#mimey boards

[stimsnosa]

Eleanor Birch - Subway Midnight

🛑 📺 👤 🚇 ❤️ 🚇 👤 📺 🛑 (middle gif made by me, feel free to use with Credit)

#eleanor birch #subway midnight #eleanor subway midnight #subway midnight spoilers #glowy #eye #shadow #static #hands #red #black and white #black #gray #stimboard #stim #visual stim #gif #mimey boards #video game #subway #train

[yamujiburo]

how did Delia get Mr. Mime? Was Mimey given to her or did she catch him herself? Did she get him before Ash's dad left?

There's an episode about it called Mr.Mime time! He was just a random Mr. Mime a circus act was trying to catch in order to motivate their own, lazier Mr. Mime. They couldn't catch him and made Ash dress up as one instead resulting in Team Rocket kidnapping Ash because they thought HE was a Mr.Mime. Delia says "it's no big deal they'll bring him back" and goes home to wait for him.

However, Mimey stops by the Ketchum house after evading being caught and Delia mistakes him for Ash (who she thinks is still dressed as a Mr. Mime). After that he kinda just hangs around because he thinks Delia is very nice and Delia finds him very helpful with chores around the house.

I don't belieeeeeve it's shown in the anime how Mr.Mime is caught but it's implied that Ash caught him offscreen but leaves him at home with Delia because she enjoys his company.

linking these bc i put clips from the episode in em

#ask yam

[hygge-ao3]

Little Black Box

Summary: While packing up their apartment before they move into their new home, Dan finds something hiding in Phil's suitcase that makes him question what he wants out of their relationship.  Written for Phanfiction Bingo 2023

Square: Marriage Proposal Rating: Everyone Triggers/Warnings: None

Additional tags: marriage proposal, engagement, fluff, moving, 2021, established relationship, introspection

Words: 2,135

Read on ao3

Dan would be completely happy if he never had to see a cardboard box ever again. They were all he saw, whether his eyes were open or not. Boxes full of clothes, boxes full of board games, boxes full of random crap he didn't even know they had. Stacks of boxes lined each room of their apartment, creating an obstacle at this point to get from one room to another.

They had been living like this for a while now after being met with delay after delay on construction of their new home. Initially, they were supposed to move around Christmas. Then New Years. Then mid January, February, March, and now April. He was so tired of being in limbo. Not only did he have no idea where anything was anymore, Dan was tired of wearing the same four shirts and having to wash plates and utensils after each use. He couldn't wait for it to be over.

“Phil,” Dan called from the bathroom.

“Yeah?”

“Where’s the paracetamol?”

“I think in one of the pockets of the suitcases.”

Between the upcoming book release and the upcoming move, or let’s face it… the ongoing move, Dan had been more stressed than he had been in a while, causing an awful headache. His head was throbbing in pain with each step he took in the direction of the bedroom. 

There were a few suitcases that the pain killers could be in. Dan first checked the pockets in the suitcase he used most often, but did not find them there. He maneuvered around some boxes to get to Phil’s suitcase to check that next. 

In the pocket at the front of Phil's suitcase wasn’t paracetamol, but there was a small, black, square box. There were only a couple of things that could be in a box like that. There was a voice in his head that told him to leave it there and not open it, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. When he took the box out of the pocket and opened it, Dan thought his heart had stopped. It was exactly what he thought it might be. 

It was a ring. And it was beautiful. The silver ring had thin bands of ebony, gold, and what looked like meteorite. It was the perfect mix of luxe and minimalist. Dan wasn’t sure if he could pick out a nicer ring for himself if he tried. Phil did well.

As much as he wanted to just stare at the ring in awe, his mind started to race. Phil was going to propose. He should have felt excited. A proposal was an exciting thing, right? The next chapter of their relationship. Something that people dream about happening. But instead, all he felt was anxiety. How would he react if Phil popped the question? When was he going to do it? Was he ready for marriage? Should he— 

“Did you find it?” Dan heard Phil call out before he heard him walk into the room behind him. 

Dan froze with the box in hand. Yeah, he definitely found something, just not what he was looking for. 

“Oh,” Phil paused for a few seconds. “I kind of forgot that was in there."

Dan turned to glance at him with furrowed brows. 

“You forgot? How long was it in there for?" he asked, trying not to make the sadness apparent in his voice. 

"Um, since... 2015?” Phil grimaced. “I was going to propose to you in Japan." 

Dan felt his heart drop.

”But you didn’t,” he said quietly, as he turned his attention back to the ring. Their trip to Japan was six years ago. Something must have happened for Phil to change his mind. 

"Well, yeah. I didn't. We were with Duncan and Mimei and they were talking about their engagement and their wedding, and you made a comment about not wanting to get married because of the commitment that required, so I didn't propose."

"Oh."

He couldn't take his eyes off of the ring.

Dan wasn’t sure how he would have reacted to a proposal back in 2015. He probably would have said no, and he would have hurt Phil more than he unintentially did. And who knows how that would have ended up. He didn’t want to think about that. 

"Its alright, though, if you don't want to get married. It doesn't change the way I feel about you. And then we don't have to spend thousands on a wedding!"

Even though Dan mostly had his back to Phil, he could tell that he was still disappointed. The higher pitch of his voice gave it away. Phil was trying to make himself feel better. He was trying not to get upset.

"I didn't really know what to do with it when we got back,” Phil continued. “They wouldn't let me return it, since it was outside of the return window. So, I just... left it in there. And I know you really don't like wearing jewelry or I would just tell you to have it."

Dan didn't respond, even though he knew he should. He wanted to tell Phil what he was really feeling, but he didn't know what that was yet. Was it the disappointment of Dan crushing Phil's dreams without realizing it? Or maybe sadness because of the same reason? There might have also been a little bit of relief and gratitude mixed in because Phil truly listened to what Dan wanted back then, despite his own wants and desires. It was really hard for him to pinpoint.

After about a minute or so, Dan heard Phil walk out of the room. He closed the lid softly and put the box back where he found it, continuing his search for the paracetamol. 

Dan eventually found the paracetamol. 

While the pain from his headache was now long gone, the thoughts about marriage and commitment were not. They swirled around his head all day, and continued through the night and into the early morning as Dan laid in bed at 2am staring at the ceiling. 

When Dan imagined his life in ten, twenty, even thirty years, Phil was always there with him. There wasn’t a scenario where he wasn’t. He was just as much in love with him now as he was twelve years ago, if not more. He had no thoughts of leaving Phil. Ever. They were made for each other. Soulmates. Dan wasn't going anywhere. And the fact that Phil wanted to propose to him six whole years ago truly solidified the fact that Phil wasn't going anywhere either. 

Yes, Dan was afraid of the concept of commitment. The idea that you needed to be absolutely sure about something before you moved forward, whether it was a relationship, or a tattoo, or a career, and that if you ended up being wrong, it would take a lot to undo that decision. That was a lot of pressure.

But, in a way, he was already committed. He and Phil had been together for over a decade. They worked together. They had joint bank accounts. They had just bought and designed a home together for fuck’s sake. Their forever home. Their lives were already so intertwined at this point, marriage no longer seemed as scary as it once did.

The only thing that still remained a little scary to Dan was the thought of divorce. Divorce seemed so final. So messy. So legal. 

Divorce was a possibility with any marriage, though. He couldn’t let that hold him back. He and Phil had already been through so much together, he was sure they could get through whatever else life threw at them. All of the incredible experiences he and Phil had so far, and the things they had yet to experience, far outweighed the miniscule chance of them ever separating. 

Sure, not getting married would be the easy thing to do. But, sometimes life wasn’t about doing what was easiest. It was about doing things that made you happy, right? (Dan still wasn’t sure what the meaning of life was, but it was probably something close to that.) And what made him happy was experiencing life with Phil by his side. What might make him even happier, though, is getting to experience life with Phil as his husband. 

The idea alone made him feel giddy. 

Dan knew then what he needed to do. He needed to marry Phil Lester.

“Phil?” Dan asked into the darkness. He felt Phil stir next to him. 

“Hmm?”

“What if I changed my mind?”

“That’s fine,” Phil mumbled. “You don’t have to come with me.”

They were so in sync normally, that sometimes Dan forgot Phil wasn’t actually inside of his mind. Logically, Phil thought Dan was talking about the last conversation they had, which was about them going to visit Phil’s parents soon. When in reality, the thought of visiting Phil’s parents couldn’t have been further from Dan’s mind right now. 

This probably wasn’t the time or place to talk about this, but he knew if he didn’t bring it up, it would keep him up all night.

“No, I mean… about marriage. What if I changed my mind? What if I do want to get married?”

Phil rolled over to face Dan, a little more alert now. “Are you sure?”

Dan turned his head to look at Phil. “Yeah. If you still want to.”

“Of course I do. I just want to make sure that you’re not agreeing to this because it’s something I want. I want to make sure this is something that you want just as much. I meant what I said earlier. If you don’t want to get married, that’s completely fine. Nothing will change between us.”

Dan felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. God, he loved this man so much. 

“No, it is. I do want this. I thought about it a lot today, and marriage isn’t as scary of a thought as it used to be. I don’t know if it’s because I’m out now, or what. But, I’m ready.”

They shared a smile. Phil leaned forward slightly and kissed Dan on the nose before he grabbed his glasses and got out of bed. Dan sat up and turned on the bedside light, both to see what Phil was doing and to make sure he didn’t trip on anything, which was bound to happen in the dark. 

