That’s it?” said a representative from Donald Trump’s Campaign Committee.

Starbucks has closed all of their locations in Russia as a protest to the countries invasion of Ukraine. Without Starbucks in their country the rich will no longer have a scape goat for why their Millenials are so broke all the time. 

Coca-Cola announced it will be discontinuing it’s line of Honest Tea, thus eliminating the only drink Coca-Cola produces that makes people everywhere go, “Wait, is that a pun?”

It’s being reported that Amber Heard was kept in Aquaman 2, at the request of director, James Wan, and co-star Jason Mamoa. The two argued if they cutting out Aquaman’s wife, people might suspect he’s hooking up with the fish. 

An Iraqi national living in Columbus, OH, was arrested this week for allegedly plotting to assassinate former President George W. Bush. After his arrest, the would be assassin was overheard saying, “Damn, I meant to travel to 2002, not 2022.”

The Phoenix Police Department will be one of the first to use a new virtual reality de-escalation training. Unfortunately, de-escalation has yet to make it into the departments reality reality training. 

#jokes

[togachipblog]

Biggar is Better

I grew up accompanying my parents to antique shows.  I was always intrigued and fascinated by the ingenuity of early devices and when trying to convince my wife that the latest discovery was something that we definitely needed, I often would proclaim "But, its a conversation piece!"  

When I moved to Upstate New York 30 years ago, there was a proliferation of antique shops and local auctions.  Prior to the birth of my daughter, it was not unusual for me to go to multiple antique auctions over a weekend.  Today the antique shops have dwindled to a precious few.  The millenials are more interested in IKEA than antique furniture even though the quality of workmanship is not comparable.  There are certain exception such as mid 20th century furniture.     

As I morphed from a corporate tax lawyer into a potato chip historian, my antique focus narrowed from all things to all things chips.   One of my favorite antique stores was Biggar's located in Chamblee, Georgia, the very same town where Herman Lay had his first potato chip factory.  See Biggar's website.  https://www.biggarantiques.com/  Biggar's also has a store in Florida.  I was introduced to the store by my sister-in-law, Andra, who lives near Atlanta.  Over the years, I made many purchases of potato chip memorabilia from Biggar's.

As the antique business declines, the owners of Biggar's have reinvented themselves to survive.   Located outside of Atlanta, a city in which many movies are filmed, Biggar's has become a major movie prop house.  They are no longer open to the general public, but because of my long history with them, they invited Toga Chip Gal and I to visit their new very large warehouse in Chamblee.

The warehouse contains anything and everything you can imagine, including the kitchen sink.  The inventory is separated into sections and one of the sections contains a very large collection of potato chip tins.    Enjoy the gallery of photos.   Included are photos of a vintage Lay's potato chip can.  Like Biggar's, Lay's started in Chamblee.  

Enjoy "You're Bigger" by Jekalyn Carr: 

The Toga Chip Guy

#Youtube

[arletttthhh]

Multimedia Blog #3

For my last Multimedia selection, I chose Ibram X. Kendi (@ibramxk on Instagram). Ibram is a national book award-winning author of many books for adults and even children including nine New York Times bestsellers five of which made it to #1 on the bestsellers list. He is a professor at Boston University and works for Antiracist research. Dr. Kendi rights important books on racist ideas and isn't afraid to call out racist policies. His books highlight many different things some being the history of Black student activists, children's books on antiracism, and adult books on How to be an Antiracist. This idea on antiracism is to stop allowing people to be neutral in situations of injustice, there really is no neutrality on racism, you partake or allow it to happen, denying it's happening (racism) or are against it and take part in solving the issue (antiracism). Even in his children's books, he believes it is important to start teaching children even in kindergarten about racism and the hateful ideology that is behind it to build a better future. In this century many people want to be quiet about racism, many think if they aren't actively partaking in racism that it's not nonexistent or to deny their racism, Kendi wants these conversations to keep happening on a discussion of antiracism and how to do so.

Ibram X Kendi's book Antiracist Baby made national attention after Ted Cruze questioned Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson. Ted Cruze being a Republican criticized critical race theory. The book itself Antiracist Baby is a children's book on racism, which is something children are taught at a young age. Ted Cruze used it to ask the Judge if babies were racist and the ideas behind teaching critical race theory. After this event, the book hit the top-selling children's books on Amazon.

Image: Amazon

The content he posts on his Instagram pertains to this dark and long history of the bad treatment of black people around the world as well as current events going on that actively affect the black community. He pushed to educate the public on racial history that might be "whitewashed" to try to hide the racism that took place. He's talked about important things like the SAT being started by a eugenist who thought the test would substantiate black intellectual inferiority and highlight white intellectual superiority. History like this that isn't talked about but still affects people today is important in the talk about affirmative action or keeping race on the application.

