#science toys online

[curiouskidzzaus]

Fat Brain Toys – Squigz Starter Set

Apply pressure to two Squigz. Air rushes out and the fun rushes in! Connecting to each other and to any solid, non-porous surface – Squigz are a species all their own. They flex. They stick. They suck people into creativity. Once they take hold, it takes some pull to separate them. When Squigz POP! in protest – you’ll have to admit… your hands and ears are shamelessly delighted!

#buy educational toys online #science toys online

[pandorasprongs]

CHAPTER THREE | so inviting, i almost jump in.

'it's nice to have a friend' masterlist + playlist | previous chapter

PAIRING: jamie tartt x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 3.6k

SUMMARY: jamie and reader go out for drinks and meet a familiar face that brings up a painful memory for both of them.

WARNINGS: language

A/N: i'd like to apologize in advance for this one because the end is just 100% angst so brace yourselves sorry :')

It was like deja vu. Over the past weeks, you and Jamie started hanging out on a regular basis. Late nights and weekends were often spent eating pizza, watching old movies, and searching for old schoolmates online. He even helped you re-organize your room when he arrived during one of your cleaning days. You uncovered a box of old toy rings that Jamie gave you every birthday of yours for five years.

Initially, Jamie would message you if he was on the way. But the more he came over, it went back to your usual habits of him just showing up at your door at random hours of the day. When you weren't home, he'd message that he dropped by and then you'd call him when you got back. He'd race over to watch another one of your favorite childhood movies.

You hadn't realized how much you missed it all till you started spending time with Jamie again. You missed it so much that you may have neglected to mention to Liv how often you were with him. Despite the mini-sermon she gave you weeks ago about confronting Jamie, you hadn't actually made any moves to do it. All of this started to feel normal, regular, and the thought of disturbing that scared you too much. Even if there were times where you were annoyed at how casual he talked about the past few years of radio silence from him. Or how he'd mention his Man City teammates and you felt like tensing up every time.

There was no need to bring it up anymore, something you repeated to yourself. Plus, you were noticing that Jamie was now closer to your childhood best friend than the one who broke your heart. But still, you were cautious around the footballers Jamie associated with. Even when the season started again and Jamie would offer to tour you around the clubhouse or reserve tickets for the games, you'd always politely decline. You're sure the AFC Richmond players aren't terrible people given how highly Jamie would talk about them, but better to be safe than sorry.

Besides, with his now swamped schedule, you hadn’t seen Jamie recently. The most you did was when he’d send messages before training or games to which you’d answer with a “Good luck!” It was weird in the beginning, given that when he was at Man City, Jamie didn’t do any of that, but you hoped that this meant he wouldn’t leave again.

The next time you did was the night after one of their games, which continued their winning streak, thanks to Zava. While you knew Richmond fans — well, Liv and Frankie — were absolutely ecstatic to have him, Jamie despised the guy. You stopped yourself from pointing out the hypocrisy of him hating the player for being self-centered and thinking highly of himself.

You guess it’s working though because now you’re watching Richmond secure their fifth win in a row with your neighbor’s kid, Ronnie. When her mom found out you were a Science professor, she practically begged you to tutor her kid (and occasionally babysit). Ronnie was in primary school, so the lessons were pretty simple and you’ve been doing sessions every week to help her out. You always rewarded her afterward with whatever she wanted to watch on your TV that was age-appropriate, of course. This time, — after running back to their flat to get her Obisanya shirt, — she decided on watching the game. 

“Zava’s incredible,” she murmured next to you, staring at the screen as if in a trance. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the reaction. The game was finished and so the channel was just playing match highlights, which for Richmond, were mostly their current star player. Sometimes, you’d spot Jamie in the background and even though the rest of the team was cheering along, he was having a hard time masking his resentment.

When you were finally able to drag her away from the TV, you heated up two plates of lasagna. Ronnie’s mom still hadn’t knocked on your door and you didn’t want to leave her alone in your flat, so she was having dinner with you tonight. For the most part, it was just like eating with Jamie. She was non-stop talking about the match which turned to talking about her favorite players and future games. It reminded you of Jamie as a kid, who’d go on and on about the exact same things.

As you’re washing dishes and Ronnie’s answering some extra worksheets, — she asked for them! — you hear the doorbell ring. You go over and find Jamie standing at the door, much to your surprise.

“Hey! Didn’t know you were coming over,” you say, but after noticing his exasperated expression, you tilt your head. “I know you don’t like a certain teammate, but I thought you’d at least be happy about the win.”

Jamie sighs. “I know." He gives you a weak smile, and you have to admit that even that simple act made your heart skip. “Is that lasagna?”

Jamie enters the room without warning and as soon as he does, your eyes widened remembering who else was there. You turn to the dining room table at the same time as Jamie and together, watch a 9-year-old stare in awe.

“Oh my God,” she let out. “That’s Jamie Tartt!” She walks over to you, leaving behind the worksheets. 

You lean over and whisper to Jamie, “Forgot to mention I’m watching my neighbor’s kid.”

But Jamie’s already jumped into celebrity mode. He crouches down and confirms, “That’s me.” He glances at her oversized jersey before asking, “You a fan of Richmond?”

Ronnie nods her head enthusiastically. “I’m Ronnie! Congrats on winning!”

Jamie chuckles, and thanks her. “Nice to meet you, Ronnie.”

You hear someone approach the door and clear their throat and you turn to find Ronnie’s mom looking curiously at you. You turn back to Ronnie — who has now launched into a full monologue about how much she loves the team — and exclaim, “Look who else is here! I think it’s time to head back to your flat, Neens.”

She pouts at that statement, but one look from her mom and she was waving goodbye to the player. You quickly collect all of her stuff scattered around the place and hand it to her mom, who seems too exhausted from her shift to even notice the other person in the room.

Once you close the door, you lean on it and sigh in relief. “Sorry about that. I sometimes watch her after tutoring if her mom isn’t back, yet.”

Jamie shakes his head. “Nah, not a problem. I love meeting fans. Real ego boost.” 

Yet another countless eye roll. “Calm down. You’re not even her third favorite player.”

Jamie scoffs, almost offended but after remembering the lasagna, he heads to the kitchen for a plate of his own. You walk beside him and after tripping over a loose marker Ronnie left, you fall forward. Jamie's reflexes kick in and he catches you quickly and you grab hold of his — really broad, you notice — shoulders to steady yourself.

Now you're stuck in a position that happens in almost every 90s rom-com you've watched: your feet diagonally off the ground with Jamie's hands gripping tightly at your waist. Both of you are too much in shock to move and simply look at each other with wide eyes. Your faces were close, too close to be platonic if it was intentional. So much so that if you leaned forward, just a little bit…

You snap out of the trance and move to stand straight up as Jamie lets go of you. You head over to the sink and quietly curse at yourself and that stupid blue marker. Things haven't been weird between you and Jamie for ages. And you weren't going to let the possible resurfacing of your feelings ruin that. Not again. Plus, if you were already burying your old feelings of resentment, why not add onto it too?

You go back to washing dishes when Jamie asks you a question. "Are you doing anything Saturday night?"

Given what just happened, your mind wanders off in the romantic direction before you shake your head. Instead, you respond, "I think you know better than anyone that I never do anything Saturday night." You reply as you wipe your hands. "Why?"

"Just wondering if you want to get a drink with me. Well, you get a drink and I get water 'cause fucking Roy’s banned me from alcohol till the season’s over. I just really need a night out. Fucking Zava, I swear." Forget the fact that he was technically at a night out with his teammates earlier; he more of just wanted a night out with someone who isn't so related to his football life. Or, he just really wants a night out with you.

You snort at that last comment but oblige anyway, ignoring the feeling of disappointment.

Jamie and you had only ever hung out together in the comfort of your own home. You'd just assumed that it was to avoid any unwanted press and since the bar he mentioned was one of those members-only pubs, it makes sense that the first time the two of you hung out publicly was there. But seeing as it was a pub, it's not going to be a romantic not-a-date date that you'll be going on.

Though, you soon realized how different it was from your usual places. Everyone there was dressed up so formally and you were glad that you picked the black trousers that you usually only wear to work over your everyday jeans that had paint stains at the bottom of them. Maybe you had worn it in case Jamie at the last minute decided to take a detour to a nice restaurant, but you were relieved either way.

The two of you ended up just sitting in the bar while Jamie complained about his most recent Twitter feud. Christ, you pray for Keeley Jones for having to deal with all his PR nonsense. When he starts shit-talking Roy for getting him up at 4 am for training, — “I thought he was joking!” — you end up tuning out of the conversation knowing how long the rant was going to be.

Your eyes drift off behind Jamie when you notice a familiar face. Suddenly, it felt like the walls were closing in on you. You could feel your breathing hitch and your fingers were scratching the inside of your palm. Before you could even consider doing anything, he reached you.

"Jamie Tartt!" The footballer's train of thought is broken and he turns to his former teammate to greet him. "Haven't seen you since you went off to be a reality star!"

Jamie simply rolls his eyes at the comment. "Well George, I haven't seen you since they forced you out of Man City!"

"They couldn't afford me anymore," He shrugs before his eyes land on yours. You shift in your seat and you can see the exact moment when Jamie notices how uneasy you've become. "And who's this with you?"

He doesn't remember you. And why would he? To him, you were just another crazed fan at a pub, one of many he's encountered over the years. You doubt that the memory of that night stuck with him the way it did to you.

"This is (Y/N), an old friend of mine," Jamie adds carefully and you build up enough courage to shake his former teammates' hand, but not enough to stay in this conversation.

"I'll let you two catch up while I get another drink." You explain, in an obviously fake cheery voice, but only Jamie spots it. He reaches out for your hand on the table to comfort you, but you swipe it away before he can.

You head off to the other side of the bar to order another beer, but you can't stop your eyes from shifting over to the pair of them again. Jamie looked so comfortable laughing and talking to George. You scoff at the sight. How could he act so chummy with that guy when he was the driving force for why the two of you ended on shitty terms in the first place?

Jamie's told you all about how he's been working on himself and trying to become a better person, but a part of you still feared that one interaction with that guy would unravel everything. He was an absolute prick; the number of fights and scandals Jamie had been in for his entire career was nothing compared to the amount George had in his first five years.

You wanted to trust Jamie, but he was always quick to change who he was when he was around certain people. You just hoped he had grown enough to not let his Man City "mentor" — too many of George’s scandal photos had a 19 to 22-year-old Jamie Tartt in the background — bring back the side of him he's tried so hard to erase.

You don't know how long they were talking, but by the time they moved over to the pool table, your vision was already starting to blur. The drinks just kept coming. Flashbacks from that night started to come in too: the spotting Jamie in the crowd, the confrontation, the holding back of tears, and the walk-out. You couldn't look over at the pair of them without an intense pain appearing in your chest.

Jamie looked back to where you were supposed to be seated and found you spacing out into a corner. It was the same dreamy and tired look you had the first time you tested your alcohol limit when your parents were out of town. Immediately, he abandoned the game of pool and rushed over to you.

"Maybe that's enough alcohol for tonight." Someone pulls the Cosmopolitan from your grasp and you squint your eyes to identify them as Jamie.

"Ha, that's rich coming from you." You can't remember how many times you've had to help Jamie sneak up the stairs and into his bedroom after a night out. "Aren't you still busy hanging out with that Man City prick?" Lack of tactfulness is the most obvious sign you'd drank too much.

"Woo, a little harsh there," You hear George come up to the two of you. You rush — well, more of stumble — forward to confront him, but Jamie holds you back. The retired footballer points out, "She's a feisty one."

"Let's bring you back to your flat, yeah?" Jamie offers softly, but you remove yourself from his arms and shake your head.

"I am perfectly capable of getting home by myself." You grab your clutch from the table. "Don't want to ruin another night for you guys, right?"

A pang of guilt visibly hits Jamie, but George is just left confused. You start to walk towards the exit and get to the door till you feel someone gently take hold of your left arm.

"You can't even see your phone clearly to book a taxi. I'll drive you home." Jamie's voice is low and whatever common sense you have left takes him up on your offer. He turns his head to say goodbye to George, but all the former footballer does is shout, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" following by a boastful laugh.

You clench your clutch at the comment, but Jamie brings you out the door before you can turn back and do something that'll land you on the front page of the Sun the next morning.

When you get to Jamie's car, he carefully helps you into the passenger's seat and puts on your seatbelt before getting into the car himself. Once the car starts, you take the chance to close your eyes in an attempt to remedy the throbbing headache you feel is already coming on.

You don't know how long you stay like that, but when you open your eyes, you're already at your building. You slowly get out of the car and once you make it to the sidewalk, Jamie asks, "Can’t believe you just downed a dozen drinks like a recent divorcee."