“What are you doing?” Dan asked, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. 

Phil walked over to the corner of the room where the boxes and suitcases were. 

“Something that I didn’t do six years ago,” he said as he took the ring box from the suitcase.

Dan’s heart started to race as Phil sat next to him in bed. Phil gave him a reassuring smile.

“Dan, Daniel, Bear, Danis, Danny Fire…” 

He was trying to look annoyed, but he couldn’t fight the smile on his face. 

“We’re not even married and I already want a divorce,” he joked. 

Phil threw his head back and laughed, his tongue peeking out between his teeth. It took him a few seconds to compose himself again. 

“Remember when we went to Portugal and we walked along the beach on our first night there? It was dark, and the moon was almost full, and we were the only ones there.”

Dan remembered that trip vividly. They had been together for about seven months at that point, and it was the first time the two of them went on vacation. Their few days there were spent at the beach, walking around the town, and in the hotel pool. He thought back on that trip with a lot of fondness. They were so young and so incredibly in love.

“There wasn’t anything particularly special about that, except that’s when I knew that you were it for me. That was the moment I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. 

“Being with you has been my greatest adventure. Between first seeing you at the train station, to moving to London, to doing two tours, I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else, and I can’t wait to see what other adventures the rest of our lives will bring.” Phil reached to his side and picked up the ring box, presenting the ring to Dan. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Dan nodded, before leaning forward and kissing him. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Phil took the ring out of the box and slid the ring onto Dan’s finger. After all of these years, Dan was shocked that it fit perfectly. He looked down at his hand with a huge smile on his face. 

He was going to marry Phil Lester. And he couldn’t wait. 

#phanfiction #phanfiction fluff #phanfictionbingo #phanfiction bingo #Phanfic #phanfic fluff

[stolensiren]

sloth-phisticated day trip // sloane & cass

TIMING: current PARTIES: @faetedwill & @stolensiren SUMMARY: cass and sloane go to the zoo to see some sloths and have a good day because they deserve it. WARNINGS: none

It wasn’t often that summer break felt like actual summer for Sloane. She was so used to being roped in by her parents to help out with their own work, but in the past few weeks, she’d been granted some kind of leniency. Why it’d come so suddenly, she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t about to question her mom about not being held at the store for hours on end plugging in data that nobody else cared about. After Sloane picked up Cass from her apartment, she made her way to the outskirts where White Crest Zoo stood. She had been there a few times as a kid, mostly on school trips. After she parked her car, she pulled her hat down by the brim and grabbed her backpack before getting out of the car. 

“Alright first-timer.” Sloane looked at Cass from across the way, a grin already planted on her features. “Since I’m the one who said I wanted to see a sloth, I’m paying. But if you want a churro or something, you’re on your own.” She shuffled inside of her bag for her wallet as she walked towards the entry gate. Already, Sloane could see the myriad of images that were plastered on a poster board just behind the gate they waited outside of. On it were animals of all sizes and shapes, but all black and white. “I wasn’t kidding, by the way.” Sloane let out a laugh as she handed over her card. The woman behind the counter printed out their tickets and slipped two maps beneath the glass before sending them on their way. Sloane handed the second map to Cass after putting her wallet away. “Where to start. Sloths, obviously, right? Seeing as they’re our mascot now or something.” 

Things like this were still so new to Cass. A trip to the zoo with a friend was something she’d always longed for as a kid in foster care, something that was so mundane but had seemed like an impossible fantasy to someone with neither friends nor money to go to the zoo. But now, in White Crest, it was simple. Sloane mentioned wanting to see a sloth, and Cass brought up the zoo, and that was that. A few days of planning, and she was climbing out of her friend’s car at the White Crest Zoo, grinning at the sign. 

“You’re the best,” she said in lieu of a ‘thank you,’ hoping it would still get her gratefulness across. “I’ll buy us both a churro. Even though it’ll probably be, like, a billion dollars.” She’d collected her paycheck from Jonas the day before, which meant she did have a little bit of money to burn. Trailing behind Sloane to the entry, she looked at the poster plastered on the wall. The animals really did look pretty mimey. “Oh, I didn’t think you were. This is, like, very White Crest.” Cass might not have been in town as long as most, but she liked to think she understood this place by now. Taking the map, Cass unfolded it and studied it carefully. “Oh, yeah, we’ve gotta start with the sloths for sure. It looks like they’re next to the lemurs — obviously, we’ve gotta look at those, too.”

“You flatter me, Cass.” Sloane said, knocking her shoulder playfully against the other girl’s. “We can totally share if they are like, a billion dollars.” Sloane looked down at her map, feet planted on the concrete walkway. There were a number of ways to go if they wanted to get to the sloth enclosure. “I bet the churros will be the oreo kind, to fit the theme.” Sloane looked up from her map to Cass at the mention of lemurs. “Oh, for sure. I’m sure they’d be pissed if we didn’t. Somehow they'll know that we weren’t there for them. Can’t have that.” She shook her head in faux dismay before she pointed towards one of the trails. “If we go this way it’ll take us to the zebras.” She turned to point in the opposite direction, “this way ends up at the sloths, too, but it’s like, birds and stuff.” 

Even though she and Cass hadn’t been friends for very long, Sloane wanted to make this a day that her friend wouldn’t forget. She silently hoped that nothing would go wrong. The zoo was unpredictable, and that was without the fact that it was even in White Crest to begin with. “Oh, and I think they have slushies, too.” Sloane nodded towards one of the kiosks that had rotating drinks of varying colors. “I can get that, though, since you’re offering to take the hit on the billion dollar churros.” She grinned at Cass as she folded her map in half, tucking it beneath the strap of her backpack just over her shoulder. 

“I am a good flatterer,” Cass acknowledged with a grin. “Sharing would probably be more economical.” They could always grab a bigger meal after, but if there was one thing Cass knew about tourist attractions like amusement parks and zoos, it was that they put a pretty impressive upcharge on their food. “Do you think they do away with the crunchy part? To eliminate the sound?” She studied the map with a quiet hum, nodding along as Sloane spoke. “We don’t want to piss off any lemurs. They’d hold a grudge.” She studied the two paths Sloane indicated, feeling an obvious pull towards the second. “I mean, I do like birds. Maybe we can do zebras on the way to the sloths, birds on the way back? That way we can see both.”

Already, the trip was an exciting one, and they hadn’t even started yet. Even if the animals somehow proved disappointing, the outing would be a successful one. It was a day Cass got to spend with her friend; it didn’t get much better than that. “Oh, I love slushies!” She turned to the kiosk with a bright smile. “You sure? I don’t want you to, like, pay for everything. If you get the slushies, I’ll drop a billion on churros and buy us some fast food on the way home if that doesn’t fill us up!” It seemed a fair enough trade.

“It would be, but I’m a little selfish when it comes to sweets.” It wasn’t a lie, Sloane had a major sweet tooth, especially when it came to things dusted in sugar. “But I guess I’ll chill out to make it easier on your wallet.” Sloane stuck her tongue out petulantly before she looked over the map that was in Cass’s hands. “Oh, shit. You’re so right. I haven’t been here in awhile, so maybe we just need to chew it with our front teeth instead of our whole mouth.” Sloane pinched the collar of her shirt, waving it back and forth slightly to alleviate the warmth of the sun overtop of them. “Would hate for the lemurs to hold a grudge, but I bet the birds would love to see us, so hell yeah, let’s go see some beaks.” She was grateful that Cass had made the decision, mostly because Sloane would be torn between the two choices for way too long. 

Any excuse to indulge in said sweet tooth was a moment not lost on Sloane. “If I knew you had that kind of money I would’ve made you pay for the tickets.” Sloane let out a laugh as she turned her back towards Cass. “You can ignore the like, fifty wrappers in there, but can you grab my wallet?” She looked over her shoulder at Cass with a smile. “Fast food? Be still my heart, I’d love some fries after a visit like this one, or maybe something crunchier seeing as we’re going to have to be a little more on the silent side.” Sloane tilted her head back and looked up towards the sky, the brim of her hat obscuring her view of the trees only slightly. “It’s like, weirdly warm today too, so we could probably use the hydration, and what’s the fun in water?” 

“I get it. I can’t even be mad.” If there was anything worth being selfish over, it was sweets. Cass could relate a little, if she was being honest. She’d never been particularly good at sharing. “Your sacrifice is appreciated. By me and my bank account.” The air felt light around them, like the whole world was taking a moment to allow them time to consider the relatively harmless choice of which path to take. It was nice, Cass decided, to have choices whose results stood no chance of anyone being hurt if you chose wrong. It was nice to have choices where there was no wrong option, where either way you went would be fine, in the end. She couldn’t remember when such a thing had become novelty instead of commonplace. “No way do we want to get on a lemur’s bad side.”

Laughing, Cass shrugged. “Too late now. You should have asked me how rich I was before we came.” The answer, of course, was ‘not rich at all,’ but it was fun to pretend for a moment. Reaching into Sloane’s bag and dutifully ignoring the wrappers, Cass dug around until she felt the wallet, pulling it out with a victorious grin. “What can I say? I’m good at knowing what people want. And everybody wants fries.” She held the wallet out towards Sloane, glancing up at the sky with a hum. “We kind of skipped the back half of winter, so I guess it makes sense.” The summer was bound to get hot after the strange spring. “Water is the most boring hydration tool, you’re right. We need to have more fun with it. Hydrate me with slushies.” 

