Emmett: (baffled) I'm literally filling out a form.
Partner 2: That's not a no~
Emmett: Names. Now.
Partner 2: (smiling waaay too casual)Arturo Julio Jose Gonzalez De la Cruz. But you can call me Julio. This is my girlfriend.
Partner 1: Lydia Blake, but you can call me anything you want handsome~ (winks)
Emmett: Okay. (flustered and annoyed) Since you didn't actually get to use the spray paint and no harm was done, I'm going to issue you a warning. Please do not come back.
Julio: Well in case you need anything from us-
Emmett: I really doubt that.
Julio: Our business card
Emmett: JL paranormal investigations?
Lydia: The QR code is to our YouTube channel.
Julio: We mostly investigate ghosts, but we also do cryptids, and the odd demon.
Emmett: (desperately trying not to laugh in their faces) I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, please leave.
Lydia: And if we don't wanna~
-two secs later-
Emmett: (carrying both Julio and Lydia, before lightly tossing them outside the fence before closing the gate) Please don't come back. (turns around to head inside)
Lydia: He literally carried us both.
Julio: That was so hot.
Lydia: You think he'll text us?
Julio: Fuck I hope so...
Lydia: You think he'll punish us next time? (wiggles eyebrows)
Julio: You read too much fanfic.....but lord do I want him to.
Zoey loves blasting music while she does things around the house, she says it's the easiest way to concentrate on the repetitive tasks. More often than not, the girls end up singing along, some other times they end up talking about the songs in her playlists.
Mira and Zoey are surprised by the number of times Rumi comments a song was either written or produced by Celine. They're even more surprised to find out she has not only sold lyrics in Korea but the rest of the world as well. It soon became a thing where Mira or Zoey would ask Rumi whether the song they're listening to was written by Celine or not.
Mira is the first to realise a lot of the songs are love songs, and she starts making jokes and asking if Rumi remembers who inspired those songs. If she had a stepdad or stepmum around at some point. Rumi always insists they're not love songs since most songs are from back in the day when she was writing for Sunlight Sisters, ideas Celine discarded for her group but where worth selling later on.
One evening Zoey is blasting and singing "Jenny" by Studio Killers. Mira is sitting on the couch mumbling the lyrics, finally paying attention to them, and jokingly asks Rumi if Celine wrote that one too.
To what Rumi happily replies, "I think so, yeah! 😄"
Both Mira and Zoey stop what they're doing and look at Rumi.
"You're kidding, right?" Mira asks, then turns to Zoey. "Zoey, please stop shaking."
"What?"
"Celine wrote Jenny?"
"Around the time mum was pregnant and they were on hiatus living together, yes. She had a lot of free time. Why?"
“Oh Batman is abusive in comics” “how many times does a character need to be mischaracterized before it’s just their character”
I DON’T CAAAAARE
Batman being abusive to his kids is so fundamentally wrong and makes him a one dimensional character and I personally hate it.
“Oh the dark gritty character is dark and gritty and mean” hey how about the dark gritty character is dark and gritty because he has to be. He’s such a bleeding heart that he can’t let his enemies (and sometimes allies) know how much he loves and cares. He loves so much. He loves his city, he loves his kids. He’s full of so much love yet he can’t express it because he’s never been taught how. And maybe he’s harsh but it’s because he couldn’t imagine what he would do if he lost another kid.
Batman is a hero, not a villain and it’s a disservice to make him behave like one.
So doing a re-read/re-listen of the series, and I just realized the most likely source for the term "Cheese Sticks" on the ninth floor is found back in the first book. Carl offhandedly called Maestro an Absolute Cheese Stick, something he doesn't even remember doing, and now it is a rallying cry for his army. Incredible.
we gotta get back to torrent distribution, i just watched someone eat eight grand in bandwidth charges because they ran a direct-download piracy site with local file hosting through cloudflare. torrents were invented literally for this exact reason
i have a file or folder on my pc that i want to share with other people. let's call it gayshit.mp3
unfortunately gayshit.mp3 is 750mb and im not paying for discord nitro so i need another way to send it
i put it into qbittorrent and it makes a torrent file. this is essentially a very small file that points to gayshit.mp3 so other computers can find it. kinda like a treasure map
i send this tiny file to my friend, who loads it into qbittorrent. their computer takes a moment to find mine over the vast expanse of cyberspace and then (as long as my pc is running and the file is still where it should be), it gets copied from my hard drive to theirs
this is the cool part: if somebody else loads that tiny file, they can download it from both of us. if i'm offline but my friend is on, the third person can still get it. this also means that if two people have separate halves of the file, they can download the other half from each other. as long as some combination of people have the pieces between them, they can all have the whole thing.
crucially this does not require a server!!! you can just upload the file to a few people and as long as they keep it, it's still accessible. as long as somebody, somewhere is still connected, it's available forever. the only way it goes away is if everybody disconnects from it.