"I wonder why," You scoff and side-eyed him, unwilling to move your head from looking forward. You see the footballer's expression drop and suddenly you understand what Liv was going on about. You finally break. "How could you still be so friendly with him, Jamie! He’s an absolute arse and everyone in England knows it!"

"He was my teammate! And still a major name in football, even after retirement and all the shit he’s done. I didn't want to risk anything!" Maybe if you were sober, you'd accept that reason. There were countless alumni, tenured professors, and chairmen that you had to suck up to just to keep your job. But were drunk people ever known to be rational?

"Is that why you let him talk to me like that? Back in the pub?"

"You two barely spoke a word to each other," Jamie points out but you shake your head furiously.

"I mean back in Cardiff!" You exclaimed loudly and you knew for a fact that at least one of your neighbors had heard your outburst. But you didn't really care.

For a moment, neither of you said anything. You went to walk up the stairs, expecting it to be the end of it. If Jamie didn't have anything to say, then what was the point? He'd let you walk away and tomorrow morning, you'd be back to normal and you can just pretend this night didn't happen. You've done it before.

"You said you didn't want to talk about that." Jamie finally speaks up.

"I thought I didn't," you admit, your voice levels lower than before. You continue walking when you feel a presence following suit. You stayed in that silence till you made it back to your flat. It's a miracle you didn't tip over on the way in, but spite was enough to power you through.

Jamie closed the door behind him and sighed, "I couldn't just ignore him at the bar."

Suddenly, any fear of confrontation seemed to disappear. Your anger resurfaced and you spit out, "You seemed just fine ignoring me for seven years." You turn to face him and for a second, the pitiful look in his eyes almost made you back off. Almost. "Or is abandoning your best friend easier when she's not some big-shot footballer?"

"I know you're mad," Jamie starts and you angrily run your hands through your hair.

"Yes, I'm mad, Jamie!" You shout and you watch him take a step back, but you don't falter. "I'm mad at you! Seeing George tonight just reminded me of it and how a part of me still fucking hates you for taking their side."

"I've been trying to apologize—"

"I know, Jamie, but I'm still pissed at you, okay? For leaving me like that! And for letting me leave that night! I mean, how could you? Just throw away a decade of friendship for some football assholes that threw you away the second they could." Everyone knew how Jamie's career with Man City ended and it was surely a sore spot for the player, but at that moment, you didn't care.

Before Jamie can even defend himself, you start again. "I... fuck Jamie, I loved you. You were my best friend. I would've spent every waking hour with you if I could've. But you couldn't care less about me, right? The moment someone more famous than me believed in you the same way I always did. You just stopped answering my calls, and my texts, and even my parents when they asked you for me! Worst of all, you didn't give me a single reason why!

"Honestly, I would've been fine if you did stop being friends with me, as long as you gave me an explanation. Even if it was for some stupid reason that I wouldn't understand or hate you for, because at least I could've moved on! Instead, I spent years wondering where it all went wrong. If I could've done something, anything to change what happened." You start to feel the strain on your throat and know for a fact that at least one of your neighbors would be eavesdropping, but you were finally letting it out.

Your voice comes out hoarse, "And then the next time I did see you, in that pub, you were a whole new person. A complete and utter prick, Jamie. After that night, I prayed that you'd come to your senses. Do the decent thing and apologize, even if it was just a fucking text or something. But no, you kept ignoring me and pretending I didn't even exist. So I forced myself to stop thinking about you. To stop caring about you calling me. To stop dreaming about you telling me you fucked up and that you were sorry. So I could move on with my life."

You look away from Jamie and around the living room in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing down. You were unsuccessful. "And after years, I did move on. I went to London, got a job, and stayed as far away as I could from football. From you. But God, you always find a way back to me, huh?

"It just had to be you who found me in Nelson Road that night. It had to be you who picked me up, who drove me home, and reminded me how happy I was when we were kids. So much so that I thought I'd be fine without an apology! As long as I had you back in my life, it'd be fine. But as you can tell now, it's not." The amount of alcohol in your system was wearing you down and you were starting to get tired.

You start to lose your balance when Jamie's there to catch you, but you harshly push him off you. He doesn't seem affected by your strength, but even then, he moves back.

  "Just get out, Jamie." is all you manage to say this time and after hesitating for a moment, he does. Now you're left alone again, only with your thoughts and the realization that any chance of bringing back what you had with Jamie was gone.

A/N: and that's that! i hope this teases the interlude nicely cause i'm sick of being so vague about that night since that's up next and trust me, it gets worse in that one... anyway i hope you all enjoyed this one!

TAGLIST: @moonflowersandsparkles @faith-alons26 @rexorangecouny @aiyaiy @thegirlthatwantedtowrite @giggling-sewer-ginger @katdahlali @higherthanheroes @guccilongboard @alipap3 @rockchickrebel @ellietartt @shineforever19 @skewedcherries @jamirtarttdodo @meg-ro @deepdarkvelvet @scaramou @rae4725 @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo (couldn't tag you for some reason?)

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt reader #ted lasso #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt fic #jamie tartt fanfic #ted lasso fanfic #jamie tartt angst #jamie tartt x f!reader #jamie tartt x female reader #it's nice to have a friend series

[kpforpresident]

Good Vibrations AU

Lexa is staring particularly hard at the one penis-shaped water stain in the damp ceiling, trying her absolute hardest not to eavesdrop on the couple that was standing a stone’s throw away, arguing hotly next to a hot pink, two-foot-long dildo that Lexa would hazard a guess at being at least as large around as her forearm. The girl, a tiny petite thing with platinum blonde hair fiddles with a bullet toy on the nearby display while the boy, a walking embodiment of a mountain dew and Cheetos gamer, gestures emphatically at the monstrous toy that dangles by the girl’s shoulder. Lexa can practically feel the toy staring at her with its bulbous head, the massive silicone ball silhouette gleaming softly in the dull fluorescent lighting. 

“Babe, I’m just saying, I think it would fit…”

Lexa bites back a shudder as she fastidiously scrubs away an invisible speck away from the display case that houses a frankly staggering array of lubes, both flavored and plain. 

One more year and I will have enough to pay outright for my master’s degree loans, and I never have to step foot in here again, Lexa finds herself thinking with the fervent hope of a thousand suns as she stares unseeing at a strawberry lube bottle that boasts an eye-wateringly bright green label that promises a “Sweet, Slippery Good Time!” 

“You have no issue with my dick, this isn’t that much bigger-” 

Lexa, fighting every demon known not to let out a cackle at the exasperated look on the blonde girl’s face, ducks her head to chew on her lip before moving from the safety of behind her glass and metal counter. Walking purposefully by the duo, she innocently straightens a lacy thigh-high garter that sits proudly in the slightly-frosted windows, just opaque enough to squeak by the city’s stringent guidelines but transparent enough to barely hint at what lay behind the metallic doors of Good Vibrations, Polis’s self-proclaimed best and largest sex shop. 

Kane, the town’s local eccentric but entirely affable billionaire had opened the shop three years ago must to the abject horror of the local evangelical group, led by the most fervent of the bunch, Charles Pike. 

Kane staunchly maintained that the shop existed to promote sex positivity and awareness in a world increasingly fraught with misinformation or staggering layers of prudish beliefs on the topic of sex education. Seething with barely contained hostility, Pike and his acolytes were ordered to cease their weekly prayer circles outside of the front door as Kane managed to find the largest, glittery, rainbow flag with a bedazzled uterus on it and set it flying proudly outside of their front door. 

Much to everyone and no one’s surprise, Good Vibrations does a rip-roaring trade in sex toys and accessories, with customers ordering online from around the world, business pouring in after young and scrappy student journalist Lexa Woods wrote a piece about the story of the local business for a university writing course. She, of course, had expected it to go no further than the boundaries of the sleep little town of Polis, assuming that many students would read the piece and make a note of the store as a place to stagger into when their sweet new girlfriend texted them that yes, they did really want to use the fluffy pink handcuffs, or no, of course, the vibrator wasn’t necessary and her boyfriend always made her O but the girl just figured it would be fun to try the Satisfyer Pro 2. You know, for science. 

Kane had laughed uproariously and framed it when the New York Times picked it up as an opinion lifestyle piece, hanging it just inside the front door with pride. He then offered young Lexa a job. Desperate to fund her dreams of global journalism and international affairs studies, she seizes the chance to work a flexible job with good pay and weekends off. 

Hence why she was currently furiously chewing her cheek again the onslaught of laughter bubbling up in her throat as Gamer Boy makes a show of jiggling the pink monstrosity of a toy near his own nether regions, minutely hip thrusting in the girl’s direction.

The girl rolls her eyes as she wanders away to examine some kinky position dice, leaving Lexa to contemplate the vast and confusing world of heterosexual encounters.

Her rumination on this topic is cut abruptly short by the cheery little chime of the shop’s front door, a high-pitched noise that automatically has Lexa pivoting away from the couple that is now arguing by a pair of furry, neon green garters, and towards the entrance. 

Only to be completely way-laid out by a wide-eyed blonde barreling towards her at high speed, brandishing something oblong and bright purple in her right fist. Completely nonplussed at this strange girl who was clearly on a mission, Lexa cocks her head and squints at the object in her fist, cursing the fact she forgot her glasses today. 

At least it’s not a weapon, Lexa finds herself thinking as bright blue eyes, sparking with indignation, are moving closer by the second. Hang on, is that—?

Skidding on the recently mopped hardwood in front of Lexa, courtesy of a curious frat boy and an exploded bottle of body glitter, Lexa has approximately 4 seconds to react as the girl slips, cartoon-like, feet flying out from underneath her as she fails to find traction on the glistening floor. 

Lexa, acting on autopilot, thrusts a hand forward to try and catch a flailing limb–

Thud. 

The girl hits the ground so hard the glass dildos rattle menacingly in their cases, Lexa’s teeth along with them. The girl peers up at Lexa dazedly, gaze sharpening and seeming to run the full gamut of human emotion before settling into horror. Both sets of eyes were now fixed on Lexa’s right hand, grasping the only thing she managed to find purchase as the blonde fell. 

A purple vibe fits snugly into her right hand, lights flashing at random as the toy gives a feeble bzzt of protest, seemingly in response to being manhandled in their owner’s fight with gravity. 

A strangled “What the fuck?” roughly 4 octaves higher than normal is all a startled Lexa can get out in response, a very gay part of her brain flashing loud rainbow lights as if to alert her that by some strange twist of fate, she has ended up being personally given this very pretty girl’s personal sex toy. Said toy vibrates feebly twice more before going dark and silent, as if satisfied that its death toll was in Lexa’s confused hand. 

The blond’s head hits the ground for a second time as she rolls her eyes back to face the ceiling, seemingly resigned to her fate. Then, as if animated by the gay sex gods, she pops up again to snatch the toy out of Lexa’s hand. 

“You-” Lexa can barely lean back in time as the purple toy sails within millimeters of her nose- “owe me an orgasm, Woods.”

#good vibrations au #clexa #clexa crack #i hope y'all like this one #thank you to casco times one million for the moodboard

[stardewremixed]

What Each Townie Adds to the Community Center After Complete, Pt. 1

Farmer - a farm-to-table dinner once a month and everyone brings a side dish to share

Caroline - expands her fitness class and moves it to the Center (offers 3-4x's a week)

Evelyn - a baking class once a month (mostly cookies, some cakes too. Haley sometimes helps).

Gus - cooking class once a week (and he would be such a good teacher with a gentle, encouraging voice) AND a near daily breakfast for seniors and vets (because he's that kind of guy)

Sebastian - basic computer classes because these townsfolk need to get outta the dark ages. Jk... but seriously, he would open a computer lab. People could come work on resumes, kids could play games after school and on weekends (Sam included), and folks could pay bills online.

Penny would create a kids club for after school on Wednesdays. Vincent, Jas, and Leo all come for storytime, homework help, snacks, and playtime. Jas would donate some of her old dolls and toys. Vincent would create a bug display. Leo would fix up a treehouse out front with help from Robin.

Robin would offer woodworking classes, and she would co-lead an environmental science club with Demetrius (for the social and moral support).

Willy and Elliott would arrange beach clean-up days, and use the Center to create a place for recycling gathering. (And compost - Leah and the Farmer would add).

Gunther would partner with the Adventurer's Guild to host a series of guest lectures on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Archeologists, botanists, monster hunters, travelers, other experts.

Shane would open an AA chapter and suicide prevention support group (with some encouragement from Harvey). Bad coffee. Stale donuts. Everyone feels welcome though.

Band practice would move out of Sam's bedroom and into the Center. He would also organize an open mic night (Abigail would do most of the work, but his enthusiasm counts). He would support and cheer for everyone equally (no matter how off-key).

Elliott would do poetry readings. Once he was published, he would host his book reveal party at the Center. Over wine for the 21+.

Leah would host art classes - sculpting, painting, etc. She would also organize a tri-athlon with Alex.