Sloane had been taught all of her life that she was a part of something much bigger, that the power she would wield once activated was above anything she could ever imagine. But the thing was, Sloane could imagine it – she imagined it every day. But today? Today, Sloane would slip into the skin of a normal twenty year old. Not for the sake of pretending, or to feel normal, but to enjoy a day with a friend who looked like she needed this just as much as Sloane did. 

“Shit. You’re right. I really fucked up, didn’t I?” Sloane plucked her wallet out of Cass’s hands with a grin as she turned around. “And as far as wanting fries, I think you might be right on that, too. Unless somebody is super into tots or something.” She pulled her card out of her wallet. “We did, didn’t we?” Sloane looked back up towards the sky once more before she turned on her heel, heading towards the kiosk with the rotating barrels of red, blue, and white dark purple liquids. They were a sorely needed pop of color in an otherwise drab environment. “Hydrate you, I will. What flavor do you want?” Sloane asked as they approached the drinks. She already knew she wanted blue. “It looks like purple is some kind of cola flavor.” 

“Fries are way superior to tots. Anybody who argues with me is just wrong.” Cass let the wallet go and wriggled her fingers, an absentminded and underwhelming take on jazz hands. The zoo wasn’t particularly crowded, and Cass wondered how many people actually came here. Did they get more White Crest citizens visiting, or was it mostly out of towners who didn’t know about the mimes? Cass couldn’t decide which option was weirder, though they were both pretty entertaining. 

Trailing behind Sloane towards the slushie kiosk, Cass hummed quietly. The transition from winter to spring had been so sudden this year, and while it was her first time in White Crest for the shift, she’d understood it to be far from the norm. It had felt like a reprieve at the time, a well-deserved break following a harsh season of evil tree nonsense, but now, with the summer sun bearing down upon them, it was hard to say for sure. White Crest, it seemed, only ever traded one harsh reality for another. “Surprise me! I’ll close my eyes and try to guess what color it is when I take a bite.” She made a big show of turning around so she couldn’t see what Sloane was ordering. 

Sloane rolled her eyes at Cass as she turned on her heel. “Got it.” She looked back to the man behind the register who, for all intents and purposes, seemed delighted to be helping them today. She pointed to Cass, then made an ‘X’ with her arms, pointed to her ears, and then pointed to the blue and red slushies. The man looked at her like she was crazy and Sloane rolled her eyes. Clearly he didn’t understand what she was trying to do. She leaned in, keeping her voice as low as possible. “Mix the red and the blue together in one, and then just blue in another.” The man nodded, smile still intact as he began to work on the drinks. 

Within a minute or two, Sloane had a slushie in either hand while her wallet tipped dangerously out of her front pocket. She should’ve just shoved it back into her bag. “Here you go.” Sloane extended her hand with the mixture smoothie and cleared her throat. “No peeking, by the way. If you do, that’s cheating, and cheaters shall meet a demise so extravagant that–” She thought for a moment, “well, I don’t know, but don’t cheat.” Sloane pressed the slushie into Cass’s hand before she grabbed her wallet from her pocket, twisting her bag around to throw it back into the bigger pocket. “Well? What flavor do you think it is?” Sloane sipped on her own, the raspberry blue coating her tongue. 

Grinning, Cass let her eyes wander across the landscape of the zoo while Sloane ordered, actively ignoring the low murmur of her friend’s voice in order to avoid hearing any ‘spoilers’ for their game. It wasn’t long before she felt Sloane behind her, the cold of the slushies radiating from the plastic cups in her hands. Dutifully, Cass squeezed her eyes shut. “I would never cheat,” she insisted seriously. “Even if there weren’t consequences involved!” It was probably true. Though she was a con artist, Cass had no reason to cheat at this particular game. The stakes here were pretty low.

Eyes still closed, she brought the straw to her mouth and took a long sip, smacking her lips together theatrically when she was finished. The flavor was… weird. There was a tang that made her think raspberry, but a sweetness to the aftertaste that was more like cherry. “This is a hard one,” she said thoughtfully. “I think… Red?”

Sloane watched Cass expectantly, one hand on her hip, the other closed around her own slushie. At Cass’s guess, she sighed dramatically, throwing her hand in the air and slushie forward, careful not to spill. “I can’t believe you got it….” Sloane drew out the last word, before finally, “wrong.” With the tilt of her head, Sloane motioned for Cass to follow her down the path they chose in order to get to the mime sloths. “Well, not entirely.” There was that distinct itch in the back of her throat. “I had them mix the raspberry and the cherry. That’s what I usually get, but I decided on just raspberry this time.” She stuck out her tongue to indicate the blue that had already stained it, pointing at it with her index finger. 

“I’m sure we won't piss off any lemurs with these guys.” She lifted the slushie up for examination before bringing the straw back to her mouth, sucking down a significant portion. Already, Sloane had started to see signs for exhibits on the birds. She could hear them, too. She hadn’t remembered that. “Maybe it’s not as silent as we thought it’d be.” She looked towards one of the signs that had an arrow pointing towards an indoor enclosure. “You want to check that out?” 

Opening her eyes, Cass grinned as Sloane spoke, the expression falling briefly before turning into a laugh when she continued. She followed her friend towards the path to the sloth enclosure, shaking her head with another giggle. “That’s so cheating!” She took another sip from the slushie, enjoying the taste. Maybe it had made the game a little harder, but the two flavors did compliment each other pretty nicely. 

“No way the lemurs could be mad at this,” she agreed with a hum, sipping on her own slushie thoughtfully. The sounds of the birds relaxed her a little, made her feel even more at ease than she already was. Looking up at the sign, she nodded eagerly. “Absolutely,” she agreed. “I bet they’ve got cool shit in there. C’mon!” She took Sloane’s arm, pulling her towards the building with all the excitement of a kid in a candy store.

“Was it though?” Sloane grinned at Cass, glad to see that she wasn’t too upset by the trick. Not that there was anything wrong with what she’d done, but some people might take offense. “It’s a good combo though, isn’t it?” Sloane glanced over her shoulder at Cass, smile still intact. It was important to her that her friend have a good time at the zoo, especially considering it was her first time at a mime zoo. 

Sloane followed Cass with ease, allowing the other girl to drag her forward. As she pushed open the door, the humidity hit her. There were plants of all kinds that covered the enclosured and netting with screen doors separating each small room. “Oh, they renovated this. This is much nicer. They must have known you’d be coming.” Sloane knocked her shoulder against Cass, then frowned at the no food or drink sign just before it. “Quick, let's see who can finish our slushie first without a brain freeze.” Without response from Cass, Sloane immediately started to down her drink, wincing slightly. 

“Absolutely!” But Cass clearly wasn’t upset in the slightest. She sipped at the slushie with a grin too big to pretend there were any hard feelings from the slight deception, nodding her head in agreement. “Honestly, ten out of ten. Probably better than either of them would be individually.” And the trick added to the fun, too. Games were far more enjoyable when they were difficult to win, especially when you were only playing for fun.

The building housing the indoor enclosure felt hot, like a jungle. Cass smiled faintly as the humidity hit her, closing her eyes for a moment. It felt nice, in a weird way. Like coming home. She heard birds screeching at one another and wings flapping in the air, and her smile widened. She was just about to drag Sloane further inside to get a good look when she noticed the sign. At her friend’s challenge, she laughed. “Oh, you are so on!” Before she could initiate a countdown, Sloane was already sucking down her slushie, drawing another laugh from Cass. “Hey, nobody said go!” But she was following suit quickly, downing her slushie and squeezing her eyes shut as the headache built up from the sudden assault of the cold drink.

The feeling in the back of Sloane’s throat was a weird one. The iciness of the drink even managed to numb the roof of her mouth as she sucked down the bright blue liquid. There was a recycling bin positioned in the corner of the room already full of plastic cups that couldn’t be stowed away. At least they hadn’t been the only people to suffer. “I did with the decision to do it!” Sloane finally managed to say after her cup was nearly empty. She tilted her head back and squeezed her eyes shut at the pain that traveled from her throat to her brain. 

“Okay, this fucking sucks.” Sloane’s throat felt tight, but she wouldn’t lose at this. But from the looks of it, Cass seemed to be winning even though Sloane had given herself a semi head start. Sloane could hear the straw blowing air from the bottom of the cup and she pulled it away, examining it with narrowed eyes, holding it for Cass to see. “I think you beat me, I still have some left.” Sloane’s disappointment at losing didn’t last long. She sucked down the rest of the drink and then tossed it into the bin, rubbing her numbed hands against her jeans. “Remind me to think about it the next time I say we should do something like that.” She let out a soft laugh before wiping her hand against her mouth. 

The icy drink seemed to sink claws into Cass’s head, but the pain was delightful in its own way; like the stitches you got in your side from laughing too hard. “That doesn’t count as saying go!” She argued, breathless with both the brain freeze and the quiet laughter. Her cup, like Sloane’s, was nearly empty now, and Cass quickly made an effort to drink the remainder of the slushie before Sloane could catch up. When she finished, she let out a victorious laugh.