When learning about the work Ibram X Kendi does I think back to the article we read by Don Apollon "Don't Call Them "Post-Racial." Millenials Say Race Matters to Them". In this article, the discussion of whether race still important is discussed and frankly, many young people say "Yes, race is still important today" including racism and how people view others that don't look like them. Ibram X Kendi continues the conversation by saying everyone should learn about race, racism, and critical race theory even children because it matters.

Ibram's work also relates to Peggy McIntosh through the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Peggy says she was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." While Peggy's point of view differs from Ibram's because she was a white woman the conversation of how racism takes form stays the same between both of them. Peggy continues her article by saying she wasn't taught to see herself as an oppressor, as an advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I have included a Ted talk from Ibram X Kendi about the idea of antiracism especially at the height of the BLM movement in 2020. It's quite long but to highlight some major points Ibram talks about the system in place that continues to let racism go.

Overall, I enjoy keeping up with Ibram's Instagram as he highlights important things to know about going on in the U.S. and history that is often hidden from us due to its severe nature of ill-treatment of black people.

Image: New York Times

[portlandtidwell]

Y2k Fashion and Lifestyle is Making its Comeback

In a Juicy Couture baby blue tracksuit jacket, low rise jeans, a fuzzy clutch to match, fashion icon and heiress Paris Hilton was photographed in 2003 attending the "Organic Odyssey" fashion show.

Gaudy 2000's fashion is making its comeback, and this style is becoming more and more familiar for today's youth.

SAN ANTONIO- Time to pack up your butterfly clips, hair extensions, low rise jeans, spray tans, and Juicy Couture tracksuits if you want to follow the latest fashion trend. Y2K fashion is making its official comeback, meaning, you no longer have to miss your  Myspace days, and you might be hearing about Jersey Shore and Paris Hilton a bit more often. 

Vogue has confirmed that trucker hats and graphic tees are one of the current biggest trends. Gen Z has been actively keeping in touch with millenial nostalgia and terms of fashion and lifestyle.

Lillianna Guajardo, a student at Texas A&M University at San Antonio, and advocate for Y2k fashion shared her input on the latest aesthetic, and how she's choosing to keep up with the trend.

Guajardo says she actively searches for clothes that fit the style.

"When I think of Y2k, the top two things that come to mind are definitely Jersey Shore, Paris Hilton, and reality shows like Rock of Love or The Simple Life."

However, the fashion aspect of the early 2000's is making its return, but websites that resemble the look of Myspace are here, bringing the look and lifestyle back to life.

Guajardo stated, "I remember the Myspace craze, but I was so young at the time that I couldn't have a profile of my own, so when I heard about  SpaceHey, I was so excited, and I immediately made a profile. I would say I have over 20 friends on the website."  

While Myspace is still up and running, the original template is gone, and its primarily music based. However, the new website "Spacehey" created by 18-year-old German web developer Anton Röhm, shares the original websites template, offers the same web activities, and captures the nostalgia of the Myspace days. 

As of April 2022, Spacehey has over 500,000 users, one of them being Guajardo. 

Gen Zeers Spacehey accounts are currently active, influential, and almost identical to the original MySpace template.

MySpace led many of the cast members from Jersey Shore to stardom, and Guajardo admits that reality TV star and fashion icon of the 2000's Nicole Polizzi ["Snooki"] , is one of her biggest style inspirations.

Lillianna Guajardo and Snooki side by side comparison as they share similar fuzzy boots. 

If you're wondering on how to start dressing Y2K, Guajardo believes pulling up reference photos of celebrities from the early 2000's or looking at influencers who base their style off of that era may help point you in the right direction.

Many TikToker's like influencers Michaila Cothran, and Tea’ Maisel-Chmaj document their outfits through short videos, which are heavily inspired by the on start of the millennium.

Her advice to those who want to dress the part involves accessorizing more, for women, finding anything with rhinestones or Juicy Couture related is perfect, and "the gaudier the better".

For men, she believes Ed Hardy and graphic tees are the best way to go. 

Guajardo says, "one of the most important parts of 2000's fashion are Juicy Couture tracksuits", and these are easy to find if you're on online shops like Depop, Poshmark, or Mercari. Guajardo says that thrift shopping is another great way to find gaudy tees and low-rise jeans that fit the era and you.

Guajardo's Burgundy Velvet Juicy Couture Tracksuit from Poshmark

The obsession with early 2000s fashion and hobbies may not be singular to Guajardo, since many influencers are speaking about the topic and promoting the days of in her words, “originality”.  

Holly Madison Girls Next Door star, New York Times bestselling author, and ex-playmate has a podcast entitled “Girls Next Level” with Bridget Marquardt where fans ask questions that show that there is “clearly a demand for y2k fashion”, says Guajardo. 

But why the reportedly current obsession and sudden comeback? 