Alex would fix up the backyard for a kids gridball team. He would have a sports mentorship program (and kids from surrounding towns would attend). Work hard. Play hard. And learn life skills. With a lot of help from other townies.

Haley would create a dark room for anyone wanting to develop their own photos. And she would gladly have many of her own photos on display.

I feel like George would host movie nights with help from Alex, Sebastian and Maru. Alex would hang the projector, Seb would set up the equipment, and Maru would decorate with lights in the yard for movies under the stars in summertime. And bring strawberries to share, of course. Old timey movies. Black and whites.

Harvey (and Maru) would host health clinics, offering free wellness checkups. Gus would provide healthy lunches. They would team up with Caroline for a fitness class. Emily would call her Swami friend for a yoga and meditation demonstration.

Emily would definitely start a sewing circle. Jodi would join. Maybe Marnie. And Caroline would enjoy cross-stitch.

Em would also do additional projects. The younger ladies like Abigail, Sophia, and Scarlett would definitely be into cosplay and costuming together. Abs would drag Sebastian in every once in awhile and Sam would tag along, just cuz. Seb would rock Puck from A Midsummer's Night Dream. And Elliott would make a fantastic Romeo. Haley would definitely be Juliet.

#sdv leah headcanon #stardew valley #sdv headcanon #sdv sam #sdv elliott #sdv harvey #sdv shane #sdv alex #sdv haley #sdv gus #sdv sebastian #sdv evelyn #sdv leah #sdv farmer #sdv leo #sdv vincent #sdv jas #sdv penny #sdv caroline #sdv robin #sdv demetrius #sdv willy #sdv abigail #sdv george #sdv maru #sdv emily #sdv jodi #sdv marnie #sve sophia #sve scarlett

[bogleech]

I was told by a friend to come to you about an old (early 90's, maybe late 80's) toys I played with as a tot and have vague memories of, since I've been looking for them and can't find anything online.

They were these creepy plastic bugs or bug aliens, and I think you could fill them with an artificial slime that you can squeeze back out, and I think they might have had a tie-in movie or something? Would you happen to know what those were?

There were two competing toy lines like that!

"Real squish bugs" could be filled with slime then squashed, the idea being kids could do this instead of squishing the real thing

Then there was "Operation B.U.G." which had more of a storyline about giant, invading mutant insects. You filled these with slime as well as little baby bugs and then you used "lab equipment" to take them apart again! I have some of both around my home actually!

Operation Bug actually calls this "Shock Roach" but it has raptorial claws and an adorable droopy proboscis looking more like a brundlefly'd assassin bug. This is one of the ones you fill with babies. This toy line is about bullying moms.

The babies were magnetic so one of hers is in the middle of this little tiny metal cabinet and I don't know where the other one is, possibly stuck on the lid to a jar that some real insects live in

I think @karltface was the one who sent me this intact set of squish bugz

And I also keep this head louse squish bug (pulverlice) in my small collection of blood sucking arthropod toys. Lice, despite being a common problem for kids and subject of many cartoons, are the ectoparasitic arthropod with the very fewest toys or science models available for some reason. The landscape of plastic bugs and bug creatures goes mosquitoes > ticks > bed bugs > fleas > lice, counting jokey inaccurate ones (there's a lot of "bed bug" character figures that are just, like, a bed with bug legs)

#toys #stuff

[throwaway-yandere]

"No." (Yandere!Albedo/Reader)

A/n: I got sick but it just so happens I live off of spite so I finally finished this fic. Most characters are a bit/really obnoxious here. Also, the reader's state of mind and relationships with friends are unhealthy so if you're sensitive to the following CW please skip this fic. (If you're wondering why the fic is... Like this then here's me rambling here)

Unreliable synopsis: You kissed the most popular professor on campus. (Subtle yan!fic)

gn!reader

Cw: yandere, unhealthy friendship dynamics with clingy!sucrose & other characters, student/teacher relationship implications, the reader is an eccentric "class clown" with implied mild impostor syndrome, and small mentions of sexual harassment. (I'm not a medical professional so please take the impostor syndrome warning with a grain of salt– just added it in case this type of content is triggering. This isn't smut and it doesn't fully explore the last topic, but still please reach out for support if you are a victim of sexual harassment. Title IX is a very real thing.)

-------

"Does accidentally kissing someone cross a line in Title IX?"

That sentence alone makes you sound incredibly criminal out of context, and it doesn't get better with it either.

Your long-time friend, Sucrose, became fixated on setting you up with a romantic partner after the breakup you had three months prior. 

It was not a heart-wrenching tale, if anything, the entire relationship you had with Arataki Itto plays off as a major joke. You dated the man simply because you thought his impulsive behavior was entertaining, and oddly enough, he found your unpredictable temperament alluring. You just never anticipated that the idiot will buy an overpriced toy drum when you asked him to get a coke and "get something for yourself as well."

It's no surprise you permitted him to spend your money. But that wasn't even supposed to be a gamble. That was just an instruction, and he failed HARD. Arataki "I-swear-you-didn't-say-Pepsi(???)" Itto... got you orange juice. 

Breaking up was a huge relief. Instead of adopting a façade of the partner he wants, you have at last discovered the temporary freedom to choose over what you enjoy. For a while, they didn't treat you like a court jester; instead, they gave you the tender care you'd reserve for a helpless person.

Sucrose was distraught when you two decided to stop everything after Itto wasted most of your money by falling for Dori's scam. She appeared to be more affected than you two. Sucrose must have thought of you two as "the Golden pair" since she is naturally fascinated by research about personalities and relationships— more notably the 16 personality types. Seeing you two break up was an antithesis to her defense on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. You broke up due to (financial) differences, and there's no unreliable science needed to learn that.

Here lies the problem: Sucrose refused to give up.

You've heard concerns about her callous demeanor in person and online. Some people thought it endearing that you have a friend who genuinely cares about you, while others consider her nagging to be a burden, and rightfully so.

You felt icky after accidentally seeing her list of candidates, yet you can't bring yourself to make a strong effort to stop her. Sucrose lost two of her best friends last year in an accident, and you are essentially the only support that's keeping her sanity in check, but sometimes you feel as though you are risking your health on the line. She had written down some questionably extensive background on every man and woman she thought was worthy... You don't even want to know why Ajax is on that list.

No matter the reason, that didn't stop Timaeus from barfing out his triple-layered peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"W-WHAT on EARTH did you DO this time?!"

Sure is tough being a menace to society.

Hah... You're already on the brink of a mental breakdown and yet you still kept making self-deprecating jokes.

"WHAT'S with THE reaction?" You asked, casually copying his tone before you sank to your seat. "It's JUST a QUESTION."

"We know how you work, (Y/n)!" He knew you were purposefully trying to rile him up, yet Timaeus slammed a fist on the table in exaggerated disgust. "You did the EXACT same thing last time. You asked us 'hOw bAd woUld iT bE iF I datEd a gaNgstEr' and then you fucking did it anyways! What the hell– heck."

Timaeus's outburst was audible throughout the entire cafeteria, yet nobody seemed to care. The other people you shared the table with, Ying'er, Collei, and Tighnari all cast curious glances at you. It's not as though they have never heard of your misadventures before, frankly, whenever something happens they avidly observe it. You're all inseparable because of your shticks. However, apart from Sucrose, Dorian had been awol from your friend group, and it is no less due to the headline you're about to announce.

None of them took you too seriously, which they should have, given the nature of Title IX. As "good" friends, they should've worried over your safety and overall wellbeing. 

You could feel tears of fear and frustration swell up in your eyes.

Yet you couldn't be mad at them for reacting this way.

You're the chaotic link– the friend that didn't quite fit in– assigned to the role of being the "funny one." It started with a single joke until you unintentionally formed a false sense of confidence that you're something bigger than what you are. Everyone thinks you're hilarious, and you're afraid of disappointing them. You weren't trying to be funny most of the time, they just want someone to laugh and point at. Even though you are academically above average yourself, without your carelessness and gambles, you practically have nothing to offer this otherwise brilliant population.

Timaeus may not always deliver the right answer in his alchemy test papers, but he's never wrong about you even if he's drunk off of two bottles of Death After Noon. You recall Timaeus specifically in that instance because he was right; you have no future and you won't amount to anything.

In short, your image dilemma can be summed up by something you said high out of your mind in front of the mirror: "I think I accidentally gained an ego after joking about being hot and sexy one too many times, and now I'm being punished for my hubris." (You're never asking Lisa for philosophy book recommendations on Sundays ever again.)

And if it's true that you have no future and that you're nothing more than an insecure fraud, then you might as well come clean right now and let your "friends" break their ties. It doesn't matter, not anymore.

Ying'er laughed heartily. Contrary to her lover, she loves it whenever you act like this since it makes her normally composed and optimistic boyfriend snap and curse... You would know because she constantly divulges pointless details about how "hot" it was in private messages. And you two weren't even that close when she first did that. But now she's practically your unofficial attorney with how many times she played devil's advocate. You'll miss her.

"Why are you already accusing them? Who knows, maybe they're the victim here, babe. You're being too insensitive."

"Yeah, Tim, you should listen to your girlfriend over here." You nudged him and he glared vehemently.

"(Y/n), you're not supposed to openly agree with me, but yeah, why don't you give them the benefit of the doubt?"

You gave Ying'er a weak friendly wink and a thumbs up, feeling repulsed at yourself deep down. It's incredibly flattering for her to insinuate a professor would find you attractive rather than filing a restraining order.

She'll probably hate you once she finds out the truth, right? She did have a crush on your victim.

"This is them we're talking about." Timaeus glared. "They're bound to do something stupid. C'mon, Tighnari, say something!"

Tighnari merely shrugged and stabbed his fork into a mushroom (presumably poisonous, given its unnatural blue color). He had grown tired of dealing with your antics over the years. No lecture had ever worked in the past, and you both telepathically agreed that streak was not going to end today. You're lying about being self-possessed. He knew that whenever this happens, you were trying to be an idiot, and did not allow yourself to be an idiot. There's a fine difference between those two, and he knows which is which.

In a way, Tighnari views you in a more positive light than most of your friends. And he could sense that you have more grave matters to say.

So, he played along to help you set the mood. "I said this yesterday and I'll say it again: we're studying to become botanists. We're growing plants. Our future job isn't to help them grow a brain."

"Facts." You snapped your fingers and smugly nodded.

"Don't just agree with him!"

"You can grow plants all you want but just know my Timaeus right here doesn't need any more growing if you catch my drift~."

"Ying'er." Collei groaned.

"What? I was just saying his height is perfect enough as it is."

"I feel like we're having thirty different conversations at once." 

"Your mother is thirty different conversations at once–"

"Mx. (L/n)."

The table went silent. Except for yourself, who's still droning on, unfinished. Everyone noticed the uninvited man in the cafeteria and their lips were silenced. 

Here he is. 

"–eeegood evening, Professor Albedo." You stood up from your seat and slightly bowed your head down.

It's the untouchable Professor Albedo. The Alchemy Professor on this forsaken campus exudes a breath of freshness even if the scent of chemicals follows him like an affectionate dog. The only person that students would ogle at amid all the balding learning facilitators. Sucrose's mentor. Dorian's 32-year-old brother. The "Kreideprinz".

And the guy that might just sue you for your careless mistake.

Your circle caught the tension between you two and started watching the scene unfold like a car accident.

Professor Albedo cocked his head forward. You never claimed to be one of his adoring fans who can spot his emotions after one look, but your gut tells you that he's more than amused despite his stoic expression. He's similar to Dorian in that aspect.

"I trust that you've read the excerpt I've sent you?" He asked in almost a whisper.

You thoughtlessly lamely pulled up your library-borrowed copy of Title IX. In your perspective, nothing matters anymore, so you might as well let it out there.

Your friends jolted simultaneously, someone even dropped their utensils while Collei hit her knee up the table and hissed at the pain.

"Oh my God..." Timaeus shuddered.

Your friends had the face that collectively screamed "YOU MADE OUT WITH PROFESSOR ALBEDO?!" in all capitals, bold, italics, underlined, shadowed with thick black strokes– whatever makes it more out there. They're not in the wrong to react that way. 

In one single move, you broke 2 rules on the so-called Bro Code, one being the infamous "don't fuck my brother" and the second being the lesser known "don't fuck my professor". Not only that, but most importantly you violated a line or two in Title IX. 

Leave it to (Y/n) (L/n) to break more than three rules on the daily.

... You really should stop making jokes as a coping mechanism.

The cafeteria started to murmur, urging their seatmates for information they don't have. You released a small, clipped laugh. You should've thought that one through.

Tighnari meets your eyes with a sympathetic stare. You could tell he had more to say, but your heavy heart no longer wished to know.

"... Great work." The professor said just as nonchalantly. No doubt, he tried to salvage your reputation but you sabotaged it yourself. How wasteful. He beckoned you forward with one finger. 