 “Got you!” She wasn’t a very gracious winner, as it turned out. As Sloane finished up her slushie, Cass put her empty cup in the garbage can, balancing it atop about a million identical ones. “This is how they get you, huh? Con you into buying a slushie then make you drink it all at once. We got got by Big Slushie, Sloane.” She giggled, shaking her head. “I should remind you, but I probably won’t. It was pretty fun.” And then, she was moving forward again, tugging Sloane gently behind her and towards the glass windows that looked into the birds’ habitats. There was a parrot-looking creature in the closest one, and Cass pointed to it carefully. “Look at that!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Sloane rolled her eyes playfully. She wasn’t necessarily a sore loser, but she liked winning enough that there was a small sting that didn’t last very long. She’d win at something else against Cass later, she was sure. “I can’t believe Big Slushie got us.” Sloane let out a dramatic sigh, tilting her head back as if to ask the sky: why, oh why. She looked at Cass out of the corner of her eye with a grin. “You’re right. You should remind me to always do it, especially if brain freezes are involved.” Her expression screwed into something of discomfort. She already missed her slushie. 

Sloane followed Cass obediently towards the glass. On the other side were a group of birds that for the most part, seemed to be minding their own business. “Wow, that’s one big ass bird.” The banshee did her best not to press her nose against the glass, as there was already a smear against it from where others had done so. “I think we can go in!” Sloane pointed towards a gaggle of tourists who were already inside, little sticks with bird feed extended towards the branches where birds perched. She looped an arm through Cass’s and tugged her along towards the doors that had a ONE WAY sign on them. She pushed through, then looked to the little tray of bird feed that had a sign next to them that said 25¢. “I’ve got some coins. Do you want to feed them?” 

Cass grinned at Sloane’s response, doing little to seem like she wasn’t enjoying her victory a little too much. She was sure there’d be more games that would end a little more like the ‘guess the slushie flavor’ one had, so there was nothing wrong with enjoying her victories where she could find them. “Happens to the best of us. Big Slushie is a sneak.” Matching Sloane’s grin, she nodded her head. “We gotta do what we gotta do,” she agreed solemnly, “brain freeze or no.”

The idea of going inside the enclosure was an exciting one, and Cass quickly nodded and followed Sloane into the enclosure. Inside, the air was even more humid and the sounds of the birds were overwhelming. The flapping, the cawing, the chirping. Cass’s heart was pounding with excitement, grin impossibly wide as she looked around. Her eyes drifted to the direction Sloane was indicating, the tray of bird feed staring back at her. Quickly, she nodded her head. “I would love that,” she agreed.

“I was hoping you would say yes.” Sloane shrugged off her backpack and dug into the front pocket for the loose change. She pulled out a dollar in quarters and handed two over to Cass. She slipped her bag back over her shoulder and approached the small table. She slipped the quarters into the jar and took her two popsicle sticks. “I wonder what happens to the people who don’t pay.” Probably something, Sloane thought. There was no way that a zoo full of mime animals would let them get away with it. She turned her attention to the birds. Some were walking freely while the others slept in nests made either up in the trees, or on the ground. She was unsurprised to see that all of them were black and white. Some of these birds, Sloane had never seen before. 

Sloane approached the first bird she saw. It didn’t try to leave, but instead looked at her with its big eyes. She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder to Cass before looking back to the bird. “Would you like some glorified trail mix? Granola? But for birds?” She extended the popsicle stick and the bird looked at it curiously before craning its neck. It began to peck at the seed that’d been stuck to the stick with some kind of sticky substance. “There are some crows that hang around my house and I feed them blueberries. They usually bring me back things, too, but feeding them is way different than feeding this little guy.” She looked towards one of the signs that explained what kind of birds were in the enclosure. “It looks like it’s a warbler?” 

With a grateful smile, Cass took the quarters and put them into the jar before taking two popsicle sticks for herself. She hummed at Sloane’s question, shrugging a shoulder. “They probably get turned into mimes and forced to work in the bakery or something. It’s always stuff like that in White Crest.” Consequences were weird in this town, rarely reflecting the actions that brought them up. And maybe that was a good thing; with the things Cass had done, consequences matching actions might not end particularly well for her. The claw marks on her shoulder where the bear had nearly gotten her throbbed, and she shifted to alleviate them. The birds were a good distraction to it all. Cass held up her popsicle stick experimentally.

As Sloane made her way to the nearest bird, Cass turned to her and watched. The bird didn’t seem afraid of her, though Cass supposed that made sense. These birds probably saw humans as giant vending machines, given how accustomed they must have become to being fed by them. Slowly, so as not to startle the bird, Cass came to stand beside Sloane. “I have a friend who likes crows.” It felt weird referring to Correy as a friend, but it would also feel weird to pretend he wasn’t her friend. “It looks like a warbler, yeah. A black-and-white warbler.”

Cass had a point, Sloane thought. She guessed her friend had been in White Crest long enough now to truly understand the way that punishments and consequences worked. Maybe that was a good time. Maybe it meant there’d be less of a chance of Cass wandering into places that she shouldn’t be. Though, on second thought, maybe not. Cass seemed like the type to wander, and it seemed like most of the time that she did so it was out of the goodness of her own heart as she tried to help others. 

“I have a friend who threatened to make them shit on me. The crows, I mean.” Sloane scrunched her nose at the thought, a fond smile pulling at the corners of her lips soon after. “They’re cool, and like, super intelligent. They tend to move a little less than other birds, so they’re easier to draw, too.” Sloane watched as the second warbler started to hop towards them, its head tilting from one side to the other before it finally started to strike its beak at the stick that Cass held. “I think he likes you.” Sloane twisted her own stick, angling where the bird seed was in abundance, and the bird gratefully began to strike it faster. “I wonder if they have anything like this at any of the other exhibits…” 

“Sounds like something my friend would do, too,” she replied with a laugh. “He told me he’d feed me to them once. Which, like, I know is bullshit because I vibe with crows. They’d never eat me. We’re buddies.” She’d always thought crows were cool; she’d read a book once about how they remembered the faces of humans they’d seen before, and there’d been a strange sense of comfort to it, a strange relief in knowing that even when the rest of the world forgot her, there might be a crow somewhere that still knew her face. It had probably been a stupid thing to take comfort in, but it had helped, anyway.

She perked up a little at the mention of drawing. “I’d love to see some of your crow drawings sometime. You know, if that’s okay.” Her attention was quickly captured by the warbler coming closer, striking the stick she held in her hand. Laughing, Cass leaned down a little, trying to offer easier access to the stick. “I read you can feed the goats,” she replied thoughtfully. “Maybe they have a tank where you can pet fish? Places have that, you know, sometimes.”

“Wonder if we have the same friend.” Sloane let out a laugh of her own and drew her hand back, only when she noticed that the bird had become bored by the stick she held. It wandered off to another part of the branch and Sloane looked over at Cass. 

“Oh, for sure. My sketchbook is back in my car, so when we leave you can look it over while I carry our asses to get some fries.” Sloane discarded her now-seedless stick into the bin with the other popsicle sticks. At least they were firm on recycling here. “Really? I haven’t been here in so long. I think you know more than me.” Sloane smiled fondly at Cass before she turned around, looking for some kid to give her leftover bird seed stick to. One walked by, as if on cue, and Sloane handed it over without a word. The kid looked confused, but then erupted into laughter before he took off towards his parents. At least he was rude enough to not say thanks.

“We should go see the lemurs and sloths soon,” Sloane said as she pulled her pamphlet out. “It says they get fed around this time, we might get to see them do something cool aside from just stare at us. Not that that isn’t cool.” 

“Probably. I swear, this town is, like, crazy small sometimes.” The number of times Cass had spoken to someone only to find out that they had multiple connections in common was huge. It was kind of nice, in a way. It made her feel more connected to White Crest as a whole, as if the whole town was bound together by the same red string.

Grinning at Sloane’s quick agreement, Cass nodded excitedly. “I’d love that. I’m, like, slowly learning about art. My friend owns a gallery, and my boss sketches, too. There’s a lot of artists here — it’s kind of awesome.” Art had never been something she’d had much interest in before, but seeing Metzli’s passion for it had made it seem more intriguing. She glanced down at her own stick, unsurprised to see it empty like Sloane’s. She discarded it in the recycle bin, following Sloane’s lead and handing her second stick off to a kid who was all too excited to take it.

“We definitely don’t want to miss feeding time,” she agreed enthusiastically. “I wonder if they get, like… excited for food. Like, do sloths get excited? How would you tell? They’re so slow.” 

“Oh, really?” Sloane wondered if it was the same person she had semi-contacted about for the pride showcase. Of course, she hadn’t followed up on it, too unsure of her art that it’d make any kind of cut, or could reflect in a way that would be prideful. “I don’t really know anything about like, what makes art… art? But I like to draw, so that’s enough for me.” It really didn’t matter to Sloane what one considered art, what she cared about was bound in her sketchbook, tucked neatly away for hers and a select few eyes only. 

“I guess we’re going to find out, aren’t we?” Sloane wore a smile so big that it made her cheeks hurt. She was enjoying her time here with Cass. Even though she spent so much time thinking about her future and what it would mean for her once activated, it was nice to pretend, even if just for a moment. 

Sloane ushered Cass out of the bird enclosure and pointed towards a sign that directed up a hill. “That looks like a lemur!” She looked at the time on her phone and then back to her pamphlet. “Oh, we’re going to catch the very end, let’s go!” She hooked her arm through Cass’s and dragged her forth, not slowing down until she could see the building that housed lemurs, sloths, and koalas. “You know, I was thinking about it, and I think that this is an actual mime-mime sloth ‘cause I don’t think actual black and white sloths exist.” She pulled open the door to the enclosure and pointed towards the enormous glass walls where a zookeeper was inside, something in their hand. 