The sick irony in this is that they lost Rumi the same way normal people lose their loved ones to demons. Complete annihilation with not even a body for closure, just.....gone
Every morning, I put on my thinking cap and my smartiepants. Unfortunately, there is no shirt that properly proclaims my intellectual abilities, so I have to go tits out
I keep imagining this very specific image of Celine in a sharp business suit with one of those long jackets, sporting an entirely unimpressed look as someone berates and beliddles her, before snapping her fingers, which causes a massive demonic werewolf to emerge from the shadows behind her. "Rumi," she slowly raises her hand and points at the man. "Kill." Instantly, the man is torn to shreads, and Celine simply smiles.
Anyway, I want to make this into an actual AU, so hear me out. Apologies for the wall of text below the cut.
So, in this AU, Celine is either the head of an organization or a solo act. Whatever the case, she is incredibly well known in the criminal underworld. She has a reputation for being cold, calculating, and above all, ruthless. And on top of that, there's her gaurd dog. A powerful, violent, demonic werewolf creature that is also remarkably stealthy. As the rumors go, if Celine is in the room, so is the wolf, even if you can't see it.
Of course, there are a hundred and one rumors on how Celine acquired this creature. Some think she created it. Others say she summoned it. Some even believe she made a deal with an ancient demon for the wolf's service. None of them know the truth.
The truth is that the wolf is her daughter, born from the union between herself and one Ryu Miyeong, who is actually a demon (yes I'm making Miyeong a demon in this AU cause I can). Though Miyeong isn't like other demons. She is the kindest, nicest, sweetest woman ever. Celine could probably count on one hand the number of times she's seen her wife get anything more than a little annoyed at something.
Yes, the secret about Celine and the wolf is that behind closed doors, away from public perception, they, along with Miyeong, are a genuinely sweet and loving family. The only people who know the truth about them are the residents of the small farmer's village Miyeong lives in. A village that has almost no contact with the wider world. Miyeong prefers it there over the hustle and bustle of the city her wife and daughter do their work in.
In regards to Rumi, she has both a human form and a werewolf form that she can switch between at will. When she's in human form, she has a few demon and wolf features that make her distinctly Not Human if you look at her for more than a few seconds. However, she can make most of those traits receed if she focuses, leaving her with just abnormally sharp teeth and a few errent demon paterns. When Celine is working, however, Rumi spends the entire time in werewolf form, stalking the shadows and keeping a watchful eye on her mother, ready to act at a moments notice.
Of course, all of that is set up. We need the actual plot. Which also means we need Mira and Zoey.
So Mira and Zoey work for a group whose goal is the hunting and killing of demons. One day, on one of their patrols, they come across Rumi (in human form) getting attacked by a small group of demons. They save her and introduce themselves, after which one of them makes a comment about the demons' behavior being odd, which Rumi nervously laughs off.
The three spend the next several months meeting up, getting to know each other, and of course, falling for each other (because if Polytrix has no fans, I'm dead). Rumi does keep a tight lid on her past, and while Mira and Zoey can tell she's keeping secrets, they don't push her on them.
Eventually, Mira and Zoey get a mission from their group. There is a powerful demon running a town, and they need to find it and kill it. They don't know where the demon is. All they know is its name. Ryu.
(On a side note, I genuinely think it would be really funny if the village Miyeong lives in did actually worship her, but the worship was more like genuine love and appreciation, which Miyeong uses to grow stronger, and she uses that strength to bless and protect the community in turn. She doesn't rule them. She just cares for them, and all of them are there of their own free will.)
There is one lead the group has on this demon. That being the rumors of the demon werewolf. Anything that powerful must be linked to Ryu (oh if only they knew). Unfortunately, said werewolf is currently under the employ of renowned crime lord Celine, an adversary Mira and Zoey would very much not like to piss off. Unfortunately, duty calls, and they must obey.