"Come with me. We'll talk somewhere more private."

You walked away from your table and gave them one look.

They were incredibly disturbed to see a small sad smile on your face, rather than the wide mischievous grin that they were used to. After seeing that, they all had one emotionally detached thought in mind:

So, it wasn't a joke after all.

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

You neither like nor dislike Professor Albedo.

There are multiple fluffs about how friendly and dorkish he is as a reclusive person, but none of them sparked your interest. You often feigned reactions whenever Dorian expresses his apparent disdain for his more successful brother, and your sly smile barely reaches your eyes. If anything, hearing about the same man over and over again makes him feel oversaturated rather than entertaining. He's too perfect in those gossips that you're bored to tears. 

At least the rumors were positively right about one thing: his tastefully braided blonde hair and blue eyes make him no lesser than a portrait of a prince. But no more special than Dorian, in all honesty. You wouldn't be able to know which is which if they wore similar clothes and let their hair down. They're like clones of each other.

Albedo kept fidgeting a hand inside his pocket, and you can't hazard a guess as to what it is. A recording device, perhaps? You pride yourself on your ability to read and toy people like clockwork. That ability, however, does not translate well with Professor Albedo. 

You snapped out of your trance as the professor began reading what was on his clipboard.

"(Y/n) (L/n). 27. Graduate School. Taking a Ph.D. Botany program– though if I hadn't known that, I would've guessed you were a music major." Albedo vaguely pointed at your face without looking. "Your tongue would've fooled me."

You flinched. Is he teasing you or scolding you– you can't make sense of his tone. He's too monotonous.

"Professor, are you uncomfortable right now? If so, I could leave if you wish and we can talk via email instead about your complaint."

Professor Albedo eyed you carefully this time, even though he's squirmish. The tone you used to address him and your overall body language differ greatly from how you behave in the company of your friend group. Your professionalism does not match how the rumors perceive you. This is probably the reason why young professor Kusanali didn't believe any rumors about you. He was impressed.

"Am I supposed to be happy that you’re not giving me a moment of your time?” He said. "It's a bit difficult to achieve that state when you have yet to slip out of my mind. You did assault me yesterday–"

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of that, Professor." You cringed. "But–"

"Albedo."

"Sorry?"

"You kissed me, (Y/n). I think you can call me Albedo."

"Right." You chuckled nervously. "Like I was saying, P-Professor, it's all a major misunderstanding. I wasn't aiming to assault you."

Albedo raised an eyebrow. He did not miss the way you suavely dodged calling him by name. Other than that, assault is a strong word, and he did not expect you to use it as well. 

You thought it was a fitting word to use. Albedo barely makes eye contact, and he probably doesn't like being reminded that you stole a kiss from him.

"It's Albedo. So, you were planning to sexually assault another student?"

He is relentlessly quick on the uptake. Albedo sounded like a cop. What he said was correct, absurdly phrased, but correct nonetheless.

"I mean..." You rubbed your hands against your pants. They were a bit sweaty, and you had to accept the fact you were not faking it. You are genuinely anxious. "When you put it like that, it does sound inexcusable doesn't it?"

"It is a positively hair-raising notion, yes." Albedo deadpanned. "And if I had to take an educated guess, you were planning to assault my younger brother Dorian and you mistook me for him instead."

"..."

Figuring that out was a no-brainer. Although Professor Albedo is older than his brother, their appearance and physique make them appear twin-like. Dorian once droned about how it happened due to Albedo's poor upbringing under their aunt Alice's guidance, making his growth stunted. And his tendency to talk your ear out is one of many reasons why your intrusive thoughts often suggest that Dorian had no personality outside being the renowned professor Albedo's younger brother. Hence, you don't absorb a word of what he says. You didn't listen to gossip often cause you figured that you were not one for trivial gossip like the rest of the student botanists. 

... And based on the dilemma you find yourself in now, it appears as though you don't have common sense like the rest of your peers either–

"Please stop woolgathering. Is there a more interesting specimen to take note of on the floor? You seem to be more intrigued by what's on your shoes."

You cringed for what you felt like the 1000th milestone at that point.

"Professor, I know that I sound terrible–"

Albedo sighed. "I would never insinuate that, Mx. (L/n)." 

"But you keep cutting me off." You said in a questioning tone. It sounded a lot more polite in your head, yet the famous Kreideprinz was flustered by your reply.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to. Carry on. You are aware that you sound like a sex offender, and?"

That came out incredibly cold. It felt like being under the cold blade of a frigid prince, and his icy stare and light complexion just adds the cherry on top. The professor said that he wasn't insulting you but his paraphrasing is exactly that. You didn't comment on it, figuring your education is more important than a harsh remark, and continued.

"... The truth is," you took a deep breath. "I only kissed you cause, well, I mistook you for Dorian, and also because I was trying to get Sucrose–."

"Sucrose?" Professor Albedo's eyebrows furrowed. "Sucrose, one of my–"

"Your student assistants? Y-Yes, sir." You nodded hesitantly. "We're best friends– not that it's unsurprising since I am a bad influence and she's a good person. I recently went through a breakup and she's worried about me. Dorian agreed to fake date and make Sucrose believe that she accidentally found us making out in a room to make it more believable but–"

"You mistook me for my brother."

"... Yeeaaahhh...."

"..."

This reminded you of your conversation with Dorian a while back. You asked if he and his brother would switch lives for a day, and he cackled and told you it happens more than the number you were thinking of. The moment you realized who you were kissing, you clung to the sliver of hope that it was Dorian wearing his brother's lab coat. It was not.

You looked down at your shoes again. It's too embarrassing and shameful that your entire lineage will probably be cursed. 

"..."

Knowing that you won't talk until he does, Professor Albedo read through his notes for a topic.

"Understandable. I presume you know my brother because you're both on the same course and are on similar schedules?"

"Yes, sir." Should you tell him the whole fake-date thing was Dorian's idea as well?

"It's Albedo to you. And to add to that, Sucrose is under the impression that we're dating."

"I think so, sir."

"That's not a question, (Y/n), that's a fact." He said. "She recently confronted me to ask if we're dating."

You gulped. Moment of truth.

"What did you tell her, sir?"

"What do you want me to tell her?"

You could hear your pulse pounding in your ears. 

On one hand, you want her to know what happened, but at the same time that would just blow you and Dorian's cover story.

But was that a smug tone you heard? Is he toying with you?

You bit your bottom lip. 

"... Yes, I think? What did you say, professor?"

"Albedo."

You tilted your head. "What?"

"Respectfully, please call me by my name and I'll tell you the answer." He smirked curtly, but it was gone before you could process it.

"S-Sir!"

Albedo shrugged. "Guess you'll have to ask her directly–"

"Sir Albedo–"

"Hmm, I don't recall having 'Sir' in my birth certificate–"

"Albedo! Albedo!" Geez.

He gave a small smile, longer this time. But he was still avoiding eye contact. You puffed your cheeks, embarrassed.

Prof. Albedo has a slightly twisted sense of humor.

None of this was professional, at all.

You felt your face growing warmer. You can't believe this is the same Albedo everyone is crushing on. 

You bit back a sharp retort. He sounded a lot more serious in campus gossip, and not the type to pull on your heartstrings like this. Your faith in that image is wearing thin.

The professor laughed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic reply. You don't have to be nervous around me, (Y/n). I figured that if we were going to do this, you could use my first name.

"I refrained from answering. But, if you wish, I can confirm her suspicions. However, I must inform you in advance that I find relationships rather... Tiresome." Albedo robotically sighed. "I struggle to maintain them, so you will have to guide me."

Never in your life have you ever considered the possibility that a professor in your grad school would ask you to fake a romantic relationship with him. 

You digressed, not wanting to make a decision just yet. "But isn't your job in danger?"

Albedo then spoke in a genuine trill of amusement. 

"Not at all. Besides, I don't care enough to file a complaint about this incident. Also, you're not my student. Suffice it to say, I've thoroughly checked the handbook and consulted the headmaster herself. Rhinedottir sees no problem with this arrangement–"

Probably because she's your mother.

"–Granted, it will not be in full effect unless you give this a go signal. Will you?"

You looked away.

"This situation... Kinda reads like some cheap Harlequin novel, doesn't it?" You muttered.

It's a great offer. But it sounds too good to be true...

... Did he say that he wasn't going to file a complaint in the first place?

The professor watched as your impassive stare morphed into something uneven and sly but unavoidably empty. You clicked your tongue as your hands slip back to your pockets. Albedo could tell you're holding back an ugly laugh.

A switch had been flipped.

Professor Albedo immediately noticed the change in your demeanor and crossed his arms. He's anticipated this much. There's no way he didn't know about your "self-destructive patterns."

How interesting. For both you AND him.

"So, Albedo." You lazily pointed at him. "Something's fishy about this, don't you think?"

"You're too eager to help. I'd get it if you have something to gain from this, like scaring off your fangirls or something, but you fend them off just fine anyways." You grinned.

"I'm flattered that you think I send them away effortlessly." He answered point-blank.

Albedo turned to you, his face dim and heavily affected by his calm resignation.

"It's incredibly taxing work. I've told you before, haven't I? I may seem calm on the surface but people can be... A considerable handful."

His smile belied the severity of his inner turmoil.

But you can't help but doubt him. You don't buy his pitifulness.

You reassessed the situation in an instant. The Albedo you're talking to acts far from the untouchable Chalk Prince from the get-go. His words did not boast his usual research-riddled speech. This act is more than just premeditated.

Sure. You're the sort who is bound by what you "owe," but you can't say you can't empathize with his problems because he didn't seem-- he ISN'T troubled in the first place. And you're almost sure of it.

You believe you're not smart enough to remain in this university. But at least you have faith that you're perceptive and street-wise. 

Still, you kept your hollow cheeky grin plastered to your face.

"Then why aren't you taking a less problematic approach? You could say you're dating Professor Alberich– you'd get some people off your back."

Translation: Can't you just bother someone else?

"By attracting other unpleasant folks pestering me about Kaeya instead, yes, seems like a sound suggestion. I'll keep it in mind for future reference."

Translator's note: He's being sarcastic. Stop trying to worm your way out of this one.

Albedo continued. "But right now that's not viable. If you feel guilty for stealing a kiss from me this may be a good opportunity to ease your conscience."

...

"That's it? But you won't report me if I didn't agree to these terms, right?"

"Of course. I have your best interests in mind and simply warned you." He gave you a faint smile, hoping to ease your nerves. "You're part of Rukkha's batch of dean's listers. I don't have the heart to file a complaint."

Rukkha was a great woman, but you don't deserve your scholarships and sponsors. You don't have any talent or skill to truly impress people, and it seems you fooled both Professor Rukkhadevata and Albedo into thinking you're something special as well.

"Professor...."

But with what he basically said just now is that there are no consequences for your actions.

"It's Albedo, and yes?"

"You seem to have reserved some very unrealistic expectations for me. You should be more distrusting."

"... What do you mean?"

"I don't see any reason to accept your offer." You honestly had no idea where this confidence is coming from. Perhaps your class clown persona had slowly rubbed off on the "real" you, and for once you didn't hate yourself for it.

Because you don't want to be in this relationship. It's legal, yes, and you're old enough, but you're incredibly wary. Albedo may be leagues better than Itto but that's beside the point: you're emotionally spent and you're not ready to get to know another person.

"Oh, understood. For starters, agreeing to these terms will make Sucrose less abrasive with her attempts to set you up, and I could help you with connections."

"That sounds as though I'll be abusing your influence..."

You paused. 

Did you tell the professor about Sucrose's disturbing attempts to hook you up with people earlier...?

You don't recall ever sharing that bit of information. You made sure to pick your words carefully so Sucrose wouldn't be seen in a bad light. Since when did he...

"What? No, it's not. It's simply a small trade for your cooperation."

"No."

"And– sorry?"

You can see the appeal. You truly do. When you are chosen by someone of greater influence and intellect, it seems almost magical. He could undoubtedly help your botany profession thrive. Most people would conclude that if Professor Albedo chose them from the crowd, they must be extremely unique in comparison to their peers. 

However, this is somewhat unethical. This is the kind of scenario you'd find in a shoddy coming-of-age novel that desperately tries to convince you that there are no other elements to consider but love. However, you must also consider your mental health, reputation, education, and other factors that influence every fiber of your being.

Albedo isn't the type of person who would jeopardize your future over a minor disagreement, but you never know with people. People change as much as seasons do. You are a living example of this. Itto would not have used that argument against you if it were untrue.

You have nothing against those who engage in lawful student-teacher relationships, but you're self-aware enough to recognize that you're not mentally fit to enter one. And sometimes the conclusion is as straightforward as that. Besides, you're sick of having others (including yourself) continually doubting your intelligence. Fake-dating a professor will only exacerbate the situation. Rumors will spread that you only earned your grades because of him and not out of your efforts. Dorian already had it rough, and you've learned what it's like through him. Simple self-preservation.