“Oh, I don’t know any of that stuff, either,” Cass admitted with a laugh. “I just know when I like something.” She liked Metzli’s art, and Abigail’s, and Jonas’s. She was pretty sure she’d like Sloane’s, too. When it came to art, Cass was fairly easy to please; she often cared more about the person creating a piece than she did about the piece itself. 

There was some joy at the concept of finding out whether or not sloths experienced excitement, and it was clear that Cass wasn’t the only one anticipating the answer. Sloane seemed happy, too. And Cass felt good knowing that she was a part of that joy. It felt nice knowing that she could make someone else grin like this.

She followed Sloane to the next enclosure, picking up pace when it was clear that they were on a limited schedule. They passed a few cages that she knew they’d stop back by to look at later, but for now, there was a main event stretched out in front of them in the shape of a building. Cass hurried inside behind Sloane, eyes wide as she stared into the glass. The sloth — black and white and maybe not entirely natural — reached a long arm towards the zookeeper, slowly grabbing the food out of their hand. It didn’t look particularly ecstatic; it was slow moving and careful, but it was pretty cute. 

“Maybe I can draw you.” She’d drawn the people before, and even if birds, bones, and … other things were better practiced, she could probably get Cass’s smile right if she really tried. “Obviously only if you want.” Sloane smiled at Cass, thinking about the number of people who had asked her to draw their pets as well as the places they loved most after seeing her work. Maybe there was something prideful in her work. 

“Should we be quiet?” Sloane asked under her breath, knocking into Cass slightly as she craned her neck to get a better look. There was a small crowd towards the front of the enclosure, most of them taller than herself or Cass. The banshee poked her friend’s arm before pointing towards a small space towards the front where they could get a better look. Camera flashes went off, but the sloth seemed unfazed. “This was so worth it. That’s our mascot.” She wished she had her sketchbook with her, that way she could take it out and quickly draw something to commemorate this. 

“Really?” A warmth spread through her chest at the concept. “No, I — I’d like that. That would be awesome, actually. Nobody’s ever… I mean, nobody’s ever done that before.” At least, not as far as she knew. She’d never thought of herself as the kind of person anyone might want to draw, but the idea of Sloane doing it was kind of awesome. And Cass knew it would turn out well, even if she hadn’t seen Sloane’s artwork yet. It was hard to imagine Sloane being bad at it. It was hard to imagine Sloane being bad at anything.

“Maybe? I don’t know.” Cass wasn’t sure what a sloth preferred when it came to noise levels at meal time, or if there was any kind of a preference at all. It didn’t seem bothered by the spectators or the camera flashes, so maybe a little noise was okay. Following Sloane over to the small space towards the front, Cass smiled. “We picked a really good mascot. Look at its little fingers!” 

Friendship had always been a difficult position to take. Not because Sloane had very few throughout school, but because she knew at the end of the day, being a banshee would take precedence over almost anything else. Never allowing herself to get close to people may have been blamed on the fact that she was just a little too weird for other people’s tastes, but maybe it was something deeper— that that connection could later kill whoever it was that she became close to. Holding others at arm’s length came as easy to the banshee, but in the moment she saw Cass’s face light up, she felt herself feeling the pull to allow herself something simple, just as she had with Ari, Teagan, and even Poe. 

“Well it’s a mime, so like, that’s why—“ Sloane resisted the urge to press her hands to the glass just as the children to her left did. “Yeah, but look at those claws. He could like, tear open anything he wanted.” She paused. “Like, a bag of chips.” Sloane let out a laugh and watched as the sloth continued to munch slowly on the biscuit that the zookeeper held out. “I bet they have sloth shirts in the gift shop.” 

“Do mimes want other people to be quiet, too?” Cass considered this for a moment, perplexed. The truth was, she didn’t know a lot about mimes, and she knew significantly less about White Crest’s version of mimes. Ari had warned her about them back when they were near strangers, and a few other people had echoed those thoughts, but it was hard to wrap her head around. Right now, she couldn’t bring herself to care about it much. She felt light and breezy and carefree with Sloane at her side, like the world could throw just about anything her way and she’d be able to take it without a problem. It was funny how much stronger you could feel with a friend beside you. It was like its own kind of superpower.

Laughing at Sloane’s words, she shrugged. “I don’t know, he looks pretty lazy. I bet he’d ask someone else to open his chips for him.” Each time the sloth reached for the food in the zookeeper’s hand it was at an agonizingly slow pace. If sloths ever staged an uprising, Cass thought, they’d probably be safe so long as they didn’t mind keeping up a leisurely pace in their escape. “Oh my god, can we get matching sloth shirts? For our brand!”

“See, that is something I don’t know since uh, they don’t speak.” Sloane rolled her shoulders up to her ears and dropped them in a dramatic display of you’re asking the wrong person. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise her if some mimes preferred it when others were quiet around them. It must’ve gotten tiring for the non-murderous ones, being poked fun at all of the time. She stopped for a moment, brows knitting together — was she really empathizing with mimes? Go figure. 

“You’re so right. I mean, I would. Weak arms, remember?” Sloane let out a laugh and watched the sloth eat some of his biscuit a little longer before looking back over to Cass. “Uh… duh?” Sloane grinned, her own attention on the sloth depleting by the moment. “We totally should…” The banshee thought for a moment and then continued, “keychains, too.” 

“Well, if they want us to be quiet, they should really say something,” Cass replied, a glint of amusement in her eye. It was kind of an oxymoron — a mime asking someone to keep it down. That only made the concept funnier, really, especially considering White Crest’s particular brand of mimes kind of earned the way people made fun of them. If you were going to be a cryptid, you were going to get dunked on. Just ask Mothman.

Laughing, Cass turned to Sloane with a feigned serious expression. “I will open every bag of chips for you,” she promised solemnly, turning back to the sloth briefly to see how it moved. Slow and steady and super cute. There were definitely worse mascots to have. “Yes! Matching t-shirts and matching keychains. We’ll be, like, a gang. A sloth gang.”

Sloane brought her knuckles against her lips to keep from laughing too loud. Cass’s joke wasn’t even that good, but it was the idea of it— of a mime breaking its mime protocol and politely asking them to be quiet, that sent Sloane knocking her shoulder against Cass’s. “You’re right. That’s all they’d need to do. Maybe we’d finally understand what they want.” 

“Don’t say that if you don’t m—“ Sloane caught herself. It would be her luck if Cass promised to do that. It wasn’t like she was experienced enough to pull anything from what her friend had said, nor was it possible, but if the wording were different, then Sloane would basically out herself, which— to be fair, she had told Marina she wanted to do by herself as far as Cass was involved. “My arms would be very grateful.” She lifted one to show off the lack of muscle. “Do you think they have sloth dice? For like, car mirrors?” 

Sloane looked amused, and Cass preened ever so slightly. It always felt good, making people she cared about laugh. It made her feel a little better about herself, like she was good for something. “They just need to work on their communication skills,” she added, shaking her head like it was a shame the mimes couldn’t figure this out for themselves.

Cass raised a brow as Sloane cut herself off, but didn’t mention it; if she didn’t want to finish the thought, Cass wouldn’t push. This town was weird about stuff like that sometimes. She laughed as Sloane raised her arms, bringing her hand up to touch her friend’s bicep thoughtfully. “I don’t know, I definitely feel something. Maybe you’re not giving yourself enough credit here!” Humming at the question, she shrugged. “Maybe? We can definitely look when we go!”

“There’s literally nothing there.” Sloane flexed beneath Cass’s touch, a feigned distraught expression flickering across her features. “One day I’ll live up to my true potential.” One day, she might. She could defend herself, but just barely. She knew Cass liked to get scrappy, maybe one of these days she could ask her for tips. 

Usually the type to be frugal, all of that went out the window when it came to entertaining a friend. Sloane hadn’t had very many growing up, and because she made her own money at her mom’s shop (part-time pay, but something to fund her sketching habit at the very least) she didn’t know when to stop paying for people’s things. Even with the family business, they weren’t very well off. Most of the funds went into the actual shop to ensure dignity and respect was carried to the grave of those who’d passed. 

“If you ask real nice, I might even buy you a sloth plushie.” Sloane would get one for herself, too, and something for Ari. Maybe something for Teagan, too. Maybe even Marina and Correy, and— She cleared her throat. “After this is over we should go look.” The sloth seemed to almost be done with its biscuit, but now the promise of purchasing something she could walk away with and the two would remember this day for months, if not years to come, sat heavy on her mind. 

“There’s totally something,” Cass insisted, nodding and looking impressed as she pulled away from Sloane’s arm. “I think your potential is totally being lived up to already.” In all the ways that mattered, anyway. Maybe Sloane wasn’t a fighter (though Cass would never say as much for certain without seeing proof, given her experiences in this town), but she was great at other things. A skilled negotiator, at least, as she’d proven with the pixies.

Grinning at the idea of a sloth plushie to commemorate the occasion, Cass put a hand over her chest. “Be still my heart,” she said in a sing-song voice, feigning a swoon. “You’re really going all out to impress today!” It felt nice. People didn’t often do things like this for Cass; she didn’t think she’d ever had a foster family who spent money on her without complaint. But Sloane made it look easy. 