Guajardo believes that today, “we don’t have anything unique”.

She believes that celebrities at that time were incredibly influential, and the era was the height of pop culture and originality, therefore, it is something that has and will continue to live on since we may be trying to revert to when days were a bit simpler. 

So, if you want to keep up with the trends, find inspirations, follow y2k fashion influencers, and rock your Ed Hardy shirts and blinged out glasses.  

nov.15.2022

#journalism #journalist #y2k #y2kfahion #2000s style #student #jersey shore #article #articles

[heroeslogic]

WANTED DYNAMICS WISHLIST ( WITH BONUS PLOT IDEAS! )

this is not a complete list and includes all types of dynamics! if you’re interested in any of these dynamics between alice and your muse feel free to message me, or reply to this post so i can message you! this is mutuals only however, if we’re not mutuals and you see something you like send me an ask and maybe we can become mutuals!

because i know it’ll come up, i generally play alice as either 22-23 pre endgame or from 24-28 during the blip and after endgame

everything is under the cut cause this post is LONG ! if you’d like to plot and nothing here strikes your fancy, perhaps consider my plotting call here!

GENERAL DYNAMICS I’D LOVE FOR ALICE !

– PEOPLE FROM BEFORE SHE JOINED SHIELD : alice grew up on the streets of brooklyn and lived there for seventeen years. she was a bit of a criminal as well, so there’s definitely potential there! she was recruited by SHIELD in 2012 after the attack on new york, so there weren’t as many vigilantes before then, but i’m sure we could come up with something! they could be allies, friends or even enemies. alternatively, maybe they’re people alice knows through her older sister who still lives in brooklyn and doesn’t know/didn’t know alice is an agent.

– CONTACTS FOR ALICE OUTSIDE SHIELD THAT SHE CAN UTILIZE AS AN AGENT : people that alice owes a favor to or that owe alice a favor. maybe people that alice worked with in the past and could come to again (they could even be people she met during her stint as vigilante)

– honestly give her FRIENDS OUTSIDE OF WORK, she needs people outside of SHIELD to spend time with.

– LET ALICE RECRUIT/TRY TO RECRUIT YOUR MUSE, either to SHIELD itself or just to her task force. i just think it would be neat. (this could be in her main verse, or the verse where she becomes director of SHIELD.)

CHARACTER SPECIFIC DYNAMICS !

– BUCKY BARNES : i will never not love the idea that alice is a thorn in bucky’s side that he just can’t get rid of, but maybe loves anyway. i think the culture shock between bucky’s generation and alice being a millenial/gen-z cusper could be absolutely fucking hilarious. she would be endlessly confusing to him, and probably extremely annoying, but i don’t think he’d try hard to get rid of her. especially if we’re following FATWS canon.

– SAM WILSON : in a similar vein to the dynamic, i imagine alice would also lovingly annoy sam. she looks up to him a lot and thinks he’s a badass, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not going to rib him a little. i can imagine that there’s a sort of interesting dynamic between them because they’d respect each other, but i’m sure sam probably thinks alice has a little too much authority for someone he kind of still sees as a kid despite the fact that she’s only ten years younger than him.

– SAM WILSON AND BUCKY BARNES : they get a combined section, because the dynamic between the three of them would be ✨ chaotic ✨ all the stuff i mentioned earlier applies, but now bucky and sam get to deal with alice at the same time. i think she’d be really helpful to them, but also a nuisance (affectionate). i think alice would remind both of them a lot of steve just a little too much.

– BOBBI MORSE : i need you to understand, alice adores bobbi, no matter the version. she think’s she’s so cool. i don’t know much about comic! bobbi so i will be referring directly to aos! bobbi, but i’m happy to adjust this to comic! bobbi!

i can see alice seeing bobbi as her work mom. i think alice would trust her so much. and maybe bobbi would mentor alice? i can tell you alice would love that for sure. she’d feel comfortable coming to bobbi for help, trust her on missions ect. after ward betrayed the team, alice would really struggle with trusting people and she’d need someone who understood her.

– LANCE HUNTER : oh please please give me alice and hunter as a chaotic dad figure/daughter figure dynamic. i do not feel i need to say more but i will. team ups in team vs team prank wars. hunter worrying about alice when she’s on a mission. alice knowing she doesn’t need to worry about hunter but still worrying about him. same thing applies as with bobbi, after ward alice really struggles to let herself trust people and i think hunter would be able to worm his way into her heart.

– FRANK CASTLE : frank killed alice’s dad. there is nothing not hilarious about alice and frank having any dynamic at all. alice mourned her father, but she was never angry at frank/the punisher for doing what he did. her father deserved it in her eyes. i would love to explore the dynamic between them because it could be SO interesting because she’s the daughter of one of his victims, which might humanize her and connor (her father), but she’s also a SHIELD agent turned vigilante which i don’t think frank would agree with entirely. especially, since alice was inspired by him.