"Thanks for the offer, really, but no. If I'll date someone, even if it's fake, I want to set it under my terms as well." 

You scratched your neck, eyes lifeless.

"I'm sorry, Professor. But I genuinely can't see why this agreement will help both of us, I especially can't see why this will benefit you compared to your other options. I could just come out and say I mistook you for Dorian and it's an easy fix to my problems and in turn, you wouldn't have to deal with the stigma of dating a student. I'm sorry, Prof. I'll take a rain check on it." 

You shrugged uncomfortably. "Besides, this is still a student-teacher relationship. I'm uncomfortable being in an uneven power dynamic like that. I'd rather date Dorian instead."

...

Shit. 

Okay, maybe accidentally implying that you're open to dating his kid brother had to be the second most uncomfortable thing you subjected Albedo to.

You didn't mean to come off as THAT honest.

A test tube must've cracked somewhere around the area cause you could've sworn you heard something shatter. You flinched, but he didn't.

"... Is that so." The professor muttered. You almost didn't hear him from how silent his defeat was.

You sighed in relief so intense that you physically felt your shoulder muscles relax and your eyes roll back. Seems like he gave up.

"I promise that I'll pay you back in other ways, professor. I owe you and I'm sorry. But I must refuse for both our sakes." You said. "I have taken something important from you, and I will respectfully understand if you file a complaint for what I've done. No one should have a kiss stolen like that."

He didn't reply. Albedo stood there, eyes unblinking as he mulled over your words. At the beginning of this conversation, he barely looked you directly in the eye, but now he refused to look away. 

You waited for him to say something else and stood there for a solid minute. Nothing came. 

"Please, excuse me."

You wanted to say that you left to give him more time to consider but the truth is that you couldn't bare standing there for a second more so you left in a frantic hurry. 

It was only when you left did you realize what made you wary of him the entire conversation.

Professor Albedo wasn't breathing the entire time.

-------

Upon unlocking his door, Albedo was greeted by a boy with a face akin to his. He was waiting for him, and in turn, Albedo anticipated that he would be here, too. The boy sat idly and almost casually inside a room littered with wall to wall of red-stringed photographs and texts, and there was not a single hint of disgust or any other natural reaction on his face. Albedo's nose scrunched.

Dorian did not budge from his brother– master's office chair. He stared back with a blank expression. Most papers were by his feet, crumpled, but not discarded. How could they be, when all pictures centered around one very precious subject:

You.

You, in all forms, poses, and angles make you ineffably you. These are the candid shots that bring out the little moments that Albedo longed to study under a microscope. They didn't need to be dynamic, rather, Albedo adored the simplest pictures the most. Needless to say, images of you resting is the most popular. It's a lot more convenient and easy to take, but that doesn't cheapen the value and elation the professor feels upon holding the finished polaroid up close.

Every time he swapped schedules with Dorian, he couldn't help but be curious about you.

It doesn't stop there. Albedo clicked his tongue as he noticed the journal Dorian held. It was his dog-eared notes he cleanly put together when jotting down your schedule, private life, and other more delicate intricacies. The clipboard he had earlier is nothing more than a silly prop compared to his actual notes. There's something so breathtaking about making the "unknown" into the "known", and the same applies to every bit of your life that he was curious about. Albedo's aware that it's not something he should brag about. Retrieving paraphernalia such as worn-out gardening gloves and locks of hair from your shower drain was not something he acquired robotically. However, he didn't fancy the idea that Dorian read it and found it just as entertaining as he did. He didn't like the idea of sharing.

Maybe you were right.

Maybe he did reserve some very unrealistic and idolized expectations for you. But that was only because he can see your potential. He firmly believes that. It's an awful and objectifying train of thought, but the professor is convinced he'll be the one who can "fix" your people-pleasing issue.

He figured, if he wants to make sure you'd always be with him, he had to conduct some trial-and-error.

Albedo breathed harshly. He forgot how to do so. He never needed to breath.

"Did it work?" Dorian asked. "Did your plan work?"

His eyes went dim.

Albedo didn't answer.

He locked the door again. This time, he allowed Dorian to keep the lights on. If anything, it's a small reward for indirectly helping him. But not even his fellow creation can have what the genius professor of the century desires to attain. He has to face the truth.

Albedo pulled out a recording device from his pocket. You said no. There's nothing he could do about that. 

"No."

"No. No. No. No. No--"

He played your refusal over and over again.

He thought he did everything right. He genuinely believed he followed the right procedure in getting you to say yes. What went wrong, then? Albedo doesn't get it. He was sure that he didn't say anything wrong or suspicious as well. You shouldn't have known that he had been following you from that conversation alone. 

"No."

He practiced everything for hours.

"No."

Word for word.

"No."

He researched tips and tricks on how to let other people's guard down.

"No."

He thought not pressuring you to do it will make you more willing.

"No."

He even asked Alberich how to subtly flirt with someone.

"No."

So. What went wrong?

"No--"

Albedo slowly blinked before realizing he had thrown the device against the wall in full force. The batteries and their other internal components spilled on the floor. He didn't have the willpower to clean it up. 

It's an undeniable error. He still can't believe his approach failed.

Master was right.

"Dearest Albedo, if you can't have them in their most authentic self, then what's stopping you from making an indistinguishable copy?"

#tag: no - albedo #yandere genshin x reader #yandere albedo #yandere genshin #yandere genshin impact #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere fanfiction #yandere #yandere genshin imagines #albedo x reader #yandere male #yandere oneshot #ansy-writes

[selkra-souza]

The Moodsters Rabbit Hole

So I was bored one day and in my vain attempt to search the internet to find a knock off Inside Out movie to ironically enjoy, I find out that one does not exist. Vídeo Brinquedo, the studio behind the critically memed Ratatoing, has truly forsaken me, and alas, I can only dream. Instead of finding a rip off Inside Out movie, I ended up finding something that accused Inside Out of ripping off it, I'm talking suing. Turned out to be just as interesting.

The Moodsters is a multimedia edutainment brand and children's foundation centered around a cast of six monstrous critter "feelings detectives" called Moodsters. There's Coz, the yellow Moodster representing happiness, Snorf the blue Moodster representing sadness, Razzy representing anger, Quiggly representing fear, Lolly who represents love and Tully representing ... being calm I think? The Moodsters is an IP created by Denise Daniels and owned by JellyJam Entertainment (formally known as the Moodsters Company) who claim on their website (themoodsterschildrensfoundation.org, formally themoodsters.com) that they're "providing accessible science-based content on emotions for children, their parents, and teachers for more than 35 years". That science is based in collaboration with Marc Brackett PhD and Robin Stern PhD, to develop the RULER™ model for dealing with emotions. Besides their mission statement and credentials, their site currently has downloadable workbooks for kids to print and journal their thoughts and feelings on, along with guide booklets for their caretakers. Their children's foundation initiatives includes an "International Partnership for Children Displaced by War" and "Grief Relief with the Moodsters".

They've got a twitter account featuring one (1) post from 2016.

Let's dig deeper though. Hopping onto the Wayback Machine and searching for "Moodsters" will show you that they've had an online presence since 2008. Since then, the brand has gone through a few changes, and they've released a few toys and published a few books.

I first want to go over the plushies specifically because look at them.

They're adorable. I want to firmly grasp them in my hand. These goobers were sold in retail in the mid 2010s and nowadays are pretty rare in the second hand market. They look soft and I appreciate everything from their embroidered features to Snorf's lopsided face. From looking at them, I like the quality. My only complaint is that their little detective capes lack edge stitches, which would make them more prone to tears, and I'm not convinced they have an accessible way to replace their batteries (though I could be wrong). Overall as a plushie lover though, I want them in my home so I can invite them to tea parties and have them sit on my bed.

Their website in 2015 teased a mobile app called, The Moodsters: Learn About Feelings, which - as far as I could search - does not exist. This page lists features such as an interactive story book, a Mood Meter that "gives children a basic vocabulary of feelings and helps them express themselves" by using a thermometer-shaped mood meter to take one's "feelings 'temperature'", a Moodster Mirror that "helps them make the connection between feelings on the inside and facial expressions on the outside" with demonstrations of 25 different emotions, and a Feelings Notebook that's an art program. The development of this app is no longer mentioned on the site currently, so it's probably a scrapped project.

At some point there was a Moodster themed memory match browser game and coloring pages (hard to tell if they were browser coloring games or printables).

Some of the features from the what would've been the app actually made it to market as toys. These toys were colorful little detective supplies. One for (almost) each Moodster. The top image of this very long post actually features each Moodster with their chosen detective tool on-hand. Coz wields a Moodster Mirror, Razzy carries a Moodster Meter, Quiggly has an emotional support Feelings Flashlight and Lolly writes in a Feelings Notebook, all (at some point) available at your (once) local Toys R Us. Whatever Snorf is carrying hasn't made it to market it seems, but it's apparently a First Aids Kit for Feelings (mentioned here). I can't find what Tully's item is supposed to be. Perhaps it's emotional identification cards, or positive affirmations? Who knows. My favorite out of these has got to be the notebook, mainly because I'm a sucker for cute stationary. I'd fold and decorate a little cardboard box just to house those crayons just for keepers sake.

And have I even mentioned the yoga mats?

Almost every plushie and detective tool toy appears to come with a picture book. I can't comment on most of the books since I can't buy any that still happen to be available as of now, but luckily there is a read along video I found shown below of one of them. It prominently features a more recent addition to the Moodsters lore, the human children.

These side characters where featured on the site as recent as October 2023 (I neglected to take a snapshot, so here's another from June), but are nowhere to be seen on the website now besides the older downloadable worksheets. There's a chance they've since been retired.

It's exactly as boring as I feared that it would be. Obviously, I'm far from being in the target demographic for this anymore as an adult, nor am I any expert of child psychology beyond one elective course I took in university, but the one credibility that I do have is that I remember my personal tastes from when I was a kid, so I can comment on this from that perspective. I will say if I was handed this as a little kid, I would've liked the little monster dudes, but my attention would've shifted away from this pretty quickly and easily, because the little monster dudes aren’t really doing much. I was one of those kids that was really drawn to creature characters way more than I ever was to human characters (and to be perfectly honest, I still am as an adult, but that's besides the point I'm about to make). The plot of the book is perfectly serviceable with a good message about altruism, so that's not the problem. My grievance is with the fact that the human boy Zach takes center stage as the main character, when one would think that the main characters would be the Moodsters. They kind of take a back seat working on the sidelines for the most part here, and don't directly interact with Zach that much. Would've been hard for kid-me to latch onto this when the cool critter characters don't have as much of an active role as they could have. Not every kid is going to be as drawn to critter characters as I was (and am), but if the critter characters are going to be the face of your preschool IP, they should be presented front and center as much as they can be. Children's picture books are a media format that isn't particularly long nor complex, so their biggest strengths are in the characters and the art. If it were open to changes, I'd make a few: I'd have the Moodsters be just a bit more proactive, such as the suggestion to buy Sam a new bike coming from Coz or maybe Lolly instead of his sister Zoey, have them discover the "feelings emergency" while they're hanging outside with Zach and Sam instead of by spying on them with their cool and fancy desk setup, maybe have a one or two page mini side plot where Razzy's anger at the truck driver is addressed and resolved with breathing exercises or something, and change the art style to 2D illustrations to allow more dynamic poses and expressions since the 3D models and environments used here are pretty okay but nothing that stands out too much (or just instead use more expressive 3D models). No major changes that would fundamentally change the book, just enough to give the Moodsters more spotlight and expressions. Overall, as is, it's an okay children's book, just nothing that really stands out much as unique.

Back in the 2000s, there was an animated pilot for the Moodsters (with art and animation direction by Drew Bloom) featuring different designs of them and an additional cat girl not present in the current iteration named Moodini voiced by Grace Garland. The earliest legible Wayback Machine snapshot for the Moodsters (May 16, 2008) lists their names as Zazz, Rizzi, Scootz, Snorf and Oola". Now, I unfortunately can't find the full pilot, only the intro, which is a massive bummer because it's the most interesting piece of Moodsters media I've encountered. Apparently, according to a few articles and court documents (we'll get to the lawsuit later I promise) it was titled "The Amoodsment Mixup", and said to be officially available in its entirety on Youtube ... only it's not there. It must've gotten unlisted or removed by the company owner, which is really disappointing since it looks like a fun watch. It's gone probably because it's an outdated interpretation of the Moodsters, which makes sense for the company to remove, but it's disheartening that I can't find it archived anywhere on the internet.