The sloth was finishing up its meal now, slowly licking the last of the crumbs from its long fingernails. “If we go now, we might be able to beat the crowd,” Cass offered, nodding towards the path to the gift shop.

Cass’s insistence brought a smile to Sloane’s lips. “Knew I could count on you to gas me up.” Realistically, she wasn’t all too sure if Cass was actually trying to make her feel better, or playing in to the joke that was obviously in play. Whether it was the former or the latter, Sloane couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that she’d ever be capable of getting buff. 

“Look, I have to do it, it’s for the greater good.” Sloane nodded firmly as if to back herself up. “If I do this, it means that our efforts were not wasted, and then we’ll forever be remembered as—“ She thought for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin, “being super into sloths or something.” It wasn’t quite a lie. She wanted to make people happy, wanted to see them smile because of her. Maybe it was selfish, buying somebody’s affection, but it seemed to be working. 

“Oh, shit. You’re right.” Sloane took the first step away from the enclosure, giving a slight wave over her shoulder to the lemurs who were minding their own business. The gift shop wasn’t too far from where they currently were, Sloane realized, after pulling out the map. There were three within the zoo itself, but they didn’t look all too different from one another. The air conditioning in the small building was welcomed as Sloane pushed the door open. Tilting her head back, she let the cool breeze wash over her face, nudging her hat up slightly. 

“Over there!” She pointed towards the plushies that were stacked on the wall in the far corner and grabbed Cass’s arm gently, dragging her along the path that would surely lead to an empty wallet. 

“Always,” Cass assured her seriously. And she meant it, in spite of the joking nature of the conversation. As far as she was concerned, Sloane deserved to have someone talk her up, deserved to have her confidence boosted as often as possible. She was a good friend, and always impressed in one way or another. Cass wouldn’t hesitate to tell her as much.

Laughing, Cass nodded. “For the greater good,” she agreed. “We need to be remembered for what we are — absolute sloth fanatics.” Cass followed Sloane away from the enclosure, glancing to the lemurs and wrinkling her nose in their general direction. The walk to the gift shop was a short one, and Cass sighed contentedly as they entered it. It was bright inside; every shelf stacked full of colorful shirts and toys, little knick knacks stuffed into each corner so that there was no real empty space within the entire building. There was something nice about that, in a way. 

Letting Sloane drag her towards the plushies on the wall, Cass laughed. “There!” She pointed towards the top of the wall, craning her neck to see. Sure enough, there was a line of sloth plushies staring down at them with glass eyes. Like the sloth in the enclosure, these were unnaturally black and white. “Oh my god, they’re cute!”

“It’s sort of funny…” Sloane noticed the lack of black and white almost immediately. “It seems like the gift shop didn’t get the mime memo on some of these.” It wasn’t to say there weren’t black and white items, but the animals were mostly the colors that they should have been. A beige lion, a green tortoise, even the sloths were a toned down grey and white with flecks of brown. It was almost impossible to believe that the thing they’d seen previously was a sloth. 

On the other hand, the display next to them were a complete opposite from the boundless amounts of color. “I guess they want to be somewhat accurate?” Sloane let out a laugh before she looked over at her friend, a soft smile pinned at the corners of her mouth. Sloane glanced back up towards the shelf with the mime plushies. They weren’t that far out of reach, so asking somebody for help wasn’t necessary. Sloane stood on her tippy toes and reached, fingers twitching in the air for the sloth’s foot. One fell on top of her head, then onto the ground. Sloane managed to grab the second, tugging it down.

Sloane rocked back on her heels and held out the one she’d managed to keep up from the ground out to Cass before kneeling down, grabbing the one that’d fallen. She dusted it off dramatically before nodding in approval. “Did you see anything else? I think the keychains are up by the checkout counter.” 

Sloane was right; some of the plushies were far less mimeified than others. Cass smiled with faint amusement as she inspected them. The normal looking sloths were cute and all, but she certainly felt more drawn to the mime ones. After all, they were a much better reminder of this specific day at the zoo, and this was a day Cass would very much like to be reminded of. “Which ones do you think sell better? I’m kind of curious now.” 

She hummed as Sloane reached for the mime sloth. “I definitely want a mime one,” she agreed. “You know, for the White Crest aesthetic.” She didn’t mention the way it made her feel warm inside to remember this trip; things like that always felt like too much, and the last thing Cass wanted to do was be too much for Sloane. 

Taking the plushie Sloane offered her, Cass grinned and petted the fur absently. It was a lot softer than the real sloth had looked, but that was okay. Not everything had to be accurate. “I think we’re good to go! Matching keychains, then French fries?” It seemed like the best way to complete the trip.

“The mimes, for sure.” Where else could somebody get a black and white replica of their favorite animal? Granted, not all of the animals typically in zoos were on the shelf, but still. Wouldn’t it be cooler to walk away with a black and white flamingo than a pink one? “Tourists like things that remind them of where they visited. What’s another koala plush? Booooring.” 

Sloane nodded in agreement. “For the aesthetic. Totally.” The look on Cass’s face was priceless, and really, if she could afford it, Sloane would’ve turned around and bought up the whole display. It’s not that your love language is gift giving, her dad had told her, it’s that you’re afraid nobody will want to stick around if you don’t give them something else. She cleared her throat and looked away from Cass after a moment, struck by glee at Cass’s words. 

“Matching keychains, then French fries.” Sloane tucked the sloth plush beneath her arm and ticked off the two must-do’s off of her fingers. She glanced over her shoulder, taking note of a black and white wolf. “I’m going to grab this, too!” She tucked it under her arm next to the sloth and headed towards the front counter which had an array of keychains. “Oh, look, it’s a sloth climbing a branch!” She pointed at the metal that had been haphazardly fused together and took it off the display, dangling it in the air for Cass to see. “I think these are it. Unless you like something else?” it had dawned on her that she’d been making a lot of the choices. Maybe she should take a step back and let Cass lead. 

Cass laughed, pleased that Sloane agreed with her. The idea of tourists flocking to White Crest was still a little weird, but she supposed those that did — and survived the experience — would probably want a reminder of it. What better way to prove you’d done it than a black and white mime-animal plushie? 

Grinning as Sloane grabbed the wolf, Cass nodded. She wondered, absently, if it was for Ari, but she didn’t ask. If Sloane didn’t know about Ari’s wolfier side, it wasn’t Cass’s place to tell her. Following her friend to the counter, she nodded at the keychains. “That’s so cute!” As Sloane put everything on the counter for purchase and turned back to her, Cass’s smile turned a little more gentle, a little more fond. “No,” she said, “I’m good.” 

And she really, really was. After a day like this, how could she not be? 

#faetedwill #sloane: slothphisticated day trip

[feelingofcontent]

DNP Rewatch: DAN AND PHIL JAPAN HAUL!

Date video was published: 05/03/2015 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 268

More Japan content!

This is the second “haul” type video Phil ever does (after his “Favourites” video). I feel like they also did this one to give them a chance to talk more about their trip on a main channel video.

0:01 - Dan’s “hello again” ...he has been on Phil’s channel a lot recently

0:05 - “the best time ever” until their second Japan trip 🥺

0:11 - the DITL video was posted just a couple of days after they got back

0:19 - is Phil restrained? How many “things I regret buying” videos does he end up doing? Dan agrees though, apparently.

0:31 - Both of them with their mouths open as wide as possible. Dan’s mouth looks so big compared to Phil’s 😳

0:41 - little lean-in arm bumps

0:46 - wow referencing back to the first DITL video. “full of random crap.” “good crap.” lol

0:56 - Dan’s blaming Phil at this point, but he buys a lot at other places later haha.

1:05 - Phil loves playing machines like that it seems. He also posted a side channel video of him doing a “lucky dip” machine.

1:08 - Dan does not like bugs much. That is a seemingly random thing to have a fandom for.

1:32 - really going with the bug theme here.

1:37 - “pancake playing cards” seems like a very Phil thing to buy

1:47 - that creature looks slightly terrifying

1:52 - Dan’s just laughing at Phil’s random purchases at this point

1:58 - god, throwback to the “Popin’ Cookin’” sushi thing they tried back in 2011. Wonder if that had something to do with Phil choosing that.

2:07 - love Phil admitting he bought it just for the cute dog picture. And a the cute bear.

2:13 - guessing Dan would like to help assemble that Pikachu puzzle; he’s already studying the box

2:21 - aww cute. And the little fight over it! And Phil’s tiny “me.” oh 🥺 and then the jump cut.

2:27 - that museum looks so cool. Lol at Phil blinking to show taking photos in his brain. Also, where they took my favorite photo that they shared from this trip.

2:50 - alright, I love all the Studio Ghibli stuff. The film strip ticket is such a cool souvenir! And that book is awesome looking. Phil’s got such a fond look on his face as Dan shows it.

3:58 - the Pokémon Centre does seem like a dangerous place for DNP to spend money, lol. Also, love that selfie with Duncan and Mimei!

4:09 - of course a lot of what Phil chose is snacks. Now Dan is excited when he sees they have shapes.

4:21 - right with the feeding. of the cookie Phil just bit off of. 

4:42 - Dan is so amused and fond at what Phil bought this entire video. And Phil is so smiley.

5:05 - I LOVE this tidbit that Phil organizes stuff for an airport into a folder and carries it around. (I used to do that do before mobile boarding passes.)