– YELENA BELOVA : *chanting* besties besties besties ! i think they’d come across each other after the blip, but i think maybe alice would have heard about yelena a bit from natasha. perhaps yelena would understand why alice became a vigilante more than anyone else (beside maybe frank castle). i can see a lot of fun in alice and yelena’s potential dynamic including but not limited to:

- roommates

- frenemies

- vigilante team up

- dog walking buddies

- queer platonic partners

– KATE BISHOP : *more chanting* besties besties besties! name a more chaotic potential duo, i’ll wait. i think alice and kate would feed off each other’s energy so well. potentially even too well. they’d encourage each other to make dumbass decisions, walk their dogs together and just generally be great friends.

hypothetically speaking, there is potential for them to be ✨ girlfriends ✨ but they do have a 5 year age gap so it depends on what the mun is comfortable with ect.

– MAYA LOPEZ : *even more chanting* besties besties besties! these two know a little bit about vengeance and i think they’d find commonality in that. they know what it’s like to lose someone they care about most in the world. i think they’d start out rocky, but could become close friends if given enough time and care. i could once again see alice and maya potentially becoming more than friends.

- besties

- enemies to lovers

- vigilante team up

– MATT MURDOCK :  okay so there’s a lot coming here! first of all, common ground, they were both raised catholic (though alice is no longer practicing), they’re both irish, they both become vigilantes. i love the idea that they might be on friendly terms as matt and alice (unsure on how they meet though) and allies/adversaries as daredevil and argent angel (wow look they both got biblical references in their names hmmm). i say both allies and adversaries because i think daredevil and argent angel would be on the same page ideology wise until alice decided to go down the punisher route and started taking down with people she believed deserved it after the snap happened.

i will and have to unapologetically say i am the captain of the matt murdock/alice gallagher ship boat. i am introducing that here as a possible dynamic but i will look nuts if i go into too many ideas here.

– JOAQUIN TORRES : *chanting again* besties besties besties ! i could see alice and joaquin linking up pre/during TFATWS to help track down the flagsmashers and other terrorist organizations that popped up during the blip. i could see them working together, but deciding to stay friends or even be more than friends afterwards.

– THE MAXIMOFF TWINS : (note i will not interact with eIizabeth oIsen/atj fc/whitewashed maximoffs) alice and the maximoff twins are extremely close in age. they’re some of the only mcu canon characters within alice’s age range. given that, i think there’s a lot of potential for alice to be friends with both twins. honestly, she goes out of her way to do so.

– WANDA MAXIMOFF : given what i said about alice’s dynamic with both twins in general, i think alice and wanda have a lot of potential to be friends or even more. alice does whatever she can to make wanda feel welcomed in SHIELD but i think they’d bond the most during civil war when they’re both on the run with steve.

given how alice reacted to losing her sister and the majority of her close friends in the blip, alice wouldn’t be able to completely blame wanda for how she reacted after losing vision. of course, she sees holding a town hostage as wrong, but alice didn’t react well either. she hurt people too. the events of multiverse of madness would drive a wedge between them, despite the fact that alice understood where wanda was coming from.

- close/best friends

- girlfriends

- let wanda convert alice to her side, whether by alice’s own choice or because of wanda’s magic

– PIETRO MAXIMOFF : pietro and alice are each other’s enablers. i can totally see them just being reckless dumbasses together. they have a lot in common seeing as they grew up without a lot of money and and value their sisters more than anyone else in their lives. meet the bane of SHIELD’s existence, it’s not hydra, it’s two chaotic people who had to grow up too fast.

- close/best friends

- girlfriends

- let alice save pietro on sokovia, let them bond over that 

– MCU/199999! PETER PARKER : alice was assigned to keep an eye on him undercover at midtown, but was pulled out after a couple months. i’ve always thought alice would think of peter as a younger brother figure. she would do anything for him. losing him in the blip is hard on her.

post nwh, i could see them meeting again just off hand around new york. alice wouldn’t remember him, but peter would remember her (cue me violently sobbing). i would love for them to start their friendship over again, maybe alice helps him study for his g.e.d. or something (she’s not as smart as he is, but she had to take her g.e.d. test too so she’s been there)

– MCU/199999! MAY PARKER : once she’s no longer under cover, i think alice would be welcomed in the parker household as a trusted ‘friend of spider-man’ especially with may knowing she was assigned to make sure peter stayed safe. i think alice would introduce may to her sister and they’d just sort of become family friends. (i do not want to acknowledge may’s death because i will cry, but please know alice would attend her funeral)

#could i catch a break? . . . [ WISHLIST ]*

[bread--quest]

sorry for mirrorverseposting (no i'm not 💖) but it is kinda funny that it was the garages and the millennials who were duplicated and almost had to fight themselves. almost like they were. they were. hm. almost like they had to fight another version of themselves. now why would the garages and the millennials want to do that h

#completely jokeposting. there is no way this was intentional #but it IS so extremely funny #and also more of the garages and the mills being Cursed Together #blaseball has been happening SO MUCH today yall #its amazing #okay anyway #blaseball #fan: gnym!! #go new york millenials! #(haha. cause there were more of them.) #also. secrets #mv: corporates #mv: millionaires #wow look something original!!