Mira and Zoey track and corner Celine when she's alone, threatening her to come peacefully. She refuses, they attack, and Celine calls her guard dog (notably, Celine does not call Rumi by name, as she wants to keep as much information about her family a secret as possible). Rumi busts through a wall in full werewolf form, and the fight is on.
Now, Rumi is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, there are several factors working against her in this fight. First, Mira and Zoey are prepared. They've dealt with a lot of different demons, so Rumi’s suprise factor of being a scary werewolf doesn't work on them. Second, Mira and Zoey are incredibly well trained. Individually, they are strong. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with. Third, this fight is a 2v1. While Celine is no slouch in combat, Rumi’s fighting style kinda makes it impossible to fight alongside her. And fourth (and most importantly), Rumi knows these girls. They're her friends. So, while her wolf side is screaming to protect Celine, her human side just wants to talk to them.
All of these factors combined means that eventually, one of the girls (whichever one you want to throw in the blender) manages to land a devastating blow on Rumi with her weapon. Now, the blow isn't fatal, and if the weapon was normal, Rumi would probably still be able to keep fighting. But it's not a normal weapon. It's a demon hunting weapon. And it fucks her up.
Rumi is on the ground, whimpering in pain and clutching the spot where the weapon struck. Immediately, Celine is on her knees at Rumi’s side. "Baby, what happened?" That cold demeanor is gone, replaced with a genuine concern that has Mira and Zoey freezing in place. Surely this can't be the same Celine from the rumors, can it?
Rumi continues to whimper, and Celine whips around to stare at the two girls. "What did you do?" There’s a seething rage in her voice that puts fear into the two women. Zoey regains her voice first and haltingly explains their demon hunting weapons.
"Demon hunting wea—" Before Celine can finish speaking, she interrupted. "Momma, it burns. Please, help."
All three women turn back to the werewolf, which has now returned to human form, and the shock that was finally leaving Mira and Zoey’s bodies returns tenfold.
"Rumi?!"
Celine turns back to them. "How do you know my daughter?!" Her rage is building.
"Your daughter?" There are too many revelations happening at once. But before they have time to dwell on all of that, they feel the air shift. The temperature drops, and the shadows begin to move unnaturally. Then, they coalesce towards a single point directly between the two groups. The shadows pull away, and standing where they were is Ryu Miyeong, her demonic features on full display, a cloak of shadow and flame surrounding her.
Miyeong quickly assesses the situation (she could sense her daughter's pain but didn't know what was causing it) as Mira and Zoey drop into fighting stances. But before they can react, she has both of them by the throat, lifting them off the ground. She speaks, and her voice echoes (think Rumi’s demon voice in the movie).
Miyeong: "Who are you to stand against the Demon Queen Ryu Miyeong?"
Zoemira, internally: "fuck"
Miyeong: "You, who would threaten my beloved?"
Zoemira: "fuck!"
Miyeong: "You, who would hurt my child?"
Zoemira: "FUCK!"
But before she can kill them, there's a hand on her shoulder. "Jagiya, please, we need to help Rumi." Instantly, her anger evaporates, and she releases Mira and Zoey, who fall the the ground, gasping as they regain their breath. Miyeong moves to Rumi and kneels down. "I can heal her at home." Celine nods, and the shadows of Miyeong's cloak spread out to encompass the three of them, and an instant later, they're gone, leaving Mira and Zoey in stunned silence.
Obviously their are still some kinks to iron out. I'm still not entirely sure what exactly Celine does. Most of this exists because I thought the idea of Celine having a werewolf gaurd dog that was also her daughter that she loves would be a cool idea.
I have no idea what the middle portion of this story would be. Obviously, there's Zoemira apologizing to Rumi and Rumi wanting to apologize in turn. Maybe some world building about how the group they're with actually isn't that great. Also both Celine and Miyeong not wanting Rumi to talk to the girls that fucking stabbed her, but she's in love with them, so she has to.
However, whatever the middle of the story ends up looking like, I know the end will be Celine retiring and handing her position to Mira and Zoey, so now they get to look cool as they order Rumi to tear someone to shreds, which she happily does cause she loves them.
Rocky and Grace's relationship really re-defines the term "star crossed lovers." Not romantic lovers where fate and the stars said no, but beings that crossed the stars to love each other platonically.
Conclusion: romantic love kills people, platonic love builds spaceships and biospheres
I'm gonna be honest, I had no idea an advertisement, especially from this era, could portray such a believable image of love and affection between a couple