5:17 - that ends up in the background/clips of videos a lot moving forward

5:32 - we’ve already seen several snacks, but clearly not enough, lol

5:46 - strange Kit Kat flavors are the thing you hear about when talking about Japanese snacks

6:00 - that was quite a pun there from Dan

6:12 - Dan loves it. Phil seems to like it too even though he apparently doesn’t love green tea!

6:22 - the pocky looks good. This is making me hungry now.

6:47 - we jump-cut over the feeding this time, but Phil is still holding the stick, so. Dan does not look impressed.

7:00 - that would be fun, but oops

7:10 - Dan posted an Instagram clip of the arcade. Phil looks so impressed by Dan winning at those!

7:25 - knew we would get some Attack on Titan theme singing at some point in this video

 7:36 - that is sweet of Duncan and Mimei! But that is so strange that they did it without knowing Dan had won that.

7:57 - “sailor suit Haru” alrighty. Phil is like ‘where you gonna put that, Dan?’ 😂

8:07 - Mount Fuji tour! Mimei’s video from that day is still up too.

8:29 - and the Mount Fuji air can. I love that Dan knows it’s maybe stupid but he bought it anyway because he thought it was funny and it made him happy. And that they still have it in the forever home bedroom. 😭

8:48 - Phil posted pictures of the black ice cream and aftermath during the trip

9:07 - I feel like they would have been so awkward at the maid café. Phil’s side-eye about the loyalty card is something. They did both post polaroids from it (1, 2) and photos of the llama and lion lattes they got.

9:32 - so Dan bought something expensive to get the Free! tissue box Phil was teasing him for in the DITL video, not a bunch of stuff. (Also, lol Dan still making use of it months later.)

9:50 - “I’m just going to leave messages for you around the house.” Dan does not hate that idea, the dimple is out.

9:55 - the fridge walrus! (I tried for the life of me to figure out which video we originally saw this in, but I can’t remember...)

10:10 - Phil deadpan explaining what “goes out to pasture” means. what.

10:16 - love the background giggles while filming that

10:27 - Phil is right, that is a strange choice of merch to make for that show

10:53 - why did Dan spray so much?! Phil does not like it.

11:17 - I feel like that was a too-much-time in the airport purchase, lol. But it is “the official souvenir sweet of Tokyo” according to Wikipedia.

11:31 - they are cute! Dan likes it a lot, but it took Phil a second. Phil definitely has an issue with the texture of some things.

12:10 - so some of it is at least supposed to be for friends, haha. They did at least give a couple things to Phil’s family when they came to visit a few days after they got back.

12:15 - love the Dan jazz-hands intro to draw-Phil-naked

12:29 - Phil is right; there have been so many joint videos

12:57 - I am much more interested in knowing what the picture with the women and fighting sheep is there. 🤔

13:03 - this is so adorable and Phil including it in the video is even better 😭

This isn’t the most exciting video, but it’s fun to hear them reminisce about this trip that they loved so much. This isn’t a video I rewatch a lot, so I hadn’t seen it in a while. A lot of the stuff they got shows up in random videos in the future!

#dan and phil #dnp #dnpRewatch #amazingphil #daniel howell #phil lester #danisnotonfire #amazingphil videos #DAN AND PHIL JAPAN HAUL! #cw food

[vinevsm]

My boy with good heart ❤️

P2.

2016.03.04

I still hope you can save money and recharge yourself! Carduo bought some small gifts for mom and dad to take care of myself and help the people around me

P3

20210916

You helped me verify that luck is inseparable from hard work, our top studentsYou helped me verify that luck is inseparable from hard work, our top students

P4.

#黄景瑜#枪#黄景瑜1130岁快乐# Korean fans took a group photo and shared a short story when they took a photo at the Seoul fan meeting: "Because I don’t want to show my face, I brought a mask. The staff came over and asked us to take off the mask. I asked why I wanted to extract, and the answer I got was: "Because the artist (Huang Jingyu) requested, the artist (Huang Jingyu) wanted to see everyone's face in the photo." In that short time, because I couldn't see the back row People, I turned around and looked at everyone. It’s really too warm.” @Johnny黄景瑜Before, the whale and the platform cooperated to launch their own peripherals, but when a fan chatted with the whale at the airport, he mentioned that every purchase was a little bit The surrounding areas charge a postage, so the extra postage purchased in the surrounding area will be a bit expensive. Although the whale only knew about this at the time, I didn’t expect that fans would receive news from the platform that they would refund the extra postage to the fans Jing Yuzhen He is a very good boy. In the early days, my wrist was injured during filming, and the plaster was stuck on it all the time. Once I got off the plane and quietly tore off the plaster before reaching the fans in order not to worry the fans. When the whale was filming, the fans went to Baotou to visit him and waited for him at the hotel. When he came back, he asked the fans if they had dinner, and he took out his bank card and asked the fans to eat. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

P5.

"The whale is not aware of the fact that we can't get handshake tickets from the surrounding area. Mimei told him that he was still holding the injustice for us and asked Brother Zheng to ask. Finally, he should go and ask if we still have grievances? Then no He left after he was too fond of the fan. 555555~* CL and shoot video

P6

Share dinner food

P7

If the images of Huang Jingyu I saw before were all bright and beautiful under the lens, then this time I saw Huang Jingyu behind the lens and recorded the real Huang Jingyu I saw. Scene 1: The sound of the old man singing with a loudspeaker came from the distance of the filming in the park. The crew felt that the singing was a bit interfering with the live recording, and was trying to tell the old man not to sing anymore. At this time, Jing Yu stopped the staff and said: "Singing in the park is also normal, so don't disturb others singing." So the filming continued. Scene 2: In the midst of filming, when the sun was scorching, Jing Yu stood in the crowd waiting for the director to start filming. There was a young group performer who felt sorry for him and fanned him silently with a prop foam board. Jing Yu said, "Do you need to fan me? Fan yourself.” Scene 3: Someone showed me a recent Reuters video after work. In the video, Jingyu was about to ride a motorcycle after get off work. There was a group of people taking pictures of whales. On-site staff verbally prevented passers-by from taking pictures. Later Passers-by and the staff had disputes and push-ups. The motorcycle that Jing Yu had just drove out came back. He immediately got out of the car and walked between the two to prevent this possible conflict, and then rode away on the motorcycle. Scene 4: After get off work late at night, Jing Yu got off work at one o'clock in the morning, and found that we were still waiting for him downstairs on the set. He turned around and said to us as he walked, "Respond to the call of the country and chase the stars rationally!"

P8.

1. Make an appointment to record in Beijing, Mimei: What size shoes do you wear, Whale: Huh? How big is zen? (I raised my foot and gestured after I finished speaking) Mimei: kkkkkk is os in his heart. So how big is a whale? I don’t want you to buy things again. Your goodness is never directly expressed Roubao SU

P9.

JOHNNY 23. Hengdian, a half-demon alluring city exploration class, there is a small dining car next to it, the whale: I treat, you buy something to eat, the fan girl: don’t don’t don’t stop the whale: buy hard, I see how much you can buy, Mimei: I'm flattered, laughing, Whale: Can you buy me poor today, Mimei: Big sister, give me the car key, I will drive away directly, Whale: Don't you want to buy the whale like this

Johnny man with good heart and helpful person ,I'm proud of you ❤️

CR. Watermark

#timmy xu #jhonnyhuang #history #huangjingyu #music #photography #television #movies #yuzhou #xu weizhou

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Galarian Mr. Mime and Mr. Rime

Galarian Mr. Mime:

I've said it before that I've kinda had a change of heart toward Mr. Mime, mostly thanks to Pokemon recently embracing the fact that it's just some freaky clown thing that also happens to be a wild animal. Especially with its appearance in Detective Pikachu. I don't LOVE it, but I like it well enough this time around. I do however wonder if Detective Pikachu helped in the creation of a Galarian Mr. Mime in the first place, since it's been a pretty understated Pokemon up until the trailers to that movie.

Galarian Mr. Mime though takes an interesting twist by electing to be an Ice/Psychic type, and putting its hat up on its miming career and deciding to instead take up tap dancing. And the whole idea is... eh. I can see where some of the logical through-line is coming through, but some of the execution could be better.

The Ice type comes in by having its “shoes” be frozen on the bottom, giving it the sound of tapdancing when it, well, dances. That much itself is a clever way to get in the tap-dancing theme. It's also easy to make parallels between the tap dancing and Irish clog dancing. I do like how it has a funny little ice “tie”. Its hands are also much less pronounced, instead now having “mittens”.

Everything else just feels a little off to me. The hair just doesn't feel as naturally rendered and it looks super weird. Its nose/stache also looks really weird to me. I guess the “earmuff” sideburns are fine.

It doesn't help that its idle animation looks really stiff. Its other animations are fine enough, but its idle in particular feels too much like they tried to cram an elaborate action into a single second-long loop. I do in general say that most new Pokemon have stepped up in animation quality, but Mr. Mime feel still feels like it's held onto the same awkwardness as the animations of the models introduced back in X and Y.

But I will give credit where it's due, it is probably the regional variant that changes up the original Pokemon's physiology the most so far. Kantonian Mr. Mime definitely has more emphasis on the upper half of its body with large dodge balls for shoulders and a big honkin noggin. Galarian Mimey goes in reverse, with more emphasis on its lower half with longer, more outstretched legs and bigger feet, while compared to its regular variant, it has considerably smaller arms, shoulders and head. The two even smile differently, but both have an uncanny clown stare. I may not be ENTIRELY on board with the execution but I do like the attempt being made here.