[inbtswethrrust]

MINDHEIST MASTERLIST

Hey guys! I've recently received some asks regarding mindheist deleting their ao3 account, along with all the works. Someone was kind enough to send me pdf files for all of the works published on ao3 by mindheist, and so here is a compilation for all of them with the links for the files!! Enjoy your reading. By the way, if at any point the writer themself would like me to delete this post, I will.

So the post doesn't get too long, i'll put up a divider! Happy readings!

JIKOOK:

The Ocean at the End of the Universe It's hard to find just one person in a sea of stars. (space au)

Wish I Would've Known The worst part isn't hatred. The worst part is not talking anymore, and never understanding why. (based on the song we don't talk anymore)

You're My Genie, Lamborghini (You're My Teeny Weeny Meenie) You know those people saying technology is driving people apart? Yeah, fuck them. (twitter au)

with it's sequel... You Got the Best of Me (Synth Riff) Two social media sweethearts get married. Baby boomers crash and burn in the distance at this flagrant display of millenial culture. (continuation of ^^)

JINMIN:

Galaxy S♡ we all have those memories that don't end, even when everything is over. Some call that critical error. Others call it human existence. (androids/robots au)

Watchers of the Eternal Flame Jimin goes to Rio de Janeiro to live his passion. He leaves Rio da Janeiro having found his dream. (summer olympics au)

NAMGI:

In My Blood Sometimes fate is a flat tire and a crushed bumper. (a/b/o au)

TAEKOOK:

i try to picture me without you (but i can't) "You think relationships last in the village? You want one with me? You think you'll be happy?" Maybe Taehyung did think that they could be happy. (sequel to Watchers of the Eternal Flame, summer olympics au)

And, Home (Will Feel Like Home Again) Between the oily residue of night market tables and the rickety steps of the Hakone mountains, there is a little bus station in the fog. (travel au)

Fool Me Once (Shame On You) Fool me twice, shame on me. (established relationship)

Ghost Story It was an untold story with no ending, until now. (ghost au)

Invisible People The most important things are the hardest of all to see. (ballet au)

Let Us A relationship is a two-way street. (strangers to friends to lovers)

Never Let Me Go Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey. (soulmates au)

Pour Up (Drank) If you can read this, take another shot. (frat au)

Rich Bitch When you make six figures a year, Valentino isn’t that big of a deal. (the au is,,, tae is rich)

Shark In the Water As far as fairy tales go, this one doesn’t have a lot of faeries. Tales, yes. Tails, that is. Just the one. One (1) tail. (mermaid au)

Terrible Things Happen (Sometimes, They Save You) Min Yoongi wakes up from a nightmare on a sunless afternoon to a reality more twisted than his dizziest daydreams. (american horror story au)

The Day The Earth Stood Still Somewhere in New York, Seoul, Florence, Los Angeles, is a tale as old as time. (pre-apocalypse au)

起死回生; To Live Again Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us. (historical au)

SERIES: I'm feeling electric tonight

(fake dating au.)

Kiss Me Hard Before You Go Dramatization. Do not try at home.

I Just Wanted You to Know (That Baby, You’re the Best) If you experience headaches, nausea, or heartbreak, discontinue use and talk to your doctor because relationships might not be right for you.

Think I'll Miss You Forever Happy endings sold separately.

SERIES: Interstellar (historical fantasy au)

Give Me Your Hands (I Will Pick the Stars for You) I miss you like the moon misses the sun, destined to chase you until the end of time.

Perihelion Perihelion: the point in the orbit of a celestial body at which it is closest to the sun.

SERIES: Moonrise (werewolf au, abo au)

Bad Moon Rising Taehyung has always wanted to be a superhero. Jeongguk has always been a supernatural.

I Fear the Fever, It Runs Electric There are some perks to having Jeongguk as a boyfriend. For one, he makes procrastination impossible.

Shaking Inside My Bones For better or for worse, everyone gets better at this. It’s practice. It doesn’t quite make perfect but it gets pretty damn close.

SERIES: The Ones Who Watch Us (horror au)

They Can See Us There are two things that you should hope always follow you. Number one: your shadow. Number two: your reflection.

Why Aren't You Scared of Me? (What Do You Know?) There are much worse things to be scared of.