To comment on the intro that we can watch: I'm really digging these older designs! They've got that Muppet look to them with the high eye placement but with smaller mouths, and they've got more varied facial structures and come in different heights, along with overall looking more monstrous. The literal emotional roller coaster is a cute touch too! Honestly I wished they kept these looks, they're peak. I can't find an officially stated reason for the design overhaul and reboot of the IP; my only guess as to why was in order to incorporate human children for the Moodsters to interact with, so that the brand would be more relatable for kids and more easily applicable to them as an emotional analysis tool. There's merit to that decision I'm sure, but I personally prefer this older version because the Moodsters here look more critter-ly and kind of seem to just hang out in the woods doing their own thing, instead of having more "marketable" designs and hanging out directly educating human children. I was a kid in the 2000s, if this animation pitch made it to air on PBS, I absolutely would've tuned in to see these goobers. I likely would have enjoyed it as much as Dragon Tails, Cyberchase and Arthur, as long as the education came second to characters and story (as opposed to more overtly educational shows like Super Why). Honestly, I'm really bummed this pilot wasn't picked up for a full show, or heck, I can't even find the full pilot anywhere :(

Speaking of old iterations, I really want to show off these old renders of the Moodster headquarters I found digging through Wayback Machine snapshots from (June 29, 2014). It's the Emote Control Headquarters, which was seen in one page of the book in the read along video linked above, but with more detail in the background surrounding the central desks and not in Zach’s room. It seems these renders were to be how their headquarters looked before the human characters were added to the lore. And lemme tell you I adore the amount of detail put into these! I've mentioned the fancy desk setups from the book, and they're shown here again. It's got to be my favorite design aspect for the Moodsters, because each one has their own personalized setup that's color coded and decked out in decor. Coz has some sports equipment at his desk, Lolly's got art supplies, Quigly's got a telescope, and so on. It's a really good way to visually show off their personalities, since they admittedly don't have that much personality otherwise. My hot take is that it way more creative than the console in Inside Out because of its attention to detail. These colorful set pieces are peak kids show aesthetic appeal to me, especially the third image with the ambient lighting. This holdover is something I'm glad made it to more recent Moodster products like the book mentioned above, even if it doesn't make that much sense for them to have such elaborate setups to monitor on the kid they live in the same house with, but it sure as heck at least looks cool.

Remember when I said that this was something that accused Inside Out of ripping it off? Well we’re finally getting to that. I have no formal education on law keep in mind, so here's my understanding on the situation: in Daniels v. Walt Disney, The Moodster Company filed suit against Disney for breaching an "implied-in-fact contract". The gist of the matter is that the Moodster Company had pitched their IP to several companies, the relevant one here being Disney, during the 2000s (likely the animated pilot mentioned earlier was what was pitched), and accused Disney of using the ideas they pitched to produce the film Inside Out, and failing to compensate The Moodster Company for it. It was an accusation of copyright infringement. Disney filed to have this case dismissed, claiming The Moodster Company "failed to meet the legal standard for copyright in a character", basically that the Inside Out emotion characters are not rip offs of the Moodster characters. Ultimately the court granted Disneys' dismissal, because The Moodsters are "lightly sketched" and "are not protectable by copyright". This was determined by the "Towle test" (based on Mark Towle v. DC Comics), which has three criteria for making a character design eligible for copyright protection:

" (1) has “‘physical as well as conceptual qualities,’” (2) is “‘sufficiently delineated to be recognizable as the same character whenever it appears’ and ‘display[s] consistent, identifiable character traits and attributes,’” and (3) is “especially distinctive’ and ‘contain[s] some unique elements of expression.’” " ~ McDermott Will & Emery

It was determined that The Moodsters met criteria (1) but not the later two, mainly because of the several redesigns and name changes the Moodster characters have gotten over the years, ultimately making them inconsistent and indistinctive. The Moodster characters also didn't pass the “Story Being Told test”, because in what little media they have been in, they don't have a proactive enough role nor go through any character arcs nor at least have any unique personality quirks that would make them distinguished characters, instead their personalities are summed up with a short description in their pitchbook and otherwise only just kind of exist. I'd hate to side with the massive corporation for pretty much any reason, but it's a stretch for The Moodster Company to have claimed that Disney ripped them off with inside Out. If the Moodsters had more consistent designs and personalities that Disney-Pixar copied in the Inside Out emotions, there would've have been a case, but that case isn't here. However, I don't think it was completely unreasonable for The Moodster Company to take the legal action that they did, even if they didn't really have much of a legal leg to stand on, because the creator of the company, Denise Daniels had directly pitched the Moodsters to Disney and a contract was involved. I can imagine pitching your idea about personified emotions to a huge company like Disney only for them to come out with their own personified emotions movie a few years later to feel like a contractual stab to the back. One last tidbit mentioned in the court documents though, the most interesting claim Daniels makes is that she discussed the Moodsters with Inside out director Pete Doctor, though the context for when and why this discussion took place isn't known. If that's true, it's very possible that Inside Out took inspiration from the Moodsters, as in, the general idea of personified emotions. The movie is also known to be inspired by Doctor's own daughter, so if anything, this is a case of taking inspiration at most, not copyright infringement. It just goes to show that even though the Moodsters is, first-and-foremost, an emotional educational tool, it's still worth the effort to make your educational tool have an iconic narrative with distinct characters at the very least. It's also interesting to learn that the history of the Moodsters is more intertwined with Inside Out than I initially guessed. If this law suit has taught me anything, it's that the more you redesign your commercially public OCs, the less they are eligible for copyright protection. Weird to think about, in my opinion. (sources and relevant court documents (1), (2) and (3)).

The last thing I want to talk about extensively are the designs of the Moodsters themselves. Honesty, I like them. I think they're cute! I probably wouldn't have have written all of this text if I didn't. I dig the idea of having little fluffball monsters represent emotions, even if they have that generic preschool edutainment mascot look to them. I prefer their pilot designs, but the current designs have been growing on me. You might have noticed the green one got redesigned into the orange one to make room for another green one. Or maybe you didn't notice because they both look the same. In fact, they all kind of look the same save for the colors and outfits. They admittedly are not the same exact 3D model copy pasted with different colors and clothes (each have different shaped ears, cheek fur, facial features and heights), but they're all so similar to each other overall that they're still hard to distinguish. The only bad thing about their designs are the fact that their silhouettes look near identical, really.

If I gave you only half a second to tell them apart based on this image, you'd probably have a difficult time. I'd imagine the preschoolers they're marketed to would as well. Now, a bad silhouette is a pretty fundamental character design issue, but it's easily fixed by just reshaping them with different body types. For fun, I tried my hand at it shown below. Essentially they're the same but with more exaggerated shapes, along with digitgrade legs and short tails to help sell the monstrous look. I drew Tully (the current green one) a little later after the original five (digitally, while the former five were drawn traditionally). It's a first draft that could be improved upon more, because if these critters need anything apparently, it's yet another redesign. I did have fun with it though!

Since I like the pilot animation, it got me thinking about how I might reboot the Moodsters for a hypothetical animated show. I’d change the lore a bit. The main change I’d make is scrap the fact that they live in Zach’s house. They’re not like his fairly oddparents or anything to my knowledge, so there’s no need for them to hang out exclusively (or even primarily) with him. Instead of only helping Zach out with his emotions, I’d have them help out everyone in the whole town with them. This would allow the Moodsters (and the audience) to experience a diverse cast of human characters with a wider variety of life and emotional problems. The Moodsters could help out other children, parents, teachers, the baker, the librarian, the mayor, basically there’s a lot more possibilities than Zach alone would ever provide. A diverse cast of townspeople characters would make it more likely that the audience will relate to at least one of them. Having them help out adults would teach kid audiences that even adults need help with their emotions (because boy do we ever), along with giving this show an all ages appeal (so parents would actually want to watch it together with their kids, or heck, even teens, and adults who don’t have children). It’d be an episodic show that focuses on introducing characters with emotional problems that the Moodster main characters help solve, with the townspeople being better neighbors to each other for it. I personally would avoid any fourth wall breaking (“talking down to”) teaching moments because I personally hated that in shows when I was a little kid (I’m looking at you Dora) and it would bore older viewers. Again, I'm going for a aimed-at-young-children-but-has-an all-ages-appeal. All you really need to teach young kids via a show (again I'm far from an expert, I'm making assumptions based on my anecdotal experiences as a child) in an engaging way is interesting character interactions going through a well written plot honestly, and their caregiver being there with them to talk about it with them.

Also, why isn't there a disgust Moodster? Disgust is a lot more than just wincing your nose at duck poop on the sidewalk, it's a feeling that can shape your entire worldview - particularly about other people - if you don't take the time to analyze it like you would other emotions. It's probably the emotion that's talked about and understood the least and absolutely should have a place in an educational tool that teaches about how to identify and handle emotions. Waltzing around with unchecked disgust can mold a person into an needlessly judgmental snob, at worst a bigot (something I sadly have witnessed growing up with my own parents). Again, for fun, I designed one shown below. Admittedly, she's inspired a bit (a lot) by Rarity from My Little Pony. The gem emblem on her detective cape represents her meticulous sense of aesthetics, since she's the most artistic of the Moodster group. She’s purple because that’s the only color left.

Listen, the Moodsters new detective hideout could be in a burrow under a tree stump in the park, there could be a hotline the townspeople can call to summon them for their help with emotional problems, the park could have a year round carnival with a whole ride dedicated to the Moodsters because they’re beloved by the townspeople called the Emotional Rollercoaster that’s a callback to the coaster in the animated pilot. The whole town could be called “Moodsville” or something. One of the school mascots can be a cow (because MOOdsters) with rainbow colored spots that represent each Moodster. Townspeople can participate in all sorts of community activities like community gardening and hanging out at rec centers. The Moodsters can emotionally help children acting for the school play or college students picking careers or parents handling a messy divorce, the possibilities are truly endless.

That's everything I can find online about the Moodsters. I pretty much focused more on the Moodster media as apposed to them as a children's foundation mainly because I find the media more interesting, and it was easier to find information on. If you're reading this and happen to know any other other info about it (especially if it's about the pilot animation), definitely tell me about it because my intrigue pertaining to these fuzzy goobers is immense.

I think it's an IP with a lot of potential, and one that's struggled to have much of any footing on the general public these past few decades. Pretty much any rare recent mention of the Moodsters online is in reference to their lawsuit against Disney, and it's disfavorable on the part of the Moodster Company since a quick-glance-view of the situation shows a company that sued for a copyright infringement case that ultimately looked silly.

I do like their mission statement about aiming to help children and their caretakers to better understand and cope with their emotions, because emotions really are ignored, misunderstood and dismissed a lot here in countries like the US, leading to many dysfunctional interactions between family, coworkers, and communities at large. Discovering the Moodsters has certainly inspired me to be more mindfull about my feelings, and I hope this 9 page wall of text has inspired you to do the same.

Fingers crossed that the Moodster Company re-releases those plushies in the future

#long post #essay #selkra squawks #the moodsters #moodsters #inside out #inside out fandom #pixar inside out #disney inside out #Youtube

[infinitebrians]

Favorite Games of 2023 Part 6: Phantasy Star Online (Ephinea Server)

This game barely fits even the criteria of ‘game was new to me in 2023’ but I had so much I wanted to say about my experience playing Phantasy Star Online this time around that I’m making this. First off, if you’re interested in trying the game out I cannot recommend the Ephinea private server ( https://ephinea.pioneer2.net/ ) enough. It comes with many community features and other small quality of life changes that make the act of playing the game pleasant without heavily changing the core experience.

PSO is one of my all time favorite games, there's nothing that can match it’s aesthetic, nothing that outdoes it's sort of science fiction look. The coolest looking characters with the coolest looking weapons fighting cool monsters while listening to an all timer soundtrack. Playing this again was just refreshing to me, it felt good to just play a game that's unafraid of being purely about the experience of grinding levels on a character. That's the point of the game, you just wanna level up and get stronger and find cool new thing to make yourself even stronger and cooler over and over until satisfied. After playing so much of this game as a kid entirely offline on my Gamecube, i cannot be thankful enough that there's been a strong and dedicated fan community keeping this game i love alive through fan made and maintained private servers. They are the true heroes.

Revisiting the game this time around has in particular made me discover just how cool and robust the auto chat messaging function is. It was something I either entirely ignored or just used as a means to avoid traps due to opening a menu will cause your character to keep running through traps instead of taking to a defensive walk state. This time however, I just started toying with it and discovered there's just so much to it. The auto messenger is surprisingly dynamic, it’ll react to other auto messages people sent before, floating appropriate responses to the top of the menu and react to where you are in the game. It just has such a wide variety of topics to pick from on and off topic from the game including stuff like hobbies and other real world chit chat subjects. Looking at this feature again in addition to thinking about this just simply incredible promotional video for the game ( https://youtu.be/dyEnJCgTZds?feature=shared ) really solidifies a sort of feeling the game had in feeling like they were really working on something that was going to be the future of games. In some ways they absolutely were, this game was a major influence for other online action RPGs like Monster Hunter and I always felt like Destiny took a lot of inspiration from it as well. The auto message feature (along with the simple symbol chat) just feel like they were coming from an era of ambition and wonder about just how big a game for ‘the whole world’ could be and trying to develop for that whole world.