Personal Score: 6.5/10

866: Mr. Rime

Thankfully Mr. Rime brings it back around into good stuff. It's a shame Mr. Mime has joined the club with its fellow Gen 1 single-stage budies, Magmar and Electabuzz so late that it's gotten roped into this Regional Evolution thing to where it's no longer its original type. Curiously enough though, it's now Jynx's type of all things. I guess that may be indirectly ruling out the possiblity of Jynx getting its own evolution, at least not one that would also by Ice/Psychic, huh?

Anyway, while the hair still doesn't look that great to me, Mr. Rime steps up its game for everything else. Its face overall is quite amusing, with a classic bowler hat and 'stache. It's also developed the tap dancing theme to include a little cane made out of ice, which is cute.

It's also been classified as a “Comedian Pokemon”. When taking the way it “dresses” into account, it's all a pretty unsubtle reference to British comedian Charlie Chaplin. Who also tap-danced quite a bit for his routines. Mr. Rime in general is much better animated than its predecessor too. A much better idle dancing animation, as well as some really fun walk and run cycles that I wish I could find decent gifs of but no dice, sadly.

Speaking of animations, another interesting tidbit about Mr. Rime's animations is that its face doesn't emote much beyond eye blinks. But there IS an odd pattern on its stomach, made up of a huge button in the middle and two, what look like yellow coat buttons on the side. But in actuality, this belly pattern actually emotes a lot more than its actual face does! The buttons blink and what looks like a white undershirt is actually the only visible mouth on this thing. We could very well have another Wobbuffet situation on our hands where a Pokemon's face is actually a fake face, hiding its REAL face! Though it definitely is harder to tell which face is real on Mr. Rime here, since its “fake”, er, upper face does still emote here and there. But what does that have to do with the theme of comedy?

I'm sure we're all familiar with ventriloquism, right? A routine that most commonly sees use as a form of comedy where a person can use a trick where they can talk with their mouths closed to make it look like the puppet in their hand is actually the one talking. Sounds solid to say that Mr. Rime's design could be taking inspirations from ventriloquism when taking its dual-faced-ness into account. Funny then, that the word “ventriloquism” translated from Latin means “to speak from the stomach”! Ventriloquism, as you could probably guess by now, saw its earliest uses as entertainment in Britain.

What a cool way to do a ventriloquist dummy Pokemon! It's so subtle about it I didn't connect the dots until I was in the middle of writing this very review, and I’ve yet to see anyone else make this connection either. That only makes Mr. Rime even cooler!

The design itself is definitely quite pleasing. Again, a nicely downplayed color scheme with some nice bright yellows and a big red “belly button” to pop just enough while adding some humor to the design. It does definitely look like it fits right in with the exact same style of evolving something as Electabuzz into Electavire and Magmar into Magmortar. Just bumping up a base design to look a little bit more “mature.” If you were to take away the Ice motif, it definitely could fit right in with Gen 4's squad of Legacy Evos.

The one problem here is that it is a pretty far departure from Mr. Mime, so I could understand if any Mr. Mime stans that were holding out for it getting an evolution one day might be a bit disappointed that it's become not much of a mime.

Personal Score: 9/10

Heck it, I was gonna give it an 8 but sure. The ventriloquist part of its design is underratedly clever.

#Pokemon #Mr. Mime #Mr. Rime #Mr Mime #Mr Rime #Pokemon Reviews

[the-chaos-trio]

Mime Jevil’s Profile (Updated/Brand New)

Name: Mime Jevil ( Or "Mimey" or “Troller Mime” ) Species: Imp Sex: Male Age: Unknown Likes: Being the center of attention, trolling people, roses, singing, sexy dancing, seducing people & stripey styles Dislikes: People who are too serious, others who have egos, not getting what he desires, being called a “Hoe” & those who try to upstage him Personality: Egotistical/Sassy

Info: The Leader of Chaos, Mime Jevil is the smug bastard that most adore and some hate or envy. He is a very chill dude which surprises most people who expected him to be just as chaotic. However, he does something worse which is acting as the ring master and telling his fellow Jevils to cause extreme chaos in a raid. This fact has earned him the title of “The Troller Mime” which he takes great pride in. Overall, Mime Jevil is a egotistical jerk most of the time, but somehow manages to flirt and succeed to get what he wants.

Other Info:

He has a huge superiority complex, believing himself to be the smartest of the male Jevils in his group and the fact that other male Jevils see him as their leader & praise him does not help.

Sometimes he is seen wearing shades and to this day nobody knows why he likes wearing them.

Due to being seen has a leader, Mime Jevil conduct & call out orders to the other male Jevils which usually involving causing chaos or take care of someone for him.

Though he appears to be like the other Jevils, he is quite the oppisite and has some sexual likes, working as a stripper at Lusty's strip club by night & goes by the name "Silent Beauty".

Now matter where he goes, he always carries a hand mirror and his makeup kit and can often be found looking at himself & reapplying his makeup every 2-4 hours, making him often come off as a total diva.

He is a complete troll, often agreeing to due what someone says then completely screwing them over by doing something worse than he was already doing.

Relationships:

Spouse: Mime Seam

Children: Pip Pip (Biological Daughter) & Victor & Millie (Adoptive Son & Daughter)

BFFs: Candy Jevil & Rainbow Jevil

Good Friends: (Followers) Spookrune Jevil, Sunrise Jevil, Midnight Jevil, Delta_Help Jevil, Fairune Jevil, Dollrune Jevil & Snowrune Jevil

Rival: Mime Rouxls

Attacks/Abilities:

He can create invisible walls that act as self-defense, reflecting or blocking any attack.

Mime Jevil also has the ability to turn himself or other objects invisible, making it hard to see him to lay a it on or make his foes bump or trip over the things turns invusible.

He can summon an invisible circus ball, bouncing on it before hurling it a the SOUL.

Four invisible scythes that are only seen due to red ribbons on the handles oscillate around the center of the Bullet Board while rotating in either direction.

#deltarune #mimerune #aus #mime jevil #profile

[stimsnosa]

Lizzbeth Talby - Subway Midnight 🩸◼️🚇 📺❌📺 🚇◼️🩸

Requested by @axellion

#lizzbeth talby #lizzbeth #subway midnight #lizz talby #gif #stim #stimboard #visual stim #stimming #mimey boards #hand free #static #pouring #tv #rain #city #subway #train #black #red #white #shaky camera #cup #my stimboards #black and white

[stimsnosa]

Julia H. Coney - Subway Midnight

🐟 🎣 🐟 🦈 💛 🦈 🐟 🎣 🐟

#subway midnight #julia subway midnight #julia h coney #fish #sharks #fishing #hands #water #nature #stim #stimboard #visual stim #yellow #blue #gray #metallic #video game #gaming #mimey boards #gif #board #sorry for the pause. here's them :-)

[stimsnosa]

Donatello Hamato - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(with slime, glitter, keyboards, and rubiks cubes) Requested by my friend Donnie! :-) ⌨️ 🔬 ⚙️ 🧪 💜 🧪 ⚙️ 🔬 ⌨️

#donatello hamato #rotmnt #donnie rottmnt #tmnt #stimboard #visual stim #stim #hands #purple #rainbow #slime #glitter #keyboard #rubiks cube #typing #shiny #glowy #mimey boards #multicolor #gif #board

[stimsnosa]

Jessica Simmons - Subway Midnight

💿 ⌨️ 🎙️ 🖥️ 💙 🖥️ 🎙️ ⌨️ 💿

#jessica simmons #subway midnight #jessica subway midnight #stimboard #stim #visual stim #blue #teal #glowy #hatsune miku #computer #tech #mimey boards #gif #cd #figurine #digital #stimming #stimmy

[stimsnosa]

Victoria R. Ashley - Subway Midnight

Requested by me :-3

🖍️,🎨,🖼️

🌌,🖤,🌌

🖍️,🎨,🖼️

#victoria r ashley #victoria subway midnight #subway midnight #stimboard #stim #drawing #paint #canvas #stars #black #multicolor #mimey boards #art supplies #space #colored pencils #staples #painting #board #gif

[stimsnosa]

meowdy, you can call me Dedus or Prism. I use they/zap/spark/she/he/star pronouns

This is my stimboard sideblog :-)

My stimboards can be found under “#mimey boards” Requests ARE open but I need to make some guidelines for those soon…

DNI: Basic DNI criteria, proshippers/anti-antis, TERFs, transmeds, gender criticals, MAPs, etc. Do not interact with my content if discriminate against certain lgbtq+ identities. Just don’t be a creep. (I will block if I get weird vibes)

More about requests and my interests under the cut

Requests are Open! I’m happy to do character stimboards, name stimboards (given a theme), and other themed boards! I’m open to basically anything, but I can also reject anything I’m uncomfortable with :-)

I might be a little slow making boards since I’m new to this stuff, so just a heads up !!

Some of my interests that I might make boards for/ take requests for are: -Hylics -Ultrakill -Ace Attorney -8:11

-Subway Midnight (Finished series)

-Psychonauts 1 + 2

-Marble Hornets -The Walten Files -Petscop -Subnautica -Good Omens -Date Knight

-OFF

-Smile for Me

-17776

-Epithet Erased

-HLVRAI

-Undertale/Deltarune

-Moomins

-And more

#my textbox #mimey boards