SERIES: Where You Go, I'll Go To (grim reaper au)

In the Blind The world, as most people see it, is only half the story.

Time would envy us (part two, by nikkumeul) This is the other half of the story. This is forever. OBS: same link as above, starting from page 26)

SERIES: You bring good to my lonely life (honestly) (hollywood movie star au)

Love Will Always Be A Lesson (Let’s Get Out of its Way) Lesson 1: It's not real

Pizza Magazine Love is a strange, strange thing. (OBS: same link, starting from page 156)

YOONKOOK:

We Who Hide From the Sun “It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re seventeen and planning for someday. And then, quietly, and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” (childhood friends to lovers au)

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Admin's Note:

Okay, i'm back now. these are all the mindheist fics i've gotten the links for, thank you to all who sent them to me, very much appreciated! the links lead you to a pdf file on google drive, owned by my own account. i'll have those up all the time, but in case something happens and they get removed i advise you to download the ones that you want to keep personally! hope you enjoy the read babies, love you all!! and thank you again!! and thank you to mindheist in the first place for writing all of these amazing fics.

#mindheist #bts fics #bts #fic rec #fic compilation #masterlist #mindheist masterlist #jikook #kookmin #yoonkook #taekook #vkook #jinmin #namgi #author masterlist #here you go lovelies

[ot3]

oh my god kekkai sensen is actually good? my friends have been trying to get me into it but i havent been sure since both of the ones who are recommending it to me definitely dont share their taste in things w me

kekkai sensen is INSANELY fun. it's plot is incomprehensible but that doesn't matter because kekkai sensen isn't about its own plot. it is about being a broke millenial in new york city + special boy leo and his special eyes. if you go in expecting a lifechangingly well written anime you will not get that. if you go in expecting some really fun characters, enjoyable one-off vignettes about life in a monsterified new york city, with FANTASTIC art and music, then you will have a blast. my friends and i rewatch it every now and then it's just really enjoyable antics.

kekkai sensen also deserves its due props for having the single best anime ED of all time. this ending has probably been parodied by more people than have ever actually watched kekkai sensen

i'm sure you've seen this before in one form or another but pay some respect and watch the original. i think the ED very much embodies the experience of watching kekkai sensen. its chaotic, lively, and has a ton of personality. i'd recommend giving it a try.

[lily-orchard]

Would shutting down Canada’s borders even help with anything anymore? It seems to me that the main focus right now should be on vaccinations and stopping the antivaxxer conservative crowd. The traveling restrictions definitely helped a great deal during the beginning of this pandemic, but now they’re becoming just a complete overkill. ESPECIALLY doing another total shutdown on national borders.

They have been ineffective. We had travel vans, but that didn't stop conservative provinces from becoming hotbeds of pestilence.

It's security theatre. A way to look like we're doing something when we aren't. And it's also the only thing the Federal Government can really do. Trudeau was overkill on travel on the simple basis that the problem with COVID in Canada were things he couldn't fix.

Ontario kept going into and coming out of lockdown. Toronto and Montreal saw the natural conclusion of 10 years of millenials and gen x'ers cramming themselves into those cities for no reason other than clout.

And when you have a big city and a Conservative leader, you have a bad time. Imagine if New York was a Republican state. It would have been a bloodbath.

The Federal Government can't just remove Ford from office. That's not something they're allowed to do unless they declare martial law. So they're kinda stuck waiting for updated vaccines and having only peace of mind gestures.

And... peace of mind helps a little. But as we saw last time, keeping families separated is devastating for people's mental health. And Canada is very good at forgetting the role mental health plays.

[caligulalotus]

i was going to do art again for day 3 of blasetober (incineration) but then i got Very Tired so i finally finished my fic about Layna going unstable all the way back in season 16 <3. Lenny Marijuana and Alaynabella Hollywood lovers this one’s for you.

Alaynabella Hollywood is at the Garages game on Season 16, Day 88. She’d finished her one game for the week two days prior, so by all accounts they didn’t have to be there. But Lenny was pitching against the Mills, and it was an eclipse, so of course she came. Somehow, in the midst of all of this, it had slipped their mind that Chorby Soul was still Unstable. 

***

They’re standing alone in the dugout when it happens. The inning closes, the Garages are walking off the field and the Mills are walking on. As Chorby and Lenny pass each other at the pitchers mound, everyone can feel the air change. There is a sudden, buzzing humidity in the air and everyone present knows enough, has seen enough, to know what they’re about to watch. Every eye in the stadium turns towards Soul, and the umpire behind third starts panting. And then he breaks into a sprint, charging the mound. There’s nothing anyone can do, nothing anyone wants to do, they are all stuck in place, watching. The umpire catches up to Soul and grabs them by the shoulders. Soul shoots a look at Lenny, the only person close enough to even see their face, and they laugh. And then the flames erupt from their body and when it clears all that is left is ashes and sparks floating in the air. Lenny stumbles backward toward the mound, and when her foot catches the base, Layna is already there to catch her. She feels Layna’s hands underneath her arms, and whips around, nearly expecting another umpire to set her alight. But instead, her eyes meet Layna’s and her shoulders drop from their tightened position. 