I also had so much fun raising mags this time, even more than usual! I started raising multiple at a time and keeping notes on the proper way to raising my mag to be the special evolved form. I was so happy to find out just by chance that the player ID I had was the exact right one I needed to make a sato mag, my favorite, non gimmick mag design in the game. Just a funny little cat/fox guy with a huge tail, everybody loves sato! This time around I found myself continually wanting to just keep raising mags and trying out different good mag builds. Not even to really use them even, I’ll probably give them to friends or trade them off for goodies or whatever but it’s just a lot of fun to raise them. Mags being a way to start at level one feeling powerful from either being easily shared from another character has been one of my favorite things in this game. Its such a cool way to start a new character or player out feeling strong that now feels like you're cheating due to how common it is for games to entirely lock down player trading. PSO instead having trading be almost entirely unrestricted feels so cool and communally positive, you can just share cool items you found and don't need instead of being restricted to some intended player progression concept. I always wonder why stuff like mag raising or Sonic Adventure’s chao garden don’t show up in games more often, they’re always a feature that feel like they’re universally beloved and yet just feel like they don’t show up in games often.

The biggest thing I took away from revisiting one of my favorite games was Clown. I started playing this again because I just really needed to walk around Pioneer 2 for a drawing reference which then turned into me making a whole new character and quickly becoming enamored with the game all over again. I’ve never played as a FOnewearl (force class, Newman girl) before so I wanted to try something different and I named them Clown because simply that's what my brother and I thought they looked like when we were kids. I gave them big round glasses and after a short while I found myself falling in love with leveling Clown, the biggest doofus in Pioneer 2.

After that I decided to doodle Clown out of enjoying their design and needing a daily drawing for that day. It’s a really fun design! I love character with big goofy glasses, they’re super expressive and lend themselves well to someone who wear their emotions on their sleeves. So I just started drawing Clown a bunch and sort of nailing down a consistent design for them, what colors to use and some small general preferential modifications to the design from their original PSO design. So, for the first time I was successful in making an ‘original character’ I actually liked and wanted to draw in other things. I love Clown, everyone loves Clown, the people can’t get enough of that Clown! I should really draw more Clown…

This was especially significant to me because something that’s always been bothering me with my art is that I’m doing way too much fan art, I’m super worried my art has very little ‘me’ to them and everything I do is just recreations of someone else’s ideas. Then, on the other hand putting myself out in such a vulnerable way as to share completely original concepts has and still does scare me into paralysis. Clown has been important to me in sort of just sort of taking a baby step into this whole thing, something I really hope to push myself into more and more over time. I have some ideas on some stuff I want to try this year but ideas are cheap and action is scary so we’ll see if you’ll actually see some of it eventually.

I’m hoping that I will some day be able to more comfortably put myself out there with my art and I’m realizing that with the use of create a character functions in games has been the most consistent way for me to start to express myself in a way. Clown has been my most obvious example of this, but I’ve also been really fond of the character I made in Final Fantasy 14, a hrothgar that I made to look like an old man with a big bushy beard and also small golden round glasses. I feel like I’m at my best when I’m not entirely alone in creative stuff, I need bounce off of someone or something else, I’m funnier when I get to riff and joke with someone else. People who can entirely work off of their own intuitions are just so impressive to me, it’s like a super power I don’t know if I’ll ever have.

Hey, if you’re actually reading all this writing at this point, behind the ‘read more’ button, thank you. I figure most people are just gonna look at the picture and be on their way and for the most part that's the intention but its been really nice writing out my thoughts more and even hearing some people talk to me about it in turn. I’ve had a bit of a hard time starting to write this stuff but more and more after each of these posts I’ve become a bit more confident in organizing my thoughts and getting words out correctly. This is admittedly too much for someone to reasonably read about some silly 'favorite games list' so if you’ve cared enough to keep going to this point, thank you so much. You see that stuff up there? Wow! I’m actually saying self conscious thoughts and concerns about things I’ll maybe never fully address out loud! Feed that to your mag to give them some Defense and Magic points!

Revisiting PSO again has been a really positive experience for myself as both a means of reaffirming my lifelong love for this game as well as creating new reasons as to why I should feel passionate for it. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop loving this game and I hope I never a reason to stop. This game to me has some of the best aesthetic and visual identity in the entire medium, nothing will ever top its sense of place to me. I wish I could live somewhere as cool as Pioneer 2 and hang out with cool robots and space wizards all day talkin’ about what cool red boxes they found or how cute rag rappies are. I turned the game on again recently for drawing reference purposes and I totally want to play some more again.

#drawdogs #art #pixel art #gif #writing #favorite games of 2023 #pso #phantasy star online #clown #fonewearl

[monstersandmaw]

Alien story idea I've been toying with...

I shared this on my Patreon discord but wanted to share it here too :)

I’ve been thinking about a mid-size space station, nothing special about it. Maybe it’s a relay station or a way station or some kind of mediocre, not-highly-military-or-science place. Anyway, all the space stations have a kind of virtual reality plug-in network thing, where you can talk to others but they don’t know what species you are and you don’t have an avatar or anything. It’s just voices. Not entirely sure how it would work or what it would look/feel like.

But anyway. There’s this species of alien that’s kind of looked down on by others because they’re known for being very aggressive and warlike and kinda shitty, especially on their home world, but obviously not all of them. They’re also kinda freaky looking, with angler-fish/deep sea vibes, going on - pointy teeth, big eyes, chitin, danger bois (gn) - so most people find them repulsive or frightening, particularly humans. (Inspired by Mass Effect's vorcha)

Our human plugs in one day just to chill out after work (working in the refectory or something) and they get talking to someone who they really gel with. They log on again and again and talk and share music, and the human talks about earth and describes it and shows their friend videos and simulations of their favourite places but their friend never reciprocates, saying they don’t have anything like that worth sharing.

Human overhears a fellow human talking about that ‘freaky deep sea fucker in engineering’ and thinks it’s shitty to talk like that about someone but doesn’t follow up, and that night when they clock off and plug in, their friend is really low.

Long story short, they fall in love without ever seeing each other. Alien boy rejects the idea of meeting in person on the space station and freaks out, and isn’t online for a week or so. They reconnect and move past it, but finally, after a lot of persuasion, he agrees to meet up with the human. He does warn them beforehand and they’re like… that's why you wouldn’t meet??? Because that’s not a problem for me… 👀

#alien #story polls #polls #alien idea #writing inspiration

[bonbonshideout]

Omori headcanons & playlists

Sunny

♤ He got his therapy

♡ He's a bit on the mute side but is much more expressive. Normally, he writes things down to communicate with his friends.

◇ He confessed to Aubrey but also felt he wasn't emotionally prepared for a relationship. He mostly just wanted to get his feelings out there.

♧ He's the observation type. He can notice the smallest of change in someone's character.

♤ He avoids watermelons.

♡ He still sees Mari. Though not in a negative fashion, usually she appears when he's struggling with something, maybe developed a new fear, and she's there to guide him through overcoming it.

◇ His style is usually very bland, normally consisting of black & white and some purple; Aubrey and Kel took him shopping (mainly Aubrey, Kel just tagged along) and bought him more stylish clothing in black & white, while shopping he would wander off and found some things he figured Mari would like, he'd buy them and have them with him (i.e. Keychain, sweater, pen, accessories, etc.)

Kel

♤ Hispanic, probably Guatemalan

♡ He dyed his hair orange. It's a 50/50 type; he wears some of his hair into a ponytail, like a half up half down type look.

◇ His life mission is to annoy the living daylights out of Aubrey.

♧ Kel wanted to adopt Sunny into his family.

Kel goes and visits Sunny

Sunny made the mistake to leave his home

Kel drags Sunny to his house and runs to his mom: "MAMA! Sunny is out! can we keep him!?"

Kel's mom: "ay mijo, that's not—"

Kel: "Please, Mama! I'll clean my room for a week!"

Kel's mom: "I- you should be cleaning your room regardless!"

Kel groans: "Ay mama...."

Aubrey

♤ Though she dyed her hair canonically, it's grown out, and she's had to cut it, so it's a 50/50, she's been wanting to dye it again but she keeps putting it off as well.

╰ Berly convinced her to shave half her head, Aubrey actually grew to like it and now does it herself if it starts to grow back.

♡ When Sunny confessed to her, she was a bit conflicted, though she still likes him she too didn't think she was really ready for a relationship.

◇ She's headspace Aubrey when it comes to Kel. Don't get her wrong. She loves Kel (platonically), but he can annoy her most of the time. She's sarcastic when it comes to talking to him.

♧ She's a tough one, but she still has a soft side. She's weak when it comes to plush toys, bows, and frills. She doesn't like to admit it when around everyone, especially Kel.

Hero

♤ Hispanic, probably Guatemalan

♡ He wears glasses! GLASSES! they're not anything special. They're simple glasses, but he's had them since high school.

◇ He and Kel come from a safe home. However, he has picked up a fatherly like personality. He sees Sunny as another little brother and does his best to be there for him no matter what.

Basil

♤ Basil is a teal as it is in headspace.

╰ He didn't do a full dye or halfway, his are more-or-less the tips of his hair.

♡ He works at a flower shop and does photography on the side, he gets some pretty good money for both.

◇ He may not look it, but he likes making things, beginner science related projects that he finds online, his favorite? A flower that he likes the most, a petal that represents each of his friends.

Mari

♤ she watches over everyone & visits them in their dreams.

♡ She appears to each of them in the corner of their eyes whenever they are struggling.

Everyone

♤ They all wear something purple; a necklace, flower, earning, bracelet, etc. Mari's favorite color was purple, so in her memory, they have some purple accessory, if not a piece of clothing.

♡ They go to their hangout spot and have picnics. Basil usually takes pictures, putting them in their photo album.

◇ Aubrey made bracelets for everyone, including everyone's colors.

• orange - Kel

• teal - Basil

• white - Sunny

• blue - Hero

• purple - Mari

• pink - Aubrey

♧ They tell stories of when they were younger, usually to reminisce on their happier moments as well as keep the memory of Mari alive.

#omori #omori headcanons #omori aubrey #omori kel #omori basil #omori hero #omori sunny #omori mari #headcanons #bonbonshideout

[curiouskidzzaus]

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At Curious Kidzz, we prioritise the development of cognitive and motor skills through problem-solving and creative thinking. Our STEM toys are specially designed to enhance hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, offering a constructive alternative to screen time. Choose our science educational toys and kits for children to offer them the gift of knowledge and the thrill of discovery. Empower your kids to learn, grow, and innovate with Curious Kidzz.

#buy science toys Australia #science toys online

[princescribbler]

Fun 'Little' Activities for Playing At Home!

Run out of fun ideas for entertaining your little one, adult baby, or regressed subby partner? Here are some very quick and easy at-home activities that'll make almost any Little feel extra cute, regressive, and happy!

Treasure map: hide an object (like a stuffie, key to their cage, or diapee change) and leave a ridiculously convoluted set of clues. Make a treasure map, give riddles, make something cute and fun and I guarantee your little one will remember it for ages! The more complicated and silly, the better! Maybe it's a map to "mommy cove" or "the dead pirate snugglebeard's" lost treasure! Have fun with this!

COLOR MATCHING! This is easy: use any colored markers, pens, or pencils to make a nice long list of colors... and send your little out to find matches. Perfect gray rock, little one! Aww the red of your apple isn't quite the right fit, go look for something else red! Seriously... it's a short and simple activity to set up but leaves the little feeling special, cute, and blushy for their caregiver! Plus... it's silly little fun!

PAPER AIRPLANE CONTEST! EVEN IF it's just you two alone, make it fun! Tape a landing zone goal on the ground across the apartment, give your little a sticker for the "best designed" paper airplane, see whose can go further... and then help your little win, so they feel cute and pandered to and adorable! You'll notice them making lots and lots of paper airplanes for weeks after, because it made them feel so cute and special and little!

"Kid" science projects: from the baking soda volcano to growing your own rock candy, it's all available online, will make your little one feel silly but cute, and let them indulge their curious, wondrous little side a bit! Extra points if it's something really fun like the rock candy or something new and cool they've never seen before!

Biodegradable bird feeders: from orange peels to larger veggies, you can make a simple bowl or small bird feeder that's biodegradable and isn't a commitment to keeping a permanent bird feeder. BUT... since it's biodegradable and cheap, you won't mind if your cute little one goes a bit crazy and makes 3, or 4, and excitedly points out every bird that stops for a nibble. If you need extra detailed instructions, just look up biodegradable feeders or 'orange peel birdfeeder' and you'll get plenty of online advice!