***

The moment the umpire lights up Soul, Alaynabella is sprinting out of the dugout. There’s a brief moment, from where she stands, where it almost looks like Lenny is the one going up in flames, and the fear pulsing through her chest at the thought of it is enough to push her towards the mound before the dust begins to settle. They can’t see Lenny’s face, but they just know what she must look like, seeing another Millenials uniform burn, standing mere feet away. Lenny stumbles backwards, and Layna is already just behind. She catches her, and feels as Lenny flinches away, whipping to face her, before remembering where and when she is. She doesn’t give Lenny a chance to start speaking, words already pouring out of her mouth.

“Eleanor May Marijuana never do that again, I swear to the gods, you scared the shit out of me, are you alright-” they keep talking, though Lenny is only half listening. As they speak, Layna is looking over every part of exposed skin on Lenny’s body, desperately checking for a sign of ashes or sparks touching her skin, and marking her, and she hasn’t found any yet but that doesn’t stop her. They take hold of Lenny’s arms and hands and face, searching for where the ashes could have fallen, and fails to realize she is the only person on the field not silent. Lenny sees it, sees how everyone is looking at them both, some stepping back, others tied to their positions in terror, and she tries to follow their eyes. 

After a second she finds it, the last remains of Chorby Soul still floating on the air. And she knows, the moment she sees the ashes, what they are and what they will do. And as everyone but Layna stares at them, they fall ever closer. Lenny is frozen where she stands, she wants to move, to run away from this and away from the field and away from New York, but she is petrified to her spot on the mound, watching as the ashes fall. 

Layna is still looking over Lenny, looking for a sign of where the Unstable chained to, surely it had to have been her, she was closest, they have to figure it out. She is desperate for a sign of what’s happening, when she feels it. A piece of the ash lands, quietly, on the side of her face. And she has a brief moment of realization, where she meets Lenny’s eyes, both of them wide, both of them terrified, when the left side of her face explodes in pain. 

She recoils away immediately, hands flying to her face, clutching at something that isn’t there. Trying to rip away whatever it is that’s digging into her and burning her up. The tears prick up in her eyes immediately, the water streaming down her face doing nothing to soothe the burn. Alaynabella Hollywood has felt heat, has felt fire, in the creation of the Hellmouth, in the burning of her teammates mere feet away, and this is nothing at all like that. There was always a buildup, there, a buzzing in the air or a slight raise in temperature, but this was immediate. The pain started on their face before spreading, planting itself in their bones and behind their eyes, burning them up from the inside out. Layna’s knees hit the dirt, and they feel themself flinch away from someone’s hands on their shoulders when it finally calms. 

The burning is still present, and Layna can still feel it’s embers throughout herself, but the pain is not overwhelming, not nauseating. And so, eyes blurred with pain and tears, she looks up, and finds herself face to face with her sister. Lenny’s kneeling down now too, hands extender in front of her but not yet touching Layna’s face, fear and hesitation and a million other things knitted into the skin on her face. Layna slowly unfolds herself and reaches for Lenny’s hands, grabbing them, but still holding them away from herself, afraid she’ll burn her up if she gets too close. 

Layna does not bother to wipe the tears away, too afraid to touch the wound they feel blossoming where the ashes fell. They clear their throat, trying to sound at least slightly less terrified than they are. 

“Hey, hey, Lenny,” they say, meeting her eyes. “I’m gonna be okay. Better me than you.”

Lenny lets out a sob, and barrels forward, grabbing Layna into a hug tighter than she’s ever given before. “If you aren’t I’m dragging you out of the hall myself, I hope you know that.”

Layna half laughs, half sobs, into Lenny’s shoulder, and brings the two of them into a standing position. “I do, I do. And we can’t have that. Now fucking get out there, I need to get somebody to make sure whatever Soul did doesn’t stick.”

They both know it will, that the wound blossoming on Alaynabella’s face will never go away, just fade into different levels of scarring, but they can both pretend. Lenny nods, and wipes the tears from her eyes, before finally letting go and watching as Layna walks off the field. 

She doesn’t turn back to the batter until Layna is in the dugout, out of sight. When they’re gone, she sets her feet into the ground of the mound. Play must continue.

#blaseball #lenny marijuana #alaynabella hollywood #also yes i do call lenny layna's sister in this and i'm right! they are

[jirnkirks]

He ghosts through halls, the lounges- tv’s off, set to reality shows, no, no-

(Nagomi isn’t very fond of games, you know. I can see where you’re looking.)