Pool (or bath) party! By which I mean things like issuing craft supplies to make a cute boat out of a pool noodle, or letting your little cut up a sponge to make it a cute animal shape, or let the little one specially decorate and color on a favorite pool/ bath toy for them to play with at bath time! It's even more fun if you can enjoy a little VERY MINOR splashing and playing in the water.

MAZES! Well, drawing them at least. Have you and your little sit down and draw a maze for the other person... extra points if the big uses nice fine pencils and pens and the silly little only gets thick markers and crayons! Maybe even a competition: who can finish the other one's first! And obviously: no cheating!

Kink bucket list! Have the little and/or caregiver make a fun list of neat activities, kink included, they've always wanted to do and make a goal to check one off the list every month! Maybe it's very 'mature' like a daddydom wanting to make their little one climax with no touching... or maybe it's cute and silly, like wanting to take a little to the zoo with pullups under their big boy/big girl clothes! Regardless... it's never too early to start ticking things off your list!

There's no time like today for making your little feel loved and cute and regressive and special. And there is generally nobody that your little one wants to play with more than their caregiver! So have fun, let yourself be cute and silly right along with them, and as always...

Stay Happy, Stay Healthy, and Stay Kinky!

-Scribbler

[tsims]

LE PEN

Pierre starts this round with really bad acne that just refuses to go away lol, but I allow it. He rolled a lot of wants to buy toys for Margot, so now she has a rocking horse, toy box, peg box, xylophone, two stuffed animals, and multiple children's books. I'm considering possibly making her a "horse girl" in the future.

Marie started a degree online---considering she is now level 7 in her political career, I decided it was starting to make very little sense she climbed that high with a high school diploma. They invite two of their friends over for dinner (Ijeoma---writer from the Goldbergs, and Ivy---Trainer from the Lamars), Marie convinced them to donate to the local police funds of course.

Pierre is still at level 3 in the Archeology career. He rolled a wish to travel to Paris again (excavation opportunity!), but I'm holding out until Margot is ready to join as a child. His job requires photography and writing, so I made him write multiple archaeological articles, and take photos. He also rolled a want to gain the Science skill. Which makes sense. He is currently a Carbon dater after all.

#Rotational households #sims 3 #the sims 3 #ts3 #ts3 gameplay #sims 3 gameplay

[denimbex1986]

'In 2005, writer Russell T Davies accomplished the miraculous feat of bringing back Doctor Who from the dead. And now with “The Giggle”, the last in his three 60th anniversary specials, it feels as though he has done the same thing all over again.

It has been a long time since Doctor Who has felt this exciting, this funny, this rich, this camp, this smart, this scary, this, well, sublime. It is almost cruel to have been given so little of David Tennant and Catherine Tate – a dream TARDIS team deserving of a full series – but but Ncuti Gatwa’s charismatic new Doctor, who made his debut tonight, suggests the future is bright for the sci-fi series.

Forget the Doctors, however. The real star of tonight’s spectacular was the villain: Neil Patrick Harris’ delightfully devious Toymaker. The character first made an appearance as a playful enigma in the classic series, opposite William Hartnell’s First Doctor.

Here he was recast as an “elemental force” beyond the science of the universe, a maniacal trickster governed only by the rules of play. His big game was to plunge Earth into chaos by making every human believe that their own opinion is supreme. It was a mischievous idea, and a satirical swipe at the last few years of rent-a-gob culture war blowhards and terminally online conspiracy theorists.

It was joyous to watch an actor having such an obvious blast with a role as Harris played the Toymaker as an agent of chaos. There are few scenes in Doctor Who – indeed, in all television – as magnificent as the one in which Harris lip synced for his life around UNIT HQ to “Spice Up Your Life”. What a flamboyant explosion of colour and delirium!

And yet, the Toymaker was no clown. It is rare for a Doctor Who villain to feel so unsettlingly unbeatable: like a god among insects, as frightening as he is frivolous.

The scenes in the Toymaker’s toy shop, for instance, in which the Doctor and Donna were trapped in an infinite hallway of tricks and terrors, were deliciously creepy. Just take the unsettling moment in which the Doctor discovered the body of a man who has been turned into a marionette, or when Donna was ambushed by a gang of Tim Burton-esque stop-motion puppets.

These moments not only showed off Russell T Davies’ talent for elegantly marrying tones (jump scares one moment, ludicrously camp the next), but how lavish Doctor Who is under his stewardship. The scale is bigger, the CGI is expensive, the visual language sharper, more polished. This is Doctor Who with Disney+ money.

The episode’s last laugh, however, was its big surprise: having been wounded by the Toymaker, David Tennant’s Doctor not only regenerated into Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth incarnation, he “bi-regenerated”, meaning that both Doctors now get to co-exist with each other.

It’s a totally new concept for the programme – and a slightly garbled way for the show to have its cake and eat it too. David Tennant’s Doctor got the happy ending he deserves, settling down with the Noble family to live a relatively normal life. The tender and humane Tennant was marvellous in these scene and as nonsensical as it is, I’m glad the bi-regeneration leaves the door open for his return.

And then there is Gatwa, our new Doctor. While he arrived sans trousers, his characterisation already felt complete. The Toymaker resolution – in which he and the two Doctors played a high-stakes game of catch – might have fallen flat in comparison to the rest of the episode, but the sassy Gatwa was already such a commanding presence that it didn’t quite seem to matter. Every scene with him in it was a joy. Every line was a reaffirmation that he is the Doctor.

What a time for to be a Doctor Who fan. The programme has never felt quite so alive.'

#Doctor Who #60th Anniversary #The Giggle #David Tennant #Ncuti Gatwa #Russell T. Davies #Neil Patrick Harris #The Toymaker #William Hartnell #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #Biregeneration

[mknightgrant]

💥 and 😳 with the moon bois, please??

💥 + 😳 A fighting headcanon + a confessing headcanon Not sure if you wanted it together or separately, but here are some hcs of some sort of fight that ends in a confession! This is my first time writing HCs, so pardon any mistakes <3 this is kinda long, I think!

Steven: It’s been agreed upon that Saturdays are to be spent with one another in the absence of your phones. The little blocks of technology serve as distractions, preventing face-to-face interactions from occurring other than the occasional “Oh god, look at this!” before sharing something found online. By the time this Saturday comes around, you and Steven decide on having a movie night–but can’t seem to get on the same page in terms of which movie you’ll be watching. While you prefer to watch a Disney film because, for some reason, your heart yearns for it today, Steven insists on watching another documentary on Ancient Egypt. The conversation between you two escalates into a debate, with Steven winning, to say the least. Winning in a sense that you’re this close to agreeing and just watching the documentary, but you aren’t one to back down so easily. That’s the exact reason why your hands start moving towards his sides, right where he’s most ticklish. The back of his ears are pretty ticklish too, but those areas aren’t exactly accessible to you at the moment, so his sides will do.

Laughter resonates in the flat, a mix of both his and yours, while Steven’s hands desperately try to fight and tickle you right back. However, it barely works, having been too distracted by your fingers poking, prodding, and wiggling at his sides. By the time he starts panting and begging for you to quit it, you’ve already managed to wiggle your way on top of him.

“Do you yield?” You grin, sliding off his frame as you push your hair back in an attempt to fix it.

“God. You’re lucky I love you. If you were anyone else, literally anyone, I think I would’ve tried harder to get to you. Would’ve been mad at you too.”

That catches you by surprise. Sure, you’ve been friends with Steven for quite a while now, but the L word was never thrown around like that. You had both agreed that saying “I” before “love you” makes things a lot more personal than saying the two words alone.

“You what?”

Marc: It was a rare occasion that you could get Marc Spector out of the house, and it was an even rarer occasion that he would agree to come with you to a local carnival. So, the second he suggests that you two go there for your next date, you jump on board the idea immediately. The day is mainly filled with going on rides, taking photos in the photobooths scattered around the lot, and you even managed to make Marc break his diet for a couple carnival sweets. So, to say that the day is going pretty well is an understatement–that is, of course, until you both agree to play the carnival games available to you. The thing is, there’s always been a competitive side to both of you, so when Marc suggests going through the different games and fighting to see who would win more prizes by the end of the night, you have to agree.

It’s almost unbelievable how many games he wins, especially given that he even wins the ones he used to be terrible at. The bean bag toss, the ring toss, the cup game, knocking down the cans, hell, he even manages to win Steven another goldfish for the tank in addition to the two that they already had.

“What the hell, Marc? How and why did you suddenly get so good at carnival games? Been training or something?” You asked, shoving the little stuffed toys you both won into a bag you purchased from one of the stalls. Was it overpriced? Of course it was, but there was no way you were carrying home this many stuffed toys in your two arms while Marc carries the beloved goldfish in one hand and the remaining toys in the other.

“Well, I may have gotten a bit of help? Steven’s got a pretty good understanding of the science behind the games and calculating the physics or whatever it is that we need to win, sooo…”

You obviously gape at the confession, straightening up your back as your eyes lock on his, causing him to smile rather cheekily at you.

“But hey! Before you tell me off for cheating or whatever, look at all the toys we got! And the newest addition to our goldfish family at home! We saved a life, you know. Could name them after you.”

"Marc!"

Jake: It’s a confession that comes in the middle of an argument. You’ve always known that Jake was one to splurge when it comes to buying things for himself. He spoils himself silly, and doing so, spoils Marc and Steven as well. Sure, they had differences when it came to their preferences, but they did share a couple likes and interests. You never had a problem with it–they do deserve it after all. However, when his spending habit started extending to you, as much as you appreciated his gestures, there was something telling you that you just didn’t deserve it. You tried telling him that he didn’t need to get you all these things, but he insisted, stating that his best friend deserves everything in the world. You inferred that one of his love languages was through gifts, so you let the smaller ones slide.

The fight ensues on the day that he presents you with a nicely wrapped box, which holds a rather expensive bracelet.

It was the one he caught you staring at the other day when you were out window shopping. Honestly speaking, you didn’t think that any of them would remember it, given that it didn’t seem like Jake was paying attention, having been distracted by the other things on display.

It was a beautiful piece of jewelry, but you saw the price and it definitely was not worth buying, especially not as a gift for you.

“Jake, this is too much, yeah? I’m thankful for it, I really am, but didn’t I tell you to stop buying things for me?” You asked, running your index finger over the rim of the bracelet before bringing your attention to him.

“Too much? Why would that be too much?” Jake asked, his brows furrowed. “Do you not like it, mariposa? I just thought it was the one you wanted back at the store. I could take it back and replace it. No es gran cosa.”

“Jake.” You repeat his name a little more firmly than you did earlier, closing the box and transferring it into his hands. You choose to ignore his second question, “If you said this isn’t a big deal, I swear. It is a big deal! You can’t just… you can’t go off and spend that much money for me, Jake!”

The rise in the volume of your voice takes him by surprise, causing him to tilt his head. “You’re mad because I bought you a bracelet? Querida…”

You barely give him enough time to finish the sentence before you continue, “No. I’m not going to take any reasons from you, Jake Lockley. There isn’t any reason in the world for you to spend this much money on me, and for what? You should already know that I love you for you, not because of how much money you have or whatever. I don’t need gifts from you, Jake. I don’t need anything else, okay?”

“Wait, you love me?” He asked, his eyes glinting with a spark of hope–not that you would notice, really. You failed to notice the smile forming on his lips too.

“What?” Your eyes nearly bugged out, having only realized what you said when he repeated it.

“What do you mean ‘what’? You said you love me!”

"When did I-"

"Te amo también, mariposa."

"What?!"

"What?" He grinned.

#moon knight #moon knight writings #moon knight headcanons #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #steven grant headcanons #marc spector headcanons #jake lockley headcanons #steven grant #marc spector #jake lockley #moonknight #moon knight series #gessi's take on emoji headcanons

[butchbarbieagainstterfs]

a turd I MEAN terf linked an article about how "transgenderism is the new homophobia!!1!" that i've seen other transphobe share so i got curious and skimmed it. basically it's one gay guy saying that people called him cis once and he immediately compared it to the f slur (which is like lol, first of all if you see a descruptor word and immediately associate it with a slur that's entirely your problem). basically it was just cis crying about oh my god how dare people think that i, a cis white man have PRIVILEDGE?? no receipts, no analysis, just complaining about the evil transes. so i thought hm okay. and i went to check the website and other acticles on that page (it's spiked-online) and lo and behold! numerous articles written by antivaxxers, racists, white people complaining about how "white priviledge isn't a thing and it's bullshit!", grown ass adults being mad at lego for making a group of ethnically diverse toys, ones that have curly hair, dark skin and disabilities. it always leads back to racism, anti science and general right wing-ism. disappointed but not surprised.

They’ll share opinion pieces that have no actual facts in them to back up their opinion like an actual source 💀 bc that’s the only “sources” they actually have 99% of the time.

#anti terf