“Shush Cookbook. Look at them. They look so lost.”

(Mhm.)

stares at my list of sideblogs going do i even have a writing sideblog out of my gazillions of urls. a scene from me writing about the tigers' newly unshadowed, where they came from and our two dead sorta dads in the sky. sorta moody cookbook/landry violence? they chillin together.

for wip amnesty: a bunch of tigers fics & feelings i want to share

cw: a lil depersonalization? its a shadows becoming people fic

“And now coming to you live, it’s a balmy 28 degrees today. The eclipse shines brightly in Hades, and the Hades Tigers take the field against the New York Millenials. For our watches out there, be sure to bring a raincoat and your grounding rods as oracles have forecast a 34% chance of red lightning today…”

A rumble.

(And is today a lightning type of day?)

“Eh… maybe. That York Silk is looking sharp today. I don’t trust him not to hit a ball.”

A pause.

(This isn’t the debt from our time, is it?)

“It’s been disappearing players. No protection against that. I’ll just keep watch over them, no matter where they go”

(Thank you Landry.)

“Hey, it’s not just for you. And it’ll be a good game besides that.”

“....and there we are, Baltimore Crabs Nagomi McDaniel is back in Hades and up to bat against Hades’ very own Famous Owens, let’s take you to sports…”

Daniel wants to watch so badly, to see the game that’s making shades scream out even as it storms. The shadows- no a shadow laughs, settling next to him. His room is still the same, the weather outside at his back. Not the real one, no, an image, a dramatization. Nothing real inside the studio, save the shadows. Maybe him.. he’s not sure. Maybe.

What was he doing again?

The game, the shadow hisses, winding around him. Yes, the game- where was it..? Daniel walks past the great big cameras, entering the carpeted hallways of the Umbra. His shadow follows him, a smaller shadow with its jagged edges tagging along with Daniel’s own.

He ghosts through halls, the lounges- tv’s off, set to reality shows, no, no-

(Nagomi isn’t very fond of games, you know. I can see who you’re looking at.)

“Shush Cookbook. Look at them. They look so lost.”

(Mhm.)

In Philadelphia, Sun 2 shines brightly.

Waters fill the Hellmouth.

The Core remains pleasantly cool under another eclipse.

Daniel sees them better than these halls. Not the cities but the infinite skies stretching over them. He’s the weatherman after all. The sun warms his back, it is dark, he hears the roar of salmon darting upstream even as his feet continue to step on plush carpet.

The shadow at his feet tugs, or tries to. The small slip of a thing barely has substance in the shadows, but Daniel isn’t wholly of the shadows like it, not completely. But of all the shadows filling up the hotel, only the two of them like watching the games.

(It is a little sad.)

“That Daniel’s been pacing a lot these days. And that shadow’s been doing shit all around the hotel recently too. I wonder…”

(Just help them already Landry.)

“Yes, cap’n, sir,”

(Smartass.)

Glitter in Chicago. Black hole over Hawaii. Today’s weather is-

“-aaand strike! A third out! An immaculate inning from our very own Famous Owens! Tigers seeking to close the seven run lead caused by the same Owens who just pitched that-”

An Eclipse over the Sixth Circle Stadium. The shadow jumps from his feet to the shadow under the sofa, curled up tight. Golden eyes await from the dark as Daniel blinks back the afterimage of a thousand suns. He rubs his eyes as the lounge slowly slips into focus around him.

(It’s a habit, one he picked up from Meng. His own hands feel like nothing, like static, but the gesture remains.)

“Dang, looks like the Tigers are losing pretty badly, shadow,” Daniel murmurs as he takes a seat. The shadow winds around his ankles in delight especially as it watches the Tigers get striked out one after the other.

Through the screen, red lightning continues to crackle over Hades and in Daniel’s bones. It feels..it feels like something. Some days, no, most days, it feels like the only thing he can feel is the weather, the lightning crackling over the Stadium is no exception. And he’s heard of the rumors too- that when Landry Violence, may he rest in violence forever, was released, he never left the team. That he was still here, waiting.

Lightning cracks over the stadium again, and even on the small screen, Daniel and the shadow can see the red light throw Castillo’s armor in menacing relief for one short moment, illuminating them as they hit a home run. Daniel shivers- he didn’t need to see the lightning hit- he could feel the static in his bones the moment before it hit like a wakeup call.

“Good job, Randy!”

(Doing it for the love of the game.)

There are rules in the ILB- about living, dying, and the states inbetween. They’re not very good rules. Four people quietly, impossibly, enjoyed the game between the Hades Tigers and the Baltimore Crabs.

#blaseball wip amnesty #blaseball #hades tigers #blaseball fic #daniel koch #moody cookbook #landry violence #lottie ceilingfan #but u cant rly tell yes theyre the lilk babey shadow #my writing